Just This Once (Magnus Chase x Alex Fierro)

It's a Nightmare Before Christmas (or after actually)

A/N: Yeah so this was supposed to go up during Christmas but meh I had plans. Enjoy!!!

Obviously I don't own the cover photo, I just think that it fits the chapter title you know?

In his dream, Magnus saw the car accident that killed his parents. What he didn't tell Alex was that it happened just one week before Christmas.

He saw the car his parents were in, his dad at the wheel and his mom riding in the front seat. They stopped at a red light, his mom humming to the Christmasy tunes playing on the radio. Snow fell around them, and the streets were bustling, but they couldn't care less. Just two couples, enjoying their time with each other in the car.

Magnus smiled, he remembered how joyous those two were, especially his mom. She taught him to find joy in every moment, that happiness is everywhere, and we only ever need to be content to be happy. His dad was a loving Husband and awesome parent, Magnus can't remember how many times he saw a world's best dad mug and wanted to give it to a dad he no longer had.

The street light turned green, and Dad eased the car forward, oblivious of what was about to happen. A truck didn't stop and crashed head on into the side of his parent's car. Everything happened in slow motion, he could see the mixture of emotion on his parent's face. His dad's a mixture of confusion, pain, and anger. His mom's, for once is contorted and no longer smiling, which is almost painful to see. And then their car flipped them out of view. Magnus screamed. He didn't know why he's seeing this, but it doesn't make it any less painful. He shut his eyes and cried, the pain too much to bear.

When he opened them, he saw the homeless shelter he used to have to live in before Uncle Randolph came around and took him to the mansion. It was a sad, sad place. The caretaker was cold and grumbly. The kids, well they weren't much better. Worse, they bullied him like it was the only thing they knew how to do. He couldn't recall how many time he's had his underwear yanked out, his food tray tipped over, or how many names he's been called. Moreover, he's had his first crush there, it was a girl just about his age. She was a brunette, with brown eyes and just slightly shorter than him. The first time he met her, he couldn't take his eyes off her for a full 10 seconds. When she greeted him, all he could manage to get out was a meekly voiced "Hey,". They talk nicely at first, but once the head bully found out, there was a meeting (like do bullies even meet? Or is this organized crime? No, it's just fiction. And my shameless attempt at being humorous) and it seems they reached a consensus to make his love life as hell as possible. Which involved Magnus tripping in front of her a couple times, it doesn't take much for him to give up. Oh, and also her kissing another boy under the mistletoe.

It's safe to say, that Christmas was not a memory he held onto fondly. As if seeing that wasn't enough. There was also this special bonus dream round of her face popping up, telling him he's worthless and that she'll never be with him. But, she does it with Alex's voice. And before he knew it, the dream shifted to Alex's face, saying the same thing. And that was his limit, he broke down and started crying.

He kept on crying.

.

.

.

Until he heard a distant voice, "Magnus?"

"Magnus, Wake up!" was it Alex? Was she calling to him? He didn't know, and he didn't want to know, he's fine on his own like this. Alone, in a dark place. Except, the voice didn't stop. And now his whole world was shaking, it felt like an Earthquake. Guess good things can't last.

Magnus woke with a start, the first thing he saw was a face full of green hair.

"Alex?" He reached up to touched Alex's hands, ones that had shaken him awake. "It's really you right?"

"Yes," Alex replied, "Are you ok?"

"I'm-" was all Magnus could manage before he collapsed into tears. Burying his nose into Alex's neck. A sobbing, pathetic mess. He really can't bear the pain of all that. Seeing his parents die and reliving the horrors of the homeless shelter.

Alex, for her part, held onto him and made soothing noises, all the while rubbing his back gently. He was grateful that she was there, and that she didn't push him away. After a couple of minutes, he finally calmed down, his breathing finally slowed, and he moved off her. She gave him a few moments more to settle before opening her mouth to ask,

"Nightmares?"

"Yes,"

"But you were just napping, guess it must be really deep." Alex tried to cheer him up, Magnus managed a bland smile.

"Probably."

"Look, I know I'm not really good with feelings, and stuff. But if you're in the mood to tell me, I'm here." She emphasized her point by placing a firm hand on his shoulders and putting on a reassuring smile.

"Thanks, it means a lot." He grinned. "But right now, you staying here is all I need." Magnus regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. He might have noticed a blush tinging Alex's cheeks too if he wasn't so caught up in his mistake. To fix it, he quickly added: "Sorry, didn't mean it in a weird way."

"No, it's alright," she replied, placing a hand on his for emphasis. "Don't you worry, I'll stay right here."

"Thanks," Magnus replied, despite getting over the initial shock, he isn't exactly ready to tell Alex the story yet. Mostly because it would cause him too much pain having to relive those moments all over again.

The room was silent.

"It was about my parents," He finally spoke, feeling that maybe he should at least give her a vague idea of what's it's about, and also explain the reason as to why the more detailed version won't be following said vague idea. Alex looked up. "And the night they died. I really couldn't bring myself to say any more right now, it's too painful."

"That's ok, take your time, I'm not so keen about talking about mines either."

"Yeah?"

"They're not exactly the best parents in the world," Alex inhaled deeply before continuing, "But they paid my school bills, and gave me a roof to live under, so I guess I can't really complain. Even though they don't accept me for who I am."

"About you being Genderfluid?"

"Yeah," Alex sighed. "My dad isn't exactly the accepting type, he's also very mean. But thanks to mom's protests, he won't disown me."

"Wow, ok," Magnus replied, stunned. "That's tragic." Alex giggled.

"Ya think?" She smiled, and Magnus felt his world lit up. And just for a single moment, he was able to forget all his grief, Alex had that effect on him. With her, he was able to forget everything except how blessed he was to have this stunning green-haired individual as his friend, and his crush.

"I think I'm ready to tell you about my dream now." He said.

"Ok, if you need to stop at some point it's ok, I totally understand this must be very hard for you," She gripped Magnus's shoulders. "Thanks for trusting me with this."

He proceeded to tell her. About his parents, and about his time at the orphanage. But he left out the part about Alex, he didn't feel like he was brave enough to tell her just yet. After he was finished, Alex expressed her condolences and got up to leave when Magnus caught her arm.

"Could you err, stay over? I'll even let you take the bed." He looked pleadingly at Alex. "Please?" Needless to say, Alex couldn't resist her crush. So she agreed to stay, borrowing Magnus's pajamas. She disagreed however, on Magnus letting her take the bed. So they both settled into Magnus's bed. Alex on one side, Magnus on the other. She whispered a quick "good night." And was soon sound asleep.

Magnus didn't have any more nightmares that night.