Hope you all like some drama! There's this chapter; then, I think another chapter of this filler stuff, and then I introduce another character; and I'm pretty sure you're all going to love that… ;)

"Where's Clary?" Simon asked, as he saw Isabelle coming back downstairs.

Isabelle looked at him, "You mean she didn't come back down here? She left my room a little while ago…"

Simon then saw Alec coming downstairs…and panicked, putting an insane two-and-two together.

It was at this moment that Simon realized Jace was no longer in the kitchen.

He wasn't sure when Jace had left, but, right now, he didn't care.

He knew where Jace was…or, he had a pretty damn good idea.

"What are you all doing to her?!"

"Simon, calm down, I'm sure…"

"Where's Jace?" Simon almost shouted.

Isabelle looked at Alec, who shrugged.

"Where's Jace" Simon said through gritted teeth.

"He probably went out for a ride."

"You mean you don't know where your little brother went?"

"He's older than me…" Isabelle started.

"Whatever. You mean you don't know where he is?!"

Simon took off, running. "Clary!" he called as he ran up the steps.

"Clary!" he called as soon as he reached the top, he looked to his left, then his right, and back again before deciding she was behind the only door that was closed.

"Simon! What the hell are you doing?!" Jonathan yelled, following him. He caught Simon just before he was about to move toward the door that was closed.

"Looking for Clary, isn't that obvious?!"

"Clary's probably asleep…"

"Oh, yeah? Well, where the hell is Jace?! Probably trying to sleep with her…"

Jonathan scoffed, "Simon, calm down. If Jace was like that, do you really think he would've helped her break me out?"

Simon stayed quiet, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring. "I still want to see my best friend."

"Simon…" Jonathan said, exasperated as Simon walked to the closed door, and without knocking, he grabbed the handle and threw the door open.

"Clary!" Jace and Clary had heard Simon's voice boom from miles away.

"Shit." Jace swore.

"I think you mean double shit." Clary corrected as they sprang apart.

Clary looked around.

"Get back into bed." Jace told her and he quickly crawled underneath. This was ridiculous. This was his house. Why was he hiding?

Clary quickly shrugged her shoes off, and got back into the bed.

Then they heard something that made Clary's stomach drop, "Simon!"

That was Jonathan.

What would he do if he found them?

Clary changed the plans…just as Simon opened the door.

"Clary?"

"Simon?"

"Oh my god. You're alright." He said, and Jace could tell that they were hugging.

"Of course I'm okay. I've been through a lot, Simon. Can't get rid of me that easily." She smiled; a smile that reached her eyes.

Simon laughed, "What're you doing in here?"

"Oh, this is where Alec…um…nursed me back to health? My stuff was in here. I was coming in to get it before I went downstairs."

"Oh…okay. Are you coming downstairs now?"

Clary was putting the envelope in her pocket and she turned back to him, "Yeah, come on."

"Hey, um…Clary?"

With her hand on the doorknob, Clary turned around, "Yeah, Simon?"

"There's something I need to tell you…"

His eyes strayed, and Clary's stomach flipped. He wasn't…

He couldn't…

Not here…

Not now…

"Clary, I…um…will you go out with me?"

Oh no…

Oh shit…

Double shit…

Clary's mouth gaped as she zoned out.

She didn't know what to say.

She didn't want to say anything.

She wished she were anywhere but here.

Even back in the prison. Maybe especially back in the prison…you know, before they found her brother.

But that was then, and this is now.

This was going to be harder than stabbing her dad.

"Simon, I…"

"I knew it." Simon said, suddenly angry.

"Knew what?" Clary asked, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"You like Jace."

"What? Simon, I just met him…"

"Yeah, well, it's easy to see."

"Simon, I just met him…"

"Oh? So you're telling me that even if I was Jace you'd still be saying no?"

"Simon, I…"

"Like I said, I knew it."

"Simon, it's not…"

"It's not what, Clary? It's not like that, or it's not what I think? Of course it is! Why else would he have saved you?!"

"I don't know, okay! I don't know why he saved me! I don't know why he went with me! God! Why does everyone keep saying that! What happened to the days when someone could do something nice for someone else without having ulterior motives?"

"Please, Clary, don't tell me you don't see it. Everybody can see his ulterior motives." Simon snorted.

Clary sighed, "Simon, I don't know what you want from me."

"Come home, come back with me, let's go, right now. Look, look at yourself in the mirror. Look what they're doing to you."

"Simon, in case you hadn't noticed – and everybody can tell that you have – this is really all Isabelle wears."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've seen the way you look at Isabelle."

"Clary, that's ridiculous! I just met her!"

Clary suddenly got a devilish grin on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, "And now you see where I'm coming from."

Simon shook his head, "Not to mention, I just asked you out..."

Clary sighed, "Simon, I'm sorry; you're a really good friend…"

"You are not friend-zoning me."

"Yeah, I am. Come on, come here." Clary said, with her arms wide open.

They hugged again, "It's okay. We'll be okay. I'll be okay. We'll go home soon."

Simon smiled, then, and kissed her.

He pulled away slightly, "I don't like Isabelle, Clary, I…" he couldn't finish, so instead he kissed her again.

She bunched her hands in the front of his shirt, lightly trying to push him off of her.

Neither of Simon's kisses were anything like what she had just shared with Jace.

Disappointment rolled through her.

When he finally released her, she was breathless…they both were.

Shit.

He was still holding her around the waist and her hands were still bunched up in the front of his shirt.

"Simon…"

"I love you, Clary; and being a best friend and being friend-zoned are two different things. The latter is going to take some getting used to." He said to her, tightening his arms around her.

As soon as he had done it, though, he let her go and walked out of the room, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair.

Her mouth dropped as she watched him walk out.

What the hell had just happened?

As if this moment couldn't get any more confusing…or worse, Jace crawled out from underneath of the bed.

"Jace? Jace, I…"

She ran in front of him, realizing he was ignoring her, and put her back on the door so he couldn't open it.

He just glared in response, his hand on the knob.

"Jace?" Clary barely refrained from choking out.

"Simon loves you; now let me leave."

"Jace, I…"

"You what, Clary? You don't care that he loves you? That's not true from what I saw…besides, he's your best friend."

"Yeah, and that's all. I…I don't want Simon like that. He's only my best friend."

"Oh yeah? And pretty soon you'll be going home with him. Get out of the way."

Clary's mouth dropped.

This wasn't happening.

This couldn't be happening.

Jace stared at her in silence, and he forcibly opened the door even though Clary was still standing against it. He walked out, leaving her standing there, stunned.

After Jace had opened the door, Clary looked out and saw someone who was going to make this situation extremely worse than it already was.

Alec. His arms were crossed over his chest and he glared at her as though he was going to kill her slowly.

Taking a second-glance, it looked as though in his thoughts he already had killed her, multiple times.

Clary's face dropped and she walked back to the bed after watching Jace stand in front of Alec for a few seconds.

Alec came in.

"Please, don't yell at me. I can't handle three people in a row." Clary begged.

"I'm not going to yell at you." Alec said, in a harsh tone, but what he said was what mattered. Her head instantly turned to him.

Alec and Clary seem to be having a lot of bonding time lately, and as a tiny spoiler, that'll come in handy in the next couple chapters. ;)

I'm so sorry for the slow update! I've currently got a lot going on, even though I just finished up school, and I'm a little stressed out. Thank you for your continued support; but most importantly considering what time of year it is here…

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

P.S. for all you other writers, are they not allowing the line in the edit documents anymore?! As I'm editing this one, I can't find it! :(
Thank you!