Alec was not looking forward to the inevitable conversation with Magnus. He wasn't entirely sure what that conversation would entail, but he knew he didn't want to have it just yet. His head was still spinning in a thousand directions and none of them were good. Well, that wasn't true. Several of the ideas that came bursting in unannounced were happy memories, about both Magnus and Chris.

The night was chilly, though Alec was doing is best to ignore it. He was a shadowhunter. He helped to kill demons. A bit of frigid air shouldn't bother him. Even still, he couldn't quite shake the way his blood felt cold as it pulsed through his veins.

Maybe if he wasn't walking to Magnus's and instead taking a taxi or some other much faster mode of transportation, he wouldn't be so cold, he thought. That didn't make much sense, though, as it wasn't the weather causing the chill. He wanted to deny it, but he really couldn't. There was already too much that he was trying to avoid thinking of.

He was so lost in thought that he almost didn't notice when he almost tripped over the thief from his and Magnus's first date.

"Hey, watch it-," the thief started to say before he noticed that it was Alec, "actually, don't worry about it. I guess even ninjas have bad days," he finished with a grin. Alec sighed. This was why he normally wore glamours. Mundanes really were annoying, and it was disturbing that this one was able to recognize him.

"I'm not a ninja, mundane," he told the redhead probably a bit harsher than was strictly necessary. The mugger didn't even drop his smile one bit as he said,

"You could be, though. That's exactly what a ninja would say." It was almost midnight, and he was only a few blocks from Magnus's, and he really did not want to deal with this man any longer. He just needed to find a way to exit himself from this encounter. Izzy would be so much better at this…

"Look, I'm trying to get somewhere, and his house is only a short while from here, so please get out of my way," Alec said, just as socially inept as he thought it would be. The man stepped to the side, giving Alec enough space to walk by him.

"No problem, man. By him d'you mean the guy you were with before? The one whose wallet bit me?" Alec laughed. He had forgotten that part.

"Magnus, yes. I mean him," he told the mugger with slightly less annoyance than before.

"Cool. I didn't ruin your date after all," the man said as he began walking away from Alec.

It was no secret that Alec was not fond of mundanes. The way he treated Clary and Simon at first showed that clearly. He did not like things or people that got in his way without providing some sort of benefit. Alec thought, as he walked the last few blocks to Magnus's, that perhaps he would have to rethink his disdain of ordinary humans. Maybe they did serve a purpose. That mugger had distracted him from the eternal Jace drama.

Later, when he and Magnus were laying together on the couch—after Alec insisted that Magnus take a break from all the work he was doing to find Jace—Alec told Magnus of his run-in with the thief. The warlock laughed and pulled Alec closer to his body.

"It looks like you're making friends, Alexander."

Alec sighed as he finally got the chance to sit down. He had known that marrying an older man and suddenly having two children was not going to be easy. He had not known that sleep would become almost nonexistent.

Ashleigh had decided that Alec was her favorite father and had clung to his side as often as physically possible. He loved the girl, but she was always getting in his way. Rory didn't follow him around, thank the Angel, but he was obnoxious. It seemed that he was never going to grow out of the troublemaker phase. Alec should have been better handling rowdy kids—his parabatai was an eternal one—but the lack of sleep was making it difficult.

The lack of having to babysit Jace was also screwing with his rhythm. It seemed that Jace thought that now that Alec was married and had children, dragging him on dangerous missions that might as well be suicide was a bad idea. Alec, at the very least, was proud of Jace for finally gaining an ounce of common sense.

It was nice, not having to worry about dying in battle. It was peaceful. Which was interesting. Peace was not something that shadowhunters could often claim. It was also quite boring. Alec was grateful for Ashleigh and Rory, without whom he would have nothing to do all day. But raising the half-Faerie kids was exhausting and made him long for the days where Jace was the only child he had to keep safe.

