They didn't talk at all on the way back but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Magnus wasn't used to not talking to people when he was with them, usually he never shut up, and he liked the change, he liked that things were so easy between him and Alec, so simple. Of course, they were only simple when it was just the two of them…

The rest of both families were either in the swimming pool or sunbathing near the edge of the pool. Magnus noticed Jace's eyes narrowing as he saw the two of them and realised that as long as Jace was around, things wouldn't be easy; they'd be pretty difficult. Magnus despised Jace for taking Alec off him, yes, but he understood why he didn't like Magnus and was protective over Alec. Just because he understood though, didn't mean he liked it.

"There you two are!" Jemima exclaimed when she saw the two of them. "We were starting to think you'd been abducted or something."

"So you decided to sunbathe? Wow, thanks for caring, mum," Magnus said, the sarcasm clear in his voice.

Jemima just tutted and went back to reading her book. Magnus looked down at Alec who gave him a gentle smile - the kind that Magnus had always seen from afar and thought was beautiful - before walking over to where Jace was sat, dangling his feet in the water and tapping away at his phone.

Magnus was a little disappointed that he didn't get to spend anymore time with Alec and have the talk that they so obviously needed to find out what was going to happen between them now that they had kissed. He went and had a shower to kill some time and afterwards, went back into his bedroom, got dressed, and picked his phone up off his bed. He had one missed call from Ragnor and Magnus immediately knew what he would be phoning about. With a sigh, he dialled his friend's number and waited until he picked up.

"Dude! How's the holiday going? The house as boring as you thought it'd be?" Ragnor asked as soon as he answered the phone.

"Surprisingly, it's not that bad actually. The weather's decent too, what's it like in the city?"

"Raining as per usual," Ragnor laughed. "So I thought I'd just phone you and see how things are going. How's Alec?" Magnus could hear the teasing tone in Ragnor's voice and could just visualize him waggling his eyebrows with a knowing grin on his face.

"He's fine," Magnus replied nonchalantly, wishing that Ragnor would change the subject. "How are you?"

"Don't ask about me! Dude, have you gone through with it yet? Remember, you do it and that £200 is yours. I would love to keep my money, yeah, but this will be the highlight of the year, nobody will ever forget it! Please tell you've done it, I'm begging you."

"Not just yet… But I will, don't you worry about that," he lied. "I'm waiting until the last few days to go through with it, just in time for when we go back to school."

"Brilliant," Ragnor laughed.

They talked for another ten minutes or so about random crap, until there was a knock on Magnus' bedroom door. They said a quick goodbye to each other, Ragnor wished Magnus good luck with the bet, and Magnus threw his phone back onto his bed before answering the door.

Alec stood there, looking agitated and worked up, a grim expression on his face. "What's wrong?" Magnus asked.

"Just… Can I come in? I need to talk to you," Alec said, his voice making him sound stressed out.

"Sure," Magnus stood back so he could walk into the room and closed the door behind him. "So, what is it?" He leant his back against the door, folding his arms across his chest.

Alec looked up from the floor and at Magnus, his blue eyes practically shining. "At school, all these years, your friends have bullied me. They've called me names, pushed me around, made my life hell just because I'm not popular like they are. And you just sat there and let it happen. I hated you more than them because you never stuck up for me, even though we used to be best friends. And Ragnor's the worst of them, but yet you're still best friends with him! Jace seems to think that you're just using me because none of your friends are here, he thinks you'll go back to ignoring me as soon as we go back home. What am I to you, Magnus? Just a stand-in friend, someone you don't care about at all?"

Magnus shook his head and quickly said, "no! These past few days with you have been amazing, Alexander. Jace knows nothing, okay? He's always disliked me, of course he's going to try and get between us!"

"He dislikes you because you let your friends treat me like they have done!" Alec shouted. "I don't want us to fall out again, I like the way things have been going, but we need to talk about this otherwise it'll drive me crazy. I don't care what Jace says, he can't stop me from being friends with you, he'll get over it eventually. But he's right about this, Magnus. How do I know you're really a good guy when you let your friends say that sort of stuff to me?"

"I'm sorry," Magnus said quietly, knowing that Alec was right. "I'm sorry for everything, Alec. Truth is, I wanted to stop them from saying them things to you. We weren't friends anymore and a part of me hated you because when I was younger, it seemed like you chose Jace over me. Now that I'm older I can see how stupid that was - he was your brother, of course you were going to spend time with him. I always watched you around school and missed the times we had together. I love being popular, it was all I used to care about. Now, not so much, but I don't want to be unpopular. I couldn't bare being one of the people bullying you and I wanted to stop them, but I was scared they'd laugh in my face and make me unpopular. I know that makes me sound like a dick - I admit, at school I was a total dick to everybody. I acted like I was better than everybody and I used people because I was too scared of getting attached and trusting people… But you're the exception, Alec. I'm not scared of getting too close to you because I'll know you'll never break my heart or hurt me in any way. I've loved getting to know you as a friend again and honestly, when we kissed, it was the best feeling ever, I've never experienced anything like that before. Please don't hate me, I couldn't stand that."

Magnus couldn't remember the last time he had made such a long, truthful speech without one lie in it at all, but there it was. And he wasn't terrified of being honest and being himself in front of Alec, he never wanted to be the opposite in front of him again. How on Earth his life could change in just a few short days, he didn't know, but he knew that he liked the change and didn't want to go back to how things used to be.

Alec didn't answer at first. He just stared at Magnus, his face not giving any sign of what he was thinking; it was emotionless. The silence grew tense and Magnus was preparing himself for Alec telling him to get lost and stay out of his life from now on, he was expecting Alec to leave him just like he expected everybody else to all the time… But Alec surprised Magnus.

"You've got one chance, Magnus." Alec spoke with finality but behind his words, Magnus could sense happiness. "If we go back to school and you turn back into a dick, that's it; I'll want nothing to do with you. I'm trusting you, don't let me down."

"I won't," Magnus shook his head. "I promise you, I won't."

He walked over to Alec, grabbed hold of him and kissed him, showing Alec in that gesture just how much he meant to him and how much he wanted to be with him.

Just a little note to say thank you for reviewing and/or adding this story to your favourites/alerts list. I honestly never imagined my story would get such positive feedback, it means so much to me that you're liking it :) xo