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“Why are you acting so strange?” Izzy cringed upon overhearing her boyfriend’s question to his best friend Clary as they waited for the large group ahead of them to get past the burly mundane guarding the front door of the bar where his old band was playing that night. “And why aren’t we using glamours?” Simon added, shooting Izzy a suspicious look. He may have only been a shadowhunter for three years, but he’d definitely taken to the lifestyle since his ascension. Mainly, their habit of using glamours to sneak into whatever mundane venue he was dragging them all to on any given evening. Tonight, however, Izzy had a surprise for him, and had distracted him before he could apply a glamour rune. She’d hoped he wouldn’t notice, but of course he’d not only realized what she’d done, but also noticed that none of them were hiding themselves from the mundanes around them.
“Told you he’s not that stupid,” she heard her adoptive brother Jace whisper to Clary, who was also his girlfriend. Clary smacked him lightly on the arm out of habit, despite the fact that the comment, for once, wasn’t really an insult. The two men’s entire relationship seemed to be based on trying to get a rise of the other, so both women were used to trying to make them tone it down, even though by this point, everyone knew the two were actually quite fond of one another.
Deciding that having kept her surprise a secret until they made it to ‘Nigel’s’ would have to be good enough, Izzy tugged on Simon’s hand, pulling him closer so she could whisper in his ear. “The band knows you’re coming tonight. Jace is letting you play with them,” she told him, punctuating her revelation with a quick kiss on the cheek, just because she could.
She hadn’t been sure exactly what to expect in reaction to the news, but she’d certainly expected something . Instead, the brunette was staring blankly ahead...he wasn’t even looking at her...his eyes wide, and startlingly vacant. “Si?” No response. “Simon?” Nada. Izzy glanced anxiously at Clary, who was moving closer with a concerned frown.
“ Simon ,” Clary said his name firmly, and loudly enough to draw the attention of a group of mundane college girls who were waiting behind them. Most of them, rather predictably, began smiling flirtatiously at Jace, who was completely oblivious. Then, Izzy noticed one of the women giving Simon a slow, appreciative look over, and she growled softly, glaring at the pretty, but slightly nerdy-looking brunette, who was, Izzy realized, quite possibly Simon’s type. The other woman’s eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly averted her gaze.
“Babe,” Izzy said, maybe a bit louder than was strictly necessary, snapping her fingers in front of Simon’s face. “Are you okay? Hon?”
“Are you serious?” Simon whispered, finally blinking, and focusing on her. She nodded, smiling fondly at him. “Really?” his voice cracked, and his eyes became suspiciously moist. Blinking rapidly, he hissed, “But it’s against the rules!”
“Fuck the rules. What good is being best friends with the head of your Institute’s girlfriend...or being his sister’s boyfriend for that matter, if you can’t get away with stuff like this now and then?” she asked, winking.
“Won’t your dad have a cow?” Simon asked.
“Fuck my dad! Well...please don’t, but...you know...screw whatever he thinks. This isn’t going to hurt anything. You don’t have to tell them anything about what you’ve really been doing since you left. You said a lot of mundanes go into the military for life, and it’s not like you have to admit that you’re not just in town on leave or whatever, right?” she pointed out, reaching up to caress his cheek, unable to resist comforting him when he looked this nervous.
“Wait...I...I can’t play with them. I don’t have my bass...” he stammered, looking helplessly at his hands as if it might appear there.
“Uh, actually...” Clary cleared her throat, reaching into her purse, and pulling out a small sketch pad. Flipping it open, she revealed a very realistic drawing of her parabatai’s beloved bass, which had a familiar rune in the corner. Looking around quickly, the redhead seemed to realize there were too many mundanes in the immediate area to retrieve the instrument from its hiding place yet, but Simon’s eyes widened as he realized she’d snuck it out of the Insititute using the same trick her mother had once used to hide the Mortal Cup, back when Clary’s father was on a power hungry rampage.
