Okay, I'm so sorry; I have had a shitload of school work lately, so I haven't been able to write much. I wish school didn't have to take priority, but it does. Also I had to deal with CoHF, and that took a day up with reading and then a day up with the feels. I am sorry, ut at least you have an update now.

Lu xxx

"Guys, this is Will."

The tawny eyes narrowed.

"Alec, why does he look just like you?"

Shit. Alec had completely forgotten that Jace and Isabelle and Simon hadn't the faintest clue about Will's existence.

"Um… um you remember what I said in Taki's? That it was a long story?"

Jace smiled just a little.

"I guess it's time for you to tell it."

"I guess. Max, take Will to your room. We need to have a… private conversation."

Max nodded, and grabbed a confused and slightly scared looking Will around everyone and into the corridor beyond, five pairs watching like hawks as they did so. When the two boys were out of sight, Jace's glare switched back to Alec's, hard and fixed but not cold exactly.

"Okay, spill."

"Okay. Everything started on my eighteenth birthday. Magnus wanted to celebrate in style, so we raided his whisky cupboard, and… well, we never did that again. Anyways, we got totally sloshed, to the point where we were both slumped on the floor, each with a bottle in our hand, having one of those stupid conversations that only drunk people ever had. Somehow we got onto kids, and Magnus was blabbing on about how he would be a great dad and how I would be a great dad and after a bit we were both firm on the idea that we should have kids somehow and that it was a brilliant idea. The strange thing was that once we were in our right minds the next morning, we still thought exactly the same thing. So we got it sorted that afternoon.

Then, in those nine months, all shit broke loose. Maryse and Robert were away more and more, so I had to look after you guys more and more, and increasingly Magnus thought I was either having an affair with Jace or some other random person and was using seeing you as a lame cover up excuse. And he started to see Camille Belcourt behind my back when I was out or when he was 'out' on 'business'. We started fighting, our relationship got more and more strained. I think we both hoped that being dads would sort us out, but it didn't. They had been home a matter of hours when Magnus called it off. I begged him to try to fix it for their sakes, but no.

I had to choose a child to take. I couldn't face never seeing either of my sons again, and taking both would have been a legal nightmare. So…so I had to make that choice. I hate myself for making it, but I had to. I took Max out of there with all of my things, smashed my phone on the floor, and got a cab to JFK airport. I took the next available flight out of there and never looked back. I lived in California, brought Max up in the way I'd always wanted to be brought up. And then I got the job offer for the Idris Times. So we came back.

Yesterday, I was late to pick Max up. When I arrived, Magnus was there, with Camille, and an eight year old boy. Max confirmed the boy, his twin brother, to be his best friend Will that he had always been banging on about. I had had no idea that Magnus had even kept Will or anything. So it was a bit of a shock for both of us. And that is basically it."

Everyone just stood there, shocked, blinking. Then Jace piped up.

"Epic."

Clary visibly snapped.

"You think that everything that Alec has been through is epic?! I cannot believe you Jace Herondale!"

"Not that!" Jace said hurriedly, holding his hands up in surrender, "I meant the fact that I have another nephew. Simon may have nabbed the best uncle spot with Max, but I am determined to be Will's favourite. I shall take you down!"

Simon looked ever so slightly scared by Jace's announcement, but joined in with everyone else laughing just the same.

"So…you met Will yesterday then?"

Asked Simon.

Alec nodded.

"And…does Magnus know he is here."

"Er…no. He just knows that Will is at a friends house and won't be back until later."

"Right."

Simon just nodded, clearly too nervous to say anything else.

"Can we meet him now?"

Clary was grinning enthusiastically now.

"And am I his godmother too?"

"Yep. And Simon is his godfather."

"Sweet."

"Can they come back in now?"

Izzy asked nervously. Alec had noticed that about her recently, that she had become more nervous and reluctant, hanging back in the shadows and not putting herself in the spotlight. He noticed with a jolt that she had become more and more like him, and he had started to become a tiny bit more outgoing, like her. It was strange how things changed.

"Sure. Max!"

A moment later the two boys came back into the room, Max rushing forward to hug Clary and Will hanging back nervously. Alec moved over to him and put his hand on his son's back.

