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Magnus calls Izzy the moment she’s picking up lunch with Simon.
She feels her phone buzzing in the back pocket of her tight jeans and curiously reaches to pick it up, frowning upon the sight of Magnus’ phone contact.
“Magnus?”
“My loft. Now.”
“What happened? Are you okay?”
“Physically? I’m fine. The rest of me, though? Considering Aldetree just ruined my proposal, I’ve undoubtedly been better.”
“Oh, right! Today was proposal day!”
Simon stares in confusion.
“Yeah. Was. Note the past tense.”
“Wait, did it not go well?”
“Wouldn’t I be back in Paris celebrating the occasion with my fiancé had it gone well?”
“I’m on my way.”
***
Magnus paces up and down the loft’s living room, waiting for Isabelle to arrive. The one time he thought he and Alec were free of duties and responsibilities, someone manages to spoil it. Again. And this time it’s Aldetree and his idiotic orders.
Magnus is infuriated.
No.
He is beyond infuriated. His hands are sweaty and trembling with tension. If he were to express it with magic, he would be shooting searing red flames of magic out of the palms of his hands.
Because tonight wasn’t just another date he and Alec agreed to go on.
Tonight, Magnus intended to propose.
If, perhaps, one of them wasn’t a loyal, demon-slaying Shadowhunter constantly called into duty because of his striking performance on the battlefield, then the evening would have gone just how Magnus had spent so long planning.
Unfortunately, though, Alec is exactly that aforementioned Shadowhunter, so the night is irrevocably ruined.
Magnus rubs a hand down his face in frustration carefully so as to not smear his makeup, and is about to telepathetically knock down a few paintings he has hanging up his walls, but is startled by Izzy bursting in his house, followed by a very bewildered Simon.
“We got here as quick as possible, what happened?” Isabelle asks, voice shaking as she quickly walks to close down the gap between Magnus and her, stopping across him. Simon almost crashes on her back, because of the abruptness of Izzy’s pause, but he is fast to regain his balance. Magnus’ eyes scan the couple in front of him, and he points a manicured finger at Simon.
“What is Samuel doing here?”
“Be glad I wasn’t scorched to death by the way Izzy dragged me all the way here.” Simon replies, scowling deeply.
“Don’t be so dramatic, you were locked up in the back of the van, sitting in total darkness. There wasn’t a single possible way for the sun to reach you. We’re always careful.” Izzy shoots back and directs her interest back at Magnus. “Speak up, Magnus. What happened to the plan?”
“Well, the plan went to trash. And so did the entire date.” Magnus sighs, shaking his head as if to force the memories of the previous events out of his mind.
“That can’t have happened. We had it all perfected to the painstaking detail.” Izzy frowns, her head spinning with scenarios likely to have taken place. Magnus presses his lips into a firm line.
“We forgot one, rather major possibility."
She simply stares.
"Alec being called to duty.”
Izzy’s mouth falls open in disbelief.
“But he had today off. I made sure he did. If anything were to come up, I convinced Jace to back him up. Not that it took a lot of convincing, though, considering he was clued up.”
“Okay, can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?” Simon butts in, flailing his pale hands around to emphasize. “Magnus, were you gonna propose to Alec?”
“I would, if the night had progressed differently. But we barely managed to get halfway into dinner when Alec’s phone rang, and he jumped up from his seat.” Magnus replies, calmly.
“Damn it, Aldetree.” Izzy sighs, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Hold up. You were seriously gonna propose? Seriously?” Simon gasps, not seeming to realize the seriousness of the situation. Magnus and Izzy both stare incredulously as he takes a few steps back as if to let all sink in, eyes glinting with astonishment. “That’s freaking huge! Awesomely huge! Why didn’t anyone tell me anything? And where even is the ring?”
“First off, calm down, will you?” Isabelle cuts him, so Magnus wouldn’t have to. “We didn’t tell you because you’d immediately slip up and let everyone know. And the more who knew, the easier it would be for Alec to know too.”
“And I’m not showing you the ring, either.” Magnus sternly argues.
“I wouldn’t slip up.” Simon says, defending himself.
Magnus rolls his eyes, already fed up with this conversation.
“Did you absolutely have to bring him with you, Isabelle?”
“I didn’t have a choice. As soon as I told him I had to rush over here, he wouldn’t let me leave alone. He would find out eventually, anyways.” Izzy retorts.
