Alec found that he liked Cecily Herondale far, far better than her older brother. She sat by him now, with a face full of so much kindly concern for him that he felt bad. She had been the one to stop the fight, and had dragged Gabriel and Will both out of the restaurant to shout at them for a good five minutes, and when they had returned, the two boys now cowering just slightly behind her, some of the brightly burning fire had still been visible in her blue eyes. After handing the two of them off for Gideon to deal with, she along with Jem and Tessa had hurried around to make sure that no one had been hurt in the crossfire of the quick fight. After comforting one of the waitresses who had been nearly hit by a flying fork, she had come over to Magnus and Alec.
"I'm so sorry about that," she told him, and Cecily took off the lovely, light violet shawl she had been wearing to try to soak up some of the water and wine that had gotten all over him, "I swear, you can never leave those two around each other for more than a few mere seconds."
"It's alright," Alec said, smiling gently at her fussing attempts to get some of the stains out of the top part of his shirt, "I have siblings, so I know how they can get sometimes."
"Will's older than me," Cecily told him, "but honestly, most of the time I feel as if it's the other way around."
"Are you all okay over here?" Tessa Gray, who Alec knew was a rising teen novelist came over, her gray eyes were warm and soothing. Alec nodded to her, giving her a reassuring smile to let her know that nothing, besides his clothes, had been hurt.
"Good," she nodded, "Because Gabriel and William have something to say to you."
Tessa glanced over her shoulder sharply at the two boys, who were looking down sheepishly. For a moment, they reminded Alec of when he and Isabelle would fight as children, and how they would look down, studying their feet as their mother or father scolded them later. Will was the first to move forward, and Alec felt something inside of him soften when his expression really did look apologetic. He didn't understand why, but there was something about William Herondale that made him extremely likeable. He supposed it was what had made him so popular. He was like Jace and Isabelle, they had a bit of the natural charm that always made people feel warm inside, almost as if they were glowing.
"I'm sorry about your clothes," he said, then his voice became a soft mumble, "Although you have really bad fashion sense."
"William!" Tessa snapped at him, and Alec felt a small smile twitch at his mouth at how much she sounded like an impatient mother with her toddler. William shrugged.
"It's true."
"I'm sorry about that whole escapade," Gabriel added in hastily after the look Cecily gave him with the angry spark in her eyes, "Honestly, I truly am. I hope you can forgive me."
"Don't worry about it," Alec told him, and Gabriel's entire figure seemed to relax a little.
"Gee I'm fine," came another voice, drawling and tired, "Thank you so much for asking."
Magnus was sitting to the side, and he almost looked as if he was sulking. Alec surprisingly found it to be endearing, although he did his best to hide his quick laugh with a fake cough. Tessa simply rolled her eyes at him, sweeping some of her dark brown hair that had gotten loose away from her pale face. Cecily turned back to Alec, still trying to wipe with her shawl.
"We can go back to my place," she offered Alec, still looking really apologetic even though Alec had insisted that he was fine and unhurt, "Will might have some clean clothes lying around that might fit you, and we could get some of that wine out of your clothes. You can take a quick shower as well to freshen up if you'd like."
Alec was about to open his mouth to agree to her suggestion, a shower after this wild day was a very pleasant idea, after all, but Magnus spoke up once again.
"Thank you for the offer," Magnus told them, "but I think it'd be best if my...friend and I head back to my place to get him to freshen up. We don't want to trouble you."
Cecily nodded, "If you think that's best, then alright, I guess."
She looked at Alec once again, scribbling something down on the corner of a napkin quickly and pushing it into Alec's loose hand. Alec looked at her questioningly.
"My phone number," she explained to him, "If you ever need anything, know that Cecily Herondale will see if she can help you the best she can. It was nice to meet you..."
"Alec," he told her, tucking the paper away into the pocket of his jeans, "Alec Lightwood."
She smiled at him prettily, her face illuminated gracefully, and Cecily reached out and patted his hands with her own, smaller, but warmer ones.
"It's nice to meet you. Just let me know if you ever need anything, and I will help."
With that, Alec let Magnus guide him away and out of Clave Italian, back towards the limo which was still waiting for them. Magnus's two bodyguards, Ragnor and Malcom were standing as still as if they had been carved out of marble, off to the side, waiting for them. Alec wondered silently to himself if they had ever moved at all. As they got inside, Alec's ruined clothes could not escape Ragnor's sharp eyes. Alec heard him scoff as he got into the limo, it was a sound of a mixture between glee and satisfaction, and his voice that came next was sing-song.
