AN: Hey guys! ~new chapter!~ Sorry there wasn't one yesterday, I was doing homework. Today I visited my grandparents and my cousin was there and ASDFGHJKL she's only 11 days old and she's so cute! Okay sorry, off topic. Enjoy!

Meeeeee: I watch a few youtubers, but my favorites are definitely danisnotonfire and AmazingPhil if I have to pick. I also really like Rhett and Link.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Mortal Instruments and I never will own it!

The next day as I got home, I was immediately jumped on by Simon.

"Clary! You're home! Welcome back! How are you feeling?" he yelled enthusiastically.

"Way to play it cool, Si. I'm doing pretty well, but pretty much only thanks to that pain medicine."

"I don't have to play it cool for my best friend, Clare. Besides, when do I ever play it cool? Haven't I been a nerd ever since we met? I was literally born holding a Fullmetal Alchemist manga."

"Yeah, yeah, you're obsessed. Come to think of it, you have been a nerd since I've known you. But that's okay, you're my nerd!" Jokingly, I gave him a big sloppy kiss on the cheek. He'd had a thing for me in the past, but we'd talked through it. Besides, he was now smitten with our friend Isabelle.

"Hey, I think I'm gonna go upstairs and get settled now. See you in like an hour?" I said.

"Sure. By the way, Isabelle is coming over for dinner tonight to celebrate you coming home? She's bringing her brother Alec, and she said Alec was bringing his friend who also had surgery recently. He got home yesterday, and she figured we could have one big celebration so you should probably order a lot more Chinese food than usual."

"Sure thing, lover boy. Hey, who said anything about Chinese? Maybe I'll cook." I countered indignantly, mock-peeved at his low expectation.

"Yeah, right. Remember in tenth grade when I slept over and you decided you wanted to make eggs for us? You almost burnt down the whole kitchen. Luke was furious, you were grounded for a whole month."

"Whatever. See you in an hour or so." I stuck my tongue out at him before making my way to my room. Confused, I thought back to the conversation. Jace had said he lived with his friend Alec, and Simon said Isabelle's brother Alec was bringing his friend who had recently gotten home from surgery. I wondered if it was the same person, but I figured I'd just have to find out later.

I remembered I had gotten a text the day before, so I pulled out my phone and checked my messages. Apparently it was just from Isabelle explaining about dinner. I responded that I'd see her later before contemplating sending Jace a text. I was in need of some more music, and we hadn't talked in two days, so it wasn't liked I'd sound desperate.

Clary: Hey, can I cash in that new music recommendation?

Immediately, my phone dinged with a response.

Jace: Can't talk. Going out.

I scrunched my face up a bit, something I did when I got annoyed. That was a pretty cold response, especially since the guy had told me he had nothing to do when recovering. I told myself that he was probably blowing me off and to just get over it. Maybe he had just been nice to me as thanks for the kidney, but I was actually annoying him. I was probably overreacting, but I felt like I had been lied to and I wasn't thinking very clearly. I decided right then and there that gold wasn't a beautiful color, but a rather obnoxious one. A twinge of disappointment ran through me, I had started to really like him, but it wasn't too bad. After all, I'd only known him for a few days. After sulking for a few minutes, a voice came through my door.

"Clary, they're here! Did you order the food?" Simon called.

"Crap, I forgot! Hold on, let me call now and then I'll be right there." I admitted.

"All right, try to hurry up. Izzy's asking about you. And man, Alec's friend is weird." I rolled my eyes at his immediate assumptions before rushing to call the restaurant. Finally having placed the order, I speed-walked to meet our guests. Running was not an option thanks to the stitches.

"Clary, oh my gosh! You look great. No offense, I didn't expect that because of the surgery, but you really look great." As usual, Isabelle didn't have a filter.

"Wow, thanks Iz." I turned to the second of our three guests. "Nice to meet you. You must be Alec, I'm Clary." All I got from him was a nod. It seemed he was the quiet one, someone to balance out his sister. Don't get me wrong, Isabelle was amazing and I loved having her as a friend, but she was really loud.

Finally I turned to the last person but was met with something I did not expect. My earlier guess had apparently been right, for Jace Wayland stood in front of me in all of his pale glory. He must not have expected me either, because he was the first to speak, ergo confusedly.

"Clary? Why are you here?" he asked incredulously, trying to piece together the situation.

"Wow, you sound so glad to see me. I live here, I think I should be the one asking you why you're here." I assumed a slightly hostile tone. Maybe that was uncalled for, but I was still annoyed after the earlier texts.

"How do you two know each other?" Simon and Isabelle said in unison. Alec just stood there with his face blank, albeit a little bit more questioningly.

"Well, Clary here gave me this new kidney of mine." Jace explained? I told everyone they should sit down at the table before sighing. Between my hostility and everyone else's confusement, the rest of dinner did not go well. It was a relief when our three guests finally left.

AN: What'd you guys think? Next chapter might be up tomorrow, but maybe Wednesday because I have another large project I have to work on Monday and Tuesday. Thanks for reading, and reviews are very appreciated!