"Izzy, I cannot wear this." I said, shocked at my reflection in her full length mirror. "Please tell me this is a joke. I'm 99% sure I've seen you wear this as a shirt."

She laughed, touching up her eyeliner at her vanity. Turning to look at me, she grinned, as only Izzy does when she sees me in her revealing clothes. "You look hot. That's the point."

"No, the point is celebrating the one-year anniversary of Magnus and Alec." I argued, and she rolled her eyes.

"Do you honestly think this is their celebration? Magnus just wants an excuse to throw a party. Obviously, him and Alec are doing some other celebrating since he's actually going to it. He normally is much grouchier about putting on a shirt with no holes in it."

I giggled, turning around in the mirror to inspect the newly formed curves this dress was going me. It was tight and black, as well as insanely short. My hair was tamed for once, pulled back with a clip that actually didn't make me look like a suburban soccer mom. In the heels, it looked like my legs were even kind of long. (A girl can dream).

"Now get over here before the guys come crashing in here rushing us. Liquid eyeliner can smell fear, so we need to take this slow." She wielded her eyeliner pen, and I gulped.

"Alright, done." She exclaimed a few minutes later, making me jump as I opened my eyes. Turning towards the mirror, I half expected to look like a raccoon with the amount of makeup she was caking on my eyes. However, I was surprised to see that it actually looked good. Whatever she had done accentuated my cheekbones, made my eyes look bright green, and my lips fuller.

"You're going to have quite the night. Especially if Sebastian Verlac is there." Izzy nearly purred, sliding on her heels as we walked towards the door to go downstairs.

"Why do I care about Sebastian Verlac?" I asked, as we walked down towards the guys waiting in the foyer. I was vaguely aware of them staring at us, but was mainly focused on not falling down the stairs in these heels.

"Because, he's been into since he met you at that party in the beginning of the semester. You just won't give him the time of day." She insisted, her brown eyes narrowing accusingly. Izzy considered this to be the highest crime; denying a hot guy's attention.

"You're insane." I laughed, relieved that we'd gotten to the bottom of the stairs without incident. I looked up at Jace, but whatever Izzy was saying back was lost on me as we made eye contact.

Well, I was looking at his eyes roam up and down my body, slowly taking it all in. His golden eyes met mine after a what felt like a long time looking at my legs, and he grinned. He was dressed in black jeans, a white t shirt that hugged his body and hinted at the sculpted musculature underneath, with a black leather jacket. His blonde curls were messed perfectly, and I tried ignoring the butterflies swirling around my stomach as he stepped forward to hug me.

"You look beautiful." He said, his lips being so close to my ear causing me to nearly hyperventilate. I had to pull myself together, this was Jace. I couldn't lose control now.

"Thanks handsome." I quipped, stepping back so I wasn't distracted by how amazing he smelled. I looked around, grinning when I saw Simon standing behind Jace, looking as if I had just made out with the him.

"Clary, what the-?" He couldn't finish his sentence. He ran forward with his jacket. "Put this on, oh god. Izzy got to you."

"Simon." I protested, laughing I pushed his jacket away. "I'm fine, your jacket will ruin the outfit."

"Yeah, I can't let you put that jacket on her, man." Jace said, and my cheeks burned.

"Enough, okay? Let's just go." I was eager to get to the party, where I was certain my outfit choice would blend in more. Or I was just going to have to stand next to Izzy tonight, but it looked like Simon had already claimed that place. I smiled to myself as I saw him offer her his arm to walk to the car.

"You're still not hung up on them, are you?" Jace appeared at my side as we walked down the driveway towards Simon's car in the street.

"What? I can't help it. They're so adorable." I pouted, resisting the urge to turn around again and stare at them. "They're such good friends, they look so good together, and Simon is a sweetheart. Izzy deserves a nice guy like him."

"She'll rip out his heart and stomp on the pieces with her stilettos." Jace answered, opening the car door for me. "That's what happens when friends date."

I stared at him, unable to come up with a response for that. Cleary, he has some issues about friends dating. I decided it was best not to continue that conversation, and opted for scooting over to the window on the other side of the car as Izzy and Simon got in.

