Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own The Mortal Instruments. I don't own anyone. This setting was based on an idea from a short film on youtube, but the plot is original. Cassandra Claire owns the characters.

"Ow! Yes, oh please push on it more," I growled, looking down at the man I swore I loathed. He was grinning devilishly, making my hand twitch towards slapping him. He took hold of my ankle again and laughed, swiping at the blood and then throwing it back down causing my heel hit the floor harshly.

"I think you'll live," he sighed. I pouted playfully. His entire aura just urged me to flirt. I hated it, but I also couldn't stop it. And Jace seemed to be the same way.

"Your mother clearly doesn't think so," I pointed out, angling my face towards him.

"Maryse," he emphasized the word as he sat beside me on the couch. The living room was cold and closed in, just like every other room in this house. We were alone in a dark area with one window overlooking their backyard, which held a garden that I could just barely make out in the low light. Despite how mysterious this house was, it fitted this family. "She just wants somebody to stay for dinner since Isabelle and Alec are out."

"They won't be for long." Jace looked at me in question as he leaned back on the couch. I tucked my legs under my body and faced him, my back pressing against the armrest. "If my dad finds them, they'll be running home and tomorrow my father will show up at your doorstep. However, if my father finds them…well I'd rather not imagine what he would do."

Jace whistled. "You must feel quite loved."

I frowned. He said few things, but most of what he said made sense to me, until now. I could hear the condescending tone in his voice. My body stiffened. "What do you mean by that?"

He shrugged and moved his eyes from mine to the window, speaking coldly and distantly. "It sounds like your dads take heterophobia to a new level. Hetero-hate in my book," his bright eyes met mine. They were so fiercely golden like a fire. But this fire wasn't started from a simple match. It burned too deep. This fire built slowly over time until one day, gas hit the flames and everything exploded. "Being a jig, no matter how secret you are about it, doesn't feel great with dads like them."

"For the last time, I'm-,"

He glared at me now, something I had seen him do to others, but not me. It felt like a slap to the face. "You don't have to pretend around me, Clary. I know what you've been through. If you won't admit it to the world, then at least just to me."

"I don-,"

"Tell me you don't find me attractive," he deadpanned, waiting for my response because he knew I couldn't lie. Not to him, not to something so obvious. He waited for what felt like minutes, cradling my foot and pulling the answer out of my eyes. I caved.

"I…can't." I stuttered. He rolled his eyes and lost his aggressive demeanor. I relaxed a bit.

"You don't have to whine about it – the real straights never do – but every time they tell a joke or rag on the straight neighbors, a little bit of your heart is shaven off, and your tolerance." Jace talked like he was an old man remembering the 'good ole days.' It scared me. I knew what he was talking about. It was such an unconscious feeling that I assumed was just annoyance. But he had to have been wrong because Jonathon felt it, too. We'd always complain about our dads together. He agreed with me on those feelings. I blushed when I felt golden eyes studying me. He seemed slightly satisfied yet still grim. "I take it they never heard about your boyfriend."

"How did you know it was in the past?" I asked.

"I have my sources. Few people can resist a pretty face. You should remember that, babe," he said, tilting his head to the side. I didn't know why, but it always felt like he was studying me. Instantly, I hated the blush that came to my cheeks. He saw it too and chuckled.

"No, they didn't." I said curtly, lifting my chin in the slightest. This topic wasn't a safe topic. I normally steered the conversation away from this, but there was something inside Jace that made me think he'd understand. Yet still, I couldn't trust myself to speak. Jace must have sensed some discomfort on my part, too. He stayed quiet, watching me as I blinked furiously, swallowing the lump in my throat. I didn't get why he just didn't ask me what he was clearly thinking. 'What was wrong with her? Is she about to cry? Stupid teenager thought she was in love.' Instead, his eyes bore into my bright hair, fiery gold meeting fiery red.

My eyes were trained on my hands as my mind spun a million miles a second. It all surrounded Will. So much happened to him. I never saw most of it. We weren't officially dated – mainly because we both couldn't admit we were into the opposite sex – but we were close. I thought I loved him, but his love for me wasn't enough. I couldn't even blame him, but it hurt. It hurt knowing I was the not only the one who wasn't enough, but also the one who tore him down. Him being with me – the rumors were all too much. He couldn't take it. I hardly could either, but he had it worse. His own siblings started to hate him.

"Why do people care who we love?" I whispered barley even thinking about it. My eyes were growing too watery for my comfort.

"It's not that, Clary," Jace said, pulling me with his voice to look at him. When I finally did, I saw he knew exactly what I was thinking. "If that were the case, our problems would be nonexistent." I sighed, looking back at my fingers numbly. "People don't embrace change, not something so radical." I continued looking at my hands. I was on the verge of tears now. I missed Will. Jace reminded me too much of him. Will understood these things, unlike Simon or Jonathon did. Jace – well he understood it better. Will took leaps of faith with me, he'd drop by randomly to surprise me, and he could always make me smile. "However, in my case, guys are jealous they don't stand a chance at getting with me and all my glory."

