Hello everyone, I'm back. Sorry for the delay, but I was moving to a new apartment and I didn't have much time to write/edit this chapter. I'm tired as hell, but I couldn't leave you all waiting another week for an update, so I really hope you like it! Just like the last chapter, this one is just fluff 3. I added some light smut at some point for your enjoyment, but nothing too graphic, this chapter was long enough already to add another descriptive scene ;)

Also, some of you have asked me if I know how many chapters this story will have, and the answer is yes, but I don't want to share it just yet because I know that all of you will start trying to guess what's going to happen and I don't want that lol, so just know that chapter-wise, this story has more than 30 less than 40, okay? ;) I'll let you all know when we're reaching the end, I promise.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter and I'll see you all next week! I'll try to start posting again on Fridays because that was the schedule that worked best for me, but no promises, though ;)

Happy reading!

Chapter 22

Magnus was standing on the balcony of his loft, trying not to freeze to death while making a call. December had just arrived and probably being out in the cold air wasn't the best idea if he wanted to avoid getting sick, but he needed the privacy that this place provided, since both Ragnor and Raphael were inside his home and he couldn't discuss the details of this conversation in front of any of them.

As he had told Alec, he hadn't shared anything with his friends about his father's escape and instead had spent days trying to find him on his own. He knew it was only a matter of time before either Ragnor or Raphael found out what had happened, but he didn't want them to worry just yet—especially Ragnor. His friend always reacted badly when it came to Asmodeus, probably because he knew better than anyone that the fugitive criminal always went to great lengths to get what he wanted, and although Ragnor didn't say it openly, Magnus knew that that had always frightened him a little. They both knew that Asmodeus had no limits.

"So in short there's no news." Magnus concluded, sighing and leaning against the parapet of the balcony. The man he had asked to investigate his father's whereabouts had spent the last ten minutes talking and talking about Asmodeus's incredible hiding techniques, but hadn't provided any useful information to find him.

"No, sir, none. As far as the criminal world knows, Asmodeus was captured last week and transferred to one of the Interpol facilities." The man, whose name Magnus couldn't remember, said.

"Well...keep investigating and let me know if anything comes up." Magnus said, hanging up the phone and cursing under his breath.

Finding his fugitive father and trying to figure out what he was up to without Raphael's contacts had turned out to be more difficult than he had anticipated. He had called a lot of people, had dug in his father's past to find someone who might know about him, but no one knew where he might be or what he might be planning. It was as if the man had disappeared from the face of the planet.

"Where the hell are you?" Magnus asked into the air, looking at the city and wondering if his father could still be somewhere out there.

"Who are you looking for?" A voice asked, making him jump.

Magnus turned around and found Ragnor and Raphael standing by the balcony door, staring at him with curiosity on their faces.

"No one." Magnus said, trying to come up with something convincing to tell them instead of the truth, but he had no idea how long his friends had been standing there.

"Don't lie to us." Ragnor warned him.

"I'm not lying."

"Yes, you are. We heard everything, okay? We know that you're looking for someone and apparently there's no news, so tell us, who are you looking for?" Ragnor asked.

"Now you listen to my private conversations?"

"Yes," Ragnor admitted blatantly, "because you've been acting weird these past few days and we're worried."

"No, I haven't." Magnus said in self-defense, though he knew Ragnor had said nothing but the truth.

"Yes, you have. At first, we thought it was because you had had a fight with the fed or something, so we decided to give you some space, but he was here the other day and stayed over, I saw his car parked outside, so this isn't about him. You're distant, mysterious, hiding things from us...so speak, Magnus, what the hell is going on?"

Magnus sighed in defeat. He had seriously underestimated his friends' observation skills. "You don't want to know." He said as a last resort.

"You can't know that, so go on...speak." Ragnor insisted.

Magnus sighed again—he knew he would have to tell them. "Can we go inside? I'm freezing."

"You're not going to get away from this one, Bane." Raphael said.

"I know, but I really don't want to catch a cold, so can we? Please?"

Ragnor and Raphael nodded and moved from the door. They entered the loft, and Magnus immediately closed the balcony door behind him, leaving the icy weather on the other side of the glass. "You may want to sit down for this one." He suggested.

Ragnor and Raphael looked at each other, but didn't move.

"Trust me." Magnus insisted, already anticipating their reaction.

His friends frowned but sat down. Magnus poured three glasses of cognac to help them all warm up and handed them to his friends before sitting down too. "This isn't easy…" He began to say.

"¡Sólo dilo!" Raphael said, losing all his patience.

Magnus took a sip of the strong drink before speaking. "Okay, here goes...last week-last week Asmodeus escaped."

"What!? ¿Qué?" Both, Ragnor and Raphael, exclaimed respectively.

"That's impossible!" Ragnor continued, "I mean, he was just captured last week, how is it that he managed to escape so soon? This doesn't make any sense! How could he do it under the custody of both the Interpol and the FBI!? He's smart but-but-"

"I know," Magnus said, "I was as surprised as you are when I found out."

