Notes/Disclaimer: Alternate Universe/Mundane AU based on the characters and settings of the Shadowhunters TV series. Magnus/Alec ('Malec') romance featuring a major misunderstanding along the way. (Cross-posted on my Ao3 account.)

I got the idea for this fan-fiction after watching the Season 1 episode when Magnus told Alec that they should 'at least go to dinner first' before they got married.

Getting Married

"Magnus, I'm getting married."

This was the first semi-coherent sentence that Alec had said to him since they'd arrived at Magnus's apartment, after Magnus had shared a late-night walk home with a very drunk Alec, who had been rambling about anything and everything, from the cats that frequented Magnus's apartment, to his favorite TV shows, to how he thought that Jace and Clary were currently being idiots over something or other, and even something about vampires from the latest book series he was reading.

The rambling had continued while Magnus told Alec to go get ready for bed and he headed to his kitchen to get Alec a glass of water, giving him some privacy while he changed into a pair of Magnus's old pajamas.

Magnus had just managed to finally get Alec settled in his bed when the younger man had decided to casually mention the fact that he was getting married.

Not that Magnus generally minded the drunken rambling. After all, Alec spoke so little to him when he was sober that he was prepared to take anything he could get from Alec in the way of communication when he was drunk. It was one of the main reasons why Magnus always volunteered to walk Alec home, or even offered to let him stay over at his apartment on nights like these when Alec could no longer handle anymore alcohol, so that his more alcohol-tolerant siblings Izzy and Jace could continue their partying late into the night without having to worry about where their brother was or whether he was safe.

Surprisingly, both Izzy and Alec himself always seemed strangely enthusiastic about the idea of Alec leaving bars or clubs early to spend the night sleeping safely and comfortably in Magnus's bed or on Magnus's couch. He imagined that Izzy simply trusted him to keep Alec safe, as he'd always been considered as the slightly more responsible member of their group of friends, given that he was a little older than the others, but he wondered why Alec liked staying over at his place so much, especially when Alec never seemed to be very enthusiastic about speaking to him when he wasn't drunk.

Tonight, Izzy and Jace had wanted to head to some 'cool' new place they'd heard about called Pandemonium, where Clary and Simon were also apparently planning to hang out, so Magnus had volunteered to forgo the pleasures that Pandemonium would no doubt have to offer in order to keep an eye on an already drunk and tired Alec.

Not that Magnus was complaining about leaving the party early. A few years ago, he would have been the last to go home on a Saturday night (if he'd bothered to go home at all), but now, Magnus preferred spending these few treasured evenings with Alec, getting to see him open, unguarded, giggly and happy for a few hours before he fell into a peaceful sleep and woke up all grumpy again the next morning.

Alec's announcement that he was getting married, however, was definitely something that Magnus secretly wanted to complain about.

"Y-you're getting married?" Magnus asked him, for further clarification, trying to sound as calm as possible as he perched hesitantly on the side of his own bed, keeping a respectful distance while he watched Alec intently, hoping more than anything that Alec wasn't being serious.

Alec nodded, smirking to himself as he wriggled around a little in Magnus's bed and pulled the covers up around his shoulders, like he was really happy about his apparent engagement. He even giggled a little as he took a deep breath, exhaling into Magnus's pillow.

"Well, congratulations," Magnus attempted to smile back at him in response, trying not to let his shock at this news show on his face, and hoping that he at least sounded sincere and not like his heart was currently breaking into a million pieces.

He and Alec might not have ever been very close (in fact, Magnus was sure that the only thing that held them together was their mutual connection to Isabelle), but that didn't change the fact that Magnus had been in love with him from the moment he first met shy, nervous, blushing, deep, complicated, beautiful Alexander Lightwood, on the night when Magnus's best friend Izzy had practically dragged her brother out to a club with her because she'd decided that he needed to get out and socialize more. Magnus had never really preferred the strong, silent types in the past, but for the first time in a long time, he had actually been rendered speechless when Izzy first introduced him to Alec.

Of course, Magnus had tried, at first, to see if there was any possibility that Alec might be interested in him, turning on his usual charm, throwing in a few flirty remarks and innuendo-filled comments, paying even closer attention than usual to his hair and his make up on the the nights he knew that Alec would be joining his sister for a drink, but he'd had no luck, as Alec had always looked either embarrassed or uncomfortable by Magnus's flirty remarks, so he'd eventually backed off. Given that Jace always tried to set Alec up with attractive women at every bar they drank at, Magnus had also started to assume that Alec was probably straight.

