Hidden Memories

17. The Reason Why

Izzy's POV

After my talk with Alec, I felt energized once more, but I still wasn't ready to face Simon just yet. Just because I now felt like he was in the clear a little bit, it didn't mean I was ready to talk to him about us just yet.

Then again, I did express how much I hate him...even though that wasn't exactly true.

I paced back and forth within my room, warring with my internal thoughts on how to proceed. I still had a chance to fix everything that went wrong; we could still fix everything that wasn't going our way, and I was determined to have that happen.

I needed air. What I decided to do was go out to take a walk, and I knew just the person to go with if he wasn't busy at the moment.

I pounded on his bedroom door. "Jace! You in there?"

I heard a thud resonating from inside the room. "Yeah, just give me a second. There's a stupid mouse here that thinks he can get the best of me."

I rolled my eyes, not really surprised at all that this was what he was doing now of all times. The image of him running around, whacking random places in his room, and getting frustrated helped me get in a slightly better mood.

Minutes later, the door flew open backward to reveal the golden skinned boy. "So," he said, leaning casually against the doorframe, "what do you want?"

I crossed my arms in slight annoyance, but I let it go because...well, come on, this was Jace we were talking about here. "I want to go for a walk. Figured you might want to tag along."

Jace's eyes lit up like stars in the night. "I'm not your owner. And you're not a dog. So I don't understand why you want to go for a walk."

"If you see a demon in the street, you can kill it."

I laughed as he changed into the familiar black hunting gear that was similar to the apparel that I was wearing, and we were off to stroll the city of Manhattan.

For a while, he and I were silent. It was nice because I was free to observe the scenery around me. I loved the city of Manhattan; I grew up here, and, well, there were a lot of memories around this area. The good and the bad.

On the other hand, I didn't like getting lost in my thoughts. Like a timer, my mind kept on wandering back to Simon and the conversation I had with him last night...and how guilty I kept feeling each time I played it back in my brain. I ached.

"Hey," Jace said seriously. "You're oddly quiet."

I snapped my head to him, slightly startled. "What? Oh, yeah. I just kinda feel a little guilty for what I said to Simon the other night...you probably already know that he and I had a fight."

He laughed. "Yeah. I think everyone in the Institute knows what went down. But, the real question is..." He paused. "Are you okay?"

I smiled. "I will be. Do you think I should apologize for the things I said?"

"I don't know." He stated. "Whenever Clary and I have a fight, we kinda just move on from it. We mutually come to an agreement."

I sighed. "Well, that doesn't help me at all."

He playfully nudges my shoulder. "Hey, it's gonna be all right. You and Simon, I think, are really good together. You two can go through anything you want to; you've both survived more than any other couple that I know. This is just not a good part of your life right now, but I promise it does get better. Look at Clary and I."

I snorted. "Sorry," I said when he looked at me flatly. "It's just that I'm kinda shocked that I'm actually taking advice from my brother about relationships."