pave the winding memory lane

by Mia-Zeklos

"When he'd first got the assignment from his editor – the command to spend the summer at an impromptu camp at the beach and write a report that would end up in the lifestyle section of the high-end magazine he was working for – Magnus had known that it was too good to be true."

Notes: Written for the Shadowhunters Summertime Gift Fest over on tumblr. This was supposed to be just a fluffy all-human Malec fic, as per requested; not sure how it ended up... like this. Also, disclaimer: I know next to nothing about cars and/or camping ethics and habits in the USA, so suspension of disbelief might be a good idea.

That being said, I hope this is enjoyable and feedback is welcome!

Clary had insisted on keeping the windows open instead of turning the air conditioner on and while Magnus had agreed at first – the air conditioner always made him feel sick – he could feel that they were both starting to regret that decision. The air was getting almost unbearably hot as they got closer to the beach and Clary's hair was tangled up in knots from the wind coming from outside. She was still eager to get there, though, Magnus could see it despite everything; the way she glanced out of her window at ever turn, hoping that they'd finally reached their destination. She did it again when he slowed down, but frowned just a moment later, mimicking his own grimace at the sight in front of them.

The camper trailer in the middle of the road was almost completely drowned in smoke and the only thing Magnus could make out was two men squabbling at the side of the vehicle, completely blocking the way.

This was it. When he'd first got the assignment from his editor – the command to spend the summer at an impromptu camp at the beach and write a report that would end up in the lifestyle section of the high-end magazine he was working for – Magnus had known that it was too good to be true. Even when Clary, one of his oldest friends who had just happened to need to make the research for her sociology class at the very same camp, had joined him, Magnus had been only cautiously happy about it because, unlike Clary, he knew exactly what kind of crowd was the one who could afford to take a three month break from the world to live at the beach.

He was just about to mention that when one of the men neared the car and leant against Magnus's window. He was obviously distressed, face reddened under the harsh sunlight and blonde hair hastily pushed out of his face in complete disarray.

"You headed for the beach?" He asked instead of a greeting. By the time Clary had said yes (always eager to help, bless her, even when she didn't know what she was getting into), the guy's friend had joined him, looking about as troubled as he was. "'Cause we're kind of stuck."

"Did you try calling for help?" Magnus wasn't in the mood to be charitable, especially not with stranger who'd already kept him out in the heat far longer than necessary.

"Of course we did." Number two of the aforementioned strangers shouldered his friend out of the way to take his place. Now that he could see him properly, Magnus couldn't help but notice how stark the contrast between them was; the newcomer's dark hair and hazel eyes glistening in the unforgiving afternoon heat. "There's no signal here. And we've been blocking the road for hours, so if you could just pull us over to the beach–"

"That won't be possible." Magnus had been trusted with this car. There was no way he was breaking it down by testing its limits now.

"Why not?" Clary stepped in, turning to Magnus specifically. It wasn't difficult to see why; she always unleashed the full force of her most convincing charitable smile when she wanted something. "The beach is a mile away from here."

"And what if our car breaks down too?" The question was directed at everyone present and no one in particular, even though Magnus wasn't really expecting an answer.

"Please?" Stranger number one spoke again and Magnus sighed as Clary stifled a laugh.

"What a convincing argument. Magnus, come on," she coaxed when he made to protest. "If the car does break down, I'll break the news to Luke, I promise."

Despite the reassurement - and the dread-filled realisation that he would pay for this, one way or another - Magnus gave a reluctant nod. "I'll drive to the front," he called out to the two men outside. "You'll tow the trailer to the car. How many more people are in there?"

"Just one." The blond beamed at him. "You won't regret this."

"I hope so," Magnus muttered, but there was no one left to hear him – both men had moved out of his way so that he could manoeuvre around the trailer.

The procedure – surprisingly enough – went smoothly. Before he could change his mind, Magnus found himself at their destination with several overeager future campers at his tail.

"Thank you," one of them said, shaking Magnus's hand with a gesture that seemed far too official for their current surroundings. "We owe you. If there's something we could do–"

There wasn't, if Magnus had to be completely honest. He'd made sure to be as prepared as possible before he'd left New York and he was still quite sure of his ability to survive here for the next three months. But, since the offer had been made already anyway...

"Tell me your name," Magnus said. It was an impulsive, spur-of-the-moment decision – he was here to work, not to flirt with people who'd almost got him stuck in the middle of nowhere without any chance of getting help – but even on a second thought, he didn't regret it; not when he could see the pleased smile curling the man's lips.

