Thanks everyone for the reviews, they were quite entertaining! I've stopped keeping track of anything in that department, so I hope you guys don't mind me being a complete scatterbrain as I am. Including rambling, so I'll shut up and let you read! Enjoy.

oOo

Isabelle refused to talk to Clary in the locker room. She thought it was most likely because Izzy was just unused to being beaten, which was indeed the problem. They both showered wordlessly, and even after they were changed, she just left. Clary felt herself smiling. It was definitely something to brag about, whupping Isabelle Lightwood's butt during a training session.

After pulling on her clothes, Clary strode back into the training room, in no hurry. Her sword and dagger were still sitting on the cement block in the center of the room, so she scooped them up, walking back to the small weapons room. To her surprise, the second her hand touched the doorknob, it turned and opened. Jace ambled out, eyeing Clary with a sort of satisfied look.

"I knew what you were going to do." He assured her with a wink. "It was obvious."

"Oh sure." Clary rolled her eyes, putting a foot out to stop the door from swinging back close. "It worked, nonetheless. I won."

"It wasn't a competition. It was a training session."

"Whatever." Clary rolled her eyes a second time and scooted past him into the weapon room.

It was exactly how it was the first time, to no one's surprise. Clary, unsure of exactly where to put the weapons, put the sword and knife back onto the table and turned to leave.

But Jace was blocking her way.

"You're going to need that." He pointed to the sword behind her with one hand. The other held his own.

Clary was never going to fully get used to Jace appearing places without her hearing or seeing him. Sure, it scared the living crap out of her most of the times, but she stopped screaming at least.

She sighed. "I'm tired. And sore. No more training today."

Jace just shook his head. "You need to learn to fight when vulnerable."

"Are you kidding me?" The words were almost whined. Clary tried to walk forwards past him, but he blocked the way again. "Jesus, Jace, move already!"

He shook his head again, this time saying nothing.

Groaning to herself, Clary turned around and took her sword in her right hand halfheartedly, as if she wasn't really going to use it. She turned back around to Jace, and motioned with the weapon for him to move. With a twinkle in his eye, he complied. Clary shoved past him and dragged her sore body back across the training room. He was following her. She could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck.

Stifling a cry, she swiveled around on her heel and swung the sword in a wide arc. Clary thought she'd caught him off guard. He laughed and kicked her onto the ground. Clary made an irritated hissing noise and propped herself up on her elbow. "Asshole."

A wide, shiny grin stretched across Jace's face. "Get back up."

She did as she was told, making her aching muscles whine. The cement block was just ten feet off to her left, Jace was five in front. He let the weapon hang loosely in his hand, cocking his head at Clary as if she were some fascinating artifact. Hardly. Though Clary was uncomfortable and in mild pain, she made another attempted swing.

The metal of their blades rang together, another hit, Jace was backing her against the block. He showed no signs of tiredness, though Clary was losing grip fast. She grunted as the sword clashed together again, but the second blow was the last. Her arm muscles gave way completely, quivering, sending the weapon skittering across the padded floor. Jace swept a professional foot out and tripped Clary, but caught her before her head could hit the cement. His arm was across her throat, sword poised flawlessly.

"I give up. You win." Clary's chest was heaving in and out, burning with every breath. "You win."

"Aw." Jace lowered the arm holding the sword and put it down on the floor, propping his body up now-noticeably over hers. "That's no fun, you surrendering."

"Fun." One breathless laugh burst from Clary's mouth. "I'm half-dead and you're worried about fun."

He grinned, still not moving off her. "Of course. Fun. Of course, your way of training is more fun than physically mutating a young girl."

"My way?" Clary shook her head skeptically. "Letting my sword fly across the room and surrendering?"

"The other way." His face was still completely poker, handsome and light as he tucked a bit of overgrown blond hair behind his ear.

"Psshh," Clary made a guttural sound of amusement, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "Oh, that way."

