Kit

Only once the pair were standing outside, staring up at the Panda Express was when Kit had finally started to mellow out. At least the Lightwood girl had normal taste in food. While living in England is great and all, he will always be an American boy at heart. And what's more patriotic than eating Americanized Chinese food?

"Hey, grab me a straw," Veronica ordered Kit, choosing a booth for them by a window.

As Kit walked back to the counter he wondered if she was always this sassy, or if he had just caught her on a bad day. Only time could tell. He didn't mind it though, the boy found her refreshingly direct. He sat down in the red booth across from her and attempted to evenly break his wooden chopsticks. It resulted in half of one chopstick and 3/2 of the other. Veronica side-eyed his handiwork.

"So.." Kit began, "What's it like being the Consul's sister?"

She didn't respond right away, instead taking the time to break her own chopsticks perfectly even. Damn shadowhunters. Good at everything.

"Suffocating," is all she said, her expression remaining neutral.

"So..." he continued on, not liking the silent moment, "I kind of overheard you this morning. You're a student at the Academy?"

"Was," she nonchalantly informed, before taking up another large portion of noodles with her chopsticks.

Kit wanted to inquire more about the Academy, and about her knowledge of a certain Blackthorn boy who he's heard from Jem happens to be attending there right now. He chooses to drop the subject for the time being, talking of Ty would probably dampen his mood anyway. Just thinking of him still managed to fill him with shame. I don't deserve to know how he's doing. Not after how I treated him. I just can hope he's forgotten about me and he's probably popping off at the Academy. Is it possible he's met someone new? Kit internally scolded himself for cringing at the thought, but Veronica didn't seem to notice. She was too enwrapped by her orange chicken.

The two shadowhunters spent the next five minutes just focusing on their food.

"You lived in LA. With the Blackthorns," Veronica suddenly said, more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," Kit said, deciding it's his turn to be short.

"Hm," she played with a piece of broccoli with her chopstick. "I've met Emma from Jace and Clary. She's pretty cool."

"She is," he said, looking out the window at the New York traffic. Emma and the Blackthorns were still a sensitive topic for him. He thought highly of them, but he imagined they hated him for running away without a word and what that must have done to... He just preferred not to think of them at all anymore.

"And you were pretty close to that Ty Blackthorn guy, weren't you?"

The directness of her question caught Kit off guard, causing him to sit up a little. He tried not to overthink what she meant by 'pretty close.' How would she even know this anyway?

"Yeah, we were the same age. Bound to happen," Kit's eyes widened. "Uh- spending time together- I mean." He internally face palmed. "Like.. training and stuff," he more confidently added, turning his gaze from the window and back at Veronica. She was studying his face.

"He's pretty skilled, from what I've seen," she commented. Kit raised his eyebrow at her, but she must not have noticed.

"From what you've seen?"

"You know, at the Academy," she said matter of factly, taking another bite of her food. His heartbeat quickened. Part of Kit didn't want to fall for whatever it was Veronica was trying to accomplish, but a larger part of Kit was dying to know..

"How's he doing?"

Veronica raised her eyebrows slightly. Kit realized now he was giving away the fact that he and Ty no longer kept in touch. Which left room for speculation. She continued to answer though, "Honestly I didn't talk to him much. Just had a couple classes with him. He's quiet, but he's clearly gifted in combat. He's well known for it."

Kit visibly blushed. Of course he would have caught the attention of the other shadowhunters by now. He was being naive to not even have considered that before. Ty's always had the unintentional ability to turn heads, and without even noticing.

"Yeah, sounds like him," Kit said, suddenly desperate to change the subject. He reached for his fortune cookie in his bag and broke it in half. He read out loud the quote "time is of the essence," and bit into his cookie.

Veronica smiled. She has a pretty smile. Kit found her features all so innocent, and cute too. It's surprising considering her tendencies for starting trouble. At that moment she unrolled her paper, reading out loud, "A blond man is keeping secrets from you."

Kit looked up, immediately offended by her antics. Why did she think it was any of her business what was going on between him and Ty? He had just met her! Shadowhunters could be so entitled, and clearly she was no different from the majority. He scrunched his eyebrows, "I'll have you know-" but stopped when she flipped around the slip of paper, which accurately displayed the quote. The girl couldn't stop giggling. His face turned red once again.

