Most of the day passed, in a surprising turn of events, uneventfully. The rain continued to fall, until it had dampened everyone's spirits so much that no one felt much like arguing anymore. Clary and Izzy had kept to their own tent, content to talk to just each other - less drama seemed to come of that. Simon was now sitting in his tent, which had recently been rescued from Neville's desolation. Magnus was asleep, regaining the energy he had spent. Jace and Alec were sitting in the tree that they had sheltered under on their first night, ignoring the persistent rain.


"Can I ask you something?"

Clary turned to her as she idly played with Izzy's hair as they lounged in their tent. "Mhmm?"

"Would you have gone into the river after Alec? If I hadn't held you back?"

Izzy blinked, frowning in confusion. "What do you mean? Of course I would have. I would have dived in without a second thought. He's my brother."

"But he's capable of looking after himself - you know that."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Yeah, but… but I'm just afraid that one time, one time, he's going to not be okay. And it'll only take one time, and that'll be enough to just… ruin everything."

As if something inside her clicked, she snapped her eyes open, and flashed a reassuring grin at Clary. "But I don't want to spend too much time focused on such… depressing issues. Let's talk about something else."

"What is there to talk about?"

"You know? I have no idea." Izzy frowned, laughing to herself. "I've grown up talking to Jace and Alec. Jace doesn't say all that much if he's not talking about himself, and Alec doesn't say all that much, period. Other than that… I always go into conversations knowing what I want to say beforehand."

"I know, right? I mean… I talk to Simon, but we just talk about whatever - it doesn't require any thought beforehand. I've never really had a D&M with anyone but him - or at least, I've never had a D&M just for the fun of it with anyone but him."

"What's a D&M?"

"Wait - what? You don't know what a D&M is?"

"Don't mock me, just tell me."

"D&M. Deep and meaningful. It's just a conversation that you have with someone when you want to learn more about them."

"Wait - there's a word for that? Every day of my life comes with a side dish of learning more about others - and most of the time, it's involuntary."

"Well, sometimes it can be fun just to discuss things that you normally wouldn't. You get to know the person who you're talking to better."

"Alright, then. What do we talk about? Boys?"

"I would, but you're dating my best friend, and I'm dating your brother, so that would get awkward fast."

"Ha. Okay. I would make an incest joke, but - "

"Don't even go there. Okay. What else? We could talk about…"

"Actually," Izzy said, sitting up. "I do have an idea."

"Oh yeah?"

"If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?"

Clary thought for a second. "Home."

"I mean… if we weren't in a forest. If we were just in a normal circumstance. If you could go anywhere. At all."

"Hmm… maybe Florence. Then I could go to the Uffizi, or the Accademia - I could see David! And all of Botticelli's work - I love Botticelli. And Giotto!"

Izzy beamed. "Art nerd."

Clary shrugged. "What can I say? And you - where would you go?"

"That's the thing," Izzy replied. "Whenever I'm asked that kind of thing, I just… I've never wanted to travel the world for its destinations."

"Really? You don't want to go anywhere?"

"Of course I want to go places. But not to see sights. Not for the sake of being there. I like going to Idris because there are people I know there. I like New York, because… well, I live there. I'd come with you to Florence, but not to see Davide. To hang out with you. The world is a wonderful place, but wandering aimlessly around it… doesn't make sense to me."

"But if you had to go somewhere alone, for no purpose other than to look… where would you go?"

"I wouldn't."

"But if you did?"
Izzy sighed. "I'd drive out into the middle of… I don't know, a desert somewhere. I don't mind. And I'd sit, and stare at the night sky, and just… breathe."

"I reckon we could see stars from here. I mean… at night. When it stops raining. We're far enough away from big cities to avoid light pollution. You'd probably be able to see miles and miles of infinite sky."

Izzy lay back down, her head in Clary's lap. There was certainly something intimate in this gesture, but not in a sexual way - instead, it was a shared vulnerability, a confidence and a trust in each other. Izzy closed her eyes, slowly exhaling out of her nose, letting a gentle smile twitch at the corners of her mouth. Clary couldn't help but notice the bags under her eyes, the tiredness that plagued her even when she was resting.

What's so exhausting about rest?, she wondered.

