"Well apology pancakes better smell good," Alec said. "Or they wouldn't be much of an apology, would they?" Clary laughed and Alec couldn't help but smile. Everything was fine. Clary wasn't mad at Magnus and therefore Magnus wasn't mad at Alec and he was glad his outburst hadn't ruined anything.

As Alec made breakfast, he watched Clary and Magnus hover around, chatting with each other and occasionally asking when food would be ready. One of Alec's favourite things about preparing food was the way it brought people together. When Alec said people should set the table, Clary and Magnus got to work at once, obviously hungry and eager for breakfast. When Alec brought out the steaming pile of pancakes, he watched both of them lick their lips in anticipation. Alec sat down with them as everyone piled syrup and fruit onto their pancakes.

"This smells amazing," Clary said as she was cutting into her first bite. She added after she swallowed, "It tastes amazing too."

"Thanks," Alec said as he dug into his own breakfast. Alec had opted for whipped cream and strawberries on his pancakes. Clary had peaches on hers and Magnus's pancake had a little of everything.

"Alexander's pancakes are the best," Magnus agreed.

"Stop it," Alec said, blushing. "It's a standard recipe."

"Your execution of the recipe is far superior," Magnus replied grinning.

"Flattery won't get you any more pancakes," Alec replied shaking his head, but he knew this wasn't the actual truth. In fact, Alec was already planning to make them again soon when Tessa was here. Conversation topics remained light and the atmosphere lovely as they ate. Once everyone had exclaimed how full they were and pushed their plate away, Alec stood up to collect the dishes. Clary and Magnus both stood with him and insisted on helping.

"It's not really a three-person job," Alec joked. "But if you want you could bring your dishes." They both did so, following Alec into the kitchen. Alec set to filling the sink with hot soapy water while Clary and Magnus stacked the dishes neatly by the sink.

"Thanks guys," Alec said. "I can finish."

"Nonsense," Magnus said. "You cooked."

"I don't mind," Alec replied, but he got nowhere, since Clary and Magnus decided to start drying the dishes that he washed. The problem was, that there weren't quite enough dishes to keep them both busy.

"As I said, not a three-person job," Alec told them as he placed a clean plate in the drying rack and watched them both fight over who got to dry it.

"Then I have a better idea," Magnus said gleefully. Alec turned, eyeing his boyfriend wearily. But Magnus just circled around to hold Alec from behind. Alec couldn't help but lean back into Magnus, with a soft sigh, his hands resting in the sink so he didn't get water everywhere. Together they moved forward and Alec thought nothing of it until suddenly he was covered in bubbles.

"Magnus!" Alec exclaimed taking a step back from the sink. Magnus, it seemed, had only hugged Alec to get access to the sink full of soap suds. Alec collected some ammo and retaliated. Now Magnus was covered in bubbles too and Clary was giggling at them.

"You want to join us?" Magnus threatened, armed with bubbles in each hand. Clary couldn't stop her laughter, but she motioned with her hands and shook her head no.

Magnus turned back to Alec with a far more serious expression on his face than the moment actually warranted. "What do you think?" Alec only laughed and threw more bubbles at his boyfriend.

"Stop!" Magnus chuckled. "I surrender."

"I want that in writing," Alec stated.

"Oh yeah," Magnus said grinning wickedly as he inched closer to the sink. Alec made to stop him, but Magnus was too fast for him and Alec received a face full of soap suds for his trouble. His heart lighter than air, Alec forgot about the dishes and pulled Magnus in for a sudsy kiss. His boyfriend's arms wrapped around him and Alec wound his fingers into Magnus's bubbly locks.

"You two are adorable, you know that right?" Clary said still giggling at them.

They broke apart, still grinning. "We are, aren't we?" Magnus replied gleefully.

"Yes," Alec answered his boyfriend's rhetorical question. "Now, can we get back to cleaning?"

"Spoil sport," Magnus mumbled, but they did to get back to cleaning after that. Their fun had created more of a mess; there was water on the floor and bubbles covered virtually every surface. Getting dishrags out of the bottom drawer, Alec gave one to Magnus who reluctantly started mopping up a puddle. When Clary managed to contain her giggles, she grabbed a towel and helped out as well. Once the extra mess was gone, the rest of the dishes were finished quickly, since they had actually washed most of them before the bubble fight. When Alec put away the very last clean dish and the counters were sparkling, he stood back a moment and admired his work. This he knew was just another form of procrastination.

"I think we're done," Alec said. He was totally out of excuses now, but that wasn't going to stop him. "Maybe I could clean the bathroom," Alec added by way of finding a new reason to put off what he didn't want to do.

"What are you trying to avoid Alexander?" Magnus asked knowingly. There was a dish towel thrown over his shoulder and Magnus's hair still had bubbles in it. Somehow the whole scene felt rather domestic to Alec and sexy, though Alec suspected Magnus could look sexy doing just about anything.

"Writing my paper," Alec whined. "I got stuck with the worst topic ever!"

