City of Clockwork Soldiers

Jealousy

Alec slouched against the headboard of his bed, the weight of travelling and his overall frustration causing his body to be completely void of energy. He sighed, remembering when the boy had first been introduced.

Will. The name resounded through his mind like the rhythmic beat of a drum. He remembered a boy of the same name who Magnus had mentioned before, and this man's appearance completely aligned with the one Magnus had described. This had to be him. It had to. This was the boy Magnus had been in love with.

Resentment radiated out of Alec like waves as he thought of the boy's flippant grin at his introduction to their group. His blue eyes, not unlike Alec's own, had glowed as he clutched the hand of his fiancée, Tessa. Alec imagined the same smile on the boy's face as he broke Magnus's heart, and went off in pursuit of Tessa. He curled his hands into fists, angered by the picture which had suddenly come to life within his mind.

A few gentle taps pulled Alec from his furious reverie. Lifting his eyes to the door, he noticed that a shadow was cast in the crack beneath it. "Come in," he muttered, surprised that the person outside had heard the comment well enough to take it as a signal to enter. But the door opened all the same, and in its place stood his sister.

She eyes him curiously. "What are you doing?" she inquired, her brow creasing as one eyebrow arched high.

He looked down at himself, at his body stretched unceremoniously across the bed, his hands stuffed into his pockets haphazardly. He could feel the creases in the skin at his throat as a result of his down-turned chin.

The truthful answer to this question would have been: wallowing in self pity. But he simply replied, "Nothing."

"Look," Isabelle started, shutting the door behind her and stepping further into the bedroom. Alec pulled his legs further towards him out of instinct. "This is weird for all of us, and it makes every one of us feel uncomfortable. Even Jace." This remark made Alec snort. It was rare that anything discomforted Jace, so the fact that this situation did made it liable for the rest of them to completely freak out.

Isabelle continued. "But Alec. We're shadowhunters. We're trained - practically from birth - to deal with that element of surprise. And in the past I've known you to shield it well. So what's really bothering you?" Her head cocked to the side, almost tender, though Alec knew not to associate his sister with tenderness.

"Nothing, really," he insisted, but his attempt at lying was abysmal. He felt himself trying to steady his gaze, to hone it in on Isabelle, but that proved harder to do when he had surges of angry fire coursing through his veins.

"Alec..."

"It's Will." Alec surprised himself at the outburst, as he hadn't expected himself to confide with his sister. Hearing the name said aloud, even via his own tongue, did not calm his frayed nerves.

Isabelle frowned at him, her eyebrows knitting close together. "Will?" she asked, her voice probing and invasive. "What about him?"

He exhaled exaggeratedly before saying, "Magnus used to date him."

Isabelle's eyes expanded in size as she lowered herself down onto the edge of Alec's bed. "He did?" She raised her gaze to the ceiling, seeming to be trying to locate the most appropriate words for the inevitable question that was to follow. Finally, she settled for, "How long for?"

His shoulders lifted and fell laboriously, his head lolling to the side. "Dunno. But Magnus mentioned him before; said he sort of looked like me." 

"Wasn't lying," remarked Isabelle with a grin.

Alec released a sound which was like half-laugh, half-sigh. "I don't know, just seeing the guy annoys me. I know it sounds strange but... it feels like I can imagine a time when Magnus didn't have me. When he had this Will guy."