Chapter 4

Magnus stood there, standing in the middle of his living room, as if in some sort of trance. Listening to Alec's own version of their story had left him speechless. It was clear that his ex-boyfriend knew that he had screwed up, that he was well aware of how much he had hurt Magnus, but now Magnus was thinking that maybe he himself hadn't tried hard enough. He was thinking that maybe he shouldn't have given up on them so easily, that he should have taken the first flight to Europe to go to that goddamned country that Alec's family had forced him to go and stay with him no matter what anyone said—even Alec himself. He was thinking that maybe he should have gone after him.

Shaking his head to snap himself back to reality, Magnus walked over to the table where Alec had left a package and quickly opened it. It was an advanced copy of a book written by none other than A.G. Lightwood—Alexander Gideon Lightwood. It was called, "The Greatest Story Ever Told." The cover was very simple, but still very symbolic. In the center of it were the silhouettes of two men holding hands with the skyline of New York City—as seen from Brooklyn—in the background; in their little fingers both had a red thread that, if you followed closely through the cover, connected them. Like that Japanese variation of the ancient Chinese legend of the red thread of fate. According to what Magnus could remember of that legend, it said that the gods tied an invisible red thread between two people who were destined to meet one another and who would have an important story together—regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The red thread could contract, get tangled, or stretched, but it could never break. And this thread was clearly contracted, tangled, and stretched, but it remained intact, even when a small cat in the lower right corner of the cover was playing with it.

Magnus's heart almost jumped out of his chest with all the little hints to their story together that he could find in just a simple cover, so with trembling hands, he opened the book and read the dedication.

"To the man who inspired this story—you will always be the love of my life, the man of my dreams, and my one true love. I'm sorry I hurt you. I know I made all the wrong choices and couldn't give our beautiful love story the happy ending it deserved, but I made sure that these characters got it for us."

A single tear ran down Magnus's cheek, leaving a black stain on the clearly freshly printed page.

He quickly skimmed through the book, reading bits and pieces to get a general idea of what it was about, but it didn't take him long to realize that it was really inspired by their story. A retelling of the moment they had met in the halls of NYU could be read in the prologue, and in the first few chapters, the characters moved together to a very cheap apartment in Queens, which marked the beginning of their life together. Obviously, what Alec had used as inspiration for the story didn't reflect exactly what they had experienced as a couple, but it was pretty obvious to Magnus where the inspiration for each and every word written in this book had come from. The characters weren't called Magnus and Alec because that would have been too obvious, but they did share their same initials—M and A—and, unlike them, Alec had made sure that these two—Marcus and Ashton—did get their happy ending. The last page of the book read:

"And with the sunset and the skyline of the city gleaming in the background and casting shadows on his gorgeous face, I watch him drink in the sight of what over the years had become our special spot in the city, our bridge.

He is smiling. Smiling that same smile that for some inconceivable reason, I've been lucky enough to see every morning in the last ten years.

It's kind of weird when I think about all the time we've been together. Since I met him, it's felt as if time had stopped completely, or as if it had just started to pass—sometimes I don't know if it's one or the other—but what I do know is that all these years with him by my side have been the best years of my life. They have been full of adventures, of good times and bad times, of fights and arguments, of challenges and obstacles, of surprises and new experiences, but above all of love—of a lot of love.

When we started dating, everyone doubted that it was going to last. My father even used to say that it was impossible that someone like me—whatever that meant—could end up with someone like him, that our differences would end up separating us one day. But what he didn't know, what all those people who once doubted that we could work as a couple didn't know, is that those differences were, and still are, what we love most about us. That even though we are completely different and always will be, we complement each other. Like two pieces of a puzzle that, despite their differences in shape and color, just...fit.

"What are you thinking about?" He asks me, eying me curiously. His smile making me weak to my knees. He's always had that effect on me.

"How much I love you." I say sincerely.

"And people say that romance is dead." He smiles warmly.

I smile too. "What can I say? You bring out the best in me."

"I think we bring out the best in each other." He says, and I smile again because it's true.

Ever since we met, ever since we looked at each other for the first time in that crowded hallway, we knew that for some reason none of us could explain, we were meant to be. That being together made sense. That our kind of love and connection was what authors tried to capture in their books, but never really managed to get right. And that some day, if we were lucky enough to overcome all the obstacles that tend to be on the so-called path to happiness, our story would be what people would describe as the greatest love story ever told.

"Do you think our story has an end?" I ask, lacing my fingers with his. The rings on his fingers quickly warming up at my touch.

