The battle was long a brutal, but there were no lives lost on their side, by the sheer grace of the Angel and element of surprise alone. Without those, there surely would have been numerous casualties, despite the fact that they were barely outnumbered. Sebastian's shadowhunters were incredibly strong and fast, and the wounds they inflicted were lasting. Even iratzes weren't healing them completely. Alec's leg had been shattered and it would have very likely been ripped from his body had it not been for Jace's quick response, decapitating the demon shadowhunter perched to strike above Alec's prone body.

One of the visiting shadowhunters from Idris had suffered the worst injury in losing a hand, and Isabelle, Clary, and Jem had all suffered hits and cuts that marked deep enough they would take numerous iratze applications to disappear. Jace had emerged untouched, thanks to the angel fire pulsing through his veins.

Jem lent Alec the sword cane he no longer had need for but still found comfort in using, even after all this time. He'd kept it hidden with the few belongings he'd managed to keep from his old life; stored away for the one day he'd thought would never come, but somehow had.

Now Alec leaned on it for support as the iratzes slowly took effect. The shattered pieces of bone were working to fuse back together and it was an excruciatingly painful process. It would still be at least a week before he would be able to walk on it properly again.

Back at the institute most of the injured rested while Maryse (never one to take a moment to relax) and Jem (feeling more alive than he had in over a century) poured over maps and documents, beginning the search anew for more of Sebastian's followers.

Alec couldn't stay.

Since that moment, staring up into the face of that demonic shadowhunter, seeing the look in his eyes... He knew he was about to die and all he could think about was the fact that he would never get the chance to tell Magnus the way he felt.

Grabbing a jacket and reapplying his stealth and soundless runes, Alec snuck out of the Institute, making his slow way towards the subway station, glamoured to avoid having to deal with staring mundanes.

It took him much longer than usual to make it to his destination. The pain in his leg was nearly unbearable, but the pain in his heart spurred him forward. He had something to say and he was going to say it. Even if his nerves had tried to get him to turn around at least three times and had almost caused him to miss his subway stop.

Alec reached the building that had become so familiar and paused.

I can't do this. He thought, panicked.

After a few deep breaths and a painful reminder from his leg of his brush with death though, he was ready. Or, as ready as he'd ever be.

Alec's hand shook as he reached for the buzzer. It was now or never.

Buzzzzzz

"Who DARES disturb the High Warlock of Brooklyn at this hour? You had better have a REALLY good explanation for it or you're hopping away from here a toad!"

He swallowed hard at the voice's angry tone. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

He persevered.

"I-it's me, Alec. Please just hear me out; you don't have to let me up, in fact I'd rather do this here, just…please listen?" He paused and waited to be told to go away.

Upstairs the High Warlock of Brooklyn felt his knees go weak and his breath catch. He steadied himself against the wall before replying.

"Well? Out with it."

Alec drew a shaky breath and continued. He'd been rehearsing the entire way here, building on the conversations he'd had with Jem and in his own head.

"I'm not here to ask for your forgiveness or for you to take me back, because I know I don't deserve either of those. And you deserve better than that, better than me. I just needed to tell you- I need you to know that I love you and I'm sorry. I know you owe me nothing, but please believe me when I tell you I wouldn't have done it. I just... I just wanted to know you better." Alec ran a hand through his hair and shifted his weight on his leg, it was killing him, but he had to get this said.

"I know now how stupid that was. I should have been more patient - Angel knows you were patient with me. Hell, I asked you to lie, to hide our relationship... I asked you for so much and just expected you to give it. I never thought about how much I was taking and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He was crying now and trying to keep it out of his voice.

The man in the apartment above leaned his head against the wall, bracing himself against the emotions that were threatening to overtake him.

"I don't know if you've moved on yet, I certainly haven't, don't think I ever will... I'm not telling you that to make you feel guilty, honestly I hope that you have moved on and that you find someone you deserve and who deserves you. I sure as hell don't. I never did. I still have no idea why you kissed me that night." He took a deep breath and tried to get back on topic; he was rambling in his nervousness.

