Thanks everyone who reviewed! And thanks Tonip1901 for adding this into your favorite stories category! Ok, so… this story is currently rated K+, but may be moved up to T later on when Jace comes in. Oh, and the last paragraph in Chapter 1 wasn't supposed to be italicized. Sorry for that mistake.

(Clary was jerked awake by a soft knock at the door. She groaned quietly and pulled her blankets up around her, hoping to muffle the sounds. She knew all too well who was outside her room, but had no intentions of speaking to that specific human being right now in her depressed state. The door opened. Clary sighed and turned around, faking sleep.)

The door opened a crack to reveal a very worried looking Isabelle in her nightshirt.

"Clary? Are you alright? Can I come in?"

The redhead turned around to face her black haired friend. She gave Isabelle a shaky smile which didn't reach her eyes at all. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… I need a little time to think things over. Sure you can come in."

Isabelle entered and sat at the edge of Clary's bed. She glanced over at the tired girl lying down on the mattress, then sighed dramatically to get her attention. Clary looked up to see Isabelle frowning at her with an annoyed expression on her pretty face.

"What?" Clary mouthed the question at her friend, too tired to produce much sound.

"Well, if you really are leaving tomorrow… Do you need help packing your stuff or something? And, um, you aren't really going to be leaving your whole life at the Institute, are you? You will come visit us frequently, won't you? Also, could we go on a shopping trip tomorrow? I don't want to let you go without some jolly outing so I, um, you, won't feel so dull once you leave us. It's to make you feel better; to lighten everyone's moods. Please?" Isabelle was looking at Clary as though she was a little five-year-old girl and Clary had a piece of yummy candy in her hand.

The latter girl sat up slowly, shifting her weight so she was sitting comfortably facing Isabelle but still had half her body under the covers. Resting her back against the bed's backboard, she plucked absentmindedly at her own nightshirt and bit her bottom lip in thought. As much as she liked Isabelle, Clary was almost afraid of the other girl's "shopping trips", and would usually find any excuse she could to say no to Isabelle. But then again, she was pretty sure she didn't want to come back to this place again, and she didn't want to let Isabelle feel rejected in any way.

"No thanks, I've already packed most of my belongings already. I've only got a few last minute things to put into my bags tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure I can manage that myself. But thanks for asking. Well, I was thinking about leaving this place and everyone in it for good, but I think I think I will come and visit every now and then. Maybe… About the shopping trip… um, okay. Sure, why not? I guess it will do us both some good. But I'm leaving for Luke's at around three in the afternoon, so we'll have to be quick unless you don't mind waiting for me to finish packing and then going out for dinner as well."

"Great! We'll do both. Shopping before and dinner afterwards. Do you want to invite Jace and Alec along as well?"

Clary hesitated. Isabelle sounded so enthusiastic about bringing her brother and the other boy along with them, it would be anything but polite to say no. But Clary didn't want to see Jace's face any time soon. She knew what it would look like, and that if she set her eyes upon him before going away, her heart would somehow convince her to stay for Jace's sake.

"I don't really care. Invite whoever you want along with us. After all, you're the host of this trip. Oh, and because of that, you're paying for all the clothes we buy, as well as dinner." Clary managed a grin at Isabelle, who shrugged lightly with a grin of her own in response.

"Oh, I'd pay a hundred dollars if it meant you'd be happy during that whole trip. Please, for my sake, be cheerful, okay? I don't want my last image of Clarissa Fray to be a depressing one."

"Sure, whatever." Clary shrugged, yawning. She was so tired her brain was having trouble deciphering Isabelle's words.

Fortunately, Isabelle took that yawn as her cue to leave. "Right, you should go to sleep now. Thanks for accepting. This really means a lot to me, you know. Good luck out there with Luke and the others." Her face fell a little, as she stood up and walked slowly out of Clary's room.

"Night, Isabelle!" Clary called after the retreating figure. She saw a hand wave in return.

She sighed and slipped down into her warm bed, waiting patiently for sleep to come. Finally, just as she was about to drift off, another knock on her bedroom door awakened her. She grumbled sleepily and kicked at her blankets. But just as she was about to shout "Go away, it's eleven o'clock midnight and I'm trying to get some decent sleep here!", the door opened, and a face popped in. Clary grunted, clearly annoyed. She didn't even bother looking up to see who it was. Who else would come without permission into her room at such an ungodly hour as eleven post meridian?

Heheh. You probably know who this person is already. Anyways, review review review!!! Thanks so much for reading until the end. PM me if you have any suggestions as to where this story should lead. I've got a basic idea, but I've still got some missing pieces in the middle of the story. Please help! I'll be posting the next chapter soon, so keep checking back!

-- Seyra