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“I’m getting married.”
Magnus could feel the first light caress of dread trace his spine.
“Whoa, we should at least go to dinner first.” He hinted, trying to put off the catastrophic direction the conversation seemed to be heading. Alec's inability to meet his eyes wasn’t helping his fears.
“Magnus,” It seemed Alec was determined to crush the mood “family means everything to me you have to know that?” Magnus didn’t need reminding that shadowhunters always chose their own, but what was another jagged hole in his tapestry of hope.
“I get it your part of a don’t ask don’t tell culture. I’m fine with it. You’re a traditional kind of guy.” Magnus put up a mask of false cheer even as he felt his heart clench. He could feel his hopes unraveling.
Please don’t push me away, please don’t go, please give this a chance.
“I am.” Alec seemed to hesitate, whatever he saw on Magnus’ face must have pushed Alec to a decision. Suddenly instead of a fidgeting shadowhunter, Magnus was caught in Alec’s determined gaze.
“I asked Lydia to marry me.” Magnus felt his smile freeze on his face. There it was the words that killed anything that could have been.
“But I was hoping you would marry me instead?” Alec’s question hit Magnus harder than any punch, leaving him floundering.
“I’ve never been married before.” Magnus managed to get out amidst his whirling thoughts. What could he say in the face of this shadowhunter asking him to marry him despite the fact that they haven’t even been on a date, and they were most likely heading into a war between their people? He loved Romeo and Juliet as much as the next person but that didn’t mean he wasn’t well aware it ended in tragedy.
Alec’s hand fiddled uselessly with the edge of one of his many pockets “I’ve never been married either, but I want to marry you.”
The declaration wreaked havoc on Magnus’ already pounding heart. The thought of Alec marrying someone else made something dark and possessive in Magnus curl up and hiss. The revelation that he wasn't about to let Alec marry someone else, made Magnus slump heavily against the paneled wall.
Here was a child of the angel asking him to save him. Because Magnus was positive if he let this man go he would marry Lydia and chain himself to duty. The beautifully hopeful and idealistic Alexander that had awoken something in Magnus would die under the weight of his stupid need to fix what his parents broke. Magnus couldn’t let that happen, not if he had a choice.
“I’m not opposed.” Magnus finally responded, a little surprised at his own response. Alec took a hesitant step towards him, but Magnus set a staying hand against his chest. No relationship could be built on lies, even if it led them to ruin.
“In the interest of honesty, your parabatai asked me to procure your stele for him without your knowledge.”
Alec's face cycles from hurt to grief to anger before he crowded Magnus into the wall boxing him in between his arms. Magnus had a brief moment to curse how unguarded he had become before Alec pressed their foreheads together like Magnus was the only thing grounding him.
“Alexander?” He hedged. This is it; this is what broke the fragile beautiful possibility of what could be.
Alec replied by pressing a kiss to Magnus’s lips, stealing the breath from his lungs, and any thoughts from his mind. Before Magnus could respond Alec was pulling away with a sharp bite.
“I’m mad at you,” Alec whispered into the nonexistent space between them. Magnus felt his breath catch in the quiet between them. “but I still want to marry you.”
Magnus faintly registered pulling Alec back down into another kiss. Reveling in the fact that maybe this was a good thing he could keep. Pulling back Magnus couldn’t help but match the wide smile on Alec’s face. Magnus stole one last kiss before dancing out from under Alec’s arms.
“As much as I want to get properly acquainted, I believe we have a few items of business that require immediate attention. I prefer to be your only fiancé.”
Alec grabbed one of Magnus’s hands twining their fingers together as if Magnus could disappear any second.
“And you should go stop my siblings from carrying out whatever inevitably catastrophic plan they came up with.” Alec countered, his tone was serious, but the effect was ruined by the little smile he gave Magnus as he pressed a gentle kiss to his knuckles.
Magnus let out a pleased sigh “I suppose you're probably right, but Alexander...” Magnus caught Alec’s gaze unwilling to deny the gravity this matter required. “The Cup is not safe with the Cave. The Circle was born from the Clave but the ideas they represent are not new. I cannot let the Clave hold the cup when they could just as easily use it to kill my people as the Circle.”
Alec seemed to roll the information around in his brain before his gaze bore into Magnus’s own once again “What you're suggesting is treason.” Magnus opened his mouth to interrupt but Alec gave his hand a gentle squeeze in reproach.
“But I understand why we can't keep the cup here. There are too many people giving commands for it to be safe here. But Jace doesn’t think long-term. He’s a brilliant fighter but a horrible tactician. All he can think about right now is following Clary, who doesn’t know enough about the Shadow world to be carrying around the goblet of mass destruction.”
“She was the only one willing to stand up for downworlders,” Magnus countered, stopping Alec in his tracks.
“What about you? What if we gave the mortal cup to you? Would you be willing to face the consequences if we’re discovered? To do anything to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands even if it costs you everything?” Alec held his gaze, squeezing their intertwined hands. Magnus could finally see how desperately Alexander had been hiding away his true feelings. There was fear in his eyes, beneath that surly expression. If this went wrong it could be the end of them all.
“When the Circle first came to power the downworld knew it could be bad. Shadowhunters never hid their cruelty. Valentine was preaching what they all already thought, there was no way the clave would step in to stop him. Yet the downworld hesitated. We could run but for how long? Should we hide in the shadows for the rest of our lives because of how we were born? We were too proud, by the time we moved to act valentine had already killed so many of my friends.” Magnus took in an unsteady breath “Alexander I will do everything in my power to protect the downworld. They are my friends, my family. I would do anything to protect them from Valentine.” Magnus declared, “Will you stand with me?”
Alec reached up to cup Magnus’ face in his hands, gently tugging until their foreheads pressed together once more.
“I never want to leave your side.” He confessed into the space between them.
When Magnus pulled him into another kiss he felt that dark possessive animal in him rear its head once again. Alexander was his, and he refused to let anyone keep them apart anymore.
Alec pulled back reluctantly, taking Magnus’ hands in his own once more. “How do you feel about stopping my idiot brother from whatever half-cooked plan he’s come up with?”
Magnus felt the warm weight of their intertwined hands. Looking at Alexander he sees the potential for something wonderful.
“I’ve had worse first dates.”