A/N: Thanks again to manibarilo and Wrongaboutme for reviewing. I really can't say much because my writing is direct and straightforward but I hope you'll enjoy reading it. Have fun with this chapter and I wish everyone a wonderful day! :)

Chapter 9

Part I: Hard To Resist

A call came. From the school. On a Saturday. Alec knew there was something wrong. He got up quickly and texted Jace, telling him to come over. He didn't want to ask Magnus to send him there, not after last night and Izzy didn't drive her car to Magnus's place.

Jace texted him back. His answer came after a long reply of how Alec never texted him before and that they should celebrate it. He added a smiley at the end after saying "be there in 15".

After washing his face and brushing his teeth, Alec put on fresh clothes and quietly opened his bedroom's door. He peeked outside, looking for any sign of awaken humans in the kitchen and the living room. Found none, he slowly crossed the distance between his room and the front door. His hand were already embracing the knob when a voice said,

"Where are you going?" Alec froze. He was glad it wasn't Magnus but he knew the outcome would be the same. Just on higher notes. He turned around to face his sister. She had her hands on her hips, looking very fresh in the morning.

"I'm going to school." Alec whispered. "The principal called." Izzy's face turned concerned.

"Is it about yesterday?" She asked in a quieter voice than before. Alec just nodded. He said,

"I'm going with Jace. I'll be back by lunch." Izzy nodded her head and watched as her brother disappeared behind the door. She exhaled heavily, glancing at Magnus's door. She needed to think of something to entertain that guy while her brother was out. She knew Magnus would be worried.

Izzy remembered the look on Magnus's face when she opened the door last night. She was confused and perplexed at first but after a whole night of thinking all the possibilities, and trust me when I said Izzy thinks of every possibilities which was possible, she'd come to a conclusion that she herself had yet dared to admit. So instead, she kept her peace. For now.

Magnus woke up to the sound of his phone beeping madly. He looked at the clock showing 9:30 a.m. He answered his phone without looking at the screen and when he heard the other person's voice, he sat upright immediately.

"Magnus?" Camille.

"Yeah?" He croaked. "Are you there?" She asked.

"I'm listening." He muttered, still sleepy. He heard Camille took a breath before talking.

"I need to talk to you."

"I'm still listening." Magnus said.

"Can we meet?" She asked. "I'm at Earthlings' right now." Magnus took a moment before saying,

"Alright." He hung up. Magnus stood up, stretched himself and lazily strolled to his bathroom. He really didn't feel like meeting Camille, he'd thought that she would take a few days to try and make things right again like any other girl he knew but Camille wasn't any other girl. Magnus was partly glad as well, the sooner they solved this, the sooner both of them could go on.

Once he was satisfied with his not-so-simple-yet-still-casual-look (because that's Magnus I'm writing, Magnus Bane), he walked out and spotted Izzy leaning on the counter in the kitchen.

Izzy's head shot up when she saw him.

"Hey." She said. She made a whole once over look at Magnus and asked,

"Where are you going?" Magnus lied.

"I'm going out for a while to get something from the store. You need something?" Her lips were parted when she shook her head.

Magnus spoke again.

"Tell Alec I'm going out. And make sure he doesn't oversleep. He gets bad headache if he does and you know how sweet he can get with a migraine."

"Oh yeah. Sweet. Very sweet." Izzy emphasized, holding back her laughter. Magnus flashed a smile at her before closing the front door and drove off from his apartment building.

Izzy sighed gratefully when Magnus left. She didn't have to lie to him. She'd been practicing a made up story for Magnus when he finally noticed that Alec was gone.

Izzy tried lying down on the couch, taking a short nap while waiting for Magnus to come back and fire her questions about her brother's where about but she felt something was out of place. Something was bothering her and only Angels know why.

Eventually, after pacing from the living room and the kitchen, running down the purple carpet that was laid on the floor, she decided it was pointless to keep doing that. In the end, she took a nap. On her brother's bed.

The drive to school was quiet. Alec was looking straight ahead, his posture directly vertical and unmoving. Jace tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, to ease the tension a little bit if not for Alec then for himself.

The dark haired told him what happened. Alec gave him a shorter version of the call he got from the principal and Jace merely nodded. After a while, he couldn't stand the silence so he turned on the radio. Maroon 5's Maps was being played.

