Okay, so it turned into a two-shot.
As you can see, I still suck at stopping at just one chapter.
I admit my guilt.
I wanted to post this earlier, I swear, but school came to the end of the year and I was being bombarded with information to remember, tests, pages upon pages of homework, etc. My muse decided to run away to The Dark Artifices series, and Amalspach has volunteered to beta the first few parts of that story that I went on an extreme tangent for (just about 40,000 words within the first few days). I may or may not post that soon.
Since it's been so long, some things might've changed in the lore, so if there are continuity errors, I apologize.
(Yes, I used a line from the Bane Chronicles because it was just so funny when I read it.)
But I love Malec! I AM, LIKE, GOING THROUGH MALEC WITHDRAWAL RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I'VE READ TOO MANY AMAZING STORIES!
NEVERMIND, THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS TOO MANY MALEC STORIES!
WHY AM I SCREAMING?! I DON'T KNOW! THAT'S HOW MUCH I LOVE MALEC!
(I may have a problem…)
Okay, so this is from the future after that first part was written and I'm here to say I am so sorry for how long this chapter took to make and get out. I decided it would be a great idea to join a play as a props assistant, meaning I had literally no time to write combined with all of the homework that was shoved in my face.
I wanted to work on this story, but I also wanted to work on my other ones, and this is literally a 20,000 word 'chapter,' and so I felt the need to stop. Since this was supposed to be a one and done thing and it turned out to not be a one and done thing, it was low on my priority list.
That Shadowhunter story that I was contemplating posting? The one Amalspach wanted to beta? Yeah, I've already written that to the sequel and she cannot keep up wit meh.
I really wanna get to the end of my FFXIII story, I need to work on my HoO story, I seriously need to get to work on 'The High Warlock of Brooklyn(s Sister)' but there just aren't enough free hours in the day for this.
Let's all just count our blessings that I managed to get this thing out at all.
On that note, enjoy!
:)
"Dude, I need your help now!" Jace blurted.
Alec was pulled out of her nervous stupor as he waited for Saturday to come as Jace rushed through the door and into the living room, having let himself in thanks to the key that he'd gotten ages ago.
Alec sighed and rose from his comfy position on the couch. "What is it?"
"Okay, so you know Clary?"
Alec wracked his brain, but he didn't focus too much on Jace's list of flings. "Uh…"
"Oh, come on, you've gotta know her!"
Jace started rattling off things about how pretty she was, how talented she was, how nice she was, how she was a great artist, and Alec lost track of where the conversation had gone. Not that Jace didn't gush over a lot of girls like they were the best thing since sliced bread. Well, technically he thought that he was the best thing since sliced bread.
Honestly, Alec was okay with Jace taking all the attention away from him, and it also helped with the fact that he didn't like girls. Jace was helping Alec in that sense, since Jace kept anyone from flirting with Alec and forcing him to give the awkward 'I'm kinda not into you or your gender like that' speeches.
That didn't mean Alec had to like it when Jace attempted to make Alec sympathize with him about the girls that he liked.
"Okay, okay," Alec finally snapped. "What's the problem?"
"What's the problem?" Jace repeated, as though he thought it was obvious. "What's the problem?! The problem is that she said no when I asked her out."
"In her defense, you do have a reputation."
"That's not the point!"
"Actually, it kinda is."
He and Jace had another long one-sided conversation where Jace expressed his feelings and Alec pretended to listen while lying on the couch trying not to fall asleep. Not that Jace would've noticed if he did, obsessing over this Clary. Maybe Alec had heard of a Clary before - he remembered Clary being the most unique name on the signatures for that school mural or something - but any time that he'd seen her she'd been an independent and creative thinker. Alec remembered that she was in one of his classes - English, actually, but she sat on the other side of the room so he didn't really have contact with her.
Jace was way out of her league, not the other way around. Obviously. That's all Alec was getting from Jace, and he wasn't really paying attention since Jace's word could never be trusted.
It got Alec a little distracted from his nervousness about Magnus, but it only gave him more reason to think about his own love-life problems. He wanted to tell Jace about the idiot that he'd been, but even if Jace was in any condition to hear what Alec said, Alec wasn't sure what he'd say. In all honesty, he was afraid Jace would think his little note system wasn't grand enough.
The friendship between him and Magnus was enough to make Alec's stomach twist. He'd had fun hanging out with Magnus, but at some point he had become closer to Magnus than he'd realized. Now that he looked back, Magnus had been flirting with him and he hadn't even noticed.
Magnus complimented him, but Alec always brushed it off with a laugh or a sarcastic comment that changed the subject. At this point, it was a miracle that Alec hadn't driven off Magnus before.
"You know what?" Alec finally snapped. "I will talk to Clary and get her to agree with a single date with you. After that, it's all up to you."
"Really, man?!" Jace exclaimed, practically jumping for joy.
Was this how people acted when they liked someone? Alec might wanna backtrack on this whole dating thing again.
"You have to be the one to convince her that you're not some egotistic guy that dates every girl he comes into contact with, though."
"How do I do that?" Jace asked, looking like he was wracking his brain.
Alec sighed. He wasn't really the person to be asking for dating advice. "I suppose…just be yourself. If you really like her, you have to show her that you're a person - you have flaws, you have insecurities, you have things that you dream of, things that you like. I don't know a lot about her, but I know that she's a serious person when it comes to things she's passionate about and she's not gonna take any B.S. from you or anyone. You either convince her that you're in it for the long haul or you walk away now, buddy."
Jace hesitated a moment as he stared at Alec. "I…think that's more your style of dating, not mine."
Alec shrugged. "You asked my advice, there it is. Whether or not it's how I'd act, Clary's the real problem. You need to think about her if you want her to like you. I've only ever seen her from afar - we're not close friends or anything - but from what I can see, she's not gonna just fall into your arms because you say 'Please.'"
Jace sighed and paced. "All right, I'll see what I can do. You just focus on getting me that date."
Alec rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, all right."
Alec ended up texting Shu - someone who got around the school more - to help him help Jace with his little Clary problem. Shu said that she was on it, and since she was a girl and probably knew girls better than Alec in particular did, he trusted that he'd made the right decision in asking for assistance.
Alec inadvertently started thinking up the plan for when he went on his date (was it a date?) with Magnus. He'd have to apologize a million and one times for his stupidity, and if Magnus still gave him a chance, he realized that he should just take his own advice. He needed to be himself. That shouldn't be too hard, right? He and Magnus had been friends for a while now and it wasn't like there was anything to hide.
Alec sighed as he dropped a pillow onto his face. He still had to get through Friday before Saturday came, and he wouldn't be able to calm his nerves until either Magnus rejected him or he mustered the courage to admit he wanted to date him.
Joy.
"I got Clary to agree to one date," Shu reported to Jace. "And you better not take advantage of that or I will personally punch you in the face before she even gets the chance."
"Why does it sound like you're more invested in this than her?" Alec asked.
"The deal was that I would help her with the prom that's coming up. Then go to it to be the DJ. And I. Hate. Parties."
"Wait, wait, wait, you're related to Magnus?" Jace exclaimed.
"Even worse. I live with him."
Alec woke up at three in the morning and couldn't fall asleep. It was Saturday. He would meet Magnus later today.
He had thought about what he'd say a thousand times, planned and re-planned and re-planned the speech in his head basically all night. Alec wasn't even sure he'd fallen asleep at all. He was an idiot for idiotic reasons. Would Magnus be mad? Would he be surprised? Or had he already accepted what Alec had said and moved on?
Alec finally let out an exasperated sigh and moved out of bed, wrapping himself in a blanket as he sulked his way over to the TV. He tried distracting himself with a movie, but that didn't work. He lazily ate a bowl of cereal before deciding that sitting still wasn't going to help him at all.
He got dressed and then headed out for a morning jog, slipping his earbuds in. He wasn't out of shape by any means, but it had been a while since he'd gotten out in the cool morning air. Time to do the most logical thing when faced with a nerve-wracking situation: run from all his problems.
He wasn't really sure where he was running, but the sun started coming up and he found himself running through the city. Had he really gone that far? He'd only gone through…37 songs. It had been 2 hours and 45 minutes, give or take. Whoops. He'd taken walking breaks along the way and had his water bottle handy, but damn. When did he get so many songs on his playlist?
He finally realized just how tired he was and found the coffee shop he planned to meet Magnus in just ahead. Might as well. He sat down outside at one of the tables - relatively vacant since it was still early in the morning. Well, now that he looked at his watch, it was 8 in the morning. But it was also Saturday, so most people who weren't forced to get up with the sun because of work, school, or a combination of both were probably still snoozing.
Alec watched as some people came and went, but when his heart rate finally calmed down, he headed inside to refill his water bottle. Maybe he should just wait for Magnus. It occurred to him that he hadn't given a time. For all he knew, Magnus could be arriving at, like, 5 in the afternoon. Or maybe Magnus wouldn't show up at all. This might not have been a very well-thought-out plan, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, there were only so many numbers he could fit onto the desk without people getting curious and solving it themselves.
He had all of these thoughts moments before he walked in and saw Magnus sitting at one of the tables on his phone. Alec looked at the clock. 8:30. Looks like he wasn't the only one eager about this meeting/possible date. Or Magnus was just here by coincidence because he liked this place.
Alec took a deep breath and gathered his courage before walking over and sitting down before he could stop himself. He forced a smile through his swirling nerves. Look calm on the outside, look calm on the outside.
He tried to remember everything that he had planned previously. Priority one: apologize. Priority two: ask for a date. Priority three: improvise.
"Hey," He greeted.
"H-Hi…" Magnus stuttered.
Very graceful, indeed.
Alec shifted in his seat nervously, clasping his hands together on the table in front of him. "Look…I wanted to say that I'm sorry."
It was the 'We can still be friends' talk, Magnus realized with dread. "For what?" He asked, trying to keep his emotions from showing. "You can live your life however you want. I was just…caught up in the moment. I didn't seem to remember that you're not gonna dedicate your entire life to me. You've got other friends, other family…"
"And I've never done this whole dating thing before, and I was scared."
Magnus blinked, trying to keep down the small bubble of hope building inside him. "What do you mean?"
"When you asked me out before, I was just…so scared. I liked you, maybe more than I was willing to admit even to myself. Every time we talk, I'm just trying to not look like an idiot in front of you, and the next thing you know, I screw up everything like I always do."
"You don't always screw stuff up. Mistakes are a part of all of our lives. Besides, you're amazing at everything you do. You work so hard in school and I don't know how you stay sane. You do things you're passionate about, you're a fun-loving person when you're comfortable enough to show true colors, you've got a great relationship with your sister, and you're handsome to boot."
"But I can't even get asked out properly," Alec muttered, trying to keep himself composed as he let that last compliment roll over him. "I'm not very good at this whole socializing thing. You know, listening to people, and talking to people, and not turning down the offer of a date from the guy I like."
Magnus smiled, trying to contain his euphoria. "S-So…you wanna start over?"
Alec seemed to sigh in relief. "That would be great."
Magnus held his hand out dramatically. "So, Alexander Lightwood, would you like to go on a date with me?"
He chuckled and slipped his hand into Magnus's. "I'd love to go on a date with you, Magnus Bane."
