She met him at the age of 13, visiting the Institute for the first time.
She almost tripped, but his hand caught hers and he never let go.
[season 1 - completed]
[season 2 - in progress]
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Organized chaos.
It was the only way to explain the aura around the Institute the moments following Jace's departure. Every single Shadowhunter in the disguised church was distraught. The New York Institute wasn't as large as some of the others, disproving the common belief. They all tip-toed around the subject, walking on eggshells, certainly watching what they said when Clary was near. No one was more upset than her; she stayed holed up in her room most days, only coming out for food before retreating.
Margo and Isabelle tried consoling her but it did no good. Clary remained inside her cocoon and her friends worried for both her and Jace, for the black holes they were jumping into.
While they worried for them, Margo and Alec seemed to make progress in their relationship. They reached a point in which they thought they couldn't be closer or more in love with each. But, with Jace's absence came a new need for the couple, a need for each other. Some days, they were the only ones that kept each other from falling over the edge. Most days, they kept the sulking to a minimum, finding a safe haven in each other.
Jace's departure had certainly opened their eyes, warning them of what they could lose if they didn't put their all into themselves and each other. And, so, Alec and margo spent a lot of time together, sometimes talking or laughing, and other times finding a comfortable silence hanging over them. At the moment, they were sat together in the den of the Institute, Margo's extended legs draped over Alec's, his right hand rubbing figure eights onto her bare ankle. His left hand held a book and every so often, his eyes would waver to the side where Margo laid, her own head stuck into a novel.
He hesitated to start talking, a part of him very relaxed by the silence around them. However, he eventually did, startling Margo as her concentration broke and she jumped a bit before her eyes met Alec's.
"Go?"
"Yeah?"
Alec paused a moment, scooting closer to her and allowing Margo to sit up herself, cris-crossing her legs and putting her book down. "Is he ever coming back?"
Maybe it was the way he asked, his voice slightly breaking as the first evidence of his vulnerability shone through. Margo couldn't honestly answer at first, or really, at all.
She was completely speechless, not sure how to talk about this sensitive subject. "I'm not sure," she told him, eyes wavering slightly from his own. Her hands softly slid over his own, clutching his fingers with her own. "But, Alec, he spent his entire life in this place, with us, with you. He's your parabatai; you don't just throw that away."
"He was my parabatai," Alec angrily corrected.
Margo frowned, pulling her hands away and running one through his hair. "You don't mean that," she softly commented. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have asked about him."
He was the one who was speechless then, unsure about how to respond. She was right, he knew that. She was always right about stuff like this.
They'd spent a long time pining over Jace, or what felt like a long time. Margo thought it was enough. "Let's go somewhere," she started.
"What?"
"Let's go somewhere," she repeated. "Anywhere. Six Flags. The Museum of Natural History. Let's just go, all of us."
Izzy was strolling past then den when she heard Margo's proposition. She leaned against the woodwork of the entrance to the den, crossing her arms and casually inputting, "I'm up for it."
Both of their heads turned to look at the younger Lightwood stood confidently by the door, holding the hint of a smile at her lips.
Margo turned back to Alec, watching a soft, mischievous smile grow on his face, brightening his features. He nodded his head in support of the idea, observing Margo's plump lips as they stretched into a smile. She clapped her hands before using them to pull Alec up off the couch and towards the front door as Izzy dragged an unwilling Clary down the stairs.
Though the beginning of the trip may have needed a little work, by the end, when they'd returned from a day of exploring the city and spending time as regular teenagers, they were all thankful. By the time Margo had exited her bathroom after a shower, the moon had come up.
Her feet found their way back to Alec's room, where she'd been sleeping a lot lately. The two laid in bed together.
"You make all this worth it," Alec told her as she drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness.
He didn't have to explain himself and she didn't have to ask. She understood he sometimes found it hard to let others know how he was feeling. In fact, she didn't even reply. She hummed in acknowledgement, reached over and pressed a loving kiss to his lips.
"Do you remember the day we met?" she asked, intertwining her hand with his. Alec nodded before she continued. "When I first saw you, I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew. It's always been that way and it always will be. And that's just fine with me."
He breathed out slowly, smiling at their first memory together. He kissed the back of her hand before pulling her closer to him and shutting his eyes. He had no intention of letting go.
They dreamt of each other that night, and the night after that and the night after that, becoming the life rafts they needed to keep from drowning, to stay alive.
written: October 21, 2016 edited: October 21, 2016 published: November 22, 2016
