Ashzera || Vampire Academy || The Herondale Twins || Shadowhunters || Velondalewood
Title: The Herondale Twins – And How They Were Reunited
Fandom: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments | Vampire Academy
Disclaimer: All rights to the Shadowhunters show reserved to Ed Decter, the books the show is based off and its characters belong to Cassandra Clare. All rights to the Vampire Academy movie reserved to Angry Films, the books the movie is based off and its characters belong to Richelle Mead. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Warnings: m/m, polyamory (m/m/m), past abuse, hurt/comfort, childhood sweethearts, f/f, m/f
Main Pairing: Alec/Bat/Jace & Mason/Christian
Side Pairings: Rose/Lissa, Maia/Clary, Simon/Isabelle, Seb/Rebecca, Luke/Jocelyn, Alaric/Dot
Shadowhunters Characters: Jonathan Christopher 'Jace' Wayland, Bartholomew 'Bat' Velasquez, Alexander Gideon 'Alec' Lightwood, Isabelle Sophia 'Izzy' Lightwood, Clarissa Adele 'Clary' Fray, Sebastian Morgenstern, Lydia Branwell, Maia Roberts, Simon Lewis, Rebecca Lewis, Luke Garroway, Jocelyn Fray, Dorothea 'Dot' Rollins, Alaric Rodriguez, Imogen Herondale, Elaine Lewis
Vampire Academy Characters: Christian Ozera, Mason Ashford, Natalie Dashkov, Vasilisa 'Lissa' Sabina Rhea Dragomir, Rosemarie 'Rose' Hathaway
Summary: When Stephen and Céline Herondale died, their twin-sons went into foster-care, unbeknownst to anyone. Christian grew up with the Ozeras, Jace grew up with Michael Wayland. At age ten, they are reunited when their grandmother tracks them down and takes them both in.
The Herondale Twins
And How They Were Reunited
Part 1: Childhood
Stephen and Céline Herondale died in a horrible accident when Céline was eight months pregnant.
What was as horrible as the accident itself was the ensuing misunderstanding. Their twin sons were saved from death, just barely so. But the bodies of their parents could not be identified and the only living relatives – Stephen's parents, living in Europe – were informed wrongly that the babies had died too, when in reality both boys went into foster care.
Christian was taken in by the Ozeras. A couple greedy for power and wealth, raising Christian to be their heir. Cold and without attachment or love for the boy, like he was a mere tool. He grew up isolated and without friends. He got bullied and shunned at school, for being weird. He wasn't weird, he was just an abused, lonely and frightened child.
Jonathan Christopher was taken in by Michael Wayland. A vicious, abusive man who raised the boy wanting him to be perfect. Whenever he wasn't perfect, he would get physically punished. He was being emotionally and physically abused, kept isolated from other children, other people.
Imogen Herondale all the while went through her own personal hell. Her son had died, his wife, their two children. Shortly thereafter, her husband succumbed to the heartbreak caused by those losses and all of a sudden, Imogen had lost everything.
It took her a whole decade to regain at least some of what she had lost – her grandsons.
When Jonathan was ten years old, his foster father died and he went back into the system. It was only by sheer coincident that Imogen's neighbor Detective Luke Garroway got the case of Michael's murder. The moment Luke laid eyes on the frightened little blonde with the large, mismatched eyes, Luke felt reminded of Céline Herondale. The same eyes, the same look in those eyes. That wasn't much to go by and at first, Luke just worked the case and tried not to think on it. But then Luke and his partner Alaric dug deeper into the victim's past and a lot was uncovered.
Michael Wayland was not who he said he was and all evidence pointed toward him abusing his son. His adopted son. Looking more into it, some things about the adoption itself seemed shady so Luke went a little off-course to see what it was. Turned out Luke's hunch was right.
Jonathan Wayland was one of the supposedly dead Herondale twins.
/break\
"Jocelyn, Luke, it's so nice of you to have me over."
Imogen smiled fondly as she entered the Garroway-house. The Garroways were her favorite neighbors, if she was being honest. After the death of her family, the Garroways had been very supportive. It was probably misplaced guilt too. Jocelyn Garroway had been an FBI agent, placed deep undercover in the Circle, a known terror-group. Luke was a police detective, part of the joined task-force of NYPD and FBI. It was Jocelyn, in the end, who took them down. But by then, Céline and Stephen, who had fallen to this cult, were already dead.
"Granny Imogen, did you bring stories?", asked Isabelle Garroway with large eyes.
The smile on Imogen's face grew as she placed a hand on the little girl's head. Isabelle and her older brother Alexander had been children of two cult-members of the Circle. When the couple, and the rest of the Circle, went to prison, their children remained. Jocelyn and Luke had adopted them. Maybe to make up for things, since they had caused the children's parents to go to prison.
During her time undercover, Jocelyn had effectively made the Circle's leader fall in love with her. It hadn't been planned for her to fall pregnant – and in the aftermath, Jocelyn was sure that it had been his doing – but she could not kill her own children, even when they had the DNA of a terrorist.
By now, Luke and Jocelyn who had only met during the case, had gotten married and were raising all four children together. Jocelyn's biological children Sebastian and Clarissa, as well as the Lightwood-siblings Alexander and Isabelle. It was a lot of work, but they weren't alone.