"I'm Alec," he said and nodded to his companions, both of whom were still busy with setting up the camp. "And they're Jace and Izzy."

"It's a pleasure, Alec. I'm Magnus, and this is Clary." He turned back to his own car, not without a little regret. "But, unless you've got some tips on how to set up a tent–"

"He does," his friend – Jace – interrupted from his place by the spot they'd chosen for themselves. "We come here every year."

The withering stare Alec sent his way was one Magnus was awfully familiar with – I know what you're doing – but he didn't protest and nodded instead, looking over to Magnus's car. "Are you going to share a tent? You and your..."

"Friend," Magnus filled in for him. Colleague would have been a better-fitting word for the occasion, he supposed, but the last thing he wanted was to put pressure on the possible subjects of his work by talking about it right away. "Yes."

"Then it's a good thing you found us," Alec said and while the words were obviously meant to get a rise out of him, Magnus had to stifle the urge to laugh. The man in front of him wasn't used to asking for help, that much was clear, and he seemed hell bent on returning the favour. "This is going to take a while."

o.O.o

"I can't believe she left us to do this on our own," Jace huffed as he dragged something – the barbeque, if the noise it made was something to go by – out of the trailer. They'd been trying to settle down for at least a few hours now and after a few years of it, the procedure was just familiar enough to be soothing despite how difficult it usually was.

"Yes, you can," Alec called out from the window. On the inside, their temporary home was a mess and he already knew that it would take a day or two while everyone – and everything – found their place inside it. Most likely two, come to think of it, given that Isabelle had already abandoned them in favour of getting into the water as soon as possible. "She does it every time. And on top of everything," he added, making his way back outside, "we have a car to fix too."

"Not for a few more weeks, we don't," Jace said. Despite his earlier complaints, he was basking in the sun already, clearly content that he'd just run out of settling down to do. Shielding his eyes, he threw a smile in Alec's general direction. "And even if we do, you can get your new friend to help us."

"My new friend?" Alec scoffed. He didn't want it to seem like he was protesting too much, but he knew that he was failing: Jace knew him too well to fall for it. "You're the one who talked to him."

"But he helped us because of you. It's not a bad thing," he continued and Alec suspected that his aversion to being subjected to this kind of analysis had shown in his expression all too well. "Alec, the purpose of this trip is to relax. That's why we do it every year. That's why me and Izzy convinced you to do it in the first place; we're all always busy. But here–"

"–there's no place for work," Alec finished. He'd memorised that mantra from every time when Jace and Izzy had had to talk him out of bringing some of the assignments his father had given him for whatever big project awaited them now and while he couldn't welcome the opportunity to do nothing for three months as readily as they had, he had to admit that it had its perks. "I know," he assured him and, for good measure, reached into the nearest cooling back to get a beer for them both. "Don't worry about me. I can actually enjoy this."

He meant it, at least to some degree, but then again, he always did. Pulling himself out of the outside world was just always a struggle and despite that, Alec found himself hoping that this time would be different.

"I hate to say this," Clary called out as she sidestepped Magnus's bold attempt at a campfire to get to him, "but you were right. This is useless. None of them even got question three."

If Magnus remembered correctly, question three had been about the ability to juggle three months of life in the wilderness with the responsibilities that had to be left behind. "Not exactly a surprise, is it?"

"No," Clary admitted, voice muffled from the tent as she looked for the sandwich from lunch that she'd forgotten. They hadn't expected just how often they would have to make the trip to the nearest town for food, but the lack of any nearby civilisation was still maddening, even if neither of them was willing to voice their frustration. "But it's still– I didn't expect this. And our neighbours over there are being even less helpful."

Magnus didn't need her to point him in the exact direction to know which neighbours she meant. Even if he hadn't been introduced to them early on, Magnus knew that he would have noticed them soon enough – they were the loudest group on the beach even if they weren't the biggest one and yet somehow they managed to never let a word slip about who they actually were. Magnus was quite sure that the names they'd introduced themselves with had been nothing but nicknames and even if he'd figured them out partially, that still left too many questions unanswered for him to be comfortable with actually interviewing them.

Alec – or Alexander, as Magnus had taken to referring to him despite the unimpressed glances it got him – had to be the worst one. He talked if he was being talked to, but rarely more than that and rarely about anything personal; not even when he'd got slightly tipsy on the cocktails Magnus had made them. It was both bewildering and frustrating. In Magnus's experience, there was nothing that people liked more than being able to talk about themselves and the sudden secrecy wasn't something he knew how to deal with. He knew that Clary was facing the same problem – even if she hadn't said it out loud, Magnus knew that despite having a whole campsite at their disposal, it wasn't quite the same when compared to the trailer that hadn't moved from its spot next to them since day one.

