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shurisneakers · 6 years

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espresso [9]

Summary: In which your best friend’s brother begins to set you up on dates when you mention that you haven’t been in a relationship in years, but things don’t go as expected.

Warning: implied homophobia, mentions of cheating swearing, angst, pining (????), wii music

A/N: hello i’m barely alive what a surprise. this is my entry for the lovely @viktordrago‘s writing challenge. thank you to my girl @samingtonwilson love u and i hope you know that espresso would be nothing without u

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous part- Part 8 || Espresso Masterlist

“Is that everything?” Bucky asked, turning halfway to face you.

You gave him a thumbs up and he nodded, shutting the trunk of his car. “Alright, let’s get this road trip started.”

You tightened the scarf around your neck as you got into the front seat of his car. Rebecca had juvenilely shouted dibs on the back seats, saying she intended to hibernate for most of the trip.

Less than a week from Christmas, the three of you were driving back to your hometown for the holiday. New Year’s Eve, however, was to be spent in your grimy dormitories and apartments since Bucky was nervous to be even slightly unprepared for class and beyond anxious about being stuck in traffic with the rest of the returning students.

Of course, much to his dismay, it was only a half-hour before Becca began her moaning and groaning. “How long ‘til we get there?”

“I told you we should have brought the tranquillizer,” Bucky sighed to you, hissing and jolting forward when Becca flicked the back of his head.

“Couple of hours, give or take depending on traffic,” you let her know, looking at the Google maps route you had opened on Bucky’s phone.

She settled back down and chose to look at her phone instead, the device keeping her occupied for only a handful of minutes before she looked up again.

“Pass me the aux cord, I wanna play my music.”

“No.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“Wii score soundtracks are not considered music.”

“Wow.” Her eyes were wide in disbelief. “I can’t believe I’m related to such an uncultured swine.”

“Other songs also banned in this car are on this list I made for you,” Bucky reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a white, folded sheet of paper, handing it to her.

“What the-“ she began, quickly scanning over the list. You could hear the wrinkling of the paper as her grip tightened. “The fuck you mean All Star isn’t allowed?”

“It means I’ve heard enough of it this past year and if I have to hear it one more time I’ll personally remove my brain from my skull and run it over with this car.”

You found the fact that he took time to create something so… petty was amusing, but apparently she didn’t think so.

“I miss my girlfriend already,” Rebecca huffed, feet on the windowsill.

Bucky, eyes on the road, replied, “Shoulda invited her to our place.”

“I wanted to, but she said she wants to see her sisters. She’s got a big family.”

“If it helps, you’ve got me,” you nearly sang, looking at her through the rearview mirror.

You received a scowl in return. “I’d rather have no one at all, thanks.”

Hearing Bucky hiss through his teeth at her comeback before fading into laughter, you rolled your eyes with a smile that matched his as you muttered “bitch” under your breath.

“Also, asking Nat to come to our place probably wouldn’t be the brightest idea,” she added, moving in her seat to lean against the car door.

The light atmosphere dropped and you felt a palpable tension in the car in a matter of mere seconds. You spared her a glance.

She looked unfazed but you knew otherwise. “You know, considering the circumstances.”

“Maybe he’s different now, Becks,” Bucky tried with convincing optimism.

“Right, because he’s been known to just do that.”

The both of you fell silent, not wanting to push the conversation.

“Whatever, it’s his loss.” Becca looked back into her phone and continued aimlessly scrolling through Instagram. “What’s everyone else doing for the vacation?”

“Steve’s with Peggy. I think they’re staying at her house. Clint is with Bruce and Thor. I don’t think they’re going anywhere specifically but I heard they’re doing a bar crawl for Christmas. Sam and Sam are at Wilson’s place.”

“What about Dot?” you looked at your nails as you asked, attempting to look indifferent rather than desperate– which you most definitely were.

He hummed questioningly before peering at you. “Oh, she’s back in town too.”

“Wait– our town?” Becca straightened up, leaning forward on her hands. She stuck her head between both your seats, her interest piqued.

