Simon POV

"God, Alec, you're not okay."

"It's alright, Izzy," Alec retorted.

"Your still bleeding. Don't try to tell me you're alright."

Isabelle and Alec had been bickering for the last two minutes about the injury Alec sustained when hunting.

I personally agreed with Izzy on that particular subject, but no one asked me.

Alec was leaning against the stonewall of the cliff for support. You couldn't tell if you weren't standing right where I was.

I got bored of listening to the two siblings quarrel, so I strides over to where Clary and Jace sat. I shifted more towards her because I wasn't all too fond of Jace. But again, no one asked my opinion on the topic.

Still looking at Isabelle, I wasn't paying too much attention to what the two were talking about.

"...so there should be at least eleven dead." I captured the last part of what Jace said.

Clary nodded.

She had a small slash on her cheek. It wasn't bleeding which was good.

"Simon," Clary snapped her fingers in front of my eyes that were busy looking at Izzy. I looked over at her.

"Yeah."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you want to go get some water at the stream?"

I nodded, and we began to walk off.

"Do you have a thing for Izzy?" Clary asked once we were out of an earshot.

"What?!" I knew I was blushing slightly, when she glanced at me. "No." I didn't even convince myself of that.

"Pff. Liar. You do." I almost felt as if I was betraying her in some way. Because she was my childhood crush, I can't like someone new in front of her. She smirked anyway.

"Now isn't the time to think about or have crushes, Clare," I said, knowing I was right and regretting it. Any sign of joy or giddiness on her face faded instantaneously.

If it came down to it, Clary would be the one of the two of us to win. I couldn't live with myself if I won with her in second.

"You're right," she sighed.

"As always," I said trying to cheer her up. I was rewarded with a sideways grin from Clary.

She playfully punched my shoulder. She wasn't trying to punch hard, but it still hurt. She may have been small, but Clary was mighty. She had once punched a boy at our school for calling us nerds. He had a bloody nose and Clary got sent home, but it was still amazing for a third grade 'nerdy' girl to do that.

I snapped out of yet another trance when Clary breathed, "I won't be able to do it."

"Do what?" I asked.

She looked at me with wide eyes, "Kill them."

"Clary," I sighed. This was ridiculous, right? We were in the Hunger Games. How could she not, if there was a chance at her winning, living.

Somewhere in my heart though, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it either.

"Simon," she thought for a moment about what to say. "It would have been easier if… we didn't know them. If they were strangers who hated us and wanted us dead."

"Clary," I repeated not knowing what else to say. We'd have to do it at some point wouldn't we? It was almost inevitable. Unless someone else does it before us. Is that a terrible thing to hope? Am I cold-hearted for wanting someone else to kill them?

"It's just…I actually like them, you know. Isabelle, willing to do whatever it take to help her brother. Jace, actually caring even though he pretends he doesn't always. Alec, being so quiet and shy, yet being smarter than anyone I've ever known. How could I do it? How could I even think to do it?"

I wrapped my arm around her as we continued to make our way to the stream.

We drank from the small water source and started to head back when it began to drizzle.

"He was right," Clary smiles a little.

"Who?"

"Alec. He said it was going to rain earlier. He was right," it came out of her mouth wistfully.

We walked faster and found the other hiding in the alcove, sharing orange slices.

"Who wants to go get some sticks with me before all the wood gets soaked?" Isabelle asked all of us when we entered.

"I will." I now had an excuse to be with Izzy alone for a while.

"Let's go then, before it pours."

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Clary POV

Simon and Izzy walked off to collect some (mostly) dry wood.

It was quiet except for the occasional exchange of orange slices.

I hadn't eaten an orange in what seemed like ages. I'd only ever had one in my life and that was when my father was still alive and we had some money.

After he died, my mother and I could just barely get by. It helped when she married Luke because he still had a job, but we still didn't have much.

"Do you hear that?" Jace asked looking around. He stood up began to walk to the whistling sound.

I followed him.

"There!" He ran to a nearby tree with a metal container stuck in it.

Jace started to climb the tree. When he reach the area where the sponsor gift was in the tree.

He reached out but couldn't get it. Jace then attempted to move out to a thinner branch. He wasn't that high in the tree, but it was high enough to break a few bones if you fell.

"I can't get it," he said, looking down at me. "I'm too heavy, the branch won't hold."

"I'll get it." Jace climbed down. I jumped to grab onto the lowest branch and pulled myself up. From there it was easy, almost natural.

I'd climbed trees almost all of my life.

I reached the branch by the metal container. The wind blew, rustling the branches.

Slowly, I made my way out on the branch. It bent with my weight. This was surprising considering I was a small person.

I looked down at Jace, his golden hair ruffling in the wind.

It was colder now with the wind and rain combined.

It I had inched my way where I could almost touch it. It was so close. My fingers grazed the side of the metal. I tried to grab it once again, this time, knocking it out of the tree. My left hand grasped a branch next to me right for support.

Jace caught the sponsor gift as the branch broke away below me.

Sorry about the cliffhanger!

I hope you like this chapter. Thanks for reading! Review what you thought.