I DO NOT OWN THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS OR CHARACTERS WITHIN...JUST THE PLOT OF THIS ONE SHOT

Hey y'all,

I wasn't sure I'd be able to write a one shot. Followers of CIAP know that my chapters alone are like 5k+ words so SereneCalamity came up with a plan and gave me some prompts stemming from song lyrics. Here is the first one. It's not my usual thing but I hope you like it anyway.

"Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song" Perfect by Ed Sheeran

Jace walked outside, holding his beer in his hand. The party was getting loud and while he loved a good party, he also had other business to take care of. He was grateful the house was somewhat out in the middle of nowhere, on top of a hill, overlooking the city, surrounded by open field with no houses close by. He'd arrived with a bunch of guys from his university, just looking for something fun to do on a Friday night.

They somehow had ended up 2 hours away at the residence of one of his friend's cousins. There were tons of people there from all over, mostly college kids but some graduates and unfortunately, even a few high school seniors.

Jace had gone to high school only about 30 minutes from where the house was located. He was the typical popular jock; both the captain of the football team and Student Body President. He also played soccer in the spring and was voted Prom King. Jace knew he was good looking, with a body made up of gold but despite how many girls threw themselves at him, he only paid attention to one.

Jace was an army brat and moved around a lot with his dad because of it. They'd lived in 9 different cities in the 5 years before his freshman year. About two months in, he ended up at Kennedy High School in a decent sized town in upstate New York. He wasn't nervous the first day. He'd been the new kid what felt like 100 times but he never had any problems making friends and making his way to the top of the food chain.

When he pulled into the parking lot in his Camaro that he'd rebuilt with his dad a few years ago and grabbed his bag from the passenger seat, he got his first good look at the school. He took comfort in the fact that this would be his home for the next 4 years as his dad had finally been stationed at a desk job and they planned to stay permanently or at least until Jace went off to college. He headed to the double doors at the entrance to the school and reached out to pull the handle of the one closest to him when he felt something brush against his hand.

Looking over, he noticed a girl who couldn't have been more than 5'3" with her nose in a book, making it impossible to see her face. But Jace was desperate to see it. That little touch of skin had shot a tingle straight up his arm and it shook him to his very core. He didn't have to wait very long because a moment later, she raised her head up and stared directly into his eyes.

She was beautiful. With long, auburn wavy locks and the greenest eyes you'd even seen; so rich and deep you could get lost in them. She stole his breath away and he was literally speechless when she apologized to him and continued through the door, probably in the direction of her locker. He spent the rest the next few years observing her and trying to keep her from noticing which he was mostly successful at.

She was the sweetest girl that he'd ever met. She was quiet and unassuming and volunteered at the food bank after school. She was a true artist; painting murals anywhere she could get the space. She had the most beautiful voice. Being the first female lead in their school's choir and also performing in the school's plethora of musicals which gave Jace many chances to hear her. She was a member of the school dance team and even though she wasn't popular enough to get elected captain, she was easily the best dancer on the team. She played the cello in the school orchestra. He'd heard her practice without her knowledge more times than he liked to admit. Jace was convinced she was an Angel. His Angel.

Jace had gotten the chance to work with her on a project only once, despite having a few classes together in the almost 4 years they attended school together. They were assigned to be paired up by their history teacher for an essay they had to write about a war of their choice that had taken place throughout history. They met up everyday for a week in the school library and Jace spent more time watching her than actually working. He ended up going home afterward and staying up past midnight every night that week, doing his part of the research and his other homework so she wouldn't wonder why he hadn't gotten any work done. That was the hardest week of his high school career. All he wanted to do was tell her. Confess to her. Let her know the truth, which was that he'd been in love with her since the first time he saw her.

But there was no way that she would want anything to do with him. She was unique and special. Jace was the cookie cutter cliche of every teen movie but he loved her just the same. He'd never believed in love at first sight or even love in general for that matter but she certainly proved him wrong. There was the other problem of the social hierarchy in high school as well that wouldn't work out in his favor.

And now here she was, laying on the grass, looking out at the city and up at the stars, right in front of him. He knew he'd seen her walk out of the door of the party despite not expecting to have seen her there. Even 40 feet away, he'd recognize her anywhere. She was more beautiful than he remembered. If his memory served him, he'd heard that she'd gotten accepted to Julliard but he wasn't sure which of her many talents had clinched her acceptance. Jace had been accepted into Harvard and was currently studying biological science, hoping to become a Biomedical Engineer.

Jace crept closer, praying to some unknown God that he was able to do it without making a sound. He made it to a nearby tree and leaned against it, just watching her, like old times. Imagining what it would've been like if he'd just told her a long time ago, how he felt. He knew that ship had sailed though. He'd had 4 years to admit his feelings and he did nothing. They were in two different social groups and in high school, you just didn't do that. It was an unfortunate way of life but it was how it was. So he just sat back and watched her. Ignoring the females that tried to capture his attention. Jace was a 21 year old virgin and he had no idea how to explain it.

When they'd both gone off to college, he knew his chance to tell her how he felt had slipped away and he didn't expect to ever see her again. But somehow it felt wrong to sleep with someone else when he still couldn't let go of her. Even though she was over 200 miles away and living her own life, he couldn't help but hold onto hope. But here she was and he was still being a chicken shit; creeping in the background, not fighting for what he wanted.

