Actions

Work Header

Let's Talk About This

Summary:

All relationships take effort, both Alec and Magnus know this. They can make you cry, but what's important is that you come out stronger on the other side. Thankfully for Alec and Magnus, that's their specialty.

***

OR Five times Alec and Magnus disagree and one (of many) times they do not

Notes:

Oh look! The angst came first, who would've thought I finished that first? But also this seemed to be what everyone wanted and I highkey needed something else to do beside study so here we are! Hope you all enjoy

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

One

“Oh my god, what is that smell?” Alec held his nose as he entered the kitchen and was assaulted with a god awful smell. He looked back at Magnus in the doorway, wanting to see how disgusted he was at the awful smell that was currently permeating his kitchen. This was only the second time Magnus had come over and he was still very scared he was going to mess this up.

“I wouldn’t know,” Magnus replied with a smile, keeping up his calm demeanor despite the terrible smell.

Alec, meanwhile, was panicking as he went around the kitchen trying to locate the terrible smell.

“Goddammit,” he mumbled under his breath before turning to Magnus, “Max didn’t take the trash out when he left,”

“Ah, that would do it,” Magnus said.

“I’m sorry, just give me a minute to take this out,” Alec said, removing the bag from the can, “just give me a second to take this out, just make yourself at home,”

Magnus nodded and moved back into the living room as Alec walked past him. He exited the apartment and went down to the dumpsters outback. When he reentered the lobby, he froze as he saw a few paparazzi milling about.

The first time he had seen them, on his and Magnus’ first date, he hadn’t freaked out for a couple reasons. He didn’t want to scare Magnus away and he figured it would be a one time thing, that since he was followed the first time he would take great care to ensure he wasn’t followed again, but now there were more.

He did not want to become a public figure, especially not right now. He and Magnus had been dating for only a month, they’d done little more than makeout on his couch and had yet to officially call the other their boyfriend, he wasn’t ready to be thrown into the limelight. Of course, late at night he had let his mind spiral to him and Magnus attending movie premieres together years down the line, but that was hypothetical years from now. Right now he did not want his entire life upheaved because he was in a brand new relationship with a celebrity.

Alec quickly got his bearings and got into the elevator, taking it back up to his floor. He caught Magnus’ attention when he opened the door and quickly slammed and locked it behind him.

“Everything alright, darling?” Magnus asked, standing up off the couch.

“There are paparazzi in the lobby,” Alec replied, looking up at Magnus as he exhaled.

“Oh,” Magnus scoffed and went back towards the couch, “don’t worry about that, darling, they’ll be gone soon enough,”

“Will they, though?” Alec asked, “they didn’t leave last time,”

“Eh if they catch me leaving, they catch me leaving,” Magnus continued to brush him off.

“Why’d you let them follow you here?” Alec asked, getting slightly annoyed as Magnus brushed off his concerns.

“I didn’t let them follow me here,” Magnus said, looking at him for the first time, “they just do. It’s their job to follow me. They’re just everywhere, you get used to it,”

“Well I’m not used to it!” Alec shot back a little harshly. He took a moment to think before he decided that he needed to continue, as this was important to him, “I don’t want to become a public figure right now, I don’t want my face plastered all over the tabloids, I have a respectable job-”

“Are you saying my job isn’t respectable?” Magnus asked, standing up off the couch.

“No!” Alec replied, “I’m just saying, I teach children, I can’t have my name all over the internet calling me your bitch!”

“Well, what did you think was going to happen?!” Magnus yelled, “you’re Magnus Bane’s boyfriend for crying out loud, you are going to have to come into the public eye at some point,”

“At some point, yes, but I don’t want it to be right now,” Alec replied, not missing the fact that Magnus called him his boyfriend, “I am a private person and if you’re only dating me to get your name back in headlines then you can leave right now,”

“I’m not dating you to get my names back in the headlines! I’m hurt you would think that of me,” Magnus replied, his voice getting softer as he spoke.

“Well, I don’t know you that well,” Alec replied, his voice leveling out again, “I want to get to know you more, but in order for that to work, you need to respect the fact that for my job and for me as a person I do not want to plastered all over the tabloids, okay?”

