The time has come for me to step out of the comfort of my Harry Potter fanfictions and try something new. I'm quite excited to start this fanfiction and I really hope you all enjoy it. If you have any advice, critiques or feedback – feel free to review!
"Clary, are we all packed?" My mother knocked on my door, peering inside. My art supplies were still all over the place, my clothes the only thing that had made it into my suitcase. I gave my mum a sheepish smile. In honesty, I didn't want to go back. I was settled here and it wasn't my choice to leave. When I was younger, I had managed to get myself a scholarship into a school completely focussed on art. It was the place to go for any aspiring artist and when I was 12, it seemed like the best thing I could possibly do. My parents had been supportive. So much so that my mother had moved across the country with me for the school terms, we only travelled back to be with my father and brother in the holidays. The scholarship had ran out and my parents had decided that the school was too expensive, meaning I would have to go to the same school as my brother for my junior year. My older brother Jon would be in his senior year.
"Here, let me help you." My mother started to gather up my supplies, arranging them tidily in the case. I loved my mother. We were so similar even when it came down to the small things like how you should treat your art supplies. "Your father is so excited to have us back!" My mother was clearly just as excited. I was nervous. The only person I really knew was Simon and I only ever saw him during the holidays when his family used to vacation with ours. Yeah, we texted all the time but it was different and I was frightened.
The time flew once we left the house and before I could even gather my thoughts, we were pulling into the drive of what would now be 'home'. As soon as my mother turned the lights off, my father was waiting on the doorstep. He embraced me tightly when I left the car.
"Oh Clary!" His arms engulfed me before holding me in front of him, looking me over. I smiled, a light blush covering my cheeks. He held my mother the same way before helping her retrieve the bags from the car.
"Where's Jonathan?" My mother asked, looking at the house which was completely in darkness bar the living room.
"He's out with friends tonight, he'll be back by curfew I'd imagine. He never misses curfew." My heart fell a little. I had thought he would have at least been here for when we had gotten back. It didn't surprise me though. Jon and I were hardly the closest after spending the last few years of our lives living on different sides of the country. Once we reached the kitchen, my phone vibrated in my pocket, pulling me from my thoughts.
Simon: Are you home yet? (STOP KEEPING ME IN SUSPENSE!)
Clary: Yeah, come over if you like.
Simon: Great! See you in 10!
"Uh – Mum? Is it okay if Simon comes over? I haven't seen him for the last few months so I thought it would be good to have a catch up."
"That's fine Clary. Your mother and I have our own catching up to do." My dad smiled, nuzzling into my mum's neck. I gagged.
"Yeah, you two just go do whatever. Just not here okay." I gestured for them to get out of the kitchen. They quickly obliged as I heard their feet trampling up the stairs. Gross, I didn't want to think about what they were doing up there. I banished the thought from my head before rifling through the cupboards. You could tell that it was two men who had been living here. The cupboards were full of ready meals and snacks, any feeling of hunger I had been experiencing was instantly banished. There was a knock at the door and I skipped over to it, Simon was here and he was early! Finally some normality. I yanked the door open, but the large smile on my face was quickly replaced by a confused look which was replicated by the person stood at the door. If the sun was a person, it would have been him. His hair was golden, his eyes equally so.
"Who are you?" He asked, pushing the door out of my hand and striding past me into the house. My mouth fell open as I watched him stroll into the kitchen. By the time I had followed him in, he was already making himself some instant noodles.
"What are you doing?" I asked, hands on my hips as I stood in the doorway. He turned to face me, a look of amusement on his face.
"Making some noodles, isn't it obvious?" He grabbed a bowl from the cupboard.
"I meant, what are you doing in this house?"
"Why didn't you say that then?"
"Stop stalling and answer the question!" My face was burning as red as my hair.
"Ah! I know who you are now." He snapped his fingers in my direction before tucking into his noodles.
"Tell me who you are or I'll- I'll throw you out!" I tried to exude confidence, my temper fraying. A cocky smile played on his lips.
"I'm totally game for manhandling." He stalked over to the breakfast bar, taking a seat and making himself comfortable, watching me closely. It took all my will power not to stomp my feet on the floor. I was stuck. I couldn't ask my parents who this person was because who knows what they were up to! Just as I was about to implode, the door opened once more behind me. My brother Jon strolled into the kitchen in his gym gear, ruffling my hair as he walked past.
"Jace! You made it!" He high-fived the guy at the breakfast bar, before raiding the cupboards himself. Jace Herondale. Now I knew who he was. My brother's best friend, I'd been told all about him. I had just never had the opportunity to meet him, considering every time we came home for the holidays we usually went on vacation. "Don't mind Clary, she was just leaving – weren't you Clary?" I was just about to come back with the best retort you have ever heard in your life, when there was another knock at the door. Sighing, I went to answer it, hoping this time that it would be Simon. When I pulled the door open, my heart jumped with relief. It was Simon! He was stood on the doorstep in his usual get up of a film t-shirt and a pair of jeans, his arms laden with sweets and crisps.
"I thought we could have a movie night to celebrate your eventual return – Lord knows you took long enough to come home and here I was thinking we were friends, how wrong I-" Simon started to ramble, I dragged him through the door, marching him straight through to the living room. "Be gentle with me Clary! Be gentle!" He screamed as I dragged him through. I couldn't help but laugh, the first time I had since I had learnt that I would be returning for good.
