A/N : I think I like having each chapter split into different POV's, I feel like it's more interesting like that, and I can develop both characters in a smaller amount of time :D

Magnus was walking away down the little stone walkway leading away from Alec's front doorway. He was looking smaller and smaller from Alec's view from the little window, and Alec wished he could just grab him and pull him back into his life. And he didn't like that feeling, not at all.

But he promised his father that he would stay in, that he did know the world was a terrible place, but if everyone was like Magnus, was it really all that terrible?

And he needed to go see the ocean, he needed it so badly. The entire three-room cottage was decorated in pictures of his dream, and now looking at them just hurt, because he had a chance to realize that dream, to finally see the ocean, to finally feel the ocean. And he turned it down.

Magnus was the first person to enter his home and his life besides his father, and he really didn't want him to leave.

He could take him to see the ocean. The ocean. And he would be there to see Alec jumping the waves, he would be there with him the entire way and Alec really really really wanted that. He wanted to share his experience with Magnus, and it was weird.

Maybe because he never knew what it was like to have a friend, but really, Alec wanted Magnus as a friend. Not that he knew what being friends entailed, because again, he never had one.

Alec thought of his father. He was always gone, he won't be back for another week or so, like usual. What if he followed Magnus to the ocean and be back before his father even realized? But it would still be lying, and Alec didn't want to be a liar. But he wanted to see the ocean, above all else.

Which is why he found himself running out the door with no shoes on as fast as he could move his feet, chasing Magnus because that was all he could see: Magnus. The sun had come out after the storm, finally shedding light on the entire forest. And There was Magnus in the horizon, looking luminous and godlike, slowly walking further and further.

Before Alec knew it, the cool rocks under his feet of the walkway turned into a forest floor, and the sharp prickle of sticks and twigs and the coolness of mud made Alec want run faster and stop running and roll in it at the same time. And the grass, God, the grass was as cool and soft as he imagined.

Magnus was coming closer and closer in view, and before Alec could stop himself, his arms flung around him, his chest to Magnus' back. His arms were around Magnus' chest, his hands resting just above his heart, and Alec could feel the beat speed up under his palm. It was an intoxicating feeling, he could feel the warmth spilling off of Magnus, could feel his chest move as he breathed and his clothes rustling as the wind blew. "Alexander," He whispered and the way he said his name was kind of beautiful, in its smoothness and its familiarity, like Alec was someone he had known all his life, not some stranger who punched him in the nose about two hours before.

"Take me to the ocean." Alec almost screamed out, because it felt so good to say it. It made it real, it made his dream seem so close. And Magnus smiled at that, as the surprise died down.

And screw his father, screw everything, he just needed to go. He needed it like breathing.

Alec let go of the other man almost awkwardly, and smiled brightly, trying to cover the anxiousness that Magnus changed his mind. "Will you take me? Please?" Alec asked as Magnus turned around to look at him. Alec observed Magnus again, as if it was the first time, and he could feel that bubbliness rise up in him, as if he was doing his magic again, but he wasn't, which was weird. Was it his alien charms making him feel lightheaded and dizzy and happy?

All his life, he was told not to trust anyone besides his father, the only constant he had in his life. But Magnus was a good person, he was because Alec could feel it, he could feel it every time he looked at him, touched him, hell, smelled him. Because under than cinnamon-y musk of his fading cologne, he smelled of spring grass and long histories and smiles and good. Alec just knew Magnus could be trusted.

"Just can't get enough of me, can you?" Magnus was really tall, taller than his father, taller than Alec, even though Alec was pretty dang tall himself.

"No, I can't." Alec replied honestly, because duh. Long fingers circled by rings came to ruffle his midnight dark hair. It felt good, to have Magnus' hands on him. Like being dunked in warm water, covering him entirely in fuzzy warmth.

Magnus smiled at him, but it was a sad smile, Alec could see it in his eyes. But he didn't question it, it was probably hard to talk about. "You're adorable, you know that beautiful?" He murmured, letting his hand fall from Alec's hair to his skim his cheek lightly.

Alec flushed Christmas red. "Err—You—I mean, you're beautiful too. Even if you're uh- very sparkly." He coughed and looked down embarrassedly. He heard a pleasant twinkly laugh, but it was like no laugh he had ever heard before.

