Chapter 5

Alec doesn't wake up until half past noon on Friday. He ends up going to Java Jones for coffee and a breakfast sandwich, reads one of his sci-fi novels for a couple hours, then goes on a run. Finally, it's time for him to start getting ready for his date with Magnus. Alec was hoping that by keeping himself active throughout the day, his typical nervous energy would have dissipated. Unfortunately for him, it has not. After his shower, he stands in front of his closet staring at the outfit Clary helped him pick out. It's a pair of black skinny jeans, which are brand new and does miracles for his ass, a deep midnight blue button-down shirt that has black pin striping on it and is a little too tight around his shoulders, a solid black silk skinny tie, and his black Doc Marten's to complete the outfit. As soon as he finishes getting ready for the date, the buzzer goes off to indicate Magnus' arrival.

Alec heads downstairs to meet Magnus at the entrance of his apartment, and is blown away by the sight of the man. Magnus's black skinny jeans hug his long legs just right, his maroon button-down shirt is tucked in to accentuate his slim waist, and a black vest and blazer complete the look. His hair was spiked up with the tips dyed red, and his makeup is very subtle with just eyeliner, and smokey eye shadow. Alec just stands in front of Magnus with a look of awe. He can't believe that this beautiful man is interested in him.

"Alexander, darling, you may want to close your mouth. You're catching flies," Magnus states with a giggle. Alec shakes his head to clear his thoughts.

"You look beautiful, Magnus," Alec compliments a bit breathily.

"Thank you, darling. You're looking quite dashing yourself," Magnus says, as he's blatantly checking Alec out.

"Are you ready to go?" Alec questions.

Magnus leads him over to his car. Magnus drives a Tesla Model S. It's an Electric Blue color, the rims are gunmetal, the interior is done up in black and gray Italian leather. Alec's eyes bulge out, and his mouth is completely open; he is completely in awe of this car.

"Magnus! This car is over two hundred thousand dollars...just...how?" Alec stutters, as he sits in the passenger seat. He's lost the capacity to complete a coherent sentence. At this point, he notices that Magnus looks nervous, and grabs his hand.

"Uh, yeah...my dad bought it for me as a welcome home present when I first moved back. This is the reason why I don't drive my car to work. It looks completely out of place doesn't it?" Magnus asks, as he pulls into traffic.

"I can understand that. It's a beautiful car. Why in the hell did you seem so impressed with my car when you had this parked in your parking garage? My car looks like a Pinto compared to this baby?" Alec exclaims, causing Magnus to laugh.

"Darling, your car is sexy and it suits you perfectly. That's why I was so impressed with it. I do love a sexy car, no matter the price point," Magnus finishes.

"Whatever." Alec mutters while rolling his eyes and blushes.

The two men drive in comfortable silence while the music is turned down low for background noise. Soon enough, Magnus pulls into a beautiful restaurant that's located on the edge of the East River, with an amazing view of the Brooklyn Bridge. Once they park, Magnus gets out and runs to open the door for Alec. Alec recognizes the restaurant immediately. It's a five star Steak and Seafood restaurant that also holds a Michelin Star title. The waiting list to get in is six months. Alec really needs to ask Magnus how he managed a feat such as this. They walk in hand in hand, and approach the reception desk. The hostess is looking at her phone, and not paying attention to the two men standing in front of her. Magnus clears his throat, causing her to look up with a bored expression.

"Excuse me, we're here under the reservation for Bane, party of two," Magnus states plainly. The girl jumps at the name, and immediately takes them to their table.

"Oh yes! I'm so sorry, Mister Bane! Right this way, sir." the hostess rapidly escorts the men to their table, which sits in front of a large bay window facing the East River. Alec and Magnus take their seats.

"Your server will be right with you. I'll make sure he comes right away." With that, she runs off through a set of double doors.

"Wow, you get treated like a king here, even if the hostess is a little lacking," Alec says, with a chuckle. Alec notices Magnus' cheeks turning faintly pink, and gives a bashful smile. At that moment, the server approaches them.

"Welcome, Mister Bane. The Chef has been made aware of your arrival and is working on your starter now. May I interest you in a bottle of our Cabernet Sauvignon?" the server asks.

