#ficsformalecvotes

Alec turned the corner of his infinity loop again, eyes flicking up to the boat where Magnus was, before shifting back to the cove where Isabelle and Maia had disappeared off to not twenty minutes ago. Apparently the darling Isabelle had wanted some alone time with Maia, and it was up to Magnus to babysit. Plus, Magnus had to mind the boat for Maia. They hadn't come out to the deserted side of the island for no reason after all. It wasn't just anyone that got to know about mermaids.

"I'm not pacing," Alec grumbled slightly, reaching the other side of the boat before turning to continue in his circle. Magnus sighed, scooching forward and sticking a leg out into the ocean, effectively stopping Alec in his tracks. His foot bumped against Alec's chest, and the merman frowned, glancing up at Magnus in the boat. Magnus patted the edge of the deck beside him, gesturing for Alec to come join him. He reluctantly moved closer, seeming a little suspicious and no less nervous. Magnus wondered if he'd ever been this close to a boat before. Or a human.

"Your sister is fine. She's a very capable woman who can take care of herself," Magnus told Alec calmly. Alec rolled his eyes a little.

"I know that," he said, as if it was obvious. "It's just..."

"Just what? That you've never let her run off with a pretty girl before?" Magnus asked, a slight smile on his face. Alec flushed a little.

"She's never run off with a pretty human girl before," Alec admitted.

"Ah. I see," Magnus said slowly. Maybe he wasn't so far off the mark with wondering how many humans Alec actually knew. "And what about you? Run off with many pretty girls?"

Alec flushed a brighter red than Magnus had realised was possible at that. It contrasted beautifully with his tail.

"No," Alec grumbled softly.

"Pretty boys, then?"

There was a pause. There it was then. The silence was more of an answer than anything else, and Magnus scooched forward a little more, moving his hands and reaching up to unbutton his shirt. Alec frowned, drifting closer to the boat.

"What are you doing?" Alec asked, almost curious. Magnus folded his shirt neatly, placing it down on the deck before eyeing the water carefully.

"Drowning," he commented offhandedly.

"What?!" Alec exclaimed. "No you aren't, you're fine."

"Mhm. For now," Magnus explained. "But a friend of mine drowned and a rather pretty merperson came to kiss her. Maybe I'm just looking for a kiss from a nearby pretty merperson myself."

Alec blinked slowly, and before he could really process, Magnus pushed himself off the edge and into the water fully. The sea was warm and comforting on his skin, and Magnus surfaced after a moment, drifting a little closer to Alec. His tail was idly moving in the water, keeping him afloat. Magnus wondered how much power was in those muscles. If he was as strong as those beautiful arms made him look.

"Well? Would you rescue a poor, lost sailor?" Magnus asked coyly. Alec snorted.

"Your boat is right there," he pointed out.

"What a shame, I seem to have lost it. There's something much more interesting in front of me."

Alec sighed, clearly his throat and swallowing once. He wasn't saying yes. But he wasn't exactly saying no either. And for now... well, that was enough.

"One day, Alexander, you won't be able to resist me," Magnus sighed, before manoeuvring so he was on his back. He let the ocean carry his weight, gently floating on the waves of the ocean.

“Iz, I'm busy! I'll sort this out later, okay?” Alec whispered urgently. There was a pause as Izzy seemed to process things, listening for the words he wasn't saying.

“Are you at a bar? I can hear it in the background but you're not on a mission… wait are you on a date?!”

Alec unashamedly hung up on her at that point, just as Magnus got closer. He'd make it up to her later. But the truth was whilst Alec had been on plenty of dates before, he'd never bailed on work for a date. His previous dates had mostly felt like casual arrangements that he worked into his schedule around the various missions he got sent on. Things inevitably fizzled out when his partner got tired of always being put second, especially when Alec made it sound like he worked some boring office job.

Explaining that he was actually a secret agent for a company no one had ever heard of, dealing in espionage and holding the fate of the world in his hands on a semi regular basis… that was never exactly an option.

“Hey. Everything alright?” Magnus asked as he took a seat at the bar next to actual, leaning in to place a quick kiss on his lips. Alec smiled into the kiss, feeling the ball of nerves in his chest unfurl a little.

“Yeah, fine. Just my sister,” Alec said. He wouldn't usually be so free with personal information, but he also didn't really want to lie to Magnus about his family. He didn't want to lie to Magnus at all, which was an entirely new feeling for him. Not that he had much of a choice.

