Jarred awake from his warm cocoon of peaceful slumber, Alec hazily recognised the loud repetitive buzzing of his phone on the the nightstand, indiscreetly demanding his attention by vibrating in small little circles that, from beneath the heaviness of sleep, sounded like a jackhammer on concrete.

Groaning at the unceasing noise, he pulled a pillow over his head to block his ears, dulling the incessant buzz into a low but persistent hum. In his head, he loudly cursed whoever was trying to rouse him from an otherwise uninterrupted sleep; something that he hadn't managed much of in the past few months. As he mentally plotted the unknown caller's torture – an arrow through both ears, though morbid, seemed appropriate – the object of his sadistic daydream finally relented, welcomingly returning the room to a comfortable silence.

As he lay awake waiting for sleep to retake him, his senses roused, he found himself thinking. A few things didn't add up and the realisation that he wasn't lying in his own bed came slowly. The pillow felt different from his own: they were soft and plush instead of flat and limp; his sheets weren't usually cool to the touch and slippery smooth against his skin; and it had been a while since he'd woken up enveloped by warmth – the kind of warmth that came from having another's body spooned against his own. His mind still sluggish, it took him little longer to accept the simple facts: he wasn't alone and this wasn't his bed. The arm slung snugly around his waist, which he hadn't realised was there before, provided all the proof he needed.

He stifled a groan.

Pulling the pillow tighter around his head, he racked his brain for memories of what had transpired the night before. Surprisingly, he was drawing a complete blank. Recounting his steps, he barely remembered the argument he'd had with Jace that had ended up with him storming out out halfway through and a bottle of vodka pressed to his lips.

Ah. The vodka explained a lot: the the gaps in his memory, as well as the pounding on his skull that was demanding the recognition it deserved. Overall, the evidence was overwhelming; he'd gotten upset, gotten himself drunk and, judging from his state of undress and the pleasant ache in his rear, he'd fallen into bed with someone.

Alec frowned. This wasn't him. He was the older brother. He protected the people he loved. To willingly let himself lose control – that wasn't him. His actions, while not immune to naivety and stupidity, were his own. He never let himself go, not like this.

Taking in a deep breath, he recognised the faint scent of cologne that was strangely familiar, but he couldn't place it. His compounding headache didn't help matters much either.

With a dejected sigh, Alec slowly pulled the pillow off his head and glanced at the wall from his side of the bed, blinking away the sleep from his eyes. He could see the nightstand, an antique oak table with intricate floral carvings that ringed the sides, and on it his new phone set beside a glass water and Chairman Meow sprawled on his back, lazily lick–

Chairman Meow?

Alec's mind reeled at the thought and he shot up straight, the sheets dropping to pool around his waist to reveal his bare chest. He continued to stare at the cat until a slight movement to his left caught his eye, instantly reminding him that he wasn't alone. He quickly turned around to find Magnus Bane stretched out comfortably beside him, fast asleep.

With a groan, Alec pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head in disbelief as memories of the night before slowly began to resurface through the alcohol-induced fog. Seeing Magnus had conjured an image – an unflattering memory – of him pounding his ex-boyfriend's door, slurring insults at the innocent piece of wood that separated him from the target of his drunken abuse. He dropped his head dejectedly and buried his face in his hands.

The deep reverberating buzz of his phone against the table made Alec jump. His arm shot out to grab the phone but paused to watch the Chairman glare and repeatedly paw at the phone before finally batting it off the table. He lunged and caught it expertly in his hand with a chuckle and quickly glimpsed at the screen: Isabelle. Glancing back to Chairman Meow, who had now rolled onto his back with his legs in the air, randomly jolting every now and again as if kicking at invisible string, he smiled ruefully and blew out a deep breath. He reached out and tickled the tiny feline in the belly, which the Chairman returned with a gleeful meow.

Returning his attention to the phone vibrating in his hand, Alec took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He tapped at the screen and answered the call with a gruff, "Yeah."

"Alec?" Isabelle sounded worried. Alec furrowed his brows. In all honesty, if she knew where he was and what he'd done, he wasn't entirely sure if she'd hug him or throttle him. Magnus was a strange grey area to his sister.

