This is a special update! I've worked hard on getting this chapter done in time. For today, it's not your regular day, no. Today, my dear friend Alva turns 20! 3 This is my gift for you Alva :) Hope you had a great day. You're the best 3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALVA!
Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
As they pulled up outside the barn and Magnus parked next to Jace's car, Alec felt like his insides would explode. He didn't know what he was so nervous about. To Alec's happiness he noticed that Jace's car was empty, as he looked over at the barn, it's red paint starting to peel off, he saw two figures leaning against a wall. One reaching the other to it's shoulder, the shorter one was Clary and she had her hair in a ponytail. The taller one, Jace, had his arm wrapped around Clary's shoulders. Alec looked over at Magnus, who was staring straight forward, his hands still on the steering wheel.
"Are you nervous?" Alec asked, looking at Magnus' knuckles, turning white.
"Strangely, yes." He sighed, loosening his grip slightly and looked over at Alec. "It's just, Jace seems like your family, not just a close friend. And I'm scared that he won't like me."
"You shouldn't worry about that, I'm the one of us two who's hard to win over. So you've managed the hard part." Alec smiled and Magnus shook his head laughing. "What I'm worried about is you not liking him." Alec giggled. The tension in Alec's body washed away as the sound of Magnus' laugh reached his ears.
"Well, shall we?" Magnus said still laughing, moving his hand to open the door. They hadn't taken the convertible today either, so Magnus couldn't do his fancy jump out. Alec followed Magnus out and hand in hand they walked up to Clary and Jace.
"Hi!" Clary greeted with a huge smile, Jace hadn't seen them coming, too caught up in looking at Clary. "It's been a long time." Clary said and at first Alec thought she was talking to him, wondering what she meant, it wasn't that long ago.
"It's been forever." Alec heard Magnus respond and watched in ave as they hugged.
"You guys know each other?" Jace and Alec said in choir.
"Yeah, our mothers knew each other." Magnus answered.
"We used to meet all the time when we were younger." Clary added. "Even though my brother was more the same age as Magnus, it was us two who spent most time together."
"Well, your brother refused to leave your mother's side." Magnus laughed. Jace and Alec stood still, staring at each other and then at Magnus and Clary, and back. They hadn't expected this.
"Luckily he's outgrown that trait by now." Clary laughed and Magnus laughed, and Jace and Alec still stood there confused.
"I didn't expect you to be Clary. But it's a pleasant surprise." Magnus said, hugging Clary once more.
"Yeah, I didn't understand it was you until Jace said that Alec's date was Starboy." Clary smiled.
"You must be Jace." Magnus smiled at Jace, reaching out a hand.
"Yes." Jace quickly recovered and his face displayed one of his charismatic smiles and grabbed Magnus' hand. "So you're the new boyfriend?"
Alec froze, they haven't really talked about this, he wasn't sure what Magnus was to him. They've ever only used the term "dating". He felt his cheeks turn warm and Alec guessed, red.
"Why, I hope so. It would be terribly awkward otherwise." Magnus finally answered Jace. Thankfully he seemed pleased with that answer and walked to open the door, letting everybody in.
"Jace." Clary said, putting a hand on his arm. "Would you help me practice knife throwing?" She asked and Jace nodded, they walked away to the other side of the barn. Where the knifes laid neatly in a row, Jace had obviously been here and prepared before they arrived. Along the wall there was different targets, on the walls there was round circles, those you used when shooting dart and sprawled across the floor stood silhouettes of humans, with three different targets on them.
Alec let out a breath he didn't knew he was holding as Jace and Clary got out of earshot.
"Boyfriend huh?" Magnus teased, pocking Alec's arm.
"I've never used that word.. it's just .. Jace .. he's .. " Alec stuttered, looking down at his feet. Again feeling his cheeks turn warm.
"I wouldn't mind if you started using that word." Magnus whispered in Alec's ear, he hadn't even noticed that Magnus had moved so close.
"I wouldn't mind if you did." Alec breathed as he slowly looked up to meet Magnus' eyes. He was even closer than Alec had thought, he found his lips just a millimeter away from Magnus' and before thinking he closed the space between them. The kiss was however cut short by Jace whistling. When Alec looked over his back to shoot him an angry look, he saw Clary hitting him on the arm, saying something that looked like "stop it." And instead of giving Jace that angry glance, he burst out laughing at the look on his face when Clary scolded him, he looked like a child. It was too funny not to laugh and he heard Magnus laugh behind him.
"Sorry about Jace, he enjoys being an ass." Alec muttered and Magnus laughed even harder. When he finally managed to stop laughing, Alec showed him over to the corner with the archery course. He picked up a bow and an arrow, his bow was silver with a curve at both ends, along it was old runes painted, he'd put them there himself when he was younger, they had meanings though Alec didn't remember them all. He'd found the rune language in an old book in his parents basement and was mesmerized by they way they moved over the papers, the mix of soft and sharp.
"I thought I could just show you first, then I'll take it step by step with you." Alec said, not looking at Magnus, that would just get him distracted, instead he twirled the arrow between his fingers and when Magnus didn't respond he shot a quick glance back. Magnus was leaning against a pillar and watching Alec.
