A/N: Maybe I forgot to mention before, this is my first fanfiction like ever… I'm glad to know people are actually reading it and that at least some of you like it! :D! Also, I apologize in advance for a couple things: the emotions in this chapter and the end of this chapter. Don't skip to the end to see what I mean. I will know if you do…. (just kidding). Have an awesome day!
Disclaimer: I own what I've owned since the beginning and nothing more. Also I'm annoyed because I dyed my hair magenta and it stained my hands. So now it looks like I'm either sunburned or a murderer. The struggle is real.
Izzy was waiting for Alec in his apartment. He'd stayed out later than she'd expected him to, but then again, she'd only been expecting him to get coffee with Magnus. She hoped this delay had been Magnus' fault too. Alec came into the room, shaking out his head and arms, as though he'd been caught in the rain.
"Hello, big brother," she crooned. "Where have you been?"
"Out," he grumbled, trying to shove her out of the way to get to his room. "Izzy, let me go change, okay? I'm soaked!"
"Why is that?"
"I was in the park with Magnus and it started to rain." He didn't look her directly in the eyes when he said this, so she knew there was more to the story.
"And you didn't have the opportunity to find some sort of shelter? What could you possibly have been doing that preoccupied you both so much?" She winked. He blushed, looked up at the ceiling, then snapped his head back down and blushed redder. She saw him itch the back of his neck the way he did when he was nervous, which brought her attention to the mark on his pulse point. "Alexander Lightwood, what happened to your neck?"
His hand slipped back down to cover the mark, and the redness spread from his cheeks all over his face, onto his ears, and down his neck. "I fell."
"On your neck?"
"Izzy." He forced his way around her and stalked into his room. She flopped over on his couch happily, pulling out her phone to text Magnus. She took a picture of herself—she was wearing the awesome earrings they'd gotten together during their trip to the mall—and accompanied the image with a text reading: wearing our earrings! 3… and u wouldn't know what happened to my bro 2day would u?
The response was immediate: Darling, I AM what happened to 'your bro' today.
Thx, thats all i needed 2 know!
don't kill me gorgeous, Magnus texted back, and Isabelle sent him a winky face before shutting off her phone and going to Alec's room to confront him. He had changed into sweatpants and was shirtless, back facing her. She had half a mind to tickle him the way she used to when they were kids, but figured if he was already mad at her, he wouldn't take too kindly to that.
"You said you were with Magnus, right?" She asked sweetly.
"Yes, but I don't think that matters," he muttered. She knew he was blushing again, even if he wasn't looking her way at the moment.
"I think it does."
"Why?" He turned, finally, to face her, having shrugged a shirt on.
"Alec, I know how you feel about Magnus, and it's totally okay to experiment with feelings sometimes. I don't know why you think you can't tell me anything. I know you're gay and I don't care." She saw his eyes widen. "I love you, and I will love you even if your skin turns green and you grow seven more arms. You're my big brother. You've always been there for me, and now you need to let me be there for you."
"How long have you known?" He breathed.
"Years. Since Aline kissed Helen."
"That long?" He looked incredulous. "Damn, Iz. Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't know if you even knew then," she admitted. "But you were so oddly ecstatic to see a girl kiss another girl. I remember the look on your face. You looked hopeful. So that's when I knew."
"And you didn't say anything?" He exclaimed. "Izzy, I have been terrified of myself and of everybody since I was eleven. Dad told me Aline was going to burn in Edom. You remember all of the offhand stuff they said about people like me at home, right? I thought for sure they were going to find out and think I was an abomination or something." He crossed his arms and sat down on his bed.
"Alec, you will never be an abomination," she said quietly, moving to hug her brother. "Except some of your clothes. You need to let me and Maggie take you clothes shopping!"
"Maggie?" He almost squeaked the nickname in horror. She burst out laughing.
"Magnus, silly!"
"Maggie. Izzy, really? You nicknamed Magnus Bane Maggie?"
