Hey guys! So, I know I haven't taken as long as I usually do to update, but I still feel like I should apologize. I've worked on this chapter for weeks, forgot about it, worked on it, etc. But here it is, so I hope you enjoy it!

UPDATE: Right, so that was a few months ago. I am so incredibly sorry! I meant to finish this but i had writers block so today i just wrote a few more lines and decided it was good enough.

Please review, and i hope you like the chapter.

Alec rushed up to the Institute, out of breath from running so hard. He paused when he arrived at the front steps.

Isabelle, Jace, and Clary were standing there. Isabelle looked very cross, scowling, her arms crossed, glaring at him.

"Izzy, I am so, so sorry, I fell- OW! What was that for?" he cried.

"THAT was for scaring the heck out of me!" Isabelle yelled, her eyes glittering dangerously. "You didn't call, text, email, say anything.."

As she rambled on, Alec stopped listening and looked at Jace and Clary, who were besides her. Jace looked amused and Clary looked sympathetic.

"So THAT is why I hit you!" Izzy finally finished, giving Alec one of her evil-I-am-going-to-kill-you glares.

Alec raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, Iz. Like I started to say before you, you know, interrupted me, I'm sorry, I fell asleep on Magnus's couch with him last night. If I had known I was going to fall asleep, I would have stopped myself from falling asleep before I fell asleep, okay? Does that make sense?"

"No," Izzy scowled. Alec sighed.

"Look, I'm here now, okay?" he said, getting a bit agitated. "Can we go?"

"No," Isabelle repeated, crossing her arms again. "Jace is being a jerk and we need you to do something about it."

"Jace is always a jerk, what's your point?" Alec asked impatiently, raising an eyebrow. "And who's 'we'?"

"The 'we' is Clary, Simon and I, and my point is that we want to bring Simon, but Jace doesn't! So tell Jace we're bringing him!" Izzy yelled.

Alec looked over at Clary, who, looking at the ground, said shyly, "Well, I kind of did want to bring him..."

"So, Iz and Clary want to bring him, and only Jace doesn't," he said, trying to be sure he had this right.

"Yes, for God's sake," Izzy said, glaring again.

"Okay, gosh, I'm just making sure!" Alec said.

"So who you side with is a matter or life or death," Izzy said.

Clary elbowed her. "Uh, life or death?" Alec asked, taking a step backward.

"Yes," Izzy said calmly.

"I'm guessing as in my life or death?" Alec guessed.

"Yes," she repeated, still calm.

"Uh, oookayy. Well, I say we bring Simon then!"

"What?" Jace shouted, looking outraged.

Isabelle laughed. "Thank you!" she shouted, giving Alec a big hug and smiling.

"Am I forgiven now?" Alec asked, looking down at her as she hugged him.

"Yes," Izzy beamed.

"Good. Now, please let me out of your death trap hug," Alec told her.

Jace laughed and Clary elbowed him, though she was obviously suppressing a smile as well.

"Are you all done deciding my fate?" a voice behind Alec asked, and he turned around.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "Simon, you can come."

"I guessed as much, but thank you, Captain Obvious," Simon said, rolling his eyes.

"See what I mean?!" Jace said, pointing at Simon. "He's so...so..so..."

"Like you?" Alec suggested as Jace shouted, "Rude!"

Izzy snickered. "Like Jace, haha, no, Jace is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy worse,"she said, stretching out the 'way' ridiculously long.

"OKAY," Alec and Clary said together. "Let's go before Jace bites Simon's head off."

"Ew," they all heard Jace mumble as they walked down the sidewalk, and Alec sighed, extremely frustrated.

Alec: Done with hunting, on my way home.

Magnus: And by home, do you mean my house or the Institute?

Alec blushed as he typed in an answer.

Alec: The Institute.

Magnus: Oh. Well, maybe we could make my home yours...;)

Alec: Shut up, Magnus.

He couldn't help but blush again.

Magnus: Can you come over, though, seriously? I want to talk to you.

Alec hesitated. He really wanted to go, of course, but he had a feeling he knew what Magnus wanted to talk about. He had known his attempt to distract him wouldn't last forever.

