AN: HELLO LOVELY READERS! I am once again terribly sorry for the long wait. I feel like I should start every chapter with "I'm sorry" because they seem to take so long to write these days. So basically Exam week, school, life and a bunch of other stuff as well, is keeping me from just sitting on my computer and writing nonstop. It's sad really.

So I need to thank my Beta Cindella 204, because not only is she doing a wonderful job, she's actually putting up with my idiotic autocorect program. I honestly just...can't even start to explain... Just let it be said that I really hate autocorrect sometimes.

Anyway, the song for this chapter is Jenny by the Studio Killers (hope I got that right), and it's played at Camille's party! YAY!

Enjoy!

Hiding in plain sight

All characters belong to Cassandra Clare who has sealed the fates of our beloved characters.

Chapter 36.

Alec's point of view

To say that Alec was dazed would be an understatement. He was fully awake after his short angst attack. The last thing on his mind right now was Robert Lightwood. All he was thinking of was how he could still feel Magnus' hands slipping down his back. How the water made Magnus look like caramel and something else he couldn't quite put in words. He felt invigorated. It was like someone had lightly touched him on the forehead and woke him up from constant darkness. And what an awakening it had been.

"What's with that stupid smirk on your face," Izzy asked, catching his attention.

"Your brother's smirk isn't stupid,"Magnus said, giving Izzy a patronizing look and shoving a spoonful of strawberry yoghurt into his mouth. Alec watched as Magnus licked the spoon clean and ever so subtly smirked. "Your brother is adorable," Magnus carried on. "And positively delicious."

"Aha," Izzy stated and gave Alec a curious look. "Yeah, something is definitely going on between you two and I am going to figure out what it is sooner rather than later, so watch it, Bane," she said and sauntered out of the kitchen.

Alec couldn't help but stare at Magnus and that damn yoghurt. Was it bad if he wished he was that spoon?

"You're looking at me," Magnus said, leaning against the marble counter. The sunshine was casting tiny rays of light into Magnus' hair.

"Yes, I am."

"I like it," Magnus said and walked up to Alec. Instantly his heart rate picked up and his eyes sought out an emerald pair to look at.

"Y-you do?" Alec asked. He heard his own voice stutter a bit, which made him wonder if he could ever be as composed as Magnus.

"Why, I thought you knew that I love your eyes on me. It makes me feel…delicious," Magnus said and leaned in, closing the already excruciatingly tiny distance between
them. He pressed against Alec, closing him between Magnus' body and the fridge. Alec didn't exactly flinch, but he let out a bit of a yelp.

"Alec darling…Am I making you feel…uncomfortable? I thought we got over that, you know, when we took that God lovely shower," Magnus whispered and bit his lip, bringing his face so close to Alec's that he could feel Magnus' minty breath on his lips.

"Um…n-no. I-it's just that you um…I really feel…like I maybe…wanna kiss you," Alec mumbled, cursing his nerves and body for reacting like this. Would it ever stop? Did he want it to stop? No, probably not.

"You do?" Magnus asked with a teasing voice. "Why so shy about it then?"

"I don't know…maybe because we're in my house in a very open space where my mom could walk in us at any moment," Alec managed to say without stuttering. "Besides, why are you being so…sexy right now? Can't you tone it down?"

"It's my fault that my lips are yummy?" Magnus asked with a tiny laugh shaking his frame. "That's a bit unfair."

Alec took a deep breath, which didn't really help at all since his lungs filled with the scent of Magnus and all things sweet. "Can you just kiss me already?" Alec asked, sounding a little bitchy even to him.

"Well okay then, Mr. Grouch," Magnus said with a sly smile creeping into his features. Magnus leaned in and let his presence linger for a while but soon giving into Alec's wish. Alec welcomed Magnus' soft lips—they were indeed yummy—and fell into the pattern of caresses and small bites on his lower lip.

"Sigh," Magnus said. "If only I could spend all of my days doing this."

"Who says you can't?" Alec mumbled, pressing his lips tightly against Magnus' neck.

"I do."

It was just two simple words, but they made Alec freeze. Even Magnus stopped his trail of kisses leading up to Alec's neck. Alec was pretty sure he looked petrified, but he could feel Magnus' lips curve into a subtle smile against the skin of his neck.

