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

CASTLES MADE OF SAND, CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Dear Prudence

"Dear Prudence open up your eyes, Dear Prudence see the sunny skies, The wind is low
the birds will sing, that you are part of everything, Dear Prudence,
won't you open up your eyes?"

Warm humid air floating all around Magnus, as he slowly came to, was all he could feel. And fresh pungent lake water wafted through his nose, tingling his senses—essentially waking him up. Technically that was the jist of it, what he could sense and feel, but as he trailed his finger tips around the space of his body—his eyes still closed—he brushed along the curves and dents of compacted sand, along short tiny bristles of grass patches sticking out in random places, and to Magnus' surprise his fingers stopped dead on soft warm skin.

Magnus' eyes shot open, bright yellow light pierced his vision, and he reached a hand up in front of his face to block it. Magnus turned his head to his right side sharply, not at all coherent, definitely not extremely aware of his surroundings, and was met by the image of a sleeping boy. A beautiful sleeping boy, who's cheeks were just as rosy pink, as they were naturally, during sleep. A boy, whose dimple which pierced his left cheek stood out more predominately, and seemed to sleep with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Alec was lying in the same fashion as Magnus, sprawled out on his back, with his head turned to the side, one arm slung over his head in a bent arrow shape. The muscles which lined his arms, were coiled and corded so strong under his shirt, that they staggeringly defined and outlined ever curve and dip to Alec's upper body—a sight which Magnus didn't mind. Alec's chest rose then fell, rose again, then fell—all in a sort of rhythmical harmonic peace. Magnus laid there watching the movements Alec made in his sleep, yes almost in the same fashion as a stalker would, but he couldn't help it.

His mind pulled him towards the image of Alec, or more literally Magnus' whole being shifted to Alec, and everything that made him who he was. Magnus yearned for this boy, which he didn't entirely know, in a way he couldn't comprehend because of its vaulting depth, and that scared Magnus. It scared him more than the thought of his father wrapping his hands around his skin, and pressing into it hard, with his feverish ripe green eyes starring Magnus down. Because really, Magnus had never felt this way about anyone before. It was all so new to him, and Magnus, being who he was; hated when unsuspected things snuck up on him. In which, Alec was that very thing. Magnus' body and mind basically begged him to touch Alec, caress his cheek, dance his fingertips across the top of his chest, lean down to brush his lips against Alec's...

It was slowly driving him insane, pushing him over a phantom edge. Magnus was lucky enough that he had actually fallen asleep that night; with the idea and mindset of Alec laying down beside him, setting his senses on high emotion—making his heart race at an unstable speed, he was astonished that he could accomplish the impossible. Somehow, Alec had passed out within the blink of an eye, and light snores emitted from his thin pink lips as he slept at first—and shortly after that turned into silent whispers in the night. He slept so peacefully, almost as if his dreams were never nightmares, and nothing could steal him away from the fantasies within his mind. Magnus wished he was like that—one to never stir from a nightmare—but it could never be that way for him. It would never be.

They had almost kissed. That was something Magnus couldn't and wouldn't ever try to deny. And he had definitely wanted it to happen... But as he saw the bright lights of the fireflies burst all around them, fluttering up from the small patches of grass in the sand, and watched with contentment as Alec seized up in a boyish kind of excitement at his marvellous surroundings, a piece of Magnus broke. Or more so, shattered. Knowing, that Magnus, himself, had went into this whole friendship based upon false pretences, while Alec was merely hopelessly falling into a steady rhythm on his own; made Magnus contract and freeze, pain skillfully gliding its way throughout his body.

Magnus couldn't do this. He didn't want to use Alec for William's petty and random spitefulness towards Alec. But he knew without a doubt that he had to, due to the consequences which could arise, between his and William's friendship. And possibly, sometime soon, the sudden rush of emotions Magnus felt towards Alec would dissipate, and vanish. Or at least, that is what he hoped for, because without a doubt, he knew that if this thing between them, led to its destined destination, Magnus would have fallen into an even stronger twist of webs—one which he would be unable to get out of.

There was one thing certain about this whole situation, that he could deduct from their night, and that was that Alec was either gay or bisexual—the only other explanation for the way he was acting, was that he was straight, with a partial gay tendency to stray from the crowd once in awhile, and Magnus highly doubted that option.