“You guys comin’ or not?” the bouncer growled, beckoning them forward. It was a bit jarring, since none of the four had actually entered a bar or club while visible in longer than Izzy could remember.
“We’re coming!” Simon blurted, a giddy grin spreading slowly across his face as they pushed their way through the doors of the slightly eclectic bar, which was decorated in a such a way as to give a subtle ‘English Pub’ vibe, without actually being stuffy. Despite the decent sized line out front, the place was only moderately full. There were still a couple of empty tables, and they were able to cross the open area that passed as a dance floor with little difficulty. As they drew near the small, raised stage on the far side of the room, she spotted Simon’s old bandmates fiddling with their equipment.
The drummer, Eric’s eyes lit up when he noticed their approach. “Simon!” The brunette yelled, jumping up from behind his drum kit, and all but throwing himself across the stage at him, nearly poking him in the back of the head with the drum sticks that seemed forgotten in his left hand as he hugged him enthusiastically. “Dude! It’s been way too long!”
“Way too long,” Simon agreed, looking even more teary-eyed than he had outside. Stepping back, he looked the drummer over briefly, and mumbled, “You grew...” They’d still been in high school the last time Simon was allowed to see the band, and now, in their early twenties, even Izzy could tell that the human seemed a few inches taller than the one time she had met him...the day she, Clary and Magnus had gone to see Simon in hopes that he might remember something...anything...about the shadow world. If he did, the Clave would allow them to offer him a reminder of who he had really been before Magnus’ asshole father cured him of his vampirism, at the cost of erasing all his memories of his closest friends, including his memories of Izzy. They hadn’t been dating long when it had happened, but it had hurt more than anything she could possibly have imagined.
Feeling her heart rate quicken slightly, and her chest tightening at the memory of the awful, though thankfully brief period when the love of her life didn’t remember who she was, Izzy took a deep breath, forcing the threatening panic away. Simon had remembered. Hell, the band was still called The Mortal Instruments, five years later. Once her head cleared, she realized the rest of the band had now surrounded her boyfriend, offering their own hugs. She noticed Clary looking at them a bit sadly, and realized that while they remembered Simon because of the altered memories Asmodeus had created, those same memories meant they could no longer remember the red-headed girl at all, despite her having also grown up with them.
“Dude, what did the army do to you?” The red headed one...she was pretty sure his name was Matt...asked, gesturing vaguely at Simon’s chest. “You’re...like...ripped?”
Izzy and Clary both giggled quietly, covering their mouths with their hands almost in unison, while Jace let out a blatant snort, which earned him a friendly punch in the shoulder from Simon as he said, “Uh, just a lot of calisthenics. You wouldn’t believe how many calisthenics...” he trailed off, rolling his eyes, and sighing heavily. Izzy couldn’t help giggling again. It was true that the Shadowhunter Academy had required all of its students to do at least an hour of calisthenics every morning (not to mention all of the training in weapons and fighting), but the reason Simon was, in fact, ripped was mostly due to his Ascension at the end of his two years there than to any of the exercise he’d done before or since. Since they were all born to it, Izzy and the others hadn’t really appreciated how easily they put on and maintained muscle until they watched their formerly scrawny friend begin to rapidly beef up after having struggled for years to build up any noticeable muscle mass. Simon was still a bit more slender than Jace, who was shorter and stockier by nature, but he was now actually a bit more bulky than Izzy’s older brother Alec. Izzy was pretty sure he’d grown a few inches since his Ascension, as well, even though he’d been twenty by then, and should have been done growing.
“Man, I should’ve joined the army,” she heard the third member of the band, the lead singer, Kirk, mumble.
“Dude, you wouldn’t last five minutes in boot camp,” Eric snorted, punching him on the shoulder.
“Neither would you!” Kirt shot back, smirking, and sticking out his tongue.
“Anyway...” Matt interrupted. “Eric said you’re going to perform with us tonight, Si? Re-uuuuun-iooooon!” he sang exaggeratedly, and very off-key.