"M-m-mom. Hi…um what are you doing here," Alec just blurted it out. Of course he knew as he said it that it was a stupid question, but that seemed irrelevant right now.

"I'm getting something to eat. This is my kitchen; do I need to remind you of that?" Maryse replied and placed her hands on her hips. Yep, she looked pretty scary right now.

Magnus turned around and slowly but surely faced Maryse as well. He never let his hands drop off Alec's body, though. Magnus was sort of holding Alec and placed his chin on Alec's shoulder. He gave Maryse the tiniest smile. "Hi."

"Hello Magnus," Maryse said, eyeing him carefully.

"Look. I cheered Alec up," Magnus said with a perky tone, sugar coating his voice as if he knew he was in a shit load of trouble but couldn't help but show off his work.

"I see you've done that." Maryse locked her eyes on Alec. "Honey, get something to eat. At least you showered, it was about time."

At that Magnus let out a bubbly laugh. "I agree."

Maryse just rolled her eyes in confusion, but Alec glared daggers at Magnus. Did he seriously have to be so suggestive?

"Mom…we were just eh…" Alec didn't know how to finish the sentence without making things worse than they already were. That was, of course, because he really had no idea how bad the situation was to begin with. Was Maryse angry or just shocked to see her son making out with a caramel skinned hot glittery piece of man candy?

"We were kissing," Magnus filled in. "By the way I love your kitchen counters; so fancy." He gave Maryse a wink. Alec was sure he'd die of embarrassment before this conversation would be over. "Mom, Magnus is just being…"

"Magnus?" Maryse asked. She gave the two of them a stern look and then let out a tiny laugh. "Yes, I can see you were kissing or is it 'making out'? What do the kids call it these days?" She let her arms fall to her sides. She smiled a relaxed smile Alec hadn't seen in a while.

"So…You're not angry?" Alec asked carefully.

"About what? You kissing your boyfriend?"

"Well, yeah…" Alec felt like he was missing something. "You looked so mad when you walked in," he said quietly.

"Honey, you're a seventeen year old boy. If I told you that you couldn't make out with your boyfriend…well that would be pointless because it would happen anyway. Especially knowing Magnus…"

"You have a wise and beautiful mother," Magnus said with a bright smile targeted at Maryse.

"They do say flattery will get you a long way, but you can tone it down a bit, Magnus," Maryse said and made her way past Alec and Magnus to the fridge. She took out some marmalade and then popped some toast into the toaster, leaning against the counter to wait.

"I'd rather play it safe," Magnus said with a warm smile taking over his features. Alec felt like he needed to get as far away from this conversation as possible.

"Magnus, we should probably get ready for Camille's party," Alec whispered.

"A party?" Maryse asked, giving Magnus a questioning look. The thing about Maryse was that she looked fierce even when saying simple words like "please" or "thank you", but when she questioned things (especially things involving her kids) she got just that much fiercer.

"Yeah, um Camille from school is throwing a party, you know, like a pre-Halloween party or something like that. I know it's only October third, but she's really into throwing parties." Alec hoped he sounded convincing although he could hear the unsure undertone creep into his voice once in a while.

"How long will you be?" Maryse asked, smiling pleasantly. That damn woman knew exactly what she was doing.

"I…I don't know mom," Alec said. "I'll come home as soon as…"

"You're going to Camille's party right?" Izzy's urgent voice split the kitchen cutting up Alec's words.

"Yeah, why?" Alec asked, thankful for the distraction Izzy was offering. She was wearing an unnecessarily tight black dress with a golden scarf covering up her shoulders. Her hair was pinned up into a tight bun that had golden curled ribbon mixed into it. Her eyes looked brighter than ever, lined with white and gold. She had her hand on her hips and her mouth was pulled into a pout.

"Jace was supposed to pick me and Simon up, but he's like…" Izzy sighed and rolled her eyes. "…Occupied. So Simon and I need a ride." She looked to Magnus and batted her eyelashes a bit.

"Do you have to ask?" Magnus waived his hand dramatically. "Of course I'll drive you. I totally ship you and the hot nerd."

