Chapter 7

Magnus was woken up from his afternoon nap by the sound of laughter and loud, exciting chatter. "Will you assholes please keep it down," he groaned into his pillow, thinking that it was his friends back from their little tourist excursion in the city. However, when he didn't hear a respond, just more noise, he reluctantly opened his eyes.

The room was dark, due to the blinds and curtains being drawn closed, making it difficult to tell how late it was. He shuffled around, rolling over onto his back and reached across to the bedside table for his phone so he could check the time. It was only four. As he sat up in bed and stretched, cracking his sore joints, he could once again hear the loud chatter. As it turned out, it was coming from outside, right by his window.

As he focused and listened more attentively, he could make out a male and a female voice. They were talking excitedly about how happy they were to be moving here and how much fun they were going to have, the female saying something about how they should hit the town as soon a possible. Magnus couldn't help but smile to himself at that. Sounded like his kind of people, he thought.

That was all he needed to hear to know that he was definately going to like his new neighbours.

Remembering that it was his turn to cook dinner, he quickly threw his blankets off and got out of bed, heading for the kitchen.

Alec, Izzy and Jace hurriedly carried the last of their luggages from the taxi up to the apartment that they would be staying in for the next month. They had gotten the place to rent at the last minute. The place they had originally found online the night before, had turned out to be a complete disaster. The apartment had been in a nice location, close to the city, a really beautiful building, but the inside was a complete mess. The place was going to need a complete overhaul and they didn't have time for that. They needed somewhere that they could move into right away.

This new place that they'd found however, through the same person who had shown them the first apartment, was a little bit further away from the city, but still in a good location. It was right next to a metro station, and more importantly, it came fully furnished and they could move in right away. After payment of course, which wasn't a problem. Apparently the owners had travelled and decided to rent the place out. It was perfect for them, very homely.

Izzy, with a loud groan, dropped her suitcase on the floor in the middle of the living room. Alec was so glad he had managed to convince her to pack lightly for the trip, promising to go shopping with her whenever she wanted. The last thing he wanted was to be lugging around heavy suitcases. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving," Izzy groaned, plopping down on the noisy, black leather couch. "Should we order a pizza or something?"

"But I thought you wanted to go out?" Alec countered, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Yes, tonight," said Izzy. "But I'll starve by then."

"I say we order some pizza, maybe rest up a little, then we hit the town." Jace shrugged, joining Izzy on the couch.

"Alright then," Alec agreed, pulling his phone free of his pants back pocket.

It was about five thirty when Magnus finshed cooking. He had decided to make a simple pasta dish that he knew all of his friends would enjoy. He'd just finished cleaning up the kitchen when he heard the front door being opened, the sound of laughter drifting in.

"Honey, I'm home," called Ragnor, already shrugging off his Jacket. He made his way into the living room, throwing it over the back the couch, Raphael following suit.

"Why did we even buy a coat rack if you guys never use it," Caterina groused as she came in behind them, proceeding to grab their jackets up off the couch and tossing them unceremoniously on the coat rack.

"Hmm, something smells good," Ragnor hummed, neither him nor Raphael bothering with Cat's complaints.

"You guys are right on time," said Magnus, sauntering into the living room. "I just finished making dinner."

"Oh, thank heavens. I'm starving." Ragnor sighed in relief.

"When are you not?" Raphael drawled as they all made their way into the kitchen, which also doubled as their dining room.

Alec stepped out of his shower, steam floating out into the room behind him. He was actually still really tired, the power nap he'd had didn't help, but he'd promised Izzy a night out on the town. He could also do with a bit of stress relief as well. He was planing on getting thoroughly drunk tonight, letting lose a bit.

He quickly got dressed in the outfit Izzy had picked out for him to wear earlier. Even though he was perfectly capable of dressing himself, he always loved it when Izzy would insist on dressing him. It had always been a sort of bonding ritual for the two of them whenever they were going out together, one he had no intentions on changing anytime soon, no matter how ridiculous her clothing choices could get sometimes. The most important thing was that they had fun together.

