Don't Hate me. Please don't. But here you go... I'm sorry.

Max was sick. Not cough-cough, be-better-next-week sick, but if-we-don't-figure-out-something-quick-he'll-die sick. To make it worse, Alec was the one to find out. His parents were always gone. Always. It wasn't strange for Alec to take Max to a doctor's appointment. He had been doing so since he was sixteen and could drive. Poor Max was barely out of his toddler stage, but it was understood.

Alec never really minded. All he ever wanted was to be there for his family when they needed him. And he was. Always. Without fail, Alec was there. But he could not handle this. He had already had a bad feeling in his gut. It had been a while since either of the lightwoods had actually had a checkup. They didn't tend to like regular hospitals. They went to simple witchdoctors that their family had known for generations. But somewhere along the line they had lost contact and started going to mundane hospitals and doctor's offices.

Alec was panicking. He knew max was sick because he hadn't been eating a lot lately, but he didn't know how sick Max was. Until today. The doctor looked grave when he walked back in with the test results. Just by his demeanor, Alec knew how serious it was. He hoped and prayed to every angel in the sky that it was curable. What would he do if Max died? He couldn't handle that and still be there to comfort his family. He would be the one who took it the hardest because no matter how hard he tried, Alec could not stop what was inevitable. Death.

But this was too soon.

The doctor said that Max's Immune system wasn't working correctly and that he had a low white blood cell count. In other words, Max was dying from a cold. His body couldn't fight off the sickness because his white blood cells ceased to exist. The white-blood cells were the ones that fought infection. Without the white-blood cells, the red-blood cells just spreading the infection and the cold into the entire body. They spread around all the bad stuff that was supposed to be killed off by the white-blood cells.

The only way to cure Max was a simple blood transfusion. The only problem was finding a match. The closest people to Max, genetically, were his parents. But his parents were halfway across the world and Alec knew that his parents, though they cared for their kids, would not be able to make it in time. They were always busy. Somewhere, deep inside, Alec blamed them. They were never home to enforce simple things like going to the doctor. What could Alec do? He looked nothing like Max. It was weird. Max was the only family member to resemble their father. He and Isabelle both looked like their mother. And Jace was an adopted child. There was almost no chance he would be a match.

Alec was at his wit's end. Everything had been going so well in his life, and now it seemed his walls were crumbling. His brother was sick. Really sick. Alec gave a small blood sample so that the doctors could see if Alec was a possible match, though the chances of that were slim. Alec took Max home. He made sure he was asleep before he left, but he had already told Max that he was going to get Jace and Izzy. He would take them to the doctor's office and get Izzy tested. He would probably take Magnus, too. He needed all the comfort he could get.

Alec drove to the school in silence. He was thinking. He seemed to always be thinking. He had already called his parents to let them know what was going on and that they needed to come home. He wasn't surprised that he had to leave a message. He always had to. They were probably asleep. The time zones were different here than they were in Idris. Come to think of it, Idris wasn't even on the map, that's how small a town it was. It's like whenever he needed his parents to be home, they had disappeared off the face of the earth.

He parked his car, still thinking. He walked into the building looking at his watch. It was lunch time: Perfect. He hadn't looked up until he was almost to his locker. When he turned the corner, he saw something that he would always wish he hadn't. There was Magnus standing very close to Rodney. They were talking when he walked up, but something told Alec not to interrupt. His eyes met Rodney's, and there was a mischievous glint in his eyes as if he were trying to tell Alec he won. He watched as Magnus said something and Rodney stepped closer. So close that their lips nearly touched. Alec knew what was coming. Rodney closed his eyes and leaned in and kissed Magnus. Alec was sure Magnus would push him away, but he didn't. Not until Rodney started to deepen the kiss did Magnus pushed him away. . He saw Rodney whisper something and gesture to him. Ha. Magnus didn't even know he was being watched. Maybe if he did, he would have reacted differently. Alec couldn't find it in him to care.

"Magnus?" Alec had nearly stopped breathing.

Well, Alec thought, that was that. And he would have to deal. He was done. No more. He did not need this right now. He mumbled under his breath. "Great. You're just another thing for me to deal with." He didn't know whether Magnus heard him or not, but, for some reason, he hoped he had. He walked into the cafeteria and straight to their normal table. He spoke to everyone. Then he looked at Jace and Izzy, and it was like they knew. They could easily read each other. They had to. You'd be surprised how often they needed to communicate without talking.

They all stood up and left. They each said goodbye to their friends and walked away. Not one could see how tense they were. But to each other, it was obvious. They walked to their lockers and got their stuff. Alec knew Magnus was watching him. Why couldn't he be a man? Why couldn't he just fight for Alec with his bare hands instead of taking the easy way out? Twice he had run to Rodney when Alec wasn't there. Here Alec was, his life falling apart before his eyes, and his damn boyfriend couldn't even be there for him. Was he the luckiest guy in the world or what?

After he got his books he turned away.

"Alec, let me explain."

"Save it." Alec snapped back. "Tell it to someone who gives a damn. Tell it to friggin' Rodney. I'm done listening."

For a second, Alec felt bad. Then he remembered how he didn't deserve any of this, and he continued to walk away. He was a neurotic mess and Magnus was just another impediment that he would have to overcome in the near future. He gave Izzy and Jace a look, and Izzy came and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. Damn, if she knew. He wasn't gonna tell anybody. He was gonna let it pass. He would let go of every memory he had with Magnus with every tear he would cry later on that night. He was better off alone.

They drove in silence. The only time they actually looked like they were alive was when they picked up Max. He didn't look any better and probably didn't feel any better either, but that didn't stop Max from pretending. He took after his siblings well. Each of them actually thought they could hide their feelings from each other but they never could. Alec didn't doubt that Max felt the tension in the car. How could he not? Every smile was forced, along with every laugh. Max didn't know to what extent how sick he was, but he knew it was bad. Alec never drove that fast, or that crazily. It seemed no one really noticed, though. Or everyone understood why. Alec was on the brink of something.

