"Magnus, hand me the salt," Alec said, holding his hand out to Magnus. Alec was cooking their food – just spaghetti and meat sauce – and Magnus was pouting on the bed. Since there wasn't much counter space, they had left the plastic bag on the bed, next to Magnus. Magnus glared at the plastic bag, then Alec, and then he went back to looking at nothing particular.

"Get it yourself."

Alec turned around, letting go of the spoon he had been using to stir in the sauce. Looking at Magnus, he gave a heavy sigh. "What's wrong with you? I know you're pissed off about something, but you can't even get off your ass to hand me some salt?" Walking over to the bed and taking the plastic bag, Alec pulled a chair over to the kitchen section of the room and sat the bag on it. "If something's so fucking wrong, say it, because I hate upsetting you, but I obviously have somehow, so can't you just … talk to me?"

"I'd really rather not."

Slamming his hand into the closet above the stove, Alec groaned in anger. He turned to look at him again. Magnus looked up at him at the sudden burst of rage – Alec was usually such a calm and collected person. Alec's brows were furrowed in anger, he was glaring at Magnus.

"Would you just pull yourself together for once? You know how this ends, Magnus! You don't talk to me, we fight, and we don't talk for days, and I hate that! I know it's not easy when you thought I was dead for three years and didn't have any responsibility to anyone other than Lewis, but even you know this!"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't be going out with other guys when you're married."

Turning to the sauce again, and stirring in it with one hand, Alec wiped away a sole tear that had escaped him. His eyes were burning. "I had coffee with him; I didn't go out with him, Magnus. There's a difference. And if that's what this is all about, what's even the problem? I'm not allowed to have friends?"

"He didn't know you're married, Alec! How do you think that makes me feel? Am I just an unimportant factor in your life? I don't even matter, do I? What's even worse is that you were flirting with him right in front of me! So I'm sorry if I get a bit jealous, Alexander, but I lost you once, and I'll go through anything before I lose you again!"

Dropping the spoon into the sauce, Alec cursed under his breath. "You're… You're not going to lose me. I love you, Magnus, and there's no way I'm leaving you. There's no reason to be jealous. Don't you trust me one bit?"

"It's not you I don't trust, it's everyone else. I had to steal you away from somebody else – why wouldn't someone want to do the same?"

Alec turned to look at Magnus, but Magnus was standing right behind him. Stopping and looking up at him, Alec reached forward to take Magnus' hand. "I love you so much, Maggie, why don't you understand that? I married you, we adopted Lewis together; I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you no matter what happens."

Leaning his head in, Magnus kissed him softly, pulling him closer by the hand. Pulling back, Alec broke off the kiss and looked at Magnus again. "Won't you please just trust me to say no to everyone else?" he whispered. Magnus sighed and leaned his forehead against Alec's and shut his eyes.

"I told you. I do trust you."

"If you did, you wouldn't be that jealous."

"I'm always going to be jealous of the people you're spending time with, Alexander."

Alec pulled back and turned away. "So you're telling me I can't spend time with anyone else?" he asked, picking up the spoon again and stirring the sauce. He realised he never put salt in, so he reached into the plastic bag on the chair, taking the salt, opening and putting some in the sauce.

"I'd love to tell you that, but it's not my decision. I just… Don't want you having coffee or going out with other guys," Magnus said, reaching around Alec's waist and pulling his lower body a bit closer.

Alec spun around and looked at him again. "So I can only have girl friends, is that what you're saying?"

Magnus looked him in the eyes. "I-"

"Don't bother. Forget it."

Pushing off Magnus' hands, Alec moved to leave the room. He paused in the doorway, getting the key for the room on the nightstand along with the car key and walking back to the door. "Cook for yourself. I'm leaving." And then he did just that – left.

Taking the last bite of his food, Magnus looked out of the window for maybe the hundredth time since Alec had left. He had tried going after him, but by the time he got out of the door, he couldn't see Alec anymore. So he had gone inside, finished the food – burnt it too, because he had been thinking about Alec – and ate by himself.

