A/N: This is gonna be the last update for a little bit because I'm a little stuck on chapter 8. I do have another Malec fanfic in the works for y'all too :)
7: Alec POV
Magnus looks so peaceful sleeping curled up against my leg. I don't understand how someone so tall can turn into such a tiny ball.
He sleeps until Jace and Izzy come home. He plasters himself against my side the moment he hears Jace's voice. He's watching Jace fearfully. His ears are flattened, and his tail's tapping nervously.
"You're okay. No one's gonna hurt you," I murmur.
He hisses when Jace comes close.
"What's wrong with him?" Jace asks.
"You don't remember? You beat him and raped him," I reply, wrapping an arm protectively around Magnus.
"I started drinking sometime night before last, so, no, I don't remember."
"You're gonna end up killing yourself or someone else."
"So he hates me?"
He reaches towards Magnus, who growls in response.
"Jace, go sit down. Now," I warn.
Magnus hasn't stopped growling. His ears are pinned flat against his skull, almost disappearing in his hair. His tail's tapping out an irritated rhythm.
"Will he let me make up with him?" Jace asks, backing away.
"That's for Magnus to decide. Let him calm down," I reply, petting Magnus gently.
He relaxes a little at my touch. He's still watching every move Jace makes.
"Magnus, do you wanna go in the kitchen while I cook? It's my turn tonight; Jace and I rotate. Or maybe Izzy could dye your hair?" I murmur.
"Can I help with supper?" he replies.
"If you want."
He watches as I gather the ingredients for pizza.
"Magnus, can you open the hamburger and put it on to cook?" I ask.
"What're we making?" he asks, dumping the hamburger and sausage links in a skillet.
"Pizza. How much will you eat?"
"I don't know."
"Have you had pizza before?"
"Yeah. At Ragnor's. He'd been starving me for a week, and he and his friends thought it'd be funny to make me dance for food. They threw pieces of pizza at me."
"Magnus, you're not gonna go hungry here. And I'm never gonna make you earn it or pelt you with it."
I'm having trouble focusing on mixing the dough. I would love to get my hands on Ragnor Fell and make him pay for everything he did to Magnus. Making Jace pay is still extremely tempting; drunk or not he should have never done that.
"What do you need me to do?" he asks almost eagerly.
"You can cut up peppers and onion," I reply.
"C-can I sit down?"
"You don't have to ask. Do you want a pain pill?"
"I've never had them before."
"I'm gonna go get them, okay? Stay right here."
Jace follows me to my room.
"Did I really do that?" he asks.
"Yes, you did. And then you and I got into it. You need to stop drinking, Jace, because, if you ever hurt him again, you won't be having sex. Ever," I reply, grabbing the bottle of pain pills.
"I didn't know it was that bad. The last thing I remember is asking to borrow him."
"It was. He already went through hell, Jace. What you did was just dragging him back to the gates."
"He hates me."
"No crap, Sherlock."
He follows me to the kitchen. Magnus has his head resting on the table. He looks miserable.
"Hey. I'm gonna get you some milk, okay? What hurts?" I say.
"Everything. My tail. Inside me. My wrists. My ribs," he mumbles.
"Do you wanna lay down?"
He notices Jace for the first time when I move to get his drink. His ears go back, but that's it.
"I don't know," Magnus tells me.
He's watching Jace fearfully.
"I'll lock the door if you wanna lay down," I murmur.
"Okay. I'm sorry," he replies, accepting the drink and medicine.
"Don't be. Do you need help standing?"
He manages to make it by himself.
"You can turn the TV on, watch a movie, whatever you want," I tell him, setting his milk on the nightstand.
Magnus picks at his food tonight, which isn't like him.
"Hey. What's wrong?" I murmur.
"I really don't feel good. I'm sorry, Alec," he replies.
"Are you still hurting?"
"Yeah. And I probably smell."
"I'll put your food up. Do you want one of those drinks? You can take a bath after bit if you want."
"No. I feel sick."
Izzy's washing dishes when I walk in the kitchen.
"How's Magnus?" she asks.
"He's in more pain today than he was," I reply.
"Did he eat at all?"
"Barely."
Magnus is puking his guts up when I go in my room. He moans softly and rests his head on the toilet seat.
"Hey. Let me get some water so you can rinse your mouth. Do you want some ginger ale? It might help your stomach," I say, handing him a rag to wipe his face.
"No," he mumbles.
"You wanna wait on your bath?"
"I just wanna sleep."
"You can do that. I'll get you some pajamas."
While he sleeps, I decide to do research on nekos. I don't know much about them, and I wanna make sure I haven't accidentally poisoned Magnus or something like that. Thankfully, he hasn't been poisoned; it's just from the pain like I originally thought.
He looks so fragile tonight. It makes me wanna protect him even more.