“Yeah, she went to Culver. On the cheerleading squad,” you muttered, “She told me she and Bucky almost dated,” you added in a less than quiet whisper with the intention of only letting her hear.

You could feel her glare burning the side of your face. You didn’t have to face her to know why she was doing it but you chose to ignore her.

“Did you know I almost joined the cheerleaders at Middletown?” Becca announced, loud enough to make your eardrums vibrate and you wince.

“You didn’t have to yell, Jesus,” Bucky muttered through his teeth, using a hand against her forehead to push her back to her seat.

“You did not almost join the cheerleaders.”

“Hell yeah I did! I got kicked out on the second day.”

“How?”

“I was told I tried to ‘make friends the wrong way,’” she said with her fingers hooked in air quotes, voice deeper for imitative purposes.

Bucky snorted. ”Knowing you, you probably offered to smoke them all out behind the bleachers with your stupid purple pipe.”

“Listen, it’s how I made friends in high school. A little indica, a little trip to Taco Bell.” She shrugged. “Thought it would work with them. Apparently fucking not.”

“Wait, how come you never offered to smoke me out?” you narrowed your eyes at her. “Did you not know how much I envied the stoners?”

“I didn’t need to waste the good stuff on you. I became friends with you because you kicked sand in my face when we were seven and thought it was the funniest thing.”

“Accidentally.”

“Your laughter said otherwise, you Jafar sounding bitch.”

“You know you’re gonna have to tone down the swearing when you get home, right?” He glanced at her expectantly as realization dawned on her.

“By how much?”

“On a scale of one to ten, one being you on your best behavior and ten being your usual behavior, aim for negative twelve,” Bucky told her as she let out a groan again, head drooping into her hands.

“How many do you think I can get past her because she missed me?”

“Zero.”

“I can’t wait to see you struggle in front of your mom.” You grinned. “It’s my favourite part of dinner.”

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “’Course it is.”

“God, how many Christmases have we spent together? Twelve?” Bucky asked distantly, seemingly ignoring the exchange you both shared.

“This’ll be the eleventh. I spent Christmas three years ago with, uh– with him,” you answered, surprisingly without an angry edge to your tone.

“Oh,” Becca said, quietening down.

“Yeah.” You looked out of the window, your breath fogging up the glass. “I wonder what he’s doing now.”

“Last I heard, he was sent to the nurse with a broken nose,” she mused playfully, eyebrow raising. “Coincidentally, it was the same time my brother got suspended from school for three days for a fight in the cafeteria.”

Bucky and you shared a quick glance before a small smile upturned the corner of his lips.

“He’s a bartender or waits tables or something now, I think.” You shrugged, playing with a loose thread on your sweater. “Don’t know if he’s still here or he left.”

“Have you kept in contact with him?” Bucky asked, voice strained. You knew it to be a symptom of rising annoyance, one you rarely saw from him.

“Nah. Someone mentioned it to me,” you shrugged casually.

“You sure?” Becca’s eyebrows were slightly furrowed and you almost rolled your eyes at the dramatic concern. “It’s okay to still care about-”

“I stopped caring about his life the minute I found out he was cheating on me with some girl from another school,” you said lowly, hoping to make your point. ”Let’s just drop this, yeah? I don’t plan on ever talking to him again.”

Neither of them said anything for a while until Bucky broke the silence again, “Honestly, I wouldn’t hesitate to break his nose again if he tried talking to you.”

“Oh, I know,” you replied, smiling as he did, too.

In her usual dramatic fashion, Becca sighed and slumped against the seats, forearm thrown over her eyes. “How did we all end up here?”

“Fate. Destiny.”

“A horse,” Bucky grinned at you knowingly resulting in your laughter at his stupid reference.

“Maybe because we’re all running from something,” Becca ignored you both, staring out of the window.

“Not that deep,” Bucky said with a roll of his eyes, turning left. “Besides, I have nothing to run from.”

“Sure about that?” she raised her eyebrows at him.

You looked at him curiously.

