10. The Hotel Room

It had been a nightmare to get his mother to lend him the car for the weekend, and Alec had almost given up when she agreed to let him have the car. He had a feeling it had only been to freak him out, because she'd been implying some crazy stuff about Magnus and the accident with his father. But what got to Alec the most was that Maryse had claimed that the man who died in the car that day had been Magnus' stepfather and not his biological father. Did that mean his real father was still alive? And if so, why had Magnus never told him this?

Luckily, Alec had already bought flowers and ordered a hotel room in the city for their six months anniversary, or he probably wouldn't have gone through with the weekend, because of the thoughts Maryse had put in his head. But since it was all taken care of, it was easy to just go through with the weekend.

"Oh, look at you two," Mrs. Bane gushed as Alec came to pick up Magnus, who as usual was very well dressed for the occasion. Magnus didn't know where they were going. It was still a surprise. Alec had been working with tutoring kids in archery after school, which didn't pay much, but he had gotten enough to order a suite at a hotel in the city. Mrs. Bane gave them both kisses on the cheeks. "Okay, have fun!"

"Thanks, we will, mom."

"She's acting as if we're going to prom?" Alec whispered, when they were out by the car.

"You're taking me out for a romantic weekend, to her there's no difference."

"Who says it's going to be romantic?" Alec challenged, while absentmindedly opening the passenger door for his boyfriend. Magnus looked at the seat, where Alec had planted the flowers.

"Right, not romantic at all," he grinned.

"Just get in, smartass."

They had been driving in silence for a while, because Alec hadn't made a playlist for the trip, since he didn't really do much for music and would have most likely disappointed Magnus with his taste, when Magnus started speaking.

"Where exactly are you taking us?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you?" Alec reminded him.

"Right."

"You don't care if it's a surprise?"

"It's still a surprise if you tell me now?" Magnus tried.

"Alright…"

"Wait, now I don't want to know," Magnus said.

"You're unbelievable!" Alec rolled his eyes.

"I'm just excited, that's all."

Alec could feel Magnus' hand on his thigh, and when his hand continued to work its way up, Alec looked down first and then at Magnus.

"What are you doing?"

"I can tell you're excited as well…" he said, just before Alec noticed a car coming their way on the wrong side of the highway. Alec maneuvered the car out of the lane as harsh as he could and it caused the car to spin around. Adrenaline was racing through his body, Magnus' hand was gripping Alec's shoulder and both of them were breathing heavily.

"What the hell!" Alec yelled.

"It feels like you're yelling at me, why are you yelling at me?"

"You can't do that while I'm driving!" he exclaimed.

"Excuse me? Nothing would have happened if that idiot had been driving on the right side of the road!"

"You distracted me!"

"Are you really gonna pin this on me?"

"Maybe this time it wasn't your fault, but…"

"What do you mean 'this time'?" Magnus looked puzzled. Alec took a deep breath.

"What happened with your dad or stepdad or whatever?" Alec had promised himself to let it go, but he was too upset at the moment and still running on adrenaline. Magnus looked him in the eye for a long moment. "Why wouldn't you tell me it was your stepdad?"

"Because to me he was just 'dad', nothing less."

"What happened?" Alec demanded.

"Are you really going to make me feel bad about an incident you weren't even there for?"

"I just wish you would have told me more about it. I pour my heart out to you about my family all the time, you know everything about me, but sometimes… sometimes it's like you don't want me to know, and then my mom starts making accusations…"

"Wait up, your mom? That's why you're upset? What did she say?"

"She said that they couldn't find a reason for the crash, and that you weren't even in the car when help came," Alec explained. Magnus took a deep breath.

"Maybe we should just go home?"

"No," Alec objected.

"Then at least let's get off the road, before we get run over by a truck."

"Fine." Alec started the car and drove them the last few miles to the hotel in silence.

...

By the time Alec pulled to a stop outside of the hotel, Magnus had forgotten all about being upset with Alec.

"Are we staying at this hotel?" he wondered in amazement. It did look exactly like it had in the pictures. It was sort of extravagant. Alec just nodded, because he hadn't forgotten about the argument. "That's extreme. You can't afford that!" Magnus said.

"Don't tell me what I can't do," Alec snorted and took the bags out of the trunk.

