In March of 2020, Lauren was enjoying a glorious semester abroad in Spain when she had to fly home early to Illinois due to the pandemic. Facing a lonely two-week quarantine, she reactivated her profile on the dating app Hinge. But—and here’s the twist found in every good fairytale—Lauren forgot to change her location from Lexington to Gurnee, Illinois. Thus, the princess was trapped in a tower, wondering when her prince will come, and if he would remember to wear a mask. Meanwhile, the prince, better known as “Jake, Buffalo Trace Safety Coordinator,” was working night and day to keep 500 distillery employees safe during a pandemic. There was no time for conventional dating, so he searched on Hinge for a Lexington lass who loved Jesus and fishing. And Lauren’s profile popped up. Over the next five months, as the world remained locked down, Jake and Lauren became best friends while never meeting in person. He asked her out on Facetime dates where they cooked the same meal and watched the same movie together. They met each other’s families over Facetime. They had long conversations late into the night. They laughed, danced, and talked about everything under the sun. And their friendship caught fire. All that remained was to finally meet in person. So, on August 12, 2020, the handsome prince knocked on the apartment door of his green-eyed princess. And they lived happily ever after.