"What else was I supposed to nickname him?"
"I don't know! Ragnor calls him Mags," Alec said. Isabelle raised her eyebrows.
"And Magnus calls Ragnor Rags," she added. "That's their thing."
"I know what Magnus is, he's the Bane of my existence," Alec grumbled. "It's his fault you're pestering me when I could be working or sleeping."
"So is he responsible for that hickey?"
"Izzy!"
"I'm just asking!"
Before Alec could respond, a loud and sharp knock came at the door of the apartment. He got up and hurried to answer it, followed by Izzy, who laughed when her brother was bowled over by a short and wiry teenage boy. The blond man behind him laughed, clear as day, and they both looked up to see Sebastian Verlac standing in the doorway, smiling like the world was perfect. Max, on the other hand, was hugging Alec so tightly, Izzy suspected he might die of suffocation.
"Alec! Alec! I can't believe it's really you! Sebastian got me a new manga, and it's awesome! Is Izzy here? She'd better not be cooking dinner!"
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Isabelle smiled, coming over to hug Sebastian and kiss him on both cheeks. She then scooped up her littlest brother and snuggled him close to her chest. "Max, I missed you too. How long are you going to be staying?"
"I don't know. Mom's schedule is really weird, so it might be three days or it might be a week and a half, and Sebastian told me I could stay at his place."
"Thank you for being so amazing for my brother, Seb," Alec said fondly as Sebastian helped him to his feet.
"Why wouldn't I be?" He smiled, and the two men hugged tightly but briefly; neither of them wanted to question their relationship after the mutual let's-just-be-friends agreement when Sebastian went to college on the other side of the country.
"Oh! Alec! I brought you something!" Max ran to Sebastian and pulled a book out of his bag. He flipped it open and proudly showed it to Alec. Izzy looked over his shoulder at the drawings. She recognized the scene from All the Locked Doors where Mala finally summoned the courage to stand up to his father, the High Emperor, and plead for Killian's life. It was one of the many scenes that had made Isabelle cry when reading it. The drawings were exceptional, she had to admit.
"Wow, Max, did you do these?" Alec took the book from his little brother.
"Yeah," Max grinned. Then he looked anxious. "Did I get Mala's hair right?"
Alec laughed. "Perfect. Are you planning on doing this professionally?"
"Could I?" Max looked astonished.
"Yep! You could write your own mangas, or graphic novels, or you could get in contact with other authors and make adaptations from their books, like you did with mine."
"Then yes, I want to do that," Max said gleefully.
"Awesome, Max," Izzy grinned. "Now you should go get settled in at Sebastian's, yeah?" (A/N: No, Sebastian is not evil or Jonathan in this fic. He's the real Sebastian Verlac and is a total cinnamon roll.)
"I'll come too," Alec decided. "We can talk on the way."
"Wonderful," Sebastian said as he put a hand on Max's shoulder.
"I'll be back later, Iz," Alec called, grabbing his jacket as he followed his brother and friend outside.
"Yeah, and we can finish our little talk," she teased. He rolled his eyes with enough feeling to flip the world over and slammed the door behind him. Isabelle went into the kitchen and stole one of the brownies Alec had made the previous night. They were absolutely delicious, and she would've taken the recipe if she knew where he kept it, or if she hadn't been unceremoniously banned from all kitchens for the rest of her life.
She called Magnus. He picked up on the fourth ring. "Hey, Izzy, what's up?"
"Do you want to come over to Alec's apartment, watch a movie, and eat ice cream and brownies with me while Alec's out with his little brother and friend?"
"If you don't mind me coming over in my pajamas," Magnus joked. Then she could hear him trying to muffle the receiver as he shouted to someone else in the vicinity, "No, Ragnor, it's not like that! Be quiet! Sorry 'bout that. I'd love to. Where is this apartment?"
Izzy rattled off the address as she looked out the window, seeing Alec run through the rain to get into his car to drive Sebastian and Max to Sebastian's house outside of the main city.
