Jace whistled as Alec pulled up at his house and got out of the car, and started to walk up to the grand house. Jace had heard it said around the school that the Lightwood family were rich, but he hadn't been expecting them to live in what looked like a reconstructed church.
"I know, it's a strange place. My parents like historical stuff so they bought an old church and then did it up," Alec explained as he let Jace inside.
"Are they here at the moment?" Jace asked, and Alec laughed at the question.
"No. Father is often overseas on business trips, and Mother always works until late at night. Izzy and I don't really see them anymore," Alec explained, and the casualness in his tone concerned Jace.
"That must suck, not having them around," Jace said as he trailed after Alec, who led him into the kitchen.
"You get used to it," Alec replied as he took some ice from the freezer and wrapped it in a towel, and he then placed it against Jace's bruised cheek with surprising gentleness.
Alec placed his other hand on Jace's shoulder as he tried to get a better look at the bruise, and Jace became acutely aware of how close they were. If he wanted he could simply tilt his head up and he would be able to reach Alec's lips with his own… Jace gasped at his own thought process, not knowing where such an idea had come from.
"Oh sorry, did I hurt you?" Alec asked as noticed Jace's discomfort.
"It's fine," Jace said quickly.
Alec then gave the ice to Jace and stepped away from the other boy, although he still looked concerned about him.
"You should also put the ice on your knuckles, they'll start to hurt as well, after a while," Alec said, and Jace nodded, having already been in enough fistfights to know what to expect.
"I'm surprised you didn't punch him yourself," Jace said jokingly.
"I've never really been one for violence, that's more my sister's style," Alec said.
"Your sister?" Jace said, clearly a little shocked.
"Yeah, you should see how many detentions she's gotten for getting into fights," Alec said as he rolled his eyes.
"Everyone's been telling me that the Lightwood siblings are nothing alike…I guess I now know why," Jace said, and Alec nodded in agreement.
"We are very different," Alec agreed, and he watched as Jace wince when he took the ice off of his face, and brushed his fingers over his bruise.
"Magnus throws a surprisingly good punch," Jace stated.
"He's been in his share of fights as well. People have always given him a hard time," Alec said.
"Well with an attitude like his…"
"Magnus isn't all bad, Jace. He's done a lot for me, he helped me with accepting myself, and eventually coming out," Alec said, and he looked far away as he spoke.
"I hope this isn't the part where you decide to take him back," Jace said.
"No, I don't want to be with him. Anyway, this isn't the first problem we've had,"
Alec said as he sat down on one of the stools in the kitchen.
"What else happened? You know, if you don't mind me asking," Jace said, not understanding why exactly he was so interested.
"No, it's fine. I guess the main thing is that he's always been a flirt, and it's hard seeing him be so…open with people that he has probably slept with before, whilst before him I had never even kissed anyone. Also, I've always felt a bit boring for him, as he's always wanted me to wear different clothes, change my hair, be more outgoing… Sometimes it was like he wanted to be with someone else entirely, rather than let me just be myself," Alec admitted, and he looked up at Jace. "Sorry, I don't know why I keep on telling you so much about myself, I don't usually open up so easily."
"Stop apologizing, I want to hear what you have to say. I'm not really one for opening up either," Jace replied. "I've never had many people I'm close to, so I guess I don't really have anyone I feel comfortable talking to."
"I know you probably don't want to talk, but if you ever do, I'm here," Alec said, and Jace smiled at the offer, nodding in appreciation.
"Do you want a painkiller or something?" Alec said after a moment of comfortable silence between the two boys.
"If you have some, that would be great," Jace said.
"Yeah, there's some in the bathroom upstairs, I'll go get it," Alec said, and he then left in search of the medication.
As Jace waited for Alec he got up and started to explore the halls of the building, as he never had been very good at sitting and waiting patiently. Jace noticed the classic artwork that lined the wall next to the staircase, and he started to climb the stairs in order to see each painting better. Eventually Jace came to the second floor, and he saw what he presumed to be Alec's bedroom, as the other door on that side of the corridor was a painted in various colours, and Jace supposed it was Izzy's room.
"I'll just wait in you room," Jace called out, and soon he heard a sound of approval from the other end of the corridor.
Jace was surprised to see that as he opened the door to the room that everything was set up as if it were the bedroom of a child. It was also incredibly tidy, although with Jace himself being a bit of a neat freak he didn't find this too unusual. What he did find strange however was the layer of dust sitting over everything, that suggested no one had lived in the room for quite some time. Jace suddenly heard a creaking of floorboards behind him, and turned to see Alec.
"Sorry, I though this was you room…Do you have a younger sibling?"
"I used to," Alec said, and Jace cocked a brow at the cryptic answer. "You remember how on your first day, you asked about what happened to the old mid-fielder? His name was Jonathan Morgenstern, and he went to jail for manslaughter," Alec's voice was flat as he spoke, and he stepped past Jace and into the room, a bittersweet smile on his face as he looked around. "He was driving home one night whilst drunk, and he hit another car. It was my Mother's car, and my sister, and my brother, Max, were in the back. Izzy was hurt, but nothing too bad, and Mother was fine, but Max…Max died on impact."
Jace stepped forward and as Alec turned back to look at him Jace saw his eyes were glistening with unshed tears.
"No one in my family has the heart to actually pack this room up, even though it's been almost a year."
"I'm sorry for-" Jace started, but Alec cut him off.
"Please, don't tell me how sorry you are. I'm sick of people feeling sorry for me."
"I'm not pitying you Alec, I'm empathizing. I know what it feels like to lose people. My Mum died in childbirth, and my Dad passed away when I was ten. I was in and out of Foster care for a while, as I was classed as a 'problem case'. Eventually I settled down with the Wayland family for a few years, but once I was old enough I decided to try living on my own. It didn't matter how much the Waylands helped me, they were never really my family, and we all knew that. That's why I moved here, to start a brand new life."
Jace suddenly found himself in a tight embrace, and he hugged Alec back, smiling slightly at the warmth and understanding the support the other boy was offering. Jace had never actually told anyone what had happened to his parents. People usually heard about his reputation from general gossip, but it felt nice to actually open up to someone, which was something he hadn't done in a very long time. Jace could feel his shirt becoming damp as Alec silently shook in his arms, and he pulled the taller boy closer, and held him with a fierce protectiveness Jace didn't think he would ever possess for anyone. Neither Jace or Alec were sure how long they stayed like that, but when they did eventually pull apart one thing was infinitely clear to Jace, he cared deeply for Alec, and not exactly in the way that a friend should.
A/N Just to be clear, in this AU Jace never lived with Valentine as his actual father didn't die until he was ten. Hope you enjoyed the back-stories for both Alec and Jace. Thanks for reading, and please review, I love the feedback!