Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine (it's a fanfic, duh.)
Clary couldn't sleep. She lay in bed, eyes closed, trying to time her breath with Jaces, hoping to fall asleep. But she didn't. Even with a days worth of training she wasn't even tired enough to doze. She wished she had a sleeping potion. The sweet smell of the potion Hodge gave her ages ago tingled her nose. She also remembered the vial crashing to the floor when she discovered Jace in her bed, flipping through her sketch pad. Maybe...
"Jace", she whispered. The hand that was draped over her waist reached for the light switch. She turned around, blinking from the sudden brightness. He looked slightly bleary-eyed. "Were you..."
"Asleep? No." He shook his head. "Why?"
"I can't sleep", she admitted. "Could you tell me a story?"
He smiled and kissed her on the brow. "Mmmh. Let's see."
"There once was a boy. A Shadowhunter boy", he added on her inquisitive glance. "The boy was raised by a severe and cruel father."
"Oh no", Clary groaned. "I know were that story will end. In blood and violence and falcons with broken necks."
"It won't", he assured and gave her a peck on the lips.
"So, the boys father...he taught the boy how to be good with weapons. But he didn't teach him how to be good with people. Even worse, he helped his son to build a tower for himself, hidden, tall and with only a window. The father supplied him with everything the boy needed and he had never had to leave his tower. Then the father died and the boy nearly went down with him, if it hadn't been for the family that came past. They saw the boy in the tower and build a home there. They talked to him and made sure he survived, but every time their son would ask the boy if he wanted to come out and play the boy would say no and retreat to the shadowy corners of his tower. This went on for years. As the boy grew the children didn't bother anymore to ask him if he wanted to play. They just talked to him and he enjoyed their companionship but he stayed where he was, safely in his tower.
Then a girl came by. She saw the tower and, curious as she was, climbed up to see what was inside. When she found the boy she approached without thinking. The boy begged her to leave, but she stayed. She befriended the children of the family from the tower and once they invited her for dinner. She was done climbing when she saw the boy halfway down, unsure, but following her. Every time he lost his footing she would shout encouragements. She waited for him and together they went to the family. The parents embraced the boy as if he were their own child and the children as if he were their brother. The boy never went back to his tower. But he looked at it from afar, always remembering the two lessons it had taught him:
First, that love is a wild and destructive thing. Second, that it can be beautiful when you obtain control."
She wanted to kiss him and tell him she loved him, but his voice had made her drowsy. So all she could do to show him how much he mattered was cuddle closer before she closed her eyes and finally slept.