I'm sorry I haven't written this in a while, I've been really busy with homework and school crap, but I will try to write more often, I promise.
PoV Clary
I got out of the hospital that night, after the doctors did one final check. I walked to the curb and hailed a cab. I gave the address of the school, and sat silently in the back seat.
"You okay, kid?" the cabbie asked.
"Yeah," I said. "I got beaten up a bit, but I'm alright."
"You look like you took a beaten, you do," he said, nodding his head. "You sure you don't want to go some place for food or a drink?" He blushed. "Not that I'm asking if you'd like to go with me, I just…"
I chuckled, and patted his shoulder. "I get it. Naw, I'm okay. I just want to get back to my dorm so I can go home."
He smiled. "Driving a cab was easier back in the seventies; you could ask if someone wanted to change their destination without people thinking you're a rapist or something, you know?"
"Kind of," I said. "I wasn't alive then."
"I know," he said. "Hey, have you read Catcher in the Rye?"
"Yeah." I stretched my arms. "It was a good book."
"I read that book when I was about your age. It was one of the best things I'd ever read."
I smiled at him in the mirror, and we pulled up in front of the school. I stepped out, and paid.
"Just promise me something?" he asked.
"Yeah?"
"Don't think of people like Holden did," he said. "There are a lot of strange people, but they are the best people, not the worst."
I nodded and waved as he drove off. I looked down at my hand and realized he hadn't taken my money.
The corridor was cold when I stepped inside the building, and dark. I walked to my room and opened the door with one hand, dragging the other shaking hand through my hair. I didn't like the dark of the hallway. It felt unnatural.
When I opened the door, I found it was dark as well, but I could feel there were people inside. I flipped on the light, and found Magnus, Jace and Simon all facing the door, smiles on their faces. I smiled myself, and felt the cut on my lip strain. I hugged each of them in turn, but when I got to Magnus, I could see he'd been crying. I looked up at him with concern in my eyes, but he just shook his head and mouthed, "Not now."
We all sat on my bed, Magnus, Jace and I all sat against the head board, Simon sprawled across our legs. We were all laughing like maniacs when there was a gentle knock on the door, almost like the person didn't want to be heard. Jace got up and pulled open the door, revealing Alec, his eyes bloodshot and his cheeks blotchy.
He looked straight at me and mumbled, "Can I talk to you?"
I followed him out the door, and down to his and Jace's room.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Clary, do you think that Magnus doesn't deserve me?"
"What? Why?"
"He got beaten up because of me!" he yelled, gesticulating towards the door. "He hasn't had problems from homophobic jerk faces like that before he started dating me!"
"Alec," I said sternly. "Kirk's a transfer, he wasn't here last year. Magnus didn't get beaten up because of you. He got beaten up because he happens to be anything but straight and Kirk doesn't like that."
Alec turned his back on me, and I could tell from the shake in his shoulders that he was crying.
"Alec," I said softly. "It's not your fault."
He turned and hugged me, his baggy sweater engulfing me in one big, soft bubble. I hugged him in return and patted his back awkwardly. He sobbed into the top of my head, quietly and heavily. I pushed him onto his bed and sat next to him, handing him a tissue and pulling him back into the hug.
"You know," I said, over his shoulder, "I think that Magnus would also like to hug you."
He nodded and mumbled something.
"What?"
"I would like that," he repeated.
He pulled away from me, stretched a thin line of snot connecting his nose and my shoulder.
"Ew!" I exclaimed, jumping up and away.
He laughed in that goofy baby way, when they laugh in between sobs. I pulled off my shirt and threw it on the ground, brushing at my shoulder frantically. Alec's laugh bubbled around the room, his joy lighting up his face. I riffled through Jace's closet and pulled out a shirt, slipping it on over my head. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and did a double take.
It looked like I hadn't slept in two days, instead of being asleep for that amount of time. I looked like I hadn't eaten in a while, which I guess I hadn't. There was a set of stitched on my side, red and ugly looking. I wrapped my arms around my waist and frowned at myself.
"They'll heal," Alec said softly. "You'll be okay."
"I hope so."
We walked back to my room, and spent the rest of the night there. Just as Magnus claimed, he and Alec had a make-up make-out, which Jace frowned at, but he smiled a few seconds later, thinking, probably, that Alec was happy like that.
We fell asleep in my room, curled up on the floor, all of the blankets and pillows from our combined rooms piled under and on us. It was like one big, warn nest of love. I smiled as I saw Magnus and Alec curl around each other. Simon was squished between Alec and me, Jace's arms around my waist. There was almost no space to move, but it didn't matter. It was warm and calm, quickly lulling us to sleep.
Magnus was the first to wake up, apparently, and he woke Alec up, who woke Jace up, who woke me up. We all drew all over Simon's face and neck with sharpie and lipstick, strangely procured by Magnus. I drew several love hearts on Simon's cheeks and forehead with the lipstick, one right next to his eye in sharpie.
Jace and Alec drew dicks all over his face. Magnus laughed and shook his head, smiling at Alec letting loose and being a child.
We all cackled evilly when Simon screamed from the bathroom, and came out a few minutes later, lipstick gone, but sharpie still evident. He had dicks all over his face and a cute little heart right next to his eye.
"Guys, it won't come off," he growled.
"Well, you'll just have to go home like that," Magnus said with a shrug. "Come on, we've got planes to catch."