How the Stars Shine Chapter 5: Pandemonium, a mortal instruments fanfic

Hooray! New chappie! I thought it would take longer to write this one but I guess I'm just more awesome then I realized! Yeah not really -_-

Disclaimer- Me no own.
(Song my OneRepublic)

Begin! *starts timer*

It had been nine hours since I had seen Magnus. Well, 9 hours and 7 minutes to be exact – but, ya know who was counting? I had failed to find the guts to call him after what had felt like hours of just staring at those seemingly innocent seven digits. I had tried dialing it countless times but I hadn't ever gotten past the fourth number before chickening out. I finally settled for just putting it into my contacts. Oh, the press would get a real kick out of me right now.

This, ofcourse, had happened after I had come up from breakfast – but also not breakfast since I had gotten up at around 2:00 p.m. – where I had tried to inconspicuously sneak down, grab an apple, and run back upstairs to avoid my mother. But I had once again forgotten that I had siblings and was roped in by Jace to retell the events of the night before. He – being in the dark about my whole 'hey, I like guys!' situation – questioned me kind of like my mom had; but without the whole homophobic issue. It had actually gone more like you'd have thought the conversation with my mom to have gone. He was seriously just interested in how we'd met, what we'd done, and if he thought we'd see each other again (as friends). The only thing uncomfortable about it was when he suggested I get a few numbers from some girls he may know because everyone including Jace understands that Magnus is bi and an obviously sexual being. That was the moment I made up some lame-ass excuse and ran back to my room.

When I had woken up that morning – afternoon? – Isabelle had already left for her dance class, leaving me with a note saying that mom had asked her to tell me that our dad and little brother Max were coming home from his latest business trip tonight. That had made me pretty happy because I hadn't seen Max in atleast two months because our parents had decided when my music took off that he was too young to be involved in the entire 'celebrity hubbub' I was about to get into. Sadly that meant I only got to see him every few weeks and my mother only got to see her husband that that much as well. It had all been for the best obviously, but it was still sad to only be a complete family once in a while instead of all the time.

At the end of Izzy's note, she said I should take it easy for a while after the whole nightmare incident and that I should consider taking my prescribed sleeping pills regularly again. I ignored her second suggestion – since I'd always hated taking medicine and every time I took one of those I woke up in a cold sweat; almost like I'd had the dream but couldn't remember it – but the first idea I thought was excellent. So after the whole escaping Jace and contemplating calling Magnus for a good while, I put on some actual clothes and went to my studio.

When I was around thirteen, my parents had a large room in the basement – that had previously been one of the many extravagant quest bedrooms the mansion held – redone into a recording studio and sort of lounge area full of different instruments when I had showed interest/ talent in music. They were always very busy and never had much time for their children back then so they tried to make up for it by paying for lessons and equipment when a new activity caught our eye. Izzy and Jace had tried almost everything from learning to play the obo to taking lessens in extreme snowboarding before they both stumbled across their own passions. Isabelle is deeply devoted to dancing – mostly hip hop, jazz, and ballet– while Jace dedicates most of his time to photography. With both of them being so exceptional looking, the family was surprised that neither of them wanted to go into a career like modeling.

Anyways, the room is pretty boss and completely mine since, even though my sibs had tried to learn how to play a variety of musical instruments, they had more or less sucked at each one. So thankfully they had no use for the space. It was like a second bedroom to me and sometimes I actually used it as one. The large couch and various chairs set up around the professionally decorated room were all very comfy so sometimes when I was working into ungodly hours of the night, I didn't bother to traipse back up to my room. I usually crashed on the red loveseat in the corner on those occasions.

When I walked in and turned on the light, I saw that nothing looked moved or even disturbed; just like I'd remembered. The maids that cleaned up the enormous house had obviously been in a few times to dust but they understood how I felt about my instruments and the order I kept the room in. Things were in pristine condition, just like I'd left them in a few months back. When I went around the room and let my fingers graze over the assortment of guitars, violins/ violas, weird instruments that most people can't pronounce, and the gorgeous grand piano I'd had since I was twelve, I finally felt that I had returned home.

