Chapter Text
Alec looked down at the paper on the desk in front of him, trying to make sense of the equations littering the page. The numbers were looking less like actual numbers and more like some sort of headache. He had been in the middle of working on a particularly difficult one before his mind had started to get side tracked and well, who could blame him if his thought process had taken an entirely new direction by some glittery, gorgeous, colourful whirlwind of a man?
God, that hair. I wonder what it would feel like to run my fingers through it… tug it maybe? Fuck imagine tugging on it. It looks soft. Really soft. He probably uses the really expensive products that would take me a month to save up for. Imagine all of the dates he could take you on. Restaurants, movies- you’re getting sidetracked. Did he do something different with his hair today? The gold highlights really accent his eyes, probably intentional…of course it’s intentional Alec, this is Magnus Bane we’re talking about.
Oh fuck, he’s looking this way.
Alec cursed the day that Magnus had moved to their class almost daily. He had always been a good student, consistantly achieving A grades, attention always focused on the task ahead and he was sat on getting into a good college to study English. His grades were still great, not leaving their top spots but his attention was another issue entirely. Ever since the first day that Magnus had set foot in the dreary classroom, Alec had been unable to take his eyes away. His mere presence seemed to brighten any area Magnus set foot in.
He glanced up from the page, finding a set of golden eyes still focused on his direction from the other side of the room.
Shit, he’s still looking. Why is he still looking? Is he smiling? That’s adorable. That little half smile where one side of his mouth quirks up… fuck. Is he smiling at me? Alec moved his attention back to the desk, attempting to hide the hint of pink that was currently flushing over his cheeks. Don’t be ridiculous, Alec. Why on earth would he be smiling at you?
Alec shook the thoughts from his mind, turning back to the paper and the countless numbers that seemed be mocking him for his crush.
The sound of a bell rang through the class and Alec heard the sounds of desks and chairs scratching against the hard floors as students made their way out of the room. Alec continued staring at the page that mocked him, wondering what had happened in his life to make him unable to even finish a simple math quiz. Oh, right. Magnus happened. That’s what. There were at least five minutes between now and the next class starting so Alec focused, scribbling down as many answers onto the page as he could think of.
By the time Alec had vacated his seat, the room was empty save for himself and the teacher. He passed the test over to his teacher with a half-hearted smile that he hoped looked at least a little bit sympathetic and left the classroom without giving his teacher a chance to comment about the test. He tried not to be disheartened that Magnus had left, after all he had no reason to stay behind for him. Sure, he might have smiled at him. Might. That doesn’t mean he’s interested, Alec probably had something on his face that was worth laughing at. Oh god, did he? He pulled his phone from his pocket, flipping onto the camera and checking his image in the screen. Everything seemed normal, no sign of ketchup from his lunch or drool that might have escaped with his thoughts. Nope, he looked fine. Well, as fine as he could.
Alec moved to turn his phone screen off, catching sight of a familiar figure in the camera before the screen went black. Arms wrapped around his waist from behind and he felt a head pressed against his shoulder.
“Hey big bro, how was class?”
Alec offered a noncommittal grunt in response, feeling the arms remove themselves as his sister moved to stand in front of him. Her hair was tied back in a braid, the usual sign that she had just been in the labs and she crossed her arms over her chest, raising her perfectly shaped eyebrow at the same time.
“You flunked again, didn’t you?”
“No!” The word came out a lot more defensive than Alec had been expecting and he frowned, running a hand through his hair. “There was nothing to flunk. We just had a worksheet to do.”
Isabelle’s expression didn’t change, a clear sign that she knew Alec was hiding something from her. Normal siblings wouldn’t pick up on things like that. Normal siblings would accept an answer for what it was before throwing some comment abouthimbeing a noob before leaving the other sibling alone. Not Isabelle. She could tell if Alec was lying about the colour of his socks and she wouldn’t leave the subject alone until he told her the truth. Normally Alec loved how close he was to his sister but not in these moments.
