8. Flirtatious Hashtags
When the two of them got back to Magnus' house, Mrs. Bane was waiting for them in the living room. It seemed she'd heard them coming and had gotten to her feet, planted her hands on her hips and formed her otherwise pretty face into one big dangerous frown. Magnus stopped for a second without breathing as if to see if she was real. He looked at Alec with some worry.
"You know when I said she usually saved up her anger for the big finale? I think she found the trigger to that explosion," he grimaced, and as if on cue Mrs. Bane started yelling.
"MAGNUS 'YOU LITTLE SHIT' BANE!" She composed herself then. "You kidnapped your boyfriend and just left?!"
"You told Izzy, but you didn't tell your mom?" Alec accused.
"I forgot," Magnus shrugged.
"You have no idea how worried I was! I thought you'd left town, runaway or worse gotten hurt somewhere, do you know how many violent homophobes are out there!" Mrs. Bane said in a raised voice.
"I'm sorry, mother. But for your comfort, people wouldn't even know we were a couple when we're out – Alec is very…"
"Magnus, shut up," Alec covered his face with his palm, well aware that Magnus wasn't really helping anything.
"I had to call Alec's parents to know you were safe," Mrs. Bane continued in a calmer tone.
"You what?" Alec panicked.
"Luckily for you guys your sister had left a note for your parents, or your father would've probably send out an entire search team for you."
"Why would he care? He kicked me out?" Alec said, and at that she hit him at the back of his head. "Ouch! Why would you…?"
"He cares. It's time you go home and talk to your father, Alec."
"Mom, it wasn't his idea. It was my idea, you know he was feeling bad, I was just trying to cheer him up," Magnus tried to interfere, and Alec found that it annoyed him. He didn't need Magnus to defend him, even if it was the truth.
"I know, but the mourning period is over. I heard how panicked your father sounded before he had seen the note from Isabelle."
"Oh." Alec didn't know what else to say.
"And if it still doesn't work out between you two, feel free to come back here," she added, as if to say that was the end of the conversation.
Alec's heart was racing when he approached the front steps of the house. He tried to calm himself down, but it didn't take. He needed to make the best of this, no matter what would meet him inside the house.
He entered the hall and went to the kitchen, where his parents and Izzy sat at the kitchen island. His parents both looked pale and serious.
"Thank God you're here, they won't tell me what's wrong," Izzy said with exasperation.
"Sit down, Alec," Maryse said calmly.
"No, I'm good. What's going on?" Alec demanded.
"Your father and I have decided to get separated," she said without much hesitation.
"What?!" Izzy stood up immediately.
"Izzy, calm down." Maryse put a hand on Izzy's shoulder and his sister sat back down.
"I'm moving out, and you can come back here and live with your mother," Robert decided to speak up.
"But this is not why we're getting separated. It has nothing to do with you guys."
"Of course it doesn't, because we're not the ones cheating on you," Alec felt brave suddenly.
Izzy was clenching and unclenching her jaw with anger, but then she stormed out of the kitchen and out of the house.
"I'm sorry, mom," Alec looked at his mother and she gave him what he thought was meant as a smile, but came off kind of half-heartedly. "Let me know when he's out, and I'll come back home." Alec left the kitchen and tried to run after Izzy, but his father caught up to him.
"Alexander. I overreacted, but that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed that you're dating that boy," Robert admitted.
"You didn't even take the time to get to know Magnus, before you decided you were embarrassed about me dating him. He's an amazing and caring person…"
"From how I see it he's bad influence – I hear he throws a lot of parties, and he did make my son skip school," Robert wasn't giving up.
"I'm taking two personal days off, I hear that's acceptable for recently homeless teenagers," Alec said flatly.
"You're not homeless, don't be dramatic, Alec," his father sighed.
"I was two days ago."
Alec's heart was still racing. He'd never thought he would talk to his father like this, and even though he felt like he was in his own right to talk to him this way, it still felt wrong and he didn't like it very much. Usually he avoided conflicts of this sort, but he couldn't avoid his father forever.
"I would like to talk to you when you've calmed down," his father finally said, after a moment of staring where neither of them would back down.
"That depends on what you want to talk about, because if it's still about what a great disappointment I am, I think it would be a waste to calm down first just to get angry again," Alec said, feeling that the word 'angry' didn't exactly describe his feelings of the moment, but he was never the clever one able to put words to his feelings, that was always Jace and Simon.
Robert was quiet for a long moment, and Alec was starting to think that maybe his dad was reconsidering whether he actually wanted to have a calm talk with him after all.
"I want to hear about this boy…"
"Magnus. His name is Magnus," Alec corrected. His father took a deep breath.
