A/N: Guess who's back? Back again? I am the actual worst and I'm so sorry. So yeah, here's Chapter 7, after like, 5035948 years.
Shoutout to the people that still left me reviews and thus alerted me that this fic still existed. And also, to you, if you're reading this right now. Wow, thanks for not giving up peeps.
Disclaimer: I don't own TMI –insert crying emoji here –and also Green Day is amazing. Go listen to them if you haven't then cry after you realized what you've been missing all these years.
It's been a month since she had started in NYU and Clary couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy, but she knew it had definitely been a while.
Her classes are interesting and started to pick up after the second week once orientation was over. The only class she didn't really enjoy was The Art Of Sculpting which had more to do with the fact that Clary despised sculpting since there was a severe lack of color involved in it rather than the conduction of the class itself. Her professors were fun –without conforming to the all art teachers are free spirits stereotype –and tried to make the classes with lecturing as less boring as possible.
Art, while fun to do, might actually be the most boring thing to listen about when you're discussing concepts. Clary can't imagine how torturous it must be for her professors who actually have to lecture about it.
Still, she smiled more often now - especially around her new found friends.
God, Clary is so glad she has them.
They truly are what make college worthwhile even though she had been terrified that first two weeks after meeting them. A constant worry that she wouldn't have anything in common with any of them or she might say something wrong and they would never speak to her again was always in the back of her mind, even when they were hanging out.
It got easier once she found out that Alec and her liked the same kind of music and bands (though he had been horribly unaware of the amazingness that is Pink Floyd which she quickly remedied). Alec and her have a date to visit the old music shop that still sells vinyl on Thompson Street somewhere in the next week.
Isabelle and her didn't talk much in that first week despite both being in their first year and the only girls in their little group but then somewhere in the second week, Clary had gotten a text to meet her in the fashion studios. Isabelle, who had gotten Clary's number from Jonathan, needed someone to model a dress she was still making which is how Clary found herself being poked and pricked with needles and pins as Isabelle used her as a human mannequin. Despite that, Clary realized she didn't really mind it at all and it's now become a semi-regular thing that they do.
She's probably closest to Jonathan though. He likes to take her out to "the best places for food you will ever go to" and the group will roll their eyes at him. Most of the time it's just him and Clary where he'll ask her questions about everything he can think of, like questions about her home life to her favorite foods and eateries or sudden questions like, "So, Taylor Swift or Katy Perry?" – that results in her doubled over in laughter –or a little more sensitive questions like about the relationship with her mom, which had been brought on after a worried phone call from Jocelyn when she didn't come home despite the late hour. He had asked if everything was okay and that if her mom wanted her home. She had snapped at him just a little about how her mom doesn't control her life and then proceeded to feel horrible about the hurt look on Jonathan's face, as fleeting as it was.
She didn't know at the time that Jonathan didn't have a mom. That she had died during child birth and he was raised by his father. "My dad wasn't around much growing up. So, the Lightwoods would take me in whenever he was away. They're basically my family. I consider Alec, Isabelle, Jace and Max my siblings at this point," he had told her at the time.
Clary didn't really know what to say to that so she began telling him about how she didn't know her dad. "He died before I was born. He was in the military and he died in service," she said. "It's just me and my mom."
And Simon, she wanted to say. She decided against it, not wanting to open that up right now. Not wanting to explain who he was and what had happened. How it was her fault that he's not here with her anymore.
Jonathan didn't say anything but he had hugged her then. A sort of all enveloping hug that was warm and comforting. Resting his chin on top of her head, she had felt safe in his arms then.
Of course, there's also Jace. Clary doesn't feel the same sense of comfort with Jace the way she feels with Jonathan. Not to be mistaken, Clary does enjoy hanging out with him. They exchange sarcastic remarks and quips but Clary also has a tendency to become irrationally angry with him whenever he says something that would not normally bother her all that much. Something about him just crawls under her skin so she tries to avoid being alone with him as much as possible. She felt exposed with him, like a nerve. Like he could see everything there was to see about her.
Nevertheless, Clary was happy with her friends and they haven't decided that she was a complete annoyance yet so yeah, she's decided to just be happy.
"Ow!" Clary exclaimed, turning to glare at Isabelle. "Would you watch where you're putting those needles? Those things are sharp in case you didn't know."
Tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear and not taking her eyes of her work she said, "Well if you would stop squirming around so much, maybe you wouldn't need to know how sharp they can be."
"Hilarious Izzy, truly. How long more till you're done?" Clary asked, not turning to look at the raven haired girl to avoid being poked again.