“Okay,” Magnus said softly, “I’m sorry. I deal with them so much it’s easier just to ignore them and let them do what they’re gonna do, I don’t remember what it was like when it was new,”

“It’s okay,” Alec replied, “I’m sorry I yelled,”

“No, you had every right to yell, I was being an asshole,” Magnus replied, taking a few steps closer to him, “I’m sorry,”

“It’s okay,” Alec said softly, brushing a bit of Magnus’ hair that had fallen out of his face, “you know you called me your boyfriend, right?”

“I do,” Magnus replied, “do you have a problem with that?”

“Not at all,” Alec said with a smile before pressing a quick kiss to his lips, “ready for dinner, boyfriend?”

“Of course, boyfriend,”

***

Two

“Magnus, what the hell?” Alec said through the phone. He had just finished watching a livestream of an interview that Magnus was doing with Camille Belcourt, his ex. The entire interview, Camille had practically been sitting on Magnus’ lap and flirting with her the entire time, and Magnus let her. The final straw for Alec had been when the interviewer asked them if they were going to get back together and Magnus hadn’t denied the notion.

“What?” Magnus asked, immediately his voice sounded defensive.

“What the hell was that interview?” Alec shot back.

“What do you mean? What did I do?” Magnus sounded confused.

“You said you were going to get back together with Camille!” Alec yelled into the phone, “do I mean nothing to you?!”

“I just needed to go along with it,” Magnus replied, “I think she orchestrated the whole thing,”

“You didn’t need to go along with you, you could’ve politely declined,” Alec replied.

“No, you don’t understand,” Magnus said, trying to calm him down.

“Then make me understand,” Alec said sternly, “because I’m about three seconds away from breaking up with you,”

“She’s not a person I want to be mad at me!” Magnus yelled, “she could destroy me,”

“She could destroy you,” Alec laughed, “you are ten times more famous than she is. She has nothing on you, you’ve told me that yourself. Do you want to get back with Camillle?”

“No I don’t want to get back with her! I want to be with you!” Magnus insisted.

“Then why let her say and do everything she did?” Alec asked, “what does she have on you?”

“She has my nudes, Alexander,” Magnus sighed, “very explicit nudes,”

“Oh,” Alec said.

“I’ve had this hanging over my head since I broke up with her,” Magnus sighed, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about that, but it’s...it’s embarrassing,”

“No, I understand,” Alec replied.

“If they were to be released...I would lose a lot of the very respectable work I’m doing, anything that has to do with kids I’d be dropped from immediately,” Magnus sighed.

“They’re that bad?” Alec asked.

“They’re not bad,” Magnus laughed, “I’ll show you sometime, but they’d be bad for my career and my reputation,”

“I see,”

“So I don’t want to get back with her,” Magnus told him, “that is where I draw the line with her. I’m sorry, I really should’ve told you sooner,”

“I’m sorry for yelling,” Alec replied, “are we still doing dinner tomorrow?”

“Yes we are,” Magnus replied, “I’ll see you then, but I have to run now. I love you,”

“I love you too,”

***

Three

Alec awoke when he heard the door slam. It took him a moment to get his bearings before he remembered where he was. He was in Magnus’ apartment, on his couch, where he’d been since he got off of work. Magnus had given him a key not too long ago and had invited him over that night, saying that he’d meet him there. That was nearly six hours ago.

This wasn’t the first time that this had happened. Alec knew his boyfriend’s life was busy and unpredictable, so the first few times it had happened he had brushed it off. Now it was happening a lot more and it was happening more often, and that scared him. He didn’t know if Magnus had found someone else or was just getting bored with him after being together for a year.

“Hey, are you okay?” Alec asked, once again trying to excuse Magnus’ actions and attribute them to his busy life.

“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?” Magnus asked, hanging up his coat.

“I just thought, cause you were home really late,” Alec replied.

“No, I just got invited to dinner by someone I haven’t seen in a while,” Magnus replied.

“Oh, okay,” Alec stood and went over to put his shoes on, “I guess I’ll go then,”

“What? Why?” Magnus asked.

“You already had dinner and it’s nearly midnight,” Alec replied.

“We can always skip to the after dinner activities,” Magnus snaked his arms around Alec from behind him.

“Am I boring you?” Alec asked, turning around to face him.

“What?” Magnus asked, letting go of him.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” Alec looked him in the eye.

“I haven’t been ignoring you,” Magnus replied, “I’ve just been busy,”

“You’re busy every time we’re supposed to spend time together?” Alec asked.

“What are you saying, Alexander?” Magnus asked.