She didn't even consider that Izzy's ankle was still sore. She had almost forgotten it. In fact, most of them had, which was exactly what Isabelle had wanted. The pain that still throbbed through her foot concerned her - shouldn't she have healed by now? - but she wasn't going to let anyone else know that. They had nothing to worry about for the time being - why not enjoy that rare occurrence while it lasted?


"No way."

"Come on. I could do it."

"As if. It's way too far away."

Jace scoffed. "I'm going to do it."

Alec sighed, and changed his grip on the branch, which had become too wet to hold on to. "I don't think you can, but I know that whatever I say, you're going to do it, so get it over with."

With a cocky wink, Jace took the branch he was holding and hurled it across their little oasis. It fell to the floor with a clatter just short of Clary and Izzy's tent, which was at least eight metres away from the branch they sat on.

"Ha."

"I blame the rain. It interfered with my trajectory."

"Your trajectory? Really? If we're looking at this through a physics lens, don't you think you should have considered the aerodynamics of the stick?"

"Shut up. You sound as nerdy as Simon."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment. But seriously - there's no way that stick would have made it. It's the wrong shape for throwing, it's too light, and the weather makes it even likelier for the throw to go wrong."

"Why are you only telling me this now?"

Alec shrugged. "I told you that whatever I said, you wouldn't have listened."

"Fine. If you're so smart, why don't you try it?"

"Try what? Ignoring the obvious in favour of my own ego?"

Jace's shove nearly knocked Alec off the branch. "I meant try hitting the girl's tent."

Alec shook his head, regaining his balance. "Why piss them off?"

"What - so you think you could make it?"

"I think I have a likelier chance than you," Alec replied. Jace raised his eyebrows with a disbelieving smirk.

"Alright then, William Tell. Show me how great your aim really is." He handed Alec a twig, even thinner and lighter than the one he had shown.
"I can't throw this."

"Why? Because you know your throw is going to be worse than mine?"

"Because this little twig won't make it a metre before it gets knocked out of the air by a drop of water. It's pathetic."

"You're pathetic."

"Good one. I'm feeling the burn," Alec deadpanned, casually scouring the branches for a thicker, sturdier twig.

"Come on, then. If you can make this stick hit the girls' tent… I will owe you a day of service."

"What are you on about?"

"If you hit their tent, I am your servant for a day. At your disposal. I will do whatever you ask of me, without question."

"Jace, I appreciate the offer, but I don't want a manservant. I don't want to throw this stupid twig."

"Don't be a killjoy. In fact, I'm just warming up to this. I'll offer you a deal - if you get this stick to hit that tent, I'll be your slave for the day. If I get… this stick to hit that same tent," Jace said, plucking a twig of similar dimensions from the tree, "then you're my slave for a day."

"And if neither of us get it?"

"Then we both walk away as free men."

Alec rolled his eyes. There was no way either stick would make it - they were both far too flimsy. There was something in Jace's eye, a glint of mockery, a hint of slyness, that suggested a confidence in his ability to win this. Alec wasn't big on betting, but he was even less of a fan of Jace's smug contentment, as if he had already won.

"Just to clarify: we each have to throw the stick from here, where we're sitting, and it has to hit that tent. Right?"
Jace nodded, his smirk still in place. Alec frowned. What loopholes could there be?

"You first," Jace said.

"Why not you?"

"Alphabetical."

When Alec's concerned frown didn't budge, Jace pouted mockingly. "What? You think I'm going to cheat?"

"I think it's impossible to get it across without cheating."

"I don't. I think you could do it."

Still scowling, Alec threw his branch as far as he could across the tents. Despite being lighter than Jace's previous one, it landed in about the same spot - a foot or so short of the girls' tent.

"See?"

Jace nodded, acknowledging Alec's attempt, and then, with a mischievous grin, hopped out of the tree.

"What are you doing? You agreed we were throwing from up here."

"I know," Jace replied, stooping to pick up a rock. From his pocket, he pulled a length of string. It must have come from one of the ropes, Alec thought to himself. Jace tied the rock to one end of his twig and scaled the tree to get to where Alec was sitting.

"That's cheating."

"No, it's not. The deal was to get the stick from here, to the tent. At no point in time did we say it had to be just the stick."

Stubborn grin still in place, Jace tossed his newly-weighted twig at the tent. It landed on the roof, bouncing off the stretched canvas and falling to the floor.

"Piss off, Jace," Izzy called from inside the tent. Jace, however, could not have been happier.

"I outsmarted you."