It was carefree, like most laughs, but it was almost disbelieving, slightly dreamy, and it was like everything Alec liked about Magnus in a single sound. It was contagious, because Alec was laughing too.

"I'll take you to the ocean. I'll take you anywhere you want to go." Magnus said carelessly, as if saying it didn't make Alec's entire life.

Then it's quiet because Alec's so thankful. He can feel his eyes prickling and his heart pounding and all he can say is "Thank you." Magnus looked surprised at that, like he never expected a thank you, like he never even heard someone say that to him.

Alec was expecting some sort of reply to that, maybe a 'you're are welcome' or 'no problem'. But it never came. And it was semi-creepy in a way, because they were just looking at each other in the middle of the woods, one of them barefoot and the other excessively glittery, no one speaking.

Magnus looked down suddenly. "You're barefoot." He pointed out, not a question, just an observation.

Alec nodded. "Yep." He confirmed solemnly, and is that not normal? Alec only has one pair of shoes, and the times he's put them on is less than three. Seriously.

"Does it not… hurt?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

Alec laughed ironically. "I don't get hurt." He replied easily, watching Magnus for a reaction.

"Are you—"

"I don't get hurt, Magnus. Never." Alec said stronger this time, and Magnus didn't question him.

"Come back to my house, we can eat crackers and you can shower and I can help you find a place to charge your bric—I mean phone and then you can take me to the ocean and GOSH, Magnus I'm going to the ocean!" Alec's yelled that last part, his voice echoing through the forest and then he laughed crazily as some birds answered his call in the distance.

He was spinning now, with his arms wide open like he was hugging the world and Alec felt like he was going to explode from happiness. Like years of not knowing what happiness was built up and erupted like a volcano. The hugging grass was soft under his feet and the wind felt good brushing his face and he could almost smell that sea-salt now. It's an amazing feeling. And there was not a single damn reason not to be happy. But mostly, Magnus is laughing right with him and they both are spinning and Alec, he knew how to be truly happy for once in his life.

"The ocean is beautiful, you're going to love it." Magnus gushed lightly stopping Alec from spinning for a moment so they're back to looking at each other's faces. And Alec's not complaining, because there's nothing in his life that he enjoyed looking at more than Magnus' face. Because it's ever changing, one minute it was mysterious and unreadable, and the next it was happy and reckless, but it was always, no matter the expression, the most beautiful face Alec's seen. Not that he had seen many.

Alec's jaw dropped comically. "You've BEEN to the ocean?" He squealed in a totally manly way. He wasn't jealous. He really wasn't. Just extremely excited because now Magnus has been to the ocean and can tell him all about it.

And like it was the most natural thing on earth, Alec's hand was gripping Magnus' and they were touching again. Alec was babbling and asking questions and bouncing up and down and Magnus was smiling and answering them patiently as Alec's hand was pulling his along.

The entire moment was sort of beautiful. And sort of heart-pumping wild, in a completely non-wild way.

As it turned out, they did end up going back to the house, and Magnus did have a giant bowl of animal crackers sitting in front of him and he did just shower. They both ended up showering, actually, and Magnus was now waiting patiently for Alec to finish up.

The entire situation was kind of strange, and the strangest part of the entire ordeal was the fact that Magnus didn't find it strange at all. In less than 5 hours, he went from almost-canoodling with a twink son of a homophobic carnie to being chased by said homophobic carnie to getting lost in the woods to finding a quaint little cottage in the middle of absolutely nowhere to getting punched in the face by an adorably innocent kid who apparently never left his house.

Which basically brings him back to abode of Alexander Morgenstern staring at a stale animal cracker like it held the answers to the world.

Talking to Alec and listening to Alec talk was refreshing in a way for Magnus. He was a complete open book, so easily read and so different than all the people from Magnus' past that tried too hard to be blasé too hard.

And Alec, Magnus could tell what he was thinking just from looking at his face, or hearing his voice. And since Alec was so sincere with who he was, Magnus found that he could too. It was a great feeling to

"Hey." Magnus heard from the doorway. He looked up, and God.

