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Chapter Text

Alec was not having the best of days.

Izzy and Jace had all but begged him to stop for coffee before their important clave meeting that morning, so Alec had decided on going to a coffee shop just a few blocks away from the Institute. He was certain that he had given himself plenty of time before the meeting started, and yet by the time he had gotten to the shop, there were only twenty minutes left until he had to be back to the Institute.

He ordered himself a regular black coffee and then stumbled over the fancy coffees that Izzy and Jace had told him to order for themselves.

His siblings really would be the death of him.

Once his coffees were ready, Alec placed them in a holder and then made his way to the door. He looked down at his watch, trying to see how much time he had until his meeting, when all of a sudden he felt himself bumping into a solid chest.

He only barely managed to prevent all of his coffees from falling out of their carrier and onto the floor.

"Jeez, could you—" The person he had bumped into had probably been about to tell him off, but when Alec looked over at him, he stopped talking. "Oh."

"Oh" summed up Alec's own thoughts perfectly. The man in front of him was gorgeous, with his hair perfectly styled, a bit of makeup on his face, and his eyes a beautiful brown. Alec felt his cheeks grow warm and he took a step backwards, suddenly uncomfortably aware of how close they still were.

"I am so sorry, I'm kind of in a rush and I wasn't watching where I was going—"

"No, no, it's fine, I'm just — happy that your coffee didn't spill, I would have felt awful."

"Oh, no, it wouldn't have been your fault, it definitely would have been mine—"

"Well maybe if I hadn't been so focused on my damn phone—"

That went on for maybe about five more minutes, both of them just steady apologizing and placing the blame on themselves. Alec laughed at the absurdity of it and placed his hand out for the stranger to shake.

"I'm Alec," he said, smiling brightly when the other man took his hand.

"Magnus. It's nice to meet you, even though I almost spilled your coffee."

Alec let out a quiet laugh. He then realized that he had wasted even more time just standing here talking to Magnus, which made his smile turn into a wince.

"I'm sorry, I really am in a rush. I have a meeting for work," Alec apologized.

"No, yeah, I actually have a meeting of my own to be getting to. I'm afraid I've been procrastinating because I'd much rather be here than there."

Alec laughed at Magnus' confession. He then quickly added, before Magnus could walk away, "I'd like to see you again, though."

Magnus' eyes widened in surprise, but he also looked pleased. "I'll be here tomorrow around noon."

Alec nodded quickly. "Sounds great. I'll see you then."

Magnus smiled once more at him before making his way over to the counter to place his order. Alec spared him one more glance before mentally telling himself he really needed to get going, and walking back to the Institute.

***

Magnus liked to think of himself as fashionably late when he arrived to the important Downworlder breakfast he was attending. He walked into the Hotel Dumort (each meeting tended to be at a different Downworlder spot, such as Magnus' own loft or Luke's Jade Wolf. Why they had decided on having a breakfast at the Hotel Dumort, where there was no food, was besides Magnus.) with two coffees in hand and a smile on his face.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," he greeted cheerily. He placed one of the coffees in front of Luke, who gave him a grateful smile, and then took his seat next to Catarina.

"You're late," Raphael said, unimpressed.

Magnus shrugged. "I'm here now, aren't I? That's all that's important."

Raphael's eye roll actually looked painful. While Luke called the meeting to order, Magnus took the chance to check out who was in attendance. To Luke's right was a young werewolf girl, Maia, looking equal amounts peeved and tired. For the vampires, Raphael and Simon sat next to each other.

The Seelies, as always, were represented by Meliorn and Kaelie.

Magnus himself had invited one of his best friends, Catarina, to join him for this meeting on behalf of the warlocks. He looked over at her to give her a smile but she was already rolling her brown eyes.

"What?!" Magnus whispered indignantly.

"You have that look on your face. The 'I just met a cute boy' look."

Magnus purposely took a sip from his coffee. "I don't meet cute boys and tell."

"That's the biggest lie you've ever told."

Magnus knew he wouldn't be able to lie to Catarina, she knew him too well, so he whispered to her, "His name is Alec. He's really tall, brown hair and hazel eyes. The nicest smile. We're meeting tomorrow for coffee."

"Is he a mundane?" Catarina asked.

Magnus bit his lip and nodded. It wasn't against the rules to date a mundane (not like it was to date Shadowhunters), but it was still rare for Downworlders to do so. This was mostly because of how difficult it was explaining that warlocks and vampires exist in the real world.

"I'm happy for you," Catarina told him.

Magnus smiled at her. "Thank you. I mean, we just met, but. He's cute. I feel like I could really like him."

Magnus then decided it would probably be a good idea to actually focus on the meeting taking place. He diverted his attention to Maia, who was talking about a Shadowhunter who had gone to her bar, the Hunter's Moon. This was a place that was strictly for Downworlders, and Shadowhunters were prohibited from attending.

"What'd he look like?" Luke asked her.

"Blonde hair, stupid, smug smirk. He acted like he owned the place, even though he was the only Shadowhunter there."

"That's a Shadowhunter for you," Meliorn murmured under his breath.

"But, anyway, my point is I need to know what to do if he has the nerve to come back to my bar. Last time I gave him a verbal warning, threatened him a bit, and he left. I don't think I should be so friendly next time."

Raphael shrugged. "I think you did the right thing. I wouldn't have been so friendly if a Shadowhunter showed their face here at my hotel."

Meliorn hummed his approval, but Simon gave Raphael a disapproving look, shaking his head all the while. "Violence clearly wasn't the answer to the situation, and I don't think it is if there's a next time, either. I mean, why is the Hunter's Moon only for Downworlders? Has it always been like that?"

Simon had only been turned two months ago. It showed in the way he optimistically (naively, in some of the Downworlder's minds) hoped for Downworlders and Shadowhunters to miraculously solve all of their differences and stop being segregated.

Maia narrowed her eyes at Simon. "As long as the Institutes all over the world and Idris are closed off to Downworlders, our clubs and homes are closed off to Shadowhunters, as well."

Simon pursed his lips and looked down at the table in front of him with a defeated expression.

"I just feel like if we start hurting Shadowhunters, then we're no better than them," he relinquished quietly.

Magnus spared a glance over at Luke to see what he thought of all of this. Technically, as alpha of the New York pack, he had final say in what would happen if the Shadowhunter showed up again at the Hunter's Moon.

"Maia, you did the right thing in not hurting the Shadowhunter," Luke said, finally speaking up, "It's against the Accords and would have gotten you in a lot of unnecessary trouble. If this Shadowhunter keeps giving you problems, come to me and I'll deal with him. Got it?"

Maia waited a minute before nodding.

Simon didn't say anything else.

"Okay," Luke said, taking a sip from his coffee, "Onto the next issue."

***

Alec tried to slide into the seat between his two siblings as discreetly as he could, but he was fairly certain he failed. He was only five minutes late, but time was everything to the Clave.

"Where the hell were you?" Izzy whispered, taking her coffee from him.

Alec handed Jace's to him as well. "Getting the both of you your stupid coffees. You're welcome, by the way."

Izzy gave him a teasing grin. "Gracias, mi hermano. I have no idea what I would do without you."

"That's better," Alec said.

"But seriously, bro, you're never late. Where were you?" Jace asked him.

Alec noticed the concern in his voice and realized he should probably tell his siblings the truth.

"I...met someone. At the coffee shop."

Izzy's mouth practically dropped open. "You did what?! You? You never meet anyone!"

"Is he a Shadowhunter? Do I know him?" Jace asked.

"He's...not a Shadowhunter," Alec said as quietly as he could. He didn't want anyone overhearing.

Jace and Izzy's mouths both turned into perfect o's.

"Please, Alec, tell me he's not a Downworlder," Izzy whispered.

Alec shook his head, quickly erasing that thought from both of their minds. "No, of course not! I wouldn't do that to us, to our family. He's...a mundane."

"Well, he could always Ascend," Izzy said lightly.

"I — I don't even want to think about that. I just met the guy. I'm not saying I want to marry him or anything."

Izzy shook her head. "I know that. And Jace knows that. Don't you, Jace?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm happy for you, man. If anyone deserves to meet someone, it's you."

"Isn't that the truth," Izzy agreed, "Especially considering you've been so frickin repressed all your life."

Alec rolled his eyes and gave Izzy's arm a light smack. "Okay, enough about my love life. Back to the meeting, you two."

Jace and Izzy shared matching eye rolls, but they still listened to him and diverted their attention back to the meeting, Alec doing the same.

***

Meeting Magnus again seemed a lot better in theory than in actuality. It wasn't that Alec didn't want to see him again, he absolutely did, but there were so many things that he was worried about. What did one wear to a coffee date? What if once he and Magnus started talking, Magnus realized he didn't really like Alec at all? And what would they even talk about?

He eventually decided on wearing one of his better sweaters and a nice pair of jeans. Thankfully it was winter in New York, so Alec could get away with wrapping a scarf around his neck to hide his stamina rune. That was a conversation Alec most definitely wasn't ready to have yet.

Overall, Alec was nervous because he hadn't ever done this before. Not really, anyway. He'd had a sort-of boyfriend when he was seventeen, but that had lasted all of two weeks before his mom had caught them kissing and "unrelatedly" transferred him and his family to the Dubai Institute.

But, Alec told himself, this would be different. First of all, his mom wouldn't ever have to find out about Magnus, unless they started really getting serious. And, secondly, this was only a first date. There was no need to get worried about the future if they might not even make it that far.

With that thought in mind, Alec shrugged his coat on and walked out of the Institute's doors.

***

Magnus was only a little bit panicked.

It was 12:05 and Alec had yet to show. Magnus didn't think that Alec seemed the type to stand someone up, but he still got out his phone and texted his groupchat (which consisted of himself, Catarina, Ragnor, and Raphael, his immortal besties).

"Alec was supposed to be here at 12:00 and it's 12:05 and he's still not here, should I be worried?" He sent.

Ragnor, like a good friend, responded almost immediately. "I'm sure he'll be there soon."

Unfortunately, that didn't ease Magnus' mind very much. He tore a piece off of his mandarin and poppy seed bagel and chewed anxiously on it.

His phone pinged again, and Magnus looked down to see that it was Raphael.

"You know I didn't join this chat to hear about your boy problems, Magnus," the text said.

Magnus smirked. "Raphael, darling, I'm sensing some jealousy. It's unbecoming of you," he sent back.

It couldn't have been more than a second before Magnus' phone alerted him that Raphael had left the groupchat. Magnus rolled his eyes with a smile. If there was one thing about Raphael that never changed, it was how big of a drama queen he was.

"I'll text him," Catarina said, and Magnus figured that was probably the end of that conversation.

He looked up from his phone to see if Alec had arrived yet and actually gaped when he saw the man in question standing right across from him, looking sheepish and a little bit awkward.

"Sorry, I — I didn't want to interrupt, if you were having a conversation."

Magnus silently wondered how this mundane had been able to sneak up on him, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, but he shook the thought off. He must have just been really consumed in his phone.

"No, it's fine, I was only texting some friends. Please, sit down," Magnus said, gesturing to the seat in front of him.

Alec smiled and sat down in the seat, shrugging his coat off. He was wearing a form-fitting sweater underneath it that had Magnus biting his lip.

"Sorry for being a bit late. I, um, I kind of had to work up the nerve to actually come," Alec admitted, his eyes meeting Magnus'.

The confession made Magnus raise an eyebrow. "Really? How come?" He inquired.

"Um, I've never really...done this before. The whole dating thing, you know?"

Magnus must have looked surprised, because Alec let out a small laugh.

"Do you not believe me?" He asked amusedly.

Magnus shook his head quickly. "No, no, I do, it's just. You're really cute. That's why I have trouble believing you've never dated before."

Alec's cheeks turned a light pink. "My job can be really strict sometimes. It's been hard to find the time for relationships."

Yeah, Magnus could definitely understand that. Being the High Warlock of Brooklyn wasn't exactly the easiest occupation, but he wasn't about to tell Alec that.

"Well, I'm glad you came," Magnus said, giving Alec his best smile.

"Why's that?" Alec asked, and Magnus was once again surprised that Alec didn't seem to be mocking, just genuinely curious.

"Because my self-esteem would have been ruined if a boy as cute as you stood me up, obviously," Magnus said jokingly, taking pride in the bashful smile it placed on Alec's face.

"Do you want to get a drink?" Alec asked, gesturing to the counter. "I, uh, heard it's not a date until drinks are bought. At least that's what my sister told me."

Magnus chuckled and stood up, Alec doing the same. "I'd love to get one," he said, and the two of them walked over to wait in line together.

***

Alec wasn't sure why he had been so nervous about meeting Magnus for their date. After the initial awkwardness, conversation had flowed easily between the two of them. Magnus had asked about Alec's sister once they had taken their seats and Alec had told him all about Izzy, a smile on his face all the while.

"And do you have any other siblings?" Magnus had asked.

Alec had nodded. "Two brothers. One's a year younger than me and the other's only twelve."

It would have been impossible to miss the wistful look in Magnus' eyes as he smiled.

"I've always admired the bond between siblings," he'd said, "I was an only child, unfortunately."

They had then shared stories, Alec's of his siblings and Magnus' of his friends. Alec found one in particular amusing; the one where Magnus and some friends apparently were banned from Peru.

"You have to know that's kind of hard to believe," Alec said, still laughing at the ridiculous story.

Magnus seemed nonplussed. "Believe it or not," he said with a shrug, "It's all one hundred percent true."

Alec reached out for his coffee cup. It was long cold by now, but he didn't want Magnus to see how widely he was smiling.

"So, you like to travel, then?" Alec asked.

"I love it. More than anything, really."

Alec nodded, his mind swirling with all the places he had wanted to visit in his life but never had the chance to. He wanted to ask Magnus of all the places he had been, of all the memories he had made while there, but he knew there was too much to say. Magnus made it sound like he had years of traveling under his belt.

So, instead, Alec decided on telling him the one place he had always wanted to go more than any other place. He had dreamt about it since he was ten, but his parents had always been too busy with Shadowhunting business.

"I've wanted to visit the original Globe Theatre since, well, it seems like forever."

Magnus' eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, I've been there a couple of times. It's a lovely theatre. I actually lived in London for a couple of years."

Alec unintentionally scooted closer to the edge of his seat. He couldn't help being fascinated. London had always been his number one place to visit, and to hear that Magnus had lived there?

"What was it like? The theatre? But, uh. Also the city. I've wanted to go so badly."

Magnus told him every memory he had of both the theatre and the city, and Alec held onto every word, happy just to listen to Magnus talk.

They stayed in the cafe until the employees started giving them dirty looks, undoubtedly because they had been occupying the same two seats for what had to be hours now.

It was Alec who hesitantly said he should probably be getting home, or his siblings would start to worry about him. Magnus agreed, and the two of them walked out of the cafe, not missing the grateful looks the employees sent their way.

Once they were outside, Alec started to panic a little. He hadn't ever done this before. Was he supposed to ask Magnus for his number? Or did Magnus ask him for his?

