I haven't abandoned It's a Lonely Life! So don't worry. But I did get inspired to make a different kind of story, while trying to get inspired for my old story. Alec and the others are a bit more out of character in this one, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Let me know what you think! If you like it, I might continue adding chapters to it. Also, I apologize for my lack of knowledge about musical terms, please feel free to correct me if I'm completely clueless and I'll try to make up for it.

"New Bandmates"

Auditions for The Mortal Instruments

"This is hopeless," Alec sighed. They'd been listening to auditions all day, and his ears were hurting by now. No one matched the kind of music they were playing in their indie rock band 'The Mortal Instruments'. They had been great the past year, gaining lots of popularity on campus and around town, but it was all due to Aline's vocals. She was amazing, and Alec dreaded the thought of her leaving New York for Berkeley and her Californian girlfriend Helen. Aline was going to do great things in San Fransisco, where she no doubt belonged. Although, that didn't change the fact that Alec would miss her and her sweet voice singing his and the other's lyrics. More than that, he didn't like change. The four of them had known each other forever, and they'd always been a group even before they started the band.

"We need vocals, Alec. We have to find someone, don't be so pessimistic," Izzy sighed. She was probably just as frustrated.

"I'm really sorry you guys," Aline apologized for the millionth time.

"Berkeley is a great opportunity for you, Aline, don't apologize," Izzy replied, also for the millionth time.

"Why can't you just sing?" Alec wondered, looking at his sister. He knew why; Izzy wasn't a very good singer. She was great with a guitar though, probably even better than Jace. Izzy just scowled at him.

"Come on, lighten up. We only just started searching," Jace interrupted, before the two of them could start bickering like true siblings.

That's when she walked in – the girl who would help change Alec's life forever, but he had no idea that this change would be good for him.

"Hi, I'm Clary, and this is Simon," the redheaded girl said, introducing her nerdy looking friend. On each side of Alec, Izzy and Jace were smirking and checking out the newcomers. The redhead was very indie chic, with pearls in her long curly hair and earthy colored clothes. The guy wore brown skinny jeans and a T-shirt with a drawing on it that Alec didn't recognize. He had horn-rimmed glasses, which was really what finished his looks.

"I'm sorry, we're only looking for a singer," Alec said. The guy, Simon, had a guitar with him; an acoustic, and although they only had electric guitar and bass guitar, he didn't think they needed anything else.

"I sing too," the guy shrugged.

"Let's just hear them sing," Jace smiled. Alec looked to Aline for help, but she just shrugged.

Simon started playing, and soon both of them were singing in perfect harmony. Alec cursed himself for thinking it, but they were probably even better than Aline. He could now understand why they were two, because the two of them were so in sync it seemed a shame to split them up.

"Maybe we have limited our vision for the band? Maybe we need two singers," Jace suggested, once they had finished singing. The girl smiled hugely at that.

"Are you kidding? They are practically already a band! Why do you want to be in our band?" Alec asked. He thought it was a reasonable question.

"Alec, don't be rude!" Izzy exclaimed.

"It's a fair question, and a compliment, I mean, you're good just the way you are?" He wasn't lying, but he also didn't want these two in his band, because he could sense how eager Izzy and Jace were to just jump these two, and it wasn't appropriate if they wanted them in the band.

"Honestly, we just love your band. We've been fans from the very beginning, and the main reason is that we don't write our own music like you do," Clary explained.

"What are you studying here?" Izzy asked.

"I'm in graphic design," the girl replied.

"I'm currently in the documentary media studies, and I might have ulterior motives getting in your band," the guy said.

"Is that so?" Jace wondered.

"I would want to film a lot of the stuff we do as a band, it would be a great way to promote you as well," he said.

"So you don't want to sing?"

"Yes I do, I want to sing, if you want me to. But I wouldn't be disappointed if you didn't want me in all of your songs. I know you're used to a female voice," he said. Alec knew then that he'd lost, and they were definitely going to be part of the band.

"You're in," Izzy replied quickly.

