Disclaimer: Alec, Jace, Magnus, and all other characters in this work are from The Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare and do not belong to us. No money is being made… trust us, we'd know, poor fangirls that we are.

Author's Note – From Mel (miyabita): Well, ariviand and I had been kicking around the idea of trying to co-author a piece, and this is what resulted. Some sections, one of us wrote, some sections we logged and then merged together. Because we went with what felt right, we won't be using any differentiations when posting this to designate who wrote what, since sometimes it's near impossible to do that. I certainly hope you enjoy this "what if" scenario we've developed. Feedback is always welcomed. ^_^

Warning: This fic deals with a lot of mature concepts, one of which is sex between two men. If you're not old enough, you should stop reading right here.

Just paint the picture of a perfect place

They've got it better than what anyone's told you

I know we've got it good

But they've got it made

And the grass is getting greener each day.

—One Republic | All The Right Moves—

Right Moves

—a joint fic by ariviand and miyabita—

I.

Jace's fingers dug into the scarred skin of Alec's hips. There'd be bruises in the morning, but it was a small price to pay in Alec's mind. Just like it didn't bother him too much – although he'd be lying if he said it didn't hurt – that Jace had practically shoved him onto the bed the moment they entered his room, pausing only long enough to lock the door and rip off the belt of his pants. Alec had forgotten to put the lubricant in an easy to reach place. He was almost certain he'd be paying for this in a few hours.

It doesn't matter, he thought, dazed. It's Jace… Jace… Jace…

His fingers curled into the pillow as he pressed his face against it, stifling his cries. Jace was afraid of getting caught, and Alec knew the boy would probably stop if Alec got loud. It had happened once, regrettably, and Jace hadn't "visited" him for at least two weeks.

Of course, none of these little "quirks" really mattered to Alec. What mattered was that Jace was here, with him, and Alec knew it would only be a matter of time before the boy admitted that he loved Alec. That they weren't just "friends with benefits"… or whatever Jace wanted to believe this was.

Jace's rhythm was becoming disjointed now, as it usually did when the young man was close. Alec's favorite part had once been watching Jace's face when he came. Of course, the blonde Shadowhunter felt unnerved at the other boy's gaze, and Alec lately found himself on his stomach whenever they were together. Alec knew he should be bothered, but he didn't want to lose what he had with Jace. He remembered the expression on Jace's face in vivid detail, anyway; he held it in his mind whenever he felt Jace was close.

There was a sharp intake of breath near his ear, and Jace thrust deep. It hurt, and Alec tasted blood on his lip from where he bit down hard to keep from crying out. He savored the heat pouring off Jace's skin for a few more seconds – he loved that heat against his back, as his skin was typically prone to chill easily – before the boy pulled away, slipping off the bed and rummaging around on the floor for where he had thrown his belt.

Alec inclined his head to watch, unable to move due to the pain in the lower half of his body. Well, he supposed it didn't hurt that badly; he'd been scratched by demons on previous occasions, and that always hurt like a bitch. He supposed the real reason he didn't move was because he was still aroused. Usually, this was never the case when Jace left for the night, but Alec chocked it up to the recent distractions and "complications" that had cropped up in both their lives just a few days ago.

Not to mention that he was easily embarrassed and didn't want Jace to see he was still fully aroused. For some reason, it made him feel dirty… like Jace would think Alec was always lusting after him or something. And that definitely wasn't true. He thought about other things…

Jace was looking around for his stele now.

"The dresser," Alec managed to get out. His throat felt dry.

Jace looked at him, as if surprised to see Alec on the bed, before looking at the dresser where he had left his stele and seraph blade. He gave a nod of thanks to Alec before grabbing them and threading them through the loops on his belt.

"Good luck at the Silent City."

Again, Jace turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow this time. "Thanks. We'll be back later."

And with that, he left Alec's room, closing the door behind him.

When he had come out to Jace, Alec had expected the other boy to do one of two things – shun him or accept him. Jace had done the latter. Alec had been happy at the time, wondering what that meant down the road… if Jace's pretenses of flirting with pretty girls were just that and nothing more. Wondering if maybe he could finally have something with the boy; after all, Jace knew he was gay. Alec wouldn't have to pretend anymore.

Alec's wish had come true about a month after the revelation. But the something he had with Jace was not the something he had hoped for deep down. Mundies called it "friends with benefits", but Alec thought that was a dirty, degrading term. He preferred to think of it as furthering the link between he and his parabatai. Jace preferred to not speak of it at all, but had developed a routine of hunting down Alec when they came back from missions and the like, typically following him down the hallway, closing the door, throwing his weapons somewhere in the room, and then losing himself in Alec's skin.

The first time this had happened had been awkward. Alec had been keenly aware of Jace following him, but the blonde wouldn't say anything until they were safely in Alec's room, door locked. When Jace proceeded to bring up the conversation they had had (well, not much of a "conversation" as the boy had simply given him a blank stare as Alec nervously admitted he was rather taken by Jace) Alec had felt his heart pound. When the blonde had moved on to admit he had an interest in having a relationship with Alec, he had had to pinch his inner wrist to prove to himself that he was, in fact, not dreaming. He had moved towards Jace then, his fingers twitching, eager. Alec had tried to kiss him, but Jace pulled away at the last second. He wasn't ready for kissing, he had said. Kissing seemed too personal. He didn't want a really personal relationship; he didn't want to be tied down.

Even though he had known exactly what Jace had meant, Alec hadn't had time to be hurt or to think about what accepting Jace's proposition meant for the two of them. He hadn't had time to think of anything except Jace suddenly pushing him down onto the bed, ripping his shirt, undoing his pants, and touching him. That first time… Alec would always remember that first time. Jace had been unsure, touching him with a certain hesitance that had sent small shivers down his spine.

