"Today? Seriously?"

Kit held his little sister Cordelia against him, muttering to her about the unfairness of it all. Today of all days, Tessa and Jem were headed to the LA Institute on business. Not the 13th, not the 15th. But the 14th, Valentine's Day. Was this some kind of sick joke?

"Well, I'm staying here then," Kit argued. "Cordy and I will have a great day together, won't we?" he cooed at her. She gurgled happily in reply. Thank God someone in this family was loyal.

"You can't stay here with Cordelia. We need to keep an eye on her – and you too," Tessa said. "She's still little. I'm not ready to leave her for a whole day yet without me or Jem."

Kit relinquished his sister as Tessa plucked her out of his arms and kissed her downy tufts of hair.

"Well, I can't go," Kit retorted, agonised. "I haven't seen him – them," he corrected quickly. "I haven't seen them in months."

"Well now is as good a time as any to go and see them again," Tessa replied matter-of-factly. She was so practical that she reminded him of Mary Poppins. He'd heard stories of what her tearaway her son James used to be though, and he got why she had to be so no-nonsense. This was despite the fact, of course, he thought James actually sounded unbelievably cool, shooting at chandeliers and hurling people into the Thames, a real old-fashioned anti-hero type. "We're leaving in an hour and you're coming with us."

Kit huffed and took the stairs up to his room two at a time to prove a point. Brilliant, he thought miserably, staring at his reflection in the mirror. What better way to finally see the boy you said you loved – who, when he didn't reciprocate, you ran off to Devon to avoid – than Valentine's Day? He looked up and pointed an angry finger at the sky.

"You are the worst, Raziel," he hissed, and started diving madly around his room looking for something to wear.

Kit's room looked like it had been caught in the eye of a fabric tornado. He needed to look good but not, like, good good. Not like he was trying. He needed to look effortless. He wanted Ty to notice him but didn't want to look like he wanted to be noticed. He sat down on his bed in his boxers and socks, feeling hopeless. Never in his entire life had Kit thought for more than about two minutes about what he wore. He desperately wanted not to care – and desperately did. By the time he picked a t-shirt and jeans from the floor, he felt utterly defeated. He bundled the rest of the clothes into a formless heap in his arms and shoved it to the back of the closet. He headed down to the kitchen where Jem and Tessa were waiting, Cordelia waving chubby fists around contently. Traitor. Even she was excited to go now. Kit gave her a disappointed shake of his head.

"We were about to call for you," Jem told Kit mildly. "Are you ready?"

"Yep," Kit said, shrugging on a jean jacket he'd left on the back of a chair. "Can't wait," he grumbled to himself under his breath.

"Let's get going then," Tessa said, opening up a portal. "Off to LA," she said to Cordelia in a singsong voice, and stepped through.

Jem cast a look back at Kit and his expression softened.

"Are you alright, érzi?" he asked gently, and Kit nodded, too lost in thought to note the unfamiliar name.

"I'm fine. Let's go." Before I change my mind, he added silently.

When Kit arrived in LA, he was swarmed by Blackthorns. Julian and Emma were on their travel year, but the others were still here. Kit had heard rumours Ty was going to the Scholomance and had half-hoped he'd already gone – and half not. But a few subtle questions around the dinner table had confirmed that he wouldn't be starting until the beginning of the next semester, that he'd be busy with entrance exams and interviews for now. He wondered if there was any chance one of those appointments fell today. It seemed unlikely.

"Kit!"

A small hurricane ran into him, throwing arms around him in a hug that reached onto to Kit's ribs.

"Hey, Tavvy," Kit said, ruffling the boy's hair, a smile plastered on his face at odds with the pounding at his temples. "You're getting so tall, like a sunflower or something."

Tavvy laughed and Kit grinned at the spaces in Tavvy's smile where he'd lost baby teeth.

"What's going…?"

Kit turned at the voice and froze. Ty. He was halfway down the stairs, coming to investigate the noise, when his gaze locked on Kit and his sentence died in his mouth. He just stared for a long, long time. Kit was stuck, held in place by Ty's grey eyes like a butterfly pinned to a board by its wings. The whole room went quiet, though Kit could see people talking and moving and being. Eventually, Ty gave a tiny smile and turned, heading back upstairs before anyone else noticed him.