“And perhaps, maybe I didn’t do the worksheet.” Alec fought back the urge to flinch as Isabelle’s eyes narrowed, the dark circles turning almost ferocious. “In class, anyway.” Alec stepped back instead, throwing his hands up in defence. “What?? I’m not failing, Iz. My grades are as good as ever. In fact, I had a meeting with Mr. Aldertree this morning and he thinks I have a very good chance of getting into Yale. 94% in fact.”
The response seemed to give Isabelle enough satisfaction that she backed down, sighing gently. “Dios, Alec. Out of everyone to get hung up over a boy, no one expected it to be you. And you seem to have it the worst.” She turned around, walking in the direction of her next class. The halls had mostly gone silent by now and her heels sounded loudly against the tiles. “Why don’t you just talk to him? He seems nice enough.”
Alec felt the blush creep up on his cheeks again. “I-I can’t. He’s… he’s… and I’m… no. No way, I can’t talk to him.”
Isabelle groaned. “Aleecc, are you being serious right now? You’ve been crushing on him for almost a year now. You won’t stop pining over the very ground he walks on but yet you won’t even consider for a second that maybe, just maybe he might like you back? You won’t even find out?”
“No, Iz.” He shook his head, hoping to also shake the colour from his face. “He would never… with me. I mean, out of everyone in this school I have the least chance of getting him.”
“And why, dear brother, is that?” Isabelle’s eyebrow raised again in a challenge.
“Because. I’m me. I’m a nerd, a nobody. I’m ‘Jace and Isabelle’s brother.’”
Isabelle rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue in annoyance. “You’re our very hot, very single brother who gets just as much attention as everyone else. You’re on the football team, Alec. You’re captain of the football team. Sure Jace might be star player but you’re the only thing holding that team together. Give yourself some credit.”
“No one cares about the captain. This isn’t Pirates of the Caribbean where everyone worships the captain of the ship. I’m just the guy that barks orders at everyone and 9 times out of 10, no one even listens to them. Magnus is… everything. Everyone loves him, respects him, he’s probably the most popular guy in school aside from Jace.”
Isabelle scoffed, pulling her hair from it’s braid and shaking the locks free. She smiled sweetly at a couple of boys that were making their way down the corridor and Alec rolled his eyes at the lolling of their tongues. God why did he end up with the family that could put the Kardashians to shame?
“So let me get this straight. You won’t ask Magnus out because you’re scared that he’ll find you as big of a loser as you think you are and he won’t see you for the insanely attractive, captain of the football team, who’s most likely to be President someday guy that everyone else sees you as?”
“I… yes. That’s why.”
“You’re insane, Alec.”
They made their way into the café, the usual spot that the siblings occupied on their free periods. Isabelle waved to the man behind the bar, a suave smile that Alec knew all too well as her ‘I’ve got you wrapped around my little finger’ smile and barely a second later, the coffee machine was being started up.
“Says you." Alec carried on with their conversation from before. "You can get anyone with a flick of your hair. The last time I tried asking someone out, I completely embarrassed myself and they still said no.”
Isabelle chuckled at the memory before seating herself in the plush sofa at their booth. Alec took the seat opposite, finding more comfort in actual chairs than the low sofas that couldn’t support his height. “To be perfectly honest, Alec. You weren’t actually interested in Lydia at all, were you?”
The man who had been behind the bar, Alec thought his name might have been Meliorn but he never paid much attention to his sister’s flings, came over carrying two steaming mugs of coffee. Isabelle grinned, taking the mugs from his hands before pulling Meliorn down and planting a kiss on his cheek. Alec pulled his own mug over, taking a sip and using the opportunity of the oversized cup to roll his eyes at the display.
“So, what if I can find out if he’s interested in you? …Alec? Are you listening?” Alec brought the mug down from his lips, already missing the heat and taste of the coffee. His sister’s eyes were trained on his and Meliorn was nowhere in sight. Her lipstick was smudged slightly from the kiss and once she was certain that she had Alec’s attention, she dug into her bag to retrieve the tube of makeup. “Let me repeat again. If I can find out if Magnus is interested, will you ask him out?”