“Is she worried I'm going to steal you away forever?” Magnus teased softly, and Alec chuckled, looking over to take Magnus in properly. An emerald green shirt sat beautifully against his skin, the collar open just enough to remind Alec of the night they'd spent together in Spain, after Alec had effectively used Magnus as his fake boyfriend to get out of trouble. Lucky for him they'd both agreed to make it real when they got home. It was also lucky they both lived in New York.

Maybe luck was finally on his side.

“Hmm, not yet,” Alec mused a little. “But maybe she should be.”

“Maybe she should,” Magnus said with a wry smile.

Just as Alec was thinking about kissing him again, Magnus’ phone began to ring. He rolled his eyes, grabbing the device from his pocket and mouthing an apology to Alec. Alec turned back to the Coke he'd been nursing since his arrival. He didn't want to listen in, but he couldn't help but hear Magnus’ words when they were so close.

“Ragnor, I'm a little busy right now… no… yes I know that but… look, can't you just find someone else right now? We can talk about this later. Goodbye.”

Alec's gaze slid sideways to where Magnus seemed decidedly more dejected than he had before. “Everything okay with you?” Alec asked, and Magnus nodded.

“Just a friend. He struggles ever so much with technology and thinks I'm magical because I actually know how to use FaceTime.”

Alec smiled, reaching across the bar for Magnus’ hand.

“Well, then maybe we should make the most of tonight, if you're so in demand. Besides, I'd love to get to know these magic fingers a little better.”

Magnus laughed, shaking his head but taking Alec's hand and entwining their fingers all the same. “Are you always this shameless?” Magnus asked.

“Only with people I like,” Alec admitted softly.

“Well, good thing I like you too, Alexander.”

“Are you okay?” Alec asked, concern leaking into his voice as he peered up into Magnus’ eyes, trying to catch his gaze from where it was fixed on the floor.

“I’m fine,” Magnus replied easily, in a way that sounded automatic. Alec frowned a little, using his free hand to reach for Magnus’ jaw.

“Magnus…”

“I’m fine, I promise,” Magnus repeated, with slightly more sincerity. He shot Alec a wan smile. “Just a little exhausted.”

Alec let out a soft sigh. Exhausted was fine. Exhausted, he could handle. Injured and otherwise broken… well, needless to say he would have been forced to find the Seelies who had caused this whole incident and defend his boyfriend’s honour somehow. Not that it was required.

Alec reached up, brushing the matted, floppy hair out of Magnus’ face. It was equally crusted with dirt, and obvious styling didn’t hold up to such extreme conditions. Alec let his fingers gently part some of the locks, seeing how Magnus’ eyes fluttered closed under his touch, his whole body seeming to relax.

“Why don’t you go and take a quick shower? Dinner’s on the stove, and then we can grab some drinks and talk about it. Maybe take a bath later?”

“Alexander, you do know the way to a man’s heart,” Magnus sighed, leaning a little closer. Alec, uncaring of the mess, couldn’t help but mirror the gesture, moving in to steal a kiss from Magnus before he could protest about spreading the mud even further.

“Go on,” Alec encouraged after a moment, squeezing Magnus’ hand gently. “Just go get clean, I’ll find some clothes for you.”

Magnus nodded, leaning in for another brief kiss. “Honestly, what would I do without you to take care of me?” he asked, voice little more than a whisper.

There were three circle members lying on the ground, very much dead. Aldertree was standing there too, by the power source, looking a little stunned. For a supposed former field medic, he should probably be doing more. But the worst part was closer to home. Alec, lying on the ground, cradled in his sister’s arms, covered in blood.

“Alexander,” Magnus breathed out before rushing to his side, crouching down, uncaring of anything else. Isabelle looked up, her face streaked with tears. “What happened?” he demanded, and Izzy shook her head.

“I was too slow, they were already fighting when I got here and Alec-”

“He saved me.” Aldertree cut in, and Magnus glanced over his shoulder. “My guard was open and he…”

“It was the right thing to do,” Alec breathed weakly, coughing. There was blood on his lips, but at least he was still conscious. That was good. Still, stupid, precious, righteous Alexander. The man that had ruined his sister, taken his position and lost his trust wholeheartedly, and Alec still saved his life. Because it was the ‘right thing’ to do.