After passing a traffic light, Jace made a turn to his left. The faster route to get to Institute High would've been to drive straight on but Jace never passed through that road since he got out from juvenile and got his license. Alec didn't say anything, he didn't seem to mind. He looked dazed and distant for a while.

When Jace stopped in front of the administrative building, he turned to Alec. He didn't get to say anything as the other guy beat him to it.

"You can wait if you want or you can go. I'll call Magnus later." Alec said looking at Jace.

"It's okay. I'll wait for you." Jace honestly replied. He didn't have anything planned on that day anyway; Clary was going out with Jocelyn for a mother-daughter quality time.

Alec looked a little bit relieved at his answer although he couldn't be sure about it. The blonde stared at the black haired as he got out from the car and walked to the principal's office.

Alec knocked before he entered.

"Come in." Said a voice from the inside. He slowly turned the knob and went in. The principal was apparently had been waiting for him. The look on his face was masked with the smile he wore. Alec sat down on the chair facing him.

"How are you, Alec?" Mr. Gray started on.

"I'm fine. Thank you for asking." Alec answered back politely. Mr. Gray nodded his head a few times before he spoke again.

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you on the weekend but this matter needed to be solved immediately." His tone was grave. Alec gulped, waiting for his next words.

"It seems that Mr. Collins, Nathan was feeling unwell because of a certain misconduct," Mr. Gray paused, "done by your fencing coach."

It hit Alec hard. He should've seen it coming. He tried to control his expression because he knew that the principal was studying him thoroughly.

When Alec didn't say anything, he continued.

"Mr. Mortmain, as Nathan said has been giving him this medication to help improve his performance. The drugs are rare and illegal, of course you know that and it caused bad effects, harmful bad effects to the consumer." The principal stared at him. When he realized that he wasn't going to get anything out of Alec, he sighed and let his posture droop.

"You see now Mr. Lightwood, your coach had been charged and sued by Nathan's family and the school are taking early steps to make sure that whether there was any other student that he might've given it to as well." He quirked an eyebrow, indicating that he was giving a chance to the younger male to speak if there was a necessity to. Alec pursed his lips.

"I know you're smart enough to understand this whole situation, Alec. You're not the top student for nothing. What I need you to do now is to cooperate, help me." He dropped the formality and spoke casually with Alec.

Alec stayed silent. When he looked up at his principal, he blinked.

"I'll speak with the whole team on Monday and investigate further into this matter. If there is any, I would immediately come and see you." He voiced. The principal nodded, approving his words. Hesitantly, Mr. Gray continued,

"I'm afraid to break this to you Alec, but since your coach will not be around anymore, the whole club and team are under revocation." That was something that Alec had to digest slowly. The principal leaned forward so that he could look at one of his top grader's in the eyes.

"I'm sorry this had to happen on your final year, Alec. I really do." Alec squared his shoulder and replied compliantly,

"I'm sorry as well, Mr. Gray. I'll take my leave then." He got up and walked out. Mr. Gray simply nodded, knowing that making the boy stay longer would probably do more harm than what was already damaged. The school treasured the fencing team and one of its main reasons was because of the prodigy named Alexander Lightwood. To miss the chance of witnessing his talent for the last time was regrettable. The brown-haired principal could only shake his head in disappointment.

Magnus arrived half an hour later and saw Camille occupying the table next to the window. Her blonde hair stood up amongst many heads in the café, shimmering under the sunlight that hit the glass.

She looked up when she saw him but she didn't smile. Magnus thought she looked angelic for a moment, if it weren't for the crimson coloured lipstick she wore. He sauntered straight to her, deciding not to order anything so that he could leave whenever he felt like.

Magnus noticed that someone else was with Camille because there was another phone, not hers on the table. Before he got the chance to ask, Camille responded,

"Lily's here with me." That made Magnus narrowed his eyes a little bit. He sat down nonetheless, crossing his long legs like he always does. He knew that they were cousins, Lily and Camille. It was hard to ignore their identical blonde hair, although Camille's hair was straight and Lily's was wavy at the end.

"You two having a girls' day out?" Magnus casually asked. He wasn't feeling awkward with Camille even though they weren't longer a couple but he couldn't help feeling that Camille was seeking after something.

"Yeah." She said, sipping her hot white coffee. She put the cup back down and spoke,

"We're going shopping after this. Wanna join us?"

Magnus simply shook his head and answered,

"Nope. Got a plan." He partly lied. He was still thinking about talking to Alec when he got back. "What is it you want to talk about?" He asked. Camille sat straight in her chair, registering the serious tone that Magnus used.

