Written for Hogwarts' Auction Challenge: (word) apolaustic.

This was supposed to be for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang, but I suck at both word limits and deadlines so it's very late.

A big thanks to my beta Ruth for helping me out, being patient with me and checking on my mistakes.

Word count: 17670

call it luck (call it fate)

Izzy's the one who rented the house — "You guys will love it, it's got this great interior and we're minutes away from the beach, Alec, so you can go on your ridiculous runs every morning if you want to, hermano" — and as much as Alec hates to admit it, she was right: he does love it. They can see the sea from their windows, and every morning he can go on his run on the beach, wandering into town on his way back to bring back pastries for his siblings, who are somehow always famished despite only sleeping.

They've only been in Corsica for two days, but Alec can already tell that this holiday is going to do them all a lot of good — more so, probably, once Clary gets here and Jace stops moping around the house like a dejected puppy.

The thing is, Alec likes to run in the morning because it's quiet, just him and the soft pounding of his feet on the ground. Almost everyone is still asleep, and the few who aren't, like him, are usually perfectly happy to ignore each other apart from the polite, perfunctory nods of greeting as they pass each other.

It's the perfect way to empty his head and let his mind wander free a little, unburdened by the rules and expectations he's usually bound by, and for some reason it works even better by the water, with the fresh sea breeze hitting his face and the waves coming to die at his feet, than it does in New York.

Just barely three days in and he already feels more grounded. He would thank Izzy and Jace for bullying him into this trip if it didn't also mean they'd be insufferable for the rest of it.

This morning, he's thinking about his siblings as he runs. Clary is supposed to join them tonight — her plane lands on the mainland at six pm, but by the time she gets to this island it'll be time for dinner — so he has to take her into account in any plan he makes. He doesn't find the redhead as annoying as he would have a few years ago, but he still misses the days where it was just his siblings and him, without any further complications.

Alec thinks they could probably rent a boat for the day and go fishing or scuba diving somewhere nearby. Isabelle has a license, and knowing Jace he'll probably insist on taking his during their stay, so they'll definitely be able to do it. It could be fun, and it'll be a nice change from the beach, since Alec is sure that even Isabelle won't last a month doing nothing but sunbathing, and she loves to sunbathe.

He's so lost in his thoughts, eyes drawn in turns between the sea and the sand, that he doesn't notice the stranger until it's almost too late - though how that was even possible is a mystery for the ages.

The man is tall — almost as tall as Alec, which is quite a feat — and he's wearing an outfit that Alec is fairly sure should look out of place on the beach, and yet suits him absurdly well. He's barefooted, polished shoes held in one hand — a perfectly manicured hand, Alec can't help but notice — and is actually kicking sand at the coming waves, laughing.

He turns to Alec and smiles, calling out a greeting that Alec can neither catch nor return because his heart stammers in his chest, and Alec's last thought before he trips and faceplants into the sand is oh no, he's beautiful.

Alec wants to stay down there forever. Maybe the sand will swallow him up, and if he's lucky the sea will take him, drown him and wash away his shame. His only saving grace is that no one else is on the beach to witness this terribly embarrassing moment, though considering that his only witness is also the most beautiful man Alec's ever seen in his life, it isn't much of a saving grace at all.

He doesn't get to wallow for long, as a golden-brown hand appears in front of his face, ringed fingers wiggling slightly. Alec stares, wondering if it's possible to combust from blushing too much.

"Need a little help there?" the man asks, and yes, he's definitely teasing Alec.

Deciding to accept his fate, Alec accepts the hand. "Thanks," he says as he lets himself be pulled up.

"You're welcome. I'm Magnus, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you." He then winks, eyes filled with mirth. "And you are…?"

"A-Alexander. I mean, Alec," Alec stutters. "Nobody calls me Alexander."

Magnus' smile only seems to widen. He opens his mouth to say something else when his phone starts ringing. It's a catchy tune that plays on the radio far too often in Alec's opinion, but it's peppy and energetic, and Alec can't help but think that it really fits Magnus.

Magnus pouts slightly as he reads his new message, a gesture that only serves in drawing Alec's eyes to his lips.

"Well, it seems that I have to go. My friends are wondering where I've vanished to," he sighs, looking deeply put upon. It looks and sounds grand, too, when he does it; theatrical even, like the world really is his stage. Alec likes it. He's kind of ashamed by how much he likes it. "It really was a pleasure to meet you, Alexander. We should do this again."

Still dumbfounded, Alec simply mumbles a, "Sure, yes, let's," before Magnus takes off in the direction Alec just came from, warm laughter ringing in the air after him. For a moment, Alec considers doing something crazy, like turning around and catching up to him, but in the end common sense wins out. It'd be creepy, and Magnus probably isn't even interested.

It'd be nice if he were, but when has Alec ever been that lucky?

.

Alec runs an additional mile that morning, just to get this meeting with Magnus out of his head. As a result, he gets back home later than he usually would, and his siblings are already awake. When he walks in with his now customary breakfast pastries, Jace ambushes him with all the desperation of a starving man, and it doesn't take long to figure out why.

"Breakfast, Alec? I made pancakes," Izzy greets him cheerfully, raising from her chair to kiss him on the cheek. She gestures at the stack of pancakes, and it's only thanks to years of desensitization that Alec manages not to recoil.

They're… lumpy, somehow. Some look half-burned and others are clearly undercooked, as they're still oozing in places.

The kitchen is very spacious, and very luminous. There's also a lot of chrome, which to Alec's mind only looks good when clean — otherwise it just really reminds him of those pictures of disastrous messes in children's books. Of course, that might also just be the fact that most of the messy kitchens he's seen in his life were the results of Isabelle's experimentations in cooking or baking.

Right now, the kitchen doesn't look clean at all. There are more bowls out than Alec even knew they had, and they're all filled with what look to be different takes on making pancake batter.

Honestly, you'd think that Isabelle could do this like everyone else — pick a recipe she knows works, learn it, practice it and maybe improve or play around with it — but no. Not Isabelle. She has to start from scratch every single time, with every recipe she decides to try. It really is no surprise that almost all of her attempts end up in disaster.

It's a mentality that served her well in her chemistry classes, eventually leading her to become the best forensic pathologist in New York City — and no, Alec absolutely isn't biased there — but in the kitchen it usually only leads to stomach aches. When they're lucky.

Dragging his eyes away from the disaster that the kitchen has become — and sighing because he just knows Izzy will rope him into helping her clean — he sets the paper bag containing the pastries on the table.

"No, thanks," he tells Izzy when she pushes a dish toward him hopefully. "I bought pastries," he says apologetically. Awful as she may be at this, Isabelle did try after all.

"Gimme," Jace moans, making grabby hands at the package. Laughing, Alec opens it and takes out a croissant for himself, letting his siblings fight for the rest as he pours himself a cup of coffee.

Isabelle, after all, isn't one to refuse free pastries, even if she stubbornly tries to finish her share of the pancakes she's made.

"You let her cook?" he hisses at Jace on their way out of the kitchen. They've put everything away and Izzy, always prepared, is already outside enjoying the sun. "Why would you do that?"

Jace raises his hands defensively. "Hey, hey, first of all you know we don't 'let' Izzy do anything. Second of all-"

"She woke up before you, didn't she?" Alec states for him, crossing his arms and staring at his brother pointedly.

"-she woke up before me," Jace finishes as Alec speaks. "Now, come on, that wasn't fair, there's no way you could have known that! And anyway, this is entirely your fault - you're usually back before either of us are awake. How come it was different this morning?"

Alec crosses his arms defensively. "Maybe I wanted to try a different route this morning," he says, immediately cursing himself when an unholy light enters Jace's mismatched eyes. He should have said the bakery was closed - that might have been a better excuse.

"Right," Jace drawls, smirking. "Any reason for that little detour, uh?" The way he wiggles his eyebrows makes it very difficult not roll his eyes at him, and Alec is not one to resist that urge.

"No," he states dryly, hoping that he can pass off the heat in his cheeks as sunburn or something similar.

From Jace's laugh, he will have no such luck. Looking around quickly - Izzy has an uncanny sense in appearing whenever Alec's love or sex life is in question (not that it is right now, since obviously nothing happened) - he hisses at Jace, "Nothing happened."

Jace doesn't look convinced, but in his defense, he does drop it, patting Alec on the shoulder once on the way to his room. "Well, you better hope that Izzy doesn't figure out that 'Nothing happened' too, or she'll never let you forget it."

Alec nods, thankful.

Nothing happened, so there's really nothing to tell Izzy. And anyway, what are the odds that he'll ever see Magnus again? They've crossed paths once, entirely accidentally - Alec doubts that the circumstances will repeat. Part of him regrets that, but mostly he's glad. Considering how much of a fool of himself he'd made during their ten minutes meeting, Alec dreads to think how much he could ridicule himself during a longer encounter.

.

As it turns out, the odds Alec has of seeing Magnus are high. Very high, because he's waiting on Alec right where they first met, decked in sinfully slim black shorts and sleeveless white top that showcases biceps Alec really, really wants to lick.

Honestly, how he doesn't faceplant into the sand again is a mystery to him.

"Hey there, stranger!" Magnus greets with a cheerful smile that makes his eyes crinkle a little.

"Magnus, hi," Alec breathes — if anyone asks, he'll blame the running for that, as well as for the way his cheeks heat up. "You look… nice," he adds, and promptly wishes the ground would open up and bury him.

Magnus laughs warmly, eyes running over Alec's body quickly. "You look nice too, darling," he replies, winking. "Shall we?"

Alec frowns, feeling a little confused. "Shall we what?"

Magnus falters a little, head tilting to the side. "Run? I apologize if I've imposed, but yesterday when I asked if we should do this again, you said 'yes', so I assumed that this would be fine." He gestures a little sheepishly at his attire as he says 'this', bare toes digging into the wet sand. His toenails are painted black, Alec notes.

"Oh, err, yeah, it's fine," Alec stutters, rubbing at his neck nervously. He clears his throat a little and goes for a smile. "I usually start up a while back though — not that I mind running with you," he adds in a rush when Magnus' eyes seem to lose a bit of their sparkle. "It's just… We will probably have to turn back around soon? I usually do when I reach that lighthouse," he explains, pointing at said lighthouse. It was barely visible at this point, but Alec knew from experience that it was also much closer than it looked.

"So… Is that okay with you?" Alec finishes, turning back to Magnus.

Magnus takes in their intended goal with a much more focused look than Alec thinks it deserves, licking his lips slowly. When he turns back to Alec, he's smiling again. "Sounds perfect," he says.

