A/N: It's still Valentine's Day somewhere right?
I hope you like it:
It had been a quiet afternoon when Magnus first brought it up.
They were both in the study, Alec curled up on the futon with a cup of tea and a book written in French and Magnus at the desk looking through some scrolls that a client wanted translated by the next week.
Alec was engrossed in the text, so when Magnus spoke, he didn't initially hear what the warlock had said. In fact, he didn't even know that his boyfriend had said something until Magnus called out his name.
"Hmm?" Alec asked, not looking up from the page he was reading.
"I asked you: what are we going to do for Valentine's Day, love?"
Now Alec looked up from his book to shoot his boyfriend a confused look. He only knew of one person named Valentine and he couldn't think of a reason why that maniac would have a day named after him.
"What's Valentine's Day?" He asked.
Magnus froze before his face transformed into one that was nothing short of incredulous.
Alec's gaze traveled down to his book, the small amount of tea that was still in his cup, the carpet, the bookshelf, basically anything except the shocked look that resided in Magnus' eyes.
What was so important about this day that Alec didn't know about?
He heard the sound of Magnus pushing back his chair and standing up.
"I honestly have no idea how you Shadowhunter's find a way to know absolutely nothing about pop culture." Magnus stated before plopping down next to Alec on the futon.
The warlock carefully pried the cup and the book out of Alec's hands, set them on the floor, and then started by saying, "Valentine's day is only the most important holiday for couples-" and continued on for the next fifteen minutes explaining to Alec all about, the traditions, the romantic gestures, the presents, even a few examples of how he had celebrated the day himself in the past.
It was a lot to take in but by the time Magnus was done talking, he thought that he understood it.
"So, I'll ask again, what do you want to do for Valentine's Day, darling?"
"Um-I-" But he had no idea. Magnus had told him about going out dancing all night, and hot air balloon rides, and picnics at three in the morning. He didn't think he would be able to come up with something creative or something that Magnus had never done before.
It was going to be their first Valentine's day together and the fact that Magnus wanted to leave their plans up to him was enough to make him feel just a bit panicked.
What if he said the wrong thing?
What if Magnus hated his ideas?
So he took the easy way out,"I'm fine with doing whatever you want to."
Magnus smiled at that and ran his thumb across Alec's cheekbone, "Nice way to avoid the question, darling, but don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."
Alec's lips curled upward too, some of the tension leaving his body.
Now that it was in Magnus' hands, he was sure their day would be nothing short of perfect.
Of course his siblings were just as clueless to the holiday as he had been so when he brought it up the next day at morning training they were intrigued.
Clary reacted pretty much the same way that Magnus had- complete disbelief.
Jace's face shifted slightly in a way the informed Alec that his Parabatai seemed to find the whole premise of the holiday stupid but didn't dare to say as much in the presence of his girlfriend.
And Izzy tried to hide it, but he could tell that she was saddened by the prospect of having to spend the day alone since the person she was in love with didn't remember her. Besides from that, she seemed excited and more than willing to help her brothers find presents for their significant others. Even going so far as to make plans to go shopping after they had finished their training.
Both boys rolled their eyes and groaned but it was obvious to all of them that they appreciated the offer.
Especially Alec who had absolutely no idea as to what to get his boyfriend. Magnus was, after all- the freaking High Warlock of Brooklyn, anything that he wanted, he could have with a snap of his fingers.
Literally.
He tried to keep himself distracted by throwing everything that he had into the weapons training- even managing to knock Jace down while they were sparring a few more times than usual- but three hours later, his body was exhausted but his mind had not quieted down at all.
After showering and changing, the three of them set off.
They visited multiple stores that sold all types of things from clothes to jewelry to art supplies. At the latter, Jace was able to pick up multiple paint brushes and a new sketch book for Clary and was done rather quickly.
Alec, on the other hand, had yet to find anything or at least any one thing. He would pass by a shirt or some earrings or some eye shadow and instantly know that Magnus would love it.
But was it enough on its own?
What constituted as a good Valentine's day present anyway?
Finally, after hours of looking and still not finding the perfect gift, Jace sarcastically suggested that Alec just buy everything that Magnus would like.
And Alec knew his brother was kidding but at the same time he had to admit that it actually sounded like a good idea.
Alec was woken up by kisses being pressed onto his skin.
Starting at his collar bones, and slowly making their way up his throat, across his jawline and chin, his cheeks, his temples.
