Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns everything, except for the plot, which is mine ;)

A/N.: Long chapter is quite long. Also, there is a lot of Magnus in there ;) One thing I should probably point out to those who might feel inclined to scream "but Magnus was born in the Dutch East Indies, not in Indonesia" - I know. Indonesia IS what was once the Dutch East Indies, but since it is no longer a colony but an independent country it would be really weird if Magnus referred to it with the old name (cause no one would know what he's talking about).

Also, I have never been ro Renwicks Ruins and have no idea what they look like. I did my best on the research, and that's all I can do. Feel free to go there and explore for yourself, though, and tell me whether I got something right ;)


#185 Seek and find

.

Just like Alec had suspected, the Monday was filled with school, homework, playing chauffeur for Max and a lot of other things that kept him occupied and quashing any chance of visiting the library. Thankfully, the stress also made the day seem to pass more quickly, and before Alec knew it, it was Tuesday.

He had no idea when Magnus would show up, as he realised belatedly – they hadn't agreed on any specific time, after all – so he decided to just go there directly after school and wait for him there. After all, it wasn't like he minded spending his day at the library, and he'd prefer it to going to the concert of Simon's band any day, that much was for sure. They were okay, he guessed, but they weren't exactly music geniuses. Also, it was ridiculous how they kept renaming the band just because they couldn't agree on a good name. It didn't really help to increase their popularity, either – sometimes Alec suspected not even the band members were able to keep up with the changes happening on a nigh daily basis and were confused about what they were named at the moment.

No, meeting Magnus was definitely preferable. He was actually pretty excited about seeing the tall, sparkly boy again. Talking to him was nice, although Alec felt somewhat klutzy, gawky and inferior in his presence, mostly because he always failed to come up with something funny and intelligent to say when he was around Magnus, and he felt like that were the kind of things one should say when being with someone as funny and intelligent like Magnus.

There was no denying that he actually liked being around Magnus, even though he'd only talked to him twice. That was probably because being around him was easy for him, and made him feel comfortable. Usually he was shy and awkward when talking to strangers – well, he guessed he was still awkward even around Magnus, but at least he wasn't reluctant to talk to him – but he didn't have any inhibitions with Magnus.

Alec still had no idea why the teenager would want to meet up with him, though – it wasn't like Alec was any interesting, after all. The most interesting thing he'd ever done was probably engaging in what he now secretly called 'The Letter Game' with an anonymous person-slash-admirer (he'd found that he preferred that word over the term 'stalker' since it made him feel more confident about getting into this in the first place), and it was not like he could ever tell Magnus about that. He'd just think Alec had gone nuts, and well, maybe he had.

Magnus was nowhere to be seen when Alec entered the library, something he was actually glad about. It gave him the time to return the books he'd borrowed the previous week and, as soon as he'd completed that task, he slipped into the Nietzsche aisle as stealthily as possible (which, he supposed, wasn't stealthy at all) to hide his letter between the pages, frowning at the title again and hoping that there would be no one suddenly deciding to read that book. He really didn't want the letter to fall into the wrong hands; that would be embarrassing as hell. Alec looked up and down the aisle once, just to make sure no one had seen him and then ambled towards a sitting area from which he could keep an eye on the entrance, a copy of "The Secret Garden" in his hands. He'd read that one multiple times, too (and owned a copy as well), so he figured it would be a nice pastime while waiting for Magnus, but nothing he would lament being interrupted while reading.

In the end, he only had to wait about half an hour. Alec had gotten more immersed in the book than he'd planned and only noticed Magnus was standing in front of him when the shadow of his towering figure fell onto the pages. He looked up to be met with a familiar grin.

"Aw, what a shame, and here I thought I could take you by surprise or scare you or something," Magnus pouted and plopped down next to him. "But no, just when I wanted to poke you, you had to look up."

"I'm not that inattentive," Alec protested.

Magnus snickered. "Oh really? I've been standing here for a minute already."

Alec blushed. "Seriously?"

"Yup," Magnus nodded towards the two cups of coffee standing on the little table in front of them. Alec hadn't even noticed them before. "I wasn't exactly being quiet and sneaky, either."

