AN:

This note is long, the others won't be if there are any notes at all.

I used to love to write, but I haven't written anything in a very long time. This is an exercise of my imagination for the fun of it. I don't know if anyone will read this, and I don't know if anyone other than me will get anything out of this. I'm not a writer, it is not my profession and it never will be, but I do like to let my imagination run away with me and this is a product of that. That said, anyone who does read this, keep the hate to yourself. I know this will not appeal to everyone, if anyone at all, and I know there will be mistakes so no need to state the obvious or the known, kay. If you spot a mistake and point it out to me I'll try to correct it, but as I've never posted anything before I may suck at trying to correct already posted "chapters".

I'm not sure exactly how long this will end up being, and this is not how the rest of the story will be, but I didn't want to spend a ton of time laying out the foundation for their history at the beginning in story format. So, I decided to use a summary narration to provide enough detail to allow anyone who reads this story to understand the basis for the characters. Some details are more important than others to the story, but they all matter and it's up to anyone who reads this to ultimately take what they want from this.

Okay, last disclaimer and notification. I do not own any portion of the Mortal Instruments series or characters. I love the stories and could never live up to Cassie's reputation so take all that follows as intended fanfiction.

Last but not least, this will be a poly story in the end, if you don't like that don't read it. Do not leave me any feedback saying how wrong you think it is or questioning my morals blah, blah, blah. I don't care what anyone's opinion of me as a person is, so it will have zero impact and be a waste of your time and energy. That doesn't mean I wish to offend anyone, I don't but this is my personal imaginings and if you don't like my fantasy world, get out and find another or create your own. The poly relationship will be Jace/Clary/Alec in the end. I hate blowing the plot in this note but I know some may find that offensive, so you've been warned. If you don't like a bi Alec or Jace do not read this story because you will be let down. I am not trying to change anyone's perception of Alec from TMI this is just how I imagine the character and the only parallel to the original is the appearance of the characters (somewhat), some minor history, and that Alec is in what some people (mostly narrow minded people) would call a non-traditional relationship. If for any reason you can't handle that you should leave now. As I said earlier I don't want to offend anyone, but this is my imagined world. Last bit of the notification I don't know the full plot to this story, it's not fully mapped in my imagination yet. There will be lots of cussing, some partying, possible lemons (not sure how graphic or detailed for obvious reasons) and the updates will happen as frequently as my life and imagination allow. No set schedule in other words.

Kay, now all the warnings and disclaimer stuff is over I hope anyone who reads this enjoys it. If not, I hope you do find something you enjoy reading on this site. If you want to leave a comment or suggestion please feel free, I would love to hear from anyone who is reading it and will try to respond to any non-hate messages. If it's a hate message, we'll go ahead and agree to disagree now and leave it at that.

Prologue:

For as long as he could recall in every important instance and treasured memory there was one person who had always been there, either sharing his joy or helping shoulder the pain, Clary. They had grown up together, had lived their lives more closely entwined then most twins. No, she wasn't biologically his family; she was something even more rare, chosen family. No matter what had befell him in his life he had always had one sure thing, Clary would be there in whatever capacity he needed. Friends like that are a gift few people ever experienced, he guessed that was God's way of evening out the balance of his life.

You see, Alec was a gay man from a broken home of a powerful family. His father, Robert Lightwood, was a senator who'd grown up in a rigid and unloving home that believed in not sparing the rod. His family came from a long line of deeply religious men who were pillars of their communities, but aloof with their families. He guessed that was the price they'd been willing to pay for the power they wielded. So much of their time was spent worrying for appearances and presenting the image necessary, that they become emotionally stunted and disconnected from things like love and acceptance. Robert was no exception to the family legacy, in fact some might say he took it far more seriously and advanced that dogma. Alec couldn't recall a single event in his life where his father had shown up and stayed; birthday parties, Christmas celebrations, school plays, sports competitions, graduations Robert missed them all. On the few occasions where he showed up at all he was late stayed on his phone the whole time, and left early. There were never bed time stories, encouraging words, or even a hug that wasn't for PR strategies. Everyone in their family had accepted that he was not going to be a part of their daily lives and tried to make the best of the situation. Unfortunately Robert didn't share this same philosophy.

