A/N: Here's another chapter. I wanted to make it up to you, that I haven't been writing for such a long time. I'm honestly really sorry about that!

WARNINGS! BADBADBADBADBADBAD language and gays. If that offends you, get the fuck out of here, please :)


Chapter Eight – Do I Even Know Him?

ALEC's POV

The next morning arrived quickly. Too quickly, if you ask me.

"Alec, are you ready to go?" Reed asked from the door. He had already packed everything he needed to.

"Yeah, I guess I am," I answered. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to take with me. I didn't even have much anything. I just took every piece of clothing that I had and my blanket. I looked at the letter that I hadn't had time to give to anyone yet. Well, it wasn't even current anymore.

"Alec, we really need to go now," Reed said impatiently.

"Yeah, just wait a second,"

"We have four minutes," he sighed. I lifted my backpack from the bed.

"Fine, let's go,"


"Where the hell is Magnus?" Will almost shouted. He sounded stressed out, and frankly, he looked like that too. He had dark shadows under his eyes and his hair was all messed up.

"I bet he's still sleeping," Reed said calmly. It seemed that Magnus never arrived anywhere in time.

"Could you go get him?" I asked. I didn't really want to get yet another punishment because of that lazy ass idiot. I had started to think that he actually yearned for troubles.

"I suppose I don't have other choices," Will sighed and rubbed his forehead with his knuckles.

"You guys go to the library. Valent— I mean Mr. Morgenstern should be there already. We're more than ten minutes late after all," he continued and left. Perhaps hunting Magnus Bane was some kind off daily hobby for all the guards.

"He looked horrible," Reed said when Will left.

"I guess he stayed up pretty late last night," Jem said and shrugged.

"Why would he do that? He knew that we'd have to wake up early," I wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Jem answered and grabbed the doorknob.

"We should probably go inside,"


WILL's POV

That fucking Magnus. Why did he always have to make things harder? He had already gotten Alec into trouble. I couldn't stand the way he never cared about anyone else but himself.

I knocked on his door with unnecessary force.

"Bane, you're late! Really late!" I shouted. Nothing happened so I fished my keys from my pocket. Just when I was about to use the keys to open the door, Magnus swung it open himself.

"William," he said smirking. He had only boxers and a t-shirt on. I rolled my eyes.

"Magnus, for god's sake! Put your pants on and come with me. We're all getting into trouble because of your stupidity," I said and gritted my teeth.

"Oh come on, William! We're already going to the zone. What else could they do?" Magnus asked and smiled. I had to admit that he had a point. Did they even have a punishment that would be worse than the zone?

"Whatever, but we still need to go. Everyone else is already there. They're all waiting for you,"

"Fine, let me just grab my bag," Magnus said and disappeared inside.

"Remember your pants!" I yelled after him.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for your concern, mom,"


We walked towards the library. Magnus hadn't taken that much time to prepare himself, but we were still helplessly late.

"Why do you always have to pull these tricks?" I asked while we walked. Magnus shrugged in response.

"I don't know. If I can't live the way I want to, I'll make others' lives as hard as possible," he answered.

"Even your friends' lives?"

"What can I say to that? I'm not trying to make their lives harder. I'm just a really bad person to be around," he said with a playful smile.

"You could do something about that," I said nonchalantly.

"Perhaps. But I don't find it as interesting as my current life is," he answered. I guess he was right. In a place like this you could either be bullied or a bully.


ALEC's POV

"Step inside the car. The driver will take you to the edge of the zone," Mr. Morgenstern said. He didn't even seem to care what was going to happen to us. Somehow, that didn't surprise me.

"Where are we supposed to go when the week has passed?" Will asked from Mr. Morgenstern.

"Nowhere, Mr. Herondale. Some of the guards will find you and bring you back,"

"Great," Reed whispered beside me.

"What?" I asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me if they just left us there," Reed answered. I shiver ran through me. Could they really do that?

"Don't be stupid, Reed," Jem said and tapped the dark-haired boy's shoulder.

"They won't leave us there, I promise," Reed didn't look so sure about it, but for Jem's sake, he let the subject drop.

"I wouldn't care if they did," Magnus said from the other side of me.

"Are you crazy?" Reed asked. His voice raised a bit towards the end of the sentence.

"Aren't we all? We live in a sanitarium," Magnus said and smirked. Jem chuckled a bit. I rolled my eyes. How could he always be in such a good mood?

"I'm starting to think that you should be in a real one," Reed mumbled. Now it was my turn to chuckle. Magnus raised his eyebrow.

