When Ander saw Alaska leaning against her locker with a bandage wrapped juice box in one hand and a phone in the other, her concentrated expression put a small smile on his face and he quickly shut his own locker and walked to her. 

Ander had to admit that he'd been feeling immensely guilty for practically blowing her off a few nights before at the club. Himself, Valerio, and Alejandro might as well have begged her to go to the club and he had left early to be with Omar downstairs. But from what he heard from Alejandro, the brunette was not on good terms with Valerio and a fight broke out between the girls and ended in Ala punching a wall, resulting in her bandaged left hand.

Gathering some sort of courage, the Ander gave a quiet 'Hola' when he finally neared her, causing her to look up into his face. Ander held his breathe as he tried to analyse her reaction - maybe she was mad, sad, wanted to punch him - anything. Anything that could have given away what she was feeling so he'd have at least three to five seconds to brace himself.

But she smiled.

"Qué tal?" she asked, leaning forward to give him a small hug.

"Nothing much. What's up with you? You haven't been in school all week." Ander responded as he pulled back.

"It's only Wednesday."

"Ala."

"Okay, okay," she chuckled and raised her bandaged left hand, "as you can see."

"Is it broken?" Ander asked after a few seconds at looking at the white cast that stretched from her fingers to just below her elbow. Her fingernails had a soft pink coat over them and the cast was bare but had a writing which was in red marker saying 'Alejandro was here.' 

"Pinky finger is broken, wrist is sprained, knuckles are inflamed. It's fine though."

"Damn. Does it hurt - When do you take it off?"

"It feels numb and I take it off in two weeks and a pinky cast comes on for like five or six weeks or something - I don't wanna talk about this anymore. How's Omar?"

Ander respected her wishes and changed the subject all the way to the next class which was P.E. 

On the other side of the school, Nadia was staring long and hard at her book as she tried to focus on the plan she's had all week which was to pretend Alejandro wasn't right in the opposite side of the class and was occasionally staring at her.

She was so embarrassed.

After the events of the night at the club the other day, before the fight broke out, Nadia didn't even want to face him. All she wanted was to focus on studying and ignore the fact that her heart raced every time she thought about his rejection towards her trying to kiss him.

"Nadia, I think you've been drinking a little." Alejandro chuckled, leaning back in his seat as Nadia attempted to sit closer to him.

"Y que? I want to do this. I'm giving you my full consent." She smiled seductively, completely spaced out from whatever it was she'd drank.

"I understand that but, you know, I'm completely tired."

"Kiss me, maybe it'll wake you up." She smiled.

Both Nadia and Ale were surprised at how confident she was being. Sober, she would never ever say or even dream of saying anything she was saying in that moment.

"Nadia you know I can't."

The she slumped back and frowned.

"Is it me? You don't want to kiss me?" she asked, disheartened, making Ale's eyes grow wide.

"No, Nadia of course it's to you. I can't kiss you when you're in this state because I don't know how you'll feel about this tomo-"

He was cut off by a screech coming from in front of them, and that's when Alejandro bolted up because he noticed his sister holding an empty glass and Lucrecia, soaked.

She didn't see him for the rest of the night.

The next school day, he showed up and waved with a smile from across the hallway, but she quickly looked down, turned the other way, and walked away from him.

Alejandro tried again that day at lunch, before school ended, and even tried calling her after school. 

Nadia ignored all his attempts.

The next day at school, he only tried once in the first class they had together. After that, he stopped completely, realising that maybe Nadia just wanted to be alone.

It hurt him that maybe he had offended her and he wished that he could redo that entire night over because maybe he would have kissed her back and maybe he wouldn't have completely left her to rescue his twin from even bigger danger. 

Ale just wanted Nadia to acknowledge him.

"Buenas, buenas, buenas." A mischievous voice greeted, patting Alejandro's shoulder from the back. Turning, his blue eyes met Valerio's brown ones, easing his confusion. 

"Hola."

"A 

"Hola, Samuel." Ala approached, sitting opposite him on the table. 

Samuel quickly looked up from his book at the sound of her voice and tried to smile but was too confused and surprised that she was talking to him that it came out more of a grimace.

"H-Hola Alaska." He stuttered slightly, watching as she made herself comfortable on the library chair. His eye immediately noticed her left hand that was in a cast with red writing that read 'Ale was here' and green writing which was which read 'Ander's bitch'. 

"I hope I'm not interrupting any studying you could have been doing-"

"N-No it's fine. I wasn't even understanding what I was reading anyway so don't worry." He chuckled nervously and shut his green covered book.

