Hey guys :)

So sorry for the long wait, we really are, but with school and everything, it was really complicated.

We really hope you will like the chapter, it's the biggest one we've ever written so far :)

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Hope you all had an awesome Christmas day!

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R&R

Jace : 14

Clary : 13

Isabelle : 13

Jonathan : 15

Alec : 15

Chapter 3 : Beach, Boys, Sun

A sharp pain at her side startled Clary awake. She reluctantly opened her eyes before quickly closing them again to escape the bright light of the sun. Her head was leaning against the window of the car, her arms wrapped around herself. She was vaguely aware of the car moving slowly forward and of two voices arguing in front of her. She slightly moved, trying to make herself more comfortable and was starting to fall asleep again, the beginning of a dream starting to take her away when she felt the same sharp pain again.

She frowned and turned her head to the side to find Jace looking down at her, his famous smirk etched on his face, immensely amused.

She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him suspiciously. At that, his eyebrows raised and he looked at her innocently.

"Did you just elbow me?", she asked, hitting his shoulder.

His grin widened as he pretended she had hurt him

"Mmmmh...," he finally replied, looking up, as if in intense reflection, "Maybe."

She rolled her eyes before turning them back to the window, staring at the road. Alec and Isabelle were sitting in front of her, still arguing, this time about a video-game. Robert and Maryse Lightwood were in the front seats talking softly while Robert was driving. As for Jace and herself, they were at the back of the huge car, among all the bags. A low chuckle, followed by Izzy giggling, reminded Clary of the presence of her brother, sitting beside the car door. Isabelle had decided she liked him ever since she first saw him at the Christmas party last year. She didn't know wether Jonathan was aware of that fact, but didn't feel comfortable asking. She assumed the conversation would be really awkward.

Jonathan had arrived unexpectedly the week before and as Clary was to go with the Lightwoods on vacation to their beach house and didn't want to miss it, they had agreed to let him come along. So there they all were, on the road, waiting impatiently to arrive and looking forward to spending their vacations on the beach. They were going to be the best two weeks ever, Clary knew it. She closed her eyes again, thinking about all the awesome things they would be able to do there, until she felt Jace poking her in the ribs yet once again.

She turned toward him and opened her mouth, hesitating between yelling at him or laughing when she saw him, looking as bored as ever, his hair a complete mess (for once), staring at her with puppy dog eyes.

"I'm bored," he said, confirming her thoughts. She bit her lip, holding back a smile.

"So you woke me up," she said.

He ran a hand through his hair, a gest she was very familiar with and he leaned back in his seat, staring at her, apparently waiting for her to do something.

"Yep!", he replied and crossed his legs before adding, "now you can start entertaining me..."

"That's why you woke me up?" she huffed.

"Huh uh."

She rolled her eyes and glared at him, "You are such an asshat."

He smirked (again) and wrapped one of his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him and hugging her. Shoot! She could never stay mad at him, even if she wanted to, which most likely was not the case.

He then bent his head and whispered in her ear, tightening his hold on her.

"You know you love me..."

She fought against the urge to smile and playfully pushed him. He laughed and leaned away but kept his arm around her.

"So," he said, taking one of her red curls and tugging on it gently, "now that you're finally awake, thanks to me, what can we do?"

Clary sighed, "I don't know...Maybe we could—", but before she could finish her sentence, Isabelle turned toward them.

"Hey, you're awake!"

At her words, Jonathan turned in his seat too and smiled at her.

"Hey sis! Finally stopped being lazy?", he exclaimed, smirking at her.

She rolled her eyes (she seemed to be doing that a lot lately) and stuck her tongue out at him. His grin widened and he sat back, looking out the window.

"Mom," Clary heard Alec say, "are we there yet?"

"We'll be there in half an hour or so, and if you could stop asking the same question every single minute, it'll be faster," replied Maryse, without even looking at her son.

"Finally," said Isabelle, a relieved look on her face. "I'm so excited! Beach, boys, sun! What else could we possibly ask for? It's gonna be so awesome. What do you think, lovebirds?" she asked, winking at Jace and Clary.

They ignored her. It wasn't the first time people had called them that, mistaking them for a couple.

Clary didn't really understand why. Couldn't a guy and a girl like each other, be close to each other without...you know?

She looked at Isabelle and let her eyes slowly move to her brother who was still looking out the window, now bobbing his head to whatever song was coming from his Ipod, before looking at Isabelle again, a threat clear in her eyes. Isabelle's smile dropped and her mouth opened in a silent gasp.

"You wouldn't," she whispered, even if Jonathan couldn't hear anything.

Clary smiled innocently and shrugged. Izzy huffed and crossed her arms before letting herself fall back against her seat.

Clary shook her head. Isabelle could be so gullible sometimes. Did she really believe Clary would tell Jonathan about her little crush?

Jace laughed and brought Clary closer to him, kissing her cheek.

