This chapter contains things people may be sensitive to, like self harm. Read with caution. Reviews would be amazinggg ;). enjoy, not my best, but its an early update so... :)

It's Saturday night, two days after we went on my shopping trip. We've been closer than ever, hugging each other every night before bed and every morning. We talk nonstop, we go around town more. It's one of those things where we act like a couple even though we aren't one. At least not yet, I hope. Jace hasn't gone anything above kissing my hair once. I think we have something going on, but we're both too scared to do anything. Anyway, Jace has been out on his morning kolache run, and he is taking a little while longer.

As if on cue Jace comes through the door with a huge abnormal smile on his face- considering he isn't a morning person. He sighs happily as he sets the bag down at the table and plops into the chair across from me.

Thinking he's in some sort of weird mood, I don't want to ruin it by asking him what the hell he's doing. He looks up at me and starts laughing. Laughing? This guy's on some serious happy juices. "What's up?" I ask, acknowledging his happy mood.

He bites his lip and fights of a grin. "I met someone today. She works at the Kolache Place. She wouldn't stop staring at me, and so I asked her why. Long story short, we talked and I really like this girl, and so we have a date tonight." He beams.

My heart drops. I, Clary Adele Fray, have been friend-zoned. All the things we've been doing, he didn't feel the same way. My stomach drops along with my face, and I'm pretty sure I'm turning green with envy and sickness towards the slut that moved in on my man. Please, to him you're just a helpless girl that he feels like he has to save because of your father. I think bitterly. If I could taste feelings, I would throw them up and move across town to get away from it. No, wait, that's what I'm doing now. I push back from the table and run to the bathroom. The same bathroom where I realized I loved him. I dry heave in the toilet, since I have nothing to force up.

"Clary?" Jace asks from the door.

I swallow back tears and whisper out a rehearsal for my voice, willing it not to give away the fact that I'm upset. "Go away, it's not pretty in here." I say, adding the last bit just in case he needs persuasion.

"No, I'm coming in anyway. My best friend is sick." He says.

I moan at the term best friend. That's all we'll ever be. The door opens and Jace curls me into his arms. I want to cringe away from him. "What the hell was that Red?" he asks.

I swallow, and blink away tears. "It was just the kolaches. I don't feel good." I say. "I'm fine don't worry about me." I insist.

Jace shakes his head. "You didn't get a chance to eat silly girl." he chuckles.

I breathe deeply before I burst into tears. I need him out of the restroom ASAP. "Just go away!" I yell at him. "I don't want you to be here right now!" I scream and then begin sobbing.

Jace leaps away from me hurt ripping across his face and shredding my heart. "I'm sorry, I just…" he closes the door, cutting off his last words.

I fold over and wait until he goes downstairs to get up. I go into my 'room' which feels even more like a homeless shelter, and curl up on the bed after shutting and locking the door. I cry myself to sleep.

I'm in a dark green flowing gown, holding flowers. In front of me is Jace in a suit and a dark green tie. He's smiling, lighting up his features. He looks good in dark green; it brings out the brightness of, well, him. But there's a wall between us. More like a wall of flesh, bone, and boobs. A faceless girl with dark brown hair and full pink lips stands wearing a white dress, her bouquet bigger than mine. "Do you, Jace Lightwood take this young, beautiful woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" a voice booms. Jace of course beams and replies with a loud and proud, "I do." Those words shred my whole being. He doesn't know that I've been in love with him. He only has eyes for the woman in front of him, who is saying her "I do," now.

My mind drifts back and we're in a grand hall. I'm still wearing the dreadful dress, and I'm watching as couples move around on the floor. I have no one to dance with. I'm all alone. "Hey you," Jace tells me, coming to stand by me.

I smile sadly up at him. When he asks me what's wrong, I take my chances. "I've loved you for a while now." I say simply.

Jace's face turns angry. "You couldn't be happy, of course. I let you stay in my house for as long as you want, and you ruin my wedding by telling me you love me!" he hisses. "God, I thought you were considerate. It's the least you could have done. Don't bother coming back to the house tonight. I don't think you deserve me anymore." He tells me.

