That stupid boy. Alexander. Magnus could still see him when he closed his eyes, Alec's blue eyes full of self loathing. Aline asked Magnus later why he had gone out after Alec, and Magnus responded simply that he felt bad. But really, it was much more. Whenever he saw Alexander, his heart leapt, although he tried to shove it down. He didn't understand any of it. Magnus had always disliked the Marked, and had never had...feelings like these for one of them. He had no reason to. But there was something about Alexander... He didn't seem like or act like the Marked. He acted like a person.

"Magnus!" The high, screeching voice of his mother sounded from the kitchen. He heard a crash of glass. "Get down here this instant!" Magnus sighed. His mother was drunk. Again. He trudged down the hall, but it wasn't fast enough for his mother's liking. A beer bottle whizzed over his head, but he had learned long ago to duck. His mother's eyes were crazed, holding a half-full beer bottle in one of her hands while also surrounded by broken glass and spilled beer. She smelled like urine. "You." She beckoned with her finger, snarling. Magnus took a few small steps closer to her. "You did this." She pointed to a piece of paper, her finger shaking, signed with his stepfather's name. It read;

Darling,

I tried so hard to stay with you. I really did. But after seventeen years of living with that thing, I was being rejected by everyone; family, friends. Someone who is Marked living with a Downworlder is frowned upon. I still love you. It's not you, it's Magnus. Find a way to get rid of him, and I'll come back.

Your loving husband, Dick

Magnus found it difficult to stay happy that his abusive stepfather was leaving. Although this was a wish come true, his mother loved Dick very much, and would do anything to get him back. The letter had said 'find a way to get rid of him'. If Magnus knew anything about his mother, it would be that she would do anything for his stepfather. She couldn't just send Magnus off to an adoption center, for there weren't any around that would taken Downworlder children. She tried many times to get rid of Magnus, but nothing she'd tried had worked.

"Come here, ungrateful boy." His mother hissed at him. Magnus knew what was coming, and was prepared. He stepped forward towards his mother, and felt her nails rake across his cheek as she slapped him. He was going to need a lot of foundation to cover that one tomorrow. "You caused my true love to leave me. All because of you. Everything that's made me unhappy in my life is caused by you." She slapped him on the other cheek. "I'm right! You know I'm right. You know that you're a wretched excuse for a person who ruins everything he touches. You're just an ugly thing that can never, will never be loved!" Magnus flinched at that. "Lift up your shirt." Magnus obeyed. He knew if he didn't, it would be worse. He turned so that his scarred back faced his mother. He knew full well she was tracing over the words her and her 'true love' had carved there with a knife. He knew them all by heart. Ugly. Worthless. Ungrateful. Horrible. Pathetic. He was told a few months ago he should be glad there were only five, because he had worse qualities. But he was standing here now, knowing his mother was going to give him a sixth. "Unlovable." His mother whispered over and over again as he felt the searing pain of the sharp blade move across his lower back.

Alec woke up early the next morning to Max shaking him awake.

"Come one, Alec! We have to go!" Max whispered. Alec groaned and looked at the clock. 5:45.

"We don't have to get up for another thirty minutes." He told Max.

"I want you to drive me to school before mom wakes up, so hurry!" Max said before sprinting out of the room. Alec got out of bed, got ready, and wrote their parents a notes saying he took Max to school. When he got to the kitchen, he saw Max speed-eating a bowl of cereal and Isabelle pouring two cups of coffee.

"'Morning, Alec." She slid one of the coffee cups across the counter to him.

"We should get going." Max said through a mouthful of Lucky Charms. "I heard mom's alarm go off."

"Okay, fine." Alec said, picking up his keys. "Get in the car."

Since Alec and Izzy got to school a bit early, there weren't many people at the school. Alec took out a bit of his homework since he didn't do any last night, while Izzy began chatting with the few people that were there. After finishing, he heard voices that he recognized. He turned around and saw Maia, Jordan, and Lily. Maia and Jordan both smiled when they saw him, but Lily just scowled and paid him no attention. Alec didn't mind. Like he told Magnus, he deserved it. Maia tossed him a piece of paper discreetly. It read:

Saturday. 7:45. Catarina's place. You and your girlfriend. :)

Alec felt happy. He thought they had all hated him, and although he still felt anxious around them, he knew it would make Aline happy if they went. And not all of them made him anxious. He actually felt quite comfortable around Maia, Helen, and even Magnus. The boy who had managed to make him feel safe after an almost-anxiety attack.

