""Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future.""

- Fulton Oursler

He wished he'd stayed home that night. He wished he'd taken up Jace Wayland's offer to practice battle skills. He wished he'd never walked into Magnus Bane's apartment right when he did. But he did. And, oh Angel, he wished he hadn't.

Leaves fallen from trees struck with autumn fever swirled around Alec Lightwood's ankles, and he pulled his euro-style jacket closer to his build. Smiling a small smile, Alec went back to when Magnus had near begged him to buy the jacket. And when Alec did, Magnus did beg him to wear it. And Alec did, and in all honesty, it fit wonderfully- it was even a bit his style, with its forest green fabric and the way the collar covered up to right under his nose if he pleased. Yes, Alec rather liked the jacket.

Lamp posts all around Alec flickered on, announcing the coming of night. If Magnus hadn't started the party by now, he'd definitely be starting it soon. At first, Alec had refused to arrive at the party, insisting he wasn't the type to party. (Which Magnus had protested to with a "I'd bet you'd look like a sex beast in a pair of leather pants, you know." It didn't convince Alec in the slightest.) Alec was tired and really, the only thing he felt compelled to do was sit in the library and read a book whilst ignoring Jace and Clary chatting in Hodge's office (Alec suspected they were doing something else, too, but couldn't tell when the chatting lowered to low murmurs most of the time) and avoiding Isabelle's attempted dinner "feast". Maybe he'd even play with Church a bit.

Yet something was eating at his mind. Magnus was acting a bit... odd, lately. Or, odder. Usually, Magnus would call him at least every other day, chattering excitedly about something or another -really, Alec just enjoyed hearing Magnus's voice; what he was talking about was a completely different story. But lately, Alec found himself calling Magnus- and more importantly, the number of calls that Magnus actually picked up had reduced drastically since two weeks ago. It'd been at least three weeks, however, since Magnus had begun to avoid Alec in the first place; he hadn't called Alec once since then. It both worried and irritated the young shadowhunter. Had Alec done something wrong? What was wrong? He couldn't figure it out.

Alec heard the party before he saw it. Loud music -sounding like new-age pop- sprang from Magnus's house at full volume. The light stream of clouds in the night sky were faintly lit with the lights from Magnus's abode, and as Alec grew closer, he could identify the dancing figures silhouetted against the curtains, which had been strewn shut. Feeling smaller than when he'd been walking alone, Alec took a breath and stepped into Magnus's home, finding the door unlocked. Hand tightening around the knob as he closed the door behind him, Alec turned.

He wished he hadn't.

Magnus was on what some would call "Cloud 9."

Alec had finally forgotten about that blond shadowhunter, and Alec was finally noting Magnus's existence beyond just a "fling", and his favorite Gel-N-Glitter products were on sale at his local grocery store. The day simply couldn't get any better. In only an hour, Magnus would throw another party. No occasion, really; he was just feeling jovial. And, maybe Alec would even show up to this one- just maybe.

Magnus had jumped at every chance to avoid Alec, and he wasn't about to stop now. Why? Because Alec's birthday was coming up. Soon, too. Only a week away, and Magnus was planning, planning, planning. He'd summoned streamers, a non-working prank light-switch, a clapper light, and directions on how to install it. Of course, Magnus could always just use his Warlock gifts to help him with this, but he wanted it to be special. Wanted to mean it when Magnus said "Happy Birthday". After all, Magnus only said something deep when he meant it.

Currently, Magnus was parading around his house, preparing the drinks and features for his party. Lights were already blaring, and music was only just being selected. A look at the clock made Magnus sigh, and giving up on moving slowly and thoroughly, Magnus summoned everything he needed. In a flash, everything was prepared, and he was ready for a party; with fifteen minutes to spare, too. He thought briefly about calling Alec, asking him -or, more like, crooningat him- to come to the party. Alec had only come to a few before, but that didn't dampen Magnus's spirits. Not one bit.

Ignoring the music coursing through the room, Magnus watched as guests began to show up. It was a funny thing, invitations. You could give out an invitation saying "come at 5" and you'd see guests arriving at "4:30". (The numbers blaring on the digital clock were 4:23, but that seven remaining minutes would pass in no time at all.) Magnus had always thought about telling the guests to arrive at "4:30", but knew they'd only arrive at four. And Magnus couldn't throw a party when the sun kept shining on- oh, no. Definitely not.