He cleared his throat and tried again. "What is it, Iz? Do you know what time it is?"

"Yeah." He knew she was humouring him, but her answer surprised him. "It's noon."

"What?" Alec blinked and turned to the wall clock. True enough, it was just past noon. He wasn't even entirely sure what day it was.

"Are you okay? You sound a little–"

"I'm fine," Alec said, quickly cutting her off. "Just a little out of it. What do you need?"

There was a momentary silence on Isabelle's end before she evidently decided to let the matter slide. "We've gotten word of an abandoned building that's being used my a small cult of Lilith's followers. Jace, Simon and I are heading over there in an hour."

"Simon? Why is he going?"

Alec could almost hear the sound of his sister rolling her eyes. "He's not taking no for an answer. Of course he'd go all He-Man after he's no longer invincible. Boys,"she added the last word with a hint of distaste.

"He-who?"

"He's a prince from – oh never mind. I'll text you the address and you can meet us there."

Alec frowned. "Why do you need me there? You have Jace and He-Man."

Silence.

"Iz?"

"You don't want to come?" She sounded a little incredulous. "You, my brother, the bane of all demons who has done little to nothing else but hunt for the past few months. You don't want to come?"

"I–"

"You didn't come home last night. Where are you?"

Alec paled and sputtered a response, "I– I– had a few errands to run. I spent the night at a friend's place." He groaned internally at the blatant lie he'd just told.

He steeled himself against the accusations undoubtedly coming his way but they never came. He knew he wasn't a very good liar; he was blunt to a fault and lacked the necessary charm needed to convince anyone of anything but the truth. Even if his stuttering hadn't given him away, Alec knew full well how particularly astute Isabelle was.

"Well, okay."

Alec pulled the phone back and narrowed his eyes at the screen, confirming that he was in fact speaking with his sister. "Okay? Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes," Isabelle snapped back. "Okay. Just…"

Alec frowned. "Just what?"

Isabelle giggled.

"Iz?"

"Tell Magnus I said hi."

Then she hung up.

Alec stared at his phone for a few long seconds before calling her back.

"What?" Isabelle answered, her voice laded with barely repressed amusement.

"Don't go in there without me. I'm coming," he said with all the calm he could muster.

"Fine," she replied before ending the call.

Staring at the phone his hand, bewildered, Alec jumped as a pair of arms snaked themselves tightly around his waist. He turned around to see Magnus, hair sticking up in all directions from sleep, grinning at him.

"I don't know if I should be more insulted from being referred to as an errand or a friend," Magnus said sleepily.

Alec threw him a dirty look. "Sorry if I don't have your penchant for hiding things from people," he said flatly, regretting his words as soon as he saw Magnus expression darken. "Sorry," he muttered, dropping his head to stare at his hands. "I shouldn't have– I didn't mean– I–"

"You're babbling."

Alec frowned and bit his lip. Then Isabelle's words came crashing back to him. He turned sharply to Magnus and cocked his head in confusion. "She knew," he said. "How did she know?"

Magnus sat up, reached for one of Alec's hands and began to draw lazy circles over the back of Alec's hand with his thumb. His eyebrows raised in distracted interest. "Who?"

"Isabelle," Alec replied. His attention was now on the tingling sensations spreading from where Magnus was touching him. He closed his eyes and mentally shook his head; he didn't know whether he wanted to pull Magnus closer or to push him away. All he wanted was for the conflict in his mind to end.

"And what," Magnus continued with a smile, his voice low and seductive, "exactly does she know?"

Clearing his throat, Alec tried to pull his hand away, but Magnus held on. "She knows you're with me," he explained. "She says hi."

Magnus chuckled softly, tugging gently at Alec's arm, inviting the young shadowhunter to move closer. Alec remained still, unsure of what their actions was leading to.

"I didn't mean what I said earlier," Alec said.

"Let's not start lying to each other so early in the morning," Magnus said as he stared at Alec curiously before waving his hand in the air in a careless pattern. Instantly, Alec felt a heavy object materialise in his hands: a glass of orange juice for him and a cup of piping hot coffee for Magnus. Used to the theatrics of Magnus' magic, Alec was unperturbed and simply took a gulp of his juice.

