Chapter 11

Alec had been having a good week. Nothing too huge or worth noting had happened. He liked his days uneventful, especially if it meant no trouble. He was trying harder to be more professional though. Not distant, but trying to form boundaries to keep his (still to be figured out) feelings in check. To keep himself in check. He didn't know if he was succeeding, or if even the so-called 'boundaries' were that at all. Alec wasn't a social person, but once he considered someone close, he didn't know how to shut the doors he'd opened. Which is why he didn't do it very often. That and the fact that not many had bothered enough to even try to break his shell. Not that it bothered him.

When he woke up that day, Izzy was sat up on a bean bag colour pencils scattered all over the floor and her practice sketchbook on her lap. Her hands working expertly at something. Her finals were coming closer, they had a little more than 2 months, but that time was for design, concept and creation, and he knew she was stressed. She probably didn't sleep all night judging by the bags around her eyes.

"Morning Iz."

"Morning big bro," She replied looking up from her sketchbook, clearly tired. Alec just eyed her and then the scatter of stationary that created a barrier, "Brainstorming for the finals." She crinkled her eyes.

"I assumed. But you could have slept a little. It is a weekend. The papers weren't going to run away from you." Izzy sighed. "Any ideas though?"

"A few, in the very initial stage, it's-" she yawned, "It's getting there."

"Go to sleep Iz." She didn't object. She put the pencil and the book she was holding on the side table and tip-toed around the mess and found her way to her bed. Alec scooped up her art supplied placing it on the table as well before going to make himself some coffee. Magnus had another long day at the studio today. They'd apparently been stuck trying to film this scene for a really long time but kept pushing it away for some reason. Alec hadn't asked what it was. He poured himself a cup of coffee then picked up his phone.

Magnus: Hey, I spent the night at Ragnor's so I'm going to the studio with him. So, don't bother stopping by at the loft, just drop in here.

Alec typed in a quick reply then set the phone down. Maybe a good time to take a walk. It'd been a while since he'd just walked. Alone. Despite the nervous walks of those late for work, stern ones of those still indulged in work, and the general nervous energy of the bustling city, something about it calmed him down.

He'd taken a quick shower, whipped up some food for his sister and cleaned up a little bit before he moved out to go to the studio. He dropped the car off at its usual parking before heading off to the bakery about two blocks away. He had heard that they had amazing muffins, and he had wanted a walk, so he shot a quick message to Magnus asking him if he wanted anything. It was chilly outside, but he already had his hands inside the jacket pocket, fingers playing with the car keys.

"Alec?" he stopped dead in his tracks, recognising the voice almost immediately. His hands formed a fist without him really meaning to. How was he here anyway? Why was he here?

"What are you doing here?" he forced his voice to remain steady.

"Alec, listen. I know you have only one instalment left and-" Alec turned to face his father his hands still clutching tight.

"And?"

"Listen, Alec, I'm still your father, and I deserve to know what's happening with my children."

"It's weird how we are your children when it's convenient for you, isn't it?" Alec's voice remained cold. Robert's eyes narrowed.

"Alexander. Do not talk-"

"What do you want?" Alec asked, not willing to make the conversation last strictly then it needed to.

"I want to see my kids. I want to not be excluded from my children's lives."

"Well, you should have thought about that before you cheated on mom, and disowned me because I'm gay. Before you decided, what's her name, was more important to you than the five of us." He forgot about the bakery and the muffins and strode right past his father. But Robert caught him by his wrist.

"Alexander Gideon Light-"

"I don't have anything else to say to you," He announced and wriggled his hand out taking long steps away from the man.

When he reached the studio again, he went straight to the gym. He needed to punch something desperately. He shrugged out his jacket and pulled his t-shirt off, and put on some boxing gloves that were hanging on the side and began letting his frustration do the rest. What part of anything he did made Robert think that any of them would want anything to do with him. He struck the red bag in front of him with all he had, and it flung forward. What made him assume I was going to let him anywhere near them. He landed another punch and the bag which flung forward again. Never! That was never going to happen. The unstable punching bag was adding to his frustration.

"Do you need me to hold that for you?" Alec hadn't noticed Christina come in.

"Hey," He said grimly.

"Hi."

"I'm sorry, I just- I needed to-"

"Needed something to hit. You don't have to explain." She simply strolled forward to keep the red thing in place. Alec gave her a grateful smile before continuing to let his throbbing hand wash away his vexation. When he was fairly certain he was fine, at least for the moment, he stopped.

"Thank you," he said, removing he gloves.

"Hey, all of us have those days." She winked at him.

"Why are you here anyway? Don't you have to be at the shoot right now, I thought they were doing a fight sequence."