"We're still friends, right?" She quietly asked. Normal people would've sounded like they were asking or even pleading but when Camille said it; she said it like the answer didn't even matter. There was no right answer to her questions, even the straightforward ones.

"Why shouldn't we be?" Magnus countered back. That was the only way he knew how to respond to her. At the corner of his eyes, he saw a glimpse of shadow walking towards them. And then he heard a softer but higher pitch voice greeting him.

"Hello, Magnus." Lily cheerfully smiled at him. "It's been so long."

"Two years." Magnus said to her. She used to attend to Institute High. If you might recall, she was Alec's ex-girlfriend. The whole ordeal that happened to the Lightwoods was what that had brought them apart. At least that's what people thought.

"How's…everybody?" She carefully asked. Magnus caught the slight hesitation in her question but he answered her anyway.

"Fine. And you?" She blinked. "Fine as well." There weren't much difference between the two girls, both had the same blonde hair and pale white skin that seemed to match their eyes and made them looked even more appealing.

Magnus turned his head back to Camille. He wanted to get out of there as soon as he could but he didn't show it. He sat there, as relaxed as he could and said to Camille,

"If there's nothing else, I'll be taking my leave." Camille quickly got up and opened her purse, taking out her car keys.

"Wait here. I have something for you." She said. "It's in the car." And then she left, leaving the two people who were trying not to feel awkward. Lily broke the silence first.

"Ermm…I heard from Camille that Alec moved in with you." Magnus gave her a nod. She was fiddling with her nails.

"Is he seeing someone?" She asked again.

"Why do you want to know?" Magnus's tone was friendly; he wasn't trying to worsen the atmosphere between them.

"Just curious. I bet he's not over that someone." Lily gave him a knowing look but she didn't say anything else. Magnus didn't grasp what she meant so he answered back,

"Oh, he's totally over you. I'm sure about that." Her eyes widened slightly, just slight enough to show that she wasn't expecting that.

"You mean he told you?" Magnus was completely confused at her statement. They didn't get to unravel their conversation because Camille came back with a small box wrapped in bright red.

She handed it to Magnus who took it gratefully.

"Take it as an early birthday present." She smiled. Magnus gave her a small hug and peck her cheek, thinking that that was going to be the last time they were ever going to acknowledge each other again.

He said his gratitude and waved them goodbye. Only when he got to his car he remembered about Lily's words. Told him what exactly?

Part II: The Gist Of Life

Jace was leaning on the hood of his car when Alec rushed out from the administrative hall.

"Is everything alright?" He asked attentively while looking at the dark haired, searching for any sign of troubled on his face.

"I'll tell you in the car." Alec replied. They both got in and Jace drove out from the school compound.

"So, what happened in there?" Jace asked again. Alec didn't hesitate to answer him. Jace deserved to know since he was a part of the whole mess.

He told him everything about his talk with the principal. Almost everything. He didn't linger on the drug subject.

"You mean we're done now? The whole team?" Alec nodded. Jace looked genuinely disappointed and saddened knowing the fact that he will no longer be able to practice fencing. He enjoyed the whole thing but what made the experience more priceless was that he could spent time knowing Alec.

"I guess that's it then." Jace sighed. "How are you going to tell everybody?"

Alec shrugged. "I really don't know." He slumped further in the seat.

Jace looked at his side and smiled encouragingly at the blue eyed.

"You know you don't have to do this alone, right? Just say it and I'll be there for you." He said sincerely. They both smiled.

"Where are we going?" Alec raised an eyebrow when Jace made a turn the opposite way.

"I'm going to take you for a drink." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Besides, I haven't had breakfast when you told me to come."

Jace drove them to Taki's. They ate their breakfast and talked about school. One of the topics was about Jace's grade.

"I think I might have to repeat next year." He said mournfully. "My results are failing me."

"There's still time until our second examination." Alec replied. "You just need to work hard that's it." Jace stared at him as if he'd said something bizarre.

"That's easy for you to say. I need to keep up to two years' worth of lesson. And I don't have a brain like yours." Jace scowled.

Alec quickly said,

"If you want I can help you." The blonde looked up.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Alec shrugged. "Why not. We can stay in the library after school since we don't have to train anymore." His voice dropped a little when he mentioned training. Jace quickly intercepted,

"Or we could go to my house. You can teach me Algebra and I can make you the best meal you will ever have, as exchange."

