First Fanfiction! I hope you enjoy it! (No copyright intended, all characters belong to Cassandra Clare)

CASTLES MADE OF SAND, CHAPTER NINE

Every little thing

"People tell me I'm lucky. Yes, I know I'm a lucky guy.
I remember the first time, I was lonely."

He never called. Magnus had waited hours for his phone to ring, but alas, he never called -not that Magnus would ever admit to waiting for something so obsolete as a phone call. It really didn't matter all to much to Magnus, there was no reason for him to dwell on something so juvenile really. But in retrospect, why hadn't Alec called? Yes, they weren't exactly on speaking terms perhaps, after what transpired in Biology class... But they were still partners in a project, that literally wasn't, going to do itself. There was the possibility Maryse had yet to inform Alec, that Magnus wanted him to call him -but again, Magnus doubted the option, because Maryse didn't seem like a forgetful person. Oh, how Magnus pondered many hours, wondering why? Was it because of how shy Alec was; to even have the sheer courage of reaching out to Magnus? That was another possibility, Magnus continued to drown himself in -for whatever reason, he wasn't entirely sure of. Maybe he did care... Or maybe, he was just in dire need of some late night burning drinks, and a quick semi-hookup, to relieve himself of his thoughts of that dark haired blue eyed boy. Yes, that is exactly what he needed.

Now, through the dark haze of the evening dusk air, Magnus found himself stumbling along the rich dirt paths, with fine needle grass, outback, that led him away from the sanctum of his manor house, and into the deep mess of pine, spruce and evergreen. Random flickers of light peaked out behind dark shadows -animals, whose eyes sparkled in the darkness of night, like the flickering flame of a candle. The large expanse of forest ground that surrounded the whole town, weaving itself into the back yards of the many estates on the hilltops, had a disturbingly quite, and silent nature to itself. Only the somber rustle of leaves in the wind, and the constant hum of birds during the early orange and pink morning hours, gave indication that there was thriving, moving life around him.

Magnus was clad in tight electric indigo pants, which fit snugly to his legs and bottom -showing off his taught leg muscles; a cream colored sparkly mesh undershirt, and a vibrant red silk blazer, which cuffed around his elbows, and flared out at the back; at the end. His hair was spiked in razor sharp lines around his head, the tips dipped and laced with gold and blue glitter. His eyes were lined with a fine, sharp, and intoxicating shadow of black glitter, and highlighted with swatches of white shimmer. Earlier in the night Sebastian had mentioned another party to be held at the Belcourt's house, which was just across the way, from Magnus'. He would be there any minute now really; his and Camille's manors shared the same land in between their backyards. It was a good thing too that he had decided to take to the woods, instead of driving, because in the moment he decided he was ready to depart his house, he remembered the text he had gotten earlier. 'Meet me in the back woods at midnight.' -Could he be anymore vague? Magnus thought, unsure of which location of the backwoods, he, would be situated at.

A damp sheet of fog settled over the moss and needle grass covered ground, reaching as high as Magnus knees -creating a disturbingly unaware feeling to hang over Magnus. He was all alone, walking through the forest, tripping and stumbling over his feet, which he couldn't even see; attempting to find, him, in possibly the most unlikely of places. Magnus cursed under his breath; he wanted to get to Camille's as fast as he could -it was never a pleasant situation to be in, walking the vast forest grounds freely by yourself. On any other occasion, Clary would have come along with him, arriving hours before at his manor, before he set out to leave -so they could get ready together. But tonight she had other plans; something about some Jace guy, wanting her to show him around the town, since he was new. Smooth, Magnus thought. And then, he realized that Jace must be Alec's brother -the one Alec, for some reason, had a difficulty calling him his brother.