"Just this one little thing here and yup, that's it," Izzy said, coming to stand in front of her, "It's done, I'm amazing and you look great by the way."
Clary turned to look at the mirror and had to agree with her. The dress was a casual party dress with a black leather strapless bodice with embellishments and a red flow skirt hemmed in with it. Clary actually looked nice despite worrying the red of her hair would ruin the whole thing. It was surprising to see that it actually complemented the outfit.
"Izzy, this is beautiful. What's it for?"
The other girl just arched her perfectly shaped eyebrow at her. "It's for you, obviously."
"What? Isn't this for a class?"
Isabelle's lips twitched, like she was trying not to smile. "For a class? Please, if it were for a class, expect far more drama to the outfit. Look, I just like to design dresses okay, so keep it. I had you in mind when I designed it anyway." Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she added, "Not to mention, I could never wear this since its strapless. I'd have to keep pulling it up all the time which I just do not have time for."
"Ah yes, what a great tragedy it is that you have boobs. So sorry for you."
Isabelle poked her with the spare pin in her hands.
Clary and Alec found a vinyl for Green Day's American Idiot and it was now playing throughout the music store. The both of them were walking along the aisles, occasionally picking up an album for the other to see, while muttering the lyrics to the song at each other.
The guy at the counter kept glancing at them suspiciously, like these two college kids both in ratty jeans –Clary with paint on hers and Alec with holes at the knees –are going to grab a bunch of vinyl records and make a break for it.
Clary turned her head to tell Alec this when the bell over the entrance door jingled, signaling a new customer. Alec turned to see who it was and then promptly dropped the 2 CD's he was holding, clattering to the floor loudly despite the music playing.
The guy that just entered turned from where he was having a conversation with the cashier to look over at them. He grinned when he saw them and began making their way.
Whoa, he's hot, was the first thing that went through Clary's head when she really looked at him.
He was Asian, with golden skin and pretty amazing bone structure. He was wearing eyeliner –which was perfectly winged and gave off a feline vibe – that accentuated the near gold in his eyes.
It wasn't like Jace's gold eyes which were more molten, like a liquid she could drown in.
Yeah, so not thinking about Jace's eyes right now.
No, this guy had a more gold mixed with hazel hue to his eyes and they were getting closer.
"Hello Alec," he said when he was in front of them.
He was smiling at Alec, all warm and bright, and Alec for his part, was about as red as a tomato and looked over at Clary in panic.
A number of things made so much more sense to Clary in that moment.
Like why Alec had glared and scowled at her in that first week when she first started hanging out with them. Or more specifically, he would glare whenever she would have conversations with Jace.
That's kinda weird since Jace was Alec's adoptive brother, but whatever. If Thor/Loki can be justified to people, Clary isn't about to judge.
Asian guy was still grinning at Alec and Alec was still blushing as bright as Clary's hair so she decided to take pity on him.
"Uh, hi there. I'm Clary Fray," she said to him, holding her hand out. His thousand watt grin directed its attention at her and Clary could practically feel Alec blaring warnings to her in his head.
He shook her hand, his fingers warm. "Hello Clary Fray, I'm Magnus Bane. It's nice to meet you."
"Are you a friend of Alec's?" Who Clary noted, still had not said anything.
Magnus' smile faltered, just slightly. "We're more like acquaintances actually." His eyes looked to Alec when he said, "How about we change that. I'm having a party. Tonight. You guys should come."
He reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a flyer, giving it to Clary since Alec made no move to take it.
It had an address and loud proclamations for a party celebrating "Church's 12th birthday" with the exclamation of free beer in bold, capital letters.
Alec took the flyer out of Clary's hand and asked, "Who's Church?" which is the first thing he's said since Magnus walked into the shop.
"He's my cat."
"You're having a party for your cat?" Alec asked incredulously.
"Well of course! He's turning 12, I have to celebrate that milestone. Plus, it's an excuse for a party," Magnus replied.
Alec blinked at him and Clary began to feel like she was third wheeling on their little silence as weird as that sounded.
"So, I'll see you there?" Magnus asked, and she definitely noted that shred of hope in his voice.
Clary smiled brightly at him. "We'd love to."
She could feel Alec turn to glare at her, not even needing to look to know.
"Should we, uh, get your cat a present? Also, mind if we invite a few friends?"
Magnus laughed, a warm rich sound and Alec practically whipped his head around to stare at the other man and wow, his crush just became stupidly obvious.
"No need for presents though his owner wouldn't mind if you brought something," Magnus said. "And the more the merrier sweetheart." He turned to Alec and said, "Just as long as you come."