"Surprised? I'm not surprised! I'm terrified!" Ragnor admitted. "Have you thought what this could mean for us? For you? We're talking about the man who ruined your life! The man who used you and manipulated you for decades, Magnus! This is bad! Very, very bad!"

"I know!" Magnus said, trying to calm his friend, but it was evident in the way that Ragnor was now pacing all over the living room that he had no intention of calming down anytime soon.

"How did this happen?" Raphael asked. He was calmer than Ragnor, he looked worried and confused, but at least he was handling it better than his other friend.

Magnus took a deep breath and, as fast as he could, explained what had happened, from the moment the Interpol had decided to rush his father's transfer, to the latest developments in the investigation.

"And why didn't you tell us about any of this before?" Raphael asked, when Magnus finished telling the story.

"Because I didn't want this to happen." Magnus admitted, pointing to Ragnor who was on the verge of freaking out. "I was trying to track him down on my own and find out what he was up to before worrying you both about it. The FBI and the Interpol are working together to try to find him, so I figured I could try to keep this under wraps for a few more days, at least until I had more information about him, I didn't want you guys to freak out."

"Don't freak out?" Ragnor exclaimed sarcastically. "Your father escaped, Magnus! After what we did to him, he could decide to go after all of us!"

"He's not going to do that, okay? He's not stupid." Magnus said, trying to reassure his hysterical friend. "Besides, you two are going to be fine. If there's a person he wants dead, that's me not you, so don't worry—your lives aren't in any imminent danger."

"You can't ask us not to worry." Ragnor and Raphael said in unison.

"You are our friend…" Ragnor added, "what happens to you, happens to us."

Magnus sighed. "I know...and I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I thought it was the right thing to do." He admitted.

"Has he tried to contact you?" Raphael asked.

"No, he's been very quiet. I wouldn't have known of his escape had it not been for Alexander. The local news haven't been very vocal about the case, Alexander told me that the FBI pulled some strings to prevent the details about the escape from reaching the media while the investigation takes place—they suspect it was an internal affair."

"Of course it was, it's obvious that they let him go!" Ragnor said.

"Maybe...but it wasn't the FBI, if someone from the inside did help him, it was the Interpol."

"How do you know that?" Raphael asked.

"There's a missing agent. At first they thought that the men who had helped my father had taken him hostage, but it's been a week since then and there's no news, good or bad, about the agent, so now they think he was the one who helped them. The FBI's been analyzing the footage of the attack and there seems to be no struggle when they took the agent, so they are inclined to believe it was all part of the plan."

"You father has friends in the Interpol?" Raphael asked in surprise.

"I didn't know...but it looks like it." Magnus admitted.

"Well, that's not going to make things any easier, but don't worry, I'm going to put some of my best men to try to find him." Raphael said. "He couldn't have disappeared just like that, someone out there must know something about him."

"I know, and I tried to find him by calling some of the people I know he's done business with in the past, but nobody knows anything about him."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that." Raphael said, already sending some text messages to start the investigation on the criminal. "And what are you planning on doing when we find him? You're going to apologize for what you did, aren't you?"

"Apologize? Are you crazy? Of course not! Why would I even apologize? He should be the one apologizing for ruining my life, not me." Magnus said almost amused by his friend's suggestion.

"I know, I know…" Raphael said, "and I'm just suggesting this because, well, you have to think about the consequences of your actions, Bane. He's your father, and after what happened I can assure you that he's not going to be very happy with you, but maybe if you played your cards right, he could let this incident with the bonds and the FBI pass and-"

"I'm not going to do that, Santiago." Magnus said determinedly. "I'm not afraid of him, so if we do find him, I'm just going to try to figure out what he's up to and make sure he stays away from all of us—that's all."

"Okay, okay, do whatever you want...it was just a suggestion." Raphael said, raising his hands in defeat. "And I'm assuming that this 'all of us' you're talking about includes your fed?"

"Yes."

"Muy bien," Raphael said, "then I'll see what I can find out."

"Thank you."

"Have you told Cat about any of this?" Ragnor asked.

"No, and please don't tell her, Ragnor. You know how she gets—she's even worse than you."

"She needs to know."

"No, she doesn't. She can't do anything but worry about us, so please, Ragnor...this stays between us, okay? If we manage to figure out what my father wants and what his plan is, then maybe I can consider telling her, but until then, it's better if she doesn't know."

"Okay...fine." Ragnor exhaled resigned. "We'll do this your way, but if your father-"

"My father won't do anything, trust me, okay?"

"You have too much faith in him."

"It's not that, Ragnor, it's just that...he's smart, okay? And he knows I'm not alone. I didn't tell you this either, but he knows I'm with Alexander."

"He...what!?"

"When Alexander captured him, my father asked to speak with him and seized the opportunity to tell him who he really was and everything that had happened between us since I had asked for his help all those years ago."