“I guess it doesn’t matter now, does it? The proposal didn’t even happen.” Magnus subsides, letting his glamored eyes fall to the ground. Izzy approaches him and places a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, maybe we can still fix this, Magnus. Why don’t we take it from the start so we know whether there’s anything we can do?”
“We in fact can’t fix this.”
“Just,” Isabelle raises her hands in annoyance, exhaling deeply. “Tell me what happened.”
Magnus huffs, plopping down to the leather couch behind him, preparing himself for the recitation of his evening with Alec.
“It was all going so well. Alexander was clueless as to why I decided to take him on an extra romantic date to Paris; it was honestly the perfect opportunity I could possibly have to pop the question. We were seated at the restaurant you and I agreed on, talking and all, and suddenly his phone rings, cutting us both mid-sentence. It all went downhill from there.” Magnus lifts his glance to look at his two listeners, finding them both sitting across him on the wooden coffee table placed in front of the couch. He scowls. “That table is awfully expensive, by the way.”
“Define downhill.” Isabelle says, completely ignoring Magnus’ comment and urging him to continue.
“Well, he spoke briefly on the phone, and got up immediately after he hung up. It was practically impossible for me to get him to sit back down. I asked him what had happened, and he said Aldetree needed him to follow Jace on an unexpected mission, or something like that. I pointed out how he was supposed to have today off, and he firmly stated that demons don’t really understand the concept of day offs.” Magnus swallowed thickly, before carrying on. “We ended up fighting in the middle of the restaurant making a spectacle for everyone around to see, and he eventually demanded I portalled him back to New York. And that’s exactly what I did.”
“How did you end up here, though?” Simon asks, earning a judging glare from Magnus. “Oh. You portalled after him. Forget I asked.”
“Did you two talk after this?” Izzy questions and Magnus shakes his head.
“There wasn’t time to. The second I got here I had to make a few phone calls to cancel the Paris plans. And I immediately contacted you, afterwards.”
“You know you have to call him too, right?” Izzy says firmly.
“Eventually.” Magnus agrees.
“What mission was this, even? They didn’t tell me anything despite having the day off myself.” She wonders, evacuating her spot on the coffee table. “It’s not like I’m incapable of slaying a bunch of demons.”
“How would I know? I’m guessing it needed both parabatais to take place,” Magnus answers, his voice tinted with obvious irritation. “Have I mentioned how much I hate Aldetree, by the way? Or demons, for that matter? I hate demons. I genuinely hate them.”
“You’re part demon yourself.” Simon points out, after too long of staying silent.
“Yeah, well, do I seem like I love myself any more at the moment?” Magnus exclaims, sincerely meaning every word he said.
He took months and months to plan this stupid, sickeningly sentimental proposal, being convinced to the bone it would work out the right way, only for Alec to throw it away like it didn’t mean anything.
Yeah, sure, he wasn’t aware of Magnus’ intentions and Magnus himself likes to believe he wouldn’t have bolted so quickly if he did know.
But still.
“Hey, Magnus, calm down.” Izzy brought him back to reality, trying to get him to think rationally.
As if he could.
“It’s not your fault it didn’t work out. It’s not my brother’s either, even if it does seem like it. You know how Alec is when it comes to duty calls, especially those regarding him to back up Jace on a mission. And just because Paris didn’t happen, doesn’t mean you can’t still propose to Alec.”
“But it wasn’t just any proposal and you know it, Isabelle, you helped me organize it! It was the right moment and now it’s ruined. You know how rare it is for Alec to free his mind of worries for more than a couple of hours, him being a Shadowhunter, and all. And the plan was flawless, worth the months it took to think it out! Dinner, then walk to the Arc De Triomphe, where I would bow down on one knee and propose. We even rented a photographer to tape the whole scene out for us to have, afterwards. Do you know how disappointing it was to have to call off the service? Disheartening, to say the least. Poor guy must have thought we broke up and whatnot.” Magnus has now stood back up and is pacing back and forth as he vents.
“I know it’s not the right moment for me to ask, but why the Arc De Triomphe?” Simon wonders and Izzy was about to hold up a finger to hush him, but was surprised to hear Magnus answer.
“There was a meaning behind it, obviously. I put a lot of thought into it. Long story short, we managed to make our relationship work despite our polar opposite personalities and our -agreeably- many differences. And therefore, that was one very triumphant circumstance which deserved to be honored under the Arc De Triomphe.” Magnus smiles faintly as he recalls, and Simon does too.
“You guys are so adorable, it makes my dead heart ache.” Simon coos and Izzy fails to stifle back a laugh at her boyfriend’s newly-acquired confidence. Magnus simply shrugs at the comment.
