A/N: Meanwhile, with Simon...

Chapter 25

(Simon POV)

I woke up with the unstoppable resolve to call Evangeline. I could faintly recall a dream that had to do with her, but like with most of my dreams, I couldn't remember anything specific about it. All I knew was that I wanted to take her on a make-up date.

So after I wasted time for a few hours, I felt confident enough to call her and schedule the thing. Just like last time, I called Isabelle, who passed her cell phone onto Evangeline.

"Hello?" said Evangeline.

"Hi!" I greeted, once again embarrassed at my sudden overenthusiasm. "Do you, erm, want to go out some time today so we can actually have a date with just the two of us?"

She seemed to be thinking it over, and I got nervous. Finally she gave a thoughtful "hmm" and said, "That sounds like a good idea. Do you have anything in mind?"

I thought fast, mentally kicking myself for not having anything planned. What did I usually do in my free time? Would Evangeline like it? Quickly, Simon… "I was thinking that we could maybe eat at a café and go to a bookstore after." Hopefully, she would agree… Evangeline was a classy girl… Would my idea be good enough?

"I'd really enjoy that," she enthused. I sighed in relief, which made her giggle slightly. "What time?"

"Soon!" I said, my confidence reinvigorated. "As soon as possible. Are you hungry now?"

"Actually, I am."

I couldn't fight my smile, and I wished she could see it. "Great! That's amazing. I'll be there as soon as possible and then we'll find a café together."

"Okay. I'll see you then, Simon," said Evangeline. Hearing her say my name made me strangely excited, and my confidence practically surged through the roof. Yeah, I could ask a pretty girl out.

And Eric used to say I'd die a virgin. Ha.

Evangeline and I ended up eating lunch together in a small café called the Trasola Tearoom that she said reminded her fondly of home. It was definitely a nice place to go for a date, with the charming decorations and romantic atmosphere. I ended up ordering some kind of quiche, while Evangeline got miniature sandwiches. We both had tea, also.

The food was excellent. I felt like bringing it up while we ate. "We should come here more often!" I said between bites.

Evangeline giggled and delicately wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin. "The food is very good."

I eyed her sandwiches. They seemed to be typical tea sandwiches, and I could spot the familiar light green hue of cucumbers between the crust-less bread. "Can I try a bite of one of your sandwiches?" I asked suddenly, even though I hadn't meant to. It just sort of… happened.

She looked surprised, but shrugged lightly. "Sure." Her lovely blue eyes glanced down at her plate, and I could see her internal pondering of how to go about giving me a taste. "Um…"

"You can just cut a piece off," I suggested, starting to ramble. "Or let me take a bite myself. I don't really care. I mean, it's completely your decision. Actually, I don't need a taste. Never mind."

Amusement at me made her eyes glitter, which made her even prettier. "Simon," she said with light exasperation, "calm down. Here." Then she lifted one of her untouched sandwiches into the air and held it in front of my face.

I leaned forward to take a bite, when our eyes locked for an instant. I became hyper-aware of Evangeline's hand, suspended in the air only a few inches away from my face, holding the tea sandwich. I suddenly wished the sandwich wasn't there, and that she was about to stroke my cheek or something. I wanted to kiss her, and I could have sworn I saw some variation of that reflected in her sapphire gaze.

But then I did bite the sandwich, and the moment was shattered. A piece of cucumber ended up falling from my mouth and onto the floor, which made both of us laugh. "I'm so clumsy," I said with exaggerated misery as I chewed. "You'd think vampires would have better reflexes, but I guess that I don't count."

Most vampires also didn't eat human food, but I had never quite lost my taste for it (Clary liked to joke that it's because I'm a teenage boy forever). It didn't give me any nutritional benefit, but I still enjoyed the experience of eating.

Either way, I watched her put the sandwich back on her plate and her eyes meet my gaze again. Her full lips were parted slightly and I wanted so badly to kiss her… Moving instinctively, I reached across the table and brushed some black ringlets from her face. She blushed, and I rested my hand on hers on top of the table. Evangeline smiled, and I smiled back.

I was about to say something, but we were interrupted. "Simon! Imagine seeing you here!" shouted Eric, who I realized was now standing next to my chair. I removed my hand from Evangeline's and used it instead to massage my forehead. The last thing I wanted was someone to interrupt another date of ours, especially since this one had been going well. "And who's this babe you've got with you? Nice going, bro."

Evangeline's mouth dropped open and I reprimanded, "ERIC," but he wasn't paying attention to me. Instead, he had already pulled up a chair to our table, sat down, and leaned back leisurely.

"Mind if I have one of these?" he asked rhetorically, picking up the sandwich I had just bitten and stuffing it into his mouth. "Shit, that's delicious."

Evangeline still looked scandalized. I gave Eric my best death-glare. "No one invited you and you're interrupting a private moment. Please leave." I added as an afterthought, "Besides, I just took a bite from that sandwich you ate."

"I don't care. It's not like we haven't exchanged bacteria before," he said flippantly, before turning green. "Wait, was that a cucumber sandwich?"

"Yes," Evangeline told him stiffly.

"Oh my God, I shouldn't have done that. I'm allergic to fucking cucumbers. I think I'm going to be sick…" The next thing I was aware of was Erik vomiting directly on the table.

After that mess was cleaned up (literally and figuratively), Evangeline and I went to a nearby bookstore in an attempt to salvage our date. It was a lot of fun, and we got to bond over our shared love of Victorian literature. What I loved the most about it, though, was getting to know Evangeline more and vice versa. She really was a sweet person, and it went well with my overall awkwardness.

At the end of the date, after we walked hand-in-hand back to the Institute, I even got a gentle kiss from her, after which she turned around, waved, and went inside.

And if there was one thing about spending time with Evangeline, it was that she almost helped me forget how I was still in love with Clary. Who knows? Maybe I'd fall in love with her instead.

A/N: What do you guys think of Simon and Evangeline? :D xoxoxo