Hey, I'm back! Sorry this took so long, I was on holiday, and there was literally no wifi—I know, torture—so I wasn't able to upload this till I got back! Sorry.
I hope you enjoy it anyway though, I certainly enjoyed writing it.
Oh, and thank you for all the sweet reviews, they really make me smile!
Disclaimer: (don't think I've done one of these in a while) The mortal instruments belongs to Cassandra Clare, not me.
This was it; the day. Magnus' birthday. And Alec had never been more nervous. Well, perhaps that was a slight overstatement; possibly his public coming out in front of the entire clave and downworld community had been a tad more nerve-wracking, but still. Alec was nervous.
At the moment, he was still awaiting Isabelle's return from the store. Apparently there were still some 'finishing touches' to be made to his makeover, but Isabelle was refusing to divulge her—most likely horrifying—plans.
Alec was currently sat on his own bed, in his own room—however the floor-length, full-body mirror with golden floral framework that was taking up fifty percent of the left wall was most certainly not his. Standing up to gauge his current appearance, Alec attempted not to blanch at his reflection.
Black, ripped skinny jeans that stuck to his legs like a second skin; a shiny metallic looking shirt with two buttons undone at the top and revealing more of his chest than he was strictly comfortable with; and finally a pair of black shiny combat boots with the laces loose and open at the front. It was 'the sexy badass' look—Isabelle's words, not his.
Altogether, Alec was way out of his comfort zone, but had decided that he didn't care. This was for Magnus, and he wanted to look as good as possible; obviously that wasn't going to happen if he turned up in his loose old jeans and a ratty brown sweater. He wanted this day, and night, to be perfect.
Just at that moment, Isabelle burst through the door, clutching several bags, her hair wind-blown yet still managing to look good.
"Alec, sorry I took so long. I just realised I had completely forgotten to find you a nice jacket suitable for tonight. And I was completely stressing out and everything," Alec opened his mouth to protest that he would manage perfectly fine without a new jacket, but Izzy cut him off, "but, I just so happened to be walking past Hot Topic of all places, and I found this! It's absolutely perfect, Alec!"
From one of the many bags she was carrying, she pulled out a black leather jacket, fit with silver zippers on the pockets and silver buttons on the cuffs. And Alec had to admit, it was pretty nice; just because he didn't care about clothes didn't mean he couldn't tell if something looked good.
"Put it on," Isabelle ordered, and Alec complied, yanking the jacket on over his shirt. Isabelle beamed.
"Like I said, perfect,"
Alec sent her a warm smile, "Thanks, Iz. I really appreciate all the help you've given me," he was trying to be sincere, but Isabelle simply laughed.
"Oh you're welcome bro, but I'm not finished with you yet!" Alec blanched. What more could she do to him?
"Oh, don't make that face at me, brother dear. I'm just trying to help you get laid," and she sent him a wink.
Alec spluttered, making Isabelle laugh harder. He glared at her, "Actually, Isabelle, I think you'll find I've already got laid, and without all this makeover crap and all!" He was bright red, and immediately after he'd spoken he slapped a hand over his mouth, blue eyes wide with shock at himself.
Isabelle's eyes widened, her mouth quivering before she burst out into even louder laughter, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Once she finally gained control, she took a deep breath, and then looked at him seriously.
"But no, really Alec. There's still more to do," she gestured towards the door, "we'll need to go to my room though. Come on."
Sat at Isabelle's desk, chewing on his bottom lip, Alec was absently wondering how Magnus was going to react to this.
He thought back to the day they had met; at Magnus' party, which they had gone to in search for the key to unlocking Clary's memories. He remembered how shocked he had been when that sparkly, beautiful warlock had noticed him, had asked him to call him of all things. At the time, he'd been shocked speechless, unable to do anything but splutter and flush bright red. He smiled wryly at the memory.
Magnus had noticed him, Alec Lightwood, when Alec was clearly moping after someone else, was clearly a moody asshole; but Magnus had noticed him, ratty sweaters and all.