"You cheated."

"No, I outsmarted you. You even tried to make sure there were no loopholes and I still bested your intellect. Ha! And to think - you were mocking me before about not listening to science. Take that, you underperforming nerd! Beaten by an oblivious, egocentric jock. This is amazing!"

Alec didn't share the same opinion, but his withering glare didn't bother Jace - in fact, it made it all the funnier.

"And guess what? You're now my slave for the day! This is great!"

Alec pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed deeply. "Let's set some boundaries for the slave thing, okay?"

"You should have set them before you lost."

"Be reasonable Jace. I only suggest that we agree to: 1. No hurting anyone. 2. No ruining my life. Okay?"

Jace considered it. "Okay. But I have a condition of my own - you can't tell anyone that you're my servant. You just have to do what I say, without that as an excuse."

"Piss off," Alec mumbled, but Jace still waited, expectantly. He groaned in exasperation at his parabatai's stubborn insistence. "Fine. But only for 24 hours."

"Starting midnight tonight, ending midnight tomorrow night."

Alec, who by now had developed a headache just thinking about the chaotic 24 hours to come, stuck out his hand. Jace shook it enthusiastically, laughing to himself.

This was going to be epic.


Simon was thinking. Hard. But not about anything too intense, no - he instead was thinking about what he was going to eat when he got back to civilisation. He had eaten some soggy bread just before, but that wasn't enough to distract him from how hungry he was. Perhaps he would have a hamburger and fries. Yeah - a warm, juicy hamburger with crispy golden fries. That sounded… perfect. If he closed his eyes tight enough, he could visualise it perfectly. And almost… smell it. Actually…

Actually.

He could smell it. His eyes sprung open, sniffing the air. It was there. It was really there. It wasn't some… olfactory hallucination, it was real.

He scrambled out of his tent, ignoring Jace, who was cackling maniacally, and Alec, who was rubbing his temples in pain. He followed his nose, stumbling around the tents to find the source of the delicious aroma.

He was so focused on the scent that it took him a second to realise where he was going. His common sense stopped him before he walked straight into Magnus' tent in pursuit of the smell.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Alec jumped down from the tree, looking happy to be given an excuse to get away from Jace's growing gleeful hysteria.

"Can't you smell it?"

"What?"

"The… the hamburger…"

"Don't be ridic-" Alec froze mid-word, sniffing the air. "Wait. Wait. I smell it. You're right."

"Simon's right? Since when?" Jace dropped down from the branch, landing gracefully in the mud.

"Can you smell a hamburger?"

Jace froze, frowning. "Actually? Yes. I can. What the hell?"

In unison, they turned to face Magnus' tent. Simon looked at Alec, gesturing for him to go in. With a frustrated sigh, he opened the flap of the tent and climbed in.


"Don't get mud in the tent."

"Wait, what?"

"Is it so ridiculous for me to try and keep the outside outside?"

"Not that, that." Alec pointed at the hamburger sitting in Magnus' lap, warm and inviting as still uneaten.

"Oh - this?" Magnus tried to play it off casually, but it was obvious he was proud of his accomplishment. "I just… magicked it here."

"Really?"

"Yes!" Magnus' face broke into a genuine smile, excited at his magic's return.

"How long did it take?"

"Longer than usual, I'll admit, but hey - it's a start! And I don't feel like I'm going to faint, so that's an added bonus!"

"Do you think you'll be able to get us back up to the road?"

His smile faltered. "I… I don't think so."

"That's okay. That's fine. As long as you're okay, I couldn't be happier."

The reassuring sentiment was quickly drowned out by Alec's stomach rumbling. Magnus chuckled. "Do you want it?"

Alec looked at the hamburger. He hadn't noticed how hungry he was until now. They hadn't eaten much in the past few days - with the adventure and the getting lost, they hadn't had much time. Additionally, the wet weather made it hard to set fires, so they couldn't cook any of the food they had brought. A hamburger would be welcome.

"Nah, it's alright. You eat it."

Alec's answer surprised Magnus. He'd never admit it, but he'd surprised himself, too. But he had meant what he said. Magnus still looked tired, albeit a little less sickly, and he had eaten as much as Alec had. He deserved it more.

"We can share."

"If you insist," Alec accepted, indicating for Magnus to take the first bite. He almost forgot where they were - in the middle of a forest, rain bucketing down, caked in mud and grime. It seemed like they were already in Magnus' home - their home - having idle conversation over lunch.

