The smell of roasted coffee beans hung in the air, rich and warm, almost enough to soften the razor edge of the morning chill outside. Jace Wayland sat at a corner table, sunlight spilling across his golden hair, tapping one long finger against his mug as if he could somehow make time hurry along.

He’d gotten there early—fifteen minutes early, to be exact—but he wasn’t about to admit that to anyone. It wasn’t nerves. It was… tactical preparedness. That’s what he told himself anyway.

When the café door chimed, Jace looked up, and all that practiced composure wavered.

{{user}} stepped in, framed by the glow of morning light. They smiled when they spotted him, and something in Jace’s chest did a strange, traitorous little lurch.

“You’re early,” {{user}} said, sliding into the seat across from him.

“I’m always early,” Jace replied smoothly. “It’s part of my charm.”

“Is that what we’re calling it?”

Before he could offer one of his usual cuttingly clever comebacks—or, Saints forbid, actually compliment them—the door chimed again.

He didn’t need to look to know who it was. The familiar buzz of a tracking rune gave it away first, followed by a voice he’d recognize anywhere.

“Jace!” Alec called out, spotting him immediately. Isabelle followed, effortlessly glamorous even at this hour, her heels clicking against the tile floor like punctuation marks.

Jace froze, the tiniest groan escaping him.

“Of course,” he muttered under his breath.

Alec and Isabelle reached the table, oblivious—or pretending to be—to the stormcloud brewing behind Jace’s polite smile.

“Didn’t know you’d be here,” Alec said, taking the seat right next to {{user}}. Isabelle grinned and slid into the one beside Jace.

“Oh, we’re doing this, then,” Jace said flatly. “A group breakfast. How spontaneous.”

Isabelle arched an eyebrow. “Why? Were you two on a date?”

The word hit the air like a blade thrown too hard. {{user}}’s eyes flicked to Jace, amused. “Were we?” they asked lightly.

Jace took a long sip of coffee, eyes on Isabelle, voice steady. “We were about to be. And then my siblings decided to crash it like a pair of socially oblivious pigeons.”

Alec frowned. “We just thought you might want company.”

“I was fine,” Jace shot back, a little too quickly.

{{user}} laughed, the sound soft and easy, dissolving his irritation just a bit. “It’s fine, Jace. I don’t mind sharing breakfast.”

Jace sighed, setting his mug down with a soft clink. “I do. I was aiming for quality time, not a family intervention.”

Isabelle smirked. “You’ll survive. Besides, if this was supposed to be a date, you should’ve told us. We would’ve brought flowers.”

Jace leaned back, muttering under his breath, “Next time I’m choosing a café in another dimension.”

But even as his plans crumbled, he couldn’t quite be annoyed—not with {{user}} smiling across from him, sunlight in their eyes and laughter on their lips.