Enchanted

"Where have you been?" Alec hounded me the second I stepped back into the Institute. I thought I'd be able to sneak into my room, but he was towering over me, an angry look on his face.

"I went to see Ezekiel." There was no point in lying. The computers would have given me away if he bothered to look. I watched Alec's face soften for half a second. If I hadn't been looking, I wouldn't have noticed the change in expression, or the fact that he seemed pissed.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't think anyone would willingly let me walk into the Hotel DuMort by myself. I just needed someone to talk to." I stepped around him, walking back to my room, but he followed behind me, closing the door once we were both inside. He leaned against the door, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And you felt like you couldn't talk to anyone here?"

"I'm not exactly close with anyone except for Clary, and she's the last person I want to talk to about what's going on with me. She has enough on her plate. She doesn't need me adding onto it." I kicked my shoes off, settling myself on my bed. I tucked my legs underneath me, and pulled the ponytail holder from my hair, letting my curls free.

"You can talk to me." I almost laughed. How was I going to talk to Alec about the fact that I had feelings for him?

"Thanks for the offer."

"I'm serious, Gabrielle. I know we didn't get off to the best start, but it's pretty obvious that you belong here with us. You have to learn to trust me." The sick part was, I did trust Alec. He'd saved my life on more than one occasion with no ulterior motive, but that didn't mean I was going to fall into his arms and confess everything that was going on in my head.

"We should probably spend a bit more time together before we start calling each other besties." I smirked, trying to make light of a sticky situation.

"Okay. Well what do you like to do?"

"When I'm not kicking demon ass? I thoroughly enjoy Netflix and sleeping. You're welcome to watch a movie with me." I pat the other end of my bed, watching as he awkwardly sat down. I pulled out my laptop, scrolling through the recently added section, "Do you want to pick something?"

"I don't watch movies too much. You can pick." I snickered, shaking my head.

"Big mistake." I hit the play button for Rent, leaning against my pillows. A wide smile appeared on my face as the music for the opening number started.

"I'm guessing this is your favorite movie?"

"Not my first, but it's pretty high up on the list." I sang every word, tears slowly welling in the corners of my eyes. This was a normal occurrence, but Alec looked alarmed as I sniffed and wiped at my cheeks.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" His hands were on my face, looking for any type of injury. I giggled, pulling at his wrists.

"I'm fine. You don't have to be on edge all the time. The movie just makes me emotional. Relax." I took in the embarrassed look on his face as he sat back and stared directly at my laptop screen. We were only twenty minutes into the movie when someone knocked on the door. I looked at Alec with wide eyes, wondering if I should hide him. We weren't in a compromising position, but I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

"Come in!" Alec said before I could process anything else. Izzy opened the door, a shocked look crossing her face before it turned into a smile.

"Someone's here to see you, Gabrielle." I pushed myself from the mattress, sliding my feet back into my shoes. I prayed to the Angel that it was my mother. I missed her horrendously, but when I stepped into the main room, I was shocked to see Ian Erela standing there with his hands behind his back.

"Dad?" I couldn't remember the last time I spoke to him for more than two minutes. Phone calls were rare. I almost never saw him. Something had to be wrong.

"Hello, Gabrielle." His tone was sharp, and I got the strangest feeling that I was in trouble.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." I bit back the smart remark that threatened to spill from my lips. I knew there was more to the story. I watched him glance to my left, and when I looked, Alec was standing at my side. I had a feeling things were about to get ugly.

"Well, I'm fine. You can go now."

"It's not that simple."

"Why not? You leave every other time I see you," I snapped, walking to the weaponry. I didn't have an exact destination in mind, but I needed to get the hell out of the Institute before something bad happened.

“I heard you mouthed off to Maryse Lightwood.” I rolled my eyes. I didn’t have time for the lecture he was getting ready to give, nor did I want to hear it. I hated when he tried to pull the parent card.

“She’s a bitch. She deserved it.”