This illusion was interrupted, however, by the tent flap opening and Simon and Jace clambering in.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we overheard you saying you were going to eat the hamburger, and we couldn't let you do that without us."

"Hey! You're getting mud everywhere!" Magnus attempted to push them back out, but once that had failed, he scooched to the other end of the tent to get away from their dirtiness. Alec was still processing Jace's statement.

"You 'overheard'? You were listening?"

Jace shrugged, as if saying 'what can you do?'. "There's a hamburger involved. Desperate times call for desperate measures."

"So, how are we going to do this? Quarters? I think that's fair," Simon decided, reaching for the burger, which Magnus held as far away as he could.

"No!"

"Magnus is right," Alec said. "If we're going to share this, we're all going to share this. Get the girls."

Magnus glanced at Alec. "Right. Of course. That's what I meant."

With a reluctant groan, Jace leant out of the tent and began throwing whatever he could get his hands on at the girls' tent.

What is it with shadowhunters and throwing things?, Simon wondered.

After a while, Clary poked her head out of their tent. "What's your problem?"

"Food! A hamburger!"

"What?"

"Magnus has food."

She retreated back into their tent, and stumbled out with Izzy, running as fast as they could to escape the persistent rain.

"Wait - are they coming here? There's no room!"

The lack of space did not stop the girls, and after a brief struggle, the six of them were crammed into the two-person tent. Magnus, still protectively cradling the hamburger, was squashed against the far wall, his knees drawn up to his chest and his back against the wall. Alec was sitting perpendicular to him, his feet touching the opposite tent wall, with Magnus' feet underneath the arch his legs created. Jace was sitting next to Alec, legs crossed, with Clary sitting in his lap. Izzy was sitting to his left on the opposite wall with Simon on her lap. It was by no means a comfortable set-up, but the overwhelming closeness that they shared was kind of… nice.

Magnus cleared his throat. "Who wants first bite?"

"You should get it," Izzy said. "After all, you got it here. You deserve it."

After checking to see what the consensus was, Magnus took a bite. "Oh God. I've missed fast food."

Simon frowned. "We've been here for three days. You don't eat fast food that regularly."

"Shut up. I'm trying to eat."

Next was Alec, as an impromptu congratulations for his new living arrangements. He bit into the other side of the burger. After only two bites, it had already diminished in size. As grateful as they all were for the warm food, they knew, in an unspoken way, that this wouldn't be enough to live off. Clary went next, and Simon couldn't help but notice how little she ate. Perhaps it was because she had a smaller mouth than Magnus and Alec, but he suspected otherwise. Then, it was Izzy's turn, because although she refused to go anything but last, Simon and Jace refused to eat before her. With a scowl, she took a bite.

"I know I'm in no position to criticise here, but pickles? Really?"

"I'll eat them," Simon offered. Jace looked at him, disgusted.

"You like pickles?"

"Of course."

"You monster."

Simon went next, and handed the measly remains of the burger to Jace. "Cheers," he said, holding it up before eating it.

"Uh… Magnus… as much as I appreciated that, and I'm sure we all share the same gratitude, I think maybe…" Izzy rubbed her hands together, trying to think of the right words. "It's all well and good to get warm food, but if your magic is… finite right now, perhaps instead of hamburgers, you save it up so we can get out of here."

Magnus glanced around the crowded tent. Everyone seemed to agree with her. "Okay. I'm trying - I really am - but I don't know if I have enough magic in me to move people yet. It may take a few days. But I promise, with all of my heart, that I am trying. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Clary said quietly.

"As long as you're okay," Izzy agreed.

"If you need to practice, though, feel free to conjure up more hamburgers."

"Simon," Clary hissed.

Magnus winked at him, making him feel a little better. "Well, now that that's done, do you lot feel like giving me some space? I feel like a pretzel."

They all looked at each other. No one felt particularly inclined to move. Although it wasn't conventionally comfortable, the tent was better than the drizzle outside.

"Who wants to play a game?"

Everyone looked at Simon. Surprisingly, the first response came from Jace, and even more extraordinarily, it wasn't an insult.

"What kind of game?"

"Truth or dare," Simon suggested. Jace smirked.

"Sure."

"I'll play," Magnus decided, looking at Alec imploringly. He sighed.

