#sunlewis | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

eversall · 7 years ago

Note

Can u write a brooklyn nine nine jimon au it's my birthday soon and I really love your writing

literally started planning this fic months ago. this is dedicated to three people: you, anon, happy birthday!! i hope i’m not too late!! then, @sunlewis, who helped me come up with which character should map to which sh character months ago and motivated me to start it. last but not least, @softjimon, because i still haven’t finished her birthday fic so i hope this tides her over until i do!!!

title taken from portugal by walk the moon. warning for highly inaccurate portrayal of how the police work, and the author’s sacrifice of structural integrity for the sake of trying to make jokes in her writing.

our venn diagrams are one circle || jace/simon, 6k+, b99 au || read on ao3

“Yes!” Simon slams his hand down on the table, his eyes lighting up. “My time to shine is here!” Luke looks steadily at him, and Simon shrugs and sinks back into his chair, faux-casual. “Or not, whatever, I don’t care, it’s not like this is literally the biggest case of my life, it’s all cool.”

“We brought a serial killer to justice last year.” Izzy says. “This year we busted a drug ring.”

“And those are all really cool things, I’m sure.” Simon says, scoffing. “But this is my home base, Izzy.”

“Simon,” Luke says, smiling fondly, “do you want to lead this case?”

“Yes!” Simon jumps out of his chair. “Nothing I have ever done as a cop will ever live up to this!”

Or, they’re all part of Brooklyn’s 99th precinct, and Jace and Simon are two detectives that can’t quite ask each other out, despite being two (mostly) self-sufficient adults - featuring an ensemble cast full of ludicrous subplots! (Why is Luke missing his beef jerky, and what does that have to do with his dating life?)

99TH PRECINCT, 8:01 AM, MONDAY

“Don’t talk to me.” Izzy glides into the bullpen, sunglasses still on and lipstick impeccable. “I look disgusting, I know. I’m hungover.”

“You literally look like you walked out of Vogue.” Maia calls, cramming a pretzel into her mouth and rolling her eyes. “I hate you so much.”

“Shut up, you’re the reason I’m like this, you took me out to the bar last night!” Izzy hisses, throwing her purse down and pointing her finger at Maia. “I’m watching you, Roberts.”

“Keep watching, Lightwood One.” Maia salutes her lazily.

“How come she gets to be Lightwood One? You knew me first!” Jace calls out, scowling from his desk where he’s doodling a new caricature of Simon. Maia grins at him.

“You’re ranked on attractiveness.” She winks. “You’re Lightwood Four.”

“Four? Who the hell is three, then?”

“It’s 8:05, where are Clary and Simon?” Alec interrupts, checking his watch and frowning at the elevator doors. “They’re not usually late.”

“Maybe today’s the day Simon truck was finally classified a public nuisance and they have to walk here.” Jace mutters, but he swivels his chair around and frowns hard at the elevator, like he can get Simon to appear through sheer force of will. “Ugh, what’s the holdup? Luke won’t assign cases until our partners get here and Simon is holding Clary up!”

Izzy groans, taking her sunglasses off and yawning as she sorts through files on her desk. “Yeah, that’s why you want to know where they are.”

Jace turns to her with an overdone outraged expression on his face, like he’s practiced it one too many times in the mirror at home. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alec mocks under his breath, his eyebrow raised as he reads over a report from an officer about a burglary from Saturday. “I’m Jace, I spent all of Sunday morning making up inventive insults so my pathetic crush will notice me and laugh.” His voice is quiet enough that only Maia hears, and she bursts into laughter and accidentally starts choking on a pretzel. “Oh no, Maia?”

He gets up to help her, but the elevator dings; they all turn to see the door open and a furious Clary stomp through, her eyes taking on a manic glint. Simon comes in at a more sedate pace, rolling his eyes and shoving his phone in his back pocket.

“Are you choking?” He asks Maia in concern. “Are you hungover?” He directs the question at Izzy, and makes a pained face at her, not waiting for her to answer before he sets his own coffee down in front of her and pats her on the shoulder, moving to take a bottle of water out of his messenger bag and hand it to Maia, who wheezes out a thanks as she gulps it down.

“You’re late.” Jace says accusingly, standing - for some strange reason - to attention, like a soldier. He catches himself and scowls, sitting down again.

“By six minutes.” Simon says, raising an eyebrow as he throws his bag down at his desk, across from Jace’s, and flops down into his own chair. “And I didn’t know you knew how to tell the time, Jace. Anyway, Clary,” he slides a pointed look at Clary, who’s angrily sat at her own desk, feet up on her desk, “why were we late this morning?”

She mutters something. Alec frowns at her.

“What was that?” he asks.

“I said,” she says, louder, a flush rising to her cheeks, “because I accidentally threw a knife in our apartment and hit my phone off the counter, so this morning we had to go and buy me a new phone!”

There’s a brief moment of silence, and then Izzy leans forward, her mouth hanging open. “You accidentally threw it?” She asks.

“Oh, it wasn’t an accident.” Simon says casually. “She’s been throwing knives in places where you shouldn’t throw knives since we moved in together after college. Her hitting the phone is new though. You could say,” he pauses, and looks around for dramatic effect, “it’s cutting-edge technology.”

Everyone collectively yells “Simon!”

99TH PRECINCT, 8:45 AM, MONDAY

“There’s been a burglary,” Luke says, clicking to a picture of a storefront, “of an official Marvel comic book store.”

“We brought a serial killer to justice last year.” Izzy says. “This year we busted a drug ring.”

“And those are all really cool things, I’m sure.” Simon says, scoffing. “But this is my home base, Izzy.”

“Simon,” Luke says, smiling fondly, “do you want to lead this case?”

“Yes!” Simon jumps out of his chair. “Nothing I have ever done as a cop will ever live up to this!”

“Alright, I guess.” Izzy says doubtfully. “Simon and I will take it.”

Luke shakes his head, picking up another folder off his podium. “No, Izzy, one of your informants tipped us off to a possible sighting of that drug dealer you’ve been tracking. You’ll want to look at it.”

“Los Huevos.” Izzy says darkly, crushing her styrofoam cup of coffee.“The eggs…?” Jace says quietly, looking puzzled. Clary whispers “Don’t ask” out of the corner of her mouth.

“Jace,” Luke continues, “you can work with Simon. Clary, you can go with Izzy.”

“Yes!” Clary blows a kiss at Izzy, and Izzy laughs. Jace looks at Simon, who looks back at him, delight still lingering on his face from being assigned the case.

“I’m not blowing you a kiss.” Jace declares.

99TH PRECINCT, 8:50 AM, MONDAY

“Where is my beef jerky?” Luke wonders aloud when he opens his top right drawer and doesn’t find it in there. “Who could have possibly taken my beef jerky?”

He leans back in his chair and presses his fingers together, considering the rest of his detectives through the slats of his blinds. “It was teriyaki.” He mutters.

PANDEMONIUM, 9:30 AM, MONDAY

“Magnus?” Alec calls out into the empty club. There’s the sound of a door shutting, and then Magnus’ head pokes out of the small hallway on the cordoned off second floor.

“Alexander?” Magnus says in surprise. A smile lights up his face, one that Alec returns slowly, unable to help himself. “I’ll be right down.”

Alec rocks back and forth on his heels as he waits, his hands in his pockets as he considers the place. It’s really quite impeccably decorated.

“Everything alright?” Magnus asks, appearing suddenly in front of him. Alec startles, and then exhales. Everytime he looks at Magnus again, he’s struck all over again how effortlessly handsome the other man is, all sleek lines and sinuous grace. His throat goes dry as he considers Magnus.

“Yeah,” Alec says, shrugging, “everything’s fine, I just - “ He takes a deep breath and steels himself to drag out the courage he knows he has. Somewhere. “I had a really good time last night.”

“I - I did too.” Magnus looks pleased, and he bites his lower lip. Alec helplessly tracks the movement with his eyes. “It was a wonderful date, Alexander.” He pauses, and then says, “Though I have to ask, what are you doing here?”

Alec opens his mouth, and then closes it, and then brings a hand up to rub self-consciously at the back of his neck. “It’s just,” he says, “just - I forgot something.”

“Forgot - “ Magnus begins, but Alec curls his fingers in Magnus’ jacket and pulls him forward gently, their lips finding each other almost naturally. The kiss is soft, and sweet, Magnus curling his fingers around Alec’s waist and sending sparks racing up his skin.

There’s the sound of someone pounding on the door outside. “I know you’re kissing your new boyfriend or whatever, but we’re on the clock and we really need to get to the records building soon!” Maia calls through the door. Alec pulls away reluctantly from Magnus, who looks up at him with a grin on his lips. His just-kissed lips, Alec’s brain helpfully supplies.

“Alexander,” Magnus says, delighted, “did you, in fact, go in the opposite direction of the records building just to see me?”

“Yes.” Alec’s face burns. “Maybe. No?”

“That is very sweet.” Magnus beams at him. “Wildly impractical, but very, very sweet. Also, the pick up line was cute, but you really did forgot your jacket at my place last night.”

MARVEL COMICS, 9:40 AM, MONDAY

“Everything looked undisturbed.” The shop owner is saying dubiously. “But then I went to the showcase we have at the front, and it was just completely cleaned out, glass shattered and everything.”

“No signs of a break-in?” Jace asks, squatting down and staring at the empty glass case. “Do you have any pictures of what was in here before?”

“No.” The owner says, wringing his hands. “Oh God, should I have had them? Is my insurance going to kill me? Oh God - “

“I found a picture!” Simon comes over, waving his phone. “I tracked your store through Instagram and someone took a selfie here just yesterday. The glass case is in the background.” The owner makes a relieved noise and snatches Simon’s phone, peering closely at it. Simon chuckles quietly and wanders over to lean on the case by Jace.

“Nice catch.” Jace says as nonchalantly as he can, staring determinedly at the empty case. Simon shifts next to him.

“Thanks.” He says softly. “Hey, Jace - “

“The Hulk figurine!” The owner shouts, and Jace startles backwards, catching himself in time and straightening up, staring warily at the owner. He shoves Simon’s phone back in Simon’s face, waving it around. “It was in the case, but it’s missing from this picture!” Simon takes his phone and looks at it.

“Hm.” He says. “So the Hulk was smashed first?” He holds a straight face for about a second before he bursts into laughter, throwing his head back and gleefully saying “Hulk smash!”

“Simon!” Jace hisses, looking at the owner’s shellshocked face. “We’re in the middle of a case.”

“Right, right, of course.” Simon clears his throat. “I mean,” he smooths down the front of his shirt, “can you think of any reason the Hulk might have been the first target?”

“I don’t know?” The owner says mournfully. “We’ve had mint condition Hawkeye comics before, but in the figurine business - “

Jace tunes out the incoming rant - he’s been on the receiving end of Simon’s rants enough times to realize that he really only feels like listening when it’s Simon doing it - and sweeps his eyes across the shop again, taking in the racks of comics and posters. There are three windows placed up high that they already checked, but he can’t shake the feeling that the windows are their key to solving the burglary. The front door and back service door all don’t seem tampered with, and every employee with a key has an alibi.

“Hey Simon,” he calls out, still staring at the windows, “if I was a burglar hurrying out with a pretty expensive Hulk figurine, would I scrape it against the side of the wall while climbing to the window?”

“Not unless you were trying really hard to be the worst burglar in the world. Which, I wouldn’t put past you, Jace.” Simon says, walking over to Jace, who rolls his eyes and makes a face back at Simon.

“Then why does that spot of green on the wall make me think the Hulk’s missing a layer of his paint?” Jace asks, nodding at a violent green stripe of paint. Simon raises an eyebrow.

“Huh. Something more to that figurine after all.” He nods. “I need to reevaluate my list of top ten - “

“Suspects?”

Simon gives him a weird look. “Superheroes, obviously. This is clearly a sign Hulk should be in top five instead of top seven.”

There’s a pause, and then Jace very reluctantly says “He’s already in my top five.”

99TH PRECINCT, 1:30 PM, MONDAY

“Did you take my jerky?” Luke asks, cornering Izzy in the kitchen. She looks at him and slowly raises her cup of coffee to her lips, expression unreadable.

“The only food related talk I’ll tolerate near me for the next two days is Los Huevos.” She says. Luke opens his mouth, and then shuts it, like he’s not quite sure what to say.

“I think it’s time we stopped the coffee!” Clary says brightly, firmly pulling the cup out of Izzy’s hand and replacing it with another mug. “How about some soothing chamomile.”

LIGHTWOOD BROWNSTONE, 8:00 PM, MONDAY

“Why are you here?” Alec asks Simon, peering over the top of his book to see that Simon’s made himself popcorn. “Isn’t it enough that I work with my siblings and live with them too? Must the rest of the squad also follow me home?”

“You know it’s all for you, darling.” Simon says, making kissing noises at Alec. “How was your date? A little birdy told me you misused police cars to visit your boo today.”

“Are we in high school?” Alec asks, flushing. “My boo, good lord. Yes, I did visit Magnus to get my jacket back. Give me some popcorn. Why are you here?”

“Went over some stuff about Los Huevos with Izzy. You know how she gets about that one. I worked on it with her a few months ago when we thought we had a lead and I wasn’t allowed to eat eggs for two weeks when we lost our lead.”

“That’s rough.”

“Tell me about it. Breakfast just isn’t the same.” Simon sighs deeply, and then sinks back into the armchair. Alec just keeps looking at him expectantly, and Simon finally cracks. “Okay!” He says. “I got assigned to a case with You-Know-Who.”

“My brother isn’t Voldemort.” Alec puts his book aside and straightens up, pursing his lips. “I knew it. As soon as I saw Captain Garroway assign it to you two I knew you’d freak out about it.”

“It’s my two favorite things!” Simon moans. “Comic books and the guy I have a huge crush on! What am I supposed to do?”

Alec shakes his head, smiling slightly at Simon. “This is a good thing, you can finally tell him. You’re a grown adult - “

“Who deals badly with emotion.” Simon says in a rush. “I can’t just go up to the man of my dreams and tell him he’s all I can think about! My heart will give out.”

“You like someone?”

Simon freezes, then slowly turns around at the sound of Jace’s voice, and even Alec does a double take when he sees Jace standing in the doorway, looking shell-shocked. Jace is wearing a soft grey sweater, toying idly with the hem while he stares at Simon with an indecipherable look in his eyes.

“You love someone.” Jace says again, and this time it isn’t a question. Simon laughs, strained.

“Who, me…” He trails off, frowning and shaking his head, looking down at the ground before he looks back up at Jace. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

“Do I know them?” Jace asks, and Simon makes a face. There’s a long moment of silence.

