Hello Everybody! This fanfic is set in a Human!AU (they are all still magical, just in a mundane way!), and due to the fact that I am English, it is also set in England, because I have no idea how the Education system works over in the U.S. This storyline follows Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane, as they go through their final year at college whilst dealing with the stresses of family and pressures of society. I would also like to note here that Alec's eyes will be blue like in the books because even though I love Matthew Daddario's gorgeous hazel eyes, I just find it easier to write about Alec's blue eyes and I love how Magnus loves Alec's baby blues. (Matt with blue eyes may sound strange so please don't hate!) Please feel free to let me know of any thoughts or ideas you may have as to where this story may be heading because I love to hear others ideas and I may even use them. Okie dokie, enough from me, I hope you enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: All rights reserving the characters go to Cassandra Clare, and specific references to appearances describe the cast of Shadowhunters. I only own this particular storyline.

Chapter One

Monday mornings suck.

The bright sun's rays shine down, bathing everything they touch in a golden warmth. The bird chirp and cheep their morning greetings and in the distance, the low rumble of early morning traffic could be heard. Monday mornings were worse for those people.

A sneaky ray of sunshine peaks its way through the smallest crack in the curtains and lands on the peaceful, sleeping face of Alexander Lightwood. Alec is pulled from his deep slumber by the insistent light dancing over his eyelids. He groans as he throws an arm over his face to protect his eyes, but it is too late. He will never get back to sleep now, so why bother trying?

He moves his arm and sits up slowly. Alec sighs as he opens his eyes. This simple task is more difficult than he thought as his eyelids are stuck together. He rubs away the sleep and his eyes opens easily. Alec glances towards the light but quickly turns away; his baby blues aren't quite ready to face the light of day just yet.

Throwing the covers back and swinging his long legs over the edge of his bed, Alec couldn't hold back the humungous yawn that left his lips. A part of him thought his soul had escaped from yawning so hard. He looks over to the clock on his bedside drawer; it reads: '05:32am'. Alec sighs as he stands up and stretches out all of the kinks of sleep from his body. His footsteps feel heavy as he pads across the room to the curtains, but they make no sound, giving him this other worldly quality. In one graceful motion, Alec pulls the curtains apart and allows the early morning sunlight to flood in.

Alec turns to examine his bedroom. There are a few books littering the floor as well as the odd item of clothing, but nothing he can't sort out later. Silently, he picks up a pair of black jeans - slim fit, not skinny - a blue t-shirt, a dark blue jumper with holes in the elbows and fraying cuffs, and some underwear. He saunters into the adjoining bathroom that connects to his room. Dumping the clothes in his arms in a pile on the floor and shutting the door, Alec looks intently at himself in the mirror.

His black hair has grown so long, the tips now dangle in his eyes and a curl slightly towards the end. His high cheekbones make his pale skin stand out even more against his midnight hair, and his blue eyes remind him of the sea after a storm.

"Who are you?" Alec asks his reflection. He doesn't know who he is anymore, or maybe more accurately, he never knew to begin with. Sure he has a name - Alexander Gideon Lightwood, 'Alec' for short - but he doesn't know who the person attached to the name and face is.

Shaking his head to remove the philosophical thoughts from his mind, he jumps into the shower, allowing the warm water to wash the sleep and stress away. He towels off and leaves his hair as it is and changes. He puts the appropriate school books into his bag and heads downstairs.

Heading into the kitchen, Alec dumps his bag on one of the stools surrounding the island in the middle of the room. He pulls out the carton of orange juice from the fridge, a glass from the shelf, and pours himself a drink. Downing his drink in one, Alec's body shivers as cold liquid runs down his throat.

As he places the glass on the counter, something touches his hand. Alec looks down to discover a post-it note sitting on top of the surface. He pulls it up to eye-level and recognises the cursive script of his mother's handwriting decorating the sticky note. He reads it:

Gone to work. Be back late. ~M&D

Alec scoffs and scrunches the note up. "Typical," he says to the empty kitchen. At least, he thinks it's empty.

"What's 'typical'?" A soft little voice asks from behind Alec. Startled, Alec spins round only to see his youngest brother Max standing there. Alec can't help but smile as he takes Max in. He is overdue for a haircut, much like himself, and his glasses sit askew on his face. Max is small for his age of 13, but Alec has a feeling that soon Max is just going to shoot up and be as tall as he is.

"Morning Max," Alec says ignoring Max's question. "Did you sleep well?" Alec thought it was strange for Max to be up this early, but he shrugged it off, thinking it was probably just because he's nervous and nothing else. It couldn't be anything else.

"Max shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah I guess." He eyes Alec up suspiciously. "You didn't answer my question, what's 'typical'?"

Alec grins. Max's determination for answers is a quality Alec admires from his little brother. "Oh," says Alec, stalling so he can come up with something, "I just thought it was typical that we go back to school and college, and the Sun decides to shine that much brighter." Alec hates lying to any of his siblings, especially Max, but he doesn't want them to be burdened as he is.

Max thinks for a moment, his face contorted in concentration. "Seems more likely that because we have to go back to school, the Sun shines brighter. It about our perspective, not the physical occurrence."

Alec chuckles. "How old are you again?" He jokes. Sometimes Alec forgot that Max was only 13, because sometimes he spoke with such wisdom he could have been a 103. Max smiles at Alec's comment so Alec continues. "Okay, what do you want for breakfast? Your choice, seen as you're the first one up."

"In that case, shouldn't you choose, seen as you were up before me?" Max's say-it-it-as-you-see-it attitude is commendable, but Alec worries it will get Max into trouble one day. He only hopes he'll be there to protect him.

"I can't decide, so I'm asking you."

"Umm... Then, can we have pancakes please?"

"Pancakes it is!" Alec spins around and places a pan on top of the stove. "Right, I'll make us some pancakes, you run up and get ready for school."

"I can't. Izzy is in the bathroom, and we all know she takes forever to get ready."

Alec nods; he knows better than anyone just how long Izzy takes to get ready. "Go and use my bathroom. And do me a favour, go wake Jace up. We'll drop you off at school before we go to college."

"Why can't Mum and Dad take me?" The innocence in Max's voice makes Alec's heartbreak.

"They had to go to work early." Alec's voice sounds rougher than he realises. "It's okay though, if they were to take you, you wouldn't be able to have my amazing pancakes now would you?" Max shakes his head. "Now go on, go get ready."

Max tootles off up the stairs and out of sight. Alec can hear Max banging on Jace's door to wake him up.

Alec begins to work on making the pancakes, as his mind drifts and one thought circles his mind. When did I become the parent?

AN/ So, what did you guys think?

I have made Max older only because I have a younger brother who is also 13 so it made it easier for me to write about. Not on Max: his character will play an important role later on in the story, so keep reading to find out what that role is.

The next chapter will be from Magnus' perspective, and then after that we'll be entering into the world of Sixth Form College (if you don't know what that is look it up). Parts of this chapter will come into play later on, when the action picks up, but we're not quite there yet.

I am also going to try and post a new chapter regularly (I'm hoping for once a week, but my life is hectic as is everyone's so I will post when I can). Okie dokie, leave a review and let me know what you thought and what you maybe hope to see in the upcoming chapters. Farewell, Angels. :P