Magnus squeezed his hand gently, feeling a surge of joy just from Alec's touch. "Can I offer you dessert for breakfast?"
Magnus, having a craving for something sweet, got them a little cake that they could share, along with coffee, since Alec seemed exhausted.
"I couldn't sleep, and so I jogged the entire way here from my house," He admitted.
Magnus chuckled. "I can see you doing something like that. I'll tell you what, I certainly couldn't run with that kind of stamina. I'm not particularly sporty. Why do you think I like being a warlock? I can be as lazy as I want using magic."
"Well, I'm not into most sports - just archery. But doing everything with magic will make you lazy, you know. What if your magic gets taken away one day?"
"Then I'll have my Shadowhunter boyfriend to protect me."
Alec chuckled nervously. Did one date make them boyfriends? Boyfriends. It sounded foreign in his head, but at the same time it gave him a warm feeling, especially when he fit Magnus into that equation in particular. Magnus. Alec's boyfriend. It seemed like too much to ask for, and they were still on the first date, after all.
"And using magic isn't easy, you know. I'm strong enough to hold my own. And I've got 400 years of experience. Surely I know enough about surviving to kick butt without relying solely on magic."
"Good point. The show has to weaken warlock powers for the sake of not making them too overpowered, but maybe one or more of them learned kung-fu during their long lives."
They got their cake with two forks along with a wink from Maia, who happened to be working there today. She was a part of one of Magnus's popular circles, Alec assumed, but though she may have been in school, Alec didn't know her personally.
"I think Shu might've informed her of my plans," Magnus admitted when Maia left.
Alec chuckled. "That sounds like her. She seems more invested in this relationship than we are."
"Aren't siblings wonderful?"
They started making conversation like they always had, and Alec felt extremely relieved to find they could get along the way they had before. Alec started eating the cake and found it was pretty good - and, as Magnus happily pointed out, it had whipped cream.
"You can't have desert without whipped cream," He insisted.
"This is breakfast," Alec countered.
"You can't have breakfast without it either."
Alec laughed as Magnus took a bite to emphasis his point. He took a larger bite overdramatically and ended up getting whipped cream on his nose, but was pretending that he didn't notice.
"You've got a little something…"
Magnus opened his eyes and went cross-eyed as he looked at the cream. Alec reached out and wiped it from his nose. Against his better judgement, he stuck his finger in his mouth to lick it off and was rewarded with Magnus's stunned face. Alec broke out into laughter and Magnus fumbled as he tried to recover.
"H-Hey! What are you laughing at?! I find nothing hilarious about this situation, thank you very much."
"Sure," Alec chuckled.
Magnus didn't hold out for long and broke into a smile. "It reminds me of when Shu said she hated whipped cream. I gave her a plate of it to the face."
"I assume that didn't go well."
"Hey, you should be on my side!"
Alec merely shrugged with a smile.
"Well, if you must know, it ended in an all out brawl involving whipped cream flying everywhere."
"They had a thing like that in my old school where people got a face full of whipped cream depending on the amount of money we raised for a fundraiser. This one time, they went a bit overboard and got in a whipped cream fight and a teacher slipped and fell. Izzy found it entertaining mostly because she volunteered me to be the one to get the cream."
"Is that where you gained whipped cream PTSD?"
"No. That came from the time Izzy tried baking cookies with whipped cream mixed into the recipe. A lot of it. And I was the first victim she could find within reach to taste-test."
He gave a sympathetic smile that showed he kinda cared but couldn't really understand. Not that Alec had really expected anything different. People were great like that. Even he was guilty of not being able to sympathize with people and, purposefully or not, being unable to feel much pity or understanding.
"We should do this again," Magnus said as they walked to the door.
"Definitely."
Magnus stopped outside the shop, his hands slipped into his pockets. "I'd give you my number, but we've already passed that checkpoint in this relationship, so…"
"Well, dates don't always have to end in a big soap opera moment of drama," Alec shrugged.
"But drama is what I do best, you see," Magnus smiled.
Alec wondered what was going through his head, but found it was progressively more difficult to discern his thoughts the longer he knew Magnus, rather than becoming easier. He couldn't tell if Magnus's smile meant he was thinking something that meant embarrassment for Alec or an actually good surprise.
That's why he was genuinely taken off guard when Magnus leaned in and stole a kiss. Alec didn't even have time to process closing his eyes, he was so shocked. Magnus's lips were soft, still tasting of the cake they'd shared, and Alec worked to memorize the feeling of the kiss, the curve of his lips, the heat that seemed to surge through him. And then it was over.
"Need a ride home?" Magnus asked casually.
How could he possible be so composed after that? "I…I, uh…sure…"
Magnus laughed and led Alec to his car while Alec tried to recover. Oh, this was so on now.
As they drove home, Magnus put on the radio and the two of them ended up singing to some of their favorite songs together - nothing new, since they had already been dorks together before, but Alec had felt something had changed between them. Something he couldn't express through words, but he knew that it was good, great, amazing.
"So…does this mean we're boyfriends?" Magnus asked, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice.
Alec smiled. "I'd like that," He managed.
"Great."
The two of them were both silent, trying to contain their joy, but just one glance at each other at the same time had them both breaking out into laughter.
"You wanna…go…get a bite to eat after school on Monday?" Alec asked.
Was it wrong to want to spend every second with Magnus now that they were dating? Alec mentally giggled. Dating. They were dating. Okay, he was going crazy. Then again, he was acquainted with Magnus.
"I'd love that," Magnus said.
After that, it was a long process of saying goodbye and then stumbling to the door of his house trying not to look like an idiot. When Magnus finally drove away, Alec finally managed to get the door open and collapsed on the floor next to the door. That had gone better than he'd expected. It took him a while to actual realized that what had happened was real.
"Alec! That you?!" Izzy called, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Great, when Izzy found out about this, she was going to demand to hear every detail. It was going to be a long weekend.
When Magnus got home, he was surprised to find Shu had invited Ragnor and Caterina over - Caterina holding Chairman Meow in her arms and petting the cat (yes, Magnus had named the cat Chairman Meow) while Shu had Church in her lap, the grumpy cat only able to tolerate her and their friend Jem - who was the original owner, but Shu got to cat-sit every now and then.
"Look who's back," Shu said. "How'd it go?"
"Did you really invite them here to hear about my love life?" Magnus sighed, crossing his arms.
"Well, Ragnor told me how smitten you were with this boy and I had to check it out," Cat said innocently. "So, how'd the date go? Please tell me you aren't being as stupid as Rag told me you were being and figured out that there was a misunderstanding."
"How many people did you tell?" Magnus demanded.
"Just everyone," Ragnor said casually.
"It's not like we all hadn't figured it out already," Shu said. "You haven't been your normal party-ing self lately, and it was so obvious you were in love from all the happy smiles that started happening from your mystery friend who wrote you notes on a desk. Then you two met, and it was so adorable, and I shipped it!"
Magnus rolled his eyes. "Sometimes you are such a girl."
She frowned dramatically. "Hey, what do you mean sometimes?"
"Sometimes you are such a girl, Mags," Caterina sneered. "But you don't see us complaining about it."
"I do," Ragnor declared. "Raphael would be the first to agree with me, and-"
"Oh you and Raphael," Magnus rolled his eyes. "'Oooh, Raphael is always so professional.' 'Oooh, Raphael brought up the most interesting points in that meeting you forgot to attend.' 'Oooh, Raphael and I are planning a June wedding.' Raphael would agree with anything you say because he has a policy of never doing anything that is awesome."
Ragnor crossed his arms. "I take offense to that."
"We're not here to talk about Ragnor and Raphael, we're here to talk about you and Alec," Shu declared. "Now spill it before I sick Church on you."
The cat hissed in Shu's arms and Magnus was both amazed and terrified at his sister's level of control over that cat. Other than Jem, Church hated everybody, and Magnus meant everybody, so he had no doubt that the cat would take any chance it got to attack.
Magnus sighed and sat down on the couch. Bad enough he had to tell his sister one way or another, but now there was Ragnor and Cat - possibly if not entirely the most judgmental and merciless of his friends. Magnus knew they did it out of love (did he though?) but they were still annoying.
"Okay, so I got there at around 8:30, and then I realized I should probably text him, but when I pulled out my phone he sits down at my table, and…"
"I hate balloons," Shu declared.
She tied another of the balloons they were preparing for prom.
"They pop, they take too much of my lung capacity to inflate, they're a pain in the arse to tie, and when they leak, there's no hope in saving them."
"Well, we're almost done," Clary said.
They had put a large sea of balloons into a net at the top of the gym, throwing the final ones in and securing the net.
"All good down here!" Charon called.
He was one of those athletic boys that had a posse that was helping out with the decorations. Luckily for them, he wasn't a jerk like the stereotypes on TV, and he wasn't working his minions to death. All of them were there voluntarily, and they all seemed to be having fun. Charon was a natural leader and his social skills weren't lacking, but Shu seemed to resent him for his perfection and went on to deny his worth constantly.
Shu slid down the ladder (Magnus didn't understand how she did that without breaking something or at least being terrified) and hopped off. "Balloons are in place, streamers are everywhere, lights are all working, and the DJ is set up. Anything else?"
"Glitter cannons," Magnus declared, pushing a trigger in his hand and having the little cannon shoot out sparkling confetti across half the dance floor.
"Way to fire it off before prom has even started," Izzy complained, an honorary guest allowed to be there since she was helping out with the setup.
"Don't worry. I've got plenty of reloads."
Izzy rolled her eyes, but Magnus poured another bag of confetti in without really caring much for the mess. It was going to get wrecked when prom actually began (because teenagers loved to make messes - especially when they didn't have to clean up) so what was a little pre-glitter-bombing gonna do, really?
"How are the snacks going, guys?" Shu called.
"Plenty of ice, cookies, popcorn, punch, water, and the regular buffet of treats," Dot recounted.
"Thanks Dorothy. Tessa, how's the entrance coming?!"
"Red carpet is in place. This'll be the best Hollywood-themed prom ever! Strobe lights, cameras, and props!"
Maia held up a fedora and a plastic crown. "You can dress up, too. And the pictures come out like a film reel."
"The camera's working, right Will?" Tessa called.
"Yup!" He called.
"And the background is in place," Jem called from a ladder where he was hanging a mural Clary had made.
Honestly, Shu couldn't understand what was going on with those three. Tessa seemed to be in love with both of them, but Jem and Will were best friends and didn't seem to have any rivalry. On the surface, at least. Shu was unsure of how this whole 'relationship' thing worked.
"Where's Alec?" Shu asked Izzy.
She looked down from her ladder where she was hanging streamers. "He's still freaking out about how to ask Magnus to prom. This prom that we are currently setting up. I say just go for it and he complains that it's not that simple."
Shu sighed. "Mags has got the same problem."
Izzy descended and hopped over the last three rungs. "Clearly they need an intervention. We need to get them together somehow, or they'll never get anywhere. My big brother is hopeless sometimes."
"My little brother is hopeless too, but in a completely different way. Hmm, let's talk to them tonight and shove them on a date. If the two of them don't get their act together tonight, they're gonna be going to prom single while dating each other! Think you can handle Alec?"
"You can count on me!" Izzy saluted. "I've been pushing and pulling my brother's strings since before either of us can remember."
