I swayed around my room, a smile on my face with the music blasting through my headphones.
I held the a paint palette in my hand, standing in front of a canvas, the paintbrush in my hand lightly filling in the sketch I'd taken earlier.
My hair was in a loose bun, paint on my face without me even realizing, and on my arm unintentionally.
I spun to grab another color and put it on the palette when I see Jace, jumping where I stood.
I set the palette down on the table, pulling out my headphones, "How long were you standing there?"
"Long enough to see you dancing around your room." Jace's words resulted in me going red, as he walked over to me, "Don't worry, I thought it was cute."
Jace opens his mouth to speak, but I put my finger up and stop him, grabbing my palette and paint brush and rushing back over to him, dipping the brush into the red paint.
Jace steps back right away and points at me, "No."
"Please?" I gave him a kiddish smile, threaded with innocence, holding the brush in my hand, "You can take it off whenever you want."
Jace stares at me for a moment, dropping his hand hesitantly as I gave him a satisfied smile, pushing myself onto my tippy toes and drawing a small red heart on his cheekbone, filling it in.
I grab another brush and dip into the white, precisely painting only one like in the heart, then fell to my normal height, pleased, my eyes connecting with Jace's as he was watching my every move.
I set down the palette and brush, placing my hands on my hips, "What's up?"
Jace sighs, "I want to apologize."
"Apologize?" I repeat, humor threaded in my tone, "How reckless were you this time?"
Jace softly smiles, grabbing my face with one hand and using his thumb to wipe away some blue paint, "I'm sorry for never taking you anywhere that didn't involve seraph blades."
I shrug lightly, "It's the most adventure I've had in my eighteen years of life."
"Look, I know I've been preoccupied lately." Jace dropped his hand, "I'd like to make it up to you- what do you say we do something normal?"
I smiled lightly, stepping closer and placing my hands on his chest, "Jace, you don't consider a day normal unless you come home covered in ichor."
"No, I don't." Jace exhales deeply, "But- what about you?"
"You know, I could use a model." I lightly gesture toward the painted canvas, "I've run out of inspiration, so I've started painting."
"What would you say to dinner?" Jace suggests, placing his hands on my arms, "Tonight, someplace mundane- just the two of us."
I broke out into a wider smile, "Like a date?"
"Yes, Zee, yeah." Jace went with it, "If you wanna call it that, a date."
My eyes squint, "Where?"
Jace quickly blurts out, "Uh- it's a surprise."
"All right." I kiss his nose and step back, "But, don't think for a second that dinner gets you out of modeling."
Jace softly smiled at me, "Right- rain check."
-
"Hey!" I walked over to Luke when I catch him at the Institute, my heels hitting the ground as I had just gotten ready for my date with Jace, "How's Ollie?"
I was dressed in an off white short sleeve lace two piece dress, that was backless, had a centre cut out and ended mid thigh, nude heels on my feet.
Since my hair had grown longer in the past few months, I had it styled in a low ponytail, my dark hair wavy from there, loose and two strands of hair pulled out from the tie.
"She's fine." Luke looked at me, holding a folder, "She got a little banged up, but she'll be all right."
I press my palms together, "That's good-"
"You look particularly nice." Luke took notice of how dressed up I was, "Is there a special occasion I don't know about?"
"No, actually, uhm-" I rock back and forth on my feet, a wide smile spreading on my lips, "I'm grabbing dinner with Jace."
Luke softly smiled, "Dinner?"
I looked up at him, holding back a wider smile, changing the subject, "What are you doing here anyway?"
"Uh-" Luke held up the folder, "I'm just running this case by whoever's on duty."
"I could help- stay back?" I offered, "Jace'll understand-"
"No, no, no." Luke stopped me, "I got it covered."
I exhale deeply, "You sure?"
"You go." Luke smiled at me, "Have fun."
-
"Jace, this place is amazing-" I almost gasped when him and I walked into the restaurant, my eyes landing on him and away from how pretty it was, "How did you hear about it?"
"Oh, you know." Jace trails off, his words making me cover my mouth to hold back a laugh, "I hear things."
A waitress walks over to us, "What's the name of the reservation?"
