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Nicole and Adam Doherty, who met in high school in 1996, were married in 2006.

Nicole and Adam Doherty met in the Patrick Henry High School library in 1996 when he was a senior and she was a junior. They started dating after a few months and have been together ever since.

They were married in 2006, and Nicole Doherty now teaches Advanced Placement U.S. history at Patrick Henry.

Now, the couple is willing to offer other high school sweethearts of the world a little advice.

The Edge: Did you guys ever break up or have an on-again/off-again type of relationship?

Nicole: One day I was like, "I think we need to take a break." Then, I walked in and he was like back massaging this other girl, and I flipped out.

Adam: Wait a minute -- we were in theater and we were all really close. This one girl was like, "Hey Adam, can you give me a back massage?" Then, the next thing I know Nicole walks in and has flames in her eyes.

Nicole: He chased me into the hallway and I told him I was ready for a commitment. But yeah, that's the only time (they broke up).

The Edge: Was there a time when you decided or knew that you would be "together forever"?

Adam: It just kind of happened. We were together for a really long time before we got married. Everything changes after high school, and we just had to do what we had to do to make the relationship work.

Nicole: For a long time I wanted marriage and he didn't, but eventually I decided that I'd rather have him in my life some way than no way.

The Edge: Should teenagers make decisions about life and college based on their significant other?

Nicole: Absolutely not.

Adam: It's a major mistake to make decisions based on someone else. If it doesn't work out you will always hold a grudge. Anything can work if you find a way to make it.

Nicole: Our marriage is so strong because we spent that time apart, and I trusted him, he trusted me. If you don't have that trust, then it won't work even if you are at the same college.

The Edge: What is the most important thing to have in a long-term relationship?

Nicole: Trust. Don't smother one another. I see so many teenage girls that are just like, "He hasn't called me in three minutes -- he must hate me."

Adam: That's all lack of trust. If you've been hurt before, you have to make people earn your trust or you're too protective of yourself. She had to earn my trust but would have to do something now to lose it.

The Edge: What advice do you have for teens if their parents don't approve of their relationship?

Adam: You can't fight it. If your parents are a big part of your life, and they should be, then you can't fight them on it. It's like swimming upriver; eventually, you're going to get tired.

Nicole: Or sit them down and really talk to them. You have to communicate with them about it, really communicate. Sit down and talk. Don't have a screaming match but say, "This is why I love him or her and want them in my life." Have a Dr. Phil session.

The Edge: You have been together for so long and changed so much, how did you manage to grow up but not apart?

Nicole: You have to give each other room to grow. It's about trust again.

Adam: And, in a lot of ways, you stay the same.

Nicole: Yeah, having things that you share and also being open to how they are going to change. You can't help but grow up together, because you are going through all of the same things for the first time.

Adam: Living on your own, apartment, bills, money.

Nicole: And the most important thing is that, yes, Adam is my husband, but he is also my best friend.

The Edge: In some ways, will you always see one another like the high school student you met in the library at Patrick Henry all those years ago?

Adam: Yeah. You're telling a story and every day pages are added, but that person I met decades ago is still here. You change and you grow and you better yourself, try and better the world, but it's still her.