4. Palm Reading and Parents

When Alec woke up the next morning, he had to orient himself. He turned around in the soft bed and found himself staring into a peacefully sleeping face. He felt a smile touch his own face, and put a hand up to touch the golden brown skin on the other boy's cheek. As a reflex Magnus' hand went up and laced around Alec's hand. Alec froze. He was caught now. If he moved out of Magnus' hold, he would wake up from what looked to be a beautiful dream, and so he just lay back down and relaxed for a moment, trying to recall what had happened last night. They had had a couple of glasses of wine, once Magnus had started to read his palms.

"Your life line is straight and close to the edge of the palm," Magnus had said, while tracing one of the lines in Alec's palm that began near his thumb.

"It does not say I'm straight, right?" Alec frowned, but with a smidge of hope.

"No, I hope not," Magnus chuckled, but he looked serious when he spoke again, "it means you're cautious when it comes to relationships."

"Oh."

Alec hadn't realized how many straight lines were in his palm, until Magnus started pointing out different meanings for each line. His head line was straight as well, and it meant that he usually had realistic thoughts. Everything Magnus had said seemed to fit his personality well, and he couldn't help but feel how unfair it was that now Magnus knew all these things about who Alec was, but he didn't know the same things about Magnus. He hadn't said anything, because they were both slightly tipsy and he had been pretty sure if he'd asked, Magnus would have just offered him his own palm for Alec to look at. Maybe it was enough to know such things about him; how he would respond to certain kinds of questions given the situation they were in. It didn't have to mean that Magnus was an open book, because he definitely was not. Alec had decided that he had enough time to figure out who Magnus was.

Eventually Magnus had finished reading both Alec's palms, and at this point Magnus was lying with his back against Alec's chest still looking at Alec's hands.

"You're right. Your hands proved to be very useful tonight." Magnus had said, before kissing Alec's palm, referring to the text Jace had sent from Alec's phone, pretending to be Alec. After that they must have fallen asleep.

"That's a good look on you," Magnus said a bit groggily, waking up just now. Alec looked down and the other boy was looking up into his eyes. Alec took a quick look down at himself, to see if he was covered in glitter like Jace and Clary had been after sleeping in Magnus' bed. But they hadn't even gotten under the covers before they had fallen asleep. "Relax, no glitter. I meant that smile," he said before sitting up on his elbows.

"Oh."

"I've noticed you before. At school, I mean. You don't smile very often, do you?" Magnus's voice was low and sad.

"Really? I didn't realize," Alec lied.

"Both you and your sister, you only smile when there's something real to smile about," Magnus' eyes were fixed on Alec's. "That's what makes it especially charming when you do smile. It makes the person you're with feel flattered and special," his voice was almost a whisper now.

"Isabelle and I are nothing alike," Alec sniggered. He wasn't offended to be compared to his sister, rather the opposite, but he didn't see the resemblance in more than the color of their hair.

"Sure you are. You're both beautiful. She just does everything to emphasize it, while you… you do everything to downplay your looks," Magnus bit his lip. Alec swallowed hard. Why did Magnus have to be so perfect? He thought to himself. "I'm not trying to step on your toes," Magnus said. He suddenly looked as if he was regretting what he'd said. Alec slipped his legs out of the bed and sat on the edge.

"It's alright. You're not stepping on my toes. It's just a bit of a heavy conversation to have before coffee," Alec shrugged, not wanting to admit that Magnus was the first person to ever really look at him this way. Magnus smiled.

"I bet my mom is making coffee right now. Unless Clive stayed, which is highly unlikely," he said, while getting up.

"Why is that unlikely? I thought we were going to scare him away on their third date?" Alec said and Magnus smiled with amusement.

"Because he questioned her parenting. No one questions her parenting and gets further than one date," Magnus seemed pleased with this fact. He did seem like he'd been raised differently than most other kids Alec knew.

…

Magnus had been right, of course. Mrs. Bane was in the kitchen alone, sipping freshly brewed coffee and reading the newspaper, when the boys entered.

"Good morning, you two," she smiled and her smile was as brilliant as Magnus' smiles were. Alec felt out of place. Surely Magnus' mother knew they weren't just friends having had a sleepover. "Coffee?" she asked and got up and searched a shelf.

