Alright my lovelies! Here's Chapter 9! THANKS SO MUCH TO YOU ALL, I GOT MORE THAN 50 REVIEWS LOL! I'm beyond happy! It's great that all of you love this story! So that's pretty much what motivated me to post this chapter a bit before a week time. I had planned to post it yesterday but life and laziness got in the way so here it is, one day later. OK, this chapter is a bit... controversial if I could say. To my opinion, Jace knew a long time ago about Malec and the fact that Alec was gay... so here's what happen from my pov as to how Jace knew about Malec (remember before the fearless rune how he mention this to Alec?). Also... I'm really sad to say i made a MAJOR FAUX-PAS myself snif... I didn't read the book ahead enough and ended f**ked up with the damn key... So at this moment in the story, seems like Alec already have the key to Magnus's flat (reference from the book) so that's the reason why I mentioned it in this chapter... I will fix this in the previous chapters, probably adding it to Chapter 7 by tomorrow. Also, if you do find some other stuffs missing it's always nice if you let me know :) Ok, I also skipped all the really looooooong dialogue before the Seelie Court, got lazy and didn't want to do that lol! Hope you prefer it that way ;)

I also have to give another shout-out... my dear fellow writer, that I appreciate very much, ReeseValentin(in my fav authors), has written a very funny and great version of the Seelie Court, a one-shot. I do invite all of you to look at it, it's great just like all of her other stories :D

Please please review a lot, I love it :D I do dream about getting it to a 100 loL!

Dislcaimer : All characters belong to Cassandra Clare, :'( Just own the writing. And the song I ''sort of'' mention in Magnus's POV is Dirty Little Secret by All American Reject.

Chapter 9 : Clean Freak and Major Faux-Pas

Magnus was laying down on his bed, half-awake and did not welcome the impending doom full consciousness would bring him. His heart was already pulled in a quiet black hole of self-pity in his sleepy haze, he didn't want to think about the utter sadness that would swallow him soon enough. It was easy to remember that no less than eight hours ago, he'd been happy, giddy, oblivious to his usual self doubts and cynism toward his relation with Alec. It had took him a bit to get there... it had took an established status and a silver key. He had feel so elated and hopeful at that moment, caught up with his joy and dirty mind, blazed with the challenge of teasing his lover till breakdown point. Now, for the love of all angels, he couldn't even get it within him to have a single sensual thought. He couldn't believe he had almost declare his love to his favorite shadowhunter, what a joke. He felt empty... and that had took a single sentence. «He's not my warlock». What was he, then? Boyfriend on the side, lover when needed, object of desire and shame? He didn't know. Although his mind kept running around with these hateful words : dirty little secret. He even had a soundtrack that came along with it, some song he heard before that kept singing these words, he couldn't remember who it was. He didn't care. For once in his life, Magnus Bane was not a high desirable prospect, no, he was a... dirty little secret. And he hated it.

He got disturbed of his rather gloomy thoughts by Chairman Meow bolting in his room with a rather puffy tail and angry hissing. Before he could understand what was happening, the cat had hidden under the bed and his ears caught some muttered swearing from the kitchen. Some swearing emitted by Jace's voice. Magnus sighed deeply. He had forgotten about his prisoner. He did have all the spells in place to keep him from escaping, as if he would, since he still had a contract signed with the Clave but he had been so entangled with his «relationship» mishaps nowadays that there wasn't much place for anything else. To be honest, he'd been a very bad High Warlock lately. He had been informed of the turmoil in Downworld what with all the murders going on, the non-existent corpse of Valentine Morgenstern and lately, the robbery of the Mortal Sword. It had been wandering on the sides of his mind of course but he, as Alec, seemed to forget about this when they were together. They didn't talk about it... they didn't want to. Although, when he was pondering that now, it deemed unfair to him that Alec would crawl to him whenever he needed help but wouldn't spend five minute of his time to share what his life was on an everyday basis. He scoffed, thinking how hypocritical he was, with all the holding up he himself was doing but, right now, he really didn't feel generous toward his boyfriend... if Alec was even that.

Pinching his nose between his index finger and thumb, Magnus let out a uncontrolled sigh of impatience from his lips. He definitely needed to collect himself before attending to his rather unexpected 'prisoner'. His collecting was rather abruptly interrupted though when he heard a loud crash from his kitchen. Sullen and unbelievably exasperated, Magnus stormed toward the kitchen in a flash, adorned with simple zebra pyjamas pants, hair tousled and angry scowl in place. What awaited him shocked him too deeply for him to even vent out his frustration...

