WARNING: This chapter conatains adult content fairly early on. Reader discretion is advised.

To say that Magnus accepted the situation when Alec told him would be misleading. Of course, he had sworn to support Alec and promised to help where he could, but he hadn't exactly been thrilled that anyone else was coming to live at the Institute, especially two children. Alec pondered Magnus' reaction for possibly the thousandth time as he lay in bed, letting the early morning sunlight bathe him in warmth. He took in a deep breath and inhaled the scent of the room and his boyfriend sleeping peacefully beside him. Magnus was taking the day off today from seeing any clients or downworlders in order to welcome both Peter and Paul Hawkswood to the Institute with them all. They were going to throw a little party for the boys, hoping it would ease their transition. That had been Magnus' idea, and Alec had thought it was extremely sweet.

Magnus appeared to be enjoying his lie-in a lot, spread-eagled and snoring quietly and contentedly. He was taking up most of the bed, but Alec was used to this by now. He was fine during the night when they slept, but first thing in the morning the Warlock would spread out and lie like a starfish, stretching his long limbs. On more than one occasion he had forced Alec out of bed by doing this.

Alec loved to watch him sleep. He didn't care if it was more than a little creepy. Magnus would stare at Alec for ages as he slept, and when he caught him doing it he would tell the Warlock how much of a stalker he was. But sometimes, he was the one who acted like a stalker, though Magnus didn't know it. He gazed at him now; his lithe, golden form angelic in the glow of the dawn. He was naked and faced downwards, the curves of his body almost iridescent and Alec couldn't help but trace a tentative finger from his shoulders, along the planes of his back and over the beautiful arch of his buttocks. He was so soft and warm and beautiful. Alec often stopped himself and marvelled at the fact that Magnus was his. He was so incredibly lucky.

Magnus began to stir at Alec's light touch, a low sound vibrating from his throat as he purred his appreciation of Alec's attention. Then he gave a long, laboured stretch, extending his legs so far that they hung over the edge of the bed, before rolling over in a quick, fluid, graceful movement to face him. The Warlock captured the Shadowhunter's body in his limbs and pincered him tightly in place, causing him to chuckle.

"Good morning," Alec whispered, encircling his arms about Magnus' torso and planting a lingering kiss on the crown of the other man's head. He smelt gloriously sweet: sandalwood and caramel. Magnus' unique and magical scent was one of the things Alec loved most about his boyfriend.

"Mmmmm…" Magnus murmured, snuggling his cheek into Alec's chest. His face was a little rough with stubble and the sensation made Alec's skin tingle, causing a burning current to pass through his body and settle between his legs.

How can I still be horny after last night?

After telling Magnus the news about the Hawkswood children and then discussing it at length with Jace, Clary (who had joined them just before Magnus got back) and Isabelle over dinner, they had retired to bed around nine in order to have a long bath and an early night. Of course, this had been accompanied by a very long and athletic sex session, though they had managed to get to bed before eleven, which certainly did count as an early night for them.

Magnus' hand gently brushed against his erection, causing him to suck in the cool morning air sharply.

"Someone's hard…" Magnus teased him playfully, his hand brushing the sensitive area once more. Alec could only let his head fall backwards and groan, so overcome by his need. His lover's strokes became slightly more forceful, though Alec now longed for skin-to-skin contact. He was wearing pyjama bottoms and he also had the duvet covering him: most inconvenient. The Warlock chuckled sensually, the desire plain to hear on his raspy voice as Alec wriggled out of his clothing and then flung the cover away from him and exposing himself. He had pushed Magnus off him too in his struggle to get free and his Warlock was currently seated next to him, leaning back against the headboard and stretching his upper body with a loud accompanying yawn.

He needed the contact again desperately.

Without a word Alec pounced on top of his boyfriend and kissed him ferociously. Usually, he was careful to wash and brush his teeth in the morning before Magnus got up. He didn't know why, but he always felt a little embarrassed that he might have morning breath or he would awake to discover his hair was sticking up at weird angles, even though Magnus would almost constantly reassure him that he was just as appealing first thing in the morning as he was at any other time of day. This particular morning, however, he had become so aroused upon seeing his lover that he honestly didn't care. He had the rest of the day to feel awkward and embarrassed.

