Magnus remembered grabbing his buzzing phone at an ungodly hour of the night. "Hello?" he had answered, irritated at the lateness of the hour. He heard a sniffle from the other end.
"Magnus, I need you to come get me."
Magnus perked up and sat upright in bed. That was the first time Alec had spoken to him since the battle.
"Alec? Are you alright?"
"I need you to come get me." He said again, like a voice on a recording. "I can't handle being around my family right now. I can't look Izzy in the eye and-" His voice stopped abruptly. "I need you" His voice was barely above a whisper but it was enough to jolt Magnus into motion.
"I'll be there in ten minutes. I love-" Alec hung up before he could finish.
Magnus had grabbed a jacket, forgetting he was wearing bright blue pajamas, and hailed a cab. When he arrived to pick up Alec, he could hear shouting from inside. He walked in, The gates knew him well enough now, and saw Alec arguing with his parents.
"Go back to sleep mom!" Alec yelled, his blue eyes were lit with fury. "Or maybe go back to your room and cry! God knows that is going to bring Max back to life!" His mother looked outraged at this verbal assault. "Alexander!"
Alec shook his head angrily and was about to retort when he saw Magnus standing in the doorway. Whether or not the sight of Magnus gave him the strength to leave, he will never know; but all the same, the ferocity in Alec's gaze lessened. He turned towards his parents.
"Magnus is here, I have to go."
His mother stepped toward him and he stepped back.
"You called him? Directly defying out orders?" Robert roared, his eyes stuck to Magnus in an icy glare.
"Alec, please don't leave." Said his mother. "I've already lost one son, I can't lose another. We are Lightwoods and we need to stay together! Running off with some warlock is not going to bring your brother back." Her voice was desperate.
Magnus opened his mouth to cut in, but Alec spoke up first. "This isn't losing me, Maryse, this is me coping with something that you two can't handle. And he isn't some warlock, he is my boyfriend." Magnus was staring at Alec, his breath caught in his throat. "You know it, so stop pretending you don't," Alec continued. "You can't keep ignoring us, as if it will all just go away. You need to accept that I'm not going to wake up one day as straight as Jace."
Alec's parents were still, the room was so silent that Magnus could hear his own heart beat.
"I can't stay here anymore. I can't see you all so broken while I'm trying to fix myself. I'm going with Magnus, my boyfriend, until I'm ready to come back." Before his parents could say anything else Alec spun away from them, brushing past Magnus. Magnus was temporarily frozen in place, he saw Maryse let loose a cry and Robert held her.
He then realized that Alec may actually drive off without him if he didn't catch up, and walked back to the cab.
On the ride back, Alec barely said a word. His expression was hard as they exited the cab. Magnus payed the cabbie three times what the ride was worth and followed Alec into the apartment. Alec went directly into Magnus's bathroom and slammed the door. Magnus sighed and walked into the kitchen to make himself some tea. He was too restless to go back to sleep.
The speech Alec made filled him with both joy and fear. Alec standing up for their relationship was fantastic, but the amount of grief that must have been eating at him to get him to that point scared Magnus. Alec was always so reserved and had his filter set to maximum whenever he was around his parents. He must have been really fed up with everything for him to lash out like that.
Magnus heard a thud come from the bathroom. "Alec?" His voice rang out through the quiet flat, disturbing the silence. No reply. He got up and walked toward the bathroom. He saw a shadow under the door that showed Alec was sitting against it. He heard a sniffle and the sound of someone choking back tears. Someone who was told to never show weakness and to always have control over his emotions. Someone who mustn't let his cries be heard for fear of shame.
Magnus knocked softly on the door. "Alec, let me in." His voice was controlled; cautious yet firm. A tone he usually used with his cat or a small child. It seemed to work in this case because he heard Alec get up and unlock the door. Alec opened the door and, before Magnus could do anything, grabbed Magnus in a hard embrace. Magnus would have staggered back if he wasn't the taller one of the two. He enveloped Alec in his arms and murmured soothing words as Alec cried. All the grief he had bottled up, the pain he was hiding from Izzy and his parents, was finally being released in a flood of sobs. They eventually sank to the floor, Alec gathered in Magnus's arms like a frightened child, Magnus comforting him as his own tears pricked the back of his eyes.
Magnus had had many loved ones in his life. Eventually he saw every one of them hit their breaking point. This was Alec's point. This was his darkest hour. A time where he was at his weakest and finally needed someone to take care of him, after all those years of being self reliant. This was a time that Magnus would look back at with a shudder, but for the moment, he would hold Alec in his arms making empty promises of how things would get better. This was Alec's lowest time and Magnus would love him even more because of it.