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The first thing that left Magnus’ mouth as he woke was a yawn, his arms stretching out and his eyes still closed, sunlight trying to break through his eyelids. That was how he found it. Alec was not beside him, but he vaguely remembered the shifting of the mattress and the ghost of his boyfriend's lips on his forehead sometime earlier in the morning, so he wasn't too surprised. In Alec's place, however, there was a small, blue post-it note on the pillow. Magnus’ fingers brushed over it accidentally, and he opened his eyes immediately to look at it, his head tilted as he read the message over and over again.
Thai food for dinner? I'll see you tonight. -Alec
The message was simple, and something that they asked each other frequently. It was the method that Magnus was confused about. Nowadays there were a plethora of ways in which they could communicate, and Alec chose to write a note? It was so...impractical and unnecessarily time consuming. They had become accustomed to texting at that point, utilizing whatever little free time they had in between missions and clients to send each other updates on their days and to plan for the evening ahead of them. Alec even began to use emojis once Magnus showed him how to download the keyboard, and it worked for them, being in touch as much as possible. When they weren’t out of the loft for work they were almost always together, cuddling up on the couch or going out to eat or having training sessions when they were feeling especially energetic. They weren’t the kind of couple who felt the need to have their space, because for so many years leading up to their relationship they had both been lonely, their hearts closed off to the world.
Nevertheless, something about the note made butterflies flutter in Magnus’ stomach, and he sent a wave of magic over the small piece of paper to preserve it before walking it to his safe and placing it inside. There was something about it that made him feel grounded, even more confident in their relationship than he already was, and he wanted to keep it for as long as time would allow. He had plenty of mementos from past lovers and friends, so many keepsakes that he took out when he was feeling low and needed a reason to smile. He wanted Alec to be a part of that, to be ingrained into his memory forever.
With a lump in his throat and a snap of his fingers, he summoned the small pad of post-its and a pen, carefully printing his answer before sending it off to the Institute, making sure that it landed directly onto Alec's desk and that it couldn’t be read by anyone else.
If you pick it up on the way home I'll prepare dessert. ;) –Magnus
It became a running joke after that, leaving little notes everywhere, until it was mostly just a habit. If Magnus had to leave the loft suddenly before Alec got home, he would stick a note to the book that his boyfriend was currently reading, and if Alec could tell that Magnus was stressed while he was working in his study, he would slide little messages under the door to make him laugh. It became one of Magnus’ favorite pastimes, scribbling words onto those tiny pieces of paper and sending them off to his boyfriend, so much so that he found himself thinking about what he’d say next instead of focusing on the potion he was supposed to be making for a client. He felt like he had a schoolboy crush, though he knew that what he felt for Alec was so much more than that.
The note that Alec had left that morning was different than usual, more mysterious, and Magnus couldn’t help but keep trying to figure why exactly why his boyfriend had requested that time and place. Though it was quite possible that he was overthinking the entire thing and that Alec hadn’t meant to be out of the ordinary, he couldn’t stop the slight pickup of his pulse every time his eyes swept across the words.
Meet me outside of the Institute at 8 pm?
Love, Alec
It made anticipation rush through his veins, and he wondered if it was going to be another one of Alec’s spontaneous little dates. Ever since Magnus had assured him that he had been to nearly every restaurant in New York, Alec had made it his mission to find the ones that he hadn’t been to yet, and so far, he had succeeded. They weren’t necessarily the best establishments in the world, but they always left the two of them with a lot of laughs and wonderful memories. Magnus loved nights like that, where they got to be carefree and in love. Those were the nights that he felt more alive than he had in nearly a century. Alec was a breath of fresh air that he was unwilling to ever give up.
He was antsy for the rest of the day, and ended up getting ready way too early, so when the time came to portal to the Institute he was ready to jump out of his skin. He didn’t know what was wrong with him, why tonight felt so different, but he supposed he was going to find out. He lifted his arms to create the portal, focusing on where he wanted to go before he stepped through, and was greeted immediately with Alec’s presence. He looked devastatingly beautiful, with nice black pants, a navy shirt with silver pattern, and a nice suit jacket. Even his hair was somewhat more tame than usual, and his wide eyes gleamed in the low light provided by the moon and the street lamps.
“Hi,” he greeted, offering Magnus a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He seemed nervous, which of course made Magnus nervous as well, and his eyebrows furrowed as he leaned in to kiss him.
“Hello there, handsome. What’s on the agenda for this evening?” It was all he could do to not bounce on his feet in impatience. Wonder was surging through him, desperate to know what was on Alec’s mind, what was making him so hesitant.
“That is a surprise,” Alec answered, a tiny smirk curling up on one end of his mouth. “First, I need you to close your eyes and hold out your hands.”
Magnus raised an eyebrow at him as if to say, “Really?”, but he did as he was asked anyway, forcing his eyes shut and holding his palms up and together in front of him. Alec placed something light in his hand- another note, if he wasn’t mistaken- and when he spoke again he was behind Magnus.
“Okay, open your eyes and look at it,” he said, his voice soft. Magnus took a deep breath and opened his eyes, and then he immediately narrowed them.
“Turn around,” he read aloud, shaking his head and pivoting on his feet, ready to demand an explanation, but every single word in every language he knew left his brain as his gaze fell upon Alec. He was down on one knee, and he had a ring gripped between two of his fingers, holding it up so that Magnus could see it, and when their eyes finally met he let out a breathy laugh.
“I know that this might be the last place you would ever want to be proposed to at, because it’s full of bigots and people who don’t and never will understand or accept us, but this is where I first told you I loved you. This is the place where I spoke those words out loud for the first time, and knew that I would never in a million years want to say them to anyone else. This is the place where I first realized that losing you, living without you, isn’t an option. So it only seemed fitting that this is the place where I tell you that I want to marry you, and that I don’t care how many people in that building look down on us or think that we’re wrong, because you, Magnus Bane, are the love of my life, and you are the person I want to spend forever with.”
Magnus was fairly sure that the Institute could have burned down behind him and he wouldn’t have had the slightest idea that it was happening as he stepped forward on shaky legs. The city seemed to be silent as Alec stood up, his eyes never leaving Magnus’, and took his hand, the one holding the ring hovering in the air.
“Will you marry me?” he murmured, and then fireworks were going off in Magnus’ brain, and he nodded, and suddenly he had a new ring on his finger and he was being enveloped in Alec’s arms and he could barely breathe but he wasn’t complaining. He was speechless, his heart racing and tears dripping from his eyes, and for once he wasn’t bothered by any of it. He was marrying the love of his life, the man who couldn’t live without him, and who he in turn couldn’t live without either.
The night passed in a blur of tears and laughs and an overall sense of peace, and as they stumbled into the loft, chuckles escaping their throats between kisses, Alec stopped suddenly, claiming he would be right back. He emerged from their bedroom with post-it notes, and Magnus was seconds away from flinging them across the room with his magic, desperate to get his hands on his fiancé, but then he saw what Alec was writing, and a fond smile spread across his face instead.
“The beginning of our forever,” he repeated as Alec set the pen down, brushing his fingers over the neatly written words.
He definitely liked the sound of that.