Clary made her way down the cold street, wishing that her cardigan were warmer. It was getting cold, and Clary thought it would start snowing soon. She walked to Izzy's house, admiring the last hints of autumn in the streets along the way. Most shops had already put up Christmas decorations, despite the fact that Thanksgiving hadn't come yet. She rounded the corner to Izzy's house, and saw Maia talking with Jordan in front.

"Clary!" Maia's voice carried down the street, and Clary ran over to give her a hug. Jordan leaned on the fence next to her, in his trademark letter jacket.

"Aren't you guys cold?" Clary asked.

"No, we're fine. I'm just worried Simon will get lost, so I made Jordan wait out here with me," Maia replied with a smile.

"Well, I'm going to go inside while you guys freeze to death out here," Clary laughed as she walked past Maia and Jordan.

Clary practically ran to Izzy's doorstep, knocking on the door as loudly as she could without being rude.

"The door's unlocked!" Izzy called from inside.

Clary stepped into the (mercifully) warm house and saw Jace sitting on the couch, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. She stared at him.
He looked up from his phone. "I know I'm gorgeous, but you don't need to stare."

"What the heck? How are you planning to stay warm? You'll become a human popsicle. It's like 50 degrees Fahrenheit out there." (A/N: That's 10 degrees Celsius.)

Jace shrugged and focused his amber eyes on Clary. "I'm hot. Very hot." He grinned.

Clary rolled her eyes. "Where's Izzy?"

"Here!" Izzy descended the staircase, wearing a pleather miniskirt and a pleather jacket with an intricate braid down the side of her head. She also wore 7-inch boots, which seemed a bit extreme, as she was already taller than most girls without them. "Is Simon here yet?"

Clary peered out of the window. "No, but he'll probably be here soon. He's just not very good with directions."

Izzy laughed. "Do you want a drink?"

Clary hesitated. "I wouldn't want to inconvenience you."

"Don't worry about it." Izzy smiled.

"Do you guys have any coffee?"

"Sugar or milk?"

"Just a little bit of sugar."

Jace quickly cut in. "Why would you want coffee? You wouldn't want coffee. You're not thirsty at all. If you're thirsty for anything, you're thirsty for water. From the tap." He looked pleadingly at Clary, mouthing Save yourself.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "I can make coffee, Jace."

"No, you really can't." Jace mumbled under his breath.

Izzy glared at him. "What did you say?"

He cleared his throat. "I said, um… Of course you can. What else would I have said?" Jace laughed nervously.

"Good. That's what I thought you said." Izzy smiled sweetly at Jace and headed off to the kitchen.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Jace whispered frantically, "Don't drink the coffee, Clary. Don't. Save yourself."

"Um… Okay?" Clary seemed very confused.

"The thing is," Jace went on, as if Clary had said nothing, "Izzy can't cook. At all. She burns everything. If she offers you food, make sure it's takeout." Jace stared into Clary's eyes solemnly. "Promise me that you'll make sure it's takeout."

Clary sincerely thought it couldn't be that bad, but she nodded her head anyway. "I promise I'll make sure it's takeout."

"Quit telling everyone I can't cook!" Izzy yelled from the kitchen.

"I'm just telling Clary about how delicious your food is," Jace replied. "Good luck," he whispered to Clary as Izzy walked back to the living room.

"Here you go, Clary." Izzy handed Clary her coffee, and Clary cautiously took a sip. She had to stop herself from spitting it out. The coffee had a stale (but burnt) taste to it, and it was room temperature and watery. Izzy had also added salt instead of sugar, making the coffee an abomination to a coffee addict like Clary. Luckily, Simon arrived at that exact moment, so Clary didn't have to drink any more of the coffee.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I got pretty lost." Simon was breathing heavily, like he'd just run a mile.

Izzy smiled. "Now that everyone's here, let's go." She glanced worriedly at Clary. "Do you want to finish your coffee?"