"The what?" Jace went grey, "The reservation?"
I placed a hand on his back, softly smiling at the waitress, "Do we need one?"
"I could squeeze you both in at a communal table." The waitress offers, "If you're okay with that?"
"Um-" Jace looked around as if his whole plan to make this perfect backfired, "I don't know."
"What do you think?" Jace's voice went quieter as he mumbles to me only, "I mean, we can go somewhere else-"
"No!" I blurt out quickly, not wanting him to be embarrassed, looking at the waitress, "No, this is perfect."
The waitress nods and leads us through the restaurant, as I lean into Jace's ear as we walked, whispering, "Lemme let you in on a little mundane secret- you call the restaurant, make the reservation for the table, then come to dinner."
I was only teasing him, because I knew how much this was throwing him off and I loved seeing that.
Jace swallows hard, "Noted."
When we reach the table, there sat Simon and Maia across from each other next to the table the waitress brought us to, catching Jace and I completely off guard.
Simon looks up, his eyes slightly wide, "Zee?"
My voice croaked out in awkwardness, "Hey."
-
I used every piece of strength in me to hold back a laugh by pursing my lips when I was seated with Maia, across from Jace, "What I'm getting from this is, you called Simon for dating advice?"
Jace didn't even want to look at Simon, "No, I called Simon for restaurant advice."
"Had he called me for dating advice, I would have advised against this situation." Simon wouldn't look at Jace either despite them being next to each other.
"Okay, not a problem." Maia interjects, wanting to keep positive about this so neither of our nights were ruined, "You guys just do your own thing, ignore us- there's no reason this has to be weird."
"Yeah, she's right." I agreed, pressing my palms together, looking between everyone, "It's not weird."
"Uh-" Jace looks up at me after picking up his menu, "Do you want to split an appetizer?"
"Yeah, of course." I smiled sweetly towards him, then looked down at my menu that laid flat in front of me, "Um- you pick."
"Okay, can't go wrong with oysters, right?" Jace looks up at me, but I covered my mouth, not wanting to tell him that I hated seafood, him noticing this, his eyes widening slightly.
"Uh- wrong, okay." Jace clears his throat, looks down at the menu then back up at me hopeful but hesitant, "Crab legs?"
I stare at him, not knowing what to say.
Simon quietly mentions, "Um- Zee hates crab."
"Thank you." Jace mutters, clearing his throat.
"Lobster, shrimp- crawfish." Simon added in quietly as if Maia and I couldn't here them converse, "Anything seafood related."
"I didn't realize I was on a date with two people." I point out, looking between Jace and Simon, my eyes slightly wide.
Jace clears his throat and looks down at the menu, "The flatbread?"
Simon pretends to scratch his eyebrow as he looks at his menu, whispering, "Burrata salad-"
"Burrata salad!" Jace looks up at me quickly, looking as if this was the most nerve wracking moment of his entire life, "Let's do a burrata salad."
"We can do the burrata salad." I fold my hands together, shooting Simon a look as he defensively shrugged as if he had no idea why I was shooting him that look.
Maia sets her menu down after a moment of silence, cutting the tension, "Who's up for cocktails?"
"Thank God someone finally said it." I sigh immediately, sitting up, clearing my throat, Jace and Simon agreeing with me in unison.
-
Maia took a sip of her drink, "I'm likin' this margarita."
I nod after swallowing a sip of mine, "Coming from a bartender, that says a lot."
"Oh, ketchup on fish?" Jace notices Simon sizzling the red substance on the taco, "That's disgusting."
Simon simply continued, "It is not ketchup."
"That's more disgusting." Jace looks from him to me, "Right?"
"Jace," I trail off, playfully hitting his hand lightly.
Simon shrugs, putting the small bottle of blood away, "It's gotta go down some way, chief."
"All right." I look towards Maia, "I have a personal question for you."
Maia sets down what she was eating, "Go for it."
"What happens to your clothes when you-" I trail off, trying to find the best way to describe it, my eyes squinting as I mimicked clawing with my hands.
I could see Jace softly smile at me from where he sat as I bubble of laughter and a nod leaves me when Maia laughed, "Wolf out?"
