Maybe [The Mortal Instruments] {Rewritten}

II Alec's P.O.V

Finally! If I spent one more day in bed, I would have started throwing things around, mostly Magnus's stuff. I appreciated the way he took care of me, eagerly catering to every whim I had. It made me feel loved and momentarily pushed away any fear that Camille had instilled in me. The turmoil of losing my parabatai and being unable to take any action had been driving me mad. It was especially frustrating to be confined to rest in bed while Jace could be enduring torture at the hands of Sebastian, in who knows what sinister location.

Yet, I understood that the Institute couldn't aid my brother, but Magnus could. So, I remained in my boyfriend's apartment without uttering a word of complaint, joining him in the relentless search for any clues that might lead us to Jace. Eventually, we did uncover something significant, and together with Izzy and the vampire, we summoned Raziel for help. However, Magnus and my little sister always kept a watchful eye on me, fearing that my wound might reopen. They were hesitant to allow me to participate in the mission to rescue Jace, but it was something I would never allow to happen. Their overprotectiveness led to a heated argument with Magnus.

Which reminds me that I still haven't cleared things up with him. I halted in my steps and sighed at that thought. Well, at least I had a reason to finally be alone after so much time of having a babysitter—especially on this date, the one day I wanted to be completely alone.

"That was quite the deep breath, big boy," a hoarse voice commented behind me. Of course, the Universe wasn't on my side lately. I cursed silently in my head. "But I can't speak," she continued. It was almost as if she was talking to herself. "Today isn't one of my best days, either."

"We can mourn together, then," I replied sarcastically.

"Also, in the meanwhile, we can invite Thanatos and have a chat with him," she suggested in a dark tone.

"Nice one," I chuckled humorlessly.

Turning around, I found myself face to face with one of the most beautiful girls I had ever met, if not the most. She was tall, though not taller than me, with emerald-green eyes, lightly tanned skin, and waist-long brown, almost blond, straight hair, braided and adorned with plastic flowers. Yet, it wasn't just her beauty that captivated me. It was the sense of familiarity emanating from her. By the way she continued to gaze at me, with that mixture of surprise and curiosity, I could tell she felt it too.

"Do I know you?" She asked after a moment of silent mutual contemplation. "Because I can swear, I met you before. There's something about your..."

"... eyes?" I finished her sentence. I smiled with relief when she nodded in agreement. Suddenly, an idea struck me. "Did you lose your older brother this date four years ago?" I asked slowly, cautious about the possibility of being wrong.

"How did you... Xander? Is that you?" I nodded, and in no time, my arms were full of an eighteen-year-old mundane. "I missed you so much, big boy."

"I missed you too, Katherine," I murmured back, returning the tight hug. "What are you doing here? I thought your parents moved you to Barcelona after... after Marcelo was killed."

"We did, but I wanted to return to my hometown... it makes me feel closer to my brother," she explained with a sad smile, her arms still around my neck. "That's why I decided to enroll in Parson."

"Parson?" I asked her, confused.

"One of the best fashion schools in the US. You really don't know anything about it?" Katherine sounded amused, as she always did when I was clueless about mundane stuff. "I'm in the fashion design program."

"Good. I always knew how much you love fashion," I said, happy to know that at least the life of someone I cared about was going fine. "Would you like to have a drink with me? We need to catch up on a lot of stuff."