Humming as he leaned against the door and welcomed people in, Magnus thought briefly about the last four weeks. It'd been three and a half weeks since Valentine's fall, and Magnus decided that getting involved had been a bad idea- yet, even as he thought that, he couldn't bring himself to be regretful. After all, it was Clary's memory loss of the Shadowhunting world that had brought the lovely Alec Lightwood to Magnus's abode in the first place- he ought to be greatful. Glancing at Chairman Meow, who sat quite comfortably on a small armchair in the corner near where Magnus stood, Magnus sighed. Life was complicated. And, Magnus thought, it will be complicated for the rest of time for me.

Thinking about that only made his throat close up and his stomach twist in a knot. Alec wasn't immortal. He wouldn't be with Magnus forever. He most definitely wouldn't, unless Magnus made him immortal- which wasn't going to happen unless Alec had thought about it deeply. Magnus didn't want Alec to become immortal and then grow to hate Magnus for making him so. That would kill Magnus.

For the first thirty minutes of the party, Magnus lounged around, greeting people he liked and people he didn't like. Teasing the vampires and even flirting with a few werewolves and faerie folk. Of course, it was never serious flirting. No, Magnus wouldn't cheat on Alec. Not if the world depended on it. Alec was Magnus's light, a light that burnt through his slightly brusque personality, and made Magnus want to be a better person. Of sorts.

Sighing, Magnus plucked a lavender drink off the table near to him and swirled it around. He knew better than to drink the drinks on the table, but the slightly glowing liquid kept his mind occupied. Imagine that, Magnus thought with a sort of bitter affection, my parents hate me, I've slept and had so many flings with people I can't possibly remember, I'm never going to die, and the one thing I'm brooding over like a lovestruck teenager is my boyfriend. Magnus had always liked the sound of that, 'my boyfriend'.

Placing the drink back on the table, Magnus turned sharlply, deciding that this was a "I'm-throwing-this-party-because-I'm-happy" party and not a "I'm-throwing-this-party-because-I-have-depressing-things-to-think-about" party, and promptly ran directly into somebody else. Nearly falling flat on his back, Magnus gasped, but was pulled steady by a hand resting gently on his back. "Oh, how clumsy of me," Magnus said in an off tone, and glanced up at the person who had steadied him. "Thank you for- uh." He stopped short, his eyes locking on a pair of striking gray ones. The hand on his back hadn't moved. And, at one breathy whisper from Magnus -"Lucas."- the boy with the gray eyes swooped down, pressing his lips against Magnus's, the hand on Magnus's back sliding up to tangle in his multicolored locks. Eyes wide, Magnus didn't even think to struggle or push the boy away. Why is he here? Magnus thought in a daze.

If Magnus had looked right, he'd have seen the forest green jacket laying on the ground in front of an open doorway.

Aaaah first MI fanfic- hope I kept everyone in character. xD I read the series, and I seriously fell in love with Magnus Bane. I've never really fangirled over a character from a book before, but with Magnus it was like: "HIM. Him. Ohmygod. 3" He's just so- and his sarcasm is gorgeous- and his GLITTER-
Ah~. 3
Anywhoo, I did read the fourth book (Thank God it finally came out- I simply couldn't wait any longer!) but this is a story that went on after City Of Glass and before City Of Fallen Angels. I figured, since there's really no specific amount of time that passes between books, I might as well just fit it in there. I didn't want Alec and Magnus to go on their little canoodle (3333) around the world yet, so I just put this in between those books. ;) For those of you who were wondering.
So, there is an OC in this story, for those of you who haven't figured that out yet. His name is Lucas, and he'll further be introduced in the next chapter. ;) Just saying that for those of you who really dislike OCs. But anyway, I have a tendency of making my absolute favorite character in a book have a gay relationship with another male character in my head, and my favorite character is always on the bottom. So if you don't like uke!Magnus, then I'm just gonna warn you now; Magnus in this story is the bottom. ;) So yeah.
I really like this story -I've thought a lot about the plot- and I can't wait to continue it, so tell me what you think! Like it, hate it, neutral- any criticism or comment is fine, as long as its not a hate comment. Because, honestly, we're all just here to write and read what we love- if you're going to be rude, you may as well just go back to the page you were on before you read this. :) So thanks for reading, and I'll post that next chapter soon enough!