Aline's POV: The Kiss in the Hall of Accords
Aline stood away from the crowd as Shadowhunters and Downwolders found partners, each drawing the Alliance rune on the other. It was such an unlikely sight. She had never seen so many Downwolders in her life, let alone Shadowhunters working so closely with them. Had she been older, she too would be finding a partner to go into battle against an army of demons.
Instead, she was relegated to the sidelines, left only with her thoughts. Thoughts about the Lightwoods. Thoughts about her parents going into the impending battle. And thoughts about herself.
Before she could dwell further on the things occupying her mind, some which seemed so inappropriate given the possible destruction of her world, she heard a shift in the conversation around her. Hushed murmuring and whispering swept past her and Aline found herself looking up in the direction that seemed to have drawn everyone's attention.
There, some meters away from her, in a small clearing, stood her childhood friend, Alec Lightwood and a tall man. He had his arms around the man's neck, kissing him, full on the mouth. The man stood frozen in shock at first but then he wrapped his arms around Alec's waist, drawing him in close and kissing him back.
Aline's eyes were wide as she stared openly at the display of affection and intimacy between two people of the same gender, something stirring inside her. As she looked on, the two boys pulled apart and Alec ducked his head, pressing the top of his head against the other man's chest before they intertwined fingers and turned away from her view.
She thought about when she kissed Jace. She so desperately wanted it to feel right…to feel good, so that she could put away the doubts in her mind that had been sitting with her for so long now. But kissing Jace had felt odd and unappealing and with a pang of dread, she knew that she was different.
She looked back at the retreating backs of the two boys, a sense of awe and hope building inside her. Maybe she wasn't that different after all. Maybe she had nothing to be ashamed of.
A/N: I'm a sucker for reviews...probably not a surprise, lol!