"So you won't come?" Jace, Alec's best friend stood in the doorway of his room, "I know that Aline girl is going to be there." Alec stared into his mirror, seeing the bruises on his face received earlier that day from the fight he had. They were sore and made his face swell, "After that beating you gave that kid, I thought you would want to be seen looking tough."

Alec sighed and turned towards his friend, "I'm not that into myself like unlike some people."

"Oh, c'mon…" Jace laughed, but when Alec didn't smile back, his face dropped, "Hey, are you really that mad about what she said?" For that past two months, Camille Belcourt had been telling everyone at school that he had tried to kiss her friend, Raphael. He finally lost his temper and confronted them, but it had turned out badly. Though Alec had clearly won the fight, he had gotten suspended and a stern talking to from his father.

"Maybe I am." He shook his head, "Listen I'm confused about some things, and Camille took advantage of that." He looked into his friends eyes, "If I did like boys… Would you still want to be my friend?"

Jace laughed, and put his arm around Alec, "You can't get rid of me that easily. I'm not afraid of boys who like boys, you're stuck with me."

"Jace, really I-"

"Drop it." He let go of Alec and headed down the hallway, Alec staring at the empty space where Jace had been standing.

Alec had been so confused lately. He knew he was supposed to like girls, but lately boys seemed more beautiful. Was he sick?

"Hey!" Alec peeked his head through the doorway, "If I go to that party, will you introduce me to that girl?"

There was a sly smirk on Jace's face, "Sure, anything for you."

After Isabelle had picked out his clothes, a tight gray tank top with a white trim, tight black jeans and dark leather boots, he headed out to Jace's car. It was an old 77' Camaro, the leather was sleek and the radio system worked well.

"You ready?" Jace had his long gold hair tied back, and he wore a long black hoodie with denim jeans. He tossed a bag in the back seat. Alec nodded and the two drove off. The silence between them didn't last long when Jace said, "I didn't want Robert to hear, but tell me what you're going through," he turned left sharply, but Alec had long since gotten used to his friends driving, "No matter what, I'm here for you."

He wanted to tell Jace, he really did. Out of all the people in the world, he knew that he could trust him with all his secrets. With a sigh he said, "The other day in gym, there was that boy I hit with that volley ball. Well…"

"Did he get under your skin?" Jace smirked, "Into the flimsy kind?"

"Jace shut-up for a second," Alec grumbled, it was hard enough admitting this to him without his stupid banter, "Turns out he has 5th period with me, and he's been passing me notes and flirting with me a lot. I thought it was silly, but he wasn't in class yesterday and I started to worry about him a little. That was when Camille confronted me, and I was in a bad mood, and that fight just…"

"Who was that kid again?" Jace asked.

"His first name is Magnus…" He said, his fluttered saying his name out loud.

"Talk about a small world," Jace parked his car, reached for his bag, and grabbed the door handle, "This happens to be HIS party."

The blood rushed from Alec's face at those words, "I'll stay in the car, have fun."

"No, no." Jace ran to the other side of the car and opened his door, grabbing his arm trying to pull him out, "I'm not going to watch your chance at romance disappear. You should go find him." Jace pulled his arm hard, causing him to stumble out of the car falling onto the road. He barely managed to pick himself up before Jace was picking him up and dragging him towards the house.

Sunset was beginning and it settled behind the house, the light was almost blinding but Alec managed to see behind the house. The size of it was impressive, perfect for a large party, which had already started. The music was loud, and there were people yelling and singing.

Jace had gotten the two to the door before Alec could escape, and he rang the doorbell, "This will be fun." Jace said to him, "You should tell that Magnus guy you think he's cool."

"I do not think he's cool," Alec flushed, "He's just some guy that-"

The door opened.

And there stood the dark skinned gold eyed man, Magnus Bane. His hair was wet, and a yellow towel hung around his broad shoulders, like had just gotten out of the shower. He wore a loose pair of dark blue swim trunks. His eyes instantly locked on Alec's. A gentle smirk formed on his lips, making him look almost devilish. Alec froze in his spot, suddenly feeling very warm, "Alexander…" he said, "What a pleasant surprise."