"That's Clary and Jace, and that's Simon and Izzy."

Will smiled at them shyly. Jace lifted a hand.

"Hey Will."

"Hi."

Jace grinned.

Magnus was sat on the sofa at home, flicking through the channels aimlessly and constantly looking at his watch. Five past eight. Ten past eight. Quarter past. He knew that he was being paranoid, but a part of him desperately wanted Will to be home so that he knew that he was safe and for a bit of company. Camille had gone out with some friends to do one thing or another about two hours ago and Magnus had been sat about doing not a lot since. He remembered ordering and eating several pizzas after developing an odd craving for them, but that was about it; everything else was blurred, fragments occasionally surfacing. He threw the remote down with a defeated sigh and got up, pacing the apartment restlessly.

He hadn't been able to focus the entire evening. He'd tried reading, but it hadn't worked. He'd tried the TV – when there had still been decent stuff on – but he hadn't been able to keep his mind on it for two minutes. He'd tried customising an old pair of jeans, but his mind had wandered off so much that he had ended up accidentally cutting them in half and slicing his finger open at the same time. As a last resort he had tried one of his favourite things, trying out new types of glittery hair dye, but what had started out as a test patch had turned by accident into an entire strand of hair by accident, so he had had to put streaks all over his hair. Not that he minded blue sparkly highlights, but he had been planning to see if they set his head on fire or something before coating his head in the stuff.

He knew why he was restless – of course he did. It was because of Alec. Because he had seen him. It had reawakened all of the feelings, the good and the bad, that Magnus has always associated with him in a way that the anniversary had never seemed to have been able to. It was both annoying and scary, and it was driving Magnus out of his mind. He needed something to take his mind off of it, but everything he had tried had just made him think more of it and there was no one home to help. Camille did have atrocious timing when it came to buggering off at inappropriate moments, or moments where she was needed. Still, he needed to appease her – she had been in a bit of a foul mood after the stuff Will had said, and it had taken a lot of effort to convince her that Magnus did love her and Will struggling to adjust was not going to change that.

He checked his watch again. Half past. He was just about to call Will when the boy burst through the door, panting slightly, his hair messy from the wind and his cheeks flushed. Magnus moved over to the door, where Will was leaning, clearly out of breath.

"Why were you late?"

He demanded.

"Traffic was awful."

"Okay. Did you have a good evening?"

Will nodded and looked up at Magnus.

"Have you dyed your hair blue?!"

"No, just highlights. And it's sparkly too. D'you like it?"

"Yeah, it looks good! Matches your eyeliner too."

Recently Magnus had developed a fetish for blue glittery eyeliner in large quantities.

"Yep. Um, Will, we have to talk about…"

"About the wedding?"

"Yeah. About the wedding. Camille and I had lunch together today and set the date."

"When?"

"Exactly a month."

"A month! Only a month!"

Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I take it you still haven't come around to the whole idea."

"I was maybe, but Dad that's really soon!"

Magnus sighed.

"It was Camille's idea. And anyway, we have already booked the venue."

"I could have guessed. Where is it gonna be?"

"Central Park. Camille has… contacts that mean we can get this small grove licensed, and then we have a massive party afterwards, and… yeah."

"Right. I'm going to bed now."

"Oh, okay."

Will was just about to storm off when Magnus caught hold of his arm. He spun around, clearly annoyed.

"What?"

"Will, you know that me getting married to Camille isn't going to change the relationship between us two, right? That I still love you to bits, that you are still one of the most important people in my life?"

"Yeah. Totally."

The sarcasm dripped from his voice as he glared at Magnus.

"If I was really that important to you, you wouldn't be marrying Camille."

And then he did stomp off towards his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him so hard that a few cracks appeared in the frame. The clatters of his boots on the ground were like gunshots. Gunshots shooting Magnus's heart over and over, putting him in immense pain but never killing him. So much for a distraction, the encounter with Will had just left things worse. He leaned against the wall by the door frame, sinking to the floor and finally allowed himself to cry.

