Disclaimer: CC owns them. I do not. I wish I did. Don't we all?
A/N: So here's the next one and we're getting genuine plot stuff happening now guys, see if you can guess where its heading… :p Oh. Right, yeah, also, this chapter has a smut warning but you guys are well accustomed to lemons galore in my fics ;)
Also, as the last chapter surpassed the required 10 or so reviews I asked for, thank you to all of you who reviewed, btw, I love you! Stick around to the A/N at the end, because that surprise I promised, regarding my other fic HDWEUH? is written below ;)
Enjoy!
...
The hotel was posh. Like, movie-star royalty levels of posh. Alec felt like a cheap peasant strolling inside in his ripped jeans, ratty tank top and faded leather jacket. Though, in his defence, it was like 100 degrees outside.
They reached the hotel at mid-morning, Valentines driver that had picked them up at the airport abandoned them in the lobby, taking their bags to their rooms. They stood staring in bewilderment and awe at each other, grinning widely at their entire situation before a voice rang through the air, seeming to bounce dramatically off the high ceilings.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the latest group of newbies to grace the rock scene! Gentlemen, it's an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Alec saw him first, his smile freezing in star-struck wonder. The man saw him staring and stopped walking, he just looked at Alec with wide eyes.
"Um, am I standing in front of a mirror or has the world gone awfully trippy?"
The guys snorted, watching Alec and the man as they stared at each other. It was quite a view. All black and blue. Leather and denim. Same height, same complexion, same strength in their demeanours.
Alec laughed softly, shaking his head in awe.
"Hi. I'm Alec Lightwood. I'm a huge fan of yours, we all are. Thank you so much, Mr Herondale, for this opportunity. Seriously, i hope we don't let you down."
The man laughed, his charming English swagger radiating around them, immediately relaxing Alec.
"I know who you are, Alec. As for this 'Mr Herondale' business, please, just call me Will. "
Alec nodded, dumbfounded at his idol wrapping an arm around his shoulders as they joined the rest of Alec's band.
"And, trust me, you guys won't let us down. We've seen videos of your shows, seen pictures and the magazine spread. We watched as you broke the internet. You guys are amazing and we had to snap you up before someone else did. I hear Hotel Du Mort were looking for a support act, though they've got Edom touring with them now. But you guys are infinitely better than both of them so we are gonna dominate the rock scene in the next few months."
The guys cheered and Will gave out multiple high fives before leading them to the private dinner room Valentine had reserved for them. As they walked, cameras were clicking all around them, catching many images, mainly of Alec, with Will's arm around him.
"Hey! You made it! Finally! We had to stop Will from starting to eat without you. I know it's only 10:30am but you must be hungry after that flight so eat up. You're going to need your strength these next few months."
They all sat down gratefully, smiling in thanks at the beaming face of Tessa Gray. She fussed over them like a mother and laughed with them like a sister. And when Jem came back from the bathroom, they fell into a pattern of sharing life stories and debating the world's greatest rock song. They launched headfirst into music, drums and guitars were discussed at length by Simon, Jordan, Eric, Kirk and Jem, while vocals and song-writing and the rush of performing were all Alec, Will and Tessa could think about.
Hours passed without them realising and Alec found himself completely and totally in love with the TID crew; they were some of the nicest, most genuine, all be it slightly obnoxious in Wills case, people he had ever met. It was clear that their chemistry was going to work wonders on the stage.
Around 3pm, Valentine came through the doors with a big smile on his face as he greeted them all.
"Gentlemen, lady. Good afternoon. I trust you're all ok? Your flight was good, yes, guys?"
Alec and the guys nodded, smiling.
"Right. Straight to business. Around this whole tour we need a continual media storm, keep you in the limelight as long as possible. So all of you will post anything and everything you can during rehearsals without giving away your entire sets, that is."
"You mean like a kind of BTS reel or something?"
Simon asked, a smile on his face as he thought of it.
"Yes. Exactly that. Secondly, Alexander, you're gay. That's the image you've had in this band and the fans love you for it so we're going to play that angle too. Get people interested in you as people as well as a band."
Alec's brow furrowed as he asked hesitantly.
"Um, what do you mean, 'play that angle'?"
Valentine smiled, it wasn't a warm smile though, not like before, not like nice Valentine. This was controlling manager, 'do as i say and don't fight back' Valentine.
"I mean you will bring sex appeal to the tour. You and Will. I'm not saying you have to be together, you just need to put the idea out there, get people speculating, tease the fans a little. It's a harmless PR stunt that will work wonders in keeping you in everyone's minds; I've had people pull this off all the time."
Alec processed that slowly. So, he had to pretend, while on stage and in front of cameras and at interviews, that there was something going on between him, a 16 year old, and Will, a 23 year old. Was that even allowed?
