Hey guys! Chapter four is here! This one should be longer than the others, because so far they've been depressingly short.

Unfortunately, fanfiction ate this chapter the first time I wrote it, so I've had to re-write it from scratch... And it was actually surprisingly hard to write, although I think its my best chapter yet. Hopefuly. Anyway...

Thanks to Hashbrown for the lovely review! That really means a lot that you like my story so much, so thank you, and I hope you like this chapter as well!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, sadly.

Chapter Four: Explanations

Isabelle POV:

Magnus had finished healing Alec, but he had yet to wake up, and was now situated in Magnus' bedroom. Isabelle was sitting on a chair next to Magnus' bed, holding tightly onto Alec's calloused left hand, while Jace sat on the other side holding his right. Isabelle began absently stroking her thumb over the back of Alec's hand while her mind sifted through everything.

Alec was physically fine now, and that was good. However, there was still the problem of his emotional state, which was not so fine. Isabelle knew that Alec was broken because of the break up, and that there was nothing stopping him from going out and risking his life all over again, and that fact chilled her to the core. Alec, her responsible, sensible older brother was now acting thoughtlessly and carelessly. It scared her that Alec was now acting more like Jace than Jace was.

She had to talk to Magnus about this. As much as she now hated the warlock that broke her brothers heart, she also knew that he was the only one who could fix this whole mess. He was her last hope.

Standing up slowly, with a heavy heart, Isabelle excused herself, leaving Alec in Jace's care. She gathered her thoughts and moved towards the living room, towards Alec's only salvation, whom was himself seated on the leather couch in the living room. His head was bowed, his face in his hands; the picture of sadness. This made her pause, and her voice came out gentler than she'd first intended.

"Magnus?"

POV: Magnus

At the sound of his name, Magnus lifted his head wearily to see Isabelle standing before him. She looked nervous, chewing on her lip in such an out-of-character gesture that it suddenly reminded him of how much Isabelle looked like her brother.

"Magnus," she said again, "Can I talk to you?"

Magnus nodded warily, and stood up to follow Isabelle into the hallway. Suddenly, Isabelle stopped, turning around, her eyes oddly intense. She looked as though she was determined about something.

"What is it, Isabelle?" He asked cautiously, her expression starting to get his defenses up.

Isabelle took a deep breath, then began, "Its Alec."

Just as Magnus was about to reply, she went on, "I'm afraid for him, Magnus. You know as well as I do that Alec is never this reckless. He never does anything this... this stupid!"

Magnus sighed, "Yes, of course I realise that. What's your point?"

"My point, warlock, is that Alec only acts like this when he feels like he has nothing to lose anymore. When he thinks nothing matters anymore." Isabelle paused, and sighed impatiently, "I'm not explaining this right. What I'm trying to say is that Alec only threw himself into such a ridiculous fight because he's depressed. Depressed because of the break up. Depressed because of you!"

By the end she was shouting, and Magnus nearly flinched back when she all but spat the last word into his face. But he reined in control, after all, he'd had eight centuries to learn how to cover up his true emotions. At his nonchalant expression, Isabelle all but exploded in his face.

"Do you not feel anything? Do you not care about Alec at all? Because I swear to God Magnus, if you don't fix this whole mess right now, I will tear you apart limb by limb, because I will not let some egotistical warlock hurt my brother and get away with it!" And with that, she stormed off, leaving the egotistical warlock alone with his thoughts of regret.

POV: Alec

Alec awoke to a blinding light, and he winced. He glanced around the room through narrowed eyes, attempting to put a name to his location. As his surroundings grew ever more familiar, he became ever more sure that he was dreaming. There was absolutely no way that he could be in-

"Morning sunshine," said a heartbreakingly familiar voice, "Or should I say night. You slept right through the day."

Alec turned his head sharply, staring into golden-green cat eyes.

"M-M-Magnus?" He stuttered, still about 99% sure he was dreaming. An emotion flashed over those cat eyes, but it was gone before Alec could identify it, a wry smile in its place.

"The very same."

"W-what are you d-doing here?" Alec's voice was hoarse and his throaty felt dry as bone.

"Healing you of course." Magnus replied, though his cheerful voice was now tighter, as if forced.

"O-oh." Alec didn't know what else to say. He looked away, down at his hands, and chewed on his bottom lip nervously.

"Yes, oh. Next time you decide you want to go prancing into a nest full of demons alone, don't!" Magnus snapped, his voice now harsh, and Alec flinched backwards in the bed, sinking his head down into the pillow. At Alec's hurt expression, Magnus' face softened slightly, and his brows furrowed.

"Sorry. I shouldn't of shouted at you like that." Magnus apologised, though his face was still tight with a hidden emotion Alec couldn't name. Alec was still confused as to why Magnus was here, though. He'd thought that when Magnus had ended it between them a week ago, that he'd severed all ties with Alec, that he didn't care what happened to him anymore. It made no sense that Magnus was here now.