For him to behold was a very busy Jace picking up some old take-out from the floor, fridge door open in front of him, and an awfully clean kitchen; sparkling clean, disturbing clean, info-commercial clean... Magnus took a deep breath before he started to hyperventilate from the mixed anger-anxiety that flooded his system at seeing his beloved flat so rutlessly treated. He was going to kill Jace! Choking on his words and at the same time, managing to shout, he interrupted the clean freak in his task.

- «WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?» Magnus yelled, hands on hips, six feet five of quivering anger.

To add up to his unspeakable offence, Jace didn't even look up from the mess as the words left his lips and barely stopped a second to shot him a glance. He snorted loudly and he answered Magnus in a, (could you believe it?!), offended tone.

- «I'm cleaning! This is a nightmare and if I'm to stay here for awhile, there's NO WAY I'll handle your shit hole the way it is! I could barely contain myself from puking when I got up this morning. This is AWFUL!» Jace said, finally getting up and glaring at him. AT HIM!

Magnus didn't have the time to recollect his thoughts, shell-shocked, before Jace added oil to the fire again.

- «Seriously, how can you live like that! It's utterly disgusting! Your fridge is a bacterial frenzy! I cannot even speak about the horrid things that awaited me in there!» He said, the scowl never leaving his face, some sort of fanatic gleam burning bright in his golden irises.

Words ran dry and Magnus couldn't do anything else but to rely on his warlock nature. Eyes flaming and anger burning hot, he snapped his fingers in a provocative manner and suddenly, a thick layer of dust laid down on his kitchen, the mess on the floor disappeared and Jace's hours of work vanished in a second. It was Jace turn to be at a loss for words and he stood there, staring at Magnus in complete horror, his cheeks soon invaded with the red of a fiery rage. His opponent couldn't help but let a smug smirk stretch his lips, cat's gaze still shining with his victory over the impudent golden boy. He spoke in a measured voice, threat ensnaring with every single word.

- "You are not allowed to touch anything here. This is my apartment and you are not to change ANYTHING in it. You'll stay sit on this couch, you'll watch TV or whatever it is you want to do and I will not tolerate you coming near to any sort of house cleaning products for the duration of your stay. If you fail to follow this simple rule... there will be CONSEQUENCES. Are we clear?" Magnus said in an ominous voice.

Jace scowled even more if possible and even snarled at him but the shadowhunter seemed wise enough to recognize his defeat. He shot a venimous glance at the warlock and muttered some nonsense about hygiene and proper sense of cleanliness but rather stay low profile about it. He went to sit on the couch and Magnus snapped his finger again, getting the TV to open. He smirked again and decided that he would exact a little revenge on his prisoner and settled the screen on some reruns of various fashion shows that Jace was bound to hate. Smiling happily to himself, the warlock turned around and went back to his bedroom, ready to start his day now that a very obnoxious young man had, most assuredly, deflected any glooming mood that could have hung over his head.

When Magnus walk ahead to the bathroom, he snickered maliciously, over-satisfied with himself. It was Jace's turn to snort and laugh out loud though when Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, shouted and wimpered like a little girl when he came upon the spotless bathroom haven Jace had made for himself. Useless to say... it was very clean and organized. Both words figuring in Magnus Bane's worst nightmares.

The rest of the day had gone in a similar fashion. Battling in sneaky ways, Magnus and Jace had fought over nonsensical habits although, somehow, their stubborness to not give up had helped both of them to keep their minds away from depressing thoughts. Jace seemed to find relief in cleaning and Magnus vented his constant frustration with Alec by feeding it to his twisted revenges on the blond shadowhunter. After a snake had came at him from the pipe of the toilet, that his bucket of soapy water (Magnus didn't even comprehend how Jace had found that in his loft) had turned into muddy unknown, that is cleaning rag had fell to dust and that his makeshift broom had decided to hit him ferociously, Jace had retreated to his new 'bedroom', that was actually Magnus's den, sulking in a mountain of covers, intent on a cold war. As a small token of peace, Magnus had snapped the TV into Jace's room, after all he had had a lot of fun inventing tortures today, but left on the unlimited reruns of fashion shows to invade the screen. Strangely, Jace appeared to like it. If staring blankly at the screen, muttering petty comments would count as liking.

Even if Magnus had been distracted most of day with his children's war against Jace, things could have tilted into full-on anger chaos if the warlock hadn't exert on himself the highest level of self-control. Because, to be honest, the childish game had ended due to a serious event that had shitfed both men's perspective on the other.

