"LYDIA?!"
"Y/N, just listen to me!" Alec argues, his hands slipping into yours.
You pull away, shoving him, "Did you kiss her? Huh?!"
Alec stares at you, swallowing hard, "Y/N..."
"DID YOU SLEEP WITH HER?!"
Alec stays silent and you right hook him in the face before you can help yourself. He barely moves, his jaw clenched as he rubs at it, "You need to listen to me."
"No, fuck you," you spit, shoving past him.
"Y/N!" he spins you around by your arm, "Just let me explain."
You shove him away, storming out of the room.
"Why didn't you tell her that we didn't sleep together?" Lydia asks, appearing in the doorway.
"It'll make it easier for her to let me go if she thinks we did," Alec sighs, running his fingers through his hair.
"Trust me, that'll only hurt her more," Lydia smiles slightly, "Go after her at least."Alec nods, turning around but you're nowhere in sight.
—————————————————————————————————-
"Really? Day drinking?" Jace scoffs as he takes a seat beside you, "And in a graveyard?"
"Yeah," you sigh, sipping from the bottle.
Jace slowly unravels your grip around it, pulling it away, "I think you've had enough."
"I'm not drunk."
"Yeah but you're crying and I know you'd never do that sober," he smiles warmly and you lay your head on his shoulder.
"They're engaged," you croak.
"I heard."
"He couldn't even tell me why. At first I thought it was because his mother didn't like me but when I asked him if they slept together – Jace, he couldn't even look at me."
"He wouldn't do that to you," Jace reassures you, squeezing your hand slightly.
"Are you sure? Because I never thought he'd secretly get engaged to someone but here we are," you inhale deeply, "If not for Izzy telling me, I wouldn't have found out."
"He would have told you..."
"When? At his engagement party tonight? Or maybe he was going to wait until the night before his wedding, hoping I wouldn't find out."
"Y/N..."
"It's okay – I'm over it," you sigh, rubbing your nose as you sniffle.
"I know you better than that," Jace mumbles, his thumb tracing circles into your hand, "You don't have to act strong."
"I know – but I have to be strong. There's no time for this with Valentine being back."
"Y/N..."
You clear your throat, standing up and dusting off your jeans before stumbling slightly.
Jace catches you by your elbow, "Still going with that not drunk story?"
You can't help but smile, "Don't test me Jace. Drunk or not, I can still kick your ass," you smirk.
"That's cute," he chuckles, helping you to stand, "Tell me that when you're not falling over."
"Shut up," you giggle, shoving his chest playfully.
Jace cups your face in both hands, wiping away tears, "You'll be okay."
You nod slowly before you both turn around, at the sound of someone clearing their throat.
"Alec," Jace states, pulling away from you.
"I'll see you around Jace," you smile at him, walking past Alec.
"Y/N," Alec says in frustration, catching you by your wrist and you struggle against his grip.
"Do you mind giving us a moment?" Alec asks and Jace nods, looking at you apologetically before leaving.
"Let me go!" you yell, kicking under Alec's legs, causing him to tumble to the floor, pulling you down with him.
As you pull yourself up, Alec pulls you back down, pinning you to the floor as he hovers over you.
"WOULD YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME?!"
"DON'T TOUCH ME ALEC!" you scream, struggling against him.
A moment later, Jace was pulling Alec off you, "Enough, both of you!" he yells.
Alec's eye widen as he watches you rub at the marks on your wrist, "I'm sorry – I didn't mean to hurt you, I just-"
"Yeah, you never do," you spit, walking off.
"What the hell is wrong with you man?" Jace asks as Alec's gaze trails after you.
"I don't know," he sighs, before he turns to Jace, "What were you two doing out here?"
"She was getting herself drunk over you – I was just trying to get her home," Jace explains and Alec nods in understanding.
"Why Lydia? Why get engaged to Lydia? What does she have over you?"
"Nothing."
"Then it's true? You slept with her?!"
Once again Alec stays silent, his eyes on the floor.
Jace inhales sharply, "You've got to be kidding me!" he throw his hands up in the air, "You did not throw away someone like y/n for a one night stand with someone like Lydia."
"I'm getting married to 'someone like Lydia'," Alec reminds him and Jace scoffs.
"Oh, that's right. You slept with her once so now you have to marry her. Yeah, sure, that makes complete sense."
"Can't you just try understand?""I'm not the one who needs convincing, Alec! That girl has done nothing but love you. She almost died for you!"