"At least let me carry my own bag?" Magnus offered as Alec handed the keys over to the employee outside of the hotel.

"No," Alec said flatly and walked inside without looking back at Magnus. The other boy hurried after him.

"You're giving me mixed vibes here. You're carrying my bag, but you seem mad?"

Alec threw down their bags beside some furniture.

"I'm going to check us in, stay here," he ignored Magnus and went to get a keycard.

None of them said anything on the way up in the elevator. Magnus' expression when he saw the room, however, sent a smile to Alec's face. The suite was kind of huge, and the size of the bathroom matched the size of the living room. It was everything that the website had promised, and Alec was starting to feel better.

"Look, I'm sorry if I tend to press the issues, I just…" he started apologizing, but Magnus caught his hand.

"Let's not talk about it now. I feel too light-headed after almost dying in a crash and after seeing this surprise. I think I need a shower," he said.

"Oh, okay."

"That was an invitation," Magnus grinned.

"I'm not in the mood for shower sex. I didn't even think that was a real thing?" Alec threw himself down onto the bed.

"Of course it's a real thing, haven't you read Fifty Shades of Grey? Dumb question, don't answer," Magnus said and sat down next to Alec. "You're the only person I know who doesn't get horny after a fight or an argument."

"Sorry if I'm not your ideal boyfriend," Alec sighed.

"You are… do you want me to tell you something about myself?" he asked and Alec looked up at him, waiting for him to continue. "When I was with Camille, the French girl, we would do nothing but fight and have makeup sex. She always knew how to pick a fight."

"That's something about Camille, not you. And honestly, you're not helping your case by telling me how much sex you had with your ex." Alec looked away from his boyfriend.

"I'm sorry, but this is the main reason why I don't feel like talking about my past. I don't want to live in my past. I live in the present. I don't regret anything I did in my past, but sometimes people won't understand."

"The only reason I don't understand is because you don't tell me. I won't judge you, but I am actually interested in your family and where you're from. I'm only asking what happened?" Alec explained.

"Okay, if it'll make you feel better, I will tell you."

Alec sat up, so it seemed like he was listening more carefully now.

"My dad always thought he was my real dad, and so did I. And honestly, for a while my mom thought so too. One night she had gone to a business party, one with a lot of powerful and influential people. Well, one of those people came on to my mom. She had had a few drinks, and when he was able to get her alone they had flirted a little," Magnus rubbed his face with his palm. Alec said nothing, because he thought he already knew where this was going. "But my mom had never intended on anything more to happen, so when he came on too strong she told him no, because she was happily married. She tried to explain that everyone had to do a little flirting in the business if they wanted to go somewhere. He still didn't take no for an answer and he… erh…"

"Magnus?" Alec took Magnus' hand.

"He raped her. She never spoke to anyone about it, and it was only when we tested our blood type in school that I found out. My mom had helped me with my homework and had told me that both she and my dad was blood type B, so that I would most likely be B or O. Imagine my surprise when I found out my blood type was A. I tried to convince the teacher that the test was wrong, but he agreed to help me make another one and it showed the same."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"My mom explained everything to us, when I asked her about it. My dad had only just found out when the accident happened. He was upset, of course, mainly because my mom never told him about it. She tried to tell him that people handle rape differently, she was the kind of person to keep it locked up inside and comfort herself with having a loving family. He started to question how much of her story was true, and that's when he took me for a ride to see my grandparents… well, we were supposed to go see them at least. He was upset, and he didn't concentrate on the road, he kept looking over at me like I was the devil or a bastard child. It was almost as if he was starting to blame me, and I had only just started defending myself when he drove us off the road and that's when we crashed. I was yelling at him just when we crashed. I don't know how, but somehow I ended up outside of the car with an extreme headache, but otherwise no scratches. It was almost as if I had gotten out of the car before the car had actually crashed into the tree… it sounds so stupid," Magnus buried his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry," Alec whispered.

"You should be. I promised myself a long time ago to let the memory go."

"No, I'm sorry it happened to you, but I'm not sorry I made you tell me about it," Alec admitted. "I wish you had sooner," he added and took Magnus' hand again.

"I thought I would spare you the details of my dramatic past."

"Please don't ever try to spare me?" Magnus lifted an eyebrow at that. "You know what I mean!"

