A/N: Remember what I said about keeping an open mind? Yeah, it really applies here. :D But trust me, I think you'll like the results!

Chapter 13

(3rd person POV)

Clary got up to spin again, and it landed on… Evangeline!

"Damn," said Jace. "I was right! You really are popular with the Lightwoods today!" Internally, Jace was strangely excited by the idea of watching the two of them lock lips, but he wasn't going to tell anyone that.

"I'm not a Lightwood, I'm a Trueblood," corrected Evangeline. "But I don't—"

Simon said, "Oh, come on. You only live once. Live a little!"

Clary sucked in a deep breath and walked up to Evangeline, who was now standing. Jace was watching raptly as the two girls stood in poignant silence, barely a foot apart. Both were considering the impact of what would now transpire, but eventually Clary was the one who took the plunge. She leaned in and pressed her lips against Evangeline's.

The effect was instantaneous. It was like an electric shock had traveled through both of their bodies. Evangeline's lips were every bit as soft as Alec's, maybe even softer, and Clary was definitely not as forceful as Jace had been.

As they pulled apart with a mutual exhalation, Evangeline was left feeling confused and excited. Throughout her entire life, she never thought she would feel attracted to another girl, but Clary was different. She was interesting. "Spunky", as one of her maids, Claudine, would have said. Clary had fire, she was passionate, she was everything that Evangeline was not. Maybe it's because I'm still new to this… Evangeline thought doubtfully.

Evangeline approached the bottle, then, with trepidation. She nudged it tentatively and it landed on Simon, of all people.

"Oooooooh," said Jace, who was still tantalized by the sight of their kiss. It had thrilled him, in a way, and picturing Evangeline kissing Simon didn't ruin his buzz, either, for some strange reason.

Evangeline, still flushed from her kiss with Clary, blushed more deeply. She had just met this young man, and didn't know him at all! He was apparently a vampire, to make it worse, and she was just supposed to kiss him, just like that?

Simon joked awkwardly, "Well, I don't bite hard. You don't need to be that afraid." Magnus snorted. Then Simon realized how awkward Evangeline looked, and continued, "Oh, it's alright. Come here." And then he stood up and came to her, looking very sweet and open. His eyes were twinkling like the dark night sky, and that made it easier for Evangeline. Simon, meanwhile, was also touched by the sweetness of her luminous dark blue gaze and the softness of her features.

In unison, they leaned forward into a kiss as light and airy as Simon could manage under the circumstances. Once again, Evangeline felt a thrill upon having her lips touch another's, something like the electricity she had felt with Clary. But this was different. Simon's lips were cold and icy, sending not-unpleasant shivers down her spine. Clary was warm and soft, like fire, but Simon was cold and sweet, like ice cream on a summer's day. She didn't know what to make of any of this.

Simon, meanwhile, was contemplating. This girl that he had just met simply oozed innocence and raw beauty. Sure, he loved Clary, but this Evangeline girl was lovely and innocent, something that Clary had lost long ago. After she met Jace, Simon thought, his eyes fluttering open to look at the blond, who was surprisingly staring at him in devout meditation. This caused Simon to break the kiss.

It was only after they pulled apart that they realized how long it had lasted. Magnus was looking up at them skeptically, wagging his fingers. "Uh-uh-uh! Not too intimate, my kittens. We don't need any more quarreling lovers."

Jace suddenly broke concentration, his expression turning back to its default: bored and arrogant. He leaned back onto his elbows and drawled, "I'm bored. This game is boring."

"That's because no one's kissed you," Isabelle said, flippantly waving her hand.

Jace acknowledged, "Yes, and that's terrible. But I think that we should raise the stakes, make it a bit more interesting."

"And what do you propose we should do?" Magnus said.

"Seven minutes in heaven," Jace pronounced.

Alec groaned and leaned backwards again with his book over his face. "Come on, seriously? As if this game isn't awkward enough already…"

"I dunno," said Isabelle. "I kind of like that idea."

"I'm serious," Jace said to Alec. "Throw in a closet and seven minutes of pressure to make out with someone behind closed doors, and you have an interesting game."

