Serendipity / A.Lightwood

Chapter Seven

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The drive there wasn't particularly bad. Charlie was squished between Alec and Izzy, and he was constantly feeling like the buttons on his shirt were about to burst due to how tight it was, but he supposed it wasn't all to bad. He had meant to apologize to Alec quietly, whisper it in his ear so the others could conspire as to what he had said, but he supposed it didn't work that way.

Instead, he was sat in uncomfortable silence, his hands slotted between his legs in a manner to show he felt vulnerable subsconciously. That, or he felt like it was too crowded in the back of Simon's van. 

Shortly afterwards, the van came to a stop and everyone began to pile out. Izzy got out of the passenger seat whilst Alec was the first to open the van doors. He held them open for Charlie, the boy rolling his eyes and saying;

"What am i, a pretty fuckin' princess?", in retaliation. Charlie secretly enjoyed the feeling of being taken care of for once. Instead of him looking out for others all the time, he felt like it was great to simply...be looked out for. The blonde man rolled his eyes, however, and crossed his arms delicately as to try and not burst the seams of the shirt. "Anyways, this place is-hang on a minute. Why is there barrels on fire?" His blue eyes went to Alec's first, begging for an answer. When he received nothing in favor, Charlie turned and looked to the others for answers.

But none were given.

"Yeah, this place isn't creepy." Simon said, cutting the silence that had washed over them once Charlie had finished having his small mini breakdown over barrels. "Not at all."

"Don't tell me you're afraid." Isabelle chuckled, her brown eyes glinting mischieviously whilst her red lips were quirked into a smirk.

"Are you kidding me?" SImon scoffed, rolling his eyes as his brows pinched together. "I was born afraid...which sounded a lot better in my head."

"Dude." Charlie shook his head, sighing in disappointment at how awkward the boy was.

"Let's check it out." Alec immediately proposed, stopping their conversation, but Charlie nodded. He took a step forwards, to at least be of use, but Alec raised his arm and squinted at the blonde. "Not you." This left Charlie pursing his lips, his nostrils flaring as mixed emotions swirled inside of him. Understanding. Anger. Confusion.

Charlie took one glance towards Clary and Simon and he rolled his eyes, immediately stuffing his hands into any pockets on his trousers he could find first before he began to walk away. Was this a smart decision? No. Did Charlie care? Not at all. He couldn't stand the thought of being near Clary, her being the constant reminder that Jocelyn had lied to him for his whole life.

She wasn't his mother. So why did she keep him? Why did he grow up with her and not with someone else?

With a large, elongated breath, Charlie kept walking. His arm faintly brushed against the hedgerow, heading further away from the mysterious crypt entrance and he soon got further from the van. Not by much, but enough so that they couldn't see him. He decided to sit down, his eyes closing slowly as his head began to feel heavy.

All the overthinking on his life's turn of events were causing him to get a headache. A nasty one.

As the trees quietly whistled, their leaves brushing against each other due to the slight wind, Charlie remained sat. His legs were crossed and his jeans were unbroken - unbelievably so - whilst his head tilted upwards. The stars lit up the Brooklyn night sky, something that made Charlie faintly smile as he remembered the small humane times where he'd sit with Jocelyn, looking at the stars.