Author's Note: Sometimes, late at night, I like to reread books I read as a teenager. And then I think to myself, "Why do people keep writing gay characters and making them straight?" It's not my fault they keep doing it, but I suppose if I'm going to complain about it, I could at least help them out a little bit.

I like this bit, because Alec is pretty much a mopey little bitch, and he spends a lot of this chapter squirming like a worm on a hook. It's pretty amusing, but I don't know if Jace and Alec are still in character because… well… I guess I just don't give a crap. People change a lot when they're in their late teens and early twenties, so I feel pretty justified in ruining Cassandra Clare's characters. Also, I'm a self-centered egotistical bastard. So that helps.

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Alec pulled back from the kiss first, to look at Jace and try to figure out what would happen next. Their arms fell apart.

Sucking Jace's cock was… Well, saying it was a dream come true was ridiculously hokey, but Alec had had both fantasies and wet dreams centered around precisely that. He wondered if he'd end up jerking off to this memory for the next six months.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Leann, now Leander, had passed out on the end of the couch, arms limply hanging over the edge.

Jace's cheeks were so flushed, his eyes so glazed, his lips so wet and shining… It took all of Alec's strength tried not to throw his arms back around his best friend and kiss him again. His heart wanted to swell up in his chest and up through his throat and vomit itself all over Jace until they both drowned in every last dramatic-music-swelling, flowery-meadow-running, gayer-than-Utah-Mormons-funding-California-propositions, more-romantic-than-rose-petals-and-champagne-in-a-hot-tub emotion in his heart.

He wanted to tell Jace all of it, every last piece of it. His mouth opened. And his voice caught in his throat. They sat in silence for a few seconds, but Alec realized it didn't matter how long they sat there, because… he just knew. He knew instinctively that none of this would last. Jace was going to sober up, or forget, or say it was an experiment and…

"My…" Jace whispered. Alec's heart stopped beating. This was it, the defining moment, where Jace would unknowingly decide whether or not to break Alec's heart. "My neck burns."

Or… not?

"Huh?" Alec squinted at Jace in confusion and then blinked, trying to focus on something other than the emotions tying up his mind.

Jace brought one hand up to the back of his neck and gingerly touched it. He flinched and Alec, who had been kneeling on the couch between Jace's legs, straightened so that he could grab Jace's head and pull it forward.

"Oh shit." Guilt swarmed down upon Alec. The virility rune he'd drunkenly drawn on Jace in the bathroom was glowing blue, and the skin around it was red and swollen. A little light bulb inside of Alec's head began to flicker into life.

"What is it?" Jace asked, as if Alec had not just given him a blowjob. Because he had. Literally. Two minutes ago. Lips on dick. Major boundaries being crossed. Alec suppressed the urge to scream at him, get him to react, JUST A GOD DAMN LITTLE BIT.

It was not easy.

"A rune I gave you earlier," Alec replied, touching the rune with one finger. They both flinched; the heat it gave off was significant, and Alec stuck the singed finger in his mouth quickly. The light bulb in Alec's mind got brighter, still guttering and buzzing.

"The protection rune?" Jace asked, puzzled.

"Er… No." Alec touched the red skin around the rune gently. "It's a virility rune I tried to give you. Or at least it was supposed to be. It looks like maybe I drew something else instead."

The light bulb stopped flickering, the buzzing noise stopped, and Alec was illuminated. The "virility rune" was probably why Jace had kept staring at him, and why he'd let Alec kiss him and suck his dick. He was so horny he didn't care who got him off, or how.

This was totally Clary's fault. Or at least, Alec was completely and utterly willing to lay all the blame on her. After all, if she hadn't broken Jace's heart, they wouldn't have been getting drunk in a bar, willing to go home with whoever or whatever asked them. Plus, if the rune worked that meant that it had to have been created, most likely not by an angel. Which meant at some point Clary had created some sort of arousal rune that wiped away inhibitions.

