Summary: Rory is moving to New York with his mom and dad. They are going to be taking over the institute there. He is in big trouble when he gets there, though. He falls-hard-for the wrong person.

Maxine was beautiful. She came from a family that pushed all the boundaries and she loved them all the more for it. Her world was filled with excitement and she really kicks butt-demon butt. But Maxine's world is about to come crashing down around her. She is surprised when her cousin moves back with his family and she has feelings for him that she shouldn't.

Chapter 1:

Rory:

He was a very attractive guy. Being a very attractive teenager was what he did best. He had a string of girls swooning after him and he was ok with that. He'd gotten his father's bone structure and physique, his mother's hair color and eyes. And his name matched his looks. If only he could do an Irish brogue, he could easily have more girls swooning after him.

He was making the best of this situation. He was packing up the last of his room and getting ready to leave. They were being sent to take over the New York institute. Apparently his father grew up there. He was adopted by the Lightwoods who were moving back to Idris and retiring from running the institute to be home again.

He got it. He'd been to Idris before. It was an awesome place. His dad had grown up there for the first part of his childhood.

His parents were kind of legend in the world of Nephilim. Jace and Clary Herondale (sometimes credited as Lightwood in the books) were more angel than any of the Shadowhunters due to some experiments his biological grandfather had done. He had heard the stories. It was in the history books. It was weird because it kind of made him famous too.

And even more irresistible to the ladies. He smirked.

He was a lot like his father. But he got his talents from his mother. He had artist's fingers that were as at home on the keys of a piano as they were on a paint brush or a sketchpad. He love drawing. He often had very vivid dreams that he would wake up in the middle of the night to sketch out.

He had a sketchpad designated to these dreams. If you thumbed through them, they looked like they played out a story. It was so weird. He was packing his art supplies now.

They were supposed to be hitting the road in just a few hours and he had a few things left. He moved his art supplies out to the moving trailer. He had left out a few pencils and a book to sketch in on the journey. It would only take a few hours. They just live upstate. His grandpa Luke had owned land up here and they had moved here while he was young.

He was kind of glad to be getting out of here. The pool of girls was starting to run out anyway, he thought with a wicked smile. He had one more box to pack up and he just threw everything in. It was just a few odds and ends he probably wouldn't even need or miss. He took out the last box to the trailer and threw his messenger bag of to go art supplies over his shoulder.

His mother had grown up as a mundane so he also had ties to that world. He put his phone into a pocket of his bag. He would probably use the internet to listen to some music. His parents had no taste in music. His dad would leave the radio off if it was his choice and his mom listened to old pop music. He shuddered.

Not that he minded a few classics but new music was a lot deeper than the music of her day. Most of those songs were just about getting laid. Not that he minded that idea. He enjoyed a nice romp from time to time.

"Rory!" His mom was calling from the kitchen. "Come eat so we can hit the road."

Rory plopped in his seat and started digging in. Packing last minute had really taken it out of him. It was a simple lunch since all of the kitchen wear was cleaned and put away. They wouldn't need it where they were going so they would leave it here. They weren't selling the place. It would be a nice place to escape to if he ever needed it.

Soon they were all full and they headed out. His mom and dad got settled up front and he stretched out in the back seat. He pulled out his headphones to listen to music and pulled out his book and pencils. He suddenly had the urge to draw.

Maxine:

Max was getting ready for the day. She was combing her hair. It was silky and the color of lilacs. Most people thought she was rebelling and dyed it. She pushed it behind her ear which ended in a point and smiled. She loved the little signs that showed she had fey blood in her. Her eyes were to color of turquoise. It was a very striking feature.

She had gotten her mother's facial features and if she had been brunette with coffee colored eyes, they could be mistaken for sisters. Her mother had been looked down on because she had had a child so young and out of wedlock and with a downworlder to boot.

Max respected her mother for the choices she made. She could have married a shadowhunter and led a normal life but that was not in her. She's raised Max all on her own. She was her best friend.

But she had found out later that she had been the product of a one night stand after her longtime boyfriend had ended things. It was never what kept her from getting back together with him in the long run, it just wasn't going to work out with a vampire frozen at 16. But Uncle Simon was still a part of her life even if it wasn't in the sense that he was with her mother anymore.

