...so I literally decided at the last frickin minute to switch Ch 7 with what I had for Ch 9. I won't bore y'all with an explanation, but just know, to me it made a lot of sense.

DoggyPocky: Everyone knows Cosmo's gone awol because Wanda wasn't honest in the first place; they're just upset with Cosmo because Wanda's trying to be more honest with him yet he refuses to believe her and keeps accusing her of lying. I did also want Bernard to be an example of how drug addiction can be beaten. Ha, everybody's a hypocrite.

McSgwizzle: Yeah Bernard is doing what he can to change, indeed unlike Karen, and with more time, I think Susie will finally come to fully accept this. Hmm, actually didn't think about Wandro when it came to Coz...*insert thinking face* Bruh; do you know how effed up that would be if Coz was like "aye, let me hit that real quick" and then he's like "thanks for the quickie, still don't trust you though." I've actually been thinking about a few things I could do with Timmy and his godparents, so more to come on that ;).

Lost iin Fanfiction: Glad you could join us! Haha, Cardickian. Love that. Remember in our PMs about how I was feeling a bit discouraged? Chapter 3 is mostly what did it. I do care, perhaps more than I should, about offending anyone. While yes, there's literally a trigger warning in the description and before the chapter starts, some probably feel sensitive topics like that need like, a lot of warning, or at least not as much details. Coz is most definitely a hypocrite, and that's only gonna get worse in later chapters. Like I said, you won't like him very much in this part. I see SpikexRose becoming a fav. Honestly, they're my fav, too.

The stoic grace of silver luna reflected pure rays of moonlight into the black velvet of the clear night sky, specs of starlight sprinkled across the quiet late-night sky. Alewandro was situated resting the back of his head on one of the grey-leather arm rest, his notebook against his propped knees, and Spike leaned against the other armrest of the couch with one knee up.

Cosmo, Thornton, and LeShae were all scheduled to work that evening, and Susie and Rose figured it would do Wanda some good to get out of her head with a 'girls' night' where they'd eat ice cream in their PJs and watch ratchet reality television. Their respective degrees required two electives in any English-related course, so they both signed up for the same class just so misery could share the same company. Spike and Alewandro were given homework that was to be completed by their next Fairy Tales class, so when Spike finished his shift at the bookstore, Alewandro invited Spike over so they could work on their assignment together.

"What moral lessons can be learned from 'Three Little Pixies'?" Spike read one of the questions aloud before adding casual snort. "…the heck does that matter?" He then took a moment to think about the plot of fairy tale, how the pixie with the sturdiest house withstood the big bad goblin's attack. "…ain't it about 'hard work and dedication pays off' or somethin' like that?" Waiting for a response which never came, Spike looked from his binder to Alewandro with his head tilted to the side in his sleep, pencil almost dangling out of his hand.

Spike could see from the full bags under his eyes just how exhausted Alewandro was. As early as nine in the evening was, this didn't come as a surprise to Spike considering Alewandro hadn't really slept over the last four days. While empathetic in that maybe he should let him sleep, the fact that they were just half way through their assignment with two more short stories to answer questions for led to him taking one of his extra pencils and flicking it in Alewandro's direction, bouncing off his forehead.

As an involuntary reaction, Alewandro shot up from his doze, both pencil and notebook tumbling to the hazel-wood floor. "¿…Qué carajo?" he groggily griped to the source of his abrupt awakening in a daze.

"Ya dozed off on me, dude!" Spike complained lightheartedly.

Blinking puzzledly, Alewandro then murmured "…I did?"

"Si, amigo!" Spike confirmed in a semi-joking manner, having learned a word or two in Alewandro's native tongue. "Left me hangin' over here!"

Too weary to realize Spike was just joking with him, Alewandro's eyes lowered as if ashamed. "…lo siento…"

"No big deal, bro." Spike brushed it off. "But, on a more serious note," he closed his textbook, setting it aside. "we can finish this tomorrow if you need to turn in."

"Gracias, pero…" Alewandro picked his notebook and pencil from the floor onto the coffee table. "…that will not be necessary."

"You ever heard of Chamomile tea?" Spike figured he'd offer an insomnia remedy, thinking he could help somehow. "Hear it helps with sleep."

"Tried that already…" Alewandro sighed, one arm resting on his propped knee. "…worked for a week or two, did absolutely nothing after that…"

Spike pondered, pursing his lips. "…you try Lavender tea? Heard that usually works better."

