2. Chairman Meow - Not Your Ideal Chaperone

Jace and Clary was having a heated discussion when Alec found them in the schoolyard after his last period. They always had these silly passionate quarrels about even sillier matters. Most likely the argument was about whether Jace loved Clary more or the other way around. Alec knew it was something like that, because he vomited a bit in his mouth when he looked at them. They didn't even notice him until he was standing right next to them.

"Please tell Clary that it is not embarrassing that Magnus knows we snuggled in his bed at the party?" Jace looked at his best friend.

"Snuggled? Really? That's all you did?" Alec said with disbelief, and not really wanting to hear the answer to his own question. Jace offered him a smirk and turned back to look at Clary.

"Magnus doesn't seem like someone who would kiss-and-tell," Jace said.

Alec really wished Jace would have used a different expression, but he didn't say anything, because then Jace would know instantly that Alec had not been able to stop thinking about Magnus since the party. No one had ever made him feel less out of place at a party with that many people.

"Besides, I'm still wearing some of that glitter with great pride, because I am not embarrassed about what we did in Magnus' room," Jace's eyes shone when he looked at Clary.

After that Alec pretty much ignored them the rest of the way home as they continued to argue in a loving way. Jace's new home was close to Alec's house and so they always walked home together. He hadn't bothered to ask them where Isabelle and Simon were, because he didn't really find the time to care at the moment.

He found the answer he wasn't looking for when he entered the house. Isabelle was busy whisking some unidentifiable substance in a huge bowl with flour on her nose, while Simon sat on the kitchen table watching her with interest and sharing tales of the latest comic book he'd read.

"Where's mom?" Alec wondered.

"She's at a meeting tonight. She won't be home until late, so I'm making pancakes," Izzy cheered.

"Are pancakes supposed to be green?" Alec wrinkled his nose, looking at the liquid in the bowl.

"It's spinach. It's supposed to be dinner pancakes," she said.

"You mean tortilla?"

"She means tortilla," Simon confirmed. Izzy looked down into her bowl.

"I think it needs more flour," she decided, probably because most of the flour she'd already used was on her shirt and in her face. Only Isabelle, he thought, could wear an apron but get most of the batter on her shirt instead, and still look elegant as if she was shooting some kind of commercial for home-cooked meals.

"I'm going upstairs. I'll just order a pizza, or have some noodles," Alec sighed.

"You're not going to join us?" Izzy's eyes were pleading. Alec thought about making a joke on not wanting to ruin their date, but the look in Izzy's eyes changed his mind. It was odd really, how she would be alone with all the hot guys at school and never care about it, but with someone as dorky as Simon she suddenly looked insecure and nervous. She was the exact opposite of all the girls Alec knew, and he felt proud to call that fierce, yet loving, little lady his sister.

"No, I don't think so."

"We'll probably order a pizza anyway, you might as well join us," Simon shrugged. "Oh! And also…" Simon didn't get to finish what he was about to say, before Izzy elbowed him. Simon yelped.

"Right. I meant to tell you…"

"What is it?" Alec demanded with alarm. Perhaps something had happened to their dad – he was out of town for the rest of the week.

"Magnus called," she said.

"W-what?"

"He called the house," she explained.

"Why would he call the house?" Alec was in momentary shock.

"I guess you didn't give him your phone number," Izzy accused. "Good thing I got his," she pulled out a piece of paper from her apron. Alec took it, still a bit dumbfounded.

"What do I do with it?"

"Call him, silly."

"Or text him," Simon suggested. "Guys like to text."

Isabelle was about to object, but Alec broke her off.

"I'll be in my room," he said and rushed upstairs.

…

Isabelle stared at the door where her brother had disappeared, before she put down the bowl of batter.

"Do you think he'll call him?" she asked. Simon loved this side of her – the side of Izzy that rarely showed, and usually this kind of concern was directed towards her brother.

