"Entonces . . ." Alaska sighed, setting herself into the blue, plastic seat, "I heard you've been asking around about me." She said blankly, and crossed her arms.

Opposite her, the inspector sat, trying not to show her surprise at how cool, collected, and nonchalant the blonde appeared to be. She looked like she was prepared for the moment which made her think whether she had been in the same position before. 

But if that was how she was going to be, she could play her game.

"Alaska Velazquez; I'm really happy you've accepted our invitation to speak with us. I just want to ask you a few questions." She acknowledged.

The blonde looked over to her lawyer, who gave her a nod to just go with the flow. 

"Of course, inspector. What questions do you have? I'm willing to corporate fully." She replied, repeating the same words her lawyer had practised with her at home. 

"Well, firstly . . ."

-

When the next school day came around, Ale wasn't used to having breakfast with his mother by himself, getting into his car by himself, and not having Maluma play in the car at least once.

 And he hated it. 

Parking the car in the school parking lot, the blonde reached into the passenger seat for his bag and form that had been slipped into room in the dead of the night while he was sleeping. 

'MITIGATING/EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES'

The form was easily accessible online, had to be printed, and signed by a guardian. Ale knew Alaska slid it under his door because she had filled in all the details in the messy handwriting that he recognised and the request was for her exams to be taken online from home.

Although it hurt him because that means he knew she wouldn't return for the final weeks of school before the summer break, he respected her wishes and had his mother sign the form so he could turn it in that morning before the first bell. 

Walking through the hallway for the first time in a long time, Ale didn't know why but he had an almost sick feeling that the day was going to get only worse. But he didn't think too much about it as he handed the form to the receptionist at the aid desk and neither did he think about it as he rummaged through his locker for his Chemistry book to do last minute revising for the exam, when his locker gently closed. 

It was Nadia.

"H-Hola." Nadia uttered, her pre-confidence talk she'd given herself as she approached his locker crumbled immediately.

"What's up?" Nadia noticed how flat his voice sounded as opposed to his usual tone filled with delight, but ignored it.

"You left early yesterday, I just wanted to check in on you and see how you're doing. A-And ask how Alaska is doing as well . . . of course."

Alejandro repressed a sigh and tried not to say what he was really thinking.

"I'm doing as well as can be right now." 

Nadia nodded slowly and continued,

". . . And Ala?" 

She also noticed how Alejandro tensed slightly and shrugged, looking briefly at his feet when he answered:

"I don't know, she hasn't come out of her room since . . ."

Nadia sighed briefly and the two stood in silence for a few seconds. Alejandro felt himself. growing extremely uncomfortable, and he didn't know what to say to the girl he liked about his sister she somewhat let down. But thankfully, Nadia led the confrontation.

"Listen; I know you're probably upset that I didn't tell you or Ala about what happened-"

"It's fine, Nadia. No one can force you to say anything." Alejandro said, shutting it down quicker than Nadia could finish.

"I was going to tell her, believe me when I say I came close to it a few times. But we were all becoming good friends at the time and I didn't want to ruin that, I didn't want to lose any of it . . . especially with you." Nadia explained.

Alejandro looked away from her gaze again with contemplation because what she was. saying made sense. But his head and his heart were in two different places. It was no secret between the two of them that they reciprocated feelings for one another. There was just never a good time to act on those feelings. And now, Nadia dreaded the continuation of her statement.

"Look, there's a chance I might not return next year and I just want to apologise once again. You know how I feel about you and you know how I feel about Alaska. I'm sorry I let you both down, especially you. I hope at least if not her then you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

It was something Alejandro appreciated as he engulfed her small frame in a hug which she was hesitant to return at first but eventually did. 

"Tu papa?" Alejandro asked, hinting at the cause of her potential exit from Las Encinas.

Nadia sighed.

"Mi papa."

-

While everything was exploding, Marina felt herself imploding. She was still sitting in the locker room briefly after Carla made her exit, post confronting her about she being the culprit of the watch theft from Theodoro's collection. 

Her heart pounded as she scrambled for her phone and with shaky thumbs, texted Nano to not give away the red strapped watch after learning that it had sensitive information which could lead to her father never getting out of jail and the incarceration of Carla's.

The redhead tried to calm herself down in hopes that Nano had seen her message just in time and not sold that particular watch. Walking out of the doors, her mind kept drifting and she was daydreaming so much so that she didn't even notice-

"I'm sorry." She quickly rushed to apologise to whoever she had walked straight into, when she noticed it was Alejandro looking slightly angsty. 

"It's fine." Ale tried to turn to walk away but Marina,  just as quickly, hurried to stop him as she remembered what to was she was hoping she would be able to do that day.

