A Malec Story

Chapter 8: Fourth meet

Alec

"Alec, come on!" Jace shouted. "Focus!"

Alec swung the seraph blade and hit Jace's blade hard. So hard that it flew out of his hand through the training room. It swirled through the air.

Max, sitting on a bench on the side, started clapping. "That was cool, Alec!" he announced.

Alec gave his little brother a smile, but he couldn't shake the feeling of unease. He looked at his watch again, and noticed if he didn't leave within the next minute, he was going to be late.

Late to his first date.

Of course, no one here knew he was going on this date. Otherwise they would've probably let him leave already. But he couldn't tell them, and he couldn't come up with any other excuse.

"Okay, we're done now?" he asked, as Jace strolled through the room and picked up the blade.

"No," Jace said, frowning. "We just started."

"I want to try," said Max.

Alec looked at his brother and cursed himself silently. Max would prefer fighting with Jace over him. Alec hated that. But at the same time his little brother was giving him an out.

"Yeah, good idea," he said. "You two go fight. I'm off."

Before Jace could ask him where he was going, he left the training room and hurried to his bedroom. There he took a quick shower and changed into a new, faded-blue shirt he bought for this first date with Magnus. He ran as fast as he could then, from his room to the rickety elevator and through the cathedral.

Once outside he checked his watch. He was supposed to be at Magnus's house in one minute, while the journey would take at least thirty. There was no escaping it. He was going to be really, really late.

Isabelle would say it wouldn't matter. She'd say that coming late would compensate for his over eagerness. That he'd be playing hard to get. But that really wasn't his style, and he hated being late. So all he could do was run flat out to minimize the damage done.

He boarded the F train, and, once in Brooklyn, he ran again, as fast as he could. Of course, that meant he was panting for breath when he arrived at Magnus's door. He rang the bell and checked the time. More than thirty minutes late.

The door opened, and Alec ran up the stairs to the second floor. The door was open, and Magnus stood in the doorway, holding his cat. He was wearing red leather pants and shoes, and a black silk waistcoat on top of it. He looked incredibly glamorous. Glamorous and so far out of Alec's league.

Alec felt the nerves flaring up in his stomach, and he wondered for the millionth time if he was making a mistake, going on this date. It was asking for rejection. How could someone as beautiful and experienced as Magnus see anything in him? An uninteresting, seventeen-year-old with no sense of fashion whatsoever.

Magnus raised his eyebrows slightly as he turned and walked into the apartment. Alec followed him, a little reluctant.

"Well, this is unexpected," Magnus said, as he sat down on the sofa. He looked totally nonchalant and unworried. Exactly the opposite of how Alec felt. His spirits were sinking as he racked his brain for something to say. Did Magnus not expect him? Did he forget about the date?

"I'm sorry I'm late," Alec panted, still trying to catch his breath. "Jace wanted to do some weapons training, and I didn't know how to get away—I mean, I couldn't tell him—"

"Oh, Jace, that's it," Magnus interrupted him in the middle of the sentence, catching him off guard.

"What?"