Luckily, Magnus quickly spoke up. "I'd like to see you again. This was...really nice."

Alec hoped his smile wasn't overly enthusiastic, but he was just...really happy. He knew it had to be showing on his face.

"Yeah, I'd like to see you again, too. I could, uh, give you my number? If you want?"

Magnus took a step closer to Alec, taking his hand in his so he could place his phone in Alec's hands. "I'd absolutely want," he told him quietly.

Alec felt his cheeks grow warm. Their closeness and Magnus' words seemed a little too intimate for the public setting, but he still somehow managed to put his number in Magnus' phone.

Magnus took his phone back from Alec once he was done, and gave him a flirty smile. "I'll be seeing you, Alec."

"Yeah, I'll — I'll see you," Alec stammered, mentally slapping himself for his awkwardness. Magnus gave him a wave and then turned away.

Alec told himself to stop staring and crossed the street on his way to the Institute, his heart still in his throat from how amazing the date had been.

He hoped Magnus would text him soon.

***

"How long does it usually take for someone to text after a date?"

Izzy looked up at her brother, who was standing in the doorframe of her bedroom. She took in the anxious way he was staring at his phone and felt herself brighten up.

"Oh, you like him! Alec, you have to tell me about your date and all about him," she squealed.

Alec looked away from his phone for the first time and then at Izzy. His cheeks flushed at the thought of talking to his little sister about boys, of all things, but this was about Magnus, and that thought was kind of appealing.

With a huff, he walked across the room and sat next to her.

"You never answered my question. How long does it usually take?"

Izzy rolled her eyes. "A day, sometimes two. Never more than two, though."

Alec nodded his head. That was relieving. Technically it had been less than twenty-four hours, so he figured he was probably still good.

"Okay, now answer mine. How did it go?! You were gone for, like, two hours and you told me you were just going to a coffee shop, so like. Did you talk the whole time? Did you kiss?"

Alec was starting to get a slight headache. This had probably been a bad idea, but Izzy was looking at him with bright, excited eyes, and he couldn't just walk away without answering her questions. This was the first time he had ever really dated anyone, and he knew his sister was just happy at the thought of her big brother being happy.

"Yeah, we — we just talked. He's really nice, and funny, and...he loves to travel, which. I thought was interesting, because you know I've always wanted to travel but never got the chance."

Izzy smiled, a mischievous hint to it. "As for the kiss?"

"Didn't happen," Alec said, playfully nudging his sister with his elbow when she pouted at him. "I don't kiss on the first date, Iz!"

"Right, because you have so much experience," she teased.

Alec rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. He stood up from Izzy's bed and made to leave, but before he could, he turned around to say one last thing to his sister.

"Thank you. For answering my question."

"No problem. Just make sure to tell me when your novio texts you back!"

Alec figured that was his cue to leave. He walked out of the door, calling out, "He's not my boyfriend!" behind him.

***

When Magnus invited Ragnor over to his loft, it was partially because he wanted to catch up with his friend, but also partially because he wanted to talk to him about Alec. Ragnor was one of his oldest friend; the one who Magnus always went to when he met someone new.

Magnus handed Ragnor his drink and started pouring a whiskey for himself.

"I was surprised to hear from you," Ragnor said, "We haven't done this in awhile."

Magnus turned around to face his friend, giving him an apologetic look. "I know. It seems like there's always a problem in the Downworld, usually ones involving Shadowhunters."

He sat down next to Ragnor as he pulled a face. "If Shadowhunters could ever mind their own business, I think the world would spontaneously combust," Ragnor said.

Magnus snorted. "Well, we don't have to worry about that, because I'm sure it'll never happen." He then gave Ragnor a small, excited smile. "This is completely unrelated, but my date went really well."

"Oh, yeah? I was surprised you hadn't said anything yet. I could tell you were struggling with yourself not to bring him up."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "He's so cute, Ragnor. He hasn't dated much before because of how demanding his job is, so it's all new to him and...it's kind of new to me, as well? I haven't felt like this in a long time."

Ragnor smiled at him. This time, there was no teasing in his expression, just genuine happiness. "I haven't seen you like this in almost a century, my friend. I was worried you had closed your heart off for good."

"I thought I might have," Magnus admitted with a small, sad smile, "After, you know, Camille."

Ragnor blanched at just the name. "You're immortal, Magnus, and yet it was as if she killed you."

Magnus was quiet for a second, silently reflecting on all the pain that Camille had caused him. He hadn't known how to move on from her, wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to, but Alec had changed that. He'd unlocked something inside of Magnus that he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

"That's not going to be the case any longer. I'm going to start living again."

Ragnor smiled at him from the rim of his glass. "I'm happy for you," he told him, his voice nothing but sincere. "Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't been texting him all evening."

Magnus' face lit up in recognition. "Oh, that reminds me! I haven't texted him since the date. I hope he hasn't been worried." Still, the thought of Alec worrying about Magnus not texting him back brought a small smile to his face. It was an endearing one.

He hurriedly sent out a text, saying, "Hey, it's Magnus. Sorry for just now texting you. How has your day been?"

Alec texted him back only about ten minutes later. "It was okay, better now. How was yours?"

Magnus felt his heart flutter and he all but shoved his phone in Magnus' face. "Look, he said his day's better now that I've texted him, isn't he cute?!"

Ragnor laughed heartily at him, moving Magnus' arm so his phone wasn't staring him in the face. "Oh, you've got it bad."

"Shut up. No I don't," Magnus said, though he couldn't help feeling that the wide smile on his face as he texted Alec back betrayed his words.

***

"You're still looking at that phone of yours?"

Alec quickly locked his phone and looked up to see who had spoken to him: Jace. He tried to convey his nonchalance as he shrugged.

"I was just...checking the weather. Clearly," Alec said.

"And that smile on your face is because you're so glad it's sunny outside?" Jace asked.

Alec gave him an unimpressed look.

"Bro, it's totally fine if you're talking to Magnus. I've never really...seen you like this before, if that makes sense."

"It's all really new," Alec admitted quietly. He gave his brother a quick glance before letting out a sigh. "He asked me out on another date for tomorrow night."

Jace sat down in the seat next to his brother, a curious expression on his face. "That's supposed to be a good thing, isn't it? And yet you don't look like you're too excited."

"I am! I am. We texted for hours last night and we've been texting for most of the day, as well. I'm just...I've never done this before. What if I mess everything up, Jace? What if he can't handle the unexpectedness that comes from being a Shadowhunter or, god, he doesn't even know what a Shadowhunter is, does he? How do I explain that?"

Jace's eyes were wide as he reached out to give Alec's hand a squeeze. "Alec, I can assure you, it's way too early to be worrying about these kinds of things. You're not going to mess anything up between you. And, yeah, you like him now, but that doesn't mean you will forever. The Shadowhunter talk might never have to come up."

Alec pursed his lips. "Have you ever had that talk before? With a mundane you've dated?"

"I've never dated a mundane," Jace confessed apologetically.

"What?!" Alec exclaimed.

"I, um, I only date Shadowhunters," Jace said with a noncommittal shrug.

Alec put his head in his hands. "I have to call off the date."

"No, you do not. You are going on your date with Magnus and it's going to be great, I promise you."

"A date? Oh, did Magnus invite you on another date? That's so exciting! Where to?"

That would be Izzy. Alec buried his head further into his arms and groaned loudly (for emphasis, of course).

"It's called the River Cafe and I guess it's in Brooklyn," Alec said, his voice muffled from his arms. He looked up to see if the name sparked any recognition in his siblings. To his surprise, both of their mouths were gaped. "What? You've heard of it?"

"Alec, that place is nice. Like, one of the best places in Brooklyn," Jace said.

Alec raised both of his eyebrows. "Really? What — what do I wear?"

Izzy smiled widely at him. "I'm glad you asked. I'm sure I could help you find something."

***

Magnus' reservations were for seven-thirty at the restaurant he was meeting Alec at. It was seven-fifteen right now, and he was still at his loft. This was because he knew it would only take a second to portal himself to the restaurant, and he wanted to make sure he looked absolutely perfect before he left.

His eyes raked over his outfit in the full body length mirror in front of him. He was wearing black leather shoes, tight black pants, and one of his favorite shirts tucked into them with a thin, glittery silver belt. His shirt was a royal blue with lighter and darker shades of blue in the design. It wasn't quite checkered, but it was similar. Around his neck he wore a couple of silver necklaces to go with his belt and on his fingers were multiple different black rings, some clunky, some thin bands.

Magnus then took a step closer to his mirror, examining his makeup carefully. He had gone light this time around; just some black eyeliner and eyeshadow. He already knew his hair was styled perfectly, seeing as how he had spent nearly an hour on styling it alone.

He took a picture of his full outfit and sent it to his groupchat before flicking his fingers to create a portal to outside of the restaurant.

Once he arrived to the outside of the River Cafe, he checked his phone again to see what his friends had responded with. It was mostly a bunch of heart eyes and fire emojis, except for Raphael, who had sent him the rolling-eyes emoji and a question of where Magnus was "even taking the mundane", to quote Raphael.

Magnus rolled his own eyes, sent a quick text to Raphael telling him the name of the restaurant, and then stuffed his phone in his pocket.

He had a date to be getting to, and he didn't want to keep the lovely Alexander waiting.

***

Magnus walked into the lobby of the River Cafe and his eyes almost immediately spotted Alec. He walked over to him, his heart fluttering pathetically in his chest when Alec looked over at him and smiled widely.

"Hey," Alec greeted, trying (and failing) to discretely give Magnus a once over.

"Hey," Magnus repeated, taking the chance to do his own once over of Alec. He was wearing a tight black shirt tucked into black dress pants, as well as a black blazer and black dress shoes. Usually Magnus thought wearing all black made a person look drab, but that wasn't Alec's case whatsoever. He looked incredible. Even his hair had been craftily styled so it was off of his face.

"You look amazing," Magnus told him sincerely.

He delighted in the light pink that colored Alec's cheeks at the compliment.

"Thank you, so do you. I like the shirt," Alec said.

Magnus smiled at him. "Thank you. It's one of my favorites." It then struck him that the two of them couldn't spend their entire date just standing there in the lobby. "I'm going to tell the hostess of our reservations and then we can be seated, yeah?"

Alec nodded and Magnus walked over to the hostess. He greeted her and then told her he had a reservation under the name 'Bane'.

The hostess told him to follow her, so Magnus gestured for Alec to follow as well. She led them to their table and both of them sat across from each other. Magnus had specifically requested that they get a table next to the window, because this restaurant had the nicest view of the city's skyline in all of Brooklyn (at least in Magnus' opinion).

He glanced over at Alec and saw that he was admiring the view, his eyes slightly wide.

"Do you like it?" Magnus asked.

Alec looked back at Magnus, and Magnus couldn't help but admire the way the candlelight accentuated his features.

"It's beautiful," Alec said, "you really know how to woo a guy."

Magnus raised an eyebrow at that statement, leaning in slightly. "Are you confessing to being wooed, Alexander?" He asked lowly.

Alec's reaction was a beautiful sight to behold, even better than the view outside. His mouth gaped open and then he fish-mouthed, trying hard to think of the right words to say. His cheeks had once again turned a light pink color.

"Who told you my name is Alexander?" Is what Alec ended up asking, taking a sip from the water that had been placed in front of them.

Magnus laughed delightedly. "No one, I just assumed it was. Does that mean I'm right?"

Alec huffed out a laugh of his own. "Yes, it does. I started going by Alec after my sister Izzy was born. She couldn't say Alexander, and she couldn't pronounce the 'x' in Alex, so she called me Alec. I guess the name just sort of stuck."

"That's adorable," Magnus told him, hearing the fondness in his own voice.

Alec ducked his head down. "I've never told anyone that before."

Their waitress came over to their table and asked if they would like anything other to drink than water. Magnus asked Alec if he liked red wine, and when he said he did, that's what they decided on.

Once their glasses arrived, Magnus held his out for a toast.

"To us," he said.

Alec clinked his glass with Magnus' own. "To us," he agreed, and they both took a drink.

***

"Wait, you have cats?" Alec asked, clearly delighted.

Magnus hummed. "Mhm, I have two. Church, who's a grumpy little thing, and Chairman Meow, who's only a kitten."

"I've always wanted a pet, but my parents never allowed us to have them in the, uh, the house."

"That's a shame. You'll have to meet them sometime, I know they would like you. Well, the Chairman would, anyway. Church is a bit picky about new people."

"I'd love to meet them," Alec said genuinely.

Magnus smiled at him, about to say something else, when he heard someone to his left clear their throat.

He looked over at the person, as did Alec, and felt his jaw drop.

It was Raphael. And Simon.

"Magnus! What a coincidence seeing you here," Raphael said.

That was when Magnus remembered Raphael asking him earlier that night where he and Alec would be going for their date.

This wasn't a coincidence. Raphael had absolutely planned this.

Magnus spared a glance Alec's way and saw that he was giving Magnus a confused look.

He let out a sigh.

"Alec, these are my friends, Simon and Raphael."

Alec held out his hand to the two of them, a small, polite smile on his lips. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Alec."

Raphael took Alec's hand and smirked smoothly. "Oh, so you're the guy I've heard so much about. Magnus just won't stop t—"

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Magnus interrupted, giving Raphael a sharp glare.

"Getting dinner, of course!" Simon piped up.

Vampires couldn't eat human food without getting sick off of it, so Magnus easily saw through the lie. Alec, however, did not.

"Did you guys want to join us?" Alec offered, though he then looked over at Magnus. "As long as that's alright with you, of course."

Magnus smiled cheerfully.

"That's a great idea, Alexander. What do you say, you two? Join us for dinner?" Magnus asked Simon and Raphael.

The two of them shared a skeptical look, but it was Raphael who eventually gave in, slowly nodding his head.

"You mind if I sit next to you? I'm sure Raphael and Simon want to sit together," Magnus said to Alec, seizing the opportunity to be closer to him.

"Yeah, of course," Alec said, already scooting over to make space for him.

As Magnus was getting out of his booth, he leveled Raphael and Simon both with a smug grin.

This would show them to ever mess with his dates again.

He scooted in next to Alec and was immediately struck by how nice his cologne smelt, as well as how warm he felt. This was the closest they had ever been, thigh-to-thigh, and when Magnus looked up at Alec, he was already looking at him.

Alec smiled, a small, intimate thing, and Magnus smiled too, his heart picking up a frantic rhythm in his chest.

He only looked away when he thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest.

***

Despite Magnus' worries that Simon and Raphael would end up ruining his date with Alec, that was not even close to what happened.

Each date with Alec seemed to get better and better, because the more Magnus got to know him, the more he liked him. Alec was kind, and funny, and thoughtful.

He had been so nice to Magnus' friends, even when Simon talked a lot or Raphael grumped about something (which he did — a lot). Magnus had a feeling he was doing it for Magnus' own sake, because he knew his friends were a lot to handle, and he honestly would have understood if Alec did say something.

