So here we are, Chapter 12! I'll keep the author's note short this time and just let you know that I'm going to a field hockey camp for about a week on the 13th, but I'm hoping to get some writing in on the plane.
"I think it looks fine." Jace said slowly, looking at the peeling paint. "I mean, it's not awful."
"And it's going to look amazing." Maryse said, handing Jace a can of red paint and giving him a bright smile. She turned to the other kids, who were all looking at the barn with a touch of dread and in Isabelle's case, disgust. "Besides, your dad is out of town for a few days, imagine how great it'd be if he came home and found a freshly painted barn!"
Isabelle huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at the barn. "Imagine how great it'd be if we weren't the ones to paint it."
Magnus squinted against the sun, fiddling with the can in his hand. "How long has it been since you guys painted the barn?"
"Probably about thirty years." Alec admitted, setting his can of paint down and sighing.
"This is going to take thirty years."
"Shut up Max." Jace said, ruffling the younger boy's hair jokingly. Magnus wondered how long it was going to take for Max to tell them that he hated having his hair ruffled. He made a face every time they did it and he always rushed to straighten his hair back out.
Max pouted, "It's true though! We're going to be here all day." He had to stretch his head back to look at the top of the barn. Magnus agreed, it was going to take ages and somehow it didn't seem like the most exciting task.
"It'll be fine." Maryse said softly, pressing a kiss to her youngest's forehead, "We'll have fun." She smiled and grabbed a roller from the pile. "Now, let's get started!" She tried to look excited, which made Magnus laugh.
"Hurray!" Magnus yelled back, getting a brilliant smile from Maryse. The kids groaned, but even they had to smile slightly.
Everyone got a piece of the barn to paint, though they were mostly side-by-side, talking the whole time and listening to whatever songs came on Isabelle's tiny portable radio. Magnus was next to Alec, cross-legged in the grass, painting the bottom edge of the barn when they got some guests. Magnus was wearing one of Alec's old white shirts, because he didn't have any painting clothes and there was something amazing about being able to wear his shirt. The shirt smelled like Alec and it made him grin to even think about it.
"Maryse!" Magnus couldn't believe it. It was Rebecca, walking up the road, box in hand and brother in tow. Simon looked rather bored, but trailed behind his sister faithfully. Rebecca was truly at home, there was a sun-kissed look to her face and she looked even happier than she'd been on the plane. She might be at school in New Jersey, but she was at home in Texas.
Putting her brush down, Maryse wandered over to where the two siblings were walking over. "Hey Rebecca, Simon." She nodded at them, "How's it going?"
"Good." Rebecca said, holding out the box, "My mum and I were baking pies and we thought you might like one! We brought apple because we know that's Max's favorite." She winked at Max.
Max let out a whoop and collapsed on the grass, splattering Isabelle's legs with paint. She made a noise of protest and flung some paint back at him, getting it all over the front of his glasses. He laughed and she grinned at him, rolling her eyes and going back to layering the red paint over the wood.
Maryse smiled, "That's wonderful! Why don't you come in, I just made some fresh lemonade."
"It's great." Alec said, "Isabelle didn't help at all, which as you know, means it's safe to drink-" He was cut of by Isabelle flinging a handful of paint at his face. Alec spluttered before tackling her into the grass and painting a moustache on her face as she wiggled underneath him.
Rebecca laughed and nodded to Maryse, "Sounds awesome. Simon," She caught her brother's attention, "Why don't you help these guys for a bit?"
He nodded and walked over to where Isabelle was and sat down next to her. Alec had let her up and there was a smudged, sloppy smear of red paint over her top lip. Simon tried to cover his laugh with his hand, but he couldn't help it. Jace, Alec, Magnus and Max were already laughing hysterically. Isabelle flushed, looking at Simon out of the corner of her eye and rubbing at the paint with her shirt.
