A/N: Yet again, thanks for the nice reviews, lovelies! It's a pleasure to share my writing with you :) This chapter is a bit more of a filler, but Alec needed his siblings and I needed to write some brotherly and sisterly love ;) Don't worry, you'll get a lot more of Magnus' perspective on things next chapter! Also, if you don't think Clary and Alec could ever be close friends... this might not be the chapter for you.

ooooOoooo

The next time Alec woke up, the small room he was in was much more crowded than the last time. Magnus was gone, he could tell without even opening his eyes. The smell of sandalwood was too weak and the absence of his comforting presence left a hollow feeling in his chest, no matter how angry Alec still was at him, at both of them.

His eyes slowly fluttered open on their own accord and he saw that Isabelle had taken Magnus' seat, intently staring at him as if she was trying to will him back to consciousness.

"Hey Iz," he rasped, still not sounding much better but relieved to notice that breathing seemed a whole lot easier now. And it wasn't quite as cold anymore, though that could also be due to the three blankets piled on top of him.

"Glad you're back," she whispered, taking his hand and gripping it tightly. "I'm really not up to losing another brother."

"Sorry," Alec whispered back, his voice refusing to come out any louder. "I didn't mean to worry you."

"You've been worrying us for weeks, airhead," Jace piped up from the other side of the bed where he was sitting with Clary, glaring at his parabatai. Alec seemed to look appropriately guilty at that because a second later, his other hand was caught in Jace's. Clary merely offered him a warm smile, obviously unsure what she should be doing or if she should even be there.

"Ah, you're awake again," Catarina said with a smile when she poked her head into the room, quickly entering now that Alec was no longer passed out. "Care to hear about the progress we've made?"

"Sure," Alec nodded, smiling back at her.

"Well, most of the infection is out of your system, your body temperature is almost back to normal, as are your breathing and your blood pressure. Your heart rate is perfectly fine and once you've got a little more sleep and some food and water in your stomach it shouldn't be a problem for me to get the last traces of poison out of you as well and then you can go home."

His siblings cheered at the good news and Alec let out a quiet laugh at their obvious joy. But in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but wonder where Magnus had gone to. If any of the things Alec vaguely remembered having said had made it through to him, if they'd had any impact. His apologies had had no effect, maybe an explanation – now that he'd finally been able to make himself heard – would do a better job at soothing the hurt he had caused.

Because Alec was well aware that he'd hurt Magnus, a lot, even if things weren't quite as the warlock seemed to have assumed they'd been. And while he'd be elated should Magnus decide to forgive him and maybe even take him back, he didn't really care so much as long as he stopped hurting. Alec couldn't undo what he had done, but maybe he could do something to make the resulting wounds heal over a bit more quickly.

"I'm gonna make us pizza to celebrate when you're back!" Izzy cheered, winding her arms around her big brother and burying her face in his chest to hide the relieved tears welling up in her eyes.

"Now that I think about it, wouldn't it be better if I stayed here a little longer, just to make sure..." Alec asked Catarina, earning a rather hard hit to his shoulder from Izzy and a laugh from the rest of the room.

"Please don't kill your brother with food poisoning when I've had so much work saving him," Catarina chuckled, checking Alec over one last time before she left the room to give them a little more privacy.

"Jokes aside, Izzy, please don't cook when Alec gets back. From what Catarina told us, he actually needs to eat more, not less," Jace tried to lighten up the heavy silence that had fallen after the healer's departure. Izzy tried to climb over Alec to get close enough to Jace to give him the playful hit he deserved (or probably strangle him), almost landing her elbow in his face while she jumped. Clary and Alec watched with good-natured smiles as the two younger Lightwood siblings chased each other through the room, Jace almost suffocating with laughter and Izzy screaming threats, trying to defend her cooking.

"How are you?" Clary asked, sliding a bit closer to Alec to avoid being run over by her boyfriend or Isabelle. "I think I saw Magnus down the hall when we arrived."

"Yeah, he was here. I might or might not have yelled the explanation he wouldn't let me give before in his face right before passing out a second time." Alec blushed a bit at the memory and they both chuckled at the mental image.

"You didn't really yell, did you?"

"Well, as much as one can yell when you can't seem to catch your breath," Alec said, smiling. It was still weird to him how much his relationship with Clary had changed since they'd met. She'd turned from the girl he was jealous of and constantly annoyed by to part of the family and someone he'd consider a friend. Of course she still tended to annoy him every now and then and she could be exasperatingly reckless, but the same went for his siblings and he still loved them with all he had.

Other than that, Clary and Alec had actually quite compatible personalities, so they usually found themselves hanging around with each other while Jace and Izzy pulled some crazy stunt or other that didn't necessarily involve their presence. It was surprisingly relaxed and comfortable and Alec couldn't really imagine life at the Institute without her there anymore.

"And how are you feeling?" She gave him a look that made it clear she wasn't speaking about his medical condition.

"I don't know," Alec sighed, leaning closer so his siblings wouldn't overhear everything he said, still busy with their playful chase. Somehow, it was so much easier to be vulnerable around Clary than it was around his tough-as-nails Shadowhunter family. "On one hand, I'm still angry that he discarded me so easily. On the other hand it was my own fault and I still feel guilty about what I've done. And him showing up at my bedside while I'm sick only to disappear again the minute it's clear I won't die sort of feels like losing him all over again."

"Oh Alec," she whispered, sympathy shining in her green eyes. "It'll all be okay. I'm sure things will work out somehow. They always do." She smiled wistfully in Jace's direction.

"Guess it's time to trust fate, huh?"

"There's not much else you can do right now. Except maybe trust in his love." They shared another soft smile just as Izzy and Jace decided to end their chase and drop dead on Alec's bed. As he laughed and joked with his siblings and shoved down the food Catarina brought him, Alec decided that he would do his best to follow Clary's advice. He'd underestimated his family's love and acceptance towards him as well and look how wrong he'd been. Maybe Magnus hurrying to his side the second he'd heard Alec had been severely sick meant he still cared enough. Maybe, if all the times Magnus had assured him that he'd never loved anyone like he loved Alec had been nothing but the truth and not just a fleeting sentiment, there was still hope for them, somewhere.