Chapter Text
Chapter 6
Alec lived alone in his one bedroom apartment because it didn’t make sense to have to torture someone with his unholy schedule. It became clear even as a med student that the idea of time didn’t apply to doctors. You go whenever you are needed, it was the job he picked, it was the job he loved, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. More often than not when he got back home he was too tired to think about what was going on around him. Just his bed, which was almost never made was enough for him. He would crash on the mattress and lose all consciousness in under a few seconds. Even with his liberal programme, it was still hectic, and he preferred to stay back sometimes and help wherever he could. But this had never happened.
He was well rested now, and for the first time alone in the silence of his apartment with nothing but his thoughts. And had just kissed Magnus. Oh my goodness, he had kissed Magnus. And if Izzy and Jace hadn’t interrupted – He shook his head as he removed the keys closing the main door behind him. That shouldn’t have happened. He shouldn’t have done that. Magnus was… he sighed. Magnus was magical, and he couldn’t help himself. But he thought he knew better. He’d been burnt once and he learnt quickly. He shut the door behind him sighing again.
But it felt so good, and a part of him felt like a schoolboy with a crush. Dammit, he’d worked so hard to keep that part of him in check. But neither of them was drunk this time around. So that was something. His mind wandered back briefly to that fateful day a few years ago, but this kiss was different.
As if to pull him out of his thoughts his phone buzzed in his pocket, it was a message from the man himself.
Magnus: You don’t regret it, do you.
Did Alec regret it? Even if he did, he couldn’t have said yes. But it was more for himself.
Alec: No.
He answered simply, and he was telling the truth.
Alec: Do you?
He asked cautiously because that was the more important answer. He didn’t regret their first kiss either, and he knew despite how much he tried to pretend otherwise, Magnus Bane had a special place in his heart. And he held his breath as Magnus answered
Magnus: Are you kidding? Of course not!
He smiled and hoped he was more prepared this time
Alec: So, we never got to have that ice cream after dinner. You in the mood for it right now?
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Yes! Magnus replied way too quickly. He didn’t care though, because he’d been waiting for this for way too long. After Izzy and Jace had come to their rescue and interrupted… things, they’d had dinner but were too tired for the ice cream, so Jace and Alec had left and Izzy crashed on her bed. There wasn’t a proper goodbye though, and that freaked Magnus out. What was he supposed to expect? Well to be fair a few days ago they weren’t even on proper talking terms
He left Izzy a note on the kitchen telling her that he was going out for a walk, grabbed his coat and stepped out. The ice cream parlour wasn’t too far away so he decided to walk. Oh, how he missed fresh air. It was colder than he imagined though.
When he got there Alec was already waiting for him, and a grin spread on his face. He resisted the urge to jog but waved hi anyway.
“Hey,” Alec said looking down at his boots when Magnus got close enough to listen.
“Hello, Alexander,” he replied with his hands in his pocket. He looked at the taller man wondering if the same thing was running in his mind, but he doubted it. Magnus was elated about what happened before they got out. But what he couldn’t get out his mind was the answer he never got before they kissed.
Alec was clearly upset with him, and just a few hours ago he was sure that his roommate’s brother hated him, and Alec had done nothing to prove otherwise in the years that they’ve known each other. Was this just lust? Some spur of the moment thing they got caught up in?
“Should we go in?” Alec asked interrupting his thoughts, “It’s kinda chilly out here” he remarked. Magnus simply nodded.
They got their ice cream orders and a waffle coz they wanted something warm and went to an empty booth in the corner. Most of the place was empty anyway, so they sat opposite each other.
The silence lasted a little longer, then Alec said, “Hey” again. Magnus didn’t know where to start so he looked up to his hazel eyes and asked the first thing that popped to his mind.
“Is this a date?” Seemed like a good start, clarified the big questions at least, right?
“Do you want it to be?” came the reply. Magnus was moving around the single scoop of ice cream he’d gotten. The chocolate syrup on top was dripping over the edge so he caught it with the spoon.
Of course, I do, but do you?
Could he say that, was it that simple, maybe he should stop overthinking everything? I mean, he thought, everything with Alexander Gideon Lightwood is a hurricane you don’t see coming. They used to be friends till one day he got the silent treatment and death stares, and they were almost becoming friends again when they were trapped together which was also quite sudden for Magnus, which was also going fine till morning today, when, wouldn’t you know it, Alec was on the hate wagon again, till he kissed him. This man was way too confusing, and Magnus would know, he’s been that guy in a relationship more often than not.
