Here I am with another update for you!

hotlight10/Vic: I'm glad you are enjoying it and I'm glad you are sticking with it! I hope you like this chapter. xx

Malecylove: Thank you! I am pleased that you think so. Here is your update. xx

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Lu xxx

(reviews make me happy and update faster:p :3 )~~)

…

It had been a month since Max had joined his new school, and it was already like he had been there forever. It had helped that he had become best friends with Will in a matter of days, because Will was mega-popular and being best mates with him gave Max a load of friends (some of whom were awesome, some of whom were awful) and meant that people didn't give him any crap either. He was starting to really enjoy living in New York, and it was clear that his dad was as well – Max had never seen him so happy. He seemed to be sad as well, lost in memories, but as well as the sad memories he had good ones. And Max was seeing a lot more of Clary, and Tessa, although he hadn't really properly met his uncle, Jace, yet. Well, he'd seen him on that first day, but… but not properly.

School had just finished, and Max and Will were walking towards the end of the corridor outside to wait for their parents. Max's dad was going to be a bit late as well, and it was really hot outside, so they had decided to go and sit and read in the sun in the courtyard against the wall. Will had looked like he was glad to be getting some company.

Soon they were slumped down against the wall, legs sprawled out in front of them, the late afternoon sun soaking into their backs and warming up their t-shirts. It was peaceful like this, and a peace that both boys respected. After a while, Will leant over Max's shoulder.

"What're you reading then?"

Max didn't look up, but Will didn't really take offence. It was normal between the two.

"The Hobbit."

"Neat."

Will drew back and went back to his own book, which looked to be a comic today – Max wasn't surprised. He usually went through cycles, he'd said, and after reading a few 'heavier' books read a bit of Marvel. And he'd just finished reading Great Expectations. Which Max – and Will – considered to be very heavy.

After a while they both disappeared back into their own little worlds in their heads, Will hiding in his world of superheroes and monsters and Max doing much the same with small creatures with hairy feet and dwarves and wizards. It was nice like that, and to Max it felt like they were connecting, through their love of all things literary they shared a universe, even if they were in different worlds at the time.

Then there was a shout from across the courtyard.

"Hey, Will, over here."

"Hey Dad!"

Max heard Will get up beside him, scraping his bag along and off of the ground and walk a few paces away.

"Why did you come to pick me up too?"

…

Will walked over to where his dad was standing next to the bitch Camille, leaving Max sitting on the floor reading, his face covered by his long black hair falling in his eyes. Magnus looked extraordinarily happy, and so did Camille. He had extra glitter on today, black riveted combats and purple sparkled ripped jeans with a multicoloured tie dye slashed vest top and a punk leather blazer adorned with chains, multicoloured highlights that had obviously recent been redone and glitter everywhere. He looked like he did in the pictures of him before Will was born. And he looked just as carefree.

"Why did you come to pick me up?"

"Well, we have some very big news."

"Oh first can you meet my friend Max?"

"Uh…"

"Max, come over!"

Max didn't even look up, clearly deeply absorbed in his book, his eyes focussed intently. Will shrugged and turned back to his dad.

"Anyway, that's Max. He's very into his books like me."

Magnus nodded knowledgeably, and Camille just scowled, and then quickly smoothed her features into the happy look she had worn before.

"I see."

"Anyway, what is this news?"

Magnus took a deep breath and interlinked his hand with Camille's, his blue sparkly nails clashing with her unusually long red talons. Come to think of it, Camille's pampered paws looked entirely unusual, and something was very wrong, but he could not for the love of Iron Man work out what it was. Strange.

"Camille and I are getting married."

Sirens and flashes of red exploded in Will's head, a mix of panic and fear and hatred and concern and pure anger at his father's sheer stupidity. Images of what it would be like having Camille as his stepmother – no, his father's new wife, he refused to even consider her partially his mother – flashed through his brain, images of bruises and boarding schools and screaming matches and his father hating him and it was too much.

"What?"

He said in his best scary-calm voice.

"Camille is going to be your new mom."

Will exploded.

"She will never be my mom! She is a crazy, cruel, good for nothing bitch who is clearly just using you, but you don't seem to care because you have either been blinded by her or you just don't give a damn about love or I don't know! She hates me and she doesn't love you! I will hate you forever if you marry her, I would rather be adopted than live with her as my mother!"

Magnus looked hurt. Camille reached out a hand, fake concern written on her features.

"Will, that's really no true! I know that this is a bit of a shock, and I know I'm not your mom but…"

"No, you're not! But you both seem adamant that you should be! Is that why you never told me who she was? Because you reckoned you could just bring Camille in to take her place?"

Magnus looked upset and angry, but it didn't seem to be directed at Will or EVEN Camille or anyone in particular.

"Will, you don't have a mom!"

Will took a step back.

"What?"

Camille for once looked taken aback, and Magnus put his head in one of his hands, pinching the bridge of his nose and turning away slightly.

"Just forget it, Will."

"No, no, what do you mean?"

Camille had wisely decided to keep her trap shut, and backed away slightly.

"You don't have a mom. Not really. I mean, you have a mother who gave birth to you but…"

"But what?"

"But you weren't related to her. She was a surrogate."

"A surrogate?"

"Yeah."

"So who do I have if I don't have a mom then?"

"Will can you please just forget all about it, okay, it's no big deal…"

"No big deal! No big deal, I don't have a mom, well not a real one anyway, what other lies have you been telling me? Do I have grandparents? Other relatives? Uncles, aunts, cousins? Do I have a sibling? Am I adopted? What other lies have you been telling me, Dad?"

"William Bane, calm down now!"

