The air was cool in the garden, Christmas lights decorated the shrubs, and twinkled off of the duck shaped ice sculpture, along with the party goers wine glasses. Alec stood to the side, away from the center of the party, watching his parabatai across the crowd, as he sipped his drink. Really Jace had convinced Alec to come to the party, he didn't like crowds, and liked them less when they were full of mundanes. Jace held his own drink and offered, the one in his right hand to a tall girl with short brown hair, she smiled at him, like girls always did, they liked Jace. Alec admired how confident Jace was with the opposite sex, though he didn't actually have to do much for the attention he got. Alec took a deep breath and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, as his blue eyes scanned the crowd. He noted another group of girls, all around his age. smiling at Jace and giggling among one another.
Finally his gaze landed on a single girl, standing off to the side, she too was observing the party. Her bright green eyes met Alec's and he returned her kind smile. it wasn't a flirting smile, Alec had seen enough of them to know the difference. Truthfully Alec could get any girl he wanted, the problem was, unlike his parabatai he didn't want any girl. He wanted a meaningful relationship, one that lasted more than one night. which he had shared with a few passing interests, but they had all ended for one reason or another. He wasn't sure if his feet or his brain moved first, but he was on his way to the girl with the green eyes. Her eyes became brighter when she saw him headed in her direction. "I'm Alec" he said leaning in close so that she could hear him over the sound of the music. "Tori." The girl replied with a wide smile. "What brings you to the party?" She added "My brother, actually." Alec said pointing to the golden boy across the party. "How about you?" Alec asked "My friends, which happened to be the ones gawking at your brother." Alec glanced again to Jace, who had moved to the group of giggling girls, and, was setting between the four of them. Jace met Alec's eyes his face was full of amusement, Alec knew that Jace had his sights on the pretty girl that sat to the left of him. "Jace has that effect on people" Alec smirked. When he's not glamoured he thought. "I've known guys like him" Tori said bringing Alec's attention back to their conversation. "Guys like him?" Alec questioned "I know he's your brother, but you can see it in his face, and that goofy smile, he knows he can have his way with any of the girls here. And then have a different one tomorrow" Alec couldn't say she was wrong, the truth was a mundane girl had invited Jace here after a one night thrill ride, and he had barely said hello to her before he started making the rounds of the party. When Alec didn't reply Tori spoke again "Trust me they all love it. Most of them have boyfriends anyway, but they think nights like this are worth it. Even more so when they meet guys like that." There was a look in Tori's eyes that Alec couldn't quite place, a mix of annoyance and admiration.
Jace now had his arm around the girl to his left. Alec imagined breaking up a fight between Jace and her boyfriend. "How about you?" Alec asked, emptying his glass with a final sip. "No boyfriend, they all feel sorry for me." She nodded to her friends "but I'd take one night with a decent guy over all these one night stands any day." She smiled shyly and Alec wondered if she thought he was a decent guy. "Believe me, I understand." Alec said "Can I get you another drink?" He added, she nodded and he moved toward the table where the punch fountain was flowing with red liquid. Rubber ducks floated in the bottom, they also decorated the centerpiece of all the tables. Jace made his way to where Alec stood the pretty girl in tow behind him. Jace scowled at the rubber ducks in the punch fountain then turned his attention to Alec. "I'll meet you back at the house." He said as a smirk crossed his face, Alec knew what his parabatai had planned "Be careful" Alec suggested eyeing the girl to Jace's left "Always am bro." Jace replied as he touched Alec's shoulder and headed toward the exit.
"Here you are" Alec smiled holding the drink out to Tori, her eyes following Jace and her friend as they left the party. "And there they go" she added, Alec didn't reply, after his and her drink were both half empty he decided that she wasn't any girl. "Would you like to go for a walk?" He asked. "The kind of walk Jace and Amy just took?" She questioned.
"No! I'm not like Jace." Alec replied, while he admired Jace's skills with girls, it was also one of the things that annoyed him most about his friend. "Prove it" Tori answered quietly.
Alec found himself and Tori walking the streets of New York. Around midnight he took Tori to her apartment. "Do you want coffee?" She asked from the doorway. "Sure" Alec smiled. In fact he actually did not want coffee, knowing coffee had the same effect on him as a stamina rune did. He also knew that if he refused, the night he was spending with Tori would come to an end. They talked about life, and jobs Tori was a fashion designer, Alec said he was in the family business and changed the subject. Just after 2am Alec noticed that both of their coffee cups were still almost full, telling him that Tori didn't really want coffee either.
"I should get going." He said knowing that he wouldn't be excused from his 8am training session. "Okay." She replied, after a long moment of their eyes being locked together in a sea of green and blue he stood. Tori handed him his jacket from the coat rack "Can I see you again?" He asked as he shrugged it on, she leaned close and placed a kiss on his cheek. "You're not like your brother." She whispered.
Alec loosened his tie as he walked into the institute, Tori had said he wasn't like Jace, Alec figured that was her way of avoiding his question about seeing her again. With a sigh he stuck his hands into his pockets as he made his way upstairs, he felt something in one of his pockets and pulled out a piece of crumpled paper, it read Tori (the "I" dotted with a heart) and had a phone number on it, he smiled inwardly.
The door opened behind him, Jace walking in, his hair messy, his shirt was untucked, he carried his tie and jacket in his hands. Alec thought he could see lipstick marks on his jaw and neck. He didn't ask if Jace had had a good night the answer to that was clear. "Are you just getting in?" Jace asked in a not quit sober voice "yeah" Alec said before heading to his room.
Alec made it a point to wake Jace up first thing, he and Jace were the only ones at the table as they ate breakfast, preparing for their training session. "You got home late" Jace mentioned, smirking at his own thoughts as he took a very long sip of his coffee. "You're one to talk. "Alec replied shoving a fork full of eggs into his mouth. "So you really hit it off with that girl?" Jace asked. "Yeah, seems you did too." Alec said "Annie was a fun girl." Jace replied grabbing a piece of bacon. "Amy." Alec corrected. "Huh?" Jace replied his mouth full. "Her name was Amy"
"Oh sure. Was your girl fun? You usually don't stay out that late, were you careful?" Jace asked suddenly wide eyed and reminded of Alec's remark from the previous night. "We only talked." Alec clarified to which Jace didn't reply. Deep down Jace longed for the kind of relationships Alec had. His one night stands were fun, but just once he wanted something meaningful.
"That party had terrible decorations" Jace said ignoring his own thoughts. "What did you expect, they were celebrating their duck call. Which they use to hunt ducks." Alec said
"Serves the little beasts right" Jace replied.