Alec doesn't know how to cook. He never did learn how, unlike Isabelle who self-taught herself a thing or two and still cooks anyway even though her food tasted like garbage.

But today was different. He woke up early that morning in bed with the usual aches and pains of being a Shadowhunter. Magnus was sleeping soundly beside him on his stomach, snoring softly.

This made Alec smile. The way that the light of the sun coming in through the window gave Magnus a halo above his head, casting a golden glow in his already golden skin and messy black hair. His eyelashes cast a shadow on his cheeks, which were red from the heat coming from under the blanket. To Alec, this was perfection. This was how he wanted every morning to be. This was home.

As quietly as he could, he got up out of bed and padded down the hallway into the kitchen. The coffeemaker was already brewing a fresh batch and the smell woke Alec right up. He yawned and stretched as he waited for the coffeemaker to finish up. In the reflection of the window that overlooked the busy street below, he could see that his hair was disheveled and in a complete disarray. He didn't bother trying to flatten it. Magnus once said this look was endearing on him. Since then, he never bothered combing it.

The coffee was finished and he poured himself up a mug. As he sat down at the island, he thought about how nice it would be if he made Magnus breakfast in bed. He'd make the whole thing; eggs, bacon, toasts and even pancakes. Magnus would love it all.

Only problem is....he didn't know how to cook.

Isabelle was always the cook in the family. Even if her food tasted like sewage, she went ahead and cooked anyway regardless of the fact that no one ever ate it. He wasn't sure why she did it. All he knew was that he needed her advice. On cooking. Which was the exact thing he wanted to avoid.

He picked up his cell and dialled her number. She probably wasn't even awake yet. It was only 6:15.

Isabelle picked up on the fourth ring. "This better be important or I'll kill you when you get home."

"Good morning to you too," Alec grumbled. "I have a question for you."

She sighed heavily. "Fine. I'm listening."

Alec looked over in the direction of the bedroom and lowered his voice. "What would you make for someone if you wanted to cook them breakfast in bed?"

He heard the sheets ruffle on her end of the phone. "Alexander Gideon," she whispered, the smile on her face evident even if Alec couldn't see her. "Are you planning to do something romantic for Magnus?"

Alec flushed. "Maybe. Just answer the question, will you? I don't know when he'll wake up...."

"Well since you two are so freakin' adorable, I'll gladly forget you woke me up at 6 in the morning." She snickered. "Pancakes always works over well. With a dollop of syrup and whipped cream on top."

"Dollop? Since when did you learn what that meant?"

"Shut it. If you want my help, you'll shut up and listen. Now with these pancakes, a perfectly toasted slice of bread with butter and some bacon will win the hearts of even the meanest Downworlders. And make sure the bacon isn't flimsy. No one likes raw meat. Except werewolves...."

Alec had grabbed a pen and paper, writing down everything Isabelle was saying. "Okay. Anything else? What about drink wise?"

"Well what does Magnus like drinking? Other than alcohol that is."

Stumped, Alec scratched his head in thought. "I don't know. I've never really seen him drink anything other than alcohol."

"Hmm," Isabelle hummed. "Go with orange juice. That's a common breakfast beverage. Oh and if he has any fruit, a small bowl of it would go beautifully with what you already have."

"So a fruit salad?"

"Yes. Whatever it's called. And that's pretty much my idea of a perfect breakfast. Why don't you do nice things like this for me?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "Because I know one day you'll meet the right person who will do all these wonderful things for you and you'll appreciate it that much more when it comes to the right person."

If he hadn't been paying close attention, Alec would've missed his sister's small sniffle on the other end of the phone. After a moment, she finally spoke again. "Is that all you wanted to ask?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's it. Thanks Izzy. Love you."

"Love you too, big bro. Go make your man the best breakfast in bed he's ever had. And call me later. I want details."

Alec chuckled. "Okay. Talk to you later."

After hanging up with Isabelle, Alec went right to work. He knew pancakes needed batter in order to make them. He also needed eggs (at least he thought he did) and bacon, along with bread and butter and whatever he could grab from the fridge. Once he had everything be wanted, he looked at the ingredients he had on top of the kitchen counter.

It was a mess. He had grabbed mayonnaise and asparagus among other things he didn't even need to cook breakfast. Frowning, he put away what he didn't need and finally got to work on cooking.

