"That's not true." His hand came up and now he was cupping her face. His touch was gentle, almost tentative. "I've heard all about you, Clary. About the way you fought your father for the Mortal Cup, the way you went into that vampire infested hotel after your friend. Isabelle's told me stories, and I've heard rumors too. And ever since the first one - the first time I heard your name - I've wanted to meet you. I knew you'd be extraordinary."

She laughed shakily. "I hope you're not too disappointed."

"No." He breathed, sliding his fingertips under her chin. "Not at all" He lifted her face to his. She was too surprised to move, even when he leaned toward her and realized, belatedly, what he was doing: Reflexively she shut her eyes as his lips brushed gently over hers, sending shivers through her. A sudden fierce longing to be held and kissed in a way that would make her forget everything else surged through her. She put her arms up, twining them around his neck, partly to steady herself and partly to draw him closer.

Her eyes fluttered and for the first time in her life, she saw color. The greenness of the trees, the creamy color of Sebastian's skin. She nestled her fingers in his inky black hair and she let him pull her lip into his mouth. The earth seemed to stutter as if its axis had been momentarily disrupted. But as soon as things started feeling strange they righted themselves just as quickly. As her eyes fluttered she saw color for the first time and it was so wonderful she leaned harder into the kiss. The world stuttered for a moment and she pushed the wrongness down. He sucked on her tongue lightly and she felt herself moan. Slowly, he backed away from her. "That was amazing." He said breathily.

"Can you… see color now?"

"Yeah. It's so bright… it's lovely." Sebastian said.

"I think… I mean… doesn't that mean we're soulmates?" Clary asked him.

"I guess so. I wasn't expecting that." Sebastian said earnestly.

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so glad I met you." She said lightly.

He smiled, kissed her fiery red hair and said, "We should celebrate."

"Well... what about Jace?" Clary asked, wringing her hands nervously.

"Oh… you both thought you were soulmates didn't you?"

"Yeah, we did."

"But neither of you could see color could you?"

"Nope." She said pouting at him. "Jace is going to be broken hearted."

"We can get through it. I'm your soulmate we can make it work."

She smiled at him. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. Everything was so bright and beautiful. She wanted to touch everything. She had been counting on Jace being her soulmate. It was breaking her heart that he wasn't. Still, here was this very pleasant, kind, boy standing in front of her telling her he held the keys to her heart. She rushed forward and held him close to her. "We're going to be good together." She said resolutely.

"I hope so." He said charmingly back to her. She was still hugging him and when she pulled away she had tear tracks down her cheeks. He tilted her head up to his and kissed her eyelids. "I'm here and nothing is ever going to come between us."

She smiled tearfully and sniffled lightly. "Let's head back. It's getting late."

"So you kissed him… and you could see color?" Isabelle said joyfully. Clary nodded and wiped her eyes with another tissue. She was managing to hold it together for a pretty cry. "I just thought it would be Jace… I knew it was Jace but then… Sebastian came along."

"I'm sure you and Sebastian will be very good together. Aline speaks very highly of him." Isabelle said confidently.

"Do you think he dyes his hair?" Clary asked Isabelle.

"I don't know, why?"

"I got something black on my fingers when I put my hand on his hair."

"Maybe he does… what does it matter though? He's your soulmate. He could be Ted Bundy and you'd still be destined to love him."

"Do you think it would be weird to sleep with him tonight? Like - just sleep? I want to get to know him better. I'm destined to spend the rest of my life with him and I barely know him. And don't say things like that!"

"Fine, that's probably a good idea. His room is upstairs, third door on the right." Clary was already in her sleep shorts and an old t-shirt.

Clary made her way upstairs and knocked on his door lightly. "It's Clary."

"Come in!" Sebastian shouted.

She opened the door and gasped lightly. Sebastian was standing there in a towel, water dripping off of him. "I didn't -"

"It's quite alright. What's up?" He ran a hand through his black hair. She stepped into the room and shut the door.

"Would it be alright if we… slept in the same bed tonight? I don't want to do anything, maybe just kiss. I just want to know you better." Clary said a little distractedly. Sebastian was gorgeous without a shirt.

"Of course. You want to do some pillow talk?" He fixed her with a very charming smile.

She blushed faintly. "I'm a virgin, Sebastian."

He smiled kindly at her, "I wasn't asking you to have sex with me Clary I would never -"

"I know… You've shown me such kindness since you've been here and I feel like I may have come off a bit frigid. I want to know you and love you but you've got to give a couple weeks before I really throw myself into this. Jace… well. Even if he's my brother it was complicated between us before I found out and that was only a month or two ago. I want to love you with all my heart but you've got to let me drop my baggage at the door."