"I want to hear about Magnus. I know his mother works with your mom, maybe he's not as bad as I think." It was plain to see the effort it took for his father to say these things. Alec nodded quickly.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay, let's go somewhere and talk," Alec said, relieved that his father was making an effort at least, even if it was making him uncomfortable. Maybe he would be able to accept it, even respect Alec for standing his ground and owning up to who he was.
…
Clary heard a knock on her door, and someone peeked inside slowly. She put down her sketchbook and sat up straight. Izzy looked upset, as she entered the room carefully.
"Can I come in?" she asked politely, and in a very unlike-Izzy manner.
"Sure," Clary said, her mind trying to work out why Izzy was in her room looking upset. Normally, she supposed, Izzy went to Simon when she was upset. "Simon's not here."
"I know," the other girl shrugged.
"Okay."
Quiet. None of them spoke. Clary was almost afraid she would scare the girl away. Izzy being fragile and sad wasn't something she'd ever considered possible.
"Would you like something to drink? We have lots of different kinds of tea?" Clary suggested. Her mother, being the typical European she was had a certain love for tea.
"No thanks, I'm good."
"Okay, you're obviously not good though. What's wrong?" Clary couldn't take it anymore; the silence was killing her.
"My parents are getting separated." Izzy looked at her own hands.
"What does that mean?"
"It means my dad's moving out."
"Oh. I'm sorry Izzy." Now she just felt more awkward. She felt bad for Izzy – she knew she would be upset if her mother and Luke got separated. But then again, they were very different from the Lightwoods. Clary had never felt comfortable around Izzy and Alec's parents.
"I thought, you know, since you're a child of divorce maybe you would understand?" The hope was clear in her eyes.
"Izzy, I think my situation was a bit different, seeing that I wasn't even born when my mom divorced my father. Luke has always been more of a dad to me," she explained, trying to tread carefully.
"Oh. Yeah, of course. I'm sorry," she said and stood up again. "I didn't mean to compare our situations. I'm just going to go see Simon."
"Okay. Good talk," Clary said and did a thing with her hands, where she sort of made guns out of them by pointing at Izzy, something that her mother would do when she tried to be cool, but really felt awkward. Izzy looked at her sideways.
"At least I can just make out with Simon, when he gets awkward." Izzy grinned and left Clary's room. She fell back on her bed and looked up at the ceiling – why was she so bad with girls?
…
Eventually Alec found Izzy and Simon in the tree house in Simon's backyard. There was very little room left in there, when he arrived.
"You just left?" Alec accused.
"Of course I left, I didn't need to hear any more of it," she sighed.
"Dad tried to have a talk with me." He didn't know why he felt so talkative all of a sudden, it was especially odd since Simon was there, but he supposed he needed someone to talk to and Izzy had always been the person he came to first. The two of them grimaced at the same time.
"Mom had the talk with me ages ago, something about bees…"
"No, not that talk, just a talk. He wanted me to tell him about Magnus, but at some point he asked me what I thought had turned me gay, and I just couldn't deal with the conversation anymore."
"What did you say?" Simon asked with curiosity.
"That I was bitten by a gay spider."
"Really?" Simon smirked.
"Of course not!"
"When did our lives become so complicated?" Izzy sighed dramatically.
"It's supposed to, we're teenagers," Simon offered.
"I wish we could just go camping again," Izzy said dreamily, and she and Simon appeared to share some inside joke that Alec was sure he didn't want to know about. But it got him thinking about the time in the tent, and although it had only been a few hours since he'd seen Magnus, he noticed that he missed him. He felt ridiculous to miss a person like this, and instead he decided to intrude on his sister and Simon like they'd intruded on him and Magnus the day before.
Before the day was over they'd played every board game and card game that Simon owned, which was quite a lot, but they'd had to cut Monopoly short or Izzy and Simon might have killed each other. By the end of the day Izzy and Alec walked home together, only halfway home Alec got a text from Magnus telling him that he missed him.
"What are you smiling at? Is it Magnus?" Izzy figured. Alec eyed her. "Fine, don't tell me what he says, I don't care," she sulked.
"He misses me," Alec admitted.
"Aww!"
"See, that's why I don't tell you," he rolled his eyes.
"Well, you should text something cute back."
"Like what? I don't know how to be cute," Alec said.
"Simon has been using adorable hashtags lately," she shrugged.
"Hashtags?" Alec's eyebrows met in the middle.
"Sometimes he just sends a hashtag with a reminder of something we did together, other times he combine it with an entire text as a sort finish," she explained as they walked along the street.
"Okay?" Alec couldn't help but be a bit interested in this sort of flirting, even though he was old-fashioned in some ways, especially when it came to technology. All his friends were already on Instagram and Twitter by the time he decided a smart phone would be a good idea.
"So first you would obviously have to reply that you miss him too, if that's the case?" Izzy was trying to get him to admit it. By the look on her face he could tell she knew he'd only stayed with them all day to avoid going straight to Magnus' house.
