Note: For my dear Iris! ^_^ Happy Birthday again cielo! ^_^

…

"Magnus!"

The Warlock swirled around hearing his name, his cat eyes wide with surprise. He didn't expect to hear someone calling him anything else than 'Warlock', or 'Downworlder' or worse, in that place. He immediately recognised the voice, who not only called his name, but did so without scorn or contempt. Instead of those things, there was eagerness in it and it was loving, as if the boy wasn't a Shadowhunter at all. Magnus only looked surprised for a fraction of a second though and then, when he turned to look at the Nephilim running towards him, his features were schooled to only show indifference.

"I would think the Clave would reprimand running in their halls…" Magnus said instead of a greeting, and Alec felt his heart grow cold at the detachment in his voice. Even when they were strangers, he had never spoken to him so coldly. He bit his lip, dropping his head to hide the hurt in his eyes, but the Warlock noticed.

"Alexander…" he whispered, and his voice was warm once more, the way he called his name, almost intimate. "Your parents are here…" he added to make him understand.

The boy perked up immediately, his blue eyes shining. "I thought you were mad at me…" he said, not bothering to whisper.

"Alec." Magnus warned, keeping his own voice low. "People are listening."

"I don't care." The Shadowhunter said defiantly, and then added, dropping his eyes sounding anxious, "I want you to be my partner…" Magnus was stunned into silence, a grin forming on his face, because that's all he wanted since hearing about the alliance rune. Not seeing his face, Alec added, "If you want to, of course… I guess, being the High Warlock you will want someone stronger than me…" His raven hair was concealing his eyes and the blush spreading to his pale cheeks as he frowned, toying with the hem of his shirt anxiously, waiting to hear his answer.

"Alexander…" he said again, and there was so much love and tenderness in his voice that Alec looked up blushing even more, his eyes a little wide, as he saw Magnus' gentle smile. "There is no one I would want more."

The boy's smile was radiant. "You mean that?"

"Of course I do. But are you sure? What about your parents?"

"I don't care." He said again, and there was no hesitation in his voice. "Even though we need all the help we can get, I would prefer you didn't fight, but If you are anyway, I want to fight with you. To be able to protect you."

He laughed. "I don't need protection Alexander."

"I know…" he blushed, "But this is what I'm good at. I protect the people I lo-…" he bit his lip realising what he was about to say.

Magnus was looking at him with wide eyes, so he hastily amended, blushing crimson. "Anyway!" He said, and then added softly, "Do you want to fight with me or not?"

'What were you going to say?' Magnus was thinking, trying to recover from the shock, completely missing Alec's latest words. When he saw the boy looking at him expecting an answer he recovered and said, "What?"

Alec blushed more. "Should we…?" He gestured with his steele to convey what he meant.

Magnus smiled again, his trademark Cheshire cat grin, and offering his hand, said in a low voice, so only Alec would hear. "Be my guest darling."

Alec took his hand in his own that was trembling nervously. The Warlock squeezed his fingers softly, calming him down, and whispered reassuringly, "Go on…"

"This may sting a little…" The Nephilim whispered looking up at him and Magnus nodded. Alec started drawing the rune extra carefully, holding his breath, hands steady now.

Once he was done he let Magnus go and the older man examined his hand in the light, smiling. "I love it. Your turn." The Shadowhunter handed over his steele and equally carefully, Magnus drew on him the other half of the rune.

"That's that then…" Alec muttered, suddenly sounding nervous again.

"Alexander?" Magnus asked, picking up the change in his mood. "What's wrong? Having second thoughts?"

The Nephilim shook his head with vigour. "No! Never… It's just that…" he trailed off but then looked into Magnus' eyes and seeming to draw courage said. "I made you a promise. But there is a good chance that we might die today and there is something I need to do first."

Magnus was looking at him not understanding what he was talking about having to do, but frowning at the thought of anything happening to him. Before he could say anything though, Alec took a decisive step his way, and put his hand on his shoulder pulling him close and kissing him.

Magnus froze in surprise for the second time this day, unable to even imagine something like that could happen, torn, if he should kiss him back with everyone watching. It was just a moment's hesitation though, and then he wrapped his arms around his waist pulling him closer, kissing him back, conveying in that kiss everything he wanted to say to the Nephilim who had so unexpectedly stolen his heart.

He could feel everyone's piercing stares on them but he couldn't bring himself to care. Instead he decided he would make sure Alec was not going to regret his decision. When they pulled away from each other, Magnus looked at him, holding his gaze and whispered only for him to hear. "Are you okay?"

Alec looked at him, his pale cheeks flushed, his breathing uneven, and answered, smiling. "Yeah. Much better."

Magnus smirked. "No regrets?"

"No. And I would love to do it again, but I think my parents may have a heart attack if I do… They're staring, aren't they?"

Magnus stole a glance behind Alec, and sure enough, saw the Lightwoods looking at them shocked beyond words. If it wasn't for Alec, he would have laughed at their expressions. However, he was worried, knowing things were bound to get ugly for his Shadowhunter later…

"They are…" he answered, taking his hand and squeezing it. Secret was out anyway. "I will be there whenever you need me…" he whispered. "You know that, don't you?"

Alec nodded, smiling gratefully at him. "I do. Thank you…"

"Anytime darling. Now, shall we leave this place?" He leaned a little closer, whispering in his ear, smirking as he felt Alec shudder when his breath caressed the boy's neck. "I'm dying to kiss you again."

"Let's." The Nephilim recovered and smirked too, dragging him away, his heart fluttering in his chest.

…
AfterNote: Did you like it? That was just the beginning! This is the first of a bunch of stand-alones I'm going to post for the next few days! I will post one each day! ^_^ [Be warned, most of the others will be angsty... xD]