Archive of Our Own

Alec kicked his feet up on the sofa, one knee bent up, box of Chinese take-out balanced on his knee, while the sounds of his boyfriend's voice drifted to him from the kitchen. He spoke loudly enough for Alec to make out every word he said, but, honestly, while he loved Magnus to pieces, he didn't really have much interest in the mind-boggling intricacies of his fashion business.

"No, Mr Morgenstern," Magnus said, voice freezing. "I am not obliged to bow to your every whim, I am most particularly not required to jump to your service at ten o'clock at night, and I assure you, my business will thrive, with or without the clientele you bring."

There was a pause. Alec checked the time, and then occupied himself with another mouthful of food, deciding that there was no use moping about the possibility of Magnus having to go back into work tonight, or early tomorrow morning. He knew it had to happen, sometimes, even if Magnus had been making such an enormous effort after Alec had told Magnus of all his insecurities, those many months ago.

You, darling, are my priority, Magnus had said. Not my job.

It was a sweet sentiment, and one Alec appreciated. But they both knew it didn't mean, suddenly, that Magnus cared less about his job. Alec would never wish him to draw away from something he loved so much. It merely meant that Magnus had been better at managing his time, and more aware of Alec's feelings about their relationship, and the time they spent together. Which, really, was all Alec could ask for.

"No, I most certainly will not resort to working my staff obscene hours for a measly pay rise." Magnus sounded furious. He sounded even more enraged when he spoke again. "You can cancel our appointment on Thursday, Mr Morgenstern, and you can find yourself another supplier. I am not one of your mindless minions. Remember that, next time you go into business deals with the best. We will not be taken advantage of."

Alec heard Magnus' phone slam down on the countertop, and then a buzz, and the sound of a drawer rolling open. He really, really hoped that abrupt end to Magnus' conversation with his client meant his boyfriend wasn't going anywhere, tonight.

"Honestly," Magnus said with an indignant huff, walking into the living room with chopsticks and two glasses of wine. "Do I look like Morgenstern's bitch, to you?"

"As if," Alec said with a snort, pulling his legs back to let Magnus sit down on the sofa. "No, it sounded more like he's yours."

Magnus let out a laugh, setting his box of take-out atop Alec's calves, once Alec had settled his legs in Magnus' lap. "That's the way I like things, darling."

"I'm impressed, honestly," Alec said. "I don't think you've abandoned me during the night for more than a month."

"I wasn't just going to blow off your concerns about our relationship," Magnus replied, sounding mildly affronted, a slight frown furrowing his brows. "I love you. I don't want my work to consume me so much you feel the need to break up with me. You deserve better than that. I want to give you better than that."

Alec felt his expression soften from teasing and jovial to sheer affection. "I love you too."

"That being said..." Magnus hesitated, and Alec's stomach dropped. "I've got to attend a show in Chicago next week."

Alec relaxed. "I know. I remembered. It's only two days, though. Right?"

"Yeah." Magnus smiled, and rubbed Alec's calf. "Only one night. I'll be home before you will."

"I'll still miss you," Alec said. "But these kinds of separation I can deal with. It doesn't give me anxiety."

Guilt flashed through Magnus' eyes, and Alec cursed his inability to shut himself up before he said stupid things. Why had he felt the need to bring that up? They were past it. Magnus had acted upon their conversation. He'd listened to Alec's worries, clearly decided they were valid, and was remedying his behaviour accordingly. 

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. Really, I am. But my job is important to me."

"No, no." Alec shook his head. "It's okay. We've moved on from that. You have nothing to be sorry for, and I know how much this means to you. You're living your dream, and I support you in that. Always."

"Thank you, darling. I even made it to lunch with your family last week," Magnus pointed out, a smile returning to his face.

"That was nice," Alec said, with a smile. "And I appreciated it. But I don't need - or expect - you to pass up opportunities or abandon bits of your career."

Magnus huffed out a laugh. "Nothing will ever keep me from doing what I love. If you try, and you don't stop when I call you out on it, I'll dump your ass."

"So you should. But I won't. I promise." Alec smiled. "Will you hate me if I have Max over while you're away and trash your kitchen?"

Magnus fixed Alec with one of his deadpan, unimpressed looks; Magnus didn't seem to have realised that Alec, rather than being discouraged whenever his boyfriend pulled those expressions, found it unimaginably adorable.

"Firstly, I could never hate you. Secondly, you can do whatever you like in our kitchen."

Even after having lived with Magnus for more than a year, Alec couldn't get used to the idea of all this being his, too. It was home—but only insofar as Magnus was home, and Magnus lived here, so, by association, it had become his home. It still felt...a very long way out of his league.

And even further out of his pay check. Not that his salary was terrible - he knew he could have been much worse off - but Magnus probably earned in a week what he did in a year. And he certainly couldn't have afforded all this on his own.

Maybe it was because, even though Magnus had redecorated in the time they'd been living together, Alec hadn't really...left a personal mark on the place, beyond adoing his somewhat meagre belongings—essentials, mostly. Maybe he needed to go out and buy buy them a- a-

What exactly did they need? What could he buy? A new coffee machine? The coffee machine had been bought for him anyway.

This was exactly why he stayed out of interior design.

"What time are you leaving in the morning?" Alec asked, pushing the thoughts away as he instead noted all his stuff strewn across the living room, demonstrating that yes, this was his home, and it had been for some time.

"I'm not. I'm working from home. I'll cook lasagne, if you like."

"Hm." Alec set his take-out box down, swung his legs off Magnus' lap, and snuggled into his side, resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. He felt Magnus huff out a laugh before wrapping an arm around him. "That sounds nice."

"Tired, darling?"

"Unlike you, I have to get up at six every morning. I can't take random days off to have a lie-in when I'm exhausted."

"I'll have you know I work just as hard as you do," Magnus retorted, without heat, because Alec knew that. Of course he did.

Magnus tossed his now-empty box of take-out on the floor - much to Alec's chagrin, because he knew the Chairman would end up eating the remnants, and Chinese had to be bad for cats - and then gestured for Alec to rest his head on Magnus' thighs. "I'll catch up on Project Runway, you go to sleep."

Alec yawned, and let out a sigh of contentment when Magnus ran his fingers through his hair, slowly. "Love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart," Magnus murmured.

***

1.

Max Lightwood had always been the baby in Alec's family. Growing up, Alec remembered Max being constantly frustrated by never being told what he deemed the exciting stuff, getting into trouble constantly, and never reaching much above the top of Alec's thigh.

Until Max had hit about thirteen, those things had always remained true. Until, suddenly, he'd shot up, and been able to reach up to muss up Alec's hair in retaliation when Alec did it to him, and he'd started snarking back at Jace, and throwing out casual observations that utterly humiliated the receiver.

Somewhere, his little baby brother had become a savage, somewhat rebellious teenager, who liked stalking his siblings' social media and getting revenge on all the countless times they'd taken advantage of him being so much younger than them when they were growing up.

So, of course, Max was taking it upon himself to document his every misdemeanour in the kitchen, and send every photograph and video to Magnus on Snapchat. When he dropped flour, when his hands were sticky with egg, when he managed to drop the butter knife right next to the snoozing Chairman—Max was snapping away at his phone the whole time.

"I swear you're meant to be helping," Alec muttered, finally pouring the cake mixture into a tray, shooting Max a scowl.

Max grinned. "Why would I help, when I can watch you suffer? It's good practise for dealing with journalists, big brother."

"I've been nothing but supportive of you," Alec sniffed, referring to Max' choice to follow in his siblings' footsteps and completely ignore the family business. He was instead going into medicine, which Isabelle, of course, was ecstatic about. Alec doubted Max would end up in pathology, but Izzy was proud regardless. "And this is how you repay me? Sending incriminating texts to my boyfriend?"

"Ewww," Max complained, frowning at his phone and completely ignoring Alec. "You guys are disgusting."

Alec raised his eyebrows, sliding the tray into the oven and closing it. "What did he say?"

Max turned his phone around.

[From: Magnus Bane, 16:23]

I CANT BELIEVE YOU TWO ARE EATING CAKE WITHOUT ME

[From: Magnus Bane, 16:23]

Also, your brother is absolutely adorable, is it really any wonder I'm so in love with him?

Alec grinned, because the cake was for Magnus, not them, and ruffled Max's hair. Max swatted at his hand in irritation.

"That's what you get."

Max looked revolted. "Do you guys just sit there and gaze at each other on date nights? Hold hands across the table? Coo about the shade of each other's eyes?"

"Sure," Alec said, trying to fight back a smile, "among other things."

"What, foreplay? That's not reserved for date nights. You two have eye sex all the time. It's gross."

Alec wrapped an arm around Max's shoulders and pulled him into a headlock, reminiscent of the way he'd always mucked around with Jace when they were young, laughing as Max yelped and struggled in Alec's hold.

"Alright, alright!" Max shouted, both of them laughing by the time Alec let go. "You're an asshole."

"An asshole who's going to feed you cake, even though you tried to betray me. So shut your trap."

