Hey beautifuls!
Sorry it's taken me longer than I said. Reading was amazing but the festival flu I contracted after returning home is, needless to say, considerably less amazing.
My attention span has been literally zero, so all I've done all week is sprawl out over my sofa with my duvet and begin to watch films, fall asleep after 10 minutes, then wake up half way through all confused.
So yeah, forgive me?
Here's chapter 12!
Coffee Attempt No. 2
Clary was pleased with herself for plucking up the courage to ask Jace to go for coffee again to make up for the previous day. She had been debating with herself all day whether she should or not, but she decided to ask because it was rude not to, right? Also, Jace seemed like a nice guy, surely she shouldn't not talk to him because he asked a touchy question that he had no idea not to ask in the first place?
The rest of the day went quickly and soon enough the odd pair was back in the same booth of the same coffee shop as the day before. It was Clary's turn to get the coffee, after all, it was her fault it ended so quickly yesterday.
'So how come you were in the staff room today?' Clary asked as she set down Jace's latte in front of him.
'Ah, well I figured my seniors could do with a lunchtime off…' Jace trailed off and Clary nodded, but that seemed to kill the conversation and the two were left in an awkward silence.
Jace was fiddling with his coffee cup. He seemed a lot more agitated today, like he would burst if he didn't say what he was thinking right that moment. Clary watched and waited patiently until he asked.
'So,' Jace started, still picking at the edges of the cup. 'Max mentioned you knew Alec? They're my brothers.' He spoke the last sentence with an adorable sort of pride. It wasn't the first thing he'd meant to ask, but it had been nagging at him since Max had told him that Clary might know their brother better than they did.
'Yeah, we recently collaborated on some graphics work,' she lied smoothly. She thought that was a better story than divulging information that Alec didn't want Jace to know. 'He's such a nice guy! I asked him yesterday about his siblings, he told me you weren't close?'
Clary knew she was digging, but she wanted to help Alec get closer with his siblings, and maybe hearing Jace's side of the story would help.
'We used to be,' he said sadly. 'But that stopped when he went to college. I visited him as much I could, but he barely ever came back. I figured he wanted space so I went to a different college and waited for him to come back. Now he has and I still don't see him. I don't even know where he lives.'
The sadness on Jace's face was heartbreaking. It was at that instant that Clary decided Jace was definitely not someone who would judge Alec for who he was. That was the face of a man that wanted only to be close with his brother again.
'Well, I'm not that close with Alec,' – another lie – 'but I could tell him to give you a call if you'd like?' she suggested. She wanted more than anything for Alec to feel like he could be himself around the people that meant the most to him, and if this was the way to do it, she would.
The hope in Jace's face was immeasurable. 'Really? That would be great, thanks,' he said with an excited smile. 'Just tell him- just tell him his brothers miss him.'
Clary nodded and returned Jace's smile. This was progress, right? All she could hope was that Alec wasn't mad when she told him.
'Anyway, sorry about that, I believe that yesterday we were in the middle of getting to know each other?' Jace said, starting afresh.
'Ah yes,' Clary replied. 'I do recall some sort of conversation along those lines.' She grinned at him, pleased that their conversation had returned to light banter.
'So how did you get to be a teacher at St Xaviers?'
'It's quite a strange story really. I had never really thought about teaching art before, but I was jobless and helping out in my friend's fashion boutique, and he had agreed to stock some of my paintings. Then one day Ms Herondale walks in and tells me that the art was great. Of course I got all awkward and thanked her without letting on that it was mine, but Magnus – my friend who owns the store – bigs me up and suddenly she's asking if I want a job because the art department was lacking! It was perfect!'
'That's awesome! Are you enjoying it?' Jace asked, genuinely interested.
'Yeah! All the kids are so nice and so are all the staff. Imogen said I'd be perfect for bringing new life into the art department and I intend to do just that!'
'Nice! What are you planning to do? I've always thought the Art Department was a bit miserable for a place that was meant to inspire.'
'Oh God, I know! It's dreadful! I've got all the kids working on pieces that we can decorate the walls with, and I'm starting an after school club to get anyone interested having a go. That's why I wanted Max out of your lesson; I saw his doodles in his history book and figured he might be interested. He's really talented.'
'I know, most of the essays I get back from him are covered in little comic strips and doodles. He's a bright boy, my little brother.' The pride was back in his voice at the mention of Max, and it was lovely to see. 'He's the reason I got into teaching.'
'Oh?' It was Clary's turn to be interested.
'Yeah, Max is eight years younger than me and he was a massive fan of mine when he was little, it was like I was his hero or something.' Jace grinned at the thought of little Max. 'I was the one he went to when he'd done something he was proud of. It was adorable really. It eventually got to the point where he would only let me tuck him in at night and read him bedtime stories - our parents were always too busy anyway. I taught him to read, and I guess that's what made me realize I loved teaching.'
'That's so cute!' Clary exclaimed, Jace's words renewing her fondness for the adorable junior.
This time, coffee had gone a lot better. After a long chat, Jace needed to pick Max up, so they went their separate ways.
The sight that graced Clary's eyes as she walked up the stairs to the apartment she shared with her closest friend was an amusing one. Alec and Magnus were blocking the stairway with a massive chest of drawers unsteadily held between them, arguing over how best to maneuver it inside.
'Just tip it that way!' she heard Alec call exasperatedly.
'I can't, all the drawers will fall out, genius.' Magnus retaliated. The interaction appeared to be light-hearted but both of the over-grown children were getting agitated.
'Hey guys!' Clary interrupted before it could turn into a real argument. 'What's going on?'
'Well douchepants over here decided it would be great to heave this massive chest of drawers up all of the stairs by ourselves instead of letting the moving guys do their job.' Magnus sighed and looked accusingly at his significant other.
'Yeah, well, I didn't want that to be the best thing you've seen all week!' Alec half shouted back, then looked away with a blush adorning his porcelain cheeks.
'Wait, are you jealous of the half-hot moving guys?!' Magnus asked, shocked. 'Is that what this is all about?'
'So you admit it! You think they're hot!'
'Guys, guys! What is going on? Who's moving?!' Clary interjected before the argument could get any more heated.
'Oh, I- uh…' Magnus started, but he had suddenly become uncharacteristically shy as he looked at his boyfriend with a shy smile.
Alec held the same expression as he turned to Clary and told her what was up.
'Magnus asked me to move in.'
Clary was quiet for a second as she assessed the expressions of the two boys in front of her to check that this information was true, but then she exploded.
'FINALLY! OH MY GOD YOU GUYS! THIS IS AMAZING! WE'RE ALL FLATMATES NOW AND WE'LL JUST HAVE THE BEST FUN-' she continued dancing around the couple - as best she could since they were standing on the stairs - until a thought dawned on her. 'Wait wait wait this doesn't mean I have to move out, right?'
'Of course not! There is enough room for us all, and anyway, its like we adopted you, we're stuck with you until you reach the angsty teen phase and move out in a huff.' Clary cracked up at Magnus's words. He always knew what to say to diffuse tension.
'Talking of being an angsty teenager, you're back late,' Alec noted, shifting the weight of the chest of drawers from one hand to the other.
'Oh, well – hang on it's a long story, lets get this inside first?' Clary asked, noticing how her flatmates were beginning to tire. 'Let me take the drawers out, then you can tip it right…'
'See, I told you we should have taken the drawers out!' Alec said accusingly to Magnus, though his eyes told him that he didn't mean it in a harsh way.
10 minutes later and the chest of drawers was placed neatly in the corner of Magnus and Alec's bedroom and the three were sitting in the living room sipping on tea.
'So explain, why were you out so late, missy!' Magnus asked in his general melodramatic manner.
