Sometimes he forgot that he used to hate her.

Of course, if he tried he could remember every detail- first seeing that tiny redhead in Pandemonium, annoyed with her for ruining their kill. She had been a distraction that had almost sabotaged his machine, the machine that consisted of him, Jace, and Izzy. Their perfected killing machine, working as one. That's the way it had always been.

And then Jace began to leave early in the morning, attempting to slip out of the Institute unnoticed. He'd space out in the middle of training, and suddenly Alec would have a sword pointed at an unarmed Jace for the first time in over six years.

Something wasn't right.

So Alec made it his job to check up on his parabatai, to make sure everything was okay. And yes, maybe he was a bit jealous. Especially when he realized that Jace was following that stupid redhead from Pandemonium.

When Alec confronted him about it Jace had shaken it off, labeling his somewhat obsessive behavior on genuine curiosity, telling Alec that he just wanted to know why the girl had the Sight, saying that she could be important.

When Alec pushed him, he saw the flash of frustration in Jace's eyes and knew that hisparabatai thought of him as an annoying pest, and wanted nothing more to be rid of him.

It hurt, knowing that the person who knows you better than you know yourself can't stand your presence anymore.

Alec was tired of being the voice of reason, the kind, quiet, soft grey next to Jace and Izzy's startling and unpredictable reds.

So when Jace brought the redhead to the Institute and began to become more and more infatuated with her, Alec was insanely close to losing his head. He told himself it wasn't because he was jealous- he didn't care that Jace had never looked at him like that or gave him the same attention he reserved for Clary- it was just that Alec was tired of being the cautious older brother. He wanted change.

She wasn't even that pretty. She had the body structure of a 12-year-old boy, and bright red hair that was constantly frizzy. Freckles dotted her face like chicken pox and her eyes were so huge that they made her look like a cartoon.

But Alec soon realized that all of these imperfections were what Jace loved about her. He'd spent too many nights to count sitting on his bed with Jace across from him, listening to him drone on and on about Clary. He said that he loved how tiny she was, and how aggravated she'd get when you pointed out her height. He told Alec about his fantasies of smoothing her hair down, running the strands between his fingers, wrapping it around his skin so it looked like he was on fire with the bright flames of her locks. He told Alec that when he was talking to her, he only listened to half of what she was saying because the other half of his mind was concentrated on finding constellations in her freckles, or trying to name the exact shade of green in her eyes.

Alec hated her for it.

He hated that as Jace poured his heart out on the bed, all Alec could think about was undressing him and slamming him against the mattress, feeling the fabric dip under their weight and the springs squeak in protest of their actions. Instead, Jace was having these same fantasies about Clary.

It wasn't right.

But just when his life was falling apart, when everywhere he turned all he could see was red and gold intertwined and all he could hear was Clary Clary Clary, a flamboyant bisexual warlock walked into Alec's life and took his heart with him on the way out. Suddenly his world was attacked by glitter and blue hair and eyes the shapes of almonds that he just wanted to stare at forever.

Alec had finally found someone who loved him back.

As his relationship progressed with Magnus and Clary and Jace figured out all that- Oh no you're my brother; wait you're not my brother; cool let's make out; wait who is my brother then?; oh shit I accidently made out with my actual brother whoopsies- crap, Alec finally got to really know Clary. He started talking to her without Izzy or Jace giving him cautious glances the entire time, and he could train with her without imagining what it would be like to choke her right on the training room floor, feel the tendons in her neck strain and hear her gasp for oxygen, watch her eyes roll back into her head as her heart finally stopped beating. Looking back on those times later on, Alec was embarrassed by his actions.

He even confessed this to Clary one day, explaining the entire story and apologizing countless times when it was over. She had simply smiled gently and pulled him into a hug, her head tucked into the middle of his chest because of their height difference. He had wrapped his arms around her, leaning down to kiss the top of her head, feeling a warm sensation in his stomach that spread down to his toes and out through his fingertips.

From then on they were the best of friends.

Clary taught Alec how to cook some basic dishes to help him escape Izzy's cooking some nights, and that eventually led to them attempting to make increasingly complex dishes that they didn't have half of the ingredients or supplies for.

They went to concerts together, the whole gang, and after Clary complained for the umpteenth time about how she couldn't see anything, Alec would swing her up onto his shoulders and bounce them along to the music while Jace and Magnus looked on with jealousy.

Clary would drag Alec into the library where she'd placed the TV, making him help her create a fort. She'd steal the blankets he was using to make a roof and then deny knowing their location when he asked her later. The only thing that could make her crack was when Alec jumped on her and ripped her shoes and socks off, tickling the bottoms of her bare feet.

Izzy or Jace or even Maryse would pass by the library later that night to see Clary curled up on Alec's chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her. The Lion King would be playing quietly on the TV, washing the two teenagers in various colors. Empty candy wrappers would litter the floor around their little cocoon, pillows thrown haphazardly around the room. It was a sight that could warm even the coldest of hearts.

Whenever the group went out hunting at Pandemonium, it was Alec who would stare down any boy who looked at Clary for too long. When Jace was around, God help the poor soul who even glanced at the redhead the wrong way.

Alec was the one to shoot down the demon that had snuck up behind Clary, ready to sink its claws into her back. Alec was the one to bring her favorite foods from Taki's when she was feeling miserable from the flu. Alec was the one who quizzed her on rune vocabulary for weeks on end and reassured her that she'd pass her Codex exams.

And it was Clary who marked Alec up before every hunt. It was Clary who introduced Alec to Glee, and it was Clary who caught him singing along to the soundtrack of season 3 one night in his boxers. It was also Clary who took a video of said moment, but she never showed it to anyone. Except Izzy, and maybe Jace.

So, in spite of their attitudes when they first met each other, Alec and Clary weren't really all that different.

And as it turns out, they kind of like things this way.

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OH MY GOD I'VE WANTED TO EXPLORE CLARY AND ALEC'S FRIENDSHIP! But there have never really been too many fics on it. SO, here you all go! I really hope you like it, I'll reread and edit this later because I'm sure some of the spelling and grammar is horrendous, but I had a lot of fun writing this.

It's probably a failure, like my last Mortal Instruments fic was. Oh well.

PLEASE review! I need to know if people actually like what I'm writing, because I feel like I'm just sitting here reading my own stories and laughing at my own jokes.

That's probably not too far from the truth, actually. And no one even reads ANs anyways, if you're reading this you're freaking awesome.

Okay, I'll stop rambling now. I love you all so much!

-A :))