"Fine. Me too."

"I guess if we're all doing this, I will too," Izzy said.

Clary nodded. "Ditto."

"Right, then. Who goes first?"
Jace turned to Simon. "You can go first."

Uh oh.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare," he said, noticing the malicious glint in Jace's eye. He wasn't sure whether or not he had told Alec about his confession the other night, but he wasn't keen on having to reveal it in front of Alec and his boyfriend.

Jace looked around, open for suggestions. Clary smiled. "Put your glasses on."

"That's a shitty dare," Jace replied, but Simon didn't hear him other his increasingly noisy heartbeat. Oh God. He had dreaded this.

"He lost his glasses in the river," Izzy explained, but Clary shook her head.
"He said he had another pair. I've never needed glasses, but I imagine being able to see is quite useful. I don't know why you haven't put this mysterious 'other pair' on yet, Simon, but I'm interested to see them."

"Do I have to?"

"Well, now that you've shown how reluctant you are, yes," Jace ordered.

With a sigh, Simon stood up and left to his tent, getting spattered with rain as he did so.

Clary didn't know what she thought the glasses were going to look like, but she wasn't prepared for what they were. Simon returned, and everyone but Jace managed to keep in their laughter. The glasses had a tortoiseshell cat-eye frame, and were, most decidedly, feminine.

"They're my mum's. She was worried that I'd lose my glasses so she gave me her spare ones just in case."

"That's beautiful," Jace ridiculed, clapping his hands as he laughed. Clary scowled at him until he stopped.

"Is the dare over? Can I take them off yet?"

"Don't you want to be able to see?" Izzy smiled sympathetically.

He groaned, and sat down, glasses still on. "Fine. I get to choose who goes next, though."

"Sure," Jace said, as if he had the right to determine who went when. Despite their newfound tolerance, he was still infuriating. Simon wanted to embarrass Jace, but he knew that whatever he asked, Jace would answer with confidence and conviction. He couldn't choose Jace just yet - he had to wait for a weakness to appear.

"Alec."

"Truth," he responded, without being asked.

"Any suggestions?" Simon looked around the group, his gaze falling on Magnus, who was smiling to himself. "Magnus? Do you have a question?"

Alec exhaled. "Shit."

"Alexander, I have a question for you."

"Technically, I think Simon's meant to be the one to ask me the question."

"I'll say whatever Magnus says. Let's not waste breath here."

Alec scowled at Simon.

Magnus cleared his throat. "Out of all of the crushes that you've ever had, who is your most embarrassing?"

Alec glowered half-heartedly at Magnus, trying to divert attention from the question. When Magnus raised his eyebrows expectantly, Alec rolled his eyes.

"Well, I've had two major crushes in my life, and both of them are in this tent. But there have been a few… little crushes, here and there, that are kind of… fleeting. You know? Like when you're in a shop and the cashier is cute and you get one of those momentary crushes."

"I hate it when that happens," mumbled Izzy. Alec took that as a reassurance, and continued.

"It used to happen to me all the time, which means there are plenty of embarrassing ones I could choose, but… there was this one time, when I was twelve-ish… by the Angel, why am I telling you guys this? Okay. God. Right.

"So. I was at the mall - you could have been there, Iz - and we were clothes shopping with mum. And anyway, it was lunchtime, and there was this new café open, and they had all of these really delicious-looking sandwiches in the display, so I asked mum if I could have one for lunch. She said I could, so long as I ordered it and everything. By the way - I was a really shy kid. She knew that. And you know mum - any 'character flaw' you have can be fixed through a little effort. So after much protest, I finally agreed to do it, even though I hated talking to people, because she said there was no other way I could get lunch.

"So I went up to the counter, and as I waited in line, I rehearsed what I was going to say about a million times. I still remember what it was - 'Good morning, can I please get a BLT sandwich?'. So I got to the front of the line, and it turns out the guy manning the cash register was really cute. He must have been like… fifteen or something, I don't know, but he was young, and he was cute.

"And I just… completely messed up what I was supposed to say. I said 'good morning', and then froze, so he awkwardly said 'good morning' too, and then I remembered I was ordering, so I said 'can I have a sandwich please?' and he said 'sure, which one?'. And get this - instead of saying 'BLT', I said 'you know the one with bacon and tomato and… lettuce?' and he said 'a BLT?' and I was like 'yeah,' and there was this awkward pause, and then I remembered that I had to pay him. God, it was so awkward. And worst of all, I turned around, and mum had been watching the entire time. In that moment, I think I saw her hope in me being as confident as either of you guys die."