But sometimes she suspected he was the reason Isabelle Lightwood never found anyone else to love. And she could swear that sometimes they spent too much time together to be just friends. In a way she hoped they still hooked up every once in a while. Her mom needed it.

She put on her lipstick in the mirror to finish up her look and the she twirled. She was wearing a dress her mother had worn at her age. It was white and flowing. Her mom had always had good tastes.

She was making herself presentable because her aunt and uncle and cousin were coming to the institute to take it over. Her mother hadn't been offered because she was a single mother, and Uncle Alec hadn't been offered the job because he was gay, and he was now a vampire through choice. Her family was eclectic to say the least. Her Aunt Clary and Uncle Jace were extra special angel children which meant so was Cousin Rory.

If she was honest with herself she was excited to see him again. She tried to remember the last time they had been there. He had been about ten the last time they had come to visit with him. She would have been nine then. He had been absolutely the cutest little guy she'd ever seen. She had towered a few inches over him, taking after her mother in the height department. He'd had red curly hair that had grown a little too long so that it curled around his neck. His eyes had been bright emeralds in his face.

She had been curious about him. Of course she had been, she was an only child with no other kids besides Magalie in her life. She had followed him the whole time he was there feeling drawn to him. She thought his cockiness was funny and laughed at him a lot.

She wondered if he had changed. She was sure he had. She had since she was nine. She looked in the mirror one last time checking herself out. Her breast barely contained in the bodice of the dress. She was built a lot like her mother. Her legs were long and lean. She flipped her hair. Yeah, she looked good.

She bounded out of her room and went to the kitchen. Her mother and her grandparents were in there. They were going to be leaving for Idris in just a couple of days. That was why Jace and Clary were coming to the institute in the first place. She sat at the table and Maryse sat lunch down for them to eat.

It smelled delicious and Max couldn't help but wonder who would cook when grandma was gone. The angel knows, her mother cannot cook.

"Alec and Magnus will be here shortly to make sure they are here for their arrival." Maryse was excited. For at least a couple of days she would have her entire family under one roof again.

"Are they bringing Magalie, too?"

"Of course they are, sweetie." Her grandmother said.

Magalie was her cousin that was surrogated before Uncle Alec became a vampire. A family friend named Aline had her for them. This worked out because Aline was part Chinese and Magnus had very Asian eyes. Magalie was about a year younger than Max, but she had started her life in France. Magnus and Alec had moved there for what they called an extended honeymoon after they got married. They had gotten married when Magalie was just six months old. They'd moved back about a year later. Alec had gotten Simon to turn him shortly after freezing him at 21. He had even drank from Jace so he could walk in the daylight.

People were very curious as to how their little group had produced not one but two day lighters. It was a family secret.

Just then, they heard the elevator. It was like their conversation had summoned them. Magalie lead the pack. Her slanted eyes shone the same blue as Alec's, her skin tone was tanned like Magnus's (well, like Aline's really), and her hair was black silk that looked a lot like Isabelle's. She wore a pair of hot pink leather pants and a black cropped tank that barely covered what it needed to. It said "Kiss Me, I'm Asian" on it in matching hot pink letters. She'd thrown a black cardigan over it and had buttoned the middle button. It made the outfit a bit more covered.

She was almost sixteen but, by the angel, she looked eighteen. She got into clubs a lot because she looked like she was old enough. And she was not above squeezing her ample chest together and flaunting it to the bouncer. It worked well enough because that meant Max had someone to take with her.

"Maxi!"

"Magi!"

The girls hugged each other like it had been years instead of just a couple of days since they had seen each other. They both studied here at the institute so they were each other's best friends and parabatai.

Magalie hadn't been there to meet Rory the last time he came in to the city. She had been visiting in France with her dads. So she was excited to meet him.

Rory:

He had dosed off in the back of the car listening to his headphones. Clary had shaken him to wake him up. "Go on in. We can come back to get the stuff after we rest a bit."

Jace had loaded himself down with their suitcases which held their clothes. They loaded up into the elevator. Rory was a little excited to be here again.

He remembered his cousin Maxine from his last trip. She'd been young then. Her turquoise eyes had been prominent in her face, her purple hair had been unruly, and she'd been his shadow while he had been there. He had another cousin but he hadn't met her before. She was supposed to be there today too. He hadn't been here very often. Just once in his life before this.

