"Rise and shine, private!" Jace yelled, shaking Alec. The latter moaned and threw a book at Jace's head, which he quickly dodged, raising his eyebrows.

"You could have warned me that you aren't a morning person," he muttered before throwing Alec over his shoulders. Alec yelped in surprise, and Jace began to carry him to the bathroom. When he set Alec in the bathtub, the dark haired boy still looked disoriented. Jace turned on the cold water, and Alec's eyes grew wide before he squealed, jumping up and hurrying out of the tub.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed, and Jace smiled innocently.

"Oh, good. You're up. School starts in forty-five minutes. You have first period with me, so I'll talk you through the day while we walk."

As Jace walked out of the bathroom, a smirk appeared on his lips. This was due to the fact that, behind him, Alec had muttered, "I thought Hell was supposed to be warmer than this."

X.X.X.X

When Alec emerged from the bathroom about a half an hour later, he found Jace tossing a baseball against the wall. Every time it hit, there was a loud thump.

"Wayland! What the fuck are you doing?" someone from the room next to them yelled.

Jace's tossing didn't cease as he yelled back. "Sorry, Wendell! If you want it to stop, tell your mom not to ride me so hard!"

There was silence, and Alec snickered. Jace turned around and grinned at him.

"Well, well. There's Sleeping Beauty," he said, tossing the ball one more time so it made its loudest thud yet before getting up and grabbing his messenger bag. "Come on. Let's get to class."

Alec's initial impression of Jace was that he was absolutely stunning. If he'd ever seen anyone look exactly how an angel should, it was Jace. Then he realized how funny he was. Despite the lack of emotion thing, which Alec recognized as complete and utter bullshit, Jace seemed perfect.

He flushed slightly when he realized Jace was talking to him.

"- which I guess means that I'm kind of your mentor, or whatever. Don't know why they would want me to mentor anyone in anything but the art of being irresistible, but it's not my decision to make.

"So, you have your four houses, which you're put in based on your interests. Have you ever read Harry Potter?" - Alec nodded - "That's kind of what its like here. Carroll's for the freakishly intelligent, the equivalent to Ravenclaw; I'm talking, like, above genius IQs. They'll probably end up working for the Clave or becoming a professor at one of the Academies.

"Next you have Flinn, who are totally the Hufflepuffs of Raziel. They stick people in there who really just don't belong anywhere specifically. The jacks of all trades, so to speak.

"Of course, we have to have our Slytherins. Doyle is where they put all the fucked up little cretins with a ton of money. About ninety-percent hate Downworlders and mundanes. Also, Doyle has a huge rivalry with Asher. It would be best if you steered clear of anyone from there.

"Last but certainly not least is the lovely Asher House. I guess we're like Gryffindor, only bravery is more like us being stupid. And we want to kill a lot of things. Demons, certain Downworlders, guys from Doyle… But that's beside the point. We're the closest to Gryffindor on campus. Got it?"

Alec felt a little dizzy, since Jace had been talking a little too fast, but he nodded. "Carroll equals Ravenclaw, Flinn equals Hufflepuff, Doyle equals Slytherin, and Asher equals Gryffindor."

"Last one is a moot point," Jace reminded him, but nodded appreciatively. Then he launched into a detailed explanation of where classes were and what to expect, but Alec was only half listening. Still, it gave Alec another excuse to stare at Jace. He memorized the lines of his face, from his strong jaw line to his golden eyes. His eyes impulsively landed on Jace's beautiful, plump lips. He found himself getting distracted, before Jace's hand slamming into his back forced him to reenter reality.

"Alec! Wake up, man. We're almost to class," Jace scolded with a raise of his eyebrows. Alec flushed and looked down.

"Right… What class is this?"

Jace sighed, exasperated. "I just told you. Demonology."

"Right," Alec muttered again, following Jace into the class. If he wanted to keep being Jace's roommate, Alec would have to stop being so God damn distracted by his roommate's perfect face. This, however, Alec recognized as possibly impossible, due to the fact that Jace signaled his departure by blowing Alec a kiss.

"Don't worry. Even the straightest guys in the universe can't help but admire me."

Alec turned scarlet.

X.X.X.X

As it turned out, Jace and Alec only had two classes together. And Jace was happy to see that, despite his roommate's obvious reserved nature, he'd made a few friends. But now was gym. And he was fucking pumped.

The class wasn't really called 'gym', of course. That was too mundane for Raziel Academy. No, it was 'Advanced Physical Education of Predator Versus Prey', but everyone called it gym for obvious reasons. This was the last class out of the day, and also one out of the two classes Jace had with Alec. He was curious to see if his roommate was any good with hunting. Sure, all Nephilim were, but some were much better than others. Like Jace. He knew, as did everyone else, that he was the best there was.

After everyone had gathered, Coach Blake called Alec up to the front. "So, Mr. Lightwood, what are you best at?"

Alec blushed, and Jace had to chuckle. The kid was so socially awkward that it became endearing.

"I'm… I'm not bad with a bow and arrow," he stammered, and some guys snickered. There was a serious lack of people overly proficient in archery in the Shadowhunter world. Probably because the Nephilim loved to attack their enemies head on as opposed to from afar.

Coach, however, shrugged. "Alright then. Grab a bow and arrows and we'll see what you can do."

After Alec had done just that, Coach had moved him about thirty feet away from the target. Alec pulled back the string, about three inches, before he stopped.

"Can I move back?" he asked. Coach raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

Alec flushed. "Because this is too easy."

If it had been anyone else, Jace would have thought the guy was showing off. But this was Alec, and Jace knew better. Coach chuckled.

"Go for it."

Alec moved another fifteen or so feet back, and took a deep breath before pulling back the string. Jace found himself staring at the curves of Alec's back, watching as his shoulder blades moved. Jace had always had a weird thing for backs.

Alec let the string go, and the arrow went whizzing through the air until it landed - in the center of the bullseye. There was a chorus of 'Holy shit's and 'oh my God's, and Jace was surprised when he felt proud. That was his roommate, and his friend. He belonged to Jace.

Suddenly, Jace wondered what exactly he'd gotten himself into when he agreed to room with Alec.