"No." He says with confidence.

I smile. I really appreciate the confidence in his 'no,' it means that he believes, as I do, that we are here for the long run, that our love has no end. But I've always been the rational one in the relationship and I can't help but be realistic and think about the future.

"But we'll both die someday." I tell him. "There will be a day when there's no 'you and me,' when we're not together anymore."

"I know," he says, staring at me, "but a love like ours never dies, it transcends, even death. Amor verus numquam moritur—true love cannot die."

And with those words I lean in and kiss him. He says he doesn't, but he's always had a way with words, even in different languages.

"Then I love you forever." I say with all the certainty and conviction that I possess. Because if he is right and our love is meant to transcend even death and never die, then I want him to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will love him forever.

"I love you forever too."

Magnus closed the book and after a suppressed sob, wiped away the tears from his face with the back of his sleeve. Alec had really given these fictional characters the happy ending they had never had and, although that was heartbreaking, it was also beautiful. The fact that Alec thought that a love like theirs could never die made him smile and hope for a second chance...hope for a do-over for them, for their story.

But all that happiness and hope died the moment he realized that Alec had done it again. He had left without giving him the chance to say anything, to do something to change things and prevent him from leaving. So desperate, he opened the door of his home and ran to try to catch up with him in the elevator, but Alec was long gone. The elevator was going down around the seventh floor.

Magnus pressed the button to call the elevator repeatedly in an attempt to stop it, but the numbers just kept going down and down: 7, 6…5. On the verge of losing his sanity, Magnus rushed to the emergency stairs and started climbing them down in jumps of two or three steps at a time. He knew there was a good chance of him falling and breaking his neck if he kept doing that throughout all ten floors, but he didn't really care. He had to catch up with Alec and do what he hadn't done six years ago: prevent him from leaving.

By the time he made it to the lobby of the building, Magnus was completely out of breath. "Where is he, where is Alexander?" He asked the only person who was there: the doorman.

The man seemed really confused for a second, but then said, "oh, your visit. He just left...about a minute ago, sir."

Magnus ran out of the building even though he wasn't wearing a jacket and it was practically snowing outside, but this was a life or death kind of situation, so he didn't think too much about it. Alec could have left already and he wouldn't have a way to find him again. Alec hadn't told him exactly where Max lived, so unless he stalked NYU until he found Max—whom he wasn't sure if he was going to recognize after all these years—Alec would be gone and this time it would be forever. But by some freaking miracle or incredible timing of the universe, Alec was there, standing on the corner of the street, waiting for the light to turn red so he could cross even though there were no cars in sight.

"You don't get to do this again!" Magnus yelled, maybe sounding more angry than he really was. "You don't get to say stuff like that, leave me this book, and just leave...again. Do you know how hard it's been for me to get over you? How many incredible people I've met in all these years and haven't been able to fully love because they weren't you?"

"Magnus…"

"Don't you dare Magnus me right now." He said, getting closer to him. "I'm not letting you do the same thing again. You don't get to walk back into my life and leave without giving me a chance to say something, to make my own choice."

Alec looked at him. Magnus saw that there were some tears in his eyes, but his cheeks were soaked, which meant that he had already been crying before Magnus caught up with him.

"You're the love of my life too." Magnus said. "I hate it, I really do because right now all I want to do is strangle you for what you put us through, but you are and probably always will be. There's not been a single day, since the day you left, that I don't miss your smile or your horrible food or your company. There's not been a single day when I didn't think about what you could be doing and if you were happy without me. I don't know how to turn back time, I wish I could do it, maybe then I, too, would have done some things differently, but I do know that I don't want you to leave me again. Maybe we're six years too late to try this again, maybe we're not, but I believe in what you wrote here," he added, shaking the book he still held in his hand, "a love like ours never dies, it transcends, even death, so I want to have the chance to prove that theory. I want to give us a second chance and look for that happy ending that I know we both deserve. I know we'll work—it's always been you and me. We were meant to be, you always said it, and I want to believe it."

"Magnus, I-"

Tears were practically cascading down Alec's cheeks and Magnus wanted to stop them, to kiss them away, but not yet. He still had things to say.