Tessa and Jem were talking to Helen and Aline, parting off down the hall to talk business, Cordelia with them. He'd been abandoned, left to fend for himself, shipwrecked on this once-habitable island that now felt as unendurable as a desert. There was no place for him here, not any more. His position had always been right there beside Ty, but that wasn't an option anymore. He didn't fit here anymore.

"Kit," a familiar voice said, and Kit turned at Dru's voice, breaking into a smile.

He'd once thought that if he had a little sister who looked up to him like Dru looked up to Ty, he'd never stop showing off. He was like a full-time professional show-off at this point, truing to make Cordy laugh her funny little giggle. But Dru looked serious now.

"Come with me," she said firmly and took his wrist, dragging him upstairs to her room. At the top of the stairs, Kit cast a look around to see if any of the other Blackthorns were going to save him, but no one seemed to have noticed them go.

Dru's room was exactly what he'd imagined it would be like. Horror movie posters covered the walls, overlapping one another at the corners. A string of multi-coloured lights looked deceptively pretty until he realised it was a creepy homage to Stranger Things, complete with the alphabet painstakingly recreated by Julian. She sat down on her black comforter and beckoned Kit over, patting the space next to her where a velvety throw was strewn. He sat down, the feeling of relief at seeing her fading when he saw her glare.

"I know what happened," she said, and a hundred emotions flooded through Kit, emotions he'd been able to escape from in England.

"W-what do you mean?" Kit bluffed. He hadn't had much practise in a while, and it came out awkward. With Tessa and Jem, he'd decided to stop scheming and all that shady business. This was a new life, not the one he'd had in the Shadow Market. It was time to go cold turkey, turn over a new leaf. Even just thinking that made his stomach turn in a mix of fondness and regret: Ty would hate those phrases.

"I now you tried to raise Livvy. I know all about it."

"Ty told you?"

"He didn't have to. I overheard him talking to Magnus."

"Magnus knows?" Kit spluttered. The High Warlock of Brooklyn, husband of the Consul, knew they'd dabbled in necromancy? They were dead.

"He promised Ty he wouldn't tell anyone," Dru said quickly, still wanting to reassure him, even if she was still furious. Well…a little bit furious. Part of her, though, just felt bad, for both of them.

Ty had, piece by piece, over months, told her everything that had happened. It hadn't taken her long to realise what was happening, way before he got to the 'I love you'. She wondered if Kit knew how much Ty had cried, how much he'd agonised over what he'd done, how many nights he knocked on Dru's door and climbed into bed beside her, Dru putting on a nature documentary until he fell asleep. She wondered if Kit knew how many times Ty had told him he loved him, even if it wasn't with words – or not with those three specific words. He had shown Kit a thousand times that he loved the other boy. He'd hugged him, looked him in the eye, chosen him as a confidant and a Watson, welcomed him into the impenetrable bubble of him and Livvy. Ty had said he loved Kit over and over and over, but he wasn't looking for the right signals, so he'd missed them. Growing up with Ty, she knew to keep all channels of affection open; glancing smiles and being spoken to about whatever his current obsession was, the things that made Ty who he was, the things he didn't show to just anyone, the things he showed only to people he loved.

But she also understood Kit. She knew he wouldn't have abandoned them all at the drop of a hat like that if he didn't feel like he had to. He loved Ty and, besides, this city had been the backdrop for his entire life. That familiarity wouldn't be sacrificed for just anything. Ty had said Kit cried a lot at the lake, yelled at him in the forest when Magnus had tied them to the tree, and then completely shut down. Dru could only imagine how Kit felt – embarrassed, rejected, uncomfortable. In some way, she didn't have to imagine. She'd felt a fraction of that with Jaime, but she knew what Kit felt ran a lot deeper than that. And what Ty felt too. This wasn't a crush, she sensed. This was something else.

The thing she knew hurt Ty the most was what Kit had snapped at him in the forest: "I wish I'd never known you." Most of the time, Ty was resigned. He knew he'd messed up, knew he'd hurt Kit. That, Kit telling him how he only ever thought of himself, that he was a regret to know, was the only thing that seemed to make him properly angry. And it was anger, Dru knew, an anger deeper than anything she'd seen in her brother before. It was the kind of anger that made him break his favourite pen scribbling back and forth until the nib snapped right off and ink pooled out of the busted cartridge, his whole body shaking with sobs that left tear drops in the ink blots, feathering the edges. Dru had heard a loud crashing one night from his room and burst in just as Ty swept a second shelf of books to the floor. Not books, she realised, but journals. Journals with the covers torn from their spiralbound spines, hanging desolately.

