𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑, 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠

chapter nineteen. best friend

Hope stood with her hands behind her back, her hair pulled out of her face. As she waited for Jace and Simon to come back with their ingredients to save Luke.

She was a little worried about Simon getting hurt, she was extremely frustrated with Jace and a small part of her, no matter how much she tried to deny it, was also thinking about what to wear to dinner with Izzy.

It should've been the last thing on her mind but it was all she could think about, the thought plagued her.

"Run?" The sound of Jace's voice pulled her from her thoughts, in a moment of confusion she grabs ahold of Simon, drags him along with in a blaze of light. Her body feels electric when she and Simon stop in front of Magnus' condo.

Jace ran in to give Clary the ingredients, Simon followed while Hope stared at her hands, merely hours ago they were drenched with blood but now they seem to spark in the moonlight, electric waves moving between her fingers.

She ran in after the boys, found Alec was with them too as she stood at Clary's side while she made Luke drink the brew she made with Magnus.

When he opens his eyes, Hope breathes out a sigh of relief. All her senses are heightened, she's looking everywhere.

She catches Clary and Luke having a moment, sees Jace looking at her in the corner of her eyes, sees Simon stare out the door as if waiting for something to follow them and sees Magnus with his head on Alec's shoulder as he tries to catch his breath.

Everything seems to blind her as the light above their heads starts to flicker. Hope walks straight to the door, pushes it so hard that it nearly goes off the hinges.

Something in her is screaming to get out, something is clawing at her. She leans against the wall, blood spilling from her lips.

"Hope!" A voice calls her as she turns and Alec is right behind her. She wipes the blood from her mouth as he takes a step closer to her.

She fights the urge to tell him to screw off.

"Did you and Jace make up?" She asked as she took a step away from him. The further they were from one another, the better.

"I guess, what's wrong with you? You haven't said anything inappropriate in a while." Alec stood in front of her, too tall for her to even make eye contact with him as she stared at the ground, her hair falling to the sides of her face.

"Dying changes you." She smiles, spits out blood. "By the Angel," Alec takes two steps and he's right in front of her, making her look at him.

"You look like you're dying." He uses his middle finger to brush a strand of hair out of her face.

She laughs, blood staining her teeth, she licks it clean.

"I'm fine, I swear." She pulls away, swallows back the blood in her mouth, the metal taste scraping the inside of her mouth as she looks up at him.

"I'll be obnoxious again tomorrow. Go inside, have a drink." She smiled at him and he nodded, walking away like a good soldier.

After a few moments Hope hears the door open again. "Jace." She doesn't even have to turn, she can smell the filth he calls cologne from a mile away.

"I wanted to apologize for my behaviour today." She could hear the regret in his voice but she was tired and it was past eight o'clock.

"Talk to me again tomorrow, I can't deal with you right now."

It's almost nine when Hope gets to the Institute, she finds Izzy in her room. Izzy is in her pajamas with a plate of food in front of her. "I'm sorry I'm late." Hope felt soft at the sight of her.

"I don't mind. I made us some penne pasta, your favourite." Izzy smiled and Hope let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding in.

She's been bleeding on the way, she's been using random papers she's found in her pocket to stop the bleeding but now she was sitting on the bed with Izzy and she didn't care if she was gonna bleed out.

"You did?" Hope got back up, taking off her boots. Izzy laughs at the way her voice sounds, Hope sounds a little frightened by the fact.

"Don't worry, my dad got me a new cook book." The book sat on her bedside table along with a plate of beignets. At the sight of them, Hope dropped her boots to the ground.

She smiled, it was warm and bright and Izzy could feel it brush her cheeks, heat her up from the inside.

"I'm from New Orleans so these are religious to me." Hope walked to her closet and Izzy watched her.

"I actually got these from New Orleans, Max and I portaled there to get these. My mom said you might like it." As Izzy spoke, Hope got undressed, peeling her shirt off her body, nearly causing her glasses to fall down.

How would Maryse know that, she thought but didn't say.

"So you didn't make them?" Hope took out her nightgown, a lacey white thing she got from Izzy when she noticed her clothes seemed to have got more. She didn't recognise half the things in her closet.

"You don't have to sound so relieved." Izzy rolled her eyes as Hope looked at her and this time she couldn't miss it.

Izzy looked different, she was hidden behind her clothes almost completely, only her hands, feet and face were bare and her hair wasn't loose at her sides as usual but pulled back into a ponytail.

"Thanks for the new clothes." She spoke softly, taking a beignet as she sat down next to Izzy, crossing her legs.

"You look much better in my clothes." Izzy smiled, she leaned back against her pillow. It was one thing to share your clothes with someone but another thing to give them all away.

Hope lays down on her bed next to Izzy, resting her head on the girl's shoulder.

"I don't think there's anything that can look bad on you." Hope nudges her head into the crook of Izzy's shoulder, her nose brushing Izzy's neck, taking in her scent.

Izzy smelled like fresh peaches, melon and apple with undertones of jasmine and rose. Sweet and strong. The tip of her nose brushes Izzy's chin, their eyes meeting.

"Iz." She paused, eyes soft on Izzy. "You're my best friend."