"Ale, espera." She stopped and he turned around to face her, "I wanted to know if I can come over today, you know . . . to see Alaska."

Ale sighed for what felt like the 100th time that day. 

"Of course you can, but I wouldn't recommend it. She hasn't been willing to see me all weekend, neither has she come out of her room so I can't promise she'll want to see you. But you can try." He answered.

In his heart, he knew that if he couldn't talk to her, maybe Marina would be able to and feedback to him that she's not doing worse than the theories he had developed in his mind.

"Gracias, can I ride home with you after school?" 

Ale simply nodded and they split up. He headed in the direction of the principal's office where he wanted to somewhat help Nadia even though they had both agreed just ten minutes earlier that they were going to put whatever it was between them on hold for the foreseeable future. 

"Alejandro, please come in." Ander's mother beckoned as she noticed him after he knocked on the door.

Almost robotically, he walked to the seats facing the older woman and sat down.

"How can I help you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Nadia. Did you know her father is taking her out of school next year? Why should she pay for her father's intolerance?" He asked bluntly, staring her deep in her eyes.

"Well it's a bit more difficult than that -"

"I know. And maybe it's not my place to say anything but I just think she could be a useful asset in this school. She's very intelligent and she really really wants to be here."

After re-assuring him that she would do her part to help Ale was heading out to class before he knew. But before he could walk out of the office, the woman asked him while he was at the door. 

"I also just received your sister's form from the office. Is she doing okay? The form says she wants to take the exams at home because of an issue with her mental state?-" She quickly went to look for the form to confirm the what she was saying but he interrupted her, covering.

"Yes; the thought of exams was making her more anxious than usual and she suffered a few breakdowns over the weekend." 

Ale knew he would do anything to ensure she didn't fail, even if it meant resurfacing her old behaviours from the past when she would get anxious and have nervous breakdowns. He felt guilty for lying about it but if that was what she wanted then he would respect that.

"Oh no . . . extend my well wishes to her, please. I will process this form immediately and she will receive instructions in her school email address about how to take them."

Alejandro couldn't pretend it didn't sting a little when not only the principal told extended these greeting to his sister, but Dr. Flores as well because he knew too well that so long as she stayed indoors, she wouldn't hear any of those greetings from him. That day was initially supposed to be a day for catching up on revision and meeting up with teachers for ant last minute clarification. However when lunch time rolled around, Alejandro found himself sitting in his car, engine off, ready to head home because being in school and not knowing how Alaska was doing was stressing him out. Before he knew it, he was messaging her:

To: Vaca🤎 -

'I'm just checking in on how you're doing today.'

'I didn't see you yesterday so I hope you're doing better.'

'It's okay if you're not though, I wouldn't blame you.'

'I'm not concentrating enough so I'm just going to skip the rest of the day and come home. I'm hoping we can talk when I get back.'

'I love you.'

With that, the drive home had begun but just a few seconds before, he also paused and messaged Marina to let her know that he was leaving early and he apologised. To which the redhead replied by saying it was fine, she'd get an Uber. On his way, he realised that he hadn't seen Guzman once, and neither was Lu, but later he learned that she had been suspended. Not that he expected to, but even though he didn't want to speak to him in that moment, Alejandro was hoping Guzman was okay.

His palms were so sweaty that he almost missed the buzz that came from his phone next to him:

From: Vaca🤎 -

'Ok.'

-

Alba knocked on her door for about the third time that afternoon, causing her to groan into her pillow.

"I'm really not hungry, Alba!" She yelled towards the door, but Alba just wasn't having it.

"You haven't eaten since that bowl of fruits I brought you last night so open this door now because you will finish this salmon, now!" 

Frustratedly dragging her body out of her blankets, the blonde turned off the air conditioner and practically dragged her feet to the door and pulled it open, revealing Alba's smug grin.

"And take a shower." She scolded jokingly. 

The brief attempt at trying to make her laugh failed as she thanked her for the plate of glazed salmon on broccoli and potatoes staring at her.

It had been three days since she'd made any sort of contact with outside world and it was getting lonelier by the second, but for some reason she liked that. She liked the fact that she was allowed to be alone with her feelings for a few days because it allowed her to come to the conclusion that she didn't know what she was going to do until she talked to everyone. But when Alejandro messaged her, she couldn't help the fact that she wanted hear him out. Not talking to him had been hard because for once he wasn't her crutch when she needed him. The least she could do was give him a chance to explain, but when she heard the soft knock on the door, she couldn't help the feeling of anger and dissapointment gathering in her heart again.

Once more, she opened unlocked the door, revealing the looming figure of her brother.

"Come in." Ala beckoned quietly. 

From behind her, Alejandro was nervous. He could tell just by looking at her that she was practically radiating sadness off her. He couldn't gage whether or not she was angry just yet but he could definitely pick up sadness. 

