The dorm was quiet that night.
Most of the boys were asleep or pretending to be, exhausted from the strange energy left behind after the assembly. Max lay awake, staring at the ceiling, replaying the applause, the whispers, the way Victoria had looked at him across the hall after the assembly like she was trying to solve his existence.
Alex was already out cold in the bed across the room door closed, you could still hear him snoring softly.
Max rolled onto his side, forcing himself to breathe, to relax.
A soft click echoed from the window behind him.
Max sat up instantly. "You've got to be kidding me."
Someone was climbing in.
He reached for the weapon leaning against the bed frame but froze when a familiar voice whispered sharply
"Don't attack me, idiot I'll kill you."
Max blinked. "Victoria?!"
She slipped inside and landed silently on the floor, closing the window behind her. She moved with practiced grace, her hair falling over her shoulder as she turned to him. Her academy cloak was draped loosely around her like she didn't care about protocol or curfew.
Max hissed, "What are you doing here? This is the boys' dorm—"
"I know," she said quietly. "But you weren't exactly easy to get alone today. I have questions."
Max frowned. "Victoria, you can't just sneak into—"
"Max." She stepped closer. "Please."
The word startled him into silence.
Victoria didn't say please. Not to anyone. Has she really been hiding her true emotions.
Her eyes were raw, rimmed with exhaustion, the confident posture she always carried cracked around the edges. For the first time, Max realized she looked… human. Vulnerable.
"What do you want?" he asked, softer now.
She swallowed hard. "I need to talk to you. Before I lose my nerve. You were such a weakling. Now I can't tell."
Max hesitated, then nodded and gestured for her to sit. She didn't. Instead she paced once, stopped, and faced him directly.
"I thought you were dead," she said, voice shaking. "For a whole week, Max. I thought the last thing I ever did to you was—was kill you. I thought I wanted too I thought that was the right thing to do."
Max tried to speak, but Victoria rushed on.
"You don't understand." Her voice cracked. "I replayed that duel a hundred times in my head. Every strike. Every spell. Every time you fell. I—I convinced myself I hit you too hard over something stupid. That you'd collapsed down there and no one found you."
"You didn't kill me," Max said gently.
"You tried to burn me alive though. Somehow I'm alive after you passed out it was a shitshow for sure."
"But I thought I did," she whispered. "And that's almost worse."
Max stepped forward, but Victoria lifted a hand as if keeping him at a distance—not out of anger, but fear. Fear of breaking. Not quite sure if she wanted to take his life.
"I told myself I didn't care," she admitted. "That you were reckless. Unpredictable. Annoying." A small, bitter laugh escaped her. "But every night I couldn't sleep because all I could think was what if Max died because of me? The professors should have stopped things!"
Max felt the words hit him harder than any strike the hooded man had thrown.
"Victoria…" he said softly.
She took a shaky breath. "So I'm here. To say I'm sorry."
Max blinked. "You're… apologizing to me?"
A flash of her usual fire sparked in her eyes. "Don't make this harder than it already is."
Max held up his hands. "Okay, okay. I'm just… surprised."
Victoria huffed and crossed her arms. "Of course you are. You usually don't pay enough attention to notice anything."
He rolled his eyes. "I notice plenty."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"That you're blaming yourself for something you didn't mean to do."
Victoria's jaw tightened. "You don't get to decide how I feel."
"And you don't get to sneak into my room in the middle of the night and pretend you're the only one who went through something!" Max shot back. "I nearly died down there! I fought my way out alone! You think it was fun for me to just vanish!?"
Victoria stared at him, stunned then she was angry.
"Oh, so now you're mad at me?" she whisper-yelled, stepping closer.
"You act like the world revolves around you!" Max hissed. "Like you're the only one carrying something heavy!"
Victoria's face flushed. "I'm trying to apologize!"
"And I'm trying to tell you you're not the villain you think you are!"
They stood inches apart, breaths sharp and uneven, neither willing to back down.
Silence stretched too long.
Then something shifted.
Victoria's anger softened different now, warmer somehow. Her eyes searched his, slow and uncertain, like she was seeing him differently.
"You've changed," she murmured. "Not just your stance. Not just your magic. You."
Max swallowed. "Maybe."
[If only she knew.] Raven laughed shocking Max and remembering that she was with him still all this time.
Victoria stepped even closer, so close Max could feel the heat of her breath. "I'm not sure I like it."
Max felt his heart jump. "I'm not sure I care."
Victoria's lips twitched a smile, small and unsteady, fighting its way through her pride. "Still annoying."
"Still dramatic," Max countered.
"Still loud."
"Still bossy."
They both stopped.
Realizing they weren't listing flaws anymore just speaking softer. Closer.
Victoria took a single step back, a rare sign that she didn't trust her own impulse.
"This doesn't mean we're friends," she said quietly.
Max smirked. "Sure."
"And it doesn't mean I forgive myself."
"You should."
"And it doesn't mean," she added, cheeks turning faintly pink, "that anything… is happening. Between us."
Max raised a brow. "Is that something you're worried about or hoping for?"
Victoria glared. "Don't push it."
He held up his hands. "Not pushing."
She moved to the window, sliding it open with practiced ease. Before climbing out, she paused.
"I'm glad you're alive," she said, barely above a whisper.
Max met her eyes. "Me too."
Alex snored loudly in the background.
"Will you come with me for a bit longer?" She asked.
Max wasn't sure why he said what he said next but he found himself taking a few steps towards her. Maybe he liked a little instability in his life. Or maybe he just found a little closeness in her. The person who started everything for him.
"Sure let's go but maybe we don't jump out the window like we're main characters in a story?"