I'm baaaack :D I missed you guys!

Don't expect this to be great; I'm still a little rusty. I'm pretty sure that if I'd been in my beta's place, I would've chucked my laptop at the wall after reading my rough draft. Thanks for being such an awesome person (and BETA), Nixie. :D Spell check, man. It's a new fad.

OMG, KTR14 is writing a NON-AU, MULTI-CHAPTER FIC FOR MI? Whaaaat?

... Uh, yeah. It's finally happened. ;] I hope you like it.

The tension was just about to kill Clary.

Sure, there was always a little anticipation in the air when they went to Pandemonium. They almost always went to make a kill, or to stake out the area for possible demons. But today felt different, as if a bubble was slowly swelling in her chest, refusing to pop and just sort of sitting there. And by then, the bubble was making it hard to breathe and she was getting frustrated. It was already to the point where the recoil would hurt if it popped. Clary almost felt let down by the fact that they were there to have fun instead of kill tonight - she needed to relieve some of this stress.

Isabelle and Simon were already on the dance floor - Isabelle going all out, Simon keeping it careful. Clary had to smile at this perfect representation of their relationship; Isabelle was always ready to bring it and move to the next level, but Simon was more steady, keeping his head level and becoming the anchor. It made for an imperfectly perfect relationship.

Alec and Magnus had disappeared somewhere as well, probably up into the balconies or into a booth. This left Clary all alone, sitting on a bar stool with a glass of Coke in her hands and the irritating sensation of having steel bands wrapped around her chest. (Figuratively. She wasn't that big of an idiot.) She tried to take deep breaths and winced when she met resistance. Finally deciding to gulp down the rest of the soda, she put the cup down and pushed onto the dance floor. The mass of gyrating bodies keeping time with the heavy bass beat made her own hips move and feet carry her farther into the hypnotic crowd. She made sure to steer clear of Simon and Isabelle though, since she had no desire to see them making out.

Her wandering eyes lit on a pair of thin, worn hands resting on curvy, pale hips. She felt her heart beat a little faster than before and closed her eyes. God, how many boys in the world had tapering fingers and rough calluses like those? They could have been the hands of a piano player and fellow Shadowhunter at the same time. That was a special combination. She'd only seen a pair of hands like that once before in her lifetime.

Her heart spluttered and skipped a beat as the bubble protested in her chest. She opened her eyes again just in time to see Izzy pass by her. She grabbed the older girl's arm, grinning when Izzy looked down at her with flushed cheeks.

"Having fun?" she teased gently.

"Mm-hmm," Isabelle shot back, smiling as widely as she could. "So much fun."

Clary wrinkled her nose. "Ew. Sorry I asked."

Isabelle's laugh was loud enough to hear over the music. "What about you? Why are you alone?"

Clary shrugged, attitude nonchalant although the bubble in her chest was really making it hard to show any other emotion besides annoyance. "I don't need anyone yet."

" 'Yet' being the operative word," Izzy teased in turn.

Clary mock-scowled and let go of the other girl's arm. "Go away," she commanded, grinning as Izzy laughingly obeyed.

The bubble tightened as soon as Isabelle was out of sight, turning her fake frown into a real one. "Go away," she muttered again before realizing with some embarrassment that she was talking to an imaginary force inside herself. She sighed and continued to dance, noting with some satisfaction that the music had changed to a faster tempo. Now she could keep her body and mind occupied.

She suddenly felt a strong gaze push at her back and she turned around, eyes too slow to catch anything but a wiry, muscled arm. She pressed her lips together and toned down on the dancing, not in the mood to mess around with some random guy in a club. It wasn't really working though, since as soon as she looked away, the gaze returned. This guy had to learn how to be subtle. Meanwhile, ignorance was probably the best policy. Just in case, she turned to look at him again. Nothing but a flash of a black tee. She sighed and faced the stage again, away from him, and felt the piercing gaze return.

Great.

She weaved through the crowd until she disappeared into the girls' bathroom and sighed in relief as the tension eased in her body. She contemplated hiding out in there for the rest of the night, and figured that going home would be just as effective. But she didn't want to leave just yet, since Izzy would probably murder her. It wasn't even eleven yet.

Some giggling girls were hogging the mirrors and eyed her derisively when she came close to wash her hands. She shot them a huge, fake smile and purposefully took a long time. She felt a spark of her old fiery attitude in the move, the attitude that she hadn't used in a long time. She left after that and felt the heavy bubble return. It was getting really, really annoying.

It took her a few minutes to find Isabelle after that, and when she did, she dragged her away from Simon. Isabelle gave her a slightly dirty look, but then relaxed. "What's wrong?"

"This guy keeps looking at me, and everything's pissing me off today so I feel kind of miffed." Izzy snorted at her last word, but gave her a bit of advice.

"Just go out there and put yourself out there," she told Clary, shrugging. "It'll either intimidate him or your boldness will bring you two to a confrontation. Either way, you can get him to scram."

Clary bit her lip. "I don't know... I don't want to overdo it."

Isabelle shrugged again. "It's always worked for me, but I understand if you don't want to. Do you want to leave early?"

The fact that Izzy was sacrificing her club time, especially after advocating for tonight's night out so fiercely, gave Clary the push she needed. "No, it's okay. I'll put myself out there, screw him. He's not ruining my night. It's not a big deal." The bubble eased slightly with this outburst and Clary matched Izzy's grin. The redhead felt the spark ignited by the girls in the bathroom turn into a rebellious streak of fire.

"All right - tell me how it goes, okay?" Isabelle gave her a tight hug before they split up, Izzy returning to Simon and Clary heading a little closer to the stage. There were more people there, discouraging a confrontation, and she really wanted to get lost in the loud music. The bass line gave her a beat to follow and she set her body to it, making sure to send a clear message while keeping it clean.

She felt the same gaze on her and the steel bands around her chest abruptly tightened with the glance, making her falter for a split second. She ignored it and just closed her eyes, seeing nothing but a starburst of color on her eyelids and hearing nothing but the roar of music. Her mind slipped into that state where there was nothing but her dancing. It was a haze of notes, sweat, concentration and muscles moving in sync. She had hated putting herself out there before, but a lot of people had taught her to think otherwise. Her breaths came in short, energetic bursts. She was slipping into a blank mindset when three things happened, one right after the other.

First, a hand reached out and clasped her shoulder. Then, because of that touch, the bubble in her chest burst and sent shockwaves throughout her body. And because of the shock waves, she looked up. And that was when she saw a pair of golden eyes stare back down at her.

AGH.