Secret (Alec Lightwood)

Chapter 20

The following morning, I wake up with my head still on Alec's shoulder. I smile slightly to myself as I look up at him. He's still asleep, I've gotta be quiet. I slowly sit up, and the arm that he has around me tightens his grip and tries to pull me back down. "You're not asleep, are you?"

He opens his eyes and smiles slightly at me. "Morning."

I chuckle. "How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good, actually. Better than in a while."

"Same here. Maybe you'll have to come more often."

He chuckles. "I'm always here."

I sit up again as I yawn and reach for my stele on the nightstand.

"Why are you getting ready so early?"

"What time is it?"

"It's quarter of six in the morning."

I put my stele back down. "God, why am I getting up this early? I'm going back to sleep."

He chuckles again as I lay down beside him and he puts his arms around me. "You know how much I love you, right?"

"I'm not having sex, Alec."

"No, I wasn't even thinking about that. It was a legitimate question."

"Why'd you feel the need to ask it?"

He shrugs. "Just wanted to make sure."

"Well yes, I know how much you love me. Do you know how much I love you?"

"Of course I do. Which is why I was thinking... we could probably get killed any day now, especially if Valentine is trying to make an army and we've got Clary with us."

"Okay?" I look up at him curiously. What's he trying to prove here?

"So I figured, I wanna do something. Something I've been thinking about for a while now."

"Alec. I just said I'm not having sex."

"That isn't it. That's not it at all."

"When what is it?"

He slowly sits up. "I've been thinking about this for a while now."

"Stop being vague!"

He laughs, reaches into his pajama pants pocket, and pulls something out that I can't see because he's covering it with his hand. "I love you. More than I thought I ever could love someone."

"Alec, this is sweet and all but please get to the point."

He smiles slightly. "Love isn't meant to be complicated. It's the little things that make you fall in love with someone. Whenever I compliment you on anything, even just your smile, it makes your smile even bigger. And whenever you say my name, it gives me butterflies in my stomach. It's the chills that spread all throughout my body each time we kiss. And most importantly, it's the way that I fall in love with you over and over again every single day, each day's love stronger than the last. I don't want that to end. I want to be able to have that happen forever." He uncovers the object in his hand, a small black box. "I wanna be with you forever. Would you do me the extreme honor of someday being my bride?" He opens the box and reveals an engagement ring.

My eyes widen and I look at him. "A-are you serious?"

"I want to spend forever with you."

I smile. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" I throw my arms around him and hug him tighter than I ever have before.

After a moment he pulls out of the hug, puts the ring on my finger, and kisses me.

Once I can't breathe I pull away and press my forehead to his. "I love you, Alexander Gideon Lightwood."

He smiles yet again. "We're using full names now?"

"I wanted to do it once."

He chuckles. "Well, I love you too Charlotte Annabelle Stolon soon-to-be Lightwood."

I smile at him. This is what true love feels like, I guess. It's the best feeling in the world. I feel safe. Not only because I've got a dagger under my bed, but because I'm with Alec and I know he'll protect me if I can't protect myself. I feel warm. Every part of my body that's touching his feels red-hot, and the rest feels ice-cold. And most of all, I feel happy. Because I'm sitting next to the love of my life, who I'm now set to marry.

**A/N hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while, I feel awful about it. I had some free time, so I wrote this really cute Charlotte/Alec moment. I hope y'all liked it! I'm gonna try to get back to daily updates, but my sisters coming by with her new baby tomorrow, I've gotta get ready for a debate team event, I've gotta send a video to France, and I'm trying out for softball at my school so I need to do some training. But I'll definitely find time to write for you guys, hopefully every day. :)