Only a few seconds after Magnus had wandered into a familiar crescent shaped clearing, he saw a large black shadow drop from a high tree, at the corner of his eyes; creating a heavy thud to resound around him. Magnus hesitated for a moment, wondering which way out of the woods would be the safest route to take, in case that shadow wanted to attack him. Mangle him to pieces. Magnus had seen enough horror movies to know that this was the part in which you run -but he wasn't the type of person to work up a sweat over something that was most likely non-threatening in the first place. Simply, he couldn't help the fact that his mind seemed to run away on him, most of the time -and fill itself with awful thoughts.

The dark looming shadow stood from the dewy fog on the forest floor, and began to saunter its way over to Magnus, who was still hesitating -routed in his spot. Magnus squinted his eyes to obtain a clearer image as to whom was walking towards him, and upon doing so, he met familiar greedy blue eyes, and a devilish smirk which made the hairs on Magnus' neck prickle. "I like the look. Trying to reminisce the kid off of Chitty chitty bang bang?" William asked haughtily, snaking his way to the place where Magnus stood. His black hair swept professionally to one side, and a few curls of his thick hair tickled the nape of his neck.

"Oh you know I'd never be able to master that look; although I must admit, I've quite out done myself tonight." Magnus gave William a Cheshire cat grin, before holding his arms up, and twirling around once in his spot. When he turned back to face William, he was met by bleak unamused eyes. Magnus quirked his left eyebrow high on his forehead, wondering why William exuded an immense amount of disconnect -even when only in the presence of Magnus, where William was usually at the least responsive; and himself at most.

"Are you done?" William asked, gazing at Magnus pointedly. Oh, now he was just getting snippy.

"Hmm, I don't know. I think I can get a few more twirls in there -" Magnus started to raise his hands in the air once again, and set his feet into the stance to twirl -

"I wanted to talk to you," William latched onto his wrist, gently. His lean fingers merely a ghost around Magnus slim wrist. William was never one for being overly forceful -that is, physically, speaking -he was, on the other hand, definetly emotionally, and verbally forceful when he wanted to be.

"Yes, I guessed that from the message you sent earlier." Magnus shrugged out of the reach of William, and fixed the collar of his blazer, before bending down to swipe at his leather pants, with the back of his hand. Fixing his apperance was the one thing that kept Magnus mind distracted and at ease. The way William was acting made him feel less than comfortable by a long shot. "Well, I'm here. You're here. Let's not waist anymore time, I do plan on getting to Camille's before the sun rises." William rolled his eyes, and folded his arms over his chest. He was wearing a loose fitting navy polo shirt, dark washed jeans, and a sleek black coat. His high cheekbones were pink and flushed -a color that suited him well in Magnus mind.

"Don't worry this won't take long. I came up with an idea," Magnus groaned and shook his head at that, William was always coming up with new devious ideas. In that head of his, no one would ever dare to go, because their was a definite reason to think it was filled to the brim with sorrow, scorn, and hate. William had been a delicate person to touch base with -his past not being the greatest upbringing. Seeing as he was ripped away from his family at a young age, and brought to the home of the Carstairs; he had a reason to judge the world, and the way it worked, in a malicous manner. In many ways, each and every one of his friends had the ability to do the same; including Magnus. "It revolves solely around the Lightwood boy, Alec." There was no suprised in that. It certainly didn't take him long this time to come up with a plan against Alec -seeing as William had only mentioned an inkling earlier in the day after school.

Magnus couldn't help but shutter. "Will, he's harmless. I-I don't see the point in waisting our time on him."

"And it involves you." William continued. Completely disregarding the fact Magnus had even said a word. "I need you to try something for me. I have my suspicions about Alec, after seeing him today, I just want to prove something first..."

"What may those suspicions be? And how am I involved in this?" Magnus' tone conveyed one of being uninterested, when on the inside he was shifting out of his skin, inching closer to what William was getting at. After one day, Magnus was astonished that William could pick up anything about Alec really -to cause him to already be forming suspicions about him. All Magnus knew was... was really nothing; besides the fabulous fact that he read Shakespeare.

