HeartBLOOD

Chapter twenty-three

"What's up!", Simon greeted as he walked into the gathering room right across the floor from their training room. "Not much, we're still waiting for Raph.", Alec chuckled and got up to hug Simon. "I hope he shows up soon, I'm getting tired.", Maia smirked and made space for Simon so he could squeeze himself onto the couch next to Maia and Alec. "Whose idea was it to hang out, anyways?", Simon asked with a frown and Alec couldn't help but grin- that was quite a valid question, especially considering the fact that despite all of them being very close friends, they barely hung out outside of training. When were they supposed to, anyways? There was always homework, training, some sort of performance to prepare. And as soon as one had a few minutes to themselves you usually tended to either catch up on sleep or call family that you could barely catch up with because of your tight schedule. Of course, they spent almost all day together, training, the breaks, lunch- but never afterwards. Whenever they planned on hanging out there always was something restricting them from it, either a doctors appointment, a private session in the tumbling room, physical therapy or just the acute need of sleep. "It was mine, actually."; Maia said quite proudly, "After what you did for me the other day I felt the need to reunite with everyone under better conditions- is Magnus coming as well?" "Uhm, I actually don't know- I do know that him and Valentine are working on his solo right now, but I have no idea of when he'll be ready and if he's going to come after. I can very well imagine he'll be tired and just want to go to bed.", Alec replied. "Oh, I can imagine. I'd probably feel the same way."; Maia shrugged and a smile lit up her face as she saw not one, but two people enter the room. "Maureen!", she exclaimed in pure joy and ran towards her best friend, "I've missed you so much!" "Hey you, surprise!", Maureen smiled and returned her friend's hug. Maureen looked different, Alec noticed. She was glowing and seemed overall more confident and maybe even happier. "Look at you.", he chuckled as he got his welcoming hug. It was so unusual to see her out of training gear, wearing ripped jeans, sneakers and a blouse. Usually, everyone was just walking around in sweats, hoodies, leggings and dancewear so this was quite a thing to point out. "It feels good to be here again with all of you."; she smiled as she took a seat next to Raphael. "We've missed you.", Simon stated, expressing exactly what everyone else felt. "I have missed all of you too!"; Maureen sighed and looked around, "It all looks the same, but I swear it feels so different." "What do you mean?", Raphael asked with a frown. "It feels better. It doesn't feel like a cage anymore, it doesn't feel scary or nasty or bad in any way- it feels pretty, like ballet feels. It feels like the place I always dreamt of, it feels of the NYABM I wanted tl go to so bad when I was a kid because back then, I only saw the pretty sides of it. And now, looking back on it you realize how toxic and gross this place actually is. So of course it's bittersweet, I've seem what actually goes on here, but if you just don't think about it and simply look at the turquoise walls with all the gold and white and marble, if you look at the parket floors and all the mirrors, if you look at the huge rooms and the great stairs leading to the second floor, for a second you forget all the tears you have cried here and just see the pretty again. For a second, you get lost in the illusion of it." "So, what's it like outside?", Simon asked, his eyes sparkling with a certain curiosity. "It's easier.", she smiled and tucked a curl behind her ear, "It feels more real, you feel more human. The world feels more human. And you're not expected to be brilliant in everything you do, out there it's enough to be a decent human. I can't wait until all of you have graduated, I mean it. Looking back at it, I'm so happy I did what I did." "Good thing it worked out for you.", Alec smirked, "But honestly, I've gotten used to it all- the long nights and the early mornings, the criticism, the comments and all of the pressure and expectations." "I could never have gotten used to that.", she sighed, "But I guess you're just a lot more patient, durable and adaptable. Even though it surprises me, I'd even say NYABM hit you the hardest of all of us." "Nah.", Alec contradicted, "It wasn't NYABM. Jonathan, yes, he did quite literally kick me pretty hard but apart from that, all of us had times where we were just barely hanging on. We made it though, though. He kept fighting. And everyone has their own battles to face." "True again.", Simon grinned, "I don't even know how I made it this far. I don't have Alec's strength, nor do I have Raphael's artistry, or Maias flexibility. I'm just Simon. Clumsy, weird, always a bit off, but somehow that seems to be enough." "Because it is."; Maia smiled, "You may not have my flexibility, or Alec's strength, or Raphaels artistry, but you have your drive. You have that sparkle, that makes everyone's heart light up when they watch you dance. And that's something you either have or you don't, that's why it's so precious." A wide smile lit up Simon's face:" I hope that's true. Still, I'm scared of what's to come. All of you guys had some major struggles so far, Alec's knee, Maureen and Raphael's entire tragedy, Maia just had her mental breakdown- I feel like something's coming my way as well, and my gut is telling me it won't be good."

Hello beautiful people! I am just checking in to see how everyone's doing? I hope you like the story so far, there's a lot to come and I am beyond excited to take everyone on that journey with me. If you have any characters you want more focus on or any specific requests let me know as the next few chapters are only outlined so far. If you guys have no requests, I'll just carry on with my plan :) Until then, love you lots

XOXO, AllyMaii