Chapter Text
“I’m sorry,” the woman says. “I know it’s late but we were wondering if Alec Lightwood lives here?”
Immediately his hackles rise, wings puffing out, ready to defend his home. He keeps his face neutral as he takes in the two who notice the change. The woman is smart enough to take a step back, she has to pull the blonde man back.
“What does it matter to you?” He asks, biting back the anger.
The duo share a hesitant glance before gathering strength to answer his question.
“I’m Isabelle Lightwood, this is my brother Jace Lightwood,” Isabelle says. “We’re Alec’s younger siblings and we want to see him.”
Magnus takes in the two siblings standing at his door. See him? The anger he has been holding back all night erupts from his chest as they stare at him like they expect him to say yes. He feels his wings puff out behind him, the burgundy feathers bristling. The blonde one is already moving closer to the door like he expects Magnus to let them in. Magnus blocks the entrance with his body, wings spreading to fill any gap.
“You people have a lot of nerve showing up to our house, unexpected and uninvited,” Magnus seethes. Magnus wishes that he had listened to Alec all those months ago about hiding a baseball bat in their umbrella stand behind the door. “I suggest you turn around and go back to where you came from.”
“Not a chance,” Jace growls going toe to toe with Magnus. The man’s golden wings puff behind him as well. “Alec is our brother, we have every right to see him.”
“Jace,” Isabelle warns her brother, grabbing his arm but he doesn’t move.
“Oh, you have a right to see him?” Magnus laughs at the duo. “Tell me, was that before or after you decided to abandon him?” The siblings flinch at his words. Good. “Alec was plucking out his own feathers and had nightmares for weeks about the abuse his family put him through. If you think for one second that I am going to let you into our house, you are wrong.”
The guilt on the siblings’ faces should make him feel bad for how he’s treating them, but Alec was just attacked and he has been hanging on by a thread since he got the news. And now his so-called family, the same people who didn’t care that their brother was taken and didn’t pay the fake ransom are now standing here like it wasn’t that big of a deal. Like abandoning Alec wasn’t that big of a deal.
All the anger he had for the bastards that hurt his boyfriend is spilling out and he doesn’t care if he’s hurting their feelings.
“I suggest you go back to wherever mommy and daddy are and let them know that no Lightwood is welcome here,” Magnus says, stepping back to slam the door, but the door is caught by a hand.
“You can’t do that to us! He is our brother, we have every right to see him.” Jace shoves the door open, knocking Magnus back. “Who are you to decide who Alec can and can’t see?”
“Jace, stop!” Isabelle yells, she rushes forward and pulls Jace back towards the door. It’s obvious the blonde man is stubborn and doesn’t want to listen to reason right now. “You’re not helping!”
“I am his boyfriend,” he shouts, ignoring the woman. ”If you do not leave our house I will get the police and have you both arrested.” Magnus arches his wings, getting ready to fight and protect Alec from his own siblings. Siblings who abandoned their brother two years ago. He’s not going let them see-
“Magnus?” Alec’s voice calls from the top of the stairs. “What’s going on down there?”
Magnus immediately forgets about the two people in his entryway and rushes up the stairs. Alec is leaning against the wall, breathing heavily. Sweat clings to his boyfriend’s shirt from overexerting himself. His right wing is extended out, unable to pull it back in due to the splint.
“Darling, you shouldn’t be out of bed,” Magnus frets, pulling Alec close and slinging his arm over his shoulders, pressing his other hand to his chest. “Come on let me get you back to bed.”
“Who was at the door-”
“Alec?” Isabelle gasps from the bottom of the stairs.
Alec’s body freezes at the voice and Magnus watches as his boyfriend looks down at his siblings. Times freezes as Alec stares at brother and sister. Magnus feels Alec’s heart rate spike and chest expand quickly. Panic attack.
“Alec, look at me,” Magnus commands, but his boyfriend is still staring at the duo. Magnus watches as tears begin to well in his boyfriend’s eyes. He turns towards the siblings with renewed anger. “Get the hell out of our house, I will not ask again.”
“Please we just-”
“Get out!” Magnus yells before focusing on Alec. “Alexander, I need you to breathe with me. Come on, darling.”
