Even if you don't read this chapter, I recommend reading the second.


The first time Alec saw him he was sitting on the floor, back against the door and eyes drooping with fatigue.

Eyes that shot wide open as soon as he came into view. The man tilted his head, brows furrowing in thought. "We haven't met before, have we?"

Alec paused, his key halfway between his pocket and the door. "No." He took a moment to look over the man. He was attractive, to say the least. Even if he was wearing leather pants and eyeliner.

"Well that's just not right. We're neighbors. Whatever happened to the good ol' days where a man knew his neighbor, goddamn it!" He sprung lithely to his feet and extended his hand. "Magnus Bane."

A little wary after the outburst, Alec shook hands with him. "Alec Lightwood."

"Pleasure to meet you, Alec Lightwood," Magnus said with a grin.

He decided to give in to his curiosity. "Why are you standing out in the hall?"

"Ah, that, right. Left my keys inside. No worries, the landlord should be here soon. And by soon, I mean in about three hours." He didn't look all that concerned.

"Oh. Okay." Alec unlocked his own door - after all, he wasn't the one who had forgotten his keys. He was halfway inside and about to close the door when he noticed someone was in the way. "Can I help you?"

"Aren't you going to invite me inside?"

"No."

"Oh come on. You aren't really going to just leave me out there, are you?"

"I was planning on it."

Magnus rolled his eyes, like it was some sort of inside joke between them. He slid past Alec into the apartment without another word.

Alec sighed. Apparently he had a guest. "Can I get you something to drink?" He asked sarcastically.

"Tea would be great, thanks." Magnus chirped, already making himself at home on the couch. Well at least he had taken his shoes off at the door, Alec thought.

"I don't have tea." Apparently he had also resigned himself to whatever the hell this was.

"Pity. Well then whatever you're having is fine. Oh awesome, you DVR Parks and Rec!"


Alec tried not to wince too much when he put his weight on his foot. "Fuck" he hissed under his breath.

"Alec?" It seemed that he had been so focused on limping that he hadn't noticed Magnus coming home. "What are you doing?" His green eyes took in the clunky ankle brace.

"Going to get my mail."

"What's wrong with your foot?"

"Sprained my ankle." Rather severely, if his doctor was to be believed. He gritted his teeth and took another step forward.

Magnus glanced between the hand he had on the wall to steady himself and his bad foot. "Are you sure you should be walking?"

Not according to the doctor. But what did he know? "I'm fine," Alec assured him. "Look, if you're so worried I'll go get my crutches."

That was definitely the wrong thing to say. "You're supposed to be on crutches?" Magnus exclaimed.

"Technically yes, but I don't think the doctor really knew what he was doing so-"

"Well you can make that decision after you go to medical school." Magnus began steering him back into his apartment, taking some of the weight off his foot. "If you need your mail that badly, I'll get it for you."

"You don't have my key."

"Then give it to me."

Alec knew this wasn't an argument he would win. He gave him the key.


He was dripping with sweat, his heart was pounding like a drum and his muscles ached from disuse.

It was fantastic.

Okay, maybe he didn't need to end his run by sprinting up five flights of stairs but it wasn't his fault. It was one of his first runs since spraining his ankle. So he pushed it a hair too far - sue him.

He turned the last corner to his apartment, mere feet away from privacy and a relaxing shower, when the only other person in the hall caught his eye. "Morning."

Magnus grinned in that unique way of his. The one that could easily be mistaken for a smirk until you saw his eyes and the way they lit up. "Howdy, neighbor," he said with the tip of an invisible hat.

Alec bit the inside of his cheek to hide a smile and shook his head. "No. Just no."

Magnus shrugged. "Yeah, I can't really pull that off. Hey, are you hungry? We can grab breakfast if you want."

He could eat. "Sure. I just have to go inside and change real quick."

"No, don't, I kinda like the sweaty look."

Alec laughed awkwardly, hoping Magnus would write off the sudden blush as a result of the exercise. "Uh, whatever. Let me just get my wallet then."

Magnus patted his pockets like he was searching for something. "Right, good idea."

It hardly took him the blink of an eye to get what he needed, although after a second thought - and sniff - he decided to change clothes despite what Magnus said. Magnus was already waiting for him in the hall, furiously jiggling his door handle and cursing under his breath.

It seemed Magnus had forgotten more than just his wallet.

"Everything alright there?" Alec teased.

"I hate locks! I swear to Mother Gaia, I will implant a key in my arm if I have to. I will permanently attach it to my body if it means I never forget the bloody thing again!"

"Hey Magnus?"

"What?" He snarled.

Alec held up his own wallet between two fingers. "Still want to get breakfast?"


Either someone was trying to break down his door with a battering ram, or someone really needed to learn how to knock properly. Eventually Alec concluded that whoever it was didn't have anywhere to be, and he decided to open the door.

