I own nothing!

- - -

Curled on the couch with a mug of steaming tea, I watched in quiet amusement as Jace paced nervously around the living room. Lounging on the couch next to me, Simon rolled his eyes. "Stop pacing, Jace."

"They're not here yet! They should be here!" he snapped, glaring at the clock.

"Magnus said they'd be here between seven-thirty and eight. It's barely even seven thirty-one," Simon said, looking frazzled as he ran his hands through his hair.

Simon groaned and stuffed a pillow over his face. "I can't stand to even look at him," Simon said, his voice muffled.

Calmly sipping at my tea, I shrugged half-heartedly. "I find that if you watch him with a cynical sense of humor in mind, it becomes more bearable."

There was a brieft knock at the door before it banged open, and Jace ran to the entryway. There was a pause, before Jace came back in, shaking his head. Following behind him was Jacob, who looked at Jace with a mixture of pity and amusement. "What have I missed?" Jacob asked, vaulting over the back of the couch to sit next to me.

"Jace is being a moron," Simon said from behind his pillow. "He won't stop freaking out."

Jacob watched Jace pace a few times around the room before he said, "I can tell. How long has he been pacing?"

"Thirty five minutes," Simon said with a groan.

"When are they expected?" Jacob asked, reaching for my tea.

Glaring at him, I held the cup out of his reach and told him, "By eight, at the latest."

Checking his watch, Jacob said in surprise, "It's twenty-five till!"

"We know," Simon hissed, pulling the pillow off of his face to glare effectively at Jacob. His right eye twitched. "Oh trust me, we know!"

Shrinking back, Jacob quickly nabbed the mug from me and took a sip. Coughing, he rubbed at his mouth and spluttered out, "What is that stuff? Dish water?"

"Black green tea," I told him, sipping at the tea. "It's good for your skin and it helps keep your metabolism in balance."

"It tastes like cat pee."

"You smell like cat pee," Simon muttered from his pillow.

Before I could even laugh, there was a knock at the door. Jace was vaulting over chairs before I had a chance to set down my mug. There was a crash as the door was flung open, and Jace shouted happily. Voices shouted back, and the trampling of people walking inside sounded through the entryway. The door slammed shut after a minute, and a tall, slender man poked his head around the corner. His hair was blue, spiky and very sparkly, and his eyes had strange cat-slitted pupils. "We just locked Jace outside, if that's all right with you," he told me coyly.

"That's perfectly fine with us," Simon said, tossing the pillow on the couch as he stood up. "He's been driving us all crazy with his non-stop pacing."

"Yeah, well, he's currently non-stop kissing with Clary," a dark haired girl said as she strutted into the living room. Her hair was long and dark, twisted into an elegant braid that rippled down her corseted back. Her long, graceful legs were shown off in a scanty little skirt. Standing up, I held out my hand to her and said, "Isabella Swan, but you can call me Bella."

"Isabelle Lightwood," she said, eyes sparkling. "But I guess you can call me Izzy."

Stepping around me, Simon gave her a hug. "Nice to see you, Isabelle," he said, smiling shyly at her.

Isabelle grinned at him. Behind her, Alec walked over to me and gave me a tentative hug. "Nice to see you again, Bella," he said. "How was Italy?"

"Strangely enough, it had loads of vampires there," I said with a wink. "Maybe it was just the neighborhood we went to."

Magnus nodded solemnly. "Location has everything to do with it, darling."

I held out my hand for him to shake, and he idly took it in his hand and examined it. "It seems you are taking to Shadowhunting quite well, Miss Swan."

"Call me Bella," I said firmly. "Miss Swan makes me feel like a pirate."

Simon exploded into laughter. Alec and Isabelle stared blankly at him, while Jacob rolled his eyes. "No more nerd jokes, Bells," Jacob said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "I don't think poor Simon could handle it."

I shrugged, but leaned back into Jacob. The door creaked open again, and Jace walked in, holding hands with a petite girl. She looked shorter even than Alice; with curls of fiery red hair and bright eyes. Marks glowed on her translucent skin, glowing a little under the florescent lights. Leading her straight to me, Jace gestured to me as he introduced us. "Clary, this is Bella Swan. Bella, this is Clary." There was reverence in his voice when he said her name.