I wake up with tears running down my cheeks. "I'm all alone, I'm all alone, I have no one." I sob.

"What're you talking about, Clary?" Jace asks.

I jump away from him. He's sitting behind me, worry painted across his features. Even worry looks good on him. "N-nothing, it was a dream." I tell him.

He raises an eyebrow. "I know that, Red, but what's wrong? That kind of dream hasn't ever happened to you." He states.

I sigh. "We're growing up. Even you're going to get a job. I'm stuck with the mental capacity of a child! I don't know what life is! You'll grow up, you'll meet an awesome girl, get married, have children, and I'll be living on the streets." I tell him.

He frowns. "You'll live with my family." He says.

"Don't you get it? I'll be in the way." I tell him.

"You'll meet someone too, Clary, you'll fall in love."

Ironic much? "I can't meet anyone. I know they'll all take advantage of me somehow. I haven't been a least bit normal since I was nine." I argue.

Jace just shakes his head and cradles me. "I can show you what life is, Clare, but you won't like it. You're so incredibly lucky. You don't know and fear what happens in the real world. It's a bad place, Red. We work our asses off for money, which we spend all on people's greedy businesses. Everyone wants money, and girls, and fancy things, but they waste their life away stressing about it. You don't. You get to focus on this moment right now. I have to worry about my future. You don't know what life is, so you get to make the most of it as you go. I've heard stories all through my life. People are bad, Clary, we're all monsters. Everyone but you." He tells me softly.

I shrug. "But people will think I'm useless, or they'll take advantage of me." I whisper.

He shakes his head. "Everyone has to worry about that. It's part of feeling things for people. I'm nervous for tonight. She's way better than me. She might think I'm worthless and forget me." he says.

I shake my head. "No she won't. She'll like you instantly. You're too nice, too funny, and God kill me for allowing you to get a big head, but you're pretty damn cute too." I tell him.

Jace laughs. "I'm not perfect, Clare. I may be close, but I'm not. She could find that flaw." He says.

I laugh humorlessly. "But she won't. I've been searching for it myself." I tell him.

He freezes for a moment, then laughs. As if I'm joking. "Look harder, Red." He says.

I sigh. "Point is, you'll move on, and I'm stuck like this." I say. The doorbell rings. I look at the clock and see its quarter until eight. I then notice Jace's apparel. He's dressed in a dress shirt and slacks. "You better answer that." I say sadly.

He grins. "Wish me luck, Clary." He murmurs and rushes out the bedroom. I look around the corner and I watch as Jace hugs his date. She's pretty, with straight black hair and ice blue eyes. Her eyes squint when she giggles and you can practically feel her happiness radiating off of her. Jace offers her his jacket, which she curtsies jokingly, giggling as she accepts. Jace looks truly happy, more so than he is around me. My heart shatters, and I sob quietly, watching as the happy couple walks out of the house, Jace not even glancing back in my direction. If this is how my life will be forever, I want nothing to do with it.

I sit in the bathroom staring up at the top shelf of Jace's medicine cabinet. Inside are refillable razor blades. I bite my lip. No, Clary, what happened to not giving a fuck? Now just because of a stupid boy you're going to cut yourself. My brain argues. But it's for so much more than just Jace. I grab a razor blade and breathe in deeply. I test it out on my finger, and it hurts like hell. But I have to do this for my family. I bite down and stroke once across my wrist. Once for my mother who left me to live her fantasy life instead of facing the truth. She never loved you anyway.

Another cut. One for Jonathan, it's better to get over the grieving right now than to mourn over the loss of your brother and best friend.

The third cut for my father. He didn't deserve to die. He was brave. He raised two children on his own. I deserved to feel all the pain that he did. It was my fault.

And I add three slow, deep cuts for myself. You're a failure. You aren't normal, even Jace said that for you. You'll be forever all alone, no family to help you. Everyone will leave me and grow up, and live life. I'm mental. I'll never know what life is. Everyone says it's hard but try going against the damn flow!

