A/N: Hey guys! This is a once shot I wrote with my friend Bebe, who also posted this on Wattpad. Enjoy! Clace, post CoHF.
"One night. No demons, no training, I want to have a night where it's just you and I."
The look on Clary's face was priceless. Sweet and sincere, and so excited for a actual good idea from Jace. "Really?" excitement fizzed behind her green eyes, and Jace couldn't help but look at her for a moment. For the past years, her body had been cut and bruised like no other, her faith and trust chipped to the very core. Stolen moments like these had been fading away, where her happiness and trust were restored into what it was before she discovered the shadow world.
"You better go get ready, but this time, tell Isabelle to fuck off when she wants to dress you up, just put on something you want to wear. Meet me outside of the Institute." Jace smiled genuinely. Clary couldn't help but smile again, what Jace was doing was so kind she was actually surprised that he hadn't made an asshole comment in the last five minutes. And she also couldn't help wrapping her arms around Jace before she stepped away.
"I'll try, I still feel pretty when she dresses me up though."
He shook his head. "I understand that, but don't you wanna wear something comfortable, and something that's a color other than black for once?"
A faint smile played on Clary's lips, "I'll wear something other than black, I just want to look pretty for you, I'm worried that your default thought about me is in gear and dried blood. Not exactly the look I'm going for."
Jace frowned. "Clary, I hate that you think that way. Yeah, you look pretty great in a little black dress, or in battle gear, but you are beautiful in every single way. Don't worry about what I might think, because no matter what—you are stunning, take it from someone who qualifies as anything that means stunning." He paused as he stifled a chuckle, "I'm sorry, that was way too over the top—even for me."
Clary stuck her tongue out at him as her shoulders shuddered, indicating that she was laughing, "Fine, only for you, Jace."
He laughed and ran his hands through his hair again. "What I'm trying to say is this will be just a normal night. Wear whatever the hell you want, it won't matter to me if you show up in a paper bag."
"I'm not going to spend my time fighting with you over my outfit," Clary laughed, "But you better show up in something that will make you look uglier than me." With that, she bolted out of the room and up the stairs, her petite figure barely making a sound up the stairs.
He grinned again and pushed the door closed behind her. "Not a chance!" Jace called out after her.
Slightly winded, Clary sat down on her bed. With all this talk and obsessing of how she would dress, she was more worried about it than ever.
"It's just Jace," she whispered. "And he told me this was just a plain night—just wear something rid of black and leather."
She stepped up to her closet and slipped through the clothes. Everything was black or shades of gray, nothing looked out of Shadowhunter ordinary, until a flash of blue caught her eye.
She pulled it out, a smile lighting up her eyes. It was a skirt from before. Before all of this craziness happened and it was just her and her mother.
It felt like she was wearing air, the gauzy blue material flowing like waves to her knees. She found a linen white shirt that fit snugly on her small frame.
It felt nice wearing some normal clothes after the itchiness of lace, leather, and denim all these months.
She pulled her red curls into a low ponytail, tying it with a white ribbon. She thought about makeup—but decided to skip it. Just this one night.
She stared at herself in the mirror on her vanity. She looked—different. But she felt strangely beautiful, not someone who radiated sex appeal, but someone who was pretty. A vase of lavender sat on her desk, long dried out. She plucked a flower out, and rubbed it on her wrists, breathing in the fresh scent of actual lavender.
And she felt ready. Clary glanced at herself one last time in the mirror and paused, there was a look in her eyes that hadn't been there a years ago. Strength, that's what it was. A few years ago, she'd been an artist, prepared to stay in the shadows—ready to hide in a corner with her sketchpad. Now she seemed to carry herself differently, she wasn't necessarily weak before—but now there was a sense of awareness, giving off the air that she'd be ready for anything. That definitely made her look stronger than before. Clary snapped back into reality, smiled at herself and walked out the door.
Jace was leaning on the front door of the Institute, looking around for Clary. And although he wasn't looking terribly fancy, he made the effort to leave out his usual black tops that showed off his muscles and wore instead a light grey shirt. Earlier that evening, Jace decided to adopt a black cloth jacket and a pair of dark dress pants that brought the outfit up a notch—only for Clary.
Clary staring at him in complete awe, her artist's eyes brushing over every detail.
