Hey, beauties :)

It was the day before the first exam that they decided that they wanted to go to the beach. They were going to make a proper day out of it, taking some drinks and food and Clary and Simon both making sure they lathered sunscreen on, given how easily they both burnt. Magnus and Kaelie were invited, of course, and in turn, Magnus invited Alec who mentioned it to Jace, who then spoke to Clary about it, and so he was invited and then Isabelle ended up being included as well.

Simon wasn't too happy about that, and it turned out that Clary had been wrong, Simon and Isabelle weren't on the best terms. Apparently she was trying to make it up to him, but he was stubborn and he hadn't like the snap judgement that she had made on his best friend. They were talking civilly at work, but Simon still wasn't particularly happy about the fact that Isabelle was coming along on their 'de-stress day'.

"No, no, no!" Kaelie cried out as she came into the apartment and saw Simon stuffing one of his books into the canvas bag he was taking to the beach. "That needs to be left behind."

"I was just going to read it on the way! I wasn't actually going to take that onto the beach!" Simon protested as Kaelie stormed over and attempted to wrangle the bag away from Simon. He tried pulling it back but Kaelie was determined and she gripped it firmly and so he let go. She gave him a triumphant smile before reaching inside, grabbing the text book and tossing it toward the couch.

"Alright!" Kaelie clapped her hands together as she gave Simon his bag back. "Clary! Move your cute ass!" Clary came out of the short hall where her room was with a brightly coloured beach bag slung over her shoulder and a floppy blue and white hat over her head. She was wearing a cute, strappy green dress that showed off the bright green and blue bikini that she was wearing underneath. "You better not have any books in that bag of yours," Kaelie warned.

"Books?" Clary made a face and then looked at Simon's guilty face. "Oh my god, were you going to try and study on the way?! This whole 'de-stress day' was your idea!"

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Simon grumbled as he ushered both women out the door. Raphael, Lydia, Simon, Clary and Kaelie were all going in one car, taking Kaelie's car, and Magnus, Alec, Isabelle and Jace were going in Jace's car. Clary's preference would be to go in Jace's car, because they had barely spent anytime together since that night after her showcase, since she was busy studying for finals, but she wasn't too comfortable being in a car with Isabelle just yet.

It took them an hour to get to the beach, and Lydia rang Magnus when they pulled into the busy parking lot to find out where they were and they coordinated where they were going to meet up. They all piled out of Kaelie's car and there were loud complaints from both Simon and Raphael, given how small Kaelie's car was and that they were both in the back seat, and then they started walking toward the beach. It was only ten in the morning but there were already so many people there, a lot of them sitting and sun bathing on the beach, others jogging with red faces, some playing with their babies or younger children and then more who were already in the water.

"Water should be warm," Raphael noted. "We've barely had any days with a cloud in the sky." Clary hoped so, because of how small and slim she was, she tended to get cold easily, which usually meant she had to get out of the water quickly if there was a cool breeze.

"There!" Kaelie called out, pointing over to where the other half of their group was. Jace and Alec were wearing dark coloured boardshorts and loose shirts over top, Magnus had already stripped off his shirt and had on brightly coloured swim shorts that were a bit tighter than the usual board shorts, and Isabelle was taking off her short dress and revealing a simple black bikini which showed off her curvy figure. Clary stole a look over to Simon, who was unabashedly staring at Isabelle as they walked closer to them, and she laughed under her breath and nudged her friend with her elbow.

"Hey, my pretties," Magnus sung out with a grin as he spotted them. He came over and threw his arms around Kaelie and Lydia, who were at the front of the group. He smacked a kiss onto Clary's cheek and then reached forward to do the same to both boys before clapping his hands together. "Come on, I want to get in that water."

"Chill out, man, we just got here," Simon laughed and Magnus rolled his eyes before looking out over the waves that were crashing onto the compacted and wet sand of the beach. Clary laughed at the urgency that Magnus seemed to be feeling and the way he kept on checking in with all of them as they took off their clothes and hats and sunglasses, as if that was going to make them go any faster.

"You're like a little kid at the beach for the first time," Alec noted with a grin.

"I'll have you know, Alexander," Magnus began with a haughty tone. "That I've been working my ass off in my boutique that I haven't had time to go to the beach in some time, and I don't appreciate your teasing." Alec was still grinning and Jace looked between the two of them with a small smile on his face. A small smile that dropped when Clary took off her dress and dropped it into her beach bag. Her swim suit was a green and blue patterned multi-string bikini, with a bandeu top that was held in place by multiple ties going up to the halter neck and the bottoms were just as teasing, with four thing pieces of material going around both sides of her body to keep them secured. Raphael noticed the blatant way Jace was checking Clary out and let out a laugh, before slapping her ass playfully and reaching out for Lydia's hand.

"Let's go!" He urged them. Lydia didn't look particularly keen on the water, but Raphael tugged on her hand and so she jogged with him towards the water. Magnus and Alec were next and then Isabelle, Kaelie and Simon followed. Jace bit down on the side of his lip as he was left with Clary, and she smiled as she looked him over, her gaze playful.

"Do I get a hello kiss?" She teased lightly, not wanting to push him too much since she really wasn't too sure where they stood. Jace didn't hesitate though, taking her hand and linking their fingers before pressing their mouths together in a short but firm kiss. Clary felt her stomach flutter and she really hoped the blush on her cheeks wasn't obvious as they pulled apart.