“No.” Simon finally decides. “You don’t.”

Alec sighs.

99TH PRECINCT, 8:30 AM, TUESDAY

“You’re late.” Maia says when Jace walks in. Jace shoots her a look.

“Thanks, I don’t know how to read time and I hadn’t noticed.” He says sardonically. He throws his bag onto his desk and slumps into his chair, kicking idly at his file cabinet. Simon looks up from his computer and frowns.

“You look like you didn’t get any sleep.” He says slowly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Jace snaps. “Any leads on the Hulk figurine?” Simon looks taken aback, but he bites his lip and looks down at his file.

“Uh, yeah.” He says quietly, more subdued this time. “I got the name and address of the employee who did the last inventory of the store and recorded the figurine, I thought we could go talk to her. See if she knows why it would have been targeted first, or treated so carelessly.”

“Fine.” Jace says crossly. “Let me know when you want to leave.”

“Uh.” Simon flounders. “Okay. Sure thing. Will do.”

Jace knows it’s not fair to Simon that he’s suddenly shutting down like this, but he can’t help it; he’s never been particularly good at confronting his emotions, and overhearing Simon tell Alec he liked someone is forcing him to review in painful clarity how much he likes Simon. He’s sort of regretting never even trying to make a move now, but at the same time - it’s him and Simon. They literally have a running bet of who can get more perps behind bars. He’s not boyfriend material, and Simon deserves better than that.

“Is it just me or is it quieter in here?” Izzy asks as she sits down. Clary doesn’t even look up from her paperwork..

“Simon and Jace are having a fight.” She announces.

“We’re not.” Jace says, rolling his eyes.

“We’re not?” Simon asks, looking vaguely surprised.

99TH PRECINCT, 11:20 AM, TUESDAY

“Did you take my jerky?” Luke asks, poking his head out of his office and staring at Maia. Maia looks up from her tweet and raises an eyebrow at him.

“Do you think I took your jerky?” she asks slowly. Luke considers her for a long second.

“No.” he finally decides. “You’re not really a teriyaki girl.”

STARBUCKS, 3:15 PM, TUESDAY

“I’m just saying,” Clary tries again, wrapping her hands around her mocha, “that I think our perp could have been talking about any Starbucks in the area.”

“Yes.” Izzy agrees. “Which is why,” she slams a list down onto the table, “after this we’re going to five more to find Los Huevos.”

Clary groans.

“Drink up.” Izzy says cheerfully.

HUNTER’S MOON, 10:45 PM, TUESDAY

“I like that I used to work here.” Maia says when they get extra pretzels. “I love extra perks.”

“It’s mini pretzels.” Jace replies dubiously, throwing one up in the air and catching it with his mouth. “You can get a huge box of them from Costco for like five bucks.”

“A bucket of pretzels.” Maia agrees. “It’s the dream.”

Jace snorts. “That’s not a dream, that’s an easily achievable reality.” He points out. “Are you sure you know what Costco is?”

“Bat won’t let me get it.” Maia huffs. “Just because I accidentally spilled the last bucket we got over the sofa - ““Is that why every time I go to your place and sit down, it’s crunchy?” Jace asks, incredulous. “I thought I was like, breaking the springs in the sofa or something.”

“And you didn’t say anything about potentially breaking my sofa?” Maia asks, throwing a pretzel at him. “Some friend you are.”

“I’m the best friend anyone could possibly be awarded with.”

“Okay, Lightwood Four.” Maia agrees. Jace scowls, and takes a swig of his beer. “Wanna tell me what’s bothering you, now that we’ve talked about pretzels for as long as humanly possible?”

“Simon.” Jace purses his lips, and Maia passes a hand over her eyes, shaking her head. “He’s just everything I could possibly want, ever.” He continues mournfully, staring at his pint. “And now I’m never gonna get what I want.”

“God, you’re miserable.” Maia says, chewing loudly on a pretzel. “Have you ever considered, I don’t know, actually asking him out?”

“That would be a nightmare.” Jace.

“Why?”

“Because,” Jace says with as much dignity as he can muster, “then he would know I like him.”

“Who?” A voice calls, and then Simon’s sliding onto the bar stool next to Jace. “Who do you like?”

He looks stricken, like he’s just discovered something tragic, and Jace immediately says “Nobody.” and takes as large a gulp of beer as he can.

“Hey Simon!” Maia says, overly cheerful. Jace narrows his eyes at her. “So glad you got my invitation and could make it. Unfortunately,” she makes a point of checking her watch, “it’s late and I have a thing to do - “

“Bat, probably.” Jace mutters under his breath, and Simon laughs.

“ - so I’m gonna be going.” Maia grabs a handful of pretzels and leaves a twenty on the counter. “But you boys enjoy!”

With that, she’s gone, and Simon stares after her for a while before he shrugs and flags the bartender down, ordering a drink before he turns to Jace.

“So, Maia invited me here but she just bailed?” Simon asks, grinning. “She’s a strange one.” “She’s the worst.” Jace says vehemently. They sit there in companionable silence for a while, Jace intensely aware of the heat radiating off of Simon’s body, before Simon speaks again.

“You like someone?” he asks, and his voice is slightly off, but Jace doesn’t look at him; he sighs and hunches in on himself.

“Yeah.” he mumbles. “It’s kind of - I don’t know.”

“Oh.” Simon clears his throat. “Well, anyone would be lucky to have you.” Jace’s heart sinks, but at the same time it leaps at the praise, which leaves him feeling - weirdly - equal parts distressed and ecstatic. He manages to smile weakly at Simon.

“What about you?” He asks, nudging Simon’s shoulder. “What’s up with you and your mystery person.”

“Oh, that.” Simon makes a face, taking a sip of the drink the bartender delivers to him. “Well that’s never gonna happen.”

“You shouldn’t be so negative.” Jace reasons. “You’re a catch too, Simon.”

Simon looks up at him in surprise, a faint flush crawling across his cheeks. Jace is transfixed by how good he looks.

“Thanks.” Simon says softly, and Jace laughs quietly, raising his glass to Simon. “To us,” he says, “and our miserable crushes.”

LIGHTWOOD BROWNSTONE, 2:15 AM, WEDNESDAY

“What on Earth?” Magnus asks, entering the kitchen to see Jace and Simon clustered around the oven. “It’s two in the morning.”

“I should ask the same thing of you.” Simon says haughtily, the effect ruined by the apron he’s got slung haphazardly around his neck like some sort of comical scarf. Magnus really wants to tell him that’s not the purpose of an apron, but he’s way too amused by it to get Simon to stop wearing it like that. “What are you doing here, Magnus?”

“Do I need to explain the birds and bees to you? I’m doing Alec, obviously.” Magnus asks, moving to get a glass out of the cupboards and smirking at him. Even though all he and Alec did was fall asleep together while they were talking about their childhoods. Alec’s way too special to rush it and mess it up. Jace steps aside to let Magnus pass, groaning.

“Please don’t.” he says, looking pained. “That’s my brother.”

“Disgusting,” Simon says, pointing his spatula at Magnus, “but adorable. You two are good for each other.”

“Yeah, you are.” Jace drapes himself over Simon, digging his chin into Simon’s shoulder. “Si, the bread’s going to burn.”

“Oh shit!” Simon turns and flips the sandwich. “Magnus, you want a grilled cheese?”

“It’s two in the morning.” Magnus says, filling his glass with water and watching amusedly as Jace and Simon move easily around each other in the kitchen. It’s beyond him how the two men can’t see that they’re made for each other.

“So?” Jace asks. “Never a bad time for a grilled cheese. Simon makes the best ones.” Simon beams at him, and Jace beams back. Magnus sighs.

“I guess.” He says, and he leans against the countertop. “Wow me with your grilled cheese skills, boys.”

99TH PRECINCT, 8:10 AM, WEDNESDAY

“Nobody talk to me.” Alec snaps irritably as he slides into his chair. “I had grilled cheese sandwiches at three in the morning because I’m a sucker for my boyfriend and now I regret not sleeping.”

“That’s way too much information.” Maia says. “Is this a new sex thing or something?”

“I meant real grilled cheese sandwiches!” Alec bellows as Luke steps past them to get to his office. Luke pases, and then makes an about turn and stares down Alec.

“Did you take my jerky?” Luke wonders, and Alec splutters helplessly.

“Of course not!” He sighs, massaging his temples. “I don’t really like jerky.”

“Well, that’s a shame.” Luke says, patting Alec’s shoulder sympathetically before going to his office. Maia snickers at Alec, who sighs.

“Every day in this office is a challenge.” Alec says seriously. Maia opens her mouth, about to respond, when Clary walks into the bullpen, blasting a Rihanna song from an ancient boombox she’s managed to unearth from somewhere.

“Attention!” she shouts at the still half-asleep officers in the station.

“You have everyone’s attention, good God, what do you want?” Maia bellows, covering her ears.

“This.” Clary sweeps her hand out, and Izzy walks into the precinct, dark shadows under her eyes and a triumphant look on her face as she leads a handcuffed man into the center of the room. “I present to you, Los Huevos. Caught by none other than our own Detective Lightwood!”

“Which one?” a smartass calls out from near the kitchen. At the furious glare Izzy turns on him, he holds his hands up. “I mean, I know which one it was, I’m just kidding, never mind, please don’t kill me my boyfriend would miss me!”

“No I wouldn’t.” Duncan says without missing a beat. Izzy rolls her eyes.

“Ignoring Raj,” she says, “I would like to present the drug dealer who’s been on my list for more than a year. Busted, finally, at a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.”

“Really, man? Caught by corporate caffeine culture?” Simon asks, coming through the pen and skirting around Izzy and her perp. “That’s low.”

“Come off it, Si.” Jace says, following him and sitting down at his own desk. “You have a chronic addiction to Starbucks, you’re really one to be talking.”

“True.” Simon says, pointing at Jace. “Very true.”

“I want my lawyer.” Los Huevos says. He looks mildly frightened. “I don’t like any of you, you all seem poorly-adjusted to real life.”

“Tell me about it. But please remember anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, and you don’t want to add contempt of the law to your rap sheet.” Izzy says politely, leading him away to be processed.

“Congratulations, squad.” Luke says, leaning against the door frame. “Simon, Jace, how’s your case going?”

“We’ve interviewed all the relevant employees and determined that the Hulk figurine wasn’t worth much, but was built with a secret compartment in it.” Jace says, shuffling the papers on his desk until he finds his notes. “Don’t ask me why that would possibly need to be a thing.”

“Because secret compartments are cool.” Simon emphasizes. “We’re going over security footage to see who had the opportunity to stash something in the figurine, or take whatever was stashed out, and why.”

“Good.” Luke says, and then he pauses, hands on his hips, before he slowly says, “And you wouldn’t happen to know what happened to my jerky, would you?”

“Really?” Simon asks. “Really, Luke?”

“It was Alaric.” Jace says, without even looking up from his computer. “He’s trying to get you to ask him out again, because he wants to say yes this time, so he’s resorted to doing weird things like taking your stuff.”

“Really?” Luke says, looking shocked, and then he frowns. “How do you know this?” Jace looks up.

“I talk to other people.” He says indignantly, sweeping a hand around the room. “This squad is not the only set of friends I have.”

“He goes to book club with one of the detectives under Alaric’s command.” Maia chimes in. Jace scowls, flushing bright red.

“Is nothing sacred?” He hisses at Maia.

“I think it’s cute.” Simon says softly, smiling over his computer at Jace. Jace flushes even brighter red.

PANDEMONIUM, 10:05 AM, WEDNESDAY

Raphael’s going over Magnus’ business reports in the empty club when Meliorn slides into the chair next to him, setting down a steaming cup of coffee and a donut. Raphael stares at him.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” He asks.

“Yes, darling - “

“Don’t call me that.”

“ - but I came by to say hi.” Meliorn finishes, the corners of his lips curving upward. Raphael frowns.

“Someone’s going to get robbed, and it’s going to be my fault because my boyfriend is here instead of at the 98th precinct, where he should be.” He says, but he relents and takes a bite of the donut. Meliorn hums and presses a kiss to Raphael’s cheek.

“Captain’s all over the place because Luke called him, confronted him about stealing his stuff, and then asked him out on a date.” Meliorn explains. “I’m escaping the line of fire, he turns into a real werewolf when it comes to Luke.”

“Werewolf.” Raphael says, exasperated. “Werewolves aren’t real, Meliorn.”

“Whatever you say, Raphael.” Meliorn smiles, leaning back against the bar lazily and trailing his eyes over Raphael’s body. Raphael laughs despite himself.

“Stop that.”

“I finally have a lover I can appreciate all the time without having to immediately follow it up with sex.” Meliorn says. “I’m going to look as much as I want to.”

“Suit yourself.” Raphael brings Meliorn’s hand up and brushes a kiss over his knuckles, and Meliorn smiles softly at him. “How did you even know about the Alaric and Luke thing anyway? I only know because Magnus told me.”

“My book club buddy told me.” Meliorn says.

MARVEL COMICS, 1:00 PM, WEDNESDAY

“Have you figured it out?” The owner says eagerly when they reappear in his shop. He bounces on the balls of his feet wildly. “Did you catch the guy?” Simon nods.

“Yes,” he says, “and no.”

“We got the burglar who smashed the case and took everything.” Jace interjects. “He’s robbed a few other stores in the area, it was easy enough to track him down once we matched the pattern of when he robbed stores to when your store was robbed.”

“What’s the no part then?” The owner asks anxiously.

“It’s just how you were robbed.” Simon says. “It’s not a big deal, honestly. That Hulk figurine isn’t worth much, right?”

“No.” The owner says. “It’s more than a normal toy, obviously, but not that much more.”

“Right.” Jace says. “Can we talk to the employee who last took inventory before and catalogued the Hulk, please? Aline, I believe it was?”

“Sure.” the owner says cheerfully. “I’m getting my insurance claim for robbery, I don’t care about anything else. Do what you want! And five free comics on the house for you!”

“O-kay.” Jace says slowly as the owner wanders away. From beside him, Simon does a silent victory dance, shimmying his hands ridiculously. “Stop that, Simon, we’re cops.”

“Can I have your five comics?”

“Obviously.” Jace says. “You don’t even need to ask.” Simon shoots him a small, warm smile, and Jace falls a little more in love with him, staring for just a second too long at Simon before Aline interrupts them.

“Hey.” She says. “What can I do for you?”

“So,” Simon begins, sticking his hands in his pocket. “When we first interviewed you, I thought you looked familiar.”