After that was said, there was no avoiding Jace sliding his hand behind her neck and kissing her. She made a noise of surprise, but there was no rejected a kiss from Jace. Ever. Ever. Instead, she let herself be pulled in by the feeling of him all around. It made her almost want to laugh. He had this way of…well, Clary didn't really know. She couldn't pin it to one thing, but she knew that whatever it was, it made her never want to let go of him.

Jace's hand slid from her throat to her hips, pulling them against his. She reached up and wrapped both hands around his neck, feeling the thin tendons with her fingertips. His skin was unbelievably smooth…

The cement block behind her was surprisingly closer than she'd thought, judging by how fast her back was pressed against it. It was actually Jace pressing her, but she didn't really think about it or even the bruises that were forming on her shoulder blades where she was being held against. All that her mind processed was the fact that Jace was everywhere; sliding on her skin, her clothes, tangled in her hair, against her lips. It made her arms tremble, but not because the muscles were weak.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU TWO ARE DOING?" The voice rang out loud, echoing through the training room, knocking Clary and Jace apart.

They lay gasping for a second, until their vision cleared. Isabelle was standing over them, hands balls on her thin hips, a very serious scowl on a perfectly-done face. But Jace, being Jace, didn't move an inch. He looked up at her for a second, then made a 'duh' face.

"Training." He pointed to the weapon that was knocked a few feet away. He reached over Clary and picked it up. He pointed it at her. "I've got this down, Iz. Don't get your panties in a twist."

"Of course not." Isabelle scoffed, looking either hugely offended or skeptical. Or both. She glanced at Clary with a funny face, then back at Jace. "You…You're…..pffff…" She made a noise of annoyance, but then her face suddenly morphed sternly. "You're not supposed to be doing that. This is a training room, you've just-just wasted valuable training time."

Jace rolled his eyes, much more menacingly than Clary's eye-rolling. "Don't be like one of those girls, Iz. We were taking a break, that's all."

Clary felt her lungs collapse because Jace still hadn't gotten off of her. She let out a feeble squeak that remained unheard.

"Shadowhunters don't take breaks, not on duty." Izzy's face was 100% frustrated and annoyed, and she flapped her arms in aggravation. "We don't…we don't…. Here, we're still Shadowhunters. We still hunt demons. We still consider it inappropriate to get caught making out while you're supposed to be training."

Jace grinned. "Key words: 'get caught'"

Isabelle let out an irritated cry and threw her arms up into the air. "Breaks are for vacations, Jace Lightwood. You're not on one."

He made a face as if considering. "That could be changed." Jace looked down at Clary. "You want to go on a vacation?" But Clary had no time to answer.

"JACE."

"Jesus, Iz." He finally got off of Clary, shaking his head in amusement. "I was only joking."

Isabelle looked defiant. "Good. Now get going, or I'm going to tell Mom, and then Jocelyn's never going to let Clary stay here ever again because no mother wants her eighteen-year-old daughter pregnant because of some stupid boy's actions."

Clary was appalled, but Jace just laughed. "I wouldn't get Clary pregnant. No glove no love, isn't that right, Clarissa?" He was grinning ear-to-ear as he gave Clary a wink.

Clary's face flushed a brilliant shade of scarlet and she automatically leaned away from him out of sheer mortification.

Thankfully, Isabelle didn't encourage Jace anymore and tapped her foot in annoyance. "Anyway, Mom wants you two in the library."

Momentarily, the embarrassment on Clary's face switched to confusion. "How come?"

"Latin."

"I finished Latin when I was twelve." Jace complained matter-of-factly, standing up. He helped his girlfriend up as well, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face. "We should go hunting instead."

Izzy put her hands on her hips. "No. Latin. Clary needs to finish the second course before Saturday. You can do whatever, but it will most definitely not include any making out."

"Awww…" On the way out, Jace threw Clary a wink and a ridiculously seductive grin.