Alec knew he was different from the time he was very young. His mom made play dates for him with the neighborhood boys from the time he was able to walk, and Alec always seemed to lose interest in playing the rough and tumble games faster than the other boys. He didn't want to play army men and act out wars in the backyards, he never felt comfortable pretending to shoot and blow up his playmates.

When he had his first play-date with the boy next door, Jonathan Morgenstern, he ended up playing with Jon's younger sister for the majority of the day. It wasn't love at first sight, as a matter of fact Alec thought she was bossy and a little mean for the first little while. Then Jon and his other friend Sebastian, decided to play army men and when Alec said he didn't want to join, they started teasing him and calling him names. Clary was sitting off to the side watching the boys and drawing on the patio with colorful chalk, but when the boys upset Alec enough that he turned away to hide the tears in his eyes Clary jumped in to help. She grabbed the soccer ball laying off to the side and ran over to the other boys and told them they needed to have their rematch while there was an even number. The boys resisted and Clary told them it was fine if they were scared to lose to her and Alec she would just call victory and eat all the ice cream treats with him as their reward. Somehow even as young as they were, and on their first real meeting, Clary knew that Alec would rather play sports and that the older boys would cave to teasing from a girl. She had been his best friend ever since that day. She just always seemed to know what he needed, even before he did at times.

They grew up having sleep overs, and spending every free minute together. Each brought something out in the other in ways no one else could. Clary made Alec more brave and fearless, and he softened her temper and kept her from retreating into her own artistic mind too much. Alec got Clary to play more sports and she taught him to express himself with music, literature, and even the occasional painting foray. Granted most of Alec's attempts would be considered splash art at best, but he did feel better after lashing out at a canvas sometimes, even though he still felt it was silly at times.

The funny part of their relationship was that neither was an only child, Alec had Izzy his younger sister by two years, and Clary had Jon her older brother by eleven months but somehow they both felt closer to each other than their own siblings. For Alec it was that he was only six months older than Clary so she was in the same grade with him, and they shared all of those firsts and were both a little unusual compared to others. Clary on the other hand, started school at the same time as Jon, but Jon's interests were narrower than hers always. When they were little she played with the boys and did all of the same things they did, but they never were interested in art or playing games that required more planning than counting down to attack. Alec and Clary could spend a whole day climbing trees and talking about creatures they imagined lived in the forest behind their manicured lawns, and then jump into a pick-up basketball game with the rest of the boys. And for a while they had a large group of friends that all hung out together daily.

As the years passed, the gap between Alec, Clary, and Jon's little gang, as Clary loved to call it, widened. They all still hung out at times, and Alec and Clary both participated in various sports growing up which Jon and his group of friends either participated in too or they cheered each other on at least. In high school the divide became its widest yet for Alec, not because the other boys shunned him or because he stopped playing sports, Alec just finally admitted something that made him unique amongst his peers; Alec was gay. None of the other guys had an issue with his coming out, but most of their conversations were about sports and sex, and Alec was only ever interested in participating in the sports talk occasionally. So, inevitably when the group would start to breakdown into smaller groups or conversations Alec found the only person he really could talk to or truly enjoy his time with was Clary.

Figuring out he was gay wasn't hard for Alec, he knew by the time he was in fifth grade. All the other boys and girls were talking about 'going-out' with someone or kissing someone on the playground, and Alec realized the only person he ever felt the urge to kiss was Jon ironically. Not that he ever told Jon that, but somehow Clary seemed to know as usual. She didn't say anything to Alec about until the eighth grade Sadie Hawkins dance, and Alec firmly believes she wouldn't have then either if it wasn't for Aline and Kaelie deciding that they were going to make a play for the gorgeous blue-eyed boy none of their peers had ever been able to land. Clary showed up in a near panic at Alec's locker at lunch and grabbed his wrist and dragged him into a storage closet. Alec was used to her being a little odd at times so he went along willingly enough until they had been in their for ten minutes with Clary's ear pressed to the door and no explanation. She tried to act as though she was hiding from Seelie's pestering about Jon, but right as she was really trying to sell the story Kaelie and Aline walked by talking rather loudly about where Alec could be, and accusing each of sabotaging their chance. Alec looked at Clary stunned for a moment, because she had never truly lied to him, and then her cheeks burned red and Alec knew something more was going on. After storming out on her she finally caught up with him on the sidewalk outside the school and confessed that she was sorry, but she didn't want them confronting him or starting any rumors. Alec froze when she said that, and when he turned around to face his best friend she had tears in her eyes, and he knew that somehow she had figured out his secret and was trying to protect him like she always had. That was the moment when he knew he would love her forever, she didn't care what he was and she loved him enough to live with him keeping something huge from her for years without ever having a seconds thought. Of course she had to resort to her old bossy mean ways and call him an idiot for thinking she would ever care who he wanted to kiss, he only wished that all of his family was accepting as her. Of course he knew better than to really hold out hope for that, his dad was not a flexible man in any sense of the word.

