A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates, guys. I got a new job, so I haven't had much time to write. On a side note, I've got two new cats now, who both think dog food's delicious.

25: Alec

Magnus looks so excited about playing truth-or-dare. There's no way I could really deny him that.

"Do you have any Christmas memories?" Jace asks.

"None that I feel comfortable talking about," Magnus replies.

I'm worried Jace will push Magnus for info, but he doesn't. Instead, he actually leaves it alone. There might be hope for my brother after all.

"Keep the truth-or-dare PG, okay?" Alec says, taking his plate into the living room.

"PG-13 might be interesting," Jace replies.

"Neither Magnus nor myself need to hear your perverted questions."

"You call it perverted. I call it sexually creative."

Amusement lights up Magnus's eyes.

"I'm used to porn-rated stuff," Magnus says, sitting on my lap.

'Sit' might be the wrong word. He half-flops down like he owns me. The cat genes are sometimes blatantly obvious.

"Am I your throne?" I ask.

"Does that make you my prince?" he replies.

"Maybe."

"Ready to start?" Jace asks.

"I'm gonna regret this, but I guess," I sigh.

"I'll keep it PG. Truth or dare, cat?"

"Truth, I guess. Never played before," Magnus replies.

"Have you ever done drugs?"

"No. Not planning on it, either."

Magnus picks me. I pick truth.

"Who was your first kiss?" he asks.

"You," I reply.

"I call bull," Jace says.

"I'm not you. I didn't spend my time at school making out with people between classes. Truth or dare, Jace?"

"Dare, of course. Think up something good."

"Hmm. I dare you to eat a slice of bread covered in Vaseline."

"Where's the Vaseline?"

"Medicine cabinet."

"I figured you'd have some under your bed."

"Go."

Laughing, he trots off to the bathroom.

The grimace on Jace's face when he eats the bread is priceless.

"It's like eating snot," he informs me.

"When did you eat snot?" I ask.

"Just now. Truth or dare, cat?"

"Dare," Magnus tells him.

"Keep your hands in Alec's pockets. You can't take them out until you both perform a dare."

"You want to make this awkward, don't you?" I ask.

"It's not awkward to me," Magnus tells me.

I can feel the cold from his hands through my thin pajama pants.

"Truth or dare, darling?" Magnus asks.

I pick truth. Truth is safe. He asks what my scariest nightmare is.

"Before you, snakes dressed as clowns or clowns holding snake. Now, losing you. It varies in the how, but the end result never changes," I tell him.

"Aww. You're adorable," Magnus murmurs.

"Truth or dare, Jace?"

"Dare, of course," Jace tells me.

I dare him to paint each toenail and fingernail a different color. He has to keep the polish on for a week.

"Did you Google dares?" he asks, placing the tote of Magnus's nail polish on the coffee table.

"Maybe. I'm actually enjoying this," I reply.

"You have a sadistic streak."

This time, Magnus picks truth when Jace asks.

"Worst thing you ever did that no one ever found out about?" Jace asks.

"Um, I guess stealing food from Ragnor's kitchen. His boyfriend, who was as psychotic as he was, had a bag of granola in the cabinet, and I ate like three handfuls of it. Then I puked 'cause it was too sweet and I hadn't eaten in a while," Magnus replies.

Magnus dares me to put lipstick on him without using my hands. He stays perfectly still as I lean in to do this. As long as no one makes either of us jump, I'll be fine, but I may swallow the tube of lipstick if I jump. I actually get it mostly on his lips.

Izzy looks very confused to see Jace painting his nails when she crawls out of the blanket fort.

"Truth-or-dare," I explain.

"Can I join?" she asks.

"Sure. Hey, what other games can we play?" Magnus replies.

"There's board games. Never have I ever. I've never played it, but Jace has," I answer.

"I think we need a bottle to do this now," Jace butts in, putting Magnus's empty bottle on the coffee table.

He spins it hard. It lands on Magnus, who picks dare.

"I dare you to put peanut butter on your nose and let Alec lick it off," Jace tells him.

It's beyond weird.

I spin next and it lands on Jace. He actually picks truth.

"What's the weirdest thing you've ever had happen?" I ask.

"My foster parents' house was haunted. Hearing footsteps outside your room when everyone else is asleep counts as weird in my book," Jace replies.

"Okay. Why didn't you mention it sooner?"

"Because it sounds crazy to me, and I'm the one it happened to."

Magnus lands the bottle on me. Curious as to what he'll pick, I go with dare. He dares me to tie a cherry stem with my tongue. I accidentally swallow it instead of tying it.

"Can any of you tie one?" I ask.

Magnus is the only one who says 'yes'.

The game ends after Jace and Izzy make me puke. The dare was to drink a concoction the two of them mixed up. I don't know what was in it, but it tasted worse than Izzy's cooking.

"Dude, we didn't put anything that bad in it," Jace tells me while I'm puking.

I don't think it was entirely them. I wasn't feeling that great when I woke up. The thought of possibly having the flu doesn't make me feel better because, even though the meds are working, Magnus's immune system is still crap right now.

"Are you okay, darling?" Magnus asks, stroking my hair.

"Not sure if I have the flu or if they poisoned me," I reply, wiping my face with a washrag.

By tonight, I'm vomiting a lot. I hate being sick, especially when it's bad enough I need someone to take care of me. I hate asking for help. It's even worse when I could easily make my boyfriend—who's insisting on taking care of me—very sick.