A/N: Meanwhile, with Evangeline and Simon...

Chapter 27

(Evangeline POV)

Simon and I were on another date, this time walking around the streets of New York. I really loved spending time with Simon, and exploring such a big city was exciting. He had lived there all his life, so it was nice to get such a personal tour.

We were walking arm-in-arm on a sidewalk, caught in the usual crowd of pedestrians. I was happy to have Simon with me around so many people. What can I say? I'm kind of shy when it comes to large groups, especially of strangers.

Currently, we were walking by Simon's old high school, St. Xavier's.

"And this is where Clary and I went to school," he was explaining as we stopped to pause near the fancy, wrought-iron gates. "Clary never graduated, but I did."

"Interesting," I said. "I always wanted to go to a regular school, but Mama homeschooled me."

"Most Shadowhunters are homeschooled, right?"

I thought about it. "That's what I've always heard, but I don't know enough Shadowhunters to give you a definite answer." I finished with a smile and saw Simon returning it readily. He really was so handsome, with his kindly brown eyes. I was suddenly tempted to kiss him… and blushed at the pattern of my own thoughts.

Abruptly, Simon reached out and took my hand in his, looking deeply into my eyes. I felt my blush deepen, and I glanced back at the school.

Simon must have too, because I saw him staring at it wistfully. "You know, I never thought I'd miss St. Xavier's, but I kind of do. I had a lot of good times there."

We were still holding hands, so I pulled him slightly to walk with me, both of us swinging our arms in tandem. "Really? Like what?"

"Well, one time, Eric decided that I needed a girlfriend as soon as possible, so unbeknownst to me, he set me up on a date with an exchange student."

"Is that the whole story?" I pressed with a smile.

Simon grinned widely at me. "Not entirely. It turned out that the exchange student was a boy." I laughed, and he also laughed at some distant memory. "And he was straight too. He was pretty disappointed when he saw me, which was too bad, because I was strangely attracted to him. I mean... Whatever." His expression changed to one of discomfort.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," Simon said suspiciously, his face and ears flushed.

If he didn't want to talk about it, I wasn't going to force him. "OK then. Where are we walking next?" But I was still curious as to his reaction. Was he attracted to a man now? If so, what were the consequences? I was almost certain that he was attracted to me, but…

Simon seemed nonetheless relieved that I wasn't pressing the topic. "Anywhere you want! I'll tell you what, let's take a walk around Central Park. You like parks, right? Then we can get ice cream or something."

"That sounds nice, but I think it's a little chilly for ice cream," I said good-naturedly, keeping the unusually cold fall temperature in mind.

"Oh yeah, of course. So, what do you say about the park?"

We were currently walking past an alley, which I glanced down as a matter of habit. And what I saw made me freeze in my tracks.

Simon stopped walking and looked at me curiously. "What is it, Evangeline?"

"It's Jace," I said in amazement. Dazed, I walked toward the alley and saw, indeed, none other than Jace. He was leaning against a brick wall and had tears running down his face, shivering because he didn't have a coat. "Jace!" I called, running up to him and taking him by the shoulders. I shook him slightly.

"Step away from me, Evangeline," Jace said distantly. "I don't want you to see me like this." Then he turned his face away for just that reason.

I sensed Simon coming up from behind me. "Jace? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

I didn't let go of Jace's freezing shoulders. "Stop that. Look at me." He didn't. "Jace! Listen to me right now! Look at me." Guiltily, his gold eyes rotated to rest on my face. "That's better. Now what are you doing here? And where's your coat?"

"I just want to be alone. Is that too much to ask?"

Simon cut in, "You bet your ass that that's too much to ask. We're not going to let you freeze to death. Why are you crying?" A look of comprehension crossed Simon's face. "Did you and Clary break up again?"

Jace pouted, and another teardrop slid down his face. I wiped it away, as well as the rest. His cheeks were very cold, which alarmed me. How long had he been here? "I don't want to talk about this right now."

Simon shrugged off his coat and held it out to Jace. "At least put this on. Come on."

I released Jace's shoulders, suddenly worried that he might run away from us. Thankfully, he didn't, instead sliding on Simon's coat. It was too small for him and pulled in the shoulders, but I caught a brief sigh of relief flit across his face. How cold had he been? It was a maximum of 40 degrees outside today, and his shirt didn't even have sleeves. When he had put it on, he just stared at us through empty eyes.

I looked to Simon in distress. We couldn't just leave Jace here… Who knows what he would do next? "Do you…" I asked him hesitantly. "Do you want to join us, Jace? We can get you something warm to drink." I knew that I was ruining another date of mine and Simon's, but we couldn't abandon Jace in his time of need. The very thought of it made me feel sick, Jace shivering and crying in an alley while Simon and I had a happy date.

Simon nodded. "Yeah, come on, we'll go to Java Jones. It's right nearby."

"That sounds like a great idea!" I said enthusiastically, pulling Jace along with me as I exited the alley. "Don't you think, Jace?"

He sighed listlessly, nonetheless following me. "Whatever."

Simon went up on the other side of Jace, even going so far as to hook an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, it'll be fun."

It turned out that Java Jones had delicious hot chocolate, my favorite. Jace cheered up and was apparently reinvigorated by his coffee, as he warmed up literally and metaphorically. Soon, he was joining Simon and me in conversation, and gradually became his charming self again.

There was also a poetry reading going on in the background, and at one point someone I recognized ascended the stage: it was the young man who had interrupted my last date with Simon, Eric. "Simon, look!" I prompted.

"Oh, no," Simon groaned. "He's going to read some of his awful poetry now, isn't he? Maybe we should leave…"

But it was too late, for Eric was already speaking. "Good day, ladies and gents! I am Eric, here for your listening pleasure. Right now, I'm going to give you a special treat. Behold Untitled #78." He cleared his throat, and I waited in polite suspense. I had never been to a poetry slam before. "Reject my loins, reject my love, I'll pretend you're from above like a dove, dove, dove of peace, a bird of war, war, war, I want more, but you just make me sore, sore with longing, sore with pain, you wash away my love with rain, rain, rain, oh the pain, pain, pain within my loins."

The entire audience was stunned into silence, and then a couple people snapped courteously. I was one of them, but I heard Jace whisper to Simon, "That was the longest run-on sentence that I've ever heard."

"Yeah, that's Eric for you," said Simon, with a strained expression on his face. "Yikes." Then Jace and I both laughed quietly, and I realized something as I looked between the two boys.

I was equally attracted to them.

The thought terrified me. There was Jace, with his cool façade of sarcasm and passionate, moody nature, and there was Simon, the sweet and adorable vampire. Rationally, I knew that I should stay with Simon and have that be that, but something was also drawing me to Jace. What was wrong with me?

And then I saw them exchange a look with one another, and I swear I could detect some chemistry between them as well. It was incredibly tangible, this three-way attraction in our group. I had to say something… It couldn't just be me who felt it. "Do you both feel that?"

Jace nodded, his full lips parted slightly. "Yeah. It's like electricity."

Simon frowned. "But it's almost like something's missing."

I didn't pay too much attention to his statement, as I was considering the repercussions of all this. I was so scared, I didn't want anything to be more complicated than it already was.

Maybe I should swear off romance altogether. Because really, what were we all going to do?

A/N: What are they going to do? Stay tuned. xoxoxoxo