Distractions - Chapter 50: Chapter 50

Izzy's P.O.V.:
Isabelle Lightwood's life had always been a web of half-truths, training, and her brothers. For seven years it was just Izzy, her brothers—Alec, Jace, and Max—and their parents. For seven years, all she could do to pass time was train, study, pester her brothers, and train some more. And then when she was seven, she was sitting under a tree in Central Park while Jace and Alec trained. She had been sketching dress designs when something above her went snap.
She glanced up, only to see a blur of pink and lavender falling from the sky. Izzy grunted when a body landed on her. There was a loud thud and the raven haired girl squeezed her eyes against the onslaught of splinters.
"Sorry," a chipper, if slightly strained, voice said.
The weight pinning Izzy to the ground disappeared and the dark haired girl opened one eye cautiously.
"The branch decided that it wanted to give way when I stepped on it," a girl about Izzy's age said. Izzy opened her other eye.
The girl's strawberry hair had bright pink tips, as if it had been dipped in the paint that covered Izzy's walls. Her bright green eyes sparkled with happiness tinged with annoyance and her lips were twitching slightly as she gazed up into the tree. The girl gasped and she spun on her heel, leaning down and offering her hand to Izzy. Izzy glanced at her hand, which was covered in colorful paint and ink, then at the girl's face.
"Sorry for knocking you down, I didn't think the branch was going to snap," the girl said in apology. Izzy accepted her hand and they both nearly fell to the ground again, but the girl braced herself on the tree she had just fallen out of. They dissolved into giggles.
"It's alright," Izzy assured her once she had contained her laughter. "I'm Izzy."
"I'm Everest." Everest glanced at someone to her left, waved, and then grinned at Izzy. "Want to explore the park with me? My sister's still drawing and my mom just said I could keep playing."
Izzy glanced around, looking for the person who could be Everest's mom. The only people she saw nearby were her brothers sparring just behind the trees, a group of teenagers laughing together, a few joggers, and a woman with deep red hair reading with a young girl about Izzy's age with the same red hair as the woman drawing beside her.
"The lady with red hair? That's your mom?"
"Yeah."
Izzy hummed, blinking away the familiarity that rose upon seeing the woman with red hair, and followed Everest deeper into the park with a smile.
And thus was the start of a precious friendship that would last a lifetime, even if the girls didn't know it just then.
For years, the two girls met up at Central Park, playing and laughing and just existing with each other. They were each other's rock, always ready to disappear to Central Park at a moment's notice to be there for the other. Once they each got a phone, the first number they saved was each other's.
When Izzy was thirteen and she faced the true extent of her parents' strict rules, Everest was there to help her find new ways to be herself. When Everest's brother-figure Raphael was taken from her when she was fourteen, Izzy was there to keep Everest afloat as she tried to come to terms with the loss. When Everest was trying to figure out who she was, Izzy was there to support her; Everest had done the same after all.
Over the years, Everest mentioned Izzy to some of her friends and family, though they never met. However, Izzy rarely mentioned Everest to her family, if at all. It wasn't that she was ashamed of her or anything, she simply didn't want Everest exposed to the ShadowWorld if she didn't have to be. Everest was special to Izzy in a way that no one had been before. Her brothers were special in a familial way, but Everest was special in a way that had made Izzy draw a very startling conclusion when she was fifteen: she wanted a Parabatai. But not just any Parabatai, she wanted Everest as her Parabatai. Except, Everest was a mundane and couldn't be her Parabatai. So, Izzy kept her conclusion to herself and kept the area where she would want the Parabatai rune to go blank, in case Everest ever (in the unlikely chance she found out about the ShadowWorld) became a Shadowhunter and wanted to be Parabatai with her.
When the girls were fifteen and Izzy's parents started tightening her reins, Izzy and Everest were rarely able to meet up. But that didn't mean their bond fell apart. If anything, it grew stronger.
