Simon stood outside of Magnus' building, trying to not look suspicious. He wasn't sure if he should go inside, in case Magnus had some magic security system that would turn him to dust if he passed a certain point. They were friends, but Simon knew he beefed up the wards after the disaster at Max's party. It was safer to wait for Alec to let him in.
He was looking forward to spending one on one time with Alec again, even though it was under less than ideal circumstances. Simon hoped that they would get to a point where they could hang out for no reason other than that they wanted to. Alec probably still wasn't in a place to let himself indulge in things without a specific purpose.
"Hey," Alec said, walking up to him. But he definitely wasn't alone.
"Hey Alec. Izzy. Jace," Simon replied, trying to stay normal instead of awkward. He hadn't been expecting all of them and while spending time with Izzy was never a bad thing, his relationship with Jace was iffy. But his relationship with Alec hadn't been great not too long ago either and now Simon considered him one of his best friends.
"They heard about what happened, so they wanted to come over," Alec explained, shrugging one shoulder a little.
"Cool, cool. Well, I can go if-"
"You can stay," Alec said quickly, before tensing up a little. "I mean, if you want. You don't have to."
"I want to be here," Simon insisted. And he'd say it as many times as Alec needed to hear it. Spending time with him was never a burden.
"We should go up then. There's food in the fridge and I don't know," Alec mumbled, looking unsure of what to do next.
"Wow, we are wild and crazy kids!" Simon joked.
"We aren't kids," Jace said, looking unamused.
"Not technically, but it wasn't too long ago that we were. This could be like a sleepover!" Simon said excitedly. At Jace's blank look, an idea started forming in his head. "You guys never had sleepovers, did you?"
"We would sleep in each other's rooms sometimes," Izzy said, giving him a small smile. She was probably the one out of them who had indulged the most in outside activities, but Simon was sure there were still things she hadn't experienced.
"And what did you do?"
"We slept," Jace deadpanned.
"And?"
"Trained. Studied rune books," Alec added.
"Actually, I have had a few sleepovers. We just never did much sleeping," Jace smirked.
"Gross!" Izzy hissed, slapping his shoulder.
"So you've never had a true sleepover," Simon said with a grin, ignoring Jace's comment. "Until now."
"I'm not sure I like that look on your face," Jace grumbled, rubbing his arm.
"It's called a smile," Simon huffed, not letting the man sour his mood. The more he thought of this idea, the more he loved it. "Come on. We need some supplies."
"Supplies? Where are we going?" Alec asked, following him down the street.
"You guys never got the chance to be kids, so we are going to have a throwback night. Well, throwback for me. This will all be new to you," Simon explained, pulling out his phone and looking up the nearest store to them. Too bad none of them could conjure things up magically like Magnus. There was a store a few blocks away that should have what they needed, so he started walking in that direction. Alec fell into step next to him, with Izzy and Jace trailing behind.
"You know, you don't have to do all this," Alec said quietly. "Just hanging out in the loft is fine."
"I want to do this," Simon insisted. He wanted to see the look on Alec's face that he had when he'd first skipped a rock. Or when he'd been teaching him how to shoot a bow and arrow. He wanted to see Alec enjoy himself without worrying about anything else. After the confrontation with his parents, he deserved an easy night.
The little store they went to was perfect. It had snacks as far as the eye could see. Simon felt a little pang of sadness seeing it all. It wasn't that he craved human food anymore. He sometimes got nostalgic for it though. But seeing others eat it didn't bother him and he was eager for them to try some of his favorite treats from his youth.
"Grab whatever looks good and throw it in the cart," Simon told everyone, shoving a couple bags of chips in it himself. He knew that Magnus supplied Alec with the most decadent, fancy food on earth, but he probably hadn't given him BBQ potato chips.
"And you have a way to pay for all this?" Alec questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Don't worry about it," Simon waved away. This was a perfectly legitimate use of his emergency credit card.
"Are we sure this stuff is edible?" Jace asked, holding a bottle of orange soda like it was poison. It kind of was, but it wasn't at a level anyone had to worry about.
"You know, Clary lived as a normal person for eighteen years. I'm surprised you haven't encountered any of this stuff before with her," Simon scoffed.
"She's better than that now," Jace huffed.
"Sure," Simon smirked, thinking of the times they hung out outside of the institute. While she stuck to their ways mostly while she was around them, when it was just the two of them, she let loose. Clary wasn't afraid to eat a few cheese puffs or skittles.
