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Kaelie came in to Clary's house when she got home. She really wasn't in the mood for company, but Kaelie refused to leave, and Clary knew that she was only so adamant about because she was worried. Clary also agreed that she could stay because she was a bit worried that she might go back to the beach club and confront Lydia, which she really didn't want to do.
Jordan had always been an asshole, and Clary was glad that she had cut him out.
Lydia was a bitch and she would get what's coming to her.
It hurt a bit, definitely. Lydia was someone that she had considered a friend, and the fact that she had fooled around with Jordan was shit. But it wasn't something that she was going to agonize about for too long, because they weren't worth it, just as she had told Kaelie. Unfortunately, it was not entirely surprising, because she had slept with guys in relationships before, including a married man.
At least it wasn't Kaelie.
She had always gotten on better with Kaelie.
They finished off one of the bottles of wine that Jocelyn had put in the fridge and it was just after five that Kaelie said that she had a date. The guy was apparently in his mid-twenties and was an investment banker—definitely not the kind of guy that Kaelie would find interesting, but definitely the kind of guy that would buy her nice things if she blew him in the back of his car or jerked him off under the table at dinner. She shuffled around on the couch and then gave Clary a small smile, who was saying that she would be fine, and to go out on her date. Kaelie gave her a kiss on the cheek and said to text her if she needed anything before heading out.
Clary went up to her ensuite to shower and as she was drying her hair afterwards, she heard a car outside. Clary looked out her window and saw her mothers car there, parked a little awkwardly behind her own, and she rolled her eyes, hoping that her mother didn't come up for any bonding time.
Luckily she didn't.
After spreading some of the ointment from Magnus onto her arm and brushing her hair, twisting it into a plait so that it didn't get too knotted through the night, she flopped down on her bed and turned on the TV opposite her. Essex scratched at the door which was mostly closed, pushing it open and then jumping on the bed, and after an hour or so of watching The Bachelor, she picked up her phone and opened up Jonathan's message from the other day.
She had replied at the time, twice, actually, but she hadn't got any replies. That wasn't unusual, Jonathan was bad at replying, and the last picture he had put up had been in the middle of the ocean, so he had probably only messaged when he had come into a port somewhere. Her first response had just been 'What?!' and her second response was 'When do you think you'll be back?'
Now, she typed out a further message.
I miss you. Mum and dad are never here, which is nothing new, but the house doesn't feel right without you here. Essex misses you, too. Me and Jordan broke up, which I'm sure you're happy about, although I think that maybe him and Lydia were fucking. Anyway...Message me when you can. I love you.
Her and Jonathan had been close.
Not the closest brothers and sisters around, but he didn't tell her to piss off when he was hanging out with his friend, and when she was younger and Jocelyn had first started leaving them for weeks at a time—they were already used to their father doing it, but it was different when it was their mother—and he was the one that had looked after her. Picking her up from school, distracting her from their parents ditching, and he was the one that assured her that it had nothing to do with her when they were ten years old and she thought maybe she had done something wrong and that was why her mum and dad weren't around.
She was a long way from that insecure kid that she had, but other than Simon, Jonathan was the only family she had. At least, the only family she loved with all her heart.
It was a quiet Saturday night, not one that she usually had. She fell asleep sometime around eleven, Essex curled up next to her, The Bachelor still playing on the TV and lighting up the room in a bluish glow.
Simon came over the next morning—Clary heard him downstairs talking to Jocelyn before he came up. She didn't bother getting out of bed, although she checked her phone and saw that there were a couple of messages from him, from over the past hour, asking if she was awake and if she wanted to go out for breakfast. It was just after nine thirty, which was damn early for a Sunday morning, but Simon was always like that.
Strangely enough, it was Lydia and Jordan that came to her mind as soon as her brain lost the fogginess of sleep.
"Fucking hell," Clary muttered under her breath, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands before sitting up. She heard another car outside and she wondered who it was. She really wasn't sure if she could deal with Kaelie and Simon this morning, and that's the only other person she could think of who would be here so early. She got out of bed and tugged off the cover, wrapping it around her as she walked toward the window. "Dad?" Clary frowned as she saw him get out of the car.
It had been about three weeks since she had seen him last, and even then, he had only been back for two nights, and she had been at school throughout the day. Clary quickly moved around the room, putting on a bra and then pulling on a baby pink hoodie over her silk pyjama top, heading downstairs. She was just coming to the bottom of the stairs as Jocelyn was greeting Valentine with an awkward half hug and a proffer of her cheek for him to kiss.