"Clary! What the hell are you doing?" Jace screams at me as he storms into the bathroom and snatches the razor blade away. He doesn't even grimace as it slices part of his bare chest.

I sit there dumbfounded, like a deer caught in headlights. Jace frowns at me and picks me up. He carries me to the kitchen and sits me on the counter. "I could have stopped you sooner, but I wanted to change out of those god damned clothes." He nearly growls. He has out band aids, gauze, medical tape, and scissors. He uses one of the soft black face towels to wet and put soap on. He scrubs at my arm, lightening up when I whimper. He pat dries it, careful not to irritate the skin anymore. He pinches the skin and presses two gauze pads on it tightly to stop the bleeding. He wraps my wrist firmly with the medical tape. He then glances up at me, his eyes filled with tears and his face showing disappointment and shock. "Why did you do this? I know it was your first time to cut. This will leave scars I hope you know. You can't do this, ever. If you have an issue, come to me. Don't ever resort to cutting when the pain gets too bad. I'm here for you." He says. He kisses my bandaged wrist softly. "I'll help you get through anything." He says.

I just nod. I haven't quite yet found my voice, so I begin with a simple question. "What about your chest?" I ask.

He just shakes his head. "I'm more worried about you." He says. "I can handle a little scrape." He says, offering me a cocky smile.

I smile at him. "Well, I can't," I say as I take the wash cloth, rinse it off and apply more soap. I rub it around on the large cut, and press down firmly just to tease him a little. He sucks in a breath. "You little turd." He chuckles. I dry off the cut and put some gauze around it. Since it's not bad enough for medical tape, I take the gauze off once the bleeding has stopped. I press two bandages- the large ones- over the cut. "There, but I'm not kissing it better." I warn. He just laughs. "So, how was your date?" I ask.

Jace sighs. "There wasn't one. I took the girl home the second we got in the car." He says with a frown.

I furrow my brows. "Jace, when they say take me home, they don't mean it literally." I giggle.

Jace shoves me a little. "No, she didn't ask me to take her home. She started getting all… touchy. I could tell she wanted me for one thing only. I dropped her off and told her I wasn't like that anymore." He says.

I frown. "I'm sorry. I know you really liked her." I say.

Jace's shoulders slump. "Clare, you and I aren't different in the whole relationship department. We're both being used for things, whether it's obvious or not." He explains. He runs a finger over the bandage, taps the counter once with his other fist, and sighs. "I don't want you doing this anymore. It's dangerous and stupid. What got into you?" he asks.

This would be the perfect opportunity to tell him I loved him. Maybe I could just grab him and kiss him, screaming that I need him to love me and to show me what normal life is like. I can almost taste his perfect, tan pink lips. I know he's probably a really good kisser too. He's done it plenty of times before. Way to go Clare, you practically said your best friend gets around a lot. I mean, he does, but- ugh! My mind races my heart for the finish line, and that causes me to suck in a breath. All I can choke out is, "I feel lonely."

Jace's face turns sympathetic. "I miss your father too, but Clary, it'll all get better." He reassures me.

I want to scream in his face that he is missing the point and that he wouldn't get my hints if they hit him in the face. I say. "I can't… You wouldn't understand." I say.

Jace smiles at me smugly. "I think I do understand." He says. He steps closer to me, standing between my legs, and places his hands on my waist. "Clary, I knew why you were acting differently. I was just waiting for you to admit that you… well… I'm not sure to what extent, but I think…" he trails off, his eyes crinkling with a sheepish smile.

I watch as Jace stares into my eyes, trying so hard to figure out if what he's saying is true. When I don't say anything, he steps away from me and sighs. "Well, obviously you don't think of me like that. God, Clary, and all these hints I've been dropping, seriously? You can't figure out that I'm mad for you? I thought you of all people would realize it." He says. He sounds disappointed, frustrated, and embarrassed all wrapped in one tone.

