A/N: Feeling overwhelmed has not passed. So happy you guys like it so far! I'm hoping nobody minds that this chapter is longer and the updates after will probably be too as well. Infinite thank you's to those who reviewed, favorited & alerted! Thank you for starting this story on a great note. The other A/N and replies will be at the bottom.

Once the exhilaration of seeing each other passed, Clary and Jace realized that they were fiercely hugging someone whom they barely knew. They let go of each other instantaneously and stepped away, finally getting a good look at one another. They were no longer the children that used to throw temper tantrums and have food fights together.

They were two 22-year-olds who only had remnants of what they used to see in each other. Clary's green eyes were the same but her red hair had gotten darker, warmer. Her cheeks were no longer chubby like they were when she was eight and Jace used to pinch them to annoy her. Jace no longer had the big round eyes that tricked people into thinking he was innocent but his gaze had hardened over time, becoming intense. His hallowed in cheeks and strong jaw were a far cry from the Jace that used to puff out his cheeks so Clary could push them together, making air come out in a rush. They stared, comparing the differences from when they last saw each other, realizing that the feeling was comparable to an out of body experience of seeing yourself in the future. The reality of missing a chunk of each other's lives came hard and fast and they almost cheered when Jonathan came over and pulled Jace into a hug.

Jace looked over Jon's shoulder as the two embraced. He couldn't take his eyes off Clary and she in return, gave him a slight closed-mouth smile with friendly eyes and an incline of her head down. Jon broke their hug by holding Jace out by his shoulders, taking a look at him, saying something along the lines of 'Well, look how grown up Jacey-poo is!'. Clary looked down at her shoes for a moment and Jace looked away, grinning wide at Jon once he used the obnoxious nickname. Jace glanced at Clary, who was walking over to greet Stephen. He knew their moment of forgetting was over and he gulped as the thought of her hating him came back to his mind.

When Clary walked away from her brother and Jace, the question of how to react to him re-entered her mind and made everything else foggy. She was giving Stephen a hug and he was commenting on how beautiful and grown up she was but all she could think about was how to act around Jace. Was she supposed to act like they were the same as they were as children? Was she supposed to act if there was a time of their lives that they didn't talk at all and only harbored ill feelings towards each other? Was she supposed to pretend that he didn't say things to her that completely altered the way she acted and saw the world?

Clary turned around and made immediate eye contact with him. He was still staring at her despite the fact that she could hear Jonathan chatting with him. Even though he looked different from what she was used to, she could still see the boy she used to know. She could still feel his tight hug that made it seem like there wasn't a day they hadn't hugged in eleven years. It was familiar, he was familiar and she couldn't lie to herself into thinking otherwise. But she also noticed that there was a different, unsettling feeling between them and it wasn't time that created it. Furrowing her eyebrows very slightly, Clary noticed the broadness of his shoulders and the way he was now the same height as Jonathan. She noticed the golden in his eyes in a way that was definitely different from the eyes she saw when they played staring contests. A part of her wanted to know him again, a part of her understood why girls around the world were starting to notice and fawn over him. Clary's younger self was screaming at her to deny Jace but Clary was walking towards him with a smile and the urge to hug him again. She had missed him, she couldn't deny it. And they still were comfortable with each other to an extent; their hug was a confirmation of that. Clary fought back with the voice of her younger self scolding her and she told the voice that she had moved on and grown up. Clary silenced the voice with finality with a resounding 'shut up'.

Jace sat down, the sound of leaves crinkling beneath him and he watched as Jon leaned back, his hands planted firmly into the ground. Clary sat down with grace and was sitting Indian style.

"I can't even get over how grown up you look," Jonathan said, with a smile. He hadn't stopped smiling. "You look better in person than in the magazines. Although you look quite hunky in pictures too."

Jace laughed and couldn't help but notice that Clary hadn't spoken yet. She was laughing along but every time she looked at him, she looked down quickly to break eye contact. She didn't look upset, Jace was grateful for that. Then he realized that she was being shy – it was something he never saw towards himself but he always saw her be shy with people that they used to be meeting often when their parents brought them along for business. Usually he was the one to pull her out of her shyness but he shifted uncomfortably realizing he was the one she was apprehensive against.

"You look quite hunky yourself," Jace said. "You look very distinguished."

"I'm 24-years-old, I should look something," Jonathan said then looked to Clary. "Our baby girl Clarissa just turned 22 a couple days ago."

"I know," Jace said, matter-of-factly. He looked at Clary. "Happy belated birthday."

"Thank you very much. I feel like the Taylor Swift song," She responded and he looked surprised.

"You don't have an accent anymore," He pointed out and she looked immediately to Jon as if it was habit. Jace remembered distinctly when it was him she looked to for comfort.

"It slips every now and then," Jon shared.

"It took a while to get a hang of it," Clary said, sheepishly.

"Why did you stop your English accent?" Jace asked. "I believe Americans love European accents, yes?"

"Yes, very much so," Clary said, amused at his genuine concern. "I just," She shrugged a little. "Decided not to have an accent once we settled here in New York."