"You pick out the movie and I'll go get some snack bowls." I gestured to the rack of DVDs in the living room.
"Jeez Clary, you've become very demanding!" Simon teased. I stuck my tongue out at him as I left the room. Bounding into the kitchen, I was surprised to just see Jace sitting there by himself, tapping away on his phone. I ignored him, walking behind him and reaching for the bowls which were inconveniently on the highest shelf.
"Do you need a boost?" I nearly jumped out of my skin as Jace's voice rang out right next to me.
"Ha ha. A short joke. How original." I mumbled, pulling myself onto the counter so that I could reach them.
"You know, if you'd asked me – I would have gotten you one down." Jace was watching me with curiosity. I span to face him, still on my knees on the counter.
"I didn't ask you though did I?" I muttered, turning back towards the cupboard, thinking how many bowls I would need. I'd decided on two, but before I could retrieve them, Jace's hand was in front of mine. He plucked the bowls out of the cupboard, before placing them on top of the fridge. I assessed the situation. The only way I could reach the top of the fridge was if I pulled a chair up. Jace looked very pleased with himself. What was with this guy, why was he so aggravating? "Pleased with yourself are we?" I asked, positioning myself on the counter so that I could jump down.
"Oh, be careful. It's a big drop." Jace remarked, before I landed perfectly fine on the ground.
"Bite me." I made an unpleasant gesture in Jace's direction.
"Don't tempt me, Red." I'd completely given up on my search for bowls now, I'd just eat it out of the bag, if it meant not having to deal with this arse. Simon looked confused when I went back into the living room.
"Should I ask what happened to the bowls?" Simon raised an eyebrow.
"Not yet, I still feel like I may implode." I muttered. "What film did you decide on?" I asked, noticing he hadn't put one in the TV yet.
"Well apparently the only thing your dad and brother seem to watch are war films. So, because I am so well prepared, I have brought some TV series that you may not have sampled – how about The Flash?" I nodded to whatever it was Simon had said, my mind still focussed on my interaction in the kitchen.
"Do you know Jace Herondale?" I asked, seemingly out of nowhere. Simon's face seemed to falter, but he quickly regained himself.
"He goes to my school, I'm pretty sure he's good friends with your brother. Other than that, there's not much else I can tell you, just trivial stuff. He plays football, he's a typical jock?" Simon shrugged, he didn't really seemed that interested. "Why do you ask?"
"He's in the kitchen and he's annoying as hell. It's like he has something against me, like he's just aggravating the hell out of me for the sake of it, moving things higher so I can't reach them and-" Just as I was telling Simon my story, Jace and Jon entered the living room. Jon's hair was still damp, so it was obvious that he had been in the shower during my exchange with Jace. I wondered if Jace would dare to be so obnoxious in front of my brother's face.
"Simon." Jon nodded, waltzing in and sprawling himself out on one of the sofas. Jace copied him on the other sofa.
"Jon." Simon answered, nowhere near as firmly. He crawled over quickly to the DVD player, putting his series in before the boys could claim the TV.
"So what are we watching?" Jace asked, resting his feet on the arm of the chair. I severely regretted siting on the floor, now where we were Simon and I going to sit? Would we just have to stay on the floor?
"It's The Flash, I'm sure you've heard of The Flash. I mean everyone's heard of The Flash." Simon was smiling, as he started through the setup menu. Jace just seemed to be nodding along not really taking any real interest. Once Simon was finished setting the show up, he hopped into the single seater with a bunch of the snacks. Now I was the only one sat on the floor. I started to get uncomfortable almost instantly and decided to try and worm my way next to Jonathan. I scooted along the floor, before trying to slide my way up onto the seat, knocking his legs out of the way.
"Don't bother Clary. I've been to the gym, I need to stretch my legs." Jon smiled, stretching and therefore dislodging me back onto the floor.
"You can sit here." Jace spoke up, moving his legs down from the sofa so that one side of it was free. I hesitantly made my way over before sitting down. I made sure to sit as close to the opposite side of the couch as I could, I didn't trust him. I started to get comfortable, that was until Jace slung his legs over the top of me, practically trapping me on the chair.
"What are you doing?" I asked, trying to push his legs off but they were like boulders, stuck fast.
"I said you could sit there. I didn't say I wasn't going to put my feet up again." Jace shrugged, stretching himself and taking up more of my space. I looked over at Simon who gave me a sympathetic look. Why hadn't I just sat with Simon? I wasn't uncomfortable, I was just aggravated. What was his deal? Next thing I knew, he was fishing through the snacks, picking out some sweets. I held my hand out expectantly, but he just ignored it.
"Share." I muttered, trying not to talk over the TV.
"You can have some if you can reach them." He mumbled, waving his hand in the air, just out of my reach. I was tired of these short jokes. Yes! I was smaller than average!
"I'm not a child." I remarked.
"Get the sweets then." He smirked. I tried to reach up for the sweets but the more I tried to reach the more his legs impeded me, keeping me rooted in my seat. He knew exactly what he was doing and it was clearly working. I was getting pissed off.
"Keep your sweets." I grumbled. "Let me up."
"The shows not over yet, don't you know it's rude to get up in the middle of something?" I hadn't even started school yet and I didn't think I would make it. I was ready to commit murder. It wouldn't surprise me if I ended this night in a prison cell.
A/N: Let me know how you found the first chapter of my first ever Mortal Instruments Fanficiton. Reviews warm my heart (: ~Sapph