"Our son's a rockstar!" Alec lent in to whisper into Lydias ear. He smirked at the way his wife tried to suppress a smile, though she did give a sharp nod of agreement. They were standing in a narrow hallway lined with metal lockers that made all sound bounce around the parents gathered there in a cacophony of sound. The summer school play had just ended, and all the parents had gathered to await their children's arrival from the backstage area. Rafael had shone in his role as Sarcastic Knight, making the whole hall break into laughter with his unscripted commentary. The pride that swelled around Alec's heart was one he hadn't known even existed until he had met his son for the first time.

With a swoosh through the hallway the cacophony increased in volume as children flooded out through a doorway. Their lighter voices, filled with excitement, hovered over the lower hum of proud praises. A small body collided with Alec's legs as Rafael hurdled himself towards his parents. There was a huge grin on his face as he looked up at his parents, and his blue eyes shone brightly.

"Hey there, Buddy," Alec smiled back, ruffling Rafael's dark curls. "You were great out there."

"I was?" He turned to look at his mother for confirmation. Lydia smiled a rare broad smile, kneeling down to get level with him.

"You were amazing, sweetheart," she beamed at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Excuse me?" A voice pulled Alec's attention away from his family. A man had made his way over to them. He was tall and asian, and his smile did something rare and not entirely pleasant to Alec's heart. "You're Mr. and Mrs. Lightwood I take it?" A small child, younger than Rafael's school-year, waved enthusiastically at Alec, one slim arm wrapped around the leg of the man. Despite the blazing blue-grey eyes that seemed too large for his little face, it was clear that he and the man were related. They had the same crooked smile. Alec smiled and waved back, as Rafael let go of Alec's legs with a joyful exclamation of 'Mr. Bane!'

"We are indeed," Lydia stood back up and offered her hand to the teacher Rafael had told many a tale of since starting rehearsals for the play. "Lydia," Mr. Bane nodded with a polite smile, shaking her hand.

"Magnus," he said, then turned his attention to Alec, who took a second too long to smile back at him.

"Alexander!" he hastily reached out to shake the teacher's hand, only to choke on the last syllable of his own name at the wildfire like sensation that went up his arm at the contact with the other's skin. It was as if the whole world froze for a micro second stretched into eternity. Lydia had explained the sensation many times. How everything just kind of went silent as if someone had pressed mute on the world as she and John had stood frozen in place for however long it had taken to register that everything had changed. This man, this Magnus Bane, was Alec's soulmate. At this realisation, the world started slowly spinning again, though Alec felt like he would be a couple seconds behind the rest of population earth from then on.

Magnus had let go of his hand, and turned towards Lydia again. Alec felt himself frowning as he listened to his soulmate explain that he's the special aids teacher at the school, and that he wanted to introduce himself before starting classes with Rafael the following week. It was entirely too mundane a conversation for Alec's mind to make any sense of it, and he noted along on autopilot. Was Magnus this good of an actor? Or did the world change for Alec alone? It would be just his luck if that was the case. Spending years fretting this exact moment only for it to be a non-event in the end. He had a good life. He was happy. So why did a rock drop to the pit of his stomach when it didn't have to change after all?

(***)

Magnus let out a large swoop of air as he watched a rapidly chatting Rafael drag his father out of the room. Never in his years as a teacher had another parent made an impression like the one Alexander Lightwood had left on Magnus' vulnerable heart. It had been about a week since the school play, were Magnus had first met Alexander Lightwood, and since then, he'd barely been able to get the man out of his thoughts. It was becoming a distracting problem. He was probably imagining things, though, when he thought he'd seen a lingering look on Alexander's face as he herded his son out of the room.

Absentmindedly, Magnus rubbed at the old mark on his wrist. It had been itching lately, and he reminded himself he had to buy a new bottle of lotion on his way to get Max.

Magnus coerced his thoughts to his son and what they were going to make for dinner that night. They were getting visitors. Raphael, Magnus ex-roommate from college, and his husband were bringing over their infant baby-daughter, and Magnus was beyond exited to get to see little baby Maria.

More than that, he was exited about seeing Raphael with his new daughter. Back when Camille had left, it was the Santiago-Lewis household that had provided the space of sanity that an infant Max had needed. Raphael had surprised everyone with his cold-headedness as he took over care of the baby while Magnus wallowed in self pity. Maybe that was why the otherwise word latino had taken the role as favourite uncle of young Max. Now, Raphael had a child of his own, and Magnus could not be happier for him.

Magnus swung his satchel over his shoulder and marched determined out of the office. Tonight he would waste no more time day dreaming about a certain parent of his confidentially named favorite student.