He gave a wink to Alec, who was blushing in full force again and waved a bye at Clary before walking out of the store.
Clary turned to Alec after a minute and he just put a finger up to her face and said, "Not a word."
"I might actually die from how cute that was. Your face is like cherry red by the way."
Alec groaned. "Oh my god, shut up."
The Lightwoods lived in an apartment building close to the off-campus housing and the apartment was huge. There were 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and plenty living room space.
Clary had texted the rest of them about the party and Isabelle said to just come over and get ready at their apartment. Clary hadn't thought much about it at the time but she considered walking all the way back to her home when Alec unlocked the front door and was greeted with a very shirtless Jace sitting in the living room.
For what it's worth, Alec had made a beeline for his bedroom the moment he saw Jace.
She should probably talk to him about that at some point.
"Hello Clary. Isabelle says she has something for you in her room," Jace said after Alec's door had closed with a definite click. "Second door on the right."
"Uh, thanks. Are you not joining us for the party?" she asked, pointedly looking him dead in the eyes rather than his defined pectorals.
"I'm gonna get ready in a bit. Hey, maybe when you're done I'll give you a tour of the place," he said, smiling at her.
"Oh, thanks. That'd be nice. Just be sure to put a shirt on when you do," she told him.
The smile turned to a grin, "Is it because you're worried you won't be able to focus on the brilliant design of the interior when my abs are clearly far more brilliant to look at?"
Clary let out an exasperated sigh, "You're unbelievable."
He just grinned wider and gestured at his abs. "Better believe it."
She walked away to Isabelle's room, the sound of Jace's laughter following her and was definitely not thinking about his abs, thank you very much.
Clary knocked on Izzy's door and it swung open a minute later to reveal Isabelle standing on the other side looking like some sort of goddess.
A goddess in a tight leather dress with some sort of red lace skirt with roses attached to it. Her hair was curled elegantly and swept to the side and her eye make-up was stunning as per usual.
"Clary! I have the dress so go wash up," Isabelle said, pulling her into the room.
Isabelle's room was a bit like her. Simple and elegant and with the right amount of flare.
Her walls and ceiling were a midnight blue while there were swirls of gold running along the edges in beautiful strokes. There were faerie lights placed by the window and along her bed post.
"Your room is gorgeous," Clary told her.
"Thanks, I decorated it myself. Now go! I still have to do your make-up."
Oh, boy.
The dress Izzy was referring to was the one she had made especially for Clary.
She had finally finished sewing everything together and the end result was breath taking.
Isabelle was putting some sort of anti-frizz serum in her hair so her curls would behave for once and Clary was checking herself out in the mirror. Minimal make-up –winged eyeliner to bring out her eyes, lip gloss and some powder – while her hair fell nicely down her back and thigh high boots that were thankfully flat.
Clary found it amazing that they had the same shoe size but the other girl told her that those boots were from two years ago and she never got around to giving them away.
She told Clary to keep them.
"Okay, you're done," the black haired girl finally said. "Let's go."
They walk out into the hall where Alec, Jonathan and Jace are having a conversation
"I really do not want to go," Alec grumbles
"Yes, yes you do."
"No –no I –"
"Alexander Gideon Lightwood, I swear to god just put on your damn shoes," Isabelle said with a sigh.
Alec startles and turns to glare at his sister.
"Oh, not you too."
"I didn't dress up so no one could grovel at my feet and marvel at my beauty Alec. Let's go."
Clary smiled at the exchange and went to stand next to Jonathan as Alec put on his shoes.
"You look amazing," he said to her.
"Not too bad yourself," she grinned at him.
He was wearing black skinny jeans and white shirt and Jace, Clary noticed, was dressed the same although he had a leather jacket on.
As if he knew she was looking at him, Jace came to stand next to her and said, "Guess I'll give you a rain check on that tour then."
"What tour?" Jonathan asked from next to her.
"Oh nothing," Jace said, grinning at Clary.
Jonathan looked like he was going to say something when Alec finally said, "Alright. Guess we're doing this. Oh god, okay, let's go."
A/N: A TV show for the TMI series is being made since I've updated this fic. The final Hunger Games movie was made since I've updated this fic. Mountains have moved, oceans have risen and I have started college since I've updated this fic. Anyway, I hope you guys liked it! Oh btw, the music shop that Alec and Clary visit actually exists. It's called Generation Records and is close to NYU! c:
Clary's dress:
Izzy's dress: .
Reviews is like that moment you found out about the TV show (lots of screaming and jumping basically)
Love and oranges,
Nisha