The law is the law. Maybe...

Chapter 11 - Butterfly

"Wow, impressive woman" Magnus said, still mesmerized by Camille's words.

He didn't understand what she wanted. Is Alec fragile? Why does she want to kick my ass? What does everyone want with my ass here? What the hell was that? Anyway, he could think about it later. Alec was important now. He hadn't seen him in a day, and no matter how hard he tried to push the thought away, he missed his presence.

"Definitely impressive." Alec said with a sigh.

Magnus sensed that something was wrong. He could feel Alec's tension in the air. He walked over to him, sat down on the chair where the beautiful girlfriend of the man in front of him had been sitting a few moments before. He held the book up to Alec, who had a smile on his lips at the sight of it.

"You left your backpack at my place, it was in there. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rummage through it, but I didn't know whose backpack it was."

"Sarah wrote. A dear friend."

That's all Alec said. Without thinking, Alec reached for the book, and then hissed at the feelings of a burning pain in his flesh. He withdrew his hand, closed his eyes, waited for the pulsing to subside.

"Please put it on the nightstand" said Alec, and then a heavy silence fell over them.

"Shall I call the nurse?" asked Magnus worriedly.

"No, I'll be fine." Alec said, his pain showing on his face.

"What's wrong? I can see something's bothering you."

Alec sighed. The pain had eased a little in the meantime. Magnus was right. Something was wrong. In fact, nothing was right around him at the moment. His body ached, his mind was racing like hell, he felt weak, vulnerable and utterly alone. He felt insecure. He felt he needed time.

"Magnus, I don't know if it's a good idea for me to move in with you at the end of the week. In a few days I'll be allowed to go home. But I'll only be a pain in your ass. An hour ago I had to ask Camille to help me go to the bathroom. I couldn't walk 5 bloody meters by myself. You understand? 5 fucking meters. What am I gonna do at your place? Ring the bell every time I want to leave the room or take a shower? I won't be able to bandage my own wound. I don't want to bother you, and I'm very embarrassed to be vulnerable. It's best if we tell the doctor I'd rather stay."

Magnus thought for a moment that it would be easier to keep his distance from Alec if he stayed in the hospital. But he wanted to help him. Even if he felt he was trapping himself, because he knew he had to cut himself off emotionally from his partner. He couldn't allow himself to screw up Alec's relationship with Camille. However, he didn't want to get more involved in this little crush because he didn't want to hurt himself. But he thought about it and decided he could do it. He just needs to pay attention not to think that Alec was the most gorgeous man in the world. Problem solved.

"Alexander, believe me, I wouldn't have offered it to you if I hadn't counted on this. What the hell am I doing home alone all this time? Trust me, I'm not the only one doing you a favor. It's mutual. Don't overthink it. You won't be a pain in my ass. And if you need help getting to the bathroom, that's fine with me. But I'm telling you right now, I'm not going in there with you." he said, and playfully, but gently, he punched Alec in the arm.

"Okay, you convinced me. But if I'm going to be a burden, don't hesitate to let me know, okay?"

"All right, partner. Now I'll take your suitcase that Camille brought in. By the way, congratulations, buddy, you got a beautiful girlfriend."

"Yeah, Camille's beautiful." Alec said. But you are much prettier, Alec thought to himself, which he was lucky not to say out loud.

The tense moment was interrupted by Magnus' phone ringing. It was Raphael. One of the bartenders had suddenly quit and he had no idea where to get a new one. Although Magnus' hand was not perfect yet, it was healing nicely, so he took on a few shifts. He always liked being behind the bar. Much more than behind a desk in the office. He said goodbye to Alec, took his suitcase home and went into his bar. He felt much more comfortable in Pandemonium than he thought he would. He was mixing cocktails, chatting with the guests. At dawn, tired, he crawled into bed and fell asleep. It went on like that all week, and was just the thing to make him stop feeling sorry for himself because he was hopelessly in love. In love? Yes. Hopelessly? Yes, hopelessly. But he loved Alec more than not to hurt him, not to confuse him with his messy feelings. So he tried to distract him as much as possible with work. At least until Alec moved in with him. Then what? For him, it will be a hard act of self-restraint and suffering. But he promised himself not to flirt or give any sign of his feelings. It was the best way for both of them. He didn't take a shift on Friday, but luckily he didn't have to, because Raphael had hired someone. Alec also had an active week. He wanted to get a little stronger before he went to Magnus. He had worked hard for it, even if that hard work had resulted in learning to sit up unaided, and to walk a few meters without help. He was getting stronger by the day, but he was still in a lot of pain with every movement. On Friday morning, Magnus came in to pick him up, and the nurse was just starting to bandage Alec. The nurse was happy for Magnus when she saw him.

