After
Clary sat on a bench, watching Jace and Jordan. The sat in the typical mediation pose, with their legs folded underneath them. She couldn't make out what Jordan was saying but she could tell that it wasn't good when they both suddenly stood up. Jordan pointed into the woods. Clary turned toward it and saw nothing.
"What are they doing?"
Clary started but calmed once she realized it was only Simon. Only Simon.
"They were meditating," she said.
Simon snorted.
"Jace? I feel bad for Jordan. He's got a lost cause in his hands," Simon said.
Clary rolled her eyes. They were walking over to them now. Jace sat on the bench and spread his arms over the bench.
"Mediatation doesn't work," he concluded.
Jordan frowned.
"It works, it's just that you don't seem to have a happy place that doesn't include a battle field and weapons," Jordan said.
Jace smirked and looked up at Clary. She stared at him. He looked away quickly though. Embarrassed, Clary looked at Simon. He was talking to Jordan about his band. They hadn't practiced in weeks. Before she knew it, Clary eyes drifted back to Jace.
It had been four months since Jace and Sebastian's connection was severed. It had been three months since Sebastian sent his message. It had been only two since Jace confronted her.
"He's gone," he murmered.
Clary turned away.
"What are you talking about?" she whispered.
Jace leaned foreward on the steps of her porch and rested his head in his palms.
"You keep looking at me that way. I didn't know what it was until I noticed that you always looked scared of me. Please stop Clary. I'd tell you if something was wrong," Jace rushed out.
Frustration layered his voice. Humiliation made Clary's cheeks red. She couldn't deny that she'd been looking for that glint that had covered his eyes when he'd been under Sebastian's control. Clary couldn't think of anything to say then and she couldn't think of anything to say now.
No one seemed to know what to say. Everyone skirted around the idea of Sebastian's return and no one knew what to expect. Petty conversations like the one Jordan and Simon were having were the norm. No one wanted to acknowledge the fact that Sebastian was coming. Out of sight and out of mind seemed to be the new motto for the Shadow World.
Clary was startled out of her revere when she saw two dark haired figures running toward them. Clary smiled. They walked up to them.
"How did it go?" Isabelle asked.
Alec stood next to Clary and smiled kindly toward her. He'd been a lot nicer to her since she'd gone to Magnus's house as a messenger. Everyone had gone, save for Simon.
"Awful. It doesn't work for him," Jordan said.
Isabelle shook her head and turned to Alec.
"You owe me five."
Alec nodded and looked down at his phone. It was clenched in his hand. It was practically glued to his hand since Magnus broke up with him. The details were still fuzzy to Clary as to why they'd broken up. She didn't know who to feel the worst for, since from the state of Magnus apartment when she'd gone to see him was comparable to a crack house.
"Okay, enough," Jace said," you've got to stop this Alec."
Jace snatched Alec's cell from his hand and flipped it open. His eyes scanned the screen, a deep frown forming as he went along.
"Hey. Give it back," Alec said, reaching for it meekly.
"Nope. As your parabatai I can't let you wallow in this level of pitifulness."
And with that, Jace took the phone, bent it all the way back. It snapped in half. Alec gasped.
"That was new, you ass," Alec stammered.
Jace handed the now broken phone back and smiled. Clary turned away when she realized she was scanning his face again. Isabelle gasped.
"Emergency. Institute ASAP," she read.
The light from her phone made her face look ghostly. She turned away, headed back. Alec followed, his eyes on his phone.
The sun had almost completely gone down. The city was beginning to light up. You could see its flame even from deep into the park. They seemed to fight against the upcoming darkness and sang a song of opposition that had grown familiar to Clary.
"Should I stay or should I go?" Simon asked.
Clary turned to him and smiled apologetically. Simon held up his hands, his lips upturning into a smile.
"It's cool. Don't worry about me. I have Jordan," Simon mumbled.
Clary hugged him. He smelled familiar yet different. It reminded her of before. But then she felt his cold aura begin to suffocate her and the glimpse of the past evaporated. Guilt crawled into her throat and laid there in the form of a lump. She swallowed and it stayed. She jerked back and looked up into Simon's brown eyes.
"I'll call you," she whispered.
Simon nodded and stepped away, breaking Clary's bubble of nostalgia. Clary almost called out to him. But in the end, she turned and headed toward the waiting Shadowhunters. She ignored Jace's look of hurt and kept walking. Exhaustion weighed down on them as they headed to the institute and the sun set.