#By the way there is a picture of little carstairs siblings

[alastairstom]

For the characters

Cordelia Carstairs

favorite thing about them -> I absolutely adore her bravery and the way that she's not scared to confront her fears and demons for her loved ones. I think she's super strong as a person and respect that. least favorite thing about them -> Her naivety. It gets me. I just feel like a lot of people, especially Alastair, have suffered for it, and idk. I know she has a brain, I wish she'd use it more. favorite line -> "Love is not a weakness." brOTP -> Can I take this literally and say Alastair? Lol I kind of love their sibling dynamic in ChoT. If not, then Thomas. They have a cute little friendship and I'm down to see more of him treating her like a little sister. OTP -> Jordelia. They're cute. nOTP -> Fairstairs. Sorry, it wasn't healthy for Matthew. Not Cordelia's fault! But I can't get behind the ship. random headcanon -> She collects stamps and postcards from everywhere that she and James travel. unpopular opinion -> She should have stood up for Alastair way sooner than she did in the books. song i associate with them -> Idk, I associate her and Lucie's friendship with Seven by Taylor Swift, so maybe that? favorite picture of them -> I'm quite partial to

((Send more characters for the template!))

#ask games

[lekawi]

"She knew her father had broken his son's heart a dozen different ways, and Alastair was doing the best he could with the pieces. But it didn't help for Alastair to behave like this, to retreat behind a cold facade as cutting as glass."

- Chain of Iron, chapter 4

#chain of iron #chain of iron spoilers #alastair carstairs #cordelia carstairs #One day I will stop but not today #Huge number of my college duties allows me to pretend to forget about it #By the way there is a picture of little carstairs siblings #So........ one day I might show it #tOxIc smile)))) #carstairs family #elias carstairs #the last hours #tsc #tlh #chain of gold #chain of thorns #tlh fanart 💀👄💀

[fatilightwood]

Our story

You can read the fic on Ao3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5: With the help of all my friends

They had that date and then they had a lot more over the course of two weeks.

Alastair had been free of work once he handed in his essay, and Thomas’s professors were giving him a break from assignments.

Life was good, life was incredible.

They had dinner, they had gone to the cinema, and even had breakfast with Ariadne at college. Now Thomas knew where Alastair’s profile picture had been taken. At the outdoor lunch tables. Alastair and Ariadne’s favorite place to have breakfast and gossip.

Thomas had found it calming that talking with Ariadne was easy. He didn’t know what he would do if Alastair’s best friend didn’t like him. Fortunately she seemed to be okay with him. That was good. Because otherwise how could he be with Alastair?

That brought him some other thoughts. Sometimes he’d told himself he was very optimistic about everything. Perhaps even now. Would Alastair want to be with him? Like officially? Bloody hell, they haven’t even kissed.

Was that a bad sign? Perhaps Alastair just hasn’t thought about it. And really, that would be unfair, because Thomas had been imagining it. At least, he didn’t have those thoughts that regularly around Alastair, otherwise he was sure he would look like a tomato all the time. The Carstairs boy hadn’t been really helpful in that area. Thomas suspected he very much liked to make Thomas blush. And then he wouldn’t say a thing, or to try to make a move.

He was still scrolling through his phone when a text came. Speaking of the devil. Or just thinking about him? Whatever. The important thing was the guy he didn’t seemed to be able to stop thinking about was texting him.

He immediately opened the chat and read the message.

He answered quickly.

Yes.

****

Alastair walked excitedly to the place where he was meeting his friends.

It didn’t take him long to spot Ariadne on a table. She was sipping some red liquid from a glass. He waved at her until she saw him.

“Do you think they’re gonna be here soon? I’m hungry.” Ariadne said as soon as he took a seat.

“You want to bribe me so you’re not the only one eating when they arrive?”

“I wouldn’t do that.” She said, shaking his head slowly in fake disappointment.

“Bowl of chips, yes or no? Quick.”

“Yes.” Ariadne clapped her hands. “I love you so much.”

“I know.” He smiled, while he saw Ariadne calling the waiter.

Ten minutes later they had ate almost the entire plate.

“How’s Cordelia?”

“Excited. Remember I told you about her friend Lucie, she just came to our apartment in the morning.”

“Oh, yes. Are they coming tomorrow?”

“I wouldn’t want to but I think Layla knew about the party even before us. I don’t think I can stop her but we’ll have to watch those two.”

“I love ruining the fun for the young ones.”

“You make us sound like we’re ancient.”

“Ok, then you’re the only grandpa.”

Alastair glared at her with squinted eyes. “Grace just texted. She says they’ll be here in a few minutes. They were stuck in traffic.”

“They better hurry, cause these ones aren’t going to last.”

“Either way, they would have to order another one.” He said and took more than 3 pieces at the same time.

“This isn’t a competition.” Ariadne said smiling

“But if it were you’d be losing.”

Grace Blackthorn and his brother, Jesse walked into the pub. They waved at the two friends who were already eating.

“Sorry for the lateness, Jesse took more time while readying himself.” Grace said, smiling wickedly at Jesse.

“So it’s this my fault now? We’ve would have been here in time if we hadn't been stuck in traffic.”

“Maybe we wouldn’t have gotten stuck in traffic if we had left the house sooner.”

“You can’t now that.”

The siblings had already taken their seats and were looking at each other with barely contained smirks.

“Well, hello to you guys, Ariadne and I are fine, by the way.” Alastair said.

“But we’re starving, and the chips were good but now I need my chicken wings.” Ariadne said. “But you arrived just in time, we haven’t finished this order yet, want some?” She pushed the dish closer to them.

“Are we gonna order another one?” Jesse asked.

“I could eat some more.” said Ariadne.

“Me too.”

“Then we should order now, I’m starving.”

They ordered pizza and chicken wings, always following the tradition of tasting each other’s dishes.

Eventually, the conversation took the way of gossip. And the latest gossip they all needed was to know more about Alastair’s love life. Their friend had been very cryptic in his texts, Grace and Jesse had to hear the majority trough Ariadne. The siblings were disappointed, that was one of the disadvantages of not studying the same major with them.

“Yes, we’ve went to the movies, we went to the park, and we’ve had other dates.” Alastair said eventually, as if they were forcing information out of him. It was fun to pretend they annoyed him, because everyone knew it wasn’t real. Alastair was glad they had reached this point of trust.

“So, is it real?”

“No, Grace, he’s a hologram, of course he’s real.”

“I meant,” she said, superiorly “it’s official. You found someone who’s actually a catch and you haven’t run away.”

Ariadne smiled and said “She has a point, you know.”

Alastair rolled his eyes. He didn’t need to say anything. He knew his friends were right.

“Shut up. There’s still plenty of time to run.”

“You’re not gonna do it.” Jesse said.

“No, there’s no plan to do it.” Alastair confirmed.

“But, there’s a plan to take him to a date to the museum on Wednesday.” Ariadne intervened.

“Oh my God, you art students are weird. Do people actually go to museums on a date?” Grace joked.

“You don’t get to have a say in that. You had study dates. What the hell is that?” His brother said.

“It’s a good way to get the anatomy learned.” Graced winked.

Jesse looked disgusted while Alastair burst out laughing. When he calmed down he said “Yes, we do that, but in my defense, it was his idea. I told him I liked the pieces in there and Thomas said it would be fun to go there together.” He shrugged.

“Oh my god, it’s more than official, why isn’t he your boyfriend already?” Jesse asked and then took a sip from his beer.

“That’s what I’ve been asking him.” Ariadne said, exasperated. “But this idiot hasn’t even kissed him.”

“You haven’t?” Grace asked incredulously.

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“I can’t believe it.”

“Me neither.” Ariadne intervened.

“This is so weird, you never take so long.” Grace said.

Grace was right, he knew, but this was different. It had been different since the beginning.

After his relationship failed he had tried to date again. He went to dates with some guys, he kissed them, he talked to them, but at the end the result was always the same, he left. One was too clingy, another too arrogant, one made Alastair wonder how he had survived college. Surely someone else had answered his exams. After them, Alastair understood he didn't need a new relationship and he really didn't need to kiss someone he didn't care about. It wasn't fair to them or to Alastair. But now Alastair was in unknown territory because he had never been in this position. He had never met someone like Thomas.

“I don’t know, I— he’s just so sweet, I—”

“So you’re scared to corrupt his kind soul?” Ariadne asked, with air of superiority. She was raising her eyebrow, daring him.

“To be fair he’s so much kinder than me.”

“True. But–“

“What? You’re not even going to disagree?”

“Facts are facts, baby.”

“Guys, we all know that is rubbish.” He pointed at Alastair. “You haven’t run away but you also haven’t given him the opportunity.”

“I am giving him— giving us the chance, perhaps I’m even being too hopeful.”

“I think your hope is well placed, I don’t know Thomas very much but from what I hear, he’s a good guy and he cares a lot about you.”

“We don’t know him, and I know you’ve told us only a little but I believe that is enough for me. I think he’s worth it. And if I’m wrong, I will gladly hunt him down.” Grace said smiling.

Alastair smirked at the thought of slim Grace against muscular Thomas. But he didn’t have doubts about his friend, she could summon strength from only God knows where and give some good punches. He had seen it.

“Yes! Nobody is allowed to hurt my Alastair.” Ariadne agreed.

“I will hold him, and then Grace can punch him.” Jesse affirmed.

“As much as I love this violent show display of protectiveness, I’m gonna say that I don’t want Thomas punched, but of course that’s his decision.” He said, arrogantly.

The group of friends laughed. They all knew Alastair had bad experiences and didn’t want to put his heart at risk. It had been a hard process, but he was getting better every day. Now they all hoped Thomas wouldn’t break his heart.

The serious moment had passed. And Ariadne knew how to set them in another mood.

“You should invite him to tomorrow’s party.”

“Yes, it would be great.” Jesse said.

Alastair had thought about it. He hadn’t decided yet. But he knew it was time to make a decision.

“Only if all of you are going to behave.”

“When aren’t we behaving?” Grace asked, feigning hurt.

“Yeah, behaving like idiots.”

“You’re not helping, Jesse.”

“Go, go.” Ariadne urged.

Alastair took his phone and started typing.

There’s a party tomorrow. I believe it’s a birthday. Honestly, I was just dragged. Would you like to go?

“It’s done.”

When Thomas’s ‘yes’ came they yelled. Alastair rolled his eyes at them. At least three people had turned their heads to glare at them.

#thomastair #thomastair fluff #alastair carstairs #thomas lightwood

[steleangel]

@aestheticdriven-a

Clary had gasped when her feet landed outside of the portal. Dorothy, we were not in Kansas anymore. The rune was a bit different now that she thought about it. There wasn’t time to think when things went so far south on a lone hunt. A greater demon looking for the blood of nephilim and vengeance. Being a shadowhunter could be quite the pain. Any hopes of getting her parabatia or the Lightwood siblings here was lost. This was life or death. The thought flashed in her mind before the stele moved. It was eerily like that of the visions experimentation gave. It had taken the woman quite sometime to learn how to land on her feet through the portal. Tessa had shown her the London institute enough for it to easily be discernible. Sometimes over FaceTime with the former Brother Zachariah attempting to add some fact over the conversation. Jace would raise his eyebrow Ih happy annoyance. They had a found family now too. The world was different though. How had she portaled here? Thank the angel for cloaking runes. The building was different too. All of it reminded her of the art pieces Jem had gifted him or one of magnus’s old memorabilia. By the angel. Her bright green orbs finally took everything else in. The man who had looked at her with interest looked like he was ready for a reenactment. The dark lines of runes on his skin giving breathe to her lungs. The street was occupied by more respectfully dressed people. The portal had sent her somewhere way wrong. The knowledge hidden before thoughts. This man wasn’t different because of the odd fashion. The redhead’s jeans and combat boots where more of the thing to gawk at. Jace and herself had taken a bit of a break. Missions and wars along with running the institute. It could be harrowing on a young couple between murder attempts. Simon had no memories. Alec and Magnus ridiculously in love with eachother. Her little nephews following in his wake. The pair wanted a past that they could love. History did not paint those who lived in it favorably. It was one of the reasons why they’d gotten in touch with the others. Emma Carstairs was the more the type to cause crazed teen stunts. They didn’t search for this answer, but looking after Kit helped. Besides, the rest of the shadow world was crumbling and it didn’t really matter if they were thought of as dead for a bit longer. She’d fallen asleep with a copy of her family tree. Reading the writings that Charlotte Branwell had left for her. It was easy to imagine the little group. Matthew reminded her vaguely of Jace. Mabye some part of her had thought back to now. To how they all started this cursed circle again. The nephilim had wanted freedom from the near death experience. Of course, going home to the institute could have been better. The man was handsome as the figure came into view. The heat of his stele bringing her back into the land of the living. A shadowhunter who was dressed for the London weather though much more smarting then any of the history book pictures. Was it a shadowhunter thing? Looking like supermodels no matter what time period. There was something interesting about the way he moved. Her own fingers brushing against her parabatia rune. It was easy to see someone who could be mistaken as full of themselves. Pride could be taken in how one presented themselves without having the grin make him shallow. Besides, he was helping. It was enough to make her want to pull the charcoal out of the black dress pockets. Could this be from one of the names in the book? There was no red headed inventor to shock her away like the research and dreams were. “I- I - I thank you. Would you mind telling me the year? I think I must have hit my head too or something has gone wrong. I’m way under dressed even with blood. Could you take me to the institute? Be careful of that waistcoat though. It would be such a shame.”

