Work Text:
“I love you.”
The words rang in Magnus’ ears, deafening him to everything else around him, and all he could do was stare. He had never expected to hear those words out of Alec’s mouth, never even let himself want them, because then his hopes would sky rocket and he’d end up hitting the ground hard when they never came. No one ever cared for him as much as he cared for others.
Alec stared back at him, his eyes wide and painfully sincere, but with each passing second the light behind them dimmed into something sad and hopeless. Magnus still couldn’t speak, couldn’t say everything that he wanted to. He was afraid. Once those words were out there, they couldn’t be taken back. They solidified the racing of his heart and the warm feeling in his stomach and the shivers down his spine.
He watched as Alec went to walk away, his expression defeated, and it was like a shock went through Magnus’ body. Every time someone had walked away from him before it was because they didn’t love him the way he wanted them to, never because they did. He reached out and grabbed Alec’s arm, stopping his exit, and walked around his body to face him.
“Tell me again,” he said, taking a deep breath before looking up into the hazel eyes that he frequently got lost in.
Alec looked confused and still a little bit hurt. He opened his mouth, and Magnus braced himself, making sure he was ready to reach into his chest and hand his heart over. If there was ever a time to be prepared, it was then, because the way Alec looked at him when he was at his most vulnerable was a view that could shatter every caring heart that the earth held.
“I’m in love with you,” he said, and it wasn’t quite the same as what he said before. It was better. Magnus smiled, widely and with abandon, and reached up to put his hand on the side of Alec’s neck, right over his deflect rune.
“I’m in love with you, too,” he said, quiet but clear, and if Alec’s expression got any softer Magnus was sure he’d slide to the ground. He leaned forward and kissed his boyfriend with as much passion he could muster after that, because if there was one thing he never wanted Alec to doubt again, it was that Magnus had never in all of his centuries of living fallen so hard for another person, and he doubted he ever would again.