Alec thought about that for a second more. Yeah, actually that sounded exactly like something she might do. Feather-headed, self-possessed, two-steps-from-being-a-callgirl, pathetic excuse for a Shadowhunter that she was.

"Why the hell did you give me a virility rune?" Jace demanded, breaking into his thoughts.

"Are you kidding me?" Alec snorted. "You were so drunk that you looked like you couldn't get wood in the middle of a forest. I thought I'd do you a favor."

"Me, the drunk one?" Jace frowned at him. "You're the one who sat down on the floor in the middle of the bar and then drew a curse on the back of my neck."

"This isn't a pissing contest, Jace," Alec replied dryly. "I'm not arguing my sobriety. I gave you a rune that I thought would help with Leann, and instead seems to have gotten you hot and bothered over nothing."

Jace's expression went flat, and Alec's chest seized up with panic, but he buried the fear under a bored and annoyed glare which he directed at the blonde. It was true, and Alec knew it for sure now. The reason Jace was here, and the reason he didn't get up and run away, and why he'd let Alec do things to him was because he was under the influence of that stupid rune.

Alec hadn't thought that accepting a truth he had already guessed would hurt quite so much. He swallowed, refusing to acknowledge the pain, and returned Jace's stony expression.

"That rune… Is that why I'm still horny?" Jace asked. He said it so matter-of-factly that Alec blinked once, not realizing exactly what he meant. Then it clicked.

Quickly he drew his hands away from Jace's neck and sat back. Jace looked at him, face still flushed from his orgasm, and then looked down at his groin. Alec joined his gaze.

"Maybe?" Alec said, tilting his head. He seriously, seriously, wanted Jace to say something. ANYTHING. Christ, they were sitting there staring at Jace's erection. This deserved some sort of comment.

"It's burning worse," Jace said tightly, clamping fingers over the glowing rune. That wasn't really what Alec wanted to hear, but it at least it was something he could deal with.

He reached between them and wrapped his fingers around Jace's cock, pumping it slowly. It was still slick from his saliva, still warm from where his tongue had pressed against it. He knew he was probably blushing like crazy, and couldn't bring himself to risk a look at Jace. But the other man did not stop him or protest, breathing fast and heavy.

"Al – ec," Jace whispered, his voice hitching between syllables, and moved so that their foreheads pressed together. At the sound of his name said so yearningly, Alec's mouth went dry, and his limp dick twitched.

God, why was life so fucking unfair??

"The virility rune disappears after two hours," Alec mumbled. "So this probably won't last much longer."

Okay, that was total bullshit. But it sounded like he was in control, which made both of them relax. And now he had a good reason to be touching Jace again. He couldn't really complain about that.

Jace's hands moved to Alec's shoulders, and the fingers that had been pressed to the back of his neck were so hot that they burnt Alec. Anxiously, his eyes looked up to Jace's, only inches away.

He tightened his grip on Jace's erection and told himself that this was not erotic. It was not arousing, and it was not sexy and he was not going to lose control of himself. His hand pumped Jace's cock faster.

"What… if it does?" Jace breathed, his eyes sinking shut.

"We'll deal with it then. I can call Isabelle or Mom for help." Alec was loath to point out that Clary could conceivably be the most help. It would be simple for her to create a rune that would negate the effects of whatever it was Alec had drawn on Jace.

"We had to… break up with the powerhouses, didn't we?" Jace panted. He let out a breathy, bitter laugh and slid his face down to bury his forehead in the crook of Alec's neck. The movement felt so good that Alec's eyes nearly rolled back into his head.

"Power…?"

"Clary 'n' Magnus," Jace mumbled.

He'd forgotten Magnus. No shit. He'd actually forgotten Magnus.

"We got by just fine before they showed up," Alec replied firmly.

