Nexus wasn't answering her phone... It rang and rang, and eventually, it went right to voice mail. Ben didn't like that at all. Magnus got her the phone for this very reason, and yet, she wouldn't answer. He considered that she was just ignoring him, but when he checked in with Izzy and the others, they couldn't reach her either. Thinking of Nexus, of her favorite place, of where she would go when she was upset, only one place came to mind - Central Park.

"I'm on my way..." He was too worried about her to even think of taking a cab, so ran all the way there, shaggy, mud-colored fur flying in the breeze.

XxX You Think You Love Me XxX

Magnus closed the book with a snap, looking at the grey sky, oozing blood and ink. The sun would be setting soon, but he and Alec had found what they needed, so now all that remained was to visit the Seelie Court. Fun. The Fairies weren't particularly fond of the warlock, but they tolerated him more than they did the Shadowhunters, which wasn't very surprising after what had happened with Sebastian. Yet, no matter how much devastation he had wrought, Magnus couldn't look at that time with regret, becuase it was in that time that he had found the spell for summoning and bidding Angels in the White Book. He knew that it was a stupid, selfish thing to do, messing with Angels, but he was more than willing to pay any price to spend the rest of eternity with Alec.

"Hey," Alec laced his fingers with Magnus', "we'll protect her."

He smiled at his little Shadowhunter, "Of course we will. As long as we have each other, the three of us will be just fine."

XxX You Think You Love Me XxX

She was hesitant to reply, unsure of whether or not she wanted to follow the Seelie Queen, but Nexus suspected that if she said no, she would regret not knowing what the Seelie Queen wanted to show her. But if she she did follow her, what price would she have to pay? Or would it even be a consequence of hers? The Seelie Queen was not very found of the Shadowhunters, yet she suffered Magnus, so this clearly could have been a form of payback... But if she could fix this problem on her own...

"Nexus!" Ben, mostly still in his wolf form, saw her standing near the Seelie Queen and cried out for her.

She twisted her neck painfully, looking at him in consternation, "Ben...? What are you doing here?"

Stepping back from the girl, the Seelie Queen vanished in the blink of an eye, but not before a last word to the daughter of Lilith, "Such a pity we were interrupted... As for my offer, it shall stand until the end of the week."

Ben ran up to Nexus, now completely in human form, crushing her in his arms, "You're so stupid! Do you know how worried everyone was? How worried I was?"

"You were worried about me?" She was so astonished to hear that, her meeting with the Seelie Queen was forgotten for the time being.

"How could I not be?" He relaxed his grip on her, but didn't let her go, "You mean the world to me... To all of us."

She could care less about the others at this moment, becuase being held by Ben made her heart flutter with an excitement that she never wanted to end. Wait, what was she thinking at a time like this? Was he not the reason that she had run away in the first place? Well, not him, but her cloudy feelings? No, that wasn't quite the right reason either... She had run becuase she had hurt him. Patrick had reached out to her, finally, but that wasn't what she wanted... So why did she let it go so far? Maybe curiosity? Spite? She refused to believe that it was something in her nature, becuase that was a cop-out that cowards used. No, something inside had made her do, or rather, had allowed her to do that. But what? Spite. That made the most sense, given the revelation that Ben had had sex with Ash. Naturally, she was wounded, so she took comfort in the arms of another. But it just as easily could have been inquisitiveness. She had liked Patrick for a very long time now, so even if the timing was less than perfect, and she wasn't exactly in a relationship, why not see where it could lead?

"Ben - "

He put his finger to her mouth, silencing her, "No, I have to tell you something first. I never had sex with Ash."

Whatever was holding her world together failed, becuase Nexus was left standing in a heap of broken glass, "What? But she said that - "

"Has Ash ever been the brightest person when it comes to wording things?" He still could kill her, but the news that they had never done more than kiss spared her for the time being.

"Then what did happen?" Nexus knew that something happened, becuase Ash wasn't that bad with her words, though admittedly, this wasn't the first time she had made Nexus think something had happened that really hadn't.

He looked carefully at her, "We kissed. Well, made out, but I swear, that's all that happened."

She believed him, but it felt foolish to let it drop there, "Why did you think that...?"

He smirked at her unwillingness to say the words, "I was very drunk. From what Ash tells me, I passed out not too long into it."

That was a relief, and a good place to just let this matter die, but this wasn't over yet, "Ben... About what happened at the restaurant just now..." His face tightened, but she carried on, owing him an explanation, even if he didn't want one, "I kissed him... But it wasn't like kissing you." She wasn't sure why she said it that way, but thinking about it, it was true, "I wish I knew why I did that, becuase I really, really," She didn't want to say the wrong word and scare him off, so she carefully navigated around the word, "adore you."

Ben pulled Nexus closer again, embracing her, "Stupid."

She frowned, "Why am I stupid this time?"

"Because you won't say what you really feel," He said matter-of-factly, "that's why. Unless there's another reason I should be calling you stupid?"

She didn't say anything to that, becuase there was nothing to say, other than, "You won't say it either."

Ben chuckled, his low voice rumbling in her ear, "It. Is for a another time. Today, the important thing is that I found you."

Nexus blushed, having the feeling he meant more than actually finding her, "You're unbelievable..."

At just that minute, Ben's phone rang. He quickly released Nexus, digging into his back pocket, "Go."

"Did you find her?" Isabelle sounded near hysterics.

He looked at Nexus, "I believe this is for you."

She took the phone guiltily, knowing exactly who it was, "Hello?"

Peace washed over Izzy, her body relaxing before it snapped, faster than the flick of her electrum whip, into her motherliness, "Do you have any idea how much that little act of yours scared me? If I had lost you - "

"I know, I know, my father's would have killed you," She wasn't being insensitive to Isabelle's plight, only aware of it.

"That's not what I mean!" She snapped, "You're like a daughter to me! I was so scared that something had happened to you! Don't you ever, EVER run away like that again! Do you understand me?"

Isabelle would have yelled at her niece longer and with greater detail, but her phone was dying, so she knew she had to keep it short. Nexus suspected as much, so she wrapped up her side of the conversation, "I love you. And thank you. I'll take my punishment when we get to the Institute."

The phone died before Izzy could reply, so she tossed it back to Ben, "Do you think she'd make you room with me if she thinks we still hate each other?"

Nexus shook her head, "Not a chance. Although, having to smell wet dog for a few days might be a sufficient punishment."

He rolled his eyes, walking back to the Institute with Nexus, "Back to that lame comeback? Honestly, I was hoping for better by now."

"Oh, come on, you know that the wet dog thing is good!" She argued, watching the sky bleed itself to night.


A/N:

Ah, back to bickering! But I suppose that means things are back to normal for the two...