I sat down on the shiny black stool and gently placed my fingers on the immaculate white keys, taking in their familiar feeling. I realized that the room felt all too quiet when compared to the usual sounds of me fiddling around with several different instruments as I tried to create the perfect melody. But that had been when fresh and exciting music had practically been pouring out of my pen and onto a page. Now I had nothing new to give to the beautiful piano and that made me feel so…

...strange. Empty. Hollow.

I hadn't just been trying to get my family to return home when I'd said I had writer's block. I seriously hadn't been able to come up with a tune or simple string of lyrics in weeks. Usually songs flowed from me with ease; usually I would take a story from Jace or Izzy's life then create a new way to tell it using music; usually it took me a matter of minutes to find the right notes and chords.

Usually I'm pretty good at my job.

I sighed and tapped on a few keys. I decided that I should just try playing a song or two, maybe to get me into the mindset for writing. After pondering over which song to choose, I slowly began to play.

The intro to that particular song of mine usually was played on the cello but I found out later that it sounded just as good on the piano. My eyes slipped shut, letting the music take over my thoughts and push out any other distracting feelings when I began to sing softly.

I need another story
Something to get off my chest
My life gets kinda boring
Need something that I can confess

'Till all my sleeves are stained red
From all the truth that I've said
Come by it honestly, I swear
Thought you saw me wink, no
I've been on the brink, so

Tell me what you want to hear
Something that are like those years
Sick of all the insincere
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away

I could feel myself getting more confident in the music and my voice started to collect the energy I didn't even know I was giving off, leisurely making it grow in power.

This time
Don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics ever jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away

My God
Amazing that we got this far
It's like we're chasing all those stars
Who drive in shiny big black cars

My hands and fingers started to play with a severe passion that rolled off the piano in waves of secure and striking music, blending naturally with the voice that many seemed to think was beautiful. My blue eyes were almost certainly shinning with childlike enthusiasm that made me grin as I sang.

And everyday I see the news, all the problems that we could solve
And when a situation rises just write it into an album
Seen it straight to go
But I don't really like my flow, no

So tell me what you want to hear
Something that are like those years
Sick of all the insincere
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away

I had let myself go completely at this point; smirking for the millionth time at the irony of my lyrics. I had problems telling people the most trivial details about myself so I had definitely not given 'all my secrets away'. I still had many I hoarded and planned to keep within the confines of my family and myself for a very long time to come. But that didn't mean that I sang with any less dedication than normal.

This time
Don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics ever jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away

My heart and my head were soaring and I doubt I could have stopped even if there had been a fire in the house, so when I saw the door open out of the corner of my eye and two figures come in, I didn't halt in my playing for even a moment.

Got no reason, got no shame
Got no family I can blame
Just don't let me disappear
Im'ma tell you everything

So tell me what you want to hear
Something that are like those years
Sick of all the insincere
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away

This time
Don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics ever jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away

So tell me what you want to hear
Something that are like those years
Sick of all the insincere
So I'm gonna give all my secrets away

This time
Don't need another perfect lie
Don't care if critics ever jump in line
I'm gonna give all my secrets away
All my secrets away

All my secrets away

I ended with such finality that should never be challenged. I smiled to myself; feeling like these massive, dreary clouds had been wiped from my soul to leave a clear blue sky and breeze so light it could take your breath away. I sat there in a stupor induced by my own passionate playing. I couldn't have been prouder of myself for singing with such strength when beginning with absolute vacancy. When I picked up on the sound of soft clapping I remembered that I had not just been performing for an audience of one.

I looked over to the door where my sister – in all her post dance practice glory – and my little brother – in all his post travel glory – stood. Isabelle caught my gaze for a moment and I saw her eyes gleaming with what could be described as pride. I moved my attention to Max, who had messy black hair just like mine and big innocent eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. I beamed at them, especially Max, and rushed up to give him the biggest hug ever.

"Ya know, you sound a lot better in person than you do on the radio," was the first thing he said to me and it made me even gladder to see him. I chuckled and picked him up in my arms.

