"Jem!"

Magnus' heart skipped and then sank down into his stomach as he heard the happy surprise Will had allowed into his voice. Jem? Oh. Magnus finished his task and took a deep breath, running his damp hand through his hair. Here is comes. Secretly, although he wouldn't dare admit it, Magnus hoped that all of Will friends and family would abandon him and he could keep him here forever. No, Magnus was not a horrible person wouldn't wish that fate on anyone. Well… maybe just for a few more months. Or years. Okay, maybe he was a horrible person.

Sighing, Magnus snatched up the dish towel and heading out of the kitchen to greet their – no, his – guest. He'd have to remember he lived alone again.

Drying his hands and slinging the towel over his shoulder, Magnus tried to appear as non-chalant as possible. "Jem, nice to see you." Actually, no, it's not.

"Same to you." Jem smiled.

"Are you here to finally take this thing off my hands?" Please say no.

Jem laughed, "Sorry if he's caused you any trouble." You have no idea.

After formalities, Magnus invited Jem to rest for a while before he and Will were to take their leave. Anything to prolong that, Magnus thought. God, he was hating how clingy he was getting.

"So…" Jem paused, looking around curiously. It occurred to Magnus that Jem had never really been in his home. "Has he been behaving?" Jem continued, his silvery eyes coming down from exploring the artwork on the walls to meet Magnus' own amber eyes with a knowing look. He knew for a fact Will does not behave.

Magnus rolled his eyes and forced as much sarcasm as he could into his voice, "Oh surely. Most of the time, he sat quietly and read a book. Sometimes I would even awake to him cleaning or-"

"Ha. I'm sure by 'sat quietly' you meant to say wreaked havoc across the lands?" Will butted in and wasn't exaggerating nearly as much as Magnus would've liked to admit.

Jem shone them both a sweet smile. "I'm glad your house is still standing then, Mr. Bane."

"Just barely."

"I am in this same room with you both, aren't I?" Will scoffed.

The light-hearted teasing soon turned into a buffet of stories of Will during the last few weeks. Jem laughed, whole-heartedly, as Magnus recounted the tale of Will vs the mighty apple vendor. Magnus did of course omit the stories of their make-out sessions and Will constant worry of being abandoned by his loved ones. Those may dampen the mood.

After far more time had passed than they thought, Will began to complain of hunger. Jem suggested they head back to the Institute.

"No." Magnus and Will seemed to respond at the same time. They shared a quick look and Jem raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, Magnus owes me lunch. He's been raving about this place a few streets from here since the day I arrived. We may as well eat here."

'No, I have no- oh… wait that's true.' Magnus thought to himself. 'He was actually listening then?'

"We couldn't be as rude as to invite ourselves to a meal when Mr. Bane has already offered so much of his hospitality."

Will cast a look at Magnus, "Oh. Oh, yes. I do owe him. And you, Mr. Carstairs, for all the trouble I've been recently."

"It's been no trouble-"

"So, food?" Will rushed them both into the formal dining room as Magnus sighed and magicked a bit of each of the restaurant's best dishes into a high-end arrangement on the large table.

Jem seemed a bit uncomfortable with "acquiring" the food but Will reassured him that Magnus always left money in its place. Which of course was not true.

The meal began with a pleasant, if not a bit awkward, conversation. But it suddenly slipped into more serious discussion as Will's face dropped at the mention of the everyday happenings at the Institute.

"Charlotte and Henry?" Will mumbled looking down and his nearly empty plate.

"Will?" Jem turned a concerned face to his parabatai and Magnus could see the rest of the world melt away in Jem's eyes. He only saw Will.

"What did they think? Of everything?"

"Oh." Jem paused, "They were… concerned at first. I mean to say, Tessa's accusations were sudden. They could understand if it was only you she had accused as it's not all that uncommon for the two of you to fight. But for her to treat Magnus that way? We had a doctor called in make sure she hadn't gotten ill-"

"No!" Will gritted his teeth. "What did they think of me?!"

Jem didn't miss a beat, even as Will raised his voice. "Honestly, not much. They barely considered it an option, knowing your history. It's Magnus they are most wary of."

"Me?" Magnus raised a brow as he took another delicious bite of his lunch.

"I thought you said Tessa forgave him first?"

"Yes, but that's not to say they still aren't a bit on edge. This sort of this is only whispered about in the back rooms of taverns. It's not something many people are comfortable hearing about in their own home. I believe for the most part that have accepted what Tessa saw as a mistaken vision from exhaustion." Jem glanced back and forth between the two, almost knowingly, Magnus thought. As a kind father might look upon his children whom still had pie on their face when they claimed that hadn't snuck dessert. However, whatever he was thinking, he was kind enough not to voice it. "So while yes, technically, everything is okay and Magnus is still free to come and continue Tessa's training, you two may want to be cautious. Do not spend too much time alone while he visits."

"What? It's not like we actually did any of that."

"No, of course not." Jem smiled.

Magnus began to get the feeling that Jem knew much more than he let on.

The meal was nice, although peppered with too-heavy conversation, and Magnus was sad to see it end. If not only because he wished to keep Will, then because he loved watching Jem handle Will with such finesse. He hoped to learn something from him.