"Preach it, sister."
Shu gave Izzy a fist bump and they started formulating a plan.
"It's called a date," Shu said. "You've been on tens of them with Alec before."
"Yeah, but I don't need your help setting them up," Magnus whined.
She crossed her arms and frowned. "You need to ask Alec to prom tomorrow. This is your last chance, and it will just be awkward if you two go separately and then hook up mid-way. Both of you need to man up, and considering there is no such thing as a woman in your relationship, that shouldn't be too hard. It's not like he's gonna say no."
Magnus rubbed the back of his head. "Sure, but…I don't know how to do it. I kinda just put it off, thinking I'd figure something out eventually. I wanna make it special, you know? If I just casually mention it, he might take it to mean that I don't care that much, but if I make a big deal about it, he might get all shy and nervous, and I don't wanna put him in the spotlight if he doesn't wanna be."
"You couldn't ask casually if you tried. Alec will know you mean it no matter what. If you don't wanna put him in the spotlight - considering the two of you are dating - do something that's special to the two of you. I've set up a dinner date and have enlisted aid to get Alec there too. Then you two go on a walk through the city or some shit and then it's up to you. Take him to that bridge or whatever that couples go to, or freaking take him home and watch cheesy movies, I don't care. Izzy and I will be out all night and staying at Clary's place for a girl's night, so it doesn't matter where you go."
"Geez, it's not like I'm proposing to him."
"It's a promposal, so I expect no less effort. You're going together, it shouldn't be that hard."
"Yeah, so why haven't you asked that Charon guy out yet?"
She scoffed. "Because we are not dating already, unlike you and Alec."
"So you're gonna date in the future?"
"Never. He's too prissy and high and mighty, and I'm supposed to be falling for him just because we're in the same room together."
"Well, you never know. He might ask you."
"D-Don't turn this on me. You need to ask Alec to prom tonight. Do it, or I will make your relationship pure hell."
Magnus had to admit that his sister did a lot to support him and Alec in their relationship. Having Shu as an enemy was something he'd seen many fall victim to in their naïveté, and it was definitely not in his best interest. Seeing as Shu had the ability to make any visit from Alec a nightmare and any visit to Alec's even worse, he had no doubt she could prevent them from ever being happy again.
"Okay, okay, I'll do it. Hmm…I think I know just the thing."
"Since when are you controlling my love life?" Alec complained.
"Since you started failing at controlling it yourself," Izzy scolded. "You haven't even asked Magnus to prom, it's only a couple days away now, and you two are already in the 'Officially dating, boyfriends' stage! We have a dinner date set up for the two of you, and then you're gonna walk around the city and do whatever the hell you want, but make it romantic. By the end of the night, you two better be going together, or I swear I will make sure you and Magnus will never have alone time again."
"You're going to follow me like a hawk? You realize that we can just see each other at school, right?"
"That's where Shu comes in. She's in on this too, and she has both a driver's license and more than enough dedication to her brother's life already that nothing gets by her. And don't you dare underestimate my abilities, big brother. I'm only a couple years younger than you."
Alec knew that his sister could be a pest if she was determined. Isabelle Lightwood was not a girl to be messed with.
"I'll go, I'll go. I'm just not sure how to ask Magnus. Do I just throw it out there? What if he's expecting something big and eccentric?"
"He's dating you. I don't think he has very high standards."
"Hey!"
"Look, if he likes you at all - and considering you're currently dating, I'd think he feels at least a modicum of love for you - then he won't care how the heck you ask. And if you two have a stable relationship, there's gotta be something special between you two that you can use to woo him. Think how you first met, something significant that you did during your first date, some special saying that you two have, etc. Just go and knock him off his feet."
Alec sighed. "Easier said than done."
Alec looked through his room. There were pictures of the time Magnus had given them makeovers as Shadowhunters. There were pictures from each of their dates after the first, along with the paper with the translated notes that Alec had received. He also had the picture of the code Magnus gave with his phone number.
It wouldn't be fancy, or fast, but maybe he could ask Magnus through their code. Or maybe that was pushing it too far. He'd already used it to make up for his royal mistake of rejecting Magnus a first date and then asking him again. He needed something new.
Maybe using something they had in their past wasn't the way to go. Maybe being able to try and make a new special memory was the way to go. After the dinner Izzy had set up, he had free reign to take Magnus anywhere he wanted. He should know Magnus better than anyone (except maybe Shu) so what would be the best thing for them to do together?
Well, simple but memorable was the way to go when it came to Alec.
"I think I've got an idea."
"Oh, thank the angel," Izzy muttered.
"This place is way too fancy," Alec muttered.
When Alec had arrived at the restaurant that Izzy had given him directions to, he'd found that Shu had dropped off Magnus (leaving Alec Magnus's only ride home, so there was no getting out of this). The two of them had gone in to find that they had a reservation. You needed a reservation to get into this place. He'd looked at the menu and just chosen the thing that looked like a steak. At the very least, Magnus looked slightly out of his element too, but he was playing it off pretty well and did most of the talking.
Magnus was nothing if not smooth.
"Yeah, well our adoptive dad, Kandai, is dating this guy, Ren, who's brother owns a big corporation and all. Our dad's got a job there too, so we've got a little money to spare."
"I wouldn't have guessed. It's not like you're living in a mansion."
"Kan doesn't like to boast. We pretty much live like regular people with only small luxuries here and there. Believe it or not, not all rich people are arrogant jerks throwing money around like there's no tomorrow."
"You're pretty flashy, but yeah, you don't look like an arrogant rich kid."
"I've had to go to a family meeting with Kandai and Shu for Ren's family. It was terrifying for all three of us, but luckily Ren was there to help and is a really nice guy. I've learned a little about rich family life, but we've tried to avoid those fancy meetings at all cost. Kan still has to go to some because of his job, but he's gotten used to it. He's still a normal guy at home. He works nights pretty often, so in the morning he's a tired wreck. Ren, by comparison, is like an excited puppy in the morning."
"He's a morning person?"
"Oh yeah. He goes on about how great the day's going to be, while Kandai groans to him to be quiet so that he can pass out on the table eating breakfast - well, our breakfast, his dinner. It's happened before."
Alec laughed. "Well, I'd be happy to meet them one day."
Magnus chuckled. "Well, if you're sure. They're a bit…much."
"I've grown up with Izzy and Jace. Trust me, they're 'much.'"
"Point taken."
Their meals arrived and the two of them attempted to avoid embarrassing themselves while they were eating and making small talk.
"So Jace actually managed to get a second date out of Clary?"
"Yeah, I know, right? But now he's berating me for good restaurants to go to. I told him a couple places and then he suddenly hung up on me, so I assume he went with the first place I told him."
"Aw, Biscuit better whip that boy into shape."
"Biscuit?"
"Oh, right, I suppose I never told you. I grew up with Clary as a good friend. She stuck by me through everything that happened with my parents and such. She was a nice and cute girl growing up - though our relationship was completely platonic - and at some point I started calling her 'Biscuit.' The name stuck. She's small and might look pretty harmless at first, but she's smart and strong-willed. Jace is in for a rude awakening if he thinks she'll just fall for him like that."
"Well, Jace has never put so much effort and thought into a date - he usually just has one night stands. He's ticked off many a people, girls and boys who care about said girls alike, but apparently his 'charms' or whatever still have plenty of people pining over him. This one girl, Kaelie, she's made it her goal to spite him any time they're together, and she's pretty determined."
"That sounds like a nightmare."
"It's why I don't bother with the whole dating thing. You never know when you're going to meet the one, and every time that you get it wrong, you lose friends and even make enemies. I doubted that anyone could truly find their perfect SO in high school."
Magnus shrugged. "So…what about now?"
Alec pursed his lips. "Well…I've certainly never met anyone like you before, never had a friend like you, and never thought we'd ever make it to boyfriend material…so you've definitely changed my perspective. I'm still nervous as hell and terrified of the moment this won't work out and we'll probably get into a fight and then break up and never talk to each other again and I'll go back to being alone and quiet and then I'll have to figure out my path in life and move on without you and then we'll go our separate ways and never talk to each other again and you'll probably move on and find someone else and Izzy'll tell me about how you've become famous and have gotten married and have kids and I'll still be trying to figure out what I want in life and I'll die alone-"
"Alexander, do you wanna go to prom with me?"
"Sure, that'd be great," He said quickly.
Magnus laughed. "Well…that wasn't how I expected this night to go. But Alexander, you shouldn't start thinking like that. Look, I have my insecurities too, but I don't want this to end because we're afraid. If you spend too much time worrying about the future, you'll never get to enjoy the present."
Alec chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry, I just…I've never done this before, I've never liked someone so much, and now that I've actually got a chance here, I don't want to ruin it."
"Have you ever liked anyone else? Surely you must've."
"Yeah, well…at one point I liked Jace, but he's straight as an arrow and never noticed, so…I guess I kinda lost hope after that. I mean, you never know if anyone else out there is…compatible. It's not like that's the first thing people say when they introduce themselves. 'Hi, I'm Tim, I'm straight.' 'Hello, I'm James, I'm gay.' You start to become paranoid that anyone you think that you like can't ever feel the same way."
Magnus smiled gently. "Well, no matter how things happened, by some lucky miracle, you and I found each other. I know that I like you a lot. I know that you've turned my whole world upside down, Alexander, and no matter what happens, I don't ever wanna let you go."
Alec sighed in relief, visibly relaxing. "Come on. Let's get outta here."
Magnus nodded and paid with the card that Shu had given him ("It's Dad's. Don't worry, he's asleep." "You can't just steal from Kandai, Shu!" "He loves me. And it's not stealing if we're going to give it back. It's borrowing.") He and Alec walked out and decided to stroll through the city. He was glad when Alec took his hand and happily laced their fingers together.
"So…I know that I already agreed to be your date to prom, but I did have another plan for tonight," Alec said.
"Oh? Well, so did I, but mine's probably pretty lame compared to yours."
"We'll just have to see. So, you wanna go first?"
"Mine is back at my place, so if yours is some place we need to go to, you should go first."
Alec smiled. "Well, mine is with me now, so how about we go at the same time?"
Magnus nodded. "Sure."
As Shu had all but abandoned Magnus there, Alec drove them to Magnus's place which, as promised, had been abandoned thanks to his sister. Magnus suspected that she convinced Kandai and Ren to go on a date and Ren had been so ecstatic that Kan couldn't say no.
"So, I was thinking we'd just have a Netflix marathon. Or, Hulu. Or YouTube. Whatever we want," Magnus said. "And you can spend the night."
"That'd be great."
As they'd been friends for a while even before they'd dated, they had each spent the night at each other's places pretty often (there is no such thing as being too old for sleepovers). They had extra clothes at each other's places, toothbrushes (always important), school supplies, food, movies, as well as other miscellaneous items that had been left at one point or another.
Magnus turned on the TV and the two of them settled in. They had a regular night of complaining about certain characters and plot holes, what someone should've done in that situation and how they loved their favorite characters.
Eventually, Magnus sighed and forced himself to get on with it. "Here."