“Magnus, listen. We can, and we will fix this.” Isabelle claims, while Magnus stares at her with doubt.
“No point in doing so. Alec probably won’t want to speak to me since the incident at the restaurant,” Magnus bows his head down and runs a bejeweled hand over his dark hair. “Plus, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he might have suspected something by now.”
“Not if we throw him off the track.” Izzy smirks.
“If we what?” Magnus repeats, raising his eyebrows with evident confusion.
“Throw him off the track! If we make sure Alec has no idea about what you premeditated on doing, then you still have your chance at proposing. Tonight, even.” Izzy explains, still wearing a devilish smile on her face. Simon nods along.
“Yeah-- yeah! We could totally do that!” he proclaims, after putting some thought into it. Izzy extends out her fist to bump it with Simon’s. They both smile, knowing they have each other’s assistance.
“How could you two be convincing enough to make sure Alec speaks to me again and doesn’t smell up the proposal coming his way? I don’t trust you nearly this much, guys. Especially you, Stuart.” Magnus inquires, as Simon tsks at Magnus’ intentional mistaking of his name.
“Well, do you trust me?” she insists, propping one hand on her thin waist.
“Honestly?” Magnus asks. “No.” Izzy bores her stare on him. “But I don’t seem to have a choice, do I?”
“No you don’t.”
Magnus sighs, crossing muscled arms over his wide chest.
“Okay, then. What’s your plan?”
***
Izzy exits Magnus’ loft in a hurry, leaving Simon behind. The latter, strictly following the lines of her plan, calls Clary.
“Hey, Simon!” she cheers, and Simon can tell she is as clueless to the whole situation as he was a couple of hours ago.
“Clary, listen. We need your help.”
“Simon, are you okay? Where are you?”
“At Magnus’. I’m fine, we just need you to get here immediately.”
“Is anybody hurt? Simon, you’re freaking me out.”
“No Clary, everyone is fine, you just need to come as quickly as you can. And bring Maia and Luke, too. We need all the help we can get.”
“Luke can’t join, I’m afraid. He’s working on something at the station. I’ll call Maia next, I guess. What do you even need help on?”
“We’ll tell you when you get here. Be quick, okay?”
“I will, I guess.”
They hang up, and Simon mentally crosses out the first part of his duty here.
“You know I don’t need help preparing my place for the occasion, right?” Magnus speaks, and Simon turns around to look at him as he puts a pair of books in their respective position on his shelves. Simon shrugs.
“You could definitely use some extra hands.”
“My own hands are perfectly capable of using, I’m afraid.” Magnus smirks.
“Well, I’m afraid magic can’t cool down your nerves, no matter how hard you pretend they don’t affect you.”
Magnus sighs, secretly grateful for Izzy and Simon’s undeniable willingness to help. He doesn’t say anything to reply, he knows Simon understands.
Simon grins, and focuses back on the plan.
***
Izzy chooses to run all the way to the Institute, presuming Simon will need his van for his part of the plan in order to eliminate the chances of the sun burning his skin.
Although she isn’t sure whether he will risk it and leave before dawn.
She flings the heavy door of the church open with practiced ease and lets her eyes search for either Alec or Jace, figuring they’ll be together after returning from battle.
If they’ve even returned from battle.
She walks down the ops center, shoving people out of her way, eyes scanning through the crowd. She spots the back of Jace’s blond head at the far back of the room, near the weapons’ stand. Alec is disarming himself a few feet away, too caught up in his conversation with his parabatai to notice Izzy staring intensely at them.
She sighs, relieved to see them back and healthy. There’s always the undermining danger of someone getting hurt during combat, no matter how well-trained they are.
And Alec getting hurt now, of all times, would be the worst potential timing, among other things.
She approaches the pair with long, fast strides. Jace whips his head back upon hearing footsteps, and finds her standing next to him. He is about to greet her but she speaks first, her glance steady on Alec.
“Alec? Didn’t know you were here. Aren’t you supposed to be out with Magnus?” she exclaims, trusting her impeccable lying skills so she doesn’t give away any of her knowledge on the situation.
“I was. Aldetree called me to follow Jace on a mission, though, so I came back.” he replies, his face devoid from any expression.
“Really? I thought Jace would take care of everything for as long as you were gone.” Izzy shoots a discreet glare at Jace, who waves her off with a defensive shrug. Alec, thankfully, doesn’t catch that up as he proceeds to answer.
“He needed both of us, because of, you know, the whole parabatai business.”
