Hello everybody!

I am so sorry I have taken so long to update. I gave this chapter to my Beta Reader a few days ago but I hadn't heard anything from them since so I assumed that there was nothing wrong with the chapter. I hope the length of the chapter makes up for the lateness (I've been writing like a fiend!).

Thank you so much for your reviews. I love hearing from all of you. Welcome to Jupanuma and Manibarilo.

This chapter continues on from my previous chapter Making Friends and includes my own character Evie. Honestly, I didn't expect her to be used so much throughout this chapter but as I was writing it just happened the way it did. I really enjoyed writing this chapter so I really hope you all enjoy reading it. I don't think there are any spoilers from the books or the TV show.

I will update this chapter if there are any changes from my beta reader.

Enjoy!

The Lightwood Bane Chronicles

Girl Issues

"Ow! Did you have to hit me that hard?" Max whined rubbing his arm and shooting a glare at his friend Evie, who was bouncing on the balls of her feet. Her long dark hair, tied back in a long braid was swinging wildly behind her as she shook out her hands and grinned at Max.

"Oh come on Max. Your brother wouldn't complain if he was hit by a girl." Evie held her fists up in front of her face. "Try again. This time raise your arms quicker when you block." Max huffed and raised his arms, throwing a fist towards her face. Evie parried his punch and threw her fist towards Max. Before her punch could land on Max's arms, her fist collided with an invisible wall in a resounding crunch. Letting out a painful yelp and a muffled curse under her breath she cradled her hand against her chest. "Max, that's not fair. We agreed no magic!"

Max gasped and reached out to help her, cautiously touching her shoulder in comfort as she whimpered and tried not to cry. "Sorry. It was a reflex, I didn't even realise I put up a shield." Max led Evie to the bench in the corner of the training room and sat down, passing her a bottle of water. Max gestured to her hand which had bruised and swollen to double its size already. "I can fix your hand if you want. My Papa's friend has been teaching me healing magic."

Evie nodded and held out her hand with a wince as Max rubbed his hands together, feeling a spark of magic flicker to life beneath his dark blue skin. He gently held her hand and she felt the pain slowly fade away. Evie slowly flexed her fingers and turned to Max with a small smile. "I think we should probably stop for today."

Max nodded and let go of her hand, picking up a spare towel and patted the sweat away from his forehead, whilst Evie drank her water. They sat in a comfortable silence as they relaxed and brought their breathing back under control. Max turned to Evie as a worried crease formed on his brow. "Are you okay now?"

"I'm fine Max. Look, all better." She flexed her hand before bumping his shoulder gently with her own. "I'm a Shadowhunter. We're a lot tougher than we look." Evie grinned, taking another swig from her water bottle before screwing the cap back on. Max watched her quietly taking in her long dark hair, the olive tanned skin of her face and her large dark eyes which almost always had a mischievous glint to them. They had been friends for a few years now, ever since the day that Evie ran after Max and his brother Rafe to return his Codex back to him. Max had grown from a skinny, but lankily tall boy with jutting limbs into a teenager who was just starting to feel comfortable in his skin. He was still tall and lanky but he was starting to get stronger.

Evie put her water bottle on the floor beside her and picked up her pink towel, lightly dabbing her damp skin and turned to Max. "So, what are you and Rafe doing tonight?"

"Oh, the usual. Homework, cooking dinner and then probably watching TV with Papa until Dad gets home from patrols." Max shrugged. "Papa's been trying to get Rafe to spend some time away from our bedroom."

"Maybe he likes his privacy."

"That's what I said to Papa but he said that sometimes you can have too much privacy. I don't know." Max shook his head. "Rafe's been really moody since his birthday but Aunt Izzy says it's probably just a phase."

"My cousin was like that. She turned eighteen a couple of years back and then all of a sudden she thought she was too good to be around me, thought I was too immature to hang out with her." Evie rolled her eyes. "I've barely seen her since she got that envoy job in Switzerland."

The door suddenly opened and in popped Rafael's dark haired head, looking at them both with a raised eyebrow. "Hermano, time to go. Aunt Clary is waiting to cast a portal to send us home." Rafael turned his attention to Evie and waved his hand in greeting. "Hola Evie. Have you been beating up my little brother again?" He chuckled with a wry grin.