"So he knows you're screwing a fed?"

"Ragnor…"

"What? You are, aren't you? But okay, I'll rephrase if it bothers you that much...your father knows you're sexually involved with a federal agent?"

Magnus rolled his eyes, but nodded. "So as you can see, he's not going to risk ending up in jail again so soon. He knows Alexander is going to protect me."

"And is he? Because-"

"He's already doing it." Magnus interrupted, without elaborating any further.

"How?"

"That's better if you don't know, my friend. I don't want to make things even more complicated for him, just know that he's making sure we all are safe—including you two."

Ragnor and Raphael looked at each other, it was clear they were still wary of Alec, but the agent was slowly growing on them.

"Okay...then we'll have to give this one to your fed." Raphael said.

"He's a good person and he cares about me." Magnus said. "I know you two aren't very convinced about my relationship with him, but-" He was saying when his phone rang, interrupting their conversation.

Magnus took it out of his pocket and smiled when he saw the name flashing on the screen—it was Alec. "One second, I have to take this call." He told his friends, walking a few steps toward the kitchen to have some sort of privacy.

"Who is it?" Ragnor asked, but Magnus ignored him and just answered the call.

"Hey there, handsome!" He said, greeting his boyfriend with the same love and affection as always.

"The fed…" Ragnor and Raphael said in unison, guessing who it was, but Magnus wasn't paying them any attention, all his attention was on the conversation that was taking place on the phone.

"Hi...hmmm, are you free tonight?" Alec asked. He sounded nervous, but not in a bad way, just as if he were unsure of Magnus's reaction to that question.

"For you, I'm always free, Alexander." Magnus said sincerely.

"Ugh!" Raphael exclaimed from across the room. "Mejor nos vamos."

"Hold on a second, okay, Alexander?" Magnus said, when he saw his friends grabbing their coats and heading for the door. "Let me know if you find anything, okay?" He told his friends, partially covering the speaker of the phone. "And please, try not to worry too much."

"Si, si...adios." Raphael said, walking away.

"Ragnor?" Magnus asked, locking eyes with his best friend.

"Yes, don't worry. Bye."

Magnus exhaled a little relieved—that hadn't gone as badly as he'd feared.

"Is everything okay?" Alec asked.

"Yeah, I just told Ragnor and my other friend about my father. They didn't take it half as bad as I'd feared they would, but they are worried—they know who my father is."

"Do you think they can help you figure out where he is?"

"Probably, they have more contacts than I do...it's part of the way we work, you know? They make all the negotiations and I do the dirty job." Magnus said. "But anyway, you asked me if I was free, why? Do you have something in mind?"

"Maybe…I wanted to invite you over to my place," Alec said, "for the weekend."

"Really?"

"Yeah, last week I realized that you've never stayed officially and I don't know, I thought it would be a good idea to spend some days together. You can even use the front door and everything, my siblings aren't here."

"They aren't?"

"No, they went to the Hamptons for the weekend."

"And you weren't invited?"

"I was, but I don't like it much there, so I thought maybe I could stay and...and-" Alec hesitated, "-I can still catch up with them if you think this is a bad idea and-"

"Don't even think about that!" Magnus said, already running to his room to pack some clothes and leave everything ready to go to Alec's apartment. "I'll just pack some clothes, leave enough food for my son and head to your place. See you in a bit, okay?"

"Okay." Alec said. "Don't take too long."

"I won't."

o-o-o-o-o

Alec was very nervous. He had officially invited Magnus to stay at his home for the weekend and now that the criminal had said yes, he didn't know what to do to calm his nerves. This was completely new to him, and although Magnus had been in his home enough times already for Alec to feel this nervous, there was something about the idea of spending a whole weekend with him that made him feel all kinds of nervous and excited.

At first he had hesitated about the plan, having someone who wasn't family staying at his home and sleeping in his bed was uncharted territory for him, but the more he thought about the prospect of having Magnus in his home for more than 24 hours, the more he became convinced that it was what he wanted. So when his boss had informed them that they would be having a weekend off and his siblings had started planning the trip to the Hamptons with their friends and respective significant others, Alec had immediately thought of staying in the city and spending his time with his boyfriend.

They had had a very complicated week with all the stuff about Asmodeus, and Alec just wanted to spend a couple of days without thinking about all the problems they still had and what could go wrong. He had been practically locked up in the Bureau all week, and although he had talked to Magnus every day—sometimes even into the wee hours of the morning—they had only seen each other once in over a week and he would be lying if he said he didn't miss him, because he did...a lot. So these days off work seemed like the perfect excuse to make up for that and have some fun in the process.

"We just arrived." His sister, Izzy, texted him. Alec had asked her to send him a quick text message the moment they made it safe and sound to their destination. "We miss you, but we hope you're having fun with that mysterious boyfriend. Be safe, okay? We love you, see you on Sunday!"