Ala nodded and gave a small side smile ad proceeded.

"How are you doing? I can imagine that with all the stress that you're going through and probably your family as well, and school on top of all that it can't be easy."

Samuel let out a breathe he didn't even realise he was holding at the question. Looking at the sincerity in her eyes, he couldn't help but think again what he'd always thought whenever she talked to him.

'She's not as mean as I thought.'

"It's not but . . . one day at a time, you know?"

"I do, believe me I'm trying to put myself in your position and surely it cannot be easy."

"Like I said, I'm taking it as it goes. Thank you for asking though, that's quite thoughtful."

"Of course; Though, I also wanted to ask . . . How's Nano doing? In there and all?"

Samuel became quiet.

Looking down, he thought of what to say to her knowing he wouldn't want to say something that would upset her. 

The last time he had spoken to his brother on the phone with his mother, his heart broke into a million pieces, and then it just became numb.  His voice sounded so raspy as he stopped his mother from explaining all the hours she was working to try and make his bail as well as keep a roof over both their heads. 

Nano told them that he'd be fine and they should stop thinking about how to get him out. But by the sheer tone of his voice, he just knew that he didn't really want to say all that and he was really struggling. 

That was Nano though, attempting to protect his family as always.

"He's . . . taking it one day at a time." Samuel sake softly, looking up to meet her green eyes again.

Alaska nodded slowly and looked at him again, and said:

"Please give him my well wishes. I know being in there cannot be easy and I really hope he can get out as soon as possible. I'm with him all the way."

"I would but . . . you can tell him yourself." 

And that's how come Alaska ended up walking with Samuel to his house after school so he could drop his belongings off and see to a few things before going to visit Nano at the prison.

The jail chairs were cold and rusty as Ala noticed Samuel bounce his leg aggressively as they waited for Nano to be brought in. To help ease his nerves, the brunette quickly clutched his knee and gave him a reassuring look, trying to be a source of comfort knowing well that she was just as, if not more, nervous than he was. 

The door opened, and both of them looked up to see nothing for a few seconds, and then finally, the person they came for push himself through slightly, looking down at his worn out leather boots.

Alaska felt her heart stop, taking in how bad of a shape he was in. Even though prior to coming, she had prepared herself for the worse, nothing could match what she was actually looking at. 

Nano had paler than ever before skin, and he looked like he had lost some weight as well as life in his hair. When he lifted up his head though, Alaska gasped.

His piercing blues were so dull. The same eyes which held so much fire when they would banter with one another at the restaurant or wherever they'd see each other was gone. Under them, he had light bags as if he'd been missing out on days and days and days of sleep. 

He squinted to get a closer look at Ala, in complete disbelief that it was really her in front of him as he sat down on the other side of the screen and picked up the phone.

"I think I've died in there and gone to heaven because surely I'm seeing miracles." He said sarcastically, making the girl laugh.

"You look like you need to see one if I'm being real with you."

The two of them exchanged a small laugh between themselves, and that made Ala happy. He looked like he needed a laugh.

"No, seriously; what're you doing here?" Nano asked, somewhat seriously; genuinely confused as to what she was doing alongside Samuel.

The brunette shrugged.

"I'm here to make sure you still look ugly . . . you still do." She teased.

"Ugly? That's a new one. Wait- Wait is this screen a mirror or can you actually see me?" Nano fired back with the same level of spice.

Alaska then laughed again and leaned a bit back, feeling relaxed.

"I just wanted to check in on you and remind you that you've got to keep fighting to get out of here so I can start roasting you again."

Nano smiled. 

He didn't get many visitors, as expected. It was mainly his brother and his mother who came to see him and ask how he was doing. If he said seeing Alaska - his somewhat friend- wasn't refreshing, he'd be lying. 

Nano looked to his brother and back to Alaska saying:

"Pass the phone to Samuel," with a soft smile.

Ala could tell he wouldn't say everything he was feeling but that smile said more than he ever needed to.

-

The next day, at the school, Valerio was on a mission.

Honestly, Nadia was growing on him.

He didn't really have many friends because people were always convinced he was strange and didn't fit in. But at some point in his life, he accepted that he didn't need anyone's validation except the one he gave himself . . . or at least that's what he told himself every morning.

But Nadia was different in a sense that she kind of made him laugh, but not in a bad way. A perk of knowing everyone was that he was able to make observations about individuals all the time. His opinion of Nadia Shanaa was that she was craving something different to what she was already used to. 