“Jesus Christ, didn’t you guys practice singing at all since I left?” Simon teased, though he was grinning almost maniacally, and beginning to bounce up and down on his toes excitedly.
“Hey, I’m not the singer, dude,” Matt pointed out, shrugging. “Tonight, that’s you. Works out well for us, cuz Kirk’s still getting over strep throat,” he added, pointing his thumb at the dark skinned man. “Your girlfriend’s timing couldn’t be better, arranging this...” he flashed Izzy a shy smile, and swallowed nervously, then quickly looked away when she smiled back, which made Clary giggle, and Jace smirk.
“Yeah, she’s pretty awesome.” Simon gave Izzy his own smile, warm and affectionate, with just a touch of heat, which made her stomach flutter briefly before he turned away again. “So, did you have a playlist for this thing, or...”
“Totally up to you, man,” Eric shook his head, and patted him on the shoulder. “It’s your rodeo...”
“Okay, well, I’ve got some ideas. I’ve just gotta go get my bass,” Simon caught Clary’s eye, and tilted his head toward the door. “Forgot it in the car,” he mumbled, visibly struggling not to wince at the weak excuse.
“How did you find a parking space?” Izzy heard Matt mutter as the two parabatai walked over to the door. Izzy watched with amusement as the two stepped into a tiny alcove beside the doorway, and activated their glamour runes before Clary waved her stele over her sketchpad, immediately pulling Simon’s bass from the open page. Simon accepted it with a grateful smile, then glanced back toward Izzy, their eyes meeting for a moment before he leaned over to say something to Clary, whose eyes widened for a moment before she nodded, suddenly looking teary-eyed, though she was also smiling delightedly. Simon seemed to take a rather shaky breath, and Clary patted his shoulder affectionately before the pair swiped their glamour runes again, deactivating them, and began to make their way back toward the stage.
Upon rejoining the group, Simon leaned in to speak into Eric’s ear. The drummer nodded a few times as the Shadowhunter spoke, then gestured for the other two to huddle up. After a few minutes of sporadic gestures (and more than a little laughter), they seemed to have reached a consensus, and the three humans hopped back up on the stage to finalize their preparations. Simon turned back toward his fellow Shadowhunters with a slightly nervous, but excited smile. “Thank you guys so much for this,” he murmured, barely audible over the growing chatter in the bar as people began to notice that the band was almost ready to begin. “I can’t even tell you what this means to me.”
“You don’t have to,” Jace muttered, patting him on the back, and offering him an unusually sincere smile. “Just have fun. You deserve it, buddy.”
Simon swallowed thickly, his eyes growing even more glassy as he returned the pat in the most manly way one possibly could when obviously on the verge of tears. “Here goes nothing,” he mumbled, giving Clary a very pointed look (which earned him a tearful smile and a thumbs up), and kissing Izzy briefly, but warmly before turning to join his friends on stage.
As soon as Simon had plugged the amp cord Matt handed to him into his bass, Kirk stepped forward, wrapping his hand loosely around the mic as the bar’s patrons (whose number had increased considerably since their arrival) burst into cheers. “Hey guys!” His cheerful greeting made the cheering escalate in both volume and enthusiasm until he made a few ‘quiet down’ gestures with his hands. “Wow, this is quite a crowd! Glad you all could make it tonight, cuz this is gonna be one seriously awesome show. I don’t know how many of you remember us back when we first started out, but this trio used to be a quartet until our man Simon ditched us to become some kind of badass soldier-” A few girls near the front let out piercing screams at this, either remembering Simon, or from a general fondness for soldiers. Once they subsided, Kirk chuckled, and continued. “Simon’s back with us tonight, for just one show! He’s going to be taking over at the mic, cuz I just got my voice back after like a week, so please don’t be too hard on him...” he shot Simon a wink, and Simon stuck his tongue out in return, drawing laughter from the crowd. “Anyway, for tonight, we are Simon Lewis and the Mortal Instruments! Whooo-ow...crap...no yelling, Kirk...” he trailed off, grimacing, and clutching his throat (earning more laughs). He pumped his fist enthusiastically as he bounced back over to his guitar, and slung the strap over his shoulders.