Simon smiled and reached over to rub some off. They both flushed redder than the paint and Magnus raised an eyebrow, giving Alec a questioning look. His boyfriend shook his head, looking skyward with a sigh.
Smirking, Magnus took the opportunity to roll his roller all down Alec's front. Alec gaped at the red trail going all the way down his chest and Jace was crying tears of laughter. It was a straight red line and Alec looked like the victim in a low-budget slasher film. Complete with Isabelle's drops all across his face and the red that was dripping dramatically down his legs.
"Yes!" Screamed Isabelle, throwing her arms in the air and narrowly avoiding punching Simon in the face. "Avenge me Magnus!"
"This is like splatter painting at Clary's house." Jace said with a snort as he flicked the paint brush and splattered Isabelle's face with tiny red dots and his siblings rolled their eyes.
"Why does conversation always turn back to Clary?" Alec asked teasingly, "Is there something you need to tell us?"
Surprisingly, Jace blushed and mumbled, "Shut up."
Isabelle guffawed, high-fiving Alec and slinging an arm around Jace. "He's right though." She said, "We have to do that with Magnus, he'd love it."
Magnus opened his mouth to ask what that was, but Simon was already in the process of answering. "It's this thing that Clary does with her mum. They set out a huge cloth canvas-y thing and then they have all these giant cans of paint. Then you just fling paint at the cloth and each other with brushes or your hands or anything really. It's completely crazy." He grinned and Magnus bounced on the balls of his feet.
"Can we please?" He asked Alec, practically begging.
Alec laughed but nodded, "You'll just have to talk to Jocelyn, but she loves it. She says it's true art."
When he opened his mouth to say something else, Alec got his revenge. He coated his hand in paint and smeared it all down Magnus' face.
"Oh. My. God." Magnus said and Isabelle started to giggle. Alec smirked triumphantly, trying not to laugh. "You're going to get it for that." Magnus laughed disbelievingly, reaching a hand up to touch the paint he could feel dripping down his face.
They continued to fight with the paint, getting more on themselves than the barn. It turned into a flat out war Magnus and Isabelle against Alec and Jace. Max laughed and all his siblings took turns slashing him with paint.
Magnus stepped out of the sun, a bit of paint drying in his hair and a smile on his face. He could faintly hear Rebecca and Maryse talking in the other room, laughing about something he couldn't decipher. It brought a smile to his face, thinking of the true southern hospitality of it all. Bringing pies to neighbours houses and being invited in for lemonade, something that would never happen in New York.
Stepping into the bathroom, he caught sight of himself in the mirror and laughed aloud. There was red paint along his cheeks and on the strands of hair that dangled near his eyes. There was even a bit caught in his eyebrows and it made him look beyond ridiculous.
After washing his hands and leaving the bathroom, not bothering to clean his hair or even eyebrows, Magnus saw Rebecca leaning on the kitchen counter, lemonade in hand. He walked over to her, realizing that she might be the best person to talk to right now.
"Hey city boy." She grinned, taking a sip of her drink and watching him carefully, "Are you okay?" Rebecca furrowed her eyebrows, "You look a little worried if I'm honest."
"I am worried." Magnus sighed, he was trying not to show how much it worried him that Alec didn't want to come out and he really had no one to complain too that might understand. Isabelle would defend Alec and his friends would try and rip Alec to shreds to make him feel better.
She gave him a soft smile, grabbing his arm and pulling him into another room and closing the door behind them.
Magnus hadn't been in this room yet, but it was a simple sitting room. There were plush blue arm chairs and a little coffee table. On the side was a flat screen TV and the other was a rather posh looking portrait.
"Who do you think that is?" Magnus asked, looking up at the man. With blonde hair and dashing green eyes, he looked cold, somehow lifeless. Wearing fancy clothes, he was standing just behind the shoulder of an equally lifeless woman. Magnus was startled to notice the enormous scar that stretched down her cheek. The woman had brown hair and hazel eyes. Neither of them looked like the Lightwoods Magnus knew.