"Oh honey, I missed you. And I could see the young man was lonely without you. I haven't seen you here all week." The nurse said as she helped Alec take off his shirt and prepared to bandage him. The situation didn't help Alec, he was totally blushing.

Meanwhile, Magnus almost forgot to breathe when he saw Alec's naked torso. Jesus, the man is perfect. He stared at him for a few moments. His toned muscles, his tattoos, of which he suddenly counted four, but maybe more? At that moment, Magnus' lungs screamed for air. Sighing heavily, he gave in to his lungs' urgent pleas and began to breathe, his brain starting to work. Then he panicked as he faced the reality of having to bandage Alec twice a day, half-naked in front of him. With that beautiful butterfly tattoo on his side (God, this man has a butterfly tattooed on his side!!! Some of his functioning brain cells have screamed) and he has to remain completely indifferent. But wait. Did he actually see Alec blush? Because of him? It confused him a bit, but his brain was a mess at the moment, unable to think, so he didn't realize that this blush could mean more.

"Come closer, sweetheart, you'll be bandaging him tonight. Watch how I do it. Be careful, because the wound still hurts him. You see, here you clean it in a round, and you gently bandage it so that it's all covered with a clean sheet of gauze. In two places. On his back and on his stomach. As long as the stitches are in, he can only shower without getting wet in that area. Next week you'll come back and the doctor will take the stitches out. Then you can take a proper shower, but be careful. Don't get it soaked. You cannot sit in the bath."

Magnus put all his strength into paying attention to what the nurse was telling him, and not to be distracted by the shameless stare of the most beautiful upper body in the world. "Magnus Bane, this isn't your path. You are colleagues, nothing more." Magnus warned himself for the umpteenth time.

When the nurse finished, she helped Alec put on his shirt and went out. Silence fell over them. Alec tried to put on his jeans. But he accidentally dropped it. Alec was so embarrassed he struggled for words, but finally he said it.

"Magnus, I can't really bend down. Can you help me get my pants up off the floor, please. Jesus, that was embarrassing to say."

Magnus looked at him and saw that Alec's face was as red as a tomato. He bent down, picked up the pants from the floor, and helped Alec step inside, and was about to pull them up when the nurse came in, and the following scene appeared before her. Magnus is kneeling in front of Alec. Alec's legs are already tucked into his pants, and Magnus is pulling up the pants at Alec's knee. The two boys were completely frozen, both staring towards the opening door.

"I've brought some disinfectant liquid, you'll have to use that...For God's sake boys, at least hold your horses until you get home." she said suddenly and turned to leave.

There was silence for a few moments until they both realized what the nurse had said, and then they burst out laughing. Or rather, Alec heard a strange mixture of laughing and groaning, but it was just enough to break the tension. Alec now put his pants on by himself, Magnus helped him gather the rest of his things, grabbed Alec's bag and they headed for the door. Alec got a stick and leaned on it, but still walked very slowly. By the time they reached the door, drops of sweat were appearing on his forehead. A wheelchair was already set up by the door.

" I'm not going to sit for that. I have legs and I can walk to the car."

The nurse walked over, pointed to the wheelchair and said in a commanding voice. "Now you're going to stop this bitching behavior and get your ass in that wheelchair and go home. I swear you're worse than straight couples."

"We are not a couple" they both said at the same time.

"Ah... you can say what you want, I've seen what I've just seen, darlings. Now go on, and I don't want to see you until you have to come back to have your stitches out."

"I'd better do as you say, or we won't get rid of you, will we?" said Alec, and obediently got into the chair, and let the nurse push him out to the front of the hospital.