"What happened with Clive?" Magnus wondered and sat down at the kitchen table. Alec followed.

"It didn't work out," she shrugged. Magnus looked at Alec with an I-told-you-so look, before his mother turned back around with two cups filled with coffee. "Oh shoot, I forgot to leave room for milk. Do you use milk, Alexander?"

"No, I don't. Thank you," Alec sipped at the coffee with relief, washing away the heavy conversation with caffeine.

"I hate to be such a mom, but do your parents know you stayed here all night? I assume, since the two of you just fell asleep that it wasn't planned? And yes I checked in on you," she dipped a plain bagel in her coffee, as if she hadn't seen them cuddling in their sleep.

"Shit!" Realization hit Alec. He hadn't been thinking about his parents, but his dad would have been home last night some time after Alec had left. And now he was cursing in front of Magnus' mother. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Bane."

"You can curse in my house. But I would rather not be the target of angry parents. Isn't there like an unspoken rule that parents let each other know if their kids are staying over?" she looked like she was trying to recall a parent meeting that probably hadn't taken place.

"Mom, we're in high school," Magnus reminded her with a casualness that Alec would never use with his own mother.

"I'll just call them for you now, and you two can go do whatever you had planned for the day," she shrugged and reached for her phone. Alec's mouth opened, but the panic wouldn't allow him to form any words. Magnus came to his rescue.

"Please don't," he said and his mother looked at him with confusion.

"I don't understand?"

"Alec is not out to his parents. They don't know we were on a date last night," he explained. Her eyes flickered to Alec and he thought he detected a bit of hurt in them.

"Oh," she said, and put down the phone. She looked as if she had a million questions, and then decided to go with the simplest to ask, yet the most difficult to answer. "Why?"

"I…" Alec was still short on words.

"Mom, don't," Magnus tried in a loving and calm voice.

"Well, maybe Alexander wants to talk to an adult?" she offered. Alec had never thought about it. He didn't like to talk about his feelings. Maybe that's why Magnus seemed so perfect to him, because he didn't have to put his feelings into words, Magnus would just know from reading his expressions, and apparently also by reading his hands.

"I'm just not there yet, I think," Alec managed to stammer.

"When you are, I would be glad to help if you ever need it. I know some parents are not very understanding on the matter. Until then, I'm glad you have Magnus," she smiled at her son.

"Mom!" Magnus objected. It was new to see Magnus act this way with someone. He didn't seem embarrassed by his mother, more like she was his equal and the other way around. The superiority that he usually showed in school or he had outside of school by reputation was gone. Magnus turned to Alec. "Please note that this is her indirectly taking all credit for me being me."

"Well, shouldn't she?" Alec found that he was more at ease after the conversation had turned less dull.

"I like him," Mrs. Bane nodded towards Alec with half a smile. "If things don't work out with my son, give me a call," she winked, and Alec let go a short laugh. Magnus was not amused for once.

"We're leaving," he said and pulled at Alec's arm.

"Where are we going?"

"Anywhere but here," he blew his mother a kiss, before the two boys walked out of the house.

…

Isabelle was nibbling at the bagel Simon had bought her. Something was definitely bothering her. The first clue had been her calling him at 8 am on a Saturday morning to ask him out for breakfast. It wasn't a breakfast date – that would be weird, since they hadn't had an actual date yet. But he was now starting to realize that it was because she needed to get out of the house.

"Is it Alec? Was it not a good date?" he decided to guess what was wrong. He would probably have annoyed her so much after a couple of guesses that she would break in the end and tell him what was upsetting her.

"No. How did you know about his date?"

"Clary."

"How did Clary know?"

"I'm guessing Jace," Simon kept his impatience hidden away.

"Right. No, Alec didn't even come home last night."

"Really?" Simon smirked. Isabelle hit him on the arm.

"Stop it! That's my brother!"

"So your moping isn't about Alec. Is it me? Did I do something?" he wondered.

"No, Simon. You didn't do anything."

"Is it because of something I didn't do?" he asked, and to his relief she giggled. It was such a perfect sound, and despite his confusion he couldn't help but smile. She stopped abruptly and continued to sulk.

