Chapter Two

The poetry was horrible, but it was okay because the coffee was good. Simon said it was because cute girls always got good coffee, which made her laugh. They were walking up the street that lead to the brownstone from the subway, close enough that their shoulders brushed.

"Are you saying I'm cute?" she asked, trying not to blush. The apartment was in sight, and she felt a wave a sadness. She didn't want the night to be over.

He brushed against her. "of course I do. I wouldn't have suffered through that awful poetry if I didn't have a cute girl with me."

Clary laughed. "You could have suggested a change of scenery. It was horrible."

"I was expecting something better," he grimaced, running a hand through his hair. "Not the best reunion date."

Her ears perked. "No, but it was nice otherwise." They were in front of the brownstone now, and Clary leaned again the fence beside the gate. "I would invite you up, but my mom is probably asleep."

"That's okay. If it weren't getting late I would have suggested my place anyway since we'd have the TV to ourselves."

Silently taking a deep breath, Clary leaned forward a bit. "I had a really nice time, Simon. You really know how to show a girl a good time. I'd love to do it again."

He took a step toward her, and she could feel the heat of his body. "Minus the poetry."

"Minus the bad poetry."

"I would love to take you out again, Clary." He reached out to take her hand as he spoke.

And then they were kissing. Clary wasn't sure who had initiated the kiss, but she didn't care. Simons lips were warm on hers, and tasted like coffee and melted sugar. She wrapped her arms around his neck and felt his hands in her hair. He smelled like coffee too, coffee and fresh laundry and heat. He felt like home, wrapping itself around her. His body was pressed against hers, pushing her gently against the iron of the fence.

All too soon, the kiss ended. Their foreheads presses together and they breathed heavily.

"You can take me out any time," Clary said. She kissed him again before turning in his loosening arms to unlatch the gate.

"I'll take you up on that." he smiled.

"Let me know that you get home safe, okay?" Clary said, releasing his hand as she closed the gate behind her.

"I will," he said, walking backwards down the street. "And tell me what you think of that comic!"

Her mother was asleep when she got home, laying on the couch with a quilt on her feet. Her phone was on her chest.

Clary grabbed a BBQ chicken wrap from the fridge on her way to her room, then paused and headed over to her mom. She pulled the blanket up and put the phone on the charger. Kissing her mom's forehead, she flicked off the lights, locked the doors, and headed to her room.

Laying in bed, Clary touched her lips with her finger tips and smiled to herself about the kiss, and how great it was to finally have a friend-and possibly boyfriend-in person.

Oddly though, her dreams were not of Simon. Instead, they were flashes of oddly familiar symbols, angle wings, and a boy with almost white hair.