"I'll be there in five." She could feel Magnus' grin through the phone.
"Awesome. I'll change into my pajamas too, and we'll make a party out of it."
"Sounds epic. See ya, Iz."
"Bye, Maggie." She hung up and went to put on some pajamas, which consisted of loose purple pants and a tank top. Then she went back into the main room with the brownies and a tub of ice cream and waited. He knocked on the door a minute later, wearing light blue pants with gold glitter on the seams. Under his jacket he was shirtless, which Isabelle didn't really mind, and she was sure Alec wouldn't either, when he got home.
"So, what's this about? Did you just want to yell at me for making out with your brother in the park earlier? Cause I can assure you, I don't think he had a problem with it."
"So you did make out with my brother? He wouldn't tell me anything!"
"Well, I kissed him first in Alicafé when he confirmed that he liked me, and then we went to the park and I played a song I wrote for him, and he asked how he could thank me, and you can imagine what happened next."
"Was it raining?"
"Yep. Pouring, in fact, and it looks like it'll be like that for the next week or more. It looks unsafe to be driving around even right now, when it isn't nearly as bad as it was earlier." Magnus looked over his shoulder. "My friend Tessa told me about a massive car crash that happened over the mountains a few months ago. Where is Alexander going, anyway?"
"An old friend of his brought our little brother up from where they were living out west. My parents also live there, and Max has been living with them, but Sebastian offered to keep Max for a little while so they could both come visit Alec. Sebastian's cousins, Clary and Jonathan, have a pretty big house outside of main Alicante. Sebastian and Max will be staying there. Alec went to help them get settled in," Isabelle explained.
"Ah." Magnus slouched sexily on the couch. "Should I be worried about this Sebastian character?"
"No," Izzy answered. "He and Alec are friends. Besides, Alec doesn't do the multiple-people thing. If he likes you, he likes you, nobody else. Me and Jace were always the type of people to date one person for a week. I'm currently not in a relationship, but I'm actually happy with it, surprisingly enough. Jace has a mega-crush on Clary. Honestly, it's ridiculous."
"Clary, barista Clary? That Clary?"
"Yes, that Clary. But it's good to see Alec happy about something attainable for once."
"What do you mean?" Magnus shifted in his chair and took a brownie.
"He's always loved books and art, and of course your music. That's always been huge. But he would retreat so far into the fictional worlds that we wouldn't be able to reach him. Now there's you: a real person, who cares for him in ways he needs people to care for him."
"Darling, I still think it's hilarious that he loves my music and I love his books. That alone could be a story he could write."
"Perhaps." Izzy folded her legs under her. "Who's your favorite of his characters?"
"Mala. I am so in love with Mala," Magnus admitted. "From the first scene he was introduced, when he took the watering can and poured water on the High Emperor's head. From then on I loved him. And then when he was talking to the statues and gets excited about the possibility of catching the black plague, I was like, oh, you poor baby. And then he was gay and I loved him even more."
"Alec does that on purpose, makes the main characters LGBT."
"He told me," Magnus smiled. "So you have another brother?"
"Yep, Max," Izzy smiled, turning down the volume on the TV, which she hadn't realized she'd left on. "He's fourteen, lives in California with our parents. He's obsessed with anime and manga, and is a right good artist, too; he actually made a comic adaptation of one of the scenes in All the Locked Doors!"
"I'd like to see that at some point during his visit," Magnus smiled.
"Of course. I can't wait for them to meet you. Even Jace. He might give you some odd nicknames, but he'll accept you if he knows you make Alec happy."
"Jace is Goldilocks, right?" Magnus seemed to recognize the name. "Alexander told me about him." He paused. "What kind of odd nicknames?"
"I dunno… Prince Glitter? Christmas lights? Pixie dust?"
Magnus burst out laughing. "I had a boyfriend whose sister got the entire friend group to call me The High Warlock of Brooklyn," he said. "To this day I don't know why. Sometimes Ragnor and Catarina still bring it up."