As for the whole 'having dinner with vampires' thing, it went mostly seamlessly. The only time Alec had questioned them was when he and Magnus had ordered dinner, and Simon and Raphael had said they didn't want anything.

"Already ate!" Raphael had explained quickly, and Alec had nodded.

Once their dinner was over, they had all gone outside. Alec had shaken Raphael and Simon's hands, telling them both that it was nice to meet them, and then, finally, it was just Alec and Magnus.

"I'm...sorry, about them," Magnus apologized. "Raphael and I have been friends for a long, long time, and he likes trying to make my life miserable."

Alec laughed with a quick shake of his head. "I didn't mind. They were nice, and I — I liked being able to meet your friends."

Magnus smiled at the sentiment. He wanted to spend more time with Alec, just the two of them, and couldn't even think of telling him goodbye yet.

That was when he remembered he was in Brooklyn — ten minutes away from his loft.

"Do you want to walk me home? It's only ten or so minutes from here," Magnus said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Oh, yeah, absolutely!" Alec responded.

Magnus was pleased to hear that he sounded just as eager as Magnus felt.

***

As the two of them walked, Alec realized that their hands were close but not quite touching, and he wanted more than anything in that moment to hold Magnus' hand in his own.

He kept his gaze focused on the street as he, just slightly, brushed his hand against Magnus', hoping that he got the hint.

He did. Not even a second later, Magnus' hand locked with his own, and Alec felt his heart soar in his chest.

He hadn't ever held hands with someone before. It was...nice.

"I had a really good time tonight," Alec said, "The cafe was beautiful."

Magnus smiled at him, lightly swinging their hands. "I'm glad you had a good time. Maybe our next date could be a little more...private."

Alec felt his cheeks flush. He knew that Magnus had meant that their next date would be just between the two of them, but he couldn't help hearing a hidden innuendo in his words.

"How about, the next time you're free, you come over to my loft? We could have a movie night or something," Magnus suggested.

Alec smiled at the thought of it just being the two of them.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm. Do you like Chinese food? I could bring takeout over for the two of us," Alec offered.

"I do," Magnus said, "That sounds like a plan, then."

It was only a couple of minutes later that they arrived in front of Magnus' loft, and Alec felt his heart sink.

He didn't want to say goodbye to Magnus. Not yet. Not without...

Alec pursed his lips.

"I'll see you, then?" Magnus asked, looking up at Alec with wide brown eyes.

Alec nodded, and he was about to let Magnus walk off, when he noticed their hands were still twined together.

He gave Magnus' hand a slight squeeze to stop him from walking away, and Magnus gave him a confused look.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Kiss me," Alec blurted out, and then immediately flushed. "I mean — you don't have to, obviously, only if you want..."

Magnus took a step closer to Alec. A wide smile was starting to form on his lips as he wrapped his arms around Alec's neck, wanting to have him as close as possible.

Alec felt his heartbeat start to hammer away in his chest. He had thought that sitting in the same booth as Magnus at the restaurant had been nice, but this type of closeness was so much better. All Alec had to do right now was lean slightly down and his lips would be touching Magnus', but he wanted to wait until Magnus said something, until he confirmed that Alec could kiss him.

"Of course I want to kiss you, Alexander," Magnus murmured, laughing softly at Alec's responding grin.

Then, instead of Alec leaning down, Magnus tilted his head upwards and sealed their lips together for the first time.

It was...incredible. Alec had only kissed one person before, back when he was seventeen, but it hadn't been anything like this. Magnus' lips moved slowly against Alec's own, languidly, and somehow that made Alec feel even more than if the kiss had been rushed.

He brought his hands to Magnus' face and lightly cupped his cheeks, wanting to have him as close as possible.

Magnus hummed contentedly and Alec thought he felt him smile against his lips.

When they separated for air, Alec had to take a second to open his eyes, but when he did, he saw that Magnus was already looking at him. His eyes were wide and soft as he looked up at Alec, and Alec took a moment to admire him: the way the streetlights perfectly accentuated his features, the way his lips were slightly swollen from kissing Alec.

He was beautiful. And he had just been kissing Alec.

"What are you thinking about?" Magnus whispered.

Alec's cheeks flushed. "You're...you're really..." Alec tried to think of the right word, but his mind continued to fail him. "Pretty."

As soon as he said it, Alec groaned loudly and used both of his hands to cover up his face. "Oh my god, that's not — that's not the right word, that's not what I meant, I'm..."

He only removed his hands from his face when he heard Magnus laughing, his head thrown back in obvious glee.

"Oh, Alec, you're adorable," he told him, "I'm more than alright with being called pretty. It's quite the compliment, actually."

Alec let out a relieved breath. "Really?"

"Yes, absolutely," Magnus said. He reached out to lightly trace Alec's jawline and then pressed one last, lingering kiss to Alec's lips.

Alec tilted his head and deepened what was supposed to be the brief kiss, his breath hitching when he felt Magnus grab onto the lapels of his blazer. He didn't want to say goodbye to Magnus, especially not now that they could be doing this, touching and kissing each other.

It was Magnus who eventually backed away, giving Alec an accusatory look.

"Are you trying to get me to invite you inside?" He asked.

Alec gaped. "N-no," he stammered.

Magnus smiled teasingly at him. "Good, because I have an early morning and you're very distracting." He then took Alec's hand and lightly squeezed. "I'll see you soon, okay? Text me when you're next free and I'll see if I am as well."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Alec promised, giving Magnus' hand one last squeeze. "Goodnight, Magnus."

"Goodnight, Alexander."

Magnus let go of Alec's hand and waved before walking up the stairs to his front door. Alec waited until he was inside before getting his phone out and calling a cab.

He had a feeling his thoughts would be on Magnus for the rest of the night.

***

Magnus barely had time to revel in how amazing his night had been when his phone pinged, alerting him that he had a text message.

He looked and saw that it was Raphael, and not in their groupchat. He was texting Magnus and only Magnus.

That set off slight warning signs in Magnus' head, but he decided not to worry about it just yet. He walked into his bedroom, tossed his phone onto his bed, and then made his way to the bathroom.

While in there, he washed his face of any makeup and then moisturized (his fellow warlock friends often asked him why he spent so much time on skin care if he couldn't age anyway. Magnus stood by the fact that even if warlocks were immortal, they were still prone to crow's feet, something he had often told his dear friend, Elias).

Once his skin care routine was finished, he undressed and changed into his favorite ruby red silk robe.

Even though he was dreading what Raphael's text could possibly say, he then slinked into bed and grabbed onto his phone. He held onto it for a little while, staring at Raphael's name on his lock screen, worrying.

He didn't know what it was. He just...didn't have a good feeling about whatever it was that Raphael was telling him.

He told himself he was being foolish and quickly unlocked his phone before he could change his mind.

"There was something off about Alec's blood."

Magnus stared at the message for what must have been ten minutes straight, his mouth slightly opened.

Okay, so he had been right. The message wasn't a good one.

He decided on getting the worst case scenario out of the way first.

"Off like demon-off??" Magnus texted back.

Raphael responded almost immediately. "No, definitely not a demon."

Magnus let out a breath of relief. He had been about to get up out of bed and brush his teeth for a second time tonight. The thought of kissing a demon (and enjoying it) was...off putting, to say the least.

"But there was something else there. Something I haven't smelt in...a long time. I can't put my finger on it," Raphael said.

Magnus gnawed nervously on his bottom lip. "Is it possible you've met him before?" He asked.

Raphael waited a minute before responding. "I suppose, although I didn't recognize him and he didn't seem to recognize me."

Magnus' brain tried to process what he had been told. If Alec wasn't a mundane (or a demon), then what could he be? He had eaten tonight, so he wasn't a vampire. Magnus would know him if he was a warlock. His ears were perfectly normal, which ruled out Seelie. He also didn't have runes, which meant he wasn't a Shadowhunter, either. Magnus supposed he could be a werewolf, but wouldn't Raphael have recognized that scent?

Magnus looked at his phone to see that Raphael had texted him again.

"I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about. I haven't been around a mundane since before Simon was turned. Maybe I just needed to feed."

Magnus let out a breath of relief. Clearly that was what had happened.

Alec was a mundane, he told himself. A nice, cute mundane, who was also a really good kisser.

Raphael had just been hungry.

"Well eat something then and stop trying to ruin my relationship, please and thanks," Magnus said.

Raphael called him a nasty word in Spanish with a middle finger emoji.

Magnus responded with the yellow moon face emoji, and laughed when Raphael sent back the blue moon face.

Magnus placed his phone on his night stand and pulled his covers over him, resting his head on his pillow.

He told himself not to think about Alec being anything other than mundane, because that just wasn't the case.

There wasn't anything to worry about.

***

Alec and Magnus decided to have their next date that Saturday, which was a week from their last one. Even though they had texted throughout the week, once it was Saturday, Alec truly couldn't wait to see Magnus again. It had been a long, busy week, and he couldn't wait to curl up with Magnus, movies, and Chinese food.

They had planned on meeting at six-thirty at Magnus', so Alec just had to get through the rest of the day.

At least, that was the plan, until Jace came up to him and told him he needed to talk.

Jace looked around the room. "Um...in my bedroom, maybe?"

Even though Alec was confused about why they couldn't just talk where they were right now, he nodded, following Jace to his bedroom.

Jace closed the door behind him once they got there.

"What's going on? You're worrying me," Alec said.

"It's nothing...major, or anything. I just need you to do something for me. For all of us."

"...Okay?"

Jace ran a hand through his hair. He was clearly nervous, which was doing nothing to soothe Alec's anxiety.

"I kind of, um, got caught at a vampire bar last night, and apparently the owner of the bar is second in command of the New York vampire clan."

Alec's mouth gaped open.

"I wouldn't say anything yet. There's more," Jace told him regretfully.

"Please just...keep going."

"So, the owner told me that she wanted to speak to the head of the New York Institute, and I wasn't about to tell Mom or Dad about what I did. So I told her my older brother would speak to her, Saturday at six."

"Six?" Alec asked.

"Yeah. You're not...busy, or anything, right?"

Alec gave him an unimpressed look. "Yes, I am. I have a date." He then shook his head, having to prevent himself from literally strangling his brother. "Why do you do stuff like this, Jace? You know that Shadowhunters aren't allowed at Downworlder facilities. Next they're going to be coming into the Institute in retaliation."

"I have a good reason," Jace swore.

Alec looked at him expectantly.

"There's...a guy."

"Okay? What about him?"

Jace bit his lip. "I like him."

"So you took him to a vampire bar because you like him?"

"He was already there. Alec, he's...a vampire."

Alec gaped. He had to sit down, and when he did, he put his head in his hands. "Oh my god, Jace. Oh...my god."

"I'm sorry, I didn't...I didn't mean for it to happen!"

Alec abruptly looked up at Jace. "Who knows about this?"

"No one! Just me and him. And you, now. You won't tell the Clave, will you?"

Alec shook his head. "Of course I'm not going to tell the Clave. You're my brother." He then let out a breath. "How long have you been seeing him?"

"A month."

Alec raised his eyebrows. He hadn't been expecting that. "And since when do you like boys? I thought I was the gay one in the family."

Jace let out a sharp laugh, his hand going over his mouth at the sound. "I'm not, like, fully gay or anything. I still like girls. But, apparently, I like boys, too. Like, bisexual, you know?"

Alec smiled at his brother. "That's...nice." He then sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm trying really hard to be cool with this, but. If anyone were to find out you've been seeing a Downworlder, you could be deruned. All of us could be deruned. Is he worth that?"

"That's not going to happen. No one's going to find out."

"What if they do?" Alec asked.

Jace shook his head. "If anything, they'll just derune me. Not the rest of you guys. And Simon...he's worth it."

"You've known him for a month, Jace!" Alec exclaimed, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"I don't care. I've never felt the way I feel about him."

Alec let out a breath. He couldn't yell at Jace about seeing a Downworlder, not if he made him this happy.

"Okay. I'll meet with, what's her name?"

"Lily."

"I'll meet with Lily and cover for you. But, please, promise me you won't go to any more Downworlder hotspots for this guy? You're just going to get yourself into more trouble."

Jace nodded. "I promise." He then smiled and walked over to Alec, wrapping him in a strong hug. "Thank you, Alec. I knew you'd understand."

Alec reciprocated the hug, albeit feeling like allowing his brother to keep seeing this vampire would end in nothing but trouble.

But it wasn't like he could stop him. Jace was his own person, capable of making his own decisions.

"I'm going to call Magnus," Alec said, breaking the hug.

Jace winced. "I'm sorry, bro."

Alec waved the apology away with his hand. "What's done is done, I guess. Just don't let it happen again and we're good."

He walked out of Jace's room and made his way to his own. Once there, he closed his bedroom door, and then sat on his bed.

The last thing he wanted to do was cancel. He knew that he had only gone a week without seeing Magnus, but it had felt like forever, and he wanted to see him again.

He dialed Magnus' number and put the phone next to his ear. He hoped he would understood.

"Hello?" Magnus said.

Alec smiled at being able to hear his voice. "Hey. Magnus, about tonight...I've been called into a late meeting tonight that starts at six. There's no way I'll be able to make it by six-thirty."

"Oh. Do you want to reschedule, or?"

"I really want to see you again," Alec confessed, "So I'd rather not. But I don't know how late I'm going to be, and I don't want to keep you waiting..."

"Hey," Magnus said softly, "I'm perfectly fine with waiting. I can order the Chinese and make drinks for myself, it'll be fun."

Alec laughed at the thought. "Thank you. For being understanding, that is."

"Of course. Text me when your meeting's over, yeah?"

"I will. See you tonight, Magnus."

He could practically hear the smile in Magnus' voice as he said, "See you, Alexander," and then ended the call.

***

Alec dressed in his best business attire for his meeting with Lily. He couldn't remember the last time he had met one-on-one with a Downworlder, or the last time he had met with one at all.

He wanted to look presentable when he did: on behalf of his fellow Shadowhunters.

Jace had given him the directions, and he had taken a cab to the club.

Now, he was standing in front of it, his heart in his throat. Was he even allowed to meet one-on-one with a Downworlder without the Clave's consent?

His mind was drawing a blank.

But he had to do this for his brother, for Jace. He'd be in even more trouble if Alec didn't just get this meeting over with.

He knocked on the club's door, and then stepped inside when he found it unlocked.

"Alec Lightwood, head of the New York Institute," he declared, looking around what seemed to be the deserted club.

Only a couple of minutes later, a woman walked out in front of him. She was tall and thin, with a short, black bob. She was dressed in a tight black dress, the color of which contrasted sharply with the paleness of her skin.

"Lily Chen," she introduced. "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but I'm afraid we're not meeting here on the best of terms, now, are we?"

Alec opened his mouth to respond, but Lily beat him to it.

"Follow me, Shadowhunter. There's no reason for us to remain standing."

