Chapter Text
It was their four year anniversary, the date falling in late February. Magnus was in charge of the planning for the evening and had chosen a night in instead of putting all of their expectations on an evening out at a restaurant. It wasn’t often that they went out for a meal, too many missed reservations when they got distracted or flirting waitresses who made one of them uncomfortable and the other one angry or, one on horrible occasion, food poisoning kind of putting them off.
But even without a fancy meal their evening had been extremely romantic. Magnus went all out to spoil his boyfriend on such a special night. Neither of them had made it so far in a relationship before so they were aware of the significance of the occasion. Magnus had been rushing around for weeks trying to find the perfect decorations for their shared apartment, shutting Alec out of there all day much to his amusement. Izzy and Jace had been left in charge of tidying and decorating the apartment whilst Magnus took Alec on a long walk. Their walk through the park had retraced the steps from their very first date and had ended at the food truck from then too; no happy accident on Magnus’s part but careful planning with the owner of the truck. The slices he presented to the men were heart shaped and even had heart-shaped slices of pepperoni on them.
“Happy anniversary, Alexander.”
Alec couldn’t help his surprised laughter at the thoughtful gift and leant in to kiss Magnus passionately.
“Happy anniversary.”
/
“God, Magnus,” Alec breathed into his partner’s neck, “this is the best anniversary ever.”
Magnus huffed out a laugh as Alec began peppering kisses down his throat, “because you got heart-shaped pizza?”
“Yup.” Alec began to suck a deep bruise into the side of Magnus’s neck as the other struggled to fit his keys in the lock. “That’s all I needed.”
“Huh, that knowledge would have saved me a lot of effort.” Magnus had let his eyes fall closed under his partner’s attention but they flew back open as the door swung, his breath catching in his throat. He had walked his friends through what he had wanted so many times that he was sure even Jace could remember, but he was still nervous. He didn’t know why he was so nervous though really. It was only one more night in their relationship, four year anniversary or not.
Alec’s hands slipped from Magnus’s waist as he walked into the now-open apartment and gasped in pleasant surprise as he took in the sight. The couch was covered with cushions and blankets, a cocktail bar had been set up at one side of the living room and there was a junk food bar at the other. There were flameless candles forming pathways in-between the rooms and there were balloons and flowers covering every available flat surface. Although their anniversary fell close to Valentine’s Day, they chose to only celebrate their own special day rather than sharing it with the world and aimed to make it as romantic as they could. They usually took turns in planning and preparing for the day, but Magnus’s plans were usually much more over the top than his partner’s.
Alec walked around the open space of the apartment almost in a daze. He smiled at the messages written on the balloons – a few cute one-liners about how he loved Alec’ cute little snores and singing in the shower – and wandered over to the food table which was almost bending with the weight of being laden with all of Alec’s favourite candies and snacks. He couldn’t help his hand wandering out to snatch a few milk duds and tossed them into his mouth as Magnus headed over to prepare some drinks.
Aleck plucked a rose from a nearby bouquet and walked up behind his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his waist and nuzzling into his neck. He held the rose up in front of Magnus’s face and pressed a kiss to his temple.
“Be mine?” He asked with a smile.
Magnus chuckled as he accepted the flower and twisted in Alec’s arm to return the gentle kiss.
“If I have to be.”
/
“Yes! Three in a row! Bow down to the champion!”
Alec laughed as Magnus did a victory dance as he caught yet another piece of popcorn that Alec had tossed into his mouth.
“Make it to five and I’ll be impressed.” Alec threw another piece in Magnus’s direction only for the other man to suddenly jump up off the couch and march to the other side of the room. Alec sat up straighter in a panic until he saw that Magnus was only heading over to the bar in the corner of the room.
“I told Jace to put this on ice!” He cried, holding up a bottle of champagne with a dramatic roll of his eyes. “Useless, useless man,” he muttered as he headed into the kitchen to do it himself. “He had literally seven jobs. That was it; seven! That is not too many jobs!”