Izzy heaves out a sigh and decides to proceed straight to the point. She can’t waste any more time, back at the loft she and Simon promised Magnus they’d work promptly. She glances back at Jace, and with a swift tilt of her head, implies him to leave them alone.
“I should go up in my room to rest a little. That demon’s stubbornness drained out all of my energy.” Jace says, catching Izzy’s hint immediately and excusing himself. He drops the last one of the blades hanging from his belt on the stand next to him, and turns away. “I’ll see you guys later?”
Alec and Izzy both nod, letting Jace walk away. Izzy averts her attention back at her brother, intending to fish out his side of the story before setting the -she has to admit- brilliant plan.
Magnus will owe her a fortune after this whole thing is happily over. She’s thinking a portal service to Milan, for an expensive shopping trip. Or a meal at some popular diner in Mexico.
Anyway. She’ll consider about her payment later.
“Okay, brother. Talk. I’m pretty sure Magnus wouldn’t let you bail on him so spontaneously without demanding reason. What happened?” she presses, wasting no time to pester him.
“What makes you so sure? I didn’t bail on him. Magnus knows my duty. It’s not the first, nor the last time something comes up during a date.” Alec scowls, hazel eyes holding Izzy’s stare.
“He mustn’t have been pleased to let you go, though, was he?”
Alec spares a few seconds to think about it.
“No, not really.”
Izzy nods and remains quiet, feeling Alec’s outburst of complains coming up.
“He was weird about it, though. He knows how things are; he knows we can’t exactly pinpoint the time when the demons will make an appearance, or when I will be needed here.”
“Demons, by the way?”
“Yeah, why?”
“It’s five in the afternoon. They never come up during broad sunlight.” Izzy cuts him, suddenly hit with the oddity of this godforsaken mission.
“Before Valentine, for sure. Since his sudden reappearance, though, nothing has been quite the same.” Alec explains and then proceeds to continue with what he was saying. “Anyway, Magnus knows all this. He has proved to be okay with it. He didn’t have to be so—“ he gestures with his hands, trying to find the right adjective, “unreasonable, all of the sudden.”
“Unreasonable how?”
“You know… Aldetree called, and told me about this mission and how it’d be best if Jace and I would lead it, and when I announced it to Magnus he objected and claimed I never fully commit myself to our relationship since I always seem to find an excuse to run away from whatever we’re up to. He made a scene in front of the entire restaurant.” Alec sighs. “As if tonight was going to be any more important than any other of previous our dates.”
Izzy fights back a smirk, feeling herself on the edge of letting the cat out of the bag and informing Alec on everything his boyfriend has been secretly up to those past three months.
She keeps it together, though.
“Oh c’mon. Stop paraphrasing. I’m sure that wasn’t what he said.”
“Well, that’s what he meant.” Alec sighs and Izzy laughs lightly, inching closer to her brother.
“Did you speak to him after this?” she asks. As if I don’t know, she thinks to herself.
“No, there wasn’t really much time to do so. Jace and I left immediately after I portalled here and we came back just now.” Alec shakes his head, turning to look down at his shoes.
“Are you gonna talk to him, at least?”
“Shouldn’t he be the one to reach out first? I mean—he was the one who yelled at me.” Alec argues, defensively crossing his arms over his chest.
“Don’t be childish. And I thought I was the younger one here,” she swats his arm, earning a surprised stare from Alec. “It’s not about who started it, Alec. If you want to be okay with him, then there’s no shame in calling him yourself. Do you want you guys to be okay?”
Alec shrugs. Stubborn, Izzy thinks.
Life would be so much easier if her big brother wasn’t so freaking persistent most of the time.
“I—I do want that. But I still don’t understand what hurt him so much; we’ve dealt with the same problem before.” Alec admits.
“I wouldn’t blame him if he eventually got fed up with someone constantly cockblocking your alone time. He knows, you both know and understand how scarce this time is, he wants to make the best out of it. There wasn’t anything weird with his reason, as far as I can tell.” Isabelle responds, getting hold of his upper arm and squeezing gently to convince him. Alec licks his lips nervously.
“I’ll see what I will do, okay? For now all I want to do is take a shower and maybe nap, or something, I don’t know.”
Izzy smiles weakly at him, silently praying Jace comes through quickly enough so Alec doesn’t lock himself up in his room until tomorrow, like he always does when he needs to kick back.
And right on time, as if he heard her prayers, she sees Jace jog towards them, his long hair flopping over his eyes as he does so. He calls after Alec with a shout, the boy turning around to look at him.
