Love Again - Simon and Isabelle (A Mortal Instruments fanfic)

3} A chance

"What the he*l, Jace?" Isabelle hissed at him the moment he had shut the doors to the Institute, letting Simon make his way back home. Even if Simon had his ear pressed to the door, Isabelle doubted that he would be able to hear them, but shadowhunters were trained to not take chances- most of them actually follow that policy, unlike her adopted brother.

"What?" Jace asked, calmer than ever. He had turned his conceded attitude on when Simon had been here, though Isabelle knew that he always had loved putting on a show.

"I think you know what." She retorted coldly. Isabelle could feel her blood pressure rising, she wasn't very fond of him being arrogant when he knew that she was not in the mood for his acting. To her frustration, Jace turned away, starting down the corridor.

"Actually I don't, not everyone can read minds, Izzy." Jace answered, slightly smug. Even though he knew just how dangerous she could be when she got angry- she had slaughtered enough demons to last a lifetime, well maybe not her lifetime specifically (it was surprisingly satisfying to feel a head disconnect from its body)- he still like to push her to the edge. If not over.

"You don't have to, there are warlocks to do that for you."

"Magnus doesn't do everything, you know."

"So he wasn't the one responsible for this." Isabelle translated. Her voice was snappy and just a tad hostile. She was getting annoyed with his nature of not being straight-forward. When they were younger, it was intriguing. But as of now, it was a nuisance. In fact, Jace was clear-cut in pretty much only two situations: when he was accepting that he was about to die, (then gets miraculously saved- not that she was complaining) or in the rare moments that he is emotionally open and vulnerable. Obviously Clary got to see that side of him more than Isabelle.

Speaking of Jace's lover, when they stepped through the doors and entered the library, she spoke up.

"Actually, it was me." Clary admitted, she had probably gotten fed up with Isabelle grilling her boyfriend. At the news, Isabelle stopped and whirled towards the smaller girl.

"Why?" She inquired, not completely shocked, but still angry nonetheless. After all, she doubted that Jace or Alac would want to deal with Simon in their home. Isabelle knew that Clary missed her best friend and that she yearned to have him back in her life as soon as possible. And a part of Isabelle did too. But she was conflicted and they all knew that. In a way, Simon had hurt her most. They knew that for the time being, she wanted to keep her distance from him. And being the closest people to her, she thought that they should at least respect that.

"He wanted to come, Magnus thought that it might help him regain his memories faster." Clary explained quietly.

"Yeah, Jace already told me that." Isabelle informed her, trying to keep her cool. She saw Clary glance behind her, Isabelle knew that she was silently communicating to Jace and gave them a few moments to sort their story out. The better their explination, the less chance of her acting out when she didn't want to.

"We, well I kind of ....um.....I might have..." Clary cast her eyes down, not willing to look at her.

"Spit it out." Isabelle's words were harsh, but her tone was soft. Clary glanced at Jace. He casually had his line of sight glued to the nearby shelf, where the weapons books were stored. He had no need to look at them, as they had all memorized every title, chapter and bit of content during their years of training.

"I.....I went to the Clave." Clary finally told her. "And told them about Simon." Isabelle started to shake her head, not wanting to hear what the Council had said. But Clary, not able to see her, continued. "They said that he could train. That he could train here, with us." Isabelle already knew this, of coarse. Clary finally had the courage to look up.

"Why with us? Why here? Can't they send him somewhere else?" Isabelle complained, though she knew that her words were naïeve.

"Isabelle," Clary put a hand on her arm, she was gentle and warm. "He is our responsibility. We brought him back into this world. Besides, Simon wants to be here." Isabelle slowly shook her head in disaproval.

"He shouldn't. He's making all the wrong choices and you.....you guys are helping him." Isabelle tried to lock eyes with both of them. Clary looked defiant. Jace still wouldn't take his eyes off the shelf. The coward.

"Izzy, you know that you can't shut him out forever." Clary pleaded. But Isabelle was as stubborn as Jace was when her emotions were unclear, her feelings blending in with eachother.

"So?" She retorted, telling herself that she saw nothing wrong with trying.

"So you should accept that."

"I do!"

"No, you don't. At least.....you haven't." Jace told her quietly. So he finally dares to speak huh? She felt a collum of rage flare up inside her. Who was he to tell her what she has and hasn't accepted?

"You don't know that." Her voice was suddenly cold. Often when she was filled with fire, she turned dangerously calm, icy.

"I do." Jace replied slowly, his voice just as hard, just as cold.

"How." Isabelle questioned, almost afraid to hear the answer. But she wanted to know just how the others viewed her.

This time Clary was the one who replied.

"Because you are trying to shut him out. You wish that the world would stop spinning, so you wouldn't have to face him. I know that this is a mess, but it wasn't his fault that you guys got disconnected. He wants to try to rebuild himself again. You should at least give him a chance." Isabelle had started moving toward the hall. She seemed to have lost control of her body, she wasn't thinking about where she was going, her legs seemed to have minds of their own. Voices were whispering in her head, they were conflicting, a swirling vortex of words and phrases, taking up all the room in her head.

She burst into her room and slammed the door shut. Her legs gave out and she slid down with her back to the door, bringing her knees up to her chest and scrunching her body up into a tight ball. Isabelle got that feeling again, the sense that came upon her right before she was pulled into a huricane of memories. The sense that she had tried so hard for the past few months to escape from. Then she felt her self sucked into the past.

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Eventually it was over, her mind had chewed her up and spit her out. Isabelle's hands were trembling, her body was numb. She was suddenly completely drained. Though there had been no physical stress, her mind needed to rest.

Somehow she made her way to her bed and immediately started to feel the calm pressure of sleep fog up her mind. She welcomed it. At the edge of conciousness, Clary's voice somehow came back to her and it became the last thing her concious mind held on to.

Give him a chance.

And her last coherent thought was;

I will.