Max smiled sweetly. "Fine. I won't show you where they're streaming Magnus' interview in five minutes, then."

Max turned on his heel, slipping his phone into his pocket, and swaggered out of the kitchen, whistling. Alec gaped at him. What? They were streaming Magnus' interview? Why the hell hadn't he known about that? Fucking little brothers.

"Max," he said. "Max. Wait. Tell me."

Max turned to face him. "Nope."

"Please?" Alec begged him. "I'm giving you cake. And I made you cake. Even though it's meant to be for Magnus."

Max pursed his lips. "Only if you give me your wifi password."

"Oh, for—" Alec threw his hands up. "This is why you've been out to embarrass me all day? Wifi? I'd have given you the wifi if you asked!"

Max shrugged, lips tugging up. "No. That's just an excuse. But I do want the wifi."

Ten minutes later, they were situated on the sofa, Max taking up about twice as much space as he needed and Alec cramped in the corner, Alec's laptop placed between them as they watched a somewhat blurry, pixellated, but nevertheless gorgeous Magnus greet the host, an award-winning smile on his face.

There were comments coming through on the side of the screen, hearts flashing up in a long stream, people gushing about Magnus' outfit (as though Magnus looking like the most beautiful man on the planet was an unusual thing) and his make-up and how attractive he was. Alec glared at the comments, and refocused his attention on Magnus.

The interview was fairly bland, as interviews went. Alec had seen Magnus interviewed more times than he could count, and he'd heard him answer the same questions over and over again. About his fashion line, about whatever project he was working on currently, about up-and-coming designers, about his own style, and, inevitably, every time, they'd ask about—

"Now, you're an openly bisexual man," the interviewer stated, flipping her hair back, fixing her eyes on Magnus like a vulture circling its prey.

Alec could read the resignation on Magnus' face, even through the bad connection on the livestream. Alec remembered asking him, once, why he didn't just refuse to answer the same questions about his sexuality, and his shockingly same-gender relationship. Magnus had told that as he had been given the status, and the power, to be a role-model, and to be an activist ("In a small, low-key sort of way, because I'm a designer, darling," he'd said) then he felt he should do all he could to make the world a better place.

Even if that just meant talking, and living, and not hiding.

"I am, yes."

"And you're in a relationship."

At that, a smile tugged at Magnus' lips. "Yes."

A flurry of comments washed through, and Alec couldn't help his eyes flickering down.

Look at his face he's so in love!

MALEC!! <3<3

Ugh Alec needs to go so I can date him

Can they break up so we can have a chance???

I just wanna watch them kiss, ngl

Alec swallowed his revulsion at that last one, and refocused on Magnus and the interviewer.

"Tell us a bit about your relationship, in the context of your sexuality," the interviewer said.

Magnus raised his eyebrows. "I'm bisexual, I'm attracted to all genders. Alec is a human being, whom I am very much in love with."

NO I wanna date Maggie!!

Why can't Magnus do one of those date a fan things???

HOW are they even dating, I'm sorry, who tf is he?? Would cara delevigne date this guy???

"Your sexuality doesn't bother your boyfriend?"

Magnus shot the interviewer a polite smile, but he looked like he was ready to get up and leave—dramatically, with many flourishes, a strut, and some brutal one-liner.

"Should it?" he asked, rather than answering her question.

The interviewer looked unfazed, and Alec wondered whether she'd written these questions, or whether she'd been told what to ask Magnus about. He glanced down at the comments—and instantly regretted it.

If it bothers him imma fight a bitch

Fuck alec, if he's biphobic he doesn't deserve magnus

This interview is so uncomfortable

"There's always talk about cheating and greed and fickleness wherever bisexuality is involved—your boyfriend doesn't believe in any of that?"

"No, Alec never batted an eyelid. If he had, I wouldn't have dated him."

Alec smiled. Magnus always did that, emphasising the fact that Alec was a person, with a name, and a profession, and a life, outside of their relationship. Of course, Alec was all too aware of the fact that the media only gave two shits about what he did in the context of his relationship with Magnus, but it was nice to hear Magnus reminding the world that Alec was a person, first and foremost.

And defending him. That was nice too. It also made Alec ache to be with him, and wrap his arms around his waist, and kiss him after this awful interview, and tell him that he'd handled it brilliantly—because he had. He always did.

"So there's no truth to the rumour that your boyfriend is jealous of your past relationships?"

Magnus snorted. "I wasn't aware there was such a rumour. No. There isn't. Not that I see the link between that and my sexuality."

For the first time, the interviewer shifted uncomfortably in her seat, clearly trying not to cringe. Alec decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and assume that she wasn't deliberately being a bitch. Perhaps that was just naïve, on his part.

Rather than responding, the interviewer moved onto a new topic, to Alec's relief, and Magnus relaxed visibly.

The interview lasted a mere few minutes longer, by which time Alec had tuned out Magnus' actual answers - he'd heard it all before - and was paying much more attention to the way his mouth shifted to form words, and the coy little sway of his shoulders that he adopted whenever romance or flirting came up, and the intricate details of his fashion choices.

Magnus dropped a final message to his fans, followed by a wink that had comments gushing through, and then the interviewer thanked him, and the livestream cut off.

Alec flopped back, and let out a sigh, shifting his eyes away from the screen.

"Are you alright?" Max asked, sounding amused, but with an underlying tone of concern.

Glancing over, Alec said, "Of course I am. Why?"

Max shrugged. "I was reading the comments."

"Yeah." Alec let out a laugh that sounded much more bitter than he'd intended it to. "I tried not to. I hate the Internet."

Max pursed his lips. "Do people ever say things like that to you in real life?"

"I'm not famous, Max," Alec stated. "Nobody recognises me when I'm on my own. And they wouldn't dare, with Magnus right there."

A grin twitched at the corners of Max's lips, and he said, "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't dare say it to your face, regardless of who you're with, because you give off the world's biggest fuck off, asshole aura I've ever had the misfortune of witnessing."

"I do not."

"God, Alec, you do," Max said with a laugh. He slammed the laptop shut and slid it off the sofa when Alec kept glancing at the screen, and at the comments trickling in underneath where the interview had been streamed. "I'd hate to be interrogated by you."

"Jace is the one who always ends up irrationally angry in interrogations."

He did. Jace always got far too emotionally invested in victims of any major crimes they were a part of investigating - murders, assaults, rapes, hate - and ended up looking like he was about to punch the perpetrators in the face every time they talked back.

"Exactly." Max stood up, stretched, and began walking towards the kitchen. "Ice cold deadpan guys are way more intimidating than hot-headed blondes."

Alec choked on a laugh. "I'm telling Jace you said that."

Max whirled round to face him. "Alec. What the hell. I've been nothing but angelic. Why would you do something so cruel?"

"Because now I have blackmail material," Alec said, kicking his legs up on the coffee table. "If you could take the cake out of the oven, put it out to cool, cover it with something and not eat any of it, that would be great."

Max scowled. "I hate you."

Alec shrugged. "I'd like a coffee, thanks."

"Fuck off."

Alec picked up his phone, smiling to himself.

[From: Alec Lightwood, 17:04]

Max is now pissy because I'm making him do more than sit on his ass. Don't take it personally if he's rude. And you looked gorgeous <3

Alec didn't expect a reply for a while, but his phone buzzed almost immediately.

[From: Magnus Bane, 17:05]

Slave-driver ;) Have you been internet stalking me, or did you watch the livestream?

[From: Alec Lightwood, 17:05]

Livestream

[From: Magnus Bane, 17:05]

Well thank you, darling. I'll see you tomorrow. Miss you <3

[From: Alec Lightwood, 17:06]

Miss you too, babe

"Why are you two so gooey?" Max demanded, wrinkling his nose.

Caught unaware, Alec jumped out of his skin in alarm, not having realised that Max was standing there behind him. "Jesus Christ."

"No, just Max. And it's still sickening. Not even Jace and Clary are this bad. I didn't think it could get any worse than Jace and Clary."

"I miss my boyfriend! Is that okay?"

Max grinned, and shoved Alec sideways. "Of course. I just don't wanna hear it."

"You read over my shoulder!"

"Semantics."

Fuck Max's semantics, Alec was not going to lose this argument. He reserved every right to be as sappy and ridiculous with Magnus as he pleased.

***

2.

Alec tried, so hard, not to be a boring person.

He'd always been told he was boring. Growing up, his siblings had told him, constantly, that he needed to be more exciting: get out, go to a club, do shots, get a girlfriend (before he came out) or a boyfriend (after he came out). Socialise. Have fun. Stop reading all the time. Books can't talk back.

He knew it had all been said out of good places and good intentions; his siblings just didn't seem to understand that he had more fun staying at home than doing all their sociable, extroverted things. And that was fine. He was fine with being like that.

Until, of course, he met Magnus, and he was all too aware of how utterly different they were. Magnus liked all those things. Alec didn't. Magnus was charismatic, and gorgeous, and enjoyed going out. Alec...wasn't. He didn't.