He handed over a card to Alec, who took it in curiosity. On the front was a cute little sketch of Magnus as a warlock and Alec as a Shadowhunter. In Magnus's handwriting it read 'To my favorite Shadowhunter…'
Alec opened to card to have it shoot a puff of glitter up and out. Luckily, Alec had been fooled before and knew to aim the card away from his face and not hold it too close, so it just ended up getting all over the blanket on his lap.
"Should've seen that coming," Alec chuckled.
When he actually got the chance to look at the card's inside, he saw a small collage of pictures. There were some of Alec and Magnus when they had dressed up as a Shadowhunter together, there was the picture from Alec's phone of the first coded message he'd gotten with Magnus's phone number, and there were tons of pictures from their dates. There was a picture that Magnus had taken when Alec had gotten whipped cream on his nose, the time Magnus first glitter-bombed him, and the just a picture Magnus took when Alec wasn't looking while he was doing Calculus homework.
Then there were pictures that Magnus must've gotten from Alec's phone (which Izzy must've stolen at one point or another) of Magnus smiling at the camera during the random times Alec thought he looked adorable. There were one or two where Magnus hadn't been looking, along with the one that Alec had for his lock screen with the two of them together. All of the pictures were small but neatly organized. Alec knew that Magnus had an artistic side and guessed that he was probably going to go into fashion one day.
Then, there was a fancy cursive question in glitter pen: 'Prom?'
Alec smiled. "This is wonderful. But when did you - and Izzy, I know she was in on this - get my phone?"
"Oh, here and there," Magnus shrugged.
Alec chuckled. "Well, just in case it wasn't clear, yes, I would love to go to prom with you." Alec took the opportunity to kiss Magnus. He liked doing that. As often as possible. Which was pretty often. And it never got old. "As long as you're paying for the tickets."
Magnus rolled his eyes. "I guess I could ask Ren for some money."
"Uh, no offense, but I think you're more financially backed than I am."
"True, true. Anyway, I already got our tickets. Check this cool feature out."
Magnus pulled at the second half of the card and revealed an extra piece of paper that was thinner than the rest of the card, which held the two tickets that Magnus had bought.
"Wow, I couldn't even tell there was another section."
"I know!" Magnus exclaimed. "It's genius, right? I came up with a design that can hide that extra paper easily. I'm not sure about gift cards - those are a bit too thick - but money and checks and maybe even just receipts can be hidden here for that extra surprise."
"You could become famous with inventions like this."
"That's what Kan says, and Ren has offered to promote me, but I'm not sure I really wanna go public and be famous and whatnot until I'm at least out of high school."
"Well, one way or another, I know you're gonna go far."
Another opportunity to kiss Magnus that Alec took. Still never got old.
"Thanks, Alexander. Now, where's yours?"
Alec chuckled. "I'm not sure I can top this-" He held up the card "-But I'll try."
He reached into his pant pocket before taking Magnus's hand and setting something small and light into it.
"Don't laugh, all right?"
"Alexander, you know me better than that. I wouldn't laugh unless I was specifically meant to."
Alec nodded nervously. "Okay."
Alec moved his hand off of Magnus's and revealed a small charm. It had Japanese symbols on it along with some small patterns on the fabric. Though it wasn't much, Magnus was instantly attached to it.
"It's called an omamori, a Japanese amulet. It's supposed to bring you luck and protection. You once mentioned that you'd like to travel around the world, specifically you once said Japan, so…yeah."
"Alexander, this is…"
"It's lame, I know, I'm on a budget, but-"
"Alexander, it's wonderful. I don't need anything big or expensive. You put your heart into your gifts, and that's what I love about you."
"That all you love about me?"
"Among other things."
Alec smiled and the two of them kissed.
"You realize this means we're gonna be dragged out shopping, right?" Alec pointed out.
"Ugh, don't remind me. Izzy's gonna have a party. Jace and Clary are coming too, that's for sure. Not to mention Ragnor and Raphael - I swear those two are a thing but refuse to admit it - Cat because she's never been one to miss out on my misery, and then Tessa and her boyfriends."
"What is the official thing going on between those three anyway?"
"I think I heard Tessa and Will were officially together. But then again, there are rumors of her and Jem. Hell, a couple of people are shipping Will and Jem. Then there are those who think all three of them are together. Honestly, you could make a book series about those three. Then that book series would inspire a ton of fan fic where people tried to make sense of them and there'd be a divided fan base of who belongs with who!"
Alec patted him on the shoulder. "You okay buddy?"
"Yup."
"Well, barring our friends that are coming, I'm sure you'll look brilliant no matter what."
Magnus smiled. "Same for you, Alexander."
"There, this looks good. Happy?"
"Come on, Shu, at least pretend to be interested," Tessa urged.
"You know that's impossible for me, Tess."
"Let the girl go, Tessa," Cat jumped in. "She's bringing all of us down and you're just making it worse."
"You will try harder," Tessa declared. "We'll get you into something you like, one way or another."
"I don't know, I like it," Dot commented.
"How about we just buy this and I'll get Magnus to customize it?" Shu suggested. "You know that he's good with clothing."
"That's practically a wedding dress," Izzy argued. "You seriously think a pure white dress is gonna survive a prom filled to the brim with teenagers?"
"It will with a little Magnus flare."
"I think it's a great idea," Clary said. "Magnus has customized a lot of my stuff behind my back and he's actually done a great job. He makes things practical and stylish. Along with sparkly. Sparkles are a guarantee with Magnus."
"See?" Shu pressed.
Tessa rolled her eyes. "Ugh, fine, but you better be asking out that boy of yours."
"I don't have a boy!"
"None of us believe that, Shu," Maia said.
"Whatever! None of you get to control my love life! Besides, I can't do anything except be the DJ and I won't be free to dance, so even if Charon asks me out, I won't be going anywhere."
"No one ever mentioned Charon, hon," Cat pointed out.
"But you were all thinking it! I know how you all think! You thinky thinkers thinking you know everythink about me!"
They all shared glances. "Did everyone else hear that?" Clary asked.
"I think it's time we move on," Dot announced. "Isabelle, you're up next."
"Yes!" Izzy exclaimed, rushing out to grab the dresses she'd chosen.
"No, no, no, that color's all wrong on you," Ragnor muttered.
"What makes you a sudden expert?" Magnus complained. "Oh, wait, is it because you're dating Raphael, king of fancy suits?"
"No," Ragnor stressed, rolling his eyes. "It's because I have eyes and I know you well, my friend."
"But thank you for the compliment," Raphael said.
"I know nothing about suits, so I guess I can't really say what I think," Simon admitted.
"I'm not sure I'm seeing what difference it makes," Jace said bluntly.
"I think it looks good," Alec said.
"You think everything looks good on him," Will pointed out. "Shouldn't Alec be with the girls?"
"I'll try not to take offense to that."
"Yeah, Magnus should be with the girls," Jem corrected.
"They'd be a lot more fun than all of you," Magnus agreed. "Except for you, Alec. Love you!"
There was a collective sigh from everyone except Alec who looked around, confused.
"Oh, what are you all complaining about?" Magnus demanded. "Apparently you were all shipping this from day one, so make up your minds!"
"We simply knew this was inevitable," Raphael informed him.
"Hey, I'm all for it," Jem said. "I'm just tired of shopping. Anyone else?"
"Me," Simon said, raising his hand.
"I don't even understand why we have to try on more than one each," Jace stated. "Can't we just grab black tuxes that fit and leave?"
"Well, shopping with Magnus is a trying task," Will pointed out.
"Doing anything with Magnus is a trying task," Ragnor corrected.
Alec stood and sifted through the suits that they'd gathered to try on (which was basically one of everything they could find) and grabbed dark plum velvet one and passed it to Magnus.
"Try this one, but you can customize it later however you want. The color works with you, it goes easily with glitter, you can add golden cuff links and black buttons with sparkle. I know for a fact you have makeup that matches, and the darkness will contrast your flashy style nicely - especially with all the lights, confetti, and the sparkling outfits that all the girls will be wearing. It's got color but it's not dull, the velvet can easily be water-proofed to be party-proof in turn, and you somehow manage to make it look good. Now who's next?"
The others stared at him, and he saw Magnus was frozen in awe for a moment before he smiled. "I've taught you well, Alexander." He kissed Alec on the cheek which seemed to snap the others out of their surprise. "And I believe our dear William is up next."
Will sighed and stood. "Let's do this thing."
"Maaaaags?" Shu asked, peeking her head into his room.
"Almost done, wait over there."
Without specifying where 'there' was, Shu walked over to the seat that Magnus had in his room for 'Customers' as he called them. Turns out, a lot of people in his friend circle came to him for fashion aid, and even Kan had come a couple times for advice about dates with Ren.
"Okay, finished. How's this look?"
He showed off the modified suit that he made, having taken all of Alec's suggestions and made just the right amount of sparky, shine, and subtle color.
"It's great. Alec's gonna be blown away."
"I don't know. I think he's coming to predict me. He practically chose this for me."
"Well, imagining something and actually seeing the final results are two different things."
Magnus shrugged. "You have a point. Now, what can I do for you?"
Shu showed Magnus the dress she'd chosen and Magnus ordered her into the closet to change into it so he could get a better look at how it should turn out.
"It looks like a wedding dress, Shu."
"Well it's not!" She complained.
"Don't worry. I know exactly how to fix it up. Skirt will go down to the knees, we'll trim the little shoulder ruffles off, get rid of the lace here because you're a lace hater, and maybe add a pop of color/glitter to contrast the blankness. Oh, and of course we have to party-proof. Party-proofing is important."
Magnus took a picture of her from different angles, ordered Shu to change again and leave the dress with him, and then shooed her away to get to work. Shu usually felt embarrassed to ask Magnus for all of her fashion needs, but Magnus never found it a chore - rather he enjoyed the challenge and got bored when there was no one to help and nothing to fix. He bought random outfits simply so that he would have a project to work on. Still, he insisted that Ren not help him make a name for himself until after he graduated high school and had a little more time to think about what he wanted in life.
Shu waited a couple hours, sending Kan and Ren to their shared bedroom as both of them seriously needed time together with their busy and conflicting work schedules, and then surfed through Netflix for some new series episodes that she might want to see. She made some dinner for the boys, finding her dads sleeping together and waking them since eating was recommended (it wasn't as though she hadn't found them like that before, and at least every time they had the covers over them while snuggling together), and then she headed over to hand a plate of food to Magnus and a stack of napkins - as Magnus tended to be a neat freak when working.
By one in the morning, she was watching YouTube on her computer while simultaneously acting as a moderator for a 24/7 stream of one of her favorite Youtubers when Magnus came rushing in to say that he'd finished.
Shu's dress had been customized as Magnus had said, although he statement of 'a pop of color/glitter' had been taken seriously. He had created a stripe of what he had dubbed the 'Phoenix colors' (purple fading to red fading to orange) going from her right shoulder to her left hip, mimicked on her back as though she was wearing one of those ribbon things from pageants, but the skirt was the real shocker. Magnus had created a box pleated pattern with the Phoenix colors on the inside parts and the outside strips coming to a point like the armor on a Roman skirt you might see in a movie about Greco-Roman history.
"I love you, Magnus!"
Shu tackled Magnus in a tight hug before pulling back in realization.
"You need to eat and sleep, mister."
"Yeah, yeah," Magnus muttered. "But it turned out great! You're lucky to have me as your personal tailor. Normally a job like this would cost hundreds of dollars."