"Let's go," Jace said, giving her hand a gentle pull and Clary nodded, walking alongside him down to the water front. Magnus, Alec and Simon had run right in, and they were currently battling out first place for who was going to reach the depth where they could get over the breaking waves and to the point where they could just go over the big rise and fall. Isabelle and Kaelie didn't look as though they were planning on going out very deep, the water was coming up mid thigh and when the waves rushed it, it came up to their stomachs, and they were squeaking and jumping as it touched their skin. Raphael and Lydia were somewhere in the middle, Lydia squealing as Raphael laughed and splashed her. "Okay, it's kind of cold..." Jace began as the first ripple ran over their toes.

"Come on!" Clary let go of his hand and ran off in front of him. She heard his shout of surprise, and then the splashing of the water as he followed after her and she grinned.

The day was close to perfect.

They were in the water for most of the morning. Just after one they decided to come out and go for something to eat. Jace, Alec and Raphael went into town to find a supermarket that sold barbeque food while the rest walked through the picnic area of the beach to secure one of the free barbeque spots. Kaelie was a bit picky, saying that she didn't like cooking her food in a communal cooking area, but Clary just reminded her that that was the reason why the boys were picking up some spray and wipe as well, and that this was all just part of the beach.

Isabelle and Simon seemed to mend their fences, and Clary caught them holding hands and she was pretty sure that there was a kiss exchanged at one point, even if it was just brief before a wave dumped over their heads.

Magnus and Alec were completely sickly sweet, exchanging looks every couple of minutes and never far away from each other. When they were eating lunch, Magnus was sitting on Alec's lap and practically feeding him by hand, and when they were running out to the ocean, their hands were twined together.

Lydia and Raphael were clearly together, although that was something that Clary and Simon had been waiting to happen for a while. They seemed a bit lost in their own world as they wandered off after lunch and didn't come back for nearly two hours.

Kaelie was complaining playfully about all the lovey doveyness that was going on around her, although she didn't seem to mind at all. Her and Isabelle were obviously getting on well and she laid down on the beach between Clary and Magnus when they were sunbathing.

And then there was Jace and Clary.

Whatever they were, Clary wasn't worrying about the labels today. She refused to worry about anything today—including the exam that she had tomorrow. Jace seemed a lot more relaxed than he usually did in crowds as well, and she liked how comfortable he was when he was with Isabelle and Alec. It was clear that they all had a close bond, and she was glad that her and Isabelle had called a truce, because it would have been hard for her and Jace to move forward with whatever they had if there were hard feelings between them.

They weren't quite as tangled up in each other as Lydia and Raphael or Magnus and Alec were, but they were both definitely aware of each other, and while Jace would be with cousins a lot of the day, he always circle back to Clary. He sat next to her as they ate lunch and then when they all ended up sitting back on the beach to let their stomachs settle, he stretched out beside her again.

It was near the end of the day, around five o'clock, when they were all packed up and getting ready to leave. They were carrying all of their things and Clary hadn't yet put her dress back on because her bikini was still drying. They got to the car park and were about to go their separate ways since they were parked at different ends, and Jace's hands reached out and touched Clary's hand.

"I know it's your first exam tomorrow," he told her quietly. "Or else I would ask you to come back to my place." Clary couldn't help but bite down on the side of her lip, wondering if 'back to his place' was going to be dinner and smoking together like they used to, or more sex, like last weekend. "Good luck," he said.

"Thanks," Clary gave him a smile and Jace leaned in. One of his hands touched her bare hip as they pressed their mouths together for a moment. Jace tasted a bit salty, from the ocean, and then also like lemonade, that they had been drinking earlier. They pulled apart and Jace smiled, nudging his nose against hers.

"I'll text you," he said quietly and Clary nodded quickly.

"Okay," she agreed readily. Jace nodded in response and then backed away from her, joining the rest of his friends who were standing at his car.

So obviously it's been a while, and there's a lot of songs that I haven't recommended! I've just decided to log into that website thing that shows your top tracks, so these are my short term top ten. 1) She - Harry Styles. 2) Radio - Lana Del Rey. 3) Living Proof - Camila Cabello. 4) Hazel - Carlie Hanson. 5) September Song - JP Cooper. 6) We Made It - Louis Tomlinson. 7) All My Friends - AJ Mitchell. 8) The Sound - The 1975. 9) Wrong Direction - Hailee Steinfield. 10) Dazed & Confused - Ruel. Bonus song would be You Should Be Sad by Halsey, which is fucking amazing, so far my second favourite of the released tracks from Manic.

There's been a lot of amazing TV shows that have recently come out; The Witcher/His Dark Materials/Watchmen/The Mandalorian. These are all amazing, incredible acting, the sets and scenery and costume design is just A+. Also Spinning Out was really good, I absolutely loved Mandy and Marcus. I love when there are strong side characters that I can fall in love with, and it had good story lines.

I've also been to a couple of concerts that were great; Greta Van Fleet, Ruel, Shawn Mendes and Khlaid. All bloody brilliant.

Now. I don't want to say much about how shit 2020 has been because we're only 14 days in and holy shit, I feel like there's a lot going on. A fucking lot. For me, what hits closest to home is Australia on fire. On the fifth of January our skies turned an apocalyptic orange because the winds changed and the smoke reached us here in New Zealand. I just want to say to everyone who is dealing with anything right now—it doesn't matter how big or small—I love you and you're not alone x

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