Unwilling to let himself be embarrassed further, Alec pointedly ignored the comment and opted for merely raising his eyebrows. "How did you get these past the librarians?" he asked. "They are usually extremely strict about the entire 'No drinking and no eating in the library' rule."

Magnus just cocked one eyebrow on response, challenging. "How do you always get it past them?" he asked.

For a moment, Alec was stunned that Magnus even knew he was always taking some hot beverages into the library. They'd only met once, and although he suspected Magnus had been around repeatedly without Alec noticing (he normally would have thought one could not miss Magnus, but apparently, as it had been proven only five minutes ago, he could) he hadn't thought he would have watched him that closely. Alec certainly wouldn't have noticed whether Magnus took brought coffee with him or not, even if he had seen him around. Well. Maybe he just was utterly inattentive, after all.

He shifted uncomfortably. "Well," he began slowly, "I'm here pretty often, so they know I'm very careful to not spill anything over the books."

Magnus grinned. "So I've heard. I don't have the 'I practically live here' bonus, but flirting does the job pretty well, too."

Alec stared. "You flirted with-"

"Well," Magnus cut in, "maybe that's the wrong word. I was trying to be charming, though, and making compliments helps, too. And once I mentioned that one cup was for you, they caved immediately. You seem to be quite popular with the ladies here," he added with a wink.

Alec was glad he hadn't taken a sip yet, because if there had been any coffee in his mouth he surely would have choked on it. "Um..." he said, not knowing what to reply to this at all.

Magnus just laughed quietly. He appeared to be enjoying himself immensely, but luckily ceased the teasing when he noticed Alec's awkwardness. Alec used the pause to bring the paper cup to his lips and cautiously sniffed at it before drinking, surprised to find that it was plain black coffee and not one of those ridiculous compositions that Magnus seemed to enjoy.

"You remembered," he noted.

Magnus snorted. "Wasn't all that hard."

Alec smiled. "I guess not," he admitted.

"So, how was your day so far?" Magnus asked casually, apparently trying to start a decent conversation.

Alec shrugged. "It was okay, I guess. Nothing special, just the usual school stuff. I'll be glad when it is over."

"What do you want to do after you have graduated?"

"I don't know," Alec sighed. "No, actually that's a lie. I know what I want to do, I just don't know whether I'll be able to. I'd like to study literature," he said, ignoring Magnus's chuckle and mumbled 'figures', "but I don't think my parents would be overly excited to hear that. They'd prefer it if I studied business or management or something, just like them. Or at least went to Law School." He grimaced.

"Now that sounds positively boring," Magnus opined. "I can't imagine you'd be happy with that."

"I know. And I know I'll have to tell them soon, but finding a way to break it to them isn't as easy as I hoped for," Alec groaned. "What about you?" he asked curiously. He didn't really know anything about Magnus.

"I study fashion design."

Alec shook his head. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Well..." Magnus looked down at his clothes, and shrugged. "I suppose it's not that hard to guess. Anyway, I'll be the next Yves Saint Laurent, just better – probably with a bit of Vivienne Westwood and Karl Lagerfeld."

Alec could only stare at him confused. "Who?"

Magnus opened his mouth to say something, but, taking a closer look at Alec, seemed to change his reconsider. "Never mind," he said, shaking his head. "You know, with everyone else I'd be sure they were trying to mess with me, but with you I actually believe that you have no clue who they are."

"Why?" Alec asked, still having the distinct feeling that he was missing something important.

Magnus grinned, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Because I get the feeling that you have no fashion sense whatsoever," Magnus pointed out.

Ashamed, Alec looked down at his worn out black sweater. It was true, he had to admit. He had never cared about fashion at all. For him, clothes had to be functional and comfy, and that was it. For the first time, he was regretting not listening harder to what Isabelle said when she was ranting about fashion, but he probably wouldn't have understood a single word anyway. Until now, it had never seemed important. But with Magnus sitting next to him, Alec suddenly wished he knew how to dress a bit more fashionably.

"But that's fine, you know," Magnus continued. "Because you really make that ruffled 'just gotten out of bed' look work. It looks good on you."

Alec blinked. "Um...thanks, I guess."

"Just saying the truth."

"Where are you from?" Alec asked, abruptly changing the topic before he could embarrass himself further.

