"No uniform today, Darling?" Magnus asked. I found him in his usual seat texting while his coffee got cold. I slid into the seat across from him.

"I'm not working." I explained. I was doing something even less pleasant that day. Meeting up with Robert and Anna.

I was kind of hoping that Magnus wouldn't be there. I'd only ever seen him when I had a shift but that was because I didn't spend any of my free time – besides my breaks - hanging out at JJ's anymore. I figured before my so-called parent arrived I should give Magnus a word of warning that he couldn't really talk to me.

"That's what you wear when you aren't working? Oh sweetie…" Magnus looked absolutely dismayed and shook his head grimly at my dark jeans and worn t-shirt. I fiddled with one of the holes in the hem, completely forgetting that I had something to say.

"What's wrong with it?" I asked.

"What isn't wrong with it?" He retorted, and took off the blue scarf he was wearing. He shoved the length of fabric at me across the table. "Put this on."

I didn't. I just gave him a look and waited for him to put it back down again. He stayed adamant, and when I didn't put it on he looped it around my neck himself.

"Magnus!"

"Alexander."

Angels, his voice made me melt sometimes. Which reminded me that this was exactly what I wanted to avoid. It was possible my family were going to walk in any second and Magnus wasn't known for being the most appropriate guy in the world. But I guess if you've been listening to me ramble on about him you know that already.

"You know I told you about Robert?" I ventured. Magnus sat back looking pretty alarmed. I had to work on that abrupt-change-of-subject thing I did.

"Your Father? I remember." He said in a voice that sounded cautious and laced his fingers together. "He moved out three months ago, right?"

I smiled. It was nice that he remembered even if it was a horrible topic. I loved that he was considerate even though he probably had bigger problems to deal with like all adults seemed to. Magnus never complained when I had to rant or vent. He just listened.

"Yes. He's coming here soon with Anna," I couldn't help it, her name still made me angry. "And my siblings. And, well, I just wanted to make sure you didn't… Wouldn't…"

Magnus raised a hand to stop me talking. "I get it. I'm not going to out you Darling."

I was about to thank him when he put that hand to my face. He never much cared about personal space but this was different. This was romantic, not like when he swiped my hair back into place or prodded me when I said something sarcastic. His touch tingled where it rested and when he inclined his head towards me my mouth went dry.

"Alec!" Isabelle's voice squeaked. I pulled back so fast I hit my head on the back of the booth seat. Yup. That hurt.

Looking towards the door I was beyond lucky to find Izzy had come in first. The others were trailing in behind too late to see the moment me and Magnus had been having. I threw him a helpless glance and he simply shrugged and got up out of his seat. Max nearly ran into him on the way over to me, completely oblivious as he jumped into the space the older man had just been sat in.

If the mood hadn't been dead before, it certainly was now.

I handed my brother a menu and he went straight to the cakes section. I smiled when I saw his brows knit together.

"Izzy didn't bake them, right?"

Izzy didn't like that comment and pinched his arm. I kicked her under the table and she stuck her tongue out at me. As an afterthought I took a quick look around to see if Magnus had actually left. Honestly, could I really afford to look any more childish around him? He was gone, thankfully. Or not thankfully. I didn't know. I wanted him around all the time but I didn't want Robert to judge him for his sparkles or realise that I liked guys that way. He'd go berserk, like he had any right to comment on other people's relationships.

I was quite prepared to keep it from him forever.

"Who was that man talking to you?"

He was making that difficult.

Alarm bells went off in my head and I couldn't think. What could I say? I couldn't say he was my boyfriend. Was he even my boyfriend? 'Boyfriend' seemed like a pretty juvenile word, come to think of it... That was a line of thought for another time.

"Uh…"

"His History Tutor." Isabelle supplied.

I blinked. "What?"

Yeah. I'm really bad at excuses. It was a good thing that what my sister lacked in organization she made up for in alibies. She was one of the best when it came to thinking on her feet. She knew how to sell a performance better than any actress.

"It's okay, Alec, you can tell him." She said softly, making it sound like she was being encouraging before she faced Robert with her best confession face. "Alec's failing History. He didn't want you to know, so he got Mr Bane to tutor him."

Silence fell while we all awaited the reaction on hard-set features. It was like a verdict on if we'd gotten away with the on-the-spot excuse.

"I thought you loved History." Robert's face was grim as ever, but he'd bought it and that was what mattered.

His kids' school performance was almost as high on his list of priorities as spending time with women who weren't his wife. He was right, though. I did really well in History. It was Izzy who was failing. Badly.

That would be why the subject sprang to her mind.

"I used to…" I muttered. I hoped that if I sounded ticked off enough it wouldn't invite a lot of questioning. It was actually Anna who changed the subject by asking us all what we wanted to drink. After that, nobody at our table really spoke at all.

For the most part we had nothing to say to Robert. It was so hard to grit my teeth and act like all was well while the youngest of us was there. He shouldn't have come. Robert always insisted. 'He might have questions about the divorce, too' he said. Bull. He just wanted him there so that the rest of us wouldn't ask things which mattered. We couldn't - we wouldn't - talk about what he'd done in front of Max.

Max still needed Isabelle to pluck off his glasses and clean the splatter he'd created by blowing bubbles into his milkshake; he couldn't handle knowing what a despicable person his Father was. I think he must have known somewhere though. That or he sensed how Izzy was uncomfortable and I hated him and followed suit. Because it felt like Robert was an outsider. He wasn't part of 'us'; there were the three Lightwood kids and there was him and his mistress.

We were separate. We always would be.

A bit of a close call! Thank you for reading if you've stuck with it this far. Next chapter to come: 'Alibi'