"Can you please stop referring to Simon as "The Hot Nerd", it's confusing," Alec mumbled. He inched up closer to Magnus and let him wrap and arm around his waist.

"Thank you, Magnus." Izzy said. "Why aren't you dressed up?"

"It's not Halloween yet," Magnus stated.

"That never stopped you from dressing up before," Izzy replied.

"You look marvelous despite the annoyance you're displaying right now," Magnus said and made his way to the door. Izzy grabbed onto his other arm. Alec clung to Magnus' free arm and stared blankly ahead thinking 'What the hell is a pre-Halloween party anyway?'

Izzy's point of view

If you've ever been to one of Camille Belcourt's parties, you're used to earsplitting music blasting from all four directions, people packed too tightly into a huge Victorian era mansion, and incredible decorations. Apparently a pre-Halloween party consisted of decorations that were scary, but not as tacky as typical Halloween decor. The walls of the mansion looked red because a bunch of huge red lights were focused on them. The air was misty and it made the atmosphere that much cooler. Izzy clung to her gold scarf and pulled it closer over her shoulders. They'd picked up Simon. Much to Izzy's disappointment, he hadn't dressed up either. He looked good enough, though. Izzy knew how to admire beautiful things and definitely considered Simon beautiful…in a very manly way of course. He was wearing a brown jacket with a green T-shirt that said "Hater's gonna hate, go buy an ice cream". That didn't really make any sense to her, but she decided to roll with it. She held on to Simon's arm as they walked into the maze of dancing bodies under blinking lights.

Magnus and Alec had slipped away. They had been all kissy and touchy during the drive here. She'd never seen Alec so comfortable with physical contact before. "Oh well, c'est la vie," she thought, and smiled at Simon.

She and Simon were locked between swirling bodies. They were outside in the courtyard (seriously, Camille had a courtyard). They danced along the edge of the swimming pool that was also illuminated in red. The water looked like strawberry jelly and Izzy felt the cold sink into her skin. Autumn really was her season, but she didn't fancy the cold. She pushed closer towards Simon and earned a quick smile from him. She had her back against Simon's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and they swayed around for a while. Izzy brought her arms up to caress his jaw line. She didn't even have to look up to know how nice that jaw line was. She let her fingers trace his lips. She seemed to be in some kind of a devouring trance. She let her head fall back and closed her eyes.

"You okay?" Simon asked. He was always so concerned for her. It was so sweet.

"Yeah…I'm fine," she said letting out a sparkling laugh. She turned around in his arms. "You wanna go inside? It's kinda cold out here."

"Sure," Simon said. Izzy placed a thankful kiss on his lips.

The pushed through the mindless crowd and made their way to the French glass doors leading them inside.

Izzy saw Alec and Magnus leaning against the wall. She quickly turned away and actually blushed as she noticed how intensely the two were kissing. Suddenly she felt a surge of electricity go through her body. "Hey brother!" she called out.

Alec peeked a look at her from behind Magnus. Izzy winked at him and grabbed Simon and kissed him. It wasn't the ordinary kind of kiss. It was something that changes everything between two people. She'd always worried about Simon being too safe and perhaps a little boring, but now as her lips parted his, she felt a surge of such electricity pass through her lungs to her heart that she knew he had to be the one.

Alec looked at her with his jaw wide open. Simon just smiled with a goofy look on his face. "Wow," he mouthed to her.

"I know right," Izzy gasped.

Magnus walked up to them practically dragging Alec behind him. "You two love birds sure seem busy."

Magnus gave Simon a friendly tap on the back "I'd say she's a keeper."

Alec glared at Izzy. He wasn't sure if the glare was being enforced because she's kissed Simon in a sexy way in the middle of Camille Belcourt's house, or was it because she'd interrupted Alec and Magnus' make out session.

"So um, what are you two gonna do?" Alec asked. Magnus let out a chuckle and Simon squeezed Izzy's hand.

"I mean how are you gonna get home from the party!" Alec exclaimed, obviously annoyed that all his friends had dirty minds.

"We just got here, why worry about getting home yet," Izzy said and laced her fingers on Simon's jacket.

"We could always take the bus," Simon suggested. "If Magnus doesn't feel like driving us home that is."

