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Alec had hated Magnus at first. No one could have blamed him, he was certain. The other boy kept insane hours, was somehow managing a double major, was in more clubs than Alec could ever keep track of, and was always one of the first on a guest list when there was a party on campus.
He had no idea how Magnus managed all of it. Alec hated him, hated how he never came back to the dorm at normal hours, that sometimes he came back giggling, clearly drunk, or high, or something else before falling in bed to get up before Alec to do it all over again. Now, of course, it was finals, and Alec wasn’t sure the last time he had really slept, and Magnus looked so calm and collected, like he wasn’t worried about the dozen exams he had bearing down on him. Alec wanted to hate him, but he was too tired to bother hating anyone.
“Alexander, you need to take a break,” Magnus said, putting a coffee cup by Alec’s elbow, looking worriedly at the other boy. “Maybe take a nap for a few hours? You will still have plenty of time if you do."
Alec shook his head and grabbed the coffee with a vague grunt of thanks before he downed half of it, glad when the hot liquid almost scalded his tongue. "Don’t have time,” he muttered, gesturing at the book in front of him. "Have to finish…“ his eyes drooped and he focused on Magnus again. "Have to finish the notes on chapters 6 and 7, so I can have them for tomorrow."
Magnus pursed his lips and took the coffee cup away from Alec and put it on their shared bedside table. "Alexander, you need to sleep for at least an hour. At the very least. I’m not going to watch you drive yourself further into the ground."
"M'fine,” Alec muttered, glaring blearily at Magnus before turning back to his textbook with a sigh. The numbers in front of him swam and he leaned back in the chair. Maybe Magnus wasn’t wrong about going to bed for an hour or two.
“Come on,” Magnus urged, his voice soft. He reached out and combed his fingers through Alec’s hair, massaging at his scalp gently. Alec was tired enough that he didn’t protest, only leaned into the touch with a noise as Magnus kept up the petting. “Just an hour. I’ll set an alarm. I promise. That’ll give you plenty of time to finish."
Alec sighed and pushed himself back from his chair, nodding, though his face fell when he knocked Magnus’ hand away. "An hour,” he said, his voice stern as he fell into bed. He groaned a little and buried his face in the pillow. It felt so much softer than normal and he thought he heard Magnus say something, but Alec was pretty sure that he was already half asleep.
Magnus stared in exasperation at the sight of Alec in his bed and told his stubborn and traitorous little heart that he should not get used to a sight like that. In fact, that was the worst idea. Instead, he was going to do Alexander a favor. He pulled out the chair and settled into it, setting an alarm for himself as he listened to Alec snore quietly into his pillow.
He glanced back at Alec, at the way he’d wrapped both of his arms around his pillow and stood up, lifting his comforter up and over Alec, tucking him in and grabbing the coffee he’d gotten for Alexander before he went back to his desk. Magnus cracked his neck and took a deep breath, reading over Alec’s notes and then the book itself. He lost himself in the easy rhythm of note-taking as he worked through the rest of the chapters for Alec.
When Alec woke up, warm, cozy, and to the sight of his own bed across from him, dread curled, tight and hot in his stomach. Magnus was never going to let him live this down, ever. He pushed the comforter off of him and frowned at it, wondering when he’d pulled that on top of himself and sighed. It’d definitely been more than an hour, and he didn’t bother looking at the clock before he headed for his desk. He’d just pull an all-nighter and get his notes done…
Alec froze at the notebook on top of the textbook, open to the last page of notes written in a very neat hand. His breath caught at the post-it that was left on the blank part of the page and sank down into the chair. He flipped through the notebook, his eyes wide as he realized that Magnus had written pages of notes, in the same layout and vein as his own. Alec swallowed hard and he turned to look at the post-it again.
You’re Welcome
You needed the sleep
Don’t be too angry with me?
-Magnus
Alec bit down on his lip. Angry was the last thing he was, and that only made everything all the worse when he realized that Magnus was probably at an exam right now. He’d blown off his last few hours of study time to help make a study guide for Alec, and his heart didn’t know what to do with that. He knew what it wanted to do, but it was a traitor that had been halfway in love with Magnus the first time the other boy had smiled at him, wide and bright, showing the gold flecks in his eyes.
Alec sat down in front of the notebook and started to skim through the notes, studying them as he worked his way through everything Magnus had done. It was impressive to see and he wanted to hate Magnus for it, but all he felt was thankful and completely unworthy. He’d been horrible to Magnus for no reason at all, and now he’d gone and done this?
A quick glance at the clock told Alec that he had enough time to make it to the campus store, so he dashed out of his chair after grabbing his phone and his wallet and started hurrying across campus. He did know that he had the meal plan and Magnus didn’t, and while he always offered to bring things back for Magnus, he often declined. But there were a few things that Magnus never, ever turned down. That was the very least he could do.