And later on, when they were sort-of dating. Magnus had called him beautiful, showered him with affection and compliments, all while Alec had done nothing but be himself—wearing his old, horrible clothes, hair unkempt and untidy; Magnus had thought him beautiful.
Throughout their whole relationship, Magnus had loved him as he was, never trying to change him—obviously there had been the dropped hints, the jokes about Alec's horrid sweaters, but never had Magnus tried to force his superior fashion sense onto Alec; Magnus had always called him beautiful, loved him, cared for him, as he was—boring, plain old Alec Lightwood. And Alec had loved him—did love him—all the more for that.
And all this made Alec all the more excited for Magnus' reaction to his makeover. Because if Magnus loved him in ratty old sweaters, what would he think of Alec in clothes that actually fit his body, and fit him well (too well, in Alec's modest opinion)?
Suddenly, Isabelle was back in the room, breaking into Alec's daydreams.
"Okay, now, we have to sort out your hair. It's just..." Isabelle grimaced, "Not good." Alec frowned in indignation, but didn't bother protesting as Isabelle had already begun yanking his hair this way and that with the comb.
Alec began drumming his fingers on the desk as Isabelle pulled out a pot of gel from one of the bags and started smearing the gooey substance all over his head. Alec sighed under his breath.
"Aaaaaand, there. Done," Isabelle flipped the chair around so it was facing the mirror on the desk, and so that Alec could see himself.
To be fair to Isabelle, she hadn't done anything major with his hair, only combed it out of his face and using the gel to create a messy, devil-may-care look. Alec was surprised at how different this made him look though, older, somehow.
Isabelle smiled, reaching into the bag once more, "Now, for the make up..." And Alec spun around so fast his head began to feel fuzzy.
"Make up?! Who said anything about make up?!" He spluttered, and Isabelle raised a dainty eyebrow at him.
"Uh, you did, bro. Right around the time when you asked me for help giving you a makeover. Make up is kind of necessary, I don't know why you're so surprised." She smirked at him, waving what looked like a pencil in front of his face.
"What is that?" He deadpanned, already given up on dissuading Isabelle's idea; it would be fruitless, Izzy was stubborn.
Isabelle grinned at him, "it's eyeliner, Alec. Nothing big, okay? And it's all I'm going to be putting on you. You're lucky you have nice skin, you don't need foundation,"
"Whatever,"
About an hour later, Isabelle announced that he was completely ready, and Alec let out a sigh of relief.
He stood up to look himself over for a final time in the mirror. Looking at his reflection, he could hardly recognise himself at all. Obviously there were hints in the blue of his eyes and the black of his hair, and the way he stood with little confidence. But Isabelle's makeover had made him look so much... Hotter, if he could say so himself.
His eyes were ringed in black, making the blue of his irises brighter, stand out more. With his hair swept back you could see his whole face for once, making him look more mature, older. The clothes actually fit him, the jeans sticking to his legs and showing off how long his legs were. The shirt too, was tight, and with the black leather jacket he was a whole new person.
Isabelle was grinning behind him.
"Oh my God. I. Am. Amazing. You look so hot! Magnus isn't going to be able to keep his hands off you!" She waggled her eyebrows at him, and he actually laughed.
"Well, yes. That was the idea,"
Half an hour later, Alec was standing outside Magnus' apartment, trying to calm his erratic thoughts. Come on, Alec. You can do this. You can do this.
After taking a deep breath, Alec pushed his key into the lock, and twisted it, opening the door quietly. He quickly made his way up the rickety stairs, Magnus' birthday card in hand—and that had taken an age to write; Alec had struggled to know how to explain the depth of his feelings for Magnus, without sounding too cheesy, all on one simple piece of card. And he still wasn't quite happy with the result.