"Yeah of course." She replied and Max noticed her cheeks growing pinker by the second. "Not that I would willingly beat up your brother unless it's for training." Evie added hastily with a small giggle earning an odd look from Max.

"I'm glad to hear it. I've gotta go. See you in a minute Max." Rafe smiled and quickly exited the room.

"Bye Rafe!" Evie called after him as the door swung slowly shut, a dopey grin painted on her face.

"What was that?" Max asked raising an eyebrow at Evie. She looked back at him in surprise.

"What was what?" she asked innocently, suddenly looking at her water bottle with interest.

"That. You were smiling like an idiot at my big brother." He replied waving his hands at Evie and the door. "And you're blushing."

"I am not. I was just being friendly that's all. Besides, don't you have to get going? Don't want you to be late now do we?" She hurriedly stood up and gathered Max's things holding them out to him without looking him in the eye.

He took them slowly, watching his friend suspiciously. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, we'll work on that disarming flip tomorrow on the mats." She nodded as she nudged him towards the door with a smile on her face.

"Alright, see you." He hugged her quickly goodbye before he left the room, feeling confused.

"Remember, when you're pulling back the string, be confidant with it. It won't snap back on you if you know what you're doing." Alec said patiently, gently adjusting Max's fingers as he stood at the shooting line. "And you know what you're doing Blueberry."

"Dad, we agreed not to call me that here." Max replied sheepishly, cringing at the thought of anyone from his class hearing them, especially Bernard, the class thug who had a thing for picking on Max whenever he could.

Alec flushed. "Sorry, it just slipped out. It won't happen again." He straightened up and stepped back, checking over Max's stance with quick critical glances before he nodded with a smile. "Okay, good. Now just aim for the target and shoot when you're ready."

Max took a deep breath and let his arrow fly, watching anxiously as it zipped through the air and hit the target twenty metres away. Max could just see the arrow shaking to a stop just off centre on the target next to his brother's previous arrow. Max looked over at Rafe who loosed another arrow with ease and watched it hit the centre of the target again. Rafael was good at archery. In fact he was good at a lot of things, including making friends which often made Max a little envious of his big brother. But when he told his Papa all of this, he merely pointed out that there were things that Max could easily do that Rafael could not, like using magic to heal people and conjure things out of nowhere. But still, it didn't always make him feel better knowing that he would always have to work harder than everybody else just to get up to the same standard as them.

"Very good Max," beamed Alec as Max placed his bow on the stand. "You can go up and collect your arrows in a minute once everyone is done."

"No need Dad," Max shrugged and with a flick of his wrist, his arrows were safely back in the quiver standing next to his bow, as if they had never been touched. "Already done."

Alec shook his head with a small smile, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Alright, show-off. Go sit down." Max grinned widely and sat down next to Evie who raised a hand for a high-five before returning her attention to the archers still shooting.

"I swear I'm getting better at this." Max beamed to Evie. "Last time I couldn't even get close to the centre of the target."

"Yeah, that's good." Evie replied just as Rafe shot another arrow, hitting the target so close to the bulls-eye that it left a ringing sound as it collided with his other arrows. Evie gasped in awe. "How does he do that? That's almost impossible! He's brilliant!"

Max stared at Evie as if she had suddenly admitted that she was in fact a duck and she was planning on creating an army to take over the ponds in Central Park. "What?"

"You know if we were suddenly attacked by a demon, I bet you anything Rafe would just shoot it and save us all like that." She snapped her fingers, looking over at Rafael. Max glanced between Rafe and Evie in confusion.

"Yeah, I guess he could but he'd never let us hear the end of it. Not that a demon could get into the Institute anyway."

"Oh, you're just saying that." Evie scoffed, tucking a lock of her brown hair behind her left ear. "You're really lucky to have a brother like him you know."

Max blinked. "Are we still talking about the same Rafe here?"

