"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Rafael yelled as he came crashing through the front door.

Magnus looked up from the book he was reading on the couch and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong Rafe? Lose your brother on the way home?" He joked.

Rafael stared at Magnus and smacked himself in the forehead. "Shit!" He cried.

"Language!" Alec yelled from the other room.

But Rafael had already ran back out the door, slamming it behind him. Magnus sat with his eyebrows raised, staring at the door. "Did he seriously lose Max?" Magnus asked no one in particular.

"I guess so. For being 16 he doesn't have much of a brain in his head." Alec mumbled, coming into the room.

Magnus glanced up at him to see him rubbing his face. "You shaved." Magnus observed.

"Hm? Oh, yeah." Alec replied distractedly, sitting down in an armchair opposite from Magnus.

An idea popped into Magnus' head, and he smirked as he stood up, walking to where Alec sat. Magnus sat down in his lap, Alec's eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Mags? What are you..." He started, but Magnus cut him off with a kiss.

Alec was surprised at first, but kissed back quickly. Magnus pulled away, resting his forehead against Alec's and rubbing his cheek. "It's nice not having to kiss your scruff and having it scratch my face." Magnus murmured.

"Yeah? Well I still have to kiss yours." Alec teased.

Magnus chuckled as he pressed his lips back against Alec's. Alec kissed back passionately, holding Magnus' hips. Magnus pulled away from Alec's mouth, kissing his jawline and down his neck. Focusing on one spot that he knew would drive Alec crazy. Alec let out a low moan. "M-Mags... not now. They'll be back any moment."

"Considering how fast you were last night, that won't be a problem." Magnus replied cheekily as he ground himself against Alec.

Alec let out another moan. "Fine... but let's make it quick." He muttered.

Magnus brought his lips back to Alec's as Alec stood up. Magnus hooked his legs around Alec's waist and Alec grabbed Magnus' butt to keep him up. "Someone's getting handsy." Magnus chuckled huskily against Alec's lips.

As soon as he pressed his lips against Alec's again, the front door banged open. Alec dropped his hands from Magnus, causing him to fall flat on his ass. Magnus swore loudly as Alec looked up at the door, completely red in the face. Rafael's backpack lay haphazardly like it had been thrown, while Max was gently putting his away. "Hey dad, hey papa. I'm gonna go do some homework. Rafe's already in his room." Max called as he grabbed a folder of homework from his bag and went to his room.

Alec nodded absentmindedly, then remembered he had dropped Magnus. "By the angel! I'm so sorry Magnus!" He exclaimed, crouching down to see if he was okay.

"Thanks Alexander. That felt very nice." Magnus snapped, getting to his feet.

"I'm gonna go check on Rafael, why don't you help Max with his homework?" Magnus suggested coldly before turning on his heel and storming away, holding his backside.

"I'm sorry!" Alec called after him, but Magnus just carried on.

Magnus knocked on the door of Rafael's room before he entered. "Rafael? What was all that..." He started, but trailed off when he saw the mess that was Rafael's room.

A mountain of clothes sat in the middle of the room. His closet had been thrown open and was completely empty. The drawers on his dresser were also open, but only some of them were empty. Rafael was holding up two button downs in front of his mirror. "What do you think dad? Blue or white?" He asked.

"What have you done to your room?" Magnus asked quietly.

"Well... I um... I-Iaskedherout." Rafael blurted quickly.

"You what? I can't understand you when you speak that fast." Magnus said, sitting down on Rafe's bed, his backside complaining with each move he made.

"I-I-I asked out C-C-Catherine." He replied quietly.

Magnus felt a slow smile creeping up on his face. "When is it? The date, I mean." Magnus asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, face in his hands.

"Tonight, in half an hour, we're going to go walk around Central Park." Rafe explained, continuing to hold up the two shirts.

"Well." Magnus started, getting off the bed and walking over to him. "I think white will work best. It'll bring out the darkness of your eyes. And I think khakis would work with it."

