Collision Course

Chapter 38:

Maia, best friend, worse wingwoman?
You'll see, she's cute 🥰 she has steps.
What a dork.

Maia sighs, she never saw her relationship with Jace as weird. Maybe because she was just as comfortable with him as she was with Simon or Jordan. She was always good with guy friends and sure she didn't like Jace when she first met him. He reminded her too much of the guys who always used their looks to breeze through life and never cared for anyone they couldn't use, but the more she got to know him the more she realised Jace was one of the most caring people she'd meet—like sometimes she worries about him, when she saw the way he looked at Clary she realised it's been a while since he's been with anyone m, let along someone who makes him look like a lovesick idiot.

Maia wasn't someone who went steady and neither was Jordan, but they were in understanding, Jordan was always travelling and that's how they got each other. Their dreams were to get out of New Jersey and they did. Maia with her band and Jordan with whatever he did when he was gone everytime he came back he was always happier.

"You're thinking really hard there," she jumped as Jace came up next to her he changed for dinner everyone planned a surprise thing for her and knowing Jace and Simon they were not going to easy on whatever they had plan.

"I was just thinking about—never mind," she hooked her arm around his, she holds comfort that Jace was familiar to her now. In the corner of her eye she sees a flash of red and she let go of Jace. If she was going to play match maker with her friends she was going to have to have a talk with Jace.

She turns and calls Clary over, Clary was someone she only recently started to get close too in their adult years, high school was filled with pointless drama over Simon of all people. They both laugh about it now, they loved him but not in the way they thought they did at 16 and 17. Clary walked over to them clearly confused, she saw Simon give her a 'what are you doing' look she ignored it.

Step 1. Get them talking

"I have to go check on Jordan he hates dressing up."

"So do you," Jace said rolling his eyes, she elbowed him,

"Make sure this one doesn't try to go back to the kitchen. Everything is cooked and I'm sure Alec can handling watching what you have in the oven," Alec went in hiding downstairs—probably from Isabelle who was threatening to throw his laptop in the lake, if he didn't stop working.

She looked back at them one more time before heading inside. She got a text from Simon

Simon: you're meddling too much.

Maia: 🙂 It's going to work. They clearly already like each other.

Simon: I worry about you sometimes 🙄

Maia: love u too.

—

"Is it me or was she being weird?" Jace asked as they watched Maia leave. He was use to her weirdness but she was never like this.

"Nah, Maia's right you need to get out of the kitchen. Have a beer, watch Simon try to set up that karaoke machine." They turned to see Simon struggling with Magnus next to him asking if he needed help.

"You can't get me drunk enough to do karaoke," Jace asked, he didn't sing his musical abilities stopped at piano playing, not that he's played in a while.

"Oh I don't know Herondale, I can be pretty convincing—drunk or sober you're getting up there."

He smiles as Clary took a sip of her drink he casually checked her out she was wearing jeans with a grey crop top that had made in Brooklyn over her chest—he's seen that shirt before on Simon, though it wasn't cropped, this was the most casual he's seen her in, it was nice even though she worked in the restaurant with him she was always in uniform and the times he's seen her outside work it were for parties and events where they would have to dress up. He liked this version of her, relaxed and causal.

"What?" He cleared his throat, he didn't mean to stare or get caught.

"Sorry, um is that Simon's shirt?" He asked,

"Yeah," she laughs, "I stole it from him and cropped it."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence after that, Jace then turned to her,

"Have I thanked you?"

"For?"

"Getting me to go see my family, it's nice to get to know them. Especially my grandmother, I didn't think I would ever really get to know them. I didn't have the desire to after that day, and I had the Lightwood's and that was enough. But I think I needed to get to know them,"

He watched Clary's face, he didn't mean to get that honest but he was really grateful. He would definitely not have the strength to have gone by himself.

Clary finally smiles and placed her hand over his and squeezed it.
—

Sorry it's been a long time. I didn't know how to continue it. I've been stuck on this chapter for a long time. Maybe that's why it's so short.