Thinking of which... almost a month had passed since their arrival and no one from the trio in question had made the effort to fix their vehicle. At this point, Magnus was almost entirely sure that they had no idea on how to do it and it only cemented his already confirmed belief – if they'd wanted to get anything different from rich kids using nature as a getaway from their parents's mansions, they'd probably come to the wrong place.

It would make a good enough article, Magnus was sure of it – he knew that people liked reading about things they wanted to be able to afford and this was the perfect opportunity – but he found himself suddenly unable to focus on that alone. It was perplexing; he'd always managed to keep a level head before, no matter how deep into a topic he got, and this had been supposed to be easy. And it would have been, he supposed, if it hadn't been for the unexpected, and rather unwelcome, personal twist to the situation.

Said personal twist approached him now just as the last rays of the sun set behind the shimmering expanse of water behind him and while Magnus wasn't exactly surprised – it had become somewhat of a routine recently – the sight still wasn't one he was willing to miss.

"Hey," Alec greeted, padding barefoot through the no man's land between their two camps. He was still dressed in just his swim shorts and his wet hair was reflecting the last flecks of the sunset over the sky, giving him an almost ethereal look. "We were wondering if you'd join us. Izzy was just making burgers."

"And here I was, just about to say yes," Magnus sighed. The little twitch of Alec's lips – not quite a smile, but not unnoticeable either – was a small victory.

"Jace fed them to Lydia's dog," he continued. "We've ordered dinner already."

Lydia was yet another camper in the unintentional circle on this side of the beach and while she'd been one of Magnus's better informants when he'd tried to interview her, the way she behaved around their mutual neighbours had raised even more questions. She knew them, both Clary and Magnus had come to that conclusion, and it wasn't difficult to imagine why – she was the daughter of a politician and if there was anything to be said about the trio next door, it was that they seemed to have the same origins, no matter how much they tried to hide it.

"We'll be with you in a minute," Magnus said. Clary was still sorting through her data and Mahe wasn't about to abandon her; not when they could join them later easily enough.

"He's not going to change his mind."

Clary's voice floated from nehind him as soon as Alec had moved out of earshot and Magnus threw her a glance over his shoulder. "About what exactly?"

"About the interview." She settled down next to him with a sigh. "Neither of them is. And I was just thinking– don't they look familiar?"

"Should they?" Magnus shrugged. "If they were celebrities, we'd both have recognised them already."

"No, not that." Magnus could practically see the gears turning in Clary's head and he knew that whoever they were, they were more in her line of work than his own. "I've seen them somewhere before, but I can't figure it out."

"It doesn't matter." As soon as they left his mouth, the words already sounded foreign (it had to matter, it always did with the nature of his profession), but it was too late to take them back. And why should he? The realisation was unexpected, but not one he necessarily wanted to hide. "Their names," he elaborated, "and where they come from. It doesn't matter. We know them already."

"Yes." Clary's voice was softer than he'd expected it to be. "Yes, I suppose we do."

o.O.o

"You know," Magnus said, gathering the attention of their little group. "Ordering food over the phone kind of defeats the purpose of spending your summer away from the world."

"That's what I told them too," Izzy said. She'd just opened a new bottle of wine and was passing it around the campfire along with the slices of pizza she was distributing. "But no one would listen."

"If you'd like to die from food poisoning in the middle of nowhere, be my guest," Jace muttered into his cup, loud enough for Magnus and Clary to hear but not quite for Izzy on the other side of the fire. Clary's answering grin was a hint enough of what had transpired, though, and Magnus got up from his place between them to sit on Clary's other side instead so that he found himself right next to Alec. He'd just finished with his dinner, it seemed, and Magnus took the opportunity to try and engage him in conversation. It wasn't a professional one this time and Magnus was honest enough with himself to admit that that wasn't a first. More and more often, he had started seeking out the other man's company just because he wanted to rather than because he could get something out of it. He'd given up on that idea about two weeks into their stay and things had only changed for the better since then, with Alec becoming much more open than he had been before.

"Would you like to go on a walk?" he suggested now as he saw Alec fiddling with his empty cup. He got a nod in return and Alec got to his feet, offering him a hand to help him up.

"Sure, why not?" If he'd noticed the sudden silence reigning around the campfire, Alec didn't let it show. "I know a place."

It didn't take long to get to Alec's place. The forest on the back of the beach was a thin one and the moonlight that streamed through the branches illuminated the path and Magnus couldn't help but wonder how he hadn't noticed this before.