Alec rolled his eyes, but texted her back, telling her to have fun too and come back home in one piece. This was the first time Alec missed that trip, and although he didn't regret it at all, he still worried about the safety and well-being of his siblings.

"Yes, yes, we will...don't worry about us, okay? Just enjoy your weekend alone with your man." She replied, adding a series of emojis that Alec simply couldn't decipher, but that he suspected had some sort of sexual meaning hidden in them.

Alec blushed and just blocked the screen of his phone. He was already regretting having been honest with them and confessing why he had decided to stay in the city instead of going with them to the trip. He was sure that Izzy wasn't going to let this go that easily, especially because of the two of them, she was the one who kept trying to guess who Alec's mysterious boyfriend was.

The alarm he had set to notify him when it was time to get the food out of the oven rang, so Alec hurried to the kitchen and took out the lasagna he had prepared. He wanted them to have a nice dinner together, and since lasagna was the only dish he had mastered over the years, he wasted no time trying out other complicated dishes and just prepared it, hoping that Magnus liked it.

He was setting the table and lighting some candles when the doorbell rang. He was just waiting for one person, so he took a deep breath to calm the sudden flutter of anxiety in his stomach, straightened his shirt—the one that Izzy had insisted that he should wear after he had told her some of his plans for the weekend—and walked to the door, not without first pressing play on the record player to let the music enchant the air with its soft notes.

"Hi." Alec said the moment he opened the door and saw Magnus standing there wearing a huge smile—and a sinful shirt that Alec planned to rip off at some point during the night.

"Alexander, you look absolutely stunning." Magnus said, pointing at him with his mouth half open.

Alec blushed, but smiled appreciating the compliment. Little by little, he was learning to enjoy and not feel uncomfortable when Magnus told him something nice about his looks or personality; it was still weird, but unlike some months ago when all those compliments made him duck his head in embarrassment or want to change the subject, now he just smiled and tried not to show how much those nice words meant to him. "You look good too, I mean, you look great—more than great even." He admitted, because he was one hundred percent sure that there was no other man on the entire planet who could look better than Magnus did at the moment. Maybe it was a biased opinion, but that didn't make it any less true. "But please, come in." He said, stepping back from the door to let his boyfriend in.

"It's so weird to use the front door of the building, I was-" Magnus was saying, but stopped mid-sentence the moment his eyes landed on what Alec had done with the apartment—the romantic table, the candles, the music. "Oh, wow…" He breathed out.

"Was it too much?" Alec immediately asked because, well, he had never done this before and maybe he had exaggerated and ruined everything and-

"No." Magnus said, smiling at him with a smile Alec hadn't seen before. "It's perfect." He added, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

Alec smiled pleased with that—maybe he wasn't so bad with all this romance stuff after all.

"I brought some wine." Magnus added, taking out two bottles from the bag he was carrying. "I didn't know what you had in mind, so I brought red and white—just in case. Either way, we can finish both bottles this weekend, don't you agree?"

Alec nodded. "We'll start with the red one...we're having lasagna."

"Excellent." Magnus said, making himself at home and immediately putting the bottle of red wine on the table and the other in the fridge. "And what's with this trip that your siblings decided to make, huh?"

"Well, it's not something new...actually." Alec admitted, cutting some bread and taking it to the table. "We have a house there, so we try to go every year before the holidays. We usually do it a week before Christmas, just to relax before all the family festivities, but this year we, well, they had to do it this week because it seems like this will be the only weekend off we're going to have."

"Speaking of that, how considerate of your boss to let you all sleep for a change." Magnus said with sarcasm.

Alec knew that his boyfriend wasn't very happy with the fact that Alec had barely slept all week and he was constantly reminding him how dangerous overwork could be for his health, and how, if his boss didn't give him a well-deserved break, he was going to personally kidnap him until he slept for at least twelve hours straight.

"I was two seconds away from breaking into the FBI Headquarters and demand this agent Stark-whatever to let you sleep. When was the last time you didn't work on the weekend?"

"It's Starkweather." Alec corrected his boyfriend about his boss's last name. "And I don't remember...a couple of months ago, maybe?"

"Well, I don't care what his name is, he's on my list already." Magnus said dismissively. "And I'm glad I didn't have to go that far, it would have been quite a novelty if I'd showed up at your work."

Alec chuckled—just thinking about Magnus entering the FBI building made him shudder, but at the same time the idea struck him as funny. He could already see the faces of all the agents looking at Magnus without knowing what to do. "I certainly don't want to see that happening—ever, but I'd pay a million dollars just to see everyone's faces, like...can you imagine?"

"It would be worthy of all the headlines that's for sure, especially since we both know they wouldn't be able to catch me, not even if I were in their own facilities."

"You really underestimate us."

"No, I don't…well, not you anyway, but I know that your people-"

"My people?" Alec interrupted, amused.