Magnus let out a grunt as their lips connected roughly, his lifted arms all too quickly finding their familiar place on Alec's hips. The Shadowhunter could feel the hardness beneath him and ground downwards into Magnus' growing erection. He loved to make Magnus moan in pleasure.

Reluctantly, Alec broke the kiss in order to reach for the lubricant currently located on the bedside table.

"Alec," Magnus breathed, his eyes burning with desire as he watched the Shadowhunter slick the smooth liquid into his hand slowly and seductively and then stroked it along the Warlock's length. Magnus threw his head back and gasped at the contact before groaning loudly. Alec raised himself up a little further, relieving the pressure building up between both their crotches, and positioned himself over his boyfriend. Grasping his lover's lubricated member tightly and eliciting an even louder moan from Magnus, Alec manoeuvred the Warlock's hardness to his entrance and lowered himself simultaneously. They both gasped in pleasure.

Alec was still loose enough from last night that he felt he didn't need any preparation, though the burning tightness that flared up meant he had to take things painstakingly slowly. Magnus' fingertips pressed mercilessly into his hips and he bit his lower lip in an attempt to suppress his frustration and impatience. Magnus had his eyes shut tight and his face pointed upwards, towards the ceiling. Alec thought he had never seen his boyfriend look hotter than this, and it was a strange feeling to be the one completely in control whilst Magnus unravelled as a result of his ministrations.

"Patience baby," Alec sighed as he pressed down further, to which Magnus responded with a scream from deep in his throat whilst his mouth remained firmly shut, muffling the sound. It was a miracle that Magnus had managed not to move too much or thrust upwards so far, because it would likely hurt Alec if he did.

With one quick movement, Alec removed his hand from around Magnus' penis and sat himself down so the Warlock was completely buried inside him. Magnus was whimpering slightly now and Alec could no longer prevent his own moans of pleasure as he felt his lover deep within him. He cupped the side of Magnus' face tenderly and the other man's eyes fluttered open, their golden-green darkened with lust and they gazed at each other, a look passing between them that spoke only of profound love and connection whilst they were joined in that moment by their bodies, their minds and their souls.

"I love you," Magnus whispered, completely lost in the beautiful moment and barely able to form coherent words. Alec rolled his hips in response, writhing above Magnus and causing the Warlock to scream with desire once more.

"I want you to come inside me," Alec told his lover wickedly, grinning in a playful manner as he gave another roll of his hips. He could see that he was driving his boyfriend crazy doing this. And it felt so good he wasn't sure how long he could keep this up.

"Please baby, please just move," Magnus managed to tell him in a barely audible voice.

"Are you begging me Magnus Bane?" he chuckled, to which Magus replied with a 'Ng' sound as he tried to buck his hips upwards, but Alec's bodyweight and position prevented him from thrusting. Alec waited only a moment longer to give his muscles time to adjust to his lover inside him. He rode Magnus hard and unrelenting; his self-control completely failing him once the Warlock began to match his movements by thrusting upwards in a punishing rhythm.

Soon, the world began to dissolve around them; there was only him and Magnus and only pleasure and love in the whole of time and space. Every movement found contact exactly in the right place, sometimes a soft brush and sometimes a hard crash, but always on target. Alec made to grab at his cock, now requiring immediate attention, but his boyfriend batted his hand away and claimed it for himself instead, stroking and squeezing in a tantalising accompaniment to the synchronised movement of their bodies.

He was so close. One look at his lover beneath him, writhing and moaning loudly and incoherently was enough to send him over the edge and he came violently, clamping his muscles as tightly as he could around Magnus' length inside him, allowing Magnus to find his release too. They rode out their orgasms for as long as they could before Alec collapsed on top of the Warlock, completely sated.

He rested his head on Magnus' chest, both of them damp and sticky with perspiration. He winced when Magnus pulled out of him and shifted his body so that he was half-lying on the bed and half-lying on Magnus.

"Sorry darling," Magnus told him softly. But Alec smiled and kissed his boyfriend's smooth golden chest lovingly.

"I don't know why you always apologise to me. It doesn't hurt me you know."

It was a well-practiced dialogue between the two of them. If Alec was being completely honest, he kind of liked the slight pain as it reminded him to come back to reality.

"I am so in love with you," Magnus sighed.