"Nothing good." Maia said, "I've shredded some of my cutest outfits that way- It's kind of wolf protocol to stash pairs of pants all over town."
"That's smart." I shrug lightly, my pointer finger touching my bottom lip as I let out a small joke, "Have you ever tried- uh, spandex?"
"Have you ever seen a wolf in spandex?" Maia began laughing, "It's horrifying!"
"My deepest condolences to your wardrobe." I held up my drink, "No one likes a cute outfit destroyed."
"Don't worry about it." Maia grabbed her drink as well, "You know, I still think I'd want to be a werewolf over a Shadowhunter."
I drank the last of mine and looked at her, "Really?"
"Yeah." Maia sips her drink, "I don't think I could remember all those the runes."
"Um, it's actually not that hard." Jace interjects, "You just kind of stick to your favorites, like Strength or Speed or Iratze."
Maia shrugs, sticking by what she stated, "Anyway, I don't know that I'd want my whole body covered in tattoos."
"Says the girl with the butterfly tattoo." The remark slipped out of Jace's mouth before he could comprehend what he said, taking a sip from his beer.
Maia was shooting him a look, as his eyes go completely wide when he realizes what he just said, avoiding eye contact with me, his mouth filled with beer.
I sat up, suddenly interested, "Butterfly tattoo?"
"How do you know about that?" Simon nervously laughed, "It's pretty well hidden."
"Guess number one," I thought out loud, my eyes scanning Jace's face, "You saw it after one of her transformations?"
"Not exactly." Jace cleared his throat lightly, not looking at me, "No."
"Simon." I blurt out, looking at my best friend, my eyes trailing to his untouched margarita, "Are you gonna drink that?"
"Nope, all yours-" Simon reaches, grabbing the margarita and handed it over to me, as I gladly took it.
I brought the glass to my lips and drank it all right then and there, despite the burning in my throat, setting it down, swiping my thumb on my bottom lip, "Thank you."
-
"Uh, well, the food was great." Maia broke the silence as we all stepped outside after dinner.
Jace speaks, "Delicious."
I clear my throat, "Amazing."
"Fantastic." Simon adds in.
Jace turns and walks away, my jaw dropping lightly in awkwardness, "Uhm, see you guys!"
I turn and went after Jace, catching up to him, feeling the cool breeze hit me like a truck.
Jace notices how my hair blew lightly, and slips off his blazer, putting it around me as I gave him a soft smile.
Jace notices my silence, "Are you okay?"
I nod gently, "I'm fine."
Jace exhales deeply, looking down as we walked, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Maia."
"Jace, I don't care about what happened between you and Maia." I stopped, looking at him, "I mean, it's your life- you can choose to be with whoever, whenever, I just- the tension during that dinner was so nerve wracking."
Jace exhales deeply, looking down, "Yeah, no kidding."
"What's wrong?" I quietly as when I notice how his expression hadn't changed, "Is it me?"
"Yeah." Jace's eyes connect with mine, looking down at me, "It is."
I blink, sarcasm slipping through my lips, "What a subtle way to win a girl over."
"I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about you, Zee." Jace was sincere, staring into my eyes, "When I met you I- I thought I knew everything, but you've shown me that there is so much more to being a Shadowhunter than just killing demons."
I place my hands on my hips, rolling my eyes playfully, "Come on, you still think you know everything."
"Well, except restaurants apparently." Jace's words made me laugh softly, but he continued, "I'm serious."
"You're special, everything about you." Jace stepped closer to me and grabbed my hands, "Like how you scrunch your face when you're thinking, or press your lips together to hold back your laughter."
I blink, watching him every move when he spoke, not knowing he notices these things.
"Like how you always double knot your shoes before you train." Jace adds in, "Like how you scrunch your nose up randomly when you don't know what else to add to a conversation or how you show people that you're tougher than you look."
"But more than that, it's how you always see the best in people- in me." Jace's tone sounded vulnerable, "And I am scared that if we take things too quickly that you're gonna see something in me that you don't like."
Jace sighs quietly, his eyes glued to mine, "I just don't want to ruin this."
I lean up and press my lips into his for a few moments, holding his face.