(***)

"She's so beautiful," Magnus sighed, looking down at the tiny baby in his arms. Maria was still so very new to the world, but her eyes were already dark and attentive as they sought out Magnus' face. Her hair was dark and curly, and there was quite a lot of it already. "Isn't she beautiful, Darling?" he looked up at Max, who was stood in front of the chair Magnus was sitting on. His son's eyes were huge as he watched the baby in his father's arms, and he nodded almost solemnly. He reached over to stroke a small finger tip down her cheek with a shy and fascinated smile, making Maria yawn and blink her eyes. "Every time I see her she just gets more beautiful." Magnus looked up briefly to find Raphael, his ex-college roommate, shake his head at him. There was a fond smile on his lips, though, and a happy gleam in his otherwise tired eyes.

"She is very beautiful," Raphael said, getting up from his seat next to his husband, "And she's going to be very hungry very soon, so I better get her bottle ready. Want to help me, buddy?" He reached a hand out for Max to take. The little boy did so, happily, skipping alongside Raphael towards the kitchen. Magnus watched them go, then looked back at Maria, who was now making spit-bobbles.

"So, Sherbert," Magnus looked up to find Raphael's soulmate watching the two of them. "How's being a daddy?" Simon smiled that broad smile of his, pushing his glasses into place.

"Being a daddy is great." he said, "But it helped, knowing Raphael is great with babies. I would probably be a nervous wreck if I didn't have him by my side."

"Yeah, he really proved his parental skills back when i couldn't handle being a single parent," Magnus smiled a sad sort of smile down at Maria, whose face scrunched up in displeasure.

"No-one blames you for that, you know that rigt?" Simon moved a long the couch to get closer to Magnus. He shrugged half-heartedly, rocking Maria back and forth to try and settle her.

"Yeah," he said as casually as he dared, "Though if you hadn't given me that speech, then you probably would. In due time."

"I didn't give you a speech," Simon frowned in confusion, reaching over to place a hand on Maria's head. She settled at the touch. "I just talked to you like a normal person."

"Well that talk gave me the push I needed to get my act together, so. Thank you. In case i never told you that." Back when Magnus had temporarily stayed with Raphael and Simon, he had basically been moping around while Raphael took care of Max. One night, Simon had come into his room, sat down beside him, and told him exactly why Magnus needed to get of his backside and go take over caring for a sad and grieving Max. Simon hadn't been mean about it. Instead they'd spent good while talking about fears and past hurts. The next morning, Magnus had gotten up when he heard Max, and whispered into the sweet-smelling baby hair, that he loved him, and would never leave.

"You have. And you're welcome," Simon said with a grin on his face. The conversation drifted to Simon's upcoming tour. In the last years of college, Simon had joined a band, and had spent the past few years, building up a reputation by playing all the clubs and bars the band could find. Simon was in the middle of a boisterous retelling of a conversation the band had had with one of the venues for the tour when Max and Raphael returned, bottle in hand. As if she could smell the food, Maria suddenly started fussing, and Simon was quick to transfer the infant to his own arms, accepting the bottle his husband passed him.

"So, you haven't told us about the school play yet," Raphael prompted sitting down next to Simon.

"Oh, trust me I have a whole speech prepared for after dinner, with slides and everything," Magnus winked holding on to Max as the boy climbed into his lap. "But I can give you a preview if you want. There's this kid, Rafael who spend the whole time on stage doing running commentary. I'd be pissed at him for ruining my script if he wasn't a comedian in the making."

"He was funny," Max agreed, nodding along and then taking over telling the story of Magnus' student who's father ended up taking the staring role of the night. Running his fingers through his son's hair, Magnus found himself smilling as he listened to his son's lilting voice.

(***)

"Alec, Sweetie," Alec looked up sharply, to find Lydia standing by the door to their room. He had once again been lost in thoughts about Magnus Bane, the soulmate he'd long feared to find. Making the decision to keep the bond a secret had been an easy one. He could not risk his son's happiness. Family was the most important thing. The fact that it was an unrequited bond only made it all the easier to convince himself that his decision was right.

Lydia looked amazing, dressed in a long forest green dress, the diamond adorned necklace Alec had given her for their wedding sparkling around her long exposed neck. A pang of guilt hit him. He had a beautiful wife, and here he was, daydreaming up ways to satisfy the Craving burning sharply through his veins. It had been a little over 3 weeks since he met Magnus, and still the desire to touch and hold had a firm grip of his heart. Craving was different for everyone, that much was common knowledge. For some it was so intense that the newly bonded couple would disappear form the world for a while, unable to keep their hands to themselves. For others it was lighter, like a soft breeze as a coworker had once described it. As Alec smiled at his radiant wife, he wished Craving could have been like that for him. - Just a soft kiss of the summerwind. Instead he was hit with a hurricane of emotions constantly swirling around within him with no signs of letting up.

