November was nearly over, and Christmas was almost upon them. For Magnus, this meant many things, one of which was his one year anniversary with Alec. It wasn't the anniversary itself that he was nervous about, so much as the prospect of going home with Alec for Christmas. A week or so ago, when Izzy had dropped by for a sudden visit, Alec had asked Magnus to come meet his parents over the holiday. The problem was that Magnus hadn't seen his aunt since last Christmas. Sure, he talked to her on the phone from time to time, but it wasn't the same. Would it be too much to ask Alec for them to both visit Magnus's family and his? Plus the idea of meeting all of Alec's family at once, and staying with them for an extended period of time was a little intimidating. Though Magnus wasn't really sure how to talk to Alec about these things, he was sure about Alexander. It was something they had to talk about, and he might not be comfortable bringing it up, but he knew they were okay. It was a wonderful feeling to be secure in your love for another person. Magnus had known relationships security before Alexander, or at least he thought he had. With Alec, there was no little voice in the back of his mind trying to convince him that it would all fall apart.

Lost in his thoughts, Magnus walked out of class. It was getting close to exam time again, and the professors were starting to assign more homework. Magnus was having a hard time believing that in just a few short months, he'd be graduating with a Bachelor's in History. How had the last four years gone by so fast, and how could the same four years also feel like half his life? Next semester was going to be a stressful mess of applying for jobs, and trying to like grow up or something. Magnus wasn't so sure he was on board with this whole graduating thing. But short of purposely flunking out, there wasn't much he could do about it.

It was then that Magnus saw a rather familiar head of blonde hair. She was sitting alone in the corner almost hidden from view. As Magnus walked towards her, he thought idly about how just a year ago he wouldn't have been doing this. Back then, he would have been moving as quickly as possible in the opposite direction at the sight of this particular person, but today it brought a smile to his face. He wasn't bitter, for he had no reason to be. The past was the past, and Alec was his future.

"Oh Magnus," Camille gasped, jumping slightly in surprise and turned to him, her makeup running down her face.

"Why are you crying?" Magnus asked her gently. He knew this woman well enough to know she only hid when she was crying real tears. He'd also seen enough of her fake tears to know the difference. Actually now that he thought about it, this might be the only time he'd ever seen her really crying.

"I'm not," Camile disagreed quickly.

"I see," Magnus replied calmly. "Well, my mistake. The water running down your face must be from the rain." They were of course, indoors, and his sarcasm was very obvious.

"Okay fine, I'm crying," Camille muttered. "Happy?"

"Yes, though it has nothing to do with you crying," Magnus replied. He'd long ago gotten over this woman, and his love for Alec was so different as to make him think he had never loved her the way he thought he had.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Magnus asked gently. They were in a little nook off the main hallway. Two couches lined the walls, outlets for students to plug in laptops were near every surface, and a coffee table was in the center.

"Do you really want to know?" Camille inquired. "Because the last time we saw each other, you ran from me like I am some kind of snake or something."

"Yeah, sorry," Magnus replied easily, sitting on the couch opposite her. "Little bit of boyfriend drama. All settled now though. How is Ralf? Did your jealousy plan work?"

"No," Camille sniffed. "He just finally picked one of the other girls is all that happened."

"Tessa's right isn't she," Magnus whispered with a smile. "You actually love Ralf." It was a strange concept to him, since Magnus hadn't ever felt like Camille had loved him during their relationship, at least not in retrospect.

"I'm pathetic," Camille whined, and Magnus had to admit crying wasn't her most attractive look, with red eyes and running mascara. Some people looked beautiful when they cried; Camille was just not one of those people, at least not when it came to real tears.

"No, you aren't," Magnus told her. "That's just what love means. It isn't easy. It requires trust and vulnerability. It requires giving another person power over you, over your happiness."

"What if I don't know how to do that?" Camille sobbed.

"If you love him, which it seems to me that you do, then I am pretty sure it's too late," Magnus corrected her. "He already makes you vulnerable. You have already trusted him with your heart, even if you didn't mean to. Why did you guys break up anyway?"

"I don't know," Camille whined. "Everything was fine and then… it wasn't. I don't know why he pulled away from me."

"If I know you at all," Magnus began. "Then I can hazard a guess." Camille turned to him, her eyes hopeful. "Did you ever once tell him how much you care about him?"

"I-" Camille started. "I- I'm not sure."