"I told you something bad was going to happen," he half-sang as the limo started up and rolled away.
After they got to Magnus's house, Alec had showered and dressed in fresh clothes (the best they could find for him out of Magnus's collection), they got back into the limo to take Alec back to Shadowhunter Gossip Headquarters. Alec had considered just calling a cab, and telling Magnus that he could make it back fine on his own, but Magnus seemed so apologetic with everything that had happened he decided to just go with the limo. Besides, out of everything that had happened today, Alec supposed that a ride back in a limo wouldn't be the worst thing that had happened. The limo was actually pretty comfortable and luxurious, although Alec felt a bit odd in it, afraid that he might break something inside with his clumsiness.
The limo ride back to Shadowhunter Gossip headquarters was awkward, and Alec just listened to the sound of the gentle, humming engine, unsure if there really was anything to say. Magnus spoke first, his words falling out, blurting almost as if he couldn't stop them.
"Alec I'm really sorry, really," Magnus told him, and his voice was nervous, as if he expected Alec to start yelling at him for ruining everything at any moment, "I wanted to take you somewhere nice for your birthday, but instead everything was just this huge mess. You must feel absolutely terrible right now, and that's all my fault, certainly."
"It's fine, honestly," Alec found that he was getting a bit sick of reassuring everyone that he actually wasn't really upset, he really wasn't distressed about the whole situation, "I mean, I did get to see Gideon and Gabriel again, and it had been so long since I had seen them. It was really nice, and seeing them after so many years made me feel really happy on my birthday."
Magnus visibly relaxed, settling back into his seat and leaning casually in it, "So the day wasn't ruined? And that wasn't the worse date you had been taken on?"
Alec felt a bit of shock ripple through him at the word, "Um...you saw that as a... date?"
Magnus seemed to realize what he had just said, and although he tried to hide it, Alec could since that he felt mortified at the words that had slipped too quickly out of his mouth.
"I mean," Magnus was struggling to find the right words, that much Alec could tell, even though he wasn't the best at reading people, "You know, if you...well...I don't really...I don't really know I guess? Would you like to...go on well, whatever that was again some other time?"
His voice was half-hopeful, half-defeated, as if he was dreaming that Alec might say yes, but he was almost positive that Alec would say the exact opposite of what he wanted to say. For the moment, Magnus wasn't a successful actor, a giant star who everyone knew his name. He wasn't someone who went daily on TV specials and spent his time among other people just as bright of people as him. For a moment, he was simply Magnus Bane, just someone beautifully, lovingly, ordinary, almost like Alec himself. He was just Magnus. He was just himself, with his natural flair and charm that made Alec dizzy with different emotions chasing each other all around him.
Alec felt a flutter in his heart, but then his mind betrayed him. In his head he saw Jace, the bright burning star that had been the illuminated beacon in his life for so long. Yet, now that he was with Magnus, Jace didn't seem so painfully bright any more, and the deep feelings Alec had burrowed inside of himself didn't seem so painful to bear anymore, even when he was thinking about Jace. When he was around Magnus, he could almost push Jace completely away. It stunned him, he didn't think that anyone might be able to move Jace away from the center of his mind. Jace had always been there, glowing and bright, but was it possible that Magnus might've been brighter than Jace ever could be? Magnus was different from anyone Alec had ever met, even more different than Jace. It was a good sort of different, that made him feel gentle, and soft inside, wringing in his stomach as he thought more and more about it. He didn't understand himself, he didn't get why someone else, who he didn't even really know, made him feel like this. But he couldn't let it go, and found that he was clinging onto it tighter than he should've. For a moment the silence was deafening, and the limo bumped along in the traffic of the city, most of the outside sounds were muffled out by the tightly closed windows of the limo. Alec thought he could see Magnus's shoulders sagging in defeat when he didn't reply, and his mouth suddenly seemed to move on its own, as if guided by a strange, unnatural impulse.
"I would like that," Alec was aware of how soft his own voice was. Slowly, he looked up from his hands neatly folded in his lap to Magnus, who was sitting across from him. Magnus was leaning forward slightly, and he seemed surprised by Alec's words, his eyes were widened slightly in a way that Alec found so elegant. He forced himself to be louder, and hoped that Magnus couldn't hear the slight, anxious tremor in his voice as he spoke.
"I think going on another...date, I think? With you, I think that would be very nice."
And Alec realized right then how true his words were.
He thought that going out with Magnus Bane, not him as someone famous, but just as himself, would be something very wonderful, indeed.