She began to walk away and Alec followed her until they arrived to a high top table. He sat on one side and she sat on the other, clearly assessing him.

"I apologize for the informality of this meeting, but I didn't have much time to plan it. You know, considering I wasn't exactly expecting to find your Shadowhunter brother in my Downworlder club last night."

Okay, so Lily was mad. Alec supposed that she had every right to be.

"You don't have to apologize. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for my brother's behavior," Alec said.

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "Why should you apologize for your brother?"

Alec pursed his lips. He wasn't completely sure why.

"I figured it was best that he didn't do or say anything else that could get him into more trouble," he said, which wasn't a lie.

"Will he be doing anything else that gets him into trouble? Because I heard from one of the leaders from the werewolf pack that he was getting cozy at the Hunter's Moon which, as you know, is strictly for Downworlders. As is my club, of course."

Goddammit. Jace was not making this easy on him.

"I hadn't been aware of him visiting the Hunter's Moon."

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you telling me that the head of the New York Institute is unaware of what goes on in his own Institute?"

"No!" Alec exclaimed. "That's absolutely not true. I'm usually well aware of what happens. Jace is just..."

How could he describe what Jace was without using profanity?

"Jace is a special case," he opted on.

Lily was silent for a second before shrugging. "I suppose every clan, or pack, or whatever it is you Shadowhunters go by, has that one special case. A new fledgling of ours is convinced he can singlehandedly bring peace between the Shadow and Downworlds," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Alec felt his stomach flip. Was that the vampire who Jace was seeing? He couldn't imagine any of the other vampires being so eager to date a Shadowhunter unless they were...unless they were a fledgling.

By the angel. Jace was dating a fledgling.

"I already talked to him once, and I'll talk to him again. I want you to be assured that this won't be happening again," Alec said.

"I want to believe you, and in a way I suppose I do. You actually look at me while we're speaking and don't talk to me as if I'm lesser than you."

Alec frowned. "Other Shadowhunters have done that to you?"

"Well, they used to, anyway. I haven't spoken to an actual Shadowhunter in maybe a century." She then smirked. "Let's just say your brother didn't exactly put a good taste in my mouth about the new generation."

Alec grimaced.

"Back to the point I was getting at. Even though I want to believe you, I'm going to have to throw an incentive out there to keep your brother in line."

"Incentive?" Alec repeated.

"I haven't told any of the clan that the Shadowhunter who went to the Hunter's Moon also paid a visit to my club. The werewolves are already quite mad at him. I don't imagine he wants the vampires against him, as well."

"So what do I do to get you to stay silent?" Alec asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

Lily shrugged. "I'm a simple vampire. If you keep your word that your brother will keep his nose in his own Shadowhunter business, then my clan never finds out about this little...mishap."

Alec wondered, briefly, if Jace dating a vampire counted as him sticking his nose outside of Shadowhunter business, but he wasn't about to ask. He knew they'd be in a lot more trouble if Lily (or any Downworlder) found out a Shadowhunter and a Downworlder were in a romantic relationship.

So he stuck his hand out for Lily to shake and felt only slightly guilty about not telling her the whole truth.

He would keep his word on Jace not going to any other Downworlder spots. He just had to hope Jace and his vampire never got found out, which was...risky, to say the least.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Alec," Lily said as she shook his hand.

"Likewise."

She offered him a small, barely there smile, and then she was gone, disappearing into a back room.

Alec was just as quick (well, not really, vampires were admittedly much faster than Shadowhunters) to leave and make his way outside. He didn't want to be caught in vampire territory late at night by himself, especially considering he hadn't bothered glamoring his runes.

Shit. He hadn't glamored his runes and he had a date with Magnus tonight, who had yet to see them.

Alec looked down at his phone to check what time it was: seven o'clock. He was only thirty minutes late, but by the time he got back to the Institute and then to Brooklyn, it would probably be pushing seven-thirty or eight.

He called a cab and told the cabbie to take him to Brooklyn, just to get him out of vampire territory. Once in the backseat, he texted Izzy, asking if a scarf or makeup would be a better way to disguise his neck rune.

"Well," Izzy responded almost instantaneously. "There's cons to each. What if it's hot in Magnus' and you want to take your scarf off? Plus, with the makeup, you have no idea how to blend in foundation, so Magnus would probably be able to see the rune anyway."

Alec groaned, but then Izzy was texting him yet again.

"But, to be honest, hermano, the neck is the worst place to try and cover on a date, especially if it's a date that's at his loft."

"Why??" Alec asked with a confused looking emoji.

"Because make outs are bound to happen, Alec, and neck kisses are a big part of make outs!"

Alec could not believe he was talking to his little sister about neck kisses. This was truly his life.

"I'm just gonna stop to a store in Brooklyn and see if they have scarfs or makeup. Maybe I'll go with both, if they have it," Alec responded, effectively ending all talk of making out.

It wasn't that Alec didn't enjoy the thought of making out with Magnus, because obviously he did. Their first kiss had been amazing.

But Alec was dead tired. His entire body felt like it was aching from the long day (week, really), and all he wanted to do was rest.

And see Magnus, of course.

He tipped the cabbie and then walked until he found a convenience store not too far from Magnus'. Luckily, they sold both makeup and scarves, so Alec went with both of them. He had one of the lady's in the cosmetic's section pick out the foundation shade that was "just right for him", as she called it, and then told her he would pay her extra if she could apply it for him.

Apparently it wasn't the wildest of suggestions, because the lady actually had a chair set up just for doing other mundanes' makeup, if they happened to asked.

This whole experience was mind-boggling to Alec. The mundane world was weird.

"Why are you covering up your tattoo, anyway?" The lady asked.

"Christian mother," Alec lied easily, "She doesn't know I have it and would probably kill me if she saw it."

The lady nodded as if she understood.

When she showed him the end result, he let out a sigh of relief. There was no stamina rune in sight, but his neck didn't look like it was caked in makeup, either. It looked natural.

"Thank you so much," he told the lady as he handed her the money he had promised her, plus a little extra. "Keep the change!"

He then hurried out of the store, checking his clock to see that it was seven-fifteen.

Okay, seven-fifteen was good. He would get to Magnus' by seven-twenty, and hopefully Magnus would still want to see him.

Alec took his black scarf out of his plastic bag and wrapped it around his neck, tossing the bag in a nearby trash can once he was done with it.

Once Alec had finally made it to Magnus' apartment, he pressed the buzzer, eagerly waiting for Magnus to buzz him up.

"High — shit, I mean — hi, who is it?" Magnus asked.

Alec furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but he shrugged it off. "It's Alec."

"Oh, come on in, Alexander!"

Alec was pleased to hear that Magnus sounded just as eager as Alec was himself.

He opened the door and walked up the steps until he made it to Magnus' front door. He was getting ready to knock when suddenly the door flew open, and there was Magnus, dressed the most casual that Alec had ever seen him in black sweatpants and a maroon sweater. However, his hair and makeup were still done perfectly.

Magnus' eyes were similarly raking up and down Alec's body. "You're all dressed up," he commented, sounding equally impressed as he was surprised.

"Oh, yeah, I, uh, I wanted to look presentable for my meeting."

"You look good," Magnus told him, his voice low.

Alec cheeks heated up. "Yeah?"

Magnus smiled at him and pulled him in by his coat lapels so he could give him a quick kiss. "More than good," he whispered against Alec's lips.

Alec felt unbelievably flustered. He wasn't used to someone complimenting him so insistently and sincerely, but. He liked it. A lot.

"Come on in, I have the Chinese food ready if you're still hungry."

Alec walked into Magnus' loft and closed the door shut behind him. As he followed Magnus to his kitchen, he took it in the atmosphere of the loft. It was very eccentric, like Magnus himself, and filled with various items from all around the world (most likely from Magnus' many travels).

"So, are you hungry, or?" Magnus prompted.

Alec quietly cursed himself. He had been too busy admiring Magnus' place to respond to him.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I was...looking around," he admitted sheepishly, "I'm starving, though."

Magnus smiled at him and went to get two bowls out. "Good, because I bought lots."

"I could help you dish it out?" Alec offered.

"No, no, go sit down. You look exhausted."

Alec had wanted to help Magnus out, but he was secretly glad to be able to sit down. He was exhausted.

He took a seat in one of the stools at Magnus' island and watched as Magnus dumped the Chinese food into bowls for them, his mouth practically salivating from how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten since lunch, which had been around noon.

"Do you like lo mein?" Magnus asked. His voice was casual, but he was looking at Alec like this simple question would either make or break their relationship.

Alec couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, of course. Who doesn't?"

Magnus let out a sigh that sounded truly relieved. "Good, I don't have to break up with you."

Those words surprised a laugh out of Alec, and Magnus smiled at him, handing him his bowl as well as a cocktail.

"I made the cocktail myself, I hope you like it," Magnus said offhandedly, sitting in the stool next to Alec.

Alec decided to try the cocktail first and was immediately overwhelmed by the taste of strong alcohol on his tongue.

He hoped his face didn't betray how he really felt about the drink as he said, "It's good!"

"Not much of a drinker?" Magnus guessed, an amused lilt to his voice.

Alec shook his head. He was glad that Magnus understood. "Not much at all."

Magnus took a drink from his own cocktail, smirking at Alec from around the rim of his glass. "More for me, I suppose," he said, and then, "How did your meeting go?"

"It went well. At least, I hope so, anyway."

"You're not sure?" Magnus asked curiously.

Alec shrugged. "It's hard to tell, especially considering it was last minute and my mind's too fried to run over the details at the moment."

"You know, if you're tired and just want to go home and sleep, I wouldn't blame you in the slightest," Magnus offered.

"No!" Alec exclaimed, way too fast, but he continued anyway. "I — I wanted to see you again."

Magnus looked over at him, his mouth just slightly parted and his eyes wide.

"Is that weird?" Alec asked, wondering if he shouldn't have said that or...

"It's not weird at all, Alec. I wanted to see you, too."

Alec smiled, feeling his heart flutter in his chest.

Going over to Magnus' instead of going home had clearly been the right decision.

***

Magnus, in all honesty, hadn't put much thought into the movie he had selected for himself and Alec to watch. He'd picked a movie from his chick flick section, fully expecting Alec to quickly grow bored of it and for the two of them to busy themselves in other ways, but that was not what happened.

Alec surprised him. Instead of whining about Magnus' choice of movie (he had gone with 10 Things I Hate About You), Alec had paid close attention to it, seeming as if he was genuinely enjoying the movie.

They had both sat cross-legged on the couch together, so close that their legs and arms were touching, but that was as close to cuddling as they had gotten.

Until about halfway into the movie, when Alec lightly grabbed onto Magnus' arms and rested his head on his shoulder.

He looked up at Magnus with his wide hazel eyes, his face only a few inches from Magnus' own.

"This okay?" He asked.

Magnus saw that Alec's legs were no longer crossed but bent, and his body was leaning against Magnus' own. Magnus slipped an arm around Alec's waist and thought he heard Alec's breath hitch slightly in his throat.

"It's fine, as long as you don't fall asleep," Magnus told him jokingly.

Alec diverted his attention back to the television, letting out a huff. "I'm not going to fall asleep. I have to see if Kat finds out Patrick is only dating her as a bet."

Of course, twenty minutes later and he was out like a light, quietly snoring against Magnus' neck.

Magnus seized the opportunity to admire Alec's sleeping form. He looked so peaceful and young, no worry marks or creases on his face.

He tilted his head slightly so he could nose against Alec's hair and, okay, he might have taken a sniff or two.

Alec's shampoo smelled like your typical shampoo, nothing special, but his hair was incredibly soft.

It was the thought of Alec's scent that brought Magnus' conversation with Raphael back to his mind. He had noticed the (quite frankly, hideous) scarf around Alec's neck as soon as he had walked into his loft, and he had been curious.

Most Shadowhunters tended to have neck runes, which would explain why Alec might have felt the need to put on a scarf that didn't go with the rest of his outfit in the slightest, and why his scent might have been differed from a mundane's, to Raphael.

Magnus' fingers all but itched to pull at Alec's scarf, though he stopped himself from doing so.

Alec couldn't be a Shadowhunter. Alec was thoughtful, kind, caring, all characteristics of which Shadowhunters did not possess.

Maybe Magnus was just being paranoid from what Raphael had told him.

But, then again, wouldn't it be best to check and make sure? What if he didn't, and Alec really was a Shadowhunter?

Magnus would probably be sent to Hell to live with his father if the Clave ever found out he was dating one of their angelic kind.

The thought sent a shiver down Magnus' spine. Okay, he was doing this: for his own sanity.

His fingers delicately grasped at Alec's scarf and unwrapped it from Alec's neck. He was so close to taking it off, to seeing Alec's bare neck, when he felt Alec begin to stir.

"What are you doing?" He murmured, his voice hoarse and his eyes still closed.

"Taking your scarf off so you don't choke in your sleep," Magnus said hurriedly, "Is that okay?"

Alec let out a huff of laughter. "Mhm. You're so kind," he mumbled, nuzzling against Magnus' neck and then promptly passing out once more.

Magnus took a deep breath. At least he didn't have to worry about getting caught now.

He lightly pulled the last of Alec's scarf away from his neck, tossing it to the floor, and...

And Alec's neck was perfectly clear. There wasn't a rune to be seen.

Magnus shook his head at himself. Why had he been so worried? Alec wasn't a Shadowhunter. He wasn't about to get Magnus into heaps of trouble just by dating him.

Alec was a mundane, and that had been proven to him tonight.

Magnus whispered a quiet apology to Alec's sleeping form for doubting him, closed his eyes, and then rested his head against Alec's own.

He was out in a matter of minutes.

***

Magnus was amused to wake up to the sight of Alec's head in his lap, still very much asleep. Sometime during the night he must have repositioned, though Magnus had no idea how he could have done so without waking Magnus up.

He lightly lifted Alec's head from his lap as he stood up and then gently placed it back on the couch.

He figured Alec would probably be hungry when he woke up, so he went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Unlike the Chinese from last night, which he had actually gone out to pick up, he figured he could magic up breakfast while Alec was asleep.

What did mundanes eat for breakfast? Magnus was always on the go, so he was used to just grabbing something on his way to wherever it was he'd be heading for the day. He hadn't made a proper breakfast in years.

He closed his eyes, thinking of one of his favorite diners, and then snapped his fingers.

When he looked in front of him, he saw two white cardboard takeout boxes. One consisted of toast, eggs done sunny-side-up, and bacon. The other was pancakes and a side of fruit salad.

Magnus magicked more than enough money into the cash register and then went about setting the food onto plates for the two of them. Once that was done with, he got out silverware and napkins, as well as syrup and butter for the pancakes.

He looked at the table for a second before nearly smacking himself in the head. He'd forgotten the coffee, of all the things.

He was just about to magic some up when he heard footsteps and then Alec was walking into the kitchen.

Magnus couldn't even be mad at him walking in at the most inconvenient of times. Alec looked adorable. His hair was messy from sleep and he had stripped of his coat, so he was wearing only his dark gray button down shirt, untucked.

