So sorry I haven't been updating, I've been finishing one of my original novels. As I always say, original novels first, fanfics second.

This story won't be frequently updated, but I will continue it. The updates will probably become more frequent after school ends (Yay!) which will be in June.

Hope you enjoy it!

Over and out,

L.C.

~*Theme Song*~

Don't Panic: Coldplay

"Oh, all that I know there's nothing here to run from.

Cause yet everybody here's got somebody

To lean on."

I sat at the edge of my bed in my room, trying not to bite my nails in anticipation. I had needed to see Jace the entire morning, but Linda wouldn't let me check in on him until 8:00, which confused me.

I was jittery and hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, thoughts racing through my head nonstop. I still couldn't stop thinking about it.

I looked over at the digital clock, and it read 8:06. Leaping from my bed, I left my room in a hurry, my feet taking me exactly where I needed to without even having to think.

When I got to his room, the door was left ajar. I wondered why and entered the room without thinking anything more of it, and suddenly knew why.

Jace was being restrained to his bed with leather ankle and wrist straps that held him down by the bedposts. When he saw me, his face lit up, and my heart crumpled.

"Jace!" I raced over to the side of the bed. "What happened?"

"Those good for nothing doctors put me here!" he tried to sit up, but failed. "They think I'm insane Clary! You have to tell them different!" his eyes were distant, but pleading. He tried to yank his wrists free, but failed, falling back onto his bed.

"Jace, I'm sorry but I can't help you." I swallowed back the nervousness that was creeping up on me. "You're here for a reason, now could you tell me?" my voice was strangely calm, and I didn't know where it had come from.

He shook his head in distress. "I don't even know why I'm here! You tell me Clary, you tell me what that file said!"

My breath caught in my throat. How could he know about the file?

"Tell me Jace," I said in the same eerily calm voice I had used before. "Because of you don't you may not have a chance of getting out of here."

He looked up at me with saddened eyes. "They said, I would be better here. They said, I could be normal here. They said, I would be free of the charges they had against me if I agreed to be put here! They lied!" he shouted. "Now I'm just one of them, I'm just one of the insane, the lost, and the psychotic. I've become one of them." A tear spilled down one of his cheeks. "I don't want to be like them, because I'm not!" he was sobbing by now and I felt horrible for bringing this on him.

"You don't have to be Jace, if you show them you're not maybe you'll be able to leave." I swallowed. "What were the charges they had against you?"

"They thought I killed someone." He looked past me, out the window. "They thought I hurt Max. But I didn't! I would never hurt Max! That kid is like my brother and I would never lay a finger on him!"

"Jace, it's alright." I reached up to touch his face, my fingers stroking his soft cheek. "You don't have to talk about it anymore, I promise."

He looked over at me, pressing his cheek into my palm. "Clary, you're different. Different than the others."

I sighed. Not this again. "Why am I different?"

"Because you understand. I can see it in your eyes, you understand. The others just thought I was like them. You can at least see me for something different, and I like that about you." A small smile played across his lips.

The P.A. came on, Linda's voice ringing out over the loudspeaker. "Would Clarissa Fray please come to the front and escort a visitor for Mr. Morgenstern? It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you." She signed off and Jace looked over at me.

"I think I know who that is." He said.

A girl about my age with long, flowing black hair stood near the front desk with a black trench coat on and a scowl on her face.

"Clarissa, this is Isabelle Lightwood. She has come to see Jonathon." Linda said, Isabelle looking over at me with a disconcerting look.

I led Isabelle to Jace's room, the entire time neither one of us speaking. This girl was intense; it came off her in waves. Exactly the kind of person I wouldn't hang out with.

I opened the door to Jace's room and she entered without hesitation, I followed timidly.

Isabelle sat by the edge of the bed, pulling a chair up. I stood off in the corner to give them some sort of privacy.

Isabelle burst into tears, something I hadn't expected. Jace sat up, letting her lean on his shoulder.

"Alec's gone." She sobbed. "He left us, why would he leave us?" her body shuddered and shook as she cried and Jace just sat there awkwardly.

Isabelle sat back in her own chair. "Is Max alright?"

Jace nodded, his eyes flickering over to me for some reason.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just, I had to come and tell you. I knew it would be hard to take, but I just thought you should know considering he was like your brother—"

"He is my brother." Jace corrected.

"Yeah, he is." Isabelle looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry to have bothered you, I'll be leaving now if you don't mind." She got up and made her way to the door, leaving without another word.

Jace looked up at me with sad eyes. "What's wrong with me?" he asked. "Why should I deserve this? A life where I can't be around my family? Where I can only have brief visits to know the most recent family tragedy? Clary, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever had to drag you into this."

"Jace, it's not your fault." I said. "I got hired and assigned to you randomly. Plus, I don't mind being dragged into this. I really don't." I walked over to him and sat down in the chair that Isabelle had been sitting in. My hand lingered at his cheek as a tear slipped out of his eye, my thumb wiping it away.

He pressed his cheek into my palm, a few more tears leaking out of his eyes. His eyes closed and he swallowed slowly. He looked back up at me, and did something I had never expected.

He made a great effort of leaning forward to meet my lips, considering he was tied to the bed. His lips met mine softly, like the brush of a feather. He pulled away slowly, looking me in the eyes with his head cocked sideways like a bird.

"Jace…you shouldn't have done that. You really shouldn't have done that." My logical mind was telling me it was completely wrong. But somewhere inside me, it felt right. I shook my head and abruptly stood up from my chair, leaving for the door.

Jace's hand caught at mine before I could leave. I turned around to look at him. He had somehow gotten his hand out of the leather restraint and had grabbed for my wrist.

He was so underweight that I could prominently see the bones in his wrist. The medical bracelet he had on was much too big and there were bruises around his wrist area from trying to get out of the leather restraint. His fingernails were bitten down to bloody stumps, proving how stressed he really was.

This sight caught me off guard and I gave in, sitting down on the edge of the bed. His hand still gripped my wrist tightly, telling me he didn't want me to leave for a while.

"You're very different Clarissa." He said. "You're not like the others."

I nodded, still looking down at his wrist.

"I wish you could understand," He said quietly. "why I do this. I wish you could see me as something other than one of the patients here. I wish— I wish you could feel the same way about me that I feel about you."

"How is it you feel about me?" I was not talking directly from my mind; I was talking from my heart. The words spilled out before I could even know what I was going to say.

Jace turned my hand over in his, tracing the lines in my palm. "I love you Clary, and you know it. You've known it this whole time!" he shouted. "I know you feel the same way but you won't admit it!"

I stayed silent, wrenching my hand out of his.

I finally spoke up. "I'm sorry Jace, but you're only a patient here, nothing more. I have no feelings towards you even if you have them for me. Having a relationship with a patient would be just wrong." I stood up from my chair. "I guess now I know why they think you're insane." I said, leaving the room without another word.

Ok, so maybe what I said to him was a little harsh. But he's insane! The kid is in love with me and I have no clue what to do! What do you think I should've done? Agreed to nonexistent feelings and say "let's run away together"? I don't think so.

I was thinking of asking Linda if she could move me to another patient, but something in my mind told me not to.

Jace was different, in a way that fascinated me. I wanted to find out more about him, without having to go snooping around in files or asking him myself.

So, I decided to ask Linda about him.