Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns the original TMI series and characters. Any familiar quotes that you recognise from the TMI books should, of course, be attributed to the ingenuity of Cassie. However, the plot lines and other character developments etc. in this story belongs to me, xxmadworldredemptionxx. Please do not copy, reproduce, translate, or repost these stories elsewhere without my permission.

JEALOUS JACE

Jealousy. An emotion often accompanied by feelings of anger, resentment, inadequacy, and the list goes on. I used to think that jealousy, where couples were concerned anyway, was a measure of love—and in some twisted way, it was—that was, until I realized how destructive the J word was…especially if it came in the form of an alliteration, like J.J.

Jealous Jace.

Take for example, the situation presented before my very eyes at this very moment… My Jealous Jace standing poised over an old high school classmate of ours, all because the former was convinced that the five-foot-nine boy with too much grease in his hair kept stealing inappropriate glances at me while we were trying to enjoy our romantic dinner.

He wasn't entirely wrong, of course, my extremely perceptive and keen-eyed Jace. I had felt the creep's gaze burning holes into the side of the face the entire time before my overprotective husband had snapped.

The funny thing was, I didn't know that he had noticed, even though looking back at the situation ten minutes ago, the signs couldn't have been more painfully obvious, I wanted to shoot myself for being so oblivious.

The way Jace had gripped my hand, tighter than he usually did while we were eating, and how he kept scooting his chair closer and closer to mine, after which he abandoned my hand in favor of gripping my thigh possessively, until several of the waiters had raised their eyebrows at him in question. I could have sworn he'd even muttered the word 'mine' repeatedly in between bites, but in my attempt of being the rational and unsuspecting wife, I'd passed it off as my imagination.

I should have known better than to underestimate him, or really, in this case, to not have expected him to do something about the man whom he knew had an old crush on me. From the very minute Sebastian Verlac had entered our lives, he had sparked nothing but trouble in mine and Jace's relationship.

And God, did I hate him. I still do.

Back in high school, Sebastian's advances had started out small and innocent; he'd walk up to the lunch table where I usually sat with Jace and our gang—Alec, Isabelle, Simon and Magnus—and try to talk me into tutoring him for Art. I had declined him politely whereas Jace had made a pointed remark that no one gets tutored for Art; you're either good at it or you're not. (Wise words on his part, since he used the same excuse the one time my dad walked in on us sharing a kiss in the living room).

Anyway, later on in junior year, when we were partnered up in Chemistry class, Sebastian had always made it a point to initiate some sort of skinship, hoping it would spark an electricity or connection between us.

Unsurprisingly, I didn't even feel jot of fire. Every time Sebastian had 'accidentally' touched me, I'd felt nothing but cold and uncomfortable, goosebumps appearing on my skin in the most remotely unpleasant way.

Jace had noticed—of course, he always notices—but I'd made it clear to him that going all caveman and beating another guy up just to stake his claim on me was a behavior that I resented more.

While I loved Jace and how protective he was over me, I was repulsed by the idea of being treated like some sort of property. For all intents and purposes, he should have known better that no man—or a black-haired French demon, as had once referred to Sebastian—would ever stand a chance at breaking us up. I had told Jace so, (many, many times) until he finally conceded and let me handle the situation myself.

Even so, I could see how hard it was for him to leave me alone with Sebastian, so we came up with a compromise: I'd arranged for Sebastian to meet me after school by the bleachers, within Jace's line of sight (he'd watched me like a hawk even though he was supposedly having soccer practice).

Not long after I'd arrived, Sebastian came, grinning smugly as if I was about to tell him the best piece of news, and for a beat, I'd felt a pinch of guilt. I had never been one for rejecting people, and before Sebastian, I'd never really rejected anyone because no one had been stupid enough to approach Jace's girlfriend.

But then he had to open his mouth and say something infinitely stupider:

"Finally came around to join the greener grass? About time you dumped Herondale for someone better…for someone like me. He was always too needy and pathetic anyway—a complete charity case if I ever saw one."

I swore…Verlac's arrogance knocked Jace's right out of the water with that statement.

