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

CASTLES MADE OF SAND, CHAPTER FORTY THREE

I Found a Boy

"I fall short each time, Every time he ain't here. You and your charm creep closer, closer and then, like a fool for fire I fall,
with my pride and all! Like a bomb before explosion, ticking by your calm. You're the wiser one,
disguised from greed. And I'm just a child who belongs on her knees.
But I found a boy who I love more, Than I ever did you before,
So stand beside the river I cried,
And let yourself down!"
-Adele

The rest of the week passed by in a hazy blur, to Alec. It was a constant routine of waking up in the morning with a sweat soaked back—because for some reason the blinding nightmares of his past were being rehashed, tainting his dreams—then, to showering and having Jace or Isabelle drive him to school, because certainly there was no way he would ever get behind a steering wheel. Once he got to school he was met by Magnus, and sometimes James, at the front door, then at some point during the day Magnus and Alec would find a flash of a moment alone together and sneak a quick kiss and grope, if they got lucky. The only downfall to that, though, was that it left Alec completely insatiable.

He also had to endure and work through his classes; haphazardly falling asleep in English, because he had read everything and anything that was on the course syllabus ; failing to see the point in going to Math when he had someone like William staring at him as if he were the next plague; then there was Biology—which could turn out to be his greatest downfall. Having a partner like Magnus, given the circumstances, was a heavenly situation at best, but a hellish one at that too.

Alec made the mistake of slipping out a throaty groan when Magnus' hands went wandering underneath their lab table, running across the prominent bulge in his pants, Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Starkweather mistook his groan as him being thoroughly upset with the work that he had just assigned the class to do, and Alec blushed an unfaithful red when the whole class turned to look at him. And of course, Magnus sat there with his head down on the black table top, his shoulders shaking frantically as he attempted to hold in his laughter.

At the end of each day, once he returned home, Alec was met by his father—who was still a little wary around him, but it wasn't something to be upset over—and rarely his mother, Maryse. She had started to take on a bigger work load, staying longer hours at the Bane estate as well as the Morgenstern's. It didn't necessarily upset Alec, he knew his mother wanted and needed this job, and he wasn't going to let his own wayward petty thoughts get in the way of her pursuing her goals in life.

Then finally, as if it were a simple thought that seemed to allude Alec's mind throughout the days, in the midst of it all he would sleep—falling into a slumber to either the sound of Magnus' voice over the phone, or the image of his cat eyes splashed across the inside of his eyelids. But lately, he had woken up in a cold sweat that shook his body to the point that he wanted to retch all over the floor. It was the same nightmare, or memory, that manipulated his dreams when he was fourteen and it had been three years since the nightmares had stopped.

Glasses sat crookedly on the bridge of his small nose, an innocent, delicate, image, and then all of a sudden a bright white light pierced Alec's vision from his right side—everything went black. Then he heard them, the screams that is. Screams that were so foreign sounding and distorted; hands reaching out to him, contorting his limbs, poking his fragile skin, placing immense amounts of pressure right beneath his ribs over and over again...

That was the reoccurring images and sensations that flashed through his mind at night, and disrupted his sleep. His muscles shook violently, his cheeks were stained with hot tears, and he had the undeniable need to climb into bed with Isabelle. But he stopped himself from doing so; he had to face his personal demons on his own. He just wished that they refrained from returning at the present moment.

These weren't the most glamorous days for Alec, but they were a sort of prelude to the weekend that was to come.

It was Friday now, and Alec was nestled in the backseat of James' car with his black, fully packed, bag resting on his lap and a girl—whom he didn't know—with beautiful curls of golden-brown hair. Truly, in Alec's opinion, she would have been gorgeous, had it not been for the layers of glittery make-up packed on to her doll-like face. Her eyes were a somber hazel that could have been mistaken for yellow. She had a pretty slope to her nose, resulting in a button shape at the end and her teeth gleamed a pearly white hue. She was thin but curvaceous at the same time, in all the right places. It startled Alec sometimes to think that when he analyzed girls—not in a daunting critical way—he didn't feel any type of attraction towards them. In all reality he had been looking at guys the same way that most other boys were looking at girls ever since his young adolescent years.