There's a lesson here that Alec eventually learns. When he begins to mix the right ingredients together for the pancakes and pours the batter into the pot on the stove, a feeling in his gut begins to grow as the batter begins to boil. Something isn't right here but he wasn't sure what.

He opened the pack of bacon after defrosting it in the microwave. The frying pan sizzled and bubbled with bacon as he worked on the toast. Toast was easy enough to make. You stick the bread inside and press down on the toaster and wait.

Or so he thought.

The smoke alarm began to go off as he rushed over to the oven and removed the burning pancakes from the stovetop. They were nothing but a black crisp stuck to the bottom of the pot. Nothing worth salvaging.

Something else began to burn. As Alec looked up he saw that the toaster was on fire and yelled in surprise. Magnus had to be awake by now, after all the commotion he was making in the kitchen. Yelling, swearing, banging utensils around and the smoke alarm going off (which Alec shot an arrow at to make the constant buzzing stop). Surprisingly when Alec looked into the bedroom, Magnus was still sleeping soundly. He had moved from his stomach onto his back, an arm flung above his head on the pillow.

Scrapping the pancakes and toast, Alec was left with the bacon. Frying it was going so well. Maybe the whole breakfast in bed idea wasn't a total bust after all. Maybe, just maybe, this would be the one thing that would work out the way he wanted it to. He hated the idea of having everything being entirely screwed up because he couldn't do something right for once in his life. All he wanted was one thing to work out perfectly-

"Dammit!" Alec cried out as some bacon fat from the pan spat up and burned his face. He stumbled backwards, his hands rubbing at the burn just under his eyes, and knocked over the pile of dirty dishes that had accumulated on the island in the middle of the kitchen. They fell to the floor with a loud crash and prompted Alec to remove his hands from his burnt face to see the mess he made.

"By the angel...." He flipped off the knob on the stove that was controlling the heat under the bacon and dumped it into the garbage. What was left of Magnus' supposed breakfast now laid at the bottom of the garbage bin, looking very much like a failed science experiment. Alec was disgusted.

He sunk to the floor in a heap. He wasn't going to cry over spilt milk (literally and figuratively, although the milk on the floor really did make him want to cry in frustration). If he was going to do anything, he was going to be an adult about this and tell Magnus about the huge mistake he made in thinking that he could pull off making breakfast in bed for him. The disaster zone around him was another thing he was going to tell Magnus about as well. Hopefully Magnus won't be too upset about egg yolk on his Persian rug....which was in another room entirely. Alec still isn't sure how he managed that.

Alec looked down at the notes he made when he had phoned Isabelle earlier. The only thing that he hadn't attempted was fruit salad. Easy enough to make, impossible to burn (if he did manage this, he was giving up entirely). All it required was a few different kinds of fruits in a bowl and maybe a "dollop" of whipped cream on the top. No pots it pans or heated kitchen things necessary.

Magnus had all kinds of fruit. Apples, pineapples, oranges, grapes, bananas. Alec didn't know what half of them were but he cut them up in small pieces anyway and tossed them in a bowl. For a brief moment he had thought about arranging them in a way that looked like a bouquet but thought better of it. With his luck, if he tried to carve a rose out of a pineapple, he'll set the room on fire.

Setting his sad breakfast on a tray with a glass of orange juice balanced beside it, he made his way into the bedroom. Magnus was still sleeping soundly, the sun now having moved off of Magnus and was on Alec's side of the bed. The warlock still looked as beautiful as ever.

Alec set the tray on the bed and gently shook Magnus. "Magnus. Wake up. I made you something."

Magnus groaned. "Wh-whuh? What time is it?"

"It's almost 7. I got up early to....make you breakfast."

Magnus yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Really? That's so sweet of you? I could use some bacon and coffee about now."

Alec's face immediately turned red as he looked at his sad bowl of fruit and glass of orange juice. "I....I didn't make bacon. Or coffee. I mean there's coffee out there but I didn't bring you any...."

Magnus looked down at the tray beside him. "Just the fruit salad?"

"And juice," Alec pointed out.

"I see the juice. What happened to the other breakfast components?"

