Distant Fires of Heaven (The Malevolent Sacrifices #1)

Those Who Live

It had been two weeks. Two weeks since Juliet told Stephen she needed space.
He was back at the New York Institute. In fact, everyone was home now.
The Carstairs returned to London, the Blackthorns returned to Los Angeles, and the Herondales and Lightwoods were back in New York.
The precession of Andrew's death had been horrid to watch, seeing his body burn in the pyres. Juliet had stood with her family, watching her brother burn and become ashes. She did not cry, in fact, she looked emotionless.
She had held the hand of her little sister, Liv, who had been crying her eyes out.
Stephen tried to approach her after the burning, but she turned from him, which stung Stephen more than he cared to admit.
She looked at him as if she had never seen him before. All the light in her had simply died out.
"I need space." Was all she said before walking away from him, leaving him with a memory of her back turned to him, her hands in fists at her sides.
It had been the most gut wrenching pain he had ever experienced, besides the time he thought Lexa was dead.
Ever since, he sat in his room, looking at the books that decorated his wall, the notebooks stacked on his desk. He couldn't bring himself to open a book, to write a single word. All that he wanted was across the country, and he wasn't even sure if she wanted to see him.
People came and went, Rosemary being the most recent person to stop in.
"You should really clean." She said softly to him.
"I can't bring myself to." He mumbled. "Has she spoken to you?"
"No." She said quietly. "I've texted, I've called. I called so much that Octavian answered, and he said she just needed time."
Stephen buried his head in his hands, his chest aching for her, for her touch, for the comfort he knew she needed, for the comfort he wanted to give her.
"Did he say how long?" He asked. Rose didn't answer. Stephen took that as a no.
"She'll come around, Steph." Rose said before leaving him alone.
Now he stared at the copy of The Great Gatsby on his bedside table. Rose once told him she reminds him of Gatsby, and maybe she was right, but that had been before Juliet came back into his life. She turned him around, and without her, he felt as if that old Stephen was coming back, that Stephen who felt as if he had nothing to hold onto, only a false hope of finding his sister who hadn't wanted to be found.
Only this time, it was Juliet who he wanted, but she didn't want to be wanted, she wanted loneliness, and isolation, and Stephen hated every minute of being away from her. It felt like a knife being wedged between him and her, a knife he was desperately trying to pry free, but no matter what it wouldn't budge.

August soon turned into September, and soon the summer turned into Autumn. At least that was how the weather was in New York. Stephen doubted it was much different in Los Angeles. It was always sunny there.
He had called Juliet every day for the past 2 weeks. She hadn't even so much as answered. It drove him crazy to know she's mourning and he couldn't help her.
No matter how many times he begged, Magnus would not open a portal for him. Neither would Clary. Stephen didn't have the heart to ask Elle. She had been dealing with Andrew's death as well as Ariel's, since she now had to face a life without her best friend by her side.
Every night it had been the same. Stephen would go for dinner, sit while his parents tried to talk to them, but only Rosemary would answer.
She on the other hand was thriving. Her power had seemed to diminish now that she no longer needed a purpose for it, and she'd been spending all her time with Mason. Or maybe Stephen is an overly jealous idiot and knew that Mason was Rosemary's escape from the pain he and Effy brought upon the Institute.
Either way, she's in the best shape out of the three of them.
It was while he was asleep one night, while the one night during his entire time home he actually slept, that he heard the familiar vibration of his phone. His eyes opened slowly to see the light up of his screen.
Juliet.
He plucked his phone from the charger, answering his phone quickly and put it to his ear.
She was quiet at first, but Stephen took a deep breath, his voice low and husky from sleep. "Juliet?" He asked softly. He heard her gasp through the other side of the phone. He felt tears gloss over his eyes. He blinked them back.
"Stephen." She said quietly. "I- I needed to hear your voice."
He sat up in his bed, pulling the covers off and he rose from the bed, pacing about his room as he heard her breathing on the other line.
"You haven't spoke to me for about a month." He said gently. "I've been so worried, Juliet-"
"I know." She said quietly. "I know. But, I, I-" there was silence again. Then she spoke. "I don't have an excuse for what I did to you."
Stephen closed his eyes for a moment. "Yes you did. You- you had every reason to want to be alone." He wouldn't say it aloud, for the dawning fear of her hanging up was to great. She had an excuse because her brother died.
"I miss you." She murmured. "I miss you so much." He heard her voice crack, like glass breaking. "But it's been so hard, Stephen. It's been so hard to pick up the phone and call you. I haven't even been able to play my cello. I just, I just can't find the strength to do anything anymore." She was crying now, and Stephen clutched the wall for support so he wouldn't fall down.
"I love you." He said. "I love you so much." He took a deep breath. "How are your ribs?"
She sniffled. "They're still healing. Every day my dad wakes me up and we walk along the beach. Every day I fall down, and every day he helps me stand, and every day I wish to just lay down and never stand again."
"Oh, Juliet." He breathed. "Let me come see you."
She was quiet for a moment. "I don't know, Stephen. It's not just me that's shaken up, my whole family isn't doing good. My brother, oh god Calvin. He, He is so torn apart. And Liv is still just a baby, she doesn't understand what's going on. Only that Andrew isn't here, and she keeps wondering when he'll come back. It's just, I feel like if you were here it would make things more complicated." She sniffled again.
"Juliet." He said softly. "Then I'll pick you up, and we can go spend the day somewhere else. We can go to Venus Beach-"
"You only know Venus because of its name." She teased, sadness still in her voice.
Stephen felt a smile creep on his face. "Okay, Maybe I do. But what does it matter? Have you ever been to Venus?"
"No." She admitted.
"Okay, good. So we'll go to Venus Beach, explore the area. If you're up for it, we'll make it a weekend trip. You need to clear your head, Juliet. Maybe this will be good for you." He said.
She was quiet for another moment. "Okay." She said softly. "When are you coming?"
"I'll come tomorrow. I'll pack my bag now, and I'll be at your doorstep as soon as I can." He said.
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." She whispered. He thought he heard a crack in her voice.
"Juliet?"
"Yes?"
"Are you going to be alright for the night?" He asked her.
"No." She admitted. "I'm going to probably cry some more and eat ice cream." At least she was honest about it.
"Well then we can FaceTime so you aren't alone." He smiled.
"Okay. Give me a few minutes." She said then they hung up, and Stephen felt this heavy weight lift from his chest.