Imogen, as she had lost everyone dear to her, became a pillar for the Garroways. She babysat, she helped. She... She was trying to do what she never would get to do for her own grandchildren.
There were others too, of course. Elaine Lewis and her husband from across the street, who had two children around their age too, had an arrangement with the Garroways where they would take each other's children to allow the other couple a weekend of peace.
Then there was Luke's partner at the NYPD, Alaric Rodriguez. He helped out, best as he could. He got better with the kids over the years, especially after he started dating Jocelyn's best friend and business partner Dot Rollins. After the Circle was taken down, Jocelyn quit the FBI – two parents in such a dangerous job were just too much. For the first couple of years, she was a stay-at-home mother and got to concentrate not just on the four children they were raising but also on her art, a secret passion she had never really gotten to indulge in. Then, she opened up an antiques store with her best friend Dot. It was a lovely store and Imogen had to confess to being their best customer.
"Ah, but your mom banned me from story-time", chuckled Imogen gently.
Little Isabelle pouted in an endearing way. She was far too obsessed with gross things – sneaking into the case-files from Luke, wanting to hear about the gruesome cases Imogen had judged during her time as a judge, before retirement. Jocelyn had been mortified when she first heard Imogen indulge Isabelle with scary stories about cases. Looking back at it, that might not have been the wisest idea to tell a little girl such stories.
"Izzy, Izzy, Izzy!"
Imogen bit her lips as she watched Clary run up to her slightly older sister. Isabelle and Clary were only a few months apart, Alec was the oldest, being two years older than them, then came Sebastian, a year younger than Alec and older than the girls. It had been hell, right after they had taken Alec and Isabelle in – two babies and two toddlers were a lot to handle.
"O—oh. Granny Imogen!", gasped Clary. "Hello! I have to show you all of my new paintings!"
"You absolutely have to", agreed Imogen. "But I think your parents wanted to talk to me first."
Luke smiled as he nodded at Imogen. "Clary, Izzy, why don't you go and play with your brothers?"
The little girls frowned, but nodded and ran upstairs. Luke instantly sobered up as he looked at Imogen. Something was up. She frowned cautiously as she followed Luke toward the living room. There, Imogen found Jocelyn and Sebastian. The redheaded woman sat next to her son at the piano. She had started teaching him a couple of years ago.
"You're getting really good, Sebastian", praised Imogen.
"That he is", agreed Jocelyn. "Why don't we call it a day and you go play with your siblings?"
"Okay, mom", hummed Sebastian and jumped off the bench. "Thank you, Imogen."
"You're very welcome, young man", chuckled Imogen as she sat down on the couch.
"Imogen...", started Luke as he and Jocelyn sat down next to him.
The two were opposite Imogen, looking at her. Yes, something was most definitely going on.
"Just tell me, whatever it is", chuckled Imogen curiously.
"There... has been a new development in the Morgenstern case", replied Luke.
"How?", asked Imogen with a frown, fingers clawing into her skirt. "The case is closed. Morgenstern died, his Circle was taken down."
"That... is all true", confirmed Luke, fidgeting with his hands. "But... It turns out that your grandsons did in fact not... die."
"...W... What...?", asked Imogen, voice breaking a little.
"There was a homicide that I'm currently working on. Single-father. And the boy, he looked so... familiar. The more I worked the case and dug into the past, the more suspicious it looked. Turns out there had been a... mix-up. The twins had been saved, but since no one had been able to... identify Céline back then, the twins went into the system. A paper-work mix-up between Céline's death-certificate and that of another Jane Doe had lead to them telling you the twins were dead."
"You... You're saying my grandsons... are... alive?", asked Imogen, tears welling up in her eyes.
"We have only found one of them", added Luke hastily, before Imogen could get her hopes up too much. "He had been adopted by one Michael Wayland. We're still looking for his twin-brother."
"Where is he? When can I see him?", asked Imogen, getting up already.
/break\
Jonathan frowned confused as he followed the lady who had introduced herself as Imogen Herondale. His grandmother. He didn't really understand it yet. His father had just died and he had no family aside from him. But now the detective had explained to him that he had been adopted. That his birth parents were dead and he had a living grandmother who wanted to take him in.
"Well, this is my house. Our house, now", stated Imogen with a smile.
"Okay. Thank you, ma'am", nodded Jonathan reluctantly.
"Please. Imogen, at least", requested Imogen a little pained.
"Okay", nodded Jonathan hastily.
He wouldn't want to upset the lady. If she didn't like him, she might return him to the orphanage he had been staying in for the past week since his father had been killed. He had to be on his best behavior so he wouldn't anger her. If she thought he was a good boy, maybe she would keep him...?
"It's not very much, since this was so sudden, but I prepared the guest room for you for now."
"Thank you", nodded Jonathan, following her upstairs.
The room was nice. Large, with a huge bed and a closet and desk and chair. Pretty much like his old bedroom had been too. He turned toward Imogen, waiting for some kind of instructions.
"How... How about you get settled in some?", asked Imogen. "I have to talk to Luke, the detective who found you. He wants me to help find your brother."
Jonathan just nodded again. Brother. Suddenly, he had a brother. He didn't really understand that either. It was all so much. Sighing, Jonathan sat down on the bed and turned to look out of the window. After a moment, Jonathan noticed there were children playing in the backyard of the house right next to this. Slowly walking over, Jonathan peeked out to watch curiously.