Usually if they had to come to the city, they left Rory with Grandpa Luke and Grandma Jocelyn and they went on their own claiming it was grown up business. The elevator came to stop on the residential floor. Jace and Clary moved out and Clary showed her son where his room was.

It was her old room when she stayed there for a short while when she was younger. They were moving into the master bedroom that was now occupied by the Lightwoods but they would make themselves comfortable in Jace's old room until it was free for them.

Izzy came down the hall and ran into Jace's arms and he swung her around. "Hey sis!" Soon the hall was full of hugging and crying and squealing.

Rory set his suitcase on the bed and came out to join in the greetings. Gram Maryse came and hugged him first, then Grandpa Robert. Aunt Izzy was next. Uncle Alec who had visited them once gave him a handshake. Uncle Magnus just waved and winked. He had glitter all over his eyes and his clothes looked like a unicorn had puked up a rainbow, and he had rolled in it. He had expected it because he had seen pictures.

Then he saw his two cousins. Magalie was easy to pick out with her slanted eyes that were the color of sapphires. She looked like a perfect combination of his uncles which seemed odd to him since he knew two men couldn't have kids. He filed that away to ask his dad later.

Next to her was Maxine. She was still tall like he remembered. Even though he would be taller than her now, it would be just barely. She was dressed all in white. Her eyes still large in her face reminded him of Uncle Alec a little more than Izzy because of their size. Other than the color of them and her purple hair, she looked just like the pictures of Aunt Izzy he had seen in his mom's wedding album.

She was gorgeous. Must be in the genes. No that didn't really make sense; he knew his dad had just been adopted by the Lightwoods. There was no blood there. But he still shouldn't feel this for her. He had a feeling he just wanted to sneak off with her and show her just what all he could do.

He shook his head trying to dispel the thoughts.

Maxine:

Everyone was in the hall, but she didn't see him. Then he came out of his room. He had gotten tall. Probably two inches taller than her. He was a good mix of his parents with his dad's good looks and his mom's gorgeous eyes. His rusty red hair was cropped short, which wasn't the usual style for the men in their family. But it fit him. His cheek bones called for the attention to be on them, not to be covered by hair in any way.

She wanted to drool. Stop it, Max! He is your cousin. She couldn't take her eyes off him as he was passed from adult to adult. Hugs and handshakes from everyone. She and Magi stayed off to the side and out of the fray.

Then his eyes landed on her. They felt like lasers as they scanned her body. It took all of her control not to fidget as he moved his eyes up and down her body. She almost felt like she was being undressed by his eyes. She thought that didn't sound too bad.

She mentally kicked herself for the thought.

"Maxine, you remember Rory, right?"

"Of course, Aunt Clary. You can just call me Max."

"Sure." Clary gave her a sad smile. She knew she was named after her dead uncle, Max. "You can drop the Aunt part. It is so formal."

Max just smiled and nodded. "Sure, Clary."

Rory came over and hugged Magalie. He turned and set his sights on Max. His arms circled her. It was just a friendly hug, she kept telling herself. Then why did she feel electricity coursing through her? And why did he smell like a dream?

"Hello, again, Maxine." He said her name like a lover would. She shivered. Had anyone else noticed. No, he had said it quietly.

One thing was for sure, she was going to have to figure this out.

Rory knew there was one thing for sure. He was going to need a long, cold shower after this.

A/N: This chapter was really just to set the tone and introduce the dynamics now in the family since so much time has passed. In this world Alec and Simon are special and can be in the institute even though they are vampires. I attribute this to the fact they have some Angel in them from drinking from Jace… and since Alec used to be a shadowhunter. Yeah, I had to make him immortal… I just couldn't make him get all old.

Oh and just to put it in here… I don't own the original TMI characters. This is the warning for the entire story… no matter how many chapters I write I will never own them so why should I need to repeat myself EVERY CHAPTER?

However, Magalie, Maxine, and Rory are mine.

Rory- Origin Irish- Name meaning the red king. Fitting

Maxine- named after Max of course you know Izzy would do it too.

Magalie means "pearl" but I thought it sounded almost like a mesh Of Magnus and Alec… maybe if you squint a little when you look at it… or not….. HA!