“Are you cheating on me?” Alec didn’t look at him this time.

“Why would you even think that of me?!” Magnus yelled, clearly offended.

“Because you never fucking make time with me anymore!” Alec yelled back.

“I’m busy, you know my job is unpredictable!”

“But you could at least make time to call me!”

“I can’t always do that! You know this! We’ve talked about it before,”

“But it’s never been this bad!” Alec replied before taking a breath, trying and failing to keep his voice from breaking, “if you want to break up with me...just fucking say it don’t go through with this charade,”

“Why would you think I want to break up with you!?”

“Because you never make time for me anymore!” Alec yelled, tears spilling from his eyes.

“Alexander…” Magnus noticed his tears. He’d never seen his boyfriend cry before, and he hated that he had caused it. He knew everything that Alec said was true, and he knew he didn’t have an excuse for it. He took a few steps closer to him, but Alec moved away from him, sitting down on the couch.

“Over the past year, even though you’ve been busy you’ve always made time for me,” Alec exhaled and wiped his eyes, “what’s changed?”

Magnus exhaled and sat on the couch next to Alec, taking care not to touch him, “I’m sorry. I don’t have an excuse for...for neglecting you. I’ve just...I just haven’t been saying no to things that I used to say no too because I wasn’t worried about you leaving because I wasn’t around...I guess I got a little too comfortable,”

Alec nodded, letting his head rest on Magnus shoulder, “you don’t want to break up with me?”

“No! Never,” Magnus said, bringing a hand up to Alec’s cheek, “I love you so much...I’ll start saying no. You’re going to be my number one priority,”

“Thank you,” Alec said softly, “I’m sorry,”

“No, darling, don’t apologize, please,” Magnus said, moving so he could take Alec’s face in his hands, “what I did was wrong you have every right to hate me. Hell, you have every right to leave me. I’m sorry...I love you,”

“I love you too,” Alec said softly, “just please be there, at least sometimes. That’s all I’m asking,”

“I can and I will, I’m sorry,” Magnus kissed him when he heard Alec’s stomach growl, “did you eat tonight?”

“No, I was waiting for you,” Alec replied.

“Right,” Magnus said, biting his lip, “stay here, I’ll make you something,”

“No, I’ll come with you,” Alec replied, taking Magnus’ hand.

“Of course, darling,” Magnus smiled, squeezing his hand, “of course,”

***

Four

“Magnus! I’m home!” Alec called when he entered their apartment.

“In the office!” Magnus called back. Alec hung his coat on the rack before making his way down the hall towards their shared office. He first stopped off in their bedroom, quickly shoving the small velvet box he had bought deep into his underwear drawer, where he knew Magnus wouldn’t look. When he entered the office, Magnus smiled at him.

“Productive afternoon?” Alec asked, pressing a light kiss to Magnus’ lips before standing behind him and lightly rubbing his shoulders.

“Very,” Magnus replied, “how was lunch with your Underhill?”

“Good, it was nice to chat with him outside of work, we both got a lot off our chests,” Alec replied.

“About his thing with Lorenzo?” Magnus asked.

“Yeah,” Alec replied, “Lorenzo really loves him but he’s convinced they’ll both lose their jobs and never be able to work again if they come out,”

“They could move,” Magnus replied, “not necessarily out of the city just maybe out of Manhattan and just move somewhere else as a couple,”

“They’ve thought about it,” Alec replied, “but they said they were gonna wait,”

“Wait for what?” Magnus asked.

“Wait until I leave,” Alec replied.

“WHAT?!” Magnus jumped out of the chair and faced him, “you’re leaving your job and you didn’t tell me?!”

“What?! No! Nothing’s official yet!” Alec said quickly, “I wouldn’t make that decision without talking to you, but they both know it’s going to happen and probably soon,”

“Soon? Alexander…”

“Magnus, we’ve been dating for nearly four years,” Alec said, “I’m honestly surprised we’ve been able to hide it for this long. But I’m tired of not being able to be with you and travel with you, whether it be for work or to keep myself hidden,”

“But you love your job, I won’t let you to leave your job for me!”

