September 23, 2016 - WAFFLES

"Tessa, I have a question." Ever since my first day at school, Tessa and I had just gotten closer. I even met some of her friends. Aline, Helen, and Will were all really close, but somehow I had gotten into their group. "I have been here for a month, and no one has been able to tell me how you get WAFFLES from Wayland Academy for the Highly Gifted Arts."

"Oh," she giggled, "It doesn't really stand for anything. I think some jocks were drunk one night and decided that WAHGA sounds like a breakfast food." We were sitting at a round table in the commons with all our friends. Some shot Tessa a weird look, but it was Will who spoke up.

"That is," he stated, "precisely what happened." His ever present smirk turned into a smile when I looked at him.

"And just how would you know?" Will was only a year older than the rest of us. When I first saw him, I knew he looked familiar. Now I know why. Will Herondale was a spitting image of his cousin Jace Herondale, except for the hair and eyes. Will had dark black hair with blue eyes, where Jace had light golden blond hair and gold eyes. I sighed inwardly. Maybe all Herondales were just pretty

"I know, because I was one of those jocks, thank you very much." He didn't look like he was kidding, but Jace was always difficult to read too. As the year went on, it felt increasingly difficult to stop comparing Will and Jace.

May 6th, 2019 - New York; Home

"Okay," Oh no, "I've been sitting in the living room long enough. Now where's my hug?" It was Jace, my brother Jon's best friend since childhood. We had never been explicitly close, but we had started to hang out more right before I was accepted.

"Who says you get a hug?" I teased. "Maybe I'm all hugged out." If I thought he and Will looked similar before, now it was even more evident. His strong jawline and built body a perfect match to his cousin's. They were both painfully beautiful.

"Nope. Sorry carrot. I've been saving this hug for three years. Come here." I sighed and smiled. I didn't mind the hug, I just liked to tease Jace. His hug was more gentle than Jon's, but firm all the same. Just as he let me go, my phone started to ring.

"One second." I looked down, expecting to see my mom's number. Instead I saw Will's.

"Will? I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon."

"Yeah, so about that. We have a problem." He sounded panicked.

"Will, what's going on?" This wasn't like him, he was normally one to get straight to the point.

"So my plane had a problem and we ended up in New York instead of London."

"How does that even happen?" So Will was in New York and calling me instead of his aunt. This outta be good.

"I have absolutely no clue. I think it was something about a weather turn around and too much air traffic, then low fuel. Anyway, I can't get ahold of my family so I was wondering if I could stop by your house?" Almost immediately I wanted to say yes, but I hesitated. Two Herondales in the same house? That has to be dangerous. "Clary? Is that okay?"

"Oh! Yeah! I'm sorry I just spaced out." He was already in a cab so I gave him my address and filled in Jon and Jace.

"So why is my cousin coming to your house?" Jace sounded perplexed and a bit mad? Surely he wasn't upset about seeing Will.

"We were pretty close in Cali." 'Pretty close' was an understatement. Will and I had dated for two and a half years at WAFFLES, and I was ecstatic that he would now get to see the home I had been going on and on about. "I've told him a lot about this place so I'm sure he probably wants to see it."

"I think it's a great idea," said Jon. "You get to see your cousin and Clary gets to see her boyfriend." Jon emphasized that last word and with a pointed look at Jace, he tensed.

Fifteen minutes later Will was at my door wearing a "New York, New York. So good they named it twice" hat and a black hoodie.

"Hey Clare," Will said as he pulled me into a hug. He kissed the top of my head before stepping back. "So this is your home? It's very pretty. It must be a New York thing." I smiled.

"Sorry to interrupt your reunion, but there's other people here too." Jace, obnoxious as always, stood impatiently at the foot of the stairs.

"Hey Jace." Will walked to him for a hug but Jace stepped back. They were never close due to the separation distance, but I had expected Jace to be more welcoming. Jon cleared his throat.

"So this is Will? I didn't expect him and Jace to look so similar." I always found it weird how close they looked. Maybe that was why I was so drawn to Will.

"Oh it gets weirder." Jace's voice was monotone as he stepped down from the last stair. "Will, can I talk to you?" Will hesitated. "Now." Jace stalked off into the living room, Will following close behind.

Jace's POV

For three years I held onto the belief that I would finally get to tell Clary how I felt. I considered the fact that she might have a few boyfriends from school, but never anyone I couldn't stack up to. Definitely never anything long term, and definitely never my cousin.

"Look. I don't know what you think you're doing here, but I think you should end things with Clary and go home." I bit my lip. I didn't want to stoop to begging, but I was willing to if needed.

"Excuse me?" Great. He was outraged. "I'm sorry. I must have heard you wrong. I didn't know you owned Clary." So, I might have messed up. Why did it have to be Will?

"Look. I'm just trying to look out for her," I lied. "You live all the way in London and she's only 16." I couldn't tell him the truth.

"If you must know, we broke up a few days ago. Though I don't see how that is any of your business." He was beyond mad. Will was showing no emotion on his face.

"I just care about her, that's all. Cousin to cousin, did you break up because of distance?" He looked at his feet, face flushed scarlet.

"I don't really wanna talk about it." He quickly shuffled from the room, regaining his composure.

"Did you find out anything else about your flight?" Clary asked. Will checked his phone, hand shaking.

"Yeah. It's rescheduled for tomorrow at 2 p.m. I guess I'll just try to find a hotel for the night." I let out a breathe I didn't know I was holding.

"Nonsense!" It was Jon. "We have an extra guest room you can stay in."

"Oh I couldn't. I wouldn't want to intrude on Clary's homecoming." I smirked. I didn't want him to stay.

"It's probably for the best-" I was cut off by Clary.

"No. Jon's right," she stated. "There's no use in you paying for a hotel when you can just stay here."

"Okay. Would it be alright if I headed up there now? I'd like to get a bit of rest."

"Yeah. Just follow me." Jon lead him up the stairs, neither glancing back.

Once they were completely out of sight, I turned to Clary. "What happened between you two?" She stiffened. It was definitely something big.

"I," she sighed. "It's a long story." I looked at my invisible watch.

"I have all the time you need Clarissa." Clary cringed. She hated being called by her full name.

"Don't call me that. Look, we just had a falling out. He and Tessa grew close, and we grew apart. That's all. No hard feelings." So that's what happened. I wanted to be mad, but it was I knew it was irrational.

"Oh. I didn't realize. I'm sorry Clary. You didn't deserve that." I wanted to console her more than was plausible.

"No it's okay. It had nothing to do with you." She looked at me, her beautiful green eyes filling with tears.

"Oh, but it did," I mumbled. I wanted to tell her, but now definitely wasn't the right time.

"What?"

"It's nothing."

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