I sit with my mouth hanging open. "Me of all people what Jace? Just how many people are we talking that you've tried to admit your love for?" I burst out.

Jace just squints at me. "That's a low blow of bull shit, Clary. Ever since I stepped a god damn foot into your father's house, I knew I wanted to change. I wanted to change for you! I didn't want to be some man whore your dad hired." He says. "It's clear you show little appreciation of my efforts around here. You're not so different from my darling family you'll be meeting soon. In fact, you'll fit in perfectly." He seethes.

My mouth snaps shut. "I appreciate it." I say softly, not even sure he heard me.

He whips around just in front of the door and throws his arms up. "Then show it, Clary." He says deadly calm, before walking out of the kitchen door.

I sit in my room feeling a numbness wash over me. I'm tired, my head hurts, but I can't feel my emotions. It's like I'm so confused and regretful that my emotions have been completely drained out of my body. I roll over, yet again, and try to sleep. Jace likes me, or liked me anyway. I, like I figured, screwed everything out of proportion. Hell, it'd be less hectic if I just grew some…balls… and just kissed him! I'm not sad or angry at him, I just feel hopeless. I'm pissed off at myself, yes, but I only want to go back more than anything.

God, I'm so stupid. There I was cutting myself and bawling, then when Jace helps, I push him away, and worse yet, ignore him. I want so badly for him to feel the same way, and when he admitted it, the most I did was get pissed at him.

I roll over.

I throw the covers off of me and groan. This is useless. I'm never going to get sleep like this. I have to at least talk to him. God, being in love sucked. I pad over to my mirror, throw on my robe, and storm out of my room, crazy hair and smudged makeup and everything.

I flick on Jace's lights after practically knocking his door down. "Get up, now." I order.

Jace sits up from the other side of the bed, on the floor. "Are you mental, Fray?" he demands.

I cross my arms. "We need to talk." I order, and then try to calm down.

Jace warily sits on his bed, patting a space next to him for me. The stubborn girl in me wins, and I sit in his desk chair. "First of all, thank you." I say.

Jace just grunts. "Too late for that, Red, you can't thank me after I tell you to. Doesn't have the same effect, if you haven't noticed." He says. "Sorry, you do realize its five, right?" he asks.

I smile. "Yes, sleeping beauty. I've been watching time go by since eleven." I say.

Jace smirks. "Clary, time only flies when you're having fun." He says.

I roll my eyes. "Will you forgive me or not?" I ask.

Jace shrugs. "Of course… remember? I really like you." He says.

I pick at my sleeve. Underneath are my cuts that I gave myself in some stupid rash decision. "That's… also what we need to talk about." I say. Jace holds up a hand, and begins to cut me off. A word comes out of his mouth before I push through. "I'm in love with you, Jace." I rush out.

Jace's eyes get wide, but then confusion sets in. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asks.

I bite my lip and shrug. "I'm an idiot, it's nothing new." I say.

Jace smiles softly and gets out of his bed, walking over to me slowly. We meet half way and his arms are wound tightly around me. "I guess that makes me the idiot who didn't pick up on your hints." He chuckles.

I stand on my tip toes and press his forehead to mine. "We're both completely stupid, but isn't that a part of life?" I ask.

Jace's eyes flutter closed. "If this is life, I'll definitely volunteer to show you what it is." He whispers.

I smile. "Show me." I breathe.

His lips touch mine softly, but he pulls away a bit, teasing. My mouth chases his and they meet again, only harder, and more surely. It's almost as if we're deciding if we want this or not. I smile. Of course we do. He smiles and hums against my mouth playfully. Pulling away he grins again. "I was right. This is life." He says softly.

I breathe deeply. "Yeah. I'm pretty damn glad I barged in here, no matter what the hour." I say.

Jace playfully smacks my shoulder. "Now, go to bed." He says. "By now, I should wake up looking only half as good as I usually do." He says.

I grin. "Oh, Jace, If you were half as funny as you think you are, you'd be twice as funny as you are." I tease.

