AN: Reviews = love.
Disclaimer - I own nothing, the characters belong to the amazing Cassandra Clare. (except for Dave, he's mine I guess, you'll meet him more later)
When they broke the kiss, Alec tried to catch his breath as he whispered "wow". That kiss was without doubt the best kiss Alec had ever had. For a moment everything else faded away, for the first time ever, Alec's pain was gone. Sadly it was back again as soon as Magnus let go of him and took a step back. Alec wanted to follow Magnus, to hold him tight and never let him go. He was fully aware that this wasn't normal, he hadn't known this man for long. In fact they didn't know each other at all, Alec didn't even know if Magnus had any siblings. He met Magnus's eyes and saw a hint of worry.
"I'm sorry" Magnus said, rubbing his neck.
"Sorry for what?" Alec asked, confused, he hadn't even done anything, except to give Alec the best kiss of his life.
"For just kissing you like that, it's like one minute into our first date" Magnus bit his lip and looked down "I just couldn't stop myself, you're so goddam beautiful" Magnus added and to Alec's surprise the other man blushed a little.
"You didn't do anything wrong Magnus" Alec told him and put a hand on Magnus's bicep, squeezing it lightly and smiling at him. Alec could feel Magnus relax slightly. "You're a really good kisser, feel free to kiss me anytime" he flirted, despite how it may seem Alec did have a flirting game. When you have a lot of casual relationships, or well sex, you learn how to flirt.
"Good, I don't want to blow this" Magnus said, looking straight into Alec's eyes "I hope this can turn into something not so casual" Magnus added, blushed again as he quickly added "there's something different about you Alexander"
Alec wasn't sure if he were supposed to hear this comment but it made him smile, the biggest smile in years and he caught himself thinking that it was Magnus who was different. This is the first time since Dave that Alec dosen't want to run when someone expresses that they want more than sex. It was terrifying, Alec wasn't going to lie about that, but it felt so good at the same time. Alec had spent two years thinking that what his father had done had destroyed Alec's ability to love someone, even to think about loving someone. But Magnus gave him hope, hope that maybe, just maybe his father hadn't destroyed everything in his life. Alec slowly let his hand travel down to Magnus's hand, stopping to squeeze the other mans hand as he slowly let his fingers trace a path down the other man's fingers. Alec looked down at their hands, fingering on Magnus's rings and smiled. When he looked up again, he found Magnus watching him, smiling, when their eyes locked Magnus said "You're not so bad at this kissing thing either" Magnus smirked, making Alec want to kiss him again.
"So I've been told" Alec said, smiling back, "but, we should probably get going, so we don't end up in my bed" he winked and Magnus blushed a little, but quickly recovered. Shaking his head, laughing as he gestured towards the car, opening the door for Alec before going around and jumping in himself.
They rode in silence, the radio barley audible and the wind winding too loud for the men to speak. Alec enjoyed the feeling of wind blowing through his hair. It reminded him of different times, carefree times, driving around with Jace, being young and stupid. Or rather Jace being stupid and Alec covering for him and rescuing him. Alec smiled at the memories, a part of him missed being 16 but another part of him knew he wasn't truly happy, living in denial. Pretending to be something he wasn't. Nevertheless, Alec sometimes wished he didn't have to take all this responsibility that he could go back to those days. The days with less pain, less anxiety. Alec was pulled away from his thoughts when the car stopped. He looked at Magnus who smiled at him, jumped out of the car and walked over to the other side and opened the door for Alec.
"Welcome to Lake Lynn" he said and made a sweeping gesture around them. Alec almost chocked on his breath as he took the surroundings in. They were trees every and what Alec assumed was Lake Lynn, perfectly framed by trees, looking like something out of a painting. The sun was starting to set and it looked like it was dancing on the water, glittering.. All the trees were absolutely perfection, they looked like something in a fairytale, like fairies lived in them and it seemed like the trees where glowing.
"Wow, it's beautiful" Alec whispered, scared of destroying the peace, of making the beards softly singing in the trees stop. He took a deep breath, breathing in the clean air. It had been ages since Alec was able to be in a forest, he was always working and Central Park just wasn't the same thing, it was still the city. He realized just how much he'd missed this. He closed his eyes, just absorbing everything, the fresh air, the smell of water and trees, the sound of birds and not traffic.
"I hope you like nature" Magnus said and Alec opened his eyes and looked straight at the other man "we could go somewhere else.." Magnus added nervously, his eyes darting between Alec's face and the grass.
