Chapter Two – Nope

The next few days suck.

I spend most of my time avoiding Magnus and trying to act normal. I think he's still convinced that I don't want to talk to him. It just reminds me of Dad or even Mom.

Once we got everything unpacked, I kind of left Magnus to organize the living room the way he wanted it. I planned to make my adjustments when he wasn't around, and hoped he wouldn't be too upset about it. I found that the longer I was around him, the more anxious I felt.

I wanted things to go painlessly. That's all.

I didn't see him in the evenings because he was usually out with friends, and I was usually the first out the door in the morning to get to my job. We bumped into each other at weird times throughout the days. I hid in my room a lot.

It was nerve wracking to walk past him on my way to the kitchen when I needed to make a meal. It was weird sharing a bathroom with him. And I felt super guilty whenever he tried to start up a conversation and I just... couldn't.

Overall, my first few days in my dream apartment were terrible.

I wake up Friday morning and peek out of my room to see if Magnus is out and about. The kitchen and living room are empty, except for Magnus' cat staring me down from the sofa. I don't know if Chairman Meow really likes me, but he seems to tolerate me pretty well. I scuttle off to the bathroom.

Like I said, it's weird sharing a bathroom with Magnus. He leaves lots of clothes lying around, and his beauty produces take up a lot space. He once asked if it bothered me and I just shrugged. Truth be told, it did bother me just a little bit. I never knew if I was supposed to clean it up or leave it. If I moved anything, I always put it back exactly as I'd found it.

I hop into the shower and try to let go of all the tension. I feel it a lot in my shoulders. I'm so tense all the time these days. I wonder if it's going to do anything terrible to my health. Probably. I sigh and throw some shampoo into my hand. I lather up my hair and try to focus on a good scalp massage.

There's a knock on the door and I nearly lose my footing.

"Hey, mind if I get in there for a second? The queen needs his eyeliner," Magnus purrs through the door.

I open my eyes and squeak. That's not a response, Alec! I chide myself. I gulp and try to say something again. I don't want him in here. The frosted glass of the shower will probably keep me dignified, but he can still see a blurry outline of me. Naked me. Oh good god.

"Okay I'm coming in," he opens the door and I want to die. I can see a Magnus shaped smudge on the other side of the foggy, frosted glass, moving toward the sink. I hear the mirror cabinet open. "Don't worry, I've got a hand over my eyes. Your naked butt is safe."

I want to die of embarrassment. I want to just slip in the shower and die. I try to focus on scrubbing the suds out of my hair and wait for the sound of the door closing.

"Found it," Magnus announces. "Sorry to bust in on you like this."

He ducks out and closes the door.

I let out a shaky breath. The tension is going to kill me, I swear. And it's not going to be painless.

The shower incident isn't the last invasion of personal space Magnus gives me.

The next morning, I'm sitting at the island counter, eating some breakfast. I sip my coffee and read a book I've been meaning to look through for ages.

Magnus walks out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel and I nearly drop my coffee cup.

He shoots me a smile, "Mind if I steal some bacon there?"

I blink at him, pulling my book onto my lap. He smirks and walks past, snagging a piece of bacon off my plate. He disappears into his room.

I'm so flustered, I don't even care that he stole my last piece of bacon. I realize it's not as bad as him walking into the bathroom while I'm in the shower, but I'm still embarrassed. The guy really doesn't care about nakedness. It's weird. We'd only just met. I wasn't even comfortable taking off my shirt around Jace, and we'd known each other since we were kids.

Still, I can't get the image of Magnus in a towel out of my head. I can't concentrate on my book after that, so I chug the rest of my coffee and head out for work.

A few days later, it gets worse.

It's a little after one in the morning, and I'm lying in bed awake. I have trouble sleeping sometimes because my mind gets in a big loop of things to do. I worry about the next rent payment, about seeing Mom and Dad, about assignments from work. Lately I've been worrying about running into Magnus, and trying to devise a way to avoid him in the mornings and in the evenings.

I've come up with nothing that isn't horribly inconvenient. I sigh and pull the covers up over my head. I've looked up breathing techniques but I have trouble with them. I'm just that awkward. I try them, but the stale under-covers air stops me. I sigh again.

It takes a while, but slowly I start drifting off to sleep.

Then I hear my door open and I'm wide awake. My heart races. Is that Magnus? Is he in trouble? Am I in trouble? I'm about to sit up and find out, but I feel someone flop into bed beside me.

I freeze up.

I peek out from under my covers and see Magnus lying beside me. He has his back facing me. His back is broad, and his waist is slender. He's close enough that I can smell him, and he smells nice. What the hell is he doing?

He rolls over and I want to run away. His pretty eyes are closed, his hair is messy. He sighs, sleepy, and the smell of alcohol wafts over my way. I cringe. Great. He's drunk and asleep in my bed. I can't say anything to make him leave.

I'm tempted to shake him, but I'm too scared. I just stare at him and hope he'll wake up, realize he's in the wrong bed, and leave. He lets out another tired breath, and his eyelashes bat. He's so pretty.

I realize I'm blushing and my stomach feels like it's full of butterflies. And I know why.

Oh no.

Nope.

I decide that I'm going to spend the night on the couch. I start shifting to get out of bed but stop when something flops down on my chest. I look over and realize that it's Magnus's hand, draped across me. I think I might die. I don't know what to do—I can't move but I need to get away at the same time.

His fingers gently close around my shirt. I feel like my heart is going to explode.

No one's ever touched me like this before. Not this tenderly.

Magnus mutters something into my pillow. I barely catch it, but I think he says, "Don't go."

This has to be a joke. He's about to sit up, look me in the face and start laughing. He's going to make fun of me for getting so flustered about him holding my stupid shirt. And he's going to go tell his friends about his neurotic, gay ass roommate. I just want to shove him away and hide in the bathroom for the rest of the night.

This isn't funny, it's just sad.

His hand lets go of my shirt and slides across my ribs, making me shiver, before flopping down on the bed. He lets out another sleepy sigh and snuggles up. I wait for him to start laughing.

He doesn't. He seems to go to sleep.

I crawl out of bed, shaking. I'm just about to go to the door when Magnus mumbles, "Alec?"

I stop and turn, completely caught off guard, "What?"

I clamp my hands over my mouth. Magnus has his head lifted up and he's blinking at me blearily.

"You talk?" he slurs.

I squeak through my fingers. Then I turn and leave.

I lock myself in the bathroom and hyperventilate for a good portion of the night. Eventually, I fall asleep with my back against the door.

Author Note: Wow! Thanks for all the great feedback, guys. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved or followed this so far. I don't think all updates will come this quick, but I did a bunch of writing this morning, so I have a good buffer. Glad to know people are enjoying this. Thanks for reading.