I drummed my fingers on the counter top while Tessa read her latest book. She wasn't an antisocial person by nature, if I started talking to her I was sure she'd put the volume away. However, I had nothing to specific to talk about so there wasn't much point in interrupting her.

Magnus would swing by to pick me up soon, anyway. Why wasn't I driving myself? Well, Simon had taken my car to get to school until we could figure out some new travel arrangements. Getting places cost money; he didn't have any.

Luck had it that Tessa's wasn't far out of Magnus' way when he was commuting to and from work, so he offered to play chauffer until our friend got settled. It also meant seeing one another every day, which was nice. I looked forward to those drives.

When Magnus stepped inside, using a satchel he was carrying to shield himself from the falling rain, Tessa clapped her book shut. The first thing Magnus did after we embraced was ask her about what she was reading. It turned out he'd learned a lot of the language by reading books and the two of them could talk days away if you left them to it.

"Ready to get going?" Magnus asked me, smiling, when he remembered he wasn't in a book-club.

I nodded. "See you tomorrow, Tessa."

I didn't care much about being rained on as we walked to Magnus' car. My boyfriend was determined to protect himself - although not determined enough to wear waterproofs, apparently.

We ran around the corner to where he had parked up and got seated in a flash. The car was warm where Magnus had had the heat turned up on his way to get me. Before we could set off Magnus had to check his hair in the rear view mirror. I noticed something different about him.

"Did you dye your hair again?" I asked.

Something about black hair dyes always looked fake to me and I wished that Magnus would stop doing it. Alas, the sight of even a single grey hair was something which horrified him.

"What am I supposed to do? Just let it happen?" Magnus made that sound like an obscene idea. Angels forbid that he should ever age at all, right? I wanted to roll my eyes at him.

"You're getting older, Love." I said. It happened to everybody, after all. It wasn't as if I minded, either. I wouldn't be a teenager forever and I'd catch him up eventually.

"Cammie doesn't get any older." Magnus complained, glancing up at one of her more recent billboards through the droplets on the windscreen. "She always looks the same."

"Cam has to see a surgeon to look that way." I said as bluntly as I could. No major work; just what she called 'retouching', but the point remained. Her perfect face wasn't a complete work of nature.

Magnus seemed contemplative. "Maybe I should-"

"You are not getting surgery." I interrupted before he could say something stupid. I happened to love Magnus just the way he was. "You're perfect."

"I was just going to say I could use makeup again, Darling." Magnus smirked at my reaction.

"I'm still going with 'no'." I said with a smile.

My sister and I made a habit of telling each other everything that we had going on in life. I probably knew more than I should have about her relationship with Simon; which was okay, I guess. I could live with it. What I had a little more trouble accepting was the two of them making out in the middle of the apartment.

Magnus very audibly cleared his throat at the couple while I made a bee line to my room.

"Alec!" Izzy yelped. For some reason she was surprised to see me in my own place. "You're home!"

"I am." Turned on my heel before I reached my door. Magnus seemed to want to stay in the living space anyway, judging by the fact he hadn't followed me. Since we were stating the obvious, I added: "And so are you."

"I have news." Izzy announced. She managed to sit up rather proudly in spite of the fact her shirt was skewed.

As she spoke, she took a hairband from her pocket and started to plait the mass of black locks she had. Isabelle had been dealing with thick long hair since... Well, forever. She could do an array of complex-looking things to it without even checking in a mirror.

"Our Father is on trial." She said. "With Mother, I mean, not a Court. Two weeks living at the house."

"And then?" I prompted.

Magnus was taking a seat and looking rather intrigued. I wasn't sure if it was with the apartment, which I couldn't remember him ever seeing, or the conversation. With Simon it was clear that he'd already heard this information.

"Well, depending on how it goes he'll either move in properly or stop coming over altogether." Izzy informed me. "I hope he gets kicked out."

"Don't say that." I scolded her. She was just mad at him for making a fuss over Simon; but her boyfriend was fine. Our Mother's house shouldn't have been his first point of call anyway.

I thought about what this meant for us as a family. It had been so nice to have the civil relationships we'd been seeing for a while now. Family occasions where both our Parents could be there and still be happy. Would we still have that?

I decided that yes, we would. Mother deciding that she didn't want our Father in her house wouldn't affect the fact they knew how to get along elsewhere. The only issue to look out for was how Father might take the news. He was prone to place blame and resentment.

Of course, this was assuming it didn't work out. If it did then great. The family - well, most of it - would be together again.

"Well, he's no good for her. He's not faithful." Izzy complained. Simon gave her quick nudge and nodded towards Magnus; as if telling my sister to watch her mouth. She just blinked. "No offence, Magnus."

"None taken, Sweet." Magnus responded coolly. "There are better ways to do these things than the way Robert chose."

"Can we quit bashing Father?" I asked. Once upon a time I would have lead this conversation, but we'd worked hard to make amends and I didn't want to lie that to waste just yet. Not unless he did something awful again.

The others conceded - Izzy with a little attitude. I noticed she didn't seem prepared to leave in spite of the fact it was getting dark. When I tried I found there was no telling her to go; she was determined to have a Parent-free sleepover with Simon.

I made sure Mother at least knew where she was, which got Isabelle all moody at me again, but it was the right thing to do. Magnus also did the right thing; rescuing me from a night trying to ignore whatever the two of them were doing in the next room by inviting me to stay at his place overnight. I was all too keen to pack a small bag and get out of there.

"And stay out of my room!" I called at Izzy, before she got any bright ideas about dragging Simon in there for their activities.

I heard her whining as I shut the door behind me.

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I'm going to be pretty busy this week, but I will try to find time to post anyway. If not, you can blame College. Thank you for reading, 'Too Late For Winter' should be coming up soon.