[livia-dovehallow]

my tsc playlist

this is the list i’ve created of songs that give me vibes about certain characters or make me picture a certain moment from the books! this is ongoing, so I’ll update it as I find more! (songs in bold are my favorites) || any fics I’ve written based on these songs are linked with the name!

last updated: friday, may 13, 2022

Gabrily (Gabriel Lightwood x Cecily Herondale)

Looking at Me - Sabrina Carpenter

Freaking Me Out - Ava Max

I’m Not Afraid - Tommee Profitt, Wondra

Supercut - Lorde

Kings & Queens - Ava Max

Stupid Love - Lady Gaga

Handmade Heaven - MARINA

Think About Us - Little Mix

Woman Like Me - Little Mix ft. Nicki Minaj

Adore You - Harry Styles

Blueberry Eyes - MAX ft. SUGA of BTS

Boy With Luv - BTS ft. Halsey

Cecily Herondale

Salt - Ava Max

My Way - Ava Max

I Lived - One Republic

you should see me in a crown - Billie Eillish

Queen - Loren Gray

Torn - Ava Max

Venus Fly Trap - MARINA

Tattoo - Ava Max

Born to the Night - Ava Max

I Did Something Bad - Taylor Swift

Groundhog Day - Em Beihold

Gabriel Lightwood

Kiwi - Harry Styles

Love is Mystical - Cold War Kids

Soldier - Fleurie

Somebody to You - Vampire Weekend ft. Demi Lovato

Sucker - Jonas Brothers

Iris - Goo Goo Dolls

I’m Still Here - John Rzeznik (from “Treasure Island”)

Gideon Lightwood

Sucker - Jonas Brothers

What A Man Gotta Do - Jonas Brothers

Simple Man - Lynyrd Synyrd

Lightwood Brothers (Gideon & Gabriel)

Make it Rain - Ed Sheeran

Wessa (Will Herondale x Tessa Gray)

I’m a Ruin - MARINA

Nicotine - Panic! at the Disco

Grenade - Bruno Mars

Will Herondale

The Good, the Bad and the Dirty - Panic! at the Disco

Don’t Threaten Me with a Good Time - Panic! at the Disco

Karma - MARINA

Trade Mistakes - Panic! at the Disco

Original Herondale Siblings (Will & Cecily)

House of Memories - Panic! at the Disco

Don’t Start Now - Dua Lipa

Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye & Kimbra

James Herondale

Control - Halsey

My Head & My Heart - Ava Max

Lucie Herondale

Birthday Party - AJR

Blackdale (Lucie Herondale x Jesse Blackthorn)

This is Gospel - Panic! at the Disco

Far Too Young to Die - Panic! at the Disco

Ghost - Halsey

Candy - Robbie Williams

Once Upon a Dream - Lana Del Rey (from “Maleficent”)

Tatiana Blackthorn (née Lightwood)

Paint It, Black - Ciara

Charlotte Fairchild (Branwell)

The Man - Taylor Swift

Man’s World - MARINA

Matthew Fairchild

King of the Clouds - Panic! at the Disco

One of the Drunks - Panic! at the Disco

There’s a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought of It Yet - Panic! at the Disco

100 Bad Days - AJR

Anna Lightwood

Mother’s Daughter - Miley Cyrus

Primadonna - MARINA

Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) - Katy Perry

Christopher Lightwood

Bummerland - AJR

Three-Thirty - AJR

Call My Dad - AJR

Thomas Lightwood

Turning Out - AJR

Eugenia Lightwood

brutal - Olivia Rodrigo

Bubblegum Bitch - MARINA

Build a Bitch - Bella Poarch

The Merry Thieves (James H., Matthew F., Christopher L., Thomas L.)

London Beckoned Songs About Money Written by Machines - Panic! at the Disco

Bud Like You - AJR

The Infernal Devices (Theme)

Game of Survival - Ruelle

Start a War - Klergy, Valerie Broussard

The Last Hours (Theme)

Glory And Gore - Lorde

All the King’s Men - The Rigs

Julian Blackthorn

Emotional Machine - MARINA

Dying in LA - Panic! at the Disco

Humpty Dumpty - AJR

Emma Carstairs

Raising Hell - Kesha ft. Big Freedia

Dumb Blonde - Avril Lavinge ft. Nicki Minaj

Blackstairs (Julian Blackthorn x Emma Carstairs)

Medicine - Jennifer Lopez

Last Hurrah - Bebe Rexha

Happy - MARINA

I’m a Ruin - MARINA

Handmade Heaven - MARINA

Soft to be Strong- MARINA

Blood, Sweat & Tears - Ava Max

Blow Your Mind (Mwah) - Dua Lipa

Highly Emotional People - MARINA

Drusilla Blackthorn

My Play - AJR

Adventure Is Out There - AJR

#tsc #character playlists #the infernal devices #the last hours #the dark artifices #gabrily #gabriel lightwood #cecily herondale #will herondale #tessa gray #wessa #james herondale #tatiana blackthorn #charlotte fairchild #charlotte branwell #tid #tlh #tda #lucie herondale #jesse blackthorn #blackdale #matthew fairchild #christopher lightwood #thomas lightwood #emma carstairs #julian blackthorn #blackstairs

[beclynn-herondale]

Chapter 6 - the Company of the Carstairs Family

( the world and characters except my OCs belong to Cassandra Clare)

Mina was getting ready for the day ahead, her family was coming to visit and she was overjoyed. She missed her younger siblings and big brother and her mom and dad of course. It had almost been a year since she came to live at the New York Institute and she was settling in okay. When she arrived her room was a plain white but she painted it a lavender Purple and Had Tessy paint lavender flowers on the walls as well, Mina loved it, her bed was a queen sized four corner bed with grey sheets and purple comforter. She had four pillows with purple pillows cases. She had pictures of her family hung up on the walls and special family outings they had, her mom and dad have always told her she's loved adventure since she was a baby. She also had a nice collection of blades, swords and knives in cases at one end of her bedroom. She had her violin on the fireplace and a guitar in a corner. Her floor was wood tile, her bathroom was painted a light blue. She was thinking about what her family will think when they see her making herself at home, here in New York Institute-

"Mina the Beautiful!." Said her Parabatai Charlie, coming into her bedroom. "You know if you keep up those nicknames people will start to think we're more then Parabatai." Mina told her Parabatai with a teasing tone. "Don't worry I am totally platonically gay for you." Said Charlie with a amused tone in her voice. "So what brings you to my bedroom?" Mina asked Charlie with a smile on her face. "Well I wanted to bring you downstairs to your family, cause they're here my dear." Said Charlie. "They are!?" Mina replied back. And then she was out of her bedroom, down the stairs with Charlie behind her like she always was.

-

When Mina made it to the main room in the Institute her parents and siblings were there talking to her Clary and Jace Fairchild-herondale. "Mom! Dad!" Mina called, they looked up at her and Mina ran to them and hugged them both "I missed you all." She said. "We missed you more Mina mine." Said her father. "My baby girl." Said her mom. And then her big brother Kit hugged her so tight she couldn't breathe "kit...i... can't...breathe." "oh sorry Mina I just missed you." Said Kit. "I missed you too, but if you crush my wind pipes then I wouldn't be able to talk to you." She said teasingly. "Hahaha". Said Kit. Then her younger siblings the twins both gave her hugs "missed you big sis." Said her younger brother Jonah. "The house has been weird without you and Kit has been here so the boys are taking over." Said Cecy her younger sister with a playful voice. "Well I suppose we'll have to gain up and teach a lesson while you're all here won't we?" Said Mina. "Yes!" Said Cecy. After that everyone burst out laughing. And Mina felt at home even more.

"Well". Said her Aunt Clary, "lunch is ready in the dining room, so how about we eat and talk." "That sounds like a great idea." Said her mother Tessa. And then they were eating Tessy herondale and her sister Cecy were sitting by each talking about blades and training, Mina noticed Jonah was watching tessy and grinned, he was always watching her these days when he saw her and Mina couldn't help but smile, her baby brother had a crush. Charlie was next to Mina and eating her food. "Charlie" Mina whispered. "What?" Charlie whispered back. "I think we should take our younger siblings out for a walk around New York later." Whispered Mina. "Okay sounds like a great Idea, but why are we whispering?" "Because I felt like it you goof." "Ohh my Parabatai and her beautiful weirdness." Said Charlie." And they both giggled.

"Knock knock." Said a voice in the doorway of the dining room and Mina knew who it was, Max Lightwood-Bane, her boyfriend. "Max!" Said Charlie and she got up and hugged her cousin. "Charlie how have you been my dear cousin?." "I have been amazing, and you my loving cousin?" "I have been great." Said Max. "You two." Mina said. "There she is my beautiful girlfriend." Said Max, it made Mina blush, he could always do that.

After lunch they all went to the training room in the Institute, including Max and they trained the younger kids and they themselves trained. They had plans to go out for dinner so Mina supposed they could go for a walk through the park after dinner.

-

After several hours of training, and teaching the kids to balance properly, Charlie was heading to get ready for going out to dinner, she loved having family meals with her family, and tonight the Carstairs were here to. She decided to throw on some nice Jean's and a fancy tank top, with some boots, she pulled her into a high ponytail, she insisted her necklace, it was a pendant with a heron and wings on it, it was to honor both her Herondale and Fairchild heritage, she was proud of both, her family fine also had it but this was a birthday present from Mina and she loved it.

After that she headed downstairs and saw that Mina had changed into a beautiful light blue strappy dress, it fit her well, Charlie thought, "The Beautiful Mina," Charlie Said, "oh my lovely Parabatai, you look beautiful!" Mina told her, "not as beautiful, as you," Charlie told Her, Max came into the room, wearing a nice shirt and a nice pair of Jean's, "someone's looking handsome," Mina said. "And someone else is looking so beautiful, it could make a gentleman lose his mind," Max replied to her, Mina blushed and it made Charlie miss Mari, she was on a mission in LA and wouldn't be back for a few more weeks. Charlie pushed the thought out of her mind, tonight was going to be a fun night and she wanted to make sure she didn't bring anyone's mood down.

-

Mina was excited and nervous, to show her family around New York and have them visit the New York Institute, they decided since they were such a big group to go to a Chinese restaurant that Uncle Jace and Aunt Clary often would get, and said is the best Chinese food around, and it was really good, Mina loved getting it. After everyone had ordered they decided to get it to go and eat at a park, which Mina loved, it was like a picnic and she loved picnics, after they all ate the adults talked and the kids ran around the park, Clary and Jace grateful that Lexy was getting energy out, she had a lot of energy and was a very busy toddler and Mina couldn't blame Jace and Clary for wanting a night where putting her to bed was easy.

Mina looked over at Max who was talking to Charlie, they were talking about fighting demons like they often do, "Max, Charlie, do you two still want to take the kids on a walk around the park?" Mina asked them, "yes!" They both answered at the same time and they ask the adults, who said yes and took the kids for a walk. It was actually easy considering how many there were, though they had never been bad kids, Mina's sister Cecy was looking around and taking in the sights of the New York park, Mina loved that her siblings were enjoying themselves, she turned to her brother Kit and Asked "how's Ty?", "he's great!, he is currently studying all kinds of things, Plants, Languages, Science's and many more things, he is helping with learning more about Mundane medicine and I am so proud of him," Kit answered, "you're so in love," Mina teased him, "my dear little sister you will understand one day, I hope," he told her, "I think I do a little already," she replied, "that's great to hear," Kit told her.