"Both my parents were home last night," she said. Simon narrowed his eyes as if it was going to help him understand how this rare occasion would upset her. "I don't like them when they're under the same roof. They keep fighting. They're always working, but I'm starting to think maybe that's a good thing," she sighed.

"Do you think they'll get a divorce?"

"Gosh, I hope not," she exclaimed. Simon did not understand this beautiful girl in front of him. She never made sense and it made him want her even more. He pushed up the glasses on his nose.

"You want them to just keep fighting?"

"I don't know what I want, Simon. I did wish that Alec had been home last night, so I wasn't alone listening to the two of them. I'm so selfish," she buried her face in her palms.

"You're not selfish. Izzy, you could have just come to my house. Although, my sisters were both home and they were screaming at each other, so I don't know if that had been much better. I wish I had a tree house or something," he said dreamily. Isabelle looked up at him with a soft smile and tears in her eyes. "No, please don't cry," he begged and put his hand up to touch her cheek. He didn't think Isabelle was a girl who cried, which made it so much worse. She put her hand over his.

"I wish you had a tree house too," she admitted and straightened up as she looked at something behind Simon. She quickly wiped her eyes. Simon turned around and looked at two familiar faces.

"Guys, this is such a coincidence," Simon cheered.

…

Alec had already regretted agreeing to go to the café for bagels. His sister and Simon had appeared to be having a moment, but of course Magnus would have to walk over to say hello.

"We were just going to get bagels," Alec said.

"You've come to the right place then," Simon pulled his shoulders up in a shrug. A tension had risen between the four of them. It was very clear that they had interrupted a moment.

"I'll just get in line. Bagel?" Magnus asked Alec, and he nodded quickly. Magnus disappeared further into the café. It was always packed on weekends.

"So are you ending your date with breakfast? Is it a breakfast date?" Simon wiggled his eyebrows. "Or maybe it's an entire weekend date, huh?"

"Stop saying 'date'," Alec hushed. He looked at his sister. She didn't look as confident as she usually did. "Did mom and dad say anything about me not coming home last night?" he wondered.

"They didn't even notice," Izzy sighed.

"Oh," Alec felt a bit of disappointment, but also some amount of relief.

"Just go back to your date," she said, not in a harsh tone, but as if she didn't have a care in the world.

"What's wrong?"

"The usual. Mom and dad are fighting again," she said.

"Again," he rolled his eyes. He didn't even know what they were fighting about anymore. At first it had been because of their dad's work, requiring him to work late hours and occasionally for him to work in other cities as well. But now that their mom had gotten more work too, it had seemed to ease up a bit, but apparently not. It had probably only seemed that way because they were never in the house together anymore.

"I bet you don't even know what they are fighting about?" Izzy sounded suddenly angry with him.

"What are they fighting about?" he asked with concern. Izzy bit her lip, as if to indicate she'd said too much. "Izzy, just tell me."

"I would rather not tell you right here," she said, crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair. Alec felt Magnus come up behind him. He didn't know how, because Magnus was very elegant in the way he approached others, but he could somehow see that elegance out of the corner of his eye.

"Well… I'll come talk to you later then, alright?" he said, and she didn't regard him with more than a sulking face.

"Are we leaving?" Magnus asked.

"Yeah, let's just go to the park," Alec said, a bit hurt that Izzy had had a fit in front of him.

…

Alec hadn't said anything, and Magnus hadn't said anything either on their way to the park. Alec had even forgotten to be a gentleman and offer to carry the bagels and coffee. He had just walked purposefully towards the park.

"Alec?" Magnus had stopped and Alec turned to look back at him. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing…" he said, but cut himself short. He looked at Magnus – Magnus who cared so much. Alec knew he shouldn't be dismissive with him. "It's just that Isabelle is very sensitive, and it sometimes gets to me. I don't like it when she's upset."

Magnus was smiling softly now.