“Watch your mouth, young lady.” Fire sizzled in my veins as I stared up at the man I, unfortunately, resembled. Sometimes I wondered if that was why he hated me so much. I reminded him of a younger time when he made “unforgivable mistakes”.

“You lost the privilege of telling me what to do when I turned 18, not that you ever really had it considering you were never around,” I growled, grabbing two seraph blades and a series of knives from the wall.

“I’m still your father, Gabrielle.”

“Don’t kid yourself. You’re a sperm donor. Showing up once a year for five minutes doesn’t make you a parent. As far as I’m concerned, Hodge is my father.” I wasn’t expecting the slap that landed on my cheek. Hot tears welled up in my eyes as I glared at the person I hated most in the world. I'd never had someone that wasn't a demon blatantly put their hands on me, and until now, I'd never considered killing another shadowhunter, but he was pushing his luck.

“You will not speak to me that way.” I could tell I hurt his feelings, but I didn’t give a flying fuck. He was dead to me.

“If you ever touch me again, I will kill you.” I turned, stomping out the front door. I let two tears escape before I wiped my face and shut down my emotions. I had a job to do, and it wasn’t going to get done if I was crying.

“Gabrielle!” I slowed, sighing as I turned around. Alec was jogging toward me, his bow and arrows hanging over his back. Whatever we decided to do or wherever we decided to go, we were going to catch hell for it when we got back. I didn't want to put Alec in the middle of that.

“What?”

“I’m sorry. I had no idea.” I shrugged and turned back around, continuing my trek toward the city. Clary and Jace were off doing God knows what while the rest of us were stuck.

“How could you? It’s not like I talk about it.” And I didn't want to talk about it, but knowing Alec, he'd probably try to force it out of me.

“If I had known…..I feel really shitty now.” I let out an unattractive snort, hammering my hand down on the button for the crosswalk.

“Glad to hear it,” I mumbled sarcastically, stepping onto the asphalt. I pushed my legs as fast as I could to get across the street. I wanted to go see Ezekiel again, regardless of the fact that I'd left not that long ago. He was the only person that really understood my hatred for my father. He'd know how to make me feel better, but that wasn't an option with Alec around. I didn't want to be there the first time the two met.

“Why does he treat you like that?”

“I’m the mutant child he never wanted.”

“Mutant?” I sighed, debating on whether or not I wanted to spill this information. Alec was the first person I was going to share this with, and I still wasn’t sure if I could trust him. We’d had a breakthrough, but he wasn't my favorite person on the earth. I pulled a flower from a nearby bush and held my hand out palm up. I focused on the plant, making it move like the wind was blowing. I watched the petals twirl before taking a hesitant glance up at him.

“Mutant. You asked if there was anything going on with me and Magnus. Not romantically, if that’s what you were thinking, although it wasn’t for lack of trying on his part. When I was about 8, there was an incident. I was training with some other kids, but there was one girl who just liked to tease me. I was really good for my age, so they put me with the older group. You’d think excelling early would make people praise you. No. She was jealous. She called me a freak over and over again. I just kept wishing her hair would catch on fire, and it did. That was when my parents found out I could do magic. Magnus came to my mother’s house once a week to teach me how to control it. He watched me grow up, and when I was 17, he tried to start a relationship. I won’t lie, I actually considered it, but I learned the hard way that Magnus isn’t capable of loving anyone but himself.” And maybe that was why it bothered me so much that he so clearly had his eye on Alec. That was a disaster waiting to happen, and I didn't want to see the aftermath. Magnus was always so sure of himself, where Alec was obviously insecure. That was a recipe for a shitty relationship.

"You and Magnus..."

"It wasn't serious. Like I said, he isn't capable of loving anybody but himself. My mom was gone, so I was staying with him one week. Came home from a run and caught him in bed with another man. He's a whore in every sense of the word, and he doesn't care who he hurts. Don't get yourself caught up in that." I figured Magnus was the person he had feelings for, so it only felt fair to warn him. I didn't want to watch his first relationship destroy his outlook on love.

