So do you guys remember ( for those of you that facebook stalk Cassandra Clare ) when she released the two teasers for CoHF? There was one about Jace yelling at Magnus, and one about Jace breaking Alec's phone. I wrote this after those prompts were released. I recently redicovered this and figured that you guys would enjoy it! So I wrote this before CoHF so I know this is different from what happened. Trust me, you'll love it ;)
"No—wait—Jace! What are you—?!"
Jace threw the Samsung Galaxy SIII onto the floor and slammed the heel of his combat boot down on it. The screen shattered with a sickening crunching sound, and sparks flew from the internal parts as it split almost completely in half. Alec's jaw dropped.
"You—You—You broke my phone!" he stammered.
Jace shrugged. "Guys don't let other guys keep calling other guys. Okay—that came out wrong. Friends don't let friends keep calling their exes and hanging up. Seriously. You have to stop."
Alec looked like he might just go through the roof. "So you broke my brand new phone? Thanks a lot."
Jace picked up the pieces, careful not to hurt himself on the glass, and sat it on Alec's bedside table. "It was for your own good, Alec." He paused. "If you're so upset about it, go talk to Magnus yourself."
"No. He never wants to see me again. I'll give him one last bit of satisfaction."
"I won't." Jace snatched up Sandalphon from where it rested on Alec's table and stalked out.
"Where are you going?" Alec called after him.
"Out. I'll be back covered in the blood of my enemies."
Five minutes later, in her room beside Alec's, Isabelle's phone rang.
Jace didn't pause to knock. He raised one booted foot and slammed it, hard, against the door. It immediately gave, flying inwards with a screech as some pieces of wood flew off and scattered on the floor inside.
It was a wreck. The last time Jace had been here had been when they had summoned Azazel, and the walls had been baby blue and the carpet white and plush. It was identical to that. He hadn't taken the time to redecorate. Takeout boxes were scattered all over the counters and the table, and there was a layer of dust on everything but the coffee maker. Spiders scuttled about in the sink. A few dirty dishes lay in there, untouched except by the arachnids.
Jace walked into the living room. Magnus was sprawled out on the couch, Gilligan's Island playing on the TV. Chairman was stretched out beside Magnus.
"You," Jace snarled, fisting a hand in Magnus's shirt and dragging him into a sitting position. "You foul, loathsome, evil son-of-a-bitch of a Downworlder!"
Magnus blinked tiredly up at Jace. "If you're going to hit me, do it now, while exhaustion can still deaden the pain."
He showed a canine, but released Magnus's shirt. The warlock moved onto his stomach on the couch, holding a pillow to his chest with his head turned away from Jace. "What do you want, Shadowhunter?" he mumbled.
"Alec is moping around like a cat that just got forced into a bath," Jace snapped. "I want to know why you're letting him suffer."
Magnus rolled onto his back and put his feet up on the arm of the sofa. "What do you care if Alec's miserable?"
"What do I care?" Jace said, so loudly that Chairman Meow rolled off the couch and landed on the floor. "Of course I care about Alec; he's my best friend, my parabatai. And he's unhappy. And so are you, by the look of things. Takeout containers everywhere, you haven't done anything to fix up the place, your cat looks dead—"
"He's not dead."
"He may as well be!" Jace picked up the cat and dropped him onto Magnus's chest. "Have you even been feeding him?"
"Of course I have," Magnus snapped. "I actually care about my cat."
"Well, there's something."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You obviously don't care for Alec, I mean, you're letting him be miserable—"
Magnus moved so fast, Jace didn't have time to react. Magnus grabbed the collar of his shirt in both hands and dragged him close so that their faces were barely an inch apart.
"Don't—you—ever—accuse me of not caring about Alec," he said, voice dangerously low. "Don't you ever, Shadowhunter, or Lilith help me I'll—"
"You'll what?" Jace growled back.
"I'll sink you in a lake with lead balls attached to each of your joints, and I'll have water nymphs tear out your innards one by one while you're slowly drowning, and I'll watch the whole thing and laugh."
Jace didn't respond to that.
Magnus released his shirt and stalked away, towards the window. He twitched the curtains back and let them fall right back into place again.
"If you still care about Alec, why are you letting him suffer?" Jace asked.
"I don't know myself." His eyes turned distant as he turned away from the window, staring at nothing. "He tried to shorten my life. I still love him, but—he's so reckless."
"He did it out of love."
"He did it out of selfishness!"
"You don't know the way he talks about you." Jace took a pace forward and almost stepped on a spider. "You don't know what he writes about you. You don't understand how his mind works. You like to think you do but you don't, Magnus."
"And I suppose you do?"
"I'm his parabatai. I'm his best friend. I've lived with him for almost nine years. I've learned him. I have memorized him. I can tell you what he's doing right now."
Magnus turned his head away.
Jace realized force wasn't going to get him anywhere. But guilt might.
"I sleep in the room next to his. I can hear everything that goes on in his room." Jace paused. "Did you know that he's cried himself to sleep every night since you left him?"
Magnus's eyes widened.
"He's miserable," Jace continued. "He won't come to training. He hardly sleeps. He barely eats. When he has nightmares, I hear him. He wakes up, and the first name he calls out is yours. Every time."
"Stop it," Magnus said quietly.
"He's had three panic attacks in as many weeks," Jace continued. "Every time, he cries for you before I come in and calm him down."
"Stop it," Magnus repeated, slightly louder.
"He cuts; did you know that?" Jace drove on, over Magnus's voice. "His arms, his sides, his chest and his abdomen—everywhere. He's cutting, because of you."
"Stop it!" Magnus yelled, grabbing a nearby carving knife and throwing it at Jace with deadly precision. He ducked, and it sank hilt-deep into the wall, vibrating and perfectly level with his face.
"Do you think he's the only one that's hurting? Do you?!" Magnus yelled at Jace. "Do you think he's the only one with emotions? Do you think I don't regret my decision with every ounce of my being? I may not be an Upworlder like you—like Alec—but I care!"
Jace straightened back up slowly.
"I love him!" Magnus shouted. His voice broke and he sounded like he was going to cry. "I love him more than I love living! I value him more than I value life itself! I would take a bullet to the chest for him, and given the chance, I would do it twenty times over! If it meant he was happy, I would let myself die! I would end my own life if it meant preserving his!
"But you don't understand, Shadowhunter! You don't understand what it's like to be immortal! You don't understand what it's like to see everyone around you, everyone you love, die, and you go on living, forced to live with a curse! I would willingly strip myself of my immortality if it meant he was happy."
Jace's hand went to his back pocket. "So you love him?"
"Yes, I love him!" he yelled, and then he steadied his voice and continued quieter. "With all of my heart, soul, and mind, and every breath I take." Magnus took a deep breath. "And I regret my decision. I regret it so bitterly that I want to forget that night ever happened. It has hurt to breathe ever since I told him that I never wanted to see him again. I would take him back in a heartbeat if he would have me."
Jace pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to Magnus. "It's for you."
Confused, Magnus took it. The screen showed a connected call, and, shooting a look at the Shadowhunter, Magnus raised the phone to his ear. "H…Hello?"
The person on the other end was breathing quickly, and when he spoke, Alec almost sounded like he was crying. "I love you too, Magnus."
Read and Review please! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
