Seeing Simon's band was always... An experience. They played their instruments well enough but the second Eric, their drummer, got put in charge of lyrics, the songs always went downhill. Usually the group played a lot of covers so people didn't notice this shortcoming. In JJ's, however, they wouldn't have copies of songs any more than they'd display copies paintings on the walls.

Honestly. If any of the no-name artistic-types in the area ever made it big - and with friends like Clary and Simon, I sure hoped they would - Java Jone's would be at the very beginning of their rise-to-stardom story. Hell, they were in my rise-to-infamy story, at the very least.

The owner liked to be there in the evenings when the place really packed out. He smiled at me and Izzy when we walked past. I always thought it was nice of him to remember us fondly, given that we'd both quit so abruptly. Then again his shop did get a fair boost in business out of us being there, however briefly. Some of the Cammie fans who'd come to smoke me out had stayed for the coffee and were now regulars. I knew this because I overheard their comments just about every time I came in.

Thankfully I'd learned how to tune them out by now. I could focus completely on Jace as he bragged to the rest of us - Clary, Izzy, Maia and me - about how great his course at college was going. I expected as much; Jace was a joker but he wasn't the dumb blonde a lot of people thought he was. Maia on the other hand, who was newer to hanging out with us, seemed surprised that he was keeping his head above the water.

Out of all of us Clary listened to Jace with the most interest. Which given that she heard this kind of thing so often was either very impressive or just proved love was deaf as well as blind. As if Isabelle hadn't already proven that by the way her face lit up when Simon went on 'stage' (The stage at JJ's was just a cleared section of the floor with black and yellow tape around it. Stacked behind the performers were the chairs which usually filled the area.) Izzy's eyes gleamed and she pointed to her boyfriend like the rest of us might have missed him.

Clary made a noise; a half-stifled 'woohoo', I guess. Jace overpowered her voice with a much louder noise and clapped his hands above his head. It looked a lot more sarcastic than it was intended. Or maybe Jace was just being a dick, which was equally possible.

"Shall I get the coffee?" Clary offered. She was always the first to ask whenever Simon wasn't there. She probably would have paid for the it too if the rest of us would let her.

"I'll come." Jace insisted. The usual order came on a tray and he got some kind of ego-boost out of being the one to carry it. Don't ask, I don't get it either. Guys do weird things just as much as girls.

So, I was left listening to the just-about-tolerable music while Izzy and Maia got to gossiping. Maia was dating my roommate, which is how I'm assuming my sister got information from him. If she wasn't going into acting I'd advise her to become a gossip columnist. She was good at digging things up.

When the others came back with the coffee and Jace had presented it to the group like he'd gone out and hunted us a boar or something, I was glad to get the energy boost. It was going to be another long night for me. There just weren't enough hours in the day anymore.

When Simon's set closed and they got their equipment packed up into Eric's van out back, the band all came over to our booth as they always did. I didn't know most of the members and tonight was not the night I would get to know them, either.

"Nice one, guys." I encouraged, standing up knowing that my spot would be taken quickly. With all the people around and Izzy busy going googly-eyed, I could get out of there without my absence being noticed right away. Jace was quick to distract anybody from the fact I'd spoken at all. You could always rely on him to draw attention to himself.

"Did you hear me cheering?" He asked, and like that it was as if I wasn't there.

I felt bad leaving without real goodbyes; I couldn't have said them without Izzy realising something was up, though. I didn't want another argument.

The drive to Magnus' seemed drawn out. As if at any second somebody could pop up out of nowhere and catch me. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't doing anything wrong. Parking by Magnus building made me nervous for different reasons. It might have been a little prejudiced but I had been raised wary of rougher neighbourhoods. Sue me.

I was quick enough to get off the streets and away from the dark that came with the busted streetlamps. I was faster to get up the rickety stairwell and far from the threat of spiders. Seeing the apartment numbers on Magnus' door felt like reaching a long-awaited destination.

When Magnus answered the door he didn't waste any time with greetings before he kissed me. I was tugged over the threshold and into his lips by my shirtfront. It took me a moment or two to realise what was going on and respond accordingly.

