he was sitting on his balcony on a Thursday afternoon. tears filling his eyes constantly even though he kept wiping them away. the cold night air making his cheeks numb. his drink laid on the table beside him forgotten. "just get through tomorrow, then it's the weekends" he kept telling himself though he had nothing to do on his weekends he preferred them to days he had to go to work and spend the whole day with a practiced fake smile playing on his lips. he wasn't sure why he was always sad or angry. he wasn't sure in general what was wrong with him and that scared him.

he was dedicated to what he did. he loved his job not because of the feeling his words inspired but because of the way his words seemed to rush out of him when he was writing. he was always in a better mood after he finished a good article but then he would be engrossed in something else. something he had to figure out, something he had to accomplish and then he would be swallowed into a void of research till he was done with his next big piece. and all over again the vicious cycle would start.

he didn't like people, he feels like they would hurt him just because they can. because he was a weakling. someone that way easy to drag down because he wasn't fighting his demons all too well. whenever he's home all he does is drink and cry. sometimes he feels like he would kill to have someone there with him to hold him tight and tell him that one-day things will get better and that he would be okay but other times he's happy he's alone so no one can see him at his weakest.

that was all till that day. sitting there wiping his tears every few minutes till he saw the person in the apartment across the street from him looking his way. the guy looked like he had a beer in his hand which he raised as a greeting not knowing why he did it Magnus did the same. that was how it started.

the next evening Magnus was sat in the same chair feeling the same way as the day before when the same guy raised his beer as a greeting once again. that night both ate dinner from their balconies. both not wanting to go back to their empty cold homes.

this continued for weeks. a drink in the evening before dinner. that was till one day Magnus's phone rang while he was having a drink before dinner. he picked it up confused who would call him so late at night.

"that's your 3rd glass" a male voice said from the other line

"who is this?" Magnus demanded surprised

"your dinner date" the man replied with amusement tainting his voice

"I'm about to hang up tell me who you are?" Magnus said firmly

"don't! as much as I enjoy our dinners I would also like to hear the voice of the permanent part of my evenings" the voice replied. Magnus looked towards the apartment parallel to him from across the street

"how did you get my number?" Magnus asked

"I came by on my way back from home. the receptionist in the lobby was more than willing to give me your number" the man replied. with a sigh, Magnus put down the glass in his hand and sat down.

"so you know my name and number I know nothing about you except your weird obsession with beer" Magnus said

"alec lightwood." the man replied

"I may have made more food than I could finish tonight....would you be interested in coming over and eating dinner here?" Magnus asked on a limb

" I would love that. I'll be over in a few" alec replied and hang up.

and like that, the introvert got a friend. though it happed slowly and through time they finally managed to have a constant someone in their lives.