Alina also reveals a secret she's kept from Caleb that has the potential to "ruin everything."
After a rocky start, Alina finally got what she was hoping for when it came to her budding romance with Caleb on Sunday's episode of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days. Alina and Caleb made out, but not before some serious tension between Caleb and her best friend, Elijah.
Alina, who's from Russia, and Caleb, who's from Chandler, Arizona, first connected when they were 15 years old on social media but lost touch for 13 years. They then amazingly matched on a dating app, which reignited their feelings for one another. They both traveled to Turkey this season to meet in person to see if their online connection translated to real life. But Alina, who is the show's first little person, was disappointed upon arriving in Turkey. Caleb clearly didn't take her into consideration when booking their hotel, given that the hotel had no elevator and the bed was too high for her to get on without assistance. After meeting one another at the airport, Caleb remarked that Alina was smaller than he thought in person, and Alina was upset that once they reached the hotel, they didn't kiss and he just went to sleep. She worried that Caleb was not physically attracted to her.
On Sunday's episode, Caleb was definitely more upbeat the next morning, but was called out by Elijah -- who accompanied Alina to Turkey to support her -- for falling asleep.
"Yesterday you saw the girl that you've been wanting to see for 15 years and then you just fall asleep?" he asked Caleb.
"My first impression of Caleb, uh, isn't that good," Elijah added to cameras. "He didn't even kiss her last night."
Caleb similarly didn't have a good impression of Elijah upon meeting.
"I've had mixed feelings about Elijah coming," he said. "I came here to meet Alina, to get to know her, and after this encounter, it's like, is this what he's going to be bringing to the table the entire time? I feel like he's being divisive and putting issues where there's not."
The trio then went sightseeing and Elijah continued to be cold to Caleb, criticizing him for the way he handled Alina.
"Some things will be, you know, hard with Alina because... maybe she don't want to go somewhere," he told Caleb when they went to a mosque and Alina did not want to go to the top floor. "Maybe it's just uncomfortable for her. So, you need to really get used to it, and, uh, respect it."
Caleb shot back, "Well, she seemed to be fine waiting down below."
As the day went on, Elijah increasingly appeared to dislike Caleb.
"I am here to just protect Alina," he told cameras. "So in the future, he'd better change his behavior. The guy who wants to be near such a beautiful woman like Alina needs to treat her like a queen, but I didn't see that much from Caleb today."
Later, at dinner, Elijah criticized Caleb's manners, such as not filling Alina's drink before his and also not waiting for a toast before drinking. While Alina brushed it off as Caleb being American, Elijah was clearly bothered. As for Caleb, he said that he felt Elijah thought Alina needed more help than she actually does, but Elijah replied that it was not help, but rather "caring."
While Alina's best friend not getting along with Caleb is already a serious issue, she also revealed a secret to cameras that she's been keeping from Caleb that has the potential to "ruin" their relationship.
"There is something, some secret, that I'm afraid is going to ruin everything," she said after Caleb asked about her exes during dinner. "I've been living with this ex-boyfriend, kind of, until recently. He doesn't know that. ... I didn't tell Caleb about my living situation with my ex because I was afraid that he would stop pursuing me and he would back off. I know that I should come clean with Caleb as soon as possible. But I'm scared that when he's going to find out the truth he's going to think that I'm a liar."
But for now, Caleb was very much interested in Alina, not so subtly dismissing Caleb at dinner so they could get alone time. After carrying her up to their room, Caleb went in for their first kiss, which turned into making out on the bed.
"There's a sense of serenity that wasn't there with Elijah," Caleb told cameras about his feelings for Alina. "I really want the romantic side of our relationship to work out. And the more time I spend with Alina the more comfortable I get. And I feel like our connection is deepening."
ET spoke to Alina ahead of this season of 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days and she talked about making history on the show as the first little person to be featured. She said that a big part of the reason she wanted to be on the hit reality show is because you don't often see people with disabilities -- specifically, little people dating people of average height -- dating on television.
"I don't think it adds any pressure, maybe a little bit, maybe in a way that I hope I didn't say anything degrading to people like me and I was always correct with the terms that I use to, like, describe myself, you know?" she said. "I don't really feel any pressure, I think that it's awesome. I kind of love that I'm the first one because I'm not really compared to anyone else."
When it comes to Caleb, Alina admitted that she did at some point have "questions" about his intentions but that she let his actions guide her feelings about him. As for what fans can expect from the couple this season, she shared, "Buckle up, get ready, it's going to be a fun ride and cute."
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