As cocky as my golden-eyed boy could be, I knew he'd never really put himself on a high pedestal; whatever self-appraisal remarks he made on a regular basis were often played off as a joke. Yes, he knew how stunningly attractive and intelligent and talented he was, but Jace remained, at heart, a humble man.

With that, any traces of guilt I'd felt towards Sebastian was immediately wiped away, and I'd told him straight in the face that I wasn't interested in him, and neither was I leaving Jace, so it was best that he turned his affections for someone who would be willing to reciprocate them.

Unfortunately, with my luck, nothing was ever so simple. Sebastian hadn't taken to my words too kindly, instead he told me, still unbelievably conceited as ever: "It isn't over until it is. You can tell me to stop but I won't. I won't."

Thinking back about it, I should have probably told Jace about this. Especially after a particularly disturbing incident which had led me to finding out that Sebastian had been more than just 'interested' in me, but obsessed to the point that he'd even stalked me.

He'd broken into my room one night and tried to force himself onto me—it was summer break and Jace had been away for a whole month visiting his grandparents in England.

Luckily for me, my brother Jon had found us before Sebastian could inflict any further damage, and promptly gave him the beating of his life. Dad came in, moments after the commotion had transpired, and called the cops to have the piece of scum dragged away from our home.

For days, I was still too shaken by everything that had happened to know what exactly had followed then; all I knew was that Dad had filed a restraining order against Verlac and I never saw him again—at least, not in the last five, six years. That, and I'd begged and begged my family to never tell Jace about the incident. I didn't want him to go running off to kill the jerk, no matter how much he probably deserved it.

As far as Jace was concerned, Sebastian had moved back to France to live with his aunt over the summer break, and he was going to continue his studies there. Jace had been overjoyed with the 'news' and surprisingly didn't question it, so I was content to move on and pretend the incident had never happened.

The last couple of years had been entirely focused on the two of us, no Sebastian Verlac or Jace's fellow fangirls could ever come in our way. Period.

I could only imagine how furious Jace would be if he knew what had happened all those years ago. It wouldn't be jealousy anymore, but rage. What Sebastian had tried to do to me was both despicable and cruel beyond measure, and as for me… Jace would feel betrayed and above all, hurt that I'd kept such a big secret from him for so long.

"If you ever so much as breathe in her direction ever again, I will kill you," Jace threatened in a very possessive Jace-like manner, which you can imagine, was scary as hell. It might have very well be a trick of the lighting, but I could swear that his golden eyes were alight with fire, one that was passionate with the idea of ripping his enemies' throats out.

Let's not even talk about the invisible puffs of steam that were currently pouring out of J.J's nose and ears, or the twisted scowl that had somehow plastered itself onto his delectable mouth. Everything about him screamed anger, and if you add the 'd' in front of that word, danger.

"Jace, that's enough. Let him go. He didn't do anything to me," I said, trying to pry my husband's fingers (read: deadly claws) away from the front of Verlac's shirt. He softened a little beneath my touch, but he remained firm, unwavering.

"I should teach him a lesson. It's been, what, seven years now?" Jace said coolly, his golden eyes still trained on the Frenchman. I could hear the underlying note of disgust in his tone, and all the same, despite my reservations, I agreed.

Seven years, and Verlac was still hung up over me?

I would have been flattered if I wasn't so disturbed by it. What was it that Sebastian saw in me? The time that I'd known him in high school, I barely considered him as an acquaintance. And if we were to factor in the incident, well, we could pretty much forget the barely existent acquaintanceship; Verlac had turned into my sworn enemy the moment he had crossed the line that night.

Jace narrowed his eyes at Sebastian, who had the audacity to smirk at him albeit he was the one in a compromising position. This wasn't going to end well, I could tell. "Wipe that smirk off your face, Verlac. Or it'll be the last thing that you'll ever do," Jace snarled.

"Or you'll do what, Herondale?" Sebastian taunted, barely affected by my husband's ire. "You're going to stab me with the expensive cutlery? Be my guest."