"It's noon," Alec said. "It's not morning anymore."

Magnus shrugged his shoulders and took a tentative sip of his coffee. "Regardless, we both know you meant what you said. You always mean what you say. It's one of the quirks that I love about you."

"I–" Alec wasn't sure what to say to that.

Magnus smiled. "Besides, I think I deserved it."

Alec could only nod as he dropped his gaze to swirling pulp in his glass. "I was drunk," he mumbled, downing the last of his juice and setting the glass on the nightstand. "I remember a bottle of vodka."

Magnus' lips twitched into a tight grin. "That explains last night's dramatic entrance."

Blood rushed to his cheeks as Alec grimaced. He turned to Magnus and said, "I don't remember much of last night." Though the pleasant throb in his hind and their apparent state of undress gave him a pretty vivid idea of what had transpired between the two of them.

"Now that is insulting. I'm nothing if not memorable."

Alec couldn't help but scoff in amusement. "Maybe you're not as memorable as you think you are," he said with a smirk.

Magnus' eyes widened in amazement. "Dear Alexander, you've been working on your sense of humour since we've been apart!"

Managing a rueful smile, Alec returned his gaze to his hands. "Why am I here, Magnus?"

"You tried to break down my door," Magnus supplied after a few seconds of silence. "Probably woke the neighbours with all your cursing. Perhaps I should send them a small fruit basket."

Alec nodded solemnly. "Why did you let me in? You could have turned me away."

"You would never have left until you'd had your say," Magnus replied with a shrug. "I know you that much. And you had quite a bit to say," he continued. "There was a lot of yelling."

"It can't have been that bad," said Alec. "Since we ended up…" his voice trailed off with a blush.

"It's been a long time since anyone called me a manipulative liar to my face."

Alec visibly flinched and silently berated himself for losing control. His mind entirely set on his own shortcomings, he was taken completely by surprise when Magnus kissed him.

Errant thoughts of disappointment and anger, of Isabelle and demons, and of self-control evaporated as Magnus' familiar taste plunged him deep into a pool of the past. The memory of every kiss, every glance, every caress and every touch was brought to the forefront of his mind and as Magnus deepened the kiss, Alec felt his lips part, allowing Magnus access. He groaned deeply with pleasure and content when Magnus manoeuvred him onto his back before pulling away.

"Do you trust me?" Magnus asked him.

Alec pursed his lips in thought, and as reluctant as he was to admit it, the answer stared back at him, plain as day. "No," he said softly. He kept his eyes closed; afraid of the disappointment and hurt he would see in Magnus' eyes. But that wasn't the whole truth, and he needed Magnus to know that. "No I don't trust you," he said again, this time meeting Magnus' gaze. "But I want to."

Magnus smiled as he leaned in. Their lips met in a gentle kiss, soft and slow, each savouring the feel of the other as if committing it to memory.

"I don't think you've ever been more honest with me," Magnus said as they parted. "Perhaps you need to be inebriated more often."

Alec didn't take too kindly to the suggestion. He scoffed in distaste and turned away.

Grinning, Magnus cradled Alec's face, forcing their eyes to meet. The grin disappeared and Magnus looked at him solemnly. "Last night you said you still loved me; it's why you couldn't hate me. Has that changed?"

"Why does it matter?"

Magnus was insistent. "Answer the question, Alec."

Alec closed his eyes as another fragment of his memory clicked into place.

"You lied to me," Alec said loudly, his voice slurring from the alcohol. "I told you I loved you; that I'd do anything to stay with you. But I made a mistake, and you promised me I was your future, but you threw me away. You lied to me. You said you loved me, but you lied."

His heart ached with a pang of sadness at what he'd said, but he couldn't deny his own feelings – regardless of what Magnus felt for him. Yes, even through the pain and loneliness, he was still in love with the warlock. Apparently masochism was a trait he identified with. It would have been easier to hate but he couldn't lie well enough to others much less to himself. With a sigh, Alec shook his head. "No, that hasn't changed."

