Planning a wedding was exhausting when Isabelle was your wedding planner. I was about three seconds away from taking Jace to the courthouse and just getting it over with, but I sat at on my couch surrounded by bridal magazines and a laptop with Pinterest open as Isabelle tried to make me choose flower arrangements.
I tried to be interested, I really did, but none of this would make me marrying Jace any more special. I just wanted to stand on a beach somewhere with my friends and family watching Jace and I commit to each other forever.
Jace and I were getting married in six months and had been engaged for about a month and a half. Our wedding was going to be exactly one year from the day we met and the ceremony was going to be held at the beach where Jace dropped in on me. The only thing I really cared about the wedding was that after the ceremony, we would have a sunset surf session where we ride a wave together and Jace jumps onto my board, symbolizing us becoming one.
"Clary, you need to choose your colors," Isabelle said as she pointed to something in one of the magazines.
"Iz, I love you and I appreciate everything you're doing for us, but I could really care less about the colors or the flowers," I said throwing my hands up in exasperation and regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth. "I'm sorry, Iz, I'm just not into all of this girly stuff."
"Okay, I'll tell you what, I will take care of the flowers and everything else because I think I know you better than anyone and I can make this into a beautiful wedding suited to you and Jace, but you have to give an opinion on the colors and the dress." I thought about it for a second. I guess I could pick a color and I would suffer through trying on wedding dresses.
"Fine, but please remember that I am not you and I like simple and understated." She squealed and clapped her hands before throwing her arms around me.
"So, just give me a color you like and I can work around it." I nodded and actually started looking through the magazines and boards on Pinterest. I saw a wedding where the bridesmaids wore light gray dresses and the groomsmen wore gray pants and white shirts with a grey vest and dark purple ties. It was perfect.
"I like this color combination." I pointed to the pictures and she smiled brightly.
"It's perfect." As Isabelle went to work flagging pages in the magazines and making a special board on Pinterest for my wedding, I got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen to make us something to eat.
Jace and Alec would be back soon from whatever they were doing. They were either getting a beer or resurfacing the floors in Alec's shack or something to that effect. I decided to make us all dinner and we could just hang out at the house for the night. After Jace broke his leg, I decided to stop working at the bar because I was too busy with the shop and taking care of Jace. We still went to the bar a couple times a week out of habit, but I really just wanted to stay home and relax tonight.
Every few minutes, I would hear Isabelle shout something about the wedding and I grumbled a response to keep her happy. Jace and Alec walked in the front door and Jace came into the kitchen while Alec sat on the couch next to Isabelle. He would regret that decision immediately if he didn't want to talk about the wedding.
"Hey, pretty girl," Jace whispered in my ear as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "How goes the wedding planning?"
"I wouldn't know," I shrugged my shoulders and Jace turned me to face him, effectively trapping me between him and the counter with his arms caging me in. He raised his eyebrows in question. "I was told I didn't have to worry about anything but the dress and picking a color."
"I can't believe you got out of planning our wedding." He put his hand over his heart and feigned disappointment. "You would rather let my cousin plan the most important day of our lives with no input than suffer through countless appointments and meetings? How dare you."
He tried to hide his smile, but I just smacked him on the chest and he kissed my forehead. "All I care about is the dress and our surf session. Everything else is just meaningless details and I trust Isabelle to give us the simple wedding we want."
"Sounds good to me." Jace kissed the tip of my nose before pulling me into his arms. "What are we doing tonight?"
"I figured we could just hang out here. I have dinner started and Isabelle and Alec are here so we can just watch a movie or something." I turned back to the stove where I was making honey sesame chicken with coconut rice. Jace grabbed two beers from the fridge and went back into the living room.
Once dinner was ready, I plated it and carried the plates to the living room with my amazing waitress skills, honed from a lifetime of helping out in the restaurant. Who says those skills don't come in handy? I sat down on the floor and scooted close to the table.
"Okay, I think we need to establish something," Isabelle declared as she pushed her plate away from herself.
"What do we need to establish, oh wise one," Jace asked in the most sarcastic tone he could muster and I couldn't help but laugh as he motioned for me to join him on the couch. When I was in reaching distance, Jace pulled me down onto his lap. I squealed and Isabelle rolled her eyes. Before she could say what she wanted to say, Alec stood from his chair.
"Before you get too far into this discussion, I'm leaving," he said with a wave as he gathered his belongings.
"Where are you going," I asked sitting up a little straighter.
"I think Alec has a date," Jace inquired and Isabelle and I snapped our heads to face Alec.
"I don't have a date," Alec said defensively. "I'm just meeting a friend for some beers."
"And we're not your friends, drinking beers?" Jace looked a little hurt and I leaned my head back against his chest.
"That's not it, Jace." Alec shook his head before turning away. "I just have to go. I'll see you later." With that, he was out the door, leaving us all utterly confused.
"What the hell was that all about," Jace asked to no one in particular. "Why wouldn't he tell us where he was going?"
"I don't know," Isabelle said as she looked down at her lap. "He's been acting so weird lately. He doesn't tell me anything and I'm starting to get worried."
"I'll talk to him." Jace ran his hands up and down my arms as I leaned back into him. "I'll figure out what's going on."