He hadn't meant to upset him. Even though he was hurt and jealous, he didn't want Alec to be upset, that was the last thing he wanted. That's why he never talked about the problems he might have – he didn't want to hurt him, or make him feel like anything was more important, because nothing ever was. But it always ended up the other way around, with him hurting Alec because he wasn't telling him about it, and he hated it.

He wondered where Alec had gone. He must have gone out for dinner, right? He had to eat something. He couldn't starve because they had a fight, could he? But where would he go?

And he had to come back eventually. He wouldn't leave like that if he wasn't going to come back eventually. He had taken the room key, so Magnus couldn't leave. He wouldn't be able to get inside again, and it could be some time before Alec got back, and he'd be stuck outside the door.

Maybe that was why he had taken it, really. So Magnus couldn't go after him for once.

He was sitting in the car, crying. Not sobbing, no, there was total quiet except for his breathing, and the tears were just running down his face. He wanted to go back in and talk to Magnus, but he couldn't. He wanted to show Magnus that he wasn't weak. Not this time. This time he wasn't going back out.

But he didn't want Magnus to follow him either, so he had taken the room key. He needed to think, and that always seemed impossible around Magnus. He was almost like he demanding being the center of all of Alec's thoughts at any given time.

He didn't want to go anywhere and eat. He had lost his appetite, and truth be told, he hadn't been that hungry before either. He realised he had stopped crying, and now he was really just angry. He needed to do something to get his thoughts off of Magnus for a little while – and then it hit him.

He started the car and drove off.

3am that night

Finally pushing the key in on the third try, Alec pushed the door open. Pulling the key out of the door again, he walked in and let the door shut behind him by itself. He tried to be quiet, as to not wake Magnus, but the last few drinks he had had was making his vision slurred, and he tripped over a chair. Cursing under his breath, he got up.

He had been at a bar for several hours. It was pure luck that he remembered the address and was able to call for a cab, the motel was too far away to walk, and drunk as he was, he still had enough common sense not to drive the car. Tugging the car key in his pocket, he had had the bartender call for a cab for him, and she had waited for the cab with him and helping him get inside.

Stripping to his boxers and tripping over several articles of his own clothing now scattered on the floor, he eventually found his way to the bed in the dark, and he got into it. Luckily he got into bed on the right side, Magnus being on the left side.

Snuggling closer to Magnus, he rested his head on his pillow next to Magnus' shoulder and rested his hand on Magnus chest. He lay there for a while, just listening to their breathing and feeling Magnus' chest rise and fall with every breath he took.

He didn't care about their problems now. He didn't care one bit. All he cared was that this Magnus was real, that this Magnus loved him, and that he knew every little part of him.

While he had been in a coma, he had had a dream – as one often has. He had dreamt that he had been in a coma (weird, right?), and he had woken up. He had told the nurses to call Magnus, to find him, to make him come and see him. But no such man existed, and Alec had never been married, nor did he have a son. He had made him up in his coma, dreamt of the man of his dreams, and it had all been so real to him and over such long time that he believed it. And that was the absolute worst thing he could imagine.

He knew they fought, and he knew that anyone who saw them separately would think they weren't compatible at all. They were each other's opposites. But he also knew that they were perfect for each other – individual imperfections and fights and differences, and all that mattered to them were each other.

Eventually, he heard his own breathing slow, and he fell asleep. It never occurred to him that he never put a duvet on, and that he was lying there in only boxers. But all of that didn't matter anyway, because he had Magnus, and if he could have him forever, he would be the happiest man on Earth.

AN: Hey guys! Third chapter up. You've been getting updates quickly lately, huh? Don't know how long that will last though.

Also, I've started school again this week (I've already had four new classes, only one of them I'm actually excited about - which would be psychology). I hope I can still update somewhat regularly, though, but I suspect you'll be okay if it takes a few weeks sometimes. You were the last times.

Other than that, I don't have much to say. If you have any questions, PM me here or send me a message on my Tumblr (sparklesbeforeducks), and I'll answer as soon as possible.

Review if you like

Lea