The others trusted Valentine, and there was no denying that the man knew what he was doing; there was no way he would do anything to jeopardize his latest acquisition. Alec was sceptical, but Will smiled encouragingly at him, nodding.
Alec liked Will. He knew what he was doing too. So if he agreed, Alec didn't mind agreeing too. Besides, it not like Valentine was giving him a choice.
He smiled and nodded.
"Ah, ok. Fair enough. I can do that. For the tour."
Valentine beamed.
"Excellent. Now, down to the gritty stuff. Pay attention lady and gentleman."
He said, laughing as Tessa rolled her eyes.
Though, Alec zoned out for a second, worrying his lower lip with his teeth, anxiously biting. One thought hadn't initially occurred to him, but it made him really uneasy now.
What would Magnus think of him and Will and this PR stunt? Would he understand? Will and the others had already hurt Magnus in the past. He knew Magnus supported him in this tour but was this taking it too far?
...
"Right. We're playing 10 shows a month every month for 3 months. That's 30 shows. Your set will be about an hour and a half then ours will be two hours. So, you need to do what you did at Pandemonium, a bit of your old stuff, a bit of new; just a teaser from the album Valentine wants you to release. And Alec, people know your little trademark of doing a solo acoustic song mid-performance so keep that up. An original or a cover song is ok. We will then play after you, in similar fashion. But at the end, you guys will come back out and we will rock an old school classic together before the final curtain falls. Everyone got that?"
Will asked loudly, looking them each in the eye until he got a nod in response.
"Good. I know it's a lot but we have our set ready to go and you guys do too, all you have to do is pick a few new songs of yours and integrate them into your Pandemonium gig, shake it up a bit. I know 30 shows is a lot, but you can do this."
The guys all stared at him, feeling a certain amount of pressure on their shoulders. None of them wanted to simply replicate their Pandemonium set, they wanted bigger and better, but that was going to take a lot of hard work.
...
"Come on! Pick up the phone! Dammit!"
Alec cursed as the dial tone ended and the voicemail message started speaking again. He cut off the call and sighed, settling for staring at the last text message Magnus had sent him when he got on the plane instead.
"Alec?"
He looked up to see Will coming towards him, smiling softly.
"You ok?"
Alec sighed. He had only been away for 4 days now but it felt like a lifetime. He was not ok, he just wanted Magnus with him right now.
"Yeah."
He lied smoothly, pocketing his phone carefully. Will slid down the wall and sat next to him, staring down the artificially lit hall.
"I get it. You miss home, it's all so overwhelming. And the time difference doesn't help when trying to talk to your family, right?"
Alec sighed a laugh. Family. Of course he wanted to talk to them, though he had spoken to Izzy and Jace the day before. But Magnus... He needed to hear Magnus' voice just to be able to breathe.
"Yeah. But it's fine. I knew it would be like this. I just miss him- them. I miss them."
He quickly recovered, though Will's raised eyebrow told him that he wasn't fooling anyone.
"Ah, a lover back home. Now i really get it. Tell me about him."
Alec blushed deeply, knowing he couldn't say a word.
"He's amazing. I just- I'm worried about what he's gonna think of... you know, this whole PR thing."
Will nodded slowly, clicking his tongue.
"It'll be ok. Explain to him that it's just a stunt. You and I are friends, that's it. It's just a performance. If he loves you, he will trust you."
Alec nodded slowly, smiling.
Of course Magnus would trust him. Right?
...
"Oh god. Shit. No!"
Magnus gasped as he saw his phone, taking in the 7 missed calls from Blue Eyes. His eyes flew to the clock and saw it was 3am, he had been working on the club all day, and apparently he had passed out as soon as he got home.
Biting his lip, he called Alec back, praying for an answer.
"Hello?"
A rough, subdued voice asked. Magnus immediately smiled, his entire body relaxing.
"Baby? Are you ok?"
He grinned when he heard a delighted gasp followed by a throat clearing cough.
"Magnus?"
Hearing his name on Alec's lips was always amazing, but without him here, it just meant so much more.
"Hey, Alexander. I miss you."
"I miss you too. So much. I hate not having you with me."
"God, me too, baby boy. I love you."
Magnus could see Alec's smile in his mind, imagine those bright eyes shining in the dark.
"I love you more."
Alec replied, his voice still sounding sleepy.
"Did i wake you?"
Magnus asked guiltily. Alec chuckled, coughing again to clear his throat.
"Yeah. But it's ok. I forgive you. You're worth a while of lost sleep."
Magnus' heart fluttered and he smiled, rolling onto his stomach, breathing in deeply to smell the way too faint scent of Alec on his pillow.
"So are you. How's it all going out there?"
Alec took a deep breath.