"I just, I don't know if it matters to you at all, but the reason I haven't called or come by or tried any of the hundreds of ways I've thought about trying to get you to take me back isn't because I don't want you to, it isn't because I don't miss you, Angel do I miss you, but you deserve someone better than me. Someone who can make you happy, who you trust. I'm sorry that wasn't me."

He took his finger off the intercom button and let himself cry the tears that were begging to come. This hurt so much more than he'd imagined it would. Still, he expected that he wouldn't have to live with the despair for much longer, and if his words in any way helped Magnus at all, then it was worth it.

"Goodbye Magnus. I love you. Forever." He straightened himself up and turned to leave when he heard a voice coming from the little box.

"Wait. Come upstairs and say goodbye in person."

Magnus' resolve had been fading by the word and he was sure it wouldn't hold out once he saw the shadowhunter, but he couldn't let him go without a reply, and he was not going to continue this conversation over an intercom.

Alec's heart ached at the thought of seeing Magnus again. This had been hard enough as it was, and yet…he couldn't walk away.

He leaned heavily on the railing for support, unsure of whether his legs were weak from injury or emotion.

Magnus had the door to his apartment open and was standing there in his black silk pajamas (it was after all quite late) and no makeup. Alec couldn't see a single speck of glitter. The warlock watched with guarded eyes as he made it to the top step and resumed use of the borrowed cane to make his way to the door.

Alec was thankful for the physical pain, if only because it gave his mind something to focus on other than the emotions raging inside of him. He wanted to speak, but his mouth had gone dry at the sight of his ex-boyfriend.

Magnus had been expecting to see a sullen and sulking Alec, or a dejected Alec, he was not prepared to see him injured.

"What happened to your leg?"

Alec blinked a few times.

"Oh, um one of Sebastian's shadowhunters broke it earlier - shattered it, really."

"Have you applied an iratze?"

Alec had to bite his tongue from replying with a sarcastic remark. He didn't want to come across as being confrontational.

"Several, actually. Without them I wouldn't even be able to stand. Those shadowhunters are stronger than they look."

"When did this happen?" Magnus knew this wasn't what he should be discussing right now, but instincts were forcing him to inquire about the injury.

"Earlier tonight."

"How?"

"We got a lead on a group of them and set up an ambush." A pain shot through Alec's leg and he winced, relying on his years of training to handle the intensity.

"Come sit down," Magnus told him impulsively, reaching for his arm.

Alec's mind was yelling at him to refuse, to leave and let Magnus be, but his selfishness wouldn't let him. He relented, letting the warlock help him to the sofa that had seen so much of their relationship.

He sat down with some effort, laying the cane against the edge of the couch, not noticing his ex-boyfriend's eyes squinting inquisitively at it.

Magnus found its presence more than a little curious, but held his tongue. He wanted to know more about this ambush. Namely, whether anyone was hurt worse than this. Despite his refusal to be their "pet warlock" anymore, he couldn't completely rid himself of his concern. Especially for Clary, and Isabelle, whom he had managed to grow fond of over the months.

"How did everyone else fare in this ambush?" He couldn't help but ask. Alec's guarded, battle-hardened emotional state couldn't be counted on as an indicator of the battle's outcome. Perhaps it was someone's death that had spurred him to come apologize and tell Magnus goodbye. The warlock's imagination was getting the better of him when Alec's voice cut through his panicked thoughts.

"Mine was one of the worse injuries. Isabelle, Clary, Jace, they're all fine, just a bit bruised up."

Magnus breathed a sigh of relief, mentally smacking himself for having gotten so attached.

"And the other guys?"

"All...taken care of." Alec closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. The "other guys" had once been shadowhunters like him, sure some of them had volunteered, but others... others had been forced into it and were slaughtered all the same.

He hated this and it was only just beginning.

"You did what you had to do," Magnus soothed, running a long fingered hand over Alec's back in understanding of his inner turmoil.

The touch felt warm and good, like a ray of sun in the winter.

