She hadn't slept last night. She was too worried about what Sebastian would say about how she acted yesterday. Did you really have to-

Her phone alarm went off, interrupting her thoughts. Clary put down her blank sketchpad and stood to look in the mirror. The bags under her eyes have gotten worse and she's not sure she can pass it off as school stress anymore. Her eyes eventually find her hair. Mindlessly, she puts it in a low ponytail, hoping it controls the frizz a bit. She stares at the mirror just a bit longer, knowing it will only do more harm than good, but every morning Clary can't help but search for anything familiar in the skeleton she'd become.

Tearing herself away, she checks her phone for any messages. She had 11 missed calls and 9 texts messages from Sebastian.

Where are you?

Did you leave without me?

How dare you leave without my permission.

I'm going to your house. You better be there.

God dammit Clary, I'm going to find you. You should be smart enough to know to wait for me.

It's almost midnight where the fuck are you?

I need to know you're safe, love.

Clary?

You'll get your punishment soon.

Clary begins to feel her chest start to tighten and the claws of a panic attack start to take over. Running to the other side of the room, she yanks open the balcony doors and slides down the adjacent wall. You're safe Clary, put your head between your knees. Yeah just like that, you're safe. Said Simon's voice in her head before another one interrupted. - Ha, look at you. Still pathetic as always. You're so weak.

That voice was Sebastian's', Clary's boyfriend. They met at the beginning of junior year. He was her first boyfriend and she thought he cherished her. Clary didn't know any better. Her best friend, Simon, was unsure about him and brushing off Simon's concern was her first mistake. Slowly, Sebastian started getting aggressive with her. It got past the point of cute, boyfriend possessiveness if that was even a thing. He would threaten any male who even looked in Clary's direction. It took an entire night of what seemed pointless arguing to convince him that Simon was not a threat to their relationship.

She finally built up the courage last semester to tell someone, a teacher actually. But as it turns out, that teacher was too much of a fan of Sebastian on the football field. He told her that she should be grateful the quarterback cares so much about her.

Clary's second mistake was forgiving him after he punched Simon that one night at the bowling alley and would "accidentally" be aggressive with her. It was only a month ago that he started hurting her. He now punished her if a guy flirted or even talked to her. Said it was her fault she was such a whore. Sebastian demands that Clary meet him outside every day after school so he could bring her home. She's not allowed to go to sleepover in the fear she might sneak over guys or go parties if he wasn't there.

Yesterday, she caught up with an old friend of hers. They were reminiscing about childhood memories when he mentioned the historical moment when seven-year-old Clary learned she couldn't fly. She couldn't help but chuckle at the memory of trying to jump off the swingset and fly back to her apartment. Young Clary was too stubborn to listen to Micha's warnings. That day ended with her mom taking us out to get ice cream while she sat in the backseat with an icepack to her head.

Next thing she knows, she's laughing. Actually laughing. Those seconds were the best she'd felt in weeks. Clary was still laughing as Micha's face fell and in confusion, she followed his eyes over her shoulder. There stood Sebastian a look of hostility and eyes that wished to break Micha's nose. He started to move towards them but before he could the bell rang. Clary knew he had Economics which was on the third floor and that he couldn't afford another tardy. His body screamed with tension when he pinned her with his eyes and gave her a look that said "we'll talk about it later" and continued onto his next class.

After that, Clary skipped the rest of her classes and quickly walked home. Her ribs were still hurting from our last talk and she didn't want to experience that again so soon. As soon as the apartment door shut, she wobbled up the stairs to her room. Pacing home activated old injuries. While packing an overnight bag, she texted Simon -If my mom asks, please say I'm with you. I'm safe. Could you pick me up for school tomorrow? Love you, Clary-. Wobbling again, she went to the kitchen and wrote a note addressed to her mom explaining that she was sleeping over at Simon's.

There is a boy, Magnus, who lives directly above her mom and herself who goes to Clary's school. His mom is rarely home due to drugs and jobs; he basically lives alone. Magnus is the only real person who knows about Clary's situation and believes her. He allows her to go stay at his apartment whenever she's in danger or needs an escape. He's her guardian angel. Though Magnus is treated as an oddball at school, she finds him intriguing at the least.

Clary spent the night there last night and around 3 in the morning she snuck back into her bedroom.

Long after Clary calmed down, a honk outside brought her back from the thoughts of yesterday. She stood up on shaky legs and walked out onto the balcony to see a gray minivan outside her complex. Simon. She whipped her head around to look at the clock above her desk and saw that she only had five minutes to get ready.

Finding a random gray hoodie on the ground near her and her favorite pair of ripped jeans, she got ready. Putting her sneakers on showed to be a challenge as her ribs got worse from her urgency yesterday. Grabbing her bag and jacket from the kitchen, Clary got out the door only a minute late. The cold New York air was refreshing as she made her way to the trashcan Simon called his. Opening the passenger door, the familiar scent of spearmint and Chinese takeout was welcoming.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. I woke up late and totally spaced out," She mumbled as she put on her seat belt. Clary turned to see Simon with a concerned look on his face, but she gave him her best "please forget my problems" smile.

He shook his head, unaffected as always, and started driving the way to school. He grabbed one of the two coffees from the cupholders and held one out to her. She eagerly accepted the coffee and gulped it down as fast as she could.

"I figured you would be late and didn't have time. Also," his eyes flickered to Clary and back to the road, "you do know your hoodie has paint on it, right?"

She looked down and finally noticed that the gray hoodie she grabbed this morning was the Yale one Clary solely use for painting. Way to stay hidden.

"This is one of the few reasons you're my best friend," she joked. They sat in comfortable science until the car hit a stop light and Simon tentatively asked, "Will you ever tell me what's going on with you? I want to help." He now fully looked at her with longing eyes.

"I know," she whispered and shook her head gently, "please give me a little bit longer." Clary kept her eyes on the road damning the tears building up in her eyes.

"Fine," was all he said as the light turned green.