Thank you to everyone who reads these stories and those especially who take their time to review!

I've hit a bit of a creative block recently and I've started a 1000 themes challenge to try and keep my writer's block at bay. Hopefully by writing under those themes, I should be able to keep this story and my other stories ticking on. Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think!

I was lying on my bed, sun shining through the window and blinding me. I tried to cover them with the blanket but it was caught on something, making it impossible for me to drag it over to me. I groaned, rolling over to see what it was that was stopping me from warming myself. A body was lying next to me, facing away. I tapped the bare shoulder in front of me and felt my heart race in my chest as Jace span to face me, looking at my lips longingly. His hair was in his face, his eyes looking at me desperately. I pushed myself away from him in the bed, only to come crashing into another firm chest. Jordan was lying behind me, his hands adventuring up my abdomen as Jace closed in on me from the front.

I woke up in a hot sweat and took myself off for a quick shower before the school day began. What on earth had come over me? Why was I having dreams like that?

I came home from school on Thursday, knowing that I had to speak to Jon. I knocked on his door lightly and it pushed itself open. I smiled to myself when I saw him walking on his crutches. It was the best attempt I'd seen him do yet and I was enjoying just watching him. He was so determined.

"Hey C – what's up?" He smiled, making his way over to the bed and sitting down, casting his crutches aside.

"Don't stop on my account." I said quickly, as he rested them against the sideboard.

"It's alright." He shook his head. "I've been practicing for a while already." He patted the bed next to him. "Sit, I can tell you want to talk to me."

"It's about Jordan – and Jace." I admitted. Jon immediately tensed up.

"Uh – I'm not sure if I'm the right person to be advising you here." He looked nervous, suddenly backtracking on his offer. "Do you not have any girl friends? Surely they would be better suited-"

"It's nothing like that." I reassured. "I feel like they want something from me and I feel out of my depth." Jon released a wave of air that he had been building up, probably glad that I wasn't trying to have some sort of sex talk with him – as if I would!

"They're both my friends – but you have to be careful Clary. You have to protect your heart. Jace, well is Jace. I've never seen him in a proper relationship, I'm not even sure he's capable of one. As for Jordan, he's fresh out of a relationship, and quite a serious one at that." Jon informed me, much to my surprise.

"Is he?"

"Oh yes. Jordan and Maia had been going out for about a year. They were pretty serious about one another. Then Maia went off the rails. Her mum died and it really messed her up. She got taken into a foster home and started acting out. They finished pretty quickly after that but I'm sure he still has some level of feelings for her. Hence why I want you to be careful. I don't want him to see you as a rebound. You're worth more than that. By a long mile."

If my talk with Jon had given me anything, it was patience. He had taught me more than anything that I barely knew these people. I had zero idea that Jordan had been in such a serious relationship or that it had come to such a nasty end. I was going to take my time. There was no need to rush.

I took Jon's advice when it came to dressing for the football game come Friday. He told me to dress nice and warm so I took him up on it. I dressed myself in a pair of tights underneath my washed out skinny jeans, a vest top underneath a jumper underneath a hoody paired with a scarf and a fluffy pair of gloves with matching hat. Jon seemed impressed by my effort.

"I'm sorry Jon." I admitted, as I was trying to pull my boots on over the top of my fluffy socks. He looked at me confused as he sat on the edge of his bed, curling weights. He'd been trying to maintain his upper body strength.

"Whatever for?" I focussed on my shoes as I felt myself getting a little upset.

"For not coming to any of your games. I should have." Jon laughed.

"You'll just have to come to my games in the future." He winked at me and I was pleased he was being optimistic.

"I wish you could come with me." I frowned as I stood up. He smiled at me earnestly.

I met Simon at the school half an hour later. He was also dressed for the cold, an Ewok hat adorning his head.

"Go team!" He shouted as I walked up to him, causing a couple of younger students to give him a strange look. I laughed, linking arms with him as we followed the crowd towards the field. I had zero clue what I was doing or where I was going once we reached the stands and Simon was exactly the same.

