DISCLAIMER: I obviously don't own the characters, just the story line.

Enjoy!

tash.

Clary woke up groggily, blinking as the sunlight spilled through her window and warmed her face. She stretched quickly and blew a red curl out of her face. Deciding she wasn't quite ready to start her day she rolled onto her side. As she repositioned herself, the sun bounced off the ring she was wearing on her left hand. She grinned as butterflies erupted in her stomach. She traced the diamond with her finger as her smile grew until her cheeks became soar.

"I'm engaged." She whispered to her self, still trying to wrap her head around the idea.

The diamond was quite a bit larger than anything she would have picked out for herself, but that hardly surprised he knowing her fiancé. Clary blushed at the word. Fiancé.

Clay tolled to her other side so she was facing the sleeping boy. He was laying on his stomach with his arms and head under the pillow. Clary traced the muscles of his back, feeling the dips and bumps until she finally reached his light hair. She tugged on it not so gently.

"Hey!" A still half asleep voice cried out.

Clary sat up, crossing her legs and laughed. She looked at him as innocently as possible.

"Good morning, Ms. Fray." He said grinning. She smiled.

"It's going to be weird not answering to that any more." She said thoughtfully.

"Should I call you by your soon-to-be name, then? To help you get used to it? Good morning Mrs-"

"No!" Clary cried, slapping her hand over his mouth. "It's bad luck."

He rolled his eyes, but smiled under her hand.

"You're the boss.'

Clary got out of bed, stretching once again. She looked at her reflection and frowned. She was twenty-two years old and yet majority of her thirteen year old art students were taller than her. She stood up on her toes and puffed out her chest before sighing in defeat.

"Five foot two it is then," she mumbled.

"Come on babe, it could be worse. You could be short and fat."

"What was that, darling?" Clary asked calmly. He closed his mouth abruptly. Clary smirked before turning back to her reflection. "I look like I'm still sixteen. Seriously, look at all these stupid freckles!"

"Nothing make up can't fix."

Clary only shrugged her shoulders. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a light purple sweater. Deciding that she didn't want to deal with her hair just yet she put it on top of her head, securing it with two pencils. She struggled trying to pull on her Uggs while holding her phone, wallet and keys.

"I'm going to the grocery store. Will you help with dinner tonight?"

"Uh, I'll try, but I have to go into the office for a bit."

Clary nodded as she left her apartment.

Before Clary went to the grocery store she stopped into Java Jones to grab a coffee. She sat down at a small table and was flipping through a newspaper when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She looked up and saw one of her students, max, who was also her best friend's little brother.

"Hey Max!"

"Hi Clary." He said smiling. "How are you?"

"I'm good, I'm here with some friends." His cheeks turned red. Clary raised an eyebrow.

"Why do I feel like I'm missing something?"

"Well, they don't go to my school, so they don't know who you are."

"Okay…" She still didn't understand where things were going. He turned even redder and fixed his glasses. He huffed.

"They dared me to ask for a girls number and I saw you and I was wondering if maybe you could give me yours or even a fake one, it doesn't matter." He spoke quickly. Clary's eyes widened in understanding. "And well to be completely honest you look a lot younger than twenty two so it'll at least be believable.

"Sure thing Max, why don't you sit down?" He grinned, nodding his head as he sat. Clary laughed to herself when she saw him glance over to his friends, smirking. They watched in awe.

She pulled an old receipt out of her wallet and a pencil from her hair. She scribbled her a note for him.

840-826-4967

Call me

Clary xoxo

She slid the receipt to him. Glancing at his friends who quickly tried to pretend that were busy.

"Will that do?"

"Perfect! Thanks Clary, you're the best." As he stood to go back to his friend she grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Clary quickly kissed his cheek- leaving a light pink mark from her lip gloss- when she knew his friends were watching. She could hear them gasp from across the coffee shop. He turned bright red again and she winked.

Max ran back to his friends who all high fived him and slapped his back, they all looked to see that there was actually a number on the receipt.

Clary shook her head laughing and picked up her coffee, heading her step dad's bookstore across the street.

She heard the familiar chime as she opened the door. Luke looked up from behind the counter and grinned.

"Clary! What are you up to?"

"I was on my way to the grocery store so I thought I'd stop by quickly. You're coming tonight, right?"

"Of course! I have those art books you ordered." He said lifting a box from behind the counter.

"Great!"

"I'll bring them over tonight so you don't have to lug this to the grocery store and home." Clary smiled.

"You're a life saver, Luke." He winked.

