HeartBREAK

Chapter thirty-one

"Everyone, the open house is less than a week away, I need to see you guys pulling it together! From the top!", Valentine yelled and Maia scoffed:" What is wrong with him? We are pulling it together, in fact, all of us are! Why does he keep polishing it?" Alec shrugged- he was absolutely done. "But maybe you don't have it together. Alec, your head clearly isn't in the game and you need to figure it out before the open house.", Maia said. Alec nodded- as much as he hated to admit it she had quite a point there. Magnus was distracting him and he really didn't need any distractions now. "I'll talk to him tonight. I promise.", he said. Maia smiled proudly:" It will be alright." "And won't, I will at least have some closure.", Alec stated and Maia shrugged:" I don't see why it wouldn't be alright. You two have been through so incredibly much together, through injuries and jealousy, through bullying and blackmailing- I mean just remember last year- you have dated for a year and already been through more than some married people. And if life keeps throwing new challenges at you, you have to accept them! You live him, Alec. And he loves you. And both of you are normal.humans, humans make mistakes. Yes, Magnus screwed up. But you can't judge him for something you don't even know happened. I get that you are assuming the worst but at some point, Alec, you have to know what really happened in order to be able to process it and fully forgive him. Nobody is pressuring you to forgive him now, just ask him what exactly happened. Get some closure, finish the picture."

"This was a good one!", Maureen cheered as Raphael put her down after their most recent run through. "Mhm.", Raphael nodded and pressed his lips together. His back felt like it was on fire. "You good?", she asked and he nodded:" Absolutely." "That was good, guys!", Valentine said and everyone exhaled in relief, "But I want to see the partnering section full out just a couple of more times because I am planning to give you rest time before the open house to gather energy. This is our last practice before dress rehearsal. You will get time to work with your partners then so keep it together for one more hour!" Raphael scoffed- well that was good news. At least he would have some time to rest before the open house. Looking around he felt like he wasn't the only one who could use some time off Aline has been looking really pale the last days, Simon was even more clumsy than he usually was and Alec had massive dark circles under his eyes. "From the jump into one hand star lift please!", Valentine said and everyone got ready as it was one of the hardest lifts they have ever done yet. "Go!", Valentine commanded and Raphael saw Maureen run into his arms. It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. One of her curls dropped out of her bun and he could look into her stunning eyes right before she jumped in his lap. Right before he stretched his arm out completely to reach the Zenit of the lift he felt a shooting pain in his back. Without a second of hesitation he immediately put her down and took a few steps to the side. He didn't remember the last time he has been in that amount of pain. Raphael steadied himself at one of the studios brick walls and pressed his forehead against the cold stone. He could feel his heart pounding. He heard voices, but they all smooched into one inside of his head. There was only one that distinguished itself from all the voices. "Santiago, how long do you need?", he heard Valentine ask, stone cold as always. "10 minutes, sir, I'll be good to go." "That's too long for it to be nothing. Sit this one out, we need you for the open house. Maureen, get some ice and some water. The rest, continue!" Raphael was breathing heavily but luckily the pain got better. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?", Maureen asked worriedly and knelt down next to him as he took a seat on the bench and took a sip of his water. "It's okay. I think I pulled something but it's not as bad as I first thought.", he said, his voice still tense. "I'll get you some ice, then."

"Magnus, we have to talk.", Alec said as he walked into the room. It has been a messy day. The way Maureen stormed to Raphael in class reminded him of the way he ran into that shower the night Magnus cheated on him. It reminded him of how Magnus cared for him and supported him when he was hurt last year. Magnus made mistakes, but so did Alec. Last year, he pushed him away, he lied to him. In fact, he was lying to him about his knee again. Alec made mistakes and Magnus has been mad, but he always forgave him. This was next level. But considering all that they have been through, Alec figured it would only be fair to give Magnus at least a chance to explain himself. "Okay.", Magnus said and nodded. "But it's going to go my way. Put on running clothes." Alec needed to get out of here. He needed to get fresh air, leave all the drama behind, clear his mind. And he needed to work out. Considering the fact he knew how much Magnus hated running he figured it would also be a fair punishment. Magnus seemed like he understood what Alec was doing so without a word of complaint he changed into a long sleeved t-shirt and leggings with shorts on top. It was already dark outside and extremely cold. "Let's go.", Alec said and walked out of their room. This was going to be interesting.     

Hello beautiful people! I hope everyone is doing amazing! At least in my country everything is slowly coming back from shutdown so maybe all of this will be over soon. Sending lots of love, stay healthy, happy and safe during hard times!