"Aku cinta kamu," Alec responded. "Will you teach me more Indonesian?" he asked suddenly, the idea spontaneously popping into his head.

Magnus chuckled lightly and held him close. "Of course I will if you want me to. I can think of loads of awesome teacher-student situations…"

"Stop making everything so dirty!" Alec protested.

"I think you were the one who made everything dirty this morning, Alexander. Though, I wouldn't complain about being woken up like that anytime the mood takes you in the future. Just saying."

Alec sat up and looked at Magnus with mock hurt. "Excuse me, but I believe it was you and your wandering hands that were being dirty this morning. I didn't ask to be sexually assaulted!" His boyfriend laughed heartily and drew him back into another hug.

"Not sure you've got a great defence case there for assault. I believe your words were 'I want you to come inside me'?"

Alec blushed. He still hadn't managed to control that, even though he was a long way from being embarrassed by Magnus anymore.

"Are you blushing Alexander?" Magnus asked him, a salacious tone colouring his silky voice.

"No…" Alec pouted, making it rather obvious he was lying.

The atmosphere was charged as they waited in the garden for the new inhabitants of the New York Institute to arrive. Alec was biting his lip again, which earned him a smack from his sister.

"Ok, it's eleven by my watch. You can open the portal now Magnus," Alec announced, trying to sound authoritative. He'd practiced his welcome speech in front of the mirror and in front of Magnus for a good few hours this morning; though he was sure he shouldn't be this nervous. Isabelle was stood close to him, her shoulder touching his upper arm in an effort to comfort his fraying nerves. He'd already had to force her to change her outfit, sorrowing at the fact that he had to tell her a sheer vest top would not be appropriate attire to welcome children.

Right now it was just them, the Lightwoods, forming the Welcome Committee; Jocelyn, Luke and Clary would be joining them for the party a bit later on as Alec didn't want to overwhelm the two boys with too many unfamiliar faces right away. He took a deep breath as the portal, shimmering and fluid appeared before his eyes. It was cold out though thankfully the snow hadn't been too bad and only a light dusting covered the lawns. They were bundled up in coats and scarves, their gear and weapons concealed underneath, though no one would have guessed it to look at them.

Suddenly, two figures popped through the portal. The first Alec recognised as Aline Penhallow, her face rather sombre and dressed in a long black coat and fluffy black ear muffs. She was holding the hand of a small child whose face, barely visible beneath the large thickly knit multi-coloured scarf, was beaming as if the kid had just been told he was getting a puppy.

This must be the younger one.

The boy looked quite small for a ten year old, though the grey coat he was wearing made him look like a large round boulder. Alec could tell, though, that he was actually very skinny from the two stick-thin legs supporting his almost spherical upper body. He had dark hair and was wearing glasses that were too big for his face.

Alec smiled warmly at him, because he reminded him so much of Max. Isabelle grabbed his hand in a vice-grip and he understood that she saw the resemblance too.

The little boy, however, suddenly lost his sunny countenance and went pale. He looked absolutely terrified and shrunk backwards from the group in fear, still clutching Aline's hand, as if he was attempting to drag them both back through the portal.

"Hi guys!" Aline greeted them. She looked more frustrated than concerned with the small boy tugging at her. Alec walked over to her and kissed her on both cheeks affectionately.

"Hi Aline," he said with a smile before she was yanked away by the child and stumbled away from him.

"Paul!" she yelled, causing the child to stop and hang his head in shame. The boy said nothing, but looked like he was about to cry.

"So this is Paul?" Alec asked, more to try and get the kid's attention than to confirm the fact with Aline.

"Yeah," she said exasperatedly.

At that moment another two figures walked through the portal: Helen Blackthorn and who could only be Peter Hawkswood, the elder brother.

"Thanks Magnus," Helen smiled at the Warlock, signalling for him to close the portal behind them.

"Is it just you? I thought the Consul would be coming," Alec announced quizzically.

"Mum has a big meeting today about the Inquisitor position," Aline told him gravely, still wrestling a little with the young boy who was behaving more distressed by the second. "So it's just us. We thought we would help settle the boys in with you for a bit and I thought I could cook dinner?"

Aline was a very good cook, which they discovered over Christmas when she and Helen had stayed for a while.

"Excellent, sounds great," Alec said and saw Jace fist-pumping the air out of the corner of his eye and Izzy whacking him on the shoulder. Then he went over and greeted Helen in a similar fashion.