Luckily they had made it to the hospital in one piece. Izzy and Alec left Max and Jace in the waiting room. As they made their way to the lab, Alec tried to explain what exactly was wrong with Max. He had Jace on the phone so that he could hear, too. They all agreed there was no reason to frighten Max any more than they needed to. They made it to the lab, only to find the doctor waiting for them.

"There's no need to test Isabelle," He said as sternly as possible. "Alec is a perfect Match. It's weird actually. Alec and Max show no outward similarities, but their DNA is almost the same. One of the only differences being simply your eye color. You even have the same blood type: AB negative. That's the rarest blood type. Max Lightwood is a lucky kid, having you as a big brother." The doctor smiled at them as if trying to loosen their tension.

"We can prep you for surgery now. There's no need to procrastinate. The sooner this is done the better."

Alec phoned Jace and told him the news. He said to bring Max to the third floor where most surgeries were performed. They would meet them by the elevators. When they got there, Alec tried his hardest to explain to Max what was going on. Max was almost ten. He almost felt insulted in the way that Alec talked to him, but he realized how bad it must be for Alec. He became a parent at the age of fourteen when his parents trusted him to cook. Then, after that, they were always gone. Then Max was so young that he went everywhere with them. But when he got older, he, too, was left behind. Alec had been so strong for so long. It was amazing that he hadn't cracked yet.

Before Alec and Max went under, they were asked when the last time either of them had eaten. It was a good thing Alec couldn't eat when he was stressed and Max couldn't eat when he was sick. It had been way longer than the required twelve hours.

Before going under, Alec looked at Max and whispered his good luck. Max did the same. From outside the window, Alec could see a worried Isabelle and an indifferent Jace. The last thing he thought before he passed out was that he wasn't surprised at their reactions. He knew them well. He hoped that he would know them for a long time.

When he woke up, he had not known how long he had been asleep. Max was not in the bed beside him because there was no bed. Immediately, Alec shot up—panicked. Where was Max? Had the surgery not gone as planned? Did Max die? The answer was no, but Alec didn't know that. What he did know was that he had startled three people into consciousness. He hadn't realized that anyone was in there with him, and these three people were not his siblings, therefore he did not want anything to do with them.

The first to recover was his mother. "Oh, Angel. Alec, I thought I had lost you." She got up from her chair and went to kiss Alec on his forehead, but Alec pulled away. He was not in the mood. After that, things got awkward.

His father decided to come from a different approach. "So, is this your boyfriend?" He tried to smile reassuringly. "He refused to leave with your other visitors. He put up a bigger fight than Maxwell did."

Alec was relieved to hear that Max was okay. He flinched when his father called Max by his real name, though. Everyone knew how much Max hated being called that. Even his teachers at school never called him that. But what really had Alec boiling at the moment was how Magnus was trying to hold his hand. Finally he just jerked his hand away. "No. He's not my boyfriend." Alec almost yelled.

"Alec, let me explain."

"No, you get the hell outta here. I don't wanna see you. Ever." Magnus knew what Alec said was final. His voice was stern even though Alec had just slept for three days. His voice was not hoarse. Alec was not taking any bullshit.

Magnus stood and walked out. What else could he have done? The last thing he needed on his mind was the thought that Alec had had a heart attack because he had made him angry. Maybe it was irrational, but Magnus didn't wanna be just another reason. He left.

After that, Alec's parents were silent. He was hoping one of them would say something so that he could flip the script again. He was seething, but he knew that they didn't know that.

"Oh, I'm sorry Honey. Are you and you're boyfriend having a fight?" She was trying to sound like the mother she would never be.

"Oh, please mom. It's not like you even care. You're never home. You know absolutely nothing about us. Hell, it's probably your fault Max's sickness got so out of hand." He turned to his father. "Yeah, dad. Max! He likes being called Max; he hates the name Maxwell. I wonder why? None of us actually use the name you guys gave us. We've all shortened our names. Hell, Jace would've changed his if he actually gave a damn about anything. Don't come here pretending like you care."

"Alexander Lightwood, you will not talk to us like that." His father was as red as Alec was and his father never showed his emotion. Ever. That's where they all got it from.

"My name is Alec." By now Alec was yelling. "Dammit. Can someone turn this fucking machine off?"

As if on cue, a nurse walked in and took Alec's vitals. He looked at the patient then at the visitors. He knew they were probably in the middle of an argument.

"Alec," he said, "I'm going to need you to calm down. Take three deep breaths slowly. In… out. In… out. In… out."

Alec did as he was told, and immediately the machine stopped beating. "You need to relax, Alec," The nurse said. "In a minute, your visitors will have to go, so that you can rest." He left the patient to say goodbye to his visitors. They didn't really have to leave, but he was concerned about his patient's well being.

Alec turned and looked at his parents. He was seething. Even the nurse knew to call him Alec. What was with that? " Listen, I'm gonna make this really simple. You can either stay. Meaning you don't leave on business trips until Max is in college. You don't stay out late and you actually act like parents. Or, you can leave. You can forget about us. We'll be just fine. We'll make it work without you like we've done for the past seven and a half years. You don't make contact with us at all, and we live happily ever after in some twisted universe. Your Call."

Alec turned over on his side and closed his eyes. This was a big enough message to his parents that he was done talking, because he heard them stand and leave. They did not say goodbye.

Haha. Did you really think I was going to let Max die? TO be honest, I thought that was the most anti climatic thing for CC to do. It made me mad.

Anyways I have one Maybe two Chapters left.

Love, Cadence

Chau.