"Oh gosh, do you know what I forgot to do?" James said from the driver's seat. He had one hand gripped tightly on the steering wheel, and the other rested in Tessa's hand, their fingers intertwined on the armrest between them. His silvery hair bounced light around the small interior of his vintage car, blinding Alec at some points for short periods of time.

All around them was secluded forest, lining the shallow lanes of the highway they were on. Thick, towering evergreens with the hint of poplar trees, sticking out among the greenery, were the more prominent trees that Alec could identify as they continued to drive. The sky was a pale clear blue, endless and unwavering. And that sun, was it ever high and warm that day, especially for the time of year when the sun tended to set closer to the early evening.

"I didn't do any of the introductions before we left," James caught Alec's eyes in the rearview mirror; he smiled and Alec timidly returned the gesture. James had been acting as if he knew something that others did not; as if he were in on some type of secret with Alec, that Alec had no idea about. For the most part Alec shrugged it off, not thinking that it could pose as some type of problem. But then thoughts began to creep into his mind that James might know about Alec and Magnus, and those thoughts scared him to no end. He wasn't ready to make their relationship public, with the exception of Sarah and Isabelle.

"Alec this is Willow. Willow, this is Alec." Willow turned to Alec then, and held out her hand for him to shake.

"Hi, It's so nice to meet you. Jem here kindly let me ride with them because my car wasn't working this morning—"

"And because Magnus wouldn't take you." Tessa scoffed from the front seat, and at the mention of Magnus, Alec become highly alerted. Willow shot the back of Tessa's seat an insolent glare, and then returned her focus back to Alec.

"I hope you don't mind my bags." She gestured to the floor of the back seat where bags were forcefully cramped into every space available, leaving Alec with little to no room to stretch out his legs and feet in James little vintage car. His right calf muscle had cramped up at least two times during the duration of the trip, thus far, but he knew better than to complain.

"No... Don't worry. It's fine. I don't really need much room anyways." Alec shrugged and titled his head more so to the left so he could glance out of the window.

"So..." she drawled, playfully, swinging a few curls behind her bare shoulder. "Who gives you the hardest time? With you being new and all."

"Oh uhm—" Alec tried to answer, but she quickly cut him off and offered up her own speculations, much to his dismay.

"I bet it's Magnus. He doesn't exactly warm up to new people that often. You're the kind of guy that he would eat for dinner, being that you're really quiet and all." She nodded her head, as if solidifying her observations in her mind.

"Are you and Magnus good friends?" Alec asked a bit rudely, not entirely liking the conversation with this supposed, Willow. He couldn't help notice the subtle hint of affection behind her words, as if she were talking on the behalf of a lover, showing that she knows exactly how said person would react to certain things.

She began to laugh, and placed her hand onto his shoulder, her body heat seeped through the thick fabric of his dark grey t-shirt. "Good friends? No, we're more than good friends. Much more." She whispered and winked... Winked, at him, and instantly Alec saw red. But it wasn't his place to see red, at least not in the presence of everyone else. He reigned in his emotions and calmed down enough to continue talking to her.

"What do you mean by, much more?" He questioned, hoping the tone of his voice didn't contain his apparent jealousy and anger.

"Oh c'mon. Don't play dumb. He's my boyfriend. We haven't been able to see each other often since the beginning of school though, seeing as I go to a different Academy." Alec almost choked on the puffed out air in his lungs, and coughed strongly, raising his fist to his lips. Her boyfriend?

"Willow, you know that is simply not true." James shook his head exasperated and unclasped his hand from Tessa's to bring his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Alec, she isn't his girlfriend, actually she's his exgirlfriend." James indicated, and Alec let out a long, deep, breath of air that he had bottled up. "And besides, Magnus has moved on to a better relationship Willow. One which he's happy with." For a flash of a second James caught Alec's eyes once again in the rearview mirror, silver meeting blue, but he looked away too fast for it to mean anything... Or at least that is what Alec tried to tell himself.