"What?" exclaimed Evangeline. She still didn't know what to make of her two kisses within the past few minutes, and the prospect of this new game definitely didn't appeal to her.

"Well, here's how it could work," said Jace. "Since Simon's the last one to be kissed, he gets to spin. And he and his victim can go to make out in the closet over there," he finished, pointing at a door.

"That's not a closet," said Magnus, "it's a hallway." Then he turned their attention to another door on the other way. "That, on the other hand, is a closet. A very small and dark closet, in fact."

"Perfect," Jace smiled delightedly. "The smaller the better."

Isabelle said, "Alright, Simon, spin it."

So Simon did as he was told, and lo and behold, it landed on Jace. "Out of all people in the universe," said Simon, "why did it have to be you?"

"You still want to play this game, blondie?" joked Magnus.

"Yeah, sure," Jace nodded. "I've never kissed a boy before. Well, except for… Never mind." Alec, unbeknownst to everyone else, blushed beneath his book. "Come on, Simon."

Jace, being the gentleman he was, opened the door for Simon to walk through. Simon, unmystified, went in rolling his eyes. Then Jace followed, and they heard the door lock shut behind them.

"I'll unlock it in seven minutes," said Magnus. "And… go."

"So," Simon said awkwardly, sitting with his legs crossed Indian-style. "What are we supposed to do in here, again?"

"Make out," Jace replied bluntly.

"Oh." Simon cleared his throat. "So… Never mind."

"Wait." Despite the darkness and claustrophobic nature of the closet they were trapped in, Jace leaned in closer to Simon and looked deeply into his eyes. Simon, surprised, tried to back up and hit a wall. Jace pressed in closer, then dragged a lazy finger along Simon's jawline. Simon rolled his eyes again.

"If you're going to kiss me, just get it over with," Simon told him in an exasperated whisper.

"Oh?" Jace whispered back. "Where's the fun in that?"

He leaned in even closer, placing his hands on either side of Simon's head. Rationally, Simon realized that he should have felt scared, bemused maybe. Here he was in a closet with Clary's now-ex-boyfriend who had thoroughly despised him ever since they met, and vice versa. But strangely… he didn't mind. In fact, he was rather thrilled by the situation.

"So?"

Instead of waiting for Jace to take his sweet time to think of a witty retort, Simon leaned in and kissed him first. Immediately, the pressure on his lips increased as Jace leaned in. He was rough, unbridled even, feral and hungry. It shocked Simon into submission for a little while and then he remembered what was going on. But he didn't want to stop… He just couldn't be outdone by Jace and his stinky lips.

Maybe not so stinky, thought Simon. They're pretty good at what they're doing.

So Simon pressed back and tried to regain control. The two of them fought for a short while, Simon even gaining the upper hand for a few seconds and guiding Jace back against the opposite wall. But then, suddenly, Jace regained control and forced Simon onto the floor, their mouths practically glued together. It was thrilling. Simon had never thought he'd even enjoy kissing a man, especially Jace. But here he was… The two of them had just gone at each other almost as soon as they'd gotten into the closet!

And Jace felt the same, surprisingly. He didn't know what was making him attack Simon… pent-up sexual frustration from the past few days, probably, combined with a few years of knowing and tormenting the ex-mundane, current-vampire. Whatever it was, it was causing him to fiercely kiss Simon as he'd kiss any girl, forcefully and full of sex.

They stayed like this for a few minutes, unaware of the passage of time. They were just drowning… in each other's essences, embraces, and, above all, lips.

Then the door flew open, and they heard a chorus of hearty laughs and a few gasps.

"Aw, shit, we've been interrupted," groaned Jace.

"Just when things were starting to heat up," added Simon, referencing the beginning of their open-mouthed frenching.

Jace awkwardly clambered onto his knees, still straddling Simon. "Well, that was fun. Let's do that again sometime, only without the pressure of seven minutes."

And so the rest of the party went on, all of them drinking more wine, seeing as the bottle Magnus had never ran out. Eventually, they all fell asleep, drunk, happy, and a little sexually charged/confused.

A/N: What a game, eh? Hahahaha. :D Tell me what you think! xoxo