Promposal (M/A)

This idea was suggested by Maraculate over on Archive of Our Own

Warning for homophobic slurs

As they made their way to the entrance of the high school, Alec zoned out the ramblings of his little sister beside him and scanned the groups of students that were meandering about, talking to their friends before their morning classes started. A tightness formed in his chest when he didn't find the person he was hoping to.

"Alec? Are you even listening to me?"

Alec shrugged. "Something about Simon?" he guessed.

He heard Izzy sigh softly before glancing at her over his shoulder. She had an eyebrow raised as she studied him, a knowing look on her face. "Why don't you just ask him out?"

Alec slowed his pace and scrunched his eyebrows. "Who?"

"Magnus," she taunted in a lilting tone.

Coming to an abrupt stop, Alec quickly scanned the area to find that no one was paying attention to them.

"Will you stop?" he pleaded. "And lower your voice. Someone could hear you."

Alec turned to hurry the last few feet to the front doors of the school, Izzy close on his heels.

"Fine," his sister thankfully relented as he held the door open for her to step inside behind him, but he couldn't help how his heart leaped in his chest at her next words. "He's right over there though," she said, nodding towards the left side of the lobby.

"Nobody cares that he's gay," Izzy continued, leaning closer as she lowered her voice this time. "I don't understand-"

"It's different for him," Alec insisted, forcing his gaze away from the boy with the beautiful caramel skin tone who was laughing at something one of his friends had said. He continued on down the hallway towards where a group of his football friends were hanging out. "First off, he's bi, not gay, and he's part of the theater club. Those kids . . . their more accepting of that kind of thing."

"You can't be in the closet forever, Alec. You deserve to find someone, just like anybody else."

Alec shook his head. "Not forever. Just until high school is over. I want to get out of here first."

Izzy frowned. "But what about-?"

"Hey, Alec!" The siblings turned to see Jace, one of Alec's teammates, waving him over.

"We'll talk later," Alec said, hoping his sister would drop it for now and hurried over to his friends.

A few hours later, Alec found himself laughing with his friends from the football team in an empty classroom. This had quickly turned into their group's favorite place to hangout during their free period.

It didn't take long for their conversation to drift over to the prom, a topic that most of the seniors were excited about, but filled Alec with dread. Especially when his friends asked him if he was going to ask someone to go with him. Alec wasn't ready to start thinking about promposals and having to ask a girl to go with him. Besides, it wasn't even November yet.

"What do you think about this?" Andrew said, leaning forward over the desk in front of him. "When I ask Lydia to prom, I was thinking I would take her out to her favorite Chinese restaurant, then we'll go for a walk down on the beach. We could make a bonfire and watch the sunset before I give her a long stem red rose."

Alec smirked to himself as he played through the scene in his head. It sounded like a sweet gesture to him. He was about to voice his thoughts on this to Andrew, but before he could get the words out, Raj started laughing next to him.

"Are you serious?" the boy quipped.

"Don't be such a fag," Jace added.

Alec's body stiffened at the word.

Andrew flinched slightly at the term, but recovered fast. "Why? What's wrong with that?" he asked, his eyes drifting between Raj and Jace.

None of them seemed to notice Alec's silence as he shifted anxiously in his seat. Vaguely, he heard Jace going on to talk about his plans for asking out Clary, but it felt like cotton was in his ears and his stomach was twisting into knots. In the back of his mind, he wanted to call Jace out for using that word, but there was a lump in his throat.

Suddenly feeling really uncomfortable in front of his friends, Alec quickly jumped to his feet and reached to retrieve his backpack from the floor.

"I'll see you guys later," he excused himself, and hurried out of the door before any of them could question him.

With a heavy sigh, Alec wandered through the noisy hallways. The corridors were filled with other students gathered in groups and pairs sitting on the stairs or against the walls. Turning down what he hoped would be an empty hallway, he desperately searched for somewhere he could be alone. Free period was a horrible time to try and find a quiet place to hide out.

Making a few more turns down random hallways, Alec eventually found a quieter area of the school. If the vague smell of paint was anything to go by, he guessed he must have wandered into the art wing of the school.

Along with the soft echoes of chattering teenagers from around the corner, Alec thought he could hear music coming from somewhere further down the hall. Curiosity getting the better of him, Alec followed the upbeat sounds farther down the empty hallway and quickly realized it was coming from the school auditorium.

Alec frowned, before glancing behind him. Sure that no one was watching him, he quietly slipped through the door that led to the backstage, the music getting significantly louder as the door silently closed behind him. Stepping closer in the direction he assumed the stage was, he peeked through the curtains . . . to see Magnus dancing on the stage.

A gasp left Alec's lips as he watched the boy glide across the platform, moving his arms in fluid motions. Every movement was breathtaking.

He watched for a couple minutes from his hiding place, but as the music coming from the boombox on the stage started into a new song, he desperately wanted to get a better view of the performance.

