Chapter 26

A/N: This might just be the last chapter... :((. But anyways, more about that later.

Thank you so much, BaileyNicole0429, for your review. (New longest btw lol.) It put a huge grin on my face, I'm so happy that you love my story :)). And thanks for your feedback :D.

Disclaimer (sorry I haven't been doing these, it applies to all my chapters and stories): I don't own the characters or TMI... sigh. We all can wish...

I do own Michelle and Asher though. And the plot. But I think that's it.

Magnus

We decided to host a small Christmas Eve gathering at Alec's mansion. By small, I meant me, Michelle, Alec, Izzy, Jace, their parents, Simon, his sister and mom (whom none of us had met, but who cares, it's Christmas), Clary, her older brother Sebastian and her parents (again, most of us have never met them), and Camille. She had separated from her family a while ago, so she came alone.

I wanted to have the Christmas party at my - our - apartment, but half the people who were invited barely knew me, if at all. So I agreed to wait until next year.

We had a huge dinner on Christmas Eve, and eventually, all of us stopped eating, bellies full. It was really nice being with everyone, just chatting. If only there was some alcohol... I could get Alec drunk... I let out a wistful sigh.

"Magnus? Are you ok?" Alec asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, why?" I furrowed my brow.

"You sighed. What were you thinking about?"

I smirked. "Nothing, love. I was just wishing there would be some alcohol here. But with all these adults..."

Alec blushed a little. "Love...?" he echoed, ignoring my alcohol comment.

"I thought it would be cute. Do you not like it, love?" My smirks deepened as his cheeks flamed up.

"N-no, it's fine," he stuttered.

—

I woke up with a fast asleep Alec cradled in my arms. I shifted uncomfortably in my tight pants and shirt. We had decided to stay at the mansion overnight, so we wouldn't have to drive over in the morning. We had slept on Alec's old bed, in his empty-ish room. It actually hadn't changed much. It was missing a few things, like his cello, clothes, and books. But other than that, it was exactly the same as it had been the first time I had come over. Except now, he was here, sleeping in my arms.

Alec's eyelids fluttered a little, but he didn't wake up, instead he shifted closer to me. I wrapped my arms tighter around him, knowing that he was dreaming.

After a while, he quieted again, breathing more evenly. I kissed his nose, and his forehead, and his cheeks, and finally his dry but warm lips. He didn't stir, and I chuckled softly. I didn't blame him. We were up late last night. Around three in the morning, everyone started to say their goodbyes. Alec and I had trudged upstairs, and had fallen asleep almost right away. We hadn't even bothered to change our clothes, which I was now regretting, seeing that that was the reason I had woken up so early.

Alec shifted again, this time away from me. I heard him grumble, and he turned back around, half opening one of his luminous blue eyes. I could never get over how beautiful they were, endless shades of blue dancing around together, darkening and lightening depending on his mood.

Right now, they were light and carefree.

"Merry Christmas." His voice was rough from sleep, but he smiled.

"Merry Christmas, love," I murmured, cupping his cheek with one hand and kissing him lightly on the lips.

We got out of bed, discarding last night's clothes. Alec shoved on a shirt and a pair of shorts, and I wrapped my fluffy red robe around me. We headed to the kitchen, Alec walking slightly ahead of me.

Everyone except for Jace was already there, and we wished them all Merry Christmas. Michelle hugged me tight. I had convinced her to spend Christmas here with the Lightwoods, and honestly, it wasn't that hard.

"Merry Christmas, Magnus," she whispered. I felt a lump in my throat, but I forced it down. She couldn't move back here, and I couldn't move back there. There was nothing I could do.

Finally, Jace stumbled into the room, hair tousled. He plopped onto a chair, rubbing his eyes. Not even a second later, Izzy jumped up.

"Everyone's here! Present time!" she screamed, causing Jace to flinch and Alec to cover his ears, scowling.

I laughed, and followed her out of the kitchen and into the living room, practically dragging Alec behind me.

We all gathered around the tree, the adults laughing and talking on the couch, and all of us sorting out the presents from under the tree. It was just like when I was little, except I never had Christmas with friends, just close family.

"Another one for you, Alec," Izzy was saying, handing him a wrapped box.

Finally, Izzy pulled a fancy-looking envelope out from under the tree.

"Here, Magnus," she said dismissively, handing it to me. I read the name.

I did a double take. "Guys?" I asked. "Where did you get this?"

Izzy glanced over. "Oh, it was on the doorstep... a couple days ago? I don't remember. I decided to put it under the tree; it did say 'Merry Christmas'. I figured 'Asher' was a friend or something. Why?"

Alec froze. "Asher?" he asked cautiously, glancing over. I nodded, slowly. "Well, open it!" he exclaimed.

I ripped the expensive paper open, and pulled out a card.