"That was mean," he laughed, "but damn, her face was so funny. I've taught you well!"

"But I didn't—", she started.

"—mean it," he finished for her. " I know, and I can't believe she actually bought it, but it still was hilarious."

"I hate you," she said without any conviction in her voice, and she leaned against his shoulder, closing her eyes.

"I love you," he told her, burying his face in her red curls.

XoXoOoXoX

Clary jumped on the bed, sighing happily, staring at the white ceiling. Jace and her, once the car had finally came to a stop, had leaped out of the car and ran to the front door, a huge black one, suiting extremely well the beautiful white house, quickly opening it –Jace had stolen the keys from his mother's purse- and without turning back and ignoring the others' angry voices had run into the house. The house had so many bedrooms and hallways, Clary doubted she would be able to find her room on her own even after a week. Thankfully for her, Jace already knew them by heart, after all his family had been going there for years. He had led her through many doors and took a lot of turns before stopping in front of a door. He had smiled at her and without taking his eyes away from her face had twisted the doorknob and slowly opened the door. He had then held the door open, waiting for her to come in. As soon as she had stepped in she knew why Jace had chosen this particular room for her. He knew everything about her, they had been best-friends for years, he knew what she liked. The room was huge, colorful, a big bed in the center of it. From the picture window she could see the beach, colored in red and orange from the sundown. It was amazing. She had slowly turned towards Jace, who was staring at her, leaning against the wall. Tears were forming in her eyes and she had thrown herself in his arms. He had held her tightly against him, his cheek against her hair.

"Thank you," she had whispered, "you always know how to make me happy."

He had smiled, a genuine one this time, the one he barely showed to anyone but her.

"It's nothing."

So now there she was, laying on her bed, her bags half opened around her. Everyone's room was finally picked -Jace's was conveniently just across hers- and they all had free time before dinner. However they were banned from going to the beach today, supposedly because it was too late. Oh well, Clary thought, they had just arrived, there would be plenty of thime for that tomorrow. But Isabelle didn't see it that way apparently, even from where she was Clary could hear her whining.

She sighed before sitting up and looked at her bags. There were two actually. One was filled with clothes and shoes and all -the smaller one- while the other one was full of sketch books and pencils and paint. She looked around the room before standing up and grabbing her bags. She emptied the contents on her bed -only the one with the clothes, she would never do that to her sketch pads- before stuffing it all in a strange-looking closet next to her bed. As for her art material, she placed everything precautiously on and in the big wooden desk, making sure everything was perfect. Wow, Jace was rubbing off on her. That neat freak...

After everything was put away, she hid her bags under the bed and, taking one of her sketchpad and a pencil, she sat down on the bed.

She was halfway through a roughly made sketch when Jace came to find her for dinner.

XoXoOoXoX

"Okay, you have to admit it, that movie was weird."

"No it wasn't! I thought it was pretty cool. Funny even."

"Yeah, that must be because you're weird too."

"Excuse me?"

Jace laughed. She was so cute when she was mad. They were currently laying on Clary's bed, having finished watching a movie on Jace's laptop which he had received for his 14th birthday. As far as the both of them knew, everyone else was asleep. After all, it was two in the morning, but Jace and Clary couldn't seem to be able to fall asleep yet.

"Oh come on...you know you are...," he said to her, putting away his laptop.

"Yeah, well, I think you're just jealous you're not as awesome as am I," she replied smiling at him before she got under the covers.

"Now, now, baby, don't steal my lines will you?"

Jace could see Clary rolling her eyes from the corner of his eyes as he threw his head back and stretched. She said nothing though, and he thought that was an improvement. Usually, everytime he called her baby, she would get mad at him, saying she didn't want him to call her the same as he called his girlfriends. If only she knew...For him, baby was way too personal for one of his so called girlfriends. Clary was the only one he had ever called like that.

"Jace?"

"What?" he asked, turning toward her.

"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep yet...Can you stay?"

He didn't answer her, he just shut off the lights, lifted the covers and got under, lying beside her. She moved closer to him until she was half on top of him, her head on his stomach and their legs tangled. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.

"Talk to me," Clary whispered.

Jace chuckled, "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know...Just talk..."

Before he could come up with an idea, her head shot up and she stared at him. At least he thought she was looking at him. The room was so dark he could barely see her.

"I know," she said, "You never told me about all those music schools you applied for!"

Jace shook his head, amused, "Yes I did. And I told you I wouldn't know until next summer at last. If I do go to one of them it would be in a year..."

"Oh right...Well I'm sure they will all want you! Only stupid people wouldn't be able to see or hear how talented you are...," she said squeezing him and letting her head fall back to his chest.

She did it again, he thought. Clary had always had that capability to make him completely speechless. She would be the death of him, he was sure of that. He couldn't think about anything else but the way she held him, the pride in her voice, the way he felt about her. He always had strong feelings for her (friendly feelings, of course), always, but sometimes, he felt so happy it hurt. She was his best-friend, they told each other everything, they were each other's rocks.