There was a dark-haired boy, shooting some kind of toy at a target. Next to him stood a blonde boy. It looked like they were competing or something. A small redheaded girl sat on a swing a bit off. They didn't look like they were training though...
"Alec! Look!", exclaimed the redhead.
The boy shooting turned startled into the direction the redhead had pointed. And then he shot. Jonathan yelped as he backed off, the strange dart with a suction cup at the front flew right past his head. Staring wide-eyed, Jonathan turned toward the blue dart stuck to the door. Biting his lips, Jonathan went to pick the dart off and looked at it curiously. The ringing of the doorbell startled him for another moment. Imogen had said she had to talk to someone important. Jonathan quickly ran toward the door to open before whoever had rang it would ring it again and disturb her. Father had taught Jonathan to open the door when he was busy. He blinked surprised when he opened the door and saw four kids standing in front of him. Three out of four were the kids from the backyard. The other was a curious-looking dark-haired girl, slightly standing behind the two boys.
"Sorry for shooting you", offered the dark-haired boy. "I'm Alec Garroway. That's my siblings Sebastian, Isabelle and Clary. You're one of Imogen's grandsons, right?"
"Jonathan", nodded Jonathan reluctantly. "Jonathan Christopher Wayland."
"Jonathan?", echoed Clary and wiggled her nose. "That's a weird name."
Jonathan frowned and took a step back. They didn't like his name? He didn't want to be disliked on his first day here. Especially since Imogen seemed close to the neighbors – she went to talk to them and the detective was the one who had brought Jace here.
"Your name is Clarissa. It's weird too", countered Alec.
Clary gasped and stuck out her tongue at Alec. "No one calls me that! Everyone calls me Clary!" The redhead gasped and jumped suddenly. "That's it! He needs a nickname!"
"Oh! Yes!", agreed Isabelle excitedly. "What about John? Johnny?"
"He doesn't look like a Johnny", pointed Sebastian out, motioning at Jonathan.
"Nathan?", suggested Clary, giggling a little.
"No", huffed Sebastian and made a face. "You have a middle-name, right? Christopher? Chris?"
"But that's weird", hummed Clary with a frown. "We don't call Izzy Sophie either."
"Or you Addy", giggled Isabelle and nudged Clary.
At this point, the conversation officially went over Jonathan's head. "It's okay. You can just... call me something else."
"No", huffed Alec, frowning. "It's your name. Your nickname has to have to do with you. Oh! We could maybe be more creative? Like with Bat. See, we have a friend whose name is Bartholomew. Which was super hard to say for Clary when we first met him. So she started saying Bat."
"And now everyone calls him Bat", declared Clary, looking rather proud at that feat.
"Jonathan Christopher. Jonathan Christopher. Jonathan Christopher...", muttered Alec with a concentrated frown on his face. "J.C...? Jace...? How's that sound?"
"Jace?", echoed Sebastian thoughtfully, turning toward Jonathan. "Has a ring to it."
"Sounds cool", whispered Clary in awe.
"I think it fits", agreed Isabelle giddily. "What do you think?"
Jonathan was a little reluctant as he looked at the four other children. "...Okay."
"Cool! You have to come over and play with us, Jace!", declared Isabelle with a broad smile.
"...Play?", asked Jonathan – Jace – very softly and confused after the four children left.
/break\
Alec was pacing the Shadowhunters Institute. That was the super-awesome nickname of their tree-house that dad and uncle Alaric had built for them. The name came from what Alec and Sebastian used to call their parents when they were really small – Shadowhunters, because they hunted the shadows and the creepy monsters in them (Alec used to have a lot of nightmares when he was really small because of things he didn't remember anymore – things about his birth-parents and the place they used to live at with the bad people).
"Can you all shush it now so we can start this meeting?", asked Sebastian irritated.
Everyone went quiet and turned to look at Alec and Sebastian – Sebastian was sitting behind Alec. Alec nodded gratefully at that, receiving a nod back from his brother.
"As the official head of the Institute as the oldest, I called this meeting today because we have a new child in our street", stated Alec and finally stopped pacing. "That's why I called you all here."
Every child from their neighborhood was gathered.
The Lewis-siblings Rebecca and Simon. Alec got along rather well with Rebecca, while Simon was too loudmouthed for Alec. Sadly enough, Simon was Clary's best friend and as her big brother, Alec was obligated to accept him. And it was fine, Simon made Clary laugh a lot.
Maia Roberts from down the street was sitting with Simon and Clary as well as Bat Velasquez.
Alec's bestest friend in the world – Lydia Branwell – sat in the other corner behind Alec.
And then there were the three kids who technically were not living on Idris Avenue. They were living on St. Vladimir's Street, which was crossing over into Idris Avenue. The two streets shared a playground right at the corner, so the three kids were adopted into their friend-group. Natalie Dashkov, Rose Hathaway and Mason Ashford.
"So what's his deal?", asked Rose with a frown.
"He needs friends", piped Clary in. "He looked really sad and had that look on his face like Sebby and Alec when they compete for dad's praise. Like he really wanted our approval."
Both Alec and Sebastian flushed and glared at their youngest sister while everyone else was laughing and snickering at that. Everyone knew that Alec and Sebastian were super competitive and loved how proudly their dad would praise them. Even though Luke always praised them both, even the loser of the competition, for trying their hardest.