The moment he was ready, Izzy heard Simon do a quick count down, and the band launched into a song she vaguely recognized as one of the original songs they’d written after Simon left them. Since this was outside the period where she felt any reason to pretend to appreciate their work, she didn’t know it very well. She’d only come across it at all because, yes, even though the Mortal Instruments weren’t exactly her kind of music, she had looked up some of their videos on youtube while looking for ones from back when Simon was still with them. The Mortal Instruments might not be her cup of tea, but he was. As he began to sing now, Izzy closed her eyes, blocking out everything but the sound of his voice. She’d normally be slightly uncomfortable surrounded by this many mundanes without her glamour rune activated, but even though many of the band’s newer songs tended to test the high end of Simon’s vocal range, with his voice drowning out the audience’s chatter, she couldn’t help but feel relaxed, safe, and happy. There’d been a time she wouldn’t have believed she’d ever feel like this. During the war with Valentine, and then the hunt for Jonathan Morgenstern, the horrible bargain with Asmodeus, followed by the two long years she had spent hoping Simon would be able to ascend and recover all of his memories...hoping he would survive the process at all.
Izzy shuddered slightly, pushing away the painful thoughts that still haunted her, years later. The band had moved on to another song, but Simon wasn’t singing. She hoped they weren’t playing their ridiculously long instrumental monstrosity again. Simon glanced her way, shooting her a wink that made her heart skip a few beats, then glanced over toward Clary and Jace, giving his parabatai a surprisingly nervous looking grin. Izzy followed his gaze, and noticed that Clary wasn’t even paying attention to the band. Instead, she had her sketchbook out again, and seemed to be frantically working on...the Angel only knew what, with Clary. Izzy smiled fondly at her best friend (hey, she could share one with her boyfriend), and rolled her eyes slightly when Jace caught her eye. Instead of sharing her amusement, as he normally did over his girlfriend’s slightly eccentric behavior whenever she was struck with inspiration, this time he just smirked; a bit too knowingly for Izzy’s liking.
Turning her attention back to the stage as the band finally wrapped up their current song, Izzy’s jaw dropped when, instead of immediately launching into another of the Mortal Instruments weird, techno creations, Simon cleared his throat, ducking his head slightly as he said, “I know this next one isn’t the Instruments’ usual style, but I hope you can forgive me for taking the chance to dedicate this one to-to the love of my life. It’s one of her favorites, and, well, it just happens to be perfect to describe how I feel about you, Izzy...” he trailed off, swallowing thickly, and offering her a sweet, shy smile akin to the ones he used to give her back when they first started dating.
Several members of the crowd let out loud ‘Awwwww’s, though there were also several loud groans, and a few snickers when the band proceeded to play the familiar intro to what was, actually, Izzy’s favorite song...John Legend’s ‘All of Me.’ It was ironic that Simon had said it described how he felt about her, because it summed up pretty perfectly how she felt about him.