"What if we've gone soft?" Jace's breath ghosted across Alec's chest; Alec closed his eyes and felt his exhausted prick grow heavy and stiff. He was tempted to point out that neither of them were soft at the moment.

"The day you go soft is the day Simon gets laid." Alec put his free hand on Jace's ribs and felt them heaving up and down, felt the hammering pulse inside them. Jace laughed softly. The scent of his shampoo hit Alec's nose and he lowered his face to breathe it in deeper. He shifted to hide his growing member from Jace's closed eyes before realizing he had nowhere to hide.

This was it for them. If Alec wanted something from Jace, he had to take it tonight, while the rune still burned. Tomorrow everything would be different. Their friendship, their brotherly relationship… All that would be over. It had been shattered to pieces because he couldn't keep his dick in his pants.

They sat in near silence as Alec jerked Jace off, trying to gauge what the blonde liked, how fast, how hard… Alec sighed softly and tried to smile wryly to himself. He wasn't trying to figure out what would get the other man off. He was trying to figure out what would make Jace fall in love with him.

Alec hadn't been aware that his feelings for Jace were still there. Maybe they'd been smothered by his love for Magnus, or maybe he'd buried them after that painful conversation in Idris. Then again, perhaps the feelings spawned purely from their recent heartbreak and current physical lust. In the morning, he might be just as embarrassed and ashamed as Jace.

His arm started to ache, and he wondered how much longer it would take Jace to climax.

"I…" Jace tried to say something and then grunted, leaning into Alec as hard as he could. His cock throbbed twice in Alec's hand, and when cum spilled from him, Alec neatly caught it before it could drip on the carpet.

Alec's hands fell away from Jace, and he waited for the other man to sit back. Neither of them moved for a few moments. Jace's hands and head still pinned Alec in position, like it was the only thing holding him up.

One of Jace's hands suddenly clamped tightly to the back of his neck and he exhaled sharply. Alec pulled back and stood up. He leaned over Jace and inspected the rune through his fingers. It wasn't glowing quite as brightly, but the skin around it was raw and red.

"I should get you some ice," Alec said, prying Jace's blistering fingers from the rune. "Don't touch it anymore, you're going to burn your fingers."

Jace looked up at Alec with an almost vacant expression, and then looked at their hands. Alec wanted him to speak. He wanted him to say something that would salvage their friendship, or forgive him, or… Alec's throat tightened.

Jace reached out toward Alec's cupped hand and touched the semen that had settled between his fingers. There was some sort of disconnect on his face, like he could not associate Alec and semen but he was trying to.

Quickly Alec pulled away and found his jeans, stepping into them, forgoing his underwear for speed's sake. Get the ice and come back. Just get the fucking ice and come back and don't think about it.

Don't think about how confused you are.

Don't think about how Jace looked like he would break your heart.

Don't think about Jace sitting naked on the couch and looking at you like he wants to fuck you. He doesn't. It's that stupid rune. He'd fuck anything. When you get the ice, he'll probably start fucking Leann if she wakes up. If not, he might fuck her anyway.

Alec went into the bathroom and rinsed the cum from his fingers, then grabbed the ice bucket and a room key. He walked down the hall and filled the bucket, grateful for the cold breeze from the machine to keep him coherent. Crouching down next to the machine, he closed his eyes.

Silently he told himself that he could stay in the hallway if he wanted, especially when going back into that room would end the world. Turning the knob would summon the Six Headed beast and opening the door would cause the legions of the dead to rise from their graves, and Christ would return to judge the world when he stepped inside. And Jace would condemn him in the morning.

The stench of sex was washed off Alec's skin by the holy baptism of fluorescent lighting and for a moment he let the fear take hold of him.

He clenched his shaking hands, chewed on the inside of his cheek, and took a few shaky breaths. Nothing to get upset over. Nothing at all. Who cared if things changed? Change was good. It was exciting. Change could make a world of difference and open new doors even as it closed old ones.

Alec fucking hated change.