"Oh really? Who is she?" Willow crossed her arms across her chest haughtily, squaring her features and narrowing her yellow-hazel eyes.

"I don't know." James shrugged his shoulders thoughtfully. "But whoever it is, is definitely the person Magnus should be with." Alec smiled, but then quickly neutralized his face, feigning indifference. Willow stopped talking after that and didn't turn to Alec anymore throughout the car ride or engage in any other conversations. For the most part, Alec was happy that this girl was put in her place about his boyfriend by James, but then there was the sinking feeling that Magnus had forgotten to mention that an ex-girlfriend of his was coming along to James' cabin.

He then began to think about William and Magnus being completely alone for the long ride to the cabin. He didn't like to dwell on the fact that, that could have been him sitting beside Magnus in his car, possibly taking some rest stops on the side of the highway for half an hour or so... But Magnus needed to talk to William about something that he had no idea about, and he took it as a sort of punishment for not telling Magnus about the fight.

Jace's jeep came up beside James' car, and surpassed them. Jace was in the drivers seat, certainly getting a kick out of the thrill of driving at high speeds, with Isabelle in the passenger seat and Simon and Clary in the back. To say that, that was probably the most awkward car ride would be an understatement. Clary and Jace were still not on good speaking terms, and no one except for Alec and supposedly Magnus, knew the reason why. And then there was Simon and Isabelle, a relationship that confused Alec to no end.

Simon was over at their house for the majority of the week, for no other reason than to see Isabelle and quickly talk to Alec and Jace. Everytime Alec would confront Isabelle about Simon she would become extremely defensive and claim that Simon and her would never work. He couldn't understand it though, because the way they looked at each other was hopefully the way Magnus and him looked at one another. It was an expression filled with intense feeling, and also the sense that one held the other above everyone else.

But, in Isabelle's words and actions, she was dating Meliron, who turned out to be an insensitive guy who got on Alec's last nerves, after only being around him twice.

Alec shook his head quickly, he was getting way to lost within his own thoughts for the majority of the day, and he needed to stop at some point. He decided to pick up a conversation with Tessa about surfing, and to his surprise, after deviating from the topic, he learnt that Tessa loved classic books, such as Withering Heights and A Tale of Two Cities. It was a nice escape from his perpetual mind, and just as the sun was cascading across the horizon they had arrived at the cabin, just behind Jace's Jeep.

Sebastian pulled up behind James' car, just as they were getting all of their bags out; his car holding Camille and Johnathan in the back seat. "Where's Magnus and Will?" Clary asked, as she jumped down from the high-rise of the Jeep. Alec watched as Jace externally flinched, watching Clary's tiny body fall to the pavement without his help—his jaw was tense, and his golden eyes were blazing with a mixture of despair and sadness, but he still made no move to help her.

"Who knows, who cares!" Sebastian called back, and ran towards the cabin that Alec had yet to take in properly.

It knocked the wind out of Alec's lungs, and he swore he heard a collective sigh from both Isabelle and Jace. It was reminiscent of a ski lodge Alec's family had went to in Aspen a couple of years back; completed with the high vaulted shingled roof. The whole front of the house was made out of waxy windows that showed only a peek of what was waiting inside, and there was a large porch with a long overhang, that wrapped around the cabin. The door was made out of a different glass however; almost like crystal, bouncing fragments of light around. The cabin was made of pale wood, and the roof was a range of light and dark rustic red shingles. It definitely was a more modern cabin than Alec was used to. On the left side of the cabin, the lake laid closely to the base of the house; so close that Alec bet that the cabin was supported by pillars on the back side, as the lake water ran underneath.

The lake stretched fairly far, but not as far as the one that Magnus had brought Alec to. This one seemed much more private, man-made. There were trees nestled around the whole entire property, and on the far bank of the lake; it really was a beautiful sight to see.