"You do seem like you could be a warlock," Isabelle mused. "With your cat eyes and all."
"Oh God, Jace is going to call me Catman," Magnus joked, rolling his eyes.
"Alec would have to be Robin, then, and I don't know how I feel about that."
"Well, it gives me an excuse to devour him," Magnus smirked, waggling his eyebrows.
"Don't let any of my brothers hear you say that," Izzy giggled. She crossed the room and flopped back into the couch next to Magnus, leaning against the armrest so her feet rested on the middle cushion. He mirrored her position, but slung one leg up so that his left foot rested on the back of the couch.
"Wouldn't dream of it, love," he grinned easily. "Now, does my darling Alexander have any other moody rituals I should know about, other than eating chocolate and listening to me sing?"
"Not just you singing," she began to laugh. "Also My Chemical Romance and the Hamilton soundtrack. Sometimes Adam Lambert. Seriously, his musical taste is all over the place when he's performing the classic Lightwood heartache ritual."
"Explain, please."
"All three of us older Lightwoods do it. We get a bunch of sugary foods, wear dark clothes, shut the blinds and lock the doors, and listen to music in our rooms until someone comes along to fix our problems for us."
"Very mature," Magnus snorted.
"But I knew Alec was worse than normal because he was only listening to you. I came into his room the other day and he had Having Trouble Sleeping and The Stars Sure Are Beautiful playing. Loudly. And he was lying on his bed staring off into space."
Magnus let out a laugh. "He really does listen to my music, doesn't he? Do you ever get sick of it?"
"Not really. I get sick of him refusing to talk to me, but not of the songs."
"Which of my songs is your favorite?" Magnus asked, tilting his head. He kicked Izzy's foot, and she kicked back, which led to them foot-wrestling between them on the couch.
"Either Nobody's There or Take What You Can Get," she smiled. "Ooh! No, Glitter is my favorite."
"Honey I can see that you're alone again
Are you really gonna be that bitter
I coulda sworn you were better than that
Oh, look, now I'm up to bat
Strikeout, home run,
Don't matter cause I'm having fun
I've got me, myself, and glitter," Magnus sang, and Isabelle was immediately floored by the realization that she was playing footsie with a famous singer on her brother's living room couch. He didn't seem to think it was weird, though, being in his pajamas in the apartment of a famous author.
And that was when Isabelle realized none of that mattered. Magnus was unfazed because he was a person, and Alec was a person, and people did this kind of thing all the time. People could have late-night ice-cream chats with their brother's boyfriend, and it didn't matter if the brother was an author or the boyfriend was a singer. Shit, she realized. Are they boyfriends? I never asked.
"Magnus? What are you and Alec?" She asked abruptly.
"A cute couple," he answered.
"You're boyfriends?"
"Ask him," he shrugged. "I know he's not totally out to the world, and meanwhile I make bisexual references in my songs and dress like this. I'd like to be his boyfriend, and I should think after his behavior in the park he'd like to be mine, but he should be present for the official answer to that question."
"Good to know." She straightened her legs, forcing him to bend his knees close to his chest. "Ha! I win!"
"Says who?" Magnus pushed his feet forward, switching their positions. They battled for another few minutes until they reached a stalemate, Izzy's left leg bent close to her and her right leg extended, Magnus mirroring the pose with his own legs, their feet pressed together. They raised their joint legs up and looked at each other through them.
"I always wanted a sister," Magnus confessed. "You're making me feel like I finally have one. Thank you, Isabelle Lightwood."
"You're quite welcome, Magnus Bane. Oh no, we never considered your actual name when we were talking about Jace and his nicknames!"
"Shit!" He yelled. "I'm going to be known as… um, gimme a second to think of something Jace-level dumb… Magnomeister."
"Bane-inator," Izzy fired back.
"We never even said Sparkles," Magnus suggested.
"Jace is more original than that. Magny Babe."
"Ew." Magnus scrunched up his face. "Banester."
