Author's Note: Thank you to icestarlight for being my Beta. You rock!
Disclamer: I do not own the Mortal Instruments series. They belong to Cassandra Clare.
Isabelle burst out the front doors of the Institute and had started to cross the street, when she bumped into someone. She turned to snap at the person to watch where they were going, but then she realized she recognized them. "Simon!" She yelled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "How are you? I feel like I haven't seen you in months!"
If Simon wasn't a vampire, he would probably be blushing right now; instead he tentatively put his arms around her waist, hugging her back, enjoying the way her body felt pressed to his. He dropped his arms quickly and looked down. "I've been good, how about you?"
Isabelle smiled at him. "You know same old stuff, different day. What are you doing here?"
"I was actually looking for Clary. I texted her and she said she was here with Jace. We were going to go get some lunch. I haven't seen any of you since you guys got back from your last trip to Alicante."
Isabelle looked at him and laughed. "You may not want to go bother them. They are…" she giggled before she got the rest of the sentence out. "Preoccupied. You'd think they hadn't seen each other in weeks."
Simon made a face. "Why would she tell me to come down here then?" He sighed and then looked at Isabelle with a bit of a hopeful expression. "Were you headed to somewhere just now?"
Isabelle looked at him curiously, trying to figure out what he was up to. Even though she had been dating Downworlders for years, it was more to shock her parents than anything else, she didn't really trust Downworlders. Simon was a little more trustworthy than the others though, for a couple reasons. One, he was Clary's best friend, has been since they were little and remained that way even after he changed. The other reason being that he was a Daylighter, so the other vampires didn't really trust him. He didn't fit in with them, he didn't belong to or sleep at the coven, he didn't hang out with them, and he actually didn't even talk to them unless he had to.
"I was actually just going to Taki's to get take-out. Do you want to come? We can grab a booth and catch up." Isabelle and Simon had always had a flirty relationship, since they first met. They might have even dated when he was still a mundane if it wasn't for the whole Jace-Clary-Simon love triangle. Even after he got over Clary, he was changed, and then there was the war with Valentine. It seemed like there was always something in the way. Now that everything was over and things had calmed down a little, there was Maia. She was a werewolf in Luke's pack. Isabelle knew that Maia liked Simon, but she wasn't sure if the feelings were mutual.
Simon looked at her with his gorgeous brown eyes; they were more noticeable now that his glasses were gone. "Sure that sounds nice Izzy. Since Clary stood me up, I can have lunch with a beautiful woman." He smiled at her and she could feel herself start to blush, she looked down so he couldn't see her.
She cleared her throat and quickly said, "Thanks Simon. Shall we?" She held her arm out for him to hook his through and they turned away from the Institute and headed the couple blocks to Taki's, a diner that served food for all kinds of Downworlders and humans. Mostly, the only humans that went there were Shadowhunters. "I'm starving, I missed breakfast this morning."
Simon looked at her, giving her a crooked smile, that made her heart skip a beat. "Missed because you overslept?" He asked her teasingly.
She looked at him and laughed. "You know me too well." They had reached Taki's and Simon grabbed the door and held it open for her. "A gentleman, thank you." They went in and sat at the booth that their group always occupied.
Simon sat across from her and grabbed the menu. Kaelie the faerie waitress, came over to take their order. Isabelle ordered a chocolate shake and pancakes and Simon, a glass of animal blood, warmed. He looked up warily at Isabelle, as Kaelie flitted away. "Does that gross you out?"
She reached across the table to grab his hand, but then decided against it and folded her hands together. "No Simon, you're a vampire, its fine." She smiled at him to try and reassure him.
"So, Izzy, what have you been up to the last few weeks?" He asked, laughing. "What's been going on in the Shadowhunter world."
She gave him her flirty look. "The usual, killing demons, making sure Downworlders obey the law, fighting with Jace and Alec, training, we went to Alicante, but you knew that, typical Shadowhunter stuff. Your life has to be more exciting then mine." She winked at him. Isabelle was used to being the one in control in these situations. She always left guys speechless, wanting more, but with Simon, she felt like he was the one that held the power.
He looked down at the table, his brown hair falling in his eyes, it looked so silky and soft, Isabelle wanted to run her fingers through it, but she decided against it. She clenched her fists and bit her lip. Simon sighed softly. "Yeah I guess my life is exciting, between not knowing what this Mark means, or what will happen with it. Not only being different from my family and friends because I'm a vampire, but not even fitting in with the other vampires because I'm a Daylighter." He looked up at her, giving her a sad smile.
She reached across the table and grabbed one of his hands. It was cold to the touch, but she didn't care, all she wanted to do was comfort him. "We are all here for you, and we will help you figure this out. Clary, Jace, me, Alec, Magnus, even my parents, are all looking for solutions to both situations. We will be here for you and help you."
He started to say something, but then Kaelie came over with the food. As she set the plates down on the table, she was looking at Simon trying to flirt with him. She did that with every male that came into the diner. It didn't matter if they were single, had a girlfriend, were married, even if the girl was there, Kaelie didn't care. She slammed Isabelle's plate down and stormed away. Isabelle looked up to see what had her so upset, that's when she realized Simon was staring at her.
This time she couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks. "What?" She asked him, smiling slowly.
Simon shook his head. "Nothing." He took a gulp of his blood. "What else is going on? You seeing anyone Iz?"
She almost choked on her pancakes, but quickly recovered. "Nope not right now. I'm… uh… waiting for the right guy, I guess. I'm sick of being walked all over. I finally realized that with Meliorn. I want to be loved by someone, not used." She mentally slapped herself when she realized she was pouring her soul out to him. She looked at him and to her surprise he was nodding.
"I completely understand where you're coming from. You want that special someone in your life, that's there to comfort you when your sad, celebrate good news with you…" He stopped short of finishing and laughed. "Listen to us getting all sappy." He grabbed a fork and snagged a bite of her pancakes.
She looked at him and grinned. "I know, what's wrong with us?" She pushed her plate towards him. "I'm full, you want to finish these off?"
Simon ate the last couple of bites on the plate and waved Kaelie down for the check. She came over and practically threw it on the table. He rolled his eyes. "Man, she gets angry when someone doesn't pay attention to her." He took his wallet out and put some money on the table.
Isabelle reached into her pocket to grab her own money. "Why didn't you pay attention to her? I mean most guys drool over her."
He waved her money away. "My treat. Why pay attention to her when I have the most beautiful girl in the world sitting across from me." Simon's eyes immediately widened and he started to stutter. "I, uh, I mean…"
Isabelle smiled and then leaned across the table and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Thank you, that was unbelievably sweet. You ready to head out?"
Simon nodded, still looking a bit flustered. He put the check and money on the table and they got up from the booth, heading for the door. Once they were outside, Simon pulled her close to him, wrapping an arm around her waist. Isabelle smiled to herself, thinking, 'Maybe now, finally, we can be together.' They walked back to the Institute in a comfortable silence and once they arrived he walked her as close to it as he could. Being a vampire and "damned", he couldn't get too close to the Institute. She turned to look at him.
"I promised my mother I would help her out with something after I saw Clary, so I have to head back to Brooklyn, but I would really like to see you again. Like maybe I could take you out on a real date?" Simon asked her, looking down at his shoes.
"I would really love that", Isabelle said, smiling. She took her hand and lifted his chin up so he was looking at her, and slowly leaned in pressing her lips to his. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned into the kiss, parting his lips slightly. She ran her tongue along his lips and then pulled away. "Call me." Then she crossed the street to the Institute.
Simon watched her go the entire way and the only thing he could think was 'DAMN!'