Four hours and two drinks later, Alec was sitting in am armchair in the darkest corner of the anteroom. After the incident with Magnus and his siblings, he had spent some time at the bar, trying to ignore every strange person who approached him, inviting him to dance or God knows what else.

At some point Isabelle had joined him and she'd have bought both of them some drinks but then a boy sat right next to her and after a very short conversation and a few shots they had started to dance. Jace was sitting on a sofa alone so Alec decided to go over there but quickly changed his mind when he thought that Jace might ask him about Magnus. It was indeed a very stupid thought and Alec knew that Jace probably didn't even care, but it was in his nature to worry about everything when it came to his sexuality. Anyway, he stopped feeling bad about not joining Jace when two girls, one brunette and a one blonde, sat on on the sofa on both of Jace's sides.

To Alec's surprise, Jace got up and Alec feared that he might come to the bar but instead he headed towards another couch placed right next to the floor to ceiling window.

There stood a red-headed girl wearing a dress with a very interesting print. Her fiery hair was up in a bun but a few strings hang loosely around her cheeks. Her make-up was very simple, almost like she didn't wear any. She held a beauty within her simplicity that only a few people could master. Her fluid movements and her sharp eyes analyzing the pieces of art neatly spread around the loft let out on her true passion: she was an artist and it wasn't hard to tell.

"Are you enjoying the party?" A male voice asked. She moved her head in the direction of the sound and found a tall boy standing on her right side. Her first impression was that he was made of gold and the tips of her fingers were itching, desperately wanting to capture the boy's figure on a white sheet. But then the beauty will be gone, faded in the process of trying to turn reality into art.

She blinked a few times as if the halo of light surrounding the young man will fade, but it didn't.

"Yes, actually. Although it's not the dancing or the drinks that interest me, but this beautiful apartment." She looked one more time to the boy through her long eyelashes and begin to laugh. "I'm sorry. I must be boring you. Sorry." A blush bloomed around her freckles.

"No, not at all." The boy was looking at her with flames in his eyes. "Everyone else is either drunk or making out with someone. My brother must be hiding somewhere because he hates parties and my sister must be killing the dance floor."

"So you're stuck with me, huh?"

The young man seemed to be at a loss of words. "Uh...no, not at all. That's not what I meant. Uh, sorry." He looked troubled. She guessed that this kind of thing didn't actually happened to him. Every girl must be falling at his feet and dying to have a conversation with him. At least this was what his looks said. Only that she wasn't here to hook up with someone. She was here to take her mind off of things. So she tried to keep talking to the boy next to her.

"Are you here with your siblings?" What else was she supposed to say?

"Yeah. I am in town only for a few more weeks. Three, actually. I am trying to make the most out of it before I return to LA."

"What's in LA?"

"Oh, LA is where I train. I am a soccer player." His answer was followed by an arrogant smile. He leaned closer to her. So her initial impression of him was not wrong. He was indeed very confident in himself; maybe too confident for her own taste.

"Really? That sounds fun...I think? I'm not really into sports." She didn't look surprise at all by his statement and pressed her back further in the couch tapestry. He eyes wondered around the loft a few more seconds, then something from outside caught her eye. It must have been the lights of New York coming to live in the latest hours of the night.

"Sorry, but you really don't know who I am?"

"No. I should?" her eyes were still focused on the window.

"I am Jace. Jace Lightwood?"

"Doesn't ring a bell to me."

"The soccer player Jace Lightwood?" His eyebrows were hitting his hairline now and his expression said that he didn't want to believe what she was saying. How could you not know him?

"I am Clary Fray - the artist." She was mocking him. "Oh, and here is Simon Lewis, the rock star." She gestured toward the crowd. Simon was returning to his table but he wasn't alone, to Clary's surprise. He was holding a beautiful girl by her waist. It was the girl Simon met at the coffee shop a few days ago. As soon as he saw Clary, he disentangled his arms from the girl's sides, placing them in his pockets and tried to hide his guilty look.

