Magnus
I watched her.
Aysel stood there in the lobby, staring at those ridiculous flowers like they held some kind of power over her.
Her face had gone soft, distant.
Like she was remembering something I wasn’t part of.
And it made my blood burn.
She had just interrogated a man so brutally that it left my men and I thoroughly impressed.
She had questioned him with fire in her eyes and fury in her voice.
She had been magnificent.
And now, one word from Damon, just one mention of a birthday and she was wavering.
I felt something snap inside my chest.
“Are you serious?” The words came out before I could stop them.
“You’re actually considering this?”
Aysel turned to look at me, her brow furrowed.
“What?”
“All that passion back there.” I gestured vaguely toward the door, toward the pack house I had just dragged her out of.
“All that fire.
And now you’re going to stand here and let him buy you with flowers?”
Damon’s eyes narrowed.
“Magnus, I don’t know what game you think you’re playing, but…”
“Shut the fuck up, Damon.” I didn’t even look at him.
My focus was entirely on Aysel.
“Is this what you want?
To go running back to him the moment he waves something pretty in your face?”
Her expression hardened.
“You don’t get to talk to me like that.”
“Don’t I?” I stepped closer, and I saw her chin lift in defiance.
“You just spent an hour in a room proving to everyone in that room that you’re not weak.
And now you’re going to cave because of a birthday party?”
“It’s not just a birthday party…”
“It’s exactly a birthday party.” I laughed, but it came out harsh and bitter.
“You told me you hated him.
You told me he hurt you.
And yet the moment he shows up with flowers, you look at him like he’s the only person in the world who matters.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.” I gestured between her and Damon.
“It’s written all over your face.
You want to go with him.
You want to celebrate with him.
You want to pretend the last three years didn’t happen.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but Damon cut in.
“Magnus, back off.
You have no right….”
I finally turned to face him fully.
He was still holding the flowers, still standing there like he had some claim to her.
Like he deserved anything from her.
“Aysel” I said, my voice dropping to something quiet and dangerous.
“Come with me.”
She gave me an incredulous look, “What?
No!”
“I wasn’t asking.” I reached out and grabbed Aysel’s arm, pulling her toward the elevator.
“Let go of me!” She struggled against my grip.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting you away from him.”
“Magnus, stop it!”
I didn’t stop.
I pulled her through the door to the elevator lobby and slammed it shut behind us.
Aysel yanked her arm free, her eyes blazing.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“Me?” I stepped closer, and she backed up until her shoulders hit the wall.
“What’s wrong with me?
You’re the one who was about to walk away with him!”
“You’re being ridiculous.
I was just..”
“Just what?
Melting?
Forgetting everything he did to you because he brought you flowers?”
“Don’t.” Her voice was sharp.
“Don’t you dare judge me.
You don’t know anything about my life.
You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you deserved better.”
She blinked, clearly thrown by my words.
“I know he hurt you,” I continued, stepping closer.
“I know you spent years grovelling after him.
And I know you’re smarter than this.
So why?
Why would you even consider going with him?”
“It’s none of your buisness.”
“It is, Aysel.” I asked.
“You’re my business whether you want it or not.”
“Who exactly do you think you are?
Who do you think you are to order me around like a child…”
I cut her off with a kiss.
I pushed her against the door and pressed my mouth to hers, fierce and desperate.
I kissed her like she was the only thing keeping me alive.
I kissed her like I could make her forget every single person who had ever hurt her.
Damon pounded the door behind us, shouting for me to release Aysel.
And for a moment, she kissed me back.
Her hands came up to my chest, and I felt her fingers curl into the fabric of my shirt.
She made a small sound against my mouth, and something inside me soared.
Then she bit me, hard.
I pulled back with a sharp gasp, my hand flying to my lip.
I tasted blood.
She shoved at my chest, and her hand caught the spot where my wound was still healing.
Pain exploded through me.
I doubled over, gasping, my vision swimming.
I didn’t have time to recover from that when she slapped me across the face.
I straightened slowly, my cheek stinging.
I stared at her.
“How dare you.” Her voice was shaking.
“How dare you kiss me like that.
Like I’m yours.
Like you have the right.”
“Aysel…”
“Don’t.
Touch.
Me.” She whispered fiercely.
“You don’t even know me that well and yet you disrespect me by thinking I can’t make a decision by myself.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but I couldn’t find the words.
“Don’t follow me.” She pushed past me and pressed the button for the elevator.
“Don’t call me.
Don’t come near me again.”
