Story: You Me At Six
Chapter 1: Must be love
Normal POV
Clary Fray swung open the door leading to her best friend's en suite bathroom, looking like a delicate refreshed fairy with a white turban towel wrapped round her wet hair, and dressed in nothing but her black lacy underwear.
The fresh delightful scent of apples drifted through the open bathroom door and into the bright orange bedroom, belonging to Isabelle Lightwood.
Clary bent and scooped up her black and white make-up bag from the floor that was nestled in amongst a whole heap of Isabelle's junk, and then frowned at the unusual light weight of it. In fact, it felt too light…almost empty.
Carefully, using only the tips of her slender fingers, she unzipped the bag and upturned it so that anything in it would fall out onto Izzy's messy unmade bed.
But nothing did.
Narrowing her emerald eyes in thought, she flung the empty bag onto the floor and placed her hands on her hips, where her shiny black nail polish looked stark against the pale skin of her curves, as she tried to think of a logical solution on how her make-up, which is an inanimate object(s), could go walk about.
With a frustrated growl of realisation, she clenched her tiny hands into fists and drew two words out from between her teeth.
She made the words sound like a curse.
"Jace Lightwood."
She didn't expect a reply, so when a smooth silky voice completed with a smirk that she just knew was going to be there, she jumped slightly.
"Yes?"
She spun round, ready to rip into him, but the sight of his smirk and his exposed biceps made her flounder and snap her mouth shut causing her to only scowl in blatant loathing, which wasn't nearly as impressive as the snide retort she had bubbling on her tongue moments ago.
"Did you say something Fray?" he asked in a mildly concerned voice. The kind of voice that drove Clary up the wall, simply because he always knew what he had done yet he was so stubbornly determined to play the innocent.
Oh, and another thing, he knew it irritated her too.
"You ass. Give me it back right now!" she snapped, keeping her eyes away from his biceps, and sorely focussed on his eyes, which were a golden honey colour.
Not quite as distracting as his muscles…or mouth for that matter.
He raised his eyebrows innocently at her. "What?"
She rolled her eyes at him, determined not to by into his whole I'm-completely-innocent-why-are-you-blaming-me act. "You know what. My make-up."
When he simply cocked his head to the side, causing his soft curly hair to flop over his forehead slightly she elaborated. "Give. Me. My. Make-up. Back. Now." She spoke with deliberate slowness and precision, as if she were talking to a five year old.
He blinked. "I didn't take it."
When Clary snorted and rolled her shining emerald eyes at him, he quickly held his hands up in surrender and repeated with more force. "I didn't take it."
Clary moved her hands to her hips and puffed her chest, trying to make herself appear intimidating. "Of course you didn't..." She sighed and glared fiercely at the arrogant guy in front of her.
But Jace was a little preoccupied staring at Clary's chest. At the way it moved outwards as she puffed it to appear powerful.
Get a grip Jace. It's Clary, for crying out loud. You should not be fantasising-especially naughty fantasies-about Clarissa Fray. It was wrong. Jace told himself mentally.
However, he continued to stare transfixed at Clary's small pink lips as she said something that he wasn't paying attention to.
He was willing to bet a lot of money on the suspicion that Clary was a very good kisser…
Snap out of it dude. She is your best friend's little sister's best friend. A relationship between the pair of us would just be wrong.
"…And I'm a chicken." Clary finished exasperatedly.
That caught Jace's attention. He gawked at her for a moment and then regained his arrogant sarcastic demeanour and said, "Are you sure about that? I mean you do walk a bit like a chicken." He looked her up and down as if analysing her while Clary choked in indignation. "Yep." He nodded as if making a decision. "You definitely have that whole head-bob-and-waggle-thing that a chicken tends to do. Tell me, are you blood related?"
If Clary got any more indignant then she was going to be in orbit. She sucked in a breath and retorted, "Yes, the chicken is my second cousin on my dad's side!"
Jace nodded in understanding, his face composed in careful thoughtfulness while his golden eyes winked wickedly at her. "That must be the resemblance."
Almost growling in aggravation, she folded her arms over her chest and asked, "What about you? Is the peacock a distant family member of yours?"
Jace coughed to cover a laugh, but decided to play along. "Of course. A great, great aunty I think."
It was Clary's turn to nod in understanding now. "That explains things a lot."
"Does it?" Jace enquired, his tone politely conversational while his eyes where staring at her with a wicked amusement.
The truth was he was actually curious as to why she decided to use the peacock to describe him.
She shrugged. "Obviously; all that arrogance and preening and superiority had to come from somewhere. Your relation to the peacock sorts all that out though."
Okay, that was not what Jace had been expecting.
He was thinking more along the lines of his fantastic good looks being related to the peacock's fabulous tale or something equally admiring and fantastic.
Unfortunately for him, his shock was betrayed on his face as Clary deliberately dropped her hands behind her back, pointing her toe in a girly innocent manner, while she smiled sweetly at him.
God, that look totally worked for her, the whole I'm-an-innocent-sweet-girl-but-not-really-I'm-actually-the-devil thing…and it totally turned him on.