"W-who's the lucky girl?" he asked Alec with another insincere smile. He couldn't help wondering who this mystery woman might be, especially as Alec didn't seem to have many female friends, and Izzy hadn't mentioned anything about Alec going on dates, or seeing anybody romantically.

He eventually decided, after a few seconds of silent speculation, that it was probably Lydia, Alec's boss at his family's law firm, as she seemed to be the only single woman who Alec spent any significant amount of time with, when he wasn't spending time with his siblings and their friends. If it was Lydia, then Magnus was already wildly jealous of her.

"G-girl?" Alec asked Magnus slowly with a confused frown. Magnus tried really hard not to think about how adorable Alec looked when he frowned like that. "Guy, Magnus," Alec corrected him, wrinkling his nose and sighing.

Magnus was sure that he felt his heart breaking all over again. The fact that Alec was getting married to a man was so much worse-from Magnus's point of view, anyway-because it meant that even though Alec had apparently been interested in men all along, he still hadn't been interested in Magnus. In fact, Magnus wasn't even sure that Alec liked him very much as a person, if his tense body language and reluctance to engage in conversation with Magnus when he was sober were anything to go by.

"Oh," was all that Magnus was able to muster up as a response, his voice sounding flat.

He was just about to say something about how this mysterious guy didn't know how lucky he was when…

"You're not a girl, Magnus," Alec mumbled sleepily, his eyes half-closed. "You're a hot guy, a beautiful guy. In fact, your beauty's almost…magical," Alec giggled, nuzzling his nose into Magnus's pillow.

Magnus was just about to tease Alec about how he would never giggle like that when he was sober, but he stopped mid-sentence as a strange realization slowly hit him. His eyes started to widen in shock.

"A-Alexander," Magnus spoke slowly, carefully, feeling kind of confused. "Just so we're clear, are you trying to tell me that you're getting married to me?"

Surprisingly, Alec nodded. "I'm a traditional guy," he mumbled into Magnus's pillow, his speech a little slurred but his eyes fixed firmly on Magnus's face as he looked up at him. "I'm not like Izzy or Jace or even Simon. I don't wanna go out to bars every weekend; I don't dream about random hook ups. Not when I'm already secretly in love with you. You're so perfect, and beautiful, and when I'm around you, I feel like I can't breathe. I love your hair, and your eyes, and all your flirty lines that make me blush. I love how you always call me Alexander. I love sleeping here, in your bed. I just wanna be with you. So tonight, after I'd had a couple drinks, I decided that I'm gonna get married to you."

Magnus sat in silence for a few moments, unable to get over his shock that Alec had apparently just called him beautiful and declared his drunken love for him. He also felt an overwhelming sense of relief that Alec wasn't really engaged to some anonymous man or woman.

Then he had to remind himself that Alec had been drinking, and probably didn't know what he was actually saying, and this declaration of eternal love was probably all some kind of drunken joking around.

As a result, Magnus decided to settle on amusement as his response. "Well, this is all a tad sudden, isn't it?" Magnus grinned at Alec, resisting the temptation to run a hand fondly through Alec's hair. "After all, we barely know each other."

"I've got to follow my heart," Alec shrugged, using a line that was probably taken from the Clary-or-Izzy-book-of-drunken-quotes, as it definitely didn't sound like something that Alec would normally say. The majority of Alec's most 'profound' quotes were all about logic and reason and doing what was right, and not letting the heart rule the head.

"Were you ever planning on sharing our wedding plans with me?" Magnus asked with another exasperated smirk. After all, he would like to have some say in the matter, if a beautiful man ever decided that he wanted to marry him for real.

"Don't worry," Alec slurred, "I'm totally going to propose to you, one day, if I actually work up the nerve to talk to you when I hang out with you and Izzy during the day and I'm not drunk. I'm gonna try and do something really romantic when I eventually propose, even though I'll probably mess it up and drop the ring, or stumble over my words or trip over when I try to get down on one knee. But I'll try, for you." Suddenly his eyes widened and he looked panicked. "But, shhh, it's a secret, okay?" he whispered urgently. "I don't want you to know about this yet…"

"Your secret's safe with me, Alexander," Magnus told him, trying to sound completely serious and trying not to laugh. Alec was even more adorable than usual when he was drunk and unguarded like this, when he had no clue what he was actually saying or doing.

