Do you Remember me?

Chapter 24

Clary woke up groggily to find herself in Isabelle's bed, curled up in a ball by her side.

She didn't mean to fall asleep in her room, but as they continued talking into the early hours of the morning, Clary could see why she was now trying to quietly disentangle herself from Isabelle's sleeping form.

She slid her feet off the bed, wincing as the cold wood made contact with her skin. She glanced at Isabelle once more, making sure she was still asleep before standing up.

Clary crept towards the door, opening it silently and slipping out. She let out a sigh of relief as she shut it once more, padding down the hall and down the stairs.

It was early, and Clary didn't hear any noise as she passed the dining room, making a beeline straight for the living room.

She opened the door, frowning when she saw nobody inside.

Was there really no one up besides her?

She backtracked back into the hall, biting her lip unsurely as she wondered what to do.

Ever since Jace had arrived, it seemed Clary's usual daily routine had flown out the window, and all she seemed to care about now was hanging out with him, or Isabelle... maybe even Alec if it meant she was around Jace.

As she continued to think about him, her thoughts eventually floated to Aline, and she involuntarily winced at the idea of her accidentally bumping into the girl.

She shook the thoughts away quickly, deciding to move into the kitchen rather than to just be standing alone in the hall, allowing the possibility of her thought to come true.

She grinned, shoulders dropping in relief once she saw the sight of Simon, slouched over the reservation book with a phone in hand.

He was just in the middle of explaining their free rooms during some month when his gaze flickered up and met hers, sending her a quick smile.

Clary laughed quietly at the sight of his crooked glasses balancing on his nose, fixing them gently as she went by.

"Okay, bye now. Thank you, goodbye." He said finally, hanging up the phone and letting out a heavy sigh.

"Tough customer?" Clary joked, turning on the coffee maker.

Simon nodded, dragging a hand over his face tiredly. "They wanted to know if Tessa and Will's baby would cause havoc by crying all night, I had to inform them that the child was yet to be born and there was no way of telling." He sighed again, rolling his eyes. "Booking Smith's Space instead."

Clary winced. "Ouch." She said, shaking her head.

"Ouch indeed." Simon agreed, sliding into a stool by the island.

"Coffee?" Clary asked, pouring herself a cup.

"No thanks." Simon said politely.

A silence dragged out between them, and Clary bit her lip unsurely as she debated what to talk about.

This rarely happened with Simon, they both always had something to say to one another, so she didn't exactly know what was different now.

"Hey- Clary?" Simon asked slowly.

"Yeah?" She said, turning around to face him.

"I don't know if I ever told you- I swear I meant to, but I've just been distracted lately and Isabelle is just... well I-"

"Simon, It's okay, really. Just tell me." Clary said reassuringly, cutting off his rambling.

He nodded, breathing in a deep breath.