"I appreciate your concern…truly." Alewandro spoke civically. "However…I do not want you to worry about it."

"…why not?"

"It is my problem." Alewandro creased his brow. "Not yours…"

Frowning subtly, Spike was starting to believe Alewandro could actually be a lot more stubborn than Cosmo. "…Wandro-"

The clicking of a bolt lock caused the two men to turn to the direction of the front door, seeing another occupant of the apartment arrive.

"…sup, dude?" Spike attempted to be friendly to the blue-violet fairy.

Resetting the lock, Juandissimo's reaction to Spike's cordiality was a wary brow. "…hey."

Alewandro apprehensively stared at his brother, trying to read Juandissimo's vague demeanor. "Hola…hermanito."

Juandissimo, floating passed the couch, informally asked "Anyone else home?"

"Cupid convinced Blonda to go see a movie." Alewandro informed his brother, watching him hover to his room. "They will be back late."

"Hmm." Juandissimo coolly shrugged, twisting the knob to his door, and without looking back, he raised his hand in a peace sign. "Buenas noches…"

"Going to bed already?" Spike curiously asked.

"No." Juandissimo looked over his shoulder, floating inside. "Just retiring."

And with that, Juandissimo shut the grey-wooden door to his bedroom, Spike then shifting his attention back to Alewandro's averted eyes. "…what's his deal?" Spike inquired, pointing to Juandissimo's room.

"That is just how he is." Alewandro sadly exhaled. "At least with me, anyways…"

Spike closed his binder, placing that along with his textbook and pencil onto the coffee table. He had a sense that Alewandro wasn't in the mood to continue trudging through homework neither of them felt like doing. "…you think things will ever go back to how they were between you two? I mean…from what I remember, you guys were like two peas."

"…I do not know if that is even possible."

Leaning back against the armrest, sulking grief flushed Alewandro's features. The very same question crossed his mind many a times. Many a times he found little to no answers, and seeing hardly a change in Juandissimo's stand-offish behavior, no definite conclusion could be reached, slowly diminishing any hope in rekindling the broken brotherly relationship.

Alewandro lay restless in his bed, struggling to shut off his mind plagued with ongoing thoughts. He tilted his head to read 3:03am flashed in red across his alarm clock, letting out a frustrated sigh. Knowing he would have to be up in 4 hours for his 8:00am, he had to try for some kind of rest, yet despite his heavy fatigue, his mind refused to rest.

How he was still the least bit coherent was beyond him…

Sitting up in his bed, he positioned himself to perform a few reps of sit-ups. Maybe if he exercised, he'd wear himself out. Then again, this didn't have much of an effect in the past. He did so anyway, moving from sit-ups to push-ups on this pastel-blue carpet. After multiple reps of push-ups came jogging (or…jog flying…? idfk) in place, followed by reps of lunges and squats. When he was done with all of this, he looked at the clock which now read 3:19am, and while he exerted some of his energy, exhaustion only came in the physical form.

With a groan, Alewandro hovered to his black-wood school desk, retrieving his earbuds as his music player, and bent down to grab his backpack which was propped against the leg of his desk. He took a seat in his desk chair where he unzipped his backpack for his Transfiguration II textbook. He took out his binder and turned in his textbook to the page where he had a few end-chapter questions that he had to work before his next class later that day. Since he can't sleep, might as well bore himself to death with homework. This lasted for all of about twenty more minutes, finishing each question with what focus he could gather thanks to Moombahton from his earbuds providing a mental stimulus.

Returning both binder and textbook to their backpack layer, he rose from his chair and drug himself to his nightstand where 3:30am blared back at him. Now mentally exhausted on top of physically weariness, he laid back in his bed, tucking beneath his navy-blue duvet, and placing his head against the plush of his pillow, he closed his eyes, praying for the relief of slumber. His consciousness began to wander, an abrupt wave of fog washing over him…

Rising from his seat, Alewandro's eyes went mad with rage as he motioned to his temple with a pointed finger. "It is to show you that you do not listen because of that thick head of yours! Your stubbornness is why bad things end up happening to you!" his hand fell to his side in a balled fist, chest heaving hitched breaths as he spoke darkly "…just like with your mother."

Juandissimo's glower soon turned to that of staggered pain, Juanita's hurt expression glaring towards Alewandro as speechlessness clogged Juandissimo's throat.

