???? FLASHBACK TO FIFTH GRADE ????

  ???? Alex would be about ten, I think, so I think the year would be 2006 ????

  *Third person pov*

  Alex's father is joining a field trip as a chaperone.

  (The fictional location), Feuille Elementary School, is visiting a museum for the day.

  This museum has a restaurant nearby and that's where everyone is eating.

  The Asian girl is sat at a table on one end of the restaurant, and her adoptive father is sat at a different table on the other end.

  At the same table as Alex's dad (Kevin or Kev), her friend Tony is sitting there too, with some other boys from the class she doesn't know as well.

  Tony is a boy Alex considers a very important friend. He's probably been one of her biggest supporters as she socially transitions as a ?????? girl, but ontop of that, he's always kind to her and unlike some students, he doesn't treat her differently just because she's different.

  Along with the huge amount of students and teachers who won't recognize her as a girl, there's also just the general struggles of fitting in when you're an autistic person, and the only Asian in the school.

  In these earlier days of life, those children don't have the terminology to understand these other smaller variables that also affect their judgement.

  As far as the little kids know, Alex Kim is just a weird brown kid that's "pretending" to be a girl.

  But Tony has no fear about standing up for Alex, even to his own friends.

  Unbeknownst to Alex, her father seems to really be getting along with Tony during this field trip.

  He happened to sit near Kevin on the bus ride here and they chatted.

  The blonde boy lacks any fear when it comes to talking with adults and sometimes even enjoys it just as much- if not more- than talking with his peers.

  Anyway, by now it's lunchtime.

  At some point, Tony excused himself to go use the restroom, his friend Nick also deciding to go with him.

  Alex- from a distance- only knew that Tony was walking away, and she took this chance to go talk with her dad.

  During this time of her life, Kevin Kim often works late hours so his daughter doesn't always get a chance to talk with him.

  The autistic girl leaves her table and walks over to her dad and she sits down in Tony's seat.

  Kevin frowns. "Alex, what are you doing?"

  Almost startled by his stern tone, Alex says, "I'm just borrowing the seat. I'll get up when Tony gets back. Anyway, are you enjoying the field trip?"

  "That's not your seat, Alex. Get up."

  Alex stands up, but she doesn't leave. "I just wanna talk with you for a minute."

  "About what?"

  The ten-year-old is confused... and she wonders if maybe she said something wrong.

  She tries again, "I was just wondering if you are enjoying the field trip."

  Kevin relaxes a bit, and he begins telling Alex his thoughts and feelings and how interesting he finds all the history.

  Since not all the groups had to stick together, Alex asks what he's seen so far.

  As Kevin goes into lengthy detail about the various and impressive things he's seen with his group so far, Alex leans against the table.

  At some point, the little girl absentmindedly starts eating out of a bag of Cheetos that's right in front of her.

  Kevin's face falls.

  In a hushed and stern tone, he hisses, "Alex! What are you doing? That's not yours"

  Alex's eyes widen as she realizes the mistake she just made.

  At that moment, Nick and Tony come back from the bathroom to see Alex freaking out about her dad freaking out

  The ten-year-old insists, "It was an honest mistake! I have the exact same bag at my table and I forgot this wasn't my bag!"

  "That's no excuse to eat someone else's food!"

  Nick smirks and mutters, "What did we miss?"

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Tony walks up to Alex and Kevin, keeping calm as he asks what's going on.

  Alex's father puts a hand to his forehead in agitation, while Alex immediately moves away from Tony's spot at the table.

  "I am so sorry Tony! I just came over to talk with my dad but I sat down and I accidentally ate some of your food! I am really sorry!"

  He kinda heard as much from a distance...

  Tony raises an eyebrow, not sure why Kevin would make such a big deal out of this, especially considering Alex already looks like she might cry.

  Thinking it would make her smile, Tony offers: "You can have it. It's fine."

  Tony is used to offering stuff to Alex.

  During the school's little Halloween party, when the teachers cut Alex off from the candy bowl because she was eating so much, Tony (of his own accord) snuck her an extra one.

  And normally, Alex would happily except.

  But in this situation, Alex just shakes her head, but then almost panickedly adds, "No thank you. Again, I'm sorry."

  And with that, she rushes away, back to her table on the other side of the restaurant.

  Alex's friend considers going after her to make sure she's okay, but Kevin interrupts this thought. "I am so sorry about that."

  The blonde boy wonders why Kevin got so anxious over something that- at least, to Tony- is so small.

  But then Tony draws the conclusion it's a difference in family values.

  (He's not far off the mark... recall that Tony's family is very rich and Alex's family isn't so food is precious)

  Tony considers trying to say something to improve the situation, but the ten-year-old's mind draws a blank, and he settles for sweeping it under the rug and changing the subject.

  After lunch and the kids went back to the museums, Tony wanted a chance to talk with Alex afterwards to make sure she knew he wasn't unhappy with her.