"Well, we're playing 30 shows in 3 months. Which means so much work. We're also writing the new album because Valentine wants us to play new stuff on the tour as well as some older stuff. We're getting an hour and half set which is a lot for a supporting band but Valentine and the guys want it that way. Then there's the songs we're doing at the end with TID so we have to rehearse all those because there will be 30 different ones. It's so much to remember but it's fun."
Magnus listened to the passion in Alec's voice, smiling. Though there was an annoying little voice in his head that told him to swear profusely when Alec mentioned TID. But he didn't. Because this was about Alec. This was about his dream. And he was so proud.
"That's amazing, baby. I'm so happy for you. And all the pain will be worth it when you see all those adoring fans screaming for you."
Alec laughed, sighing gently.
"It'll be worth it when i look out and see your face in the crowd."
Magnus was silent for a second, unsure of Alec's statement.
"What?"
Alec chuckled, a light seduction in his words.
"I talked to Ragnor and got you time off work to come to our show in Austen, Texas. It's the half-way point of our tour and we have a few days off for a break so you're coming to see us."
Magnus listened with a smile, biting his lip, and there was no point in ignoring the fact that between the suggestiveness of having a few days with Alec and the tone of Alec's voice, he was beginning to feel a tightening his pants.
"Oh, really? So, I'm flying out there for a few days and i get to see you play on tour?"
Alec was grinning, Magnus could feel it.
"Yep. Your flight's already booked by Ragnor. You're coming to me. Thank god. Although that's still 9 weeks from now."
Magnus sighed, frowning at the prospect of waiting so long to see his boy again.
"That sucks. But this is an amazing opportunity and those few weeks will pass so fast. And, besides, we may not able to physically see each other but there's such a thing as skype and video chat, baby."
There was a moment of silence in which Magnus hoped Alec understood the connotations of his statement. And once he heard a little gasp, followed by a delighted laugh, he knew Alec got the idea.
"Ah, yes, video chat. Genius invention. You can see all kinds of things that way."
Magnus smirked, knowing that right now Alec was blushing and biting that full, pouty lower lip.
"Truer words were never spoken. Video is good. Though, I'd settle for normal pictures too, they're easier to accomplish in the early hours of the morning or very late at night."
"Hhmmm, I'd be ok with that too. Although sometimes it's nice to leave things to the imagination."
Magnus chuckled, relishing in the low register of Alec's voice, noting with smugness the obvious change in the boys breathing as he gasped heavily down the phone.
"Imagination is amazing. Especially when you've already seen the image in real life before."
Alec giggled and Magnus heard bed sheets rustling.
"True. You don't need pictures once you already know the glorious sight."
Magnus grinned wickedly, circling his hips, grinding against his mattress, sending sensual tingles up his spine. He moaned softly, but enough for Alec hear.
"And what, pray tell, was that presumptuous sound, Magnus?"
Alec asked innocently, making Magnus growl low in his throat.
"You know damn well what it was Alexander."
A breezy giggle filled the air, the same sound Alec had made when Magnus got stuck in his own pants the night of Alec's birthday. The thought of that night brought him to full hardness and he whimpered as his engorged flesh rubbed tantalisingly against the material of his boxers.
"Do i? I don't think i do. I think you need to tell me."
Magnus groaned, imagining the playful gleam in Alec's dark, lust blown blue eyes, the slight smile and the strawberry blush. The way the boy would teasingly bite his lip, and how Magnus would immediately take that lip into his own mouth, suckling gently.
"Ok. Well, you see, baby, all this talk of videos and pictures and questionable noises has me remembering certain scenarios that my body has definitely taken a liking to."
There was a moment of no speech, just of rustling and heavy breathing before Alec replied.
"Oh yeah? What are you remembering?"
Magnus smiled and rolled over, slipping his boxers off of his legs.
"A certain night a while ago, you were there, so was i. We were alone, and we were... counting down to something. A birthday, i believe."
He teased, leisurely trailing his fingertips over his chest and down his stomach, rising light bumps and shivers from his skin. On the other end of the line, Alec was already naked and shaking with anticipation.
"Oh yeah... I think i remember that. Although, you might need to jog my memory."
Magnus sighed a laugh, not quite believing that he had seduced this beautiful creature into having phone-sex with him.
"I think it started with me kissing you. Gently at first, but then we caught fire and i couldn't keep my hands to myself anymore. We went into my bedroom and climbed on the bed, ridding our clothes as we went. Soon enough, we were both naked and sweating, desperate for each other. Then you did the sexiest thing i ever witnessed. You crawled over to me with those eyes shining with lust and wrapped those perfect little lips around my begging dick and made me scream for you."