"Shall we head back now," Charlie said, with Lexy in her arms almost asleep, Uncle Jace and Aunt Clary will be happy for that, "yes, let's head back, the kids look tired," Mina said, they went back to where the adults were and made their way back to the Institute.

When they got back Jace and Clary took Lexy to bed, the other kids heading to their rooms to get ready for bed as well, Mina told Max goodnight, "I'll see you soon my beautiful Mina," Max told her and kissed her forehead, he went out the front door of the Institute and headed back to his parents apartment in Brooklyn, she loved him there was no doubt about that. "Well," said Charlie, "I guess we better head to bed to," "yeah I suppose so, I have a feeling tomorrow will be busy again," Mina replied to her Parabatai, "yeah me too, hey Mina I was wondering can I um.... could I maybe sleep in your room tonight?, like let's have a sleepover kind of thing but in your room?" "Of course, you can Charlie," Mina told her Parabatai, she saw the look her Parabatai's eyes which said please I don't want to be alone tonight, she must be having nightmares about her late sister again and Mina wished she could take the pain away from her Parabatai, but there were some things you can't do. "K, I'll put on my PJ's and you can put yours on to and then I'll be in your room in about ten or fifteen minutes," Charlie told her and raced up the stairs, "okay dear, I'll go get ready for bed, and bring A Tale of two Cities with you so we can read before we fall asleep," Mina called to her Parabatai before she was completely to her bedroom, "will do," Charlie answered back.

And Mina was off to her bedroom, she put on shorts and a tank top, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and got under the covers, awaiting her Parabatai, who came in at that moment, he PJ's were shorts and tank top too, she got into the bed with Mina and handed her the book and they read, after an hour of reading they both were to exhausted to read anymore and fell asleep.

( hopefully you enjoy this, thanks! to everyone who has been supporting me with my fic, I hope to get another chapter out soon)

@daisyherxndale

#mina carstairs #wilhelmina carstairs #[ oc] charlie herondale #max lightwood bane #[ oc ] cecy carstairs #[ oc ] jonah carstairs #kit herondale #clary fairchild #jace herondale #tessa gray #jem carstairs #[ oc ] stephen herondale #[ oc ] tessa herondale #[ oc ] will herondale #[ oc ] jamie herondale #[ oc ] matthew herondale #[ oc ] celine herondale #[ oc ] alaxa herondale #tsc #the shadowhuter chronicles #twp #the wicked powers #my writing #my fic #tmi #clace #wessa #[ oc ] mari rosales-blackthron

[nicolewrites]

canvas hearts

so i was supposed to read freud for class this weekend. instead, take almost 10k of blackstairs fluff since i just read the dark artifices series.

Rating: T Genre: Romance/Friendship Characters: [Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn], Cristina R., Divya J. Words: 9,663

“Julian didn’t want to know if Emma was or wasn’t his soulmate. He was completely fine with the friendship that they shared, even if it wasn’t as strong at school as it was outside of school. He had never looked at any girl like he looked at Emma and even the idea that she wouldn’t be his soulmate made his insides twist” / blackstairs modern soulmate au

AO3 | FFN

“Hey, Emma, isn’t that Julian Blackthorn staring in this direction?” Divya asked suddenly, glancing over Emma’s shoulder.

Emma paused, her sandwich halfway to her mouth. She placed it back on her tray and gave Divya a disbelieving look. “I highly doubt it,” she said. Divya shrugged and tipped her chin outwards. Emma rolled her eyes and finally turned around.

She almost immediately made eye contact with a boy sitting halfway across the cafeteria. His lips flicked upwards into a tiny smile before he drew his blue-green eyes away and Emma was left staring at him. He looked as he always did with beautiful, sharp features and curly dark brown hair.

She spun quickly back to face Divya and the other girl was smirking. “Told you so,” she bragged.

Emma shrugged. “I’m sure it’s nothing. He was probably looking for his siblings. Jules and I have known each other for a long time. Our parents are friends so we’re family friends.”

Divya shrugged and bit into one of her french fries. “He looks like he’s pining.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Almost the entire school has determined that we’re going to meet our soulmates in high school, and I’ll be the first to admit I don’t share that belief, but maybe Julian does.”

Before Divya could reply, a third girl plunked herself down at the table, next to Emma. She was fuming visibly and Emma quirked an eyebrow at her best friend. Cristina flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder and began winding it up into a bun to tame it. She was muttering in Spanish under her breath and Emma and Divya glanced at each other with matching apprehensive looks.

“Ay, dios mío, I hate her,” Cristina finally grumbled.

Emma turned and looked in the direction that Cristina had come from and instantly knew the source of the girl’s agitation. Zara Dearborn was clinging to the arm of Diego Rosales, smirking wickedly. Zara’s brown hair was pulled into an impossibly tight, smooth ponytail and she had on red lipstick that was far too dramatic for a casual day at school along with enormous silver hoop earrings.

Divya frowned, poking a fry angrily into her ketchup. “Tina, what did the bitch do this time?” Cristina huffed. “Just look at her clinging to Diego. She turned eighteen two days ago and apparently she’s going to get a tattoo today so she can prove Diego and her are soulmates.”

Emma studied her friend. Cristina looked annoyed, but as pretty as she always did, with a few dark hairs escaping her bun to frame her tanned face like a princess. “I thought you were over Diego. You guys broke up last year,” Emma pointed out. Divya’s face tightened a little at the mention of Cristina dating Diego, but Cristina just waved off the question. “Come on, Diego and were basically just friends, I just hate the idea that Zara of all people could be his soulmate. Plus, it’s not like I have any reason to still like Diego.” She held up her wrist and Emma’s eyes landed on the rose tattoo that decorated Cristina’s wrist.

Divya’s shoulders relaxed a little and Emma had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. Divya liked Diego, a lot, but couldn’t really do anything about it because he’d started dating Zara almost as soon as Cristina had broken up with him.

“It’s Zara though,” Emma pointed out, “there is no possible way someone as nice as Perfect Diego could be soulmates with someone as vile as Zara.”

Cristina shrugged and leaned across the table to steal one of Divya’s fries. “The bigger the hoops, the bigger the hoe,” she said sarcastically. “We can only hope that he dumps her soon.”

Emma laughed. She returned to eating her lunch as Divya and Cristina made easy conversation overtop of her. When she finished her lunch she fished her phone out of her pocket and opened her Instagram feed. Cristina slid an inch closer and looked over her shoulder at the phone.

The first photo that came up was a picture of a trio of tenth graders. It was a girl tucked in between two boys and the three of them were all grinning widely. The girl and the boy on her left had matching bone structures and similar smiles, marking them easily as siblings. The other boy had wild, curly blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes.

Divya leaned forwards to see what had captured the attention of her friends and she plucked the phone out of Emma’s hand. She studied the photo briefly before glancing over Emma’s shoulder. She shook her head and handed it back to Emma.

“Those Blackthorns and their jawlines, I mean what is it with them?”

Cristina laughed. “Well, most of them anyways. Livvy’s is softer, obviously, but she’s got the cheekbones.”

Emma glanced at the username of the photo: lvvyblckbrn. It clicked in her head. This was Livvy Blackburn, her twin brother Ty Blackburn, and their best friend Kit Herondale. Cristina was right in that Ty shared Julian’s cutting jawline and Livvy had the sharp, elegant cheekbones and blue-green eyes. The three of them were certainly more mature than Emma remembered them as.

She scrolled down her feed, skimming over boring landscape photos and pictures of her classmates. She was still swiping down when Cristina let out a half-screech and snatched the phone. She spun it face Divya and shoved it towards Emma’s face. Emma blinked and refocused on the photo in front of her.

It was a guy probably a year or two older than them, posing on a park bench. He was very pretty, with shockingly blonde hair and blue-green eyes. It wasn’t the attractiveness of the face though, that had caught Cristina’s attention, instead it was the curling rose tattoo that was displayed on his wrist. Emma grinned.

“Tina! That’s your tattoo!” she said excitedly. She grabbed the phone back and studied the caption, “And look at this: “My dearest wild rose, won’t you come out to play”. Wow, that’s romantic.” She took another look at the photo and laughed as she realized she knew who it was. “Also, that’s Mark Blackthorn. He’s the oldest boy and he graduated last year.” Cristina buried her face in her hands. “Wild rose?” she muttered. “What kind of madness is that?” Divya rolled her eyes and threw a fry at her. “It’s romantic. He’s obviously looking to meet you, so you should message him.” Cristina glared at Divya. “No way. I’m not just going to follow him out of nowhere and say, ‘hey dude I got that rose tattoo so you should totally be in love with me’, yeah, no way.”

Divya shrugged. “Then make Emma introduce you to Julian Blackthorn and get Julian to introduce you and Mark.”

Emma narrowed her eyes. “I do know Mark, too, I could just directly introduce you to him. Why do you seem so interested in Julian Blackthorn today, Div?” “I just think he likes you, Em.” She sighed. “No, he doesn’t, I promise. Jules and I basically grew up together. He’s a romantic anyways so I’m sure he’s waiting to meet his soulmate.”

Cristina nudged her. “Getting off the subject of how pretty all the Blackthorns are, have you given any more thought to what you’re going to get tattooed? And that question is for both of you.” Divya grinned and pulled out her own phone. She pulled up a photo of a silhouette of a tiger. “This, or something as close to it as possible,” she explained.

Cristina nodded in approval and turned to Emma. Emma slid her phone back into her pocket and shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I have some vague ideas, but no clue how to really pursue anything.”

Divya picked up her now empty tray. “Well, you had better decide soon, because we’re going this weekend.”

Emma tensed. “What?”

“I’ve been eighteen for a week and a half, but you’re not eighteen for another three months, but Cristina and I have graciously found a place that doesn’t care about the age limit. So you and I are going this weekend and Cristina is coming for moral support.” She stepped away from the table with one last smile. “See you later.” As Divya strode off, Emma whirled on her best friend. “My parents will kill me! I can’t get my tattoo before eighteen.” Cristina just laughed and laid her head on Emma’s shoulders. “You could put it so many places that your parents would never see, so yes, we are doing this. No more arguing.”

He had just been looking for Ty. Or at least, that’s what he was insisting to himself even as his eyes skimmed for long, vibrant blonde hair that definitely did not belong to his little brother. His eyes rested on the back of Emma Carstairs’s head and he sighed. He never intended to look for her, and yet he always seemed to be able to find her.

A second later, Emma was turning in her seat and looked at him curiously. Julian felt his pulse quicken but he forced himself not to blush and he gave her a small smile as they made eye contact. Emma’s lips curled into a matching smile before Julian forced himself to look away, back down at the sketchbook on the table in front of him.

He picked up his graphite and was about to go back to his drawing, but he was quickly startled into dropping it by two hands that covered his eyes. His heart jumped and he tensed. There was some laughter before the hands drew away and Julian craned his neck around to see his attacker.

His little sister Livvy was standing directly behind him, grinning. Kit and Ty were flanking her, as usual, and Julian rolled his eyes. “What do you need, Liv?”

“A ride home after school?” she said, smiling brightly at him.

Julian sighed. “No can do, I have to finish a project for my portfolio.” Livvy frowned and folded her arms. She didn’t reply though and Julian let his eyes skim over Ty and Kit. Ty had his headphones on and was studying something on his phone, not really paying attention. Kit, on the other hand, was frowning at the table of boys to Julian’s left, many of whom were looking appreciatively at his little sister. Julian sighed. He knew his sister was pretty and he was eternally grateful for Ty’s protectiveness of his twin and for Kit’s good looks. They chased off most of Livvy’s suitors, even if Kit was clearly interested in the other twin.

Livvy pursed her lips. “Did you at least invite Emma for dinner this weekend? Dad seems to be under the impression she’s coming, even if you haven’t told her yet.”

Julian turned away from his sister. “No, I haven’t talked to Emma yet, and I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Why not?” Kit asked curiously. “I’m going to be there so it’s not like she’s interrupting a family dinner.”