Rafael nodded as he dug out a pair of khakis from his mountain of clothes he had thrown out of his closet. Magnus smiled as he walked out of the room, leaving Rafael to change. Rafael quickly tore off the 'Rock Solid Panda' t-shirt he had got from his uncle Simon, and put on the white button down. Then he changed out of his jeans, and into his brown khakis. Rafael turned away from his mirror after fixing up his outfit a little, and looked at the mess he had made. 'I'll clean it later.' He decided.

He quickly put on some deodorant and cologne before leaving his room. He checked his watch. He only had ten minutes before he was supposed to meet Catherine at the park. He walked into the kitchen to grab an apple quickly, only to be met by the sight of his dads making out. "Agh! Couldn't you do that in your room or something?!" Rafael cried, going to the fridge and grabbing an apple.

"Just wait, that'll be you and Catherine soon." Magnus teased.

Rafael turned bright red as he left the kitchen. "Bye." He called over his shoulder.

"Have fun!" Alec called back at the same time Magnus yelled, "Use protection!" Which earned him a small shove from Alec.

Rafael turned even redder as he left the loft and headed towards the park. He kept running through lines to start conversations over and over in his head, in case things got quiet and awkward. When he finally reached the park, he sat on a bench where they had agreed to meet. Catherine wasn't there yet, and that only added to his nerves. Rafael began wringing his hands nervously and looking around the park to see if he could see her approaching. He started checking his phone every couple seconds to see if she had texted him to cancel. 'What if she doesn't come? What if she decides last minute that she hates me, and doesn't want to come? What if I'm in the wrong place?' He began to go through all sorts of ridiculous 'what ifs'.

He didn't even hear someone come up behind him until they tapped his shoulder. Rafael jumped to his feet, spinning to face the person. Catherine stood behind the bench, a confused smile on her face. "Hey Rafe, am I early?" She joked.

"N-n-no. You're just on time! I mean uh... I've been waiting here for hours! Nope that still doesn't sound right. I mean um... hi." Rafael stuttered.

Catherine laughed. "Nervous?" She asked, hopping over the bench and sitting on it.

"Psshh, naaah." Rafael lied, settling down on the bench beside her.

"So uh, what's up?" Rafael tried to ask casually.

Catherine smiled. "Oh nothing much, just talking with this really awesome guy." She replied.

"Oh? I didn't realize you were meeting someone else here... I'll just go..." Rafael muttered awkwardly, making to stand up.

Catherine yanked on his sleeve and sat him back down. "I meant you, ya doofus!" Catherine laughed.

Rafael couldn't help but blush. "I-I knew that." He laughed forcefully at his idiocy.

"You look really nice Rafe. That shirt really brings out the dark of your eyes." Catherine complimented.

Rafael smiled dopily, silently thanking the angel that his dad had amazing fashion sense. "Y-y-you two. I mean, not like the shirt thing, but you look really nice." He rambled.

Catherine giggled, turning her head to look at the pond close by them. The sun had begun to set behind it, painting the sky hues of pink and orange. Small white ducks swam across the pond, quacking to each other as they went. Rafe couldn't help but stare at her. She looked so beautiful with the sun shining on her skin, the slight breeze blowing her hair behind her, the way her eyes crinkled in the corners as she smiled while watching the ducks... she was breathtaking. "Wanna feed the ducks?" Catherine asked, bringing Rafael from his thoughts.

"Hmm?" He murmured distractedly, still admiring Catherine.

"I asked if you wanted to feed the ducks." She repeated.

"Oh! Uh yeah. But, we don't have any bread." Rafael replied.

"Not a problem." Catherine responded.

She snapped her fingers and a loaf of bread appeared in her arms. Rafe opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "No, I didn't steal it. It's from my house. Now close your mouth, you look like a codfish."

Rafael nodded and snapped his mouth shut. He followed Catherine as she stood up from the bench and walked to the ponds edge. She opened the bag and began breaking the bread into pieces to feed to the ducks. They quickly swam over, quaking away as they ate the bread. Rafe grabbed a slice and started throwing bits too. 'Man, uncle Jace would hate this.' He thought.

He remembered when he had just recently came to Brooklyn to live with Alec and Magnus, Jace and Clary had decided to take him and Max for a walk in Central Park. Max had somehow managed to get ahold of one of the ducks, and proudly showed it to Jace. Rafael had never heard a man shriek so loudly. He had yelled at Max to put it back and get it away from him, causing Max to cry. Clary had been so mad at Jace as she comforted Max, and Rafael had never laughed so hard. He chuckled at the memory. "What's so funny?" Catherine asked.