"Maybe I should just take this fork here and stab you in the eyes. That'll teach you to keep your eyes to yourself instead of leering at another man's wife!" he added, making a point to emphasize on the word 'wife'.

Instantly, I noticed Sebastian's eyes flitting over to my left hand, searching for the ring on my fourth finger. It was there, of course, sitting on my finger proudly; I'd never once taken it off since the night Jace'd proposed.

It might seem trivial to some—a tiny ring—but it mattered a whole lot to me. I remembered Izzy and Magnus telling me how Jace had enlisted their help to look for the perfect ring for me.

The three of them had scoured jewelry shop after jewelry shop, until Jace had finally decided on this one. A white gold band, encrusted with a single diamond and three smaller emerald stones. I especially loved the Latin phrase that he had chosen to be engraved on the inside of the ring: Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur; "We choose to love, we do not choose to cease loving".

"Ah, Mrs Jace Herondale," Sebastian said, in a sickly-sweet tone laced with venom and sarcasm. "Ridiculously pathetic, if you ask me. Barely any rock on that ring of yours. You could have done so much better. If only…" Sebastian smirked as Jace's body began to shake (literally, shake) with anger.

"If only your brother hadn't come into your room and stopped me that night," Sebastian's words made me freeze, and at the same time, I saw Jace turn rigid and his face go blank.

"Oh, she didn't tell you, did she?" Sebastian smiled gleefully at this, knowing he'd struck a chord. He looked oddly pleased with himself, the sick psychopath. "It's quite a shame, really. Especially after her father had filed for a restraining order," he sighed, almost wearily at the thought of my father. "We could have had so much fun together…I would have made her scream my name until she forgot all about you…"

At this, Jace blinked, and before I could even comprehend his next move, he lunged forward to grab Sebastian by his tie, and hauled him up to his feet with such speed and strength I didn't even know he possessed.

Uncaring of the many pairs of eyes watching him, or of the voices of the restaurant manager and security telling him to unhand Verlac and leave, Jace dragged the Frenchman out of the building himself, as if he were tugging a weightless school kid. I followed, almost as if I were on autopilot and watched as Jace shoved my high school stalker hard against the brick wall outside.

His golden eyes grew impossibly darker, until they were almost as black as Sebastian's, and his voice was surprisingly low and quiet when he spoke. "You touched her?" Jace whispered in a deadly calm tone.

Sebastian's unwavering smirk gave him all the confirmation he needed, and Jace punched him hard in the face, a sickening crack resounding the moment his knuckles made contact with Verlac's face. It only took one blow, just a single blow, and the latter was out, his eyes rolling to the back of his head, and his body slumped against the concrete.

For the next couple of minutes, Jace continued to stare down at his unconscious foe, breathing heavily as if he'd run a marathon. I stood behind him mutely, my hands shaking as I debated over whether or not it would be a wise decision for me to touch him. Jace had just found out about my secret—and despite how angry I knew he was at Verlac, I knew he felt the same anger towards me.

"Jace—"

"Get in the car, Clarissa," Jace said, with zero inflection in his voice. He sounded so tired, and it scared me, because I knew that it meant he was disappointed with me. "Please."

I nodded even though his back was still to me, and turned to walk towards our car. After several moments, I heard my husband's footsteps behind me, sounding so distant, and I repressed the urge to cry. Jace was rarely ever upset with me, but when he was, I'd always felt so bare and alone.

We sat in the silence the entire ride home, the unspoken tension hung in the air in waves, so thick I felt as if I was drowning in it. I wanted to talk to Jace, to have him talk to me, but I was too much of a coward to initiate anything. Each time I opened my mouth, the words died down in my throat; I didn't even know what would be the right thing to say. I mean, what could possibly be classified as right when there's a huge possibility that I've botched up whatever trust Jace had in me—in our relationship?

I'm sorry? I didn't mean to keep such a big secret from you? I'm such an idiot? Please forgive me?

"When?" Jace's voice knocked me out of my thoughts.