Alec was actively moaning, loudly, Magnus was surprised that no one on Alec's end of the line had burst into his room to see if he was dying. He was glad no one had though. He grinned as he heard Alec gasp his name and he couldn't help but let his hand travel lower, his fist closing around his inflamed member. As he jerked himself slowly but with purpose, he continued his little story.
"I had to stop you before that fiend of a tongue made me cum harder than ever and it ended far too soon. So i pushed you back onto the bed and crawled over you, kissing everywhere i could reach. Can you remember that? How it felt having me all over you... I can remember it, the feeling of you wrapped around me, grinding together in a mess of moaning in the dark."
Alec was panting hard, gripping himself and bucking into his fist so fast he decided that the effort involved should render this an Olympic sport.
"Oh god... Yes! Fuck... I remember it. You were so sexy. Your skin tasted so sweet and salty all at once, you were so hot, you had me sweating and writhing in no time. You gave me a fever that i couldn't sweat, i never wanted it to end. The things you make me feel... I never thought it would feel like that."
Magnus grinned, laughing roughly at the sheer pleasure of their endeavour as he bucked his hips faster, leaking so much pre-cum that provided the perfect amount of lubrication. He cried out Alec's name as he let his mind take over, imagining his dick sliding into something much tighter and hotter than his fist.
"Fuck. Alexander, baby, i want you. I want to be inside you right now. I need to fuck you so bad. Baby... Please."
He moaned, desperate for Alec and annoyed that he wasn't in the room with him. But Alec made up for it.
"Don't worry, if you can't be inside me, i can pretend that you are."
There was a second of rustling around before Alec moaned a long sigh, half pleasure, half pain and Magnus' eyes flew wide as he realised what was happening.
"Oh my god, Alec. You are amazing. I love you. Please... Do it."
Alec complied willingly, thrusting his fingers into himself, jerking his dick with his other hand. As soon as his fingers hit his prostate and he set a rhythm, Magnus heard his cries of pleasure, figuring out the boy's rhythm.
"Oh! Oh god. Oh my god! Yes baby! Fuck me!"
Magnus was panting hard, thrusting like he was going for gold in time with Alec's movements, imagining those moans and cries a consequence of his relentless pounding. The image of Alec, remembering the way his eyes locked on Magnus', wide and dark, the way his lips parted and his body curled into Magnus', taking him in deeper with every thrust.
"Fuck, Alec- Alec... I'm gonna. Damn it, I'm gonna cum already. Jesus Christ!"
He chanted like a prayer, listening eagerly to the ragged breaths and keening cries of his boyfriend. Soon enough, they both screamed, the vision of each other falling apart sending them both over the edge.
Silence followed, only the sound of harsh breathing filled the quiet. Then Alec laughed lightly, his voice hoarse but bubbly.
"Oh my god, i can't believe i just did that."
Magnus chuckled, swirling his finger through the pool of white on his stomach, wishing to god he could see it all over Alec's body.
"I know. That was amazing. But i can't wait for the real thing. Only 9 weeks to go."
Alec sighed sadly.
"9 weeks. I don't want to wait that long. I need you."
Magnus smiled, wanting nothing more than to reach out and kiss the boy or stroke his defined jawline or play with his hair, just have him here in bed beside him.
"I know. Me too, baby. I love you."
"I love you, too."
They hung up a little while later, both drifting into sleep, dreaming of nothing but each other.
...
A/N: So? Thoughts? Predictions? You know the drill by now :) Shoot me a review and I'll write the rest faster :p
Also, as promised… The surprise to end all surprises:
"WAIT! STOP! PLEASE!"
He cried as the cab drove away, ripping out his heart and tearing apart his reason for living. The sun beaming down on him in the warm April air was such a slap in the face; it was spring, the best time of year in his opinion. And just a few months ago, he didn't even know if he would ever see another spring again.
He fell to his knees; a typical rom-com cliché, and cried after the cab, begging to no end for a miracle, to somehow turn it around. After everything that had happened, this couldn't be the end. It couldn't just end. Not like this. Not now.
He sat on the ground, staring at the road, tears streaming and shoulders shaking. This had been his second chance, his new start. His miracle. And he blew it. He had it, and he lost it.
Sobbing softly, he ran a hand through his hair and bit his lip. He didn't know how long he was going to sit there but his pity party of one was cut short by a voice.
A soft voice, cautious and nervous, unsure but determined all at once. It was his favourite sound in the whole world; something he once thought he'd never get to hear again.
"Magnus?"
He froze and turned slowly, his eyes wide in disbelief. He had seen the cab leave. He cried as it drove away. But somehow, his prayers were answered.
Choking back a sob, Magnus whispered.
"You stayed."
...
Ladies and gentleman, you have just read the PROLOGUE of the SEQUEL STORY to HOW DID WE END UP HERE? The fic will be ENTITLED – HOW DID WE END UP THERE?
Surprised? ;)
….