"I'll pay you back with my love?"
"Mmm, right."
"How about I pay you back by keeping your sorry ass alive. Now, eat."
Magnus got pulled away from his creation (as he tended to just stare at his completed art when they were finished for a long while to admire his work or look for flaws) and Shu got him to eat in the living room with the TV on to lull him to sleep.
When Magnus and Shu had picked up Alec in a limo they'd rented for the special occasion ("Are you sure we can use this, Ren?" "Please, I insist! You don't get many prom opportunities. Make sure to take pictures!") Alec had been blown away by the changes Magnus had made for his suit. Of course, Magnus had worked on Alec's outfit too, but this was the first time they were seeing each other actually wearing Magnus's new and improved prom outfits.
Alec wasn't the only one picked up. They got Dot, Ragnor, Raphael, Tessa, Will, Jem, Caterina, Clary, Jace, Maia, Simon, and of course Izzy. Ren insisted they get pictures of couples and just everyone all together, and then they all went in the limo to the prom. Upon arriving, their group made it early since they were a part of the crew who helped organize the thing and got to work with final preparations.
"You can man the balloon net," Clary had said, showing Alec a rope he'd pull to release the balloons in the ceiling.
Shu flipped a few switches and turned a few knobs to activate the sound system. "Let's do this, peeps!"
Music started playing, scaring a couple of the adults and her friends that were already there. Tessa, Will, and Jem had gone to turn on the camera system for the red carpet pictures while Dot, Caterina, Ragnor, and Raphael uncovered all of the food, set up the punch and water, as well as set out bags of freshly popped popcorn. Jace, Maia, and Simon helped with the other students to get the lights working and finish the rest of the preparations.
Once they'd finished, the floodgates opened and the students were all let in. And thus the chaos began.
"This is pretty cool!" Alec called above the music and the crowd of people.
"Glitter cannons!" Magnus announced, hitting the trigger and showering the crowd with sparkles - which they all seemed amused by.
"All right, Idris High, it's that time!" Shu called from the mic. "We're doing the Cupid shuffle, so all you haters that think you're too cool for it, get off my dance floor! Everyone else, let's do this thing! If you've never done this before and don't know how it's done - first I ask you: WHY? - but don't you worry, the song tells you the steps! Don't stop just because the instructions aren't coming anymore, the whole point is to keep going to the beat all the way! Without further ado, let's shuffle!"
Shu clicked the button for the song to begin and all of the students who either actual enjoyed the Cupid shuffle or were just too drunk to give a shit anymore started moving to the rhythm.
Alec was planning on sitting out this one and getting some food, but Magnus laughed and pulled him onto the dance floor. "You're never too old for a good Cupid shuffle! It's not like you need to know how to dance! Come on!"
Alec chuckled and conceded, following the steps to the dance with the others, but trying to be modest about it.
"Alexander, you have to loosen up!" Magnus demanded. "Dance like nobody's watching, because nobody is! There are too many people to single you out or anything!"
"I'm not a dancer, Magnus!" Alec shouted over the enthusiastic crowd.
"Doesn't matter! This is supposed to be fun! Come on, dance!"
Magnus bounced on the balls of his feet and started pulling Alec to add a spring in his step. Alec laughed and attempted to follow Magnus's lead. Alec didn't nearly have as much energy, as Magnus was a party animal at his core, but he let himself relax and improvise as Magnus was doing. He found himself having a good time, and Magnus further encouraged him as the next song began.
"We'll be doing the cha-cha slide soon, folks, so stay tuned and keep your ears open!" Shu announced.
Now that they were free to dance as they pleased, Magnus pulled Alec into an erratic dance of complete unpredictability. Magnus was definitely improvising to the max, spinning Alec, hopping around the dance floor, mixing together dance moves while simultaneously teaching Alec how to do them all with him.
Alec was nervous, afraid he wouldn't be able to keep up, but Magnus was persistent and taught him how to not care if there was a right or wrong way of doing things. He made up dance moves as he went, dancing around Magnus as the two of them clasped hands and mixed their random dance moves together, all while smiling more than he ever thought possible. Magnus spun him a couple times and then spun himself so that they were even, and Alec laughed as Magnus dipped himself dramatically.
One day, Alec might look back and cringe at everything that they were doing together, but at that moment, Alec didn't care. He felt more free than ever, taking that moment to just forget about the future, forget about all the inevitable struggles he'd face, forget about his insecurities, and just love Magnus more than ever.
Magnus kissed him on the dance floor more times than he could count, and for once he wasn't nervous in the slightest about who saw them.
Alec nearly slipped on the confetti glitter that Magnus's cannons had been spraying across the crowd, but Magnus caught him in a dip and then pulled him up to spin him onto his feet again, making Alec break out into laughter wondering how Magnus had pulled that off.
Alec realized there was still one more thing left to do that would cause even more pandemonium, but he didn't really care anymore. He went over to the rope Clary had showed him and pulled, the balloons being released as the crowd went wild. Alec joined Magnus under the rain of colorful balloons and kissed him.
When the balloons started popping (because teenagers couldn't be trusted with balloons without popping them) they stayed together as Alec jumped from a couple. Magnus had nerves of steel and didn't react to any, even when Jace rudely popped one right in their faces, but Alec let Magnus play the brave protector for that moment.
Overall, the night went brilliantly for them, and Alec couldn't imagine how things could possibly get better.
"You look great, angel!"
Shu jumped and nearly punched Charon in the gut had he not sidestepped out of the way.
"As jumpy as ever," He chuckled.
"Charon, don't sneak up on me like that!"
"I didn't sneak up on you! You just didn't hear me over the music!"
"Yeah, well you didn't have to scare me!"
"How else was I supposed to get your attention?! I tap you on the shoulder - fear punch to the face! I wave in front of your face - elbow to the gut! I actually scare you - kick to the gonads! I just stand here waiting for you to acknowledge my presence - we'd be here all night! I speak from a safe distance - I survive and we all have a good evening together!"
"Yeah? Well if you don't have anything important to say, go away!"
"Someone seems to be enjoying herself considering she hates parties and social gatherings!"
"I have full control over the dance floor! I am the queen of this hizhouse, I don't care who the prom king and queen are!"
"Well, every queen needs a king!"
Charon pulled her into a kiss that she was so shocked about she nearly fell over, prompting him to pull her closer to prevent her from taking a tumble.
"You are so dead," She muttered.
He simply laughed. "We'll see."
She smirked and stood straight again. "Let's see how you dance."
She hit a button that activated the slow dance song she had prepared before activating the randomizer and pulled him down into the crowd.
Shu positioned Charon's hands before stepping to the slow beat to begin a waltz. To her surprise, Charon was able to keep up with her very well, probably having learned the dance just in case she did such a thing. Shu felt she should probably be upset at his cocky smirk, but then he stepped forward onto her foot when he should've stepped back and she laughed.
"Don't think this means I'm gonna give up, Namir."
Shu chuckled. "I didn't say I did. Just glad to know you're actually human in there, Mat."
He sneered. "Asushunamir."
"Mataecharonsan."
He stuck out his tongue in defiance (because he was very mature) and she took the opportunity to get back at him by stealing a kiss.
"Yeah, sure, I'm dead, whatever," He muttered.
Shu giggled before they kissed again.
"Shu owes me twenty bucks," Magnus said.
Alec rolled his eyes as the two of them swayed to the slow dance. He was hot and sweaty from all their dancing, but he still took comfort from having Magnus against him.
"I'm glad I met you, Magnus Bane."
"I'm glad you wrote 'Hi' on the desk that day, Alexander Lightwood."
He smiled and kissed Magnus again for the millionth time that night. They would always be together, he declared. No matter what came between them, he wasn't going to lose Magnus. Ever.
"I'm so sore," Alec complained.
"That's what you get for being out of shape," Izzy countered.
"I'm not out of shape! I just don't dance."
"Only for Magnus."
"Yes."
"Here's you're mail, big brother."
Izzy threw the letters at Alec's face and he was too exhausted from the previous night to even try and catch them. So, he got smacked in the face with a bunch of paper that then landed on the table in front of him with his pancakes. Luckily he didn't have any syrup or butter on them or that could've gotten messy.
Alec sifted through a bunch of college recommendations. He still wasn't sure where he wanted to go or what he wanted to do with his life, but he had a few ideas. The only problem was that he didn't have much previous experience in any categories that he wanted - he wasn't much of an actor, archery wasn't exactly something he could make an instant career out of, nor was writing books. He'd been inspired by the Shadowhunters series ever since he was a kid, both books and TV shows, and it was his passion, but he was good at math and science too. He was a hard worker and multitasker, and even if he was nervous about being a leader, others told him he did well.
Alec wondered what Magnus planned to do. College was always the time when high school couples were drawn apart, but Alec was determined not to let that happen. He'd ask Magnus when he next saw him.
"Alec, you might wanna look at this," Izzy announced.
"What?"
She passed over a letter and he instantly recognized his mother's handwriting.
'Alexander, Isabelle,
I have sent this letter to inform you that an unfortunate chain of events has occurred recently. I do not wish to tell you over a simple letter, I would rather inform you in person, but you have a right to know as soon as possible. There was an accident, a break in of the Lightwood Industries - the prime suspect being Valentine Morgenstern's rival company. Max was injured but he's in the hospital now. I will tell you the rest of the details when you arrive. I've sent an escort to bring you to the hospital.'
"W-What happened?" Alec wondered aloud.
"'Brave Lightwood boy gets injured during break in,'" Izzy relayed, reading off her phone. "The story's just now getting out. Apparently Max tried to fight the intruder and got hurt. They're waiting for him to recover in order to identify who it was he saw."
"Mom and Dad would've never let Max do something like that."
"Yeah, the rumors say that Dad left him alone for some reason that's still being verified. Some say he was just going to buy lunch, others think he was doing some drug deal, others think it was an affair."
"The internet is never reliable. We need to hear this from them. How long until that escort arrives?"
"So, good news, kiddos!" Ren exclaimed.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Kan asked.
"Well, I talked to Ithuriel - you know, my brother slash best friend - and showed him Magnus's designs. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself! Anyway, he showed them to all the other bigwigs and things happened here and there, and as time went on I sent him more creations as Magnus continued his work, and now that you're going to start thinking about colleges and such, I figured it was a good time to start moving forward. Long story short, a lot of people and colleges are interested in your talent, Magnus! Oh, and don't worry, I've taken Alec into account recently and filtered out colleges that are foreign or don't have something for him as well. Most of the ones that I've picked for you to look at have plenty of departments and are very diverse. You can talk to Alexander about it with him, but here."
Ren pulled out a stack of letters and brochures and passed them to Magnus.
"And before you say it, I'll be paying for things, yes, and you can pay me back once you've become rich and famous. Consider me like your student loans except I'm nicer and give you all the time you need. Studying and taking classes while working a job isn't exactly an efficient process, so know that you can take all the time you need."
"I…Ren, these are…I-I can't-" Magnus stuttered.
"You can. Look, I'm already working on a better system for student loan and such with the company, and you'll be my first test subject. I know you're a good kid that'll pay me back. Besides, you're like a son to me, and it's a father's job to spoil his kids."