He ran his hand through her hair and softly, he whispered, "I love you"

He felt her smile against him. She was almost asleep, her breathing evening out.

"I love you," she whispered back.

Ten minutes later, they were both asleep, still holding each other tightly, as though they would never let go.

XoXoOoXoX

"Clary wake up!" she heard Isabelle scream while banging on her bedroom door. She half opened her eyes, reaching to the other side of the bed, but only came across cold sheets. Jace was long gone. No matter how late he went to sleep he was always up at dawn.

"Clary?" she heard Isabelle call her again, "Okay, I'm coming in."

Clary heard her door open and slam against the wall. That was Izzy for you. Always so delicate.

"You do realize what time is it don't you? It's nine already and I want to go to the beach before lunchtime so if you could move your little ass out of bed, I would really appreciate it!"

Clary turned on her stomach and hid her head under her pillow. "Not everyone likes to wake up early Izzy," she groaned, "It's not my fault you're all crazy in this family."

Isabelle sighed and approached the bed. She climbed on it and snatched the pillow away from Clary's face.

"Okay Miss Lazy, I can see reason will not convince you, so what about some good old threat?"

Clary snorted, "Yeah right, you have nothing against me."

"Really," replied Izzy mischievously, "Because I'm pretty sure Jace did not sleep in his own bed last night..."

Clary lifted her head and looked at Isabelle suspiciously. "How do you know that?"

She shrugged, "I have my ways Clary..."

"You're evil," she replied, standing up, "get out of my room so I can change."

Isabelle smiled happily, reached the door and got out. She was going to close it when Clary called her.

"What?"

"All of this is between us right? I mean when you think about it, I have some things on you too and it would really be a shame, if Jonathan heard of them...," Clary told her, smirking.

Isabelle shook her head and without saying anything, she closed the door.

Clary laughed and moved to her closet. She put her swimming suit on, followed by grey sweat pants and an oversized black T-shirt. She was pretty sure it was Jace's. She liked stealing his clothes.

After putting her hair up in a messy bun she walked out of the room and suddenly stopped. How was she going to find the others? She considered calling out, never mind how stupid that would make her feel when she heard people laughing, so she decided to follow the voices.

After five minutes she finally found them, all sitting around the table in the kitchen. Well most of them. Robert and Maryse were nowhere to be seen.

As soon as she walked in everyone turned toward her.

Jace smirked at her, "Sleeping Beauty is finally awake." She ignored that sentence and sat down on the seat next to him.

"Hey sis," Jonathan said, "did you sleep well?"

Before Clary could utter a word, Isabelle laughed, "Oh I'm sure she slept very well..."

Jonathan looked confused, while Clary and Jace were glaring at Isabelle.

"What do you mean Izzy?"

"Nothing, she meant nothing," said Clary really fast, "I slept just fine, the only worry I had was not being able to find the way out on my own, how did you manage?"

Luckily for Jace and Clary, Jonathan dropped it and just answered his sister's question. "I know right? This place is huge... Well Isabelle came to wake me up and then she waited until I was ready to show me the way."

Clary laughed, "Yeah I'm sure she did, right Izzy?", she said, staring right into Isabelle's eyes which widened.

"Okay, what's wrong with you two this morning?" said Jonathan, looking from Isabelle to his sister and back.

Jace laughed and put his arm around Clary's shoulder, "Nothing Jonathan, don't worry they're always like that!"

"Whatever," said Izzy, "I'm going to get ready, everyone better be ready in half an hour." After that she got up and went out of the room.

"Okay then...," said Jonathan still not convinced, "I'll go get ready too then...". He stood up and ruffled Clary's hair before getting out.

Jace and Clary turned toward Alec, who hadn't said a word, his nose in a book. He must have felt he was being watched because he lifted his head up and looked at them. Only then did he seem to realize that almost everyone had left the room. "Fine, I'll go too..." he grabbed his book, a toast from the table and left.

Clary sighed and took a toast too, which she began to eat slowly.

"So? Excited to go to the beach this morning?" asked Jace, stealing her toast and taking a huge bite of it before giving it back to her.

"Yeah! Aren't you?", she asked.

"Sure am. Lots of girls in bikinis, what more could I ask for?" he said laughing.

"Pig," she said quietly, but loudly enough so that he would hear.

"No, I'm a teenage boy, baby."

"Fine, then all teenage boys are pigs," she replied simply.

He rolled his eyes, "Come on, if we're late Isabelle is going to kill us."

"But I'm not finished! And I'm already wearing my swim suit...", she said.

He grabbed her hand anyway, and with his other hand he took a toast and put it in her mouth before leading her to the door, where everyone was waiting for them.

XoXoOoXoX

Ouch!