Latin was a painfully dry language to study. Even though it wasn't necessarily difficult, all of the words were uninteresting and dull to choke down. Clary had been stuck on the same three-page section for a half-hour, finding herself rereading those same words over and over, yet none of them stuck.

"Quomodo Latina vadis?" Jace materialized behind her, leaning over the back of her armchair.

"Um…" Clary sputtered, scratching her head, attempting to rack her brains for a reply. "Dirae."

A laugh. "Very good," Jace said. "But I didn't come down here to give you extra Latin practice. Lunch is going to be ready in an hour."

Attention was once again brought down to the book, and Clary was absentmindedly chewing on her thumbnail. "Mkay…"

A pause.

"Meaning… You can stop now. Study time is over."

The book was plucked from her hand and set onto the table next to them.

Clary made a face. "I was just getting to the good part."

"Really?"

"No."

Happy to leave the mind-numbing Latin behind, they walked out of the library.

Lunch was a creamy pea soup and sandwiches, fixed up by Maryse, thankfully. Isabelle had attempted trying her hand at baking potatoes, but seeing as how no one really knew those brownish lumps were potatoes, they remained untouched.

"Alec's coming back this week," Izzy sucked a stray pea from her finger. "They're in Mexico right now. I have pictures, look." She whipped out her cell phone and everybody passed it around, somewhat eager to see where Magnus and Alec were this time.

Jace took the phone and held it out as if it was covered in slime. "…..I like Maggie's sombrero."

Snorting, Clary took the phone from him and stared. One the screen, a tiny two-by-two-inch picture sat unmoving to be looked at. It was of Alec and Magnus standing on a dirty brick wall in front of an odd-looking town, wearing the most bizarre outfits. Magnus was wearing a brightly-colored poncho (tassels and all), a sombrero the size of a large dog, yellow skinny jeans, and was posing with a set of maracas, looking overly pleased with himself. Alec stood next to him looking highly uncomfortable in his own poncho/sombrero ensemble.

It was impossible not to laugh.

"There are other pictures, too." Iz was grinning. "Alec has been texting me nonstop since they left New York."

Maryse raised her delicate eyebrows as Clary shuffled through the other photos. "It's a good thing he's finally happy."

On of the photos Clary had to stop and look at. It was the only one where Alec was smiling. They seemed to be in Paris. Both of them were sitting side-by-side in front of the Eiffel Tower, and Alec's head was thrown back in a laugh as Magnus tried to jam what looked like a beret onto his head. Even she had to admit they looked cute together.

Clary gave the phone back to its owner. "Is Mexico their last stop?"

Iz pocketed the phone. "No. They're stopping by Pennsylvania to see some famous piece of architecture or something." She shrugged, and then her eyes suddenly flit to her brother & Clary in turn with incredulous amusement. "Speaking of which, when's this little vacation of yours?"

"Vacation?" Maryse narrowed her eyes. "What vacation, Isabelle?"

A sweet, innocent smile raised on Izzy's pretty face. "Oh, nothing. Earlier I was just lecturing Clary and Jace in the training room because they were…goofing around. And then Jace was all, 'let's go on a vacation, Clary'." Her impersonation of Jace's voice was quite funny, but not enough to make Clary smile.

"He was joking." She snapped at the other girl.

"I don't know…" Jace put on a thoughtful face and leaned back in his chair, eyes twinkling mischievously. "A vacation sounds fun."

"Do you know how much Mom and Luke would kill me?" Clary said, warning in her eyes. "They would put me through a paper shredder and make a taco out of it and feed the taco to a rabies-infected pit bull and then when the dog crapped me back out, they'd step on the crap."

With eyebrows arched in hilarity, Jace stared at her. "Not if we get their permission."

Isabelle butted in at that point, snorting cynically. "Sorry, Jace, but there is no chance Clary's mom would let her go on a vacation with you alone." She took a bite of sandwich. "Just saying."