"Wait, shouldn't we vote or something?" Alec objected.

"I vote for them to be in the band," Jace shrugged. Alec looked at Aline again.

"I'm sorry, I'm not in the band anymore, but I would vote for them too. They're a great fit," she shrugged apologetically.

Everything was decided then, they would start practicing with them in the evening and Alec couldn't object to any of it, even if he did write most of the songs. He knew it was probably a bit odd for the drummer to write songs, but he'd always had so many words he needed to get off his chest, and so he'd found his calling. He just didn't want to sing them himself, mainly because he didn't really have the voice for it.

…

Practice started with one of the band's more popular songs, because Clary and Simon knew that one by heart. Although they claimed they knew all the songs by heart, Alec was sure he had never seen them at one of their concerts before, or Jace would have probably noticed Clary. It seemed like his best friend couldn't take his eyes off the girl, and it was starting to get on Alec's nerves.

"Jace!" he exclaimed in the middle of a song, when Jace wasn't even trying to concentrate. "You're off beat!"

"Sorry, man. Geez, relax, we're just practicing," Jace said.

"You've played the song a thousand times, you should know it by now!" Alec exclaimed.

"Okay, let's take it from the top," Izzy interrupted.

The evening seemed to go on forever, and though by the end of the night they were practically ready to perform at least five songs perfectly, Alec couldn't shake the feeling that he was losing his band as it was originally.

Afterwards they agreed to have a beer, and get to know each other better as a band. Simon found his camera and started filming them as they hung out.

"How did you come up with the name? The Mortal Instruments sounds more like a metal band?" Simon asked.

"We were originally going to play punk rock, but we just adjusted to the time. I think indie rock is evolving and gaining popularity faster than punk rock," Jace explained.

"Along with Alec's haircut," Izzy joked. Alec scowled at her.

"Chicks love my man-bun, FYI," Alec replied.

"Do they? Then why do I never see you with anyone?" she said, but she seemed to regret it as soon as she'd said it. Alec looked at his beer. He'd had plenty of offers from girls after shows, but he'd never really found the right fit. He'd always just gotten drunk and made out with someone randomly. He was finally defining his looks, but he had never felt more confused about who he was than he was now.

"So you have some punk rock songs you never play anymore?" Simon continued to interview them, and Alec felt grateful for the change of subject.

"Of course. We're always making new songs, well, Alec is mostly writing the songs, we help sometimes," Jace said.

"What do you think changed? In your songwriting, making them more indie?" Simon turned the camera towards Alec.

"I just go with the flow. I think my influences changed. I grew up listening to a lot of rock and metal, but my horizon widened when I got here," Alec shrugged.

"What are your influences now?"

"I really like Death Cab for Cutie and Arcade Fire."

"I really like Uh Huh Her at the moment. I really love electropop," Izzy said, getting Simon's attention with the camera.

"Oh my god, yes, I just discovered their music recently. It's with that girl from The L Word, right?" Clary asked.

"Exactly," Izzy smiled at the redhead, looking impressed. "You've seen the show?"

"I've seen some of it on TV," Clary blushed.

"What's the… L Word?" Jace asked.

"It's a TV show about a group of lesbians in L.A. Aline and I watched a lot of it together last year," Izzy explained. Jace's eyes shifted back to Clary with an odd expression, and Alec detected the curiosity in his friend's eyes.

"I'm not… I mean, I have had a crush on Aline for quite some time, but every girl on campus has at some point. She's a legend," Clary shrugged, her cheeks flushed red.

"It's college. It's more embarrassing if you haven't had any girl crushes," Izzy shrugged casually.

"Oh gosh," Jace rolled his head back and looked at the ceiling, as if he'd just had some big revelation he couldn't handle. "You and Aline?" he looked back at Izzy. Alec's sister looked smug now.

"Yeah, so? She wanted to know if she was really a lesbian, and I offered," she grinned. Alec thought he might have thrown up a little in his mouth, so he swallowed some of his beer to wash away the horror of thinking of his sister with anyone, and much worse – experimenting.

