Chapter Text
“Shit,” Alec cursed when he looked up at the clock. He is late for his meeting with Izzy. He quickly got out of bed and put the clothes on he could find. He ran through the streets with his coffee in one hand and his bag in the other, pushing past the most annoying by passers he had ever seen. Seriously can’t anybody stay out of his way, he thought. Alec was up later than he should’ve, working on this new case, which was horrific by the way. All the paperwork that had to be done was overwhelming. Being a detective was no piece of cake. He didn’t realize it had gotten that late, until he looked at the clock and it showed 4:00 am.. He decided he better get some sleep. Unfortunately he slept through his alarm and was now running late for his appointment with Izzy, she was going to be sooo mad.
When he went around the corner he was met with a loud thump and before he knew it he was lying on the ground next to someone else.
“Omg, oh my god. I’m so sorry,” he rambled before standing up and giving the, ridiculously attractive, man a hand. He looks at the man’s white blouse with a huge coffee stain on it. He quickly pulls off his jacket and started wiping at the stain.
“I’m such a klutz, I’m so sorry. Omg.” Still the other man hadn’t said anything, that could be because he didn’t have a chance since Alec tends to ramble a lot. But when he does say something, Alec could have sworn that the world turned a little brighter by this man’s melodic voice.
“It’s fine, darling.” Alec looked at him for a second before getting back to work on the stain.
“And just so you know, this is just rubbing it further in. I don’t mind your hands on my chest, but this doesn’t do much to the stain.”
“He says after I’ve been doing this for a minute.” He mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” the man said jokingly.
“Nothing.”
“But I kinda do need a clean shirt,” he scrunched up his nose, adorable, Alec thought.
“We got to do something about that stain though. I live right here, he said pointing towards the building across the street. If you want you can borrow one of my shirts.” Before the handsome man could answer he was being dragged towards the apartment building across the street.
“Okay, so here we are. Um.. I’m going to find something for you to wear. You just stay here and… don’t touch anything please!” The man didn’t break his promise, but he did look around for a bit. It was a very plain looking apartment, really New Yorkish. Not much personal stuff, some books, pictures and decorations but nothing much. He did see an awful lot of pictures of some blonde dude though, seemed like the cocky type. When Alec got back, he had three shirts in his hands.
“I have these, they might….” His sentence came to a stop, when he noticed the incredibly beautiful man had taken off his shirt and was now bare chested. “Fuck,” Alec sighed underneath his breath.
“Hmm?” the man asked when he turned around, facing Alec. He caught Alec shamelessly looking at his chest and arms while practically drooling, who wouldn’t. Alec shook himself out of it.
“I don’t know if they will fit, since I’m a little taller and well… you’re broader than me.”
“Are you calling me fat?” the man asked offended, but his scowl soon turned into a smirk, got he was sexy. Shit, focus Alec.
“No.. of course, I don’t…” Alec stammered. “No, the opposite.” He finally got out, but not without a blush creeping on his neck.
“Oh,” the man said flirty. “So are you going to stare at me all morning or are you going to give me a shirt?” Alec quickly handed over the shirts and turned around.
“Oh you don’t have to turn around if you liked what you saw,” the man said unashamed. “Unless your boyfriend wouldn’t like that of course.” Alec was left speechless, he honestly didn’t know what to say.
“Boyfriend?” he asked eventually after the man had one of his shirts on.
“Well yeah, the blonde guy you have a dozen pictures of.”
“Oh, no. That is just my roommate/brother. He is a little full of himself.”
“A little?” the man laughed, and it was the best sound in the world. So carefree and melodic, Alec thought. He quickly shook himself out of his thoughts before he would start drooling again.
“So you don’t have a boyfriend?” the man asked.
“No, do you?”
“Wouldn’t have come with a beautiful stranger to his house if I did, or would I?”
“Uh..” Alec tried to give him a sarcastic one liner back, but nothing really came out. He used to be so witty around people, why not with him.
“So handsome stranger, that dragged me all across the street to get me half naked and in one of his shirts, are you going to introduce yourself or not?”
