Alec awoke to the sound of a shouting toddler from the room next door. This was often the way he got woken up these days. Izzy's room was further down the hall, and she was a very heavy sleeper, so she always got the lie in, whilst Alec had to get up and tend to Max.

Max was standing up in his cot, holding on to the edge and jumping up and down when Alec wearily padded into his room. Upon seeing Alec he reached for him with his little arms until Alec picked him up and balanced him on his hip whilst he opened the curtains to let some light in. It was only when he did this, did he really notice that it wasn't even properly daylight outside yet. He fondly remembered the days, not even that long ago, when he would be able to sleep in until 10 or 11 most days. Alec chastised himself for having that thought and said in a gentle voice to Max "I'd rather be awake at 6am with you, than have you halfway across the country with some foster family" whilst giving Max a big squeeze round his tummy and then blowing a raspberry on his cheek. Max giggled and then wriggled until Alec let him down. He ran off downstairs and shortly after Alec heard the tv come on. He was amazed that Max couldn't yet really feed himself properly but he could work a tv remote absolutely no problem. Alec sighed and went downstairs after Max, falling face first on the sofa, nearly drifting off to sleep again until Max came and sat on top of him. Alec rolled over with Max still on top of him, slightly lifting him so he could turn more easily and then pulled Max down to his chest to snuggle whilst they watched cartoons together.

Later that day, Alec was grocery shopping with Max in the trolley, trying to make the toddler stop grabbing things off the shelves when he wasn't looking. It was Max's favourite game at the grocery store, and although Alec usually caught Max's wrist and removed whatever he had a grip on and put it back, he often got to the checkout and found something random in the trolley. Today, it was rather embarrassingly a box of condoms, and Alec flushed as he had to fish them out of the trolley and leave them on the side of the checkout. He didn't have any use for those, so there was no point buying them, even if to avoid embarrassment. The checkout girl eyed him strangely and Alec just garbled out the story that it was his little brother's favourite game causing his flush to worsen. The checkout girl just laughed awkwardly and started scanning.

As Alec was walking to the car with the bags in one arm, dragging Max with the other, Max decided that jumping up and hanging off Alec's arm was another fun game. Alec told him to stop but Alec had never really had to be an authority figure with Max so it didn't have quite the impact he was looking for. After one particularly high jump from Max, Alec lost his balance and a few items spilled from the top of the shopping bags out onto the parking lot floor. Alec lost his patience then and shouted at Max. He was tired from the early starts and still trying to settle into this new life as a guardian to Max, as well as still reeling slightly from his parents death. Max immediately stopped, let go of Alec's arm and then burst into tears. Alec felt so guilty, he knelt down in front of Max, dropped the shopping bags on the floor and brought Max into the circle of his arms. Max was shaking and sobbing so Alec scooped him up and paced back and forth in the car park rubbing Max's back trying to sooth him. Eventually it worked but it didn't make Alec feel any better about what he had done. This 'parenting' thing was really hard.

When they were home Alec cooked a kid friendly dinner and then called Izzy down to eat. Upon seeing the chicken nuggets on her plate Izzy screwed her nose up and complained "Alec, I know you want to make food that Max eats but can we not eat something healthier and less kid oriented every once in a while?" After the day Alec had, he was not in the greatest mood, so spit out "Of course Izzy. Or you know what? You could cook every once in a while, instead of leaving me to deal with Max AND everything else in this house" his voice raising at the end. With that Izzy apologised and promised that she would help with Max more. Alec had heard that before though and didn't hold out hope that it would get any better but the conversation flowed more smoothly after that and they got onto lighter topics like Izzy's applications for her fashion design courses. She hadn't heard back yet, and wouldn't expect to for another couple of weeks. Getting bored of talking about something she couldn't control, Izzy chose this moment to inform Alec that she would be going on a date the following evening and then continued to talk for another hour about this guy she had met at a coffee shop earlier that day. Alec pretended to listen whilst he was cutting up chicken nuggets and scooping them on a spoon to give to Max.

Later that evening after Alec had put Max to bed and by the sounds of it Izzy was in her room skyping with her friends, Alec found himself sitting on his bed with his laptop open thinking about the awful day he had had. He felt bad for shouting at Max and Izzy but he was a little bit jealous that Izzy could have a life still, go on dates, go out for coffee, get an education. In fact, he would even go so far to say he was bitter about it - life had well and truly given him lemons. Before the accident, he hadn't had his whole life planned out by any means but he was enjoying college, had experimented a bit in his sexuality and didn't really have a whole lot to worry about. He thought about a way he could improve his life, he had to look more positively on it. It wasn't all lemons. Although he wouldn't change looking after Max for the world, he realised that he needed a break from basically being a dad at the age of 19. He resolved to spend some time applying for jobs round the neighbourhood the following day. This made Alec feel a little better and his thoughts turned to the awkward moment at the grocery store. It wasn't only his purpose in life that he needed to work on, he needed to work on himself too. There was a fair bit of pent up frustration in him and he knew he needed to release that somehow. He was, after all, a hormonal young man who hadn't been on a date in nearly seven months and he hadn't felt like doing anything about it since his parents had died and Max was thrust upon him. Just making the simple decision to get a job had made his thought process change and he knew he had to get his head into the game again, otherwise, if he wasn't good to himself he couldn't be a good guardian for Max.

