Clary licked at her ice cream quickly in the hopes of consuming it before the sun succeed at melting it. It was a beautiful day to be in the park. The lush green grass looked so inviting, Clary almost wanted to take off her shoes and run through it. There were benches and garbage cans scattered along the path they'd chosen along with tall overhanging trees shading the cobblestones. Clary suspected that without the shade her ice cream would already be dripping onto her shoes.
"Should have got mango," Paige said as they walked. "This cookies and cream is not living up to the hype."
"Do you wanna walk back and get magno instead?" Clary asked.
"No, I've bought this now," Paige replied. "I'm gonna eat it. Just making a mental note. Next time: Mango."
Clary laughed. "There is such a thing as giving up and going back ya know. If you aren't enjoying it, then probably isn't worth the four dollars."
"Though, I know you're right," Paige laughed. "At this point though, I believe it is about the principle of the thing."
Clary chuckled again before taking another mouthful of her mango ice cream. "If you say so. Personally I'd go back and get the flavour I wanted."
"So, what were we talking about, because the ice cream stall rudely interrupted us?" Paige laughed.
"You were catching me up on your life while I was gone," Clary answered. "Everything that happened with Jordan, and school, and just life."
"I think we covered most of that already," Paige replied. They were now walking past a tree larger than those they'd seen already, and there happened to be a bench right in the best looking shady spot. Thinking of what remained of her ice cream, Clary suggested they sit on the bench to finish their desserts.
"This way they won't melt so fast," she explained. "And I don't think we covered everything."
"He cheated," Paige said, with a shrug. "Then lied about it. Then tried to say that being with her made him realize he loved me. Bull shit. So I left. It's as simple as that."
"But why did he cheat?" Clary asked. "Don't people only do that if something is wrong with the relationship itself?"
"I have no idea why someone would do that," Paige replied. "And in this case I really didn't want to ask. If you are so curious why don't you ask him?"
"Sorry," Clary sighed. "I just- I just don't understand."
"You and me both girl," her friend smiled at her. "But if you go through life expecting to understand all of it you will forever be disappointed."
"That's a depressing thought," Clary sighed.
"No, it isn't depressing," Paige countered. She pondered for a moment before stating, "It just is." After eating more of her ice cream she continued. "There is too much in the world for one mind to comprehend and understand. As there is too much within one person to be completely understood by another. All we can do is observe and speculate."
"But surely Jordan knows why," Clary offered.
"Maybe he does and maybe he doesn't," Paige said. "It depends if he is lying to himself or not."
"Urg, don't get all wise on me," Clary whined. "Between you and Simon I feel like I'm in therapy."
Paige laughed. "Sorry," she said, still chuckling. "Been doing a lot of thinking lately."
"That's fair," Clary smiled. They were almost finished their ice creams now, both of them biting off chunks of their waffle cones.
"I've only got one more year of school left," Paige said. "I can't live with Magnus and Alec forever, no matter how much they say they enjoy having me there."
"Oh, they aren't just saying it," Clary laughed. "They definitely love having you around." That made Paige smile, a genuine easy smile that reached her eyes.
"Even so, I guess I'm trying to figure out if I want to stay here for my last year or transfer out," Paige admitted.
This made Clary angry. "Screw him!" she snapped. "He should be the one to transfer, not you. He messed up, he should leave."
"That isn't the way the world works," Paige replied. "He doesn't want to leave. He has a life here, and there's nothing I can do to make him leave it."
"You were here first," Clary argued.
"Ah yes, but I only met all the friends I currently have through him," Paige reminded her. "Plus I know he and Maia got back together a little over a month ago." Paige paused, letting out a deep breath before continuing. "Just kinda makes me feel... I don't know… like the tangent to their story. Like I was just a step on their path back to each other. A supporting character or something, but when do I get to tell my story? And what if that story isn't supposed to be told here where theirs is playing out?"
"Urg," Clary groaned. "If you won't hate him, let me hate him for you."
"If you insist, though I wouldn't waste my energy if I were you," Paige replied. "Looking forward is a better use of energy than looking back."
