"Want to know what my dream is, Tyson?"

"Uh, I know what your dream is, Hils. It's to open a community center where you can help the less privileged.."

"Yeah. But…I meant my other dream."

Tyson pushed himself up by his elbows and stared over at Hilary, who was sprawled out on the grass beside him. "You have another dream?"

Hilary giggled and closed her eyes in bliss. "Mmhm. I have lots of dreams."

Tyson narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. "Well then…how am I supposed to guess another dream?"

"Because you should know me well enough by now to be able to do it."

Sighing, Tyson lay back down and stared up into the sky, clutching the emerald green blades of grass in his fingers. "Well, I give up. Tell me what your other dream is."

"Do you see all of the little cottages around here?"

Tyson tilted his head back and surveyed the small houses that were scattered behind them. There was no specific order to pattern to where each cottage had been placed, but they all held a similar look. Each one was adorned in airy, pastel colors: blue, green, and yellow, with frothy white trimming and classic wooden shutters that gave way to short, flowy curtains that blew in the sea wind.

"Yeah?" Tyson prodded.

"It's always been my dream, ever since I was a little girl, to live in one of them."

Tyson bit his lip and sat up all the way to get a better look at the cottages. "It certainly is peaceful up here."

"Isn't it?" Hilary exhaled. "The smell of the ocean, and the fresh, salty air. Plus, it's so quiet and serene!"

"It is," Tyson agreed.

"Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a party in one of them?" Hilary continued, her voice becoming dreamier and more distant. "Just imagine it. A lawn party with a barbeque and those beautiful paper lanterns!"

"What would you have a party for?" Tyson questioned.

"Anything, really," Hilary hummed. "Just for fun."

"You could have one for a reason, too," Tyson added.

"Of course."

"Well…give me an example."

"A birthday," Hilary replied simply. "Or…to celebrate some kind of milestone. Or maybe even a wedding party!"

"A wedding party?" Tyson repeated.

"Yeah," Hilary sighed adoringly. "You know…like…the reception."

"Oh…"

"I just think it would be a lovely place to live," Hilary finished, nodding slowly to herself.

"Yeah…" Tyson trailed off slowly.

Now it was Hilary's turn to push herself up onto her elbows and glance at her boyfriend. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing," Tyson replied innocently. "I think that these cottages are nice, too! They're very you."

"Aren't they?" Hilary giggled.

"But…they're so small," Tyson continued, looking over his shoulder at the tiny houses once again.

"I like small," Hilary contended with a shrug. "That means less to clean up."

"True," Tyson conceded.

"And we all know how big of a mess you make."

Tyson sighed and tilted his head back. "Fun-ny," he drawled sarcastically.

"I wasn't trying to be funny. I was being serious."

"Besides, I wasn't talking about cleaning," Tyson murmured, putting his head back down to look over at Hilary. "I was talking about something else."

"Oh, really?" Hilary questioned, Tyson's sly tone making her smile. "And what were you talking about, then?"

"I meant like…if we had a family or something…" Tyson muttered, his whole face delicately blushing.

Hilary's eyes widened, her smile disappearing into a thoroughly shaped 'O' that perfectly defined her feeling of shock. "Y-you…you mean…you mean us? Like…you and I?"

"Or…or just you…" Tyson blurted, the red on his face intensifying. "You know. Whatever you want."

Resting her head on her shoulder, Hilary smiled once again and tried to fight it. She only managed to shrink down the grin to the smallest extent when she looked back up at Tyson. Fortunately, he had already averted his gaze out of embarrassment. "Well, I suppose it would depend on how many children I…or…you and I have."

"Children?" Tyson repeated, his eye twitching. "That's…multiple."

"Mmhm."

"Uh…how many were you thinking of?"

"Well, if we had one kid, we could still live in a cottage," Hilary mused. "It might be a little bit tight, but it would still be comfortable. Two would be a tight fit. And three…well, there's no way we could live in a cottage with three kids."

Tyson twisted his mouth and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Three, huh?"

"Maybe," Hilary murmured thoughtfully. "Maybe four or five. I don't know."

Tyson sat up straight, his eyes widening. "I didn't agree to that!"

"Of course you didn't," Hilary snickered. "We're not married! Hell, we're not even engaged."

"Right…" Tyson snickered, nervously wringing his hands together. "You're right!"

"I know I am."

"So…living in a sea cottage is really your dream, huh?" Tyson murmured.

"One of them," Hilary corrected.

"Okay, one of them," Tyson sighed. "Do you have any other dreams I should know about?"

"I have other dreams. You just can't know about them. Not yet, anyway."

Tyson frowned at this and leaned forward, closer to Hilary. "Why not?!"

"It's a secret."

"Hilary!"

"Oh, Tyson, just learn to be patient," Hilary groaned, although her lips were beginning to curve into a smile. "Besides, I gave you some hints. And you gave yourself some as well."

Tyson blinked and leaned back, staring at his enchanted girlfriend the entire time.

"Hints?" Tyson murmured.

Still smiling, Hilary rolled over onto her side and listened to the waves crashing down below as she hid half of her face in the fluffy grass that covered the ground of Athens, her second most favourite place in the world.

You're so dense, Tyson. So, so dense. But I love you just as much. I'll never understand why, but I do.