Here is the next chapter to It No Longer Matters. Enjoy.
~Tiliger
Alec didn't want to talk to his sister but he listened to her as she yelled at him. Usually he would yell back but this time was different. He didn't care who yelled at him or that he was being yelled at. He cared about finding Magnus. Why, he didn't know. Alec knew they broke up but he was still concerned about him. In other words, he was still in love with a warlock named Magnus Bane.
"How many times do we have to have this conversation," Isabelle asked. "I am tired of telling you that you can't be making jackass remarks when Jace is showing his vulnerable side. We rarely see that side of him!"
"Okay, whatever," Alec said, not really showing any interest. "I'm sorry, can we drop it?"
"By the Angel, you're acting like the old Jace."
Alec glanced behind him and saw Clary put her hand on Jace's cheek. Alec groaned. "Why do they have to get all romantic in a war zone?"
Isabelle looked at him. "It's your own fault, you know. You shouldn't have been laughing at Jace's vulnerable moment."
"And he shouldn't have said what he did. Guess we both said something we shouldn't have but do I look like I'm really affected by it?" Alec started walking farther and farther ahead of Clary and Jace with his sister hot on his heels. "I don't care anymore, Iz. I don't care that we found Clary. I don't care that her parents are dead."
"Alec—"
"Don't 'Alec' me," he snapped. "Max and Aline are dead and the chances of mom and dad being alive are very slim!"
Alec's sister looked at him in pure horror. "And you know what," Alec said, "Simon is probably dead, too."
Isabelle showed very little emotion but he saw the hurt in her eyes. "Even if he is dead, I won't stop looking for him," she said sharply. "I will find him, even if I die doing it."
"Don't you get it!? There is never a happy ending. They don't exist. Take Clary for example. Her best friend is missing, her mom is dead and so is her psychopath of a farther, her brother is a murder, Luke is dead, and Jace isn't Jace anymore! That doesn't seem like a happy ending to me."
"Quit it. Quit acting like the old Jace! You are only acting like this because Magnus broke up with you, Alec." Alec saw Isabelle glance back at Jace and Clary and then back to Alec. "Clary might not have a happy ending but look at her and Jace. They are happy together and that might just be as close to a happy ending as you can get."
Alec saw Clary smile when Jace whispered something in her ear and then saw Jace smile at her smile. "I just don't understand why everyone gets to be happy but me."
"Not everyone is happy, Alec. Remember that girl that came to the Institute last week? Laney Highscar?"
"No."
"Alec, you do, too. You saw how she looked."
Alec sighed as he remembered the 15 year old Shadowhunter from Chicago. Laney's mother had shown Jace and Alec a picture of her when she was younger. Her hair was brownish-red and it was curly. Her eyes were bright hazel and she was smiling. When they met her later that day her hair was straight but still the same color and her eyes looked dead with the dark makeup around them. She didn't have that cute little smile she had when she was 10.
"She's depressed, so what? So are a lot of teenagers. You can't compare me to a little girl," Alec complained.
"She's not a little girl, she's short but not a little girl. Did you ever actually talk to her other than when you first met her and when you were training her?"
Alec shook his head.
"Well Clary and I did. She went through a horrible break up the week before. So yes, I can compare you to her because you are going through the same things as her."
Alec rolled his eyes. "Fine, but this still doesn't make me feel any better."
"I just wanted you to know that you weren't alone. And Laney recognized that you were going through a break up. She told me that she wanted me to tell you that you are not alone."
"How would she know?"
"She was depressed long before her boyfriend broke up with her but she got worse after the break up. Just like you."
Alec said nothing.
"Clary asked her why she acted happy when she was actually really depressed. Laney said she acts the way she does around everyone because she doesn't want anyone to feel the way she does. She tried for days to get you to smile or to laugh. She finally gave up when you yelled at her to pay attention to what Jace was showing her. Maybe you should think about that." Isabelle left her brother and walked back to Jace and Clary.
Alec looked down at the ground and sighed. Maybe Laney did mean well. He just never saw the point of being happy after Magnus broke up with him. He made a mental note to call Laney and apologize for how he acted.
So how was it? You learned a little bit about this new character I came up with (Laney Highscar) and you will be seeing her later on in the story. Let me know if you want a certain characters point of view. I'll be posting the next chapter sometime this week or next. Please Review.
~Tiliger