Magnus's loft.

Alec woke up in the warm morning light. He groaned and blinked his eyes sleepily, then he turned his body to other side and looked at Magnus, who slept soundly beside him in the bed. Alec's sleepy face broke into a sweet smile. He leaned closer to Magnus and pressed a tender kiss on Magnus's cheek.

Magnus seemed very tired, he not even has any feelings on it and continued to sleep deeply. Alec signed in relief silently and moving gently to get out of bed, not really wanted to wake Magnus up that early.

Everything that they had been getting through in the past few weeks was really tiring and made them exhausted. Now, finally, the dark clouds drifted away to reveal the sunshine. Everything seemed so bright and looked fine. Alec can't help himself but gaze at the family ring on his hand, the marriage engaged ring that Magnus helped him to wear on yesterday, which the whole proposal scene witnessed by Alec's younger sister Isabelle, Alec's Parabatai Jace and that little girl Clary, who is Magnus's biscuit but also Jace's girlfriend.

When thinking all of the happy memories, Alec released a soft sweet laugh accidentally but he quickly stopped himself immediately to control his emotions. Alec sent a quick glance at Magnus, started to feel relax once he noticed that Magnus still sleeping peacefully, quietly.

Alec smiled happily when he glared at Magnus's soft beautiful sleeping face.

'Sleep tight, my dear fiancé.' Alec thought silently in his heart.

After that, Alec walked out of the bedroom door.

—

Shadowhunters Institute in New York.

"Alec!" Isabelle shouted and ran very fast towards her big brother once she saw Alec appeared at the entrance.

"Hey, morning. What's wrong? Why you looked so panic?" Alec looked in confusion.

"Where is your cellphone?" Isabelle asked eagerly. "Why you didn't reply to any of our messages and our calls? We have called Magnus too, but why he didn't pick up his phone?"

"Sorry, my phone was battery low and dead right before I get ready to leave Magnus's home. And, Magnus is still sleeping soundly in the bed. You' all should know how tired of Magnus is after everything happened recently. So, let's talk about the main topic. What's happened? You' all should know that I'm at Magnus's house, doesn't it? What's the big deal?" Alec asked.

Isabelle sighed and looked nervous, she was ready to say something but Jace appearing all in sudden and spoke loudly in an annoying tone. "You're really getting yourself into big trouble, buddy. Come on, we have a lot of things need to solve now!"

"What?" Alec was totally in blank and curious. He has no idea what Jace was talking about.

"Alec, did you lost your memories or what? How can you still act like an innocent fool?" Isabelle pouted and commented.

"Wait! You' all really make me confused. What's exactly going on here? I thought everything shall be fine, doesn't it? Yesterday night, Magnus and I finally get back from the meeting with Asmodeus in the dream safely, and the most wonderful important thing is that Magnus had engaged with me!"

"That's why you get yourself into very big trouble." Jace sighed heavily and continued. "Maryse and Robert arrive institute this morning. It seemed the Clave found out something that we all tried to hide and keep as a little secret between us."

Alec suddenly had a very bad feeling. "What is that…?"

"They know, Alec. They know that somebody in our city tried to connect the underworld. The worst thing is they also targeted on Magnus as the biggest suspect since Magnus is the High Warlock in Brooklyn, who absolutely has the ability to do it."

"Oh, no." Alec looked worried, his voice of tone was eager and became louder and louder uncontrollably. "How much the Clave know about this matter? Is Magnus in danger now? When does the Clave want to take action on Magnus? We must stop them quickly before they take any action!"

"Shh… Calm down, Alec. Be alert on the surrounding!" Jace sent a quick glare on surrounding to give Alec a gentle warning. They were standing at the entrance, many other shadowhunters walked around them.

"Alec, we really need to be more careful right now. Everybody here, they could be the spy from the clave. Mom and dad ask Jace and me to look for you once you coming back, they want to talk with you personally. I guess that they also in confusion and lack of certain information. They're just feeling worries because they knew that we are close to Magnus. They are afraid that we might get involved and get punishment from the clave. As we know, the clave is having zero tolerance on the matters those involved with the underground hell world."

Alec felt panicked indeed, almost losing his mind when he thinking that Magnus might be in danger. "I must call Magnus to warn him about this." Alec took out his phone just realized that his cellphone was dead completely due to no battery.

"Izzy, please gives me your phone! I need to call Magnus!" Alec commanded to Isabelle.