"So, we just befriend him then?", asked Bat curiously, tilting his head.
"Yeah. That", confirmed Isabelle, nodding eagerly.
"...But maybe not all at once", suggested Lydia, looking around the room. "How about we split it up in groups? Every group gets a shot to make the new kid warm up to them."
"Good suggestion. All in favor, raise their hands", agreed Alec, surveying the voting. "Very good. And since we are the oldest, we get first try."
"That's cheating!", chorused Isabelle and Clary with matching glares.
"Okay, fine. The youngest get to start", sighed Alec.
Clary grinned and puffed her chest out proudly, knowing her big brothers could never say no to her.
/break\
Jonathan – Jace – was laying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling quietly. Imogen was gone with the detectives. They were still looking for Jace's brother. Of course, Imogen wouldn't leave Jace alone, so she had dropped him off at the neighbor's. A tall redheaded woman. She had told him to get comfortable in the living room and that they would get more guests.
"Hello again!"
Jace frowned as he turned toward the small redhead next to the couch. "Hello. Clary."
"Ye—ep. You remembered my name!", exclaimed Clary excitedly.
Jace just nodded, frowning a little bit. His frown deepened when more children poured in.
"These are my bestest friends! Simon and Bat and Maia!", introduced Clary with a smile. "Do you want to play with us? We want to play hide and seek!"
"...Okay?", agreed Jace reluctantly. "What are the rules?"
"You don't know how hide and seek works?", asked Bat confused, leaning in.
"...I... I've never... played with other children. Or... did anything with other children", shrugged Jace upset. "I'm sorry. Perhaps it's better if you play alone."
"No!", disagreed Bat and took Jace's hand. "It's okay. We can totally explain the rules to you. It's not a hard game. One person has to count to fifty and not look while the others hide. Then the one who counted has to go and find the others. The goal is, for those who hide, to be the last one."
"Okay", nodded Jace with a frown.
"It's okay. I'm sure you'll do fine", promised Simon optimistically.
"I can stay with you for now?", offered Bat with a kind smile. "Show you how it works?"
"...Okay", agreed Jace reluctantly.
"I count!", declared Clary with a broad, toothy grin.
She turned away from them and covered her eyes as she started counting. Maia and Simon ran off into one direction, while Bat grabbed Jace's hand and pulled him into the other direction. Jace stared down at their linked hands as he let the other boy pull him along. In Jace's general experience, physical contact led to pain. He tried to calm down his breathing as he allowed it.
"Look", whispered Bat. "This is one of the best hiding spots in the Garroway house."
Nodding, Jace crawled into the closet-space together with Bat, Bat closing the door behind them and grinning broadly. These children were strange. What was the purpose of this game...? Why were they all constantly smiling at him? He hated confined spaces.
"You okay?", asked Bat softly, reaching a hand out for Jace.
Jace wanted to flinch, but Bat's touch was very gentle. Jace wasn't used to that. He frowned as he stared at Bat's hand on his, holding it. Just holding it. Somehow, it was... reassuring. Though Jace wasn't quite sure what he was being reassured of here...
"Yeah. I'm fine. Thank you... Bat", whispered Jace back.
/break\
While Jonathan – no, Jace, he apparently now preferred to be called Jace – was like the perfect merger of Stephen and Céline, Christian looked remarkably much like Imogen. Or so she thought as she carried the scared, little boy into the house. He had been clinging onto her ever since Luke and Alaric had handed the child over to her. He had looked just as broken as Jace and how had this happened...? How had both of her beautiful grandsons ended up in abusive homes...? It broke her heart all over again. Carefully, she hugged him even tighter.
"It's going to be alright, Christian", assured Imogen gently. "You're safe now. They will never hurt you again, I promise. You'll live with me and with your... brother... from now on."
Imogen smiled faintly as she entered Jace's bedroom. The blonde was sitting in his closet with Bat Velasquez. Somehow, those two had really hit it off – though Jace seemingly had already integrated well into the neighborhood in general. He seemed particularly inclined to Clary's group of friends – Maia, Simon and Bat – and the least close to Isabelle's group of friends – Natalie, Rose and Mason. Imogen wasn't quite sure how well Jace was getting along with Sebastian, Rebecca and Lydia, but he seemed rather... attached... to Alec. As far as Imogen had heard, Alec had been the one to give Jace his nickname. For now, Jace seemed mainly confused and unsure about all those new people in his life and Imogen couldn't fault him for that. It was why she had asked Luke and Jocelyn to please look out for Jace when babysitting so Jace wouldn't be overwhelmed by all the children – it wasn't rare for the Garroways to host all their children's friends. The couple understood that and made sure that only one of their children had their friends over, the others going to visit their friends instead. Well, Alec and Sebastian were an exception; the two boys were hard to separate and together, they only had two close friends – Rebecca and Lydia.
"Bat, your mother is waiting downstairs to take you home", informed Imogen.
She had figured out after the first time that Jace didn't do well with being removed from the house just yet – he was afraid of being abandoned. So instead, Imogen made a habit of asking the babysitter to stay over, at least for now. Though, now that Christian was finally with them, Imogen had no plans of leaving her grandsons alone again any time soon.
