Friendship, rated E for everyone XD

London. Muggy, gray, dull, and loud. It was hard to believe then sun had risen at all with the blanket of dark gloom that laid over the city. The rain had long since stopped falling, leaving a shiny gleam to the rock and brick of the Institute, though no human could enjoy the faint beauty.

Sitting in the library with a book open in his lap, but the story long forgotten as he stared out the large window, was a black haired boy. His blue eyes distant as they stared out the fogged windows at the street below as carriages passed by without their riders ever knowing what was right in front them. Time had slipped away from the boy as he thought about the ceremony that night, after persisting for so long It was finally happening. He would have someone to rely on without feeling the dread of guilt every moment of every day. . . Well the feeling would be lightened, not gone. It would never be gone.

The door creaked open startling the boy on the window seat. The book falling to the ground with an echoing thud. His heart froze in his chest until he saw who had entered the room. "By the angel, James, you nearly gave me a heart attack." He groaned throwing his legs over the side of the seat.

"That would be unfortunate considering the day." James said with a joking smile. His eyes were brighter than when he first arrived, more silver than black just like his hair which was silver at the roots and darker at its tips. "Reading again, Will?" James gestured to the book that laid on the hardwood floor.

Will looked down at the book then picked it up without looking back at the silvering boy. "It's the best escape." He said setting the book next to him on the window seat.

"Escape from what?" James asked tilting his head.

Will shook his head as he got to his feet.

"Are you always going to be this mysterious?" James asked with a friendly smile.

Will, now, looked at the boy. "You find me mysterious, Jem. I feel like a hero of the night, how flattering." He smirked back.

Jem rolled his eyes.

"Did you need something or did you just miss my presence?" Will asked shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

"Charlotte sent me to see if you had tried on your ceremony outfit yet, but judging by the book I'm daily certain that the answer is no." Jem said and Will didn't try to correct him. "Are you trying to aggravate everyone when they are doing all this for us? You know I didn't have to agree."

"As I remember you didn't exactly agree, but lost in a duel." Will said arrogantly.

Jem's lightening eyes narrowed at the other boy. The tension in his expression was there for only a moment before it slipped and a sigh escaped his throat. "Will," he shook his head. "Just for today could you. . . not be you, and take this seriously."

Will's smirk slipped from his face and his ever blue eyes hardened, making Jem regret his words. "I know this is serious. I'm not taking this as a joke."

"Sometimes," Jem paused as he shook his hair out of his eyes. "Sometimes it's just hard to tell."

Silence fell between them. Neither able to look at the other.

"I'll go try them on now. The clothes." Will said waking past Jem towards the door.

"A Tale of Two Cities?" Jem asked reading the cover of the book Will left behind.

"I found it shoved in the back of a bookcase." Will lied smoothly as he opened the door. Jem knew it was a lie, but he didn't press for an answer. Will was already in a mood, and there was nothing he could say, Jem never was one for leisurely reading.

"Is it any good?" Jem asked to be polite.

"Adults are strange." Was all Will said before leaving the library.

The sun was setting leaving London in a dull shades of gray and black that only made the Shadowhunter ceremony seem like a tragic event instead of a proud and wonderful bonding. They had gathered in the Sanctuary with Brother Enoch who would be witness to the two boys becoming parabatai. One sick and dying, the other withholding pain and secrets the Brotherhood did not bother to mess with. They were an odd part to be joined, but it was their decision.

The boys both stood by the fountain facing each other in red ceremony attire. Ink black runes covered the clothing, but it did not matter as usually the shirts are removed in order to place the parabatai rune on one another. Gathered in the back of the Sanctuary was Charlotte and Henry and Jessamine, who didn't want to be there at all.

'Begin.' Brother Enoch's cold voice sounded in their minds. Neither of them flinched like they use to when their minds were invaded by a Silent Brother.

Will was the first to pull out his stele with almost clumsy fingers, Jem followed suit but with much more grace than Will. Together they moved aside the other's shirt so they could make the rune, Jem's stele over Will's heart, and Will's on Jem's shoulder. They started to move their steles as they spoke the oath. The oath Will spent days memorizing though he knew it by heart within the first hour.

"Whither thou goest, I will go;
Where thou diest, will I die
And there will I be buried:
The Angel do so to me, and more also,
If aught but death part thee and me."

The runes glowed on their skin as the steles were pulled back on their completion. Both boys stared at each other as a feeling took over inside them. It wasn't a happy feeling, it was more like any feelings of loneliness were gone. That with the parabatai rune they had become stronger yet weaker at the same time. Feeling each other's stress and pain, sharing the other's strength and power. The feeling was so strange yet amazing that they didn't even say anything, they just smirked at one another.

"Was that it?" Jessmine complained. "Did I really have to sit through this. It's not like they're married." she scoffed before turning around and leaving.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and stepped toward Brother Enoch, they appeared to be having a conversation no one else could hear.

Will smirked at Jem again, "Well James, what do you say we have another duel?" he suggested.

Jem slide his stele back into his pocket. "I am not going to marry you Will. You would make a hideous wife."

"Certainly not. I would be the husband." Will protested as they stepped away from the fountain.

"You sit in the library all day reading, you sing ridiculous songs, and you flutter your eyelashes to get what you want." Jem countered. "You are already a girl in disguise." he chuckled.

Will flipped his hair out of his eyes in a dramatic fashion and planted his hands on his hips. "That's so cruel of you to say, James. After all we've been through." he mocked Jessamine's tone and speech.

Jem wanted to roll his eyes and walk away but the joke had been too spot on and funny for that to happen. He and Will broke out into laughter. Real guy shaking laughter that Will didn't do often, he was always too reserved and mysterious.

"He's right you know Will." Henry spoke up from by the door.

"About what?" Will question. His laughter dying.

"Your songs are quite ridiculous. I can't imagine how you come up with them." Henry's eyes took on a far away look like he was pondering his own words.

"I'm just a musician disguised as a Shadowhunter. Don't mind me. With my charming looks I'll never starve on the streets like the others." Will said puffing out his chest.

"Shut up Will." Jem muttered as they reached the open door.

"Anything you say, parabatai." Will's tone was sarcastic like always but under it was a sincerity that caused Jem to look at the black haired boy.

Their eyes locked, a silvery nighttime gaze to deep deep blue one. Their pace synced up as they walked out of the Sanctuary and down the corridor. They were parabatai. They were closer than brothers. Yet Jem couldn't help but feel a distance, a distance Will was purposely keeping between them. They were fourteen, what dangerous secrets could they have? Jem was already dying. What of his parabatai?

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