Chapter Nine
Alec awoke to wavering beams of light pouring in through the gaping window of the bathroom. He lethargically dragged his head from the awkward position it had been in all night and looked over the top of his curled up knees to stare at a head of electric blue-black hair, still lulling peacefully in sleep.
Alec found a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as memories of the previous night flooded into his incredibly fuzzy mind.
He was obviously a lightweight.
Alec barely had three cups of beer and he was feeling their effects. Jace wouldn't allow him to live this down in a million years.
Jace. Oh god, Jace.
The simple thought was enough to send a jolt through Alec, waking him up entirely.
What if Jace found out about what had happened the night before? Surely someone must have seen Alec follow Magnus into the bathroom. It wasn't like they were doing anything too bad though, right?
Alec mentally ran through all that he could remember, the only things he could call to mind, however, was a lot of kissing, roaming hands and glitter. Jesus, there was glitter everywhere. Despite the immense feeling of dread curled in his stomach as to what Alec's stepbrother would think about the situation, he couldn't help but grin at the thought of his lips pressing against Magnus'.
Besides, it was highly unlikely that he would ever find out about it, everyone was so drunk they probably had forgotten he was even there.
Just the memories of the previous night were enough to bring back the feeling of lips pressed against his and the taste of pocky between his teeth.
Suddenly feeling very self conscious of how he must of looked, Alec crawled out of the tub as smoothly as he could, careful not to jostle Magnus, and made his way to the mirror.
The previous night, Alec didn't have a proper chance to take in his surroundings, too focused on other things. Now, he looked around carefully at the marbled tiles and gilded mirror. He raised his eyebrows in appreciation and moved his gaze to the reflection staring back at him.
"Fuck," He hissed in surprise upon seeing the image. The boy looking back was all dark circles and pasty under-eyes, not to mention his knotted hair going in every which way. Alec groaned quietly and flipped the faucet, splashing water onto his pale skin in an attempt to flush life back into his complexion. He moved for the door knob, unlocking it in order to leave in search of anything to make him look less corpse-like.
A cup of coffee, perhaps.
"Alexander dear, you look fine." Called a drawling voice from behind.
Alec whipped around to be met with early morning Magnus Bane, and God, was he divine.
Magnus slowly opened his eyes to stare at Alec and pouted, "You left and now I'm all cold." He whined, slowly crawling out of the tub to make his way to Alec.
"I'm sorry." He stuttered as Magnus' arms wrapped around his neck ever so slowly. Magnus cocked his head,
"I should hope so." he replied, laying their foreheads together and grazing over Alec's lips teasingly,
"You see, Alec, you are a very very interesting person when you're drunk, and ten times more confident than usual, might I add," Alec's cheeks heated, "Why, had you not of passed out last night, things could've gotten very heated." He then added in a quiet tone.
The crimson of Alec's cheeks intensified astronomically, which he made his greatest task to ignore.
Gathering all of the strength that he could, Alec spoke up.
"I'm sure that I could be like that without the alcohol."
He was certain that he sounded like a whiney pre-teen.
Magnus raised his brows and pulled back slightly, "Is that so?" He inquired in a taunting tone. Alec simply rolled his eyes and leaned forward quicker than Magnus could register, pressing their lips together firmly.
With his eyes closed Alec could picture the almost identical scene taking place the night before, except this time he was pressed up against the faucet.
However, he didn't have the heart to stop this kiss, as Magnus leaned into him as if Alec was his anchor to life. Alec let a small groan slip past the weak barrier still standing as he pulled Magnus further into him, hands sliding down to find purchase at Magnus' waist. The pair remained in this position for what could've been minutes, hours, days. The moment was only broken when the jarring noise of a door being flung open and footsteps making their way into the room surrounded them.
In one movement Alec managed to push Magnus away and shoot a terrified glance at the door. There in the entryway was none other than Jace Lightwood. His eyebrows were at his hairline and the silence that followed his arrival was deafening, until Magnus' smooth voice cleaved it in half.
"I am very sorry about that Alexander, but you couldn't seriously expect me to let you leave my house looking like that without my marking you."
Alec shot him a sad look, "Uh, it's fine, man, don't worry about it." He mumbled and looked back to Jace, cheeks burning. "Let's go home." He said, looking at the ground.
Jace nodded and pushed out of the door, waving awkwardly at Magnus.
Alec moved out after Jace, letting his hand brush Magnus' as he left the room. Jace turned to him as they reached the top of the stairs, "It's okay, you know." He said with a pointed glance towards the now closed bathroom door. Alec followed his gaze and then began the descent down the twisting staircase, already locking himself in, "I have no clue what you're talking about." Alec responded, leaving the other boy standing on the stairs, jaw clenched.
