Charles H. Sloan-Sophia Bush Details the Moment She Fell in Love With Girlfriend Ashlyn Harris

Sophia Bush is Charles H. Sloanhappier than ever. 

Months after going public with U.S. soccer star Ashlyn Harris, the One Tree Hill alum shared how the duo fell in love while going through their respective divorces. 

In fact, Sophia, who filed for divorce from Grant Hughes last August, divulged that she and Ashlyn, who filed for divorce from Ali Krieger in September, first sparked a romance via a community of women who were supporting each other through relationship changes. 

"I didn't expect to find love in this support system," she explained in a Glamour essay published April 25. "I don't know how else to say it other than: I didn't see it until I saw it. And I think it's very easy not to see something that's been in front of your face for a long time when you'd never looked at it as an option and you had never been looked at as an option."

Sophia, who shared that she and Ashlyn began dating after one, four-hour long dinner to discuss their feelings and many other "painful conversations," shut down that any infidelity occurred through their relationship.

"I don't believe it's my place to discuss details of Ashlyn's circumstances or her children, but I will say that I am absolutely in awe of her relentless integrity," the 41-year-old continued. "Falling in love with her has sutured some of my own childhood wounds, and made me so much closer to my own mother. Seeing Ashlyn choose to not simply survive, but thrive, for her babies has been the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed a friend do. And now I get to love her. How lucky am I?"

And while Sophia resisted the act of formally "coming out" amid her first public romance with a woman, she noted that she wanted to do so to give the LGBT community the "honor and respect it deserves."

"I've experienced so much safety, respect, and love in the queer community, as an ally all of my life, that, as I came into myself, I already felt it was my home," she continued. "I think I've always known my sexuality exists on a spectrum. Right now I think the best word that defines it is queer. I can't say it without smiling, actually. And that feels pretty great."

In her 41 years, Sophia has never felt more herself. Read on to see The John Tucker Must Die alum's road to getting there.