He definitely saw the way she looked at Alejandro.

And he saw the way Ale looked at her back, so he wanted to do some good and help make it happen.

"Oh really? So you won't be going out eve if I told you my best friend's twin brother was going to be there?" he said, knowingly.

Nadia went quiet briefly as she thought about how Valerio was inviting her to the club and she didn't want to go, but . . . Ale was going to be there.

"Why are you so keen on me and Alejandro getting together?"

"Call me Cupid."

This wasn't the first time Nadia had to defend her feelings for Alejandro from Valerio. He brought it up more often than she'd like but she always died everything.

"I believe in love," he continued, leaning back on the chair, "I've seen how the two of you practically devour one another with your eyes. Do you know how rare it is to desire someone with all your heart and for them to reciprocate? That's luck. And you can't be that lucky everyday." Valerio smiled, although his voice cracked during his last sentence.

But he smiled.

Because sometimes, if you don't smile, you'll cry.

"Valerio; Are you talking about anyone in particular?" Nadia asked, turning round to meet his eyes, only to discover that he wasn't even looking at her, but rather a familiar seated figure in the corner of the study room, sipping on a juice box as she concentrated on the book she was flipping through.

The boy broke his stare, looking back to Nadia while he picked up his bag.

"Come tonight, it's going to be awesome. I promise."

With that, Nadia watched as he waltzed to that same side if the study room, pulling out a chair opposite the new brunette, making her look up at him and shortly after, the two began to laugh.

And Nadia felt sorry for him as she pieced it together.

Ala chuckled as she kicked the covers off herself, turning to find Valerio's sweater on the floor beside her queen sized bed, next to her discarded clothes and put it on as Valerioadjusted his tucked arms underneath the pillow as he laid on his stomach, watching her get dressed.

"You know, I really hate that right after we have sex you get dressed." He joked, watching as she turned around to face him.

"Por que? You see me naked literally all the time." She replied, laying back on the bed beside him, pushing the covers back over her.

"Yeah, but I can't get enough." He smirked, grabbing her arm and pulling her closer to his body heat.

"Well luckily for you, I can't nearly have enough sex with you either." She flirted back, leaning in to peck his wide grin.

Of course, this was a usual occurrence for them. He'd flirt after sex every single time, she'd flirt back, they might even go for another round, but then they'd get tired and want their own beds, causing them to separate. No complaints though, because they'd repeat the cycle all over again soon enough.

"Your birthday is right around the corner." Valerio reminded.

"Next weekend to be precise."

"What're you doing for the day? You have to go all out."

"Nada. Wake up, eat, and sleep. It's the day after Halloween. Por favor, let my stomach recover from the drinking I'll be doing in my room alone that night."

"You're not being hungover for your birthday, and you're definitely not drinking alone."

"What's wrong with drinking alone."

"I'm not going to drive you to those stupid meetings in a year or two and watch you say "Hola, soy Valeria Velazquez and I am an alcoholic."

"I'm not going to become an alcoholic from one day of drinking in my room."

"Why don't you throw a party?" Valerio suggested while readjusting himself a little bit as her eyes gazed over him.

"That's an even worse idea, Rio. You and I both know that's not going to happen."

"Fine how about a nice dinner with all the people you like, here."

"How about I swallow gasoline? Cause I'd rather do that than host a stupid dinner." She rolled her eyes sarcastically, making Valerio sigh in frustration.

"You're impossible. I'll talk to Ale; he's someone who knows how to enjoy himself, unlike his sister."

"Speaking of Ale, where is he?"

Because Valerio and Alaska skipped that day of school to roll around and the sheets, eat, and watch television, they had no idea what was happening in Las Encinas in that moment. They had no idea of the volcano that was about to erupt, the time bomb that wouldn't stop ticking, the anger and/or fear bubbling inside the students as the entirety of the Mathematics class came to a standstill because one person noticed a figure standing on the other side of the glass. 

There Nano was, looking like a shell of himself, his worn out leather jacket with it's signature red stripe going along it. 

With the way in which he stood, so still, so lost, Guzman was like bull when he charged, but luckily he was held back.

He wanted to kill him.

A/N: 

Hey! Merry Krimis!!! I was supposed to get this out like two weeks ago and that's my bad. This is somewhat of a shorter chapter too because I wanted to get this out to start working on the next one, but I hope you enjoy it! I know its moving quite slow, but much like classic Elite fashion, it gets crazy QUICK.

xx