Magnus' friends all filtered out at varying times. Woolsey had been the last to go; not before promising me that should I ever change my mind about having a third party involved, he would most definitely respond.

I rolled my eyes after Magnus shut the door. "Third party? I hardly know what it's like with two!"

"Take it as a compliment." Magnus recommended. He planted a world-melting kiss on me and my hands gripped his arms for support. "He's jealous that only one person gets to have you."

It was funny to think that - all going well - only one person ever would. That sort of thing was fairly rare these days. I kissed Magnus again. He reciprocated and didn't stop until my lungs protested and I had to pull out.

One deep look into his bright eyes - now half-lidded and clouding over - and I knew exactly where Magnus was hoping the evening would go.

All of a sudden, completely unexpectedly, nerves and panic bubbled up inside me. I had to unlatch myself from Magnus' body and scurry off to sit on the couch before I'd let him kiss me again. Magnus' face said what I was thinking.

What the hell was that about?

I smiled awkwardly towards Magnus who grinned slyly and slinked his way over. I bit my lip when he sat down beside me. His warm hand held my face carefully and he kissed me on the side of the neck...

And I got up.

"Okay." Magnus sounded husky. He brushed a hand through his hair, trying to shake off my apparent rejection. "Hint taken."

I could tell that Magnus wanted to say more. Angel bless him that he didn't want to pressure me by saying whatever he was thinking. Most likely something along the lines of 'Do you ever plan on sleeping with me again?'

I didn't mean to be withholding. In fact I didn't even want to be anymore. I was still young and in my teens and I'd gone through my teenage life pretty chaste. I had needs, too.

For somebody like Magnus it must have been like being a shopaholic in the mall with no money or credit.

"Last time we..." I said. "It didn't end well."

That was the only explanation I could come up with for why I wasn't just letting Magnus have his way with me. I had pretty fond, rousing memories of our first time together - memories that had a nasty habit of cropping up in the middle of the night when I was alone in my room - but they ultimately ended in me driving home in tears.

Magnus looked completely sympathetic, if not a little put-out.

"Nothing like that will ever happen again." He promised.

Well, I certainly hoped he didn't have a second wife ready to jump in and interrupt us. It would have had to have been a real stretch for that to be a repeat occurrence.

The issue wasn't the event itself - not that the event wasn't an issue, it just wasn't the issue at present. The problem was that I was associating giving myself completely with an equally complete loss of trust.

"But, hey, I can wait." Magnus managed to say, even as he crossed his legs to keep me from seeing evidence that his body thought differently. "It's only sex."

"Isn't you saying those words a sign that hell has frozen over?" I joked.

I hoped to lighten the mood. Just because Magnus was trying to be understanding didn't make it any fun getting... You know... 'Blocked'.

"Let it freeze. I don't owe the Devil any favours." He smiled and my guilt compounded.

Hadn't Magnus spent his day watching his hot exes walk around part-nude, knowing they were off-limits? And here I turn up, still off-limits to him. How long had it been, anyway? Taking Magnus word that he hadn't gotten any since we broke up... Around five months.

Wow. We were approaching half a year. I didn't know if that was a long or short time, all things considered. I guess that would depend on who you asked.

I looked around awkwardly, trying to think of a solution to our dry-spell problem which didn't involve me dropping all my guards. Including the physical fabric ones keeping me covered up. But that just lead to me thinking about the things we could have been doing. Which lead to me realising that I really had to get home, take a cold shower and get myself into bed. As much as I hated to just up and leave.

Magnus walked me down to my car, saying that it was pretty dark out there. I'd been out alone later than this in his neighbourhood but I think he wanted to make sure we parted on nicer terms. So it didn't feel like I was running away right after he came on to me.

I kind of was, but that was neither here nor there.

"Oh!" I remembered right as I opened the door on the driver's side. "How busy are you tomorrow? Around six?"

"Not too busy to see you." Magnus' smile was charming as ever. He did, however, cast a look back towards the apartment where his mannequins were.

"How about to help me paint a fence?" I asked uncertainly. I knew that his deadline was tight, and although the three things I'd seen him working on might not have much more to do, I didn't know how many other projects Magnus had on the go.

"You have a fence?" Magnus seemed confused, knowing I lived on the third floor of my building in a room with no windows, much less a garden. Maybe Kyle had a little fence in his room to make his plants look nice.

"My Mother does." I explained.

Magnus got it then. "So, you're really asking me to re-meet your Mother?"

"Also my Father may-or-may-not turn up." I added as an afterthought. His visits seemed random at best; but picking up in frequency.

Magnus seemed to mull all my information over. He drummed his fingers on the hood of the car in the rhythm of a song I didn't know the lyrics to. I think I'd heard it playing in the background in stores who had radio on their speakers. So it must have been new and was probably pop music.

"How does Isabelle feel about me, lately?" Magnus asked, still considering.

I was glad he asked. That was the reason I came, after all. At last we were on the same page. Now if only I didn't have to get going now that the topic had been raised.

The truth was that Isabelle hadn't said an awful lot about Magnus at all. Which was better than complaining about him, but still not great. Normal for Isabelle was gossip-seeking, having fun with it. What we were currently experiencing was a stage of acceptance. No more, no less.

Of course she wasn't happy that Magnus had basically scolded her.

"She'll be fine as long as you don't tell her off." I said, in a warning tone so he knew that what he'd said to her in Pandemonium had nearly overstepped the boundaries, even if it did work out okay.

Magnus took in what I said with a thoughtful expression.

"Sure." He said, eventually. "I'd love to come help you out."

We kissed goodbye and I left knowing the next day was going to be an experience; if nothing else.

Another chapter up! Since the last post this story passed 150 alerts, and I got really excited about that, so thank you to everybody who is reading this. I'm doing my best to keep the updates coming. "Being Friendly" will be coming up next, and I hope you've enjoyed so far.