"And raise them properly, of course," Kandai added.
"Yeah, that too. Oh, and let's not forget the famous people who've sent notes to request your work. I've talked to a couple and filtered out the nice people from the 'I'm just going to use you' people."
"I…I don't deserve this, Ren!" Magnus exclaimed. "This is too much!"
"I've also contacted all your little buddies too, and trust me, you've got a lot. Don't think you're the only one I'm doing this for. You do realize that one of the branches of my company funds your school, right?"
"All those scholarship opportunities that are popping up?" Shu remembered.
"Yuppy-doe-doe. Look, philanthropy is my thing, kiddo. I've convinced my family that doing the right thing gets us good attention which helps us grow which helps us help people which makes us look good which helps us get positive attention which helps us grow which helps us help people! See? It's a win-win-win situation."
Kan leaned over from his morning coffee and kissed Ren on the cheek. "You are amazing."
"And you look terrible."
"Love you too."
"You look like a vampire, working all those night shifts. It's your week off and you need some sun. Come on, get dressed, mister."
Ren pulled Kandai off, who sighed and chugged his coffee. "The sun is too bright."
Shu giggled while Magnus sifted through all of the papers and letters Ren had given him nervously, still in shock.
"Hey, this is great news," She assured him.
"I…I-I know, I just…wow."
She patted him on the shoulder. "You should go to Alec's place. Tell him the news."
He nodded, but she wasn't sure if he'd heard her. "Right, right…"
"Aline Penhallow?" Alec repeated.
"Yeah, check it out! She wrote a personal request for me. She's an LGBT supporter - she just recently got married to Helen Blackthorn, the famous makeup artist that got famous from winning that Face Off TV show."
"Wait, the Helen that's doing the designs for the Fair Folk in the Shadowhunter series? That Helen Blackthorn?"
"Yeah, that one!"
"And you get the work with them?!"
"Yes! Alexander, this is wonderful! And of course you're going to come with me. Ren took everything into account and picked out colleges in the nearby area. They've got everything, so no matter what business you go into, there'll be a place for you. Of course they're still looking for talent, they're not just gonna take you because Ren paid them off - he believes in hard workers who have good hearts, but he knows who you are."
"Yeah," Alec nodded. "That's…that's amazing."
Magnus leaned to move into Alec's line of sight, as he was currently looking at the floor off the edge of the bed. "You seem distracted. Did something happen?"
Alec opened his mouth to tell Magnus what had happened, but hesitated. Magnus was in such a good mood right now - this was a brilliant opportunity for him, and Alec would be able to come with Magnus to meet his heroes and go to college with a paid scholarship from Ren's family's company. Magnus didn't need this weight on his shoulders.
"Nothing much. Just that my parents are taking me and Izzy to the Lightwood company for some meeting. They want us to visit and get into the family business. I'll be gone for a few days, visiting New York, but don't worry, they can't force me into anything. I'll be totally available to follow you anywhere you go."
Magnus smiled in relief. "Well, what do you think you're going to do?"
Alec sighed. "I…really have no clue. I know what I'm good at, I know what I want, but they don't really coincide. I'm good in business, in math and science, but I really want to do acting, maybe directing shows like Shadowhunters - except I'd make all the stuff accurate to the book's lore. The only problem is that I've never done drama before. I choke up when I have an audience - mostly because this isn't a world where being dramatic is a normal thing. Not taking everything seriously is how I get along in this world. I don't have any experience."
Magnus chuckled. "Well, you can be anything in this modern day, and it's not like you can't learn. You can't give up just because you're afraid. Everyone's gotta learn at some point. It not like all famous actors and artists knew their passion from the moment they were born, acting as babies, dancing before they could walk, and playing instruments before they'd even reached elementary school. Some people just figure out what they want later in life. A lot of people go through trial and error to find out what they're good at."
Alec took a deep breath. "And that's what I'm worried about. How long until I figure it out? How many times will I fail? Will I be happy when I finally find out what I'm good at?"
"You need to do what's in your heart. They say if you're not happy in your job then you shouldn't be doing it. We'll figure things out, and I'll be by your side the entire time."
Alec smiled. "Thanks, Magnus."
Magnus kissed him lightly. "Any time."
Magnus opened his laptop to email Aline about his response, how he was excited to work with her and Helen. He figured that he might as well do some research on the two of them first, see more of their design styles and work.
The first thing that he noticed when he opened a new tab was the hype about Aline and Helen's wedding that happened recently. The box with recent news slid through a few slides: Helen and Aline's wedding, the newest iPhone coming out, Kingdom Hearts III hype after about a decade or so of waiting, top 10 vacation spots, a woman arrested for some brawl in a store, the Lightwood break in, the latest top notch heavy duty trucks, 0% interest credit card deals-
Wait what?
Magnus clicked the arrow to go back a couple slides and clicked on the link. He was taken to a news article about a break in at the Lightwood Industries where the youngest Lightwood - Max - was badly injured and was recovering at the hospital. He was the only one who saw the intruder, but many people suspect Valentine Morgenstern's rival company. There were rumors about how and why Robert Lightwood - Alec's father - had left Max alone at the company building in the first place.
Why hadn't Alec told him about this? No wonder he'd seemed a bit out of it earlier.
Alec was going to be leaving today for New York to visit his family and probably visit Max in the hospital. Magnus quickly dug a suitcase out of his closet and started shoving some clothes and supplies inside. Kandai and Ren would understand if he called them later (they were out on a date right now in the city so it wasn't the time to interrupt them).
Magnus rushed out and grabbed the keys to the car (Shu would understand, he'd send her a text about where to pick it up) and drove to Alec's house as fast as he could while still keeping at the speed limit. When he arrived, he saw Alec and Izzy loading their own suitcases into the trunk of a fancy black truck. Magnus parked his car across the street and then grabbed his suitcase from the back seat, rushing over before Alec closed the trunk.
"Alexander!"
Alec looked up in surprise as Magnus pulled the trunk door open again and set his suitcase inside.
"I'm coming with you."
"What? Magnus-"
"No arguing. You think I wouldn't find out what happened?"
Alec blinked in confusion before frowning. "Curse the modern day internet."
Magnus chuckled. "You're not going without me. Kandai and Ren will understand. Come on, let's go."
"Magnus is coming with us?!" Izzy called from the front seat (having called dibs).
Alec sighed. "Apparently."
The two of them hopped into the back seat and the driver their parents hired took them to the airport where they boarded a Lightwood private jet.
"And you made me pay for prom tickets," Magnus sneered.
"Ha, ha. I'm sorry my parents don't send me buckets of money, but I've got a limited allowance. Don't tell Mom and Dad I said this, but Ren's family's Mortal Instruments company is way bigger than the Lightwood Industries."
"Well, it's only the truth. Mortal Instruments dabbles in practically every business out there. I bet they bought out Lightwood Industries."
Alec punched his arm. "Shut up."
Magnus laughed as they boarded, heading for New York and the rest of Alec's family. Magnus sent a quick text to Ren and Kan before turning his phone off, not really wanting to face their replies - Shu's in particular when she found out she'd been ditched.
"I'm coming, Max," Magnus heard Alec mutter.
"Ugh, jet lag," Izzy muttered.
"We're only a couple hours in difference, Iz," Alec pointed out.
"Whatever."
They were given their bags and got into another car that took them to the Lightwood mansion where Alec's parents and Max lived when they weren't out on business.
"Mom!" Alec called when they arrived.
"Alec."
Maryse Lightwood was a strict woman, but she was a hard worker. She'd made mistakes in the past as a teenager, but had worked ever since to make a new name for herself. Now she was the head of a successful corporation along with her husband and had three wonderful children.
Normally Maryse was completely composed and a strict parent for show, but at the moment, she looked stressed and on the verge of breaking down.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Izzy asked. "Did something happen? Is Max getting worse?"
"I'll explain everything when your brother arrives," Maryse promised. "For now, settle into your rooms. Of course your…friend is welcome."
"Jace is coming too?" Alec asked.
Maryse nodded. "He's a part of his family just as you are."
The two of them nodded and headed up the stairs with Magnus following behind.
"We have plenty of guest rooms," Alec informed Magnus. "Izzy and my rooms are over this way and you can have the one that's next door."
Magnus nodded. "Thank you, Alexander."
"What do you think's wrong?" Izzy wondered. "I've never seen Mom so distraught. Is Max gonna be okay? He's at the best hospital in New York, right? Mom and Dad wouldn't accept anything less."
Alec put his hand on Izzy's shoulder. "He's gonna be fine, Izzy. Max is tough, you know that."
She nodded. "Right, right. Why didn't Jace just take a plane with us? How long until he gets here? Can we go see Max?"
"Calm down, Izzy. I'm sure Jace isn't far behind us."
Izzy nodded and went into her room while Alec dropped his stuff in his and showed Magnus to his.
"Max is fine, right?" Alec asked.
Magnus nodded. "He's gonna recover, Alexander. It's gonna be okay."
Alec nodded, taking a deep breath. "It's gonna be okay."
"There you are, Magnus!"
The door to his room opened and, to his surprise, Shu came stomping in with a rolling suitcase behind her.
"Shu, how did you-?"
"I came with Jace and Clary when I heard the news from Ren and Papa. Nevermind that, how could you leave me behind?! I'm your sister, your partner in crime, the brains and the brawn to your glitter!"
"I take offense to that."
She sighed. "Whatever. Come on, we're going to visit Max."
She set her suitcase next to Magnus's and grabbed his hand, pulling him out and down the stairs to the limo where everyone else was already getting in.
"Mom, now will you tell us what's going on?" Izzy asked.
"When we get there, sweetheart," Maryse promised.
The rest of the drive was filled with awkward silence. Magnus got a feeling that he shouldn't be here, that this was a situation for the Lightwood family and the Lightwood family alone.
When they arrived, only the Lightwoods were allowed into Max's room - Jace counting as family as well, leaving Shu, Magnus, and Clary waiting outside.
"Jace seemed really stressed," Clary revealed. "Max is his family too."
"It's up to us to support them through this, right?" Magnus asked.
"Right," Shu nodded.
Alec hugged Izzy as she rested her hand on the side rail on Max's bed. The youngest Lightwood had numerous bruises and cuts, was hooked up to a ton of equipment, using a tube to breathe, as well as wrapped in a couple casts for broken bones.
"How bad is it?" Jace dared to ask.
"He has a few cracked ribs, a broken arm, a concussion, a lot of blood loss, and a crushed windpipe, along with all of the cuts and bruises," Maryse recounted. "They're attempting to recreate the situation, but it looks like he attempted throwing some items at his attacker, but whoever it was retaliated by throwing a vase at his head. Max fought hard but was choked and nearly beaten to death. If he hadn't been found when he was, he probably might not have made it."
"Did they get anything to help find out who did this?" Alec asked.
"Max was smart, he sliced his attacker to get a blood sample, he clawed at the person to try and get any DNA possible. The police are investigating now, but if Max can confirm anything when he wakes, they'll have solid proof."
"He's gonna be okay, right?" Izzy demanded. "He's gonna wake up, he's gonna recover!"
Maryse moved to hug Izzy. "Only time will tell, but he's in stable condition for now. He just needs a little time to heal, but he should be okay."
"He should?"