Jace just squints a little. "My brain doesn't process this early. Try it again another time please." He says.

I giggle. "When does it ever process?" I mutter. I give him a quick hug before I leave, and rush out of his room before he realizes what I said.

Jace knocks on my door the next afternoon. It's Tuesday, the day I could possibly die of embarrassment. When I open the door for him, he waltzes in the room, a grin on his face. That morning we had established that we were officially together. He throws himself down on the bed with his hands behind his head. "Sup, Clare-Bear?" he asks.

I make a face. "Don't call me that please. And I have no idea what to do. The outfit is fine, but I have to actually look good, too! This is a big deal, since now we have to tell them we're dating." I say warily.

Jace smiles at me, waggling his eyebrows. "I brought you a friend. He can relieve your stress. He's pretty big if I say so myself. People say he's made of money." He suggests.

I roll my eyes. "Jace now is not the time for you to attempt to 'get some'. I have bigger problems." I say.

Jace looks at me with mock innocents. "Thanks for agreeing that L.J was big, no huge, but that's far from what I meant. I know we're dating and all, but can I take a rain check on the hot and heavy stuff?" he asks. I give him and 'are you serious' look, and he puts his hands up in surrender. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a rectangular object. "Meet my friend." He says and throws it to me.

It flutters around a bit, but I manage to catch it. I smile. "Did I mention how much I love you?" I ask. In my hand is a debit card, no doubt filled with thousands of dollars.

Jace hops up from the bed. "Well, let's get a move on! They want us to be there at five!" Jace says taking my hand and pulling me out of the house.

Three hours later, at four thirty, I stand and examine myself in the mirror. I'm wearing the beautiful peach dress and the nude heels. I wear a charm bracelet that Jace bought me today and a bandage around my wrist. Jace told me to pass it off by saying that my old maid got angry. I made a plan to not say anything snobby. I didn't need an 'I'm richer than you' contest to start. If I was honest, maybe they'd see me dating Jace a good thing because he'll influence me to their ways. I'm honestly freaking out about this. I have manners and I can sit quietly, I'm just afraid that I might burst out in tears over their criticizing. I run a hand through my professionally straightened red hair. It falls like it's been windblown to a minimum. For once, I really like how it looks. I grab a nude clutch and head downstairs to the impatient Jace. He's been 'coaxing' me out of my room by calling up things like "I'm sure you're snobby enough," and "My parents couldn't possibly deserve that much time you're taking for looks, but I do."

When I come downstairs, Jace smiles, takes my hand and we walk out to his red 2013 Mazda RX8. The drive takes fifteen minutes, and we arrive there at around 4:50. This is good, we can be early. Maybe that will impress them. Jace grabs my elbow before I can make my way to the massive house. "Look, Clary, don't listen to anything they say, good or bad. They can get inside your head, and they might not be… civil… tonight. They like to think that everything below them is garbage. They'll pick at you and probably nag you about the brand of jewelry or the shoes or your hair, but they aren't worth it. Don't let it get to you. I'll try to keep them under control, but they'll probably eat you up in there. I'm sorry in advance." He says, kissing my cheek.

I take a deep breath. "Yeah, now I need to throw up." I say, clutching my stomach.

Jace grabs my upper arms and pulls me close to him. "This is the one time a year that I see them. I can't stand them any other day. Get through tonight and we'll have 364 days without them. I swear." He says.

I swallow, and nod. "Let's do this. This could possibly be the worst dinner outing I've ever had. It might be worse than my family eating out with the Prime Minister of Italy, and then accidentally saying 'I love to eat kittens' instead of 'this soup is delicious'." I say.

Jace laughs, his face crinkling up in that adorable way. He holds out his arm and I take it as he leads me up to the house. It's a three story with a castle like curb appeal, with golden stones and a terracotta roof. The inside entrance is grand with a winding staircase into the second floor, a chandelier hanging in the center of the spiral stairs. The hard wood floors are dark as night and perfectly clean. I notice the house is a bit empty. There's no furniture in the entrance, and the office next to it has a single bookshelf with a small desk and chair. The living room has a small sectional and of course a big television, but otherwise, it's bare. Nothing hangs on the walls and there are no family photos. "Wow." Is all I can say.

