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“What are you thinking about?"
Magnus blinked back into awareness, looking over his shoulder at Alexander, smiling at him. "Welcome home, Alexander. I wasn’t expecting you for another hour or so."
"I know,” Alec said with a smile, striding close, kissing Magnus softly. “I wanted to come home and surprise you. I wasn’t expecting to see you looking so…” he waved a hand, trying to find the right word. “Far away."
Magnus glanced back at the table and nodded. "I was remembering something. I hadn’t thought about it in a long time."
"Good memory?” Alec asked, wrapping an arm around Magnus’ waist. He knew sometimes Magnus got caught up in his own memories and head and not everything that he let himself dive into was a good thing.
“Actually, yes,” Magnus said with a laugh. “Most of the way, anyways."
Alec raised his eyebrow. "Oh? Care to share?"
Magnus hummed, looking back at the couches and then back to Alexander. "I, actually wanted to ask you something about it."
Curious as to what could be making Magnus hedge his words, Alec tightened his hold on him and kissed his temple. "Well, you know I’ll answer it if I can."
"Do you remember our second kiss?” Magnus asked, glancing up at Alec.
Alec opened his mouth to answer and then frowned, looking at Magnus. “Our second kiss?"
"Yeah,” Magnus said, his voice soft. “The one after our date together."
Alec’s breath caught and he looked from the table towards the door, remembering almost walking away from Magnus, because there’d been so much, almost too much between them to make a start. "Of course I remember."
"I never asked,” Magnus said. “Though I desperately wanted to, of course."
"Yeah, Jace interrupting us kinda derailed the rest of the evening,” Alec agreed, smiling. “But what did you want to ask?"
"What made you turn around?” Magnus whispered, leaning into Alexander’s arms, staring at the table in front of him. “I was so convinced that you’d decided to walk away, and no matter the declaration you had made at the wedding, that I had too much baggage for you to begin to even process, let alone handle."
Alec hummed and smiled, remembering that he’d gotten less than twenty feet away before he’d realized what a mistake he was making. "I was scared,” he said, his voice soft. "What you felt for me, what you wanted from me, and what I wanted from you, I knew we were on the same page, but I was terrified of it.“
Magnus hummed and wrapped an arm around Alexander, pulling him in closer. "Mmmhmm?"
"I thought,” Alec exhaled hard and tried not to laugh, remembering everything he’d been feeling that night. “I was making excuses to be afraid. But the second I walked away from you…” his voice turned wistful. "Have you ever made a mistake, or said something, and been aware immediately it was a mistake, and you regretted it?“
"Of course,” Magnus agreed.
“That’s how I felt. I could feel what a huge mistake I was making, trying to walk away from you, when I, when I felt everything I did,” Alec said. He smiled. "I reminded myself I’d never run away from anything in my life, and running to you had been the easiest thing I’d ever done. Especially because…“ he stopped, a small chuckle escaping him.
"Especially because?” Magnus prompted, turning to nuzzle into Alec’s shoulder. “What reason did you give yourself?"
Alec smiled, closing his eyes. "Especially because you were there waiting for me with open arms."
Magnus’ breath caught and he froze against Alec. He pulled back and looked up at him and laughed at the look in his eyes. "Now you’re just trying to be sappy to make me cry."
"No!” Alec said with a laugh, drawing Magnus back into his arms, kissing him, quick as a whisper. “The only reason, the only reason I managed to walk back down the aisle of my wedding was because you were there, waiting for me."
He took a deep breath and continued. "When I turned around and stomped back over there, all bravado and attempted bravery, I could see that you’d expected me to leave, like everyone else. And so,” Alec huffed out a laugh. "I decided, right then and there, that I wasn’t going to make you look like that again. And that I might fuck it up, but I was always going to walk back to you.“
Magnus blinked and stared at Alec. "You did?"
Alec nodded, pulling Magnus in for a kiss. "And I was right. I definitely fucked up more than once along the way. But,” he paused and gave Magnus a cheeky grin. "I always know we’ll come back to each other.“ Alec kissed Magnus’ forehead, pulling him in close. "I love you. I am going to love you for the rest of our lives."
"That,” Magnus said, nestling into Alexander’s chest, pressing a kiss to the alliance rune over Alec’s heart. “Sounds perfect."