Magnus barely notices Isabelle and Jace leaving the house, only registering the soft click of the front door closing. He ushers Alec back into their room. His boyfriend’s rapid inhales are going to make him pass out if he doesn’t get Alec’s breathing under control. He gently presses on Alec’s shoulders to get him to sit on the edge of the bed. Alec hunches over grasping at his shirt. Magnus pushes himself between Alec’s leg and cups his boyfriend’s face. This isn’t the first panic attack Magnus has to help Alec with, but they had been good for so long.
“Alexander, I need you to listen to me, can you do that?” Alec nods his head, shaky hands come up to grasp at Magnus’ wrists. “Excellent darling, now I need you to match my breaths okay? Breathe in. Good, hold it. Breath out. You’re doing great, Alexander.”
Alec lets out a sob as tears finally fall from his eyes. Magnus curses himself for not trying harder to get the siblings to leave. Now his boyfriend is more worked up than before. Alec leans forward, resting his head on his shoulder, shaky hands grip the front of his shirt like a vice. Magnus wraps his arms around Alec, careful of his wings. Alec continues to follow Magnus’ instructions and what feels like an eternity later, Alec gets his breathing under control.
Alec slumps forward, clearly exhausted. Magnus pushes himself up to make sure they don’t go tumbling to the floor.
“There you go, darling,” Magnus encourages. “Keep breathing just like that.”
“What are they doing here?” Alec mumbles into his shoulder. “How do they know where I-”
“None of that right now,” Magnus interrupts, tightening his arms. “Let’s focus on you.”
“I can’t, not if they’re here. What if they want to take me back?”
“I won’t let them,” he growls. He pulls out of the embrace to look at Alec. His boyfriend’s eyes are puffy with tear stains on his cheeks that Magnus brushes away with his thumbs. “They’ll have to go through me first to get to you.”
Alec nods, sniffling. “I’m sorry for all of this, you don’t deserve to be caught in the middle of all this.”
“I thought we already talked about this. Your problems are my problems, no matter how stubborn some of them may be,” Magnus grumbles, thinking back to the blonde one.
“Jace has always been a hard head,” Alec says automatically, already knowing who he was talking about. “Sorry you had to deal with that.”
“Nonsense, I will gladly deal with anyone who’s a potential threat to you,” he says. If Alec hadn’t gotten out of bed to see what the commotion was, he’s pretty sure he would have had Jace in a chokehold.
“It still doesn’t excuse what he did,” Alec presses, though his words don’t come off strong as they end with a yawn. It’s almost midnight, Magnus realizes now. His boyfriend shouldn’t even be awake right now.
“Alright, we can discuss this later,” Magnus decides, maneuvering Alec onto the bed, being careful of his wings. “Right now let’s get you into bed.”
“But Magnus-”
“Shush,” he interrupts. He presses a finger to Alec’s lips, getting a tired roll of eyes. “You’re clearly exhausted seeing as how you’re barely able to keep your eyes open. Any discussion can be held off until we both get some proper sleep.”
Magnus waits until Alec nods his head to remove his finger. Once he’s satisfied his boyfriend isn’t about to make plans to leave the bed, he crawls in as well and presses close without hurting Alec.
He raises a hand to Alec’s head and combs his fingers through his hair. Magnus feels Alec relax into the bed with a mumble of good night that has him chuckling.
Magnus continues his ministrations until Alec’s breathing evens out and the sound of soft snores fill the room. He smiles for a moment remembering how his boyfriend got defensive when Magnus called him out on the snores. He always found them endearing much to his boyfriend’s chagrin.
Once he’s sure that Alec won’t be woken up by his movements, he slips out of the bed and makes his way downstairs.
Looking around the entryway, he lets out a sigh of relief that the siblings didn’t take anything. He walks up to the front door and locks it, making sure they won’t have any more unwanted guests. Satisfied in knowing their house is secure, he turns and makes his way back to their room when he spots a piece of paper on the table near the door. Picking up the note, there’s an address and a message scribbled in messy handwriting, obviously done in a hurry.
I’m sorry. We want to explain ourselves. We’re staying at the hotel by the marketplace for the next week. I understand if you want nothing to do with us, but please, we just want to see our brother.
Isabelle Lightwood
Magnus sets the note back down on the table, leaving it for tomorrow. All of his energy from today has left his system, his wings are starting to sag behind him. Magnus makes his way back upstairs, pausing at the doorway looking at Alec sleeping on the bed.
His face is scrunched suggesting not so pleasant dreams. Magnus watches his boyfriend’s hand clutch the sheets where he normally sleeps. With a sigh, he goes over to the closet and begins to change into his nightwear. Normally he would go to the bathroom to clean off his makeup, but he’s too tired to even think about wiping his face.
