PoV Clary
I looked for Simon everywhere, and finally found him deep in the bowls of the school. He was in the library, reading a book on ancient Egypt. He looked up and smiled when I sat down.
"Hey," he said.
"What's wrong?" I asked. "What made you storm off?"
"Your friends. They're all rich and posh and incredibly handsome." He sighed, taking his glasses off. "And look at me. I'm… average."
"Simon, you're not average." I put my hand over his. "Simon, you're smart and funny and sassy, why would you ever think you're average?"
"Because I don't have money to buy whatever I want and whatever my friends want, I don't have movie star good looks that make everyone fall in love with me. I don't have a house big enough to fit a circus in, and I don't have three separate rooms for my clothes. I don't have an amazing girlfriend who would step in front of a bullet for me, I don't have anything."
"You have amazing friends who make you laugh, you have drop dead gorgeous eyes, you have a loving family, you have people around you who love you. Jace and Alec and Magnus might have money, but Alec isn't loved by his parents, at least not by his dad, Jace doesn't have a mom, his dad treats him like a soldier. Magnus' parents are both dead, his dad tried to kill him and his mom was too depressed to look after him. Jace's only friends are Alec and me, and now you and Magnus. Before we came along, Alec's only friend was Jace. Magnus may have been popular and had a different boy in his bed every night, but he had no friends.
"You have Matt and Eric and all those other boys who'd give there lived protecting you, you have me, who'd sure as hell take a bullet for you." I was grasping his hand tightly, but he didn't seem to care. "You have a mom and sister who care the world of you, you have a family here who will look after you, and-"
Simon leaned forwards and kissed me.
I sat in silence, waiting for him to pull away. He did, and looked down at our hands.
"I like you," he whispered. "Ever since I figured out you were a girl. Ever since I realized I'd known you before, I've liked you. Clary… I love you."
I sat, staring at him, at his wide brown eyes, his curly brown hair, his pretty face. I looked down at our hands, intertwined on the table. He didn't let go, but neither did I. I kept holding his hands, feeling their warmth, feeling his pulse beat through his fingers.
"Simon," I said. "I… I love you, too."
"You do?"
"Yeah." I smiled. "And I know you."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"I know what getting into."
"Aren't you dating Jace?"
"I don't know. We kissed a bit, but we never made it official. I mean, he told me he loved me, and I told him I loved him, but it was sort of all in the heat of the moment and I don't know."
His face was shocked for a moment, and then he burst out laughing. "I'm sorry," he said through giggles. "I'm sorry, but you are so cute."
"I am?" I asked. "As Clary or as Cain?"
"Well…" Simon said. "Both."
"Wait…" I said, pulling a fake confused face. "You gay?"
"I'm bi." He smiled. "So, I liked you from when I met you."
"Are we…?"
"Dating?" he asked. "Do you want to?"
"Well, kind of, yes." I smiled. "We could be public about it, too."
"Yeah," he said. "Eric already thinks we are. So, why not?"
"Okay." I smiled.
"What about Jace?"
"Leave him to me."