AN: Hi! So I've been having some trouble when it comes to the spell checking and putting finishing touches on my chapter, because for some reaon I haven't been able to reach my Beta. But I felt so bad for not posting in ages so I decided to post the first draft of the chapter (It's basically the chapter just not spell checked). I'm sorry for any mistakes in grammar or some weird word choices I haven't noticed when trying (key word Trying) to spell check this myself. I'd just like to say that English is not my first language, so please don't give me a very hard time. Please? Again I'm sorry for not posting earlier.

Anyways, enjoy.

Hiding in plain sight

All characters belong to Cassandra Clare although I'm overly emotionally invested in them.

Chapter 38.

Simon's point of view

Simon was reading a comic about some superhero in tights fighting crime, while eating a bowl of bland tasting cereal. He'd hardly gotten an eyeful of sleep and felt tired and drained. Worrying about Izzy and their (hopefully still) relationship was taking a toll on him. He put the cereal aside. He couldn't eat it. The bottom line was that he felt awful. He was so afraid that last night had ruined every little step of progress he had made with Izzy, like all the trust they had build had just crashed down.

The doorbell rang. It snapped him out of his dark thoughts. He got up, picked the cereal bowl up, and walked over to the door. There was a series of impatient knocks from the door so he picked up the pace.

He opened the door and squinted his eyes. The sun was high in the sky and the world seemed oblivious to his gloomy mood. "Hello sunshine," said the blond curvy figure leaning against the doorframe. "It was about you opened the door, I thought you were gonna let me freeze out here." Camille smiled at him. It was a bright smile that made him feel like his life was a bad comedy show.

"H-hey Camille…What are you doing here?" Simon asked in awe. He'd never really been friends with Camille, but he guessed Magnus was pretty tight with her so he wasn't too surprised to see her there.

"So are you gonna invite me in or are you just going to stand there like a love sick puppy?" Camille asked, now losing her smile and revealing a terrible hangover.

There was a time when Simon would've never even hesitated for a second to grant Camille's every single wish, but now he was just a bit lost and confused as to why she was here.

"Sure," he said blandly. "Come in." It was a morning of blandness. Even though the rest of the world didn't seem to agree with him.

Camille took of her red jacket and handed it to Simon like a true diva. He took it without complaints, figuring that would be the easiest way to get over with it.

Camille made her way to the living room. It was strange, like she'd been here thousands of times. She sat on the armchair next to the tiny fireplace. She was wearing a blood-red skirt that was shorter than anything he'd ever seen on Izzy. Which was saying a lot. The shirt was accompanied by a white blouse that had the three upper buttons open. The skirt was held up with suspenders. It was like a Taylor Swift look except sluttier. Nevertheless she pulled it off.

Camille crossed her legs and Simon looked away. She was twirling her platinum blond hair between her elegant fingers. "It's a shame you know," She said.

"What? What's a shame?" He asked.

"That I never looked at you closer," Camille said with a sigh. "Izzy told me you know."

"Told you what?" Simon asked feeling uncomfortable.

Camille let out a little laugh, filled with more warmth that he would've expected. "About the…" She leaned in and whispered. "Abs."

"Oh," Simon said with a blush creeping to his face. "This is awkward."

"Hardly," Camille replied and pursed her lips. "We need to talk about you and Izzy."

"No offence, but I really don't want to talk about our relationship with you," he said.

"Oh well then it's good that I'm only here to kidnap you and take you to Maggie's house," Camille said with no hurt audible from her voice. She was clearly confident enough to handle with anything Simon said.

"You are going to kidnap me?" Simon asked with a nervous laugh. "You and what army?"

Camille laughed. She got up and walked over to him. "This is your one and only chance to make things ok with Iz without unnecessary blah, blah, blah and tears and all that sappy crap."

"Aha." Was all Simon said. "Yeah, you're pretty convincing." He got up as Camille smiled satisfied.

They walked to the door. This time Camille took her own jacket and put it on. Just as Simon was about to button his jacket up, his mother walked out of her bedroom. "Simon?"

"Oh hey mom," he said trying to act nonchalant.

"It's nine o'clock on a Sunday morning. Where are you going?" Mrs. Lewis tapped her foot on the floor. She looked a bit upset, until she saw Camille, then she looked horrified. "Where are you going with…eh her?"

Camille just smiled, her confidence not dented at all. "Hi Mrs. Lewis, we're just going to Magnus' house."

"Yeah, what she said," Simon said.