“ What would I do without your smart mouth
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
Got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down
What's going on in that beautiful mind
I'm on your magical mystery ride
And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright... ”
After finishing the opening verse, Simon shot her another wink, earning himself another chorus of ‘Awww’s, and a lot fewer complaints, probably due to the fact that the song was a much better fit for his singing voice than the band’s regular fare. Most of the crowd seemed to be getting pretty into it, actually. Izzy snorted when she noticed the nerdy brunette from earlier waving frantically, trying to get Simon’s attention, and almost felt sorry for her when he failed to notice. Almost. She didn’t feel as sorry for the tall, willowy, rather buxom brunette she spotted tossing what looked suspiciously like a pair of panties onto the stage. She’d taken half a step toward the other girl, fists curling into tight fists, when Matt suddenly bent over to pick up the scrap of cloth before shoving it in his back pocket with a playful wink at the thrower, who waved coyly, and blew him a kiss. Blushing slightly at her own overreaction, Izzy turned her gaze back to Simon, who grinned at her knowingly, and wiggled his eyebrows at her before beginning another verse, his eyes boring into hers as he sang:
“ How many times do I have to tell you
Even when you're crying you're beautiful too
The world is beating you down, I'm around through every move
You're my downfall, you're my muse
My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues
I can't stop singing, it's ringing, in my head for you. ”
Blinking back tears, Izzy had to look away before she broke down in front of a room full of mundane strangers. Another quick glance at Clary revealed that her friend had apparently finished whatever she was drawing earlier, though she still had her sketchbook clutched to her chest. If she wasn’t mistaken, Jace had his phone out, and seemed to be recording the band, probably hoping to embarrass Simon with it later, if she knew her brother. As if Simon had anything to be ashamed of, since the entire audience, even those who’d been complaining most vocally at the beginning of the song, were now watching with rapt attention.
Carefully swiping at the tears lingering on her lower lashes, Izzy turned back to Simon, mouthing along with the words as he continued singing, smiling tearfully whenever he met her gaze, which happened pretty frequently, despite the fact he still seemed to be struggling with a case of nerves. A few glances around her revealed that most of the audience had figured out that his performance was directed at her. One woman, dressed in such heavily goth attire that Izzy might have suspected she was actually a demon if her ruby necklace wasn’t lying quiet and dark against her chest, flashed her a thumbs up, which she responded to with a quick, embarrassed smile. She was just considering the fact that she should probably consider making her boyfriend suffer later for drawing attention to her in public like this, when she realized that the song was coming to an end. This sudden realization came to her because Simon had set down his bass, climbed off the stage, and was making a beeline toward her, leaving the rest of the band to finish up the final chorus without him.
“Uh, so...we’re going to take a break now, I guess...” Kirk announced, snickering into the mic, just as Simon reached her.
“Simon, that was amazing, but what are you...” Izzy began, beaming at him as he stopped, and shuffled back and forth anxiously for a moment.
“Hey, Izzy, wanna see the picture I drew of the band?” Clary exclaimed suddenly, stepping almost directly between them. Izzy vaguely registered Jace’s cackling laughter in the background as the petite redhead shoved her sketchpad so close to her face that she couldn’t even make out the pencil drawing on the page.
“Clary! What the hell?” Izzy irritably swatted the sketch away from her face, then blinked as the image came into focus. “Wha-” Rather than a picture of the band, Clary had presented her with a picture of Simon, alone, kneeling, with one hand extended upward, holding- “By the Angel...” Pushing the book aside (though Clary seemed to be pulling it away anyway, with an excited squeal), Izzy gasped at the sight of the exact same image, in living, breathing color in front of her (though real life Simon seemed to be sweating a good deal more than his illustrated counterpart).
“I...I had a whole speech, but I can’t remember any of it,” he admitted sheepishly, glancing briefly from side to side at the strangers gathered all around them. Opening the small, black velvet box he was holding with a neat flip of his wrist, he murmured, “Izzy, will you marry me?”
The entire bar exploded in an uproar of applause and cheering, but Izzy was barely aware of it, too occupied with dropping to her knees, and throwing her arms around Simon’s neck, kissing him deeply, and trying to pour every bit of what she was feeling at the moment into it...mostly love, joy, excitement, and a huge sense of relief (though she hadn’t really consciously acknowledged to herself how long she’d been waiting for this moment). Simon slid the fingers of his free hand into her hair, holding her close as he sucked gently on her lower lip until she moaned. Rather than slipping his tongue into her mouth, he pulled back just far enough to ask, “Is that a yes?”
