Thank you very much for all the reviews I received last chapter! Almost to 100! (I'd love to make it there and beyond with this chapter!)

Enjoy :)

"Alec lightwood. Where the hell do you think you are going dressed like that?"

Jace and Alec both visibly winced at the pitch of their sister's voice. Simon, ever the good fiancé, moved to her side and soothingly rubbed her back murmuring for her to calm down. Both Jace and Alec rolled their eyes and Jace made an exaggerated gagging face.

"Jace Lightwood, I saw that! If you want to make a good impression for Clary, I strongly suggest you try to please her best friend... And sending Alec looking like that is NOT going to impress Magnus."

"What's wrong with the way that I look?" Alec pouted. "I always wear black."

"Yeah well your soul is not black so don't even try that one on me... And do you even remember Magnus?" Now it was Isabelle's turn to wince, and she slapped a hand to her mouth. Turning to Simon, she head butted his shoulder whispering "Oh crap I shouldn't have said that."

At Isabelle's words about Magnus, Alec paled and looked at her with a dreary expression and said with a sad voice, "I do remember him Isabelle. More than you might know."

With that, Alec walked back up the stairs leaving Jace, Simon and Isabelle to stand there in silence. "You shouldn't have said that Isabelle. You know how Alec feels about Magnus. It was hard enough for me to convince him to even come with me today."

Watching the siblings silently look at each other communicating with their eyes was making Simon feel a bit uncomfortable. Bringing Isabelle in for a hug, he looked to Jace and said in a soft voice, "Jace, he would prefer you more than either me or her right now. Go up to him and calm him down."

Jace nodded at Simon in agreement. They both knew how men could get when the person they loved left. For Simon it was when Isabelle broke things off with him because he was not ready to get serious, and for Jace it was when his fiancé had died.

For Alec it was when Magnus -the first and only man that Alec had ever readily admitted his love for- had broken things off to go overseas. Jace knew that Alec still regretted his reluctance to fight Magnus over the break up, thinking that Magnus had wanted to be relationship free while in Europe. Alec had later told Jace that the men over there would have obviously been more glamorous than Alec, and so he had not put up a fight for that reason.

Now that Jace had spoken to Clary about the two, he knew that Magnus still held feelings for Alec, but he had assumed that Alec would have moved on. Walking up the stairs to Alec's room, Jace snorted to himself as he realised that two men in a relationship could be just as insecure and moody as a man and a woman when it came to admitting feelings.

At least with men there were no tears. Or so Jace hoped.

"Jace just put him on the phone alright. Magnus says he can talk him into coming today. Believe me; Magnus is beside himself with excitement. Does Alec realise that Magnus has not had a relationship since him? Seriously, just let Magnus talk to him."

Jace looked at the door in front of him. It was like being a teenager all over again where Alec would slam his door in Jace's face and Jace would shout at the block of wood telling him to stop being so pathetic. Except now they were adults, and Alec needed to start acting like one instead of the sulky moody teenager he had once been.

"Fine! But I'm telling you, Magnus had better be good, because nothing moves him in this mood."

"Aw, where's the trust Lightwood. I am better than good. Now put Alec on the damn phone!" Jace was startled to hear Magnus' voice instead of Clary's coming into his ear, but his wit was never surprised.

"So it's Lightwood now and not Blondie? I'm impressed Magnus. It seems you have finally pulled on your purple sparkly big boy undies. Unlike my brother here."

"Actually today they are yellow polka dots. Sparkles tend to get a bit uncomfortable down there. Just put Alec on the phone! Clary's looking pissed off, and if you want to get into her pants, put him on the OW! CLARY! I was joking!"

Jace had to cover his mouth and pull the phone away to stop himself from being heard by Magnus as he snorted out loud. Trying not to laugh at the situation Magnus was probably in for saying Jace wanted to get into her pants, he said as drily as he could, "Just hang on a sec."

Muffling the phones speaker against his chest, Jace banged on the door to Alec's room. "Oy, Alec! Open the door!"

"Piss off Jace!"

"Aw, come on man! You know Isabelle speaks without thinking and what her fashion sense is like. Magnus never cared what you wore before, why the hell would he care now?"

"Go away Jace! You know I didn't want to see Magnus again in the first place."

Seeing an opportunity to make Alec open the door, Jace put the phone to his ear and said loudly, "Hey Magnus? Alec doesn't want to see you again. I think your sparkles make him uncomfortable. I have a friend who I work with who would love to meet someone like you though. I can call him up..."

Jace cut off as the door in front of him was viciously thrown open and a glowering Alec stood in front of him. Sticking a dazzling smile on his face, Jace winked at Alec and continued. "Yea, that was Alec. He looks like a scary gothic creature that walks around cemetery's at night and talks to the dead. All he needs now are tattoos and piercings and... Huh? ... What the HELL? Alec already has a tattoo?"