Jace's arms came around me and held me to him as we sat in silence. For the first time in a while, we were worried about Alec and it felt wrong. Alec was always the one to worry about us, not the other way around. I started thinking about the past few months and realized that I had been so wrapped up in my own life that I had absolutely no idea what was going on in Alec's life and that wasn't okay with me.
Jace got up from behind me to put a movie on, but Isabelle stopped him.
"I think I'm going to go, too," she said as she stood up from the couch. Why was everyone leaving us tonight? Were we really not fun to hang out with?
"Why are you leaving, now," I asked with a confused expression on my face.
"No offense, but I don't want to be the third wheel." She shrugged her shoulders and started heading toward the door.
"You're not a third wheel, Iz. You're our friend. Why don't you want to hang out with us?"
"Whenever you guys are together, you can't keep your hands off of each other and you kind of ignore everyone else in the room." I was taken aback because I never thought we had a problem, but looking back, I realized she was right. Jace and I had become that couple that I used to make fun of that spends every waking moment together and can't hang out with their friends because they're annoying.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize we were doing any of that. I promise we'll be present and be with you."
"No making out?" I saw Jace roll his eyes out of the corner of my eye and I shot him a death glare.
"We promise." I looked at Jace and gave him a look that said if he didn't agree, he would regret it. He nodded and put the movie on. "Now, come sit down, both of you and let's watch this movie. What did you get, anyway?"
"Chasing Mavericks," Jace said as he sat down on the opposite side of the couch from me so Isabelle sat between us. I leaned forward to look around Isabelle and raised my eyebrows at Jace. "What? I can't sit next to you and not touch you, so if you want Izzy to stay, then this is how we're going to sit."
Isabelle and I exchanged a glance before we started busting up laughing. Jace just sat there with his arms crossed over his chest and an ugly scowl marring his face. When we finally calmed down, the movie had just started and I relaxed into the couch as I watched one of my favorite movies.
About halfway through the movie, I decided I wanted popcorn, so I went into the kitchen to make some. As I waited for the bag to start popping, I felt strong arms wrap around my middle and lips on my neck. I leaned back into Jace until I remembered that Isabelle was now by herself in the living room. I pushed away from Jace and turned to give him a look of warning. He rolled his eyes and grabbed my hips to pull me to him. He lowered his head and tried to kiss me, but I turned my head so he caught my cheek instead. Before I could allow myself to give into him, I placed my hands on his chest and shoved him back.
"Jace, seriously," I said as I took my popcorn out of the microwave. I leaned back against the counter and he took the same stance on the other side of the kitchen. "I don't want to make Isabelle uncomfortable. You shouldn't have followed me in here and left her alone."
"She's a big girl, Clary," he stated condescendingly. "I think she can handle five minutes alone."
"That's not the point, Jace. She's right about us and I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable. I never told you that you couldn't sit next to me or touch me, so you did that to yourself."
"Maybe I should leave," I heard Isabelle say and my head snapped to the doorway where she was standing. I didn't want her to leave, but I knew that she would just become even more uncomfortable if she stayed. She walked up to me and hugged me as she whispered in my ear. "Call me if you need anything." I nodded and she turned to leave, not giving Jace a second glance. He may have been her cousin, but I was her best friend and I knew where her loyalty lied.
Jace and I stood our grounds in the kitchen for a few minutes as we stared at each other.
"I don't understand why this is such a big deal," Jace finally said throwing his hands up in frustration.
"You made it a big deal when you acted like a small child who just got his toy taken away," I shot back at him. "I'm sorry that I don't like the fact that my best friend feels like she can't hang out with us alone, but that's not okay. I think you should understand that."
"Well, I'm not going to act like you don't exist when other people are around. That's something I won't do."
"I'm not asking you to act like I don't exist." He just wasn't understanding what I was saying and I hated it. I hated fighting with him, but I couldn't stand the fact that Isabelle felt like she was a third wheel. We were all friends and we should be able to hang out as such.
"What do you want me to do, Clary? Am I not supposed to touch you when other people are around? Should I just stay away from you when our friends are over?"
"That's not what I'm saying. I don't care if you hold my hand or whatever when people are around, in fact, I encourage it, but it gets to a point where people get uncomfortable and I am just know noticing it. Now that I know how Isabelle feels about being with us, I want to fix it. When you sat on the other side of the couch tonight, I laughed it off, but it hurt my feelings. I was just trying to make Izzy feel comfortable and you acted like a spoiled little brat. You proved to her that we can't hang out with other people. How do you think it makes me feel that my best friend wanted to leave immediately after her brother left because she didn't want to be alone with us?"
Jace just shrugged and looked away from me. I couldn't believe the way he was acting and I couldn't take it anymore. I was done having a conversation that was going around in circles. I shook my head and walked out of the kitchen, grabbing my keys from the table.
"Where are you going," Jace shouted from the kitchen.
"To clear my mind," I shouted back. "Let me know when you're done acting like a child."
I opened the door and walked to my car, which already had my surfboard loaded in the back along with the spare bathing suit I always kept in the Jeep. It was already getting dark, but there was only one place I could clear my mind.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying the story so far! Please let me know what you think and leave a review! :)
P.S. I have had a countdown on my phone for CoHF since like the day the release date was announced and I'm so excited for there to only be seven days until it's released! I think I'm going to need a solid week to recover emotionally after reading it. ;)