"Jace. There is someone I'd like for you to meet...", started Imogen, cautiously putting Christian down. "This is your... brother, Christian. Christian, this is Jace."
The two boys stood opposite each other, staring at each other. Jace with his golden-blonde hair and Christian with his dark-brown hair, longer and falling onto his shoulders. Aside from that, they were downright identical. Such endearing little boys. Céline would adore them and Stephen would be so proud and oh, if only Marcus could get to spoil his grandsons... Imogen took a deep breath and tried to swallow down the tears that threatened to leak at this.
"Hi", greeted Jace after a long moment, awkwardly sticking his hand out.
"...Hello", whispered Christian, reluctantly taking the hand.
Imogen really hoped those two boys would warm up to each other, and to her.
/break\
It was three months later that Christian's room was converted back to the guest room it had originally been and Jace's room got a bunk-bed. Despite Imogen's worries, the twins had bonded pretty much instantly. May it be the pull of being siblings, being twins – or the shared pain of having been abused. They grew close, to the point that Christian regularly snuck into Jace's bed because of nightmares. Which both boys benefited from because Jace had his own fair share of nightmares. They'd fall asleep clinging onto each other and that was how Imogen would find them.
Giving them a shared room seemed to be the best course of action and it paid off too. Over the following weeks, Jace and Christian seemed more at ease, were slowly starting to open up. The psychologist Imogen visited with the children – family therapy – seemed to help too, but Imogen knew that more than this, it was the bond between Jace and Christian that helped them.
She smiled faintly to herself, holding a hot mug of tea in her hands as she leaned against the doorway and watched the two boys sleep. They seemed to like their new bunk-bed. Though... they still shared a bed. Both laying in the lower bunk, the blanket pulled up to their chins as they hugged and slept peacefully. Imogen promised herself that she would never let harm come to those two little angels again. She would protect them. No one would hurt them again under her watch.
/break\
Christian frowned as he was half hidden behind his brother. They were out, watching a soccer game – Alec, Sebastian, Mason and Bat were on a soccer team together and they had a game. While Christian would really prefer to be at home and in the safety of their room, Jace was very outgoing. He knew how to charm people and everyone seemed to want to be friends with him. Jace was also growing really attached to the others. Where Christian was afraid of being attached to others because he was afraid to be hurt again, Jace was desperate and clinging onto everyone who paid attention to him, begging to be loved. Where Christian was trying to blend into the shadows so no abuser would find him again, Jace sought out the spotlight and hoped for someone to find him and love him. Grandma said they couldn't be more different, but that she still loved them both.
It was just problematic due to the fact that Jace was the one person Christian was attached to and clinging onto. So when Jace went out to watch soccer games or do stuff with the other kids, then Christian was forced to come along because he wasn't willing to leave Jace's side.
"Bat's the best goalie in the whole neighborhood!", declared Maia proudly, cheering loudly.
"I just wish Alec and Seb would spend less time competing with each other", frowned Isabelle.
"I'm glad we aren't like that", giggled Clary next to her, looking at Isabelle.
Izzy grinned and they fist-bumped, their matching sistership-bracelets chiming. Christian watched them curiously, head tilted. The Garroway-siblings were odd. Alec and Isabelle were blood-siblings, so were Clary and Sebastian. Luke wasn't the father of any of them, but he still loved and cherished them – and coached them, he was the soccer team's coach and totally biased as he kept fist-bumping the air every single time one of his sons scored. Clary and Sebastian were Jocelyn's children, but Alec and Isabelle weren't. Alec and Isabelle weren't related to either of them and yet they were being loved and sheltered and supported and cared for. Christian didn't understand. His adopted parents had treated him like a tool to be sharpened and trained, ignoring and dismissing him when he was of no use. Jace's adopted father had treated him like a tool to be sharpened and trained, hurting him whenever Jace displeased the man. So why would someone love children that weren't their own...? Personal experience and experience of his brother told Christian that adults didn't take other people's children in to raise and love them. There had to be an agenda.
But there wasn't. Luke never beat Alec and Sebastian when they lost a game. Isabelle never had to go without meals when stumbling during a ballet performance. Clary was never locked into the closet for hours for getting paint everywhere. The most they got was a stern-talking to if they broke a rule, or getting grounded once – because Sebastian and Rebecca had pranked Alaric.
Christian didn't understand. He didn't understand it at all. He just clung onto Jace and both of them did their best to not screw anything up or anger Imogen, just to be on the cautious side of things.
"You okay, Chris?", asked Jace softly, side-eyeing him.
Christian nodded, but he was still glad when Jace took his hand. He never thought he'd get this. His own human, someone who was there for him and understood him and wouldn't abandon him. But Jace was that. Jace was strong when Christian was afraid. And when push came to shove, Christian could actually be strong for Jace too. Because while Jace was good at putting on a carefree mask, being loud and arrogant, he was still hurting too and as afraid of abuse and abandonment as him.
"You came! You came to cheer me on!", exclaimed the excitable redhead.
...One of the excitable redheads. Christian frowned and ducked a little more behind Jace. Mason Ashford was a handful. He was very happy and cheerful and optimistic and he also had an easy time making friends. But for some reason, he had decided that he wanted to befriend Christian.
"Jace made me come", replied Christian and gave Mason a look.
"It's okay", grinned Mason. "You came. That's what matters."
