I don't know why I felt the need to write something so deep on fanfiction. I just did.

Disclaimer:the characters aren't mine.

Jocelyn had watched as Jonathan grew up. He was her son and her firstborn, there was nothing more beautiful than watching him grow into the respectful young man she knew he would be. What she didn't realize was part of the job was watching and her son and husband slowly drift apart.

It hadn't always been screaming followed by a tense silence. It had once been a little boy wanting to grow up to be just like his father. A little boy who was the clone of his father's appearance. Jonathan had once laughed as his father picked him up and set him down on his shoulders. He use to play catch with his father and bond over sports and cars. But it slowly turned to doors slamming shut and multiple beer bottles being opened.

It hadn't always been a hopeless situation followed by hurt. Valentine had believed in his son just as much as he believed in his second child Clarissa. He had believed that they would both become successful and bring great honor to the family name. But when Jonathan became a teenager, he slowly drifted apart from the close bond he held with his father.

It didn't always take one act of teenage rebellion for Valentine to lose his temper. He understood that when Jonathan turned thirteen, he would be a bit more rebellious. A bit more confused. A lot more difficult to understand. He gave him his space at first, that's what Valentine had wanted when he was fifteen, but it only gave Jonathan an opening to do something that would disappoint his father.

It didn't always take one action to affect Jocelyn and Clary. Jonathan was a protective older brother who watched out for his younger sister. He played with her and entertained her. He was polite and though wasn't always obedient, did his best to be a good boy for his mother. Yet when he dyed his hair black as an act of rebellion towards his father, Valentine did not just withdraw from Jonathan's life, he slowly became less invested in Clary as her teenage years approached.

Valentine use to be a better parent. He understood that children were young and naive no matter what they said about their maturity as they grew. He understood they needed guidance and protection to get through the unpleasantries of the world in order to make it out. That they needed to fall down and get hurt to learn from their mistakes. Now, he withheld any advice he had for his two children because there was no need if they wouldn't listen. He didn't think they needed him when this was the most crucial part of parenting.

Jocelyn use to not be a pretty trophy. She use to encourage her husband not to give up on their son. Or their daughter as she grew with a better reputation than her brother. She use to tell him that Jonathan's rock band, desire for tattoos, one night stands, and punk attitude was a phase. And if not, then a lifestyle Valentine needed to respect. They could not make decisions for their son as much as they wished he was more interested in college than in the girls that came with being in a band.

Clary use to be more outspoken. She use to be the girl that was friends with everybody. She found an excuse to sit with the unpopular kids and reminded the popular kids with a snoottier attitude of their humanity. She use to organize bake sales. She use to go knocking on neighbors doors when she was fundraising. She use to tell her mother everything. It changed when her father withdrew from her and caused her mother's thoughts to be on how to fix a broken father son relationship when she was losing hers with her daughter.

Jonathan use to feel loved. He use to think that through whatever he was going through, both his parents and younger sister would be there for him. He had started that band as an escape from school, not as an act of rebellion. He had dyed his white blond hair black temporarily because he thought it was funny. He quickly changed his hair color permanently when his father lashed out at him for being so unthoughtful and ungrateful. But he did start to have flings with girls because he started to realize his parents had given up on him. They didn't give him that sense of adoration he use to have as a child. In a way, his one night stands made him feel useful if only for a moment of blissful enjoyment.

No, things weren't always so dysfunctional and hopeless. Things use to be different. Valentine was an invested father. Jocelyn was a supportive wife. Jonathan was shown that he was loved by his parents. Clary use to not feel ignored.