Rebecca squinted at the plaque below the painting, "Uh, it's Gideon and Sophie Lightwood. From like the 1800's. They don't look very happy do they?"
Magnus snorted, "Not really. But then again, no one looks happy in portraits."
"You don't look very happy either."
"I'm happy." Magnus insisted, for once telling the truth and not fibbing in the slightest. Alec made him happier, happier than any of his other relationships had. "But," He paused, "There's just this whole-"
"It's Alec isn't it?" Rebecca asked, not really needing an answer. Magnus was certain his blush was enough. He nodded and she sighed, "I'm not surprised, I should have seen it coming. You two were bound to get along. I know he's not interested but-"
"That's actually not the issue." Magnus said, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that no one was listening in.
Rebecca's eyebrows shot up. "Alec's-"
"Yes." Magnus cut her off. "But no one knows and he doesn't want anyone to. Not yet. He says that he's going to tell his parents but I don't know if he actually is. He's so scared and I don't want to pressure him but I'm also sick of pretending. It almost killed me to be in the closet. I hate the feeling of hiding who I am."
"Oh," Rebecca sighed, "There's not a lot you can do. If you don't want to hide, maybe he's not the right guy for you." Seeing the look on Magnus' face she laughed, "Or, you're just going to have to be patient. I know Alec and he's probably the most self-conscious person I've ever met."
"You're telling me." Magnus groaned, "He hates it when I take pictures of him. He thinks that he's ugly. It's awful."
"His siblings eat attention." Rebecca sipped her lemonade slowly, "Alec's used to being pushed into the background, used to being invisible. He doesn't really warm up to new people. I can't believe how comfortable he is with you so quickly." She admitted, setting the glass back on the table gently.
Magnus hummed his agreement, all the vanity had been sucked up by the younger siblings, there was simply none left for Alec. Poor little Alexander Gi-
"Hold up."
Rebecca glanced up, an eyebrow cocked.
Magnus scrambled over to the painting, squinting at the portrait and then laughing. "Alexander Gideon Lightwood. Huh."
"It must be a family name? How do you even know his full name?"
"I stalked him." Magnus said casually, but he struggled to keep a straight face when he saw her alarm. "Kidding. Isabelle just likes using full names when she's yelling at people."
"Magnus Bane!"
"See." Magnus rolled his eyes, turning around and looking at Isabelle who was peeking into the room.
Isabelle raised a red eyebrow at them. She was still sporting the smudge of a mustache, but there was a goatee to match, the paint dribbling down her chin and leaving a few flecks of red on her shirt. It looked a lot like blood splatter, but common sense told Magnus it probably wasn't.
"I noticed there was no middle name for you." Rebecca smirked.
Magnus returned it with a smug smile, "She doesn't know it yet."
"I'm still looking for the birth certificate." Isabelle said, completely serious. "Now, are we going to paint the rest of the barn by ourselves or are you going to get off your city ass and lend us a hand?"
Sighing, Magnus nodded, "Just give me another second. Rebecca is giving me wisdom."
Isabelle rolled her eyes but left, the door closing behind her.
"So," Rebecca smiled, "You're together?"
"Officially as of two days ago." Magnus nodded, "And he keeps saying that he's going to tell them I just don't know."
"I hate to be the one to say this and you should probably be talking this over with Alec, but where do you see this relationship going?"
"I'm not sure. I really like him. I might even you know..." He trailed off, fidgeting with a string coming off the old shirt he'd borrowed from Alec. It was way too big for him, mainly because he was so skinny and Alec was so muscled.
Rebecca smirked, mouthing the words that were on his mind. "It's pretty soon don't you think?" She said slowly, after he'd nodded to confirm her suspicions. "Two days?"
"Yeah, well we've been hooking up for weeks." He said, to which she rolled her eyes and muttered something about 'kids these days'. Magnus grinned. "He's amazing. I don't know what I'm feeling but I just need someone else to tell me what to do."
