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This was a horrible idea, and he knew it. When they arrived in New York, he knew he’d have to talk to his cousin. It wasn’t that he didn’t like talking to Jace, he did, most of the time. He worked with the New York Institute all the time, he was always on call when they needed another shadowhunter on short notice. So, it didn’t come as a surprise to him that Jace had asked him and Ty to come over to help with a case about werewolf drug dealers. (Yes, those actually existed. And they were very difficult to track down.)
But this was the first time where Kit would be with Ty. He was expecting relentless teasing, and many jokes involving Herondales and caves. Jace didn’t disappoint on either fronts. Even though Kit found it mortifying, he knew Jace meant no harm, and Clary always apologized and made sure Jace didn’t take it too far.
As much as Kit hated it, Ty thought it was funny. “Mark does the same thing to me,” He said. “Yeah, but half the time he doesn’t even realize what he’s saying.” Kit had muttered, and it was true. Mark didn’t tease so much as say whatever was on his mind with no filter. But because Ty teasing found Jace’s teasing funny, Kit was willing to put up with it. But when Jace said, “We should go on a double date,” Kit was about to draw the line, at least when Jace teased him at the Institute, Kit could leave. There was no way he could sit through an entire dinner.
Before Kit could say no, Ty had said, “That sounds fun,” and that was the end of that. Kit was not too proud to admit that he would do whatever Ty wanted. So here he was. On a double date with his cousin, at a mundane restaurant downtown. It was going better than expected, Clary and Ty seemed to hit it off right away, and at the moment Jace seemed to run out of what Kit called, ‘Kit Herondale Based Jokes’. But Kit still had a bad feeling about this.
Even though the food was good, and Jace and Clary actually seemed interested in hearing about Ty’s time at the Scholomance. Kit forced himself to relax, and to put aside the pit in his stomach. Once he had done that, he actually started to enjoy himself, and he could see that Ty was having fun.
He was laughing and smiling. Kit thought his smile was the most angelic thing he had ever seen. Ty had just gotten a haircut, and now his dark curls didn’t fall into his face. You could see his eyes, like starlight in a bottle. Silver, and sparkling with humor. He had a smatter of freckles across his face, mostly just under his eyes. They were so faint you had to be right next to him to see them, and in just the right light. But Kit had been in such a position enough times, that he could find them anywhere. There was one just at the corner of his eye, that crinkled when he smiled. It was adorable.
Kit caught himself staring before Ty noticed, and pulled himself back into reality. The conversation had stalled a little in favor of eating. The rest of the date went pretty smooth. Enjoyable. Fun, even. It seemed that maybe Jace had had his fun picking on Kit, and had moved on. They finished up, split the check, and headed for a walk around town. Apparently Clary had told Ty about this statue around the block, and they were both in deep conversation about it. Either the artistry of it, or whoever the statue was of, Kit wasn’t sure. But he was glad Ty was having fun. The two of them talked ahead and Kit fell back into step with Jace.
“So, Kit,” Jace started. Oh no. Kit thought. That pit was back in his stomach, he did not have a good feeling about this conversation. “I want to be serious with you, for a second.” Kit looked at his cousin. God, please don’t let this be what I think it’s going to be. He silently prayed. Because it seemed like Jace had stopped teasing him in favor of an interrogation. That’s what this was going to be.
He knew it. He knew it as soon as he had that pit in his stomach.
He had gotten enough of them from the Blackthorns to know what was going to happen. Jace had talked to Ty and deemed him as the angle he was, and was going to make sure Kit didn’t break his heart. (Because, Herondales had a reputation for doing so, and Jace would know that best.)Kit silently prepared his answers, he had been on the receiving end of this conversation many times before.
“Yeah?” He swallowed. Jace nodded, “You and Ty. You’re good, right? Like, everything's good between you two? Because if it wasn’t, or you felt like things weren’t going good or you were in a position where you felt like you were being pushed into something you weren’t ready for-”
Kit halted right where he stood, “Woah,” He said, making Jace stop and look at him. “No.” He said. He was not expecting this. He thought it was going to be the other way around, like it had many times before. You’re not going to hurt Ty, are you? But this time, Jace was asking him if Kit was the one getting hurt. “No. That’s not-No.” He felt like he couldn’t breathe, heat was creeping up his neck. Jace was looking at him incredulously, “I love Ty.” Kit said, and he meant it. “I really love him.”
Jace’s face softened, he smiled. “Good. I’m glad, I only ask because I care about you.” He said, starting to walk again. Kit shrugged, “Yeah, I know.” It still felt weird, sometimes. That other people cared about him. It hadn’t occurred to him that Jace wanted to make sure that Kit was okay. That he was happy.
They were silent for a moment, before Jace asked, out of nowhere, “You’re being safe right? Using protection?” Kit tripped, and Jace lurched forward to catch him by the arm. his face turning red, “What?” He hissed. Jace was looking at him seriously, “You are, right? Because if you don’t know or if you had questions, you know you could talk to Alec,”
“Oh my god.” Kit buried his face in his hands.
“I’m serious Kit! This is no joke.”
Kit couldn’t look at him. “No offense, Jace, but I don’t want to discuss my sex life with the Consul.” He muttered. Jace was silent for a moment, “Well, when you put it that way...yeah, okay. I can see how that’d be weird.” He said. “But you’re safe?” Kit glared at him through his fingers, “Yes.” He hissed. Jace held his hands up in surrender. “Okay! Sorry, just, had to be sure.” He nodded awkwardly, Kit noticed that his ears were pink. At least he was embarrassed about this, too.
Later, this conversation would be funny. Kit was sure, but right now? It was more mortifying than any of Jace’s cave jokes.
“Can we pretend this conversation never happened?” Kit asked, finally removing his hands from his face. Jace cleared his throat, “That would be preferable, yes.” They started walking again, Ty and Clary now far ahead of them. Kit could just see Ty turn back at him, so Kit smiled, big, hoping that Ty could see it. He must have, because Kit could just make out his returning smile. “I saw you looking at him, at dinner,” Jace said. Kit almost forgot he was there. “Reminds me of when I first met Clary. You really do love him, huh?”
Something fluttered in Kit’s heart. He hadn’t realized he’d said the ‘L word’ earlier. He hadn’t told Ty that yet. Because the last time Kit had, it hadn’t gone well. Though things were different now, and he was almost sure that Ty loved him back, he was scared. Terrified, actually, of saying it outloud. But now that he had, it felt right. The words seemed to settle in his chest.
He glanced up at his cousin, and smiled a little, before looking back to where Ty was walking ahead of him. “Yeah.” He said. “I do.” He really did. He was head over heels, completely, and irreversibly, in love with Tiberius Blackthorn.