"They are. It's just… something about it isn't right," Christina sighed. "They think it's alright, but I'm not yet fully satisfied with how it looks on screen, so I asked them for a few hours to figure it out."

"Can I see what it is… maybe I can help."

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Magnus knew Christina had been struggling with this scene for a while now. Emma had told him that much a while ago. The director had been insisting it was just fine, but Christina being the perfectionist she was, refused to let them shoot the scene without being completely sure of it. So, they had moved on to reshoot a few other scenes from the episode. It had been about an hour or so since Christina had walked to the gym.

"Magnus. Hey, Magnus," He turned around to look at who was calling him.

"Emma! Hi." She was running towards him with her earpiece barely hanging on.

"Hey. I need you to do me a favour," she said panting, fixing her earpiece. "I have some work to do, but can you just please go and check on Tina for me. If- if you're free of course."

"Of course, darling," he replied.

"Oh, thank goodness! I just wanted to make sure-"

"Yeah. I was going there anyway. You scurry along, I'll let you know how she is." He smiled, she returned the gesture.

He was going to the gym. But he was searching for Alec, apparently, someone had seen him stalking towards the gym. He was waiting for his banana muffin and didn't know what was taking him so long. He reached the gym and turned the knob to enter.

"-really Alec, I can't thank you enough. I swear this will look so much better than what was initially planned. I can't believe I didn't figure it out myself." He heard Christina say. Alec laughed lowly.

"It's no big deal, really. I mean, I should thank you really," he said grabbing his black t-shirt that was hanging on one of the bars. Magnus gawked at his defined back. Actually gawked. His pale skin was gleaming with beads of sweat that were just beginning to dry. He looked like some Greek statue. And the only view he was getting right now was of his back. He'd forgotten why he was here, or what exactly he was supposed to do. He forgot how to breathe. And he definitely forgot how to look away. He only snapped out of it when he heard Christina's voice.

"Magnus," she sounded chirpy, "I finally figured it out." Magnus turned his eyes towards her. Alec slipped into his shirt. Magnus almost said please, you don't have to clothe yourself for me. Almost.

"That's nice to hear! Emma was worried about you though, so may want to check up on her," Magnus said after regaining his cool. He watched as he turned her phone on, consciously avoiding Alec's gaze, thanking heaven that he didn't blush easily.

"O shoot!" she exclaimed. "I gotta go, but thank you so so much Alec!" He gave him a quick hug before running out of the gym leaving the two of them alone.

"Took you long enough. Where's my muffin?" Magnus asked, pulling his coherent thoughts back together.

"I um-" Alec was flushed, probably from the workout he had clearly been doing, "I kinda forgot." He said biting his lower lip. Magnus restrained from groaning. This guy. "I didn't even reach the bakery actually."

"Well, there goes my second breakfast." Magnus shook his head.

"Sorry, I can go get it now if you want."

"No, Alexander. I was kidding, though I'd love to get one after I'm done with shooting. I was supposed to be out by 4, but I think it's going to be a little longer now that Christina has gotten a better idea. Thanks to you apparently. How did that happen?"

Alec shrugged, "I didn't really help all that much. Just a few of the forms seemed a little forced, so I told her what seemed natural. She figured the rest herself."

"Pretty smart for a 22-year-old, huh?"

"That she is." Cristina had landed this job about a year ago along with Emma. They'd both dropped out of college, but had work experience with short-film creators, so it didn't take long for either of them to climb up on the ladder. They were both still amateurs working under someone but had done far more than any 20 something year old would have in such a short time span.

"Got anything to do while you're here?" Magnus asked.

"Hey Alec, think you can help out with teaching the stunts?" Christina asked, peeking her head from the side of the door.

"I think I do now," Alec smiled. "I'll be right there."

"Cool, set 7." She crooned, then ran off with an insane amount of energy before Alec asked her what that meant.

"And, I'm not sure what 'set 7' is." He finished dropping his hand.

Magnus chuckled, "I do, I'll take you." Alec grabbed his jacket before looking at Magnus as if to say lead the way.

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Alec's day had turned out pretty okay after that one disappointing meeting with his father. Better than okay actually. He had more fun than he expected to with Christina. And it was the first day on set where he didn't have to sit and think about what to do next to keep himself occupied till Magnus was done.

"It looks like it's going to rain," Magnus commented as they got in the car. They had stopped at the bakery where Magnus had bought a box-full of banana muffins and another with chocolate cupcakes. Alec looked up at the grey sky, almost verging on black with the setting sun (which was also covered by the clouds).

"It does!" It had started drizzling by the time they reached Magnus's loft. Alec was just about to leave when Magnus asked him to stay a while.