"I don't know why you're so convinced that I have feelings for him." Why was I convinced? Was I just seeing what I wanted to see? But then the question was, did I want to see Alec and Magnus together? Absolutely not, so what the hell was going on?

"Sorry. Look, I kinda just wanna be by myself right now. I have weapons. I'll be alright if anything happens. I'll see you later, okay?" I walked away before he could say anything else, praying that he wouldn't follow me this time. I stepped through the backdoor of Hotel DuMort, seraph blade ready for anyone trying to sink their teeth into my neck.

"I had a feeling you'd come back." Ezekiel was leaning against the stairs, giving me a small smirk, but it dropped when he noticed the look on my face, "What happened to your cheek?"

"Daddy Dearest is back," I grumbled, leaning my head on his arm.

"Shit. Come on, let's go to my room. Raphael's probably the nicest vampire you're going to come across besides me." I let him pull me through the endless hallways and threw myself onto his bed when we got to his room. The sheets were cold, and I assumed it was because he didn't need them. I wondered if he'd ever laid in this bed or if it was only there for show.

"I threatened to kill him," I said, clutching one of the pillows to my chest. I rolled onto my side, staring at the curtains that covered the large window.

"You did what?" Ezekiel placed my head in his lap and scratched at my scalp. It was soothing, but I knew better than to fall asleep. My dad would probably send out a search party if I didn't turn up soon, but I'd let him worry for a little bit, if he was worried at all.

"After he smacked me...I told him if he ever touched me again, I'd kill him." I groaned, thinking about what I had done. There were so many witnesses, and I didn't even want to know about the hell that was waiting for me when I got back. Sometimes I hated the fact that I had such a horrible temper.

"Why did he smack you?"

"I called him a sperm donor and said that for all intents and purposes, Hodge was my dad." It still didn't give him the right to hit me, but I had said something that was pretty fucked up. Then again, he was pretty fucked up for walking out on me.

"Gabi--"

"I know. I'm a heinous bitch, but I don't know how he expects me to act. I've literally seen him a handfuls of times since I was born. He can't just show up and think he runs my life when we don't even have a relationship. It's not fair." My mom always told me to be nice, but I knew she hated him just as much as I did. She didn't even stay in the same room when he would come to visit.

"You're right. It's not fair, and he shouldn't have hit you. I'll tell you what, let's go to Pandemonium tonight. We can drink and dance and just forget about everything." It sounded wonderful, and though I knew I'd probably get in trouble, I'd made my decision anyway.

"Absolutely. I need a drink." I closed my eyes, letting my body relax. I was going to have to leave soon, though I really didn't want to. Somedays I just wished I could get away from it all; the demons, the responsibilities. At one point, Ezekiel and I had a plan to run away together. We were only 5, but we were so convinced that we could take care of ourselves. I smiled at the memory, a small tear leaking out of my eye when I realized just how naive we'd been. We couldn't predict the future. We never could have predicted that Ezekiel would get turned into a vampire or that I would end up being able to wield magic. There was no way to tell what the future held, but we didn't care, "I really missed you, Zeke." I sniffed, turning so that I was looking up at him. He swiped his thumb under my eyes and smiled at me.

"I missed you too, Gabi, but please stop crying. I'm not going anywhere. I promise." He couldn't make that promise. A number of things could happen to us tonight, tomorrow, or any day after that. Our lives weren't guaranteed, but I let him promise anyway and pressed my face into his stomach, "So, are we gonna talk about Alec?"

"I didn't want to. He almost followed me here. I'm actually not entirely sure that he didn't, but he's not busting through the doors and dragging me out by my hair so I'm taking that as a good sign."

"I still think you should talk to him."

"I still don't see a point." My phone started to vibrate in my pocket, Alec's name appearing on the screen. Underneath was a message, asking me to come back to the Institute. He didn't say what for, so I decided to spend a few more minutes in the land of bliss.

"You never know. Maybe it will prolong the whole marriage thing."