But he loved Magnus, so he tried. They compromised. They went out, sometimes, and Magnus managed to draw Alec a little further out of his comfort zone every time, for above five minutes, before he retreated back to drinking beers at the bar, watching Magnus do his thing, being himself and letting go, and looking absolutely edible while doing it.

However, there was a line. There were things Alec would accept, and things Alec would ignore, and things he would abide by. There were also, of course, things he would not.

Things like, for example, Magnus being egged on while he did shots, by some asshole guy who hadn't stopped leering at Magnus' ass since they'd walked in. That more than crossed the line. Especially when Magnus was either too drunk to care, or too drunk to notice, when the guy touched his butt, and some girl started shoving her boobs in his face.

Alec fucking hated clubs like this. Usually, he refused to come, point-blank, but Magnus had begged him, and told him he didn't mind if Alec just sat by the bar, and that he just wanted Alec to come. So Alec had come.

He regretted it. It was loud, the lights were flashing so much it was making Alec dizzy, and it was way, way too hot. The water he was drinking really wasn't helping with his headache, and the multiple fuckheads trying to get into his boyfriend's pants weren't helping.

Besides which, although Magnus fortunately had an alcohol tolerance about a mile wide and infinitely high, if he did one more shot, he looked like he was going to fall over.

The chick with bad contour and lipstick that clashed with her dress (having Isabelle as his sister has taught him some things, even if he didn't really care) leant in and planted a loud, smacking kiss on Magnus' cheek. Magnus blinked, and turned his head to look at her, drunken confusion plastered across his face.

He'd had enough. He didn't get jealous very often (anymore) and God, he wasn't jealous now, but this was ridiculous. Magnus was too drunk to walk, let alone consent to anyone kissing him and practically groping him. With a roll of his eyes, he stood up, pushed through the people grinding against each other to the music, and strode round to the other side of the bar, where Magnus was.

"Babe," he said, gripping Magnus' bicep gently and turning him so their eyes met. "We're going."

Magnus opened his mouth. And closed it. And then said, "Why?"

Alec gritted his teeth. "You're stoned, it's late, and I'm tired. Come on."

"But I only have to do two more shots and I win," Magnus stated, pouting.

"No. I'm leaving, and if you stay, I'm going to have to come and pick you up when you get thrown out, and I don't want to get into bed and have to drag myself back out here to pick you up."

Magnus pouted. Alec glared at him.

"You're so boring," Magnus muttered. Alec's stomach dropped. "Fine."

Heart hammering against his ribs, Alec dragged Magnus through the crowds and towards the exit, leaving his drunken friends perplexed behind them

Alec tried not to be upset. It was fucking stupid to be upset. Magnus was drunk out of his mind, and he didn't mean it. But it was hard. Because Magnus...Magnus had been the first person, really, to assure him that being himself wasn't boring, and that he didn't have to become somebody he wasn't to be an interesting person worthy of someone's attention.

You're so boring.

Alec clenched his jaw.

"Alec," Magnus whined, and god, even if Alec loved him, he was so close to killing him. "I don't wanna go home."

"You're drunk," Alec said, by way of explanation. "Did you really have to have a bet to see who could drink a hundred shots?"

Magnus giggled. "If I'd had a hundred shots, I'd be dead."

Impatience, and a twinge of anger, ran through him. "Magnus, for fuck's sake, you know what I mean. Some guy was groping you and you didn't care. You're completely pissed."

"You're no fun," Magnus said, words slightly slurred. "It was just a game."

"Yeah, and I have to deal with your hangover and your drunken ass now," Alec snapped. "Great fucking game. I didn't want to come out in the first place."

"I told you that you could just sit at the bar."

"Have you considered how that makes me feel?" Alec knew he was speaking too loudly, knew people across the street would be able to hear him, but he was angry, dammit. He lowered his voice to a hiss, and said, "Maybe I don't want to go out with you and be relegated to sitting at the back like some stupid lost puppy."

"Then don't come out with me," Magnus said with a shrug.

"Maybe I won't! I'll just sit at home and be boring."

Magnus rolled his eyes. Actually fucking rolled his eyes. Alec curled the hand he didn't have around Magnus to make sure he didn't fall over into a fist.

"You sound like my mother," Magnus mumbled.

"You barely remember your mother," Alec shot back.

The moment the words were out of his mouth, he stopped, frozen, and stared at Magnus, utterly aghast at what he'd just said. Magnus had averted his eyes, a bitter, miserable look on his face, despite his inebriated state.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

Why couldn't he have just kept his mouth shut? Why hadn't he had this conversation in a mature, sensible way, tomorrow, when Magnus wasn't drunk and he wasn't pissed off? He had to go and put his foot in his mouth.

It was a wonder Magnus hadn't slapped him. Magnus had trusted him with the story of his childhood - the fact that he'd been conceived through rape, his abusive step-father, that his mother had committed suicide when he was young, his step-father had drunk himself into a stupor, and he'd ended up in foster care - and Alec had thrown it back in his face.

God, he was an asshole.

"Magnus—" Alec voice cracked; he cleared his throat. "Magnus, I'm so sorry, I didn't—"

"Forget it," Magnus said, pulling away from Alec sharply. He began walking down the path, stumbling slightly in his heeled boots, before he righted himself.

It took Alec several seconds to pull himself together enough to follow, heart heavy. He didn't dare touch Magnus when they got home. When his every attempt to apologise was shut down, and when Magnus turned away every time he so much as opened his mouth, he crawled into bed facing away from his boyfriend, sick to his stomach, horrified by his words, and terrified by what he'd done to Magnus.

***

He woke before Magnus, the following morning.

Despite the fall-out they'd had the previous night, and the reprehensible things he'd said to Magnus, he couldn't help his eyes sliding down the exposed length of Magnus' back, at all that gorgeous golden skin laid bare, sunlight filtering in through the edges of the curtains and painting stripes of glimmering light across his spine.

Alec let out a breath, forcing his gaze away, and climbed out of bed, slowly, trying to do so with minimal movement, so he didn't wake Magnus prematurely. He'd have a killer hangover, after all the shots he'd done last night.

It took him a moment to blink the sleep from his eyes and focus enough to take out two mugs, flick on the coffee machine, and pull a packet of aspirin from the cupboard to give to Magnus when he woke.

Usually, when he walked back into the bedroom, the smell of coffee had begun to rouse Magnus from his slumber, and he'd be stirring, groggy and sleepy and adorable, barely awake, groping for a robe or his phone, before Alec pushed a mug into his hands and gave him a kiss on the forehead. It was routine. It happened pretty much every morning.

But, apparently, not this morning. Today, Magnus was still fast asleep, a frown creasing the skin between his eyebrows, breaths deep and even but eyes restless beneath his eyelids.

Alec's heart ached. After setting down both mugs, and putting the aspirin by Magnus', he bent over, brushed gentle fingers through Magnus' hair, and pressed his lips to his temple. Magnus didn't stir, but his lips parted a little, and the frown smoothed out, just a little.

"I love you," he murmured, against his hair, before pulling back. He drew the thin sheets up over Magnus' back, to the sharp lines of his shoulder blades, and draped it over the leg Magnus had hanging half off the bed. How he had a limb out like that Alec had no idea, with the size of their bed. Even if he'd wanted to get as far away from Alec as possible—

No. He wasn't going to think about that. Not now. Instead, he went over to the window to rearrange the thick curtains, trying to make sure the light didn't bother Magnus while he slept.

About an hour later, during which time Alec took the opportunity to check his emails, reply to a few, and do some research for a case he'd been looking at on Friday, he heard a loud groan, and the sound of something crashing, followed by the mutterings of Magnus swearing.

"Alec?" he heard, faintly. "Alec, where—"

He swallowed the mouthful of coffee he'd just taken, about to open his mouth to call out to Magnus, when the bedroom door banged open dramatically and Magnus stumbled out, hair going in all directions, wearing just boxers, with his robe scrunched in his hand, eyes half-sleepy, half-wild. He still had last night's make-up smeared everywhere; he looked like a disaster. A beautiful disaster.

"Alec," Magnus breathed out, as though he hadn't expected Alec to be sitting in the living room with coffee and his laptop, like he did any weekend morning when he had work he needed to do, and Magnus was still sleeping. Sometimes he took it back into bed, but he was always worried he'd wake Magnus prematurely.

"Morning," Alec said, a smile, tinged with sadness, tugging at the corners of his lips. He slammed the lid of his laptop down, and stood up, walking over to Magnus. Magnus watched him with wide eyes. Alec couldn't quite work out what was going through his head.

He eased Magnus' robe from his grasp, shook it out, and slipped it round his shoulders, lifting each side so Magnus could hook his arms through, before tying the sash at the waist.

"Are you alright?" Alec asked, concern seeping into him at Magnus' odd behaviour.

Magnus shook his head as though he had water in his ears, paused when he realised that could be misinterpreted, and nodded. "My head hurts, though."

Alec smiled sardonically. "That'd be because you drunk at least twenty shots last night."