"H-hey…" Alec said, "Nice house."

"Can we come in? I'm Clary's date." Jace said.

"You're Fray's boy?" Magnus said, taking him in, "Sure, the both of you are welcome. Just stay out of the upstairs. Shut the door behind you."

Magnus disappeared quickly, leaving the door open for them. Jace walked in first, Alec second feeling out of place, "Hey, with that look on your face, you're going to make Magnus feel bad."

"What?"

"You're acting like a scared little lamb." Jace leaned against on the dark walls of hallway, "Before you actually go out there, take these." He reached in the backpack he brought and pulled out Alec's swim trunks, "Put these on, show him what a stud you are. Flaunt those abs."

Alec almost choked on his shock, "Jace, you moron!" He seriously wanted to hit him, "Why would I need to put those on?!"

"It's a pool party, dumbass." He threw them at Alec, and then started pulling off his shirt and jeans, revealing his black swimming trunks, "I'll see you out there."

Alec stood in silence for a moment, staring at the floor. What was he afraid of? Magnus? No, well maybe. He sort of felt more excited, but he didn't want word getting to his father about his condition. Alec had always sort of liked his body, but he never wanted to show it like that.

With a sigh, he found a small bathroom with only a standing shower and a great porcelain vanity. The tile was dark and expensive. Looking around his surroundings, he noticed everything looked expensive. Alec took great care not to knock anything over, or make a mess in the bathroom. Sure he was just changing out of his clothes, but he wanted to be careful.

Taking deep breaths, and staring at his own reflection Alec said, "You are not scared. Just go make friends, and have fun." He straightened up, gathered his clothes to give to Jace's bag, and walked out of the bathroom.

When he had found the party, Jace was jumping into one of the biggest house pools he had ever seen. There was even a water slide. People were dancing in their bathing suits, laughing, eating, drinking and all in all having a good time. There were pillars all around the yard, strung with Japanese style lantern lights. The setting sun gave a gold color to the water illuminating the scene.

"Alec!" he heard his name called by several people. There was a group of his friends standing to the far end of the pool. He noticed Simon Lewis, Clary Fray, Mark Blackthorn, Aline Penhallow, and a now soaked Jace.

Quickly, he made his way over to them, looking down trying to be as unnoticeable as possible. When he had reached the group Jace threw his arm around Alec, "He's over there." He whispered pointed to the other side of the pool. Alec had walked right past the group he stood with.

Magnus was holding hands with a pair of legs with very white blond hair. He realized who she was instantly, Camille Belcourt. Alec's heart dropped instantly. Magnus noticed him staring and let go of Camille's hand instantly, staring back at him.

Camille glared back at Magnus, and then followed his trail of sight. Alec was now staring into the eyes of an enraged girl, her face contorted into a scowl. She flipped her long blond hair, and walked away from Magnus.

He didn't really seem to care, because he turned back to his group of friends.

"..and I mean, just look at those eyes." Aline's voice brought him back to the party, "By eyes I mean abs." Everyone was laughing, staring at him. She had gotten closer to Alec, almost enough to where their bare skin touched.

Jace looked grim, eyeing Alec cautiously. Rolling his eyes, Alec turned away and headed towards the house. He realized that he really didn't want to be here; he had no idea what he was trying to prove. Jace was calling after him, and soon he was next to him

"What's wrong?" He asked, "I can tell Aline to back off."

"When she asks what's wrong with me," Alec started, "What are you going to tell her? I can't just throw myself at a girl; it's not fair for her."

"I don't expect you to Alec." Jace crossed his arms, "Listen, if you really are so confused about your sexuality, why don't you go talk to that Magnus guy? He's been looking at you the whole time you've been here."

"The whole 10 minutes?" Alec hissed, "Must be quite a look if you noticed it."