Julian’s shoulders tensed, as they always did when his family grilled him about Emma Carstairs. “I’m just not, okay? So let it go.” Ty’s gaze lifted and he narrowed his eyes. “If you just get your tattoo, it would answer all of your questions.” Julian felt his cheeks finally get hot. His brother always seemed to give the bluntest, and possibly the best, advice of any of the Blackthorns, but that didn’t mean Julian was eager to follow it. Ty viewed soulmates as a simple concept: get a tattoo when you turn 18. If your partner gets the same one, then you’re soulmates. If they don’t, you’re not, and you just move on.

Julian didn’t want to know if Emma was or wasn’t his soulmate. He was completely fine with the friendship that they shared, even if it wasn’t as strong at school as it was outside of school. He had never looked at any girl like he looked at Emma and even the idea that she wouldn’t be his soulmate made his insides twist. She was ridiculously pretty with golden blonde hair and warm brown eyes and a smile that made all of Julian’s insides melt and his fingers ache for something to draw with.

Finally, his siblings and their friend seemed to get that he wasn’t interested in talking about Emma and they shuffled away, drawing the prying eyes with them. Julian looked back down at his sketchbook. He was working on a small design: a trio of stars that looked a bit like breaking waves on the ocean if you looked at it the right way. There were a couple other small designs on the page, but the star idea had resonated with him the most.

As much as he didn’t want to get a tattoo, he did like drawing them. He had designed Jamie’s and had offered to do Mark’s and he knew that his two little sisters, Livvy and Drusilla, would both ask for him to do theirs when they were old enough.

He picked up his graphite and went back to work creating appropriate shading around the image and out of his peripheral vision he spotted someone slip into the chair across from him. He glanced up, expecting Jamie or maybe Diego, but instead it was Emma. He blinked at her, startled.

She smiled. “Hey Jules, Div ditched me and Tina had Spanish club so I thought I’d hang with you. I’m not bothering you, am I?” “No,” Julian replied quickly. Never, his brain added silently.

“Cool,” she said. She leaned her elbows on the table and one of her braids fell over her shoulder as she leaned forward to study his book. With most people, Julian might have slammed it shut on his designs, but he never felt that way about Emma.

Her eyes brightened as she realized what he was working on. “Soulmate tattoos?” she asked eagerly.

“Yeah,” Julian admitted.

Emma flipped her braid back down over her back and held out a hand. “May I?”

He passed her the sketchbook without protesting and watched her face as she studied each design carefully. Her eyebrows creased with concentration as her eyes darted across the page. Her lips formed a tiny ‘o’ as she studied the star design.

“This one is my favourite,” she said, touching it gently, careful not to smudge the graphite.

Julian smiled. “Mine too,” he agreed.

Emma passed him the sketchbook back, but a thoughtful expression flitted across her features. “Julian,” she began slowly. “Do you think you could design me one?”

At first, confusion wiped his mind blank and Julian looked between Emma and the sketchbook in confusion. Emma was still seventeen and wouldn’t be eighteen for another three months, so she shouldn’t be getting a tattoo anytime soon. “A tattoo?” he asked carefully.

Emma flushed a little. “Yeah,” she paused awkwardly. “I’ve just been thinking about it more and more since Cristina got hers and Div’s eighteen now too. There are places that do them before eighteen and I’ve thought about it.”

Julian’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even considered that Emma might be considering getting a mark earlier than eighteen. Probably because he was eighteen and was still in denial about the fact that he could get one if he wanted to. “Yeah, I can draw you something right now, if you want?” he offered carefully. He was internally terrified about the idea of Emma getting a tattoo and almost hated himself for offering.

Emma smiled. “Thanks, Julian, you are the best. I’d give you some suggestions, but I honestly have no idea what I want.”

Julian studied her face for a second longer before he looked down at his page. He picked up the graphite and began a small sketch. It was almost without thought, but the image came to focus quickly. It was a small drawing of the moon, with a radiant-looking halo behind it, almost like an eclipse. He touched his fingertip to one part and smudged a little and studied it for a second.

Satisfied, he spun the book back to Emma who’s eyes landed on it immediately. She inhaled sharply before looking back at him. “Julian, this is perfect! Thank you!”

She basically jumped from her seat and stepped around the table so that she was at his side. She hugged him tightly and Julian tensed before relaxing just as Emma drew away from him. He pulled the sketchbook back to himself and gently ripped around the design so that it detached cleanly from the page and presented it to her.

She folded it carefully and tucked it into her pocket, smiling at him. She stiffened suddenly and a grin spread across her face that Julian recognized as her mischievous look. “What?” he prompted. “I saw Mark’s post on Instagram,” she declared as if it explained everything. Julian just raised an eyebrow and Emma’s expression deadpanned. “But, of course, you haven’t.” She laughed and pulled out her phone. After fiddling for a second, she turned it towards Julian and he studied the photo of his older brother.

“Oh, he’s showing that off publically, is he?” Julian noted as he observed the rose tattoo on Mark’s wrist. His brother had decided not to get his own tattoo, but just recently the rose had etched itself onto his wrist anyways: his soulmate had gotten a tattoo.

“Yes,” Emma agreed. “But, lucky for him, I actually know who has the matching tattoo!”

Surprise rippled through him. “Really?” “It’s Cristina, funnily enough! She saw the photo on my phone and is mildly freaking out, but I swear I’m going to introduce them if its the last thing I do.” Something heavy knotted itself in Julian’s stomach. “So, you’re in favour of soulmates now?” The Emma he remembered had declared that soulmates were silly and that you should just love whoever you wanted.

She shrugged. “I want my friends to be happy and I know that Mark and Tina would love each other. For myself, I’m kind of just getting the mark to see what happens.” Julian felt a small smile tug at his lips. “Big earth-shattering revelations, and the like,” he joked. Emma grinned. “And this is why you are the absolute dad friend: crazy artistic talent, insane compassion and leadership, and dad jokes.” “Pretty sure you’re the one with the jokes,” he disagreed. Emma smiled again but didn’t argue.

She sat down beside him and nudged his shoulder playfully. “So, you’ve designed my tattoo, is there anything I can do in return for you?”

Come to dinner with me on Saturday, his mind blurted, but his lips stayed sealed. “Actually,” he said, “is there a chance you could drive Livvy, Ty, and possibly Kit home today? I have a project to do after school.” Emma touched her lip and furrowed her brow as she thought for a second. “Yeah, actually, I’ll just bum Cristina with Divya and then all is good.”

Julian smiled warmly. “Great, I’ll let her know.” He pulled out his phone and sent Livvy a text. Just as he was putting it down, Emma rose from the table. “I’ll see you later, Jules,” she said warmly. She gave him a little wave and walked off. Julian watched her go, his insides both twisted and warm.

“Emma, your friends are here!” her mom called up the stairs.

Emma jolted, dropping her phone onto her bed. She glanced at the clock on the wall and bit her lip. It was five minutes before Cristina said she would pick her up, but that wasn’t too big of a surprise. She grabbed her phone from the bed and swung herself up to her feet. She slung her purse over her shoulder on the way out of her room. She got halfway down the stairs before she realized she had forgotten the thing that she needed to bring today.

She ran back upstairs and grabbed the tiny scrap of paper that had been on her desk and shoved it into her pocket. She needed Julian’s sketch–it was by far the best of any ideas that she’d had and she certainly didn’t trust anyone to attempt to replicate his artistry. She pulled her shoes on, and with a brief glance at her mother, pulled her ponytail out so her long hair spilled over her shoulders. It would help to hide the tattoo when she came home.

She smiled one last time at her mom before ducking out the door and jogging down the drive to Cristina’s car. Cristina was driving and Divya was seated shotgun, so Emma climbed in the back, sliding into the middle seat so she was between her friends.

Divya twisted to look at her excitedly as Cristina pulled away from the curb. “So, are you ready?”

Emma shrugged. “I finally decided on a design so that’s good, at least. Not sure what else I should be feeling.”

Cristina laughed but kept her eyes on the road. “Honestly, everything will be fine. They don’t really hurt and they’re easy enough to take care of.”

“I’m getting mine on my arm,” Divya declared. “I’m eighteen so there’s no reason I can’t show it off.” Emma nodded, it made sense to her.

“And you’re going with the tiger silhouette?”

Divya grinned. “Of course. It’s my spirit animal after all.”

“And you don’t think your soulmate will mind?”

Divya shrugged. “They can deal with it. Besides, I’m kind of more in love with the idea of getting a tattoo than I am with finding my soulmate at this point.”

Emma smiled. Something nervous and heavy was twisting mildly in her stomach. She wanted this tattoo, she’d wanted it since she was seven years old and had first learned about soulmates from her mother. She’d wanted to know her soulmate since she was nine years old and she realized that Julian Blackthorn’s graceful shape and protective personality were very pretty.

She touched her pocket where Julian’s drawing was protected. Julian was almost unbearably pretty, but he was also one of her best friends and had been for a long time, even if they didn’t hang out that much at school. Julian’s friendship was too important to risk over anything and Emma knew that he was a romantic who would love his soulmate wholeheartedly. Idly, she wondered if he’d gotten a tattoo yet. He turned eighteen a month ago, but she had never thought to ask, even when she had spied him drawing tattoo designs.

Cristina pulled into a small complex. It had a kid’s toy store, a small grocery market, an optometrist, and a tiny little tattoo parlour. Cristina parked the car and turned to look at both Divya and Emma.

“So, Miranda won’t ask for proof of age, she’ll just do it, and she’ll do a great job. She’s clean and a good artist so she can tackle whatever you throw at her.”

Divya nodded. “I trust you, Tina, now let’s do this!”

Cristina led the way into the parlour which, true to her word, was clean, and presently empty. Cristina rang the little bell on the welcome desk and a woman poked her head out of a back room. She smiled at the sight of her guests and welcomed them in. The woman had a couple tattoos on her arms and one peeking out of her shirt collar, but otherwise, she looked like every normal person Emma had ever met.

“Welcome to Ink Search!” she greeted as she walked up. “Who am I helping today?” “Myself,” Divya said, “and my friend Emma.”

“Great! Is this the first time?” Miranda asked. Emma nodded and the artist waved to a couple of chairs. “I’m sure you’re here because you’ve heard I don’t care for the age restriction, so whoever wants to go first can come over and the others can take a seat.”

Divya quickly strode over, pulling up a picture of her desired image on her phone.

“Oh, how interesting! A wild heart, you have then,” Miranda said cheerfully.

“Yup!” Divya agreed. She slipped her jean jacket off, leaving her in a simple tank top, and passed the coat to Cristina, who folded it and held it in her lap. “If possible, I want it to go right here.” She outlined a patch of skin on the underside of her bicep.

Miranda nodded. “Great, I’ll get to work then!”

Emma scrolled through her phone and made casual conversation with Cristina as Divya got her tattoo. She cast her friend a couple glances, but Divya was smiling basically the whole time. When the process was nearly finished, Cristina’s phone rang and she excused herself to take the call.

Emma pulled Julian’s sketch out of her pocket and studied it carefully. She was going to be marking this on her body as well as on her potential soulmate’s body for the rest of their lives. She wanted this.

Cristina came back into the shop, looking like she was about to die of laughter. “Well, that was Diego. After two days of Zara insisting the tattoo would show up on him, it hasn’t, but instead, he’s actively having one drawn on while lying on his bed at home! He broke up with Zara and called me because he wants to know if I know anything that’s currently getting a tattoo of a tiger! I had to hang up on him so I could laugh!”

Divya looked startled. “Wait, I’m Diego’s soulmate?”

Emma laughed. “Apparently, you are.”

She laughed. “Cool, at least that solves my problem.” Cristina looked over at Emma. “And you promised to introduce me to Mark Blackthorn, so that will solve my problem as well.”

“And then it’s just little old me,” Emma drawled.

Miranda laughed. “Honey, you could not be a day over nineteen if you tried.” After another couple flourishes, she stepped away from Divya. “Alright, you’re all done! Just a few more last minute instructions and we’ll be good to go!”

Cristina and Emma both rose from their seats to take in Divya’s tattoo. It looked good: clean sharp edges and exactly the pattern that she had wanted. Emma suddenly felt much more reassured about handing over Julian’s sketch.

Once she was done helping Divya, Miranda turned to her and smiled. “So, what are you getting and where would you like it?”