Max watched in bemusement as Evie rolled her eyes and watched his brother. Max quickly glanced around at the other students in their class who were too busy to even notice him. He even looked over at his Dad to see if he was seeing what Max was seeing but he was too busy trying to stop one of the other students from accidentally stabbing himself in the eye with his own arrow. Max turned back to Evie with a frown. "What's going on Evie? Do you have a crush on Rafe or something?"

Evie suddenly glanced at him in shock. "What? No! Of course I don't have a crush on Rafe! Sure, he's cute and all but he's your brother, and you're my best friend. That's – it's too weird…"

Max gaped at her. "You think my brother is cute?"

Evie's cheeks were turning crimson as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat next to Max. "I, er…I've just remembered, my mother is coming home early today so I should probably go."

"Evie, we're in the middle of a lesson. You can't go now." Max protested but it was too late. Evie was up and out of the door before he could even stop her, leaving behind a trail of students watching her go in surprise and confusion.

"Is everything alright Max?" Alec asked suddenly by his side, frowning down at him in concern. "Where did Evie go? It was her turn next."

Max shrugged his shoulders staring after his friend.

Max spent most of the afternoon when he got home trying to contact Evie. He made over a dozen phone calls to her mobile, sent thousands of texts and even resorted to sending her a few fire messages as well but received no reply to any of them. Max had never gone so long without talking to Evie. She was his best friend. He could talk to her about anything and she would listen patiently to him until he finished. He knew about her family, about how her mother had fallen in love with a Shadowhunter when she was a mundane and had ascended shortly after the Mortal War. Evie was born during the Dark War but by then her father had been turned by Sebastian Morgenstern and was eventually killed. Apart from Rafe and his family, Evie was the only other person who ever looked at Max's appearance and didn't back away in disgust. They knew everything about each other. At least, Max thought he did. Max thought about how she reacted when he asked her if she had a crush on Rafe and shook his head in confusion. It just didn't make any sense.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" Max asked as he stirred some spicy sauce in the saucepan on the cooker. Max looked up at his Dad inquisitively, taking in the light five-o'clock shadow trying to make its way across his normally clean shaven face.

"Of course you can Blueberry. What's the matter?" Alec replied as he chopped some peppers carefully in front of him. Max nodded and took a deep breath. If he couldn't talk to his Dad about these things then who could he talk to?

"How do you know if a girl fancies you?"

Startled, Alec's knife scraped horribly against his chopping board and he let out a curse as blood wept out of a cut on his finger. Max cringed as he looked at Alec apologetically. "Oops, sorry Dad."

"No Max, it's not your fault. I'm fine, nothing a little iratze can't fix." He pulled out his stele from his pocket and quickly drew a healing rune on the back of his hand. Seconds later, Max watched as the skin on Alec's finger started to stitch itself back together, leaving barely a mark behind. Alec glanced at his son apprehensively. He had been hoping that Magnus or even Izzy would be around when he would have to give Max the dreaded Talk. "So er, Max. Aren't you a little young to be thinking about girls now?"

"I'm fourteen, Dad."

"I know…I'm just saying you should, you know, take your time. Don't rush things. Take some time to actually get to know them before you do any…stuff."

"What?" Max asked confused staring at his Dad, waving his hands about anxiously before he slowly caught on. Max cringed feeling his cheeks warming at the thought of what his Dad was saying. "Ew Dad no! I don't fancy anyone if that's what you think."

"Really? Oh thank the Angel." Alec resumed his chopping, letting out a breath of relief. "So, what is this actually about Blueberry?"

"Evie's been acting weird that's all."

Alec paused in his chopping; looking down at his son who was frowning at the saucepan he was stirring. "Weird how?"

"She keeps getting distracted all the time and gets super giggly whenever Rafe is around." Alec had a sudden sinking feeling of dread in his chest. Max looked up at Alec as a crease appeared on his brow. "She told me that she thinks he's cute. I don't see the appeal. I mean have you seen Rafael in the morning? And he's so annoying."

"Well…I don't know. To be honest you'd probably get a better answer from your Papa or Uncle Jace."

"Oh, okay." Max turned back to stirring the pot and let out a sigh. "Girls are confusing."

"Oh yeah, I agree with you on that. Your Aunt Izzy was a nightmare growing up, especially when she started dating. Your grandparents didn't know about most of the boys she was seeing, but that's probably a good thing really."

