Disclaimer: I don't own the TMI series or its characters. They are property of Cassandra Clare.

Summary: AU. The TMI characters go to boarding school. Alec is a closeted senior, only Izzy knowing of his sexuality and after a wild party the closet becomes all the more stifling as he can't get Magnus Bane out of his head.

Set at a boarding school.

The thud of his heartbeat in his ears and the burning sensation in his throat would have slowed Alec down on any other night as he ran as fast as his legs would take him, but tonight was not any other night. Instead, the burning in his legs just encouraged him to go faster, only glancing to the side when a golden blur whirled past him, tugging on the cuffs of his long sleeved shirt and causing him to stumble along even faster.

Said golden blur pulled him downwards, and using their own momentum against them, made Alec tumble onto the cement behind a large brick wall.

"Jace," Alec hissed, leaning upward only to be forced back down as a beam of light was cast over them.

Jace hovered over his older brother, not having to hold him down physically as much as with a gesture, placing a finger over his own lips to indicate necessary silence. Blue eyes glared daggers at him, but Jace was accustomed to this and paid no mind. The light disappeared and Jace heaved a sigh of relief, leaning back and sitting against the cool brick wall, closing his eyes and allowing himself to catch a breath.

A searing pain shot through his arm and golden eyes shot open, staring into the angry face of Alec Lightwood.

"What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his arm where Alec had hit him. It wasn't too terribly painful as Alec hadn't him as hard as he could, but it was still freezing cold outside and he wasn't expecting it.

"Are you really asking that?" Alec snapped, sitting down next to him.

Jace shrugged, "Well I'm not fake asking it."

Alec just glared at him again and Jace sighed.

"You didn't have to go with me."

"Yes I did." Alec retorted and not even Jace could argue that. Alec felt it was his moral obligation as a brother and friend to watch out for Jace and Izzy. It was an admixture of endearing and annoying. While Jace didn't enjoy getting hit too much, it was nice to have someone to share this adventure with. What fun would running from the school security team be if he was alone?

None at all, he thought.

Alec went to stand, bending his 6'1" frame so his head was just peaking over the wall, Jace tugged him down.

"Let's just sit down for a minute," Jace suggested, still breathing hard.

Alec took one last glance over the wall and nodded towards Jace, sitting down next to him against. He did, however, use this time to admonish his brother.

"Again, what were you thinking?"

Jace sighed, "To be perfectly honest there wasn't a lot of thinking going on . . . "

"Jace," Alec warned. Jace just gave him a look as if to say 'what?'

The staring contest continued for a few more moments before Jace gave in, which was a rarity in his case but Alec's dark glared unnerved him. Under normal circumstances Alec was known as the calm, voice or reason among his loud, impulsive siblings. Alec, however, was known to bouts of rage and Jace was too tired to deal with a temperamental Alec tonight.

"I'm being honest; I was just going to fool around with her. It's not like I planned on us getting caught," Jace defended.

"That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the ten minutes you stayed 'fooling around with her' when we were supposed to be making a run for it!"

"I think ten minutes is a bit of an exaggeration. Even with speed and agility such as mine, it would be an impossible feat."

Jace ignored the look of contempt Alec gave him at this comment.

"Besides, what were you doing with Sarah?"

Alec drew back in confusion.

"Sarah? Nothing, we just talked about the game tomorrow."

Jace narrowed his eyes, "Not what he seemed like to me."

"How would you know what it seemed like? You were stuck in the bathroom with Nicki."

"Because when you abandoned me to save your own ass"

"I didn't abandon you; I was hanging from that window for at least two minutes before I had to leave."

Jace ignored Alec's interruption.

"Sarah told me to tell you goodbye."

"Oh, well. . . "Alec flushed, not knowing what to say.

Jace sniggered.

"Want me to set you two up?"

Alec shook his head, feeling his face and neck heat up in the cool of the night.

"No, um just no. I don't see her that way."

Jace sighed, "Why not? She's cute, likes sports, likes you . . . I'm not asking you to marry her or anything. Just fuck her!"

Alec's eyes widened, "Jace!"

Jace shook his head, "How are you the eldest brother again?"

Alec shot him another look and sighed, "I just see her as a friend is all."

"Whatever, you know maybe I should set you up with Chelsea instead."

Alec crinkled his nose, "Isn't she the roommate who told on us?"

Jace sneered, "Yeah, I'm thinking her getting a little action may do her some good."

Alec sighed, but this managed to get a laugh out of him. Only Jace (and possibly Izzy but Alec hated thinking about that) would think sex was the solution to everything. Alec on the other hand considered it more of a problem at the moment.

"Are you planning on ever seeing Nicki again?"

Jace snorted, tracing patterns on the cool cement beneath them.

"Probably not."

"Figures," Alec murmured, and Jace looked up.