Alec's eyes went from narrowed in anger to wide in shock within a matter of seconds and he quickly kicked Jace in the shin before snatching the phone off him when Jace jerked reflexively.

Jace heard Alec hissing "Why the hell did you tell him that Magnus!" before the door was slammed shut in his face. Smirking at a job well done, Jace made his way back down stairs.

"So, guess what I found out about Alec sister dearest... our big brother has a tattoo."

Isabelle, who was sitting curled up next to Simon on the couch looked over at Jace with a look of surprise. "No kidding?"

"Yea, it's true. He was telling me about it once."

Isabelle and Jace both looked at Simon in shock as he said that. Not noticing the looks he was receiving, Simon continued facing the television. "Him and Magnus both got one done when they were together. Magnus' was a pair of lips on his bum I think."

"Well, that's nice to know about Magnus. But what does Alec have?" Jace's voice barely covered the sarcasm that was oozing out of it as he talked about Magnus.

Isabelle giggled at his tone; Simon could be terrible at gossip sometimes.

As they were both watching Simon, they noticed the red flush to his face. "Oh, well Alec has-"

"Simon, say it out loud and you will regret it for the rest of your life. Are we ready to go Jace?"

Everyone swung to face the stairs where Alec was standing in the same clothes as he was ten minutes ago.

Isabelle scoffed quietly at the sight of Alec still in his plain black long sleeved shirt and black pants, but did not say anything.

"So Magnus convinced you huh? Well I'm not complaining. Let's go, we need to be there in two hours and we need to pick them up on the way."

Shooting one last glare at Simon, Alec followed Jace out the door.

To say that the reunion of Alec and Magnus was awkward would be an understatement.

Alec had stood deathly still as Jace had buzzed for Clary, but when face to face with Magnus, he had shifted from foot to foot and fiddled with a loose piece of fabric that was hanging from his shirt. Magnus had simply stood there taking him in with a smile on his face.

Jace and Clary had eyed each other as the four of them stood on the threshold of clary's building, but after some awkward 'hellos', Jace had smirked at Clary and nodded his head in the opposite direction and as he took her hand and drew her away from the couple. "It isn't so bad over here away from them. Just let Magnus work his magic. Alec takes some time to warm up to people he feels have wronged him."

Clary raised her eyebrows in response and after they had stopped walking turned to look at Magnus and Alec standing close but still not interacting. "I bet he doesn't like me," she murmured.

Jace chuckled and moved to her side. "No, not particularly since you spilt a drink on one of his only decent shirts and now brought Magnus back into the picture. Alec never got over him...and he probably doesn't want Magnus to know that since it was Magnus who called things off."

Clary slowly drew her eyes away from the two men she was watching to look at Jace. The sun had come out from behind a cloud and made his hair light up spectacularly gold. Blinking, she replied, "Magnus never got over him either you know. I've known him for a couple of years now and I've never seen him get serious with a guy."

Turning his head back to look at the two men still standing silent sizing each other up, Jace murmured, "Then why did he call things off? Alec never understood."

"He thought Alec wouldn't want to wait for him to get back. Long distance relationships can be hard I guess, and Magnus probably thought he was doing Alec a favour."

Jace snorted. "Some favour. Alec has been a sour ass for most of the last few years."

"Oh, I know. I witnessed it remember." Clary grinned at saying this and turned to look up at Jace. "We should get going soon. It takes about half an hour to get there."

Jace looked at his watch and nodded in agreement. Putting his arm around her waist he drew her in close so his mouth was at her ear. "Does your mother know I am your date today?" He trailed his hands along her arms and continued, "Because you look too damn good for me to keep my hands to myself."

Clary blushed slightly and extracted herself from Jace's embrace. She knew she looked good; she had dressed up for him after all. She was wearing a strapless green knee length summer dress with low heels. Instead of tying her hair up like she usually did whenever she saw Jace, she wore it loose, letting the red waves fall down her back. "It is my mother's show; of course I would look nice." Turning from Jace to look at the men in front of her, she called out, "Magnus, we need to get going now. You and Alec have plenty of time to catch up today."

Magnus -who was facing in their general direction- raised an eyebrow at her but nodded all the same. Clary turned back to look at Jace who had a knowing smirk on his face. "What?" she asked.

"He doesn't want to come today does he?"

Clary sighed and shook her head. "No, that's not it. He was just letting me know that he's been waiting for me and you to say we should leave."

Jace raised both eyebrows at this in surprise. "Why us? It doesn't look like they are making much progress over there to be sitting next to each other in a car for the next half hour."

"You didn't listen to what they were talking about on the phone did you." Clary said as she turned away from Jace with a grin on her face. A statement more than a question; she knew he would not have listened.