"You made breakfast?" Alec asked, and oh, god, his morning voice.

Magnus was weak.

"I picked up breakfast," Magnus admitted with a laugh, "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got two pretty basic things."

At least he assumed they were basic. Who even knew.

Alec's eyes looked between the two plates and he smiled a little when he saw the pancakes.

"I haven't had pancakes since I was a kid," he admitted, a hint of sheepishness to his voice.

"Then they're yours," Magnus told him.

He watched as Alec took a seat in front of the plate with the pancakes, but he didn't start to eat, instead getting out his phone.

"My sister wants to know where I am," he explained with a laugh.

While Alec was distracted, Magnus turned his back to him and quickly snapped two grande coffees from Starbucks in front of him. He then turned around to see if Alec had noticed, but he was still focused on his phone.

Magnus let out a sigh of relief.

"I got coffee, too," he told Alec with a wide smile; partially because he had been successful and partially because he was going to have coffee.

Alec pocketed his phone and took one of the coffees from Magnus, his smile almost equally as wide as Magnus'.

"This is really nice. Thank you, Magnus," he said softly.

Magnus felt his heart flutter and he sat down next to Alec, leaning in for a quick peck to his lips.

"Of course," he said, "I'm glad you like it."

They sat and ate breakfast together and Magnus initiated a game of footsie while they talked, Alec's cheeks going the perfect shade of pink whenever Magnus' foot slid a little too far.

"Do you have any plans for the day?" Magnus asked.

Alec's eyebrows scrunched as he thought about it. "Nothing's coming to mind. I think I might have a free day, for once."

Magnus tried not to feel too eager but, well, it was a lost cause.

"I was wondering if you wanted to stay over and finish the movie from last night. Because I seem to remember someone falling asleep right in the middle of it, despite claiming that they wouldn't."

Alec let out a huff of laughter and lightly bumped Magnus' shoulder with his own. "I was tired," he said grumpily, though he then smiled, "But, yeah. I'd like that. Staying over."

Magnus nodded, covering his smile with his coffee cup. He had a feeling it was going to be a good morning.

***

They had spent the rest of the morning cuddled on the couch, 10 Things I Hate About You playing on the tv in front of them. Once the movie had ended, Magnus had leaned up to press a kiss to Alec's lips that had quickly escalated into a make out session.

That was mostly Alec's doing. Magnus had been teasing him all of breakfast with that damn footsie game and he was frustrated.

Luckily, Magnus didn't seem to mind much — or at all.

His nimble fingers went to unbutton Alec's button down and it was then that Alec remembered the runes covering his arms were still a very real thing.

He didn't know what to do, didn't want to tell Magnus to abruptly stop for fears of seeming suspicious. So, instead, he grabbed hold of Magnus' wrists and flipped them around, changing their position so that he was the one on top and Magnus was underneath of him.

Magnus' eyes were wide and dilated as he stared up at Alec, his lips slightly parted.

Alec hadn't really thought this out much farther than that. He decided on locking his lips together with Magnus' again, figuring he couldn't go wrong with just kissing.

Magnus' tongue slipped into Alec's mouth and Alec moaned. His hands let go of Magnus' wrists in favor of sliding them through his hair, cradling the back of his head so they could be even closer.

He hadn't ever kissed like this before, not even close. He felt like he was going to lose his mind if they kept going but he also never wanted this to end.

With Magnus' hands free, he moved them down Alec's chest, resting on his lower abs.

Alec's breath hitched in anticipation, but Magnus didn't move his hands, instead opting to break the kiss.

"I want to see you shirtless," he whispered against Alec's lips, his own lips quirking into a smirk.

Alec was really about to say to hell with it and strip of his shirt, if that was what Magnus wanted, but then a phone was vibrating on the table next to them.

Magnus blinked, reached over for the phone, and then groaned.

"I'm sorry, darling, I have to take this," he said apologetically.

Alec was quick to let go of him, sitting with his back resting on the opposite end of the couch. He could feel his cheeks starting to flush at Magnus' use of the word 'darling'.

Magnus' conversation was brief, but by the end of it, he looked rather alarmed.

"Is everything okay?" Alec asked worriedly.

"Yes, I — I'm sorry, the last thing I want to do is kick you out, but I'm going to have to leave soon."

"No, it's completely fine," Alec said, already standing up. He attempted to straighten out his shirt, but he was pretty sure it didn't do much good. "I just want to make sure you're alright."

Magnus looked over at him. He still seemed a bit dazed, either from the kissing or the phone call, but that didn't stop him from walking over to Alec and grasping both of his cheeks so he could press a lasting kiss to his lips.

"I'm good. It's just an old friend I haven't heard from in a while, and I think they might be in a bad situation right now," Magnus whispered.

Alec nodded, his lips turning down at the thought. "I hope everything works out. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Thank you. I'll text you," Magnus said.

Alec gave his hand a squeeze, as Magnus had done after their second date, and then made his way out the front door.

***

"I thought you said Camille was in a secure location," Magnus hissed as he walked into the Hotel Dumort.

Raphael was at his side in an instant. "She was. She's been in our basement, locked up in her coffin, since she illegally killed and turned Simon. This wasn't a case of her escaping."

"So someone let her out?" Magnus asked. He felt like he was about to be sick. Things had been so peaceful the past couple of months without Camille around, and now he couldn't help but think that that was about to change.

What if she found out he was with Alec, a mundane? She would undoubtedly tell Alec about Magnus being a warlock: in fact, it would probably be the first thing that she did.

"She's still in the Hotel. I can smell her scent," Raphael said.

"So then why did you ask me to come?"

"Bait, mi amigo."

Magnus glared at him. The last thing he felt like being was bait for Camille Belcourt, of all people.

"Well, that and the fact that the Hotel is huge. I was hoping you and I could split up and look for her? I didn't want to ask Simon because, you know, she murdered him."

Magnus figured that was good enough reasoning in keeping the fledgling out of this. He then nodded.

"You take the upstairs, I'll go downstairs," he told Raphael.

The two of them split up. As Magnus made his way downstairs, he couldn't help feeling on edge. He hadn't ever felt like this in the Hotel Dumort before.

Once he was down the stairs, he noticed Camille's casket and walked over to it. Despite the pounding in his chest and his shaky, sweaty hands, he opened up the wooden casket.

And there was Camille.

Except it wasn't. Because she was completely drained of blood, her body paper thin and just as pale.

Magnus only managed to call out Raphael's name before he was throwing up his wonderful breakfast on the floor.

***

Alec had barely been in the Institute for two minutes before Izzy was looping their arms together and walking him somewhere.

"Mom has a mission for us. A Downworld mission," she told him, her voice practically leaking with enthusiasm.

Alec, on the other hand, couldn't find it in himself to be excited. "Shadowhunters don't get involved in Downworlder business. That's how it's always been, Iz. Why is Mom trying to changing that?"

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll tell you everything."

Once they were in their mom's office, they took their seats in front of her desk. She looked tense.

"What's going on?" Alec asked.

"An important Downworlder was killed today. An ancient vampire named Camille Belcourt."

Alec supposed the name should ring a bell, but he was rusty on important figures in the Downworld. It hadn't ever been something he really needed to know, since Shadowhunters and Downworlders didn't communicate.

"As a result of this, I'm sending you two on a mission to the Jade Wolf, where the New York werewolf pack resides. Werewolves and vampires have a longstanding history of hating each other, so it would be no surprise if they were the ones who killed Camille."

Alec crossed his arms over his chest. "I still don't see how this is any of our business. Won't Izzy and I sticking our noses in Downworlder business just piss them off even more?"

Maryse gave him a sharp look. "It's our business if they start killing each other like the animals that they are. What if they come after Shadowhunters next? We have to put a stop to this before that can happen."

Alec didn't respond, but he heard Izzy next to him saying that they would accept the mission. He then walked out of the room.

He wasn't sure if he believed the stigma that Downworlders = animals who need to be controlled, but it was clear that his mom did.

When Alec had met with Lily, she had been nothing but civil with him. Plus, there was the vampire who Jace was seeing, and Jace clearly didn't have any problems with him.

"You're thinking at a mile per minute, big brother," Izzy said from beside him.

Alec closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Sorry. You ready to go?"

"I am. But I think it'd probably be for the best if you got changed."

Alec looked down to see that he was still in his clothes from last night. Between sleeping in them and Magnus' hands being all over him during their make out session, they looked properly debauched.

"Nothing happened," he told Izzy pointedly.

Izzy shrugged, though she was smirking. "I didn't say a word."

***

Magnus and Raphael had gone back to Magnus' loft after Magnus had magicked away his sick and Raphael had gotten a proper look at Camille. Neither of them could stand the thought of being at the Hotel.

"Sorry about the mess. You caught me in the middle of a date," Magnus said, still feeling numb.

"With that mundane?" Raphael asked.

Magnus nodded. He magicked himself up a mug of tea and then sat down on the couch, Raphael sitting next to him.

The vampire rested a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Magnus said with a frustrated huff, "It's not like...I didn't have feelings for her, or anything."

"Maybe not. But she still saved your life. That's not something you let go of easily."

"You would know, right?" Magnus asked, looking over at Raphael with a small, sad smile.

Raphael rolled his eyes, but he was smiling, too. "Yes, I suppose I would."

"What if something happens to you? Do you think the person behind this could be targeting vampires?" Magnus worried. It was partially the reason why he had invited Raphael over: he couldn't stomach the thought of losing two people he cared (or used to care) about in the span of two days. Especially not Raphael.

"I'm sure I'm fine. Like you said, Camille had a lot of enemies. One of them probably just caught up to her," Raphael reassured.

"How about you stay over here today? We could do each other's nails, or..."

Raphael huffed, "Alright, fine. You got any blues?"

Magnus' face lit up. "Do I? I just got the most amazing shade of royal blue, you're going to love it."

***

Alec immediately felt out of place as he walked into the Jade Wolf. He had a feeling that Izzy did, too, but her natural confidence kept her uncomfortableness hidden.

They had both glamored their runes, just in case the werewolves acted hostilely towards them for being Shadowhunters.

A man in a light blue shirt and shoulder holsters looked over at them before walking over when he noticed that they weren't moving.

"Do you have a pick up order?" The man asked.

"We're here on business," Alec said, "Do you think we could talk in a more private setting?"

The man hesitated for a second, though he then called out to a girl named Maia.

The girl was pretty. She had short, curly brown hair and was dressed in olive green skinny jeans and a black graphic tee with the sleeves cut off.

She looked like the type of person you didn't want to mess with. So did the man, actually.

"Yeah, Luke?" She asked.

The man, Luke, diverted his attention from Alec and Izzy to Maia.

"Could you go out back with me to speak with these two? They're here on business."

Maia looked over at Alec and Izzy. It was clear that she was sizing them up, though she then shrugged, smiling easily as she responded, "Sure thing."

The four of them made their way through the restaurant, all eyes on them as they did so. Alec was immensely glad they had made the decision to hide their runes.

Once they were outside, Luke immediately started asking questions.

"What are you guys? Werewolves from a neighboring pack?"

Izzy shook her head. "We're Shadowhunters. I'm Isabelle Lightwood, and this is my brother, Alec, acting head of the New York Institute."

Both of them looked equal amounts surprised, but Maia's surprise had a hint of anger to it.

"I swear, if I see one more Shadowhunter in Downworlder territory I'm going to—" she started, but Luke held a finger to his lips to silence her.

"I don't want any problems, Shadowhunters, but Maia has a point. This is Downworlder territory. You shouldn't be here."

Alec wanted to tell Luke that he was aware and didn't want to be here in the first place, but he didn't. Couldn't. Not without finding out the information they had come for.

"I'm sorry," Alec apologized softly, "And I mean that. I realize we're out of place here. But we wouldn't have come if it wasn't of the utmost importance."

"You say that, and yet you still haven't gotten to your point," Maia said with a glare.

Izzy took a step closer to her. "Don't talk to my brother like that," she warned.

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it? Hit me with that whip around your wrist and tell me to stay?" Maia asked.

Izzy flushed, her mouth gaping. She was clearly flustered in a way that Alec hadn't ever seen her before.

"Okay, back to the matter at hand," Alec said, giving his sister a pointed look, "An important vampire was killed today at the Hotel Dumort. We wanted to know if the werewolves had anything to do with it."

"Which vampire?" Luke asked.

"Camille Belcourt."

Luke and Maia shared a shocked look.

"We didn't know anything about it until you came here and told us," Luke said honestly.

Alec nodded. "I'm sure that's the truth, but I was informed that werewolves and vampires have a certain animosity between them. Is that true?"

"You need to brush up on your Downworlder history, Shadowhunter," Maia said.

"So it's not true?" Alec asked.

"Ever since Raphael and Lily became the heads of the Hotel Dumort, things have been peaceful between us. Raphael and I are acquaintances, and Maia and Lily are close friends. In fact, the majority of our pack gets along quite well with the clan," Luke said.

Alec smiled. He knew his mom probably wouldn't be happy with the fact that the werewolves were innocent, because she was always looking for someone to blame, but Alec himself was glad.

He stuck out his hand for Luke to shake, and the other man looked at him in surprise before gripping his hand in a firm handshake.

"Thank you for talking to me and my sister," he said, "You didn't have to, but you did, and it's much appreciated."

Luke gave him a nod and let go of his hand. Alec then turned his attention over to Maia, who was staring right back at him.

"Thank you, too," he told her.

She rolled her eyes. "I guess you aren't the worst Shadowhunter I've ever met."

"You've met Shadowhunters before?" Izzy asked.

"Three. And they were all Lightwoods."

Maia sounded truly despaired at the fact.

Izzy crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't have to say that name as if it's such a bad thing. You don't know anything about our family."

"I know that two out of three of them don't know when to shut their mouths and that they think they're better than Downworlders, is that enough?"

"You...I..." Izzy fumed silently for a second before letting out a huff and spinning around. With a flip of her hair, she was strutting away from the two werewolves and Alec.

"Your sister seems like a handful," Maia said.

Alec shook his head, somewhat bewildered. "I've never seen her like that before. I guess you just really get under her skin."

"Maia has that way about her," Luke said, laughing when Maia made a face at him.

"Thanks again for speaking to me. I'm going to go find my sister before she gets into trouble," Alec said, waving at the both of them before wandering back to the restaurant to find Izzy.

***

"I cannot believe she had the nerve to go there. It's — it's disrespectful!"

Izzy had been ranting to her brother the entire trip back to the Institute. At this point, Alec was just watching and listening in amusement.

"What's disrespectful?" He asked.

"She insulted our family name! Are you really not upset about this?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "Izzy, I'm sure our family has said a countless amount of things about werewolves in the past. Just today Mom compared them to animals. So Maia actually had a point when she said that our family thinks they're better than Downworlders, because they do."

Izzy was silent for a long moment as they walked. She then looked over at Alec, her expression despairing.

