Edited by: Kuro, Lille, and Nyxx

When they got to Alec's apartment, Alec was pushed into his room to shower.

Damien was finally able to get to work. He cooked the chicken parmesan, made a large bowl of salad, took out the breadsticks he bought on the way home, and set the table. The bowl of salad sat in the middle of the table for the two to share, and they each had their own plate of pasta. The plate of breadsticks was next to the salad bowl where they could pick as much as they wanted. He even was so kind as to cut the chicken into pieces that Alec could comfortably bite. He also decked out the table to make it a candlelight dinner. There were candles placed around the room, including a few placed on the table that could seat four. The lights were dimmed down so that the candles could be the main source of light.

To finish the perfect dinner setup, he poured two glasses of wine. The two had a high tolerance for alcohol, so a single glass was nothing. They couldn't drink too much as there was work tomorrow. All in all, it was the perfect scene for an at-home dinner date.

When Alec exited the bathroom, he was dumbstruck. He looked around as if he had walked into the wrong room when he saw Damien standing in the dining room nervously.

“Dinner is ready,” Damien said awkwardly as he pulled out a chair for Alec.

Alec, confused, slowly walked over and sat down obediently.

At first, he thought that he had walked out of his room and somehow ended up in a hotel or something. In actuality, the reason Damien pushed him into the shower was so that he could set up the dining room like so.

The two sat down at the table, eating their food but no one said a word. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. On the inside, Damien was panicking. He was thinking things like, I should’ve gotten some music playing or will he reject me when I tell him, and so on...

After a while, Alec couldn’t handle how awkward it was so he wiped his mouth and put his fork down. “Damien, is there something you need to tell me?”

There wasn’t a look of disgust or impatience, just a bit of confusion and worry.

Worried? But why? Damien thought.

“I have something important to tell you… You don’t have to reply to me right away, I just want to get it off my chest.”

Alec nodded, giving Damien consent to continue. Looking at how the room was, Alec got an idea but he let the man speak. He wasn't dense and he could pick up on hints.

Damien took a sip of wine, for courage, and looked at Alec with a shy look. It was the first time Alec had seen the man blushing, he thought it was strange for a man so handsome to blush but then thought it was also very cute.

“I love you, Alec.” His voice was a bit hoarse as he tried not to hesitate. It was the first time the man didn’t sound confident. “I know that I am your manager and you are focusing on your career. I just wanted to get this off my chest. If you don’t want me as your manager anymore, I will arrange for someone else to take my place, I just-” The man was rambling a bit too much so Alec decided to interrupt.

“Damien, I’m not interested in getting a new manager when you do such a perfect job. You take care of me, pamper me, worry about me, more so than managers should…”

“That’s because if I left you alone, you would be eating your favorite easy-to-eat foods all the time.” Damien couldn’t help but say.

Alec coughed like he choking on his water. Damien was calling him out because he was right.

“That too, but I really do appreciate everything you do for me, that’s why I don’t want you to leave… but I can’t respond to your feelings. I… I am not suited for love.” He felt like he didn’t deserve Damien’s kind and gentle feelings, he thought he wasn’t a person who was able to love again, even if he wanted to be loved, Alec felt like it was something out of his reach.

Or that he would taint the word "love" because it was something pure and he felt dirty.

Alec looked up at Damien like he was going to cry. “Someone like me… Someone like me doesn’t deserve to be loved like this...”

After all the “relationships” he had been through, like the one in his original world and everything experienced through the Villian System, he felt content with what they had and he felt that if he asked for more, everything would go wrong.

Yes, Alec was scared to reach out and grab Damien’s hand, even if he felt attracted to him and wanted to try, he felt it was best not to. Especially since he didn’t know where Damien’s soul would end up when he was traveling through worlds.

“Everyone deserves to be loved. Who told you that you were not allowed that?” When he saw Alec, shaking with tears at the corner of his eyes, he wanted to find the person who said this and give them a stern “talk.”

“That… I can’t say but I hope that you will respect that. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, I was the one who confessed and troubled you.”

“I am not troubled by you or your confession. I just… I have circumstances. I need time.”

Yes, he needed time to heal in ways that people would not be able to understand. What he needed at the moment wasn’t romantic love, but to relax and enjoy his time in this world with people he cherishes (like Kyle and Damien)… Maybe, just maybe, somewhere down the line, when he was ready, he would consider Damien’s words.

For now, though, he felt it was better to not jump into things too quickly and to take his time.

“I understand… If it’s alright, can I stay by your side forever?”

Damien’s forever was probably different from Alec’s forever, but he still nodded. “That’s fine.” If Damien got sick and tired of him after a while, he knew that it just wasn’t meant to be.

Unbeknownst to Alec, Damien stayed by his side until the day he died.

*****

Alec was on the last day of filming Stairway to Love. His character, Raymond Torres, became a main character. The story went from being about Alexis to being about both her and Raymond and their journey through love.

The cover of the movie changed as well. It showed 2 sets of criss-cross stairs, never touching one another but they passed by each other only once. At that intersection stood Raymond and Alexis. In the picture, Alexis didn’t pay any mind to Raymond as she continued to look forward. Raymond on the other hand was looking over at her, his hand seemed to want to reach out for her to grab but their paths were never meant to cross like that.

They will be filming a few scenes and one of them is the one taken in the photo.

