An update for you beautiful people :)
Jace couldn't help but search his name when he was on the plane on his way back to New York. He had learnt long ago that nothing good came from searching his name, but he couldn't help it. Thankfully, while there were quite a few hits on his name, there really wasn't much more information about what had happened. There were variations of the pictures, but not by much, and the story was all relatively the same, that he was seen in a small California town with a redhead, who was currently unnamed, and it looked as though they were having a great time together.
He couldn't help but be relieved.
When he had told Clary that something more exciting would come along, it had been true, because new gossip was breaking every day, but there had still been a niggle at the back of his mind that said that something about the story could keep their interest.
Jace landed in New York and there was a town car waiting at the airport for him, which was to take him directly to where his mother was getting ready for the premiere, Lord of Shadows. Isabelle and Alec had text him while he had been on the plane to tell him that they were going to come along to the premiere as well, so that he wasn't alone, which he appreciated.
He absolutely hated the fluffing around and the hair and the make up and the way that the designer was pulling and tweaking at his suit and tie. His measurements were done every few months to ensure they were correct—that was something that his mother always insisted on—so that he would have tuxedos ready at all times, in case anything like this came up. Celine was there, although she was in a separate room, but once they had finished getting ready, Celine joined him.
And unfortunately, Stephen was there as well.
"Dad," Jace nodded at him as the stylist was finishing with his hair. Once the stylist was done, she left the room. Obviously she could feel the tension as well.
"Glad you could make it," Stephen said in a clipped tone. "Thought that this was going to be like every other premiere that you were going to miss." Jace didn't bother replying to that. He wasn't quite as understanding about Jace's wish to remain as far from the spotlight as he could, part of him blamed Jace for getting all muddled up with Kaelie to begin with, since he had warned Jace before they had started dating. But Jace, in his teenage stubbornness, had done the exact opposite of what Stephen had said.
"Right, so both of our publicists think that it'll be a good idea for you to get photographed at the premiere," Celine spoke up, attempting to smooth over the the awkwardness. "So maybe actually walk the red carpet with us?" Jace's face contorted at that suggestion. "Look, you don't need to stay with us when we're doing interviews. Just be seen, so that it's obvious that you're back in the city and no one is hanging around that town where your friend is."
"Won't that look a bit—I don't know—suspicious, or something?" Jace asked with a shrug as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his tuxedo pants, probably crinkling the carefully pressed lines that the designer had spent the past few hours arranging. "Given I've gone out of my way to avoid them for so long?"
"And how well has that gone for you?" Stephen asked bluntly with a raise of his eyebrows. Celine gave him a hard look out of the corner of her eye before looking back at Jace with a much more placating expression. "My publicist has a slightly different suggestion to what your mother has said. He thinks that you should actually do an interview." Jace's eyes went wide at that and Celine didn't look surprised, but she didn't look as though she agreed with him.
"I'm—I'm not doing an interview—" Jace spluttered.
"Look, not a full one," Stephen looked as though he was actually trying to reason with Jace. "Just, if you stay with your mother, you know there are going to be camera crews coming up to her. If they see you with her, they will definitely want to ask you some questions, and those pictures will come up. You say that you're seeing someone, that it's new, that you would appreciate some privacy."
"As if the paparazzi have ever respected that," Jace rolled his eyes. "I'm not doing an interview. I'm not doing the red carpet. I'm coming to this because mum asked me to and then I'm going to leave with Isabelle and Alec after." Stephen looked at him for a few moments later and then nodded.
"Alright," he said quietly. "If that's what you want."
"It is," Jace insisted.
"Okay," Stephen nodded. His father actually looked as though he respected that decision and gave him a small smile. Their relationship was tense at times—a lot of the time, in fact—and that just came with the distance that was always between them, and the shadow of Jace's problems when he was younger cast over both Stephen and Celine. But sometimes they both saw through the awkwardness and were able to get along. "Well, let's get going. Are you coming with your mother and I, or are you getting picked up by Isabelle and Alec?"
"I'm going with Isabelle and Alec," Jace replied with a half smile. "Isabelle wants to do the red carpet—you know how she is with cameras—" Celine smiled at that. "But Alec is more than happy to go in around the back with me, so...That'll be good."
"Alright, but you'll be sitting with us? We've reserved a seat," Celine said and Jace nodded. Celine leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "We'll see you there." Stephen nodded at Jace and followed Celine out of the room. Jace pulled his phone out of his pocket, and there were two messages from Isabelle there as well as a snapchat from Clary. He skimmed over the texts and went straight to the snapchat. He opened it and smiled when he saw Clary on the porch, her face lit up by the setting sun. The smile dropped off his face quickly, though, because it just made his heart ache, wanting to be back there with her. Isabelle's name flashed up on the screen, this time not a text, but a phone call. He swiped his thumb over the screen and put it to his ear.