"But why does Evie like Rafe of all people? He's my brother, it's weird."

Just as Alec was coming up with an answer, he suddenly heard someone clear their throat behind them both before he made his way into the kitchenette, swirling a small bottle of potion that was emitting a luminescent silver light. Magnus smiled as he stepped behind Alec. "Hmm, something smells good." Magnus said, weaving his arms around Alec's waist and kissed his cheek.

"It's Moroccan Chicken. I thought I'd give it a try." Alec shrugged smiling back at Magnus. "I'm trying to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn like last night's dinner." Alec gestured to the small chicken currently roasting in the oven.

Magnus shuddered, feeling the hairs on his arms raise in disgust. "That's good. No offence to your lovely sister but that soup last night was just bleugh. You could probably kill a demon with a bowl of that stuff."

"Yeah, we have thought about it but it doesn't work unfortunately."

"I liked it." Max said lightly looking up at his parents. Magnus gave his son a look of pity.

"Yes but your taste buds are all over the place at the moment, Blueberry. They'll be back to normal soon enough once you've had another growth spurt." Magnus leaned over and kissed the top of Max's head, in between his two curling horns. "Have you seen your brother?"

"He's in our room I think."

Magnus and Alec shared a knowing look before Magnus sighed, ruffling Max's hair affectionately. "The joys of having teenagers…Don't you get any older Max." He then promptly left, swirling the luminescent vial in his hand as he went.

Max watched his Papa leave with a frown. "Dad, why are you and Papa trying to get Rafe to socialise so much? Is he okay?"

Alec shook his head with a half smile. "Trust me Max. You don't need to worry about Rafe. He's just having some personal issues at the moment."

Max looked up at Alec worriedly. "Is it about Buenos Aires?"

Alec gave Max a grim look and Max nodded fully understanding what his Dad meant, knowing that it was a conversation for another time. Max sighed and shook his head in defeat. "So what should I do about Evie?"

Alec paused in quiet thought for a moment, a small crease appearing on his brow before he turned to Max with a serious expression. "It sounds like she's going through a confusing time at the moment. For now, just let her know that you're there for her when she wants to talk about it. She's going to need a friend."

"Okay Dad." Max nodded. He suddenly caught an odd smell and crinkled his nose, stepping back to peer at the oven door. "Dad, I think the chicken's on fire."

"By the Angel!" Alec exclaimed, frantically opening the oven door and unleashing a billow of black smoke. The sounds of coughing and a beeping smoke alarm filled the apartment as Magnus returned a moment later, closely followed by Rafael who stared at the blackened chicken in shock. Magnus shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Anyone fancy Ethiopian tonight?"

Max took his Dad's advice and sent Evie a message saying that if she wanted to talk then he was there whenever she was ready. He didn't get a reply, though Max suspected that he wouldn't anyway. He spent the next three days periodically checking his phone whilst he went about his business. He did his homework, trained at the Institute – mostly with Rafe or on his own since no one wanted to go near him – and helped his Papa with collecting ingredients for his potions.

By the eighth day, he was really starting to worry about his friend. He reasoned that she was just going through some "girl issues" as she'd like to call it and just didn't want to talk to anyone but even then he was pretty sure his Aunt Izzy said it only lasts for a few days at most. Max lay on his bed, tiredly flipping through the dog-eared pages of his Codex which he and his brother had read over a thousand times. He glanced at his phone, sitting still on his bedside table and let out a frustrated huff. How long did it take girls to work through things? If something was bothering Max, he would just get it sorted and then move on.

He suddenly wondered whether something had actually happened to Evie and she was in trouble. What if she had been attacked by a demon whilst on her way home one day? She was a Shadowhunter after all. Demons always seem a bit drawn to the angelic blood in their veins. But then if something had happened to Evie, wouldn't her Aunt and Uncle alert the Institute to her disappearance?

Max stared at his phone absentmindedly drumming his fingers in thought against the cover of his Codex. Just as he decided he would call her again, his bedroom door opened as Rafael poked his head in. Max stared up at his brother as he walked in and left the door ajar behind him. "Rafe, are you okay?"