“You’re an idiot,” Izzy giggled, nodding, and pressing another quick kiss to his lips before pulling away, becoming acutely aware that they had an audience when said audience let out another giant roar of approval at the motion.
“But I’m your idiot,” Simon chuckled, kissing her on the nose, before leaning back so he could bring the box up for her to see. “Is this okay? Clary helped, but I can exchange-” he began, looking nervous again.
“Don’t you dare!” Izzy growled, grabbing for the ring, a fairly large, circle cut ruby, in a platinum setting, with smaller, round, half carat diamonds on either side. “It’s perfect! I love it!” she told him emphatically, pouting when he pulled the box away again instead of letting her take it.
“You’ve got to let me put it on you, doofus,” he scolded teasingly, carefully prying the ring from the box, which he snapped shut, and carelessly tossed in Clary’s general direction.
“Did you seriously just call me ‘doofus,’?” Izzy demanded, gasping at him in mock astonishment as he grasped her left arm, and slid his hand down until he held her hand in his.
“Not the first time. Probably won’t be the last...” he murmured, shrugging carelessly, before he took a deep breath, and slid the ring onto her finger. “It fits,” he announced, half to himself, but obviously partially to his parabatai, who let out an ‘I told you so’ sort of hum. Ignoring Clary, Simon leaned forward, kissing Izzy again. “I love you so much, Iz,” he whispered against her lips before wrapping his arms around her tightly, and kissing her lovingly.
Losing herself in the moment, in his arms, Izzy wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Jace laughingly leaned down, and declared, “Okaaaay, that’s enough. I never needed to see that much of Simon’s tongue...”
Blinking a bit dazedly, Izzy looked up, blushing, when she realized just how many people had just been watching her heatedly making out with her boyfriend. Except he wasn’t her boyfriend anymore... “You’re my fiance...” she corrected herself softly, gazing at Simon.
Simon grinned, his face flushed, and his hair extremely messed up, and slowly rose to his feet, offering her a hand up. “She said yes!” he yelled, as if anyone could have possibly missed that fact. The whole place broke out in more cheering and applause.
“Congratulations,” Jace said, pounding Simon on the back before embracing Izzy.
“I told you she was going to say yes!” Clary was squealing to Simon, jumping up and down excitedly while also embracing him tightly, so it looked a little like she was trying to pull his head off. After releasing him (and leaving him even more red-faced, his hair possibly beyond fixing), she grabbed Izzy, whom Jace had just released in favor of...checking his phone? “Congratulations!”
“You helped him pick the ring, didn’t you?” Izzy asked, giggling excitedly as they hugged.
“I just approved it. He picked it out by himself,” Clary said, shaking her head slightly. “I’ve been carrying it around in my sketchbook for him for two months now, waiting for him to get up the nerve. I had a good feeling about tonight when Jace told me about the band.”
“What was with the picture?” Izzy asked curiously.
“Oh, that was just to distract you while I handed him the ring,” Clary explained, laughing. “It was his idea, though.”
“Hey, Alec and Magnus say congratulations!” Jace announced, shoving his phone back in his pocket. “I had them on facetime the whole time...” he explained, smirking slightly..
Izzy was about to tease her brother for being so very mundane when an ear-splitting whistle suddenly pierced the air. Looking around for the source of the noise, Izzy spotted a short, rather hirsute dwarf wearing...was that a 19th century barmaid’s costume?...standing on top of the bar. “In honor of the happy couple, the next round is on the house!” he shouted, to enthusiastic applause. “And maybe, if it’s not too much trouble, the band could finish the show?” he added, with a pointed look at Eric, who nodded a bit sheepishly from the stage, then beckoned for Simon to come back up.
“Sorry, I’ve gotta do this,” Simon mumbled, kissing Izzy apologetically. “They really do need me, cuz Kyle’s-”
“I know,” Izzy giggled, caressing his cheek. “Just have fun, babe,” she ordered gently. “We’ve got all the time in the world...”