Here is a new chapter :) Thanks to everyone who left a review in the last chapter! And to all of those who have been reading my story. It means a lot to me!
I hope you like this one! It is a bit angsty...but I promise something good is coming!
I owe nothing but the plot
2016
Alec could not remember the last time he had talked to Magnus. It had been at least a month, if Alec's calculations were not wrong. They had been drifting apart slowly after he had moved to England. The time difference was hard, most of the time one of them had to be up at all times of the night to get a chance to talk with the other. However, once both of them started classes it became much harder. Magnus had received a full ride to one of the most prestigious colleges for performing arts in the US. Magnus was a brilliant actor, dancer, and singer. His talent had been recognised and he had been offered a scholarship. It was a great chance, one that he could not turn away. Alec was in pretty much the same boat. But he had been offered a scholarship in England. It was a great opportunity, which he gladly took. Magnus and Alec thought they could stay as friends, even if they had broken up. Of course, every time they even got a chance to talk to each other so many memories came back. It hurt both of them, and in the end it was their own stubbornness that drifted them apart.
And even though Alec missing his family and his best friend, Alec was grateful for all the people he had met in this new place. Starting with his roommate, John Monteverde. They had hit it off from the very start, and became very good friends. John reminded Alec a lot of his little brother, which always brought a pang to Alec's heart. John was gentle and caring, a bit of a nerd, but one of the best persons Alec had ever met. John had a fiancé named Lydia, who was studying the same career as Alec. They shared classes, and soon became really close. Lydia was a complete force of herself. She was sure of herself and had a strong attitude. Even though she could seem too hard at times, she was understanding and knew how to get along with people. The three of them soon became really good friends, and even though John and Lydia were dating he never felt like a third-wheel.
One night though, Alec was woken by his phone ringing. He had just finished studying for his finals, and had wanted to take advantage of the time he had to was almost done with his last year of University and Alec needed to recuperate all the sleep he had missed. He groaned, burying his face on the pillow. The phone stopped ringing and then started all over again. Finally, Alec lifted his arm and grabbed his phone from his night stand. He subconsciously realised John was not back yet. His roommate had gone out with some friends earlier that day. Usually, John would be back just after midnight, but looking at the clock Alec realised it was already 4am and John was not back. Getting his attention back at the phone in his hand that was still ringing, Alec picked up the call.
"Alec!" Lydia's hysterical voice came on the other side of the line.
"Lydia?" Alec asked, sleep still fogging his mind "Lydia…what's wrong?"
"Please…y-you n-need to c-come" Lydia cried down the line, barely able to get the words through.
"Hey, hey…deep breathes" Alec instructed, suddenly alert "Tell me what's wrong"
"I-It-s John" Lydia sobbed "P-please…j-just g-get h-here"
Before Lydia stopped speaking, Alec was already grabbing his keys and wallet and running out of the room. He attempted to calm Lydia through the phone, being able to do it enough to get a direction out of her. As soon as he reached his destination, his heart stopped at the sight of the police officers in the area and the ambulance flashing bright lights into the night.
2025
Alec welcomed them inside his house, quickly moving towards the kitchen to get everyone something to drink. As soon as they walked through the house, Max and Rafael ran off towards Max's room, barely taking notice of their parent's warnings of being careful. Magnus was left at the entrance of the house. Taking his coat off and dusting off his clothes, he closed the door behind him. He could hear the kids laughing and talking excitedly in the floor above him, and he could also hear Alec moving around the kitchen. As he walked down the hall, he noticed the different picture frames in the walls. Most of them were of Max as a kid. Some of the showed the Lightwood family. There were Christmas nights and Birthdays being celebrated, visits to the park and the zoo. Some of them showed just Alec and Max, back when Max was just a baby and some when he was a bit more grown up. There were two photos that caught his attention. They were a bit separated from the rest of the photos, not enough to be noticed easily. The first one showed a girl with bright blond hair, pulled back in a tight pony tail. She had both of her arms behind the backs of two men, hugging them close to her. One of the mea had chocolate brown hair, green eyes, and was smiling wickedly at the camera. He had one arm around the girl's waist the other one lifted in a fist of excitement. On the other side of the girl stood Alec, standing a bit more awkwardly. He also had his arm around the girl, but his was on her shoulders. He was smiling at the camera, however, looking content. Alec and the girl were wearing over-sized hoodies with the logo of a university, which Magnus recognised as the university Alec had gone to.
There was another photo, one of just the girl and Alec. It seemed as if they had not noticed the photo had been taken. They were sitting at a bench near a fountain. Alec had his arm around her, while she rested her head on Alec's shoulders. They were sitting close together, lost in their small embrace. Alec seemed to be saying something to the girl, who had a small smile on her face. s
"That's Lydia Branwell"
Magnus jumped at the sudden voice behind him. Turning around he noticed Alec standing by the doorway of the kitchen, his arms crossed. He wasn't looking at Magnus, his eyes instead focused on the photos on the wall. There was a nostalgic look in his blue eyes, some fondness, and some other feeling Magnus could not place. The teacher turned to look at the photos once again, his eyes moving around the whole frame as if trying to find something else. He recognised that name, Lydia Branwell…she used to go to classes with Alec, if he was not wrong.
"Next to her is John…John Monteverde" Alec said, his voice thick with emotion "We went to college together"
"I remember" Magnus nodded. "They…they were going to get married, right?"