“Uh.. yeah. I’m Alec, well Alexander, but everyone calls me Alec. Except my parents whenever they visit, but that is not a big deal. But all my friends call me Alec any way, most people call me Alec. Alexander is a bit much, I think.” He rambled on.
“Do you always ramble so much? Or is this just a special occasion?” the man teased with a smirk.
“When I’m nervous,” he simply said before he could stop himself.
“And why would you be nervous, Alexander?” Alec honestly didn’t mind his full name coming out of the man’s mouth.
“Uh…. I don’t it’s just…. You’re so beautiful and I can’t help but feel nervous,” he rubbed his neck and looked down at the ground, in shame.
“Well thank you, darling.” The man replied kindly. Alec looked up again and his eyes caught the eyes of the stranger. “You’re not bad yourself,” he winked.
“How funny and exciting this has been, I do have to go somewhere. Can I have your number perhaps so we can meet and I can give you your shirt back?”
“You can keep the shirt if you want to, I don’t mind. It was my fault that the other one is ruined. I can take it to a dry cleaner if you want and mail it back to you,” the man rolled his eyes at Alec’s response, he could be so clueless at times. The man took a few steps towards Alec and said softly: “This was me asking for your number so we could meet again, silly.”
“Ooohh…. Yeah, did not realize that.” Alec would have slapped himself if he could, but he didn’t want to embarrass himself any further.
“Why would you want my number?” Alec eventually asked.
“Why not, you’re cute, sweet, might I add incredibly gorgeous and you dragged me over here just to give me one of your shirts. That is what I call extra and I like it,” the man winked at the end of his sentence.
“So would you?” the man reached out his hand, to give Alec his phone.
“Um.. yeah sure.” Alec also grabbed his phone from his pocket and gave him to the stranger while he put his number in the other one’s phone.
When he returned the phone Alec saw his contact name: Handsome stranger. Before he could realize the man walked over to the door, but stopped to turn around.
“See you, Alexander.” The man purred.
“Wait, what is your name though?” he asked quickly.
“Guess you’ll have to wait and see.” And with that he closed the door.
“Dammit,” Alec cursed he was going to be so late for Izzy.
****
“So, this handsome guy, what did he look like?” Isabelle asked curiously, while also trying to pry in his social life.
“So beautiful, really. Like an angel send from heaven, there are literally no words that can describe him. That could do the man’s beauty justice.”
“Wow, sounds like one hell of a guy. And he was interested?” it wasn’t supposed to come out sounding insulting, but it did.
“Thanks, I already know he is way out of my league.” Alec huffed.
“That is not what I meant, Alec. Let me get this straight,” she chuckled at her own joke, but quickly stopped when Alec glared at him. “You ran into this god of a man, spilled your drink on him. Made him come to your apartment and you got him half naked and you got his phone number?” Alec simply nodded.
“What has happened to my shy ‘I don’t really date’ brother?” she teased. “Why don’t you text him?”
“I don’t know if he really is interested, maybe he just wanted to get rid of me or something?”
“Did you not hear what I just said? The guy voluntarily went with you to change his shirt and then he flirted with you and gave you his number. You still thinking he doesn’t like you?”
“Yes… I don’t know Iz. I’m not good at this. I can be flirty, sure. But this is for real, I really want to get to know him.” Alec whined.
“Then I suggest you take your chance and text the guy.”
“I guess you’re right,” he sighed.
“Like always,” she said cockily, Alec just rolled her eyes at her.
“Don’t you have some audition to get to or something?”
“Actually, no. I did audition for this tv show, called The downworld, the other day and they still haven’t given me a call, but I’m really confident that I will get this one. The part is so me.” She said.
“Maybe you’ll become famousss…” he teased her.
“Maybe I will.”