'Merry Christmas', it said on the front. I opened it. Two hundred-dollar bills fell out, but I barely noticed them. The money had uncovered my dad's sloppy script.

Dear Magnus,

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to apologize again, for everything. I really would like to fix our relationship. Please call me, and tell me if you would like to meet. Ok, I know you don't want to, but it would mean so much to me if you gave me one more chance to explain, and apologize. I'm in New York for two more days, then I'm going back to California. But that doesn't stop us from communicating. My phone number is at the bottom.

Please, let me fix this.

Asher.

His number was written below his name. I picked up the money and turned it over in my hand, handing the card to Alec. He skimmed over the messy handwriting, silent. When he was done, he turned to me.

"Are you going to meet him?" he asked.

I hesitated. Then I shook his head. "He's not worth it. Meeting him will just remind me of how he wasn't there when I needed him most."

Alec nodded solemnly.

"On the bright side," Izzy said loudly. "There are presents to be opened."

"No questions?" Alec asked suspiciously. "About this mysterious card?"

"Well, it's obviously Magnus's business, and if he wants to share, he can share."

I gave her a grateful look. She smiled at me. Alec just shrugged, but he looked a little impressed.

Then he pulled out a box from his small pile. The box was small itself, the size of a baby's fist. He looked at me, and beamed. "From Magnus," he said.

He carefully took off the wrapping paper, not tearing it. I just sat there, heart pounding all of a sudden. I hoped he liked it.

Once the paper was off, a jewelry box sat in his hand. He took the top off. Jace and Izzy leaned forward, trying to see what it was.

Alec pulled out a ring. It had two thin stripes of black on the edges, and a strip of luminous green that shone gold it you tilted it right down the middle.

"Magnus, it's beautiful," he said, his voice hushed.

"It's not an engagement ring or anything," I said quickly. I have one too." I held up my hand. On my ring finger was a similar ring, except it had a strip of bright ocean blue instead of green. "I saw it as I was passing by this one place, and I thought 'it's perfect'.

Alec looked at me. "It is." He slipped it on, holding it out in front of him. "Thank you."

I kissed him softly and hesitantly. He kissed back for a second and then pulled away.

"Your present's at home," he said briskly. Then he grinned. "You'll love it."

—

We went home after dinner that night; Maryse and Robert insisted that we stay. Well, Maryse mostly, but nobody said anything about it.

I drove. Whenever I glanced at Alec, he was looking at his ring, turning it this way and that.

I smiled softly. The rings were actually really hard to find, and expensive. But I wanted my first Christmas present to him to be something special. Something perfect. And it was.

We finally got home, and I stopped myself from running inside. Instead, I walked next to Alec. But I could barely contain my excitement, threatening to burst after holding it in all day.

Finally, we made it inside. I looked at Alec expectantly. He snickered quietly.

"Look in our room."

I flew into our room, and saw something on the bed. A... cage?

I peered inside the cage. No, not a cage...

A cat carrier. Inside was a tiny ball of fluff, a tabby kitten. It turned and saw me, and made a tiny mewling noise.

I gasped, and ran back out of the room. Alec hadn't moved, he was still standing there in the front of the house. But now, a smirk played on his features.

I threw myself into his arms, kissing him full on the mouth hard. I gasped "Thank you" against his lips, more than once. He moaned and opened his mouth to greet my waiting tongue. I sighed and tried to pull him closer to me, impossibly close. He pulled my hair, trying to do the same.

I pulled away, and dragged him into our room. Still gasping for breath, he followed, willingly. I opened the cage and slowly reached in to pick up the tabby. The cat didn't complain, letting me pick him up and cradle him in my arms.

"Look at his collar," Alec whispered. I did. On the front was an engraved silver tag. It read:

'To Magnus

Love Alec'

The cat jumped out of my arms and under the bed, but I didn't care.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," I whispered over and over again. "I love you, Alec."

He placed a chaste kiss on my lips. "And I you, Magnus."

THE END

A/N: Ok so this is the last chapter. I'm sad it's over, I loved writing it :(.

Yes that cat was Chairman Meow, in case that wasn't clear. And sorry for the cliché ending :/

I was thinking about a doing New Years chapter, but nothing good came to my mind. If you have any good ideas for New Years, or for any additional chapters/epilogues you want me to do then by all means, let me know.

So it might not be over just yet. But it depends on YOU, my faithful readers.

I'm gonna be starting another fic, I'll try to pilot it soon. School started, so things are getting crazy again, but I'll try. Multi-chaptered, and I'm not planning on it getting too long... but we'll see. Don't forget about me! I'll be back soon.

Thanks for all your support in this whole story, to those of you who reviewed, followed, and favorited! Love you all! I couldn't have done it without you!

... And review on this chapter too, of course.