Chapter 2: Raphael & His School Troubles

"Mr. Lightwood, this way."

Alec went into the principal's office, he got a call thirty minutes ago that Raphael had been fighting in school and needed to be picked up. He had to ask more than once if they had the right kid. It was only ten minutes into his work day and he took off for him; thankfully he was heading against traffic and was able to get to the school father. The office that called said Raphael requested that he be called and not Magnus, so Alec came, and he wasn't happy. Raphael has always been the shy, calm, and collected one whereas Max was the hot head that got into fights, usually protecting his siblings.

"Mr. Lightwood, I'm Mr. Green." The Principal stood up holding out his hand.

Alec shook his hand and looked down at Raphael, he was sitting in front of the principal's desk. Alec saw the dried up lines of tears, whatever happened Raphael was deeply upset over it, "Mr. Green." He nodded, "Raph, are you okay?" He took the seat next to him and twisted the chair slightly to look at him. When Raphael didn't look up, Alec put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed but looked back at the principal, "What happened?"

"We are suspending Raphael for the rest of the day, you'll have to take him home now but he can come back tomorrow. He's suspended for fighting."

"Fighting?" Alec squeezed Raphael's shoulder, "That doesn't sound like my son."

Raphael stared at the ground, never looking up or saying anything.

"Tommy Muller has been suspended for the rest of the week." Mr. Green frowned, it was only Monday. "I was not there to see the incident but the homeroom English teacher was, Tommy was making fun of Raphael for-" He looked at the written report, "-not dating. Raphael punched him in the mouth and then Tommy went to hit him back but Max was next to Raphael and stopped the fight. This happened before first period was set to begin. Since this is Raphael's first time even being near the front office, I'm giving him one day. Tommy is a recurring visitor and he'll be out for the entire week. I expect letters of apologies from both boys."

Alec nodded, "Does Max have his keys?" Alec looked at Raphael when Raphael shrugged Alec looked back at Mr. Green. "I'll take Raphael home and speak to him. I need to see Max before I leave."

"Of course, the admin in the front can call Max out of class for you."

Alec stood up and was glad to see Raphael stand up with him, "Oh, and Mr. Green, if I find out this Tommy kid has been harassing my children and you did nothing to stop it before it got to this point then you'll hear from my lawyer. You say Tommy's been in and out of your office, what are you doing to help him not continue his harassment or bullying of the other children?"

"Mr. Lightwood, I am doing everything in my power."

"I'll deal with my son, but you better figure out how to help Tommy from doing this to the other kids. Someone might not stop at just a single punch." Alec put a hand on Raphael's shoulder and pulled him out of the office, he stopped at the admin's desk. "I need to see my son Max, and Raphael needs to go to his locker to get his books."

She looked over at him, "I'll take Raphael to his locker and get Max. We'll be back in a few minutes. Logan, watch the phones." She spoke to a teenage kid next to her. "Let's go, Raphael."

Alec watched them go then pulled out his phone; he froze at Raphael's words.

"Don't tell dad." Raphael was holding onto the door, "I need to tell him."

Alec nodded, "Okay, I'm going to call work so hurry back." Alec waited for him to be out the door before calling into his boss, explaining that one of his children is sick and needed to be taken home from school. Now that Magnus was a partner at the law firm it was even harder for him to get away, so most of the children being home from school fell to him.

Alec stepped out of the main office after signing Raphael on the takeout sheet, and stood just outside the glass windows, he was just hanging up as Max came towards him, "What happened?"

"I don't know. I wasn't paying attention. I just know Tommy had said something and Raphael punched him right in the mouth. I got in the center of it and pushed back on Tommy to keep him from tackling Raphael to the ground. It all happened so fast." Max had his hands in his pockets, his black pants and some sort of fashion top, all Magnus' fashion.

Alec nodded, "I have to take Raphael home. Not a word of this to anyone, he wants to tell Magnus himself. Do you understand?" He wanted for typical Max nod, "Do you have your car keys?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"You have to pick up your sisters since Raphael is coming with me."

"I got it." Max sighed when he saw Raphael, "Dude, you okay?"

Alec looked at Raphael's hands, one was clean and nice, while the other one was tinted pink and yellow; he could see some of the skin was broken and the blood had dried up already, but really it had been washed away. Alec looked at Raphael's wet face, he stopped by the bathroom on his way back to the front. Alec was suddenly struck with the fact that Raphael, his shy angel child, was so upset he hit someone and not just hit him, but hit him so hard he could have broken his own hand. His heart was breaking for his child.

Raphael nodded but still didn't speak up.

"Max, he doesn't want to talk. Go back to class. Don't forget your sisters, please?"

"I won't, dad." Max wrapped Raphael in a hug, "I love you, brother. See ya later. Bye, dad."

"I don't get an 'I love you.' I brought you into this world, remember?" Alec called with a sigh, but Max was already down the hall, "Come on, kiddo, let's go." He pushed on his shoulder a little bit to get him going, "Does your hand hurt? Do I need to take you to the doctor?"