"Of course."
"Then you would have to add a little extra, for example make a reference to the last time you guys had a moment together and then hashtag something to emphasize it," she explained. Alec thought about the night before and the tent, and how Magnus had made him forget that his friends were just outside and he felt his cheeks warm up by the thought of it. Izzy's grin told him that she noticed. "You guys totally did it in the tent last night too, didn't you?" she realized.
"Too? God, Izzy, don't tell me that, it's bad enough when I walk in on you guys!" Alec exclaimed. Why was it so easy for his sister to think of him and Magnus together and so difficult for him to see her with Simon? It probably had something to do with her being the younger sibling, and him just being a regular protective older brother, he thought, but it didn't really help much to rationalize it.
"Don't be so immature about it, I'm becoming a woman, Alec, it shouldn't be a shock to you."
"No, but I don't have to know every detail about it."
"Give me your phone," she held out her hand, and he looked at it for a moment, before she took the phone from him. She typed something into it. "Relax, I'm not going to send it, I'm just writing it down and then you can send it." Alec waited with growing curiosity, before she handed him back his phone and read it in his mind, 'I miss you too, babe. I was just thinking about last night #makingmeblushtoday'.
"I'm gonna go ahead and erase 'babe', and then I actually kind of like it," he admitted, surprised with himself and his sister. Izzy looked proud of herself as he pressed send. It didn't take Magnus long to answer, and Izzy peeked over Alec's shoulder to read the short text with him, 'Me too #puremagic'.
"OMG, that's adorable," Izzy said, folding her hands under her chin.
"Yeah, I think I'm just going to go see him," Alec said with hesitation, trying not to sound too obvious about it, but failing miserably.
"You are such a boy!" she exclaimed with exasperation.
"Don't be so immature about it, Izzy, I'm becoming a man, it shouldn't shock you," he grinned, honestly a bit proud of himself. She couldn't help but give a short laugh.
"But what about dinner? Mom is cooking for us," she tried.
"Which she is never really good at anyway. Just make up an excuse for me?" he said, while walking away from her.
Mrs. Bane was the one to let Alec inside the house, and she called out for Magnus to come downstairs.
"Is everything okay with your parents?" she asked.
"I guess you can say that. They're getting separated," Alec said calmly. Magnus appeared behind his mother with a smirk on his face. Mrs. Bane didn't notice him.
"I'm sorry to hear that," the sincerity in her voice pure. Alec had a hard time concentrating, as Magnus was biting his lip and looking up and down at Alec, checking him out and trying to make him crack. Alec had texted Magnus about his parents' separation earlier that day, and so he already knew what he was just telling his mother about.
"Yeah, well at least my mom wants me to live in the house," Alec said, unable to keep from smiling at the idiot behind Mrs. Bane. She turned around to look at her son.
"Magnus!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry, mom," the boy grinned.
"Well, you boys have to find yourself some dinner tonight, I'm going out," she said and grabbed her purse, which seemed to be waiting for her at the kitchen table.
"Where are you going?" Magnus asked, not taking his eyes off Alec.
"Out. You don't have to know everything, Magnus. Goodnight, Alec," she said and left the house. Magnus furrowed his brow.
"She always tells me where she's going, even when she knows I'm not listening?" he mused, and then he seemed to remember that he was about to seduce Alec. He licked his lip, turned on his heels and went up the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"To my room."
"What about dinner?" Alec followed him up the stairs. He wasn't really hungry.
"I'm thinking dessert first?"
Once Alec entered the purple room, Magnus faced the door with a plotting look across his face. Alec's mind went wild, as it always did when Magnus seemed to be hiding something that would often only amused him and not Alec.
"When you say dessert…" Alec took a step closer to the other boy, suddenly nervous that they were going to do something that involved whipped cream.
"I mean something else entirely," he said and went to his nightstand and found something in the drawer. "I have something for you." He held out a box for Alec and he took it hesitantly. "Don't be nervous, it's not a troll."
Alec opened the box and first he didn't know what he was looking at – it was a somewhat small phallic figure in a blue marbled color. Magnus noticed the confusion in Alec's eyes.
"It's a butt plug," he explained. All blood disappeared from Alec's head, and he looked up at his boyfriend. "Clearly this was a bad idea. I'm sorry, let me put it away –" Magnus stepped forward to take the box away, but Alec stopped his hand with his own.
"No, I just…" Alec hadn't thought they were this far in the relationship, although he must have known Magnus was into toys, especially the ones with a marbled finish. "You just took me by surprise, that's all. I hadn't considered it." Still holding his hand, Magnus looked into Alec's eyes as if they were sharing unspoken words.
