Hiya,

I'm sorry I haven't updated in ages, but you have a new chapter now.

Hotlight: Mwahahaha and maybe… I'm still brooding over Camille.

AsraStar: I did eventually. X

Tibby: :)

Nisanfeline: Why yes it will.

L'amore: Glad you like it.

Guest: :)

Permalec: I will never stop. And I'm also planning to update Eternal secrets soon.

Review if you like it.

Lu xxxx

Alec woke up the next morning with butterflies. He'd been dreaming about Magnus – only about them walking along the beach and watching the sunset together – and he'd woken up with butterflies. It was a nice feeling, he'd decided, and he simply lay there and revelled in it for a very long time before he got out of bed to get ready for work, because he had the time, and he had decided he didn't really care about being especially on time – particularly since his office didn't really care what time he got in anyway, as long as it was roughly about nice to ten ish.

When he finally made it out of the apartment building, the sun had risen high in the sky, painting pale yellow fall autumn light all over the city. The skyscrapers that made up the iconic skyline glittered faintly. Although the dull streets gave an ominous hint at the upcoming winter, everything this morning seemed a little brighter, a little sharper, a little more in focus than it had for a very long time. Everything seemed to glow or shine or sparkle and anything he saw brought back a happy memory, or helped Alec recall something funny or ridiculous. Even the damn coffee tasted just a little better, a little sweeter. It was if the whole world had woken up the moment that Magnus had waltzed back into his life, and he was enjoying every moment of it.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by in a haze. The blink of an eye. Meetings and calls seemed to glide away easily under his eyelids, typing that took hours seemed to take minutes, and before he knew it he was outside again in the afternoon on his way to pay a quick call on Izzy and then take Magnus and the boys to the park.

Izzy's room was still desperately quiet and dull, despite the brightly coloured orchids left on the bedside table by Simon and the near silent put of time beeps of the numerous machines surrounding her. She was looking more ghostlike by the day, as if the arctic surroundings were sapping the colour and life from her. The long ebony hair fanned out on the crisp pillows gave a sharp, unwelcome contrast to the whiteness of her face, the paleness of her dry, cracked lips and the slightly grey tinged circles that hung gloomily beneath her eyes. Her eyelids were oddly blue and there was a sort of clamminess to her skin. It seemed that every day she was looking – and becoming – more and more ill.

Alec slumped next to her in the hard, plastic blue chair given for visitors and slipped her limp, cold hand into his. Her eyes stayed stationery beneath their blue mask and if her fingers twitched slightly as their hands made contact, he certainly didn't feel it. His chest constricted uncomfortably as he looked down at her, his remaining hand began to trembled and he felt the rose tint slip from his vision. She was getting worse. Of course she was getting worse.

"Hey Iz."

His voice shook and a lump began to form in his throat.

"Hey Iz. You're being so strong. You've been so strong, and you can't stop now."

He tightened his grip on her hand.

"You may not have had much to lose when you went to sleep, but you have everything to wake up for now. You have a son. You have Jace. And Clary. Happy again. You have a beautiful niece and two nephews who love you and think you're epic and are missing you. You have Simon, who is in a complete mess but is holding it together because it's the only think he knows how to do. You have me… me and Magnus. You have a family that's come together since you've been asleep. All while you've been asleep, Iz. Jace and Clary have fixed everything. Magnus and I are sorting things out. Iz, you may have slipped away from a broken mess, but now we have a complete puzzle. All we need is the final jigsaw piece. All we need is for you to wake up.

Maryse and Robert came to visit you, you know. I saw them on my way in yesterday, when they were just leaving. I don't know if they said anything to you, or if you knew they were there, but they came all of this way back to see you. They care enough about you to do anything to try and bring you back. We all do. We all love you, Iz, and we all can't bear that you're gone from us. We all miss you so much, Izzy, and you're driving us insane by keeping those eyelids sewn shut, even more than you usually do, which is saying something. But we'd rather had a mad, aggravating and ridiculous Isabelle than this one. Iz, you were never made to be this still, or this quiet, or this pale. You made to radiate life like a beacon, and that is who you are Iz, not this.