"That would be lovely. Thank you, Thomas," Magnus replies, and points to the wine glasses set at the table. With that, Thomas fills the glasses, places the bottle in a Sterling silver ice bucket, and retreats.

"Okay, seriously! You're on a first-name basis with the staff? What's that about?" Alec asks, with a mischievous glint in his eye, causing Magnus to laugh.

"My father owns the restaurant. I told him that I was planning on taking you out tonight, and he insisted that I bring you here." Magnus looks at Alec as if trying to gauge his reaction. "I hope that's okay...?" he finishes with a hint of insecurity in his tone. Alec beams at him.

"It's more than alright. It's perfect. I've heard amazing things about this place. I know the waiting list is at least six months, and I know that the owner - well your father - has a restaurant similar to this one in Manhattan," Alec says excitedly, then glances out the window. "God, this view is amazing!" he exclaims. Magnus is sporting a face splitting grin from Alec's enthusiasm. "So tell me about yourself," Alec continued. "I know the basics just from work and our texts, but I want to get to know you better." This causes Magnus to laugh.

"What would you like to know?"

Alec looks thoughtful for a moment before answering.

"Whatever you want to tell me. Anything at all really."

"Okay. Well, you know that I lived in London for most of my life, and that I went to boarding school. I would come home quite frequently, though I still managed to pick up a slight accent. I'm half Indonesian and half Dutch. My mother was the first generation American-born Indonesian in our family. Her parents moved here when my aunt was a small child and before my mother came along. My father was born in the Netherlands. When my father came to New York to start his first restaurant, he met my mother in a coffee shop. The two of them fell in love at first sight, and now here we are.

"My mother is a paralegal - which I think I remember telling you that she works for a law firm - who deals with mostly hate crimes, same sex adoption... same sex rights... honestly they deal with anything that pertains to the LGBTQ+ community." Magnus pauses for a moment, thinking of what else he wants to talk about. At that point, their appetizer shows up. It's fresh clams with a mixture of pancetta, breadcrumbs, herbs, and Parmesan cheese.

"Enjoy your starter, Mister Bane. Your meals will be out shortly," Thomas says, and walked back towards the kitchen. He was going to ask why they were never brought menus, but considering the fact that Magnus' father owns the restaurant, and it was already known they were coming, he figures that Magnus' father planned the menu in advance for them. It was a very nice gesture, and no one's ever gone all out like this for him on a first date before. It warms Alec's heart that Magnus would go through this much trouble for him.

"Thank you so much, Thomas." Magnus turns his attention to Alec. "Dig in, darling. I hope you enjoy it, this is one of my favorite starter dishes." Magnus then grabs a stuffed clam, digs the contents out with his fork, and feeds it to Alec. As Alec is chewing, his eyes gradually grow wider.

"Oh my god, Magnus, this is amazing!" Alec exclaims. He truly has never tasted anything this exquisite in his life. After taking a sip of wine, Alec continues, "So you said that your mom works for attorneys, which group does she work for if you don't mind me asking?"

"She works for Blackthorne, Penhollow, and Associates. From what she tells me, the partners in the firm have daughters who ended up married about a year or two ago," Magnus states. Alec is giving Magnus a knowing look, shakes his head, then starts laughing.

"Magnus, you do realize that Aline Penhollow-Blackthorne is who you're talking about right? She's one of the daughters of your mom's law partners. How did you not put that together when she introduced herself to you?" Alec asks, slightly amused.

"Well, damn. I guess I was so worried about our conversation that I completely missed the connection." Magnus visibly pales at this revelation, "Wait a minute, my mom told me that she spoke to the daughters. She also told me that I should be expecting a call to meet, and go out with them one night since I really haven't met anyone in the city as of yet. Do you think Aline will out me once she finds out who I am, if she hasn't already done so to begin with?" Magnus asks. Alec gives Magnus a sardonic look.

"Magnus, she probably already knows. Aline isn't the type of person who will just out someone. You're being paranoid. My advice to you is to wait it out. If she says anything to you, then feel free to ask her not to say anything, and if she says nothing at all, just let the cards fall where they may." Alec shrugs, then continues with a bright smile, "Now, tell me more about yourself. I want to know everything there is to know about you." Magnus laughs, then grabs another clam before continuing.

