Charlotte holds her head in her hands, leaning her elbows against the edge of the cold metal balcony. She groans into her hands, purposely ignoring whatever sounds were coming up from behind. If they were Clary again then she would- wait. Charlotte cut off her own thoughts. Clary wouldn't come back, she realized. Not after the way she yelled at her. Knowing Clary, she would stay back after getting that from her. 

"Charlotte." That wasn't Clary. A part of her wasn't sure whether to be relieved or regretful to not hear her nickname. "Charlotte." The deeper yet softer voice calling her by her whole name was not Clary at all. She takes a deep breath only to look up at Magnus who had items in his hands. 

"Uh, do you need help?" Charlotte asks him, gesturing to the numerous things he held onto to help Luke. Magnus smiles, handing over something that would not be so disastrous if it were to be dropped. Perhaps being productive would help her, get her mind off of whatever was plaguing it in the first place. It wasn't the first thing that passed his mind when he came up to her, but it would do. If she were to snap at her close friend like that, something had to be off, even towards the warlock who did not know her well could tell. Something was different about the mundane.

"You know, when I offered you to come for drinks, I didn't think you would bring everyone else along with you," Magnus quips with a playful tone, making Charlotte chuckle nervously. She rubs the back of her neck, still holding one of the bottles in her other hand as they went through the space away from Clary and Luke. 

Charlotte had forgotten all about his offer, distracted by all the events of today. It had slipped her mind right before Clary and Simon were kidnapped. She was almost ashamed to admit it. She also didn't think werewolves were real either, so that was another thing to take up the thoughts in her mind.

"Right, yeah, um I'm sorry. You know, dealing with cups and werewolves, it was hard to get in touch. At least this time, I'm not the one who got kidnapped." 

Her laugh was high strung, worrying Magnus. There was no ease in her voice like the other times he had seen her. Each time he encountered the mundane she spoke with no filter, and now it seems every word was dripping with tension, like she was holding herself back. But from what?

He puts down the bottles and items he held in his arms, and laid his hand on the item Charlotte held. Far away from Clary, Charlotte seemed much more disoriented from the earlier events he didn't get to witness. But for a mundane, it had to be confusing and horrifying. Without even having to hear a word from her, Magnus could tell she was feeling exactly that. Something that maybe was too hard to see from the surface. 

Behind her glasses were tired dull green eyes that sat on top of the bags. Her lips lay plump and frowned without any thought. "Charlotte," Magnus called out, his fingers dancing over hers, trying to let her release her tight grip of the bottle, drawing her out of her own mind. 

"Right, here," Charlotte states, passing over the bottle with a shake of her head. 

"Are you sure you are alright?"

Charlotte chuckles, ignoring how she felt originally. "I'm fine. Now Luke on the other hand, not so fine. I should probably check on them. Clary probably needs someone to talk to." 

As she takes a step, Magnus places a hand on her shoulder. His hand trails down her arm with gentleness, a touch she was not used to. "Let me." The warlock makes his way out of the room, leaving Charlotte alone. She takes a deep breath, running her hands through her hair. It seemed all she did now was rip out pieces of hair and tensing up. 

Why would she yell at Clary like that? It wasn't like it was Clary's fault she belonged to this world, or that she was lied to her entire life. All the lore was thrown at them, how were they to know it would affect not only their friendship but their mental state. Charlotte just wasn't so sure how long her mental state would last among them. Maybe her brother was doing slightly better now that he wasn't staying with the shadowhunters, something she should join in on. 

"Jocelyn!" The sound of Luke's roaring voice throughout the lofty apartment spun Charlotte around. She ran through and managed to make her way to the couch where Luke , held down by Clary and Magnus. "No - don't... don't touch her," he kept talking through his delirious state. 

"Luke, I'm here," Clary says trying to coax him into calming down, "I'm here." 

She shushes him and is instantly moved away by Magnus who kneels down beside him. "Let me take your pain away." 

Luke tries to move his hand away. "No, no."

"Agitation only makes the venom work faster."

"I need to tell Clary." Luke was desperate, if Charlotte could tell it looked like he would rather die that not speak to her.

"Save your strength," Clary tells him. 

"No, you need to know." 

"Magnus do it." 

Luke groans in pain, still trying to speak through gritted teeth. "You need to tell her, all of it. Promise me." 

Charlotte winces seeing him grunt and thrash with his injuries. Sweat poured down his face as he breathed heavily. "Do it, Magnus, quickly", she could not help but yell out. 

With a snap of his fingers, a blue mist covered Luke's chest and followed Magnus' hand in a mystical trail. Charlotte's eyes sway with the movement, lulling her into a calm silence. Although it made her feel so, his words was the slap to wake her up. "The poison is spreading." The disappointment grew from all three of them. "Your suitors need to hurry." 

The mist fades as Luke breathing steadies. Magnus stands, feeling slightly weaker from his actions. Charlotte instinctively puts out her hands, seeing him look heavier on his feet. "Do you need help with anything?" She asks him, trying for some way to be useful like everyone else was a the moment. 