Alec took a deep breath before raising his bow and placing the arrow, the back on the string, the tip beside the bow. He drew the string back, feeling his muscles work, he relaxed and focused on the bullseye. He let the arrow go and it shot away with a immense speed and fixed right in the bullseye. He heard Magnus applaud.
"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that you were good." Magnus said and Alec could hear him walking closer.
"Well, I've practiced a lot over the years." Alec said, not one to brag but it was true, he had spent a lot of time on it and he was proud of his skill.
"Obviously." Magnus said, now standing next to Alec. "Want to show me or I could just watch you practice. I wouldn't mind."
"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let you just stare at me while I have all the fun?" Alec responded, grinning at the use of the word 'boyfriend'.
"Hm." Magnus hummed "a boyfriend who lets his boyfriend watch him be sexy instead of making a fool of himself?" Magnus tilted his head, looking at Alec with puppy eyes. Alec looked away and moved to stand behind him.
"Nah-ah. You're not getting away that easily." Alec whispered in Magnus' ear as he put his arms around Magnus, holding the bow in front of him.
"Remind me to ask how your sister uses puppy eyes to make you oblige." Magnus pouted.
"Not a chance." Alec scoffed "now, grab an arrow." He pointed toward a oval box filled with arrows. Magnus reached over, picking one of them up.
"Put the end of it at the string." Alec instructed. "You see that there's a little slit at the end of the arrow, the string goes in there." Alec continued and Magnus did as he was told. "Now, put your left hand there." Alec said while guiding it to the handle of the bow, then he helped Magnus getting the arrow straight. "Now, we pull back and aim." Alec said as he took Magnus' right hand, pulling it and the string back. He could feel the muscles shift in Magnus' back and shoulder, it was easy to forget how well trained he was. Sure his muscles always filled out his clothes, sometimes to the point of breaking. But something about how he carried himself made it easy to forget the strength in those muscles. Alec guessed it had something to do with how Magnus walked like he was dancing, his movements soft and fluent. 'Focus Alec. Focus. Don't think about this right now.' he thought and took a deep breath.
"Release" Alec whispered in Magnus' ear as he let go of his hand, letting Magnus shoot the arrow by himself. When Magnus released the arrow it didn't go as fast as Alec's did before, it was however still a very fast arrow and it fixed a little bit to the left of the bullseye. "Not bad." Alec smiled behind Magnus.
"Well, I didn't do much of the work." Magnus answered, tilting his head to the side and Alec put his chin on Magnus' shoulder, letting it rest there, content with the silence.
"Do you want to try it all on your own then?" Alec finally asked after them standing there in silence, bodies resting against each other, their breathing slow and synced.
"Maybe you could show me just one more time." Magnus said, turning his head to meet Alec's face. There was something mischievous in his eyes. "You know, just so that I won't be a total failure."
"Yeah, sure. Grab another arrow will you?" Alec answered, and when Magnus had the new arrow, he took a step back toward Alec, pressing his body closer to Alec's. He had to take a deep breath to keep his concentration, and for once he was happy about Jace being loud, it helped him stop thinking inappropriate thoughts. It was a good mood killer having Jace shouting "BULLSEYE" every few seconds.
"Is he always like that?" Magnus laughed, while Alec helped him put the arrow in the right spot.
"Yeah. Always has been, always will be." Alec answered, a small smile playing on his lips. "But it's mostly an act, he's not so tough deep down."
"I know the type." Magnus answered. Alec didn't say anything, this took concentration and Alec couldn't talk while he aimed. He'd been taught not to, he'd been taught to let everything else fall away, so that he became one with the bow, and everything else but them, the arrow and the target fell away.
"Now." Alec whispered to Magnus and once again let go of him, taking a step back. This time the arrow moved faster though it hit about the same spot as before.
"This time you'll have to do it all by yourself." Alec said as he reached over to pick up another arrow.
"Doesn't sound like much fun." Magnus pouted, however he took the arrow from Alec and got to work. It took him some time and a lot of shifting position before he let go of the arrow. The speed of the arrow was about the same as when Alec helped Magnus the first time. Though this time the arrow hit the left end of the target. It wasn't bad, not at all, it was good for a first time.
"See, it goes a lot better when you're helping me." Magnus pouted. Alec laughed and shook his head.
"Well, just keep practicing. You're still hitting the target, that's pretty good, you know for a beginner." Alec said, kissing Magnus' cheek before walking up to the target, gathering the arrows, giving one to Magnus and putting the rest back in the bin. "Go again." Alec said and leaned against the pillar, the same one that Magnus had leaned against before.
For about half an hour they continued like that, Alec leaning against the pillar, giving Magnus advice while he practiced, then Magnus' phone rang.
"I have to take this." Magnus said, furrowing his brows as he looked at the screen. Alec nodded and watched as Magnus walked out of the barn. While waiting for Magnus to come back Alec took the chance to practice his archery skills. He wasn't sure for how long Magnus was gone, Alec always lost track of time when shooting with his bow.
"Sorry about that." Magnus said causing Alec to jump, he hadn't heard him come back. "It was my manager." Magnus added.