"I thought he was different. But that's what everyone thinks, isn't it? That I only think about myself?"

Dru had grabbed his hands, holding them gently before he could rip another of his notebooks up. His poor detective studies had been the first to go, years of observations shredded in furious hands and burnt by shaky fire runes. It hurt to hear him say things like that, hurt to see him destroy his past self so utterly and brutally. It hurt because she knew there were people who must think that about Ty, that he was entirely self-absorbed. She knew better, knew that some people simply didn't know how to understand Ty and his emotions, knew these were the same people who blamed Ty for the same thing they failed at – a lack of understanding. She just hadn't ever thought Kit would be that person. She knew he didn't really think that, that he'd snapped in a moment of blinding emotional pain, but those words would stick with Ty in a way he'd never truly recover from, in a way she wasn't sure Kit fully understood. That brain of his, she wanted to say, that never forgets a fact? You've presented him with one. It's an indelible mark. No amount of reassurance will ever get rid of it, only help it to fade.

"Are you mad?"

Dru looked up at Kit now and sighed.

"That you lied to me? I'm basically over it," she conceded, and Kit exhaled in relief. "I'm not done."

Kit stiffened nervously. "What is it?"

"You broke his heart, Kit," she said softly. "You completely broke his heart."

Kit stared, speechless. "W-what?"

"I know what happened with you and Ty…"

Kit could feel his heart racing, his face getting so hot he felt dizzy. "Dru, please don't," he said, his voice so quiet he wasn't even sure she could hear him.

"No, I need you to hear this," she said firmly, so firmly that he didn't argue. "I know he hurt you, I know why you felt like you had to leave, I get it, Kit. It's okay, I promise."

He wasn't sure why, but he could feel his eyes prickling with tears. For so long, even before he left, he'd felt so alone with all these feelings, so scared by the flips his stomach turned. Until now, he hadn't realised how much he wanted, needed, someone to say that; I get it, Kit. It's okay, I promise.

"But?" Kit pressed, not sure he wanted to hear the rest. In a way though, he did. A lot. He'd broken Ty's heart? Obviously, he knew he should feel bad – and he did – but…did that mean…?

"You utterly destroyed him," Dru went on. "You had – have – no idea the effect you have on him. You understood him, you always did, so how are you so stupid?" she asked despairingly.

Kit blinked in confusion. "What? I told him that I…"

"And he told you! Like a million times in Ty language!" Dru interrupted. "Don't you get that you're special? I've been right there beside Ty my whole life and he chose you! Don't you get it?" She didn't sound bitter, just fondly frustrated with him. "You didn't have your feelings reciprocated? Well, guess what; so did he. He trusted you and you left him."

"I'm sorry," Kit said, feeling dazed. "But, I…"

"Go and see him. He's waited months. Go," she said, shooing him impatiently. She shook her head fondly.

As he left, Kit caught a glance of something out of the corner of his eye. He nodded confusedly to the stack of Sherlock Holmes books under her desk.

"What's with these in here?" he asked.

"He swore them off, said there was no Holmes without Watson," Dru told him. Kit blushed, thanked her, and set off down the hall to Ty's room.

Kit was suppressing the urge to pace. He'd been confident right up until he raised his fist to knock on Ty's door, then his resolve had cracked like glass. His hands were shaking remembering how Ty used to sleep outside his bedroom door. Now here he was, outside Ty's, too scared to even knock.

"Hey, Ty," he called, and cringed at how his voice cracked. He heard a rustle of movement from inside.

"Kit? Um…hi."

"C-can I come in or do you want to talk through the door?"

"I'm…I don't mind."

"I was joking. Let me in," Kit said, and the door opened.

Ty was back on his bed before Kit even stepped over the threshold, legs crossed, staring down at his hands. Kit swung Ty's desk chair around in an attempt to look casual and licked his inexplicably dry lips. And then…nothing. No words. Nothing. The two of them sat in silence for a couple of awkward minutes that dragged for hours before Kit sighed.

"When did this happen?" he asked into the stilted air. "When did we get so awkward with each other?"

"You left me," Ty said, his voice small. "You left me on my own and you didn't even say goodbye."

"I know," Kit said, nodding. "You really hurt me, Ty. I had to get out of here. I didn't know what to do."