"No, no I'll drive you guys home. We'll probably be leaving around midnight so just show up here at twelve o' clock, okay?"

"Here in the hallway?" Simon made sure.

"Yup," Magnus agreed and took Alec's hand. "Now if you excuse us, we have some…important matters to get to."

As Magnus and Alec walked away Izzy couldn't help but let tiny laughs escape her lips. "They are so…"

"Cute?" Simon offered.

"Yeah," Izzy agreed.

"You're cute," Simon said, catching Izzy's attention.

"Thanks," she said. "You don't look too bad yourself, Mr. Sexy Nerd," she said with a smirk spreading across her face. She felt intoxicated even though she hadn't had a sip of alcohol. It was Simon making her feel irrational.

Simon blushed a bit and rolled his eyes. "Guilty as charged, I suppose." He laughed, but quickly grew serious. "No, but seriously, Iz, you look dazzling."

"Simon, you don't have to say that," Izzy said, smiling to herself. She liked how Simon's complements made her feel. Although somewhere deep inside her, she feared how Simon's insults could hurt her. But he would never do that, would he?

She forgot all about those thoughts as Simon pulled her into a kiss again. "I know I don't have to say anything, but I want to tell you that you are beautiful; you deserve that and so much more.

Simon's point of view

How he ended up in a room fit for a royal princess, undressing the most beautiful girl in the world, he did not know. They had been walking up the stairs of Camille's huge mansion and somehow for some odd reason Izzy had stopped at a random door and smiled.

"What?" He had asked.

"Don't you wanna see what the crypt looks like?" Izzy had said in a Ghostbusters voice. They had laughed and sneaked in and laughed at all the over luxurious things there were in the room. Seriously, who needed a gold frog statue? Perhaps it served a greater cause?

Anyway, sooner or later they had discovered the queen sized bed with the softest pillows and the most expensive silk duvet. Izzy had taken her heels of and jumped on the bed. She'd made Simon take his shoes off as well and pulled him up on the bed. They'd jumped on the bed for a while like two four year olds going up on a sugar rush. Eventually they had crashed on the bed.

For a while they had listened to each other's breath. Both ragged and silly sounding, Izzy had kissed his hand. He had pulled her up to lean against him, and they'd just sat there for a while leaning against each other.

And now, now Izzy was sitting in his lap. She was kissing his neck in a feverish way. She clawed at his jacket and ripped it off.

Simon traced his fingers around her back; he found the cold metallic zipper for her dress. He hesitated. "Pull it down," Izzy said in a voice that made Simon shiver. He gently pulled the zipper down and the dress peeled of her in a few swift movements. He was pretty sure his facial expression was something between dumbstruck and amazed. He really was right when he said that Izzy was the most beautiful girl in the world; she was wearing a simple black bra and matching underwear, nothing silly. Not that Simon really had a lot to compare to, but he was pretty sure she looked like a goddess.

Before he could admire her more, he felt her delicate hands slipping under his T-shirt. He really liked this particular T-shirt, but he was more than happy to rid of it for her. She pulled the shirt over his head and looked down at him. Simon felt kind of exposed for a moment under Izzy's eyes. "So turns out Sexy Nerd isn't just a nickname, huh?" He looked up at her face and saw her smirking. He let out a laugh "Says the goddess."

They kissed and got tangled in each other. He felt like he was stuck in some kind of wonderful trance, moving and feeling concurrently. There was nothing else in the world but the two of them. Skin against skin. Lips against lips. Fingers tracing each other's outlines. Sighs and names whispered. At some point he was sure what they did could only be described in one word – divinity.

AN: Yeah, I know what you're thinking alright, "Simon and Izzy? At Camille's party? What, Why, How?" At least that's what I was thinking when I finished this chapter, but I decided to roll with it because it just seemed to fit into the storyline somehow...(who am I kidding, I have no story line). SO, let me know what you REALLY are thinking and leave a review! And I know I didn't answer all the reviews last time and I feel really bad for not answering, but as I said in the AN in the beginning, my life has been so busy right now...But I did read each and every one and I promise to try and answer them all this time :D

LOVE Always, Alexandra who is very eager to hear what you thought of this chapter :D