Alec held himself well, Magnus had to admit, in front of others—really, if William had never stitched the idea into Magnus' mind of Alec being gay, and if Magnus was never to interact with Alec fully—he would have never guessed, that this shy, sweet, bashful boy was gay. Just like no one else would have either. Except for William.

"Good morning," Alec smiled, opening up his bright livid lake blue eyes slowly, almost as if he was taunting Magnus in having to wait to see the full expanse of the color. Magnus returned the smile, and sat up, resting his weight onto his elbows which he dug into the sand. Another thing he was thankful for: the pure blissful heat which encompassed them all night long. Magnus at some point had returned his grey cut offs and orange tank top to his body, but Alec had only slipped on his black long sleeve—leaving his thick soccer muscled legs on display for Magnus to swoon and melt for. So the heat was good, it kept them warm, and for awhile kept Magnus' mind at bay.

"Morning, Alexander." Magnus purred. There was really something about his name, which made Magnus want to sing it to the wind all day long. "Hungry?" Magnus pointed upwards, above their heads, where the three apple trees surrounded them—but at this time of day, didn't shadow them from the piercing rays of sunlight, casting down towards them. The apples wouldn't be enough to quench their hunger or thirst, but it was enough to sustain them until they got back to Alicante.

"Very." Alec sat up, and jumped to his feet in a hurry. He reached for the apples closest overhead, standing on the tips of his toes. His shirt rose as he did so, revealing a pale ivory strip of skin just above the waist band of Alec's black boxers. Magnus turned his head away, and chastised himself. He couldn't get carried away with gazing at Alec far too long; that was not who he was, and was definitely not a part of the plan. Magnus had to continue to remind himself that Alec was to essentially fall for him, trust him—not the other way around. "Want one?" Alec tapped Magnus on the side of his ribs with his sand covered foot. A cheeky and strangely comfortable gesture.

"Don't mind if I do," Magnus took an apple from the palm of Alec's hand, brushing his fingers over Alec's as he did so, and bit into it; revelling in the sweet juices that flowed out of the apple and onto his lips. Alec sat down across from him, taking a bite of his apple as well. Magnus licked his lips slowly, narrowing his eyes in a sultry manner. He was a tease, and he knew that, but most of the time he did things involuntarily and absent-minded. And in that regard, Magnus found himself being overly suggestive when in the presence of Alec; sometimes on purpose, and other times without conviction. "So, lovely, are you up for another swim? Or should I get you back to your parents?"

"You make it sound like you took me out on a date, and my parents are waiting for curfew to be broken." Alec laughed, and shook his head, taking another bite out of his apple.

"Do you... want that, Alexander?" Magnus had no idea why he asked that, but he just did, and watched Alec nearly choke on a piece of his apple, gasping slightly while thumping his chest with a bawled up fist, attempting to clear his throat.

"What? A date—what? No," Alec nearly shouted, almost loosing grip of the apple in his hands, but saving it at the last minute before it hit the sandy ground. Magnus face fell. "—Well, I mean, what, uhh, what do you want? We're friends..." Alec added mostly as an after thought, his voice dropping lower, "right?" Alec looked up, and starred soulfully into Magnus' eyes. It was amazingly endearing and sweet the way Alec fumbled around his words whenever he was nervous; and the bright crimson flush which took hold of his cheeks and the look within his eyes, made Alec that much more innocent and unaware. And in turn, spurred Magnus' desires even more.

Magnus had to decide in that moment, if he should spring something on Alec or not. It was all about timing to him, because literally time was the essential key to holding things together. It only took a simple moment, to take someone away from this world—to fall in love with someone unsuspecting—to devastatingly destroy someone... And right now, here, watching Alec's charcoal black hair rustle in the sweet crisp breeze of the morning lake air, as his eyes glittered with an unusual flicker of light; Magnus knew that this wasn't the moment.

"Very good friends, I would say after yesterday. Yes?"

"Mhm," Alec smiled and nodded his head. But, there was something about the twinge in his eyes, that made Magnus think he wanted to say more; so much more.

