PART I: Meeting the Players

"No, let's just go pick it up." Clary kicked herself off the wall, she went on patrol with Alec before they headed back to Magnus' loft where Jace, Simon, and Izzy were already waited. Magnus had set up a date night because he wanted to see Alec but his parents were being weird so Magnus cut the rules and invited everyone so the Lightwoods couldn't complain. "Come on, Magnus walk with me."

Magnus just glared at her from his spot in his oversized armchair, Alec was sitting on the arm of the chair and Magnus had his hand under Alec's shirt, drawing circles on his skin. "No, biscuit, no."

"Come on, I want some air and I can't carry it alone." She looked at him with a whine.

"Fine." He kept his glare in place, she wanted something from him, he could tell. Magnus kept his motion on Alec's skin.

Alec reached around to pull his hand away from him; intertwining their figures. "Want me to come?"

"Nope, biscuit and I got it." Magnus stood up and winked at Alec before motioning Clary out the door.

Alec glared at Jace, "What was that about?" He took Magnus' vacated seat. Izzy and Simon were standing on the balcony just talking.

"No idea but she was talking about how good she felt about you having someone to be with. She really likes Magnus but she also wants to know why he calls her 'biscuit'." Jace was sitting on the couch by himself. "She's been kind of weird since I told her we would be coming here.

"She was her normal nonstop talkative self on patrol, really every demon for miles could have heard her." Alec had his issues with Clary but they were getting better, slowly, very slowly. He felt he could talk to her more and more and she wasn't as annoying as she had been in the beginning.

...

"Alright, what gives?" Magnus and Clary were almost to the Chinese restaurant when he finally asked. They had talked a little about Alec and Jace but mainly just small talk.

"Well, I wanted fresh air and sometimes all the Shadowhunter talk can be a little much, ya know? Also, I wanted to know why you call me 'biscuit'? I just still feel so new-" Clary stopped when she heard someone call out to another person and Magnus' eyes grow wide. She frowned at his face.

"Mike? Mike Chang?"

Magnus turned around with a groan, he hadn't heard that name in the last ten years and he was shocked when he did hear it. It was possible they weren't talking to him but he knew them, Rachel Berry and Tina Cohen all the way from Lima, Ohio. He instantly hated Clary for getting him to go out with her. He was going to die, the earth was going to swallow him whole.

"Oh my god, it is you." Rachel called in her usually annoying voice, Magnus really disliked her the most.

"Rachel. Tina. Hello." He called a smile to his face but Clary knew it was forced. She kind of wanted to laugh at the panic on his face.

"I didn't know you were in New York and wow the makeup and hair. I almost didn't notice you." Tina spoke to him. "You still look so young."

Magnus' smile relaxed a little, "Yeah, you can never go wrong with a good skin care routine."

"Oh!" Rachel pointed at him, "We are doing a small dinner on Friday. You have to come."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Rachel smiled, her usual wide smile. "Come on, bring your girlfriend." She pointed to Clary.

"Oh god no, we are not dating." Clary called out, "Alec would kill me. And not my style."

Magnus frowned at her, "Jeez Clary, thanks." He stared at her forgetting for a moment that they had company. "I am a lot of people's style, Alec is lucky to have me."

"I know he is, that's why he would kill me." Clary glared at him with a smile. "Let's be honest, Alec would be happy to get rid of me."

"You're dating a man?" Tina called, shock written across her face and in her voice. "You're gay?"

Magnus groaned turning back to her, "Bi." He cleared the air, only slightly.

"Wow, I never would have guessed that in high school."

Magnus groaned again the second the words left her mouth, he saw the look on Clary's face.

She turned bright red with bubbling laughter. "High school? You went to high school?" Her face was a deep red with the need to breathe but the laughter was too loud and she couldn't stop. She was sure she looked crazy to the two girls but they obviously didn't know Magnus' true nature, they didn't even know his real name. "Oh my god!"

"Shut up, Clary." There was a clear warlock warning in his tone but she waved him off, almost doubling over in laughter. He turned back to Tina and Rachel, "Ignore her. She's a brat."

"So, your bi and I had no idea even after all those times I made out with you."

"What?" Clary practically yelled before looking between the two of them, her eyes went big then she almost doubled over in laughter again. "You had a girlfriend in public high school. Did you have a boyfriend too?"

"Yes, actually, I did."

"What?" It was Rachel's turn to speak up.

"Listen, I'm sorry but we have to go, our food is waiting. It was nice seeing you but I don't think I can make it to dinner on Friday."

"You have to, it's a glee club event. It's at _ on Park at 7pm. Make sure you come." Rachel and Tina walked away then in time to hear Clary bust out into another laughter fit and her loud 'oh my god'. "Please bring your boyfriend as well. Kurt and Blaine will be there."

Magnus felt like putting a hex on Rachel and Tina for ruining his life. The entire way to the Chinese place and back, Clary would go into fits of laughter muttering about 'high school' and 'glee club'. She would calm down for all of ten seconds then back to laughing.

