Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments. All the characters belong to Cassandra Clare.

Everything seemed to have gone so well. We had defeated my "father" and I finally found out that Clary and I weren't related. Nothing has ever felt more amazing than hearing those words come out of her mouth. It was hard to accept that we had the same parents and it was even harder to know that I felt so strongly for her, yet I couldn't do anything about it because it was wrong. Growing up my whole life I had never felt that special connection with someone. Someone who had such an impact on the way I viewed life, yet the day I met Clary my whole world changed. I realized that I did want to live because I had to get up and see her face everyday. People like that don't come around very often, and it's important to snatch them, and keep them in your life while you have the chance.

"Jace? Are you up here?" Clary called interrupting my train of thought.

"Yea. I'm here." I called back

"Hey, I was worried. You left this morning without saying goodbye or leaving a note." Clary exclaimed.

"I know. I'm terribly sorry, but I couldn't sleep anymore and I didn't have the heart to wake you up. You looked so peaceful." I moved closer so that I could wrap my arms around her.

"It's okay, I was just concerned. You know me." She said as she wrapped her arms around me.

"Yea, but its awfully cute when you worry." I leaned my head down so that our foreheads were touching. Inhaling her scent almost made me drunk as we became so close.

"Jace, I'm so glad we don't have to pretend that the way we feel is forsaken anymore. It feels so good to be able to do this without it being wrong." She said as she kissed my cheek.

"Me too Clary. Its what I've been dreaming of ever since we met." I said as I moved us over to the couch where we could sit more comfortably.

"I'm so sorry that everything got so messed up. If only we'd have known since the beginning that we weren't related, things would have been so much easier. Simon wouldn't be a vampire, we both wouldn't have dated people we knew weren't really a match for us. I just wish we didn't spend so much time worrying about feeling o strongly for each other and we could have just been together." She exclaimed.

"You have nothing to apologize for Clary. None of this is your fault. It's all Valentine. You weren't born into this world, your mother did everything she could to protect you from our kind, and maybe that was for the best, and there is nothing we can do to change that now." I tried to let her know that I wasn't mad at her at all, that this was all part of his plan to manipulate and to make us vulnerable.

"But he is my dad. I am part of him, and it makes me so upset that he would do that to his own daughter. Completely disregard my life and try to make it a living hell." She was getting a little angry at this point, but angry looked cute on her. For now.

"You might be his daughter, but he raised me. He had more control over me than he ever had over you. It was easier to manipulate me because he had already gained my trust. This had nothing to do with you Clary. This was all about him and the best way for him to break me." I tried so hard to console her, but it seemed like whatever I did wasn't getting her to calm down.

"Jace, I just feel like everything in my fau…" I didn't let her finish.

"Clary, look at me." I lifted her chin so that our eyes met. "Valentine wanted to be in control, and the best way for him to do that was to make us an impossible team. He knew that we'd never be able to work as well together knowing that everything we felt towards each other was wrong. He knew that and he was willing to gamble with our feelings in order for him to win."

"I guess you're right. I just wish we could have had that time back, you know?" She snuggled her head into my neck.

"I wish for those days back all the time, but I'm happy with the way things turned out. We came out of it stronger than before. He never destroyed us, he only made us stronger and I think that for that it wasn't a total waste." I kissed the top of her head.

"I love you Jace, and I never want you to forget it." Clary said as she looked up into my eyes.

"I love you too Clary." I leaned down and kissed her just like I've always wanted too.