"Alewandro…" Mr. Magnifico warned. "Do not dare-"

"Your priority should have been to get her somewhere away from your lunatic of a father!" Alewandro continued anyway. "Instead of doing that, however, she ended up losing her life because you knew damn well you were not strong enough to stop him! Your mother is never coming back because of your obstinacy!"

Alewandro hovered dangerously close to Juandissimo, pointing a finger directly into Juandissimo's chest

"She died…because of you!"

Alewandro jolted upright in his bed, hitched breaths strained his chest. Running fingers through his shoulder-length silk waves, it took a few seconds for him to catch his bearings. Ice-blue eyes turned to his alarm clock once more, and to his displeasure, 3:31am taunted him, realizing the rapid oncoming of sleep disappeared just as quickly…

…looks like a good night's rest won't be visiting him again.

Drawing back the covers, Alewandro sat up, shaking his head to dispel the onset of vertigo before leaving left his bed. As he wearily exited his room, the faint haze in his vision turned to the closed door of his brother's room which stood beside his, and taking it upon himself, he floated over to carefully turn the door knob, using that same caution to quietly open the door. Peering from behind the door, Alewandro had a clear view of Juandissimo lying on his stomach beneath his covers, resting his head on his crossed arms over his pillow. Alewandro withered his way inside in hopes not to disturb his sleeping brother, keeping the door partly open.

Though his relationship with Juandissimo hadn't improved, he promised their parents that he would check on him every now and then. This didn't happen often, but on nights like this where he surrendered to the clutches of insomnia, he'd go to his brother's room, sitting with him as he slept. Since he always left before Juandissimo would wake, Juandissimo never had any recollection of this occurring. He did this because it was one of the few times Juandissimo wasn't guarded, the rare time he could get close enough in his presence without the obvious awkward strain.

Doing so delicately, Alewandro softly sat next to Juandissimo's bedside, sitting close enough to reach out and brush Juandissimo's widow's peak with a gentle hand. He thought back to the sleepovers he'd have with Juandissimo and Juanita back in their childhood, and he could remember how light of a sleeper Juandissimo was. Alewandro used to sleep through just about anything while Juandissimo would wake to the faintest of sound or the mildest of touch. Now that he was medicated, unless there was a fire or something crazy like that, Juandissimo pretty much slept through the night undisturbed.

To say Alewandro didn't envy this would be a lie, but he knew Juandissimo probably wouldn't sleep that well without medication, and with everything he had to deal and continued to deal with, he couldn't really envy Juandissimo too much. He'll never truly understand what it's like to be haunted with memories of witnessing his mother being brutally murdered by the cruel hands of his father. He'll never truly understand what it's like to experience his mother suffering to escape the tangled web of such domestic abuse, the abuse that would often bleed over to her innocent children. The more he thought of this, the more he could recall the day of his eighth birthday, the day he saw the disfunction between his then aunt and uncle for the first time…

"Alewandro, get OFF!"Seven-year-old Juandissimo exclaimed, trapped in his then primo mayor's STF hold. "¡Bájtate de mi!"

"Admit that I am stronger than you, and I will." Eight-year-old Alewandro taunted, restricting his arms around Juandissimo's head.

Just like any other day, the two boys indulged in their rambunctious behavior, copying the wrestling moves that Alewandro would see his favorite wrestlers do on TV. The Magicatios arrived at the Magnifico residence a couple hours early before the birthday bashed Alewandro's parents planned for him and his classmates, so while five-and-a-half-year-old Juanita went to feel useful by assisting Alewandro's mother in assembling decorations, and while his father ensured the attractions and activities were set in stone, Alewandro and Juandissimo passed time with a pretend game of wrestling.

Juandissimo, for some reason, hated to wrestle, but he'd either give in and agree to it or Alewandro would tackle him to the ground, getting him to play anyway. Each time they played this game, Alewandro easily overpowered his younger cousin, entrapping him in a hold until he'd eventually tap out.

"Get OFFFFFF!" Juandissimo struggled to break free, squirming around in trying to free his ankle from Alewandro's legs.

"All you have to do is say I am stronger." Alewandro continued to tease as he pulled back further. "You are just making this worse for yourself."

Grunting in his failing efforts, Juandissimo soon ceased his fight, falling limp. "…bien…I give up." he bitterly muttered. "…you are stronger."

"You also have to say I am awesome and I will always be undefeated." Alewandro humored cunningly.