He doesn't even wait for Alec to start running, leaving him behind and a little dumbfounded as to what just happened.

And then Alec blinks and he starts running, catching up to Magnus easily. His lips are stretched into a painfully wide smile, but for some reason he doesn't want to make it stop.

"So, are we racing, then?" Alec asks in breathless gasps once he's running beside Magnus. "Is that how it is?"

Magnus laughs, sounding just as breathless as Alec feels. "Oh, that's how it is," he smirks, before putting on another burst of speed.

Magnus ends up reaching the rocky path that circles the lighthouse first, though Alec isn't far behind. He starts stretching though, and Alec has to advert his eyes before he does something he'd regret — like kiss him.

"You cheated," Alec states, more to fill the silence than anything else. Magnus looks so offended at the accusation that Alec can't help but laugh, painful and exhausting as it is with how breathless he still is from that race.

"I didn't cheat," Magnus protests, but his eyes are playful. "You, Alexander, are a sore loser."

"I- I'm not," Alec stammers, crossing his arms. "I started running before you, while you were clearly waiting for me to start — so obviously you were more rested than I was, and able to reach this place faster than I could."

Magnus merely smiles. "How about a wager then?"

"A wager?" Alec asks cautiously. Three younger siblings have taught him to be very wary of that word and its synonyms.

"Yes, a wager. Nothing bad, I assure you," he adds, waving a hand dismissively. "More like a rematch, perhaps. Same race, tomorrow morning? And since you're forewarned, you can just meet me back there as fresh and rested as I was this morning."

"Oh," Alec says. He considers it — it is a good idea. This race has been more fun than he'd have expected, and his competitive side is burning for a rematch. He nods. "Alright. So, what do I get when I win?" he asked, smirking.

"When you win? I like that confidence, Alexander, but it won't help you. You're going to lose."

"I guess we'll see, won't we?" Alec retorts, feeling uncharacteristically at ease.

"We will," Magnus assures him. When Alec turns back to him, he's stopped stretching, but he's also taken off his shirt.

Alec chokes on his own spit.

"Are you alright, Alexander?" Magnus asks. He's smirking, and Alec could swear that he knows exactly what he's doing to Alec.

"I'm fine," Alec replies tersely once he's done coughing. "Did you want to go swimming?"

"Hm?" Magnus questions, before looking down at his bare chest. "Oh no, I was just hot. Maybe next time, though."

"Right, next time," Alec says, strangled, wishing he could stop his eyes from drifting to Magnus' chest.

He thinks he might die if Magnus insists they swim together.

(Please, let him insist they swim together.)

Finally, Magnus rolls his shoulders — a movement that Alec very pointedly ignores, and he definitely doesn't notice the way the sun makes Magnus' skin shine like gold — and sighs contently.

"Should we head back?"

"Yeah, we should," Alec replies after a pause. He looks at the sky, eyes narrowed as he tries to guess what time it is from the position of the sun. "But, err, we can walk. I mean, if you'd like."

Magnus smiles, and Alec's breath catches in his chest — like this, it's entirely too easy to think that Magnus outshines the sun.

It's a little awkward at first, but then Magnus asks Alec if he's ever been to Corsica before and from there on the conversation just… flows.

Talking with Magnus is just… easy, so much so that Alec feels like he could do it forever. It's never been this easy for Alec to speak with someone who is basically a stranger, but they've spent maybe an hour together, if that, and already Alec has to remind himself that no, he hasn't known Magnus all his life.

It's a little exhilarating and very daunting, but after the third time Magnus laughs at one of Alec's stories about his siblings, he forces himself not to care about that last part. Besides, he's much too distracted by how closely he and Magnus are walking — close enough, in fact, that every so often their fingers graze against each other's, sending Alec's heart into overdrive.

In return for his stories, Magnus tells him a little about why he likes this island so much — which was the original point of their conversation, but had derailed when Alec had mentioned that his sister had been the one to pick the place for their summer vacation.

"I don't have siblings," Magnus confesses, tone taking on a fondly annoyed tinge that Alec only knows too well, "but I do have really close friends who are definitely as annoying as siblings."

Alec nods as Magnus pauses, chuckling.

"Anyway, back when we were eighteen and had just graduated high school, we wanted to celebrate by spending the summer together. Only we couldn't decide on a place — a fact that has been recurrent ever since, unfortunately, as we all have rather different tastes — and long story short, an argument broke out."

"Something which you had no part in, I'm sure," Alec drawls, biting back a smirk.

"Obviously," Magnus says haughtily, though his smiling eyes betray him. "I would never start an argument over summer destinations, Alexander, who do you think I am?" He put a hand over his heart, fingers spread widely, showcasing shimmering blue nail polish Alec was fairly certain hadn't been there yesterday, in a gesture of mock hurt.

"I didn't think you would," Alec swears, as solemnly as he can. Magnus eyes him with suspicion, as though he can't believe - rightfully - that Alec is being sincere.

"Anyway," Magnus starts again after a short pause, eyes still narrowed playfully, "my friend Catarina — she's our voice of reason, though don't tell her I called her that, she'd never let me hear the end of it." He pauses to send Alec a meaningful look, and Alec nods as seriously as he can manage.

"Catarina decided that since we were never going to agree on a place, we would just have to go somewhere none of us really wanted to go to."

"That's…" Alec blinks, biting back the 'crazy' at the tip of his tongue.

"Genius, I know," Magnus says, nodding wisely.

Alec clears his throat to mask a chuckle, and asks, "So, why did you all hate Corsica then?"

"I wouldn't say hate, per se. It was more of a… profound dislike." Magnus says the words like he can taste them — like they're something foul on his tongue — and a part of Alec's mind can't help but whisper adorable.

He shakes his head in an effort to dispel that thought — needless to say that it doesn't really work — and refocuses his attention on Magnus.

"Anyway, Ragnor didn't want to come here because this place is in France and he, bless his poor little British heart, can't stand France." He rolls his eyes, a fond smile quirking his lips. "Sometimes I swear his soul still lives in the eighteen hundreds."

"Don't say that to the locals," Alec retorts, smiling back. "They're pretty… independent."

Magnus huffs out a laugh. "Oh, trust me, we've noticed." There's a story there, and Alec burns to ask for it. But no, not right now.

Another time, maybe, and the thought blindsides him a little.

It shouldn't have — he had definitely been hoping to run into Magnus again that morning (even if he had also been in denial about it), after all.

But part of him wants to make this more than just a lucky happenstance. Part of him wants to see more of Magnus, wants to have more talks like this one, more moments like this one.

"So, as I was saying," Magnus says, an easy smile playing on his lips, "Ragnor hates France; and… Well, if we were going to go there, I would have rather gone to actual France."

"And what about Catarina, then?" he asks, barely able to contain his grin.

Magnus huffs out a laugh. "Oh, Catarina wanted to come here. She just… didn't let on until we actually got here."

"That's…"

"Devious?" Magnus chuckles. "Yeah, but we should probably have expected it. And it did turn out for the better, in the end. We had fun that summer, and we've been back every year — or thereabouts — since. And," he adds with a wink in Alec's direction, "if not for her we might never have met."

"Well, then I should thank her." Alec coughs, cheeks burning as he stares past Magnus and at the ocean.

"Please don't," Magnus replies, "she holds this over our heads enough as it is."

Alec thinks about it, and — well, he gets it. There are things his siblings lord over him too, and he understands not wanting to give someone more ammunition to use against him. He nods.

They walk back slowly, Magnus giving him small anecdotes and tidbits about the summers he's spent in Corsica over the years.

Time passes too quickly, and before Alec knows it, they're walking right past what he recognizes as the place he and Magnus met. They stop, and Alec thinks Magnus might be as reluctant to part ways as Alec is, because he doesn't move for a while either.

"So, tomorrow morning, same place, same time?" Magnus finally asks. Alec wants to tell him that they can stay here a little while longer, but he really has to go. He doesn't think Jace would forgive him for submitting him to Izzy's cooking two mornings in a row.

Also, if he doesn't leave now, he thinks he probably never will.

"Yeah, sounds good."

"It's a date then!" Magnus replies cheerfully before jogging back up to the road that overlooks the beach.

"Right." Alec manages through his strangled throat. "A date." He hopes Magnus can't hear him.

Still, he stays there, eyes following Magnus as the other man moves away. It's only once Magnus is out of sight that Alec jogs back home. He's so lost in his thoughts that he forgets to stop at the bakery and has to double back to do just that.

.

Breakfast goes well enough. Jace throws himself at the pastries Alec brings back like he hasn't eaten in two weeks, while Clary and Izzy watch him with a disgusted kind of fascination Alec himself is very familiar with.

Luckily, Alec knows his brother well, and he bought enough food to actually feed everyone, and not just Jace's bottomless stomach.

He's just about to bite into a croissant himself when Izzy asks him, out of the blue, "So, how was your run this morning, Alec? Did you meet anyone nice?" Her eyes twinkle in a way that simply can't be good, and Alec chokes on air.

"I — What?" He looks around, but there is no support to be found anywhere.

Jace just shrugs at him when their eyes meet, crumbs all over his mouth. "You were smiling, dude," he says, his mouth full. "You never smile."

Clary gives a mock shiver, though her face is perfectly straight. "It scared me. I thought you'd gotten replaced with some kind of… Well, with some actual human being."

Alec rolls his eyes at her. "Ah, ah, ah, very funny, Clary," he replies in his driest tone. He turns back to his sister, watching him with a wide grin. "Nothing happened," he lies. "It was just a normal run. I was just… excited for breakfast."

Jace snorts loudly. "Sure," he drawls. "Because it's so like you to be excited for 'breakfast'," he says.

Pointedly, Alec turns his face away and takes a bite out of his croissant, signaling he is done talking about this.

Even Clary looks at him knowingly at that though, and Alec is pretty sure he can feel his cheeks heating up. His mind can't help but wander back to Magnus and how amazing the other man had looked that morning — how much Alec wishes he could be back on that beach right now, instead of facing his family's teasing.

He also can't stop thinking about Magnus' last words. It's a date. What was that even supposed to mean?

"Earth to Alec, Earth to Alec," his brother's voice calls out. It snaps him out of his musing effectively enough, and he startles enough to bump his knees against the table leg painfully. He lets out a low hiss as he rubs it, grunting out a, "What?" to Jace.

Well, at least he's not thinking about Magnus now.

Izzy laughs at him while Jace at least has the decency to look apologetic — for about half a second — before he joins Izzy in her laughter.