Izzy thanks all the gods and angels above for Jace and Simon’s punctuality.
“Alec, we need you.” Jace exhales, trying his best to look as concerned as he needs to look without scaring Alec out of his mind.
“For what?” Alec’s scowl is back and prominent on his face, his thick eyebrows stitched together in query.
“Magnus… We need to get to the loft right now. Magnus needs us.”
“W- What? What happened? Is he okay- did anything happen?” Alec stammers, too worried to care about the speed with which the words are coming out of his mouth. Izzy frowns in acted puzzlement.
“I don’t know. Simon called me and told me to turn up straight away.”
“And he didn’t tell you why? Damn it, why is that vampire still around?” Alec blurts out, instantly running towards the doors of the Institute. He pulls up his phone from his pocket, dialing up Magnus’ number, only to receive no answer. His anxiety grows and grows as he storms out, the endless possibilities of what could have happened to Magnus, his Magnus, swarming his brain and cutting his breath. Jace and Izzy are a few feet behind, following him. They briefly high five each other in victory.
“Do you think Alec will get mad at us for working behind his back?” Jace asks, turning his head to look at Izzy as they run after their brother. Izzy just laughs.
“He’ll be too happy to hold a grudge.”
***
Magnus is resting his weight on the balcony railing, waiting. He can feel his heart thumping loudly in his chest, and he could swear that at some point, it will burst out of his ribcage and leave him for dead.
And now is definitely not the right time for his heart to give in.
It had now gotten dark, the final traces of sun retrieving back down the horizon to give way for the night to take over. Magnus isn’t really sure how time managed to pass by so quickly.
It took every single ounce of strength he had in him to resist swiping right to Alec’s call, but he made it. He wishes there was another, less frightening way they could muster up to effectively catch Alec’s attention so the Plan B could work, but the only thing he can do is pray he remembers to say everything he wants to say to Alec before going down on one knee.
Clary and Maia had left twenty minutes ago, telling him they would be around the block to come over for the after party. Magnus isn’t even sure if there will be an after party at all, but he went with it. He takes Maia’s word and thinks rationally, since “there is absolutely no way Alec will say no to you, no matter how or where you choose to propose to him”.
After all, the girls’ presence in his loft as he swirled around the area, lighting up endless rows of candles and they followed him, trying to keep up, was inarguably comforting.
Magnus still is fierce to believe a proposal in Paris, the city of love, would be much more majestic and memorable, but it’s not like Plan B is entirely bad. He will propose in their balcony, after all.
Oh, how many things have taken place on this very balcony.
From arguments, to make-up kisses, to wine-drinking while curled up in each other admiring the perfect view of the New York City.
From bitter ‘I hate you’s, to regretful and forgiving ‘I love you’s.
To that one time they almost had sex right there on Magnus’ lounging chair, before the older man convinced the boy straddling him they better took it to the bedroom unless Alec wanted the entire population of Brooklyn to see them fucking.
It all means so much to what Alec and Magnus have come to have.
Magnus waits some more.
He ponders how infinitely thankful he is to everyone for helping him out the last minute, especially towards the girls. They both knew Magnus could absolutely prep his apartment accordingly using streams of summoning magic, yet they too, just like Simon, wouldn’t stop arguing that it wasn’t only the apartment that needed prepping. It was himself, too. Magnus now hands it to them, since if it weren’t for their soft and calm voices and their thoughtful advice, his anxiety would have driven him absolutely crazy and he would find himself ruining the moment for the second time in one day.
He would never forgive it to himself if he did that.
He can’t change anything now, though, the deed is already done and Alec is already on his way. There’s nothing else left for Magnus to do.
Apart from not messing up.
And waiting a little longer.
He only has time for one, long, trembling breath before he hears the door of his lair fly open, Alec’s heavy footsteps following shortly after, his nervous voice calling his name.
“Magnus? Magnus, are you—” Alec stops right on his heels, taking in the sight of the place. There are candles everywhere, in every single corner of the loft: upon all furniture, spread all over the marble floor, only leaving a wide path of ground empty for him and Magnus to walk on. Magnus turns around to look at his boyfriend’s eyes skim the room in awe, before they meet him, instant relief washing over them seeing Magnus is okay.
Magnus smiles, and feels his heart skip a couple of beats.
“You’re here.” he manages to say, innstantly a little disappointed in himself that’s all his brain would produce.