One by one, more of the team started to flock around them, making Christian uncomfortable. He disliked being crowded in like this. Bat Velasquez flopped down on the ground right in front of Jace, beaming at him and waiting for some kind of recognition.
"You were awesome", grinned Jace, tilting his head as he looked at Bat.
Bat seemed to beam even brighter at that. "I wish you'd play with us, Jace! You'd be awesome!"
"Soccer isn't my thing", frowned Jace and shook his head.
"Well then maybe we have to find a sport for you, Jace!", suggested Natalie.
"Oh. Try-outs", nodded Mason eagerly, turning toward Christian. "You wanna try too?"
"No. Sports are stupid. I just wanna go back home and read", frowned Christian.
"We could start a book-club!", offered Natalie, eyes sparkling.
"That sounds interesting", agreed Lydia and tilted her head, looking over at Alec.
Alec blinked a couple of times and turned to look at Jace quizzically. Over the past months, Alec and Jace had learned to talk without words. It was a bit weird, but also kind of cool. Christian liked that Jace had made such a good friend already. And Christian could do that too with Jace, so it was okay. The way it looked, Alec was checking in with Jace to see whether or not he was supposed to support this idea, because Jace knew Christian the best – and would know whether or not Christian was really willing to give this a try. Sighing softly, Christian gave Jace's hand a squeeze. Jace smiled and nodded at Alec, prompting Alec to give a nod of his own.
"Book club sounds like a good idea", agreed Alec, smiling at Lydia and Natalie.
"But we're still gonna find a sport for Jace, right?", asked Bat hopefully.
"Definitely!", exclaimed Mason, fist-bumping the air.
/break\
Book club was nice. It wasn't just Natalie, Christian, Jace, Alec and Lydia, because grandma had decided to join too – she said she hadn't gotten to read nearly as much as she'd like to. Somehow, Christian doubted that Treasure Island stood high on Imogen Herondale's favorite book list, but oh well. Christian appreciated the effort. She was trying to show interest in the things her grandsons liked and she was trying to be an active part of their lives. She was doing her best – and it was a hundred times better than anything Christian and Jace had ever experienced.
"Okay", sighed Isabelle as she sat down next to Christian. "Hockey's off the list too."
Simon hummed as he sat down on Isabelle's other side, together with Clary. Clary had the pad with the list of sports. For the past three months now, they had been working on finding a sport for Jace to play. He showed talent in all of them, that wasn't the problem – Jace was an incredibly athletic guy with quite the talent for everything and he was also a quick study. The problem was that they wanted to find a sport Jace genuinely enjoyed. The blonde was so used to doing tasks and chores and to only do whatever his father had told him to. And everybody knew, which was why they were trying to find something Jace liked. That, Christian could respect. It was why Christian endured all of those gatherings with all of those people, because he knew said people gathered because they apparently cared about Jace... and about Christian.
"How about ballet?", suggested Clary and tilted her head. "He could go to classes with you, Izzy."
"...Jace in a tutu?", asked Simon with a frown.
"Boys don't wear tutus, silly", giggled Isabelle, making Simon smile.
He always smiled when he managed to make Isabelle laugh. Simon was a nice guy, Christian was kind of fond of him. He always worked hard to make his friends happy and he always had interesting stories to tell because he knew all of the cartoons and all of the comics (Christian and Jace had never been allowed to watch or read such things, so they had a lot to catch up on).
"How about the game where they run in a square?", asked Christian cautiously.
Instantly, the attention of the other kids was on him. He hated attention. Shifting awkwardly, he tried to blend back into the shadows. A panting Mason sat down next to him, spreading his arms out and collapsing backward to stare into the sky. He had been showing Jace how to play hockey.
"Run in a square? You mean baseball?", offered Mason curiously.
"Yes. That. It works with precision, hitting stuff and a lot of running. Most sports aren't so much fun for Jace because there's not enough running. Or they are too... team-oriented. Team sports are okay and I think Jace wants a team-sport, but he is used to being best and standing out. The way I saw it when Mister Garroway was watching baseball last weekend, the one throwing the ball is like the most important and most outstanding player. So it's a team-sport where Jace could still be very important. And he'd get to show off skills and run a lot", elaborated Christian.
"...That's a good one", grunted Mason, blinking a couple times. "Clary, the list!"
Clary got out her neon-pink crayon and added baseball to the list. "On it."
/break\
Bat was grinning broadly as he watched Jace laugh freely. He liked hearing Jace laugh, the blonde didn't do that too often. That was why the kids had teamed up to find the perfect sport for Jace to play, one where Jace would have fun. Every weekend for the past few months, they had been going through every sport they could think of – swimming, running, hockey, football, soccer, basketball, dancing, archery (because Alec was a little weirdo who did weird sports, but Jace was very impressed by that). But baseball seemed to do the trick. When Jace hit his first homerun, he was laughing and smiling brightly as he ran. Christian had been on point with his suggestion. While Jace ran, Bat turned to look at Christian on the stands. The brunette was watching his brother, looking proud and happy. Which was rather rare, because Christian wasn't one to be openly happy.
"This is awesome", panted Jace as he reached Bat again.
"You are awesome", replied Bat with a giant grin. "And judging by the look Alaric is giving us, the coach is totally on board with you joining the team."