Alec's breath rattled in his sore body.

"I wish there was another way," he replied, trying hard to stay focused and not give in to the feelings the touch was eliciting.

Seeing Alec so broken hurt Magnus more than he could stand. He wanted to comfort, to console, to wrap his arms around the poor boy and make everything better. Despite Alec's betrayal he couldn't muster up the anger or hurt he'd felt before. All that was left was longing.

"May I?" He asked cautiously, indicating Alec's broken leg.

"Mags you don't- sorry." Alec shook his head and started again. "Magnus you don't have to fix it, I didn't come here to use you for free healing." He hadn't planned on seeing him at all.

"I know. I'm offering anyway."

Alec nodded his head in permission.

Magnus reached across the sofa and put his hand on Alec's outstretched leg, concentrating on repairing the internal damage. The tingly sensation of magic flowed through Alec's entire body, making him feel better than he had in weeks. Not only was the leg healed, but all the aches and pains in his body had vanished as well.

"Thank you," he breathed, barely above a whisper.

Magnus was sitting close now, his hand still resting lightly on Alec's thigh.

A long minute of silence stretched between them, both of their hearts fluttering like crazy.

"I haven't." Magnus was the one who finally broke the silence, still not moving away.

The shadowhunter's eyebrows knit together.

"Haven't what?"

"Moved on."

Alec's hand moved to the one on his thigh. He took a deep breath.

"Magnus..." He sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a moment before steeling himself against the rush of emotions that confession had elicited. "I should go." He made to stand up but the warlock pulled him back down.

"Alexander wait." Magnus was finding it difficult to say what needed to be said, forgiveness had never been one of his strong suits and a part of him was saying he should just cut his losses and do the smart thing and let Alec walk away; that way everyone could start healing.

But he was never good at doing the smart thing either.

"Why did you come here tonight?" He looked into the sapphire blue eyes in front of him. "Tell me the truth."

"I didn't want to die without seeing you again." There was his straightforward shadowhunter, never one to sugarcoat the truth. "I stand by what I said: that I don't deserve you to take me back and I want you to find someone who makes you happy, but a war is coming and it's going to be worse than the last one. I'm under no illusions about that. I just want you know how much I love you and how sorry I am before it all ends."

He said all of this while keeping eye contact, faltering but never looking away.

"I would have thought you learned your lesson about trying to make decisions for me," Magnus replied with a weak smile.

"I wasn't- I didn't mean-"

"I know. It was a joke. Too soon?"

Alec tried to smile, but he was still extremely weary.

Silence stretched over them again and a serious air fell on the room.

Magnus knew what he needed to say; what he should have said ages ago.

"I love you too Alexander. And I can't blame you entirely for what happened, Lilith knows I've tried. You have to understand, I have a lot of memories, a few hundred years more than most people, and they're generally either not important enough for me to think about, let alone talk about, or too painful to relive. The only way I can manage the painful ones is to put them away in a little box and lock them up. I prefer to exist in the moment and not bother with those things, otherwise it all just gets too overwhelming for me to function. I'm sorry, but I don't know if that will ever change no matter how long we were together. I want a future with you, I do, but if you can't live with that then there is nothing that can be done."

Alec froze for a moment, processing what the warlock had just said.

He wants a future. With me. Magnus. Wants. Me.

He wanted to cry out that yes, he could live with any conditions as long as it meant having Magnus back in his life, but he knew better. As much as he wished it wasn't true, he knew that they both had conditions that needed to be met before they could move forward at all.

"I-I can. If you can try harder to share the things that aren't locked away in boxes with me. I can't stand feeling like I don't even know my own boyfriend. What's worse is having to find out things about you from other people. Hell, there are shadowhunters I've met in Idris who know things about your past that I don't, and they don't even like you! I should know things about the man I love other than the fact that he has an unhealthy obsession with glitter and he isn't a morning person. That's the entire reason I kept talking to Camille. I didn't care what "solutions" she was offering, but every time I went I learned a little bit more about you. I got another tiny piece of the puzzle."