The sun bathed the sky in orange and red undertones, coloring the fresh blue lake water deep purple. They all had their bags released from the confines of the cars and were now standing around on the porch attempting to figure out the room situations. "Sebastian and I can go together," Camille stated, grasping his arm forcefully beneath her pristine fingers. She was clad in skin-tight yoga pants and a white tank top that showed off her midriff; it was probably the most clothing Alec had seen her wear since he met her.

"Tessa and I are going together, but you all already knew that." James smirked and laced his arm around her waist, pulling her body closer to his. "That leaves six rooms for the rest of you to grapple over. Three of them are singles." Alec saw Clary nudge Simon harshly in the ribs, and he let out a whoosh of air.

"Ouch." He rubbed his side. "I'll go with Clary in one of the doubles," he threw her an angry look and squinted his eyes at her from behind his glasses. Clary looked at him thankfully, and then adverted her eyes down to the porch wood beneath them. It was so weird seeing Clary acting so submissively as opposed to how she acted when Alec first met her. But then again, Alec couldn't really blame her, given the situation that she was in at the moment.

"I guess it's me and you Izzy." Jace said, and Alec rolled his eyes. Of course, he was going to be left out of that. Then, for a fleeting moment, he felt as if it were a simple thought in Jace's head that popped up; a sort of plan that if Simon and Clary were going to be in the other doubles room, possibly he could switch out with Simon at some point in the trip to reconcile with Clary. Sneaky, but cunning and most likely not going to happen.

"Is all the fun happening already, without us?" The hairs on the back of Alec's neck prickled at the sound of Magnus' voice, he felt heat crawl up his neck, and tried to calm his nerves so that no one would notice the way his cheeks flamed with color.

"I think Magnus and I will be taking the other doubles room," Willow had made her way over to Magnus who was standing on the second landing step that led up to the porch, and slid her hand into the back pocket of his jeans, gripping his butt. Magnus paled and locked eyes with Alec, his eyebrows furrowed together almost painfully.

"How about... No." Magnus grabbed a hold of her wrist and pried her hand out of his pocket, setting it back down at her side before he pushed her away. That girl had no shame. "I want a single."

"Me too," Alec added, quietly, his eyes smoldering.

"I believe the expression is me three?" William inquired as he brought up a couple of bags in his large hands, setting them down beside the door.

"Well then we're done, Johnathan and Willow can have the last double," James nodded his head, and everyone agreed in consensus, besides Willow who was a bit too forlorn about not being able to sleep in the same room as Magnus. Not that Alec would ever let that happen in the first place.

They all entered the house and Alec marvelled at the architecture of the place. There was a huge thick staircase off to the left side of the space—made entirely out of oak wood—connected to a loft sitting room at the top. Alec could see that the loft acted as a sort of gathering place and hallway for all of the rooms that were connected around the space. He could see the tops of mahogany doors that he guessed separated each room around the loft zone. Medium sized chandeliers hung from the ceiling, strategically placed.

To the front right of the room the floor was dug in, there was a large sitting area two steps down and a humongous fire-place that reached high up to the ornate trimmings of the ceiling. There were low long white couches situated around a dark wood table, and piles upon piles of pillows at the base of the fireplace. The walls were a rich creamy brown color, with electric indigo accent picture frames around the room housing black and white photographs of different civil engineering projects. The ceiling was a beautiful network of long cherry wood beams that stretched the length of the house horizontally and vertically. To the back of the house, and underneath the loft Alec could make out the beginnings of, what he assumed to be, an enormous kitchen that overlooked a huge acre of land. It was half hidden behind a pale divider with Chinese symbols strewn across it, to separate the rooms.

Everyone placed their bags at the front door and once they were all inside they instantly dispersed, most going to the living room to sit down and relax after the long drive, and the rest going into the kitchen, except for Magnus and Alec. They smiled at each other, not all too sure what the weekend would bring them, but hoping that they could keep their relationship from the prying eyes of the others.

