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Lydia looked at herself in the mirror. She hadn't worn a dress like this in years.
She had found it in a mundane store two days ago, awkwardly looking for something nice. A one-shoulder green dress, ending just above her knees, which left much more skin uncovered than the rest of her clothes did. John always used to tell her green suited her, and after trying it on Lydia had immediately decided it was exactly what she needed for her date.
She still couldn't quite believe she was actually dating someone Isabelle Lightwood, of all people. They had fooled around a bit, nothing serious, until a few weeks before, when Isabelle had told Lydia she wanted to try to have an actual relationship with her. They had had a few dates already, usually in pretty laid back places, but this evening Izzy had convinced Lydia to go out clubbing and well, Lydia hadn't owned anything she could wear to a club.
Lydia felt a flutter around her stomach. While it wasn't their first date, it'd be the first official one.
They hadn't told anyone about them. Izzy said Clary suspected, and Lydia was sure Magnus had guessed there was something between them, given way he smirked every time Izzy and Lydia stood a bit too close to each other. But as far as the world knew, they were both single and very, very straight.
When they had begun to date, they had mutually agreed to keep the thing silent for a while. The idea of coming out made Lydia nervous, and besides considering the ways all of her previous relationships had ended she had been a bit reluctant about starting a new one, let alone making it official.
But they had been going fine for a month now, and Lydia was becoming more and more attached to Isabelle. She could definitely see their relationship as a long term thing, and if it was then there was no reason to keep it hidden.
Isabelle, for her part, had told Lydia also she felt ready to make it official, and that if Lydia had no problems about coming out, neither did she.
Truth to be told, after spending her entire life pretending she didn't like girls that way, Lydia did feel nervous about telling the world she was, in fact, bi. But she had set her mind, and she wasn't about to let other people's opinions stop her.
So after a talk about whether or not they were both truly ready, and if they were prepared to deal with whatever the world may throw at them for being in a same-sex relationship, they had decided this was going to be the day they came out.
There was only one tiny detail nagging at her mind.
How exactly were they going to come out.
Lydia had no idea how you were supposed to do that. Were they just going to walk out and say, 'hey, we're bisexual and dating'?
Izzy had said to just go with the flow, that if they planned it out something would surely go wrong and that it was better to just take the best chance they got. And Lydia hated doing things without a plan.
Izzy had also said that if they were going to plan it, then they were going to make it big. Some sort of coming out party. Something that would outdo Alec's coming out. Lydia had stopped her at that, because it was a terrible idea and there would be no more wedding crashes as far as she was concerned.
Lydia clasped a small golden bracelet around her wrist, a gift from Isabelle after their second date. She looked at herself one last time in the mirror before leaving her room. She could do this.
Izzy was supposed to wait for her at the entrance of the Institute. Lydia figured they were probably going to make the announcement there. Knowing Izzy, she was probably going to kiss her in the middle of the hall or something equally spectacular.
But of course something was going to be wrong.
Lydia stopped when she saw Isabelle fighting with her mother. They were in the middle of the room, not quite shouting but almost. No one noticed Lydia, as everyone else in the room was too busy listening in to the fight while pretending they were just doing their job.
"You won't set foot outside of the Institute, am I clear?" Maryse was saying. Isabelle stared at her with an incredulous look on her face.
"Are you grounding me? Seriously? What am I, fourteen?" she asked.
"If you act like an immature child, then I will treat you like one" Maryse replied.
"I wasn't aware wanting to go out was immature" Isabelle said.
"You know what I'm talking about. At your age you should have stopped acting out and start to be a responsible person. Instead you go out dressed like that, and I can only imagine with what kind of people!"
Lydia bit her lip. Maryse annoyed her on the best of days, but seeing her treat Isabelle like that made her furious. Isabelle was a grown woman, she could dress however she wanted, and mother or not Maryse had no right to talk to her in that way. Not to mention the way she said the last part of the sentence. It was pretty clear she was talking about Downworlders.
Isabelle opened her mouth to reply. She looked around the room, and her eyes met Lydia's. She looked at her for a moment, before turning to her mother and saying, "trust me, mother, you really know nothing about the people you talk about" Isabelle's eyes turned to Lydia for a second, before fixing again on Maryse.
