A/N—Apologies in advance for sporadic updates. I'm a mess.

Anyway, chapter two—enjoy!

A shuffle at the bedside woke Magnus.

There was light against his closed eyelids, the morning sun smattering through the window of Alec's bedroom. That was one of the less important aspects of the room that Magnus disliked: the fact that it faced East to the rising sun. Of course, there was the more pressing concern of the room being stationed in the institute, but there was nothing to be done about that.

A hand sliding across the mattress, Magnus found only cold bedsheets beside him and determined that his boyfriend was the one puttering about the room. There was a soft noise like someone muttering under breath and the clatter of something falling over to be hastily clunked back upright. Magnus let his eyes flutter open at the commotion, grunting softly as he struggled to wake up in time to process that the shadowhunter in the room was definitely not Alec, but rather a female with hair so orange that it practically glowed.

"Hey, morning," Clary greeted, acknowledging him as she saw he was awake, before continuing her search across the bedside table.

"Morning, biscuit," Magnus replied with a soft frown, propping himself up on one elbow. "What time is it?"

"Almost nine," Clary said, busily rifling through the drawers now.

Magnus ran a hand through his hair, subtly threading his magic through the unruly locks to make himself a little more presentable. It certainly wasn't his wisest idea, as he was then blinking away black spots from his vision at the drain of magic. It had only been a trickle of his power, but he knew he should be more careful considering how weak vanquishing the demon had made him. He was unused to feeling so faint.

The mattress creaked softly as he sat himself up, leaning back against the headboard of the bed and rubbing his hands over his sleep-heavy face. "What are you looking for?"

"Alec's stele," said Clary, a soft furrow to her brow as she sifted through whatever items Alec kept in the drawers of his bedside table. "He's swamped with these rogue werewolf searches and he thinks he left it in here this morning. I volunteered to fetch it. Sorry if I woke you up."

"It was probably about time to get up," chuckled Magnus, glancing across the bed to Alec's alarm clock and wondering why it hadn't woken him when it went off for Alec.

Clary picked out a slip of shined paper, smiling softly as she stared down at it. Magnus frowned, shifting himself over to Alec's side of the bed to lean over Clary's arm. She angled the paper for him to see and he shared her smile. It was the second copy of their photos from Tokyo. Warmth touched Magnus's heart as he realised that Alec kept them so close to him in a place so easily accessible.

"These are cute," Clary remarked, grinning at him. "I've never seen Alec smiling like that."

"It was a good night," Magnus reminisced.

With a small hand flourish, he waved Clary back a little so he could clamber out of bed and wandered over to where Alec's trousers were discarded across the floor. Rummaging through the pockets, he fished out Alec's stele and turned to hand it to Clary. She had her gaze averted from his half-naked body, a flush across her cheeks and Magnus chuckled.

"Relax, biscuit. We're both mature adults."

"Yeah," Clary agreed, taking the stele. "Thanks. I'll get this to Alec."

He cast her a wink, watching as she scurried out of the room. He could hear her laughing softly to herself as she closed the door and a smile crossed his features. Glancing back to Alec's bedside table, he wandered across the room to pick up the column of photos, rubbing an absent thumb to the frozen smiles.

In that moment, remembering their date in Tokyo and everything since, he knew Alec loved him. Maybe, despite all the discrimination he had endured from other shadowhunters, that love was enough.

Having dressed himself in clothes from yesterday, Magnus was closing the door to Alec's room, not entirely sure of his destination, when a familiar voice called out to him. Turning at the shout, he smiled to see Alec making his way down the corridor towards him. The shirt he wore was not his own.

"Hey, I heard you helped find my stele," said Alec as he halted in front of his boyfriend.

"Good morning, Alexander," Magnus greeted, frowning softly as he glanced down to the shadowhunter's attire. "Is that my shirt?"

"Oh, yeah," Alec muttered, smoothing down the fabric. "Sorry, I forgot to return it. I just kind of threw it on this morning."

Magnus shook his head with a smile. "Keep it. It looks good on you."

He leaned up and pressed a kiss to Alec's cheek, frowning his disappointment when Alec mumbled a sound of awkwardness, stepping back.

"Not—uh—not here, okay?"

Magnus huffed his irritation, making a show of looking around them at the deserted corridor. "I don't see anyone gawking at us," he said, crossing his arms over his chest at he turned back to Alec. He wasn't afraid of causing a scene if it meant Alec would untie himself from this absurd knot of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was this big secret you had to keep under wraps."

"You're not. I'm sorry, it's just…" He sighed and shook his head. "Magnus, things are tense enough with you here and if we start acting like boyfriends around the institute… Look, I just think we need to keep our personal and professional lives separate. That's all."

"Oh, that's all?"

Alec frowned at the clear spite in Magnus's voice. "Hey, come on…"

"Alec, I was in your bed last night," said Magnus, struggling to reel in his emotions before he said something he would regret. "I think people know."

"I'm sorry, Magnus. I know this is difficult—"

"No, you have no idea," Magnus snapped.