"Yes, your people, dear, you may be prettier than them, but you're still part of that selected group. Anyway, I know you all don't work well without a plan, so if I suddenly showed up at your own headquarters you wouldn't even know what to do."

Alec laughed. "True...but, that's not going to happen, okay? I don't want you near that building—ever. No matter what happens, you can't be near there, understood?" Alec said. "And now, let's eat before this gets cold."

"So bossy!" Magnus said with a smile, sitting down on the table and opening the bottle of wine. "To us." He added after handing Alec a glass.

"To us." Alec agreed, clinking his glass against his boyfriend's and taking a tentative sip of the reddish liquid.

It was absolutely delicious. He had never liked red wine before, but with Magnus he was learning that maybe he did like it after all. "I hope you like the food." He added, when he noticed that Magnus was about to try what he had prepared.

This was the first time Alec cooked for anyone other than his family and he was a bit anxious about it. He knew the food wasn't bad, he could prepare a mean lasagna, but still, the expectation of how Magnus was going to react when he tried it was driving him crazy.

"Oh my God…" Magnus said, dropping his fork.

"Is it bad?" Alec asked already mortified. He hadn't had time to taste it after taking it out of the oven and although he was sure he had used the right ingredients, perhaps he had gotten carried away with the salt and pepper or-

"What!? Are you out of your mind? This is absolutely delicious!" Magnus said, retrieving his fork and immediately taking another bite, moaning in sheer pleasure.

Alec blushed not only because Magnus had liked the food, but because the sounds his boyfriend was making while eating were making him think of things he shouldn't be thinking so early in the night—Magnus was moaning as if he were in the middle of the best orgasm of his life.

"You okay?" Magnus asked.

"Yeah, yeah…" Alec said, trying to clear his mind, "I'm...I'm just glad you liked the food."

"Where did you learn to cook like this?" Magnus asked with his mouth full.

"I...well, don't be fooled, I'm not the best cooker there is. I mean, I know how to cook to survive on my own, but this is pretty much the only decent dish I can prepare. I don't cook very often, only on special occasions, so I was a bit nervous about tonight. This is the first time that I cook for someone other than my family, so I didn't know if you were going to like it or not." Alec confessed a bit embarrassed by the admission.

"I didn't like it, I loved it, and I'm honored to be one of the few who have had the pleasure of trying this delicious meal." Magnus grinned and reached across the table to grab Alec's hand and squeeze it tenderly. "Thank you."

Alec smiled and squeezed Magnus's hand back. He had no idea how he was going to survive an entire weekend with this man if with only ten minutes of him being there his heart was already doing all sorts of somersaults inside his chest.

"Can I ask you something?" Magnus asked casually.

"Yeah."

"Are you related to the Grinch or something?"

"Excuse me?" Alec asked confused.

"It's December…" Magnus said as if that explained everything.

"And?"

"There are no Christmas decorations." Magnus pointed out.

"Oh...that," Alec laughed, "well, I never have time for decorations." He confessed. "Besides, we always spend Christmas at my parents' house, so there's really no point in getting all the boxes out and-"

"No point?" Magnus interrupted him. "It's Christmas, Alexander, you have to decorate. Where's your Christmas spirit, darling? But don't worry, I'll help you this weekend. I won't leave until this place looks a bit Christmassy."

"Okay." Alec smiled. "Just take it easy on the decoration, I've never been much of a decorator and if this place suddenly becomes a replica of one of those houses in Dyker Heights, Jace and Izzy will know that I had nothing to do with it."

"Noted," Magnus laughed, "we'll go easy on the decoration, I promise."

"Is your loft already decorated?" Alec asked. He hadn't been there in a few days, so he had no way of knowing.

"Of course! I decorated it just yesterday, it looks fantastic! I put up a big tree, wreaths and lights all around the living room, and some other decorations on the balcony. Oh, and there's mistletoe everywhere for when you're there...we have to take advantage of the traditions, don't you think?"

Alec smiled. He had never been kissed under the mistletoe before, but he liked the idea. Christmas sounded different now that he had someone else to share all those crazy traditions with. "Who do you spend the holidays with?" He asked because he hadn't thought of that until now. Christmas was a family holiday, but Magnus had no family, at least none that counted. "I'm assuming that with Ragnor?"

"Yes, and a couple more of our friends. We've been doing it for many years now—we're like a big family. It's always fun with them, we eat a lot of food, we wear those ugly sweaters and sometimes we even sing carols."

"You love Christmas." Alec stated. It was a bit obvious with the way Magnus was talking about the holiday.

"Yes, it's my favorite time of the year. I learned to love it when I was in Spain living with the monks. They always made it into a big celebration with delicious food, beautiful decorations and amazing stories. My favorite part was when we had to make the ornaments for the tree. The monks didn't have money to buy them, so they had to make them from scratch. Brother Abraham collected garbage and stuff all year long, and when it was time to put up the tree, he would take out all these boxes and we all would sit around this big table in the kitchen and start making shiny ornamentation. We used sequins, glitter, and sometimes even small pieces of glass to make them shine, they were so pretty."

