"Yeah, but you stretch out my shirts with your big old shoulders," Jace complained right back. He hummed. "Yeah, and you tend to assume that no one could feel for YOU what you feel for them." He groaned and shook his head. "You like to tell people what they're allowed to feel, don't you?" he teased.

He saw the blush, but wasn't sure what it was coming from, but he wasn't sure if he should ask. He tilted his head a little to the side. "Which 'he' won't mind, Alec? Because at this point, there's a few different options." He made a face. "We're not talking about that, right?"

Jace scoffed. "Please. Of course you need him. He's like... something just for you, with no connections from home, no expectations or pressure or bad memories attached." Jace got it. He just didn't like it. Because he was all of that for Alec. A reminder of everything he'd escaped from, probably.

Alec's words just... kind of confirmed what figured already. It didn't exactly hurt to hear, but it was a bittersweet sort of ache, right in his chest. Like it was caving in, he thought wryly. Alec had what he needed here already. He didn't need Jace here, messing things up, making him remember, complicating it all up.

"I don't regret us being parabatai, Alec," he said quietly. He just... felt like he'd missed his chance somehow.

Then he was getting yanked and kissed and he made a muffled sound of surprise against Alec's lips, now very sure he was probably losing his mind.