"Peter, this is Alexander Lightwood, the Head of the New York Institute," Helen told the older Hawkswood boy. He was tall for his age with fair hair and bright blue eyes. Whereas his little brother was bundled up in a large thick coat, Peter was wearing only a light jacket to shield him from the cold. He had broad shoulders and looked as though he was well trained, though he looked a little underweight and gaunt. His features already had a chiselled, angular quality to them, despite his young age though their sharpness on his too-thin face made him look serious and a little scary.

"Pleased to meet you," Peter told him, offering out his hand with a stern expression that made him look much older than fourteen.

"Pleasure to meet you too, Peter," Alec greeted him, shaking the boy's hand, which he noticed was ice-cold. Alec had been hoping for a far less formal introduction, but judging by Peter's demeanour a hug would not have gone down too well. "Please call me Alec. This is my sister Isabelle Lightwood and my brother and parabatai Jace Lightwood," Alec told him, gesturing to his siblings. They smiled nervously in his direction and Isabelle gave a little wave. Alec did note that Peter's eyes lingered a little longer than was polite upon Isabelle.

All of a sudden, Paul Hawkswood managed to break free from Aline's grasp and ran over to his elder brother, cowering behind the taller boy. Alec was about to go and try to comfort the little boy and tell him not to be afraid, when Peter turned around and slapped his little brother with unrestrained force around the face.

"Stop it Paul!" Peter yelled at the child, who cowered backwards, his hand covering his face and tears streaming from them and clouding his glasses. "Stop being such a little coward! You are an embarrassment and a disgrace! Mother and Father would be ashamed of you behaving like a scared little animal."

"Ok that's enough!" Isabelle screamed, walking over to Peter Hawkswood and pushing him roughly away from his little brother. Alec and Jace both followed her and held her back: she was furious. Aline and Helen both rushed over too, their mouths wide with shock.

Paul was crying uncontrollably by now; he was sat on the snow-covered grass and weeping loudly and openly, cradling his face. His glasses had fallen off somewhere.

"This is ridiculous!" Peter yelled, looking over at Helen and Aline. "This one only looks like he's about twelve, the girl is a psychopath and we all know about him," Peter bit out angrily, pointing at Jace. "The Lightwoods are all criminals and this is not a suitable place for my brother. I demand to be returned to Alicante immediately."

Alec was about to say something when the familiar sound of his boyfriend's voice echoed from behind the eldest Hawkswood boy.

"Hey Paul, my name is Magnus. Are you hurt?"

The entire group wheeled to see what was happening. Magnus was crouched in the snow next to the small boy, addressing him on his level. Paul Hawkswood had stopped crying and was looking at Magnus with an expression of awe mixed with timidity. Magnus smiled at the child and it seemed to calm him; Paul shook his head and lowered his hand from his cheek, indicating he was ok (though his cheek was slightly red from the blow). The Warlock tried to hand the boy his glasses, which he had managed to retrieve from the snow, but little Paul made no move to take them from him.

"Shall we go inside? It's very cold out here. And we've got you some pizza and some cheesecake inside, because you can't live in New York without trying the pizza and the cheesecake." Magnus was smiling calmly at Paul and, although Paul was not smiling back he was a lot calmer now, apparently soothed by the kind words. "Hey, you want to see a magic trick?" Instantly, Paul nodded his head enthusiastically and Magnus proceeded to whip up some of the snow at their feet and made it swirl around in his palm. This managed to get Paul to smile a little.

And then something obviously snapped within Peter. "Get away from him! Get away from him!" he yelled at Magnus. The boy began to charge towards the Warlock, a demented look in his eyes. "Leave him alone you filthy downworlder!"

Magnus was as quick as a flash; raising himself up to full height he was a venerable sight, standing well over six feet. With a crackle and a pulse of blue energy Peter Hawkswood was magically propelled backwards through the air and landed with a hard thud in the soft snow.

Everyone ran to the Hawkswood boy. Except Alec, who ran to Magnus. No one spoke to his boyfriend like that.

Jace grabbed Peter by the front of his jumper and hauled him up into the air, as if the boy weighed no more than a feather. "You do not threaten my family, you hear?" he threatened quietly. Peter looked terrified briefly, before finding his courage and starting to struggle. But Jace held him tight.