Izzy was officially crazy. Jace stared at the blood on his arm. His sister had claws which she sharpened precautiously with her pink nail file. Seriously, she could not be human.

Okay he had to admit that he had been the one to start the all thing, it was his fault. Just to tease her, he had brought her with him underwater and after having recovered from her "drowning", she had followed him on the beach and attacked him.

He was getting ready to jump on her when he had felt hands grabbing his arms. Alec was preventing him from moving and Jonathan was doing the same with Isabelle. They let go once they had decided they were calm enough. Then Jonathan walked away to where Clary was laying on her own and Izzy, being the diva she was, went sulking on the pier. She would never change.

Suddenly a voice startled him. "We should go get her. If you don't apologize, she's capable of staying there for days. Not that it would really bother me. As long as she's away she can't ask me to go shopping with her, but I don't think the parents would like that quite so much..."

Poor Alec. Izzy was always torturing him. Our parents never wanted her to go shopping alone. But not because they were afraid something would happen to her, oh no, but because they feared for the well-being of their credit cards! So each time, they asked one of the boys to go with her, to be sure she didn't use all the money. Jace always managed to escape from this duty, saying he had promised Clary to help her with her math homework, so, most of the time, it was Alec who ended up stuck with her for hours.

He was going to answer when he heard someone scream.

Clary!

He turned around quickly, and saw her sitting up in the water, in her black one-piece swimming suit, dripping wet from head to toes and coughing. She had sand all over her,even in her hair, sticking to her skin, her pale legs, her thighs...

Mmmh...What the hell was he thinking about?

He shook his head, and saw Clary screaming at Jonathan who suddenly ran toward her. She turned to run the other way but he caught her around the waist and threw her in the water. Her head popped out of it and she stood up shakily and yelled at her brother again, pointing her finger at him. But even from where he was he could hear that she was doing her best not to laugh.

He heard Alec call him. He was waiting for him to go get Izzy.

After long negociations, he finally convinced his sister to come back with them on the beach. And since his apology wasn't enough to convince her, they made a deal. He was supposed to come with her on her 'shopping afternoons' until the end of summer...

This decision obviously made Alec really happy since he couldn't stop grinning.

When the three of them came back on the beach, there was a group of teenagers who had sat down next to their towels and were talking to their friends.

There were two girls, staring at Jonathan, and another girl with two boys who were talking to Clary.

Jace joined them and learned a few things about them...

He learned that they were approximatively their age and that they were living close to where they were, here on Fire Island, but in the town of Saltaire whereas their house was in Kismet. Apparently, they usually went to the beach in Saltaire but there were too many people so they came here.

The boys and the little girl who were talking to Clary were coming from New Jersey. The tall athletic guy, with his black hair and black eyes, was Brian and he was with his little sister, Sophie. They looked exactly alike. And the other guy, sitting next to Clary, was Brian's best friend, Paul. He also was Brian's neighbor in New Jersey, and his parents had bought the beach house next to Paul's so the two families could spend their vacations together. Paul was shorter than Brian, with hazel eyes and brown hair.

Jace didn't like him. Okay, he was nice...and funny. Too funny actually. He kept making Clary laugh, and it was getting on his nerves.

The two girls, drooling over Jonathan, lived in Connecticut and were cousins. A blond girl with blue eyes, called Samantha and a tall brunette with green eyes called Alexandra (or Alex).

They would have stayed there longer to talk, but their parents were waiting for them. But they were all supposed to meet each other on the beach again this afternoon.

Lunch was a torture. Jonathan kept talking about Samantha, the blond one, saying she was very nice and then winked at Jace while telling him that her cousin, seemed nice too. Isabelle glared at them, getting angrier at each word Clary's brother was saying and went on about Brian, watching Jonathan's reaction. Alec was talking to his parents about the little Sophie and her karate lessons.

But the worst thing for Jace was that the only thing Clary could talk about was Paul. Paul this and Paul that. "Oh it's wonderful, Paul draws too! We'll show each other our drawings!"

Yeah wonderful!

Jace shook his head, trying to forget about the excitment in her eyes everytime she mentioned him and tried to pay attention to what Alec and Jonathan were talking about. They were waiting for the girls to be ready, since they were going to meet Paul and all...

He was going to tell them to hurry up when he heard screams...

"What the hell Izzy? It was a new one, why did you do that?"

"I told you, there was a hole!"

"Of course there is a hole, you just cut it with cisors!"

"There we go again. I did you a favour, and no thank you..."

"Izzy, you cut my bathing suit, which I bought just before coming here and you thought I was going to thank you? Are you crazy?"

They stopped screaming, so the boys didn't hear the rest. Half an hour later, since Izzy had decided now was a good time to paint her nails and put on waterproof mascara, they were finally ready to go. Isabelle joined the boys, wearing a red dress, looking proud of herself and took Alec's arms, pulling him after her. Clary then went out of the house, scowling. She was wearing a white dress, which belonged to Izzy and so was looking huge on her, and made her pale skin and red hair stand out even more. She told Jace she was now wearing a green swim suit, which left her back bare and apparently made her eyes even greener. Izzy had brought it with her, knowing Clary would have picked out a boring one. She then showed him, lifting her dress before letting it fall back down. His eyes widened.