"Oh, we were just...I didn't know you were here. Izzy spotted Jace and we were just, you know. I mean I know now that this is our table. But when Isabelle said she saw Jace I didn't think he would be at our table. Otherwise - I mean..." Clary couldn't understand what Simon was so desperately trying to say. Izzy seemed amused by Simon's stammering, but something must had bothered her, because she was frowning in the next second.

"Oh, and here's my sister, Isabelle. Isabelle, meet Clary. Clary's an artist." Jace was the one speaking now.

So this was his sister. Yes, the gene must be running in the family. They were both very good looking.

"Oh, I am definitely not an artist. I am just an amateur. There are thousands of us in New York." The blush returned to Clary's cheeks.

Simon tossed himself right next to Clary while Izzy took the place near her brother.

"No, you are not an amateur. You are very talented. You should see her paintings, really."

"We would love to!" was Jace's response.

"Really. You would?" questioned his sister. The brunette girl looked like she was about to burst into laughter but waited for her brother's response.

"Of course. I love art."

Now there was no doubt. The girl was laughing so hard, she had tears in her eyes.

"Where's Alec?" asked Jace before Izzy could say anything that could give away any more information about his true passions.

"I just saw him exiting the living room. A cat was following him." She still couldn't stop laughing.

The music was so loud in the living that he couldn't even hear his own thoughts so he had given up on staying at the improvise bar and decided to spent the night in a chair playing with the fluffy ball of fur which he had found in the hallway.

He had been there for at least an hour. When the pet spotted Alec, it followed him to the bar, sat at his feet while Alec drank some water and scrutinized the room looking for Isabelle and Jace - making sure they were as fine as they could be at a party - and when Alec decided to rest on the comfortable chair, the cat jumped in his lap and began to purr. At first Alec was very uncertain about what he should do with the pet. He guessed this was Magnus' place - even though he had said he had a room in the dorm - so this must be Magnus' cat. So he thought Magnus would get angry with him if he saw the cat sitting with Alec, but then he remembered that he had already screwed up things with Magnus and he would probably never see or talk to him again. The thought of it made Alec's chest tighten and he let out a loud sigh.

The cat jerked its head up at the sound but then rested it again on Alec's knee and continued its purring. Alec was ashamed by the way he acted towards Magnus a few hours earlier but he couldn't risk for his siblings to find out about his sexuality. He hid it so much when he had been with Sebastian and still his sister suspected something. That and the fact that he got drunk multiple times when only the two of them were home and started to narrate to his sister pieces of his love life. He had been too drunk to remember what he'd said the previous night but he could tell from the looks that Izzy gave him from time to time that it had been bad and she knew enough to want to protect him from absolutely everyone, including Jace and their parents.

Remembering those days made Alec feel even worse about what he had done. Instead to learn something from the past, he kept on making the same mistakes.

And it was not just about Magnus, but about everything, because here he was: staying in a dark corner of someone's loft, at a party he didn't want to attend in the first place, while his siblings were dancing and drinking. And he managed to chase away the only person that paid attention to him – besides his family that he sometimes wish didn't do it – only by opening his mouth.

The felling that flooded his veins when they arrived at the party had slowly faded away, but he was still wondering what must have Jace thought about Magnus' answer. He pressed his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He knew he was worrying too much. All he wanted to do was to go home and rest. He wasn't sure he would be able to fall asleep any time soon. There were too many things clouding his mind.

The music was perceptibly slower and Alec guessed there were fewer people at the party, because there were just low murmurs coming from the living room.

"My cat seems to like you." A funny voice brought Alec back to reality. He recognized the voice long before he opened his eyes. Restlessness was trying to win him over. What was he suppose to say? Where were the others? Who could hear their conversation?

"I like you."

Alec's head shoot up. He looked over to Magnus who was about to fall on his knees. Alec got up from the armchair and caught him just in time. He smelled like alcohol but he could still sense a flavour of that beautiful perfume Magnus emanated all the time.

