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Isabelle doesn’t realize she’s spending so much time at Clary’s house until the day Clary calls her out on it.
“I know I’m not your only friend, Iz. You don’t have to come over every day, you know,” Clary jokes. She doesn’t mean anything by it, certainly not anything unkind, but Izzy hears the words and immediately panics.
“It’s because…”
Because I can never spend enough time with you, because nothing makes me happier than the sound of your voice, because I love you.
“I have a crush… on your dad.” Izzy says the lie without fully meaning to, but she can’t bring herself to admit the truth. She can’t actually tell Clary how she feels about her, so instead, she comes up with the first thing she thinks of to explain why she’s always hanging around Clary.
“My dad?” Clary repeats, scrunching her nose up in that adorable way she does when she’s overthinking something. Izzy loves that look. Though, to be fair, Izzy loves all of Clary’s looks. “Gross.”
Izzy forces a laugh, hoping the nervousness she feels translates to something a bit more ‘teenage shyness’ than actual anxiety. “It’s just a stupid crush. Anyway, let’s get going on this art project you need help with…”
Izzy hopes that’ll be the end of it. Change the subject and move on for good… except Clary says something to Simon who says something to Jace, and soon it’s a whole group inside joke about how much Izzy’s in love with Mr. Morgenstern. It starts to get increasingly embarrassing, and Clary is obviously uncomfortable with the whole thing.
Isabelle starts going to Clary’s house less and less, which in turn makes her more and more miserable because that means seeing Clary less and less. It’s all ruined, everything good she had going destroyed by one impulsive lie.
It stands to reason that she could fix it with the truth, but that thought terrifies Isabelle. So much so that she remains silent and distant for as long as she possibly can.
In the end, the breaking point isn’t her’s at all, but Clary’s.
“What did I do?” Clary asks one day, approaching Izzy outside Jace’s coffee truck.
“What?” Izzy asks, confused. That much isn’t an act at least - Izzy has no idea where the sudden question comes from.
“You’ve been avoiding me. Don’t think I haven’t noticed,” Clary adds quickly before Izzy can try and deny it.
“I…”
“Just tell me what I did, so I can… fix it, or apologize, or something. I miss you, Iz,” Clary confesses.
“You do?” Izzy asks, knowing she isn’t contributing much to the discussion but unable to form a single coherent thought beyond Clary’s revelation. Clary misses her. Izzy thought for certain that Clary hadn’t even noticed her pulling away, certainly not enough to care.
“Of course I do, Izzy. You’re my best friend. You…” Clary trails off, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter if you won’t even talk to me.”
“I don’t have a crush on your dad,” Izzy blurts out, nervously pushing the bridge of her glasses higher on her nose.
“...okay. So, what? If you aren’t visiting me for my dad you don’t even want to see me anymore? Because-”
“No!” Izzy cuts Clary off. “That isn’t… I’m saying this all wrong.” Isabelle sighs. “I was never visiting to see your dad. I was visiting to see you. I have a crush on you.”
Isabelle waits for Clary to not believe her, or to be angry at her for lying about it, or any number of reactions besides the one Clary has.
Clary laughs. She smiles wide and laughs, relief ringing through the sound. “That makes my crush on you a lot more promising, then.”
Izzy’s heart skips a beat or two at that, but it isn’t long before she’s beaming back at Clary.
“Very promising,” Izzy agrees. “Assuming I didn’t mess things up too badly?”
“You didn’t,” Clary promises. “As long as you promise to come over after school tomorrow for dinner.”
Izzy nods immediately, leaving no time or room for miscommunication this time. She has a second chance and she isn’t going to mess it up.
“It’s a date.”