Alec: I don't know...

Magnus: Please.

Alec bit his lip. Was Magnus mad at him? It sounded like he was.

Magnus hadn't put a question mark at the end, which meant this was serious.

Alec: All right. I'll leave now.

Magnus: Thank you!

Maybe he wasn't as mad...

As soon as Alec got to Magnus's and walked inside, he was enfolded in a huge hug.

"Allie!" Magnus beamed.

"I am not a girl," Alec said, and then realized he was almost repeating what Magnus had said earlier word for word. He just said, "I am not," instead of, "I'm not."

"Sure you aren't. You're the girl in this relationship, Alec."

"What?" Alec stared at him.

"Think about it. Rationally, I mean." Magnus was grinning now. "You're the one who wears ratty, old, worn out clothes, and I'm not saying all girls have bad taste, Izzy certainly doesn't, but there are a lot of girls who wear those kinds of clothes, and you're the one who's so protective and understanding and kind."

He paused. "Not that I'm not protective. I mean, if something happened to you or someone hurt you, the other person would be gone in an instant."

Alec ducked his head, a blush appearing.

Magnus reached out, pulled Alec's head up, and dragged him into the living room. "But that's besides the point. You are going to sit here until you tell me why you were acting like that earlier."

Alec decided to feign innocence.

"Acting like what?" he asked, trying (and, he thought, probably failing) to look curious. Magnus narrowed his eyes.

"Stop!" he snapped. "Why were you acting like that?"

Alec looked a bit startled, but kept his mouth shut.

Magnus gritted his teeth and tried to tell himself that yelling at his boyfriend, who he loved so much, who he had gone through so much with, would not help.

"All right," he said like he was talking to a five year old. "Let's backtrack. I woke up and found you sleeping. I woke you up. You panicked and left. Okay, let me backtrack a little more. When you panicked, we had a brief argument over Jace. When I woke you up, I tickled you. Okay, not in that order, but whatever. Then you babbled and I kissed you, and then I noticed something was wrong, and you wouldn't answer and tell me what was wrong, and then you tried to distract me and it worked, and you left, and then I figured out that you distracted me."

Alec bit his lip again and said nothing.

"Alec," Magnus said firmly. "Tell me what is wrong. I don't want to fight anymore."

Alec took a breath, but tears spilled all over his face instead, and in an instant Magnus was by his side, the fighting forgotten for a moment, looking alarmed. "Alec?"

"I- it's just, you- you said-"

"What? What did I say?" Magnus tried to think back to what he had said earlier that might have upset Alec.

"That I- that I was cute." Alec buried his head in his hands, leaving Magnus confused.

"Is that a bad thing?" he asked cautiously.

When all Alec did was breath in shallow breaths, Magnus started rubbing circles in his back.

"You- you always tell me that you love me," Alec started in a whisper, "that I- I'm beautiful, that I'm so perfect, and- and I'm not, that's you you're describing, I-I-"

Magnus felt his heart began to sink, and he pulled Alec against him gently. "Oh, no, Alec…" he murmured as Alec threw his arms around him.

"I-I don't see how- I never thought anyone could like me, I'm just so-so ugly and boring and Jace- Jace is the amazing, interesting, beautiful one. I don't understand why you didn't go for him instead, why you went for me, of all people-"

"No, no, Alec, please," Magnus said, his heart breaking for his boyfriend. "Stop. I-"

"And I just- you keep saying these things, and they're lies, and I can't help but wonder why you're really dating me, if you're only pretending, I don't- I don't-I-" Alec stopped, trying to breath.

Magnus began rubbing his back again as Alec gasped for air.

"Alec," he said quietly. "I- I love you."

It wasn't enough, he knew. He wished it were enough. He wished that all he had to say was I love you and everything would be better. But it didn't work that way.

And he couldn't change that.

Again, I am so, so sorry. I hope this chapter wasn't too horrible. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it. Thanks! And if you read MOSaP, please review on any chapters you haven't already when you have the time. I don't have any reviews on chapters sixteen and seventeen.

I beta'd this chapter myself, so I apologize for any mistakes. I tried o get them all. Please let me know if you see any.

Love you all :)

Linds.