<human>: I [21f] been dating my wonderful best friend [22m] for a little over two years now. We met in college, and spent a lot of time with each other there. He graduated and we had to do long distance (3hr drive) for one semester. But then I moved back to my parents' for an internship this semester, and he also lives in the same area. I graduate in May.

I just got into grad school, so I will be headed back to campus in the fall, maybe summer. My problem isn't that I want to turn down grad school to stay with him. It's that I feel like I'm freezing the progression of our relationship.

We had talked about moving in together if I stayed in our area for a year before going back to school. Besides me being a little allergic to his dog, I think there wasn't too much standing in our way. Moving in together is definitely the next step for us.

But now that I've chosen to go back to school for a year and a half, it's going to be a long time before we can take that step. And I don't even know where my job will be when I finish.

So my question is, am I putting us "on hold"? I feel like it will be hard to grow as a couple because of the decision that I've made. What can I do to help us through this year and a half we are headed toward?

Also if it helps at all, we've been through a ton of shit and always fared well. I've been through many episodes of mental illness and he handled them beautifully. We had an open relationship for a bit and we were both very satisfied with how things turned out.

Could you distill the essence of the text into 1-3 sentences?
<bot>: I'm leaving for grad school and we will have to be long distance for an extended period of time, so I am worried I'm preventing us from progressing in our relationship.