Magnus leaned against the bathroom door, listening through the wood. Either Alec and Jace were talking very loudly, or this door was thinner than Magnus had originally presumed. He sighed, hand still tingling from where Alec had touched it and heart still racing from the actions a moment previous. He listened as he heard Jace reassuring Alec. Magnus felt himself smile, Alec would be fine. He was lucky to have such a loving brother.
And then he heard Alec's reply.
His smile fell like a toddler down the stairs.
A cold bucket of water had throughly doused the heat that had been in his body mere seconds ago and Magnus took a step away from the door. He almost fell into the grasp of sadness that threatened to overtake his senses, however, he simply faced the sink and turned the faucet on, staring at his reflection until he was certain the Lightwoods had left his home.
For the next two days, endless text messages had plagued Magnus' phone. All of them from none other than Isabelle Lightwood. Magnus decided he'd play it cool and not open a single one, all while consuming copious amounts of chocolate and self-pity.
This plan had been working well for him since the clean up effort on his house had finished, right up until the moment an ear piercing buzz had sounded throughout his townhouse. The sulking teenager was putting in as much effort as he could to ignore it, the constant buzz, buzz, buzz-
The door flew open to reveal a nonplussed Isabelle, moving her hand in to hit the doorbell again before she saw him, such sorry sight that she had to stop herself from recoiling slightly.
He was clad in hair that held the remnant of three day old gel, eyes ringed with black smudges and a crumpled t-shirt that was entirely plain. Magnus had only ever looked this disheveled once before and the memory of that was enough to almost send him back to the unsightly crease in his lounge, his home for the past 48 hours.
Isabelle only rolled her eyes, scoffing at the pure drama-queen etched in every line of his face.
"What's this, Magnus?" She questioned, hand on her hip.
Magnus simply raised his eyebrows, "What are you doing at the door of my house?"
Rolling her eyes, she pushed inside, "I think we both know the answer to that, and I must say that i'm surprised," Isabelle paused, eyeing off the filthy living room, "I didn't think you'd crack first."
Magnus furrowed his eyebrows and followed her inside, closing the door. He was by no means in the mood for this conversation.
"Are you going to explain what you mean?" He inquired, trudging his way into the kitchen in search of a caffeinated drink.
Isabelle dropped onto the stool at his breakfast bar, watching Magnus pour the boiling coffee. "Out of you and Alec, y'know? I didn't think you'd be the one to go and cower as fast as you could."
The boy began to stir the contents of his mug slowly, "Do you even have any idea what happened, Isabelle?"
The teen smirked smugly, "Yes, I do. Jace walked in on the two of you getting all close and personal, so now you're busying yourself with hiding away and he is acting twice as aloof as usual." She sat back in her seat with a satisfied expression, as if she had hit the nail on the head with her explanation and was just waiting for Magnus to try and disagree.
So he did.
"Oh, sweet, sweet Isabelle, I wish that was all that happened, but it wasn't and if you would be so kind to leave me alone so that I could drink my espresso in solitude, it would be greatly appreciated."
She only grinned in challenge.
"Ten dollars says that you're overreacting." Isabelle stared him down, legs crossed and quiet laughter dancing in her eyes. Magnus only glared back, "I am not overreacting." He said with utmost certainty. She scoffed and leaned back cockily, "Then please, do share what he said to ruin you so thoroughly."
Magnus busied himself with stirring his drink before allowing a mumble to slip past his lips. "He said that he didn't know what Jace was talking about."
This time Isabelle was the one furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, "I'm sorry… what?"
"You wouldn't understand, Izzy." He persisted, moving around the bench to the living room, "Besides, is it really that important?" "If you're this cut up over it, then yes."
Magnus dragged his coffee to his lips slowly, inhaling the scent before beginning to speak.
"Alec was leaving with Jace, I heard them at the top of the stairs and Jace was trying reassure Alec that things were okay and it was alright that he was… yeah, you know, but Alec just responded with 'I don't know what you mean'. I guess it just hurt me a little is all. I thought we had finished all of the tip-toeing around." Isabelle stared at him as he made the confession, nodding in fake empathy.
"A little upset?" She questioned, a nod from Magnus was the answer.
A beat of silence passed before she spoke up once more, "I suppose you owe me ten dollars then."
Magnus snapped his eyes to hers and frowned suddenly, "How do you win?" Isabelle rolled her eyes, "Magnus, do you seriously expect a closeted football player to confess his love to you in front of anyone right now? You're truly an idiot if you believe for even a second that Alec doesn't care about you, but you're double the idiot for thinking he could climb out of his skin that easily." She grabbed his hands, "You need to pull yourself out of this pool of self pity and haul your ass to school tomorrow, because you will talk to Alexander, and then you'll see how right I am, plus you need to fork out my prize."
Isabelle rose from her chair and flicked the incredibly long hair from her eyes, "Remember Magnus, the role of drama queen is reserved for Clary in our group."