"oh my gâ okay, wait, go back. weâre not an item. definitely not an item, thatâs been very heavily implied by thâ actually, go back further. you slept with katy perry? i knew i could smell cherry chapstick.â the realization that heâd outed his midnight texter notwithstanding, it occurs to him that magnus might just be the only one whoâd  genuinely claim no judgment here. it makes him feel marginally better about the verbal nip slip. still not so certain about the situation overall.Â
   and yet, heâs texting back again. the phoneâs tossed next to him on the couch. then he sinks down further, pushing his hands through his hair until it sticks up and out in ridiculous directions, a momentarily glazed look on his face.Â
   âi think he just invited himself over. iâm â iâm not gonna â iâm not gonna run you out of your own home, that would make me like the worst houseguest ever. my bubbie helen would be ashamed. you know he was the first person to say âhappy birthdayâ? jace, that is. not my grandmother. he even said it before clary did, and sheâs my best friend. i feel like iâm in a twilight zone episode, man. i feel like rod serling is narrating my life.â he puts on a booming, dramatic impersonation. ââit is manâs prerogative to create their own particular and private hell.â so why am i not even mad about it?â
     itâs a lot. a lot of pent up thoughts and what ifâs and things simon wonât bring up because what does it mean if he does. it all reeks of teenage crushes and recklessly running right in to open and impending doom, but magnus listens. genuinely. leg still crossed, the one atop moves up and down as his taps his knee.Â
     âet was written about me, too, which i took offense to. have you seen that little alien? weâre not in the same league. anyway, youâre not mad about any of this, lewis, because you like it. you like him,â simon rests back, both arms at the chairâs armrests. lounging, lazy, almost feline. âwhatever you have going on with him is new and exciting and when was the last time something in your mundane life actually held any genuine excitement? itâs heightened now, yes. a new, deeper kind of feeling youâre likely unable to navigate fully, but that doesnât mean it isnât quite real. perhaps even reciprocated.â
   a grin, then: âhe reminds me of a young hercules. you know the myth, i assume. only, it isnât myth. outwardly more brawns than brain, but maybe youâre just his megara,â a beat. âlets hope he isnât like zeus. regardless, this is all to say, if it feels right, plunge in and see what happens. life is short... objectively, of course. you and i donât have the issue anymore. the moments in life are fleeting, iâd suggest catching as many as you can.âÂ