“I… what? No, you’re not doing that!”
“You’re such a butthead, Alec! Why??” Isabelle took a sip of her coffee, carefully avoiding her freshly painted lips. “you need it.”
Alec went to take another sip, stopping just before his mouth “Need what?”
Alec had never actually seen someone’s jaw hang open before. Sure it always happened on TV shows and cartoons but never in real life had he seen someone’s jaw drop. Until now, when he looked at his sister. Alec must have let his confusion shine clearly on his face as Isabelle shook her head in disbelief. “Dios, Alec. I can’t believe I’m related to you sometimes.” Isabelle put her mug down on the table before leaning forward over the table. “You know, a boyfriend. Sex? Hell, I’d even be proud if you just found someone to hook up with. You’re a right grump with all of that tension.”
This time it was Alec’s turn to gawp. Had his little sister really just told him that he needed to have sex? Were they having that conversation right now, in the middle of the school’s cafeteria? “Isabelle!” Alec spluttered the word, his cheeks burning.
“What?” His sister seemed completely unaffected by the outburst as she sat back on the sofa. “It’s true. You can only fantasize so much before it gets too much.” Alec didn’t have to look to know that his cheeks must have been the colour of Isabelle’s lipstick. His whole face felt alight and he was beginning to feel butterflies in his stomach.
“Can we… can we change the subject, please?”
Isabelle sighed, seeming to give up on her conquest to make Alec uncomfortable as she looked at the community board that was hanging next to their table. She scanned through the leaflets, not paying them much attention before one seemed to catch her eye. “Hey, you remember when dad made us go to that psychic show a few years ago on vacation?”
Alec did remember that show. Extremely well. It was a five dollar nightmare that turned out to be a total flop and Alec had found himself going around the room pretending to be a chicken under the illusion of being hypnotised. He cringed as the memory resurfaced itself.
“What about it?”
Isabelle reached over, plucking the leaflet from the board and holding it out in front of her. In big letters read DOROTHEA, PSYCHIC AND FORTUNE TELLER along with a time and tomorrow’s date. Alec looked over at his sister, not liking the glimmer in her eyes.
“No, Isabelle. Not a chance.”
“Alec!” Isabelle pouted, the perfect puppy dog face that she had been practicing since she was a baby. “It’ll be fun! We all know that these things aren’t real. You’re just being a…” Alec opened his mouth to protest, his hand reaching over to cover his sister’s. Unfortunately, she got there first. “Chicken!” Isabelle seemed proud with herself, the smirk covering her face with glee as she blurted out the words.
“I hate you.” Alec sat back in his chair, running a hand over his face. “Why do I put with you?”
“Because you’re my brother. And I’m an angel.” Isabelle’s smirk was now a grin and she took another sip of coffee, victory shining in her eyes. “Come on, we can just sit at the back of the room and laugh at the people who get hypnotised. Please?” When Alec didn’t respond, Isabelle heightened the puppy eyes to their full power. “I’ll leave you alone about Magnus if you come?” That was too good of an offer to resist.
~*~
Alec was late for class. Even after everything that had been going on this year; his lack of concentration, his failed tests, he had never once been late. And now he was pegging it through the hallway, every bit of his energy focused on turning each corner while he ran towards the classroom.
Okay, so he had over-exerted himself at practice yesterday. Out of everything Alec had been expecting, seeing Magnus Bane watching from the bleachers was not on his list. And he had thoroughly surprised himself when he decided that he was going to show off in front of the other man. He had pushed himself to his limit and now every bone in his body regretted it. Seeing the big tardy mark on his record was making him regret everything.