"Yeah. Didn't you see the look on his face?"

"He looked a bit shocked?" Izzy narrowed her eyebrows.

"You know how he is," Simon said, not realizing how exactly he knew how Alec was, because he'd never really thought about the fact that Alec was someone he knew well. "He doesn't expect anyone to notice him and so when someone does it astonishes him."

Isabelle was now smiling at him. She always only smiled when it reached her eyes, that way you would know it wasn't a fake smile.

"What?" Simon didn't know what he'd done to deserve that kind of smile. She didn't reply, but bit her lip as if she was thinking about something. "You know, you have some flour on your nose," Simon noted.

"Really? Does it look good on me?"

"I think it's your color, although…" he said, before putting his finger into the green batter and planting a line of it across each of her cheeks. She was trying not to laugh. "Better!" He looked admiringly at his work as if he was an artist trying to find the right angle of the object. She quickly shoved her fingers into the batter and ran it across his forehead before he could avoid her, and he shivered from the coldness of it against his warm face. Izzy laughed, and Simon forgot the sticky cold feeling against his forehead for a moment. "Isabelle, I…" he didn't get to finish his sentence, before Izzy was on her toes, reaching up to kiss him. For a short moment he froze in shock, but then he leaned into the kiss.

"I'm not. Really. Hungry," she whispered in between kisses.

"Me neither," he lied in a breathless tone against her mouth. She leaned back, and took his hand so she could pull him off the kitchen table. Simon stumbled to his feet and followed her. "Where are we going?"

"To my room," she said as if it had been obvious. Simon didn't think it was obvious. He liked Isabelle, but he didn't want to be one of the guys she made out with and then dumped them afterwards. He had thought she only kept to flirting with him, because he meant something more to her than the other guys. Maybe he had been stupid to even think so, but at least he had hoped that's how it was. As far as he knew, she hadn't been making pancakes with any other guys, and she definitely hadn't been listening to other guys' rants about their favorite manga or video games.

Izzy shut the door behind them and shoved Simon onto the bed with determination, before climbing onto his lap and kissing him heavily. They had kissed before, but they had never made out like this, and even though he loved the feeling of Isabelle's body on top of his, the feel of her hair between his fingers and the softness of her skin as her nose grazed his when she kissed him, he still had to tear away to make sense of her sudden decision to make out with him. His head was rushing and he needed to straighten his mind, that's when she started to slide her warm hands up under his shirt. His hands caught at hers.

"Wow, Izzy, just wait a second," he said out of breath, and she looked as if he'd just slapped her. She pulled her hands back and crossed her arms in a manner that made her look self-conscious, but surely Isabelle wasn't self-conscious, Simon thought. "It's just that we've never made out like this before, I'm not sure what it means," he said.

"Does it have to mean something?" she asked. Of course it had to mean something, Simon thought, because he was falling for her and being her make out buddy would just complicate his feelings for her even further.

"I really like you, like a lot."

"I know," she shrugged.

"You know? So you're just using me?" he inquired. Isabelle bit her lip as a way of controlling her nervousness, Simon figured.

"No, Simon. I don't know. I'm not used to feeling like this," she said in a low voice.

"Feeling like what?" he demanded. He knew he was pushing her, but he felt like she owed it to him somehow. She hesitated.

"You make me nervous. I don't really know what to do with boys other than make out with them. I'm not used to guys who want to talk to me or hang out," she admitted. Simon thought the answer more than fulfilled his question. He hadn't actually expected her to be honest with him about it.

"Well, I'll say it's their loss if they don't want to talk to you, because I really love talking to you, Isabelle," he stated, and rested his forehead against hers.

"I know. I guess I just don't know what to do with that."

"I could teach you?"

"I would like that," she whispered back. "Now, can we make out?"

"Yes please. That apron has been driving me wild all afternoon," he said, and she beamed with pleasure as he undid the knot that held the apron around her neck.