"If you really," She skipped over the word, winking at him as he blushed fiercely. "Him, then you should wait. Give him the time he needs. In any relationship you're going to have to compromise. Give him patience in the hope that someday, he'll return the favour."
Magnus nodded and stood up. "You give really good advice. I wish you were my older sister." He sighed being overly dramatic. But he meant what he said and Rebecca looked flattered, giving him a soft smile.
"You're not bad yourself, big city boy."
He groaned, moving to leave the room. "I'm never going to be able to leave the whole city thing behind am I?"
"Nah," Rebecca smirked, "You brought three suitcases, you wear eyeliner and you seemed surprised that I brought a pie. You lack the southern warmth. Though you're friendlier than some of the people I've met in New Jersey, I'll give you that."
"It's my natural charm." He smirked back. Magnus ran a hand through his hair, cringing as his hand came across the crispy parts that were stuck together with dried paint. "Oh and you were right." He said, his hand on the doorknob.
"I was? About what?"
"Country life has hit me pretty hard." Magnus laughed, "There was poop and no shopping malls. I thought I might hate it. Certain things changed my mind though."
Rebecca threw her head back and laughed, leaning on the back of the couch. "A teenage boy can live anywhere as long as he's getting laid."
Magnus flushed again, feeling like the little brother. Rebecca teased him like a friend or a sibling and he found himself at ease if not embarrassed around her. "We haven't-" He started.
"Sure." She smirked, giving him another wink. "I won't tell a soul. Wouldn't want Maryse to find out that you're deflowering her son-"
"Okay," He said, opening the door and saying over her laughter, "I'm leaving now! Bye Rebecca!"
"Wait!" She called and he turned around in the doorway. "That's Alec's shirt isn't it." Magnus nodded without glancing down and she smirked, "Sharing clothes already? That's a bit of a telltale giveaway if you're trying to keep this under wraps."
He opened his mouth, gaping like a fish and trying to come up with an excuse.
Rebecca shook her head, "And no one knows?"
"Isabelle does and my friends at home know."
"How'd Isabelle find out?"
Magnus rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the blush rise to his cheeks and chuckling. "Well, my shirt was inside out and..." He sighed and just pulled down the collar of his shirt so she could see the fading but prominent mark.
Rebecca howled, "That's priceless. I would've paid to see her face." She looked at the mark closer, "How old is that?"
"A few days." Magnus said, looking at the mark out of the corner of his eye.
She let out a low whistle. "Damn. Lightwood's really trying to mark his territory, huh?"
Rebecca followed Magnus out of the room, grinning from ear to ear and wiggling her eyebrows at him. Magnus laughed and tried to calm his blush. Maryse came around the corner, looking surprised to see Magnus there.
"I should actually head home." Rebecca said, touching Magnus' shoulder briefly, "Thanks for everything Maryse."
"It's no problem." Maryse said with a smile, "We should be thanking you for the pie."
Magnus wanted to roll his eyes as they continued, almost as though they were trying to out-polite the other. They went back and forth for a while before Rebecca finally made her leave and Magnus and Maryse were left standing in the kitchen alone. The sun was still fairly high in the sky and Magnus was beginning to wonder if they really could finish painting the massive barn in one day.
He made to follow Rebecca back outside, but Maryse stopped him.
"Wait, Magnus." She said, her voice sounded nervous, like she was on the verge of saying something she was uneasy about. Magnus panicked, terrified for a moment that she'd heard he and Rebecca talking. Scared that she'd put together the pieces and was about to reveal Alec's secret before he was ready. But Maryse didn't, instead she gave him anxious smile and waved him into yet another room. "There's something I want to show you."
He didn't question it, walking behind her slowly. The room she led him into wasn't very large and Magnus would have assumed it was the library, had he not already seen the other room. Maryse walked over to one of the shelves, tracing the spines with her finger before sliding out a particular volume.
