ISpy

Chapter 41

Alec:

Alec stormed out of the Institute, bumping roughly into agents and not giving a single glance back. He forced open the doors and was almost at a jog as he went to Magnus' house. He made it there in record time and had to stop himself from pounding on Magnus' door. He knocked lightly instead.

Magnus opened the door and his face went from joy to concern as he ushered Alec in, while saying "What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

Alec obeyed, and sat down on Magnus' couch. Magnus sat close beside him. "No, I just..."
Alec struggled with his words, "...could you just hold me, please?"

Magnus smiled a sad smile. "Of course," he said and opened his arms. Alec fell into them, and everything came crashing down on him once again, and he began to cry. He was silent at first, but then he couldn't help himself and a few sobs escaped him. Magnus only held him tighter, and Alec cried until Magnus' shirt was soggy from his tears, and he felt as if he had no tears left in him.

***

Magnus:

Alec cried until his sobs became silent, and Magnus realized that he had fallen asleep. He had a huge tear stain on his shirt, but he didn't really mind. He could only wonder what had happened to Alec to make him so upset. This was the second time he'd seen Alec cry in the past couple of days. A lot has been going on.

Magnus stroked Alec's hair. He was so peaceful in his sleep, with a quiet gracefulness that he assumed all Shadowhunters possessed after their extensive training. His chest rose up and down, and he shifted slightly, but kept his arms wrapped around Magnus, as if he never planned on letting go. Magnus hoped that was the case.

Magnus didn't know how long it took for Alec to awaken. When he did, he got up and looked into Magnus' eyes.  Magnus' shirt was slightly damp, and Magnus could still see Alec's tear stains on his cheeks. It was the most vulnerable he'd ever seen him, and all Magnus could see was the beauty in him.

"Magnus?"

"Yes, Alexander?" He still looked so sad, though he could tell sleeping had left him slightly better than he was when he arrived.

"Do you mind if I sleep here tonight?" This wasn't what Magnus had expected him to say, though he wasn't sure what it was he expected.

"Of course," Magnus replied, "you know you're always welcome here." He knew there was much more that Alec wasn't saying, but he would let him take his time. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Well, I'm kinda hungry, but I also just want to lay here with you all day." Alec said.

"Well, how about this. We'll order takeout from that Chinese place you like, and we'll only move a minimum amount."

Alec smiled slightly. "Sure." He laid back in Magnus' arms and Magnus took out his phone to order takeout. It came quicker than it normally did, and Magnus and Alec enjoyed their food and each other's company. After eating, they moved to the bedroom, and Alec laid with his head on Alec's chest, and his arms and legs on Magnus' body. He hadn't said anything for a while, and Magnus thought he'd gone to sleep.

"My dad kicked me out of the Institute." Alec said.

"What? What happened?"

"He told me I wasn't welcome in the Institute until I came to my senses."

"And by that you mean-"

"Realize I'm not gay, yes. He even told me I was just acting out, as if I were a rebellious teenager."

"Alec, I'm sorry-

"You have nothing to apologize for. This was my decision and I'm going to stand beside it. I don't care if my Dad disowns me." Alec moved to look at Magnus in his eyes. "As long as I'm with you, I don't care what anyone else thinks of me."

Magnus stroked Alec's cheek, and smiled. Alec moved in for a kiss that was quick and sweet. When he ended it, Magnus told him, "You can stay at my house for as long as you like. Remind me and I'll give you a key tomorrow."

Alec nodded. "I'll have to go over there and get my things tomorrow. You can give it to me then."

There was a sudden knock on the door. Alec moved off of Magnus and he went to go open the door. Izzy was there, with a furious look on her face. "Where's Alec? Is he here?" she demanded.

"Yes, I'll go get him," he said, not bothering to address Izzy's tone, since he was pretty sure of the reason why.

He went back to the bedroom, and left Izzy standing at the door. Alec looked at Magnus curiously. "Who was at the door?"

"Izzy. She didn't look too happy."

Alec got up immediately and went to the door. Magnus followed him, and found that Izzy had moved to the living room, but was still standing.

"Alec, I've been calling you and texting you. Why didn't you respond?"

"I turned my phone off," Alec replied sheepishly.

"Did Dad kick you out?"

"Why would you think that?" Alec said.

"Well, I went to your room to go talk to you, and you weren't there. So I tried calling and texting you, but you wouldn't respond. So, then I went to go ask Dad if you were on a mission, and he told me you weren't at the Institute at the moment, which seemed suspicious. So, then I came here, hoping that's where you were. And while I was coming, I thought that maybe Dad had kicked you out. Is it true?"

"Ah...yes." Alec said.

"Well, in that case, I'm going to stay with Meliorn."

"What? Why?"

"If you can't stay at the Institute because of Magnus-"

"Now, Izzy you know just as well as I do that's it's not just because he's a warlock-"

"Well, I don't care. If you can't stay at the Institute, I don't want to be there."

"Izzy, you can't-"

"Why the hell not?"

"Izzy, look, you have to stay at the Institute. I don't want you getting into trouble because of me. Just, please, you don't have to go now, but please go back to the Institute tonight."

Izzy eyed him, then said, "Fine, I'll go. But only because you asked me to. Because don't you know I will gladly get into any kind of trouble for you, Alec. I'm your sister, above my position in the Clave and everything else."

"Thank you, Izzy."

"You're welcome. And that goes for you too, Magnus. You're family now." Izzy said, surprising Magnus a bit.  "I'm going to go now, but Alec, turn your damn phone on." She left Magnus' apartment with a grin