“Oh, Alexander.”

Izzy shook her head, leaning down.

“I’ve tried using an Iratze, but it’s not working, he’s losing too much blood.”

“Valentine must have had the blades cursed,” Magnus murmured, hands instantly lighting up, magic setting to work, exploring, flowing deep into Alec’s veins, trying to track down the source of what was wrong. “You don’t get to leave me yet, Alec. Not now,” Magnus said, a vicious edge to his voice.

“I don’t want to leave you at all,” Alec breathed, but Magnus could see the effort it was costing him, instead shooting him a look. He needed to not waste his energy. Energy was exactly what he needed to keep if he was going to get better.

“Isabelle, could you look after Madzie for me? I need to take care of Alec,” he said calmly, and Izzy nodded, moving over to where Madzie was lingering by the closed door, looking a little confused and worried. He couldn’t focus on that right now, though. He had Alec to worry about, Alec who looked so pale and weak and…

“I’m sorry,” Alec apologised, and Magnus laughed weakly.

“What, for saving Aldertree’s life? I’d be sorry too, I’d much rather have him at risk than you,” Magnus replied, only partly joking. Aldertree could rot for all he cared. But Alexander…

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. But now I’m…”

“You’re going to be fine,” Magnus insisted, not letting that thought continue.

“I was… so worried. Jace said you were with Clary and then Clary was here and I was afraid Valentine had gotten to you. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

“Alec we can talk about this-”

“I love you, Magnus.”

His world stopped spinning for a moment. When was the last time he’d heard those words? The last time someone had meant them like Alec meant them now? Magnus exhaled softly.

“I love you too. Now hush and let me heal you.”

Later, when Alec was back on his feet and in one piece, Magnus would punch his shoulder for scaring him like that. And then he would kiss him again, and whisper the precious words he’d waited so long to hear like a prayer. He was in love with Alec Lightwood. He was in love with a Shadowhunter. And he didn’t care who knew, or who saw. He was proud.

He was nearly there though. Just one more flight of stairs, a dash down the hallway and what did you know, there was the Chemistry room just waiting. ‘Oh, sorry Mr Fell, I was rescuing a cat from certain death.’ Or some equally impressive excuse.

It would have to be impressive to get him out of trouble this time.

Jumping the last couple of steps, Simon could see it all going wrong as soon as he made the rather athletic move. He’d never been much of an athlete - gym was his worst class, and doing laps made him feel bored and sick. He much preferred watching other people be energetic, such as the football team. Watching their warm ups, all those healthy, energetic guys running around and-

No. He hadn’t been watching. What are you, crazy?

Either way, the point was the most gymnastic Simon Lewis had ever been was the one time Clary had asked him to stretch out in a semblance of a yoga pose for her life study piece, which was about as well prepared as a raw potato. So whilst making a jump down four steps should have been easy for most, people, it was not easy for him.

He could see the landing failing before he even hit the ground.

Screwing up his eyes and wondering if a broken arm would be a decent enough excuse for Mr Fell, Simon prepared for the cold, unforgiving impact with the linoleum of the 2nd floor hallway. He wondered how difficult it was for the janitors to get bloodstains off the floor. They never seemed to happy at the prospect. Maybe he’d be a stain on this hallway forever.

But rather than a brutal, hard impact with the floor, Simon found himself coming to a sudden stop against something much softer, something wrapping around his waist and pulling him away from his inevitable doom. He was also - somehow - still upright. Pausing for a moment, Simon slowly unscrewed his eyes, trying to work out if this was some weird numb denial or reality.

Oh shit. Definitely not reality. Because only in his dreams would Jace Lightwood be holding him upright in the middle of the hallway.

Simon closed his eyes, then reopened them after a moment.

Nope. Still there.

Shit.

Jace propped him up gently, looking at him with concern in those beautiful, beautiful eyes, and Simon swore his heart stopped. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, and Simon wished there was a better time for his brain to stop working. But something about those eyes and that jaw and the letterman jacket and the whole… Jace-ness was just so distracting. Exceptionally distracting.

Simon opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before catching up with himself, nodding violently. “Yep. Yes. I am… great. Really, really great.”

Those hands on his waist were really distracting. Jace hadn’t let go. Why hadn’t he let go again?

Jace smiled, and Simon wanted to pass out on the spot.

