Some people have a lot of trouble sleeping with others in their bed. Izzy, for example, was a kicker. I used to hate sharing with her back when we were kids because I'd always have bruises in the morning. Jace was trouble as well. He didn't kick but he needed the quilt to be straight and he couldn't sleep if he thought it was bunching up on your side. Woe befall the child who didn't bring his own sleeping bag to the Wayland house.

I didn't have these problems with Magnus. Magnus slept like a log in just about any location or position. And now that it was Winter I couldn't even imagine how I used to get to sleep without his extra body heat.

I cursed the phone when it started to ring and rouse me from my comfortable position. I tried ignoring it and Magnus started thumping lightly on my chest with one of his fists.

"Make it stop." He groaned. "Alexander..."

I sighed, not letting Magnus see the smile I was cracking, and went to see who was calling me. When I saw my sister's name on the screen I decided Izzy needed to have her own ringtone to alert me in advance. Then again, as if I'd have ignored her.

"When did you start getting up before me?" I yawned into the receiver. I forwent the greetings seems as Izzy never bothered.

"It's a Friday. Shouldn't you be up for work?" My sister asked in a particularly accusatory way. Way to have faith in me. I went over and flopped back down on the bed next to Magnus.

"I have a day off today." I told her. It was going to be a pain to run things at Tessa's with the work going on, so the shop was closed. Hence the Friday morning lay-in.

Then again, thinking about it, what was Magnus doing? He'd already taken a day off mid-week to help with the moving. I nudged my boyfriend in the side with my elbow and mouthed the word 'Work?' to him. He pulled a face and waved his hand at me dismissively. Which either meant that it was another day off for him, or that he had no qualms about being a truant. Both equally plausible options.

"Well, whatever." Said Izzy. Apparently she was still feeling a little snippy with me. "I just called to warn you that Mother is going to invite you over tonight."

I blinked a little and stared confoundedly up at the ceiling.

"I need warning about that now?" I asked. I spent a huge amount of time visiting my parents, invitation or not. Even if it hadn't been long since I'd last seen my Mother, hearing from her didn't seem all that weird to me.

"It's about whether she'll stay with Father or not." Isabelle explained.

She honestly sounded bored, which was terrible of her. My sister was just in an all-out terrible mood, by the sounds of it. I didn't think it was anything in particular, either. Just her being her typical teenage self.

Well, she couldn't be a mature all the time.

"Like we don't already know their relationship has been taking a long walk off a short pier." Izzy continued to mutter.

"Isabelle!" I hissed scoldingly. Insensitive, much? Seventeen-year-old-temper or not. I rolled my eyes.

Magnus looked up at me, squinting in confusion.

"Well we all saw it coming." Izzy complained. "Don't pretend like you're not fed up with those two."

"I'll see you later, Isabelle." I sighed.

Her bitchy mood most likely had more to do with being upset than 'fed up'. Deep down Izzy had wanted things to work out in our family, even if it was very unlikely. Simon and Clary were going to have a hard time handling her at school that day.

I set the phone down and Magnus stretched out beside me like a cat in the sunlight. I watched the covers slip down his torso a little and smiled at him.

"Everything alright?" He asked. His voice was strained with the effort of actually moving.

"Nothing all that new." I let him know. As much as I hated to admit it; my sister had a point. Family drama just wasn't the huge deal it used to be anymore. "So, no work for you today?"

"I'm sourcing the fabric for my designs today." Magnus grinned like a little kid in a toy shop. He got as excited for this sort of thing as I used to whenever Dr Zachariah had showed me a new relic.

"They let you take time off photography for that?" I couldn't help but ask.

Magnus made beautiful, professional pieces of clothing but he was technically a freelancer. His magazine didn't employ him to make clothes. That was more of a hobby. Although if you told him I said that he might not have spoken to me for a week.

"They do when they want to see your finished collection." Magnus was absolutely beaming with pride when he revealed this to me.

Seeing him smile like that was enough to make me smile back; the good news which went with it was the icing on the cake. Sure, I was about to experience what it was like to live in an apartment-stroke-fashion studio, but a few needles in my feet would be a small price to pay if Magnus could achieve his dreams. I'd just have to remember to wear shoes more.

"That's amazing Magnus!" I congratulated him warmly. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Well, you know, you had a lot going on. With Izzy. And your Dad." Magnus shrugged but his smile stayed firmly in place. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"I think some celebration is in order." I said, getting up so that I could go make breakfast in bed. "Don't you dare get up."

Isabelle had been right that our Mother would contact me before the day was out. I had been sat on the couch showing as much admiration for Magnus' chosen fabric samples as I could muster when I got her call. She wanted us all to meet so that she could explain what the 'official' situation was; in spite of the fact we'd all gathered the information on our own. Even Max knew the verdict; given that Father, you know, had left.

Despite the fact we were all fairly well informed already, we were polite enough to listen to what she had to say that evening.

Mother explained that she and our Father just couldn't work it out, the love between them wasn't enough to overcome their problems. She wasn't specific about what 'the problems' were because Max was present. It was sad but it wasn't surprising.

A big plus was that the two of them weren't parting angrily this time; I was sure they would get along just as well as they had been. Only Father wouldn't be in the house as much. He wasn't banished completely, he could come pick up his kids and celebrate holidays and stuff, but the frequent family meals were going to be short a family member from then on. And he definitely wasn't walking in without knocking anymore.

Mother didn't seem to be taking it hard. I was thankful for that I'd seen her heartbroken and I could tell she wasn't now. I'd have to check up on my Father at some point, though. To tell the truth, I was pretty sure he had wanted it to work out more than she had.

Magnus, who had his arm resting on the couch behind where my neck was, seemed especially awkward. Not that he and my Father were ever best-buddies or anything; but they had certain things in common which my Mother probably wouldn't be appreciating right there and then. She was in the process of removing unfaithful husbands from her house, after all.

Magnus managed to coherently offer his condolences, then left Izzy and I to pick up the slack. The two of us weren't all that sure what to say either. It seemed as though 'Fair enough' didn't really cut it.

"Whatever makes you happy is best." I encouraged. Izzy nodded along.

"Yeah." Max said. His contribution was a surprise.

Max was usually kept in the dark about this sort of thing; so we didn't often get to hear his opinions about it. Well, not in open discussion anyway. He spoke to me and Izzy about it quietly sometimes.

"I like you better alone and happy instead of together fighting all the time." Said my little brother.

It went quiet. A perfect summary didn't need a lot of in-depth thinking. Max had pretty much hit the nail on the head. I was so proud of his maturity that I couldn't bring myself to say out loud that Father's happiness was debatable.

"Thank you, Sweetheart." Said Mother, and that was all which needed saying.

All of this made the idea of telling Mother I had moved in with Magnus completely uncomfortable. It was too much like saying 'Sorry it didn't work out, look how well things are going for us!'

I was just considering putting it off a little longer when Isabelle chimed in, sending a smirk my way.

"So, Alec and Magnus also have some news."

Thank you all for reading, I hope you liked the chapter. I'm not doing so well with naming the up-coming ones in advance lately (oopsy) but I should have the next chapter up soon.