Clary, Jace thought, why is it Clary?

It had been two months since the event on Valentine's ship, and brother/sister communication had been dwindling ever since the episode at Taki's. To Jace that had been the day that his heart was ripped out, and even though he knew it was what was best for them, it had been one of the hardest things he had ever had to do.

Jace and Clary had talked, and often, but the conversation was always strained, as if they were tip-toeing around each other, afraid that they would upset some sort of unspoken barrier.

Jace had tried to deny the truth to himself numerous times, but whenever he heard her laugh or saw her smile there was a strange feeling in his stomach. It was affection, and Jace had to admit, not the brotherly type.

Figures, I have spent so long pissing people off that now my feelings have taken that as their cue to love the worst person imaginable. He was even more annoyed when he realised that if his father were here he probably would have been laughing at the whole situation and that chaos that ensued from the forbidden feelings. I bet that you planned this, and I wouldn't be surprised if you did, after all you deal in everything else that is sick and twisted, Jace shouted in his mind, yearning to be able to voice his opinions, not just on Valentine, but on Clary as well.

Jace almost jumped when he heard a voice inside his head saying, I didn't plan this, your love is your own through and through, but I love how this all turned out, if the Clave ever found out I wouldn't be the only exile in the family, I would have my two children here along with me, there for every step of the journey towards a cleaner world. We can use the time to bond.

Jace knew that the voice inside of his head was just his imagination, but he couldn't help but turn around and stare around the room to make sure that he wasn't displaying anything to anyone. He glanced around the room, taking in all the small details at once, the whole in upholstery of the chair, the way that nothing had been dusted for weeks, but these things were bound to happen when you let a group of teenagers live by themselves for extensive periods of time. To be fair ever since Maryse and Robert had returned home they had put more effort into making the house look nicer, even if it was just to escape a harsh scolding from Maryse, whom they learnt years ago hated to have a dirty house.

The sense of familiarity that he gained from gazing around the room in which he had lived most of his life made him sleepy, and only by looking in the mirror and seeing the bags under his eyes did he realise how little sleep he had been getting. Most shadow hunters needed only a small amount of sleep, but Jace hadn't been getting anything more than a couple of hours each, night for he had been kept awake by images of Clary, smiling down at him in a way that made his insides flop upside down in agitation that he could never have her.

All of the sudden he felt the need to see her, make sure that she was alright and unharmed, and before he could register what he was doing he was putting his coat and shoes on and had walked out of the door, headed to Luke's.