Vodka Makes the Heart Grow Fonder.

Warning: COLS spoilers.

The events of the past few days had weighed heavily on Magnus' mind for the better part of the week. He'd come home from possibly the worse subway station in New York to a loft full of things that reminded him of Alec. Every stretch of space held a memory of the Shadowhunter, whether it was the bed they'd spent many nights together in, or the living space his friends had often occupied during their misadventures. Magnus found that he couldn't take it, and he'd simply grabbed Chairman Meow and rented a hotel for the night. He decided to wait for Alec to clear his stuff out, hoping that the absence of the Shadowhunter's belongings would make Magnus feel even just a little better.

It hadn't.

He returned to his loft two days later, and when he did he came home to two very angry notes, courtesy of Isabelle and Jace, pinned to his door by two very lethal-looking blades. The summary of the notes was the typical string of death threats that the warlock would expect from a protective sibling and parabatai. Magnus had to give Isabelle credit for listing all the different ways to kill a man with an elastic hair tie.

The angry notes didn't have too much of an effect on the warlock, it fact, it filled him with a dry sense of humor. It was the key with Alec's note on the coffee table had gotten to Magnus. The simple silver key had been lying there, pinning down a note with three simple words on it.

I'm so sorry.

Any numb sensation he had been able to conjure up concerning the Shadowhunter had been ripped to pieces with that note. Magnus had half the mind to burn it, but instead he found himself folding the note up, the key inside, and sliding it onto his work desk under a pile of books. He had been content to stew in his misery for the next few weeks, possibly the rest of his life, however fate rarely let that happen.

The entire day was uneventful, save for Chairman Meow constantly pawing at the front door, no doubt waiting for Alec to arrive and slip the cat cream when he thought Magnus wasn't looking. It had annoyed Magnus so much that he had almost locked the cat away in the bathroom, before he realized what he was doing. Deciding to call it a night, he'd nearly fallen asleep alone in his bedroom when a shrill noise sounded from his living room. Magnus had been woken up enough times by that sound to know exactly what it was. It was the repeated buzzing of the intercom to his door.

By the time he was dressed and out of bed, the buzzer was going nonstop like someone had decided to lean against the button just to annoy him. Magnus scowled, climbing out of bed and making his way over to press the intercom button. He touched a finger to the base of his throat, magic amplifying his voice. "WHO DARES TO CALL UPON THE HIGH WARLOCK?" He heard a scuffle on the other end of the line, and the sound of cursing, before someone pressed the intercom to answer.

"It's me you son of a whore in church with the pastor in the hay wagon!" The intercom slurred, and the sound of breaking glass was heard. Magnus took a moment to process the statement, blinking slowly.

"...What?" He could practically hear the person on the other end scowl at him.

"It's me! Alec! Forget me already? Why don't you toss whatever prissy little blonde vampire chick you have in your bed out of the door so I can take this bottle and shove it up her-" Magnus unlocked the door, practically running out of his loft door. He met Alec at the base of the stairs, taking in the sight with a disturbing mix of awe and horror.

The Shadowhunter was sprawled across the floor of the landing, dressed in his traditional attire of black shirt and dark jeans. Only usually when Alec walked to Brooklyn he bothered with a jacket at the very least. Or even a few weapons. The Alec before him was unarmed with the exception of a broken bottle, the contents of which appeared to be spilled out on the ground. The boy's hair was a mess, and his face was flushed.

"What...are you doing here, Alexander?" Magnus stared at Alec incredulously, ducking when the Shadowhunter threw the empty bottle of vodka at him, nearly missing the warlock by three feet, the bottle shattering against the stairwell wall.

"Don't call me that. Jerk!" Alec snapped, practically sliding up the wall for support as he got to his feet. "I told you not to call me that! My parents call me that. You have sex with me, so you can't do that. It's weird." The Shadowhunter's gaze went to the floor, his brow furrowed as he tried to take a step forward. He slipped in the pool of vodka, and Magnus reached out, catching him with minimal difficulty. He pulled Alec away from the spilled alcohol, towards the stairs. Alec struggled briefly, before letting Magnus pull him along.

"Alec," He kept his arm around the Shadowhunter's waist. "you're drunk, aren't you?" He asked, looking into the teen's flushed face.

"You're drunk!" Alec retorted, his breath reeking of alcohol. He stumbled forward against Magnus, losing his balance. He would have fallen flat on his face if Magnus hadn't been holding on to him.

"Alright, let's get you off the streets." Magnus stated, sighing as he half-pulled, half-dragged Alec upstairs.

"But I'm not on the streets," Alec protested, his feet nearly useless as Magnus helped him up the stairs. "I'm in your house."

"I know, it's a form of expression." Magnus replied, his voice full of patience. There was something irresistibly adorable about Alec when he was drunk. In Paris, the Shadowhunter had sipped at his wine, never gaining more than the slightest buzz. He seemed to always be in control, something Magnus had been both relieved and disappointed in. Relieved because the warlock didn't want to have to clean up a drunk Alec while they were on vacation, disappointed because the idea of Alec with absolutely no inhibitions had played well to the more devious portion of Magnus' mind.