Juandissimo managed to lift his chin, glaring up at his cousin. "If you do not get off of me, I SWEAR-"

"Okay, okay, relajarse!" Alewandro smirked in releasing his grip, knowing Juandissimo was completely over it at that point. Kneeling down, he extended a hand to help him up. "I am just messing with you."

Juandissimo reluctantly accepted his help, rising to his feet in a pout. "I do not like it when you do that…"

"Sheesh, aligerar. You will be stronger one day." Alewandro chuckled, adding a cheesy grin as he motioned to himself. "…just not stronger than me."

Jokes like that normally would have made Juandissimo smile at least. Instead, Juandissimo crossed his arms, averting his eyes with a somber frown.

This made Alewandro wonder whether something else was wrong besides losing another pretend wrestling match; the last he saw Juandissimo genuinely happy was months prior, even Juanita wasn't as high-spirited as she once was. That was also when Tio Alejo and Tia Estrella brought Juandissimo and Juanita over less. Every time he questioned Juandissimo about it, Juandissimo refused to answer, growing his suspicions that there was something being kept behind closed doors.

Alewandro saw Juandissimo turn around to the bedroom at the end of the hall, his hearing picking up on two muffled voices coming from behind the half-closed door. He remembered his aunt and uncle huddling in one of the rooms for a 'conversation,' and from the sound of argumentative voices and the looks of the unsettlement in his primo's face, this conversation wasn't a good one.

"¿Juandissimo, adónde vas?" Alewandro called out as Juandissimo ventured towards the occupied room. He followed after him, Juandissimo hovering a couple feet away, and when he stood beside him, he saw Juandissimo's expression become more uneasy, both close enough to make out what was being said.

"¿Por qué no puedo beber en una fiesta a la que ni siquiera quiero asistir?"[Why is it that I can't drink at a party I don't even want to attend?!] Alejo complained, unaware of two sets of eyes peeking in from outside.

"¡Es una fiesta para nuestro sobrino de ocho años!" [It's a party for our eight-year-old nephew!] Estrella refuted, though there wasn't much assertion in her tone. "¡Los niños y otros padres estarán presentes!"[Kids and other parents will be around!]

"¡Todo lo que quiero es calmarme!" [All I want is to take the edge off!] Alejo protested. "¡¿Es mucho para preguntar?!" [Is that too much to ask?!]

"¿¡Quitar el filo de qué !?" [Take the edge off what!?] Estrella probed. "Además, ya tenías algunos esta mañana-"[Besides, you already had a few this morning-]

"¡El cumpleaños de algún niño tonto no debería impedirme hacer lo que quiero!" [Some dumb child's birthday shouldn't stop me from doing what I want!] Alejo interrupted, eyes scrunched in that same look that terrified Juandissimo as to what would come next.

"¡Tienes un problema, Alejo!" [You have a problem, Alejo!] Estrella tried to reason with her husband. "¡Y no creo que debas volver a beber! ¡Piense en sus hijos! ¿Quieres avergonzar a nuestra familia?"[And I don't think you should drink again! Think of your children! Do you want to embarrass our family-]

Both boys cringed at the biting slap that crossed Estrella's cheek, the sheer force knocking her out of the air and crashing onto the floor below.

"¿Quieres hablar de vergonzoso ?!" [You want to talk about embarrassing?!] Alejo loomed ominously towards his wife, her brewing tears not enough to soften the darkness within him. "¡Que me digas cuándo puedo y cuándo no puedo beber es vergonzoso!" [You telling me when I can and cannot drink is embarrassing!]

Estrella rose a trembling hand to her burning cheek, distressed lilac eyes staring through silent tears at the man she couldn't help but love, dark blue orbs unsympathetic to her pain. A gut-wrenching twinge made Alewandro shutter, disturbed by the act of brutality that he himself would have never expected from his uncle. He looked to his primo menor, seeing the distraught scrunch in his brow. Almost as if he's already seen something like this, yet it deeply troubled him nevertheless.

"C'mon…" Alewandro whispered, tugging at Juandissimo's sleeve. "Vamos a salir de aquí..." [Let's get out of here…]

The two boys turned away, hovering to Alewandro's room catty-corner from the troubling scene. Promptly shutting the door, Alewandro watched as Juandissimo hovered with crossed arms further into the room, staring out the single window.