Alaric was Bat's godfather and coaching Bat's little league team. And Alaric's eyes were practically sparkling. Their team could use a better pitcher, because their current pitcher kind of sucked. And Jace had thrown perfectly, after Bat had explained to him how he was supposed to throw. Running and batting worked really well too and Jace was clearly having fun.
"Thanks for bringing me, Batman", grinned Jace as he hugged Bat.
"No problem, Captain America", laughed Bat. "Let's go tell Superman and Wonder Woman."
Jace nodded eagerly and let Bat pull him along toward the stands where, aside from Christian, were also Simon and Maia. When Bat gave them the thumbs-up, Simon and Maia high-fived.
"Does that mean you will finally stop dragging me to a different sports-thing every weekend?", asked Christian hopefully and put his book away.
"Well, from now on, you'll just be dragged to baseball practice", replied Jace with a grin.
Christian made a show of heaving a sigh, but he looked pleased on his brother's behalf.
/break\
Alec was finally done with Treasure Island and sighed as he closed the book. Leaning back, Alec closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of his family. Sebastian was practicing the piano, Clary was humming along where she laid on the ground in the living room, drawing. Faint, exasperated noises from the kitchen alerted Alec that mom was trying to teach Isabelle how to cook again. Izzy was very eager to learn how to cook, but the ten-year-old girl proved to be resistant to any teaching.
"What's on your mind, son?", asked Luke in a gentle voice.
The next moment, Luke sat down next to Alec on the window-sill. "I finished the book."
"I can see that", chuckled Luke. "You really enjoying that book-club, mh?"
"Uhu. I mean, reading is fun. But reading with Jace and the others is more fun."
"Jace and the others?", echoed Luke, raising his eyebrows.
It used to be 'Lydia and the others' when Alec listed his friends. And while Alec still spent a lot of time with his best friend Lydia, he had also been spending more and more time with the blonde Herondale. Jace had started sneaking into the house through the window, to spend more time with Alec. Which was really becoming a problem. Between Simon and Jace, somehow the window had become a second entrance to their house. Luke couldn't help but wonder what the future would hold for them. Simon and Clary were so inseparable already, Jocelyn and Elaine had been planning the wedding since the kids were four. It was nice seeing Alec make more friends – he mainly just stuck with Sebastian, made friends with Rebecca and Lydia through him.
"How's Jace doing?", asked Luke carefully.
Alec blinked, looking up at Luke with those sharp, clever eyes of his. "I think he's doing better. Baseball helps him a lot. He's been having fewer nightmares."
"Good", hummed Luke with a smile, ruffling Alec's hair. "Now, how about we go out and shoot some arrows, if you're done reading? It smells burned, so dinner will be a while longer."
Alec giggled and wiggled his nose before he nodded eagerly.
/break\
Mason Ashford was a man with a mission. Man-to-be. Boy sounded like he was a kid, but he was already eleven so he was totally not a kid anymore. And his mission was important.
"Really, Maze?", groaned Rose as she trailed after him.
Mason grumbled as he led the group. Natalie walked with her arms crossed behind her back, walking on Mason's other side. Maia and Isabelle were with them too, talking animatedly with each other. They were going to see a movie. The Treasure Planet. Luke was going to take them.
"We read Treasure Island for book-club half a year ago! And I remember that Chris really liked it. So we're taking Chris with us to the movie, Rosemarie!", declared Mason seriously.
"Rosemarie", giggled Natalie, side-eyeing Rose.
Rose stuck her tongue out at Natalie and huffed at Mason. Straightening up, Mason rang the doorbell. Luke came up behind the children, grinning amused at Mason's determination.
"Hello, children", greeted Imogen curiously as she opened the door. "What can I do for you?"
"Can we borrow Chris?", asked Mason hopefully. "We're gonna go see Treasure Planet and I wanna take Christian with us! He's home, right?"
"...He is. Jace however is at the park with Alec and Bat, training", replied Imogen. "A moment?"
Mason nodded. He knew Jace was training with Alec and Bat. He was very eager to be the best of the best, so he always did special training and Alec and Bat always had his back with that. That was why Mason was so nervous if Christian would go with them. Chris rarely went anywhere without Jace. Five minutes later and a reluctant Christian poked his head out.
"That's the space-pirate movie, right?", asked Christian softly.
"Yes! Will you come with us?", asked Isabelle eagerly.
"...Okay", agreed Christian after a moment.
Imogen smiled and rested a hand on Christian's shoulder. "Have fun, sweetie."
"I will, grandma", assured Christian as he went to follow the others.
"I'm glad you'll come with us", hummed Mason pleased, smiling.
Christian wiggled his nose, fidgeting with his hands. Usually, he held Jace's hand when going somewhere. The lack of Jace was making Christian nervous. He knew his dependence on his brother wasn't the healthiest and he knew he had to learn to do things without Jace, but it was hard. Jace protected him, Jace made him feel safe and Jace was the one person he one hundred percent believed that he loved Christian unconditionally. Christian startled when Mason slipped his hand into Christian's, linking fingers with him and smiling reassuringly. Blinking a couple times, Christian stared down at their linked hands. It wasn't Jace, but it still felt reassuring.
"That okay?", asked Mason softly.
Christian nodded reluctantly. "Yes. Thank you."
