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There’s no two ways around it: Days of Our Lives‘ Holly and Tate are on the outs! We know, we know, the two just took their relationship to the next level and slept together after a romantic dinner in the Horton cabin. (You can check out that recap here.) But that decision to move forward may amount to little more than putting a band-aid on a relationship that’s already been struck a mortal blow.

For one thing, Holly’s had a tough time shrugging off Tate and Sophia’s coming baby. And the reluctant parents have, unsurprisingly, has been doing some hardcore bonding in dealing with the stress of teen pregnancy. Then there’s Doug and Holly’s obvious attraction in the middle of all this, and his Valentine’s Day confession that he’s been head over heels for her from the moment they met.

Put it all together and it seems clear that Tate and Holly are heading for heartbreak, while she and Doug could be building towards a romance for the history books. Sparks have flown between the two ever since their first meeting, and viewers have very much noticed.

But while folks are enjoying the chemistry between them, the one thing that’s been a bit of a sticking point is that Holly’s still in high school while Doug is, well, definitely not. Days of Our Lives has been vague on just how old Doug is, but he seems to be in his early 20s. But for better or worse, it’s not exactly a new trope for the show.

Bo and Hope’s ages, for instance, were a bit fuzzy when they first met. He was the motorcycle-riding bad boy, she had just run away from boarding school. And when Chloe and Brady first met and started sparks flying, she was in high school, he in college. (We won’t get into her age…)

The good news is, the soap has at least learned and evolved enough to make it absolutely clear that Holly is 18, and a legal adult who is almost through high school. If Doug is in his early 20s, it’s not a huge gap. And once Holly’s out of school, it’ll be a pretty moot point. They’ll both be adults out of school.

Plus, epic love stories are kind of in Doug’s blood — especially if there’s an age gap! Doug and Julie’s age difference was large enough that she swiped her future husband away from her mom (which is how Julie and Hope ended up as both sisters and step-mother/daughter) and they ended up as one of the most enduring love stories Salem has ever known. Off-screen, of course, their portrayers, the late Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth-Hayes, shared a love story even more expansive than the characters.

There’s a reason Doug’s lyrics to Julie inspired his namesake to make his Valentine’s confession, and it’s clear the show already wants us to start making the parallels to the new generation of lovers. At the end of the day, high school romances rarely seem to work out long term in Salem — especially when there’s a baby involved. But the forbidden love building between Holly and Doug? That’s the stuff that super couples are made of. Just ask Doug and Julie.