“I love you, Magnus! There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, and I hate when you’re away from me. All of these problems could be solved if I didn’t have to work…”

“No, Alexander, you love your kids, you love teaching, you love working,”

“We’ll have our own kids, and I can live without teaching or working,” Alec replied. He almost wanted to go get the ring he had picked up today to show Magnus how serious he was about their relationships

“No, Alexander, I won’t let you-”

“Magnus, listen to me!” Alec said sternly, taking his hands, “this is going to be my last year teaching so that I can spend the rest of my life by your side,”

“Alexander,” Magnus looked up at him, tears in his eyes.

“Magnus, what’s wrong?” Alec let his hands come to Magnus’ face, wiping his tears.

“I don’t want you to give up something you love for me,”

“Magnus, you are my whole world,” Alec said, “I love you more than anything, much more than my job. When it comes to things I love, my job doesn’t even make the top three. You are number one and you always will be, I’d give up the world for you and not regret it for a second, do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Magnus replied softly, letting Alec pull him into a hug, “I love you too, Alexander,”

“We’ll talk about this more later,” Alec said softly, kissing his head, “I love you too,”

***

Five

“How far were you thinking of extending your family invitation?” Magnus asked, looking up from his list of names over at Alec.

“I don’t know,” Alec replied, “for Jace’s wedding we invited most of the family, mostly so no one got offended,”

“But I’m taking it you don’t want to extend the invitation that far,” Magnus replied.

“I don’t for a variety of reasons,” Alec replied, “but people are going to know about this wedding. We’re inviting reporters,”

“I know,” Magnus sighed.

“And I don’t want to invite anyone who is going to drool over or throw themselves at your famous friends,” Alec replied, “but if I don’t invite those people, it limits the family I invite to my siblings, their spouses, and my parents,”

“Your parents? Plural?” Magnus looked up at him.

“Yes. Is that a problem…?” Alec asked, slightly confused.

“You don’t see a problem with inviting your father?” Magnus asked, mouth hanging open.

“He’s my father, are you suggesting I don’t invite my father to my wedding?” Alec asked.

“Your wedding is supposed to be the happiest day of your life, I don’t want you to be stressed out about your father the whole time,” Magnus replied.

“He’s my father! I can’t not invite him to my wedding!” Alec yelled.

“The man hates you Alexander, let’s face it,” Magnus replied quickly, “he hit you even before he knew you were gay and you’ve barely spoken to him since your mother filed for divource, and you really want this man at our wedding?!”

“Do you not want me father at our wedding?!” Alec yelled, standing

“No!” Magnus stood up as well, “I don’t want the man who abused my fiancé and hasn’t had a single thing to say to him over the past year at my wedding,”

“Oh, so now it’s your wedding?!” Alec yelled, “he’s my fucking father, Magnus. What he did to me in the past is the past, he’s still my father,”

“Have you ever thought of the effect of what he’s done to you has had on me?” Magnus asked, “to know that he hurt you enough that you were terrified to be in your own home, can you imagine what it would be like for me to be around him?”

“But this isn’t about you, Magnus, this is about me, he’s my father,” Alec replied, “I’m inviting him,”

“If you invite him you have to tell your family,” Magnus replied.

“What?” Alec asked.

“I will withhold your father’s invitation until you tell your mother and your siblings, including Max, what he did to you,” Magnus said.

“You wouldn’t,” Alec replied.

“I would,” Magnus replied, taking a few steps closer to Alec, “listen to me, darling. I see how much you tense when we even talk about him. You have a lot of stuff that you need to work through, and I am more than happy to help you. I understand your family is very important to you, but the first thing you need to realize is that you don’t need to keep toxic people in your family,”

“He’s still my father, Magnus,” Alec said softly, trying to keep the tears from falling from his eyes, “I can’t not invite my father to our wedding,”

“Yes you can, Alexander,” Magnus said softly, taking Alec’s face in his hands and wiping his tears, “but if you would make you feel better, I will talk to your father,”

“What? No, absolutely not,” Alec replied quickly, “I won’t let you talk to him, I don’t know what he’ll say to you,”

“If you don’t want me to talk to him then he definitely shouldn’t be at our wedding,” Magnus chuckled, “we can talk about it more later, but I think we should leave this for now,”

“No, you’re right,” Alec said, barely audibly, “I just...I can’t even fathom not inviting him, I’m sorry for yelling at you,”

“No, this is progress,” Magnus said softly, “you’re okay, and not inviting your father will be okay,”

“Let me just check with my mother,” Alec said, “if she’s okay with it, then we won’t invite him, okay?”

