A/N: Hiya! I'm back with another chapter. Fair warning: after this one is usually when I start slacking on the updates. I like this story a lot so I hope it doesn't happen again, but no promises children. Another fair warning: this chapter is pretty long compared to the previous two, so I hope you appreciate it.

Notes about formatting: for the sake of differentiating the text messages during a prolonged conversation between the two, I've decided to write Magnus's text messages as italicized and underlined while Alec's text messages are going to be italicized and bolded. That was just the easiest way I could think of to differentiate them.

Disclaimer: I'm BROKE so no, I don't own TMI.

Chapter 3: Received

The text had arrived in the middle of con law, naturally on the one day Alec forgot to silence his phone. Turning red as his phone went off and all eyes turned to him, he'd quickly apologized, ducking to silence the notification and avoid the icy glare of Professor Simmons. Alec was pretty sure that damned text was the reason the professor had loaded an essay on the class at the end of the period. It wasn't like he was a disruptive student, but when Simmons said she had a zero tolerance policy towards cell phones, she meant zero tolerance.

Now, Alec sat outside his favorite cafe, sipping on a latte and bemoaning his bad luck as he reread the text for the sixth time. He'd been too mortified to read it in class, only noticing that it was from an unknown number and not one of his siblings actively making his life harder. He'd pulled out his phone after class to remind Jace that Max was staying with them and Jace needed to buy some actual food to feed the kid dinner, and that was when he read the mystery text. Blood rushed to his face.

Hey Blue Eyes :)

It was almost worse than the dick pics.

He screenshotted it and sent it to Jace and Isabelle, asking if either of them recognized the number or had handed out his number to anyone recently. They'd developed a bad habit of giving out his number when they went out partying. Being gay, Alec didn't have as large of a dating pool as his siblings to begin with, and he had always been more focused on his dream of being a judge than his love life. As a result, he was approaching his 23rd birthday with 'only' two relationships under his belt. Jace and Isabelle thought that meant he needed help in the love department, even though he'd gotten both his previous boyfriends without their help. After the third time Alec received a dick pic courtesy of his siblings' meddling, he'd gotten their mom involved and assumed her yelling at them about the importance of privacy would finally put an end to the practice. Of course, Alec fumed as he stared at the mysterious text, he should have known better.

Jace responded to his accusations almost instantly, swearing up and down that he had been at Clary's all of last night and that he hadn't given out Alec's number once since Maryse had threatened to stop helping him pay tuition at NYU. Isabelle took a little longer, sending the very reassuring message that although she had gone out last night, she was pretty sure she hadn't given out Alec's number, even though she didn't remember a lot of what had happened after 1 a.m. Alec rolled his eyes. He would never understand how his sister went out and partied hard like that on weeknights. His phone lit up with another text from Isabelle.

What are you gonna text back?

Alec almost spat out his coffee. His sister wanted him to engage with this rando?

Why would I text back?

Why not? He seems nice.

How do you know it's a he?

Idk just a guess. Sounds like a guy.

It's three words and a smiley face.

Short and to the point. Girls don't text like that.

Alec scoffed at his sister's rationale. She clearly wanted it to be a guy. He was pretty sure she had given his number out and just wasn't telling him- how else would the stranger know he had blue eyes?

Just tell me what weirdo you set me up with.

I didn't do anything!

Then how does he know about my blue eyes?

Idk maybe he's someone from Columbia who's seen you around.

Alec paused and contemplated it. Who at Columbia Law could be interested in him?

Or maybe it's a wrong number. There's lots of people with blue eyes. Just text back and see. Then you'll know it wasn't me.

Alec sighed.

Fine. What do I say?

Oooooh you should say something flirty.

Or I can do it my way.

Alec quickly switched over to the unknown number before Izzy could tell him what a terrible idea doing it "his way" was.

Sorry, who is this?

He screenshotted it and sent to Izzy just to tease her, smiling slightly as she complained about the missed opportunity.

Remember to come to dinner tonight & you can yell at me there. I'm heading to work.

"How long are Mom and Dad in London for again?" Jace complained in the living room.

"Until next Saturday." Max piped up from the kitchen where he was busy invading Alec and Jace's snack supply. "So you have me around for twelve days!"

