secrets

two

-SIMON-
______

I watch Clary dance with this random man. They're way too close to each other.

Fed up with her, I turn my attention away when I spot a woman sitting alone.

I don't pay much attention to her, until she stands up and walks over to order another drink.

I do a double take. She is beautiful. Strikingly beautiful.

She has wavy hair, all of it messily placed into a bun. She has flawless skin, and a perfect hourglass figure. There's no way she's single.

Knowing I have zero chance with her, I turn away. She isn't really my type anyway, I guess.

An hour goes by as I people watch, and the longer I go without looking at her, the greater the urge to talk to her gets.

Without giving myself a chance to think it through, I walk over to her and ask if she's here alone.

She turns around, allowing me to see her face closer and more detailed.

She has mesmerizing green eyes and beautiful porcelain skin. I completely let go of my brunette and dark eyes preference.

She shakes her head in response to my question, and in that moment, I realize there is such thing as love at first sight.

______

"Let's get out of here." I say to her, my hand around her waist.

She smells like vanilla and I love it.

"I would love to, but I came here with my friend. I don't want to leave her alone."

I try to hide my disappointment, but I fail. She gives me a look of empathy, and apologizes. Then she says, "I could give you my number and we can go out sometime."

I nod and smile. "That sounds great." She writes a number down on a napkin and hands it to me. As if she thinks I can't love her more, she plants a gentle kiss on my cheek and waves bye. Stunned, I watch her walk back to her friend. She turns around once, catching my eye, and she smiles.

I need to wake up to that smile every day.

______

Clary walks into the room, her long hair looking tousled and her eyes heavy with sleep.

"What happened last night?" She asks.

"You tell me." I say flatly.

"That guy is years younger than me, it would be weird to be with him. I was just dancing with him out of pity."

"Oh, really? It didn't seem like that to me."

She nods. "I know. I didn't want to seem like I was faking it. He seemed sad and he told me his girlfriend had broken up with him."

Adele.

"He's a liar!" I shout, getting out of bed.

"What are you talking about? You don't even kn-"

"Oh, but I do, Clary. I do. I talked with his ex last night. She was so heartbroken. He broke up with her, not the other way around. He told her he was in love with you. And you know what?"

Knowing I'm right, she looks at the floor and quietly says, "What?"

"You're in love with him."

"I am not!" She yells.

"You are too! And I'm in love with her, so we're all winners here!" I shout.

She looks up at me with solemn eyes. I suddenly feel bad.

"Y-you are?" She asks.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"I am."

"Please tell me that's not true." She says, walking over to me and taking my hand.

I look into her shiny dark eyes, remembering all the feelings I had for her. They're still there, whether I want them to be or not.

She kisses me, and I let her. That had to mean something.

"Choose, Simon. Be honest with yourself. You have to decide if you're in love with me, or if you're in love with a woman you talked to for five minutes."

"So much happened in those five minutes, Clary."

"Make your choice." She softly says.

I can see the napkin with Adele's number on it lying on my nightstand. I picture her beautiful, young face. Can I let her go?

"Ok. Ok, I've made my choice. It's you, baby. Always you."

She smiles.

Simon, you idiot.