For years they met a few times a month, catching up over coffee or lunch like they were adults catching up with college friends. For years, that was enough. Until it wasn't.
Izzy had turned eighteen a few months ago and had spent the night with Everest in celebration. She didn't see the girl who had dyed her hair purple even once in the months following. It was August when Izzy grew impatient and decided to go search for her friend. But first she had to go on a mission.
The mission was supposed to be simple: go to Pandemonium, find out who wanted the blood, and get out. It wasn't that simple. It was never that simple.
Before they had even entered the club frequented by Downworlders and demons, Izzy had spotted Everest with two other teenagers, none of them looking like they wanted to be there. Then a red haired girl with bright green eyes interrupted Izzy and her brothers' interrogation and then ran out. Jace had followed her, leaving the Lightwood siblings to clean up the mess. Hours later, when Jace had brought the redhead back to the Institute, Izzy couldn't help the shudder that ran down her spine when she glanced at the girl too quickly and saw Everest instead of a random mundane that might not be so mundane.
Then Everest showed up two days later, looking for her sister. Izzy wanted to simultaneously cry upon seeing the girl she had missed so dearly and smack her for not showing up earlier. They all learned new information that made Alec distrustful of Clary, but only hesitant of Everest: Clary and Everest were Valentine's children. Izzy was bittersweet about the whole thing.
Izzy loved that she could now share the ShadowWorld with Everest, but hated that she was now in more danger than ever. She loved that now it was possible for her and Everest to be Parabatai, but hated that now Everest was able to piece together all the half truths Izzy had given her over the years to find the entire truth. That had been the main problem with being friends with a supposed mundane: you couldn't tell them anything about what you do outside of spending time with them.
Despite all the chaos they had dealt with since she and Everest were seven, Izzy couldn't imagine being able to love Everest more than she did already. And she loved Everest so, so much. However, there was a downside to loving someone so dearly, one that hurt you deeply and wasn't always spoken of: the pain of losing them. When Valentine had taken Everest and Jace away, it had taken all the physical and mental strength she had not to run after them. Her strength and will power had left her later that day and she had destroyed most of the furniture in the guest rooms in her rage.
So when she, after nearly having lost Alec and having just watched Jace be arrested, saw Everest standing in the corner of Magnus Bane's living room with coffee, it's a wonder she didn't just break down then and there. Instead she just hugged Everest tighter than she'd ever hugged her before.
"Stop making me think that I've lost you," Izzy said sharply. Then her voice softened, not wanting to make Everest think she was angry at her. "I missed you, Sunny. Please don't do that again."
"What part?"
Izzy frowned at the slightly sarcastic answer.
"All of it!" Izzy huffed.
Everest just smiled and hugged Izzy tighter. Izzy soaked in her friend's presence and tried to find the smell of ink and coffee that lived in Everest's sweatshirts, but couldn't. She frowned. That wasn't Everest's hoodie. Oh well, she'd ask about it later. After a few moments, Izzy detached herself and nodded towards Alec and Magnus, who was now sitting on the couch.
"Go say hi to them before they break."
Izzy watched with a small smile as Everest greeted Alec and Magnus, and her smile only grew when Everest laughed. It was good to see her again, it was good to hear her laugh again. She had missed Everest (and Jace, but she hadn't properly seen him yet so he wasn't truly back in her mind), missed her so much.
"Yeah well, I guess I'm special then," Everest remarked, shrugging carelessly.
Izzy laughed, catching Everest's emerald gaze. She tapped her ring—the ring she had given Everest as a Will-You-Be-My-Parabatai gift—and Everest returned the gesture. Good, she still wanted to be Parabatai.
Isabelle Lightwood's life had always been a web of half-truths, training, and her brothers. For seven years it was just Izzy, her brothers—Alec, Jace, and Max—and their parents. But then she had met Everest Fairchild and her circle of close friends and family had only grown from there. And Izzy couldn't be more pleased.