Mrs. Lewis just kept staring at the two of them. Simon could imagine what she was thinking of. Camille was startling, hot even when you first saw her. Honestly, she looked like a blond bombshell without any depth to her soul, but Simon found that not to be true. Still he could understand why his mother kept staring at him like he was about to go do something highly inappropriate.

"We won't be long," he said trying to make the tiny lines of worry fade away from his mothers face. As he said it Camille kicked him in the shin and shot him a glare. "Or…I don't know how long we'll be but Izzy is going to be there as well so everything will be just fine."

"I expect you home for dinner," Mrs. Lewis retorted and retreated back to her room with a loud slam of her door echoing.

Camille opened the door determinately and stepped out into the chilly late autumn air. She flipped her shiny hair to her right shoulder and took steady steps to her car and beckoned Simon to follow. He walked to the car hesitantly, he wasn't really sure what he was getting himself into, at least Izzy would be there, and hopefully things would be resolved just like Camille said.

Camille's car was surprisingly trashy; magazines and cups from Starbucks splattered all over the place. Simon sat next to Camille quietly, listening to the playlist Camille had on her CD. He smiled to himself. Who would have thought Camille was the type of person to take time to make a mix tape or a CD. The funniest thing was that he actually recognized most of the songs playing, a big portion of them were by Marina and the Diamonds.

"I really like this song," he said, trying his best to make conversation.

Camille smiled. "I like her lyrics."

"How come you didn't play these songs at your party?"

"Most people don't enjoy delving into deep meanings of lyrics when they're just trying to get drunk and score," Camille said with a half smile playing on her red lips.

"I suppose that's true," he said and leaned his head back.

"So what did you do to piss of Iz anyways?"

"You don't know?" Simon asked in surprise. "I figured Magnus would've told you."

"Why would he tell me? He just told me to haul your ass over to his house," Camille said biting her nail.

"I just figured since it happened at your party… I guess I just always thought that you know everything."
"Ha!" Camille laughed. "What did you do at my party; I was seriously so drunk I don't remember a thing. Besides Simon dear, it's not really knowing things, it's about making people think that you know everything."

"Sounds like a solid plan," he said.

Alec's point of view

Alec was in his pajamas as he walked downstairs. It was eleven o' clock so he wasn't really expecting to run into Luke holding a bag of Chinese food in both of his hands.

"Hi," he said, feeling awkward, standing there in his black pajama pants. Why oh why hadn't he worn a shirt to go downstairs. He was picking up some of Magnus' habits.

"Hi Alec," Luke said cheerfully. "Do you know where your mother is?

Alec quirked his eyebrow up "Maybe she's in the kitchen." It wasn't really an answer or a question, but somehow giving Luke cryptic answers about the whereabouts of his mother made him feel pleased.

"Alrighty then," Luke said and made his way to the kitchen. He apparently didn't care about Alec's weird mood.

Alec followed Luke into the kitchen and saw his mother eagerly get up from her seat and leave her newspaper and cup of coffee ignored. She looked beautiful, not really businesslike, but just plain pretty. She wore a white wrap-around-blouse made of silk and black slacks and pearl covered heels. 'Kind of dressy for a Sunday morning,' Alec thought.

"Luke!" She exclaimed and wrapped her arms around Luke's fit frame. (Yeah, Alec had noticed Luke was…well built. It was kinda hard to notice that he worked out.) "Did you bring the food, I'm starving?"

Luke laughed effortlessly and showed her the bags of Chinese food. "I sure did."

"Come on, sit down," Maryse pulled out a chair for him. She acknowledged Alec and beckoned for him to have a seat. "Alec you have a seat too."

"Um, like…I don't really think…" He was cut off by Maryse's stern look.

"Sit down Alec," she said again. This time Alec complied and took a seat next to Luke. Maryse got him a glass of orange juice which he readily drank with only a few big gulps.

Luke distributed the food evenly in three portions. Alec found it kind of odd that he'd bought enough food for three, but hey, maybe the guy just ate a lot.

They ate in silence for a while, until Maryse started to make small talk. "So how's your morning been so far, Luke?"

"Um, it's been good. I stopped by the store and did that thing with the posters that we talked about and then I went to get food," he said, pointing at the food.

Oh great, this would be business talk. Alec concentrated in stuffing food into his mouth and chewing. It wasn't until he heard his name being mentioned that he raised his head and swallowed. "Huh?"

"I asked you how the party was." Maryse asked, looking suspiciously sweet.

"It was fun. Bad music, but it was fine." Alec didn't feel like elaborating.

"Was it at the Belcourt house?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, but it's more like a manor, not a house," he said.

"Do you know if your sister had fun?" Maryse asked. "Is she still sleeping?"