Magnus rubbed his eyes with the base of his palm. "I...don't remember. Ow. Fuck."

"Come on." He ghosted his fingers against Magnus' elbow, wary of his touch being rejected after last night. But Magnus didn't flinch, didn't even move away. "Let's sit down and talk. I brought you painkillers, but clearly they passed you by."

"My coffee was cold." Magnus gave him a tiny little pout over his shoulder.

"What a tragedy," Alec said, lips quirking up, and passed his own mug to Magnus. "I just made mine."

"Mmm." Magnus inhaled deeply, and took a long sip. "Thank you."

Once Magnus had taken the aspirin, and they'd both seated themselves on the bed, Alec having drawn the curtains, Magnus fixed his eyes on his - well, Alec's - coffee, and Alec cleared his throat.

"Magnus—" He voice broke. Magnus glanced up at him, so he swallowed, and tried again. "I'm sorry. What I said to you last night— I can't— I didn't—" He pulled at his hair in frustration, cursing his inability to talk like a human being, sometimes. They'd got so much better at communication, especially since Alec's meltdown many months ago when he'd ended up confessing all his deepest insecurities to Chairman Meow, and Magnus had, unbeknownst to him, heard the whole thing.

But still, when it was this important, when he'd said something so vile, so insensitive and goddamn unaware, when he needed to make sure Magnus knew he hadn't meant to hurt him, and knew that he regretted it bitterly - not for his own sake, because he deserved the guilt, but for Magnus' - he just couldn't get the fucking words out.

"I'm sorry." He sighed, and closed his eyes for a moment to steady himself. "I was angry with you, and I was frustrated, and I was tired, and I just didn't think—" He shook his head. "But that's no excuse, and I am so sorry. I swear, I didn't mean to- to say something like that. I don't even know why I said it. I didn't- I didn't say it to hurt you. It just came out. I'm not— I didn't mean to hurt you. I would never want to. You mean too much to me. I'm sorry."

There was silence for a long moment, during which Alec kept his eyes downcast, shame settled in his chest. He didn't want to look up at Magnus.

"Sweetheart," Magnus said, softly, one hand, warmed by the coffee, covering Alec's. "I know. I know you didn't. It did hurt, I'm not going to sit here and pretend it didn't, but I know you weren't being deliberately cruel. I forgive you." He smiled sadly, self-deprecation in his eyes. "And I think you deserve an apology, too."

"Magnus, you—"

"Shh." Magnus lifted a finger. "Let me talk. I am sorry, Alec. I'm sorry I dragged you out when you didn't want to go and then abandoned you, and I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, and I'm especially sorry that I got so drunk." He grimaced. "For a multitude of reasons."

Alec let out a laugh at that, and a wry smile graced Magnus' face. The tight band constricting his lungs eased, and his breaths came more steadily. It was okay. They were okay. It was going to be fine. Tomorrow, they'd have forgotten about this.

"I promise, I won't make you go out if you don't want to. And if you come out with me to a club, I won't abandon you like that again."

"Okay." Alec turned his hand over to grip Magnus' fingers. "I go out with you because I love you, and I know it makes you happy. You do things for me when you'd rather be doing something else. Like staying at home being boring."

Regret flashed in Magnus' eyes. "No. Darling, you have to know I didn't mean that. You're not boring. I was acting like a child because I was drunk. You might be introverted, but you are not boring. You're fascinating. That's why I like you so much."

Alec smiled. "That's the only reason?"

"Are you flirting with me?" Magnus asked, grinning.

"I'm trying to."

"Well well. This is a new development."

"A pleasant one, I hope," Alec said, rolling his eyes. "And...thank you."

Magnus blinked at him. "What on earth for?"

"Just..." Alec shrugged. Magnus ran his thumb along Alec's hand, back and forth, back and forth, slow and warm and rhythmic. "Generally. Thank you."

Magnus kissed his cheek, and then pressed a soft kiss to his lips, tasting of coffee. "Thank you for the same, then."

"Hmm." Alec's eyes had closed of their own accord, and the side of his nose was nuzzled against Magnus' cheek. "What?"

Magnus chuckled, and kissed his other cheek. "I love you too."

Magnus' phone buzzed, snapping them from their warm little bubble. Alec groaned internally; Magnus groaned out loud, flopping back melodramatically, nearly spilling his coffee, stretching his arm up over his head to scrabble for his phone, and tried to unlock it upside down three times before he seemed to remember that he always had orientation lock on, and turned it round.

"Nope," he said, immediately upon looking at the screen, turning his head away and wincing. "No. Too bright."

Alec watched in amusement, and picked up Magnus' phone, turning the brightness right down. He was about to hand it back to Magnus, when the contents of the screen caught his eye: a somewhat blurry picture of the two of them, clearly taken last night, both of them looking furious, their body language so hostile it made Alec cringe. And, above, the title, 'Break Up Looming For Fashion Star Magnus Bane?'

He scanned the article, feeling sick to his stomach as words jumped out at him, the journalist suggesting that this was the end for he and Magnus. Not that he was written about as anything more than Magnus' boyfriend. At least they'd used his name, for once.

But...fuck. What the hell? They'd had an argument. Couples had arguments. They'd talked, and it was fine. Why was that such a difficult idea to grasp? Why make up all the unnecessary rumours?

"Do you have your own name in Google alerts?" Alec asked, at last, when he found his voice.

"No, darling, I've got your name on Google alerts. I don't care what they say about me. I do care what they say about you. Why?"

Alec passed Magnus' phone back, wordlessly. Magnus looked at it for no more than ten seconds, before he threw it down, groaning and covering his eyes. "What the fuck?" he asked, voice muffled by his arm. "Why does the fucking pap have to judge everything?"

Alec sighed. "It doesn't matter. We're not breaking up, so we can just ignore it. Wait." He stopped, and looked at Magnus. "We're not breaking up, right?"

Magnus pulled his arm away to frown at Alec. "No, of course not. You're stuck with me. I love your cooked breakfasts way too much to let some other guy have you."

That drew a laugh out of Alec, and he stood up. "Now the truth comes out. How about bacon and egg for breakfast, now?"

"That sounds lovely." Magnus yawned. "I'll just dispel this rumour on Twitter before it gets out of hand, and then I'll come and help."

"Please don't link that article."

"People are going to find it anyway, my love," Magnus said, looking at him with sympathy shining in his eyes. "I won't link it, but they'll still find it."

Alec exhaled, leaning against the doorframe. "I know. I just... I hate the Internet."

Magnus blew him a kiss across the room. "I'm worth it."

"Yeah." Alec cracked a smile, utterly genuine, probably soppy enough to make Max rant for a full minute about how ridiculous he was. "Yeah, you are."

When he looked at his Twitter notifications, later, while Magnus was in the shower, he felt his lips twitch in melancholy amusement at Magnus' reply, while a heavy feeling of unease and guilt settled in his heart.

@magnusbane: Alexander's mango sticky rice is far too delicious for me to want to break up with him. What are you journalists on about?

***

3.

Alec got home after Magnus, a week after the fight he and Magnus had had, during which time Magnus' fans had laid into journalists, laid into each other, and the Twitter comments had got so nasty Alec had to delete the app on his phone to stop himself looking at them.

When he unlocked the door and stepped through, he saw Magnus' glittery boots discarded in the hallway, one on its side. Surprised - because, frankly, it was rare for Magnus to be home before him, even if it had become less rare since Magnus promised to check his work hours more - he was about to call out to say hello, when Magnus' voice cut through the air, frigid.

"Alexander."

Alec frowned. That...didn't sound good.

He closed the door, dropping his key on the sideboard, and didn't bother taking off his jacket, merely kicked off his shoes before he walked towards the sound of Magnus' voice.

"Hi," he said.

Magnus sat on an arm on the sofa, legs crossed, fingers drumming along his thigh. His rings caught the weak rays of fading evening sunlight streaming through the window, casting colours on the walls.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, nervously, when Magnus said nothing, and merely watched him with a pensive expression on his face.

"I was stopped," Magnus stated, enunciating every syllable deliberately, "outside Starbucks, while I was coming home. A journalist was asking me to comment on my boyfriend's intimate lunch date." Magnus smiled sardonically. Alec was puzzled, but he couldn't speak before Magnus continued. "I declined. Do you care to tell me what she was talking about?"

Alec stared at him. Good god, was Magnus really asking him whether he'd been seeing someone else? After everything? After all they'd been through, after everything they'd confessed to each other, after they'd been together for so long? After three near-perfect years? Magnus thought it was possible for Alec to love anybody else, when he was so utterly enamoured of Magnus?

"The only people I've been on lunch dates with in the last week are Lydia and Jace," Alec said, referring to his boss and his brother. "And as I'm gay, one of them is a woman, and the other is my brother, there wasn't much in the way of intimacy or romance."

Magnus arched an eyebrow. "Really." His voice was deadpan, expression inscrutable.

Alec couldn't contain his bewilderment, letting it show on his face. "Magnus, what the hell? Do you really think I've been cheating on you? Are you kidding me? I love you!"