Did Jace just refer to Magnus as his family? Did we all just get sucked into a parallel universe?

"Are you ok?" Alec asked Magnus, placing a worried hand on his lover's shoulder. The Warlock nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on Peter. Poor little Paul was terrified again; tears streaming silently down his cheeks as he looked on in horror.

"Check he's ok?" Magnus asked him, indicating the youngest Hawkswood boy. Alec did as he was asked and knelt in the cold wet snow next to Paul. They both watched Magnus silently as he walked languidly over to the group, where Jace was still holding Peter aloft whilst he kicked and screamed and protested the treatment. The three girls kept their distance, their arms folded around themselves and making no effort to intervene. Isabelle was scowling and beginning to look dangerous.

"Put him down, Jace," Magnus told Alec's parabatai. Jace leered at him for a moment before complying. Suddenly, Paul grabbed onto Alec's arm.

"Hey, are you alright Paul?" he asked the frightened boy. And then Paul hugged him and Alec felt his heart break a little. These kids had been through so much and they needed help, not just a place to stay.

"Thank you Jonathan, but I can fight my own battles," Magnus said dangerously. Peter was brushing himself off angrily. "Let me tell you, I have faced much more frightening Nephilim than you in my time. I am Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn and I have fought side by side with Shadowhunters for centuries, in order to keep the peace and to keep this world safe. I would watch your mouth and keep your anger in check in the future, unless you want to be turned into a slug."

Peter took a gulp, realising that Magnus was completely serious.

"Now I suggest we go inside because I am freezing," the Warlock finished with a decisive nod before swishing his overcoat dramatically and stalking away from them towards the Institute.

Alec decided it was probably his responsibility to talk to Peter about what had happened, though the thought made him anxious and his stomach knot. Paul grabbed a hold of his hand and seemed reluctant to let go.

"Come on Peter, let's go inside and get you settled in," Alec told the older of the Hawkswoods as gently and as friendly as he could. It would do no good to stir anything up now.

"Well I think he should go straight back to Alicante and live on the streets," Isabelle piped up menacingly. Alec shot her a dangerous look that told her to leave it. Peter scowled at her but said nothing.

"That won't benefit anyone, Izzy. We all need to calm down, I think. Let's all go inside and try to get warm. We need to discuss some things and I think it would be a good idea to get to know each other." Isabelle stomped off and made her way inside and was followed by Jace, who signalled to Alec with a brief look that he should call him if he needed him. This left Alec, Aline and Helen and the Hawkswoods outside, with Paul still hanging onto Alec.

"I am so sorry, Alec," Helen muttered quietly.

"There is no need to apologise for me," Peter told her sternly before staring at Alec, a strange and hard expression making his young features look much older. "I am sorry for my outburst," he told Alec simply, though his apology sounded bitter and forced.

"Apology accepted," Alec told him slowly, trying to work the boy out. He really didn't need another confrontation right now, especially since his feet were now going numb from the snow that surrounded them. Peter Hawkswood then grunted and buried his hands into his thin jacket. He looked very cold and tired as he trudged off and went inside the Institute, not bothering to look back or make any more effort. Aline followed him with a frustrated sigh.

"So… how have you been?" Helen asked him, sounding a little awkward and trying to fill the heavy silence. She was clearly one of those people who found quiet uncomfortable. They began to walk towards the Institute, Paul still gripping tightly onto Alec's hand.

"Yeah, it's all going well here. Though I was a little terrified when I heard about…" Alec stopped abruptly, remembering Paul at his side. He smiled a little nervously at her and shrugged. Helen chuckled a little and nodded, indicating she knew what he meant.

"Well, thank you. We really don't have any space in LA and, by the looks of it, you're a natural with children!" she beamed at him.

"Huh?" he asked her, slightly astonished by her suggestion.

"Though I never thought Magnus would be good with kids too…"

"Well, he's more of a cat person than a 'kid' person, I guess."

"He's definitely a keeper, Alec," she told him with a grin. Alec couldn't help returning the smile.

Yep, definitely a keeper.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" she suddenly asked him, just as they entered through the church.

"What's that?"
"I was wondering if me and Aline could stay the night?"