Alec rolls his eyes at them. Ignoring the lingering ache in his knee, he repeats his question. "What did you want?"

He asks Jace, but Izzy's the one who answers, laughter still in her voice. "We were talking about what to do today. Since it's Clary's first day, I thought we should go to the beach, but Jace insist we should show her around town," she says, rolling her eyes hard like Jace's idea is the stupidest thing she's ever heard.

(Which, considering Jace's usual ideas, isn't such an unreasonable reaction.)

"So, Alec," Izzy continues, "beach or city?"

The word is out of his mouth before he even realizes he's said it. "Beach."

It's not until he notices the betrayed look Jace is shooting him as the girls cheer that he remembers he had told Jace yesterday that he'd help him get Clary to go visit the local towns with him on her first day here.

He shoots his brother an apologetic look and immediately adds, "But maybe we could get lunch in town and explore for a bit after that?"

They usually pack lunch or buy fast food from the food stands that seem to randomly pop up on the beach, but Alec guesses they can make an exception for this.

Luckily for him, the girls seem to be enamored with the idea, and agree to it readily enough.

Jace elbows him when they're not looking, and whispers, "What the hell was that?"

"Nothing," Alec replies, and he forces himself to stare at his breakfast in order not to blush. "I just… forgot for a while. Sorry."

He feels Jace's eyes on him for a long while, assessing him, before his brother hums. "Well, you'll have to distract Izzy this afternoon, then."

Alec grimaces. "Sure," he agrees, even though he's definitely not looking forward to it.

He returns to his breakfast, Jace loudly slurping his coffee beside him, and takes a moment to bask in the… Well, not the quiet, exactly, but the peaceful quality of the moment.

He'll have time to worry about Magnus and this (probably) not-date later.

.

It would be a lie to say that Alec's eyes don't roam the long expanse of sand in search of a familiar figure, just like it would be a lie to say that he isn't disappointed when Magnus doesn't magically appear before him.

But as disappointed as he is, he is also relieved. His morning run with Magnus felt… personal — not quite a secret, but something close. He doesn't feel ready to share those moments — or indeed the man responsible for those moments — with anyone yet, much less his well-meaning but nosy family.

There'll be plenty of time for that in the future, he tells himself, if — and that's a big if — anything happens. But right now, Magnus really is just a guy Alec has run with a couple of times, and as handsome as he is, it doesn't really mean anything.

It doesn't.

Even if Alec really wants to see him again and spent an embarrassing amount of time thinking about Magnus' skin, and muscles, and eyes (basically, Magnus' everything) already.

It really doesn't mean anything.

And Magnus saying 'it's a date' as they parted ways was just a saying — Alec would know if he had been asked out on a date.

Nevertheless, those thoughts stay with him and distract him enough that he doesn't notice Izzy sneaking up on him until he feels a pair of hands closing around his ankles and pulling him under.

He resurfaces spluttering. "Izzy!" he protests, though the word comes off strangled as he coughs up what feels like half the sea, but his sister is laughing at him, padding the water with one arm to stay afloat.

"Oh, it's on," he says, grinning dangerously as he sends a wave as large as he can make it over her.

She dives down with a shriek just in time to avoid it, but Alec is ready for the instant she swims back up and he pushes her down under with a laugh of his own.

He's about to release her when a small, slippery body jumps on his back and grabs his arms. "I've got him, Jace!" yells Clary's familiar voice, and before Alec can retaliate, a large wave hits him out of nowhere.

Clary releases him, laughing, and she swims to her boyfriend's side, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"What's this, 'gang up on Alec' day?" he grumbles, but even though his eyes sting and his mouth still tastes like salt and the sea, Alec finds it hard not to join in the mirth.

"Every day's 'gang up on Alec' day," Izzy chimes in, pushing her wet hair back with a wide grin.

But just as she opens her mouth to say something else, Jace hits her with another wave — and Clary, still hanging off his shoulders, sends Alec a playful wink before she drags her boyfriend underwater.

And just like that, it's a free for all.

When they stumble back to their towels much, much later, they're all almost out of breath, their limbs trembling as they collapse on sun-warm towels.

While they were playing around in the water, the wind had blown sand on his towel, and Alec can feel it sticking uncomfortably to his skin. That, and the oily remains of his sunscreen make him wrinkle his nose, but he's honestly too comfortable to move and try to shake out the sand off his towel.

Izzy, however, has no such problem, and soon enough three groans echo as they all get doused with the sand stuck to her towel. She laughs apologetically as she spreads it back down. She doesn't get to enjoy it for long, though.

Alec can see it clearly: Izzy lays down, stretching her limbs like a cat as she enjoys the sun. She puts on shades, but Alec can tell she also closes her eyes by the way she relaxes.

Too soon, because Jace creeps up on her from behind, a finger over his lips to signal Alec to keep quiet — not that Alec wants to get involved in this, not for anything in the world — and a handful of sand he's holding out in front of him.

Alec can see where this is going and he sighs. His eyes catch Clary's, who look as exasperated with Jace's behavior's as he feels, and they share a commiserating look.

Izzy springs up the instant the sand hits her stomach. Jace freezes like a deer caught in headlights, and he tries to back away. He chuckles nervously, hand coming to his wet hair before he seems to realize that it's still covered in sand, and so instead he tucks it behind him.

"Ah, nice weather we're having?" he tries, batting his eyelashes innocently.

Unfortunately for him, his puppy dog eyes haven't worked on anyone in their family in years. Alec suspects they don't actually work on Clary either, though the redhead enjoys chaos a little too much to not take the opportunity to cause some every once in a while.

"Jace," Izzy growls, "run." She gets up in one smooth move, the sand sticking to the material of her still wet swimsuit and launches herself at Jace.

Jace yelps and narrowly avoids her reaching hands — before Alec can even blink, they're already far off in the distance, slaloming between empty and not-so-empty towels.

Alec lets his head drop back on his towel with a groan, and he rests an arm over his eyes to shade himself.

Beside him, Clary laughs. "Do you think we'll get Jace back in one piece?" she asks, though she doesn't sound too worried.

Alec shrugs. "Probably." He pauses, judges the fact that Izzy's retribution had been so quiet at first — a bad sign if there was one — and corrects himself. "Maybe."

Clary hums. It's not hard to imagine the way she's staring into the distance, probably at Jace and Izzy having some kind of sand fight.

After having a water fight. Where they get the energy, he doesn't know.

"Probably because they don't get up at dawn, unlike some," Clary replies, teasing, and Alec realizes he inadvertently spoke out loud.

He's grateful for the sun in that instant — with how warm he feels already, there's no way Clary will be able to tell that he blushed at that.

"I like being productive," Alec retorts. He almost adds that he'd welcome Jace's and Izzy's company on his runs — if only to exhaust them so they didn't have the energy to do this kind of thing all day — but the words die on his tongue as soon as he realizes it would mean giving up that alone time with Magnus.

Even if they've only met twice so far.

He scowls, the expression luckily hidden by the arm still swung over his face, and bites back the 'I guess you wouldn't understand' he would have said a couple of years earlier.

"Besides," he says instead, "I seem to remember you waking up early more often than not whenever you stayed over."

"And yet you were always up before me," Clary retorts. She reaches over to pat him on the arm, and Alec braves the sunlight just so he can glare at her.

A sign that she knows him too well now — she just laughs at him as she retreats. "Whatever, old man. Take a nap or something, I'm going to go help Jace."

"Hinder him, you mean," Alec says dryly.

Clary shrugs, smirk playing on her lips. "All's fair in love and war."

A ruffling sound and she's gone, and Alec is alone with his thoughts again.

He doesn't really mean to, but he drifts off. It's not quite sleep, but he's definitely not entirely awake either.

His mind wanders back to Magnus, as it seems prone to do since they've met. Alec licks his dry lips and almost despite himself, he starts to wonder if Magnus would like his family.

If they'd like him.

They probably would, he thinks. Who wouldn't like Magnus?

The thought almost startles him and he rolls over, muffling a groan into his towel and only remember why that's a bad idea when he feels sand on his tongue.

And then, because no one's here to watch him be a disaster, he does it again.

.

Despite how pleasant the beach was, Alec is glad they're spending the afternoon in town instead. Yes, it's small and there isn't much to see — not to mention that his French is terrible and his siblings' isn't exactly stellar either — but at least he's not going to find himself swallowing sea water or sand again today.

He could swear that his lunch crunched underneath his teeth earlier — fish isn't supposed to crunch.

At least it did get him rid of those last grains of sand stuck in between his teeth, he reflects ruefully, staring at the paved streets.

"Thinking heavy thoughts, hermano?" Izzy asks suddenly, knocking her shoulders against his arm playfully.

Alec huffs out a laugh. "Not really."

"Good," Izzy replies. Her dark eyes sparkle mischievously as she adds, "Then you can tell me what our dear brother is up to with Clary."

Alec rolls his eyes. Jace and Clary vanished practically the instant they left the restaurant after lunch, and Jace's grateful look to Alec hadn't been anywhere near as discreet as the blonde would have hoped.

Of course, Izzy had noticed it.

"He told me he found a place he wanted to take Clary to," he explains. "A nice place."

Izzy gasps. Alec can almost feel her vibrate in excitement beside him, and he stops, frowning. "What is it?"

She slaps him on the arm playfully. "He's taking her to a 'nice place' he's found 'just for her'," she says, pronouncing the words like they're supposed to have a special meaning. "Do you think…?" She trails off, staring at him pointedly when he just arches an eyebrow at her questioningly, and she sighs.

"Honestly, how can you read so many classical books and still be so hopeless with romance, I'll never know," she states, shaking her head with exaggerated disappointment.

Alec scowls. "I can be romantic," he mutters.

Izzy pats him on the arm pityingly. "Sure, you can, hermano. Sure, you can."

He resists the childish urge to stick out his tongue at her and instead rolls his eyes again. "Do I think what?"

This time, Izzy is the one to roll her eyes. "Do you think Jace is, you know, going to propose?" The word propose comes off in an excited high pitch, and Alec winces before the words actually register with him.

"He doesn't have a ring yet," he blurts out when they do, and instantly curses himself for letting even that slip.

Isabelle looks overjoyed. "So, he has been thinking about it," she says.

Alec winces. "He has," he confirms.

"Good," Isabelle replies with a relieved nod. "I half-feared they'd just come back from Vegas married one day." She shivers in mock horror, and Alec bites back an amused smile.

A Vegas wedding would fit Jace — at least until he realized that both his and Clary's family, as small as they were, had missed it and he started panicking about it.