"Do you have any tequila?"

Alec blinked. Mostly because Magnus had just nearly punched him, thinking his face was a door. "Um, no. I actually have nothing but beer."

It was Magnus's turn to look surprised. "Domestic?"

Alec nodded.

Magnus looked horrified. "Oh dear God. Alexander, you really need to expand your palate."

Before he knew it, a hand was on his arm and he was being dragged out the door. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to force so much alcohol into you. I have really good scotch, and if you're lucky I'll put those two years of bartending to good use and make you a drink. Maybe a Sazerac, you'd probably like that. Have you ever tried absinthe before?"

"No."

"Oh awesome. I hope you can call in sick tomorrow because we're going to get so fucked up."


He almost felt bad about doing this but...It was a necessary evil.

Magnus's door was nearly always unlocked when he was home. And his television was amazing - thin and bright and so beautiful in that moment there might as well have been angels singing. Alec figured he wouldn't mind. Right? After all, he had invited himself into Alec's apartment on several occasions.

Alec found the remote and began searching for the right channel. Apparently the volume of the TV was enough to draw Magnus out of wherever he was.

"Alec? What are you doing?" If he had to guess, Alec would have said Magnus sounded amused.

He decided honesty was in the fact the best policy. At least in this instance. "I forgot to pay the cable bill and I'm missing the game. What channel is ESPN on?"

Magnus rolled his eyes and took over the remote. Seconds later Alec was engrossed by the game once again. Magnus sank down onto the couch beside him and kicked his feet up on the table.

"Pass the chips."


Alec felt way too exhausted for it to only be eight pm.

He wasn't even surprised at this point. His morning had kicked off with an alarm that had gone off two hours too early, only for him to fall back asleep and sleep through the correct alarm. Then he'd lost his MetroCard, nearly got fired for being late, accidentally insulted his sister over the phone, and finally he had come home to find that he'd left the water running in the bathroom and all the lights and air conditioning on.

So his utility bill was fucked.

Then he just had to go and be optimistic. No, worse: hopeful. He remembered the guy he'd met at the bar. Able to hold an actual conversation - asking "my place or yours?" didn't count - and didn't need a fake ID to get into a bar.

His standards just were getting lower and lower.

But on top of that, the guy had been cute and sort of funny, so when he asked for Alec's number he gave it to him.

Now Alec just felt like bitching to someone. Isabelle wasn't exactly available, thanks to his foot-in-mouth disease. It was a real problem. There needed to be charities and research centers for people like him.

He was just outside his door when he suddenly gave up, groaned, and slid down the length of the wall. Fuck beds, he would sleep in the hall. He didn't want to move. (It was worth mentioning that Alec was a little drunk and more than a little overdramatic.)

"Hey I thought I heard you making dying walrus noises out here."

"I hate you."

Magnus laughed and settled on the ground next to him.

"Aren't you supposed to be at..." Alec rummaged through his mental storage. "A play or musical or something? With that blonde friend of yours."

"Oh that. I'm sick." He looked Magnus up and down. He looked fine. "Not really," Magnus admitted. "I just didn't want to go. Don't get me wrong, anyone who doesn't like the Sound of Music can suck my dick, but that's the exception to the rule."

"And the rule is?"

"That musicals are boring."

"What about Le Misérables? Wicked, the Book of Mormon?" Alec would go his grave claiming that Isabelle had forced him to watch all those.

"Who knew you were so cultured?"

Alec gave him the middle finger.

Magnus laughed again. "So how was your night? You're back early."

Alec groaned loudly, leaning into the body beside him. "I just left the worst date ever."

"Really? What happened?"

"It was going fine until we were interrupted...By his girlfriend. Actually, scratch that. His fiancée."

Magnus made a sympathetic noise. "Yikes. Let me guess; she was pissed at you, not her cheating boyfriend."

"Right in one."

"Ugh. Sorry about your date."

Alec shrugged. "Wasn't the worst part of my day."

Magnus raised an eyebrow but apparently decided not to question it. "Alright. Do you want to go do something? It's still pretty early."

Alec shook his head. "I'm good. Maybe another time, I'm kinda tired." Pleasantly tipsy and relaxed now that Magnus was there was probably more accurate.

Alec started to get up. It took him a moment to get the key into the lock but he managed it.

Still sitting cross-legged on the floor, Magnus tried again. "You wanna put on Breaking Bad and play Battleship?"

The question startled a laugh out of him. "I cheat," he warned.

Magnus rolled his eyes and stood up. "Who doesn't?"


"Hold out your hand and close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just do it, Alec."

He did as instructed. A moment later something small and metal was dropped into his palm. Alec opened his eyes. "A key?"