"Yeah, sure. We could do with all the help we could get…" Alec suddenly remembered Paul and looked down at him to check the kid wasn't offended. Paul just gazed back at him, his face blank and Alec tried a tentative smile to no avail.

This kid is kind of creepy…

"I have a big day planned for tomorrow, so I'm afraid we won't be around to help," Helen told him as she pulled off her scarf. Alec raised a questioning eyebrow at her and Helen giggled furiously.

"Ok, you caught me out! I have been dying to tell someone for ages… I'm going to ask Aline to marry me tomorrow."

Alec felt his jaw dropping in shock, but quickly realised and snapped his mouth shut as tightly as possible. As Helen's face began to drop with worry, Alec stammered out congratulations, causing her to jump on him and hug him excitedly.

"We already exchanged family rings, but I wanted to make it official. I asked her mother's permission and she agreed! We don't know if we will be able to have an official Shadowhunter ceremony yet, because it has never been done before, but Jia is bringing it up at the next Council meeting."

"But aren't you both a little young to be getting married?" Alec asked her, genuinely curious because he was sure that both Helen and Aline were younger than him

"Well, we probably won't get married right away," she reasoned. "But I love her more than anything and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. It makes sense to me that we would get married. And I thought, 'why not do it sooner rather than later?' I want everyone to know that we are committed to each other for the rest of our lives."

He had to hand it to her, she did make a lot of sense.

The rest of the day was tense and extremely awkward. The two Hawkswood boys were mostly silent and, although there weren't any more violent outbursts, getting them to talk was like trying to get blood from a stone. Alec had known it would be difficult to take in two younger boys, but he hadn't envisioned it being quite as bad as the situation now.

He decided to give Isabelle the responsibility of training Peter, to which she protested loudly. Although his sister was volatile, Alec knew she had a better chance to get through to him than Jace, who had almost punched him when he arrived. Alec also reasoned that Jace would be able to empathise with Paul, because he had been about the same age when he had moved to the New York Institute under the guardianship of the Lightwoods himself. Jace had been ok with the situation, though he did insist on the boys being trained at the same time, with both him and Isabelle present, just in case Peter decided to lash out again. More for Peter's protection than Isabelle's though…

When they had finally not been able to endure the tension anymore they had escorted the brothers to bed. Alec had decided to give them rooms close to each other, but not adjoining, hoping that would allow each to have his own space but also the proximity of the other to feel safe.

As he was lying in Magnus' arms that night, both of them a little shell-shocked from everything that had happened and staring wide-awake at the ceiling, Alec suddenly felt uneasy.

"Magnus?"

"Yes love?"

"Helen and Aline are going to get married," he blurted, then cursed inwardly because he remembered Helen had told him in confidence.

"What?"

"I mean, Helen is going to propose to Aline tomorrow, she has this big romantic day planned."

"Well that's lovely for them," Magnus said, sounding a little amused.

"Helen asked Jia's permission and she said Jia agreed to it. Do you think the Clave will actually let them get married?"

"Hmmm… I don't know. Nephilim are a little set in their ways, as you know too well."

Alec remembered his parent's disapproval of his sexuality – they had pretended to be fine with it but had then tried, rather unsuccessfully, to 'reason' with him about it. The idea of a homosexual Shadowhunter was practically unheard of until he had kissed Magnus in the Hall of Accords in front of the entire Clave, just before they had assembled to fight Valentine's demons. Aline Penhallow had even thanked him at some point afterwards, for giving her the courage to come out herself and start her relationship with Helen. But marriage? A sacred ceremony? Alec couldn't see the Clave going for it and it made him incredibly sad.

"I hope it will be ok," he whispered meekly, burying his face into his boyfriend's chest.

"Hey, you know they've legalised gay marriage in Canada?" Magnus said brightly. "And in some other countries around the world! Trust me, the tide is turning and the world is becoming more tolerant. Eventually the Nephilim will follow, but it will take people like Helen and Aline to trailblaze any change, to preach tolerance and acceptance and equality."

Alec sat up suddenly.

"What about me?" he asked seriously, though Magnus responded with a small giggle.

"You are the original trailblazer Alexander," his boyfriend chortled as he pulled him back down into bed and into a tight hug.

"Do you want to marry me?" Alec blurted out. His heart was pounding and he felt a little light-headed. Magnus went very still for a moment before he began to snigger.