"You about ready to go?" Lydia smiled, moving through the room as she spoke.

"Yup," Alec smiled up at her as she stopped in front of him, reaching out to shuffle a few pieces of hair back into place.

"Let's do this then," She said as he got to his feet. He pressed a kiss to her forehead as she intertwined their fingers.

"Let's do this."

(***)

"Hey, man. You made it!" Jace had never smiled as broadly as he did that night, pulling Alec in for a tight bro-hug. The party was already buzzing in the grand hall by the time Lydia and Alec made it there. - Rafael had not been happy about having to stay with the nanny when his parents got to celebrate Uncle Jace finding his soulmate. It had taken some time to convince him that tonight was a boring event, and that the real fun would be had the next day when Jace and his Clary were coming over for lunch. "And you dressed up and everything."

"She made me," Jace's smile was infectious, but even so, Alec rolled his eyes and nodded his head to his wife who was next in line for a tight Jace hug. "Now, where's this Redheaded Goddess we're here to meet?" Alec smirked, referring to the phonecall he had gotten from his brother a few days ago.

"She's showing her mother something. She'll be back in a sec." Jace looked about the ballroom, trying to spot his soulmate. "Anyway. While I have you, there's something I have to tell you and Izz!" He turned on his heal, wading through the crowd that had gathered in the hall.

Jace had always had knack for taking advantage of their parents wealth and willingness to flaunt it to the right people. The party that night had Maryse Lightwood written all over it with its over the top gold and white decorations and expensive hour d'oeuvres passed along on silver plates by waiters in penguin-suits. Alec grabbed a couple, along with a flute of champagne as he and Lydia followed Jace through the crowd.

"Yo! Izzy!" Jace called, reaching their sister. Izzy was, unsurprisingly, dressed to the nines in a smooth black dress with a deep cleavage. Diamonds sparkled from the heavy earrings and the necklace that hung low around her neck.

"Hey, big brother!" She exclaimed jumping at Alec, and pulling him in for a tight hug as well.

"Okay, so i have something to tell you guys! Huddle up," Jace motioned for the three of them to huddle closer, a happy sparkle in his eyes. "So, I was talking to Clary yesterday about stuff, you know, and somehow Max came up. And I showed her a picture of him." Alec's heart started speeding up at the name, frowning as he watched the excitement in Jace's face. "And she recognised him! Apparently she used to room with Simon Lewis, Max friend you know?" Alec and Izzy both nodded, and Alec could see in Izzy's face that she was as much in shock as he was.

Alec remembered Simon with his large glasses and friendly smile. He'd picked the two boys up from school enough times to still recall their nerdy banter with fondness. The last time anyone from the Lightwood family had seen Simon Lewis was the day after Max had disappeared. Simon had come by to tell the Lightwood that he, as the only one, had gotten a goodbye.

"So it turns out Max used to send Lewis postcards every so often, with like pictures and stuff of himself! She thinks he might still do it. Maybe we can get, like, clues or something! Or at least see how he's doing!" Lydia was squeezing Alec's hand tightly, and he could feel her eyes on his face. He didn't dare look back though, to busy fighting the way his heart was trying to escape trough his chest. So many years had passed with no word of Max. For so long the siblings had avoided talking about him, too scared of upsetting the carefully constructed happy facade they'd constructed.

"Are you for real? Why didn't you say anything straight away? Someone might have a picture of my brother!" Izzy was shaking Jace shoulder rather harshly. "Let's go talk to Simon! Is he here tonight?"

"No, he's on tour or something. But Clary is trying to get the postcards from his soulmate, so. Hopefully we'll get them soon." Jace pried of Izzy's fingers, holding her hands tightly instead. "I promise, we're working as fast as we can."

"That's wonderful news, Jace," Lydia said, reaching her free hand over to fold around Alec's arm. "Isn't it sweetie." Alec nodded in agreement, trying to get his body to function again after the shock to his system.

"Yeah," the word managed to pass the hurdleds of his dry throat, "Yeah, it's amazing news." he smiled, grabbing Jace's shoulder and squeezing it tight. For a moment the four of them just stood in their huddle, looking from one hopeful face to another. Then Lydia decided to break the pattern.

"Amazing as this is, I came here tonight to dance with my husband," Alec's confused 'what?' went ignored, "And to meet your lovely Clary. So what do you say to going out there and honoring Max by making absolute fools of ourselves, and then we can obsess and strategize over lunch tomorrow?"

(***)

The clangs of plates hitting the metal racks of the dishwasher was almost enough to drown out the chatter and laughter drifting into the kitchen from the dinning room. Almost mindlessly, Alec stacked the used plates one by one, while his thoughts escaped him once again. The bonding party the night before, with its loud music and constant flow of champagne, had almost entirely blocked out the longing coursing through his bloodstream. So had the lunch, in its own way, filled, as it had been by memories of old times.