"Whatcha reading?" Aline appeared out of nowhere, peering over his shoulder. He smiled and showed it to her. Aline grinned. "Wow, I can't believe we're invited again! Must've made a good impression." She nudged Alec.

"Hey!" Alec said, hurt. "It isn't my fault, they made me nervous!"

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding. Are you gonna go?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome! I didn't think you'd want to go, after last night." Aline mentioned.

"Yeah, me neither." Alec admitted.

"Magnus really did change your mind, didn't he?" Aline said softly. "He's really sweet."

"Yeah." Alec said without thinking. "He really is."

Magnus walked into school, trying to conceal his strange walking. The cut was rather low, and it hurt when he moved. He'd covered the scratches on his face with a lot of concealer, and looked fabulous, if he said so himself. As long as no one noticed his walking, he should be fine.

"What's up with your walking?" Catarina asked. Magnus bit his lip and had to do some impromptu.

"I ran into the wall. Pretty nasty bruise."

"Can I see? Maybe I can help." Catarina was studying to be a doctor.

"Nah, I'm fine. It's rather close to my bottom as well."

"Oh, ok." Catarina grinned. "See you in class." Magnus sighed in relief once she walked away. He sometimes wondered why he never told anyone about his mother and stepfather's abusive behavior, and always came up with the same conclusion: they're dangerous. He knew either way he went, something would go wrong, and decided to keep others out of it. He walked down the hallway, books in hand, towards his locker when he felt a hand on his shoulder spin him around roughly. Magnus stood face-to-face (well, not face-to-face, Magnus was much shorter) with Sebastian Morgenstern.

"Hey, Downworlder bastard. I heard about what you called me the other day. Well, I did my research, and it turns out the term is more suited to you." He sneered. Magnus pulled out his fake concerned face.

"Oh, what? When I called you Sebastard? Yeah, you're right. One of the definitions of that word is applicable to me. But I was referring to the more offensive term." Sebastian's face hardened. "Well, it's hardly my fault. Your father came up with the perfect name to fit it, did he not?" Magnus caught Catarina's eye from across the hallway. Her face read pure horror. She shook her head, telling him to stop. But Magnus wasn't afraid of a eighteen year old. He had dealt with his mother and stepfather for years, he could handle being being beat up by Sebastian. Magnus had gotten his point across, and liked that he was getting a reaction from Sebastian. He would not stop while he was ahead. "Also, the name fits your personality. Beating up on smaller kids, all because they don't have a little bunny head on the back of their hands." Magnus decided he would stop at that, and began to walk away. That was a bad decision on his behalf. Sebastian's foot collided almost exactly where Magnus' mother had written unlovable on his back. Magnus fell to the cold tile floor of the hallway, his back burning in pain. He felt another sharp pain in his upper back this time, then closer to his neck. He was beginning to see everything tinted red. Sebastian had a strong foot. Magnus could see just enough that Sebastian had moved directly in front of him and kicked him in the ear. He was about to kick him in the face again, and probably even kill him, if purposefully or by accident, when another pair of shoes moved in front of him, shoving Sebastian away.

"Hey man, stop. You're hurting him." A muffled voice said. His ear felt like a boulder just dropped on top of it.

"You think I don't know that? That's my intention." Definitely Sebastian's sneer.

"You really need to quit it. You could have killed him." The other voice again.

"Oh, crap! I think he's dead!" A random voice called out. Magnus tried to will himself to move, but couldn't. He felt two strong hands lifting him up before he passed out.

A/N: this chapter is a bit longer than the others because I couldn't stop writing! I felt terrible writing all of the Magnus POV's, so please don't yell at me :( it was super hard, but for CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! Thank you so much for all of the reviews, and if you're as depressed as I am about this chapter, just imagine Max eating Lucky Charms and Magnus's stepfather being named Dick. I'll try not to abuse Magnus as much next chapter in return for some reviews. Deal? Deal.