A look of disgust flashed across Magnus' face at the mention of Camille.

"I know it was stupid. It was equivalent to reading someone's diary. If you wanted me to know the things she told me, you would have told me them yourself. But you didn't. You never do. It's not fair that you know so much about my life, my family, and I can't even name the last place you lived or who your best friends are!" Alec ran a hand through his hair roughly and when he started speaking again it was calmer, quieter. "You didn't have to keep me at arm's length all the time."

"You say that as if I was the only guarded one in this relationship. Sure, I admit that I didn't share my life with you as much as I probably should have, but you didn't share me with your life."

"That's not fair, I was scared. My parents, the Clave, they could have had my Marks stripped! I was terrified of losing my family, of disgracing them."

"Why exactly do you think it is that I've hidden things? Because I think it's fun to upset my boyfriend? No. I hate seeing you sad and worst of all I hate being the cause of it, but there are things in my past… things I've seen; things I've done; things that are a part of me that I wish I could erase." His voice cracked with his next words. "I'm scared too. Scared that once you get to know the bad things you'll start treating me like the piece of scum downworlder the rest of your kind thinks I am. Scared that you'll see my father when you look at me; that you'll see the demon inside," He trailed off quietly.

Alec had never imagined that was reason for the warlock's silence on the matter of his past. He once again felt the weight of his selfishness on his shoulders.

He leaned across the couch and put his hands around Magnus' neck, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry," he whispered against the older man's hair. "I'm so, so sorry."

"What for?" Magnus laughed, though there were tears in his eyes.

"For being such a selfish idiot and not making it clear before that there is nothing you could tell me about your past that would make me stop loving you. I was so busy being insecure that I didn't stop to think that maybe there was another reason for you not being comfortable talking about it, beside you not wanting to get invested in this relationship."

"Oh Alexander, that wasn't really what you thought, was it?"

"Yes," He answered sheepishly.

Magnus pulled away from their embrace just enough to place their foreheads together and look Alec in the eyes.

"The way you always look after everyone, the way you fight, protect, lead, the way you make love… you make it too easy for me to forget that you're still barely more than a child."

Alec made to move away, feeling jilted, but Magnus held him in place.

"Don't go darling, I didn't mean it cruelly." Magnus smiled sympathetically. "All I meant to say is that we both should have put ourselves in the other's shoes. Figuratively of course; those tacky, muddy boots of yours will never touch these feet."

Alec smiled at the relief of tension.

"Do you think there's any way we could start over?" He asked, looking hopefully into those golden-green eyes.

"No," Magnus replied firmly, causing Alec's stomach to instantly knot. "We've made too many mistakes to pretend they didn't happen and go back to the beginning. I do think we could start again though. That is, if you'll have me?"

Alec didn't have words to reply, so his mouth chose a different method.

Kissing Magnus again was like finally satisfying a long-lasting craving, and it was the same for the warlock, who's lips hadn't touched anything but the edge of a wine glass since that day in the subway.

"I take it that's a yes?" He asked, smiling and out of breath just inches away from Alec's mouth. He didn't want to be disconnected from it for very long.

"Emphatically."

Their bodies shifted to be even closer; fingers twisted in hair, hands slid under clothing. The kiss was fierce, hungry, messy, fueled by need and longing. Alec was pushed against the couch cushions, Magnus on top of him, their chests pressed together. The shadowhunter pulled him closer, needing to feel more of him after what felt like an eternity of being deprived.

Magnus' bed was partially unmade. Alec had to bite his lip to hide the smile that crept up seeing that it was his side of the bed that looked slept in. Maybe the warlock really had been having as rough a time as Alec had.

He didn't have much time to dwell on it though, because he was soon being guided down to mattress, laid out on the rumpled bedspread while Magnus climbed on top of him, removing his shirt and kissing down his Marked chest.

They made quick work of each other's clothing, bodies starved for the contact they'd been missing.

Their kissing had slowed; more languid and savoring than the rushed ferocity they'd shared on the couch.