“Any resemblance to any criminal I have really is just coincidence.” Aline says. “People tell me I remind them of someone all the time.”

“No,” Simon laughs, “you make replicas. I follow you on Instagram, your Avengers line was really amazing.”

“Oh.” Aline’s face falls. “Oh no.”

“Yeah.” Jace continues. “According to this account, you just proposed to your girlfriend a week ago with one of the replica Avengers figurines. Three guesses as to which Avenger it was.”

“Starts with a H, end with a -ulk.” Simon adds helpfully, and Aline glances around, sighing.

“Yeah, I know what it looks like, but I wasn’t going to steal it!” Aline hisses. “I - “

“You took the figurine to replicate it better. You were going to put it back, but then the robber struck. Using keys you dropped.” Simon interrupts. At Aline’s shocked face, he says “We had the paint scrape on the wall analyzed and matched to some cheap crafting paint from the store nearby. Instant match. I really don’t think a figurine that cost that much would use five dollar green paint from Brooklyn.”

“Yeah.” Aline sighs again, pushing her hair out of her face. “It’s ridiculous. I came back through the window to put the real Hulk figurine back, and I saw the break-in. I panicked. I didn’t want to put it back in the case, because then it’d look weird if it was the only thing in there. So I just...kept it, and then scaled back up the wall and went out through the window. I was so nervous I still had the replica I made in my hand, and I scraped it on the wall as I went up. Are you gonna…”

“Report you?” Jace asks, and then he shakes his head. “No. It was an honest mistake. You can turn the figurine in as evidence. Since you are the employee in charge of inventory, I’m sure your boss will understand if you have it when we return all the evidence.”

“Oh thank you.” Aline says in a rush. “Helen loved the proposal, but I’m pretty sure it would have been ruined if I was arrested a week later.” “Congratulations, then.” Simon says, smiling. “On your pending nuptials and you not getting arrested.” Aline beams at them, and then moves off. “Another case closed!” Simon says, turning to Jace. “Why are you staring at her?”

“I think I know her girlfriend - fiance, I guess.” Jace says, puzzled. “I know a Helen, a family friend, and last time I saw her she said she was dating an Aline. How many Aline’s are there in New York, do you think?”

“As many as there are Jace’s.” Simon says, laughing.

“Hey, I was part of the hipster name trend before there was a hipster name trend.” Jace says loftily, pushing the door of the store open and leading them outside. “I’m just that cool.”

LIGHTWOOD BROWNSTONE, 9:20 PM, WEDNESDAY

“Simon?” Jace asks, walking out to the patio when Izzy’s celebratory “I caught the Egg” party is winding down. “You’re still here?”

Simon yawns, sinking down further into the patio swing. “I figured I’d just sleep over again.” He says. “I’m too tired to drive back, and Clary will just need me to pick her up tomorrow morning anyway. She and Izzy are making out in the room you guys keep your piano, by the way. Maybe don’t go in there.”

“Not my piano.” Jace pinches the bridge of his nose. “Stay there, though, I have something for you.”

“For me?” Simon asks, bemused, but Jace is gone; Simon settles back against a cushion and yawns, sleepily listening to the steady hum of crickets in the still night. It’s peaceful, muted in the way night in New York seems to be sometimes, quiet but never really quiet, the echo of traffic a constant presence in the background.

Jace reappears after a few minutes, holding a box. He sinks down onto the swing next to Simon, and hands over the box. “So,” he begins, fidgeting slightly as Simon takes the box out and starts unwrapping the package inside. “It turns out, I did know that Helen we heard about earlier today. I went and visited her after work, and met Aline again, and bought this from her for you.”

A beautifully rendered Captain America tumbles out into Simon’s lap, and Simon gasps softly. The color is vivid, and bright, and the expression on Steve Roger’s face is perfect; noble and kind, but still fierce.

“Jace…” Simon trails off. “Aline’s replicas are expensive. Thank you.”

“It was nothing.” Jace says, looking at him with warm eyes. “I know you always call me Captain America, but I’ve always thought you were more like him. Brave, and selfless, and way too good for this world. I just...wanted you to know how other people see you.”

“People see me like Steve Rogers?” Simon asks, affection rising in his chest and threatening to overwhelm him. Jace is beautiful in the dim light of the patio, his hair loose and unstyled, his eyes honest and unguarded.

“I do.” Jace says quietly.

Simon drops the figure back into his lap and kisses Jace, cradling his cheek with one hand and sliding a hand around his waist with the other. Jace makes a noise and then presses closer, kissing back almost desperately as he locks his arms around Simon’s neck. Jace’s mouth is warm against Simon’s, his fingertips like brands where they skim along the nape of his head. He feels like he’s drowning and flying all at once, Jace real and solid under him.

“Your mystery guy,” Jace says breathlessly, pulling back, “it’s - ?”

“You, obviously.” Simon says, shaking his head. “C’mon, detective, wasn’t that obvious?”

“Not to me.” Jace says defensively, and then he presses another bruising kiss to Simon’s lips before he draws back. “I was so angry, thinking I’d missed my chance with you.”

“So was I.” Simon admits, and then he kisses Jace again, and again, and again, because now he can.

99TH PRECINCT, 8:00 AM, THURSDAY

“For the first time in precinct history,” Luke announces, “there are no more betting pools for who’s getting together with who. Everyone is paired up. All money should be paid out by the end of the week. Thank you.”

There’s cheers and whistles all around, and Jace says, in shock, “Even you, Luke? Did you and Alaric…?”

Luke grins wolfishly. “We did.” he confirms, winking. Simon and Clary both groan, loudly.

“Another day in the weirdest precinct in New York.” Clary says, raising her coffee cup in a toast.

#jimon #jace lightwood #simon lewis #shadowhunters #i write sometimes #can u believe i finally finished the b99 au i said id write so long ago #i can't #this was exhausting #emulating another shows format is hard

126 notes · View notes

maxinesmayfield · 7 years ago

Text

I was tagged by the sweet @queens-clarke ! Thank you for tagging me. I enjoyed reading yours as well.

name - Esmée nickname - most people irl call me EJ gender - Female star sign - Cancer, though I feel like the scorpio descriptions fits me more height - 5′2″ , djerp. I may be little, but I AM big (for those who get the reference). time - 2:44 PM birthday - June 25th fave bands - The Smiths!! fave solo artist(s) - Otis Redding. Nobody will beat Otis Redding for me. song stuck in my head - Diva by Beyoncé last movie I watched - Black Panther last show I watched - Shadowhunters when did I create my blog - Ehm ... somewhere in 2015? I think somewhere in January. I started posting after the Shadowhunters premiere. last thing I googled - ‘mac lipsticks swatches fair skin‘ do I have another blog - Yeah a personal one and a literature blog, but I rarely post on those. do I get asks- Yes, though not that often. why I chose my url - I watched Stranger Things season 2 and I loved my red haired queen! following - 236 followers - 253 avg hours of sleep - Around 7 lucky number(s) - 4, 8, 12 and 24 instruments - Drums and electric guitar what am I wearing - A big sweater and sweatpants, because I have the day off. dream job - I’ve always wanted to pursue ‘old’ fashioned journalism as I am not that into radio and television, but that’s not really achievable. I want to pursue environmental law as that feels more achievable to me and I am ready to change things up. It is pretty close to a dream job. dream trip - Italy fave food - Spareribs nationality - Dutch fave song right now - Malkat Hashoshanim by Eden Ben Zaken sexuality - Ehmm ... I recently started doubting my label, but I currently identify as bisexual. I am not sure if I like boys. I thought I did like one boy, but I feel like I may have actually liked the idea of a really popular, good looking guy pursuing me of all people. When we were together, I never wanted to actually ... be with him. I didn’t want to kiss or touch and it is something I do want with girls, so that makes me doubt my label. I did have jittery feelings, but that also could have been excitement, so I am still figuring things out. I may be bisexual, I may be sapphic. I can’t say I am sure yet. hogwarts house - Ravenclaw fav animals - Dogs and dolphins dog or cat person - Dog, but I don’t hate cats either! blankets you sleep with - One duvet. why you got a blog - I needed to engage in the Malec fandom mostly, because I had so many thoughts! and none of my irl friends watch the show and 90% is straight, so ... top (3) fave characters - Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane and Raven Reyes no. of posts - 3,195 pokemon team - Team Yellow! fave color - Purple, but I do love baby blue as well. Tough call. relationship status - Single and happy to be lipstick or chapstick - Hard one. Lipstick I guess! last song i listened to - Diva by Beyoncé top (3) shows - Shadowhunters, One Day At A Time and B99!! top (3) ships - Malec, Saia and Pertiago. I also still ship Fimogen so hard, but since they are no longer on the show, I am guessing they don’t count in this survey, still had to add it to the list though. books I’m reading- De Donkere Kamer van Damokles by Willem Frederik Hermans

I’m going to tag @harryshugjr @alexandersbane @sunlewis @maialec and @alecslittlesnores . Feel free to ignore this if this stresses you or you don’t want to fill this in, of course.

#tag games #thanks for tagging me!!#personal #qq

2 notes · View notes

noahsflynn-archive · 7 years ago

Photo

So, considering it’s that festive time of year, my birthday is today, and 2018 is around the corner I thought I’d put together a list of all the blogs I’m currently following.

I recommend each and every one of these blogs. They make my dash a really great and enjoyable place to be. I’d also recommend checking out my blogroll because it’s continuously changing and there might be blogs on there that aren’t here.

And to the people mentioned in this post, thank you <3 I really do enjoy seeing you on my dash. I hope you're all having a wonderful day and I'd like to take this chance to wish you all a happy new year :)<3

BLOG I OWN/CO-OWN IF YOU FANCY CHECKING THEM OUT:

A-E

F-J

K-O

P-T

U-Z

@veritaaas | @voidedbanshees | @warpeace | @wealwaysdo | @wondertrevcr

FYEAH, SOURCE, DAILY, ETC.

some are people’s art blogs :)

#follow forever #blog recs #my follow forever

14 notes · View notes

sunlewis · 8 years ago

Text

bharnes > sunlewis

#hi #url change

3 notes · View notes

agentbootyreportingforduty · 8 years ago

Text

📷 credit for my beautiful header to the softest to ever soft and the og simon lewis stan!! @sunlewis anne I love you and your photos so much!!

0 notes

eversall · 7 years ago

Text

the world from your arms || jace/simon, 9k+ || read here on ao3 || co-authored by @sunlewis

There’s no words, nothing necessary as Jace turns to look at him, his eyes dark and burning, and then he’s dropping his blade and striding forward to catch Simon in his arms, his grip vice-like as he squeezes him and buries his face in Simon’s shoulder. Jace is inhaling raggedly, his shoulders shaking minutely as Simon slides his hands up Jace’s back and splays his fingers over Jace’s spine, thumb smoothing over the dips and curves of it. . Five times Jace and Simon hug privately, and one time they hug publicly.

#jimon #jace lightwood #simon lewis #shadowhunters #THIS IS AMAZING ANNE IS AMAZING #you guys she finally wrote with me #i'm so excited sdsdjsdjsjd #i write sometimes

98 notes · View notes

johnhaos · 8 years ago

Note

hi i voted for simonssmile but i also wanted to tell you your icon is really cute nd soft :))

ahh thank you so much anne :)

i’m also a big fan of your icon - simon + sunny colours is a winning combination, and it matches your (amazing) url perfectly!!

the colour scheme on your blog is so soft and calming, it’s really nice

i’m also loving all the shadowhunters content, especially your love for simon, and your comments in the tags

we haven’t been mutuals for long but you seem lovely and i hope you’re having a good day :)

want one?

#q and a #sunlewis #claire's blog compliments

1 note · View note

eversall · 7 years ago

Text

@sunlewis: happy late birthday!! (only by two hours in my time zone, i’ll have you know.) my life is much, much better for having known you, and you deserve the world. unfortunately the world costs a lot (who knew?) so until i can afford that, here’s my present to you.

be the man that walked a thousand miles || jace/simon, 3k+, wedding fic || (ao3 link soon!)

“Tell me you’re standing in my bedroom at the crack of dawn because it’s just hit you that I’m getting married and you’re emotionally compromised now.” Simon groans out when he wakes up to see Clary standing over him, her expression firm and no-nonsense.

“No,” a voice sounds from somewhere near the door, and Simon bolts upright to see Alec standing there stiffly, typing away furiously on his phone, “I wish it was just Fray crying.”

“Alec?” Jace asks, and he gives up pretending to be asleep at Simon’s side and sits up, squinting through the dim, grey light filtering through the room.

“I don’t want to freak you guys out,” Clary says, even as Simon begins to wake up more fully, his eyes widening as he hears the thundering sound outside, “but it’s raining.”

Raining is an understatement; by some stroke of awful luck there’s an honest-to-god thunderstorm raging on outside, turning the field outside the picturesque Vermont bed-and-breakfast they’ve all trooped to into a beautiful pool of sludge, with the fall foliage that Simon loved so much turning into a reddish-brown mess.

“Is that lightning?” Jace asks dumbly, still in his boxers as they stand on the balcony of their room. “Thunder?” He’s sleep-ruffled and adorably confused, squinting around him with the air of someone who’s not quite sure what’s happening. Simon tugs him out of the rain, swiping a thumb under his cheek and removing the dampness that’s starting to collect on his face. Even though there’s a canopy over the balcony, the rain is pouring down so hard that there’s backsplash everywhere.

“Do we - what do we do.” Simon says flatly, turning to Clary and Alec. “Tell me you two have a plan.”

“We have a plan.” Clary replies dutifully.

“We don’t have a plan.” Alec shoots back, glaring reproachfully at Clary.

“I have a plan.” Rebecca’s voice calls, and she peers around the doorway, looking frazzled. “But it depends on a lot of what if’s, so I can’t do everyone’s hair and makeup.”

“That’s fine.” Alec says, tapping his phone thoughtfully. “We can stagger Izzy and Magnus’ duties so they can help out where they can. Maybe get Bat to cover for overseeing the caterers?”

“Becks?” Simon calls out, panicked. Jace is squeezing his hand tightly, white-knuckled. “It’s going to be okay, right?”

“Of course.” Rebecca flashes him a smile. “Just let me do my magic, Simon.”

“Rain on your wedding day is a good omen, monkey.” Simon’s mom yells out over the rain as they run to Luke’s car to grab their suits.

“Yeah, mom, a little light drizzle is a good omen. A shower might even be good luck. Not - “ Simon hollers, as thunder echoes from somewhere close by, “a thunderstorm!”

