Most of you asked for Isabelle's dream next, so here it is!
liveandbreathediangelo: Thanks! Yeah, I agree- I think I'll just do it in the same order as the book now.
Guest: Sorry! But Alec's will be next, so watch out for that one
Iridescent Petals: It will be explained in the chapter after this one. Thank you! (But I can clear a little bit up now- it wasn't the real Clary, however, it was someone else...)
TheShrekingGirl: Cool! And thank you :)
Disclaimer: A bit of this chapter is not my writing, and the characters do not belong to me!
"Don't look, don't look . . ."
Isabelle laughed. "I'm not looking." There were hands over her eyes: Simon's hands, slim and flexible. His arms were around her, and they were shuffling forward together, laughing. He'd grabbed her the moment she'd walked in the front door, wrapping his arms around her as her shopping bags dropped from her hands.
"I have a surprise for you," he'd said, grinning. "Close your eyes. No looking. No, really. I'm not kidding."
"I hate surprises," Isabelle protested now. "You know that." She could just see the edge of the rug under Simon's hands. She'd picked it out herself, and it was thick, bright pink, and fuzzy. Their apartment was small and cozy, a hodgepodge of Isabelle and Simon: guitars and katanas, vintage posters and hot-pink bedspreads. Simon had brought his cat, Yossarian, when they'd moved in together, which Isabelle had protested but secretly liked: She'd missed Church after she'd left the Institute.
The pink rug vanished, and now Isabelle's heels clicked onto the tile floor of the kitchen. "Okay," Simon said, and withdrew his hands. "Surprise!"
"Surprise!" The kitchen was full of people: her mother and father, Jace and Alec and Max, Clary and Jordan and Maia, Kirk and Matt and Eric. Magnus was holding a silver sparkler and winking, waving it back and forth as the sparkles flew everywhere, landing on the stone counters and Jace's T-shirt, making him yelp. Clary was holding a clumsily lettered sign: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ISABELLE. She held it up and waved.
Isabelle whirled on Simon accusingly. "You planned this!"
"Of course I did," he said, pulling her toward him. "Shadowhunters might not care about birthdays, but I do." He kissed her ear, murmuring, "You should have everything, Izzy," before he let her go, and her family descended.
There was a whirl of hugs, of presents and cake-baked by Eric, who actually had something of a flair for pastry creation, and decorated by Magnus with luminous frosting that tasted better than it looked. Robert had his arms around Maryse, who was leaning back against him, looking on proudly and contentedly as Magnus, one hand ruffling Alec's hair, tried to convince Max to put on a party hat. Max, with all the self-possession of a nine- year-old, was having none of it. He waved away Magnus's hand impatiently and said, "Izzy, I made the sign. Did you see the sign?"
Izzy glanced over at the hand-lettered sign, now liberally smeared with frosting, on the table. Clary winked at her. "It's awesome, Max; thank you."
"I was going to put what birthday it was on the sign," he said, "but Jace said that after twenty, you're just old, so it doesn't matter anyway."
Jace stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth. "I said that?"
"Way to make us all feel ancient," said Simon, pushing his hair back to smile at Isabelle. She felt a little twist of pain inside her chest-she loved him that much, for doing this for her, for always thinking of her. She couldn't remember a time when she hadn't loved him or trusted him, and he'd never given her a reason not to do either.
Isabelle slid off the stool she'd been sitting on, and knelt down in front of her little brother. She could see their reflection in the steel of the refrigerator: her own dark hair, cut to her shoulders now-she remembered vaguely years ago, when her hair had reached her waist-and Max's brown curls and glasses. "How's your training been going?"
He smiled widely. "It's your birthday, Izzy. Let's eat some cake instead." Laughing, she let him pull her to the table and hand her some cake smothered in glittery frosting. She looked across to Simon, who was watching her with the same love she felt mirrored in his dark eyes. He crossed the kitchen, taking a bite of her cake as he enfolded her in his arms again. "I wish your parents weren't here." He whispered to her quietly.
"What about everyone else?" she giggled. Isabelle Lightwood reduced to giggles by a boy. She never thought she could be happy with someone like this.
"I don't care about making out in front of them. Well," he added after a moments thought. "Maybe Alec would get his bow and arrow out, so he would have to go, too."
She punched him playfully as he took another bite of her cake. "Ow." He said reproachfully, rubbing his arm. "You pack a punch."
Isabelle pulled out of his arms and smirked at him as she walked to her adopted brother and Clary. "Hey, guys. I assume you knew about the party?"
"That we did." Jace said, Clary's hand coming down over his mouth just a moment too late. "What?" he protested from behind her fingers. A moment later, she ripped her hand away and wiped it on his shirt. "Jace Herondale, you are disgusting."
"Oh, please." Isabelle said, amused. "Like you haven't had his spit on you before.
"Iz!" Clary blushed slightly, her glare looking as threatening as a puppy's.
She shrugged unapologetically. "So, what have you guys been getting up to? Besides the obvious." She glanced at them suggestively. It was just too much fun to tease Clary- besides, the other girl knew it was all in good humor.