"No, I love nature" Alec said, smiling "I've really missed being out in a real forest" he bit his lip, damn it Alec, now he might start asking questions. But Magnus didn't, he just smiled, a smile that seemed to light up the entire world and Alec relaxed, happy to not be questioned. He watched as Magnus walked to the trunk of the car and pulled out a blanket and a basket.
"Do you need help?" Alec asked, walking over to Magnus who gave him a bottle of champagne and two glasses. He then gestured to Alec to follow him as he walked closer to the water and laid the blanket on the grass. Alec was chocked, no-one had made this kind of effort for him before. In his chock he froze and just stared as Magnus sat down and as he patted on the blanket next to him, signaling to Alec that he wanted him to sit down.
"Is something wrong?" Magnus asked when Alec didn't sit down, he looked up at him with eyes filled with worry. Alec shook his head.
"No, it's just .. it's nothing" he said and sat down, leaning against one arm and stretched out his long legs.
"So, how did you find this amazing place?" Alec asked Magnus who were pouring champagne into the glasses, somehow managed to hold them in one hand while holding the champagne in the other. Magnus gave one glass to Alec.
"I used to go here with my mother when I was little" he said, giving Alec a smile but he could sense some sadness behind that smile. Alec must have looked worried or confused since Magnus added "she died years ago, but let's not talk about that, let's have a fun evening" he smiled at Alec who felt embarrassed that he'd got Magnus to share something personal as this.
"I'm sorry" he said, not knowing what to say, he'd avoided these situations for too long.
"Don't be" Magnus said, shaking his head and smiling "let's just enjoy this date and get to know each other" he said and laid up some sandwiches and grapes. They casually chatted while eating, Alec really enjoyed Magnus's company. Magnus talked about his music and how much it meant for him to write it. That it had helped him get through many things in his life. That resulted in Alec telling him about his art and how drawing was the same, it helped him get through hard times. When they'd finished the food they laid down on the blanket, side by side, shoulders touching. Magnus asked about Simon and who this Izzy was who managed to help Magnus get Alecs number. This led to the two men lying side by side, laughing as Alec told stories from his childhood for about an hour.
"Poor Simon" Magnus laughed, as Alec told him the story of when Izzy cooked for him and he got sick. They laughed together for a while, then Alec saw Magnus face him so he turned his head to meet the other man's eyes. "I can see that you really love your sister" Magnus said, Alec just nodded, not really knowing what to say. He didn't want to share the bad things in his family, not yet.
"When I was young I used to wish for siblings" Magnus said, kind of dreamingly "but I have Ragnor, Catarina and Tessa. They're like family and that's enough siblings to handle" he laughed.
"Well, sometimes friends are more family than your blood. It's the same for me with Jace. He's like my brother" Alec said as he tilted his head towards Magnus who nodded.
Alec locked his eyes with Magnus and for a moment they just looked into each others eyes, not saying anything and not moving. Before Alec knew what he was doing, his lips met Magnus's for the second time. This time it was a softer kiss, but it was just as good as the first one, if not better. The touch of Magnus's lips on his melted away all the pain and hurt in Alec, it melted away the rest of the world, nothing but he and Magnus existed. Alec felt himself rolling onto the other man, sitting on top of Magnus still kissing, he had hands in his hair, pulling him closer. He loved the feeling of Magnus's hands moving over his body. But when he felt a hand on his chest and then a slight push, he broke the kiss to look at Magnus. Scared that he'd had done something wrong, but Magnus smiled so Alec relaxed.
"Not that this isn't amazing" Magnus said, but had to pause to catch his breath, as did Alec "but, I think we should take things slow, I don't want to fuck this up" he continued and bit his lip. Alec nodded in agreement and rolled off Magnus.
"Sorry" Alec mumbled, cursing himself for going too far. "I'm just not used to taking it slow" he told Magnus and closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair.
He heard Magnus laugh and take his hand "me neither" he whispered in Alec's ear as he placed a kiss on his shoulder. Alec squeezed Magnus hand and just enjoyed laying there, breathing in the fresh air with a gorgeous man beside him. They laid there in silence for a while, Alec had no idea how long, then Magnus sat up and Alec opened his eyes.
"It's kind of cold" he said looking down on Alec.
Alec smiled, pulled Magnus down again, pressing the other man close to him, using the other hand to grab onto the blanket under them, rolling it over them, wrapping them into a roll, kind of like a burrito.
"Better?" Alec asked Magnus who smiled and nodded, moving closer and wrapping his arms around Alec. He felt himself relax, the usual tension in Alec's body floating away. He closed his eyes, enjoying the calm that washed over him. It had been years since Alec felt this relaxed.
