A/N: I'm estimating somewhere between 25-30 chapters for this? Yes, I am going to actually include Magnus' concert and Alec may publish another book at some point (that means a time skip—I'm still figuring it out) but for now, all that matters is giving you guys some answers.

Disclaimer: I wonder if Cassandra Clare reads these and laughs at everybody clarifying that they are not, in fact, her.

"Sebastian Verlac?" Magnus repeated in shock. "The one who… died?"

"Yes," Alec answered. "I know that jacket. It's mine, but it's the one I don't normally wear, so I kept it around for him." His shoulders were drawn up in tension as he leaned on the windowsill. "And I know the way he walks. There's no one else it could've been."

"They said his neck was snapped." The only thing Magnus could feel now was disoriented.

Alec's blue eyes—the eyes Magnus had fallen in love with along with the rest of Alec—were dark as he thought. "No. The one nurse said his neck was snapped, but she wasn't actually in the room with the surgeons at the time. She told us what she'd been told."

"So you think one of the doctors lied?"

"That's one of the only explanations," Alec said. "The other is that he was dead, but became a vampire."

"I should set him up with Camille," Magnus said, but the joke was lost somewhere between his lips and Alec. "So he's not dead. Why was he in here? Why did he come in through the window and leave when we got here? I thought you two were friends."

"I thought so too," Alec frowned. "I hate it when real life starts to act like a book. Things like this are always what you'd think happens to someone else."

"Unfortunately," Magnus added, "I believe to someone else, we're all someone else."

"That really shouldn't make so much sense," Alec smiled ruefully.

"Whyever not?" Magnus leaned over to kiss Alec on the cheek. "I always make sense."

"No you don't."

"Fair enough. But I am a songwriter; I don't have to make sense."

"Did you ever write any of your songs not knowing what it was about?" Alec asked, turning to look at him. Magnus thought about that. He'd definitely written some songs and not known why he'd written them, but he always found meaning in them. He turned to Alec and said just that.

"Okay, but which songs did you write without knowing why?"

"Alive, definitely, and Are You Here, and there's probably more than I can't think of now."

"Is Alive a newer one?" Alec asked. "I'm not sure I know it."

"Yes, it hasn't been released yet," Magnus smirked. "But I will be a generous boyfriend and sing some of it to you."

"Why thank you," Alec chuckled.

"Let me come alive behind your eyes

It's two a.m. and I'm starting to cry

It's starting to storm and I'm starting to wonder

Is it just me or is the world shaking from thunder

Let me come inside

Let me come alive

How long can I keep running

I fear what I'm becoming

You're laughing but it's not funny

There are feathers dropping off my torn-up wings

And the the sky is crying too hard to sing," Magnus sang quietly, taking Alec's hand. "Sometimes I'll have a mood swing and just write to fit my mood."

"I do that too," Alec said. "With my books." He leaned in and kissed Magnus, and Magnus felt like he was floating. "And I love your songs."

"I'm glad," said Magnus, leaning in to capture Alec's lips again, relishing in the hum of contentment the author emitted as he did so.

Izzy and Camille were holding hands and panicking with Simon on their way to Alec's apartment. The sidewalks here in Alicante were wide enough so that the third person didn't have to walk behind the other two, so Simon was walking on Izzy's other side. She wouldn't have minded it if he wanted to hold her hand too, but his hands were stuffed in his pockets.

Someone came running down the sidewalk and shouldered his way between Izzy and Simon, jostling both of them. Izzy caught a glimpse of his profile and gasped loudly, her arm reaching out to grasp his arm before she thought about it.

"Sebastian?" She squeaked. He looked horrified for a moment, then masked it and hugged her tightly. She felt his hand slipping lower on her back and was about to shove him away when he slipped something into her pocket and quickly withdrew his hand. It felt like an envelope.

"I'm so sorry, Isabelle," he told her. "It was for Alec's safety. I promise that will explain everything, but you have to wait until later to read it, okay?"

"Were you just with Alec?" She looked at the apartment building.

"He didn't know I was there. I had to get something from his apartment and I figured it would be better if he didn't see me. I wanted to avoid questions."