Was Magnus blushing? He looked almost...shy. It was cute. "To my apartment. You know, I just thought it'd be practical. Me always forgetting my keys or losing them and you come over pretty often so I just figured." Magnus made a vague gesture.

Alec smiled and closed his hand around the key.

The next day, he gave Magnus a copy of his key.


"-so then she called me an asshole, started throwing clothes into a bag, and said she was going to stay with her friend Simon. At this point I don't give a shit about keeping it a secret anymore. I get down on one knee, show her the ring and ask her to marry me. She said yes, we had a great rest of the night. So wants to tell her mom right away, so we go to Brooklyn, meet Jocelyn for breakfast, and she - Jocelyn, not Clary - slaps me for making her daughter cry. So that's why I have the handprint on my face."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "You deserved it."

"What? How?" Jace spluttered. "All I wanted was to get engaged, and in return my future mother-in-law hits me!"

"Proposals are supposed to be romantic. You're supposed to make her think you love her and want to spend the rest of your life with her - not make her think you're cheating on her."

"Well I apologize for going to every jewelry store in Manhattan trying to find the perfect ring."

"You could have proposed with a rubber band and she would have said yes."

"Maybe, but I'm classy as fuck."

Alec snorted lightly. He was perfectly fine with listening to Jace and Isabelle bicker and gossip, but every once in a while he felt the need to comment. "I don't think any classy person says that they're 'classy as fuck.'"

"Shut up, Alec," Jace said with no real bite. "What do you know? It's nine am on a Saturday and you're having beer and Chinese takeout for breakfast."

"So are you."

"But I'm using the chopsticks."

"What difference does that make?"

"It implies that I'm cultured - and good with my hands." Jace waggled his eyebrows.

Isabelle made a face. "Ugh. I just remembered why we don't live together."

"Because we're adults with paying jobs?" Jace asked.

"Because I can only tolerate you in small doses."

Then the door opened and Magnus swept in, holding a bowl full of dry cereal and a handful of envelopes. He glanced at Jace and Isabelle on the couch, then carried on like they weren't there. "Hey Alec." He tossed the envelopes on the counter. "I picked up your mail for you. Do you have any milk?"

There was no need to answer because Magnus was already looking in his fridge. But he did anyway, along with standing up and going over to him. "Yeah I just picked some up. Thanks, by the way." He nodded at the mail. "That's Jace and Isabelle, I told you about them."

"Right," Magnus nodded. He poured the milk over his cereal and leaned against the counter as he began eating.

"Your ex-girlfriend stopped by. I ran into her in the hallway"

Magnus swallowed. "Jesus Christ. What did you say?"

"I'm sorry, no English, you have today's homework, ugly face?" Alec smiled to himself, knowing Magnus would find it funny once he explained.

Magnus blinked. "Did you just have a stroke?"

"No. When I saw her I panicked and started speaking French. Badly. You were right, she has the crazy eyes."

As expected, Magnus laughed. "Didn't I tell you? I mean, what sane person steals someone's bed frame?"

"I'm still impressed by that. You were only gone, like what? An hour?"

"I'm glad my life amuses you." Magnus deadpanned. "Anyway, I should get back. Are you still coming over for dinner tonight?"

"To get food poisoning? I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "Alright, Chuckles. I'll see you later, provided that you leave the jokes at home."

Once he was gone, Alec reclaimed his seat by his siblings and settled back in for breakfast.

Isabelle raised an eyebrow. "Who was that?"

It dawned on him that he hadn't actually introduced Magnus. "Oh, that was Magnus. He lives across the hall."

Jace and Isabelle exchanged a look that Alec couldn't decipher.

Eventually Isabelle shrugged. "He's kind of cute," she said, smiling down at her food.


"Ugh." Alec collapsed amidst a sea of cardboard boxes. "Why do you need so much shit?"

Magnus set down another box on the kitchen counter. "Half of this is yours," he retorted.

"No, it's not. Maybe twenty five percent of it is - thirty, if we're pushing it. But there's no way half of this is mine."

Magnus laid down beside him and tugged on his shirt. Alec went easily, parting his lips slightly as they met Magnus's. Everything about it was familiar and easy and warm. The kiss stayed patient, existing in the realm of love without crossing into lust.

"We'll have to get a copy of the key made tomorrow," Magnus murmured against his mouth.

"So much work," he groaned.

Magnus pulled away. "But it's worth it, right?" He asked, and Alec knew he wasn't just talking about their new apartment.

Alec smiled. "Yeah...It's worth it." As if that was ever in question. There wasn't a day that went by that Alec wasn't grateful for Magnus locking himself out that first night.


Most of these bits and pieces were taken from/inspired by a multi-chapter AH story I have in my drafts. Comment if you'd be interested in that.