Addicted to you- Alec Lightwood

34- Save The Date

As all of the Shadowhunters (plus Maia and Simon) escaped the wreckage in the murky waters of the river, Magnus made seven towels appear, handing one to everyone apart from Ethan. Magnus took the liberty of wrapping his towel round his shoulders for him, looking pointedly at Alec as he did so. Alec growled softly under his breath, looking away before Ethan noticed. 

Izzy caught Magnus' eye and smirked at him. She knew exactly what he was doing, and was glad he was doing it. In her eyes, Alec needed to be taught that his happiness matters too. In Magnus' eyes, Alec needed a little touch of jealousy to understand what he was missing. Though Magnus didn't yet know about the wedding, he knew there was something going on.

"Thanks, Magnus" Ethan smiled at the warlock gratefully, making Alec's face darken even more. 

Ethan, looking at Simon, gasped, realising something he probably should have thought about before. 

"Simon! The sun! How are you not dead?!" he cried. 

Everybody's eyes focused on Simon, who looked very uncomfortable. He looked down at his arms as if he would find the answer there. Then it clicked.

"It was you" he said softly, looking at Ethan.

Now it was Ethan's turn to look confused. "What was me?"

Jace chimed in next, understanding. "He couldn't do that before you let him drink your blood. Maybe there's something in your blood that gives him that power. Maybe that's why you can invent runes"

Ethan considered this for a moment. "Maybe... I think I'm going to need to get my blood tested so we can figure out what's going on."

Izzy smiled. "I can arrange that easily enough, parabatai"

Alec's phone went off then. He took it out of his pocket and frowned at the screen.

"Lydia wants us back to the Institute" he said.

Ethan scoffed.  "And of course we all have to do what darling  Lydia wants"

Alec rolled his eyes. "What would you do in my shoes, Ethan?"

Ethan chuckled dryly. "I wouldn't lead a guy on, that's for sure. I wouldn't make myself miserable for my parents, Alec"

"You can't-"

Ethan interrupted him. "I'm not going through this. Lets just end this now. I hope you'll be very happy with Lydia, but I don't think you will be. I won't say anything else on the matter, other than the fact that I care about you more than anyone else I've met. And this wedding is going to hurt me, so I'm not going. I can't watch you ruin your life with her"

There was a stunned moment of silence.

"Ethan..." Alec pleaded softly, "not having you in my life will kill me. Please don't do this"

Ethan's eyes glistened. " And seeing you married to Lydia will kill me. It's already done. We need to get back to the Institute"

And with that, he walked through the portal that Magnus had conjured, without a backward glance at the distraught look on Alec's face. Alec had hurt Ethan beyond belief, and it seemed like there was no way back from it.

                                                   ..................................................

Lydia met them at the entrance of the Institute as the Shadowhunters walked through the portal. Alec walked past the rest of the group and took his place by Lydia's side. But even he thought that this felt wrong. 

"Glad to have you all back. We will have a briefing later tonight, but I wanted to make an announcement whilst you are all here" Lydia stated, smiling at the group.

Izzy came behind Ethan and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, knowing that he wouldn't like what she was about to say. 

"What is it?" Ethan demanded, weakly. 

Lydia turned her gaze specifically to Alec for this next bit, and that's when Ethan knew what she would say would break him in half.

"Because of the horrible events today, the wedding is being moved forward to tomorrow"

"What?!" all of the Shadowhunters exclaimed, including Alec.

Lydia rubbed his arm. "I know its a lot to get organised, but we can do it. I've made arrangements for the majority of things"

"Right..." Alec replied, distracted by Ethan's retreating form. 

As Ethan moved out of sight, Lydia left too, stating she had to sort out the caterer. After she had moved from earshot, the attacks on Alec started.

"Are you really going through with this, my parabatai?" Jace asked. 

Alec turned to him. "What business is it of yours?" he snapped. 

Jace looked hurt, before the hurt look was replaced with one of fiery anger. "I would have thought it was because you were my parabatai and I care about you. But, if not, its about my brother and what this is going to do to him"

"If you think I'm going to let you break my brother's heart, you are a bigger idiot than I thought" Clary chimed in next.

"You need to understand that I don't have a choice!" Alec exclaimed in frustration.

"You ALWAYS have a choice, Alec!" Izzy shouted for the first time at her brother, "You can't honestly tell me that this is what you want! You are hurting everyone you care about for what Mom wants! When is this going to change?!"

"When I don't have a responsibility to carry this family! Because of Mom and Dad's mistakes with the Circle, I have to improve our status!"

Izzy shook her head, not understanding what her older brother had turned into. "Names don't matter that much, Alec. What you think about yourself and what your loved ones think matter"

"And your loved ones are struggling to understand you now. Think about your decision properly. Don't just put yourself through this. Or Ethan" Jace sighed, before leaving the same way that Ethan did.

Izzy paused before following, hoping her brother would make the right decision.