Magnus wasn't really surprised at the turn the conversation had taken, he was simply surprised that Raphael had made himself vulnerable enough to admit it. He had always known that Raphael had been in love with Ragnor. Unfortunately, he also knew that Ragnor had been in love with Raphael.

Suddenly thrown into an involuntary memory, Magnus could clearly remember the conversation he and Ragnor had had over the matter just before Ragnor had died. Magnus had asked him to come over so that they could catch up, and things had quickly turned into Magnus talking about Alec until he had finally thought to ask about Ragnor's love life.

"Love? Me? In the same sentence? That's absurd, Magnus, and you know it!" Ragnor had tried to humor his way out of the question, but Magnus knew him well enough to see that he was hiding something.

"I can read you like a book, Ragnor. You're in love with someone and you don't want me to know who." He paused momentarily, then he decided to try to make a joke out of it, but his joke ended up being in terrible taste. "As long as it's not Raphael, then you've got my support."

When Ragnor didn't respond in any way, it finally hit Magnus that it was, indeed, Raphael who Ragnor was in love with. All the pieces of the past century seemed to fall into place all at once, and Magnus immediately began trying to backtrack. "Oh, Ragnor, no. I didn't mean it that way, you must know that. I'm so sorry; Raphael is like my little brother. I-"

At that, Ragnor interjected with a laugh. "No, Magnus. I know you don't actually hate him. I've always known that; you wouldn't have saved his life otherwise."

Magnus's next question was obviously, "Well, have you made Raphael aware of this?" at which Ragnor had looked appalled. "What? Of course not! There's no way I could ever do that!" At that, Magnus had sighed and placed his head in his hands.

"Well why the hell would you not, Ragnor? Are you scared of something or what?"

Ragnor began nodding when Magnus finished, causing Magnus to groan under his breath. "What on Earth are you scared of?"

When Ragnor had left his answer at, "Rejection," and would not hear of anything such as talking to Raphael, Magnus let the conversation fall dead. He had also been lured into swearing silence on the matter. For anyone else, Magnus would have never sworn such a thing, but for Ragnor, he would do anything to simply make him happy.

That was when Magnus realized he had yet to say anything in response to Raphael. Now that he could see the same look in Raphael's eyes that he had seen in Ragnor's, Magnus knew what he had to do.

"Why did you never tell him, Raphael?" Magnus tried to keep his voice as steady as possible, and he only hoped that Raphael would not pick up on anything for the time being.

"Are you stupid, Magnus? As though someone as kind and gentle as Ragnor could love a monster like me. I never told him because he would have been disgusted, because it would have caused me to lose him."

Magnus began shaking his head. He knew that he was going to betray his best friend, but seeing as his best friend had been dead for years, he thought that Ragnor would most likely appreciate it if he gave some sort of comfort to the man he had loved.

"You're mistaken, Raphael. He was never disgusted by you, not once." Magnus became slightly annoyed when Raphael interrupted him.

You don't know that. You can't possibly know that."

Sighing, Magnus continued, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "No, I do know, actually. I know because he told me. He told me about his love for you. He was never repulsed by you, ever."

"This is a very cruel joke, Magnus." At that, Magnus held up his hand. "No, do not, Raphael. Do not try to put yourself down. Do not try to make yourself seem unlovable. Ragnor loved you more than you will ever understand. Don't try to deny that. If you do, then you will be disrespecting not just yourself but Ragnor as well."

After continuing to try to convince Raphael of Ragnor's love for him for what seemed like hours, Magnus was greatly comforted when he finally was able to curl back up on the couch with Alec.

He was currently in Alec's arms again, with Alec playing with his hair, and he was finally able to fully relax again. Then, there was another knock at the door, and Alec got up before Magnus could and answered it, but what he found on the other side was not a person, but rather, it was a letter placed on the floor.

Bending over to retrieve the letter, Alec slowly returned to the couch. "I think this is for you," was all he said as he handed it over to Magnus.

Magnus's name was written on the outside, and he opened it carefully. He was rather surprised, however, when he saw what was inside. All that was written on the paper inside was, "Meet me in the abandoned subway Camille used to use tomorrow at 8p.m. Do not be late."

Staring at the words, Magnus knew he should understand them immediately, but he couldn't get over the fact that he knew the handwriting on the letter. "Magnus?" It was Alec's voice that slowly pulled him out of his daze. "Are you okay?"

All Magnus could do was shake his head in answer. He was not okay because now the joke was on him. He was staring at handwriting he knew all too well. The letter in his hand was clearly written by Ragnor.