A/N: I'm skipping ahead on the Malec week prompts again. The Ancient Rome AU is still coming, and so is the space AU (which is actually a Star Wars AU). The Star Wars AU is almost done but is both longer than this and taking quite a bit of fact checking, but it'll be up soon. In the meantime, enjoy the coffee shop AU that was 100% not the story I set out to write when I first started thinking about how to do this AU.

Word count: 372

In It Together

The numbers on the computer monitor blurred. Alec blinked several times and took another gulp of coffee. It was going to be a long day. It wasn't even lunch time, and he could feel his exhaustion weighing him down. Balancing the books was the worst part of owning the coffee shop, but the task always fell on him.

Normally, it wasn't that much of a hassle, but with how business had been recently…

A large crash sent him flying from the office to the front of the coffee shop. Magnus was on his knees behind the counter, hurriedly picking up shards of broken ceramic. For once, Alec was thankful that the place was empty except for them.

He grabbed the nearest trash can and began scooping up the pieces. Magnus didn't look at him as they worked, but he kept repeating apologies as Alec assured him that everything was okay.

"No, really," Magnus continued, "I know business hasn't been good, and this whole place is my fault. I convinced you to open the coffee shop, and you said it was a bad idea. Now it's going to shit, and our financial ruin will be my fault."

"Magnus."

Alec's voice was sharp, and he reached out to grip one of Magnus' hands in his own. Magnus paused, finally looking at him, and Alec's heart twisted at the pain he saw there.

"I don't care what business is like right now," he said. "This shop is incredible, Magnus. It is. Maybe I didn't want it at first, but I love it now. Think about how much work we've put into it. There's nothing that would make me give it up, and we'll make it work. It's okay."

Magnus broke, sobs shaking his body even as he nodded. Alec held him close, careful of the smaller shards of ceramic that still rested on the floor beneath them. He kissed the top of Magnus' head and rubbed his back as he let out the emotions he'd been holding in for weeks.

They'd keep trying to find solutions. Maybe they would work, and maybe they wouldn't. Either way, Alec would be damned if he let their coffee shop go under, and he wanted Magnus to know that.