"He will," Jace corrected. "He will. You know Max. He's a stubborn kid, he'll pull through."
Alec grabbed Max's glasses on the table next to the window, one of the lenses cracked and the other completely gone. The frame was slightly bent out of shape and one of the temples that went over Max's ears had been snapped off. Alec had always thought that the glasses were too big for Max, but he'd assured his big brother that he'd grow into them. Max wanted so desperately to grow up and be respected, to stop being treated like a kid just because he was the youngest. Maybe that's what made him run into the fray so carelessly against an intruder rather than call for help first - Max wanted to prove that he could handle himself, that he was an adult.
"I'll never treat you like a kid again, Max," Alec promised. "Just come back to us, please."
"The doctors say that he's stable," Alec reported. "He just needs time to heal."
"Told you it would be okay," Magnus smiled gently.
Alec nodded. "Yeah." He let out a deep sigh. "So, we have a little time in New York. Who wants McDonalds?"
"You know, this would be a great place to live," Magnus commented.
"You like the city?" Alec asked. "It seems pretty chaotic to me."
"He loves the chaos," Shu corrected. "My brother thrives from stress and people and a method to the madness."
"Well my brother likes to use method to prevent the madness," Izzy informed them.
"And Jace likes to use madness to prevent method," Clary challenged.
"I do not," Jace protested.
"You do," Alec and Izzy said in unison.
Magnus, Shu, and Clary broke out into laughter while Jace crossed his arms and accepted it. "Well, I take pride in that statement."
The six of them tried to enjoy their time in New York, getting their minds off of Max's condition and assuring each other that he was going to be fine.
Magnus's phone buzzed in his pocket and he took it out to see that he was getting a call from a private number. Magnus declined it for fear of stranger danger, but then his email notification popped up and showed that he'd gotten a response from Aline. He clicked on the email to open it and saw that Aline had sent two different messages.
The first was all about how she was happy to have Magnus aboard and couldn't wait to meet him and Alec, but the second was a simple 'I'm calling you with this number. Please pick up if you're free.'
Magnus went back into his call list and confirmed the number before pressing the call button. "I gotta take this, guys."
He slipped away to be outside of the busy restaurant before putting the phone to his ear.
"Magnus!"
"Uh, yes?" He asked hesitantly.
"It's me, Aline! Ren'ai recommended you to me!"
"How did you get this number?" He asked.
"I have my methods. And Ren gave me it."
"Oh, that makes sense. But why are you calling me?"
"Well, I heard you were in New York. Me and Helen are here shooting a show, but I figured we could meet up!"
"Wait, Helen works on the make up for the Shadowhunters show, right?"
"Yeah, that's the one! You a fan?"
"Of course! Me, my friends, my family and ditto for my boyfriend."
"You can come and join us on the set for a day! As long as your friends behave, of course. Am I moving too fast? I can tend to do that." Her voice grew more distant as she apparently turned away from the phone. "Am I moving too fast?"
"That's up to Magnus," Another voice said in the background.
"Am I moving too fast?" Aline asked Magnus again. "Sorry, I'm just really excited to meet you. Ren's sent me all your work and has been hyping you up for so long! But if I'm moving too fast, don't be afraid to tell me."
"Well we'd love to come, I'm sure, but when?"
"Any time you're free. This is practically a 24/7 operation over here. How about tomorrow at 7. I'll send you an address that we're currently shooting at."
"I'll ask the others, but sure, that'd be great."
"Great! Oh, and bring some more pics of your work, if you can. I'd love to see more - Ren's told me you made quite the collection for prom with your friends."
Magnus chuckled. "Sure, I'd be happy to. See you."
Magnus said his goodbyes to Aline and then headed back in to the others.
"What was that about?" Clary asked.
"That was Aline," Magnus said.
"Aline?" Izzy asked. "As in Aline Penhallow?"
"The one and only. And guess what she just offered."
"I can't believe we're really going to the real set!" Izzy exclaimed. "You chose the best boyfriend EVER!"
Alec chuckled. "Well, it's not like it was my intention. I just wrote a note on a desk."
"And so began the cutest love story ever," Shu sighed.
"Not really," Magnus protested. "I mean it wasn't that interesting. I just wrote my number in a simple code and then we started hanging out and I started liking him and then I asked him out but he low key rejected me and then realized that he'd low key rejected me because he hadn't realized he low key rejected me when he low key rejected me and then we went on a date and it was nice - I got whipped cream on my face - and then-"
"Magnus, calm down," Shu interjected. "Breathe."
Magnus did as she said and took deep breaths. "Right, right, yes, all good."
A limo pulled up as Aline rolled down the window and waved. She hopped out the moment that the vehicle came to a stop and instantly spotted Magnus (as he was pretty recognizable). Aline's face wasn't exactly foreign to Magnus, as he'd looked up to her among others as a designer, but even more so recently as he'd done his research before meeting her. She was half-Asian, with curved cheekbones, dark brown, round, almond-shaped eyes, a delicate, pointed chin, straight, black hair, and a small stature.
Though she was well known for her fashion designs, she also dabbled in ice sculpting as a hobby and had done a couple of the ice sculpture props for the show - which meant she had to make multiple versions of each sculpture for the days of shooting that usually took place for any given scene, and she had to make them exactly the same each time. She excelled at the detailed craft just as she did with fashion designs.
Aline gave a warm smile. "You must be Magnus Bane. You look even sparklier in person."
Magnus chuckled. "I'll take that as a compliment. And you're Aline Penhallow."
"Well, Blackthorn-Penhallow, but semantics. So, who are all your friends?"
"This is Clary and Jace, my sister Shu, my boyfriend Alec, and his sister Isabelle."
Aline happily shook all their hands. "It's nice to meet you all. Come on, we should hurry to the set if we wanna make it before Helen finishes. Lucky for you all, she's decorating some Seelies right about now."
"Awesome!" Izzy exclaimed.
Aline took them to the set, filled to the brim with workers all around. Aline had their pictures taken for their I.D. passes and then she guided them to a make up room where they found the actors being dressed up. While all of them were giddy with excitement, Magnus was still nervous as hell thinking about showing his work to Aline. It wasn't as though any of the pictures he took were professional - he'd taken them with his phone camera in his room while attempting to get the lighting and angles right as best he could. Aline was a nice enough person, but he still worried about making her regret her decision. What if she began to reconsider but still accepted Magnus just because she was trying to be nice? Magnus didn't want to burden her like that.
"Helen! They're here!" Aline called.
One of the women that they had assumed was a part of the Seelie crew of actors turned with a smile. Helen Blackthorn was pale, beautiful, and petite, fully dressed up as a faerie to add to her loveliness. She had pale, white-gold hair that fell in ringlets tucked back to show off her pointed ears as well as blue-green eyes that popped against her light skin.
"You're Magnus, hello!" Helen greeted instantly. "And all your friends, hi! I'm Helen Penhallow-Blackthorn."
"Blackthorn-Penhallow," Aline corrected.
"We're working on it," Helen waved off casually. "Anyway, I'm glad you could make it. I've looked at Magnus's designs with Aline and I can't wait to work with you. Jade, don't pick at your ears like that! Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, right! Aline said you were bringing some new pics!"
Magnus tensed and pulled out his phone. "O-Oh, right, I have them here. They're not professional pictures or anything, but-"
"None of the pictures that Ren sent us were professional, but here we are," Aline assured him. "The rest of you are free to explore the set and meet the actors. Just try not to be too bothersome. I informed them of your arrival, so they should be prepared for you. They have a couple things planned for you guys just on the fly while we're setting up."
"Amazing! Let's go!" Izzy exclaimed, pulling the nearest person (Jace) along with her.
Aline and Helen both swiped through Magnus's gallery with all his pictures of the recent projects for their prom.
"I love this dress," Helen exclaimed, looking at Shu's Phoenix-stripped white prom dress. "Can we use this design for the mourning dress?"
"We can certainly ask," Aline said. "These are amazing, Magnus. And it took you how long to customize these?"
"Oh, about 18 hours for my suit and 15 hours for the dress. So it took me about two days."
"Did you even eat and sleep?! This is professional work that usually takes weeks."
"It's not really professional. The fabric I used was cheap and I cut a few corners, basically throwing all the tutorials and actual real patterns away for improvisation."
"Well for cheap improvisation, you sure know how to make it look real," Helen commented. "And isn't that the art of all marketing? Making cheap stuff look professional? You'll fit in quite nicely around here."
Magnus chuckled nervously while Aline laughed. "She's kidding, but she is right about you fitting in. We'd be happy to have you aboard as my apprentice."
"R-Really? I mean, if it's not too much trouble…"
"Oh, we knew we wanted you from the moment we first saw your work and Ren told us how nice you are! Now that we've actually met you to confirm things, we want you around as soon as possible."
"She's right, you know. Now, I gotta hurry up and finish with the rest of our Fair Folk over here, but we'll be in touch!"
Helen waved and went over to finish the make up of one of the Seelies and then a pointed ear of another.
"Here's Helen's contact information, and you have my number in your phone from our call," Aline said, handing Magnus a card. "We're excited to be working with you, Magnus Bane."
"That was amazing," Clary exclaimed. "They showed us the weapons, we got some runes drawn on by professionals and we each got Steles from our favorite characters!"
"I got these contacts and this bracelet for my own Warlock Mark," Shu corrected. "Here, I got the High Warlock of Brooklyn's Warlock Mark for you, Magnus."
"Cool."
"Did things go well with Helen and Aline?" Alec asked.
"Thing went…brilliantly! I'm in! I'm going to be Aline's personal apprentice!"
"That's amazing, Magnus! Congratulations!"
"We knew you'd be accepted," Shu said.
"As if there was any doubt," Izzy shrugged.
"If they didn't see how incredible you are, then they wouldn't have been worthy of you," Clary agreed.
"Gotta admit, you're gonna go far," Jace added.
"Thanks everyone," Magnus sighed. "But that was a nerve-wracking day."
"I say we get celebratory ice cream," Shu suggested.
"Totally." "Yeah!" "Oh, yes please." "I'm in." "I don't see why not."
The group went and bought their ice cream ("It's frozen yogurt, Alec." "Whatever, Izzy.") and enjoyed the night together before heading back to the Lightwood mansion. The moment they arrived, they saw Maryse waiting for them, looking solemn.
"Mom, is something wrong?" Izzy asked.
She nodded gently. "I hope you're not too full for dinner."
"What's this all about?" Izzy demanded half way though her meal.
Maryse set down her glass of wine, clearing her throat and sitting forward. "They found out why your father left Max alone."
"What?" Jace questioned.
Maryse hesitated for a long moment before Alec spoke up. "Is dad cheating on you?"
Maryse didn't respond, but her stoic façade began to break down as she struggled not to cry.
"Bastard," Jace muttered.
"Understatement," Izzy hissed.
Maryse wiped her tears and took a deep breath. "I'd had my suspicions before, but when your father found out I was pregnant with Max, things got better. This…this was not how I wanted to find out that…"
"Where is he?" Alec demanded.
Maryse sniffled and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "Oh, he's facing the media's wrath right about now. Let's just say the story got leaked pretty quickly."
