If there was one thing Jace knew about Alec, it was that he liked to touch. It wasn't even a dirty thing to think of when it came to Alec anymore. He'd been doing it since he was young. Whether it was a brush of their hands or a shoulder pressed against a shoulder, Jace was used to the warm feel of his parabatai's touch on him at all times.
And Jace was the only person who was lucky enough to be the one constantly touched by Alec. Not that he'd ever realized it before.
But recently, it had changed. The touches weren't casual anymore. They were volts of electricity that flew through Jace's body like he'd stuck a fork in an electrical socket. The first time this had happened, Jace had flinched like he'd been hit. Alec had looked at him strangely, not knowing the cause of this behavior. Neither did Jace at the time.
Regardless of how he felt emotionally, Jace began to crave these volts of electricity. He found reasons to touch Alec casually, trying to restrain himself when the delicious electricity rolled through his body. But usually, he didn't have to initiate the touches. Alec did that for him without thinking.
During this time, Jace had often wondered what was wrong with him. Alec had been doing this forever, so why was he just noticing now? So what if his relationship with Clary had been a bit rocky for unknown reasons lately? That didn't mean he was suddenly realizing he liked Alec, or anything. That would just be some kind of pathetic rebound.
One night, when Jace couldn't sleep, he snuck down the hall of the Institute and crept into Alec's room. His parabatai was sound asleep, sprawled out across his bed. Jace held his breath as he walked to the bed, reaching over and gently running his hand over Alec's face.
There it was again. That amazing, electric feeling shot through his body, and he quickly pulled his hand back. Alec turned over in his sleep, murmuring unintelligibly.
Jace walked across the room and sat down against the wall. Okay, this was getting pathetic. Why was he here? What could he possibly gain from coming here?
But his mind was already drifting from the thought of leaving as a memory suddenly overwhelmed his mind.
Jace and Alec were around seven or eight, sitting together in Jace's room. Jace was sitting on top of Alec and Alec was yelling for him to get off. Jace stayed put, though, and after a while, Alec calmed down. Jace began to touch his face, his arms, his hair, his neck. Each touch was extremely innocent, but at the same time, filled with affection. Alec looked at him curiously.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Getting familiar with you," Jace replied as his fingers traced the Marks on Alec's arm.
"But we're best friends," Alec pointed out. "Aren't we already familiar with each other?"
"I know everything about you but what your skin feels like. I want to get familiar with every part of you."
As Jace recalled this memory, he realized how perverted those things would sound if he said them to Alec now. It would get his parabatai's heart thumping, that's for sure.
But another realization he'd made was far more life altering than that. Alec wasn't the one who had been touching Jace. Jace had been the one touching Alec. All this time, Jace had been wondering how Alec had not known how often his hand brushed Jace's or how often he leaned against the blond-haired boy. He hadn't known that it was really himself who was doing these things.
Jace had wanted to be close to him. Jace had wanted to be attached to Alec physically as well as mentally and emotionally.
And Jace was in love with him.
The Shadowhunter shook his head as he hurried out of Alec's room. Well. He was in deep shit.
