All I Want For Christmas Is You - a Magnus/Alec fanfiction

Chapter 7 - December 7 th - Magnus

"Good morning." I say, smiling.

Alec jumps to his feet, blushing.

"Want some toast?" He asks, sounding vaguely flustered.

"Sure," Toby replies. "When do we go to training?"

"We're not going today. It's the weekend, so you can have a break."

Toby slumps down in the chair next to me, which Alec has just vacated.

"Oh," he says, disappointed. "Okay."

Alec grins. "You can go back on Monday. Glad you're dedicated."

"I just want to learn everything I can. It's all so...awesome." Toby explains.

Even after training for up to ten hours a day, Toby is still excited by shadowhunter life. Maybe the novelty won't wear off for him. Maybe this is what he was born to do.

"We can get you a copy of the Shadowhunter's Codex." Alec suggests. "The Institutes library has a copy."

"What's that?" Toby asks.

"It's like a guidebook. It's how most shadowhunter children learn the ins and outs of the Shadow World." Alec explains.

Toby grins. "Sounds cool."

After a trip to the Institute to retrieve the Codex, and a chilly walk around Central Park in the rain because Toby had never been before, we sit in the living room, the light dimming fast. Alec is lounged against me on the sofa, his feet on the arm, my arm slung around his waist. My fingers tap on his hands gently, my breath stirring his hair a little as we talk.

"Are you dating?"

We look up simultaneously to see Toby looking back at us.

"Uh, yeah." Alec answers. "Yeah, we are."

"Are you married?"

"N-no, we aren't married."

"Are you going to get married?"

"Um..." I look down at Alec, who's head rests against my chest, his face turned toward me. "Yeah, yeah maybe." I answer. "Yeah, sure."

He nods and goes back to his book. Toby is sat under the lamp in the armchair, the Codex in his lap, his fingers running under the words as he reads by the lamplight. Alec looks back up at me, and respond by looking down, feeling my face flush, reddening under his glance. He looks amused. Usually, it's Alec blushing, not me. I smirk self-consciously and Alec glances up at me before knotting his hand into mine, squeezing gently.

After mere minutes of reading, Toby looks up.

"Who's Simon?"

"What?" I ask.

Alec sits up and moves over to make space for Toby, who lugs the heavy book off his lap, and sits down between us. He points to some unfamiliar scribblings written in quite familiar handwriting. Alec pulls the book towards him. He reaches for a pen and - though he looks horribly uncomfortable doing so - draws a line through various inappropriate comments, heavily featuring the words, 'get a room'.

"There," he says, handing the book back to Toby. "Read to your hearts content."

Alec picks up the phone from the table by the sofa, ignoring my questioning look. He dials quickly and puts the phone on speaker, just as a familiar voice picks up.

"Hey, Alec." Jace says.

"Where are you?" Alec demands. "Is Clary there?"

"Yeah, and Izzy and Simon. We're at Taki's. Why?"

"Stop writing in the bloody Codex." Alec tells him, somewhat sharply.

A collective explosion of laughter follows from the other end of the line, and I grin to myself. Luckily for me, Alec isn't looking my way. I stifle a laugh, turning it swiftly into a cough.

"Sorry, Alec!" Clary calls, having the good grace to sound a tiny bit apologetic.

"Toby's reading it, so we could really have done without all the 'get a room' comments." Alec says.

"Oh, Jace and I have got a room." Simon announces, laughing. "You should see how jealous Clary is."

"Shut up. Just stop writing in the books." Alec says, and hangs up, cutting off the following burst of giggles from the others. I exchange a look with Toby, who bursts into laughter, me joining in against my will. Alec shoots me a look, before his face cracks into a grin and he shoves me in the shoulder, laughing.