Disclaimer: All rights except plot line to Cassandra Clare

Jace's POV:

I was coming home from a walk that I took, thinking about if the fridge at home had any delicacies that I could eat when I walked through the door. Any and All of Izzy's cooking was no doubt out of the question. I still wonder why she was allowed in the kitchen. I mean, did our parents want hospitalizing food poisoning?

I was thinking about making a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and just as I had my hand on the doorknob to turn it, the door flew open, and the hand that had a grip on the door pulled the rest of my body onto the floor.

"Oh my God, by the Angel! Jace, MOVE! No, wait, come with me." And just like that, I was being dragged by my arm, and before I knew what happened, I was already thrown into the passenger seat of Izzy's white sports Audi and we were on the road. Rushing to put my seatbelt on (I trusted Izzy's driving just about as much as I trusted her cooking. Not lethal, but could be very life threatening)

"Wait, wait! What's happening? Where are we going?"

Silence.

"Where the HELL are you taking me, Isabelle?"

"Clary's"

And that was all I needed to hear before I shut up for the rest of the ride, and Izzy knew that. Both of us knew that ever since I laid eyes on Clary during our first day in high school was when I realized I was head-over-heels in love with my best friend. Clary practically had me wrapped around her little pinky. I never let her in on my feelings for her because I knew she didn't feel that way about me. I mean, she looked at me the same way she did for the last 9 years; as her best friend. No more, no less.

I dated around a fair bit, but Clary's had only 2 boyfriends, both for 2 months each. They were good guys, I guess. Nice, respectful and had good reps. They ended their relationships on good terms, but Clary was currently dating my arch-nemesis, Sebastian Verlac.

Sebastian had a record of twenty more girls than me, and he had ways of crushing a girl's heart, and then keeping her from ruining his false image of being a good guy. I was constantly on edge when I saw him with Clary. I just kept on thinking about what I would do if he hurt my girl in any way-

"Out, out, OUT! We're here! God, JACE, GET OUT!" Izzy's screeching voice yanked me out of my thoughts, and I was ringing the doorbell before she even had a chance to get out of her seat.

One ring. Wait. Two rings. Wait. Three rings. Wait. "Izzy, how do you even know what happened?"

"I was just in my room, reading my new Vogue magazine when my phone said that Clary was calling. I guess she butt-dialed me; cause all I could hear was her and Sebastian's voices. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but soon there was silence, and I could her Clary start to cry. This all happened about five minutes ago, so I don't even know if she's home. You stay here, I'll go get some ice-cream and other stuff to help."

"Okay, but be back pronto. She needs you if that's all true." Izzy got back into her car, and I walked over to the back door. Since I've been coming to Clary's house since the first grade, I knew that Clary and her folks placed a spare key to the back door by the flowerpot three from the left of the back door. I found it, and after hearing the tumblers click, I pushed in the door. Careful not to make much noise, I crept to the top floor where I knew where Clary's room was. I stopped outside it, and as I put my ear to the door, I could start to hear broken-hearted sobs coming from inside the room.

I felt my heart shatter at the sound of Clary's concealed crying. Gently, I asked "Clary? It's me, Jace. Can I come in?"

I was met with a very sudden silence. I decided to go in anyways, sure the silence would continue until Clary thought I had left, which we both knew I wouldn't do. Opening the door to Clary's room with more care than ever, I looked round at the mess I had grown up with.

Clary's room was a soft green, with an emerald green strip by the molding at the ceiling. I remember in fifth grade when we spent the entire week trying to find a good colour for her room. We painted it and in the end, also ended up painting ourselves with the amount of times we would flick it at each other. The large door to the balcony was open, letting the matching emerald green translucent curtain bend and twist in the slight breeze coming in. The walls were covered in drawings, paintings and sketches that Clary had done throughout the years, along with pictures of all three of us. There, on her queen sized bed was Clary looking at me with puffy red eyes and tear stained cheeks. On closer inspection, I noticed that Clary's left cheek was completely red, in a shape I couldn't quite identify. By the way her chest was falling, I could tell that she was trying to calm her uneven breathing, but wasn't quite there yet. I was at her side, pulling her into my lap, leaning against the plushy upholstered headboard, rocking her gently while she curled herself into me, gripping the front of my shirt, and resumed where she left off. This time, Clary didn't bother to try and hide anything now that she knew I was here.

My entire shirtfront was soaked with her tears in a matter of seconds, my chest overly warm with her ragged breathing. I was caressing her hair, waiting for her to calm down. I knew not to tell her to try and stop. If you didn't get it out all at once, it would grab hold of you from the inside and stay there. Or at least, that's what always happens to me.

After a while, Clary only had the occasional tear rolling down, and was mainly breathing deeply and shaking. Though this was improvement, I never wanted this for her in the first place. I highly suspected that it was Sebastian, but I wasn't going to jump to any conclusions for Clary's sake.

