"Hey, Alec! Back from one of your little excursions to Mars or whatever?" Jonathan clapped him on the back as he tried to slip, unnoticed, towards the back of the bus and failed.
"Where were you, anyways?" Edmund pressed.
Alec didn't answer, but pressed his lips together and shook his head, pushing past him. He could feel the eyes on him. They were curious. That curiosity needed to be redirected, and soon. Wait. He looked around, and with a pang of sadness, realized that Maia wasn't there.
"Did you hear about Cassie and Jake?" Isabelle asked loudly, drawing attention to herself in a shameless, less-than-subtle way that somehow worked.
"Thank the Angels." Alec let out a breath of relief, sitting down next to his boyfriend. Magnus raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly.
"Goldilocks is glaring at you, Alexander."
Alec peered over the seats and confirmed that Jace was indeed glancing between him and Magnus pointedly. He returned his gaze with equal intensity, staring him down in a war between gold and blue. Both refused to back down, and, as if she could feel the electricity crackling over her head, Maureen, who was sitting in front of him, shuddered and sank lower in her seat.
Clary whispered something to Jace, and Magnus squeezed Alec's hand, and the battle of willpower was left to another day.
"So, about Sunday… I devised a fabulous, devious, and infallible plan to sneak you out without your parents noticing," Magnus began in hushed tones.
"Without noticing my absence at all?" Alec questioned skeptically.
"Lilith, no! What am I, a warlock? They're going to notice when you disappear for an entire day on a weekend! I do hope you took that into account when agreeing to come."
"Of course I did, I'm no idiot. But what, may I ask, is the ultimately infallible plan of Magnus Bane?"
"Well, first, you have to wake up at some ungodly hour of the morning, like six or something."
"It has to be earlier in order to evade my parents."
"Are you kidding me? The things I do for you." Magnus shook his head. "Anyways, get up at five, use the facilities like normal human beings tend to do, and get dressed in twenty minutes, max. Then, you'll have to jump out to window like I did, I'll be waiting for you in my car."
"I'm almost afraid to ask what your car looks like."
"You'll know it when you see it. So, I'll show you up with my epic escape driver skills and we're home free and on the way to Brooklyn."
"Good plan. Ten out of ten, would use again."
"Hey, it probably will work. Ninety percent guaranteed."
"And the other ten percent?"
"I owe you ice cream."
"Which translates to: Things will go horribly wrong."
"I'm offering ice cream, Alexander. Ice cream."
"Fine. We'll use your somewhat questionable plan, because I trust you explicitly."
"Why is my plan questionable?"
"Because if your car is loud and/or neon, and someone in the neighborhood notices and decides to observe it, then soon everyone will know that Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane are going somewhere together in the early hours of the morning."
"My dad won't care, and knowing you, you probably have a playbook of excuses."
"Maybe not that many. Max and Izzy will cover for me, and Izzy in particular is good at running interference."
"It's your family." Magnus shrugged. "Are you sure you want to do this? I'm not trying to discourage you, but you still seem a bit uncertain."
"I'm doing it." Alec said resolutely.
"Alright then. A word of warning, though, some of my friends can be a bit… much." Magnus laughed quietly.
"I've dealt with Jace for fourteen years, and Izzy for sixteen, I think I can take it." Alec offered him a crooked smile in return.
The bus jolted to a stop, throwing all of its occupants forward. A few people even hit their heads on the seats in front of them. Alec had to grab Magnus's shoulder to keep him from meeting the same fate. Jace didn't miss the action, but his face remained blank.
"See you in Graymark's class." Magnus murmured, and they left separately, acting as if there was nothing between them. Alec dropped in beside Clary, who was walking alone, several yards behind everyone else, while Jace went ahead to interrogate Isabelle.
"Has Maia been at school since it happened?" He asked her. She glanced at him in surprise, and then her eyes softened.
"No." She hesitated. "I know about you and Magnus. I can just tell. And don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone." She added, and Alec opened his mouth to deny it. "You should tell Jace. He's only like this because he thinks that Magnus wants you to, I don't know, join the Mafia or something. He's worried about you, and it hurts him that you won't tell him what's going on."
Alec glanced around to make sure that they were the only ones still outside before replying. "I used to like him, you know. You could probably tell when you first met him, and I was sort of an asshole to you."
"Yeah, I know. And I'm glad you got over him, not because I want him for myself, but because he would've ended up unintentionally hurting you. Plus, you and Magnus look cute together." Clary winked at him, and he allowed himself a grudging smile.
"Thanks, Clary."
"Anytime." They looked up as the next bus arrived, and Clary grinned when Simon jumped off.
"What're you guys talking 'bout?" He asked, giving Alec a nod of acknowledgement.
"Nothing." They chorused, and then shared a look. Alec decided to let the friends have time to themselves and went on ahead to his locker, switching out his backpack for a binder. Magnus was already there, and was talking to Lily, looking surprised by what he was hearing.
"You're one of the Night Children?" He repeated, while Alec sat in the chair next to him. "You know Raphael?"
"He's our leader, is he not?" Lily watched Magnus in amusement. "So you're the Magnus he was referring to when he told us about the one who saved him?"
"He saved himself." Magnus corrected her. Raphael. Alec knew that name. He didn't go to Alicante High, but he knew him from somewhere.
"Raphael… that guy who could speak Spanish?" Alec asked slowly. "And he wore that cross on a chain around his neck?"
"You know him too?" Now both Lily and Magnus were staring at him.
"I think so. Not sure… wait, did you say the Night Children?" Alec gasped in realization. "Raphael Santiago, he was the leader of the gang."
"Shh!" They both shushed him.
"Sorry. Yeah, I know him."
"You've been associating with the NC?" Magnus frowned at him.
"No, it's a long story." Alec shook his head. "One that I don't exactly want to recount."
"It's a small world after all." Magnus laughed, and even Lily smiled a tiny bit. Alec glanced at her in newfound respect. Thinking back, maybe he did see her that night over a year ago. Although she'd probably remember him if that was the case.
"Okay guys, close your mouths and listen to the announcements," Luke called over the din, turning on the tv in the corner.
The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. Alec had to catch up on all missed material, which wasn't too hard, considering that he used to do so all the time. At lunch, Jace sat as far away from him as he could while still being in the same group of people. He kept casting dark looks at Magnus, which Magnus returned with flourish.
Clary said something to Jace, casting Alec a meaningful look, and Simon asked Izzy something about Max, drawing the other two into conversation.
"I think I'm going to tell Jace." Alec told Magnus quietly.
"The sooner the better, I have a feeling that he's going to kill me someday otherwise." Magnus muttered. "And I would like to hear about how you know Raphael."
"Maybe another time."
"Sounds like it'll be quite the story."
Things continued as they were, and soon enough, it was the end of the day. Izzy gestured for him to sit next to her, so with an apologetic glance at Magnus, he obliged.
"What?"
"On Sunday, I've got the perfect cover story for you. I'll say that you went to Jordan's funeral, which by the way, Bat, that guy who's in the Praetor Lupus, told me that we were invited to if we wanted to go."
"Wait, so I'll miss the funeral on Sunday?" Alec demanded. "I can't—"
"No, it's on Saturday, but Mom and Dad don't know that." Izzy smiled darkly.
"Okay." Alec let out a breath of relief.
"So, I think we can meet up a Luke's house with Clary and Simon and go then. Max can stay home with our parents, and maybe Magnus could—"
"Magnus would agree with me on the fact that he probably shouldn't go. The tensions between me, him, and Jace shouldn't be present at a funeral."
"Okay, that's settled then. We can just tell them that we're hanging out at their house while going to the service."
"Okay." Part of Alec didn't want to use the funeral as an excuse, but it was a good idea.
"See? Aren't I a genius? Not everyone can have such an awesome sister!" She crowed.
"I'm lucky." Alec chuckled at her antics, and she beamed.
"Yes, you are indeed."
The bus stopped, and Alec stopped to wait for Magnus outside. To his annoyance, Jace and Magnus were bickering as they got off. Judging from what he was hearing, Alec assumed that they'd been going at it for quite a while now.
"Maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do." Magnus challenged, his eyes glittering dangerously. Alec sighed, realizing that he could possibly be right.
"As if you know more about him than me." Jace snorted.
"You'd be surprised." Magnus said slyly.
"Alec, can you tell him how wrong he is?" Jace was testing him.
"Both of you, please. I just can't right now." He groaned. He couldn't choose, not between his brother and his boyfriend.
"Fine. This isn't over, Glitter Boy." Jace glared at him before following Izzy into their house and slamming the door.
"I'm sorry, I'll talk to him as soon as I can, I promise." Alec closed his eyes for a moment. "But can you please not provoke him?"
"I'll try. He had it coming, though."
"Someday I may just lock you two in a room together until you learn to get along." He joked weakly.
"One of us won't come out alive." Magnus said with a pleasant smile.
"I'm going to Jordan's funeral tomorrow." And the smile dropped off Magnus's face.
"Are you going to be okay?" He asked as they intertwined their fingers. As always, Alec glanced down the street to see if anyone could see them.
"Yeah, I think I will."
"Okay. Remember to text me." Magnus winked, and Alec, feeling some completely unnecessary butterflies filling his stomach, nodded and stepped inside. He locked the door, as one does, and turned to see Jace standing there, arms crossed.
"I could hear about eighty percent of that, and I think you need to explain. Are you involved in some sort of gang stuff now? You didn't defend me when he was trying to talk shit. Why?" Jace pressed. And something snapped inside of Alec.
"He's my boyfriend!" He exploded. Jace looked stunned. "I'm sick of lying! I'm gay, alright? And when I was like, thirteen, I had a fucking crush on you! That was why I used to do whatever you said, because I thought—"
"ALEC." Jace pressed his hands on his mouth. "You don't need to—"
"Oh, I don't need to say anything now, don't I? It doesn't matter now. You probably hate me now anyways—" Alec spat.