"You've been here before, right?" he asked as he studied their surroundings. "Jace mentioned something about that on our first day."

"Is this for another one of your surveys?" The question didn't seem to hold any weight, but Magnus shook his head anyway.

"I'm contractually obliged to tell you if it is," he said and Alec laughed; the sound of it sudden and unexpected in its sincerety.

"I know that." He was used to being interviewed, then, and Magnus filed the information away despite himself. "And yes, we've been here before. We've been coming for years. Jace suggested it the year after we turned eighteen; our last summer before college. It was meant to be a one time thing, but then–" Alec shrugged. "It turned into a tradition, I suppose. And you?" Always one to deflect the attention from himself – especially when the conversation became as personal as this one just had – Alec turned to face him. "You've never thought of doing something like this before you got this job?"

"No," Magnus admitted. "And I probably wouldn't try it again. I'm not sure it's the place for me."

"That's a pity." It sounded like Alec had been bracing himself for the comment before he made it and Magnus looked up, startled by the determination in his voice. "It's been nice, having you here. Different."

"Has it?" They'd both stopped walking, Magnus realised, right in the middle of nowhere, but he'd had to. If he didn't, he would miss this moment, he was certain of that, and the thought was almost unbearable.

"Yes." The weight of Magnus's tension echoed in the solitary word and Alec was still looking at him; hadn't looked away since he'd started talking. "I don't know why, but... yes."

"There's plenty of time." For what? He didn't know. It had appeared after the first few days; this unacknowledged, unspoken something between them and it had only grown in intensity to the point where Magnus didn't know what to do with it except to voice it before it got too overwhelming to handle. "Summer isn't over yet."

"No," Alec agreed and the decisiveness in his eyes only amplified as he stepped closer. "It's not over yet."

The kiss, when it came, was both a surprise and completely expected, new and yet familiar in a way Magnus couldn't put his finger on. He'd known that it would feel like this if Alec kissed him; sharp and determined and all-consuming. He could feel Alec's fingers curling into the lapels of his shirt to bring him closer and his own hands found their way to Alec's waist until Magnus could plaster himself against him completely, greedy for as much as he could get before they had to pull away.

It turned out that he didn't have to; not for more than a few moments, anyway. After all, there was plenty of time.

They had decided to leave in the morning.

It would be easier that way, Alec had reasoned. They didn't want to arrive back in the city in the middle of rush hour, which meant that they had to leave as early as possible if they wanted to avoid it. It had been a rational decision, unlike the majority of the ones Alec had taken during the last three months.

Three months. They felt like nothing now; the summer that had stretched in front of him had melted in what felt like a matter of seconds and before he'd known it, it was time to go back again. Back to work, back to New York, and away from everything this camp had brought with itself.

Everything. And everyone.

"We can stay for a while longer." Jace didn't sound too convinced, but it was still a brave attempt. "Robert wouldn't mind."

"We can't and he would." Alec had thought over every scenario enough times for them to get all jumbled up in his head and had come up blank; he was quite sure that there wasn't a single encouragement that could work on him now. "And even if we could, what difference would one more week make?"

"I don't know. Maybe it'll be easier then. I doubt it, though." Jace's brutal honesty, bleak as it was, was still better than his sudden enthusiasm as he sat up. "Listen, it doesn't have to end like this."

Alec stared at him blearily over the last remnants of their campfire. Everyone else had gone to sleep hours ago until it had been just the two of them left and Alec had been fine with that; had preferred quietly coming to terms with the goodbye he'd have to go through in the morning instead of trying to find a solution that would never work. He'd been through this before, although he had never found himself in this exact situation; he'd had to deal with his parents's disapproval over plenty of things over the years and while everything – his sexuality included – had been accepted somewhat well in the end, he was aware that there was a limit to their patience and the notion of dating someone whose work just happened to consist of meddling in other people's affairs would be far too much even for them.

"Of course it does," he countered. "What are we supposed to do?"

"We could find them again when we're back home. Come on, how many journalists called Magnus could possibly be out there?"

"Journalists being the key word here. Mother and Father would be charmed by both of us. It's not like this is just about me, is it?" he challenged at Jace's affronted expression. "Look, if you want to go after Clary, go for it. But I didn't spend the entire summer deflecting questions just so I can ruin it all now. I'm going to sleep," he added for good measure when he detected the budding protest from Jace's side of the campfire. "It's late, and I'll have to drive tomorrow."

It wasn't a lie; not really. And Alec was more than used to living with half-truths.

Magnus had been having a good enough day by the time Clary burst into his office.

