Roommates & Soulmates

Ch163: Jace's Whinning

Time. Such a simple thing, and yet so powerful. With each passing day, the ache in Jace's heart became more and more bearable. It was less that the pain was fading, and more like he was growing strong enough to withstand it. Spending time with Annika helped. He sometimes saw her at the gym. They often talked about being on a university level sports team, and other such things they had in common. Sometimes she brought up classes she'd taken or drama's her friends were having and he replied in kind. They were nice conversations, and when he was talking to her it was easier to forget about the pain for a while.

Since Clary was spending half her nights at Simon's and half of them at Magnus's, Jace never really went over to Alec's anymore. Instead his best friend came to visit him. Maybe one day Jace would feel ready to see Clary again, but he wasn't there yet.

"But you said hanging out with Annika was helping?" Alec reminded him. They'd been sitting on Jace's couch for the last hour, Alec being kind enough to listen to Jace whine for most of that time.

"It is but," Jace sighed. "Oh I don't know, a part of me is starting to wonder if I should have taken Paige up on her offer last November."

"Well that ship's well and truly sailed now buddy. She went on a date."

"With who?"

"No clue," Alec replied. "But she won't stop talking about it. She's all bubbly and humming to herself. It's weird."

"Yeah well what ya gonna do," Jace sighed.

"Obviously you need to hang out with Annika more," Alec answered the rhetorical question.

"We just like, you know, work out and stuff," Jace shrugged. "I don't know what she wants."

At that Alec raised his eyebrows at Jace. "Oh really?" he mocked. "You can't think of one little thing that might get a girl to pay attention to you."

But Jace just rolled his eyes. "I'm a mess. What girl wants that?"

"You're a hot mess," Alec sniggered. "There's a difference." Jace threw a pillow at him.

"Wait a minute," Jace said, suddenly stopping everything he was doing. It was like a light bulb had been clicked on. "I know someone else who's been humming and bubbly lately. Jon! Could it be?"

"Ohh maybe," Alec said. "I don't know Jon very well. Is he Paige's type."

"Well Paige is like the most domestic person I know," Jace continued. "And Jon is way worse than me when it comes to the picket fence life. He's told me a bit about what happened with his ex." Jace punched the air. "I bet that's who she's seeing. Oh wow it really is a small world, isn't it."

"I think Clary set them up," Alec said, looking unsure as he spoke.

"Makes sense," Jace replied. "And don't look so worried. You can say her name you know."

"Oh," Alec said, relaxing a little.

"She will always be the first woman I ever loved," Jace stated. "Nothing can change that."

"I still say you need to hang out with Annika," Alec continued. Jace narrowed his eyes at his friend trying to read the unspoken words on his face.

"Ah I get it, you think I need to get laid," Jace surmised.

"Hey, how long has it been since you were with anyone but Clary, huh?" Alec reminded him.

"Oh yeah, and how's that monogamous marriage working out for you?" Jace said, eyebrows raised.

"Perfect," Alec said. "Well except for John." He sighed. "Magnus's dad wants to have dinner again, but Magnus is still weary. I just don't get why. It's been ages now and he hasn't done anything bad. Why can't Magnus just accept him?"