Simon was standing at the bottom of the stairs and he exchanged an amused look with Clary.
There was really no love lost between the two of her parents.
"Clarissa!" Valentine smiled up at her, although it was a little tight in the corners and it didn't quite reach is eyes. Clary took in a deep breath and forced a smile as she came down the last of the stairs and reached out her arms to meet his. "Hello, darling."
"Hi," Clary hummed out against his suit jacket. It smelt like bourbon and cheap perfume and she wondered for a moment if those things were from this morning or if they were from the night before and he just hadn't bothered to change. But the thing was, it didn't really matter, so she didn't bother thinking about it for any longer. "You're home."
"I am," Valentine smiled and this his eyes shifted, finding Simon and his smile widened a little. "Simon! It's been a while."
"Good to see you, Mr Morgenstern," Simon smiled as he stepped around Jocelyn and held out his hand. Valentine reached out and shook it while shaking his head.
"How many times have I told you to call me Val?" He said with a smile that was probably meant to be friendly but kind of just looked shark-like. Clary got on better with her dad that she had with her mum for a long time, but she had learnt a long time ago to not let herself get too close. She knew her parents loved her, it just wasn't in the way that she had wanted when she was younger and so now she was careful to keep a barrier up.
"Sorry. Val," Simon emphasized the word even though Clary knew that next time they would have the same conversation. It was pretty much all they ever said to each other.
"Come on, Si," Clary tugged on his hand, reaching out with the one that wasn't tattooed, because that wasn't a conversation she was ready to have right now.
"See you guys later," Simon called over his shoulder as they walked quickly up the stairs. There was no response from either of the parents, and Clary guessed they were probably already walking in separate directions downstairs, nothing to say to each other. They walked into Clary's room, Essex running out, obviously wanting some fresh air, and Clary flopped backward on her bed while Simon shut her door. "You wearing the hoodie to hide the tattoo?" He asked with an arch of his eyebrows.
"How'd you know about the tattoo?" Clary asked, lifting her head off the tangle of blankets and frowning at Simon.
"Just because you were trying to avoid me at school, doesn't mean I still didn't see you," Simon replied with a grin before he came over and flopped down on the bed next to her. "You going through a midlife crisis at eighteen?" He asked in a cheeky voice and Clary just rolled her eyes at him. He took in a deep breath and rolled himself onto the side, propping himself up on his elbow so that he was looking down at her. "Kaelie messaged me last night—pretty sure she was drunk—and she told me that I needed to check on you this morning."
"Right," Clary sighed. "Well," she began, taking in a deep breath before telling Simon about what she and Kaelie had seen between Lydia and Jordan yesterday. When she had finished, Simon was frowning deeply, and he reached out to kiss her quickly on the cheek.
"I never fucking trusted Lydia," he growled out, venom dripping from his words. "Was never a big fan of Kaelie, but that's just because she's so—so loud, and in your face. But Lydia has always acted like a fucking snake." Clary gave him a small smile, loving Simon a little bit more with how fiercely he was on her side. She gave his hand a little squeeze before she felt her phone vibrate. She picked it up, wondering if it was Kaelie.
Hey. It's Jace.
She couldn't stop the smile that curved on her lips.
"Who's that?" Simon asked, trying to duck his head and look at the phone.
"Someone...No one," Clary replied, quickly dropping her phone, face down, on the bed. Simon snorted and let his arm collapse underneath him, so that he was lying next to her again, and he shot her an incredulous look.
"You know who my father is, right? And what he does for a living? I could hack your phone while laying in bed and watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine and eating doritos see exactly who you're messaging," he informed her. "So you might as well just tell."
"You mean, while you're laying in bed, watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine and jacking off to Rosa Diaz, right?" Clary corrected him with a grin and Simon snorted, rolling his eyes, but not denying the fact.
"That's not what I said. But, hey, I can multi-task," Simon grinned, nudging her with his shoulder and Clary couldn't help but laugh a little.
She always felt better when Simon was around.
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter :) Here's my top 10 on Spotify, as usual;
1) Kissing Other People - Lennon Stella. 2) Mikrokosmos - BTS. 3) Walls - Louis Tomlinson. 4) No Time To Die - Billie Eilish. 5) Euphoria - BTS. 6) I Need U - BTS. 7) Is It Just Me? - Emily Burns. 8) Homesick - Dua Lipa. 9) 8TEEN - Khalid. 10) Bad - The Cab.
I'm feeling shit and watching Sound of Music. Hope your day is going better than mine x