“It’s all perspective, isn’t it?” Luke says calmly, getting out of his car and ducking under Simon’s umbrella as Simon’s mom opens the passenger side door and pulls out bags of dry-cleaned suits. “Good to see you, kid. It’s a big day.”

“Sure.” Simon says despondently, taking his share of the suits. “A big day for the clouds, and like, water.”

“Didn’t Rebecca say she’ll fix it? Trust your sister.” Mom scolds, and he reluctantly nods, twisting his engagement ring around his finger. It’s silver, winking in the light, and beautifully simple. Simon already lost it once, and it still found it’s way back, and he’s pretty sure it means something.

“It’s just a ring, Simon.” Jace had told him when Simon had found it again, nearly sobbing in relief. He’d taken Simon’s knuckles and pressed a kiss to each finger, saying, “Ring or no ring, I love you, and we’re getting married.”

It’s sweet, and stupidly sentimental, and Simon holds onto that thought as he, Luke, and Mom dash back through the rain to the hotel lobby, slamming the double doors shut behind them as they go. He shakes the umbrella off, running a hand through his hair and wondering if all the product in the world is enough to tame the frizz that’s settling in because of the water, and it takes him a few seconds to realize that there’s an alarming number of people in black and white catering uniforms running around looking panicked.

“Please tell me that these aren’t my caterers.” Simon says cautiously, and Mom opens her mouth and then closes it, looking a little worried, and then Bat comes running through the lobby, phone clutched to his ear and eyes looking a little wild.

“I don’t care that the cake is lying in a muddy ditch, I care that you get to a kitchen and fix it!” He hisses into the phone. “What do you mean you’ve broken down? What kind of piece of shit car do you have? Useless - oh - Simon - “ He looks at Simon, rather helplessly, and Simon stares back, equally as helpless.

“No cake?” Simon asks weakly. “No - what is everyone gonna eat, grass?”

“Wet grass.” Bat replies morosely, and then he catches himself. “No, I didn’t mean that - we’ll figure something out - “

Simon just continues to stare at Bat, his mouth open, his eyes darting from side to side, and he throws his hands up.

“Any solutions?” he asks, turning to his mom and Luke. “Any at all?”

“Isn’t your boyfriend a baker?” Luke asks.

“Cupcakes,” his moms says wisely, “cupcakes are always easy to do.”

“Right.” Simon folds his arms, looking desperately at both of them. “And he’s supposed to run around and bake for a hundred people while he gets ready to get married to me? Are you guys insane?”

“Yes, I can do it.” A voice says from behind him, warm, and then hands are snaking around his waist and a pair of lips press a kiss to his temple. Simon melts into Jace’s embrace, turning and sliding his arm around Jace.

“Are you insane?” He asks Jace, but his voice is lower, less hysterical, and Jace grins, his hair falling in his face.

“Trust me?” He says. “I’ll be waiting for you at the end of the aisle, Lewis.”

And with that, Simon’s fiance disappears into the direction of the kitchen, rolling his sleeves up. Simon shakes his head and deeply considers eloping in Canada.

“You can’t have any more bad news to give me.” Simon says when Magnus appears in the doorway as Maia helps him with his bowtie. “Just - you don’t, right?”

“Well.” Magnus says gesturing at Simon with a smile on his face. “I just wanted to say, you look amazing. Jace is going to be awe-struck when he sees you.”

“Oh.” Simon’s insides melt and a warm feeling expands in his chest as he smiles at Magnus through the mirror. “Thank you, Magnus it means a lot - “

“Also your chuppah might have broken,” Magnus says quickly, “but your rabbi and your mom are working on fixing it.”

The videographer - Raj - slowly lowers his camera as Simon hisses what and jerks back violently, while Maia still has a hold on his bowtie, resulting in a split second where Maia hollers “Simon, no!” and Simon chokes, hands scrabbling at his throat as Maia lets go of him.

“You maybe should have started with that.” Maia says, sighing, and Simon manages to wheeze out “You definitely should have started with that.”

“They were trying to move it to the new venue your sister is creating,” Magnus says, “but the rain’s already weakened it.” Simon sighs and sinks into a nearby chair, his head in his hands, and his poor, weakened heart stuttering faintly in his chest.

“No,” he moans, “I can’t get married under a broken chuppah in the rain with no cake and - knowing my luck - probably no food, too. What’s next? The flowers all burn up? I have a shortage of chairs? No music?”

“What’s next,” Maia says decisively, rooting around in her handbag and producing a tiny bottle, “is you take a shot of this excellent bottle of tiny, over-priced hotel liquor, and then you take a deep breath and deal with it all one at a time.”

“You’re a lifesaver.” Simon says, gratefully twisting the cap off. “No - Raj - don’t take a video of me doing shots, for heaven’s sake.”

“Okay.” Simon announces, clapping his hands as he peers through the kitchen. “Jace. Babe. It’s T-minus two hours, and you’re standing there with flour in your hair. Please tell me you’ve at least showered.”

Jace is violently slamming an oven door with a maniacal grin on his face. “I have not.” He says, blowing a kiss at Simon. “Should you be in the kitchen in your nice suit, Mr. Jace? It’ll get ruined, plus it’s bad luck - “

“To see the bride, and last time I checked, I was still your groom.” Simon says, bemused despite himself at the way Jace beams at him. “Am I gonna have a groom in a suit at the end of the aisle, or a baker in a Kiss the Cook apron?”

“Maybe both,” Jace says, winking as he sets the mixer going and deftly measures out confectioner’s sugar, “who knows?” He sets the ingredients aside and darts in to kiss Simon quickly on the lips, making sure not to get any sugar or flour on him. “Why don’t you go tend to everything else?”

Whatever Simon was about to say gets lost in the sudden flare of heat from the corner of the kitchen where the caterers are working and a bright, bright orange flame. Simon and Jace both shout and scramble back as fire suddenly envelopes a tray of steaks, and the cook working on them drops them right into the line of prepared hors d'oeuvres sitting prettily on the table, setting them smoking as well. Everyone watches, in horror, as one cook nimbly grabs the fire extinguisher and starts dousing everything in white foam.

“Cupcakes!” Jace shouts, and the next five minutes are spent in a scrambled panic as the nearest caterers all grab trays and trays of finished cakes and transport them to a nearby table that isn’t in the firing line of the automatic sprinklers that have gone on. Simon skids back and forth, grabbing the batter Jace had been mixing too, and gritting his teeth harder at every drop of water that stains his beautifully tailored suit and bit of flour that blows onto his tie and shirt.

“Simon,” Jace says, horrified, as they rescue the last of the salvageable food, “your suit, fuck.”

“You know,” Simon says numbly, shrugging off his jacket and staring at the white-speckled, damp mess it’s become, “at this point, I’m physically incapable of feeling surprise.”

Simon takes a breather.

He strips off his ruined suit, shoves on a shirt and sweatpants, and troops out into the rain, ruining his beautifully styled hair and the light dab of highlighter and gloss Magnus put on him as he lets himself get soaked to the bone. He shivers, staring at the trees and the grey clouds rolling away on the horizon, and clutches his arms tight around him, breathing deeply as he thinks.

Jace proposed twice to Simon. The second time was their official engagement, the one where Jace took Simon to the Hunter’s Moon and proposed to him on the same exact spot that, four years ago, Simon had kissed Jace, in the back alley between boxes of recyclable trash. He’d transformed the alley, lighting up the wall with videos of them on dates, moving in together, getting their cats and making their lives together a home. Jace had said all the right things, had kissed him hard when Simon had said yes, and finished the whole thing off beautifully with a party in the bar with all their friends and family.

But the first time is the one Simon cherishes, the one no one else but Jace and Simon know. Simon had been almost asleep, New York traffic a steady hum in the background, when Jace had whispered aloud I wanna ask you to marry me, but what if you say no?

Simon hadn’t been meant to hear it, but he’d rolled over anyway and said to a softly stunned Jace just so you know, I’m always going to say yes to you. Jace had let out a breathless, half-choked laugh, and kissed Simon so fiercely he swears his heart stopped for a moment. Simon had kissed back, desperate in letting Jace know that the instant Jace had walked into his life he’d been the one for Simon, the most beautiful person Simon knows inside and out.

Now, he remembers that and smiles into the rain, giddy at the thought of Jace. His wedding day is falling to shambles behind him, but the truth of the matter is the only thing he’s really been focused on all day is getting Jace up in front of all their friends and family and letting him know, in front of God and everyone, how much he loves Jace. The promise - of forever, of lows and highs and everything in between, of family - is what matters to him.

Lightning flashes in the distance, and Simon turns to see Jace jogging across the field to him, blonde hair plastered across his face.

“Simon!” Jace calls, and then he’s tugging Simon into a hug, eyes worriedly scanning up and down his body like he’s checking for injuries. “You’re soaked through, you’re going to catch pneumonia, you idiot.”

Simon laughs. “Our wedding is a disaster.” He says, his voice steady and warm. He catches Jace’s hand in his own and traces over his fiance’s matching silver ring. Jace looks at him, delight lighting up his eyes and making him appear ten years younger as he grins.

“I know.” He says, voice low and intimate. “But I’m marrying you. Can you believe it?”

“And I’m marrying you.” Simon says. “It feels like a dream.”

“Yeah.” Jace says, and then he leans down and they’re kissing in the rain, slow and unhurried and sweet with the taste of forever.

Magnus knocks around on room doors and pulls together a new, gorgeous outfit for Simon. Rebecca strings up a tarp decorated with vines and industrial strength light bulbs on delicate silver and gold wire over the outdoor patio to create a rustic setting that the newly fixed chuppah, decorated with subtle lilies, goes under. The flooring is damp, but the chairs and placards and decorations all sit unharmed under the miraculously pretty tarp. Jace’s cupcakes come out perfectly iced, finished up thirty minutes before the ceremony starts, and Jace himself is dressed in record time by Alec and izzy. Bat, Clary and Maia rally caterers from all the nearby bed and breakfasts to create an eclectic food menu that includes both high-grade sashimi and street tacos.

It’s a mess. Simon loves it, he thinks as his mom squeezes his arm and nods at him. He hears the faint strains of something classical that Jace picked floating through the door to the patio, and he takes a deep breath, looks briefly up at the sky and thinks of his dad, and then takes Rebecca’s on his other arm and smiles at Clary.

“Go time, Fray.” He says, and she grins and winks at him as she opens the door and walks out, her vibrant red hair and pink dress turning heads as the gathered crowd murmurs and stands at the coming of the first groom’s best woman.

“Ready, monkey?” Mom asks, and he bites his lip and laughs nervously.

“I love him so much, I - “ he says, his voice thick, and Rebecca laughs.

“We know.” she says gently, and then she looks thoughtful as she ducks her head and says, “If Dad were here, he’d be so happy.”

“He would be” Simon says, and the three of them share one last look before they clear their throats, roll their shoulders back, and step through the door.

From his first step up the aisle he feels like he’s floating through an adrenaline-filled dream, one that he never wants to end. He sees everyone in the crowd, sees Luke waiting to be the officiant along with Simon’s rabbi, and he almost trips at the last second before Rebecca steadies him.

Then he’s turning and Maryse and Robert are walking through the door, Jace standing in between them with a wild look of joy on his face. Simon’s breath catches in his throat and he feels like he’s been punched in the gut as he takes in how utterly gorgeous Jace is, how he’ll get to come home to him every night. Jace, for his part, looks like he’s physically restraining himself from grabbing hold of Simon and never letting go. The rain is casting a pretty grey light over him, highlighting the sky blue of his eyes and his golden hair, making the faint pattern of gold across his white suit stand out even more, and Simon has died and gone to heaven, he thinks, as Jace makes his way up to Simon and clasps his hands, beaming uncontrollably.

“So hot.” Simon whispers lightly, under his breath, and Jace snickers, squeezing Simon’s hands and winking, and it feels like a spell’s been lifted; Simon can breathe again as his rabbi steps forward, smiling genially, beginning to recite a blessing.

The ceremony is simple, and sweet; after his rabbi, Luke steps forward and makes a heartfelt speech about growing old together, about love and change and the way life takes you for a ride. The rain falls in sheets around them, strong and steady and undeniably wild, and after a while Simon begins to feel like it does mean something, like it’s a sign of something immeasurably powerful in the way Jace looks at him.

“Now, I believe you two have prepared vows.” Luke says, stepping away, and Simon laughs thickly.

“I’ll go first,” he says, taking the mic, “since you did the asking. To marry me, I mean.”

The assembled crowd makes a cooing noise, and Jace nods, smiling fondly. Simon takes a deep breath, rubbing his thumb against the silver of his engagement ring.

“You once told me that you loved me, and a ring wasn’t going to change that.” Simons says slowly, roughly. “I mean, you said it because I lost my ring, and I was about to pull out the laundry machine from the wall to search for it.”

From over Jace’s shoulder, he sees Magnus snicker at that, sharing a look with Alec, both clearly remembering the day they walked in to find Jace hurriedly restraining a manic Simon from going at the machine with a hammer he’d found. He’s never quite lived that moment down, and it comes back up as a funny story after the second round of drinks wherever their group goes.

“But what you said - that’s always been our truth.” Simon continues, quieter. “That I love you, and you love me, and that’s born out of something bigger than the both of us. I promise to cherish that something, and to love you, always. I promise to make your world a better place, with everything I have in me.” He takes a deep breath, and almost cries when he sees the bright sheen in Jace’s eyes and one tear rolling down his cheek, blue-brown eyes furiously blinking away the rest. “I promise you a home in my hands.”

He hands Jace the mic, and Jace clumsily falls into him for a brutally fast-paced, desperate kiss before he pulls back, the crowd going wild as he grips Simon’s hand again and says, huskily, “I promise you a home, too.” He swallows, and Simon tracks the bob of his throat before he drags his gaze back up. “I promise to be your best friend, to make you laugh, to give you a reason to smile every day. I promise to be the sun in your life that you deserve.”

He steps forward, disentangling their hands and instead reaching up to cup Simon’s cheek. “I love you in a way that can’t be changed.” He finishes. “Not by rain, not by ridiculous emergencies - nothing can change the way you are my life.”

Simon is crying now, tears rolling down his cheeks as he smiles in delight, unable to stop the laugh bubbling up out of his throat. Luke calls for the rings, Clary and Izzy hand them over, and suddenly -

There’s a wide silver band sliding onto Simon’s finger, etched with the Herondale stars, and Simon’s shaking fingers are pressing another silver band with a tiny sun engraved on it up and over Jace’s knuckle, watching it settle smoothly over his engagement ring, and then they’re married.