"Good point," Isabelle tells him when he relates his thoughts. "Clary's mother would probably act all disappointed with them too, and you know how Jace hates the thought of disappointing Clary's parents."

Oh, Alec knows. It's a little ridiculous, but he's also glad and proud of the way his brother found this happiness.

Even if it's with Clary Fray.

He shakes his head, dispelling thoughts of Clary and Jace and marriage. "He's not proposing," he says, just to put the words out there. "He just told me he found a place he thought she'd like to paint, and that he'd appreciate it if I could keep it a secret from Clary;"

Izzy looks almost offended. "Why didn't he tell me too?"

Alec shrugs but smiles at her apologetically. "He probably thought you'd be too excited at the thought not to share."

Isabelle grimaces but doesn't deny it. Alec doesn't doubt that she would have been able to keep this a secret if she'd had to, but he also knows how his sister hates keeping secrets from the people she loves, even if it's for their own good or for a surprise.

She always gets so excited by the idea of how the person will react that odds are she'll burst out with the surprise before said surprise is set to happen. Alec can definitely understand why Jace hadn't wanted to share this — and the only reason he had shared it with Alec himself is because he'd needed someone on his side to make sure they'd actually get away from the beach for long enough to go to his 'secret spot' or whatever he called it.

Not that Alec had been great at that this morning, with how distracted he had been.

Thankfully, Izzy is there to drag him back before he can start to dwell on it again — one would think that he's done enough of that already, but apparently Alec's mind disagrees because he just can't stop thinking about it.

Unfortunately, she decides that the only way to pass the time while Jace and Clary are doing whatever it is they're doing is to do some shopping.

Alec stares at her with barely concealed horror at that announcement. "Can't we just go back to the beach? Or the house?"

"Tempting," Izzy replies with a devilish smirk, "but no. I've been meaning to look around for knickknacks to bring back home, and this is the perfect opportunity."

"And I suppose you'll want me to hold your bags?" Alec adds dryly.

Izzy elbows him in the side. "Don't be such a man, Alec. I can carry my own purchases."

"But…"

"But I'd appreciate the help," Izzy finishes, just like Alec had known she would. He bites back a laugh as he relents.

"Fine. But we're not doing that all afternoon."

Izzy pretends to consider it before she nods. "I'll send Jace and Clary a text, telling them to meet us back here at some point;" She bites her lips. "Unless they want like, some time to themselves." She frowns and looks up at Alec. "What do you think?"

"You're asking me?" Alec chuckles. "Just tell them to meet us by the beach around five — or six," he quickly adds when he notices Izzy's about to interrupt, no doubt to protest to Alec's deadline, "if they're done with their thing."

Isabelle makes a show of being impressed and Alec rolls his eyes at her as she types her message. She tucks her phone back into the pocket of her white shorts, and then they're off.

And of course, it's during the only moment of this day where he isn't thinking about Magnus that Alec sees him.

Because somehow, this is his life.

He thinks about hiding for about half a second, but by then it's already too late. Magnus has seen him and he's coming toward them.

"Alexander! I didn't expect to see you again so soon," he says, sending Alec a wide smile that makes his knees go weak.

"I didn't really expect to be here either," he blurts out. Blinking, he adds, "Hi, Magnus."

His sister, beside him, is still mouthing along to Alexander, alternating between sending Magnus curious look and Alec knowing ones. Still, she nudges him gently, and taking that cue for what it is, Alec introduces them.

"Izzy, this is Magnus. We met yesterday morning on the beach. Magnus, this is my sister, Isabelle."

Magnus' smile widens. "A pleasure to meet you, Isabelle," he says, nodding. The gesture draws Alec's eyes to the jewelry around his neck — he hadn't been wearing any this morning (which, Alec belatedly realizes, made perfect sense), but now the handful of necklaces reflects the sunlight, just enough to make Magnus' outfit — and Magnus himself — otherworldly.

"Likewise," Isabelle replies. She eyes Magnus up and down, and smirk. "So, you're the one responsible for Alec forgetting to bring back breakfast yesterday, huh?"

Magnus' eyes widen in surprise for an instant before he smirks, his eyes drifting back to Alec. "I didn't know I had made such an impression, Alexander."

Isabelle snorts. "Trust me, you definitely have." She looks like she wants to add more, but a warning glare from Alec has her roll her eyes and change the subject. "So, Magnus," she says, "why don't you tell me a little more about how you and my brother met, since Alec won't talk about it."

"Izzy," Alec warns almost pleadingly, voice low in his throat.

But then to his surprise — though perhaps it shouldn't be, since everything he has seen of Magnus so far has only served to show him how kind the other man is — Magnus smiles at him as he answers. "It really was just like Alexander told you. We met on the beach while he was doing his morning run, and I ended up joining him. That's all."

Alec smiles back at him thankfully, heart skipping a beat in his chest when Magnus winks in return.

Izzy huffs in exasperation. "Well, you boys are no fun. Even if you have a fabulous sense of fashion, Magnus. You're definitely too good for my brother."

"Izzy," Alec groans as Magnus lets out a surprised chuckle. "Stop it." He looks back at Magnus. "I'm sorry about her."

He usually has to apologize for Jace rather than Isabelle, but apologizing for his siblings is something he's unfortunately very familiar with.

Magnus chuckles as Isabelle shoots him a glare. "It's fine," he says, and then the twist of his lips turns mischievous. "And you have to admit that your fashion sense is a little… simple."

Alec looks down at his clothes — a dark shirt and dark shorts — and he shrugs. "They're comfortable," he retorts, feeling almost defensive for no reason he can pinpoint. "Not all of us can pull off… this, you know," he says, gesturing at Magnus' vibrant outfit.

Even hearing Isabelle's half-muffled chuckle isn't enough to make him regret the impulsivity though, not when Magnus looks so pleased at the compliment.

"Why, thank you, Alexander," Magnus replies, and the way he almost purrs Alec's name has him bite back a shiver.

"You're welcome," he replies automatically.

An almost awkward silence settles in between them after that — luckily, the store is empty apart for the two of them and Isabelle, because not only had Alec somehow forgotten where they were, but this whole thing has been weird enough without adding more people to it too. And strangers at that.

It's odd, though, how odd it feels between them. This morning, or yesterday, when it was just them on the beach, things hadn't felt nearly that awkward. They had felt natural, and the conversation had flowed easily. Nothing like the stilted mess they've experienced here.

It kind of hurts, if Alec's being honest with himself, because this is what he was afraid of — that outside of the perfect bubble of their morning run, he and Magnus wouldn't… fit together.

Still, it might just be the surprise of stumbling upon Magnus, while accompanied by his meddling sister that caused this… awkwardness.

He takes a brief moment to thank the heavens for the fact that Jace isn't here as well — Izzy's intermittent snickers are more than enough for him, thank you very much. Unfortunately, he has no doubt that Jace will know everything Izzy does before even tonight, so he just sighs and accepts his fate.

"Well…"

"I…"

They speak simultaneously and pause with the same almost nervous chuckle.

Well, it's definitely nervous on Alec's part. It's just difficult imagining Magnus being nervous about anything.

"You go first," Magnus says. "I insist."

Alec, who had been about to insist on the same, sends him a mock glare. "I was just going to say that Izzy and I had to get going."

Magnus' face falls a little, but Alec doesn't notice it. He's sending Izzy a look that tells her she'd better support him in this endeavor, and she sends him back a half-smile, along with a glare that Alec suspects is for daring to think she'd do otherwise.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Magnus," Izzy says genuinely. "I hope we'll meet again."

"It was a pleasure to meet you too, Isabelle," Magnus replies. "And I hope so too," he says, but his eyes are on Alec as he says it.

"And of course, it's always nice to see you, Alexander," Magnus adds with a smile. It's different than the one he addressed to Izzy though — deeper, almost. Warmer.

"It was nice to see you again too, Magnus," Alec hears himself mumble before he half runs out of the store, Isabelle on his heels.

Despite the overwhelming heat, he finds that he breathes easier outside — even if he also does already miss Magnus' presence.

Isabelle at least has the presence of mind to wait until they're out of earshot to start laughing at him.

"Well, that wasn't a disaster at all," she states in between her chuckles.

Alec glares at her, but he fails to summon any heat behind it when she looks like this — even if her amusement is at his expanse.

"Very funny," Alec retorts. "I'm glad I could amuse you."

Izzy sobers up and rests a hand on his arm. "Oh, come on, you have to admit it's a little bit funny — I haven't seen you this flustered over a cute guy since…. Well, since ever, actually."

Alec tries to scowl and fails. "Is it that obvious?"

Isabelle shrugs. "Sort of." She smirks. "But you should have let me know that was your type — I'd have tried to set you up with some guys I know if I'd known."

Alec grimaces. "No, thank you. And he's not my type."

"The way you couldn't take your eyes off of him begs to differ," Izzy replies with a snort.

Alec doesn't like this conversation one bit, but Isabelle did help him escape the awkwardness, and he knows she wouldn't push if he asked her to stop.

Somehow, that helps him say it. "I don't have a type," he confesses. "It's just… Magnus." Magnus' name falls from his lips almost like something grand, and yet it doesn't seem to encompass all that Alec has seen in him — and all the things that he knows he hasn't yet, but wants to. "He's just… I don't know." He shrugs, the words dying on his lips.

He almost expects his sister to laugh again, but Izzy only looks at him with soft eyes. "You really do like him, don't you?"

"I've known him for two days," he replies, but the protest feels weak even to himself.

"Remind me how long it took for Jace to profess his undying love to Clary again?" Izzy retorts, arching an eyebrow at him pointedly.

"Over a year," Alec replies, even though he knows that this isn't what Izzy meant.

Because yes, Jace had taken over a year to tell Clary he loved her, but he hadn't waited nearly that long to start singing the praise of this fiery girl he'd met at a club.

"Fine," Alec says reluctantly when Izzy keeps staring at him, her eyes judging him. "It took him maybe a day. But that's different!"

"How, exactly?" Izzy asks, sounding genuinely curious. "You like him, he likes you, I don't —"

"He doesn't like me," Alec interrupts. "I'd know."

Izzy stares at him, gaping a little. "Right," she says, drawing out the word for what feels like forever. "How stupid of me — he was clearly flirting with the other 'Alexander' in that store earlier too." She rolls her eyes at him.

"That wasn't flirting," Alec denies. "That's just… He's just like that around people."

Izzy doesn't look convinced. "And you would know that on account of, what? Having seen around so many people during your morning runs?"

Alec scowls at her and very pointedly refuses to admit that she may have a point.