Jace was silent as he returned the stare, glancing down at Clary as he nervously ran a hand through his hair again. Self confident Jace—nervous.
"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't look better than me," Clary said with a laugh, still staring at him.
Jace stepped over to Clary and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "Clary, I know that I'm supposed to say something among the lines of 'you look amazing' or something, but I think you'd appreciate it more if I let you know you have a bit of lettuce on your teeth before we go out," he smirked.
Oh gosh, that was embarrassing. She licked over her teeth, feeling her cheeks heat up.
Jace smiled and took Clary's hand. "I guess we should go then."
"Where?" Clary asked.
"You're the mundane expert," Jace said, a spark of laughter in his eyes, "You choose,"
Seeing the frown on Clary's lips made him laugh again.
"I'm kidding—there's somewhere I have in mind."
They stepped outside into the night, looking up breathlessly into the stars. The stars seemed to call them, shining in the sky. They walked down the sidewalk, wrapped in coats in the cold, fall night, breathing in the air.
Clary's head ended up on Jace's shoulder, leaning into him as they walked. And finally they came upon a restaurant on the corner. It didn't have a name- just a dark awning, and tables inside, dressed with tall glasses and napkins. Strings of white lights were hung from the ceiling, giving an ambience glow through the large windows.
They stepped inside and ended up in a small booth in the corner, the dim lighting sweeping over them. A sweet waitress handed Clary and Jace menus. Jace caught the waitress's eye as Clary read the menu, the pages covered in an elegant script.
"A cheese fondue?" a smile grew on Clary's face as Jace doubled over in laughter, "I promise it'll taste decent, mundane food isn't that bad."
Once Jace had regained his calm demeanor, he started flipping through the menu.
"Paninis, crépes? What the hell are these?" Jace muttered. "I've never heard of a soup called Zuppa Toscana-"
He sighed. "Fondue it is. Although I've only tried it once—and of course Isabelle made it and that was a disaster,"
"You're such a big baby," Clary groaned, "Jace Herondale, pro Shadowhunter that's terrified of melted cheese and wine, by the Angel—"
By then, the server came around and asked, "Selection of wines, dears?"
"Selection of wines my ass—" Jace muttered as he flipped through the menu.
"—What he means is that we will just take a simple Chardonnay—something with a bit of citrus." Clary interrupted Jace and told the server. The waitress nodded with a spark of amusement in her eyes, and then walked away.
"When did you learn so much about wine?" Jace said, rolling his eyes.
"I don't really, that's just always what my mother ordered whenever we went out." She laughed, twirling a strand of fiery hair around her finger.
They were silent for a second, gazing the few empty tables surrounding them, and the street lights outside the windows.
"Jace—" Clary began. "I just wanted to say that I really appreciate this. It's so nice to get away."
"Don't even think about all of the fantastic things we're missing out on. Just enjoy it."
The server came back with two glasses half filled with a liquid with a slight hint of gold and placed it on the table.
"And to eat?" The server asked.
"Just the cheese fondue. For two." Clary replied, blushing.
Jace instantly picked up the glass with two fingers, tilting it back and forth, seeing the liquid slosh around, with a weary expression in his face.
Clary smiled as she brought her own glass to her lips and let the liquid roll over her taste buds. She smacked her lips. "Not bad."
Jace tentatively placed the glass to his own lips and sipped carefully. He instantly coughed and put the glass down.
"I don't think wine is the best choice for me," he groaned, clearing his throat and taking a sip out of the glass of water he was given.
Jace's attention left Clary for a moment, he looked around, taking in everything around him until he looked back at Clary. "Do you miss this?"
Clary looked at him with genuine confusion, "Miss what?"
"This mundane world. You could've stayed here, oblivious from dangers other than mundane wars and disputes. Would you have chosen to stay here if you could?"
"Actually, I find it a lot more special to share it with you, Jace. Just because we're Shadowhunters doesn't mean we have to always stay away from the mundane society, it's nice to take a break sometimes, but I would never leave the Shadow world, or regret being a Shadowhunter, I don't think that keeping all of this would be worth it if I wouldn't have ever met you. This whole journey led up to you, of course it could've been easier in so many ways, but if I didn't go through all that I don't I'd love you as much as I do now. I—"
Clary's voice gave out, she seemed to drift away from the world, her gaze distant.
