Broken Trust

Chapter 9 - New rules

Bright light shinned through the gap between the almost closed curtains. Alec stretched and groaned from the pain in his body. His muscles were sore and his back aching from sleeping in someone else's bed.

The soft snores next to him, brought back his memories from last night. Slowly he turned to his side, to gaze at the sleeping Magnus. He was beautiful. Not that he would admit it to him yet. Even though he had decided to forgive Magnus and give things a second chance, he didn't really want to let him know yet. He needed to take things slow, at least the relationship part, or he would get lost in Magnus once more. Just as when they were young. He needed to go in smart this time. To protect himself. But that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy this astonishing being sleeping next to him, as long as Magnus didn't notice.

Alec leaned in and pressed a feather light kiss to Magnus' temple, before getting out of bed. He put his clothes on and headed downstairs to Jace.

"Goodmorning brother. Did you sleep well? Now that you got to fuck it all out of your system?"

Jace chuckled when Alec grabbed a magazine on the table and threw it at him.

Jace had been sitting on the couch with the tv on, flipping through the channels when he had to duck to not get hit in the face.

"Such a temper. I thought you would at least be in a better mood after your activities last night."

Clary had appeared in the doorway, with a cup of tea in her hands.

"Seriously? Did everyone hear?"

"Are you kidding? The entire street heard Magnus screaming."

Jace chuckled when his brother dropped down next to him, covering his face in his hands.

"So embarrassing..."

"Alec, come on. It's not like you didn't hear me and Jace when we were younger."

Alec couldn't help but grin at the memory. He had heard them a lot of times. In Jace's bedroom, in the bathroom, in the janitors closet at school... Almost everywhere.

Suddenly something dawned on him when he noticed Clary sitting down at the chair across from the couch.

"Wait... Are you guys getting along again?"

Alec's eyes shifted from one to the other.

"Well, we have talked at least. And I'm not completely sure of what I think, but it's good to talk about it. And then later I can decide if I believe him."

Jace moved closer to Clary, reaching for her hand but she pulled away slightly.

"Come on Babe, you can trust me. I promise."

The sound of what used to be a name of endearment, made Clary glare at Jace.

"Stop calling me Babe!"

"But..."

When Jace reached for Clary once more, Alec grabbed his hand.

"Jace, you have to respect her boundaries. She doesn't want you too call her that anymore, and you just have to accept it. You've fucked up, brother, and now you have to play by her rules. Gain her trust again."

"But Alec..."

"Nu buts, Jace. There is no other way. If you want her to trust you and give you another chance, then you have to do things her way. And if you can't do that, well then, I guess you have your answer on whether you two should be together. If you can't put aside the things you want for a while, then you don't want this marriage enough."

Clary looked at Alec with appreciation mouthing Thank you. Alec understood completely how she felt, but then again why wouldn't he? He was in a similar situation.

At the stairs, not far from the living room, Magnus stood watching, listening. He could tell how honest Alec was in his words. And how much Alec probably felt the same way. Magnus expected that those words were as much Alec's own feelings as it was a description of Clary's. It gave Magnus hope, that Alec was ready to work things out. He just had to be patient.

Remembering how he had kissed Alec last night, without permission made him a little sad. He hadn't been able to put aside his own feelings, and he felt like Alec could just as easily have been talking about them. But from now on he would only do as Alec wanted. He would let him set the pace. Anything to get him back. He needed him back in his life. Ever since he had gotten to know Alec for real, he wanted him in his life. Any way possible.

This was just his luck. Of course, the only day that nerd had arrived late for class, was the day they got new partners for a big project. Magnus himself almost always arrived late, and even though the teachers hated it, no one ever said anything. He was the golden boy. The star of the basketball team. They always just ignored it and he got to choose his own group when they had been formed, but today that long, skinny and awkward looking boy had been late too, which meant that the teacher had paired them off.

Magnus glared once more at the boy sitting next to him with blushing cheeks while reading through the assignment. What a nerd! He hoped he at least would be a talented nerd, because then Magnus could just sit back and relax while he fixed this.

Waiting for the skinny guy to read through the papers, he played a little with the basketball he always brought with him. Spinning it on his finger.

"Alright. I got it!"

The skinny boy snapped his head up making big gestures with his hands to underline his words, knocking the ball to the ground where it bounced straight towards the teacher.

"Great..."

Magnus mumbled under his breath when the teacher glared at him, grabbed the ball and locked it away in the cabinet with the rest of the balls that had been confiscated from Magnus.

"Shit. I'm sorry..."

The blush on the boy's face turned even brighter when he looked shyly up through his lashes at Magnus. The anger he had felt slowly faded when he saw those beautiful hazel eyes. He had never noticed them before. How could he not have noticed them before? Magnus swallowed a couple of times before he was able to form words.

"It's okay. I've got more... Um, so what is the assignment?"

Magnus leaned closer to the guy, to see the paper when the boy went back into nerd-mode and started explaining. Not that he was listening much to the words. But that voice made all the blood in his body go straight for his dick. Magnus couldn't believe what was happening... Was he getting turned on by a guy? He didn't want to believe it, but at the same time he really couldn't ignore it. He could feel the need to be closer to this guy getting stronger. His scent, his voice. Even his insecurity. Everything was something Magnus liked. And he really liked how this guy just got lost in the work. Magnus knew right then and there that he had to get to know him.