"Do you want to head upstairs? I can show you to the room you'll probably have." Magnus suggested, somehow teasing Alec with his blazing eyes. He looked good, more than good, with brown pants on, rolled up at his ankles and a colorful tribal pattern sweater on that had a grey background. His hair was flipped up and to the side, but this time it had no glitter lacing the tips. He must have went home to change before he and William left to make their trip out to the lake.

"Absolutely," Alec answered and picked up his bag before making his way up the thick stairs. Once they made it to the top Magnus tilted his head to the right and gestured towards one of the mahogany doors. He opened it and waited outside the door for Alec to step in, it was a fairly sized room with a double bed in the middle, adorned with a white comforter and pale blue striped pillows. There were two sky lights slanted overhead the bed, letting in the subtle remainder of light from the setting sun.

There was also a long black couch along the left wall of the room, beside a small bookshelf, and on the opposite side there was a brown dresser and a doorway leading into an en suite bathroom. Alec set his bag down on the bed and turned back to face Magnus who was leaning against the door frame. "Do you know what I always loved about these rooms?"

"What?" Alec questioned as he beckoned Magnus into the room. Magnus closed the door quietly behind him, making sure that there was only a subtle click of the door closing.

"The walls are basically sound proof," he winked, speaking huskily. Alec closed the space between them and feverishly grabbed a hold of Magnus' backside, shoving his hands into both of the back pockets. He gave Magnus a rough squeeze, against his own accord, he was being rash in his decisions. Alec crashed their lips together, instantly slipping his tongue through the parting of Magnus' lips, taking him by surprise.

But, obviously, Magnus didn't complain about the hasty attention and pushed Alec back a bit until they fell upon the bed, lips still clashing together. Magnus threaded his fingers into Alec's disorderly hair as Alec began to lift his hips off of the bed in intervals, rubbing himself against Magnus. They were a tangled mess of muted moans, and Alec was loving every second of it, having Magnus' body so close to his. He started to tug on Magnus' jeans, without even fully realizing it, and Magnus pulled back from the heavy kissing.

"What has gotten into you?" Magnus questioned, and added quickly, "not that I'm complaining."

"I—I don't know. I think... Ugh, I don't want to tell you." Alec sighed and raised one of his hands to rest against his eyes, shielding them from Magnus. "It's just that... Willow, she was talking about you on the way here, and she made it sound as if you two were dating. And then she just grabbed you when you showed up and I—"

"You got jealous didn't you?" Alec could hear the smile in Magnus' voice. Magnus pried Alec's fingers open, and stared down at him with a fox grin on his face. Alec blushed beet red, because that is exactly what had happened. He didn't like that someone else was staking claim on what was his—not that Magnus was something that could be 'claimed'. He wasn't a possession, but Alec liked the idea that Magnus was his in the emotional and physical aspects of a relationship. Magnus leaned down a pecked Alec on the lips twice. "That's very flattering lovely," he damn near purred, "but you don't have anything to be jealous of. She's just a girlfriend from the past."

"I know that," Alec smiled sheepishly and connected their lips together again, deepening it a second later. Magnus sighed into his mouth and ran his hands down Alec's torso, stopping at the hem of his shirt running his hands underneath, so that he could dance his finger tips across the heated skin of Alec's chest, while Alec returned his hand to Magnus' butt and pulled his groin down on top of Alec's. They slowly worked up a rhythm against each other, grunting every round of the rise and fall against each other. Magnus started to make circular motions with his hips, eliciting a newer, stronger sensation to resonate throughout Alec's body. He grunted harshly at feeling Magnus' bulge against his own.

Alec moved his lips down Magnus' jaw, and nipped lightly at the skin just underneath his jaw line. "Yes, oh god, yes," Magnus breathed out in a rush, as he picked up the pace and pressure he was setting against Alec. Alec whimpered at the new added pressure and bit down on the throbbing pulse point on Magnus' neck. "Shit, do that again." Magnus said huskily, and groaned loudly when Alec obliged and bit him a bit harder.