Jace chugged down the rest of his beer and set the bottle down on the ground, popping a mint in his mouth before advancing forward. He wasn't drunk, he'd only had two beers since he arrived over 3 hours ago but he certainly didn't want to smell like it when he finally told the love of his life exactly how he felt.

He sidled up to where she was laying in the grass and stood looking down at her. Seeing her beauty up close, wearing a white maxi dress with her hair fanned out around her, almost had him running scared. She really did look like an Angel. He knew if he didn't speak, he would regret it forever and it was probably his last chance. Just as he opened his mouth to say something to her and tell her about the years he'd spent pining over her, she looked over to him with her shining green eyes and it was almost as if she was looking into his soul.

A small smile appeared on her face before she grabbed his hand and pulled him down next to her. They laid like that, just looking up at the sky for what could have been minutes or hours, Jace didn't know. He was too conscious of the fact that she hadn't let go of his hand yet. He could feel the goosebumps, that hadn't left his skin since he laid down next to her, tingle up and down his arm. Her eyes were on the city lights and Jace's kept finding their way to her face by way of glances out of the corner off his eye.

Finally when Jace couldn't take the waiting any longer, he sat up and turned his face to hers. She followed his movements and her lips were on his before he got the first syllable out. At first Jace was frozen. Even if he did tell her how he felt, kissing the girl of his dreams was the last thing he had expected to do that night. After a few seconds of her persistence, Jace finally was able to shake himself out of his stupor and begin kissing her back. He tentatively used his tongue to open her mouth and she complied to allow their tongues to move together. He put everything he had into that kiss; all the words he never got to say, all the feelings he had to hide away. The kiss left them breathless and eventually they both had to pull away. Jace looked her in the eyes, almost as if searching for the courage to just get the words out and when he finally felt like he found it, he spoke in a soft voice,

"Clary, I wanted to-"

"You don't need to say anything, Jace. I know and I understand. I spent 4 years of high school watching you watch me but pretending not to notice. I knew it had to be hard for you since you were the leader of the most popular kids in school and I was essentially a nobody. I hoped you'd work up the courage to ask me out eventually but you never did so when it came time to graduate and you hadn't, I thought maybe you realized you didn't like me as much as you thought you did. From there I just tried to move on," she said looking down at her lap. "I just had to do that, you know, kiss you? I didn't think I'd get another chance."

Jace grabbed her chin gently and tilted her face back up to his. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and stared at her for a long while before saying anything. He couldn't believe that the girl in front of him had been waiting for him to ask her out. It seemed almost too good to be true. The whole time he was worried about his insecurities and the stupid, inconsequential social status rules that didn't even matter anymore, he could've had her in his arms. She could've been his. He couldn't believe he'd been such an idiot. He realized she must have been reading all kinds of emotions crossing his face and that he needed to say something before she got the wrong idea. But he could only think of one thing to say in that moment with her. One thing that summed everything up for him when it came to her.

"Clary…you're perfect." And he placed his lips back over hers, finding plenty of other places to put them when he they needed to come up for air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2 Years Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Jace, where are you taking me? We're gonna be late for dinner with your dad!"

"Just keep your eyes closed. We're almost there."

Jace pulled her the rest of the way up the hill and faced her toward the city. He stood behind her and removed the blindfold, wrapping his arms around her before telling her to open her eyes. Clary looked out at the city lights and up at the stars above, knowing exactly where her boyfriend had brought her. They were back at the house where they had their first kiss, She turned around to inspect the house and noticed it had been freshly painted and had a for sale sign in the ground on the side of the house that had a big sold sticker on it.

Clary turned to look at Jace in confusion but when she turned her eyes to him, he was down on one knee, holding a little black velvet box and smiling brightly at her.

"Clary, I've loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you. I know I didn't have the courage to do anything about it but I'm so glad I came up to you the night of the party because spending the past 2 years has been amazing, more amazing than I could have ever imagined. You're the piece of me that was always missing. It was a piece I didn't even know was gone until I got it back. You are my heart and I can't see my life without you in it. I belong to you, baby and hopefully, you'll belong to me too. Will you make me the happiest man alive and agree to be mine? Will you marry me?

Clary covered her mouth to hold back the sob that was about to escape as silent tears streamed down he face. She of course knew the answer she wanted to give him but couldn't get the answer out. She'd wanted to be with Jace since she was 14 and the past two years had been the best of her life. Being with Jace was like spending time with her best friend and it was more than she could have ever asked for.

"Yes. Yes, Jace. I'll be yours. I'll marry you."

Jace rushed forward and picked Clary up, spinning her around while she squealed like a little kid. She slid down his body and his lips met hers in a loving kiss. Setting Clary down, Jace pulled out the ring from the box and placed it on Clary's finger. It was a gorgeous princess cut diamond in a three stone setting. She took one look at the ring and threw her arms around Jace's neck pulling him back to her and locking his lips into another searing kiss.

"Jace, You know me so well. It's perfect."

He pulled he back and kissed the top of her head while holding her tightly.

"No, Clary. You're perfect."

A/N: If you like covers, check out the Perfect/Can't Help Falling In Love With You Mashup Cover by BTWN US on YouTube. It's Amazing!