Hey, guys! I hope you're all safe! I hope you're all sane! I hope you're all blessed with brilliant house companions and high speed internet! I am trying to stay positive because the world is fucking scary, and on with the chapter!
We've got some girl bonding time in this one!
"It's nice to be meeting your third properly," Isabelle sung out under her breath as she walked over to where Clary was standing against the railing of the outdoor section of the restaurant. "It's only really been in passing before, or when I'm drunk." Clary grinned as she looked down at the drink in Isabelle's hand, and then raised an eyebrow pointedly as she looked back up at the dark haired girl. "Right, well, I'm only slightly drunk this time," Isabelle commented, not looking ashamed as she threw back the rest of her drink. "You down for a refill?"
"Always," Clary wiggled her nose, the stud in her nose glittering in the fairy lights that were strung up above them. Isabelle waved down one of the passing waiters and ordered them both another cocktail before turning her attention back to Clary, who was looking over to where Sebastian were standing with Simon and Magnus, close to the long table that was reserved for them for the evening. It wasn't time for dinner, they were all going to settle down and place their orders in about ten minutes or so, but for now they were all just talking and having a few drinks, and Alec had disappeared a while ago—almost as soon as they had arrived at the restaurant, actually—and Jace had decided to go off and find him since they were going to sitting down soon. "Where's Alec anyway?"
"I don't know," Isabelle made a face. "He's been a bit weird for the past few days, to be honest. We had dinner at mum and dads the other night—Magnus had some work thing, so it was just us—and they all ditched me and Max for a while, so we got into the good bourbon that dad still thinks that we don't know about."
"What'd they talk about?" Clary asked, lips quirking in a smile as the waiter came back with their drinks, all pink and fruity looking with umbrellas and cherry's decorating the top.
"They didn't say, but by that point, me and Max were a couple shots in and were watching Dance Moms compilation videos on Youtube," Isabelle shrugged a shoulder and Clary snorted as they drank. Clary was about to ask about what specific compilation videos they had been watching when she noticed Alec and Jace coming back around the corner, and they had to pass by the two girls to get to the table, and Jace reached out to put an arm around her waist briefly and kiss her temple, and they got a whiff of cigarette smoke as they passed by them. Isabelle looked at Clary with wide eyes and Clary met her gaze.
"Is Alec smoking again?" Clary asked, making sure to keep her voice quiet.
"Only when he's stressed," Isabelle said, eyebrows pulling together. "I mean, him and Mags are good, and him and his job are good—I think. He's not...Sick or anything, right?" As though in complete sync, both Isabelle and Clary turned to look over to where Alec and Jace had joined Simon, Sebastian and Magnus, and Magnus didn't look worried at all as he reached up to kiss Alec on the cheek, curving himself into Alec's side, as though there was nowhere else that he belonged.
"Magnus would be looking worried if Alec was sick," Clary commented, narrowing her eyes as she tried to tell if anything about Magnus was off. He wasn't easy to read for the general public, but his friends knew the tics to look for and everything seemed completely fine. Alec, on the other hand, looked nervous and kept chewing down his lips and they weren't the only ones who noticed, because Simon was raising his eyebrows at the older man and Magnus had his hand rubbing subtly up and down Alec's back in a soothing motion. "I'll ask Jace tonight if we don't find out?" Clary suggested as she looked back at Isabelle. "And I'll text you after."
"Thanks," Isabelle smiled and tapped her cocktail glass against the side of Clary's lightly before tipping the drink back and swallowing half of it. Clary lifted her own drink to her lips as Alec called out to them to let them know that it was time for them to sit down and order dinner. Clary and Isabelle walked over to the table, and Clary sat in between Jace and Sebastian, and she smiled when Sebastian slung his arm casually over the back of her chair, his fingers brushing against Jace's arm on the other side of her.
Conversation was easy and the drinks kept on coming and Clary liked how easy things seemed with Sebastian as part of their group. He'd spent time with them before, but not a lot, and not all together in a group, given how busy all of their lives were, and now that things were all official between him and Clary and Jace, it felt good that he was properly getting to know the people who were most important in their lives. Alec loosened up a little after their appetizers and around the time when Simon spilt one of the jugs of water with mint leaves and lemon wedges all over the table cloth and some onto his lap—a pretty frequent event for any outing with Simon, and that was why they were careful not to leave any drinks near him most of the time. It was halfway through dinner—where Clary had clear access to both Sebastian's prawn linguine with crusty bread and Jace's steak with blue cheese sauce that she was alternating between tasting amidst eating her own meal—that Alec cleared his throat pointedly and pushed back his chair. Clary arched an eyebrow as she felt Jace tense up a bit beside her, and she looked at him first, before looking across the table to where Isabelle was sitting, and then over to Alec.
