Hold On (➳Alec Lightwood) [1]

BONUS CHAPTER (24)

[Lydia]

Alec and I had spent greeting all the guests for the past hour. It was really awkward for both of us since almost everybody asked how we met, how did Alec propose, how long we 'dated' and all those kind of things. We didn't want to tell anybody this was an arranged marriage, so all we had left to do was to just smile and say that everything happened so fast.

We were talking to some representatives of the Clave when I saw that Alec had completely zoned out of the conversation. I followed his gaze to see what he was looking at and I should have know that it wasn't a what, but a who...

The one and only Brielle Fairchild.

She awkwardly stood at the entrance of the room, looking at everyone. Alec didn't take his eyes off but didn't do anything to approach her either.

I took a deep breath. "You can go and talk to her if you want."

He was taken back by my words as he snapped out of his trance. He shook his head.

"That wouldn't look good, would it?" He asked as he finally turned to look at me.

"It wouldn't matter. You have to greet all of our guests and she's our guest. Go on, I'll be fine alone for a few moments." I tried to encourage him but he seemed uneasy. He took one last look at her before answering.

"I will talk to her later if I have the chance. Come on, we still have other people to greet." He replied harshly. I nodded my head slightly deciding not to push off the situation.

After a while, we finally decided it was time to take a sit. Fake pre-wedding party or not, it's exhausting having to do what every real couple who is about to marry has to do. As we were approaching our table, I noticed Jace, Clary, Brielle and another guy that I assumed was Brielle's date were already sitting at the table. I shot a quick glance at Alec and I noticed he practically froze at the sight of her. I guess he didn't expect to have to be that close to her that soon in the night. I decided that I had to be friendly for everyone's sake, so I put up a big smile when we finally reached the table.

"Brielle! Oh my god I thought you weren't going to show up! I'm so happy you decided to join us." I said extremely happy. Somehow, I really was happy to see her there. At least, she showed Alec some support. She didn't say anything and instead she just smiled, but I noticed it was a fake one. I decided not to say anything and instead turned to look at her friend. "Simon, is it? It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lydia Branwell." I said politely to the guy as I offered him my hand to shake. He shook it and gave me a genuine but polite smile as well.

"Nice to meet you too." He replied with curtesy. We stopped shaking hands and I took my respective sit by Alec's side.

The tension on the table was visible. Most of the people were in their own private conversation with the person that was sitting next to them. Brielle with Max and occasionally with Isabelle, Clary and Simon, Jace didn't talk at all and well, neither did Alec and I. I tried multiple times to start a conversation so everyone could take part, but it always ended up on everyone staying quiet. Eventually, hours went by, but it was a hell of a torture. Most of the time, Alec was staring firmly at Brielle. He wasn't even subtle about it, he just plainly stared at her. She obviously noticed and sometimes, I could see the discomfort on her. The action bothered me deeply. I know that he didn't had any feelings for me or something, but it was our pre-wedding party. Fake or not, he should had show some respect. The rumors of our wedding being fake had already started spreading around, and him staring like that to another woman didn't look good at the eyes of the Clave. We were on thin ice, but he didn't seem to care.