On Saturday morning, Alex woke up early as usual. Today, though, was going to be a special day. As she went down to have lunch, her father was already making breakfast, and her mother was chatting with him while drinking some coffee. Before she could sit down, her father sent her upstairs to wake Claire up and have breakfast all together: today, they were going to go with Sophie’s parents to see possible flats to rent for the coming university years.

After having woken Claire up with some knocks on the door (she really did not like when people entered without her explicit permission, so Alex just knocked on the door and waited for her response), Alex sat down with her parents and started eating the toasts her father had been making, along with the freshly-made orange juice and chocolate milk. Halfway through the toast, Claire appeared, looking tired and yawning profusely. She started eating too, but was clearly not going to be much of a talker.

“Alex, honey”, Alex’s mother started, “are you excited to see the possible apartments? I know this will be a very important step for you in life”.

“Yes, this and working during your studies to support yourselves will really make next year a huge step in required maturity, but will also start teaching you how to be an adult”, Alex father continued. “Still, of course, we are here for you, dear. We can help you with whatever you need, including paperwork stuff”, he finished with a reassuring caress of Alex’s arm.

Alex suddenly remembered that eventually, she would need to start looking at the legal aspect of her transition. She would really need a plan for that, since “magical change” is not going to be a legally acceptable step. Further, and this was much more worrying to her, she would need to tell her parents eventually. She was terrified of losing their affection, and ruin her relationship with them, even if it would not be “technically her fault”. And after reading so many concerning stories on the internet, this could very well be the scariest step she would need to take.

She was starting to panic, so she forced herself to keep her composure and closer her eyes. This was a problem for the future Alex. Now, though, her relationship with her parents was as good as always and she needed to focus on the here and now, going together with Sophie’s family to see their possible future lovers nest (as she jokingly called it on text when chatting).

Her parents did not notice anything wrong with her, since they were talking to each other, so she just finished her breakfast as if nothing had happened and went upstairs to get ready, taking first turn in the bathroom to shower since Claire was clearly only halfway trough her own breakfast. She decided to keep it simple and wear a plain white T-shirt and her newest jean shorts, she was trying to make a good impression. She also decided to wear her black and white converse, a nod to the last date she had with Sophie at the mall. She briefly glanced at the plush, now sitting on her shelf, a few centimeters higher than her head when standing.

Once she was done, she sat on the sofa downstairs waiting for her family to finish getting ready, which was going to take a while yet. During that time, she confirmed that Sophie’s parents were also getting ready, and that she was also very excited about seeing their possible new homes. Together they had reviewed quite a lot of places, and today they were visiting the three most promising ones, which were close-ish enough to the university without requiring a huge monthly rent (real estate market was a nightmare, they had concluded).

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They had agreed to meet in front of the first house, after which they would continue to visit the other two places. They were going to go by car, driven by their respective parents. When Alex arrived, Sophie and her parents were already waiting in front of the door, taking a look around at the street of the house. When Sophie noticed them, she went ahead and gave Alex a hug, which she returned, and a peck on the cheek.

Their respective parents shook hands as a manner of greeting, while their mothers were talking to each other. Claire, who had been looking to the side during their public display of affection, was now trying to say hi to Sophie. A couple of minutes later, the real estate agent appeared on the street too, and after greeting them guided them inside the building. It was a 3 level building, from around 100 years ago like most in the neighborhood, but still looking fine. After climbing the steep stairs up to the third floor, they entered the apartment itself.

It was a regular looking apartment, consisting on a small bathroom, a small kitchen, a small living room with a digital TV and two bedrooms connected to the same side of the living room. It also had the small balcony. Even though it had all basic necessities, like a shower, a bed for each room and so, it was somewhat lacking in decoration, clearly having only been furnished as a real estate renting opportunity. All in all, it did not look bad at all, the rent was not very high and the bus connections allowed them to go to their respective classes in around 30 minutes or so. This was one of Sophie’s favorites, even though Alex did not like it that much since they would be living in separate bedrooms.

Their parents also quite liked it, and Sophie’s parents even mentioned that it reminded them of their first house together, back when they were finishing their masters. Alex’s parents, on their part, seemed to have simply bought their first house together when they were older, instead of starting living together back in university.

After asking a few questions to the real estate agent, they had already seen enough and were ready to visit the next apartment. It was a 10 minute trip by car from the first one, guided by the real estate agent in Sophie’s car. In this case, it was located in front of a playground that looked a bit run down, close to a couple of stores that had gone out of business (and some that were operating normally, but it was rare for two to be side by side).

This house was located on a newer building, probably 30-40 years old, with 5 levels. The house was located on the ground floor, and they had their own entrance through the garden, using a metal white door. The garden had a grass floor, with a stone tile path leading to the house through a set of double crystal doors and a small tree on one side. It would have looked quite nice if it had been taken care of properly, Alex thought. Sophie, on the other hand, was concerned about the safety of the arrangement: neither the door nor the fence were tall at all, and given that the entrance of the house was trough a set of crystal doors, it would not be very hard for someone to enter their house to steal.

As they entered, they found that the house itself was bigger than the previous one, with new-ish furniture and more amenities like a bigger kitchen with a microwave, a bigger shower, a bigger living room and two big bedrooms with king sized beds. All in all, it looked better than the previous one, and it was a bit closer to their university, but it was more expensive too, barely within their price range including their parents’ contribution. Once again, their parents asked a few questions to the real estate agent and after a while they took off to their final destination. During this trip, Alex’s parents mentioned to her that they had security concerns for this house, just like Sophie had whispered to her during the visit.

The final apartment was located in a residential area, close to a big park in the city, in the hilly outskirts region. Most of the constructions were actually single houses, with a few 2 level buildings scattered around. The apartment was actually the basement of one of the houses, but given that it was built on a hill, you did not really notice as it was ground level at the entrance. The landlord in this case was also going to be present, given that he lived in the main house, and wanted to meet the possible future tenants. He was waiting for them in the garden as they arrived, tending to the flowers on the top part (the part belonging to his own residence). He was a cheerful man in his 60s, already retired, who liked to spent as much time traveling as he could, which is why he had made an apartment out of his basement (as he explained right after meeting him).

The apartment, which had its own entrance, was quite nicely decorated, with modern looking furniture, and plenty of plants and books for decoration, and pretty much all they would need, like a microwave, a dishwasher, a washing machine, a big shower, a huge sofa, a big modern TV… The house consisted of only three rooms: the bathroom, which was the biggest they had visited; the kitchen, which was quite spacious; and the main room, combining living room and bedroom with a double sized bed close to the exit towards the garden. It was smaller than the ones they had seen before, but the decoration and the ample space the living room had made it seem actually bigger than the first one. Also, the price was in the same range, but in this case they would be sleeping together, which was what Alex wanted from the beginning. After a few final questions, they left the final apartment around lunch time.

They decided to have lunch together in a pasta restaurant, since the parents had not properly met before besides brief interactions here and there. On the way there, Alex’s parents expressed their reservations about they sleeping together in the same room, which amused Alex quite a bit. After all, what did they think was going to happen to a couple living together on their own? On the way, she reflected on the apartments they had visited, but knew she had already chosen her favorite. If Sophie also preferred it, they would have already found their place for the next year. After that, she thought with a smile, it would be good if they could move to the university girls dorms together as roommates. She kept imagining her future life together with Sophie until they finally reached the restaurant, and got down of the car. She could not wait for the year to begin!