Shyly, Emma handed over the slip of paper with Julian’s drawing on it. Miranda studied it and smiled.

“Your boyfriend is quite the artist. This is gorgeous,” she complimented, lifted it closer to her eyes so she could get a more detailed look.

“Boyfriend?” Emma questioned, suddenly taken aback.

Miranda glanced at her. “Or girlfriend, but this is clearly the work done by someone who cares a lot about you. And considering you’ve come to me, I’m assuming you’re not eighteen yet and you just really want to confirm that this person you’re with is going to be your soulmate.” Emma felt heat fill her cheeks. “What if I had drawn that?” Miranda waved a hand. “You don’t look like much of an artist yourself, no offence, and artists would usually bring an entire book and be unable to choose a design right to the last second.” “Well, yeah okay, but Julian’s my friend, not my boyfriend. He drew that for me as a favour.”

Miranda gave her a knowing smile. “Alright, hon, whatever you say. Now, where am I putting this?”

Emma snapped the hair elastic on her wrist and pulled her hair into a bun at the top of her head. She twisted slightly and tapped just above one of the bumps of her spine. “Right here.”

“Perfect, so let’s get to work!”

Julian woke up on Sunday feeling like someone had pressed pins to the back of his neck when he was sleeping. He rubbed it awkwardly and stretched. He must have just slept on it funny. He rose from his bed and made his way downstairs.

Livvy was already mixing a big bowl of pancake mix and she grinned when he reached the kitchen. Ty was setting the table and Drusilla and Tavvy were seated in their seats, having a conversation about some book that Tavvy was holding tightly. Mark was nowhere to be seen and Julian almost expected Helen too, except for the fact that Helen had moved out to be with her wife and soulmate, Aline.

“Ready to make some pancakes, big brother?” Livvy asked brightly.

Julian smiled and took the bowl from her. “I guess if I have to. Where’s Dad?” “Out with John, it’s Sunday,” Ty answered from across the room. Julian nodded. John Carstairs was Emma’s dad and one of his dad’s best friends. They always went for breakfast on Sunday mornings, Julian had just momentarily forgotten.

“You are Dad today,” Drusilla said cheerfully from the table.

Julian shrugged and pulled out a frying pan, turning on the stove heat to medium. He had his back to the rest of his family and didn’t think anything of it until Drusilla jumped up from the table and ran over. He glanced at her, but she waved him off so he turned back to the stove. She giggled loudly and he turned around, but she scampered back to her seat at the table without a word. Livvy looked as if she was trying and failing to smother a smile, while Ty and Tavvy were both blissfully unaware of whatever the two sisters were teasing Julian about. Julian sighed but turned back to his pancakes. It couldn’t be that important.

They got halfway through breakfast before the doorbell rang. Julian rose from the table and walked to the front door. He opened it and was surprised to see Emma standing there, smiling. She was wearing a yellow shirt with absolutely no sleeves or straps and white shorts. Her blond hair fell loosely around her shoulders and she looked so beautiful Julian nearly forgot how to breathe. He immediately felt self-conscious at his plain shorts and paint-spattered t-shirt.

His alarm faded a little when he saw that Emma wasn’t alone. Cristina Rosales was accompanying Emma, with her dark hair pulled back into to braids. Cristina was wearing a simple white dress and she looked considerably more nervous than Emma. For a moment Julian was confused; then he remembered that Emma had said that Cristina was definitely Mark’s soulmate.

“Is Mark home? I figured Sunday breakfast was as good as time as ever to catch all the Blackthorns together.” Julian glanced over his shoulder, about to say that he hadn’t seen Mark all morning when his brother appeared at the top of the staircase, shirtless and sleep dishevelled. He turned back to Emma and Cristina with a wry smile. “Speak of the devil and he shall appear.” He stepped into the house, inviting both of the girls in, and stepped towards the stairs. “Mark, put a shirt on, we have guests.”

Cristina flushed at his words and Emma laughed. “He would,” she teased. Julian shrugged and invited the girls into the kitchen. Livvy and Dru were both ecstatic to see Emma and Ty smiled at her over his neatly cut pancakes. A couple of minutes later Mark joined them in the kitchen, still looking slightly rumpled and tired. He brightened a little when he saw Emma and gave Cristina an appreciative look.

“Mark,” Emma greeted, “this is my friend Cristina Rosales. I think you two should talk.” She grabbed them both by their right wrists and dragged them towards the backyard.

Livvy raised an eyebrow at Julian as the three disappeared. “What’s that about?” Emma popped back into the kitchen and leaned on Julian with her arm like he was a wall. “They’re soulmates. Cristina got the rose tattoo, that’s how we know.”

Julian was surprised to see Emma acting so free and casual around him. Things hadn’t been this easy between them for a couple of years, but it made something in his chest swell and warm at the familiarity between them.

Livvy and Dru exchanged a secretive look that had Julian narrowing his eyes, but the girls just turned back to Emma easily and asked her some inconsequential question. With Emma sufficiently distracted, Julian studied her carefully. His fingers itched in a familiar way, but he wasn’t sure whether the desire to draw her or to touch her was stronger.

Emma had gotten used to wearing her hair down a lot more often now. Around her parents she couldn’t wear it up otherwise she would be baring her tattoo for them to see clear as day. She’d seen photos of it and its reflection in the mirror and she really liked how it had turned out. It was small and simple, but perfect for what she wanted.

She parted her hair with her brush neatly and pulled back the twin braids at the front of her hair into a braided crown. It looked nice, she thought, with a smile. She adjusted her shirt, made sure it wasn’t falling down as off the shoulder tops could. It was a shimmering metallic silver and she’d paired it with a white denim skirt and black boots. She turned to study her reflection in the mirror one last time and adjusted her hair so that her tattoo was fully covered.

She picked up her phone, forgoing her purse for the evening, and headed downstairs. Her father looked up from the couch as she came down the stairs. He smiled at her.

“Very pretty dear. Be safe tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow.” “Yeah, will do, Dad. Love you!” Emma blew him a kiss and slipped out the front door. The red car of the Blackthorns was idling at the bottom of the driveway. It wasn’t exactly what she had been expecting when Cristina said she had their ride to the party organized. As she got closer Emma realized Divya was in the backseat and Cristina was riding shotgun.

She opened the door and saw that Mark was in the driver’s seat, his blonde hair appropriately mussed and Cristina was holding his hand. The two had started dating almost immediately after meeting since they were indeed soulmates and had hit it off so well. Divya grinned at Emma’s appearance.

“Looking sharp, babe,” she teased. Emma winked. “Right back at you.” Divya offered her a bottle of vodka and Emma pursed her lips before accepting it and taking three hearty sips. Cristina giggled.

“Always the party girl, aren’t you, Em?” Emma blew her a kiss as the alcohol burned on the way down, warming her stomach. “You know it. And I’m assuming Tina talked you into driving, so thank you, Mark.” Mark smiled at her in the rearview mirror. “My pleasure, now where are we going?”

“Cameron Ashdown’s,” Divya supplied. Mark nodded and pulled out onto the road.

“Are you staying to join us, Mark?” Emma asked after a moment. Divya passed her the bottle again and Emma took another few swigs before handing it up to Cristina.

He shook his head. “Nah, I promised Ty and Dru I’d watch something with them tonight.”

The alcohol was already buzzing in Emma’s system by the time they got to the party. Divya pulled Emma out of the car quickly and Cristina lagged behind briefly to kiss Mark goodbye, but joined them shortly. As soon as they were in the front door, the music hit them as did the low lights with the bright flashes of colour for effect. Divya disappeared quickly, off to find Diego, and Emma was left with Cristina.

“Let’s go find something to drink,” Cristina suggested, dragging Emma towards where they knew Cameron’s kitchen to be. Cristina grabbed two clean shot glasses and poured them each a shot of tequila, grinning.

Emma clinked their glasses together and took the shot. She shivered after as the alcohol burned going down, but Cristina was already pouring herself a second one. Emma placed her glass off to the side and picked up a cider from an open cooler instead. Cristina handled her tequila much better than Emma did and Emma didn’t even like hard liquor which was a bit unfortunate with her friends since Tina loved tequila and Divya liked vodka.

Emma was about to say something to Cristina before she felt a warm hand on her elbow. She turned and saw Cameron staring down at her, smiling. He took in her outfit appreciatively.

“Hey Emma,” he greeted. She smiled at him politely. Cameron was attractive by stereotypical standards with short red hair and a nice body and a pretty smile. “Do you want to dance?” She nodded. She had no reason to say no and she and Cam had had a thing in the past and he wasn’t a bad guy by a long shot. Cristina downed her second shot and winked before wandering off, probably to bother Diego or Jamie Rosales. Emma took Cam’s hand and escorted him into the living room where most of the dancing was taking place.

The alcohol was already hitting her as she and Cam danced. The rest of the party was mostly a blur, with sharper memories around a couple drinking games that she handily destroyed the competition in. She and Jamie partnered up for beer pong against Diego and Divya and had beaten them so badly that Diego had escorted his girlfriend away quickly with a wink to heal her wounded pride.

Several hours later, Emma found herself dancing with Cameron again. His hands were on her hips and her arms were twisting in the air as she moved to the beat. She shut her eyes and her fogged mind briefly transported her to a different place where she was being held by a different pair of hands with long, elegant painter’s fingers. Her eyes snapped open and Cam gave her a quizzical look.

She ignored the feeling and kept dancing, but she couldn’t deny that Cam kept trying to kiss her. After one more attempt, Emma stepped way too close into his personal space and stepped up on her tiptoes to see the back of Cameron’s neck. The nape of his neck was bare and that was the last straw. Emma stepped out of Cam’s reach and wobbled. She was drunker than she thought.

Cam reached out and steadied her elbow. “I need to go home now,” she told him. Her tone was strong, but she could hear the slur behind her words. She was definitely drunker than she had intended to be.

She spun away from Cam without another word and headed for the front door. She ran smack into Jamie Rosales who let out a string of curses in Spanish as he stumbled into the wall. He raised an eyebrow at her as she was clearly on her way to the front door.

“Ay, chica, where are you going?”

Emma stumbled on a fold in the carpet and Jamie laughed, steadying her. “Home,” she answered.

Jamie looked pensive for a moment. “Weren’t you supposed to stay at Tina’s?” Emma frowned. “Yeah, I think so. I’m not supposed to go home anyway.” Jamie grimaced. “Yikes, well Tina left already. Mark apparently walked here and they walked back to her place already. And Divya and Diego left and I’m walking, but I’m sure you don’t want to stay at our place or here, so what are you going to do?”

Emma pulled out her phone. “Jules will pick me up. Julian is the best. He always looks after me and takes care of me. He’s going to be such a good boyfriend when he finally meets his soulmate. She’ll be so lucky,” Emma said. The words spilled out of her without thought and her cheeks flushed. She stepped past Jamie and tried to dial Julian’s number. Unfortunately, she also stepped directly onto someone’s discarded shoe and nearly tumbled straight to the ground.

Julian’s phone woke him up rudely. He groaned and rolled over, blindly reaching for it. Jamie’s picture lit up the screen in the darkness and Julian frowned. He swiped to answer the call and lifted it to his ear. “Jamie? It’s like two thirty in the morning, what do you want?” “Hey! Julian! Your girlfriend is drunk out of her mind and wants you to pick her up because all her friends ditched her. Come relieve me of this, my man!” Jamie’s voice filtered through the speaker. He was yelling over loud background music and Julian flinched away reflexively.

It took him a second to process all of what Jamie had said. “My girlfriend?” “Yeah, Emma Carstairs? Hot blonde? You’ve been in love with her for forever?” Jamie prompted. Julian flushed and hoped that either Emma hadn’t been listening or she was too drunk to remember.

“Okay, okay!” he urged quickly. “I’m coming, I’ll be there in like 10 minutes. It’s at Cam Ashdown’s right?” “Yeah, so hurry up dude otherwise I think Emma is going to take me apart!”

Julian shook his head and hung up the call. He grabbed the first shirt out of his drawer which turned out to be just a plain grey v-neck and he pulled on a pair of dark sweatpants. He quietly left his room and went downstairs. Mark had left him the keys to the car when he had walked over to pick up Cristina earlier and Julian grabbed them now, shoving a pair of sneakers onto his feet before he ducked out the door.