Careful of Alec’s wings, he slides into the bed and immediately Alec’s arm wraps around his waist and he’s pulled in. Magnus can’t help chuckle at Alec’s clinginess in bed, always looking to cuddle. A giant teddy bear, he muses. Magnus tucks himself under Alec’s chin and allows the sounds of his boyfriend to lull him to sleep.
Magnus wakes up feeling well rested or about as much as he can be with how the previous day went. The sun is coming in brightly through the window so it must be around noon. He stretches out only to pause, realizing that he is alone in bed. He sits up, looking frantically around for Alec. The bathroom is dark and there’s no sign of him in the walk-in closet. Magnus pulls the covers off of him and rushes out of the room.
“Alexander?” he calls from the door. Magnus holds his breath waiting for a response, his wings get more tense as the seconds tick by.
“In the living room,” Alec calls from downstairs, almost too quiet for him to hear.
Magnus releases his breath, wings dropping at the sound of Alec’s voice. Entering the living room he spots Alec on the couch, sitting in the middle with his right wing stretched out. Alec doesn’t look up to greet him, his eyes focused on the note on the table. The note that Magnus left on the entryway table last night.
“Good morning,” Magnus says, making his way to Alec’s left side. Alec only hums in response, making his worry spike again. Without thinking, Magnus’ right wing extends behind Alec, gently pressing against his back. He leans his head on Alec’s shoulder and reaches for where Alec’s hands are rubbing together restlessly in his lap. “I see you found the note.”
“Yeah,” Alec whispers, squeezing their hands. Magnus feels a weight on the top of his head as Alec leans in.
“What do you think about it?” Magnus asks, head moving as his boyfriend shrugs.
“I want to hear them out, but-” Alec pauses. Magnus stays silent letting him collect his thoughts. “After last night I don’t know. I have thought about them so much since running away, what I would do if I saw them again.” Alec lets out a hollow laugh, “Guess last night answered that question for me.”
“Alexander, in a single day you found out your parents put a hit on you and you almost-,” Magnus shudders, his wing curling tighter behind Alec, “almost lost your wings. Do I think your siblings have the worst timing? Yes. Am I pissed at them for how they treated me? Of course. I am aware that I was on defense after everything yesterday and my priority was you, not them. But I also know that you have told me nothing but wonderful things about Jace and Isabelle, even after everything that went down with your family. I don’t think their actions last night should be the deciding factor.” Magnus squeezes their hands. “Personally, I don’t want them anywhere near you, not yet, but I can’t make that decision for you.”
I don’t want you to decide to leave me and go back with them, he doesn’t say out loud. His wing leaves Alec’s back and curls behind him, subconsciously trying to protect him from the thought of rejection.
It’s his main fear with Alec’s siblings being here in Edom. It’s only been two years since Alec said yes, what’s that compared to twenty-plus years with his siblings? Who’s to say that his siblings won’t convince him to go back to that town and Magnus never sees him again.
He doesn’t know if he would be able to survive that. Alec is different from everyone else that he’s been with. He doesn’t want to lose him, as selfish as that is.
Alec releases his hands from Magnus’ now vice grip and wraps his arms around him, pulling Magnus into a hug that he is more than happy to return. He tucks his face into the crook of Alec’s neck and clings to his boyfriend’s shirt.
It should be the other way around, Magnus should be comforting him. Alec was the one who got attacked yesterday, the one who’s siblings made a sudden appearance at their house causing him to go into a panic attack. Magnus brings his hand between them and rests it against Alec’s heart, needing the steady beating under his palm to remind him that Alec is here.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Alec whispers into his hair. It seems Magnus is not that subtle about his thoughts. “Not without you. If my siblings just want to talk, then that’s all it will be, talking.” Alec’s mouth presses close to his ear. “I love you, Magnus Bane. There’s nothing that will stop me from continuing to do so.”
He doesn’t know why it’s those words that get him to finally cry, but a sob escapes before he can stop it.
“I was so scared I lost you,” Magnus whispers into his neck.
“I can imagine,” Alec soothes, running a hand up and down Magnus’ back. “I have no idea how I would have reacted if I came home and saw you like this. I probably would have gone to the jailhouse and attacked the men who did it.”