"So," Alec cleared his throat again and scratched the side of his face, and then he rubbed at his nose and blinked a few times—it seemed like every single nervous tic he'd ever had was manifesting right now. Clary arched an eyebrow and looked sideways at Jace, who was looking up at Alec with a smile on his face, so he clearly knew what was happening. She narrowed her eyes as she looked back across the table, meeting Isabelle's eyes briefly, before focusing back on Alec. "Alright, so," he began again, and then almost choked on his words and had to pick up his glass and have a sip to clear his throat. "Clearly I fucking hate talking in front of people," Alec got out, rolling his eyes at himself and his friends around him laughed gently. "But..." he trailed off and then turned and looked down at Magnus, who was staring up at him, his gaze both adoring and confused. "These are the most important to us, Mags, and this is your favourite restaurant a-and you like big, bold gestures—" Clary's eyes widened as she realized what was happening.
"Oh my god," came a gasp from Isabelle.
"Magnus Bane," Alec swallowed hard as he managed to—smoothly—slide down to one knee in front of his long time boyfriend and he pulled a ring out of his pocket, then very not smoothly almost dropping the ring onto the ground. He quickly gripped it and there was a breathless giggle from Magnus as his eyes widened, staring down at Alec. Clary felt Sebastian's hand on her back drop further down so that it was looped around her waist and she couldn't help but reach out and put a hand on each of her boys knees as she chewed on her bottom lip in anticipation. "Will you marry me?" The ring that Alec was holding up looked like an old one, a vintage one, and there was a shuddery exhale from Isabelle as Simon reached over and hugged her tightly.
"Yes," Magnus' voice was so quiet, only those at the table heard, even though the attention of several tables around them were focused on the newly engaged couple. "Shit—god, Alexander, yes."
"Yeah?" Alec sounded as though he was only half a second away from bursting into tears as he looked up at Magnus.
"Yes!" Magnus repeated for a third time, thrusting out his left hand and giving it a wiggle as he waited for Alec to push the ring up his finger and there was a shaky laugh from Jace who looked suspiciously glassy eyed as Clary glanced over at him. The ring fit perfectly and Magnus held it up to look at it, and then he frowned and tilted his head to the side.
"It's our great-great-grandma's," Isabelle whispered from the seat behind Magnus, reaching forward and hooking her chin over her soon-to-be brother-in-laws shoulder, looking down at the ring on Magnus' finger. "And it was her husbands grandmothers before that. It's a Lightwood heirloom." She sniffed and looked up at her brother, and Alec was smiling down at his new fiancé and sister. Clary's eyes were pretty glassy as well, because there had been a time when Alec wouldn't have been given the ring. When he had first come out to his family, Max and Isabelle couldn't care less, their brothers sexual orientation not changing anything, but things with his parents were strained for a while. They had been more accepting over time, getting over their own bias', and now they were here, and Alec had just put a Lightwood family heirloom on Magnus' finger and everything in the world felt right.
"Did you know this was happening?" Clary whispered to Jace as Alec got back to his feet and was then dragging Magnus up off his chair and their mouths were crashing together messily, a public display of affection that Alec generally only allowed when he had had a few too many drinks.
"I knew that he was thinking about doing it soon," Jace replied softly, putting an arm around her shoulders and brushing his lips against her ear in a soft kiss, before his arm fell so it was around her back, resting against Sebastian's arm around her waist. "But I didn't know it was going to be tonight until Alec spoke with me just before."
"Since when do we have secrets?" Clary narrowed her eyes playfully and Jace just smiled, nuzzling his nose into her temple.
"No more secrets, I promise," he told her and Clary smiled as she leaned forward and gave him a kiss. Then everyones attention was drawn back to the happy couple because Isabelle was holding up her wine glass and proposing a toast. Dessert was brought out soon after, along with a complimentary bottle of wine from the restaurant, and then Sebastian ordered another round of drinks for the table as well which had Magnus announcing that he was very happy about the latest addition to their group.
"I can't believe that happened tonight," Isabelle let out a happy sigh as she and Clary walked next to each other out of the restaurant, Simon taking care of his and Isabelle's bill, and Sebastian and Jace playfully snipping at each other over who was going to cover the trio's meal and drinks for the night. "I'm going to be the best maid of honor." Clary let out a laugh.
"Or best man," she pointed out. "You'd look like a babe in a tux. Magnus would make sure the whole bridal party is completely on point."
"Holy shit," Isabelle's eyes widened as she gripped Clary's arm. "Do you think he'll make their tuxes? That'll be amazing."
"They only just got engaged," Clary pointed out, as they came to a stop next to Simon's car. "Maybe we should let them enjoy tonight before we dump all the wedding planning on top of them."
"Maybe," Isabelle shrugged a shoulder and grinned, and then the two looked back toward the restaurant, waiting on the rest of their group to join them. Simon was talking to Sebastian just outside the front doors, Jace, Alec and Magnus all still inside settling their bill, and Clary couldn't help her fond smile as she looked up at Sebastian. Isabelle was right, it was nice having Sebastian there with all of them. He worked a lot, and so even with the change in their relationship status, he still hadn't spent a lot of time with their friends because of that. "You know, I never imagined that Jace would be able to share you." Clary arched an eyebrow and Isabelle shrugged. "Come on. We all knew that he was completely head over heels for you, and we were all just kind of waiting for you to catch up to where he was."