“Magnus, what is all this? What—“ Alec then remembers he didn’t come alone, and spins around to glance at Izzy and Jace standing by the doorstep, both smiling knowingly at him. Izzy winks at her brother, and she shuts the door carefully, giving them privacy.
Alec takes a few careful steps down the candle-void path towards the balcony where Magnus is at, the latter also inching closer to him. Alec steps out, feeling a slightly cold breeze hit him the moment he reaches Magnus’ side.
Magnus’ eyes follow his boyfriend as he moves up to him, and he tries to gulp down the massive lump in his throat before speaking.
"Alexander… I probably have to apologize for worrying you about an emergency that wasn’t even real, but your dear sister Isabelle managed to convince me when she said that this would be the only way to get you here as quickly as possible.”
“Izzy? What does she have to do with anything?” Alec frowns, Magnus instantly chuckling at his oblivion to the entire situation.
“Her role was crucial, actually,” Magnus answers and lets his eyes drop to the ground. He licks his lips, nervous as to how exactly he should put it straight. “The truth is, I had much bigger plans for this shared evening which sadly enough didn’t work out. But, after a very persistent persuading session with Isabelle and her nerdy, overly-excited vampire boyfriend, here I am, not calling this off.”
He then reaches over and clasps Alec’s hands between his own, which were by now sticky and clammy from sweat. He lifts his gaze again, only to meet his Shadowhunter’s clouded eyes.
Those eyes.
Magnus could swear in a heartbeat they had the most strikingly beautiful hue he has ever seen. And he has been around for too many years, everyone knows that for a fact.
He’s looked at far too many pairs of eyes yet none of them managed to make him fall in love so deeply, so quickly.
"Calling what off? Magnus, what are you talking about, you’re not making any sense.”
"I'm getting there, sweetheart." Alec flushes slightly at the sound of Magnus’ pet name, and takes a deep breath. Magnus beams fondly upon seeing Alec’s reaction.
He will never get tired of worshipping the effect he has on this boy.
"For the longest time, I have been alone. I spent most of the many centuries I've had the blessing to be alive into without anyone by my side, because all my efforts to open up or attach myself to anyone would go to waste. People would mostly run away after I dared to get a little too personal. And the ones that stayed, they would often take advantage of me, or try to shame me, making me think I wasn’t worth loving.” Magnus’ breath hitches in his throat, but goes on as if unaffected. “I believed that I was mostly a burden for people, too messed up, with too many personality issues for one to handle for longer than they did. This only led to me hiding behind tall walls I had built around me. I isolated myself; I refrained from committing for too long so I could protect myself. It wasn’t the right or the moral thing to do, but it worked for me, for as long as it did. I had come to think my heart was no longer functional for loving, which isn’t rare for a warlock. We practically live forever, after a while our feelings and emotions tend to fade away or grow fainter as the centuries go by.”
“But then, I saw you. I saw you at one out of the countless nights I would spend attending Downworlder parties, gracefully bending over to steal a seraph from your newly dead opponent, and my instincts immediately kicked in and told me to run away, as fast as my abilities could allow me. I could truthfully hear my brain shouting at me to portal somewhere far, so to avoid another potentially devastating heartbreak. But, I guess I didn’t go far enough, because later that same night we would cross paths again, and you would save my life, and mark our first official introduction to each other with a medium rare meat pun." Alec chokes out a laugh and Magnus is sure he tears up solely because Alec is too, his eyes red-rimmed and glassy with tears he hopes are purely out of happiness.
“It’s your fault the meat pun happened, I shall remind you.” Alec argues, trying to somehow lighten up the mood, even though the tears pooling in his eyes.
“Not one of my proudest moments, I have to admit.” Magnus nods, shaking his head back and forth as he replays the conversation in his head. Alec is still smiling, but he urges him to go on, finally starting to realize what is going on.
“Please continue, Magnus.”
Magnus sighs audibly while he attempts to put his thoughts in order.
"Since then, we've been inevitably drawn to each other. I got to know you better, and was pleased to find out you don't actually hate everyone and everything that dares to walk within your near vicinity and isn't a member of your family, and you got to know a side of me no one has seen before, or never stayed long enough to see, for that matter. The honest side. The one hundred percent deglamored side, both physically and emotionally." Alec would pout at this, but Magnus is spilling out words too fast for him to interrupt and argue. "We always laugh looking back at how devastatingly bad our first date was, and I still agree that there should be an written rule that no one should ever talk about exes and no’s on their first date, but we still overcame that obstacle.”