Magnus slid his hand down Alec's thigh, his fingers brushing against a new scar. He barely needed to trace the whole thing before he knew what it was and the way Alec had gone stiff beside him answered the question he didn't need to ask.

"I thought you said you hadn't moved on," Magnus commented without inflection.

"I haven't. It wasn't like - I tried but... I couldn't. I couldn't stop thinking about you," Alec stumbled over his words, glad for the lack of lighting so he wouldn't have to look Magnus in the eye.

"Who was it?" Magnus asked curiously, hands still tracing absentminded patterns on the pale skin. Alec hesitated and, for a moment, the warlock thought he wasn't going to reply at all, but he finally spoke, replying in a rush of mumbled words.

"One of the shadowhunters staying at the institute. No one important." Alec wanted to move on from this conversation as fast as possible.

"In other words you're not going to tell me. I thought you would have learned your lesson about secrets keeping by now," he teased, only slightly seriously.

"I sort of promised him I wouldn't tell you if it ever came up – which, to be honest, I never expected it would. You're not exactly an easy act to follow. I think he's afraid you'll turn him into a rat or something," he said with a nervous laugh.

"I would if you would be so kind as to give me his name." Magnus was only partially kidding about that.

It wasn't as if he didn't already have a guess. He hadn't had much experience with shadowhunter's thighs, but of the ones he had seen, only one had been Marked in a similar way. And Magnus was more than certain it wasn't Tessa who'd been keeping the boy busy in his absence.

"I can't; I promised." Magnus looked less than pleased with that statement. Even in the dim lighting Alec could tell, now that his eyes had become adjusted. "Hey, I'm sure there's a person or a thousand that you've have sex with whose name I don't know," he retorted, hoping to bring the attention off of himself and his singular sexual discrepancy.

"That's not fair. There's probably a person or a thousand that I've sex with whose names I don't know. But we're not talking about me, we're talking about you." Magnus nipped at his earlobe playfully, wanting to make sure Alec knew he was teasing.

"Can we just leave it at it was a one-time mistake and I couldn't stop thinking about you the entire time? I'm even pretty sure I said your name a couple of times." He added that last part as an afterthought, though it was certainly true. He could feel his cheeks heating up with embarrassment at his accidental confession too.

Magnus snorted, but was obviously beaming at the fact.

"I bet that went over well."

"He was... understanding." Given that he was screaming Will's name the whole time… "I really don't want to talk about this."

That sealed it; no one would be okay with hearing their lover– even a one night stand - cry out for another unless they were completely uninvested in what was going on. Or unless they were thinking of someone else as well, and Alec shared a striking resemblance to a certain someone. Magnus was certain it was Jem who'd bedded his Alexander – it would explain the puzzling presence of Jem's sword cane as well – and the ex-Silent Brother was right to be worried. He should have known better. Jem was supposed to be a friend.

Magnus resolved to deal with Jem's betrayal in the morning. For now, he would honor Alec's request and drop the subject. They were supposed to be in the midst of mind-blowing make-up sex and this line of conversation was certainly killing the mood.

"What were you thinking about when you thought of me?" he asked, his tone turning seductive and playful, fully content to turn this topic around.

It took Alec's brain a moment to catch up, but once it did, he was more than willing to play along.

"How soft your skin feels under my hands," he replied, sliding one hand down Magnus' chest, curving along his side to his smooth back.

"Is that it?" Magnus asked, situating himself more on top of the young shadowhunter, peppering his jaw and neck with light brushing kisses. Alec arched into it, giving better access, baring his throat for the man above him.

"I kept thinking about your mouth; the way you taste, the way you kiss me."

Magnus shifted up slightly to kiss him, sucking at the boy's bottom lip and drawing a moan out of him.

"What else?" he breathed against Alec's ear.

He could feel the heat rising across Alec's face even before he spoke.

"Having you underneath me."

Magnus rolled off of him onto his back, pulling Alec on top of his body.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you like this," he stared down at the warlock, blue eyes raking over tanned chest. "By the Angel you're beautiful." He dipped his head to kiss the smooth flesh of Magnus' clavicle.