"Are you really mad?"

Alec sighed; annoyed at the fact that he never really could be truly mad at either Jace or Izzy no matter how hard he tried.

"No, I just don't get why you do this."

"Do what?"

Alec let out an exasperated breath, "Stuff like this. You know if you get caught sneaking out of the dorms you could get expelled."

"So could you!"

"Yeah, but that's different."

"How so?"

"I'm only here because of you."

"Well no one asked you to," Jace snapped, annoyed with this conversation.

Alec looked away, the hurt on his face obvious and Jace felt a ping of regret.

"I'm sorry," Jace said and Alec turned back to him, offering a nod of acceptance.

There was a pregnant silence, both gathering themselves to dash across the school property once more to make it back to their dorms as the beam of light was back. Jace and Alec quieted their breathing and pressed themselves further against the wall. Alec twisted his eyes shut, hoping and wishing they wouldn't get caught because if they did he would be so dead, Jace on the other hand appeared to find this all amusing and was trying not to laugh.

The light disappeared once again and Alec released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and Jace snickered at him.

"What's so funny?" Alec asked, annoyed.

Jace playfully punched him in the shoulder, "You are. You're always so worried."

"If we get caught we could get kicked out of school," Alec hissed.

Alec had been given the 'you worry too much' lecture millions of times from his siblings, and even he admitted sometimes he did worry a lot. But with siblings like his, he had no choice.

"We won't get caught Alec."

Alec sighed, annoyed and comforted by Jace's self-assuredness.

"You do know that if you got kicked out you wouldn't get the golden boy of the family anymore, right? I mean think about it, Max would probably get all the attention then."

Jace rolled his eyes jokingly.

"Alec I'm the golden boy because I am well . . . golden," He replied, gesturing to his face with its golden hair and eyes, and perfectly tanned skin. "In case you hadn't noticed."

Alec scoffed, but said nothing because he had in fact noticed this, a little bit too much actually.

While Jace was a few inches short than himself, he was broader in the chest and a bit more muscular. Alec considered himself tall and lanky in comparison (though they were both more muscular than the majority of the guys in their school). Jace was all golden skin and golden everything Alec thought himself pale and splotchy, his jet black hair having a mind of its own. While Jace wore well fitted clothing, showing off said muscles, Alec wore clothing two sizes too big. Jace stood out in the center of the spot light, as Alec hid back in the shadows. The biggest difference in Alec's mind though, was the fact that Jace was straight and Alec was . . . not.

Ever since Alec could remember he had wanted to be Jace (not be with him in the least bit, he was his brother, and adopted or not, that was gross).

"I just want you to be careful; you only have one year left after this year."

"Easy for you to say, this is your last year and after this you'll probably be going to a ritzy school with a soccer scholarship."

Alec just snorted, though it was true. He had just gone to a dinner with a few scouts and two other students in the school, hence his formal clothing while Jace was in comfortable pajamas. Unfortunately for Alec, as this shirt was one of the few well fitted shirts he owned, it had gotten ripped, popping the first three buttons of his long sleeved button down shirt, as he leapt from the second story window he and Jace had been in. Jace, always in need of a little female attention, had snuck over to fool around with a sophomore girl by the name of Nicki. Alec, knowing that since this was the first month of school and as always the school security was tightest at this time before they, like everyone else began to slack off, went with him, though he was exhausted from his long day already.

"You could get scholarships if you wanted," Alec retorted and Jace just snorted.

It was true; Jace was probably the best athlete in the school. He was just naturally good at anything sports related and excelled in everything. His only problem was his other skills happened to be witty remarks and his amazing arrogance. While that usually didn't mean much, all teams probably had their own big headed athletes; Jace had no problem voicing his opinions on certain things very loudly. Like how everyone else sucked and the coach had no idea what he was doing, resulting in his being banned from all athletic events last year. That didn't stop Jace from sneaking in to Alec's soccer games though, something not even Alec reprimanded him for.

"You know it's true," Alec reiterated, not wanting Jace to think he wasn't serious. Jace knew though, Alec was always serious.

"Yeah, I know I'd just much rather get by on my looks alone. I think I'd make an excellent Abercrombie model."

They both laughed, leaning against the wall for a final breath of fresh air before they snuck back into their separate dorms (they were separated by school year). The sound of footsteps nearing them caused Alec to catch his breath and he screwed his eyes shut.

This is it, he thought. They were going to get caught and the new headmaster of the school, in an attempt to prove she was no pushover, would kick him off the soccer team and there would go his scholarship chances. Not that he needed it, they were plenty wealthy, but Alec took pride in his ability and loved soccer.

Alec heard Jace suck in a breath, as if even he was scared and they both pressed themselves against the wall with the inane hope that maybe they wouldn't be seen by whoever was approaching.

