When everyone was done ordering they sat in silence for a bit. Before anyone else could start up a new topic for their conversation Simon was feeling the awkwardness seeping in so he decided to start talking. He didn't know why everyone was acting so weird around him but he tried to not let it bug him. He talked about how he was in a band and that they had a show going on tomorrow.
"Which reminds me, Clary you won't believe what happened. The band will be going on tour within the next 3 months!" Simon was so excited and focused on Clary that he didn't notice the smug look on the blondie's face.
"That's great Simon! I'm so happy for you!" Clary did sound genuinely happy for him but then she thought about it.
"How long will you be on tour?" Clary asked.
"We don't know yet but our manager said he'll tell us tomorrow." Simon was thrilled. Clary could feel Jace's happiness flowing off him. It finally clicked in her head why he was so happy. With Simon on tour, Clary would be only his for however long till the boy returned.
"What do you do in the band?" Magnus asked
"I'm the bassist." Simon was pretty proud about that.
"Jace can play the piano," Alec took all the attention off of Simon. Or at least the one person's attention he did want on him.
"I wanna hear." Clary was now paying full attention to Jace.
"Thanks, Alec," Jace said jokingly.
"Please. Please, Jace." Clary begged.
"If you thought I was stubborn, you're gonna be surprised when Clary truly wants something." Izzy laughed as Jace looked for help.
"I will do that but only if you show me what you've been drawing," Jace said. Clary was mulling it over in her head.
"Deal." Clary was excited. She didn't know he could play the piano and wanted to hear it.
"Can I see what you've been drawing?" Simon asked. Clary went to say yes but remembered the only thing she had drawn recently was Jace.
"No pressure. You don't have to if you want to." Simon knew that Clary would always show him the drawing but felt jealous that Jace would be the first to see these new drawings. Everyone at the table got the gist of what she had been drawing.
"By the way Alec on the way here I noticed your car had the engine light on," Jace said as he decided to lead the next conversation.
"Yeah. Magnus took it to the mechanic already. They said that it was a faulty oxygen sensor." Alec said rather bored but looked angry.
"Oh don't throw a fit. He's just mad that I can't go back there." Magnus chuckled.
"Why?" Izzy was beyond curious at what made her brother show any emotion.
"Well I drove the car there and when I arrived the nicest boy came to help me. Well, I got to learn pretty quickly why he was being nice. When he went to take the car he wrote something on a business card and handed it to me." Magnus then pulled out the said card. There was a phone number on it.
"Magnus I didn't know you still had it in you." Izzy laughed as it was now quite clear why Alec didn't look happy.
"Now he won't let me go back on my own. He insists he go with me. He even asked for a day off." Magnus was having too much fun.
"Alec taking a day off. Well, that was something I was sure he'd have to die for." Jace joined in the fun. He casually threw his arm over the back of the seat while doing so. Simon honed in on that quite quickly, Clary didn't seem to notice while she laughed as well.
"When we get home I'll make you regret that," Alec promised. Magnus seemed rather keen on that idea.
"Oh, I'm sure regret is the feeling he'll have." Izzy snickered. Their food was soon set in front of them. For the rest of brunch, Simon felt like an outcast. Everyone was laughing and having fun. Even Clary was included and he was sure she had met these people not that long ago. Simon finished his food first and kinda just sat there. Everyone except Clary knew but at this moment they were trying to help Jace get with Clary.
"If you think that's impressive then you should see Alec shoot his bow. He could shoot a penny dead center in the air." Magnus was bragging.
"Can you really?" Clary didn't want to doubt but that was quite a feat.
"He can hit smaller stuff out of the air. Magnus is being modest." Izzy was more than happy to talk about Alec. He would never outright talk about anything. Clary wanted so badly to see it but knew better than to pry with him.
"He would love to show you." Magnus knew what she wanted.
"What? You know how busy I get." Alec looked accusingly.
"If you show her I'll do that thing you've been asking me to do." Magnus bribed and soon after Alec admitted defeat.
"Aw, my poor brother is wrapped around your finger." Izzy teased.
