A/N: At long last, I bring you another chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 37

(Jace POV)

Even before I opened my eyes, drifting out of the haziness of a late afternoon nap, I registered a few things. For one, I felt the woolen caress of blankets against my bare body, which meant that I was naked. In addition to that was the fact that I was holding a lukewarm, breathing object against me, our legs tangled together intimately. So I wasn't alone… Clary?

I opened my eyes, expecting to see the vibrant hair of a certain Miss Fray. Instead, I was met by the sight of a young man nuzzled up against my shoulder. Simon. I almost jumped from the shock of it all, but then I remembered how we'd gotten ourselves into this position.

A sleepy smile worked its way across my face, unbidden and instinctual. I realized that I liked the way Simon felt in my arms, even if he was a lot bonier and wirier than the girls I'd been with. Having sex with him had been an entirely different experience too, of course, and definitely not in a bad way. For the first time, I could comprehend why Magnus and Alec kept going back for more. It was very satisfying to know that I understood my best friend better, now that my eyes had been opened.

I almost regretted waiting so long to explore this part of my sexuality. It had always been there, of course, however much I tried to ignore it. Maybe Isabelle had been right that one time she'd claimed that all men have latent homosexual tendencies. Well, bisexual tendencies in my case.

Absorbed in my musings, I nearly missed Simon waking up. He stirred in my arms for a few moments and then opened his eyes, looking at me adorably. "What time is it?" he mumbled with a yawn.

After a quick glance at my alarm clock, I told him, "Almost 6:30." That meant that we'd been napping for just over two hours. And before that…

Simon's blush seemed to confirm that his thoughts were following a similar pattern to mine. "Well, I think that today has been rather… productive."

"Oh, definitely," I agreed. "It isn't every day that four young people decide to pursue a four-way relationship." Just saying the words filled me with anticipation for the future. Countless days like this one…

Simon smiled brightly. "I almost forgot about that! I can't believe everything worked out so well." Then he excitedly leaned in to kiss me for a moment, which elicited a pleased sigh from me. Who knew that kissing Simon of all people could be so… pleasurable? I could easily spend all day with him in my arms. "Isn't it funny that we used to hate each other?"

I laughed. "Definitely. I, for one, regret that it took us so long to do this." For emphasis, I drew Simon's lips to mine, boosting the intensity. He groaned slightly against my mouth, which I took as an incentive to roll on top of him, not breaking the kiss. His hands ran along my skin, raising goosebumps and thoroughly exciting me—

"Jace?" Several impatient knocks sounded against my door. "Jace, are you in there?"

"Shit," I cursed, exasperatedly drawing back from Simon. "It's Isabelle." Suddenly, something occurred to me. "We locked the door, right?" I hissed to him.

"I think so," Simon replied breathlessly.

More knocks. I even heard Izzy trying to turn the doorknob, which thankfully didn't work. "Jace, come on! It's dinnertime. Why is your door locked?"

While that was going on, Simon and I were frantically getting dressed. There were some mix-ups (we accidentally started putting on each other's jeans instead of our own), but we were both presentable in record time.

As I pulled on my T-shirt, I called to Izzy, "Be right there!" Then I strode over to the door and unlocked it, letting it swing open.

Isabelle strode into the room, hands on her hips. "Honestly, I do not understand why you insist on holding us all up like this, and…" Mid-rant, her eyes fell on Simon, who smiled sheepishly. I saw her take in the disheveled bed, our messy hair, and the tell-tale flush to our cheeks. "Ohhhhh," she said at length, a wide smirk spreading across her face. "I understand completely. I'll tell Mom that you aren't hungry."

With a wink and a hair flip, she strode out, closing the door behind her.

Simon covered his face with his hands. "This is why I don't live with people," he said embarrassedly. "Well, besides my mom, but she's never there, so it's different."

"Hey, at least Izzy won't judge us for what she walked in on," I pointed out. But I still felt disappointed that we had been so rudely cut off from what could have been a fascinating Round Two. "What do you want to do now?"

Simon sat back down on the bed. "I don't know. Maybe we should check in on the girls, see how they're doing. We didn't really get to talk to them earlier."

Clary had called at a very inconvenient time, in the lead-up to our copulation. "That is true. Maybe we should invite them over. I know I want to talk to Evangeline privately about all of this." The last time we had been alone, the two of us had decided to try to only be friends. And now that we were trying something different— something that would presumably involve Evangeline and me occasionally being romantic together—it was time for a talk.

"That's perfect, 'cause I want to talk to Clary." Simon smiled sweetly. "Let's get them over here."

I sat down next to him, retrieving my cell phone from the bedside table and dialing Evangeline's number, since I knew she wasn't at the Institute. As I waited for her to pick up, my right hand reached for Simon's. Our fingers entwined together, just as our bodies had been recently. Thinking about the similarity brought a smile to my face.

Finally, I heard Evangeline's voice through the receiver. "Hello," she said.

"Hey!" I replied. "It's Jace."

"—and Simon!" cut in Simon, grinning at me with a cute glint in his dark eyes. I switched the call onto speaker phone, so he could keep up with the conversation as well.

"What's up?" she asked us. I registered that Isabelle and Clary were definitely rubbing off on her. A few weeks ago, Evangeline would probably have never said something as colloquial as what's up.

"Can you come home any time soon? Simon and I want to see you. And Clary," I explained.

"Oh, Clary's here, too."

Clary said for emphasis, "Hey, boys!"

Simon and I shared another smile. "Well, you're both invited over here," he told them. "Preferably as soon as possible."

I added elegantly, "It's about our, um, four-way relationship."

I heard the girls whispering on their end, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Finally, Clary announced, "We'll be right over! See you guys soon."

"Great!" enthused Simon. I nodded at him, acknowledging that it was indeed great. Well put, I mouthed to him. He gave me a thumbs-up with the hand not holding mine.

"Goodbye for now," Evangeline said.

"See you soon!" Feeling triumphant, I ended the call and put down my cell phone.

Simon pressed another quick kiss against my lips. "I really am happy that all of this is working out. I would have never imagined anything like this, especially it being so successful."

"Well, we don't know if it'll be successful yet," I pointed out, trying to be realistic. I was often the bearer of practical news. "I think we need to schedule a group date first."

"That sounds like a good idea." He sighed contentedly. "At least we know that the two of us are sexually compatible."

That elicited a laugh from me. "You say the weirdest things sometimes." A while ago, I had seen it as annoying. Now I just recognized it as one of Simon's charming quirks.

"It's true, though. Wouldn't you say so?" As if proving a point, Simon initiated yet another kiss. I would have never pegged him as the cuddly type, but I definitely wasn't complaining.

"Yeah," I admitted, pushing him back onto the bed and climbing on top of him. "We have some time before the girls get here…"

Simon's eyes were already half-lidded in anticipation of what was to come. "A quickie. I like the way you think, Jace."

I felt my face twisting into a smirk. "Now, where did we leave off before we were so rudely interrupted?"

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