He could still feel his whole body buzzing with the nervous energy and excitement of having made the first move to talk with Magnus and being accepted afterwards. He was a nervous wreck when he asked the warlock for a talk outside, preparing his heart for a rejection while simultaneously hoping and praying for all the Angels above to please give him another chance in this. Another shot at happiness he didn't know he always longed for.

Until Magnus.

Magnus' presence has become such a constant to him that it took a violent separation for him to see just how much his life had changed, how much he had changed and what he was truly fighting for.

It hurt.

He had never experienced a heartbreak before and it was so much worse than all the stories he had heard or felt. Even feeling Jace's pain when he struggled with his feelings for Clary was never as bad as experiencing your own. He was amazed how people survived this more than once. Being separated from Magnus for days, it hurt so freaking much. And all he could think of was his last fatal decision that caused all of this…

While Magnus assured him that he didn't need to apologize anymore, Alec wasn't sure if there would ever be a time when he stopped feeling sorry.

And now, walking side by side with the warlock, in the late hours of the night, on the way back home… Alec couldn't stop thinking…

What now?

True, they might have made up, at least that's what Alec hoped he got right, if the spark that ran through his body at that kiss and Magnus' sweet smile was anything to go by. But did it mean that they were back to where they were before everything went downhill? Or was there a period of…trial of some sort before it was appropriate to move in the comfortable way they had established with each other?

It was becoming quite a headache…

A big part of him was still truly terrified of saying something wrong to make Magnus push him away again. He knew it was irrational, and that he couldn't possibly survive without communication (when it was the initial problem of their fall out to begin with) but the mere thought of witnessing Magnus look at him with those… cold, detached eyes again…

He had to close his eyes briefly to suppress a shudder.

"Alexander?"

The call caught Alec off guard, and he jumped a little, having not noticed the scrutizing look on Magnus' face until the last second. He swallowed, forcing his shoulders to stop tensing at the mere invitation of a conversation.

"Y-yeah?"

His voice must have shook a little as Magnus' eyes filled with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." He shrugged, trying for casual. When thinking he might have sounded too abrupt, he added, "I'm okay, Magnus."

"It's just… you haven't said a word since we left…"

"I, uh… was just thinking."

"Deep thoughts on the way back home? That never ends well," Magnus commented casually but something about the way he said that, with a hint of a nervous laugh made Alec pause and look at him.

"Huh? Oh, no, it's not, nothing like that. I was just…trying to think of what to say, I guess. I wasn't sure how to start a conversation since our…talk in the alley," he ended with a bit of an awkward grimace, his eyes then falling on a surprised look on the warlock, which soon transformed into one of comprehension.

"Alexander, I know this might still feel awkward…"

"No, not awkward, not at all," he hurried to say before Magnus could add anything else. He stared at Magnus for a moment, eyes wide and eager, before continuing. "Actually it's great. Being like this together with you…I'm glad."

And he was. So freaking much. His heart skipped in joy at every new smile he got out of Magnus.

"I'm glad too."

His smile grew on his face involuntarily, as it always did when being in Magnus' presence. He had a moment of sudden spontaneity and closed the remaining step to capture the warlock's lips once more, surprising the warlock a bit.

It was chaste and short, just like the one before, but it was yet another statement.

Familiarity.

Coming back home.

Looking up, he realized that they had walked all the way back to Magnus' loft.

"Well, I guess we're already here," Magnus commented casually and turned around to open the doors, leaving them open. "After you?"

Smiling at the invitation, Alec took the step further.

"Thanks."

It was good to be home.

Taking a step inside the loft, it was like coming back from a vacation.

It felt different, somehow, yet familiar.

He could still remember the echo of this morning when his mere presence was not welcome inside but now it was milder, slowly dissappearing, being overtaken by a sense of belonging.

Alec rolled his shoulders, feeling the weight of his jacket still on his shoulders.

"Put your jacket away, would you? The night is yet to end, and it's way too hot to stay inside in that thing of yours."

Alec knew that Magnus had done it deliberately. He was more than aware of how to make himself comfortable inside Magnus' loft, but the ice had to be broken somehow.

Feeling more confident, he shrugged the piece of clothing off, taking a step further where Magnus stood by the bar.

Two glasses were being filled. The next moment, the warlock snapped his fingers for a gentle music to fill the room.

Alec accepted the offered glass with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought you were going to have a bath with steak to recover your lost energy," he commented while taking a sip of the cocktail Magnus had made. Alec wasn't one for cocktails, more of a beer kinda guy, but the way Magnus made them had something special in them that couldn't keep Alec away. Magnus told him it was his special recipe, perfected over the centuries.

Alec blinked and found Magnus circling the drink between his fingers with a serene smile on his face. When he looked up at Alec, the shadowhunter had to swallow a lump in attempt to steady his thudding heart, filled with so much affection for this beautiful man that sometimes he could barely take it.

"I was…but this is a night of celebration. It's a rare moment to have," Magnus said softly and then lifted the glass to Alec. "To us?"

Both shared a smile at the reference to that.

Then Alec lifted his own glass, clinging it with Magnus' while looking straight at him.

"To us."

It was a wonder how one moment he was so worried about what they should do or talk about and the next he just found them in this serene bubble being wrapped around them, keeping them safe from the horrors of the day.

He could just fall into it.

It was reasurring. It was peaceful. It was magnificient.

"Dance with me?"

Alec was just taking a sip of the drink he had lost count number of on, when Magnus spoke, hands free of the glass.

"Hmph, what?" Alec had to swallow that sip that nearly went down the wrong way.

"It's not a foreign word, my dear," Magnus teased while softly laughing at him.

"No, I know, it's just…we've never danced before."

He had to frown when he came to that realization. He wasn't sure, though, if that was from a surprise that was of having never seen his boyfriend dance or for having never been offered to join.

Magnus appeared just as surprised.

"We didn't? Well, isn't this then the best time to fix this horrendous mistake." And with that he took a step forward, his body swaying with the rhythm of the song that was playing.

"Magnus, I don't really-" Alec tried to protest while his drink was magically taken away, replaced by Magnus' body pressing against the front of his own.

"If you say you can't dance, I won't believe you one bit," Magnus said with a stern look on his face. "Not with the way you move your body."

Alec wasn't sure why, but the words hit him hard and he found himself blushing a deep shade of red, averting his eyes.

"I meant at your job," Magnus added with a knowing smile and a reassuring hand on Alec's chest. "But the other implication is also correct."

Wetting his lips before speaking, Alec looked back at him.

"Magnus…

"Relax, Alexander. It's just us. You and me… and the rhythm," he made a point of trailing his hands all the way up to Alec's arms, locking their bodies together. "We don't have to try anything fancy tonight."

Alec felt Magnus settle agains him, a cheek on his upper body. "Just sway with me," he whispered and the words of protest somehow died in Alec's mouth.

Instead he brought his hands around the warlock, holding him and swaying in response to Magnus' swaying body.

"Okay."

Thanks for reading, any feedback is much appreciated.