She was looking quite grim. Her eyes were still puffy, she was wearing her pyjamas, the curtains were shut, and there was an empty plate and bowl on her nightstand. He felt a sense of deja vu just looking at her and her bedroom because this was the same behaviour she showed after their father passed away. To say he was worried was an understatement.

Sitting down opposite her on the foot of her bed, Alejandro saw how slightly reserved she appeared. Her arms were crossed around her legs which she had drawn up to her chest, and she was barely meeting his gaze. 

"How are you?" He sighed, and she shrugged her shoulders, which made him sigh again but he continued.

"I know I asked you to talk but I'd rather hear what you have to say. Ask me any questions and I'll answer them honestly."

His reply was followed by him trying to reach out to her to touch her shoulder like he usually did when he tried to comfort her but she leaned back. But he respected it.

"I don't really have any questions, Ale." She uttered after a brief moment of silence.

"Ala come on, I know when you're lying. I'm serious, please ask me anything. I want this to be behind us."

She sat quiet for a moment, pondering over whether or not she should, but she decided that it was her chance.

"I-" she paused, taking a breathe as she felt her voice about to crack, "obviously, Lu said you knew about everything. How did you find out?" 

"This is me being completely honest, Ala. I didn't know until about five days before Lu said everything. I overheard Samuel confronting Guzman about it in the changing room so later that day I asked Guzman about it because I didn't want to tell you if it wasn't true to cause any unnecessary problems-"

"So you confronted Guzman that day?"

"No," he quickly defended, "I did it the day after because I was still trying wrap my head around it. I was going to tell you when I donut out that day but-"

"Alejandro stop." She quickly cut him off, tracing the timeline. It was all making sense. Alejandro had been ignoring her for days and this was the reason? She was upset.

"So you're saying you knew about this so that was the reason you were ignoring me? Treating me like I didn't even exist because you felt guilty?" 

There was the anger Ale was searching for. He knew right then that if he didn't attempt to calm her down, it would escalate quickly.

"I know how I acted and I'm sorry. I just didn't know what I would say to you. Guzman told me he wanted to tell you himself but-"

"Did it not occur to you that Guzman hadn't told me in those days you spent ignoring me?"

"Alaska, what do you want me to say? I'm sorry, I've apologised, I've begged to talk to you at your door for the whole weekend, I've given you space! In what way can I show you how sorry I am more than that?" At this point, Alejandro was getting riled up himself. There actually was nothing else he could do except tell her the truth and ask for forgiveness but she was being hard headed about it.

"I don't want you to do anything, Alejandro! I wanted to be alone and like you mentioned, you are the one who was at my door asking me to let you in. I've let you in and now you're just confirming to me that I'm right to feel betrayed by you because you broke my trust!" 

Ale looked at her with shock, not knowing that her feelings towards him and his role in this were deeper rooted than he though.

"And I have apologised-"

"Your apology doesn't mean shit to me because it won't turn back time. We're twins! We literally came into this world together and we always have each other's backs! You were with that fucking bitch for over a year and whenever she would do something merely suspicious, I came to you with every detail because I know that you would want to hear them. You couldn't even do the same for me?! Why can you never do the same for me?!" She yelled, standing to her feet. 

"Okay that's enough!" Ale followed suit, standing to face her. Now she was being unfair, now she was taking it too far. Ale's calm demeanour had flown out the window, as he heard her finish.

"Don't you dare even fucking give me that horse shit because you know well I am there for you every day-"

"Not fucking with this-"

"No! Not fucking with this and maybe you're right, I shouldn't have trusted Guzman to tell you and maybe you're right, I should have done it myself. But how dare you tell me that I'm never there for you. Do you know how many things I've given up for you Alaska? More than is even fair to me-"

"No you haven't!-"

"Yes I have! Even since we were younger. I have defended you and been right by your side since the day we were born! You wanted to go to Disneyland and I wanted to go to Universal studios -  I chose you! You want to eat cookies and I want a brownie but we can only have one - I fucking choose you again! You and Yves clashed every time you saw each other and she talked to you like shit but I. Chose. You. You struggled and still fucking struggle with your anger - I've been there! Papi fucking died Ala, he died! And you were struggling but I put you fucking first! You wanted to distance yourself from our friends - I put you first! You were fucking raped Alaska! Who was there?! Who was there but me?! -"

"Shut the fuck up-"

"I won't shut the fuck up because you clearly don't think I'm a good enough older brother to you and I've never been there so this is me reminding you that I've been there so don't even insult me when I've put you over me every single time-"

"If you really feel that way then leave then! If I'm holding you back like you're s-saying then-" She had to pause when her voice wavered and she felt the tears gathering in her eyes once again, "fucking leave."