"Huh. I made out with her once, too," Jace shrugged.

"Oh, I didn't just make out with her," Izzy bit her lip and Alec had had enough.

"Okay, time for me to call it a night," Alec got to his feet.

"What, you didn't go there too?" Jace raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"No, Aline is my best friend. I just don't feel the need to listen to my sister's sexual experience," he admitted and left the party.

He was tired, because it had been a long day after all. Alec walked back to his dorm. It was a weeknight, but there were always people up at this hour of the night. He ignored them tonight, there were always someone jamming in the common area, and sometimes he joined them. But tonight he just felt like going to sleep. He didn't know what this feeling inside of him was, but it made him irritated. Izzy and Jace had instantly taken a liking to Clary and Simon, but he felt left out. He was nearly certain he wouldn't get the same connection to them as he had with Aline. That's probably it – he was going to miss his friend, when she moved to California.

Despite how tired he felt, Alec lay down on his bed with his laptop and started writing a new song. His songs were usually about nothing and everything all at once. He had songs that represented different emotions, or certain issues. They weren't a political band, but they did have some songs about social justice, mostly the ones Aline had helped write; she was very much into equal opportunities, as was the rest of them. He'd made a few love songs, but they had never been any good, since he had no idea what it felt like to be in love, so they often ended up being ambiguous songs about infatuation. When he realized he was writing an angry song, he put away his laptop and tried to get some sleep. He felt restless, but he managed to get some sleep before class next morning.

…

"Are you alright? You look tired?" Izzy wondered, when he met up with her and Aline at the airport. "Like beyond the usual."

"I'm fine," he shrugged.

"He's just emo, it's part of the look," Aline winked and ruffled his hair. Alec wrapped his arm around Aline.

"I'm just gonna miss you. That's all," he said, his lips against her hair. She was so small he had to lean down; he was always taller than everyone. That's part of why he liked being the drummer – he could hide in the back and no one would see him towering the others. He'd started his musical career playing piano, but he'd given that up years ago, when he needed to decide which instrument he wanted to focus on.

"You guys, I'll miss you. But you know, there's always Skype," Aline hugged him back, and then gave Izzy her goodbyes. Alec and his sister watched as their best friend walked towards her gate.

"Is that tears in your eyes?" Izzy looked up at him. He frowned, shoved her gently and turned to walk out of the airport.

"No," he retorted, but wiped his eyes just in case. He was gonna make a song about this goodbye, it would have to be called 'See You Soon'.

"You should have stayed last night. Simon and Izzy are great," Izzy caught up to him, despite her short legs and high heels.

"I'm sure they are," he replied flatly.

"Are you jealous or something?"

"What? Why would I be…?" He stopped walking, and she almost ran into him.

"I don't know, Alec. I just know you have been sulking ever since we started looking for new members," she threw her arms up with exasperation.

"She's my best friend, I'm used to seeing her every day, and now I won't," Alec replied. It wasn't just that, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He'd been putting his mind into the music for so long, he'd never quite addressed those feelings of sadness that came out once in a while.

"Jace and me are your best friends too?" she said. Deep down, he knew she would miss Aline just as much. The four of them were family. "And who knows, maybe Simon and Clary will become your best friends too?"

"You're right," he smiled, and hoped it hid his depressed mood a bit. They were playing this weekend for the first time with their new bandmates, and he would just have to put all of his unknown frustration out on the drums.

…

When weekend came and it was time to play the first gig as a new band, Alec had needed a few shots of tequila to get his nerves under control. They'd been practicing every night, and the four of them were really bonding, but Alec didn't feel it. He felt himself slip further and further away from everyone. He was truly becoming the fifth wheel.

It was one of their regular gigs, so there wasn't too much pressure, but he still felt on edge tonight. Clary and Simon had been doing great at practice, so there was really no reason for him to be nervous.