Clary smiled weakly at Izzy. "It's so good, but I wouldn't want to miss the movie."

Izzy smiled sympathetically. "Oh well. I can always make more for you when we get back."

Clary just smiled. As Izzy locked up the door behind her, Jace whispered in her ear. "Don't worry, I'll hide the coffee."

"Thanks. You have no idea how much that means to me."

As they walked down the street, Jordan and Maia walked in front of the group, holding hands and chatting. Simon (who was on the school paper) was asking Izzy about the track team, while Clary and Jace walked behind them in a comfortable silence.

Jace was the first to speak. "So how bad was it?"

Clary, who was caught up in her thoughts, looked up at Jace. "How bad was what?"

"The Spanish Inquisition." Jace rolled his eyes. "The coffee Izzy made you, of course."

Clary groaned. "I forgot about that until now. Thanks for making me remember. Do you have any gum?"

Jace offered her a stick. "Snatched it on my way out. Rule one of the Lightwood household: keep gum or candy somewhere near you, in case Izzy feels like cooking."

Clary accepted the gum thankfully. "It was so bad. She added salt instead of sugar. And the coffee was somehow burnt and cold at the same time." Clary shuddered. "I don't know how it's even possible to make coffee taste that bad."

Jace chuckled. "Believe me, Izzy has a talent for ruining foods." He shuddered. "She tried to make a cake for Max's birthday last year. It didn't end well."

"What happened?"

"The cake was burnt but also undercooked, and there was a thin layer of eggshell at the bottom of the cake. She asked me to try it, and I threw up for two hours after that." Jace looked traumatized. "Never eat anything Izzy makes."

"That could have been worse. Instead of you being poisoned, Izzy could have accidentally poisoned all of the kids."

"Are you saying my well-being isn't as important as the well-being of a horde of children?"

Clary smiled. "I'm saying it was very honorable of you to sacrifice yourself." She frowned. "Don't let that go to your head, though. Your ego is big enough already."

Jace laughed.

After they got their tickets, Clary worried that they would get bad seats, since the line into the theater was very long. What Clary didn't remember was that Jace was with them. A group of teenage girls at the beginning of the line ended up letting them cut when Jace smiled at them. They glared at Izzy (and for some reason, Clary), but when Jace winked at them, Clary heard a collective sigh from the group. They filed into the theater, and they ended up sitting in the fifth row, so Clary was grudgingly thankful for Jace's charm. Maia demanded to sit in the aisle, and Jordan wanted to sit next to her, so the seating order ended up being Maia, Jordan, Simon, Izzy, Clary, and Jace. Clary and Izzy whispered excitedly about the movie as the theater lights started to dim.

(A/N: I haven't watched the Mockingjay movie yet, so I'm just guessing at reactions based on the book and the trailers)

"I can't believe it's over," Clary sighed. She felt empty inside.

Izzy was clutching a tissue, and Simon was awkwardly patting her shoulder. Maia, on the other hand, was burrowing her face into Jordan's shoulder.

Clary gathered her things and got up, motioning to Izzy and Jordan to get up too. They filed out of the theater, and Izzy and Maia went to the washroom to compose themselves. The sun had already set, and Clary checked her phone. 5:24, it read. "Dinner?" she asked the guys. Jordan nodded.

"There's a Subway near here," Simon said, checking his phone.

"Oooh. I can totally do Subway," Clary sighed.

"You seem awfully chipper," Jordan said while taking off his jacket, trying to get rid of the tearstain Maia left in the shoulder.

"I don't really cry during movies," Clary replied.

Simon snorted. "Please, do you remember Inside Out?"

"That was, like, the only time. I didn't expect to cry! Besides, I'm pretty sure I was PMSing."

"Hey guys," Izzy marched up to them, smiling brightly. Maia smiled blearily next to her.

"Hey. We were thinking about grabbing dinner before we head home," Clary explained. "Simon found a Subway near here."

