#aaim

Status: Complete

Current Chapter Count: 36

Current Word Count: 96,201

Rating: Mature

Relationship: Magnus Bane / Alec Lightwood

(Some) Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University . Fake/Pretend Relationship . Adoptive Father Ragnor Fell . Dysfunctional Alec Lightwood . Alec Lightwood Character Development . Slow Burn Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood . Family Retreat . skiing vacation . idiots to lovers . Mutual Pining . POV Alternating . Sharing a Bed . Emotional Hurt/Comfort . talking about big real-world issues

Story Summary:

Magnus Bane is a struggling art student searching for inspiration on his final piece.  Alec Lightwood is a suffering law student caught in a tangle of lies to protect himself from an oppressive family.

With the ghosts of his past at his back and a journal filled with so many unanswered questions under his arm, Magnus works through his creative slump and simultaneously fights to save Alec from a terrible fate. Chipping away at Alec’s hard exterior, Magnus seeks out truth and yearns for life in the hopes of uncovering a masterpiece of his own.

CHAPTER 33

Sneak Peek:

“Magnus,” he murmurs in a shaky gasp, his thumbs pushing at Magnus’s jaw to guide him back. “I… It’s always been very clear what I needed to do to make my family tolerate me.”

Magnus shakes his head. “We don’t need to talk about that.”

“No, I… I just…” He swallows hard. “I need to be clear with you. I’ve never been able to go after what I want. I’ve never been in a relationship because I’ve never had the freedom to date who I wanted. I don’t know who I am, Magnus… I’m sorry, but I needed to be honest with you.”

“Oh, Alec,” utters Magnus, his hand reaching up to Alec’s face, skating the pad of his thumb over his cheekbone. “That is one of the precise reasons I am so enamoured with you. Your honesty—transcending our first meetings—is your most admirable attribute.”

Read chapter 33 HERE on Ao3

CHAPTER 29

Sneak Peek:

The door slams open and Magnus almost jumps right off the bed. Clary stands there in the doorway, hair askew and flushed, looking harried and panicked and her eyes come immediately to Magnus.

“It’s Alec,” she says, breathless. “I was coming back from dinner with Jace and we saw him run out of the lodge. Jace went after him, but I don’t—”

“Wait, what?” Magnus asks with a frown. “What do you mean he ran out? Where’s he going?”

“I don’t know.” Clary shakes her head, distraught. “I don’t know. He just ran off. I… I think he might’ve been crying. Iz, your dad was in the kitchen. I—I think he and Alec had a fight or something.”

“Christ,” Magnus growls, shoving himself up from the bed and striding past Clary into the hall.

Read chapter 29 HERE on Ao3

CHAPTER 31

Sneak Peek:

Breathing out slowly, Magnus turns back to take the journal from his bedside table, unbuckling it and opening the cover to the first page. He runs a light touch over the inscription.

“I didn’t want you to see this, because of what I told you of my mother,” Magnus utters, swallows hard. “Because of how she was towards the end…” He tapped the inscription with his finger, looked to Alec. “This doesn’t make any sense to me. I’ve read it over and over and I’ve tried to understand it, but I can’t.”

Alec frowns, shakes his head and Magnus knows what he’s going to say.

“She didn’t love me,” says Magnus before Alec can try and assure him of otherwise. “She just didn’t. The only reason she didn’t let my stepfather kill me was because I was hers, because everything she went through to bring me into this world should have meant something.”

Read chapter 31 HERE on Ao3

CHAPTER 28

Sneak Peek:

“You defend him again, and I will disown you on the spot,” his father threatens, his hand clenching hard on Alec’s arm, never once letting up, just clutching him harder and harder. “Do you understand that everything you have, everything in your life is there because of me? This family, your university, your home. I gave it to you. I can take it all away.”

“You’re hurting me,” Alec utters, his gaze low and submissive, swallowing hard when his father gives him a harsh shake.

“Tell me you understand what I am saying to you, Alec. Get rid of this boy or I will throw you out onto the streets.”

Alec grits his teeth, wrenches his arm away. “Let me make my own mistakes,” he growls, his anger spilling free, overcoming his fear for a moment.

Read chapter 28 HERE on Ao3

CHAPTER 26

Sneak Peek

At that moment, he is nine years old again, in a jauntily built house in Indonesia. His mother is there. An ashen hand hangs from the side of the mattress, dark crimson in dim light dripping from limp fingers. Magnus opens his mouth to scream, but it comes in a breathless gasp.

“Magnus,” a voice says, echoes in his ears. Hands clutch him, pulling at him. “Hey, look at me. Look at me, okay? Focus on me. It’s gonna be okay.”

Magnus blinks hard, understanding coming back to him. He trembles as his hands come to Alec’s arms, clutching at him clumsily. “A—Alec...” he utters, his eyes faltering but not reaching Alec’s face.

“I’m right here. Tell me what you need.”

Read chapter 26 HERE on Ao3

CHAPTER 18

Sneak Peek:

Alec makes and face and calls a ceasefire, steps out from behind the fort and goes to Magnus, stoops to grab his arms and pull him to his feet. Gloved hands dust the snow from Magnus’s coat. Magnus himself just stares at him, tilting his head softly.

“What?” Alec mutters.

“You’re way too easy.”

“What—?”

A crush of snow hits him in the face, gets in his open mouth. Alec splutters and wipes it away, pouts his displeasure when Magnus just smiles at him innocently.

“Hate you,” Alec grumbles as snow slides down his neck under his shirt.

“No way, you love me,” Magnus teases.

Read Chapter 18 on Ao3

CHAPTER 21

Sneak Peek:

“I need to talk to you.”

Magnus glances back at him. He has been expecting this for a while. “Oh?”

“About Alec,” says Jace, “and what your… intentions are with him.”

Blinking hard, Magnus turns his head to Jace. “My intentions,” he echoes, as blankly as he can, although he knows exactly what the young man is implying.

“Look, I know my brother, he’s sensitive,” Jace says, leaning forward to rest his hands upon the counter, turning his full attention to Magnus, who is honestly a little surprised that he’s being so upfront about it all. “You need to understand that I won’t ever let anyone hurt him.”

Read from the beginning on Ao3