A/N- So I know most of you are upset about me not updating this for so long, and I feel like I should've just put it on official hiatus instead of basically ignoring it for a while, but you guys have to understand that I have a life outside of the fandom. I have high school and friends and family and a life, and as much as I love this story and writing and stuff sometimes I just can't get to it at the end of the day. I'm trying to adjust to high school and I'm already working on college things and I occasionally find other things that I like, you know? Other fandoms and books and things like that.

I'm sorry for not updating for so long, I know there are lots of dedicated people who were looking forward to new chapters and I let you down. But I'm done with that shit now, I have enough free time to work on this, and although things will be slower than they used to be, at least they're not at a standstill anymore. So, let's move on.

And just a big huge thank you to all of the fantastic people who still reviewed and still faved/followed and everything. You helped me push myself to get this done and I really appreciate it. You're all my inspiration and it means a lot to me that you put up with my bullshit for so long.
Disclaimer- Really?

Although I really would have liked to stay with Alexander all day, lounging on the couch doing less than nothing, I had work in the afternoon and had to reluctantly pull away from his warm body to get ready. Alec just smiled at me and stretched on the couch, reminding me so much of Chairman Meow I had to grin.

After putting on acceptable clothing, and fixing myself so I didn't look like I had just had sex with my boyfriend, I gave Alec a quick kiss goodbye, letting him know that he could stay there as long as he wanted to while I was gone. He smiled warmly at me and the kiss he gave me was going to be more than enough to get me through the rest of the day.

I was driving idly in my car, listening to some shitty pop song on the radio that I actually loved when my brain suddenly rewound all the way to the night before then proceeded to replay it before my eyes. I had been so busy enjoying Alec that I had completely forgotten about Alec talking. The revelation almost caused me to swerve out of my lane, but I caught myself before I let my love life cause a twenty car pileup on the interstate.

He had spoken the night before; it hadn't just been my imagination, though it had a tendency to run wild when it came to Alexander. His lips and his tongue and his mouth had worked together to do something even more amazing than they usually did and words came out. I love you, he had said, out loud, directed at me, as we were lying together after the first time we made love.

I almost started crying in the middle of the highway.

And although I was proud and amazed and shocked and all of those other things I couldn't help but wonder how he had learned. Or maybe he always knew how to speak properly, but was too embarrassed because of the odd but very endearing accent he had? I wondered if he had a coach or a class he went to like I did and why he finally decided to say something to me. Did anyone else know? Jace? Izzy? His parents? Did he keep it a secret or does he chat with everyone else and just wasn't comfortable enough with me to say anything until the night before?

I sighed as I pulled into the parking lot of the bar, confused and a little upset, maybe kind of hurt, but mostly curious. There was a rather loud and obnoxious personal debate going on inside my head about whether or not I should bring up the topic with Jace. I didn't want to reveal something about Alec he'd kept a secret but not knowing was awful.

After sitting in the parking lot by myself for a good fifteen minutes, I ultimately decided against bringing anything up with Jace. I figured I'd just take a few minutes to talk to Alec himself when I got off of work. It wouldn't be right for me to let loose that kind of information. I sighed again and got out of the car, speed walking to the bar and finding Jace already there. He had probably shown up while I was dicking around in my car. He gave me a welcoming grunt as I entered and I returned it, adding a slight nod to change it up a bit.

"Hey is Alec still at your house?" he asked a little suddenly, although I wasn't exactly surprised. He almost always asked whose house Alec was at. I was never sure why.

"Yeah…"

He nodded slowly and went back to messing with one of the beer nozzles as I went about cleaning things and scouring together the last of the peanuts to set out for hungry bar-goers. I felt his eyes on me for a few minutes until I finally snapped towards him. He made a weird snorting laugh sound and grinned at me.

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"You look like shit." He chuckled at me and I kind of just deadpanned, staring at him with a blank look. Half of my brain was still focused on Alec and the whole situation surrounding him, while the other half of my brain didn't give a shit what Jace was saying, although I ran a somewhat self-conscious hand through my hair.

"Had a long night," I said, drowsy. Getting up at three in the morning to eat breakfast was coming back to kick me in the ass.

"Oh really?" he asked. "Finally get it in then?"

He was joking. I knew he was joking, because he always asked about it, every time I brought Alec up. I was actually used to it, it was a constant thing, but I always wondered why he was so interested in my sex life. It wasn't even mine, really, it was Alec's. And I laughed at him for a solid minute because this time I actually had slept with Alec and it was all so ridiculous that he had to question me about it that I couldn't help laughing.

I got an eyebrow raise in return and a small glare.