“And I’m so glad we did, because if you chose to walk away back then, I wouldn’t be able to be here with you at this very moment, assuring you of this very thing.”
Magnus' hands move over to wrap around Alec's neck, letting his thumb trace the outline of the deflect rune that is inscribed there and Magnus loves to mark. Alec shivers beneath his touch, and a single tear drops onto his cheek, letting Magnus swipe it away with a gentle finger. He absolutely hates that he made Alec cry, but he knows this shouldn’t happen any other way if you consider Alec will be Magnus’ fiancé by the time this night is over.
"I may have had a long past. I may have had all sorts of memories that I can’t let go of. You had every right to be weirded out by the rough number of said memories. You also had every right to walk away. But if I can promise only one thing, Alexander, that’s this: not one these memories could possibly be adequate enough to compare to what you and I have come to be until now." Magnus' voice breaks and his breath hitches in his throat for the second time and he's now fully sobbing, thick tears staining his cheeks but he doesn't care. He loves his Alexander so much no word would ever hold a meaning as deep as he would need it to be to try and calculate it.
"Your existence in my life, it's-- you are the first person that ever made me feel like even eternity is not enough time for us two to be together.”
Alec manages a faint, hurting smile in between his tears and proceeds to interrupt Magnus.
“But I’m not immortal; eternity isn’t even close to what we have available.”
Magnus gasps lightly at the comment, yet he doesn’t let it pain him. He is well aware how unpleasant and heart-breaking his immortality issue would turn to be as Alec’s mortal years pass by. He recognizes how he will be forced to say goodbye, in due time.
“Alexander… I’m immortal, and I know that you aren’t. No matter how hard it might end up being for me to eventually let you go, I’m totally okay with this, us, staying that way. I don’t know what life has in stock for us both. And I can’t pretend to know, either. What I do know, though, is that I’m willing to spend the remaining of this century with the man I will forever love the most. And I’m also more than willing to run through the upcoming rest of these centuries looking back at our shared past and smiling proudly because no one ever managed to make me feel as worthy as you did."
Both of them are a mess now, their tears carving wet lines on their cheeks, but their smiles burn so bright they could almost turn the night into day. Magnus ends his speech, lets go of Alec and slowly bows down in front of him, his right hand reaching behind at his dress pants' back pocket to produce a small, red, velvet soft box. Alec gasps, even if Magnus is sure he knew it was coming by now. He opens the box with shaky fingers to reveal the thin, silver ring. Alec covers his mouth with his hands in utter astonishment, still unable to hold back the tears that his eyes effortlessly produce.
"So, having said that, I would like to propose a question." Magnus swipes a tear away, knowing his makeup is smudged and that glitter is probably littering every inch of his face (in a messier way than usual), yet he couldn't care less at that point. His smile widens, and Alec laughs. "I’m wondering what that question could be."
"Oh, are you, now? I guess you barely know me, then." Magnus teases and earns an exasperated but loving eye-roll from Alec.
"Just say it already. Please." Alec can’t help but bend down on his knees too, so he has Magnus at eye to eye level.
"Alec Lightwood, will you marry me, Magnus Bane, and promise to let me live the rest of our little infinity appreciating every single moment I got to spend loving you?"
"I'm surprised it took you this long," Alec sobs, his facial expression giving away his endless happiness. "Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Magnus then squeals, and wow, he cannot believe he just produced this sound. It makes Alec cackle, though, and it’s such a precious reaction he can’t resist leaning in to feverishly press his lips against Alec's.
Their kiss is both urgent and languid, tender and starved, soft and heated.
They kiss like they simultaneously have all and no time in the world.
Magnus smiles upon the familiarity of Alec’s taste, his tongue licking his lips in search of allowance into his mouth. Alec parts his lips, kissing Magnus back with equal passion, never under appreciating the way their lips move together in perfect sync. Magnus lets his free hand meet the back of Alec's neck and gently tugs at his hair, all too aware of the response his action would lead to. Alec shivers and lets out a soft sigh, biting down at Magnus' bottom lip. Magnus groans, breaking free to catch his breath and admire the sight of Alec's kiss swollen pink lips.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Magnus,” Alec says, his voice ragged and coarse as if they have been kissing for hours. He then goes on and pecks Magnus’ lips in between affirming, sure ‘yeses’’ to punctuate his agreement. Magnus grins so wide his cheeks are hurting, and melts into Alec’s affection.
"I love you. So, freaking much, it’s driving me insane." Magnus says when Alec stops to breathe him in, lips hovering over Alec's, unable to let him go.