They had finally made it back to his apartment when he stopped her. "Clary, if you don't stop laughing they will know something's up. And I'm not ready to tell anyone about that stage of my life yet. It was a bet gone wrong and I prefer to keep it that way."

"Yeah, of course," She smiled, "You've done so much for me. I can at least do this." She trailed off into a soft giggle. Her worries from earlier in the evening were forgotten entirely.

Magnus didn't have much hope for Clary to keep her word. "Clary, I am a warlock, remember. I cast spells." He was hoping the veiled threat would be enough. He also didn't hold out much hope for this. His little Shadowhunters and the little vampire didn't see him as a threat anymore; maybe this was something he needed to fix.

She just nodded at him with a smile in her eyes and they made their way upstairs. She took the time to lay out all of the Chinese on the table while Magnus magicked up plates and forks or chopsticks for everyone. Clary looked up at him and had a massive grin on her face.

Magnus frown, she was going to crack.

Clary giggled a little, earning a few weird looks. She bit her cheek and took a deep breath but it didn't help she laughed out loud, staring at Magnus.

"Clary, what's going on?" Jace eyed her. "The walk with Magnus that good?"

"Nothing." She couldn't get the word out with another laugh. "It's nothing."

Magnus groaned which cause Alec to frown at him. Something happened and they weren't saying.

She tried to get herself under control but it was useless.

"Clary, shut up." Magnus couldn't help himself; he also cracked a smile at her. She looked at him and lost her mind laughing at him again. "Oh my god, I'm going to put a spell on you so you can never laugh again." He laughed slightly with her, it wasn't a full-on laugh but it was in his voice. She was too infectious not to laugh along with her.

"I'm sorry." She let out a sharp breath, she tried it again but it wasn't working. "I'm so sorry."

"If you were sorry you would have listened to me. Stop laughing." Magnus smirked again. He had put his plate down on the coffee table and renewed his efforts to touch his boyfriend's skin on the small of his back. Slipping his hand under his shirt once again. Alec was used to this by now and didn't say or do anything when he felt him touching him. Magnus did this to him every chance he got whether they were in public or private as it was his favorite part of their relationship. It was also a habit Alec had picked up with him.

"I can't I'm sorry, you have to tell them."

Magnus removed his hand from Alec and just stared at her. Alec didn't like this and turned from his seat on the chair arm to stare at him. The loss of skin to skin contact bothered him more than Magnus and Clary sharing a secret. He was sure everybody in this room had secrets and it wasn't his place to pry but it was enough for Magnus to stop his motions and that was not okay with him. Call him selfish.

"Fine." Magnus looked around the group and stood up, he went to the center of the room, "While we were out, we ran into two girls who I knew from about ten years ago or so. I knew they lived in the city now but I've never run into them. We don't exactly run in the same circles."

"Mike?" Clary prompted him.

Magnus glared at her. "I lost a bet with Catarina and Ragnor and my punishment was I had to spend two years in Lima, Ohio."

"Doing what?" Clary prompted again.

He glared at her again, this was going to be a long night. "Going to public high school; I pretended to be Mike Cheng who was a seventeen and eighteen-year-old high school kid."

"And?"

"One of the girls from this evening," Magnus looked at Alec this time, he knew this part was going to suck. "She was my ex-girlfriend. We dated for about a year." Alec frowned, Clary met one of his exs and he didn't. He moved from the arm of the chair to the actual chair. "I also dated another guy but no one knew. He wasn't part of the high school so no one knew until this evening when Clary outed me to them."

"Sorry, about that by the way. But they thought I was his girlfriend and I couldn't let that happen so I told them about Alec." She gestured to him with a glance, he didn't look happy but he didn't seem mad either.

Simon laughed a little, "You went to high school? Public high school?"

"That's not the best part."

Magnus sighed at Clary, she was just outing him all night. "You know biscuit I can still put a spell on you." He looked back around, he was avoiding Alec; he knew that was not going to be a good look. "I joined a few things while I was at the school. The football team and glee club."

That was sent Clary and Simon into a fit of laughter. Clary went over the edge first. Simon followed after with huge eyes, looking Magnus up and down then went down the same rabbit hole Clary went down.

"Alright, alright, chuck it up you two. I will get back at you somehow."

Izzy and Jace were smiling along because Clary and Simon were infectious.

"I don't understand. What's glee club?" Alec spoke, wishing Magnus would meet his eye.

He did, finally, "It's a singing and dancing club. You compete against other schools on large stages and create a dance routine. Tina and I were often partners as we were dating."

"Magnus was a full on nerd in high school." Simon went into another fit of laughter. "I mean, I was in glee club for a year as well but that would be normal for me. I never thought you would be."

"You're forgetting I was also on the football team. Not that it meant much, we had many players and cheerleaders in glee club."

"Well, I guess there are a few core members holding a reunion this Friday and they want Magnus to go. They even said to bring Alec." Clary spoke for him again.

Magnus was ready to magically make her shut up. "I'm not going."