So the big Homecoming chapter is next followed by a rather dramatic afterparty which can only end well... this is quite a long chapter but it deals with quite a lot of the individual relationships and I put loads of effort in so I hope y'all enjoy and I'd love some reviews!

-H

Changed

"So- whose ready for the big D tomorrow?" Cato and Gale turned around with incredulous expressions on their face and Jace grimaced, "Yeah that didn't come out right. I meant the dance."
Cato snorted, "Is Clary ready for the big-"
Jace whipped him with a towel. They were in the locker rooms after Thursday practice which had been brutal as Coach Odair was pissed their usual Friday training session was being cancelled due to Homecoming preparations. It was already nearing five o'clock because he'd forced them to stay late.
Gale stretched out his painful shoulder muscles and said, "I never see the big deal with these damn dances. Girls get so fucking weird!"
"That could just be you, and because you cheated-"
"I didn't cheat on Isabelle," Gale said quietly but truthfully and Cato raised his eyebrows.
Jace however came to his friend's defence, "He didn't Cato, he wouldn't be walking right now if he had."
Gale sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I thought she was going to take me out for a minute," he confessed.
"What did happen exactly?" Cato asked.
"Nothing. We just kind of- ended. She wasn't happy that I'm friends with Johanna and neither of us wanted it to become a big deal and end up with her being all crazy and paranoid and me feeling like I had to ask permission to be friends with other girls. Guess it wasn't meant to be," he finished poetically. When neither boy looked convinced he added, "Considering the whole thing was a consolation prize for both of us I'm not surprised it didn't work out in the end, but it seemed a good idea at the time."
"So you both liked other people but decided to date anyway?" Cato scoffed.
"Hey- both of those other people were clearly not interested in either of us at the time. And we liked each other on some level… it beat sitting around single and miserable."
Cato hit him lightly on the shoulder as a sign of encouragement, "Well you gave it a good shot man. Anyway, I gotta run, see you two ladies at the big D tomorrow." He winked at Jace and left.
"So when are you gonna ask Katniss out?"
Gale dropped his gum-shield on the floor and took a moment to collect his thoughts by bending down to retrieve it. "What the fuck are you talking about man?"
Jace grinned, "Fuck my sister behind my back but don't try and fool me twice, I know you've been in love with her for years- Katniss, when are you going to ask her out, now that she and Marvel are officially over and done with? I mean yeah she's going to the dance with the Mellark kid, but everyone knows he's been majorly friend-zoned."
He took a moment to consider his answer before deciding there was no point in trying to deny it. Jace wouldn't tell anyone. "I don't know what I'm going to do. Katniss… well, Katniss might never like me back like that."
"You won't know unless you try."
"Yeah but what happens when she shoots me down and it ruins our friendship? There's a lot a stake… meanwhile, now that I am single, there's no problem with me texting Johanna. She's hot, she's single, she's not part of the group so there's less chance of fucking everything up."
Jace shook his head with a smile, "Yeah it's not like she's related to our Coach or anything."
Gale grinned, "What's life without a little danger?"
Jace got more serious, "Okay, so you could go with Johanna and have a damn good time, because let's face it we all know that girl is going to have game." Gale nodded. "But this thing with Katniss- well, you never know what she's secretly feeling. You could be missing out on something great, and if you wait too long, eventually another Marvel will show up and maybe next time he won't be so stupid to sleep with the likes of Glimmer."
"It's going to be one hell of a decision," Gale agreed. "Death if Coach finds out, or possibly closing the door on what could be my one shot with Catnip. Guess it's a good thing I have this stupid dance to distract me."
Jace suddenly pulled an awkward face, "Yeah… about that. I thought I should warn you that Isabelle," he sighed, "I hate this more than you're going to, but she's already found herself another date."
Gale raised his eyebrows though he wasn't totally surprised. There was no way Isabelle Lightwood would show up to Homecoming solo. "Who? Please tell me it isn't Cato."
Jace laughed, "I wish. No, it's her ex actually. Merlion. A royal prick, he goes to Panem Prep across town."
Panem Prep with Idris High's biggest sporting competitor. Gale vaguely remembered the name from their rival team but couldn't put it to a face. He made a show of shrugging, "She's choosing to bring a Panem prat to one of our dances? Bold move."
Jace looked wary, "I thought I'd give you the heads up, mainly because I'd like to be able to focus on Clary at this dance and not be babysitting you all night." He clapped a hand to his friend's shoulder, "I mean it Gale, no fighting."

