Not by Blood - BEING REWRITTEN IN SEPARATE STORY

Chapter Forty Four

EDITED 5/30/2020

Raphael followed Simon into the kitchen at seven in the morning, he had stirred from his sleep when the younger vampire had walked down the hall past his room and made for the staircase. He'd thrown on a thin, black, cotton t-shirt over some red silk pajama pants that Magnus had gifted him and then padded after the boy.

Despite the fact that they'd been spending more and more time together since the Lightwood-Bane household had moved to Glen Head, Raphael hadn't seen these feelings coming. The way that his stomach had flipped when Simon smiled at him, or the way his skin tingled after Simon brushed against him accidentally. However, to his great misfortune, Simon had confided in Raphael that he had been dating Izzy in secret ever since Magnus and Alec had gotten married over a month ago.

According to Simon, Isabelle didn't want to tell anyone that the two of them were together, citing that with everything going on, it wasn't important enough of an announcement to waste time on.

Raphael sighed as Simon rounded the curve of the staircase, making the boy look back at him. "Oh, hey Raphael." Simon yawned. "Did I wake you up?"

Raphael just shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"Oh, good." Simon said as they made it to the bottom of the stairs and started walking towards the kitchen together. "I was worried, I thought that maybe when I shut my door it was kind of loud, and I might have been walking a little loud too."

They made it into the kitchen, the lights were off but there was some light coming in through the windows. Without looking around, Raphael went over to the fridge and Simon went over the pantry and started digging through it. Raphael grabbed an apple and a bottle of water and Simon grabbed a box of cereal. He turned and looked towards the oven clock where there was a little mirror.

"Man," Simon ran a hand through his hair. "Why didn't you tell me I looked like that." He curled a lip at himself.

Raphael shrugged. "Maybe I thought it was cute that you looked like a total wreck."

He looked over at Simon to see him gaping at Raphael, looking shocked and panicked. His mouth was opening and closing like he couldn't figure out what to say or if he even should say anything.

"What?" Raphael asked as he opened his water bottle and took a sip.

"It's just . . " Simon stuttered. "I . . . like . . . um . . . well . . . I just . . . gotta . . . gotta go." He rushed past Raphael and back upstairs, leaving his cereal on the counter.

Raphael watched as Simon ran off in a panic and was startled as he heard a loud rustling noise from the corner of the room. He turned to see his Dad sitting at the little table by the windows near the doorway, newspaper in hand, finishing turning a page.

Raphael narrowed his eyes as he noticed that he was holding back laughter, shoulders shaking at the effort.

"What?" He asked, a little bite in the word.

Alec shook his head, eyes not leaving the paper in front of him. "That was the best you got?" He asked, a little chuckle in his voice.

"Shut up!" Raphael said hotly, taking a long drink of his water.

Alec laughed, " Hey," He caught his breath, " So, if the two of you get married, does that mean we have to spend Christmas morning with him? Or do we get Thanksgiving? Or both, please don't say both."

"Oh my God," Raphael grabbed his apple, tossing his water bottle in the recycling bin. "Please, just forget this ever happened."

Alec laughed harder. "I don't think so, it's forever ingrained in my mind."