I loved your reviews for the first chapter, guys! I hope that means you're looking forward to more.
"Ohmygod!" Clary launched herself at Jace and he laughed, wrapping his arms around the petite red-head. She pulled back from him, her hands still resting on his broad shoulders. "What are you doing here, Jace?" His golden eyes danced as he looked over her shoulder to where Jocelyn had come into the front room to see what was going on.
"It's your graduation today, isn't it? Of course I'm gonna come and see my girl graduate," Jace grinned. He reached past Clary to kiss Jocelyn on the cheek. "Hey, Jocie."
"Hey, Jace," she said, lifting her eyebrows. "How you doing, love?"
"Great, thanks," Jace leaned against the doorframe. Jocelyn looked between the two and then jerked her head in the direction of the kitchen and disappeared. Clary turned back to the blonde, looking him over. He was wearing a grey tee-shirt with a leather vest over the top, the sleeves of the shirt short enough to reveal toned biceps and the end of a tattoo on his right arm. He had another piercing, so three hoops in his left ear now, and his hair was a little longer than it had been last time. He reached out and tugged playfully at a strand of hair that was hanging in front of her eyes. "You gonna stop staring?"
"What?" She blinked quickly. "Yeah, right. Um, did you want a ride with us? We're leaving in a couple minutes." Jace smirked.
"I don't think your mum would be keen on that."
"What are you on about?" Clary tilted her head to the side.
"Jocie's always been a little cautious around me," Jace told her, running a hand through his hair. Clary let out a breath through her nose and looked back into the apartment. "Anyway, I got a ride. You got plans tonight?"
"Nah, mum switched her shift so that she got to come today but that means she has to work tonight," Clary shrugged. "Why's that?"
"I'll take you out, yeah? We'll celebrate," Jace reached forward and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you soon, Red." He turned on his heel and walked down the hallway. Clary watched him go before turning to go back into the apartment, bee-lining straight for the bathroom. She had only put on light foundation and eyeliner. Now, knowing that Jace was there, she quickly applied another layer of foundation and mascarra. Jocie came into the bathroom, raising her eyebrows.
"That boy always had a way of sending you into a tail spin," she shook her head. Clary looked at her mother in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. "You nearly ready to go?" She nodded, pursing her her lips in the mirror to disperse the lipgloss. "Okay. Luke's going to be in here in a couple minutes. We'll go downstairs to meet him." Clary nodded, grabbing a grey and purple cardigan from the doorknob and followed her mum into the lounge. Jocelyn locked the door behind them and they started down the stairs. Luke Garroway was parked in his forest green jeep at the curb and he smiled, or at least his half-assed version of smiling, as they came out of the apartment building.
"You look good, Clary," he muttered over his shoulder as she got in the backseat.
"Always the charmer, Luke," Clary grinned at him as her mother got in the front seat and leaned over to kiss Luke on his rough cheek.
"So this is your bad boy?" Simon teased lightly, nudging Clary's side. Clary looked in the direction Simon was nodding in, to where Jace was standing a little bit away from the throngs of families and friends of the graduating students, smoking a cigarette. "Was beginning to think that he was just in your head."
"Shut up," Clary laughed, shoving him lightly. "You've met him before."
"'Meet' is a strong word," Simon gave a one shouldered shrug. "I've seen him once or twice."
"Yeah, well, there he is," Clary rolled her eyes, looking back over at Jace. Her eyes narrowed as she saw two of the girls from her year approaching him and she quickly looked back to Simon. "Anyway, we're going out tonight to celebrate. But me and you should meet up tomorrow and celebrate?"
"Wanna go get coffee and cronuts at Zee?" He suggested.
"You know I'm always down for cronuts," Clary laughed, linking her arm through Simons.