  He knows she's the type to get worried about things easily and he doesn't like the idea of Alex walking around thinking he's mad at her when he isn't.

  The unfortunate thing is that he never got a chance to talk with her again that day, not even on the bus ride home, and it was a Friday so he forgot over the weekend.

  It wasn't that big of a deal to him, so he forgot it easily.

  Alex however will probably remember that event for the rest of her life.

  (TIME SKIP TO TONY AND ALEX DATING AND LIVING TOGETHER AS YOUNG ADULTS AS THEY FINISH UP THEIR TIME WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA)

  *ALEX POV*

  As I poke my head into the refrigerator, I can't help but feel kind of irritated.

  A few minutes ago my boyfriend said he was gonna run out to get some fast food from a drive through and he asked if I wanted anything.

  I don't know why but I told him no and I even said "I'm sure" when he asked if I'm sure.

  Now he's been gone for like- ten minutes and literally two minutes after he left, I changed my mind.

  I don't know why that happened.

  I could make the excuse that he asked me while I was focused on something else, but I don't wanna blame him.

  And I'm not gonna text him or call him when he's driving.

  I don't like the idea of the love of my life not having 100% focus on the road, especially since it's after sundown!

  Then again, even if there wasn't any issue with my messaging him, I don't wanna annoy him when he literally asked me twice if I wanted anything.

  Why does this always happen?

  I try to calm myself by focusing on the many scents inside the fridge.

  All I can do now is try to figure out what I'm gonna eat for dinner based on what we have in the apartment.

  I'm taking in the sights and smells of each thing and hoping something will catch my attention but for once in my life, I'm actually failing to find food appealing...

  And you wanna know why?

  Because my brain is stuck on wondering what fast food Tony went out for.

  Did he say? I don't remember if he did!

  We usually don't eat out much.

  I'm not entirely sure why since we have nothing against fast food and we could afford to eat out more often but we just aren't in that habit.

  Which honestly just makes the sound of some fast food dinner more and more appealing...

  I'm about to give up on my life and just eat cereal for dinner when I hear the door open.

  My first instinct is to go to the door and be annoying, but then it occurs to me that's actually annoying.

  So I just sit down at the kitchen table and try to act like I wasn't frantically trying to figure out my own dinner.

  I quickly pull out my phone and turn it on and tap on the first app that slides under my finger.

  I'm not even entirely sure what I'm looking at but it's something convincing of how totally chill I am.

  "Hey~ I'm home~"

  Tony Ebare, dreamiest and most cuddly golden-retriever type boyfriend in the universe, heads past the couch living room space and to the kitchen part of the room.

  As I open my mouth to say "Hi", I can already detect the scent of me regretting all my life choices.

  The beautiful crisp whisper of that cooked and salted and possibly greasy food calls to me.

  I can definitely smell the thin but distinct salt of fresh fries...

  And if my mouth and nose aren't telling me I missed out, then my eyes are.

  THOSE ARE A&W BAGS!

  One of my favorite things in the universe! (Behind... ten hundred other things I say the exact same thing about, haha)

  Do I smell corn dog nuggets?!

  I can feel the saliva building up in my mouth!

  I leave my phone as I casually stand up.

  "That smells so warm~" Trying my best to come off as cute but not annoying, I ask, "Can I have some? Just a small bite?"

  My boyfriend sighs and looks at the ceiling briefly. "You always do this!"

  At first I wonder if he's actually unhappy with me, but then I realize he's only teasing me.

  I can tell by that charming laid-back smile of his.

  "The good thing about you always doing this?" Tony pulls out a second bag. "I can predict it."

  I let out a small gasp realizing he got some for me too!

  Embarrassed I've done this so often, I apologize.

  Tony gently teases, "You're not supposed to apologize when someone gives you food."

  "Sorry, you're just a dream come true."

  "Nah, I'm just a boyfriend." He sets the bag down in front of me.

  Unsure how else to express my joy, I wrap my arms around him and kiss his cheek.

  My childhood friend lets out a soft chuckle. His voice almost seems a little shy as he asks, "How about a real kiss?"

  At first I plan to just oblodge, but then I realize I can tease him a little.

  I lean close and lower my voice. "I'll kiss you after you eat a little."

  The blonde laughs a little, and he tilts his head with curiosity. "What?"

  I admit: "I love kissing you after you eat fries. When you do, there's always a trace of salt in your mouth?? it's so good??"

  Tony's face gets a little red as he whines, "Alex!"

  I imitate his whining. "Colton!"

  As my boyfriend pouts at me, I can't help but giggle a little. "And they say I'm childish."

  "You're calling me childish, but I just brought you food because I thought ahead." He seems very proud of himself for that, as he should.

  I caress Tony's face. "Well, that's because you're also an absolute savior."

  His sweet blue eyes shine as he looks at me. He lets out a small laugh. "Yes, I saved you from dying of starvation."

  "My hero."

  Tony laughs it off, and with that, we begin eating our nice warm dinner together.