It was the one and only time the blonde would touch him like that.

Alec always thought about that time whenever they were together. Even though Jace claimed he could never love Alec "like that", that one time made him think differently, made him think it could be possible some day, made him wonder if tomorrow would be the day when they'd return from a mission and Jace would kiss him, touch him softly, gently, almost tenderly.

Tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow.

Slowly, he let his hand wander down to his erection, pretending it was Jace who was getting him off.

/

The real problems had started a little less than a week ago, and Alec knew there was only one person to blame for it all – Clarissa Fray. He'd had misgivings about the mundane the second she had appeared in Pandemonium, proclaiming that they were killers if they hurt the pretty boy with blue hair.

The boy had been a demon. Alec had been close to slapping the girl for her sheer stupidity. She'd almost gotten Jace killed.

Jace had let Alec heal him, but they didn't have sex that night.

In fact, Jace had only started cornering him in his room again after he'd "rescued" the little mundie from the demon attack at her house. There'd been a knock on his door, then Jace slamming it open, shoving Alec onto the bed, and growling things like, "You don't listen" and "You're so stupid".

It had been the night things began to go downhill.

Alec knew his "relationship" with Jace wasn't perfect, but he knew they had something. Jace flirted with a lot of women, but he always came back to Alec. He wanted to believe that Clarissa Fray would be no different than the Downworlders Jace approached at Taki's, or the mundane women he flashed smiles to on the subway. But this was the first time he'd brought a girl "home" as it were, and the very idea of Clary staying at the Institute downright scared him. She needed to leave, and it needed to be soon, damn it.

Alec rolled over in bed, his backside still aching from the early morning activities. Isabelle would come and wake him in a few hours, until then he could continue to dream about a gentler Jace and a life without Clary Fray.

/

To her credit, Isabelle Lightwood wasn't stupid. She might be stubborn, bitchy, and highly superficial sometimes, but when it came to someone she loved – correction, when it came to her brother – she was highly aware.

And so, as Alec prepared coffee in the kitchen, one look at the cautious way he was walking was enough to tell her that he'd been with Jace again.

There was a time when Isabelle had actually liked Jace, never in a boyfriend-girlfriend way, but in a brother-sister way – the same way she loved Max and Alec. Oh sure, Jace was arrogant, annoying, and a smartass to boot, but he was loyal and honest, and Isabelle could appreciate both those characteristics.

Somewhere along the way, Alec had confided his biggest secret in Jace.

Somewhere along the way, Jace had taken advantage of said secret and started sleeping with her brother.

Isabelle was almost positive that Alec knew that she knew, but neither of them was ready to broach the topic. Still, that didn't mean Isabelle couldn't glare at Jace when he wasn't looking at her and mentally yell at her brother for his stupidity. Jace would never love Alec; Isabelle knew that.

But Alec didn't know that. Or if he did, he didn't want to believe it.

Somehow, to her, it made everything so much more tragic.

"Coffee?" Alec asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Sure."

She watched as he poured a mug and slid it across the table to her. She nodded her thanks before downing nearly half of the hot, brown liquid.

"You're quiet this morning, Izzy." He wouldn't look at her. Isabelle briefly wondered if he was ashamed.

"I was thinking about a party invite I got when we went to Pandemonium," she lied.

That got his attention. And was that a sudden look of relief that passed across his eyes? "Party?"

"A Downworlder party."

"You know Mom and Dad hate it when you go to those things."

Ah, the disapproving older brother. Isabelle wondered at how easy it was for them to fall into old stereotypes, even with so many other things on their minds.

"I didn't say I was going. I said I was thinking about it. Besides, I hear Magnus Bane throws the best parties."

"Who?"

"Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn?"

"High warlock… right." Alec stirred his coffee. Isabelle made a tsk-ing sound of disapproval.

"Oh come on! You can't possibly tell me you've never heard of him."

"I hate Brooklyn." It was a non-committal answer.

"You hate a lot of stuff… yet for some reason, I put up with you." She finished the rest of her coffee, flung her hair over her shoulder and stood up. "You should come with me."

"So now you're going?"

She was about to respond when two things happened almost simultaneously. First, the bell to the Institute rung, signaling that someone was at the door. Second, Alec's cell phone rang; the caller was Jace.

Alec promptly walked out of the kitchen to handle the phone call in private. As he left, Isabelle couldn't help but frown, realizing she needed to do something about her brother's attraction to Jace.

And soon.

/

"Jace, is everything okay?" Alec had retreated to one of the nearby rooms, away from his sister's knowing gaze. He leaned against the closed door, phone still pressed against his ear.

"Yeah, we're heading back now."

"Oh." He had thought it would be something more important, and was it really necessary to bring the mundane back?

"Geez, Alec, don't sound so happy."

"I'm—"

Jace cut Alec off. "I need you to do something for me."

For a brief second, Alec had the strangest urge to say "No". "Sure, what's up?"

"We got a name – Magnus Bane. I need you and Izzy to do some research and meet us later at Taki's."

The back of Alec's head hit the door with an audible thump. If the whole situation wasn't so pathetic on his end, he'd be half tempted to laugh.

"He's the High Warlock of Brooklyn, Jace."

There was silence for a moment. Alec was about to ask if everything was all right, when Jace whistled.

"Nice," he drawled. "So a warlock has been playing mind games with Clary. This just gets more interesting with each passing hour."

Not really, Alec thought. Actually, I wish you'd never met her.

Outwardly, he said, "He's throwing a party. Magnus Bane."

"Really? Even better." There was a muffled sound, and Alec could hear Jace pull the phone away from his ear, probably turning to the mundane girl to ask her a question. A moment later, Jace's voice was back in his ear.

"So where's the party? I'm looking forward to crashing."