All three of them were aggravated and disputing between themselves and, needing a tiebreaker, turned their eyes involuntarily on to Maryse for some kind of consent. Isabelle and Alec's mother had on an astonishing face—new to them—like she actually might be considering.

Iz looked astounded. "Mom? You aren't actually thinking about letting them? Letting two horny teenagers go to God-knows-where for God-knows-how-long without any supervision?"

The shock on Clary and Jace's faces was almost as much as hers.

Maryse went back to her usual stern, tired look. "Of course not. You'll be going with." Isabelle's expression fell in horror. "That is, if Jocelyn agrees. But I don't see any harm in a break, especially if you get a little practice or hunting done." Her gaze softened a bit as it went over to Clary. "Chartreuse told me how your training went, and I must say, I'm very impressed."

Clary, who was still frozen with surprise, managed to mumble a "thanks"

Isabelle wasn't done, though, and definitely not satisfied with her mother's answer. "B-But, Mom. You aren't actually serious?"

"Quiet, Isabelle." Maryse rubbed her temples, and then looked at Clary again. "It would be prudent to get your mother's permission beforehand so we can get this arranged. Now I have to go send a fire message to Robert."

When she left, it was like the kitchen erupted. Isabelle was flying around the room with her dishes, yelling at Jace.

"See what you have done, Jace Wayland?" she shrieked, pointing her finger accusingly at him.

Jace was laughing. "I just got us a free ticket out of New York away from our parents, Iz. Be happy." He tried to ruffle her hair, but she smacked him away.

"I refuse to be happy!" she yelled. "I'm stuck with babysitting you two, so it'll be MY job to make sure you don't friggin get Clary knocked up! What am I supposed to do with THAT, huh?"

Clary was beginning to get uncomfortable. "Uh, Iz—"

"You don't have to do anything about it, Izzy." Jace shot back with a wicked grin. "I told you, no glove no love. And you wouldn't be babysitting us anyways; I'm older than you."

"Isab—" Clary tried again, but again she was interrupted.

"Oh, yes, I do have to babysit you." The other girl growled, tossing the dirty dishes into the sink violently. "And don't even think I'm letting you two sleep in the same HOUSE. 'No glove, no love' my ass, Jace. There is no way in the world I'd let you two do anything that would even REQUIRE protection. Hell would freeze over bef—"

"ISABELLE," Clary cut off the other girl as loud as she could, standing up. That definitely got her attention. Sighing in exasperation, Clary ran her fingers through her hair and closed her eyes. "Jesus, you act as if I have no virtues at all."

Isabelle's gaze turned on her with one eyebrow raised. "It's not your virtues I'm afraid are nonexistent, Clarissa."

"Oh, so now I'm a rapist?" Jace snorted, though no one ever said anything about rape. "I would never force Clary to do anything she didn't want to do, you know that, Izzy."

"Honestly, can we stop talking about this?" Clary said abruptly, slamming her hand down on the table. "No one's raping anyone and no one's getting pregnant, END OF STORY. Now, if you two don't mind, I have to go plead mercy to my mom. Don't kill each other while I'm gone." And Clary stood up, leaving the kitchen to go to her room.

The phone rang four times before someone picked up.

"Hello?" Her mother's voice was decorated with static through the sour phone signal.

"Hey, Mom."

Clary was laying stomach-down on the bed in "her room", fiddling with the ties of her hoodie.

Jocelyn perked up. "Oh hey, sweetie! How's everything there? Was the training session this morning fun? Did you do well?"

It was easy to laugh at her mother's enthusiasm. "Everything's fine, it went well. I beat everyone, actually."

"I'm impressed!" There was a short pause, in which Clary heard plastic shopping bags being rustled in the other end. "But that isn't what you called for, is it?"

"Not exactly…." Clary frowned nervously, unsure how to explain it in a way that would most likely get her permission. Sure, she'd acted less than enthusiastic back in the kitchen, but when your almost-sister and your boyfriend were yelling back and forth about impregnation and condoms, you couldn't exactly act thrilled. Despite that, though, Clary was completely thrilled at the thought of a vacation.