He turned another corner at full speed, seeing the classroom in his vision when he suddenly collided into something. There was a yell and then Alec found himself falling to the ground, pushing whatever he had collided into down with him. His eyes were closed. Braced for impact but when he found that the floor wasn’t as hard as it should have been, he cracked an eyelid open and instantly wished that he hadn’t. Underneath him, face less than a centimetre apart from his own, golden eyes wide with shock, was Magnus Bane in the flesh.
“I…” Alec felt a lump in his throat the size of Jupiter. He choked his words out and wondered in that moment if he was going to be sick. “I am so sorry… I didn’t… are you… hurt? I didn’t see…. Oh my god… I am so sorry.” Magnus was still watching him silently, eyes still wide and unmoving from where they met Alec’s own hazel. Alec what are you doing? Get off of him! Despite his mind’s protests, Alec couldn’t bring himself to move. He was just staring, almost challenging the other man’s stare. Magnus raised his eyebrow and Alec could see his make up perfectly from this close. The smooth eyeliner, smoked eye shadow and were those fake or his real eyelashes? That was undetermined.
Magnus blinked, cutting off the connection between them for less than a second and Alec suddenly remembered the situation that he was in.
Holy shit, what am I doing? This is it. He hates me. I knocked him over and now I can’t even bring myself to get off of him. I probably ruined his coat and Jesus he looks good in that coat. This is going to be the only time I’m ever going to be in this position with him and I blew it. I absolutely blew it. Way to go, Lightwood. You fucked everything up with the guy you like and now he’s never going to look at you again.
A small sound brought interrupted Alec’s thoughts and he realised that Magnus was chuckling softly. His eyes widened at the sound and it pulled him to his senses enough to push off of the man in front of him and stand up, extending his hand out for Magnus to take. Surprisingly, Magnus accepted the hand and pulled himself up, still chuckling to himself.
“Well, that was certainly a new way to meet someone.”
“I… I am so sorry. I wasn’t expecting to have anyone come round the corner and I wasn’t looking and oh god, you’ve got dust all over you.” Alec looked over the other man, taking in his dishevelled appearance and feeling guilt wash over him. He couldn’t see himself but he was fairly certain that his face had to be bright red. The only thing that could have made this situation worse was if there had been anyone there to witness it.
The last thing you need right now is anyone suspecting that… that you’re… the team would go mental.
Magnus, who seemed to have started chuckling again simply brushed down the front of his coat and shook his head fondly. “You shouldn’t be sorry. I’ve never minded getting dirty.” And god forbid, he winked. Magnus winked. At Alec. After implying…. Was he flirting? Is that flirting? Alec was sure his face turned 100 times redder. “Although I must say, I feel sorry for anybody you tackle on that football field. Those are some muscles.” He was definitely flirting.
Alec tried to respond, his mouth opening with words on the tip of his tongue but his vocal chords failed him. Magnus was sporting perhaps the most devilish grin on his face as he looked Alec up and down. Then the other man walked past, perhaps not-so-coincidentally brushing his arm against Alec’s. “Next time you want to pin me to floor. Just ask, okay?” Was Alec even still breathing anymore? He couldn’t feel his lungs working. In fact, he couldn’t feel anything working. The smell of Magnus’ cologne filled his nose as he walked past. “And Alec?” He turned around, the smile still pinned to his sinful face. “Class was cancelled. You can take a breather.” And he was gone.
Time seemed to freeze. The touch of Magnus’ arm brushing his seemed to send Alec’s body into completely overload. The sound of his voice as he spoke those words. At Alec. Was this a dream? Had he just slipped while running and was now nursing a concussion? Was he even alive and this was just the light at the end of the tunnel?
His heart was beating at 1000 beats a second and his ears were ringing, his whole body tingling from the frantic thudding. The moment was replaying itself in his mind over and over like a broken record and he never wanted it to stop. He wanted to live in this moment forever, knowing that Magnus had not only touched him but had spoken to him, flirted with him even. He had seen Magnus flirt before, constantly jealous of the meaningless words that he directed towards people he barely even knew but he had never expected them to be aimed at him. What would Magnus possibly see that was worth flirting with?