"Can you just… let it go? Please?"

Izzy doesn't look particularly happy about it, but she does agree to change the subject.

To his surprise, she doesn't even mention Magnus when Jace and Clary arrive — or even later on, for that matter.

She's definitely up to something, but in the meantime, he's grateful for the respite.

.

"It's not a date. It's not a date," Alec repeats to himself. Somehow, with everything that had happened the previous afternoon, he had ended up forgetting Magnus' earlier declaration.

Or he had, until he had woken up way before his own alarm, heart racing in his chest as the word date suddenly came back to haunt him.

Which is why he's now in the bathroom, trying to psych himself as his time to head out nears.

"What's not a date, hermano?"

Surprised by the sudden voice, Alec jumps. "Holy shit, Izzy! You scared me!"

"I saw that," Isabelle smirks. She leans in against the bathroom door, effectively blocking Alec's only way out.

(Well, not only, but he likes to think that he's not as far gone as to consider using the window. Yet.)

"So," she repeats, eyes sparkling with delight, "what's not a date?"

"Nothing," Alec replies quickly. "What are you even doing up so early anyway?"

Izzy shrugs, smirk still on her lips. "What, you think you have the monopoly on waking up before the sun comes up?"

Alec scowls. "It's not that early," he protests weakly. "The sun is up."

"Barely." Izzy stares at the window pointedly — and indeed, the sky is still mostly dark. She focuses back on him, smirk coming back full force. "So, you have a 'not a date' with Magnus, huh? Still insists that 'he doesn't like you like that'?"

Alec rolls his eyes. "I haven't changed my mind since last night, no. And it's not a date."

"But it is with Magnus, right?"

Alec sighs. "Yes. We're meeting up to run together again. Just running," he adds quickly the instant he sees Isabelle starting to open her mouth.

She closes it with a disappointed click. "Well, have fun on your 'not a date' date with Magnus, then."

She moves out of the doorway and Alec leaves the bathroom, deciding he's spent enough time there for the day already. There's only so much staring into a mirror he can do before he drives himself mad.

Halfway down the hall, he pauses and turns around, frowning as he sees Izzy back in the doorway, watching him with a small smile. "Why are you awake again?"

Izzy shrugs. "Maybe I just wanted to see you off this morning," she says, still smiling. When Alec only arches an eyebrow at her, she rolls her eyes at him. "Don't worry, I don't plan on staying up for longer than I have to. I'm going back to bed once you're gone."

Alec huffs out a laugh. "I should have known."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Izzy retorts, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Just that you're not a fan of 'waking up before the sun comes up'," he replies pointedly.

"That's just because I'm not crazy." She shakes her head at him, looking eerily like their mother used to when she found Alec already up and waiting for her in the kitchen back when they were kids.

"There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of the fact that I wake up early," Alec says, crossing his arms. "And I like running on the beach."

Izzy snorts. "I'm sure you do, hermano. Just like I'm sure that the fact that today you're up even earlier than normal has absolutely nothing to do with a certain man you 'don't have a date with', huh?"

Alec scowls at her. "If you must know, there was this car honking down the street and it woke me up."

It's true, but Izzy doesn't really look convinced.

In her defense, thinking about Magnus did keep Alec up for a while last night — and it had also kept him from falling back to sleep this morning because his heart was racing and he couldn't calm it down.

Not that he'll admit to it, of course, because there isn't anything going on. He just enjoys Magnus' company, and apparently Magnus enjoys his, and they both enjoy running. Together.

Which is why he's going to go now, before his little sister manages to make him say something he'd rather not voice.

"I'll be back with breakfast," he says, even though it's unnecessary — Izzy knows that already, he's been doing it since they got here.

Except for that morning where he met Magnus and forgot and she decided to cook, so actually, it's probably best that he does remind her of that.

"We're going to get fat if you keep bringing us pastries," Izzy retorts, smiling, and Alec rolls his eyes at her.

His sister is probably the last person who needs to worry about her weight. In fact, if any of them should worry, it's Jace, since he's the one who seemingly has a bottomless pit for a stomach.

"Do you want me to stop, then?" he asks her, eyebrow arched.

"Don't you dare!" she hisses in return, eyes narrowing into slits.

Alec laughs. "Well, then maybe don't complain about it."

Izzy huffs out a frustrated sigh, and then stifles a yawn, but her lips are twitching — she's never been good at hiding her amusement. "Just for that, you should bring me back some of those chocolatey things. You know the ones."

Alec does know — Izzy's been buying those pastries every opportunity she's had. He smiles. "Yes, ma'am," he quips. He ducks out of the way as she tries to swipe at him with a towel that, unless he's mistaken, used to be next to the sink.

Izzy pouts but ends up putting the towel back when Alec stares at her pointedly. "You're no fun sometimes, hermano."

Alec rolls his eyes at her but doesn't reply. He closes the distance between them with two brisk steps and presses a kiss against the top of her head. "Go back to sleep," he says. "Or you're going to be tired all day." And insufferable, he doesn't add, though from Izzy's elbow to his side, she gets the message anyway.

"Yes, Mom," Izzy retorts, and Alec swallows back a chuckle as she slinks back to her room.

He stands there for a moment, amused, until the first actual rays of sunshine hit his face, forcing him to blink rapidly and shade his eyes, and making him realize that he spent longer chatting with Izzy than he had meant to.

Cursing, he hurries out the door.

He thinks he hears Izzy's laughter echo after him, but it fades quickly as he gets further away from the house, until he's pretty sure he'd made it up.

.

Magnus is waiting for him when Alec gets there, looking — somehow — even more attractive than he had the previous time they'd met.

He smiles widely as soon as he sees Alec and waves him over.

"Hey," he says, "have you started without me?"

"Hey," Alec replies, smiling. He frowns a little when the question registers though, confused for an instant before that Magnus just saw him run here. He shakes his head, smiling back sheepishly. "I just didn't want to be late," he explains. "Izzy held me up this morning." He shrugs. "But I'm all yours now."

"Fantastic."

Even though this is really only the second time they're running together, and the third morning they meet, they fall into an easy rhythm of running, chatting and impromptu short bouts of racing that inevitably end with them out of breath and laughing.

It's nice.

It's really nice, even, and Alec can't keep a grin off his face no matter how hard he tries.

Not that Magnus seems to be any better. Alec's pretty sure that if Magnus starts to grin any wider, he'll outshine the sun.

The run goes as well as it had the previous day. If anything, it's even better, which Alec hadn't actually thought possible. They race again, and Alec wins — "Just barely," according to Magnus, but as Alec reminds him, 'barely' is still winning.

And maybe it's the fact that Magnus has met Izzy, or maybe they really do just click together, but the conversation flows even more easily between them now, as though

It does mean that they're not as invested in the actual running as Alec had been on the mornings before he had met Magnus, but honestly, Alec couldn't care less. He's coming to realize that nothing might be as interesting as hearing Magnus spin a tale that has to be at least 50% lies and fabrications.

(Alec refuses to believe that some of those things happened, because no matter how great his legs look, there's no way Magnus managed to pass as a princess well enough to get proposed to on accident — though he'll definitely accept that Magnus was drunk enough that accepting a bet from his best friends seemed like a good idea at the time.)

They're so reluctant to part, in fact, that in the end Magnus ends up escorting Alec to the bakery. It prompts another story, this time about Magnus dating the son of a baker — and Alec'd be lying if his heart didn't skip a little at the 'son' part of that sentence — and getting free pastries for the three months that relationship had lasted.

Alec buys the pastries his sister wanted and breakfast for everyone else, and then, because he can't actually resist an opportunity to spend more time with Magnus, and even if it means being a little late coming back home, he buys two more of those pastries for him and Magnus to share. It's entirely apolaustic of him, but he can't resist.

They eat them sitting cross-legged on the beach, and the early morning sun makes Magnus' skin shine golden. It catches in his hair too, and Alec spends entirely too long staring, trying to figure out what colors the sun brings out in Magnus' hair.

They finish their own food quickly enough, and when Magnus starts to make a move for the paper bag Alec set down between them, Alec laughs as he stops him. He tries to glare, but his lips keep twitching up.

(He can't remember the last time he was this happy around someone who wasn't his family.)

"Come on, Alec, you got plenty, I think you can spare one. For me?" Magnus bats his eyelash, lips jutting out a little, half-grin, half-plea.

Alec shakes his head and tugs the back closer. "Those eyes won't work on him, I have three younger siblings," he points out dryly.

It's only approximately fifty percent a lie.

"Besides," he continues, smiling wryly, "Izzy would murder me if I didn't come back with her daily dose of sugar."

Well, maybe murder is a bit of a harsh word — but she would definitely make him live to regret not following on her request. And that's without taking into account what would happen if she found out that Alec had actually bought her what she wanted only to give it to Magnus instead.

Still, staring into Magnus' shining eyes as the man makes grabby hands for the food, Alec is sorely tempted to just do it anyway.

"I'd protect you," Magnus coaxes, pouting. It is, however, slightly offset by the way his eyes sparkle with mirth.

Alec stifles a laugh. "Thanks. But unfortunately, I don't think even you could protect me when it comes to Izzy's wrath."

The sparkle gets stronger. "Well, I'm not afraid of your sister, Alexander."

This time, Alec chuckles. He almost replies with something like, 'You should be,' but in the end he just shakes his head. "On your head be it."

Magnus' smile widens. "Does that mean…?"

Alec shoots him a dry look. "I suppose that what Izzy doesn't know can't hurt… And I guess I did buy more than she technically needs…" He smirks as Magnus catches on.

"Aw, you'd risk your sister's wrath for me?"

And just like that, the easy atmosphere between them turns… Weighted, somehow. Alec loses his breath.

He tries to wave it off by saying he's simply curious about those infamous pastries — which he is, since Izzy never lets anyone take as much as a bite off the things and Alec's never really been much of a sweets person when left on his own — but although Magnus seems to accept the excuse, Alec is pretty sure the other man is just humoring him.

They do part ways after that though, but that moment stays with him as he walks back home.

Izzy, of course, ambushes him as soon as he crosses the threshold. Her arms are crossed and she stares him down in a way that would be scarily reminiscent of their mother, if not for the fact that Alec has never see Maryse Lightwood smirk like the cat that got the canary the way Izzy is now.

"So…" she drawls, lips trembling up into a grin. "How was your date?"

"It wasn't a date," is Alec's kneejerk answer, but then his stomach drops.

He remembers that moment, and the way their hands had grazed, just slightly — how that had felt electric.