Alec's face reddened even more. "I tossed the bacon because it spit at my face and burned me. The toast burnt to a crisp and I burnt the pancakes in the pot-"

"Wait a second," Magnus raised a hand and cocked his head. "You put the pancake batter in a pot?"

"Isn't that where it goes?" Alec shrugged.

Magnus smirked. "No, Alexander. Pancakes are made in a frying pan. Is that all you made?"

Alec thought about the mess he made and shook his head. "No. I made a really big mess in your kitchen too. Spilled milk on your favorite rug. Shot an arrow at the smoke detector and your toaster kind of exploded on me."

The air between them grew thick with awkwardness as Magnus stared at him in confusion. "You shot an arrow at the smoke detector?"

"Yeah. It was getting annoying," Alec rubbed his neck. "Did you hear what I said about the rug? The Persian one you love so much?"

"I know which one you're referring to. But I don't care about that. I want to know why you destroyed my smoke detector when you could've just disabled it with your hands."

"Oh," Alec made an ashamed face. "I didn't realize you could do that. I'll remember that the next time I nearly burn the place down."

Magnus snickered and popped a piece of banana into his mouth. "Well....all things considered, I really do appreciate the effort. Even if you did almost burn down my home while I was sleeping."

"Sorry," Alec smirked. "It looks so easy on the television. I thought I could do what those people could do too."

Magnus sipped the juice. It was freshly squeezed. He wondered if Alec managed to get juice in his eye during the process. "Those are professionals, Alec. They've been cooking for years. Lots of practice involved."

Alec nodded as he played with a piece of string on the bedsheets. "Yeah. True. I don't know what I was thinking. Cooking you a nice meal and surprising you...." He snorted and looked at the blankets in disbelief. "Pretty stupid, huh?"

Magnus leaned over the bowl of fruit, taking Alec's chin and gently lifting it so the Shadowhunter's eyes met his own. "No. Not stupid. I think the gesture is sweet. I've never had anyone make me breakfast in bed before."

Alec's eyes widened. "Never?"

Magnus shook his head. "Never. Once again, you're my first of many things. Even if it was just a bowl of fruit, sometimes it's the simplicity of gestures that make it more meaningful than the more elaborately thought out ones."

Magnus raised the can of whipped cream to his mouth and squirt some in it. Alec grinned as the warlock swallowed the mouthful. "So you don't mind that I burnt pretty much everything? And broke your fire alarm?"

"Oh I mind. The fire alarm will need to replaced. Calling the inspectors is going to be a pain in my ass but that can wait another day. We have more important things to do today." Magnus got to his feet and stretched before getting on all fours and leaned in close to Alec's face, just inches away. "Are you hungry?"

Alec's eyes flickered in response. "Starving. Why?"

Magnus smiled, his eyes crinkling around the edges. "I know a cute little restaurant in Brooklyn that serves all day breakfast. All you can eat. The waffles are even made in frying pans."

Alec was tempted to stick out his tongue but that would've been childish. "Sounds good. I could use something to eat. All that attempted cooking took the energy out of me."

"Excellent," Magnus leaned in and kissed Alec on the lips. He didn't even notice until now that Alec was shirtless and wearing only a pair of black boxer briefs, polar opposite to his nakedness that he quickly covered up in hopes that Alec didn't notice. He wasn't ashamed of his body by no means. It just wasn't appropriate for the moment they were sharing. "Get dressed. We're leaving in ten."

"What about the salad?" Alec indicated to the bowl of fruit on the bed.

Magnus looked at it. "You're right. We can't let that go to waste. But I can think a few creative ways to eat it once we get back. Leave the can of whipped cream here. I'll need it."

Alec's eyes widened and he visibly swallowed. "Oh. Okay. Sounds-sounds fun."

"And it will be," Magnus kissed him again. "Thank you again for the breakfast in bed. You're the best boyfriend a guy could ever ask for."

Alec blushed. "Thanks. I really did try my best."

"And I appreciate it very much. But maybe next time, wake me up so I can help you? We can sit down and eat the meal we made together. Enjoy it at the same time."

Alec smiled broadly. "I'd love that very much."

Magnus returned the smile. "Excellent. Maybe I'll even teach you how to get creative with maple syrup when we're done. I know a trick or two that I learned back in the day...."