Alec seemed to relax into Magnus's pillows again for a few moments, his eyes slowly closing, but then he suddenly sat up, looking panicked. He grabbed Magnus's shoulders. "Please say yes, Magnus, when I ask you!" he whispered frantically. "You can plan the ceremony and the party-it'll be amazing, as you always say. You can paint your nails and wear your makeup and jewelry, go shopping and buy a new outfit..." (Magnus couldn't help rolling his eyes affectionately.) "You'll love it, I promise," Alec insisted.

"I'm sure I will love it, Alexander," Magnus smiled at him, patting him on the shoulder indulgently, feeling a strange sense of sadness at the thought that this was all just a part of Alec's drunken rambling. "But perhaps you should take a break from wedding planning for now and try to get some sleep?" He was already certain that Alec would feel humiliated by everything he had said when he woke up hungover in the morning, and Magnus really didn't want to prolong his potential embarrassment any further tonight.

Alec nodded and started to settle back down in the bed, but then another thought seemed to occur to him… "After the ceremony, can I take you to bed, Magnus? I could make love to you, here, on your bed… on those golden sheets you always say you love so much? I've never done it before-shh, don't tell Jace that though, he'll think it's hilarious- but, I want you, I want this...I think about it all the time, secretly, every time you make one of your flirty comments…"

Much to his own embarrassment (and surprise), Magnus actually started blushing as Alec talked about the two of them having sex. Magnus had had many relationships and sexual partners, sometimes several sexual partners at once, and he'd always considered himself to be pretty open and relaxed when it came to talking about what went on in the bedroom-or outside of the bedroom, depending on where the mood took him-but it felt like years since he'd actually 'made love', as Alec so eloquently put it. Years since he'd actually been with someone he loved. The thought of Alexander Lightwood being naked, with him, wanting him, in his bed, was overwhelming. It was too much, too magical an image to hold in his head when he knew that the image would be shattered in the morning by the harsh light of reality.

"I think you need to rest now, Alexander," Magnus whispered.

Alec nodded, closing his eyes as he settled on his front and hugged Magnus's pillow tight. Just when Magnus thought that Alec had drifted off to sleep and he therefore attempted to move quietly away from the bed, Alec started talking again, his words sounding even more slurred.

"I'm getting married and we're gonna live happily ever after, Magnus, here in your loft in Brooklyn. It'll be amazing, I promise…" He turned his head to look at Magnus and gave him the brightest smile that Magnus had ever seen. It was a smile that Magnus was sure could light up his whole apartment, a smile that made him feel strangely like a teenager with a crush, in spite of many relationships and sexual encounters since his days at high school. Magnus wished that Alec would smile more often. He wished that he could make Alec smile more often.

"You know I always keep my promises, Magnus..."

"That I do know, Alexander," Magnus smiled softly, feeling sad again.

Magnus watched Alec sleep for about half an hour before he slowly walked out of his room and headed for the couch, in order to make things easier for Alec in the morning, when he would no doubt be attempting to sneak out of the apartment before Magnus could talk to him.

He let out a soft sigh, a part of him wishing that the night could just last for a little while longer, so that Alec could stay in his bed, safe and warm, and Magnus could go over his words about the two of them getting married all over again.

Magnus had never really considered the possibility of marriage before. He wasn't even sure that he had ever been with anyone who loved him enough to want to marry him. But now, he felt a strange longing to exchange rings and vows and wake up in the same bed with the same person every morning. He felt like he was missing something that he had never really had in the first place.

Sure enough, early the next morning, Magnus had just managed to get dressed, apply his makeup, make tea, and sit back down on his couch when he caught sight of Alec moving quickly and silently towards Magnus's front door. His body language gave away just how tense he was as he looked down at the floor on his way to the door, apparently unaware that Magnus was awake and watching him.

"You pretty boys are all exactly the same," Magnus declared as he folded his arms and crossed his legs, letting out a theatrical sigh.

Alec jumped, startled, then he gasped and seemed to trip over his own feet.

"Dammit!" he cried out as he fell clumsily to the floor, apparently back to being his usual awkward, sober self.

