Elusive Love

Overwhelmed

A warm, contented feeling was growing in Alec's chest. He floated on the moment, all else forgotten but his tall handsome stranger who was his, for now and forever. The world around him was a blur but Magnus was in sharp focus. He was solid and present in Alec's arms. Magnus's gentle hands were stroking Alec's hair and Alec felt important, wanted, and whole. Suddenly Magnus's touch was fading. Magnus blurred into the background and vanished. Alec cried out but Magnus didn't answer. Alec felt around in the blur but he couldn't find Magnus, couldn't bring him back. Why was he leaving! What had Alec done wrong?

Alec woke up panting, his mind spinning. Before he even opened his eyes, he reached out for Magnus. Instant and complete relief filled him as his hand made contact with Magnus's sleeping form. Alec laid back down, trying to get his breathing to slow.

What the hell was wrong with him?

Alec tried to think of a logical reason for why he'd lost it as he put his arm around Magnus. No reasonable explanation came to him. Alec was just losing all rational sense and that was all there was to it. Even Alec's subconscious was in on the insanity, giving him a dream like that.

It was still dark, and the alarm clock next to the bed confirmed it was far too early to be awake. Alec tried to drift back off to sleep, but his mind didn't seem to be up to the task. Eventually, Alec managed to fall asleep by focusing on Magnus's even breathing beside him.

"Good morning, sleepy head." It was Magnus's voice but Alec still wasn't entirely awake. He mumbled and rolled over. "And here I thought you were a morning person."

"Didn't sleep well," Alec mumbled, his eyes still closed.

"Why not?" Magnus asked. He sounded genuinely concerned and Alec was touched. He opened his eyes. Magnus was laying next to him in bed, propped up on one elbow, gazing at Alec.

"Had weird dreams," Alec muttered. "And I am not used to sleeping... well not in my bed."

"It was your idea to come back to my motel," Magnus replied. "I suggested your place."

"Yeah, but Jace is at my place," Alec whined.

"So?" Magnus inquired.

"So if we'd stayed over there I would have had to listen to endless teasing about why we were so quiet," Alec explained. This he knew for a fact, Jace would have hung over him for years to come. Jace was not the kind of person who shared a bed with, well in Jace's case, a girl and not made a move. Alec knew this since the walls of the apartment he shared with Jace were not a thick as he'd like them to be.

"I see," Magnus said knowingly.

"Motel is better," Alec sighed as he snuggled up close to Magnus again. "More private." He wasn't about to say it out loud but Alec was very glad Magnus was still here. He was glad Magnus's interest in him hadn't sputtered out and died yet. Magnus put his arms around him, and Alec let himself just be in the moment. His dream had, after all, been just a dream; it meant nothing. Magnus was here and Alec was going to simply bask in his continued presence.

"Don't like being the center of attention?" Magnus asked. Alec missed the hint of anxiety in Magnus's voice, too focused on his own happy bubble to hear it.

"Nope," Alec agreed casually as he settled into Magnus's embrace. There was silence for awhile; the only noises were their breathing and the soft ticking of the clock by the bed. Alec's mind remained mercifully blank as Magnus held him.

"Our love lifts me high," Magnus sang softly, cutting the silence of the moment beautifully with his perfect voice. "High into the sky. Leaving the problems of the world far far behind."

"Wow," Alec sighed, as Magnus finished singing. "You sound amazing and I can feel the vibrations of your voice inside your chest." It was true. Alec's head lay just near enough to Magnus's sculpted chest to feel the vibrations. It made Alec smile.