“Max’s parents actually stopped me from doing exactly that,” Magnus admits. He had never felt anger like that before. He was already upset with Alec’s parents for how they treated Alec when he ‘lived’ with them and with this - it was the final straw. Magnus only saw red when he stared at his boyfriend's beaten and bruised unconscious body. He doesn’t know what he would have done if Max’s parents hadn’t stopped him. “I was already on my way to the door when they stopped me, saying you would want me here and I couldn’t do that if I ended up in jail as well.”
Magnus feels Alec’s laugh vibrate all around him. “Good on them, I would hate to have woken up to the news that my boyfriend was in jail.”
“I would have broken out,” Magnus mumbles.
“Yeah?” He can hear the mirth in Alec’s voice.
“Of course, nothing can keep me away from you. Not even the law.”
Alec’s laugh fills him with a warmth he thought he would never hear again. With everything that happened in the past twenty-four hours, it was like he had forgotten what it sounded like.
They sit on the couch for a while. The only sounds come from the birds chirping outside and the occasional sniffle from him. He wishes that they could just stay like this, cuddled up on the couch. Sadly, the outside world is not going to wait for them. He feels Alec’s start to shake at the weight of holding up his splinted wing.
“Alright, enough straining your back,” he announces, finally pulling out of the hug. He gently pushes Alec back so that he’s resting against the couch. He raises a hand to Alec’s cheek, making sure to get a good look at him. “How are you feeling? How’s the wing?”
Alec’s face scrunches at the mention of his right wing. “It’s okay, well, as okay as it can be right now,” he corrects. “I hate that it has to stay extended to heal, it makes trying to maneuver around the house difficult.”
“The doctor said that you wouldn’t need it for that long, only a few weeks. The bastard who broke it didn’t do as much damage as we had all worried.” Magnus reaches for the wing and gently glides his fingers across the top. “You’ll be able to use the wing as you did before if you rest and do the proper stretches.”
“This is going to be a pain, isn’t it,” Alec pouts. “I should have fought harder to get him off of me.”
“You did the best you could with the situation you were handed,” Magnus says, pressing a gentle kiss to Alec’s lips. “Your focus was on getting Max to safety instead of your own, which as much as I want to scold you for that, I know it’s what I would have done.”
“Speaking of Max, how is he?”
“Last I saw of him, he was shaken up, but like you, he would only ask about you and how you were doing,” Magnus chuckles. “You two are more alike than either of you knows. His parents took him home once the doctor reassured him you were okay. I promised that they could come by today to see how you were.”
As if Max heard them talking, a loud knock echoes in the house followed by the shout of Alec’s name getting a laugh out of them. Alec tries to push himself up, but Magnus presses a hand to his shoulder, keeping him on the couch. Magnus gives him a silent warning to stay put and Alec rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile on his face.
Magnus barely has time to move out of the way before the blur of what he thinks is Max rushes into their house shouting Alec’s name. Alec just manages to say hello before his lap is full of the fledgling. Max’s parents apologize for their son’s behavior stating that Alec was all he asked about this morning and afternoon. Magnus waves off the apology and instead asks them if they’re down for a late lunch.
It broke his heart when Max sat as close to Alec as he could while they ate. His parents put it to a halt after he tried to follow Alec into the bathroom. Magnus doesn’t even try to hide his laughter when his boyfriend sends him a glare.
Eventually, Alec talks to Max and tells him that he is okay and that he was proud of how strong Max was for going to get help. It does the trick and Max isn’t as attached to his hip, but Magnus still catches the boy sneaking looks at Alec as they sit in the backyard around a campfire.
Magnus curls into Alec’s left side staring into the fire, thinking about the letter on the table in their living room. If he forgets about how rude Jace was, they had sounded more concerned than angry. Maybe they didn’t have anything to do with what happened, but he still doesn’t know how he feels about them being in their house near Alec. The talk would have to happen at their house since Alec can’t really walk down the streets with an extended wing, nor would Magnus allow him to even step foot out of the house with that stint still on.
He lets out a sigh that has Alec’s left wing curling around him and sends his boyfriend a smile. Alec has always been in tune with Magnus’ emotions, it’s like a sixth sense to him. Granted he is completely the same way with Alec as well, if not worse. People find it crazy they have only known each other for two years and are already in sync with each other.
He also knows how much Alexander is a family person. Too many times he’s caught Alec looking at families while they walked around the city. Even if their timing and attitude was poor, Alec has never said anything bad about his siblings. Dammit, he thinks. Looks like he’s going to have to take a walk tomorrow.