"What did you have to get?" Izzy wondered.

"Well, paper for the letter, for one," he grinned. "I also had to give Max's sketchbook back to Alec, so I left it on his desk. And Robert bugged his watch, so I took that." He held up the item. "Don't tell him you saw me. The glittery guy is there with him right now, so he's okay."

"That would be his boyfriend, Magnus," Izzy said. Sebastian smiled.

"I wish I could've had the pleasure of meeting him," he said. "Sadly, Alec can't know I'm alive, so I cannot meet his boyfriend. I'm sure I would've liked him."

"You would. He's awesome," Izzy smiled, and Camille squeezed her hand in appreciation.

"But the doctors said you broke your neck and died," Simon finally butted in. Sebastian had the good grace to look guilty.

"Yes, I know they did. After Jonathan crashed the car, he came into the hospital to visit me and convinced me to make sure everyone thought I was dead. He hacked the monitors so the doctors would think I was dead, and when they took me out, I just escaped the morgue… that's another reason I was at Alec's. I needed new clothes." He smirked. "I promise I'm not up to evil or scandalous activities, Isabelle. If you want to know why Jon wanted me to be dead but not really dead, ask him."

"I don't want to talk to that bastard," Izzy spat.

"Understandable. I have to go, in any case." He planted a kiss on her forehead, clapped Simon's shoulder, nodded to Camille, and walked on.

"That was Alec's dead ex?" Camille asked as they entered the building. "Normally I would've slapped anyone who broke up with Alec, but he seemed so nice!"

"He and Alec didn't have a breakup that qualifies as a breakup. They just decided it would be better to be friends since Sebastian went to college in California. Sebastian found someone else and so did Alec, but those two will always be friends. At least…" she frowned. "Before the whole dead-not-dead thing."

She knocked on Alec's door, and when nobody answered, she opened it. Alec had a bad habit of not locking his door, despite the fact that he'd literally written a book called All the Locked Doors. Then again, All the Locked Doors wasn't about locked doors. All of the doors in it were metaphorical, except for one: the Gate, which stood between the High Kingdom and the Lower Kingdom.

Alec's living room was vacant, a sketchbook with a picture of Sebastian open on the coffee table, along with his half-closed computer. There was nobody in the kitchen either, so she went down the hall and shoved his bedroom door open, realizing too late that if Magnus was with him, the bedroom door might be closed for a reason.

She poked her head in and saw Magnus pressing Alec up against the wall, their shapes melted together into one, their colors mixing in ways that Isabelle had never imagined possible. Alec's black and white with Magnus' explosive rainbow, meshing as though neither was complete without the other. They were kissing more passionately than Izzy thought even she had ever experienced, because she'd felt desire before, but she'd never been as catastrophically in love as Alec and Magnus obviously were: lips molding fiercely to each other's, Magnus' hands pinning Alec's to the wall above his head, their fingers laced together. Alec was absentmindedly playing with the rings on Magnus' fingers. They were making sounds that Izzy didn't particularly want to hear, especially since the man pinned against the wall was her brother.

Magnus let go of Alec's hands and put his own hands up Alec's shirt, and Alec's hands fisted into Magnus' hair, twisting and pulling it. When Alec's fingers came free, glitter rained down with them. Isabelle cleared her throat—probably too quietly, because although Magnus and Alec's faces separated for a moment, they went right back in, and Alec's hands went back into Magnus' hair, and Magnus arched his body into Alec's, and Isabelle definitely wanted to walk away, but she didn't. She knocked loudly on the wall next to them, and they froze comically, turning to look at her.

Alec looked terrified, and Magnus looked amused, but they both looked dazed and their eyes both had lust-filled glints in them. Alec's lips and cheeks were smeared with Magnus' red lip gloss, which she knew would prompt vampire jokes from Camille, and he hurriedly pulled his shirt back down as Magnus, with equally-smeared lip gloss, attempted to fix his hair.

"How long have you been standing there?" Alec asked shakily.

"Long enough," Izzy smirked. "You two are hot. Come on, Camille and Simon are here."