"I noticed last night that you prefer to top –" Magnus held up his hand, as Alec was about to object. He preferred for Magnus to be happy. They had tried both ways, and though they hadn't talked about it first or after, Magnus must have noticed the difference in Alec's pleasure. "Don't try to deny it, there's no denying the look on your face last night." Alec felt his cheeks blush. "And actually, I prefer you to top as well, but I also want you to feel good, so I thought we could try this."
"I always feel good when I'm with you," Alec whispered.
"Good answer. We don't have to use it now, maybe it was too soon, and it was dumb of me to assume you came here to have sex." Magnus sat down on the bed. Alec didn't understand the sudden insecurity, and he didn't even remember a time when he'd seen Magnus be insecure. Was he afraid that Alec only liked him for sex? Even after last night?
"Why? Do you only want me because of the sex?" They had been making out half of the time they had spent together, but wasn't that what new couples did?
"No! I didn't mean it like that."
"Then why are you even bringing this up right now? A moment ago you were fine, I'm sorry I wasn't prepared for your… gift, I was just surprised, that's all," Alec felt like he was ranting now and stopped himself.
"I spent an entire day with your friends yesterday, and I just started noticing how different you are around them," Magnus said out of the blue.
"Of course I'm different with my friends, because I'm not in love with them."
"Are you sure?" the other boy looked up at him from under his lashes.
"What?"
"You jumped into a river to save Jace's shoe, and your heart almost stopped beating when his jacket caught on fire. I keep telling myself that, that's just who you are, you would have done that for any of them, but it seems different somehow," Magnus explained, and it felt like a blow to Alec's stomach.
"He's my best friend," he whispered the obvious, and he sensed that it wasn't enough, so he sat down next to him on the bed. "I was in love with him," Alec started explaining. "When I first figured out I was gay, he was there for me all the way. But he's more like a brother to me than anything else. Besides it was only a lake, I wouldn't have jumped into a river for him," he tried to lighten the mood. "I would have jumped into a river for you though?" he offered, when he didn't get a response.
"Right."
"Do you want to know what I've been doing all day?"
"Please, do tell me, Alexander," Magnus sighed.
"I've been cock blocking Simon and Izzy as a revenge," Alec grinned, and a smile formed across Magnus' face.
"Sure," the disbelief was clear in his expression.
"I'm serious. There is not a board game we didn't play today. Monopoly almost ended their relationship, but even I am not that cruel, so we didn't finish that one."
"Okay, so we got that settled, none of us are in this relationship just for sex?" Magnus said it like a question by the end of the sentence. Alec looked up into his eyes, when he answered.
"Definitely not."
"You know, you have to stop eye-fucking me then, you're really not making it easier," Magnus smiled.
"Maybe we should just talk then?" Alec suggested.
"I thought that's what we were doing?"
"It is, and it's nice." Alec lay down on his back and looked at the ceiling, and Magnus joined him.
"Are you hungry?"
"Not really. Simon's mother's snack selection is insane, I've been eating all day."
The two of them just stayed like that for a long time, just talking and only their shoulders touching. They started talking about college, because Magnus had started applying to various universities.
"I really hope I get into NYU, I have a few friends who started there last year," Magnus said. Alec was glad to find that all of the universities Magnus talked about were close to home.
"I wish I was going off to college soon," Alec sighed. Magnus sat up on his elbows.
"Imagine if we both got into NYU, and we could get a small loft in the city?"
Alec looked up into a pair of hopeful eyes, and felt the warmth of them deep inside.
"That sounds nice," he replied. It seemed Magnus couldn't refrain himself from giving Alec a soft kiss – a kiss that quickly evolved into something more passionate. Alec held himself up on one elbow and pulled Magnus closer with the other arm. The kiss intensified and suddenly Magnus' hand was up Alec's shirt, and Alec's hand were pressing the other boy down on him by a soft touch on his lower back. His pulse was racing as he felt for Magnus' soft skin. All Alec's nerves and emotions felt heightened. It was still a wonder to him how every time him and Magnus made out like this it felt more amazing than the last time, and his body responded with even more intensity each time. Maybe talking was good for pre-foreplay. He had heard somewhere that sex was better with someone you loved, and he was starting to believe that now, because every day he was with Magnus he loved him just a little bit more, and every time they were intimate it felt a little bit better, as if the other boy kept finding new spots on Alec's body that he didn't know he had. With every touch his body seemed to arch into Magnus' in a natural flow of motions, while clothes fell onto the ground.
Eventually Alec felt the usual tremble of excitement through his body, as the foreplay progressed. It was at this point, like the night before, that Alec couldn't hold back anymore and he flipped the two of them around in a swift movement to get on top of Magnus. He didn't know why, but he liked the control being on top gave him, as if everything was up to him, even though with Magnus anything rarely was; with Magnus he was never in control of himself.