“You may now kiss!” Luke proclaims, and then Simon’s grabbing at Jace’s waist and Jace is tangling his fingers in Simon’s hair, kissing him with a fervor that makes Simon’s heart feel like it’s spilling out of his chest. They part quickly, just brushing noses for a second, as around them their friends and family all cheer, and a glass wrapped in a cloth appears at Simon’s feet.

“Mazel Tov!” He yells, never taking his eyes off Jace, and the glass shatters under the heel of his dress shoes, and then Simon is married to the love of his life, and it is, he knows, a miracle.

Their guitar players strings break right before the first dance and the pianist starts vomiting violently. Simon doesn’t even flinch as he takes his phone out and looks around at the horrified guests in the reception area.

“Anyone got an aux cord?” he asks, waving his phone around.

“I don’t know what else I expected, to be honest.” Jace says, his grip on Simon’s other hand tight. He hasn’t let go for more than a minute at a time, not even when Raj wanted extended time to do solo photoshoots. “Clearly our wedding dreams got mixed up somewhere with a dream about an obstacle course.”

“Clearly.” Simon sighs, but he plugs his phone in and holds a hand out to Jace. “May I have this dance?”

Jace grins as Sleeping At Last’s voice filters out over the speakers, drowning out the rain with the words when I wake up, well I know I’m gonna be, I’m gonna be the man who wakes up next to you.

“All my dances.” Jace says, a devastatingly handsome smile on his face as he takes Simon’s hand and lets himself be pulled into a loose embrace on the center of the dance floor, pressing their foreheads together and swaying slightly.

“Careful,” Simon says softly, a surge of contentment settling over him, “that’s a lot of dances.”

But I would walk five hundred miles, the speakers croon, and I would walk five-hundred more -

“Just to be the man that walked a thousand miles, to fall down at your door.” Jace sings softly to Simon in lieu of an answer, his voice light and warm. “You have my everything, Simon,” he says, “dances and all.”

“Jace.” Simon says, and they don’t need any more words as they kiss, slow and unhurried, with the promise of a lifetime to come.

#jimon #jace lightwood #simon lewis #shadowhunters #sh fics #i write sometimes #anne i love you the most #you deserve like 20k of this fic but i'm a loser that can't write that

96 notes · View notes

eversall · 7 years ago

Text

hello it’s my birthday so i’m gonna call out the people who have made this hell site bearable and have made me a different person than i was last year at this time. because now i know them, and that’s made all the difference in the world.

@greysummers: og homie #1. first person to talk to me on this blue hell gazette. funny, such a talented writer, and all around such a chill person to talk to. she still remembers my hank/alex days, and one day we will finish our 50k mcsummers fic that’s honestly a work of art. she’s the reason i initially thought - before shadowhunters - that i could stick around for a while and see what the people were like here.

@saphael-o-lantern: og homie #2. first person in the shadowhunters fandom that i became friends with, and holy fucking hell i don’t know what i’d do without her. she’s been there for me through my ups and my downs, she’s wickedly funny, and is absolutely charming. keeps my love for raphael and my slight, begrudging, do-i-have-to appreciation of clace alive. also writes adorable saphael, someone should bug her about publishing it. gets all my jokes and most of my references and always, always brightens my mood when i talk to her. it feels like i’ve know her for like ten years, this is how awesome she is.

@ghostlyjimon: jesus christ on a stick quinn is responsible for most of the angsty jimon things in my life. anyway. she’s hilarious, spells everything incorrectly, and is the co-author of that one 25k jimon fic you know the one and honestly, that took intense work. i’m always in awe of how talented she is. and you guys, she’s just as wonderful irl as she is on this hellsite. every time i talk to her i’m laughing so hard because she’s just dramatic and extra and i love her so much for that.

@softjimon: one of the best moments of my life was when jess legitimately thought i was from london for a long time. she just like, made that fact up in her head. anyway, she is, of course, an incredible writer - who doesn’t know that by now? - and every time she posts something i scream a little. she’s also hilarious, totally and amusingly done with the uni life, and so much fun to talk to. her neverending support for everything i write is absolutely the most astounding thing. together the two of us are justin timberlake and jimmy fallon, k? her passion for the things she does in life and just everything about her inspire me to be a better person.

@sunlewis: i’ve never wanted to hug anyone as badly as i want to hug anne. i love her blog so much and when she started talking to me i was starstruck. anne is hilarious, and adorable, and such a genuine, honest person to talk to. she has an amazing love for so many characters and actors and is so supportive. her writing is incredible, and everyone is suffering because she doesn’t publish most of it. she deserves the world and i swear to god she’s gonna get it one day. i made a twitter just so i could talk to her, because she’s incredible and it’s worth it.

and a list of endlessly amazing people that i love for various reasons that are way too lengthy to list all at once here:

@zombiejace @scarysimon @vexedcer @simonlewhiss @the-undergod @alecbaene @maialec @boasorteminhamenina @magnsbeans @caqtis @wellsyaha @magnusragnor @ninjacksonfive @sunshinerosende

i am most probably definitely missing people here so if i suddenly remember you and tag you abruptly when this post is no longer relevant, don’t be alarmed! it’s just my very bad memory.

p.s. - and to the shadowhunter fandom: thank you for letting me write for you this past year. thank you for making me believe in myself.

#heyyyyy its that one day of the year i feel extra sappy #maddie speaks

19 notes · View notes

eversall · 7 years ago

Text

tagged by @magnusragnor! this is one of the most interesting tag games i’ve seen in a while so! here we go.

If I were a(n)…

month: october day: thursday planet: mars god or goddess: hermes sea animal: shark piece of furniture: ...table flower: jasmine weather: cloudy early mornings color: plum emotion: passion fruit: raspberry element: fire place: los angeles taste: salty sweet scent: jasmine body part: knuckles

tagging: @raphsantiagay @softjimon @magnsbeans @simonlewhiss @sunlewis @zombiejace @vexedcer @ghostlyjimon @scarysimon

#queue-rious #hello i'm trying to come back fromt he void that is school #and be more active

4 notes · View notes

eversall · 8 years ago

Text

for @sunlewis, who came up with this glee au and then waited patiently for like a month for me to finish it. love of my life @softjimon for helping me edit and cheerleading me into publishing it. anne and jess are two of the best people on this planet earth and you can fight me on that!!

if you ever want to be in love (i’ll come around) || jace/simon, 10k+, glee au || ao3 link here

“And all your tears will subside ,” She sings softly, her voice quieting down as the music lowers to just a single guitar again. Simon and Jace are standing by the lamp, and Jace looks at Simon, drinking in the sight of him crossing his arms and bumping shoulders with Jace, happily singing. “ And all your tears, will dry .”

It’s serenades week in Musical Performance 113, the slightly less exciting college version of Glee Club. Simon’s decided to woo Jace with this; Jace has decided to have an existential crisis with it.

songs used: for the love by hearts and colors, once in a lifetime by landon austin, rhythm of love by plan white t’s, incomplete by james bay (link to gorgeous dance cover).

fic title taken from if you ever want to be in love, by james bay

“I’m gonna do it,” Simon says confidently as he walks into the classroom, fiddling with the strap of his backpack, Clary nodding encouragingly next to him, “I’m gonna do it, it’s gonna happen today, it’s - “ He catches sight of Jace sprawled insolently across one of the chairs, running a hand through his hair as he smirks down at his phone, uncaring and unfairly good-looking.

“It’s not happening, nope, no.” He hisses under his breath, turning on his heel and intending to just skip class, when a hand curls into his collar and yanks him backwards.

“Oh no you don’t.” Magnus says, tugging him into the room despite his protests. “I didn’t spend all weekend helping you arrange this song to have you chicken out now.”

Luke looks up in mild surprise as Magnus drops an indignant Simon onto a chair in front of the staggered audience seats, bodily dragging his backpack from him and thrusting his guitar into his hands instead.

“So…you’ll start us off today, Simon?” Luke asks, amused, and Simon groans and briefly buries his head in his hands.

“Simon’s singing?” Jace asks with glee in his voice, and Simon raises his head to glare at Jace and flip him off. Alec rolls his eyes and sinks further into his seat. He’s only in this class because Simon agreed to do archery with him last quarter, so now he owes Simon and is stuck here - though if the way his glance always slides to Magnus is any indication, Simon definitely judged right in gently nudging his friend and his roommate into the same musical performance class. “Sure you can handle the pressure, Lewis?”

“Well I can’t wait.” Izzy says loyally, shutting her bio-psych textbook decisively and leaning forward, absently slinging an arm around Clary’s shoulder. Clary looks at Izzy for a beat too long, and Simon briefly entertains himself with the wonderful thought that almost none of them are straight. Raj, maybe, though with the way he’s so aggressive about his heterosexuality at Victor, that dick that deigns to show up to class once in a while, Simon’s starting to doubt even that.

“Yeah, I’ve got something prepared.” Simon clears his throat, and Luke gives him an encouraging nod as Magnus sits down at the piano and cracks his knuckles, only to be shoved aside by Raphael, who grumpily slides onto the piano bench and glares at Simon like Simon just asked him to sell his soul to Satan.

“I’ll play.” He grumps out as Magnus doubles over laughing, going to claim a seat near Alec. Simon grins, remembering how he caught Raphael practicing the piano accompaniment to his piece when Magnus asked him to. They’re all good friends, even if they don’t act like it.

“I’m here, I’m here, don’t start without me!” Maia gasps, sliding into the room just as it turns two, and she collapses onto a chair. “Exams are the worst. Okay, Simon, now you can sing.”

“Thanks.” Simon deadpans as she grins at him, and then he clears his throat, fiddling lightly with the strings before he looks up and locks eyes with Jace, who’s still smirking at him.

“I, uh.” He pauses, and then says in a rush, “This is for you.”

“What - “ Jace flushes bright, bright pink, and Simon chooses to ignore it, aggressively launching into the first few chords of a stripped down piano-guitar version of For the Love, a song that he heard at a party and immediately thought how can I make this sadder?

“You say the word and I’ll go wild,” Simon starts softly, his voice low, “start a fire in a heartbeat.” Jace is slowly shifting back in his chair, straightening from his slouch as he regards Simon with a blank face, the blush still lingering on his cheeks. “If you get drunk then so will I, crazy highs if we need it.”

“The things we do - “ Simon says as he launches into the chorus, joined by Raphael’s low timbre as he harmonizes for the love for the love.

“I put you through, for the love for the love,” He continues, and Clary’s higher notes join in, swaying her head slightly, “I’m hurt by you, but then I’m healing - I get this feeling, we can leave but we don’t - “

“For the love, for the love.” And now they’ve all caught on, even Alec, and they jump in with backing vocals, turning the chorus loud and letting the sound echo through the classroom. Jace is the only one not saying anything, frozen in his chair. Simon feels his heart pounding away in his chest, adrenaline running hot in his veins, and he’s too far in now to stop and besides he - Jace means something special to him, through all the teasing and the late nights spent exploring campus, shoulders brushing, Jace’s infectious grin lighting up the darkness.

“We run these wires, until they fall,” Simon’s voice echoes, strong, as everyone else lets their voices fade out for his bridge. Only Maia continues, seamlessly wrapping his melody in a hum. “We’ll keep on crawling back until we lost it all. Bask in the glory - the highs and lows - no matter how far gone we are, we don’t let go.”

He strums his guitar, lets a moment of silence play out, and then launches back into the chorus, the room swelling with everyone smiling slightly as they sway to the melody in their seats and look at each other, singing for the love for the love as genuinely as they can.

It feels good, his heart soaring on the high of an amazing performance, and he barely gets the chance to look at Jace before applause starts, and he’s being clapped on the back by Magnus and Raphael, and then Clary and Izzy and Maia are all bounding up to him, and Luke starts talking over all of them, assigning them into small groups.

Simon murmurs thanks, thanks, and then bodily shoves his way through his classmates, swinging his guitar by it’s strap to rest against his back, walking up to Jace, who’s biting his lip and looking at Simon with an inscrutable look in his eyes.

“So.” Simon says, his voice overly cheerful. “What did you think?” Out of the corner of his eye he sees Alec get up, presumably to leave them some privacy.

“I’M STRAIGHT.” Jace says loudly, too loudly, and Alec pauses - as well as everyone else in the room. Simon stares blankly at Jace, thinks maybe he misheard.

He hears the sound of Magnus’ whispered what the fuck and realizes, no, he heard correctly.

“You’re - okay.” Simon says, and his heart is dropping, dropping back into a sealed pit of hell where he swears it’s never coming out from again because this is what he gets for it. “Right, right. Okay. That’s cool.”

Jake Peralta’s cool cool cool cool cool cool cool monologue pops into his head, running on repeat as he slowly backs away and grabs his backpack.

“I’m just gonna - go!” He announces brightly, and then he’s turned and is sprinting out of class, blindly making his way to the apartment he shares with Magnus and Raphael. He’s sure Luke will excuse him this once from class, since he just publicly got his heart torn to shreds.

The room erupts in chaos once Simon leaves, everyone whispering and staring at him, and Jace’s eyes dart around nervously as his hands fiddle with the edge of his seat. He has no idea what to do, he’s so out of his depth - and he can’t seem to shake the feeling of Simon’s eyes, bright and honest as he’d sang. His voice is so fucking gorgeous, it always distracts Jace.

“What was that?” Alec asks, staring at him. Maia’s glaring at him from where she’s huddled in a corner with Gretel and Izzy and Clary, but that’s nothing new.

“What was what.” Jace says, desperately trying to play it cool. “Nothing’s happening. Simon and I are just friends. Very friendly.”

“Okay.” Alec says, and continues to stare at him like he’s grown a second head. He thinks he hears Izzy humming two bros, singing to each other, five feet apart cause they’re not gay. He wants to tell her to stop, but he’s also afraid of opening his mouth and accidentally blurting out Simon is so pretty and my heart goes a mile a minute around him what do I do?

It’s fine. It’s all fine. He said he was straight, which is just - great. It’s a lie, because he’s out to Alec and Izzy, but whatever. Whatever.

He might be panicking, just a little.

“Well,” Luke says, clearing his throat, “why don’t you all go work in your small groups? This is going to be a two week assignment, so everyone’s performances must be done by Wednesday for the group number next Friday.”

“Next Friday’s the game.” Raphael says shortly, and Alec and Jace nod. Luke cuts them a look.

“I’m well aware.” He says, and they all sheepishly smile. He is their coach, after all, as well as their musical teacher. “It’ll be a pretty laid-back performance, graded only on participation. No big theatrics.” He makes a shooing motion with his hands. “Off you go, work on those serenades.”

