"Alec. Alec honestly." Isabelle said. Alec did not want to talk to Isabelle. Frankly, he did not want to talk to anyone. He did not want to talk, or move, or think, because every word, every movement, every thought brought with it a throb from his aching, lonely heart. Why was Isabelle being so cruel? Couldn't she hear it slowly breaking?

"Stop." Alec squeezed his eyes shut. The lump in his throat was making it difficult to speak. "Isabelle, just stop. It's over." Alec whispered.

"What is?"

"My life. The world. Everything. It's all over." Isabelle rolled her eyes, tugging at the covers Alec had bundled over his head, but to no avail.

"Well, I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this." Alec sighed in appreciation as Isabelle finally retracted her prying hands. "But you leave me with no choice." Alec would have laughed at Isabelle's dramatics, but he had no energy left to do so. Instead, he snuggled down further into his warm cocoon of covers. There was a moment of long, drawn out, appreciated silence before –

"Ahhh!" In one fluid motion, Isabelle yanked back the covers and dumped an entire glass of ice cold water on Alec's unsuspecting face. Dripping and spluttering, Alec sat up in his bed, wiping his soaked hair from his face.

"Isabelle." He ground out after a moment of stunned silence, shooting her daggers with his eyes from where she stood halfway across the room, ready to bolt if necessary.

"Yes, brother dearest?" Alec narrowed his eyes at her, his empty heart slowly sinking back to its place in his chest as coherent thought returned.

"You should probably work on making yourself very scarce, very quickly." Isabelle laughed then, approaching the bed again.

"Oh, please. Just be glad I didn't put that water in the kettle before I dumped it on you, or your face wouldn't be quite so pretty anymore." Alec slung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Isabelle." He said again, this time slowly.

"Oh, stop being such a kill joy, Alec. The world is not going to end just because you didn't get any last night."

"Izzy, I called Magnus." Why did everything have to hurt?

"Yup, sounds good. Now get up, get dressed, we're going out!" She said, shoving some sandals backwards onto Alec's feet in her haste, humming tunelessly as she went.

"No, stop, Isabelle. Listen to me for a second. I called him." He paused, taking a moment to collect himself, and make sure no stray tears were going to escape. "He told me no. He's with Brandon now. He's happy now. Without me." Alec couldn't help it. His voice cracked on the last word. Isabelle paused mid-shove, just blinking at Alec. Then she sighed, and took Alec's fidgeting hands into her own.

"He really said that?" She asked gently.

"Well, not in that many words… but he meant it. He wouldn't even listen to what I was saying, he was so preoccupied with Brandon." Alec hiccupped, face burning red with shame of how he'd been so easily ignored, tossed to the side like he didn't even matter. Isabelle pinched her lips, seeming to harden her resolve suddenly.

"Well, if he can't wait for you, Alec, then he is not worth the time of day. You need to get up, dust off, move on."

"Izzy, you just don't get it. You think that I'm too good for him, but it's the other way around. I'm not good enough for him. I'm not good enough for anyone. I'm never good enough. Never good enough for a second thought, a second glance. I'm only ever wanted when the first choice isn't available." Alec licked his lips and furrowed his eyebrows, realizing suddenly that the cold lump forming in his chest wasn't just loneliness and hurt, thought that was there too; it was anger. He was angry at Magnus and Brandon, but most of all he was angry with himself, for always being second best, for accepting the left-overs he got because he knew he would never be given anything better. He was mad at himself for always lying down and taking whatever came his way, but most of all he was mad at himself for living twenty years of his life without having a single boyfriend, just because he was too afraid of the consequences that might come with it. Isabelle sighed at his melancholy expression and shook her head slowly.

"Alec, listen to me. You have to move on, get back on the horse, because there's someone out there waiting to fall in love with you. Who cares if that isn't Magnus?" Alec swallowed the words rising up to say I do. I care. "That's his loss, not yours." Alec smiled weakly. "Now hurry up and dry off and get dressed. We're going out! And even better, I made breakfast!" Alec groaned, falling back onto his bed. He couldn't decide what he was more upset about: having to try and act like he could function normally without Magnus, or having to ingest Isabelle's cooking. He would have to think on it.


