8. Angels

"You!"
Jace's voice got high pitched and desperate as he stormed towards Magnus and tried pulling Alec out of his arms. "Let go of him, you… you…" But the taller boy's grip wouldn't loosen and when he turned to the side Jace lost his balance and fell to his knees.

"What is wrong with you?" Magnus asked, slight irritation evident in his voice but he still kept it low, apparently not to wake the boy in his arms. "Can't you see he's sleeping?"

"We were dead worried," Jace announced in a hiss as he got back on his feet and he glared at Magnus angrily. "Where were you? Why is he asleep? Where did you just want to take him?" His ranting only stopped when Clary came up behind him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Give him some time to explain," she said calmly but her eyes fixed Magnus in a way that it seemed like she was trying to scan him.

"We were at the park," Magnus said quietly and his voice hitched slightly when Alec twitched in his arms. "I told him some stories and he fell asleep. I just wanted to take him to a bed. He seemed horribly uncomfortable!"

Jace moved a little closer, examining Alec carefully. He didn't seem hurt in any way, quite on the contrary, he looked as relaxed and peaceful as he had ever seen him.
"Have you drugged him?" he asked immediately and cast a disgusted look at Magnus who just groaned and rolled his eyes. "Who's the guy in your apartment? Did you want to –" But Jace didn't get to finish his sentence because Magnus' eyes grew wide and for a moment he looked as if he were going to choke on air. "You were in my apartment?" he asked and his knees buckled slightly. Jace assumed that Alec's weight was getting a little too much for him. "What were you doing in my apartment?"

"We weren't in your apartment," Clary said and now even her voice had taken on a slight sound of irritation and annoyance. She hated not knowing what was going on. "We just rang the doorbell because we were looking for Alec. We were worried"

"You knew he was with me," Magnus protested weakly. He still seemed pale and a little sick.

"Which is exactly why we were worried," Jace said. "Now, let go of him, we'll take him home" He stepped even closer and put an arm under Alec's knees and one behind his back, surprised when Magnus actually let him take over.

Alec wasn't exactly heavy, he was rather skinny because he hadn't eaten much since they had found him, but his weight was still enough to make Jace stumble backwards slightly and he was grateful when Clary put a hand on his back to steady him.

"Who is that guy in your apartment?" She asked and Jace flinched slightly at the unexpected sound of her voice. "We thought you lived alone"

"Well you obviously thought wrong then," Magnus snapped and now that he wasn't carrying Alec anymore he looked as if he didn't quite know what purpose he had in actually being there. "It's none of your business, you know"

"Are you scared of him?" Clary inquired curiously and Jace could tell by Magnus' face, that had now taken a sick greenish color, that he was.

"Of course not," the other boy protested immediately and gasped for air as if the mere idea of that was ridiculous. "It's an older cousin of mine. He's here for a visit" But it was clear to see that he was lying.

"Come on, Clary, let's just get Alec home," Jace said and rolled his eyes, casting one last disgusted glance at Magnus before turning around, sighing in relief when Clary's footsteps announced that she was following him.

"""""

"My, my, children, warm yourselves up, you must be freezing," the woman who had introduced herself as Beth said as she wrapped a blanket around Max.

Isabelle was already curled up in her own covering in the middle of a small room in the facilities Beth lived in. She watched protectively as the elderly woman stroked Max's hair affectionately and whined whenever the smaller boy gave any sign of discomfort.

"Don't worry, you can stay here for as long as you need to," Beth said cheerily and offered Isabelle a smile that she returned half-heartedly. The woman had been nothing but kind to them but there was something a little off about her, like the way she kept eyeing her and Max's shadows or the way she kept pointing out that it was important for the two of them to take care of themselves.

Once, when Isabelle looked down on the floor, she thought she had seen wings spread from Beth's shadow but a second later they had been gone, leading her to believe she had only been imagining them. Maybe she was so desperately in need for angelic contact that she started seeing wings everywhere she looked.

She cast a quick glance at Max and had they still been able to communicate with each other she'd have known whether he had noticed anything odd about Beth as well by now.

Had he in fact noticed anything, though, then it didn't bother him a lot because he contently snuggled his covering and closed his eyes, yawning soundlessly. It wouldn't take long for him to fall asleep and Isabelle felt the need to keep her own eyes open throughout his sleep.
Just to make sure.

"Maybe you should get some sleep as well, honey, you must be so exhausted," the old lady said kindly and if Isabelle hadn't known better she had said that her words had to have some sort of magical effect because the second she had ended her sentence Isabelle felt her eyelids grow heavy.
She struggled for a little while to keep them open but it was no use; Exhaustion overpowered her and she fell into a restless sleep.

"""""

Alec?

Ring.

Alec, are you alright?

Ring.

Are you mad at me?

Ring.

Please answer!

Alexander stared at the little screen on his mobile phone and sighed. Jace had told him that Magnus had simply discarded him in the middle of the night and that he should stay away because the next time he might not be as lucky as to be found by Jace and Clary.

Since he woke up in Jace's bed, Alexander assumed that there had to be something true about that story.
On the other hand, Magnus seemed really desperate to talk to him and it didn't make that much sense if he had been so keen on getting rid of him the night before.

Sighing Alexander pressed a few random buttons on his phone until he ended up at the reply function and wrote "Answer".

The phone remained silent for a little while until it buzzed again with Magnus' reply.