He had bought them food too. They had essentially shared their breakfast on the beach, which, well, come to think of it is pretty romantic.

He shoves down the panic threatening to rise up his throat — Izzy doesn't look fooled one bit, but then again Alec can't really remember the last time he actually managed to hide something from her and she didn't just let him think he had.

Little sisters are just so troublesome sometimes.

"It wasn't a date," he repeats, injecting as much certainty into his voice as he can muster.

Izzy arches an eyebrow at him and slowly, pointedly, shakes her head at him. Exaggerated disappointment is visible on every line of her face, and Alec feels himself sending her back his driest eyeroll.

"Nothing happened," he says, perhaps a little too defensively.

(No, definitely too defensively, from the way Izzy's knowing smirk only widens.)

"Sure, if you say so, hermano."

She sidesteps to let him pass, and she snatches the paper bag from his arms as he does. Its bottom is now slightly sticky with grease, and there's definitely some sand still stuck to it, and Izzy wrinkles her nose at it.

She bounces up ahead, almost running up to the patio where everything's set up for breakfast already.

Jace greets him with a "Had a nice run?" that sounds way too teasing, and Alec turns to glare at Izzy.

Izzy just shrugs back, a silent What, did you expect me not to tell him? readable on her body. Which, point.

he had actually expected this even sooner.

But still. He scowls at Jace as he plops down on a vacant chair and starts to pour himself a cup of coffee. "It went great, actually," he replies, tone clipped.

He can see Jace open his mouth again, expression bright in the way it usually is before he a) puts his foot in his mouth again or b) says something he thinks is hilarious (points a) and b) are, unfortunately, not always unconnected), but luckily, Clary intervenes, slapping her hand over his mouth before Jace can speak.

Jace glares at his girlfriend, betrayed, and Alec sends her a grateful look.

Clary merely shrugs, still smiling sunnily as Jace is now undoubtedly licking her palm so she'll let him go — Alec and Izzy learned about this years ago, and have since then used other means to get Jace to stop talking when he really should.

Alec's still not sure he actually likes Clary, but he can admit that she and his brother and pretty well-suited. Somehow.

He starts sipping his coffee, more to stop anyone from asking him any more questions than because of a true need for caffeine — the combination of the sea air and Magnus' presence is, apparently, just as effective at energizing him.

His mind wanders back to this date/not-date, and he finds himself wondering… Was it a date? Or is he reading too much into things?

He's so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn't realize Izzy's been calling out his name until she knocks their feet together.

She smirks at him knowingly, and Jace takes advantage of the situation to ask, "Earth to Alec, Earth to Alec, are you with us?", before dissolving into giggles like the child he sometimes still is.

Alec rolls his eyes back at him, and asks Izzy, "What did you want?"

"We were just wondering if you had any plans for today, or anything you wanted to do — or if you're fine with just wanting to go to the beach."

It's clear from the girls' pointed looks which option he's supposed to agree with, but truthfully, a day of mindless fun sounds just about perfect right now. He's not sure he'd be able to focus on anything properly right now, not with the way his mind keeps wandering back to Magnus and how… striking he had looked earlier.

Jace's groan at Alec's answer is drowned out by the two women cheering, and Izzy presses a light kiss on Alec's cheek as she runs back to her room to change into her bikini, Clary on her heels.

"You traitor," Jace hisses, still at the table and across from him, before he too stands up and goes to change.

Alec laughs until he realizes that they've left him with the cleaning up, but well, he supposes that it's fair, in a way. He is, after all, already wearing his swimming suit.

…

And no, he had not put it on underneath his running shorts on the off chance that Magnus might want to go for a quick dive after their run ended today.

(But really, yes, he had.)

Reflecting on it as he piles up the empty plates and takes them back to the kitchen, he thinks he can only half-regret that this didn't happen.

After all, their impromptu breakfast had been just as good of an ending to their running. Alec definitely doesn't regret that.

.

The next few mornings are more of the same, to be honest. Once, Alec gets there before Magnus, but the rest of the time — even when he tries to get there earlier than their sort of tacitly agreed upon time — Alec walks up to the beach to find Magnus waiting there for him, skin glowing in the early morning sunlight like some kind of divine being.

They run and race, and they laugh and talk.

There is an awful lot of talking considering they're really only supposed to run together.

But well, if Alec's being honest with himself, it was never exactly all that this was.

But he's hesitant on how to broach the subject. For all that he's now pretty sure Magnus is bisexual and (hopefully) interested, Alec doesn't really have a lot of experience in this type of things.

It'd be easier if they had met back in New York, he reflects somewhat wryly as Magnus gestures grandly to accentuate his point on why endangered species should be more protected (Alec's not quite sure how they ended up talking about this, but all he cares about is that it proves that Magnus is both smart and gorgeous, and if Magnus keeps discussing politics while shirtless Alec might die a little).

But no, instead they had to meet on an island off the French coast, and while he's gathered that Magnus lives in Brooklyn, which actually isn't that far from Alec's own place by some stroke of luck, Alec's also aware that most summer romances stay just that. Summer romances.

And there's nothing wrong with that, really. But that's not what he wants.

And he's not quite sure how he's supposed to say that without sounding like a crazy person overly invested in a relationship that isn't even real (yet).

Because the thing is, Alec really likes Magnus. He likes him more than he thought it was possible to like another person he's known for only a couple of weeks; and it's not quite love, but it could be.

It could be, and that's both terrifying and exhilarating, because their days in Corsica are numbered and yet neither of them seems ready to be the first to broach the subject of 'when we're back in America…'.

He thinks about it a lot, though. So much so, in fact, that the words burn on his tongue sometimes, like when Magnus looks particularly incensed at some injustice he's heard about on the radio or on TV, or when he looks so betrayed by the universe when they see someone running the same trail as them but in a neon outfit that even Alec, who knows next to nothing about fashion, recognizes as out of date.

"It's a crime, Alexander. A crime against fashion," he states in an urgent type of whisper, outrage tugging at his lips, and Alec laughs every time.

He knows they shouldn't judge. The people wearing these outfits are usually older — old enough, in fact, to have been young when those types of outfits were actually fashionable, and so for them it's probably just something they're used to.

But still, Alec has to agree with Magnus on this: why anyone would want to go outside wearing bright neon green shorts and a yellow shirt that is equally blinding is beyond him.

So yes, he thinks about it. Because Alec never really paid it much attention but he's fairly sure he saw worse outfits back home, and he's started to daydream about Magnus accompanying him on his daily runs back there too.

(He's never really done this kind of projection into the future with any of the other guys he's been interested in over the years, at least not this quickly, and that, too, is honestly a little scary.)

His siblings, however, are predictably merciless when it comes to his doubts.

"Just ask him out already," Izzy has taken to telling him at pretty much every opportunity she gets. "He definitely likes you, and you're practically dating already."

Alec rolls his eyes back at her every time, but he can feel his resolve getting a little weaker each time too.

Jace pretends not to care, but he corners Alec once to tell him that, "You know I'm on your side here, but maybe Izzy has a point. You've been pining, Alec." His face makes a weird expression before he adds, "Really, do yourself a favor and ask the man out. It doesn't have to go anywhere."

Alec somehow manages not to let slip that this is at least half the reason why he hasn't tried to see if maybe Magnus would meet with him outside of their scheduled run, and Jace pats him on the arm once, before awkwardly departing — undoubtedly in Izzy's direction, to gossip about Alec's love life (or lack thereof) like the little old ladies they secretly are at heart.

He'll ask Magnus before they leave, he resolves. He'll ask him if maybe he wants them to keep meeting once the summer is over, and if maybe they could grab a drink — or a meal — sometime.

That way, if Magnus says no, or isn't interested, they'll still have had this. The summer, and all the mornings they've shared and will share.

Alec really should have known the universe doesn't quite work that way.

.

So far, every time they've met up on the beach, Magnus greets Alec with an exuberant smile and a cheerful, "Alexander!" that always makes Alec's stomach twist.

This still happens on the morning two weeks after they've met, but this time Magnus' enthusiasm fades into a grimace before they can set off.

Alec falters. "What is it?"

"Have you watched the news recently?" Magnus asks. "More particularly the weather reports?" He looks almost worried, and Alec finds himself frowning in response.

Still, he shrugs. "Not really, no." He's never really been one for doing so — checking the sky in the morning usually tells him everything he needs to know, especially here. "Why?"

Magnus stares out into the beach, half-scowling. "Well, they said yesterday we were on jellyfish alert. And, as much as I hate to say it, it looks like they've gotten it right."

Oh. Suddenly that scowl makes a lot more sense. Even so, they should be fine as long as they stick to the sand, shouldn't they?

He says so to Magnus, who shakes his head. "I almost tripped over at least three coming over here. They washed up on the beach sometime during the night, probably, and they're definitely dead — but unfortunately, dead doesn't mean harmless when it comes to these… creatures."

It's a serious enough subject that Alec probably shouldn't laugh, but Magnus' tone and disgusted scowl at the word 'creature' makes it hard not to.

"I'm guessing you don't like jellyfish then," Alec replies dryly.

"No, whatever gave you that idea?" Magnus fakes a surprisingly good innocent look, and Alec laughs.

Magnus sobers up. "But seriously, they're… fine, I guess, when they're in an aquarium. Where they can't hurt anyone. But this just means the beach is out for today, and I'm not risking death just for a run."

Alec smiles. They've started walking without really meaning too, and they're now standing almost directly above one of the dead jellyfish spread out on the beach. Now that Alec's looking, actually, he feels like he's seeing them everywhere, but truth be told there are probably less than a dozen he can see.

They're small, only around the size of a fist, and pink. It's an ugly shade too, which only accentuates how grotesque their viscous bodies look washed up on a beach and half covered in sand.

"I don't think they're the deadly kind, actually," he notes idly.

Magnus shoots him an unimpressed look. "Well, if you want to step on one and get burned or poisoned, you can go ahead. Without me," he adds pointedly.

Alec stares at him for a moment, taking in the carefully relaxed lines of his body. It's too perfect to be anything but forced, though, and Alec shakes his head. "Okay, fine. We don't have to run." He rolls his eyes a little, nudging Magnus' shoulder with his own gently. "I didn't really want to either, you know." He exaggerates a shiver. "Jellyfish."

To his surprise, Magnus actually laughs at that, the sound bright and crisp as it rings through the air.

"I thought you said these were fine?" he asks, nodding at the dead animal at their feet.

"I said they weren't deadly," Alec corrects. "That doesn't mean I like them or want to step on one. I'm not insane."