"Simon, you know you don't have to DD for us. We can always call a cab." Izzy said, as Simon pulled out of the driveway of the Lightwood's house. Alec was already at Magnus', and was staying over.

"Ah, trust me it's okay. I don't really drink anyway." He laughed, and I suppressed the urge to blow up his spot. The real reason Simon wasn't drinking was because he was afraid he would say something to Izzy that hinted of his true feelings. As much as I had tried arguing with him about it, he was adamant that she could never know.

"Look at her, Clary. And look at me." He had frantically whispered to me as we stole a moment in the Lightwoods kitchen before Izzy gave me a makeover earlier. "She's Isabelle Lightwood. She's beautiful, and can have any guy she wants. Why would I have the audacity to think she would want me, and also go out of my way to confirm that? It's better for everyone this way, not just me." He had refused to talk about it again, which I begrudgingly accepted.

I was quiet on the way to Magnus', Jace's words echoing in my head. What did he have against friends dating? I understood why he wouldn't want us dating, for obvious reasons. Any time anyone had brought up us being together, he vehemently denied it ever happening, while I had simply laughed it off. It used to make me sad, in a way, that he knew for sure he could never see me like that. I found myself emphasizing with Simon, even though I didn't have feelings for Jace.

I looked over at him, laughing at something Izzy had sad that I missed, and an unfamiliar ache spread through me. It was like I missed him, even though he was right next to me.

"I hope you brought your party moods, everyone." Magnus greeted us at the door, already slightly tipsy on champagne. Glitter sprinkled on my face as he bet down to hug me.

"Don't we always?" Izzy grinned, before grabbing my hand and making a beeline for the bar in the corner of Magnus' "entertaining room". His house was insane; the whole first floor was dedicated to throwing parties. He had a bar, an area for dancing, a more formal sit down area, another area with tables and chairs, and a kitchen specifically for the caterers. He was mysterious about how he could afford this, but after so long we all accepted his various excuses of a rich relative that left him money in their will.

Izzy gleefully placed two shots in front of us. I stared at them, mentally calculating how good my chances of convincing her I didn't want to drink were. From the look on her face, slim to none.

Three shots in, my melancholy mood had changed, thoughts of Jace and his strange comments vanished as Izzy andI laughed and carried on, hugging people we knew and chatting up people we didn't. I spotted a few people from Leigh around, probably from Alec of Izzy's classes. Or because they heard about the party, Magnus didn't exactly discourage a huge turnout.

"Don't look now, but Sebastian Verlac is staring at you." Izzy whispered in my ear. I widened my eyes at her, suddenly wishing I hadn't drunk so much.

"Izzy! Why is he here?" I hissed, trying get a peek but her iron grip on my arm kept me in place.

"I said don't look! And I invited him of course. Or maybe he just happened to hear that you were going to be here and took it upon himself to crash the party." She winked, and I groaned, accepting another shot from the bartender.

Izzy glanced behind me again. "Hey, wait right here for me okay? I see Meliorn, and I haven't decided if I hate him yet. I'll be right back."

"Iz-" I was cut off as she disappeared, and I sighed. I turned around, planning on finding Jace, when Sebastian approached me, his dark eyes looking me up and down. He was attractive, but in a different way than Jace. He he was around the same height, albeit slightly skinner. While Jace reminded me of the sun, golden and warm, Sebastian reminded me of the moon; his eyes were dark as night, with his pale skin and jet black hair.

"Clarissa." He said, my name dancing across his tongue. Oh god, I needed a shot. Or to stop drinking. I downed the one in my hand, wincing as the alcohol burned my throat.

"Sebastian." I answered, going along with the name as a greeting. Were we just going to repeat our names all night? I was not good at flirting.

"You look ravishing." He said, his eyes taking in every inch of my body. For some reason, I was unable to not think of Jace, and how his reaction to seeing me made my heart beat faster and my stomach erupt in butterflies. Sebastian's response made me instinctively recoil, and I tried covering it up with a weak smile.

"Thanks." I wondered if it would be too obvious if I looked around the room for Jace. Shit, I needed to stop thinking about Jace, Sebastian was saying something.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, blushing as I realized he probably thought I was an idiot. "It's so uh, loud in here, couldn't hear you." I smiled again, hoping he would ignore my lie.