In the pregnant pause that followed, the two locked gazes and found it hard to look away.
Oh my God, Clary thought breathlessly, are Jace and me actually having a moment?
And then the bitter actualisation voice that Clary held at the back of her head waded forward to ruin the 'moment'. Don't be daft Clary, its Jace-as in evil, sarcastic, gorgeous, cunning, arrogant Jace! Or more formally know as Satan. Nothing is going on between you.
With a regretful sigh, Clary pinned Jace with an annoyed look and restated his original offence –Stealing her make-up.
"Jeez Fray, are you deaf as well as dumb? I didn't take it. Don't you think I have better things to be doing than hiding your make-up from you?" Jace said, hooking his thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans and leaning in the doorway.
Clary glared. "Well Jace, since you are five years old, this is exactly the kind of childishness I would expect from you."
Jace smirked. "Nah, this is amateur work. If I decided to play a prank on you it would be much better." And with that he turned and started walking down the landing, leading to his bedroom, but before he rounded the corner, he paused and called over his shoulder, "By the way Fray, nice underwear you have there."
Clary blushed ten shades of red before letting out a little shriek. Running her hands over the bed behind her, she seized a hairbrush and threw it at Jace.
Already anticipating the move, Jace ducked smoothly behind the wall, causing the hairbrush to go flying straight past him towards the stairs…that Alec was rounding.
He fell to the floor just in time to avoid being smacked in the head with the brush. The brush hit the wall with a loud thud before clattering to the wooden staircase.
There was a moment of astonished silence, broken by Jace's laughter and Clary's gasp.
Alec rose slowly to his feet. He alternated his gaze between the slightly shameful yet annoyed looking Clary and the grinning proud looking Jace until he finally sighed and turned calmly towards the fuming redhead.
"Uh, Clary, when some poor sod invented the hairbrush I'm pretty sure he didn't mean for it to be used as a lethal weapon."
Jace peeked round the corner of the wall, and shot a smirk at Clary, who growled and stomped her foot.
"Needs must Alec, needs must." Clary retorted, glaring furiously at Jace.
Alec's eyes travelled unwillingly up and down her body, but Clary was too busy having a glaring contest with Jace to notice.
With pink tinted cheeks, Alec lowered his gaze modestly and cleared his throat. "And, uh, Clary, why are you in your underwear yelling and hurling hairbrushes at Jace?"
Clary choked in horror and tore her eyes away from Jace. "Oh my God!" she groaned, grabbing clumsily at the blanket draped at the bottom of Izzy's bed. She wrapped it round her just in time to save herself more humiliation.
Isabelle was trotting up the stairs, talking excitedly into her cell phone. She only stopped talking when she collided in to Alec, with enough force to send him staggering forwards.
"What the hell Alec?" the beautiful brunette asked, frowning as she snapped her cell phone shut. "And why are you standing there smirking like you've just done something that you shouldn't have?" she snapped this question at Jace, who grinned mysteriously at her. "And why the hell are you standing there wrapped in a blanket when you have a date to be preparing for?" she strode down the landing and grasped Clary by her upper arm, pulling her towards the vanity table.
"Seriously people!" Izzy raised her voice so the guys can hear her down the landing. "I'm gone for like ten minutes and everything goes to pot!" she gave Clary a little shake. "You were meant to be taking a shower. How did you end up wrapped in a blanket looking very embarrassed and annoyed?"
"I did take a shower but only to come out and find that he took my make-up." Clary whimpered, collapsing on to the stool in front of the mirror.
Isabelle frowned down at her best friend. "Who?"
"Who do you think?" Clary snapped, waving towards the doorway, where Alec and Jace had gathered.
The brunette turned and studied the two guys, who both had equal looks of confusion on their faces.
"She's been going on about me nicking her make-up for the past ten minutes." Jace stated, shrugging dismissively. "Why would I want to take her make-up anyway? Its not like I would have any use for it. I'm attractive enough without it. And you don't have to worry about Alec needing it since his boyfriend has enough make-up and glitter for the both of them and the rest of the country_"
Isabelle surprised everyone by bursting in to laughter. "Clary, Jace didn't take your make-up, I did."
"Why?" the surprised red head gasped, twisting to look up at Izzy.
"Because," the brunette tossed her hair over her shoulder before continuing as if it should be obvious, "I'm going to be doing your make-up. And hair." She added, as she pulled the damp turban from Clary's head and sighed at the tangled mess.
"I think I can do it all by myself Iz_" Clary tried to wheedle her way out of it.
"No. There would be no point whatsoever of you coming over here to get ready if I'm not helping you. Suck it up honey." Isabelle smirked triumphantly down at Clary, who looked like a deer in the headlights.
"Have fun on your date." Jace growled, before stalking out of the room.
Silence.
And a shocked, awkward silence at that.
"What the hell is that all about?" Clary asked absently, using the mirror to spy the now empty doorway behind her.
Izzy didn't reply to the question, simply humming a short tune before singing, "Must be love, love, love!"
Clary eyed her through narrowed eyes, before letting it drop and relaxing ever so slightly so Izzy could do her thing.