"I don't know, I guess she's still sleeping, it's not really Izzy's thing to get up early," he said chuckling. "And I'm pretty sure she had fun, you know she likes to dress up and Camille and Magnus and Simon were there so…" He let the sentence drag out.

"Who else was there?" Maryse asked.

Alec frowned, trying to recall the faces he'd seen yesterday. "I think Jem was there, and Jace showed up later on with Clary."

"Clary was there?" Luke suddenly decided to join the questioning.

"Yeah, you know her?" Alec asked. He didn't really know who Luke knew around here.

"Yes. I know Clary, I've known her since she was a kid," Luke said, a small smile playing on his lips. Alec saw Maryse gaze over at him with a dreamy glaze over her eyes.

"Okay…," Alec said. "That's nice."

Luke quickly brushed hid ever so apparently fond memories aside and continued the conversation. "So was there alcohol involved?"

Alec nearly choked on his noodles. He looked at Maryse gingerly and answered cautiously. "Yeah, but I didn't drink. At all."

Maryse sighed. "I'm lucky my kids are really bad liars, so I know when they are actually telling the truth." No matter what anyone said about Maryse, you had to love her way of handling things.

"Good choice, you know sometimes when you drink you do things you really shouldn't," Luke said, he said it like he was reciting something he'd read in a textbook.

"I know that."

"That's good," said Maryse. "You know because I've never really talked to you about those stupid things that…eh might happen after you…lose some self control."

Alec eyed her warily. He had a feeling this nice little late breakfast or early lunch was going to take a turn to the dark side. He could already feel the blush creeping onto his light complexion. "Mom, where is this going?"

"Nowhere, honey!" She exclaimed defensively. "…But I just thought that me or your father never really talked to you about… you know…sex." Maryse almost whispered the last word and Luke seemed very interested in the red wall across the table.

"M-mom, honestly now is not a good time," Alec said under his breath and shot daggers at Luke. He felt kind of bad for Luke though, it was obvious that Maryse had coaxed him into this.

"Now is as good a time as any. Besides I thought that since your father is…useless, you might want to talk to Luke instead, you know, instead of me."

"Why would you think that?" Alec snapped.

"Oh honey I only thought that it would be easier to talk to him than me," Maryse said with a pleading look in her blue eyes.

Alec let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I really want to talk about sex with my mother's boyfriend because I mean that makes perfect sense," Alec said and was about to get up and leave, but Maryse clenched his hand and pulled him down.

"Alec! This is important. We are talking about this like it or not," Maryse said, but something in her body language told Alec that she just might be bluffing. He didn't think she really wanted to get into this conversation any bit more than he did. He figured she'd hoped Luke would've handled the situation, but for some reason Alec wanted Maryse to know what she was getting herself into.

He took a deep breath and sat down. "Okay mom, I think I'd rather talk to you both. You know, get both perspectives." He smiled and took a sip of his recently refilled orange juice.

"Oh," Maryse gasped, clearly surprised that he had agreed so easily. Then she squinted her eyes just the tiniest bit and Alec realized she was calling his bluff. This was bad. Bad, bad, bad.

"So what did you want to talk about," Alec said, trying to sound casual.

"Well I just thought that we should make sure that you know about certain things," Maryse said and so obviously kicked Luke –who was still staring off to space- in the shin.

"Huh? Yeah. Exactly what she said," Luke recovered quickly.

"Like what things?" Alec asked with hardly any interest.

"Well…like protection and stuff." Maryse was being surprisingly vague; he guessed this wasn't exactly her expertise.

"I hardly think there's a chance I knock anyone up, mom," Alec said with a tiny laugh. Luke joined him for just a second until Maryse silenced the two of them with one single glance.

"There are other things to worry about than just getting someone pregnant," She said with a composed voice. "Like for instance STDs."
"STDs? Mom I know you're not exactly BFFs with Magnus, but do you really think he has STDs?"

"Well of course not!" She exclaimed. "But do you think Magnus will be the only man you'll ever be with?"

That sure shut Alec up. He looked down at his feet. He had never once considered the fact that he might someday be with someone else than Magnus. He pondered on the thought for a while and then shook his head. He couldn't imagine what life would be like without Magnus. Maybe he was being childish and naïve, but he really believed that they would be together forever. If there was a will there was a way. He firmly believed in that. As long as Magnus wanted him, he would stay with him. Unless he did something really, really, really stupid, but Alec didn't see Magnus doing anything that could destroy their relationship.

"Alec, are you alright?" Maryse asked now with a tentative voice. She seemed to notice the deep thought he'd sunken in.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just, I don't want to answer your question." He looked at that very same wall Luke had been staring at earlier. It really was an interesting wall.