"And as a friend," Magnus drawled out the word 'friend', watching Alec's angular eyebrows raise a bit on his creamy forehead. "I am going to take you out for breakfast, lovely." Magnus stood up and brushed the sand off of his grey cut offs, with the back of his tan hand, and fixed the way his orange glitter-littered tank top fell around his torso. "Well, come on then, we haven't go all day. I'm sure Maryse is freaking out by now."

"Nah," Alec stood up, and swiped his hands over his boxers, which were covered in sand at the back. Not that Magnus would admit it, but yes, he did check out Alec's butt, but only for a suave crucial lingering moment. "I don't think it will be that bad. I'm seventeen, she knows I have a life to live," he made his way over to Magnus' car, and took his dark washed jeans, and Levi's out of the back seat. And in impeccable speed, he dressed himself, and hoped into the front seat. Magnus followed his lead, swivelled around the front hod of his car, and sank down onto the plush leather drivers seat. "What's the place called, that we're going to?"

"A little place called Dante's. I only ever take Jem there—so now that's another thing you should feel highly blessed for, Alexander." Magnus winked, and drove forward, further onto the sandy lake front, and swerved around, so he could drive through the opening into the woods.

"I didn't ask you to take me to these places, you know," Alec huffed in the seat beside him. Snaking his arms over his chest in defiance. Magnus looked to him, and couldn't help but grin at the look that was on Alec's face. He had the appearance of a little boy who was denied a trip to the amusement park on a hot summer day.

"Oh lovely, I think I can remember someone insisting that they came along with me to the lake, yesterday..." Magnus laughed, winding his way through the narrow dirt packed roadways of the forest. Was it something about the way the sun cast its rays all around the forest—that made everything seemingly more defined, sharper, and vibrant in color—or was there just something wrong with Magnus' eyes and overall senses?

"That's because you suggested I come!" Alec turned his eyes on Magnus, his voice loud and abrupt, struggling against the confines of Magnus' car. Magnus couldn't help but laugh even more, at how easy it was to get some form of a rise out of Alec. And the look on Alec's face was just too much to handle, once again.

"Oh Alexander," Magnus swiped under his right eye with the pad of his thumb, faking the appearance of tears trailing out of his eyes, "you're so disastrously cute—"

"Cute? You think I'm cute?" Alec's expression turned brighter in nature—that is, if an expression could simply do so. The corners of his lips twitched up at the corners, but he held resistance, ushering himself to essentially dim the light that glowed within him, after Magnus had utter the word 'cute'. And indeed cute he was.

"Alexander, have you taken a good look at yourself, before?"

"No, well, yes. I just, I don't know. I wouldn't say I was cute or anything..." Alec blushed fiercely his face turning two shades darker with a pungent red scarlet crimson color. Magnus had a hard time keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him; having Alec beside him was more than enough of a distraction, let alone the fact that he was blushing like a sailor—a color Magnus loved to see on Alec.

"Well, I'm telling you that you are. And no one ever doubts me."

"No one at all?" Alec teased.

"No one."

A/N: I'm so sorry you guys! It's been six days, I feel terrible! There was just a ton of things happening at school, leading up to spring break, that I literally had no time to write, and or update this story. I've spent all morning trying to get this right, but alas, I am not too confident about this chapter, so sorry :\! Expect better things to come, I guess! Basically, in this chapter I was trying to show what Magnus was thinking about their almost kiss that night, and how things were starting to shift and change, and how he knew he had to be careful. I also wanted to show how Alec is becoming even more comfortable around Magnus, but still he does have his moments were he can't piece together a proper sentence, but hey, that's Alec for ya! This lovable adorably easily embarrassed boy. As a little treat, for making you guys wait so long, I will be uploading another fic, called 'Angel, Baby.' today, which is a Patch and Nora one-shot, from the Hush, Hush series. I thought that would be enough as compensation; I will be posting another chapter to this soon too! I promise, just give me a day or two, so I can catch up on changing a few things in my overall story line, and then I'll be good to go!

Well, most if not all of you chose option 'B', and well here it is (;

"Magnus continued to kiss and nip at the heated skin, before he slowly and seductively trailed his tongue along the rim of Alec's jeans."

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