"S'okay," Alec mumbled, "But I still don't understand why you're here.."

Magnus frowned, "Trust me, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be. You were dying Alec. I had no choice but to come."

Alec shook his head mechanically, "No, you did have a choice. You didn't have to come, you could have just let me die. But you didn't... Why didn't you?"

"You stupid nephilim." Magnus said bluntly, "Of course I didn't. I love you, Alec. More than I should. But this doesn't change anything. You still betrayed me, and I can't just ignore that."

Alec frowned, and he felt the guilt crush him down once again. Magnus was right; this was all Alec's fault. But was it? Alec asked himself. After all, he's the one that didn't give you the chance to explain yourself. Alec's frown deepened, and he started to realise that maybe this wasn't all his doing.

Originally, Alec had gone to Camille to try to find a way for him and Magnus to be together, without immortality getting in the way. However, after he'd realised that the only way that could happen was to turn Magnus mortal, he'd known that he could never betray Magnus like that. But Camille still gave him something he needed. A gateway to Magnus' past; for who knew Magnus better than one of his past lovers? And as Magnus wasn't telling him anything, that was Alec's only option.

Yes, Alec had been wrong not to tell Magnus of his meetings with Camille, but Alec certainly wasn't the only one who was unforthcoming in their relationship.

"No," he mumbled quietly.

"What?" Magnus' voice was sharp and intimidating, but Alec wasn't about to back down now.

"I didn't betray you," he replied, his voice louder this time.

Magnus' expression turned stormy, "How can you say that? Alexander you were scheming with my ex-girlfriend to shorten my life, to make me-"

"NO I WASN'T!" Alec shouted, though his voice cracked in weird places, "YOU NEVER LET ME EXPLAIN MYSELF!"

He took a deep breath to calm himself, and ploughed on. "I wasn't scheming, and I wasn't going to shorten your life. That was never my intention."

"Oh really? Then tell me, Alexander. What exactly was your intention?" The whole sentence dripped with sarcasm.

Alec swallowed nervously, "Look, if you just please let me explain, I'll tell you everthing."

Magnus' eyes narrowed slightly, "Go on."

Alec took a deep breath, then looked Magnus directly in the eye. "Okay. The only reason I first went to Camille was because she said she could make me immortal, not the other way around. But when I got there she said the only ways to do that were black magic or becoming a vampire, and obviously I didn't agree to that. But when she said the alternative was making you mortal, shortening your life, it took me all of ten seconds to decide that I could never do that to you."

"But then why-" Magnus began, only to be cut off when Alec raised his palms.

"Let me finish, please?" At Magnus' slight nod, Alec went on.

"The only reason I kept going back to Camille after that was because she knows you. She knows you like I don't, and she told me things you didn't. Before you say anything, I know that I was wrong to not tell you about the meetings, and there's nothing I regret more. But I had no choice. You weren't opening up to me... I mean, I hardly know anything about you, Magnus. I don't even know who your Father is! I just wanted to know more about you, and Camille was willing to tell me. But she only told me little things. Little things, that would hardly matter to other people, but really mattered to me. Because I love you, Magnus Bane, more than anything. And I want to know every little thing about you. Because all those little things add up to make you. The you that I fell in love with. The you that I'll always love, no matter what. So you can leave me, Magnus. But that won't stop me from loving you. Nothing can."

Alec sat back on the bed, taking a deep breath. Magnus was staring at him, open mouthed, his eyes full of shock and wonder.

POV: Magnus

Magnus didn't know what to say. For the first time in two centuries, Magnus Bane was rendered speechless, and by none other than the beautiful, wonderful, amazing creature that was Alexander Lightwood. Magnus was in awe of the shadowhunter whom had stolen his heart so completely.

More than anything though, he felt stupid. How could he have been such an idiot?! Of course Alec hadn't intended to actually shorten Magnus' life. This was Alec they were talking about, not Camille, or any of his other past lovers - most of whom had been manipulative bastards.

Alec. Innocent, naive, sweet, lovely Alec. How could he have ever not trusted him? Because what Alec was saying was true - he had been keeping his past under wraps from Alec, and he had been unforthcoming in their relationship. He'd just been too full of pride to admit that maybe he was at fault.

That was not to say that Alec was the completely innocent party here either, though. The fact that he'd been meeting secretly with Magnus' ex was still an issue, though now it seemed like a hurdle they could jump, and get through. It was now up to Magnus to make sure that happened.

Magnus suddenly realised that while he had still spoken no words, Alec was waiting for a reply, and so Magnus answered him in the only other way he knew how.

With a kiss.

I apologise for the cliche ending there, and for the amount of endless thinking on Magnus and Alec's part, but there you go. Chapter four complete!

I hope you all liked it, and that was definitely my longest chapter yet, at over 2,000 words.

Okay this is the last chapter I'm going to post tonight, but I'll most likely update tomorrow or the next day, depending on how creative I'm feeling, and how much homework I get.

Please review, tell me what you thought?

~Dreams Of Oblivion