"What, you wouldn't have wanted me to be with Jace?" Alec asked, not speaking seriously. Besides the fact that they were brothers, they were also parabatai which meant a relationship was forbidden. He would have suffered in silence because he was both gay and the man he wanted he couldn't have. He would have done that and never left on to anyone but Isabelle what it was doing to him.

"Don't worry, thinking about it now, I know we couldn't have worked either even if it hadn't been forbidden and our parents didn't hate that I was gay," he said wryly. "I think I would have ended up killing Jace. He needs someone like..."

He realized what he'd been about to say and grimaced, shaking his head and refusing to go further. He was not going to give Clary credit for anything.