Coda

Alec entered one of the private dance studios and made himself at home. It was Friday and, although it had been a long week, he had decided to stay after classes again to practice a bit. Today he had been called out twice for not being able to relax his body during the dance routines and the situation was becoming increasingly humiliating and frustrating. He understood that he had to do better, learn to adapt, but making all those changes in a couple of weeks wasn't as easy as it sounded.

He put on some music and after doing some warm-up exercises to prevent an injury, he started to go over the choreography for his Contemporary class. He had to learn to bend his lines as Magnus had told him last week, but his body was simply too rigid, too used to perfect lines than bending them—or breaking them for that matter—was impossible.

"You're still thinking too much, I can hear you over the music." Magnus said. He was standing on the threshold of the small dance studio, carrying his bag and smiling at Alec from ear to ear.

"Magnus…" Alec breathed out before his whole body decided to short-circuit. Magnus was there, standing in front of him—exactly one week after they had met, as if they had been destined to meet again in this of all places.

"I see that Contemporary is still your personal hell," Magnus continued, "but now I'm even more convinced that your problem isn't in your dancing, but in here." He pointed to his temple. "You're still trying to think about dancing instead of just dancing." He added, entering the studio and closing the door behind him. "You need to let your body take over the song. This is going to sound super cliché, but you have to dance with your heart, not with your brain. Dancing is about feeling, not thinking."

"I've tried, but I can't."

"Yes you can, I've seen you do it, Alexander."

"What?" Alec asked surprised. Not only because apparently Magnus had seen him dance before, but because he had called him Alexander, and hearing his full name roll out of the lips of someone other than his parents had taken him a bit off guard. He had always hated it when people used his full name, it usually meant he was in some kind of trouble, but, oddly enough, having Magnus say it had had the opposite effect—he had liked it. He had liked it a lot.

"I was being a creep yesterday and I saw you dancing, you were in class with Mr. Shostakovich, you're without a doubt the most talented ballet dancer I've ever seen."

"You saw me?" Alec asked, feeling his body reacting to the unexpected confession. His cheeks were burning hot.

"Yes, for a while actually. Your solo was an excerpt from Beethoven's 4th symphony, it was absolutely breathtaking, like nothing I've seen before. You have a very elegant and dare I say, seductive way of performing, I couldn't take my eyes off of you."

"I...I…" Alec ran out of words. He had never taken compliments well, he always had a hard time believing them, but the way Magnus said them, so straightforward, without a hint of irony, made him feel something funny in the pit of his stomach. "Thank you…"

"You have it within you, Alexander, you're the best dancer I've seen in ages, give yourself some credit."

The heat on Alec's cheeks intensified, but he smiled. "Well, since you're being honest, I have a confession to make." He said. "I was being a creep myself the other day and I saw you dancing too, not in class...in the fishbowl. You were practicing...you're perfect. I mean, your technique is perfect. You have all the good elements of conservative ballet, but that ease and freedom of contemporary. It's hard to get the perfect balance, I've been trying to find it myself, but you have it." Alec confessed. He didn't know why it was so easy for him to be honest and talk to Magnus, but it was.

Magnus let out a chuckle and Alec could swear that the world had stopped at that sound. He had a beautiful laugh.

"I guess we're both creeps, then." Magnus concluded.

Alec smiled. "Yes, I think we are."

They smiled at each other and Alec's heartbeat quickened. That thing that he had felt the first time they had met, that connection, that mutual understanding was still there—he hadn't made it up. He could see it reflected in Magnus's eyes.

"I…"

"Would you like me to help you a bit with your dancing?" Magnus volunteered. "It seemed to work last week."

Alec hesitated for a second. Was this really happening? Had Magnus just volunteered himself to help him...again?

"If you don't want to, it's okay, I was just-"

"No, yes!" Alec exclaimed maybe a bit too loud. In his defense, he was no longer in control of his emotions. He felt every fiber of his being as if it were on fire. The connection between his heart, brain, and mouth had completely melted.

"Then, come...stand in the center of the room." Magnus instructed him as he walked to place his iPod in the studio's speaker system. "I have just the perfect song for us." He continued. "I have to confess that I've been listening to it since I saw you dancing, picturing us dancing it together."

Alec just looked at him, trying to register his words and not fully believing that this was actually happening. Ever since he had seen Magnus dance, he had been daydreaming about this moment, wondering if he was ever going to get so lucky as to dance with someone as talented and brilliant as him. And the fact that Magnus had been thinking the same was something he would have never imagined, but that made his heart do all kinds of somersaults.

"It's an instrumental song." Magnus added.

"I didn't take you for an instrumental music kind of guy, most contemporary dancers go for the top 40 songs."

"Well, I can assure you, I'm not like most dancers." Magnus said, winking at him and making the color return to Alec's cheeks in an instant. "Now, about the song...I want you to just feel it, okay? I want you to dance like you would if you were improvising a classical piece. I'll help you find that middle point, okay?"