Simon headed off down the street, and Clary chatted with Izzy about the movie and their feels. Eventually, Izzy got a call from her parents, and Clary let her have her privacy. Jace moved up next to Clary, and cleared his throat. "So what did you think of the movie?"

"It was good. I'll miss the movies. The franchise is over, and that's kind of sad." Clary sighed and shrugged. "How about you?"

"I never really got into the books, although Izzy forced me to read the trilogy. I forgot the plot, though."

"Wanna know a secret?"

"Sure."

"I don't actually like The Hunger Games that much."

Jace gasped in mock horror. "How dare you?"

"Yeah, I didn't discover the books until Simon did, and he accidentally spoiled a lot of things. On top of that, I just find the writing a bit… flat. I picked it up right after I read Harry Potter, so that might be it." She sighed. "I probably expected too much." She looked up at the street sign. "Do you know where we are?"

"No, but we've been walking for a while." Jace called to Simon. "Are we almost there?"

"We might have a little… problem." Simon looked nervously at everyone.

Clary sighed. "What is it, Simon?"

"I may have taken a wrong turn. Or three."

Everyone groaned and there was a chorus of Simon, why? While everyone else was distracted, Jace silently snuck up next to a distressed Simon and snatched the phone from his hand. "We went in the wrong direction," he declared. Jace looked down at Simon's phone again, and headed back down the street. Simon sighed, slouching aggressively. Jordan patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

Clary appeared next to Izzy. "Is Jace good with directions, or will we be wandering around for another fifteen minutes?"

"Jace was a Boy Scout. He did all the camping and crap, so I think he'll be okay."

"You never know. Simon was a Boy Scout, too."

"Well, Jace also went on a road trip during freshman year." Izzy paused. "Simon was a Boy Scout?"

"Kind of. He went to a few meetings, learned how to tie a few knots, and kind of went camping." Clary laughed. "They went to a farm, but he swore to never leave 'civilization' after that."

"You guys know each other so well." Izzy said, with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"We grew up together, so we share a lot of memories."

Izzy bit her lip. "So… have you guys ever dated?"

Clary smiled. "No. I mean, kind of, but not really." She saw Izzy's confused face and went on. "It was the eighth grade, and we had a graduation party. Simon invited me as his date, and we kind of tried to date each other before we realized that we didn't like each other that way."

"Oh." Izzy hesitated. "Has he gone out with other people?" she asked curiously.

"Just Maia, a really long time ago." Clary furrowed her brow. "I think it was freshman year? I'm not too sure. He asked her out, but they never got serious." Clary rolled her eyes. "They started arguing, Maia broke up with him, and Simon told me he partly asked her out because of peer pressure, which is extremely idiotic. A few months later, Maia met Jordan, and the rest is history." Clary cleared her throat. "He's been single ever since," she added nonchalantly. "That is, if you don't count all the fictional characters."

Izzy smiled. "You know, Jace has never been in a serious relationship, either." She snorted. "I wonder if it's just a teenage boy thing."

Clary lifted her eyebrows. "You're telling me Jace Herondale hasn't dated anyone?"

"Only casually. He dated this girl named Kaelie last month, and before that it was Aline… You know, I don't really remember all of them. There are too many." Izzy sighed. "I'm pretty sure there's a Jace Herondale ex-girlfriend support group."

"That's kind of… harsh."

"I mean, he doesn't really mean it, and he tries to be nice about it. It's usually he asks them to a dance or a movie and they go out for coffee a few times and Jace realizes that he doesn't like them like that and they get dumped." Izzy looked up at the sky. "Sometimes I worry about him. He's never had a crush or anything. On anyone." Izzy sighed. "I don't know. We'll see what happens." She smiled at Clary, which she thought was odd.

In front of them, Jace suddenly stopped. "We're here," he declared. Everyone cheered.

"Gosh dang it," Simon whispered in Clary's ear. "Why's he good at everything?"