"I remember that day!" Izzy said. "You went completely red during lunch, and I had no idea why! Aw, Alec, you were such a cute little introvert."

"Thanks," Alec replied sarcastically. "That means a lot."

"Who's next?" Simon asked loudly, trying to be heard over Magnus' laughter.

"Jace," Alec decided. Simon nodded in agreement. If anyone could figure out how to embarrass Jace, it'd be Alec.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Jace responded, running a hand through his still-wet hair. "Bring it on."

The corner of Alec's mouth twitched into a smile. An 'I'm going to get you back' sort of smile. Jace's confidence levels waned slightly. Oh God.

"Kiss Simon."

"What?"

Simon started coughing - it appeared he had choked on air or something like that. That dare had taken him by surprise. Yes, he wanted to embarrass Jace, but he didn't want this.

"You heard me. Kiss Simon."

"I'm not going to make out with this twat… look at him, he can't even breathe properly."

"You don't have to make out with him. Just… kiss him on the cheek or something. I don't know. Whisper sweet nothings in his ear and give him a peck on the forehead. You choose."

Simon looked to Izzy for her to back him up, for her to refuse for this to happen, but she just laughed amusedly. "Go on then."

He turned back to Jace, who had a pained expression on his face. With an exaggerated sigh, he leaned in, and awkwardly stroked Simon's face, to fill in time before he'd have to kiss him.

"Come on, Jace," Alec teased, obviously enjoying his parabatai's discomfort. Both Simon and Jace turned to him to give him a disgusted look. Jace turned back first, and seeing as Simon was facing away from him, took the opportunity to lean in and kiss his cheek. But Simon, blissfully unaware of Jace's decision, turned back just at the last second -

And Jace kissed him on the lips.

It took everyone a second to register what had happened before Jace sprung back in shock.

"What the fuck?"

"Wait… what?"

Jace wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, looking at Simon with wide eyes. Simon stared right back, mouth slack, still processing what had just happened.

Isabelle was the first to laugh, which neither Jace nor Simon found comfort in. Clary, who was crouching as opposed to sitting in Jace's lap for the sake of the dare, started giggling too, so hard she lost her balance and fell over. Magnus let out a short burst of laughter, which seemed to prompt Alec's chuckles. In fact, after a few seconds, the entire tent, even Jace and Simon, were in hysterics.

"That was… beautiful," Magnus joked, wiping a fake tear from the corner of his eye. "So perfectly done."

"Well, if you liked it all that much, then you can go next," Jace decided snappily. "Truth or dare?"

"Hmm… I don't fancy kissing anyone here other than Alexander, so truth."

"Okay… if you weren't dating Alec, and you had to date someone here other than Alec, who would you choose?"

Magnus frowned. "Can I choose Alec?"

"I just… I just explicitly said you couldn't…"

"Fine. Okay. Hmm." Magnus glanced around the tent, uncomfortably assessing everyone. "Right. I don't particularly want to date any of you - no offence - but if I had to… I wouldn't date blondie, because you get on my nerves too often."

Jace scowled.

"Same with Samuel."

Simon sighed. He didn't know why he was disappointed - it wasn't as if he wanted to date Magnus.

"It would be too strange dating Isabelle, given the fact that I'm dating her brother, and I assume we're not… killing Alexander, right? Which would mean if I dated Isabelle, I'd have to see him all of the time, and still date his sister, which I couldn't do. No offence to you though, Isabelle."

She beamed at him. Jace glowered at her.

"So that leaves… biscuit, I suppose. It's not as if I'd choose you because you're the least of a few evils, but… no, no, that's exactly why I'd choose you. Yet again. No offence. But like I said earlier I'm not keen on dating any of you, so I wouldn't take it personally."

"Don't worry," Clary agreed, "I don't think any of us could picture dating you, either."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Magnus decided, and began scanning the room for the next victim.

"Isabelle!"

"Dare," she said, without a second thought.

"Marvellous! Hmm…"

"I have one," Jace said smugly, bitter over how much she had laughed at his misfortune. "I dare you to go outside, find some mud, and rub it all over your face."

