Clary stepped out of the Portal, feeling slightly dizzy. Jace dusted off his pants and stood up. "Shall we?"

Clary put her hand in his, feeling uneasy. He hadn't spoken directly to her since Magnus had interrupted them, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know what was going on in Jace's mind. But was it really fair to him to withhold her answer because of this awkwardness?

She stopped and turned to face him. "Yes."

Jace looked confused. "Yes to what?"

She looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean 'yes to what'? I'm saying yes to your proposal!"

Jace stared at her. "Why did you hesitate?"

She lowered her eyes. "It's stupid and embarrassing. You don't need to know why."

Jace rolled his eyes. "Why did you hesitate?"

"I - I may have been a little scared you were pranking me."

Silence.

Clary looked up to see Jace laughing silently. She scowled and put her hands on her hips. "Shut up."

Jace took a deep breath. "You thought I was pranking you after I proposed at an engagement party, and I asked Isabelle to hint at it beforehand - "

Clary was half mortified and half amused. "Again, shut up." Then it registered. "Isabelle knew?"

Jace scoffed. "She's my sister. It's not like I can keep it a secret from her." Then his face changed, and he sighed. "I thought you were actually embarrassed at the thought of marrying me or something."

Was he serious? "I realize this may be feeding your ego, but how could I be embarrassed to marry you? And who else would I marry? It's not like we can keep dating for the rest of our lives."

Jace looked thoughtful. "I am rather attractive."

Clary resisted the urge to smack him. "I was talking about the fact that you're the cheesiest boyfriend ever, though attractive works too."

Jace frowned. "I am not cheesy. Romantic, maybe thoughtful. But I am definitely not cheesy."

"Jace, you serenaded me with Ho Ho Hopefully on our first Christmas. Serenaded me. With a mundane love song."

"At least I didn't do it with a guitar. And the credit goes to Simon for the song."

Clary shook her head, smiling. "No, you did it with a piano, which is even worse."

Jace let go of her hand. "So what you're saying is, you'll marry me because I'm romantic and good-looking." He bent his head to kiss her.

"Cheesy and good-looking," Clary said but kissed him anyway.

Their kiss was soft and sweet. Jace pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. "Alec kept saying that you would like a romantic proposal. I guess he was right." Clary laughed. "I'm going to go talk to him. Think you can fight your way to Simon and Izzy?"

Clary raised her eyebrows. "Going to gloat?"

"Yes, actually."

Clary rolled her eyes. "Get on with it, then." Then, on an impulse, she said, "I love you."

Jace's face softened. "I love you too." Then he glanced behind her, and a corner of his mouth turned up. "Looks like you don't have to go search for them after all," he said and he was gone, melting into the crowd.

Clary turned around to find the couple coming towards her. She made her way towards them and was pulled into a hug by Izzy. "Clary! What happened?"

"Los Angeles Institute had a flare of faerie magic, so Magnus got me, Jace and your dad to go check it out. Arthur Blackthorn was apparently investigating Anselm Nightshade's pizza business - something about the pizza being made with blood?" She shook her head. "I'm just glad Emma and the Blackthorns are all right."

Isabelle nodded. "True. So, what happened with him?" She nodded at Jace, gesturing animatedly to Alec.

Clary grinned, feeling light. "I said yes."

She gasped. "Wait, he actually did it? I thought he was going to chicken out!" She turned to Simon, who looked shocked. "We're going to be sisters twice over! This is amazing! We can even go hunting together!"

Clary smiled wider, unable to help herself. "Yeah. Look, I'm gonna go tell Mom and Luke. You guys wanna come?"

Simon looked proud. "I can't believe we're getting married at the same time! We could even have a double wedding!"

"That's what I told her," Isabelle said.

Clary shook her head, amused. "You're way more excited about this than I am."

"Maybe. Anyway, let's go tell your parents! What are we waiting for?"

Clary couldn't restrain her smile as Isabelle dragged her excitedly through the crowd (Simon following behind them and muttering that he didn't want to be Jace's brother-in-law). It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Jace had blown a kiss towards her form across the room, grinning.

Nothing at all.