"I was asking you if you wanted another drink." He grinned, and I nodded automatically. Alcohol would definitely make this encounter better.

He signaled to the bartender, giving me an opportunity to look around for any of my friends. I spotted Simon, across the room, but his back was to Me. Izzy was off with Meliorn, Magnus and Alec were probably off hosting, and God knew where Jace was.

"Here you go. I think you'll like a good margarita." Sebastian's attention was back, and I smiled politely, taking the cold drink and sipping it.

"Let's go a little more private, since it's so loud in here." Sebastian started leading me away from the bar, and I internally groaned at my idiocy. We sat down in a corner, his legs touching my bare ones as we sat on a loveseat against a window. For lack of anything else to do, I sipped my drink, enjoying the taste of the salty lime.

Sebastian leaned in close to me, and I had to stop myself from leaning away. I had no idea what was wrong with me, it was as if my body was rejecting him without consent from my brain.

"You're pretty quiet." He said, his dark eyes searching mine. I had never seen someone with such dark brown eyes.

"I'ms sorry, I don't know why I'm acting like this." I said, surprising myself with the honesty. He waved my excuse away, grinning.

"Don't worry, I've been told I have an effect on women."

"And what's that? Making them feel uncomfortable?" A voice said, from above. I looked up to see Jace standing there, with a carefully controlled expression on his face. I knew this was an indication he was furious. I looked down to see Sebastian put a possessive hand on my leg, narrowing his eyes at Jace.

"Back off, Herondale. Clarissa and I are talking." Sebastian snapped. Jace nearly started growling. Not wanting to be the cause of a fist fight, I stood up abruptly.

"You know, I think I'm going to get some food, too much to drink. I'll uh, see you later Sebastian, it was nice to meet you."

"Put another hand on her again, and I'll take your arm off." Jace's voice was deadly, his eyes molten gold as he put his hand on the small of my back and guided me away. I turned to peek over Jace's shoulder, seeing Sebastian sipping his drink, his expression stormy.

"What was that about?" I demanded, as we moved through the crowd of people until we found the food the caterers had set up. "I'm not some damsel in distress, I didn't need you rescuing me from him."

Jace looked as if he would rather not answer, but gave in to my unwavering stare. "I don't know, there's just something off about that Verlac guy. I've never liked him, and after seeing him all over you... I just lost it. I'm sorry if you were actually interested in talking to him. I didn't mean to imply you were somehow mine, but he just hit a nerve." He looked embarrassed about his little outburst.

"Mhmm." I said, filing this information away for later. "It's alright. How do you know him?" I avoided the question about me being into him. I wasn't, but it was fun to make Jace squirm a little bit.

"Our families don't really get along. My dad and his dad grew up as rivals of some sort, and it's never gone away. We don't really talk to them anymore, but when we were younger it was always a competition between our dads and us. Also, he's just an asshole. He thinks he's better at playing the guitar than me." In Jace's book, this was extremely offensive.

"I never knew this." I looked over the array of food, not particularly interested in eating anything. "How's it going with finding a new band, by the way? I haven't seen you preparing for an audition lately after that one last week."

"Well now you know." There was an edge to Jace's voice that made me look up at him. "As for the band thing, not sure yet. It's complicated." Musical talent was something Jace and I did not share, so I wasn't surprised at his reluctance to discuss his audition. It's not like I could offer him advice on how to do better or anything. What made me suspicious, though, was his next words.

"Fuck it. Let's get drunk."

In all my years of knowing Jace, the one thing I did know was that he rarely drank. He was always playing some sort of sport, and claimed he didn't have time to party. Or he was too focused on his band; there was always an excuse. Sometimes I was able to drag him out to an odd high school party or even some at college, but I think I've seen him drunk all of one time.

"Are you serious?" I asked, elated. He grinned, leading me towards the bar. The party was still in full swing, but I didn't see the rest of our friends around. "What brought this on?"

"I just feel like it. I don't have to drive, it's a weekend. I'm going to have to crash at your place though, since my dad would kill me if I came home drunk. It's that alright?" He asked as he ordered us shots.

"Of course it's okay." I laughed before adding, "As long as we sleep head to toe."