"That's disgusting and childish. How old are you? Five?"

"What? I've seen you at the Institute. You use all kinds of weird shit as a face mask. I'm pretty sure you even have a mud one. What's the issue?"

"There's a difference between a mud mask and actual mud. If there wasn't, no one would buy mud masks, they'd just go get it for free."

"I don't care. Do it."

"Magnus?" She looked at him pleadingly. He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Sure. Do that."

"Really?"

"You don't have to keep it on. There's plenty of water falling from the sky - just wash it off straight afterwards."

Izzy muttered a string of profanities under her breath, and shuffled to get out of the tent. "Jace, just so you know - if my face breaks out because of this, I break your face. Okay?"

She didn't give him time to respond, because she was already outside. Simon held up the tent flap so they could see her, and gave her a weak thumbs-up. She rolled her eyes.

"The things I do for you guys. Alright. Here we go."

She found a puddle of mud, and, with a final glare at Jace, began scooping up tiny handfuls of mud and gently rubbing them onto her face. The rain meant it was washed away almost as soon as it was applied, but there was dirt streaked down her face and neck by the time she was finished. She tilted her face up to the sky, getting wet in the deluge.

"Wait," Magnus whispered, "is she coming back in the tent?"

"I guess she is…"

"Oh God. Close the flap, Simon! She'll bring mud in!"

Before Simon could register what Magnus asked of him, Izzy had climbed back in, dripping water and mud and dirt everywhere. There was dirty residue left on her face that the water hadn't washed off, but despite that, she still looked flawless. She grabbed her ponytail and wrung it out onto the floor of the tent, just to spite Magnus, who audibly whimpered at the sight.

"Happy?"

"Damn. Okay. Who's next?"

"Clary," Isabelle said, her malicious smirk turning into a warm smile. "Truth or dare?"

"I don't fancy a mud facial, so truth."

Before Izzy could say something, Magnus piped in. "Isabelle, as much as I admire your camaraderie with Clarissa, you look like you're going to be too soft on her. I have a question that may be a little less forgiving than whatever it is you're about to ask her."

"Oh shit," Clary muttered, looking at Isabelle for some comfort, but she just shrugged helplessly.

"Biscuit - you've kissed both Jace and Simon, yes?"

"Oh God."

"Who kisses better? Jace or Simon?"

"Really, Magnus?"

"Of course. We've all had to do or say embarrassing things. Your turn."

"Ugh. Fine. Okay… no offence Simon, but I'm going to have to say Jace. Sorry."

"Ha!" Jace raised a fist in triumph.

"None taken. To be honest, I would have been more concerned if you had chosen me," Simon admitted.

"Whose turn next?"

"I think we're back to you, Simon," Alec said, shuffling so he could lean closer in to Magnus.

And so, the cycle began again, and the six of them learned more than they had ever thought necessary about each other. They stayed cramped up in the two-person tent until well into the night, at which point Magnus decided there was no use getting up, and they fell asleep where they were, an unbreakable Gordian knot of friendship.

Sleep settled rather quickly over them all - albeit one. Alec took a while to get to sleep. Not out of fear, or stress, or paranoia, but instead because he wanted to relish his few remaining hours of freedom. Starting at midnight, he was Jace's manservant for the day, and judging from the calibre of questions that he had had to answer, Alec was going to be enacting vengeance on a few people.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes. There was no use staying up late and fretting over the day that was to come. Jace would be reasonable, right?


A.N. : Hi guys! Sorry for the delayed upload - I'm trying to stick to a weekly schedule but I'm not great with time management. Anyway, I'd just like to use this opportunity to thank everyone who has reviewed this fic! I appreciate your feedback greatly and I do try to incorporate your suggestions into the plot! If you have any ideas about what you want to happen next, please let me know in a review!

I just want to thank the following for their lovely reviews:

- reemarie36
- sophiecampbellbower (thank you for your continual reviews! They're all so flattering! I'll try and add more Clace and Sizzy as the story progresses)
- nicolaclair
- ILOVEYOUCLACE
- annieherondalelightwood (thank you for your consistant reviews!)
- Ab446
- Fangirlshadowwolf
- Regina

Yet again, thank you all so very much for your feedback. If you have any thoughts or ideas for how this story should turn out, please let me know! All feedback is heard and appreciated :)

Have a wonderful day!

Love from the Potterhead From Middle Earth xxx