"Clary, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here, Mom." She took a deep breath. "See, Maryse is kind of..sending Jace and Izzy off on some sort of out-of-state training excursion and she wants me to go with."

There was silence for a long time.

About five minutes after Clary spoke, there was a faint male voice on the other end, which was recognized to be Luke's.

"Who are you talking to, Jocelyn?" Luke asked quietly.

Another pause and Clary's mom replied. "Clary. And she's asking to go with Jace and Isabelle on a 'training excursion' in another state. Without adults." She whispered something inaudible to Luke, and they began whispering back and forth to each other.

Yet ANOTHER pause.

"I'm going to have to talk to Maryse." Jocelyn used her I-think-I-know-what-you're-up-to mother voice.

"Look, Mom, Izzy is going to be there. She wouldn't dare let Jace and I get even ten feet from each other. I'll be fine."

"I still don't know… Hey, I'll have to call you back on a few minutes, okay?"

Clary sighed. "Okay, Mom."

"Be right back," The line went dead.

Putting her phone back on the bedside stand, Clary crossed her arms under her chin to wait.

"No luck, I take it?" A sudden voice made Clary jump and turn to see Jace standing in the doorway, grinning.

Clary shrugged. "She's going to talk to Maryse first. Then call back."

Jace mulled this over for about three seconds before walking over to her bad and stretching himself out on it. Letting out a started cry, Clary toppled off the side.

"Ow…" she grumbled to herself as she sat up. With both elbows on the mattress in front of her, Clary scowled at her tactless boyfriend. "Thanks for making room for me, Jace."

"Any time." Jace winked and promptly began ruffling through her sketchbook.

Clary snatched it away from him.

"Oh, hey, I liked that picture! Give it back!" He took it again and found the one he had been looking at.

Overcome with curiosity, instead of snatching it again, Clary peeked over his shoulder at the chosen drawing.

It was of the both of them, unlike the majority of the other pictures. The drawing awoke a memory. Flying over New York at night on a stolen motorcycle, Clary clutching to Jace as they raced through the sky. It was, in fact, and excellent picture, considering every single other attempt of them together had turned out crap. She had captured the depth of everything using mainly dark shades of graphite, only lighting up their faces so where their expressions were visible. Clary's, of pure terror. Jace's of exhilaration and power.

It had been one of the best pictures she'd ever drawn.

Head cocked with interest, Jace surveyed the picture. "…Can I have this?"

Clary's eyebrows twitched upwards in surprise. He never asked for pictures. In fact, he never seemed exactly interested in her artwork. This was new.

Once she got over her mild shock, she nodded her head. "Sure."

Careful so as not to rip the drawing, Jace pinched the corner of the page and pulled it from its metal hinges He then folded it neatly and slipped it into his pocket.

They made eye contact, and it was easy enough to hold it, because, to be frank, the looks on each other's faces were all too captivating. Slowly, with an expression almost like wonderment, Jace slid his hand behind Clary's neck and pressed his lips to hers.

A memory flashed across his mind, so real and vivid he felt his heart skip.

He was sitting up on the shore of Lake Lyn. Water caressed the sandy shore in gentle laps, filling his throbbing head with a false sense of security. A few feet away lay Clary. His Clary, torn and bloody and completely motionless. For one frightening moment he thought her dead, until he put his hand on her cheek and felt the warmth she always had to offer. And then her eyes opened, her beautiful shamrock-green eyes. He had never felt more relieved and happy in his entire life; he wanted to just lay there for the rest of time with his hand on her cheek, feeling her heartbeat beneath his fingertips. This was the first he would die for—and did die for. The girl who taught him strength and the power of loving someone unconditionally. The girl who was his. All his.

Jace smiled against Clary's mouth. "Amo te."

Clary returned the smile. "I love you, too."

Just then, her cell decided to ring. Reluctantly breaking away from the kiss, Clary reached over and picked it up from the bedside table.