/break\
Jace was sitting on the roof right outside of Alec's window, Alec next to him. He could hear Bat, Maia, Clary and Simon in the room next door, playing with each other. Jace hated coming over to the Garroways when Alec had his friends over and Clary had her friends over and Jace had to decide if he wanted to spend time with Alec or with Bat.
"Someone new's moving in", hummed Jace, tilting his head.
There was a moving truck parked outside the one house that had stood empty for a few weeks now. Alec sighed and leaned back some. He noticed that Jace was shuddering. It was getting chilly. Frowning, Alec grabbed his hoodie from where it laid on the window-sill and handed it over to Jace. The blonde blinked at him before he put the hoodie on. Alec grinned, blushing despite himself. It was stupid, but lately, when he looked at Jace, Jace seemed different. More special. Alec wasn't stupid, he was thirteen, he knew the rabbit-jumping heart and flushed cheeks meant that he most likely had a crush on Jace. Alec had talked to Sebastian about it (hypothetically speaking. He was so not giving his brother any ammunition to tease him with). Sebastian had experience. He had already had a girlfriend – they held hands and even kissed on the cheek. So Sebastian clearly had superior understanding of complicated romantic relationships. And those fluttery feelings in the stomach and hot cheeks and the awe he felt when looking at Jace, they all meant he had a crush.
"They're the Dragomirs", replied Alec as he shook himself out of admiring Jace wearing Alec's hoodie. "Mom brought them an apple pie yesterday to welcome them in the neighborhood. They have a daughter around our age, she said."
"Huh", nodded Jace, snuggling into the hoodie. "Can we go inside and play video-games? I still have Simon's butt to kick. We could play in teams? Three against three."
"Okay. I'll tell Clary and steal us a Bat", agreed Alec.
Jace grinned and bumped fists with Alec before the two boys crawled back inside.
/break\
Mason frowned as he sat on the edge of the street, watching Rose, Natalie and their newest friend Lissa Dragomir play hopscotch. It wasn't that Mason disliked Lissa. She seemed nice enough. But Rose and Lissa were basically inseparable these days and Mason didn't know how he was supposed to handle that. Sure, Mason was kind of friends with everyone in their large group, to some degree, but Rose had always been his closest friend. The two of them against the world had always been what the two of them did. Natalie and Isabelle, Maia and Simon, they were also their friends, but when push came to shove, Rose and Mason always turned to each other. Now, Mason didn't seem to get Rose to himself at all anymore.
"She's still new."
Mason startled as Christian suddenly sat down next to him. "W—What...?"
"Vasilisa. She's still new and she doesn't know anyone here and Rose is helping her make friends. Like Alec's helped Jace make friends here", elaborated Christian, also looking at the three girls. "Like when I first moved here and you spent all your time lingering around me like some lost puppy. And Rose didn't complain either. Well. Not too much at least. So stop pouting."
Frowning, Mason wanted to protest. But he found himself unable to. Christian kind of had a point – when Chris had first moved here, Mason had been focused on him for weeks and weeks. And while Rose had bitched a lot, she had also not held it against him.
"...Do you want to come inside?", offered Christian reluctantly. "Jace and I wanted to play Settlers, but that's no fun with just two people. So, if you promise not to be overly annoying..."
With sparkling eyes did Mason get off the street and follow Christian into the Herondale house, where Jace was already sitting at a table and setting up the game. Jace barely spared them a glance and a nod before he continued doing so, not acknowledging how Mason was positively beaming.
/break\
Alec was fourteen when he had his first kiss. It was awkward and their noses bumped uncomfortably and it lasted for about half a second total, just their lips pressed together, but it was everything. They had been in the tree-house while the adults were preparing barbecue in the garden. The Herondales and Garroways had torn down their fence to make one large garden for the kids to enjoy together – Imogen had even paid for a pool in their now large enough garden.
"B—Bat", sputtered Alec, cheeks and ears on fire as he stared at his friend.
Bat looked at him wide-eyed and embarrassed. "I—I like you and Maia said I should just kiss you and get it over with and maybe Maia isn't the best to ask for advise when it comes to this stuff, but I didn't know who else to ask because Simon is super useless. But I like you and I want you to be my boyfriend. Do you wanna be my boyfriend?"
Alec just nodded sharply, unable to say words. He still had a crush – steadily growing crush – on Jace. But he also thought that Bat was really cute. Had been thinking that a lot lately, every time Alec would get to watch a baseball game with Jace as the pitcher and Bat as the catcher.
"Cool!", exclaimed Bat with a toothy grin. "Let's go get barbecue."
Alec nodded and allowed Bat to pull him along. It was one of the things that Alec liked the most about Bat. Bat was direct and open and sweet. A blush lit up Alec's cheeks when they got down from the tree-house and stood in the middle of the big beginning-of-summer-barbecue that Luke and Jocelyn always threw for the neighborhood. Somehow, Alec felt like everybody could see on his face that he had just kissed Bat Velasquez and now had a boyfriend.
Author's note: Happy name day to my Kimmycup! ^o^ Because the birthday story turned... just way too long... and since your name day it only shortly before your birthday and that is a thing you celebrate in your country, I figured I will split it up into two and have presents for both days! x3
This one, pure cute kid fluff. That's why it turned into two because I can not resist writing a kid fic apparently... Next part, teenagers and adults and lots of pining ;D To be posted on August 10th! ;)