At once, Magnus' face crumpled, and he burst out into laughter. Alec gaped at him. What the fuck was going on, here?

"Darling," Magnus said, wiping at the corner of his eye, smudging his eyeliner slightly. "I was teasing you."

Astounded, Alec said, "You what?"

"A reporter did ask me to comment on your canoodling, and I did decline, because I had no idea what she was on about. Apparently, you were photographed in Alicante with Jace, and it's caused quite the stir."

"That's not funny," Alec muttered, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend, though not really angry. He smacked Magnus' shoulder lightly, anyway. "I thought you were being serious. You scared the shit out of me."

Magnus held out a hand; Alec took it. "Sweetheart, I know you would never do that."

"I don't get it," Alec said, frowning. "I went to a restaurant with someone. So what? Friends do it all the time."

"It's Alicante."

"That means nothing to me," Alec said. "The food was pretty average."

"Oh, for—" Magnus covered his eyes in despair. "Have I taught you nothing? Alicante is only the most high-end, romantic place in Manhattan."

"Oh." Alec looked at Magnus sheepishly, letting himself be pulled into his boyfriend's side. "Is that why they assumed Jace was my fiancé?"

Magnus sighed, patiently amused. "Probably. Clary will be jealous when she finds out. Also, I hope you corrected them."

"Of course we did!" Alec wrinkled his nose, the thought of getting with Jace making his stomach turn. Jace had been his first crush, years and years ago, long before he'd met Magnus, and once, becoming any form of romantic relation to Jace would have set his heart alight, but the thought of being with him now was nauseating. How much arrogant sarcasm and self-consident dramatics would he have to put up with?

His eyes flickered over Magnus' smirking face. Shit. Maybe he had a type.

That was probably why none of his past boyfriends had worked out. They'd all been safe, conservative-looking guys whom he'd hoped would ease his parents into the whole boyfriends not girlfriends, thing.

(It hadn't worked. They'd had to come around in their own time. They still struggled with Magnus' fashion, but they kept their opinions to themselves, mostly.)

Magnus kissed his cheek, drawing Alec out of his thoughts. "Adorable as you are, I have to warn you."

He squinted. "Warn me about what, exactly?"

Magnus hesitated, before he said, "The backlash."

Alec pressed himself closer to his boyfriend. For fuck's sake. Why wouldn't people mind their own damn business? Why did they care what Magnus did? They didn't know Magnus. They knew his celebrity exterior; that was it. They didn't know him. So why the fuck were they judging? And why did they constantly try to make stories out of nothing?

"Show me," Alec said, murmuring his request into Magnus' neck.

Magnus obliged, passing Alec his phone, open to a long line of Tweets under a set of four photographs taken of him and Jace, in Alicante, with the caption, Bane's boy-toy breaking free?

"Well that's demeaning to me and you," Alec muttered. "Boy-toy? Really? I think I preferred trophy-bae."

Magnus chuckled, and pressed his lips to Alec's temple. "I'm offended by both, on your behalf."

@glitterbanesparkles: OH. MY. GOD. WHO IS THAT. MAGNUS BREAK UP WITH HIM!!!

@banesbloominbiceps: @glitterbanesparkles idk, doesn't he kind of look like Alec's brother?

Thank you, Alec thought. He really wished people would stop jumping to conclusions.

@magnusbabeking: Alec is poison, wtf, first the fight now this? Break. It. Off.

@xxm4lecxx: @banesbloominbiceps @glitterbanesparkles I'm pretty sure that's Jace

@glitterbanesparkles: @xxm4lecxx @banesbloominbiceps does it matter? Alec still needs to go, who goes to Alicante with anyone but their bae?

@banecourtforlife: Camille is so much better

"What the fuck?" Alec demanded, out loud. "Magnus, what the fuck?"

"Calm down." Magnus rubbed circles into Alec's shoulder, and rolled his eyes at him good-naturedly. "Stop caring. It's not like I've ever had any interest in Camille. People ship all kinds of ridiculous things. People have apparently been saying I should date Johnny Depp and Will Smith, too."

Alec pursed his lips. "If you dump me, and you dump me for her, I will never forgive you. I'll forgive anything else."

"I'm never, ever dumping you." Magnus nosed along his jawline. "Ever."

Alec clicked Magnus' phone off, and tossed it back on the sofa, leaning into his touch. "Can I reply, or will that make it worse?"

"I'm not Beyoncé. I'm not that famous. You can say whatever the hell you like." Anger flashed in Magnus' eyes. "I'm certainly going to."

They curled up on the sofa, and, while Magnus ordered them pizza, Alec found an old picture of Jace and him on his phone, with Izzy in it too, and attached it to a Tweet. He typed out a caption six times, before he settled on what he wanted to say, and hit post.

@aleclightwood: Meet Jace. He's my brother, likes annoying the crap out of me, irritatingly photogenic, lovable dick (photo feat. my sister)

He could feel Magnus peering over his shoulder, and glanced over at him. "Is that okay?"

"More than, my love." He kissed him, briefly. "I swear, if you get any negative comments, I'm going to lose my shit, reputation and propriety be damned. Nobody degrades my boyfriend."

Alec smiled. "Stop being cute."

Magnus glared at him. "I'm not being cute, I'm being protective and defending your honour."

"Yeah," Alec teased him. "Cute. It's adorable."

He kissed Magnus' nose, and then kissed away his pout with a laugh.

Magnus smiled at him, then leant in and captured his lips in a soft kiss that quickly turned hot, lips melding together. Magnus nipped at his lower hip, fingers sliding up his back, underneath his shirt, and Alec let out a moan.

"How long until pizza comes?" Alec asked, dragging his mouth across Magnus' jaw, hot breath washing across his earlobe, making him shiver.

"Their- their website promises less than fifteen minutes," Magnus said, with a gasp, as Alec's lips descended, and began sucking a mark into his neck. "So you've got about ten minutes."

Alec's hand found the front of Magnus' jeans, pressing over his crotch, and Magnus choked, fingers digging into the sofa as his eyes rolled back, and he let his head flop against the back of the sofa.

"Well, then," Alec murmured, "I've got ten minutes to get you off."

"Fuck," was apparently the only word Magnus could find in reply.

***

Magnus was still shuddering and gasping, hands still buried in Alec's hair, when the doorbell rang. Alec kissed his thigh, tugging his jeans back up (because apparently, Magnus regularly went to work commando) and then stood up, brushing off his knees as he went to the door.

"You're going to kill me," Magnus told him when Alec returned, two boxes in hand. "I thought you were bad enough when I met you. What happened? Have you been reading the Kama Sutra?"

Alec laughed, and kissed his cheek. "You happened, Mags. Besides, I'd only had about four sexual encounters when I met you."

Magnus blinked at him. "Really? I didn't know that. How did I not know that?"

Alec shrugged. "You must have worked out I wasn't particularly experienced."

"Not from lack of ability to turn me into a quivering mess," Magnus said with a scoff. "Nervousness, maybe, but I thought..." He shrugged. "I thought that was just you being your adorable self."

"You mean my awkwardness? Hm. Both, probably," Alec said. "And I'm not adorable."

Magnus raised his eyebrows. "I'm getting déjà vu, darling."

Alec huffed. "But you are cute. I'm not."

"Okay." Magnus was grinning. "If you say so."

Magnus snatched the box of pepperoni from Alec's hand and flipped the lid open, immediately tearing off a slice and taking a large bite, apparently uncaring of the smear of grease he got on the corner of his mouth. Alec watched in amusement.

"Hungry?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Mmm." Magnus swallowed. "Storing energy for later."

"What's happening later?"

Magnus smiled one of those terrifying, mischievous smiles that made Alec feel very, very wary.

"Nothing that'll keep you up beyond midnight, my darling," he said.

"Don't play sex games with me on a Monday," Alec begged him. "I'm not prepared."

"Oh? And I was prepared for your cruel onslaught just now?"

Alec spluttered out a protest. Cruel? He hadn't exactly seen Magnus complaining at any point in the proceedings. Magnus let out a laugh, patted his knee, and then tossed his legs over Alec's lap, socked toes pressing into his thigh.

Alec huffed, opened the second box of pizza, this one covered in jalapeños, feta cheese, and fried chicken, with some kind of garnish shoved in a plastic cup in the corner of the box. Alec ignored it, and bit into a piece of pizza, while simultaneously reaching for his phone, unlocking it, and navigating through to Twitter.

Upon opening the app, he saw that Magnus had replied to his tweet.

@magnusbane: @aleclightwood 'lovable'?? Careful with your words, darling. Don't want anyone jumping to conclusions... #noshade

Alec smiled, breath leaving him in a soft little laugh, and he looked across at Magnus with what he was sure was nothing but ridiculously sentimental fondness in his eyes. Magnus caught his eye and blew him a kiss. Part of Alec wanted to cry at how much he loved his boyfriend.

Instead, he looked back down at his phone, and scrolled through the replies.

