The silence in the bathroom was almost suffocating, the closed space trapping every breath between them, and then Magnus suddenly said:
"…What if we just tell her the truth?"
Alex huffed out a short laugh.
"Yeah, sure," she said. "And while we're at it, let's also—"
She stopped. Because Magnus didn't laugh. Didn't smile. Didn't backtrack. He just stood there, looking at her.
"…You're not joking," she said.
"No, I'm serious."
The silence that followed wasn't empty. It was immediate pressure, filling the small space. The unease in Magnus's chest sharpened. It wasn't louder exactly, just… clearer now.
"No," Alex said again, sharper now. "Absolutely not!"
Magnus didn't look away. "Why not?"
"Why not?" she repeated, incredulous. "Magnus, that's not even… That's not an option!"
"It is, though," he said slowly.
"No, it isn't," she snapped. "Do you have any idea how badly that could go?"
"Yes," he said, calm in a way that only made it worse. "And I also know how badly this is already going."
"That doesn't mean we jump to the worst possible alternative!"
"It's not the worst possible alternative."
"It is!" she shot back. "This is you handing your life over to a variable you cannot control!"
Magnus frowned slightly. "Harper's not—"
"An unpredictable variable?" Alex cut in. "She is. I don't know how she'll react to this. You don't know. No one does!"
"She's reasonable," he said. "She's—"
"She's connected," Alex snapped. "To my family. To people who should not know about any of this!"
"That doesn't mean she'd tell them."
"You don't know that!"
"And you don't know that she would!"
"That's the point!" Alex stepped forward, frustration bleeding through now, the tight space doing nothing to contain it. "We don't know! Which means we don't take the risk!"
Magnus held her gaze. "So we lie to her instead?"
"Yes!" The word came out without hesitation.
And for a second, that was the only thing in the air between them.
"Yes," Alex repeated, more controlled. "We manage the situation. We find another angle. We don't throw everything away on something this unstable."
Magnus shook his head slightly. "This isn't just 'something unstable.' She trusts you."
"I know that."
"And you trust her."
Alex's jaw tightened. "That's not the point."
"It is," Magnus said. "That's exactly the point. You two trust each other. So truth matters even more here."
"No, it isn't!" she snapped. "The point is keeping you alive!"
"And this—" he gestured lightly toward the door, toward the rest of the apartment beyond it, "—this is how you think we do that?"
"It's how we avoid making it worse!"
Magnus let out a breath, slower this time. "Alex… this isn't working."
"We haven't even tried everything yet. There has to be a better way than telling her about the System!"
"What way?"
"We'll figure something out!"
"We tried your way," he said. "She reads you like a book. Saw through your plans in five minutes."
"That doesn't mean we should abandon the plan!"
"It means we adjust," he said. "And maybe that adjustment is being honest."
"Honest?" she echoed, almost laughing again—but there was nothing amused in it now. "You think dumping that on her is honesty? Magnus, that's insanity!"
"It's the truth."
"It's a risk!"
"A risk worth taking!"
"It's not!"
"It is! You two trust each other. That's enough for me!"
"It's not enough for me!"
"It's a choice, Alex! My choice," he said, voice tightening just a fraction. "And it's the right thing to do!"
Alex flinched, just slightly.
"Why are you dead set against me on this? You didn't have any problem with not telling Jordan the truth."
"Harper is different from Jordan!"
"How? They both trust me, and I trust both of them. But they both pose a threat to your survival if they learn the truth!"
"No! Jordan's not the same and you know it. We knew how she'd react — best case, badly, worst case… I don't walk out of that. That wasn't a choice, that was a death sentence." He dragged a hand down his face, then continued. "But Harper? You said it yourself — you don't know how she'll react. That means this is a choice. And from everything I've seen? She trusts you. Enough that she deserves the truth… and enough that I think she won't break the way you're afraid she will."
Her eyes narrowed. "So now you think you have a choice!" she said. "And you're about to pick the one that gets you killed anyway!"
Magnus went still. "That's not what this is!"
