When Magnus woke up, he blinked repeatedly and let out a long sigh. Memories of last night came flooding back to him: after the pizza had arrived (a replacement for the pizza that he burned perfectly), they had gone into the main bedroom that was now Alec's, and had lounged around on the bed having a Harry Potter Marathon. Alec was the first to fall asleep during The Half-Blood Prince, drifting off on his side of the bed and then, a few minutes later, moving to Magnus' side.
Now, Magnus looked down at Alec, the man he was holding tightly in his arms. Alec had an arm tightly around Magnus' waist, his head on his chest and a leg wrapped around Magnus' legs, cocooning him with his body... Just like old times. There was no chance of Magnus even trying to move now- he had waited for what felt like so long to wake up encased in Alec's hold again and he wasn't going to willingly move anytime soon.
He kissed Alec's forehead and ran his fingers through Alec's dark hair, a content and peaceful smile on his face. He wouldn't dare do this if Alec was awake, knowing that it would probably freak him out or something because he wasn't at that stage yet.
After another ten minutes or so, Magnus was content enough to move. He'd thought about how Alec might react to waking up and finding himself clinging onto Magnus like this- no doubt he'd feel awkwardly embarrassed. To save Alec from that, Magnus managed to untangle himself from Alec's hold and slip off the bed, and out of the room.
In the kitchen, he found Max eating a bowl of Alec's favourite cereal whilst texting on his phone. "Morning," Max mumbled as Magnus sat next to him. "Where's Alec?"
"Still asleep," Magnus answered.
"Good," Max said. "That means we can talk without him overhearing." He put his phone down on the counter and turned so that he was giving Magnus his whole attention. "Jace told about that night before Alec's accident. He told me what happened and how Alec spent the night at his because of it. I just wanted to know if you plan on telling Alec about it?"
Magnus sighed. He knew that this subject would come up eventually, but he'd been hoping he'd have longer to think about it and avoid the talk. He shook his head and said, "I don't know. I'm definitely not planning on telling him anything anytime soon. He's finally beginning to get comfortable with me again and be happy, I don't want to ruin that."
"Yes, but he deserves to know, Magnus."
"Don't you think I know that? I've thought about it so many times you wouldn't believe it. I know it sounds selfish Max, but I can't tell him yet- this is my chance to make amends and fix my relationship with him. I know he's your brother and you don't want to keep things from him, but please don't tell him, Max. If Alec knew that I'd driven him to be that sort of person... it would kill him. He'd hate me and he'd hate himself. There's no need for him to know."
"Well I disagree," Max argued. "I think he should know. But I won't tell him. It's between you two, and you should be the one to decide whether to tell him or not. Besides, you never know, he might end up remembering himself. Just promise me you won't hurt him, Magnus. He doesn't need that, I don't mean to sound harsh, but I'll really hurt you if you hurt him, okay?"
"I get it," Magnus smiled. "You're just looking out for your older brother. Look, my sister's back off holiday today so I'm going for a drink with her. I'm going to get ready, if Alec's not up by the time I'm gone, tell him I'll have my phone on me, okay?"
"Okay," Max nodded and returned to his phone.
After putting on his make-up and sorting out his hair, Magnus changed into a sparkly purple tee, black leather jacket, white skinny jeans, and black knee-high leather boots that had a small left the apartment after waving goodbye to Max, got into the lift and headed down to the lobby.
He cast a glance towards the reception desk and saw Joshua - a medium height, muscular, nineteen year old boy with sandy blonde hair and green eyes - sending daggers towards Magnus.
Magnus shook his head, sighed, and walked over to the desk. "What is your problem exactly, Joshua? Come on, spit it out."
"Don't act stupid," Joshua snapped. "You know what my problem is. Alec might not remember what happened, but I do, and I'm not giving up on him that easily."
"Listen, Joshua," Magnus replied in a menacing tone, eyes narrowed angrily. "You better stay away from Alec, you hear me? He's my boyfriend, get over it, he's happy, do you really want to ruin that? Leave him alone! I'm not letting you take him away from me!"
Joshua laughed and teased, "the fact that you think I could just proves how weak your relationship with him has become."
Magnus wanted to hit the youngster who seemed to think he knew everything, when actually he knew barely anything, about his relationship with Alec. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath, knowing that hitting him would get him nowhere. "Just stay away from him, Joshua. I mean it." He turned around and walked out of the building, taking his anger with him.