"You are an easy woman to love Camille," Magnus spoke truthfully yet casually, speaking almost academically. "Maybe a little too easy. When we were together, I remember counting the heads that turned in your direction when you walked into the room. I am sure Ralf has noticed the same. If you've never told him how you feel, I am not surprised he assumed the worse and pulled away, protecting himself. If I'd have been smarter, I'd have done the same thing."

"Oh," Camille said softly. There was silence for a moment then she spoke again. "When did you get so wise Magnus?"

"I'm not sure," Magnus chuckled. "Though Alexander is definitely to blame."

"I am sorry I cheated on you Magnus," Camille mumbled, clearly embarrassed to be saying these words. "I shouldn't have done that."

"You didn't want to hurt me," Magnus replied, tonelessly. After all, he'd rationally known this all along. It was only now, that he had the emotional distance he could say it so effortlessly. "Ironically it would have been kinder to just dump me." He laughed. This wasn't forgiveness, but Magnus had let go of the pain. He hadn't done it for her, but rather for himself. Holding onto betrayal weighed you down, caused you more hurt than the betrayal itself.

"Yeah," she mumbled again, looking away from him. "Anyway thanks for the advice."

"Sure," Magnus replied, standing up to leave. "Let me know how it turns out. I don't wish you unhappiness Camille."

"Thanks, I guess," Camille replied with a slight laugh.

"Tell him how you feel and see what happens," Magnus said again. "If all else fails, move on."

"I don't think I can," Camille said softly. "This is so different than all the ones that came before."

"I know what you mean," Magnus replied, smiling as he thought of his Alexander.

"You're lucky you know," Camille told him. "Alec's quite a catch. If he hadn't been only batting for your team, I'd have snatched him up myself."

"Why?" Magnus asked. "He doesn't seem like your type at all."

"He's rich," Camille shrugged. "Though, I suppose I can't say that anymore since I'm sitting here crying over some average income level guy." She sighed then stood up, wiping tears from her eyes. Then with a smile and casual farewell, Camille turned and left, leaving Magnus feeling rather uncomfortable.

Didn't like to keep his family's money to himself, so why did Camille know about it? Maybe Alec wasn't nearly as good at hiding it as he liked to believe. Though he supposed if anyone would invest time in researching the net worth of her fellow classmates, it would be Camille Belcourt. Even so, Magnus couldn't help but wonder if anyone else aside from Camille was thinking this way. Were there people who looked at him and Alec, and thought Magnus was dating Alec only for his money? It was not a pleasant thought, but Magnus tried to push it from his mind as he continued his walk to the cafeteria where he was meeting his boyfriend for lunch.

Upon entering the cafeteria, Magnus instantly saw Alec sitting at a table to his left near the microwaves. They were there for students to heat up lunches, but were also often used by staff. Looking past the line up for food, Magnus saw Alec and smiled. Then he saw Izzy sitting next to his boyfriend and groaned inwardly. With a deep sigh, Magnus headed towards them, not sure what to expect. Setting his books down on the table, Magnus sat beside Alec and tried to tune into their conversation.

"Hey Magnus," Izzy said interrupting herself. "Now as I was saying, my classes are lame and I need a major."

"I haven't even declared yet, and I'm in second year," Alec argued.

"Yes, well you are indecisive," Izzy argued. "While I am proactive."

"Or just easily bored," Alec mumbled almost under his breath.

"Or that," Izzy agreed without even looking annoyed. "So I was looking into nursing." Magnus couldn't help but laugh. He'd had a friend who'd been through the nursing program here, though he hadn't spoken to her in a while. Caterina Loss had the bedside manner of a saint, and could nurse even the grumpiest old man into being calm trusting model patients. If bedside manners could kill, Magnus was sure Izzy would be the first serial killer nurse.

"And this is funny because?" Izzy inquired coolly.

"Nurses have to be nurturing," Magnus told her. "I think Alec would probably make a better nurse than you."

"What about Marketing then?" Izzy asked.

"You can't pick a major before you even take the intro class for it," Alec sighed. "What if you hate it?"

"Then I'll change majors?" Izzy shrugged. Alec sighed deeply, then let his head hit the table with a thud.

"Ouch, Alexander that sounded like it hurt," Magnus observed, slightly worried for his boyfriend's skull.

"It eases the pain of sister annoyance," Alec sighed as he sat up again. "Why I was so worried this school would be a bad influence on you, I'll never know."

"You have an older brother complex," Izzy told him with a giggle.

"I promise she just showed up," Alec said, turning to Mangus. "I didn't plan for her to crash our lunch."