"Stop! I don't hate you, okay? Chill the fuck out!" They were fortunate that Isabelle had shown incredible foresight in taking Max upstairs.
"Now what?" Alec demanded poisonously. "Actually, you know what? I don't care." He tried to step around him, tossing his backpack to the side, but Jace grabbed his wrist. Alec had half the mind to break away, but decided to hear what he had to say.
"I think that part of me knew the truth already, Alec. I'm not too surprised, to be honest." Jace looked surprisingly calm, despite what his bloodless cheeks revealed.
"If you knew, you could've just said something." Alec glared at him.
"I thought that if you were, you would've told me. I don't care that you're gay. I do care that you didn't trust me enough to say anything."
"You know why this has been stressing me out? What I haven't told anyone? What Magnus doesn't know, and why I feel guilty sometimes when I'm around him? It's because every once in a while, I feel like I still have feelings for you, and it scares me." With the words, Alec was admitting the truth to himself, letting go of his fear. A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why ships are built.
Jace seemed to steel himself, and then pushed him against the wall. Alec met his gaze evenly, but gasped when Jace forcefully kissed him. His twelve year old self would've been disappointed. It was nothing like how it felt with Magnus.
Alec shoved him away bodily, disgusted. "By the Angel, that was like kissing…"
"…Your brother." Jace finished, chest heaving. "It's obvious that you don't like me like that, and that Magnus is better for you. You're just confusing yourself with your own doubt. "
"Thanks." Alec watched him dubiously, knowing that the conversation was not over.
"We're parabatai, and that means that we'll always have each other's back."
"You remembered? It was just some Shadowhunter ritual we wanted to try as kids, when we were all taken by the idea of being demon-fighters with angel blood."
"Entreat me not to leave thee, or return from following after thee— for whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge." Jace recited.
"Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. The Angel do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." Alec finished, indescribable emotion welling up in his chest.
"I mean, the whole dying thing was kind of sketchy, but I was proud to say it. To say that we were closer than even siblings." Jace smiled wryly.
"So was I. I always assumed that you just wanted to do it because it was a cool. That it was just a game to you. You did take the liberty of making three rings of fire in the living room, which caused Mom flip out afterwards. We were what, eleven? Younger than Max is now. And things between us have constantly changed since then." Alec admitted.
"I know we can't go back to being all "closer than siblings", but maybe we could start out as being brothers again." Jace proposed. It seemed that things did have a way of fixing themselves in the end after all.
"Okay. But that starts with you not saying anything to our parents." Alec negotiated.
"Isn't that a given?" Jace pretended to look injured.
"And you don't have to become best friends with Magnus, but at least be civil."
"I'll try, no promises. Ooh, and I want to give him the shovel talk!"
"Don't—" Alec began.
"I've got fifty acres of land and one shovel, they're not going to find your body if you hurt him," Jace proclaimed in a southern accent so awful that Alec wanted to apologize to the entire South on his brother's behalf. But he laughed instead, because everything seemed so ridiculous now, their fight, his secrets, the fact that he'd doubted that the ties that bound them existed anymore.
"Did you hug it out?" Izzy asked, hopping down the stairs two at a time. Her appearance was so sudden that they both jumped.
"Not exactly," Alec replied sheepishly.
"We k—" Alec tackled Jace before he could say the dreaded word.
"I'll take that as a yes, then. MAX, YOU CAN COME DOWN NOW!" She screamed, causing both boys to wince.
"You didn't have to yell," Max said mildly.
"How else would you have heard me?" Isabelle queried.
"By using my ears." Max rolled his eyes. "Are you going to stop acting like kindergarteners now?" He addressed Jace and Alec.
"I'll stop, but we all know that Jace has problems with that." Alec grinned as he dodged the kick Jace aimed at him. Isabelle snickered, and flicked both of them in the back of their heads. Max, laughing almost maliciously, climbed on the couch and tried to jump on Alec's back, causing him to stumble. Needless to say, all four Lightwoods ended up on the ground, Jace swearing profusely and insisting that his leg was broken (it wasn't). That was how their parents found them.
A/N: Bet you weren't expecting to see me back so soon :) Yay for entire days of free time! Let me know if this opened up any plot holes, because I didn't pre-plan any of this to happen and I kind of just typed as the ideas came to mind. In fact, this chapter was only possible because of the ideas you guys gave me, so thanks for that! I think I kind of finished family development for now (sorry, Maryse and Robert XD), and will get to the more Malec-y bits around chapter fifteen (maybe). I hope that this met expectations, and if there is anything you want to see in future chapters, let me know. Thanks for reading, guys, and as always, stay awesome ;)
(Also, if you knew what I was referencing when Izzy mentioned Cassie and Jake, you deserve a cake)