"Do you just sit where you want?" I muttered quietly as we found ourselves at the end of a row. Simon cast a look at other people who seemed to be sitting where they wanted. He shrugged before leading me down the row, and sitting at the very end of it. The seats were cold and I was thankful for my many layers. I hoped the game would be easy to follow or at least over quickly.

Just as the game was about to get underway, I caught sight of Aline and her little group standing on the edge of the field, dressed in tight fitting cheerleading outfits. She caught sight of me and Simon and made it quite obvious that she was discussing us. Her attention was only diverted when the football players made their way to the field.

The game was quite confusing to follow and I based a lot of my reactions on the crowd around me rather than what I was actually seeing. I think I would have enjoyed it more had Jon actually been playing. The game finished on a high and I assumed that our team had won as the football players and the cheerleading squad came together, cheering loudly. Simon and I funnelled out with the rest of the crowd, unsure of what to do now. Sure Jace had invited me to watch him play, and I'd done just that. I didn't want to hang around and make myself look desperate or just dump Simon.

"What do you want to do now?" Simon asked, hands stuffed into his pockets to savour warmth.

"How about we grab a bite to eat? It's still relatively early." I suggested. Simon smiled at me enthusiastically.

"You don't have to ask me twice!" He laughed, linking up with me and pulling me along after him. "My two favourite things - spending time with you and eating!" I laughed along. Just as we were heading away from the school, I heard my name being called behind me. I turned my head to catch a glimpse of Jace running in my direction, still fully kitted in his football uniform. I indicated 'two minutes' to Simon before unlinking my arm from his and walking a few metres to meet Jace.

"You came." Jace laughed, slightly out of breath. I smiled, rubbing my gloved hands together.

"I came, I'm not sure what I saw though really." I admitted. "It's confusing."

"I could explain it to you one time." Jace offered, helmet in hand. "Me and a couple of others are going out for a bite to eat, I thought maybe you'd want to tag along?" I cast a look over my shoulder at Simon who was playing with his hat.

"I've got plans with Si tonight." I said. "Sorry."

"Nah, it's cool." He smiled, tapping his helmet. "It just means you owe me." Before I could get another word in he winked and sprinted back across the lawn to his team mates. I shook my head, before grabbing Simon once more.

"I thought I'd lost you there!" Simon smiled, relief apparent on his face.

"You're not that lucky." I teased as we headed for Java's. Simon grabbed a booth as I went to place our order. As I was waiting for the barista to prepare Simon's intricate order, I caught sight of someone familiar on the other side of the coffee shop. I could make out what looked to be the back of Jordan's head, sat at the booth with a girl. Was that his ex? The one Jon had spoken about?

The girl had beautiful skin, light brown in colour. Her hair was full of life, dark and curly. She was wearing dark clothes and it looked as though she had been crying. Her eyes caught mine for a moment and I quickly looked away not wanting to get into an awkward situation. I grabbed the coffees and headed over to my own booth.

"Who were you scoping out?" Simon teased as I placed the coffees on the table. I cast another glance as though they could hear me.

"Just that girl who Jordan is with, I think Jon was telling me about her earlier." Simon craned his neck to get a view and I pulled him back into his seat, so that he wouldn't draw attention to us.

"I didn't know she was back in town." He commented, furrowing his brow. "That's Maia." He told me.

"I thought so."

"I wonder if they're getting back together." Simon said, with a hint of something a little more in his voice. "Her mum died y'know." He mused, still watching her over the top of the booth. "She got taken into foster care and she set fire to a couple of sheds." I nodded along. As much as it sounded like crazy behaviour, I could understand the place it was coming from. The only reason my anger at my father's death had not brimmed to the surface was because it was buried by the other feelings. Guilt, regret and more importantly worry, for Jon. "They're coming over here." Simon whispered becoming suddenly interested in his coffee. I felt sick. This was awkward.

"Simon! Hi!" Maia bubbled, reaching over the table to embrace Simon. "And who's this?"