Clary teased him over the years about his ongoing crush on Jon until junior year, when Alec finally found enough courage to tell his family he was gay. She insisted on holding his hand while he did, and although he would never admit it he was fiercely grateful that she wouldn't back down on this demand for when he finally got the words out of his mouth his mother froze and his dad bellowed that Alec was 'no son of his, and to leave his house immediately'. If looks could kill Alec was convinced that the police would have been called to his family home for a triple homicide, because his dad looked at him as if he truly wished he were dead and Clary glared at his mom and dad with more rage then he ever thought her smaller frame could contain, and for Clary's red hot temper that is a true testament to her devotion to Alec. When he fled the house Clary kept holding onto his hand the whole way back to her bedroom, and that was the only thing that tethered Alec to the world. She acted as a shield and a bouncer for the next month and kept everyone at bay, she let him share her bed and her bedroom, and she offered love and support every time he felt like he was going to break.

Alec would probably have stayed until graduation had it not been for the bombshell that rocked his family a month later his dad's son Kieran, from an illicit affair showed up on the doorstep asking to see his 'bio dad'. The boy was only a little more than a year younger than Alec and that was when his mom finally had enough. Apparently she'd known that Robert had an affair shortly after they lost their youngest son Max, but he had managed to convince Maryse that it was a one-time thing and that it would never happen again. Being confronted by his own misdeeds didn't seem to make Robert any more feeling as he out right rejected the possibility of the boy being his in front of nearly the whole street of neighbors. Ultimately though Robert had proven himself more lax in his morals rather than squashing the possibility of infidelity, because Kieran came with physical evidence of the love affair and was requesting DNA for testing. After brandishing the letter written by Robert himself breaking off the affair and numerous pictures of Robert and another woman, Maryse marched into the house grabbed a ziplock bag tossing in Robert's tooth brush, hair brush, razor, and then snatching a chunk of hair off his head herself and handing it over to Kieran. She then tossed Robert his cell phone and advised him to call a cab and an attorney.

It took nearly a year for the publicized divorce to finalize and longer than that for Alec to even be able to look his mother in the face. She didn't vocalize any issue with Alec being gay, but she surely didn't vocalize any support either. He didn't really know what he expected from her considering she was a fairly stoic woman, you pretty much had to be in order to survive a marriage to a Lightwood man, but he had hoped that at the very least she would have stopped his dad from throwing him out of the house. When she failed to come through for Alec he realized he'd never felt more alienated or alone in his life, his circle of family had shrunk to his then nearly fifteen year old sister and Clary. Of course Luke and Jocelyn, Clary's parents, tried to convince him to give her a chance and talk to her about it, but Alec couldn't bring himself to do it. His family had been through so much in recent years, the death of his younger brother due to cancer and his father's cheating seemed to be the thing that broke them all. Alec knew he had to be there for his sister, and even his mom, and he couldn't do that if they talked about how she had abandoned him. He wouldn't be able to swallow the hurt and anger if he allowed it to come to the surface.

So the broken home he once felt safe in barely survived his last couple years of high school and Alec was torn about running as far away as possible for college or staying close for at least his sister's benefit. The decision became easier when he knew that both Clary and Jon were attending NYU and that they had already been gifted with an apartment in the city close enough to walk to classes and Clary insisted that if he wanted to attend NYU she wouldn't let him live anywhere but with her. Given as much turmoil as his entire high school career and been embroiled in he welcomed the chance to go to college with the only constant in his life, his best friend. The bonus of all of this was he would be about an hour's drive from home, close enough to be there for his sister as much as needed but far enough away that he was unlikely to run into his mother or father routinely. As their senior wrapped up Alec received his acceptance letter for NYU and they planned their exciting move into the city with elation.