"I try to be. So what's the occasion for this dinner? Should I wear a suit?" Luke joked.

Clary laughed, thinking to her self that he didn't even own a tie let alone a suit. "It's a surprise."

Luke started telling her about the student he had just hired meaning business was great. Half an hour later Clary headed to the grocery store.

Clary pushed her cart along the aisles grumbling to herself as shoppers bumped into her from all sides. Clary hated grocery shopping and on a Saturday as busy as today, she detested it. Hastily she filled her cart with all the ingredients for supper. She groaned, as she read out the total, feeding ten people was definitely not cheap.

…

When Clary walked into her apartment she mentally patted herself on the back for renting one on the ground floor. She dropped all the bags onto the kitchen counter, sighing in relief when she heard the TV on.

Clary walked around the corner into the living room and found Jace sitting on the couch with his feet on the coffee table watching a football game.

"Thank god, you're here." She said, he looked up with a smirk. Clary leaned against the doorframe, waiting for the sarcastic comment that was sure to follow.

"You'd be surprised at just how often I get that." She threw a pillow that was on the couch beside her at his head and laughed. He stood up and walked across the room, enveloping her into a tight hug. After a moment his grip on her loosened so she squeezed him harder; she wasn't quite ready to let go.

"I missed you," she breathed, his body shook slightly as he chuckled. He kissed the top of her forehead, speaking into her hair.

"I missed you too, Red. She smiled at the nickname. He'd been calling her that since the day they met; she was in kindergarten and he was in second grade.

Four year old Clary sat on the bright blue carpet cross legged, frowning over a book-her favorite book. Her red hair was in two braids, but that didn't stop the fly away hairs from tickling her nose, she blew it out of her face angrily. She was trying to focus on the words- their buddy class that was tow years older than them would be there any minute to help them read and she wanted to be read- however her noisy classmates weren't being very helpful. She was reading, or at last trying to read her favorite book, The Giving Tree. She would have been enjoying herself thoroughly, had she been able to understand the words. She had gotten through the first two pages, slowly, but now she was stuck.

Clary was ready to throw the book across the room in frustration when she heard a chuckle beside her. She turned to the sound. She met gold eyes; they blinked. She looked at his gold hair and tried to decide on which of her crayons from her 64 pack would match them, but she couldn't think of one. This gold was far too pretty. Maybe one of Mommy's paints would match it. She thought to herself.

"What's that?" the boy asked, pointing to the book.

"It's a book, what does it look like?" The boy rolled his eyes.

"I know that! I meant what book. Duh." Clary growled; she didn't like this boy.

"It's The Giving Tree." She said quickly before going back to her attempt at reading.

"Oh! I know that book, it's my favorite." Clary looked up, maybe he wasn't so bad after all. "You look like you can't read."

Never mind.

Clary opened her mouth to protest when her teacher spoke.

"Alright class, your reading buddies are here. They're in second grade, so they're here to help you read. Everyone partner up like Clarissa and Jonathan have."

"Clary!" she corrected loudly at the same time the boy yelled, "Jace!"

Jace sat down next to Clary, smiling.

"So," he said, "let's read."

"I'm stuck," Clary admitted quietly. He leaned forward, his brow furrowed.

"Huh?"

"I said I'm stuck!" she hissed, pointing to a word.

"Okay, just sound it out." He said politely.

"J….j…" She squinted.

"Guh." Jace corrected. He shuffled closer to her.

"Oh, guh… gath...er. Gather?" she looked up.

"Perfect! Now try the whole thing."

"And he would gather her leaves." Clary said slowly, dragging her finger along the words.

"See? You're doing great, Red!"

"Clary!" She corrected again, she tried to sound reprimanding, but she was still grinning from the new word she learned. Jace only smirked.

The two children read the rest of the book together, slowly shuffling together until their elbows and knees were flush with each other. After watching Clary blow her hair out of her eyes for a fourth time he finally reached over and tucked it securely behind her ear. She smiled shyly before looking back down at the book.

Clary smiled up at Jace who returned her smile with a goofy grin of his own.

"What are you smiling at?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Clary stared at his mouth as he spoke. Fiancé. Fiancé. Fiancé.

"Nothing." She said, pulling him towards the kitchen. "Did you see Sebastian at work today?"

"Uh yeah, he said to tell you he'd be here at 6:15." Clary huffed.

"I told him dinner is at 6."

"He said he's sorry?" Jace shrugged his shoulder; she rolled her eyes and began taking the groceries out of the bags.