Once they made it to the top of the stairs, Magnus waved his hand, the door opening on it's own. He walked Alec on through, sitting the Shadowhunter down on the couch. He snapped his fingers, a glass of water appearing in his hand.

"Drink this." He offered Alec the glass. "You're going to be ridiculously hungover tomorrow, this'll help." Alec shook his head looking at Magnus with determination in his eyes.

"I know why we broke up!" Alec cried, nearly falling off the couch. Magnus lifted a brow, setting the glass of water down. This was going to be good.

"Because you lied-"

"No, no, no!" Alec slurred, waving Magnus' reply away, his gaze unfocused. "It's because I was never on top." Magnus made a choking sound, and Alec pointed a finger at him. "See?" Magnus shook his head.

"You think that me taking it will make things better?" Alec sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead in exasperation. Magnus cursed himself for thinking it was cute.

"No! Magnus, you're supposed to know these things." Alec chastised him lightly, lying out on the couch, his hands in the air as he counted off on his fingers. "Positions and dancing." He said, as if it would explain everything.

"...positions and dancing?" Magnus repeated, looking more than slightly worried. Alec sat up, nodding so fast that he had to pause and hold his head.

"Jace...showed me, or he rented me these movies. And the guys in them, they always danced for their partners before they actually did anything. And they'd do all these different positions when they had sex and-"

"Jace rented you porn? Gay porn?"

"He said I could use it to feel better." Alec sniffled. "Since you know, my jerk of an ex decided to dump me." Magnus didn't know what hurt him more. The fact that Alec had actually called him his ex or the fact that Jace thought a collection of porn stars could compare to the warlock in any way. He had probably meant it as an insult.

"I...see." He really didn't.

"I didn't think it was funny either." Alec admitted, looking somewhat bashful. "I told Jace that I didn't think you'd like it either, and he said that all that mattered is that I was happy." Alec was clearly upset, the beginnings of tears in his eyes. "So I watched it, and it didn't help at all, because I thought of you and everything we would do together. It really sucked actually." He sniffed. "So I talked to Isabelle about it, and she gave me something to drink. The vodka. And I drank all of it." The Shadowhunter's words were running together, his breathing fast and shaky.

"Alec..." Magnus began, but the teen shook his head, his cheeks red with more than just vodka.

"It tasted worse than her cooking. I almost threw up, but the more buzzed I got the more I didn't care. Then I thought about how I couldn't just keep drinking you away, so I thought about the porn, and I said I would try and talk to you, and maybe try something from the video because you might like me more. Isabelle said it was a great idea." Magnus didn't want to know how drunk Alec had been to actually take Isabelle's advice on something, and how drunk Isabelle was to actually agree. "So, I thought I'd come visit you, so we could do those things from the movies and you'd forgive me and we could be happy again." Alec murmured, his blue eyes glittering under his eyelashes. He reached out to pull Magnus close, looking at the warlock in confusion when Magnus backed away. "Magnus?"

"Alexander, things don't work like that." Magnus' voice was soft and patient, reaching out to touch Alec's shoulder, his hand dropping when Alec leaned away, clearly upset.

"I told you not to call me that! We...I...you shouldn't call me that! Magnus..." Alec's voice was trembling. "You only call me that when you're angry with me, and I hate it when you do..." He threw himself back against the couch, looking away at Magnus. "Why can't it work..? Why can't we just say that it didn't happen and we can be happy and...and I..."

"Because it won't work. Trust me. If you try to go to battle with a fresh wound, it's only going to hurt you more. Love is a battle, Alec. Especially when the person you love it the one that hurts you the most." Magnus stepped forward, kneeling in front of the Shadowhunter sprawled out on his couch. "I need time to heal. And so do you..." Alec shook his head, tears slipping down his cheeks.

"I don't need anything besides you..." He whispered, closing his eyes. Magnus reached out to brush away the tears on his cheek, only for more to replace them. Alec was exhausted, he realized, his skin was paler than Magnus remembered, and dark bags hung under his eyes. Despite how painful it was, Magnus felt worry eating away at his chest. What had Alec been doing since they'd broken up?

"You need to rest." Magnus stated, watching as Alec blinked sleepily, before lying back down on the couch. His eyes drifted closed, and Magnus ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. It had taken just a few minutes for Magnus be convinced into letting the Shadowhunter spend the night. He didn't think he could ever turn Alec away.

"Magnus...?" Alec murmured, breaking the warlock out of his thoughts. Magnus leaned closer, resting a hand on Alec's shoulder.

"Yes, Alec?" He asked lowly, watching the way Alec's eyes opened wearily. His gaze focused on him for a brief moment.

"I miss you." Alec replied softly, his blue eyes drifting closed once again. "I miss you a lot." Magnus' fingers ran through Alec's hair gently, cradling the soft locks against his palm.

"I miss you too." Magnus murmured, watching as the Shadowhunter drifted off to sleep.

A/N: The Prologue of my currently story baby. I don't think this'll be more than 10 Chapters long, but I'm looking forward to the later scenes when the drama really starts to pick up.

Next Chapter: "Let him go, Alec. If you don't, you're going to get yourself killed."

Reviews are always loved~