Alec has never had much trouble with guys before. He's usually good at this stuff, always giving Izzy, and now Clary, boyfriend advice, even if he isn't really the "boyfriend type." But now? Now he feels a little wrecked, ever since he ruined what was supposed to be the date to end all dates. Instead of impressing the cute guy from the party and going home with him, he'd ended up getting absolutely plastered and puked all over Magnus. Then, to make matters worse, he'd tried to shower at this poor man's house, traumatizing both him and his cats.
Somehow, he doesn't feel it's a total lost cause, simply because Magnus had responded brilliantly to his little flirtatious comment. Alec had waited the appropriate two days and now paces around his living room, phone in hand. Izzy, who was trying to read, watches him with disinterest, which is fair, because they've been in this position for the better part of an hour.
"Just call him, Alec," she whines. "Before he forgets about you!" Alec winces at that, but he's pretty sure if someone puked on his lap right before what should have been an epic make-out session, he'd remember. Nevertheless, he steels himself with a deep breath.
"I'm going to call him now," he announces, a tad dramatically. Izzy just rolls her eyes and goes back to her book. Alec scowls at his little sister. Of course she doesn't understand how nerve-racking this is, not when Simon had essentially done all the work. Before he can chicken out for the fifteenth time, he hits the little blue phone icon beside Magnus's name and waits, with baited breath, for him to pick up.
"Hello?" Magnus's voice sounds muffled, like there's a lot happening on his end.
"Uh… Hey! It's me. Alec, I meant, from the club." Alec waits for the ground to open up and swallow him whole; never, in his life, had he botched up a phone call so badly in just the first sentence. Of course he knows it's him, he has caller ID.
"Oh, hey! How are you feeling?" Magnus asks kindly. A dark blush burns over Alec's cheeks, piquing Izzy's interest. She hops up to stand next to him, to listen in like the nosy little beast she is.
"Better now." He clears his throat, mustering up some of his famous Alec Lightwood charm. "That's why I called. I wanted to take you out, to apologize."
"Oh! That's, um, yeah, that's fine. I'd like that," Magnus says. Alec relaxes, and smirks.
"Yeah, I thought we could get dinner, and uh, pick up where we left off." Alec drops his voice low, so it's deep and sexy, the kind of voice that has guys falling at his feet.
"Um… I don't know about dinner," Magnus starts, voice shaky. Alec blanches for a moment, but shakes his head, backtracking. Okay, maybe that was too much. He can dial it down.
"Fine. How's coffee then?" Coffee's a lot more innocent than what he had in mind, but that's fine, he can wait. There's a pause, and a scuffling noise. What is going over there? There's a wild moment where his brain convinces Alec that Magnus has another guy over.
"Church, I swear to the gods if you don't give me that—Chairman no!" There's a shriek and a clatter, like Magnus has dropped the phone. Izzy gives him an alarmed look.
"He's got cats," Alec says, by way of explanation. Izzy nods, like she understands. Alec can't help the relief he feels at knowing it's just rowdy cats, not competition, that has Magnus occupied.
"Ah, sorry, my cats have all my tarot cards." Magnus returns to the phone, sounding out of breath.
"Oh! Your cats seemed nice when I met them," Alec's a bit unsure of what to say, torn between laughing and being sympathetic.
"I expect this nonsense from Church, but never The Chairman. I raised him better than this—and now I'm talking like a crazy cat parent. Which I'm not. I just have cats, it's not like they're my children or anything." Now Alec really want to laugh, and it's definitely not helping that Izzy is now shaking with silent laughter. Alec shoves her away from him, into the couch.
"So coffee?" Alec prompts, only just refraining from laughing.
"Sure," Magnus accepts, voice bright. "You can laugh, you know, because this is probably the most ridiculous phone call ever. I'd be laughing too, if Church hadn't just destroyed everything." Alec bursts at that, laughing loudly. A moment later, Magnus joins in, and Alec quiets, trying to savor the sound of Magnus's laughter.
"How's your Saturday? Around 3?" Alec's got an engagement party at 6, and he really doesn't want to wait any longer to see Magnus.
"Alright. There's a café on 32nd, next to the bookstore, we could meet there," Magnus offers.
"Sounds perfect. I'll see you there." Alec tells him goodbye and hangs up the phone, feeling triumphant.
"What even happened? Is everything okay finally?" Izzy asks. Alec grins broadly, and tugs on the end of her braid.
"I have a date on Saturday," he announces, far too dramatic. Izzy rolls her eyes.
"No idiot, with his cats!"
00000
Saturday comes faster than Alec is prepared for, and it finds him, three hours before his date, staring at his mess of a wardrobe. Nothing seems right. Either it's too much, and will send Magnus running, or isn't enough. He sighs for the eighteenth time that hour and rakes a hand through his already mussed hair. He takes a deep breath, and calmly reassess the situation.
Just as he's splayed all the jeans he owns on the bed for further analysis, the door bangs open. Alec jumps in spite of himself; the only other people who own keys to his apartment are Jace and Izzy, and Jace is considerate enough to call ahead.