I glanced around, and realized with a jolt that we were back in our three-bedroom apartment. I didn't even remember leaving the car…huh. Was I really that occupied with my thoughts? Was this really the first time that Jace was talking to me after the encounter with Sebastian, or had he been trying to get me to talk over the drive home?

I looked up at my husband, to find that he was looking at everything in the room, all except for me. His eyes landed on the hung portrait of our wedding, and he frowned deeply at it. I willed for him to look at me, but didn't; he just continued to stare at the bloody portrait. Probably regretting that he ever agreed to marry me, my ugly subconscious decided.

"When?" he repeated, softer but more demanding this time.

"It was during senior year…in high school," I found myself saying weakly. "It was summer break, and you were away in England with your family."

Jace inhaled a deep breath and he shut his eyes as if in pain. When he spoke again, I realized that he was truly in pain, or at least, he was hurt by me. "Why didn't you tell me about it…ever? Six years, Clary. Were you even planning to tell me?"

"I—"

Jace raised his hand, cutting me off, his voice suddenly sharp and steely. "Save it, Clary. I don't want to hear it." He turned to look at me, his golden eyes masked of whatever love and fondness he held for me. Now, he only looked hurt and betrayed and…furious. "I tell you everything. And this whole time, I thought you'd do the same. But I was wrong." He swallowed, before narrowing his eyes at me and scowled.

"Who knows what other dirty secrets you've been keeping from me? Why! Why couldn't you have told me?" he shouted. "Did you feel it was your duty to protect him from me? Is that it? Or did you…did you secretly liked what he was going to do to you?"

I snapped at that. "Liked it? Liked it?" I scoffed, not believing what I was hearing. "I am not some wanton slut, Jace Herondale. I was—I am devoted to you, and I admit—it was huge mistake not telling you about that incident, but I was…" I could feel myself deflating, the energy suddenly ebbing from me.

"I was too scared to tell you," I finished lamely.

"Of course you were," Jace said coldly. "That's your prime reason for every single thing that you refuse to tell me—because you're scared. SCARED OF WHAT, CLARY?!"

I flinched away from him and whimpered, not used to having Jace yell at me. I would have given him an answer, but I had none. I could feel the tears that I've been holding back pour down my face in a steady stream, and I could even hear the sobs coming out of me—my breaths were so choppy, I felt like I was going to pass out.

Jace barely cast me a second glance, he just shook his head at me and walked out of the door—out of the apartment, and ultimately, far, far away from me.

"He kissed you! I can't believe he kissed you! That motherf—" Jace was pacing up and down the nearly deserted school hallway, one hand curled into a fist and the other tugging on his curls angrily.

He stopped short for a moment, glaring at the locker we both knew belonged to Sebastian, and drew his fist back, landing a sharp punch to the metal. A loud clang resounded upon the impact, and my eyes widened upon seeing the dent Jace's fist had left behind. No doubt wishing that it was Sebastian's nose.

"Jace, will you calm down? Please?" I tried, gently placing my hand on his wiry arm.

He was huffing and puffing heavily, his chest heaving in complete rage. All because Sebastian had been an idiot and kissed me while I was supposedly looking for my Math book in my locker. Jace had been in the toilet, up until a few minutes ago, and shoved Sebastian away from me. The coward had cleverly fled before Jace could land a single punch on him. For all I knew, he'd probably hightailed for home and hidden there.

"Calm down? He kissed you! My girlfriend," he growled. "How can you expect me to not get mad?" he muttered, though despite his words, I could see him calm down—if only a little. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead the cool metal of the locker, and I slowly wrapped my arms around his abdomen, pressing my cheek against the space between his shoulder blades. I could feel him melt into my touch and he slowly let out a sigh.

"Why should it matter?" I asked quietly. "He kissed me. Not the other way around. Why are you getting so worked up about it?"

"Because he just shouldn't," Jace insisted. "I don't want to sound like a complete ass by saying that you're mine, but Clary—"

"Jace," I cut him off softly, placatingly. "Please, just hear me out. Sebastian's just trying to break us up. He's an idiot and completely disrespectful for doing what he did, but at the end of the day, he shouldn't matter at all."