"Do you think I don't know that?!"
"Then why?!" Jace steps closer, "Why do this to her? It doesn't make any sense."
"Because I have to! It's what's right. I need to marry Lydia to create a balance! It's the right thing!" Alec yells.
"You're doing this for your family?" Jace mumbles and Alec shakes his head, "I'm doing this because of my family. Our parents were Circle members, Jace."
"So?"
"So, I'm doing what's necessary!"
"Are you listening to yourself?"
"It doesn't matter. Y/N will understand," Alec states, "She has to understand."
"She won't," Jace replies, his jaw clenched, "I sure as hell don't."
—————————————————————————————————-
"Y/N!"
"Simon!" you squeal as he pulls you into a hug, twirling you around before cringing, "Why do you smell like a bar?"
"Probably because I hit all of them on the way here."
"What's going on?"
"Nothing," you force a smile, "I do, however, want to know if there are any cool down worlder parties you could sneak me into!"
"I don't think that's such a good idea..."
"Oh, come on Simon!" you whine, tugging at his arm.
"There is one. But you have to promise to blend in. Shadowhunters, as you know, aren't really the most liked beings amongst vampires."
"Got you," you wink.
"And steer clear of Raphael."
You hold out a pinkie and Simon entwines his with yours.
"I don't think a trench coat is the best party attire though," Simon mumbles and you smirk, untying the sash and showing him your dress underneath.
"Whoa..."
"I know," you wink at him, "Perfect amount of boobs and legs, plus look how good these heels make me look!"
Simon just nods, his jaw hanging, "Now you're just making me blush," you laugh.
"Where are we headed?"
"Pandemonium."
By the time you get in it's almost midnight and you'd already had half a dozen guys rub up against you on your way to the bar.
"I didn't order this," you call to the bartender over the slow thump of music and he nods towards a boy sitting at the end of the bar who walks towards you.
"What are you doing here, Jace?"
"Making sure you're not doing anything this stupid," he looks you up and down, "This definitely constitutes as stupid."
"It was either this or having drinks at Hotel Dumort with all the vamps."
"You would have been the drinks."
"Yeah, well, beats drinking alone in a graveyard," you shrug, taking a sip of the drink, "You remembered my favourite."
Jace smiles at you, "You have to go back to the institute sooner or later."
"Later. Way later. There's no way I'm hanging around for Alec's stupid engagement party."
"Fine, but I'm staying until you leave."
You hold up your drink, toasting it to him before drinking the rest of it.
Jace laughs and you feel your heart beat a little faster. You shake your head, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the crowd.
"Is this seriously making you feel better?" he calls over the music as you sway with the rhythm and you close your eyes, nodding as you let yourself relax.
Just as you're finally winding down a girl behind you spills her drink all over you, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she apologizes and you shake your head, "It's alright!" you reassure her, heading towards the bathroom.
"You can't follow me in here," you giggle as Jace follows you in.
"This is a club with down worlders... I'll follow you into the stall if I have to."
You roll your eyes, grabbing paper towels and patting your dress down."Maybe not your best idea to wear a white dress," Jace swallows hard and you look in the mirror, noticing most of your drenched dress had gone see through.
Jace pulls off his jacket, placing in on your shoulders and pulling it tighter to cover you up.
"Thanks," you stutter and Jace raises a brow, "I've seen you close to naked before, no need to be shy," he laughs, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Right," you mumble, sliding onto the bathroom counter.
"We're not going back out there?"
"We will, I just need a breather. You can go out there if you want. Now might be your chance to go flirt with that girl who spilled this drink on me. She's been staring at you all night and I'm pretty sure that drink was aimed at you until I stepped in the way – either that or she was hoping I would leave and didn't expect you to follow me in here," you laugh.
"Not interested," Jace shrugs and you look at him in surprise, "Are you kidding me? She was totally gorgeous. Did you see her legs?!"
Jace steps between your legs as they dangle from the counter, placing his hands on your calves, "I prefer your short little legs," he laughs and you roll your eyes, placing your arms loosely around his neck so they're resting on his shoulders, "Liar."
"I'm not lying."
"Then you're flirting," you scoff before you notice his expression.
"So what if I am?" he asks, one hand moving up your thigh and then resting on your waist.
"Then nothing," you mumble, closing the distance between the two of you as Jace leans in, heatedly pulling your lips against his, your heavy breathing filling the room.