I drop to my height, looking at him, pulling away from the kiss, "You're not going to ruin anything, Jace- I love you and that will never change."
"I love you too." Jace held my wrists, giving me a soft, relieved smile.
"Come on, let's get some hotdogs." I link my arm with his and began walking with him towards the hotdog stand.
Jace looks down at me, "Didn't we just eat?"
I looked at him, baffled, making him smile, "You think a salad filled me up?"
-
"You're gonna use the Angelic Core?" Raj questioned as were all stood for a briefing, "Are you serious?"
I had changed out of my dress and into black jeans, black combat boots and one of Jace's thermal shirts, as it was loose on me and ended mid thigh.
I left my makeup and hair as it was, loving it too much to undo it all.
"This is our only chance to stop the corruption." Alec stood his ground, "We're gonna flood the ley lines with angelic energy- put an end to this, once and for all."
"So- your plan is basically divine Drano?" I put everything together and nod approvingly, "Smart."
"The only problem is the Institute is not built on any ley lines, at least- it's not yet." Alec said, then gestured, "That's where Magnus comes in."
"I know a spell that'll allow me to temporarily divert the flow of magic at the core." Magnus pulled up a hologram, "Once the ley line's in place, you'll tap into the core, and we can kiss the demonic corruption goodbye."
"Right, and what happens if a demon shockwaves hits while you're using your magic?" Raj moved the hologram as it collapses after going all red, "The core will be totally exposed."
"Well, that doesn't look good." Jace remarks, as I hit his arm to make him shut up.
Magnus inhales sharply, "If we're lucky, it'll only vaporize the Institute."
Isabelle's voice was quiet, "But- what if we're not lucky?"
"Better not to think about that." Magnus shot back quietly, shaking his head lightly.
Alec's hands were behind his back, "This is a risk we have to take."
"The whole point of building the Institute away from the ley lines was to avoid something like this." Raj pushed, "Why not just quarantine the warlocks outside the city?"
"Because kicking innocent people out of their homes isn't going to solve anything." Alec replied, stern and firm.
Raj raises his voice, "Neither will blowing up the Institute!"
His words broke commotion between everyone, as Isabelle, Clary and I began targeting him, defending Alec's word.
"Who do you think you are by saying those things?" Isabelle said to him, her tone filled with spite.
"You can't just go around quarantining Downworlders!" I exclaim in slight irration at how much he was pushing this.
As Clary, Isabelle and I yell out many other things, Alec raises his voice that stops the loud commotion and disagreements between everyone, "That's enough!"
"This isn't just about the warlocks." Alec looks between everyone when we all went silent, "You know what happened at the hospital, everyone is at risk."
"We are under siege by a greater demon, it is our job to solve this problem." Alec stood his ground, "Evacuate the Institute, essential personnel stay behind."
-
"Come on, move it!" Isabelle raises her voice as we followed her, "You don't want to be inside if this goes bad."
Raj faces us, "We're not going anywhere."
Clary looked at him, "You don't have a choice."
"Your orders were to evacuate." Jace stood in front of Raj, staring at him.
"Yeah, I know the orders." Raj shot back, "Look, I'm all for helping out the Downworlders, but we can't let Lightwood destroy the Institute to do it. Without it, we leave New York completely defenseless."
"Who the hell do you think you are?" I stepped closer, "That isn't your call to make."
"Doesn't matter." Raj scoffs, "I've already locked him out of the system."
"Then unlock it." Jace grabs him as Raj tries to put up a fight, except he had him slammed down to the table in seconds, "Now!"
"Not possible." Raj grunts in pain, "Even if it was- my answer would still be the same."
Jace keeps him held there, jerking his head for Isabelle to see if she could reverse it.
"Can you undo it?" I asked Isabelle as her fingers hitting against the keyboard quickly.
"No not anytime soon-" Isabelle sighs deeply, "It's too late."
authors note:
I DIDNT KNOW WHERE TO END OFF THE CHAPTER SO I ENDED IT THERE, SORRY I KNOW I SUCK
but they're so cute tho
like that date was adorable
they're adorable, period
thank you for 9k !!!
anyway, go read redamancy !!!
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