Chapter 4

The work week has come to an end, much to Alec's delight. It's Thursday night, and Alec only has about an hour left in his shift, then it's four days of relaxation. There's also the date with Magnus tomorrow night. Alec and Magnus have been texting or talking on the phone nonstop since Monday. Alec refuses to believe that he's already smitten with the man. He keeps telling himself that he needs to be careful, and not let his emotions cloud his rational thought, he knows that no one sticks around forever so he needs to keep Magnus at arm's length. At least tonight, Alec has Jon and Clary to keep his mind off of things. Tonight the trio are going to the gym for a much needed training session. About four years ago, Clary started going to the gym to spar with Alec and Jon. Before that, Alec and Jon would go once a week to let go of some stress from their lives - or whenever Jon was home from school - but due to certain events, Clary started to join in their weekly sparring matches.

"So, Alec, what are your plans for the break?" Aline asks, as she does every week.

"Tonight is sparring with Jon and Clary, tomorrow I have a date, Saturday will probably consist of laundry and house cleaning, then of course, our normal Sunday dinners at the Morgensterns' house," Alec explains.

"Wait a minute! Don't tell me that the forever bachelor, Alec Lightwood, is going on a date! Does Clary know? What was her reaction? When did this happen?" Aline exclaims, spouting off questions at rapid fire.

Alec notices out of the corner of his eye, that Magnus, who is having a conversation with Jordan, visibly tenses.

"Slow down Aline, and yes, I'm going on a date with an amazing guy that I met last weekend when Clary and I were out celebrating her graduation. We hit it off at the bar, and have been texting and calling every day since. The only thing I know so far is that he's picking me up tomorrow evening, and taking me to dinner. He refuses to tell me where he's taking me, but knowing him, it's probably going to be the best date of my life!" Alec exclaims. He can see a broad smile forming on Magnus' face over Alec's reaction and enthusiasm, as well as probably keeping his secret. "As far as telling Clary, I haven't seen her all week because our schedules are off for the next three months. I was going to tell her and Jon about it tonight, though," Alec finishes and Aline squeals so loud, the entire firehouse stops to stare.

"Oh, my god! Alec this is amazing! What's his name? What does he look like? Tell me! Tell me!" Alec laughs at her childish antics. Aline has always reminded him of his sister Isabelle.

"Okay first, I'm not telling you his name. I really like this guy, and I don't want to jinx anything," Alec remarks, knowing that Magnus is adamant about keeping his sexuality away from his coworkers for the time being, "and as far as description, he's taller than myself - which is saying something - he has the most beautiful skin tone I've ever seen, a rich caramel color, amazing eyes, and he just looks like a real life Adonis." Alec blushes, slightly embarrassed that he's literally describing the man sitting on the other side of the room. Aline is sitting next to him, sporting the biggest smile that he's ever seen on her.

"Wow, he sounds too good to be true! If I were into men, I'd totally fight you for him," she says while she continues to gush about Alec's date. Alec also notices that Magnus is trying not to laugh. Alec catches Magnus' eye at that moment, and he gives a shy smile.

"Do you and Helen have any plans on your break?" Alec enquires, feeling a little rude by monopolizing the conversation.

"No, she's working the same schedule as Clary, right now, so we have been seeing each other in passing. We might go out to dinner at some point over the weekend though. I know she's off on Sunday, I'll try to plan something then, as long as she isn't too tired. She did tell me that she wanted to discuss something with me, though." Aline pauses to look around for a moment. She catches Magnus looking in their direction and nods to him. She turns to face Alec again and lowers her voice, "I'm hoping we can discuss the whole having kids thing again. We both agreed that we wanted to wait a few years, but it's been a year and a half since we married, I'm wondering if she's ready now. We both have stable jobs, we just bought a house, and we're in a really good place in our lives," Aline says, with a hopeful glint in her eye.

"I hope this talk works in your favor then," Alec says, "but if you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me." Aline gives him a warm smile.

At that point, Sebastian comes in, gives his cousin a hug, and a kiss on the head, then turns to face Alec. Standing up, Alec gives him a bro hug, then proceeds to give Sebastian his relief report.

"The ambulance has been washed, sterilized, stocked, and dispatch has our ending mileage recorded. All you need to do is your inspection, call dispatch to make them aware of the shift change, and what your starting mileage is going to be." Sebastian nods, and turns to start his preparations for his shift.

When the shift ends, Alec and the other guys on the shift head to the locker rooms to change out of their uniforms. Alec changes into a pair of basketball shorts and a black fitted tank top. As he grabs his hoodie out of his locker, he catches Magnus staring at him out of the corner of his eye. Alec glances over to Magnus, winks, and walks out to his car.

~oOo~

Alec pulls into the gym's parking lot, and the first thing he sees when he glances down at his phone is a new text message from Magnus.