"Yes, it is!" Her voice rose despite herself, echoing slightly off the tile. "This is you deciding to risk your life for a principle!"
"It's not just a principle—"
"It is when the alternative is you staying alive!"
Silence.
Her breathing was sharper now. Controlled, but only just.
"You think I don't get it?" she went on. "You think I don't see what you're doing?"
"I'm trying to fix this—"
"No," she cut him off. "You're doing what you always do. You're choosing the option you can live with."
"…Yeah," he said, confused. "Because that matters. I thought we were on the same page on this?"
"Not if you're dead!"
The words came out sharper than anything she'd said so far. Magnus flinched slightly. Alex looked away for a second, jaw tight.
"…You don't get it," she said, quieter now. "I've seen this before!"
He blinked. "What?"
"You think this is about Harper?" she said, shaking her head. "It's not. It's you getting yourself killed doing what you believe to be right!"
"That's not—"
"It is!" she cut in. "You're doing the same thing!"
"Same thing as what?"
She stopped. For half a second. Then…
"My dad!"
The word landed like something solid between them. Magnus didn't speak.
Alex laughed once. Sharp. "You think I don't see it? You think I don't recognize this?"
"This isn't—"
"You're choosing the 'right' thing," she said, her voice tightening. "Even if it costs you. Even if you know it could cost you."
Magnus's chest tightened. "I'm not trying to die, Alex."
"I know," she said. "That's what makes it worse."
A beat.
"You don't think you are," she continued, quieter now but no less intense. "You just… accept it. If it happens. Because it's 'worth it.'"
Magnus flinched. Because that…
That was uncomfortably close.
"I'm not your dad," he said.
"I know that!" she snapped. "But you're like him in this! And I—"
She stopped herself. But it was too late.
Magnus's voice softened, but it didn't back down. "And you're trying to stop me from being him."
"Yes," she said immediately. No hesitation. No apology.
"Yes," she repeated. Softer this time, more tired.
Silence.
"And what if he wasn't wrong?" Magnus asked quietly.
That hit harder than anything else. Alex's expression flickered—anger, fear, something sharper underneath.
"He died," she said.
"That doesn't automatically make him wrong."
"It does to me! Because I'm the one who got left behind when he died… and I'll be the one left behind again if you do this!"
Magnus held her gaze. "Alex…"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "No. We are not doing this. We are not gambling your life on… on principles!"
"It's not just principles," he said. "It's her. It's what she deserves to know."
"She deserves to not be dragged into something that could ruin her life!"
"She already is in it!" Magnus shot back. "We're just the only ones pretending she's not!"
"That's because we're trying to protect her!"
"By lying to her?"
"Yes!"
They were both louder now. Not shouting yet. But no longer quiet enough to pretend they weren't arguing.
"Alex! Do you hear yourself right now?" Magnus let out a breath. "That's not protection. That's control!"
Alex's eyes flashed. "And what you're suggesting isn't?"
"No," he said. "It's giving her a choice."
"It's giving her a problem! You don't get to put that on her!"
"And we don't get to take that choice away from her! I'm letting her decide what to do with the truth!"
"And if she decides wrong?" Alex demanded.
Magnus didn't answer immediately.
"That's her right," he said.
"And if that decision gets you killed?"
Another pause.
"…Then that's on me," he said.
Alex stared at him.
"…You don't get to decide that," she said, voice dropping.
"I do," he replied. "It's my life!"
"And it's my—" She cut herself off again, jaw tightening.
He didn't say anything. Didn't need to. Alex looked away for a second, breathing out hard. Then back at him.
"No," she said again. Final. "We are not doing this!"
Magnus held her gaze. Then…
Footsteps. Knocks on the door.
"Hey."
They opened the bathroom door. Harper was just on the other side.
"You two realize you're louder than you think, right?" she said.
Silence snapped into place. Alex straightened slightly. "Sorry. We were just—"
"What's going on?" Harper asked, looking between them.
Another pause. Magnus exhaled. Then he stepped forward.
"We need to tell you something."
Alex's head snapped toward him. "Magnus—"
He didn't look at her. Not this time.