Are you alright?

Alexander bit his lip nervously and sent a "Yes".

Can I see you again? Today? Please?

Magnus' spelling had gotten better, Alexander noticed. Or maybe he had a few broken buttons repaired, who knew? "At Jace's," he texted back and closed his eyes for a second until Magnus' reply came.

Are you there alone?

Alexander nodded but realized rather quickly that Magnus wouldn't see it and so he answered with "Yes".

I'll be there in 10

Ten? Alexander blinked in confusion but he decided not to ask because it seemed to be something he was meant to understand as a normal human being. Instead he leaned back, sinking into Jace's old scratchy couch.
Jace and Clary had gone early in the morning, claiming they needed to get some things done but Alexander had noticed that, whenever they "needed to get some things done", they tended to return with ruffled hair and wrongly buttoned clothes. He assumed that a lot of kissing was involved in the things they needed to get done.
A ray of jealousy buzzed through Alexander at the thought of Clary and Jace kissing. He didn't quite understand why but even the thought of Clary touching Jace in the simplest of ways made his insides boil with anger.

Knock knock, it's me, come out

Alexander frowned at the message on his phone and got up to walk to the entrance door. He tried opening it but it was closed and he sighed disappointedly.
His eyes fell on the key that Jace had given him, hanging from a little silver hook in the wall. The tiny golden door un-locker, of course, that's what he needed to get outside. Quickly he snatched it off the hook and struggled a little to turn it in the lock until the door opened up and he was faced with Magnus standing right in front of him, smiling fondly.

"Don't forget to lock up now," he said with a teasing tone in his voice and took the key from Alexander, pulling him outside before closing the door and locking it. "Do you want to go to the park again?"

Alexander thought about that suggestion for a few moments before he shook his head and put a hand over his stomach. "Hungry," he said quietly and couldn't help but smile when Magnus nodded and took his hand, pulling him along. The way the other boy acted made it difficult for Alexander to believe he had simply gotten rid of him the night before. Jace must have misunderstood the situation.

"I thought you might be," Magnus said cheerfully as he pulled Alexander down the street. "So I packed a few sandwiches. I hope you like tuna or bacon. No cheese, though, I don't like cheese!"

Alexander giggled at Magnus' ecstasy. He seemed like that boy from the club they had first met, had come back again, replacing the shy and slightly self-conscious persona he had put up the last time they had met. He wasn't quite sure what had brought that change on but as long as Magnus was happy he wasn't going to complain.

They walked hand in hand for a few more minutes in which Alexander hungrily eyed the backpack that Magnus was carrying around. He was rather sure that he had stored the sandwiches in there and even if Alexander didn't know what exactly tuna was, his stomach was demanding food.

"Ah, here we are!"
They had arrived at some sort of pond, just enough water for a few ducks to bathe in it. The area looked pretty, green grass, fresh water and a few tall trees scattered all around the place.
Magnus sat down on a large rock that was perfectly shaped to rest on it and so Alexander sank onto it right next to the other boy, leaning against his shoulder slightly.

He watched interestedly as Magnus unzipped the backpack and pulled the sandwiches out, handing one to Alexander, who immediately took a bite, swallowing it greedily. That strange "tuna" tasted a little odd but not all that bad. It was a wondrous taste but something Alexander could get used to. Especially when his stomach rumbled contently at the eventual feeding it got.

Alexander looked to the side, feeling Magnus' eyes on him and he tilted his head to the side, smiling softly after he had swallowed his last bite. He licked his lips to get rid of the remaining taste of tuna and watched Magnus' pupils dilate slightly. He looked a little predatory and it made Alexander feel a bit nervous.

"Alec," the other boy started carefully and Alexander nodded to show he was paying attention. "I…" But Magnus didn't finish his sentence. He looked down at the ground instead and sighed heavily.

Alexander frowned and pressed a little closer against Magnus side. "Kiss me?" he asked innocently and smiled when the other boy's head shot up, eyes wide with wonder.
Magnus nodded slowly as he leaned in to connect their lips for a second time, both of them sighing contently. This time Magnus' tongue didn't push; it only teased Alexander's lips a little before pulling back. Only their lips were moving in perfect synch and it lasted for quite some time before Magnus eventually pulled back, hesitatingly. He smacked his lips as if he were trying to savor the feeling of Alexander's mouth against his own. Then he shook his head and sighed again.

"You need to get away from here," Magnus said quietly and looked up again so that Alexander could see his clouded eyes. "You really need to get away"
Alexander frowned and grabbed Magnus' wrist, panic shooting through his body.
Had he done something wrong?

"No, Alec, really," Magnus urged on and put one hand to the side of Alexander's face, caressing his cheek with the pad of his thumb. "You need to get out of here. This is the worst place to be," he stopped for a few seconds to take a deep breath. "For an Angel"


A/N: Alright guys, so first of I just want to thank you all so much for all your reviews, I seriously never thought I'd ever get so many! This is my first ever properly published story and I thought, especially since I'm not one of the "big names" around here, that people wouldn't even be really interested but, wow. You guys are amazing and I love all of you, really!

Secondly, I hope you liked the chapter and you're curious as to what exactly is going on. I know I am!
Well, no, actually I know what's going on, but, you know... ;)

And thirdly: Disclaimer: Still not owning anything. Except perhaps for the idea. Though that one might now be as original as I want it to be either ^^

xxx

Nicky