Being as quiet as he could, Alec slipped out another door and slowly made his way down the steps on the side of the stage, his eyes not leaving Magnus, and took a seat in the front row.

He was so lost in the show that he didn't realize when, a few minutes later, that the music had stopped completely.

"Enjoying the show?"

Alec jumped at the sound of the voice. Blinking away his daydream, he found himself staring into the eyes of Magnus Bane. He was just bending down to pull out a CD case from his bag before ejecting the music from the machine.

"Sorry," Alec mumbled, finding his voice. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

The teen shook his head. "You weren't. I enjoy having an audience." Magnus smirked at him. "But don't you usually hang out with your football friends at this time?"

Alec frowned. "How did you know that?"

The smirk on his face grew into a grin. "You really think I wouldn't be keeping my eye on a boy as pretty as you?"

Alec could feel his cheeks heating up and leaned forward in his seat.

"I was with them. Until Jace said something . . ."

Magnus turned away to zip up his bag before shifting to sit on the side of the stage, his legs hanging over the side. "What did he say?"

Alec hesitated for moment before quietly admitting, "He said 'faggot'."

Magnus' grin was quickly replaced by a frown. "Don't you guys usually joke around like that?"

"They sometimes do," Alec admitted. "That word though . . ."

The teen raised an eyebrow, silently inviting him to continue.

Locking eyes with Magnus again, Alec was surprised at how calm he felt now that he was actually talking to his crush. The idea of doing this had seemed like such an impossible and daunting quest just this morning. Now, being alone with the boy, he felt safe and accepted already. He was amazed at how easy it was to open up to Magnus about being gay.

"I'm guessing you haven't told any of your teammates yet?" Magnus asked when Alec was done talking.

Alec quickly shook his head. "No, of course not. I know most of the school is accepting of that kind of thing but . . . being on the football team and changing in the locker rooms, showering together. Most of them will probably say they're cool with it, but things would definitely get awkward."

Magnus nodded in understanding, a small smile on his face. "Well, I usually have the auditorium to myself during free periods, and I have nothing else going on after the theater club in the afternoons. If you ever just want to get away from them for a little while?"

As the next couple of months went by, Alec found himself taking Magnus up on his offer and hanging out more and more in the auditorium to watch the theater club practice after school on the days he didn't have football practice. Afterwards, the two of them would usually hang out, talking for hours. The more time that Alec spent with Magnus, the harder he found himself falling for him.

"Prom is coming up soon," Magnus reminded him one day as they walked out of the school building together after Magnus' theater club meeting. "Are you going to ask someone to go with you?"

Alec shrugged his shoulders, keeping his head down. "I don't know . . . I've been thinking that I might not go at all."

Still not looking at him, Alec could hear the frown in Magnus' next words. "It's your senior prom. You'll regret it later if you don't attend."

"I know, but if I go with a girl it won't feel right."

There was a short pause before Magnus spoke up again. "Maybe you should consider, you know, coming out now."

Finally looking up at the boy next to him, Alec gave him a questioning look.

"Your old excuse doesn't apply anymore," he reminded him. "Football season is over, so you won't have to worry about locker room drama anymore, and you will be graduating soon anyways. You'll be out of here soon enough."

Alec considered his crush's words for a few moments as they made their way across the street towards the ice cream parlor.

"Yeah, okay," Alec said hesitantly, eyeing Magnus' expression hoping to catch some sign that he could be interested in him, "but there aren't many people out of the closet at our school. Who would I go with?"

Magnus just smirked back at Alec and patted him on the shoulder before reaching to open the door to enter the store. "Leave that to me."

Another couple weeks went by and Alec was starting to think that Magnus had forgotten all up his "date to prom" problem.

Sitting on one of the logs that someone had dragged onto the beach years ago, Alec shivered slightly in his lightweight jacket despite the bonfire that was roaring just a few feet in front of him. Hundreds of students from his high school were gathered on the beach in groups, talking and drinking beer.

Whatever student had thought that it would be a great idea to celebrate the end of senior year with a party on the beach at this time of year, in Alec's mind, was crazy. It was only a few days into March and was still a little chilly for a beach day.

Alec didn't notice anyone approaching him until he heard a soft sigh as Jace took a seat next to him on the log.

"Where have you been lately?"

Alec raised an eyebrow at his friend in question.

Jace gave a small shrug. "I haven't seen you much outside of school since football season ended."

"Right, sorry," Alec said. "I've just . . . been busy lately."

"Hanging out with Magnus?"

Alec's head spun back to face him.

Jace held his hands up in defense. "Hey, no judgment. You're allowed to make friends with whoever you want." He shrugged. "Just don't forget about your old friends in the process. We only have a few weeks left before we are all going our separate ways, after all."

Alec nodded. "Yeah, sorry."

There was a short silence between the two filled by the sounds of laughing teenagers and the soft popping noises of the bonfire in the background.

