Chapter Text
Alec found Magnus too late. Actually, it was Magnus that found him, met him at his locker between third and fourth period. Alec sucked in a breath when he saw his boyfriend's face. Magnus' left eye was bruised and swollen, his cheek and lip both sporting scratches where the skin had been broken though. Any blood had been cleaned up.
"Magnus, what happened?" Alec had a feeling he knew. It had been the same thing the last two times.
"I'm fine darling, though I admit I don't think I'll be able to apply any makeup to this for a while." He touched the edge of his black eye and hissed.
Alec winced, clenching his jaw. "It was Valentine's little group, wasn't it?"
"It doesn't matter," Magnus leaned against the locker next to Alec's, studying his nail polish.
Alec slammed his locker shut and kicked the one underneath. The bullying had subsided a bit since they'd made their relationship known. Mostly a result of Alec threatening anyone that so much as looked at Magnus the wrong way. But some kids were undeterred. All because Magnus chose to wear a little makeup sometimes.
"I'm going to kill him."
"I'd rather you not go to jail over this."
Magnus' tone was still too light and airy. His stance too relaxed.
Alec shook his head, "Did you tell the principal?"
"Of course, but you know how it goes. If no one else was around to see it..."
"Why aren't you more upset about this?"
It hurt to look at Magnus. He was still beautiful despite the discoloration and swelling of his face. But all Alec could see was the pain and how Magnus seemed determined to bury it down deep.
The bell rang and the halls emptied out, but neither of them moved.
"Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much."
"Is that a quote?"
Magnus' lips tipped up, but his hand flew to the scratch, ruining his unfazed facade. "Oscar Wilde."
"Yeah, well forgiveness isn't going to keep it from happening again. I'm sick of this, they can't keep hurting you."
"There's only two months until graduation. Then we'll be in New York. At college. This won't happen there." Magnus pressed his hand to Alec's cheek, running his thumb gently across Alec's cheekbone. Alec realized suddenly that Magnus was attempting to comfort him. His stomach flipped.
"That's not soon enough."
Alec pulled away and marched down the hallway, hearing the clack of Magnus' boots right behind him. "Your class isn't in this direction."
"I'm not going to my class."
"Alec-"
"There's a moment in fighting when strength of muscle ain't everything because the enemy has already given you enough energy to gain the victory," Alec recites. "Toba Beta. And Valentine has just given me all the energy I need."
Alec yanks open the door to the men's changing room outside the gym. He finds Valentine instantly, laughing with his friends. Alec grabs his shirt and slams him against the lockers. Valentine might weight-lift like a typical egoist teen, but his fighting skills were practically non-existent.
"What the hell?"
He starts squirming so Alec tightens his grip on the fabric. "Shut up. The only reason you're even alive right now is because Magnus is a better person than you. But if you go near him again, I will make sure it's the last thing you ever do, understand?"
Valentine shifts to throw a punch and Alec releases his hold on the other teen's shirt. He catches the fist in his hands and sees a hint of fear pass over Valentine's face. Alec uses his hold to spin them around and push Valentine to the floor. Alec spits, "Coward."
"At least I'm not gay."
Alec rolls his eyes. "Grow up. At least I'm not a bully who preys on everyone and anyone that won't fight back. Magnus has a blackbelt in Judo, did you know that? He could destroy you if he wanted to. He won't, but I will. Leave him alone."
"Come on," Magnus' hand lands on his wrist and Alec allows himself to be tugged out of the locker room before the coach shows up. Magnus doesn't stop when they get to the hallway, though his hand moves down to hold Alec's instead of hanging onto his wrist. It gives him hope that Magnus might not be too angry.
Alec is still frustrated, restless and wanting a fight. Actually fighting Valentine would have only upset Magnus though.
They leave the building and make it to Magnus' car before he finally stops and spins around. Alec can see the fire in his eyes and it makes the fight in him simmer down. If only there wasn't that giant bruise taking up half his face. "I'm sorry, I should've-" He's silenced by Magnus' lips on his, which is a relief because he's not sure what he was going to say. Alec can taste blood when the cut on Magnus' lips reopens and it makes him want to find Valentine and actually murder him this time.
When Magnus pulls away Alec brushes the blood from his lip.
"I may be a pacifist, but watching you... you're insanely hot when you're throwing someone around like a rag-doll. Especially when you're doing it for me," Magnus admits.
"So you're not upset."
"No. You may have a bit of a point. I don't endorse violence, but it may be effective in some scenarios."
Alec wraps his arms around his boyfriend, tugging him in. "You're a good person, Magnus. Just... let me beat up anyone who hurts you like this."
Magnus chuckles into his shoulder. "Well, I'd hate for you to break your promise to Valentine."
Alec gets the chance to follow up on his promise a week later when he finds Valentine and two of his followers backing Magnus into a corner. He's not too late for once. So he beats Valentine to a pulp while Magnus handles his two goons- just enough that they can't overwhelm Alec.
It gets Alec a week of suspension and Magnus a couple days. Alec thinks it's worth it even when his parents ground him for a month. It's especially worth it when Alec returns to school and sees Valentine wince with every moment, still bruised everywhere. The bully doesn't so much as look at Magnus again for the rest of the school year and that feels like a victory.