Clockwork Heart | ✓

novem.

London, 1903

It wasn't until very late that night that James came to Brooklyn's room. The Shadowhunters and Magnus had asked Brooklyn to leave the room while they discussed things--clearly, whether or not the other Shadowhunters were adults hadn't mattered that time--and she had been in her room for hours, waiting for any shred of news.

James looked exhausted, his clothes rumpled and hair messy, as he dropped onto her bed and shut his eyes. "Bane and Uncle Jem are going to look into it," He said. "Whoever did this was quite powerful. You may be here a while."

Brooklyn laid down on the bed next to him and he rested his arm under her head. They both stared up at the ceiling, quiet. "I'm starting to wonder if my parents will actually miss me." She said. "Ever since my mother married my stepfather, she's been distant. I miss her."

James turned his head and pressed his lips against the side of her head. "Everything will work out." He promised.

"You're right." She said. "It will. They'll find a way for me to get back, and I'll go back to school and then go to college, and you'll continue fighting demons and get married and have children and...well, die. And some other version of us will be living this moment, having this conversation."

"How so?"

"Time isn't linear, it's circular." She said. "Do you believe in rebirth?"

"I don't know." He said. "If I was reborn into your time and I was close in age to you, would you...would you want to try something?"

"What do you mean by something?" She asked, smirking.

He sat up and leaned over her, and she felt breathless. His golden eyes stared deep into her brown ones, and then he leaned down and kissed her, short and light. She laid there, eyes closed, hoping for another kiss. James, above her, kept his closed too, wanting to give her one. "Something like that," he said. "Something in which we can do that a lot and not worry about how much time we possibly have left."

"Yes," she said breathlessly. "That sounds wonderful."

James was silent for several moments and Brooklyn opened her eyes, surprised to find that his were open and watching her. "I think," he said, "that I want you. That I want to fall in love with you."

"I think that would be a stupid mistake," she said. "But I think I want that too."

He leaned down and, grinning, kissed her once more.