"I have cupcakes and muffins," He offered with a sheepy grin. Alec couldn't reject that smile, so he went in. When they were inside Magnus's, it was almost like hell broke loose outside. The weather went from light drizzle to a 'flood from the sky' in a matter of seconds. The thunder and lightning louder than he'd ever heard in New York.

"Woah, okay, I didn't expect that," Magnus remarked, opening the box of baked goods. "Cupcakes, muffins or both. Ah, why am I asking, it's too good, you have to try both." He saw the flash of light again from the windows. Then a loud rumble followed a few seconds later. He heard the water falling more furiously.

"It's really raining cats and dogs, isn't it?" Alec mused. "I should probably call and check if Iz is okay," He spoke more to himself than Magnus. He reached for his phone from his hoodie pocket, when the caller ID flashed Izzy's name. He answered with "Speak of the devil."

"Alec, hey. Thank god, you're okay. You're not driving, right?"

"No. I am at Magnus's."

"Okay good. I just saw the news. Apparently, the road you take from the studio is blocked. There was some sort of accident there coz of the rain."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and I was worried. Just don't drive till the rain stops okay."

"Okay, you're at home though, right?"

"No, I came to Simon's. I'm probably going to stay the night here."

"But you're safe?"

"Yep."

"Good. I'll let you know when I get home okay."

"Okay, bye. Be careful when you drive, and don't drive till the rain stops."

"Got it, you too." The phone beeped as Izzy cut the call.

"Chairman is sleeping," Magnus walked in front of him handing him a cupcake.

Alec mumbled a "Thank you."

"You know, you should probably just stay till the weather calms down. It seems too dangerous to drive in this," Magnus said, as they heard another loud grumble.

"That's what Izzy called to say, apparently there was an accident somewhere."

"Okay, then that's it, you're staying here."

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"Um, so I have pizza and pasta that I can reheat. I don't know what else we have if you want something else. I can fix up a mean wonton though."

"Pizza is fine," Alec replied, leaning on the counter.

"Also, you have a tattoo." Magnus had noticed it that morning and had made a mental note to ask about it later. It was on the lower left side of his back, nothing Magnus could make out.

"I do."

"Can I see it?" He asked, hoping the answer would be yes. He would take what little he got.

Alec's lips tightened before he mumbled a low "yeah" and lifted the hem of his shirt to expose a set of neatly drawn black lines. Magnus walked forward to examine it more closely. His fingers lingered over the ink then he traced the curved lines of it. He drew his had away quickly when he noticed Alec shiver.

"Your fingers are cold." He sucked in a breath.

"Sorry," He took a step back, and Alec let the shirt drop. "What is it?"

"It's called an iratze. It's a rune. A healing rune. I got it when I was 23."

"Why?"

"Cause I wanted to."

Magnus snorted, "I mean why a healing rune?"

Alec smiled, "Because… I guess to remind myself that no matter how bad the situation, things could always be better, it will get better, with or without help. That I could heal myself."

Magnus's eyes softened. He'd seen many tattoos before, many with deep meanings, he didn't know why, but this felt like the most real one of all that he'd seen. "It looks very cool."

Alec tittered, "It does." Magnus went over to the fridge to get the pizza out. He shoved the box in the oven before turning to Alec again.

"Another thing I've been meaning to ask. Why were you in the gym in the morning? Someone told me you seemed a little worked up." He worded the sentence very carefully, being sure not to offend him or something.

"I ran into my father in the morning today. And he was being… him. And I walked away pretty pissed, and I wanted to punch something. Thought that a punching bag was better than a human being or a prop." He sighed. Magnus didn't ask any more questions. He simply nodded and removed the pizza from the oven. It was still pouring down outside. It didn't seem like it was going to stop any soon.

They ate their dinner in a comfortable silence. The TV was playing in the background, but neither of them seemed to really be watching what was going on. They put their respective plates for wash before they came back and settled on the couch. As soon as they sat down the entire room went dark.

"Rain?" Magnus guessed.

"Probably."

"I'll go get the candle, coz I don't want the phone drained if someone needs to call. And the blink cards, so we have something to do."

"Tell me where the candle and the matches are, I'll get them," Alec said turning on the flashlight on his phone. Magnus did the same.

"It's in the bottom left drawer in my room. I'll get the cards." Magnus searched a few of the drawers in his guest room before finding the old pack of blink cards in the bottom somewhere.

When he came back to the living room Alec had already set up the candles in a semi-circle and was lighting them up. He looked up at Magnus and smiled. A soft, sweet, innocent smile.

"So, explain to me," he told Magnus as he sat down, "how does this game work, I don't think I've played it before."