He opened his eyes to find his boyfriend leaning over him. When Magnus noticed that Alec was awake, he smiled before leaning down again to press their lips together. Sleepy though he was, the younger man immediately reacted.
At first, they were simple, closed mouthed kisses but one of them-Alec didn't really know who, and he didn't practically care enough to find out- parted their lips and the kisses suddenly deepened.
They kissed hotly until the need for air eventually grew to be too great and they had to break away.
But even while they were panting and trying to catch their breath, Alec attached his lips to the long expanse of Magnus' neck, sucking and biting his way across the smooth, caramel skin.
The older man moaned before breathing out, "If you keep that up, we're not going to be able to leave this bed today."
Magnus leaned down to nip at Alec's bottom lip suggestively before climbing off of him and getting out of the bed.
He stopped at the doorway to the room and held out a hand to Alec who was still trying to catch his breath after the abrupt halt of their make out session.
He threw the covers off of himself and headed over to where his boyfriend was standing. Before he could lace their hands together though, Magnus was moving behind him, covering his eyes, and everything went dark.
"Magnus!" He exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
He heard his boyfriend chuckling in his ear and felt the press of soft lips against his temple. "Relax, darling. Just trust me."
It wasn't that he didn't trust Magnus- it was that he was clumsy enough when he could see, there was no telling what he could manage to do when his eyes were covered.
But surely Magnus wouldn't let him trip and fall on his face, right?
"Okay, start walking now." The warlock said in his ear and he followed the instruction.
Magnus lead him out of the room, into the living room and then into the-kitchen?
When Magnus finally took his hands away from Alec's eyes, the boy discovered that he was right. They were in the kitchen but it looked different from how it normally did:
The floor was covered in glitter, flower petals were strewn over the table, curling red streamers that ended in hearts hung from the ceiling, and heart shaped balloons floated in the air.
Alec must have stared at the room in front of him, eyes wide and probably looking like an idiot for a moment too long because Magnus cleared his throat and asked, "What? Is it not fabulous enough for you?"
He meant it as a joke but Alec could have sworn that he heard a slight undertone of worry, as if Magnus was concerned that the Shadowhunter actually hated all of it.
Alec was quick to turn and face him then. "No-no-it's perfect. I love it." He smiled up at his boyfriend and Magnus smiled back softly, "When did you find the time to do this?"
Magnus winked, "I have my ways, sweetheart."
He lead Alec over to the table where two plates piled high with heart shaped waffles were set up.
After they sat down, Magnus snapped his fingers and a bottle of whipped cream appeared in his hand, which he used to bury both piles of waffles under.
Alec didn't miss the mischievous look that passed over his boyfriend's face but he figured that he would at least be able to take a single bite out of the waffles before Magnus thrust his arm forward to spray some whipped cream onto his nose.
Alec looked at him with his mouth hanging open in the shape of an 'O'. The look of shock was probably ruined by the cream on his face but he didn't care. He scooped up some of the whipped cream that was on top of his waffles with his finger and reached out to smear it on Magnus' caramel cheek.
And things just escalated from there until it turned into an all out war which one could say that Alec lost since he was covered in the most whipped cream but in his defense, he wasn't a warlock that had the ability to magick up unlimited amounts of ammo.
By the time their little food fight had died down, they were both laughing so hard that their eyes were watering.
Sitting there, Alec almost couldn't believe that exactly a year ago he was single, pining after his brother, and hadn't even known that such a holiday existed but now, here he was having breakfast with his boyfriend who he loved more than anything in the entire world.
Things really did change.
Turns out that after eating and getting cleaned up, Magnus' plan for their day involved curling up on the couch and watching bad romance movies. Some of them were better than others, but they were all extremely predictable since it was basically the same plot line being recycled into different scenarios.
Not that he was going to say that to Magnus.
It was very apparent that the older man had seen all of these movies before but he was still very interested by them. Alec didn't know if he was supposed to be impressed or worried that Magnus seemed to know all the words of The Notebook by heart.
And even though he knew exactly what was going to happen, his boyfriend still let out a (manly) squeal at the whole 'if you're a bird, then I'm a bird' scene and shed a few tears at the ending.
Besides from the crying, Alec was loving how their day was going.
There were no clients and no patrols.
No High Warlock and Shadowhunter.
It was just Magnus and Alec.
And today nothing else mattered but the two of them being together and being happy.
After Magnus' tears had dried, the warlock suggested that they get to the presents.
