War of Hearts

Chapter 13: Do You Believe In Magic

Isabelle, Jace, Clary and Luke were summoned downstairs where Alec had had his bachelor party. The girls and Jace were sitting on the bench and Luke straddled a chair casually as they all turned their attention to Alec, who had his fists together from the tension that was pulsing through his body. Isabelle had crossed her legs like a schoolchild to get comfortable while Clary and Jace's bodies tensed up from the unexpected appearance.

"So, umm..." Alec began his speech rather gawkily, which made him start walking from one side of the room to another nervously. "Thanks for coming. I wanted to... I called you here to just..."

Gosh, what was he thinking? Why did he have to make such a big deal out of this? He should have just told them what he wanted to say individually without making himself sweat in front of them. Alec realized this was a stupid idea, but it was too late to call it off now. He stopped and faced his friends.

"I just want to apologize to you. I know I haven't been very... friendly these last couple of days..." Alec felt himself get interrupted by the dubious looks he was receiving from Clary and Jace, as if they thought his choice of the words 'not very friendly' wasn't accurate enough. And Alec knew they had a right to question him – he had barely talked to them lately and when he did, he'd been so rude he was surprised they even came. He had to make this right. He stood up straight and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Look, I'm sorry," Alec pleaded, his eyes flicking from person to person. "I haven't been myself lately. I've been feeling so lost... but I know that's not an excuse for being a jerk. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me," he finished, avoiding their eyes in embarrassment.

"Alec," Isabelle said softly and he looked up with hope in his eyes. "It's okay. Of course we forgive you," She said with a reassuring smile. The others nodded in agreement and Alec let out a relieved sigh.

"Okay, good." Alec allowed himself a tentative smile and felt his body relax a little. "I was wondering... would it be okay with you guys if I joined you on your missions?" He asked and felt the tension creep up on him again.

"Alec, you don't have to do that," Jace said in a soothing voice. "You made yourself pretty clear the other day and we respect your decision."

"I know I don't have to. But I want to help. I know you guys could use an extra hand or two in a fight," Alec offered. It was completely against his nature to just stand by and watch his friends come home sore or injured battle after battle. "Besides... Magnus wouldn't want me to just... sit here and do nothing." The one thing Alec was sure of was that Magnus wouldn't want him to be sad to the point where he felt completely lost and alone. "And I don't feel comfortable doing that either. So what do you say, can I go back to training?" He focused on Jace now, expecting an answer from him.

"If that's what you really want, Alec, sure. I'd be happy to help you get back in shape." Jace nodded and gave Alec a smile.

Alec smiled back. He didn't realize how eager Izzy had been to jump off that bench until the second she did it.

"Well, if that is all, Clary and I will excuse ourselves," she said cheerfully and grabbed Clary's arm. "We have some urgent business to attend to," Izzy said with a bright smile on her face.

Clary's face, however, indicated that she had no idea what urgent business they had. Izzy dragged her away before she could even say "We do? Okay then," and filled her in the details. Alec watched them leave and had no idea what they chattered about – although he did overhear an excited word or two about shopping from Izzy – until he was distracted by Jace standing right in front of him.

"So, shall we do this then?" Alec asked Jace, pointing upstairs.

"Yeah, let's do this." Jace nodded and they were about to head back up when Luke stepped forward.