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“Yes, I think so,” Magnus answered taking a few minutes which honestly seemed like an eternity to him. Alec didn’t know how much he wanted to hear that answer until he did, but he could sense the ‘but’ coming. “But Alexander-,” Magnus continued in a smaller voice still. Here it goes, he braced himself. “- I’m just a little confused.”
Confused?
“About what?” he asked earnestly.
“Do you like me?” What kind of question was this? They were on a date, Alec had kissed him less than three hours ago, wasn’t it obvious?
“We’re on a date, right? So, I’d assume so? Yeah?” he answered.
Magnus laughed, but it wasn’t encouraging, “No it’s just, it has been a little all over the place, I thought you hated me, you said I was an asshole? I just want to know what happened? What changed? Why did you hate me then, why do you not anymore? I just-” He took in a sharp breath, “I just want to understand, darling. I don’t want to start this… whatever this is off without knowing that. Does that make sense?”
He knew he was gaping, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. Did Magnus really not know what went wrong? But in all fairness, it was one drunken kiss at a party ages ago when it meant something to Alec but not to him, and maybe he wasn’t right to blame Magnus for it, so he decided to answer honestly because this was Magnus trying, and Alec liked that a lot.
“I had a stupid crush on you, and I knew it couldn’t happen because you were with Camille at the time, and I know it’s wrong but the only way I knew how to get through it was to hate you.” And this wasn’t a lie. They’d become quick friends when his sister introduced the two of them, and he did develop a crush he thought was reciprocated, and then he got together with Camille. He conveniently left out the ‘how’, “I’m sorry, Magnus. I really am. It became a habit after that.”
Magnus was staring at him, so he ducked down. “Well I hope it worked,” he said with a cheeky grin on his face, and Alec could feel his face burning up. He heard Magnus’s low chuckle and suddenly felt him flushed against his own shoulder.
He turned a little bit in shock as Magnus took a hand up to his chin and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.
“If it helps,” he said the smile not faltering, “I like you too, Alexander. A lot.”
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“You look giddy,” Izzy pointed out walking into the living room where Magnus had crashed the previous night. He made a mental note to call the people to fix the heater in his room that day.
“What! No!” he exclaimed.
“Mhm, and the grass is not green,” she commented impassively, “What’s it? Or should I say who?”
“Isabelle. Shush, I’m trying to watch something here,” he said pulling her down to sit with him.
“Ooooh! Magnus Bane is smitten.”
“I said shush.”
“Nuh-uh. Roomie rules, Magnus. You have to tell me. It’s in the law.” She complained as he laughed.
“It’s just, this is still new okay, I’ll tell you soon enough. I promise.”
“So, it is someone. Ha! I knew it. Three days away and you stop telling me things, and people wonder why I’m clingy. But it’s not really clingy, just persistently friendly that people substitute for the word clingy often enough. Anywaay, are you gonna give me a hint? Who are they? Have you already been on a date? I mean has it been more than three days because the chances of you going out when you were stuck inside are basically none plus your phone wasn’t charged, And I don’t know why I’m not a detective-”
“Isabelle Lightwood,” Magnus gasped before she could figure something out “I’m running out of breath hearing you talk dear. All in due time okay. I’ll tell you all of it, in. Due. Time. Understood?”
She gestured zipping her mouth and threw away the non-existent key, and Magnus huffed a laugh.
“Now can we watch this in peace? Or do you have anything else you’d like to ramble away about?” She stuck her tongue out.
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Izzy was surprised at Magnus’s mood. She hadn’t seen him this happy for a long time. He put on a pretty good façade, but she was his roommate. She spent every spare hour with him (when she was not with Simon) but this was different because this was genuine. And in her prattle, something clicked that she didn’t think Magnus caught on to. But she wasn’t as dumb as they made her out to be. She was fairly positive something was going on between Magnus and her brother. Yes, she knew about Magnus’s crush on Alec, she wasn’t blind. The longing glances and hidden smiles were all too familiar for her. Alec, despite being better at pretending, had the disadvantage of spending all his life with her. She knew him like the back of her palm. She was his sister after all. Plus, three days stuck in the same room can change a lot.
But she didn’t want to push either of them. She could imagine how hard it must be for them to explain to the rest of the group, but she assumed they’d be perfectly okay with it. All of them knew about at least one side of this very twisted relationship. Before that though, she wanted to give them the option to explore their relationship without their hawk eyes.
She was rooting for them, and she desperately hoped they didn’t break each other’s heart because she didn’t know which one she’d have to take care of first.
There was also a chance that she was completely misreading the situation though. But whatever the case, she was happy that the people she loved were happy. She reached out for another handful of popcorn and continued watching whatever Magnus had put on.