He shook his head wordlessly, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

“Whatever you say, bro.” She shrugged, before an evil smile took over her face. “Hey Bucky, guess what?”

“What?”

“You missed out a song on the list. Guess what we’re listening to on repeat for an hour.”

***

By the time you reached the town, it was nearly four. The plan was to stop at his place, drop off their stuff, say hi to his parents and then leave you at your house.

The Barnes’ house was clearly the most spirited one in the neighbourhood, with decorations lining the front yard all the way up to the door. Reindeers, coloured lights, fake snowmen- everything that you could think of was there.

Bucky lugged his and his sister’s bags out of the car, and held on to the both of them while you and her trudged to the front door. Becca had barely knocked on the front door when it opened with such force that the wind alone nearly knocked you off your feet.

“You’re here!” a voice you had grown up with for over a decade exclaimed, instantly brightening up your mood.

“Hi, Mom,” Becca almost squeaked as her mother half-crushed her to death before releasing her to look her up and down.

“It’s been ages since I’ve seen you both,” she said with a grin, pulling you into a hug as well, patting your back affectionately.

“It’s great to see you again, Mrs. B.”

“You look wonderful as usual, Y/N. How’s school going?”

“I’m scraping by,” you half-joked with a shrug.

“Aren’t we all?” Bucky’s voice nearly startled you from behind you and you parted to give his mother a more clear view of him.

He beamed at her, adjusting the bags on his shoulder. “Hey, Ma.”

“Is this a horse or my son?” Winnie laughed, pulling Bucky into a hug as soon as he came through the door. Pulling at the strands of his hair, she sighed out another laugh, “Goodness, you’ve got a mane.”

“He’s definitely got the name for it,” Becca teased, earning a glare from him. “What? Bucky sounds like a horse.”

He discreetly flipped her his middle finger, picking up their bags and walking down the hall to their rooms to put them down. You watched him as he disappeared from sight, only snapping out of it due to the weight of a hand on your shoulder.

“You’ll be over for dinner on Christmas Eve, won’t you?” Winnie asked, arm around yours and Becca’s shoulders as she led you into the kitchen. The smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls was almost overwhelming, but a quick sense of familiarity soon took over.

“Of course she is. It’s tradition,” Becca answered for you while her mother hummed.

Your parents weren’t big on Christmas, instead choosing to just spend it like a normal day. For as long as you remembered, Becca had always invited you to spend it with her family and you gladly accepted and soon it became something you looked forward to every year.

“It’s going to be better than last year’s,” she sounded excited as she placed a plate of cookies in front of you. “Ever since these two left, the house has been much more livable.”

It did look cleaner than the last time you were here but the worn out wallpaper, the darkened mantle over the fireplace and the dining table that still had chips in it from the times it was run into remained the same. It was the same comfortable house you’d spent a lot of your childhood in.

“I’d be offended at that if you didn’t actually call me every second day to ask about my life,” she snorted, stuffing a cookie into her mouth, making her mother laugh. “Where’s Dad?”

“He’ll be late but he’ll be here tonight,” she informed her, taking a seat at the table.

You reached for a cookie only to have the plate pushed towards you. You cast Winnie a grateful look as she just smiled.

“Great, now I know when to avoid him,” Becca said more to herself, and you stopped chewing.

“Rebecca-“ her mom sighed, leaning forward on her elbows.

“He made it pretty clear that he didn’t want to be around me the last time I saw him, Mom.”

“Just give him a chance to adjust, please,” Winnie tried.

You swallowed thickly, knowing where this conversation was heading.

“Did you tell him about Nat?” Becca cut in, discarding her half eaten cookie on the plate.

There was silence.

“Yeah, I thought so.”

“Despite what you think, he doesn’t hate you.”

“He just can’t stand to be near me,” she finished, smiling a half-smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

You had lost your appetite completely, choosing instead to just toy with your fingers and look away from the conversation as if you weren’t there.

“Becca, did you fucking carry your entire dorm room in your backpack or what?” Bucky grumbled as he walked into the kitchen, massaging his wrist.