Can't you open up your eyes for James? He's been crying every night for you, you know. Simon's been doing a great job, and we are all helping as much as we can, but he needs you. Your son needs his Mommy Iz, and I know that you want to have him, to hold him properly instead of having him simply curled up on your chest while you lie there. Iz, you were so excited. You were so excited, and you wanted so much to have your son, to be a mother, to see his first smile and to let him hold your finger in his tiny fist. Izzy, you wanted it so much, and now you are missing it. Please just wake up so you don't have to miss any more. Please wake up for James, for Simon, for all of us, because we all need you so much and you have so much to live for."

But Izzy's hand remained motionless. Her eyelids stayed blue, the grey circles remained, and the subtle bleeps maintained their morose rhythm. Her breath continued, quiet, mechanical, and not her own, and he felt her slipping from his grasp. It was only a matter of time. It was only a matter of time before he lost her completely.

Magnus had been having a thoroughly good afternoon so far. He had picked up the boys from school, and for once had been precisely on time, which had astounded both Luke and Will and Max. They had taken the subway to one of New York's big green spaces and had spent the past half an hour wandering about wherever, paying Pooh sticks from several of the bridges – which Magnus had naturally won every time – and chatting about stupid things. Despite looking identical to Magnus, Max was almost exactly like Alec, particularly in the way he talked – he had Alec's strange, sophisticated yet subtle tone, which mixed amusement with intelligence. It killed Magnus to see it, and he couldn't help but smile at it.

Now, they were on their way to yet another bridge – there seemed to be so many and yet all of them were ridiculously different, and only a few actually looked good – to meet up with Alec. Originally, he had been planning to meet them at the school, but he had text Magnus shortly before the boys were due to be let out saying that he was held up at the hospital and to meet him at the bridge which they had run across being chased by ducks that one time. He had immediately understood, and now it was coming up into his view.

Alec was the only one stood on it, a lone figure, almost a silhouette, leaning forwards and down slightly, his arms crossed and resting on the railings that had a theme of goldfish. He was gazing in a lost manner into the slow moving water ahead of him, his chin slightly raised, his expression distant and unhappy. He appeared to be brooding something. Magnus was sure it was to do with Izzy.

As they approached him, Magnus tapped him lightly on his right shoulder. He swivelled around in shock, his eyes wide, and then his face relaxed when he saw that it was just them. He embraced Magnus as soon as he saw him, quickly placing a peck on his cheek, before plastering a grin on his face that only Mganus could identify as fake and ruffling the hair of both of his sons affectionately. It seemed to be a habitual gesture.

"How was school then?"

Alec asked as the four of them strolled off of the bridge and towards the pond which the ducks had originated from.

"It was great!"

Will near shouted. Magnus winced internally, glad that there were few people about.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! We get to do this presentation on our favourite book in pairs, like a proper review and everything, and…"

"And you and Max are working together and doing A Tale Of Two Cities?"

Alec suggested.

"Yep! Isn't it great! And they've given us time in lessons to read our chosen books again to make sure we have, so we basically get an hour a day reading!"

Alec smiled at Magnus.

"Sounds like fun. Anything else good happen?"

"Well, there was an incident at lunch…"

Max trailed off at Alec's face.

"Oh yes?"

He asked, a note of cold warning very evident.

"Um…"

"Do go on."

"Well, basically, this kid, Jade Rice, she was being awful about Dad and the way he dresses and that in the canteen, and Will got really angry so he said some stuff to her and then rubbed mashed potato into her hair."

Will puffed his chest out proudly.

"She screamed. A lot. And then threw a carrot at me, which naturally missed, and there basically ended up being a massive food fight. The entire room was a mess."

Everything was a bit quiet for a moment. Max looked scared, and Will still had his chest puffed out. Alec looked at Magnus.

"And you say she was slagging off Magnus?"

"Yep."

"Well that's fine then."

They carried on like that, with useless chatter and random conversations, until the sun began to droop lazily over the horizon and the breeze began to pick up with a cold bite.