The fresh air outside - which was clammy and chilly from the rain-clouds above - felt good on his heated skin and managed to calm him, if only slightly. He wanted to cry in anguish and heartbreak, but he also wanted to scream with anger and lash out at somebody. Somehow though, he found the strength to hold all of it in and started walking down the road, to the plain little coffee house down the street.
He'd lied to Max; he wasn't going to meet up with Maia. It was true that she was home from her holiday, and he planned to call her and meet up soon, but right now, he wasn't seeing his sister, he was going to see somebody else.
Somebody he knew he shouldn't be in contact with anymore considering how much trouble it caused for him when Alec found out he had been talking to him, but Magnus had instantly said yes when this person phoned and asked to meet. Magnus told himself that it was just a business meeting and, unlike the last times, he wouldn't talk about anything personal.
He remembered how, when Alec had found out, he had been more upset about the fact Magnus had kept it a secret from him, not that he was meeting up with the person. So a part of him knew that he probably should have explained the situation to Alec before he came here. But recently Magnus was having problems with honesty, plus he was scared of how Alec would react again, and didn't want to ruin things when they were just getting good again.
He was acting like a coward, he knew that, but he'd come so close to losing Alec twice - after the argument, and when Alec nearly died - and he didn't want to experience that again.
He stopped outside the coffee house and sighed, hating himself for keeping yet another secret from Alec. From keeping the same secret from Alec.
Magnus looked through the window and saw that the person he was meeting was already seated at a table, waiting for him.
Ragnor Fell.
Leaving Max at the apartment, Alec decided to go out for a little while and just wander the streets, maybe do a bit of shopping. People crowded the streets, shoving past Alec like he meant nothing to them; and he liked that. Nobody was walking on eggshells around him, afraid he would break, and he enjoyed the anonymity for once.
He ended up buying himself a new book, and then walking into one of the DVD stores. Last night was the best night he had since the accident, due to the fact he simply liked spending some time with Magnus that wasn't tainted by questions caused by his amnesia. He was pretty sure that Magnus had fallen asleep on the bed with him, but he'd been gone when he woke up. He didn't care that much though- last night had been a night of restful sleep, the first night he hadn't tossed and turned and woke up numerous times during the night.
He realised that he had liked sharing the bed with Magnus.
He walked down another aisle in the store and heard a familiar laugh. Turning, he saw the familiar caramel-skinned, dark haired, beautiful woman that was Maia Bane. He would have walked over and said hello, but she was with a few girlfriends and Alec decided to just leave her be. Magnus had mentioned that Maia had been on holiday with Jordan, whom she was still dating all these years later - in fact, they were now engaged - and Alec guessed he and Magnus could go and visit Maia another day.
Looking at the DVD boxsets, he quickly realised that he had no idea what films were good. Frowning, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and speed-dialled Magnus' number.
After six rings, he answered. "Alec, hey. What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he replied. "I'm just out shopping and thought I could get us another box set of movies to watch tonight or something. You know, last night was fun, I thought we could do it again."
"That sounds brilliant," he could hear the grin in Magnus' voice. "I would love that."
"Good," Alec smiled himself. "I'm stood in the DVD store now though and I have no idea what DVD's to get. Any suggestions?"
"Hmm..." Magnus paused for a moment. "The Twilight Saga series. They're my favourite movies but I never managed to get you to watch them with me. I think it's about time we did that though. I don't have them on DVD, so you can get them if you want."
"Ok, I'll have a look for them," Alec said with a little nod. "Where are you anyway? Max told me you went out, but didn't say where. We could meet up for lunch or something if you're still in the area."
Magnus replied, "I'd love to, but I'm just having coffee with Maia. Maybe later?"
Frowning again, Alec looked back over at Maia, who was still stood talking and laughing with her friends. "So you're with Maia right now?" Alec pressed.
"Yes," came the reply. "Shall I call you when I'm finished here so we can meet for lunch?"
"No, it doesn't matter. I'll just see you at home," he said and quickly hung up.
Magnus clearly wasn't with Maia. So, who was he really with? And why would he lie to Alec about it? He spotted the boxset of the movies Magnus wanted, grabbed them, and started walking towards the tills, feeling hurt and angry both at the same time.
As soon as he gets home, I'm going to find out the truth, he promised himself.