“Okay,” Magnus replied, before kissing him, “I love you, Alexander,”

“I love you too,”
***

Six

“Alec, you need to come to the hospital,” Izzy said as soon as Alec picked up the phone.

“Is everything okay?!” Alec nearly yelled, running to grab his keys.

“Everything’s fine. We’re all fine,” Izzy replied, “is Magnus there?”

“Magnus isn’t going to be home until later,” Alec replied, hitting the elevator button.

“Okay, just meet us here,” Izzy said, “and tell Magnus to get here as soon as he can,”

“Who’s ‘us’?” Alec asked.

“Me and Clary,” Izzy replied.

“Okay I’ll be there soon,” Alec replied. On his way down, he sent Magnus a text telling him that everything was okay but to meet him at the hospital. His husband, who he’d been married to for two years now, was understandably concerned, but agreed anyway. Alec exhaled as he entered the garage, mind racing as he wondered what his sister wanted.

+++

“What’s going on?” Alec asked the second he entered the hospital and saw his sister.

“Just follow me,” Izzy said, leading him through the hospital. She led him into a side room where Clary was standing with a small bundle of blankets in her arms.

“Izzy...what’s going on?” Alec asked, looking between the bundle in Clary’s arms and his sister.

“Alec, this is Max,” Clary said referring to the baby in the bundle in her arms as she walked over to him, “Max’s mother passed during childbirth, his father passed away a few months ago, and he doesn’t have any family,”

“What are you saying?” Alec asked.

“Izzy and I know you and Magnus have been talking about adopting,” Izzy said, “we talked to the social worker who takes care of orphaned children here, and he said you guys would have to go through an expedited version of the vetting process, but if you wanted to adopt him, you could,”

“Are you serious?” Alec looked between them.

“Do you want to hold him?” Clary asked. Alec only nodded, and took the sleeping baby from Clary’s arms. Max clearly sensed that he had been moved to someone else’s arms because he opened his eyes. He looked up at Alec before shutting them and going right back to sleep as Alec began to rock him. He then felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

“Iz, can you get my phone?” Alec asked. She nodded and pulled his phone out.

“Magnus texted, he’s here,” Izzy replied.

“Can you go get him?” Alec asked. Izzy nodded and left the room. Alec moved slowly and went to sit in the chair.

“What are you thinking?” Clary asked.

“He’s beautiful,” Alec said softly, “you’re sure he has no other family?”

“Yes,” Clary replied, “mother and father were both young and orphans themselves. Father died from an overdose a few months ago and then the mother passed a few hours ago. She named him before she did though,”

“No, Isabelle, can you please tell me what’s going on?” Alec heard Magnus ask outside the door.

“No your husband needs to explain,” Izzy replied, opening the door. Alec looked up and met Magnus’ eyes. Magnus stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the baby in his arms.

“We’ll leave you,” Clary said, going and joining Izzy outside.

“Is...is he yours?” Magnus asked, pointing at the baby.

“He could be ours,” Alec replied.

“What do you mean?” Magnus took a few quiet steps closer.

“He’s got no other family,” Alec looked up at him, “do you want to hold him?”

Magnus didn’t say anything so Alec, knowing his husband, stood and handed the child over to him.

“Does he have a name?” Magnus asked softly as the baby slept in his arms.

“Max,” Alec replied.

“Oh,” Magnus looked down at the child, “that’s appropriate,”

“We’d never hear the end of it from Max,” Alec chuckled a little, “what are you thinking?”

“What are you thinking?” Magnus asked.

“I asked you first,” Alec said with a sly smile.

“We’ve talked about having kids,” Magnus said softly, “hell, we talked about it last night,”

“I know,” Alec replied, “this feels like...this feels like I fate to me,”

“I agree with that,” Magnus looked up at his husband.

“So we’re gonna do this?” Alec asked, hope in his voice.

“We’re doing this,” Magnus confirmed. Alec smiled and kissed his husband before wrapping his arm around his waist and looking down at their son.

“I love you both,” Alec said softly.

“I love you both too,”

Notes:

Oh yes. The kids are here.
I'm still going to be posting things pre and post kids but they will begin to appear more.
Again suggestions are always appreciated, I want to write what you guys want to see. I'm currently still working on the wedding, some hardcore smut, as well as developing some more angsty ones (focusing on their insecurities and mental health), but if there's anything else you want to see let me know!