"Si hermano," he nodded. Rafael ran his hand through his dampened dark hair, shaking water droplets from his hair as he sat down on Max's bed. Max was just about to shove him onto the floor with his feet when his brother took a deep breath and chewed his lip in thought.

Max sat up on his bed, his Codex forgotten and stared at his big brother. "What is it? Has something happened?"

Rafael shook his head, turning to face Max with a sigh. "Okay, I need to tell you something hermano. You might not like it but I have to tell you."

"Rafe, you're worrying me. Just spit it out." Max said, feeling a tight knot appear in his chest.

"Evie asked me out."

Max stared at his brother for a moment in shock before he let out a laugh. "I knew she had a crush on you. When did she ask you out?"

"A few days ago," Rafe replied confusedly. "If you knew, why didn't you say anything?"

"Never mind that, what did you say?" Max waved his hand, fixing Rafe with a serious look.

Rafael shook his head in disbelief. "I told her I wasn't looking for a relationship with anyone. I've got enough issues to be dealing with as it is. Besides I thought she fancied you."

Max raised an eyebrow at him. "You can't honestly believe that."

"Well not now." Rafe rolled his eyes.

Max glanced at his phone in thought. "I hope you let her down gently."

Rafe shrugged his shoulders. "I thought I did but I haven't seen her for days."

Max stood, picking up his phone and keys as he looked around for his shoes. "I should go around and see if she's okay."

"Who's going around where?"

Magnus appeared in their doorway, carrying a box of books as Chairman Meow trotted along behind him. Magnus's hair was tinted with red and purple highlights and dusted with a healthy helping of silver glitter which left shimmering trails on his teal shirt and skinny jeans.

"I'm just going to pop around to Evie's to see if she's okay." Max said but then paused, thinking that he should probably wait to see if he was allowed out this late in the afternoon. He looked up at his Papa who was watching him quietly.

"Okay," Magnus said slowly, putting down his box of books on the floor. Max let out a small sigh of relief just as Magnus straightened up and crossed his arms, fixing Max with his best no-nonsense-I'm-the-parent look. "I want you back before seven o'clock and remember what I said when you go out on your own. No talking to strangers, no detours -"

"Stay away from funny smells, keep my glamour up and if any faeries offer me a deal, don't take it. I know Papa." Max interrupted, hastily tying his shoelaces with a flick of his hand and shrugging on his jacket.

"And you're taking the Chairman with you." Magnus added with a smile.

"Papa!"

"He knows the city better than you do Blueberry. Those are my terms. Take it or leave it." Max let out a sigh and nodded, fixing Chairman Meow with a resigned look as the little aged cat purred and flicked his tail. Magnus smiled widely as he crouched to pick up the box of books. "Rafael, can you give me a hand with a few things? I'm sorting through some stuff of an old friend's."

"Si Papa," Rafael replied, following after Magnus as they left the room. Max slipped on his woolly hat, taking care not to get his horns caught on the rim and opened the front door. Chairman Meow trotted behind with his tail happily in the air.

Max shortly arrived at a small detached house in Queens where he knew Evie and her family lived when they were not at the Institute. There was a small garden path leading towards the front door with rows of gardenia plants on either side of the flagstones. Chairman Meow perched heavily on the doorstep next to Max's feet, idly taking in the scenery with the occasional sniff of a drooping flower. Max knocked on the front door and waited quietly wondering whether Evie would be happy to see him. He crossed his fingers in the pocket of his jacket and hoped for the best.

The front door opened with a creak to reveal Evie standing in a set of pink flannel pyjamas and fluffy duck slippers. Her hair fell down behind her back in a scraggly mess and Max noticed her eyes were puffy and red. She blinked in surprise. "Oh hey Max, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you were alright." Max replied, shuffling uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Rafe told me what happened."

"Oh." Evie swallowed before stepping aside. "Well, I guess you'd better come in then."

With a cheerful meow, Chairman Meow leapt to his paws and pranced across the threshold as if he had been living there his entire life. Max shook his head with a small smile as he caught Evie watching the feline with surprise. "Yeah, don't ask. Chairman Meow has lost all of his manners in his old age."