Alec was naked from the waist up, hair wet and clinging to his angular cheekbones and swung to the nape of his neck. And if that wasn't a dead giveaway that he just took a shower, droplets of water trailed down his neck and chest that Magnus followed with hungry eyes. He needed a mop bucket for the drool flowing from his mouth. He meant that in a completely non-literal sense, because drooling was for plebians.

It then occurred to him that Alec just said something, and his response was to stare at him gob smacked(in a graceful way, because duh—He was Magnus Bane). Alec looked wary for a moment.

"Sorry, is that something you don't do? Am I not supposed to say hello directly after taking a shower or something? I'm not too good at this whole living thing." Alec explained, rubbing his hair with a white towel that seemed like it had better days.

"Wha—" And wasn't that so eloquent. "No—no. You're amazing at living. Just a little different. A good different." Magnus said running a hand through his own still-damp hair as he watched Alec tug a T-shirt on.

"Thank you. I don't know if you're different or not, but I think you're much different than my father. A good different too." Alec replied, smiling,. He plopped down next to Magnus on this horrible tacky floral printed vintage sofa, and Magnus got his first whiff of Alec. He smelled like sunshine. Magnus, no matter how experienced he was at reviewing the smells of different perfumes, could not describe for the life of him the smell of Alec Morgenstern. He just smelled like sunshine, the only word he could think of. And Magnus was pretty sure it wasn't from his shower gel.

"What is up with your father anyways, where is he?" Magnus asked, looking around the room as if a Mr. Morgenstern will just magically appear at the mention.

"He's gone most of the time, something to do with work. I don't really know what he does." Alec said, and Magnus could tell by his body language this was a rough topic to talk about. He sat with his hands clasped on his lap, staring at them instead of at Magnus' face like he usually did.

"So you're just alone all the time? That's a horrible way to live your life." Magnus said, cringing at his choice of words, thinking them way too harsh for Alec's delicate disposition.

But he seemed unfazed by it. "Well I never really thought it was that different. But I guess I never knew. Which is why having you here means so much to me. WE'RE GOING TO SEE THE OCEAN!" Alec hugged him koala-style, arms going around his side and resting his chin on Magnus' shoulder. It was adorable. Really.

Magnus harrumphed playfully. "I don't know anymore, considering you thought I was an alien. Really, Alexander? An alien?" He pretended to be affronted, fully realizing that Alec had no sense of sarcasm.

Alec yanked back suddenly. "I'm sorry! You were just so shiny and pretty and and- You're laughing at me. You're laughing at me because you weren't serious. Right." He coughed and honestly sounded dejected, a little humiliated.

"I'm sorry, darling. I'd be honored to take you to the ocean. Truly." Magnus smiled, pinching Alec's cheek lightly.

Alec grinned up shyly at him. "Thank you, god Magnus, I can't believe it. I'M GOING TO SEE THE OCEAN." He yelled again, flinging his arms around Magnus and for once Magnus didn't even care he was getting his clothes wet.

"Yeah, sweetpea, you are." Magnus said fondly, rubbing Alec's back softly.

Alec was adorable. Extremely adorable and made Magnus feel like something he wasn't: A good person.

So Magnus had finally came to terms with taking some boy who might be a murderer who was hidden away his entire life on a 5 day journey to California.

"What if my father comes back early? What if he needs me? Oh my gosh, Magnus! I can't go to the ocean!" Alec yanked back, looking ready to bawl. Wait, what?

"Darling, has he ever come back early?" Magnus asked, placing both hands on Alec's shoulder in a feeble attempt to soothe him. Alec just shook his hands off, and Magnus wasn't ready to admit that stung a little more than it should.

"No, but still! What if he does?" Alec stood up, a stricken look contorting his usually so graceful features. Magnus stood up too, frowning as well.

"Why would he need you? He's a grown man, it's not like you take care of him." Magnus said stiffly as Alec raced about the room, obviously having some sort of panic attack. He was cleaning every evidence of Magnus, yanking his phone from the outlet they found after thirty minutes, his used towel, the bowl of animal crackers.

"It's complicated, but he does. Magnus, I can't go to the ocean. And you can't be here." And Alec's going to cry, Magnus could see it. He could see it, it was the face of seeing your dreams break right in front of you. It's a face Magnus was familiar with. It's the face of wanting to be a male ballet dancer from a family with strict gender roles. It's a face of hopelessness.