It had been about mid-afternoon, just after the last of Magnus's prank, when Jace had come along something, in his cleaning frenzy, that got him incredibly quiet and still for long minutes. Magnus, half-worried about his quietness and the other half about what part of his beloved home Jace was messing with at the moment, went in search for him and found the boy staring at a very ununsual ring that was laying in an accusing manner on the middle shelf of his bathroom's cabinet. A ring that had rested there since the day before, when a very languorous bath had taken place and his lover had removed it before ravishing him deliciously. He hadn't found it till Alec had left, as at the moment it was removed, his mind really hadn't been focused on anything else than his boyfriend's caress. He had all forgot about it what with the Inquisitor, Jace's imprisonment and driving Magnus crazy, till this moment where the warlock could almost see the gears working in Jace's unfocused glare, piecing things together. He ended up to an obvious conclusion, the ring being too large for anybody else than Alec or Jace, and remembering the interest the warlock had once manifested toward his brother. After tense minutes of silence between the two, Jace had turned around and had looked Magnus straight in the eyes, unwavering golden requesting answers. He hadn't sidestepped the issue and had went straight for it.

- "Is that Alec's family ring?" he had inquired, in a flat voice.

Magnus's features had molded into an inexpressive mask, giving nothing away. His insides had been burning with turmoil, even if he hadn't let it show. The mean, petty part of him, had screamed to tell Jace everything he wanted to know, to gloat over the fact that Alec had been HIS for a while and that no Jace in the world would change that fact or remove his blue eyed boy from his grasp. Jealousy had gnawed at him but some deeper part of him, the one that actually deeply cared about his boyfriend, had won this fight and the warlock had kept quiet, no word crossing his lips.

- "Are you fucking my brother?" Jace had snarled angrily. "Did you two ever intended to let us know or did you wished him to keep your relation a secret so you could dump him as soon as you were done with him?" His voice raising to a shout.

Magnus's face had sombered dangerously, knowing perfectly that HE was not the one wishing to keep things secret. How strange that Jace didn't know this aspect of his brother's personnality. Wait, of course, he hadn't known... Alec was too busy hiding everything he was and his secret crush to actually let anyone know him really. The warlock hadn't been able to help a scowl set on his features but his lips had stayed sealed nonetheless. This had seemed to sent Jace over the edge. He had grabbed Magnus's green dressing gown collar rudely before pushing him against the wall, whispering menacingly at two inches from his face.

- "Answer me, filthy Downworlder! I won't let you fool around with my brother just so you can have the thrill of laying down with a shadowhunter! My brother deserves better than YOU!" He had yelled at last, emotions and rage getting the better of him.

Magnus had seen the chaotic descent this had been heading toward. Eventhough he had wished to yell some of the truth in Jace's face, such as the fact that Alec was the one USING him most of the time, he had kept it minimal, enough for his opponent to question himself and enough for him to be at peace with his promise to keep Alec's secret. He had pushed Jace away brutally before answering him in a low hissing voice.

- "In any case, this is none of your business." He had said, huskily. "Maybe you should adress your questions to the one concerned and see for yourself what this is really all about." Magnus had snapped the last words, still hurt from Alec's dismissive attitude. "Although, let me hint to you that maybe, just maybe, I'm not the one who should be on trial. Maybe you don't know all of what's going on really..." He had finally whispered, unable to keep his voice from breaking a bit at the end, not completely succeeding in hiding his pain toward the whole ordeal.

Jace had looked at him, speechless, not comprehending but sensing the implications in Magnus's words. They had stared at each other for some time until Jace's features had twisted in pain, rejection, Magnus couldn't have told really and the golden boy had walked away swiftly, locking up in the den, leaving a very disgruntled warlock behind.

Magnus was now sitting on his couch, after few hours of ignoring each other, both men had come to a certain status quo, the tension in the flat not so omnipresent. He guessed that Jace had decided to be pliant and would wait for more informations to come his path before judging the situation entirely. Or, the most possible option, he was simply wallowing in self-pity, blaming the Universe for his ever-unfair existence.

In the weirdest way, Magnus himself felt sort of elated. Eventhough he hadn't confirmed Jace's suspicions, he felt victorious. He wasn't a dirty little secret anymore. And to know that, of all of the persons he could have tell, Jace would be the one to guess... a ferocious smile stretched Magnus's lips. There was a vicious glint in his eyes, unable as he was to control the utter smugness he felt to claiming Alec for his own to his most direct rival.

He was still relishing in the feeling when he heard the twist of a silver key in his lock. Someone was coming to pay a little visit... Maybe he could steal Alec away long enough for a kiss or two. After all, it's not like Jace didn't know about them anymore.