@bigbaneglitterking: @magnusbane @aleclightwood *coughs* all the shade *coughs*

@magnuslovessephora: @magnusbane @aleclightwood omg, are they having an argument? That sounded so sarcastic...

@allaboardtheships: @magnuslovessephora @magnusbane @aleclightwood They're so gonna break up soon. Calling it

@malecgivesssmelife: @magnusbane @aleclightwood lol so are you guys having twitter wars now lol real mature

@xxlove0fglitterxx: @magnusbane @aleclightwood he...was literally...just saying the guy was his brother, smh

@magnusdeservesbetter: @xxlove0fglitterxx @magnusbane @aleclightwood lol ok but in Alicante?? What??

Alec felt his expression drop as he scrolled further and further down, eyes skimming through the comments. Some got unnecessarily nasty, and a few seemed to be supportive and understanding of the point both he and Magnus had been making.

Most, however, were speculating about when he and Magnus would announce their break-up.

Beside him, Magnus had turned on the TV, and was turning to a recording of The Ellen Show. He didn't appear to have noticed Alec's inner turmoil, so Alec looked back down at his phone quickly. He swallowed, and debated deleting his tweet altogether; instead, he closed the app, switched off his phone, and reached for another bit of pizza.

Not that he was particularly hungry anymore.

After several minutes, during which Magnus ate three slices of pizza (honestly, where on earth did all that fat and grease go?) and Alec barely ate the corner of his, Alec felt a hand rest on his thigh. He nearly jumped out of his skin, and turned to look at Magnus, who watched him with concern etched into his face.

"Darling, are you alright?"

Alec nodded, movements jerky. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Magnus' thumb rubbed gentle, absent-minded circles on his thigh; Alec inhaled deeply. "Are you sure?"

"Mm-hm. Uh-huh."

A furrow appeared between Magnus' eyebrows, and he searched Alec's expression. "Sweetheart, please tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing." Alec exhaled. "I'm being stupid."

"No." Magnus shifted so his feet were off Alec's lap, and instead tangled their legs together and pressed close to his side. He dropped a kiss to Alec's cheek, impossibly soft and warm enough to thaw some of the icy blockades that had shot up around Alec's heart. "Whatever it is, you're not being stupid. Never."

Alec looked down at Magnus. Magnus gazed right back, eyes huge and earnest and painfully caring. Alec had to close his eyes for a moment against the sudden onslaught of emotions that expression tossed at him.

He summoned a smile, and said, "Seriously, it's nothing." At Magnus' doubtful expression, he added, "Magnus. Really. Drop it. I'm good."

Magnus pursed his lips, looking doubtful, but turned back to the TV, settling close into Alec's side. And if Magnus kept pressing kisses to his cheek, and leaving him the bits of pizza with the most toppings instead of stealing them, neither of them said anything.

***

4.

Camille Belcourt, officially, was the most awful, despicable, revolting person on the planet.

Alec thought he'd despised her when he'd seen her kiss Magnus on the cheek, and every insecurity in him had rattled so hard it had threatened to tear apart their relationship.

He thought he'd despised her when she'd interrupted their date, stolen his seat, stolen Magnus' attention, and made him feel utterly useless.

He thought he'd despised her whenever he saw all those insane, crazy people online who shipped her and Magnus.

None of that hatred held a candle to how much he loathed her now.

Because there, plastered across the front cover of some stupid celebrity magazine sold on what appeared to be every corner of the damn city, was Camille Belcourt, looking as icily gorgeous as she always did, with her revolting lips on his boyfriend.

Alec glowered at the man who tried to get him to buy one, and clenched his jaw. Fuck all these people. Fuck everyone who made money out of making up these bullshit stories. And especially fuck Camille.

It had barely happened twelve hours ago, in a club the previous night. Magnus hadn't even been drunk, and Alec had been right there. Camille had just sauntered up, uninvited, fluttered her eyelashes, and dragged Magnus into a kiss before anyone had had time to react.

Crazy-ass bitch.

Magnus had pushed her away, of course, almost immediately, after a mere moment's shock. Then he'd snarled something at her, too quietly for Alec to hear, downed the rest of his cocktail, grabbed Alec's hand, and hauled them the fuck out of there.

Journalists weren't allowed into the club. That was why Magnus and Alec had been there—they'd just wanted a few hours out to relax and have a good time, and Alec had agreed to go on the condition that Magnus would let them stay in pyjamas all day Sunday, and wouldn't even look at his phone.

So, for that pixelated photograph to be printed and in circulation so quickly, could only mean that someone had happened to capture the moment of the kiss, posted it online, and some idiot had spotted it and made a big fucking deal out of it.

It had happened before. The Internet had found pictures of Magnus and Alec sharing kisses by that exact method. It wasn't like it was a new thing, or something they could avoid. But it was the first time Camille had been involved.

And the headline.

God, Alec was going to murder someone if there was one more rumour about either of them having an affair. Or about their apparently-impending break-up. He'd had enough of this shit.

***

"Darling," Magnus said, the moment Alec walked through the front door, still sprawled out on the sofa in Alec's sweatpants and a tank top, not looking up from his laptop, papers strewn around him and a pencil tucked behind his ear, "have you seen—"

"Yes," Alec snapped at him. "Yes, I've seen."

Magnus bit his lip and looked up, fingers pausing, a hurt look flashing across his face. "Excuse you."

Alec exhaled, and dropped down onto the sofa beside him, careful not to crush any papers.

"I'm sorry, Mags. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"I forgive you." Magnus peered at him, worry clear in his eyes. "Alexander, sweetheart, you know I'm going to make sure they know none of this is true, don't you?"

Alec shrugged. "What does it matter? They already think we're going to break up."

"But we're not." Magnus' hand covered his, and squeezed. "I love you. I'm not going to let some stupid journalist ruin things for us. Okay? I'm going to fix this. I swear it."

With a sad little smile, Alec said, "How? Going to Twitter? That never works out, baby."

Magnus' eyes twinkled. "Don't you worry about it."

And, with a kiss to Alec's cheek, that ended the conversation, leaving Alec none the wiser to Magnus' plan on how, exactly, he was going to dispel this rumour entirely, and put an end to the reports about the imminent demise of their relationship.

***

"You're moping," Isabelle told him, the moment she waltzed in, Jace and Max behind her, along with Simon. Clary was notably absent, but Alec didn't have time to ask, because he was more preoccupied by Isabelle's cruel and entirely unnecessary accusation.

"I'm not moping," he said, with a huff. "Magnus is only gone for a couple of days. I'm capable of—"

Isabelle dumped a six-pack of beer cans in his arms, and rolled her eyes. "You're moping. You're moping about the rumours about you and Magnus breaking up, you're moping about the Camille thing, and you're moping because you're a lovesick fool. Have I missed anything?" She raised an eyebrow.

Alec spluttered. "You—"

"Great. I'm pretty sure Magnus' Ellen interview is on in ten minutes. I assume you want to watch it."

"I—"

"Great." Isabelle patted his forearm and walked in, flopping down on the sofa with more grace than anybody had a right to have.

Max shook his head with mock sadness. "I'm disappointed, Alec. Letting her walk all over you."

Alec scowled, and lurched over to swat at Max's head. Max laughed, ducking out of the way, and darted over to the sofa.

"Come on, old man!" Jace shouted from where he was already sprawled on a sofa, opening a can of beer.

"Fucking siblings," Alec muttered.

***

"Tell me a bit about this," Ellen said, halfway through Magnus' interview, changing topic abruptly. She had a shot of Magnus' comment in reply to Alec on Twitter about Jace and Alicante up on screen, and the audience oohed.

Magnus crossed one leg across the other, ankle braced on his opposite knee, and shrugged. "It's fairly transparent, I think."

"The Internet didn't seem to think so."

"No." Magnus drummed his fingers thoughtfully. "No, the Internet seems to think I'm going to break up with my boyfriend, though, so I wouldn't put a huge amount of stock in its reliability."

"Slay!" Isabelle hollered, from where she sat curled up next to Simon, a can of beer in hand. "I love your boyfriend, brother."

Alec loved him too.

"You're denying those rumours, then?" Ellen asked, raising her eyebrows. She leant forwards in her seat slightly in anticipation of Magnus' answer: neither he nor Magnus had said a word about that picture of Camille.

"Oh, absolutely." Magnus smiled, eyes glinting like razors. "God knows why anybody would think they're true. I'd have to be insane. I mean–" He turned to the audience in Ellen's studio, eyes wide and incredulous "–have you seen him?"

A laugh rang through the crowd, and Jace kicked Alec lightly in the shin. Alec rolled his eyes, praying that his siblings would just leave him alone. Why the hell had they invited themselves over today, of all days? And why had Isabelle insisted on watching this with him? He'd set it to record as soon as Magnus had called to tell him when it would air.

"What about that article?" Ellen asked. "With Camille Belcourt and yourself in a club? Is there anything you'd like to say about that, or do you want me to move onto talking about your show next week?"