From Magnus:

It seems like you've been testing my restraint quite a bit today Alexander...

To Magnus:

I have no idea what you're talking about ;-P

Alec decides to hang out in his car for a little while, seeing as neither Jon nor Clary have arrived yet. He also wants to wait and see if Magnus texts back right away.

From Magnus:

Is that so? Hmm let me think...that gorgeous blush when you called me "a real life Adonis"...or maybe that tight ass tank top you changed into that left absolutely nothing to the imagination...

To Magnus:

Okay first of all, it's kind of hard to talk about you like you aren't even there. I slipped up when I mentioned that I had a date tomorrow night. Luckily for me, Aline knows how vague I can be. Second, it's not my fault that I described you perfectly, and lastly, this is just what I wear when I go work out. These clothes are easy to spar in, what more can I say ;-)

Even as Alec hit send, he could feel himself blushing. He's usually not one to flirt, but with Magnus, he just can't seem to stop.

From Magnus:

And now I'm picturing you all hot, sweaty, and panting... ;-)

Go and work out with your friends and have fun. See you tomorrow darling xxx

At this point, Alec is wondering if it was possible to pass out from blushing so much. Alec puts his phone in his pocket and heads over to Jon, who just pulled into the spot next to his car.

"Hey man! You ready to relieve some stress? Clary texted me and said that she's stuck at the hospital for a while longer, she told me to let you know that she'll see you at home, and asks to order some pizza for dinner," Jon says. Alec chuckles, this means that Clary had a rough day.

"Sounds good to me. In all honesty, today is my day to cook and I really don't feel like cooking." Jon just shakes his head.

"Man, I swear, you and my sister have such a domesticated friendship, if I didn't know either one of you, I'd assume the two of you were married." That earns a slight shudder from Alec, which doesn't go unnoticed by Jon, causing him to laugh even harder.

"Alright, alright, let's get inside so I can kick your ass." With a playful glare, Alec heads into the gym.

~oOo~

After two hours of sparring, Alec and Jon head into the sauna to relax their overexerted muscles. This is the perfect time for Alec to bring up his concerns about Magnus. One good thing about Jon is that he is as blunt as Alec is. Alec knows that he can get advice from the young doctor.

"Okay, so I'm just going to come right out and say it...I have a date tomorrow night." Alec says, once they've sat for a few minutes. Jon jerks his head up, surprised by Alec's statement. Jon knows that Alec doesn't usually date.

"Well, this is a new development. I know you don't date anymore after the blow up you had with Scott. What made you change your mind to start dating again?" Jon asks.

Alec feels like he needs to choose his words carefully here. "So, you know that Clary and I went to the bar Saturday night?" Jon nods. "I met someone while I was there. The first thing he did was hit on me, I assumed that he was going to be my next hook up, but we ended up staying at the bar talking. Clary came up to the bar letting me know that the guy she met was a grade A ass, and she was ready to leave. I was only briefly able to say goodbye to the guy before she dragged me away. When we got home, I changed and checked all of the pockets in my pants before putting them in the dirty clothes hamper, when I noticed a business card in my back pocket. It was a card for the bar, but on the back it had the guys name as well as his phone number scrawled in. You know how moody I was at dinner Sunday night?" Alec asks.

"Yeah, I meant to ask you about that, but with Holly having morning sickness, I spent most of my time with her in the bathroom than anywhere else. It actually slipped my mind later on that night." Jon looks guilty for his confession.

"It's alright. I knew you had Holly to worry about. I wasn't even going to bring it up to you before now. But yeah, I was pissed because I felt a connection with this guy, and I tried calling him a few times before dinner, but the number he gave me was fake...or so I thought," Alec finishes. Jon gives Alec a confused look.

"What do you mean by 'or so you thought'?"

"That's exactly what I mean. Monday morning when I got to work, there was Magnus in all his glory talking to Chief! He's my new partner at work!" Alec exclaims. He still doesn't know if dating his coworker is a good idea, but he just couldn't resist. "As soon as I saw him, I wanted to punch him in his face! Here I was, having an amazing time with a guy, then I find his number in my back pocket, I call said guy, just to be let down! I don't do shit like this!" Alec takes a deep breath, then continues more calmly.. "I confronted him as soon as we were out of earshot of other people, only to find out that Magnus' handwriting is so horrendous that I read the number wrong. After work on Monday, we went back to the bar to get to know each other a little better, then he asked me out for tomorrow night. We've also talked or texted each other every day this week. I'm slightly freaking out here!" Alec finishes, with only a little hysteria in his voice.

After a moment of processing the newfound information, Jon looks up.

"Alright, so what do your coworkers think of you dating the new guy?" Jon asks.

"Oh, and that's another thing, Magnus apparently had a horrible experience where he used to work back in London, so he wants to keep his sexualilty quiet at work." Alec explains. "Needless to say, we're keeping this relationship a secret, at least with our coworkers."

