Hey! Sorry for the delay! I got busy this weekend and didn't have time to write. But I finished up some smut for y'all today. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading!

Magnus walked in silence at my side, angling his body this way and that to avoid any unwanted contact with the students crowding the hallway. Despite the lack of personal space, he wore a warm and easygoing smile. Occasionally he would bump his shoulder down against mine. I clutched the strap of my backpack nervously. Having Magnus at my side had drawn the attention of both male and female students nearby. Never had so many pairs of eyes fallen on me before. Their gazes were curious, as if wondering what the hell a loner like me was doing with a hotshot like Magnus. I ducked my head and let my hair fall into my eyes, shielding me.

Two girls, both with too much bounce in their step, flashed gleaming smiles at Magnus as they passed. One even offered a flirty "hello." Magnus inclined his head, acknowledging them, but did not say anything in return.

"She's cute," I said when the girls were safely out of earshot.

Magnus looked down at me, then over his shoulder, then down at me again. "You think so?"

I shrugged. "She probably would have given you her number in a heartbeat."

"The number I want is already programmed into my phone."

I blushed. "Not that I blame her. You're like sex on a stick."

Magnus laughed and lowered his voice. "If she wants in my bed she better grow a pair."

"I suppose surgery is always an option. Or I'm sure they have...toys...for that kind of thing."

Magnus put his hand on my arm, stopping me. "Try as she might, she'll never compare to the real deal."

I flushed again. My lips ached, desiring nothing more than to kiss him. My fingers itched, wanting to touch every inch of his skin. If anything, I wanted to take Magnus's hand as he walked me to class. But he'd kept his hands shoved in the pockets of his leather jacket since we walked through the main entrance.

Magnus let out a soft groan and caught his bottom lip between his teeth. "Are you sure you have to go to class today?"

The need in his voice sent chills down my spine and heat to my groin. The musky scent of him washed over me. One word and we'd rush back to my apartment, where he'd envelop me in his arms and fuck me until I was begging for mercy. Just one word...

"Yeah," I sighed, regret heavy in my voice. "I can't miss this class."

Disappointment sparked only briefly in Magnus's yellow-green eyes. He flashed an innocent smile, but his next words were anything but: "I suppose while you're in class I can think of all the things I'm going to do to you when I get you home."

My stomach fluttered and my heart gave a jolt. Speechless, I turned and continued for my classroom. Magnus caught up to me, grinning to himself, obviously pleased with the effect his words had on me.

All too soon we arrived at the door. I hesitated before going inside and looked up at Magnus. He was staring at the room number above the door, silently mouthing the sequence, committing it to memory. I offered a sheepish smile when he finally looked at me again.

"I'll pick you up after class, okay?"

Jace had said those same seven words time after time, but this was different. When Magnus said them, I actually believed him.

"Okay."

He winked at me. "See you later, handsome."

If it was possible I would have melted into a puddle on the floor. No one had ever called me handsome before. Magnus's lips had somehow curved the word into both a compliment and an endearment. The result was a tightly-coiled giddiness bouncing in my belly.

Class went on and on like an artificial waterfall. Morgenstern droned about topics he declared important. I took notes; answered his questions, both rhetorical and literal, in my mind; I tried desperately to avoid frequently checking the time. To prevent myself from scrawling Magnus's name on my paper, I waggled my pencil between my fingers. The girl sitting beside me shot me an irritated look but said nothing.

When Morgenstern finally dismissed us, I hastily shoved my textbooks and notes into my bag and made a break for the door. But before I could escape, a stern voice called my name. I cringed inwardly and walked the familiar path up to the podium where Morgenstern stood. He tapped his chin thoughtfully and straightened, puffing out his chest and clearing his throat.

"Lightwood, you're in worse condition than when I last saw you."

Now that I was aware that he was looking at it, my swollen lip felt like it had doubled in size. I automatically flexed the fingers in my hand. There was still a bit of pain, but Morgenstern couldn't see the bruising under the bandaging.

"I'm fine, sir," I said. "You don't need to worry about me."

"I am worried about you."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Seeing as you tried to leave my class so hastily, I can only assume that you did not complete your assignment."

"My assignment."

"The one I gave you an extension on."

My knees wobbled beneath me. Cursing under my breath, I rubbed my hand over my face. "It slipped my memory."

"Again."

"Again," I conceded. I frantically tried to generate an excuse, but, rarely having done so in my life, I lacked the creativity needed to weave a deceiving and convincing web.

"I gave you another chance, Lightwood, and you let it slip right through your fingers. You realize I have no choice but to fail you on the assignment?"

