Izzy never attempted to take the stairs in her heels. It was only one flight of stairs to reach her brother's dorm, but that didn't matter. One step was simply too many where heels were concerned. And it wasn't just about discomfort. These were nice heels and she didn't want to break them.

Just before the elevator closed, a boy entered. She looked him up and down, quickly decided he was kinda cute, though awkward and not really her type. He didn't scream rich or famous or I have a cool car. He kinda reminded her of those nerdy guys in the chess club at her high school.

Then the elevator stopped dead and they were in pitch black darkness. Izzy reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. The brightness blinded her for a moment, but once her eyes adapted she could just see the inside of the elevator by the dim light of her phone's flashlight.

"What happened?" Izzy asked.

"No idea," the boy replied.

"Well this sucks," Izzy whined.

"It's probably just a glitch or something," the boy said. With a great sigh, Izzy got out her phone and began playing her favourite game to pass the time. Izzy heard him fumble, probably for his phone, in the dark. Then the bright light of his cell phone was added to the room.

"Wait," the boy said. "Who should I call for help?"

"No idea," Izzy dismissed his question. "But more importantly, I'm bored," she whined as her phone died. She really needed to remember to charge the stupid thing at night.

Maybe just for something to do, or maybe because her feet were sore, Izzy slipped off her shoes and moved backward. She continued moving until she felt the wall, at which point she slid down the hard surface to the floor. "They should put chairs in here," she said as she sat down on the ground.

Izzy turned her attention to him. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Simon," he replied.

"Do you wanna make out?" she asked casually. With no phone and an indeterminate amount of time with nothing to do but sit in the dark, Izzy was trying to think outside the box.

"Huh?" Simon replied, clearly stunned by the concept. She could just see him by the light of his cell phone. This guy was definitely one of those geeky types she observed. And he apparently remembered to charge his phone.

"I'm bored," Izzy said again. "That is, unless you have a girlfriend?"

"No girlfriend," Simon said.

"Boyfriend?" Izzy asked. Simon laughed nervously, which Izzy interpreted as confirmation of his being straight. "Great!" Izzy said as she got up off the ground to move closer to him.

"Do you go to this school?" Simon asked, clearly avoiding her first question. "I've never seen you around before."

"I'm going to start class this September," Izzy replied.

"I am leaving at the end of this year," Simon said. Izzy had to admit there was something rather inviting about this prospect. Alone in the dark with a strange man who wouldn't be here when she returned to the school. Suddenly, she wasn't so bored.

"Is that right," Izzy said, silkily, moving still closer to him.

"Huh, yeah," Simon replied shakily, clearly confused by her tone. Leaving her shoes on the floor, Izzy now stood in her bare feet just inches away from Simon, running her fingers slowly up his arm.

"So, what do ya say?" Izzy purred, as she leaned in. She could hear Simon's laboured breathing as his phone's light faded. In total darkness, Izzy leaned in, closer and closer, but still didn't meet his lips. Their noses touched and Izzy breathed against his skin as she teased him.

"Do you wanna kiss me?" Izzy whispered, with a smile. This boy was somehow intriguing, or maybe it was just the situation. Either way, Izzy was quite enjoying herself. When Simon's head titled to the side and she felt him move just a fraction closer, Izzy seized his lips with hers. Her hands holding him on either side of his face, Izzy finally kissed him. Simon's lips didn't part on their own and it was instantly evident to her that Simon know nothing about kissing. Izzy took the lead, pulling him in as she assaulted his lips. Simon had yet to move more than his mouth since she'd kissed him. He'd just stood perfectly still, possibly in shock, but then he unfroze as his arms finally went up to hold her, his fingers tangling in her hair. She wrapped her leg around his hip as she deepened their kiss. Izzy could feel him melt under her touch, her hands going up under Simon's shirt, she continued to move her lips with his.

"Still eager to escape?" Izzy whispered into his ear, kissing Simon's neck as her hands went down to tease the band of skin between Simon's shirt and belt. Simon shivered. Izzy found herself thrilled by his reactions. Slowly moving her hand down to hold his, Izzy brought both their hands up to her chest, before moving in to kiss him again.