Jace just breathes deeply. "Yeah, it's almost like it's a ghost house." Jace says.

Suddenly, there's a noise from the room past the living room. A woman appears from around the corner, dressed in a royal blue mermaid dress that flares out from the calves to the ground. It's a sweetheart neckline with jewels outlining the chest. The woman looks nothing like Jace. She has an angular face and a pointed nose, completely smoothed tight over the bone. Her eyes are deep set and a cold version of Jace's eyes. These eyes judge me as she circles me. "Good evening Jace." She says. Even her tone of voice is snobby.

Jace squeezes my hand a bit. "Mother," he says through clenched teeth and a fake smile. She kisses his cheek and when she turns, he wipes it away. "This is my girlfriend, Clarissa." He says.

His mother stands in front of me, the fumes of her perfume getting stuck in my nose. She looks me up and down, once, twice, and again. She circles me again, and then stands in front of Jace. "She'll have to do. I had to get her past the inspection first." His mother drones.

Jace swallows almost nervously. "No need to be rude." He says formally.

His mother just waves him away, and pats my shoulder. I gasp at how cold her skin is. It sends a shiver up my spine. I don't miss the way she wipes her hand on her dress after touching me. Jace scoffs. "I have to tell you, she's gotten better." He says.

My eyebrows rise. "Please tell me you're joking." I say.

Jace shakes his head. "Just wait until they're drunk." He says.

Oh boy. I think. We walk into the dining room where the three older couples sit. I'm surprised to see a little girl running around the dining room table chasing a yellow lab. It's the closest thing to normal here. The girl stands up straight, and she looks up at Jace. "Jace!" she exclaims.

Jace lifts her into his arms, kissing her cheek. He swings her around playfully, the dog barking at her feet. "Abby!" he greets with a smile. He carries her much like you would a toddler. Her arms are around Jace's neck. Jace holds her by her thighs. He turns to me. "This is Clary." He says.

Abby smiles at me. "My momma told me that Jace was bringing a girl." she said. "She didn't say she'd be prettier than Me." she huffs.

I laugh. "You must be Jace's sister." I say.

She nods. "Bubba visits me more often when I'm at my Aunt Charlotte's house. He doesn't like our family. So should I not like them too?" she asks Jace.

Jace laughs. "I can't tell you what to do silly girl." he says, making her giggle. Abby has to be at most seven. Her long blonde hair is loose in ringlets down to her lower back. She wears a floral printed white dress with a pink underskirt and a matching pink sash with a big daisy on it. She's barefoot, and I notice little blisters on the backs of her feet. She wears small silver ball earrings and a charm bracelet. Her necklace is a locket with a J and an A engraved in it. "Let's go say hi to everyone." Jace says to Abby.

When he sets her down she takes off after the golden retriever again. Jace sighs and turns to me. "In my defense, I didn't know Abigail would be here. She's like me." he says with a cocky smile.

I giggle. "I can tell." I say as we head into the other room. There are three fancy dressed couples in the room. Mrs. Wayland sits with her hand pressed to a man's chest. I can see the resemblance between him and Jace. The man has gold hair and the same build. The only difference is that he has some white hairs and he's got eyes the color of blue lagoons. The next couple both has dark brown hair. The woman is pale with grey eyes and the man has blue eyes. The other couple is pretty different. The woman has brown hair and brown eyes, and the man has red hair and green eyes. The woman is heavily pregnant. Jace goes over to her first and gives her a hug, he then moves onto his husband, and then the other couple. He just nods to his father.

He returns to my side and smiles lightly at me. "Guys, this is Clary, my girlfriend." He says. He points to the dark hair couple. "This is Aunt Tessa and Uncle William Herondale," he points to the pregnant couple. "And that's Charlotte and Henry Branwell." He says. He then points to his father. "That's my dad Michael Wayland, and my mother Celine Wayland." He introduces.

