Not by Blood - BEING REWRITTEN IN SEPARATE STORY

Chapter Twenty Eight

EDITED 5/30/2020

"Where are we going?" Clary laughed as Wesley tugged her along down the street.

He had insisted that she put on a nice navy blue dress that he had shoved at her and that she meet him outside the institute. Clary had done both and had yet to get any answers. His hand was firmly holding hers as he led her through the city

"Not telling, love." Wesley grinned over his shoulder and Clary found herself smiling back at him easily and the butterflies in her stomach started fluttering helplessly. She had to remind herself that the two of them were just friends. Wesley had a soulmate back home, a soulmate that wasn't her.

It was another five minutes filled with unanswered questions before Wesley finally ducked inside a nice looking restaurant, pulling Clary in behind him.

"Hope you're hungry." He smiled at her, wrapping an arm around her waist. He pulled her to him just in time as a busy looking waiter nearly bumped into her and would have had Wesley not pulled her out of the way in time.

"I am, this place is amazing!" She beamed, looking around. "How did you hear about it?"

It was definitely one of the fancier places that she had been to. Since Jocelyn was a single mother, she hadn't had much money to go out to eat and Clary had never had a serious boyfriend before being introduced to the Shadow World.

"Magnus recommended it. Apparently he and your brother have been here before." Wesley said.

Clary nodded in understanding, this place definitely looked like somewhere Magnus would spend time at. It didn't necessarily look like Alec's style, but then again, anything Magnus liked was Alec's style nowadays.

"Hi!" The hostess popped around the corner, smiling at the couple. "Just two tonight?"

"Yes, please, love." Wesley smiled at her, pulling Clary a tad bit closer.

"Right this way." The hostess gestured for the couple to follow her.

They were led to a communal table towards the back of the room and Clary almost stopped short when she noticed who was there.

Wesley swore under his breath and then leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"I am so sorry, Clary. It isn't too late to leave. We can go somewhere else."

Clary shook her head. "No, we aren't leaving. This is perfect."

"Clary!" Simon exclaimed when he looked up. Maia instantly pulled her hand back from his and looked extremely put out.

The hostess put Wesley and Clary's menus down and informed them that a server would be with them soon before disappearing. Wesley pulled Clary's chair out for her, right next to Maia and circled the table to sit next to Simon.

"So.." Clary sighed.

"This doesn't have to be weird." Maia told the group. "You guys do your thing, we will do ours. Yeah?"

The other three nodded awkwardly.

"So," Wesley looked over at Clary. "Share an appetizer?"

"Sure!" Clary smiled looking down at the menu. "You pick."

"Okay," Wesley looked the menu over and at the same time as Simon, who'd leaned over intending to help him out, said "Barada salad?"

Wesley looked over at Simon with a furrowed brow as Clary slowly answered.

"My favorite."

"Great." Wesley said.

The group fell into another awkward silence before Maia threw her menu down and asked "who's up for cocktails?"