"What? Why?" But Alec didn't answer him, and his phone and wallet was being pushed in his hands and he was being pushed out the door, and he could hear Alec starting to cry behind him.

"Get out! Get out!" Alec could yell?

Alec was really unpredictable, and the entire moment was sort of confusing.

And the door slammed behind him and the phone was in Magnus' hand and so was his wallet, and what the hell just happened?

Magnus was shocked, incredulous, he needed a damn thesaurus for words that meant "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"

He wasn't outside for thirty seconds before the door flung back open, revealing Alec with tears streaming down his face and still, that face was cataloged as the most heart-wrenchingly kicked-puppy adorable thing he had ever seen in his life.

"You didn't leave me!" He blubbered, and Alec's arms were wrapped around his waist all over again, and gosh Alec was obviously going through some indecisiveness, wasn't he?

"I wouldn't ever leave you." Magnus replied, shocking not only himself.

Magnus was a runner. He doesn't have anyone that stayed in his life for more than he allowed. He doesn't leave anything behind, he just vanishes and pops up somewhere else, with a complete new name and identity and personality and wardrobe. He never made false promises, everyone who knew him knew that he didn't stay long. So why the hell was he making promises with that type of commitment to a boy he had just met? The entire situation was getting screwed up, and the kicker was that Magnus doesn't even care.

"Promise?" Alec's voice came muffled from Magnus' sequined shirt that was already wet from things that weren't tears.

"Promise."

Magnus slowly wrapped his hands around Alec's back. Alec thanked him in his own way by tucking his head under Magnus' chin sweetly. The entire thing was so platonic, so non-sexual, so why did he feel more intimate with Alec in that moment then all the other people who had seen pieces of his anatomy that he didn't just show to anyone? Why did just talking to Alec leave him feeling more naked than actually being naked with someone?

The entire thing, starting from being found by the carnie to now went too fast, and Magnus couldn't process it all but he found he didn't care. Because being near Alec was a wild ride, even if they were talking about animal crackers and paintings, and wasn't that just terrifying?

And the worst part about it was how dirty Magnus felt. Because to Alec, he was just a friend, and maybe Alec didn't even know there were things out there besides 'just friends'.

"I'm sorry I'm acting so stupid and indecisive. I haven't cried since I was a baby, so don't think I cry often or anything. It's just… I don't want to betray my father's trust. I promised him, and I don't break promises. Ever." Alec said, his voice noticeably clearer, but still his face was hidden from Magnus' and their position hugging each other didn't move. And Magnus got it, Alec needed this. Needed to feel.

"I understand. But it's normal. Going against your parents is normal. Maybe you're doing it a little late but it's normal. It's called teenage rebellion." Magnus said, looking out into the distance where the tops of trees met the bottom of the sky and the sun was at the highest and it was round and hot, streaking the green with white and red and yellow and orange.

"It's normal? I'm normal?" Alec asked and the tears seemed to stop flowing.

No, Alec's not normal, not by a long shot.

"You're not normal. No one is." Magnus answered and Alec tilted his head back to look at Magnus, but his arms remained encircled around Magnus. His eyes were sparkling, and why did he still look this flawless even while crying?

"If no one's normal, then everyone is different? Then different is normal and normal is different so everyone is normal. Right?" He asked and Magnus doesn't even care if he didn't understand what that meant.

"Yeah." Because sure, why not?

"Yeah!" Alec agreed and he was smiling, and as beautiful he was crying, Magnus would always prefer him smiling.

"So will you let me take you to the ocean?" Magnus asked, already knowing the answer.

Alec didn't even hesitate. "Yes." Then his head was back under Magnus' chin and again, all Magnus could think about was how Alec just looked at him like he hung the stars and moon for him, and how good of a person he could delude himself to be.

Even if, of course, it was all a delusion.

But it was a beautiful delusion, wasn't it?

A/N 2: Gosh I need to shorten these chapters because how much sappy fluff could you take at a time? It's actually ridiculous how much I love writing this story. Please Review, it's the food to my muse.

Have a great day, guys.