Jealousy (M/A)

This idea was suggested by Ariana gabriela

Alec's cheerful, boisterous laughter filled the once deserted alley as Magnus pulled him in the direction of the street, a soft whooshing sounded as the portal closed behind them.

"Relax Magnus, we're fine," Alec tried to reassure his husband, a goofy grin stretching across his face. "Simon's not supposed to be going on for at least another hour, anyways."

"But we promised your mother we would be here at seven," Magnus protested.

Alec finally pulled them to a stop at the edge of the alley, forcing the warlock to turn back to face him.

"We're only a couple minutes late. What are you so worried about?"

Magnus sighed. "I think your mother is upset with me about . . . something."

Alec frowned, rubbing a hand up and down warlock's arm. "What? Why would she be upset with you?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think I did anything. It just feels like she has been acting differently around me lately. And if she is mad at me, I don't want to do anything else to make it worse."

Grabbing his arm, Alec cupped Magnus' face in his other hand before leaning in, leaving a short kiss on the man's lips.

"My mom loves you, Magnus. If there is something wrong, I'm sure it has nothing to do with you. Maybe she's had a fight with Luke."

"Maybe," Magnus reluctantly resigned.

Alec flashed him a smirk before giving him another kiss. "Come on," he said, taking his husband's hand in his again. "Now we really are late."

Magnus chuckled softly to himself as Alec pulled them onto the sidewalk and headed the short distance to the entrance of the Hunter's Moon.

Inside, the place was packed. All of the tables and stools around the bar were taken up, leaving many to stand in any open space they could find. It took Alec a few seconds, scanning the room, before he spied his sister waving him over to a table their family members had managed to grab.

Still holding Magnus' hand, Alec started to weave his way past a few groups of people to reach the table. Halfway there, Magnus touched his arm to get his attention.

"Do you want your usual?" he asked, leaning close to Alec's ear to be heard over the crowd as he pointed towards Maia behind the bar.

Alec nodded, releasing his hand to allow Magnus to go order their drinks while he joined his family, taking a seat in one of the few available chairs left in the bar.

"You're late," Izzy said, the vivacious glint in her eyes overpowering her tone.

"Only by a few minutes," Alec defended himself. Izzy rolled her eyes playfully, quickly dropping it. "Where's Simon?"

"He's helping to get the sound system working on stage," Izzy explained, nodding towards the makeshift stage the owners would set up for nights like this.

Alec had to lean forward to see the stage behind a tall man that was standing in front of their table. Sure enough, the vampire was sitting on a plastic chair on the stage as he worked on untangling some cord with one of the employees.

Alec's eyes drifted over to meet his mother's stare for a moment before she quickly avoided her eyes. Alec frowned, silently wondering if Magnus had been right about something being wrong.

Before he could ask, he felt Jace nudge his arm. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Alec raised an eyebrow. "Tell you what?"

"You got offered the Inquisitor position." The words sounded congratulatory as they left his mouth, but Alec caught the dark underlining look on his brother's face.

Ever since the angels had taken away Clary's memories of the Shadow World, a sad look seemed to have inhabited Jace's eyes. For a while now, all Alec has felt through their shared bond was numbness with the occasional uncontrollable misery, which hit every once in a while in the middle of the night. It was clear Jace was trying his best to distract himself with work during the day, but there was only so much that missions and demon hunting could do.

After being forced to break up with Magnus in order to get him his magic back, Alec knew very well what kind of emotional state his brother was going through. Alec desperately wished that there was something he could do to help him, but other than being there to listen and trying to encourage him to move on when he was ready, he didn't know what else he could do for him.

The angels had made their decision.

"Who told you that?" Alec asked innocently.

"Word gets around." Jace shrugged. "Are you going to take it? What about Magnus?"

"I'm considering it," Alec admitted. "A lot has been changing in Idris since the war with Jonathan. They're actually allowing downworlders to start moving into the city, so Magnus would be able to go with me if I decide to take it."

"I heard that Magnus even got offered the job as High Warlock of Alicante."

Alec and Jace both turned to see Maryse looking their way. Alec could have sworn that the words, which could have easily been expressed as celebratory, had a hint of discontent in them.

Alec nodded his head once. "Yeah, he was."

A dark expression crossed his mother's features and the knuckles of her hand whitened as she clenched a fist on the table.

Alec simply frowned back at her, not sure what was going on. Was this what Magnus meant about Maryse acting differently?

Luke rested a comforting hand on Maryse's arm before leaning over to whisper something in her ear. With a huff, the woman moved her arm away from her boyfriend's touch and stood from her seat. "I'm going to the bathroom," she muttered just loud enough to the table to be heard over the crowd before walking off.

Alec and Jace stared after her in puzzlement as the woman almost plowed straight into Magnus, who was heading towards the table with his and his husband's drinks in hand. The warlock paused for a moment to stare after his mother-in-law in bewilderment before finally joining them at the table.

"What was that about?" Izzy asked.

"Luke?" Alec asked, turning to his mother's boyfriend for answers as Magnus slid over his beer.

The recently reinstated shadowhunter let out a heavy sigh as he glanced around the table.

"You know, one of the hardest things that I had to deal with during my years as a werewolf was being outcasted by the shadowhunters. People that, up until the change, I had considered my family and friends. Then, suddenly, I was thrust into this new world. Sure, I knew about the existence of mythical creatures, but actually going through the transformation and having to live like one? I got to experience what that discrimination felt like first hand that has been going on between shadowhunters and downworlders for . . . centuries. One of the things that I quickly had to come to terms with, that rarely crossed my mind before, was that I was no longer allowed to enter Alicante."

Luke paused to lock eyes with Magnus across the table before continuing. "So much has been changing in the Downworld lately. More rights, freedoms, . . . less judgement in the relationship department," he smirked in Alec's direction before turning back to the warlock, "and now, even the banishment of downworlders from entering Idris has been lifted. Downworlders are now free to roam the one city that is denied from mundanes . . . from Maryse."

"Is that why she has been acting standoffish towards me lately? Because of the job offer?" Magnus clutched his untouched drink between his hands.

Luke nodded, a solemn expression coated his face. "I think it's only really hit her recently how much she has lost since she was exiled."

"Soundcheck," Simon's voice suddenly boomed through the speakers, causing many gathered to flinch at the impromptu burst of noise. The employee up on the stage with him must have quickly adjusted something because the volume reduced greatly as Simon continued to speak into the mic. "One, two, check, check . . ."

"Just give her a little time," Luke advised both Alec and Magnus when he spied Maryse making her way back to the table. "I'm sure things will calm back down again soon."