"Magnus said he thought you didn't want to see me in particular."

"That's probably true, I guess," Kit admitted. He saw Ty wince and hurried on. "But I also wanted to see you the most. That's why it had to be the way it did. I was confused. You were confusing me. Do you know what I mean?"

Ty nodded, looking up a little. "I know what you mean. What you said, at the lake…"

"I meant it," Kit admitted, swallowing hard. What did he have to lose? He saw Ty's throat bob as he did the same. Was that good? He had no idea. "Can I come and sit next to you?" Kit asked shyly.

Ty nodded silently and kit got up, sitting don beside Ty on his bed. It was familiar but unusual. The bedding was the same as it always had been, it felt the same under him, but it was different. They were different.

"I meant it too," Ty said after a while, his voice soft. "All the times I didn't say it, I still meant it." He reached his pinky out and hooked it around Kit's hesitantly. When Kit squeezed against his hand, Ty glanced across and shuffled along the bed until their thighs were flush to each other's. "I shouldn't have dragged you into the whole thing with Livvy. I should have left you out of it. You were right, about the whole thing. It wasn't right. We shouldn't have done it."

"Do you regret it?" Kit asked, glad the conversation was away from their feelings for the moment because even his ears felt hot with blushing. He glanced across and saw Ty's pink cheeks under his too-long mess of dark curls.

"I don't know. I like having Livvy around, but I feel bad. I want her to be happy and peaceful, not trailing after me forever. I feel like I've trapped her."

"It's Livvy. She won't mind being trapped if you're the one she's trapped with," he said gently. "But I know what you mean. And, for the record, I also think I was right."

After a beat of silence, Ty laughed – properly laughed – and the awkwardness in the room melted. Kit grinned and knotted his fingers between Ty's. They were back to the way they were, but it wasn't the same anymore. When Kit's stomach flipped, he didn't make an excuse to himself about why. He was so lost in his own thoughts, he hardly noticed the weight beside him shift and Ty lean towards him, pressing a kiss as gentle as a whisper of wind to his cheek. Kit felt his eyes widen and made some strangled, inhuman noise of surprise before trying to sink into himself with embarrassment.

"W-what? Sorry, I didn't…" Ty began, and Kit pulled him down as he flopped backwards onto the bed.

"No, that was…it was great. I just don't know what that noise I made was," he laughed.

"It was like the mating call of some weird bird," Ty grinned, and Kit shoved him in the shoulder.

"Silence, Blackthorn. I preferred it when we were talking through a wall," he joked, and his face softened. "Well, maybe not."

"Finally!"

The two sprung apart at the word and Ty rolled into his stomach when he realised what was happening.

"Go away, Livvy," he muttered into the bedding.

Kit was sat bolt upright, staring at the ghost he'd last seen from afar on the beach the night of Magnus and Alec's wedding. It was different, eerier, up close.

"You spent all that time trying to get me back and now you want me to leave?" Livvy pouted. "So unfair!"

"Hey, Livvy," Kit said, and she wiggled her eyebrows at him.

"Look at Coy Herondale over here. You two are pathetic. It took you ages. I was getting bored waiting for one of you to cave and step up," she said. Kit blushed, laughing.

"Go away!" Ty insisted, and she huffed, disappearing out of the air as quickly as she came. Ty rolled onto his back, covering his red face, and laughed. "Sorry. She does that sometimes. Just kind of appears."

"It's kind of nice not to be the only one who can see ghosts," Kit admitted. "Remember Jessamine? In London?"

They talked for hours until, eventually, Tessa came to hand Cordelia over to him to watch. Ty adored Cordelia, marvelling when she wrapped her whole hand around one of his slender fingers. He tickled her little feet and held her while she slept in his arms. Kit felt as if he was melting.

"Did you get a new phone?" Kit whispered and Ty nodded over Cordelia's head. She was held close against his chest, rosebud lips pursed as she slept. "I guess calling might not work anyway. International charges and all that. Fire messages?"

"You're underestimating how nosy my family are."

"Email?"

Ty nodded. Cordelia stirred in his arms, smacking her lips as she yawned. Ty handed her back to Kit, who hitched her into his grip with the ease of practise.

"Thanks," Ty said quietly. "For coming over. Happy Valentine's Day."

Kit smiled. "Happy Valentine's Day, Ty."