"What were you fantasizing about doing to me once you had me under you?"

"Worshiping you." Alec's mouth made its way slowly across every inch of the older man's upper body, fluctuating between feather-light kisses to bruising bites, - "tasting you" - sucking and licking every inch of skin he'd spent the past weeks longing for - "touching you" - calloused hands caressing, squeezing, fingernails scraping, leaving faint pink marks behind on the flawless canvas. He moved back up, so that his lips were millimeters away from Magnus's, - "loving you" – the whispered confession like a prayer on his lips. Magnus breathed in the words, leaned up to meet his shadowhunter – equal, and open, and honest, the way it always should have been; the way it would forever be from that moment on.

Hours later the night was spent, as were they; the early morning grey of the sky seeping in through a part in the decorative curtains.

Alec was exhausted, and he thought that maybe tonight, for the first time in weeks, he could sleep and dream of Magnus without waking to damp cheeks, a tight throat, and a stabbing pain in his chest where his heart beat but no longer belonged. But not tonight. Tonight his heart was back where it was supposed to be, where he needed it to be, in Magnus's hands, to do with as he liked.

Caught up in his own thoughts, it took Alec longer than it should have to notice the fidgeting tension in the body he lay curled up with. Magnus was working up to something.

There was that stabbing pain again, the one that knocked his breath from his lungs, compressing and tearing at his organs.

What if Magnus regretted it? What if he realized this wasn't what he wanted after all.

Everything was suddenly too cold and too loud – the blood rushing in Alec's ears. He couldn't do this again, couldn't go through that again.

Alec closed his eyes and willed himself to calm down, enough that he could ask – he had to know, had to shatter the blissful peace that had fallen over them in their post-orgasmic haze.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Hmm? You, my love."

"Care to elaborate?"

Magnus's chest heaved in a sigh and his fingers stilled their dance upon Alec's skin.

"You seem so sure that you'll be lost to this war, Alexander."

Alec was caught off guard, that wasn't what he was expecting. He looked up at Magnus, and if his heart had been able to break any further it would have at the sadness in the warlock's eyes.

"It's not as if I'm hoping for it, but I have to be realistic. I'm good at my job, but I've seen better men and women than myself, slaughtered at the feet of Sebastian's endarkened. I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that, unless we figure out some kind of miracle, the odds are not in our favor."

Magnus nodded, turning and propping himself up on an elbow. Alec mirrored the position, keeping an arm around Magnus's waist, determined to hold on to him for as long as he was allowed.

"And on the off-chance that you're wrong, what then?"

"What do you mean?"

"You came here tonight after a rough battle, fear mixing with the adrenaline in your veins, to give a dying confession." Magnus had been around long enough to know one of those when he saw it. "But what happens when you make it through the tomorrow that you are so sure isn't going to come? When the threat of death isn't looming over your head and you have time to consider the alternatives, where does that leave us?"

"What do you mean "alternatives?"" Alec's forehead creased in confusion, trying to puzzle out what Magnus was trying to say. He wanted to be relieved that the conversation wasn't going the way he had expected, but it didn't exactly sound like it was headed in a good direction anyway. He had to make Magnus understand. He wouldn't lose him again; he couldn't. "Magnus, there is nothing but you."

"That Mark on you thigh tells another story."

"I told you, it wasn't- "

Magnus cut him off with a long, elegant finger pressed to his lips.

"I know it wasn't, that time, but it could be. That is my point. The Clave may one day be more accepting of those with differences, but I do not foresee any future where their feelings on downworlders change so much as for a relationship like ours to be anything but a burden to you."

"The Clave's approval didn't lessen the pain of living without you these past few weeks one bit, so why would I let their disapproval lessen the happiness of living with you? Their opinion has no impact on the way I feel about you."

"You'll be making things harder for yourself."