Just as you pull away the bathroom door bursts open, Isabelle standing in the doorway, her eyes wide at the sight of the two of you.
"I don't even want to know," she sighs, "You're wanted back at the Institute – both of you."
"No thanks," you scoff and Isabelle looks at you seriously, "Right now we need to present a united front to the Clave. I know you don't want to be at the engagement party, but the Council will be arriving shortly and Alec will look bad if his parabatai isn't there."
"Then why can't Jace just go?"
"I won't leave without you," Jace whispers, giving your hand a squeeze, "And you can't avoid Alec forever," Isabelle finishes.
You slowly nod, sliding off the counter. Isabelle hovers in the doorway, letting Jace go out first before pulling you back slightly, "What exactly did I just walk in on?"
"Nothing worse then what Alec did to me, Izzy," you sigh and she looks at you apologetically, "Sorry I asked," she grumbles.
As you reach the Institute, you're greeted by Alec's family, "The three of you are very late," Maryse says, her brows furrowed together.
"Sorry mother," Isabelle apologizes. Maryse barely notices her as she studies you, "Not exactly what I'd wear to a wedding engagement the Council is attending," she leers in disapproval.
"Well that's just too fucking bad, isn't it?" you state and her eyes widen, "Excuse me?"
Alec's mother had never liked you but at least now you had no reason to want her to look at you favourably.
"It's time to cut the cake," Alec pulls her aside, his eyes not leaving you.
"To the happy couple!" Maryse toasts and Alec and Lydia entangle themselves in a long and vaguely sickening kiss.
Alec doesn't look at you during his entire speech but Jace stays close to you, his fingers entwined with yours for support. Once he and Lydia finish speaking about 'love' and 'responsibility', everyone disperses into separate conversations.
"I need to get out of this dress," you mumble to Isabelle and she nods.
"Want any help with that?" Jace teases as you walk away and you roll your eyes at his self-satisfied smirk.
"Hey," he quickly spins you around, "Are we going to talk about what happened tonight?"
You hesitate before answering, "When I get back. This dress is suffocating me more than listening to those speeches," you laugh nervously before heading off.
You savour the silence in the hallways before you head into your room. Just as you try to shut the door, a hand holds it open.
"Alec," you say in surprise, trying to stand further away so he doesn't smell the alcohol in your breath.
"Don't bother," he sighs, "Izzy already told me you were at Pandemonium... with Jace."
"She told you we kissed, didn't she?"
His eyes widen, "YOU WHAT?!"
"Oh please, you slept with someone else. There's no way you're going to make me feel bad!"
"I DIDN'T SLEEP WITH LYDIA!"
"WELL YOU SURE AS HELL DIDN'T HAVE A PROBLEM STICKING YOUR TONGUE DOWN HER THROAT IN FRONT OF HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE! IN FRONT OF MY FRIENDS AND MY FAMILY! DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT FELT?"
"I'm sorry," he whispers, "I never meant to hurt you."
"Did you think that sleeping with another girl and then announcing your engagement without having the decency to tell me wouldn't hurt me?!"
"I didn't sleep with her – y/n, I promise, I didn't sleep with her."
"Then why are you marrying her? Did I do something wrong?"
Alec shakes his head, pulling your hands into his, "No, of course not. It's for my family, I have to do this."
You rest your head against his chest, taking in a deep breath before pulling away, "Maybe I should go," you mumble.
"W-what?"
"I can't be here for this. It's too painful Alec."
"So you're just going to disappear for the next 6 months and come back after I'm married?"
"I'm not coming back," you mumble, placing a hand on his cheek, "I love you Alec," you smile, "But I'm not doing this with you – not anymore."
"Because of Jace?"
"Even if it is, what does it change?"
"Everything," he takes a deep breath, "If it's because of Jace that you're leaving me, then you have to tell me."
"I'm leaving because you're getting married!"
"You would never want to leave my side, no matter what I did. You would never abandon me! What changed?"
"I'm not abandoning you. Kissing Jace just made me realize that there's no point in me going through the pain of watching you be with someone else. I want to be happy too, Alec."
"With Jace?"
"I didn't say that."
"Then stay. I'll find a way out of this."
"How?"
"Somehow. I can't be without you. I realize that now."
"It's too late, Alec. There's no way out of it."
"We can run away...together. Isn't that what you always wanted?"
"Alec..."
"So which is it? Me or Jace?"