"This is more like it," Izzy purred, running her finger along a shelf of chocolate. Simon could picture Izzy indulging in the finest chocolates and wines, but Hershey's was good too. She put a few bars in the cart with a soft smile.
"Hey Iz, this looks kind of like your whip," Jace said, swinging a Slim Jim like a weapon.
"Try not to get us kicked out!" Simon hissed, snatching the meat stick from Jace and tossing it into the cart. Now he wouldn't rest until he saw Jace eat the greasy thing. He turned to Alec, who was standing off to the side and not really looking at anything. "You haven't added anything to the cart."
"I don't know what most of this stuff is," Alec replied, poking at a bag of sour gummy worms with distaste. "If I choose something that no one likes, it will be a waste."
"It's not a waste if you try something and end up not liking it. It will be worth the experience," Simon insisted, grabbing the bag of worms just because. "And I'll take anything we don't finish to Maya's bar. Werewolves will eat anything."
"Fine, fine," Alec sighed, begrudgingly tossing a box of caramels in the cart. That was progress.
They wandered around the small store some more, with a few things being added to their haul along the way. Simon didn't want to feed them so much that they'd get sick from it. That was kind of a right of passage when it came to sleepovers, but they could skip that one.
"Oh my gosh!" Simon gasped suddenly. He saw all three of his shadowhunter friends stiffen and look around for threats, ready to fight. It was hilarious and sad, all at the same time. "Stand down, soldiers."
"What is it?" Alec asked, visibly forcing himself to relax.
"Board games!" Simon said in awe, waving his hands toward the shelf covered in them. He'd been thinking of watching movies, but he wasn't sure if Magnus even had a television. This was even better.
"Board games?"
"Board games," Simon confirmed, perusing the collection. For a small store, they sure had a lot of great choices. He left the trivia ones where they were, since most of them would be terrible at anything dealing with pop culture. Although maybe that would be a good way to give them a crash course in the mundane world.
"Life?" Alec asked, picking up the game. "Who would play a game about living? That sounds boring."
"That's probably where they got the name for these things," Jace snorted.
"Life is fun and this is what we're going to play first," Simon declared, taking the box from Alec and putting it in the cart. He grabbed a few others, including Monopoly, although he wasn't sure about playing that one. The game seemed to drag on for a long time and led to fights. Maybe that was just his family though.
They made their way back to the front of the store so Simon could pay for their selections. He was going to have to figure out a job or something, but that was a problem for another day. Would it be unethical to ask Magnus to magic him a few thousand dollars? Being an employed vampire would be tricky, even if he was a daylighter.
"Are you guys excited?" Simon asked, swinging his grocery bags as they walked back to Magnus' loft.
"You can't tell, but I'm about to pass out from all the fun I'm having," Jace deadpanned.
"Jace," Alec sighed, shaking his head. Simon wasn't offended though. It kind of reminded him of how Alec used to be with him not too long ago. Even while they were still at the cabin. Maybe he'd have Magnus whisk him and Jace away for a weekend so they could bond too.
Alec let them all into the loft, taking anything cold they bought directly to the fridge. Jace made himself at home, as if he lived there. Simon knew he'd crashed there for a while during some drama at the institute, but that had been some time ago. Alec still wasn't completely sure of his place, so it was interesting to see Jace so relaxed.
"I haven't gotten a chance to thank you," Izzy said quietly, sliding up to stand next to him while the others were busy. "Thank you for helping my big brother."
"He told you?" Simon asked. It wasn't a secret what they'd done, but he wasn't sure if Alec was being open about it.
"No, but I figured it out. It wasn't very hard, since you guys went from not being friends to this," Izzy replied, waving her arm around the loft. "Part of me wants the whole story, but another part of me is terrified to hear it."
"I can't break Alec's confidence."
"I know."
"But I think he'd love it if you talked to him." Simon didn't even think it mattered what they talked about. Alec craved connection, he just didn't know how to verbalize it.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"When do things happen in sleepovers?" Jace grumbled, crossing his arms as he perched on the arm of the couch.
"Jace, I'm glad to see you're so eager," Simon grinned, pulling out the board game. "Where should we play this?"
"Table? Bed?" Alec suggested, walking back into the room.