"She wanted to blend in," Jon said, sitting forward now and slouching as he reached for a leaf to play with. Following his lead, the other two grabbed one to help with their nerves. "She also went to middle school instead of continuing home schooling." Jon looked at Jace. "You remember her need for normalcy, don't you?"

"Of course," Jace responded, softly. He looked from Clary to Jonathan and couldn't help but stare. The angles of Jon's face and his hair reminded him so much of their father when he was younger. Jace wondered if it painfully reminded Luke and Jocelyn of Valentine.

"How is it being famous, Jacey?" Jonathan asked, filling in the silence he knew Jace and Clary wouldn't break. He was always the most outgoing and talkative of the three. Jace had his charm but only used it if he wanted something. Clary had hers hidden and used it so subtlety that sometimes she didn't even know she was using it. Jonathan knew, when the other two were too young to realize, that they were children to be weary of. Good looks and charm for manipulation made him feel bad for anyone new that took care of them. Their parents and the ones they knew for a long time were the only people who saw past their big eyes and sweet words.

"It's strange," Jace admitted. "I don't know if I'm quite famous, just on the brink." He paused. "Well, at least in America."

"Yeah, I'd say a little past the brink," Clary said, pointing her chin towards Raphael and Bat, who sat two benches away from Jocelyn, Stephen and Luke. It was far enough to let them have some privacy but close enough that if they needed to be there in an instant, they would.

Jace smiled at her remark and because he could see her shyness start to peel away. "Well, yes. It just feels like I've stepped into our parents shoes instead of watching them go through it."

"Do you enjoy it?" Clary asked, sincerely.

"I do," Jace said, after a moment of thought. "I didn't think this is what I wanted but I've turned out to be good at it, so."

"Good," Clary responded, with a nod. "As long as you love it, that's what matters. Doesn't make it so .." She searched for the word.

"Difficult?" Jace finished.

"Yes," Clary said, with a smile. "Difficult."

"How have you two been?" Jace asked. He looked at Clary and Jonathan, who looked at each other again, the way siblings do in telepathic understandings. "I mean, we can't cover all the years but…" Jace's word drifted off.

"Well, Clary graduated in May from Columbia," Jonathan started.

'Congratulations,' Jace mouthed to Clary as to not interrupt Jonathan. Clary responded with a silent 'thank you'.

"Her friend Simon did too and we're all in this band," Jonathan said, making a face at how douchey it sounded when he said the words out loud. "We all decided to focus on it and put all our efforts into it, just to see where it takes us."

"Yeah, before we face the world of Public Relations and Agents," Clary joined in.

"We do have possible jobs in a PR firm waiting for us if we'd like them, so we're just," Jonathan let the tore up leaf fall from his palm to the ground. "Ending this part of our lives with a bang."

"A band," Jace said, with a smirk. He was nodding, looking down. "You are lead singer, I presume?" He asked, looking up at Jonathan, who grinned. "You play the drums?" He asked, directing his gaze on Clary.

She laughed. "No, but I see how you can think that." She knew they were both thinking of the times that Clary used to bang on pots inside the tour bus they would reside in saying that when she grew up she wanted to be like her mom, who 'rocked'. Jocelyn dominated on the drums and he remembered Clary air drumming every night they watched their parents perform from the side of the stage.

"Clary is our everything," Jonathan said. "She manages us, she draws our flyers and coordinates our agendas. We run because of her."

"I'm their mom," Clary summed up, folding the leaf in her fingers. "They really created a good crowd this month. They just broke past 150 people at the last show. Almost 200 possibly."

"What's your name?" Jace asked.

"The Elite Four," Jonathan told him. "Like in Pokemon. We're made up of socialites and a nerd from Brooklyn. It was the only one that we agreed upon that made sense. I'm still a firm believer that we should combine the names of Morgenstern - morning star and Lightwood."

"What name was that?"

"Morningwood," Clary told Jace and he burst into laughter and she joined him. "I thought it was great. Isabelle vetoed it though." Jace's laughter faded and he decided not to ask who Isabelle was.

"We have a show tomorrow night if you're still going to be around or aren't busy," Jonathan said and Jace looked over at him.

"That'd be great. Um," Jace said, looking back at Raphael and Bat out of habit. The top of his teeth hooked onto his bottom lip while he tried to figure out what he was doing the next day. He was so used to Maia being around to tell him his schedule. "I mean, I have –"

"The Today Show," Clary finished for him.

Jace spun forward to face her. "Yeah."

She smiled at him and he could see in her eyes that she was proud of him.

"Crazy," She whispered.

He pressed his lips together tightly. "Yeah, I know."

"Well, I'll be watching."

"I can't believe you straddled this guy in the park," Isabelle said, pointing at her laptop screen while she was sprawled on her bed, laying on her stomach on top of her lavender silk bed comforter. "He is so hot, honestly. I don't know how you can't see it no matter how close you two were."

