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It was almost 6pm and Alec was starting to feel butterflies in his stomach. Why? Well, everything started about two months ago. It was the middle of summer and Alec had been in the mood for ice cream. It had started as something he did with his siblings and it had soon become a summer tradition. Even if it wasn't something they could do together anymore, he still liked to hold onto it.
Alec had recently moved out from his parents house to a new, slightly small but perfect for just one person, apartment in Brooklyn and he didn’t know the area very well. Between work and moving, he hadn’t had time to explore the neighborhood and that Friday was the first time he had been to the supermarket a few blocks from his apartment.
He walked through the aisles, looking at the selection of products and picking up a couple of things to fill his empty cupboards, when he finally found the ice cream section. And there it was, a pint of neapolitan ice cream. It had everything one could want: simple vanilla, classic chocolate and strawberry, for those times he was feeling a bit adventurous. Alec reached out his hand just as another hand that was also reaching for the ice cream box bumped into his. He looked up, ready to apologize when he saw the man whose hand he had hit and froze on the spot unable to say a single word. The man was just gorgeous . He was tall but slightly shorter than him (he didn’t know anyone taller than him, to be honest), and he had dark hair adorned with some blue that matched the color of his nail polish. Alec could see the man was wearing make up and he hadn’t known how much he was into that until now.
“Sorry,” Alec heard the man say before he finally faced him. His smile grew wide when he noticed Alec staring. And it was then that he saw his eyes, a hint of yellow and gold making them sparkle behind the heavy eye shadow.
“You can have it, darling,” the man said.
He quickly looked away, embarrassed, his face completely red. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, his eyes fixed on the wall in front of him. “Please, you take it.” Alec gestured at the pint of ice cream in the freezer, glancing at the man who hadn’t taken his eyes off him. He closed his own eyes to compose himself and finally turned his head.
“I insist,” the man said, amused. “Besides, there’s more just like that one.”
Alec was about to insist again but realized how ridiculous it would be so he stopped himself. “Thanks,” he said instead, feeling quite lame and cursing internally. He picked the box on top of the pile and put it in his basket.
“Anytime sweet cheeks,” the man said and picking his pint of ice cream, he walked away with a smile.
The following week had been hell for Alec, to the point that he hadn’t even had time to think about the man from the supermarket for more than two seconds. By Friday, all he could think about was how much he wanted some ice cream. When he got to the store, Alec couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to ever see the man again. As he was standing in front of the freezer, a voice he recognized came from behind.
“You must be a gelato because you make ice cream look bad.” The man was standing behind him, smiling widely and looking quite proud of himself. Alec raised an eyebrow in confusion.
The man wasn’t taken aback by Alec’s lack of response though and continued talking. “Neapolitan again?” he asked.
“I… I like it…” Alec said, as if he was trying to excuse himself.
“It’s okay,” the man replied, visibly amused. “I like it too. It’s the perfect combination of flavors, don’t you think?”
Alec just nodded awkwardly and the man chuckled.
“Anyway, if we’re going to keep meeting like this, we should probably introduce ourselves properly,” the man said. “I’m Magnus Bane.”
“I’m Alec…”
“Alec,” Magnus smiled, “Is that short for Alexander?”
“It is b-but… only my parents call me that,” Alec explained.
“Well, that’s a waste. It’s a beautiful name.”
And it occurred to Alec that he probably wouldn’t mind if Magnus called him whatever he wanted.
Since then, Alec had met Magnus every Friday at the ice cream section without fail. Sometimes Alec would be there first, sometimes it was Magnus, sometimes they would arrive at the same time, but it was always essentially the same. Magnus would make some flirty comment making Alec blush, they would talk for a few minutes, get their ice cream and go home. It had become the highlight of Alec’s week, since work at his parents’ company was getting more and more insufferable.
One Wednesday, Izzy and Jace had decided to show up on his doorstep completely unannounced. They had decided to watch a movie but before that, his sister had insisted on going out to buy some ice cream.
“We must continue the tradition,” she said as she pushed her two brothers out of the apartment.
Alec hadn’t bothered to change into proper clothes since the supermarket was so close, and he was wearing a pair sweatpants and a form fitting black tank top. He was walking distractedly in front of his siblings, who were arguing about that movie they should watch, when someone bumped into him.
“Well, that’s a sight for sore eyes,” Magnus said, giving Alec the once-over making him forget why was he even there. Or with whom.
He heard someone clearing their throat behind him. Izzy was looking between Alec and Magnus and immediately a grin spread across her face. “Introductions can wait for later,” she said amused. “Get the ice cream, we’ll be looking for the chips and some cookies. Way over there.”