"Ha! You don't know Alec. What his family wants, his family gets. Hell, if Maryse said that he had to get married tomorrow and hand delivered a girl to him, he'd do it." The thought was depressing, but there was nothing that I could do about it. I didn't have any say. None of us did. I was going to have to sit there and smile like the good little shadowhunter I was.

"I know a way to find out if he likes you." I sat up, staring at Ezekiel like he had two heads. He obviously didn't hear anything I'd said, but I decided to humor him.

"How?"

"Make him jealous." I raised my eyebrows, shaking my head. Alec rarely ever showed any emotion, part of his genetic makeup I assumed. It would be hard to make him show anything other than impassiveness.

"He barely changes facial expressions. Even if he does get jealous, I doubt we'll be able to tell. Waste of time and energy."

"You never know until you give it a shot. Invite him out with us tonight." I rolled my eyes, moving to stand up. There was no way Alec would willingly walk into a club with no purpose behind it. It was like he didn't know the definition of fun.

"He's not going anywhere unless it's on a mission. We're not fighting demons. We're getting drunk and dancing for a few hours. He's one of the people I'm going to have to sneak past. Not to mention the fact that my dad is here. I'll be surprised if they don't lock me in a room somewhere. I'll pass on that idea." Going out was starting to sound horrible the more I thought about it, but I didn't want to be locked in the Institute all night.

"I want to meet him."

"I don't really know how that would go. Alec isn't the friendly type, and he seemed pretty pissed that I was here earlier." Ezekiel smirked like he'd figured out the answer to everything.

"He was pissed?"

"Only because I didn't tell him where I was going. I promised I'd stay in the Institute. Of course I ran out first chance I got." And I would continue to do it. I hated being confined to one place for too long. It made me go stir crazy. Maybe it was the Seelie in me that liked to be around nature more than plastered walls and bricks.

"Your friend is here."

"What?" I raised my eyebrows in confusion. What friend was he talking about, and why would they be here?"

"Your friend is here. I can smell him. You better get going." He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, refraining from squeezing me like he would have on any other occasion. He was a lot stronger now, so I tried my best not to be insulted when he stepped back.

"I'll see you tonight." I squeezed his hand before I stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind me. I walked back into the main room, finding Alec arguing with Raphael.

"I know she's here. This is the only place she could have gone. If anything happened to her, I swear--"

"Alec." I stepped around Raphael, slipping my hand into his. He shot one last look at the vampire before tugging me outside to safety, not that I felt I was in any immediate danger.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why did you come here?"

"You didn't answer any of my phone calls or texts. I thought something happened to you. Your dad is pissed that you left." I rolled my eyes, pulling my fingers from his as we walked back to the Institute.

"I'm sure he is," I muttered sarcastically. I sighed, running my fingers through my hair as I thought about the disaster that was waiting for me back at home. I was positive that I was going to get yelled at. I hadn't done anything horrible enough for them to send me to the Clave, and it's not like they could ground me. My own mother didn't even do that before I turned 18.

"I think you should talk to him. I'm sure he has an explanation."

"Yeah, an explanation that I don't want to hear. That man can't tell a single fact about me aside from my birthday, my hair and eye color, and my name. He doesn't know my favorite color or my favorite food. He doesn't know that thunderstorms absolutely freak me out or that I prefer hot chocolate over tea and coffee. He doesn't know me, and I don't think he has the right to boss me around when he wasn't there for me. He abandoned me and my mom, came around once a year for my birthday out of obligation. The three times I've seen his parents, they stared at me like I was freak from hell, and to them I might as well be. He's not family, Alec, and I'm okay with that." What I wasn't okay with was him showing up out of nowhere to scold me. I gave up hope of having a relationship with him when I hit fourteen. I'd gotten by just fine without him, and I didn't need him now.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing. It's not your fault."

"He does care about you, you know. He grilled me when I showed up without you." Maryse probably would have grilled him if she were aware of the fact that I left. That didn't mean he cared about my well being.