"…Juandissimo?" Alewandro loomed forward, Juandissimo as still as a stump with his back turned to him."¿…Que esta pasando?"

No response.

Coming up to his primo menor, Alewandro hovered next to him, uncertain on whether he can even offer any solace. Alewandro noted Juandissimo becoming more withdrawn as months passed, how sometimes he'd find him staring off into space. He would never say what he was thinking about, and considering what just took place, Alewandro suspected that Juandissimo, the cousin that used to talk to him about everything, harbored a pretty dark secret.

Blue-violet eyes fallen in despair, Juandissimo dejectedly replied "…I wish…I was stronger now…so that I can stop mi papá from hurting mi mamá…"

Alewandro frowned, saddened by his words. However, being the optimist he strived to be, he couldn't let Juandissimo stay bogged by the burdened weight of something he had little to no control of.

"Do not worry…" Alewandro encouraged, raising his fist for bump. "…I know you will be."

Turning to Alewandro, his eyes shifted between Alewandro's fist and his soft smile, deciding to return the gesture by bumping his fist to his…

Sitting in a thinking position, Alewandro internally kicked himself, reminded of the night he said Juandissimo wasn't strong enough to save his mother. That because of him and his incompetence, his mother was dead. How shattered he was, a broken shell of self-deprecation. So heartless of him…and because of that heartlessness, he can never take back his words.

With one final glance at his brother, Alewandro left as silent as possible, careful to shut the door behind him. Since Juandissimo's room was a couple feet away from the glass door to the balcony, Alewandro thought to enjoy some fresh night air. Regardless of the strong desire to sleep, he'd grown to appreciate the tranquility of night when majority of fairy world slept.

Sliding the door open, he stepped outside, pausing when he saw Blonda sitting on one of the lounge chairs, knees drawn to her chest as she faced the lavender grass field between their building and the next within the complex. He was honestly surprised to see her awake at such a late hour; then again, he was surprised to see her at all. She would isolate herself, couped within the four walls of her bedroom. He'd see her in passing either to or from class, but aside from that, her presence felt more like a ghost.

"…cannot sleep?" he made his presence known, taking the lounge chair next to her.

Vague fuchsia eyes towards the sprinkled stars above, Blonda flatly responded "…I haven't been."

"…neither have I." Alewandro empathized, arms folded across his lap.

"So I've noticed…" came Blonda's casual remark before asking "…what keeps you awake at night?"

Alewandro tiredly exhaled, not really willing to go into the semantics of his own encumbering guilt. "…what keeps you awake at night?"

Gaze glued to the stary sky, Blonda's eyes began to gloss, murmuring "…regret."

"…what kind of regret?" Alewandro intrigued.

Gloss slowly became silent tears. "…falling in love with a monster…"

He was about to ask her what she meant when he caught sight of her tears flowing, some dropping from her chin. "…Blonda?" He went to kneel before her, honestly concerned. "¿…Qué pasa mal?"

She drew her knees closer, sniffling quietly. "…I-I can't say…doesn't matter, though…" Her forearm wiped the brewing snot from her nose. "…n-no one would believe me, anyway…"

"I would believe you." Alewandro sincerely stated, placing a reassuring hand on her knee.

"…you have your own problems to deal with." Blonda pitifully looked away. "And I don't wanna talk about it…"

In high school, Alewandro hadn't built as strong of a bond as Juandissimo had, and their only contact throughout Freshman year was, again, in passing to and from class. Considering this, her secrecy didn't surprise him. "…alright." He chose to respect her wishes, getting up to leave. "Just know, though…if you do ever want to talk, you can come to me."

Using her palm to rub her bleary eyes, Blonda tearfully thanked him, and in soliciting his own advice to her to try and get some rest, he entered back inside the apartment.

Shutting the door to his bedroom, Alewandro dragged himself to his bed, 3:41am blaring across his clock. Laying sprawled beneath the covers yet again, weary eyes stared blankly to the solid white ceiling, the blades of his ceiling fan spinning on the lowest setting. His failing attention span focused on the wooden blades swirling the dimmest breeze, drawn to their mesmerizing rotation. Eyelids increasingly heavy, darkness encircled his vision…

A booming siren shocked him back into reality, realizing he had dozed off. Drowsily, he pressed down onto the 'off' button of his 7:30 alarm, temporarily blinded by dim sunlight peeking through shaded shutters. Just as soon as he silenced his alarm, a single vibration shook against his nightstand, and with an arm shielding his sensitive eyes from the sudden entrance of morning, his other arm grabbed his phone, flipping it open to see "Morning, baby." sent from the most beloved being to ever come into his life.