Smiling, I shook Clary's hand and said, "Wonderful to meet you, Clary. Jace has told me a lot about you."

"I could say the same for you," Clary said with a laugh.

From there, our conversation went smoothly. Clary and I traded funny stories about Jace, while the Lightwoods added in embarrassing childhood memories of him. After standing by my side for a while, Jacob finally sat on the couch behind me and tried to amuse himself. First he began to play with my hair, but after a while he took the liberty of trying to sneak the knife from my thigh sheath.

After what was probably the tenth time I'd slapped his hand away, Clary asked me, "Are you two dating?"

Startled, we both blurted out, "No!"

"I just got out of a relationship," I explained after a moment, rubbing sheepishly at the back of my neck. "It was a pretty intense relationship, so I'm not really ready to date."

Clary nodded, a light of understanding flickering in her eyes. "Is that the one that Jace briefly mentioned...?"

"The guy that abandoned me in the woods where Jace found me, yeah," I said, toying with my hair. "He tried to get me back, but I pretty much shot him down."

Clary nodded. Jace reached for her tiny hand and took it in his slim one, and I had to look away at that.

"What's your excuse, Jacob?" Simon asked, trying to break the tension.

Flashing a grin at Simon, Jacob flipped his hair out of his face and said, "I'm too gorgeous to settle down, Simon."

Magnus grinned at Jacob from across the room, slitted eyes glowing. "Indeed you are, my boy."

His expression of sheer horror, Jacob shifted so he was hidden by me. Nostrils flaring, Alec dragged Magnus inside the kitchen by the arm.

There was a pause as sparks literally began to fly.

"I wouldn't go in there for a while, if I were you," Jace said, turning away and shaking his head. "They'll be at it for a while, and trust me, you never want to see a spot where Magnus and Alec were making out."

"I never want to see them making out period," Jacob said with a shudder.

Once again, the door opened and footsteps sounded in the hallway. "Bella? I'm home!" Charlie called to me. He walked around the corner and froze at the sight of all the people in his living room. His mouth popped open, but no words came out.

"Hello again, Chief Swan!" Jace said heartily, waving the hand that was intertwined with Clary's. "I'm sure you're wondering why there's so many people in your living room."

"That's an understatement," Charlie muttered.

"This is my family," Jace said, waving to everyone. "The pretty girl I'm holding hands with is Clary Fray." Shaking Charlie's hand firmly, Clary grinned at my dad and gave him a typical hello. "The tall girl standing by Simon is Isabella Lightwood. We grew up together, so I consider her family."

Shaking Charlie's hand, Isabelle dazzled him with a smile and said, "Nice you meet you, sir. Please, call me Izzy."

Nodding, Charlie looked a bit baffled. "You're all Shadowhunters, then?"

Clary nodded and Isabelle toyed with her whips. "Damn good ones, too," Isabelle declared.

Again, Charlie nodded. "I need a beer," he said weakly, and walked into the kitchen before we could protest. There was a shout, and Charlie backed quickly out of the kitchen, looking absolutely horrified. "What in the blazes is going on?" he bellowed.

"That," Isabelle said smoothly, "Is my brother Alec and his boyfriend, Magnus Bane."

"The one with the spiky hair," Simon chipped in. "He's a warlock."

"A warlock..." Charlie repeated weakly. Sitting down heavily in his favorite armchair, he pressed his fists against his eyes and said wearily, "I'm gonna need a whole pack of beer."

- - -

I am so, so sorry for the late update! School started back up again, and things just got plain hectic. I know this update was fluffy and downright craptastic, but I promise I'll do better next update!

Response to reviews:

LaBella Gomez: No, it's definitely not over! I do plan on a trip to Idris, plus some other fun plot points drawn from the Twilight booksies.

singer981: I'm not sure which one I'll do, but I'm considering one of the first two suggestions you had. :)

To all my readers! Please submit a review! I'm a very lazy author, and I'm undecided between Bella/Simon and Bella/Jacob.