Clary and Jace wandered back down the street to their apartment, next to each other but not touching. The evening had admittedly been a laugh, Will being just as much fun and just as interesting as Max, once the initial shock of both parties had worn off, and the whole group had just gotten on like a house on fire – almost literally. Clary was never letting Jace near a grill with Tessa after he had managed to set fire to half of Alec's beautiful new kitchen with Will and Max after deciding that they were going to grill some cheese. Why they had decided this Clary had no idea – the Taki order had already been placed.

There was a cool, almost unpleasant breeze in the air, signalling the fast approaching winter as autumn began to draw to a close. Clary drew her coat around her a little tighter, her hands stuffed into the pockets, as Jace nattered on about the evening. It was clear that he had enjoyed it a lot – he wouldn't be talking so much otherwise.

"…oh but Will was brilliant, wasn't he?"

"Yes. Though I am pretty sure you only think that because he called you amazing and joined in with all of those stupid schemes."

"Well… sort of."

"I still can't believe you! I mean, I know that you have a habit of burning food at home and occasionally setting fire to toast, but setting the entire kitchen ablaze?!"

"Will and Max found it funny. And so did Alec, to be fair."

"Yes, but I didn't! That was really embarrassing Jace, you acted like a child!"

"Clary, I'm only twenty four, I should still be allowed to have fun!"

"You are an adult Jace! When are you going to accept that this is the real world, and that you can't just dance through life without having a care?"

"Is this about me not having a job, Clary?"

"Yes! You can't jeep one, you have lost every job you have had within a couple of days because you don't take it seriously! You haven't worked in over a month, you just spend all day at the Hunter's Moon or gambling or the Angel knows what!"

"I'm trying to find a new one…"

"No you're not."

"What?"

"You aren't trying at all. You're just relying on me. I already have to spend all day in Alec's building, and your recent antics mean that I've had to take a job in Sephora over the weekend too! How long is it before I have to work evenings too, Jace?"

"Clary..."

"Not to mention the fact that you never see Tessa! And neither do I, because I always have to be out. She called Maureen Mom the other day! And it's your fault!"

"Clary, who is Maureen?"

"The babysitter I hired to look after your daughter because I can't and you refuse to!"

"Oh."

"Yes, oh, Jace Herondale!"

"Clary…"

"Hmm?"

"Clary, I'm sorry, I didn't realise…"

"Of course you didn't. You're too self absorbed."

"Right. It's not like I haven't been through a lot, what with my dad that I never really knew dying…"

"Jace, we all have our issues! My parents just took off one day, but I don't use that as an excuse for being a worthless slob!"

"You don't understand!"

"I've tried to! But you shut me out and kept on as a child! Grow up Jace, or I don't know how long we can last. I'm sorry."

Jace turned away, stalking off in the other direction, probably towards one of his favourite haunts, head ducked against the wind, hands stuffed hastily into the pockets of his jeans. Clary hated lying to everyone, pretending that everything was just fine, but she couldn't bear to face what other people would think of them, of him. She swivelled in the opposite direction, and walked the final few blocks to the apartment, pulling her coat around her again against the now biting air that was stinging at her face and hands. It was hardly a surprise when the first few hailstones dropped from the sky.

Alec grabbed Max's hand and together they ran out of the subway and onto the street. The hail was falling hard, slamming against the metal roofs of cars and stinging where it touched the skin. They laughed as they charged into the hall of their building, lowering their arms from where they had been protecting their heads and skidding about on the tiled floor. They made their way together over to the elevator, Max pressing the blue button. There was the soft click as the doors opened and they slid inside, feet tapping on the floor as the second long journey passed.

The doors clicked opened again and then they were at the top floor. Alec looked up – and blinked.

Clary was stood in the hallway, a massive suitcase stood next to her and Tessa clutching onto her arm, her thumb stuck defiantly in her mouth and several hailstones still stuck in her long, almost white hair that made them invisible. She turned to face him, her red curls bright against the dull corridor. There were lines of tears down her face, her green eyes glistening in the harsh lighting.

"Clary, are you alright?"

He said, shocked.

Clary shook her head pathetically.

Alec quickly unlocked the apartment, quickly depositing Tessa in one of the spare bedroom and shoving in the suitcase before rushing back into the lounge. Clary was stood there, and as soon as Alec came out – Max had taken the hint and disappeared – she fell into his arms, sobbing.

So?

Lu xxx