"Yeah, actually," I said. "Even though it's none of your business."

"Wait, what?"

I just shook my head, kind of smiling at the memory. "It doesn't really concern you, does it?"

"Yes it does, he's my brother." I felt a smack on my arm. "You fucking slept with him?"

"That's what I just said!" I exclaimed, exasperated. "And I'll repeat this- it's none of your business." The words didn't faze him, he just kept ranting.

"Magnus, what the hell! I told you to wait!"

My eyes narrowed in his direction. "I did wait," I said loudly. "For six months."

"That's not-"

"Why do you need to know anyway?" I interrupted, basically spitting the question at him. "It's not your relationship; I don't understand why you feel the need to constantly ask me things about it. I get that he's your brother and you want to protect him or whatever in this backwards way you always do, but it's getting stupid. And honestly a little creepy."

"Jesus, come on," he groaned. "You know Alec, you know how he is, he's gonna get attached to you now that you two have…" The sentence died off while Jace made an awkward motion with his hands.

"Alec and I are both adults who make our own decisions, in case you forgot. We weren't drunk or some other shit, it was completely consensual, and you're freaking out about it! Why is this such a big deal to you?"

He slammed his hands down on the bar, the sound of skin to wood contact echoing through the room. "Because it's exactly what Chris did!"

My retort, whatever it was going to be, disappeared and I paused to look at him. "What?"

"He and Chris just fucking jumped right into bed the first chance they got and you know how well that ended! Chris used him for the sake of using someone, the pathetic bastard, and Alec got hurt because of it, he was fucking crushed okay? He's… he's sensitive and fragile and sometimes I swear he's my fucking sister, and when it comes to relationships he falls harder and faster than most people."

"I didn't-"

"And I swear to god, Magnus, if he gets his heart broken again, I will actually fucking kill you."

The sudden change in his mood caught me off guard; the violent over-protective brother side of him wasn't something I was used too.

"I'm not using him for anything, and the fact that you would assume I am is ridiculous," I said. "I would never purposely do that to him, or anything like that."

"I know that, I'm just…" He shook his head and went back to angrily putting away glasses and cleaning things up.

"Over-protective," I finished for him.

He glared at me but didn't comment on it, just sort of exhaled and turned away again. "After seeing how fucked up Chris left him I wanted to murder the guy-"

"Obviously."

A martini glass nearly broke as he threw it into the sink. "And I know you're both adults and shit, but can you really blame me?"

"Not… really."

"Yeah that's what I thought."

I was quiet for a moment. "I can't believe you actually thought I'd use him for something." He didn't respond or stop his cleaning so I continued. "I love him more than anything, you know that." Nothing. "Haven't you ever had someone like that? Someone you love too much to ever hurt?"

He sighed and turned around to face me, though his eyes were to the ceiling and his lips were pursed. "I have to admit, I'm basically the same way with Clary."

"Mmmmhm."

"And I know it's fucking cheesy but I do love her."

I just raised an eyebrow and grinned. Jace was full of weird not-Jace personalities and it seemed like I was seeing all of them that day.

A silence fell over the two of us, both of us thinking of our respective partners. I was particularly thinking about the night before and found myself smiling, only to see that Jace was too.

And it was fucking weird.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "So, we're like… all good then?"

"Huh?" He looked at me, had been staring at some space behind me before, and blinked a few times. "Oh, yeah, it's-"

"So you're not-?"

"Nah, I just-"

"And you won't-"

"Not anymore, no."

"So everything's just-"

"Yeah, sorry for like…"

"It's fine."

The amount of awkward had been amped up to the point where I thought I was going to choke on it, so I let my eyes wander around the room until they landed on the door to the back. I sort of pointed to it. "I'm just gonna…"

He nodded once, quickly. "Yeah…"

I nodded too and awkwardly slunk into the back room, closing the door and sitting down on the couch so I could text Alec to see if he'd be there when I got home. After he said he would be I set my phone down and ran my fingers through my hair. It'd been a weird day.

A/N- Sooo that's the chapter, uh, I hope it was alright, I think it was pretty not bad for having not written anything in some horrendous amount of months, so reviews are super-duper really amazingly appreciated, and I hope you all aren't too mad at me.

Also just thank you to one of my really good friends Veronica, she just really encouraged me to write and stuff and she's awesome uwu

I already have a bit of the next chapter written so it won't take nearly as long to get that one posted and hopefully I'll see all of you then? Yeah.

-Ella, who sucks but still loves you all and promises the next chapter will have lots of fluffy malec in it.

PS: CAN WE PLEASE JUST SCREAM ABOUT GODFREY GAO FOR A SECOND EEEEEEP