I couldn't fight the giggles sprouting from my mouth. Jace watched me cheekily and shamelessly. He held my gaze as I slowly sobered up. My feet fell back to the ground and I leaned closer to Jace, enjoying how clean he looked and how enticing his smell was. His head seemed to get closer to me as well. My heart had paused for this moment, but it pounded loudly again when the door was thrust open.

"Dinner!" Maryse chirped suddenly, causing Jace to jump slim out of his seat, barely missing the coffee table. I spun around, gasping for breath. She looked between the two of us suspiciously and almost hopefully. Then she motioned of us to follow.

When we got back to the kitchen, Max was back home, claiming things had gotten loud. Another man who I assumed was Robert Lightwood sat at the head of the table. "You must be Clary," he said, rising to shake my hand. I nodded. "Isabelle and Jace have told me so much about you."

"They did?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Jace elbowed me, motioning for me to sit down. I looked at the table and decided I couldn't pass up this meal. So I sat, and Jace squished in beside me so that I was between Max and him on a bench. Why nobody sat on the other side I didn't know.

"Yes," he smiled. Maryse sat down and I was about to reach for some food when Jace grabbed my hand. Startled, my heart leapt into my throat. He smirked, knowing exactly what I was thinking. Then Max grabbed my other hand and bowed his head in prayer. I flushed with embarrassment. Jace chuckled silently and we both did the same. As we all began to eat, Robert spoke. "I doubt you've seen a hetero family pray, have you?"

I blushed. "Um, no, actually I haven't."

He laughed. "It's okay," he said. "Jace, why don't you explain it to her."

He sighed impatiently, hardly touching his food, but he didn't seem intending to leave, which I was grateful for because this food was very good. "They believe God will forgive us for our sins, that everyone sins and ours just seems like a greater one because most don't do it."

I followed him. "And you?" I pointed at him, curious to see into his mind. He snorted, sipping his drink.

"If God hasn't abandoned us yet, I know he'll forgive me. I already look like an angel. But that if probably isn't true-,"

"Jace, mom doesn't like you ranting at the dinner table," Max interjected before he could get on a roll. I laughed, sticking out my tongue at him as did Max. "Clary! I finished the new comic-,"

"Clary, your dad is going crazy!" Isabelle suddenly burst into the room, out of breath and eyes wide. I jumped at the sudden interruption. She and I met eyes. "Va-Valentine – he's throwing your brother's bass and hi-his clothes…"

I gulped and looked to Jace. He slid out of the seat and I jumped out. "Thank you for the food!" I yelled behind my shoulder when I reached the elevator, surprised to find Jace and Robert right behind me. "Oh." I paced the floor until the cement gave way and we all stepped onto the elevator.

"We really should get stairs in this house," Robert mumbled to save us from the silence. I ignored him, blinking profusely. My father really was the self-righteous, single-minded person I had been adamant he wasn't. Times like these, I wondered how I could ever love this man when his mind was so far gone compared to mine. I wanted to call him ignorant, but that wasn't it. He knew the facts; he just chose to ignore them because he was so stubborn.

"Why is he doing this?" Jace asked as the elevator began to come to a halt. I had my nose pressed against the door ready to stop this madness.

"He hates your family. And I'm guessing Jon just let Isabelle into the band. Father must have found out and – dear God!" I said as we sped to and opened the front door. Directly across the street, right beside our beautiful cheery blossom tree, Valentine had Jon pinned. Alec was trying to pry the old man off his new companion and coworker, but things seemed to be useless. Father was, after all, a much heavier man now and beat Jon by a good fifty pounds.

"You get that joke of a band out of my house," Valentine spat on him. He threw Alec off his back and stood, brushing himself off. "Why don't you join them too?" Valentine kicked Jonathon roughly in the ribs and he crumpled in on himself. Father walked to Jo, sitting on the front porch sobbing. He kept wailing and muttering the weirdest things.

"Where did we go wrong?" He cried. "My son! How could we have let this happen, Val?"

To that, Valentine stopped cold in his tracks. Now with most of the neighborhood watching our entire family, he turned his back on Jo and spoke with cold sincerity. "We didn't, Jo. It was the disease living across the street that did."

Without noticing me, Valentine and Jo hurried inside the house, slamming the door. Some neighbors crept forward, towards the falling, moaning boy on my front lawn. Most, however, looked at him with disgust. Wives ushered their loved ones and kids inside, closing the door on the scene. Husbands shielded their little girls from seeing such a gruesome sight.

I, however, sprinted forward as fast as I could. I landed on my knees beside Jon, breathless. "Jon? Jon, are you okay?" He rolled on his back, wheezing and gave me a small thumb's up. Then he continued to cough up his lungs. "What the hell happened? I – I've never seen father so irate!"