"I thought you didn't do relationships with closet cases? Isn't that one of the reasons you and Adam didn't work out?" Jon asks.

"Ah, yes, that is very true. However with Magnus, all of his friends and family know about him, he just wants to keep his private life away from his professional life. But you're right, as soon as he said that he didn't want people at work to know, I was planning on just calling whatever it is that we were entering off. Especially because I feel that it could be very dangerous to have a relationship with a coworker to begin with." Alec pauses, "At least that was the plan until he told me about his last job. I feel like I can work with that. I also think that he'll come around at some point. He see's the way everyone acts around Aline and myself, they wouldn't treat him any different."

"Okay. Let me get this straight. You met this Magnus guy at a bar last weekend, realize that he's your new partner at work, find out that he's partially in the closet, but decide to date him anyway." Jon looks at Alec. "What is it that you aren't telling me? You obviously seem to have things worked out so far, but I feel like I'm missing something here," Jon states.

"The problem is that I'm terrified. I feel like Magnus has the potential to ruin me. There are also things that I refuse to talk about which have also put strains on my two previous relationships. I will not talk about my family no matter how close I get to someone. Your family are the only ones who know the extent of damage my parents caused me mentally and emotionally." Alec sighs once he's finished explaining.

"But, would it be bad to let someone else in?" Jon questions.

"Honestly, yes. I seem to find guys whose families accepted them and have - if not a great relationship - at least a decent relationship with their parents. They wouldn't understand that my own family turned their backs on me," Alec explains and Jon sighs.

"Listen to me Alec. I want you to know that I love you, you're like a brother to me; in every way that actually matters, you are my brother. My parents are your parents, and my sister is your sister. We only want what's best for you. I'm not trying to sound like a dick, but sometimes you just need to let people in. You're never going to truly be happy until you do. I'm not saying that you need to spill all of your secrets to this guy on the first date, but if you honestly feel like you can see a future with him, you will need to learn to let him in." Alec nods in understanding, though he has already opened up to Magnus more than he has with any of his previous relationships, he's still not sure if he can let the man in completely when the time comes. Alec is also wondering why in the actual fuck he's already having this internal dilemma. They haven't even been out on their first date yet, and he's already contemplating how he will handle a future with the man.

"Now, that we've had that heart to heart, let's get the hell out of here. You have to get home and order dinner, and I have to get home and cuddle with my wifey," Jon says with a dopey smile. Alec agrees and the two men change and leave the gym.

~oOo~

Once Alec gets home, he realises how tired he is. He quickly showers, then orders the pizza. Just as he hangs up the phone from ordering it, Clary walks in looking just as exhausted as he feels. She notices Alec standing there, nods, then walks in the bathroom for her own shower. Alec takes that as his cue to get a pot of coffee started. While Clary is in the shower, the delivery guy shows up. Alec pays, puts the box on the kitchen counter, grabs a couple of plates and places a couple of pieces each on the plates. Then he gets their coffee, and loads Netflix so the duo can continue their 'Worst Cooks in America' marathon. As soon as Alec has finished, Clary walks into the living room wearing her rubber duck printed pajamas, she sits down and cuddles next to Alec while he presses the play button. They watch a few episodes in silence while they eat their dinner, then Clary starts discussing her day. It consisted of the usual chest pain patients that turned out to be indigestion, a few spring time colds, and one trauma. She doesn't go into detail on the cases she's had today, but Alec can tell that she has something on her mind.

"Okay, Nugget, tell me what's wrong." Clary groans.

"Alec, I love my job. You know that I love my job, but why are these doctors handing over pointless cases to me? I feel like they don't trust me enough with some of the more severe patients that are coming in to the ER. It's driving me crazy!" Clary exclaims. Alec thinks it through before he speaks.

"I think the only reason you're being given the more simple cases is for the simple fact that you just finished your classes. I realize you've been in the field for a while now, but you're basically at the same level of a doctor. Do you think that first year residents weren't treated the same way?" Clary shakes her head no in response. "Okay, so maybe they weren't. You're working tomorrow, so why don't you talk to Catarina about it? She may give you a little insight as to why the other docs are only handing off easy patients." Catarina is Chief Attending in the Emergency Department.

"Ugh! I guess I can do that, I just don't want to be known as 'that girl who cries about getting the grunt work' so to speak." Clary sighs exasperatedly.

"If you don't want to say anything, then my suggestion is to just wait it out. Even when I first started out as a paramedic, Chief made me ride along with supervision for almost all of my first year at the station. It'll pass, Nugs." Clary giggles and swats at Alec for the abbreviated nickname. They settle in more comfortably, and Alec tells her all about his week, Magnus, his date with said man tomorrow night, and she of course flips out and runs to his room to find an outfit for him to wear.