Serenades?

As Alec tugs him away, he looks at the board to see that this week’s theme is, in fact, serenades.

Crap.

Simon spends most of the evening curled up in bed, watching Brooklyn 99 on his phone. At least the nerds on that show get dates. Sometime around dinner, the jingle of keys at the door gets his attention, and he looks up in time to see Magnus and Raphael step in and drop their bags off, looking at him expectantly.

“Dinner at Taki’s, remember?” Magnus asks, and Simon groans.

“Go without me.” He waves them off. “Bring me back a milkshake and a hamburger. Please.”

“Simon.” Raphael sighs. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“Sure, if the floor opens and I disappear right now.” Simon moans, and they both look at him, something strange in their eyes.

“Alright.” Magnus finally says. “You get one night to mope, and then tomorrow you’re going to move on. I have a feeling your boy might surprise you.”

“Whatever.” Simon says, already putting his earphones back in and beginning to ignore them. They leave, and he spends another hour like that before a loud knock on the door jolts him out of bed. He sits up and frowns, because he’s still just in his old sweatpants and no shirt, but whatever. Whoever it is gets to deal with sad, mopey Simon.

He immediately regrets that decision when he opens the door to see Jace standing there with take-out bags from Taki’s in his hand. Jace opens his mouth, looks somewhere around Simon’s navel, looks back up his eyes, closes his mouth, and flushes a deep, deep red. Simon manfully resists the urge to shriek and cover his nipples.

“Uh, hey - heyyy, buddy.” Simon says, making finger guns and wincing at himself. “What’s - what’s up?”

“You weren’t at dinner.” Jace says, and now he’s looking at the ceiling, anywhere but Simon, and despite the situation it’s entirely amusing to see Jace talking to the roof. “So I got it to-go for both of us.”

“You uh, you didn’t have to do that.” Simon says, opening the door and letting him in. He darts to the bedroom as Jace sets the food on the counter and grabs a sweater, tugging it on and changing his ratty sweatpants to jeans before coming back out. “Magnus and Raphael were just going to bring me food.”

“Yeah, but I thought that maybe. Maybe we should talk?” Jace says, finally looking at Simon, and it’s so unlike Jace to be like this, unsure and hesitant, and Simon sighs because this is what he wanted to avoid.

“It’s fine, Jace.” he says tiredly, trying to smile at him. “We’re friends, it’s chill, right?”

“Yeah.” Jace says, and then he just blinks at Simon, not saying anything. For one, brief second Simon has the absurd thought that Jace might kiss him - and then it passes, and Simon raises an eyebrow.

“Cat got your tongue?” He asks. Jace looks at him.

“Where are the cats?” He asks, looking around. Simon shrugs.

“Chairman and Church are probably asleep on Magnus’ bed.” He says, and then he smirks. “Afraid they’ll chase you out again?”

“That was once.” Jace says, frowning, and Simon laughs. “Stop laughing, they’re actually devils on earth.”

“They’ve never ran me out.” Simon says, opening the bags of food. “Ooh, curly fries.”

“That’s because you probably feed them catnip, you druggie.” Jace says accusingly. He slaps Simon’s hand away from opening the carton. “Let’s go eat on the Theater terrace.”

“That’s so far.” Simon whines, but he’s already grabbing his coat and his keys. He bites his lip as Jace cautiously peeks into Magnus’ bedroom and makes little cooing noises at the cats in there, thinking that he can pretend well enough that he’s not in love with Jace, but that isn’t going to make it any less true, and that kind of sucks.

“Ready?” Jace asks, looking back at him, and Simon grins and grabs one of the bags, leading both of them out and locking the door.

“Race you there!” He calls cheerfully, and Jace swears at him as Simon bolts off, laughing and cradling the cartons of food to his chest.

“You left me with the drinks!” Jace’s voice calls out accusingly behind him, and Simon cackles as he keeps running through campus to the terrace. It’s mostly empty, save for the sounds of their feet pounding on the pavement as they weave past the student resource buildings and skid to a stop in front of the theater, taking a sharp right turn to collapse onto on of the tables that overlooks the rest of the campus. It’s his and Jace’s spot, one they found a few months ago and always seem to gravitate towards when it’s only the two of them hanging out.

“Mmm, fries.” Simon sighs in happiness as he cracks one of the containers open. “Thanks, dude.”

“No problem.” Jace digs his phone out and starts flicking through it. “Mind if I play some music?”

“Keep it low.” Simon says, gesturing around them. “Don’t want campus police citing us for a noise complaint.”

“So little faith in me.” Jace mutters as he sets his phone down, something classical beginning to slowly play, the melody quiet in the night. “Have I ever steered you wrong?”

“Constantly.” Simon retorts, digging around in the bags and unearthing straws for both of them, sticking one in each of their milkshakes. “Cheers.” Jace silently clinks his cup against Simon’s, smiling slightly at him, and the moonlight catches on his eyelashes; Simon has to look away.

“When?” Jace asks, amused, and Simon snorts incredulously as he unwraps his burger and looks at the campus sprawled below them, lights twinkling here and there.

“Just two weeks ago you convinced me to go swimming at two in the morning. We were both sick for days.” He reminds him, and Jace hums, doesn’t say anything. They eat in silence, for a while, and Simon kicks his feet up on the railing encircling the terrace. It’s quiet, and peaceful; Simon wants to stay like this forever.

He looks over at Jace, who’s been uncharacteristically quiet, only to find him staring back at Simon already, his eyes glittering in the night. Simon smiles, and Jace half-smiles back at him, turning to look over the terrace.

“Yeah, but you always tag along anyway.” He remarks, and Simon laughs.

“I do.” He says. “Brain damage, maybe.”

“That’s never been in question, Lewis.” Jace says, leaning over and rapping his knuckles against Simon’s forehead. “You’re something, alright.”

“Pot, kettle.” Simon says dismissively, and they settle into companionably bickering, comfortable and familiar.

Jace thinks he might slowly be going insane, because Simon’s everywhere. He always is, but this week it’s suddenly more than usual; it feels like Simon is taking up every corner of his mind, drowning out every thought he has with his smile and his laugh and those goddamn bright eyes of his.

“When are you gonna stop pretending you’re straight?” Alec asks him quietly as they make their way to musical performance. They have practice after this, and Jace groans quietly at the thought of how hard Coach Garroway drives them. After next week’s game, they’ll finally get a break. It’s not championships, because they didn’t make it that far, but it’ll determine if they come third or fourth in the league, and that’s still a pretty big deal to them.

“I’m not really preten - hey, I’ll do it when you stop pretending Simon isn’t your friend.” He retorts, pleased with himself for coming up with such a snappy comeback, and Alec pinches the bridge of his nose like he can’t quite believe he’s still talking to Jace.

“I am taking musical performance for him.” He stresses. “What about that makes you think I’d take it for any other reason than not breaking a promise to Lewis?”

“Didn’t he take archery with you?” Jace asks, and Alec shrugs. “Also, didn’t he only recommend this class because that cute chemistry TA is in it?”

“We don’t talk about that.” Izzy’s voice echoes, and they turn to wait for her to catch up. Her hair is wet and she’s in fresh clothes from when she left the apartment this morning; she must have just had cheer practice.

“Where’s your number one fan, a redhead that just watches while you practice because she happens to have a free period?” Alec asks slyly, smirking, and Izzy flushes.

“I just saved you from being interrogated about the chem TA and this is what I get?” She asks, indignant, and Alec laughs and lets her hook an arm in his elbow. She hooks her other arm in Jace’s elbow, dragging them both along, and they bicker the rest of the way to class.

Serenades is still written in large letters over the board, and when they get in, to their surprise Alec makes a beeline for the performance seat. Izzy and Jace raise an eyebrow at him, and he shakes his head.

“Not a word.” He threatens them, but the set of his shoulders is familiar - determination, and when this sort of mood overtakes Alec he doesn’t really back down from it.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Jace says, smiling, as he sinks into one of the seats. Simon skids into class a moment later, breathless as he collapses into the chair next to Jace.

“Whoo, Alec!” He shouts gleefully, and Alec flips him off without looking from where he’s fiddling with the strings of a guitar. “I helped him arrange the piece.”

“Alec! Our Alec!” Izzy sighs theatrically in her seat, slouching backwards and pretending to faint. “It’s so distressing when children grow up - ”

“If he glares any harder at you he’ll break something.” Clary remarks, coming to sit in the row below. Izzy immediately vaults into the same row, neatly sliding into the seat next to her, and Jace watches with a grin as Clary giggles at that.

“Ten bucks says they’ll be together by the end of next week.” Simon says, and Jace eyes him up.

“I’ll take that bet, and say it’s three weeks from now.” Jace says, and they shake on it. Simon’s hand is warm, his palm soft, and Jace is struck with the absurd urge to hold on, to feel the safety of being anchored by the other man.

“Jace?” Simon asks, and Jace blinks, pulling his hand away and sitting up in his chair as Coach Garroway comes in. “You okay there, man?”

“Peachy.” Jace says, nudging Simon companionably. “So what’s Alec singing?”

“Oh man, it’s so great, just really cliche and - ” Simon sighs, running a hand across the top of his hair, something pensive in his face. “It’s one of the sweetest songs I know. I wanted to - well, it doesn’t matter now.”

Garroway calls them all to attention, so Simon turns to face the front, but Jace can fill in the blanks - Simon wanted to sing it, or have it sung to him, and he thought he’d get that but he didn’t, and now he’s given up on the chance and let Alec do the song.

And it’s because of Jace.

Even when Alec starts singing A summer rain is passing over , his voice low and hesitant, all Jace can think of is the look on Simon’s face, the wistfulness in his eyes. From beside him, Simon starts to harmonize, and it makes his heart sink even further in his chest.

Alec hasn’t said that the song is for anyone in particular, but the way he’s looking at Magnus is explanation enough, his eyes surprisingly earnest and determined. Alec always does see things through, unexpectedly persistent, and in this there’s no exception; Magnus has a soft, stunned expression on his face, something terribly vulnerable there that Jace feels like the rest of them aren’t meant to see.

Don’t you know, you stop the room Alec sings, and Jace picks up the melody and absently sings oh, oh after every line, echoing Alec’s baritone. He hears Izzy and Clary harmonizing, reciting the lyrics perfectly, and the entire room seems to be holding it’s breath, only the soft strum of the guitar and various voices weaving across each other.

You must be my once in a lifetime, once in a lifetime echoes through the room, Alec’s chest rising ever so slightly, and it suddenly clicks in Jace’s mind, and he looks at Simon, at his stupidly endearing face and the way he’s entirely absorbed in supporting Alec’s performance and thinks my once in a lifetime.

“No, don’t tell me.” Clary says as she drops into the seat across from Simon. “You’re practicing to be mopey groupie number two in the theater play, and that’s why you’re sitting outside of Jace’s class, waiting for him.”

“I’m sitting here because he asked me to.” Simon says indignantly, marking his place in his jazz composition workbook and setting it aside. “It’s our thing, Wednesday smoothie runs after he finishes class. You know this.” Clary looks at him and raises an eyebrow, sighing.

“You know I love you, Simon, but this seems like you’re just torturing yourself.” She tells him, her voice gentle. “I mean, he… hurt you, didn’t he? Why aren’t you thinking about that at all?” Simon groans and thunks his head down on the table.

“Because I’m a masochist.” He mutters morosely, before he straightens up and regards Clary. “I don’t think… he feels something. If he needs time to work through that, it’s okay. I’ll wait.”

“Simon, I just - you deserve to be happy too.”

“I know.” Simon looks up as the doors of the lecture hall open and students begin to stream out. He and Clary stand, gathering their things. “I’m just not ready yet to give up hope.”

“You have always been an optimist with people.” Clary smiles at him and gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “See you later, Si.”

“Later, Clary.” He says, waving as she walks away, and he turns to see Jace lingering a few steps away, a strange expression on his face.

“What was Clary doing here?” Jace asks instead of a greeting, and Simon gives him a look.

“Hello to you too. Yeah, it’s been a pain waiting in the sun for you, thanks for asking. She just wanted to -”

“If it’s such a pain you’re free to leave.” Jace snaps, his shoulders hunching forward. Simon frowns and reaches a hand out to clasp Jace’s shoulder.

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that.” He says, puzzled at Jace’s reaction. “You all right?”

“Fine.” Jace sighs and looks at Simon, running a hand through his hair. “Smoothies? You wouldn’t believe the stupid question someone asked today.”

“ Try me.” Simon groans, falling step besides the taller man as they make their way across campus. He almost forgets about Jace’s odd behavior as they get their drinks and meander towards the football field, where Jace has practice in another hour, until Jace abruptly brings it up.

“What did Clary want? When she was talking to you when my class ended?” Jace asks, idly leaning against the bleacher stands in the shade. Simon leans on the one opposite to him and makes a face.

“Some very inspirational stuff about being happy.” He says, which technically isn’t a lie. Jace snorts.

“You’re telling me that under the bleachers next to the entire colleges worth of hot dog wrappers and soda cans isn’t your happy place?” He asks sardonically, waving a hand around them. Simon grins and looks down at his smoothie cup, fiddling with the straw.

“You’re right, it’s the happiest place.” He says. “She’s just looking out for me, that’s all.”

“You’re not?” Jace asks, and when Simon looks up he’s suddenly much closer than he was before, having pushed off the bleacher stand and come to a halt right in front of Simon. Past the smell of dirt and metal baking in the sun, he can suddenly smell Jace’s cologne, something mild and vaguely sweet. “Happy, I mean?”

When his eyes meet Jace’s, it feels like all the airs been sucked out of his lungs at the intensity reflected in the blue-brown of Jace’s gaze. He’s drowning, lost in the uncertainty of Jace and whatever’s happening right now, close enough to be able to reach out and touch and take everything he’s ever wanted.

“Jace.” He says, unsure and Jace’s eyes flick briefly to his lips, the glance so fleeting that Simon’s half-sure he imagined it. “I don’t - I - “

He trails off. What is he supposed to say? What does Jace want to hear? What game is he playing?

“She’s right.” Jace says hoarsely, his voice quiet between them. “You deserve to be happy.”

He steps back, and Simon releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, suddenly aching to hold Jace close and never let him go. He misses Jace, which is ridiculous, because he’s right in front of Simon, looking lost and angry.

“I’m gonna head over to the lockers to get to practice early.” Jace says, and there’s a stillness between them that’s never been there before. “Stay and watch the practice? Coach always goes easier when Clary and you are there.” Simon smiles lightly at that, strained, and rubs the back of his neck.