While Magnus and Jem were casually discussing Tessa's training needs, Will had already disappeared and reappeared with his packed bags. Magnus was disappointed as he had hoped to catch the black-haired boy alone upstairs for at least a quick conversation on where they would go from here. Although, perhaps he was relieved as he feared where that conversation may lead. The next thing Magnus knew, the two Shadowhunter boys were walking down his street together, away from him and towards the Institute.

"Good." Magnus whispered to himself as he shut his front door, "Quick, like a Band-Aid." But as much as he tried to convince himself, the moment he looked at the coat rack and saw only his lonesome brown jacket he knew it was no use. He leaned with a heavy sigh against the closed door and slid down to the floor, pulling his knees to his chest. "Damn it."

During all their chatting and eating, the day had passed quickly. It must already be nearly 6 pm. Magnus decided he would need to head to bed early to save his face the ugliness of the stress he was feeling. However, he had no willpower to exert the effort of walking to the couch, let alone his bed upstairs.

That night, he fell into a deep dream that felt as though he was drowning and couldn't claw his way up to the surface no matter how hard he tried. Each time he got anywhere close to the top, he was pushed back down by the oppressive glares of the many people who have regarded him with disgust throughout his life. He's had this dream before. But this time, the new additions of the Shadowhunters from the London Institute stood out the most.

Magnus was awoken to a sharp pounding sound. He jolted up to find that he had fallen asleep on in the same slouched position against the door.

Again there was that pounding sound. Who. The. Hell. Is. It?

Magnus jumped up, immediately regretting it as sharp pains shot up his back from his weird sleeping position.

Shaking it off, and most definitely not in the mood, Magnus ripped open the door.

"Have you no sense of patience?!" He growled at the visitor and blinked slowly to adjust to the bright morning light. How long had he been sleeping?

"No actually. I have been out here for nearly an hour. If it weren't for your damn spells around this place, I would have smashed the door in."

Magnus glared at the boy standing in front of him and then down to his hand where he held… flowers?

"We had a date did we not?"

Magnus blinked the last of the sleep from his eyes. "William?"

Will smirked as he pushed his way into the house and closed the door.

"An hour? You were out there for an hour?"

"Yes, I thought perhaps you were still asleep upstairs and that you wouldn't hear me for a while. You tested my patience, however."

"No, I should have heard, I was right behind the-" Magnus stopped himself, not wanting to admit the embarrassing fact that he had fallen asleep thinking Will would never come back and feeling sorry for himself.

"Behind?"

"Nothing, be quiet." Magnus took the flowers. "What are these?"

"Plants… I believe they are off the flower variety."

Magnus scoffed and summoned a vase with water and set the flowers in gently.

"These are called Daffodils, William."

"Oh. I just figured they're white so they'd match however you plan to redecorate the house."

Magnus looked at Will from the corner of his eye while he set the newly filled vase onto the mantle above the fireplace.

"Some believe daffodils symbolize respect and new beginnings."

Will seemed to beam a little, as though congratulating himself on unintentionally choosing something profound. Magnus didn't have the heart to tell him that the flower also often was regarded as a symbol of uncertainty and unrequited love. Magnus sighed, hoping this was not a message from the universe to back the hell out now.

"Anyway," Will placed a surprisingly gentle hand on Magnus' shoulder and whispered in such an uncharacteristically soft voice, "Magnus…"

Magnus' heart skipped. "Y-yes?"

Will's blue eyes bore deeply into his own cat eyes. He leaned in and Magnus could feel his heart start to hammer in his chest. Soon, Will was so close he hoped he wouldn't be able to hear it pounding. Just centimeters from his lips and-

Will smirked and whispered against his lips. "You really missed me so much you had to sleep by the door?"

Magnus pulled back. "What?"

Will laughed, a beautiful but at the time incredibly irritating laugh. "You're wearing the same clothes, Magnus! And I saw the blanket in the parlor."

"Blanket?" Poking out into the parlor, Magnus saw the quilt that usually adorned the bottom of his bed. Shit. He must have been cold and summoned it in his sleep.

Feeling the heat rise to his face and unwilling to admit that there may be a tiny, little chance that Will may have possibly been correct, Magnus stomped up the stairs to get changed, leaving Will behind to relax on the sofa and laugh at his expense.

Far too long later, Magnus reappeared in the parlor. Glaring at Will with a faint dusting of rosiness still stuck to his cheeks.

"Where are we going?" Magnus grumbled.

"Surprise." Will joined Magnus by the door.

I'm baaaack… hey guys. So I almost (!) put this story up for adoption. (As in I did, but then I deleted that announcement as soon as I put it up because I changed my mind.)

But here we go! A billion years later and this is just the first installment to come. I lost my whole computer and everything I had been working on for this and thus lost all willpower to work on it but I've started rewriting and will hopefully be able to get back up to where I was soon. Hopefully, the story doesn't suffer any because of this.

Please let me know what you think of this chapter, I know A LOT didn't happen but there is a promise of a WillxMagnus date in the next one !

PS:: I've changed my username as sort of a fresh reboot of my account (from KyranNyx to PixelPatronus) , I hope you don't mind!