Evie led Max into her living room which was large but made cosy with mismatched furniture. There was a small television in the corner quietly flickering with a period drama. "My Aunt and Uncle are out on a patrol at the moment and my mother's out back." Evie explained as she flopped down on one of the sofas and wrapped a soft blue throw around her shoulders.

Max sat down next to her on the sofa and gazed around the room. He had never been inside Evie's home before though he knew where she lived and had walked her home once or twice when no one was around to escort her home. He stared around at the framed photos of happy faces and baby pictures. There was a tall oaken bookcase stood next to the doorway, its shelves straining hard to hold all of the books that were densely packed onto them. Max felt a strong urge to walk over and peruse the bookshelves, noticing that most of them had covers that looked like mundane fiction.

"Sorry I haven't answered your messages. I've had the flu." Evie said. Max turned to face her and found her curling her knees up to her chest.

"Evie, I know you don't really have the flu."

"No I don't but it doesn't sound as pathetic though." Evie shrugged half heartedly. Max shifted in his seat, crossing his legs and trying to think of something to say that would help make Evie feel better.

"You could've told me you know. I would have understood – well, not really but I would have tried to understand." Max said, vaguely aware that he was starting to ramble. "I may be younger than you but I do know a little bit about these things. I do read a lot."

Max noticed Evie's mouth twitch with a small smile. "I know but it was too embarrassing." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'll get over it…eventually."

Chairman Meow suddenly appeared in front of them both and yowled loudly, looking up at them expectantly. Evie reached down and let him sniff her fingers before stroking his head. She smiled quietly. "Why did you bring your cat with you?"

"Papa said I couldn't leave unless I took him with me." Max explained, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. He lowered his voice and gave Evie a conspiratorial look. "Between you and me, I think Chairman Meow is getting a little fat."

"You must have gotten so many odd looks." Evie chuckled, tickling Chairman Meow's chin and feeling him purr against her fingertips.

Max nodded with a laugh. "Yeah it was a nice change from the usual reason. I walked past a werewolf couple on my way here and they looked like they didn't know whether to back away because of my horns or chase after the Chairman." Evie giggled at the thought.

"I think we've got some treats in the kitchen, hold on a sec." She announced getting up from the sofa and walking out of the room. Chairman Meow perked up and meowed excitedly.

"Oh, now you've done it. You won't get rid of him now. He'll make this place one of his regular stops." Max called after her shaking his head as Chairman Meow leapt up onto the sofa and then climbed up the back of it, peering his head over the cushions as Evie came back in opening a plastic tub of tuna pieces.

"I don't mind. We used to have a cat back in Canada called Spooky." She fed the Chairman a chunk of tuna which he gobbled up in seconds. "We couldn't bring her with us though so we gave her to this lovely old mundane lady across the street."

Chairman Meow purred loudly and rubbed his head affectionately against Evie's wrist. Max reached over and picked up another chunk of tuna and continued to feed him. "Are you coming back to training tomorrow?" he asked quietly. "It's been quite boring without you there."

"Yes. My mother's been annoyed that I'm under her feet all the time." Evie rolled her eyes before fixing Max with a suspicious look. "You have been practising your blocks whilst I've been gone, right?"

Max looked at Evie guiltily. "No…"

Evie shook her head with a sigh. "I knew it. What are we going to do with him Chairman, eh?" She cooed at the cat and tickled his whiskers. Chairman Meow let out a loud meow in reply. Evie raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really? It's a bit extreme but if you think it'll work..."

"Hey! Stop making plans with my cat." Max exclaimed. He looked at his watch and stood up. "I've got to get home now but I'll see you tomorrow."

Evie nodded and stood up, Chairman Meow following closely behind her as she led them both to the front door. Evie gave Max a warm hug as he stood on the doorstep. "Thanks for coming over. You're a good friend." She kissed his cheek and waved at Chairman Meow before shutting the door.

Max looked down at Chairman Meow who tipped his head to the side. "Don't you dare tell Rafe about this, Chairman. He'll never shut up about it." The little feline meowed in reply before slinking quickly down the garden path as if to say try and stop me. Max hurried after him in exasperation. "She's just a friend!"