Susie had continued to urge Alewandro on finding a solution to his insomnia, sensing it was getting worse instead of better. While he appreciated her concern, nothing that either he's tried or she's suggested cured his issues with sleep, that is, nothing has worked so far. This led her to push for him to see a professional, but to Alewandro, a professional would just tell him something he already knew, so why waste the effort?

Lifting himself to a sitting position, Alewandro rubbed his eyes before sending Susie a simple "Buenos diaz, bebé…", an unexpected wave of dizziness whirling in his skull.

He palmed his face, attempting to dissipate the wooziness when his phone vibrated from another message received. When he caught enough of his bearings, he reached to open the text, focusing his double vision to read "Were you able to get any sleep?"

Seeing no point in lying, Alewandro responded with "A few hours."

Susie: "Still think you need to see someone."

Alewandro: "Still think that is a waste of time."

Susie: "Can you just stop being stubborn for one minute?"

Alewandro: "I could ask the same thing."

Susie: "How is showing concern for your lack of sleep me being stubborn?"

Alewandro: "…can we not do this right now?"

Susie: "Do what!? I'm literally just trying to help you."

Alewandro: "I am fine…"

Susie: "No, you are not, sir."

Alewandro sighed in agitation, placing his phone back on the nightstand. Petty arguments occurred as a result of his severe lack of sleep. He didn't like arguing with his girlfriend, especially over something that was his problem. It's college, all-nighters and surviving on expresso and energy drinks really happens to real students. There are others that suffer a lot worse than he did…what right did he have to do anything in regards to the punishment he felt he deserved?

. . . . . .

Alewandro accompanied Susie on their walk to the library, walking her to her tutoring session with Binky. The haze in his mind made it to feel much later than 11:30am. Two classes in, and the deprivation fried his braincells one by one. Of course, Susie expressed her worries, and of course, Alewandro diffused them for the sake of his ego. Though, he suddenly had to stop midflight when his surroundings started swaying, the same fogginess from earlier rearing its ugly head.

"…you okay?" Susie noticed his struggle to maintain his balance, just a few flights away from the steps that led to the double door entrance.

Despite the whooshing in his head, Alewandro gave a small nod.

"You sure?"

"Si…" he really wished she'd stop worrying.

When the sight of Wanda floating from another building towards the library caught Susie's eye, the way Wanda rubbed her arms led her to go check on her. Alewandro trailed slowly as Susie went to her best friend before she could reach the steps, tapping her on the shoulder. "Did you relapse again?"

Saying nothing, Wanda simply looked away.

As Alewandro rubbed his throbbing temples, Susie couldn't help but annoyedly sigh. "Why do you keep doing this to yourself…"

"Susie, I don't need this right now…" Wanda grumbled, inflicting a sizzling twinge when she clawed at the fresh band-aids under her armwarmers.

Susie clearly wasn't accepting that response. "Just like you don't need to keep dealing with Cosmo's b.s…"

"Maybe I deserve it!" Alewandro heard Wanda's rebuttal, yet her voice began to muffle from the building pressure against his skull. "It's my fault anyway…"

"So? You're at least trying to fix things!" Susie countered. "Meanwhile, Cosmo's using what you did as an excuse to treat you like straight hot garbage!"

"Look, I'm already running late for my tutoring session." Wanda dismissed before Susie stopped her by the arm.

"Either you and Cosmo find a way to work this out or break up because what's happening between you two is straight up toxic!"

The swaying of his surroundings spiraled in a nauseating wave, buildings and other fairies wobbling out of definition. Wanda noticed Alewandro's wings growing unstable in their flight, the tint from his face draining into a sickening grey. "…Wandro?"

Susie and Wanda's visible concern was the last he saw before all sound went silent and light faded into darkness.

Ice blue eyes parting drowsily, natural lighting squinted his vision. When the darkened haze lifted and his blurred vision fazed into one coherent view, Alewandro sat up in a heart-racing start.

"Oye, oye, está bien…" he heard a reassuring voice that he recognized, eyes darting to the view of Juandissimo at his bedside. "You are in your room."

Wait, wasn't he just at the librar…huh?!

