"Jace!" Clary's voice jerked Jace's attention away from the piano. He had been practicing for forever, lost in the rhythms and the melodies, letting the music take his thoughts away from everything that had been going on lately.

He was worried about Alec. Sure, he and Magnus were finally engaged, but it didn't seem to be making Alec much happier. He seemed to be losing sleep, forgetting to eat for long periods of time, going out on "walks" and not coming back for hours. Jace had suspected as much even before Alec had come to him, asking how to handle the marriage from an immortal-mortal standpoint. It didn't seem like he and Magnus had been dealing well with the fact that this marriage was going to end simply because Alec's life was going to end when Magnus's would continue into eternity.

It was then that Jace realized Clary had been talking to him, and he hadn't been paying a bit of attention.

"Jace! Have you even heard a word I said?" Her face was red, but Jace could tell it wasn't just from anger over him not listening, something was definitely wrong.

"Honestly Clary, no. I'm worried about Alec. But something's wrong? What is it? Is someone hurt?"

Clary stared up at him, her eyes scared and pleading. "No Jace, everyone is fine. There's just something I really need to show you. I have no idea what to do with it."

"Where have you been? Do you know what time it is?"

Alec was exasperated, and he had just walked back into their apartment. "Yes, Magnus. It's ten past midnight. And I've been out for a walk. Clearing my mind."

"You say that every time you come home this late. What do you need to get off your mind so badly? And do you know how worried I am every time you stay out this late?"

Alec finally turned around and looked squarely at Magnus. He was a mess. His eyes were red and puffy, and, "Is that my sweater?" Alec's voice became soft when he realized what Magnus was wearing. "Magnus," his voice was barely above a whisper as he made his way toward Magnus and took his hands. "Why are you wearing my sweater, darling?"

Magnus's voice was just as soft when he began speaking, Alec could tell he was holding back tears. "Do you not see how much I love you? When you're out this late, I can't get to sleep. All I can do is worry. Alexander, all I can do is wonder if you've been attacked by demons, or if some long lost enemy of mine, and trust me I have enough of those, has hurt you. Why can't you see how much I care? I know this immortality stuff is really bothering you, trust me Alec, it's bothering me too. But we need to talk this out. I can't take another night of you being gone and me being reduced to wearing your sweaters just to try to get some kind of comfort."

Alec couldn't speak. He had been holding back tears for weeks, ever since Magnus proposed. Although he had never been happier about anything than he was at the thought of marrying Magnus, thoughts of the difference in their mortality had been driving him insane.

"Alec, please," tears were steadily streaming down Magnus's face now. "Say something, anything, I'm begging. Just please, don't leave me."

"Leave you?" Alec couldn't help it, the tears began rolling down his cheeks too. "You're insane if you think I'm going to leave you, Magnus. I agreed to marry. There's no way I'm leaving you." Alec began grinning. "I wouldn't miss the opportunity to see what kind of fabulous wardrobe you come up with, or to make you dance with me."

Magnus choked out a laugh. They both knew that Magnus was an exquisite dancer while Alec, however, was exquisite at knocking things over and stepping on Magnus's feet. Even more than that, Magnus knew that Alec understood just how much dancing meant to him, no matter how bad Alec was at it.

Alec moved closer and leaned in towards Magnus. With a smile he began to kiss the tears away from Magnus's face. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow, I promise. Let's get you to bed."

"Alec? Can I ask you a question?" Magnus was trying to hide a bit of a smile.

"Anything, love." Alec's deep blue eyes were full of love.

"Can I keep this sweater to sleep in? It reminds me of you, of home, of love."

"What do you mean it just came to you?" Jace was having trouble believing what Clary was trying to get him to understand.

"I told you, Jace. It came to me like they have every other time. The image flashed to me, I knew it was a rune, but I didn't know what it meant. I sketched it down and just kinda forgot about it because it had happened before."

"No, I get that. But how did you figure out what it meant? It's not exactly something you can test out."

"I told you. I woke up last night and I had written down the meaning of it in my journal. It was a message, from an angel. Believe me or don't Jace but this rune is far more special than any of the others."

Jace was curious now. He knew this rune was far different, but now Clary was singling it out, putting it above all the others she had been sent by angels.

Clary surprised Jace by handing him her journal. The last time he had so much as looked at it for too long she had yelled at him for a solid fifteen minutes about privacy.

Jace glanced down at the page before him. What was laid out couldn't be described any other way than as direction, clearer than the waters of Lake Lynn. Jace dropped the book in disbelief after reading the words Clary had carefully written.

"For Alexander Lightwood: Burn page after use. The rune will fade into the skin once applied. Meaning: Immortality."