I've struggled to catch up on the backstory here since comics are archived behind a pay wall after a week, but I've stumbled upon a trove of juicy deets:
https://nebushumor.wordpress.com/tag/mary-worth/
Last summer, Dawn, leaving a store in Santa Royale’s prestigious Three Doors Mall, bumps into Hugo.
Turns out Hugo, not Mary, was the exchange student.
They have lunch. Hugo negs on the typical American diet of fried high-fructose corn syrup smothered in bacon. He loved the part in Literature class where they talked about Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He negs Americans’ cultural appreciation. But Dawn points out America has good stuff too, like how we let French people in and … value … Americanism and stuff. Hugo likes Dawn, despite how she’s an American living in America in American ways.
Anyway, they have a decent summer romance. Mary Worth offers the obvious but useful advice that Dawn should talk with Hugo about what happens after he goes home. Dawn brings up the topic gently, on a trip to the Santa Royale Aquarium.
He says, why speak of the future? He points to the fish who have their tanks and their place and accept it, and why don’t we accept the here and now?
She decides not to take the hint. Driving him to the airport she finally asks if they can Skype together or something. He says no, it couldn’t work.
She goes home to cry.
Then there's a knock on her door.
No, it’s not Mary Worth. It’s Hugo!
His flight’s delayed to tomorrow. So he went to her. And, he’s willing to try a long distance relationship now. Dawn is overjoyed. And Mary Worth approves of this. She notes there are challenges to a long-distance relationship, but, come on. This is officially 2019. Over 96 percent of all relationships start out as long distance.