"So that's where your love for glitter comes from." Alec pointed out.

"I guess," Magnus smiled, "I hadn't really thought of it that way before, but I suppose."

Alec smiled. He loved it when Magnus shared tiny bits of his life.

"And you? Are your mother and little brother coming here or are you all going to D.C.?"

"They are coming...technically we were going to Washington, but with how things are here, my mother decided to spend the holidays in New York instead." Alec said. "Not that that's going to change things much. We always do the same thing, so it's still boring no matter where we are."

"Christmas isn't supposed to be boring."

"It is with my family, believe me."

"Well, you can come over to my place when you're done with them if you want. You could end the night with me, I promise it will be fun."

"Really?" Alec asked surprised by the invitation. "But aren't your friends going to be there?"

"Yes...and?"

"Are they going to be okay with me showing up out of nowhere? I've only met Ragnor, and it's clear that he doesn't like me, so I'm guessing the others won't be very different. I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable."

"Well, for starters, I think it's safe to say that you know more than one of my friends, you just don't know it yet, but you will...soon. Second, they won't mind that you are there first, because they will probably be dead drunk by the time you arrive, and second, because they care about me and they know how important you are to me, so don't worry, no one is going to feel uncomfortable. They may not be honest with you and tell you who they really are or what they do for a living, but you already know that's how it works with people like us."

"Yes, the less I know about your lives, the better."

"That's correct, so what do you say?"

Alec smiled. "Okay, I guess I could stop by and end the night with you."

"It's a date then."

They smiled at each other and just continued eating, talking about everything and nothing, and enjoying each other's presence as they always did. When their bellies were full, they moved their conversation to the couch. Alec quickly turned off the record player and headed to the kitchen to fetch some ice cream while Magnus put on a movie.

"What did you pick?" Alec asked, sitting next to Magnus and handing him a spoon.

"I don't know, they first thing that popped up," Magnus said with a shrug, "I'm not planning on actually watching it for long anyway."

Alec blushed, because he liked the idea of not watching the movie for long more than he dared to admit out loud. "It that so?"

Magnus nodded, snuggling closer to Alec and scooping up some ice cream. Alec just smiled and did the same, being with Magnus had always felt natural, so tonight was no different.

They started to watch the movie together in complete silence, sharing only sweet glances and the creamy dessert.

"Can I confess something?" Magnus asked after a while, stealing the ice cream from Alec's spoon. "The first time I came here to your apartment, I thought your living room was perfect for a movie night—it's very comfy and cozy."

"Really?"

"Yeah…" Magnus admitted, "now I can confirm that I wasn't mistaken, it's perfect for a movie night."

Alec smiled. "Can I confess something, too?"

Magnus nodded.

"Having you here last week, when I had to take care of Max, made me realize that you had never stayed over since-since...well, since this started." Alec pointed to the two of them. "I know it's because here we're more exposed than in your place, like, I'm practically living with my family and the chances of them walking in on us are huge, but I really wanted us to experience this, you know? I wanted to have you here and-"

Alec didn't finish what he was saying because Magnus silenced him with a kiss. His boyfriend's lips tasted of vanilla and rich red wine, and Alec found that combination extremely intoxicating, alluring, and mouthwatering.

The kiss intensified and soon what started as a soft innocent kiss turned into a very heated make out session. Trying not to part their lips and break the kiss, Alec put the ice cream pint on the coffee table while Magnus slowly tried to unbutton his shirt. It had a lot of buttons, but Magnus was very skilled at it.

"Should we move this to the bedroom?" Magnus suggested.

Alec shook his head. "Not yet," he said, trying to speak despite his ragged breath, "I wanna do it here, on this couch." He added, pinning Magnus against the couch and trapping him with his body.

"Fulfilling fantasies, are we?" Magnus asked playfully.

"Maybe." Alec said, kissing him and getting lost in his arms.

o-o-o-o-o

Spending the weekend at Alec's apartment had been the best thing that had happened to Magnus in a very long time. They'd had so much fun together just enjoying the domesticity of it all—waking up next to each other, cooking breakfast, taking a shower together, going back to bed side by side—that Magnus couldn't stop smiling. Yesterday, they had spent all day in their underwear, decorating Alec's apartment as they had promised and just eating takeout, curled up on the couch while random movies rolled one after another on the screen in front of them.

Today was their last day together and although Magnus was a bit sad that these wonderful days were coming to an end, he was happy that they had had the chance to, at least, experience them because now thanks to this time together, he was even more certain that what he felt for Alec was real and growing more and more with each passing day.

He still hadn't confessed his feelings to the agent, the fear of scaring him away stopped him, but after what had happened during the weekend he was more confident that they could be reciprocated. Alec hadn't said anything yet, but the way he looked and smiled at him sometimes said more than a thousand words could.

