Thanks to Izzy's influence Magnus had been listening to the same playlist on repeat for days now, and still enjoying every moment. Ever since his sister-in-law had gotten him to watch Lucifer, Magnus couldn't get the songs out of his head. Between the Devil singing at his piano a couple times a season, and the musical episode in season five, there were a lot of songs to memorize. Not to mention all the epic songs with devilish lyrics that played in the background during the episodes. The entire show's soundtrack was well worth putting on repeat, especially while he was at work. There was nothing more monotonous than data entry, and this week Magnus was building a database for a new optical dispensary. That meant putting in frame model numbers, colour codes, dimensions and prices, both cost and retail. His least favourite type of frames were the ones missing the dimension measurements which meant he had to measure them all by hand. The next worst were probably the ones with super small print. He often had to get out a magnifier to avoid getting eye strain after squinting at tiny letters for hours.

It had been a while now since Alec and Magnus had returned home from his aunt's place. His aunt's explanation had helped, but Magnus had been feeling more like himself ever since confessing everything to his husband and getting such a warm loving response in return. The whole experience had clarited something for Magnus. It no longer mattered what Magnus was worthy of. All that mattered was how Alec felt, and Alec loved him unconditionally so Magnus would be happy till the end of his days.

Even so his husband was still a spoiled brat. Alec had been trying to convince Magnus to quit his job since the day they'd arrived back home. Magnus had cut his hours down to four days a week so with his one day of volunteering at the museum a week it worked out to a standard 5 days on 2 days off schedule like he used to have before Magnus had started using his job to hide from his life. He suspected that Alec mostly wanted him to quit because Alec now associated Magnus's working with Magnus's pulling away from him. Magnus was working hard to repair this association by giving his husband endless love and attention the moment he got home from work every day.

And speaking of which his work day was almost over. Just a few more minutes and he'd be on his way home to kiss his better half. As he was getting ready to leave, Magnus checked his phone. To his surprise he had quite a few messages from Alec, all of which didn't actually say much.

'I have news,' Alec's first message read, but he didn't stop there. 'Call me when you can.'

'Oh come on you get breaks don't you! I don't want to tell you over text.'

'Have I told you lately that you work too much? Well you do. Mom has already called me three times, but you haven't even answered my text.'

'Only an hour left till five. Finally'

'Half and hour.'

'Ten minutes.'

'Okay you are probably about to read all of those. Just know that even if I am crazy you are stuck with me. Love you.'

Magnus couldn't help but chuckle at the messages. Clearly something major had happened in the Lightwood family. Checking the delivery time on the messages, Magnus realized he must have forgotten to check his messages at lunch time. Oh well. Nothing he could do about it now.

Magnus replied to his husband's chain of text spam with a simple, 'See you soon' and then left. There was a bus stop just one block from Magnus's work, and the bus arrived just ten minutes after the end of his shift so Magnus almost never let Alec waste his time and gasoline to come pick him up. Failing that Alec had insisted that Magnus call his car their car and take it to work himself which Magnus did allow. On some occasions when the weather was bad or Magnus had a particularly horrible day at work, he would cave, and call his husband for a ride home. It was nice to always know there was someone there for him, even if he technically didn't need the ride.

Today Magnus had taken, as Alec called it, their car to work. Walking around the building to employee parking, Magnus got in and drove home, all the while wondering what could have happened to turn his husband into such a text spam monster.

Magnus had barely one foot in the door when his husband's grinning face appeared before him.

"Izzy and Simon got engaged!" Alec exclaimed as if the effect to keep the words in was all together too much for him.

"That's wonderful, darling," Magnus smiled at him. "Now can I please come inside?"

"Oh right sorry," Alec mumbled, stepping aside while Magnus chuckled. Taking off his shoes right away so as not to get melting snow on the floors, Magnus hung up his coat and put down his lunch bag before turning to properly greet his husband with a hello kiss.

"Mmmh," came a contented sound in Alec's throat.

"So when's the wedding?" Magnus asked.

"Mid May," Alec answered.

"That's fast," Magnus replied.

