Apart from the slight concern that her parents were about to teach her the same lesson they'd just taught Alec, Isabelle was doing all she could to enjoy her summer break. It was only a little annoying that it felt like everyone but her was now done with school and ready to move on while she still had one more year left. Though at least Jordan and Paige were still going back with her in September, not that either of those people were speaking to each other or anything.
And now that she thought about it Clary would also need to go back because of her time abroad. Then again she wasn't really sure who was speaking to Clary at the moment either. She didn't have any proof, but something felt off with Clace recently.
Izzy sighed. "Friends are so high maintenance sometimes," she said to no one in particular.
She heard a laugh from around the corner and she knew it was her boyfriend.
"Talking to yourself again," Simon chuckled.
Izzy turned on the couch to face him where he sat at the dining room table with his laptop.
"Well, am I wrong?" Izzy argued.
"I know better than to say that," Simon smiled.
"Cheeky," Izzy grumbled. She heard his laugh again, then the chair scraping against the floor and footsteps approached. The next thing she knew Simon's arms were wrapped around her from behind. He was kissing her neck.
"Distracting me won't work," Izzy lied as she attempted not to be distracted.
"Oh yeah?" Simon replied slyly.
"Hmmhmm," Izzy mumbled. He'd moved down from her neck and was kissing along the bare skin of her arm. Izzy was suddenly very glad she'd chosen the sleeveless shirt today. His kisses always felt better without a silly shirt in the way.
"Skin to skin is my favourite sensation," Izzy purred.
"I know," Simon grinned. "Which is why it makes the best distraction."
Just then something happened to distract them both. There was a knock at the door. Surprised as she wasn't expecting Maia home for hours, Izzy walked over and opened the door. There stood Clary, with her knew short red pixie cut hair.
"Oh hey," Izzy said with a slight wave. Clary waved back, but there was something off and Izzy couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Simon had obviously over heard who it was as he was standing at Izzy's side just moments later with a casual greeting.
"Hey guys," Clary said with that odd smile Izzy couldn't place. "How's things?"
"What's wrong?" Simon asked in that way he did when he knew the other people were stalling. At first Izzy had been jealous of how well Simon still knew his ex-girlfriend's mood, but once she'd realized that he wasn't looking at her like an ex it got better. To Simon Clary was simply his best friend, and after that it hadn't bugged Izzy one bit.
"Nothings wrong," Clary replied. "Why would you think that?"
"Because you are doing that fake smile thing you do when you don't want to show you're upset," Simon answered easily.
"Okay, but still that's not why I came here," Clary replied. "I don't want to off load on you guys, I-"
"You want us to distract you from whatever is bothering you," Simon finished her sentence for her. "Well that's not gonna fly. I promise I won't stop asking till you explain so let's hear it. What's wrong?"
"Jace-" Clary began, her voice breaking through her eyes remained dry. "Jace broke up with me." She finally spoke all at once.
Izzy didn't quite take in the words. She'd sensed something was different, but she hadn't guessed it had gone this far.
"And it's all my fault!" Clary explained.
"How can his dumping you be your fault?" Simon asked.
"I'm a horrible girlfriend," Clary groaned. "You of all people should know! I was shit to you too."
"You're being just a little hard on yourself, don't you think?" Simon piped in.
"Am I?" Clary asked sharply. "Twice now a relationship of mine has been broken by my inability to emotion correctly. Twice now I've been dumped because I can't offer enough."
"Yep not going near that with a ten foot pole," Simon said backing up. "Tag your it." And he tapped Izzy on the shoulder.
"Umm," Izzy said feeling very much put on the spot. "There, there." She patted Clary on the back. Izzy could almost hear her boyfriend rolling his eyes at her.
"Okay nevermind, your fired," Simon sighed. He moved closer to Clary again. "You can't compare the two Clary. They are oil and water."
