Roommates & Soulmates

Ch23: Clary's Surprise

Clary sat in her living room with Simon beside her and a Christmas tree on her other side. She had her head resting on Simon's shoulder while she listened to her parents and brother in the kitchen.

"But, mom!" Jonathan was complaining. "I don't like university. I want to do something else with my life."

"You are so close to graduating dear!" Jocelyn replied. "Why not just finish?"

"Your mother is right," Luke chimed in.

"You can't make me stay in school," Jonathan said. Her brother looked nothing like her, with fair hair and strong features. Jocelyn said he resembled their father, which the few pictures of him Clary had seen seemed to confirm.

"We are just trying to help you make the right decision," Jocelyn's voice carried through to the living room.

With a sigh, Clary got up and followed the sounds of her family fighting until she stood in the center of it all.

"Stop," she said very firmly, her hands held out, palms out toward her brother and parents respectively.

"Back me up, Care!" Jon said. He had started calling her Care when she was little and somehow Clary had never managed to shake the baby name even as a teenager.

"Guys," Clary said. "Seriously get a grip. Jon leaving school isn't the end of the world. It's Christmas. Chill."

"Thanks, Care!" Jon said beaming at her. Clary gave very meaningful looks to both her parents before grinning at her brother.

"Anytime," Clary replied as she dragged her brother away from her parents and back into the living room. "Though next time save your 'I'm leaving school to find myself' announcement until after the turkey."

Jon laughed and her semi-perfect family Christmas picked up right where it had left off, though her parents were still a little stiff. Since Hanukkah was before Simon always spent Christmas with her family.

Clary spent as much time over the holidays with Jon as she could since she wouldn't see him again till the summer and then only if he was at home. Since they talked a lot about his plans to backpack through Europe with his girlfriend, she doubted she'd see much of him even then. Clary couldn't help but think the trip would be good for him. She was sure he'd finish his degree eventually. He just needed a break.

Aside from spending time with her brother, Clary couldn't say her holidays were terribly eventful. She kissed Simon at midnight on New Year's, or rather, the Lewis family Christmas and before long they were headed back to school.

"Magnus hasn't texted me," Clary told Simon. They had just gotten on the plane and Clary was reminded, when turning off her phone, of her lack of messages.

"I'm sure he's fine," Simon replied.

"He didn't seem fine during exams," Clary said. "He seemed numb."

"Maybe the holidays helped bring feeling back into his limbs?" Simon suggested.

"I hope so," Clary said with a sigh as she laid her head on her boyfriend's shoulder. Simon's hand found hers and he held it while they listened to the pre-flight instructions. It was a short flight, but it was so much better than taking the bus.

She listened to Simon talk quickly about his band and his sister while the plane moved through the air. Clary tried to reply but her head was literally in the clouds as she gazed out the window. The view from above was stunning. She wanted nothing more than to paint it. Clary turned her phone back on and switched it to airplane mode so she could take pictures to paint later. As they approached their destination and the ground got closer, Clary took more pictures where the cars looked like wind-up toys and the buildings like dollhouses.