"Jace?" Alec asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Don't stand there with your mouth hanging open like that. It's very unattractive." Alec snapped his jaw closed with a click, staring unbelievably into Jace's smirking face.

"Jace! How, I mean, what, I….. Don't you have some big gymnastics competition or something?"

"Well, technically, yes. And I'm gonna get hell when my agent finds out I bailed, but I figured my brother could use some support." Alec swallowed, his thoughts returning to his inadequacy.

"Who told you to come?" Isabelle sent Alec a dazzling smile from the other side of Jace, and Alec acquiesced that he would need to find some way to thank her later. She always seemed to know just what he needed.

Alec hadn't seen Jace in far too long. There'd been a time when a day wouldn't pass without them spending at least a couple hours of it together, but then Jace's gymnastics career had taken off, and Alec had become so buried in his architecture, and all of the sudden they lived on two separate sides of the country and never had any time to see each other anymore.

The three were in the mall, per Isabelle's request for new shoes, despite Alec's pleas that he was too heartsick to do anything but sleep. Walking in tandem with Jace in the middle and Isabelle and Alec on either side, Alec couldn't help but notice that Jace had filled out quite nicely. His tight muscle shirt revealed bulging biceps and taunt stomach muscles due to the countless hours he'd spent practicing in the gym. His shining golden hair was as stunning as ever, and his clear skin and deep, amber eyes had more than one young hopeful knocking on his door.

It hadn't been too long ago, in fact, that Alec had felt that same way about Jace, not that he'd ever told him this of course. Alec knew nothing could, or would, ever happen between them, and he'd come to accept it, just as many people had to accept they had big feet, or acne-ridden skin.

Still, Alec was starting to wonder what, if anything, he'd ever seen in Jace. Sure, he wasn't unpleasant to look at, but his super-sized, rock-hard muscles seemed almost too bulbous, compared to say, Magnus' lithe, compact form. With Magnus, you could tell he was well muscled, and Alec would certainly never want to be engaged in a wrestling match with him, but it was an elegant kind of muscle that rippled just under the surface of the skin. They emerged flawlessly with a single movement, instead of bursting into sight like the Titanic, as Jace's muscles did. And sure, Jace's eyes were a nice color, but they just didn't draw Alec in like Magnus' eyes did. Plus, Jace always wore the messy hair, rumpled clothes, just-got-out-of-bed look, which, alright, could be kind of hot, but it was nowhere near as sexy as Magnus' always put-together form; the spiked hair, sparkling make-up, and vibrant, often tight-fitting clothes just seemed to make him come alive.

Alec shook his head, trying to clear his meandering thoughts.

"So, from what Isabelle's told me, I hear you've been having some relationship issues." Jace quipped. Alec's cheeks flushed pink, his latest phone call to Magnus momentarily forgotten.

"Well, I wouldn't say problems, exactly…" Isabelle rolled her eyes, reaching her hand behind Jace's broad back to smack Alec lightly on the head.

"Oh no, you're right. It's not a problem. More like a tsunami, earthquake, end-of-the-world sized full blown disaster." Alec pinched his lips together, shooting Isabelle a scathing glare. He might be internally self-destructing, but that certainly did not mean Jace needed to know about it.

"Isabelle." She winked at him.

"And who is the cause for this great, earth-shattering dilemma, exactly?" Alec licked his lips, wondering just how much exactly, he should be telling Jace.

"It's a guy… a guy named Magnus. Magnus Bane." Jace nodded, unperturbed. Alec had confessed his sexuality to him a few years earlier, only to be told that Jace had known for years, and was just waiting for him to stop being a chicken and tell him.

"I see. And how did you meet said man?"

"At a … club." And here was where things got sticky.

"So have you done the deed yet? Gotten down and dirty?"

"Um…no." Alec mumbled, blushing furiously. This was the sticky part. For Jace, his priority in a relationship was sex now, love later. For Alec, it was the other way around.