"A topic so bad you'd rather clean a bathroom?" Clary asked, surprised. She didn't have any bubbles in her hair and had opted for holding her dish cloth rather than throwing it over her shoulder.

"Yep," Alec said with a sigh.

Magnus suddenly collected all three dishcloths and dramatically flung them behind him as he announced, "Homework time!" Alec watched the arch of the towels and was just about to run and catch them when Magnus grabbed Alec by the hand and forcefully guided him to the dining room table. Alec had been staying over at Magnus's so often lately, that he tended to leave his laptop here over the weekends, which meant that Magnus dragging Alec to the table was actually Magnus dragging Alec to his laptop.

"Sit and work," Magnus said, firmly. "I'll go get my history notes and sit beside you until you're finished." Alec couldn't help but smile at Magnus's method of motivating him. Magnus seemed very pleased with himself, but a small part of Alec's mind was worrying where exactly those dish towels had fallen. Considering this was Magnus's apartment, not Alec's, you'd think the apartment's owner would be the one fretting that the dish towels may have landed on the stove.

"May I join you?" Clary asked. "I have also been guilty of procrastination."

"Nothing like having people working beside you to motivate you!" Magnus agreed. "Of course, you may join us." Magnus snapped his fingers in that way he does when he wants the whole room to be focused on him. "You can use my computer!"

"Thanks," Clary said, smiling. Magnus and Clary disappeared into Magnus's room where Alec knew Magnus had his printer setup. Alec took this opportunity to sneak back into the kitchen. Towels on a stove screamed fire hazard to him and he wasn't going to be able to focus knowing that potential danger lurked in the other room. Also, it was just messy! Once Alec folded the towels and hang them on the oven door, he felt much better. Alec returned to his laptop. When Clary and Magnus reappeared, Alec had gotten as far as to have a blank document sitting open on his computer screen.

"Unless you can type with your eyes," Magnus said smiling at him as he sat down at the table. Clary was working at the table as well.

"Haha," Alec groaned as he momentarily gave up and laid his head on the table. This was not a fun topic and rather than make it easier to focus, his boyfriend's presence was even more of a distraction. Alec was always very aware of Magnus, but now that Magnus was his and Alec knew he didn't have to hold back like before, Alec was even more aware of Magnus. They were all seated at the table, and Alec started exploring under the table with his foot, without lifting his head. When his foot made contact with Magnus's leg his boyfriend returned the small attention and Alec smiled into his arms.

"Your essay topic can't be that bad," Clary suggested, looking up from her work.

Magnus's eyes lit up and Alec knew exactly what he was going to say. "On a scale of one to invading Russia in winter, how bad is the essay topic?" Magnus said unable to keep a straight face. Yep, that had been the look Magnus also got before making a history joke or pun.

"History dork," Alec muttered. He secretly loved Magnus's stupid history puns, but he was so not going to tell his boyfriend that.

"I have lots more where that came from," Magnus said.

"Magnus," Clary whined. "Believe me, we know."

"April showers bring May flowers and Mayflowers bring smallpox," Magnus said cheerily in a sing song voice. Clary brought her hand up to cover her face in the perfect facepalm. Alec had to admire her facepalm technique.

"If I had known this would happen when you asked me what you should major in," Clary said with a sigh. "I would have told you to go into nursing."

"That wouldn't have helped though," Alec said laughing. "He would just be making medical jokes."

Magnus grinned at them, got out his phone, and before either of them could do more than roll their eyes he was reading off the screen, "What did the nurse say when she found a rectal thermometer in her pocket?"

"I don't want to know," Clary said, flatly.

"Some asshole has my pen," Magnus sniggered. Alec couldn't help laughing, but not because of the joke. It's true, his heart was not in his homework, but that was before his heart was with Magnus Bane. Alec was sure he'd already been half in love with Magnus before their first kiss and now after being Magnus's boyfriend for almost a month, Alec could feel a strong feeling in his chest, a warmth that was growing stronger with every moment he spent with Magnus.

"Magnus," Clary groaned. "That was not a request for you to google."

"On the contrary, I think it was," Magnus insisted. Alec couldn't help but stare at Magnus: his boyfriend. Alec felt the corner of his mouth curve up in a smile as he remembered how long it had taken for them to get here and how glad Alec was to be here. And, in that moment Alec realized he loved Magnus. He was in love with Magnus, and not just for his strengths, but also for his flaws and silly notions.

"Alec, what is with that dopey look on your face?" Magnus asked. Alec laughed and leaned forward to kiss his boyfriend gently on the lips before turning back to his essay. The annoying topic was suddenly far less irritating and easy to accomplish. After all, if your worst problem in life is a boring essay topic, you really don't have any problems.

The three of them worked in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's presence. Alec was feeling oddly peaceful. He loved Magnus. Just the thought made him smile. Twice Alec found himself describing Magnus in his essay and had to scold himself for getting distracted. Listing stunning green eyes and caramel skin next to boring politicians was not likely to make any sense to his professor.