Jace groaned. Alec smiled to himself as he slid a lasagna and a tray of potatoes into the oven. Max was fourteen, a freshman in high school, so his parents hadn't been very keen about letting him stay home alone for nearly two weeks while they visited family and took care of business in London. At the same time, taking him with them was out of the question. Making up that much schoolwork was much harder in high school than in middle school. The solution they'd come up with was to leave Max at his brothers' apartment.

"You couldn't just stay with Max at Mom and Dad's place," Jace grumbled. "You had to bring him here, so I'm stuck babysitting him."

Alec had gotten out of staying in the Lightwood home by pointing out that the house was pretty far away from Columbia Law and his job. If Max stayed at the apartment instead, Jace went to NYU for class or work or Clary almost everyday anyway and could just take Max to school in the mornings and pick him up afterwards. Alec had conveniently not mentioned the issue of getting Max to school until after Jace had already agreed to Max moving in, hence why the fair-haired boy was so upset.

"I don't even get up at 8, and now you're telling me I've got to get Max to school by 8. This is ridiculous!" Jace pouted, kicking his feet up the couch.

"Take your shoes off if you're going to do that," Alec scolded as he walked into the living room. "Just pick up a morning shift at your job. You're about to fall behind on rent anyway. Clary told me so."

Jace muttered to himself about backstabbing girlfriends but didn't retort. Alec silently congratulated himself on befriending Clary. Initially, the redhead had seemed almost scared of him, but it took maybe a month for them to bond over a love of books after they met. It irritated Jace to no end that Alec was on such good terms with his girlfriend.

"I can get to school myself, if it bothers you that much." Max joined them in the living room, Doritos in hand. "I know how the subway works, you know. I won't tell Mom."

"No way, Max," Alec shook his head. "You don't know this neighborhood. Maybe if you stay with us again after this, but not for your first time."

Max shrugged and sat down on Jace's legs on the couch, ignoring the attempts to kick him off. Alec stifled a laugh. He'd kind of missed living with Max. He texted the kid a fair amount, and he usually visited home once or twice a month, but it had been four years since he'd moved out. Unlike Izzy, Max wasn't old enough to just pop by whenever he felt like seeing Alec. Alec hoped the next week and a half would help Max feel more included in his siblings' lives again- it had to be tough living alone with Mom and Dad as a teenager. Alec had had Izzy and Jace to confide in during his own teenage years, but adolescence had still been rough with the coming out and all. He wanted to make sure Max knew he could confide in his older siblings as well.

"What time is Izzy coming over?" Jace asked, giving up on kicking Max off the couch.

Alec shrugged, pulling out his phone. "I told her dinner needed to be ready by 6:30 and it's 5:50 now. She wanted to help out, so she'll probably show up soon." Izzy hadn't texted him since their conversation about the stranger four hours earlier, and he noted that the stranger had yet to respond to the message he'd sent. Maybe it was just a wrong number text after all.

"What's for dinner?" Max asked, stuffing Doritos into his mouth. Normally, Alec would have yelled at him for eating junk so soon before dinner, but he had no doubt the boy would be hungry again half an hour later. Max still had six inches to grow until he crossed the six foot mark like Alec and his father. He had already started shooting up, having grown three inches since January. As a result, he ate more than Jace these days.

"I'm making lasagna and roast potatoes, which you would have noticed if you weren't busy depleting our food supply," Alec responded, tilting his head at the oven cooking away. "I also made and froze some breadsticks yesterday for Isabelle to heat up once she gets here so she can feel like she's helping."

"Can I help Isabelle help?" Max inquired.

"Please," Alec smiled. "I'm not sure it's possible to screw up using a toaster oven that badly, but I haven't forgotten the time she tried to make me baked potatoes. I don't think the microwave ever fully recovered from that." Alec wasn't sure if his mom had been trying to make a statement about gender roles by neglecting Isabelle's cooking skills while teaching Alec and Jace extensively, or if his sister was just completely unteachable in the culinary arts. Either way, it was incredible to him that she was a junior in college and still incapable of doing much more than making some ramen. He secretly suspected the reason Izzy hadn't moved out of the NYU dorms like Jace had was that she depended too much on the university cafeteria for her meals.

On cue, the female Lightwood banged on the door. "Hey! Why is this locked?"

"Because we live in New York City and locking the door is common sense," Alec yelled back.

"You live on the Upper East Side and you were expecting me!" Isabelle pointed out.