"Okay. So is there anything else you'd like to add. Maybe something along the lines of: and he is currently the cause of my inability-to-do-anything-except-sleep depression because…"

"Um, nope. I think I covered everything." Alec squeaked out. Jace was a ruthless joker. If he found out Alec had told Magnus he was straight….

"Alec, please. If you won't tell him, I will." Isabelle scoffed. Alec sent her pleading looks with his eyes, which she conveniently chose to ignore. "Right then. So Alec told Magnus he was straight because –" Jace let out a disbelieving bark of laughter, clapping Alec on the back.

"I didn't know you liked things that…kinky." Jace said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Alec glared at the ground.

"Jace, I'm serious. I feel bad enough about it as it is. No teasing." And the pang of loneliness was back again, returning just as swiftly as it had gone. There was a moment of silence, during which Alec took the opportunity to check his phone, which was, as usual, devoid of messages.

"Continue." Jace said.

"Well, so Alec pretended to have a girlfriend, and then pretended to break up with her, so Magnus set up a blind date for him – WITH A GIRL – and then, he kissed Magnus, except…." Alec tuned out then. He did not particularly feel like listening to Isabelle provide a recitation of all his monumental screw-ups.

"Guys, could we stop for lunch or something, and go sit down? I'm not feeling too good." Alec said. It was true; his stomach was rolling and churning, but whether it was from loneliness or actual illness, he couldn't tell.

"Um, yah, I guess. Maybe we could eat at – Hey! Watch where you're going mister! Jeez, people can be so rude sometimes!" Isabelle said, turning around to glare at the back of the person who'd just shoulder bumped her, and not bothered to stop and say sorry. Alec turned with her, then blinked and stopped cold. Was he hallucinating? Yes, he had to be. After all, there was no way fate could be this cruel, could it?

"Alec, what are you - Ohhhh, wow. Is that Magnus and…"

"Brandon? Yup," Alec said, his heart climbing up into his throat. They were facing the other direction, walking away, but Alec could still see with his raw, throbbing heart, that their fingers were laced together, Magnus' head resting intimately on Brandon's shoulder. "How ironic." Alec squeaked out, trying and failing to sound nonchalant. His eyes were burning with unshed tears, and Isabelle yanked on his shoulder, trying to get him to look away, but he couldn't. His eyes were glued to Magnus' back, silently wishing, praying that he would turn around and see him. Instead, Magnus went up on his toes, wrapping his arms around Brandon's neck and pulling him down for a slow, tender kiss. Alec wondered if the people around him could hear his heart cracking into millions of tiny pieces.

"Alec, come on. Leave it. Let's go." Isabelle tugged at his shoulder again.

"Alec, mate, it's not worth it." Jace agreed. Alec blinked several times to keep the tears at bay, refusing to look away as slowly, slowly, Magnus lowered himself back to his heels and turned. And turned. And turned. Not away from Alec, but towards him; they locked eyes. It took a moment, but Alec saw the recognition light in Magnus' face, followed by something else he couldn't identify. And then Magnus and Brandon were headed towards them, and Alec suddenly realized that as much as he was inclined to stare at them and witness their PDA's, he very much so did NOT want to engage in actual conversation with them.

Quickly, Alec spun around, grabbing both Jace and Isabelle's arm to pull them with him.

"Walk faster." Alec furiously whispered to them, quickening his already hurried steps. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that they were still approaching. He looked around, desperate for an escape. Franticly, he dove into the nearest store, an Old Navy, yanking both Isabelle and Jace into it with him. With slightly hitched breathing, he pulled them behind a clothing rack, making sure they couldn't be seen from the entrance of the store.

"Alec, what the hell is going on?" Isabelle demanded of him, one hand on her cocked out hip.

"Shh! Isabelle, I'm just trying to avoid the love birds." Alec spat out bitterly.

"You mean Magnus and Brandon? Why didn't you just talk to them when they started to walk towards you, and show them you've moved on, instead of running like a bat out of hell?"