"Alexander…" Magnus said. They were in the kitchen wearing nothing but their pajama bottoms. Alec was cooking omelettes while Magnus chopped up some fruit, although he hadn't been doing that and instead, he had spent the last ten minutes just staring at his boyfriend—the papaya the agent had given him lay untouched on the kitchen counter.

"Yes?"

"I want to tell you something..." Magnus said.

"What?" Alec asked, glancing over his shoulder to let Magnus know that he had his attention.

"It's about what I told you the-" Magnus was saying when out of nowhere his phone rang, notifying him of a new text message.

"You turned it on?" Alec asked, making faces to Magnus.

They had agreed to stay disconnected from the world during the weekend, and although Magnus had followed that rule to the letter, this morning he had turned it on while Alec was still asleep. "Yeah, this morning when I woke up, but I just did it to see if there was any news about you-know-who, but I forgot to turn it off again. Don't get mad at me, okay? I'll turn it off right now and we can-" he was saying when his eyes caught who had sent the text message: Raphael.

"What is it?"

"It's from...my friend, the one I told you is investigating my father's whereabouts."

"Open it." Alec said.

Magnus nodded and quickly opened the text message, reading it to himself.

"He hasn't left NY. Your fed was right, it was an internal affair. Interpol is involved. That's all I know for now, I'll keep you posted."

"What happened?" Alec asked worriedly.

"He-he...my friend found out something about my father." Magnus said distractedly, handing Alec his phone so he could read the text message himself.

"So we were right...the Interpol was involved, they helped him." Alec said, handing him back the phone.

"Yes."

"Well, that's going to complicate the investigation. I mean, we're talking about an intergovernmental organization, they certainly know how to cover their own tracks." Alec sighed. "But on the bright side, at least now we have some sort of confirmation that they were involved in all this mess. Also, it's kind of good to know that your father's still in the city, that means we can still find him and capture him again."

Magnus nodded. "I wonder where he's hiding, though? It's not like he has a lot of friends here."

"If the Interpol helped him, then they should have taken care of that too. I don't know much about the agent that was with him when this happened, Agent Dieudonne, but I know he was a big deal back in France, I'm sure he had people helping him in the city. Maybe your friend could help us find out more about him, don't you think? If this agent has connections here and we figure them out, then we could probably have a chance at finding them."

"I'll ask him to see if he can find out something about this agent."

"You know?" Alec said, turning around and resuming his cooking. "Meeting you has helped me realize that there's no such thing as a sacred system. FBI, Interpol, CIA—they all have corrupt agents in their ranks."

"And that disappoints you?" Magnus asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

"Not anymore," Alec said, "at first, learning all these things was hard, my whole life I had thought I was part of an honorable institution, so realizing that I had been a fool for believing that was a low blow, but now I'm kind of getting used to it."

"I'm sorry I burst your bubble." Magnus said sincerely.

"Don't be," Alec said, "it's actually better, you know? Now I can see things clearly." He added, turning around and smiling at Magnus.

Magnus smiled back and got up from the stool. "You need help with that?" He asked, standing behind Alec and whispering into his ear. The light mood they'd had all weekend had changed a bit with that last conversation and Magnus didn't want it to disappear completely.

"No, I have it under-" Alec was saying, but stopped when Magnus wrapped his arms around him and helped him flip the omelette.

"I know, darling, but we always work better together." Magnus said, leaving a soft kiss on Alec's neck, knowing full well what that simple gesture did to the agent.

"Magnus…"

"What?" Magnus asked innocently, leaving more kisses all around the agent's neck. Alec was very sensitive, but his neck was his weak point—one kiss and the man turned into jello.

"Please…"

"Please, what, Alexander?"

"We have to eat."

"We can always eat later," Magnus suggested, still kissing the nape of Alec's neck and tracing with his fingers every muscle of that strong back he was so addicted to, "your siblings will be back today and I want to take advantage of every minute we still have together. You're very loud in bed, sweetheart, we don't want them to find out you're with someone." He continued, massaging Alec's back.

"They already know I'm with someone." Alec managed to say. The sweet torture that Magnus was inflicting upon his boyfriend was working. The agent had trouble breathing and was trying hard to suppress his moans.

"I know…but we don't want them to know who that someone is, do we?" He asked, now sucking the agent's earlobe.

Alec gave up, moaning loudly and turning off the stove.

Magnus smiled triumphantly and let his hands wander down Alec's body, touching him gently. "You're so loud." He stated.

"No more than you." Alec exclaimed, turning around in a swift motion and pushing Magnus against the kitchen island, kissing his Adam's apple and making him moan too.

Magnus laughed, capturing that sinful mouth in his own and forcing Alec's lips apart with his tongue. Alec moaned and gripped the back of Magnus's head, clearly overcome by need as they devoured each other hungrily, barely coming up for air.

"Is it always like this?" Alec asked, panting.

He didn't need to specify what he was talking about, Magnus already knew—they both were as hard as a rock.