Alec grabbed his laptop and fiercely typed into it, but then changed his mind and retreated back to the safety of Netflix. He sighed at his own meekness and started a film. He had never watched porn before, instead favouring his imagination, and he didn't really want to start now, not when Izzy could walk into the room at any time. He used to lock his door but he couldn't now, having to keep the door ajar so he could hear Max. Alec exhaled deeply and settled into the film instead.

The next morning when Izzy came down Alec asked her if she could look after Max for a few hours that afternoon so he could go and hand out CVs. She agreed but reminded him she had a date that evening so needed to get ready to go by 6pm. Alec gave a quick acknowledgement and continued the finger painting he was doing with Max on the dining room table. Izzy came over to see what they were doing when Max reached for her and got paint down her arm. She squealed and so Max laughed and did it some more. Alec decided to join in, by getting some paint on his hands and wiping it across Izzy's face. She gasped and did the same back to Alec and then wiped the excess paint onto Max's cute little nose. After this all three were laughing and it was the happiest Alec had felt in a long time.

After a shower to get the paint out of his hair and off his face, he was dressed in some smart jeans and a shirt and ready to go out into the world and see if he could get himself a job. He went downstairs to let Izzy know he was leaving and then walked out the front door and towards the main shopping area in town.

It was a successful trip and within a couple of hours he had a few job offers. None of them massively appealed to Alec, two were in clothes stores and one was at McDonalds. He decided he could always try again the next day and if nothing else came to fruition he would decide on one of the clothes stores, he didn't fancy smelling like burgers. He was walking home when he went past a delightful looking coffee shop and went in to get himself a coffee to treat himself for a successful afternoon. Once inside, Alec found he liked the coffee shop even more, it was all dark wood bookcases, cosy tables tucked into corners and it smelled like Heaven. As he was walking up to the counter he saw that the barista was staring at him, Alec didn't really know what to make of this but ordered his coffee and smiled at the guy as he gave him the money. The guy looked Alec up and down, now clearly checking him out and then glanced down at Alec's folder containing his printed CVs on the counter and said "You looking for a job?", Alec looked up and managed to squeak out a "Yea" to the guy who was checking him out just beforehand. "Well we don't have anything advertised but I'm sure I can find you something" the guy almost purred. Alec was reluctant to say yes to the offer, as he didn't really want to lead this guy on but he did really need a job and he liked the feel of the coffee shop so he agreed. After a brief conversation, with some mild flirting from the barista's side, Alec had a new job that he would be starting the following week. He walked out with his coffee and towards home with a slight spring in his step.

Later that evening Alec was sitting on the sofa watching yet again more cartoons with Max when Izzy came downstairs. She looked beautiful and Alec told her so, he was happier with Izzy now that she had offered to look after Max more often. Alec could at least work part time and earn some money for the household whilst also getting some time for himself. Two birds with one stone. He watched Izzy off out the door with her date and then went back to sit down with Max again. After a short while Max was leaning up against Alec half asleep so he took him upstairs and put him to bed.

Alec started the shower up, letting the water get warm, whilst he undressed. He climbed in once his ensuite bathroom had steamed up and put some shower gel on the sponge. As he was washing himself he started thinking about his new job and how the barista was looking him up and down whilst serving him. He swiped the sponge across his stomach and nearly gasped, he had managed to get himself aroused without really realising it, and the slight touch from the back of his hand had him hardening further. He could tell he hadn't had any action in a while, it would usually take a bit more than thinking about some guy looking at him to get him going. Giving into the feeling, Alec grasped his arousal in one hand whilst squeezing the sponge in the other, it had been a long, long time since he had done this and he didn't want it to end too quickly. With gentle stroking and thoughts of the few guys he had found attractive at college he was getting close. He let his head fall back into the spray of water as he started tugging harder, grunting in time with his strokes. A few more tugs and Alec was spurting white fluid against the shower wall. He finished washing himself and then the shower wall to get rid of his mess and got out. He got into bed, feeling relaxed and content and drifted off to sleep easily.

Alec started his new job at The Coffee House the following week and found he rather enjoyed it. Izzy was fine looking after Max so Alec knew he could let go a bit and give himself some time off from thinking solely of Max. He made friends with his colleagues, even Zach the guy that had given him the job and unfortunately continued to see Alec as a piece of meat. Zach was nearly 30, way too old for Alec but Alec wanted to keep his job so he kind of went along with the flirting. At least he didn't ask Zach to stop.