“Aysel…”
“I mean it.”
The elevator doors slid open.
She stepped inside without looking back.
And then she was gone.
I stood there alone, staring at the closed doors.
My lip was bleeding.
My side was throbbing.
My cheek burned where she had slapped me.
And I had never felt more like a monster.
The door behind me shook with the force of someone pounding on it.
“Magnus!
Magnus, open this door!”
Damon.
I turned slowly, my hand still pressed against my lip.
I could hear him shouting, could hear the panic in his voice.
“What did you do to her?!
Magnus, I swear to God, if you hurt her…”
I opened the door.
Damon stumbled forward, off-balance from the sudden give.
He caught himself and straightened, his eyes wild and furious.
“Where is she?
What did you do?
I heard her shout…”
“I kissed her.”
Damon froze.
“I kissed her,” I repeated, wiping the blood from my lip.
“I touched her.
I held her against the door and I kissed her until she bit me.”
His face went red.
“You…”
“I’m going to marry her.” I met his eyes.
“I’m going to have children with her.
I’m going to give her a future.
A whole future.
Everything she deserves.”
Damon’s hands curled into fists.
“This is revenge.
This is all just revenge for what happened to Kael.
You don’t love her.
You don’t even know her.”
I laughed, and it came out broken.
“Don’t you realize how much she deserves to be loved?”
Damon opened his mouth, but no words came out.
“Don’t you realize,” I continued, stepping closer, “that she has been alone her whole life?
That everyone she has ever trusted has abandoned her?
And you..” I jabbed a finger at his chest.
“…you kept chosing someone else.”
“And you think you can fix it?”
“I would do everything in my power to do exacy that.” My voice dropped.
“I would show her what it’s like to be truly loved.
To be cherished.
To wake up every morning knowing that someone chooses her because she’s worth choosing.”
Damon stared at me.
Behind him, Aysel’s best friend, the one she called Skylar, made a small sound of surprise.
“Well,” she said, stepping into the doorway.
“I guess that’s that.”
Damon turned to glare at her.
“Stay out of this.”
“I don’t think so.” Skylar crossed her arms, and for the first time, I saw no fear in her eyes.
“You lost, Damon.
You had your chance, and you lost it.
Now it’s someone else’s turn.”
Damon’s glare intensified, but Skylar just smiled.
“What?
You think you still scare me?” She laughed.
“I’ve been scared of you for years.
I’ve been scared of losing my best friend, of watching her get hurt, of being too weak to help her.
But I’m not scared anymore.”
Damon looked like he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the words.
And I was suddenly so tired.
It was yet another history that I wasn’t part of.
I turned away from them and was about to walk away but Skylar followed me.
“You must be Magnus.” She said softly.
“If course with the way Damon has been screaming your name.
I don’t believe we have met before.”
She stretched out her hand.
“I’m Skylar.”
I looked at the hands and then back to her face.
She took my hands either way and shook it.
“Don’t worry, I’m all for Team Magnus.
Aysel has had enough of that bastard.”
I rose an eyebrow.
“Let me tell you a little secret.
Aysel doesn’t celebrate her birthday,” she said quietly.
“I mean, her mother used to, when she was little.
But after Celestine came, any celebration became like some sort of guilt.”
I listened in silence.
“Every year, Damon would show up,” she continued.
“Rain or shine.
Even when she didn’t want to see him.
Even when she told him to leave.
He never missed it.
He never gave up on it, even though it was the day after the anniversary of his brother’s death.
Because he knew it was the only time she ever felt special.”
I felt something twist in my chest.
“I’m not saying you should let him take her.” Skylar’s voice was gentle.
“But you need to understand that this is the one thing in her life that has always been constant.
Her birthday.
It’s the only genuine experience of love she’s ever really known.”
I closed my eyes.
“You can’t expect her to forget everything immediately,” Skylar said.
“These things take time.
You have to be patient with her.”
I opened my eyes and looked at her.
“One more thing,” Skylar said, a hint of mischief creeping into her voice.
“You could stand to wear fewer shirts.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You heard me.” She grinned.
“When you’re trying to win her over.
Show a little skin.
It works like a charm everytime.”
I stared at her.
Skylar just laughed, patting my arm before turning to leave.
“You remember the food you made for her that morning?” she said over her shoulder.
“She called it her favorite.”
And then she left.
I stood there in the silence of the lobby of the elevator.
The elevator had already gone up.
Aysel was gone.
But she would come back.
I would make sure of it.
Because I was going to fight for her.
Come rain, come shine.