"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Magnus asked as the low humming of the car's engine rumbled in the background and the occasional beam of headlights illuminated both Alice and Magnus's faces. They'd already left Caroline's house and had started the journey home barely an hour and a half after arriving at it, and ever since they'd left Alice had been quiet.

Alice sighed quietly and reached up to tuck her hair behind both ears. "I saw him," she replied, her voice quiet but Magnus heard her clearly.

A million or so questions about Peter flew into his mind and he opened his mouth to ask, but stopped himself as he glanced over at Alice who was staring ahead a little vacantly with confusion etched into her expression. "Are you okay?" He asked instead, seeing as Alice had no desire to know who this man was and fate seemed to obviously disagree with her intentions.

"I think so," Alice replied softly, "I just didn't expect it." She continued and exhaled heavily again. "What was he doing there?" She asked, looking over at Magnus as the initial shock of seeing Peter began to wear off...

"I don't know," Magnus replied, "Maybe your grandma is helping him out. He did just get released from prison... But I can find out for you, if you want." He offered cautiously, hoping Alice would grant him access to her family history again but she shook her head and stayed quiet. Frustration made him tense for a moment, but he silently breathed through it, deciding to stay quiet himself now too.

A few minutes passed before Alice spoke again, evidently showing that she had been thinking about that evening in detail. "I just don't know why he would be there. And it can't of been some kind of coincidence that he was there when Caroline asked us round for dinner." She said, speaking quickly. "And then the mushrooms? I've been allergic since forever how did she not remember that? They act like they barely know me."

"Who?"

"My grandparents!" Alice replied, evidently growing frustrated herself. "My granddad barely speaks to me as if he's, I don't know, afraid to get to know me or something, he doesn't tell my grandma that I'm here. She's then all weird with you, feeds me mushrooms, then suddenly Peter is there? I-" she cut herself off and hummed stressfully as she rubbed her temples.

"She knows, you know." Magnus murmured, "-about me."

"What?!" Alice gasped, turning to look at Magnus in shock as her heart jumped and tensed uncomfortably.

"She knows. She told me she knows a killer when she sees one, then she said if I did anything to hurt you she'd have me thrown in prison." Magnus explained, turning to glance at Alice briefly as he turned into the long drive of Henry and Adam's property.

"What the fuck?" She gasped, feeling her heart racing with nerves and her skin go slightly warm. "Something isn't right," Alice hissed, running a stressed hand through her hair. "Something is not right." She repeated as Magnus stopped the car and turned the headlights off half way down the drive.

"Alice..." Magnus murmured, seeing her stress levels rising as if there was a bar showing it above her head. "Alice, relax..."

She inhaled, held it in for a few seconds then released, not wanting to freak out in front of Magnus. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "This has been such a mess and you've only been here like twenty four hours,"

"It's fine." Magnus murmured, since he'd agreed to come to Quebec to spend time with her, not to be entertained with museum trips and awkward dinners... but little did Alice know that this was all very entertaining to him, nevertheless.

"I just- you know that feeling you get when you just know something weird is going on and you've just walked into the middle of it? Like why did they agree to have me if things were weird right now?" Alice expressed,

"Maybe not agreeing to have you would've sparked some concern from your mom." Magnus suggested. "And they're obviously trying to hide something here."

"Maybe." Alice sighed and Magnus waited a few moments to see if she'd calmed down before turning the car back on and continuing carefully back down the drive to park outside the guest house. They exited the vehicle quietly, glancing towards the main house to see a few lights on before entering the guest house... Alice kicked off her heels, dropping down to her usual height and walking over to the fridge to make themselves something to eat since they hadn't finished dinner. "I'm not a great cook so I'm sorry if whatever I'm going to make ends up disgusting." She announced as Magnus wandered into the kitchen area slowly to see what she was doing.

"Then let me do it," he replied, "No offence... but I'm starving." He smirked, "I don't want to leave it up to chance."

"Fine." Alice sighed, a small smile playing on her lips as she backed off and Magnus moved past her, opening the fridge again to retrieve the ingredients he wanted. "So where did you learn how to cook?" She asked, pulling herself up onto the counter to watch with excitement as Magnus made them a second dinner.

"I used to watch the chef at home a lot when I was growing up," he replied, "Mainly because I liked the big knives and needed an excuse to play around with them," he smirked, "But he taught me a thing or two."

"It must be so nice to have a chef just there to make you food whenever you want." Alice sighed, still watching Magnus carefully as he put together the ingredients for a gourmet looking omelet.

"It is," he replied honestly, "... You should come to dinner some time, try the food out." He suggested tactfully, not looking up at Alice to keep his suggestion casual even though they both knew it wasn't. She grinned happily but tried to hide it as she rubbed her upper lip.

"Sure," Alice eventually calmly replied. "Just tell me when," she added and bit her lip, taking this as a sign that their relationship was going well, if he was offering plans to her. Soon enough the omelet was done, and they sat down together at the table to eat. Conversation flowed easily for them now, and it was obvious that each of them was growing more comfortable with the other as each day passed...

