Smoke and Mirrors ▹ Alec Lightwood [1]

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
RUINING THE MOOD

(   trigger warning for mentions of self-harm with jace   )

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

     It wasn't hard to find Clary. All they had to do was follow the yelling upstairs. Adrian was almost wary to enter the room where the yelling was coming from. He didn't want Clary's rage turned on him. She was small, but she had also blown up Valentine's ship with just a stele, so Adrian wasn't going to underestimate her. Besides, she was his friend, and Adrian had never dealt with friends being angry with him well before. They passed Aline on the stairs, and she raised her eyebrows at Adrian as he passed, wondering why in the world they were going toward the yelling. All Adrian did was flash her a smile.

The yelling was getting louder. It wasn't just Clary shouting. Jace was shouting right back at her. Adrian rolled his eyes and hurried ahead of Isabelle and Alec, planning to put a stop to their fight. This wasn't their house. It was rude to cause such a scene when they were guests.

"And you what?" he heard Clary shout as he drew closer. "You own me? You don't own me, whether you're my brother or not!" Adrian stopped at that and cocked his head to the side, then shot Isabelle and Alec amused looks.

"Well, at least she's questioning whether he's her brother," he said. Isabelle laughed, at least, while Alec just rolled his eyes. He reached for the door before Adrian could and burst inside. The yelling immediately came to a stop. Adrian and Isabelle followed him, their movements slower.

"What the hell is going on?" Alec demanded, shooting looks between Clary and Jace, a frown on his face. Adrian kicked the door shut and approached them, brushing past Alec and going towards Clary. She had twisted around when the door opened, and now the anger was slowly draining from her face. She started to smile at Adrian, and then her eyes fell to the bruise marring Adrian's cheek. She immediately frowned, but Adrian shook his head, and Clary pressed her lips together. "Were you two planning on killing each other?" Alec continued. "Because if you're going to do that, can you go outside? We can't exactly explain a murder to the Penhallows."

"We weren't," Jace said, voice rough. When Adrian glanced at him, he saw that Jace wouldn't meet anyone's gaze. He was glaring at the wall by Isabelle's head, who was leaning against it, her arms crossed over her chest. "Clary was just leaving." Adrian raised an eyebrow.

"Good," Alec said, grimacing when he saw the look Adrian sent his way. "I actually need to tell you all something." He glanced at Adrian. "I was going to tell you earlier, but..." That must have been why he had come to interrupt Adrian and Isabelle's training session in the first place. Then he had seen Adrian's bruise and had completely forgotten. Adrian nodded.

"Doesn't anyone in this house ever say, 'Hi, nice to see you' anymore?" Clary grumbled. She hadn't exactly had the warmest welcome, from anyone, so Adrian wrapped his arms around her and brought her in. Clary released a sigh of relief—it must have felt awful, feeling like no one wanted or needed her there—and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him back.

"Hi, little red," he teased, grinning. "Nice to see you." Clary snorted and mumbled the same words back. Adrian pressed a kiss to the top of her head and added, "I, for one, missed you terribly, and I'm glad you're here. For the record, everyone thought this was a horrible idea. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it. I really thought I was protecting you." Clary nodded and pulled away, smiling up at him.

"It's impossible to stay mad at you, Dri," she said with a shake of her head. She shot Jace a glare then. "I'll stick with him." Adrian chuckled and ruffled her hair. She ducked away with a small cry, fingers combing through the strands to fix the mess. Alec, who was watching them both with a small smile, finally shook his head and gave Clary an apologetic look when she turned her gaze on him.