With the force of a bull, Magnus tore himself away from Lucas and shoved the other, sending him back a few feet. If he'd shoved a mundane like that, they'd be flying across the room. But not Lucas.
"What the hell are you doing here? And besides that- what the hell are you doing?" Magnus hissed through clenched teeth, his cat-like eyes narrowing dangerously. Lucas, unabashed, stepped forward again, reaching out to touch Magnus's cheek. Magnus flinched back as if Lucas's hand was hot iron. This time, Lucas's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.
"Magnus," Lucas murmured, and somehow, his voice could be heard clearly over the laughter of the dancers and the music; clear as if he were speaking right into his ear. "Magnus, what's wrong?"
"Wha-" Magnus began, at first sounding incredolous, but his voice soon changed to accusing; betrayed, "what's wrong? I'll tell you- but first- HEY! PARTY TIME'S DONE. EVERYBODY, OUT." Not waiting to watch his guests leave, Magnus's hand shot out and grabbed Lucas's arm -he'd have grabbed the sleeve if Lucas hadn't been wearing a T-shirt that could easily be mistaken as a tank top- and he pulled him none too lightly toward the kitchen of Magnus's apartment. Magnus shoved Lucas in there -again, it was a fruitless attempt to make the male stumble too much- and turned back into the living room, grabbing every cup that had been carelessly laid on the floor or furniture. He used no magic in an attempt to slow the process of talking to Lucas.
After about twenty minutes, the apartment was spotless. (Okay, he'd used some magic, but only because cleaning was not Magnus's idea of a walk in the park.) Magnus stood in the middle of the room, surveying his work. During his surveillance, he happened to glance toward the entryway, and spotted something peculiar. Grumbling angrily, Magnus strutted over to the fabric on the ground and plucked it up, muttering. "The least those barbarians could do is take their god damned clothing with them. I don't care if they're getting any, its my apartment..." Magnus stopped when he recognized just what exactly this piece of clothing was.
"Alec!" Magnus breathed, and grabbed his phone, a million possibilities running through his mind. Alec could've decided to come, but got intervened by a rude, drunken guest, and all he had time to leave behind was his jacket; or maybe Alec was mad at him for some reason, and decided to let him know by leaving the jacket they both loved so much behind at a party; or what if-
Magnus stopped thinking about possibilities and dialed Alec's number quickly- Magnus had taken it upon himself to memorize his Shadowhunter's number. One ring... two rings... three rings... four rings... five- what? Voicemail? Magnus chewed on his lip, his mind racing- and he stopped. Okay, he thought, wait. It's- Magnus spared a glance at the clock on his phone -okay, it's six fourty five, and he could be having dinner. Maybe he came, looked for me, couldn't find me, and left his jacket here on accident. In the back of Magnus's mind, he knew it couldn't be true, but it was all that was keeping him from turning and racing to the New York Institute.
"Magnus."
The voice, soft as silk, came from behind him, only a few paces away. Instead of turning, Magnus breathed in deeply, his thoughts turning from Alec to Lucas in a flash. I don't know if I can do this, Magnus thought fleetingly, but all thoughts wiped from his mind as he heard footsteps, soft against the rug, coming towards him. Not a second longer before he felt warm breath against the skin of his neck. Hands -strong, calloused hands- massaged his shoulders. Usually, if anybody else except for Alec or this man were to do something such as this, Magnus wouldn't hesitate to send them back on their asses. But at this very moment, Magnus's hands went slack, his arms falling limp at his sides. Maybe it was an effect of the other's magic- Lucas was a warlock, and a very powerful one to boot. Not nearly as powerful as Magnus, but Magnus was the most powerful of them all. Lucas was just over exceptional, while Magnus was miles above it.
"You're tense," Lucas mumbled. Magnus's shoulders quivered.
Finally, gathering his strength, Magnus threw himself away from Lucas, stumbling forward. It was all he could do. Pushing and shoving had proven to be useless, so the only other thing to do was to get away from Lucas instead of forcibly moving him away.
"Lucas," Magnus turned to look at him, finally. "This can't happen. We can't do this. You had your chance, and its over. It was over years ago. Hundreds of years ago, to be quite frank."
"No," Lucas said, "Magnus, you must let me explain myself. You must."