The three of us decided to hide out in my studio for a while until mom would undoubtedly call us up for (an awkward!) dinner sometime. Max and I dinked around on the piano for a few minutes – sadly I believe he will be following in Izzy and Jace's footsteps when it comes to music – as Izzy sat on the couch and watched. Then the two of us tried to entertain him by reading a few of his comic books aloud and that somehow had turned into an actual acting performance complete with ninja kicks and sound affects by the end of it. Needless to say it was probably the lamest show we could have ever put on but it did get Max to almost die laughing – when I fell off the back of the couch –, which meant we had done our job somewhat right.

~HSS~

"So… when are you gonna call Magnus?" Izzy asked me quietly as we watched Max and Jace try to slaughter each other at Guitar Hero.

I looked at her face, which was all too cocky, and countered her question with, "Who's to say I haven't already called him?"

She snorted. "Yeah right. Knowing you, you probably thought about calling him for half an hour then found some excuse to do something else."

I made a huffy noise, making sure Jace and Max were still too immersed in their game to notice our conversation and said, "Fine, I haven't done it yet. But I wouldn't know what to say to him anyway! And does he even want me to call him?"

"God, Alec, you really need to go down to the store and get yourself a big, wopping helping of self confidence. Ofcourse he wants you to call him – he freaking gave you his number – and you don't have to know what to say, just call and let things flow!"

I made a frantic motion to signal that Jace and Max did have ears and she better shush unless she wanted me to get all teenage angsty on her. She just sighed but did lower her voice when she spoke again. "If you're so worried about that, text him instead. That way you'll have time to think of your responses."

"I guess…" I mentally berated myself for not thinking about that. Apparently nervousness makes me unbelievably stupid.

The look on her face told me she suspected I had not even thought about that possibility. "You have your phone on you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Take it out. I want to see you text him so I know that you have. I am not going to let you psych yourself out so bad that you miss out on a perfectly good opportunity."

Her eyes narrowed when I frowned instead of moving. "Now." She growled.

So, in an act to possibly save myself from immediate injury, I drew my phone from my pocket and pulled up a text box. I turned my body so she couldn't see what I was typing in because hey, she could force me to text him but I was not letting her eavesdrop on our conversation. She pouted but didn't say anything.

Alec: Hey Magnus, it's Alec.

The response was almost instant, and when the phone beeped, Isabelle smirked.

Magnus: Well, hello blue eyes. I was beginning to wonder when I might hear from you. ;) So I'm guessing your mother did not skewer you on a stick then?

I was immensely pleased to see that Magnus used full sentences just like I did. People usually asked me why I was so formal in texting and I always told them that I hated the look of sentences chopped up to look like a string of incoherent letters. I had always preferred the look of nicely written words and sentiments. I blushed when he called me by nicknames even in text and when I realized he remembered that comment I had made about my mother. I could just imagine his face; beautiful and smirking, with one perfect eyebrow raised.

Alec: Yep. She took pity on me and decided to leave her sticks out of the equation.

Magnus: She sounds so kind hearted.

I didn't have time to reply before my phone rang with a call from Magnus himself. Izzy and I gave each other a pointed look before I took the call and moved off the couch and towards the hallway. I could hear Izzy follow me as I said, "Um hi, Magnus?"

"The one and only. I went out on a whim and called just to hear your lovely voice!" I could hear the smile in his words and I could tell that he probably knew I was blushing from the small compliment. Isabelle, who was leaning in close enough to hear everything, made a silent 'aawww' face. "Well, I also wanted to ask how you were planning on spending your time later tonight…"

"I, um, well my dad and brother just got back in town and-,"

"Ooh, ooh!" Izzy butted in, "Tell him that-,"

"Is that your sister?" Magnus asked.

I think my eye twitched as I answered him. "Yes and she is being very unladylike," I directed the last part at her as I lightly pushed her away far enough so that she couldn't hear the complete conversation.

"Oh, put her on; I want to ask her something!" Well I definitely hadn't seen that one coming, but it wasn't the weirdest thing I could have imagined him asking me.

