Make A Move

JULY 2016

Simon and Jace had settled into an uneasy friendship of sorts. They mostly bickered and got on each other's nerves. Jace felt Simon was keeping him at arm's length with all his snarky comments and Jace just didn't want to let him have the last word.

Once Alec had told them to get a room and get whatever it was out of their system. They both looked at Alec with offended expressions that he had to apologize, but they had kept their bickering to a minimum.

Mostly.

Simon still hung out with Raphael who didn't seem to like them for some reason. Maia said it wasn't personal, that Raphael didn't like anybody. Except Simon, although it looked like bare tolerance. But Simon said, Raphael loved him in his own way. As friends, of course.

Clary had travelled to Europe for six months and Simon was performing almost every weekend with Alec and Gretel. Some nights, he performed alone.

None of his friends knew about that until Jace stumbled into the bar after closing late at the bakery and saw Simon there.

Singing alone.

It was quite late and he knew Alec and Izzy wouldn't be there, so this came as a shock.

Simon wasn't pleased when he saw him. "Don't tell anybody about this." He said, sitting next to Jace at the bar. "I'm not splitting up the band or planning to go solo. I just want to do something by myself. Although, you have ruined that now."

"What is your problem?" Jace asked, he was cranky. "I thought we were friends. Why are you attacking me?"

"I'm not attacking you." Simon said, looking away. "I just...I thought that's our thing now. "
"What? Being assholes to each other?" Jace asked, snidely. "I know what you are doing."

"Oh?" Simon asked. "Please, enlighten me."

"You are scared to be friends with me." Jace said, smirking. "So you are being this complete asshole to me, so I'll be too mad to want to have anything to do with you."

Simon stared at him, gaping. "Oh my Lord. You are...your ego...You have..." Simon laughed. "You are deluded, man. Like, your sense of self important is collosal."

Jace rolled his eyes. "I know I'm right."

"OK, princess." Simon nodded. "Whatever makes you sleep at night."

"You know I'm right." Jace continued.

"You are so wrong." Simon said. "Like, you have missed it by a continent. I am not that much of an evil genius."

"OK. Prove it." Jace said. "Prove you aren't keeping me at arm's length."

"Just because I refuse to be best friends with you doesn't mean I'm keeping you at a distance." Simon said. "We barely tolerated each other for ten years after being best friends. We can't go back like nothing happened."

"Why not?" Jace asked.

"Because...Because, we can't." Simon said. "I can't. I don't want...you were also being an asshole. Why are you giving me a hard time?"

Jace blinked, stunned at the topic change. "You know how to get under my skin. And I won't stand for it?"

"You won't...?" Simon scoffed. "You are a drama queen."

"Fuck you, Simon." Jace said, finishing his drink.

"Already did, Herondale." Simon said, then he froze. He quickly slid off the bar stool and went out the back.

Jace stared at the spot where Simon had sat. They never talked about what happened back then, they just sort of went with the flow. Jace knew Simon was still bitter about it, some of the comments he made were proof of that, but he had never blatantly referred to it before. He paid for their drinks and went out the way Simon did.