He drove to Cameron’s house in complete silence, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. He pulled up outside the house and parked the car. He got out and immediately saw Emma and Jamie on the porch. Emma was leaning against the railing, giving a drunk lecture to a significantly less drunk Jamie who looked thoroughly amused.

Jamie spotted Julian and waved him over. “Hey, Emma, there’s Prince Charming!” Emma turned and nearly fell down the steps of the porch as she tried to walk towards him. Julian surged forwards and caught her, his arms wrapping around her tightly.

“Jules! I knew you’d come! You always come and you’re the best!” Emma was a bubbly, happy drunk. Julian smiled softly.

“Come on, Em, let’s get you home.” “No, not home! I’m supposed to be at Tina’s! But, she brought Mark home so I can’t go there.” “Then we’ll go to my place,” Julian said as he helped Emma back to her feet. He glanced at Jamie who was just grinning at him slyly. Julian rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the call, Jamie.”

Julian managed to get Emma into the car without too much trouble and she didn’t say anything on the drive back to his house, just stared at him with wide brown eyes. She was clearly intoxicated, but she was Emma and still beautiful. Julian knew it wouldn’t be too weird for her to sleep over because they’d done it a lot as kids and it was certainly a lot better than leaving her at Cameron Ashdown’s house because Cameron definitely still had a thing for her, despite how he denied it.

He parked the car in the driveway and got out and walked around it to the passenger side. He opened Emma’s door and she scowled at him. Julian blinked at her.

“Emma, come on, just get out of the car.”

“Nope!” she said brightly. “You’ll have to drag me out!”

Julian sighed before he leaned in and undid her seatbelt. Then he scooped her up, one arm under her knees and the other along her back. She squealed and threw her arms around his neck to support herself and he lifted her out of the car.

“Jules, what are you doing?” she demanded.

He laughed and nudged the car door shut. “Dragging you, apparently,” he supplied.

Emma complained until they got to the house, but as soon as they went inside she fell silent as if she could tell how important it was for her not to wake up Julian’s siblings. Julian carried her up the stairs and brought her into his room. He deposited her on the floor. Emma stumbled a little but looked around his room with soft eyes. “It’s just like it used to be,” she commented softly. “So Julian.” He smiled a little. Now that she was standing, drunk, in his room, he wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do. Emma, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what to do. She removed her shoes and stripped off her shirt, depositing it on the floor and her skirt followed it quickly. Julian immediately flushed. Emma was now just standing in his room in a bra and underwear.

She turned towards him and frowned. “I don’t have anything to sleep in.” Julian mentally stumbled for a second before his brain restarted. She was drunk so this obviously meant nothing to her. “One second,” he said. He went to his dresser and pulled out an old, faded art camp shirt and passed it to her.

He watched as she gathered her hair and threaded it through the hole in the shirt as she pulled it on. It fell to her upper thigh and something in Julian’s stomach clenched. Somehow, seeing her in his shirt was almost worse than seeing her in basically nothing.

Instead, he steeled his nerves and stepped towards her. He turned her towards his half-made bed and pushed her toward it. Emma glanced back at him.

“Where are you going to sleep?” she asked quietly.

“Couch, downstairs, or here on the floor,” he answered quickly. They had used to share beds as kids, but that was much before Julian realized how pretty Emma was and how much he really liked her.

Emma frowned at him again and fell down towards his bed. She landed on it and in the process, grabbed Julian by the arm and yanked him down with her. He fell, unprepared and landed on top of her, barely catching himself by the arms as he hovered above her. They were so close and in the darkness of his room he could just barely make out the freckles on her cheeks and the wispy eyelashes that fluttered against her cheeks.

“Stay here,” she ordered.

“Em,” Julian breathed, not trusting himself to move.

Her brow creased. “Everyone thinks you like me, but now that I’m here and I’m literally telling you I want to sleep with you, you’re not kissing me,” she complained.

Julian’s arms went rigid as he processed her words. “Em,” he whispered, “what are you saying?”

Instead of an answer, she put her hands on either side of his face and pulled him down to her lips. Julian’s brain was frying and he knew it. Emma was kissing him and she was wearing nothing but his shirt and they were lying in his bed. His body responded to her touch eagerly as he kissed her back. Her lips were warm and smooth against his and her hands quickly reached for the hem of his shirt, pushing it up so that she could appreciatively run her hands along his chest and stomach.

She tugged the shirt up again and made a whining sound that twisted Julian’s brain horribly. He pulled back from her lips and let her pull his shirt up and over his head before she flung it away. In that instant, his racing mind caught up with his body and he remembered the alcohol on Emma’s breath and the fog in her eyes. She tried to pull him back down and he resisted, rolling off of her and standing next to the bed, breathing heavily. Emma sat up after him, looking disappointed. “Julian?” her voice was quiet and tentative. “Do you not want to?”

He exhaled slowly and turned back towards her. “More than anything,” he answered honestly. “I just,” he paused. “You’re drunk, Ems. I don’t want you to regret anything.” “I won’t!” she argued, the familiar stubborn edge glinting in her eyes.

Julian leaned forward and cupped her face. “You might, and I’m not taking that chance. Now, you should sleep.”

Emma sighed. “Fine, but we’re sharing the bed. That’s not a big deal at all.”

Julian really didn’t see a way to argue with that statement, so as Emma slid over, he scanned for the shirt she had basically ripped off of him. It was on the other side of the bed, partway across the room, but before he could move towards it, Emma had grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t need it,” she murmured sleepily. “Come on, Jules.” Sighing deeply, Julian lowered himself to the bed beside her. As soon as he was settled, Emma rolled towards him, tucking an arm across his chest. Her eyes slid shut and her lips curled up just the tiniest bit. Her blonde hair was strewn across her back, but Julian caught a peek of something beneath the curtain of hair.

He gently brushed away a few strands and saw his drawing inked into her skin. The moon with its radiant halo was in a small circle at the nape of her neck. He was surprised. Emma had mentioned considering a tattoo, but he didn’t think she would have actually done it before she was eighteen. He looked from it to her peaceful face as she was now fully asleep. It suited her.

Julian let his arms curl around her protectively and he shut his eyes, letting sleep take him.

Emma woke up warm, comfortable, and securely tucked against something even warmer than she was. She curled more tightly against it, letting out a contented sigh. A warm hand on her hip brushed against her gently through the shirt she was wearing.

Emma’s eyes shot open. Her head was aching, but to her surprise, she remembered everything that had transpired including trying to call Julian only for her phone to die and getting Jamie to call for her. Then Julian had picked her up and brought her home. As she recalled Drunk Emma’s activities, she flushed violently.

She had stripped in front of Julian and he’d given her an old shirt. Then he had tried to put her to bed and she’d pulled him down and kissed him. She wasn’t stupid, she remembered the warm and electric feeling she’d felt when she kissed Julian. It wasn’t like anything she’d felt before. But, he’d stopped her because she’d been drunk and he was perfect and wouldn’t take advantage of her, no matter if she’d wanted it or not.

Now, she blinked again and realized she was lying half on top of Julian and his arms were around her waist as he turned towards her. Their legs were a little intertwined, but her awakening did not seem to have woken Julian. His eyes were still shut and Emma took a moment to admire his peaceful sleeping face. He was beautiful and she was so stupid to think that she’d felt anything but love for him before. She’d crushed on other guys, but she’d never felt for them like she felt for Julian.

She looked down at her hands which were pressed against his warm, bare chest. Emma remembered pulling it up and feeling the firm lines of his stomach, but as she studied him in the dim morning light, she was able to appreciate him even more. She didn’t remember when Julian had gotten so fit, but he was painstakingly attractive and Emma praised her drunk self briefly for forcing Julian to sleep without his shirt.

She looked back up at his face and the curly dark hair that fell across his forehead. She reached up to brush it aside and some of her own hair brushed against Julian’s chest as it spilled over her shoulder. A cold realization gripped her suddenly and she slid her fingers carefully towards his neck. She just wanted to see if he had a mark because she wanted so desperately for him to have one.

As she reached for the side of his neck, Julian stirred and his blue-green eyes flickered open. He looked drowsy and temporarily content, but at seeing Emma awake and so close to him, he tensed under her touch. She carefully drew her hand back to the neutral area of his chest and smiled tentatively.

“Good morning,” she offered awkwardly.

“How’s your head?” he asked immediately.

Emma blinked. She had a headache, but it was low on her list of priorities. She hadn’t really acknowledged much past the half-naked, attractive boy she was lying with. “Hurts a bit,” she admitted.

Julian carefully drew away from her, letting her lying alone, as he moved to stand. “I’ll go get you some ibuprofen and water.”

As he turned his back to her to try and stand off the edge of the bed, something small and dark caught her eye at the base of his neck and her heart skipped.

“Julian, you have a tattoo,” she breathed.

He froze. “What?” he exclaimed, twisting to face her, clearly surprised.

Emma smiled brightly and sat up, crawling across the bed towards him. She reached up and pressed against it. It was small and circular, but it was undoubtedly a perfect match to the one that sat at the base of her neck. “Right here,” she said softly.

Julian reached and touched over her fingers, his brow knit in confusion. “I never got my tattoo,” he breathed.

Emma withdrew her hand and touched his cheek. “But I did.” She turned, drawing her hair over one shoulder to expose the matching mark on her neck.

“I saw that last night,” Julian admitted quietly. He stood up from the bed and Emma followed him with her eyes. “So what does this mean?” he asked.

“We’re soulmates. We share tattoos, that’s what it means,” Emma said.

Julian exhaled shakily and looked at her. His eyes were dark with emotion. “All this time I was so sure you felt nothing towards me. You dated Cameron, and you had a crush on Mark, and I thought you’d never fall for me.”

Emma’s stomach twisted unpleasantly. “Julian, no, I think I have always felt this way about you, I just didn’t figure it out until recently.” She stood from the bed and moved towards him. She raised a hand to touch his cheek.

He turned out of her touch and picked up a sketchbook from his desk. He turned back and curled her hands around it. “Look at it,” he urged.

She blinked, but opened it. The first was a charcoal sketch of her, smiling at what was probably a camera. She flipped through and saw more sketches of her face, her hair, her whole self and there were even a few watercolours or oil paintings tucked in between the pages but the book was undeniably her. She felt tears prick at her eyes. It was the most precious and wonderful thing she’d ever seen and Julian had spilled his heart into these pieces and they were all of her.

“This is my heart,” Julian said firmly. “Everything I feel for you is there and I am an artist. My feelings bleed onto paper and I could never show you before because I was so afraid you didn’t feel the same way about me.” He leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers. His eyes shut. “You brought colour into my world and let me paint out my heart on canvas.”

“Julian, I love you,” she breathed.

“And I love you more than I know how to express,” he replied softly.

Emma pulled away from him just enough to put the sketchbook back on the desk. There was a momentary flash of disappointment in his eyes before she threw her arms around his neck and raised her lips to his. She kissed him fiercely and without restraint and he responded to her touch immediately.

The lips moulded together like a perfect fit as Julian kissed the air from her lungs. It was as if a fire had been lit in her stomach and a hot coil was roasting her insides to mush. She pressed herself closer to him, drawing him in and Julian’s hands anchored on her waist and her back, hot through the material of the shirt he’d lent her.

Finally, Emma ran out of air and she broke away, gasping, but Julian’s arms kept her flush against him, with just a breath’s width between their lips. She slid her arms down from his neck down across his chest and his stomach. Julian shivered under her touch.

“I think Drunk Emma should have thrown away all of your shirts, not just the one,” she breathed slyly.

Julian’s laugh was breathy and his eyes were dark with wanting. “Don’t steal all my fun,” he replied.

Before Emma could process exactly what he meant he was kissing her hotly again. After a brief second his hands slid down, finding the hem of the shirt she was wearing and guiding it upwards. She gasped as he tugged it over her head and threw it away. The meaning of his sentence was made suddenly clear and Emma was about to seal their lips back together when Julian nudged her back towards the bed.

He dipped his head lower, pressing hot kisses to her jawline and down her throat and she made a squeaking noise she didn’t even know she could make as the backs of her knees bumped against the edge of the bed.

“Julian,” she gasped out. “Your siblings,” she reminded desperately.

He pulled away from her briefly, locking their eyes. “Everyone sleeps in on Saturday,” he replied.