Isabelle sighed and took out her phone from her trouser pocket, then passed it to Alec. However, Jace stopped Alec from calling Magnus and spoke again. "Alec, you really need to calm down! Get a mirror and look at yourself now! Alec, I know you are worried about Magnus. But you need to cool down first so that you can have a clear head to think the solution. Now, it's not only Magnus in trouble but you too, Alec! How long do you think that the clave needs for them to figure out you and every one of us are getting involved in this matter too?"

The color drained from Alec's pale face.

"I'm sorry. It's all my faults, I shouldn't pull you all into this trouble!"

"Oh, come on. Alec, you should know we don't mind at all, right? You are our family, how could we let yourself get into deep danger and ignore you?" Isabelle shook her head and looked frustrated.

"Hey, Alec, throw away your unnecessary guilt and anxiety, then look at the big picture!" Jace rubbed Alec's shoulders and continued to say. "Look, now we have a few big problems need to solve. First, we have to check to see how much the clave know about this and what might they do. Second, we need to try the best to make sure our parents and Max won't get involved, even after this all of us get punishment or what."

Isabelle nodded in agreement while Jace was talking. After that, she sighed and told Alec her another concern. "Alec, and furthermore… I think you maybe need to find a chance to let mom and dad know about the marriage engagement between you and Magnus."

Alec swallowed hard when he heard what Isabelle said. Alec suddenly became very panic and panting. He was truly worried about this. He not yet informed his parents about his wedding planning with Magnus. How should his parents react after he told them this matter?

"Hey, Alec! Stop dreaming!" Jace tapped Alec's back to wake him up from a daydream.

"I'm sorry, I… I get distracted," Alec said with his trembling lips. He held Izzy's cellphone in his hands tightly. "I think … First thing first, I need to call Magnus now! I need to warn him! I cannot let anything bad happened to him!"

Isabelle and Jace exchanged a quick worried glance, then they nodded their heads.

"Alec, Magnus is also our family now. We will do anything we can for protecting him, like what you always do for him, for us." Jace comforted Alec softly, tried to calm him down.

"Jace…" Alec gasped and choked up his words. "I just… I'm sorry. It's all my faults… If you all never help me out from that personal hell, then everything of the rest won't happen. Magnus won't get that stupid mark from Asmodeus, so he no needs to meet Asmodeus for removing that cursed mark as well. It's all my faults… I'm sorry that I get all of you into this kind of deep trouble…"

"Alec…" Isabelle and Jace looked sad when they listened to Alec saying these.

"I'm truly sorry about that. Izzy, Jace… Don't worry, I won't let you all get any punishment from the clave. Clary included. If anything bad happened later, I will do all the best I can to protect all of you." Alec said.

"Don't be stupid, Alec." Jace furrowed his eyebrows and hugged Alec into his arms. "Everything will be fine, I promise."

"Alec. We will always get your back, okay? Stop being overthinking. Now, you should call Magnus to tell him about this quickly, then we must go and meet with our parents, to check whether how much they know. After that, then we just go to find Magnus!"

Alec nodded and asked. "By the way, where's Clary?" Alec felt curious when he didn't see Clary. That little girl should always stick together with Jace, doesn't it?

"Clary is now accompanying mom and dad. Otherwise, what makes you think that we can have enough time to sneak out a while and talk to you when our parents are at here?" Isabelle sighed.

Alec then sighed too and nodded his head slightly again.

"Okay, I'll call Magnus now. Both of you should go back to mom and dad. I worried that Clary might accidentally say something wrong, as you know she is a little bit too innocent but our mom is quite smart."

"No worries. Jace already taught Clary a few ways of how to dealing with mom and dad. It's should not be a big problem, but still, you are right though." Isabelle replied.

Jace looked at Alec with a worried face. "Izzy and I will get back to Maryse and Robert now. Make sure you come to join us after you call Magnus."

Alec nodded and watched his parabatai and sister walked away. After that, Alec ran to his bedroom, thinking that how should he talks to Magnus about these.

—

Magnus feeling worried after he woke up from bed, right after Alec left the loft. Then, Magnus saw all the missed calls and messages from Isabelle and Jace. He was all alone in his loft after Alec left quietly with a simple handwriting note 'I'm back to institute, love you.' on his bedside table.

This made Magnus almost gone insane because he had no idea what's going on now. Isabelle and Jace not really revealed any information in these messages. When Magnus ready to call Alec, his phone was ringing immediately.

'It's Alec.' Magnus sighed in relief and answered it very quickly.

"Hey, love. I just want to call you. What happened? I saw all the messages that Isabelle and Jace sent me. They urged me to ask you to go back to institute immediately because your parents were coming!"

"Magnus, I have something important need to let you know, but I really need you to stay calm and listen to me." Alec, who held his phone in his bedroom at the institute said.