About ten minutes in, I heard footsteps in the hall, and Izzy's head popped in from the doorway, surveying the scene. She saw Clary and me and understood. Silently, she deposited herself on the side of the bed, and Clary noticed. She lifted her head and saw Izzy. When they made eye contact, Izzy slowly nodded her head and lifted up a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream in one hand, three spoons in the other.

At this, Clary cracked a small smile; barely there, but there nonetheless. (I'm surprised that nonetheless is one word, but oh well! Guess you learn stuff everyday) Izzy moved to sit on the side that Clary was facing in my lap, gave us each a spoon and opened the tub. Clary was the first to dig in, and in no time at all, we were scraping the bottom. We were all smiling now, Clary just as much as me and Isabelle, who had a giant smile stretching a mile.

As much as I wanted this to last, I needed to hear what happened between my girl and that good for nothing bastard. Clary seemed to realize that we would find out eventually, and took a shaky breath. She blew it out slowly, and then began in a soft voice.

"I was with Sebastian at the park, where we were going to go today anyways, but when he called, I could hear other voices at his end. I wanted to ask him what they were, but I don't know why I didn't. So, later when I met up with him, I decided to drop it, because it could have been just a friend or something of his. I didn't have to mean anything. We hung out like he usually did, but when we were going to leave, he got a phone call."

By now, Clary had been strong while telling her story, but when she mentioned the phone call, I heard her voice break, just a bit. Her eyes also started to water, and her body began to shake slightly in my soft grip. I squeezed her lightly, encouraging her to go on with her story.

"He said he was just going to answer it quickly, and so I said that it was ok. He went off, a couple steps away, but then he started to get an angry look on his face. I decided that is wasn't any of my business, so I went off to the ice-cream vendor that was just a couple feet away. I got both of us an ice cream, and by the time I had payed, I saw that Sebastian was also done with his call. I walked over to give him his, and when he saw that I got him an ice cream, he just snatched it from my hand and threw in at the ground, right in front of my feet." That ungrateful bastard! I kept my silence, but I couldn't stop shaking slightly in anger.

"He basically just burst and started yelling at me." Now Clary was over flowing with tears again. "He told me that I wasn't-hic-good for anything-hic. That I could barely-hic-put out, and that-hic-nobody would ever-hic-want me. That was why-hic-he was done with-hic-with me. He already was with someone else, someone-hic- that was better than I would ever be. He said he-hic- never meant it when he said he loved me. That I was-hic-nothing but shit to him."

She was a complete mess by now, and Izzy went over to the other end if the room to get the box of tissues and her phone. She came back and handed Clary a tissue and hugged her close. After a minute or so, Clary continued on, the hiccupping and broken breathing still evident.

"I tried arguing with him, tried to-hic-tell him that he could have just ended-hic-it in a better way. He didn't have to-hic -make such a big show of it, but that's-hic-when he completely lost it. He just-hic - just," She cut herself off as she began to shake harder than ever.

I rocked us back and forth, burying my face in her hair, making small comforting noises. I tried to keep my thoughts off of Sebastian, as he was only going to make me loose my calm, and right now, I had to be here for Clary. I asked in a soft voice "He just what?"

In a voice softer and quieter than a silken caress, she spoke after a moments hesitation. "He just slapped me across the face and stormed off."

I froze completely. I couldn't move a single muscle. The words rang in my head, never ending, always getting louder. He hit her. He hit her. He Hit Her. That God-damned bastard actually Hit my Clary. He h-

I was jerked out of my reverie by Clary shaking my arm, one hand gently cupping my face. "Jace? Jace, listen to me. Please, Jace, listen to me."

I looked her in the eye. Her tears had stopped, and the quiver in her voice was gone. She was only the aftermath now, no longer victim. "What is it Clare-bear?"

"Can we go out? I don't want to stay in my room any longer," She looked at me with pleading eyes, but even if she didn't, I would've said yes. I got a sudden idea, and a wicked grin pulled at my lips.

"How about," I trailed off my sentence, wanting the two girls to ask me.

Izzy rolled her eyes at me, but I could tell she was smiling on the inside. "What is it Jace?"

"How about we…"

Clary was at a bursting point. Her whole face was still grimy, but she was glowing with happiness and had a smile a mile long stretched across her face. "What?!"

"How about we go out hunting? I hear it's son of a bitch season, and I've been needing to improve my aim."

At that, we all laughed and went out to help break the devil.

Hey guys! This is my first one-shot, and i'm thinking of doing it from Clary's POV, but if i dont have that many reviews, i might just continue on my other fanfic. I hope you enjoyed it, and please, please, pretty please check out my other story.

So please just comment in that adorable little box down there at the bottom and tell me your thoughts.

Shadowhunter at heart,

Nomnom

Ps: thank you for reading! c: