Roommates & Soulmates

Simon's Advice

October was nearly upon them, and Simon was starting to feel like he was really being assigned homework again. His life consisted of work, school, and friends; which was fine by him. Living with Clary was turning out to be rather fun. It lead to more spontaneous long chats over tea at strange hours of the night than ever before. The more surprising thing to him was that Simon really did count all three of the people he lived with as friends. Jace his friend. It was a strange concept to be sure, and it made Simon believe that any relationship could be turned around. So when he spotted Brett sitting alone in a corner of the University on his way out of the cafeteria, Simon moved towards him.

"Hey, Brett," Simon said, smiling. Brett looked up from his book as Simon sat down across from him.

"It's Simon right?" Brett asked. "Friend of Clary's?"

"Ex of Clary's technically, but friend is more accurate," Simon replied, still with a smile.

"Yet another person who knows what it's like to kiss Clary," Brett groaned, lowering his head into his hands. Simon knew that look well. He also knew Brett hadn't taken in a word of his textbook.

"And yet ironically an expert on the friendzone," Simon replied with a chuckle. He sobered before adding, "Clary told me what happened when you told her how you feel."

"Oh great," Brett said sarcastically. "More people to witness my humiliation."

"Hey, I don't judge. I've quite literally been there," Simon chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Brett asked.

"I had that exact same moment with Clary years ago," Simon answered. "I told her how I felt, and she didn't feel the same. The only difference being that we then tried to date for almost two years."

"Sounds like your moment with Clary went a hell of a lot better than mine," Brett grumbled.

"Not really," Simon argued. "I could call her my girlfriend, but she couldn't think of me the way I thought of her. It made no difference what names we gave each other because she didn't care for me in that way. Even when we were together, I was still king of the friendzone." Simon laughed, then marveled at how easy it was to laugh about now.

"How can you laugh about something like that?" Brett asked, clearly thinking along the same lines as Simon.

"Time, distance," Simon replied. "A little perspective, and a beautiful women with long brown hair." Brett just stared at him for a moment, as if trying to figured out what exactly he meant by that.

"Anyway," Simon continued. "The point is that I can speak from personal experience when I say I know how much it sucks."

"Doesn't really make me feel better," Brett sighed.

"Oh, but I thought misery loved company," Simon grinned.

"Maybe if I had a time machine," Brett said. "I could go back and hang out with miserable Simon. This one laughs way too much."

"Remember what I said about the girl with the long brown hair?" Simon replied. Brett nodded. "I might be over Clary, but that doesn't mean I can't keep your misery company."

"Thanks," Brett smiled. Then after a moment he said with a sigh. "So, what do you think I should do now?"

"You have two options," Simon began. "Either you can just be her friend properly, without any ulterior motive, or hope that she is going to change her mind."

"And my other option?" Brett asked.

"You could let her go completely," Simon finished.

"I don't like either of those," Brett grumbled.