"Oh," Clary felt her cheeks heat up surprisingly, and she looked down at her painted nails that were peeking out through the open toe of the heels that she was wearing. "I, uh—I honestly thought that you were gonna be pissed when we told you that we were, you know, seeing each other."
"Really?" Isabelle raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"Well, before we went to Vegas, you didn't seem like you wanted anything to happen between me and Jace, you know? You kind of sounded like you were warning me off him, actually, saying that him and Sebastian were happy together and stuff..." Clary trailed off, looking to the side, because she hadn't brought that conversation up again with Isabelle since they had had it, even though it had been something that she had been genuinely worried about when Jace had told her that he was telling Alec and Isabelle about their new relationship.
"I just didn't want anyone to get hurt," Isabelle made a face. "Because Jace has been completely in love with you forever. And—Sebastian really liked him and they seemed happy together, and you always seemed happy just, you know—single and doing your own thing. I just...I love both of you and I just didn't want anyone to get hurt," she repeated quietly and Clary looked up at her and smiled, nudging her arm with her elbow.
"It's okay," she murmured. "I get it." Isabelle let out a relieved sigh and she threw her arm around Clary, cuddling her into her side and tightening her arm.
"But you guys look so happy all together," she said quietly as she looked back up to the restaurant, where all the boys were gathered now, obviously finished up with paying inside, and Sebastian was looking at Magnus' ring, which Magnus was happily flashing in the middle of the semi-circle that they had created. "Sebastian seems to fit in well with you guys."
"He does," Clary agreed, and there was a fond flutter in her chest as they watched the boys start to walk toward them, Jace and Sebastian falling into step beside one another, their hands linking together and their shoulders bumping comfortably. They looked good together, Sebastian a little taller than Jace, Jace broader than Sebastian, both of them smiling widely and their cheeks a bit flushed from the cool night air. Magnus and Alec were practically hanging off each other, and Clary absently wondered how long their high was going to last, but then her boys were reaching her, and Jace leaned in to give her a quick but firm kiss on the mouth and Sebastian brushed his mouth against her forehead and then playfully reached around to give her ass a squeeze before they all stopped to say goodbye to Isabelle and Simon, waiting for them to leave before moving onto their own car.
"Well, I guess we figured out what was wrong with my brother," Isabelle joked after she had hugged everyone and was back against Clary's side.
"Absolutely nothing is wrong, apparently," Clary grinned back and Isabelle leaned in to give her a tight hug.
"Oh, and for the record, Iz?" Clary murmured against Isabelle's ear as they were pressed together. "Jace has no problem with sharing me. Not if it's with Sebastian." Isabelle let out a snort as they pulled back and Clary took a step back. It was like second nature as Sebastian reached out to put a hand on her waist and Jace slipped his fingers together with hers, making room for her between their bodies. Isabelle's eyes flicked between them, her smile softening from the smirk that it had been before as she looked at the three of them together. She pursed her lips into a kiss, blowing one in their direction before she got into the passenger side of their car, where Simon was holding open the door.
"You guys ready to go home?" Sebastian asked softly, leaning against Clary's side and looking over her head at Jace.
"Yeah," Jace gave Clary's hand a squeeze, and she returned the pressure. "Let's go home."
I have a few TV recommendations few guys, since we've been inside doing almost nothing else for the past few weeks. Breeders is really funny in a total black comedy kind of way, although there's definitely a few things that hit a little close to home. And then there's Car Masters: Rust to Riches which is this car show where they take cars and do them up into something crazy. Me just writing that sounds bland as shit, and I never watch this shows! Haha. We never watch car shows or anything, but this one is just different, the whole group is just really entertaining. There's two seasons, so yeah, just check it out to see if it's your thing!
My top ten songs that I would recommend this time around are;
1) Smiling When I Die - Sasha Sloan. 2) Forever - Fletcher. 3) On - BTS. 4) Kissing Other People - Lennon Stella. 5) Pretend You're Missing Me - Betty Who. 6) Not In The Same Way - 5 Seconds of Summer. 7) Paper Hearts - Tori Kelly. 8) Cruel Intentions - Delacey and G-Eazy. 9) Ophelia - The Lumineers. 10) Highway To Heaven - NCT 127.
I hope you guys enjoyed the update! And the recommendations! I hope they provided a little bit of distraction in these...Weird times we're living in. Leave a comment, let me know what you thought of the update and please recommend songs and movies and TV series and whatever! I've heard from a few people that they've looked at other peoples recommendations and really enjoyed them, so it's not just me you're being a hero for right now! Haha.
Much love from me to you x
Tumblr: SereneCalamity
Twitter: CalamitySerene