Halfway through the gig, he looked down at the crowd. There weren't a lot of people, but there was enough. A couple stood out to him though – a woman with platinum blonde hair in a red dress and a man with black hair and dark skin dressed in black and gold – they didn't look like their regular crowd, but there was something captivating about them. Alec couldn't take his eyes off them for the rest of the show. They didn't move to the music like the rest of the crowd, they just observed.

After the show the band always stayed around and got free beers from fans, when no one was checking their ID. This was the part Izzy and Jace seemed to enjoy the most, because they liked the attention it gave them. People were always interested in hearing their stories, and they were always willing to tell the craziest parts. Simon had his camera ready, and Clary slipped away to sit next to Alec away from the crowd.

"I'm usually pretty good at sensing when people don't like me. I'm sorry if I did something to step on your toes, but I want us to be friends – or at least friendly, if you dislike me that much," she said hurriedly. Alec blinked for a moment. She was so honest, and it was kind of new to him to see that in a stranger. Well, she was a stranger to him.

"You didn't. I just take some time to warm up to people, I guess. I don't like changes," he admitted.

"Really? I could have sworn from the way you and Jace interact that it had something to do with him?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen the way Jace looks at me, and I've seen the way you look at Jace," she said.

"Look, I know what you're implying, and you're wrong," he said, but his pulse was racing as he said it, because deep down he probably knew she wasn't entirely clueless.

"Alright," she held her hands up in defeat, "I'm sorry. I just want us to get along," she said.

The couple from the audience came up to them and interrupted the conversation. The guy, who Alec could now tell was part Asian, was staring at Alec intensely, and he was surprised to find that it didn't make him all that uncomfortable.

"Magnus Bane?" Clary exclaimed with joy.

"Hi Clary, how are you? Well, maybe that's a dumb question, obviously you're doing very well. That was an excellent performance, I didn't know you could sing like that," he said. If possible, this man's voice was even more mesmerizing than his looks. Alec was in awe, and quite frankly, he felt a certain sense of pleasure from the attention the man gave him, whenever his gaze turned back to Alec.

"Thank you!" Clary beamed.

"I just had lunch with your mother the other day, and she told me you were in a band. I had to check it out," he continued, but each time he finished talking to Clary, his gaze kept turning back to Alec.

"That's very kind of you. Uhm, this is Alec, he writes most of the songs," she introduced. Alec held out his hand.

"Hi," was all he managed to reply. When this man looked at him, he momentarily forgot how to breathe.

"Magnus teaches at The New School," Clary explained.

"Piano," Magnus said. "This is Camille Belcourt, upcoming composer." The blonde girl gave them a superficial smile.

"Pleasure," she said, despite her body language saying something completely different.

"I really like the songs. Have you written for anyone yet?" Magnus asked Alec, and he was stunned for a moment, before coming back to his senses. This guy had a way of both being completely casual, and still make Alec feel like he was completely focused on him.

"Erh, no, I haven't," he shrugged.
"You will," he smiled at him, and it was the most charming smile Alec had ever seen. That was saying a lot when your best friend was Jace Herondale.

"Magnus, I thought we were leaving? I thought we were going to Pandemonium?" Camille interrupted.

"Right. Pandemonium. Are you going?" Magnus asked, looking at Alec. He'd never been to the Pandemonium before, because you always needed to get on the guest list.

"We're not on the list," Clary said what Alec had been thinking.

"Too bad," Magnus gave Alec one last charming smile and left. Alec didn't stop staring until they were out of sight, and he didn't notice he had been staring until he noticed Clary grinning at him knowingly.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"He's cute," she said.

"So what?"

"You don't think so?" she wondered sweetly.

"What do you care?"

"I don't. I completely do not care," she said, pronouncing each word carefully.

"Don't tell the others," he said, just to be safe.

"Tell them what?" she wondered innocently.

"That I… stared? I don't know why I did that," Alec said, and readjusted his hair nervously.

"I do. I saw that ass too," she winked at him.

"What? That's not…" Dammit, he hadn't even noticed Magnus' ass. Shit, why did he care so much? "He's friends with your mom?"