"That's what I said!" Alec exclaimed, then he laughed. "I have a feeling Izzy wanted to lock this down right away, but Simon convinced her to give it enough time to plan an actual wedding."

"I take it your parents are happy about this," Magnus smiled at him. "I believe you said Maryse had called twice."

"Yeah Izzy told her and she called me to make sure Izzy didn't elope," Alec laughed. "Iz must have forgotten to tell her they'd already picked a date. I explained to mom they weren't eloping and then she instantly started talking about how long it would be before she got any grandkids after the wedding."

"Better her than us," Magnus laughed.

"Hell yes!" Alec replied with great energy. "It sounds like mom was worried Izzy would never settle down before Simon. Once she saw Simon two Christmases in a row though she said she knew he'd be sticking around."

"A wise woman, your mother," Magnus smiled.

Alec let out a long breath almost as if he'd be running. "Couldn't have just checked your phone huh?" Alec said with a shake of his head. He seemed to have calmed down now.

Magnus shrugged. "I forgot."

"Just the worse," Alec said, but he said it with a smile as he moved closer to wrap his arms around Magnus.

"So what's for dinner?" Magnus asked his husband who was still clinging to him. This was pretty normal behaviour for Alec right now. Magnus hadn't been surprised by Alec's clinginess, but it had been a month now and still he was attacked with kisses the moment he got home. Not that Magnus was complaining.

"How about dessert first," Alec grinned. "Then I order sushi."

"Just because your mother returned your lazy credit cards doesn't mean you have to use them so much," Magnus sighed.

"But I have better things to do than cook once you get home," Alec grinned.

"Then do tell, what were you doing all day while I was at work?" Magnus chuckled.

"Playing video games," Alec mumbled under his breath.

"Have you ever heard of a slow cooker?" Magnus replied.

"How about this," Alec grinned. "I'll use the slow cooker to make dinner three times a week if you quit your horrible job?"

"Again with the job quitting," Magnus sighed. "I would really rather not depend solely on your parents for money even if they have returned your cards."

"Okay then get a better job," Alec said. "One that makes you happy. I know you don't like data entry. Find something that uses your history degree."

"Those are not easy to come by," Magnus replied.

"Then why did you choose to study history?" Alec asked.

"Because I love history," Magnus explained.

"So it's okay to go to school for stuff that isn't gonna make you money even if school costs a literal fortune, but it's not okay to spend money on dinner even if that means saving on groceries?" Alec countered.

"See there you go again making a strange amount of sense while being nonsensical," Magnus sighed. Still he couldn't help but smile at his husband. Leaning down Magnus kissed Alec and was very promptly pushed up against the wall.

Smiling into the kiss, Magnus followed Alec's lead. This was another aspect of their recent improved communication he was quite enjoying. Alec was now working with his hands as they kissed to get Magnus out of as many clothes as possible.

"Impatient tonight aren't you?" Magnus mumbled into their kiss. Alec didn't reply with words but rather he broke their kiss to get Magnus's shirt up over his head. The garment fell to the floor and was forgotten.

Without pulling away from Alec, Magnus gilded his husband down the hall towards their bedroom. After all, they still had roommates. Once the door was shut behind them Magnus threw Alec onto the bed and began to remove his clothes next.

"I missed you," Alec murmured.

"I know," Magnus said back. "Even if it was I who was hiding I missed you more."

"Not possible," Alec argued.

"Oh but it is," Magnus whispered against Alec's skin as he kissed his husband's now bare chest.

Magnus enjoyed the gentle touches and caresses until they were both done with foreplay. Soon they were both panting from exertion and collapsed together on the bed.

Magnus came down from his high, laying on bed, with his eyes closed. He could hear when Alec got up to order dinner, calling over to confirm Magnus's usual order. It was getting to be more and more work to feel bad about spending his in-laws money through his husband. Fighting Alec on these types of things was just so much more work than it was worth, even if Magnus wished they'd just cook like normal people. Then again he knew this felt normal for Alec.

"All done," Alec said as he returned to snuggle into Magnus's side. "Dinner will be here in forty five minutes. So I was thinking a shower while we wait?"

