Hey guys! This is the second chapter, as promised. I got some love on the first chapter (Thank you much!) which made me want to continue. So here it is. It probably has some mistakes, but I don't mind. There will be one more chapter!

Thank you!

- Venus

Ty hated this. Hated it. It was ridiculous and unfair and impossible to understand.

Which was why he couldn't stop thinking about it.

It had been about six weeks since Kit had approached him about his feelings in the library. And Ty was more confused than ever.

Things with Kit were… fine? He didn't act really any differently toward Ty, that he could tell. He was still stubborn, proud, and challenged Ty to think a little differently. Nothing had changed, but Ty was sure somehow that everything had.

And it was maddening.

He couldn't stop analyzing and overanalyzing and then reanalyzing everything Kit said and did. Every look and touch. His brain was in overdrive. He hadn't been able to make any headway on any case, or solve any mysteries whatsoever. His music didn't even help deaden the noise of his thoughts.

Ty was just about crazy.

The floor that he'd paced hundreds of times per night since the library squeaked angrily under his feet; he entertained the thought that they'd been worn down into a small rut.

There was an audible snapping sound.

"That's it," Ty muttered distractedly, "I can't do this anymore."

He walked quickly to his door, and threw it open. He tore around the house looking for Kit. He had to tell him that he couldn't think about this anymore, that it was driving him crazy, and he'd had enough. It seemed like everyone was in their rooms, except him.

He must be outside.

Ty slowed his only slightly less than frantic pace and made his way down to the beach, planning out what to say to Kit to make this all go away.

I don't think I have any feelings for you. I've been thinking about it, a lot, and since I haven't come up with any answers that must mean that there aren't any. Yeah, that sounds good, now I just need to find h—

Kit was reclining in the sand, long legs stretched out in front of him, wrapped in tropical swim trunks. His top half was unashamedly bare, and he exuded the confidence that only a Herondale could.

However, that's not what made Ty stop in his tracks and observe.

Next to him, perched in the sand, with laughter tinkling like bells and skin the color of shimmering russet gold, was bikini clad Christina. Ty had never noticed how beautiful she was before this moment. She and Kit were lounging in the sand, laughter in the air, sun chafing their skin. Christina pushed Kit for something he said and he dramatically fell over.

Flirting, as Livvy would have called it.

Ty felt a strange ache in his chest. He wanted to go and tell Kit what he had to say, but he couldn't make his feet move toward them, so he turned and jogged back to the institute.

Ty just wanted to go back upstairs, turn his headphones all the way up, and try to forget any of this ever happened, but it was not to be. While passing through the kitchen, he encountered Jules' back and Emma just as she was shoving a giant spoon of Coco Pebbles into her mouth.

"Mungh, Dy! Whaf's uphf?" She said, covering her mouth. Still, several pebbles fell and clanked onto the table.

"I can't—I can't do this right now, sorry." He darted through the room as quickly as he could manage.

"Ty! Wait!" Jules' voice was accompanied by the sound of jogging footsteps. He came around the corner and caught Ty's wrist, "What's wrong? Are Tavvy and Dru—?"

"They're fine. This doesn't concern them." His wrist erupted in needles, and he impatiently dragged his wrist out of Jules' hand. Jules didn't fight it, knowing that sometimes touching did more harm than good to Ty.

Ty turned again for the door.

"Then what? Come on, tell me."

Tell me.

Those damn words again made him pause in his escape. The first time that Kit held him together he'd asked what to do. Ty never thought that those words could sound so good. He didn't understand it (yet another thing to add to the pile at this point). He sighed, all the adrenaline draining from his body, "Okay. I have a problem and I can't figure out how to… solve it."

Jules sat down on the hallway's padded bench, elbows on his knees, "Okay. Maybe I can help. Tell me about it."

Ty considered him for a second and decided that it likely couldn't hurt, "Kit told me something and asked me what I thought about it, and I don't know how to answer."

Julian's eyebrows rose, and an expression that Ty couldn't quite place stole over his face, "Ah. Okay. What did he say and what does he want to know?"

Ty scuffed his foot in uncharacteristic nervousness, "He says he has… romantic feelings for me. Like Magnus and Alec. And he wanted to know if I did—or if I could—feel the same way about him."

Julian nodded, folding his hands in front of his mouth, "And you don't feel the same way about him."

Ty raked his hand angrily through his hair, and began pacing in earnest, "I don't know! He wants to know how I feel about him and I can't name—I can't define… I don't—" His breaths were coming in short gasps; he didn't realize how worked up he'd been. He'd been overwhelmed so quickly that it surprised him this time.

Julian stood up and grabbed Ty's wrist again. He mirrored Livvy and Kit's actions by rubbing Ty's hands firmly as Ty slowed his breathing to a normal pace again.

"Maybe you're coming at this from the wrong angle. Don't analyze your feelings about him. Try just thinking of him and pinpointing whether you feel good or bad."

Ty nodded, swallowing his still slight panic, "Okay. Okay, I'll try that."

So Ty thought of Kit. Thought of meeting him for the first time, of his feral expression that hadn't quite faded, even all this time later. He was a boy who'd had no one but a father that only knew how to love in small doses. He was starved for attention. That didn't stop Kit from loving him and defending him unconditionally. He would go to the ends of the earth for the people he loved. His quiet and righteous fury was mesmerizing. It made you want to follow him.

He thought of sitting outside Kit's door, waiting for him to come out, and being quietly ecstatic when he finally did. He thought of discovering that Kit was just the perfect counter to his analytical brain. He pushed Ty in a way that no one else could. Everyone either followed or gave Ty parameters or instructions; Kit gave him different lines of thought that shot in completely different directions. He opened Ty's eyes.

"He—he mostly makes me happy? He pushes me to think, and he's—he understands me. He explains things really well, maybe even better than you." Julian nodded, not offended in the slightest. He'd noticed how well Kit understood and relayed information to Ty. He had no trouble interpreting things that Julian had difficulty finding words for.

"Okay. That's good. Now what do you think of the way he looks? How do you feel when he gets close to you?"

Ty thought of Kit rubbing his hands to calm him, the same way that Julian had just done. The first time had been a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. Kit's hands were warm and firm; a contrast to his slightly feral personality. Ty tried to think of him in a physical way. He was slightly shorter than him, with tousled blond hair and sharp blue eyes that melted and frosted depending on his countenance. Ty thought of Kit outside, with his shirt off. He felt a warmth pool at the bottom of his stomach as he traced the lines of his shoulder blades in his imagination. Ty hadn't known that he'd memorized it so well already.

"I—do find him attractive, I think." He thought of him outside with Christina. The laughter, the easygoing banter (flirting) that they employed as he snuck up behind them. This time his chest froze up and he started panicking a bit again, "I don't—I don't like the way I feel when I see him flirting with other people. Does that mean that I have… romantic feelings for him?"

Jules chuckled, patting Ty on the shoulder, "I can't tell you that, Ty. But I can answer you with another question that will hopefully get you to the bottom of all this: what do you want from this? Do you want things to go back to the way they were, or do you want to try having a relationship with Kit? It's your decision. I think that Kit would understand if you didn't want to, though, if you're worried about that. He seems pretty understanding, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Ty said, "He does."

Julian patted his shoulder again, before looking into his eyes for several long moments. Finally, he turned back toward the kitchen and rejoined Emma at the island.

Ty stared at nothing for a few moments longer before making his way upstairs again. He still needed to think about this.