"I—I—" My voice was small, frail. "I understand."

"I expected more from you, Alec."

Without meeting his eyes, I said, "Me, too."

With that, I traipsed out of the classroom. My bag, feather-light on my shoulder before class, was now a dead weight against my side. I was in such a daze that I walked past Magnus without seeing him.

"Alex!" He touched my shoulder from behind.

I jumped, startled, but calmed when I recognized him. "Hey."

Magnus searched my face. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," I said truthfully.

There was a time, before I'd met Magnus, when failing an assignment would have crushed me. The world would have collapsed around me, my lungs would have ceased to respire. Disappointment and shame would have attacked me from all angles. But now... I didn't feel anything. It was a pleasant numbness, like laying in bed staring up at the ceiling, not thinking about anything. I knew I should be terrified about letting my grades slip. But my only concern now was Magnus, and he was right where he should be, at my side.

"Ready to go home?"

"I've been ready since class started."

Magnus's lips curved into a crooked smile, then he took me by surprise and reached down and interlaced his fingers with mine. I gaped down at our clasped hands; they fit perfectly together, the same way the stars fit just right into the night sky, the same way different strings can be strummed at once to create a chord.

We walked through the university, hands linked. This time students gaped at us, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. But this time I did not try to hide from their stares. This time I held my chin up, gripped Magnus's hand tighter, and brushed up against his side. I did not pray for them to see through me as I always had. No. I dared them to look straight at me, at us. I demanded them to see me finally completed, whole, the best part of me standing at my side.

It was not yet late, but the sky had completely darkened. Glittering building lights illuminated the streets. Headlights sliced through the night in the congested traffic lanes. With the TV on mute I could hear the distant honking of horns. With the bustling street life below me, I felt oddly isolated up in my apartment. I was alone, with no one to keep me company besides the fictitious characters on the TV.

Magnus had gotten an unexpected message from Raphael the minute we'd gotten back to my apartment. He was just as disappointed as I was, but he insisted that the matter was urgent and required his immediate presence. He'd left me behind with a kiss and the promise of his swift return. The warmth on my lips, the last remnant of his kiss, had faded all too quickly.

Someone knocked on the door, snapping me out of my reverie. I switched the TV off and flew off the sofa, bolting for the door. My cheeks burned with the broadness of my grin as I yanked the door open.

Magnus smiled. "Alex."

I pulled him inside and wrapped my arms around him, turning my face into his neck to inhale his scent. Magnus tugged me closer to his body, his warm breath flitting over the curve of my ear. I kicked the door shut with my foot and craned my neck to kiss him. He nipped at my bottom lip as I pulled away.

"God, I missed you," he murmured huskily.

I grabbed the zipper on Magnus's leather jacket and slowly pulled it downward. After unclasping it, I pushed it from his shoulders and down his arms. He let it drop to the floor and placed both hands on my waist. I pressed up against him as he kissed me again, feeling the alluring roll of his hips against mine.

But something felt odd. There was an out of the ordinary warm dampness on the right side of my abdomen. I pulled back and looked down. Splotches of dark red spotted my light shirt. Heart thumping wildly in my chest, I reached out and lifted Magnus's shirt.

"Magnus—"

He tugged his shirt back down and smiled reassuringly. "It's nothing."

I snatched his hand and pulled him into the living room. "It's not nothing. Sit down and let me look at it."

Magnus tried to resist my pushing him down on the sofa. "I don't want to get blood all over your furniture."

"Screw the furniture. Let me see."

Finally Magnus collapsed against the cushion. I pushed his shirt up, exposing his abdomen. A cut snaked just above his navel across to his hip. The injury appeared to be shallow enough to not require stitches, but deep enough that the bleeding had not yet stopped. I ordered Magnus to stay put while I fetched the first aid kit. He obliged and watched me curiously as I pulled out an array of supplies.

With hot towels I gingerly wiped away some of the blood around the wound then I pressed a clean one against it to staunch the bleeding. Magnus flinched under the pressure but did not complain.

"You going to tell me what happened?" I asked.

He looked down at me, his head propped up in one hand. "Just another day in the life of Magnus Bane."

I lifted the towel a fraction to check my progress. The bleeding had slowed but not yet stopped. I replaced the towel and applied more pressure, muttering an apology when Magnus sucked in a breath.

"Who did this to you?"

"A little prick by the name of Jordan Kyle."

"Fang Banger?"

"No, he..." Magnus paused. "He runs with your brother."

I fought to remain emotionless. "Was Jace there?"

"Not that I saw. I was pulling Kyle off Nixy when the fucker lashed out at me."