Emma was the one who smirked this time as she wrapped her arms around his neck and fell back against the bed, her fingers just grazing the edge of the moon tattoo that bound them together as she pulled him down.

“No time to waste then.”

#the writing section #the dark artifices #blackstairs #rating: t #genre: romance #genre: friendship #soulmate au #character: emma carstairs #character: julian blackthorn #character: cristina rosales #character: divya #ship: julian x emma #ship: blackstairs #tda #tda fic #shadowhunters #words: 9.6k+ #nicole writes #highschool au #modern au

[cristinablackthornkingson]

Shadowhunter’s Short Story #4 part 2.

It was drawing close to 3 p.m. on a blazing hot summer’s day in the Los Angeles Institute and Diana Wrayburn was finally finishing up a stack of paperwork in her office. She was just about to put the papers away when she hears running in the hallway, it isn’t abnormal for the younger kids to run around The Institute, and though there was a chance it was simply Tavvy playing with one of his elder siblings, there was also a chance there was a real emergency.

When Diana opens her office door and peers out into the hallway she sees a familiar little figure with a mop of Blackthorn brown curls and concerningly a dagger clutched in her pudgy hand. Diana knew instantly it was Emma and Julian’s two year old daughter Cordelia.

It had been two years since Emma fell pregnant with Julian’s child and still no one outside of their close family and friends knew that Cordelia was Julian’s. When Cordelia was born Emma had told everyone that she didn’t know Cordelia's biological father but as her best friend and parabatia, Julian would not see her raise her daughter alone and stepped in as a father figure to Cordelia, so it raised no suspicion to anyone when she called Julian ‘Daddy.’ Cordelia was a very energetic little thing and kept everyone on their feet, she adored all her aunts and uncles, especially Ty, who she clung to like nobody’s business, where Ty was Cordelia was, and Ty didn’t mind at all, he loved his niece, she reminded him so much of Livvy when she was little and he felt extremely protective of her, shortly after her birth Ty was named Cordelia’s Godfather and Cristina was named her Godmother. Diana had no idea how Cordelia had now managed to get her hands on a blade, she sincerely hoped Mark or Kieran didn’t give it to her, seeing as children her age would know how to spar in Faerie. 

“Cordelia Eleanor Carstairs-Blackthorn where on earth did you get that blade?” Diana asks in a firm tone. Now that Emma and Julian were no longer parabatia and were free to be together, they felt it would be fine to give Cordelia Julian’s last name too, it would no longer raise suspicion that she was his daughter, though they still didn’t tell anyone outside of their close family and friends of Cordelia’s real paternity, even though she was safer now that Alec was Consul, there were still people who would want to hurt her and get their hands on her, experiment on her and all sorts of awful things.

Cordelia turns around at the sound of Diana’s voice and smiles widely at her, she adored Diana, she idolized her and thought she was the most brave, beautiful, wonderful woman in the world. 

“Aunty!” Cordelia exclaims, rushing to Diana still with the blade in her hand, almost giving Diana a heart attack. Diana crouches down so she’s level with Cordelia and brushes back some of her dark curls.

“Hello sweetheart, where did you get this dagger hm?” She softly asks, not wanting to upset Cordelia and have her throw a tantrum, she rarely threw tantrums but when she did, the whole of Los Angeles could probably hear her.

Cordelia looks at the dagger in her hand as if she had totally forgotten it was there, before she turns back to Diana and simply says

“Mama.” 

“Your mama gave you the dagger?” Diana gently asks, unable to understand why Emma would give her two year old a dagger and leave her unsupervised with it. 

Cordelia nods.

“Are you sure it wasn’t Uncle Mark or Uncle Kieran? They won’t be in trouble if they did nor will you.” Diana gently says. As Cordelia saw it, her mama and daddy made the rules, they couldn’t get in trouble for doing something they weren’t really suppose to, but her aunts and uncles could. 

“No, mama give it!” Cordelia firmly exclaims, furrowing her brow in anger, she didn’t like to be called a liar or accused of lying.

“I see, can I see the dagger for a moment pet?” Diana says in a gentle tone, holding her hand out for the weapon, wanting to get it off the little girl as soon as possible. Cordelia nods and passes the weapon to Diana, who sags with relief the minute she gets the weapon off Cordelia. 

“Cordelia! There you are, I have been looking every where for you! You know you aren’t meant to wonder off like that!” Comes another familiar voice, in a tone filled with both relief and anger. 

“Sorry mama, I wanted show Uncle Ty how I hold dagger.” Cordelia quietly says, looking up at her mother with big brown eyes. No one could resist those big beautiful eyes, it was impossible to stay angry at something so cute. 

“Oh I know baby girl, but I would have taken you had you asked, you can’t go around holding weapons on your own, that’s very dangerous.” Emma says in a stern tone, lifting her daughter up into her arms, relieved that she was alright. She had been showing Cordelia some of the swords and daggers she would be using when she was a little older and started her training. Emma had turned her back for one second to get Cortana and show Cordelia what she may someday inherit. When she turned back around Cordelia was gone and so was the dagger she had been using to teach her daughter how to hold a weapon correctly. From now on until Cordelia was a bit older she would only be using the wooden bokkins Emma had been trained on as a child. 

“Sorry mama, I go see Uncle Ty now?” Cordelia asks, desperate to see her favorite person, she was hoping Dru and Kit would be there too, she adored them almost as much as she loved Ty. Almost.

________________________________________________________________

Upstairs in Ty’s bedroom, the curtains and windows were wide open, letting the evening sun spill into the room and onto the bed, where Ty, Kit and Dru were sitting, for once not doing anything in particular. Dru was sitting right beside Ty, her head rested on his shoulder, deep in thought. Ty was fiddling with on of his  toys that Julian made him, while reading one of the Sherlock Holmes Books, and Kit was looking through all the pictures Tessa and Jem had sent of him of his little sister, Melody who was almost a year younger than Cordelia. Tessa had found out she was pregnant just after Cordelia was born, two years ago, just before Kit moved to Devon with her and Jem. He knew he would have been more than welcome to stay in LA, but he couldn’t face it, not after confessing his love for Ty and Ty hadn’t responded. He and Ty had since made up, so to speak ,and saw each other all the time, but they hadn’t spoken of when Kit confessed his love for Ty.

Suddenly Dru is jolted from her daydream by the crash of the bedroom door opening. All three teenagers jump, startled by the loud noise, and turn to see Cordelia standing in the doorway, grinning at all three of them. 

“Uncle Ty!” Cordelia exclaims in a joyful tone, running across the room and launching herself at Ty, knocking him backward on the bed where he narrowly avoided smashing his head off the wall. 

“Uff! Hello Delia, can you let me up please?” Ty calmly asks, struggling to breathe as his niece decides that his chest is a very good spot to sit. Cordelia shakes her head adamantly, being stubborn as usual. Without even having to be asked, Dru wraps her arms around Cordelia and lifts her from Ty’s chest, setting her down in the middle of the bed. 

“Uncle Ty, miss you!” Cordelia says in a strained tone, sounding as if she were about to cry. 

“Delia don’t cry, why did you miss me? I was only up here, I saw you this morning.” Ty gently says, brushing his niece’s hair back from hair face.

“Y-yeah b-but that l-long time!” Cordelia hiccups, now in floods of tears. It didn’t take much to upset her. 

“Delia don’t cry, you’re seeing your Uncle Ty now and you could’ve come up to see him anytime you wanted.” Dru says in a loving tone, lifting her niece onto her lap and wrapping her in an embrace. 

Cordelia sniffles and says in a somber voice “Love you Uncle Ty.”  Ty smiles softly at Cordelia and says

“I love you too Delia.” 

“You take me beach? You, Aunty Dru and Kit?” Cordelia asks in a hopeful tone, still clinging tightly to Dru.

“Of course we will sweetheart.” Dru softly says.

While Ty, Dru and Kit head down to the beach with Cordelia, Emma nervously paces around her en-suite bathroom, waiting for the timer on her phone to go off. 

These last few weeks Emma had been feeling odd, her appetite drastically decreased, she was sore all over, really nauseous and very emotional for seemingly no reason. In the back of her mind, she knew these were the same symptoms she felt when she was pregnant with Cordelia, but she never really acknowledged it until she missed her period. She wasn’t upset at the prospect of being pregnant, but she was nervous. She and Julian hadn’t talked about having more children in the two years since their parabatia bond had been broken, they had been so busy with helping out with the new Clave, enjoying being together, freely, and raising Cordelia, they simply hadn’t talked about it. 

Emma hadn’t told anyone but Cristina that she might be pregnant, and Cristina had been extremely supportive and understanding, yesterday while Julian had been training Tavvy, Cristina had asked Mark and Kieran to look after Cordelia for a while she and Emma went out to run some errands. They were more than happy to look after Cordelia and Cristina went with Emma to buy a pregnancy test, though Emma hadn’t had the courage to take it until now, while Julian was out on patrol and Cordelia was with Kit,Ty and Dru.

Emma is pulled from her thoughts by the timer on her phone going off, she quickly switches it off and makes her way to the sink, where she had left the pregnancy test a few minutes ago.

Bracing herself, Emma looks down at the test and her heart skips a beat when she sees two dark lines on the test, there was no denying it, she and Julian were going to have another baby, Cordelia was going to be a big sister. At the thought of seeing her baby girl with her little brother or sister, Emma begins to well up, Cordelia would be such a fantastic older sibling, just like her dad, and Julian would be so happy to be a dad again, and this would be nothing like when she had been pregnant with Cordelia, they wouldn’t have to come up with a way to hide the baby’s paternity, Emma wouldn’t have to avoid The Silent Brothers during her pregnancy, the baby could have Julian’s name from birth, he could claim this baby without having to lie and pretend they weren’t actually his. It would amazing.

A few hours later, as Emma lays on her and Julian’s bed, flicking through old photos of Cordelia, on her phone, she hears the bedroom door creak open and looks up to see Julian standing in the doorway, freshly showered. 

“Hey.” Julian says, sitting beside Emma and leaning in to kiss her. 

“Hi, I missed you.” Emma replies, beaming up at him. 

“I missed you too, where’s Cordy?” Julian asks, looking around for his daughter. 

“At the beach with Ty, Kit and Dru, they should be back soon.” Emma says, glancing at her watch. 

“How’s your day been?” Julian asks, lying down beside Emma and gazing at her in adoration. 

“I found out some exciting news.” Emma lightly says. 

“Oh really? What’s that?” Julian curiously asks. 

“I’m pregnant.” Emma quietly says. Julian’s eyes grow wide in disbelief. 

“No way.” He says in a disbelieving tone. 

“Way.” Emma replies with a giggle. 

“Really? Are you sure?” Julian asks, still unable to believe what Emma just told him.

“Oh by the angel, yes I’m sure! I’m pregnant Julian, we’re going to have another baby.” Emma softly says, taking his left hand and pressing it to her stomach. Julian lets out a laugh of delight and leans down to kiss Emma. 

“Oh Emma this is wonderful! A baby, we’re really going to have another baby!” Julian exclaims in a tone of delight, before bending his head to Emma’s stomach and smothering it with kisses.

Emma laughs in delight and runs her hands through Julian’s thick, wavy hair, his breath tickling her stomach. Already things were so much different than her pregnancy with Cordelia, this time everything was going to be perfect.

Emma and Julian decided to wait until Emma is 3 months pregnant to tell Cordelia (and everyone else) in case anything goes wrong. But thankfully Emma has a smooth first trimester, much better than when was carrying Cordelia. She did tell Jem and Tessa almost immediately after she found out about the baby, so that they could help her if anything did go amiss, but thankfully it didn’t and Emma was now struggling to conceal her growing bump and felt the time had come for Cordelia to know she was going to be a big sister.

Right now, Emma and Julian were curled up in their bed with Cordelia tucked up between them, almost asleep.

“Delia, how would you feel about having a brother or sister?” Emma cautiously asks her daughter, stroking her dark hair back from her face.

“I like that, love babies.” Cordelia says in a sleepy tone. She wouldn’t be so sleepy in a minute. 

“Well that’s good, because mommy has your brother or sister in her tummy, you’re going to be a big sister Cordelia.” Julian tells his daughter in a tone full of joy, barely able to contain his excitement. 

Cordelia looks from her father to her mother, open mouthed and says in a high pitched tone 

“Really?”

