"We're not good for each other," he says with an edge to his voice. I bring my hands up to touch his face and he wraps his fingers around my wrist, brushing his thumb against the strength rune despite being unable to see it from this angle. "I care about you, Raphael." "No, you don't," he hisses and looks down at me with a somber expression. "Our connection was built around an addiction. You don't care about me." "It wasn't your venom that kept drawing me to you. It doesn't affect me like it should. The only reason I let you feed from me was because I wanted to be close to you." His eyes search my face as I stroke his cheek. "I spent so long living for someone else, spending every waking moment protecting Clary that I barely had a life of my own. Until I met you." I gaze up at him fondly. "You awoke something inside me and for the first time in a long time I wanted to be with someone again. My feelings for you are real and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to show you that."
4 parts