“You should be more careful. You might hurt yourself.”

Simon nodded again, looking over his shoulder. “Yeah. I just… Chemistry! I am late. Really late.”

“Why don’t I walk you to class?”

Shit. Really?

Jace finally let him go, looking around him, and Simon noticed a couple of books on the floor. He blinked for a moment, watching Jace pick them up before something clicked into place in his head.

“Did you drop those to catch me?”

Jace shrugged idly. “Well, I figured it would be nicer holding you than a Math textbook.” There was a wry smile on his face and that edge to his voice that told Simon he was flirting. Which… didn’t make any sense? He was the nerd wearing nerd shirts with big nerd glasses who spent all his time with Clary in art, or in music. And Jace was well…. Jace. The Lightwoods were the coolest of the cool, and he had all these friends and all these people that were super cool hanging out with him, and he was the hero of the football team and…

Jace collected himself and gestured down the hallway, and Simon dashed into step beside him. “Don’t you have class right now?” Simon asked, and Jace shook his head.

“Nah. I’m on my way to gym. Got a big game in a few weeks, need to get practising.”

“Oh. I’m sure you’ll be amazing, like always,” Simon said honestly, biting his lip when he realised what he said.

“Yeah? You watch my games?”

“Oh yeah, you’re really pretty.” Simon paused. “Pretty great, I mean! You know. Great. At. The throwing… and the catching…”

Jace grinned. “Well, maybe you could meet me out on the field later and I can show you some more of that.”

“I… sure. That sounds… amazing, actually.”

“Great!” Jace replied, and before Simon could make a fool of himself, Jace pushed the door of the Chemistry classroom open, walking in ahead of him. “Hi Mr Fell, sorry Simon’s late - Coach Garroway needed to talk to him about the half time show for the game.”

Mr Fell shot the pair a scathing look, but sighed, waving Simon in. “Come on then, Mr Lewis, we haven’t got all day.”

Simon looked over his shoulder at Jace, eyes wide, mouthing a thank you. He didn’t know why Jace would do that for him. Coach Garroway didn’t need to see him at all but come to think of it, he could probably swing the excuse since he was Clary’s stepdad and all. Jace just winked in response before disappearing again. The whole class seemed distracted, and when Simon sat down, his lab partner elbowed him, glancing at the door. “What the hell was that?” Maia whispered, and Simon shook his head dumbly.

He had no idea. But it had to be something good.

For the first time in Chemistry, Simon actually smiled.

“Mr Lewis! Would you care to demonstrate for us?”

It had been a slow process, over the days. But he could see it, in the tone of Magnus’ skin, the shallowness of his breath. Whatever he’d been hit with was wasting him away from the inside out, and Alec had never felt so helpless. He didn’t know what to do. He’d called Catarina Loss, called Raphael Santiago, called Izzy and called the Silent Brothers. He’d brought all of his influence and earned favours to bear, anything to try and save Magnus.

And he was still here. Dying.

Catarina was still here, working on something. She said she had an antidote, but it would be a close thing if they got it to him in time. Izzy had leapt to help, Jace, Simon, Clary. They had scattered, doing everything, and yet Alec was still here. Because every time he left the room he got worse. Because when he’d walked away from the apartment to try and help, he’d been utterly, overwhelmingly distracted by the thought of what could happen whilst he was gone. He’d settled for staying at Magnus’, helping Catarina research. It was all he could do.

It had been three days, eight hours and twenty seven minutes. And Alec was sitting at Magnus’ bedside, praying for a miracle.

He was sitting there, holding Magnus’ hand, and he couldn’t help but think back to a few months ago, when he’d been so desperate to find Jace he’d ripped his own soul into pieces and ended up in a coma. He wondered if this was what Magnus had felt like. So desperate, and yet so helpless. How did you save someone when you didn’t have the power to do so?

Alec would have traded anything in the world to have Magnus back and whole and smiling. But there was nothing he could do.

He leaned closer, resting his head on Magnus’ chest, trying to take reassurance from the gentle, rhythmic beat. It was slow. Worryingly slow. They didn’t have a lot of time left. He knew that, but Alec was out of options, out of things to try. Catarina was their last hope. And from the silence outside the door, Alec knew it didn’t look good.