"Magno."
"Magno? That's basically mango! I dislike mango!" Magnus paused, trying not to smile, and failed miserably. "We should stop. This is dumb."
"So is Jace!" Isabelle chortled. "He'll probably think of something dumber to call you."
"Dumber than Magno?" Magnus looked disbelieving.
"Dumber than Magno," Izzy confirmed.
Alec knew Clary and Jonathan Morgenstern were also staying in the cabin. He didn't know, however, that Jace would be there when he, Max, and Sebastian arrived. His golden-haired brother was sitting on the couch with Clary, half watching a movie and half snuggling and giggling in a very un-Jace like manner.
"Alec! Hey!" Clary smiled when she saw them.
"Hi, Clary," he said tiredly. "I'm just here to help Max get situated, then I'm out."
"How's Magnus?"
"Good, last I saw him," Alec shrugged, furiously chasing the memories of that afternoon from his mind, memories of orange-flavored lips and heat and hands in silky hair.
"Magnus?" Jace perked up. "Is Magnus the guy you were mooning over last night? Is he the one who gave you that hickey?"
"Jace," Alec groaned, hand going automatically to cover the mark.
"It's an honest question, Alec," his brother sighed.
"Fine, yes, it was," Alec grumbled, and tramped back outside to help Sebastian and Max get their stuff from the car. He squinted through the rain, wondering if he was looking the wrong way; he couldn't see his car anywhere. He hopped down the steps into the driveway, but there was nothing there. Maybe Sebastian drove it into the garage to keep everything from getting wet, he mused, loping down the drive to the large garage door. He peered through, but his car wasn't inside. Jace's was, which Alec figured shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, but now he was worried. It wouldn't take too much for a car to roll backwards down the sloping driveway, especially in this weather.
Alec's blood ran cold as he realized that must be exactly what had happened. He didn't even bother zipping up his jacket as he ran, so it almost came off, causing the rain to soak his shirt right through to his skin. It should've melted or soaked into the skin on his chest, but instead it coated him in ice; he was colder than should be possible, and yet he wasn't shivering. He slipped precariously down the road, the rain causing the street to look almost like a river.
"Max?" He hollered. "Max? Sebastian? Sebastian! Max!"
His voice was snatched by the rain. Alec was convinced the world had turned to quicksand, and was now relentlessly sucking him in. Over the past few days he had grown to love rain, in the park with Magnus. Now he hated it. Now, rain was a monster, tearing at all that was good. Alec couldn't remember ever feeling more lost. His heart was racing downstream faster than his feet could carry him, resulting in him tripping and falling.
But where he expected to hit the road and somersault down the mountain, he was caught and carried off by empty air. He fell for much longer than he should have—he wasn't that tall, was he?—and tumbled, battered on all sides by tree branches and what felt like rocks, then was hit in the face by what was most certainly someone's shoe, before he flopped across a branch, dangling over it on his stomach. He couldn't see anything through blood and his hair, and couldn't reach his hand up to clear his vision. His heartbeat grew louder, more frantic, as his thoughts became sluggish. He didn't really care that he was hanging from a tree. He was in too much pain to really care where he was, if only it would stop—
Magnus' voice rose in the back of his mind.
The light's growing brighter
Can't you see, can't you see
I wish I could distinguish it from
The fog around me, around me
Are those blurry faces or are they just clouds
Am I hearing voices or am I just hearing sounds
I want to hold on to the fact that life is not fair
But I'm holding on to thin air, on to thin air
The world is way too big when you know that
Nobody's there, nobody's there
And now I'm fading into thin air
A crash sounded, then a thump, and then the angry horn of a car blared through the storm.
Hope spiraled downward, out of sight, its golden light lost in the growing gloom.
Bloodied rain dripped from Alec's ghost-white face.
A/N: Ok. That happened.
If any of you have more suggestions for dumb nicknames for Magnus, PLEASE let me know.
Have an awesome day! :)