…

Alec stared at the piece of paper with a single phone number written on it. He'd laid it on his desk, while contemplating whether to call Magnus or text him, and what to say to him when he did decide which way would be better. Magnus had called him, so maybe he preferred a call? But of course there was the fact that he hadn't had Alec's cell phone number, and so he'd had to call him rather than text. It seemed like a never-ending situation of over thinking. He thought over possible things to say and conversations to have with Magnus. He could start out by questioning why Magnus had called him in the first place, and leave it to Magnus to move on from there.

With sweaty palms he dialed the number and decided to call Magnus. It rang twice before someone picked it up.

"Hello?" The voice said.

"Magnus?" Alec asked. Silence. "It's Alec."

"Alec!" the voice cheered on the other end of the line.

"Isabelle said you called?" he started as he'd planned.

"I just wanted to see if you had turned into an extreme partygoer yet, in which case I would take full credit of course," Magnus said, sounding as if he was otherwise occupied while talking on the phone. Maybe he had his TV on. If Alec hadn't been so nervous he might have been able to laugh at the charming joke.

"Oh… I wouldn't go that far yet. But you'll be glad to know that Jace is still wearing glitter."

"That might be because he can't get it off with just a few showers. As I said, it's a pain in the ass to get rid of, that's why I just stopped trying," he said.

"So is that why you called me?"

"To hear about Jace and the glitter? Certainly not," he sounded bored just thinking about the topic.

"To see if I've become an avid partygoer?"

"While that would interest me a great deal more than Jace's glittering butt, I just called to see if you were doing anything tonight? I have the house all to myself, since my mother is at yet another meeting. I just ordered a family sized pizza," he said in an inviting tone. Alec smiled to himself and sat down on his bed.

"My mom is at a meeting as well. I was going to order a pizza myself, since Isabelle is cooking for her and Simon."

"Ah, so she gave him a chance after all?" Magnus referred to Alec's comment from the party about the two of them never happening.

"I don't know. They're always flirting, nothing ever happens though," Alec shrugged even though he knew it didn't matter, when Magnus couldn't see him anyway.

"Well, it's perfect then. You don't have to order pizza. I have enough to feed an entire family."

Alec thought about it for a moment. He was curious to see Magnus again. He had a way of making Alec curious, although he wasn't normally the curious type.

"Okay. I'll come right over," he finally said, while holding his breath.

"Brilliant."

Alec stared at the phone for a second after hanging up. He was going to a boy's house. Not just any boy's house – the legendary Magnus Bane's house – alone. He quickly changed his black T-shirt with a gray one after rubbing his sweaty palms in the previous. He looked in the mirror and his hair looked as ruffled as it always did. Maybe Isabelle could help him, if he could get her away from Simon for a second. He walked to her door and swung it open.

"Izzy, could you…" he was caught off guard midsentence by the scene in front of him. Simon was sitting on the edge of the bed with his shirt off, Izzy sat across his lap also without a shirt on and they were making out heavily. Alec closed the door again quickly, but the image of Simon's hands all over his sister was now clouding his mind.

"Alec!" Isabelle exclaimed just as the door had shut.

"I'm going out," he yelled back at her through the closed door.

"Okay."

He didn't need to do his hair anyway. Magnus would notice instantly that he'd put effort into his look before going to see him. It was just pizza, Alec thought to himself.

Alec had passed the pizza delivery as he drove up the driveway to Magnus' house. He placed his bike in front of the garage, before walking up to the front door feeling awkward.

Magnus looked relaxed when he opened the door. He was wearing loose worn-out jeans and a T-shirt with the words "I work out" printed with animal print across his chest. He didn't even have to put effort into his look and he still looked stunning.

"Alexander!" he cheered. "Perfect timing!"

"I know. I saw the pizza delivery on the way up," he said nervously.

"You look pale?" Magnus noticed.

