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Clary’s been a menace in their lives ever since Jace brought her to the institute. Izzy had taken a liking to her almost immediately, seeing the fire in her eyes and determination she had to do whatever it took to get her mom back. Yeah, the way she went about things wasn’t always the most above-board manner, but she had the best intentions. So, Izzy did her best to be there for her from the beginning, always providing a helping hand when needed. Especially being the sole female Shadowhunters of their little ragtag group.
Somewhere along the line though, those feelings she had started taking a turn for the romantic turn and no matter what she did, they would not go away. She refused to add to the already emotionally full plate Clary had going on, between tracking down her mom and Valentine, she had a lot going on. That didn’t mean she couldn’t help to get her mind off of those things, however.
It was a Thursday afternoon and their group split off after yet another exhausting day of looking through all the information that was available about Jocelyn and Valentine. Jace had gone off to train, Alec was more than likely with Magnus (which Izzy had picked up on the difference between Alec pre-Magnus and now right away, he seemed a lot looser, and didn’t walk around like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders as much), Simon was at the Hotel DuMort, which left the two of them still looking through information.
Izzy walked over to the table where Clary was sitting and sat down on top of the table, smiling down gently at Clary. She always looked so beautiful, but especially when she was focusing on something.
“Hey Clary,” Izzy started. “Are you doing anything tomorrow night?”
Clary must have been more concentrated than Izzy thought, because she jumped up, very startled. “Oh hey, Iz! Not really, honestly. I was planning on staying here and looking through all this stuff some more. There’s GOT to be something we’re missing but I don’t know what it is.” She sighs, clearly frustrated.
“Hey,” Izzy leaned down and covered Clary’s hand with her own. “We’ll find her. It may take some time, but we will” and tried to give Clary her most reassuring smile.
“That’s kind of what I’m afraid of, actually. The more time we spend not finding her, the more time there is for Valentine to find her, and that makes me nervous. But thank you for trying to help. I appreciate it,” and gives Izzy’s hand a reassuring squeeze.
“And that’s fair and all, but the more time you spend here, getting more and more frustrated, you’re gonna burn out and you can’t do that either. How about this, you finish up here tonight and tomorrow, but tomorrow night you take a break and hang out with me and get away from all of this,” and she waved around the ops room and when she looked back at Clary, she’s looking at Izzy with a soft smile on her face.
Izzy looks back at her quizzically. “What? Do I have something on my face?"
Clary then shakes her head quickly, as if trying to shrug off something. “No, nothing you’re fine. It’s just… no, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it, we can talk about it tomorrow night,” and she tries to give Izzy the most reassuring smile she can.
“Are you sure? I don’t have anywhere to be. We can talk about whatever’s going on if you want.” And now Izzy is worried. Something’s up, but she doesn’t want to push her too far.
“It’s ok, I promise. I’ll be fine. We can talk tomorrow night when we’re hanging out.”
“Ok. See you then, yeah?” Izzy says and then leans over to give Clary a hug before she leaves the ops room.
Clary looks at Izzy walking away longingly, wondering if she should have said it then, but then shakes her head and goes back to looking through the files.
The following night, they’re hanging out on Izzy’s bed in her room, laughing and having a good time sharing childhood stories, when Izzy brought up Clary’s strange behavior from the day before.
“Hey, I wanted to ask, was everything ok yesterday? You seemed a little more frustrated than usual. You know you can talk to me about anything right?” and she leaned over and put her hand on top of Clary’s, trying to show her support.
“Yeah I promise I’m fine it’s just… I was just thinking about how much my life has changed since I found out about shadowhunters, and the Shadow world and just… all of the craziness,” she takes a calming breath before continuing, “it’s been a little overwhelming honestly. But I think it hasn’t been anywhere near as overwhelming as it could’ve been if I didn’t have you here. You’ve been helping me from the beginning, always having a kind word or gesture. I know things have been out of control lately, but I just want you to know how much I appreciate just how much you’ve been there for me,” and she looks away from Izzy, unable to look her in the eye after finishing that, her cheeks heating up quickly.
Izzy shakes her head in amazement and pauses for a moment, trying to put into thoughts just how much Clary being at the institute has impacted her, before continuing. “Clary, you don’t know how much that means to me. Growing up as a shadowhunter, but specifically a female shadowhunter, was always hard. Add to that the Lightwood name and who my mom is, it was just a lot. I love my brothers, and I’d do anything for them, but I never had someone that I could just lean on, you know? I spent so much time alone that I started thinking that I was always at my best when I was on my own. Then I met you. You changed all our lives, Clary, but especially mine. This is why I wanted to ask,” and she paused, gathering her courage before picking up Clary’s hands and holding them in hers, “do you want to be my girlfriend?” and waited for her response.
Clary sat there with her hands in Izzy’s in stunned silence, before a wide grin slowly spreads across her face. “You… want me to be your girlfriend? Yes! I would love to, Izzy.”
Izzy had started worrying when Clary hadn’t said anything for a little bit, but then her own grin spread across her face. There was a moment where they were just sitting there, staring at each other and grinning, before Izzy’s grin dropped and she leaned in slowly, giving Clary a chance to move away if she wanted.
But she didn’t and their lips met in a sweet, chaste kiss. They pulled away and grinned at each other once again, before moving in again and kissing slowly. Izzy moved and straddled Clary’s thighs as she got her hands tangled in Clary’s hair. They kissed for a while, just enjoying each other’s company and the feeling of their lips pressed against the other’s before pulling back. Clary pressed her forehead against Izzy’s gently, and a sweet smile spread across her face before she spoke quietly. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” Izzy tilted her head sideways playfully. “Oh, I didn’t? I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you walk in with Jace and Simon. I think I do know how long you’ve wanted to do that” and moves her head in again to take Clary’s bottom lip between hers and gently nips at it.
Clary can’t help the happy laugh that breaks out at that, and she pulls away to look into Izzy’s eye, brushing the hair that fell into Izzy’s eye out of the way gently, and then cupping her cheek with her hand.
“You’re amazing, Isabelle Sophia Lightwood” and leans in to give her another sweet kiss.
Izzy responds in kind before saying, “Eh, you’re not too bad yourself” moving away from Clary’s playful swat at her shoulder.
“But really, you’re absolutely incredible Clary” and kisses her cheek before she brings them together for a hug.
For the longest thing, she’s been trying to find herself and where she belongs, and she thinks she’s found it now: with her brothers and Clary by her side.