CHAPTER 1 – THE RENDEZVOUS

Alec fidgeted with the end of his sleeve as he waited for Clary. He had asked her to meet him at Taki's. When a mystified Clary asked why, he told her that she would know when they meet.

The doorbell jingled, signifying that someone had entered and Alec's head shot up as he saw Clary make her way towards the booth he was in.

"Hey, Alec," she greeted him as she took her seat.

"Hey."

"Now that I'm here, mind telling me why you called me to meet you at 1 in the morning?" Clary yawned.

Alec looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry about that. But this is the only time when Magnus is a little…" he stopped and searched for the right word.

"…less watchful?" Clary offered.

"Not exactly. But it'll do. Anyway, it's his birthday in six months and I need your help."

Clary looked surprised for a moment. "Alec Lightwood asking for little girl's help? My morning just got a lot better."

Alec glared. Clary flinched and threw her hands up in surrender.

"Lately, he's been obsessed with paintings."

"And you can tell his how?"

Alec looked at her sceptically before replying, "One, he's my boyfriend. Two, he's dragged me to at least 15 art exhibits in the past week. It's really hard to not notice."

Clary gave him a look of pity and for once, Alec was thankful for it.

"So I want to make him one. A painting of just the two of us. The reason why I'm telling you this six months earlier is because I need some…lessons on painting."

Clary looked dreamily from across the table and Alec could almost see the gears turning in her artistic brain, probably planning out all the details.

"Um….Earth to Clary?"

"Wha—Oh! Sorry, kinda lost myself there. But sure, six months is more than enough. I'm assuming you want the lessons to happen in secret. So…." Clary trailed off.

"I got that covered. I've already told Magnus that a new batch of Shadowhunters have arrived at the Institute and that as Head, I'll have to give them training for the next six months. I also told him that I'll be home an hour late."

Clary seemed to catch on because her eyes lit up with excitement. "Let me guess. That one hour is for the lessons?"

Alec nodded with a shy smile.

Clary clapped her hands together before continuing, "What do you wanna paint?"

"I haven't really decided. Maybe a picture of me and Magnus on one of our dates."

"Do you have any pictures of you and Magnus?"

"No…" Alec trailed off with a sigh.

The redhead looked at him thoughtfully. A plan was taking shape in her mind, but she would need Izzy's help. She also had to make sure Alec would never know of that plan because it wasn't something he was going to like.

"Okay…" she said carefully. "What about memories? Memories of you and Magnus on one of your dates?"

"No. I don't want to take any moments from them because I was still insecure back then when we went on all those dates. And they weren't exactly memorable."

"Then go on one tomorrow. The two of you have been together for a year. You're more confident now, right?"

Alec seemed to brighten at the idea of another date. "Right. But where should I take him? He's the one who does all the planning."

"Paris."

"Why Paris?"

"Many people call it 'Ville de L'amour' for a reason."

"The City of Love?"

"Yep. It's the perfect place for romantic dates."

"Uh huh…."

"Well, you can take it from here I guess. I need to go and so should you. We don't want Magnus and Jace waking up in the middle of the night because of a cold pillow, do we?" Clary said as the two got up and headed outside.

Alec shuddered at that thought. If Magnus 'did' wake up to an empty bed, he'd go into a fit of panic and the chain of events after that would eventually lead to him finding out about Alec's plan before he even got a chance to execute it.

He waited as Clary created two portals, one for her and one for Alec. Alec decided to portal to Magnus's living room instead of the bedroom because the sound of the portal was bound to wake him up.

Five seconds later, he was walking into the bedroom and snuggling into his boyfriend.