"Clary, I heard you have some sort of horrible foot fungus and I don't want to risk me putting my beautiful face near your smelly feet." He grinned, and I rolled my eyes.

I lost count of how many shots I had taken after my 5th. Right now, all I could think about was how badly I had to go to the bathroom. Leaning against the wall outside as I waited for someone to come out, I shut my eyes to stop the room from spinning so much.

"Clary! I've been looking everywhere for you." Jace appeared, swaying slightly as he reached out to steady himself against the wall I was leaning on. This move made him directly in front of me, his golden eyes staring into my soul.

"Well, you found me." I had to force myself not to lean in closer to him. This was Jace, my best friend.

"Yes, I am Jace, your best friend." He repeated, grinning at me. "I didn't think I was that forgettable, and that's not what you were saying earlier." I frowned as I realized I had spoken out loud. And what did he mean, not what I was saying earlier?

"Shhh." I wanted to tell him to shut up, but a half-hearted shushing was all I could muster. I really needed to sober up, or I was going to have problems. Jace was not helping me think being so close to me, and looking so..good.

"Hey, lovebirds." Izzy appeared out of the bathroom, and I nearly danced for joy. I really had to pee. She was still speaking, but I slipped in the bathroom in the middle of her sentence before Jace could steal my chance. Once inside, I vaguely heard her banging on the door but was too focused on my purpose for coming in here.

As I washed my hands, I did a quick mirror check to make sure I had remembered to pull my dress back down to a proper length. Well, as proper as mid-thigh could be. My hair was a little wild looking, but nothing considering how drunk I was, I thought I looked pretty good.

"Since you are drunk, I'm not going to yell at you for being rude. But I will yell at you for leaving me with your lovesick puppy. He wouldn't shut up about you being gone the whole time." Izzy grumbled, gesturing to Jace, leaning against the wall with his eyes shut.

"Sorry Izz." I mumbled, looking up at her. "What were you saying before?"

"We're leaving soon. Simon's around here somewhere, but it's nearly 2 am."

2 in the morning?! I had a moment of panic. I definitely had no idea what I had been doing for the past 3 hours. An unaccounted for drunken 3 hours. Presumably with Jace. I looked over at him, and he was still leaning against the wall, but his eyes were fixated on me. Something about the way he was looking at me was different, similar to how he looked when he first saw me in this outfit earlier tonight.

Izzy left my side, saying something about Simon. I walked over to Jace, tilting my head to look at him questionably. "Do you know what we've been doing for the past 3 hours?" I prayed he would say something like playing drinking games with Simon or hiding from Sebastian.

I was not expecting him to reach out and grab me around the waist, holding me tight against his body. He leaned forward, my heels making it easier for him to whisper in my ear. "I'm slightly offended you don't remember." I involuntarily shivered, feeling him laugh as he noticed my reaction.

The next thing I knew, someone was grabbing my wrist, tugging me away from Jace. I turned to see Izzy grinning at me, her expression clear she thought something was going on with Jace and I. I rolled my eyes, following her and Simon out the door with Jace at my heels.

The ride home consisted of Jace and I laughing hysterically in the back seat for no reason, Simon blasting horrible 80s rock music to drown us out, and Izzy carrying on about how she was going to kill us. Apparently things with Meliorn haven't improved.

Stumbling out of the car with Jace, I waved goodbye to Izzy and Simon as they waited for us to get in my house. I had warned my mom we would be back late, so I was thankful she had left the back door open for me. Using my house keys was definitely beyond my capabilities at the moment, I was doing all I could to keep Jace upright and get through my house without making any noise.

We got to my room, and Jace kicked off his shoes, his jacket sliding off his shoulders to the ground. I went for my bathroom, grabbing the first clothing items on my dresser to use as pajamas. The last thing I saw before I shut the bathroom door behind me was Jace's slowly taking his shirt off, giving me a show of his ab muscles.

Once I had gotten most of my makeup off and brushed my teeth, I grabbed some water bottles from the kitchen and a bottle of Advil. We were definitely going to need it in the morning, I decided, as I appraised Jace's sleeping body in the middle of my bed.

Crawling in next to him, I fell asleep and the last thing I remembered was him reaching out and holding me close to him.