"Clary." Both Jordan and Simon spoke in unison, as I smiled nervously. Did she know that Jordan and I had been – well what had we been doing?

"Clary!" Maia giggled, her energy contagious. "I hear you've been a good friend to Jordan." I looked at her, looking for a hint of sarcasm or shadiness but it wasn't there. Jordan smiled at her side. "Can we join you?" She asked as Simon moved along so that she could scoot in next to him. Jordan looked at me apologetically as he slid in next to me.

"How are you?" Simon asked thoughtfully as Maia waved her hand at him.

"I'm medicated now." Maia smiled. "I won't be setting fire to anything soon." There was a nervous laughter around the table, Maia laughed the loudest. It was obvious she was still grieving – overcompensating. I couldn't get over the way the boys looked at her, the both of them. They were both enamoured with her. I felt like a strange sort of fourth wheel. I was looking longingly out of the booth but had to quickly cast my gaze back inside when I saw the football team and cheerleading squad entering the café. "Since when did Java's become so popular?" Maia groaned, pulling her face.

"Don't let her bother you." Jordan spoke quietly as Maia was glaring over the top of the booth. I followed her gaze straight to Aline.

"I ought to go and give her a piece of my mind."

"Maia." Jordan breathed.

"What Jordan?" Maia snapped, rage suddenly apparent. "She made my life hell. She deserves a piece of that." She went to rise from the booth and to my surprise it was Simon who held her back.

"She's not worth it Maia." Simon spoke quietly. "She'll get her comeuppance one day." Maia looked pained and I daren't ask what had led her to feel so strongly about Aline but after the way I'd seen her treat Lily, I knew it couldn't be good.

"I want to leave." Maia spoke firmly. "Sorry Clary. It was nice to meet you." She apologised as Jordan helped her out of the booth and they left the coffee shop quickly and quietly.

"Dare I ask what the issue is there?" I asked Simon. He looked at the group on the other side of the café who were being loud and lively.

"Aline bullied Maia mercilessly." Simon said, sipping his coffee. "She made her life hell. It's no wonder Maia snapped like she did. I reckon Aline is scared of her now though, I doubt she'd try any more funny business."

Simon and I were on our way out of the coffee shop an hour later as Aline and her friends were leaving. Simon and I walked out of the door ahead of them and I could hear them calling behind.

"Hey!" She was shouting, I finally turned to face her.

"What?" I turned around finally, my patience wearing thin.

"I was using the door." She said plainly.

"Congratulations?" I said confused, Simon stifled a laugh next to me as the football team poured out of the door. Aline's face hardened.

"You pushed in front of me."

"Or I walk faster than you?"

"Well why don't you use that talent of yours and walk away, little girl!" Aline started to get louder, the more the crowd grew around her. I frowned at her, trying to figure out what her game was. I laughed. She was attracting the attention of the football team and it seemed to be raising her courage. I couldn't be bothered to get in a fight with her, especially over nothing.

I needed to have a word with Jon when I got home about Aline. I couldn't believe that someone as nice as my brother could have went out with someone like Aline – she was poison.

"You're very strange." I commented as Simon and I went to walk home.

"I know what you're up too!" Aline shouted after me. "Slut." I could feel the rage building inside of me. Suddenly it was all that mattered. The feelings that had been covering it were suddenly feeding it, fuelling it. Simon was aware of what was going on before I was. He grabbed me around the middle as I made to dash at Aline. Her face was smug as Simon held me back.

"Let me go." I grumped at Simon as his arm started to cut into my ribs, my feet raising off the ground.

"I'll tell you the same as I told Maia. She's not worth it." Simon grunted with effort. I slumped against Simon's arm. She wasn't worth it.

I turned away, linking with Simon once more. He kept looking back to make sure that Aline wasn't following us, planning a surprise attack. I heard him sigh and it was apparent why. I could hear Aline wrestling with Jace behind me, shouting his name as footsteps approached behind Simon and me.

Thanks for reading!

All of my love,

Until the next time!

~Sapph