'Well I was actually out with Jace…' Clary trailed off refusing to meet Alec's gaze as if he'd be mad at her. Everyone knows that it's standard girl code not to fraternize with guys your girl friends are interested in, even if they aren't interested in them any more. However, Clary wasn't entirely sure how this rule translated to a particularly close gay friend who used to have a crush on his adoptive brother, so she acted like she would in the regular situation: guilty and hoping for the best.
'Oh, really?' Alec's face was unreadable. 'How is he?'
'He's good, but he misses you. So does Max.'
'Clary,' Alec's voice was a warning and a question all in one.
'Don't worry, I haven't told him a thing. A couple of days ago I took Max out of an English lesson to ask him if he'd be interested in joining my Art Club thing, and curiosity got the better of me so I asked him if he was related to you. He told me that you were his brother but he seemed like he hadn't heard your name in a while. Anyway, yesterday, Jace came to find me after school to grab a coffee and chat. You see, we'd actually met before, that night at the club.'
Magnus nodded, remembering the night and putting a face to a name.
'That's your brother?! Damn!' Magnus exclaimed, and Alec shot him a look. 'What? You guys are just so- different.'
Alec was about to ask how but Clary continued before they could change the subject.
'But yeah, he recognized me and suggested coffee to get to know each other a bit better, but that didn't go very well.'
'Why?' Alec's eyes were narrowed and his tone was accusatory, but Clary couldn't tell whether the accusation was directed at her or at Jace.
'Oh, we were just talking about how we became teachers and I kinda left out the last two years – I don't know him well enough to divulge that kind of information yet – and he noticed and asked about it. I shut down and left. I know I shouldn't have, but I really didn't want to talk about him.'
Alec nodded, seemingly pleased with her answer.
'So today, because I must've seemed so rude yesterday, I asked him if he wanted to grab coffee again so we could chat properly. Max must have mentioned to Jace that I knew you, because Jace asked how I did.'
Alec's face fell, the beginnings of panic clouding his features.
'Hey don't worry! I lied. I told him that we'd collaborated on some graphics work recently and that's it. He told me that you used to be close and that he and Max miss you so much, so I said that I didn't know you very well but I'd pass on the message. That was it I swear.'
The onset of panic had changed to despair in an alarmingly short amount of time.
'Oh God.' Alec mumbled into his hands. 'I miss them so much it hurts. But I can't keep this secret any longer.' Alec started pulling at his hair while Magnus rubbed his back soothingly. He had to figure this out by himself. 'I'll call him. In a couple of days. I'm gonna get settled here and then I'll see them both. Please don't let me chicken out of this.'
Magnus and Clary shared a look and then turned back to Alec and nodded.
Finally, they were getting somewhere.
After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, Clary tried to change the subject and lighten Alec's mood.
'So have you managed to move everything in today?'
Alec considered the question for a second before replying. 'No, there's still quite a bit at my place, I need to sort through what I'm going to bring and what I'm going to leave or sell. We only brought stuff I'd really need like clothes and all my work stuff.'
'I kept telling him to leave his clothes, I could make him a fabulous whole new wardrobe, but he refused.' Magnus pouted at Clary, quickly followed by a laugh.
'Hey, I'll wear holey black sweaters until I feel I've regained all the man points I lost when I modeled for you!' Alec retorted. 'Anyway, how long did it take you to move out, Clary?'
'Move out?' Clary asked, confused for a second until it clicked into place.
Clary Fray never moved out of her ex boyfriend's house.
Oops.
AN: There you go, lovelies. Sorry this one isn't the best, I'm not that pleased with it, but it's the best I could manage with my brain feeling like cotton wool and my attention span being less than that of a goldfish. It's a bit of a filler but hopefully the next one will be better! I'll try and get the next chapter written and uploaded in the next couple of days to make up for my absence. Reviews are always welcome! See you soon!
