Hi, this is my new story about Alec and Magnus. It centers around the various wishes Alec has made on eyelashes, and at the end how someone finally grants them all.

Play with me

A 5 year old Alec was trying to be quiet. Again. His bright eyes were wide with excitement. He covered his mouth with his hands in an attempt to stifle his giggle. He strained to try to hear footsteps outside the door, and when none came, Alec sighed in relief. Maybe he had finally chosen a good hiding place! Even though he had hidden in the same spot the last 5 times. There was no clock in the closet, so Alec had no way of determining how long he had been hiding, but he guessed it was around an hour by now. He kept hoping that any minute now, his mother would open the door and scoop him up, telling him it was time for lunch. Then she'd tickle his tummy, and he'd laugh and beg her to stop, but he would secretly love it. They would eat grilled cheese together and orange slices like the families on TV. But, it was only a fantasy. Alec's mom wouldn't scoop him up and tickle him and feed him lunch. They wouldn't eat grilled cheese and orange slices together. And Maryse wouldn't find him in the closet. Because she had gone grocery shopping, and Alec was home alone. With only his dreams to keep him company. Alec felt something in his eye. He rubbed his eye furiously and his hand came away with an eyelash. I wish someone would play with me.

Remember me

A 7 year old Alec was grimacing. Again. He picked up the spoon, slowly and carefully. He dunked it in the soup, filling up the indent in the utensil. Slowly he lifted it up to his face, regarding it as if it was a cobra which was about to strike. Maryse caught her son's expression and sighed.

"Alec, could you please just eat the soup?" she pleaded. Lately, his mother had been busy organizing an additional piece of the Accords with the Downworlders. It required most of her time, energy, and focus, but Alec wasn't to know that. All he knew was that his mother was tired, barely able to take care of Alec, and had made French onion soup to make up for her absence. Except he hated French onion soup. And Maryse had forgotten that he hated onions. But, Alec guessed he could eat some of it since she had at least taken the time to feed him today. And her cooking was slightly beter than the cereal he had been eating for the last couple of days. So, he closed his eyes, tried to close his nose so he wouldn't smell the onions, and stuck the spoon in his mouth. Immediately he crunched down on the sweet but tangy taste of the vegetable the soup was named after. He felt like puking, but he swallowed it down to please his mother. As soon as she left, he threw the soup in the trash. When he sat back down at the dinner table, he noticed an eyelash on his hand. I wish someone would remember me.

Remember me

An 8 year old Alec was smelly. Again. He hadn't had a shower or bath in 5 days. He supposed it was kind of his fault, as he kept running around outside and sweating. But it was mostly Maryse's fault. In his mind anyway. She was in charge of both his and Izzy's baths. But Maryse hadn't told Alec to wash himself in five days. Actually Maryse hadn't spoken to Alec at all in five days. It wasn't as if Maryse wasn't around; she had told Izzy to take a bath, but not Alec. It was as if Maryse had forgotten she had two children. So Alec waited to see how long he could be invisible. In the end, he didn't find out how long Maryse could ignore him because the smell got so bad Alec had to shower himself. Standing in the warm water, he noticed an eyelash on his arm. Closing his eyes, I wish someone would remember me.

Be proud of me

A 10 year old Alec was losing. Again. His body was suddenly thrown against the room, hitting the wall with a sickening thud. All the air whooshed out of his lungs and his eyesight started to black out. The blood gushing down his face from his likely broken nose wasn't helping his concentration. Jace always won their wrestling matches. It wasn't fair that Alec never wanted to hurt anyone on purpose, or even on accident. Thinking about the last time Jace won and how his parents congratulated the golden boy without so much as a glance towards Alec and his broken rib made him angry. With a furious bellow, Alec leaped up from his place on the ground and ran into Jace, knocking him on the ground. Jace's eyes widened in surprise when he realized Alec was on top of him, grinning maniacally.

Quickly Alec counted, "One two three! I win!" His nose was still oozing blood on to Jace's shirt. His ribs were bruised and would ache tomorrow and he probably had a concussion, but he had beaten Jace.

While Alec was celebrating his victory, the doors of the training room burst open and Maryse walked in. Alec proudly walked over to her, ready to recount his success, but she headed straight to Jace, who had a nasty black eye from a lucky hit from Alec. Watching Maryse fuss over Jace like a mother hen, while Alec was standing there in agony, made his victory bittersweet. As they left, Alec wiped his cheek of the tears that were most definitely not from his hurt feelings, he saw an eyelash on his finger. I wish someone would be proud of me.

