The Vines of Truth
WritingIsLoveAndLife
AN: Hello to everyone on ! I'm WritingIsLoveAndLife and I'm a writer for The Shadowhunters/The Mortal Instruments series over on AO3. I've decided to cross-post selected works over to this site. I hope you enjoy them! If you want to see all of my works, you can find me over on AO3 under the same pen name.
The main pairing in this one-shot is Jimon (Jace x Simon) with background Malec (Magnus x Alec) so if neither is a pairing you like, please be respectful. We all have our ships in fandom, and Jimon and Malec are two of mine.
For this piece, I found my mind wandering back to the infamous Seelie Court scene, and my Jimon-loving mind took it from there. This piece is not Clary-friendly by the way, I happen to like Clary in the show for the most part, and I think Kat McNamara is a great actress, but for the Jimon to happen, I needed to write the character like this.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shadowhunters. I merely respect the series and wish to pay tribute to it, while continuing to hone my writing skills. The series was created for television by Ed Decter, based on the books by Cassandra Clare, and airs on Freeform/ABC Spark
Enjoy the story!
Simon had no idea how it had come to this.
It had started out normally, as far as missions are concerned. He had been assigned to deal with a diplomatic matter in the Seelie Realm, alongside Jace and Clary. Together, the three of them had plunged into the creek and emerged in the snowy, rugged terrain of the Seelie Realm, and Jace lead them to the Throne Room.
He was surprised to learn that the Queen was indeed the Queen, given her short stature and youthful appearance, but Jace had gone to bat for him, proclaiming him a worthy warrior and a loyal friend and his outburst was forgiven.
Those words, from someone who hadn't even wanted him to go on the mission in the first place, made his chest swell visibly with pride. He straightened his posture, and adopted a strong, confident demeanour.
Until suddenly, the vines sprung up from the ground, ensnaring both Jace and Clary, who started to writhe.
"Let them go!" Simon screamed at the Seelie Queen. "They're going to suffocate."
"I can do no such thing," the Seelie Queen "You see, my dear vampire, you may have proven worthy and loyal in the eyes of the Shadowhunters, but here in the Seelie Realm, we're not inclined to show you the same courtesy. If you want our trust, you must earn it. All I ask is a kiss."
"You want me to kiss you?" Simon exclaims.
"No," the Queen says, shaking her head. "This is not about me, Simon. It's about you. To release Clary and Jace, you must kiss the one you desire most."
He looks to Clary, and her eyes plead with him to kiss her and get this over with.
If only she knew the decision wasn't as clear cut as she probably thought it was. Clary was his girlfriend, yes, and he'd had their wedding planned since he was 10, but there had always been something about Jace.
Even when he was being dismissive of Simon and his (no longer) Mundane presence, he'd always been intriguing. The physical attraction had been immediate, at least as far as Simon was concerned. But as he got to know Jace, the purely physical attraction had evolved into something deeper.
Simon even remembered the first time he'd realized that his feelings ran much deeper for Jace than he ever expected: It was when Jace had agreed to go with Valentine in exchange for the safe release of him and the others.
Simon's first instinct was to either attack Valentine, or hold Jace back with his vampiric strength so that he wouldn't go. He hadn't even cared about his own life, or really any of the other's. He was willing to do anything it took in that moment so that Jace wouldn't have to go with Valentine.
The feelings had grown stronger from there. From private, vulnerable conversations that they would have at night when neither of them could sleep, to training together in combat skills, to fighting as a team during missions, Every single interaction made Simon's affection for Jace grow stronger.
Leading him to this point. Where one single choice would have some potentially life-altering ramifications.
Kiss Clary, and he'd get the fairytale he'd always wished for. Kiss Jace, and he'd take a giant leap into the unknown.
Simon wondered what Clary would choose, if she were in his place.
Either way, there was no turning back. No pretending that it didn't happen and, while he could claim the kiss was a result of duress, all involved will know the underlying truth of the matter,
The Seelie Queen's words rang in his head, 'Kiss the one you desire most'
And with all of the courage and bravado he could muster, he strode towards Jace. "This wasn't how I wanted to this, at all. I hope you forgive me."