"What did you do with your key?" Jace hollered over from the couch. "You have it for a reason!"

She fell silent, and there was some jingling before the door swung open to reveal a pouting young woman. She had her long black hair in a loose braid with a few face-framing strands falling out, and she was wearing a burgundy long-sleeved dress with knee high brown boots. Alec wondered how she managed to look so normal and hide the fact that she'd been out late last night.

"Who buzzed you up if you forgot about your key?" Jace asked as she stomped in.

"The bodybuilder that lives under you was getting home when I got here, and he has a little crush on me," Izzy explained, throwing her purse onto the kitchen table. "I figured I'd come up here and catch you off guard, but you had your stupid door locked! Hey, Max," she finished, switching from frustrated to happy once she noticed her younger brother.

Max waved, still occupied with shovelling Doritos into his mouth.

Alec rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm sorry I ruined your dramatic entrance. Breadsticks are in the fridge, go ahead and start heating them up."

"Wait for me, Izzy!" Max tossed the nearly-empty bag of Doritos onto Jace and ran into the kitchen.

Alec followed the two, trusting Max only slightly more than he trusted Izzy to not burn down his kitchen. "The oven mitts are in the drawer next to the oven, please use them," he instructed loudly.

"Well, if everyone's going to the kitchen," Jace grumbled, getting up and carrying the Doritos into the kitchen with him.

Alec wandered over to the oven, checking on the main course. Satisfied with the progress, he turned around and smiled at the scene. Isabelle and Max were quarrelling over the best way to spread the breadsticks out while Jace was sitting at the kitchen island and polishing off the bag of Doritos. It wasn't often the four siblings were alone together. Alec had really missed it.

"So, Alec," Isabelle started, having successfully gotten the breadsticks in the toaster oven, "how's your secret admirer?"

Never mind. Alec scowled as Jace and Max turned to stare at him.

"What secret admirer? That guy who had a thing for your eyes? All Izzy's doing, by the way," Jace added.

"Liar! I didn't hand his number out to anybody," Izzy snapped back.

"I don't know that that's a secret admirer," Max joined the discussion.

"How do you know about- never mind," Alec figured his sister would have kept Max in the loop. "As long as no one sent the screenshots to Mom and Dad, it's fine."

"We're not stupid, Alec." Izzy rolled her eyes.

"Clearly, you are," Jace snorted. "You're still handing out his number after Mom came down on us about it a couple weeks ago."

"I keep telling you, I didn't do anything! I was at an NYU bar last night. Even drunk me wouldn't think Alec would want a guy from there. He's a sophisticated Ivy man now," Izzy teased.

Alec, like Jace and Izzy, had attended NYU for his undergrad years on his parents' insistence. He'd been accepted at Princeton and Duke for law school, but he had decided to stay in the city and go to Columbia. As a result, Izzy and Jace enjoyed teasing him about how posh he was, even though both of them were smart enough to go somewhere equally prestigious for grad school if they put in the work.

"There was this one hilarious guy, though- if he got Alec's number somehow or just talked to him, that would be such an amazing conversation," Isabelle began cracking up. "Did you guys see him on my Snapchat story?"

Jace groaned. "The guy in the silver tank top and black booty shorts twerking on the bar? God, Izzy, I had to scrub my brain with bleach to get that image out of my head so I could go to sleep last night."

"Alec would probably take one look at him and run screaming in the other direction," Max laughed.

"Hey, you are supposed to be on my side!" Alec retorted, although he knew Max was probably right. Any party animal was not Alec's type. He had two siblings who served as evidence for that. Still, he felt intrigued by the description. "Can I see him, Izzy?"

"Ugh, when are you going to get a Snapchat?" Isabelle rolled her eyes at her backwards brother but passed her phone over. "He was pretty yummy up close," she continued as Alec examined the dancing man. He was tall- maybe even taller than Alec- with smooth, healthy tan skin and spiked black hair. "He had this cute orange jacket on and really pretty eyes, probably contacts. I should've asked where he got them from. Hell, I should have asked for his name or number. His friend was something cute too. Bit of a party-pooper though."

"Orange jacket? Keep him away from Alec," Jace joked, poking fun at Alec's color-neutral wardrobe. "Now, the party-pooper, what's his situation?"