Jace looked at her in astonishment, speechless. All of the sudden, the words seemed to crash onto Jace's head like a blow, an internal wall seemed to crack behind his eyes as he started to well up, "Clary, there's no way you mean that." He breathed. "I love you, but I don't think making me cry before we've started eating is the best way to spend our mundane evening,"
An invisible weight seemed to lift off of the both of them as Jace joked, regaining control of his emotions.
"Oh right–– you're right." She laughed.
Clary sat back down at the booth, her legs shaking at the emotions drifting through her. It was lucky that the server came out then with a metal pot, and a plate with various breads, meats, vegetables and fruits.
Jace still looked down cautiously at the pot of fondue. Clary narrowed her eyes as she picked up a metal stick to dip the various chunks of food in, poked it through a chunk of bread, dipped it in the cheese, and waved it front of Jace's mouth.
Eat it." She grinned. He finally opened his mouth and took the bread, chewing it cautiously before giving a smile.
"Certainly better than the time Isabelle tried to make it."
"I would have guessed." Clary smirked.
And they both stabbed through the abundance of food, dipping it and laughing as Jace cracked his usual sarcastic jokes and Clary managed to clumsily get cheese down the neckline of her dress.
At the end of the evening, they both wandered into the night air. Clary looked over at Jace, and an idea popped into her head. "Let's go to the park, it'll be fun!"
Before Jace could reply, Clary was already dragging him in the opposite direction. They arrived at the park, the lush green grass tinted in the evening light. Across the field, an old tire swing hung from an old tree. Clary took one look at it and started running towards it, Jace right behind her. She hopped onto the tire swing, "Push me." Laughing, Jace started gently pushing the tire swing.
Clary seemed so content, and for a while, Jace could have a glimpse of the down to earth girl that was eager to look at the little things, the girl that chose to abandon for the people she loved.
"This is different," Jace laughed while placing his hands on Clary's shoulders and pushing her forward. "So this is what mundanes do for fun?"
"I guess you could say that," Clary giggled. "Usually for mundane children, but I believe that I'm still a child at heart." She crooned dramatically, pressing a hand to her heart as she flew up past Jace.
"Looks fun," he laughed back. And finally, as Clary swooped down to the ground again, Jace grabbed onto the ropes and jumped, sitting on the old tire opposite her. Jace used his feet to gently rock them back and forth.
The strong tree lent no indication of dropping the weight of both of them, they just held onto each other as they swung slowly over the meadow. It was more of a forest than a park, trees clumping around everywhere, and bushes and tendrils sprouting from the ground. In the distance they could see a small lake of sparkling water, shimmering under the moonlight. Clary shivered slightly at the biting cold.
Clary started to lean towards Jace, planning to put a peck on his lips, but she fell onto his lap instead. She felt her cheeks warm up. "You doing okay, Fairchild?" Jace asked as he suppressed a laugh. "Let's try that again," Jace tilted her chin up slightly, and landed his lips on hers, his arms wrapping her in a loose embrace.
She felt her heart nearly explode. This moment was wonderful, a mix of happiness and love and safety leaning by Jace on the slowly rocking swing, in his embrace. Slowly, the kiss deepened—not with hunger, but with adoration. It seemed to go on forever, and Clary could hear two tourists chuckling, one of them saying softly under their breath 'Get a room!' or something among the lines of that in French.
But the little moment, one of many great ones tonight was broken as Clary loosened her grip and fell off the swing, her legs tangled in the grass as she groaned. Jace quickly stepped down to check on Clary, pulling her over to the ground.
"Hmm, what was that–– the third time tonight that your clumsiness took over?" Jace chuckled.
"How about we take a walk, Clary?" He said, pulling Clary up and gently brushing the dirt and grass off her.
Clary blushed. "That sounds great." And so she laced her hands in Jace's, walking down the hill they were on down towards the lake. They stepped down to the edge of the lake, looking at the trees swooning over the glistening water. Clary began to hum softly, looking at the night.
But yet again, as Clary readjusted her footing, a rock under her slipped and she toppled into the water with a yelp.
"Clary!" Jace yelled, searching around for her red hair. She surfaced with a sharp breath and shrieked. "Cold, cold, cold, cold!"
She swam over the the surface where Jace grasped both of her hands and pulled her onto the surface.
"Ah- you're so wet––" He groaned, ripping off Clary's jacket.