“No swearing, James,” his mother reminded him softly as he bent down to press a kiss against her cheek.

“Sorry mom,” he didn’t sound very apologetic. He looked at you instead, jingling his keys. “Ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go. I’ll text you Becks,” you said in a hurry. Your chair screeched as you pushed it back, standing up. “Thank you for the cookies, Mrs. B. I’ll see you soon.”

You waved at them, hearing a quick goodbye before jogging to Bucky’s side.

“I’m sorry you got stuck in the middle of that,” he whispered.

“I just don’t get it,” you sighed, ducking to sit in the front seat. “It’s been years now and he still hasn’t budged.”

“We don’t know that yet. Maybe he has,” his voice was unsure and he didn’t look at you as he pulled out of the driveway and back onto the road.

“Maybe.”

There was something playing on the radio that you weren’t paying attention to. It served as background noise as you took in your surroundings. It had been nearly a year since you’d visited home and you missed it, but sometimes it felt easier to avoid some of the things that had happened here.

“You’ll be over for dinner, right?” Bucky asked. His eyes were still trained on the road ahead.

“Yeah, ‘course.”

“Looking forward to it,” he offered you a smile, prompting you to observe him for a minute.

He had managed to pull a beanie on and looked softer than he already was constantly. His nose was bitten red from the cold, something that you found stupidly endearing even though you’d seen him like this over a hundred times.

“I’m looking forward to it, too.”

“Of course you would,” he said, a boyish grin on his face. “Why wouldn’t you want to spend more time with me?”

“Remind me who you are again?” you asked with a tilted head, leaving him laughing. “Your mom’s cooking is the only thing I care about.”

“You’re breakin’ my heart.”

“Assuming you have one, that is.”

He murmured something under his breath that you didn’t catch but you chuckled anyway. You felt lighter somehow, the slight edge you were on smoothing out slowly.

“You excited to be back home?” He turned right into a familiar cul de sac, driving at a much slower speed now.

“Meh. I’m excited to see everyone but… you know.”

“It’s tiring?”

“Incredibly.”

He didn’t have to ask– he knew which house to stop in front of. It was one of the bigger houses on the block, stretching tall over the others in comparison. It looked newly painted and there were lights strung up outside serving as bare minimum decoration.

“Well, I hope you it isn’t as shitty as you think it’s gonna be,” he mumbled, twisting in his seat to face you.

“That’s a nice way to put it.”

“You deserve good things, Mario, you really do.” There was a pink dusting spreading over his cheeks as well, the jacket he had around himself unable to prevent it. Your eyes flitted down to his lips momentarily, finding them slightly dry due to the cold weather but they looked pretty anyway. He was pretty.

“Thanks, Buck,” your voice was unusually soft. “You do, too.”

Neither of you knew what to say and you could feel yourself wanting to put yourself out of your misery by just kissing the idiot.

But you didn’t. You let yourself take him in for a second more before clearing your throat and looking away, unbuckling your seatbelt.

“I guess it’s time I go see my-“

“Y/N, listen, if you’re free later, or if you want to, I-“ he suddenly interrupted your actions, making you stop to look at him. He paused for a second, never dropping your stare.

Oh Jesus.

“Yeah?” Please just ask me out, for the love of God.

“I could- I could set you up on the last date?” The what now?

“What?”

“I mean, it’s nearly the end of the year. It’s been months since we started and you’ve still got one date left. I know someone here you might like, if you’re up for it.”

“Um-“ your mind screamed to say no, to just tell him you’re interested in him and move the fuck on, but apparently your body had other plans because the next thing you could remember saying was, “…Okay, alright.”

“Yes?”

“Yeah. Last date, right?”

“Yup. Fifth one’s the charm.”

“Ha, hope so,” you couldn’t stop the disappointment in your voice as you shrugged. “Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” he confirmed, nodding. ”Christmas Eve-Eve.”

“Cool. Catch you then.”

He bit his lip as you got out of the car, watching as you grabbed the backpack with your stuff and swung it over your shoulder.