"Sometimes," Magnus admitted, "but with you everything is better—ten times better."

Alec smiled and without any warning started palming Magnus's erection, taking him completely by surprise.

"Oh, shit."

"You like it?"

Magnus limited himself to nod. He was never going to get tired of Alec touching him. The agent was very, very skilled with his hands—and his fingers.

"I want you inside me." Magnus said.

Since they had started having sex they had been experimenting and finding what they liked, and although Magnus really enjoyed taking Alec—and Alec loved to have Magnus inside him—he had to confess that sometimes he enjoyed more when Alec was the one who took him.

"Here?" Alec asked.

"Yes, here." Magnus nodded, because the idea of testing whether all the surfaces in Alec's apartment could withstand or not their passionate encounters was very appealing. So far, the couch, the wall in the hallway, the bathroom, and Alec's room had passed the test with flying colors.

"But we don't have any condoms left." Alec told him.

"Really?" Magnus asked surprised. Apparently they had had a very busy weekend.

Alec just nodded.

"Then don't use one."

"What?"

"I'm clean," Magnus said, "and I know you're too. We've been together for some time now, and I know I'm the only man you've been with, so it's okay, forget about the condom."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I trust you, Alexander. Do you trust me?"

Alec nodded, and instead of answering, he just smiled at him and quickly took off his pajamas and underwear, leaving Magnus completely exposed.

"You like what you see?" Magnus teased, when he saw that Alec's eyes were completely lost in his body.

"Very."

Magnus smiled. "You can keep contemplating me all you want, but I want to see you too, and right now, my dear, you're a bit too dressed for my taste."

"Then do something about it." Alec challenged him, making Magnus laugh out loud.

He loved this playful and bold side of Alec. Since they had met, Magnus had noticed the different layers of Alec's personality, but it had been until they had started dating that he had actually been able to enjoy them and even take advantage of them—especially in bed.

"If you insist." Magnus said, getting to his knees and using his teeth to pull down Alec's pants in a slow and torturous way.

"Come here." Alec said, grabbing him by the shoulders and clashing their mouths together.

And soon, they were a mess of limbs, urgent kisses, loud moans, and sweat—too much sweat. Magnus was pinned against the kitchen island with his legs wide open, letting Alec in as deep as he could, over and over again until they were both crying out in pleasure, finding their release together and practically collapsing to the floor.

"You are definitely louder than me." Magnus stated, when they fell exhausted on the kitchen floor. It felt like ice against his overheated skin, but it felt so good that he didn't even care if he caught a cold after that.

"No, you're louder." Alec said, smiling broadly from his position on top of Magnus.

"I guess we'll have to ask someone else because, no, Alexander, you're louder."

"Ask someone else? You mean...?" Alec asked, not even daring to finish the question.

"Of course, we need a partial judge who can determine who's louder in sex, darling." Magnus said, joking at the sight of Alec's face of sheer horror. "I'm joking, Alexander, of course not. I know a few people who wouldn't say no if I asked them something like that, but I would never, ever, dare to do that. This is too special to share."

Alec smiled and rested his chin on Magnus's chest. "You said you wanted to tell me something, earlier when you got that text about your father, what was it?"

"Oh yeah…" Magnus said to gain some time. He had wanted to confess his feelings to Alec, but he had gotten distracted, and now that he thought about it, he didn't want to utter those three words when they were lying on the kitchen floor covered in sweat and cum. Alec deserved something better—something special. Besides, he wanted it to be a moment they both could remember at some point in their lives—even if they weren't together.

"Well...what was it?" Alec asked again, following Magnus's silence.

"Something about my father...I don't even remember what it was, you have the ability to distract me very easily." He said, already thinking about how he was going to do it. It would probably have to wait after the holidays because of the logistics and stuff, but he was almost certain Alec would love it.

"I have the ability to distract you? Who was the one who distracted me from cooking? I was making us some really nice breakfast when you decided that you wanted sex instead of food."

"Sex is better than food, besides, it didn't take much convincing, you're weak, Alexander."

Alec just rolled his eyes and hit him playfully on the chest.

"I'm going to file a complaint for police brutality." Magnus joked.

"I'm not a policeman, I'm a federal agent."

"It's the same," Magnus said, "you hit me and like it or not, here you're the person with authority and-"

"There," Alec interrupted him, kissing him where he had playfully hit him, "I kissed it better, happy now?"

Magnus smiled. "What am I going to do with you, Alexander?" He asked in adoration.

"For now? Feed me, I'm starving." The agent said, standing up and taking some napkins to start cleaning up their mess.

Magnus burst out laughing, but stayed where he was, smiling like an idiot and admiring his boyfriend's perfectly sculpted naked body, wondering at what point in his life he had gotten so damn lucky.

**Always practice safe sex naughty children, unless you and your partner have talked about it and are sure that it's okay (and safe) not to, always use a condom ;) be responsible!