"My hand?" Raphael asked when they were finally out in the fall air, the chill felt nice to his lungs after being suffocating inside.

"Raphael," Alec reached for him and held up his bruised hand, "Do you not feel that?" He got a look of surprise on his face, "You're about to when the adrenaline high you're on comes crashing down." Alec put his hand down and continued to the car, "Ice cream."

"Huh?" Raphael questioned.

"Your first fight requires ice cream. Max got it after his first fight, I mean he had a broken arm, so there was that, but you have a hurt hand, so let's get ice cream." Alec smirked, "Then we'll talk."

"I'm sorry, dad."

Alec shook his head, "It's okay, kiddo. Let's get ice cream and we can talk and I want to know everything. No skirting the truth, no lies, I want it all whether you think I'm going to like it or not. Okay?"

Raphael sat on the park bench with Alec next to him, he had long since finished his ice cream with a few silent tears, but he couldn't find himself to speak. Alec sat next to him not speaking, not playing on his phone, not doing anything but watching the passing clouds and waiting for Raphael to speak to him.

Finally, he looked up and saw a woman with two kids walking up the path, they all looked so innocent to him, and he wanted to cry. He was never the violent one and he felt sudden regret at hitting anyone let alone a school bully who deserved it.

It took all his strength, but he gave in.

He broke his silence with a deep sigh.

"They aren't mean to me when they just state the obvious, but Tommy's just cruel about it. He's never been that way with me before, but I was just his next in a long line of students he sneers at. Normally, when someone's state what they want to state Max is there. He's always taken care of me ever since we were little."

Alec didn't say anything, didn't even turn to look at him; he was going to let Raphael get out what he wanted to. He almost felt physical pain at not turning.

"But today- today-" Raphael stuttered a little in his speech, "-he wasn't there. He was up the hall a ways with Sarah. And I was alone and I had enough. I'm sick of people always thinking they know me. They don't know. They don't care to get to know me and his words hurt. He got in my face and I tried to just could not say anything, you know, ignore it until it goes away, but he wasn't going away. Before I could think, I hit him. My hand hurts now." Raphael was looking down at his hands, but he saw Alec turn to him then.

Alec picked up his hurt hand and looked it over, "Move your fingers," he did, "Did that hurt?" Alec waited, but Raphael just shook his head, "I don't think it's broken but if the pain worsens you need to tell us, got it?"

Raphael nodded, the tears came then, small but it hurt him to breathe without them falling.

"I know you don't want to, but I need to know what the kids are saying. I'm sorry, Raphael, I know this is hard, but I have to know." Alec wrapped a hand around Raphael's good wrist and pulled his hand onto his lap. Alec intertwined their fingers and squeezed. He was holding onto Raphael and Raphael was holding on so tight, Alec felt like he was a lifeline, "Take your time. Take a few deep breathes."

"They tell me how hard it is for me to keep my grades up, which is true. I have to work hard at them. Always have. And you have always helped me, father, too. But the kids know it. I spend a lot of time at school, working on class work, and not goofing off." He paused, "They can sense it, I think. They don't see me do anything else at school but with my nose in my books. They don't see me playing on my travel league; they don't care about my soccer skills. They just see the books."

"There's nothing wrong with that. I've always told you everyone learns in different ways. You work hard at it and you have fantastic grades to show for it." Alec squeezed his hand again, "I've always been very proud of you."

There was a long pause of silence, Alec wasn't even sure Raphael was listening to him until he spoke again.

"That's not all they say." He looked at him then, "They say I'm weird because I don't like girls and won't date them."

Alec frowned when he didn't continue, "I don't like girls. That doesn't make me weird."

"I don't like boys either." Raphael spoke up, "I don't like either. I've never felt attraction to either sex." He looked at Alec with a stare to bore into his head, "What's wrong with me?" His voice was weak with the whisper.

Alec let go of his hand and pulled him by the shoulder into his side, he wrapped his arm behind his head and pulled him tight, squeezing his shoulder, "You listen to me, there is nothing wrong with you. I don't want you to ask that again, you hear me. There is nothing wrong with you. You just haven't figured it out. There are people who are asexual or demisexual. There are many different labels and maybe you don't need a label. It's all okay, but there is nothing wrong with that or with you." He squeezed him tighter and just listened to his son cry. He looked up at the clear blue sky and willed himself not to cry along with Raphael. His heart broke for his son. He wanted to march into that school and speak to Mr. Green about the these kids, but he knew that wouldn't solve anything for Raphael. He knew he had to let Raphael cry it out as much as he wanted so he sat there and let Raphael cry, and hiccup, and cry some more.

It was a good ten minutes before Raphael sat up again, "Can you not tell father? I want to figure it out on my own."

Alec thought for a moment about his request, "I can't keep the fight from him. I will have to tell him that, but I won't tell him anymore until you're ready. I wish I could tell you differently, but he has to know about the school incident, okay?"

Raphael nodded, "I know I said I wanted to tell him about the fight but I can't. I don't think I have the strength for that, can you do it?"

"Yeah," Alec stood up, "Come on, let's get you home." He pulled Raphael into his side and walked with him back to the car that way.

