FLASHBACK

The pair walked from the school to the transit station together, much to Fiona's surprise, but not disappointment. "Oh, come on. You don't want to show off your north side roots? Don't you guys have drivers or your own car by the time that you're thirteen on that side of the city?" she teased him.

Julian scoffed a little at her teasing, shaking his head. So, she had heard about him being from the north side and still hadn't blown him off. It was surprising to him, considering when most of the kids at their school found out they either wanted nothing to do with him, or only wanted to hang out with him because they thought that his family was wealthy. She didn't seem to fit either of those categories, and though he was happy about that, it was new to him.

"I don't have a driver or my own car. My mom's parents are north side. If anyone drives me anywhere, it's her. She never wanted me to have anything just handed to me or trust blindly. She wanted me to work for everything that I have and want," he shrugged.

"I see," Fiona nodded. It was a bit of a shock, a north side kid who had managed to slip into a south side school from day one, who saw the struggles that a lot of the south side families went through, yet still didn't want to just give over to his roots.

"Don't get me wrong, it was nice when I was a kid, to be able to ask my grandparents and get whatever I want, but my mom put a stop to that pretty early on," he spoke. "We've never had to struggle too much, but she's never liked accepting handouts from them for as long as I can remember, either."

Fiona listened intently, tilting her head, "So, basically, your mom wanted to make sure that you weren't some entitled elitist, that's a plus," she said, nudging him lightly as they made their way onto the subway car and found a place to sit.

Julian smirked at her words, but nodded, "Basically, yeah," he replied, sitting beside her as the subway car began to move, taking them toward the city. He let out a little sigh, looking over at her, "What about you?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders a little at the question, intent to avoid it a little, "Oh, my family is all from south side. I don't think that it's ever been any different," she spoke.

His brow furrowed slightly and his head tipped to the side. "Oh.. no, I meant what are your parents like?"

Fiona shifted uncomfortably in her seat, thinking about how to answer that question as vaguely as she could. She didn't want their date to end just as soon as it had started because he saw her for what the other kids at school had said about her.

"Oh. Well, they're pretty absent, honestly? But, I guess if nothing else, it's taught me some independence and responsibility? I have younger siblings, so I do what I can to help them."

There it was, out in the open. Sure, it was a pretty broad answer that could mean anything, but with the things that he'd probably heard about her, she was sure that he could fill in the blanks. The question was, would he stay after knowing all of that for sure? Or would he take off as soon as he could?

"I understand," he nodded. "I don't have any siblings, but my mom's basically all that I have. I've never met my dad," he admitted. That fact was something that he didn't normally spill to just anyone. If someone got to know him, they'd figure it out in a short amount of time, but he still didn't just go around spilling that information.

Fiona's brow arched at his admission and she nodded slowly. She was starting to think that she had read him all wrong. Maybe everyone had. He wasn't some stuck up playboy, and he didn't think that he was better than anyone. If anything, he was more similar to his classmates than they truly knew.

"I'm sorry," Fiona murmured. Sure, he wasn't the only one with a tragic backstory, but she still felt the need to apologize for the things that she'd assumed of him.

"It's okay." Julian shook his head, taking claim of her hand again, lacing his fingers through hers and rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand. "You didn't know, now you do."

It was somewhat quiet as they rode the rest of the way to the city, getting off of the subway at the stop nearest to the restaurant. Their hands remained intertwined as they exited the subway, walking down the sidewalk and stopping to wait and be seated at the restaurant.

"So.." Fiona spoke up, looking over at him. "You play football, is that something you always want to do, or just something for fun?" she asked him.

Julian considered her question before letting his shoulders rise and fall in a shrug, "It's something that I enjoy doing for now. I don't think I'll have a career in it or anything, but if it gets me a scholarship so I can go to college for free, then so be it."

Fiona bit her lip at the mention of college, fighting a scoff. College was nothing short of a pipe dream for her. It just didn't seem like it would happen. She had way too many responsibilities and things to take care of at home before she could even begin to consider going to school.

"You're really good on the track team. I heard you're one of the best distance runners we have," Julian spoke up. "You think you'll continue that, or is it just something to pass the time until you find something else?" he asked.

Something else? Fiona rarely thought too much into the future, so she hadn't truly considered how far she could go if she continued track. Any time that she tried to make plans for her future, Frank and Monica got in the way and it got messed up somehow. "I'm not really sure. I think I'm just going to take it one day at a time."

Julian nodded, biting down on the inside of his cheek as he thought of what else he could ask her or that they could even just talk about. As he was thinking, Fiona spoke up, "What's the craziest thing that you've ever done?" she asked.

He thought to himself, humming quietly under his breath as he considered his answer. "Me and some of the guys from the football team snuck into the movies not too long ago. Bought a ticket for a normal movie and snuck into one of the rated R films," he spoke. "Also, we TP-ed some houses recently too. Nothing too crazy, I guess now that you think about it."

