a/n; this pairing is, quite seriously, my OTP for this fandom. not sure why, I've just liked it ever since I read the first book. I'm sorry if anyone is too out of character... I last read City of Ashes back when it came out, so I don't exactly remember everything personality-wise. This is really just a shameless excuse for me to create crazy amounts of tension and angst. :3 I was listening to the Cinematics on repeat while writing this, so naturally, that is what the title is derived from.

BREAK.
it's just a trick of the light, he said.
mortal instruments. jace/alec.

- x -

Alec wasn't sure when their relationship seemed to change. All he remembers is a sudden wave of glances too unsure to belong on his face; lingering touches that burned into his skin like the runes on his arms.

They would fight over nothing, yelling and shoving and panting until one had the other pinned against a wall, fingers woven around wrists like manacles. Don't move, don't speak, don't even fucking breathe. It was a game that they played whenever they could, sporting bruises from iron grips and belt buckles that jutted out into hipbones too close to be comfortable.

Then there was the familiar pang in the pit of his gut as blue eyes began to burn with something other than anger, traveling over golden hair and a sculpted face with an intensity that didn't belong.

Jace would always turn and walk away, not returning to his bedroom until early in the morning, too proud to admit his exhaustion from a night of endless thought.

And Alec? Alec didn't know what to think anymore.

- - -

The city was wide awake and watching when the door to Alec's room swung open, revealing an angel all dressed in black.

"Jace? What are you -"

Strong hands pushed him backward onto rumpled sheets, the mattress below him creaking in the silence. His jeans hung low on his waist, and he was suddenly quite aware of his lack of clothing to cover his torso. He crossed his arms over his chest instinctively. "Seriously, what the hell? I'm about to go to bed, so if you wouldn't mind -"

"Don't say anything," Jace nearly growled, kneeling over the slighter boy. "Just don't."

And Alec barely had any time to react before a pair of full lips reached down to meet his own.

- - -

An experiment, he had said that night, rocking his hips and making Alec moan. Research, he had whispered as he slid out of his shirt, desperate fingers lightly skimming the skin beneath the waistband of Alec's boxers.

Torture, the dark-haired boy had been able to gasp, and he arched upward into him, because the friction just wasn't enough.

But they had gone no further. Jace had stopped just as Alec let out a harsh cry, his gaze pouring over the flushed boy under him. It wasn't triumphant, or arrogant. No signature smirk had slipped into place.

Instead, the eyes looking at him from above were pensive. Worried, maybe. Alec hadn't been able to tell.

When Jace stood up and left without another word, Alec was sure his heart had cracked.

- - -

He hated her. He hated her and the way that Jace watched her, held her, cared for her.

He hated how that she could elicit a look of intensity that he himself had only seen once before.

It wasn't fair.

She was always with him, too, the little mundane, but whenever Alec could get him alone he began to ask the question: So what's the conclusion? To your experiment, I mean.

Maybe then Jace would remember their night together, remember that he was in love with Alec, not goody-two-shoes Clary.

But each time he faltered and glanced away, too much of a coward to search for the truth.

The angel fell for the human girl, leaving the demon alone to burn.