A spike of panic worked its way into his chest, disrupting the calm he had been feeling all day. Izzy had assured him that Magnus would love his gift(s) but that hadn't been enough to calm him down when she had first said it, and it still wasn't enough now.
Magnus snapped his fingers and something suddenly appeared on the coffee table in front of them.
"This one is actually from Catarina. I told her about my intention of baking a cake but she said that she didn't trust me enough with an oven so she made it herself."
The older man rolled his eyes but he couldn't stop the soft smile that came over his face while talking about his best friend.
Alec scooted forward on the couch to be able to see the cake better.
It was square, covered in red frosting, and written on it were the words:
Happy Valentine's Day!
P.S. I still want to be the best woman at your wedding~
Alec's eyes widened at the last bit and he let out an almost startled sounding laugh.
Wedding?
He and Magnus had just gotten back together a couple of months ago.
He turned his head to look at his boyfriend and tried to make a joke out of it as to not alert the warlock of the path that his thoughts were currently taking:
"Best woman, huh? She and Izzy are going to have a fun time fighting over that one."
Magnus smiled at that. "Probably won't be as fun for us if they force us to choose, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
He leaned forward to press his lips to Alec's in a brief kiss before saying, "And now for my present-"
He snapped his fingers again, this time resulting in a white box tied with a glittery ribbon to appear on Alec's lap.
His heart pounded in his ears while he untied the ribbon and opened the box to find a leather bound book with the words:
I love you because…
etched into the front.
He shot his boyfriend a confused look before taking the book into his hand and opening it up to a random page to find a picture of himself, smiling widely.
Your smile
was written underneath it in Magnus' familiar handwriting.
He turned to another page and there was a picture of him lying on the floor, probably after he had tripped over his own feet.
And there was him blushing.
And there was him laughing.
And kissing Magnus.
And were all of these different reasons for why Magnus loved him?
Alec never would have been able to guess that there was enough to fill up a whole book.
He looked up at Magnus again and asked, "How did you get all of these?"
Magnus waggled his eyebrows. "I told you, love, I have my ways."
Alec smiled and before he could say anything else, the warlock spoke again, "Look at the last page-" Magnus instructed before turning to the back of the book himself.
The last page was blank except for three words that seemed to have been written in white colored pencil.
It said:
Because you're you.
Alec felt a burning sensation in the corner of his eyes and his heart felt like it was being squeezed by a fist. He didn't understand why or how he had gotten so lucky and ended up with the best boyfriend in the planet- but he had and he was grateful for it.
He smiled up at Magnus before leaning forward to press their lips together.
They kissed until they ran out of air, and then they leaned their foreheads against each other.
Magnus was the one to break the silence. "Okay, now it's your turn."
Alec opened his eyes and expected to feel the same anxiousness that he had felt since he had first learned about this holiday but it wasn't there.
Maybe Izzy was right after all. Magnus had just given him a book with multiple reasons why he was loved. Even if his boyfriend didn't like the present, he wouldn't love Alec any less for it.
He pulled away from the circle of Magnus' arms and got down on his hands and knees so that he could get to his present that he had hidden underneath the couch "Mmm-" He heard from above him, "I'm liking this present already."
Alec drew the box out and stood, "Shut up." He said before plopping back down on the couch.
Magnus laughed and looked at the Shadowhunter expectantly. Alec placed the box onto Magnus' thighs and sat back to watch his boyfriend open it.
The long caramel fingers removed the lid from the big white box and his golden-green eyes widened as he looked inside of it.
Alec decided to take that as a good sign.
He knew what Magnus was seeing: the neon yellow tank top, the black shirt that was 'artfully ripped', the cologne, the lipsticks, the eye shadow palettes, the earrings and the bracelets.
"I couldn't decide on one thing so I just got a bunch. I hope you l-"
Magnus was quick to interrupt him,"Don't even finish that sentence. Of course I love every single thing in here. I love you."
He smiled, shiny and beautiful and magnificent, just like the rest of him, before drawing Alec in to kiss him again and again and again.
"I love you, too." The Shadowhunter managed to get in between kisses.
Alec had imagined what this day would be like but actually experiencing it in real life was so much better than anything that he ever could have been able to make up in his head.
He didn't know what else Magnus had in store for them but he was excited to find out.
Valentine's Day might just be one of his favorite holidays now.
A/N:
Fun fact: This is actually the first fic that I ever wrote. I started it last year but never finished so I was resolved to finish it and post it this year.
Make sure to leave me a comment telling me what you thought!
-Alexandermylove