"So are you still not in the mood for shower sex?"

"I'm actually kind of hungry, are you hungry? Dinner is on me," Alec said.

"Well look at you, big spender."

"I got the all-inclusive package," he shrugged.

"Do you think they bring dinner to the room with all-inclusive?"

"I'll call down and ask," Alec said suavely.

Alec had ordered champagne for the dinner along with a side of grapes, because he knew Magnus secretly had a dream of being fed grapes.

"This is not a real dream I have," Magnus objected.

"Yes it is, I specifically remember you told me about your Greek dream and the naked guys feeding you grapes."

"Oh, and you're going to fulfill my dream?" Magnus smirked.

"I was trying," Alec felt so cheesy, but he knew Magnus was loving all the romance of it.

"Are you going to be naked then?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. He was recovering from previous conversation slash storytelling quickly, and Alec kind of enjoyed it. He stood up and quickly pulled off all of his clothes, before pushing Magnus down onto the bed. "Hold on, don't I get to be naked?"

"Depends. Were you naked in the dream?"

"Half-naked."

"Then you get to be half-naked," Alec grinned, and waited for Magnus to take off everything except from his underwear. When he was finally ready, Alec felt the awkwardness rush over him. He hadn't anticipated just how embarrassing it would feel to feed his boyfriend grapes, while naked and in a hotel suite. The entire setting seemed rather ridiculous, and despite Magnus' perpetual ability to make any situation a ball, he was starting to look slightly uncomfortable as well.

"A situation is always different in dreams, it appears," he shrugged, when he was finally too bored with the grapes. He pulled Alec down next to him on the bed, and rolled onto his side so he could look at Alec.

"It was kind of ridiculous, wasn't it?"

"No, I think it was really romantic."

"You know what I think is romantic?" Alec asked, and Magnus waited for the answer with a soft smile. "When you tell me personal stuff about your past."

"Don't ruin it," Magnus said and leaned over to kiss Alec on the lips, probably just to shut him up. Alec grabbed at Magnus' boxer briefs, trying to get them off. But Magnus held Alec too close, and it didn't seem like he wanted to let go and let Alec remove the last piece of fabric between them. "Let's just lie like this for a while?" Magnus suggested and placed his head on Alec's chest. Alec relaxed and embraced his boyfriend.

"Are you punishing me now?" he whispered.

"No. I'm glad I told you. I'm glad you took me away for the weekend. And I hope you know that I didn't just tell you about the accident and my mom, because you pestered me into telling…"

"I didn't pester…"

"Let me speak first. I told you, because I trust that you won't tell anyone about it. At least not tell anyone about the rape, my mom would never forgive me. Actually, don't even tell her."

"I wasn't planning on it," Alec said and absentmindedly kissed Magnus' hair. "So do you know who the man is? Your father?"

"Yes."

"And you won't tell me?" Alec figured.

"No. I found out a few years ago, when I kept asking my mom about it. Apparently, she wasn't the only one he raped. He has gotten a few charges over the years, but with his influence and money, he got away at first. Until eventually he went for an underage girl a few years back, he got caught for real. Trust me, he's in his personal little hell," Magnus explained. Something in his voice sounded dark and almost afraid.

"Are you afraid of him knowing about you?"

"If anything I'm afraid of having anything in common with him. But I'm not really worried, I'm told I look a lot like my mom," he said and Alec could feel him smiling against his chest.

"You do look a lot like her. And besides, I believe social circumstances have more influence on you than genetics." The last comment made Magnus look up at Alec with that soft smile.

"I love you," he said, almost as if the words were as easy as breathing. Magnus had never told him he loved him before. He'd only told him that he was falling in love. Alec forgot how to breathe for a short moment. He'd known he loved Magnus almost within a week of them being together.

"I love you too," he whispered back.

"I think I'm ready to forget all about story time and go have shower sex now," Magnus said.

"What? I don't think…"

"Yes," Magnus got out of the bed. "We're going to reenact a scene from Fifty Shades of Grey."

"Magnus, I'm not going to spank you."

"Sadly, that's not all they do. You're going to blow me in the bathtub. And before you ask, yes that's your punishment," Magnus turned on his heels, pulled off his boxer briefs and headed for the bathroom.

"That's hardly a punishment," Alec grinned and followed.