"So, any luck finding a date for the prom?" Jace eventually asked.

Alec knew it was only a matter of time before this question would be brought up again, and he had thought long and hard about how he would respond when it did, especially after his last conversation with Magnus on the topic.

"Not yet," Alec admitted as his fingers played nervously with the cuffs of his jacket. "But, I was thinking about . . . going with a guy."

Alec kept his gaze locked on the fire blazing in front of him, but he could picture the confused look that was probably on his friend's face.

"You mean like going with friends?"

"Jace, I'm gay," he forced the words out in a rush, not giving himself the chance to back out.

"Oh, okay."

Alec blinked up at him. "That's it?"

"What did you think I'd say?"

Alec narrowed his eyes at him accusingly. "You and other guys on the football team use words like 'fag' all the time."

Jace sucked in a breath, seemingly unable to look away from Alec's stare. "Dude, I'm so sorry," he said once he could form words again. "I mean, I wasn't . . . None of us were thinking."

A small sigh left Alec's lips as he relented on the hard stare. "I know."

"So, a guy then," Jace said after another awkward pause. "Who are you planning on-" He stopped abruptly mid-sentence when, evidently, something clicked in his head. "Wait! Magnus? It's Magnus, isn't it? You like him?"

"Shh," Alec cried, waving a hand in front of Jace's face as he caught sight of Magnus approaching the bonfire with a few of his theater friends. "Not so loud."

Jace just rolled his eyes playfully, before noticing Magnus looking their way with a small wave to Alec.

Hoping his cheeks weren't as red as he thought they were, Alec waved back. Magnus turned back to say something to his friends before leaving them to head in their direction.

"Guess that's my cue to go," Jace cheered. "Good luck, man." With that, he gave Alec a pat on his shoulder before swinging his legs over the log and walking away in the opposite direction.

"Hey," Magnus called as he drew closer. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

Giving a quick scan of the crowded area on the beach, Alec nodded. "Sure."

Getting up from the log, he followed Magnus as they walked side-by-side to a more secluded section of the beach, the two of them taking a seat on a gray outcropping of rocks.

The sound of the waves crashing against the base of the rocks before being sucked back out to sea helped slightly in calming Alec's racing heartbeat. Off in the distance, the sun was slowly sinking towards the horizon, tinting the sky in colors of yellow, red, and purple.

It was colder away from the bonfire and a shiver ran up Alec's spine as he wrapped his arms around himself.

"So . . . um."

Alec frowned as he turned to look at Magnus, for the first time noticing how nervous the other boy appeared to be.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Magnus nodded. "That conversation we had a couple weeks ago; are you still up for going to the dance with a boy?"

Hoping this was going where he thought it was, Alec nodded. "I've thought a lot about it since we talked before. I don't mind coming out now. I actually just came out to Jace before you got here."

Magnus' eyes widened at that. "You did? How did it go?"

"Good." Alec smiled. "Really good."

"Well, great," Magnus said, before unzipping his jacket just enough to pull out a red rose and holding it out towards him. "Because I was wondering if you would do me the honor of accompanying me to the prom."

Alec blinked in surprise at the dark red flower, a grin slowly growing on his face. He nodded slowly as he reached out a shaking hand to take the rose. "Yeah. Yes, I'd love to go with you."

Magnus beamed back at him. "Well, that's a relief," he sighed, hugging his knees to his chest before turning to look out at the sunset again. Hesitantly, he continued, "Honestly, I had been trying to think of a way to ask you out to prom since senior year started."

"What?" Alec frowned in confusion. "You had a crush on me? I hadn't even come out to you yet."

"Maybe not officially," Magnus said with a shrug, "but I have had my suspicions about your sexuality for a while. You just confirmed it for me a couple months ago. And, yeah, I kind of have been keeping an eye on you from afar. I wasn't sure if you'd be interested in going out with the theater kid though."

Alec shook his head. Scouting closer to the boy, he placed one hand on Magnus' knee. "No, no, Magnus. I . . . I've liked you for a while too. I just . . . You know-" he stuttered.

"Weren't ready to come out yet." Magnus nodded. "I get it."

"I am really glad you asked me. After our last conversation about the prom, I was hoping you were talking about you."

"Good." The beam returned to Magnus' face. "I actually had a little help with the promposal idea," he explained, nodding towards the rose.

"Wait . . . A bonfire, a rose, and watching the sunset on the beach?"

"It's the 'faggy' prom idea Andrew had that led to us becoming friends in the first place," Magnus said, putting air quotes around faggy. He shrugged. "Seemed fitting for the moment."

Alec couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of his mouth.

"And, honestly, you couldn't have picked a better prom to come out at."

"What do you mean?" Alec asked, looking down at the beautiful flower as he spun it in his hands.

"You didn't hear?" Magnus asked. He waited until Alec looked up at him before continuing, smiling brightly at him. "The Prom theme this year; it's Rainbow."