“Thanks for the ride, Bucky.”

You waved at him, he waved at you, and you rang the doorbell. The door swung open immediately and excited arms swooped you off the porch and into the house, door shutting behind you.

Bucky exhaled. He twisted the key to hear the engine sputter before starting fully, knuckles almost translucent with how hard he was gripping the wheel.

“What the fuck?” he muttered to himself. He almost banged his forehead against the window. “You absolute fucking idiot.”

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #mcu fic #bucky fic #bucky barnes fic #bucky fluff #bucky barnes fluff #bucky angst #bucky barnes angst #college!bucky #college!au #college!bucky x reader #kumis5kchallenge

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malecsecretsanta · 7 years

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Merry Christmas, @sfjessii!

This little ficlet is for my darling Jess! You requested Fluff with love, warmth and care. I do hope this fits the bill and that you like it 8-) May your Christmas be filled with love, warmth and care as well! *huggles* <333

Read on AO3

*****

First of many Christmases

Snow continuously crunched together underneath his boots as he quickly made his way towards Magnus’ loft - or as Alec had been calling it for a while now; home.

The unforgivingly cold walls of the Institute had stopped being home some time in the past year or so, his room there nothing more than a place to crash on the days where he’d deemed it too late in the night to disturb Magnus and potentially wake him up from his sleep.

Thinking of the loft never failed to flood his insides with a rush of warmth; the loft was where Magnus was. Even though they hadn’t even been together for a full year yet, Alec knew he’d never wanted to be without Magnus, not again. Pretty early on in their relationship he’d known that Magnus was it for him, the one to spend the rest of his life with. Magnus was his first everything, and Alec had every intention of making Magnus his last everything, his only everything.

Tonight would be another first. It was Christmas Eve and he was on his way to spend it with his boyfriend. Before Magnus, Alec never really had reason to celebrate any of the Mundane holidays, Shadowhunters not being big on celebrations in general. But now that he was with Magnus, now that he was experiencing so many new things, reached so many new highs and milestones in their relationship, he gladly wanted to indulge his boyfriend’s penchant of partaking in Mundane traditions and festivities.

Halloween had been a night he’d rather forget, but Thanksgiving had been wonderful, getting to spend an evening with his and Magnus’ family and friends collectively gathered at the loft for a fantastic meal. Alec hoped Christmas would be just as good, even though it would just be him and Magnus this time.

His first of hopefully many Christmases together with Magnus. Alec felt elated just thinking about it. Their plans for the evening were simple; sharing a meal together and exchanging gifts.

His gift for Magnus was burning a hole inside the pocket of his jacket. He’d been wandering aimlessly for hours looking for the perfect gift to give someone that was centuries old, when something finally had caught his eye in a shop window. It was a simple bow and arrow pendant on a long chain that was long enough to be hidden underneath a shirt, or in Magnus’ case, openly displayed mid sternum. On a whim he’d asked the shop assistant if something could be engraved on it and she’d gladly acquiesced to his request. He fervently hoped Magnus wouldn’t think it to be…. too pretentious.

He was shaken from his musings when he realised he’d reached his destination, quickly making his way up to the top floor and entered the loft.

Unwinding his scarf with one hand, he closed the door with the other and called out to his boyfriend. “Magnus? Sorry I’m late, but I wanted to finish everything up and even get ahead on things so that I don’t have to go in tomorrow.” He quickly rid himself of his jacket and toed off his wet boots, before turning around and heading towards the threshold to the living room in search of Magnus.

“Stay right there.”

He froze in his tracks as he watched Magnus hurry over towards him. “Magnus, what-” He didn’t get to finish his sentence as Magnus moved into his space and soundly kissed him on the lips.

Alec promptly forgot what he’d wanted to ask in he first place, eagerly returning the kiss as he circled his arms around Magnus’ waist.

Pulling away, Magnus mischievously winked and smiled at him as he raised a finger to point at something above their heads. “Mistletoe.”

