"Robert isn't happy that I came here." Annamarie said the moment she sat down. I wanted to tell her that nobody was happy right then. If everybody was happy then I wouldn't be meeting up with her.

Anna had chosen the place. Another coffee shop, one of the corporate nightmares my Father loved. The barista had wrinkled her nose at my worn out clothes. I was getting drinks for my Father's mistress. As if a hole in my jumper came anywhere close to high on my list of priorities.

The truth was that I had to talk to Anna to ease my mind. Isabelle, however upset she was, hadn't been mad at me for what had happened between me and Magnus. At least, I didn't think she was. But she was really angry that I'd kept things from her. So I was getting the not-so-silent treatment. By that I mean she huffed around a lot and said things like 'I'm not talking to you, but-' before she launched into conversation. No big deal. We weren't talking about it anymore in any case, and Jace didn't really get it when I said I found it hard to forget about Magnus.

Anna would understand. I knew she would. It was weird having this understanding with her now. I had to stop hating her, for one thing. I couldn't afford to hate myself that much.

"Thanks for coming anyway." I said. I didn't feel settled about being around her yet. She was watching me expectantly. Of course, she knew I had something big to talk about already.

"Well?" She said. Well what? 'Well hurry up and spill it', that's what Izzy meant when she talked to me like that.

So I began to tell her my story. She listened curiously while I went over everything. And I mean everything. I knew she was going to tell my Father and that he, in turn, would tell Mother. I guess part of me wanted that. No more lying. I'd either be forgiven or I wouldn't, but I would be honest. I'd have a clear conscience. That was all I wanted anymore.

Anna was quiet, for the most part, observing. She didn't react to Magnus' gender because she already knew I wasn't straight, she wasn't shocked by his age; she hadn't a care about the fact he had a wife. That was to be expected.

"And you're just giving up and slinking out of there?" She finally said. As if this was some kind of battle that I'd lost.

"I feel terrible about it." I said. Biggest understatement ever.

Anna didn't seem to understand. That made me all the more unsettled. She was supposed to get it. That's why I was there.

"She's not your problem." She continued dismissively. "This 'Magnus' person is her Husband. If he chooses to ignore his wife then that's not even your business."

"What do you mean 'not my problem'?" I asked, shocked she was overlooking how involved I was. "She caught us in bed!"

We were both quiet for a couple moments, waiting for the people who'd looked up at my outburst to go back to what they were doing. Anna stared down somebody behind me, presumably until quit looking over at us. Then she gestured over towards him.

"If Camille told you not to date that guy you wouldn't turn him down, right? She's nothing to you. What she thinks doesn't matter."

I went a little slack-jawed. I hadn't accounted for the fact Anna might be evilly remorseless.

"But I enabled him to-" I began.

"You want to feel better, don't you?" She interrupted darkly, finishing the last gulp of her drink which had probably gotten cold while I had been talking earlier. "All the advice I can give you is to stop blaming yourself."

With that she left. Before I could say another word besides 'but'; strutting out and pulling her phone from her bag. She was probably telling my Father everything right there and then.

"She's pretty cold, isn't she?"

My heart stopped. It was his voice. The thick accent that I could never place but would know anywhere.

Magnus.

I got up and kept my eyes on the ground. I wasn't going to look at him. I was going to get out of there. I didn't like the place anyway. It was stupid. Magnus had stopped coming to JJ's, on my shifts at the very least. This must have been his new place.

His hand wrapped firmly around my arm before I walked away. It was the day we met all over again. Only I was a different kind of nervous.

"Sit, please. We need to talk." He told-asked me. I did sit. He got me with that one every time.

"You don't have to formally break up with me Magnus." My voice sounded so bitter and for once I truly meant for it to sound that way. "I think we can both agree we're done."

"Are we?" Magnus actually-asked.

"Yes." I hissed.

"She had a point, the woman." Magnus waved his hand flippantly while he tried to remember Annamarie's name. He was wearing a silver wedding band. "Anna, was it? It wasn't up to you to worry about Cammie."

"She's 'Cammie' now? That's a big step up from not existing." I was sneering down at the table, pretty sure the fact I couldn't look Magnus in the eye was proving I was more upset than I let on. Being near him was difficult. I wanted to hit him and hug him and run away all at the same time.

"She always existed, Alexander. And I was always going to tell you."

I settled on running away and began to get up out of my seat. Magnus put his hands on the sides of my face, gently, and tilted my head in his direction to look at him. He had more makeup than usual on his left cheek, which was odd given that he'd been laying off the foundation for a long time now. He was covering something. Did somebody hit him? Who? Camille?

Jace had gotten my phone back for me. It could easily have been him. I made a mental note to ask him about it. He had looked pretty smug when he'd delivered it but I figured he just enjoyed bullying valet-guy.

I shook my head a little, hoping Magnus would let go of me. It was so intimate. Too intimate.

All Magnus was doing was reminding me of our time together, how wrong it was and how horrible I was for wishing we could go back to that.

I wanted to get happy butterflies when he teased me. I wanted to call him an idiot when he turned up to my house in his dumb fake glasses and watch his eyes light up when I talked him to death about something that should have been boring, like the Tudors.

"And then you told me about your parents." Magnus continued. His eyes still held mine intently. He was half-smiling, like in his head this was a funny misunderstanding. "And I thought 'crap, this kid won't react well'.'"

"You think?" I tugged away. Magnus sighed.

"You're so young, sweetpea." I flinched at the term of endearment. I shouldn't have been hearing him out. Not when I really wanted to forgive him. It was too much of a risk. "There's so much more to sexuality than you've ever encountered. It isn't cut-and-dry as 'monogamous or cheating.'"

"I'm sorry, Magnus, but it is to me." I told him firmly. I took a step back before he could touch me again. He seemed crushed that I wasn't listening. It was a far cry from the bored irritation he'd shown in bed just a few days before.

"Alexander-" He began, following me on my way out the door.

"Maybe I don't understand." I interjected. "If this kind of thing is normal to you, Magnus..."

Outside he stood in front of the door to the driver's seat. With my hand turning the key in the lock I was almost flush against him. He even smelled perfect.

Why did his one flaw have to be something like this?

"It is normal. Cammie does her own thing, I do mine."

I said nothing. If it was normal then surely his wife wouldn't have been angry about it?

Come to think of it, though, she hadn't screamed like my Mother had. They'd just bickered. On top of that she obviously she hadn't left him or he wouldn't have his ring on. And Magnus had been so... Unconcerned. Like maybe he'd been through all of it before.

I wasn't sure that made it alright.

I didn't understand. Magnus and his wife clearly functioned in an unusual way but it would take a lot more time and talking for him to explain that dynamic to me.

"Darling, I love you." He said. His tone was pleading; he was saying so much more.

Stay. Listen.

I couldn't. "I love you too, Magnus. I want you to be happy."

Magnus smiled sadly. "But?"

It felt weirdly uplifting that he encouraged me to say it. Like he saw where I was coming from. For once I was sure somebody wouldn't be mad at me.

Even if Magnus was still the only person I wanted, he'd never be mine. Not all mine, anyway. I couldn't give all of me to somebody who wouldn't reciprocate. I'd seen how that could hurt a person.

"But I can't always be 'the other one'."

Ever grateful to everybody reading! At first, I planned to end the story here. But I realized that there was more I wanted to do with it so that didn't work out. (I also thought about doing a Magnus POV sequel to show what's been going on with him this whole time but I'm not sure if I will.)

Up next here is "On The Edge Of Caring".