Isabelle was trying to pursue a career in acting, but it wasn’t doing her any favours at the moment. She auditioned and auditioned, but no breakthrough yet. Alec had been there for her when she started her career, he had paid for headshots, acting lessons and even bought her a couple flight tickets. He just wanted her to succeed so badly, she deserved it. Their brother (adoptive), Jace, wasn’t as thrilled for Izzy. He thinks Hollywood is a toxic business and all the people in it are no good. That was one of the main things he and Izzy fought about most of the times, but they all knew Jace meant it well, it just didn’t come out that way. They all were very protective of each other, and Izzy had it rough with all the disappointment. But now she finally had a shot at becoming what she always dreamed of. She had auditioned for this new tv show and the roll seemed utterly perfect for her. She was supposed to play a badass woman, that wouldn’t let a man walk all over her. It really seemed like a perfect fit and Alec prayed for her to get the roll.
“Maybe I will text him,” Alec concluded out of the blue.
“Okay, do I have to prep you. Like, don’t talk about sex on the first date or don’t talk about other guys.”
“No, Iz. I got this.” Alec said confidently.
“Okay, big brother. But if you’ll text him ‘I think you’re kewl’ I’m going to kill you.”
“Relax, have some faith please. This isn’t my first,” he stated matter of factly.
“If you’re talking about the whole Raj thing, that wasn’t even a relationship on your part. He just stalked you for months, until you finally went out with him.” Isabelle took a sip of her tea and gave Alec a look.
“Don’t say that about him, we’re still friends.” Alec stood up for his friend. “And I’ve had more relationships.”
“Oh right, how could I forget James. The most dreamiest guy I’ve ever seen although he was a jerk,” Isabelle gushed.
“Well, that’s because you haven’t seen the guy I met today,” Alec chuckled.
“Oh really, so even better than James? Nice one brother, now go text him before I will,” she threatened.
“Okay, okay, okay. I will.” Alec took his phone out and opened a new chat.
Alec
Hi, I don’t really know how to do this, but I just wanted to say hello. I still got your shirt, it is washed though. And I was wondering if you’d want to have it back, maybe we could meet some time? Hope to hear from you soon
Alexander
14:55
Alec showed Izzy the text before he send it.
“Maybe you are better at this than I thought. The text seems cute, but why did you sign it with Alexander?” Izzy inquired.
“Um, he called me that this morning. So, I just.. I don’t know. Should I delete that?” he asked insecure.
“No, it’s cute,” Izzy gave him an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry so much, if he liked your rambling, which you probably did this morning, he will like your text.”
“Okay,” he sighed. His finger hovered over the send button, but he decided to not let his head ruin things and just send it already.
Message send
***
Alec was so nervous after his appointment with Izzy, he went home and threw his jacket on the coat hanger. The man’s shirt was still hanging over one of his chairs. Alec didn’t want to constantly check his phone, but he wanted to know if the handsome stranger had answered. He reached for his phone, but he hesitated, what if he hadn’t text back? He would just be disappointed again… In the end he decided against it and grabbed some stuff from the kitchen table and started working again. This was actually supposed to be his day off… but he just couldn’t sit still. It felt wrong, when he knows that there is something that could be done. So he walked towards his office and started working again. Searching, digging for clues. He was really focused when his phone buzzed. Alec looked at the screen and wanted to scream when he saw who it was from.
“Okay, calm down Alec. Calm down…” He squeezed one eye shut and looked with a scrunched up face at the screen.
Handsome stranger
Well, hi to you too. You can keep my shirt if you want to, I wouldn’t mind ;) But I would like to meet with you some time again? When are you free? Love to hear from you
xx Handsome stranger ;)
19:53
“Fuck,” Alec cursed really loud. So he did want to meet, not what Alec was expecting though. Alec dialed Izzy’s number.
“Hello?” Alec heard from the other line.
“Iz, I’ve got some news.” Alec said.
“He texted back didn’t he?” she laughed.
“He did!!! He texted me that he wouldn’t mind if I kept his shirt,” Isabelle whistled at the other end. “And he wants to meet me again, he already wants to set up a date.”
“Well, go for it.” she encouraged.
“But what about work?” Alec asked her.
“You can take one night off Alec, you’ve been working none stop these last few months. You deserve to take a break.”
“I know I do, it’s just.. I don’t know. What if he doesn’t like me and I screw up again? He’s so out of my league.”