With that, he pressed his lips against Jace's hard, kissing him with every ounce of feeling that he'd been hiding away in his heart. Jace had let out a surprised gasp, at first, but as he felt the vines receding, he got more and more invested, kissing Simon back equally as hard and as passionately as Simon was kissing him.
Arms wrapped around waists, tongues battled for dominance, hands clutched at shirts. The kiss was desperate, but it was everything Simon had ever wanted.
He just hoped Jace felt the same.
"What the hell?!" Clary screeched, and it was only then that Simon and Jace broke apart, startled out of the bubble they'd been in where they were the only two to exist.
Turning to face Clary, he immediately noticed that her fiery red hair was matched by an equally volcanic look in her eyes,
"Clary, I'm sorry…" Simon starts.
"Well that's just great, Simon!" Clary says sarcastically. "You're sorry, as if that's supposed to make everything okay."
"It's not," Simon attempts to sooth her. "But it is the truth. I am sorry."
"When? How?" she starts, looking between him and Jace in disbelief. "When did he become an option for you, Si?"
"It's complicated," Simon admits. "I know I owe you an explanation and you'll get one, I promise. But not before I've had a chance to talk to one person, first."
His eyes flicker over to Jace, who looks as conflicted as Simon feels right now.
Clary isn't satisfied. "I know you, Simon. You've had our wedding planned since we were ten. There's no way Jace could…"
"Could what, Clary?" Jace asks, his voice still raspy from shortness of breath. "There's no way I could love Simon the way you Simon as much as you do? You of all people know that I am plenty capable of loving, deeply and truly."
There's silence after that, until Simon breaks it by asking the one question that's been on his mind.
"What would you have done in my place, Clary?" he questions.
"That's not fair! This isn't about me!" she snaps.
"You're right," Simon nods. "It isn't. It's about me and my feelings for Jace, but I can't help wondering who you would've chosen."
"You obviously!" Clary exclaims. "I love you Simon."
"Clary," Simon sighs. "You've known me for my entire life. I've been by your side throughout everything. And yet, how convenient it is that you suddenly realize I'm a valid option only after you found out that Jace was your brother."
Clary looks stunned, as if Simon had slapped her.
"That's not true!" she blusters, eyes flashing with heat. "I-"
"Love you?" Simon questions. "You love me?"
"Yes!" Clary exclaims, desperately.
"Well, what would you say if we got the vines to come back and tested that? The only way you'd be able to escape was to honestly us who you loved. Does that sound fun?"
"No," Clary says quietly, eyes downcast.
"I thought so," Simon nodded. "I guess that's my answer, then, right?"
"Yes," Clary whispered.
Silence stretched between the three of them, as the weight of Clary's words settled.
"As entertaining as this has been," the Seelie Queen interjects. "I do believe we have business to discuss, do we not?"
"We do, Your Majesty," Jace bows.
"Follow me, please," she says, grabbing Clary's hand. "This will be fun."
The walk back to the Institute after the mission had been long and awkward for all three of them. Clary had kept a good number of strides ahead of both Simon and Jace, leaving the two of them to walk together.
"Listen, Jace," Simon had started.
"Not here, Simon," Jace cut in. "We can talk when we get back to the Institute."
"Okay," Simon agreed quietly.
Upon getting to the Institute, Jace was tasked with writing up the mission report, and handing it in to Alec for review and record-keeping purposes. He knocked on the door of his Parabatai's office.
"Hey, Alec," he said.
"Jace, what the hell happened on that mission?" Alec questioned. "My Parabatai rune was going insane, so many different emotions."
"It's really best if you read the report," Jace says quietly. "It'll probably be better than me having to explain it all."
Alec nods, and starts reading, as Jace waits, biting his lip.
After several minutes, Alec looks up. "This really happened?"
"Yes," Jace nods. "Every word is true."
"We should talk about this, Parabatai," Alec says gently.
"There's nothing to talk about," Jace deflects.
"That's a lie," Alec says. "I can read you like a bad novel, Jace."
"It was just a kiss," Jace dismisses.