But now he had a break from both. He could breathe easy until his husband came home. Although Chris had taken over the job of Jace's babysitter, it wasn't all it used to be. Jace actually wanted to live now. Alec needed to thank Clary for that.

Alec loved his new life, there was no doubt about that, but it really was exhausting, so much so that he didn't even notice when his eyes closed of their own volition and sleep took him.

Chris walked into the house to see the light in the library on. He was fully prepared to see Alec sitting there, lost in whatever book he had chosen for the night. He was not prepared to see him curled up in a chair fast asleep. He forgot, sometimes, how young Alec really was, but now, with his black hair hanging loosely over his eyes, Alec looked his age. Chris knew shadowhunters tended to marry earlier, but Alec had just turned 20. That had to be young, even by their standards.

Chris was knocked out of his thoughts when Alec shifted in his sleep and let out a little moan. He walked over to the chair that his husband was in and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. An undignified hhmm came from Alec.

"Come on, love. It's late, and you should be in a bed," Chris whispered in his ear.

"Can't we just stay here?" Alec asked, his words laced with sleep. Chris laughed and the sound was like feathers in Alec's ears.

"We could, but it wouldn't be very comfortable," he said. Alec simply shook his head and pulled Chris down onto his lap.

"Just for the night," Alec said as he wrapped his arms around Chris. They stayed like that until Rory woke them in the morning.

It wasn't just for the night, and Alec had indeed been making friends—he had run into the mugger again after everything was said and done and ended up breaking down and crying about Magnus. Alec now had his number on speed dial, and it was one of the most frequently called. That was an idea, but, no. Alec knew that he would have to face the music eventually, and postponing it would only make it worse.

So he got out of bed and threw on some clothes that Jace must have brought in when Alec had called to say he was coming over. They appeared to be ones that he had accidentally left behind when he moved before; basic blue jeans and the shirt that Magnus had given him to wear on their first date that he refused to give back. Alec groaned. Couldn't Jace have found some other shirt? Knowing Jace, though, it was entirely possible that he knew exactly what he was doing and decided that he wasn't going to let his brother be a coward. It was also possible that Jace didn't know, and just randomly grabbed something. Alec really did not want to think about which was the real answer. Instead, he left his room to get breakfast.

Alec had completely forgotten that Isabelle and Simon lived in the Institute until he ran into his sister cooking eggs in the kitchen. He simultaneously felt like the world's worst brother and afraid for his life. He hoped for half a second to walk in and grab something without being noticed, but that idea was quickly dismissed as Izzy turned her head and saw him.

"Alec," she said, throwing her arms around him, "it's been too long. How's Chris?" Alec didn't know what his expression became, but he could guess that it wasn't good from the way Izzy tilted her head in confusion. He sighed. Jace hadn't told her.

"Chris is, I'm hoping, fine," He said. Izzy's eyebrows shot to the top of her head.

"Hoping? What happened, big brother?" Alec shook his head, but knew even as he did that it was pointless and he would have to explain it to her anyway. He started to walk away, but she reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Me and Chris aren't together anymore, okay?" He said, jerking free.

"Why? What did he do?" Izzy asked, the eggs on the stove forgotten. Alec was touched, though not surprised, that she thought it was Chris's fault.

"Nothing. This was my mistake," he told her, trying to move past her. It didn't work.

"Explain," she said without much emotion. And he was back to fearing for his life.

"I kissed Magnus," he said, equally as stoic. If it wasn't his life that was crumbling, it would have amused Alec to see the emotions that his sister's face flashed through. There was confusion, pride, fear, shock, elation, and then confusion again.

"How the hell did this happen?" she asked, still visibly bewildered. Alec shrugged and said,

"Jace gave him my address." Izzy just nodded. She knew exactly how incapable Magnus and her brother were at keeping their hands off of each other. The next thing they knew the scent of burnt eggs wafted through the air, causing Izzy to rush back to the stove, muttering a string of curses under her breath. Alec took this opportunity to leave without her noticing.