Fiona nodded as she listened to him. She liked a bit of adventure, but if there was too much crazy in one person, then she felt that it was just asking for disaster. She learned that just from knowing Frank and Monica.

"Okay," she started. "What made you pick me to ask out? Why not one of the other girls? I'm sure they would have said yes to you in a heartbeat," she spoke, tilting her head as she watched his expression, curious to what his answer would be.

"There's just.. I don't know. There's something different about you that stood out to me, as cliché as that sounds. You're not like them, and I mean that in a good way," Julian shrugged.

Fiona felt a small smile creep over her lips at his response, and she nodded lightly, leaning against him a little where they waited, then were finally seated to eat minutes later.

In an effort to not go completely crazy with price, Fiona ordered a specialty burger and fries, and Julian followed suit. They spent the time between bites of food getting to know one another that much more, and when dessert came, Fiona thought to herself for a minute.

She ate a few bites of her dessert before asking the server for a to-go box. Julian's brow furrowed curiously as he watched her put it away while he continued to work on his own dessert. After a moment, he spoke up, unable to help himself, "Are you full? I know you were really excited about that molten cake."

His words were met with a small smile and shrug as she looked down at the table, biting down on her lip in the center. "No, I was, and I am. I just.. I think the kids would really love that, so I wanted to save some for them," she admitted.

Brown eyes shifted up to his a bit nervously, and she tilted her head to the side, "You're not.. mad or frustrated, right?" she asked him. She was unsure just how he'd react to her confession, but she'd understand if he was irritated about her saving food for someone else when he'd bought it for her.

Julian shook his head in response to her asking if he was mad, nudging the plate with his dessert a bit closer to the middle of the table and nodding to her fork for her to share his with him. It wasn't something that he'd offer normally or to just anyone, but with her, he felt that it would be worth it.

Later that night, they ended back up on the L, Fiona holding onto her to-go box full of dessert for her siblings and wearing Julian's sweatshirt due to her mentioning that she'd gotten cold. She wasn't sure why she hadn't been prepared for the chillier temperatures later that night, but she was thankful that he'd given up his hoodie so easily. Not only was it keeping her warm, but it was damn comfy, too.

As they rode the train back in the direction of Fiona's home, her head rested on his shoulder, her fingers wove through his as they held hands. Their conversations carried on until they reached their stop, getting off of the train and walking down the street toward her house.

"So, I'm going to assume that I can keep this, at least until I see you again," Fiona teased, tugging lightly at his hoodie. She smiled mischievously as she looked over at him, and as he grinned back and rolled his eyes, she already knew his answer.

"Of course. It gives us an excuse to keep talking," he joked in return, his fingers playing absentmindedly with hers as they walked.

"I'm sure you'll continue to find excuses, don't worry," Fiona grinned, leaning into his side a bit, slowing as they soon came to a stop in front of her house.

Turning to face him after making her way up the steps, she shrugged her shoulders, "Well, this is me. I guess I'll see you back at school?" she spoke.

Julian nodded, looking around at the neighborhood. Sure, it wasn't the nicest, but he was sure that there were worse places that she could be, and regardless, it didn't give anyone at school any right to talk badly about her or her situation.

"Yep, you sure will, bright and early," he replied, stepping a little closer to her. "I'm really glad that you agreed to come out with me. I had a good time, I hope you did too."

As Julian stepped closer, Fiona did as well, looking up into his eyes with ease, "I did, yeah. And thank you for dinner. We should do it again. Whenever you want," she nodded.

She wasn't sure what to do then, how to part ways with him, so she opened her arms to him, offering him a hug. So, as he stepped into it, her arms wrapped around him and they embraced, lingering in the moment for longer than the probably meant to.

The two started to pull away, and as they did, Julian looked down at Fiona, finding her looking back up at him. He knew in that moment that it was now or never. Leaning in, he pressed his lips softly to hers, then pulled back just a bit to see her reaction.

Fiona's brow arched slightly as she felt Julian's lips touch hers and she kissed back for the moment until he pulled away. She slid her hand to the back of his neck then, gently pulling him in for another.

That kiss lingered for a bit longer, and when it was done, Julian could have sworn that he saw fireworks and felt butterfly wings beating wildly inside his stomach. "Wow," he murmured.

Fiona let out a soft giggle and nodded to agree, finally pulling back after savoring the moment a bit longer. "I'll see you in school." Walking backward toward her door, she turned at the last moment, letting herself inside.

"See you in school," Julian nodded, waiting until she was inside and had closed the door. Once she had, he turned and walked back down the street, making his way home, where he knew that Fiona and the evening that they'd just shared would be the only thing on his mind.