"See? Don't you think it looks stupid on me?" she asked him.

Since he wasn't talking, and was starting to feel weird, he shook his head and placed his arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah so Izzy bothered you again? Don't worry. You know what as soon as we can, I'm buying you an ice-cream! Your favorite...Deal?"

She relaxed a little and even smiled.

Once they arrived at the beach they all jumped in the water, waiting for the others. They arrived shortly after them, and Clary ran out to show Paul her drawings. Having nothing better to do, Jace asked Alex if she wanted to go talk.

She looked like she thought her hip hop classes interested Jace, when he was actually listening to everything Clary and Paul were saying to each other. They seemed to enjoy each other's company. Paul was telling Clary how a new guy in his class had asked "What's that?", while pointing to a palette. They laughed together as Clary put on sun lotion on her arms and then...

Jace's eyes widened when he saw Clary lie down on her stomach and give Paul the bottle of sun lotion and pushed her hair out of the way. He watched as the little prick put the lotion on her and seemed to actually like it.

Jace was going to jump on him and punch him when Alex called him. She had laid down too and took off the top of her swim suit. She pointed at the bottle of lotion next to her and he understood what she wanted. He agreed, without taking his eyes away from Clary and the little ass...

And after that, Alex refused to leave his side all afternoon while he thought about all the ways he could hurt Paul...

XoXoOoXoX

A week and a half later

Jace was going to kill him...

It was inevitable, he thought as he stared at Clary and Paul, sitting really close to each other, across from him. They were laughing quietly, probably at something Paul said.

Of course, Paul is so funny!

Apart from his want to murder the guy, Jace was pretty confused. Ever since he had first met Paul or more likely, ever since Clary had met Paul, he was feeling weird. He could feel the anger bubbling up inside him, threatening to pop at any moment. But why was he feeling that way? Sure he had always been protective of her, it was just the way he was. But never had he ever wanted to hurt someone as much as he wanted to hurt Paul. He just didn't know why. He had tried to talk about it with Alec, to see if it was just him that didn't trust the guy. But the only thing that Alec did was laugh. And then he shook his head at him, a smile still on his lips and said, "Damn dude...Even I could feel this coming from a mile away!", and then he had left, still laughing to himself...

Really helpful...

Clary laughed again, and Jace tightened his fists under the table.

Not only did he have to put up with the little bastard every single afternoon, he also had to see him on the evening too!

All the parents, knowing that their children spent every moment together on the beach, had decided to all have dinner together this evening. At the Lightwood's beach house...No matter how much Jace had begged his mother to tell everyone he was sick, she had glared at him and told him that he had better be there. He couldn't wait for this vacation to be over. Only four more days to go!

But for now there he was, stuck between Alex and Jonathan, having to watch Paul all over his bestfriend. He caught Alec smiling at him and then he mouthed something to him. Jace took a moment to figure out what it was, and when he did he glared at Alec who smiled again and kept on talking to little Sophie, who was sitting just beside him, at the end of the table.

Jealous.

Jealous? Hell no!

He was definitely not jealous. How could he be? She was his friend, just his friend, right ? He had no right to be jealous. He was just pissed. Pissed because she was spending less time with him than she used to, and looked at Paul with happiness and admiration, that's all. He was pissed because Paul seemed to like her a lot, and wouldn't stop touching her. Innocent gestures, mind you, but still. Jace wanted to rip his hands off and scare him off so bad he would never come near her ever again. He was pissed because she seemed so relaxed with Paul, he felt he was losing her.

Crap, he was jealous...

He couldn't believe he—

"Jace?" he heard the nasal voice of Alex call him. She was so clingy. Honestly, he had spent one afternoon with her and now she wouldn't leave him alone.

"What?" he replied, letting some of his annoyance creep into his voice. If she heard it, she didn't show it and just continued to smile sweetly at him.

"Do you think we could go take a walk after dinner? Just the two of us?"

He groaned and told her he was busy after dinner. She looked disappointed and a little hurt, but he didn't really care. It was not his fault she couldn't see he was not interested. He turned toward Jonathan who had just elbowed him. Jace looked at him and raised his eyebrows, waiting for Jonathan to say something. He looked confused.

"Why did you say no to Alex?"

Jace merely shrugged.

"Come on man she seems to like you, are you crazy ?"

"No, I don't care that's all. Why would I spend time with her when I can't even stand the sound of her voice?" Jace whispered, aware of the fact that Alex was still sitting next to him.

"Okay, you really are crazy..."