~!~
Magnus opened the door to a very dark dorm room, except for the light by his bed and sighed, pushing his fingers through his hair. He should shower, especially so he didn’t have to get up early in the morning, but he wanted nothing more than to collapse and sleep for hours. He changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt before flopping onto his bed with a happy sigh. Magnus immediately snuggled into the pillow that still smelled like Alec and let out a happy sigh. His eyes caught on something on the bedside table and he sat up in a flourish, staring at it.
He picked up the package with the cookie dough brownie and the sugar cookie decorated like a turkey and bit down a laugh, looking across the room where Alexander was looking at him with a bit of a smirk. So much for being asleep.
“I guess you weren’t angry that I let you sleep?” Magnus said, keeping his voice quiet.
“No,” Alec whispered back. “But thank you for what you did for me. You didn’t have to do that, I know you had a final of your own today. Did it go okay?"
Magnus gave a rueful grin. "It wasn’t my best showing, but thankfully my teacher assumed that I was off due to the stress of all my other finals. So it went fine."
Alec winced. "You shouldn’t have done that, you could have taken more time to prepare for-"
"I was happy to do it, Alexander,” Magnus interrupted, yawning as he sank back into the pillow, smiling again at the scent of Alec on his sheets. “Don’t worry too much about it, okay?"
Alec went quiet and sighed, curling up a little tighter in his bed. "Why’d you do it?"
"Because you’re too young to have stress wrinkles,” Magnus mumbled.
Alec snorted, opening his eyes again to look at Magnus and the hint of a smile on his face. “Try again."
Magnus sighed and opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. He’d put glow in the dark stars on his side. Alec had called him weird for them, but they were so comforting any time he wanted to avoid a conversation, like now.
"Magnus,” Alec said, when the other boy had been quiet for so long. “Come on. Tell me. I’m not going to be angry."
Magnus blinked and shrugged. "What do you do to prove how you feel about someone who has ignored your every attempt at flirting? Someone who is very passionate about their studies and the time and effort they put into those studies?"
Alec blinked, his mouth falling open. "Wh-what?"
"Well,” Magnus shrugged again, forcing nonchalance into his voice. “Keeping you regularly caffeinated and fed wasn’t working. So I decided to take a more direct approach."
"You did that because you like me?” Alec asked, his eyes wide as he stared at Magnus.
“I did it,” Magnus said, looking back at Alec. “Because you are stressed and exhausted, and yes, I like you, but, I wanted to help you be a little bit less stressed and less exhausted this exam season.”
Alec blinked again. “Why do you like me? You’re…you’re you!”
Magnus frowned. “What does that mean?”
“I mean,” Alec flushed and was glad that Magnus probably couldn’t see his blush. “Everyone knows you, everyone likes you, you’re crazy popular and gorgeous and so yourself and confident and-”
“Did you just call me gorgeous?” Magnus interrupted.
“I,” Alec froze, his eyes wide. “Maybe?” he squeaked.
Magnus made the decision in a split moment, sliding out his bed, throwing the covers back from the bed, walking over to Alec’s, gesturing for him to scoot back.
“Magnus?” Alec asked, but willingly moved back, his eyes wide as Magnus lifted his covers and slid into bed, their legs pressing together as Magnus stretched out and laid down on his pillow.
“I have been flirting with you since the day I got here. You’ve just told me you think I’m gorgeous, and if you have no objections, I’m going to set an alarm for both of us in the morning and then kiss you until we both fall asleep.”
Alec stared at Magnus with wide eyes and forced himself to nod, clearing his throat. “That, that sounds good?”
Magnus nodded firmly, reaching behind him to plug his phone in and asking it to set an alarm for them both in the morning. Then he turned back to Alec and smiled, relaxing into the pillows. “You looked adorable in my bed earlier,” he whispered, reaching out to trail his fingertips along Alec’s jaw.
“I think,” Alec whispered. “That’s the best I’ve slept since I got here.”
Magnus made a small noise in the back of his throat and leaned in, kissing Alec softly, his eyes falling shut as their lips slid together. It was better than he had ever imagined and he melted, especially when Alec wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him in closer. He didn’t know how long they kissed for, but when they finally broke apart, he cuddled in and pressed his face to Alec’s neck with a happy sigh.
Alec took a deep breath and told himself to calm down, and as good as Magnus felt in his arms, he was also relatively certain if they fell asleep like this, he was going to wake up, uh…with a problem he wasn’t ready to ask Magnus to take care of just yet.
“Go to sleep, Alexander,” Magnus muttered, reaching down to grab his ass and squeeze it. “We’re both exhausted.”
“I don’t, uh, just, if we wake up and I’m, uh…” Alec stuttered, his cheeks flushing, even as he held onto Magnus.
Magnus grinned against Alec’s neck and pressed a kiss there. “Morning sex is a discussion I am entirely open to. After we have both slept.”
Alec blinked at the easy solution and relaxed, yawning as he gave Magnus a small squeeze and a kiss to the forehead. “Talk to you in the morning then.”
“Sleep well, Alexander.”
“You too, Magnus.”
It turned out, there wasn’t much discussing needed in the morning, and Alec went to his next final feeling more relaxed than he had in months.