"You know Alexander, this is really starting to sound like an interview, rather than a date," Magnus teases. "Let's see."

Alec can see Magnus thinking it over for a moment.

"I can speak four languages, not including English. I speak fluent Dutch, and Indonesian, along with French, and Spanish," Magnus concludes with a smirk.

Alec can't deny that he impressed, he also wonders what it would be like to listen to Magnus speak to him in any of those languages while making love. He quickly brushes that thought away, and becomes more and more uncomfortable sitting in the chair.

Thomas arrives to deliver their main course. He sets down a filet mignon stuffed with mushrooms, and onions with a drizzle of bearnaise sauce on top, a skewer of grilled shrimp, and a side of sauteed zucchini and cherry tomatoes in front of Alec, and for Magnus, he sets down a honey-ginger glazed salmon on top of a side of rice pilaf, with a side of asparagus. They both eat off of each other's plates while chatting comfortably the entire time. Alec is really enjoying himself while getting to know Magnus better. For dessert they share an amaretto mousse cheesecake, and feed it to each other. The date has become incredibly cliché, but Alec loves it. This is by far the best date he's ever been on.

They drive back to Alec's apartment in comfortable silence, Alec still not believing how wonderful this date has been. He's not ready for the night to end.

"There's a park just around the corner from my place, I usually go through it on my morning runs. Would you like to walk around for a little while, or do you need to get home?" Alec questions.

"I can walk with you. I'm really not ready for our date to end." Magnus says as he pulls up in front of Alec's apartment building. The two get out of the car, Alec takes Magnus' hand, and he leads them to the park.

"Please tell your father that the meal was amazing. I'm definitely going to tell everyone I know about his restaurant. Let him know that any steak which hasn't been prepared by him is officially a bad steak," Alec says with a chuckle which causes Magnus to laugh in response.

"I'm sure my father will be happy to hear that. He loves when people enjoy his food. He says that food is the one thing that can bring people closer together. He teaches cooking courses, as well." Magnus laughs then continues, "Every time I came home to visit, my dad and I would be in the kitchen together. He always told me that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. He made sure that I knew how to prepare meals so I could impress my dates, it was always something we did together to bond." Magnus finishes with a glint in his eyes.

Alec can't help smiling over Magnus' enthusiasm while telling the story. It also gives him a slight pang of jealousy because he knows that he'll never have that type of relationship with his own father. He quickly pushes those thoughts aside because he doesn't want to think about the people who abandoned him, and also because he doesn't want to ruin his date with negative thoughts. He looks up at Magnus and smiles.

"Well, maybe you could cook for me sometime." Alec's eyes widen at the comment he just made. He tries to think of ways to backpedal out of his self-perceived faux pas. Just because Alec had an amazing time on their date, doesn't mean that Magnus feels the same way. Magnus notices Alec's expression immediately and responds.

"Maybe I will," he replies, with a wink.

They head back to the apartment building, and stand in front of Magnus' car. Alec looks up to Magnus, and feels a blush coming on.

"I had a great time tonight, did you want to come up for a while?" Alec asks.

Magnus sighs.

"I really want to, but I can't. Alexander, this has been the best date of my life. I really like you, but I think that if I go up there with you, things will move way too fast. You're so different than anyone I've ever met, and I want to do this right for once. I want to date you properly before anything more happens. But, if it's alright with you, may I please kiss you? I've been wanting to do that all week." A small smile to appears on Alec's face at those words.

Alec blushes, nodding. His lips part as Magnus leans forward to press their lips together. The kiss starts off slowly, but escalates quickly. Both men moan, and deepen the kiss with tongues exploring. There are no fireworks exploding like people describe in novels or movies, but this kiss feels like a burning sensation starting deep within. Alec can only describe it to be the best kiss he's ever had. It seems like tonight there have been a lot of 'bests' for Alec. Eventually they break the kiss to replenish the oxygen they have been deprived of for the last few minutes, resting forehead to forehead.

"Goodnight, Alexander. I'll call you tomorrow," Magnus whispers, giving Alec a chaste kiss before moving away.

"Goodnight, Magnus. Get home safely." With that, Magnus gets in his car and drives away.