Magnus took another sip of his coffee. When he put the cup back, Alec noticed that a bit of whipped cream had stuck in the corner of his mouth, and he quickly averted his gaze. "I'm from Brooklyn."

"You don't have a Brooklyn accent," Alec remarked. "It's more like...British, except not really."

Magnus grinned again. "Ah, so you noticed that? I grew up in Indonesia, and then moved to London when I was ten. I only came to America about three years ago. Does that answer your question?"

But Alec wasn't given the time to answer. The older boy just continued talking. "Oh, before I forget it-" he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper that he handed Alec. "The list of book recommendations. And oh, the effort and thought I put into it: I even typed it on the computer – am I great or am I great?"

"Thank you," Alec smiled. "But you really wouldn't have needed to-"

"Poppycock," Magnus waved it off. "There's really no need to thank me. I actually enjoyed it – and I added some more books, too. I hope you don't mind; I just figured that you'd be done reading them within a week or two anyway. Working off this list will keep you occupied for a little longer, I hope."

"Thank you," Alec repeated. "I'll probably borrow the first ones today."

Magnus flashed him a smile. "Tell me how you liked them, will you? I want to know whether I managed to find something that suited your taste."

"I will."

"Great." Magnus had a look at his watch and grimaced. "I need to get going – there's some work that I have to finish this week, and I haven't even started yet. Do you have your cell phone with you?"

"Um...yes?" Alec said, thrown by the abrupt change of subject, and fished for his phone. Then he handed it to Magnus, who quickly pressed some buttons.

"Here," he said when he held it out to Alec again, "call me or text me when you've finished the first book. Or even before that. We should definitely meet up again soon."

Alec nodded. "Okay."

"Great. Don't forget it. I don't want to have lie in the wait and ambush you in the library." Magnus flashed him another bright smile. "See you around."

As he watched Magnus walk away, although it was unreasonable, he couldn't help but wish he would see him again very soon.


The following day, Alec took the subway to Roosevelt Island. He had texted Isabelle, saying that he had to work on a Science project in the afternoon and that he'd be late, not trusting his voice to not betray the lie. Well, she probably wouldn't believe the text anyway, but he could deal with that later. Right now, he didn't feel like explaining what he was up to.

Arriving at the Renwick Smallpox Hospital, he was glad to see that there weren't many people around, which would make his search easier, he assumed. A couple of tourists stepped off the bus with him, but the building was large, so they should be easy to avoid. He shouldered his bag and stepped inside.

The hospital looked different from most pictures he had seen on the internet, he noticed with a bit of disappointment. It seemed that during the renovation, most of the ivy covering the walls and the scrub surrounding it had been cut back, destroying a lot of its former charm. It looked less like an enchanted castle now, and colder. Still, there was something strangely intimidating and yet alluring about this place and for a moment, he forgot why he had come here while he strolled through the rooms, getting lost in the attraction of this place.

He could understand why the sender liked to come here; you didn't find places like that in the centre of New York. This place, albeit a bit spooky in some corners, was quiet and peaceful and possessed its very own type of beauty. There was no honking of cars, no smog, no nothing, just the sound of his footsteps on the ground, the wind rustling the leaves of the trees outside, and some birds singing. It was hard to believe that he was still in one of the biggest cities in the world – here, he could have easily come to believe he was in the middle of nowhere. Manhattan seemed very far away.

Finally, Alec reached the farthest end of the hospital, where things weren't as cleaned up. He entered a half-destroyed room without a roof and some toppled down walls. A small tree was growing in the middle of a pile of stones and ivy and earth was covering great parts of the room. The sunlight was streaming through the paneless window, flooding the room with golden light. Alec stopped to have a closer look. This seemed to be a place where the sender might hide a letter – provided, of course, that his assumptions were correct and he was in the right building on the right island.

He tried to search systematically, checking the outer walls first before moving on to the centre of the room and, lastly, to the pile of stones. Walking around it slowly, Alec's eyes skimmed over the rough surfaces, the little holes and cracks. After twenty minutes of this search, when he was already close to giving up and looking for another equally overgrown room, he found what he had been looking for. In a small crevice, half-hidden by the ivy, was a slightly creased but stark white envelope.

