Chapter Text
Alec entered the Bane building with an unfamiliar sense of confidence. He couldn’t quite pin-point what it was exactly that made him feel so confident, but he had a feeling it had something to with the fact that Magnus Bane was his new boyfriend. As he walked down the corridor towards his office, he found Raphael standing in a corner, his hands rummaging through piles of paperwork.
“Everything alright?” Alec asked.
Raphael looked up in surprise and then glared once his eyes met Alec’s. It was clear from the bags under his eyes and the loose tie around his neck that Raphael hadn’t slept the night before. Whether that was from work or not, Alec would never know.
“I’m fine” Raphael replied through gritted teeth. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”.
“He does” said a cheerful voice from behind Alec.
Magnus.
Alec whirled around quickly, forcing himself not to gasp in surprise or even pull a surprised expression.
“Thats what I thought” Raphael mumbled before grabbing his paperwork and waddling away.
“Good morning, Alexander” Magnus greeted. “I’m afraid I have some bad news for you”.
Fear washed over Alec like a gigantic wave. “W-what is it?”.
“There’s someone in my office to see you” Magnus sighed. “And he doesn’t want to be kept waiting”.
Alec swallowed hard and bit his lip anxiously. He didn’t at all like the sound of that. Reluctantly, he followed Magnus into his office, not to surprised when he saw his dad standing in the corner with his arms folded over his chest. Robert was dressed in a dark suit, looking as professional as Magnus did. But unlike Magnus, Robert was not smiling or showing any signs of cheerfulness. He looked firm and bitter, but that was nothing new.
“Dad” Alec greeted, looking from Magnus to Robert in confusion. “What’s going on?”.
“Should I go?” Magnus asked, standing at the doorway with an unreadable expression.
“It doesn’t matter” Robert sighed. “Alec, we need to talk”.
“I think we’ve both said enough” Alec said, crossing his arms over his chest as if to shield himself.
“You might have. But I have not” Robert unfolded his arms and moved to take a step closer towards his son.
But Alec moved backwards instinctively. Magnus remained standing in the doorway, his green eyes drifting from Alec to Robert and then back to Alec. He was curious to see what Robert wanted to talk about. There was something different about the older man, something remorseful.
“Well” Alec started, studying his father unsurely. “Go on, talk”.
Robert opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. In this moment, he reminded Alec of himself. Alec hated to think of himself resembling his father in anyway. But they both shared the same anxiety traits. Robert was nervous — anxious. That much was clear. And all Alec could do was wonder why.
“The thing is…I shouldn’t have given you an ultimatum and…” he trailed off, his usual firm and hard voice transitioning into an uncharacteristic soft one.
Alec said nothing — just stared.
“I guess I’m apologising for my behaviour” Robert went on. “It was wrong of me to be so harsh. I should have known something like that wouldn’t work on you. You’re too smart for that. And my stubbornness ended up pushing you away. I never wanted that, Alec. Not at all. Your mother and I we love you so much. We never say it. But we do love you. I’ve always been worried that you weren’t going to fit in — but you proved me wrong. I’ve never been a good father to you…and I’m sorry”.
Alec’s lips parted in surprise and he stared at his father in confusion. Never had Robert ever admitted that he was wrong — nor that he was sorry. But most of all, Robert had never said that he loved him. But now, the words hung in the air, slowly ingesting themselves into the stunned looking Alec.
“Please forgive me, Alec” Robert begged.
Alec felt a large amount of weight lift up off of his shoulders and he took a step forward towards his dad. Without saying a word, he wrapped his arms around the older man’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug. It wasn’t something either of them were used to — but neither of them rejected it. They embraced each other and held one another — forgiveness and love flowing through the both of them. A father and son reunited. Magnus — still standing by the door — smiled. He knew how much it would mean to his new boyfriend to have his father on his side again. When Alec and Robert pulled away, neither of them could wipe the smiles off of their faces. For a long moment, Robert just looked at his son, amazed to have gotten somewhere with him. Then he turned to look at Magnus, his smile fading, but only slightly.
“I heard you two are…” he paused, returning his gaze back onto Alec. “Dating?”.
Alec shifted uncomfortably, but nodded anyway.
“Thats—I’m glad” Robert said with a forced smile. “I wish you two all the best”.
“Do you really mean that?” Alec asked, unable to hide the hopefulness in his voice.
Robert placed a hand on his son’s shoulder and nodded. “I really do. I’ve come to terms with it and I’ve accepted it. Alec, you need to do what makes you happy, okay?”.
“Dad?” Alec asked, raising an eyebrow.
Robert blinked. “Yes?”.
“What on earth did you have for breakfast?”.
Robert let out a low chuckle. “Something that I should have more often”.
“You said it, not me” Alec smiled.
Robert smiled cheerfully and held out his hand towards Alec. Alec, without a moments hesitation, shook it.
“So are we good?” Robert asked.