"Nixy?"

"Aldous Nix."

"Hmm." I busied myself with cleaning away more blood while the bleeding had stopped.

"I didn't hurt him."

"You should have."

"Alexander," Magnus chided.

"He could have killed you."

"He didn't. I choose not to hurt anyone if I do not have to, Alex."

"Other people don't seem to show the same courtesy."

I splashed an alcohol-based solution onto a new towel and dabbed it against the cut. Magnus hissed and recoiled slightly. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as I continued to clean the entire wound. Finally I applied an antibiotic healing cream and covered the slash with gauze. When it was taped in place, I pulled Magnus's shirt over his head and gathered the other soiled materials. I threw them into the washing machine before joining Magnus on the couch. He lifted his arm and I curled against his naked, unhurt side. He brushed my hair back from my forehead.

"I'm changing you," he said softly.

I twisted my neck to look up at him. "What do you mean?"

"There was this vulnerability about you when I first met you. Now there's this hardness in your eyes. You're seeing the darkness of my world, and it's leeching the light from your world. I don't want to change you, Alexander."

I sat up and Magnus's arm fell away. He watched me, his expression thoughtful.

"I'd spend the rest of my life wandering blindly in the dark if that's what it took to be with you," I said.

"I don't want to change you."

"You're not changing me." I slid from the sofa and positioned myself on the floor between Magnus's legs. "You're unleashing me."

A question formed on his lips but I stretched up and kissed him before he could speak. I slipped my tongue into his mouth, tasting him. I cupped his face, channeling the fire from my belly into the heat of the kiss. Magnus groaned and rocked his hips against mine. He pushed his fingers through my hair and gave a light tug.

I pulled back and reached for the button of Magnus's jeans. I popped it open and slid down the zipper. Reaching inside, I felt his length and pulled it out, fully exposing him. I swallowed. He was already semi-stiff. If I played my cards right, he was going to become unbearably hard.

After a deep breath, I lowered my mouth to him and pressed my tongue to the base of his shaft. The muscles in Magnus's thighs went taut under his jeans. Slowly, I drew my tongue over his smooth skin up to the tip. I swiped my tongue in a circle and trailed it back down again. Magnus groaned.

"Alex." His voice was strained. "You don't have to do this."

I pulled my mouth away from his dick. "Shut up. I'm giving it a go."

I was grateful for his thoughtfulness, especially when he knew how uncertain I was. He'd tried giving me oral, but I was too embarrassed to let him ravage me with his mouth. But that didn't mean that I didn't want to taste him. I wanted him to feel desirable, too, and this unabashed side of me wanted to explore every inch of him.

When my tongue touched his tip again, I dipped my head down and sealed my mouth over him. His considerable length reached to the back of my throat. It took a moment for me to adjust to the feel of him in my mouth, but while I waited I swiped my tongue left and right over Magnus's penis. When my daring resurfaced, I began to bob up and down, sucking and licking. Magnus stiffened against my tongue and I could feel his length reaching farther back into my throat.

"Fuck, Alex," he moaned.

Encouraged, I took more of him in. As I pulled my mouth back, I let my teeth gently scrape over him. He twitched in my mouth and hardened even more. Magnus began to rock his hips in rhythm with my mouth. His breathing quickened and he reached his hands down to clasp his fingers in my hair. When my lips reached the base, I made a swallowing motion with my throat. Magnus groaned and thrust his hips forward. I pulled my lips back and teased his tip. A drop of wetness coated my tongue. He was close.

"Alex, fuck," he panted. "I'm going to come!"

I picked up my speed again. My eyes never left Magnus's face, measuring his pleasure in the way his mouth fell open and the way he tossed his head back from time to time. I could feel my own arousal growing as Magnus neared his orgasm, but all I truly wanted was to make him feel good.

As I reached his base, I made another swallowing motion. Magnus's fingers clenched in my hair near the point of pain. I was about halfway up his shaft when he thrust forward and I felt him twitch in my mouth.

"Alex!" he cried.

He released deep into my throat. Thick, hot fluid filled my mouth. My automatic reflex was to open my mouth and spit the semen out, but I refrained, holding Magnus in as he climaxed and continue to ejaculate. When I felt him start to go flaccid, I removed him from my mouth and forced myself to swallow. I wiped my lips with the back of my hand and stood on my knees so I could kiss Magnus softly.

He stroked my cheek as he caught his breath. "Your bedside manner is excellent."

I touched his cheek, too, holding his gaze. "You're right. I have changed. But light could not exist without darkness. You've shown me through the shadows, and you know what I've discovered? I like it with the lights out."