Safe in the Arms of Love

Fandom: The Mortal Instruments
Pairing: Simon/Clary (Climon)
Rating: T-M
Summary: Tackling the 'college experience' is a difficult road for Clary Fray, especially since her high school bully, Jace Wayland is attending with her. Desperately wishing for someone to genuinely be in her corner, her wish is granted when a face she hasn't seen since sophomore year returns. Her best friend, Simon Lewis. AU. All human.

Prologue - Thinking Back

It was an odd phenomenon, I mused to myself, as I stared aimlessly out the back window of my mother's car, my entire life packed up in the trunk as I was drive to college.

College.

The next best years of your life, at least after high school. If you couldn't find yourself in high school, chances are, you would in college. If you didn't drop out first, that is. Of course, I had no intention of doing so. This was my ticket out, my way to freedom, especially after the hell I'd been put through during my years of high school. By Jace Wayland, the imperfectly 'perfect' golden boy of the school. Of course, where everyone else saw perfection, I saw toxicity.

It started in my freshman year, when I was assigned an English project with my partner and best friend, Simon Lewis. Make a poster, present in front of the class, that sort of thing, it was nothing we hadn't done before. However, this time, it was a bit of a special occasion, as the presentations were taking place around Christmas. The project deemed the best by our teacher would be given no homework over the holidays, a form of extra credit, in a sense. Naturally, everyone tried their best, and some fell flat. Jace, with his usual arrogance, thought he and his sister, Isabelle, did the best.

No one was prepared for when Simon and I were deemed the winners, least of all him. And to this day, I remember the pure, unadulterated shock on his face. The memory, though fleeting, makes me smile.

And that was where it all began. The day we returned from our holiday break, we found our lockers defaced with unflattering pictures. With no proof, other than our gut instincts, we ripped them down and vowed to ignore it. But, Jace was relentless, more towards me than Simon, simply because I was good at English and it was my work that 'defeated' him. It was one project, and he simply couldn't let it go.

It was easier, in a sense, when Simon was there, but when he ended up having to move during sophomore year, it was like my entire support system was gone. No one to vent to in a coffee shop. No one to just hang out with after school to blow away the stress of the day, no matter what we did. Granted, we still kept in touch through Facebook and Skype when we both acquired it, but it wasn't the same as seeing him. Especially since his temper rang through quite often and he swore he'd pound Jace on several occasions after a few of the more severe pranks. The idea of him going up against Jace worried me even more than what the 'golden boy' would do to me the next day. Given Jace's status on the wrestling team, he could more than likely hurt Simon worse than Simon could hurt him.

Luckily, I no longer had to worry about such things. High school was over, and Jace would no longer be a part of my life. Even Simon, who had been evasive when it had come to the topic of his college, wished me luck on getting settled in and my first day. And then demanded I Skype him to let him know I made it safely.

I smiled happily at the memory of that conversation, though it had occurred only hours before, it still left a bit of a lightness in my chest. Even after years of being physically apart from one another, Simon and I were still as close as we were the day he left. We talked constantly, be it about Jace and his bullying, or just about life in general. Though, I noticed in every discussion, he never mentioned anyone he liked, though I'd asked the question multiple times. He'd mentioned liking someone before he left, but also that it would never work out because of him leaving. In all our years of knowing one another, that's the only time I'd ever heard him speak of anyone in a romantic sense, and I'd never learned who it was.

Hopefully, college could change that for him. Just as it was changing life for me.

One could hope, right?