Magnus took a deep breath but his eyes are full of worries in panicked. Magnus can sense it clearly, there's must have something very serious happened.

"Okay, tell me now. Alexander, don't lie to me, I accept it no matter how hard it is." Magnus asked in hesitation in a very careful manner. "…Is that your parents disapprove of our marriage after you told them that we get engaged?"

"No. It's ..Uuh… Maybe…It's actually worse than that…" Alec replied with a trembling voice, even Magnus who was now standing on the other side also can sensing Alec's nervous emotion.

"Oh… Okay. I get it now. So, is that your parents trying to kill me because they hate me that much…? That's why Isabelle and Jace also sent a few messages to inform me that I should stay at home and put the magic ward up for self-protection purpose?" Magnus's tone sounds quite sad and full of disappointment.

Actually, Magnus had noticed how badly Alec's parents treated him. However, he still can't control himself but feeling sad about that. Alec has engaged with him after all. Why can't they just accept him as a part of their family?

"Magnus, it's not like that… Actually, I haven't got the chance to meet with my parents and telling them about our engagement." Alec explained.

"Oh… Is it?" Magnus sighed.

Alec quickly added. "Magnus, please have faith in me and trust me. I will let them know about ours as soon as I can. But… This moment, not really good timing."

"Oh…" Magnus's voice getting low. He can't hide his sad feeling and not really want to hide it anymore, which made his tone sound a little bit nasty than usual. "I totally get it, okay? Now, my position just upgraded from the 'hidden lover' to your 'hidden fiancé'. "

"What? No! Not like that, Magnus. I am serious about you!" Alec shouted on the phone.

"In the past, I was only your boyfriend. I don't mind at all if I have to be hidden and need to avoid all the face-to-face meet with your parents. Because I love you and I don't want to put you into a difficult position. But now, the situation is totally different! Alexander, I am your fiancé now! Since you already made up your mind to propose to me, then you should… you should at least learn to take the responsibility, right? I thought you should be acted tough a bit and stand up for me like a man, to convince your parents to accept me as their son-in-law, instead of keeping me hidden like I am something that makes you feel shameful."

"MAGNUS!" Alec can't help himself but raised his voice till he yelled at the phone.

Magnus suddenly became quiet and bit his lips tightly.

Alec feeling defeated and suffered from anxiety. He never thought that Magnus would think something like this. Is that how Magnus's true feeling towards him? Like he never treats Magnus that good? Like he never let Magnus feel his sincerity in their relationship? Like he, Alexander Gideon Lightwood just using Magnus Bane as a tool?

Alec gasped with his trembled lips. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to yell at you."

"It's okay. Maybe I just not get enough sleep… Too many things happened recently, and there's a lot of big changes… I think I just need some time to get used to it." Magnus said sheepishly.

Alec took a deep breath, felt his sight getting blurry due to the tears full of his eyes.

A short of awkward silence moment.

But before Alec was able to say something, there's a fierce knocking sound at the door, then the bedroom door opened by Jace.

"Alec, have you informed Magnus? Maryse and Robert are getting impatience! Izzy is trying her best to calm them down, but she won't hold that long. We need to meet them now!" Jace urged.

Alec swallowed his painful tears. The mixture of emotions made him feeling so down. He turned his back on Jace in a fast move, worried that let Jace saw his crying face.

"Alec, are you okay? Why are you crying?" But still, Jace never missed the sorrowful expression on Alec's face.

"I'm fine," Alec answered Jace with a hoarse sad tone, while he was still holding the phone in his hand.

On the other hand, Magnus feels worried when he heard the conversation between Jace and Alec. In fact, Magnus also feeling the guilt that he knows better than anyone else, that Alec was feeling sad all because of his hurtful words.

However, Magnus sighed and asked. "Alec, are you still there? I heard Jace ask about something that you should inform me. What is it?"

Alec holds back his tears. "It's about… I…" Alec sent a glare to Jace and said. "Jace, I'm sorry, but can you please give me some moment with Magnus?"

"Alec!" Jace shoots an unbelievable glance on Alec.

"Please!" Alec begged with a devastated tone.

Jace sighed heavily but chose to nod his head. "Make it quick, we are waiting for you."

Alec nodded back at Jace, his sad face broke into a slight smile. Then, waiting until Jace walked out from the bedroom and closed the door, Alec tried to focus on the phone again.

"Magnus…" Alec opened his mouth in hesitation, not really sure how to continue the conversation.

"Alexander. I'm sorry, I just…Haiz, please forget my nonsense talk." Magnus apologized.