"Yeah, it's quite the look." His friend turned away from him. "I'm not going to force you to sleep with anyone you don't want to. If you want something, go for it. If it doesn't work out, at least you learned something from it."

Jace turned away, and headed back to a concerned looking Clary. It was easy for him to say, those two were completely in love with each other. It was almost disgusting.

There was a loud splash of water, and Alec turned around. Magnus was resurfacing the water, turning to float on his back. His body was long and lean, dark everywhere, "You're staring again." A venomous voice said behind him.

He turned to find Camille in a bikini, hair pulled up into a tight bun, "H-hey Camille." Alec meant for it to sound stronger, "I'm gonna go, so-"

"No." She said flatly, "Why don't you say? There's enough eye candy for you to last you for months."

"I don't want any trouble." Alec wanted to walk to the glass door and leave, but she was blocking it, "I'll just go home, and-"

"And what?" She asked, "Think about Magnus while you touch yourself?"

This was when Alec started feeling sorry for her. She saw Alec as a threat, this was why she as treating him like this, "Camille, I don't think you understand. I've only had any real conversations with Magnus maybe two times, in class."

She walked up to him, "Then why does he talk about you so often? Why did he…" she looked ravenous, "Why did he break up with me?!" She shoved him hard, catching him off balance. His back hit the sandpaper like concrete, sending spikes of pain all over his body, "You're a freak!" she screamed, "A goddamn pervert!"

People were rushing towards them. Raphael was pulling Camille back, along with some of her other friends, and someone was lifting Alec off the ground, "Wow," Magnus' voice was in his ear, "You're back is looking pretty bad."

Camille's friends had managed to get her far away enough to try and calm her, "What is going on?" Jace and Clary were in front of him, trying to take him from Magnus.

"I'll go get him cleaned up," Magnus sighed, "This is my fault."

Jace raised an eyebrow smugly at Alec and took Clary away from the two. Alec really wanted them to stay, he felt like was being led away with his predator, "I'm fine really." Alec tried, but he felt a little dizzy.

"Come now," Magnus clicked his tongue, "That blood tells me otherwise." He lead him to the upstairs, there hung several pictures of faraway places with Magnus and two other people. He wanted to ask about them, but he didn't fell it was the right time.

"I thought you said we weren't allowed upstairs," Alec said, his feet running along the soft white carpet.

"Yes, but you're with me. Also, the first aid kit is here." The turned a corner, and he pushed Alec into a rather large bathroom, "Sit on the toilet, and I'll be back."

Alec had a chance to look into the mirror again. His back was shredded with bits of rock and gravel dug into it. The backs of his arms and legs had taken some damage as well. He found his spot on top of the toilet, and waited humming quietly to himself. Magnus walked in holding a basket of gauzes, bottles and Band-Aids.

"I'm glad you can follow instructions." Magnus laughed.

"Yes well…" Alec started, but Magnus had grabbed his bare shoulder and turned him around, pressing a clean wet hand towel to his back. His back stung, but he held back the cry that formed in the back of this throat, "What's on that?" he asked instead.

"It's an antiseptic." Magnus explained, "Don't worry, I've done this before. I'm going to pull these rocks out of your back. Let's talk about something while I do this." Alec felt his hands on his back, "What's your favorite color?"

"W-what?" Alec was confused, but there was stab of pain has Magnus started pulling out the rocks with a pair of tweezers.

"If you keep talking," Magnus said, "It will hurt less. Don't forget to breathe. What's your favorite color?"

Alec looked down at his swim trunks, "Blue." He said eyeing the color.

"It's a good color for you." Magnus said, jerking more rocks out of his back, "This last one is a little deep, so prepare yourself. When I tell you to breathe in, do so. Then on my queue breathe out, okay?" Magnus wrapped his around to Alec's front, placed his hand in the middle of Alecs chest.

Alec only nodded, he couldn't manage anything else. Magnus pressed his body into his hand, "Okay, take a deep breath." Alec did, "Now exhale." And he did.

