Homophobia (L/A)

This was my own idea for a prompt

Warning for homophobic slurs

Andrew sighed, leaning over his desk to stare at the paperwork in front of him. His vision blurred and he pinched the bridge of his nose hoping he could pull himself together enough to focus for a few more hours.

His promotion to Head of Security couldn't have come at a worse time.

With the new job, came more tiring hours stuck at work, not to mention the mostly repetitive reports that came through to him. Who knew so much paperwork would be involved in security?

This normally wouldn't have been so bad. Andrew loved his job, but due to the new long hours that he was stuck at the Institute it left him a lot less time to be with Lorenzo. Alec had made balancing his heavy workload as Head and spending time with Magnus look so easy and manageable, while Andrew was still struggling to figure it out.

It was hard for him to believe sometimes that he was even in this relationship. He never thought animusly towards Alec for his relationship with Magnus, but he had never been able to picture himself being with a downworlder. It wasn't that he was prejudiced. He just wasn't confident enough in himself to be able to make it work with someone that was so different from him. It certainly helped that Lorenzo was so incredibly patient and understanding with him.

To add to his stress, Andrew's younger sister, Daphne, was visiting this week. He loved his sister, but the woman could be extremely high maintenance at times.

So, on top of the expectations of his new job and doing his best to attend to his boyfriend commitments, he was also being run ragged by his sister, causing him to feel exhausted by the end of the day. Luckily, Daphne was supposed to be heading home soon.

Letting a yawn escape, Andrew shifted slightly in his seat before forcing himself to focus back on his work. He still had quite a bit to do tonight and was desperately hoping to complete it all in time for his date later. The last thing he wanted was to have to cancel on Loranzo for a second time this week.

He was only a few paragraphs into the report when a shout was heard from the hallway. It sounded like it was coming from the lobby, just a few feet outside of his office door. Hearing the commotion continue, Andrew gave a heavy sigh and pushed himself to his feet before going to see what the problem was.

Turning the corner out into the hallway, Andrew couldn't say he was too surprised at the sight that greeted him. His sister, her blonde hair falling in waves a couple inches past her shoulders, stood to one side of the lobby screaming incoherently. Several shadowhunters had stopped in their tracks to stare at the disturbance. What unnerved him most was the target of her current rage.

"Is everything alright over here?" Andrew asked cautiously as he stepped up beside the warlock that was currently receiving the tongue lashing.

"I was just getting to know your sister," Lorenzo said in the short intermission before the woman would surely start in again. His voice dripped with sarcasm as he continued, "She is so charming. I can't imagine why you haven't introduced me to her sooner."

"No! Everything is not alright!" Daphne sneered at the downworlder. "This . . . abomination says he is dating you. I swear, where is security when you need them?"

Andrew frowned at the insult that was thrown at his boyfriend. "What do you need security for?" he asked tensely, deciding it wise not to remind her that he had recently been promoted as Head of Security.

"Isn't it obvious? Someone needs to escort this man out of the Institute." She gestured towards Lorenzo. "If you ask me, downworlders shouldn't even be allowed inside the Institutes, but this, lying about having a romantic relationship with one of us?"

Lorenzo raised an eyebrow at this and shared a look with Andrew, clearly wanting to see how he chose to handle this situation. It wasn't that Andrew was embarrassed to be dating a man or ashamed of his sexuality at all. He had slowly gotten over that after witnessing Alec's brave move of making out with Magnus, following his refusal to go through with his wedding to Lydia Branwell. Andrew just didn't bring Lorenzo up much in conversation, preferring to keep his work separate from his private life. Of course, that meant that not everyone at the Institute knew about his relationship.

Andrew folded his arms across his chest and mentally prepared himself for the reaction that he knew would come as his next words left his mouth. "Lorenzo is the High Warlock. He has work to do here; reinforcing the wards. And besides, he's not lying."

A surprised smirk flashed across Lorenzo's face at the shadowhunter's words.

"What do you mean he's not lying?" Daphne asked, her face scrunching up in disgust. At least she wasn't yelling anymore. "You can't date a man, Andy, let alone someone with demon blood."