A perverse grin captured his mouth as he watched his lover enter the flat.

Alec's pov

- "Why didn't you answer my text yesterday? In fact, you haven't texted me of all day! I had to come here to have some news eventhough I asked you to let me know how everything was going." He said, scowling and hating himself for sounding so whiny and needy.

Everyone had already left for the Seelie Court and he was left to face his boyfriend, who was very sexy in his casual green gown that spoke wonder to his cat's eyes and who looked at him with a very smug smirk that Alec couldn't explain. The fact that Magnus was so lean back and not even remotely flustered and bothered as he felt himself, drove him to the edge. He'd been fantasizing all day about his lover and his wonderful sex skills, barely able to find it in himself to worry sincerely about Jace. The worst in this situation was that he had also been angry with Magnus for ignoring him but his body hadn't register this statement and the longing hadn't leave him nonetheless. Pilling up to his frustration, Magnus smiled seductively and answered him in his usual careless manner.

- "What? Have you been missing me, lovely? I thought I was the one who would succomb to your indeniable charm? Are you ready to give up already?" He said with a devilish grin.

Alec's cheeks turn to a tomato red and he huffed in anger, stumbling the words out.

- "Really funny but it's not what I'm asking you about! You obviously avoided me all day and yes, I'm sorry, as I said already, about yesterday night but it was definitely not the best moment to lay our situation over for everyone to see. There was Jace and..." He stopped, his words cut off by Magnus's now stormy expression. He thought he would be relieved to see the smugness leave his lover's features but, unexplainably, he only felt guilty about his boyfriend's rapid change of mood.

Magnus straightened from his position on the couch's arm rest and walk lithely toward Alec, face ominously flitting from anger to lethal seduction. Alec looked at him wide eyed, speechless and mouth dry, unable to remember what he had been rambling about. His lover spoke slowly, almost purring the words, which were in complete contradiction with the tone.

- "So now, we're a situation? First, you finally accept to be official then you dismiss me and then, I become a situation. You're hard to follow, my love. What is it that you want exactly? I said I was willing to give us a try but I must say you're really trying my patience... I'm not a teenage boy anymore and I grew sick of games a long time ago. Now, Alexander" He said, capturing Alec's chin between his pianist's fingers, his gaze fixed intently on the blue dephts "Please, do tell me, what is it that you want?" Magnus said, in such a threatening seductive way that Alec felt his legs shake, about to buckle under him. He was no more than putty between the warlock's capable hands, his own eyes almost begging his lover for relief.

Alec was at a loss for words, his mouth dried out to a desert and he could only get lost in the green-gold gaze. He watched, as a mouse see his death's coming from a cat's hypnotizing gaze, as Magnus bent down very slowly, his eyes beholding his without faltering, to ravish his lips in the most sensuous manner he had ever done till that moment. He totally surrendered Alec to his will by the way his lips molded to his, lingering and taking and convincing, getting him dizzy in a matter of seconds.

Before he knew it, they were walking in a mutual agreement toward the bedroom, Magnus's hands releasing him from his gears in no time while Alec's hands busied themselves on the belt of the dressing gown to quickly reach the waistband of his lover's black jeans. They were devouring each other in a desperate way, eager to learn back all of what they loved to do to each other but mostly, needing to claim back the place they had in one another's lives, unwilling to deny themselves the comfort of knowing that nobody else would be able to ease its way between them two right at this moment.

As the clothes flew around, none of them ever mentioned any bet of the sort and it was an obvious fact that it had ended it in a tie, as abundant begging could be heard from both parties.

Foot note! I have some questions for you who loves to participate so there you go :D

1- After reading few fanfictions, I got a little self-conscious and realized i don't do much of "surroundings descriptions", i was wondering if that bothered any of you or if you felt that something was missing from the story by not having enough long description?

2- I also wondered if some of you were still confused with the pace of the story and if there was too much stuffs from the book I was leaving out of my fanfic and that would get you confused in the timeline?

3- Do you feel like Malec should talk more about the situation at hand (Valentine)or do you find it logical that their time together are really spent on themselves?

4 and last- Do you think Alec should have a fuzzy recall from the almost I love you Magnus gave him? It cannot be too much as his surprise is great when Magnus finally says it but I thought you guys might want to see a little uneasy Alec wondering what had happened exactly ?

Alright so if you guys want to answer these questions, that would be awesome, I always love to have you opinions! I love to have some kind of contact with all of you who enjoy this story as much as me and as I cannot answer all the reviews, I can at least make you participate a little and definitely help me in the end :D

THANK YOU !