"Why should I listen to anything you say when you have been lying to me all of my life and you are marrying a bitch who hates me?!"

"Camille does not hate you!"

"Of course she does, why else is she late to pick me up every day, why else does she slap me when you aren't around, why else does she scream at me and tell me to shut up whenever I talk about you two?"

"Will…"

"And worst still, you don't love her. You pretend you do, I think you fool yourself as well, but you think you are in love with her but secretly you are only with her as a distraction form something else and someone else! I have seen you on that same day every year Dad, the day you called the anniversary, and it is very clear that you are still ridiculously hung up on whatever happened then!"

"William Bane!" Camille shrieked. "Don't you dare bring it up to your father! It is none of your business what happened, what you father did and had done to him before you were born! You have no right…"

But Camille was cut off.

"And neither do you, Camille."

Magnus spoke in an awful, barely audible whisper that sent shivers up Will's spine. It was terrifying.

"I'm sorry?"

"You have no right to talk about what happened. After all, it was partially your fault."

"How was it my fault?!"

"How wasn't it, Camille? You were manipulative and evil; you practically forced me sometimes to see you, even though you knew how serious I was with… in that relationship, and then you were half the reason it broke down, half the reason why Will won't ever see his other…"

Magnus broke off. Camille was staring at him evilly, her eyes glinting, and her teeth sharp and shining in the sun.

"Other what? Are you too scared to tell him? Or shall I?"

"Why Will won't ever see his other father."

Everything went silent. Will looked over for his shoulder for a moment; Max was still reading peacefully, apparently oblivious. Even the birds had stopped singing, and the traffic seemed miles off, not just on the other side of the wall. Will turned back to his father, whose eyes were filled with worry and despair, and his mind went blank, whiteness swirling around his head, his vision turning blurry, a high pitch buzzing somewhere softly in the background as he tried to process what his father had just told him. He blinked a couple of times, until he felt able to speak without passing out of throwing up. Magnus was talking to Camille hurriedly.

"Camille, go back to my apartment now please, and…"

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"No." He sounded exasperated. "I just need some time with Will alone, and I think we need to have a serious conversation later, all three of us. But can you give me some time with my son first, please?"

Camille looked a bit annoyed, but not overly, and just nodded and flounced off in the usual regal way. Will was glad to see the back of her, if only for a little bit. His dad turned back to him, looking concerned.

"Will, I'm so sorry you had to find out like that…"

Will rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Magnus. At first he seemed a little shocked, but then he gripped Will back. Will found a tear running down his cheek.

"Thanks for telling me, Dad."

Magnus didn't say anything in response, but he pulled Will a bit closer, and Will could tell that he was crying. His chest was racking slightly. It was terrifying, but he was just pleased to know that his dad still cared about him. Sometimes, with Camille around he was unsure, and it was horrible that feeling, that maybe he didn't matter much to anyone.

"Of course you do, Will, of course you do. Don't let Camille make you think that. You will always be one of the most important people in my life. Always. Nothing will ever change that."

Will realised that he had said all of that out loud, but he wasn't embarrassed at all. If anything, it was more reassuring to hear his dad say those words out loud, when he was in such as state, and know that there was no way that they weren't true.

Suddenly Magnus tensed, and Will turned around to see what he was looking at.

…

Max had been totally absorbed in his book, trying to block out the shouting. There was clearly some sort of argument going on between Will and his dad and that other woman who he presumed to be Will's dad's girlfriend or fiancé or something. It sounded serious, so he guessed that the polite thing to do would be to not listen and try to ignore it – even if it was hardly private in an almost public place when anyone could hear what was going on.

The shouting was escalating and falling again constantly, fluctuating like the waves in the sea, but getting more and more turbulent as time went on. It got increasingly unnerving, and Max was worried that he was going to have to walk off in a moment to stop himself from screaming in frustration. Then all of the sudden, it became deadly quiet, nearly silent, rising in a short crescendo again before suddenly there was nothing. It was like the world was copying this too; the traffic seeming quieter, the sounds of just people dying down to fade to nothing. It was very peculiar, and Max hated it almost as much as he had hated the raised voices. A shiver ran down his spine.

After a few seconds there were voices talking normally, and then the clack of heels on the floor. Max looked up to see a pair of blood red stilettos stomp past, clearly angry but trying to control it. He supposed that it was Will's dad's bitch of a girlfriend, who Will clearly hated. She had probably been the one to cause all of the problems – it seemed the most likely thing to have happened, especially since he was pretty sure that from what he had heard before he had shut himself out that the two had just got engaged, which Will would definitely not been happy about. Oh dear. Well at least she was storming off. That had to be a good thing, at least for Will, right?

Then there was the short sound of footsteps, stopping as soon as they had started, and the sound of sort of hushed voices, and what appeared to be… sobbing? Maybe? Max wasn't sure but he stayed determinedly in his book, even though his eyes were skidding over the pages and he just wasn't absorbing any of the words, couldn't focus on the story. He just couldn't distract himself from the voices, the sounds. It was awful. No matter how much he stared at the page, no matter how hard he concentrated, the words would not speak; they wouldn't seep into his brain. He hated moments like this, when even his escape pod wouldn't detach from the main craft, when he was stuck in these awful situations with absolutely no way out, just a lot of sealed doors. Until his dad got here.

As if on cue he felt a hand on his shoulder, one so familiar it could have just as well been his own.

"Hey Max, time to go."

Max began to look up towards his dad, and felt him freeze. His deep blue eyes were glassy, fixed on something. He looked like he was about to cry. Max turned to follow his gaze. And his eyes widened.

…

So… what do you think?