"It's about why we're here," he continued. "And why this matters."
Harper's expression shifted slightly. More serious now. "Okay…"
"Everything we told you earlier?" he said. "It wasn't the full truth."
Alex took a step forward. "Magnus, stop—"
He didn't.
"This is gonna sound insane, but there's this System that's attached itself to me," he said. "Like… some of those stories you can read online, except, it's real. And it gives quests. Objectives. And if I don't complete them?"
He swallowed once. "I die."
Harper blinked.
Then frowned slightly. "Magnus…"
"I know how that sounds," he said quickly. "I do. But it's real. And the reason we're here is because you're… connected to one of those objectives."
Silence.
"…Okay," Harper said slowly. "I'm going to assume this is—"
Magnus lifted a hand. The cupboard behind him snapped open. He flicked his fingers, and the toothbrushes floated up from inside a cup. Just… rose into the air — slowly, steadily — then suspended there, unsupported. He flexed his fingers, and they dropped back into the cup.
Harper froze.
Magnus didn't wait. He exhaled, stepped back, then vanished. One second he was there. The next? Gone. A breath later, he reappeared in the same spot.
Harper stared at him.
"…Okay," she said, voice unsteady. "That's—okay. That's a trick. That has to be a trick."
"It's not," Magnus said.
"It could be," she insisted. "I don't—there's explanations for that—"
"That's fair!" Magnus sighed. "It's a lot to take in."
"And even if it isn't a trick, that doesn't mean I can just believe everything else you just—"
"Harper!" Alex's voice cut in. Soft. Tight. They both turned. Alex wasn't looking at Magnus. She hadn't once since he started — since he decided to ignore her opinions on the matter and went ahead with the truth. Yet, she continued. "It's real!"
Harper blinked. "Alex…"
"I was one of the targets," she repeated. "Before we got together."
Harper's expression faltered.
"And he didn't… force anything," Alex continued. "He didn't manipulate me. He—" Her voice caught, just slightly. "He chose the option he could live with."
Her voice wavered, just slightly.
"He always does that," she said. "And he even died for it!"
Silence. Magnus's chest tightened.
Harper went very still. "…What?"
Alex swallowed. Still not looking at him.
"He failed a quest," she said. "The target was a professor. At our college." Her hands clenched slightly. "And he died. Right in my arms."
Her voice cracked a little. Magnus closed his eyes for a brief second.
"He—" Alex's voice shook now, just a little. "He just… his heart stopped. And he… went cold. And I—"
She stopped. Took a breath.
Then steadied.
"And then he came back. Because of some… one-time miracle thing. But it won't happen again, and that doesn't change what it was like."
She swallowed. "You don't forget that."
Silence. Harper's expression shifted. It wasn't disbelief anymore. At least not entirely.
"…Alex," she said, softer now.
"I'm not asking you to understand all of it," Alex continued quickly. "I know it sounds insane. I know. But I'm asking you to believe me."
A beat. "And to help save him! Please, Harper! We… we don't have a lot of time! And I—"
She choked back a sob. "—I can't watch him die a second time!"
She finally stopped. The room felt… still.
Harper looked at Magnus again. Then back at Alex. Something in her gaze changed.
Not certainty. But not dismissal either.
"…Okay," she said quietly.
A pause.
"I believe that you believe this."
Another.
"And I believe that… something is going on."
She exhaled slowly.
"But I—" She shook her head slightly. "I need time. To process this. To think."
Neither of them spoke.
"I can't… respond to this right now," she said. "Not properly."
A beat.
"Can you… give me that?"
Magnus nodded first. "Yeah."
Alex followed, quieter. "…Of course."
Harper gave a small nod.
"Okay," she said. "Then… I'll call you."
Another pause. "But for now… I think you should go."
They didn't argue. Didn't push. They just… left as they were asked.
The hallway felt colder on the way out. Neither of them spoke as they stepped outside. The door closed behind them with a soft click.
Neither of them spoke still. They didn't even look at each other.
They just walked. Side by side. Yet separated by something invisible that hadn't been there before.