"Uh, sure? But she's a whole basket of teenage girl insanity that most sensible people usually try to avoid." She stuck her tongue out at me.

He laughed. "I can see someone uses their literary skills on a daily basis. But I do really want to talk to her about something!"

"Okay…"

I held the phone out for her and she raised a confused eyebrow. "He wants to talk to you for some strange reason." She eyed the small mechanism in my hand then took it with a shrug.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Miss Isabelle! This is the Magnificent Magnus Bane speaking."

I smiled at his cheery tone and obviously playful manner. "So I heard." I began to walk away from my very curious big brother as I talked to his life long crush. I moved to the stairs with Alec following a few steps behind me as I made my way to my room. "Is there a specific reason you wished to speak with me or do you always do this when courting someone?"

When I got to my room I stood in the doorway while Alec gave me look and I quickly gave one back before shutting the door on him then locking it. I really didn't want him to hear the questions I wanted to ask Magnus after he explained why he'd wanted to talk to me.

He laughed and countered with, "Not usually, but I do have a reason for the conversation." I saw that Magnus had not truly admitted to 'courting' Alec but he had in no way denied it either. Smooth Bane; very smooth.

"And what might that be, Mr. Bane?"

"Is there any way you could get your brother out of the house tonight?"

"Perhaps," I said. "Depends on the time and where we'd be."

"Just Pandemonium. Around elevenish." I smirked. Jace and I had been dying to drag Alec there ever since we'd decided to come home.

"I believe that is very much in the realm of possibilities. But I would like to ask you some things if that's alright."

I heard him chuckle – which was indeed awfully sexy – before he said, "My dear, if you can get that boy to Pandemonium tonight I will tell you anything your little heart finds itself wanting to know."

I smiled, enjoying the outcome of the conversation greatly, "Glad to hear it. I'd first like to confirm that you like my brother – as in like like him."

He chuckled sexily again. "Yes Isabelle. I very much like like Alexander."

"Why?"

It took a moment for him to answer that one. "For many reasons, Isabelle. Reasons that I would like to add on to should I be given the chance to actually spend some time with him."

I was satisfied with the answer. "Then I suppose I'll be seeing you at around elevenish."

"Ofcourse. And don't forget to bring the deliciousness that is your brother with you."

I laughed aloud as we both hung up.

As a pleasant surprise, I was not dragged into having an awkward dinner with my mother that night. I'd said hello to my father, who was the same as ever, and then he and my mom went off to have dinner alone in the dining room. They told us we could do whatever we wanted for the night as long as Max got to bed at 8:45 and we ate dinner together. After we ordered a pizza and watched Iron Man – which was one of Max's favorites – the three scampered Max off to bed.

So as I'm finally thinking I can talk to Izzy about her conversation with Magnus, she decided that it was the perfect time to announce that we were all gonna go to Pandemonium that night and I was coming whether I was willing or not. I groaned while Jace and Izzy reveled in my unhappiness.

"C'mon Alec, we just want to make sure you get out of your shell once and a while," Jace said patting me on the back.

"No, you just want to make sure that you get to go out clubbing and that means I have to come with since mom said we have to stick together tonight."

He shrugged walking off towards the stairs. "Put it however you may like but we're still going out so I suggest we all go get ready."

"Is this really necessary?" I whined, turning to my sister when Jace had disappeared up the steps.

She smiled smugly in a way that made me worried. "More than you know, big brother. Now come on! I'm picking out your clothes for the evening and you get no say in this whatsoever!" I didn't even have time to protest before she grabbed my arm and dragged me up to my room where she hastily pushed me on my bed and turned around to rummage through my closet.

"Okay," she mumbled to herself, "I know you have nice clothes in here… oh, where is the stuff I got you for your first concert?"

I groaned for the second time that evening and flopped onto my back; the part of me wanting to fight being slowly put out. Usually on occasions like this, I would gripe and complain until Izzy had to hit me upside the head to get me to stop, but right now, I was too emotionally tired to object to whatever she had in store for me. Plus, she always ended up winning anyways, so what was the point in wasting energy I could be saving for getting through the night?