He came back out to the living room still muttering under his breath and joined Alec on the couch again, this time cuddling up closer to the other man’s side. Alec smiled down at him and twisted himself slightly so that he could look down at Magnus’s face and hold his gaze. He slipped a hand into his pocket and opened his mouth to speak when Magnus suddenly pulled away again.
“Chairman!” He was up like a shot as he cried out and ran over to their bedroom and pulled the door open quickly. He dashed in and emerged holding their squirming feline like a baby, crooning to him much to Alec’s amusement and Chairman Meow’s displeasure.
“I’m sorry that you had to be shut away, baby, but I just couldn’t have you ruining all of Daddy’s hard work by running wild unsupervised.” Chairman clearly didn’t accept Magnus’s apology as he suddenly wriggled himself right out of Magnus’s hold and dove to the floor, running into the kitchen to the safety of personal space. Alec tried in vain to hide his smile at the offended look on Magnus’s face and held out his hand to the older man.
“Come here, baby. He’ll get over it, I'm sure. Come and cuddle with me instead.”
Magnus obeyed and climbed onto the couch once more, sitting face to face with Alec and stretched his legs over his partner's. Alec reached out and wrapped his arms around Magnus, kissing him soundly with a contented sigh. As they pulled apart, Alec took one of Magnus’s hands and twisted their fingers together as his other hand reached into his pocket once again. He opened his mouth to speak when Magnus let out another gasp. Alec let his head fall back against the couch as Magnus was up and off again, saying something excitedly about a cake in the fridge.
“Magnus!” Alec yelled. Magnus turned around in surprise at the yell and saw that Alec had stood from the couch. He watched with a furrowed brow as his boyfriend sank to the floor on one knee.
“Are you okay?” Magnus asked, rushing back over to Alec. “Why are you on the floor; did you drop something?”
“Take my hand,” Alec requested, holding out his hand palm up to Magnus.
“What? Why?” Magnus spluttered out his words in shock, even as his hand began to stretch out automatically.
“I am trying to ask you to marry me, so will you please hold my hand!”
Magnus squeezed Alec’s hand when they met in the middle as his brain caught up to Alec’s words. “You – wait… What?”
Alec snickered softly at his boyfriend’s confusion and let Magnus’s hand rest on his palm as he lifted his other hand to slide the rings off Magnus’s fingers gently. He placed them one-by-one onto the coffee table before finally pulling something out of his pocket.
“I’ve been trying to ask you this question all day but every time I went to do it, something stopped me – mostly you,” he admitted with a huffed laugh. He held up his ring up for Magnus to see as he carried on talking.
“But now I don’t want to wait; I was all geared up to ask you as soon as we settled down tonight, only you wouldn’t sit still for two seconds!” He laughed at Magnus’s mock-outraged expression, both men quickly sobering with the seriousness of the moment.
“So now it’s going to be done like this.” Alec felt his voice shake slightly before he took a steadying breath and continued, “Will you, Magnus Bane, marry me, Alec Lightwood, and continue celebrating every day like it’s our anniversary?”
“Well, I mean, I don’t know that I can do that, Alexander,” Magnus started with a twist to his mouth. Alec’s smile began to fall and his brow crumpled before Magnus carried on, biting down his grin. “This anniversary set up took a lot of planning and effort and I’m just not sure that it’s realistic to expect this sort of treatment and pampering every day!”
Alec growled as he jumped up, pushing at Magnus until the older man fell backward onto the couch with a shriek of laughter. They lay there for a minute or two giggling before Magnus grew more serious, lifting a hand to trail his fingers gently down Alec’s cheek.
“Of course I’ll marry you, my darling. I don’t forgive just anyone who ruins my layout fifteen minutes before a presentation.”
“What?!” Alec cried. “You said it was fine! Magnus, it’s been four years! You – I… Magnus!”