Clary rolled her eyes, browsing through Isabelle's closet. "I wasn't straddling him," Clary said and pulled out a black moto leather jacket, holding it up for Isabelle to see.

"Borrow it." Isabelle waved her hand. "I know you have a lack of black clothes in your closet," Isabelle said, sarcastically and Clary scrunched her nose for a second. Black was eighty percent of Clary's closet. Isabelle always said that the day she got Clary to start wearing name brand clothes was a revolution because if she was going to stick to one main color, or to dark colors in general, she could at least still be fabulous doing it. "Clarissa."

Clary turned around to face Isabelle, who was sitting up now. Isabelle only used her full name when she was being serious or Clary was wearing something she didn't approve of.

"Isabelle," Clary replied, using the same tone as she sat in the silver French vintage love seat that Isabelle had in her room.

Isabelle narrowed her eyes at Clary's mockery. "Stop refusing to explain this to me. Are you sure you don't want to tell him how you feel?"

"I feel nothing over our lack of communication," Clary said, simply.

"Your pre-teen self would slap you for that."

"I know, that's why I've silenced her."

"See," Isabelle pointed. "A part of you is still hurting over it. You need closure."

"I'm not hurting," Clary said, defensively. "I was eleven when this happened. I should be moved on. I am moved on, Isabelle."

"If someone I cared about told me those words at this point of my life, I'd still be hurt."

Clary's shoulders fell inward a little. "Izzy, I really don't want to talk to him about it. He's leaving in a couple days. He will disappear into the world and fall into a pool of fan girls and life will go on as normal." Clary looked off as if she was imagining it.

"But your families had such a nice time together today, what if this is more than just some reunion?"

"How is it going to pass more than a couple days of reuniting?" Clary sat up now, at the edge of the love seat. "His father still lives in London, he's on the fast track to being internationally famous and we're just a family living in Brooklyn, who should just live in Manhattan because we're here every day."

Isabelle's head pulled back. "You would move out of your place?"

"No, never. I love our home." Clary shot her a dirty look.

"Okay, anyway," Isabelle shook away the topic change. "What if-"

"Isabelle, I don't want it to be more than a reunion. You don't want your best friend card revoked from you, do you?"

Isabelle raised an eyebrow. "Excuse you, we are sisters."

"Fine, from Simon."

"Clarissa-"

"Isabelle," Clary said, standing up. "Ignorance is bliss and expressing my younger self's devastation is ... a waste of time. He is leaving in approximately three nights, two and a half days and then is off into the night in a red-eye flight. My pre-pubescent self can understand why my current self wouldn't want to air out those feelings, right? She would understand why I just needed to keep it to myself for our families to enjoy their short time together with no problems. She would get that, right?" Isabelle stared at her. "I just feel like talking about the past is going to make this more complicated than it has to be."

"You are being stubborn."

"I learned it from you," Clary said, sweetly.

Isabelle analyzed her for a moment, trying to see if Clary was lying that she was okay with it. "I guess."

"Next time you try to get me to join you in a dangerous plan, I'm gonna say 'I guess'."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Fine. Well, whatever your heart decides to do, I'll be here to pick up the pieces or I'll be ready with glasses of champagne in celebration for you when he leaves."

"Thank you. I love you. You are my heart and soul," Clary said, with a nod.

"Whatever. You're welcome."

A/N: It's going to be a little longer before what happened between Clary and Jace is revealed but I hope you guys enjoy them getting used to each other in the mean time. Also, no worries, I haven't forgotten about the parents, they'll have their time too. How did you guys like the chapter? Them fighting through the awkwardness? Isabelle/Clary's sistership? Please continue with the story love and let me know what you think :) Reviews & feedback, please!

Shout out to roobear608, Ramanaddict, Guest, Daire123, xSweetSouthx, Guest (Cici), tati1327, imcrazyanditscontagious, blushingfangirl, LOVERGIRL, monikako2010 and lindsayhonaker! You're all amazing. I'll be replying to you in a PM very soon if you aren't thanked below. As my only warning - a million thank you's, a smiley face and exclamation points will be given often and always.

Ramanaddict: Thank you for your review! I really appreciate that you complimented me on my writing, it means a lot to me that you enjoy it. Hope you liked the Clace moments just as much in this chapter!

Guest: Thank you for your review! I wanted the moment that they saw each other to be an important part in the story and to just be able to show by actions how close they were when they were young :)

Daire123: Thank you for your review! I love that you told me the very things that you liked about the chapter. Definitely don't be sorry about asking about their ages! I hadn't made it clear and I realized if there wasn't a calculator with the reader, the ages that I did write in, it would be hard to figure out how old they were. I made sure to add their ages, at least the kids, in this chapter. So thank you for pointing it out! Thank you so much for your kind words, they're extremely motivating for me to write well and update quickly :)

Guest (Cici): Thank you for your review! I'm trying hard to do right to the story and awesome readers, like yourself, so I'm very glad it shows and that you reviewed what you did to me! The pressure is on but it's a great kind, lol.

LOVERGIRL: Thank you so much for your review! I hope you liked the new chapter :)