"Shut up," Alec told him, passing back his sister's phone. "I highly doubt I'll like someone who associates with that twerking guy, anyway."

"You judge too harshly," Izzy complained. "Jace has done worse things while drunk."

"I didn't need to know that, but it honestly proves my point," Alec responded dryly, ignoring Jace flipping him off. "Besides, I like meeting guys outside of the party scene. I know that's a foreign concept to you. Now, check on the breadsticks."

Isabelle stuck her tongue out but obeyed, turning back towards to the toaster oven. "Has he said anything, though? The secret admirer?" She returned to her original question.

Alec pursed his lips. "No. Probably realized it was a wrong number."

"It's only been a few hours," Max pointed out logically.

"Exactly! He's probably been crafting the perfect response," Jace laughed.

"We don't even know it's a he," Alec protested.

"It's definitely a he," all three of his siblings chorused together.

"Do you three have a group chat where you plan out how exactly you're going to annoy me?" Alec complained. One look at their faces told him he didn't want to know the answer. "Look, we'll deal with it if he texts back. Max, salvage the breadsticks. Jace, put the Doritos away and set the table."

"Okay, Mom," Jace muttered, getting up and dodging the fork Alec threw at his head.

Alec sighed loudly as he turned to get the lasagna and potatoes out of the oven. He hoped his siblings would miss him when he moved far, far away from New York and blocked all of their numbers.

Maybe he wouldn't move that far away, Alec mused. They weren't too bad when they weren't ganging up on him.

Jace was on dishwasher duty, the one thing he would do without complaining- probably because he still remembered the time he'd broken the dishwasher and been forced to wash everything by hand for a week. Izzy and Max were curled up on the couch, watching some Netflix show and discussing a girl Max had a crush on. Good. The younger boy was confiding. As for Alec, he had finished setting up the futon bed in his room for Max to sleep on and was now sweeping the kitchen. He and Jace had argued about whose room Max had to sleep in, and Jace ended up winning because Clary had a habit of staying over. Alec reminded him there was to be no funny business while Max was staying in the apartment, but he really didn't mind having Max in his room. It would give them a chance to talk, and Alec was better at algebra than Jace anyway.

A phone buzzed. "Alec, you've got some kind of notification!" Izzy hollered, not taking her eyes off the screen to look at Alec's phone sitting on the coffee table in front of her.

Alec rolled his eyes. "Very helpful, Izzy," he replied.

"What do you want from me?" She leaned forward, tapping the screen to life. "It's a text from- oooh, it's your secret admirer!"

"What?" Alec dropped the broom.

"You seem eager," Jace commented, leaving the half-full sink to dart into the living room. "Hey Izzy, what's it say?"

"Hang on, let me remember his password." Isabelle picked up the phone, brow furrowed as she typed.

"Why do you know my password?" Alec spluttered.

Isabelle ignored him as Max and Jace took up a position on each side of her, leaning over to read the text. They all giggled.

"Hey, what's it say?" Alec finally regained some function in his legs, marching into the living room. "Give me my phone back!"

"Have at it," Izzy smirked, tossing his phone at him. Alec caught it deftly, glaring at her before reading the text.

Someone who drowned in your lovely eyes and wants to get to know you better ;)

God, the man was cheesy.

"He sounds smitten, Alec," Jace called over. "Who have you ensnared?"

"No one," Alec scowled. "This is some kind of joke." His fingers were already flying over the keyboard as he walked into his bedroom, away from his nosy siblings.

That's nice and all, but I think you have the wrong number.

Hoping that would be the end of it, Alec sat on his bed and pulled out his laptop to start his eighteen page long con law essay. The buzz of his phone proved him wrong. Sighing, he picked it up and read the response.

I'm not looking for anyone in particular, so I doubt that's the case.

What, so this guy texted random people and flirted with them for fun?

That's weird. And how'd you know I have blue eyes?

It's entertaining. And lucky guess. There's not that many eye colors in the world.

It's also something creeps do.

I have been described as creepy before. Not in a dangerous way. And you're free to put the phone down and ignore me.

Alec knew he was free to do so, but he wasn't entirely convinced this wasn't a setup by one of his siblings.

Where'd you get this number from?

A bar. Around NYU campus.

Alec knew it.

Who gave it to you? A pretty girl with black hair?

No, I'm pretty sure I got it from a guy.