"Speaking of crashing," Izzy added. "How did that conversation about Christmas end?"

"And you care because?" Alec asked. "Didn't you run off to escape us boring couples?"

"Met up with Elevator boy actually," Izzy grinned. "He was much better than I thought he'd be. I was pleasantly surprised."

"I don't want to know any of this," Alec said sticking his fingers in his ears the same way Magnus did when Clary's sex life came up. "Too much information, Iz!"

"Prude," Izzy snapped at her brother as she pulled his hands back down. "So are you going to answer the question?" Alec just glared at her, but when she glared back he turned away, looking down at the floor.

"He can't," Magnus told Izzy, knowing exactly why Alec was avoiding the question.

"Why not?" Izzy asked. Magnus knew this wouldn't help him win points with Alec's sister, but he wasn't about to lie.

"I haven't given him an answer yet," Magnus explained.

"Why?" Izzy asked, her eyes narrowing. Magnus could imagine only too well the things she was thinking, and it made him nervous.

"Back off, Iz," Alec snapped. "You've never been in a relationship before, so you don't get to tell us how to handle ours. Sometimes people need to think about things."

"Fine," Izzy said standing up. "We still on for hanging out on the weekend big brother?"

"Of course," Alec sighed, but he looked tired. With a smile and a wave, Izzy walked away and Alec rested his forehead on Magnus's shoulders. Magnus pulled Alec closer, placing a soft kiss in his boyfriend's hair.

"She is so exhausting sometimes," Alec complained as he settled his head more comfortably against his boyfriend's shoulder. Magnus wrapped his arms around Alec.

"I can see that," Magnus replied. He knew they needed to talk about the Christmas thing, but asking Alec for something at the moment felt wrong.

"You will never guess who I ran into on my way over here," Magnus began.


Cliffhanger! hehe

Yay! Backlog gone! I no longer have totally finished and edited chapters just waiting to be uploaded. Thank goodness! That is just so wrong. Lol. It's so nice to get back to normal. I totally suck at schedules. And though the next chapter is almost finished it isn't like already been beta read and is just sitting there so... close enough to normal for me. And yes it's Tuesday so clearly my self control sucks as I know lots of people are still behind on reading but... I wanted to hear what you guys think about Magnus's talk with Camille!

Also I keep jumping back and forth between 287 follows and 288 follows. It's so weird! There is either one really indecisive person out there who likes hitting the button or the timing of people wanting and not wanting emails is just very strange and out to give me a complex. Lol.

Guest Reviewer said:
I loved this chapter Simon FINALLY got some. I think even though Izzy told him not to fall in love with her, I think she is going to fall in love with him. Plot Twist! Okay sorry for...whatever THAT was. I lobe youf writing, and thank you for this story. till next chapter :)

My reply:
Yes, indeed Simon finally did. Though it wasn't quite as big a deal as he thought it would be. Hehe… maybe. You know that I love a good plot twist. ^_^ hehe. Lol no worries. That was enthusiasm! And enthusiasm is the best! ...oh and side note: If you logged in I'd PM you back privately though I guess this works too. I think it's the same guest reviewing multiple times, but I can't be sure. Or if you don't want to make an account (I know some readers don't have one) then you could pick a name or nickname and tag all your reviews with that so I know if I'm talking to the same person or a different one. Guest reviews don't link to an account, but you can still write something to identify yourself in the box.


Sneak Peek Chapter 66

Alec had class then he'd made plans with a friend or rather his cousin. Though he supposed she could be better described as his friend since being someone's family didn't automatically guarantee that they were your friend too. Alec was making a better effort to keep in touch with Aline since they'd reconnected over the summer. He'd been texting her more and if those texts were to be believed Aline had converted her girlfriend into a Catan player and organized a game night at their new place tonight. She didn't have an expansion for the game so it could only be played with four players. Helen wanted to invite her brother so Aline had only invited Alec. Magnus hadn't minded being excluded in this case since he had a major essay due on Monday. When Alec arrived he learned that Helen had indeed become quite the Catan player thanks to her girlfriend. He met Helen's brother Mark and all in all it was a lovely afternoon.

As November turned into December class work got more and more stressful; exams were once again upon them. After all that time cramming Alec was glad to finally be hanging out with Magnus again without any textbooks involved. It was during one of these lazy afternoons before they left for the holidays that Magnus got a phone call from Will. Alec listened to Magnus's side of the conversation and quickly realized what had happened.