"Lemme guess, fettuccine alfredo." Clary opened her mouth to answer. "With chicken and garlic bread."

"How'd you know?"

"It's hard not to know someone's favorite meal when you've known them for seventeen years." Clary grinned; Jace knew her better than anyone else, even her brother Jonathan who was coincidentally Jace's best friend. Jace knew everything about her, he knew what size she was at any store, he knew her favorite movies and books, he knew her favorite lines from books. He knew that if she ever had a son she would get a line from The Giving Tree tattooed on her to dedicate to him. It would say "and she loved the little boy, even more than she loved herself." And it would be on her left shoulder blade. He knew she loved the smell after it rained, but hated the smell before it rained. He knew that she didn't have a favorite color because they were all beautiful. He had everything about her memorized, and she with him.

They set to preparing the meal; moving around each other in the tiny kitchen fluidly. After a few minutes of silence, Jace began humming quietly. Clary paused to listen; she watched him out of the corner of his eye. She couldn't see him straight on, but she knew that his mouth would be in a thin line, and he was chewing on the insides of his cheeks and he was frowning. It was the face he made when he was concentrating. She often made fun of him for it, but in reality she loved his concentration face. It was rather endearing,

"What song is that?" she asked finally. Jace stopped chopping the onion for a moment.

"Oh, uh it's called Waiting." He said, not taking his eyes off the cutting board.

"Can't say I've ever heard of it, who's it by?"

Jace mumbled something under his breath.

"What?" Clary asked, leaning forward slightly. He cleared his throat.

"I wrote it. Well, I'm writing it."

Clary smiled; singing was the one talent they had in common; he couldn't draw a straight line and she had no idea how to play an instrument.

"Can I hear it?" She asked excitedly. Jace laughed quietly.

"When it's done." Clary sighed. "I promise. As soon as it's done I will serenade the shit out of you."

Clary laughed. "Fine."

Jace leaned over and turned the radio on, turning the volume up. They started singing loudly, dancing around and with each other as they cooked. Clary put the pasta into the pot as Jace put the last place setting down on the table. When he came back into the kitchen Clary was singing to their favorite song on the radio, he snuck up behind her and grabbed her hand. They waltzed around the small kitchen singing and laughing together. Jace spun her quickly, then grabbed her hips and dipped her, just as the song ended. The stayed like that for a moment, panting lightly. They stared at each other for a moment smiling wildly.

Jace opened his mouth to say something when the doorbell rang. He lifted her back up so she was standing, saying he would get it. Clary placed her hand on her chest as she caught her breath and waited for her blush to disappear.

Clary walked to the door as Izzy placed a kiss on Jace's cheek before pinching it. She laughed; Izzy and Jace were cousins, but if you didn't know any better you'd say they acted more like siblings. Izzy looked over Jace's shoulder and saw Clary, grinning, she shoved Jace out of her way and hugged her best friend. Jace nodded to Simon, Izzy's boyfriend who returned the gesture and handed him a bottle of wine.

Clary hugged Simon quickly. They met in seventh grade and immediately bonded over their love of manga and alternative music.

"Hey Fray," he said grinning.

"Hey Lewis." Izzy came out of the kitchen holding four wine glasses. Jace began uncorking the bottle.

"Jace, how'd you beat us here?" Izzy asked him, "We even left early!"

"Oh please, Jace practically lives here." Clary said, taking a sip of her wine.

"It's true," Jace grinned, pulling out a key. "I even got promoted to key holder."

"It's key master, you tool," Clary laughed, rolling her eyes, and then she narrowed them. "Hey, isn't that my spare key? I was wondering where it went!"

Jace only shrugged his shoulders and slipped the key into his pocket.

Everyone was standing by the bar at the kitchen when the doorbell rang.

Clary opened the door to her mother Jocelyn and Luke, who was carrying the box from earlier. She hugged them both, quickly kissing their cheeks. A moment later, Jonathan walked in, followed by another teacher at Clary's school, Maia and her husband Jordan. Maia was holding another bottle of wine, which was quickly opened and poured out for everyone who didn't already have a glass.

"Now that everyone's here, let's eat, I'm starved!" Izzy exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"Sebs not here yet! He said quarter passed six." Clary said, causing Jonathan and Izzy to roll their eyes; Sebastian was late for everything. Always.

Clary walked over to the radio, she changed stations and adjusted the volume. She reached into her pocket once she was sure no one was looking and slid her engagement ring on. As she turned back to the group she bumped into Jace, spilling wine on the front of his button up shirt.