"Well you're blind," said Jace, "Which is worst?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You think I'm crazy because I don't want to make Alex think I like her, which would hurt her when she would realize the truth, whereas you're so blind that you can't even see that your behaviour is hurting somone else!" Jace said, raising his voice at the end of the sentence. He was then suddenly aware of the silence around the huge white wooden table. Everyone was staring at them. Even the parents, who were all sitting together, looked at him curiously. His eyes moved toward Izzy who seemed to have understood what he was talking about and sent him a threatening look while crossing her arms. He winced when he realized he had almost told Jonathan his sister's secret.

"What is it Jace?" asked his mother from the other end of the table, where she was sitting next to Robert, her hand in his.

"Nothing," he replied quietly, "never mind."

His parents looked suspiciously at him one more time and started talking with Brian and Sophie's parents.

Jace sighed and looked over at Clary, who had gone back to talking to Paul. He caught Isabelle's gaze and they shared a small smile. After all, he thought, they were in the same situation. No, no they were not, he reminded himself. Isabelle was in love with Jonathan (at least that's what she said). Not the same right? Clary is your best friend, he said to himself, repeating it over and over again.

Best friend.

Best friend!

He saw Isabelle narrow her eyes at Jonathan and Jace followed her gaze. Jonathan was beside Samantha and was whispering something in her ear while she giggled. He looked at Izzy again, who now had a hurt look on her face. But it disappeared quickly and she looked determined. She then turned toward Brian, sitting on her right and started talking to him, flirting shamelessly.

Oh God, he thought. This would not end well...

He looked at Alec who was shaking his head at his sister, looking shocked, as if he had never imagined his sister acting like this. Jace was shocked too, but knew it would have happened sooner or later. Everybody could see she liked Jonathan (except Jonathan of course) and he knew she would do anything to make him notice her, even trying to make him jealous. What was too bad though, was that this Brian guy seemed really nice, much more than Paul.

Damn it!

He had to stop thinking about him and Clary, or he could really try to hurt him...

But as soon as he had said it to himself, his eyes went back to Clary, almost against his will. She was laughing again (Was she doing it on purpose now?), and so was Paul. He was smiling down at her and then slowly reached out and ran his hand through her hair. And she blushed. Seeing that Paul chuckled and kissed her cheek. Who the hell did he think he was?

Okay, Jace was going to explode and Paul was going to get very very hurt. Or so he hoped anyway.

Alec was looking at him with worry, he could feel it, but stubbornly chose to ignore him. He was fine. It was Paul who wasn't going to be if he won't stop touching her.

But of course that didn't happen. He just kept playing with her hair and Clary kept on blushing.

After another few minutes of watching Paul flirt with Clary, he couldn't hold back anymore. So he glared at Paul and Clary and snapped at them, "Are you guys fine here or do you want us to show you where the bedroom is?"

Jace had spoken quietly enough so that the parents, still engrossed in what surely was a deeply fascinating conversation didn't hear, but all the others did. Alec muttered "Oh no" while putting his head between his hands.

"I'm sorry?" answered Paul, raising his eyebrows.

"Jace what are you doing?" asked Clary. She looked as if she couldn't believe how rude he was acting.

"Yeah, you're right Clary, I shouldn't have said anything, I'm sorry," he started to say, not the least bit sorry, and when Paul started smiling, obviously believing his fake apology he continued, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind taking you on the table in front of everyone, no matter how young you are." This time he had said it loud enough, for everyone to hear. The adults gasped.

"Jace, what the hell?" said Jonathan.

Jace ignored him. He knew he shouldn't have said that, but he couldn't stop himself. Paul's smile had dropped and he looked shocked.

Clary, on the other hand, was furious.

"Jace, are you out of your mind? Oh my God, I can't believe you just said that. Are you stupid? If you only talk to say those kind of things, then keep them to yourself and shut up!"

Jace froze. She had never spoken so harshly to him, they hardly ever fought. But, right now, in her eyes, he could see her anger and humilation. And it hurt. He was sure everyone could feel the tension between them.

He closed his eyes. He didn't know what to do. He still felt angry and hurt, but he couldn't move. Nobody was talking, and yet he couldn't think, his heart beating so fast he thought everyone could hear it. When he opened his eyes, he saw Jonathan look back and forth between his sister and him. Then Jace looked up and his and Clary's gaze met. He could see tears in her eyes and it broke him. He couldn't stay there anymore. He stood up quickly, startling everyone, and with one last look in Clary's direction, he turned around and walked.

With each step he took he walked faster. At the time he reached the beach he was running, running as if he would never stop, as if it was the only thing that would keep him from breaking down. All the anger, all the resentment he had felt toward Paul seemed to pour out of him as he ran.

When, finally out of breath, he sat down on the sand, he was feeling...nothing...

He was empty.

XoXoOoXoX

Angry.

That's how she was feeling as she watched Jace walk away. She stared at his back until he disappeared in the dark. She sighed.