The look Alec receives at that strongly implies That remains to be seen, and his lips quirk up in a smile as he huffs out a laugh.

Eventually, though, their easy amusement peppers out and they find each other just standing there, staring at each other a little awkwardly.

Alec licks his lips and turns away, eyes roaming over the large expanse of sand instead. It feels odd to say he knows it well by now, but it's true. Alec does feel like he knows this beach.

He's spent hours with Magnus there, and with his family too. It is almost… disquieting, knowing that continuing this trend today is compromised, maybe most of all because so far, all that he and Magnus have done has been to run there, that time with Isabelle notwithstanding.

The beach, and running, is the perfect excuse for them to meet, but today they don't have that.

They don't have that, and yet Magnus is still there, watching him.

Alec makes a split-second decision. "We don't have to run today." And then, just as Magnus' expression starts to fall, he quickly adds, "We could maybe just walk around town? I know nothing's open at this time of the day, but at least there shouldn't be any risk of us 'dying'." He smirks as Magnus rolls his eyes at him.

But still, Magnus' face softens as he answers. "That sounds like a great idea." And then his eyes widen as he looks down. "We don't have shoes, though," he points out, and he says it in such a dry tone, almost as if he's surprised by this fact, that Alec barely manages not to laugh.

"Right." Shoes are kind of obsolete for running on the beach — he'd tried it once and never again, because the sand had gotten inside his socks and had felt so distracting that Alec had ended up taking off his shoes and carrying them on the way back.

In town, however, they'd be walking on asphalt. Alec can't imagine it being comfortable barefooted.

He winces and wiggles his toes in the sand absently. "I don't suppose you brought a pair of shoes with you and simply have left them somewhere?" Magnus just arches an eyebrow at him, unimpressed, and Alec huffs a laugh. "Thought not," he says in a mutter, almost to himself.

He rolls his shoulders. "We have a few pairs of flip-flops at home, if you don't mind wearing those?"

Alec can't really see them being Magnus' style, but he figures they're better than nothing.

(The day after they arrived, Jace and Izzy had gone on a sort of shopping spree and bought a variety of things for the beach. Most of those haven't actually been used yet, and amongst them are a truly impressive collection of flip-flops, because of course Jace couldn't pick just one, and then he had to buy some for everyone.)

As Alec thought, Magnus grimaces a little. He finally shrugs, though, dramatically benevolent as though he's doing Alec a favor by accepting.

… Which, let's admit it, isn't actually that far off from the truth, since Alec really just doesn't want to part with Magnus yet.

"I think I'll survive," Magnus replies, his tone half-exasperated, half-amused.

Alec smiles back, a little helplessly, and they set off toward the beach house.

It's not a long walk, just a few minutes really, but with Magnus by his side it might as well last hours. Their hands graze as they walk, sending a small jolt of electricity up Alec's arm every time and making his heart race, but even so, Alec can't find it in himself to pull away.

Time… stretches. That's really the only word for it. Alec isn't actually sure if that's a consequence of Magnus' presence, or if something in Alec is making him feel like time is running slower than usual, simply because he doesn't want those moments with Magnus to end.

But as always, they do.

The house is silent as a tomb when they reach it — not that Alec had really expected anything differently — and he gestures at Magnus to stay quiet.

It's probably unnecessary — he'd told the other man that his siblings should probably still be asleep and that they'd have to be discreet — but he feels better about the reminder. Magnus, luckily, doesn't seem to take offense and just smiles, placing his index fingers over a mischievous smirk. He winks, once, and Alec wills himself not to blush.

They pad silently to the kitchen. From what Alec remembers, they'll find the flip-flops near the patio/veranda (Alec has no idea how to differentiate these and doesn't really care to), but that means crossing the kitchen first.

"So, Alexander, what horrors should I expect?" Magnus quips teasingly in a low tone, and Alec is about to reply when they enter the kitchen and his eyes lock with Jace.

Jace, who is very much awake and currently drinking coffee directly from the pot, his blonde hair flopping messily over his forehead.

For an instant, Jace falters. He drops the pot back on the table. Alexander, Jace mouths at him, incredulous.

Shut up, Alec mouths back, glad that the heat from the sun means his cheeks are already red.

(Even if he's been inside for long enough that it doesn't matter anymore.)

"You must be Jace." Magnus' voice breaks the somewhat awkward silence. He doesn't look very impressed — not that Alec blames him, when this is Magnus' first impression of his brother.

"And you must be Magnus," Jace replies, grinning widely. He sends a wink Alec's way, and Alec glares back, trying not to shift on his feet.

"I see my reputation precedes me." Magnus arches an eyebrow at Alec, questioning, but there's no heat to it.

Jace answers for him. "Alec may have mentioned you. Once. Or twice." He smirks. "And of course, you've met Izzy already."

"That I have," Magnus replies, lips quirked up into a smile. Alec would almost be offended, except that he was there, and he knows his sister. She had been playing nice.

Jace nods and drums his fingers against the counter. "So, what are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be out running at this time of day?" He smirks and turns to Magnus. "Thanks for that, by the way. If not for you, Alec would have found a way to drag me out in the morning instead."

Alec bites back a groan as he glares at this brother. "Running is good for you," he retorts, crossing his arms defensively. "And the scenery is much better than in New York, too, I don't see why you'd complain."

Jace snorts, his eyes darting to Magnus again. "Oh, yes, I'm sure you're doing this for the scenery."

Alec glares harder and curses the fact that the counter is solid all the way through. Otherwise, he'd have kicked Jace already, and it would have felt good. He expects this kind of behavior from Izzy, but somehow, he hadn't from Jace. He probably should have known better.

Magnus, thankfully, only sends Jace a polite smile even if Alec can see the curiosity burning in his eyes. "There were jellyfish on the beach," he starts, and Jace makes a sudden noise of understanding, even as he winces.

"Yeah, that'd explain it."

Alec can't resist but add, "Magnus here didn't want to die, so I suggested we wander around town for a bit instead. But we didn't have shoes, so…" He shrugs, sort of pointing toward the patio, trusting Jace will understand his meaning.

"Alexander." Magnus's voice almost comes off as a hiss, half-offended, half-amused, and Alec can't fight back his answering chuckle, even if the use of his full name once again has Jace staring at him in disbelief.

"For the record, I didn't say I thought we would die," Magnus starts to explain to Jace. "I just said it would be smarter to avoid the beach and any unfortunate… incidents."

Magnus absolutely mentioned death, and Alec really wants to correct him, but as fun as this is, it's also not why they're here.

Alec clears his throat. "Anyways, we came here so we could borrow some shoes."

"Flip-flops," Magnus corrects, smirking.

It makes Jace laugh. "Well, we definitely have those here," he says.

"Thanks to whom, I wonder," Alec mutters uncharitably, and he shakes his head at Magnus when the other man shoots him a curious look.

Jace doesn't seem to notice, because he simply asks Magnus why he didn't bring any shoes with him. "I mean, I know why Alec doesn't — we practically live on the beach, and if he runs there between the sea and the sand they're basically useless, but unless you're like us and staying by the beach, you'd need shoes to get there."

Magnus lets out an almost nervous chuckle. He shrugs. "I didn't bring them with me to the beach," he says. His mask is good. Looking at it, Alec almost can't tell Magnus seems to be a little embarrassed.

Alec isn't sure he'd even have caught that first sign of nerves if he hadn't been around Magnus for weeks now, paying attention to, well, everything he does.

(There's just so much to see and know, and Alec doesn't think he'll ever get tired of staring, even if it does sound slightly creepy and like he's a fifteen-year-old teenage girl.)

Jace hums — and Alec is starting to think that he's been put up to this by Izzy (or even Clary, because the redhead may look innocent but she's actually as bad as his sister when she gets going), because Jace can be mischievous, but his questions feel pointed enough that Alec can recognize his sister's touch on them.

"Where do you live anyway, Magnus?"

There's an instant, barely a second, really, where Alec thinks Magnus will avoid the question, will evade it in that skillful way he has of redirecting a conversation.

Alec would know; he's certainly been the victim of it often enough over the last few weeks.

But then something unwinds in Magnus' shoulders, and he shrugs, the movement somehow artful for all that it's so simple. He cites the name of some town Alec thinks he can recognize, but between the French and Magnus' accent (much better than his own, he'll freely admit, but still quite pronounced) it's really hard to place it.

Somehow, Jace gets it first. His eyes widen and he gapes. "Wait, isn't that, like, on the other side of the island?"

Magnus rolls his eyes. He sends Jace a truly withering glare, and if Alec wasn't feeling so confused right now, he'd be laughing.

"What do you mean, on the other side of the island?" Alec's not sure if he's asking Jace or Magnus, but he's staring at Magnus and his heart is racing in his chest. Swallowing has become difficult all of a sudden, almost as though some hard thing is lodged in his throat.

"Jeff exaggerates," Magnus replies, ignoring Jace's splutter of, "It's Jace!" with grace. He crosses his arms, and Alec gets momentarily distracted with tracking the line of his biceps. "I hardly leave that far. And the island isn't that big, anyways."

Jace, who had dug his phone out from his pocket, lets out a triumphant sound before shoving his phone toward them. It's unlocked, and open on the map app — and sure enough, the place Magnus named appears to be, if not on the actual other side of Corsica, at least a half hour drive away.

Alec swallows heavily. He can't turn his eyes away from that phone, where a tiny red pin seems to taunt him.

This means something. It has to.

"That's a long way to travel just for a run, though," Alec hears himself say. Somehow, his voice sounds normal — steady, and just a bit wry. "Even if it's not quite the other side of this place."

He looks up from the phone, nodding at Jace absently as he lets go.

His eyes find Magnus' easily. It's almost odd, he thinks, how being inside makes them look darker than what Alec's used to. There's less gold swimming around the brown irises, or it's less visible, but that doesn't make them any less mesmerizing.

He barely notices when Jace awkwardly clears his throat and slips away, taking both his phone and the discarded coffee pot with him.

"Would you believe me," Magnus starts, a smirk playing on his lips, "if I told you I came here for the scenery?"

Despite himself, Alec laughs, a bright bark of laughter falling from his lips. He leans in a little, almost swaying on his feet before he catches what he's doing and forces himself to hold still. "Well, it is pretty great. From where I'm standing, at least."

Some flash of emotion passes through Magnus' eyes, too quick for Alec to catch. It makes his breath hitch in his chest though, makes his heart clench painfully.

"But I can't imagine this beach being any different from the ones you probably have at your place," Alec continues, an easy smile playing on his lips.