Be proud of me 2

An 11 year old Alec was drawing. Again. Sticking his tongue between his lips, he picked up the lightest shade of blue he could find and flicked the pencil around the edges of the swirls on the paper, seemingly doing nothing to the picture but the dark haired boy smiled. Picking up the black pencil, he touched the end of it, testing its sharpness. Satisfied, he moved the pencil to the bottom right hand corner of the paper and, with a flourish, signed his name. Determined not to look at it any longer, because he would find something wrong with it, he picked it up and brought it to the library where his parents were. He had worked hard on it, sometimes drawing the same part fifty times before he got it perfect. Now that it was finished, he couldn't wait to show his parents.

Dashing into the library with his picture in his hands, Alec thrust the paper in his parents' hands, excitedly jumping up and down. Robert took one look at it and his face fell. It was like he was expecting to see runes on the paper or something equally uncreative.

"Alec why are you drawing ridiculous pictures? This doesn't even look like the night sky! It's all swirly and yellow." Alec stopped jumping and instead wrung his hands together, starting to get nervous.

"Well, you see dad, I recreated van Gogh's A Starry Night and his style is different from-" Alec was cut off by his disappointed father.

"Alec, you need to focus your energy on Shadowhunting, not silly pictures." Alec's eyes started to water. He grabbed the picture and ran out of the library as fast as he could. Tears cascaded down his cheeks and his nose was running. Why couldn't they just be happy for him? As he stopped by the bathroom to look at his tear-stained face, he noticed an eyelash on his cheek. I wish someone would be proud of me.

Be proud of me 3

A 12 year old Alec was studying. Again. Seated in an over-stuffed armchair with a book on his lap, he looked like a college scholar instead of a carefree twelve year old. His lips moved and made the shape of the words he was reading, trying to recreate them and commit them to memory. He was having a hard time remembering the spellings because the book he had was in Swahili. It was the last language he was learning and also the hardest. Even though he only learned how to say a couple phrases in ten languages, it had taken him almost the entire day just to learn the phrases in Swahili. Finally, Alec rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hands and closed the book. The doors to the library opened and Maryse walked in with Isabelle. Alec dashed up and walked next to his mother.

"Mom, mom! Look what I learned! I know how to say hello in ten languages. Bonjour, hola, Namaste, guten tag, nujambo-" Alec was cut off by his mother waving her hand.

"Not now Alec. Mom is busy. Maybe later?" Maryse rubbed her temples. Alec knew there wasn't going to be a later when his mother would pay attention to him. He had foolishly thought that his mother would be proud of him for taking such an interest in learning, and expanding his horizons. But she was always too busy to take any notice of her eldest son. Maryse walked out of the library, and Izzy put her arm around her older brother's shoulders.

"Hey," she said, reaching for his cheek, "you've got an eyelash. Here make a wish." She held out her finger and Alec closed his eyes. I wish someone would be proud of me.

Appreciate me

A 13 year old Alec was being overlooked. Again. Every night at six o'clock, a hot, steamy dinner was placed on the table for the Lightwoods. Normally the only people who ate it hot and fresh were Alec, Izzy and Jace. Their parents ate the leftovers and never really made the connection that Alec had made dinner for their kids. Alec was okay with it; feeding Izzy and Jace and seeing the looks of appreciation on their faces was enough recognition that he didn't need his parents to thank him. But, he figured, every once in a while a little appreciation wouldn't hurt. Alec had long since figured out that his parents did not treat Izzy and Jace the same way they treated him. So when Izzy made grilled cheese for the first time and was showered with praise it didn't hurt. Well, that's what he told himself in bed that night. He also thought that he should clean his room the next day because the dust was getting in his eyes and making them all watery. They were not tears. Just a bit of bothersome dust that collected in his room and made his eyes get all teary. Yes, he would definitely clean his room tomorrow.

In the morning his pillow case was soaked and he found a lone eyelash on it. Probably from when he scrubbed at his eyes in an effort to make the tears stop flowing down his face. Picking it up, he closed his eyes and wished. I wish someone would appreciate me.

Appreciate me 2

A 14 year old Alec was bleeding. Again. He whipped out a new seraph blade and named it. Seeing Jace was being cornered by three Iblis demons, he rushed over to help. Launching himself off the roof, he landed on the big one in the middle, stabbing wherever he could. He only had one thought in his mind; Protect Jace, protect Jace. Even though he was bleeding from a deep gash on his thigh and probably had some cracked ribs, he gave no thought to his own safety. His only concern was Jace. He cut, sliced, stabbed and shredded any part of the demon that came close to him. Normally he hated killing things, but when it came to his siblings' safety, there was nothing he wasn't prepared to do, or sacrifice. Eventually Jace got it under control, and Alec wiped off the demon ichor from his blade and went to search for Izzy.