"Do you know who the woman is? I mean we could-"
"No, Alec. Just…enough. I don't want this to get any bigger than it already is. This isn't going to lead to some vendetta; the press is going to handle most of the punishment if you're concerned he's going to get off without his comeuppance."
"Mom…" Izzy began. "What…what are you gonna do?"
Maryse sighed, wiping her face of tears quickly. "Well…I'm taking Max, when he recovers. There's little chance Robert will be allowed custody of him. And after that…" She took a deep breath. "…I suppose…life will go on."
"You should come home with us, Maryse," Jace suggested. "We're close to graduating and we could work together in the company. I think you deserve a break from all the traveling around."
Maryse gave a weak but warm smile. "That…That sounds like a wonderful idea."
Magnus and Clary exchanged glances. They clearly both felt out of place in this conversation, but they were going to support the Lightwood (Jace was a Herondale technically, but he'd practically been raised a Lightwood since his grandmother, Imogen, worked in the company with Maryse so their families were close) family in this dark moment in time.
Magnus took Alec's hand under the table and gave him a smile to try and covey his support, while Clary did the same with Jace. Shu, meanwhile, acted as Izzy's support, putting a hand on her shoulder and nodding to Alec's sister. Izzy nodded back, taking her mom's hand and muttering encouraging things while also suggesting they move the conversation to a brighter topic.
Maryse took a deep breath to compose herself and let out a sigh, giving a weak smile as she sat forward in her seat. "So, boys. Tell me about your significant others that you've been seeing. In all the chaos, I don't think we've had the time to address this situation."
Alec and Jace exchanged a weary glance that said clearly 'You first!'
Evidently, it seemed that Alec won the stare-off, as Jace sighed and slumped in his seat.
Well, this was going to be good.
"You think he can hear me?" Alec asked.
"Only one way to find out," Magnus said, his arm around Alec's waist as they stood beside Max's bedside.
Magnus gently urged Alec to go forward, releasing his hand as he sat at the chair beside Max's bed.
"Hey, Max. I know it's been a while since you've stayed home with us, but Mom plans to take you back. You'll probably be joining me in high school when we get back, with your brains. Izzy will be jealous. She's been waiting to get to high school for ages now. Also driving, she's eager to drive. That's something you won't be able to beat her at, but that's okay. You gotta let her have something."
Alec went on rambling, realizing that it had been months since he'd seen Max and there was so much to catch him up on.
He hoped Max could hear him.
"You think he'd like this stuffed bear?" Magnus asked.
Alec shrugged. "Not sure. It's the thought that counts, though."
Magnus frowned. "I mean, if Max wouldn't want it, we wouldn't want it to go to waste."
The bear's new home would soon be Magnus's nightstand.
"You think Max would like me?" Magnus realized. "I mean, Maryse wasn't outright against us, but…she seemed a bit nervous at the subject."
"Well, I wasn't really out to her or Dad yet. They pushed a couple times by asking me if I had a girlfriend yet, but when I said no they didn't push the matter any further. It just kinda never came up and neither of them cared."
"At least she didn't blow up. That's more than enough for me."
"I'm not sure how Max would react. He's a smart kid for sure, but I'd imagine he wouldn't be interested in my love life. It would just pass right over his head."
"I'm sure he idolizes you. You're his big brother."
"Yeah, but we weren't attached at the hip or anything. In our household, we kinda just coexist - we don't resent each other, we don't go to extreme lengths to not talk to each other or stay in different rooms or anything, but we're also not perfect brothers who are perfect best friends either. We talk to each other when we need to and it's not awkward, but we also wouldn't go out of our way to learn about each other's lives."
"So not bad, but not great. Acceptable. As long as he doesn't make things awkward between us, I'm once again golden. Shu's always been a pain in my opinion, but I love her all the same."
"Izzy's that way too. Sisters are a lot different than brothers."
Magnus kissed Alec on the cheek. "You and your brother should take this opportunity to get to know each other better. You can't stay just acquaintances forever - you're family."
A smile tugged at Alec's lips from Magnus's support. Anything Magnus did, really, it sent a wave of warmth through him. "I know, Magnus. I'm never gonna let another second with him pass by."
The days continued in New York. Magnus - any by extension everyone else in his posse - got to visit the Shadowhunters set and help out Aline as well as watch the filming.
Aline and Magnus got to work on new pieces together, Magnus getting a rush from the busy schedule, the long hours, the time spent staring at a piece of paper trying to have an epiphany about a new style or design. He was a natural, Helen had said.
Alec, meanwhile, didn't understand how Magnus survived, but then again, Magnus had reserves of energy that were better left unquestioned. He could party all night without breaking a sweat, Shu had said, and so this work schedule was just the change up Magnus needed to keep entertained.
Alec and his siblings visited Max regularly. Alec talked to Max for ages, thinking of all the things that he planned to do with Max when he woke up. Max was still a kid in Alec's eyes and he deserved the chance to be one.
"Is he recovering?" Alec dared to ask one day.
The nurse pursed her lips and looked at the myriad of data and charts on Max. "It will certainly take a very long time, but his body will recover eventually. We've got him set up so that he should heal properly with little to no permanent damage, but his mind has been silent ever since. We can't say when he'll wake up, but we don't want him to wake up when in his current condition. Consciousness would only make his stay more miserable, unable to move or interact with anyone. Just give him time to rest and…and keep talking to him. It will help his brain activity if he hears familiar voices. Even if he won't wake up for a while, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't let his mind atrophy from lack of use."
Alec nodded. That was simple enough.
Magnus, on top of all his work with Aline and getting set up to be her apprentice, along with working out all the college credits he still needed to earn on top of his work with her, somehow managed to make time for Alec - more than Alec expected.
"How's Max doing?"
Alec gave him his best summary of what he'd been told.
"Ah, that's good. You should have plenty of stories to tell him. Not to mention Izzy and Jace help out too. You can all take shifts."
"I'm not so sure I want Jace to be teaching Max anything. Considering his track record with women, his attitude, his hubris…"
Magnus laughed. "Can't argue with that. But Clary's straightening him out, bit by bit. Biscuit has some miracle powers that resists Jace's so called 'charm.'"
Alec chuckled. At one point in his life, when he was still figuring out his sexuality, he had once fallen for Jace's charm too. But then he grew up with Jace, learned how obnoxious he could be when you spent too much time with him. Not to mention he learned to accept that Jace could never like him like that, that Jace was a ladies man, and though he could charm the naïve classic teenage girls, he would've been labeled as a jerk that broke the heart of every girl he passed within a matter of hours by TV show standards. Adding on the fact that Alec didn't understand his attraction to the female species, Jace was an enigma that Alec wanted to take a big step back from - especially when he hit puberty.
"Note to self, keep Jace from teaching Max anything about women."
"Duly noted."
"Is Max a fan of Shadowhunters?"
"Yeah, I think so. It's, like, the one thing we talked about to get a conversation started whenever he visited."
"Maybe I can get him something from the set as a present."
"Check it out."
Magnus handed Alec his phone.
"There's a fundraiser sponsored by the cast to help Max in his recovery."
Alec blinked. "Was this your idea?"
"No. I just mentioned it to Aline and asked if there was a gift that she suggested, and then word got out about it with the cast, and suddenly everyone's on board and wishing Max well."
Alec smiled gently at the phone. "Max would be so excited to hear he's got all this attention."
"Well, when he wakes up, the internet will blow."
"He's never had the chance to be a kid before. Maybe he can finally have something to nerd out about with the rest of us, and he can have fun seeing the set."
The days went by with little conversations between Magnus and Alec when visiting Max. Sometimes the others popped in - Clary, Jace, Izzy, Shu, Maryse, or a certain combination of two or more.
Alec was beginning to get quieter each time though. Max had plenty of gifts, from flowers, to balloons, to cards, with tons of extra support on social media. Meanwhile, Magnus saw the story about Robert Lightwood and his affair getting out and blowing up. There was tons of ridicule about how his infidelity was bad enough, but now his youngest son was dying. It was very exaggerated, how Max was on the verge of death, but other news stations confirmed that Max was alive and recovering well.
Magnus didn't ask Alec how he felt about the media situation, and Alec didn't even seem to know. He was purposefully avoiding talking to any newscasters or interviewers, and opted to avoid social media on his phone. Magnus understood why. Alec didn't care about any of that at this point - he just wanted his little brother back.
"You think he's getting better?" Alec asked one day.
"I'm sure of it," Magnus assured him.
Max was still hooked up to the regular equipment that he had been ever since the Lightwood family (plus their extras) had arrived. How many days had it been? How many weeks? Had it been a month yet? More?
"Hey, it's gonna take time," Magnus said, resting his hand on Alec's shoulder. "Those kids that are taking athletic classes? They've been seen in crutches for practically half the school year at minimum. Don't be surprised if it's a few more weeks before he wakes up, as long as he wakes up in the end. You need a distraction. How about I take you to dinner? We are long overdue for another date."
Alec rolled his eyes but scoffed. "Sure. What do you wanna do?"
"We're in New York. Obviously, we need to try some pizza."
Alec laughed. "Wanna Google the nearest and cheapest pizza place?"
"Darling, I've got a big enough budget now that we don't have to go for the cheapest."
"Magnus-"
"Let me spoil my boyfriend who's going through a tough time, all right? Besides, it may be a bigger budget, but it's still a budget. I'm not gonna buy you a million dollar pizza."
"They make those?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. Google to the rescue!"
Alec laughed and allowed Magnus to take him on their date to cheer him up. They ended up sharing a pizza, Magnus making a funny face so that Alec laughed and nearly choked. He got sauce all over his face and Magnus courteously wiped it off.
"We should do this every week," Magnus said. "It'll keep your spirits up. Next week's ice cream, 'kay?"
Alec smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."
"So what's the second derivative of number 26?"
"Eighteen x squared plus ten."
"And what do the zeros of the equation tell you?"
"The…the parts where the curvature changes."
"And how does that help you find the max of the original equation?"
"The places where the curvature switches from positive to negative are the maxes and mins."
"No, that's the first derivative. The second just tells you whether it's a max or a min based on the sign."
Alec wrote down the notes of the lesson for the hundredth time. Stupid calculus being easy but difficult. Like, he knew how to do the stuff, but when he was asked 'Find x, y, or z' he didn't know what the question was asking of him. Why were there two derivatives?!
"Let's try number 27," Shu suggested.
Alec's phone rang. "In a sec."
"Don't think you're getting out of this!" She called as Alec walked out of the room to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Alec?"
It was his mom. There was a shaking in her voice that Alec instantly picked up on, and suddenly he grew concerned.
"Mom? What is it?"
"Are your brother and sister with you?"
Alec looked into the other room where Jace and Clary were on the couch doing history homework together while Izzy was reading a book for her English class and taking notes.
"Yeah. Why? Is something wrong?"
"Come over to the hospital, right now. All of you."
"What? Why?"
"Alec…he's gone. Max…it…he passed away a couple minutes ago."
Oh, I'm so evil!
I'm sorry, but it's canonical, people. Why do I hate my characters so much?! Oh!
But this was so much fun to write, I'm sorry it took so long to update and I'm sorry it was so long because I tried so hard to keep this a two-shot.
PS, I know very little about the fashion industry and just as much about the film industry. A lot of things I wrote about are probably inaccurate, but oh well?