"Well then on a selfish level I don't want my friend to move away because some loser cheated on her," Clary replied.
"Thanks," Paige smiled at her. Then her smile vanished instantly and she hung her head.
"What's wrong?" Clary asked.
"I don't deserve you being this nice to me," Paige sighed.
"What? Why?" Clary asked.
"Well, I kinda haven't told you something that happened while you were away," Paige said, biting her lip and looking guilty.
"What is it?" Clary asked.
Paige took a slow breath then turned to face Clary directly before speaking. "Right after Jordan and I broke up," she began. "And I mean right after, as in minutes after, I ended up dragging Jace to a bar with me." She stopped and Clary's mind went to a thousand unspoken places in that moment. "You'd been gone so long, and I was so mad at the world that I kinda hit on him. Like in a serious we could be a real couple kinda way. He turned me down cold though."
"Why are you telling me this?" Clary asked. She couldn't help her heart from racing as her mind digested the words. Though apart from the physical reactions of her body Clary felt almost numb to the information.
"I just-" Paige began. "I don't like having secrets. They weigh on the mind. I wasn't sure if Jace would ever tell you, or if he had already... and I just wanted to have it out in the open."
"I see," Clary said blankly. She was still processing. For a moment her mind considered the theory of what Paige was saying. Practically, it actually made a lot of sense. They both wanted kids after all, and neither of them seemed the type to up and leave the country for an entire year. Both of them were too reliable for that. While her rational thought came to such a conclusion there was a part of her that wanted to lash out at Paige, scream at her and hurt her. Clary knew though she had no right to do anything of the kind.
"Thanks for telling me I guess," Clary said.
"So, you aren't mad?" Paige asked.
"I um-," Clary said. "No I don't think I am."
There was silence for a long moment. Both of them had neglected their ice cream's with the change of topic, and took a moment to finish off their desserts before speaking again.
"Long distance is hard," Clary finally said. "Harder than I could have imagined."
"Yeah," Paige sighed. "I've heard that. Never done it though."
"I don't recommend it," Clary replied, and then there was silence.
With a moment to collect herself, Clary decided the air didn't need more clearing and stood up. "Enough talking," she smiled at her friend. "I wanna run through the beautiful green grass. You game?"
Paige's smile had a sense of relief to it as she stood up and joined in. They were both laughing by the time they reached the path on the other side of the lawn. Trying to catch her breath, Clary collapsed on the ground and lay on her back in the soft grass looking up at the clear blue sky.
"I like this time of year," Clary told her. "Winter is just the worst."
"I don't know," Paige replied. "There's something to be said for snuggling up at home with a good book and a cup of coco all tucked under a blanket."
"Okay, when you put it like that, sure," Clary agreed. "But the realities of winter aren't quite so poetic. Shoveling snow, buses always running late, freezing cold, ice on the roads..."
"I prefer to focus on the positive," Paige said.
"Probably wise," Clary laughed.
Clary's mind began to wander as she contemplated the clouds above her. If only there was a way for Paige to be happy? Of course, Clary knew that it wasn't technically her job, but like with all her friends, she wanted to help. After all, it seemed such a simple thing to ask for: to have someone love you and be true to you, and yet it wasn't simple at all. In fact, it might be one of the hardest things there were to achieve. In a job you were judged based on your own skills and attitude, but in a relationship you are only half of the equation. Putting in 110% at a job or school gets somewhere, but in a relationship you could put in 150% and still lose if the other person isn't even putting in 10%. The problem at hand seemed familiar, and for a moment Clary tried to remember who else she knew that was having similar problems as Paige.
"Oh!" Clary exclaimed, suddenly sitting up to spin around and stare at Paige.
"What?" she asked concerned, as if she thought Clary had recalled some problems or missed deadline.
"Would it be okay if I set you up with someone?" Clary asked, pleadingly.
"What really?" Paige whined. "Don't you know that shit never works."
"Hey meeting a guy at a bar didn't work for you," Clary shrugged. "Why not try something different?"