"So you do know how to smile? Huh, I thought emoxanders don't smile," he said, half smiling.

"What is a emoxander?" Jem asked curiously.

"Nothing," I answered. I didn't want to start explaining him about what had happened with Magnus.

"Okay, we're good to go," Will said and closed the front door of the car. The driver, who had dark sunglasses on, nodded and started the engine.


"So, does anyone of you know how to put up a tent?" Reed asked. He had his arms crossed over his chest.

"I wasn't lying when I said that I used to go camping with my father," Magnus replied. I looked at him.

"You wanna do it then?" Reed asked again. Magnus raised his eyebrow.

"I'm not going to do it by myself," he said and looked around.

"Well, I'm not going to do it. This is not my punishment," Will said. Even though it was true, it still felt a bit weird to say something like that in this situation.

"I don't think that I can do it. I mean, I could do something else useful. Like build up a fire for us," James said.

"I can help you," Reed said quickly.

"Guess who's the only one left," a little voice in my head said.

"Fine, but that means that Alexander has to help me," Magnus stated. I sighed. How was I supposed to be useful? I hadn't even slept in a tent before.

"I guess I could try. I just, well, I have never even seen a tent in real life," I said quietly, looking down at my feet. Magnus let out a laugh.

"Really? You've got to be kidding me! How is that possible?" he asked.

"My parents were… different. They don't do that kind of stuff. Not with me, at least," I answered, still staring at my muddy trainers.

"Oh well, I'll go camping with you whenever you want to," Magnus said with a playful tone. Luckily I hadn't raised my head, because I instantly felt my face heat up.

"Okay, we'll go find some wood somewhere. I'm glad it hasn't been raining in few days," Jem said and started walking.

"Wait up," Reed said and followed his secret crush.

"I think you should go with them," Magnus said to Will.

"We don't want them to get lost, do we?"

"That might be the best idea you've had in a long time," Will said and smirked. Then he went after Jem and Reed.

"So, should we get busy?" Magnus asked and nodded his head towards the weird pile of sticks and fabric, which was probably the tent.

"Yeah, sure," I answered, hoping that the redness had already vanished from my face.

"Where should we start?"

"Take that stick and I'll grab the fabric," Magnus said and pointed at one of the metal sticks that were lying on the ground.

"Do you really know what you're doing?" I asked as I lifted the stick. Magnus looked at me. He seemed to be amused.

"Of course I do. Don't worry, Mr. 'I have never seen a tent before'," he answered teasingly. I rolled my eyes.

"Well I'm sorry that my dad isn't into camping,"

"I guess I'm lucky that my father was," Magnus said and shrugged. I raised my eyebrows as my brain picked up something specific.

"Wait, you said he was into camping? Isn't he anymore?"

"No, not anymore," Magnus answered.

"What changed his mind?" I asked curiously. Magnus raised his head from the fabric and looked straight to my eyes as if there was something weird on my face.

"What?" I asked stunned. Magnus broke the eye contact and continued working on with the tent.

"He died," he said simply. I stared at him with a stupid expression on my face. At first I thought he had been joking, but there was nothing amusing in his tone of voice. And who would joke about their father dying anyways?

"Oh god, I'm so sorry Magnus," I said. It was such a cliché thing to say, but I couldn't think of anything better to say.

"Don't be. It's not like you killed him," Magnus said. His voice dripped with sarcasm, but he was probably just trying to hide the pain with it.

"No, I should've understood," I said. I felt myself so stupid. Anyone else would've figured it out without making a fool of oneself. Anyone but me.

"And I thought you were the smarter one of us," Magnus said and smiled. Now his smile was sincere. There was nothing flirty or playful in it, it was just a pure friendly smile. It made my heart pound a bit louder. He was so beautiful when he smiled.

I mentally slapped myself.

"Get a freaking hold of yourself, Alec! Stop daydreaming about someone who you've only known for a day," I told myself. But it was easier said than done. Magnus was so gorgeous, and this new side of his made me like him even more.

"Bad Alec! Bad, bad Alec!" I told myself again.

"Stop making it harder than it already is,"


WILL's POV

It didn't take long for me to catch up with Reed and James. I stayed quite far behind them though, because I didn't want to carry anything around. I was betting that they didn't even notice me following them.

"This doesn't seem so bad, does it?" I heard Jem asking Reed.

"Not yet. I hope it's also going to stay that way," Reed answered with a worried voice. James smiled.

"You should stop worrying. It darkens your features. And I prefer your looks more when you're not so dark and gloomy," the white-haired boy said. Reed let out a laugh.