"Yeah, they're colleagues. My mom teaches art?" she reminded him. He wasn't sure he'd heard her say that before, but he'd probably just forgotten about it.

"Right. And you make a habit of checking out your mom's colleagues' asses?"

Now she was grinning at him. Was she making fun of him? This was turning into a very odd situation, and Alec didn't even know what was going on.

"No, I don't," she suppressed a giggle. "But I could probably put in a good word for you, if you want?"

That was it, that triggered Alec, he grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room.

"Alec, you're hurting me! What are you doing?" she exclaimed.

"You need to stop whatever it is you think you're doing," he thundered.

"You need to let go of my arm," she replied. She was half his size, but she didn't seem surprised or scared, she seemed just as angry as him now. "Look, I'm just trying to help."

"With what, exactly?"

"Magnus knows a lot of people, if he likes your songs, then maybe he can help you sell them," she explained. Alec felt his cheeks heat up. He'd never felt this embarrassed before. Had that been all she'd been talking about? It had seemed like she'd implied something else. He wiped his face with his palms. "Look," she took a step closer to him, and lowered her voice, "if there's any other reason why you would want me to put in a good word for you, I wouldn't mind. I think he kind of liked you. He barely looked at me when he talked to us," she whispered. Alec had calmed himself down now, and he didn't blow up again. Who was he kidding? The attention from Magnus had felt amazing, and he had had a certain feeling he couldn't quite put a name to. It was his college years, maybe it was the time to 'experiment' like Izzy had? It might help him get his anger issues under control, if he found out once and for all, what he'd been worrying about for so long, yet never really had the guts to admit to himself. "Oh gosh, Alec?" she looked at him compassionately, and brushed his arms with her small hands. Was he having a minor breakdown right now? His head was spinning.

"Clary? Are you guys alright?" Jace asked. Alec didn't have to turn around to recognize his best friend's voice from the back door entrance.

"Yeah everything is fine. I think Alec's beer might have been bad, I'm going to take him home," she replied.

"Do you want me to come, Alec?" Jace asked.

"No, it's fine, I got it. Just go back inside," Clary said quickly, before Alec could respond. He looked into her green eyes, and all he met was kindness. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all?

"Okay. Well, call me, if you need anything." And Jace was gone.

"Thanks. I don't know why you just did that though?" Alec wondered, calming himself down finally.

"You didn't seem like you wanted to talk to anyone. Do you want to talk to me?" she asked. He had a feeling that if he said 'no', she wouldn't hold it against him, she would just accept it, which was exactly why he said the opposite.

"Sure. Thanks," he replied.

They started walking towards campus. It wasn't far, and the others would take care of their gear.

"I sometimes tend to push people over the edge. I never mean to, I mean, my intentions are always good," she shrugged apologetically.

"Really, I haven't noticed," he said wryly. She giggled. "You remind me of Aline actually."

"Thank you. That's a compliment, right?"

"Yes, it is. She never pushed me to talk about… you know," he waved his hand as if it would explain what he was trying to say.

"Your attractions towards specific people?" she offered sweetly.

"Right. I just never addressed it before. I mean, I've never really looked at someone and just thought… fuuuck," the last word came out as a long sigh, as he thought about Magnus' perfect features – his golden eyes, prominent cheekbones and that smile.

"Until you laid eyes on Magnus?" she asked. Alec had been staring at the pavement, but looked up at her. "You've really never felt attracted to someone before?" she asked. Alec had to think about it for a moment. He'd always thought the girls he made out with were attractive, but had he been attracted to them? He just knew he'd never felt as drawn to someone as he had just moments ago in the pub.

"I don't know."

"I guess, as an artist it just feels natural to me to get attracted to many people," she shrugged.

"I thought you were in graphic design?"

"I draw in my spare time. I always have. I'm used to seeing beauty in everything, or creating beauty around something that might lack it," she explained.