The thoughts seemed to hit Alec suddenly.
They didn’t mean anything. Those words. He was just being friendly, because that’s how Magnus is when he’s being friendly. He flirts and makes jokes with people. Alec felt his face fall, his heart starting to finally beat at a solemn rhythm. It doesn’t mean anything to him. *I* don’t mean anything to him. It’s just something he does. He was making light of the situation. That’s all.
Alec kicked the wall next to him gently, cursing himself for getting his hopes up. He bowed his head, shaking it lightly as the humiliation spread through him. Magnus must think I’m an idiot. Standing there blushing and speechless while he plays around with his words. God, Alec. Why are you so stupid? A small vibration followed by the familiar tune of his ring tone and Alec dug his phone out of his pocket, greeted by the picture of Isabelle he had set for her contact. She spoke almost immediately when he answered the call.
“You’re still coming right?”
Alec had to work the words out of his throat. “Um… coming to what?”
“Alec…” Isabelle’s groan was audible down the phone. “The fortune teller? Room 502? It’s in an hour. You remember now?”
Shit, that was happening today. “Oh, right. Yeah. Of course I’m coming.”
“Good. See you then!”
Alec heard a giggle as she ended the call and wondered why he’d agreed to this. To stop her bugging you, that’s why. This had better be worth it.
~*~
Alec shimmied into the door of the classroom, finding Isabelle easily standing over by the window, her arm linked with Meliorn’s. He fought the urge to roll his eyes. Of course he was here. Meliorn had his free arm lightly touching Isabelle’s waist, just slightly lower than Alec would’ve liked.
“Alec, you came!” Isabelle grinned, pushing Meliorn back slightly at the sight of her older brother. The other male didn’t seem impressed and Alec had to bite back a smirk.
He shrugged instead, leaning his back against the wall. “Not like I had anything better to do.” He glanced around the room. All of the windows had been covered by pieces of cloth and there was a faint mist accompanied by the scent of incense. Every desk had a small, glass ball and a pack of cards on them. Alec got flashbacks of the last time they had attended a fortune-teller and shuddered.
Isabelle took her place next to him, leaning her head against his arm. Meliorn, who had taken a seat at one of the desks glanced back, blowing a kiss in Isabelle’s direction before facing the front. Isabelle noticed her brother’s expression and rolled her eyes. “You’d do the same if you were in a relationship.”
“I would not-“
“Silence!”
The word boomed around the classroom, the voice amplified somehow. Alec and Isabelle both cut their conversation, turning their attention to the front of the room where a new figure had appeared. Madam Dorothea had not been what either of them were expected. She was young, only a couple of years older than the students in the classroom and her dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun. A dark red gypsy skirt hung off her thin frame, accompanied by a loose fitting shirt of the same colour. Necklaces, in a myriad of colours ad types adorned her neck, a bright green gem standing out amongst them.
“You are here to learn about fortune telling. Not to converse. Please, take your seats.” The voice that had barked the command seconds earlier was now soft, almost friendly. Everyone took seats at the desks, save for Alec and Isabelle who chose to keep their places by the wall. They were the only ones here to watch, it seemed. “Today I’m going to teach you about tarot cards, what their purpose is and how we use them.”
The “class” continued on, everyone taking the cards out of their packets as Madam Dorothea instructed everyone on the correct way to hold them and which cards stood for which fortune. “The human mind is a wonderful thing, capable of talents that most people aren’t aware of. A lot of people refer to fortune telling and mind reading as magic, something that doesn’t exist. I’m here to teach you that they are wrong. If a human wishes, they can unlock the part of their mind capable of such things.”
Dorothea was walking around the room, correcting people’s hand placements and making sure they were holding the correct cards. Alec found himself rolling his eyes at her speech. Surely no one was buying this? He looked down at Isabelle, finding his sister’s face full of wonder as she listened to the fortune teller. Oh boy. She was really falling for this crap?