"It was one hell of a kiss, though," Alec retorts. "Jace, you don't kiss someone like that unless you really care about them."
"I know," Jace admits finally, after several beats of silence.
"I'm going to ask you this only once, Parabatai," Alec says. "Do you have feelings for Simon?"
"Yes," Jace says softly. "I don't know how and I don't know when…"
"But you do," Alec nods. "I understand. I didn't know how or why or when my feelings for Magnus shifted, but they did, and now look at us."
"You're perfect for each other," Jace whispers.
"And you can have that too, Jace," Alec says gently, hugging him. "You deserve to have it."
"No, I don't," Jace shakes his head. "Why would anyone ever love me? I just destroy everything I touch."
"That's not true, Parabatai," Alec soothes.
"Yes, it is," Jace cries. "Everyone I love has ended up dead. I can't let that happen to Simon."
"Then, if you won't listen to me as your brother, or your Parabatai, I have no choice but to issue a direct order as Head of the Institute for you to talk and be honest about your feelings with Simon."
"I hate you," Jace says weakly.
"No you don't," Alec smiles. "Now go find him, okay? That's an order."
Jace finds Simon back at his boathouse, lying in a canoe.
"I know you're up there, Si," Jace calls out.
Simon peers down from the canoe with glassy, tear-filled eyes,
"Jace?" he questions.
"Yeah, it's me," Jace confirms. "Come on down from there, okay?"
Simon wipes his eyes, and jumps down, wrapping Jace up in a hug.
"I'm so sorry," he cries, face turned into Jace's neck. "Please forgive me."
"There's nothing to forgive, Si," Jace breathes out.
Simon stills in the embrace and pulls back just enough to look Jace in the eye.
"Do you… mean that?" he asks hopefully.
"I do," Jace says genuinely. "We should sit, though. We have a lot to talk about."
Simon nods and leads him over to the couch, where they sit.
"Should I start, or?" Simon asks.
"You can start," Jace agrees.
"I'm in love with you, Jace Herondale," Simon breathes out. "I know you probably don't feel the same but ever since you saved everyone when you went with Valentine, my feelings for you have grown stronger. Our private conversations, our sparring sessions, every mission we go on. It just makes me fall more deeply, irrevocably in love you. I've imagined our first kiss a thousand times in my dreams, and that was definitely not how I wanted it to go, even if kissing you is all I've wanted to do since you got back from Valentine's ship."
"That's what you meant when you said that this wasn't how you wanted to do this!" Jace exclaims.
Simon nods, laughing bitterly. "Yeah, it wasn't exactly ideal, even if it was pretty hot."
"Just pretty hot?" Jace questions with a wink.
Simon's brain loses all sense of rational thought. Jace had just winked at him.
"If you're screwing with me Jace…" Simon warns.
"No, I don't think we'll be doing that for a while," Jace says ruefully. "Not that I wouldn't want to, but we should probably take it slow."
Simon's mouth goes dry. The things Jace Herondale can do to him.
"What do you mean it?" he questions. "What is it?"
"This," Jace says, motioning between us. "Us. A relationship."
"Oh…" Simon says, dumbstruck. Because Jace Herondale, this Greek God of a man, did not just say he wanted a relationship, with cute, adorkable Simon Lewis. It was impossible, except…
"Is that not what you want?" Jace questions, sounding so dejected at the thought that Simon knows he has to get his shit together and clear things up.
"No!" Simon says. "I mean- yes, I do want that, Jace, but you misunderstood me. I only said 'Oh' because I had a slightly difficult time processing the fact that you want to date me."
"While I do," Jace says seriously. "So, what are you going to do about it?"
"I can think of a few things," Simon smirks, right before pouncing on Jace, and kissing him absolutely senseless.
This time, it is absolutely how Simon wanted. And that night, he falls asleep in Jace's strong arms to a serenade that holds every single "I love you," that Simon had longed to hear.
AN #2: There we have it! I'd love to hear your feedback. Reviews, follows, favourites and PM's feed my creativity. If anyone knows of me from AO3 and wants to request a specific story from over there, PM me.
Thank you all so much for reading!
Until Next Time,
WritingIsLoveAndLife