Falling to Pieces(Kit and Ty)

Chapter 8

     "Christopher Herondale!" Kit immediately sat up, causing blood to rush to his head. He reached for the Herondale dagger that sat beside his bed and prepared to use it. If something were there to harm him, he wouldn't go without a fight.
     "Seriously, Kit?" It was Dru's voice, tinged with disappointment. "You don't need the dagger."
     Kit shakily returned the Herondale dagger to his nightstand. He knew why Dru was upset, but she couldn't expect him not to always be ready to defend himself. A Shadowhunter always had to be ready. "I'm sorry, Dru." He meant it. Dru was his friend. He could have known it was her before reaching for the dagger. "Instincts." Dru nodded, knowingly as if she'd been in the same situation before. Maybe she had.
     "Well, you sleep like a rock," she complained, adding humor to the conversation. Kit was relieved. He hadn't hurt her feelings much at all. "I tried to wake you gently, but you just kept snoring, and snoring, and snoring." Kit was normally a heavy sleeper, especially when he was tired. After fighting the demons, he had been exhausted. Who knew being a Shadowhunter was such hard work? Kit's thoughts returned to why Dru was in his room in the first place.
     "Do you have anything to tell me?" he asked. Dru looked at him confusedly. "Is there a reason you screamed into my ear this morning?" Dru's face lit up as she remembered something.
     "It's pancake day!" she exclaimed. "Jules is making us pancakes!"
     Kit hadn't realized how hungry he was until he heard the word 'pancake.' His stomach growled, making Kit sigh in annoyance. At least Julian made decent pancakes. He'd been doing it for years, so he was kind of a pro. After everything he'd been through during the past few days, Kit was in the mood for some nice, buttery pancakes. Kit shoved the blankets away from him and slowly got out of bed. He winced as he stood. His muscles were extremely sore after fighting the demons. He quickly bent down to touch his toes, stretching his legs. After that, he reached his arms up towards the ceiling, sighing as he felt how tight his muscles were. Dru just watched as he did this, waiting patiently. Once Kit finished, he put Ty's sweatshirt on over the maroon t-shirt he had borrowed. He still didn't have any clothes except for what Ty had let him wear. Maybe Kit could go shopping soon.
     "Everyone's downstairs," Dru stated, motioning for Kit to hurry up. Kit nodded as he quickly combed through his hair with his hands, looking carefully at his reflection in the mirror. He had large circles around his eyes and no matter how many times he ran his hands through his hair, it was still tangled. Kit was exhausted and it definitely showed. He sighed, knowing he couldn't do much else to help the disaster that was his hair.
    Dru led Kit downstairs. Kit had just noticed the words on Dru's shirt: 'Scary is my middle name.' Below those words was a scull and crossbones design. Her hair was in her signature pigtail braids. She was sixteen now. It was hard for Kit to believe how grown up she was. Three years ago she was thirteen. Sometimes, Kit was still taken aback by how much each Blackthorn had grown. Three years had really changed them.
     The Blackthorns surrounded the table, waiting for their pancakes. Julian was by the stove, flipping pancakes, a bead of sweat above his brow. Emma cheered him on as the rest of the family shouted for pancakes. Kit's gaze landed on Ty, sitting in a corner away from the chaos, headphones over his ears, with a Sherlock Holmes book. Livvy was beside him, reading over his shoulder. When she noticed his presence, she whispered something to Ty who looked up at him, gray eyes focused. Kit couldn't help but blush. He quickly looked down at his feet, hiding his face. After a few moments, Kit joined Ty and Livvy in the corner silently. Ty didn't acknowledge his presence, for he was sucked into the book, but he knew Kit was there. Kit knew that.
     "First pancakes are up!" Julian said. Ty marked his place with a bookmark and quickly went to get his pancakes. Kit watched as the Blackthorns went through the routine of pancake day. Julian knew how everyone liked their pancakes and everyone knew when they got them. Ty was always first. Kit waited until everyone else had been served, then awkwardly went up to get his pancakes from Julian.
     "Do you still like your pancakes with syrup and a pinch of sugar?" Julian asked.
     Kit was taken aback by the question. He hadn't expected Julian to remember the way he ate his pancakes from when he lived in the Los Angeles Institute. Julian was truly amazing. Of course, he still liked his pancakes with syrup and sugar. That was one of the things that would never change about him. Kit nodded and Julian slid two pancakes onto his plate. He poured some syrup on top of the pancakes. He took a pinch of fluffy, white sugar—Kit didn't know what type of sugar it was—and sprinkled it onto the pancakes.
     "Thank you," Kit said and found his seat next to Ty at the table.
     The Blackthorns were chatting while eating their pancakes and drinking coffee. While everyone was distracted, Tavvy reached for Helen's coffee, but Aline noticed and stopped him. The Los Angeles Institute was chaotic, but it was a good type of chaos. It was the chaos of a family. It was something Kit never had. It had always been him and his father. He never had any siblings to hang out with or anything like that. Most of the time, Kit had been alone. His father never had any time to give to Kit. All of his time went into helping his clients which weren't the nicest of people.
     The Blackthorn family was almost the opposite of Kit's family. They stuck together and helped each other through everything. They were broken, but they still found happiness in their lives. Kit loved that about them. He enjoyed being around people who loved each other so much. It made Kit feel out of place at times, but being around them helped him learn what family can be like. Jem and Tessa also taught him what family was like. Family wasn't limited by blood. Kit knew that now. He considered Jem, Tessa, and Mina his family. But what were the Blackthorns to him? Kit couldn't figure it out, so he just pushed the thought out of his mind.
Kit didn't say a word to any of the Blackthorns. He decided it was best to stay out of what seemed like a family event. Instead, he focused on eating his pancakes. They were delicious, as always. The syrup and sugar added flavor to the already perfect pancakes. Kit's eyes strayed to Ty who had already finished his breakfast. His hair was slightly messy, but in a beautiful way. He had his headphones on, blocking out the chaos of his family. His eyes were focused on a point in the distance, just past Helen's pointed ear. Kit remembered how terrifying the demon fight had been the night before. The only thing that kept him from being overwhelmed by his past was the courage in battle rune Ty had marked him with. People could've died fighting the Mantid demons. People he cared for could've died by the hands of the same thing that killed his father. Kit's mind flashed back to that terrible day when his father had died. Everything had been normal. Kit hadn't known his life would be turned upside down that day. He hadn't expected to lose the only family he knew. Kit remembered his father yelling for him to hide in the basement. He had sounded more terrified than ever before. He remembered coming up from the basement just in time to see his father die. He hadn't had time to grieve, for he had to fight the Mantid demons. Thankfully, the Blackthorns had come to save him.
"Kit!" Ty's voice pulled him out of the abyss that was his thoughts. Kit's eyes snapped to Ty who was staring at Kit's hand.
"Is something wrong?" Kit asked.
"Your hand was starting to glow."
Kit's stomach dropped. Had anyone noticed? Was anything damaged? Kit looked around the room frantically, searching for any damage or horrified faces.
"No one noticed, if that's what you're worried about," Livvy stated.
Kit let out a sigh of relief. His secret was safe and nobody was hurt. "I should go." Kit couldn't risk putting the Blackthorns and Mina in danger for not being able to control his magic. Ty's method worked, but Kit wasn't always prepared for when he might lose control.
"Kit—" Ty started.
"I'll see you later when I know I can control myself." At that, Kit cleared his dish and ran up the steps to his room.