“You there. At the back.” Alec looked up, finding Dorothea’s eyes trained on him, a single finger pointed in his direction. He turned his head from side to side, trying to see if there was anyone else it could be directed at. “No, you. With the dark hair.” Dorothea walked down the rows of desks before she stood almost less than a metre in front of him.
“I… me..?” Alec felt a hand on his arm, realising that Isabelle was now looking up at him, her eyes wide.
“If you think that this class is, as you called it, crap. Why are you here?” Dorothea’s words were calm, the slight hint of amusement in them. Alec felt his eyebrows go up. He hadn’t said the class was crap. Not out loud anyway… had she…?
“Uh… I…” Alec couldn’t find the words to say. This had to be a trick, she must have read his facial expressions and come to the conclusion that he wasn’t enjoying it. There was no way she could actually read his mind. Right?
“You!” Her attention snapped elsewhere, her head whirling around and her finger pointing at a new victim. Alec recognised the leaf tattoo covering his cheek. “This is a classroom, not a whorehouse. Please keep your inappropriate thoughts at bay.” Alec had never seen Meliorn show any ounce of emotion before, now his entire face was engulfed in a red flame, his eyebrows shot up in confusion and wonder. Alec felt his sister’s cheek pressed into his arm. She too was probably just as red. “As I was saying…” Dorothea walked back down the rows to the front of the class, folding her arms calmly behind her back and small smile stretching her lips. “You have the potential to do it, you just need to believe.”
~*~
As much as Alec tried, he couldn’t get the class out of his thoughts. He’d sat through three other classes, constantly wondering if she had been right in the class, that people could read minds. There were always people who claimed that they could by reading a person’s facial expressions and body language. Dorothea was probably one of them. She’d seen Meliorn and Isabelle together and assumed what he’d be thinking based off of that. She’d seen Alec at the back, judged his expression and stance and used that as her basis. But the words… using the exact word that Alec had thought was filling his mind with doubt. Even as he sat at the dinner table that night, looking over at his family he wondered about it. His dad had been the one to originally suggest they go to that first fortune-teller show and had been very insistent about it. No, you’re being stupid. If dad could do that, you’d know. There’s no way in hell that dad would have no idea about your sexuality if he could read minds. Alec tried not to act worried when his dad looked over in his direction at that moment.
“Hey, dad. We went to one of those fortune teller things earlier today didn’t we Alec?” Isabelle seemed to have gotten over any embarrassment from the class and had sat in the cafeteria with Meliorn gushing about the class and how amazing it was.
Robert seemed indifferent to the idea, not taking his eyes off of the salad in front of him. “How did that go?” The question was without emotion and Alec couldn’t help but notice how disappointed Isabelle looked.
“It was really fun! She showed everyone how to use tarot cards. She even read a couple of people’s minds.” Isabelle chuckled at the memory, keeping her attention locked on their father.
Alec took a sip of his drink, chuckling along with his sister in a half-attempt to make her feel better. “It was pretty weird.”
Their father looked up at that, his expression remaining cold. “You didn’t have school work to be doing?”
The words stung a bit. If Alec had said that they had taken part in an extra football practice, Robert would be all for it. Anything else was a waste of time in his eyes.
“No, we had a free period afterwards and caught up then. Alec helped me with my English and I helped with his maths. We’re alright.”
Robert nodded his head, returning his attention back to his food. It was their younger brother Max that sat with wide eyes, listening to what siblings had been saying.
“She read your mind? Really?”
“Yeah, Maxy! It was super cool. She read Alec’s and told him to stop being so grumpy.” The two launched into their own conversation, Isabelle telling Max everything about the experience as he asked questions with awe. Alec looked over at their dad, hoping that he wouldn’t make a comment towards the pair of them. Instead, Robert finished his dinner silently and stepped out of the kitchen without any further words.
Well, I guess that proves he definitely can’t read minds. Either that or he really doesn’t care at all. Alec wasn’t sure which one was worse.
