The Mannequin (Malec Fanfic)

Coffee

"Simon!" Alec's heart broke and Magnus' expression visibly sank. "Wait-" he turned to Raphael, confused.

"Idiot.. Alexander! Come here," everyone turned to stare at Alec, especially Simon who was glaring daggers. He slowly approached Raphael before he was roughly grabbed by two individuals and dragged through the double doors back into the studio.

"Simon, go home." Ouch, Alec thought, thinking that if this was always their system it was truly unfair.

"Wait, what?" Alec was confused, had he won this thing or not?

"You won, alright? End of." Raphael snapped his fingers, "come here tomorrow at nine, can you do that?"

Alec paused. "I think so."

"What do you mean, 'think so?' How far away do you live?"

"It's an hour on the bus but-"

"Well there you go, just get the bus." Alec opened his mouth to speak but chose against it, cowering away. "See you then." And with that, Raphael left.

This Raphael guy was turning out to be somewhat of an asshole, Alec knew that if he could afford not to be here, he'd quit there and then. Hell, if it weren't for losing his job he wouldn't even be here. He almost missed his abusive boss. "You alright?" Alec turned, looking at the ground. "You look.. unwell."

"I'm fine.." His voice was close to breaking.

"You're not.. Come on, let me take you for a coffee." Alec lifted his head, looking at Magnus. "I'll pay, don't worry." Alec couldn't help a small smile, "and you tell me what's wrong alright? I noticed that asshole interrupted you. Sorry about him.." He raked a hand through his spiky hair. "Anyway.. let's just get a coffee, there's a Costa down the road." Alec nodded and they headed off together.

After a few minutes of walking, Alec finally broke the silence. "It's really embarrassing. I can't take the bus, so today I ran for just under three hours."

"And you didn't take the bus because..?"

"I.." Alec bit his lip, "I can't afford it. I can, but food is more important."

"Are you saying you're homeless!?" Magnus was shocked, looking at the boy with wide eyes.

"Until Sunday.. I lost my job and my roommate kicked me out until I can afford rent. He wouldn't have done that if I hadn't kissed him.." Alec went a deep red and Magnus smirked, glad he was gay. "So I have £120 to survive on, I'm currently living with a couple and spending money on bus fair.. it's just not worth it."

"Wow.." Magnus tentatively reached out to touch Alec's shoulder, "that's kind of you, and brave. Most people would spiral into insanity after going through that." Alec leant into the touch and looked up at Magnus with a slight pleading look.

"If you say so.." He looked heartbroken, as if he were remembering a bad memory.

"This isn't the first time, is it?" Alec shook his head. "Well go grab a table, and then tell me about it, alright?" He kissed Alec's forehead to which the boy jumped back with an alarmed expression. "Sorry, sorry.."

"It's.. It's fine." He turned away and hurriedly found a table. He hadn't felt such affection in years..

Five minutes later and Magnus brought two coffees to the table and two muffins. "Thanks.." Alec muttered, taking a sip.

"So, tell me the entire story. What on earth has happened to you?"

"We've only just met and you expect my entire life story? Good luck."

"No, just some answers to why you're so upset."

"I just got fired from an abusive job, my crush also roommate just threw me out and I have three mouths to feed including my own for five days on £120 alone. Isn't that answer enough for you?" He hissed, not wanting to raise his voice and attract attention. "If you think about it, buying a meal daily, if you can even call it that, it's £24 a day for all three of us, could you live off £8 a day?"

He had a point.. "Okay okay, I'm sorry. But that's what I was looking for. Where do you.. currently live?"

"Near Ock Street. Why?"

"I know an area not too far by bus, has an Asda so you can double your money because everything is super cheap and-"

"Hello? I can't afford the bus right now."

"I know, so here." He pulled out his wallet and pulled out a card, sliding it across the table. "I earn buckets full of money a week. I can afford it till you get back on your feet, especially considering I have a car."

Alec looked at the card and gasped when he realised it was a free bus pass, "you.."

"I've been meaning to cancel it, but until you get back on your feet, you'll get first paycheck in a couple weeks and depending how you do it might well be a hefty sum. Until then, it's yours."

His eyes began to fill with ushed tears, "th-thank you.. No-ones been this kind to me in a long time." Magnus frowned but didn't pester. "By the way.. what phone do you have?"

"iPhone 5, why?"

"Do you have your charger..? Mine.. mine died and I can't charge it.."

Magnus couldn't help but smile, "I carry a portable one with me, every now and again you have to plug it into a wall to charge, but we got plenty of sockets at the office, so keep it till you get yours back."

"You're really too kind.." He couldn't keep back the tears now, letting himself cry. "Thank you." He plugged it into his phone and smiled sadly as the apple logo appeared on the screen to say it was now turning on.

"Why haven't you tried returning to your apartment? Clothes, charger, toothbrush and toothpaste, a pillow, your stuff."

"Jace bought most of it, I guess I.. can't face him. I can try tomorrow I guess. I gotta buy food for the couple and I so we eat tonight.." He stood up, putting the muffin in his pocket, "I can give this to them.."

Magnus could see the desperation in Alec's eyes, his whole body was tense and every now and again his hands would visibly shake, now being one of those moments as he put his phone back in his pocket and pulled out his wallet to put away the bus card. "Look, if you want, you can crash at mine until your sister is back."

"How'd you know that's what I'm waiting for?"

"You kept muttering it during audition."

"Oh.. But no, it's okay. I've got people to buy for, I promised, and... well, I enjoy their company." Alec smiled a little.

"Alright then.." Magnus pulled out another card and handed it over, "call me, if you ever wanna talk, or.. meet up or something. I know we'll see each other at work but.. you know, out of hours or days off."

Alec took it, shaking again. "Th-thank you. I will." There was a moment of silence, "i'll see you tomorrow."

Magnus nodded and watched the boy leave, hugging himself against the chilly breeze. He just hoped in this slowly cooling weather, he'd be able to get a good night's sleep.

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It feels weird writing these author's notes in advanced, I have no idea what you guys are gonna say. (For example, this chapter was written January 4th)

But anyway, hope you liked it! Make sure to leave a comment and a vote too, it's always very much appreciated.

See you soon! ~Fiz