"Magnus I'm going to—" Alec stuttered as his breathing rapidly picked up, he could feel himself nearing the edge of ecstasy and he wasn't sure that it would be a smart thing to fall off the side. "We need to—" he grunted. "—Stop before I—" Magnus was relentless in stopping and before Alec could detour anything from happening, all the pent-up arousal broke forth and he bit down on his bottom lip sharply to keep from crying out. Magnus buried his head into Alec's shirt mere moments later and the vibrations of his moans tickled Alec's torso as Magnus reached his peak as well.

Magnus rolled off of Alec and laid down beside him on the bed; they were both frantically trying to catch their breath, their chests rose and crashed down erratically. "That was—" Alec started.

"Amazing." Magnus finished, and then they both laughed; or more so Alec giggled and Magnus gave a throaty laugh, mainly because Alec was on a high from the orgasm he had just had.

"Alec? Are you in there?" Isabelle called from the other side of the door, knocking on the wood. Alec was glad to notice that her voice sounded extremely muted on the other side of the door.

"Yes Izzy, you can come in." Magnus called out, and Alec glared at him. He was in a less than orderly state to talk to his sister.

"Oh thank gosh you two are decent." Isabelle breathed a sigh of relief as she came into the room and shut the door. "Jace and Will were wondering where you two went. What should I tell them?" She snaked her pale arms over her chest and cocked her hip out to the side.

"We'll be down in a second, you don't have to tell them anything." Alec sat up on the bed and then pulled his bag to himself so he could search for a new pair of boxers.

"Oh? You two don't want to finish what you're up to in here?" She smirked deviously, her dark eyes lighting up with mirth.

"On the contraire sweets, we've already finished." Magnus winked and folded his hands behind his head.

"Magnus!" Alec snarled and stood up from the bed placing his hands on Isabelle's shoulders. "Please go before he embarrasses me further. We'll be done soon." Alec pleaded.

"Okay, but hurry up. Jem is going to crack out a bottle Saxum wine soon and get the fireplace going." Isabelle informed him, as he felt Magnus' arms wrap around his waist pulling him back a bit. Magnus placed his chin on Alec's shoulder and nipped at his ear.

"We just need a moment to... Change." Magnus stated, to Alec's mortification. Isabelle's eyes widened slightly and knowingly.

"I didn't need to know that, but I guess it's nice to know that my brother is finally leading a healthy sex life!" She smiled widely and made her way to the door of the room, leaving in a rush. Magnus laughed lowly in Alec's ear, and continued to caress his ear lobe with his tongue and teeth.

"Magnus, we need to change." Alec sighed, on two accounts: the first being that he was mortified that his sister knew a little too much about his sexual life, and the second being that he loved the attention, that Magnus was paying, on his earlobe.

"How about another round, instead, lovely?"

A/N: I got so carried away with this chapter, holy moly. Usually my first drafts tend to be in the three thousand word range, but this one ended up being so close to five thousand words, and I stayed up until two a.m. slaving away at it, so I could get it finished and ready to go today (: I hope you liked it, since it is the first lake chapter and all. There are many more to come, and can I just say I love jealous Alec? Honestly, in City of Fallen Angels when he went on his little rampage against Magnus I just about swooned because this boy is just too great. So, Alec met Willow, do you guys still dislike her? (Because I kind of really dislike her. But if you do like her, then cool!) Oh Jem, what am I going to do with you? He's too cute isn't he? And absolutely not being subtle at all... Also, let's just say that there is a three chapter countdown to the ultimate smut (even though there will be more after it), I guess it's more of the 'Kick off to the ultimate smut'. WOW sorry I can't keep my thoughts straight right now, it's like 2:42 a.m. and I am watching Dragon Ball Z (favorite anime) and reading this book called Sweet Evil. (Multi-tasking woohoo!)

Don't mind me my wayward son! Please review, and yenno tell me if you guys do want sexy times or not. It's up to you guys really! If we can get to 830 reviews, an update will be coming very soon!

Review pretty please :)?

Amber,