"Remember when I said that Simon and Isabelle would never happen? Well, I just saw it happen," Alec said. Magnus grinned.

"You poor thing. You better come inside and tell me all about," he replied with amusement.

Inside Alec was met by a gray tabby cat, it greeted him by walking between his legs. Magnus raised an eyebrow.

"He doesn't normally like people," he mused.

Alec sat down to pet the cat, and it welcomed his stroking hand with a purr. When he looked up, Magnus' smile was warm. It didn't surprise him that Magnus was a cat person. The cat was probably what had occupied him, while on the phone, Alec imagined.

"We go way back," Alec joked and Magnus flashed a more amused smile. Somehow Alec's confidence went up with the cat's approval, it seemed that he was able to make jokes in Magnus' presence now.

After an hour with Magnus, Alec was able to ignore the fact that Magnus' T-shirt was just tight enough to show the outline of his abs, or the perfect ruffle of his hair, and just go with the conversation. He found that apparently Magnus' mother was at the same meeting as his own mother, and he had never even known they worked together.

The two of them had now moved into the living room after finishing up eating pizza, and the cat, apparently called Chairman Meow, was sprawled across Alec's lap while they were talking.

"I can't believe I walked in on my sister and Simon having sex," Alec shook at the memory, when Magnus brought it up again.

"I don't know what you've heard, but I'm pretty sure sex requires a little more than the shirts to be off," Magnus said with amusement.

"It's not funny. What if I had walked in five minutes later, what would I have found then?"

"You're thinking too much, Alec."

"That's what I do, I over think everything," he admitted without knowing why. Magnus' expression was full of compassion, when his fingers suddenly brushed Alec's arm casually, and Alec froze by the gesture. Alec stared up into Magnus' brown eyes intently, as the soft tingling of his touch sent flutters through his stomach. Even when they were sitting down Magnus seemed to be an inch or so taller than him. Alec leaned closer to indicate that Magnus could take the next step and close the distance, and so he did. His soft and warm lips crashed into Alec's with such force that Alec almost fell back, causing Chairman Meow to wake up and jump down off the couch. Magnus' strong hands caught him around his back, steadying him, letting him know that he shouldn't mind the cat. Alec reached up around Magnus' neck to hold him down, afraid he would stop the kiss. His stomach twisted in on itself as a rush of feelings went through his body; feelings he had never felt before and he wondered why he had never kissed anyone before this moment, if this was how it felt like to be kissed. When Magnus broke off the kiss, the two of them had to catch their breaths.

"Was that your first kiss?" Magnus wondered.

"Yes," Alec replied in a whisper, hoping it hadn't been too obvious.

"And how did you like it?"

Instead of replying, he leaned back up to kiss Magnus, who fell backwards on the couch in surprise of Alec's compulsion, dragging Alec with him until they were sprawled across the couch. Alec's hands brushed down Magnus' upper body and lingered at the edge of his T-shirt. His hands were trembling as he felt Magnus' skin connect with the tip of his fingers. Magnus held Alec's face in both hands as he kissed him back violently. Alec's heart was in his throat, when Magnus rolled them around so that Alec's back was pressed against the couch and the other boy started kissing his neck. His body was heavy against Alec's, and the warmth of another person this close to him sent flutters through his stomach. The touch of Magnus' lips to the base of Alec's neck, where the skin seemed to be extra sensitive, made him grasp at the other boy's arms trying to steady the trembling that ran through his body. Alec had just started kissing Magnus' neck the same way, when he brushed Alec's arms, as a gentle indication for them to stop. Alec was breathing hard, when he looked up into Magnus' perfect brown eyes.

"I suppose that means it was alright?" Magnus bit his lower lip. Alec's chest was rising and falling quickly.

"Yeah, pretty mediocre for a first kiss," Alec joked, a bit out of breath. The other boy brushed Alec's lips with his thumb, not really helping the situation of his shuddering breath and racing heart. "I should probably go home."