"That's for me to deliberate on Magnus. All I'm asking, is for you to play yourself up when around him. Don't hesitate with, how should I put this, flirting?" Magnus shot him a wide eye look, his mouth falling open. Was William asking him to seduce Alec? Did William suspect Alec was gay? And really, what was the point of it all? Magnus' mind spun in thousands of different directions haistly, trying desperately to decifer that, which was just asked of him. Play himself up? Flirt? Alec? Those thoughts just didn't seem to mix in the right way.

"What is, flirting," Magnus gulped loudly, "suppose to do?"

"I want him to tolerate and respect you. I want you to pull him in, gain his undeniable trust, affection, -and once you are there at that point... Break him. Hard, and fast." William said without remorse. His voice and steely gaze unwavering -this was something Magnus knew William wouldn't back down from, there was a substantial amount of determination that flooded his eyes, which surprisingly turned darker, almost black in the eerie moonlight shade. There was also another emotion behind his eyes, glinting a dull simmer of light -an emotion that didn't fit William at all... And likewise, an emotion Magnus couldn't decifer.

Magnus stood there and watched William, regretting coming to the woods at all. Magnus' body was ridged and hard -his lush lips pulled tightly across his face, not daring to utter a word, just yet. "Do this for me Magnus." William asked, his voice low enough for it to be a whisper. Why was he asking Magnus to do this? What reasoning did he have behind this? Magnus couldn't deny the fact that whatever William said, he usually went along with -but this seemed unruly, and uncalled for. He was worried about what this would do to Alec; to himself.

But then again, Alec wasn't his friend; wasn't someone he should be worrying about so deeply. And by not complying to William's requests, he would be setting himself up for those judging blue eyes. He couldn't give way to the fact that he was even slightly attracted to Alec -that was out of the cards for Magnus. One thing continued to pull at the back of Magnus' mind: Had William already sensed Magnus' small, and minuet -but still present -feelings for Alec?

"Magnus?" William waved his white palm in front of his face, dragging him away from his mind. "Will you do this for me?" He asked even more earnestly than before. Williams expression said he knew more then he should have known, which frightened Magnus to the core. Magnus nodded his head slowly up and down, then up again -pursing his full lips together in silent protest. In all honesty he didn't want to do this, but he knew he had to. It would be something unavoidable, when dealing with William -so why not just give in now? "Good." William smirked, and then began to walk to the edge of the clearing, in the direction of Camille Belcourt's estate, which was only a couple minutes walk from where they stood.

"Will," Magnus called across the short space that separated them, "what does making Alec trust me, have to do with you? What do you gain from this?" Magnus searched William's cold hazy blue eyes, finding nothing really. He gave Magnus a small smile, and shrugged his shoulders -as if it were an obvious answer, which could be answered breathlessly. "Oh, is this one of those situations, where you aren't going to tell me, because by doing so you end up protecting me in the long run?" Magnus mocked, although not playfully, rather scornfully.

"See it however you want to Magnus. Now let's go, I specifically remember someone telling me they wanted to make it to Camille's before sunrise." William flatly said, turning back to walk in the previous direction he was headed towards. Magnus watched as his black frame, blurred with the atmosphere around them, blending the harsh lines of his body to make him almost invisible to the common eye -at night that is. After a moment of hesitation, thoughts swimming throughout Magnus mind, relentless in slowing down; Magnus began to retreat after him, following him down the all too familiar dirt path, that led to the snow white estate.

A/N: This one took a tremendous amount of time to edit (Zoomg). The first draft of this ended up being like 1,200 words... And now, tuda! After taking an extra day to edit and fix this, it is much bigger and worth the read (compared to what it was before). That being said, forgive me for updating slow!
There already have been questions about "What's Will's problem?" and things like that. What I say to those questions is... All in time prettys, all in time...
Next Chapter should be ready soon! I've been writing like a mad person, and thank gosh I have three more chapters to fall back on.

Review (: it makes me happy. And who wants to deny someone of their happiness?

Amber,