"I love you equally. And much, much more." Alec smiles, kissing Magnus again.
Neither of them is sure for how long they have been exchanging kisses, knelt down on the balcony floor, wrapped up together in a small cocoon of love.
He pulls back mere seconds later, and Magnus figures it’s about time he put the ring on Alec. He pulls it out from the box, nodding at Alec to extend out his left hand. He does, the ring leaving back goosebumps as Magnus slides it up on his fourth finger, both because of how cold it is against his warm skin and of the meaning behind it. He looks at his now ring adorned hand and smirks, evidently happy.
"I know you don't normally wear jewelry and especially rings, but I couldn’t not get you one. Also I once walked in on you trying out some of my own rings while you thought I was still in the shower, so I just knew I definitely had to propose with a ring.” Magnus smirks playfully as the words leave his mouth. Alec is left gawking at him.
“You what.”
“Don’t try and deny it, darling. My eyes are never mistaken. Especially for something this precious.”
Alec feels a blush creep up from his neck but doesn’t even bother arguing. "I thought, well, they look amazing on you so maybe they would have the same effect on me. They actually didn't suit me as much as I wished they would." Alec presses his lips together, smiling shyly and letting his eyes fall yet again on his engagement ring.
"This one, though? Just perfect. I can barely believe it is so much more than just a piece of jewelry." He smiles again, holding the thin band between his fingers, twirling it around.
Magnus is basking, to say the least.
"I knew it was yours the moment I saw it. I don’t know what made me so sure, but I was so convinced it was the one. It’s nothing too extravagant, really, but-" he shrugs, and feels Alec's arms wrap around his shoulders. Magnus hugs back, going for the waist, and they just stay there, holding each other with inseparable force, illuminated with the dim light of the dozens of candles Magnus lit up just for this occasion, the faint sound of a slow song playing audible in the background.
Suddenly, the door bursts open and they break off to look at every single one of their friends roll into the room with cheering voices and clapping hands. They stare, too hazed by their own happiness to realize what is happening.
They pull each other up, swiping away the last of their tears, as they greet and receive congratulatory wishes from everyone. Magnus laughs proudly as he sees Jace pat Alec on the shoulder once before enclosing him in his arms, shouting "Bro! You're getting married for real now!" before Isabelle catches his attention by reaching out to hug him with a pointed, "I told you so" look. Simon follows shortly after, practically screaming the same way he'd done after Alec walked down from the altar announcing the cancellation of his wedding by fervently kissing Magnus on the lips. Magnus can barely hear what he's saying over the buzz that is taking place in his living room. He watches Luke and Clary grin at Alec as they're all talking, glad to see Luke made it here, but he is taken aback by Maia hugging him from behind, looking up at him with sparkling eyes.
“I told you it was pointless to worry,” she whispers in his ear, accompanying her remark with a cheeky smirk.
“He said yes.” Magnus remarks, mouth slightly agape with disbelief.
“Of course he did, Magnus,” she replies, rolling her eyes in mock-disappointment. “He loves you. And you do, too.”
Magnus has to admit she has a point.
He looks over the crowd of people, dark eyes searching for Alec. He spots him in no time, and is left wordlessly staring at him, unable to believe he got so lucky to have this amazing man by his side.
And it’s even harder for him to believe that the same, amazing man agreed to be his husband for life.
Alec glances hastily at him as he talks to Simon and Magnus notices how he stops talking, probably mid-sentence, as Alec smiles fondly at him, eyes filled with admiration.
It's all very beautiful. It's all very warm and welcoming. If it weren’t for their disastrous date in Paris, they wouldn’t be here celebrating their engagement with all of their friends. Magnus thought he wouldn’t have the opportunity to propose again, but here they were, spending the evening much better than he would expect.
His plan B is almost surely better than his plan A.
Almost.
(He knows he’s lying to himself, though. A proposal in their balcony overthrows any other idea.)
The celebration passes by in a blur. There’s a lot of drinking and dancing and kissing (tipsy Alec is the best Alec), and Magnus doesn’t realize how late it has gotten until the first goodnights are being exchanged.
A few hours later, when everyone is gone and the party has died down, Alec and Magnus are left alone in the loft. They’re holding on to each other as they slow dance to a song Magnus chose, and it gets as perfect as it possibly could. Magnus whispers the lyrics to the song directly at Alec, only for him to hear even though no one is around. His soft, hushed voice is painted with promises he has already taken but will never stop reminding Alec of.
“ I'll be taking my time, spending my life
Falling deeper in love with you. "