magnus sat alone in stunned silence. as soon as alec said "jonathan?" he'd just...bolted. where to, magnus did not know.
his dad, hearing the commotion, had trudged downstairs.
"was that your boyfriend guy?"
"uh...yeah."
"well why'd he slam the door so hard?"
"he just, he got a phone call and i guess it was someone he didn't like?"
"oh. okay."
and then he was back upstairs and into his room. magnus chuckled to himself.
for some reason he felt more alone than usual. he felt almost like he did when his mother...died.
god he missed her. she was so beautiful, like a malaikat.
alec had yelled jonathan, clearly meaning it was he who rang. but magnus was getting...an odd sensation in his stomach. like an impending doom was about to occur.
one thing was certain.
there was some secret depth to alec and jonathan's intensely, fiery, hateful relationship.
———————
josh couldn't breathe. he felt like he was dying. his heart was beating out of his chest.
not wanting poor sophie to see him upset, he ran out of the house, to the farthest point he could. to let the tsunami of tears flow.
he felt like he was overreacting.
but it's hardly overreacting when you know you're about to lose the one person you can't live without.
alec meant everything to josh. he had a substantially sized group of friends, but they weren't close.
but if there was one thing josh was, it was brave.
so, so insanely brave.
and no matter what, he was going to take any hate on his chin and bear it. he was going to be wholly honest.
he couldn't do anything else.
—————————
in other worlds, isabelle was going out with simon again. and actually looking forward to it. usually, she never gave guys another date. but simon, he was...different.
"clary, shut up."
"you totally are though!! just be honest with yourself, because i know for a fact he is mad about you."
isabelle flushed a soft pink and smiled to herself.
"see! even if you aren't saying it with words, you're saying it by your face!"
"fine. i really like him. like, a lot."
"uh huh?"
"right! that's enough! you're here to help me out for this date, not torture me."
"isabelle, you of all people do not need help regarding dates."
isabelle rolled her eyes. "so anyways, how are you and jace?"
"oh we're great. he's so kind and sweet to me."
"you deserve it," she said, linking hands with clary.
all was silent for a few moments whilst the girls pondered together.
then came jace, who acted as if bursting through a door was normal.
"did alec and josh have an argument or something?"
"why?"
jace took out his phone, and opened up a text he had just received from josh.
from Josh🏉: Hey Jace, if you see Alec please tell him to ring me or come talk to me as soon as possible. I really messed up big time, so this could well be the last time I ever communicate with you guys, but I'd just appreciate this thanks
clary thought. "i mean, i don't know what it's about, but doesn't alec hate jonathan?"
jace visibly tensed with anger. "yes, he does. why is this relevant?"
"well, i heard jonathan yelling at josh the other day. i don't know what happened or what he said, but they seemed to be arguing about something. maybe alec's mad about that?"
jace's face creased with anger even further. he seemed as if he knew something they didn't.
"i'm gonna be honest. i've been suspicious of josh for a while. i never told alec in case it was just me being overdramatic, but i've seen them talking."
everyone was silent for a split second.
"i'm going over to josh's. i need to ask him something."
and just like that it was just the two girls again.
"hey, you should get going for your date iz."
isabelle took a deep breath and agreed.
she really hoped josh hadn't been up to anything.
————————
"okay. i think this should be it. but rather than knock the door, we're gonna call him as we're walking towards the house right? then, we end the call, knock on the door and BOOM. happy magnus! any questions?"
"why can't we just be normal and-"
"okay! let's go!"
raphael stared at cat. "you didn't let me finish."
catarina rolled her eyes. "lighten up raph, will you? i just wanna surprise him."
"let's ask ragnor. ragnor, what do you think we should do?"
"sorry, but i think we should do what cat-"
"hi magnus!"
whilst ragnor had been talking, catarina had lost patience and decided to ring magnus anyway.
"we are nowhere! not anywhere!"
"i am not! so, anyway, how've you been?" she said, starting to walk and gesturing aggressively for ragnor and raphael to follow.
"that's crazy! i never thought she'd be a will girl to be honest. will is absolutely wild. but hey! opposites attract." cat took the phone away from her ear and pointed excitedly at a house, with pale lavender curtains in one window.
the only way you could tell magnus lived there was that his curtains were a pale lavender. but the trio knew this because pale lavender was his mother's favourite colour, and before they were split up magnus had told them he always kept pale lavender curtains in memory of her.
cat motioned for the group to creep alongside the house so that they could get to the door. she had just hung up with magnus, and knocked on the door.
magnus opened the door, and began to say hey.
it came out more as 'hhhheeee.'
ragnor shoved cat out of the way and flung himself into magnus's arms. magnus responded with the tightest hug he could ever remember giving.
the best part of magnus's best friend group was that he had a unique and special way he'd met them all.
for cat, she'd saved his life in hospital because of that one time he managed to get stabbed through the neck on valentine's day.
for ragnor, ragnor was three years older and so had taken magnus under his wing when he moved, and was his oldest friend.
for raphael, who was the youngest of the group, (not that he liked being reminded of that fact) magnus had saved his life.
raphael had made magnus swear he wouldn't tell anyone how they met, and still to this day neither cat nor ragnor knew. they never asked either.
but they knew there was a slightly deeper feeling of the relationship between the two, because raphael would never show his emotions. he was always sarcastic, always blunt.
but as soon as a bad word about magnus was uttered, oh lord.
he would rage. he would get so angry. on many instances he actually had been dragged away from situations because he'd almost hospitalised people.
cat received her hug next, and after, raphael stood, making no move for a hug.
he seemed frozen with emotion, overwhelmed at seeing magnus. some tears rolled down his cheeks, though he wiped them quickly. magnus hugged him, and felt him grip on tight, his little cross necklace cool against his shirt. a few seconds later he felt raph crying into his shoulder.
"i am sorry."
"do not be. you know, rafa, it's okay to be emotional sometimes."
"magnus, te amo."
"i love you too."
—————————
"yes alec, it's me. and i think it would be unwise to hang up."
"why? give me one solid good reason not to."
"because i care more about you than josh does, clearly."
"you don't give a shit about me. you never have, and you never did."
"whatever. believe whatever you want. but i want to deliver some news to you."
alec took a deep breath and made a mental note to call magnus later to apologise for running out like that. he leaned against a nearby wall.
"right. what is it? you have thirty seconds before i smash this phone against this wall."
"you won't, so i'll take as long as i want. josh is bisexual, no?"
"that's none of your business."
"oh but you see alexander- it is. more so than you know."
"can you just cut this shit out, jonathan? stop dragging it out. stop stalling. just flat out-"
"we kissed."
"...no. that's not true. josh he, he wouldn't do that. not with you. not when he knows how much that would hurt me."
"ah yes but alec don't forget; you never told him why you hate me."
"i did!"
"but you made it up, didn't you?"
alec fell silent.
he couldn't believe it.
he wouldn't.
this wasn't real.
"goodbye, alexander. oh, and say hi to magnus for me will ya?"
alec slumped down against the wall. he could feel a panic attack coming on.
he hadn't had one since getting with magnus.
but alec knew one thing.
whether this was true or not, he needed to confront josh.