His father claps loudly. "Alright, shall we head to dinner?" he exclaims. You can tell he's already had a few.

I look hesitantly at Jace as the rest of the family leaves. Charlotte and Henry are the only ones who look back and give a semi-warm smile. Jace smiles and pecks me on the lips gently. "Just go with it babe. The sooner they get drunk, the quicker we can leave!" he exclaims with a chuckle.

I grasp his arm. "It'll get worse won't it? And did you just call me babe?" I ask.

Jace smiles sadly. "it probably will." Then his smile turns cocky. "And, yeah, you're my babe now." He says.

I roll my eyes and let him pull me to the table. He lets me sit in the corner and takes the seat next to me. On my end of the table at the head sits Charlotte, and across from me is Henry. Jace's mother is at the other head, his father sitting next to her. Abby sits on the other side of Jace and across from her are William and Tessa. We all start eating the appetizers and I pick at mine politely. I never really cared for escargot. Jace gives ours to Abby and she gives all of ours to the dog, with a 'Shhhh' gesture to Jace and me. I giggle at her and she grins at me, her two front teeth missing. The entrées are better, your typical turkey with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and of course, calamari for the snobs. I've almost made it through dinner when. "Clary, dear what happened to your wrist?" Jace's mother says. There's a glint in her eye, like she's trying to slip me up and pick on me. That and she's also on her fifth glass of red wine.

I smile politely. "It's a left over injury to the... the incident two months ago." I say.

Mrs. Herondale, the mom, frowns, but not sincerely. "That must be hard, losing all of your family." She says in pity.

Jace blanches. "Mother. Enough." He says firmly.

She just waves him away. "So tell me Clary, exactly how rich was your father?" she asks.

I wince. We had never cared for money in my family. "He was the President, ma'am, I'm not quite sure." I settle for that answer. I squeeze Jace's leg under the table, and send him a reassuring smile. He just nods once, as if recognizing I'm okay and telling me that he'll back me up.

Jace's mom grins. "So that means he left you with a good amount then?" she asks. "You're the last one he could give his inheritance to anyway. Tell me, dear, where is your mother?" she asks.

I swallow. "She left me when I was nine." I say.

Mrs. Herondale laughs. "That's typical. If your father wasn't rich before the Presidency, it's no shock she left him. A man that can't support his family is no man at all." She says proudly as if she were quoting the bible to a Sunday school teacher.

Jace's jaw drops. Tessa steps in. "Sister, I believe you're getting a bit rude. You know how you get when you've had too many." She says her tone no better. "I'm sorry that she's bringing up your dead relatives." She says.

I shift in my seat, willing my eyes not to water. "Thank you, ma'am," I say barely above a whisper.

She just smiles. "I noticed you don't look anything like your father did. I mean, he's handsome. What happened to you?" Tessa asks.

Jace stands up from the table. "That's it! Henrietta, no more wine in the table, bring them all coffee and take away every bottle from this house, immediately!" he calls to the cook.

Henrietta rushes in and picks up all of the glasses, despite the protests. She brings out coffee a few minutes later. Jace closes his eyes and takes deep breathes as he picks at one of his suit jacket buttons. "I'm sorry about my family, Clare." He whispers.

I can only nod and blink rapidly willing the tears to dry up from inside my eyes. Abby whispers something to Jace and he nods his head, smiling. She grins and pushes back from the table. "Aunt Charlotte, I'm going to show Jace and Clary what I got for my birthday." She says politely.

Charlotte catches me before I leave. "In my defense, you're a strong, brave young woman. Jace is lucky to have you." She says with a smile. Henry nods in agreement.

I rush upstairs with Jace guiding me from behind. Abby leads us to her room and then turns. "I don't have anything to show you. You can go to bubba's room if you want. I know you hate my parents. Their meanies." She says sweetly.