"Trying to blend in with the wall or something?" A female voice asked bemusedly. Alec and Jace let out a sigh of relief, it was Izzy.

She snickered and sauntered over to them, sliding down the wall to sit beside her brothers.

"Seriously, why are you two still out here? You two should be in your dorms by now."

Jace cocked an eyebrow, "Are you of all people lecturing us Isabelle Lightwood?"

Izzy snorted and tossed her long hair, "No, I'm just asking why two of the best athletes in the school couldn't outrun Burt the obese security guard."

"We knew we could outrun him, it's not letting him see us that's the problem. Besides, we were enjoying some quaint brotherly bonding before you interrupted."

"And why wasn't I invited to this bonding session?"

"Do I really need to explain this boy parts girl parts thing to you? It would be awfully awkward."

Isabelle's black eyes narrowed, "Shut up, you know what I meant."

Jace shrugged, "It was an impromptu event."

"How did you know we were out here anyway?" Alec asked confused.

Isabelle laughed, "You two are the talk of the girls' dorm! And Nicki Smith, really Jace? Even you could do better."

"How do you know it was me we were there for and not Alec? He's a big soccer stud now, even has a few scholarships."

Alec flushed as Jace jerked a thumb towards him.

"Because Alec wouldn't do that," Isabelle replied.

"We just made out before her hag roommate sold us out, Alec probably got more out of it then I did."

Izzy raised her brows and looked to her other brother, "Really?"

Alec shook his head, "Jace thinks I did, but no I just had a conversation with the girl while I was stuck waiting on you."

Jace ignored this, "I think they'd be cute personally. Hey Iz, you've always got a knew flavor of the week, how about you date Chelsea, loosen her up a bit?"

Alec winced at his wording and Isabelle glared.

"While I am open minded, not even I would touch that deranged stiff bitch."

Jace chuckled and Alec stared at his feet, wondering if Jace was making an off handed comment about homosexuals. About him.

Isabelle saw this and added; "Besides there's nothing wrong if I did like girls anyways!"

Jace looked surprised, "I didn't say there was, it was a joke! I couldn't care less who you like, you're my sister."

Isabelle smiled and gave Alec another look that Jace didn't see.

"I was just joking about Chelsea and Alec too; he obviously has someone else on the side."

"What what what?" Alec asked, face reddening. Isabelle even looked surprised.

"One what would suffice, and look- he has hickeys," Jace explained gesturing to Alec's chest which was visible due to the popped buttons from earlier.

Alec did his best to cover it, but Izzy wouldn't allow it, forcing back his hands from his shirt to see the various hickeys littered across his chest. She stared at him incredulously, obviously wondering how he got them and why she wasn't told.

"You sly dog," she joked, but still held a look of confusion in her eyes.

Alec pushed her away and pulled his shirt over the exposed hickeys, "Shut up!"

Jace laughed, "Sorry Alec it's just you never do stuff like this. Who's the lucky girl?"

Alec flushed. "No one, it was a onetime thing."

Jace continued, "Was it from that party the other night?"

Alec sighed and rolled his eyes, "If I tell you will you shut up?"

"Maybe," Jace retorted.

"Wait what party?" Isabelle asked but was promptly ignored.

"Then yes, it's from that party."

"Was it that blonde chick? She was kind of cute."

"I thought you would shut up if I answered your question."

"I said maybe, so was it?"

"None of your business Jace," Alec snapped.

"Wait, Magnus Bane?"

Alec's head snapped over to look at his sister,

"What?"

His blue eyes were wide and Izzy knew he was thinking she had suggested she made out with the man.

"I meant was it his party you two are talking about."

"Oh, uh yeah I think that was his name."

Isabelle nodded, Alec's awkwardness letting her know the conversation was best left alone.

Jace sighed as a wave of silence came over them, "Well I'm pretty sure Burty's gone by now and if I want to get any sleep tonight I'm going to go now."

He looked at Alec, "Coming?"

Alec nodded stonily, getting to his feet and offering his hand to help Izzy do the same. She stared at him, a sad look in her eyes and Alec knew he'd have to explain everything to her eventually.

"See you two tomorrow," She whispered, slinking away into the dark.

Alec worried about how easy this was for her. Alec and Jace turned to do the same, their walk was quiet just in case Burt was just trying to be sneaky (that would be the day). They got into their dorms easily and Jace nudged Alec before they departed to separate halls.

"I want to hear all the details later," He joked.

Alec just smiled and rolled his eyes, "Not going to happen."

Jace smirked, "We'll see."

And then he was gone, leaving Alec along in the dark hallway. With a sigh he went to his dorm room (seniors all got their own rooms while all other grades had to share rooms with two other people.)

He slipped silently into his bed, undressing into just his boxers and fell into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of green cat eyes and honey colored skin.

Please read and review. Should I continue with this?