a Romance For the Times: A Malec High School story

c ha p ter 21

Author's Note: sooo,,, I'm going to try the whole "POV" shenanigans thing with this chapter. Sometimes writing in third person is a mission and first person helps you understand the characters better. soooo,, here's my experiment. 

also,, enjoy lmao,, this is a malec-centric chapter for all yall :) 

Magnus POV

Thank god I had found Alexander before he rushed off to his last class. He was fine a couple days ago, when we went on our date. He seemed to be completely out of it. I have my suspicions that it's not something that I did, maybe something with Isabelle or Jace. I had noticed that both Alec and Jace were wearing their hoods, trying their best to cover their faces. 

"Alexander!" I called. I needed to talk to him. He was clearly suffering, which as someone who cares about him, cannot let him do. 

"Hi." he said. His voice makes me swoon. It's the one sound in the world I will never get tired of. It's so velvety and mellow. It's possibly one of my favourite sounds in the world. 

"Why are you wearing your hood?" I ask. No beating around the bush. I need him to talk to me. Just to know he's okay. 

I tug on his sweater a little. He looks away. The second bell rings and the hallways clear out. We are now late for class. Well, if we're already late, might as well just be a little more late. 

"Come with me." I whispered. He looked at the floor and followed my feet as I started to move forward. There was a teacher right smack dab in the middle of the next hallway. I pulled Alexander into the nearest washroom. 

He was completely taken my surprise. He was now standing so close. I could feel his warm breath on my lips. I would pull him right into a kiss. But, now was not the time. We both stood there. Air thickening as time went by. 

"Alexander, darling, you still haven't answered my question." I said, moving back, to release the obvious tension between us. 

"I um ---" he started. He was talking, that was a good start. 

"I got into a fight." he breathed. He said those words so softly, it was almost inaudible. 

"You got into a what?" I asked. Alexander was the last person I would imagine to get into a fight. He was always so calm. Jace, yes, I could completely see. Isabelle too, even. But, Alexander? Nope. Never. I can't believe it. 

"A fight." he said, louder now. 

"With whom?" I asked, concerned. 

"Sebastian and his little posse." Alexander said. I could sense his anger rising again. His fist was clenched and his teeth were gritted. His tone was quiet, but confident. 

"When?" I asked. He did not seem to mind me asking questions. I just needed to know. For him. For me, too. To save myself the worry. 

"At lunch." he said. I placed both of my hands on his fist. I held onto his hands. He released his clench and now he was just holding my hand. His warm touch was so needed. I was deprived of him. 

"Did anyone see?" I asked, going closer. 

"No." 

"Were you alone?" 

"No." 

"Who was with you?" 

"Jace." 

"Why did you fight with Sebastian?" 

That made his hands twitch. I suddenly sensed the lack of comfort. His hands were starting to sweat.

"Alexander, hey." I whispered. "Why?" 

"Isabelle." he said. Just that one word. I left it alone. I let go of his hand, but stayed as close as I could. There was a silence. One he and I were both uncomfortable with. 

"Can I pull off your hood?" I whispered. 

This entire time, he did not look at me. He was staring at the floor. I could see his head move up and down. I was granted permission. 

I pulled his face up with both of my hands on each side of his face. I held onto the edge of his hood with my index finger and thumb. I slowly pushed it off his head, brushing atop his hair. 

"By the angel." I gasped. I saw his pale face covered in red and purple bruises. 

"Darling, are you okay?" I asked him. 

He shook his head. My heart ached for him. He was just trying to protect his family. 

"Can I hug you?" I asked. 

He responded my sliding his hands around to my back and pulling me into him as close and as tight as he possibly could. I wrapped my arms around him. He snuggled his face into the crook of my shoulder. 

I rubbed his head, "It's going to be okay." I whispered. 

"I don't know if it is." he answered. 

I had no response. Instead we stood there, hugging for a while. I cradled his head in my palm. He buried his face in the crook of my collar bone. He held on tight. I almost felt as if I could not breathe. Instead, I felt him breathing. It slowed down the longer we stood. His breathing was unstable and now it is slow and steady. He is more relaxed. 

He started to hold on less tight as he breathed more steady. 

"Thank you." he whispered, rubbing his eye. 

"Anytime, darling." I said and offered him a smile. He gave a faint smile back but I could tell it was genuine. 

"We're super late for class." he said. 

I checked my phone. "Yeah, we're late by an hour, class only has 15 minutes left." I chuckled. 

"No point of going to class now." he said, and rubbed the back of his neck. He looks so cute when he does that. 

"Yeah." I chuckled. 

"Magnus, I really had a great time on our date." he said abruptly. 

"As did I." I said, leaning my head back and remembering how lovely it was. Possibly one of the best days of my life. 

"Thank you, for everything. You're so patient and I always dump my problems on you." he said and licked his lips. 

"Darling, that's what I'm here for." I said. 

"I get all tingly when you call me 'darling.'" he said. 

"I know, darling." I said and winked back flirtatiously. 

"You wanna go on another date some time?" he asked. 

"Alexander, are you asking me out?" I asked. 

"Y-yeah." he said and rubbed the back of his head again. God why is he so cute?

"I'd love to." I said. 

"Great, come to my house on Friday after archery." he said, walking away. 

"I'll be there." I confirmed. 

"I'll be waiting." he said and left the washroom. As soon as he left, the bell rang.