"Okay big brother, let's see the damage." Izzy's voice is sweet relief. She'll know what to do.
"Holy Jesus Christ on a tricycle," Simon, who is also here, apparently, says. His eyebrows almost breach his hairline, making Alec roll his eyes.
"Hey Izzy, Simon! How are you guys? I'm fine, as you can clearly see," Alec greets them a little hysterically.
"What happened to you?" Izzy asks, but she's smirking like she already knows. "You used to be Mr. Cool." Alec scoffs; he's not about to let his nerdy little sister out-cool him.
"I'm fine. I'm just feeling a little indecisive," he tells her coolly. The relief from earlier is ebbing faster and faster with every smirk Izzy sends him.
"Alright, hey, let's just find Alec some pants, yeah?" Simon, ever the peace keeper, intervenes. It's the nerd's fault he walked in the middle of Alec getting dressed. If Simon can't handle a little semi-nudity, he should've never come over.
Izzy takes one look at the jeans on the bed and grabs a pair, shaking it at Alec. He narrows his eyes. Izzy, who is currently dressed in a ratty Star Wars sweatshirt that clearly belongs to Simon, is not about to give him fashion advice. Oh, hell no.
With renewed determination, Alec dances around the mess of clothes and picks out the perfect outfit in a matter of minutes. Izzy smiles smugly at him, like this was her plan all along. Simon, at least, has the decency to look ashamed, though that may be due to the boxer briefs Alec has yet to cover.
"Isn't your date like in two hours?" Simon asks tentatively, like Alec might explode if he says the wrong thing. He very well might, so Simon's right to be cautious.
"Your point?" Alec asks, petulant. He finally pulls his jeans on, and the relief that spreads across Simon's face is comical.
"My point is, relax. Take a load off! Try not to think yourself into a panic," Simon tells him soothingly.
"I'm not panicking." Alec pouts at the pair, like an actual pout, so Izzy grabs onto his shoulder and steers him to the couch. She heaves a deep sigh, like the weight of the world rests on her. And people have the nerve to call him the dramatic one.
"Find him a 30 Rock rerun," she instructs. "Listen to Simon, please." This is aimed at Alec, who frowns. It's not that he doesn't like Simon, the guy's nice enough, but it's just a big brother thing to not like him. The nerd makes disliking him especially hard when he's being nice, like now. Simon passes Alec a can of soda and plays the episode. Soon enough, Tina Fey's critically acclaimed eye roll soothes him.
"I totally get it, man, the nerves. During my and Izzy's first date, I got so nervous, I dumped an entire plate of spaghetti onto my lap," Simon says, patting Alec's shoulder. Izzy softens at the admission.
"You were nervous?" Izzy coos, batting her eyelashes. The effect is somewhat ruined by her thick glasses, but Alec still has to try to fight a smile.
"Of course! You try going out with a goddess and not embarrassing yourself!" Simon defends himself, laughing lightly. Izzy ducks in to press a kiss to his cheek, to which Simon responds with soft eyes he reserves only for Izzy. It reminds him of Magnus, oddly enough.
"Okay cool, if this little love fest is over…" Alec trails off pointedly, though he isn't even irked. Izzy throws an arm around Alec, and leans her head on his shoulder. It's instantly calming.
"Magnus totally already likes you, trust me. You should've seen the way he looked at you," she mumbles. The three of them relax like that for a few more episodes, until Alec has to go. The couple wish him the best and send Alec on his way.
Alec lives fairly close to the café, so he walks, painfully aware of his pace. When the café comes into sight, he spots Magnus immediately. He's sitting at one of the tables outside, fiddling with his phone. He's wearing a gray sweater and jeans, looking soft and good. Alec takes a deep breath and saunters over. Before he make an entrance, Magnus spots him and waves.
"Hey, Magnus," Alec greets him, unable to help the stupid looking smile that spreads across his face. Magnus looks a little surprised, but smiles anyways.
"Hi, how are you? Did you want to go order something?" Magnus asks.
"Good, I'm good. Yeah, come on." They make their way up to the counter, making small talk while they order. They grab their drinks and make it back to their table.
Magnus turns out to be surprisingly easy to talk to. Words just tumble out of Alec, without him even thinking about it. Magnus just listens, interjecting where he wants. An hour turns into two, and yet, Alec really doesn't feel like leaving. He hasn't had enough of Magnus. Luckily, it's Magnus who breaks the spell as he has a client coming in at 5:30.
"I had a good time, we should do this again soon," Alec says grinning over at him. Magnus nods, standing. There's a moment of hesitancy, where Magnus just stands there and Alec still sits, neither one wanting to leave the other. Suddenly, Magnus ducks in, dropping a quick little kiss on the corner of Alec's jaw. The kiss leaves his jaw burning, a pleasant heat that spreads across his face slowly. Alec just sits there, savoring the feel of Magnus's lips, soft and plush, on his jaw.
He absolutely has to see Magnus again.
Alec sits at the table, dazed, until Raj calls, yelling at him to get his ass to the Lepkowski engagement party.