Clary laughed and gave him a quick hug. "Don't worry, Si. We still love you." She walked into Subway, oblivious to the fact that Jace was glaring at Simon murderously.

After everyone finished eating, they stayed there and chatted for a while. (The employee looked a bit glum, but cheered up a bit when Jace went up to the counter to ask for some napkins.) Clary ended up going to the bathroom, and Maia followed her. "Oh my gosh," Maia exclaimed, once she was sure everyone else couldn't hear her. "Can you believe how cute Simon and Izzy are?"

Clary smiled. "They would be adorable, wouldn't they?"

"They so would. I hope Simon has the guts to ask her out," Maia squealed.

Clary snorted. "Please, if we're waiting on Simon to make a move, we might as well wait for pigs to fly."

"True that, but what else can we do?" The two girls sighed in unison, thinking. Maia suddenly frowned. "Hey, if Simon and Izzy get together, wouldn't that make you and Jace the only ones who are single?"

"I suppose so."

Maia waggled her eyebrows. "So… are you going to make a move?"

"Um… no." Maia looked at Clary knowingly.

"If you say so," Maia said, right before she slipped into the bathroom.

Clary banged on the stall door. "Wait, Maia! I really need to pee!"

While Maia and Clary were going to the washroom, the Subway employee decided to talk to Jordan and Jace. Jace was shamelessly flirting, while Jordan was trying to be polite without leading her on. Izzy rolled her eyes and turned to Simon. "This happens all the time."

Simon looked mildly surprised. "Does it?"

"Yup." Izzy looked at Simon and wondered how to go about saying what she wanted to say. "So…"

"So…?" Simon looked at Izzy, his brown eyes questioning.

"Thanks for not making fun of me crying at the movie earlier. " Izzy shuffled in her chair, uncomfortable.

"Oh." Simon looked surprised. "It's not a big deal. Don't worry about it." He flashed a smile at Izzy, and looked down at his phone to hide the faint blush on his face.

He's kind of cute, isn't he? Izzy smiled at him. "Still, thanks. I don't really like crying in public, and Jace always makes fun of me, so it was nice for you to try and comfort me. It was really sweet."

Simon's blush became a little more visible. "Really, don't worry about it."

They sat there together quietly, with Simon blushing and staring at his phone, and Izzy smiling at him. They were both hyperaware of the fact that their legs were brushing. Neither person moved their leg away.

They walked back home after that. Everyone was in a good mood, and they talked and joked loudly, earning them many angry looks from grouchy passerby. Halfway through their journey, their little group split divided. Jordan and Maia walked down the street, with Simon trailing behind them (and awkwardly third-wheeling). Jace, Izzy, and Clary continued on their way home. Jace walked in front of Izzy and Clary, who were talking about Mockingjay Part 2 and mourning the end of the Hunger Games. Izzy and Jace offered to walk Clary home, as it was already pretty dark, and Clary gladly accepted. They dropped Clary off, and Izzy turned and watched Jace's face as Clary entered her house.

"I wonder how long it'll take you," she muttered.

"How long it'll take me to do what?" he asked.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "How long it'll take you to realize your feelings."

Jace glanced at her. "For the last time, I don't have a crush on Clary."

"Suit yourself," Izzy replied, her pleated pleather skirt fluttering behind her as she walked away, leaving Jace to catch up.

Later that night, as Jace was doing his sit ups, he thought about Clary. Do I actually like her? Is Izzy right? Or am I just surprised by her? She just isn't like Kaelie or Aline or any other girl I've met.

Maybe I do like her.

Jace shook his head and reprimanded himself. Or maybe you're just not used to her yet! Don't go deciding that you like her, because you don't want to end up hurting her. Izzy will murder me if I break Clary's heart. Izzy needs more female friends, as it is.

Sighing, he got up and decided to go shower.


A/N: Sorry guys. I know this chapter was kind of crap, and I know it's super late, but I've got a lot of schoolwork, so I didn't really have time to write this week.

Review if you liked it, review if you hated it. :)