"As am I to him," Magnus said while kissing Alec's cheek. Once everyone was done eating their food they finally took notice of Simon again. He was staring at Cary and Jace but this time for an actual reason. Jace was whispering something in her ear while playing with his girlfriend's hair. Clary's look turned to horror and then she looked to be pouting.
"What did he say to make you look so horrified?" Izzy laughed a little when Clary finally took notice of everyone again.
"I was just telling her that you're gonna start working out with me again and convinced her to join our sessions," Jace said, still playing with her hair. Jace had only said the pg part aloud and kept the rest between them. If Simon hadn't been there he would have said a bit more but even then he still toyed with the young man.
"Yes! Please, Clary. Please. You have no idea how mean he is." Izzy begged Clary pretending her brother wasn't egging on the young brunette.
"Well I've never been one for working out but I'll give it a try." Clary smiled a little.
"Thank you. Thank you. I owe you one." Izzy looked so happy not having to suffer alone. The waiter came to their table and gave them their check.
"I'm paying this time. It's my turn." Izzy said as she threw her credit card down. When Izzy got her card back she then dragged herself out of the booth. Simon practically shot up to help Clary but Jace was already helping her.
"So what are we doing now?" Clary asked as she stood up. Simon had observed the lingering handhold and blamed Jace entirely, Clary would never do anything to hurt him.
"I have something I need an artist for and I know we aren't terribly close but I was hoping I could ask you," Magnus said as he scooted out behind Clary.
"I can try but I'm probably not your best choice." Clary genuinely didn't think she was that good to have someone ask her to make them anything.
"You're a lot better than you think." Jace was the one to say it instead of Simon.
"We will be paying you," Alec said as they walked out of the restaurant. Jace was sticking close to Clary and the way they were walking was not giving Simon a chance to even touch her. With her between Jace and Magnus and Alec behind her, it was hard. Plus Izzy kept talking to him and he kept getting pulled back by the said woman.
"So where do you live exactly?" Clary asked. She felt Jace's hand brush against hers and even took a hold of it. If Alec hadn't been behind her Simon would have taken notice easily. Alec had looked at his husband with a know it all look and his husband sent him a kiss.
"Oh, we're not going to do that immediately, first we need to show you what we want to be drawn. Then we have to pick colors and we want your honest opinion if it looks good or not." Magnus said as he decided to sit in the back and instead of Izzy.
"Alright then." Clary had forgotten about Simon and was already in the car looking at what the couple wanted. Jace scooted in beside her and smirked as he saw a jealous and forgotten Simon.
"Wait for me. Bye Simon, it was nice seeing you." Izzy said as she ran to the front passenger seat. Alec was waiting for her and once she was in did he start reversing. As they pulled away Simon saw Jace put his arm around Clary and felt a slight bit of rage build up in him. He stormed off to the van Eric had let him borrow just for the occasion.
"Well, it depends on what the rest of your house looks like. I would hate to have the painting look out of place." Clary said as she discussed it with Magnus.
"I have some pictures of what it looks like." Magnus had plenty of pictures "This is the wall it's going on and this is the room." Clary was sure to take in every detail as she began imagining it in her head. It would look best if she didn't use too many bright colors.
"This is the color scheme we want to go with but it would be alright if we can't do it that way." Magnus was making sure to show her everything.
"Why didn't you ask the person who drew the rough sketch to make it," Clary asked as she went over the drawing.
"Well, we did it's just they...died… before they could." Magnus was very slow with the sentence. It hurt him just to say it let alone think about it.
"I'm so sorry… I.." Clary felt awful and before she could say anything else she felt Jace kiss the top of her head.
"It's alright we've mostly moved on." Jace was sure to not make her feel bad about something out of her control.
"Anyways we decided that we'll give you some time. No rush on the painting." Izzy spoke after a moment. Magnus had sent Clary message after message of everything to do with the painting, images included. They ended going to Jace's house at Clary's request. She ran inside once she fiddled with the key and put the code in. She grabbed her art book, some coloring pencils with a few more drawing pencils, toiletries, and some clothes for tonight and tomorrow. She then left and made 100 percent sure to lock the door.