Paige studied her face. Clary had no idea what she was looking for until her face fell. "You aren't gonna leave this alone are you?"
"Nope!" Clary grinned happily.
"Alright fine then," Paige sighed. "Set me up. But only coffee, and only to make you drop it."
"Yay!" Clary almost sang. "I'm gonna text him right now."
"Great," Paige said sarcastically.
"This is gonna be awesome," Clary said, grinning like the genius she imagined she was, while she was looking down at her phone to send a quick text.
"Now that you've had your fun, we should probably get home," Paige added. "I told the boys I'd make them dinner."
"You spoil them," Clary said with a shake of her head.
"Hey, I got no one else to spoil," Paige shrugged.
"Not yet!" Clary exclaimed, but Paige just rolled her eyes.
Together they got up and started walking towards the parking lot. It was quite a novelty to Clary that Paige owned a car. Sure it was an old car, but it was so much better than walking.
Less than a quarter of an hour later - thanks to the magic of driving - they were pulling into Malec's parking spot that had been previously unused until Paige moved in.
Clary wasn't quite sure how, but during the drive she'd been invited to join them for dinner. It was things like that that made Clary feel sure Paige would be a great mother some day. She had this need to feed everyone around her, as well as a highly nurturing nature in general.
"We're home," Paige called out as she walked into the apartment.
There was a sudden scuffle as if they'd interrupted something.
"I thought you weren't home till dinner?" Alec's voice called out from behind the sofa. He was nowhere in sight.
"It's after four," Paige chuckled. "And it takes time to make dinner silly."
"Right," Alec's voice continued to sound uncomfortable.
Clary having no mercy whatsoever had been inching around the room to get a view of the other side of the sofa. As she turned the corner, the sight that reached her eyes was nothing short of priceless.
Both Magnus and Alec were totally naked, but only Alec seemed to be upset about this. He was holding a pillow over his groin, and every inch of his skin was flushed red with embarrassment.
"It's good to know that marriage doesn't actually ruin a couples sex life," Paige said absently as she moved past towards the kitchen without looking over. "Though, I do expect you to be dressed by the time dinner's ready."
With that, Clary burst out laughing so badly she had to holding both her sides while her eyes scrunched up tight and her breathing failed. She heard Alec make a break for the bedroom or at least she assumed it was Alec, given the ungraceful nature of the movement. Magnus walked normally as if nothing were wrong, and then the door closed shut behind them.
Who do you think Clary set Paige up with? Also who wants a token Paige pov chapter to see said date or would you rather I work it in with the povs I already have which would mean it happens behind the scenes.
Guest Review:
:Really have been enjoying the story so far. Love all the different pov's. So glad to see Simon and Isabelle happy as thet are also the ones with many bumps along the way in most stories even the original series by cassandra clare. Can u give us an estimate of how long is this gonna be and how often you are going to be updating?
Review Reply:
Thanks. Glad you are enjoying it. It's true Simon and Izzy have been happy for quite a while now. I have been meaning to give them more plot. Ah yes those questions. I want to bring the story to an end but there are so many loose ends to tie up and I don't want to just end it fast to be done with it as that feels like a betrayal of all that came before. I will update as fast as I can, but I don't really have a set schedule. The longest I've ever gone without updating (before this most recent fail) was about a month but I do try and update faster than that whenever possible. My editor has been very busy with a new job which has slowed down the updates lately.
Sneak Peek Chapter 157
For better or worse nothing short of bravery would thaw him out. He just wasn't sure if he had that kind of bravery in him.
"I love you Clary," Jace began. "You know that right?"
"I know," Clary replied smiling up at him. It was easy to ignore the little things when she did this, easy to travel back to a better time and ignore his instincts.
"And you love me?" Jace asked, hoping it was an easy question. Clary just nodded, before moving forward to kiss him on the bed. Somehow Jace didn't feel reassured.
"Are you okay?" he asked. He was getting dangerously close to that cliff he hadn't decided he was brave enough to jump off yet.
"Of course I'm okay," she replied as if automatically.
"Then why don't I believe you when you say that?" Jace asked.