"I came out to you a couple years ago," Andrew reminded her. His skin prickled at the feeling of being eyed by his fellow shadowhunters that were still gathered around, watching the spectacle. "I know the whole downworlder part may come as a bit of a shock but - "

"You said that was just a phase."

"No," Andrew drawled out the word, "you said it was just a phase."

Daphne narrowed her eyes at her brother. The next words left her mouth with venom. "Break up with him."

Andrew's eyes went wide at her abrupt demand.

"Excuse me?" Lorenzo's dangerously calm voice spoke up in the short pause in conversation.

Ignoring him, Daphne kept her piercing stare on her brother. "This can't continue, Andy. You'll ruin your career with this. I love you, but . . . You can't date a man, let alone a downworlder."

"My career?" Andrew stared at her dumbfounded. "What about Alec's career?"

"What about it?" she asked with a small shake of her head.

"You're saying that the Head of this Institute can marry a male warlock," he spoke slowly in exasperation, "but I can't date one?"

"What are you talking about?" Daphne asked, tilting her head to one side. "Alec's not gay."

Lorenzo and Andrew shared another look, this one shock.

"Um, yes he is," Andrew reiterated. "They got married here at the Institute. All of the Downworld in New York and the Clave know about them, if not the rest of America."

"That's where we met," Lorenzo admitted, his eyes lighting up at the memory. "We started dating shortly after that."

Several long moments of silence passed as Daphne's expression morphed from disbelief to confusion to determination. Without another word, she walked past the two men and down the hallway in the direction of the Ops Center.

"This can't be good," Andrew mumbled under his breath. Grabbing Lorenzo's hand, he quickly turned to follow his sister.

"Surely she's not brazen enough to actually confront Alec?" Lorenzo asked quietly so just Andrew would hear.

"That scene just now didn't enlighten you?" Andrew groaned. He swerved them around one of his fellow shadowhunters just as he watched Daphne disappear out of sight.

He dropped the warlock's hand, taking the stairs two at a time before rushing down the corridor to the right, knowing that Lorzeno would still follow close behind him.

Daphne didn't stop to knock on the office door, preferring instead to barge her way into the Head's office.

"You're a queer?" Andrew heard his sister's furious accusation in the moments before he stumbled through the open doorway himself, Lorenzo coming to a stop beside him. With a flick of his wrist, the warlock quietly shut the door behind them.

"Daphne!" he sent his sister a warning look, but she shrugged him off.

Alec stared up at the group in surprise at their sudden appearance in his office. A pen was gripped in his hand, hovering over the papers in front of him.

"What's going on?" Alec asked, directing the question at his Head of Security.

Andrew's mouth suddenly felt dry and words escaped him. How was he suppose to explain away his little sister running into his boss' office and calling him homophobic slurs?

"She wants me to break up with Lorenzo," he heard himself say.

"You've made him think this kind of behavior is okay," the woman accused Alec. "If you don't divorce that demon-blooded creature you call a husband, I will report your infidelity to the Inquisitor."

Alec's brows knitted together, his knuckles turning white as he glared at the shadowhunter in front of him. Before he could speak up on him and Magnus' behalf though, Lorenzo spoke up.

"Again," Lorenzo said, using the dangerously calm tone from before, "the Clave is well aware of Alec's relationship with Magnus. I highly doubt bringing it up with them now will do you any good."

"But this is blasphemy! This . . ." she gestured wildly in Alec's direction. "This goes against everything we believe in as Shadowhunters. As being part angel. We don't accept fags in our midst!"

"That's enough!" Alec snapped, causing Daphne to flinch at his commanding tone. Slamming his pen down on the desk, Alec angrily got to his feet and moved around the piece of furniture. "I will not stand for that kind of discrimination in my Institute, not only against mine and Andrew's relationships, but towards downworlders as well. I highly suggest you keep that in mind if you decided to transfer here permanently."

"What?" Andrew stiffened at the comment. His sister was hard enough to take sporadically throughout a year, but having to deal with this on a daily basis? "She's staying?"

"Not if her behavior doesn't change," Alec promised, his glare not leaving Daphne's. "Andrew, would you and Lorenzo mind leaving us for a bit? I would like to discuss some things with Daphne alone."