Alec raised a brow. "You cook?"

"I do. Surprising huh?" Jace said, grinning. "Don't you cook? Or Izzy?"

"Don't even mention about cooking in front of Izzy. The last time I tasted her omelette, well…let's just say that I experienced a whole week of stomach ache and fever." Alec shuddered, remembering the past.

Jace laughed at that. "It can't be that bad."

Alec rolled his eyes. "Wait till you get the chance to see her cook. And then you'll think about it twice." He let out a small laugh.

After their done, Jace sent Alec back to Magnus's apartment.

"Thanks again, Jace. For everything." And Alec meant it. The blonde was taken by surprised when he heard them. Those words seemed to be too much for him when he'd done nothing, he thought. But then he realized what Alec had meant. He smiled.

Magnus sighed. He looked at the seat next to him; the small red box given by Camille was lying still on it. He glanced out the window car, gazing at his apartment's building. He unintentionally let out a sigh. He must've learnt it from Alec.

He drove his Cadillac into his parking spot and took the elevator up. In his hands were several plastic bags filled with things he'd grabbed from the store after he went to meet Camille. Izzy would suspect him if he returned empty handed. When he reached the top floor, he stepped out and opened his apartment's door.

Magnus was taken aback with the sight that greeted him. Izzy was tearing up. She was sobbing heavily and her head was nuzzled on her brother's shoulder.

Wrapped in Izzy's arms was Alec, standing stoic from where Magnus was looking at him. His back was facing the door so Magnus didn't know whether Alec was crying as well.

"What happened here?" He asked, surprised. Obviously, the sight of the two siblings would even made the neighbours curious, if Magnus had one.

Alec turned his head slowly to the other guy, seemingly unsurprised with the sudden appearance of his friend while he urged Izzy to stop her weeping.

"Izzy's overreacting." Alec finally said when Izzy didn't seem to subdue her tears. That caused Izzy to glare with her puffy eyes at her brother and she unconsciously stopped her crying.

At the light tone in Alec's speech, Magnus reckoned that there was nothing critically serious happened but he still acted his caring manner towards Izzy.

He strolled over to the two and pushed Alec aside by his shoulder, gracefully but effectively which caused Alec to lose his coordination and stumbled a little, not forgetting to carve a shock look on his face. Izzy yelped when she felt her brother's body was pushed away but gasped even more when it was replaced with Magnus's long arms around her, the plastic bags included.

"Shhh…it's okay." He said soothingly, as if coaxing Izzy like she was a child. "You're brother doesn't get you, does he? He doesn't care about anybody but himself."

Izzy giggled a little, Magnus felt a small vibration coming from her and he smiled as well. They were playing of course; joking around acting like Alec was the outsider.

"Now tell me, Isabelle. Who had the nerve to make this young lady cried?" Magnus asked in his serious tone which caused Izzy to chuckle even more. "Was it Simon? Or one of the boys at school? Or did you fight with Clary?"

Izzy shook her head at every question and answered,

"Alec did this to me." Magnus pulled away a little bit and let out a faked dramatic gasp as he looked at the other dark haired and released the girl, changing his posture with his arms perfectly on his hip bones as he freed his hands from the plastic bags.

"Now, young man. I would've never thought that you would go so far as to make your own sister cry." He said in a yet another funny tone and Izzy couldn't hold back her laughter. It rang clearly throughout the apartment and Magnus felt a small pride crept in him seeing that he was successful to stop Izzy's crying.

Alec narrowed his brilliant blue eyes at his friend indicating he was playing along, his brows furrowed closer as he spoke,

"What? Are you going to send me to my room next?" Izzy was clutching her stomach at the scene before her. She was laughing hard at the two males. When she finally calmed down, she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and looked at Magnus.

"Alec has something to tell you." She said innocently, avoiding the raging gaze from her brother that she knew was aimed at her at that moment. So she swiftly moved away and locked herself in her room, unknown to the two that she continued her quiet sobbing while she texted her boyfriend about it.

"What actually happened?" Magnus asked, his brow raised. Alec let his gaze linger on the taller guy when he uttered,

"Nothing." That made Magnus felt a little agitated, although he wouldn't admit it. He'd somehow guessed the other guy's answer before Alec had even said it. To think that he was right was somehow making him even more confused and irritated at the same time.

"Seriously Alec, what is it?" He pushed with a hard stare at Alec and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you want me to force you?" Magnus asked again.