"I will not promise anything, but for you Jem, I will try,"

Ugh, that sounded rather corny. It made me wonder, how hadn't I noticed Reed's feelings towards Jem before? Or was Reed like this only when he was alone with Jem? I couldn't remember.

"I'm actually quite happy that we're out of Halocastle," Reed sighed. It was a happy sigh.

"Yes, me too. I almost feel free when there's no one breathing behind my back," Jem agreed.

"Except me," Reed said jokingly. Jem laughed a bit.

"Except you. But you're not observing my every single movement," James said. I had to disagree with that.

"He watches you all the time, Jem," I wanted to say. But I didn't.

"It feels good to do what I want to. I've been locked up in there for so long that I had almost forgotten how it felt like," Jem said. Sad smile played on his lips. I saw how Reed stopped walking, so I stopped too. I didn't want to be spotted.

"Why did you stop? Is something wrong?" James asked and walked to Reed. The darker one of the guys was looking at his feet, breathing heavily.

"Reed?" Jem asked again. This time he sounded a bit concerned.

"No, I'm fine," Reed said and lifted his head. He had a serious expression on his face. James furrowed his eyebrows.

"What is it then?"

"There's something that I've wanted to do for a long, and now I can finally do it," Reed said. Jem smiled. It was a confused smile.

"Do it then. Whatever it is, it's clearly really important to you," he said and tapped Reed on his shoulder. Reed's expression changed. He looked straight into James' eyes and stepped a step closer.

"Oh my god, is he doing what I think he is doing?" I asked myself. And yes, he clearly was. Reed gently placed his hand to Jem's cheek and leaned in. Neither one of them closed their eyes as their lips met. It was long and passionate kiss. Reed obviously had been waiting for this moment to happen for quite a while.

It surprised me that Jem kissed Reed back. And I don't mean that he just let Reed kiss him. He really kissed him back. Their lips moved together, and Reed had pulled James closer to him. James had placed his hands to Reed's chest.

"What is going on, Jem?" I thought to myself.

"I thought that I was the one you loved,"


ALEC's POV

Magnus and I had finished putting up the tent just before Will stomped back.

"Hey, where's Reed and Jem?" I asked.

"Not too far away. They'll probably be here in a few," Will answered. He sounded really grumpy.

"What's the matter with you? Did you step on manure or something?" Magnus asked and crossed his arms.

"Cause if you did, you're not welcome to stay in my tent," he continued. That made me smile a bit. Magnus was so sassy sometimes.

"No, Magnus. I didn't step on manure! I'm just so pissed that I'm stuck in here with you," he said angrily.

"Ouch, that hurt," Magnus said with a mocking voice. I rolled my eyes.

"Cut it out, guys. This will not help our situation at all," I said and sighed.

"I'll just go on a walk or something. I need some alone time every once in a while," Will said and stood up from the stump he had been sitting on. After he had left, Magnus spoke up:

"What the hell was up with him?"

"I don't know," I said and shrugged. I didn't really care either. Everyone had bad days sometimes. Plus Jem had said that Will had been up pretty late. Maybe he was just tired.

"Do you want to do something while waiting for the others?" Magnus asked.

"Like what?" I responded with a question.

"I was thinking about hot sex in that cozy tent of ours," Magnus said with a smirk. My face was red at that instant.

"Magnus! Please, behave yourself!"

"What? I thought it was a great idea," he said and bit his lip.

"Oh god, Alec. Do not let him mess you up," I tried to command myself. But it was once again pretty hard, since Magnus looked really hot when he bit his lip.

"Um, no. That's far from a great idea," I said, barely keeping my thoughts together.

"Huh, what a pity," he said and shrugged. We were quiet for a moment (I wasn't sure if it was awkward or comfortable silence), and then he spoke again:

"How about twenty-one questions instead?"

"Well, that sounds a bit better," I said and smiled.

"Only a bit?"

"A lot better," I corrected and rolled my eyes.


A/N: So, like I said, I wanted to give you another chapter. Do not expect me to start writing two chapters every day. I will try to write one chapter per a week. If I have nothing better to do, then I may write more ;)

You have been telling me that there's too little Malec action in this fic, considering that it is indeed a Malec fic. I hope that this chapter will give you some hope. Magnus and Alec are really precious to me, so I don't want to rush anything. Because if everything happens very quickly, there is nothing to wait for. I hope you understand. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will Malec relationship be.

If you want to effect on my opinions, or give me ideas and opinions, you need to review. I'm not a mind reader ;)

Love,

William Dean