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After seeing each other and getting to know one another, Alexis realized she could not give up on Dylan, her childhood friend. Everything she did with Raymond, she wanted to do it with Dylan. Whatever Raymond did, she felt she could see Dylan instead. It was heartbreaking for her and Raymond, and she realized she could not continue it anymore.

“Raymond, I can’t do this anymore.” Alexis stopped walking, her head was down as she held onto the bouquet that Raymond had given her earlier. They were on a “date” and were seeing how it would go being with one another, but it just wasn’t working out for her. Her mind was elsewhere even when Raymond was by her side.

“Everything we do, everything I do, I can’t help but picture Dylan by my side. He’s always been by my side and I don’t want that to change… I love him so much. I’m sorry for leading you on like this.”

Raymond was heartbroken, but not surprised. He knew that her heart was never with him because Alexis had always worn her heart on her sleeves.

“It’s not your fault that you love him and still love him, so don’t ever apologize for loving someone.” He walked toward her but stopped a couple of feet away from her. “Would you like me to apologize for loving you? Even though I love you so much and can’t get over you. Aren’t we the same?”

She looked up at him, her eyes slightly red. She wanted to cry but for some reason, they couldn’t fall even though she felt sad. “But aren’t you upset with me for going along with your feelings only to turn you down?”

“Of course not, why would I be mad? You tried your best to feel for me, to be with me, and in the end, it didn’t work out. Unfortunately, that’s life. If I was mad at you, that means I never loved you. If you love someone, you want them to be happy, and if you aren’t happy with me, what’s the point?”

Even though it sounded like he said that without emotion, the tears flowing from his eyes told everyone that he was truly sad to let her go, but it was the only thing he could do. 

“If you love him, tell him. If he won’t say anything, then you must or nothing will change.”

“I… You are right.” The tears that she tried to hold in began to fall. “I was waiting for him all this time to say something to me like it was his obligation.”

She always heard in movies and books that the guy was always the one who confessed first as they took the lead. But she was an independent woman who could think without the help of a man. She was strong. Brave. Loving. Hopeful. She too could make decisions for herself.

“Thank you, Raymond, for everything. For being with me, for loving me, and for helping me realize what I must do.”

Alexis handed the flowers back. “I am not the person you are supposed to be with, that I know for sure. That’s why you must find someone who loves you just as much as you love them. Don’t give up on love, Raymond, just because we didn’t work out. Eventually, all your efforts will pay off, I believe that.”

After that, she turned away and began walking with her head held high. She was going to go confess to Dylan as soon as possible, that was what she decided. Regardless of what happened, she knew she did her best and everything she could.

Raymond, who was left behind, held on to the flowers she gave back to him. He didn’t break down into sobs or throw the flowers, he held on to them, watching her leave the park they were at.

After this part when the scenes have been edited, the two stairs would come up on the screen. Alexis, who had stopped where Raymond was, looked away from him and began running up the stairs, leaving everything else behind.

As for Raymond, he held onto the bouquet, watching her leave.

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“And cut!” Director Eleanor called out, “Wipe Alec’s tears off his face, we are doing one more of his scenes. Also, we need to change his suit.”

Everyone rushed to change the scene. They were putting the stairs back in place but putting Raymond’s set of stairs to the front. For Raymond’s ending, it was going to be more ambiguous and open-ended, that was what the director, producers, and writers wanted.

“We have to get this perfect! Perfect, perfect, perfect! No one will leave until we get this scene right!”

The pressure was on…

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Raymond was standing on the stairs where the imaginary intersection was. Alexis’ stairs, even though he could see her walking by, they could not walk on the same set of stairs. That was a given.

He had a bouquet in his hands, different from the one he gave to Alexis that day. It was a bouquet of wilted flowers, symbolizing rejected love. He looked at her set of stairs, looking at where she had left.

Someone came up from behind him, they too, were walking upwards but Raymond was in the way. They held a bunch of different flowers. Each had different meanings: Carnations (Red) meaning “my heart aches for you, admiration.” Myrtle for love (it’s also a symbol of marriage). And a bunch of other flowers that meant love in some way. It looked a little messy at first, but the flowers had a meaning for the viewer to see.

When Raymond turned around and saw them holding out the bouquet, he hesitated at first but eventually accepted it. The wilted flowers he held onto slid out of his fingers, and he held the new bouquet close to his heart.

He looked at the other person, and a warm smile showed on his face, one that he never showed to anyone, not even Alexis.

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And that was it. The scene ended there. When the movie played in theaters, the person giving Raymond the flowers would be a black silhouette. They found someone with a body type that was androgynous. It was meant for people to not know the gender of the person giving the bouquet.

‘Love comes first, gender is not that important,' was the message Director Eleanor was trying to give.

“This scene was perfect! Alec, I thought we would have to go through that a few times but you nailed that smile! I’ve never seen you smile like that before. It was breathtaking, too cute, it was amazing!” If Director Eleanor had to state who her favorite actor was, it would definitely be Alec, no questions about it. Everyone knew that at this point.

Alec’s face was back to normal. It was like he had never smiled a day in his life. “Thank you, Director, for your kind words.”

“Oh, why are you thanking me, little cutie? From this moment on, you will be going to other movies and shows. I have plans.” Her laughter echoed throughout the studio for a little bit until she calmed down.

“Oh yeah, this is your last scene, right? Let’s party!” Director Eleanor was a ball of sunshine and energy. Too much energy.

After that, the crew and actors partied like there was no tomorrow. Alec, though he didn’t get drunk, couldn’t help but feel warm inside being surrounded by good people and food.