Simon seemed shy about touching her breasts, even through her shirt and bra, but Izzy kept his hand there as her other hand gently trailed her fingertips along the sensitive skin above Simon's belt again, occasionally dipping her fingers under it. She enjoyed Simon's gasp of surprise. She wanted that same feeling, so Izzy, pulling away for just a second, removed her shirt and placed Simon's hands on her chest again. She was wearing a rather thin bra with little padding, but still, she wanted to feel his hands against her bare skin. She thought she'd have to show him, but then Simon's hands were doing exactly what she wanted. The thin lace moved down easily and Izzy felt his fingers against her skin.

She really had her engine going now and she could feel his arousal against her leg. If this elevator didn't light up soon, she was going to end up naked on her back. No sooner had Izzy decided to guide Simon's hands south then their moment was shattered.

The lights came back on and the elevator roared to life. With a sigh, Izzy pulled back and straightened her bra.

"Too bad," she said, with a smile. "I was having fun." Simon didn't speak as she put her shirt back on. "Maybe if you stick around next year we could do that again," she added with a wink as the elevator stopped. Izzy blew him a kiss and walked out, grinning, and in need of a cold shower. She was feeling a little smug as she walked down the hall. That had been fun.

Her high slowly died as she remembered where she was going. Izzy had been invited to hang out with her brother and his insecure boyfriend. She wasn't so sure about this whole bonding with Magnus thing, but for Alec's sake she was willing to try. She reached Alec's dorm room, and rather than knocking, decided to just walk in.

"Sorry I'm late," Izzy announced her arrival. "Elevator problems."

"Why didn't you text me?" Alec asked. He was sitting at his desk, but turned to see her as she entered.

"Phone's dead," Izzy replied with a shrug.

"Take the stairs next time," Alec sighed, clearly annoyed.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Izzy scoffed. "Where is that boyfriend of yours I'm supposed to be bonding with?"

"We are meeting Magnus at his place," Alec said. "I wanted to talk to you first."

"Fabulous," Izzy replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I know you, Izzy," Alec said firmly. "And I know you suck at changing your opinion about anything. You always stick to your first impression and never move forward."

"Tell me something I don't know," Izzy replied. Much to Izzy's annoyance, Alec seemed to take her seriously.

"I am only going to tell you this once," Alec said with authority. "Stop it."

"Well what do you know!" Izzy laughed. "I'm cured just like that."

"I mean it, Iz," Alec growled. "Magnus is going to be in my life, end of story. Your only choice is to get along with him."

"Oh Alec," Izzy sighed at her silly brother. "How simple the world must look to you." After all, she could think of far more choices.

"God, you're impossible," Alec sighed, covering his face with his hand.

"And don't you forget it," Izzy giggled as she spun on the spot, almost as if she were wearing a dress rather than designer jeans.

Suddenly Izzy's spinning was halted by Alec's arms on her shoulders and she was facing her brother. Alec had the most intense expression on his face. There was a fire in his eyes she'd never seen there before.

"Don't make me choose between you," Alec whispered. "Because you won't like the answer." Izzy had a moment to be shocked before Alec's eyes softened, his shoulders sagged and he added in a small voice, "I love you so much, Iz. Can you please just try, for me?"

"Okay," Izzy whispered. She was stunned by Alec's force of will, but she also loved her brother to the ends of the earth, even if she had a funny way of showing it. Alec had never been so firm before, so unwilling to bend. It was a new quality in him, and this more than anything made Izzy realize that Magnus really was likely to be a permanent addition to Alec's life.

With a smile, Alec turned away to collect his cell phone, keys and wallet before they headed out.

"See, the problem with your system is how it wears out your jeans," Izzy told Alec as he put his wallet in his back pocket. "Also, you sit on your credit cards."

"It works for me," Alec replied.

"But I know so many things that would work better," Izzy whined. "Please, please come shopping with me."