Nobody was talking. Or moving for that matter, as if even the slightest noise would create a fight.

The parents were sitting there awkwardly, clearly lost, not knowing what to make of the situation. Robert and Maryse were staring at each other, having some kind of silent conversation. Robert shrugged and looked down at his plate.

Clary lowered her head. Her hands were pale, but then, they always were. And they were shaking. She tightened them into fists, willing herself not to be weak in front of everybody.

She raised her head when she felt eyes on her. It was Jonathan and she could see a question in his eyes. What was that about?

She didn't know. Well she could see that Jace didn't like Paul, that much was obvious. But what she didn't get was why. He didn't know him, nor had he really tried to get to know him. Ever since they had met him and his friends, Jace had been avoiding them. Avoiding her, actually. Even on the nights, he did everything he could not to be with her alone. And it hurt. A lot. Not talking to him, or be close to him hurt. What he had said to her tonight had been the first sentence he had said to her in a week...

She thought it was stupid. Paul was really nice and funny and so sweet. They had a lot in common, shared the same interests. He told her lots of awesome stories about him, about his friends and family. And he hadn't done anything bad. He was just nice to everyone around him. So what was Jace's problem? And what had she done, for him to be so angry?

She closed her eyes, thinking that maybe it hadn't happened. Jace hadn't said those offensive things and she had not yelled at him. In her mind he deserved it but still no matter how much she was angry at him, she couldn't help but feel guilty and she hated it. She had a right to be angry. But still, there she was, hoping everything had just been a dream.

Maybe if—

"Why was the blond boy mad?" Sophie's quiet voice startled everyone. She had her head cocked to one side, some strands of her black hair falling in front of her eyes. She was looking questionably up at Alec, unaware of the silence. Alec shrugged, "I don't know Soph," but as he said it, he was staring at Clary. And it was enough to anger her further.

She glared at him and stood up quickly. She made her way to the beach, ignoring her brother and Izzy's voices that were calling after her.

She slowed down once she reached it and took off her shoes. Taking them in one hand, she started walking again along the shore. She took a deep breath. She didn't know why, but ever since they arrived here, the sea had always been able to calm her. It made her feel peaceful.

"Clary!" without turning around, she knew who it was. Her brother's voice and his footsteps were becoming louder and louder as he approached. She felt his hand grab her arm, stopping her.

"Will you look at me?"

She stubbornly turned her head the other way when he placed himself just in front of her.

"Okay, really mature Clary..."

He took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. He looked worried and a part of her secretely liked that he cared about her. When her mom and her had moved thousands of miles away from him, she had had this fear that he would forhet all about her, that they would lose what they had. She smiled sadly at him and shook her head. She knew what he wanted to talk about, but she wasn't sure she could even say his name without screaming in frustration or bursting into tears.

Jonathan's eyes softened and he took her hand. "You know you'll have to talk things through with him, right?"

"I know...," she answered and cursed internally when her voice came out uneven.

"What happened between the two of you?"

She shrugged. In a way she really didn't understand, but then she started to wonder if—

"You really have no idea?" he continued, "It seems like—"

But she cut him off, replying angrily.

"Yes, I really don't know, but if you think you're so smart, then why don't you figure it out and enlighten me?"

He rolled his eyes, clearly not impressed, and brought her closer to him.

"Okay, I suggest you calm down first."

"I don't want to calm down, I want to know what the hell is going on," she snapped at him.

He put up his hands in a defensive manner.

"Hey, don't take it out on me, I didn't do anything to you!"

Not to me you didn't, but that doesn't mean you're not hurting someone, she thought.

She sighed, "I'm sorry."

"S'okay."

Clary started walking again and Jonathan followed her, his arm now around her shoulder/

"Are you okay?" after a few minutes of silence.

"I guess," she replied.

"Okay so you're really not."

She slapped his shoulder and he laughed, "You're so easy to read Clary."

"I am not!" she exclaimed indignantly. "What makes you say that, you don't—"

She abruptly stopped and Jonathan almost bumped into her.

He was there, laying on the sand, staring up at the sky. From the corner of her eye, she saw her brother follow her gaze and frown. He then slid his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand.

She closed her eyes and squeezed back. When she decided to open them again, he had not moved, but she knew that he knew they were there as his body was tensed. But he didn't turn toward them.

She didn't know what to do. She wanted to run to him and try to understand what had happened, why he acted the way he had. But on the other hand she wanted to go the opposite way and hide under her bed, no matter how weak and immature that would made her look like. Hesitation was still running through her when she felt her brother's hand on the small of her back, urging her forward. She looked back, and Jonathan offered her a small smile. "Go". She nodded, fear growing inside her, which was ridiculous. Jace was her friend. Her best friend. So why was she so scared? She wasn't going to lose him over one stupid fight. Okay practically their first fight, at least the first important one. But it doesn't mean it will damage their relationship, right? Because she couldn't take it, she knew she couldn't. He meant more to her than anyone else. She shook her head. Everything will be alright. She hadn't realized she had started walking until she was just in font of him. Jace. He was laying, staring at the sky. Neither of them moved, barely breathing. Things had never been awkward between them. They had always been able to tell each other anything. Finally when she felt she couldn't take the silence between them anymore, Jace raised his hand and their gazes met. She took it, almost without thinking about it, intertwining their fingers. She laid next to him, their shoulders touching, but still no one said a word. The sand was warm under them, even if the temperature had dropped considerably since the sun had set.