Clary frowned at the screen, "I still don't understand what's going on!"
"It's anime Clary, get with the times!"
"It looks like it was made by drunken babies," she complained, "Next time I'm picking the movie!"
Simon sighed and handed her the popcorn. "So are you excited about the big Homecoming dance tomorrow night?"
"Sure, though the limo ride is going to be so much more awkward now that Isabelle is bringing Merlion rather than Gale."
"I never liked that guy," Simon observed.
"That's because you had a major crush on Isabelle while she was dating him," Clary pointed out, stuffing another handful of popcorn into her mouth. "She didn't really explain what happened with Gale."
"If he'd really hurt her we'd all know. We'd be attending his murder trial instead of planning on spending a Friday night enduring a crappy high school cliché." Clary rolled her eyes, "One day you'll look back on high school and be glad you went to all the terribly cheesy dances. Besides," she continued more hesitantly, "Aren't you happy to be taking Clove?"
Simon tried to keep his smile light but Clary saw through him, "Did she say something to you?"
"Hey, we agreed to keep out of each other's relationships remember?" She avoided answering the question which didn't go unnoticed by Simon. "But if things aren't working out then you shouldn't make yourself stay with her if you're unhappy."
"It's not that I'm unhappy- it's more… we're just really different," he finished lamely.
Clary thought about the different couples she knew and said carefully, "Sometimes different can be good, but if you guys don't have anything romantic in common maybe you'd be better off as friends."
"When did you get such an expert on relationships, Fray?" he commented but not meanly.
She laughed but her humour was cut short as the front door opened and Jonathan arrived home. Instantly the mood in the room slipped into an awkward silence with the cheap karate sounds of the movie playing in the background. Clary kept her gaze glued to the screen. She hadn't spoken to Jonathan properly in weeks, not since Camille had told him about her and Isabelle's conversation in the bathrooms at Pandemonium. Her brother, despite the fact Clary hadn't known anything about it and still wasn't aware of what had been said, had been furious with her for what he called 'disrespecting the girl I love', to which Clary had retorted that if love was ignoring your family and changing into a completely different person then she wished she'd never find it. Of course the argument had then moved on to bring up Jace before Clary had stormed out of the house and refused to acknowledge him since. Her mom and Luke were getting fed up of the animosity, especially as neither sibling was inclined to fill them in on what it was about.
So when Jonathan moved into the living room instead of ignoring them and continuing upstairs Clary wasn't sure of what to do. After a moment of tense silence Jonathan cleared his throat, "Uh-" he had clearly forgotten Simon's name and Clary grit her teeth. Simon had been coming to their house since they were in Kindergarten.
"His name is Simon, Jonathan."
He didn't look too abashed, "Yes, well Simon, would you mind if I had a moment with my sister?"
Before Simon could move however Clary's hand came down on his arm, "Actually I mind, we're kind of watching something here."
Jonathan's eyes flickered to the anime on the screen and back, "We can't keep this up Clarissa."
She stood and faced him properly, "Actually," she sneered, "I think I can."
And with that she headed out of the room and locked herself in the downstairs bathroom, leaving Simon casually holding a bucket of popcorn and wishing he would turn invisible. After a moment of standing locked in some kind of furious rigor Jonathan made to leave, muttering, "What the hell has gotten into her-"
"Actually, Clary isn't that different to when you left." Simon hadn't really thought about speaking up in her defence, he just kind of had and Jonathan turned back around with a disbelieving frown. "Well," Simon allowed, "Okay maybe she has a little. She's more confident now, less shy around people she used to find intimidating, and she has a boyfriend but she is sixteen so I guess that's what most girls are doing. But what I'm trying to say is that, she's still the same stubborn, creative, caring girl she was at the beginning of the year and I don't really think you can pin all of this tension on her."
"So it's my fault," he answered flatly, "I'm the one whose changed."
"Well, kinda," Simon said in a tone that suggested an apology. "You travelled the world, met a girl and brought her home to meet your family. Only…"
"No please," Jonathan muttered, "Continue."
Simon couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, so went on, "Well, you brought Camille to New York and expected everyone to welcome her with open arms, which is fine only you didn't give your family much time to welcome you home." Jonathan looked surprised. "I think you'll find that Clary missed you a hell of a lot, and she wouldn't have minded you having someone else in your life that meant as much to you as she did if she only got the chance to have you back and all to herself for a little while. You've always been such a doting big brother that I think she wasn't ready to instantly share you after you'd been away for so long. You didn't give her much chance to get used to the idea of Camille before you forced Camille on her. Plus- you have to admit that whether you like it or not your girlfriend really hasn't been the nicest she could have been to Clary, and that's made it all the harder." He added the last bit quickly before he lost his nerve, expecting Jonathan to get angry in defence of his girlfriend.
Instead the older boy leaned against the doorframe with a deeply thoughtful expression, "I never really gave much thought to the fact I was in a way taking myself a way from Clary by bringing Camille into the picture so soon. It makes sense I guess, since I was mad at her for running off with a brand new boyfriend the second I got home… she must have felt the exact same way."
Simon sighed silently in relief. "If you want to mend things with her I have a suggestion that I'm not sure you're totally going to like."
Jonathan looked at him strangely. Who exactly was this kid to be giving him advice on his own sister? Then he remembered that Simon and Clary had managed to move past their differences of a few weeks ago and decided to hear him out. "I'm listening."
"Take her side over Camille's," Simon said, "Just once. Show her that she's not suddenly your second best because everyone else can see that Camille, as nice as I'm sure she is, does basically hate Clary even though she hasn't really done anything to deserve it. She wasn't part of whatever happened in Pandemonium and she certainly hasn't fought with her- Clary would never confront someone you cared about in a manner like that if she knew it would hurt you. You have to take her side, even over something small, and make it seem like you're asking Camille to be more welcoming to your sister in her life, just like you've been wanting Clary to do."
Jonathan's face didn't give much away but he nodded once to show he'd at least listened before making to leave and retreat upstairs. However just before he left he said quietly over his shoulder, "She isn't second best. Clary. She's my baby sister, she'll never be second to anyone."