"I'm so tired," Magnus laughed. "I don't think I could go again."

"So it's a wash and cuddle shower then," Alec grinned. Then he got up with, all together, far more energy than Magnus had and ran to the bathroom. Magnus followed behind at a more leisurely pace.

They were still wrapped in only towels with their hair dark and wet from the shower when the buzzer went announcing the arrival of dinner. Magnus had barely started to move when he saw Alec dart to the door and let the delivery person in.

Maybe Alec had a point about his data entry job. Magnus was always so tired when he got home, and he didn't enjoy it. What would it hurt to look around for something better even if it wasn't likely to happen. Maybe he'd ask to go down to three days a week so he'd have more time to hunt for his dream job. Magnus decided not to tell Alec about this right away for fear of his husband's overwhelming excitement. Magnus was too tired for Alec's energy tonight. The thought made him chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Alec asked as he put the take out on the table.

"Oh just had a funny thought," Magnus replied.

"I wanna hear your funny thought," Alec answered.

"Darling, I love you, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you, but that doesn't mean I can't keep some thoughts to myself," Magnus grinned at him, knowing the idea of this would drive Alec wild.

And sure enough Alec began muttering under his breath as he opened the take out containers. Alec continued to mutter and glance over at him with inquisitive looks the whole time they ate. At one point it always felt like Alec was trying to read his mind. Magnus has to admit the expression was adorable. He found himself laughing again.

"Now what's funny?" Alec grumbled.

"As always you," Magnus replied. "So full of energy and that annoyed look on your face is priceless."

"Oh whatever," Alec waved his hand dismissively before asking again what Magnus thought was so funny.

"But I've already told you," Magnus grinned at him. Then he remembered something he'd read online and added with a snigger, "You're my only sole-mate even if there are plenty of fishes in the sea."

Alec didn't react.

"Get it!" Magnus giggled. "S-o-l-e like the fish sole not soul with a u."

"Ha ha," Alec said sarcastically.

Still unable to keep the smile from his face, Magnus leaned over the table they were eating at and kissed Alec who tasted like tuna.

You can thank all the data entry I've been doing at work lately with the new computer system going online for the theme of this chapter. You can also thank my recent introduction to the tv show world of Lucifer. One of the reasons this story hasn't had as many updates lately is because I've been writing a Lucifer story as well. (It's called 'See Me As I Am' and is a what if Chloe found out in episode 4 story, and it's already about 87k words long...) Then when I finished Lucifer I ended up back watching Merlin again and low and behold that got a story too. (This story is called 'How Merlin Should Have Ended' and you can probably guess what that ones about. It's currently about 16k words long...)
So long story short I'm back to trying to update three stories at once again...

Guest Review from Gab C:
Please Write more. I want Clary and Jace to figure everything out. The pain they both are trying to hide hurts. I wish they would get back together. I also love how you included Magnus and Alec. They are the best. I will say, You don't see many good writers but you are the best writer for this story. It's amazing and I can't wait to read more!

Review Reply:
Aww thanks so much! That's super sweet of you to say. Don't worry too much about Jace and Clary ;). I have plans for them that I'm thinking most people will like even if I have a couple readers who have turned against the Clace.

Sneak Peek Chapter 192

Clary had never been any good at showing affection. She could still remember the conversion she and Jace had had at Malec's wedding before she'd left for Paris. The one where Jace made it plainly clear he believed he couldn't offer her enough. She'd tried to offer him freedom while she was gone, but he'd clung to her like a crazy man in love. Then Jace had gone on to explain why he always underestimated himself, claiming his life had started with her, but Clary knew better. She could see the soul behind those golden eyes. Back then Jace had claimed he had more to lose than she did.

Clary almost chuckled. It was quite ironic how very wrong he'd been. Their time apart had done just the opposite. It had taught Jace he was indeed more than he knew while showing Clary she was nothing without him.

Maybe it was time to stop being bad at showing affection. She'd friendzoned her first boyfriend even while trying to be in a relationship with him. Then she'd hurt Jace, the one she loved most. Clary was done. It was time for her to learn from her mistakes. It was time for her to be brave.