When he broke away Magnus was breathless. The kiss had left my lips tingling from the impact. It had been a long time since we had kissed and I hadn't been expecting it right there and then.

Somehow the setting didn't seem to matter like I would have thought. I wouldn't mind kissing in a grimy corridor a thousand more times as long as I was kissing him. Maybe it was my inexperience talking - in fact, it was almost definitely my inexperience talking - but it was difficult to imagine it feeling as right with anybody else as it did with Magnus.

He grinned and jammed the door shut behind me.

"Interesting 'Hello' you have there." I said. I wiped away the moisture Magnus had left on my mouth as I headed further inside. I tried to keep the butterflies inside me from fluttering out in my voice.

"I thought it perfectly expressed my sentiment." Magnus mused.

If his sentiment had been a desire to do it against his front door, then yes, he'd definitely expressed it. I could only hope he hadn't gotten the wrong idea about me calling in so late at night. I could just picture Izzy's face when she found out if anything happened in that regard.

I was smart enough, however, to know that it wouldn't be a good move at all. My first time with Magnus - my first and only time at all, in fact - had happened in no small part because I had a point to prove. That did not pan out well. So, with things as they were? It was quite simply a no-go.

"You are full of sentiment." I commented, giving thought to the bouquet Magnus had sent. "The flowers were really nice."

"Good. Finding them was a nightmare. They're 'Spring-bloomers' apparently." Magnus explained, making it very clear that he knew about as much seasonal flowers as I did. Absolutely nothing.

The living space was a mess which spread out from Magnus' usual spot on one of the couches. Pencils and paper littered the space. He'd been making sketches and looked embarrassed for me to see them. He went over and got to straightening the area up.

"Sorry." He said. "Photography is the day-job, my home is my studio."

There was a hint of bitterness in his voice. I was willing to bet that he had an actual studio back at his old place. I wondered what he was using the spare room here for, if not for his creations. Maybe that room was in a worse state.

I lifted a couple sheets to take a look while Magnus busied himself. I was stricken.

"These are amazing." I said. I had no other words to fit the situation.

Magnus half-smiled at me like I'd made a mistake. "They're not that great."

I looked at the drawings again; I couldn't agree with him. I was impressed, if not slightly ashamed of myself for not taking an interest in his work before. It shouldn't have been that surprising to me that Magnus was good at what he did.

"This is going to be a busy month for me." He said.

I'd been there. Only for me it had been a busy few months. I felt sorry to keep Magnus from his task. It was more important than ever for him to get ahead now that Camille wasn't there with all the income she'd brought to the table. His safety net was gone.

"Do you want me go?" I enquired. I'd hoped to see a little more of Magnus that night but we both had work and sleep we could have been getting on with.

A look appeared on Magnus' face like I'd suggested something unthinkable.

"No, never." He said. "Don't you go anywhere."

So I didn't. Not for another couple of hours. Izzy started texting me when I ignored her calls, mad that I'd managed to bail on her and knowing exactly where I'd gone. Well, not exactly. I made a point of not giving her Magnus' address no matter how many times she asked. Jace text me too, finding the whole thing hilarious.

I found myself laid on the couch with Magnus sat on one end. He pulled my feet into his lap and chuckled every time I showed him one of the messages. He thought it was sweet of Izzy to look out for me and didn't mind that she thought he was some kind of villain.

I could have stayed there all night if I didn't have to be up the next day. Unfortunately I had to get going: Get home, get to bed. Magnus joked that he had a perfectly good bed in his room. Well, I think it was a joke, and he didn't try to push the matter. But when I was on my own I very nearly wished I'd taken him up on the offer.

My room was dark. I lay staring into the black for a few minutes trying to make out the outline of the hyacinths in their vase before I got fed up and grabbed my phone.

If I was going to think about Magnus, he might as well know.

I miss you.

Thank you for reading, everybody. Hope that you liked the chapter! The next one 'Misinterpretation' is coming soon.

(On another note: Happy City of Bones release! Anybody else gone to see it already or am I just an addict?)