"You have your secrets, I'll have mine. How does that sound?" she said, laughing again. Her laugh was adorable. Kit knew better than to be fooled though, having been assaulted by her only a couple hours before. Although, he could see now why her older brothers get so incredibly protective over her.

Kit opened his mouth in an attempt to explain, but was thankfully interrupted by Veronica's "let's get out of here."

Veronica

Veronica definitely knew that something was up between Kit and this Ty guy, but couldn't quite place what it was. Normally she wouldn't care about this kind of thing, but Kit intrigued her: with him being a Herondale, a former mundane, and one of her favorite TikTokers. She found it strange to have left the Blackthorns if he was getting along with them so well, and then to flee the country without keeping in contact. She was already aware he wasn't keeping in touch with Emma, from overhearing Jace's facetime calls with her. Jace was concerned about him for quite some time, and would portal to visit him every few weeks. Judging from Kit's blush every time she brought up Ty's name, she decided to drop the subject for now. Usually she didn't mind pushing people's buttons, but she actually felt comfortable around Kit. Maybe it was because he reminded her somewhat of Jace, but she actually felt like she could kind of trust him. That feeling is rare for her.

She looked down at her phone as she received a Snapchat notification from her friend Mya. She opened a video of her at the club, and realized her original plan for the night was to meet the girl there. "Do you have time for one last stop?"

Jace

Jace first knocked on Kit's door, with takeout they had gotten him before he claimed he was too tired from his trip. He found that awfully convenient, considering he traveled using a portal. Jace would never use that as an excuse, but he let his cousin off the hook for today. Alec wanted to discuss certain matters with him and Isabelle tonight at dinner anyway. Though he was happy to have his cousin here now, since he could get a better idea of how he's been coming along. He trusted that Tessa and Jem were guiding him right, but with Jace's age he could gauge him in ways that the couple wouldn't be able to. He also believed he would be a good influence on Kit, teaching him some proper confidence. He had no idea what this trip that Jem and Tessa went on was about, and was pretty annoyed at being kept out of the loop.

"Hey Ronnie, we're back with your food!" he yelled, next knocking on his sister's door. There was no response, as was usual for her over the past few months. Sighing, he assumed she must have already gone asleep. He was a little worried for his little sister. It really has been concerning the amount of conflict there has been between her and Alec lately. The two of them used to be so close when they were younger, especially after the death of Max, which was still difficult for any of them to think about. Veronica fell into a deep depression, she was so young. What really changed Ronnie though, and made her more distant, was the death of their father and what they now consider the disappearance of Maryse. They had just told Veronica that Maryse was on official Clave business out of town, which was true. However, she was meant to have returned two months ago and they haven't heard from her since. They just didn't think that the girl could handle that knowledge right now. Alec wants to protect her from experiencing further pain, so shielded her from most things. While Jace was also very protective of his little sister, he thinks she deserves to know what's happening in her own life. She should know what's happening with her mother and with her stalker, he thinks she can handle the knowledge. He was worried; however, that she would want to sneak off searching for answers. If that was the case, he wouldn't hesitate to put the Institute on full lockdown and stand twenty four hour guard outside her door. The thought of that was the only thing preventing him from going against Alec's wishes and telling Ronnie what he knows. He can't have anything happen to her, not after Max. She was just too innocent.

Kit

"Ahhhhhh!" Veronica screamed giggling, nearly losing her balance as she stood in the midst of a crowd of people.

After the Panda Express- which was either really delicious or Kit was just practically starving at that point- Veronica led the two of them into a club a couple of blocks down the street. At first Kit was hesitant, but as they approached the place it was clear the club was mainly filled with teenagers and college-aged students, so he figured it wouldn't be too bad.

It really wasn't. The first thing Veronica did was run to the bar, where she surprisingly had a fake ID to show the bartender. Kit had one of his own in his wallet, which seemed to earn the Lightwood's approval.

After each of them had a few lemondrop shots, the club's music got more catchy and the atmosphere suddenly lit up. Veronica must have texted a couple of her friends that she would be coming to this club tonight, because she was talking to a girl who had runes on her skin and a boy who he suspected must be some kind of downworlder.

Kit approached the three of them. The guy had dark curly hair, large features, and Kit could tell he must work out or something. The girl had strawberry blonde hair, a fair complexion, and was about his height.

"Kit, there you are!" Veronica exclaimed, with a tipsy smile on her face. The two teenagers she was talking to seemed to be analyzing him in a way that made him incredibly uncomfortable.