"I'm done!" Clary announced. It was mid-afternoon now, which meant they'd been doing homework for at least a few hours. This, Alec decided, was enough.

"I'm done too," Alec said pushing his chair away from the table.

"You're finished your whole essay?" Magnus asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Nope," Alec said. "But my brain is fried."

"Aw," Magnus cooed as he stood up. Alec felt his boyfriend's hands on his shoulders. Magnus pressed against the muscles there and a contented noise left Alec's throat. "You need to relax, sweetie pie."

"Don't call me sweetie pie," Alec said, but with no conviction. In fact, he'd said it so quietly he wasn't even sure Magnus heard him. Usually Alec would put more effort into making his dislike of nicknames known, but the shoulder massage was mellowing him out too much for him to really care at the moment.

"Maybe I should head home," Clary said. Alec had his eyes closed, but her voice sounded a bit like she was smiling at them.

"You don't have to," Magnus's voice spoke from behind Alec. Even with his eyes closed, Alec could picture the room around him. He'd pushed his chair about a foot away from the table where his laptop, notes and textbooks were sitting. Magnus stood behind Alec, pressed close to the back of Alec's chair, with his hands massaging Alec's shoulders. Clary was sitting in the chair across from Alec, but as he heard a chair scrape along the ground he was sure she'd stood up.

"See you guys later," Clary's voice was mixed with the sounds of papers rustling. Alec suspected Clary was packing up her stuff. "Thanks for the homework motivation."

"Anytime," Magnus said from behind Alec. Then the massage stopped as Alec heard Magnus walk around his chair toward Clary. Alec knew he should open his eyes, but it was just so much better to sit here feeling the ghost of Magnus's touch in the now relaxed muscles of his shoulders. Alec listened to the muffled voices of Magnus biding Clary goodbye. Then, he heard the door open and close. Magnus's footsteps moved back toward the table, then stopped. Alec finally opened his eyes.

"Something's off," Magnus said with a look of concern on his face. "I'm not totally sure what, but Clary seems different. It was almost like she needed us to cheer her up. Did you notice anything like that?"

"No," Alec replied. "But this is approximately only the third time I've seen her so…"

"Right, of course," Magnus said with a slight shake of his head. "I'm sure if something was wrong she'd tell me."

"Maybe she's just conflicted about the whole Simon and Jace thing?" Alec suggested.

"Maybe…" Magnus said.

"Can I take your mind off Clary?" Alec asked softly, getting up from the chair and walking the few steps forward to take his boyfriend in his arms. Magnus kissed him back and then Alec rested his head on Magnus's shoulder. He thought about telling Magnus what he'd just realized, but after all, they'd only been dating a month. Despite the additional two months they'd spent as friends, Alec decided to keep this to himself for at least a little while longer.

"What did you have in mind?" Magnus asked silkily.

"That depends," Alec whispered. "When did Tessa say she'd be home?" He wound his hands in Magnus's hair and pressed a soft kiss against his boyfriend's neck.

"Later," Magnus breathed. Alec felt cold hands under his shirt and decided to return the favour, though once Alec had his hands under Magnus's shirt he proceeded to pull the shirt right off. Alec kissed Magnus's perfect chest and soon felt Magnus's greedy hands attempting to remove the last layer of clothing that separated their chests. As Alec's shirt fell to the ground, they somehow managed to make their way to the couch.


As you can probably tell this chapter is basically the scene from the last chapter that I just summed up in a few sentences but from Alec's POV rather than Clary's. I used that first line of dialogue about pancakes to show where in that scene this scene picked up from. We didn't really need these details from Clary's POV for this part and I had stuff I needed to have happen to her before and after her hanging out with Malec most of the day but for Alec this was an important moment so we also get it from his pov. Why do I love points of view so much huh? I don't know I just can't help but show you what EVERYONE is thinking. lol. Its a sickness... a point of view sickness! Which I hope doesn't confuse people! This story does have 140 follows though so clearly you aren't so confused as to not be willing to read it.


Sneak Peek chapter 32:

Despite the safety of rotating days, Tessa always preferred it when the three of them were together. It felt like the two pieces of her heart were finally present when both Jem and Will were near.

"Get off my woman," Will accused Jem but he did it in his usual sarcastic voice and in such a way that Tessa wasn't worried.

"Boys," Tessa cautioned despite the smiled on every face.

"It is true," Jem replied. "I did have her this morning. It is only fair." Jem took a step back and motioned for Will to take Tessa's arm.


Hehe I know you all wanted a Clary chapter next but it would appear that I am evil. hehe. Remember how I put a Tessa chapter between the two major 'Malec finally get together' chapters? Plus I did mention Tessa went out that morning in the last Clary chapter... so I have to show it all in order right? hehe I can't show you what happened to Clary and Simon and Jace that evening until after you see what happened to Tessa that morning. :D