Alec began to speak deftly, "After the audition, he and Isabell-,"

"They joined the band." Jonathon cut him off abruptly. Alec looked slightly muffled and took a step back onto his feet, looking upward. "I wouldn't quit."

"Clearly," Jace said above my shoulder. I had forgotten that he and his dad had joined me outside. Robert kneeled by Jonathon's body, inspecting. Then he made a face.

"Jace, Alec, help the boy inside," was all Robert said before he stood curtly and walked inside. Isabelle was watching from her door at this point, eyes glowing with hatred towards my house. I stood up and they pulled Jon up.

"Clary! Step away from him and his kind!" Valentine's voice suddenly shouted from our doorstep. I ignored him, too deep in worry. Where would Jon go? What about school? Would he get a job and go off on his own considering he was technically an adult? He'd never survive. "Clarissa Morgenstern!"

I flinched and looked over my shoulder, seeing the flames in my father's eyes as well. It was a battlefield here, and suddenly nomad's land wasn't safe anymore. Jace and Alec had one of Jon's arms slung over their shoulders, but they paused before heading towards their house. Jace looked at me, scrutinizing. Jon spoke tiredly, but he wasn't defeated. He didn't sound worried or scared, just hurt. "I'm sorry, Clary."

"Don't apo-,"

"Don't let them get to you," he whispered, trying his best to stand without falling.

"Jon." I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but I couldn't. There was so much I wanted and needed to say.

"I'll be fine. It's you I'm worried about." He said with finality. I stumbled back, hearing dad's shouts now, too. Jace and Alec helped Jonathon into their home, where he disappeared forever. Weak and shocked, I turned around, looking at Valentine and Jo with subdued rage, but they saw it anyway.

"Go to your room," Valentine pointed towards my window. I took a breath and began to move between the two men. He grabbed my wrist as I passed. "Jonathon is no longer part of this family, Clarissa. Understand that? Those were your last words to that pedophilic, straight, bumbling sinner. No more."

My jaw dropped, but they couldn't see my face. Why would he call him that? Pedophilic? Straight? Jonathon was nothing of the sort. He was the perfect, if not a little moody, teenager. Sure, he lied and cheated from time to time but he wasn't a bumbling sinner. More importantly, how could Valentine call his son that? He raised him to be the perfect image of the perfect family, yet he kicked Jon out. I couldn't grasp why. He himself wasn't hetero. He himself didn't openly agree in heterosexuals' lives, not as far as Valentine knew at least.

If he was willing to do that to his son because he let Isabelle join his band, what would he do if he found out about Will? I head a horrible, dreadful feeling that I knew. He wouldn't just kick me out. That was too simple. I was also the last daughter of his family. He needed my presence, but not my mind and thoughts. With my stomach lurching, I knew if they ever found out, they'd give me something slightly under murder.

"Yes," I said between clenched teeth. "I understand."

. . .

That night, I crept downstairs. My dads were still going at it. Jo kept bringing up the point that they raised them while my father said Jonathon did this all to be a spiteful, devil-loving teen.

"Wha-where did we go wrong?" Jo cried. I watched from the basement door, getting a perfect view of Valentine's emotionless, guiltless face. I had the urge to scream at both of them that nobody did anything wrong. In the eyes of God, then yes, but it wasn't like Jo and Valentine were virgin's when they married either! It was an equal sin!

"He could have been influencing Clary with those beliefs, too," Valentine gasped. I frowned. That didn't make any sense. The belief to befriend a jig just sounded like an odd 'belief.'

"But she's very straight, honey. Heck just last week she tried to hit on her," Jo said with an indifferent voice. "I don't know if that's bad or good."

"She's always around that Simon boy," Valentine muttered. I sighed. Even if Simon and I were straight, I had high doubts we'd be into each other. We were too good of friends. I never thought of him like that.

"Oh, Val, why did this happen to us?" Jo sobbed into his chest. I couldn't take it anymore. Nothing happened to them, they did this to their family. They kicked Jonathon out! His friends' sexual orientations shouldn't mean anything to them. It didn't mean enough to me to find our Jordan's orientation, and neither did it for Jonathon.

I snuck back upstairs and flung myself on the bed, forever worrying about my brother. He had no place to go, or sleep, or eat. He had no job or money on hand. I just prayed my dads would get off their high horses and see their wrong. I didn't want forgiveness because Jon did nothing wrong.

But that would never happen. My dads' skulls were as thick as cement.

A/N: Thanks for the many awesome reviews! Yay, some of you have guessed the one pairing that isn't so common: Jonathan and Isabelle. Like I said, I haven't finished the series yet, but I've always hated Simon. Hated him. There's little reason to it. I just have this strong disliking towards him. So you'll see later on, I'm a little aggressive in that sense. Anyways, there is also Clace and Malec.

So I hate that it was so short. Five reviews to make up for it? Pretty pweease?