"I'd like to introduce you to my friends Mya and Casper. Kit, Casper. Casper, Kit."

"Kit, Mya. Mya, Kit," she unnecessarily continued. The boy Casper eyed him up and down before gluing his eyes back on Veronica.

"So, you're the lost Herondale," the blonde girl- Mya- said to Kit. "I was beginning to think you were just a rumor. Where have you been hiding out all this time?" she asked, before switching her attention to Veronica. "He's cute…" she whispered, loud enough for Kit to hear.

"Devon," Kit answered, flashing the blonde girl a grin. Usually, unlike his cousin, he's not much of a flirt. Now; however, he feels a new sense of confidence from the past few months of working out and from the alcohol in his system. Flirting would be a good form of distraction anyway, possibly even good practice. "Mya, can I grab you something to drink?"

The girl's light complexion turned red, and she quickly nodded her head. She smiled as Kit reached for her hand to guide her to the bar. Veronica and Casper followed, and he overheard most of their conversation as he waited for the bartender to grab his cash.

Veronica

Veronica couldn't say that she was surprised by Kit's antics. He was a Herondale after all, and hit on her just earlier today. Besides, she was glad he was making her friend happy. Mya's now ex boyfriend at the Academy had cheated on her a couple of weeks ago, and she was due for a good distraction and a good time. Now Veronica could focus on Casper, who's dark werewolf features were appearing especially striking to her tonight.

"Casper," she said, stepping closer to him so their bodies were only a foot apart.

"Ronnie…" he responded, placing a hand on her waist. "I've missed seeing you around this part of town." He quickly inhaled, his sparkling brown eyes catching her own. "How's the Academy treating you? I heard from Mya you've moved your things out of the dorm. Are you back?"

Veronica spotted the hint of longing in his voice. "I don't know Casp, things are all so complicated right now." She looked away from his eyes, but still remained close to the werewolf. They stood in silence for a little bit.

He quickly inhaled again, his muscles tensing up. "Did you meet someone else there? A new shadowhunter guy?"

Veronica looked back up at him. "Come on Casp, you know it's not like that. You know I've just been so busy lately, I've told you that. There are way too many distractions going on in my life. Let's just focus," she said, placing her arms behind the taller boy's neck, "on the moment. I promise you're the only man on my mind." She knew she was lying, and there were definitely others.

She felt Casper's body tense up as he cleared his throat. That seemed to do the trick. He sighed, "I can manage doing that," he said, starting to smile as she began running her fingers through the back of his hair. He pulled her closer and bent down.

Kit

Both Kit and Mya downed four more shots at the bar, and they had somehow found themselves in the corner away from the main crowd. Mya was running her hands through Kit's hair as they were making out.

Kit had known that he was bisexual for a few years now. His first crush on a boy was at the Shadowmarket in LA. He was a customer of his dad's, a red-haired werewolf. Kit remembered blushing whenever the redhead would come by, and his heartbeat would quicken too. He just couldn't take his eyes off of him. For some time after that, he had just assumed he was gay. Then a month later, he shared his first kiss with a mundane girl who had attended his same middle school. He only was at that school for a year, before his dad took him out so Kit would have more time to work and steal for him. Kit hadn't even known that being bisexual was a thing until his dad gifted him a phone for his thirteenth birthday and he found out through social media. For his freshman year of high school, he was enrolled back at another public school. He went through a little bit of a fuckboy phase, sneaking out of his basement bedroom in the middle of the night to meet up with guys/girls and go to parties.

Making out came easy for Kit, he didn't have to think about it. He wasn't thinking about it at all actually, barely being in the moment until he felt Mya sucking on his neck. That was going to leave a mark…

After more kissing, and sharing snapchats, the two made their way back in the crowd to find Casper and Veronica.

Kit looked down at his phone, the time displayed 2:30am. He didn't see any missed calls from Jace though, which was a good sign. He sighed, once again searching the crowd in an attempt to spot the Lightwood girl. She wasn't where he had left her.

Mya had found two other of her friends from the Academy that she had come to the club with, so Kit felt comfortable leaving her. He didn't see Casper though. As he walked to the front door of the club, he wondered who would have opened a portal for them to even come here. He imagined the girls, including Veronica, had their fair share of connections. He could tell they were a popular group.