Alec cursed and followed his sister and boyfriend into the living room. Camille was smirking winningly when she noticed their state, but Alec wasn't in the mood to be embarrassed.

"Izzy, I saw Sebastian leaving here earlier, wearing the coat I keep here for him. I know he was dead, but—"

"He isn't dead," Simon interrupted. "We just saw him outside. Jonathan hacked his monitors so the doctors would think he was dead and tell you that."

"Why?" Alec crossed his arms. Magnus pulled him over to the couch, he sat down, and Magnus sat with his legs thrown over Alec's lap.

"I know you two probably want to get back to voraciously making out like crazed lunatics, so I'll make this fast," she said, sitting down on Camille's armrest. Alec blushed at her comment, but she ignored him. "We were just intending to pay you a visit and make sure you were alright—which you clearly were—but when we saw Sebastian, he said a couple things. Jonathan is clearly much more involved in this than we thought. And he took your watch because apparently Dad bugged it."

"What?" Alec looked confused. "When would he have had the chance to do that?"

"Maybe when he left the letter," Magnus suggested. "We are fairly sure that was him, aren't we?"

"Yes," Alec agreed.

"Speaking of letters…" Izzy said, pulling the envelope Sebastian had given her out of her pocket. She unfolded it and began to read aloud.

—

"Dearest Isabelle—

I'm so sorry for making everyone think I was dead. I cannot tell you where I'm going, but I'm dealing with Jonathan. Promise. Tell Alec I will always miss him, because there's no way I will ever be able to tell him myself.

Alec cannot look for me. If he asks why, tell him 'Elvira.' He will understand. And I will explain it so you will understand: Elvira, in his book, had to hide herself away because of her curse. In the end it didn't matter, because the magic corrupted her, but she was trying to protect Mala. Because she loved him. Because I love you and Alec, and all those you love too, it is necessary that I stay away forever.

I believe Magnus Bane has a song that perfectly describes my situation. It's called Pray for the Lost. Listen to it sometime, and you will understand.

On another note, if you want to talk to the doctor involved in all of this, his name is Christopher. I'm sure that if you have any questions, he could answer them. He knows I'm not dead.

Yours most sincerely,

Sebastian."

—

Izzy set the letter on the table and looked around at her friends: Alec and Magnus looking surprised, Camille sitting perfectly still, smoothing the wrinkles in her white skirt, Simon playing with the hem of his t-shirt (which Isabelle finally took a moment to read: it was black with white text saying C12H22O11*,We're Goin Down. She didn't get it, but Magnus apparently did. Maybe it was music-related or something).

"Magnus?" She asked. "What song was he talking about?"

Magnus cleared his throat. "Pray for the Lost," he answered. "I'll sing the part he was referring to for you.

I'm not quite in the mood to lose myself right now

I suppose I'll wait until the world is burning down around me

Can't you see

You're better off without me

There are two kinds of men in this world, my love

Those who accidentally leave a wave of terror behind them

And those who surf that wave with a smile on their face because

They've lost themselves, oh too soon, too soon

Not all those who wander are lost

But I've been lost for a thousand years

And I'll be lost for a thousand more

Haven't I heard that somewhere before?"

Alec was smiling in a ridiculously sweet way at his boyfriend when he finished the piece and Isabelle wondered exactly how madly in love Alec was.

"You write a lot of songs about being lost, Magnus," she noted. He looked at her with a sad smile.

"I write about what's in my heart, Isabelle," he said. "Luckily, I found my heart. And I gave it to Alec for safekeeping." He turned a sappy look on Alec, and Camille put her hand over her heart while Simon just raised his eyebrows.

"Well," Alec said, "I suppose we ought to find that doctor. Does anyone know a doctor named Christopher?"

"No," answered Magnus slowly. "But I think I know someone who does."

And…. done! That wasn't exactly what I expected of this chapter. The next one should be up soon, promise ^_^ . Review? Pretty please with Malec on top?

*C12H22O11 We're Goin Down is a reference to the name of a song. The numbers are supposed to be subscript but fanfiction doesn't allow subscript. If you want to know what it means, look it up. And listen to it. It's a good song.

Have a nice day!