I jerked up when something was thrown at my face. I grabbed the offending material and looked at it, seeing that Isabelle had found the pile of semi-fashionable clothes I had stuffed in the back of my closet. I held the black, form-fitting jeans out in front of me and decided to feel glad that Izzy hadn't found the single pair of skinny jeans I owned – which I really should throw out soon or else I know she'll find them one day. I put them in my lap as she continued to rip my closet apart as she kept mumbling to herself about my obvious lack of fashion sense.

"Aha! Here we are!" I couldn't even see her upper body anymore; she was so far into my closet. When she immerged, her hair was slightly mussed, but she was smiling triumphantly as she held two different pieces of clothing in her hands. She walked over happily to where I sat and handed me a short sleeved, button down shirt – a very dark blue color – and then presented me with a leather biker's jacket I'd completely forgotten I owned. "Now hup to!" she commanded, pointing towards my bathroom. "And don't think that after you've changed that I'm done with you!"

"Why is it so important for me to get all dressed up? I don't even want to go!"

She smirked as she eyed me, making me suspect that she knew something I didn't. She leaned forward so her face was right in front of mine before she said, "Well maybe you don't want to go but certain – sparkly – people happen to want you to be there tonight."

Sparkly? Oh God she can't be talking about-

"You mean…?" I asked with huge eyes when I had thought over her words. She simply raised an eyebrow as if that was all I needed to know that yes, she meant Magnus. She pointed again to the bathroom wordlessly so I did what she wanted and went to go put on the ridiculous clothing without protest.

~HSS~

So after a torturous experience where Isabelle forced me to sit down as she tried to tame the black mop on my head with some of her hair gel and successfully tormented me with a silver eye pencil – that she actually succeeded in using on me – we all got into the car and headed off.

Out of every club I've ever been dragged to, paraded around, or even enjoyed being in, Pandemonium had to have been the most infamous and acknowledged. If there was a place where rockstars, actors/ actresses, or random beautiful people wanted to go get drunk and party; Pandemonium would be their go-to. Even though they claimed you had to be atleast 18 to get in, if you were famous enough they were all open arms. Although I never really took much pleasure in going, it wasn't ever a pain to get past the 'red velvet rope'.

There was no hesitation to let the three of us in after they took a look at my face – but I doubt Izzy and Jace had ever had trouble getting in on their own because of their obvious good looks.

Being only eleven, the establishment was definitely not in full swing yet, but the place was always packed from the moment it was open for business. The music was blaring, people were dancing/ flirting/ practically having sex in the corner, drinks were being bought, conversations were being held (even though they were carried out in a much louder fashion than normal), and lights were flashing from various directions. It had seemed that everything had stayed the same – much to my disappointment. The only reason I was even being civil towards my siblings was because there was a large chance I would be seeing Magnus again.

Isabelle hadn't exactly been dying to give me the details about the comment she'd made when she'd been making me play dress up. Besides the mention of someone sparkly wanting me to be there, she kept the rest under lock and key which annoyed me to no end but since she is Izzy, I knew she would never budge. Especially now that it involves my love life. Or crush life. Whatever.

When the three of us walked in, I immediately started to scour the masses of people for Magnus. You'd think finding an over six foot tall, sparkly, colorful male with his hair in otherworldly spikes would be relatively easy but I'd like to crush that thought for everyone right now. I'd actually like to set it aflame then bury it in a burning box and drop it in a crack to the earth's core, but I didn't have time to do that because I was too busy looking for Magnus.

I made a split decision to just sneak away from my brothers – specifically Alec – to go search for him in the loads of dancing bodies. So as Jace was trying to convince Alec that 'he really was dragging him here to help him' and that 'he'll prove it by personally hooking him up with a chick' I decided to slip back between two people trying to have a conversation and head towards the bar.