That was an invitation if Lydia had ever seen one. She couldn't quite see Maryse's face, but she knew what expression she must've had. Furious, stern. For a moment Lydia thought if coming out while Isabelle was having a fight with her would be a smart idea. But then again, Maryse wouldn't take it well no matter the situation, and someone had to put a stop to her ridiculous talking.
Lydia felt the pull of nerves in her belly. One thing was thinking about coming out, another was actually doing it. There were at least twenty people in the room, most of whom Lydia wasn't particularly familiar with. She looked at Alec, staring at his mother and sister with a cross expression from a corner of the room, and gathered her resolve. If he had done it, she could do it too.
And she would also enjoy telling Maryse a piece of her mind while she was at it.
Lydia began walking to where Isabelle and Maryse stood. She knew someone had noticed her by now, and felt some curious gazes on her back as she made her way to the center of the room.
"-am your mother and you will respect me! I don't want to hear another single remark coming out of your mouth, am I clear?" Maryse said "Now go to your room and change out of this obscene clothes. And I want to see you inside the Institute the entire night."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible" Lydia said. Maryse whipped her head to look at her as Lydia went to stand next to Izzy. "Isabelle is going on a date tonight. With me. And she's more than allowed to wear whatever she wants to."
Lydia touched Izzy's hand, and she turned it to thread their fingers together.
"What?" was all that came out of Maryse's mouth. She looked like someone had slapped her, her eyes went from Lydia to Isabelle almost comically fast. It was a good look on her, Lydia decided.
"You heard my girlfriend. We have to go out tonight. You wouldn't want me to disappoint the Head of the Institute, wouldn't you?" Isabelle said with the most innocent tone she could master.
"What does this mean?" Maryse asked, turning to Lydia.
"It means exactly that me and Isabelle are dating. It's not a difficult concept to understand, I'd say" Lydia said coldly. She didn't give Maryse time to reply, but she side-stepped her, dragging Isabelle with her.
She felt Izzy bump their shoulders together and she looked at her. Her girlfriend was smirking and staring at Lydia.
"Yes?" Lydia said.
"That was beautiful" Izzy said "I think it'll take months for mother to come to terms with this. And I don't know if you've seen Alec's face, it was epic."
"I'm sure of it" Lydia said.
"Is everything alright?" Isabelle asked as they walked out of the Institute. Lydia realized she was squeezing Izzy's hand, and relaxed her grip a little.
"I can't believe she was talking to you like that" The evening air sent a shiver down Lydia's spine. She pressed her shoulder against Isabelle's warm one.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to worry about what my mom thinks?" Isabelle sighed.
"It may not bother you, but it bothers me a lot when she treats you like you offend her simply by existing. If she as much as tries to say something bad about you because of us I'll-"
Izzy stopped. "Look at me" She took Lydia's free hand in hers and turned her around, smiling softly. "We went over this already. I don't give a fuck about what she thinks or says. I like being with you, and no one's going to make me feel ashamed for it."
The corner of Lydia's lips turned up a little, and she gave Izzy's hands a light squeeze. "Sorry. I'm just... upset. For the way she talked to you."
"Oh, I was too. Then you went all bossy and protective and my mood became much better" Lydia snorted at that.
"I take it this coming out was spectacular enough for you?" she said teasingly.
"Yep. I told you it was better to not plan anything out."
"I think I still prefer to not rush into things without a plan."
"I think you should rush into things a bit more often" Isabelle said.
"For example?"
"Right now, you could rush your lips into mine" Lydia laughed and shook her head.
"That was terrible" she said. She looked at Isabelle's smile for a second, before leaning in and kissing her. Lydia closed her eyes as soon as their lips met, sighing softly into the kiss.
They were kissing right in front of the Institute, where anyone could come by and see them. Lydia pressed herself closer to Izzy, and she felt her girlfriend's hands come to rest on her hips.
They parted eventually and stood there for a second, looking at each other. "You have my lipstick on your lips" Izzy said.
"Guess everyone will know we were kissing then."
"Yes. They will" Izzy smiled at her, and Lydia felt like kissing her again. Which she did.