"The bed is perfect," Simon agreed, leading them all into Magnus and Alec's bedroom. Simon was surprised by the offer, but maybe being in a spot Alec and Magnus shared would help bring him comfort. Alec seemed distracted enough from his earlier stress, but Simon knew that things would hit him sometimes suddenly. On more than one occasion, a casual conversation would lead to one that ended with Alec in tears.
He set everything out on the bedspread, explaining the rules as he went along. Alec and Jace warily climbed onto the bed, while Izzy did so without fuss. Simon had them choose their car colors, watching curiously as they made their selections. It didn't matter in the long run, but since Alec was always head to toe in dark colors, he wanted to see which of the bright selections he ended up with. Alec chose yellow, which was interesting. Maybe he'd ask him about it later, but he probably wouldn't.
They spun to see who would go first, with Jace almost spinning the wheel hard enough to turn it into a projectile. Izzy ended up winning the spin-off, so she went first. Admittedly, it did look kind of ridiculous seeing everyone move tiny plastic pieces around a board, but this was long overdue for them.
"I get to be a doctor!" Izzy said smugly, flashing her career card to the rest of them.
"Well, I'm an athlete," Jace bragged, flexing his arms. Those were oddly fitting careers for them, especially in a game of chance. Simon ended up as a mechanic, but he didn't know a thing about cars. Alec was the last one to make it to the career space and he flipped his over and shrugged without caring.
"What are you, big brother?" Izzy asked.
"Teacher," Alec replied.
"That makes sense. You pretty much taught me everything I know."
"Oh yeah, Dr. Lightwood?" Alec scoffed.
"Well, maybe not that stuff, but pretty much everything else. You were the one helping me with training and learning about runes and life. Even tucking me in at night," Izzy pointed out. Alec glanced away, finding the bedspread a lot more interesting suddenly. Hearing about his impact on people was difficult, since he'd convinced himself for so long that he didn't matter much to anyone. Maybe if he kept hearing it, he'd start to believe it.
"Do we have to get married?" Jace grumbled, sticking the pink peg next to his blue one in the car.
"I'm telling Clary you said that," Izzy teased.
"We are nowhere near getting married. Imagine if I proposed to her now."
"It's just a game, Jace," Alec reminded him, before putting his own matching blue peg next to his. Simon caught the hint of a satisfied smile when he placed it. Looked like Alec and Magnus were back on good footing.
The game continued on for a while after that, with Jace grumbling off and on about any spots he landed on that cost him money. Monopoly was definitely off the table for this group. They made it through the area where you got to buy a house, then it was Alec's turn again.
"Baby girl?" Alec read, staring at the spot like he didn't know what it meant.
"Aww, Alec had a baby!" Izzy cooed, cupping her cheeks. Simon handed Alec a pink peg and he carefully added it to his car. He kept glancing at it during everyone else's turn, like it couldn't quite believe it was there. And after that, Alec somehow kept landing on the baby spaces. If there was one to land on, he did. Jace laughed at him, talking about all the things their little brother, Max, had done as a small child. Alec didn't pay him any mind, eagerly adding every new peg to his car, even when he ran out of holes.
They made it to the end of the game, choosing their retirement paths and adding up how much money they had. Izzy blew them all out of the water, which wasn't a surprise. Jace barely had anything at the end, which made him grumble and pout about how a game of chance didn't mean anything. Alec and Simon were somewhere in the middle, but Alec didn't seem to care. He was just staring at his car.
"I'm gonna go look through some of those gross snacks you bought and try to find something edible," Jace huffed, unfolding himself from the bed and stalking off to the kitchen.
"Don't touch my chocolate!" Izzy warned, jumping up and rushing after him. Simon laughed, gathering up the game pieces and putting them back in the box.
"Did you have fun?" Simon asked, watching as Alec handed him the money and cards. His little car stayed sitting in front of him, like he was hesitant to get rid of it.
"Yeah, sure," Alec mumbled distractedly.
"Why don't you go with the others, while I put the rest of this away?" Simon suggested. Alec sighed and bit his lip, before nodding and easing himself away from the bed. Simon kept stacking things neatly in the box, pretending not to see Alec hovering before he sighed again and left. When he was sure he was gone, Simon grabbed Alec's car, making sure none of the pieces fell out, and sat it on his nightstand. The yellow, blue, and pink plastic looked so out of place in the room full of dark woods, but it was also perfect. Now, whenever Alec went to sleep, he'd be able to see something that could be his future, if he fought hard enough to see it through. Alec, Magnus, and their car filled with six kids.