After successfully losing my siblings, I trudged through more and more people until I finally reached the red bar stools. While sitting on one of them and planning my next move, I felt someone gently grab my arm and turn me to the left. Getting ready to completely reject whoever was about to hit on me, I let myself be turned as I put on my best glare. However, it was completely unneeded because I was met with the cat like green eyes of the one person I thought I would be spending a lot of time trying to find.

"Isabelle, right?" he smiled with the cock of his head. I took the time to mentally compliment his makeup skills when I glanced at the very professional looking eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, and glitter artfully painted on his flawless skin.

"Magnus, right?" I grinned back.

"Well thank goodness. You have no idea how embarrassed I'd be if I had approached the wrong person," he joked.

I snorted, "Oh I'm sure you would have just died."

He took a moment to order us both drinks – and there was no hesitation because you don't question Magnus Bane – before he got done to why we were both here. "I trust you have brought your brother with you?"

I could see now, unlike over the phone, the way his eyes lit up hopefully when he mentioned my brother and even though his tone and expression suggested he wouldn't care if I said yes or no, those gold-green eyes flickered with emotion and gave him away.

"But of course. He's right over there if you're looking for him," I said while I scanned the crowds for a moment until I saw a very uncomfortable Alec and a very enthusiastic Jace then pointed them out to Magnus. I saw his eyes go immediately to them and brighten when they locked on Alec. I smiled when he confirmed his genuine interest in my brother to me without even realizing it.

When he finally tore his eyes away and turned to me, he was smirking mischievously. "You didn't tell him I'd be here, did you?"

"I hinted but I didn't spill everything. I thought you'd like to announce your presence to him yourself."

"Isabelle," he mused, "I do love how your mind just understands."

I looked over at him slyly. "Oh really? Did you have something particular planned out?"

"Perhaps…" His gaze had left me to ogle at Alec again who was trying to hold back laughter as Jace got bitch-slapped by an short, freckled girl. "I must ask how you got him to let you dress him so deliciously. And don't tell me you didn't because that just screams 'I had womanly help'."

I laughed, taking a moment to appreciate my fashion sense as well. "Oh just a threat or two. The mention of someone sparkly may have helped."

"Well," he said as the bartender brought us two shot glasses and he raised one, "I say we toast to your amazing persuasive skills and to how glorious Alexander's ass looks in those jeans." He dropped me a glittery wink before I picked up my own glass and we both downed our liquor.

After Jace got the bejezus smacked outta him by some feisty red head when he made some suggestions that were just a bit too suggestive for her, Izzy suddenly had returned to my side.

"Where the heck were you? You missed the funniest damn thing!" I grinned as I continued laughing even though Jace had turned his glare on at me.

"Oh, I saw," she smirked, crossing her arms. "Well now we know that Jace has no power over tiny gingers." The two of us snickered as he made a pouty face (which was starting to turn red on the left side where he'd been slapped).

"She was obviously a prude or a lesbian," he mumbled dejectedly making the whole situation that much funnier. As I started to retell the happenings that had reduced our usually arrogant sibling to the mannerisms of a toddler; our attentions were directed to a different source when the DJ picked up the mike and started to talk; saying everyone here was in luck because tonight they had a special treat in store for us. Apparently some singer was going to be performing a new song. A singer named-

"Magnus Bane!" My eyes snapped up to the stage across the room as the crowds erupted and the music started pounding.

Wow that was longer than any of my other chapters. I actually had more I wanted to put in this one but I didn't want to go on forever. I hope that all made sense... please tell me if t didn't! Seriously!

Sooooo what song do you guys think Magnus should sing? I have one in mind but I want to see if you guys have a better one :) And if you wanna see an awesome guy playing Secrets on the piano like I imagined Alec playing; go to youtube and watch the video OneRepublic- Secrets Piano by Ray Mak. He's freaking amazing.

Since I already put that song in here I figured you guys wouldn't need another one. Oh and Clary made an appearance! I can try to put her and Simon and other characters in here more if you want but that'll be hard considering where I'm taking the story next (and no I will not explain yet!).

Quick question before you guys review - hopefully! - I know I've got fans who are girls reading this but are there any fanboys? Just something weird I've been wondering about...

Review!

~Brina-Bot~