Maia pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped out into the street. It was early evening and she'd only just finished her shift at her favourite music store that also happened to couple as her part time job. She pulled her denim jacket over her arms and made to flip out her braid from under the collar, only to have someone beat her to it. She turned around swiftly, ready to reach for the pepper spray she always kept in her bag since moving to the city, only to see her would-be-groper and stop in surprise, "Bat?"
His scarred face broke into an easy smile, "You're hair is longer than I remember. It looks good, more to grab onto."
He winked and she rolled her eyes, hitting his shoulder in a make-believe punch. "Be polite Bat, I haven't seen you in ages!"
Most girls when bumping into their ex boyfriend would feel awkward or jealous or some kind of negative emotion, but despite the fact their short stint as a couple had ended with Bat dumping her for a stupid hippy girl who smoked weed all day in her parent's garage, Maia was pleasantly surprised to see him. Bat had been a good boyfriend, much better than… her smile faded a little as she realised what she'd been about to think.
"Yeah, we've missed you down at Freaky Pete's. The whole gang was wondering when you'd get bored of partying with the rich Manhatten kids and come back."
Maia had won a scholarship to Idris and lost touch with most of her Brooklyn friends. They had welcomed her with open arms after her escape from New Jersey. She tried to smile but it didn't reach her eyes, "I'm doing well up here."
He leaned down to catch her gaze, he was at least six foot three, "I know that look. That's the look you had on your face the first time you walked into the bar and got drunk and told me about that ex that was haunting you."
Maia swallowed, "I really have missed being at Freaky Pete's."
"Don't change the subject."
"I'm dating Jordan again," she blurted out before she could stop herself and she looked away when Bat frowned. "He moved to Idris this term. He's… different. Better than he was."
Her argument sounded weak to her own ears and she heard the disapproval and disappointment in Bat's voice, "Guys like him… they don't change Maia. I treated you far better than him and you deserved better than me."
She looked up in surprise and when she found a spark of something familiar and alluring in his eyes she made herself take a half step back, "I can take care of myself, Bat."
"You're not as weak as you were after the first time you got away from him," he agreed, "But if you have to run again you'll be even more broken."
"I was never broken!" she snapped. It was a lie. After her brother's death and everything with Jordan the first time… she felt her throat tightening.
"Hey-" Bat caught her wrist as she turned to walk away, "Hey, I wasn't meaning to upset you girl. I just worry about you sometimes."
"How's the witch in the garage?" she found herself asking bluntly.
Bat chuckled, "There's the little foul mouthed demon that told me I was buying her a drink the first second we met. I ended things with her, if you want to know. She didn't have enough stamina, not like you," he winked again and then held up his hands when she raised her fist in warning, "Oh I'm not gonna try it on. Don't want Jordy coming after me now."
"If you're going to be a dick I'll leave."
He grinned, "You've missed me and the gang too much. Here," he dug his phone from his pocket and passed it to her, "Put your number in and I'll text you next time we're gathering at Pete's. I promise I'll be on my best behaviour now you're unavailable and all." She thought about it for a moment and then realised there was little harm in having his number. "Besides," he echoed her thoughts, "If anything does happen, if he so much as threatens you, I want you to be able to get hold of me."
Maia handed him his phone and smiled as she began to walk away backwards, "I had a hold of you once Bat… I'm not sure you can handle it if I was to grab you again."
His laughter followed her down the street and for the walk home she had a relaxed smile playing on her lips. Until Bat's warning caught up with her: "Guys like him… they don't change."
She really hoped Bat was wrong.