"Alec?" Isabelle asked when I picked up her phone call. That was when it struck me that I really needed to talk to my sister about using the word 'Hello'. She always seemed to just launch right into whatever it was she wanted.

"Hey Izzy. What's up?" I put in the effort to make my voice sound bright.

In reality I'd been moping the whole day away, but I didn't want her to suspect something was wrong. So why the bad mood? Well, Magnus wasn't calling me anymore. The night before he'd called so many times that I'd silenced my phone and now I was getting nothing.

That morning I'd braved public transport to get to and from Tessa's. I didn't even check if Magnus was coming for me beforehand. In hindsight I could see that had been a mistake. Even if Magnus wasn't mad about me blanking his calls, then he was going to be mad about me dismissing him.

The longer Magnus went without contacting me the more I worried. Had he given up? Was he going to leave me? Was he already at a bar with somebody better? I knew better than to think that way, he said wasn't like that anymore. It was just really difficult to give Magnus more credit than that after I saw him getting all up in Will's business…

"I called to keep you posted about Mother and Father." Said Isabelle. I jumped a little because I'd all but forgotten I was on the phone.

"Okay." I said calmly, expecting the worst. "What's the news?"

"I don't think it's looking good for them." Isabelle informed me. All I could think was 'welcome to the club', which was rude and not particularly considerate. I would probably scold myself for that later.

"Did Father do something wrong?" I asked. It seemed early on in the two weeks for him to push his luck, but these things happen.

"I sort of think Mother wants him to." Izzy pondered aloud. "It feels like she already made her decision, you know?"

"I know." I agreed. Mother was going to be looking for the bad, maybe so hard that she saw it where it wasn't.

"I don't think he really has a chance." Izzy sighed.

"Are you going to be alright?" I asked her. Sometimes it was difficult knowing I couldn't just walk through the bathroom and see my sister when she was down.

"Sure. I mean it's not my relationship." Izzy dismissed, probably shrugging.

That wasn't exactly the point, but I didn't say any more. Knowing if it bothered her would not affect what would or wouldn't happen in the slightest. The most I could do was be there for her when a verdict was reached.

Izzy kept up the chatter for a little longer; complaining about her homework and stuff. I listened attentively as I always did; but when she hung up I was stricken with the realisation that we'd been keeping the line busy. I waited for missed call alerts but nothing came through. I considered just calling Magnus myself but I was worried it might not be welcome.

After a while I gave up on the idea and decided to grab a shower. Although I did bring my phone with me. Just in case.

The bathroom was surprisingly hygienic for a small room shared by three guys. You might expect it to look like a biohazard but it was actually not so bad. Kyle was an unexpectedly organised person and Simon had been treating the apartment like a crime scene he didn't want to leave prints on. Plus, I hardly kept anything in there.

Magnus always complained about me using shower gel for everything. Apparently there was something important about conditioner? Being a little mad with him I took a little more pleasure than usual using it. Of course, it wouldn't matter how Magnus felt about my hair care regime if he was going to leave me.

Maybe I was too young and insecure to make him happy after all?

I tilted my head back until the warm water ran over my hair and face. My eyes burned; I blamed it on the suds. It had to be suds because I was not going to cry over a breakup which hadn't even happened. Well, as far as I knew, anyway.

I felt so pathetic. When had I reached this stage where my happiness depended on Magnus? Why was one contact-less day killing me? I stepped out of the shower and wrapped my towel around myself. It was small and soaked through pretty fast.

Walking back through the hall was slightly awkward. Simon was in the main room working on the same home homework that Izzy had been stressing about; the communal areas now being his bedroom. Rules about privacy were a little blurred in our apartment but I didn't think he'd appreciate me walking around semi-naked.

Not that I often just chill out in the living room in a towel, but I did get back to my room fast as I could without running. Then remembered that I had been trying to escape the lonely little box I slept in. It was going to be a long night.

I thought about my parents, and the idea of being set up to fail from the start. Was it possible that I was being harder on Magnus than I needed to? Maybe after all the stories I'd heard about Magnus I had just been waiting for him to slip up. Finding mountains where there were molehills.

What did I know about flirting, anyway? It had taken me forever to spot it from Dr Zachariah and Magnus had needed to prompt me.

I sighed and stared up at my ceiling. I didn't even know why I was acting too stubborn to make the first move. I just really wanted to hear from Magnus.

I couldn't even sleep from thinking about it too much. You know those nights. You keep checking the time and telling yourself how many hours of sleep you'd get if you dosed off right then... Only you never do. That was me.

I tossed, I played with apps. I turned, I watched clips on YouTube. I even tried to read a book which Tessa had recommended to me for a little while but it just made my eyes hurt.

When it started to get light outside I resigned myself to the fact I would be pulling an all-nighter. Something I hadn't done since I learned cramming the night before a test didn't help you pass.

I was just considering that it was a good thing I had no tests that day when I must have eventually dozed off. Not that the sleep refreshed me in the slightest.

I think my sense of timing has gone off completely, because in my mind I thought I'd posted an update yesterday! So, here's a chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to everybody who reads and reviews, next up should be 'Working On It'.