After a shift one day Alec went to a bar down the street with some colleagues. He found himself talking to a girl named Clary who he had quite a few shifts with. They talked about everything - their hobbies (they were both into drawing), what music they were into (a secret Katy Perry obsession) and eventually their families. It was the first time Alec had talked to someone other than Izzy and Jace about his parents death. It felt good to let it out, and get some sympathy. Although he wasn't usually the sympathy seeking type, he hadn't really had any aside from the few kind words at the funeral and it was helping Alec to talk about it. Clary was a great listener and by the end of the night she had Alec laughing almost constantly. Alec was so pleased to have a new friend, he hadn't really kept any of his friends from school and his college was halfway across the country so he couldn't see anyone from there anymore. If Alec thought about it, he had been feeling quite lonely recently, he spent most of his time with Max and although he was great, he couldn't really have a proper conversation just yet. Even then, that conversation would likely be about superheroes or whatever was popular on Disney Junior. Jace would always be there for him, but he was also too far away to see very often, and he didn't want to burden Jace with his problems. He had Izzy of course, and he was thankful for that, but their relationship had been a bit tense recently, only yesterday making minor improvements so he didn't want to jeopardise that by offloading onto her.

When Alec got home, Izzy was sitting on the couch with a grin on her face. He walked over and sat down next to her, glancing at the sheet of paper on her lap. He gestured as if to take it from her and she let him. As he read it a grin slowly appeared on Alec's face too. He gathered Izzy up in a tight hug "I'm so proud of you Iz, you are going to ace this course". Izzy's grin faltered as Alec let her go slowly, so Alec asked what was wrong. She explained that the course was five days a week so she wouldn't be able to look after Max whilst Alec was at work anymore. The course also cost a fair bit of money. Alec pleaded with Izzy to accept the place on the course, he knew her lifelong dream was to be in fashion, and he knew he'd be able to sort out the things which were holding her back.

Alec told Izzy to give him a bit of time to work it out and when they came back together the next evening over dinner he informed Izzy that he had a plan. Alec had called the bank and they had enough of the cash left from their inheritance to pay for the course for Izzy, so far as as Alec was concerned it was settled. Izzy was really excited after that and it made Alec's heart soar to see his sister so enthusiastic about something other than a new pair of shoes.

He had also called a few Daycare centres nearby and found one that had space for Max and wasn't too expensive, so he could still keep his job at the coffee shop. It might have made more sense financially to just stay at home and look after Max but he knew for the sake of his own sanity he needed to continue having that time for himself. He also wanted Max to start socialising with kids his own age so hopefully he would start to grow out of his shyness soon.

Max would be starting Daycare the very next day as that was actually the start of a new term and the Daycare centre recommended he join with a new set of kids so he wouldn't be the only new one. Alec and Izzy tried to explain to Max what would happen at Daycare, he didn't really seem to understand too well but when Izzy mentioned that there would be lots of toys there Max's eyes lit up so Alec didn't feel quite as apprehensive about leaving Max there for a few hours.

Early the next morning Alec had Max dressed and ready to go with his new spiderman backpack. He buckled Max into his car seat and drove off toward the Daycare centre. Alec was waiting at a stop light just before the turning into the Daycare Centre when he glimpsed a man in a car coming out of the parking lot. He had caramel coloured skin and dark hair with green eyes and Alec thought he was the most good looking guy he had ever seen. He was brought out of his staring when the car behind him honked. He took his foot off the brake and pulled into the parking lot, whilst the other car pulled out. Alec tried to get a closer look but it all happened too quickly. He felt a bit deflated that he didn't manage a closer look but realised the time and that he had to get Max in for his induction day.

Max was a bit fussy when Alec dropped him off and cried when Alec started walking out the door. It took one of the nursery nurses engrossing Max in a spiderman colouring book before Alec could sneak out without Max noticing and starting up his crying again. Alec was going to be late for work so he rushed out and drove as quickly as he could to The Coffee House. When he got in he grabbed his apron and tied it round himself quickly and launched himself behind the counter ready for a days work. Clary leaned over and whispered in his ear "What's got you so flustered?" Alec explained about Max going to Daycare now and how he had been upset for a little while before Alec left. Clary asked if that was all that had got him flustered and Alec wondered if she could read his mind for at that moment it had drifted to thoughts of the gorgeous man Alec had seen leaving the Daycare centre. He blushed but told Clary that it was just Max. He hadn't even met the guy properly, and knew nothing about him. He knew he should just forget about it, it's not like now was the best time for him to be looking for anything like that anyhow.

After what felt like a long shift of Alec alternating between worrying about Max and daydreaming of the guy he had seen that morning, Alec told Clary he was leaving to pick up Max and left in more of a hurry than he had been to get there in the morning. After all he had missed his little brother and wanted to pick him up as soon as possible in case Max had gotten upset again and needed him. But that wasn't the only reason he wanted to get to the Daycare centre as soon as possible, although he didn't want to admit it to himself, he was also hoping he might get a better look at the dark haired, dark skinned god he had spotted earlier. Besides, he could look, it didn't mean he had to take it further than that.