True Colors ¹ ✧ A. Lightwood

VII • Reminiscing

"I suppose you find that attractive," Maryse told her daughter. I didn't catch the beginning of their conversation, but I could only assume it was about the Seelies. She left her daughter standing there and I walked over to her.

"Hey, you okay?" The younger brunette looked at me softly.

"I'm fine. Thank you though." She clearly wasn't fine and I decided to push a little.

I rested my hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at me once more. "Izzy, you can always talk to me. If there is anything I know, it's troubled families. Look at me, my mother and father are dead, along with my baby brother, then I was kidnapped and later rescued by your brother. Now, everyone knows I am the missing Herondale but my grandmother still hasn't even come to see me yet." She smiled sadly at me and sighed.

"It's just complicated, B. Ever since we were little Alec has always been her favorite and it's hard on me. But lately, she's been even harder and judgemental towards me." Her arms were crossed over her chest. I didn't know what to say so I placed my other arm on her and wrapped her in a hug; which she gladly accepted.

"Human touch sends chemicals to your brain that make you happy, so I figured a hug would be better than saying something that doesn't work." She let out a laugh with me and we pulled apart. "I'm going to go speak to Alec, okay? You should too soon, talk to him about your mom." She nodded.

"I will, just not right now." I nodded at her before making my way to the oldest Lightwood sibling. I finally found his room, the one across from mine, and knocked quickly before I could change my mind.

"Come in!" His voice called out to me and I opened the door.

Over the span of a few days, I have seen Alec trust me slightly more than Clary and I had no idea why. But, there was something about him that made him never really leave my mind.

"Hey," I started. He turned to face me from the desk in his room. He was standing and even though he was completely dressed, I could see some of his build and muscles from his shirts placement, but at this point, I knew I'd start rambling. "I came to apologize. I thought I could distract your mom for longer but she's smart and the only way I could think to distract her for as long as I did was to talk about my parents, especially after seeing all I saw in the Silent City which was one of the hardest things I have had to live through. I mean, I saw my mom die all over again right in front of my eyes and I-" The raven-haired man placed his hands on my shoulders and I could then feel the tears fall down my cheeks slowly and softly. The memories of my mother because of Valentine slicing her wrists were unbearable and I couldn't control my emotions. My magic pulsed within me and I tried to keep it down. I could feel the vibrations from it.

"Hey, it's okay. My mother can be intimidating and I know that those memories didn't help. I am sorry you had to go through that." I cut in before he thinks that it didn't need to happen.

"It was necessary." I wiped the tears from my face and looked up into his eyes. "It was the only way to prove I wasn't lying to the Clave and I didn't mind it, I have been through the same amount of pain before. It's just hard watching the people you love die. But I am fine, now, sort of." I let out a soft laugh at the indecisiveness of my okay-ness.

He stared at me, trying to determine if I really was or not when Isabelle strutted through the door I had left open. "Mom's a rare form today," She told Alec. He let go of my shoulders, placing his hands at his side and we turned to his younger sister.

"She's been different since she got back from Idris."

"If you say so, same old judgmental mom with me." She finally looked at both of us and gave us a small smirk, "Was I interrupting something?"