"Jace isn't baggage, don't say that," Sebastian said kindly. "Let me get some clothes on and we can talk properly." He went to the dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts and a clean t-shirt. He disappeared into the bathroom and she sat down on his bed. There were no pictures in the room and very few personal items. It was kind of like Jace's room in that way… she caught herself thinking about Jace and chided herself. Damn it. She was not going to let Jace ruin this for her. She took off her shoes and sat cross legged on his bed.

He came out and smirked at her. "You're sitting on my side of the bed."

"Oh." She popped up and switched sides.

Sebastian turned off the big light and dimmed the bedside lamps. He got into bed and reached out his hand for her. "I don't bite."

"I know." She laid down with him and pulled up the covers to her waist. She reached her hand out to him. It was a pretty big bed so she didn't have to be too close to him. He held her hand and scooched up the covers onto his waist.

"So what did you want to know?" Sebastian asked Clary.

"Well, what are your hobbies? I don't know, anything you want to tell me, honestly." She said.

"Well, I don't really have 'hobbies' but I train a lot. Throwing knives are my weapon of choice." He squeezed her hand and asked, "What about you, growing up mundane you must have done more interesting things than training?"

"Yeah, I draw and paint. My mother taught me." Clary was reminded forlornly that her mother was still in a coma in New York.

Sebastian turned on his side to face her. "I'd love to see what you've drawn some day."

"Yeah, maybe some day. I'm not very good…" Clary whispered.

"Shh, I'm sure all your drawings are wonderful," Sebastian said sweetly.

She flushed slightly, "You're so sure of me."

"Of course I am. Do you have a soulmate mark now?"

"A what?"

"It's a mark you get on your wrist… it's kind of grim actually. It's a timer until when your soulmate will die." He showed her his wrist. He had 70 years, 3 months, 23 days, 47 minutes and 12 seconds left on it.

She looked at her wrist and didn't see anything at first in the dim light. "Could you turn the lights on a bit brighter, there's something there but I can't really see it."

He flicked the lights on bright and she looked at her wrist. There were three faint question marks on her wrist. "What does that mean?" Clary asked him.

"I don't know." He swallowed hard. "Let's hope I'm not going to kick the bucket anytime soon."

"I hope not," Clary said solemnly.

"Can I have a kiss?" Sebastian asked Clary.

"Mhmm." She cupped his face and dipped her head down. She brushed her lips against his and breathed in his air as he breathed in hers. The result was dizzying and she felt a flush cover her cheeks and chest. She sank her lips down onto his and kissed him with force. Everything she was feeling about Jace not being her soulmate was making her feel reckless. She wanted to be held and kissed in such a way she would forget Jace. She moved from her spot on Sebastian's bed and into his lap.

He pulled away from her though. "Hey, hey." He said holding her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "I'm not going anywhere you don't have to kiss me like I'm going to evaporate. I want to take my time with you."

She flushed scarlet. He must know exactly what she was doing, trying to forget Jace. "O-ok."

"You're going to regret it if we move too quickly. We have 70 something years to get to know each other."

"I just -"

"Want to forget Jace ever existed?"

"Yeah, that." She hung her head in shame, she didn't want him to think she was a slut…

"Are you a virgin, Clary?" Sebastian asked earnestly.

"Yes…" She said still not meeting his eyes.

"Look at me, Clary." He said softly.

She tilted her head up. "I'm sorry… It's just been such a shock."

"I know, I wasn't expecting this either," Sebastian replied.

"You like me though?" Clary asked Sebastian.

"Of course I like you, don't be silly. I wouldn't have asked you to come with me on Wayfarer and kissed you."

"Please make me forget him. I don't want to think about Jace anymore. Not when I'm with you. I want to love you."

She was still sitting on his lap and she was vaguely aware that this would be a very compromising position if they were caught like this. Jia Penhallow wasn't likely to come home anytime soon though. He kissed her, and again she was struck by just how right it felt to her. He kissed her deeply, pressing their lips impossibly close and opened her mouth to him with his thumb. She felt like she was sinking and flying all at once. He made her feel like she was light as a feather and she was just drifting down to earth. She thought then, that she could love him. Not a forced kind of love, no, but a genuine, shining kind of love. She felt her heart sing in her chest as he wrapped his fingers in her thick, long hair. He sucked on her tongue again, as he had done earlier today and it garnered him another moan. He sucked a little harder then pulled back.

"Remember you just wanted to sleep?" Sebastian reminded her.

"Oh… right."

"Aren't you tired, honey?" Sebastian asked.

It had been getting late when they got back and now it had to be close to midnight. "C'mon we can talk more over breakfast."

"Ok, that sounds nice," Clary said, climbing off his side of the bed and under the covers. She gripped his hand in hers. "Good night, my soulmate."