"You can't expect me to just forget, Clarissa," Jace sighed. "It makes me so angry just thinking about it. I don't like it when another guy looks at you wrong, much less when he touches you. It's not because I think that you belong to me—I just don't. I don't like it."

"What do you want me to do about it then? Do you want to wrap me up inside a plastic bubble or elope with me?"

"I prefer the latter," Jace said, a smirk in his voice.

"Elope… Are you proposing to me, Clary?" he asked after a long beat, turning around so that he could face me. Despite his dazzling smile, I could still see vestiges of his anger in his eyes, and further down, a layer of insecurity and fear. Jace may be cocky for all the world to see, but I knew deep down that he was afraid. Afraid that I'd leave him, like how his mother had left him and his father.

"Hmm, I'm afraid my mother's ring wouldn't fit you, but I wouldn't be opposed to marrying you," I swiftly replied. "Just ask me again a couple years from now and I'll say yes."

"Ditto, my dad already thinks of you as his daughter-in-law, so it'll probably work out," Jace said. "And while we're on the same page, I should probably tell you this… I want seven kids and three cats—not including Church."

I was a bit taken aback by his comment, not quite sure if he was being serious or not, but I decided to play along with him. "But I love Church! He purred at me when I gave him a belly rub the other day…your dad witnessed it too."

"Church hates me. Every time I forget to close my bedroom door, I'll come home from school with his pee all over my bedsheets," he scowled. "If reincarnation did exist, Church is Sebastian Verlac reincarnated in the form of a cat to make my life miserable. He's even stealing my girl's attention away from me…"

"Now, now, Sebastian has never managed to hold my attention for more than two seconds—Church did. There's definitely a difference between the two," I said, trying to make light of the situation. It must have worked because Jace's grin only grew wider, until I could see the slight chip in his incisor.

He drew me closer to him, and brought his face to mine—I felt my breath catch as I felt his steady, fevered breaths blowing against my skin, so close, his lips just mere inches away from mine. I wanted to kiss him, but I waited. Waited for him to say his next line first.

"You love me more than Church…don't you?" he asked, (ironically) stroking my hair like he would a cat.

"Yes," I managed, a breathless sigh, and Jace swept me up in his arms, a swarm of butterflies exploding in my stomach the moment his lips met mine.

Sometime during the night, I stirred to the sound of soft footsteps, and the feeling of someone's gaze on me, watching me sleep. A surge of panic rose within me but I quickly pushed it down, recognizing the all-too-familiar scent of my husband in our bedroom. Lemon and sunshine—a la Jace.

I suppressed my sigh of relief at the thought that he was home; he'd come back to me, even after I'd disappointed him tonight. Was he still mad at me? Did he still love me? Did he still want me? All sorts of questions flooded my brain, making my heart race with nervous palpitations. Or did he just come home to pack his things and leave? Was he leaving me?

I wasn't sure, and I didn't want to have to watch him leave me again, so I kept my eyes closed, pretending to still be asleep as his footsteps drew nearer, and I felt the bed shift with his weight. Jace, I found myself sighing sleepily, and relaxed when I felt his hand hesitantly but gently caressing my hair.

"I know you're awake," he said, again with a hint of hesitance, but at the same time, regret. Despite myself, I felt hopeful. If he regretted what had happened earlier, shouldn't it mean that he was willing to put this behind us and forgive me?

Jace stroked my cheekbone lightly. "Will you open your eyes and look at me, please?"

I obliged and blinked my eyes several times, letting myself adjust to the darkness; the only source of light in our bedroom came from the moonlight outside. It bathed my husband in hues of silver and white, but his eyes shone as the usually did—a brilliant gold. "You're home," I said.

Jace nodded. "I never really left to go anywhere. Just sitting in the car, thinking," he answered hoarsely. "I'm so sorry, Clary. I'm sorry I walked out on you. I overreacted and made an issue out of something that happened years ago. I was a terrible jackass to you and you didn't deserve that."