"Oh, so your phone is working?!" Isabelle's voice was loud and Jace winced for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Anyway, we're on our way to pick you up. And we've got Magnus!" There was a cheer from somewhere behind Isabelle and Jace was guessing that it was Magnus. "And he brought champagne!" That would explain why her voice was so loud, she was probably well into the bottle.
"Alright, I'll come down," Jace said with a smile. He actually felt a bit better hearing his cousins voice, and even though he was going out to a very public place with a lot of cameras, being with his cousins again was going to be good for him. They always made him feel better. Jace put his phone back in his pocket and headed toward the elevator. The limo pulled up right at the curb of the building, in the reserved spot that his parents limousine would have been in before, and Jace opened the door and quickly ducked inside before anyone on the street could recognize them. Isabelle was looking absolutely gorgeous, in a red and gold dress, and she was sitting opposite Magnus and Alec. Alec was in a dark blue tuxedo that looked incredible with his eyes, and Magnus was in a dark purple tuxedo, with a silver tie and a purple strip in the coif that his hair had been teased into.
"Ah, Jace!" Magnus smiled widely, and he reached over to take the bottle of champagne from Isabelle, who pouted a little. "Long time, no see." Jace moved over to sit next to Isabelle and took the champagne bottle from Magnus and lifted it to his lips. "Your girlfriend? The one you've been texting and flew down to Malibu to see? She's cute." It was a bit difficult to swallow his mouthful after that comment and Alec jabbed him in the side. "What? The pictures were cute?"
"It's fine," Jace muttered after he wiped his hand over his mouth. "I guess someone had to mention it."
"Well, it sucks, but you guys at least looked adorable together," Isabelle pointed out with a comforting smile.
"Thanks," Jace rolled his eyes.
"You need to loosen up," Isabelle reached over and nudged the bottom of the champagne bottle. "Have another drink, you need it more than I do." Jace rolled his eyes at her, but did what she had said, and had another drink. Conversation shifted, Isabelle talking about how she was going to be flying to Milan for a show in a few weeks time and Magnus gushing over the latest script that Alec had picked up. Jace felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and for a moment he wondered if it was Clary, but he didn't pull it out. He knew that if he did, he was just going to be put right back in that spot that he had been in for the past couple of hours, and he needed to try and get out of his head.
"Just drop us off around the side," Alec said quietly after he had lowered the partition between where they were in the back of the limo.
"Very good," the driver replied with a nod in the rear view mirror. There were limo's lining the road as they approached the event centre, and Jace tensed as he saw all of the camera crews and reporters who were flooding the area. There were also hordes of fans, in casual clothes, who were clamoring behind the gates, trying to get glimpses of the stars or a photo of them. Isabelle got out of the car and Magnus was close behind her.
"I'll meet you inside," Magnus told Jace and Alec with a smile. "Someone needs to escort this gorgeous lady down the carpet."
"We'll see you soon," Alec reached forward to give his boyfriend a kiss while he was still leaning into the car before pulling back and shutting the door. Through the tinted glass, they saw Magnus and Isabelle laugh as Isabelle smoothed out her dress and then link her arm through Magnus'. "Round the side," Alec reminded the driver, who took a turn at the next street, which still had security and street wardens. The two boys in their tuxedos got out and Alec gave Jace a once over. "You good?" He checked.
"I'm good," Jace nodded and took in a deep breath. This was a theatre that he had gone into many times before through the side entrance, and it was easy enough with their passes to get in without much attention. "Let's do this."
There's been quite a bit of binge watching happening in this household, the Transformers series, all the Toy Story's, Schitts Creek, 24 and a lot of old RuPaul. Oh, and of course, Tiger King, which was just...One hell of a trip. Holy hell. What have you guys been watching?
And of course, my top ten songs this week;
1) Smiling When I Die - Sasha Sloan. 2) Why Are You Here - Machine Gun Kelly. 3) Who - Lauv featuring BTS. 4) Kissing Other People - Lennon Stella. 5) Fuck It I Love You - Lana Del Rey. 6) Hope Is A Dangerous Thing - Lana Del Rey. 7) On - BTS. 8) Forever - Fletcher. 9) No Time To Die - Billie Eilish. 10) Too Young - Louis Tomlinson.
I hope you're all staying safe and sane, wherever you are xx