"Right" Alec nodded, walking closer to he was standing next to Magnus.
"I bet she made a beautiful bride" Magnus mused "Golden would look so good with her complexion"
"I wouldn't know" Alec chuckled.
"Well, you always had a blind eye for fashion" Magnus joked and glanced at Alec "Have you seen them since you graduated?"
"No" Alec shook his head, and then swallowed "John died at the end of my first year…Lydia left after the second year"
"Oh" Magnus murmured "I'm sorry"
Alec shook his head, turning away from the photographs. He walked back into the kitchen, Magnus following him close behind.
"We were good friends" Alec explained "The best…things just got complicated"
"May I ask what happened?" Magnus asked curiously, then backtracked "I mean, you don't have to tell me…do let me know if I'm overstepping my boundaries"
"It's okay" Alec smiled at him "How about I get some coffee done and we go to the living room?"
"sounds good to me" Magnus nodded "You do owe me taking me out for coffee, though"
"I hope this is enough for now" Alec grinned and moved back to preparing the coffee.
Alec prepared the cups of coffee, while Magnus took a seat by the kitchen counter. He had offered his help, but Alec had declined saying Magnus was a guest there. Of course, Magnus was not going to allow him to clean it all up by himself afterwards. They talked a bit awkwardly at first. Just simple small talk to get rid of the tension. Magnus started talking about his classes and his students. He had many funny anecdotes about them, which he enjoyed telling. Alec listened carefully, chuckling and commenting every here and there. Once the coffee was ready, Alec poured them both a cup. He poured a bit of milk into one of them, putting two of sugars and just one into the other one. Giving Magnus the cup with milk, Magnus was surprised Alec still knew how he liked his coffee, but didn't comment on it.
Both of them then moved towards the living room. Taking a seat on the sofa, both of them sat next to each other and continued talking. Alec turned on the TV, to create some background noise, but none of them was actually looking at what was on.
"John always said he would one day move to Indonesia" Alec recalled "Lydia was not too fond of the idea"
"Indonesia is a beautiful country!" Magnus defended his country of birth.
"Never said otherwise" Alec said with a nod "John…he dreamed about travelling. Always would ask me this crazy questions about the US"
"Seems like he was a nice guy" Magnus mused.
"He was the best" Alec sighed "Lydia and him…they were so in love. After John died, Lydia was crushed"
"What happened?" Magnus asked softly.
"A car ran over him" Alec said sadly, looking down at his cup "He was crossing the street…a car ran over a red light…"
"It must have been hard" Magnus sighed.
"It was" Alec nodded "Lydia was destroyed…I like thinking she needed to me to rely on"
"I'm sure she did" Magnus nodded.
"It's hard losing the person you love" Alec shrugged "We were never the same afterwards"
"You said she left after your second year?" Magnus questioned "What happened?"
"Max happened" Alec explained, causing Magnus to raise his eyebrows in surprise.
"Max? did…did you and Lydia…." Magnus trailed off, not really finishing his question.
"No, not at all" Alec shook his head quickly. "She was like a sister…we could never"
"Oh, right" Magnus nodded
"She found out she was pregnant three weeks after the funeral" Alec said "It was hard…I helped her through it. Losing your fiancé and finding out you are pregnant with their child, it cannot be a nice thing…"
"So Max is Lydia's and John's son" Magnus said with wide eyes.
"Yeah" Alec nodded "Lydia though…she didn't want a baby. She thought about abortion, but I talked her out of it"
"Why?" Magnus asked "I mean…she was the mother, wasn't it up to her?"
"I suppose" Alec shrugged "But I just kept thinking…this baby was the last thing we had left of John. And he…he would have been so happy if he had known he was going to be a father. I could not take that away from him, even if he wasn't there anymore, I needed to keep his son safe"
"I understand that" Magnus nodded "You were always too noble for your own good"
"This was for the best though" Alec chuckled. "Lydia didn't want him…but she decided to go through the pregnancy and then give him up for adoption."
"But you adopted him" Magnus pointed out.
"It was not planned" Alec explained "Just after Max was born…I was not aware Lydia had been released a few hours before it was scheduled…when I arrived at the hospital, she was gone. She had filled the paperwork for the adoption, but asked the nurse to give them to me. They…they gave me a letter as well. She apologised about not being able to take care of him, and asked me to take care of him. So I filled the paperwork, and adopted him. I already loved the kid, and I grew to love him as my own…I fear thinking what could have happened to him if I hadn't adopted him"
They fell in silence for a long moment, both of them just thinking over what had just been said. Magnus thought over and over, about what his reaction had been when he had first found out Alec had a son. Seeing as Max was nine years old, Magnus had thought Alec had moved on quiet quickly after moving to England. But now, knowing the real story…it was as if the pieces were placed together and he was given the whole picture. The only problem was that he didn't know how to interpret it. It was too much, all at once. He didn't know if it even meant anything. Being here, drinking coffee together and talking about the past…It was something Magnus never thought they would ever do. But here they were, and it left so many open doors for anything to happen.
awwwns...I got really emotional writing this chapter actually...
Lemme know what you think! Send your reviews, follows and favorites!
Also! I wanna write another one-shot for my blueberry story, so send me your prompts because I have no idea what to write the next one-shot about :P
thanks!
xxX