"I wish I had a brother like you," he said. Alec made a face. "Like you, not you obviously. That would be weird. Most of all because in no reality would my brother be that pale," Magnus teased. Alec's lips quirked up involuntarily. "Let's sit down," Magnus pointed at a bench and they both sat down. It was peaceful in the park. People were out walking their dogs, and kids were playing ball in the background, but the bench they'd found seemed unnoticed by the passer-bys. Magnus handed Alec a warm paper cup and a bagel with cream cheese. "Can I ask you something?" Magnus inquired. Alec looked up at the other boy, whose brown eyes had a calming effect on Alec.

"Sure."

"How come you haven't told your parents yet?"

"About what?" Alec sipped at his coffee, before he realized what Magnus meant. "Well, you haven't met my dad."

"Let's say I have, what would you tell me then?"

"'Have you met my dad?'" Alec knew he was only dragging the conversation out, which he rarely ever did. Magnus just looked at him, waiting for a better answer. "First of all, I'm pretty sure he's a typical homophobe."

"'Pretty sure' doesn't really count for anything," Magnus said. If it had been anyone else having this conversation with him, Alec was pretty sure he would have just gotten up and left or at least told him to piss off. But not Magnus, because it was almost like his interest came from a much sincerer place than what he was used to from his friends.

"Okay. How about this, my dad had a best friend once, Michael, they have known each other since they were both kids, but a few years ago they just stopped being friends. I didn't understand why, until I overheard my dad talk to some of their mutual colleagues about it, and I found out that Michael had been in love with my dad. Of course he rejected him, he had a wife and Isabelle and me, but it was the way that he started sabotaging him afterwards. It was almost as if their past didn't even matter anymore. My dad had outed him to several colleagues, and you know what being gay can do to a political career like my dad's, it was the same for Michael. Very few can really come back from that, and so he just decided to move out of town and start over," Alec explained. Magnus seemed to be digesting the story.

"Well, first of all, that's just ridiculous. We should be at a point in history where we can have gay politicians without making a big deal out of it," Magnus said, looking at Alec he probably noticed that he wasn't encouraged by this thought. "Second of all, maybe he's changed his mind. Surely he must have started to feel bad about his actions, once he realized he was missing his best friend. I don't have a lot of old friends myself, so I know what it means to still have them, but I also know what it means to lose them," he said.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Alec didn't know what to think. Maybe his dad didn't care anymore, but what if he did?

"But it's your decision if you don't want to tell him. I'm not asking because I think you should, I'm only asking because I care," Magnus said. Alec brushed Magnus' thigh briefly in a discreet manner. He knew he wasn't being fair to Magnus, who didn't seem even remotely embarrassed about public display of affection. Alec looked down at his own hands, while thinking. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before Magnus would get tired of dating someone who didn't own who he was the same way Magnus did. "Alec, you're only in high school. There'll be plenty of time to be out."

"So you're fine with it?"

"Of course I'm not fine with it, Alec. It will be near torture hanging out with you in public and not being able to touch you," Magnus said a bit dramatically.

"Oh," Alec felt the disappointment. What did that mean? Were they breaking up? They weren't even in a relationship yet, at least he didn't think they were?

"I was only joking, but also not really. You have no idea what your blue eyes and black hair does to me, Alexander," Magnus sighed. Alec looked back up at Magnus with newfound hope.

"I'm sorry," Alec found himself apologizing.

"You can't help it. Well, technically you could, but please don't dye your hair," Magnus wrinkled his nose by the mere thought, probably thinking of him as a blonde.

"I won't."

They sat in the park for about an hour, just talking and watching people go by. Occasionally their fingers would lace together in between them for a short moment, while they were sitting on the bench, and then they would let go again when people came too close to them.

"It's not really fair, is it?" Alec finally said, somehow reminded by his previous thoughts from this morning, when he brushed the back of Magnus' hand.

"What isn't?"

"You know about all the straight lines in my palms. Did you know, you have absolutely no straight lines in your palms, and I have no idea what that means?" Alec said. Magnus' lips quirked up into a brilliant smile.

"Does that frustrate you, Alexander?"

"Yes," he sighed.

"Okay. On our next date, I'll read my own palms… out loud, to you."

Alec smiled to himself, because there would be a next date. It would be difficult to top a date that had been going on for almost eighteen hours, but he was also starting to realize that time spent with Magnus would never be disappointing or dull.