Magnus's breath caught in his throat. Lucas was doing it again. Lucas was tall, taller than Magnus, even, with hair cut cropped short, but not quite a buzz cut. Magnus hadn't ever thought buzz cuts looked good on any male, but Lucas made it work. He always had, with the hair short in everywhere but the front, where a little patch of hair curled up in a small cowlick. When Magnus had met Lucas, it'd been charming- it was a cute look; his black hair against his tanned skin was simply attractive. And Magnus wasn't surprised to find that it still was. His eyes, sharp and gray, caught everything. When they'd been dating back in the old days, Lucas noticed everything. When Magnus was exhausted, Lucas noticed. When Magnus was angry with Lucas -which had only happened every once in a blue moon- Lucas noticed immediately. Nothing Magnus did could slip by Lucas, and somewhere in his heart, he loved that about Lucas. He'd be lying if he said he still didn't- and that fact, that thought right there made Magnus want to unleash his glittery wrath on somebody.
"If there's something I must do, its rid myself of any living thing in this apartment room except for me and my beloved Chairman Meow." At the sound of his name, Chairman Meow trotted into the room. It was the first time Magnus had seen his cat the whole day, and while Chairman seemed happy to see Magnus, the moment the cat laid its eyes upon Lucas, Chairman Meow arched his back, hissing with disgust and anger. Lucas took no notice of this, but Magnus's eyes flickered to the cat, his mouth twitching up into a slight smile.
"I see your cat hasn't forgiven me for what I did," Lucas mumbled, half to himself.
"Chairman's not the only one," Magnus said.
Lucas sighed, and stepped forward. In return, Magnus stepped back. "Magnus," Lucas said, a gentle pleading in his voice, "you don't even know why I did what I did."
"And I suppose the reason will just make what you did seem saintly, won't it, now?" Magnus hissed, and tried to ignore the slight wince Lucas gave. There was a silence before Magnus's shoulders slumped a percentage as he heaved a sigh, and he flicked his wrist at a couch, pulling it closer slightly. "Sit down." Magnus commanded, and Lucas obeyed easily. "I am going to get a beverage. And no, you may not have one."
Without waiting for Lucas to reply, Magnus turned on his heel, into the kitchen. He prepared a cup of tea, and Chairman Meow padded into the kitchen after him, as if worried. As the water was boiling, Magnus scooped Chairman Meow into his arms, burying his face in the cat's fur. "God, why's he here?" Magnus mumbled, angry. Angry that Lucas had come only days before his wonderful Alec's birthday. Angry that Alec hadn't stayed to find him, or whatever had happened. Angry that Magnus was completely weak against Lucas's soft voice, against his gentle expressions.
The kettle screamed its readiness, and Magnus poured the hot water into a bamboo cup, in order to keep it warm. Magnus had a feeling he wouldn't be sipping it much. Dropping the teabag into the water, Magnus returned to the living room.
Lucas's eyes followed Magnus with every step he took. When Magnus sat down, he took an extra long time getting situated; he laid a blanket across his lap, put his tea cup on a table beside the armchair he was sitting on, and watched Chairman Meow settle into the warm space between Magnus's leg and the arm of the chair. Magnus picked up his tea, took a sip, and finally stared at Lucas. He couldn't look the black haired male in the eyes, so instead, he stared at his tanned nose. Magnus remembered the many times he'd kissed Lucas's nose when it'd gone red from the cold of the many winters they spent together. Shaking the thoughts out of his mind, Magnus cleared his throat. "Well, then. You want to talk; so talk."
Lucas didn't need any further invitation. "What I did was wrong, Magnus. Both you and I know it- but both you and I also know that I don't do anything without a reason. And the reason I left wasn't to hurt you."
With a bitter smirk, Magnus leaned forward slightly. "Then tell me, Lucas. What was your oh, so charitable reason for leading me on for one hundred years before leaving me in the dead of the night? I'm so curious to hear."
Alec ran.
He'd never run so hard in his life.
When Alec was two years younger than now, Jace and he had gone on a demon hunt in the dead of night. Honestly, they hadn't necessarily been looking for demons, but they'd run into one, anyway. Alec had entrusted Jace to bringing the weapons, and when Alec asked Jace to give him his weapon, Jace had summoned a blank look, and with a shrug, he'd said, "Oops". That was all the confirmation Alec had needed. Alec hadn't ever killed a demon, and he wasn't about to do it barehanded. Grabbing Jace's wrist, Alec and Jace ran like hell was at their feet- which, looking back on it, Alec supposed it was.
