Author's note: I don't own these characters. All rights go to Cassie Clare.
That Sunday morning, Clary Fray had woken with only one thought in her mind: I need to go to the bookstore.
As much as she was an artist, one of her favorite, all consuming pastimes was reading, something she had been craving for the time to do so. Finals had ended and her summer vacation came rolling into Brooklyn like a warm smile, a long missed friend, really.
She was up bright and early, with a mission set for the day. Grabbing coffee on her way, Clary headed to her favorite bookstore a few blocks from where she, her mother, and step-father lived. Life buzzed around her, energy bouncing from one person to the next.
Finally, she arrived to the doors of Brooklyn Used Books, smiling at the familiarity of the place. Her and her best friend, Simon, had discovered the little cave of heaven a few years ago, and ever since they refused to shop anywhere else.
Thinking about him, Clary looked down at her phone, checking to see if she had any messages from Simon. He was having breakfast with his girlfriend, Isabelle, and her brother, Alec. Clary had become good friends with Isabelle over the past few months, since she and Simon had started dating. However, she still hadn't met their adopted brother, Jace. She'd heard both good and bad things about him, but hadn't had the opportunity to meet him yet.
Clary walked into the bookstore and was met with serenity. She'd found that if you wanted one place of peace in quiet in a city of millions of people, finding a bookstore was usually a good first step. Spending an hour or so in a dimly lit room filled with old books was something Clary had come to love over the years, and was always calmed by her visits.
Browsing the shelves one by one, Clary lost track of time. She'd pulled a few books out, carrying them around with her for sometime before she found herself getting hungry. Looking at the time, she realized it was well past noon. Figuring she'd spent enough time there, Clary decided to buy the couple of books and call Simon to see if he wanted to catch lunch with her somewhere. Turning around to make her way towards checkout, Clary ran headfirst into someone.
"Oh my god, I'm so sor - " her voice trailed off as she looked at the boy standing in front of her, more like towering over her. She cleared her throat, readjusting the books in her arm. "I'm sorry. For bumping into you, that is."
His mouth twitched into a smile, amusement spreading across his face. "Don't be," the boy said, "I'm the one standing in the middle of the aisle."
"Yeah, well, I'm still sorry. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going."
He tilted his head, trying to read the titles of the books Clary was holding. "Paradise Lost. Isn't Milton a little intense for a beach read?"
"Maybe I like intense," Clary said, smiling back at him. She scanned the shelf he was standing next too and laughed. "You think Milton in heavy but Shakespeare isn't?"
He leaned into the bookshelf, his blond curls bouncing as he moved. He stared at her for a moment, looking curiously at the redhead.
His golden eyes flickered, the afternoon sunlight reaching in from the windows. She couldn't stop looking at him; his entire body looked like it had been created from fire, sculpted to perfection. Clary only realized she was staring at the boy when he moved to level himself to her, tilting his head in curiosity. She cleared her throat, "Sorry, what was that?"
He laughed, a symphonic masterpiece of a laugh, and repeated himself, "I said are you free?"
"Right now?" Clary asked, surprised by how upfront he had been.
"Right now, later, tonight, whenever. I'm yours."
"Uhm," she started just as her phone rang. Simon. "Hold that thought, I have to take this." Clary answered the call, "Hey, Simon, I'm kind of in the middle of something, can I maybe call you back in a bit?"
"Look, Izzy was thinking that you, me, and her brother Jace - you know, the adopted one - could all hang out, so that you can meet him. Maybe catch a late lunch in the Village?"
She looked quickly over to the boy, finding that he too was on his phone, texting someone casually. God, everything he does looks amazing, Clary thought, trying not to get too carried away in her thoughts. "Look, uhm, I'm actually at the bookstore and I was thinking that - "
"No, Clary, listen to me. You are coming to lunch with me and Isabelle. She feels ignored and she really wants you to meet Jace." Clary could tell Simon wasn't going to give up until she said yes.
"Fine, but you owe me. Big time."
"I love you, seriously Clary, you're the best."
She laughed, "Why are you telling me things I already know. Usual place for lunch?"
"Yup! Okay Izzy is trying to tell me something so I'm gonna go. See you at lunch."
She said goodbye and hung up, turning back to the boy who was once again looking at her. "So, turns out my best friend demands my presence for lunch. Which means - "
"Raincheck. That's okay, I actually just got a text from my sister saying about the same thing. Where're you headed after here?"
"The Village, there's this place we always go to," she responded.
"Luckily, I'm making my way over there, too. Would it be too weird if I took the subway with you?"
"Yeah, sure, let me just buy these books first, and then we can leave."
As it turned out, he and Clary had a really great time riding the subway, even if it should've been a totally mundane thing. Clary learned that he practically knew everything about war and was a master of over five martial arts. He also knew four different languages. And he was extremely attractive, receiving gazes from strangers every few seconds. It's like he was a magnet for perfection.
However, he seemed much more interested in Clary, and how she was an artist in the making, having her first showing of work coming up in the next few weeks. More importantly, he was extremely concentrated on her the entire time they were together, either not noticing or not caring about those who were admiring his looks.
The two walked throughout the Village, heading in the direction of the cafe she was meeting Simon and Isabelle. As they approached, he slowed down and turned so he faced Clary.
"So about that raincheck," he started, "I was thinking we could maybe catch a movie tonight."
She smiled, more confident now than she was in the bookstore, "That actually sounds kind of perfect."
He smiled back at her, happiness radiating from him, "That's great because I was nervous you were going to blow me off and I was going to have to beg. Believe me, you do not want to see me beg, it is not a very nice sight."
"Oh, but now you've sparked my curiosity." Looking past him, Clary saw Simon and Isabelle walking towards her.
Simon waved and the two made their way towards her. Isabelle looked between Clary and the boy, smiling to herself. "Well it looks like you guys have met each other."
"What are you talking about?" Clary asked Isabelle.
"Clary, this is Jace, my brother. Jace this is Clary, Simon's best friend."
"Wait, what?" Jace and Clary said at the same time.
Clary turned to look at the boy she'd met at the bookstore. "You never said you were - "
"Well neither did you,"Jace said.
"Do you guys know each other already?" Simon asked.
Jace laughed, "Well it looks like we might not need that movie tonight, Clary." The way he said her name almost made her shiver in the eighty degree weather.
"Nope, we're still going. You were the one who asked me, so we have to go," Clary joked, having Simon and Isabelle look oddly at the two of them.
Noticing their glaring, Jace told them, "We'll explain it inside."
Isabelle shook her head lovingly at Jace, "You are so weird sometimes, seriously," and walked towards the cafe doors. Simon followed after her, shrugging his shoulders at Clary.
"I can't believe that you're Izzy's brother," Clary told Jace as they walked inside.
"I can't believe you came all the way here without asking what my name was," Jace told her. "So trusting, you are. I could've been an axe murderer, for all you knew."
"But you're not, that's all that matters. Well," she paused, "Let's get though lunch and then I can make my final judgement about that."
"I thought you said we were still going to the movies tonight? Don't you want to wait until after that?"
"That depends," she said.
"On what?"
"On how well you do with Star Wars trivia at lunch."
Jace raised an eyebrow, challenging Clary. "You. Are. On."
Leave reviews, comments, or questions, you know what to do. Thanks for reading :)
~Julia