When Kit stepped outside, he spotted Veronica standing against the wall to his left. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The air was chillier outside now, and he wondered how she wasn't cold in her crop top. It has been oddly warm for February, but now that the sun was down he was harshly reminded that it was still winter. He watched as Veronica breathed out a stream of smoke, and realized that she was carrying a juul. He walked closer to her, extending his hand wanting to hit it as well. She gave it to him. They were both clearly drunk, but Kit noticed that the girl's hair was especially disheveled, and her clothes a bit twisted. He hit her juul, holding it in his lungs for a little longer for a better buzz. As he exhaled, he noticed a couple of hickeys on her neck as well. He wasn't going to judge though. She must have spotted the hickeys Mya was sure to have left on his neck as well, judging by her raised eyebrows. She smiled, taking her juul back from Kit's outreached hand. "Goodd night," she commented, guiding the two of them back to the Institute by his arm. This club was about a fifteen minute walk away.

"Goodnight?" Kit asked her, concerned she was going to pass out.

"As in, it was a good night. Wasn't it?" Kit just shrugged in response as they continued to walk.

"Well, it was for Mya. She needed that distraction. Her asshole ex boyfriend cheated on her two weeks ago back at the Academy," she explained, dragging her words out for longer than usual. A nice distraction for me too, Kit thought.

"So, what's the deal with you and that Jasper guy?"

"You mean Casper?" Veronica laughed. "Oh, he's just for fun. Nothing serious to me." A loud truck drove past them next to their narrow sidewalk.

"He couldn't take his eyes off of you the whole time I saw you near him." Kit said, also thinking back to the conversation he overheard between the two of them. The guy clearly took Veronica seriously.

"Welll, he's just having a hard time understanding that I'm not looking for a relationship right now. I like keeping my options… open," Veronica explained. She was very relaxed about it.

"You know, it's not right to play games like that with people. You can clearly see that he likes you, and you're just leading him on by encouraging it." The alcohol in Kit's system made him more vocal than usual right now.

Veronica seemed slightly taken aback by his words, but continued walking by him. "I know," she said. She didn't sound apologetic, just matter of fact. Kit realized he was dealing with a player, and she didn't care to listen to him. For some reason, it was really hitting a nerve with him that she could be so careless with another person's confession of feelings. He's been on the receiving end of that when he professed his love to Ty, and it really hurts.

"Have you even told him that you're not serious about him?" He said, his voicelevel raising.

Veronica

Veronica let go of Kit's arm, getting pretty frustrated by the boy's interrogation. Why did he care so much about this? He was acting so judgemental of her, as if hookups weren't a normal thing. He had just hooked up with a girl he just met, and she couldn't see how this was any different. Sure, she knew that Casper has had feelings for her for a while now, but he wasn't the only guy.

"He'll catch on. Besides, it's not my fault if he's not able to manage his feelings on his own. I'm not responsible for them! You expect me to believe you haven't hooked up with a person, no feelings attached?" Her voicelevel now matched his.

Kit started walking faster, and Veronica did too. "That's not the point! The point is I heard you tell this guy in the club that he's the only guy you care about, but then you tell me just now that he's one of many! How can you just lie like that? With someone being so vulnerable to you?"

Veronica had the suspicion that this was beyond her. That this was actually something more personal for Kit. "You've been played before, haven't you?" she asked, her voice level dropping to normal.

The boy beside her went quiet, and she saw his blush from the streetlight. Or maybe that was just the cold air against his skin. She was never one to get cold easily.

"Something like that. And believe it or not, it doesn't feel too great," he said, with a fake upbeat to his tone. "Listen, I'm not judging you for getting with multiple guys. I get it, I've been there, and it can be fun. But you have to be honest with them about your intentions. You might actually come to regret leading these guys on one day," he said tersely as they arrived at the front doors of the institute.

Kit opened one of the double doors. Veronica hates being patronized. They walked through the candlelit chapel and into the small elevator with her arms crossed in front of her. As they stepped out, she noticed Kit side eyeing her, obviously expecting her to say something. It wasn't until they reached their rooms that she simply said "I don't care." She stepped inside, not waiting to hear Kit's know-it-all response. She didn't have time for his attitude anyway, as she had to be up in four hours to get ready for training with Jace. She groaned, changing into comfy shorts and a sweatshirt. This was definitely going to be the worst way to spend a hangover.