I smile at her. "Thank you Abigail." Jace says as he leads me to his room at the other end of the big hallway. He closes his door behind us and we sit on his twin bed. "I haven't been in here since I was 14 and moving out. My mother gave me the money for the house, Aunt Charlotte and Grandma Amatis provided for me." he says. He then looks at me before wrapping his arms tightly around my waist. "I'm sorry, Clare. I didn't know it'd be this bad." He whispers.

I smile sadly, fresh tears in my eyes. "It's fine. I thought it'd be worse. I thought they'd make me move out of your house and stop seeing you." I say.

Jace shakes his head. "If they did, I'd never come back to them. I'd rather lose them than you." He whispers.

I smile and bring our lips together. Nothing innocent and sweet lasts forever though, and soon enough I feel Jace's tongue brush against my lower lip, sucking it into his mouth and biting down softly, tugging at it a tiny bit. I brush my hands from his belt up his stomach, to his chest, around his neck, and into his hair. I tug on the silky strands none too gently and Jace moans. I use the opportunity to run my tongue on the inside of his upper lip. That's when we both start fighting for dominance. Jace squeezes my waist and I automatically surrender.

It's Wednesday afternoon and today we are leaving to go to Magnus and Alec's for Thanksgiving Day. I'm lounging around in a black tank top, ripped skinny jeans, and of course, my black Uggs with bows running down the backs. "Jace, we're going to miss our flight!" I call up to him. I sigh and continue flipping through the channels. One particular news story catches my eye.

It's been released that the attackers from the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11th of this year have been released. A group of men from Peshawar, Pakistan proceeded with their plan to attack America's most important government and economic buildings. The men were led by Osama bin Laden. They originally had planned to attack the white house, but the passengers of the hijacked flight took over them resulting in the crash of the Pentagon. Everyone aboard Flight 93 has been confirmed dead as of today. I'm very sorry for these many heartbroken families; these courageous people will be forever remembered.

"Clare," Jace whispers from behind me.

I'm paralyzed with shock and sadness. I turn to Jace, my face not containing tears, but containing anger. "I want that man dead. And I want to help these families. I'm done living in a shadow." I say biting my cheek to hold back tears. Jace wraps his arms around my waist and rocks me back and forth.

"I'll be right by your side. Just please wait until after the holidays, and we'll make sure we contact the families and tell them what we want. It won't be easy, but I believe in you." Jace says. He leads me to the car, and looks over at me, offering a small smile in which I return. "Now, let's go relax, and enjoy the boys and Isabelle." He says.

The tension in the airport is ridiculous. Cops are on every corner and turn of the halls. Security lines are packed, a guard at the entrance of every line. When we get up to security I put everything in the plastic bins and send them through to the detector. I walk through the metal detector, and a second one. Lastly, a woman with fiery red hair smiles gently at me. "We just need to pat you down as extra precaution. We've been doing this ever since," she breaks off and continues her job. She stands up. "Clary?" she asks.

I roll my eyes and nod. "Yeah, yeah, I was the president's daughter, no need to make a fuss." I say.

The woman's eyes brighten up. She grins at me and shakes her head. "Clary, I knew those curls from anywhere. Don't you remember me?" she asks.

I furrow my brows. "Sorry, I wasn't allowed to any of the visitations for my dad." I say cautiously. Jace is behind me.

He rests a hand on my hip and kisses my cheek. "Is everything okay Clare?" he asks.

The woman, Jocelyn glinting on her name tag, grins. I know that name from somewhere. Her hair is familiar to my own also. Something in my mind is screaming at me, but I can't remember to save my life. Suddenly, it hits me like a ton of bricks. I stumble back into Jace's chest, and he wraps his arms around me. "You… What are you doing here! You're supposed to be travelling the world without me. You left me!" I spit out.

Jocelyn's face shows shock. "That's no way to talk to your mother, dear." She says.

I'm so terribly sorry about the bad ending, but i'll make it up to you next chapter. Review thoughts PLEASE