"Can I ask you something that might potentially irritate you?" Magnus asked, having finished before Alice so he sat back and folded his arms. Alice sipped her water and nodded, preparing herself quietly. "Why don't you want to know what's going on here? I mean with your grandparents and Peter."

"Um," Alice hesitated, putting her glass down and swallowing. She spent a few seconds searching for a reason, but the things she was feeling didn't seem to match any words she knew. "It's complicated, I think." She mumbled, "I don't know how to explain it... but I guess it kind of feels like if I figure out what's going on here... everything will just fall apart, like I just have this feeling that I should not know about this."

Magnus furrowed his eyebrows as he watched Alice carefully. "You should not or you don't want to?"

"Should not." Alice replied, looking into Magnus's eyes so he saw how serious she was being. "Like it's this feeling of dread right here." She said, pointing to her chest. "Like if I poke my nose into it, it's not going to be good."

"You're just nervous," Magnus replied and Alice felt the irritation suddenly strike her. It showed immediately on her face. "If you just asked-"

"My whole body is telling me to leave it alone, Magnus, why won't you let me?" She snapped. "I don't want to know, so I'm not going to! Just leave it alone, for God's sake!" She snapped angrily.

"Alice, you're the one that asked Noah to find out about Peter," Magnus shot back, feeling his own temper spike.

"I just wanted to know who you reminded Adam of!" Alice replied angrily, "That's it! If I had known that he had so much to do with my mom in the past then I wouldn't have asked!"

"You keep avoiding saying what we both already know," Magnus snapped, unfolding his arms and leaning forward in his chair. "Father, Alice. Father. Just say it! Peter is your dad!"

"No!" Alice gasped, feeling like there was suddenly a flood of information swamping her brain.

"You guys literally look like the same damn person!" Magnus continued, raising his voice. "The dates match, the truth is obvious, just stop being so fucking naive! You look nothing like Richard, it is so obvious!"

"Shut up, Magnus." Alice muttered, looking away from him and down at the table. She swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling uncomfortable and overwhelmed since a large part of her knew he was telling the truth.

Even though it hadn't of been his truth to tell.

After a few seconds she got up, tucking her hair behind her ear and picking up her plate as she left the table. "Alice-" Magnus began, aware that he had just harshly struck several nerves. She threw her plate into the sink carelessly, causing a crack to appear along the edge before she walked off and vanished up the small stair case without saying another word. "Shit." He muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair and then sighing heavily.

He waited a few minutes, wondering if this was one of those situations where he'd need to talk to her or let her calm down before he even thought about approaching... Deciding on choosing a middle ground, he got up and searched the cupboards for something that could ease her nerves, but couldn't find anything. So he left the guest house, and snuck quietly over to the main house to raid their wine rack... and left without making a single sound.

He returned to the guest house after a few minutes, closing and locking up the man door, then making his way up the small stair case and entering the bedroom. "Alice?" He asked, seeing her sat on the edge of the bed with her back to him. Her head was tilted down, and as he approached, he realised she was looking at her phone. He saw her screen, seeing her looking at ways someone would be able to find out whether or not someone was their biological parent. "Alice..." He murmured quietly, and she looked up at him with her blue eyes shimmering like glass.

The anger she'd previously felt had gone, and what was left was an uncomfortable defeated feeling that weighed her chest down. The silence and Alice's expression told Magnus everything he needed to know, and he put the wine bottle down and went to sit next to her. "I'm sorry I said that." He murmured, knowing an apology was needed. "It wasn't my place."

Alice nodded, not having the energy to take a swipe at him as she looked back down at what google was suggesting. "Can... is this something you can do?" She asked after a few moments silence, lifting her phone up to show Magnus her screen even though he'd already seen it.

"Yeah," he replied, "I can do that for you." He continued, and Alice nodded, breathing in deeply through her nose and lowering her phone. They sat in silence for a moment, as Magnus wondered what to say to help her feel better... What did she need? What did she want him to say? She said nothing still, and continued to look down into her hands, her mind whirring with so many questions. What if this was all true? What if her dad wasn't really her dad and it had been this Peter guy the whole time? She doubted that Magnus was lying, since she knew he got a thrill out of exposing and finding out the truth in people's secrets.

She sometimes wondered, especially when she was younger, why she didn't really have any of her father's features. She didn't have brown hair, nor brown eyes, even though it was said to be a dominate gene. Her younger sister had darker hair than hers, although blonde it was an obvious mixture of brown and blonde hair that had been said to probably darken naturally over time. She sighed deeply, feeling overwhelmed that there was probably so much she didn't know about her own biology now that it was being questioned.

"Oh, for God's sake." She sighed finally, rubbing her forehead. "When I came here I really didn't expect to have this kind of shit thrown in my face, I expected to be riding horses and star gazing and reconnecting with this side of my family and now I'm fucking sat here wondering about all this family history I didn't even want to know about? Like who the fuck are these people?" Alice snapped, "I'm so sick of this shit already and its been ten minutes,"

"Well what do you want to do?" Magnus asked, keeping is voice low and calm.