"That was an unlucky shot," Magnus said. "It was a split second. She was drunk. I'm very much in love with Alexander, and, with absolutely no disrespect to Camille, I'm not interested in finding anyone else."

"She knows that?"

"I thought everyone knew that, but apparently not." Magnus shrugged diplomatically. "Camille is exceptionally talented, and I have just as much respect for her as I do for anyone else in this business. I just don't want to date her."

Take that, busty bitch, Alec thought, with a large swig of beer. He wondered whether the audience could see that Magnus was lying through his teeth about having an ounce of respect for Camille—or, indeed, that his implication that Camille had any respect for them was entirely misleading.

"Alright. So you're not breaking up with Alec, that's great news. Can you describe your relationship with Alec?"

Magnus huffed out a laugh. "No. You know all those sappy John Legend songs that make everyone cry? It's like that. In the best way possible. I love him. He's the first thing I think about in the morning, wherever I am. And if he's not, it's because I'm panicking about something, and thinking about him or talking to him or just focusing on the fact that I'm with him makes me calm down. Usually. Unless we're arguing."

Magnus grinned sheepishly, and the audience laughed a little. Alec found himself smiling, throat tightening as Magnus spoke.

"How do you deal with maintaining such an amazing relationship with your job?" Ellen asked. "You have to travel a lot, right?"

"I do," Magnus said. "But we have our things. We call, and we text, and talk about our days, and I refuse to go to sleep unless I've got my goodnight text. Alec was called out on a job, once, and I was drunk, so I stayed awake for hours staring at my phone waiting for my text. Alexander laid into me for it, but I have no regrets."

Alec remembered. He also remembered arguing with Magnus about it, because it had been such a dumb thing to do.

"In all honesty," Magnus said, his voice losing its lighthearted, joking edge and dropping into something more serious, that made everybody sit up straighter, "I don't plan on ever breaking up with him. Alexander means everything to me. Darling–" Magnus looked at the camera instead of at Ellen, and it was so cheesy, it was so, so cliché, it was cringe-worthy, but Alec felt his breath stutter and his heart lurch nonetheless. "I don't mean to embarrass you," Magnus said, as though he were murmuring to Alec, just the two of them in the room, "but I love you. You are my world, my love."

Fuck.

The TV screen blurred as the audience awwed, Ellen said something else to Magnus, then turned to the camera. She told the viewers that there was a commercial break, and that she'd be asking about Magnus' next show afterwards.

Alec blinked rapidly. Fuck. That really wasn't fair. He had to wait another two days before he could throw himself at Magnus and kiss him and tell him all those things back, significantly less eloquently, but just as sincerely.

***

5.

When their alarm went off on a Friday morning, the week after Magnus had been on The Ellen Show - an interview which had received an overwhelmingly positive response, even from the shitstorm that was social media - Alec hauled himself out of bed, and Magnus groaned, burrowing deeper under the duvet.

Alec huffed out a laugh, and pressed a kiss to Magnus' head. "You've got to get up, Mags. You've got work."

"Fuck off," came Magnus' muffled reply from where he'd buried his face in his pillow.

Alec chuckled, kissed Magnus' hair again, and slipped out to make coffee. Magnus always woke at the smell of coffee. He'd be in the shower in a minute, and then he'd come out all damp and sleepy and gorgeous, and cling onto Alec like crossing over into the waking world was a traumatising process that required a long morning hug. Alec was (usually) happy to oblige.

When Alec wandered back into their bedroom ten minutes later, a piece of toast between his teeth and two cups of coffee in his hands, Magnus was still fast asleep, breathing heavily, fingers clenched in the duvet.

"Magnus," Alec said, setting the coffee and toast down and running his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. "You have to wake up. Ragnor will kill you if you're late."

"Mmmm," Magnus protested. "Go away."

Magnus' voice sounded odd, and he shifted in an irritated, uncomfortable fashion under the duvet, huffing out a short breath.

"Are you okay?" Alec pressed the back of his hand to Magnus' forehead. His eyebrows shot up. "You're really warm. Are you sick?"

"I'm never sick."

"Do you want me to call in for you?"

"I want you to come and cuddle me," Magnus muttered, eyes firmly closed and face half pressed into his pillow.

"Is that a yes?"

Magnus huffed, and stuck a hand out of his duvet cocoon. "Phone."

Alec passed Magnus his phone, told him he'd made coffee, and then left him to his call, heading into the bathroom.

By the time he was done, Magnus was passed out again, and Chairman Meow was curled up on his pillow, right by Magnus' head, also asleep. Alec's heart couldn't quite take how adorable the scene was.

He roused Magnus just enough to tell him that he was going, and that he'd be home late, and then headed out.

***

When Alec walked through the front door, late in the evening, Magnus and the Chairman had moved to the sofa. They'd taken the duvet with them, and Magnus was asleep, Chairman Meow on his chest, the TV playing some crap quietly in the background.

"Hey," Magnus said, voice hoarse, making Alec jump out of his skin.

"Jesus." Alec heaved in a breath, and kicked his shoes off. "I thought you were asleep."

"No." Magnus blinked his eyes open. "I hate being sick."

"I know. Want some tea?" Alec jostled the plastic supermarket bag pointedly, which contained three different types of tea, all of which Magnus liked, and a packet of biscuits. "Ginger, camomile, or lemon and honey?"

"You're an angel," Magnus said. "Lemon and honey sounds nice."

Twenty minutes later, Magnus had decided to use Alec's thighs as a pillow, and was drifting back off to sleep, the Chairman settled in front of Magnus, licking his paws lazily and meowing intermittently for no apparent reason.

Alec couldn't resist taking a picture, because Magnus was too cute for words like this - not that he'd say that to his face, unless he wanted a scowl and an eye roll, because a sick Magnus was not a happy Magnus.

***

"Why have you got so many Instagram notifications?" Magnus asked, later than night, while Alec was cleaning his teeth. "What did you post?"

"You, remember?" Alec poked his head out of the bathroom. "I did show you, at the time."

Magnus tossed Alec's phone to one side, and huffed for the hundreth time in the last twenty minutes, throwing an arm over his face. "I'm sick of being sick, Alexander. It's boring."

Alec laughed as he clicked off the bathroom light and climbed into bed, unlocking his phone to have a look. People on Instagram were generally less awful than people on Twitter - at least regarding him and Magnus - but there was always someone snooty who disapproved.

"Oh my god." Alec stared, horrified, at the comments, as he scrolled through. "What is wrong with people?"

"What did they do?"

"Why the hell does a picture of you being adorable sleeping with our cat warrant so many comments about our sex life?"

Magnus hummed, resting his cheek against Alec's chest and throwing an arm over his torso. He spared the photograph a monetary glance through half-lidded eyes, weighed down with the exhaustion that came from being sick, and then let his eyelids flutter closed. "Probably due to the proximity of my mouth to your dick, darling."

Alec lowered his phone and glared at Magnus. "My dick is not in this photograph. I've got one knee and one hand in this photograph. It's an entirely non-sexual picture."

"Apparently, people think otherwise."

"I fucking hate the Internet," Alec mumbled. He shut his phone off, turned off the light, and settled down, wrapping an arm around Magnus and pulling him close. "I really, really hate it."

Magnus chuckled. "Then break up with me and go back to being anonymous. Or make your Instagram private."

"Maybe I will," Alec said with a petulant note in his voice. He felt Magnus still, and added, "Make my Instagram private. Not break up with you. It's not like I post anything anyway."

"Mm." Magnus kissed his chest, and then snuggled in close. "Love you."

"I love you too. But I still hate the Internet. Especially the fucking shippers. Why is it called a ship, anyway? What the hell does it have to do with boats?"

Magnus still had his eyes closed, but Alec could make out his eyes rolling beneath his lids. "Go to sleep, Alexander."

***

+1.

"Alexander!"

Magnus' voice rung out in the midst of the crowded airport, and Alec's gaze snapped towards him, a smile curving his lips up. Magnus dashed towards him, dropped his bags, and flung himself at him, wrapping his arms around his neck, stretching right up on his toes so he could kiss Alec's nose before he buried his face in Alec's shoulder.

Alec laughed, and pulled Magnus tight against him, the plain ring on his left hand heavy as he felt the cool silk of Magnus' shirt underneath his palms.

"Hey," Alec murmured, and dropped a kiss to Magnus' temple. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Magnus exhaled, lowered himself back onto the flats of his feet, and loosened his grip a little, still not letting go. "But that was the most fun I've had on a business trip in years."

Alec grinned, and pulled back to look at him. "Yeah?"

Practically vibrating with excitement, Magnus nodded, so Alec requested that he tell him about it. Two and a half weeks without Magnus hadn't exactly been fun, but he'd survived, and he'd never have denied Magnus going to a fashion show in Paris and getting to meet all the idols of his teenage years, before flying around Europe to three other conventions, exhibiting his work everywhere he went.

"It was incredible," Magnus said, for about the fifth time. He ran his fingers along Alec's jawline. "I wish you could've come."

