"He was a seminarian."

Ed* started courting Eve*, 20, when she was a high school junior. He was her older brother's best friend; both guys were studying in a minor seminary (the equivalent of high school) in their province. Eve wasn't ready for a relationship, so Ed said he would wait.

When Ed was about to finish minor seminary, he asked Eve's permission to enter a major seminary in Manila. "I didn'’t say anything. I felt I had no right to stop him," she says. Ed stopped calling and texting after that phone call. By then, she already had feelings for him. "I thought he had decided to become a priest. I cried for months."

Eve had other suitors in school, and one of them eventually won her over. But Ed started calling her again, and when her brother invited him over, Eve told Ed she had a boyfriend. "Eventually, I realized I loved Ed more, but I was afraid to get out of my relationship and I didn't want to hurt the other guy," Eve says.

After two years, Eve and her boyfriend broke up. Coincidentally, Ed started to e-mail her shortly after. They started communicating again and became friends. They later admitted they still had feelings for each other. "We would meet during his free days and he'd sneak out and contact me whenever he got a chance."

Ed wasn't the only one who was sneaking out. "During those times we went out, I had to make up lies so I would be allowed to go out. I'd always say I had to go to school."

A year later, they became a couple. "It was forbidden because they weren't allowed to have girlfriends in the seminary. They were monitored when they used the telephone. Girls were not allowed to call them or talk to them."

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