A/N: Sorry for the wait. I can't believe this story is getting more attention than expected.

Isabelle had a hard time falling asleep after the incident last night. But she did fall asleep anyways. Her eyes fluttered open with the strong desire that her sweet dream about a certain vampire is true. It isn't. She snapped her head towards the clock in her bedtime table. She groaned. It was time for her to get up and proceed with her daily chores in the institute.

She groaned even louder when it sunk in that the head of the institute, her brother, caught her in a compromising position a few hours ago.

Isabelle got into her usual attire, a bold black dress with her signature dark lip. She giggled after realising that she needs a little bit of concealer to cover small pink and purple bruises. She whipped out her barely touched Maybelline concealer. Usually, if she needs to wear concealer to cover a small blemish, she'd be so annoyed. But in this case, she was far from annoyed.

It was 10 am. Isabelle decided to ditch breakfast and do her round early so she can sneak out sooner to Hotel Dumort.

After an hour, Isabelle bit her lip happily as the clock struck 11:30 am, signalling her shift over. She jumped off the stool and about to walk off to sneak to Hotel Dumort when she was interrupted by a voice of authority.

"What's gotten you so jumpy today?" Her mother asked curiously.

Isabelle is taken back, she wet her lip and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before turning around to face her mother.

Instead of a poker face with a stiff stance, Isabelle was surprised to see her mum less... stiff. She remembered her conversation with her the night before and her smile grew wider.

"What's gotten you so jumpy?" She replied jokingly back.

Maryse raised an eyebrow at her indicating she said her reason first.

Isabelle playfully rolled her eyes, "I thought about what you said last night."

Maryse raised both her eyebrows higher.

"You know. You whole 'fight for love' conversation," Isabelle whispered.

"Ah, yes." Maryse smiled at her daughter, "So, who is it?"

Isabelle nudged her mom, "Mom!" She whispered. It made her display the biggest smile she'd had in years. She's never talked to her mom like this. Like friends. She couldn't believe she could actually talk to her now without her filtering every word. Her mom definitely deserves a second chance.

Their interaction attracted a little attention. No one's really seen Maryse and her daughter interact like that before. In fact they haven't witnessed Maryse being so 'at ease' before.

Maryse opened her mouth to talk but was interrupted by someone clearing their throat from behind. Both women turned around and were faced by Alec.

"Mother," Alec greeted, "May I just grab Isabelle for a sec?"

Maryse nodded, "Sure," She touched Isabelle's arm before leaving.

Isabella crossed her arms as soon as her mum wasn't in sight. "What?" She asked Alec.

Alec loosened his jaw before speaking, "I want to talk about last night," he declared.

Izzy rolled her eyes and turned around to walk away.

Before she walks too far off, Alec grabbed her attention, "Izzy, we need to talk," He walked towards her and fasten his pace to match hers.

"Can you say that any louder?" Izzy said sarcastically. She was definitely embarrassed about what her brother witnessed, but she was still shaken up about his disapproval when all she did was support him in nearly everything. Izzy convinced herself that her brother was just shocked and looking after her, but she wasn't about to let him off that easily.

Isabelle and Alec walked into an empty hallway. "We need to sort this out, Izzy," Alec grabbed her arm gently, to prevent her from walking any further.

"Are you here to apologise?" Izzy faced him.

"Izzy-"

"Then we have nothing to talk about," Izzy turned back around and walked off.

Alec inhaled. He didn't know how to handle this situation. He is now both the head of the institute and a brother. Maybe Magnus could help him out. But Alec has always tried to prevent any of his family business from leaving between them. Of course Magnus would understand but Alec likes to think that if he doesn't make a bigger deal out of this then it won't be a big deal.

-linebreak-

Isabelle forgot about Alec. She sneaked off to Hotel Dumort like she planned and she ended up in Raphael's kitchen, taking a cooking class for him.

"You know you should be a chef. Coldest vampire by night, hottest chef by day," Isabelle flirted.

Raphael's mouth twitched with a smile, "It depends if the kitchen had sunlight peeking in," he grabbed a spoonful with the ladle and carefully raised it to Isabelle's mouth.

Izzy's mouth took it delightedly, "Mmm," Isabelle closed her eyes savouring the taste. She opened her eyes to meet his, "You know what else tastes great?" ...

-linebreak-

"Wait, so you're telling me that you caught Izzy in bed with Raphael? Raphael as in the leader of the New York Vampire clan Raphael?" Jace clarified.

"How many Raphaels do you know?" Alec replied. He had to tell someone he could trust and of course, his parabatai was the answer.

Jace gave a cough chuckle hybrid, "I did not see that coming,"

" It goes deeper. Izzy was involved with yin fen,"

"Yin fen? When was this?" Jace eyebrows crunched as he stared at Alec, concerned.

Alec couldn't look at him, "Recently, but don't worry. She promised that she hasn't been taking it lately. She's in recovery. At least that's what she says." Alec looked at Jace with doubt both in their eyes.

"What I don't get though, is Izzy with Raphael for the yin fen? She claims that she actually wants to pursue him. But is her 'addiction' clouding her judgement?" Alec focused on the blank space towards him. He's always been the paranoid one.

"We know Izzy. The yin fen is a total surprise but Izzy is so much stronger than that. Maybe she could actually like Raphael- minus the addiction." Jace contemplated.

"Izzy and Raphael? Since when?" Clary spoke up.

Alec and Jace jumped from their seats, startled.

"How long have you been there?" Alec asked, concerned if anyone heard them. They didn't lock the door and sure enough Clary the eavesdropper makes an appearance.

"Not that long," Clary said quickly, "You didn't answer my question, Izzy and Raphael?"

A/N: How'd you like it? Any suggestions?