"Honestly? I want to go home." Alice said quickly as she shrugged, her tone decisive. "I want to pack my shit, get on a plane, and go home, back to my bed, back to my territory and just forget about this."

"You don't want to ask... even a few questions?" Magnus asked cautiously as Alice ran her hand through her hair and sighed angrily.

"Who am I going to ask?" She shot back, "Henry barely talks to me unless he's with Adam, Adam is too nice or whatever to want to spill the beans to someone he only just met and my Grandma is a low key psychopath probably that will lie through her teeth to me since she's letting Peter stay at her house. I mean in what world would you confront a killer who is dating your granddaughter and just be cool with it? Or even let one stay with you in your home? No offence, but honestly!"

"Nah, I get it." Magnus murmured,

"You know?" Alice breathed angrily as she stood up, feeling her stress levels rising suddenly. "Like, at least I know you, at least I know what you're capable of kinda, but she doesn't know you, and she throws accusations around like that then just lets me leave with you? Like, what if you had some elaborate plan to snap my neck and throw me out onto the street in the middle of nowhere?"

"Which I wouldn't do-"

"That's not the point!" Alice gasped, pressing her fingertips into her eyes and inhaling deeply before she held it in.

"Your point is, that you think its strange that your grandfather has shown little interest in getting to know you, on top of the fact that he didn't tell your side of the family that he'd gotten remarried, and then your grandmother pops up out of nowhere - feeds you something you're allergic to, and then seems to not care enough to stop you from leaving the house with someone she just accused of being a murderer." Magnus replied calmly, still sat on the bed. "Whilst also letting an ex convict stay in her house... who also might be your father."

"Do you see why I want to go home now? I know everything I need to know from these people." Alice replied quietly,

"Yeah, I understand." Magnus breathed as he stood up, pushing his hair out of his face now. In reality, he did understand completely, which surprised him. Since his usual desire to wrench information out of the occupiers hands seemed to have subdued itself at the sight of Alice's distress. He walked over to his duffel bag, unzipping it and pulling out his laptop that he usually and very carelessly stored wherever he could without protection. He tucked it under his arm and retrieved the wine bottle, handing it to Alice before sitting back down on the bed.

She thanked him quietly, and wondered what he was doing as she popped the cork out and took a sip then walked over to sit down next to him, now seeing him booking two tickets back to Vancouver for tomorrow morning. "Magnus," She's sighed gratefully, "I'll pay you back," she added, looking at the profile of his face.

"Don't worry about it," He replied, "You can pay for lunch next time," He added, his voice soothingly calm.

"Okay," Alice murmured softly, taking another sip of wine. She felt a lightness in her chest at the knowledge that she was going home, and felt gratefulness lifting her chest up as she reached over to place her palm on the back of Magnus's head. He glanced over at her briefly and smiled, before turning back to his screen and proceeding with his payment.

The flights had been booked, and carefully this moment in time was being packed away and zipped shut like both Alice and Magnus were now doing with her things in time for their flight next day...

During their last night in Quebec they shared the bottle of wine Magnus swiped from the main house, and fell asleep watching Desperate Housewives so that Alice could be distracted enough to fall asleep. Magnus watched her sleep for a while, letting the minutes tick by silently before he put away his laptop and checked over their tickets for the flights. He wondered what it must be like to be inside her mind, and wondered about the questions she must be thinking about. A part of him understood her reluctance to know all the details, to possibly save herself the trouble of having to come to terms with it all, but another part of him would never be able to understand why anyone wouldn't want to know the truth and deal with the consequences later. He tried to respect her decision to leave it alone, or leave it behind, whichever it was... but somehow, subconsciously, he managed to put a pin it in for a later date...

* * *

"Do you think they'll be angry I left without saying goodbye?" Alice asked, as both of them sat down in the waiting room to wait the last few minutes before their flight would be called to start boarding passengers.

"Maybe," Magnus replied, adjusting his hood and taking a sip of the coffee they'd just bought. He yawned moments after, having gotten up early that morning to help Alice tidy up the guest house then return the car they rented to the dealership. "But the note you left was pretty self explanatory."

"Yeah?" Alice replied, "I hope they'll believe it." She continued, remembering how she'd written about an assignment she'd forgotten to bring with her and needed to go home early in order to get it finish before school started again on Monday. She had thought about being honest, but knew if she spilt the beans about what she knew it could potentially mess it up more than it already was. When the time was right, she knew she'd figure it out and look into it more, but that current moment... its just felt like too much for her to handle, on top of everything else she was keeping in check in her mind.

Once aboard the flight back to Vancouver, Alice smiled softly to herself as she was treated to a first class seat next to Magnus. She was welcomed with orange juice in a champagne glass and shown to her seat next to the window with Magnus sat behind her. She quietly, keeping her excitement to herself, couldn't believe how much space there was and settled down enthusiastically, glancing around at some of the other passengers to see if anyone was as impressed as she was, which they weren't. It all seemed very normal to them.