Really, it hadn't been all that bad. He was still focused on writing his article and, mainly, on reminding himself that it was supposed to be a happy story. It wouldn't be dishonest to say that it had been one of the best summers of his life and he'd said so already, glossing over the details that made it so good as well as he could.

Still, he could see the melancholy in every word. He couldn't be sure that his potential readers would notice, but just the thought of submitting something like that was a strange one. It wasn't like him, like Clary kept reminding him, even though she hadn't been the same since they'd come home either.

He still wasn't completely used to her presence in the building in the first place, if he was honest with himself. She was still just an intern after her successfully completed survey, but she was slowly working her way towards making sure that she'd be hired full time once her internship was over and lately, she'd been allowing herself more and more liberties with the staff and especially so with Magnus under the guise of knowing him almost her entire life.

"I found them," she said now as she closed the door behind her back, leaning over Magnus's desk and turning her phone towards him. "I can't believe I didn't think of this before; their names sounded so familiar..."

Magnus stared at the picture on the screen. There was no mistaking the people he'd been shown; Jace and Izzy on both sides and Alec in the middle, all smiling at the camera and dressed in evening wear almost comically different from the clothes they'd worn on their vacation.

"The Lightwoods are the owners of the New York Institute," Clary said, as if Magnus's heart hadn't sank at the realisation already. "They just co-owned it before, but after my father..."

"I know," Magnus nodded. He did know; he'd seen Maryse and Robert Lightwood often enough, especially in Valentine Morgenstern's company, but he'd never seen the next generation of possible owners of the multi-million dollar company focused on research in the world of chemistry. They'd gained some of their popularity back after Morgenstern's imprisonment and while the entire case had been too far removed from the topics that Magnus's editor usually requested from him, it had still been impossible to miss.

Which, all on its own, was more than enough to explain all the secrecy.

Magnus met Clary's eyes over his computer screen, only to realise that she was as torn as he was; the desire to get in touch too big to be ignored despite everything. Despite this.

"What do you say?"

There wasn't a lot to say, really. They'd both suffered more than enough from Valentine's abuse of power, but it was worth the risk. Magnus missed them; Alec in particular, but Jace and Izzy too and the thought that they were one phone call away and that he'd just let himself give up regardless of that seemed almost ridiculous.

With a smile – one of the first sincere ones since they'd arrived back in New York – Magnus turned away from the phone and back to his keyboard, typing away furiously until he found what he was looking for.

o.O.o

It was entirely possible that Alec had made a mistake.

It wasn't something he liked to admit, no matter what the nature of said mistake was. His parents had taught him to always salvage what he could from the wreckage of whatever it was that had went wrong and move on. It was what they'd been doing for years, after all, and he was quite sure that they'd be proud of his decision to sweep it all under the carpet.

He couldn't really say the same about himself.

He knew that he was getting on everyone's nerves, and the same went for Jace and Izzy. It was almost funny, really; their traditional vacation by the seaside was supposed to help them calm down from the stress of their day to day life instead of making it even worse. But things had been different this time an Alec had thad a taste of something he hadn't even thought of before – the possibility of following his heart no matter where it took him – and going back to his comfort zone didn't feel all that comfortable this time around.

It was ridiculous, he was aware of that. It had already been two weeks and there was a reason why things like what he'd experienced were called summer romances – they weren't supposed to last more than the time they'd been given. It didn't feel that way, though, and the more he thought about it, the more the idea of tracking down Magnus and finding a way to contact him seemed like a good one.

Just as he contemplated the possibility of actually going through with that, Alec's phone rang. He looked up from from his paperwork and picked up, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. "Yes?"

"Mr Lightwood." He could recognise his secretary's voice and the tentative edge to it that usually meant that the news weren't good. "You've got a call from the press."

Ah. That explained it, then. A call from the press had never been a good thing; not for as long as Alec had been an active member of his parents's Institute. "Did they leave a name?"

"Magnus Bane."

And there it was again; the thought of every possible choice he could make running through his head at the sound of nothing but a name. Magnus Bane. So he'd been the one, Alec thought; this was the name of the man who'd made him go through so much conflict in his own mind in so little time.

"Mr Lightwood?" His secretary called out again and Alec realised that he'd been quiet for far too long already.

"Yes?"

"I could tell him that you're busy, if–"

"No," Alec cut her off, shaking his head even though he knew that she couldn't see him. "No, it's fine." It wouldn't be easy, Alec could already tell, but this time it was worth the risk. So he took a deep breath – he'd thought about this too much, too often to give up now – and took it. "Let me hear him."