"Why not?" She asked hastily. "You know you can tell me anything."

"Because you'll laugh at me," he replied.

"Why would I laugh at you?"

"Okay, so maybe not laugh, but you'd give me a speech about being naïve and childish." Alec sighed. So did Luke, but he didn't say anything. Alec kind of liked that about him. He knew when to be quiet and when to interfere. "You see, mom, right now I actually think Magnus will be the only man I'll ever be with. True or not, that's what I want."

Maryse just stared at him blankly. She opened her mouth to say something, most likely to protest, but Luke cut her off. "That's nice Alec. You know, if that's what you want then stick to it. Hell, if you have someone you really love, then don't let them go."

Alec couldn't help but smile. He had managed to stir the conversation away from STDs and all that jazz. Admittedly he had some help from Luke, who was actually turning out to be kind of nice. He really appreciated the fact that Luke sided with him and didn't make fun of his childish beliefs.

"So are we all done here?" Alec asked.

"No!" Maryse said hastily. "I still need to make sure that…"

"Yes," Luke said. "I think we're done here."

"Luke!" Maryse exclaimed and got up. She walked over to him and crossed her arms. Alec took this as his cue to leave.

He did however stay behind the kitchen door and listened in on the conversation. He didn't really want Luke to get into any trouble with Maryse, even if he wasn't totally on board with them dating; Luke was sort of a nice guy. He leaned against the wall and listened carefully.

He could hear his mother's voice hitch up in annoyance. "Who do you think you are to tell my son that we are done?"

"I was just trying to make an already awkward situation not go from bad to worse," Luke said, defending his actions.

"God! I thought you were supposed to help me? Instead you just ruined everything!" Maryse screamed. Alec could pretty much imagine her waving her arms frantically and poking Luke with her index finger.

"Hey!" Luke exclaimed at her. Nevertheless she went on ranting about how you could never count on men to do anything, but Luke wasn't listening.

"Maryse!" He finally screamed at the top of his lungs. "Calm down, okay. Nothing bad is going to happen. You don't always have to control everything," he said surprisingly softly.

"What, are you saying I'm a control freak?" Maryse asked annoyance still audible in her voice. Alec could bet she was pouting. Actually he was sure she was pouting, because Luke's voice faltered.

"Maryse, sweetheart, he'll be fine. Alec will be just fine. Okay?" Maryse apparently nodded, because Luke went on. "I think he's the kind of guy who would ask if he wanted to know something…and something tells me that if he has something to ask about Magnus is more than capable of explaining things to him."

"But…How can you be so sure?" Maryse asked, her own voice faltering now.

"I don't. I just have to trust that things will sort themselves out," Luke said.

"That's absolut-" Maryse began to say, but was cut off by what Alec could only imagine to be a kiss from Luke. At this point he decided it was time to retire to his room for an early "What the hell was that about" -session and perhaps read a few more chapters of his book.

Izzy's point of view

As she watched Simon walk into Magnus' movie or whatever room, she could only think about how wonderful he looked. The only thing she wanted to do right now was to run into Simon's arms and beg for forgiveness, but she stayed still. She felt a tinge of jealousy creep into her thoughts as she saw him and Camille chatting in ease. Of course she knew there was nothing between the two of them, but still it hurt to see him happy with someone else, particularly someone with long legs, platinum blond hair and a gorgeous figure.

"Welcome Simon!" Magnus chimed and set a few candles on the table. "Sit, sit down here," Magnus said pointing at the pillows on the floor; they surrounded a big mahogany coffee table. Izzy was already sitting on the floor. She was wearing a black silky blouse with white dots on it. The material clung to her body firmly and made her pale skin shine in the candle lit colorful room. She was wearing a pair of old jeans that she had once left at Magnus' house.

Simon sat at the opposite side of the table. He was wearing an old T-shirt and jeans; his hair was still messy from a night of sleep. Izzy gave him a tentative smile. He replied to it with a meek one.

Camille took her jacket off and sat down next to Simon. Magnus finally stopped fidgeting around the room and sat down next Izzy. He placed his hands on the table and announced. "Welcome to Cam and Maggie's relationship counseling!"

Izzy and Simon both stared at each other and groaned. When Magnus had said he had something in mind to fix things, this wasn't what she had expected.

"Stop complaining and listen" Camille snapped at them. Izzy and Simon instantly looked at her. "You need to resolve this stupid little fight you're having. Now I'm sure you both have reasons to feel upset with each other, but we'll help you figure it out."