"Nothing could be harder than losing you." A tear streamed down his cheek and Magnus's thumb followed its path, gently wiping the dampness away, wishing he could wipe away the anguish beneath it. Alec took a breath, leaning into the caress. "You're the only one that I want Magnus, the only one I've ever truly wanted. The only one I ever will want."

Magnus's breath caught at the open and raw sincerity he saw in Alec's face, heard in Alec's voice. It took him some moments before he could reply.

"You say that now. What if you get bored of me?" It was a response to add levity to the conversation that had gotten unfathomably deep, but there was still a hint of insecurity left to be washed away.

"No one could ever get bored of you Magnus," Alec replied firmly, pulling the warlock closer, entangling their legs.

"What if I annoy you?" Magnus ran his fingers over Alec's side, the feather-light touches tickling in a way that Magnus knew he despised, trying to make a point.

"You already do, but I still want you," Alec replied, grabbing ahold of the offending hand and lacing their fingers together to stop the torture.

"What if one of my secrets is that I used to be Jack the Ripper?"

"Then I won't leave you alone around any prostitutes. Actually, I think that's a good rule of thumb anyway."

"What if…"

Alec put a finger against the warlock's lips, mirroring his earlier action.

"I love you, Magnus Bane, and I will love you for the rest of my life; be that eight days or eighty years from now. Nothing you do is going to change that. I've tried a life without you and it sucks. It's empty."

Magnus smiled and leaned in for a kiss.

"Just as life without you, darling, is colorless."

They kissed for a long moment, basking in the feel of each other's lips, of being allowed to have this again, before Alec spoke.

"I can't promise I'm not going to screw up again-"

"I'm almost sure you will," Magnus cut in with a smile.

"But I'll never go behind your back again, I swear to you."

"And I will no longer keep you at arm's length."

"Deal." He snuggled closer against his boyfriend's body. "I'm never letting you go again."

"You won't have to. I'm not going anywhere; you're stuck with me forever now."

Magnus' hands held Alec's, bringing the young shadowhunter's attention to something. His heart started racing faster than it already was at the thought, but it wasn't in fear of asking. Oh no, he was sure about that part. Now that he had tasted life without Magnus he knew he had no desire for that to happen again. No, he was scared of the answer.

He took the Lightwood ring off and rolled it around in between his fingers.

"Care to make that official?" He asked, taking one of Magnus' hands in his and holding the ring with the other. It wasn't the most romantic way or time or place to say it, but the look on Magnus' face told him that none of that mattered. "I can't imagine wanting to spend my life with anyone as much as I want to spend it with you."

"What about the Clave? And you parents?"

"No, I don't think I'd like to marry any of them," he replied with a teasing smile.

Magnus grinned at the rare show of sarcasm and nonchalant attitude.

"They may not allow it," he tried again, wanting to make sure Alec took the time to think this through.

"I'm not asking for their permission. I'm a good shadowhunter; I've spent my entire life training and fulfilling the tasks set before me by the Clave. I've kept New York safe from demons, I've helped defeat Valentine, and I'm putting my life on the line to defeat Sebastian. Falling in love with you has done nothing but strengthen my ability to do those things and I'm not giving you up, no matter how unpopular that makes me with other shadowhunters."

"This might make you more than unpopular Alexander."

"If you don't want to then just tell me, stop trying to talk me out of it."

"Oh sweet pea, there is nothing I want more in this world. I just want to make sure you fully comprehend the consequences of what you're asking, because if you're really, truly sure you want me to put that ring on, it's on forever."

"My forever may not be that long for you."

"I'm talking about my forever," Magnus said seriously, staring into his lover's sparkling blue eyes. He stopped breathing and broke his gaze to look down when he felt Alec straighten the fingers of his left hand. The metal band he slid onto Magnus' ring finger felt cool against his flushed skin and somehow seemed to fit more perfectly there than it ever had on Alec's own hand.

I bet you all thought I was never going to finish this fic, huh? I've literally had 5k out of the 6k words of this chapter written out and in my doc folder since I posted the last chapter a few years ago. I just needed some inspiration to finish it. Hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think! And stop by and see me on Tumblr: Curupia