"Doesn't mean he cares. Can we just not talk about this please? I really want popcorn and to binge watch sappy romance movies until I fall asleep." Or until everyone else fell asleep. I still had plans to go out.

"Do you still want me to watch with you?"

"I'm sure you have better things to do."

"Not today. Technically, we're not supposed to go anywhere. The Clave's been watching us since my parents got back." That was wonderful. That meant we were all fucked. The Clave was nothing but a bunch of self-righteous people that thought they could do no wrong, which was far from the truth. As we stood outside of the Institute, I wondered if I should just go in through the back, avoid seeing anyone all together, but Alec pulled me through the front door. I huffed trying to walk straight to my room, but someone stepped in my path.

"Where have you been?" My father's angry voice rang in my ears, and I tried my best not to roll my eyes.

"Out." I tried to walk around him, and I could see him reaching for my wrist. I smack his hand away, giving him the look of death, "I told you not to touch me," I growled, my hand itching to grab my seraph blade.

"Gabrielle, where did you go?"

"I went to see Ezekiel. Can I go now?" I didn't wait for him to answer as I turned on my heel and walk away, but he followed closely behind me.

"You went to see a vampire?"

"That vampire was my best friend growing up. He was going to be my parabatai, and I'm not going to abandon him because something unfortunate happened. I'm not like you." I half expected another blow to land on my cheek, and this time, I would be ready for it, but the slap never came. Instead, when I looked up at the person that would never understand me, I saw sadness. I saw regret, but that didn't make me any less angry than I was.

"You and the Lightwood boy, what's going on there?"

"Nothing. He saved my ass twice. We're friends." He looked skeptical, not that I could blame him. Of course Alec raised suspicion when he ran after me. That was abnormal for him unless Izzy or Jace were involved.

"He doesn't look at you like you're friends." I rolled my eyes, leaning against the wall outside of my room. I just wanted to lay down. I could see Alec waiting for me a few feet away. I just hoped my dad didn't notice him.

"I'm sure you're mistaken. There's nothing going on with me and Alec."

"Maryse said he's going to be married." The irritation was settling into my bones, but I bit my tongue.

"What's your point?"

"I don't think you should get involved. You're going to get hurt."

"I'm not getting involved. What part of 'we're friends' don't you get? And why do you care anyway?" I snapped. He was the last person to give me a lecture on romance. As far as I knew, he never dated or married anyone after my mother, and I was an only child. For all I knew, he could be miserable, and I didn't want to follow in his footsteps.

"I'm your father, Gabrielle. I'm always going to care." I kept the words I wanted to say from leaving my mouth. I wanted this conversation to be over with. There was no point in revisiting the argument that ended with a bruise on my face.

"Well, you have a funny way of showing it."

"I apologize for hitting you. That was wrong of me."

"Thanks for that." I walked into my room and slammed the door, immediately kicking off my shoes. I buried myself in my blankets, groaning at the idea that I'd eventually have to move. I closed my eyes, trying to make myself fall asleep, but someone knocked on the door, "Go away!" I yelled, not moving from my cocoon.

"It's me." I poked my head out, staring at Alec who was holding a large bowl of popcorn and two bottles of water.

"You people don't believe in soda, do you?" I groaned, grabbing the bottle from him.

"There's none here. I'm sorry. I can go get you juice if you want?"

"No, it's fine. I need to drink water anyway," I grumbled, taking a sip of the tasteless liquid. I grabbed a handful of popcorn, shoving the pieces into my mouth. I no longer felt like watching a movie, but there was nothing else to do.

"Did things go okay with your dad?" I scoffed, shaking my head.

"He didn't hit me again, so I'm taking that as a good sign. He wasn't too thrilled about me going to see Ezekiel, but no one is too happy about that. I don't really care. He reminded me that you're getting married and told me not to get involved even though I told him we were just friends. He's just sticking his nose where it doesn't belong." I grabbed another handful of popcorn, popping the pieces into my mouth one by one.