"I'm fine," Magnus tries to lie, straying too long against her hands. He walks off with a slow pace to continue fixing the antidote, leaving Clary and Charlotte to their own devices. To Magnus, they needed to talk. Maybe not now, but at some point. 

Charlotte falls back against the couch adjacent to the one Luke was resting on. Her eyes roamed around the room, from Luke, to Clary, to Magnus who was pacing with objects, to the many fantastic items he holds in his home, then to something else. Everything was suffocating. She was suffocating. There was something suffocating her. A presence that shouldn't be there, that probably wasn't there, Charlotte thought to herself. 

She didn't want to look around any longer. Not when strange things were coming into her vision. Nothing like a black splotch, oh how she wished it was that. People who should not be in the room, things she knew did not belong in the room were there. 

"Charlotte?" The voice came rough, unlike those in the room would sound. The unfortunate sound was not real. 

"Charlie?" That came out softer. Charlotte blinks rapidly and focuses her attention on the room once more. The things were no longer there. "I know you don't want me to bother you," Clary starts, sounding unsure of what to say or if she should even continue, "but I just want to thank you for being there for me. I know I haven't been the greatest best friend for a bit. I'm sorry." She looked down at look, unable to look Charlotte in the eyes. She couldn't bare to see the look Charlotte gave her. The glare those green eyes gave her shook Clary, burned through her skin and bones. 

Charlotte frowns coming towards Clary. "No, I'm sorry. I don't know why I snapped like that. You have lost so much, you don't need someone yelling at you." She rubs Clary's shoulders, the both of them just staring down at Luke. "Things are just rocky, a little Rocky Horror Picture Show." Clary inevitably laughs, her smile brightening already. Charlotte turns to Clary a smile on her face as well, that was not as large. "We can't always save the day. We just gotta learn to deal with it." 

"I'm just so confused," Clary admits while standing. Charlotte stands up too seeing Magnus walk into the room with a glass of liquor. Her mouth started to water. 

"Can I get some?" Charlotte asks Magnus. Clary glances back to see Magnus smile and hand Charlotte his glass and go fetch another. Charlotte drinking was not what shocked her. She had drank before, not heavily and definitely not to party. But the way the warlock fingers danced around hers before fetching his own drink again made Clary turn back around and focus on what was bothering her before. 

"What's so important that Luke risked his life?"

"Everything Jocelyn hoped to hide from you." Charlotte took a long drawn out sip from the glass and watched as Magnus snapped a sketchbook and pencil into existence on the desk in front of Clary. Even after everything she saw, seeing that still managed to make her question the drink she took a sip from. 

"Why?" Clary questions the warlock, her hands already reaching for it. 

"When you were younger I'd watch you sketching. It was your bliss. You're gonna need some bliss now." Charlotte snorts at the comment that might have come out a little less softer than meant. 

"This is my bliss right here", she comments, trailing over to the couch she once sat at. Her sight moved towards Luke again who lay unconscious, his abdomen covered in bloody gauze. The blood only spread from the injuries he sustained. Everything else drowned out. Clary and Magnus talking about her past and the future were no longer words but muffled noise. Charlotte stands, finding her way above Luke's figure. She gulped, clutching the glass tightly. His pulse was slow, and the veins in his neck were coursing normally. 

Her fingers were almost toward the gauze. 

"Charlotte?" 

She coughs, downing the rest of the drink. "Yeah?" 

"You okay, Charlie?" Clary asks. 

Charlotte scoffs in a light-hearted way. "Totally. I'm just wondering if we should change the gauze, it's looking a little used up. The sheet is a total goner probably." She shakes the glass and turns to Magnus. "I could go for another if that's okay."

"Go right ahead, I'll show you the way." 

Magnus had a soft touch against her upper back, brushing against the large flannel that covered a small tee. He guided her towards the table that had bottles of liquor, one of them somehow more intricately beautiful than the other. Magnus plucked a bottle that had the copper liquid inside and started pouring into the glass again. Charlotte stared at Magnus instead of the drink, watching him focus, his glistening eyes were so entrancing. Charlotte would admit that the warlock was extremely attractive, she was sure he's heard that plenty of times from many people. Yet for some reason he had invited her for that exact thing, for drinks. 

"I'm sure this wasn't exactly what you pictured," Charlotte says, receiving the glass from him. After she takes a sip, she looks up at him wanting to laugh at how ridiculous everything was. She had expected him to laugh at her, a small part thinking it was a cruel joke. But there was no sound like that to come from him. Charlotte had only seen him look so serious one other time.

"Night is still young, darling," he quips. 

____

A/N: Hey guys! I wanted to give an update before I begin a longer chapter to wrap the episode. I am not abandoning this story at all and hope you will continue to look forward to future chapters. I'm hoping I'll update more with being less busy.

Anyways, like and comment and hope you liked the tidbits of Magnotte before things start to get a bit messy! 

Who are you looking forward to Charlotte interacting with more? 

Anybody you love to see her interact with already?