Grinning triumphantly, Alec pulled it out. There was no one else around, so he sat down on one of the bigger stones and unfolded the letter to read it at once.

.

Hello, dear.

Again, I can only say how glad it made me to receive your letter. Please don't think you bored me with what you wrote about your family. In fact, it was quite contrary: I found it highly interesting, not only because I now feel as if I knew your family, but also because it told me a lot about you. Finding someone so close to his family and not being uncomfortable admitting it is rare, and while some people might find this 'uncool', I think it makes you even more likeable.

I appreciated your sympathy and concerns as well, although they were unnecessary – my parents died a long time ago (to be honest, I can hardly remember my mother at all) and I am mostly a happy person. Living alone has its perks, too, and I have never been one to dwell on the past for too long; I prefer to look ahead and be an optimist. Life is too beautiful to drown in your sorrows.

Now, the place where you have found this letter is one of my favourite spots in New York. It's a great place to think and be inspired or just dream the day away. I love the city and everything you can do there, but whenever I feel like I need a hiatus and some quietness, I go there. When I first moved to New York, I spent day after day walking through the different rooms and exploring everything, like a child in a labyrinth. Maybe it's because it reminds me of a place close to where I used to live when I was younger.

Do you have special places like that, apart from the library? I do have some more – I am a huge fan of the Lower East Side, for example, and sometimes, when I have some free time, I'll just stroll through the streets. There are others, but since I will lead you to them with the next letters, I won't give that information away now.

Anyways, I think it's time for some character revelations now. Although I already found out a lot about you from your last letter, I am curious to find out more. Therefore, I want you to tell me whatever you can possibly think of – you are allowed to ask your siblings how they would describe you, too, if that should help you. Put it just where you hid the last one, that is the easiest way. If you do so, I will tell you a lot more about me in my next letter as well. One thing that I can already tell you already, though – and you should remember it, for it is an important clue as to where to find the next letter. I am a total sucker for high-quality chocolate.

Also, if you have another look into the envelope, you will find a little treat there, to encourage you. There is a ticket for 'Shakespeare in the Park' for Friday night. Enjoy the play – I have already seen both plays this summer and I loved them, so I am positive that you will be equally enraptured. Now you will probably ask yourself (and me) how I got hold of this ticket when you can usually only get them the day of the performance. Well, let's just say I pulled some strings and someone owed me a favour. I don't want you to think I did anything illegal to obtain it (except if you call convincing the person who had the ticket to give me one illegal, but that would hardly be fair or justified).

Unfortunately, it will take until the weekend for you to receive the next letter. Why? Well, firstly, I will be busy for the rest of the week, and secondly, it will take you some time to find the next letter. Not because it is incredibly well-hidden or anything, but because it's time to explore some parts of New York – by foot. I rather suggest you don't make any plans for Saturday – unless, of course, you want to cheat (don't you dare!). I know it's rather cliché and a must for every tourist who comes to Big Apple, but it really is something everyone should have done at least once in their lives. So I want you to walk a long way over the classical route to another quarter. I know most people suggest you walk towards Manhattan to see the Skyline, but for our cause, that would be counterproductive. If you want, take a stroll through Lower East Side beforehand as well; maybe you'll see why I like it so much. However, at the end of the road and the tiring walk, you will most likely be hungry, and the perfect place to indulge in some sweet temptation will be waiting for you there, along with my next letter.

Yours truly.


A/N.: *lol* I'm being such a cliché with this story. Anyway, thanks to all my lovely reviewers. Now, I wish you would just review just as numerously without me asking for a certain number *sigh*. I mean, I'll update anyway (and soon, too), because I love writing, and I don't want to pressure people into reviewing or threaten to not update or anything, but of course one is more motivated when a lot of people tell you what they think about your story. I dedicate a lot of my free time to this and it's nice to get some recognition.

So, let's start an experiment and see how many people review this chapter, now that I don't ask for a certain number...I'm curious.

And of course the people who can guess the next "destination" of Alec's little journey without googling will get cyber cookies.

And omg, have you read the newest Malec CoLS scene already? I'm torn between "aww, how cute" and "Shit, this can't be good"...

dftba,

Dustland-Fairytales