Leveling his breathing, Alewandro scanned the new familiar surroundings of white-painted walls, finding himself dressed in a white tank and boxers beneath his navy-blue duvet. White shutters masked any light seeping through the window, black-wood school desk straight across from his corresponding headboard. His phone set next to his digital clock and silver-brass desk lamp atop the glass nightstand to his left, a portable stereo high on his black-wood dresser to the right of his queen bed, straight across from the grey wooden door to his bathroom attached.

Still a bit lightheaded, Alewandro lifted a lazy hand to his forehead. "¿Q-qué…sucedió?"

"You passed out, and Susie and Wanda took you to the school clinic." Juandissimo explained, shifting his position to face further towards his brother. "After running a few tests and checking your vitals, the nurses told them all you needed is rest, so they told them to bring you here."

Alewandro turned to his alarm clock to see the current time of 4:10pm.

"Cupid, Blonda and I came in periodically to check on you." Juandissimo continued, taking his phone from his leather vest pocket. "…I also promised Susie I would let her know when you were finally awake."

Alewandro wiped the deep slumber from his eyes. "…how long was I out?"

Juandissimo scrolled through his messages, raising a brow to Alewandro. "What day do you think it is?"

Alewandro paused. "…is it not still Friday?"

"…it is Saturday."

"¡¿Perdón?!" Alewandro swiftly grabbed his phone, and when he flipped open to the home screen, he saw the date written in smaller font beneath the current time, indicating that it was indeed Saturday.

He leaned backwards in his bed, Alewandro's weary stare locked onto his ceiling as he observed the low spin of the fan's blades. Never had he blacked out like this before. There've been moments where he'd doze off for a couple minutes to a few hours in what felt like a split second. For a whole day or so to pass in the span of what felt like a blink of an eye? With how sporadic and scattered his sleep had been, he guessed it was only a matter of time before both mind and body eventually shut down…

Finished in his text to Susie, Juandissimo tucked his phone away, hesitating to look to his brother. "Susie…told me how bad it was, pero…I did not realize the extent of it."

Normally, Alewandro would have asked to elaborate, yet he was too tired to even hear his own thoughts. Whatever snarky he had to say, he was in no mood to hear it.

"…you should not have to punish yourself for something I did."

Alewandro sluggishly lifted himself back to a sitting position, disbelief in his stare. "…w-what?"

Juandissimo stalled in thought. "…this is about my overdose, no?"

His muscles tense when Alewandro turned away, eyeing the pastel-blue carpet. "…not entirely."

"…what is it, then?"

Not expecting Juandissimo to initiate this conversation, even if it had waited until Alewandro was fully prepared for it, he'd still be struck with that same cumbersome pit in his stomach. "…it is more of the reason behind it…" was Alewandro's soft-spoken response, meeting his brother's inquiring gaze. "…the fact that…I pushed you to that point."

"…our falling out was not the sole reason." Juandissimo made clear.

"It was a reason…" Alewandro noted. "…and when I found you…" he trailed off, averting his eyes at the reminder of one of the worst nights of his life. "…I-I thought…you were going to die, and it would be my fault…"

Feeling inclined to do so, Juandissimo crawled further onto the bed, situating himself to sit next to his brother. The two sat with their own thoughts for a moment, Juandissimo twiddling with his zipper. "…I am not angry with you anymore."

Alewandro met Juandissimo's stare, a disbelieving look in his eyes. "Why? I mean…what I said was terrible."

"And you know that now." Juandissimo commented. "Just as I realized I share equal blame."

Considering his brother's words, Alewandro nodded in understanding, true remorse in ice-blue orbs. "…lo siento mucho…"

To Alewandro's surprise, Juandissimo solemnly returned "Yo también…"

"…te he extrañado…" Alewandro softly confessed.

In the same vein, Juandissimo echoed "…same."

Making a bold move, Alewandro held up a fist, and Juandissimo, contemplating as his gaze switched between Alewandro and his fist, soon returned the gesture, bumping his fist against Alewandro's with a half-smile. This curled a faint grin in Alewandro's lips, gaining the confidence that this was the first step in rebuilding what was lost, mending the once broken bond of the Magnifico brothers.

AN: Yaaaaaaay Wandro and Juan get along agaaaaaiiiinnnnnnn.

So I have it in my head that Juan's birth father only speaks Spanish, hence why convos with him are mostly in Spanish and why Google Translate may or may not be my best friend. Hope the flashback wasn't overkill.