Oh, he's drunk. Alec was relieved. Magnus won't remember too much tomorrow morning.

"Come on, you need to sit down." Alec put his arms around Magnus, lifted his knees slowly from the ground and helped him reach the chair in which he had been sitting till then. "Here."

"I'm serious. I really like you."

"You are really, really drunk," said Alec but he couldn't wipe off the smile which was flowering on his lips neither he could make the blush disappear.

"You are really beautiful, you know? Like really beautiful. Your dark hair and blue eyes – my favourite combination." Magnus' smile was huge and his eyes were glowing and not only from the alcohol. Alec couldn't stop laughing at the funny way Magnus was talking, as though his tongue was wreathing itself.

Suddenly, a few people exited the room. Alec recognized them as being Jace, Isabelle, a boy wearing glasses and a girl that he was pretty sure he recognized from somewhere but was too tired to think about it. Alec stepped immediately away from Magnus. He saw that Izzy was leaning on the boy who seemed to be struggling with holding both of them standing. The red-headed girl took Izzy's other hand and looked her straight in the eye.

"Here's the thing, Izzy! You either try and walk on your own or you sleep here, on the hallway."

"OKAY, NO NEED TO SHOUT," screamed Izzy. I'll walk." She didn't because after a few steps she was about to fall on her knees. Lucky for her, Alec and the other boy caught her just in time.

"Okay. The party's over. We are going home." Nor Jace or Izzy wanted to argue with an angry Alec. "Jace, can you walk?"

"Yes. I didn't drink that much, actually."

"I'll help him in case he trips or something," the red-headed girl volunteered. Alec finally recognized her. She was Luke Garroway's daughter. He smiled thankfully to her and all of them headed towards the door.

They reached the car in ten minutes although Alec was surprised none of them got injured on the way. God, he was never going to party with his siblings again! Never! After he placed Izzy on the backseat and Jace in the front, next to the driver's seat he turned towards the other two young people who had helped him.

"I'm so sorry. Thank you for helping me with my siblings."

"Relax. We're glad we could help. I'm Simon. She's Clary."

"Nice to meet you. And thank you again. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone about this."

"You're welcome. And yes, you can trust us."

"Hey, it's you, isn't it? You were at the coffee shop with your sister a few days ago. Java Jones? You don't know me, but Simon talked to your sister after that and I remember seeing you there."

Alec froze. Not only they had seen his drunk siblings but they'd also witnessed his fight with Isabelle.

This was the worst night of his entire pathetic existence.

"I'm sorry." The girl seemed really worried and Alec tried to say something to calm her down – or himself, for that matter - but nothing came out. "Did I say something wrong?" she continued. "I mean, Simon only spoke to your sister after you left. I knew I saw you somewhere when we met at the library today. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. I was just – nothing. Sorry." Alec stopped for a second, then remembered something. "Wait. Did she say you talked to my sister? Are you the one who paid for our drinks?" This was getting more embarrassing by the minute.

"It's fine. No problem, really."

"I am so sorry again. What can I do? Can I offer you a drive?"

"No, thanks," said Clary. We came here with Simon's car...van, actually." She paused for a minute and Alec cast a glance toward his car. He really wanted to go home. "But..since you asked, you can do something for my friend. You could come to one of his concerts."

"Clary!"said Simon with a completely terrified look on his face.

"What? I am promoting your work. He is really really talented," she whispered towards Alec. "Here," She said while she took out a flyer from her bag. "You should all come."

"That's great. We'll be there." Alec promised. Clary and Simon waved him goodbye and turned around, walking towards Simon's van.

Alec stepped in the car and he was about to turn on the engine when he remembered something.

"Shit, shit, shit. How could I forget?"

He checked his siblings one more time. Jace was snoring and Isabelle was fast asleep in the back of the car. He stepped outside of his black Range Rover, made sure to lock the doors, and hurried into the building and up the stairs.