“Alec, have some faith. You’re the best person I know and the kindest brother. He’s gonna love you, I promise.” She told him.
“Okay, you know what? I’m gonna set up a date for next Saturday.”
“That’s my brother!” she cheered. “but I gotta hang up, Meliorn is here. See you later.”
“See you, love you. And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He joked.
“Haha very funny. Love you too.”
Isabelle hang up the phone and Alec stared at the text again. Eventually he realized that staring at it wouldn’t make it more real and started typing a message.
Alec
Hi,
I would like to meet with you again, is this Saturday okay?
Alexander
19:57
He sent the message and only a few seconds later he got one back.
Handsome Stranger
I would love to go out on Saturday, should I pick the restaurant? I’m looking forward to seeing those gorgeous eyes again. <3
xx Handsome stranger
19:58
Alec absolutely did not make the most teen girl noise there could possibly be. (he most certainly did)
Alec
Great! Yeah, if you know a good restaurant be my guest. I don’t really know much about food, so everything would fine. I’m looking forward to seeing you too :) You can keep your shirt on this time ;)
Alexander
20:01
Handsome stranger
Oh really, if I didn’t know better I would think you were flirting with me mr. Alexander. I do not know your last name yet…. But I like where this conversation is going. I know some good restaurants, so don’t worry about it. At what time should we meet?
xx Handsome stranger
20:05
Alec
Well, you’ll have to find out until Saturday to see if I was flirting now, won’t you. It’s Lightwood btw. I have work until 5 pm so I could make 7 pm work.
Alexander
20:07
Handsome stranger
Alexander Lightwood, I like that. 7pm sounds great, well I’ll see you then Alexander Lightwood ;)
xx Handsome stranger
20:08
Alec
Until then, but I still don’t know your name..:(
Alexander
20:08
Handsome stranger
Wait until Saturday ;)
xx Handsome stranger
Alec shook his head affectionately at the man’s response. Alec didn’t usually flirt like this, but with this guy it just came natural to him, it felt like they had this amazing connection between the both of them. It felt right and safe. In person was a whole different story, because then Alec was a blubbering mess. He looked down at his phone again and got back to work.
***
“So, if I understand this right. You invited a random stranger into our apartment, got him one of your shirts and now you’re going on a date with him?” Jace asked.
“Yup,” Alec said simply.
“I don’t know dude, I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Well, quite frankly I don’t care. You do not get to say what I should or shouldn’t do.” Alec replied to Jace’s comment.
“Okay, chill bro. Do whatever you want to do, I was just warning you. You know absolutely nothing about the guy,” Jace tried to reason. Deep down Alec knew Jace meant things well, but it just didn’t sound that way. Jace was a good guy, Alec would trust him with his life, but sometimes he wasn’t very subtle. He just opened his mouth too quickly. It was like this with girls, with co-workers, with family, even with random people on the street. Jace just couldn’t find the right things to say, and he especially couldn’t find the right moment to say them.
“It’s fine, just trust me on this. I have a good feeling about this one,” Alec couldn’t help but let a tiny smile escape. Just thinking about the handsome man brought back the butterflies that he felt when they met.
“He seems different, good different.”
“Well, if you say so. I trust you, but don’t let love make you blind,” Jace advised.
“I won’t,” Alec promised. Right at that moment he got a message from the handsome stranger.
Handsome stranger
Hi, Alexander. How are you today? I was going through my closet (I have a big one) and was wondering what I should wear to our date… You have any preferences? Let me know, hope you have a great day
xx Handsome stranger
13:44
Alec grinned at his phone, which made Jace roll his eyes.
“Is it from him?” he asked.
“yeah…” Alec responded dreamily.
“Ugh, you’re so gross. Get a room,” Jace teased and threw a pillow at him.
Alec simply didn’t say something and responded to the man.
Alec
I don’t really have a sense of fashion, so I guess whatever you’re most comfortable with :)
Do you have an idea of what I could/should wear?
