YOU & ME

INTERLUDE - NOT A DATE.

"Wanna get out of here?" Jace proposed, bringing a flask of water to his lips. Sometimes he just wanted to look cool. He didn't need to be an idiot for that. Besides, the glee he'd felt when a chaperon took it and brought it to their nose to check made up for any loss of points in his street cred. Jace Lightwood didn't break any laws, he just tried to make it look like he did. But knew better than to break the mold and disappoint his father.

Simon rose an eyebrow. "To go where?" He asked, trying to conceal his nervousness the best he could. For some reason, he doubted Jace could pick up on the slight shake in his voice but was certain his rabbit heart was giving him away.

Jace's lips curled up in a confident grin, edging very much to a sly grin. "Do you trust me?"

'Well, not really, we don't know each other that much. I'm not even sure we're actually friends.' That's what Simon would have said. Had he not been so ridiculously smitten with the male sitting next to him. What Simon did, was silently nodding a few times before letting out a passionate "Yes!"

Jace chuckled and stood up, holding a hand out for Simon to take. "Easier to navigate the crowd like that Lewis, I don't want to loose you." Simon blinked, looking down at the offered hand. "Come on Simon, it'd be really sad if I lost you before we made it to the door of the gymnasium." Simon chuckled, eyes anchoring themselves in Jace's heterochromic ones and took ahold of the hand offered to him, laughing a little as he was hauled up.

With long strides but an unhurried pace, Jace led the two of them out, sticking his tongue at his sister when he caught her inquisitive gaze on him. Izzy fondly rolled her eyes and went back to focusing on making Raphael feel as awkward as possible. So far he'd been so good at keeping his composure that it was frustrating. Simon didn't catch any of that, instead he was grinning like an idiot, glancing at their joint hands every few seconds to make sure it was real. As soon as they made it inside the school's corridor, Jace paused. The blond seem to weight in his options. "Okay, we have a two choices here." He spoke, turning to face a wide eyed Simon, lips slightly parted. The Lightwood paused, taking in the sight for a second before he shook his head. "We could truly get out of here and go to a small bar I know. But where's the fun in that? A much more interesting option would be to sneak in the labs and let me offer you really cool mocktails."

Simon laughed. "And he's good at sciences. Is there anything you can't do?"

Jace sighed softly, gaze remaining fond despite his fading smile. "Too many, I'm afraid. But don't tell anyone, I have a reputation to uphold."

Simon grinned, revealing his teeth for a second before he gently bit his bottom lip. Either way he was bound to observe Jace in his element, which, he was trying to convince himself wasn't a creepy way to phrase things. He narrowed his eyes. "Does your bar have a piano?" Jace blinked a few times at the unexpected question before slowly nodding. "Great." Simon said. "Then I think we're really getting out of here." He added, before tugging on Jace's hand and leading the way out before the blond could protect. Turns out he didn't even try to relent.

They made it took quick for either of them's liking. Silence had made the conversation on a way, something pleasant, something light, something neither of them felt the need to fill as they held hands and lazily marched through quasi empty streets. Jace had tugged on his tie, letting it go loose and Simon had removed his faux bow tie, carefully pocketing it. They realized they were still holding hands when Jace stopped in front of the small bar. "We're here." He spoke, brows slightly furrowing as he let go Simon's hand.

The brunet nodded, eyes narrowed as he studied the blond, more bothered by the change in Jace's demeanor than the loss of contact. He said nothing though and forced a smile back on his features, looking up to read the name of said place. "Hunter's Moon." He read, chuckling when he saw that Jace was holding the door for him. He stepped in and paused. This definitely wasn't what he'd expected. The place was rather warm, with touches of red and yellow drowning in brown leather and mahogany. But what caught Simon off guard was the people. They all seemed to have more personality than him, and a whole story written on their skin.