Blond?

No, dark hair and blue eyes. I don't remember much else about him, sorry.

Alec half wondered if he'd sleepwalked into a bar and handed out his own number. Who

else had dark hair, blue eyes, and Alec's cell phone number? He didn't give his phone number out to that many people. Social media was usually enough to collaborate on group projects.

Well, it doesn't matter. I'm not interested in a date or whatever you got this number for.

I don't want a date.

You just flirted with me.

I was testing the waters. I just want to talk to you.

Do you even know who I am?

No tbh. You might be a serial killer for all I know. I'm running just as much of a risk here.

Alec snorted. This guy had a current of honesty running under everything he said. Alec was inclined to take him seriously despite his initial disbelief. He still didn't understand something though.

Why do you want to talk to me?

Honestly?

Yes.

I'm going through a mess of a breakup and one of my friends thought it would be therapeutic for me to make a new friend.

It was certainly a good story, ridiculous enough to leave the authenticity of it up in the air.

Alright then. It doesn't hurt too much to talk. But since this is your idea, you don't get to press me for any personal info, and I want you to answer some questions honestly first.

Sounds good.

Alec chewed his lip. He wasn't sure what about this person he wanted to know exactly.

Gender?

Male

Well, his siblings had been right.

Age range?

Twenties

Employed?

Yes

Past crimes?

Unless you count underage drinking and downloading music, none.

Alec smiled slightly.

Okay, that should do for now. If you don't mind, I've got a paper to write, so ttyl?

Good night.

Alec put his phone down and returned to his paper, only to see Isabelle smirking in the doorway.

"I was going to tell you that I'm taking off and I'll see you later, but I didn't want to interrupt," she said smugly. "Drive him away?"

"For now," Alec replied evenly, making a mental note to activate the fingerprint lock on his phone. "Good night, Izzy. Get home safe."

"Good night." She blew him a kiss and walked away. Alec heard the distant sound of her telling Jace and Max good night as well, and the door closing behind her.

He leaned back and stared at the document he had open, with only his name, the date, and the title typed out. Eighteen pages on the separation of powers. Well, he had three weeks to get it done. Alec closed the laptop and plugged it in to charge on his desk, grabbing The Count of Monte Cristo as a replacement.

As he tried to lose himself in Alexandre Dumas's words, he found his mind wandering back to the stranger who'd texted him. It was all so random, but it hadn't been set up by either of his siblings. Someone with dark hair and blue eyes like Alec, giving out Alec's phone number….maybe it really was fate, he mused. The stranger was in his twenties, putting him in a reasonable age range for Alec, and he seemed decent. Still, it seemed too good to be true. And the stranger was just coming out of a serious relationship, if he was to be believed. It was best to not be the rebound.

Alec floated between the novel in his hands and the strange man in his thoughts quite a few times before Max wandered in around midnight, having finished a few marathon games of chess against Jace. Alec took it as a cue to settle in for bed- he remembered the boy couldn't sleep well with the lights on, and he had to get up for school barely six hours later. Jace popped in to say good night and remind Max to be ready to go by 7:15, pretending not to hear Alec's comment that Jace probably wouldn't wake up until 7 himself. Max reassured him he would be up.

Alec felt a warm sense of contentment fill him as he watched the younger boy set an alarm on his phone and place his glasses on the floor by the futon. He hadn't slept in the same room as Max since before he'd moved out, back when the younger boy would occasionally show up at his bedroom door complaining about a nightmare.

"Good night, Alec," Max curled up in his blanket. He was just a long-limbed kid, barely a proper teenager.

"Good night, Max," Alec turned out the lamp by his bed and settled on his back. The stranger would probably text him tomorrow….or maybe he should text first. He'd figure it out later, he decided as he closed his eyes.

A/N: Holy moly that went on for awhile! I underestimated how much I like writing Lightwood sibling interactions. I didn't spend a ton of time describing their individual appearances because I'm assuming y'all remember what they look like from the books. Jace is still an adopted sibling in this AU, I just couldn't find a natural place to state it and figured it would be obvious. Also: you would not believe how much time I spent looking at the map of NYC to figure out the geography of this story. At least I learned something about the city!

Anyway, next chapter will jump back to Magnus's perspective on this conversation, and add some new stuff. Let me know what you guys think by hitting that review button!

~ Bobbi