“Why did you have to do it,” Alec whispered quietly, more talking to himself than Magnus. “You didn’t need to do that for me. You shouldn’t have. I can’t… I can’t watch you die for me.”

Alec let his hand drift, tracing the skin of Magnus arm, holding his hand again and wishing he could feel Magnus hold it back. He’d always valued Magnus, but seeing him like this… he hadn’t realised how much he needed him. He hadn’t realised how used he’d gotten to not being alone.

“We spent so much time worrying about me. I worried about me. About how much it would hurt you when… when I died. You weren’t supposed to… this wasn’t how it was meant to be. I love you. I… I wanted more with you.”

Alec bit his lip when he thought of that. Everything was so new and fresh, and he was trying to take it slow. Magnus had always said they had all the time in the world, that they could take things at their own pace. But somehow that felt hollow now. They didn’t have time now, they had anything but.

And all Alec could think about was losing the man he loved, the man he wanted to build a life with. He’d never wanted to get married before. He always loved kids, but he’d never really managed to resolve the image of his own children with reality. But Magnus had changed all that. And now…

Alec reached up, cupping his face, leaning in for the briefest of kisses on the corner of Magnus’ mouth.

“I love you. Come back to me. Please.”

The door bounced open, and Alec jumped a mile, turning to see Catarina flying in the door to Magnus’ side.

“Move, move, move!” she insisted, leaning over Magnus with a vial of something in her hand. Alec looked between her and Izzy, who was lingering by the door.

“Did you…?” Alec asked, and Izzy nodded, moving forward, reaching out to hold Alec’s hand, squeezing it gently.

“Yeah. We think so.”

He watched as Catarina backed away, the vial empty. But Magnus… was the same as always. “Come on, Magnus. Come on. Fight,” Catarina urged. Alec held his breath watching, waiting. The seconds dripped by but still… nothing.

Catarina sighed, admitting defeat, turning to Alec.

“Alec… I’m sorry, we must have missed something,” she said quietly. Alec shook his head, biting his lip. He could feel tears sparking.

Angel, when was the last time he cried?

“No. There must be something else. There has to be something.”

“Alec…”

Alec pulled away from Izzy, moving over to Magnus side, sitting on the bed beside him.

“Come on, Magnus. You fought to bring me back, you were there. Now you have to fight for me. Come back to me. Don’t you dare leave me, not now, not after everything.”

Alec leaned in, collapsing against Magnus’ chest, holding on. His heart was still beating. He wasn’t dead yet. There had to be something. There was hope. There had to be hope.

The seconds ticked by, one at a time. Izzy’s hand gripped his shoulder, gently starting to pull him away. “Alec…”

Then Magnus coughed.

Izzy immediately let go, and Alec leapt up, looking down at Magnus in awe. He coughed again, eyelids fluttering and then…

“What vile taste is that in my mouth?”

Alec laughed, relief sweeping through his body.

“Here, let me replace it,” Alec offered, pulling Magnus up a little, diving in for a kiss. He was desperate, emotions flooding out of him like an open wound, and could feel Magnus’ surprise, but there was definitely no lack of enthusiasm. After a moment, Magnus pulled away.

“Hey,” he said. Alec laughed.

“Hi.” Alec paused momentarily, taking everything in. “Angel, that is bad,” Alec agreed, laughing. Magnus laughed too, nodding. “Best thing I ever tasted.”

It had been three days, eight hours and thirty three minutes.

Walking up the stairs, Magnus was already dreading how much had left to organise in the thirty minutes before guests were due to arrive. The bar needed setting up, the catering had to be arranged, then Magnus had planned on doing the decorating himself so that probably needed taken care of too, and-

Magnus pushed the door open and stopped dead. He took a step back, checking the number on the door. Nope. Definitely his apartment. And those were definitely his things on the shelves. But the place looked… incredible.

The decorations he’d had stored in the study were hung expertly, and as Magnus walked further in, he found that the bar had been set up and neatly stocked with alcohol. The scent of food wafted from the kitchen, and there was even some appropriately upbeat music humming in the background. The only thing missing was-

“Magnus! There you are.”

Never mind.

Magnus smiled, watching as Alec crossed the room in three strides, leaning in for a kiss. Magnus gratefully returned it, looking around the room once more.

“What’s all this? Did you do this?” Alec flushed a little, shrugging.

“I uh… I figured you were tied up when you weren’t answering your phone. So I took care of it. I didn’t have a lot to do at the Institute, so I figured you could use the help.”