"No worries." Alec smiled. "Do you want to try something else in here?" Magnus' eyes searched the room, looking at all the different stations, that over the years had become many. His eyes stopped at the sight of the climbing wall.
"That looks like fun." He said, pointing at it. Alec cursed inside, it wasn't his strongest suit, especially not since he barley has time to train anymore. Alec however, didn't tell Magnus this, he just nodded and together they started walking across the barn. The climbing wall was placed on a long side wall, in the middle off the monkey bars and a big black tire. The monkey bars used to be Alec's second favorite (after archery), he could do a lot of tricks on them, but he probably wasn't strong enough these days. It was hard keeping that muscle mass when you didn't eat enough and didn't have time to train.
"Are you guys going on the climbing wall?!" Jace shouted from behind Alec, he was prepared for it this time but Magnus wasn't and he jumped causing Jace to laugh. "Didn't mean to scare you."
"Yes you did." Clary said, walking over to them. "You tried to sneak up on Alec, you wanted to scare him." She raised her right eyebrow at Jace.
"Clary, stop telling on me." Jace pouted. Alec shook his head and laughed.
"Regardless if you meant to scare us or not, I'm assuming you came over here to have a race?" Alec said, thinking back to all the afternoons they'd spent here together, competing in everything.
"YES!" Jace practically jumped up and down.
"Let's do it then." Magnus said, looking straight into Jace's eyes, who looked chocked. Jace however, recovered quickly and agreed, accepting the challenge.
Alec found it kind of exciting, he knew how good Jace was at this, but there was something about the look on Magnus' face, something that made Alec doubt if Jace really would win this.
He and Clary sat down on the floor, Clary with her legs crossed leaning back on her hands, Alec with on leg bent and one straight, resting his head on his knee. Jace and Magnus was standing next to each other, Jace explaining the rules, waving his arms around, Magnus with his arms crossed and head tilted slightly to the left, listening to Jace. Once the rules were decided, Jace and Magnus took their place at the bottom of each end, ready to start climbing.
"ONE! TWO! THREE!" Alec and Clary counted and at three both men started climbing the wall. Magnus was keeping up with Jace, he was just a centimeter behind. It was really exciting until the end, when it was just a meter or two left, Magnus suddenly climbing very fast and was ahead of Jace before Alec could blink, then he touched the ceiling, indicating that he'd won.
"I'd ask for a rematch, but it will have to wait." Jace pouted as they climbed down. "I have to help Clary prepare for the party tonight." Jace continued as he dropped down on the floor.
"Another day then?" Magnus smiled, looking very pleased with himself.
"Oh you bet. It's not over yet." Jace said pointing a finger at Magnus, causing all four to laugh. "Are you coming to the party?" Jace asked turning to face Alec. He'd forgotten about the party, he still hadn't talked to Magnus about it and he raised an eyebrow in question.
"Oh, eh, I don't know. I have to work tomorrow." Alec muttered, rubbing his neck.
"What party?" Magnus asked, looking at Clary,
"Just a small party at my house." Clary smiled and stood up, brushing off dust from her thighs with her hands. "My parents aren't home. Thought it could be fun to gather some friends."
"Do you want to go with me?" Alec asked Magnus. "I mean, if that's not too much trouble."
"I'd love to." Magnus said. "There's just a few people right? Nothing that will get the attention of the press?"
"Oh god no, they won't be there and I'll make sure people won't gossip." Clary assured him.
"We can't stay long though, I have an early shift, and Magnus have an early plane to catch." Alec said as they walked out of the barn. Jace and Clary assured them that it would be fine, they didn't have to stay all night.
"Izzy will be thrilled to meet both of you." Clary said as she hugged Alec goodbye and in the corner of his eye he saw Magnus shoot him a teasing glance. Oh god, Magnus was going to meet his sister? What was Alec thinking? Introducing him to the only family he had? At the same day. Oh god. And Alec hadn't met anyone, not Ragnor nor Christina, or anyone else that was close to Magnus.
When they were alone and sitting in Magnus' car, it felt like Alec's heart would explode, it pounded so hard.
"Alec, darling, calm down." Magnus voice was soft and he placed his hand over Alec's. "What's bothering you?"
"It's … just .. it's .. Izzy .. " Alec paused, taking a deep breath trying to collect his thoughts. "I'm worried that maybe this is going to fast, you meeting Jace and now Izzy too, the same day." He bit his lip and let his head fall back on the headrest.
"It's not, don't worry. You're worrying for nothing." Magnus rubbed his thumb across Alec's hand.
"You sure?" He asked tilting his head to face Magnus, searching his face for any sign of doubt.
"Yes." Magnus nodded. "Don't worry." Alec moved closer to Magnus, giving him a soft kiss.
"Good." He breathed before leaning back again.
"Let's go get party ready." Magnus smiled and turned on the engine. Magnus had managed to calm Alec down a little, though he still felt like his heart would explode. Introducing someone to his sister was big, she was the single most important person in his life. If they didn't get along, Alec didn't know if he could continue seeing Magnus. There was a lump in his throat. This was do or die.
