"Alec!" I yelled up the stairs. Where is he? "ALEC!" I looked around, then walked up the stairs impatiently. "Alec! I made brownies! Come on or I'll eat all of them!"

"Jace, what the hell are you yelling about? I was sleeping!" I heard from inside his room. Suddenly the door swung in and he appeared in the doorway, looking like a zombie. He had dark circles under his bright ice blue eyes, and his ink-black hair was sticking up everywhere. He was shirtless, but it didn't bother me; I'd seen him shirtless many times before. He was my best friend, nothing else…so why was my brain working overtime trying to convince myself that seeing him like this hadn't sent a hot thrill through me? I decided to ignore it and tempt him with brownies some more. "Hurry up! Come downstairs! I didn't fail this time!"

"You sure?" he asked sleepily, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"I'm sure!" I announced proudly. "I've already eaten one and they are delicious! Come downstairs!"

He groaned. "Can't you just bring me one?"

"No!" I wasn't going to give up.

"Why?" he moaned, running a hand through his tousled hair.

I looked at him like it was obvious. "Because! You need the whole experience of walking into the kitchen and being assaulted with the delicious brownie aroma. Then you have to scoop the warm chocolate cakey thing out of the pan and experience the creamy sticky fudginess of it. Then you have to eat it slowly and I'll laugh at you as it gets all over your face. Then I'll eat one the same way and you'll laugh at me too."

He glared. "What's the real reason?"

I'm all alone down there. No one's home. You're asleep and I feel so isolated. I hate it. I need you, Alec. "That is the real reason. I just want to spend some time with my best friend," I said lightly, punching him in the arm. "Is that so bad?" I asked innocently.

"I guess not," he yawned.

I made an exaggerated bowing motion while beckoning him forward. "Right this way, Sir Alec," I said, letting him go in front of me. I stared at his back as we tramped down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Alec sniffed appreciatively. "Wow, it smells amazing in here."

"I told you so!" I grinned at him, getting the spatula. I meticulously cut two perfect squares out of the waiting pan of chocolate heaven still sitting on the stove. I tried to get them out of the pan, but the brownies had other ideas.

"Jace, you left like the entire thing in the pan," Alec laughed, handing me a plate.

"I realize that! Get a fork!" I ordered, placing the crumb of chocolate I had managed to gather onto the plate. Alec came up behind me and helped me scrape the gooey brownies onto a plate. He was standing very, very close to me. Close enough that my breath caught. He smelled delicious, even better than the brownies. I inhaled the smell of rain and sleep, and something else…almost as if winter had a scent, but sweeter. It was intoxicating.

"Jace? You okay?" Alec asked, staring at my eyes.

I shook my head. "Oh…yeah. I'm great. Just got lost in thought for a bit." I smiled.

"Okay." He shrugged, moving to get another fork. I turned and placed the plate that contained the gooey chocolate mess on the counter. Alec moved toward me and handed me a fork. "I'll admit, these brownies look a lot better than usual. Who taught you how to cook? I know it wasn't Isabelle…" We shared a glance and laughed.

No, it definitely wasn't Isabelle. "Actually, Maryse taught me how to make brownies that don't look and taste like vomit. Turns out I had just been using the wrong measurements…"

He laughed and shook his head at me. "Only you, Jace."

I put my hands up, a fork in my left one. "Hey. I'm a man. And usually men don't cook. Also, I'm a Shadowhunter. You know what that means? It means I'm a golden-eyed sex god who doesn't have to go to school, or ever make my own meals."

"I know, I know," he said, waving his chocolate-covered fork at me. He eyed it for a second and then plunged it into his mouth. His eyes widened as he swallowed. "That's delicious!" he yelped, pulling the fork out of his mouth. I couldn't help but notice his full, shell pink lips. "What? you're staring at me like you're going to eat me or something…" he said. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh, nothing," I said airily, brushing off my mind's comments. "I'm just happy I finally made a dessert to please my bestest friend!" I laughed, pinching his cheek. He giggled – yes, actually giggled – and turned as red as the kitchen walls. Soon we had finished out plate of brownie mush.

"That was great! Let's just eat the whole pan," Alec said. I didn't even bother responding, just moved to the stove and grabbed the white dish. When I brought it to the counter, all hell broke loose. We just shoveled in as much as we could at once.

When half the brownies were gone, Alec gave me a sideways glance. I was about to shove another forkful into my mouth. He moved closer to me and before I could stop him, he reached over and grabbed my wrist, directing the chocolate into his mouth, not mine, our eyes locked the whole time. I growled at him playfully as he went for another scoop, and attacked his fork. We continued like this until the whole pan was empty.

Alec stared at the white dish for a minute, pouting. "We need more brownies," he announced.

He began to walk away and I stared after him in puzzlement. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"The pantry," he called over his shoulder, opening a side door in the kitchen and walking in. "I know we have like seventeen boxes of brownie mix, thanks to Isabelle." I followed him. He pulled two boxes of Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Fudge Delight from a top shelf that was completely lined with them and walked out of the pantry. Again, I just followed. "Get me a huge bowl."

I went to a cabinet and grabbed the biggest one I could find. It was shiny silver ten-inch-deep metal, with about a two-foot diameter. I placed it on the counter and Alex immediately dumped the chocolate powder in. glancing at the box, I gathered milk, eggs, and oil, and poured them into the bowl.

Minutes later, we were ready to cook our chocolate concoction. "Jace, did you turn the oven on?" Alex asked with one hand around the bowl, the other stirring vigorously.

"No, I thought you did," I said distractedly, focusing on how his jet-black hair fell into his face when he stirred. I shook my head, trying to clear it.

"No…" he said, setting down the bowl and looking at one of the boxes. "Will you set it to preheat to 425?"

"Sure," I said, sauntering to the oven. I was thinking about the fact that Alec was still shirtless when suddenly I felt something wet and thick splatter across the back of my shirt. I froze, spinning around.

Alec stood leaning against the counter with a lazy grin on his face, holding the spatula up as if examining it. "Alec!" I yelled.

"What?" he said innocently, but I could see the mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

Staring at him the whole time, I walked up to the shining metal bowl. I dipped my hand in and flung the chocolate goo at Alec. It struck him right in his chest, and dripped down. My stomach fluttered watching its path. He swung the spatula at me again, and a few big drops clung to the front of my shirt. Laughing, I pulled the shirt up over my head and tossed it aside.

Alec stared at me for a moment before smacking the spatula across my bare chest. For a second I was shocked, then I grinned crookedly. Dipping both hands into the bowl, I twisted around him and slapped two sweet handprints onto his shoulder blades. He turned an glared at me. He twisted around me so fast that I barely had time to register the movement. Suddenly I felt something wet and thick in my hair. I glanced up to see Alec spiking my hair with brownie mix. "Ugh, Alec! How am I going to make every girl I see fall at my feet if my hair is messed up with chocolate?" I groaned.

He continued spiking my hair. "You'll figure it out. You're Jace."

Alec had a point.

Fifteen minutes later, we were fighting on the floor, covered in brownie mix. Alec was pinning me to the floor with his elbows and knees on either side of me. I tried not to stare at his bare chocolate-covered chest above me. He grinned down and said, "Are you having fun, Jacey? Your cheeks are so red." Naturally, this made me blush even more. He shifted and sat up on me, straddling my hips.