"Shit!" She put her glass down and pulled her to her room. "I'm sorry."

"Relax, Clare, it's fine." Jace began unbuttoning her shirt as Clary rummaged through her bottom drawer, which was dedicated to Jace. It always had a few shirts and a pair of jeans and underwear. She pulled out a charcoal grey long sleeve; it was one of her favorite shirts of his. As she turned to hand him the shirt she brushed her arm against his bare chest accidentally. Her cheeks flushed from the heat that resonated from him. She tuned back to busying herself with reorganizing the drawer.

"Thanks," Jace said, she could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Mhmm" she hummed before heading out of the room, desperately trying to steady her heart. She couldn't get that worked up around him with everyone so close.

As Clary walked back to the group Izzy was opening the door.

"Sebastian!" She hugged him quickly before going into the kitchen.

"Hey everyone," he said politely, nodding to all the guys and hugging Maia and Jocelyn.

"You're late. Again." Clary chastised as they hugged.

"I'm sorry! It won't happen again." He promised.

Izzy, Simon and Jocelyn all brought out the meal and everyone sat down.

Clary sat between Sebastian and Jace, her mother and Luke at the head and corner of the table. Jonathan was beside Jace and they had their heads bent together, having what looked like a serious conversation. Izzy, Simon, Maia and Jordan were on the other side of the table. This was where they sat every time they ate here, everyone had they unofficial designated spot.

She looked around, taking everything in. She watched as everyone scooped pasta into each other's plates, Luke pouring more wine into his wife's glass. Clary laughed as Izzy screamed at Simon for putting too much cheese on her meal, then slap his hand away when he offered to take some off.

Clary was jostled from her thoughts as Jace placed a few pieces of chicken on her plate. He made sure to specifically pull the pieces that were slightly burnt, knowing those were her favorite.

"Should we say grace, first? Jocelyn asked smiling.

"Grace!" Clary and Jace shouted in unison. Everyone chuckled; this was customary for them. They weren't exactly what you would call bible thumpers, only going to church for Christmas and Easter. Jace often joked that this was the only reason they were going to make it into heaven. 'Well, except for me of course, I mean look at me, I'm an angel already!' He would always say.

Clary felt Jace's warm hand wrap around hers and she absent-mindedly smiled. She looked to her left and elbowed Sebastian as her swallowed the bite of chick he had already taken. He simply shrugged before taking her other hand. They all bowed their heads as Jocelyn's voice rang through the room; saying grace on everyone's behalf. They all looked up at the same time as she finished.

"Finally!" Izzy exclaimed, "I'm starving!"

"When are you not starving babe?" Simon asked, twirling spaghetti onto his fork and stabbing a piece of chicken. She turned her nose up and crossed her arms.

"I'm choosing to ignore that comment."

"Technically, by acknowledging the fact that I made a comment, you can't ignore it."

Clary sighed as the couple bickered.

"You'd think they were married." Jace joked.

Clary's heart quickened when she remembered the whole reason behind inviting everyone. Here knee began to bounce under the table.

"You okay?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled as she dug into her meal.

Clary spent most of the meal in silence, content with watching everyone. She looked at Maia and Jordan; they were still in their honeymoon phase. She smiled as they stole glances at each other out of the corner of their eyes. At twenty-two they had already been married four years. They both had hard child hoods; they met shortly after they both ran away from home at sixteen. She had been caught trying to steal at a convenience store and Jordan paid for her food. By eighteen, they were married and renting an apartment together, Jordan worked full time as a mechanic while Maia went to school to become a teacher and worked part time at a high-end restaurant. Now that Maia had a steady job and Jordan owned his own auto body shop life was much easier for them. Clary looked up to them for staying together and working through what was probably a very hard start.

When dinner was finished everyone helped clear the table and clean the kitchen. They ended up back at the table, opening another bottle of wine; this was Clary's chance. She cleared her throat.

"Um guys," everyone looked at her and her cheeks flushed. She looked at Jace quickly who, sensing her nervousness, gave her a reassuring smile. Turning, she looked at Sebastian and grinned, looking around the room. She felt a warm hand squeeze hers. The knots in her stomach tightened. She bit her lip and raised her left hand, showing everyone the diamond ring.

"Sebastian and I are engaged."

Did I trick you guys? That's what I was going for. let me know if I had you thinking it was Jace that she was engaged to! Also, should I continue? I've got a few chapters written so far.

Read & Review please!

xoxo

tash.