"Alright, that's it." Clary grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. She squared her shoulders in an effort to make herself look bigger. "If you guys continue to make all these innuendos, I'm leaving." You guys? Isabelle looked to Jace, who wore a proud smirk that positively oozed satisfaction. He bent down to whisper something into Clary's ear, and she decided to just leave them to it. Hopefully, Alec and Magnus were going to be better company- although that might be too much to ask from those two. Her parents intercepted her, Maryse giving her a quick hug, Robert with an awkward, but genuine 'happy birthday'. Max's excitement at the novelty was wearing off, and his eyes were beginning to droop. Birthdays weren't really a Shadowhunter custom, and for some reason, she felt a lick of apprehension at seeing her parents together. But why? It was totally normal for them to be together- if they weren't it would feel strange. That was the way it always had been.
Isabelle shook her head to clear it. Something felt a bit− off tonight. She put it down to the strange custom. This was her first proper birthday party.
Maryse pulled her out of her daze. "We'd better get going. Can't leave Kadir to remain at the Institute all night- we just wanted to be here for you. See you later."
Isabelle saw them to the door, murmuring goodbyes and thanks. As soon as the door closed behind them, Magnus and Alec came over to her. It felt incredibly normal… but why? Why did they have to wait for her parents to leave? They were Alec's parents, too.
"….so I thought you might like it anyway." Alec looked at her expectantly. She slipped into an answer quickly. "Yeah, I think I will. What's been happening with you guys?" Maybe that was a little too hurried- Magnus and Alec shared a look.
"Isabelle, what do you think you'll do with your present?" Magnus smirked at her. He knew she hadn't been listening. Of course. The warlock with hundreds of years of experience would know when someone wasn't paying attention.
"Ah, I'll… keep it in the apartment." She offered. That was a pretty reasonable guess.
Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Do you think Simon will be happy with that?"
Well, that one was easy.
"Simon does whatever I tell him to. He has to be happy with that."
Alec glanced between them, obviously aware that something was going on, but unsure of what that something actually was. Magnus obviously wasn't backing down, but Isabelle thought it would be best to keep the peace on her birthday. She changed the subject and talked easily to them for a while. Chairman Meow was going well and hadn't run away recently. If Magnus tried to keep throwing Isabelle parties and she had no control over it, she would probably run away, too.
Eric and his latest girlfriend stopped by to say happy birthday and left, as well as Matt and Kirk. Isabelle was just happy she didn't have to make nice with the mundanes anymore, even if they were Simon's friends.
The party dwindled after she had spoken to everyone, leaving only Alec, Magnus and Simon. It was obvious that Simon just wanted the others to leave- only up to a certain point could he handle being in a crowd- but he was trying not to show it. He knew since she'd moved out of the Institute, Isabelle had missed living with her brothers. But what he didn't seem to realize was that she loved living with him.
After about an hour or so, Alec let out a huge yawn. It was nearly midnight by then, and she felt a tiny bit guilty for keeping them so late. But only a tiny bit. They could have left whenever they wanted to, couldn't they? Magnus seemed to be having a great time ordering Simon around, calling him a different name each time. "Sheldon," he would say with a lazy smile, "could I have a refill?" Then, to complete the routine, he would waggle his empty cup at Simon, who had usually just sat back down. Isabelle wasn't sure where all of that drink was going, but there was no way he could have drunk that much and not be tipsy by now.
After the third or fourth time, she noticed Magnus sending her urgent glances. 'We need to talk', they seemed to say. Never boring, Magnus altered his little charade: "Shanely, I am having the most urgent craving for pineapple." Or: "Steven, I am in desperate need of a computer- I have to show Facebook to Alec and Isabelle."
As Simon went, fuming, to complete the last request, Magnus pulled her in. All trace of joking was gone from his gold-green eyes. "Isabelle," he said softly, directly. "This is not real."
"What?" her mind went into overdrive. So many things she wanted to say, but all that came out was; "What?"
Simon was coming down the short hallway from their bedroom noisily. "My apartment. Tomorrow." He pulled back next to Alec, who apparently found not one thing strange about what had just transpired. Isabelle stared at him. Since when did her brother just sit back and not question something that was clearly out of the ordinary? He was a Shadowhunter- he was trained to question everything. And by the angel, what had Magnus meant?
Something told her not to share this with Simon. She glanced at him, and then at Magnus, and warning glowed in his eyes, confirming her strange feeling. When was the last time there had been a secret between them? Isabelle loved him, and he loved her. That was just how it was, and she felt secure and undeniably happy. But tugging at the edge of her peace was the strange belief that something wasn't right that had been bothering her all night. Something was disturbing her relaxed night, and she was determined to find out what it was so it could crushed once and for all. She settled into the comfortable sofa, feeling the warmth of Simon's arm around her, and listening the soft laughter resounding around her. She looked at Simon. His dark eyes gazed back at her after a moment, somehow inscrutable. Isabelle was too sleepy to ponder the fact the she could always read Simon's emotions without a doubt, but she let the fact wash over her along with the dim lights and undemanding voices.
So... what does Magnus's mysterious message mean?
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