He stood back up as quickly as he had fallen, dusting himself off and blushing, refusing to look Magnus in the eye.

"You promise me the earth to get into my bed," Magnus continued, as though nothing had happened, "and then you fail to deliver on those promises in the morning…" he finished with a dramatic flourish of his hand and a wink.

"Magnus….I….uh…." Alec spluttered with a deep blush, reverting back to the typical style of speech that he used with Magnus when he didn't have the assistance of alcohol to reduce his inhibitions. "I'm…sorry….about…the…uh…stuff I said, uh…last night…I'm not good with alcohol, or good at apologies..." he shrugged.

"I accept your apology, Alexander," Magnus smiled softly at him, as he stood up slowly and carefully, trying not to feel overwhelmed by disappointment that Alec clearly hadn't meant any of it.

As he was fully aware that Alec would probably have preferred to have silently left the apartment by now, he tried not to make him feel any more uncomfortable than necessary. "Relax, I'll just forget about everything you said. It's already in the past. After all, alcohol makes you say strange things…"

"Uh…yeah…" Alec shrugged, still looking like he might make a run for it at any moment. "Well...I gotta go...so, thanks for taking me to bed...I mean, thanks for letting me sleep in your bed, bye..."

He turned around and started to head towards the door again, much to Magnus's disappointment, but then he suddenly stopped. He stayed rooted to the spot for a few seconds, as though trying to make a decision about something, before he sighed and turned around and took a few steps closer to Magnus, looking more nervous than ever.

Magnus stared at him, trying not to look too confused.

"You know," Alec mumbled, blushing again and still refusing to look Magnus in the eye, "I uh…they say that alcohol also just makes you more honest, about how you feel…and uh…stuff. Not that I'm saying that we should just get married right now, or that you'd even think of me like that, but...uh...yeah..." He took a deep breath. It looked like it had taken all of his strength to summon the courage to say what he'd just said, but also like he'd needed to say it; like he'd needed to take that first step over some kind of invisible barrier.

It took a few seconds for Magnus to process what Alec was trying to tell him, but then he felt a grin spread slowly over his face as he realized that Alec was confirming that his declarations from last night hadn't just been brought on by drunken rambling.

Magnus had to resist the urge to put some music on and dance triumphantly around his apartment. He couldn't believe that this whole time, Alec had always acted so strangely around him not because he disliked him or because he was indifferent to him, but because he liked him, and he was just too shy to tell him, until the declaration had come out in the extreme as a marriage proposal. Magnus almost felt tears of happiness threatening to spill over. He'd never even considered himself to be worthy of Alec's attention, and now Alec was practically declaring his love for him.

Instead of breaking into a song and dance, he settled on running a hand soothingly up and down Alec's arm for a few brief moments. He decided to keep things light-hearted, but still a little flirtatious…

"Alexander, if you and I are going to get married, then we should at least go to dinner first, get to know each other, have a conversation…" Magnus grinned, as he ran his other hand over his ear, trying to act coy.

Although he still looked embarrassed, Alec actually managed to smile at Magnus. It was a smile that Magnus very rarely saw when Alec was sober. Magnus already knew that he was going to get addicted to that smile.

"Uh…yeah…okay…marriage...I mean dinner, dinner's good. I mean, dinner, with you, is good…" he grinned again, still looking embarrassed.

Magnus smiled back at him, trying not to laugh out loud at Alec's awkwardness for fear of scaring him off.

He had just started to walk away from Magnus again and towards the door when he stopped and walked back towards Magnus, looking embarrassed but also a little amused.

With another blush, he got down on one knee and looked up at Magnus, his expression sincere. "Magnus Bane, will you do me the honor of going to dinner with me tonight?"

Magnus stared in shock for a few seconds, surprised that Alec actually had a sense of humor beneath the serious expressions and the sarcastic remarks and the awkward body language.

"I'd love that, Alexander Lightwood," Magnus grinned at him, feeling happier than he had felt in a long time, maybe ever.

As Alec stood up, the two of them both laughed at Alec's unexpected joke, sharing the amusement, much to Magnus's delight. Alec even held Magnus's hand, briefly, before he left the apartment, still blushing as he headed out of the door.

Magnus knew that it was only early days, and that any relationship with Alec Lightwood would take a lot of work and patience on both of their parts, but he was already picturing romantic proposals, amazing ceremonies and golden sheets...