Emma nods and says 

“Yes baby, that’s why I’ve been sick a few times recently, your little brother or sister will be here just before Christmas.” Cordelia squeals in delight and wraps her arms around Emma’s waist, burying her head in her stomach and saying “I love you baby” over and over. Emma didn’t think she’d ever felt so happy, her daughter in her arms, another sweet baby growing inside her, and Julian by her side, everything she always wanted. 

They decided that they would keep up the tradition of naming their baby after family members, so they decided if they had a boy they would name him Andrew Jonathon Carstairs, and if it were a girl they would name her Jade Livia after Jem and Livvy.

Thankfully Emma’s pregnancy was not anywhere near as complicated as her pregnancy with Cordelia was, she received regular check ups from The Silent Brothers and everything was always perfectly well with her and the baby. 

By the time Emma was 8 months pregnant, 3 weeks away from her due date, according to Catarina (who also frequently checked Emma and the baby over)  the baby was already measuring at 8 pounds, she was concerned that if Emma went to her due date, the baby would be too big for a vaginal delivery, and having a C-section wouldn’t be ideal.This left Emma no choice but to see The Silent Brothers about being induced, it wasn’t something common among Shadowhunters, most babies were born before 42 weeks and there was no need for induction. They agreed that Cristina would go with Emma to The Silent City for support while Julian stayed at home with Cordelia.

It was the night before Emma was planning on going to The Silent City, she was extremely uncomfortable because of the pregnancy and was having a lot of trouble sleeping. Currently she was laying in bed on her phone, mindlessly watching a mundane celebrity named Jeffree Starr do a  makeup tutorial on YouTube, when she felt something wet beneath her. She quickly paused the video, pulled her earphones out and sat up to try and find the source of the dampness, had Church done his business on their bed?  Emma was ready to kill the cat when she noticed there was a lot more fluid on the sheets than a cat could produce and it was leaking down her legs too. Holy shit. 

“Julian, Julian, wake up.” Emma says in a tone of disbelief, reaching over and shaking him by the shoulder.

“Huh? Emma what’s wrong?” Julian slurs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Julian, my water broke.” Emma says in a tone of shock. She had not been expecting this at all, she thought there was no way she would go into labor on her own. 

“What?!” Julian exclaims, sitting up and staring at her in shock.

“I-I know it’s crazy, but my water just broke, I know the feeling, it’s different from when I had Cordelia but I recognize the feeling.” 

Quickly, Julian roused Cristina, Mark and Kieran who had agreed to look after Cordelia while Emma gave birth. Once Cordelia was tucked up in her Uncle Mark’s lap, fast asleep, completely oblivious to the drama going on around her, Julian contacted Catarina, Magnus and Tessa and Jem. Like when Cordelia was born, Tessa would deliver the baby, Jem would be in the room for support and to be on immediate standby and Catarina and Magnus would wait in the Institute to be on hand too. They would summon a Silent Brother if needed, but Emma was much more comfortable without a Silent Brother watching her give birth. 

While Jem and Tessa attended the birth, Kit was looking after little Melody, back home in Devon.

Thankfully, Emma’s labor was quiet short and painless, at least compared to last time. The space between when her water broke and when she started pushing was only 2 hours, and she only been pushing for about half an hour in total. 

“Baby’s head is out now Emma, one more big push and he’ll be here.” Tessa says in an encouraging tone. Emma takes a shaky breath, grips Julian’s hand in a death grip and lurches forward, unable to hold back a scream of pain. Finally a few seconds later, she feels a weight lift from her and a baby’s screams erupt through the room. Emma sighs in relief as Julian laughs in delight and leans down to kiss her. 

“You did it, again, you’re amazing Em, a damn miracle worker.” He softly says, brushing her hair back.

“Emma, Julian, you have a baby boy.” Tessa gleefully says, wrapping the baby up in layers of blankets.

“A boy? Are you sure?” Emma asks in a tone of complete shock, she was so convinced she was having a girl, she could have sworn up and down she was going to have another girl, but she was delighted to have a boy either, she was just so shocked. 

“Yes quiet sure! He looks just like Cordelia.” Tessa softly says, placing the baby on Emma’s chest. She was right, he did look just like his big sister, though he had a few curling wisps of thin blonde hair, whereas Cordelia had thick, wavy brown hair.

“Oh he’s so perfect, hi Andrew my sweet boy.” Emma softly says, kissing her son’s forehead. 

“Andrew Jonathon Carstairs, my son, I could not be more proud to be your dad.” Julian softly says, stroking his son’s little tufts of hair. 

“Well done Emma, he’s absolutely perfect, I’ll give you three some time alone with him.” Tessa softly says, brushing Emma’s hair back and kissing her forehead. Tessa had always felt a motherly instinct toward Emma, perhaps because she was Jem’s cousin, but she had always loved Emma as her own and wanted to do everything she could to help and protect her.

“Wait, before you go, Jem we want to ask you something.” Emma says, catching Jem off guard. He had stood silently in the corner these last few hours, wanting to give Emma her space, now that little Andrew was here safe and sound he thought Emma and Julian would be eager for her and Tessa to leave so they could have some time alone with their son, he knew that when Melody was born the midwife couldn’t leave fast enough, so he and Tessa could bond with their daughter.

“What is it?” Jem asks, walking over to Emma’s bed and standing by her side. 

“Can you hold him for a second?” Emma softly asks, holding the baby out to Jem and looking at him hopefully. 

“Of course.” Jem replies, gathering the little bundle into his arms and cradling him close to his chest. 

“Jem, we want you to be his godfather.” Emma says, laying her head on Julian’s shoulder. She knew without a doubt that if anything ever happened to her or Julian, she could trust Jem to raise her son in love and care and to be a wonderful person, just as Cristina would raise Cordelia the same way and Ty would be a loving, caring guide for her as she grew, especially if she had to grow up without her parents. 

“Oh Emma, you don’t have to ask me.” Jem softly says, touched by this gesture. He adored Emma, she was like a sister to him and he would do anything for her, but he never expected her to ask him to be her child’s godfather.

“We want to, you’re such a great dad to Kit and Melody, and you’ve always been so kind and caring toward me and the others too, I know you weren’t around much when I was growing up but those times you were there I was so glad, you always were so wise and gave me such great advise and were an amazing guide and teacher to me, I want the same for my son.” Emma softly explains. 

“Oh Emma, I’m honored and you know I would love and guide this little boy even if you hadn’t asked me to be his godfather, we’re family you and I, you are so wonderful with our Melody and your Cordelia is an amazing little girl, I would do anything for you and your kids.” Jem says in a tight tone, gently squeezing Emma’s shoulder. 

Emma smiles softly up at him and says

“I love you Jem.” 

“I love you too Emma, here you take your beautiful little boy back and I’ll go check on Cordelia, see if Mark, Cristina and Kieran need some help.” Jem softly says, lowering the baby back into Emma’s arms and kissing her forehead.

“Emma, can we ask Helen to be his godmother?” Julian quietly asks, once Jem and Tessa have left the room. As with Cordelia, they agreed that they would each get to choose one godparent, Emma would choose godfather and Julian would choose godmother, it was the opposite way around when Cordelia was born though, and Emma had chosen Cristina and Julian and chosen Ty.

“Of course! I think that would be lovely.” Emma softly says. She knew Helen would be an amazing guide for Andrew growing up, she was calm and loving, but passionate and fierce too and would teach him not to take any shit from anyone. 

“He’s perfect.” Julian softly says, gazing at his son in awe. His beautiful baby boy, he could not wait to see Cordelia with him, the thought brought him back to when he met Ty and Livvy for the first time, he had been so excited to be a big brother, and he absolutely adored his baby brother and sister, according to Helen he had claimed that they were his babies and didn’t want anyone else near them, and had been the same with Dru and Tavvy, Livvy had taken after him when Dru was born, constantly calling her ‘my baby’ and ‘my Dru’ and refusing to let anyone else cuddle her baby sister, except for Ty.

“Yeah he is, what time is it?” Emma asks in a hoarse voice. The last thing she had been paying attention to while she was in labor was the time.

“5:30 a.m, why?” Julian asks, glancing at the clock on the wall. 

“If it was later I was going to suggest we bring Cordelia in to meet Andrew, but she’s probably still asleep.” Emma says, rubbing at her eyes as the fatigue sets in. She had been on such a high the last few minutes, but now it was all beginning to ware off and she was becoming more tired by the minute.

“We can bring her in later, you need some sleep, give Andrew to me and go to sleep.” Julian gently says. 

“Stay with me.” Emma says, handing him the baby.

“I plan to, I promise I’ll stay right here.”

________________________________________________________________

It was now almost 10:00 a.m. and Emma and Julian had managed to sleep for a few hours and Emma had got to eat, shower, change her clothes and feed Andrew. She felt much better having showered and changed out of her sweaty, bloody gown, even the pain wasn’t as bad now Julian had given her another pain-killing rune.

A few minutes ago, Mark had come up and asked if Emma and Julian wanted Cordelia to come up and meet her brother now. They both immediately said yes, and Mark went to get her and bring her up. 

Emma has just finished dressing Andrew in his first outfit that Diana had bought him and can’t help but laugh at his adorableness. 

“Julian look how cute he is.” Emma giggles, pulling Andrew’s onsie down so that the picture of a unicorn printed on it, is more clear.

Julian grins at the sight of Andrew in his little onsie, his blonde hair sticking up like a little Mohawk, he was the cutest little boy ever to be born.

“Oh my god, that’s too cute.” Julian chuckles, bending to kiss Emma on the cheek and press a kiss to his son’s forehead.

Just then they hear the door creak open and look up to see Mark ushering Cordelia into the room.

“Cordelia, look who’s in here.” Mark gently says, pointing to Emma and Julian to try and get Cordelia’s attention. She had babbling about anything and everything on the way up here, seemingly obvious to the fact she was about to meet her little brother. 

Cordelia turns from her uncle and breaks out into a huge smile when she sees her parents.

“Mama! Daddy!” She squeals in delight, running to Julian who catches her in his arms and swings her around, causing her to giggle in delight.

“Oh my Cordy, I missed you so much.” Julian says, holding her close and peppering her face with kisses. 

Cordelia giggles and pushes his face way.

“Silly daddy!” Cordelia exclaims.

“Cordy, look who I have.” Emma softly says. Cordelia turns her gaze to her mother and her jaw drops open when she sees the little creature in her arms. 

“That my brova?” She quietly asks.

“Yeah, you wanna come say hi?” Emma softly asks. Cordelia nods vigorously, and Julian sets her down on the bed beside Emma.

“Cordelia, this is Andrew.” Emma softly says, holding the baby close to her daughter, whose eyes widen as she looks at her brother.

“Mama?” Cordelia asks in a questioning tone.

“Yeah?” Emma softly asks.

“Why him so ugly?” Cordelia bluntly asks, causing her parents and uncle to burst out laughing.

“Oh Delia that’s not very nice, he’s not ugly.” Julian softly says.

“Is too! Him skin all winkly!” Cordelia exclaims. She had been expecting her brother to look like her cousin Melody, a teeny tiny baby with soft skin and big eyes. 

“His skin is all wrinkly because he was in a sack of water in my tummy, to keep him safe, and that made his skin go wrinkly, like when you stay in the bath too long, he’ll look normal in a few days.” Emma softly explains. 

“You want to hold him Cordy?” Julian gently asks. 

“But daddy I brake him!” Cordelia exclaims. Her baby brother was so tiny, surely she couldn’t be trusted to be careful enough with him?

“Of course you won’t, do you want to sit on my lap and I’ll help you hold him?” Julian offers. Cordelia nods and crawls into her father’s lap before Emma gently lowers the baby into her arms and Julian wraps his arms around both his children.

“Hi Andwew, I wove you.” Cordelia quietly says, lightly kissing her brother’s forehead. 

Emma and Julian share a smile of delight at seeing their two children together. Julian slips one arm out from around Cordelia and grasps Emma’s hand in his, looking from her to their children. 

Just a few years ago, if someone had told Julian that not too far in the future, he and Emma would be free to be together, they wouldn’t be parabatia anymore, and they would have two beautiful children together, he would have laughed in their face, he didn’t think he would ever have this perfect life, but now here he is with Emma by his side and their two children in his arms, he simply couldn’t be happier.

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