But he didn't run as hard as he had now.
Alec ran and ran, all the way back to the Institute. Half way back, it had begun raining. Alec didn't care about how long he was running. He'd even taken the long ways to the Institute. He felt like he was in purgatory- with the Institute as Heaven and Magnus's apartment as Hell.
Alec had never felt so betrayed in his life. Jace and Isabelle had both ratted him out to Maryse when they'd done misdeeds in their adolescence, but that didn't compare to now. Not even when Jace had replaced Alec with Clary had Alec felt so incredibly humiliated, so incredibly alone.
How could Magnus do that? Was this why Magnus had been avoiding Alec? Was Magnus cheating on Alec? After all those words; all those times Magnus had curled into Alec's arms, drawing circles on Alec's forearm and talking about why Magnus loved Alec. Magnus would talk about Alec's hair, his body, his personality, his blush- most of all, Magnus talked about Alec's eyes. The tone of voice Magnus had when talking about Alec's eyes was so full of adoration that Alec hadn't ever thought Magnus would even think of cheating on him. Alec couldn't believe this. No, he just couldn't.
When he got inside the Institute, he'd slowed to a fast walk, and barely missed completely running into Isabelle as he rounded a corner. Her hand flashed out, grabbing his arm, and he spun to look at her, ready to tell her to let him be, but saw the look in her eyes. Pure worry, and pure shock. "Alec... Alec, you're crying." Isabelle whispered. "Why're you crying, Alec? Who made you cry?" Her voice raised an octave, and Alec winced. Isabelle could always tell the story from Alec's eyes. Alec's eyes seemed to be quite popular.
Sticking with his first plan, Alec shook his arm free. "Let me go, Isabelle. Leave me alone." He spun on his heel and walked quicker than before, away from Isabelle, away from the Institute's entrance. He ignored her calls from behind him and headed for his room, slamming his door shut with an unnecessary force. He flung himself into his bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. A disheveled mop of black hair, dull, half-lidded eyes, a ruffled black, long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of low-rise jeans with the pantlegs wet and muddy. If Magnus were to see me right now, he'd probably have a heart attack, Alec thought with a distant sense of humor. Then, he paused, squinting at himself in the mirror. Something was missing. Something, something... What was it? It was... Hm...
Oh.
Oh, no.
Alec closed his eyes, steadying his breathing. The jacket. He'd left the jacket behind. He completely forgot about that. In his anger, he'd stripped the jacket off his back and threw it to the ground. Alec wondered if Magnus noticed it was there. Alec wondered if Magnus had noticed he was there. Probably not, Alec thought bitterly, he was occupied with something else.
"Alec," faintly, Isabelle's voice sounded through Alec's bedroom door, and she knocked twice. "Alec, unlock this door! Don't make me knock it down!" Alec thought fleetingly of the conversation back when Jace had been committed of working with Valentine; when Alec had supposedly handed Jace over to the Inquisitor. Or, at least, that's what it had looked like.
"Isabelle, I told you, just leave me alone! Just until morning, at least!" Alec pleaded with his sister, but she was having none of it.
"No, Alec, I'm your sister, and you were crying! Where'd you go, again? Magnus's party? Did something happen there?" When Alec failed to respond, Isabelle pushed on. "Did Magnus do something? Alec, come on, let me in, I'm trying to help y-"
Isabelle was cut off by a sharp ring of the doorbell. Both Isabelle and Alec fell silent, and Isabelle sighed. "JACE! Go get the door!"
When there was no reply, both Isabelle and Alec suspected Jace had done as asked, but another ring a few seconds later proved them wrong. With an angry grumble, Isabelle yelled away from Alec's direction, "I just have to do everything, don't I? Help out once in a while, Jace!"And with the clicks of her heels, Alec realized she'd gone to get the door. Letting out a breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding, Alec realized another thing- he was hoping. Hoping the person at the door was Magnus. Could it be? Could Magnus know what had happened? Or was he here to dish out more lies?
Alec flopped onto his bed, and closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose. And, before he knew it, he was on the verge of sleep, trying hard as he could not to think about a certain sparkly, flamboyant warlock.
