The Malec Chronicles

Plans

He lost count of what number date this was.

It was hard to keep count, really, with him not knowing what constituted as a date and what was just "hanging out" or if there was really any difference between the two.  Alec knew he might have been being ridiculous, trying to tally up the number like it mattered.  He shouldn't care if they took a walk down the busiest, most crowded streets holding steaming cups of coffee three times or five (five), or if they've gone to that pasta place on the corner of 22nd street so many times that they have a booth they consider their own (they have, fifteen times), or if its only the second time Alec's let Magnus take him by the hand and led him back to his bedroom, even if they hadn't done anything more than just kiss, or the twentieth (it was the second). 

But it matters, somehow.

At least, it matters enough that he struggles to count them all up and think back as he walks up the stairs to where he can ring Magnus' doorbell, distracted enough that he forgets to even be nervous or wonder if he looks alright.  The nerves spike up again when the door opens, revealing a disgruntled Magnus, who seems to have decided that they've done this often enough that he doesn't need to greet Alec with wearing an extravagant amount of sparkles or wait to show him into the living room.  "I have got to get you a key."  Magnus says, sinking back down onto his work table.  "I'm almost done, just give me second."

"It's alright."  And it was alright.  Before, Alec might have just stood in the door way awkwardly, feeling his stomach sink and his heart climb into his throat at the same time, his mind running around with anxieties because he was worried that he might be bothering him or maybe that he wasn't wanted here, after all.  Today, though, Alec just trails down the hallway behind him, slipping off his boots and jacket, laying down all the weapons with them, except his stele.  Then he folds himself onto the couch, in the corner that he's beginning to think of as his own, and pulls Chairman Meow into his lap despite his protests. 

"I can't believe he doesn't scratch you."  Magnus said, appearing behind him.  "The plan for tonight still the same?"

"Unless you want to do something different."  Alec wants to take back the words after he said them, worried that Magnus might go into another lecture about how he shouldn't defer to him, that Alec deserved to make choices and do things that make him happy instead of doing them for Magnus, about how they were equal and their opinions were just as valid.  But it was different this time, he thinks, because when he said it his words weren't hesitant and unsure, they were playful and curious, like he was genuinely wondering if there was another option for him to pick from. 

"Nah."  Magnus snapped his fingers in the direction of the tv and sat down, stretching out beside Alec.  It takes him a second, but Alec finally gathers the courage to put his arm around Magnus and pull him closer.  They've been doing this for (approximately long enough to go on thirty one dates, as well as an extra one hundred interactions, but whose counting) long enough that Alec shouldn't have to worry that his touch is unwanted or second guess himself, but he still feels it a little, like a whisper in his head that won't go away.  He supposes its just a part of himself, branded onto his personality like the runes on his skin.  Still, Magnus doesn't hesitate, settling down in a way that means he's pressed even closer to Alec and smiling up at him.

The plan, as Magnus put it, was to watch a few movies and then have Alec back home before anyone noticed he was missing.  They always have their plans, things that they think are simple and easy and normal boyfriend activities, but they never go according to plan.  Like the time they tried to make breakfast together and only succeeded in covering the entire kitchen in flour.  Or the time they were going to go wine tasting (because that's a thing, apparently) and the owner had the sight, which meant they both appeared under legal drinking age, which meant that they went back to Magnus' loft and he played bartender instead, which was just a brilliant idea.  Or when Magnus decided that he just needed to finish up work, just one little thing, and there was suddenly a giant, slimy demon in the middle of the living which not only sort of ruined the mood, but earned Magnus a lecture on what exactly counted as breaking Clave law.

Tonight really wasn't any different.

"Oh, my God."  Alec stared at himself in the mirror, not bothering to turn on the lights.  The sun was streaming through the window, leaving him no way to hide from his reflection.  "I look-,"

"Adorable?"  Magnus suggested, leaning against the door frame.

"I was going to say like I was just kissing a warlock!"  Not that that was a bad thing, really.  And it's not like he doesn't do it all the time.  It's just that normally he sneaks into the institute and grabs a few hours of sleep in his own bed, takes a shower, and reminds himself sternly that nothing ever happened.  It's going to be a lot harder to remind himself of that, to act like there's not something going on in his life that makes him incredibly happy and that he's dying to at least tell Izzy about, if not Jace, right after its happened.  Not when his cheeks are all red because he can't stop blushing and his hairs sticking up more than normal and he has a distinct aura around him that Izzy will be able to see through in a second, just like Alec used to see through her when he would catch her sneaking back to her room after visiting Meliorn.  Not when he's wearing a different shirt than the one he came in, all because his boyfriend magiced it away instead of waiting to take it off by hand, and was too distracted to remember where he put it.

"I doubt anyone but Isabelle is going to make that jump." 

"Oh, by the angel, Izzy."  He lets his head fall into his hands, then turns to Magnus.  "I was supposed to be here for five hours, tops."

Magnus grins, though the lights dimming in his eyes, just a little.  "I know."

"They're all going to be awake, and looking for me, and I'm going to waltz through the front door and they'll know I've been out all night."

Magnus' smile was definitely sliding off his face, just a little.  "That's true."

"So I'm probably going to have to go kill some demons on the way back, say I couldn't sleep and just went out for a quick hunt."  Alec could hear the words that Magnus was dying to stay, the ones that would demand that Alec finally just admit out loud that he was ashamed of this, that he stop pretending that this isn't a thing, that he quits hiding behind Jace as an excuse for not loving Magnus like they both want him to.  But he doesn't.  He pushes all that aside, just like Magnus does, because it's easier, and a lot less painful.

"It'd probably be a good idea."  Magnus was staring at the floor now, and Alec knows that he was probably expecting a better good-bye, or an attempt at eating breakfast together, even if it's just the two of them drinking coffee that was way too strong and a bit too bitter, since Alec refuses to eat any stolen food and Magnus didn't buy creamer.

"But since I'm already late, a few more hours couldn't hurt, could it?" 

He can hear the hope in his own voice, the uncertainty that creeps in at the worst of times.  But he can also see the smile that lights up Magnus face and the hand that's being stretched out to him, and there is no hesitation in either of their faces when Alec moves to take it.

"No, Alexander."  Magnus was smiling, pulling him towards him.  "It can't."