"Hey, Simon," Jocelyn smiled as she and Luke approached them. "You looked good up there, giving your speech." Simon was the valedictorian for their year, and had been forced to face his fear of public speaking with the traditional valedictorian speech. There had been a couple of mumbled words and stilted sentences, but by the second paragraph, Simon had gotten the hang of it and loosened up. "Before I go I just want to get a photo with the two of you, okay?" Clary nodded, shuffling in closer to Simon as Jocelyn held up the camera. The two tilted their heads together and smiled as their photo was snapped. "Okay, you two. You both look wonderful, and I'm so proud of you." She reached forward to kiss Clary on the cheek and then Simon. "I'm off to work now. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Later," Luke grunted over his shoulder as he put his hand to Jocelyn's lower back and guided her toward his car. Simon shook his head and pushed his glasses up his nose with his index finger.
"He's a man of many words, isn't he?" He grinned. Clary laughed and looked back over to where Jace was. The two girls, two that Clary recognized as part of the 'it' crowd that avoided, were still standing next to him, twirling their fingers through their hair. Jace looked completely uninterested, and when he saw Clary looking at him, he smirked and jerked his head in the direction of the parking lot.
"I'm gonna go, kay?" She said to Simon. "But I'll text you tomorrow and we'll meet up?"
"See you then," he told her. "Don't come back with blue hair or anything." Clary pulled the finger at him as she approached Jace, undoing her graduation cape as she walked. The two girls looked at her derisively but she ignored them. She had been doing it for the past four years at high school, she could definitely do it for another few minutes.
"You ready to go, Red?" Jace asked her, dropping the cigarette that he was smoking to the ground and stubbing it out with the toe of his boot.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Clary smiled widely at him. Jace nodded at the two girls before looping an arm around Clary's waist and pressing a quick kiss to the side of her head. They made their way down the front steps of the school, toward the car park where he had parked his bike. "Where are we going?"
"Well," Jace grinned, squeezing her waist a little tighter. "Do you remember when we were fourteen and you said that you wanted a tattoo?" Clary raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah?"
"And we said that we were going to get one together?" Jace prompted. Clary stopped short and shook her head.
"Oh no, no way!" She exclaimed. "Mum would kill me!"
"I think Jocie will get over it," Jace grinned, grabbing her hand and pulling her so that she was walking again.
"Anyway, you already have a tattoo!" Clary pointed out.
"Three, actually," Jace corrected as they reached his bike and he took a helmet off the hook at the back. "But I can always get another." Clary took the helmet from him, turning it over in her hands. "Come on!" He grinned and touched her nose lightly. "It's your graduation. We need to celebrate." She stared at him for a long time before finally nodding slowly.
"Okay," she shook her head. "Mum's gonna kill you."
"Eh," Jace shrugged. "It'll be worth it." He swung his leg over the seat of the bike and indicated that she get on behind him. When she hesitated, he tilted his head to the side. "You never been on a bike before?" She shook her head. "You're gonna have to get used to it. It's the only thing I drive and I'm planning on taking you places often." Clary felt her stomach squeeze but she kept her face blank, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Oh yeah? From two cities over?" She deadpanned.
"No way," Jace reached out and took her hand, pulling her closer to the edge of the curb so that her legs were pressing against his thigh that was on her side of the bikes seat. He circled an arm around her waist so that his hand was resting low on her back, his fingers splayed out so that his pinky was on her ass. "I've moved here, for good. I don't know how much you hear about my mum, but it really wasn't good for a while." He cleared his throat and shook his head slightly. "But she's doing heaps better now, and she's decided to go on holiday, permanently," he laughed. "With her man to Spain. Living life to the full, and all."
"Good on her," Clary grinned.
"So I've moved in with one of mates, Alec," Jace's hand slipped a little lower on her ass, and she tried not to think about it, telling herself that it hadn't been on purpose. "And I'm getting a job here. Now," he moved his hands so that they were both resting on the handles. "Are you gonna get your ass on the back of my bike where you belong?"
That statement most definitely started a flare in her stomach.
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