"Did I make a complete fool of myself?" She asked.

Alec shrugged. "I mean...you weren't terrible."

"I did," Izzy groaned, "Oh, dios, I have to apologize to her. Not now, though, because she probably still hates me. Maybe tonight. Do you think she'll still be at the Jade Wolf?"

"I think I remember Jace mentioning that she's a bartender at the Hunter's Moon. She'll probably be there tonight."

Izzy let out a breath of relief. "Good. I'll have to pick out an outfit when I get home. What do people wear to Downworld bars? You know what, don't answer that. I'll ask Jace."

Alec just shook his head. He hadn't ever seen his sister so worked up over something before, and if he didn't know better, he'd assume it was because she was attracted to Maia.

But she hadn't ever expressed any interest in girls before. It had always been boysboysboys for her.

Then again, it had always been girlsgirlsgirls for Jace, and he was currently dating a boy. A Downworlder boy.

Fuck, Maia was also a Downworlder.

Before Izzy could walk inside the Institute, Alec grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.

She gave him a questioning look and asked, "What?", clearly wanting to get inside to pick out her outfit.

"Just...be safe, okay? Maybe glamor your runes before you leave."

Izzy smiled with a shake of her head. "Of course, big brother. I'm always safe."

She then hurried up the stairs and walked into the double doors of the Institute. Alec watched her go, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he might soon have two siblings dating Downworlders.

***

Magnus could feel the tension as he walked inside of the Jade Wolf for a Downworlder meeting. It had been a couple of days since Camille's death, but the wound was still fresh in the community.

After all, it wasn't every day an ancient Downworlder was murdered.

He took his seat next to Ragnor and Kaelie immediately began to talk.

"I'm glad you've finally arrived, Magnus, seeing as how you were there when Camille was killed," she said.

There were some gasps and whispers around the table.

Magnus gaped at her. "Um, I was very much not there when Camille was killed. I was on a date, with my boyfriend, and by the time I arrived to the Hotel, she had already been dead."

"Well, everyone knows that you had a history with her. Maybe you wanted to get her out of the picture so she wouldn't interfere with your new relationship..."

"This is ridiculous," Magnus exclaimed, "you can't just throw baseless accusations at me. I didn't kill Camille, and Raphael can vouch for me."

Everyone's eyes turned to Raphael. He had brought Lily with him this time, not Simon, because this was an important matter and she was acting head of the clan.

"It's true," Raphael said, "I heard noise coming from the attic so I went downstairs to check on Camille. Her casket was wide open. I called on Magnus in the hopes that he could lure her to him, but by the time Magnus got there, Camille was dead. Whoever killed her used the emptying of her casket as a diversion so they could get the job done."

There was silence as everyone mused over Raphael's words. Then, Meliorn spoke up.

"What about you, Lily? Where were you when Camille was killed?"

Lily cast an icy look Meliorn's way. "I was at my club, cleaning up after a busy Saturday night. You can ask any of my club goers and they'll tell you the exact same thing."

Meliorn pulled a face and held his hands up in surrender.

"There's no use pointing fingers at anyone here," Luke said, "We have to trust each other more than that."

"I agree," Magnus responded.

"We don't know if this was just a one time thing with Camille or if this person is now going after all of us Downworlders. We have to look after and protect one another."

Magnus nodded at Luke's words. He strongly hoped that it was just one of Camille's enemies seeking revenge against her. There hadn't been an attack on the Downworlders as a whole since the Circle, and that had been centuries ago: the same conflict that had tore the Downworlders apart from the Shadowhunters.

It was all ancient history, he told himself. Something that Magnus only remembered because he himself was ancient.

But history had an odd way of repeating itself.

"Stay safe," Luke advised, and the rest of the members of the meeting repeated the sentiment before the meeting was adjourned.

***

Alec was fast asleep when he heard the door to his bedroom creak open. He jetted up into a sitting position and went to reach for his stele when he saw that it was only Izzy.

"What are you doing?" He whispered, and then looked at her outfit. She was in a skintight black sleeve dress, a bright red moto jacket, and rhinestoned black ankle boots. Her hair was in a messy bun and her face was void of any makeup. "And why do you look like that?"

Izzy huffed and hurried over to his bed, sitting on the edge of it. "Alec, I need to ask you something. It's important."

She sounded genuinely worried. Alec pushed aside his irritation at being woken up so early and nodded, telling her to go ahead.

"You know that whole 'Shadowhunters can't date Downworlders' rule? Well, hypothetically speaking, do you think that includes sleeping with them? Like, what if you're not dating, but you sleep with one? Would that still be punishable?"

"You slept with Maia, didn't you?"

Izzy put her head in her hands and groaned. "Alec, it's not funny."

"Trust me, Izzy, I'm not laughing."

She looked at him with wide, teary, brown eyes, her bottom lip wobbling.

"Are you disappointed? Do you — do you hate me?"

Alec felt his heart plummet to his stomach and he was quick to sit next to his sister, wrapping her up in a tight hug.

"Izzy, I could never hate you. It's okay. I don't care about you and Maia. I mean, I do, but I'm not mad about it, or disappointed," Alec soothed, "I just want you to be happy, more than anything."

Izzy looked up at him. "Really?" She asked softly.

"Of course. I'm mostly just confused as to how it happened. I thought she really hated you."

"Well, first of all, I looked good as fuck."

Alec laughed. There was the Izzy that he knew.

"And the first thing I did, as soon as I saw her, was apologize. I was so surprised when she accepted, but then she offered to get me a drink, on the house, and we. We talked for the longest time. She's so badass, Alec. She used to have this awful, abusive boyfriend, but she told him off and he hasn't shown his face in New York since. Then she asked if I wanted to go back to her apartment and it just...kind of happened."

Izzy's voice was breathy and happy as she recalled what had happened, and Alec knew it hadn't just been a one night stand: at least not for Izzy. She really seemed to like Maia.

"She told me she had an early morning meeting, so she had to leave her place, but she gave me her number," Izzy said, digging in her bra before pulling out a white slip of paper.

Alec snorted. "She couldn't have just put the number in your phone?"

Izzy shrugged with a mischievous smile. "Trust me, it was much more fun that way." She then sobered as she looked at Alec. "Thank you. For not freaking out. I know that Mom and Dad and Jace probably would h—"

Those words made Alec furrow his brow in thought. He hadn't realized that Jace hadn't told Izzy yet about him seeing a vampire, which meant that Jace really was holding the fact near and dear to him.

"Jace wouldn't have minded, Iz," he told her, "Trust me."

Izzy's eyes brightened. "You think I could tell him? I'd hate to keep something like this from him. It'd feel too much like a secret between us, you know?"

"Yeah, you should tell him. He might even be happy to hear so."

Izzy grinned, teeth and all, and wrapped Alec up in another hug. "You're the best, big brother. I still want to meet this Magnus of yours. Maybe we could go on a double date."

Alec chuckled at the idea as Izzy stood up from the bed, making her way to the door.

"Sounds like a plan," he agreed.

She walked out of his room, quietly closing the door behind her, and Alec laid back down, pulling his covers over him again.

Jace and Izzy were both involved with Downworlders now. His only sibling who wasn't involved with them was Max, but Max was also twelve years old and cared about comic books and food more than he did about girls or boys.

Alec knew that he had to be supportive of his siblings, because they couldn't help who they fell for, but his mind couldn't help drifting to what would happen if they were caught.

Would they be stripped of their runes? Forced to move to another Institute or to live in the City of Bones for the rest of their lives?

Alec felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't know how either of them could view one person as worth that much of a risk. Alec didn't think he would ever be able to date a Downworlder, despite the positive experiences he'd had with them personally.

He closed his eyes, telling himself that if Jace could date a vampire for almost two months and be able to keep it secret, then he had to trust that Izzy would be able to do the same with a werewolf.

He was just about to fall back asleep when his phone pinged on the nightstand beside him. Alec groaned and reached for it, blearily reading the name on the screen.

Magnus.

Suddenly Alec wasn't so tired anymore.

He sat up in his bed and viewed the text message, seeing that it was Magnus asking him if he wanted to get a coffee. Magnus had then sent another message right after it, apologizing to Alec if he wasn't up yet.

"I'm up," Alec was quick to send, and then winced when he realized he hadn't even answered Magnus' question. "And I'd love to get a coffee."

"I'll see you in fifteen minutes then, sweetcheeks ;)" Magnus responded, and Alec hurried to get ready.

***

A couple of weeks passed by without any murders, and then another Downworlder was drained of blood (a werewolf, this time), and both the Downworld and Shadow-world erupted into absolute chaos.

This second murder confirmed that it wasn't just an enemy of Camille Belcourt's seeking revenge. It wasn't a one-off. Someone was intentionally going after and killing Downworlders.

Alec expected the Clave to come to the Institute to discuss a plan on how to find the Downworlder killer and stop them, but to his surprise (and disgust), nothing happened. Everyone in the Institute went on with their lives as if someone wasn't brutally murdering Downworlders.

Alec decided to take the matter into his own hands. After a week of silence on behalf of the Shadowhunters, Alec stormed into his mom's office, his face hard.

She looked up at him in surprise. "What's going on?"

"Why isn't anyone talking about the fact that someone is going around draining Downworlders of their blood?" Alec asked.

Maryse pursed her lips. "That's not any of our business, Alec. You said so yourself when I sent you to meet with the werewolf pack."

"So you'll intervene when there's a risk for the Shadowhunters but not when the Downworlders are the only ones being killed?"

"It's called protecting ourselves."

Alec shook his head. "It's called saving your own ass," he corrected, "I'm going to fire message the Clave and tell them what's going on, as well as request that they do something about it."

"Alec, this is how it's been for centuries. We don't interfere in Downworlder affairs. You're not going to change that," Maryse scolded.

"I can try," Alec stated boldly, and stormed out of the room.

He heard his mom calling out his name, but he couldn't even hear her. He went to his room and immediately got started writing his letter, letting the Clave know of the two deaths within the past month and of how the Downworlders were killed. He then let them know that something needed to be done about it and suggested they send representatives to New York to discuss solutions to the problem.

He scrawled his name and title on the bottom of the letter as well as the fire rune, and then it was off to Idris.

Alec took a breath. He told himself he was doing the right thing. The Clave would help...they had to.

***

The amount of sleep Magnus was getting per night was steadily decreasing as the numbers of Downworlders killed increased. Sure, there had only been two deaths, but there would certainly be more. There always was.

He was so tired that he didn't even bother keeping his appearance up when Luke, Maia, Simon, Raphael, and Catarina came over to his loft for a meeting.

The seelies had failed to send a representative. Either they were scared for their own lives or for the Seelie Queen's life and didn't want to leave her side: both seemed likely.

As the meeting started, Catarina took a seat next to Magnus, rubbing his back.

"Are you okay?" She whispered. "You don't look so good."

"I always look good," Magnus said weakly, and then shook his head. "What if warlocks are the next target? How do I protect my people?"

Luke shook his head. He also didn't look his best, with deep circles under his eyes. "I don't know if there's any way you can. Whoever is killing us, they're...they're smart. They made me think that Maia was the one in trouble, so while I went to go check on her, they killed another member of our pack. She was twenty."

Maia excused herself and walked out of the room. Luke watched her go with a deep frown.

"They were friends," he said miserably.

Simon took a seat next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders in comfort. The display made Luke smile slightly, as it did Magnus.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Magnus told him, "And I don't mean to sound insensitive. But there has to be something I can do. I'm the High Warlock, it's my job to protect my people."

"Magnus, if something were to happen to one of us warlocks, it wouldn't be your fault," Catarina told him softly, "You know that, right?"

Magnus pursed his lips. "It feels like it would be."

"Do you think it's my fault that Camille was killed?" Raphael asked. "Or Luke's fault that one of his pack members died?"

Magnus shook his head. "Of course not."

"Then it wouldn't be your fault if something happened to a warlock," Raphael said.

"It's not—"

"Yes, it is. It's that simple."

Maia walked back into the room and reclaimed her seat next to Luke. "I say we do something about it. This person isn't invincible, right? If we all group together, we could take 'em."

"They're narrowing us out so we're not all together at the same time," Raphael guessed. "They're not going to strike again until we're separated."

Simon held up his hand. "Not to be that guy, but what happens once this person has all of the Downworlder's blood? Like, what if they mix it all together and create an unstoppable Downworlder or something like that?"

"That wouldn't happen," Raphael said, clearly annoyed.

"It could. I don't doubt anything anymore," Magnus argued.

"What if we asked the Shadowhunters for assistance?" Simon asked.

Everyone just looked at him. Magnus put his head in his hands. Luke sighed. Raphael cursed in Spanish.

"What? Is it that bad of an idea?" Simon mused.

"Simon, honey, the Shadowhunters are so self-involved that I doubt they even know what's been going on in the Downworld at all, much less would they ever consider helping us," Catarina said lightly.

Simon frowned.

"A few weeks ago, right after Camille's death, I had a Shadowhunter go to my restaurant and ask if the werewolves had been responsible," Luke said, "And you know the basis they used? That vampires and werewolves used to hate each other a century ago. That's how out of touch they are with the Downworld."

"I have to...pee," Simon said, and hurried out of the room.

Magnus sent a bemused look Raphael's way. "I didn't think vampires could go to the bathroom."

"We can't," Raphael said tightly, "We're dead."

Maia rolled her eyes. "I'll check on him."

Then she was out of the room as well, and an awkward silence filled the room.

"Well, while you guys are here, would you like cocktails? I'm making mine a double," Magnus offered.

"I'd love one," Catarina said.

"Got any whiskey?" Luke asked.

"Of course. Raphael, a Bloody Mary?"

Raphael nodded. "How much alcohol do you even have?"

Magnus looked offended. "When you've lived as many centuries as me, you need it."

"Ain't that the truth," Catarina murmured.

Magnus handed her a cocktail and the two of them clinked their glasses together before taking a long drink.

***

Much to Alec's surprise, the Clave sent two representatives to the New York Institute the next day. They hadn't messaged him back, so he hadn't been expecting them to show — and especially not so soon.

The representatives were Victor Aldertree and Lydia Branwell. When they walked into the front doors, their appearances seemed to scream authority and power, with Victor in a slick black suit and Lydia in long-sleeved blue dress.

Alec couldn't help but feel intimidated as he walked over to greet them.

"Alec Lightwood," he introduced, shaking both of their hands, "Thank you for responding to my fire message. I just felt like nothing—"

"You're the acting head of this Institute?" Lydia asked.

Alec blinked. He hadn't been expecting to get interrupted. "Um. Yes."

"We're here to see the head of the Institute, Maryse Lightwood. She's the one whose message we received," Victor said.

Alec's jaw didn't drop, but it was a near thing. "What?"

"Do you know where I might be able to find her?" Victor asked.

All Alec could do was watch in horror as Maryse walked over to Aldertree and shook his hand.

"Maryse Lightwood," she introduced, "Would you like to step into my office to discuss the issue at hand?"