But she was shaking her head. "I forgot him Simon!" Clary almost yelled. "I took him for granted and tossed him aside!" She slumped to the floor and spoke more softly as she continued. "I went away to Paris and got too busy to think of the man I so called loved. I got all excited about something new that was actually nothing and forgot about the person who gave up everything for me. What kind of person does that?"
"No ones perfect," Simon reminded her. "Just because you are twisting the truth to show your worst side doesn't make you any more at fault than you actually are."
"Long distance is really hard," Izzy chimed in. "So I've heard." She added in a whisper, feeling very unqualified to help in this situation.
"Yes it's hard," Clary continued. "It takes work. You have to do the work. You have to make time for them, calling and texting. They have to remain in your thoughts to keep them close to your heart. And I didn't do the work. I failed, Simon. Totally and completely. Maybe I don't deserve love. Maybe I should just focus on my career and forget about the whole thing."
"Now don't you go there on me," Simon sighed. "I seem to recall Magnus having a similar notation that you spent months trying to talk him out of."
"Well I understand what he was thinking now," Clary sighed. She walked over to the couch and collapsed down onto it. "Can I sleep here tonight?" Clary asked pathetically.
Even Izzy would have said yes to that level of patheticness, so she wasn't surprised when Simon nodded.
And with that Clary laid down on the couch and covered her head with a pillow.
Slowly Simon backed away towards Izzy and whispered in her ear. "Is it okay she stays here, I mean- well she's kinda-"
"It's fine," Izzy smiled looking up at him. "It's very good of you to check though." Izzy leaned up to kiss him before turning to face their new house guest.
Izzy was fairly sure Clary couldn't hear them from their position standing across from the room, but still she whispered. "Do you think she's gonna be okay? Should I search the house for cookies or something?"
"I don't know about the cookies, thing," Simon replied. "But yeah she's strong. It just can't help but hurt for a while. I can't imagine how Jace is right now."
"He did the breaking though," Izzy whispered back. "So wouldn't that mean he'd be okay?"
"Not really," Simon sighed.
It was a long time before anyone spoke. Izzy couldn't help wondering what would happen next. Did this mean the group couldn't hang out with both Clary and Jace at the same time anymore? Were they still on speaking terms? And if they were, did that mean group events would be just super awkward now? And how was she supposed to help someone so sad, not be sad when she hadn't a clue how Clary was feeling?
"Oh god," Clary groaned suddenly. "Where am I gonna live?"
"Did Jace kick you out?" Simon asked in a shocked voice as he moved closer to sit on a chair across from the couch.
"Not directly," Clary replied finally sitting up. "Just like how can I ask him to move out when he's lived there since he and Alec were there, and I haven't even been in the country for most of the last year."
"Fair point," Simon replied.
"Well you can stay here tonight," Izzy smiled. "And I'm sure Magnus would let you crash on his couch too. Don't overthink it. You have friends."
"Maybe after grad I'll just leave," Clary sighed. "Get as far away from here as I can, and save everyone the trouble."
"Don't say that," Izzy said. "Starting over is hard, but even something like this doesn't change the other roots you have here."
"Yeah," Simon pitched in. "Toronto is a big place, besides I said the exact same thing once, and then I came right back so you never know."
"Do you guys mind if I watch some mindless tv?" Clary asked, gesturing to their television.
"My Netflix is your netflix," Simon smiled as he handed her the remote. "Let us know if you need something or wanna talk okay?"
"Okay," Clary smiled back.
"I must get back to the tedious task of job hunting," Simon replied. "The laptop awaits." With a light kiss on Izzy's head, Simon turned towards the dining room table where he'd been before she's started talking to herself.
After a moment's consideration, Izzy decided to join Clary for a little mindless screen time. School was over for the year and she'd signed up for courses, and other odds and ends done. She didn't have a job and didn't plan on getting one till after grad so long as her parents didn't do anything funny. So there really wasn't much to do. Maybe she could be useful by keeping Clary company silently.
