Grooming, as a term, is misunderstood and misused often, like gaslighting or cognitive dissonance.

Roxy didn't raise or teach or even interact with Rudy for a long time as a child. She never did anything to shape him into her ideal partner, nor had the thoughts of doing so.

Sure falling in love with someone you knew as a child when you were an adult definitely has bad optics and can also be predatory due to the age-gap, but the age-gap thing is usually an issue due to maturity and power imbalances. Even if we ignore his total mental age, Rudy is far stronger than Roxy, so she can't really control him. So it may be weird and potentially risky as a relationship, but it is not grooming.





















BTW, I just bought this: