"Damn it!"

The shout was instantly hushed as Alec ran his fingers under the stream of water under the sink. Red splashed on the metal, blood diluted by water. Alec pulled his fingers away from the icy water, frowning as he stared at fingers still slick with blood.

Alec couldn't focus on anything. He tried to slice an apple, but his fingers had been shaking, and he couldn't focus on the apple. 'What if this is it?' The thoughts continued to dance across Alec's mind, 'What if it's over?' even now that he was staring at his bleeding hand the thoughts continued to envelope him.

Apparently Alec hadn't caught himself with the shout soon enough. As he attempted to clean some of the drops of blood (While keeping more from leaving a fresh trail as he did), Alec heard a set of heavy steps stomp down the stairs. Alec's moment of panic was released as he realized only one ass would step that loudly in the middle of the night. Without turning around, Alec answered Jace's obvious first question. "I'm fine Jace, my finger just slipped."

"Wow, that's cool," Jace replied sarcastically as he moved closer to Alec, assessing the level of gore. "So can you read my mind all the time? Or just when it's three in the morning?"

Deciding Jace's sarcastic comments were not worth a response, Alec merely raised an eyebrow to his adopted brother before returning to cleaning up the crime scene. He was stopped as Jace pushed him toward the sink while ordering, "Just run your fingers under the water before you make more of a mess." Again, it wasn't worth arguing, so Alec consented, watching Jace wipe the blood off the counter, his gaze still distracted.

"So you're sure you're fine?" Jace asked as he threw the last bloody towel into the garbage. Hi mom would most likely kill him for using every single towel they had to clean up his cut finger, but at the moment Alec had to worry about Jace. "Because this is, like, the first night you haven't slept over at Magnus's in, what, like two months." For once, Jace seemed almost hesitant. "What's up?" He then proceeded to sit on the counter, showing Alec he was planning to get through a nice and long conversation.

Sighing in defeat, Alec turning the faucet off, wrapping his hand in their last towel as he sat on the chair at the end of the table closest to Jace, Alec's fingers were still shaking, but not from the blood. "Jace," Alec sighed dejectedly, staring at the floor, memorizing the pattern. "You've been in lots of relationships." It wasn't a question, but still Jace nodded in reply, urging Alec to continue. "I don't know what happened," Alec burst out, his frustration boiling over.

Jumping off of the counter, Jace attempted to consol his brother. "Hey be quiet doofus, or do you want Isabelle to come down here?" Looking around to make sure the coast was clear, Jace grabbed Alec by the arm and pulled him out of the kitchen. Soon the two were leaving the elevator, and in the next second, leaving the institute. Alec's repeated questions as to where they were going were ignored until eventually they ended up in an empty park. There were benches, bridges over small streams, and a rather tranquil atmosphere that Alec would never imagine Jace enjoying.

Sitting on the bench, Jace rested his elbows on his knees, and his chin on his hands as he stared at one tree in particular. "I took Clary here when we began training. We stood under that tree and it was as though it was just us there. It was so hard imagining Clary to be a part of us, to live the danger of our lives. I wasn't willing to let her put her life in danger every day like we do." Jace had yet to look away from the tree, and Alec watched with a quiet amazement as his brother was completely honest. "You know, it's scary when you feel so completely dependent and…" Jace paused, closing his eyes. "devoted to someone, and knowing that they could destroy you in a single second just by saying they don't feel the same." Finally Jace opened his eyes, staring back at Alec with sheepish expression, as if just realizing exactly how much he'd said. "Sometimes, fights happen, you get mad and terrified at the same time because you're so scared you're going to lose someone, and you don't know what you'd do without them." A small smile lifted Jace's serious expression. "I understand Alec, and I know how scary it is."

The shaking had calmed down. Maybe it was the stream's soothing trickling, or just knowing that he wasn't alone. Alec sighed, his muscles relaxing. But still, Alec couldn't help but feel this was different. "You were scared for Clary, but you got over it. It was your problem, and you knew what had to be fixed. I don't know what happened." Alec's breathe caught in his throat. "And I know I'm not welcome in in that flat anymore."

Jace's amazing newfound ability to say what Alec needed to hear was quickly fading, and he became lost for words. "Well…. I'm sure it's not that bad dude, I mean what could you have done that would be so bad that the Glitter Man wouldn't take you back?"

"I don't know!" Alec shouted, standing up in a mix of fear and frustration. He no longer had to keep quiet, so what if some mundanes lost a little sleep. "All of a sudden Magnus had been avoiding me. It started slow, but lately he won't even-" Alec cut off, his cheeks flaring a bright red. Jace looked up, sensing his brother's discomfort. Alec persevered. "He won't touch me anymore," he choked out, cheeks now glowing in the black of midnight. "I yelled at him yesterday that if he was going to dump me he might as well and get it over with, I wasn't getting any younger. Of course, he wasn't getting any older." Alec rolled his eyes in self-disgust. "Those were my exact words."

Alec sank back onto the bench, his knees too weak to hold him. The two sat in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't awkward, more like a much needed silence for the two to think. Alec needed time to understand exactly where he went gone, and Jace needed to figure out exactly what to say to the distressed Alec.

"What did he say?" Jace asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer. Alec's look only strengthened that feeling.

"Nothing." Alec couldn't swallow past the hard lump in his throat. "He just walked out of the door."

"He didn't snap his fingers and disappear in a cloud of glitter?" Jace asked on his sarcastic impulse. "Because that's where I had my bet on his storm out strategy. That means I owe Izzy thirty bucks." On Alec's death glare, Jace decided to change tactics. "Alec maybe you should just talk to him."

"He doesn't want to talk to me! He didn't answer my call, and he won't answer the door." Yes, Alec had a key, but he didn't feel like he was welcome to use it.

Raising an eyebrow, Jace had to remind himself that this was Alec's first relationship. Jace himself was more than used to the "I never want to speak to you again," fight.

"Alec, one thing you're going to have to get used to fights." Jace smiled half-heartedly to Alec's eye roll. "No I', serious. They're going to feel like the end of the world, but you know what, you're going to have to realize that you can get past them. And I think Magnus just needs a little Alec luvin'." Jace dodged a smack to the head from Alec before swaying his hips toward his brother. "Oh Alexander, I never should have been mad at you," Jace said in a low pitched voice.

Fighting the urge to laugh, Alec stood and began walking toward the institute, Jace following behind, out of range of any swipes directed to him. "Magnus doesn't sound anything like that, Jace," he pointed out good naturedly.

Suddenly Jace was in front of Alec, stopping his quick pace. "Dude where are you going. You've got a sparkly warlock to talk into taking your sorry ass back."

"Thanks Jace," Alec replied whole-heartedly. As he turned toward his new destination, Alec chuckled to himself, realizing that that had actually been a pretty decent impression of Magnus.

Authors Note- Hey guys, so I was working on the second chapter... And my computer died. So I kind of killed myself. And that means it'll be quite a while before I get the next chapter up, since I'm still no impressed...