"It is a school night," Magnus noted with a sigh, and they both sat up again. Alec felt the urge to touch Magnus again, but he resisted because he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself from whatever might happen after a kiss like that. "Can I call you? I would like to take you on a real date, if you want? One that doesn't include the Chairman or pizza," Magnus asked.

"I don't know…" he said, and found some satisfaction from Magnus' nervous eyes. So far he hadn't gotten the impression that Magnus ever got nervous. "Chairman makes a pretty good chaperone," Alec finished his sentence, and Magnus smiled with relief.

"I must say, for a while there I thought he wanted you all to himself. Lucky for me he fell asleep."

Alec grinned, because he couldn't help himself. All the way home he couldn't help himself, and he felt like a silly teenager for the first time in ever. Even when he entered the house and Izzy appeared to be waiting for him at the dinner table, he couldn't rid himself from smiling.

"Are you being smug about what you saw? Honestly Alec, just get it out, yell at me or make the lame jokes only you can make, just get it out of the system so we can move on," she said.

"I'm not gonna make any jokes, Izzy. Let's just not talk about it, okay?" he said, and she wrinkled her nose.

"What?" she looked confused. Alec went to the fridge to get a bottle of water, while he was aware that Izzy was studying his every move, probably waiting for him to yell at her. "We didn't have sex, if that's what you're worried about," she added.

"God, Iz! I don't wanna know," he said, and somehow even this conversation couldn't get his mind off Magnus' perfect lips against his own or the touch of his fingertips brushing Magnus' smooth skin. When he turned back to look at her, she was gaping at him suddenly. "What?"

"You went to Magnus' house, didn't you? Oh my God, Alec. Tell me everything!" she exclaimed in her best teenage girl squeak, as if they were BFFs or even worse – twin sisters. Now he wasn't smiling so much anymore.

"No."

"'No' you didn't go to his house, or 'no' you won't tell me everything about it?"

"Take your pick," he said and tried to walk away from her, but she followed him upstairs and into his room.

"You were smiling just now when you came home, it wasn't because of what you saw?" she tried from another direction.

"You're my sister. Why would I be smiling at seeing you like that?" he frowned.

"Sebastian would think it was funny if he walked in on Jace and Clary," Izzy said.

"That's because Sebastian is a bit of a psycho. He would probably be cheering on the sideline,"

"He's not a psycho. That's beside the point, you weren't smiling because of Simon and me, and so obviously something funny or good happened. I'm guessing it has something to do with a boy and I'm guessing that boy is Magnus. Am I close?"

"You're interrogating me," he noted flatly.

"Can you blame me for wanting to see my brother be happy?"

"You're kind of ruining it right now," he said, because he wasn't smiling anymore. Izzy walked to the door with a sad expression.

"I'm sorry," she looked hurt, when she left the room. Alec cursed under his breath, before rushing to the door.

"I'm sorry, Iz," he paused for a second, and he knew she was listening, even though her door was closed. "We kissed," he sighed. It only took Izzy a second to throw the door open.

"And?" she smiled hugely.

"That's it."

"How was it?"

He gave her a warning look.

"Right. Sorry. Are you going to see him again?"

"He asked if he could call me and plan a real date," he said with a bit of uncertainty.

"And what did you say?" Izzy wondered with excitement. Alec hesitated. What was the point in keeping it from her now?

"That I would be waiting for my phone to ring."

"Alec! That is so romantic!" she cheered.

"It is?" he wrinkled his nose. He hadn't thought of it as romantic, he had just wanted to give him more of an answer than a simple 'yes', once they'd finished joking about how Chairman Meow wasn't really an ideal chaperone. Isabelle beamed as she headed back into her room and shut the door behind her, and Alec just imagined her sitting in the window writing in her diary about how her gay brother had just had his first kiss tonight. He smiled to himself, before going to bed with a peaceful mind, suddenly confident that he would hear from Magnus soon.