The light from the setting sun glared in Kit's eyes as he looked out at the vast horizon. Despite all the times he's been to the beach or has watched the sunset, he never really took the time to appreciate its beauty. He never cared for it; he always had something to think about, something that drew his mind from the wondrous sunset. It was different now. Kit savored the blank-mindedness, savored the absence of the voice willing him to think about Livvy's death. Kit supposed that was why he was able to study the sunset, which was now almost touching the water. He couldn't think about Livvy. He felt that he didn't deserve to, that he had no place in grieving the Blackthorn girl. He didn't know her for very long, nor did he know much about her. Only the surface of her, which stayed behind with him as if it were a ghost. Livvy was… curious. Kit knew that much about her. After all, she had asked him to kiss her because she wanted to know what it felt like. Kit was glad to be the one to satisfy that curiosity of hers before her death, glad that it wasn't just some stranger. Not that Livvy would ever kiss a stranger.
Kit stretched out, crossing his legs as he rested his head against the wall of the bay window. Kit was surprised to see he had a bay window in his room, as it seemed that it wouldn't match the rest of the Institute's exterior. There was a knock on the door, and without even realizing it, Kit called out to the person behind it. "Come in,"
The door opened slowly, revealing a girl with long black hair wearing jeans and a peach-colored sweater that filled out her curves. She had light brown skin which was decorated with runes that sneaked out from under her sweater. Cristina. Her brown eyes went to the bed, expecting Kit to be there, but trailed over to the window when Kit cleared this throat. She walked in, closing the door behind her. Kit stared at her as she made her way over to him, dodging the dirty clothes he had left on the floor. Embarrassing, he thought as his eyes spotted a pair of underwear by the bed.
As the other outsider in the L.A. Institute, Cristina tried her best to engage herself with Kit. He appreciated her, but all she did was remind him that he didn't have a place with the Blackthorn family's grieving. "Neither do I, but there's an advantage to that. We don't have to bear a loved one's death. As selfish as that may sound, we do have to watch from the sidelines. And maybe we're not playing the game but we can at least make an impact encouraging them," Cristina said when Kit had told her that.
"Cristina," Kit said. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to check on you," she replied, sitting across from Kit.
"Check on me?" Kit questioned, glancing at the flour in Cristina's hair.
Ever since Livvy's death, Julian and the others have been holed up in their room, coming out only to eat. Except Ty. He never came out. Cristina had taken it upon herself to continue the chores. She cooked, she did laundry, she cleaned, she dealt with the Clave and Clary and Jace, ect. She took care of Tavvy. All things Julian did. The Clave had postponed Helen's arrival for "further questioning" but Kit suspected that they didn't want to give a faerie the satisfaction of making it out of their demands, even though she had just lost her little sister.
"Yes. I'm making my rounds," she sighed, running her hand through her hair. Cristina went door to door checking on the inhabitants of the L.A. Institute. She rarely came to Kit's door.
"Oh. I'm okay," Kit swallowed.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," he smiled at her. She was unbelievably kind. It was hard to believe she was a Shadowhunter sometimes, compared to the aggressiveness of all other Shadowhunters Kit have met. Which in his case, there weren't many. "You have flour in your hair, by the way,"
"Seriously? I thought I got it all out," she groaned, rubbing the flour out of her hair.
"What are you making, anyways?"
"Cupcakes," she answered. "Tavvy wanted to make some. They're downstairs on the counter if you want some."
Kit nodded, his stomach grumbling at the thought of biting into a cupcake. "Any progress on the Blackthorns?"
Cristina shrugged as she tied her hair up lazily into a bun. "Everybody deals with grief in different ways. Julian occasionally instructs me on Tavvy, like on what puts him to sleep, y'know, that kind of stuff. Emma texts me when she needs a shoulder to cry on. Mark is too…. calm. As if he's trying to hold everything in. Dru is angry. Nobody is helping her but me, so of course she take her frustration out on me. I know she doesn't mean to. Ty, he just…. shuts me out completely. I didn't talk to Ty much, so to him I'm sure I'm just a stranger at his door,"
"I'm worried about him," Kit said. "I mean, I'm worried about everyone else as well but Ty…."
"You're his friend," Cristina said. "Why don't you try to talk to him?"
"I don't think so," he laughed. Kit was horrible at comforting someone. He always said the wrong thing, made the wrong move, too soon or too late. "I don't know how,"
"You don't have to stay anything," she told him. "Sometimes a presence is better than nothing,"
Kit looked at Cristina. She has a way with words, he thought. He could do that. He could sit with Ty in silence. The only obstacle is to get Ty to let him in.
"Okay," he breathed. "I'll try,"
"Okay," Cristina smiled, placing a hand on his knee. "And if you ever need me, you know where I am,"
As she got up to leave, Kit called after her. "You don't have to do this, y'know?"
"Do what?" she asked, turning around to look at Kit.
"This," Kit gestured between them and around them. "You don't have to be the one to hold this Institute together,"
Cristina walked to the door, pausing to turn to Kit. "If I don't," she whispered, "then who will?" With that closed the door, leaving Kit to his thoughts and the sunset.
There's the first chapter! Review and let me know what you think!