"No, you don't." Alec smiled at him, and pressed a kiss to his palm. "I wouldn't have appreciated it enough, and I wouldn't have understood it, and I wouldn't have known who anybody was."

Magnus pouted at him. "Stop blowing holes in my arguments. I'm being romantic."

"Okay." Alec kissed his cheek, and let go of Magnus' waist to pick up his bag. "Let's go, because the girl over there thinks I don't know she's taking pictures of us."

Magnus grinned, picking up the second bag. "Never try to get past a cop. Especially my cop." He tweaked Alec's leather jacket, which Magnus had bought him for his birthday two years ago. Foolishly, Alec had made the mistake of wearing it in public without googling it first, and had had a terrifying encounter with a woman about half his size demanding to know how on earth he'd got an exclusive item more than a week before it was due out, and whether he had shares in the black fashion market.

"Your cop is gonna get pissed if she gets any more fangirly," Alec muttered, shooting the girl a glare. "It's weird. I don't get this thing people have."

"Because you didn't obsess over Jack and Ianto?" Magnus raised an eyebrow as they began walking, fingers interlaced, shoulders brushing.

"They're fictional," Alec said, pointedly. "And if I saw John Barrowman, I wouldn't start taking pictures without asking, because he is real, and that's weird."

"You're so adorable," Magnus said, squeezing his hand. Alec felt the metal of Magnus' rings cool against his fingers, one, in particular, making his heart flutter and his scowl smooth out.

"I'm not."

"You are."

"Not."

"Are."

"I'm—"

"You're not winning this, darling."

Alec huffed. Honestly, all he wanted to do was revel in having Magnus home, and this was how was got treated? Really. It was so unfair.

(Even if Magnus' grin made him want to smother him in kisses for days.)

***

When Alec looked at his phone, sometime after a second round of frankly incredible sex, he had several Twitter notifications. He raised his eyebrows, and clicked on one.

@malecglitterarrows: @aleclightwood What is THAT???

Above, they'd attached a picture - probably taken by that rude woman at the airport - of Alec hugging Magnus tight. Below, the picture had been cropped and focused on Alec's hand, his ring fairly obvious.

Alec wandered back into the bedroom. Magnus was still delightfully naked, sprawled out across the sheets, golden skin contrasting with red silk. He took in the view shamelessly; Magnus caught his gaze when his eyes travelled back up to Magnus' face, and winked at him.

"Gimme your hand," Alec said, sitting down on the other side of the bed, one knee bent beneath him.

Magnus obliged, a frown etched onto his beautiful face, and Alec snapped a picture of Magnus' hand, his newest ring in full view. (Also, currently, the only ring Magnus had on, because Alec had taken great care in sliding all the others off, only to have Magnus protest when he went for that one, too.)

"Is this okay?" Alec asked, presenting his phone to Magnus.

Magnus smiled, and nodded. "Of course. It's perfect."

"You don't want to do it?"

Magnus shrugged. "No. Go ahead. Post it."

@aleclightwood: @malecglitterarrows That's my engagement ring. This is Magnus':

The photograph he'd just taken of Magnus' hand sat underneath, and, in a matter of seconds, replies began to flood in. Alec rolled his eyes.

"Don't people have better things to do with their lives? Like go to work? And eat junk? And kiss their partners?"

Magnus laughed. "Says the man doing none of those things."

"That's deeply unfair. I've been kissing you for hours."

"Hm." Magnus sat up from his reclining position, and rested his hand against Alec's chest. "You could kiss me for some more hours."

Alec groaned. "Jesus, you're insatiable."

Magnus kissed his cheek. "Yep."

"I hate you," Alec said, and then smothered Magnus' protests with a kiss.

***

Alec was cooking, when Magnus got home, partway through the following week. He called out a hello, and got an incoherent mumble back. Alec forgave Magnus his ineloquence, because it was exceptionally late.

"Mm." Magnus' boots clipped on the tiled floor. "Smells good."

"Shoes," Alec said, pointing a spatula at him. "You always nag me for leaving dirt everywhere. Take the mud out of the kitchen!"

Magnus crossed his arms over his chest, and shot Alec a pout. Entirely unimpressed, Alec quirked an eyebrow at him, and jerked his chin at the doorway again. He'd been dating Magnus for years. He was immune to that look by now.

(Well. Mostly. Sometimes. He was able to overcome his gut reaction—which was to kiss it away and give Magnus the world and the moon and the stars.)

"I want a hug. I've had a bad day."

Alec refused to cave, and directed the spatula at Magnus' feet. "Shoes. Then hug."

Magnus' pout became more pronounced, but he kicked off his boots and dropped them in the hallway, before padding towards Alec. Rather than moving to touch him, Magnus merely stood and stared at him with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Stop glowering and taste the rice," Alec said, holding a spoon out to him. "More salt?"

There was a pause as Magnus considered. "No. It's perfect."

Magnus moved his hand just slightly, and the lights overhead caught on his fingers, making his rings glisten and glitter. The shimmering drew Alec's gaze towards that particular one that was his new favourite, and his heart did a little, involuntary stutter.

"Did I tell you?" Magnus asked, softly, drawing Alec's eyes back up.

"Hm?" Alec blinked. "About what?"

"We're not breaking up anymore. We're everyone's favourite couple."

Magnus was grinning as he pulled out his phone from his far-too-tight jeans, unlocked it with his thumbprint, and showed Alec an article that had the picture Alec had posted of Magnus' engagement ring as its central feature.

Alec couldn't quite find it in himself to be that smug about it. Alright, he was relieved, because he detested people making undue judgements about how good (or, rather, how bad) a boyfriend he was, and this was much nicer, but still. He had boundaries. He liked privacy.

"You know," Alec said, as he scanned through the article, pointedly skimming over the bits recounting the rumours of their break-up, Magnus' supposed affair with Camille, and Alec's suggested canoodling with Jace, "if you stopped making sappy speeches about me on The Ellen Show, people would care less."

"No, darling." Magnus' smile was small, but it lit up his whole face, eyes wide and twinkling, crinkled at the corners. "People will always care. Look at us. We're amazing. We're Brangelina level amazing."

"What, divorced?"

Magnus smacked his arm. "That's not the point. And the rice is boiling over."

With a muttered curse, Alec dropped Magnus' phone on the counter, spun round, and slid the pan off the hot ring. He rolled his eyes at the snicker from behind him. Supportive fiancé, his ass.

"You're a little shit, sometimes," Alec muttered. "I'm cooking you dinner, and that's the thanks I get?"

"I've been slaving away at work earning you your millions to live off of so you don't have to work a day in your life, and that's the attitude I get?" Magnus retorted. "The disrespect."

Alec scoffed, trying not to grin. "Because I was always just begging to be rich and an unemployed trophy husband. That's why I became a police officer."

"You became a police officer in the hope that you'd one day save a rich billionaire and snatch him off the market in a whirlwind romance so you could steal all his money."

Alec arched an eyebrow. "How on earth did I end up with you, then?"

Magnus gasped in mock horror. "Alexander!"

"Well." Alec drummed his fingers against the counter, smiling. "I seem to remember a bar, not knowing who the hell you were, a lot of very embarrassing stuttering, and you refusing to leave me alone for a month until I agreed to go out with you. There wasn't much saving. Or whirlwind romancing. Or stealing, for that matter."

"You stole my heart at the first blush, darling."

Predictably, Alec's cheeks stained red. Magnus let out a chuckle, and ran soft tan fingers up his forearm, cupping the back of his elbow.

"Can I have that hug, now?" Magnus asked.

Alec covered Magnus' hand with his, and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Come here."

Magnus exhaled the moment he was pulled tight against Alec, head resting on his shoulder. Alec ran fingers up and down his spine lightly, feeling the tension bleed out of him as the seconds ticked by in a warm, comfortable silence.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Alec asked, after several moments, against Magnus' stylised hair.

"No." Magnus' voice was muffled by Alec's shoulder. "It was just long. And people are stupid. And I hate some of my clients."

Alec made a noncommittal humming noise, to let Magnus know that he was listening, giving him space to continue if he wished to, but not pushing for anything.

"The engagement love cheered me up," Magnus admitted. "The media's so vicious, but Cat sent me five of those articles. I know they'll decide our relationship is scum by tomorrow, but..." He shrugged. "It's nice to hear love rather than hate. Especially after the Camille thing. And the Jace thing."

"Yeah." Alec smiled, and pulled back just enough to press a soft kiss to Magnus' lips. "Yeah, it is."

Magnus brushed hair back off Alec's face. "You know I love you, right? Whatever the pap and the media says."

"Of course I know. I love you, too. Otherwise—" Alec held up Magnus' left hand in his, their rings catching the light "—this wouldn't have happened."

Magnus smiled, and kissed his nose. "You're adorable."

"No, I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm not."

"Are."

"Not."

And, as they continued to bicker back and forth with their most frequent kind of disagreement, Alec thought that, really, if they had to argue about anything, these sorts of arguments were really the best ones to have.

Especially when they got to tickle each other, fall to the floor on top of each other, and spend the subsequent hour making out.