Now, though, standing in an empty kitchen with a sink full of dirty glasses, the Craving was back full force. Alec was just the right side of hungover to not be bothered with fighting his wandering mind. He was so stuck on a memory of Magnus and Rafael reading the week before that he didn't notice the nick of his finger at first.

When the pain registered, slowly, like a ship appearing through the fog, blood had already dripped from his thumb down his wrist. Dumbfoundedly, he found himself staring at it. It didn't look good. A long jagged line of oozing red running from the tip of his thumb to just below the first joint. He should probably do something. It escaped him, though, what it was that he was supposed to do in a situation like this.

"Alec, how's…" Lydia's voice cut of mid-sentence, and Alec slowly turned towards her. "Alec!" She gasped grabbing a tea towel and strode over to him in two long strides. "Where is your head these days, honestly." she muttered as she wrapped his finger tightly.

"One of the glasses must have smashed," Alec said as if in reply. Lydia shook her head slowly.

"Here, keep it up and put pressure on it." She instructed, moving his hand into position. Then she nimbly undid the clasps on the cuff Alec always wore to cover up his mark. The action sparked Alec's brain into action and he tried wrestling his wrist out of her grib. He got a stern look for his actions. It took her a breath to realize that the mark had changed, and when she did, her gasp was followed by a sharp slap to his shoulder.

"What?!" he faked ignorance, which, judged by the murderous look on his wife's face, was not a wise choice.

"Your mark's filled out!" she hissed.

"Oh, yeah. It did that." Alec knew how dumb he sounded, but he didn't know what else to say.

"How long?" Lydia looked up into his eyes, and there was a fire burning there that spelled out danger.

"About 3 and a half weeks." Alec whispered, "But it doesn't matter. It was one-sided." He quietly tacked on the end of his sentence.

"You should have told me." Lydia methodically went back to checking his thumb. "Do you know who it is?" his thumb was still bleeding quite badly, and the sight of it made his stomach turn.

"It's, uhm, its Magnus. Mr. Bane." her eyes snapped back to his face.

"I think you might need stitches." She said. "Keep pressure on. I'll go get Izzy." She marched away only too stop in the doorway and look back at him. "We're not done talking about this!" She pinned him with a stare, and then disappeared towards the sound of continous chatter.

(***)

(***)

"So. You bonded?" Izzy glanced over at Alec, who was staring intently out of the windshield. Izzy had confirmed that Alec needed stitches to his finger, and had driven him to the emergency room. Even with her contacts it had takken a coupe of hours. Alec had had plenty of time to stress over the fight that was waiting for him at home.

"Yeah. I guess." he sighed, keeping his eyes on the city passing by the car windows.

"So what are you going to do?" She send him another glance, her eyes glinting in the streetlight zipping past.

"Nothing," Alec shrugged, keeping his eyes on the houses getting drenched in quiet rain.

"Nothing?!" Izzy was frowning. Alec didn't have to see her face to know that. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." Taking his eyes of the world outside, Alec turned to lean his head back against the headrest of the seat.

"But it's your soulmate!" There was a note of incredulity in Izzy's voice. An incredulity Alec matched in the look he send towards Izzy's uncovered wrist. When she had met her soulmate, a caterer serving at Alec's wedding, Izzy had stealthily ignored him. Alec had never heard her mention the bond again. "Yeah, I ignored my soulmate," Izzy said in response to his look, "And I've regretted it ever since." Alec simply raised his eyebrow. "I mean it, Alec. It's the biggest mistake I've made. Max was right. I shouldn't have let my fear of him holding me back from my dreams win. Now, there's this whole following me around, and I have no idea what to do to fill it."

"It's one-sided, Izz. And anyway, I've got Rafael. I've got Lydia. I'm not. I'm not jeopardizing that. I have a son. That's the most important thing." Alec hardly dared glancing at Izzy as he told her the same half-truths that kept him going at the moment. Judging by huff that came from the other side of the car, Izzy saw straight through him.

"Right. And that's why you didn't tell Lydia. That's why you didn't let her get a say in how this plays out?" Alec rolled his eyes.

"I didn't tell Lydia because it's sorted. There's nothing to get a say in." Izzy was shaking her head, as she pulled op at his building. Before he could get out of the car, she reached over to grab his arm.

"Raf is the most important thing. I know that. But do you really think he's better of with a dad and a mum who're both longing for their lost soulmates?" Her eyes were honest as she looked straight at him.

"I think he's better of with both his parent together is what I think." Alec forced out, tearing his arm out of her grab, and throwing himself out of the car.