Tonight he was wearing a, tighter than he usually liked, black distressed jeans with a blue button down shirt that brought out his eyes- at least according to Izzy- and hugged his body in all of the right places. Simple, but effective. To finish off the look, he wore a black biker's jacket and a pair of black combat boot. Alec wasn't one for bright colors. His personal closet was virtualy a black hole, except for the sprinkling of a few dark colors he had allowed Izzy to add. Of course he also had an offical closet with clothes he wore for official purposes. That contained suits and other royal or traditional wears that had mostly been chosen by Hodge.

Satisfied with how he looked, Alec headed for the living room to check if Jace and Izzy were also done getting ready.

Meanwhile in the apartment downstairs, Magnus was sat in front of his vanity finishing the final touches on his makeup. He was really happy that he had somehow managed to convince his friends to go out with him, by promising that they wouldn't stay out too late, and that he'd cook dinner the next two nights. Usually he didn't have a problem going out alone, but tonight he really didn't feel like it. He wanted to let loose a bit and he didn't feel comfortable doing that if he was alone. It was dangerous to get shit faced if you had no one to look out for you.

Magnus was wearing a pair of burgandy skin tight leather pants, because why the hell not. Though it was already spring, it was still pretty cold out, especially during the evenings. He paired the pants with a simple...well, simple for him anyway, low cut V neck white T shirt with a glittery design on the front and a black, gold studded leather jacket with fringes running down the sleaves.

As per usual, he covered himself in enough jewelry for about ten people. His jet black hair was spiked to the gods, covered in gold glitter, with a few streaks of purple chalk running through it.

Satisfied with his overall look, Magnus pulled on a pair of platform boots that matched his jacket, and applied another coat of glittery lip gloss for good measure.

As Magnus stepped outside his apartment to wait in the arched door way for his friends, being the first one to have finished getting ready for the first time ever, he heard the sounds of the neighbouring door being opened. Magnus looked up from where he stood, leaned against the wall, playing with the rings adorning his well manicured fingers. His gaze followed a pair of long black clad legs, working their way up until they landed on a pair of wide sparkling blue eyes. He couldn't remember ever seeing eyes so blue before. They seemed to glow, catching the reflection of the overhead light in the small hallway.

Alec stood tranfixed in his doorway, one hand still on the doornob, the other frozen in his hair mid comb through as he locked eyes with the man standing across from him. His breath caught in his throat, his mouth suddenly becoming very dry as he looked the other man over. He was tall, even taller than Alec, which was a rarity. He had light caramel skin and bright golden eyes that were burning holes into his.

"Hello," said Magnus. "You must be our new neighbour."

Alec said nothing.

Magnus quirked a curious brow. After a few beats, he pushed himself off the wall. "I'm Magnus, it's nice to meet," he smiled, offering a hand in greeting.

Alec could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he took a shaky step forward, accepting the out stretched hand.

"Uh, umm," Alec stuttered, smiling nervously, momentarily forgetting what words were or how to form proper sentences as he tried to give Magnus his sturdiest handshake. Now that they closer, he could see that Magnus' eyes weren't just gold, but they also had flecks of green sprinkled throughout. They were simply beautiful.

"Sorry um...praat je niet engels?" Magnus asked, after another moment of Alec not saying anything. He had been working on his dutch.

"Alec," said Alec suddenly, as if just remembering his own name but still not sure he had it correct.

However, before either of them got the chance to say anything else, they were pulled from their little bubble by the sound of Izzy and Jace coming down the stairs.

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood," Izzy bellowed. "I told you I'd be ready in just a minute. I don't know why you have to be so anal about being punctual all the damn time. It's not like we're on a set schedule or anyth..." she trailed off, pausing when she reached the opened door, with Jace on her heels, realizing that her brother was not alone.