It was her mother.

She flipped open the phone. "Hey."

"Clary," her mom began. "I talked it over with Maryse and Luke thoroughly."

"And…?" Clary's eyes flitted over to Jace, and his face was neutral, if not slightly curious and eager as well.

"And…we're letting you go."

There was the overwhelming urge to cheer. She stifled it only by biting her lip and grinning in excitement at Jace. But before she could thank her mom incessantly, Jocelyn spoke again.

"BUT," Jocelyn said in emphasis, "there are some rules. First of, I am to know exactly where you're going."

"I…actually don't know that either." Clary glanced over at Jace, who—after apparently being able to hear what was being said—was doing an awful impression of a hula girl, and laughed.

"That's alright. Let me know when you know." That was promised. "And second, stay with Isabelle. Don't go wandering off with Jace—or by yourself—because I love you and don't want you to get hurt."

"I promise."

"Third, well…" Pause. "You know what the third is. You and Jace are to behave yourselves. No sharing bedrooms or sneaking off in the night or anything like that. This is an incredibly rare occasion, Clarissa."

Clary knew that this was serious, because her mother used her name. She bit her lip, still listening.

"On normal circumstances I wouldn't have even considered it for a second, but you're almost an adult. I'm trusting you to use your best judgment and take care of yourself."

For some reason it felt like Jocelyn was saying an actual goodbye, as if Clary was moving out of her parent's house or something, even though there was no way she'd leave without getting to say goodbye face-to-face with Jocelyn and Juke. Clary had to swallow a few times before speaking.

"Of course, Mom. I'll be good."

A long falter in the conversation followed, and then a bit of noise like the phone was being passed between people.

"Clary, it's Luke. Can I talk to Jace real quick? He's there, isn't he?"

How he could tell Jace was here, Clary wasn't sure, but she didn't question it and handed the phone to Jace, shrugging. When he started talking to Luke, she went to go to the bathroom, mostly to give them man-to-man privacy or something like that. And when she got back, the cell was closed and Jace was looking at the picture Clary had given him again.

"What'd he want?" Clary sat next to him and folded her legs.

"The usual." Jace grinned. "Death threat if we sleep together, demanding you come home in one piece, 'have a good time, kids'. I told him my intentions are strictly honorable."

"Well, are they?"

"Of course not." He winked, and then stood up. "Come on, let's go tell Izzy and Maryse you can go."

"Maryse already knows," Clary let him take her hand as they walked from the room. "So just tell Isabelle."

"Tell me what?" Iz was leaning against the wall outside her room, which was, in fact, directly next to hers.

"We just called my mom and she's letting me go." Clary beamed. But Isabelle's mood and upset expression confused her. "Aren't you excited, Iz? It's about as close to a vacation as it gets for Shadowhunters."

Izzy sighed, eyebrows knitting forlornly. "I am excited, I am, but…if anything does happen…" She bit here lip, but out of the blue, her mien changed from worried to stern. "You." She pointed to her room. "In there. Go."

As Clary shuffled grudgingly into Izzy's sponged room, Jace laughed.

"And you were lecturing me about raping the redhead."

Letting out a snort of rage, Isabelle stomped past her brother and followed Clary into the room.

It was awkward for the first while. Clary sat on the edge of Izzy's bed, uncomfortable, while Izzy paced the room at a violent speed, running her fingers through her hair and crossing her arms and uncrossing them and rubbing her forehead.

Finally, after ten minutes, she came to a halt in front of the other girl. She looked aggravated and unable to form the words in her mind. "Look, Clary, just-just…" She took a breath. "Don't—"

"Don't get pregnant, I know." Clary rolled her eyes. Honestly, did she really come across to everyone as the kind of girl who'd do that?

Isabelle sat down on the bed beside her. "No, it's not just that." She pursed her lips unsurely. "…I know I'm not at an authority to tell you who you can and can't sleep with."