"Absolutely," Victor said, and then the two of them were off.

Alec must have looked properly befuddled, because Lydia gave him a look that bordered on sympathetic but wasn't quite there.

"We received your message, as well, but the head of an Institute's concerns are always going to come before the acting head's. I hope you understand," she told him, before going to join Maryse and Aldertree.

***

Not even half an hour later, an emergency meeting was called for all of the Shadowhunters in the Institute. Alec had no idea what it could be about, but he knew that if his mother had anything to do with it, it couldn't be good.

He made sure to stand in the very front of the crowd that had gathered by the stage, not wanting to miss a word of what was said.

As Victor and Lydia stepped onto the stage, Alec looked around for his siblings. He couldn't help but wonder where they were. Usually the three of them were together for these sort of things.

"Greetings, fellow Shadowhunters," Victor said, "I wish it were under better circumstances that we were meeting here, but unfortunately some...concerning news has been brought to my attention."

Alec tried to rake his mind of what the news could possibly be, but he came up blank. What would Maryse tell the Clave to distract from the fact that Downworlders were being murdered?

"Although it may come as a shock to you, as it did to me, I regret to inform you that one of the Shadowhunters in this very Institute has been engaging in an illicit relationship with a Downworlder."

There were gasps all throughout the room, followed by whispers, but Alec couldn't hear them. His body froze. He felt chills run down his back as his mind turned into a frantic mix of jaceizzyjaceizzyjaceizzy.

He realized he couldn't just stand there and instead made his way through the crowd of Shadowhunters, looking desperately for his siblings. He felt on the edge of a full blown panic when he bumped into someone, and when they turned around, he felt his heart settle.

It was Izzy.

He wrapped her up in a tight hug and she hugged him back briefly, before pulling away to ask, "Where's Jace?"

Alec felt stomach fall once again. "I — I don't know. I haven't seen him. I was hoping you h—"

He was interrupted by what was currently happening on the stage. Two Shadowhunters were walking a stoic-looking Jace onto the stage. Alec took Izzy's hand so he wouldn't lose her and walked her to the front of the crowd.

"Jace Wayland," Victor said, the disgust obvious in his voice. "How are you?"

Jace glared at him. "I've been better."

"Tell me, is it true that you've been illegally seeing a Downworlder?"

Jace hesitated for a moment, before responding, "Yes."

"And what—"

"You can't do this here!" Alec exclaimed, and everyone on the stage as well as in the room turned to look at him. "You can't question him without a trial and a jury in Idris, as well as with the soul sword. It'd be an infringement of Clave law to do otherwise."

Victor's lips turned down into a frown as his eyes narrowed. Alec thought for a moment that he was going to tell him off, or maybe arrest him too, but then he nodded.

"You have a point, Alec Lightwood," he said. Alec wasn't sure how someone could say one name with so much contempt. "We'll have a formal trial tomorrow in Idris. Until then, Jace Wayland will be held in the City of Bones where the Silent Brothers will watch over him."

Alec opened his mouth to disagree, but the Shadowhunters who were holding Jace back as well as Victor and Lydia were already walking off the stage.

"Jace!" Alec called out, and went to go after him, but was held back by Izzy.

"What are you doing?" Alec asked harshly, prying Izzy's hands off of him.

"Saving your ass," Izzy hissed, "There's nothing else you can do for Jace, and if you go against two of the most powerful members of the Clave, you'll end up right there next to him in the City of Bones. Is that what you want?"

Alec took a moment before shaking his head. Now that there was truly nothing else to be done, he felt the weight of what had just happened fall onto him. Izzy could clearly see how defeated he felt because she wrapped him up in another hug, murmuring that it would be alright.

They stayed there for a moment until both Maryse and Robert walked up to them. Alec broke away from his sister and cast a revolted look his mother's way.

"You did this. You sold Jace out," Alec hissed.

Maryse's lips were a thin line. "You were planning on ruining years of peace between us and the Downworlders. I did what I had to do."

"Peace?! We don't even communicate with them and turn a blind eye to them to getting murdered! You call that peace?"

Maryse didn't respond, so Alec continued to speak, "I can't believe you would betray our family like this."

"Jace is not blood," Maryse was quick to say, "Therefore he is not our family."

Alec saw red. His hands balled up into fists and he abruptly turned away from both his parents and Izzy.

"I can't be here right now," he said tightly, and hurried to the Institute's exit. He felt bad about leaving Izzy by herself, terrible, but he really couldn't be in that Institute for another moment. He would either do or say something that would get him into more trouble than what it was worth. Later that night, he would text Izzy and let her know where he had gone.

As soon as he walked out into the warm sunlight of the day, he felt a sense of dread wash over him, but he told himself to keep walking. He just hoped that Magnus would be home.

***

Magnus' first instinct was to be suspicious when he received a knock on his door in midday. He hadn't been expecting anybody, and with a Downworlder killer on the loose, you could never be too cautious.

He looked through his peephole and felt himself physically calm when he saw it was only Alec and not, like, a ravenous demon.

"Alec, this is unexpected," he greeted enthusiastically as he opened the door. He then saw the defeated look Alec was wearing and felt himself sober as he asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

Alec was staring intently at Magnus' rug. "I — I guess not? Definitely not."

Magnus frowned at the response and ushered Alec into his loft, gently closing the door behind him. He rested one arm on Alec's arm and the other on his cheek.

"What's going on?" He asked softly.

Alec shook his head, leaning into Magnus' touch and closing his eyes. He looked exhausted, probably close to how Magnus himself looked.

"It's family stuff. I can't — I can't talk about it in too much detail. I hope that's okay," Alec murmured.

"Of course it is. You don't have to talk about it at all, if you don't want to."

Alec opened his eyes again, and for the first time that night, he really looked at Magnus.

"You're not wearing any makeup," he noticed, and a part of Magnus froze until Alec's lips were forming a small smile, "It's nice. I mean, you look good with it, too, but. Both are...nice."

Magnus let out a breath. "You're too kind, Alexander," he said, partly teasing, partly honest. "Here, I know exactly what you need. Follow me."

He took Alec's hand in his and lead him through the living room until they reached Magnus' bedroom.

Alec's lips parted. "Are you insinuating that I need se—"

"No!" Magnus interjected. "Oh my god, no, I would never take advantage of your vulnerable emotional state like that. I just...no offense, but you look exhausted. I thought you might like some tea and to lay down in a comfortable bed. You don't have to, if you feel like it's too much or—"

"Oh, no, that...that sounds great, actually. Do you have any clothes I could change into?"

Magnus' mind immediately went to all of the exotic silks that he could get Alec in, all of the different patterns and colors. He licked his lips and went over to one of his dressers to try and rid his mind of the thought.

"Sweats and a t-shirt alright?" He asked, even though the thought of giving up his fantasy of Alec in nice, expensive silks physically pained him.

"Yeah, that's good."

Magnus laid the clothes on the bed, just a black t-shirt and gray sweatpants, and walked over to Alec to give his hand a small squeeze.

"Make yourself comfortable, okay? I'll be back with tea in a few minutes," Magnus said, and was about to walk out of the room when Alec stopped him.

"Magnus, you don't have to do this," he told him quietly.

Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Do what? Make you tea?"

Alec huffed out a laugh, but it didn't sound like there was much humor behind it. "No, the tea is fine. I just meant...you don't have to look after me like this, or take care of me, if you don't want to."

Magnus' face softened as he held onto both of Alec's hands. Those words were crushing his heart. Was it so hard for Alec to believe that someone could want to look after and care for him?

"Hey, I'm doing this because I want to. Not because I feel obligated to or anything like that."

"Okay," Alec whispered, and there was a small smile on his lips as Magnus placed a quick kiss to them.

"I'll be back soon with tea," he repeated, and this time he was able to make it out of the room.

He pondered for a moment if he should magic up the tea, but he ultimately decided against it. One, he felt too tired for even the slightest of magic, and two, he doubted the tea he magicked up would be as good as his own.

There were hundreds of different types of tea in his cabinet, but he opted on a simple green tea for Alec. Magnus was a strong believer that one could never truly go wrong with green tea.

Once the tea was finished brewing and Magnus had it all fixed up, he headed back into the bedroom.

The sight he was met with forced his breath into his throat. Alec was sitting cross-legged on Magnus' bed, his back resting against the headboard as he tapped away at his phone. He had changed into Magnus' clothes, and although the size difference between the two wasn't huge, it was clear by the way the black t-shirt clung to Alec's shoulders and chest that he probably could have used a size larger than what Magnus had given him. Magnus' eyes wandered downwards and he noticed that the shirt also clung to Alec's stomach, making his abs practically visible beneath the thin black fabric, which was...interesting.

Yes, Magnus had said that he wouldn't take advantage of Alec's vulnerable state, and he had meant that, but he still couldn't help but admire the glorious sight that was Alec in Magnus' clothes.

Alec placed his phone on the nightstand next to him and smiled at Magnus, breaking Magnus out of his stupor. He smiled back and walked over to sit on the opposite side of Alec.

He then handed over the mug. "Green tea. I hope you like it."

Alec took it from him, his hands lingering over Magnus' for a second as he did. "Thank you," he murmured, and blew on it before taking a sip.

Magnus closed his eyes as he felt the exhaustion from the past couple of weeks wash over him. It felt good just to lie down and rest his muscles.

When he opened his eyes back up, he saw that Alec was already looking at him from the rim of his mug.

"Tell me about your day," Alec said, "Or your week, or — or anything."

Magnus smiled at the suggestion. It was sweet that Alec wanted to know.

"It's been a rough one. Just...all these things going on at once, you know?"

Alec nodded. "I understand." He then brushed his fingers softly under Magnus' eyes, causing Magnus' lashes to flutter at the unexpected touch. "You look tired."

"I was actually just about to lay down for a nap before you came."

"Really? I didn't take you as the napping type."

Magnus chuckled. "I'm usually not. But these past couple of weeks seemed to have drained the life from me."

Alec raised an inquiring eyebrow, but he didn't say anything, probably not wanting to pry.

Magnus figured he could give him the basics.

"There's been fighting at my work. We're at a place where we should all be working together, but instead some people have just stopped showing up to the meetings at all. I mean, I can't really blame them, we've been having security issues lately and they're probably just scared, but..."

"Security issues?" Alec asked, his eyebrows drawn and his lips pulled down in a frown. "Will you be okay?"

Magnus smiled. The concern on Alec's face and in his voice had his heart beating in overtime, but he tried to play it cool.

"You're quite cute when you're worried," Magnus told him, taking pleasure in the light pink that spread across Alec's cheeks. "But yes, I'll be fine. There's no need to worry about me."

Alec nodded. "Good," he whispered. He set his tea down on the night stand and then laid down next to Magnus so that they were face to face.

This close, Magnus could see all the different flecks of color in Alec's eyes, could see the slight scar he had on his left eyebrow. He wondered what the story was behind that.

"You should get under the covers. You might freeze to death," Magnus told him nonchalantly.

Alec snorted but did as Magnus said, pulling the dark red covers tightly over himself. For a while they just laid there, admiring the peace and quiet and each other, until Alec let out a yawn.

"Are you a big spoon, or a little spoon?" Magnus asked him.

Alec shook his head. "I've never, um. You know."

"Spooned? Okay. Let me put it like this. Do you want to hold, or be held?"

Alec looked slightly sheepish, though he definitely was not uncomfortable. If anything he looked eager.

"We could, I, um. I could try being the little spoon, maybe."

Magnus had to hide his smile in his pillow. Dear lord, this boy was cute.

"Okay, turn on your side for me, babe," Magnus told him.

Alec once more did as he said, and Magnus moved so he was also on his side, his chest pressed against Alec's back. He moved his arm so it was wrapped around Alec's waist and so his hand was rested on Alec's stomach. He then put one of his legs between Alec's so that they were twined together, drawing them even closer together.

"This okay?" Magnus asked, his words moving against the soft skin of Alec's neck.

Magnus thought he heard Alec's breath hitch, and when he responded with a simple, "Yes," his voice was breathy.

"Good. Get some sleep."

"You too," Alec murmured.

Magnus smiled, and within a span of minutes, they were both asleep.

***

Alec ended up deciding on spending the night at Magnus'. Magnus had offered, and Alec honestly hadn't felt like going home yet. After their nap, Magnus had made them dinner, and they had curled up on the couch to watch tv.

Once Alec had finished his dinner, it had hit him that in just a few hours he would be in Idris, watching a bunch of higher-ups determining the fate of his parabatai, his brother.

His breath caught in his throat and his heart started beating faster. He had to put his plate down as he tried to even out his breathing.

Magnus clearly recognized the state he was in because he reached out to take Alec's hands in his, his lips turning down into a concerned frown when he felt that they were shaking.

"Hey, talk to me," he said softly.

Alec shook his head. "So much is happening tomorrow, and I just. I don't know if I can do it. I might never see my brother again."

Magnus was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Alec, I know we haven't known each other for that long, but I already know that you're so strong. If anybody can make it through whatever it is you're going through, it's you."

Alec looked over at Magnus and saw on his face that he was being nothing but genuine. It caused his heart to soar, and he leaned over to press a lasting kiss to Magnus' lips.

"Thank you," he told him. It hit him that if it weren't for Magnus, Alec would most likely still be at the Institute, probably shooting arrows until his hands bled. It was how he usually coped with issues he couldn't find a solution to, even though it often times did very little to help.

He was just...glad to have Magnus, almost overwhelmingly so. It seemed to hit him all at once, and when he felt his breath once more slip away, it was for completely different reasons.

"I'm really glad that I met you," Alec confessed quietly, "You're...I feel like you're the only normal aspect of my life right now."

Magnus' lips turned up in a soft smile and he let go of Alec's hands in favor of wrapping his arms around Alec's waist, his head resting in the crevice between Alec's neck and shoulders.

"I feel the same way," he whispered.

Alec smiled and he wrapped an arm around Magnus' side so he could meld more smoothly against Alec's side.

Sure, he didn't feel one hundred percent better, but Magnus had helped him feel like he could at least make it through the day.

He rested his head against Magnus' and focused back on the tv.

***

Alec left Magnus' early the next morning. Magnus had told him to check in with him when everything was settled and Alec had promised that he would, then he'd left.

Currently he was in the portal room, dressed in his best suit, with Izzy by his side. She was in a long, sleeveless blue dress, her hair down and straightened.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Alec asked. They should have been here by now if they were going with them to Idris.

Izzy frowned. "Aldertree only requested that you and I come, so Mom and Dad aren't going."

"What?!" Alec exclaimed, his heart sinking to his stomach. "Why? That doesn't even—"

"I don't know," Izzy said, her face taut. "But they clearly don't think of Jace as their son anyways, so I doubt they mind."

Alec thought back to Maryse coming right out and saying that Jace wasn't her son because he wasn't blood, but instead of getting mad, he reached down and took Izzy's hand in his. Not for the first time, he was so glad to have his little sister in his life.