"That was sooo romantic," he teased.

He felt his heart plummet within his chest, as if it was made from lead. He deliberately slowed his breathing, trying to think about what he had just said and how his lover had reacted.

"Alec?" Magnus asked him, sounding slightly concerned. "Alec?" he asked again when Alec didn't respond. Magnus sat up, forcing Alec to sit up too and the Warlock gazed intently into his eyes. "Were you being serious?" Alec left it about a micro-second too long to deny the accusation. "Oh my god, you were serious…" Magnus whispered frantically.

"No, of course I wasn't serious," Alec told him as calmly as possible, though he averted his gaze because he found he couldn't stand to see that frightened look in Magnus' beautiful feline-esque eyes. Magnus cleared his throat in an attempt to get Alec to look at him again, but the Shadowhunter stubbornly refused.

"Did you just propose to me Alexander?" Magnus voice was so seductive and beautiful and it often made him shiver.

"Not exactly…" Alec responded carefully and slowly. He could feel his face was burning as apparently all the blood in his body rushed to his cheeks.

"Sayang please talk to me about this?" Magnus purred at him, grabbing hold of his hands and stroking his knuckles tenderly with his thumbs.

"Well, I wasn't proposing that we get engaged or anything like Helen and Aline. I just wanted to know whether you wanted to marry me, you know, at some point… in the future. Is that something we could – or we should – do?" Alec looked up nervously and found his lover's gaze.

"Alexander, you are the love of my life. I must admit that I have never thought too much about marriage, because my previous relationships have always been with people to whom tradition and ceremony didn't mean too much: otherwise they would not have been with a Warlock. But you are so wonderfully different to anything or anyone I have ever known and I would do anything for you, Alec. Is getting married important to you?"

"I used to think about getting married when I was younger. To a girl. When I realised I was gay, I always imagined that I would marry a female Shadowhunter and just pretend to be in love with her. So we could have children and continue the family line and all that. I didn't even think it was possible for two men or two women to get married to each other until Helen spoke to me earlier and told me that she was going to propose to Aline, with every intention of actually getting married to her. I mean, I knew it was kind of possible, but not like something that people actually did... It shocked me, I guess, and made me think. About us. About where our relationship was going."

"Alec, you don't need a wedding ceremony to know that you will stay with a person forever. Getting married will not change how I feel about you."

"I know that! But, it's just… The ultimate declaration, isn't it? And you're right, I don't think it would change anything between us, I don't think it is something we need to do. But you said that the world, especially the Nephilim world, needs people to lead the way, to bring about change. Maybe it is our responsibility to do that, not just Helen and Aline's…"

"In that case," Magnus whispered, causing Alec's heart to skip a beat. "Yes."

Alec blinked at him.

"I do want to marry you. I want to marry you so that we can show the world - Downworld, Nephilim and Mundane – how much we love each other. And so that our love may inspire others to be brave and to live and love openly and with acceptance and support."

"I had a dream about you once," Alec told him, to which his boyfriend raised his eyebrows in question. Alec couldn't suppress his blush as he pulled off his Family ring and held it in front of their faces. "You were wearing this," he whispered. "I want you to wear it, Magnus."

"So you are proposing to me?" Magnus asked with a sly grin.

"I don't know… I – I – think so?" he stammered. Magnus took the ring from him and slid it on one of his long fingers on his left hand.

"You have to ask me Alec. You have to ask me so you will always know what I say, what I choose," Magnus told him softly, running his hand along Alec's cheekbone. Alec could feel the strange new sensation of his own ring now on Magnus' hand. "And it wouldn't hurt you to get down on one knee would it?" Magnus smirked at him.

His entire body seemed to harden and steel itself as he quickly jumped up. He knelt down by the side of the bed and took Magnus' hand that now bore the Lightwood family ring in his own.

"Will you marry me?" he asked, trying to sound bold, despite the quiver in his voice.

"Yes," Magnus answered immediately, without a beat. "A thousand times yes, Alexander Gideon Lightwood."

AN: So I decided to kick off the lemons early on in this one! This is such a long chapter, I know, and you have my apoliogies, but I really didn't want to have to split it up!
Please do let me know what you think - an awful lot happened in this chapter! Let me know if you have any questions about it, or if you have any suggestions/ opinions about the story and/ or my writing!
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