Neither of them uttered a word as they looked at each other to see who would break the silence. Alaska couldn't bring herself to kick him out because she didn't want to admit that she was clearly wrong in the argument. But she couldn't pretend she wasn't hurt either. She failed to realise that he was right about her implicitly asking things from him that he always did. He always showed up. 

He always showed up.

"Alaska-" He started but she cut him off.

"No, please go Ale." She pointed to the door and faced away from him to conceal miserably, the tear which had fallen from her eye. 

Alejandro, realising now was not the time to try to solve things decided it would be in fact best if he left.

Unbeknownst to them both, their next conversation wouldn't be until Marina's tragedy. 

-

Getting into Alaska's room was difficult. 

Marina stood outside knocking for a few minutes, but there was no reply. Alejandro had warned her in advance when she came that she might be unresponsive but she thought that anything would have been better than facing her problems with Carla and her fucked up triangle with Nano and Samuel. It was nearing 5pm when she pulled up to her house and nearly six minutes since she'd been at the door. This was only after Alba had given her a humongous hug and kiss on her cheek.

She gave up, and just as she was about to leave her backpack strap caught on the door handle, causing it to open.

Long story short, after convincing Alaska not to throw her out, Marina was sat criss crossed in the middle of the large bed trying to get Alaska's mind off whatever was going on. Even though it was harder than expected, she managed to slip in friendly conversation every now and then. But in that moment she was telling her about the altercation at school.

"Honestly, it was crazy. Omar was outed right there in front of everyone and his father took off, dragging Nadia behind him." Marina explained.

Alaska didn't really want to know about what Nadia was up to, considering her involvement with Lu's revelation but she'd be lying if she said she didn't wish Nadia was doing okay.

"And exams?" Alaska asked, shifting in her seat.

"I know as much as you do, I hope she's doing okay."

Their conversation continued on until when Alaska returned from the washroom, Marina decided to address the elephant in the room.

"Obviously, I've told you I didn't know anything about the situation, I don't agree at all with Guzman's decisions but I think you should know that he's really disgruntled-"

"No please Marina, I don't want to talk about it." Alaska frowned.

"And that's okay. I won't force you, I just thought you should know."

Marina regretted even bringing it up, but tried again to get in a last word.

"I would also never forgive myself if I didn't say that Christian, I think you should hear him out. That's all I'll say. He would never purposely hurt you so hear him out." Before shifting the focus on herself briefly to attempt to distract her again.

"In other news, I'm completely fucked." The red-head chuckled bitterly.

"What do you mean?" Alaska asked, facing her once more.

"I think- No, I know . . . I found out that . . . I'm pregnant."

Alaska's eyes went as wide as saucers as she looked at Marina, to her tummy, back to Marina, and back to her tummy, and back to Marina-

"And I think I'm about a month along, maybe to a month but three weeks?" She continued.

"Marina, what?" Alaska asked, shocked.

"I'm pregnant."

"Does Samuel know?" 

"It's not Samuel's." 

This fact caused Ala's jaw to drop and for a few seconds, she forgot about her own problems.

"Who's is it then?"

"His brother's." 

Marina couldn't help the small grin creeping onto her face as Alaska cursed a loud 'Joder!'. It made the situation just a little bit comical and for a split second, he could have sworn Alaska did too.

"Surely, you're joking. Nano? That Nano Garcia? Nano with the laugh? Nano who can rap?"

Marina burst into fits of giggles at her questions. And suddenly, 

Ala did too. 

The two giggled for what felt like ten minutes but was only probably one. In her heart, she felt like she owed Marina a huge one for making her feel less like shit in that moment. The two of them were laughing at how fucked up their lives were and she couldn't help but think that was Marina all the time. Back in the day, whenever Ala was down, Marina was there to make her laugh. Same with Ander, and same with Alejandro. They always made her feel better. 

"I mean Nano is very good looking but I didn't think he was your type." A comment that made them both erupt into laughter again.

"We are in deep shit Alaska." Marina joked, recovering. 

"The deepest shit. But in all seriousness, what are you going to do?"

Marina had already thought about it. Nano and her had a plan to run away together and start a new life with their unborn child. It would be hard, but love would see them through and it was a risk they were both willing to take. But she couldn't tell Ala that because she'd promised Nano to keep it between themselves. 

"I'm just going to go with the flow and see where it goes. I want to keep it though."

"Well I'll be here supporting you." 

"Do you promise?" Marina beamed.

"I promise."

That promise would never come to reality because that was the last time she would see her. 

A/N:

You know, I was team Ale this whole chapter because I genuinely feel like Ala tends to forget the things he really has given up for her. But anyway. Some tough conversations were had but context was released. What do you think?

#BLM