"No, let me finish, okay?" Magnus said. "I know it won't be easy, there's a lot of pain in our hearts, wounds that need to be healed, and things that we have to talk about to avoid more pain in the future, but I know we can do it. We're Magnus and Alec, we practically had everything figured out even before we met. But unlike back then, when we were young and naive, and dreaming was easier, now I do have some conditions for us to try this again. First, please stop crying. You know I've never liked to see you cry, it breaks my heart. And second, you have to promise me that you won't leave me again. I want you to promise me that you will fight for us, for what we feel, and that no matter how many obstacles life may throw at us, we'll get through all of them—together. There's no 'you leave and I stay' scenario in the cards for us anymore, we're a package deal. If you go, I go, if I go, you come, understood?"

"I love you forever." Alec said with a sob.

Magnus closed his eyes to keep his own tears at bay and smiled. "I love you forever too." He said, closing the distance between them to finally kiss Alec.

And it wasn't like in Alec's book with the skyline of the city gleaming in the background and casting beautiful shadows on any of their faces, but it was perfect because even though it had been six long years since the last time they had been together, it was just like before. Their lips a perfect match, their breaths always in sync, and their hearts...their hearts beating as one.

Epilogue

Magnus opened the door of their home and hurried to the room. Fortunately for him, Alec was still asleep and it seemed that he hadn't even noticed that Magnus had left the apartment to go buy something before the sun was even out. Alec had always been a heavy sleeper and, although sometimes that represented a challenge for Magnus—it was hard to wake him up when they had to leave early for whatever commitment they had—today it had actually been of great help for his plan to surprise him.

"Alexander, darling, wake up." He whispered in Alec's ear, but his boyfriend didn't even budge.

Magnus smiled in adoration. They had officially been back together again for six months now and everything seemed to be working more than fine between them. They were the happiest they had ever been. They had talked, they had healed their broken hearts, and now they were building that long-awaited future together.

"Alec…" Magnus said tenderly, leaving a trail of kisses from the base of Alec's ear to his neck—that had always been Magnus's favorite spot: Alec's long neck. "Wake up, sleepy head."

Alec grumbled in his sleep.

"Come on, love, the sun is almost out, it's time to get up." Magnus said.

He felt giddy inside and his voice reflected it. Alec had no idea what awaited him once he opened his eyes. It was going to be a morning full of surprises—if everything went according to plan, of course.

"What time is it?" Alec asked, without opening his eyes.

"Early, but open those beautiful eyes, it's time to get up."

Alec opened one eye. "Why?"

"Hello, there," Magnus smiled at the sight of his boyfriend's beautiful hazel eye, "good morning, gorgeous."

Alec smiled back. "Good morning, gorgeous yourself. Why are you already dressed?" He asked, rubbing his eyes to get rid of sleepiness.

Magnus wasn't fully dressed, he had just put on some sweatpants and a hoodie to run to the nearest newsstand to buy a copy—well, two—of the New York Times. Almost half an hour ago, Alec's publicist, Underhill, had called to inform them that after only two weeks of being released to the public, Alec's book had officially made it to the New York Times bestseller list. So instead of waking Alec up to share the news with him, Magnus had decided to run to get the newspaper and surprise his boyfriend with the actual and physical proof of his success.

"I went out." He said.

"Why?"

"I needed to get something for us."

"Did you bring bagels again?" Alec asked. "I moved in with you four months ago and since then I've gained almost ten pounds. If you keep this up, we're going to need a bigger bed."

"Stop saying nonsense, you're perfect, those pounds that you say you've gained must have gone to your ass because I still see those abs that I get to worship every night. But now that you mention it, I wouldn't complain about a...resizing in the other department."

"Maybe you wouldn't, but my pants would and they will, when they don't fit."

"Oh no, your pants agree with me on that because you look pretty good on them, I designed them. But stop this, I have something important to show you."

"So no bagels?"

"No, although we're going out to have breakfast later, I already made a reservation and everything, very fancy. But anyway, I went out to get this." He said, placing the popular newspaper on top of their bed.

"Why? You know you can download that on your phone and save some trees in the process, right?"

"I know, but this one is pretty special, so we had to have it."

Alec frowned in confusion. "Did you make the fashion section again?" He asked.

"This isn't about me, just open the damn thing!" Magnus exclaimed a bit exasperated.

"Did you really wake me up this early because you want me to read the newspaper?" Alec asked. "Couldn't that have waited till at least 9 a.m.? It's Sunday, Magnus!" He complained.

Magnus rolled his eyes and opened the newspaper right in the section where the list of best-selling books was. "There." He said, giving Alec the newspaper. Sometimes he really wondered why he loved this man the way he did. He could be quite a headache when he so wanted to.