Magnus' smile was a little surprising though not entirely unexpected. Alec realised that despite everything he'd said, there was still a small piece of him that vilified Magnus; a part of him that wanted Magnus to sneer at him, to mock him for being stupid. Hating Magnus would have made everything easier.

"Good. I–"

"This doesn't have to mean anything," Alec said quickly. "I'm not above pity sex."

Magnus narrowed his eyes and frowned. "Is that what you think last night was?"

"I don't really remember last night. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time for you would it?" Alec replied softly, hoping that Magnus wouldn't take his words as an accusation. Magnus' expression darkened and he half expected the warlock to physically throw him out, but the pained smile caught him by surprise.

"I'm sorry if that's all you think it was," Magnus said softly.

"I don't know what it was," Alec replied truthfully. "I don't know what's happening now."

Magnus smiled ruefully. He moved to lie beside Alec and rested his head on the shadowhunter's chest, silent as he listened to the steadily quickening heartbeat.

"Magnus?"

The warlock sighed. "What if I told you that letting you go was a mistake?"

"If it was that easy, you would have forgiven me a long time ago."

"People, even warlocks, make mistakes," Magnus said quietly. "Even I'm not immune to pride."

Alec was silent.

"I love you, Alexander," Magnus whispered. "I loved you then, I love you now and I will always love you."

"Magnus…" Alec closed his eyes. He'd spent countless hours imagining those words, but he'd given up on hearing them long ago. Hearing the words said to him now, he didn't know what to think. He opened his eyes to see Magnus staring at him – he'd never seen Magnus look so vulnerable – and averted his eyes. His phone sat forgotten by his pillow.

Alec's eyes widened and he shot up in an instant. "I have to go," he said, hastily separating himself from Magnus.

"Alec…" Magnus' voice was low and dripping with hurt.

Alec froze and turned back to the warlock and then glanced back at his phone. He bit his lip in frustration before lunging at Magnus for one last kiss.

"I want to stay," he explained. "I really do. But I can't. Isabelle and Jace…"

Magnus' relief was immediate. "I want you to stay."

Alec frowned. "I can't," he answered. "But you could come with me."

"What?"

Glancing hesitantly at his phone, Alec rolled his shoulders. "If you wanted to, you could come. I mean if you're not busy."

"I'm not busy."

Alec massaged his temples as an ache surged through his skull. "So you could come."

Magnus mulled over the idea for a few seconds before asking, "Do you want me to come?"

Alec nodded. "Yes, I want you to come."

"Then I'll come," Magnus replied. "But there is something I need to give you."

"We're going to be late," Alec said hurriedly before frowning at his phone. "We're already–"

Magnus silenced him with a kiss. "I meant for your hangover."

"Not the kiss?" Alec cringed at the tinge of disappointment in his voice.

Getting up, Magnus laughed and pulled Alec to his feet. "No, but what I'm about to give you does smell and taste like a sewer, so consider it a pre-emptive apology."

As Magnus moved towards the door, Alec quickly tugged on the warlock's arm, holding him in place. "Are–" he paused. "Are we dating again?"

Magnus looked at Alec carefully before running his thumb over Alec's bottom lip. "If you want us to."

"Then this isn't some kind of momentary lapse in judgement, or–"

"You were the drunk one, not me," Magnus calmly pointed out. Alec dropped his gaze. "I–" he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "I can't go through this again if nothing changes," he said softly.

"Some things will change," Magnus said as herded Alec out into the kitchen. "I think we've both punished each other enough. Don't you?"

Magnus flicked his fingers and summoned a glass filled to the brim with a pungent grey smoothie. Alec sniffed the concoction curiously and made a face. "When did you–"

"I keep a stock of it in the fridge." At Alec's look of horror, Magnus shrugged and nudged the offensive sludge closer. "You're not the only whose inebriation leads to the pummelling of doors at strange hours of the night."

"Whose door did you break down?" Alec asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Magnus laughed loudly, leaning over to pull Alec into a heart-stopping kiss. "Some things will never change," he said lightly. "Now drink your juice and call your sister. We're definitely going to be late."

A/N: I initially wrote this as a one-shot but there's potential for me to continue writing if there's enough interest.

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