Glancing upwards, Alec saw a couple of green sprigs that were tied together with a red ribbon, hanging from the beam of the threshold. He frowned before looking back at the Warlock he was still holding closely inside the circle of his arms. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s a Mundane thing. Two people caught standing underneath some Mistletoe have to share a kiss.” Magnus’ eyes twinkled, looking up at him as he placed his hands on Alec’s chest. “I’ve always wanted to partake in that tradition myself, but never had an opportunity to do so. Until now.”

Alec’s heart fluttered as he realised the until you was heavily implied in Magnus’ admission. Not sure how to reply to that, Alec leaned forward to capture Magnus’ lips with his own for another sweet kiss.

“I like this Mundane tradition.” He squinted at Magnus. “How many of these Mistletoe things have you got hanging around?”

Magnus tittered in reply, before heading towards the living room. “Alexander honestly, what do you take me for?”

Shaking his head, Alec only chuckled in reply and pretended he didn’t see his boyfriend not-so-subtly fire off tiny gusts of magic at various parts and corners of the loft.

Walking further inside, Alec’s eyes were immediately drawn to the big Christmas tree in the corner, standing next to a crackling fireplace that definitely hadn’t been there when he had left in the morning. Candles were scattered all across, giving the space a warm glow and intimate setting. Two big, red and white Christmas stockings were hanging over the fireplace; one with his name on it, the other with Magnus’. Alec felt his throat clench slightly at the domesticity of it.

“Do you like it? I felt it would set the mood accordingly.” Glancing at Magnus, Alec saw him fidget with his ear cuff, a clear tell that indicated that Magnus was feeling nervous.

Grabbing both of Magnus’ hands with his own, he gently smiled and nodded his head. “Magnus, it’s perfect. Thank you.”

Only then did he notice his boyfriend wearing something rather uncharacteristic and, dare he say, ugly compared to Magnus’ usually bold and eye-catching wardrobe choices. Magnus was wearing a dark blue sweater adorned with little protruding pieces of snow surrounding a penguin with sunglasses on a pair of skis.

It was the most ridiculous piece of clothing Alec had ever seen, yet Magnus still looked irresistible to him. Magnus picked up on his scrutiny of his outfit, striking a silly pose. “Ah yes, I dressed for the occasion, do you like it?”

“Define like.” Reaching out, Alec squeezed one of the white blobs. “It certainly is… interesting.”

“Can’t have you feeling left out.” At the snap of Magnus’ fingers, Alec felt a surge of magic envelop his upper body.

He looked down in horror as the blazer and shirt he’d carefully chosen to wear for the night, were magically replaced by a dark green sweater equally ugly as the one his boyfriend was sporting; only Alec’s had a reindeer on ice skates on it, its big red nose was the only piece jutting out from the material, but it was shimmering with glitter.

“Magnus, no.”

“Indulge me, please?” Magnus bat his eyelashes up at him imploringly.

Alec rolled his eyes in defeat, he was powerless to resist his boyfriend’s charms. “Fine.”

Magnus beamed and took his hand in his, leading him towards the dinner table beautifully decked out with a blood red table cloth and even more candles. “Come, let’s eat.”

Alec watched avidly as Magnus conjured up different kinds of meats, sauces and vegetables, the easy way with which his boyfriend controlled his magic never failed to fill him with awe and wonder.

Momentarily confused, he inclined his head at his boyfriend.“Wait, why is everything raw? And what sort of device is that?”

“It’s a gourmet set, you can use it to cook things while sitting at the dinner table. I thought it would be a fun thing to try. What better way than to improve one’s cooking skills, hmm?” Magnus winked at him, before leaning in to kiss his cheek.

Alec flushed. “It was that one time! You’re never going to let me live it down, are you?” He shook his head at Magnus in mock defeat as they both sat down at the table.

*****

After a pleasant and - Alec was loathe to admit - educational, but fun meal, they took their glasses and the remainder of the wine with them to sit on the rug in front of the fireplace to exchange their gifts.