Finally he reached Magnus' door, and pushed it open, glancing around to make sure that Magnus definitely wasn't back yet. Unfortunately Magnus had had to work on his birthday—which Alec personally thought was tremendously unfair, but Magnus had lamented, saying it was his own fault for accepting the all-year-round, 24/7, come rain or shine job of being the High Warlock of Brooklyn—but this had given Alec time to properly sort out everything, so he supposed that every cloud did indeed have a silver lining.
He shook his head; he needed to get this done. Quickly, he set the card on the table and ran into the kitchen. Opening the door of a cupboard he hadn't even known existed until recently—and so he doubted that Magnus did; the warlock never used the kitchen, preferring to magic himself food—he pulled out the giant birthday cake that he had gotten Magnus (with Clary's help—she knew a cake specialist, or whatever). It was huge, and chocolate, and looked absolutely delicious.
Just as he'd finished lighting the giant happy birthday candle (he didn't actually know how old Magnus was, much to his dislike), Magnus waltzed through the door in a shower of sparkles.
"Happy birthday!" Alec shouted as soon as he walked in, and Magnus' previous pissed-off expression evaporated immediately, in it's place a smile that reached his ears.
"Darling." Magnus stepped quickly closer to Alec, sweeping him into a kiss, his hands coming to rest on Alec's hips. Alec smiled against Magnus' lips before pulling away.
"You have to blow out your candle," he nodded towards the giant cake, to which Magnus moved over to. He leant forward, blowing out the one big candle in the centre, before turning back towards Alec.
"Thank you, sweet pea," he gave Alec a chaste kiss on the cheek, before his eyes panned downward, widening as they swept over Alec's entire body slowly. He leaned in close to whisper into Alec's ear, his breath tickling the sensitive skin there "and did I mention you look absolutely hot, love?"
Alec couldn't help the blush that spread across his cheeks, as he grabbed Magnus' hand, "we're going out—I'm taking you out,"
"Sounds wonderful darling," Magnus laid a smooth hand on Alec's cheek, "I'll go and change, then be right with you love,"
By the time they arrived, the club was already packed and buzzing; lights were flashing and bodies pressed together tightly; couples dancing so close it looked like they wanted to melt into one another.
Alec took a deep breath. This is for Magnus, he reminded himself, before turning to Magnus with a confident smirk.
"Come on love," Magnus' eyes widened infinitesimally—Alec rarely, if ever, used pet names—before his face dissolved into a smirk in reply. Alec pulled Magnus over to the bar, and ordered them a tray of vodka shots.
Magnus raised an eyebrow as Alec grabbed a shot, but mirrored the movement nonetheless. Alec downed the shot immediately, Magnus following.
What are you doing? A voice piped up in Alec's head, you never get drunk. Alec told that voice to shut the hell up, because he was doing this for Magnus.
Obviously, Magnus had taken him to clubs before, at various locations—be that for a birthday or just Magnus' idea of fun—but never before had Alec been totally willing to go—Magnus always had to persuade him.
And besides, when Magnus did eventually coerce Alec into going, the shadowhunter never indulged in too much to drink, or any of the provocative dancing that he usually considered as vulgar and dirty—whereas Magnus was all for it—and so it never allowed for much fun to take place.
He knew Magnus would love for Alec to let go, to loosen up and just have some fun, but never did the warlock push him into anything he truly didn't want to do.
And that was why now, Alec wanted to do something for Magnus, to show Magnus how much he loved him, and actually do something that Magnus enjoyed.
With that in mind, Alec reached for his second shot.
Okay, I'm sorry for the shitty—excuse my french—ending there, and for the only tiny amount of malec... But I promise that next chapter there will be lots of juicy malec goodness. Promise.
Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you so much to those that reviewed/followed/favourited this story! It means a lot!
kool smiles are kool: in answer to your question, I might write another malec fic some day, if I get any good ideas on what to write about. But I will let you know if I do!
KayBisse: —for your review on chapter three— thank you so much! That is such a nice review and I'm glad you like my story!
Thanks for reading!
~Dreams Of Oblivion