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Magnus hadn’t intended to fall asleep curled up in an extremely uncomfortable hospital chair, but given the emotional rollercoaster of a day he’d had, he wasn’t surprised when his eyes blinked open to see the ceiling of the Institute’s sick bay. He could feel every muscle in his body scream in protest at their ill-treatment, but immediately ignored them as he lifted his head to see Alec, awake at last.
Alec was looking straight at him; his good arm stretched out towards Magnus. “Hey,” he whispered, voice hoarse.
“Hi,” Magnus smiled, reaching out and taking his hand. “Water?” he asked. Alec closed his eyes and smiled in lieu of a verbal answer, and Magnus squeezed Alec’s hand in response before letting it go. He stood gingerly, bones complaining and headache pounding at the motion, and poured out two glasses from the jug by the bed. He handed one over and took a sip from the other, grimacing at the stale taste; both themselves and the water must have been out for hours, he thought.
He swiftly shoved down a wave of despair at his inability to conjure up something as simple as fresh goddamned water any more, and jolted as Alec seized his hand again. “What time is it?” Alec asked, lacing their fingers together.
“I have no idea, darling, I’m sorry. We got you back here about 1am, but I guess I was more tired than I thought,” Magnus shrugged, the corner of his mouth twitching. He set the glass down next to Alec’s empty one, and took a step closer to the edge of the bed.
“You okay?” Alec asked, brow weighted with concern.
“Yes, Alexander, I’ll be fine. How are you feeling?”
“I was worried about you,” Alec said, eyes searching Magnus’s face, and he felt his heart constrict with affection as he forced out a laugh.
“I came back to find you bleeding out on the floor and you were worried about me?”
“Yeah,” Alec grinned, as though it was obvious. “I’d be less worried if you laid down with me, though.”
“That’s probably against the rules, my love.”
“Probably,” Alec said with an easy nonchalance, giving Magnus a gentle smile and patting the bed by his side.
“Yeah, okay,” Magnus whispered. Alec’s grin widened as he manoeuvred himself over, making more space on his good side – a difficult task, given the beds were only just big enough for one Alec-sized grown man as it was. Magnus climbed on, regardless; all he wanted right now was to be close to the man he loved, and to forget.
He laid himself on his side, careful of the bandaged wound on Alec’s chest, head resting on the pillow next to Alec’s, foreheads touching. The pain of loss in his heart outmatched by the pain in his head, he closed his eyes, grimacing. “You okay babe?” he heard Alec ask.
“Headache,” he admitted, eyes squeezing shut even tighter. “Should really find some ibuprofen.” He felt Alec move, but before he could remind him to take it easy, he felt Alec press a soft kiss to his forehead.
“Wha-“ Magnus opened his eyes, to find Alec meeting them, stare unwavering.
“Kissing it where it hurts,” Alec said simply, before pressing a kiss to his palm and placing it over Magnus’s heart.
“Alexander,” Magnus murmured, reverent, as though words could never be enough to convey the depth of what he felt in this moment but Alexander was the closest he would ever come.
“We don’t have to talk about it right now,” Alec said, holding his palm in place, eyes fixed where his hand lay, “but I’m here, Magnus, I promise. Whenever you’re ready. And I mean whenever, okay? Wake me up in the middle of the night if that’s when’s best for you. I’m not going anywhere.”
Magnus kissed him then, headache forgotten, and Alec kissed back, and Magnus found that at least in that moment his grief was a little more bearable, so long as he allowed Alec in to share it.