"Okay, firstly, I can't believe you haven't played blink. Secondly, it's pretty easy actually. We have these cards, and I'll share the entire stack between the two of us, and there will be one card left. So, you can put down the card you have if the colour, number, or shape matches. And the first person to finish their cards of wins. Simple."

"Sounds easy enough. Doesn't sound too stressful."

"Oh, you wait!" Magnus exclaimed.

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They were playing a pretty heated session of blink at the moment. The first few rounds had been filled with Magnus filling in the rules of the game he's forgotten to mention, but once Alec got a hang of them, it started getting extremely competitive. He'd started winning somewhere around round 10. Right now, both of them only had five cards, give or take a few more. They were both kneeling on the floor in front of the table dropping more cards by the second. Each had three cards in their hand and waited for the other to draw the next card from their respective stacks. A nod from Magnus and they did. Neither matched, and all of Alec's cards were in his hands so Magnus drew the last one, almost immediately staking it on top of the existing stack of open cards. Before Alec could figure out what card it was Magnus had his others down beaming at Alec. He simply dropped his cards with the rest shoving Magnus before leaning back on the sofa. Magnus laughed following right after Alec. The rain had started to quiet a little bit.

He'd stopped thinking about what his dad had said for a while, but now it was all rushing back for some reason. He did not want to listen to Robert, at all. But that wasn't the point. He was behaving like a teenager whose parents won't buy him an X-box or something. And that was stupid of him.

"Alexander," Magnus's voice interrupted his train of thoughts, "I know it's not my place, and I may be overstepping here, but maybe, just maybe, your dad actually just wants to fix things and doesn't know how. Again, I don't know what kind of a-"

Maybe it was what Magnus had said, or the dim lighting and his slightly drunk state, or maybe it was the fact that he could read Alec so easily. Or maybe it was that Magnus's lips simply looked too irresistible and soft and full, he didn't know. He couldn't explain why, but before he could convince himself it was a bad idea he leaned forward crashing his lips on Magnus's. He got up on his knees to position himself better his hand slipping behind Magnus's neck, the other finding its way to Magnus's arm for support.

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Magnus was too stunned to do anything. He had noticed Alec being a little too quiet after their game. He started rubbing his hand with his thumb, and Magnus assumed it was about his dad. He didn't even finish his sentence when Alec kissed him. His mind emptied almost immediately. He felt Alec's hand clutching him for balance, starting to deepen the kiss. Magnus's eyes were closed, but he pulled up to sit, all while keeping the contact undisturbed. He was just starting to respond to the kiss when Alec pulled back. Magnus felt his heart sink. His stomach dropped to the floor. He could do nothing more than open his eyes and stare at Alec. He forced them to not betray any of his disappointment.

"I- I-" Alec stammered, panting. "I'm-" He fumbled onto his feet, Magnus used the sofa to try to get up. "I need to go," He finally managed.

"Alec-"

"I need to go," he repeated, then walked up to where the car keys were hanging, grabbing them before abruptly pacing out the door.

Magnus slipped back down to the floor with his head on his knees, trying to think of what went wrong. He didn't know what to think, he didn't know how to deal with it the next time they met. He didn't know what Alec was thinking, he desperately wanted to know if he was okay.

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Alec didn't know what he was thinking. He knew it was a bad idea, and he stopped when he noticed Magnus wasn't kissing him back. He shouldn't have kissed Magnus in the first place, leave alone expect him to kiss back. Idiot. He was an utter, complete useless idiot. He knew he shouldn't have expected anything, but his heart still broke a little when nothing happened. He sat in the car closing the door as he did. He buried his face in his palms cursing himself for doing anything. He tried to convince himself that he wasn't in control of his actions, but that was clearly a lie. He knew he wanted to kiss Magnus. He had for a long while now, even if he'd tried to keep it hidden from himself. He groaned in frustration. So much for barriers. He'd just made things extremely awkward without really meaning to. He ruined everything, didn't he?

He started the engine and drove the car back to his apartment he knew was empty. He needed to not think right now. He needed to go sleep. So that's what he was going to do. And hopefully forget that this ever happened, but he didn't want to forget it. Even if it wasn't an ideal kiss, he wanted to remember it. But maybe Magnus would forget. He needed to come up with a valid, non-stupid sounding reason for his actions too, but right now, he just concentrated on the road.

A/N: Hey guys! So here's the thing, I loved writing this chapter. And though it took me a while to figure out a little bit of how I wanted the story to go for this chapter, I'm happy with how it turned out. So I really hope you like it too. If you did, feel free to Fav and Follow and leave a Review (makes my day, those things), and hit me up on Tumblr ( everythingelseisspokenfor) (Yep, I got a different Tumblr for this). Have a great rest of your day!