He didn't elaborate and Alec spurred into a jog to hurry after him as he took off down the corridor. Magnus didn't slow. He couldn't extinguish this fierce anger inside of him, this burning resentment towards Alec for forcing him to stay in this place and then pretending that he didn't exist. Stubbornly proud as always, Magnus despised hiding who he was, and he definitely didn't appreciate that kind of discrimination coming from Alec of all people.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm going home," said Magnus, refusing to even cast a glance in Alec's direction. "I'm strong enough to put up the warding now."

It wasn't true; they both knew that much. Draining his powers on destroying the demon had left a lasting effect. If he tried to put up the warding around his loft, he would probably be in a light coma for a couple of days. Apparently, patience was not one of Magnus's prime virtues.

Magnus headed out into the main room, ducking his way past shadowhunters who hummed around the room busily completing their tasks for the day. He almost made it through the crowd when a hand took his arm, spinning him around. Finding himself staring up at Alec's softly narrowed eyes, he huffed in irritation and strained to free himself. He wanted to order the shadowhunter to release him but the words died at his lips as he noted the pain in Alec's eyes.

"Magnus," Alec said, adjusting so he could hold both of Magnus's hands in his own, squeezing tight. "I'm sorry. I know I don't always consider how uncomfortable being here can be for you. The people here… they haven't exactly been kind to you. I know things between shadowhunters and downworlders are tense right now; they've always been tense. That's not an excuse for my behaviour. This is one hundred percent my fault. I'm being a terrible boyfriend."

Magnus stared at him.

People could hear him saying these things. They didn't stop to gawk, they just gave the pair a quick side-eye and continued on their way, but they could still hear. They were dead centre in the middle of the busiest and most hectic part of the institute. Alec was letting them hear.

"I hate this, okay?" he continued, almost a whisper. His lowered tone wasn't a result of him trying to hide, Magnus realised. It was the emotion creeping into Alec's words. "I hate how they're always calling you 'warlock' like you don't have a name. I hate the way people look at you like you don't belong here."

"Well, I don't."

Alec shook his head, pulling him closer by his hands. "You do. I'm here, Magnus. You belong with me."

Magnus's eyes narrowed. "Alexander…"

"I love you."

Pausing for a moment, Magnus stared up into Alec's eyes, searching for a hint of reluctance or embarrassment at saying this to him beyond the confinements of their shared bedroom. He found nothing but honesty and, to his surprise, a hint of anxiety. It took him a moment to realise that Alec was afraid that he wouldn't say it back. Sighing and shaking his head, Magnus squeezed both of Alec's hands, a reassuring smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"I love you too, Alexander."

The anxiety eased mercifully into fondness. Alec released Magnus's hands, content that his boyfriend wouldn't try to run again and therefore comfortable with easing back a little.

"Will you stay here tonight?" Alec requested, running a hand across Magnus's shoulder and down to hold his waist.

"Oh?" Magnus cast him a sly look. "You… want me here?"

Alec frowned. "Of course, I want you here… Is that so terrible? Do you still want to leave?"

"Not at all," Magnus replied airily, darting his gaze away. "It's just that I've regained my strength from the demon incident…" He trailed off at that, the lie dying at his lips as Alec gave him this knowing look. Magnus glanced downwards, taking in a deep breath. "Well, I just thought you wanted to keep our personal and our professional lives separate, that's all."

Alec clicked his tongue as he pulled the warlock closer. "My words, I know. I was being stupid." His eyes softened with guilt. "I'm sorry. I never meant to push you away."

Magnus lifted a hand to fix the collar of his shirt. "Hush. It's forgotten."

Alec smiled, leaning down a little so he could press a lingering kiss against Magnus's lips right there in the middle of the institute. When the kiss broke, he pressed his forehead down against Magnus's own.

"Someone's getting bolder," Magnus commented with a meaningful look.

"I'm tired of hiding," Alec murmured. "The Clave can get used to it or they can kick me out."

Magnus blinked softly and trailed a hand over his shoulder to show his appreciation. Stepping back a little so both he and Alec could have their space, he suddenly remembered a particular phone call he had received shortly before the demon assignment that he had so willingly offered his help on. It was a matter he was uncertain if Alec was aware of but he perceived it to be important enough to let his boyfriend know.

"Speaking of The Clave," he began. "I had an unusual request the other day."

"Oh yeah?" Alec frowned softly. "What was it?"

"Well—"

"Alec!"

A voice interrupted the warlock and Alec glanced back to see a shadowhunter unfamiliar to Magnus calling to the head of the institute.

"We've had a sighting of those werewolves that broke from Lucian Graymark's pack. They were reportedly sulking around by the Hunter's Moon."

Alec nodded once and then glanced back to Magnus. "Sorry, I should really deal with this. Rain check?"

Magnus gestured absently. "Of course. I'll find something to busy myself while you're hard at work."

"I know it's hectic around here," Alec murmured as means of an apology, pressing a quick kiss to Magnus's temple. "When things die down a little, I'll take a day off to focus on you, okay? We can go wherever you want with zero interruptions. I'll leave my phone here." He smiled suddenly; his eyes shone bright with inspiration. "How about we finally go to that place in Iceland you keep talking about? That steakhouse in Reykjavik?"

"It's a date," Magnus agreed, squeezing his shoulder once more before letting him go.

It was late into the night when Alec was done working and, watching him collapse into a heap onto the bed, Magnus decided his information could wait—at least until morning.