Inside, though, his heart is racing. This is it, he realizes. They're standing on the edge of something now, and it's too late to back out. But whether they fall or not still remains to be seen, and the suspense has his stomach in twists.

"The company is better, though," Magnus replies. His eyes dart down to Alec's lips, just for an instant — Alec really only notices because he's paying such close attention to everything Magnus' doing, from the way his slender fingers have taken to tapping an off-beat against the kitchen counter to the way a strand of his hair has fallen so very close to his eyes — before coming back up.

Alec huffs out a laugh. He makes sure to keep staring into Magnus' eyes as he answers, "Well, I can't argue with you there."

This time, Magnus is the one to huff. "Do you have to one up me at every turn?"

He doesn't sound truly mad though, mostly amused, so Alec lets himself grin. "You'd get bored without a challenge," he points out.

Magnus tries to scowl but his lips keep twitching up until he eventually shakes his head. "I really would," he says, and he sounds almost surprised to be admitting it.

Once again, Alec catches himself leaning forward. He should stop himself, he thinks — no, he knows. None of the reasons why Alec used to tell himself they shouldn't do this have been resolved, or even addressed, after all. This is still a bad idea, a probable recipe for disaster.

And yet, faced with Magnus — who is looking at him like something precious and good — all those reasons are hard to remember, and Alec's resolve is melting away like snow in summer.

It's impossible to say who leans in first, in the end. Maybe it's Alec, maybe it's Magnus — or maybe it's the two of them, at the same time.

But lean in they do.

It's a little awkward at first. The angle is off — the kitchen counter isn't quite between them, but it still digs uncomfortably in Alec's stomach, and somehow Magnus' hair hits him in the eye at one point — and their teeth clash in the beginning, but still, Alec can't remember the last time he had this much fun just kissing someone.

Or if he ever did.

It's just… He can't stop smiling, and neither can Magnus, and that's at least half the reason why their kiss is so awkward. But eventually they ease into things. The earlier feeling of inevitability and almost urgency fades into something softer, into something gentler, and this kiss shifts into something languid.

It's everything Alec has barely dreamed to fantasize about, and he steps closer, skirting around the counter absently. Magnus' left hand rests on his arm, its weight a comforting warmth that radiates, it seems, all the way to Alec's heart.

They only part when they have to, their breathing ragged, and even then, they do so reluctantly. Magnus' lips, pink and so obviously just kissed, look so inviting that Alec can't resist pressing another kiss there, lighter this time, before stepping back again.

Magnus' eyes dance with happiness, and his easy grin echoes the one Alec can feel threatening to split his face in two.

"So…" Magnus starts before clearing his throat, and Alec is kind of proud of how wrecked Magnus sounds there, for that instant before he pulls himself together.

"So…" Alec echoes, still grinning. They're still standing close, and Magnus' hand hasn't left his arm. His thumb is tracing slow circles on his bare skin, and Alec fights back shivers.

Magnus chuckles. A flash of vulnerability passes through his eyes, but it is quickly masked with cheer. "So," he repeats, "that was…" He seems to be grasping for words for a few moments, before settling for, "Good."

This time, Alec chuckles. "That's a euphemism. It was great. I — I liked it." And then, because in for a penny, in for a pound, he adds, "We should do it again."

And maybe he's moving too fast here, and behaving uncharacteristically recklessly, but Magnus is important to him. This, the kiss they're just shared, isn't just a kiss. It matters.

Besides, Alec can't find it in himself to regret his words when Magnus' face lights up like this, warm and radiant like the sun.

But because Magnus is Magnus, and he probably can't resist teasing him, he says, "We should, shouldn't we?" His eyes sparkle with mirth, and Alec huffs out a laugh.

"Well, unless you don't want to," he drawls back, arching an eyebrow, because two can play at this game.

Magnus' eyes soften. "Touché."

(In the end, their earlier plans to go walk around the city are forgotten. They're much too busy kissing, and quietly laughing, for that.

The teasing from his siblings for this will be unbearable, Alec knows, but it's really hard to care when Magnus' mouth is on his.)

(coda)

Izzy wanders into the kitchen some unknown amount of time later, bleary-eyed and disheveled.

She mumbles out a "Hi," to both him and Magnus as she walks past them, and they part to watch as she stops in front of the coffee machine, staring incomprehensibly at the spot where the pot should be.

Alec muffles a chuckle against Magnus' shoulder, but he disentangles them to go help his sister.

"Jace took it with him," he explains as he hands her the instant coffee instead and puts water to boil.

Izzy hisses threateningly — or she tries. It dissolves into yawning almost instantly. It's impressive how much of a contrast this is compared to when she cornered him earlier — she had been mostly awake then, and it had been much earlier in the morning. It doesn't make sense, but Alec has long since given up on trying to understand his siblings' sleeping habits.

Izzy practically inhales the cup Alec pushes toward her moments later, and she blinks, suddenly more awake.

Her eyes zero-in on Magnus, and she smiles. "Magnus! Hi! Did Alec finally bring you around for breakfast?"

Magnus chuckles. "Hello, Isabelle." He shares a fond look with Alec. "And I guess you could say that, yes."

Somehow, Izzy seems to read more into this sentence than Alec can hear, because she grins. "O-oh, should I be giving out congratulations then?"

Magnus chuckles again and Alec starts to splutter.

"I — That's not — We're not getting married, Izzy, we were just kissing — You can't —"

That only seems to make Magnus and Isabelle laugh harder, and Alec does his best to glare at them for it, even though he, too, succumbs to the easy atmosphere.

Naturally, they migrate to the patio, where they sit around the table, facing outside from the house. This early, the sun is still behind the house, which means they can gaze outward freely, without being blinded, and that it's not overwhelmingly warm yet, the way it usually gets in the early afternoons.

"So, I'm guessing this means you're not bringing back breakfast today then," Izzy says after a while. She's somehow acquired a second cup of coffee as they moved, and she's now nursing it absently as she stares between Alec and Magnus. Her earlier grin has eased into something softer, and it's clear that she's happy for him.

"No." Alec huffs. "Sorry."

Izzy pouts.

"Let's make Jace do it for once. We know he's awake."

Izzy's expression darkens at the reminder of her missing coffee, and if Alec were a better man, he'd warn his brother to run and hide very, very far. But really, if Jace doesn't already know to do that without being told, he's clearly more of an idiot than he usually portrays himself as.

"Yes, let's do that," Izzy replies, her grin dangerously sharp.

Tracking down Jace is easy. In fact, they don't even have to — a few texts, both from Izzy and him, and Jace has agreed to pick up all the food they could want.

"Should we wake Clary?" Alec asks as they wait. "Since everyone else is up, I mean." Alec knows better than to try to wake up anyone in his family because he thinks it's late and they've slept enough, but that doesn't mean he won't find other reasons to try.

Izzy sends him a look like she knows exactly what he's thinking about, but she shrugs. "She's probably awake already if Jace is," she says. "I'll go get her."

He waits until Izzy's left to turn to Magnus again. "You can still leave, if you want," he says, even if his heart breaks at the idea. "I can say something came up and you had to leave, or…"

He trails off, Magnus' finger hovering before his lips in a shushing gesture. Magnus' brown eyes sparkle. "I'm staying, Alexander. And I'll be just fine — it takes more than this—" he waves his free hand in the air "- to scare me off."

Alec feels himself grin. "Good," he half-stutters. "I'm glad."

It takes Izzy some time to bring Clary back, and he suspects that they're probably gossiping and changing too. As it lets him enjoy some more quiet time with Magnus, Alec doesn't really mind.

Jace comes back first, in the end, arms laden with bags from Izzy's favorite bakery — clearly, he went all out in his efforts to be forgiven — and he sets them on the table with a loud huff. His cheeks are red and he's clearly sweating, and Alec can't resist but to point that Jace is clearly out of shape.

"You know, if you had come running with me, you probably wouldn't be in this state now."

Jace rolls his eyes at him violently. "Yeah, no, I'm not subjecting myself to you and Magnus' weird courting ritual. You can keep that to yourself."

Alec scowls back but Magnus laughs. "Well, he's not exactly wrong, is he?" he says when Alec turns to look at him.

Traitors. Alec is surrounded by traitors.

Alec is about to retort when the girls come back, Clary's red curls bouncing up and down half a step behind his sister.

Izzy plops back down in her seat, now dressed in a black short and a white top instead of her earlier sleepwear, but Clary stops at the door.

Beside Alec, Magnus freezes too.

"Magnus?" she asks, voice half-strangled.

"Biscuit?" Magnus looks taken aback. "What are you doing here?"

Clary shakes her head, her eyes wide. "I'm with Jace," she replies, pointing toward the blond. "You know, my boyfriend?"

"Wait, Jace is your boyfriend?" His lips twitch. "I thought his name was Jett."

Clary rolls her eyes. "I know you know his name isn't Jett. Or Jeff. Or whichever variation you want to use." She crosses her arms. "And I definitely know I told you about his family." She stares at him pointedly, and it seems to mean something to him because he swivels back around and gapes at Alec.

"Oh," he says, eyes blown wide. "Oh."

Clary steps down onto the patio, snorting. "Yes, oh. Months I spend trying to set you guys up and you go and get together when we're not even in the States anymore." She glares. "Months, Magnus, months."

Alec's heart is pounding in his chest. "Wait, what?"

Clary turns to him and rolls her eyes again. "And you! I told you I had a friend you'd like, but no, you didn't need my help, or you were too busy, or..."

"Well, I was," Alec replies defensively, because he had been. He remembers now — Izzy was usually the one who tried to convince him to go out when she thought he was getting too focused on his work, so the few times someone else did it always stood out.

Clary had tried to arrange a dinner date, or something — probably with Izzy's help too, come to think of it — but something had come up at the last minute and he'd had to cancel.

She hadn't tried again after that and he'd let himself forget; though come to think of it, the fact that they had left on holidays only a few weeks later probably had helped.

He turns to Magnus, staring. "Oh," he echoes. "Right." He clears his throat. "Right. Sorry I sort of stood you up?"

Magnus laughs. "Don't worry about it, I had to cancel as well anyway." His face falls, just a little. "Still, if I had known you were the one I was supposed to meet… I might have made more of an effort."

Alec feels his cheeks burn. "Well, we got there in the end, didn't we?" He doesn't say that, had he known who he was supposed to meet, he might have made a little more of an effort too, but somehow, he thinks Magnus understands him anyway.

"That we did," Magnus replies, a charming smile on his lips that Alec just wants to kiss.

And then, because it occurs to him that he can, he does.