“We are” Alec replied.
**
Work that day was surprisingly stress free. Magnus had given Alec his work for the day and that was that. But after three and a half hours of non-stop typing, Alec’s fatigue began to kick in and he was practically half asleep at his desk. Eyes shut and a dark world surrounding him — memories of Magnus’ lips brushing against his tainted his mind.
“Alec” said a familiar voice, followed by a loud slap of paperwork greeting the desk.
It was Catarina — staring down at him with raised eyebrows. Alec straightened quickly, his hands quick to return to the keyboard. But he could not hide the fact that he had been about to fall asleep. And dream about their boss.
“Is today’s work too tiring for you?” Catarina asked curiously, crossing her arms over chest as though she were angry — but her gentle face said otherwise.
“Not at all” Alec replied. “I was just — thinking of ideas”.
Catarina raised an eyebrow. “Ideas? And you think of ideas by falling asleep at your desk? Interesting”.
“I’m sorry” Alec sighed. “I promise it won’t happen again”.
“It’s quite alright” Catarina said gently, managing a small smile. “Mr Bane wants to see you again. I’m not going to pretend I don’t know what’s going on between the both of you…but I just want you to know that if you hurt him — in any way — you’ll have me to deal with”.
Alec swallowed hard. He stared into Catarina’s soft eyes and realised she was not joking. Magnus and Catarina obviously had a close bond — a bond unbreakable — a bond that Catarina did not want to risk breaking. She cared about him — and that was the only thing keeping Alec from flinching away. Instead, he just smiled.
“You don’t have to worry about any of that” he said. “I don’t plan to hurt him at all”.
Catarina smiled a bright, loving smile. “Well then we’re both on the same page. You better go see, Magnus. He’ll be waiting for you”.
Without further stalling, Alec stood up and made his way back towards Magnus’ office. It didn’t take long before he was inside, staring into his boss’ bright green eyes from across the room.
“You called” he said, trying to keep the smile from his face.
“Sit” Magnus said, gesturing towards the chair in front of him.
Alec did as he was told, slightly unsure of what it was that Magnus wanted. The other man had an unreadable expression — it wasn’t happy nor sad. But it wasn’t entirely cheerful as it usually was.
“Something wrong?” Alec asked.
“Quite the contrary” Magnus said, his face dead serious.
Alec blinked in confusion. “Then…uh, what is it?”.
“We both come from completely different worlds” Magnus started, dragging his index finger along the edge of his table. “Complicated worlds, in fact. But we both were drawn to each other…leading us to the now”.
Alec stared at Magnus, unsure of what the other man was trying to say. Yeah, they both did come from different — complicated — worlds. And yeah, they obviously had been drawn together. But what was Magnus trying to say?
“I’ve started to realise that I depend a lot on your company” Magnus continued. “And since you have your whole family’s approval — we can truly be a couple. Right?”.
Alec looked a little taken back. Where was all this coming from? He did his best to remain calm and unnerved, deciding it best if he didn’t open his mouth to speak. So to answer Magnus’ question, Alec nodded half heartedly.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is, we don’t have to be two people from two different worlds” Magnus sighed, lifting his eyes up so that they met Alec’s. “We can share a world.”
“Yeah” Alec said, swallowing hard. “I think we can…yes.”
Magnus managed a small smile. “I really really like you, Alec. And I know, god I know, it sounds cheesy but I want you to just how determined I am to make us work”.
“I really like you too, Magnus” Alec smiled. “But where has this all come from?”.
Magnus shrugged, leaning back in his chair with exhaustion — as if the mere effort of sitting upright took all of his strength. Alec stared at him intently, waiting for an answer, any answer. But Magnus didn’t look as though he were going to give one.
“Do you think I’m having doubts?” Alec asked curiously. “Because I’m not. With Dad accepting me and everything…I don’t think I’ll ever have doubts again”.
At that, Magnus smiled. “No I didn’t think you had doubts…I just…I’ve never thought this way about anyone. Not even Camille who I thought was the love of my life”.
Alec blushed. At the mention of Camille, he did feel a little awkward. But he did his best to keep it from showing on his face. Magnus must of noticed though because he leaned forward in his chair and pressed the palm of his hand against Alec’s cheek. Alec smiled at the touch.
“Tell me you feel the same” Magnus said, his tone pleading.
Alec raised his hand to brush over Magnus’. “I do, Magnus. I feel the same. More than the same”.
“So this is it then” Magnus smiled. “This is our beginning”.
“And what a journey we have gone through” Alec chuckled.
Magnus pulled Alec forward — hand gripped around collar — and kissed the boy hard. Alec returned the kiss, unable to keep himself from smiling.
“Now quit kissing me and get back to work” Magnus ordered as he pulled away.
Alec stood up quickly and hurried toward the door, only glancing backwards to smile at his boyfriend.
“Yes, sir!”.
T h e E n d