Oh, God. Were they really talking about that?

"And I know I was a little harsh yelling at you and Jace."

I must be having a dream, Clary thought.

"So I feel I've lectured you enough about getting impregnated, that isn't my job. I am, however, going to be in charge when we're off to wherever we're going, and I except you to just…realize that maybe there are times when that's okay and times when you should let your morality get the best of you."

Not a dream. A nightmare.

Isabelle threw her hands up in the air. "You're looking at me as if I'm crazy, Clarissa. I just…" Her delicate shoulders hunched in defeat. "I don't want to lose two people I love to stupidity, that's all."

Clary was in a mild state of shock, mostly because Izzy wasn't really one to belt her feelings our like that, to admit vulnerability. In fact, she had really impressed Clary, almost to the point of where she'd be forgiven for having this talk with her.

"I'm telling you this because there was no one there to tell me it." Isabelle said, looking sour. "I've made my own stupid mistakes, Clarissa, and it would hurt me to see you repeat them." There was a small touch of finality in her voice that made the both of them stand up, but before Clary could move towards the door, Iz had her hand on her wrist. "Just realize I'm not stopping you from doing anything, but your mother trusts me with you, and I don't take easily to failure." And with that last word, she opened the door and left.

"I say Italy." Clary said matter-of-factly, picking a bit of roast lamb from her teeth. "The vineyards."

It was dinnertime, and just Jace, Clary and Isabelle were at the table. There had been a lot of discussion and arguing about where they were going to go.

"No, no, Madagascar." Izzy argued, picturing the tropical forests in her head. "We can hang out with the sloths and lemurs."

The two girls glared at each other for a few more minutes, until Clarissa turned her annoyed gaze over at her boyfriend.

"Where do you think, Jace?"

He rubbed his defined jaw line. "The beach. Somewhat secluded, maybe closer, and warm."

No one in their right mind would turn down the vineyards of Italy. But then again, Clary thought, Jace had never been in his right mind.

"Florida?"

"Too many oranges."

Suddenly, Clary remembered when she was talking to her mother, the joking little hula dance Jace had so willingly demonstrated for her. She laughed out loud. "You're talking about Hawaii."

Jace winked a golden eye at her.

"Actually," Iz's fine winged eyebrows arched in recollection and she scooped a bit of gravy off her plate with a finger. "I remember the person who runs the Hawaiian Institute. Bartolomew Merry-Death or something. He's young. Lives there with his sister or something, I think."

"Ah, that'd be no fun staying at an institute." Jace leaned back on his chair legs and put his bare feet up on the table. "We should rent a beach house."

Izzy's smile widened dreamily. "Mmhm. Beachfront pr—"

A sharp buzzing interrupted her. Frowning, Isabelle pulled out her cell phone—straight from her bra—flipped it open, and laughed. "It's Alec, texting a picture from their hotel."

Clary took the cell from the other girls' hands and stared at the picture before bursting out in laughter, too. It was of Magnus, sitting on a normal-looking chair, legs crossed like a woman, hair done up in a towel wrap, wearing a robe, freshly drying nails painted black clutching a tabloids magazine.

Jace took one look at the picture and shook his head disapprovingly. "Doesn't he have just one smidge of pride left?"

Clary giggled. "He did, before he traded it in for a National Inquirer."

The phone was put away.

"Anyways," Iz continued. "Hawaii. Beachfront property. A week?"

"Two."

"Two weeks. When are we leaving?"

They quieted a minute to ponder that. Clary knew that she should probably finish up the Latin by Saturday, and had one-on-one training session the day after. They should probably wait until her mom and Luke came back, too, and of course Simon would want to see her off as well.

Simon.

Clary couldn't help but frown. Simon didn't know about the trip. She should probably tell him, but there was no telling if he'd be okay with it. His reaction would most likely be the same as everyone elses. "Don't get knocked up." Clary was greatly offended that everyone thought that highly of her, getting pregnant at 18. Yet…every time she was about to say something completely against that, something in her head popped up, forcing her to think. Sure, she wouldn't get pregnant, but…

Would you sleep with Jace if you had the chance?