"That's just it Isabelle, because I haven't moved on. And anyways, if I wanted to at least look like I truly don't care, I would need to be wearing something slightly more sophisticated than sweats and a T-Shirt!" Alec complained, motioning at his outfit.

"Alec! I told you to put on something nice, and did you listen to me? No! As usual! It's like I don't even exist." Alec glanced over at Jace to get his take on the situation, only to see that he was smirking cockily at the other side of the store.

"Jace?"

"Hmmm?"

"Stop making that face."

"What face?" Jace asked innocently, the shit-eating grin still plastered on him.

"The, I'm-about-to-put-someone-in-deep-shit face." Jace grinned wickedly.

"Oh, nothing, ALEC. It's just that I think my dear brother, ALEC, should really stop being such a tight-ass, and go over there and talk to MAGNUS and um, MAGNUS BOYFRIEND-"

"Brandon." Isabelle unabashedly whispered to him.

"BRANDON, because-"

"Jace! Shut up!" Alec hissed, but it was too late.

From the entrance of the store, Alec watched as Brandon led Magnus over to where the three were huddled behind the clothes rack. Alec sent a murderous look at Jace, who was trying not to laugh, mirth dancing in his eyes.

"There you are." Brandon said, smiling. "Did you not see us walking towards you?" He asked, coming to a stop in front of the trio. Isabelle flicked her eyes to Alec's face, trying to gauge just how stupid his answer was likely to sound, and from that determine whether or not she should intervene.

"Um, no. Just had a sudden, um, craving for some Old Navy jeans." Alec lied quickly.

"Right…" There was a moment a very awkward silence, during which Alec took the time, much to the pleasure of his throbbing heart, to look over at Magnus. He was, as usual, flawlessly put together, with styled hair, electric blue jeans, and a black shirt. His eyes were bright, and ever so enticing, but he refused to look at Alec, instead choosing to ogle a manikin set up behind him. Alec couldn't help but notice, in a mean, jealous kind of way, that Brandon looked absurdly underdressed next to Magnus, in his ripped jeans and baggy T-Shirt. Jace cleared his throat.

"Oh, right! Um, Magnus, Brandon, this is Jace." Alec motioned between them, indicating that they should probably shake hands. Jace extended his left, and Magnus did the same. Jace let no emotions occupy his face, but Alec could tell Magnus was surprised, though why, he couldn't be sure. Jace repeated the motion with Brandon, followed by the expected response of "nice to meet you" from both sides.

"He's my, um…" Alec paused, biting his lip, debating what to call Jace. Then he decided to go ahead and be wicked. "…friend." He finished, letting enough space fall before the word to suggest that there could be more at stake. Sure, it would never actually happen between him and Jace, but his raw heart was not above enlisting the help of jealousy to capture Magnus' attention. Another moment of awkward silence ensued.

"Right then. I think me and Isabelle are going to…."

"Yes, right. We're going to go…to find some food." Isabelle finished for him. "We'll be in the food court, Alec. Bye!" Isabelle turned, yanking Jace around with her.

"Izzy! Wait!" Alec said, but she fervently ignored him, shoving Jace in front of her as they left the store. Alec watched them go, wondering how, and why, Isabelle always managed to leave him in the most compromising of situations.

"So, Magnus…" Alec began, only to have Magnus cut him off.

"I think I'm going to go use the restroom, love, alright?" He said, reaching up to steal a peck from Brandon's lips before turning and leaving. Alec's face flushed with shame; he was being completely ignored.

"Okay, well, I think I'll be going now…" Alec said, edging his way towards the exit. The last thing he wanted to be having was a conversation with the man who'd very unknowingly stolen Magnus from him.

"No, why don't you stay for a chat? It'll only be a minute." Alec eyed Brandon warily, wondering what his chances of escape were if he bolted. Looking at Brandon's toned legs, he guessed not high.

"Well, I guess so, if it's only for a minute." Alec mumbled, when in his mind he was thinking of all the things he would really like to be saying to him. So, Brandon, right? How's it going? Did you know you're a man-stealing dick head? Oh, and by the way, did you also know I kissed your 'boyfriend' the other night? It really was quite nice. So, I was just wondering if you could tell me, what's it feel like to be cheated on? Hmm? Bad Alec, no! He mentally berated himself.