The mindless movie Clary had chosen did in fact turn out to be rather mindless. It was a kind of comedy show, though it wasn't all that funny at least as far as Izzy could tell. The laugh track was actually pretty annoying, but oh well. If it was what Clary wanted to watch that was fine by her.
Izzy passed the time on her phone mostly. She started by texting her brother about the current situation, and he confirmed that there was a very sulky Jace on his couch at the moment. It sounded like Paige was much better at comforting sad people than her. She'd made something called beer brownies which sounded devine. Izzy replied by asking for her to make some for them too.
'I tried that,' Alec's text answered. 'She said they were only for when you're very sad. I tried that myself, by saying that I was sad that my friend was upset but she didn't go for it. The downside of a stable relationship, I guess.'
Izzy had had to work hard not to giggle at this as it would have felt very out of place in the current atmosphere of the room.
A couple hours into the bad comedy marathon, Simon got burnt out job googling, and came to join them. He sat beside Izzy on the couch, and she snuggled in next to him. Suddenly the boring tv was far more worth while.
It was at about this time that Maia got home.
"We got mail," were the first words out of her mouth as she walked in the door. "Or I guess you did Izzy."
"Me?" Izzy asked. "Who sends mail these days anyway? Must be like from the government or something."
"It says it's from someone named Aline," Maia replied, handing her the letter, before heading to her bedroom.
Reading the envelope Izzy quickly discovered what it was. "My cousin is getting married," Izzy called, to Maia down the hall. "Oh, and I get a plus one." She poked Simon on the shoulder and said, "Tag, your it." He chuckled.
"When's the wedding?" Maia asked as she returned from her room, now in a casual sweater and jeans instead of her work clothes.
"They don't waste time. It's in about six months," Izzy answered. "December 17th."
"Bit close to Christmas don't ya think?" Maia replied.
Izzy shrugged. "I guess they don't mind that," she said. "So where's Jordan anyway? Don't you guys usually get off work together?"
"Nah," Maia said. "Just sometimes I wait for him to get off and we walk home together, and sometimes I don't. I only get off work about half an hour before him. It's kinda annoying, but oh well."
"Urg, don't remind me," Simon groaned. "I have a shift tomorrow."
"I know," Maia laughed. "So does Jordan and he always likes it best when you're together."
"Yeah but I'm done with school now, and it feels lame to still be working at Tim Hortans."
"Hey there is nothing lame about doing coffee the right way," Maia said seriously.
"I agree," Clary suddenly pitched in, peeling her eyes from the television for the first time in hours. "Don't feel like it's lame Simon."
"Oh hey," Maia said. "You were so quiet I didn't even notice you there. How are things?"
"Don't ask," Clary sighed.
"Fair," Maia replied.
Sorry for the crazy wait guys! I've been very lazy, plus I've been working on finishing one of my other stories called Rock Bottom. Having three stories in need of updates at once was a bit much so two should be better.
How is everyone feeling about the Clace break up? Anyone still in need of hugs?
Sneak Peek Chapter 162
"Oh have you figured out who Aloy's mother is yet?" Jordan asked as he sat down.
"No," Simon sighed. "This thing keeps killing me. Then the next quest is climbing down into the ruins and finding out."
"Well then kill it faster!" Jordan exclaimed. "I've been so good not googling spoilers."
"You wanna try?" Simon scoffed as he died again.
"Sure!" Jordan exclaimed. Surprised Simon handed over the controller and watched as his friend made his avatar run away.
"Oh yeah great strategy," Simon said sarcastically. Jordan didn't reply. He just waited for the machines to give up on him while re-equipping different weapons.
"You have a tripcaster," Jordan said. "And you aren't using it?"
"You can't set traps in combat," Simon replied. "It just gets you killed."
"Ah see my silly friend that's why you set traps before combat and then trick the beasts into setting them off, see watch," and he began setting a field of traps in front of Aloy.