Clary didn't know. She just didn't know.

"Clary, Clary!" Isabelle snapped her fingers in front of the other girl's face, bringing her back blinking and confused. Iz raised an eyebrow. "You look like you're about to be sick."

Tightening her lips, Clary's gaze turned uneasily to Jace. He was still leaning back in his chair, curiously narrowed eyes upon her as well.

"I'm fine." She said quietly. "Just thinking about what Simon would think of this."

The conversation as quickly recovered after that.

"Anyhow," Iz continued. "I was saying Sunday."

"I have a training session then."

Frown. "Monday?"

A pause. Clary looked at Isabelle, who looked at Jace, who scratched his nose. No one even said "okay". It was just a silent mutual agreement.

"I should probably tell my mom that."Clary dug her own phone out of her pocket and sent a quick text out to both her mom and Simon. Once that was done, she looked back up at Isabelle, pleased.

"Alec and Magnus are coming back Monday morning." Iz said brightly. "We get to see them before we leave!"

Clary had to admit, she looked forwards to seeing them again, but there was no time to say anything, because Simon texted back.

Simon: You're doing WHAT on Monday?

A mile crept onto Clary's face, but only because she loved her best friend so much, seeing him overprotective was just downright amusing.

She texted a reply, just in time for her mother to affirm the date and location.

Jace was looking over her shoulder. "Is that from Simon?"

"No, my mom." Clary was just about to put her phone back away when Simon messaged back.

Simon: …And your mom is ok with that?

She replied:

Clary: Yes, and I can see you aren't.

Simon: Of course I'm not! Dunno about you but I wouldn't want my best friend getting knocked up at age 18.

Clary made a noise of exasperation.

Jace just laughed and ruffled her hair. "Not many people have faith in you, Clary."

She smacked his hand away. "It's you they're worried about, asshole." Sniffing, she sent a text back.

Clary: I think I'm able to take care of myself, Simon.

Isabelle was eyeing the other two curiously as they snorted when another reply came.

Simon: I trust you, Clary, you know that. But from my pov, spending two weeks in Hawaii with your boyfriend unsupervised is just asking for something to go wrong. I want you to stay safe.

Jace coughed, but it sounded a lot like the word "overprotective". Clary just glared at him.

Clary: I will. Are you coming to say goodbye on Monday?

Simon: Wouldn't miss it for the world.

When the phone was put away, Jace scoffed loudly.

"What?" Isabelle looked inquisitively at him. "Is everything okay?"

Clary chose to ignore Jace. "Nothing. Simon's just worried about me, that's all."

The look that passed over the other girls' face wasn't completely identifiable, but understood.

When the Mortal War ended, Simon was caught between the beautiful and deadly Isabelle, a Shadowhunter, and the loveable and sarcastic Maia, a werewolf. Obviously, both girls had feelings for him; that much was evident on Izzy's face. But Clary knew and Izzy knew that Simon had chosen Maia, leaving the other possible girlfriend confused and hurt.

Now, it was just obvious that Isabelle wished that Simon cared about her as much as Clary. It was sad, really, but Iz didn't show her emotions for long.

She shrugged. "You can take care of yourself."

"Whatever happened to 'I'm-not-letting-you-two-sleep-in-the-same-house'?" Jace rolled his tawny eyes at her. "Women."

There was a brief, uncomfortable glance between the two girls, and they both understood what it meant. Clary silently thanked her.

Isabelle cleared her throat and stood up. "At any rate, we came to the best conclusion we could, so I'll go tell Mom." And with no further adieu, she shoved her dishes in the sink and left.

oOo

Sorry that took so long to get out! Hope it wasn't too awful or OOC, but I enjoyed it immensely… Heheh… lots of fluff in the upcoming chapters! :D:D review and it'll come faster.