Maryse laid it out on the table, which was small, round and in the exact center of the room. The moment she opened the book, Magnus realized what all the books were.
They were photo albums.
The spines all had dates and the one that she'd pulled out was long before Magnus had come to Texas or any of Maryse's kids had been born. But when she opened the book, Magnus realized what she wanted him to see. His mother, younger and impossibly beautiful, smiling next to a younger and equally as beautiful Maryse. They were standing in the airport, arms around each other. The caption below said that it was the day his mother had arrived and that the two girls were excited to meet in person.
Maryse stepped back, digging around in the back of the room. Magnus was enthralled by the photo, having seen very few photos of his parents in their younger years and having rarely seen his mother so happy. She wasn't gloomy, but she always carried a sense of tense, pent up anxiety.
"I can remember the first time I saw her." Maryse said, setting a large box down on the table. "She was standing in the airport, smiling at me and then she started to laugh. I was so excited I could barely breath. She was my penpal for so long." She opened the box and ran her hands fondly over the contents.
Magnus snuck a peek in the box and felt his mouth drop open. There were dozens - if not hundreds - of letters. They were all in neat envelopes, some that had been ripped open quickly, the edges torn and jagged, and others that had been opened meticulously and slowly, the edges perfect and the envelope looking like it might not have been sealed in the first place. His mother's small neat print on the front of each.
"You kept them." He said, surprise evident in his voice as he looked down at the enormous collection of letters.
"I couldn't bear to part with them." Maryse admitted, "There were so many times when I wanted to just drop everything and fly across the country to see her. So many times when I wished she'd do the same. But I needed to remind myself that we both had children and that sometimes, writing the letters made them more special. It made me feel like a girl again, rushing to get the mail and shoving my brothers out of the way." She flipped through the box, finally pulling out one letter that looked much more recent. The return address was an apartment they'd had around the time Magnus was a baby and was the one they'd had to move out of when his mother tried to hang herself.
Maryse gently pried the paper out of the envelope and a picture fluttered to the floor. Magnus picked it up, seeing the inscription on the back before the photo itself. Magnus - 6 months. He flipped it over to see his baby photo, him in a crib sleeping. There was nothing about the photo that he hadn't seen before.
"She sent that to me." Maryse said fondly, "This was the letter to go along with it." She held out the piece of paper and Magnus took it hesitantly. Maryse paused and when she spoke, Magnus looked up at her in surprise. "I know your mother is distant. I know she can be cold. There are so many things that she can't tell you and that eat her up inside. I hoped these letters would help you see her. Or at least give you some insight into her past." Maryse touched his shoulder in such a familiar way that Magnus felt like he was one of her children. It was the affection he got so rarely from his mother.
"She can be so different." Magnus said, surprising himself. "Sometimes she's the mum I know she can be, happy and smiling. And sometimes she goes all distant, like she's not really there. She can't even look at me. I got used to it, I stopped wishing for my mum back, tried to accept that she was both. But I miss her."
"She's not far." Magnus made a noise of protest and Maryse shook her head. "Your mother has been through a lot. Look at the letters and talk to her. She doesn't tell me everything, but it's a start."
"Why are you doing this?"
Maryse smiled, looking a touch forlorn. "Because the girl I knew would never have tried to kill herself." Magnus felt his heart stop, "And I want you to know that side of her too. I want you to know how much she loved you, how much she still does. I know she's getting better, but-" She took in a shuddering breath and took her hand off his shoulder, never finishing her sentence.
Magnus didn't say anything and Maryse left the room, closing the door gently behind her.
He gently opened the letter, his mother's writing spreading over the paper in perfect lines. Magnus' writing always slanted around the page and it frustrated his mother to no end.
Dear Maryse,
I know that it would be faster to email you, but there was something about this that needed to be said in a letter.