Once they’d settled comfortably, Alec took a deep breath and squared his shoulders as a surge of jitters ran through his body. Handing Magnus the rectangular box containing the necklace, he bit his lip trying to contain his nerves as he watch the other man lift the lid to unveil what was resting inside.

“I hope you like it. I didn’t know what- but then I saw this- Izzy liked it too.” He inwardly cursed himself for being unable to express himself properly. He thought he’d been over his awkward stumbling around Magnus by now, but it seemed to resurface whenever he attempted to romance the other man. “The uh, engraving was put in at my request.”

Alec observed closely for Magnus’ reaction. His boyfriend was visibly moved as he reached out to touch the necklace with one hand, his fingers brushing over the Always engraved into the arrow, seemingly in reverence. “Alexander, it’s beautiful.”

Alec released a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding, feeling both relieved and pleased that his gift was so well received by Magnus, a silly smile forming on his face, heart pounding madly. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I adore it, no one has ever given me something so exquisite.” Alec was floored by the love that shone from Magnus’ eyes. “Help me put it on?”

They both knew very well that Magnus could just have done it himself, but Alec all but happily indulged him, leaving no excuse unheeded to be close to Magnus.

After a minor struggle with the clasp, Alec managed to connect the ends together, gently lowering it on Magnus’ neck and placing a kiss on the skin just above where the chain now rested. Magnus’ soft gasp in response to his sweet kiss sent the blood straight to his groin but Alec ignored it. There would be plenty of time later for that.

As soon as he moved to sit next to Magnus again, Magnus leaned over and placed a loving kiss on his lips. “Would you care to open your present now?”

Smiling, Alec nodded. “I would.”

Magnus held up his hands, quickly magicking a box that he handed to Alec. “Merry Christmas, Angel.”

Opening the box, Alec peered inside to find a set of leather bound journals, some were more worn-looking than the others. “Are these?” He enquired, eyes still on the contents of the box. Magnus interjected before he fully could comprehend what they were.

“They’re journals. My private journals.” Magnus visibly seemed to brace himself for something. “Everything in my life that’s been of significant importance is in there.”

“Magnus….” Alec didn’t know what to say. What could he say? He felt honoured that Magnus was willingly sharing his most important memories with him. He shook his head. “This is too much. You don’t have to do this.”

Magnus cupped his face, looking at him imploringly. “I am certain. Alexander, I want you to know me, all of me. The good, and the bad.”

Setting the journals carefully aside, Alec pulled Magnus in for a crushing hug. “It means a lot that you want to share your past with me. Thank you.” Tucking his face into Magnus’ neck, he breathed Magnus’ sandalwood scent in deeply, flooding his already overcome senses. He felt immensely humbled by the trust given to him by Magnus.

Pulling back from the hug, Magnus sheepishly smiled. “I know we agreed to only one gift, but I wanted to give you something else as well.” Alec opened his mouth in protest, but Magnus silenced him with a look before he could say anything. “Hold out your hand.”

Alec inaudibly complied, wondering what else Magnus would want to give him. He only had to wait for a second as a key appeared on the palm of his hand.

“It’s nothing but symbolic, of course, my wards already automatically grant you entry, and they always will,” Magnus trailed off, as he placed his hand over Alec’s, closing Alec’s fingers over the key. “But I think it’s high time for the next step. Move in with me, Alexander.”

“Yes.” Alec all but readily breathed in reply, his heart soaring in his chest. “There’s nothing I want more.” He visibly swallowed, trying to find his words, raising his hand to Magnus’ cheek. “Coming home to you after a long and gruelling day, this is where I’ll always want to be, with you. Magnus, I love you. You’re my home.” Alec surged forward, connecting Magnus’ lips to his own.

The kiss they shared was filled with all the love and passion they felt for one another. Eventually Magnus broke the kiss beaming, his eyes shining with emotion. “I love you, Alexander. Now how about a toast to celebrate?”

All in all, Alec happily mused, his first Christmas with Magnus was everything he’d hoped it to be.

#sfjessii #malecsanta17 #*fic17 #*gifts17

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