Alec nodded a little hesitantly. He had no idea what perfect song Magnus could have found for them, but he really hoped it was a good one because he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of this man. He wanted to impress him.

"The song is called Beethoven's 5 secrets."

Alec frowned—it was a curious name.

"The first time I saw you truly dancing," Magnus elaborated, "was to a Beethoven symphony, this song is a mashup of Beethoven's 5th symphony and the song Secrets by OneRepublic. I want you to see how good you are and find that ease you're lacking, and I think this song can help you. It's very fitting for us, it's the perfect example of how two different styles can be merged into one and create something new, something special."

Alec didn't know what to say, but he couldn't wait to hear it. The more Magnus talked about how fitting for them the song was, the more curious he got about it.

"Now, close your eyes." Magnus said, getting closer to Alec.

Alec looked him straight in the eye. He couldn't move, he couldn't breath, he was just looking at those chocolate eyes and trying to read them, to uncover all its secrets.

"Trust me…"

Alec took a leap of faith and closed his eyes. For what felt like years, but were only a few seconds, all he felt was the beating of his own heart and the closeness of Magnus's body. They weren't touching, but he was aware of his presence, as you were aware of the sun when it touched your skin even if you had your eyes closed.

"Ready?" Magnus whispered.

Alec nodded.

The first notes of the song started to play and Alec immediately got lost in the melody. It was so beautiful, so unique...so perfect. He felt like he was spinning even though he wasn't even moving. He was frozen in place, overwhelmed by emotions, until a pair of hands grabbed him from behind and encouraged him to move. At first, the contact made him jump and it sent a chill down his body, it was new, foreign, but the moment Magnus's warm touch registered in his mind, he opened his eyes and smiled.

He let the music guide him and, feeling the mixed beat of the song, he started to dance, with Magnus following his every step. It was magical and perfect in every sense of the word, they fit and connected as if they had known each other for years. Alec took a step and Magnus countered, it was a battle of styles, but neither was trying to outshine the other, on the contrary, they were complementing each other—as Magnus had said, two different styles merging into one to create something new, something special...something beautiful.

"Feel…" Magnus whispered into his ear.

And so Alec did, and it was only then, as they twirled and danced around the room in perfect synchrony, that he finally found that middle point he had been looking for. He could feel the lines in his body bending, relaxing by the second as he let the music and Magnus's movements guide him, take him with him. It was intense, like nothing he had felt before.

Alec laughed with glee. At that precise moment he felt like flying, as if his heart was about to burst with so much happiness.

"See?" Magnus said, and Alec just beamed at him. He could not only see it, but he could feel it. With each step they took, he felt that connection between them getting stronger. It was intoxicating. What they had was an attraction that went far beyond the physical, it was as if their bodies called each other, saying, 'hey, it's me...the one you've been looking for.'

Alec had never felt like that with anyone.

The song reached its climax and Alec could barely breathe, all his senses were overwhelmed, this was too much for him—he felt pulled to Magnus, body and soul. When the song seemed to abruptly come to an end, Alec turned around and found himself face to face with Magnus. Both their breaths were uneven, not only because of all the dancing, but because of the almost tangible electricity between them.

"Alexander…" Magnus whispered, as the song continued at a softer pace. Alec could barely hear it, he was just aware of it softly playing in the background, like the soundtrack of a movie, but his attention was focused on Magnus and Magnus only.

"Magnus…" Alec replied, and suddenly he was no longer in control of himself. He didn't know what possessed him, maybe the beautiful song or the intense look in Magnus's eyes, but he closed the small distance between them and placed his lips on Magnus's, kissing him as he had never kissed anyone before.

Magnus smiled into the kiss and intensified it, leaving Alec with no room for rational thoughts. The only thing in his mind was the realization that kissing Magnus was better than dancing, he could kiss him all day, every day for the rest of his life and he would be more than fine with it. That connection they had had while dancing was still there, but stronger. It was overwhelming, but in the best way possible.

From the moment they had met, something had happened between them, something that Alec couldn't even begin to understand, but this romantic exchange between them somehow explained it. This was meant to be—they, them...together. Dancing, kissing. He had no idea what was going to happen from now on, what would become of them, but he was certain that he didn't want to stop kissing Magnus—ever.

The song came to an end and although they broke the kiss to gasp for some air, they didn't move. They stayed there, breathing each other in, lingering on the feeling of what had just happened between them. There was absolute silence, but in the midst of that quietness, Alec could hear the unmistakable sound of two hearts, two hearts that perhaps before today had beat at their own rhythm, danced at their own pace, but that now beat and danced as one.

I hope you liked it! I'll see you real soon for a new LFY update ;) don't forget to review, favorite and/or follow the story!

P.S: The song Magnus and Alec danced is 'Beethoven's 5 Secrets' by the Piano Guys, you can find it on YouTube ;)