Alec wasn't looking at him. The blue eyed wasn't meeting his eyes and he felt even more saddened at that. What had he done wrong? Magnus mulled. Then suddenly, out of the blue he asked the one thing that had been bothering him. Magnus didn't know why it mattered unexpectedly and what had actually driven him to ask Alec that question.

"Is this about Jace?" Alec's head shot up straight to meet Magnus's gaze. His face was showing exactly how he felt, bewildered and confounded.

"Why is it suddenly about him?" Alec asked back. He noticed that Magnus was wearing almost the same expression as he was, although a little bit lacked in the persistent. He waved his hands sluggishly at Alec and lazily said,

"You know what? Just forget it. You're not going to tell me anyway." He picked up the things he bought and place it on the counter. Then, he walked over to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He got out a mineral bottle and bottomed up. All the time Alec was watching him until he asked,

"What's that supposed to mean?" They locked gaze, both of them rooted on the plane that they stood on, neither wanting to admit defeat in their silent war when Magnus finally blinked his eyes and sighed.

"I'm going back to bed and maybe try to at least wake up on the right side." He smirked halfheartedly. The next second, Magnus was completely gone as he entered his bedroom and Alec was left standing solely in the living room.

Jace prodded the baked beans and fried fries in his plate. After a long deal of thinking, he pushed aside the plate as his final decision was made.

"Honestly Si, I'm not hungry." The blonde was in Simon's kitchen, sitting at the counter while the brown haired was busy preparing himself what he called 'weekend meal' and had offered some to Jace. But the blonde wasn't lying; he just had his breakfast with Alec.

"You know, I am quite shock to see you're being friends with Alec." Simon voiced as he chewed on his fries. "I tried longer than you did and I'm not as close as you two are!" He practically exclaimed. Jace grabbed one long golden fries and pointed it at the spectacled boy.

"That's because you're dating his sister." He popped it into his mouth. Simon brought his eyes up towards a pair of golden ones, away from his plate when he gulped and asked in a quieter tone,

"Did Alec say that?" He sounded scared and ashamed, Jace noted. He shook his head at his friend who seemed relieved at his answer. "I assumed."

When Jace thought they were just going to sit there comfortably enjoying the serenity, Simon let the fork that he was holding dropped from his hand and it clattered as it hit the plate. He brought his head up sharply and said to the blonde,

"Oh right! There's a mail for you." Simon got up and walked to the front door, leaving Jace alone before he returned with a brown envelope that has Jace's name and Simon's address on it. "I think it's for your…you know." He handed it to Jace.

The blonde took it, not missing the slight pause in Simon's sentence. He had a look over at the envelope and sighed when he saw the familiar court stamp on the edge of the wrapping.

"Thanks." Was all he said to Simon who was back to finishing his food and saw a small nod for him. When he got sent to the boys' home, Simon's mother had done her best to help him and his mother. They had been the one solving and managing things for the Herondales. Even when Jace got sued, Elaine didn't hesitate to help him through the ordeals. That's why when mails arrived for Jace or Cecily, they would be sent to Simon's house. It was just next door.

"Do you know what happened to the person I hit?" Jace locked his gaze with Simon's when he voiced out the question. The brown haired could see a flash in Jace's orbs; it was small and it faded almost immediately as it occurred but it was there.

"No. I don't." He finally answered after a torturous long seconds of silence. "Mother might know. She handled everything. Why?" Simon inquired. Jace had never mentioned about the accident before, not to him. It was a shock for him when Jace was suddenly talking about it. Jace shook his head at him and said,

"Nothing."

After half an hour, Jace went back to his home and plopped down on his bed. In his right hand were the mails for either him or Cecily. He went through one by one until he reached the familiar brown envelope. He looked at it, with a tint of uneasiness and disdain mixed. He had a foreboding feeling whenever he thought about it.

He ruffled his hair and the golden strands were now a messy clump on his head.

"It's impossible. It just has to be impossible." He mumbled to himself, pushing away the thought that lingered too long in his mind for his liking. He sat up and scooted to his desk beside his bed and placed the envelope in between his books on the table. The brown letter remained there, the opening still glued and held in place as it held no sign to be open anytime soon. No one thought that soon would come a lot faster.

So what do you think? Should I drag things and events onward or should I just get it going and have you guys wait in suspense. *Insert a small evil smirk (If you know what I mean)

Let me know what you think! :)