“That’s not true, but sure.” He says. “Gotta study for that econ midterm next week, anyway.”

Jace nods, and they both set off. Simon finds a nice shady spot on the bleachers where he can slouch comfortably and still see the football team practicing over the top of his notebook. Clary finds her way to him when the cheer team starts practicing, humming and flipping through her nearly completed portfolio.

“Here’s the one I was looking for.” She says cheerfully, and she pulls one out to hand to him. He looks up from where he’s been furiously working out a supply-demand problem and squints at her.

“Is today just the day where we all stop greeting Simon Lewis? Hi Simon, how’s your day been? How’s your studying going - “

“Don’t be so dramatic .” She scolds as she insistently pushes the painting at him. He takes it and looks at it silently for a few moments.

“It’s us.” He says finally. “It’s all of us.”

“Mm-hm.” She nods, looking out at the field. “I asked Izzy out, by the way. Accidentally. I asked her to get coffee, she asked ‘As a date?’ and I panicked and said no, then yes.”

“Smooth.” He says, still staring at the painting. They’re all laughing, walking down the quad with their bags slung over their shoulders. Clary and him are at the center, laughing like idiots. Clary’s hair is flying in the wind, her eyes crinkled with amusement as she looks at Izzy, who has an arm slung around her and is grinning. On Izzy’s other side is Alec, explaining something to Magnus, who’s looking at him with an unbearably fond look on his face. And Simon’s -

Simon’s grinning at Jace, dimples showing in full force, and Jace has a half smile on his face, his hand halfway through the process of fixing his hair, shoulder nudging Simon. He feels a sudden, intense wave of longing hit him as he stares at the painting, at the shades of gold and brown streaked through the canvas, at the warm way they’re all looking at each other.

“Look, we’re maybe not…as good at reading signals as we always think we are.” Clary says quietly. She motions at her painting. “But you know, that doesn’t mean it was bad to try.”

“Yeah?” Simon asks, passing the painting back and shading his eyes from the sun as he looks at the field. Luke’s calling out numbers, and they’re all throwing themselves at each other. The cheerleaders are going through their cool down exercises on the other end of the field, Izzy standing at the front and calling out orders.

“I know I told you you deserve to be happy.” Clary says firmly. “And you do . And I just don’t want you and Jace to mess up the happiness you guys do give each other just because you’re reenacting Romeo and Juliet.”

“I really thought I had a chance.” Simon says quietly, staring down at his econ notes again, unseeing. “I still do, he almost - well, I don’t know what he was doing by the bleachers. He looked like he was going to kiss me.”

Clary puts her arm around him and squeezes him tight, her eyes full of sympathy. On anyone else it annoys him, but on Clary, who has only ever wanted him to be happy, it’s alright.

“You’ll get there, yeah?” She says, and he smiles, feeling a little lighter.

“I will.” He agrees, just as Izzy makes her way to them.

“Hey.” She grins at Clary, and waves at Simon. “I know I’m sweaty and we technically haven’t had a first date yet, but mind a kiss on the cheek?”

“Oh,” Clary sighs dramatically as she gets up, “what will my Mama say at the audacity?” Izzy laughs as she presses a kiss to Clary’s cheek, making a loud smacking noise as she pulls away.

“Hey Lewis!” Jace yells from the edge of the field, leaning on the fence that separates the bleachers and the grass. “Did you rig the bet so you would win?”

“Can’t help it if you’re slow on the uptake!” Simon hollers back. “Go shower and give me my ten bucks!”

“You bet on us?” Izzy muses. “I’m disappointed in Jace for betting wrong, honestly. And he calls himself my brother.”

“Ah yes, because we all could have predicted Clary tripping over her own words and accidentally asking you out.” Simon says wisely, tapping his nose, and Clary shoves him as he laughs.

They wait for Jace and Izzy to shower, and then they head to the Lightwood’s apartment, amicably chatting. He and Jace are back to their usual rhythm, with Jace obnoxiously flipping his wet hair in Simon’s direction and spraying him with water. It feels good to be back to solid footing with Jace, but there’s an undercurrent of something he can’t quite place, like he’s tiptoeing on the edge of a precipice, something about to happen to throw him off the cliff.

Jace can’t stop sneaking glances at Simon as they walk back, his heart unnaturally fast in his chest as he takes in the way Simon looks pensive every now and then, like he’s trying to figure something out. Fuck but Jace has got it bad for him, and it’s paralyzing him with indecision. He doesn’t do this whole thing, not really, and now more than ever he wishes he’d had enough courage to say yes to Simon when he’d been serenaded a week ago.

But if there’s one thing he’s never been good with, he thinks, it’s saying yes. He sees the way Clary and Izzy gravitate toward each other on the walk back to the apartment he and Izzy share with Alec, and it feels like a punch in the gut to see the easy way Izzy seems to adjust her heart to vulnerability. It seems like an insurmountable task to him, an impossible thing to let himself be happy with Simon.

Simon , who probably doesn’t even want him anymore; it’s all a moot point anyway since he missed his chance -

“Hey, hey , earth to Jace?” Simon asks. “You in there man?”

“‘Course.” Jace says easily, flicking Simon’s shoulder. “I don’t always have my head in the clouds like some people.”

“ Hey .” Clary and Simon both exclaim at the same time, and Jace snorts as they both look at each other in surprise and indignation. Izzy laughs as she turns the key in the lock and lets them all into the apartment.

“You’re both the worst daydreamers.” She says fondly, moving to clear some of the takeout containers from yesterday’s dinner off the table. “You could do with coming down from there once in a while so you don’t trip over things.”

“I’ll have you know I’m the epitome of grace.” Simon sniffs haughtily as he sprawls into their ratty armchair, the one they bought from a shifty pre-med student who’d clearly been high when he sold to them.

“Well.” Clary hums, scrolling through her phone, but she doesn’t elaborate and Jace slides onto the armrest of the chair Simon’s on and ruffles his hair.

“Remember that one music department performance where you broke their mic stand?” He asks, and Simon makes a face up at him.

“I was panicking .” He says, sighing deeply. There’s clinking from the kitchen, and Izzy comes out with cans of soda, placing them on the counter.

“In case anyone wants one.” She says, and she looks at Clary, who’s staring down at her phone with a thoughtful smile on her face. “What are you doing?”

“Success!” Clary crows at that moment, ignoring Izzy, and she taps her phone and suddenly cheerful guitar music is filtering through the room. The opening chords are familiar, and Jace smiles as Izzy laughs with delight.

“ My head is stuck in the clouds, ” Clary sings, putting her phone down and reaching out to grab Izzy’s hands, “ she begs me to come down, says - girl, quit fooling around .”

“ I told her - “ Simon and Jace interject, Simon enthusiastically bouncing in his seat. Izzy laughs and covers her face with her hands, a flush creeping onto her face, as Clary continues “ I love the view from up here, warm sun, and wind in my ear - “

“We’ll watch the world from above,” they sing together, “ as it turns to the rhythm of love .”

They look expectantly at Izzy, who sighs and removes her hands from her face, smiling shyly at Clary, and sliding her hands around her waist.

“We may only have tonight ,” She sings, launching into the chorus, picking Clary up and spinning her as Clary laughs in delight . Jace can’t stop the warm feeling from spreading in his chest as he sees his sister happy, the way they can’t seem to hold back the emotion on their faces, and it wells up in him, a fountain of hope that’s sudden and uplifting.

“ But till the morning sun,” He harmonizes, jumping up and spreading his arms wide, winking at Simon and pointing, “ you’re mine, all mine .”

“ Play the music low ,” Simon grins, getting into it and jumping to stand on the armchair, one hand clutched to his heart and the other reaching out to Jace standing on the floor, “ and sway to the rhythm of love .”

It’s Clary and Izzy’s song, no doubt, as Clary prettily serenades an overjoyed Izzy; but as he and Simon leap around the room and reenact the most dramatic poses they can think of, at one point simply chasing each other around the dinner table while singing backup for Clary, Jace begins to think that maybe - just maybe - he can do this.

The fact that Simon is playing around at all, that he’s gamely letting Jace spin him as they chorus oh, oh, oh to Clary’s she rises, up, like the tide - the moment her lips meet mine , his eyes sparkling with laughter and his hair in disarray, is a testament to the kind of person Simon Lewis is , the kind that always shelves his own feeling so everyone can be happy . He’s so brave, and strong, and Jace’s heart stutters in his chest, almost coming to a complete standstill when Simon brushes his fingers against the inside of Jace’s wrist and sings lowly play the music low .

The door opens as they sing the last line of the second chorus and Alec and Magnus step through, looking briefly confused, before Magnus’ eyes light up at the song that’s being played.

“ When the moon is low,” He immediately sings, the timbre of his voice rich and melodic as he turns and pulls Alec closer, “ We can dance in slow motion .” Alec grins, soft and surprised, and they join the others in the living room, swaying together as Clary tenderly cups Izzy’s face for the last few lines of the bridge.

The six of them go out for drinks that night, to toast to Izzy and Clary, and Maia and Raphael join them when they get to the bar. They’re all crammed into a corner booth, pressed against each other and loudly detailing every instance where Clary and Izzy flirted with each other, much to the chagrin of the couple in question. Clary is hiccuping into her glass of beer, mournfully insisting that she’s not blind, and Alec, who’s actually managed to get some alcohol into his system, is trying to solemnly inform her that it’s because she’s too short to really see anything going on at an adult eye level.

“Well she’s my little hobbit, so there.” Izzy says triumphantly to her brother, but this sets off another round of a weepy Clary wailing that she doesn’t want curly hair on her feet, and Simon’s almost choking with laughter at this point. He’s only a little buzzed, trying to keep his drinking to a minimum as he sips patiently at his own glass of beer, and Jace seems to be doing the same, pressed up against Simon’s side and eagerly heckling drunk Clary.

“You’re the perfect height for Simon to use as a mic stand.” Jace says thoughtfully, and Simon nearly chokes on his laughter.

“What, Jace, like you’re the perfect height to use as a pillow to sleep on?” Simon asks, laughing. Jace puffs his chest out proudly.

“You can’t sleep on this,” He says, gesturing to all of himself and nearly hitting Maia in the face, “it’s all muscles . It’d be like sleeping on a hardwood floor.”

“Is that what you call it when you get excited? A hardwood floor?” Maia asks, wiggling her eyebrows and leering at Jace. They all chorus with laughter, hollering and making a nuisance of themselves as the loudest table in the bar tonight.

“You’re all horrible.” Jace sighs, and he looks at Simon as Simon starts climbing over everyone stuffed in the booth. “Where are you going?”

“Restroom.” Simon says as he tumbles out of the booth and unsteadily straightens up. They all holler at him as he leaves, and he grins, making his way to the corner of the bar.

On the way back, he sees Alec at the bar counter and detours to him, propping his chin on his hands and staring up at the taller man.

“Hey, hello, wassup.” He says confidently, and Alec snorts.

“Are you drunk?” He asks, and Simon shrugs.

“Very, very, lightly buzzed.” He responds, and he squints at Alec. “You’re not?”

“Sobered up.” Alec agrees. “Just ordering Magnus a drink.”

“ Yeah you are.” Simon grins, winking as he nudges Alec, and Alec half-smiles even as he groans.

“What does that even mean ?” He asks Simon, and Simon shrugs, eyes tracing the bright blue alcohol on the shelf behind the bar, wondering what it is.

“It means I’m happy for you guys.” He says, and it comes out more wistful than he meant it to, more melancholy, and Alec frowns.

“Listen,” he starts, “about Jace - “

“It’s fine.” Simon hunches his shoulders feeling like all he does these days is repeat that mantra. “ Really .”

“No, I mean - look, I know I don’t say this very often, but - Jace didn’t know what he was doing.” Alec says, his voice low.

“When does he ever? You say that all the time.” Simon smirks, and Alec cuts him a look.

“I’m serious.” Alec says softly. “You deserve to be happy.”

There’s a crash, and Alec and Simon both look behind them to see Jace standing there, a glass shattered on the floor by his feet. He looks like he’s been hit by a car, his eyes wide and shocked, and his hands clenched in fists.

“Jace - “ Alec starts, but Jace turns on his heel and walks away faster than either of them can predict; they’re left standing there, stunned, staring at the empty space where Jace was standing only seconds ago.

Jace can’t seem to get his mind to work on anything except running an endless loop of Alec telling Simon You deserve to be happy . It just seems so - so simple. He was the one that hurt Simon, that made Simon think that he couldn’t have happiness. What right does he have to even look Simon’s way right now?

Alec and Clary - and possibly the rest of the group - are all right; Simon deserves to have everything and Jace isn’t a part of that future. He can’t comprehend how he thought he ever deserved to be. Simon deserves someone who isn’t afraid, someone who can show affection without fucking it up like Jace does, someone who will adore him and be reliable for him. Jace is none of those things.

He reaches the apartment quicker than normal, taking the last block at almost a run. He jams his key into the lock, cursing loudly when the key doesn’t turn. He feels stupid and small, humiliated for no reason at all.

“ Fuck !” He shouts, slamming his hand against the door. “Fuck.” He whispers, quieter.

“ Jace !” He hears Alec’s voice call, and he whirls around to face his brother.

“What?” he asks shortly.

“Why did you run off?” Alec asks. “You okay?”

“Fine.” Jace says through gritted teeth, and Alec gives him a look and sighs, but he doesn’t prod. Jace isn’t even sure if he wants Alec to prod. Alec moves to the door and unlocks it, letting them both through. There’s silence through the apartment as Jace sheds his jacket and shoes, slumping onto the sofa.

Alec appears with a bottle of water and hands it to him, and he grunts his thanks as he drinks the whole thing down. They sit next to each other, pensive, until Alec breaks the silence.

“How much did you hear?” Alec asks. Jace shifts uncomfortably, his mouth twisting into a frown as he remembers.

“Just you telling Simon he deserves to be happy.” He looks at Alec and adds “I’m not angry at you or anything. Simon does .”

“Then what had you running away?” Alec asks quietly. Jace twists the Herondale ring between his fingers, rubbing his finger against the cool metal.

“ I was the one that said no to him.” Jace says, his voice low. “I hurt him, and everyone else is right - he deserves to be happy with someone else.”

“Jace - “

“And I’m just so angry that I can’t be that person for him.” Jace finishes, clenching his jaw. “It makes me furious at myself.”

“ Jace .” Alec sounds exasperated now, and when Jace looks at him Alecs’s got a fond look on his face. “Before you heard us, I told Simon that you hadn’t known what you were doing.”