Jace shook his head and almost reached out for Clary. Dropping his hands at the last minute, he moved to stand behind her and bent down to whisper in her ear, "No, I'm a guy. Guys don't eavesdrop through doors."

Giggling, Clary turned to hit his shoulder. "I'm a girl. I don't need to eavesdrop on my best friend. I get to be in the room providing moral support."

"HA! Moral support? I gave Alec that once. He ended up with a broken wrist after punching some guy."

Clary laughed and grabbed his arm, leading him towards his car. Watching Jace walk around to his side of the car, she said "Maybe the moral support should be my job when it comes to Magnus and Alec. God knows we don't need any more broken spirits when it comes to those two."

Jace, who had opened his door paused to look at Clary on the other side of the car by the front passengers door. "You really don't like using the word 'heart' do you?"

Looking startled at his words, Clary frowned slightly before turning to watch Magnus and Alec walk towards them. "No, I don't. But spirits break harder than hearts and Alec's seems pretty broken."

Jace who had just looked at her as she said this slowly nodded his head in agreement. "Yea, Alec was pretty broken." He paused to nod his head at Magnus and ruffle Alec's hair as they opened their doors to the car. After all the doors were shut- Clary's being last after giving Jace a warming smile- Jace murmured softly, "And you're right, spirits are harder to break."

But Jace knew his was starting to get its act back together. He just needed to find out what had happened to Clary's spirit to make her not believe in 'hearts'. It had not escaped his attention that she avoided the word 'love' and it made Jace curious.

The car ride to the art gallery was silent mostly except for the bickering of Magnus and Jace. Clearly getting their antagonistic relationship back on its feet was not taking too much effort. Clary found herself smiling over at Jace every now and then whenever he bested Magnus. As he was her best friend she knew she should side with Magnus, but making Magnus speechless was a difficult task, and it appeared to be something Jace did naturally.

Jace on the other hand was not even trying to wind Magnus up. Their banter came naturally to him, but he couldn't help but to smile every time he caught Clary smiling at him. Jace was preoccupied mainly with thoughts of Alec. He was curious to know what Magnus had said to him, but given Alec's usual sulky mood, his brother's lack of participation in conversation was nothing Jace had to worry about too much. Jace was more concerned with how today would impact on his brother if the two did not sort out their problems. He hoped Magnus was as assertive as the last time he had known him, because Jace knew that Alec would not be the one to fix their little misunderstanding.

Silence fell in the car as Clary told Jace to take the next exit off the highway.

Well, it was silent until Magnus piped up, "So Jace, you're entering Clary's old territory. You're going to have to stake your claim early before all the boys of her past try their hardest to get her again."

Clary, who had been drinking out of her drink bottle choked and turned in her seat to glare at Magnus who just shrugged and winked at her. Next to him Alec looked uncomfortable and shifted his gaze outside.
Jace on the other hand smirked and looked at Magnus through the rear view mirror. "Magnus, no man is going to try chatting Clary up when I'm with her. Besides, they will probably turn in the opposite direction to shield their eyes when they see you."

Clary turned to face Jace looking torn between outraged and amused. Jace just sent her a wink as he waited at a corner stop sign. Huffing loudly she crossed her arms and haughtily told him to turn left.

Jace smirked to himself. He was a guy; he could see the lure in Clary, and he knew that if there were men she used to know at this art show he would have a hard time keeping her to himself. He had no problem in letting other men know she was not up for grabs, and Jace was looking forward to seeing the various looks on her face as he staked his claim.

Clary on the other hand had trepidations about bringing Jace into her old town. Girls she used to go to school with would likely be there; the gallery they were going to being the only one in her old town, and her mother was well known within the area. Magnus had it wrong when he had said Jace would have to stake his claim; it was going to have to be her staking her claim on him if she didn't want to see him towed off by any of the bimbo's she used to call friends.

She also had a feeling Sebastian would be there. The last she had heard he was still living in their old street two houses down from her mother. Clary could not help but think that there was no better way to prove how over him she was than by showing off a man so much better than him.

Both Clary and Jace smirked to themselves as they got lost in their plotting.

Today was going to be an interesting day.

My mind is coming up with crazy devious schemes of how the art show will go! I am particularly interested in finding out what my muse will come up with should Clary come face to face with Sebastian again!

Let me know what you think, or what you want to see happen! Jace jealous? Clary jealous? Them to admit their undying love for each other after realising how jealous they get over the other? (hahaha, just a heads up, that won't happen =P )

Who wants Alec and Magnus to make up? (I'm thinking that cute little scene in CoG where Alec throws himself at Magnus during the marking for Clary's mark would make for an awesome make up scene!)

Until next time,
Take care