"I'm sorry." Jace's voice was only a whisper. He squeezed her hand. She turned her head toward him and realized that he had done the same, their faces only inches apart. He looked apologetic. She realized then, that none of the anger she had previously felt remained. As if only seeing him calmed her down. "I'm really sorry Clary." And she believed him. Of course she did. She just didn't understand why.

"I know"

He didn't say anything. His eyes were searching hers, maybe wondering what she was really feeling. She moved closer to him, resting her head in the crook of his neck. His arm went around her, hugging her sideways.

"Jace?", she whispered against him. He shivered and held her tighter.

"Yes?"

"Will you just tell me one thing?"she asked.

He sighed. "I don't think you really want to hear the answer, Clary."

Trust him to know what she wanted to ask without her actually having to ask it. She raised her head, pulled her hand out of his and glared down at him.

"Try me!"

Jace looked back at the sky and let out a long sigh. He said nothing for a couple of minutes before taking a deep breath. He spoke slowly and calmly, as if he didn't quite know what to say which, coming from Jace, was a huge shock.

"I don't like him. Since the first day. In a way, it would have been easier if he had acted badly towards you. I would have had a real reason to hate him. But he...he's a great guy! He's nice, maybe one of the nicest guy I've met, and he's funny, generous, responsible and caring..." Jace stopped mid-sentence and he seemed to hesitate. But he finally added looking annoyed, "good-looking even."

Clary's jaw dropped. Jace, the beautiful Jace was doubting his own looks? Was it going to start snowing? In August?

"Well not as good-looking as I am, of course, but not bad."

Okayn she was relieved. Jace was still Jace, and still vain. And Clary was still lost, trying to understand where he was going with his monologue.

"All right," she said, "you understood that I was wondering why you were always angry with Paul, but that's not really a reason you gave me here Jace."

Jace sat up, and she followed. But he was looking the other way, so she couldn't see his face. He waited again before muttering, "I'm jealous."

"What?"

"I'm jealous of Paul!"

"Oh, then I had heard what you said. Could you say it just once more so I could record it? Isabelle and Alec will never believe me otherwise."

He smiled faintly but didn't answer.

"And could you explain to me why the Oh So Beautiful Jace could possibly be jealous?"

"Oh come on, I'm not as conceited as you apparently think. And anyway, it's not so much jealousy as it it...fear I guess..."

"You know, it doesn't change that much...fear and jealousy are both feelings that are foreign to you..."

"Stop it Clary, I'm serious. The thing is I'm scared of losing you! From the moment I saw you crying on the bench in the park I have been scared of losing you, scared of you leaving me. And I promised I would never let you go, that you would never be alone anymore. But I'm the only one who actually promised that."

Clary froze at his words. She was shocked by the violence with which he just spoke and by how hurt he looked. He was shaking, his arms on his knees, and now staring at the sand.

She laughed humorlessly, shaking her head and it made Jace look up, confused.
"You...", she started, "Wow, you..." She couldn't even finish her sentence, his accusations running in her mind. How could he say something like that? How could he be so stupid?
"You've got to be kidding me," she finally said.
His eyebrows raised and he looked even more lost, "I'm sorry?" he asked in a low voice.
She put her hands in her hair, still shaking it.
"I can't believe you said that..."
"I..."
"I mean", she went on, ignoring his attempt to speak, "I thought you trusted me..."
"I do," he said, trying to grab her hand, "But Clary..."
"I thought you knew how much you meant to me..."
He closed his eyes, "Clary...I..."
She felt tears form in her eyes and wiped them. That was why he had been ignoring her all this time? Why he had been acting so weird?
"Don't cry," she suddenly felt him whisper.

She looked up, he was much closer now and his eyes were opened again. He took her head in his hand and their foreheads touched. He was tugging strands of her hair gently. And she couldn't stop herself anymore. She threw her arms behind his neck and crushed him against her, hugging him as tightly as she could. He hugged her back, one of his hand behind her neck and the other now wrapped around her waist.
"I...I can't lose you Jace, I really can't..."
"Shhh..." he whispered against her ear. "I know...I'm sorry I acted the way I did and...I shouldn't have doubted you. I know you and..." he didn't finish his sentence but she knew what he wanted to say.
She slightly turned her head to the right and kissed his cheek. "I can't ever let you go either Jace. Remember that."

15