But he didn't have to look far. Hearing a scream to his left, Alec's blood turned cold. As fast as he could, he ran towards the origin of the scream. His baby sister was fighting five Raum demons simultaneously. Throwing caution to the wind, Alec joined the fight. Stabbing, cutting, slashing and whirling, Alec killed four of the demons in minutes. He had severely wounded the fifth, and let Izzy have the killing blow to the heart just as his parents came running around the corner. Sweeping Izzy into his arms, Robert congratulated her on her first demon kill. Izzy basked in the glory of finally being called a Shadowhunter. Limping off towards the Institute, Alec noticed a stray eyelash on the back of his hand. I wish someone would appreciate me.

Make me believe I'm special

A 15 year old Alec was jealous. Again. Izzy's boyfriend of the week was over and monopolizing all of his family's attention. But, none of this was unusual. Alec was okay with being out of the limelight. No, he was jealous of Izzy. Her boyfriend cared about her. Well, it looked like he cared about her. After about a week Izzy would get bored and dump him. Alec wanted someone who would care about him like he seemed to for Izzy. He knew he couldn't depend on his parents, who had acted like they didn't know he existed for the first 15 years of his life. Izzy told him he was special, (when she wasn't annoyed at him) but she was his sister. There was like a rule book that said you have to believe your siblings are special. So, she didn't count. Jace wouldn't be caught dead saying the word "special" unless it was either about himself, or meant as an insult, so Alec couldn't really rely on him either. Alec wanted someone who knew him inside and out, knew all his fears and dreams and flaws and imperfections, and thought he was worth it. Someone who didn't care that he stuttered when he was nervous, who didn't care that he blushed like a tomato when he was embarrassed, who didn't care that he was deathly afraid of spiders. Alec wanted someone who thought he was worth the heartache. Most of all, Alec wanted someone who loved him for him. Looking down at his jeans, he noticed an eyelash. I wish someone would make me believe I'm special.

Accept me

A 16 year old Alec was arguing. Again.

"Why can't you just accept that I don't want this? I want to travel, see the world, and not be stuck here like you!" Alec shouted at his mother. Her face was red and her hands were shaking with anger.

"Oh grow up Alexander! We all have to do things we don't want to do. This is your duty to your people. So suck it up! It's going to happen," Maryse said the last sentence in the tone of voice you should never argue with. The typical "mother" voice that said the conversation was over. Alec never listened to that voice.

"What do you mean 'grow up'? I had to take care of Izzy and Jace when I was only ten! I put them to bed, I made them dinner, I kissed their scrapes, I held them when they were having nightmares, I protected them. I grew up without anyone to guide me and I don't want that for them. You and dad were never there for me when I needed you. So you've lost your right to pretend to be my mother and tell me what to do. Find someone else who you can bully into running the Institute." By now tears were streaming down Alec's face, but he didn't care. This was the first time he had truly said what he thought about Maryse and her lack of parenting, and it felt so good. He ran away, leaving his mother standing there, shock making her eyes widen and mouth to drop. After all the tears finally left his eyes, he felt something irritating them. Alec wiped his tears away and found an eyelash on his finger. I wish someone would accept me.

Accept me 2

A 17 year old Alec was being stubborn. Again. He swiped his long hair out of his eyes for the third time in as many minutes. He rolled his eyes at Izzy, who was still ranting about his shaggy hair and how he needed to cut it.

"-gets in your eyes and hides the gorgeous blue color which is easily your best feature and-" Alec tuned her out again. Eventually she got the hint to leave him alone, and left. Alec closed his eyes, glad for the peace and quiet. He should have known it wouldn't last long when he felt something poke his shoulder. He cracked one eye open, and saw Jace standing in front of him.

"Hey dude. You need to get a haircut. You hair is all long and shaggy and," at this, Jace subtlety peeked at his hand where Alec could see faint black lines of pen that Jace seemed to be reading, "and gets in your face a lot." Alec groaned and shut his eye again.

"Did Izzy put you up to this?" he asked.

"Yeah. She said she'll convince Clary to go to a club with me if I did it." Jace didn't even have the decency to look sheepish.

"You know he's right. Your hair is too long and unruly," Maryse called from the hallway as she walked by. Alec grit his teeth. He could take criticism about his looks from Izzy and even Jace, but not from his mother. Jace pointed to Alec's face, indicating that there was something there. Wiping his cheek, Alec found an eyelash. I wish someone would accept me.

So there's the first chapter. There will be one more short chapter to wrap it all up.