Chapter 13 - She's Gone Fatal Attraction

Author's Note: Alright, my lovelies! Thank you for your kind words from the last chapter and that ideas (Simon's point of view and making Amanda all Fatal Attraction on Simon) that just outright hit me in a flash were well-received. With that in mind, I'll do more chapters from Simon's point of view, and maybe even a few from Dahlia's, though I'm not too sure on that yet. From now on, unless otherwise stated, chapters are in Clary's point of view. This chapter picks up where my last one left off. I own nothing but the story, the mistakes and Dahlia.

"I mean, really, I can't believe she's in love with you, Simon. Seriously, how could she be in love with you after...?"

I just ended up drowning out my roommate's annoyed ranting about Amanda. She'd been doing it ever since we got out of Hello Bistro, and entered the establishment we were in right now. A bar. Granted, being more near the college, it was more likely that we'd end up in one, but our hearts weren't really into doing much of anything but drowning, given everything that had just occurred. A day out of fun had turned into a complete train wreck, thanks to Amanda's crashing and subsequent revelation that she was in love with my best friend, a notion that made me physically ill to think about for reasons I didn't really understand. All I really knew was that I was glad Simon actually stood to defend me, instead of siding with Amanda. It was a comfort to know that no matter how strained we were, he'd still have my back and help me out if he ever saw me in trouble.

Simon honestly looked even worse than he did that night he kissed me and I rejected him. He looked like death warmed over, and I knew he was feeling guilty for going off on Amanda the way he did...or, more accurately, hurting her the way I hurt him. "I really don't know. I hung out a day after she was done at the coffee shop just to talk." I winced at that, because I can see exactly what he wanted to talk about. "And we hung out today, too. We also had Chinese once, but that was purely by chance, because we ended up just bumping into each other on the street."

"When was that? That you and her ran into each other and went for Chinese?" my roommate asked him, turning her head to look at him curiously.

"Saturday night, she asked to hang out for awhile but I told her I was already in the city, mainly on Carson Street. Why?"

Dahlia let off a derisive snort, before turning back to her Dr. Pepper with a shot of vodka. "Yeah, I'll just bet it was." She muttered, taking a long sip.

That garnered both mine and Simon's attention. "What do you mean?" I asked my roommate curiously.

"I mean that I'm having my doubts about how much of a 'coincidence' seeing us today was." She told us both, looking between the two of us. "I mean, she was out with Simon as it was today, as he just admitted. And I was in the coffee shop on Saturday. She didn't show up for work that day. Something about not feeling right, as another of the baristas told me. Then, Simon and her just 'happen' to bump into each other on the street by chance?" She shook her head vehemently. "No. I don't buy it at all."

"But, I mean...it was around 6:30 she and I..." Simon looked utterly flabbergasted. "No. There's no possible way she could've...she would've..."

"She told you she was in love with you after one week and slapped your best friend because you defended her out of jealousy." Dahlia said frankly, before swirling the rest of her drink. "You really wanna try and say that you couldn't put it past her to call off work and try to stalk you? Especially because she knew where you were?"

He didn't have an answer for that, not that I blamed him, because the true implications of what Dahlia was saying were finally sinking in. Not just to him, but also to me.

Amanda was in love with Simon. In the way he was in love with me. Only she wasn't going to keep quiet about it like he did for years. She was loud, proud, and would tell anyone that would listen. And now that she'd been rejected, who knows what the hell she might do.

"I've seen enough Lifetime movies to know that this isn't going to end well. AT ALL." I moaned out, before hearing Simon chuckle.

"Well, if anyone knows how to get us out of this, it'll be Spitfire here."

I backhanded him in the stomach so quickly, he reacted like I punched him between the legs, making Dahlia, in the process of downing her drink, snort soda and alcohol out of her nose.

"Glad to see you two are talking again." Dahlia commented, once the general craziness of our moment had passed, and she'd gotten a fresh drink.

"Or killing me, would be more accurate." Simon amended the statement with a wince.

Dahlia looked indignant. "Hey, I got purse whacked earlier today during the confrontation with Bitchtits. I know exactly where you're coming from!"

"At least I got just a hand. You got the purse that I swear she carries a brick in."

"Do you want me to trade off? Smack Dahlia and hot you with the purse, Simon? Because I totally will IF YOU KEEP TALKING ABOUT ME LIKE I'M NOT HERE." Seriously. They both knew I HATED when they did that, yet they did it anyway.

"Oh, you were here? Sorry, I didn't see you." Dahlia replied back simply, making Simon snort.

"A short joke. How original." Sarcasm dripped from the five words enough that we'd be standing ankle deep in it. "Well, Simon's taller than me, and yet he can see me clearly. And those that can't see me don't get me being nice and ordering them Chinese later this week during that big test in Professor Roberts' class."

She glared at me with enough venom to kill the other half of the bar sitting behind me. "You wouldn't fucking dare deny me that."

"Try me, Dollface." I made my tone...and my smile, as innocent as I possibly could.

"Does she always do this?" My roommate turned to my best friend...basically screaming from the rooftops that I just completely handed her her ass on a plate.

Simon didn't even hesitate in his answer. "Yes. And it's so annoying, isn't it?" Traitor.

My smugness immediately melted away at their conversation, the shits. And they knew it, too.

"Mm..." Dahlia replied, the only way she was really able to, since she was chugging down her drink like no tomorrow.

"In a rush...?" I asked her curiously, raising an eyebrow at the suddenness of her drinking. She wasn't doing this a short while ago.

"There's a guy checking me out at the other end of the bar..." She said to me honestly, giving both me and Simon an odd smile. "..and I'm not letting Bitchtits get in the way of me hitting that." I turned to look, and saw him nodding her over, as Simon ended up choking on the swig of Pepsi he was drinking at that statement.

"Oh. Well." I was clearly able to form a sentence myself. "Have fun!" Or not.

"Don't worry, darling, I will." She turned and gave Simon a hug, before turning and doing the same with me. "Oh, and I won't be back until tomorrow morning. Meaning, if you guys want to, you know, do something...anything...tonight, you can."

Knowing what she was doing, I gave her a grin, and a sincere hug of my own. "Thank you." I told her in her ear, quietly.

"You're welcome." She whispered back, barely loud enough for me to hear, as well, before she pulled back, wandering off toward her guy. "Oh! And I want details!"

"Ditto!" She called over her shoulder.

Simon, perched on his own barstool, gave me and Dahlia's retreating form a confused look. "Details about what?"

I sighed and braced myself for what I was about to get into. Simon was my best friend, and I missed him, but we couldn't NOT talk about his feelings. Or what he did the other night. Or what he did with Amanda for the past week. "About what we talk about tonight."