“I - “

Alec shifts closer to him on the sofa and shakes his head. “Stop beating yourself about it. Simon never wanted you to do anything more than you were comfortable with. You can still make him happy.”

“But he deserves - “ Jace tries, and Alec pinches his arms, hard.

“He deserves you .” Alec says. “So go be yourself.”

Simon slouches into his seat in musical performance, frowning when he sees that Jace isn’t there. Figures.

He’s not sure what’s going through Jace’s head right now, but he wants to be there for Jace and help him through it - and he would, if it weren’t for the fact that Jace isn’t responding to any calls or messages, and Alec told Simon to ‘give him some time’ when he stopped by the Lightwood apartment.

Everything in Simon is screaming to hold Jace, to comfort him, and God - he really is in love with Jace. Nothing can stop that, apparently.

“Don’t mope so much.” Meliorn says as he slides into the seat next to Simon. “Over one boy, and Jace at that? You can do better.”

“ That’s not the advice we said we’d give him.” Raphael says, sitting down next to Meliorn and looking supremely annoyed. “We discussed this. This - “

“Well it’s true . Have you seen Jace? Isabelle is really the only one - “

“You’re still upset that Jace did better than you in that anthropology class, let it go Meliorn - “

“This has been the best advice I’ve received yet about the whole thing.” Simons says, laughing, even as Raphael scowls at him and Meliorn smiles serenely. “You guys are the best.”

“It’s - oh, he’s here. Good, I wasn’t sure what to say.” Meliorn says, and Simon turns to see Jace walk into class, the last person to come in.

Jace looks unfairly good, like always. It makes a fierce urge rise in Simon to dig his fingers into Jace’s shoulders and never let go, and when Jace looks at him like that, eyes piercing and clear, the emotion in his chest overflows. How can he keep going like this? It’s - torturous .

“We’re going to have a shorter class today, everyone,” Luke says, clapping his hands and breaking Simon out of his reverie. Jace is still lounging by the door, fiddling with the strap of his backpack. “We’ve got one last serenade left, and then I’m going to leave early because the game’s been pushed up by half an hour, and I need my players to be ready. We’ll push the group number to Monday. Jace?”

Surprised, Simon turns to see Jace walk forward, tossing his bag in a chair and gripping the mic stand. He’s standing tall and proud, staring right at Simon, and Simon can feel the beginnings of an adrenaline rush thrumming through his veins as everyone shifts around him, throwing little smiles and whispering as they stare at Simon. They all know something he doesn’t.

“This one is for Simon.” Jace says, his voice steady, and Simon lets out a half-whispered what because suddenly music is playing from the speakers, and Jace’s face is open and terribly vulnerable; Simon can’t breathe .

“ I breathe in slow to compose myself,” Jace starts, his voice low and rich, his lips turned up at the corners as he looks at Simon, “ but the beating heart I left on the shelf started speeding round, beating half to death, cause you’re here and you’re - “ He pauses and closes his eyes, and around Simon everyone else finishes the line, a soft chorus of all mine echoing around the room.

He’s dreaming. He has to be, he thinks, as the sunlight streams into the room suddenly, appearing from behind clouds and making Jace’s golden hair glow like a halo around his face.

“ So I press my lips down into your neck ,” Jace is singing, and Clary and Maia have joined in on harmony now, their voices rising and falling seamlessly through Jace’s tune, “ and I stay there, and I reconnect - bravery - “

He opens his eyes and looks straight at Simon, and then he shakes his head fondly, singing “ I’ve been trying to be perfect - it can wait for a while. ”

Alec’s voice joins in now, accompanying Jace as they sing scared of the hope in my head, it’s been making me sweat, but it turns out - and then Izzy jumps in, her hand tangled loosely with Clary’s as she adds you’re here with your head on my chest, I should’ve guessed .

Everyone looks at him, smiling, and Simon bites his lip, his heart thundering his ribcage as Jace breaks out in a helpless smile.

The music swells to a crescendo then, and everyone - even Meliorn and Raphael - chorus “ The world will turn, and we’ll grow, we’ll learn, how to be,” They sweep their hands out, clasping the hands of partners and friends as they all sing “ to be incomplete.”

It’s loud, deafening almost, and even Luke is smiling at him. Jace walks towards Simon, his hands in his pockets, not even bothering with a mic as everyone repeats the chorus around them, his voice rising clearly above it all.

“ I don’t wanna look down ,” He sings fiercely, his eyes alive as they fix on Simon’s, “ I don’t want us to break up in the clouds, all I want is to stay us, to stay with you now. ”

He’s almost in front of Simon, his voice strong as he repeats the bridge over the rest of the room’s chorus, the music a crashing symphony of guitar and piano twining together to create a sound that’s large and hopeful , warm in the same way Jace’s smile is as he sings to Simon.

Simon stands, half unsure of what he’s going to do, as Jace comes to his seat, and his heart is ready to fly out of his chest as everyone sings, jumping across chairs and matching pitch with each other as best as they can. It’s wild, and raucous, and full of the kind of spirit that only their motley assortment of friends can have; Raj is breakdancing to the song on the floor, egged on by Lydia, but Simon couldn’t care less at the sight of Jace in front of him, genuine and so very real . Alec and Izzy have their phones out, filming, and Clary is shooting them both a thumbs up.

“ And the world will turn,” Jace sings, joining in on the last chorus, “ and we’ll grow, we’ll learn how to be, to be incomplete.” Everyone else’s voices fade out, and he continues quietly to Simon, “ This here now, it’s where we touch down, you and me - “

He pauses, exhales, and continues, his voice quiet.

“ Let’s be incomplete .”

Applause erupts after Jace finishes his song, and someone is wolf-whistling, but all he can look at is Simon, who’s staring at him with wide brown eyes, teeth worrying at his bottom lip. Jace smiles.

“I’m not straight.” He says, and from somewhere behind him he hears Alec and Clary snicker and Magnus sigh, but he shrugs his shoulders and continues. “And I, uh, wanna know if you still want to try this. I like you, more than you could know, and if I can make you happy, I will.” He takes a deep breath, and tries to quell his beating heart.

“Just think about it, okay?” He says, and Simon looks stunned, floored by the revelation.

“Jace - “ He says, but Jace shakes his head and smiles.

“Think about it.” He repeats, and then he’s running down the stairs and grabbing his bag, walking out of the classroom and down the hallway towards the field for the game. He can feel energy pulsing through his blood, like a shot of morphine in his veins, and he’s grinning, unable to stop thinking about Simon.

“ Hey .” Alec calls, and Jace turns to see Alec and Raphael power walking to catch up with him. “Jace, why’d you run away again ?”

Jace shrugs, fiddles with his ring as he turns and they all keep walking. He’s still smiling, which is probably why Alec and Raphael are looking at him with curiosity and now with worry.

“He shouldn’t say yes to me just because I sang to him.” Jace says. “I just wanted to give him a chance to process it. I know he gets overwhelmed too.”

“You care about him.” Raphael says, a hint of surprise in his voice, and the unspoken you care that much isn’t lost on Jace. Jace nods, and Raphael looks marginally pleased. “It was a good serenade for Simon.”

And hearing those words out loud, that he just serenaded Simon , makes it even more real, the dreamlike quality of his performance slipping away as he giddily remembers how gorgeous and happy Simon had looked, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Jace wants to be the reason for that happiness, and he just - loves Simon so much that he knows this is it. He’d wait, like Simon did, if he had too. Simon is worth it. Simon is worth everything .

But he pushes that out of his mind and focuses on the game. It’s slightly nerve-wracking to play, because they’ve worked hard all season and the other team fights dirty, with the refs biased towards them. By the end of the first half Alec has to physically pull Raj away from punching the ref too many times to count, and Raphael is slowly and methodically making his way through every curse word in the Spanish language. Jace, sweating underneath his helmet, looks past the bright stadium lights to where a small group of people are holding a banner that says Lightwould you win for us? and smiles, because he can make out a tiny spec with brown hair that he assumes is Simon. He grins to himself, thumps his teammate on the back, and locks eyes with Alec.

“Let’s do this.” He says.

They play harder, faster, rougher than they’ve played in a long time. Dimly, Jace thinks that if they play like this next year they could probably make it to the championships next year. He’s too busy listening for Alec’s commands and tracking the action around him to think too hard about it though, and he grits his teeth and powers through the ache in his back and left knee. They’re going to fucking win this, they have to -

“And Santiago is racing down the field for the tie-breaking touchdown - will he make it? - Second left on the clock folks - Lightwood blocks an intercept - another one - he’s almost there! Santiago’s almost - TOUCH DOWN!!”

The team erupts into cheers, streaming onto the field to Raphael, who throws his helmet off and actually grins , with teeth, at the enemy team, hissing at them, before he’s hoisted onto the shoulders of their teammates. Jace manages to clap him on the back before the rest of the crowd of fans and teammates swallow him up, and he finds himself by Alec and Raj. They’re exuberant , and they can’t stop laughing and high-fiving each other.

“Look.” Raj says suddenly, shouting, and Jace turns to see Simon making his way onto the field, straight towards them. Jace takes a step forward, his eyes lighting up, and then he hesitates.

“Go get him.” Alec encourages.

Jace tears down the field, his muscles burning as he pushes them past his exhausted limit and runs towards Simon. Simon starts walking faster, half-running, as he sees Jace do so too.

“Jace,�� Simon yells, grinning, “you were amazing, it was awesome, you’re - “

Jace crashes into Simon and sweeps him up, spinning him around in a hug and setting him down. Simon clings to Jace tightly, his hands finding purchase on the back of Jace’s neck, cool against Jace’s overheated skin, and Jace fists his hands in the front of Simon’s shirt, suddenly breathless at the feeling of broad muscle underneath him.

“Yes?” Jace asks, his lips inches from Simon’s. Simon rolls his eyes.

“Yes.” He says firmly, and then he yanks Jace down and Jace pulls him forward and they’re kissing , hard and fast and messy. Simon swipes his tongue against Jace’s lips and Jace instantly parts them, leaning in hungrily, letting Simon devour him, entirely too filthy for the very public football field. He can’t bring himself to care and he doesn’t think Simon can either, by the way that Simon lets out a low groan and slides his hand up to fist in Jace’s hair, yanking out his hasty hair tie and tangling his fingers in the sweaty strands. Simon pulls , and Jace lets out a sharp breath as his head is forced back and Simon skims his teeth over the line of Jace’s jaw, following it with a soft kiss to the underside of his chin -

“Can we keep it PG-13?” a voice asks, and they break apart to see Magnus and the rest of the gang strolling over, all smiling at them.

“Get a room.” Clary heckles cheerfully, and Jace tightens his grip around Simon’s waist.

“Absolutely not. The world is our room.” He says immediately, impatiently blowing away the strands of hair that have begun to fall in his face. Simon absently reaches over and tucks the offending hair behind his ear.

“Oh no.” Alec bemoans as money begins to exchange hands and they all cash in on the betting pool for Jace and Simon. “Oh no no no , you’re going to be that couple.”

“We sure are.” Simon agrees, smacking a kiss on Jace’s cheek. Jace thinks he’ll remember this forever; Simon, looking at him like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be than here, holding Jace’s hand.

Simon wakes up on Saturday to a warm weight on his shoulder, hair tickling his neck. He rubs his eyes blearily and squints down at the vaguely Jace-shaped blob on his chest, smiling hazily as he strokes his other hand down Jace’s bare back, following the dip and curve of the other man’s spine. Jace makes a noise and nestles deeper into Simon’s shoulder, grumbling.

“It’s almost eleven, we have to go to brunch with your siblings and their significant others.” Simon says as he blindly feels for his glasses on the nightstand and slides them on. Jace comes into sharper focus, eyes crusted with sleep as he screws them shut and tightens his fingers against Simon’s waist.

“They can starve and we can order room service.” Jace mumbles. “And then we can have sex again and again.”

“This is an apartment building, not a hotel, we’re the ones that’ll starve, and we’re not having sex until we study for midterms.” Simon groans, pinching Jace’s arm in retaliation. “Stop trying to be a bad - “

“ Midterms .” Jace hisses, and he sits up suddenly in a wild panic, blinking down at a bemused Simon. “It’s Saturday, isn’t it.” Simon sits up too, laughing as he nods, and Jace throws the nearest pillow at him.

“Stop, stop, this bed isn’t big enough for us to have a pillow fight.” Simon manages to get out as he smothers his laughter with the pillow. Jace sighs, looks upward briefly like he’s praying for strength, then takes the pillow from Simon and tosses it to the side, swinging his leg over Simon’s lap and straddling him in one smooth move.

“But it is big enough for other things.” He says, waggling his eyebrows, and Simon grins and leans forward to kiss him, morning breath be damned, unable to help himself, smoothing his thumb across the skin right above the waistband of Jace’s sleep pants. Jace makes a satisfied noise and drags his hand through the hair on Simon’s chest, tracing nonsensical patterns across his stomach.

They kiss for a while, slow and lazy, time seeming to come to a syrupy standstill in the warm morning light as they move together, hands skimming across soft skin. Eventually, Simon pulls away and looks at Jace fondly.

“I still can’t believe this is real, wow .” He says, and Jace smirks at him.

“Better believe it, Lewis.” He says, tilting his head and running his thumb across Simon’s lower lip. His expressions changes then, something more serious flitting across his face, and he carefully cradles Simon’s face in his hands. “I’m sorry. For making you wait. It was stupid of me.”

“Not stupid.” Simon says immediately. He draws Jace closer to him, and he sighs happily at the warm feeling of waking up to the sun decorating his boyfriend’s skin like this. “You’ve always been worth the wait.”

“You mean so much to me.” Jace whispers to him, and they’re kissing again, fiercer and deeper, pouring their hearts into it, until their phones ring shrilly with alarms and Magnus yells at them from the living room to get moving. As they’re getting dressed, Simon looks over at Jace and grins.

“But I’m never letting you forget the time you yelled out I’m straight!! to an entire room of people who knew that you were no heterosexual, no sir.” He says, and then yelps as Jace throws another pillow.

“It’s on Lewis.” Jace says, smirking, and then he’s chasing Simon out of the room, and they’re both laughing, and it’s perfect. It’s perfect.

#jimon #jace wayland #simon lewis #shadowhunters #glee au #it's done!! i meant for this to be maybe 3k or 4k but l m a o #i miss the good parts of glee #:(#when will they have a musical episode of shadowhunters #like a full musical one #anyway i hope everyone enjoys #also i love anne #who i wrote this for #just so everyone knows #i write sometimes

85 notes · View notes