"Oh, just remembering how terrified my uncle is of ducks." He replied, ripping off another bit of bread for the ducks.

Catherine laughed, Rafael thought he would never tire of the sound. It was rich and beautiful, it was music to his ears. "He's scared of ducks?" She laughed.

"Yup. And I don't know why." Rafael responded, beginning to laugh with her.

They were laughing so hard, they didn't notice the one lone, brave duck, who dared to come up to the shore for their bread. Rafael noticed at the last moment as it tried to haul the loaf of bread into the water. "Hey!" He yelled, reaching to grab for it.

The duck honked loudly, letting go of the bread. Rafael thought all was good, until the duck started beating its wings, going right for Rafe's face. He let out a loud yell as it bit his nose. He swatted at it with his hands, trying to get it away. The duck finally stopped, and flew back into the pond, honking triumphantly. Rafe stared angrily at the duck, but was once again distracted by Catherine's laughter. "O-oh my god. You j-just got attacked by a duck!" She wheezed, clutching her sides as she laughed.

"Haha funny." Rafe snorted, rubbing at his aching nose with the back of his hand.

When he pulled his hand away, he saw a smear of blood on it. "Bastard!" He yelled at the duck.

Catherine looked at him in surprise, but started laughing again when she saw he bit of blood coming from Rafael's nose. Rafael scowled at her, reaching into his pocket to grab his stele, only to reals he forgot it. "Here, let me." Catherine giggled.

She got on her knees and crawled closer to Rafael. His breath caught in his throat as she lifted his face to look at her with one hand, while the other she brushed over his nose, blue magic radiating from it. He couldn't do anything but sit there and stare at her, her eyes fixed on his nose in concentration. Her hair looked so pretty, the way it was slowly falling from where she had tucked it behind her ear. When Catherine had finished healing his nose, the magic faded from her fingertips, and her other hand dropped from his cheek. Rafe let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "I should head home. It's getting late." Catherine murmured, staring into Rafael's eyes.

"I'll walk you home." Rafael responded, standing up and offering his hand to Catherine.

She took it and he pulled her up. She turned to grab the bread, but saw the ducks had succeeded in stealing it. "Well, there goes my bread!" She exclaimed.

Rafael laughed in response, and they began to head to Catherine's. Rafael looked down and saw that Catherine's hand was still loosely in his. He took the opportunity to intertwine their fingers. He stared at Catherine out of the corner of his eye to see her reaction. To his surprise, she didn't withdraw her hand. Instead, a blush crept up in her cheeks and pleasant surprise was written all over her face. Rafael smiled to himself, proud of his bold move. They walked in silence, the only noise was the sound of the city coming to life around them. The cars driving and honking, bars and clubs opening, people chatting as they made their way down streets... it was a comforting, familiar sound. When they reached Catherine's, she turned to face Rafael, their hands still intertwined. "Thank you Rafe. I had an awesome night." She said.

"I did too. We should do this again sometime." He replied.

Catherine smiled. "I'd like that."

Rafael couldn't help himself, he had one more bold move to make. He took a step closer to Catherine, he heard her breath catch in her throat as she stared up at him. He brought his free hand up to her cheek, holding it in place as he brought his face down to her. He watched her eyes flutter closed and her mouth part slightly as he closed the distance between them, closing his own eyes. Their lips met. The kiss was soft, and long awaited. Their lips moved together perfectly, she tasted like sweet fruit and... unsurprisingly, bread. Rafael finally pulled away, still slightly shocked at what he did. Catherine smiled up at him. "Wow." Rafael breathed, causing them both to giggle.

"Goodnight Rafe." She whispered.

"Goodnight Catherine." He murmured back.

She dropped her hand from his, opening her door and giving Rafael a little wave before disappearing behind it. Rafael couldn't contain the smile that invaded his face as he walked home. He was so happy, he let out a loud whoop and pumped his fist in the air, not caring who saw.

*Contest entry for MalecLovely