Hello! Pearl Earring Here! Review, Review, Review! Please? Pretty Please? Oh, I forgot. I always write to music, so each update will have a song that goes with it. You don't have to listen. Today's is: Dust Bowl Dance by Mumford and Sons. So here you go. My first Malec. And believe me, there will be Malec…

The Weight Room

Oh. Oh. That's why, Alec thought. Oh god, I'm gay. The boy had been sitting, watching a drop of sweat slide down Jace's back as he was doing pull-ups in the weight room. Alec had been staring at the drop as it swerved around those perfect muscles that no twelve-year-old should possess, when the realization hit him. Suddenly, he knew it. Deep down in his soul. Alec felt as if something in him had suddenly snapped, had become clear. He was gay. And now he knew it. And he hated it.

Alec's eyes grew wide. He started to hyperventilate as his porcelain skin grew even paler. They are going to kill me. Hell, I feel like I'm going to kill me. Oh, god. I'm gay and I'm in love with Jace. Jace, the boy who could almost be my brother. The boy who always picks me up when I fall. The boy who is going to start teaching me how to spar tomorrow. I love him. He can't know. He CAN'T.

Alec's eyes suddenly focused. The world grew clearer around Jace's face. He looked curious and a little worried. Sunlight spilled onto his blue eyes, their depths glowing, framed by his golden hair. "Hey, Alec. Man, are you okay? You look like you just saw a Ravener." Alec startled at their close proximity, especially their lips, inches from each other. He turned a violent shade of red and instinctively jumped back. His heel caught on the leg of the metal bench he was sitting on, pushing his body over the edge. Alec ended up staring up at Jace from the floor of the weight room, his faced flushed and his chest heaving.

Jace just stood over him. He didn't laugh. He didn't smile. Alec saw the emotions run across his face like a news reel. He saw puzzlement, then realization, then the most violent anger, quickly came acceptance, then fascination. He knows. Just when I found out, he found out. I'm horrible at this. This keeping my secret. Everyone will know just as soon as look at me. But it won't matter. He knows. The only one that I really care about. I'm doomed.

Alec stood slowly, as if trying not to frighten Jace off. The other boy just stood, staring at him. "Look Jace, I…" But he was cut off by a round of roaring laughter that seemed to come from nowhere. It took Alec a few seconds to realize that it was coming from Jace's mouth. Tears were streaming down his face as the slightly younger boy clutched his stomach. Alec straightened up, alarmed, humiliated, and slightly indignant. Geez, I am already proud of being… different? "What on earth could be so funny right now?" Alec demanded.

Jace resumed his pre-doubled over stance, wiping his eyes. "Oh, just the look on your face was priceless. God, you are as jumpy as a cat these days." Jace took a deep breath. "I must have startled you with my god-like good looks." The ego level in that statement was just high enough to tell Alec the truth. Jace would have never said that if he knew my secret. If he knew, he would probably spit on me and call me a bundle of sticks. Or maybe he would ignore me entirely, never mentioning it again. He would definitely not jokingly imply that I am gay.

"Ha, ha," Alec mumbled. Relief was like a tidal wave in his chest, threatening to pull him apart. He grew more confident as the seconds passed, sure that Jace didn't know. "Laugh it up, pretty boy. Just because I have the reflexes of a cobra and you don't…"

"Well, we'll see about that in the sparing ring tomorrow, won't we. Now, leave me. I have to get my beauty sleep before I kick the crap out of you tomorrow. Go on. Shoo."

"Ugh," Alec scoffed, yet he still high-tailed it out of there. He needed to be somewhere quiet, safe. So he could think over it all. The metal door loudly slammed behind him as he almost-ran from the weight room. And from Jace.

Jace looked after the escaping boy until he caught the last glimpse of his duck-taped converse rounding the hallway corner toward the west wing. The metal door banged shut behind Alec, silencing the squeaking of his shoes. When all traces of the older boy were gone, Jace sat down hard on the bench that Alec had just vacated.Jace had no experience with this, none at all. Growing up at the institute, he had rarely had time to socialize with people his age. His gaydar was not finely tuned at all. And yet, that look on Alec's face gave him no doubt. The only boy Jace had grown up with was in love with him.

"Why," Jace whispered. "Why did I have to do this? Why did I have to keep up the charade?" But Jace knew why. He knew perfectly well why. It was for Alec. Alec would probably rather kill himself than have Jace bring it up. And it was also for Jace. Jace didn't want to be the one to break Alec's heart. Just because he liked girls.

P.S. If you don't know already, Google "bundle of sticks".

P.P.S. Review Please!