Even if you’ve heard it a million times, it can never be said enough: communication is the key to a healthy relationship.
And never has that been more on show in a new video for The Skin Deep, where a couple is made to ask each other sensitive questions about their relationship, and proceed to answer them with vulnerability and candor.
The two women in the video, YouTuber Orion Carloto and model/advertising executive Brittenelle Fredericks, lay their insecurities bare on topics from moving in together to the apprehension that can arise over one of them being bisexual.
Face-to-face: Couple, YouTuber Orion Carloto and model/advertising executive Brittenelle Fredericks, discuss their relationship in a candid video
Laying it out: The pair talk about things in the relationship that make them feel insecure
Things start off a little less serious, however, as the first question Orion is made to ask Britt is to describe their first meeting, which was apparently right after Orion hopped off a train.
‘You did what you do every time you get into uncomfortable situations, you, like, do little dance moves or something weird, and your body language was really nervous,’ she says, causing Orion to giggle knowingly.
From there, things take a more solemn turn, with Britt asking Orion: ‘Who has more power in the relationship?’
’90 per cent of the time, you do,’ says Orion, adding that she admire’s Britt’s ability to go into things knowing exactly what she wants and saying: ‘I would do anything for you, and you know it.’
Elsewhere in the video, Britt expresses feeling nervous about Orion moving to Los Angeles, saying that she is antsy about things changing once they are full-time rather than long-distance.
A closer look: Britt talks about her worries about Orion moving to Los Angeles and them becoming a ‘full-time’ couple
Head on: They also discuss how Orion’s bisexuality has been a source of strain in the relationship, but they have since been able to joke about things
She also expresses apprehension over Orion giving up living in New York, which was apparently her ‘dream’ for some time.
‘You act like you’re forcing me. Like I’m in chains. No! I want to!’ Orion responds.
When asked when she felt ‘most alone’ in the relationship, Orion brings up a conversation the couple had where Britt had expressed insecurities around dating people who were bisexual.
Orion calls it ‘exactly the kind of stigma’ that made her worried to come out in the first place. However, she says that they are now able to laugh about things more and she doesn’t feel as conscious of it any more.
The topic comes up again after the next question sees Britt asked if she has made a sacrifice that Orion hasn’t acknowledged.
All smiles: The women show their love for each other by hearing one another out and making sure the other feels loved and respected
All done: The ladies finish the video by giving each other a high-five
‘My obvious fear, the reservation that you’ve never really been in a relationship with a woman before, like, serious like this. And that scares the s*** out of me!’ Britt says. ‘So I feel it’s something that I’ve let go because I know how much it bothers you when I bring it up. I know it makes you feel insecure too.’
Orion tells her that she completely understands her feelings, but reminds her that ‘I am not someone from the past.’ The pair’s enviable communication is on show during the conversation as they hear each other out and end things by expressing their love for one another.
Britt encourages Orion to express some of her own insecurities, and she admits that sometimes she was worried she wasn’t Britt’s ‘type’, but Britt immediately comforts her by praising how mature she is in comparison to her former flames.
Britt also reveals that it was her that did the pursuing at the beginning of the relationship, having been instantly attracted when she saw a photo of Orion.
The video ends with each woman describing why she loves the other and giving each other a high-five – in just the same show of nervousness Britt described in their first meeting.