“You were right,” Magnus encouraged, pacing around momentarily. “You did all this yourself?”

Alec nodded, shrugging. “It didn’t seem so hard.”

Magnus laughed. People spent years building careers on event planning, to produce something that looked as good as this. Sure, Magnus might have provided all the materials but Alec clearly had a natural skill for all this. It was… impressive.

“You’re hosting all our parties from now on. I retire. You’re clearly better at this. There’s an alternate universe somewhere where you host all the best parties and make us very rich doing so.”

Alec laughed, leaning in for another kiss, grinning.

“You like it?” he checked.

“I love it. I love you. You’re a lifesaver.” Magnus couldn’t help but lean in to kiss him again, making Alec laugh all the more. “Now come on, this party won’t start itself!”

"Do you believe in soulmates?" Alec asked idly, putting his coffee cup aside so he could properly look at Magnus, rolling onto his side. Their hands were entangled, fingers twisted into knots that Alec wished he would never need to undo.

Magnus raised an eyebrow, as if to ask where that seemingly random question had come from. In his defence, they had been talking for most of the morning. About their hopes, dreams, places Alec wanted to see, things Magnus wanted to do, treasured memories they could share. Alec was getting surprisingly used to hearing about Magnus' adventures in Ancient Rome, from someone who didn't look much older than thirty. Alec shook his head a little.

"Just something Max asked me, before he went back to Idris. He's been reading again."

"He does that a lot?" Magnus asked, and Alec smiled softly.

"He reads everything he can find. Loves to cause trouble when he can, but I think that's just to try and keep up with Izzy and Jace. He's more like me with the books. I spent half my childhood in the Institute's library."

Magnus hummed in understanding, a smile curling his lips, and Alec could tell he was imagining the scene. A small Alec, all floppy dark hair and long, poorly co-ordinated limbs, sneaking books from the high shelves and sitting in the window seat, drinking in information of worlds he wasn't yet allowed to see.

Alec had always believed in being prepared for every eventuality. His siblings... not so much. Izzy had done her research, but only in what interested her - forensics and physiology, mostly. Jace had thought books were boring and spent most of his time in the training rooms, learning to be deadly with every single weapon they had.

"So do you?" Alec asked, softly. Magnus paused, focusing on their hands for a moment. He exhaled softly and then.

"I believe in fate, to a point. I like to believe somewhere, something in the universe lets us be happy, gives us the chance at what we need. What we do with that chance is up to us." Magnus paused again, thinking, and Alec basked in the silence and the warmth of the moment. "But I also believe the traditional concept of soulmates is too narrow to be practical."

"Yeah?" Alec asked, taking in Magnus' face. He wasn't wearing his usual makeup, a sight Alec was slowly getting used to. Somehow it felt all the more special knowing so few people got to see Magnus like this. Warm and soft and relaxed and happy.

“Past all the poetry, the soulmate concept implies there’s one person in the world that you’re supposed to love and that’s it, right?” Magnus asked, and Alec nodded. “It just doesn’t work. Does that mean people who love more than one person are wrong? They could implicitly have more than one soulmate, but that breaks the concept. It also implies that people who don’t want romantic love are somehow broken, for not having a soulmate. And that’s without even touching on the issue of soulmates born in seperate times, seperate countries, with language barriers, and also degrades every other relationship in your life because it’s somehow not the ‘perfect’ one.”

Alec blinked.

“You’ve… thought a lot about this, huh?” Alec asked. Magnus bit back a smile, dropping his gaze a little.

“Sorry,” Magnus murmured, sighing before leaning closer. “I do love you, Alexander. But that doesn’t make the people I’ve loved less important to me.”

“I get that,” Alec reassured him. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. You could be my whole life, but I can never be all of yours. And that’s okay.”

“It doesn’t make me love you any less.”

Alec laughed a little, leaning in for a brief kiss. “Magnus. I know. I love you. I was just curious.”

Magnus smiled into the kiss, pulling Alec a little closer, squeezing his hand.

“I never asked you what you think about it all,” Magnus pointed out.

“I don’t believe in destiny, but I do believe in you. And us. I believe I’m madly, utterly in love with you, and I can’t imagine living my life without you. And if that makes us soulmates… then yeah. That works for me.”

Magnus smiled.