"Is it really the best time for that context of words, Jace?" Clary muttered, sitting up and shivering.
"Are you okay?" Jace asked softly, picking Clary up in his arms. She nodded, but didn't say anything while she was shivering like crazy.
He laid her down by a tall tree, then sat next to her, inspecting her body to make sure she was free of cuts.
"Fourth." Clary whispered.
"Huh?"
"The fourth time tonight-" she said, giving a shaky laugh.
"The fourth time tonight," Jace repeated. Clary smiled and leaned over to cough out the bit of lake water she had swallowed, and leaned back on the tree.
She felt Jace's hands carefully caress her stomach, taking the edge of her shirt and tugging it off her frame. Clary gave him a questioning look as he threw the sopping fabric to the side, then slipped down her skirt.
"Jace, I don't think now is the best time to—" Jace cut her off by landing a soft kiss on her lips as he took his oversized coat off and wrapped it around the both of them, trying keep Clary warm. Clary leaned into him, feeling the warmth of the heavenly fire in his veins embrace them in a warm bubble.
Clary tilted her head up and kissed back, letting her lips and Jace's flow together in a perfect rhythm, wrapping herself closer around him.
Finally, Jace pulled away and sighed.
"Clary, I'm terrified."
Clary looked surprised and anxious at Jace's words.
"Of what Jace, what?"
"Of this. True, actual love. Before I met you all I had to do was meet a girl and kiss her, but it never meant anything, and they never meant anything to me. But you mean so much to me Clary and I just—" Jace took a deep breath, and continued to talk, "Simon. Ever since he gave away his memories, there's been this weird space between him and Izzy. Izzy fell in love with Simon 2.0, a brave and strong Downworlder that still had a mundane heart. Now Simon's back at square one, and he's beginning to be the mundane that chased Isabelle. She's always going to love him, and I know that she's going to try her best to realize that he's not who he used to be, but all those feeling that they developed that are nothing more than a dream now—literally nothing is going to be the same.
Jace paused again, taking another deep breath until he continued, "And I just–– don't want the same thing to happen with us. Do you remember when Sebastian was able to control me? I seemed like myself, but I had all these twisted ideas, and what if I somehow turn into that person again? What if I'm not able to return to my current self? It seems all better but, is it really? And I'm just so afraid of losing you Clary, I really love you." His voice cracked as tears began to show in his eyes.
"Jace, I love you so much. Don't you ever worry about what will happen. Because no matter what will happen- I will still love you. But don't let fear take control of us. Live in the moment, Jace, and remember I will always be right there with you." And then Clary began to whimper, and take Jace in a tight embrace again.
"I love you so much Jace. So much." Clary croaked, nestling her head under Jace's. "You held a knife to my throat once, and I knew that it wasn't you, stop blaming yourself for everything, what Valentine taught you doesn't define you at all—it defines what Sebastian was, and that was the demon blood in him talking. Even if you did turn into that person again, I—" Clary ran out of words, but for Jace, that was more than enough—more than he thought he ever deserved."
They rolled a few feet away from the tree, laying on the thick sprouts of grass.
"Clary. Thank you. I love you more than you could imagine." Jace said softly, looking at Clary's still damp face and hair. Clary tilted her face up to touch Jace's lips with hers. They kissed softly and slowly, a wanting growing in Clary's heart. She wanted to always be beside Jace, and always have him there. And she trusted it would always be that way.
"Jace?" Clary said as she pulled away, thoughtful. "Do you remember those runes that Shadowhunters draw on their arms when they get married? The ones that symbolize love?"
"Oh, you mean this?" Jace laughed, pulling his stele out of his pocket and grasping Clary's wrist, but he paused and looked at Clary. "These are permanent, I don't want to make you do something you regret."
Clary said nothing as she rolled out of Jace's embrace, picking the stele out of her own coat pocket before returning.
"Regret, never."
So Jace drew in a happy breath as he swirled lines over Clary's wrist, the lines that formed together to symbolize their eternal love, and soon after, Clary lifted her own stele and drew the same on Jace's forearm.
"And you may kiss the bride," Clary whispered with a great smile.
The moment seemed perfect as Jace leaned down to kiss Clary, his hand placed carefully on her cheek, both laughing like idiots.
"So much for a mundane night––" Jace sighed.
"It was so much better than that." Clary murmured.