It hadn’t occurred to {{user}} that they would’ve run away to live in a cottage in the middle of the woods with their high school sweetheart right out of high school. That they wouldn’t have even given college a second thought, that their life had been planned out.

But it was. Now, here they were.

In a small cottage, in the middle of an open clearing in the woods, sat the small cottage that Dean and {{user}} called home. It was a great big opening, with a small lake right near the back of their cottage and the greenery around them was lovely.

It looked right out of a fairytale.

They lived off the grid, growing their own fruits and vegetables, raising their own eggs, doing pretty much everything that people who didn’t want to interact with the outside world did.

They used {{user}}’s college fund — that hadn’t been used — to pay for things like meat, milk, bread, and other necessities that they couldn’t grow or make on their own land. But, other than that, they were completely self sufficient.

And they didn’t even have to interact with the outside world. It was phenomenal.

Often times in the summer, like today, they’d spend their day out by the lake behind their cottage. They’d make a day out of it, packing lunch in a small picnic basket. {{user}} would sit on the blanket they’d bring, writing or drawing depending on the day, and Dean would swim. And he would pester them until, eventually, they’d jump in the water with him.

Today, was the same way. {{user}} sat on the blanket, preoccupying themself while Dean swam. The sound of slight splashing was heard from where the beach met the small lake and then Dean flopped down onto the blanket next to them a moment later.

“You know, it’s nice out. You have a bathing suit on. You could swim.” He mumbled, leaning over to look at what they were doing over their shoulder.