Chapter 10

Isabelle sat on Simon's couch quietly and watched as he paced back and forth in an angry fashion. He had been this way for a couple of days now and it was starting to worry Isabelle. At first she had tried to coax him out of his state, but he ignored her and just kept to himself unless he needed her. Eventually, she gave up.

Today was another one of their meeting days and Simon had devised another game plan. Isabelle felt kind of down, knowing that Simon was torn because of Clary and he hadn't even let her finish when she told him – or almost told him – that she liked him. She sighed, blowing on the bits of hair that had gotten in her face.

"We have to seem more like a couple to her! Something she has to be jealous of!" Simon exclaimed suddenly, making Isabelle jump in surprise. He looked directly in her eyes and waited for her to reply. She contemplated about what to say, when she heard a "Tsk." come from an impatient Simon. That was another thing, he had become meaner and colder to her as well as to everyone else, especially to Jace. Though he did have his obvious exception, Clary. He would still be… him, though Isabelle could see how hard he tried to get Clary to feel something for him without making it that obvious.

"Oh. I – um, I guess we'll still have to do this pretend girlfriend-boyfriend thing then?" Isabelle suggested, but she was nervous and it sounded more like a question than an answer.

"We're already doing that! We need to do something more!" Simon commanded, annoyed that Isabelle wasn't understanding.

"I – I don't know…" Isabelle stuttered and trailed off, beginning to get scared of Simon. Before she knew it, Simon was in front of her and gripping her by the shoulders. Isabelle gasped in shock and stared at Simon with wide eyes that held confusion, with a hint of fear.

"Isabelle! Work with me here! I asked you to help with this because I knew you were the only one who'd be able to do it! Listen and offer some more helpful advice!" Simon yelled at her, frustrated. Isabelle's eyes flared up with anger, she had, had it with Simon blaming her. His grip was getting tighter on her arms and they were starting to feel numb. So she kicked him - in a place where a man should never be kicked – and instantly he let go, making her fall to the floor. She winced and rubbed her shoulders, trying to massage away the pain. She inched her self off the floor slowly and stood over Simon. He was crouching and hollowing a string of curses, but managed to get out, "What the fuck was that for?!" he hissed.

"Oh, I don't know, the fact that you were holding my shoulders to the point where it hurt and the fact that you are too stupid to see that I have been helping you all this time!" Isabelle snapped, then added, You're too hung up over Clary that you don't even see what I'm doing! Get over her, Simon!" Isabelle was about to say something else, but was cut off by loud slap that echoed through the living room and jerked her head roughly to the side, causing her to see stars. Isabelle put her hand to her cheek, and felt the heat in her cheeks.

Her eyes bore into Simon's angrily as he glanced down at his hands, not believing that he had actually done that. He stepped towards her gingerly, hoping not to scare her. He tried to hug her, telling her that he was sorry, but she pushed wouldn't have it. His eyes showed concern and worry for her, and for once the old Simon was back.

Simon insisted on hugging her, but she shoved his arms away. "Don't touch me!" she screeched stomping towards the front door and throwing it open. Simon scrabbled after Isabelle, begging her to stay – sure, she had wanted him to say that to her, but not under these circumstances and not right now. Isabelle shook her, giving Simon a disgusted look.

She stood on the side of the road and hailed a taxi, while Simon stood beside her, pleading for her to forgive him and that he had not meant to hit her.

Isabelle ignored him and climbed into the back seat, with angry tears streaming down her face. Before slamming the car door, she deadpanned, voice filled with venom, "We are done, Simon. I'm not being your pretend girlfriend anymore."

A/N: so yeah pretty intense chapter here, guys. Oh my gosh, again I'm so sorry for another long wait, I keep doing that... and its a short chapter. SORRY! its just that I can't keep up with postings because of semester two homework -_- I'll try to post at least every Friday though. I PROMISE! But anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

LOL I feel bad for the taxi driver, since he had to deal with a bit of awkwardness having to be between the two. So this chapter's question is:

If you were a taxi driver and a couple was having a moment (fighting, kissing, whatever) and you were there, what would you do or say?

Also happy valentines day, guys! or now belated valentines ^w^' Hope you had a good day! And if you are single, don't worry about it. LOL I'm single too XD Thank you for being such faithful readers, love you, guys!

Usually I don't really care if I get reviews or not, but it'd be nice to get some. I really enjoy reading them and they always make my day. So please review!

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Enjoy your day!