HeartBLOOD

Chapter five

"Alexander?", Magnus asked as he stepped into their dorm room. After his talk with Asmodeus he has been wandering around the city, trying to clear his mind. Without him noticing, it has gotten pretty late so when he got back he wasn't surprised to find Alec asleep. He must have been doing homework, according to the open book that lied on his chest and the half-seated, half-laying crooked position he has fallen asleep in. Blowing a good night kiss on his cheek Magnus took off his clothes and lied down in his bed. His mind was restless, he couldn't sleep. He had promised himself he wouldn't start crying again but it was getting harder with every second he spent alone with his thoughts. Trying to distract himself he grabbed his phone but quickly found himself reading though all his previous text messages with Asmodeus- all this time he was texting with his father. He had been lied to. All those messages were one big lie, one ruthless strategy of his father to get close to him, invading his life like a parasite. All his way home he thought about what he was going to tell Alec. If there was one thing he had learned from everything that had happened, it was that secrets never worked out. So he swore himself he would be open with Alec. The question was, how open. At first he had considered telling him absolutely everything. But Magnus knew Alec would object Asmodeus' offer, especially in the heat of the moment. He wasn't even sure if Alec had his pride under control well enough to accept an offer like that from anyone, but most definitely not from a man that had lied to his boyfriend for over half a year and turned out to be his birthfather who Magnus never spoke well about. His thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of his phone- Camille had sent him a text message. "Still awake?" Chuckling, Magnus texted back:" Yes, surprise I guess." Back in the days, when they dated, he remembered how Camille always stayed up crazy long and he used to get texts from her at three AM asking if he wanted to facetime, whilst he was on his fifth hour of sleep. "Indeed. R u ok?", she replied and Magnus took a deep breath. "I will be." he returned truthfully. "Wanna talk about it?", she texted and Magnus swallowed hard- actually, yes- he did. And maybe Camille was a good person to talk to about it- after all, she was involved in his family drama like nobody else was. But it wouldn't be fair to talk to her before he talked to Alec. "Tomorrow?", he suggested and got an okay in response. With a sigh he put down his phone and eventually feel into a restless, shallow sleep.

When his alarm went off he felt as if he had barely slept at all. "Good morning.", he heard Alec sigh from his side of the room. "Morning!", he replied and yawned, pushing the thought of having to talk to Alec away. As usually they didn't talk much before class and just got ready. "Oh, I forgot to ask- what was the deal with Asmodeus yesterday? I must have fallen asleep before you came home.", Alec said whilst Magnus was still in the bathroom. "Oh, it's complicated- I'll tell you after class, okay?", he suggested and Alec just shrugged. "You're okay, though?", he asked a bit concerned. "Yep.", Magnus said and gave him a little kiss before they walked out of their room. It wasn't even a lie- he just hadn't fully processed everything. The real realization hadn't hit him yet and he wanted to keep the peace for as long as he could.

"Good morning, quick update!", Valentine snarled and the room turned quiet immediately. "In order for you to get asked to audition for any job, the people potentially hiring you need to know you exist. As you know, we're sending out the requested information for you. For this to be possible, we have to first gather all the information. In a week we'll do a physical exam in which we'll measure you, weigh you and so on." "That would have been it for Maureen.", Raphael whispered in terror. Luckily, Valentine did not hear that remark and carried on:" More important is that we'll do a professional dance photoshoot then. So, do what you need to do in order for you to look your absolute best in those pictures- work out, tan, shave- Jocelyn will talk to you about that in basic training later. Now, get to the barre, we have work to do." Sighing, Magnus obeyed. He was excited for the photoshoot, but he was not looking forwards to all the extra work they'd have to put in the next week. Like usually, everyone was out of shape after summer break so there was a lot to do. Last year it had been the same for him and he remembered the shaving as the worst part. Magnus had no choice but to giggle when he thought about Alec completely shaved. "What's so funny about tendues, Mister Bane?", Valentine snapped and Magnus immediately straightened up, responding with a hasty "Sorry Sir."

So, what was the deal with Asmodeus?", Alec asked during lunch. Magnus had chosen a table far away from the other ones so they would have some privacy. The only thing he noticed was Camille's suspicious glares in his direction- he hadn't talked to her either. "Well, things were a bit different than expected.", Magnus sighed and just started explaining the situation to Alec. With every further word he spoke, he could see Alec's face twitch in disgust, his jaw slowly dropping. "I can't believe this bastard!"; he hissed. In all those years, Magnus had never seen him that angry. "It was a lot to process.", Magnus sighed but Alec seemed as if he wasn't listening. He was so fueled with rage, Magnus was sure he'd explode any moment. This was definitely not the time to tell him about the offer- but Magnus promised himself to talk to him about it in a few days, once the anger had settled.