Magnus came into their bedroom with his briefcase and pulling on his tie, "Sorry, I'm late. Did the kids get down?" He dropped his briefcase on the edge of the bed and went towards their closet to get changed. "I hate that I have to miss the goodnight kisses."

It wasn't that late just after nine, Alec sat in this bed with a book in his lap, 'The Book Thief' his latest read, "Cece and Anna are out. Max is working on homework. Raphael is sleeping. He's been in bed since I brought him home from school."

Magnus stepped out of the closet in his boxers with a t-shirt in his hand, "What?"

Alec had to remind himself to speak again and not stare at his half-naked husband, although the irony of him coming out of the closet half-naked was not lost on him, "I got a call before first period started, Raph got into a fight at school and was being sent home."

"Wait, what? Raph? Not Max?" He moved to put his shirt on, "Is he okay? Why didn't you call me?"

Alec sighed, "First, one question at a time. Yes, Raph and not Max. Max got between Raph and Tommy. Raph's okay I don't think his hand is broken just bruised and swollen, we will need to relook at it after the swelling goes down."

Magnus frowned, "Why didn't they call me? Why didn't you call me?" his voice had an edge to it, and he knew it.

"Raphael requested they call me. I went and got him. I took him for ice cream and we talked then I brought him home and he went downstairs to sleep. He got up for dinner then went back to bed. I didn't call because he didn't want you to worry. He knew I would tell you the second you got home."

"I have to talk to hi-"

"Magnus, wait." Alec was out of bed in a flash, his book falling to the ground, while he reached for Magnus' wrist, "Listen, he doesn't want to talk about it. He asked me to tell you, I think he's afraid of being a disappointment." He went on in a rush, "This boy, Tommy, got in his face about him needing more time than others to study and never taking his nose out of his books. He couldn't take it and Max wasn't around and he hit him. The other boy has been suspended for the rest of the week because he's a known bad kid and this isn't his first offense, but Raphael has never had an issue and he can go back to school tomorrow."

Magnus nodded, but eyed Alec, "What aren't you telling me?"

Alec paused, "I can't tell you. Raphael asked if I would not say anything until he's ready. You are my husband, and I will tell you if you want, but I hope you would respect his wishes and let him come to you in his own time. He's a good kid and I don't want to lose his trust. I will never let anything happen to him. I'm asking you to wait. If the time comes and I can no longer be there for him and he hasn't told you, I will tell you, but right now-" He sighed, he didn't like not being able to tell Magnus, "-right now, trust him. Trust me."

Magnus nodded again on autopilot, he seemed to be coming down from his rush of something being wrong with one of his children, "I won't ask." He held onto Alec's hands, "I do trust you both."

"Go see him, and I promise it's not bad. Just something he has to work through on his own. He'll come to you when he's ready."

"I'm glad he has you." Magnus leaned in for a kiss, it felt raw and sad to him, "You are a good person and a fantastic father and husband. Thank you for taking care of our children." He waited for Alec's whispered I love you before heading back into the closet for shorts and to finish getting dressed.

He gave himself a moment in the kitchen for a glass of water before heading down, he stepped in for a moment to say goodnight to Max who smiled and waved with his headphones on. He went to Raphael's door and knocked gently before going in. The room was dark in blackness, but he heard Raph shift on the bed, "Hey, I heard you have an odd day at school." He moved towards the bed as Raphael sat up against the headboard, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry for worrying you." Raphael wrapped his hands around himself as his sheet fell to his lap, pooling around his sides.

Magnus took a seat down and shifted to be side by side, he opted out of turning the light on and just talking in the dark, "It's okay. Alec said you punched a kid."

"Yeah, that was dumb." Raphael smiled to himself, "My hand hurts like hell now because of it."

"That's why you need to leave the punching to me." Max landed on the end of the bed on a bounce, missing either of their feet by chance.

Magnus rolled his eyes, "You could do with a little less punching and a little more on your artwork." Magnus kicked a foot out at what he hoped was Max's stomach.

Max ignored the jab at his punching and at his stomach, "Raph, I'm sorry I didn't get him first."

"I know, but you can't protect me forever. I'm the older brother I should be protecting you." He laughed a little, sad laugh, "Besides I have to stand on my own at some point. You can't follow me around forever."

"Oh, buddy," Magnus pulled Raphael to his side, "I'm sorry you had to go through that, I wish I could stop it all from happening."

"It's okay, Raph, we're brothers we'll always have each other's backs." Max rolled, right over both of their legs, causing them both to laugh. "But the punch was amazing, a true work of art."

"I don't know about that, it hurts." Raphael groaned, "How does punching someone hurt so bad? The movies make it look so easy."

They went on and on about movies, and hitting people, and how everything would be okay. Magnus was glad Max came to join them, it helped him not ask the questions Raphael didn't want him to ask. He knew he had to trust Raphael and Alec, but part of him didn't want to. He had to trust them, and he knew that, but he wanted to be able to help his son and make everything better. Raphael was growing up and this was just another sign he needed to let him be. Let him grow up.