"Oh, hi," she smiled as Alec and Magnus quickly released each other's hand, standing awkwardly in small hallway, looking as if they'd been caught doing something they had no business doing. "I didn't realize we had company."

After a way too long pause, waiting for someone to say something, like maybe Alec introducing them, Izzy step forward, pushing Alec aside and presented her hand. "I'm Izzy," she said. "And blondy here..." she pointed the thumb of her free hand to Jace, "...is Jace. And my brother, who I'm sure is probably yet to introduce himself, is Alec."

Alec glared at her a pointedly but said nothing, not trusting his voice at the moment.

Magnus took Izzy's offered hand, bowing as he touched his lips to her knuckles. "I'm Magnus. It's very nice to meet you." He couldn't help but smile. He could tell right away that he and Izzy would get along splendidly . She reminded him alot of himself, just fabulous in every way. From her dress, to her attitude. As for Jace, well him Magnus wasn't so sure about. Jace had been looking at him disdainfully from the very moment their eyes met, just shooting arrows at him with his eyes. Magnus couldn't help but wonder what the hell that was all about. Jace hadn't even offered up a hand shake, just waved his greeting and grunted a small hello. Never the less, Magnus, not one to be easily perturbed, smiled and greeted Jace in return.

Alec felt like he was watching the entire interaction from behind a glass wall. He watched as Magnus laughed and chatted with his sister. Magnus had a certain grace in the way his body moved as he talked, with his hands moving accordingly. He radiated confidence, like he knew he was special, yet he didn't come off as cocky in the least. Alec liked that. Everything about Magnus just seemed to burn bright, sparkle, and it wasn't just from the tons of glitter he was covered in. The man just seemed other worldly to Alec. He definately liked what he saw.

"Alec, Alec," Izzy called, bringing Alec back into the moment. "I said would it be alright if Magnus and his friends joined us?"

"Wh-what?" Alec stuttered. Seemed he had missed a whole conversation where Izzy had found out that Magnus and his friends were also heading into the city for a night on the town and she had basically suggested they joined forces. Apparently they'd do more damage painting the town together...the more the merrier.

Alec and Jace agreed, and Alec watch as Magnus walked back into his apartment, returning a few minutes later with his three friends at his back. Introductions were made and the night's agenda discussed, Alec barely saying more than a few words at time, still not trusting his ability to form proper sentences under the pressure of Magnus' heated gaze.

As they started the short trek towards the metro station, Alec was once again quietly watching Magnus. He just couldn't seem to pry his eyes away from the tall glittery man. He watched and listened as Magnus and Izzy went from complimenting each other's oufits, to an impromtu conversation about makeup and their many brands, and a few other things that Alec had no idea about, the two seemingly to have become instant bestfriends.

The train ride into the city was the same. Everyone making light conversations, getting to know one another as Alec watched Magnus, barely saying anything unless prompted to. What the prince hadn't noticed however, so caught up in trying to steal secret glances at Magnus, was that Magnus was also stealing secret glances at him, though much more covert in his game.

However, two other persons had them both beat in the secret eye stalking department.

Izzy had seen the heart eyes her brother had been giving Magnus the moment she came down the stairs, and worse, so had Jace. At first she had thought it to be nothing but Alec obviously being attracted to the other man. But, as she watched her brother watching Magnus, she realized that she had never seen him look at someone like that before. Alec seemed completely enamoured, awe-struck even. Izzy decided then and there, that she would make it her top priority to get to know Magnus. If her brother was interested in him, then so was she.

Jace on the other hand, had been observing the whole scene with blood in his eyes. Izzy could see the pain and anger splayed out plainly on his face, even if no one else could, or cared to noticed. Though he kept laughing and chatting with everyone as though everything was fine, acting out his best cocky asshole schtick, Izzy could see the storm building beneath the surface.

And she hoped like hell, that they were all strong enough to face whatever was to come, and be able to walk away with their friendship still intact.