"No, it's not your fault. Actually, you are quite right though, I am the one who makes you feel insecure all the time. I'm sorry." Alec sobbed and continued. "Magnus, I want you to know, no matter what happens, I will always love you."

"I know. I love you too." Magnus whispered.

"Now, we should get back to the main topic." Alec tried to remain his cool manner.

"What's it?" Magnus asked.

"The Clave seemed to be aware of that we are connecting with Edom in somehow. My parents are coming here to question us and dig the truth out. I'm actually just arrived here, not really see my parents yet." Alec replied.

Magnus feeling tense indeed now. For two reasons. First, he just realized that he might totally have misunderstood on Alec since Alec said that he does not meet with his parents yet. And the second, Magnus just knowing that the Clave is going to make troubles for them again. However, despite the problem between them, Magnus was more worried about what the Clave trying to do.

"What the Clave want?" Magnus asked in a worried tone.

"I don't know but I will try the best to find out as I can. Magnus, please just stay at any place that seldom people know about it in safe and please be alert all the time. I am worried that they might be looking for you soon. As far as I know, the Clave is targeting on you now because you are the High Warlock in Brooklyn. They assumed that you might know something more than anyone else."

"Okay, I will find a suitable location to hide and let you know where I am once I settled down. But what about you?" Magnus asked again.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Magnus, once you settled down, don't contact me at all. Find a safe place and don't tell me any clue about where you might be." Alec said.

"What? But why?" Magnus looked confused. "Alexander, you can't ask me to hide and put you in danger! Once I found the safe location, then I will go and fetch you!"

"I am a shadowhunter, Magnus. I can't run away from my duties and responsibilities. Furthermore, my family members… They are all here. I can't just leave them and run away by myself."

"But… The Clave won't let go that easily. If they can target on me, then they might target on you and your family and friend too! Especially on Jace, Isabelle, and Clary. They know that we are close!" Magnus shook his head and feeling truly nervous. "Alec, you need to listen to me. Once I found the safe location to hide for temporary, then you all need to follow and come stay with me."

"Magnus, it's you have to listen to me." Alec sighed and continued. "I am not going anywhere. But you, you have to hide and never tell me anything about where you are. This is for your own safety purpose. I'm afraid that they might be using any rune to force me speaking the truth. I don't want to increase the risk that possible might harm you…"

"Why? Alexander, you should know I can't just leave you alone to face them!" Magnus retorted.

"But you have to. Magnus, I want you to be safe. This is the only way I can do to protect you… I am Shadowhunter after all. Whatever the punishment they want to do on me, I already expect the worst results." Alec said as he already can foresee the possibility of the strip off runes marks scene. Nothing could be worse than it, right? As long as Magnus is safe.

"What do you mean? What the worst results?" The silence on the other side made Magnus feeling of fear and uneasy.

"Alexander, please say something. I am worried about you…" Magnus gasped and continued. "I'm not going to anywhere without you. All of your family and friends, they are my family and friends too!"

"Magnus…" Alec tried to convince Magnus in weakly voice, but Magnus stopped him quickly in a firm tone.

"Alexander, we are engaged! You promised yesterday that you will never leave me! Then, how could you do this to me…? You can't leave me like that? I will never allow it!" Magnus said sadly.

"I love you, Magnus. Please be safe… I want you to know that, please always remember… Every single promise that I made to you, I mean it, real and sincere. I am serious about you... But I just put you in danger again… I'm sorry but I really need to go now, goodbye, my eternal love." Alec dropped his sobbing last words and hung up the phone before Magnus have time to protest it.

"Alexander? Alexander… Alec! ALEC!" Magnus yelled at the phone in his loft like a crazy person, but nothing he gets as replies from the other side.

His Alexander was leaving him alone, again.

[To Be Continued]

A/N:
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
NEWBIE WRITER HERE. A BELIEVER OF "WRITING IS AN ACT OF FAITH, NOT A TRICK OF GRAMMAR." —E.B. WHITE
*YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, HIGH POSSIBILITIES OF WRONG GRAMMAR PROBLEM.

Yeah, hey guys, new update again! Thank you for your kind support!

Slow burn & slow to update!
Not sure will write how many chapters, so please follow it, if you are interested in this story.

Feel free to leave a review after reading, much love ya~!
P.S. You are welcome to read my other fanfic, thanks. ^o^

For those who new to me / my works:
I am a forever newbie writer who follows heart and intuition. My works usually have unknown future plots and very slow to update. Because I don't have a habit to write a story outline and I have a very busy real life, thus everything depends on my mood.