The tweezers dug into his skin, and Alec cried out. Magnus held his body tightly in place as he searched for the stone, "Magnus…" Alec breathed, "Hurry up, you're killing me."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He cooed, "Almost got it, keep breathing." Magnus released him, and stood, "You did really well, I'll get you bandaged up. I should get you home afterwards." He walked over to the sink, Alec could hear him rifling through something, "So do you have any hobbies?"

"I like martial arts." Alec found himself explaining, "I'm pretty good at it."

"That's cool," Magnus was wrapping gauze around his torso, "I did some studies on Jiujutsu when I went to Japan last year."

"You were in Japan?"

"Yes," He pulled the bandaging, "I had a lot of fun there." He turned Alec around to face him, his eyes were shining, "You're legs are scraped up, so are your arms. Did you hit your head at all?

"Those are okay." Alec flushed, trying to escape his gaze. His head was pounding, but not because of reasons one would think. Magnus was still wet from the pool, his hair slicked back and his chest was bare.

"Do you want to rest a bit before you go?" Magnus reached over touched the back of his head, "There is a bit of a lump there."

"C-can I…" Alec started, the air escaping his chest, "Can I try something?"

Magnus gave him a confused stare, but Alec stood up wrapping his fingers around Magnus' upper arms, "Alec," he started, but Alec pressed his lips to Magnus'. He instantly felt something go off in his mind, something that he had been denying for quite a while.

Alec kissed him gently, and Magnus returned them, pulling him closer. Gently Magnus pressed his hands to Alec's unbandaged lower back, forcing whatever bare skin Alec had to touch Magnus'.

Magnus broke away, looking into Alec's eyes holding him in place, "Alec, wait." He kept holding him, running the palms of this hands on his sides, "I really like you." He could almost see red touching his dark skin, "I'm tired of liking someone, then getting my heart broke."

"Then why does Camille say that you broke up with her?" Alec questioned. Magnus closed his eyes, furrowing his brow. He let go of Alec and sat on the edge of bath tub.

"It's complicated with Camille and I." Magnus explained, "She's been in my life for so long, I became comfortable with her. It's just…" He put his head in his hands, "I saw you, and I realized that there could be something different. Camille is like poison; she leads you into a false sense of security, and then uses your weaknesses for her own personal gain."

"She sounds like a super villain." Alec tried to lighten the mood.

Magnus looked up at him, "She is." It was silent for a bit, but then there was loud yelling and shouting coming from outside, "I should get back out there, I need to make sure my guests aren't tearing anything to pieces."

He rose and Alec followed silently, "I am feeling sort of dizzy." Alec admitted.

"You can rest in my room if you want." They took a turn the opposite way they had come from, "Just don't look through anything."

"There isn't a guest room I can use?" Alec flushed, "I don't want to impose."

"It's fine," Magnus stopped at a door and pulled Alec close, "We can talk about this later." He pressed his lips softly to Alec's, slowly working his mouth on his. It was a sweet, gentle kiss. Magnus slid his long fingers behind Alec's ears, caressing his thumbs tenderly on his temples. When they broke their kiss, Alec felt hot and light. Magnus opened the door, "Get some rest, I'll come get you in a few hours. Don't lie on your back."

Alec had almost forgotten about his back, and the dull pain was more noticeable. Magnus gave him a bit of push into his room, "Thank you Magnus." He said, Magnus nodded to him and shut the door. Alec took a moment to look around; he was in a dark cool room. The walls were deep purple, and the carpet was black. Small lights were woven around above his head, and they met in the middle of the room attached to a large four poster bed.

Everything was insanely clean. The floor was spotless and his bed was neatly made. There was a bookshelf filled with many different kinds of books, and a vanity dresser with some personal items.

Alec sat down on the bed, and touched the bandaging that was wrapped around his chest. "How in the hell did this happen?" Alec said to himself. Carefully he laid down on his stomach, inhaling the smell of Magnus' pillow. It smelled like cologne and laundry soap.

Soon he drifted off to a light sleep, wrapped in the smell of Magnus.