"I just wanted to let you know to stay away from Magnus." Brandon said casually, flipping the price tag over on a pair of Levis. Alec nodded nonchalantly, before Brandon's words registered in his head.

"Wait, what?"

"I said – Stay away from my boyfriend." Brandon repeated. Alec shook his head, anger building at how this complete and total jerk had stolen Magnus from him, right out from under his nose. If not for Brandon, Alec could be in a perfectly happy relationship with the man of his dreams right now!

"And why the hell should I?" Alec snapped. "That's Magnus' choice to make, not yours. If he tells me to stay away, I will. But I don't take orders from over protective, first-rate assholes!" Alec paused, then slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes widening as his words came together in his head. He couldn't believe he'd just said that! What was wrong with him?

"There are two reasons you should stay away from him." Brandon said smoothly, finally looking up from the jeans he'd been eyeing. "The first is because he's mine, you selfish prick. He's not some sort of buffet dish that anyone who comes along can take a shot at: He. Is. Mine." Wow, possessive much? Alec thought, the lump of anger that had been forming in his chest quickly rising to the surface.

"And what, exactly, is the second reason?" Alec snapped, his temper rising faster than he'd thought possible. Brandon smirked at him wickedly.

"This." He replied, and then took a step towards Alec. He grabbed Alec's shoulder in one fluid motion and yanked it down, at the same time bringing his other hand, curled into a fist, into Alec's abdomen. All the breath left him in a woosh, the strength of the impact forcing a groan from him. Hunched over, Alec whimpered, struggling to suck air down. Brandon obviously knew how to throw a punch. Letting him go, Brandon stepped back, letting a respectable distance fall between them again. "So do we have an understanding?" Brandon asked sweetly. Mouth open in a perfect 'o,' attempting to suck in air like a fish, Alec grabbed onto the nearest shelf for support. His entire abdomen throbbed, and when he finally managed to force some air in, he winced. It hurt to breathe. At least now, he thought bitterly, the pain on the outside matches the pain on the inside. Finally straightening up, though still clutching the shelves with a white knuckled grip, he pulled his eyes up to meet Brandon's.

"Like hell, asshole." He spat out, clenching his sore, aching stomach with the one hand he wasn't using to support himself. Brandon's eyes flashed, and he reached out to grab Alec again. With a spark of fear, Alec lurched to the side, trying to dodge Brandon's fast-approaching fist, when, thankfully-

"Magnus?" Alec choked out, narrowing his eyes meaningfully at Brandon. Brandon quickly recovered, returning to the jean rack.

"Oh, hi sweetheart." Brandon greeted Magnus, all earlier malice having magically evaporated from his voice. Magnus was still refusing to look at him, Alec pitifully noticed.

"Hi." He answered back, cinching his arm around Brandon's waist.

"Alec and I were just having a nice little chat."

"Mmmhmmm." He answered. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yah, just about." Brandon dropped the jeans, then claimed Magnus' right hand with his left, squeezing their palms together. "I guess we'll be seeing you around, Alec." Brandon said. Alec tried to smile at them, but felt it was a baring of teeth more than anything else.

"Sure." Alec squeaked out. As they turned to go, for the first time in the entire conversation, Magnus locked eyes with Alec. Stunned into silence, Alec could only stare back into those tantalizing orbs and watch as Magnus' eyes remained devoid of emotion. Cold, hard, they flickered down to Alec's right hand, which was still clutching his stomach, before he turned his head, and they were gone.

Hi, I'm so very sorry this chapter took forever, but I haven't had access to a computer, and I'm busy and lazy, and yadayadayada.

But at least it's super super long =)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to coolerthanthouart =)

oh and this chapter's dedicated to ashiwrites3 on wattpad for sending me the nicest message ever =) thank youuu!

anyhow, hope you liked the chapter, don't forget to review if you liked it!

team Brandon anyone? anyone? *cricket cricket*

~ Olive