"Are we?" I stopped eating, raising my eyebrows in confusion.

"Are we what?" I asked, taking a hesitant tip of my water.

"Just friends." I almost choked, but I managed to force the liquid down. I stared at him for a long moment, wondering where the question came from. It was unexpected, and I didn't know how to answer.

"Uhm... I didn't really consider us anything else? I mean, we never talked about it? I...." I didn't know what I was supposed to say. Had everyone been right, and I was just being a blind idiot? It wouldn't have been the first time, but if he was saying what I thought he was, his timing was horrible.

"I don't think I've ever seen you run out of things to say." A small smile appeared on his lips. It was so different from the impassive look he always had or the cocky smirk he gave me in the training room. It was nice, and unfortunately it made my heart beat irregularly.

"Well, you kinda just sprang this on me. I didn't think....you never.....where is this coming from?" I sincerely hoped this wasn't a joke, because I wasn't sure I could handle it if it was.

"I wasn't exactly subtle about it." My eyes widened in shock. He had to be joking.

"Alec, you're the king of subtlety," I pointed out. It was impossible to tell what kind of mood he was in because he only seemed to have one. If he thought I was going to figure anything out, he was more oblivious about girls than I thought.

"So I should work on my hints?"

"I think you should work on showing emotion more. You're either irritated or apathetic. The only time I've seen any other expression on your face is when I woke up, and that was just relief." He gave me a look like that should have been my answer to everything, and I smacked my hand against my forehead, "You couldn't expect me to figure everything out just because of that. You have to be direct with girls."

"I kissed you." He had a point, but that still wasn't the answer to it all.

"I assumed that you were just trying to wake me up," I mumbled, shoving more popcorn in my mouth. Maybe it had been painfully obvious, and I just didn't want to see it.

"I was hoping it would help, but that wasn't the entire reason I did it." I sighed, leaning against my pillows. I didn't know what to do now. This changed everything, "If you don't like me, it's okay. You can say so."

"Trust me. That's not it. I was talking to Ezekiel about you, but your parents are making you get married. That kinda makes things difficult, don't you think?" I turned on my side to look at him, his position mirroring mine.

"They're not making me get married right this second, and I want to see where this goes." He reached for my hand, locking our fingers together. I ignored the tingling sensation that traveled up my arm and kept my eyes on his.

"Are you sure?" I asked, my tone nervous. I really didn't want to take this leap of faith only to get let down in the end, though I knew it was probably going to happen anyway.

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life." I opened my mouth to say something else, but another knock came from the other side of my door. I thought he was going to pull his hand out of mine, but he didn't move. I didn't know who was out in the hall, but I hoped it wasn't one of the parents.

"Come in!" I called out, praying that it wasn't anyone super important.

"Hey, do you know where Alec is? He's not in his room or the training room." Isabelle froze, looking down at our hands before a wide smile spread across her face. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I seemed to have her approval, but we still had to worry about everyone else once they found out.

"What's going on?" Alec asked as he sat up. I followed, straightening out my shirt.

"Clary knows where the cup is. We have to go get it." I moved to pull on my boots, but Alec put a hand on my shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"Coming with you?" I said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I had a feeling we weren't the only ones that knew where the Cup was. We were going to need all the help we could get.

"No. You promised you'd stay here today."

"I'm fine. Besides, I've already been out. I think my promise is null and void at this point." I stood up, moving to grab my jacket, but he grabbed my wrist.

"No, Gabrielle." I could tell that he was serious, but I still wanted to go with them. Things were weird now. I wanted to challenge him, but we'd only just started to figure things out. We didn't need to fight right now.

"Alec--" He cut me off before I could say anything else.

"We're just going to get the cup, and we'll come right back. I'll call if we need you, okay?" I nodded once, knowing his mind was made up, "I'll be back soon." He kissed the top of my head before he walked out of the room, pulling Isabelle with him. I didn't know if I'd ever get used to it.