"But that's just the thing," Izzy started. "I'm not mad at Simon."

"That's funny, because you seemed like you were pretty mad yesterday," Simon replied.

"Please just hear her out," Magnus said. "I know you want to anyway. This is no time to be proud and macho. Not that I think you're very macho anyways, both Izzy and me like it better that way." He grinned at Simon, who in return cracked a small smile. "I'm glad my unmanliness amuses you."

"Boys, let's keep it serious will we," Camille interjected and beckoned for Izzy to speak.

"I-I…" She started, but then shut her mouth. There was a moment of silence in the room. Izzy looked down at the table and prayed she could manage to figure out how to explain the complex web of reasons for her outburst to Simon.

"Could we have some privacy?" Simon suddenly asked. Izzy felt relieved. Really, she appreciated what Camille and Magnus were doing for them, but she felt like anyone else didn't need to hear this.

Camille sighed as Magnus practically dragged her out of the room. Izzy could hear her heels click against the stairs as they walked up. She also heard the thick door shut behind them. She took a deep breath.

"Okay," Simon said. "Is that better?" He seemed worried now.

"Yeah, thanks. I just didn't want them to hear." She didn't know what to do so she just started talking. "You know, I just… I just freaked out. And I know it's not okay. I know it's weird and I know that…that…" She paused for a second. She could feel the tears beginning to surface. She bit her lip and let out a sob. It wasn't supposed to go this way. She was supposed to be strong and explain what happened and then they would make up. But now all the overwhelming feelings started to take over her. She bit her lip again trying to concentrate. She failed miserably and let out a sob again. At that Simon's anger faded instantly. He made his way over to her and grabbed her into an embrace. "Hey, Izzy, It's okay. Don't cry, please." He held her tightly.

"I'm sorry Simon," she managed to get out between her sobs. "I just, I wanted to do it right this time and I just ruined everything. I didn't want it to be like that. I mean it was great. It was awesome. Of course it was, I was with you, but I just I lost control of the situation and I feel really guilty."

"I think we both lost control. And you are right, maybe the timing wasn't perfect, but that doesn't matter to me," Simon said. "As long as I was with you."
"Yeah, but in the past I've made the same mistake and all those relationships went downhill instantly after that," Izzy replied.

"How many relationships have you actually been in?" Simon asked a bit warily. "Not that it really matters, but I was just wondering."

"Relationships," She repeated. She looked up at Simon, she was sure her mascara had spread all over her face and that her eyes were red, still he looked at her with adoration in his eyes. He brushed some of her hair behind her ear and stared at her intensively. "I've had two actual relationships before you. And I regret both of them. Or actually I regret the way I acted in those relationships. I- I thought I had to be the kind of girl who looked the part and acted like a party girl and did what the guy wanted to do…I didn't really think about what I was doing before it was too late. I just wanted to be a good girlfriend, that I didn't even notice I wasn't in a good relationship. Those relationships destroyed me. Then I started acting out. I didn't talk to my mom in like six months; my dad was playing oblivious to the whole thing. That's like when I started drinking too. Some days were hazy, some were better, but I was a mess, Simon, a real mess."

"Is that why you act so tough all the time, do you think I'm going to hurt you?" Simon asked tilting her head up to look into her eyes.

"I don't think you'll hurt me. I'm afraid that you'll hurt me. There's a difference," She said.

"What can I say to make you understand, what can I do to make you believe that I don't ever want to hurt you?" Simon asked and pulled her closer.

"I don't know," she admitted and swallowed. "I'm just scared that one day I'll freak out so bad that you'll leave me."

At that point Simon blinked a few times and then cupped her cheeks. "Isabelle Lightwood, I have no desire to leave you, on the contrary, I couldn't imagine living without you."

"Really?" She asked, hope clearing her voice.

"Really, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I- I think I love you."

"Oh dear God, I think I love you too," She replied, feeling how her heart thumped in her chest. It was like some kind of natural force that pushed them together. He kissed her in a way that made her breath hitch and her heart skip a breath. She echoed his actions and received the same reaction from him.

"Is this really happening?" She asked him.

"Yes, unless this is some weird Matrix dream thing. In that case, don't you dare wake me up."

AN: So that was it, I hope to get this spell checked by my Beta If I ever hear from her again (yeah I miss her, I need someone to put up with my dumbass mistakes.) Anyways, please let me know what you thought about the chapter. And I almost forgot, but I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I forgot to answer them. Yeah, that was definately my bad. Anyway, see how I fixed my sizzy problem. I was so happy after finishing this chapter :D

Review, please, could you? Would you? I'd be as happy as Simon reading comics :D