"Ah, no," Alec replied quickly. Izzy pouted, but to no effect. Sadly, this had never worked on her brother, who seemed to be the only one immune to her charms. It was alright though, as long as her father never learned Alec's secret. If Robert became immune to her charms, Izzy would suffer greatly.

"One day I'll get you to come shopping with me," Izzy grinned.

"Don't hold your breath," Alec replied, but Izzy was glad to see him smiling again.

They left the dorm building, taking the stairs this time, and were soon walking down the sidewalk toward Magnus's apartment.

When they reached the door, Izzy was about to knock when Alec walked right in. Oh sure, Izzy thought, it's okay when he does it.

"We're here," Alec called out and Magnus appeared from a room off to the left.

"Alexander," Magnus smiled and Izzy had to admit it was obvious they'd cleared the air. The two men were looking at each other again as if there was no one else in the room. Izzy resisted the urge to wave her hand in front of her problem's face.

Next came the 'let's decide what we should do' section of the 'being forced to bond with her brother's boyfriend' outing. Well, it had been Izzy's stupid idea to come here for spring break after all. She had no one to blame but herself. They finally settled on just going out to dinner, but Izzy got so fed up on deciding where to eat she gave in and ended up at some cheap diner.

"A meal here is like twelve dollars," Izzy stated staring at the menu.

"Your point?" Magnus asked. Izzy rolled her eyes. She'd suggested lots of fantastic places to get dinner, which had all be shot down on the grounds that they were expensive. She'd offered to pay, but somehow that had made things worse.

"Whatever," Izzy said waving her hand. "I'll eat the swill, it's fine."

"How are you two even related?" Magnus laughed.

"Clearly Alec's adopted," Izzy said without missing a beat.

"How's your hunt for that sugar daddy going?" Alec asked her. "Or are you just going to mooch off dad for the rest of your life?" Izzy had gotten this remark from her brother before and like always brushed it off.

"I have a plan thank you very much," Izzy scoffed. "And nowhere in this plan am I required to eat dinner for less than fifty dollars a plate."

"How about we don't talk about money again for the rest of the evening," Alec suggested. "There must be something you two both like."

"I think the most important thing we have in common is you, Alec," Magnus said kindly.

Izzy got through the rest of her dinner; she even survived the cheap food and though she and Magnus ended up both liking makeup and clothes, it was hard to talk to him about it without talking about money. He owned two dollar nail polish while Izzy's makeup had its own closet. Izzy wore designer jeans and Magnus shopped in second hand bins.

By the end of the night, Izzy had come to the conclusion that indeed she and Magnus only had her brother in common.


I realized the other day that since I started Roommates and Soulmates I have actually completed THREE other stories! o_O Like wtf. How did that happen?

Also I started beta reading for MyaZab! Please check out her new Malec story! Its awesome and it's called 'The Outcast.' You won't regret it.

If you haven't already checked out my new Malec AU please please do! It's called Royal Dilemma and I just uploaded the 4th chapter of it a few hours before this one. (Update: this story is now complete.)

In other news...
Unfortunately my beta reader Holly0114 is SO crazy busy with all her adulting that she doesn't have time to edit for me anymore. It's a sad day but she has edited the first 46 chapters for me and that's alot! I am very grateful so a big thank you to Holly0114. She is so much better at commas than me! And description. She is also good at that.

The new Beta for this story is Allienna. (Who later changed her username to CoffeeandLiterature). She edited my Malec story called "Forgotten" but as that story is complete now and it was one of my shorter ones I thought I'd ask her to edit R&S. :) So it all works out in the end. Honestly with how long this story is I am kinda not surprised I have had to change betas part way through.


Sneak Peek Chapter 47

"But you're dating Clary now," Simon replied, obviously awkward.

"And that doesn't mean I can't make a new friend," Jace said. When he'd originally asked Simon to be friends Jace had been thinking of Clary, but since then he'd realized he actually wanted to be Simon's friend. He didn't have the best track record with friendships and he thought someone like Simon would be good for him. They were so different; they could probably learn a lot from each other.

"Is talking about Clary too weird?" Simon asked tentatively.