Was. The word caught at Alec's curiosity but he had the feeling that he shouldn't ask. Izzy said he was terrible at being social but she didn't realize that lacking the expected Lightwood guile didn't mean that he wasn't observant. Something had happened with Jack that had been painful. A breakup maybe, like the one with Magnus that had left Alec heartbroken and having to reevaluate everything in his life.

"That's how things with Magnus would have been if he hadn't had saved my life," Alec admitted, smiling wistfully. "I would have ignored him completely and told myself that I should always do what's safe. If Jack was that persistent and managed to get you to flirt back, then there's no way that you lost what makes you good because you were with him."