Izzy grabbed Jace by the arm and pulled him with her. “Didn’t we come just for the ice cream?”
“Shut up Jace,” Izzy shushed him as they disappeared round a corner.
Alec felt his cheeks burning. He opened his mouth to say something but he was too mortified to produce a sound.
“Are they your brother and sister?” Magnus asked, trying to make conversation.
“Yeah,” Alec replied quietly. “We’re having an impromptu movie night.”
“Sounds lovely,” he said with a smile, meeting Alec’s eyes.
“Yeah… hmmmm…” he stuttered, “I should probably go get… you know…”
“You’re right. The ice cream,” Magnus said. Alec nodded and started walking away, closely followed by Magnus.
Alec opened the freezer and took two pints, offering one to Magnus. He shook his head.
“It’s okay,” he said. “There’s this really cute guy I meet every Friday when I come to get ice cream and I wouldn’t want to miss him.”
Alec chuckled. “Well, good luck then,” he said, putting the extra ice cream pint back inside the freezer.
The game changer for Alec had been just last week. He was walking around the store after an especially bad day at his parents’ company when he heard Magnus’ voice and his mood got a million times better.
“Hello hot stuff,” Magnus said and Alec smiled. Little by little during the the two months, he had gotten used to Magnus and his nicknames. “Don’t get too close or you’re going to melt everything.”
“Sure Magnus,” he said, shaking his head.
“I never see you blushing anymore,” he lamented. “I need to step up my game.”
“Yeah,” Alec laughed, picking his ice cream and throwing it in his basket
“Any big plans for tonight?” Magnus asked, leaning against the freezer.
Alec raised his basket and pointed at it. “Just ice cream,” he said. “You?”
“Ice cream and movie,” he replied. “I can eat the whole thing in one go if I’m watching the right movie.”
“You’re going to eat the whole thing?” He laughed a little. “I can’t eat all of it in one night!”
“Maybe next time we could share it,” Magnus said with a wink and Alec didn’t understood what he had meant by that until he had gotten home.
Alec hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Magnus had said the week before. Had he really mean it? At this point Alec couldn’t deny he had probably, maybe, perhaps developed a little, tiny crush on Magnus. He knew he had been attracted to him from day one (who could resist those beautiful eyes), but he had started to enjoy his company and feel that those few minutes in the ice cream section weren’t enough anymore.
That’s why, when he got to the supermarket and saw that there was only one pint of neapolitan ice cream he took it as a sign. It was now or never.
“Hello, Alexander,” Magnus said and Alec froze like the first day he had seen him. How could his name sound so different when he said it? He swallowed hard and counted to five.
“Hi…” Alec turned to look at the freezer and pointed at the lonely pint. “Seems like there’s only one today.”
“Looks like it,” he said, standing next to Alec, his arms slightly touching. “I can get something different tonight.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Alec said, his voice low, looking at Magnus intently.
“And why is that?” Magnus looked into Alec’s eyes, holding his gaze.
Alec hesitated for a second. “I could take you up on your offer,” he said. Seconds passed and it seemed like hours to Alec as he waited for an answer. Maybe he had screwed up, maybe Magnus hadn’t mean it that way and it was just one of his flirty lines to make him blush, maybe...
“About time,” Magnus exclaimed and Alec couldn’t hide his confusion. “I’ve been throwing hints at you for weeks.”
“But you just said something last Friday,” he said, furrowing his brow.
“Last Friday was my last attempt at it,” Magnus laughed. “And I didn’t think it had worked. I do love a challenge but I honestly thought you weren’t interested.”
Alec was looking at Magnus like he was speaking in tongues. He knew Magnus had been flirting every time they met, but until last week Alec had thought that it was just how he was with everyone, although he must admit he hadn’t seen him interact with anyone but him.
“Remember that time I was coming back from the world’s shortest, and most disastrous, date,” Magnus started, “And I told you that I’d have to eat all that ice cream by myself?”
He vaguely remembered that night, mostly because he couldn’t help feeling relieved when Magnus had told him the date had gone all kinds of wrong. He also remembered him looking especially sinful.
“How about the time I said that ice cream tastes better when you eat it with someone ?” he asked.
Alec remembered that too.
“You told me about your siblings,” Magnus said. “Don’t get me wrong, it was adorable. Not exactly what I was going for though.”
“You… you meant me?” he asked, genuinely confused. “All this time?”
“Alexander… Who else would I mean?”
Alec pressed his lips together and shrugged and Magnus move closer.
“Stop doing that,” he said. “You’re making it very hard to resist kissing you.”
“What?” Alec whispered, his heart beating so fast it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.
Magnus chuckled and shook his head. “How about we start by sharing that ice cream? See where it takes us.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”