"You ready?" He asked her.

"As I'll ever be," she responded.

They both thought of Idris and then walked through the portal together.

***

They arrived directly outside of the courthouse.

Alec took a deep breath, remembering Magnus' words to him last night.

He was strong. He could do this.

With that thought in mind, he pushed open the door to the courthouse, and...gaped.

It was empty. Well, mostly empty. Alec had been expecting the rows of seats to be filled with important Shadowhunters and Clave members, but they were completely desolate. The only ones were in the room were Victor, two Silent Brothers, Jace, and the soul sword towards the front of the room.

"Ah, Lightwoods! We've been expecting you," Victor declared with a wide smile.

Alec looked over at Jace as walked to the front of the room, making sure that he was alright. He didn't look injured, just tired and tense, with both of the Silent Brothers holding onto his arms to make sure he didn't go anywhere.

"What's going on?" Alec asked once he and Izzy had made it to the front of the room, with Victor and the soul sword both in front of them. Jace was to their left as were the silent brothers. "Where are the other members of the Clave? The jury?"

Victor shook his head. "You're in luck. I'm in a good mood today, so I'm willing to work a compromise with the three of you," he said, "The Clave agreed that a trial and jury session isn't needed, as long as you go along with the compromise we made up."

"Which is?" Izzy asked.

"Two of you, and it's up to you to decide who, will be able to continue to have romantic relationships with Downworlders. The other will swear here on this soul sword that they will never be romantically involved with a Downworlder as long as they live."

"I'll do it," Alec said immediately.

"What?!" Izzy exclaimed at the same time Jace said, "Alec, man, you can't."

Alec shook his head. He wasn't understanding his siblings' hesitance.

"Why not? I'm not involved with a Downworlder, and I never have been. I make the most logical choice."

"And what if, sometime in the future, you do meet a Downworlder, and the two of you fall in love? What happens then?" Izzy asked.

Alec opened his mouth to respond, but Jace beat him to it.

"You can't risk that just for us, Alec. It isn't fair to you."

Alec supposed a moment to weigh on the decision would be rational. He tried thinking of dating someone else in the future, a Downworlder, but all he could think about was Magnus. His smile, his laugh, the way he had held Alec last night and comforted him when he had started to get anxious.

The thought of dating someone else was...unimaginable to him. Not when what he felt for Magnus was so strong.

"I'm not worried about that. I have Magnus," Alec said, a small smile on his face at the thought.

"And, what, suddenly you guys are forever?" Jace asked.

Alec felt his cheeks flush at the thought. "Maybe not. But, right now, I can't even think of being with someone other than him. And...even if we do break up, I'll just steer clear of Downworlders. It's fine, you two. I'm perfectly alright with doing this."

He looked back at Aldertree and saw that he had an eyebrow raised.

"Did you say Magnus?" He asked.

Alec blinked. He hadn't been expecting the question. "Um, yes. He's my boyfriend. Why?"

"I used to know someone by the same name, a long time ago. I'm sure they're not the same person."

"Clearly," Alec said under his breath and then put his hands on the soul sword, feeling the familiar weight of it weight heavily on his heart. "Go ahead and ask your questions."

Victor nodded, the side of his mouth curled into a small smile as he asked, "Have you ever been romantically involved with a Downworlder?"

"No," Alec responded honestly.

"Have you ever been sexually involved with a Downworlder?"

Alec huffed. The personal nature of the question annoyed him.

"No."

"Do you have any intentions of going against the compromise the Clave has worked out for you and your siblings?"

"No."

"And, finally, do you swear on your life that everything you just told me is the truth?"

"Yes," Alec breathed, and then removed his hands from the sword.

He couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. It was over with. Jace would be able to stay in the Institute and keep his runes, and Izzy would be able to continue seeing Maia. Everything seemed like it had worked out for the best.

Victor began to walk out of the courthouse, but not before clapping Alec on the back.

"It was a pleasure seeing you again. You'll have to come back to Idris in a month to make sure that you kept your oath, but after that, you're free to go on with your life," Victor told him.

Alec nodded and watched as Victor walked out of the courthouse before focusing back on his siblings. He had expected them to look happy, maybe overjoyed, but instead they looked distressed.

"Guys, seriously, what is going on? I thought you'd be happy! Jace, you get to keep seeing that vampire boyfriend of yours, whatever his name is—"

"It's Simon."

"You get to keep seeing Simon, and Izzy, you can pursue your relationship with Maia..."

Izzy smiled up at him. "Of course I'm happy, Alec, and I'm sure Jace is, too. But I can't help feeling like our happiness is at your expense."

"It's not," Alec reassured, a genuine smile on his lips, "Both of my siblings are going to be happy, and I'm happy with Magnus, so happy—"

"Things are going pretty well between you guys, then?" Jace asked him, his lips quirking into a smirk.

Alec nodded. "Really good. I've never...I've never felt like this before," he admitted quietly.

Jace patted him on the back before leading the way out of the courthouse. "We should get something to eat. I'm starved."

"Did they feed you in the Silent City?" Izzy asked him.

"Yeah, some nasty, sludge-type thing. I took one bite and nearly gagged."

"That must have been awful," Alec deadpanned.

Jace grimaced as he undoubtedly remembered the food. "It was. I'm so looking forward to having real food."

"I bet you're looking forward to seeing Simon, too," Izzy teased, a wide, playful smile on her lips.

Jace rolled his eyes, but the small smile on his face betrayed his hard exterior. "I just can't believe that we don't have to hide it anymore. It seems...surreal."

"Same with me and Maia. We've only been dating for a couple of weeks but...I know she's going to be stoked when I tell her," Izzy said excitedly.

Alec smiled as he watched his siblings speak excitedly to one another. He didn't care about not being able to date a Downworlder: it seemed a small price for his siblings' happiness.

***

Once they had arrived back to the Institute, Izzy and Jace had both left almost just as soon to see Maia and Simon.

Even though things had been resolved with Jace, Alec still didn't feel like being with his parents alone in the Institute, so he went off to Magnus'.

Well. That wasn't the only reason why he was going over to Magnus': he also really wanted to see him and tell him thank you for the night before.

He texted Magnus asking him if it was alright that he stopped over, and when he responded saying that it was, he took a cab over to his place.

He didn't know why, but he felt like the ride to Magnus' loft seemed to take forever. He desperately wanted to see him again, and other than to tell him thank you, he didn't really have any other solid reason...he just did. He hadn't ever felt this way about another person before.

Magnus buzzed him in and as soon as he opened the door, Alec felt his lips forming into a grin.

"Hey," Magnus greeted, "How'd it go?"

Alec took a step forward and locked his lips with Magnus', his hands coming up to cup both of his cheeks. Magnus let out of a muffled noise of surprise but then kissed him back just as passionately.

When Alec pulled away, he saw that Magnus' eyes remained closed for a second before opening to give Alec a wide eyed look.

He then chuckled breathlessly. "I'm guessing it went well?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah, you...you really helped me get through the day, and I. I wanted to thank you. I don't know if I would've made it without your encouragement."

Magnus' expression softened and he took one of Alex's hands in his, leading him inside and over to the couch. He sat down on one side, his legs curled up beside him, and Alec toed off his shoes so he could sit down next to him and do the same.

"Continue," Magnus said, the smile never leaving his face.

Alec shook his head. "I don't...I don't know exactly how to put it, but you helped me make a really important decision."

Magnus quirked an inquisitive eyebrow. "Sounds interesting."

"Yeah," Alec laughed, "But it...it helped bring my brother home, so."

"I'm glad," Magnus breathed. He reached out to brush his fingers against Alec's cheek and Alec leaned into the touch, feeling his heart pick up pace in his chest. "I was worried about you."

The words made Alec think about Magnus' own problem at his job.

"How's your work issue?" He asked.

Magnus let out a huff. "Alright for now, I suppose, but who knows when it'll pick back up again. I'd rather not talk about it, because all it does is give me a headache."

Alec nodded, and Magnus gave him a curious look, leaning in a bit closer.

"Why exactly did you come?" He questioned.

Alec thought about how excited he had been just to be in Magnus' presence and felt his cheeks flush, embarrassed.

"I just wanted to thank you. In person," he said, his eyes fluttering down to Magnus' lips as he leaned in even closer.

"That's it?" Magnus asked lowly.

Alec felt like he wasn't breathing as he rasped out, "Yeah, it is."

"Hmm," Magnus hummed, "You could always...show me your thanks. If you wanted."

Alec nodded and then he was quickly closing the rest of the distance between them. Their lips met in a desperate, messy kiss, and only a second later Magnus was lightly pushing at Alec's shoulders so his back was lying against the couch. He moved so his legs were straddling Alec's waist and Alec gaped, his breath catching in his throat at the beautiful sight of Magnus in front of him.

Magnus then leaned back down and reconnected his lips with Alec's in an open-mouthed kiss. His tongue slid into Alec's mouth and Alec moaned, his hands sliding around Magnus' neck to draw him closer. As Magnus deepened the kiss, their tongues brushing against each other, one of Alec's hands slipped under Magnus' shirt collar and he was immediately met with warm, soft skin.

It was a little dizzying how much Alec just wanted to touch.

Magnus broke the kiss and Alec's lips chased after his as he sat up. Magnus giggled at him and placed a hand on his chest to get him to stay down. Alec then watched in breathless anticipation as Magnus' hands went to the edge of his shirt and pulled it off, tossing the article of clothing somewhere behind him.

"Fuck," Alec cursed, because he couldn't help himself. Magnus was all chiseled abs, strong biceps, smooth skin, and he was right there.

Magnus grinned. "You seemed as if you wanted to touch," he whispered, "So go ahead."

He took Alec's hands in his and placed them on his waist. Alec kept one grasping onto Magnus' waist as the other moved slowly down Magnus' chest, not stopping until he reached where Magnus' pants began.

Magnus' breath hitched audibly and Alec smiled, pleased to see that he wasn't the only one who was being affected by this.

He then flipped them around so that he was the one on top and Magnus raised his eyebrows at him in both surprise and interest.

"You're beautiful," Alec told him, and he reconnected their lips for a brief moment before working his way down Magnus' jawline and neck. His skin was unbelievably smooth against Alec's lips and it made him want to keep kissing him, always, everywhere.

Magnus brought his hands up to Alec's hair and lightly tugged on it, causing Alec to back away, meeting Magnus' wide brown eyes.

"I've wanted to see you shirtless since our first date," Magnus blurted out, and Alec let out a loud, genuine laugh, burying his head in Magnus' neck.

"You could have said," he told Magnus as he sat up.

"What was I supposed to say? Please take your shirt off because I have a desperate need?" Magnus teased.

Alec's hands grasped at the edge of his shirt and he crossed his arms as he pulled the shirt over his head. He was suddenly immensely glad that he had remembered to glamor his runes before stopping over to Magnus', because that would have made for an awkward conversation.

"Was it worth the wait?" Alec asked, his lips quirking into a cocky smirk at the way Magnus was blatantly checking him out.

"More than worth it," Magnus breathed, and then he was pulling Alec back down so their lips could meet together in a heated kiss.

Their bare chests pressed together as they kissed and Alec shivered, but he wasn't cold: far from it. He felt like he was burning all over and each drag of Magnus' lips against his own sent sparks of flames dancing throughout his body.

He wanted more. He hadn't ever gone this far with another person before, but if he was going to, there was no other person he trusted more than Magnus.

Alec broke the kiss to lightly nuzzle against Magnus' cheek. His heart was beating out of his chest at what he was about to say, but he figured it had to be said.

"I've never," he started, and paused a moment, trying to catch his breath, "I've never done this before," he admitted quietly.

Magnus scooted upwards and gave Alec a surprised look. "You mean you're—"

"A virgin," Alec finished, "Yeah. When I told you I hadn't had time for dating with my job, I also hadn't...I hadn't really had time for the other stuff, either."

Magnus still looked somewhat shocked, but he then nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Hey, it's fine. We don't have to do anything—"

"No!" Alec interrupted quickly, and felt his cheeks flush. "I want to. With you."

"Yeah?" Magnus asked in surprise.

Alec nodded, his eyes flickering down to Magnus' lips for a brief moment. They were pink and swollen from all of the kissing they had just done.

"If...if it's going to be with anyone, I want it to be with you," Alec admitted, "I trust you."

Magnus gaped at him before pressing a languid kiss to Alec's lips, one that had Alec's heart fluttering softly in his chest.

"Do you want to take this to the bedroom?" Magnus whispered against his lips.

Alec nodded, probably too enthusiastically, and Magnus smiled at him before they were both hurriedly making their way to the bedroom.

***

"Tell me about your travels," Alec whispered quietly, not wanting to disrupt the sereneness of the moment.

He was lying with Magnus in his bed, Magnus' head on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around Alec's bare chest. The sun had long gone down, and the only light in the room was the moon peaking in through the window.

Magnus looked up at him and let out a soft chuckle. His fingers were lightly tracing patterns on Alec's skin in a way that had goosebumps forming all over.

"I've been lots of places," Magnus murmured, the quietness of his tone matching Alec's own, "Anywhere in particular you want to know about?"

Alec thought about it for a second. "Tell me your top ten," he decided on.

Magnus groaned, burying his face in Alec's neck before pressing soft kisses to the skin.

Alec shivered.

"That's hard. There's so many beautiful places in the world," Magnus said, "I really like India, even though I had an abusive girlfriend who used to live there which...left me with a rather bad memory of it there, to say the least."

"I'm sorry," Alec said.

"Don't be, darling. It's not your fault."

Alec's cheeks flushed at the pet name, and he was secretly pleased that it was dark in the room so Magnus couldn't see his wide smile.

"Brazil is also amazing, Tokyo, Barcelona, oh! And Paris. I know that makes me sound like your typical romantic, but it really is called the City of Love for a reason. Something about being there just...makes you realize how much you care about the people around you — especially if they're a significant other," Magnus said, following the words with a kiss to Alec's jaw.

Alec turned his head so his lips met with Magnus', even though he was smiling far too much for the kiss to be anything proper. Magnus telling him he cared about him just...made him unbelievably happy.

"I'd love to visit those places with you," he admitted.

"Yeah?" Magnus asked softly.

"Mhm. I've always wanted to travel but I never had the chance. Sometimes I...I worry that life is going to pass me by without ever having had a chance to see the beauty of the world."

Something in Magnus' expression shifted and he quickly shook his head, one of his hands coming up to cup Alec's cheek.

"That's not going to happen," he assured. "I'll take you anywhere you want to go. You said you wanted to go to England, right? Where Shakespeare grew up?"

Alec nodded, surprised that Magnus had remembered.

"Then we'll go there. And to Paris, too, while we're in the area."

Alec smiled. He was sure his heart was about to soar out of his chest.

"Is that a promise?" He asked, teasing, but also somewhat serious.

Magnus gave him an affronted look. "Of course it is, Alexander. I would never lie to you," he told him, and then locked their lips together in a sweet kiss.