The Iron Crown |Shadowhunters|

22 - A loyal friend

"The greatest fear dogs know is the fear that you will
not come back when you go out the door without them."
-Stanley Coren

Olivia had dreamed of this for weeks and now she stood face to face with her brother. Olivia wanted nothing more than to jump in his arms, but his worried face held her back. When he saw her he smiled weakly, as always he hid his problems from her. It wasn't until he stood in front of her that she noticed the black circles around his eyes.

"Hey Liv," he hesitated, "are you still mad?" Olivia was speechless, she walked over to him and hugged him.

"Noah," she whispered, he hugged her even tighter, then let go. "Of course I'm not mad." She looked at him with incredulous eyes.

"My little Livvy." He ran his hand through her hair, normally she would have kicked him by now.
"Why?" Why did you leave me, why lie to me and run away without a goodbye? That question had been running through her mind all these weeks, and now she could finally say it. She was aware she was crying, but she didn't care now.

He sighed. "You know, mom, she can't take care of herself. Liv- She's with some fat bastard again now, he's going through all our last money."

Olivia wanted to hit a wall but held back. "Would have told me then. Then I would have come with you, you mustn't sacrifice yourself for me!" she cried angrily.

"You were so glad you could get out of here." Noah looked at her with a pained glance. He was slightly taller than her and had the same black hair and light green eyes. He seemed much older than her, though they were only a year apart. He sat down on the back of a bench and she joined him. They sighed at the same time. "How is it there in Antwerp? Is it fun? Are they nice?" Olivia hesitated, what should she say? Anything to convince him to come along? Anything to convince him she wanted to get out? She decided to just tell the truth.

"The Institute is very nice, and yes, they are nice." She bit her lip. "But-"

"But?" He looked at her patiently.

"It's not home Noah!" He had a sad look in his eyes. "I don't know if I'll ever see mom again."

"She thinks you went to study abroad," he explained, calm as always. "Thanks to a glamour cast by the Clave, she believes it." Seeing the sad look in her eyes, he quickly changed the subject. "So, have you been able to kill a demon yet?" He poked her between the ribs.

"You know they don't die, they just go back to their home dimension." He kept looking at her expectantly. "Yes, a Hydra, along with Anna." He whistled, she gave him an absent smile, lost in thought. "When I'm eighteen, the Clave will give me a considerable wage. I could give some of that to you."

As she expected, he sputtered, "You know I already have a job."

"At McDonald's!" she shot back.

He made a frustrated noise. "That reminds me of something, will you wait here?" He walked to the apartment building.

*

Olivia turned and crossed her arms. "You can come out now, Anna." For a moment she was afraid she was talking to a trash can, but then the girl appeared from behind the bin. She looked shocked and guilty. "Did you really think I didn't realize you were following me?"

For a moment she thought Anna was just going to turn around and run as if she hadn't seen anything. "I was bored?" she tried.

Olivia laughed. "And then you start chasing people? Nice hobby." She knew she sounded angrier than she intended. Anna's eyes suddenly widened, her brother came back.

"Go back to the Institute, or get back behind that garbage can, but I don't want Noah to see you." She could see from Anna's face that she wanted to object, but she decided to sit back behind the garbage can. How curious those shadowhunters are. She turned back to Noah, he had a dog with him. "Who is this cutie?" Olivia squatted down and the dog sniffed her hand.

"This is mom's new friend's dog, Billy."

"Billy," Olivia echoed with a big smile, the dog happily licking her hand at the sound of his name.
Noah laughed sadly. "He told me to take him to the shelter-" Olivia stood up again and looked at him in shock. "He's grown too big and we can't take care of him anymore," he says.

"And Mom is okay with that?" The dog whined softly as if he understood them. Billy was a golden retriever and had long blond hair. "You're not really going to take him to the shelter, are you?"

Noah scratched his head. "I thought you might want him. I don't know if that's allowed at the Institute, but-" Olivia embraced her brother, the dog got very excited and started wagging its tail.

"I've always wanted a dog," she said into his ear.

"I know," he whispered, "happy birthday Liv." Noah stroked her hair and she looked up at him with a crooked smile.

"You remembered!"

"How could I ever forget my favorite sister's birthday!"

She put her hands on her hips and grinned. "I'm your only sister and I wondered that last year too." Olivia rolled her eyes. "So, do you think your new friends would be okay with you taking Billy in?" Olivia looked at the dog, he sat down in front of her and seemed to be waiting for an answer too.

"I don't know, I might as well ask them. Anna, come on out." Noah looked at her uncomprehendingly. And he seemed to understand even less when Anna appeared from behind the bin, with still the same guilty look in her eyes. Olivia had to admit, next to the trash she looked as cute as the dog next to her.

Before he could ask anything, she introduced her. "This is Anna Starkweather, she followed me all the way from the Institute." Anna shook Noah's hand with a smile. He didn't ask why Anna had followed her, but took her in completely. Olivia followed his impudent gaze from Anna's long legs, to the runes on her neck, to her blond braided hair. She saw Anna tapped her chin before Oliva looked away guiltily.

"I think they'd love the dog, except mom and dad, but I'll sort that out." Anna winked at her. Olivia clapped her hands excitedly, Noah handed her a bag containing all of Billy's things.

"I think you should go home now, Livvy." Noah put his hand on her shoulder. She looked at her house. Her old house, she corrected herself. She could hardly resist the temptation to walk in, if only to see her mother. But that couldn't be, she told herself sternly. "See you soon." He patted her one more time and started walking back to the apartment.

"See you soon," she whispered. Another tear glistened in the corner of her eye.

"Take care of my little sister," he shouted back at Anna. She smiled encouragingly at Olivia, as if it was funny that Noah called her "little sister."

"I heard that!" she called after him. She kept watching until he disappeared from view. She gripped the dog's leash more tightly, Billy watched Noah leave, too.

Anna scratched her head. "How are we going to get back into the Institute?" They both looked at the dog, which was panting unsuspectingly. "Not going by bus this time."

"With a Portal then?" Olivia looked thoughtfully at the dog. "It will be fine." She patted him on the head. Anna walked to a wall.

"See, you needed me." Olivia laughed at Anna's confidence as she began to draw a rune. She was right about that, the Portal rune was brand new and to be honest, she didn't know those runes by heart. The sign glowed up and a hole appeared in the wall. Olivia gripped the leash even tighter as all three were swallowed by the Portal.

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What did you think of this chapter? Be sure to let me know in the comments!
Will Marianne be happy with Billy? Read it in the next chapter! -->
Also remember: trust no one