Elusive Love

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Alec was consumed with googling Magnus again, but this time what he found made him smile. Thanks to the album's dedication, Magnus's fans were dividing up into MagCam supporters and Malec supporters. Alec did a double take when he'd read the word 'Malec', not sure what it meant. His original thought was that someone had spelt his name very very wrong but through context and repetition Alec realized what it meant. When he saw that #Malec was trending on twitter, Alec had to admit he was both touched and scared.

Just like last time, Alec found himself suddenly on a fanfic site, but this time it wasn't about MagCam. This time it was about Malec. The writers seemed to have taken the lyrics and mood of Magnus's music and interpreted it to try and recreate the week Magnus and Alec had had together. The activities for that week seemed to be pulled from the song 'Everything you taught me', though Alec didn't find a single story that included surfing or writing. And again some of the writing skills impressed Alec, but others were so badly written Alec wasn't even sure they were actually in English. As the writers only had one or two pictures from the paparazzi to work from, the description of Alec's character seemed to vary quite a lot through the fanfics. Alec suspected the writers were projecting themselves onto his character.

Alec watched every interview with Magnus about the new album he could get his hands on, but none of them gave him much new information. Again, he heard about how Magnus had almost not published the album and how it was personal to him. Again, Magnus explained why he wasn't wearing much makeup, but he never gave more details about Alec or answered direct questions about their time together. It was as if Magnus was trying to preserve whatever shred of privacy Alec had left, which was actually rather sweet even if Alec's curiosity remained unsatisfied.

Seeing Magnus again, even just on his computer screen, made Alec miss Magnus even more. The affection he saw in Magnus's eyes and the devotion that had obviously been put into 'Elusive Love' made Alec regret rejecting Magnus. Regret it with every fibre of his being. But what could he do about it now? Even though the press was now pro-Malec, it didn't seem to matter so much anymore. Magnus had cared all along. It had been Alec's stupid insecurities and disbelief that had ruined everything, not the reporters. The paparazzi, Alec realized, had been an excuse. The excuse Alec had been waiting for since the beginning; a way to duck out before he got in too deep. Alec could see now with perfect clarity that if you waited for something to go wrong, it would go wrong even if only in your own mind. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If only Alec could go back in time and invite Magnus in when he'd stood at Alec's door trying to explain. If only he had listened to his heart and not his fear. Was it too late now? He'd hurt Magnus so badly; why would Magnus see him, let alone be with him, again?

Alec was reading an article about Magnus when he saw an opportunity that was his only chance to find out one way or the other. This time he wasn't going to pass it up. Alec suddenly pushed his chair away from his desk and bolted out the door.

"Dad!" Alec called down the hall. Without waiting for an answer, Alec burst into his father's office.

"Alec?" Robert said, surprised by his son's sudden appearance.

"I'm taking the next few days off," Alec said with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Oh really?" Robert said, pretending to be surprised but Alec wasn't fooled. "And where are you going?"

"Vancouver," Alec said firmly. He kissed his father on the cheek, giddy with excitement, then ran back to his room to pack. By car and ferry it would be about six hours to Vancouver from Tofino. Alec put some clothes in a bag, along with the basics from the bathroom and then slung the bag over his shoulder. He packed Magnus's CD and his cell phone and was on his way to the front door within minutes.