I Remember You, do You Remember Me?

Judgment

Isabelle rocked back and forward on her heals, trying to focus on the meaningless hip hop blaring into her ears. The blank patch of wall she was staring intently at suddenly became a video player, rushing through images of Simon running, Simon saving her, Simon everything.

She threw the headphones down with a sigh of defeat. Nothing was working. She supposed she should be grateful it was Simon she couldn't stop thinking about, not that werewolf that assaulted her, but somehow it was just as bad.

Isabelle heard raised voices from where the Clave was in session, even through the thick walls of the Hall of Accords. It was a heated debate, involving one of the Nephilim's most valued members and the topic of fair treatment of Downworlders. The pack of New York had been summoned, along with other notorious packs. Maia, faithful friend as ever, stuck firmly on Isabelle's side, though some other lycanthropes were wary of her case.

No-one else was allowed in her room- similar to the one Jace and Clary had stayed in after the encounter with Sebastian prior to their trip to the demon realms- but Isabelle wanted more than anything just for someone to put their arms around her, give her a cup of hot cocoa and tell her everything was going to be alright.

Simon Isabelle thought, Simon would make me feel okay. She sighed, leaning her head against the sturdy wall. Clary's ability to invent runes would come in handy right now. Just another hour, she told herself, just another hour.

~~~~

Simon was red faced and furious; some people were giving him curious looks.

"I'm going to cool down a bit," He mumbled to Clary- equally red faced and furious, but somehow better at controlling her temper. "I'll be back."

He strolled through the empty halls until he reached the room Isabelle was in. Raising his hand to knock, he sighed, dropped his hand, leaning against the doorframe.

"Simon?" Isabelle whispered. "Is that you?"

The door opened, and Simon quickly jumped behind the pillar. He wasn't supposed to be seen with her.

"I know you're there, Simon," Isabelle said, putting a hand on her hip.

He reluctantly stepped out, grinning sheepishly. "Hi."

She looked so relieved at a sign of another human, you'd think she'd been in isolation for weeks instead of a day. He imagined her alone, with only her thoughts- that she'd rather not think about, he assumed- for company. His resolve visibly weakened.

"Do you want to come in?" Isabelle asked desperately.

Simon nodded. "I mean, I probably shouldn't, but-"

Isabelle pushed him in before he could say another word, closing the door behind them immediately.

"The debate is mostly about fair treatment of Downworlders," Simon said, answering her unasked question.

Isabelle nodded, picking at the hem of her sweater nervously. "What you did back there- Thankyou. I don't think-"

"Izzy. It's fine. Anyone would've." Simon said firmly. When did it happen, Isabelle wondered, that Simon had this much control over her?

Simon gently took her hand in between his, placing a small, lingering kiss to the tips if her fingertips like an old fairytale hero. The small action set off fireworks in her system, like someone had pressed the hard-wired red button inside of her made for survival, but instead of hardening, all her defences crumbled against his touch. This was the first time he'd made any sort of romantic move to her since yesterday.

She leaned forward and slowly brought her lips to his, and his eyes fluttered closed before he tangled his hands in her hair. Her heartbeat sped up as the kiss intensified, and so did his. Isabelle knew he should be elsewhere, but didn't care, because Simon was here, kissing her like the world was ending, like no-one had before, like he loved her.

They pulled apart gently, out of breath and leaning their foreheads together.

Simon sighed, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head in the juncture in-between her head and neck.

"I love you."

Isabelle's heart stopped.

She was silent for a while; it was hard to speak without a beating heart.

Simon bit his lip. "Sorry, I-"

"I love you too," Isabelle said, crying. "So damn much. I love you. I love you, Simon."

He stared at her, gaping with such shock that you'd think he was looking at a shooting star, then kissed her again, so hard that she didn't even care when the door opened and Jia broke off mid sentence when telling them the session was over, didn't care when she heard the outraged shouting of the other members of the pack, didn't care when an amused voice that sounded suspiciously like Jace's said something like "We better give them their privacy," and Clary told him to shut up, didn't care that she would probably die of some sort of oxygen deprivation at this rate.

"I love you."