Once they got to campus, Alec found that he actually liked talking to this girl. Maybe he'd been a bit quick to just dismiss her.

"Could you keep our little talk a secret from the others?" he asked, a bit embarrassed he had to ask. He just knew Jace and Izzy would be unbearable if they knew he was questioning his sexuality.

"It's none of their business," she smiled softly.

"Thanks Clary. I'm sorry I was so hard on you," he admitted.

"You seem like a really protective person. I can understand why you won't just let anyone into your group."

"I'm glad you understand," he said, and decided to give her a hug. It seemed like the right end to the talk they'd had, though he probably wouldn't make a habit of it.

…

"So what did Magnus Bane want?" Izzy asked the next day, when she and Jace came into Alec's room. He hadn't been sleeping all night, because he'd been up writing two new songs for them, but after he'd finished the lyrics, he wasn't really sure he wanted to show them to anyone just yet. They seemed very personal suddenly.

"What?" he wondered, acting dumb.

"Yesterday? I saw him and that bimbo Camille Belcourt come over to you and Clary?" she explained, saying Camille's name with disgust. It wasn't like Izzy to talk badly about other women. She was always very open about being a feminist and supporting fellow members of the female gender, and it made Alec think maybe Camille had stepped on Izzy's toes somehow.

"He liked our music," Alec shrugged.

"Really? That is so cool," Izzy said dreamily. "You know he's a legend here at the university?"

"He is? Haven't heard of him before?" Jace shrugged.

"He dates a lot of students. He's practically famous for it."

"He's a piano teacher," Alec interrupted, because for some reason he didn't want to hear what Izzy was saying.

"Huh, how about that," Jace replied, bored to death. "And who was the chick?"

"Camille, she's such a bitch. She's in one of my courses, and she just thinks she so much better than everyone," Izzy rolled her eyes.

"Maybe she is?" Jace shrugged, and Izzy glared at him.

"She really isn't," she just replied.

"So how are you feeling, man?" Jace asked. Alec had to think for a moment, and remembered something about the lie about bad beer.

"Much better. Thanks. I was actually just writing some new songs," he shrugged.

"I wanna hear it," Izzy said.

"It's not ready yet."

"Since when did that matter?" she asked and took his computer. He'd been dumb enough to keep the program running, when his friends had walked in. Izzy started playing the music, while she and Jace looked at the lyrics. Alec knew it was really bad, and they would see right through him. "This is really good. Like excellent good!" Izzy rejoiced. "What's not ready?"

"Dude, we outta get you bad beer more often," Jace smirked. That's it, he was seeing right through Alec's lie.

"Okay, that's enough," Alec said and pressed escape.

"Who… erh…" Izzy for once had difficulty asking. "Who is giving you these feelings?" Though she probably tried to sound casual in her question, she failed miserably.

"No one," Alec replied quickly.

"No one, Izzy. It was the bad beer," Jace teased.

"Magnus Bane?" Izzy asked.

"Maybe it was Camille?" Alec offered.

"The first person you ever feel the need to write such song about is not Camille Belcourt," Izzy sighed dramatically.

"Why not?"

"You're a hipster, and she's… fake. Completely fake," Izzy explained. Alec frowned, and Izzy took a deep breath. "Alec, I think you're gay," she said, her voice covered with warmth and compassion.

"I'm not gay," Alec sniggered.

"You're probably gay, dude," Jace shrugged. Alec had always had a lot of feelings, but never ones as strong as the desire he felt when he'd looked at Magnus, and apparently it showed in his song. He was probably gay. He was almost twenty years old, and he'd never had any relationships. He'd only always had dates, which he never liked. Alec sighed. He was probably gay.

"Is it the song? Is it too gay?" he asked.

"No, it's beautiful. That's the point. That sort of desire shouldn't be ignored," she explained. "I think you should at least explore it," she suggested. Alec frowned again. "It's natural. If you like it, you like it, if you don't, well, then you know," she added. Jace patted Alec's shoulder.

"What she said," he contributed.

"Thanks, I think."