Alec grabbed the newspaper and started reading it, suddenly looking up at Magnus. His eyes were like two supernovas, shining so bright they were leaving the rising sun that was starting to seep through the blinds in shame.

"Congratulations!" Magnus exclaimed.

"Oh my God!"

"Another dream come true!" Magnus said. "You're officially a best-selling author!"

Alec was looking back and forth between the newspaper and Magnus.

"I got two copies so we can frame one, so feel free to crush this one if you want, or cry on it if you feel like it, or-" Magnus didn't get to finish what he was saying because Alec was on top of him kissing him eagerly—the newspaper crushed between them.

"Our fictional versions made it to the New York Times bestseller list!" Alec said beaming.

"I guess a fictional version of our love story does sell some books." Magnus smiled.

Alec returned the smile and looked at the crushed newspaper again. Magnus seized the opportunity to escape Alec's grip and stand from bed.

"Where are you going?" Alec asked with a pout. "Aren't we going to celebrate?"

"Of course we are, love, I'll be right back, okay? Give me one second." Magnus said, and without saying anything else, ran out of their room and went to their now shared studio. He opened a drawer in his desk and took out the copy of Alec's book that Alec had given him six months ago and that Magnus had hidden there two weeks ago when Alec's book had been published, just waiting for this moment.

Magnus looked at the book and smiled. He was shaking, his whole body was trembling with anticipation of what he was about to do, but he took a deep breath and re-entered their room. "Would you sign this one for me?" He asked, smiling at Alec and showing him the book.

Alec rolled his eyes, but smiled, grabbing the pen he always had on his nightstand—a gift from Maryse that Alec had received almost four months ago when the latter had received her advanced copy of Alec's first book. That day, Alec had cried for hours because that pen had meant a lot to him, not only that his mother forgave him although Alec's decision not to continue as CEO of the family business and leave everything under Jace's control had angered her at first, but that she supported him—and by extension his relationship with Magnus—no matter what.

"To whom should I dedicate this book? To Mr. Magnus Bane, fashion icon extraordinaire?" Alec asked playfully. "To the love of my life? To the man of my dreams? To-"

"What about to your fiance?" Magnus asked, opening the book in front of Alec to let him see that, although it was the same copy that Alec himself had given him a few months ago, it had suffered a few alterations. All the pages had been carefully glued together and now instead of a book it was some sort of box, and inside of it—and in a hole carved into the pages—was an engagement ring that Magnus had designed just for Alec. Only the last words Alec had written in his book were visible under the ring: 'I love your forever too.'

"Will you marry me?" Magnus asked, still shaking. He had no idea why he was so nervous about this, he was sure of what they had and how strong their love was. Six years apart and a heartbreak had proven that, but even so, the anticipation of Alec's answer was killing him.

"So…?"

Alec was completely silent. His eyes were fixed on the ring.

"Hmmm, Alexander...I'm kind of serious over here, I-"

But he didn't finish his sentence because, for the second time in the morning, Alec was on top of him, kissing him eagerly and pressing him against the mattress. "Yes." He whispered between kisses. "A thousand times yes."

Magnus smiled, taking the ring out of the book and putting it on Alec's finger. It was a perfect fit, just like them. "I guess you'll have to write a sequel to this book and extend our fictional love story to document this moment somehow."

Alec shook his head smiling. "I'm not going to share that with the world, that's just for you and me to know—and maybe our kids one day—we'll have to embarrass them with the whole story at some point, like all responsible parents do."

Magnus smiled and cupped Alec's face with his hand. The rising sun that was seeping through the blinds was casting shadows on his face and Magnus couldn't help but smile even more widely. The moment was, although completely different, also very similar to the final scene in Alec's book, but it was even better because it was real. This was their reality and, although they had been apart for many years, Magnus was sure that the best ones were yet to come.

He could already see them in front of them. He could see himself and Alec, both walking side by side for the rest of their lives, having a family, adopting a pet or two, spending unforgettable adventures all together; and then, when they were old and tired, retiring to some cabin in the woods and spending the last days of their lives together with the occasional visit from their children and grandchildren. It was going to be a very happy life, the best life. And when everything was over and they were gone from this world, their family would talk about them and tell their story to other people, and it would be just like Alec had said in his book—the greatest love story ever told.

"I love you forever." Magnus said.

Alec beamed.

"I love you forever too."

And that's it. They lived happily ever after.

I hope you guys liked this story, all reviews, faves, etc are really appreciated. Once again, happy birthday, Chris! I hope this little something has made you smile.

Anyway, see y'all soon for a LFY update!