"You had every right to be mad at me, Jace. I'd promised that I wouldn't keep secrets from you, but I did. And it wasn't some secret kept for a day or two, but years…I should've told you," I said, tears dotting my vision. "The day I came to pick you up from the airport…six years ago, I should've just told you. You knew that something was bothering me but you never pushed me to tell you—You trusted me to tell you any problems I had at my own pace, and I took advantage of that. I took advantage of your trust, and you didn't deserve that.

"What Sebastian did…it wasn't something minor that could have easily been brushed off and forgotten—He tried to rape me, Jace. And he would've succeeded if Jon hadn't come in to save me that night," I sniffled, holding Jace's hands tightly in mine. He let me, his entire face morphed with worry, concern, anger and pain—I knew he was hurting for me.

"I should've told you," I repeated. "But I was afraid that you would go off and try to kill him. I know you, Jace. If someone tries to hurt me, I know you wouldn't think twice to run off and return the favor tenfold. It scares me sometimes…how much you're willing to do for me because you love me. And I…I love you. I didn't want to lose you. Sebastian's sick and crazy—I just didn't want to risk anything. And after my dad filed a restraining order against him, I thought it'd be okay. I just wanted to forget it ever happened and move on. And I was…afraid that you'd see me differently if you knew."

"How would I see you any differently?" Jace interrupted me.

"You'd think of me as a victim—I mean, I know that technically, he didn't rape me, but you'd still see me as a victim. You would have wanted to protect me more, and it would have made me feel like a lesser person. A weakling," I finished.

"That's not true," Jace said gently. "I've never thought of you as a weakling, Clary. Just someone I love—someone I need to protect. It's my basic instinct to want to protect you, regardless of what happens. Regardless of how strong you are, I still want to protect you. You're my responsibility. You're my wife."

I didn't know how to respond to all of that, so I told him the only thing that I knew and believed with my whole heart: "I love you. I don't know how you're still with me after I misplaced your trust, but I love you."

Jace smiled and wiped the stray tears from my face. "Amor animi arbitrio sumitur, non ponitur," he quoted the words that had been engraved onto my ring. "We choose to love, we do not choose to cease loving. I love you until the day I die, and if God wills us to share our lives together after that, I'll love you then."

"What about Sebastian?" I blurted out.

"Way to ruin the moment, Clare. Here I am confessing my undying love for you, and you bring up that—that cretin," Jace rolled his eyes at me, but almost immediately sobered up when he saw the anxious look on my face.

"Forget about him. If he dares to come near you again, we'll file for another restraining order. I won't let him touch you—I promise." I smiled up at him and twined my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me so that our noses were nuzzling.

"Now, can we stop talking about him and focus on us?" Jace said softly as he twisted one of my red curls around his callused finger.

I nodded slowly, but at that very moment, my brain decided that I was too tired to go through another conversation, so instead, I let out a very long yawn.

"Or not," Jace said with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled while blinking my eyes sleepily.

"Don't apologize. We can always make it up to each other tomorrow. Personally, I prefer actions over words...if you get my drift," he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Too tired to actually roll my eyes at him, I settled for giving him a sloppy slap on the shoulder. "And thus concludes our night," I said, turning over onto my side, so that my back was facing Jace.

A moment later, I felt his warm body press up against my back, the position feeling so familiar, and at the same time, so utterly right that I couldn't help but smile to myself.

"Good night, Clary. I love you," he whispered as his arms wrapped around my midsection, holding me securely to him.

I snuggled back into his warmth. "Night, Jace. I love you, too."

A/N: So if you're an old reader, you would probably recognize this particular story as part of the one-shot series Partners In Love, which I posted back under my old account xxmadworldreveriexx. As with most (if not ALL) of my stories, I've done a fair bit of tidying up to both the language and content, so you would definitely spot changes here and there. Note: Most of my stories will be rated T because I personally feel that they work just fine without pushing the boundaries of an M rating (unless, of course, they deal with some dark or sensitive issues), so there.

Completely unrelated side note though: Anyone here a fan of Star Wars? I'm TMI all the way, but I'm also a Star Wars geek!

~ Until then, my lovelies!