Alexander
13:46
Handsome stranger
Well, I’d rather have you wear nothing, but that could be a little too soon, don’t you think? ;) Just wear whatever you want, darling. Don’t worry, The restaurant is a little fancy, so maybe a suit?
xx Handsome stranger
13:47
Alec
I’ll try my best ;) see you Saturday
xx Alexander
13:47
***
“And you haven’t told him who you are?” Catarina, Magnus’ manager and best friend, asked when she was having a conversation with Magnus.
“Well, it is not something I should do over text do you think?” he added sarcastically, while he plopped down on the couch after a day of shooting. “I can’t just text him, Oh yeah btw I’m Magnus Bane, a famous actor.”
“And you’re sure he didn’t recognize you, maybe it was just some crazy fan who just wanted to go on a date with you?” Cat raised her eyebrows and got Magnus something to drink. She placed the glass in his hands and got a silent ‘thank you’.
“I think I know the crazy ones by now. But not this one, he seemed different, genuine. I don’t think he knew who is was.”
“And what was his name again?”
“Alexander Lightwood. God, even his name is perfect.” Magnus sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Lightwood? Hm… I think I recognize that name from somewhere…. But I don’t recall.” She got up from her place on the couch and started looking through some papers.
“What are you doing? You’re just messing it all up.”
“A ha. I knew I recognized his name. Here,” she gave Magnus a resume from some dark haired girl, which he didn’t recognize.
“Isabelle Lightwood,” he read aloud.
“Yeah, Isabelle Lightwood. She auditioned for the role of Rosie on the show.”
“Really?” Magnus thought she looked similar to the man he had met. Both the same striking features, dark/black hair and probably created by the gods themselves.
“She does look like him… Maybe they’re brother and sister. Shit, maybe they’re brother and sister!” He yelled.
“Would you relax please? You’re diva is showing,” she smirked.
“Ha ha ha. Was she any good?” he asked his friend.
“Well, what I heard from the casting director she would be the perfect fit.” Magnus smiled at that.
“That’s great for her.”
“Are you still going on a date with him? Dating regular mundanes hasn’t really worked out for you in the past you know.” She advised him.
“And dating celebrities has?” Magnus raised his eyebrows and stood up from the couch. He started pacing around the room.
“No, that’s not what I mean. I just.. he doesn’t know what this is like, he doesn’t understand this world. Maybe this is just going to be too hard for him,” she reasoned.
“I don’t even really know yet, maybe he’ll be different. He seemed different to me.”
“They always seem different, do you want to have a relationship again after what happened last time?” she reminded him.
“I don’t know… but I would like to have a relationship once in a while. I know I’m known for my many partners, but the image has become a little too much. I don’t want to just have meaningless flings or PR relationships. I want something that is real, honest. I want someone I can come home too, who understands me and supports me. I want a real relationship. What I had with Camille wasn’t…. I don’t know. I just want to see what happens.”
Magnus Bane had always been known for his dating lifestyle, one after the other. Never really caring, but that was never real. He just had to deal with a lot of people using him for his fame and popularity. And one thing was certain, it definitely didn’t feel very good. His last long relationship was with this actress, Camille Belcourt. The worst thing that ever happened to him. Camille had emotionally abused him for years, but that is not what the media saw. The media just saw a perfect relationship, that had its ups and downs. So naturally a lot of people were devasted about their break up, while his real life friends were so freaking relieved that they broke things off. But to think of it that had happened over five years ago, after Camille Magnus didn’t really care anymore. He slept around and dated a lot of people, he got used to people calling him names such as ‘slut’ ‘man whore’ and much more vulgar ones, but he just didn’t care anymore. Camille had broken him for a very long time and his friends had to watch him from going bad to worse. But this last year felt like he had finally found himself again, he started working again and said goodbye to his dating life. It felt like a new beginning.
“And you know what? there is nothing wrong with not knowing the future and just waiting. If you want to see where this thing with him is going, then I will support you one hundred percent,” she gave him a big smile, which made him stop pacing. He went around the table and embraced her into his arms.
“Thank you.” Right when she was about to leave his phone buzzed.
“Raphael send me a link to an article, he never does that…” Magnus opened the article on his phone and…
“No!” he said dramatically under his breath.