Magnus is amazing. Maryse he's everything I could have hoped for. I know I'm biased because he's my baby, but I love him. His father can't stop playing with him and sometimes just watches Magnus for hours. We can't help it, he's perfect. I've included a picture, but you can't really see his blue eyes. Blue eyes! Can you believe it? They'll probably go darker when he's older, because his father and I both have brown eyes, but maybe they'll stay.
Are you excited? I know I was when I was pregnant. Have you decided on any names yet? I was thinking you could name him after your brother, but that might be too hard. I know it was hard for you to lose him. But you don't need to be sad, we're starting a whole new chapter in our lives. We're going to be mums! Can you imagine? Oh goodness.
Magnus stopped reading, something occurring to him. He reread the beginning of the letter. He still had blue eyes. This was before the depression, before his eyes had been green. He felt a hand subconsciously drift up to touch next to his eyes.
The rest of the letter was rather pointless, her talking about work and Magnus' father. She blathered on about the weather, but often asked Maryse questions. The writing was more animated, more alive than Magnus had ever thought his mother to be. Even when she was at her happiest, part of her was sad. Magnus couldn't help but wonder if that was his fault, if it was the partying or the way that he treated his parents. They were distant and Magnus had responded to that with annoyance and sarcasm.
Shaking his head, not wanting to think about his weird, complicated relationship with his parents, Magnus turned back to the photo album, placing the letter down on the table. The first few pages were all of Maryse and his mother, in different stores and just laughing. Magnus kept flipping until he came across a picture that stopped him.
There was his mother, young and happy. Maryse, her blue eyes still bright and brilliant. A woman that looked a lot like Clary - this must be Jocelyn - and a much younger Luke who had his arm wrapped around Jocelyn's shoulders. There were a few other people in the photo he didn't recognize, a man and woman with blonde hair, the woman leaning into the man.
"Those are Jace's parents." Magnus jumped and Alec laughed, wrapping his arms gently around Magnus' waist. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. We finished with the barn - mostly. The others are just getting cleaned up and I thought I'd come find you."
"Who's that?" Magnus said suddenly, pointing to the guy next to his mother in the photo. He wasn't smiling as much as he was smirking. But the thing that unnerved Magnus was his eyes.
His green eyes.
Magnus' green eyes.
Alec shook his head, "I'm not sure. Maybe a relative of your mum? He's got eyes like yours, so it's possible that's where you get them from. That's what happened to Jace, he gets his eyes from his great-grandfather or something."
Magnus nodded, uneasy. Alec was right, it was very possible it was a relative, someone who his mother had just forgotten to mention. Heck she hadn't mentioned knowing Luke or Jocelyn before. "So, Celine and Stephen? Those are Jace's parents?" Their names were written in the margin below the photo.
"Yeah," Alec said, "They died in a fire when he was just a baby, so my parents adopted him right away. They were quite close I guess, though my father's best friend was Michael Wayland. He died as well, that was awful."
Magnus nodded, running his fingers over the photo.
"But anyways," Alec sighed, reaching out and capturing Magnus' hand in his. "We should go get something to eat, Izzy is determined to watch another movie and I'm really hoping it's not going to be Iron Man."
"Maybe Iron Man 2?" Magnus smirked and Alec groaned.
Alec dragged Magnus out of the room, closing the door behind them and reluctantly dropping his hand. Magnus followed Alec upstairs, both of them needing to get all the paint off their faces. But Magnus couldn't get the photo out of his mind, who was that guy? Why wasn't his name written with the others? Why couldn't Magnus shake the feeling of dread. Alec was right, he was probably a relative that lived in the area. Wasn't he?
Ohhhhh. Subplot thickens. Any guesses? Nobody say anything! Shhh.
Never fear, Chapter 13 is already half finished and should be up in the next few days... I hope!
xx
ps I'm seriously hoping that someone noticed I slid Gideon and Sophie in there... I think they're just the cutest.
