It was tough. It was unbelievably tough.

Jace's room was on the top floor. He had a think for the sky. He had the whole floor to himself, not that it was much. The Institute tapered at the top.

Now that he had a sister, he insisted she stayed in the room beside his on the top floor. Not that she put up much resistance anyway. She was more than happy to be around her long lost brother. Ah alas, he wished it was different. But wishing never did anyone any good.

It was unbelievably tough to know that the girl, whom he'd been lusting after and possibly fallen in love with was sleeping in the room beside him, and they were far away from everyone else; people rarely took the time to come up.

It was difficult to know she was alone. It was especially difficult when she had nightmares and came into his room. It was even more difficult when she slept in a thin, rather transparent, tiny tank top and shorts.

He couldn't keep his mind off her. He couldn't keep his mind away from images of her, late at night, with a trusting expression on her face, walking into his room, and urgh.

It was hell.

Hell just got worse, he thought, as she walked in, once again.

"Hey Clary."

"Hi Jace. I mean, Jonath-- "

"Forget it. I'm Jace Wayland."

"Yeah. I know."

"You okay?"

"No. I had a nightmare again."

"Oh yeah? What about?"

"Nothing you should hear. Nothing you want to hear," she amended.

"Oh okay, fine. Be that way." He mock pouted.

She looked hesitant. "Can I sleep with you?" she asked.

His heart hammered away wildly. It was so fast he felt almost sick.

His face must have turned green. She looked shocked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean, Oh my god, I'm sorry," she freaked out.

He put a finger to his lips. He pulled off his covers and moved to a side. Clary looked relieved, and slightly panicky at the same time. He wondered why girls were so weird. They could multitask everything, including emotions.

She sat down beside him, paused and lay down.

She was facing away. He threw the blanket over her.

She began shivering. There was a small gap between them, but it might as well have been mountains and seas; it was as far apart as they could be without falling off the bed.

Jace consulted the committee in his head. After an almost unanimous decision, he put an arm over her waist and pulled her closer. She didn't resist. She willingly moved. She was tiny. She could snuggle into the crook of one arm. He slid his other arm below her. He felt her hand on his thigh.

Damn her. Didn't she know how difficult this was? He groaned inwardly. This is what you get for falling in love with the wrong person. Madam Dorthea's words were happily echoing in his mind.

She was so warm. So comfortable. He could get used to this. Half way between dreams and reality, she turned around to face him. She was watching him. Studying his face. He could tell, even though his eyes were closed. How he would like to kiss her. Sometimes life wasn't fair, and sometimes it was just plain mean. This was one of the latter situations.

His eyes opened. She didn't look surprised. She knew him all too well. Her breath tickled his eyelashes. They were close enough to kiss. De ja vu much?

"Clary?" he asked. He heard his voice all quivery and crap.

"Yeah?" she asked. Ha-ha. He was back in the game. Her voice was the same.

"What do you define incest as?"

"Incest? So far as I know, it's when one sibling walks into the other siblings room, and they go at it like bunnies.

He didn't know whether to laugh or to choke. "Well, what do you define siblings as?"

"People who both share blood, and have been raised together," Clary replied, a hopeful spark magnifying.

"Well. Then we aren't exactly siblings, are we? We weren't raised together."

"Well, yeah."

Silence.

"Clary?"

"hmm?"

"Can I kiss you senseless?"

"I'd like that."

And so he did. Kiss her senseless, I mean. It was full of fire, passion and everything the kiss of true love should have. It also had the tang of a dirty little secret. No one needed to know, right?

Okay, I know the ending sucked. I would have liked it if they weren't siblings. I think they were meant to be. Anyhow. I own no one. REVIEW!!

P.S. I'm telling you, none of the above about incest is true. It's made up with the friendly neighbour hood plot bunny. So there.