Somebody Like You (Malec)

Chapter 37:Epilogue

  "You can't be nervous."

  "Jace. It's my fucking wedding. How can I not be nervous?"

  "Just saying you should be happy. You're marrying Magnus. The man is basically made out of glitter." 

  "Your point is?"

  "You've waited almost two years to be married. You shouldn't be nervous, you should be happy." He's right, I am happy. But I'm still freaking out on the inside. Everyone is going to be watching me. Unlike Magnus, I'm not used to being the center of attention. Jace helps me fix my tux, which was a crisp black suit with a black waistcoat-the waistcoat I wore the night I proposed-and a blue tie. Magnus always liked that on me. "I got to go. Best man also comes with having to play the piano." He smiled and gave me a pat on the back that was supposed to be reassuring, but it wasn't. Just as Jace was leaving there was a knock on the door. "Come in," I called out. In walked the last person I expected. Julie Silverscale. Luna had been invited, but I wasn't sure if she would come. She did though, she was just trailing behind Julie in a purple dress. Joshua also came along, and Julie held a small, curly haired baby in her arms. "I think I should go now," Jace announced. Luna came up to me and gave me a hug, but didn't speak.

  "Hey, Alec," Julie said.

  "Hello," I said awkwardly.

  "You must be wondering why I'm here."

  "I am. Who's this little girl." I went eye level with the baby and held her hand.

  "This is Rachel. My daughter."

  "She's very cute."

  "Thank you, but that's no why I'm here. I'm here because you deserve an explanation. Of me being weird and clingy all those years ago."

  "Okay. Have a seat." She sat down on a chair opposite me. She stayed silent for a moment before taking off a heavy silver ring. The ring had a "G" craved on the front, along with a pattern of hawks. The Silverscale ring symbol were mermaids, what was she doing with a Grayhawk ring? "I'm not a Silverscale. Luna and I are Grayhawks." I've heard of that family, but only briefly. They're supposedly very poor and the most recent children went missing. "We were orphans as children. Living on the streets until our local institute took us in. And even they didn't have a lot of money. I did everything in my power to make sure Luna grew up happily. Skipping training sessions to look for food, getting mundane jobs, even skipping meals so Luna could have more to eat. That's why I've always been so skinny and weak. Most my life I never had proper training, and I grew up never having a full meal. So I thought that if a I marry into a rich family then we can actually live for once, but no one would marry someone from my family. So I asked the Silverscale's if they would pretend that I was their daughter for a while. Just until I found a man. One day I found your father at a Clave meeting, and I thought this was my chance to marry. But you weren't interested obviously, and it ruined a lot of my plan. That's why I would never give up. All I wanted was a life. Sorry if it sounds like a horrible thing to do, I know it was, but I needed to survive. I'm sorry for doing that to you. It's just,if you were in my situation you would do anything to survive also." All these years I just assumed she was like that. Crazy obsessed. But now I see that she had real reasons behind everything she did. "Then I met Joshua, and I saw that everything I did was wrong. And I've never been able to tell you, so when Luna got an invite to your wedding, I thought I could finally make everything alright between us."

  "It's okay. I'm sorry for never understanding. All you wanted was to live, and I can't blame you for that." I gave her a hug, careful of the baby in her arms. "You're welcome to stay for the wedding. All of you."

  "Thank you, Alec."

  "Luna? How have you been doing? Has it gotten better."

  "It's better. If I was the same as I was a couple of years ago I wouldn't even be able to stand here without having a panic attack," she answered timidly.