~*~
When Alec stepped into his math class the next day, his mind was buzzing with new possibilities. He tried to focus as the teacher explained their next worksheet. In fact he even tried to focus on Magnus, who was sat in his usual seat near the front, wearing a sinfully tight pair of jeans and a sheer shirt. However his attention would not let go of the knowledge he had possibly discovered. Of course he knew it was stupid-mind readers didn’t exist. This was the real world. But still… it was worth a shot wasn’t it?
What was the best way to try and expose a mind reader? Well, thinking something about them would do the trick… but what if you didn’t know who they were? What would gain someone’s attention?
Shouting.
This was a long shot, Alec knew that. But there was no harm in trying. He sat in his chair, trying to look as passive as possible as he tried to think of the loudest thought that he could, a silent scream that if someone was able to read minds, they couldn’t just ignore it.
To his surprise, he saw movement near the front. A person winced at the sound, visibly squirming in their seat. Alec was about to celebrate at the victory of possibly discovering a mind reader when the figure turned around and Alec realised exactly who had winced at his words.
Magnus Bane.
Alec tried to calm himself down. He could feel his breath getting faster as those familiar golden eyes landed on his and if he wasn’t briefly aware of the classroom he was currently sat in, Alec wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t have dropped to the ground. There was no way. Magnus couldn’t… this had to be a coincidence. He tried to peel his eyes away, lower them to ground and make himself seem as unsuspicious as possible but his body was betraying him. Magnus furrowed his brow in concern, cocking his head to the side.
“Are you okay?” Magnus mouthed the words clearly enough and Alec still couldn’t bring himself to respond.
No, No I’m not.
The thought was clear enough. He kept looking at Magnus, hoping to see some reaction from him. Any sign that would further confirm his suspicions, but the other man seemed ignorant to the advance, his concern growing more apparent. “Do you need some air?”
Great, Magnus thought he was having a panic attack. Was he having a panic attack? He didn’t feel like it. Alec had suffered many of them in his short life and they never felt like this. This was just… shock. It had to be. Shock that the guy, who for the past year, had been the subject of almost every single one of Alec’s thoughts, inappropriate and otherwise, was possibly a mind reader and had heard them all.Shit, now he was beginning to panic. He tried to think of things that would calm him down. The coffee that he’d that morning, the way Max had looked when he tried some and his face had screwed up so much Alec had compared him to a crushed soda can. The cute way his cat had fallen asleep last night next to Alec’s head and he felt his breathing start to slow down, the pounding in his head receded to a dull ache.
He was aware that Magnus was watching him. If not directly, he could see the turn of his head occasionally and the same concerned expression plastered on his face. Alec made sure that when he caught the other man looking, he nodded his head as a sign to say that he was alright now. Magnus gave him a nod back along with a smile. It took a lot for Alec not to think about it too much.
Something had changed between them since the incident yesterday; or so Alec thought anyway. The first barrier had been broken- well multiple barriers if you took into account that Alec had ended up on top of him before they’d spoken their first official words to each other. Even before Alec’s almost-but-not-quite panic attack, Magnus had been paying more attention than he had previously. As Alec had entered the room, he received a small smile and wave from the other male and now Magnus actually seemed worried about him? That Magnus was finally beginning to take notice of him was every hope and dream that Alec had experienced in his life, even before the two had even met. Magnus, one of the most wanted guys in school and definitely the most gorgeous out of them was paying attention to Alec. Oh, if Izzy was here now…
She had kept her end of the promise, not mentioning Magnus since Dorothea’s class and Alec, despite complaining about it in the first place wanted to talk to her and get her advice on where to go now that the first bridge had been crossed. He could leave out the whole “Magnus could be a possible mind reader” part. Although he was sure that Isabelle wouldn’t consider him insane for thinking so. He pulled out his phone before considering it further.
Alec:Can I meet up with you at lunch? SOS
Izzy: Sure thing, bro. Do I need to bring tissues and ice cream?