The air felt thick and reeked of resentment. Her fingertips appeared eerie white, beneath the surface of the jagged plains of her coloured fingernails as they skimmed through the black keys of her Dell with an almost religious precision. Clary cracked her knuckles and bit her lip- this was turning out to be useless. The words in the screen were blurring and glaring back at her.

Her designated fake website would be enough to fish out most of Sebastian's precious secrets- he didn't even think twice before clicking on the 'offer' she'd sent him. Though the offer may have been fake, the details she had made compulsory to fill in for the 'administration' were most certainly not.

Clary ran a hand through her hair. While this maybe enough to get a common password and breach a few security questions on his social networking, she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere past surface details. Sebastian was very closed off.

A bottle of champagne sat on the counter to her right. Her mother wasn't a big fan of drinking and her brother was a complete lightweight, so its presence at their apartment didn't add up. It had probably been a gift from Magnus Bane's family, who were inexplicably fond of Jocelyn's art. She unscrewed the cork of the bottle with the rusty opener she'd found on the farthest crook of their supply cupboard. The opener let out a loud whine as she tugged at the cork, wincing at how she'd managed to spill miniature portions of the expensive drink on her mother' prized white rug.

After rubbing the stain with a dust cloth and smearing it over its scape, Clary groaned and replaced the sofa to cover her mess.

Her fingers grabbed at the neck of the bottle, slipping over its smoothened neck as she gripped the bottle and forced it down her lips. The liquid felt too strong and burned her tongue and she set back the bottle in frustration. Leaving the bottle and the mess she'd left behind as Jonathan's problem, she grabbed her shoulder bag and moved to leave their cluttered apartment.

Her brother had taken her mother out for a mother-son bonding dinner, in which he planned to muster out a good deal of self respect and some cash for a new Xbox. She pressed her palms against surface of the thick mahogany of the door and bolted it shut.

Her family would probably take a few hours to get home, given the fact that Jonathan always managed to get their mother to take him out for a movie. While a normal teenage boy would've been mortified by the very idea having to go around town with them, Jonathan had an unorthodox intimacy to Jocelyn and took pride in sustaining their relationship. To Clary's utter bewilderment, he even managed to make it look cool and gained disgustingly numerous multitudes of croons from her fellow classmates. One time, when some girl had told her that she was so lucky to have such a sweet brother like Jonathan, looking after the women of the family- Clary had nearly socked her, though she'd been restrained by Simon, to her utter dismay.

The street appeared clustered with passengers, their paces rushed. Clary shoved herself past the crowd, her shoulders aching with every budge of contact. She wasn't going to get anything out of Sebastian by keeping her hands clean. Her hands skimmed through her contacts, stopping at her favourite party person. She wedged her phone between her shoulder and her ear, opening the disorganised contents of her bag whilst pushing past the whirlwind of people around her.

"Hey!"

Clary ran her lipstick across her upper lip, hoping that she wouldn't smear too much on her skin.

"Magnus? Is that you?"

"I'm sorry I'm his hotter cousin from the Kazakhstan. Oh wait, I haven't heard of any medical miracles yet-"

Clary rolled her eyes.

"I know, it isn't possible to find anyone more aesthetically pleasing than yourself Magnus. I understand, I truly do."

Magnus let out a dramatic wail, that would've scared the Dark Lord himself.

"I knew you would understand, biscuit! I knew you would!"

"Magnus?"

She reached for her scented lipgloss.

"Yeah?"

"You know how I helped you with.. you know who?"

"Yes, I still remember the day you had him beg at my magnificent feet, 'cause you locked his dad from some of his business shenanigans."

"Right, that." She paused. "You told me that I'd be welcome to any Magnus Bane party after that, so would you mind if I dropped by today?"

Magnus replied almost instantaneously.

"Of course. I wouldn't mind if you bring that handsome brother of yours, too. You know that?"

She choked on air, before grimacing.

"I didn't, but its not like I have a choice now, is it?"

"Cry me a river, you can live with that. Even you have to admit those cheekbones are-"

"I'm going to have to call you later-"

"The fraudulence of it all!"

"Bye, Magnus!"

Damn Jonathan's never ending line of fans.

Now all she would have to do was, drug Sebastian bad enough that he would finally spill. She unhooked the charm bracelet around her scarred wrist and replaced it with a tacky wrist band, spelling out the words "too lazy to think" in bold font.

Her nightmares were returning, she kept seeing the man with dark eyes and white hair, who haunted her dreams with his haunting resemblance to her brother. She kept seeing the man who could be her father; his smile; her mother's voice as she told him never to see them again; Jonathan's shoulder as it pressed onto her face, obstructing her view from what was was going on and her father mouthing the words that she could never recall or understand. She slept restlessly now, thrashing about and hurting herself in the process. She didn't want to see a therapist. She wanted answers and the plain, violent truth hit her face like a slap. She wanted her skin to thrum with the pain and know it was better than being kept away.

Jace Herondale shuffled in his sheets and buried his face in his pillow. He wanted sleep. He needed sleep,

Isabelle flipped on all the switches to his room and sat beside him.

"Wake up."

Jace pretended not to hear her.

"Christopher.."

Jace rolled onto his stomach and stilled his body, hoping she'd take a hint and assume that he wanted to sleep, like a normal person.

Isabelle stayed silent for a second.

Oh, but Izzy Lightwood was never normal.

She reached for his ear and caressed it under her fingertips, before yanking at it and yelling, "WAKE UP, YOU FREAKING SLOTH!"

Jace let out a groan and opened his eyes, frowning at the light that stung is eyes.

"God Isabelle! Why must you wake me at the crack of dawn?"

"It's eight. PM."

"Exactly."

Isabelle swung her legs over the edge of his bed.

"Do you or do you not want to know what's going on with that girlfriend of yours?"

Jace sat up, suddenly alert.

"What's that got to do with waking me up at ungodly hours?"

"Remember the tech kid Alec told us about?"

Jace fiddled with the ends his shirt.

"Yeah?"

"Well she's at Magnus's party and Magnus thinks you might just be able to get your shit done right."

He looked away and Isabelle knew he was contemplating over it.

"Just- Just give me a minute."

Isabelle walked away, her swagger diminished. With him the fights and tension that tormented Isabelle usually, had no effect on her. With him she didn't fight to maintain a distance- out of shock at how her parents relationship had turned out, at how they hid from the other's back like life was some damned conspiracy. He was her best friend, their friendship being where they understood, listened and silence wasn't awkward.

The rain poured on the pavement, loads thuds echoing through the luxurious halls of the Herondale Manor. Spying on Kaelie could turn out to be the greatest crack in their relationship. The worst way he could use her trust.

She told him everything and now he was going to pry over the most personal details of her life.

Kaelie didn't have to hide so much from him. Had he done something wrong? Had he seemed weird?

He didn't want to turn into the possessive type of guy that had the nerve to think that he deserved to know everything about everyone.

But the thing that had urged him, was that she hadn't looked guilty when she looked away and lied to his face, she looked terrified and then smiled at him as if she'd protected him from something dark. He didn't want to see her torment herself and think that allowing him to know her problems would make herself a burden. He'd had enough of watching her trash herself over and over again.

With a renewed spirit he changed out of his baggy sleeping clothes into his usual black jeans, that he oh so fashionably paired with a dark shirt and leather jacket.

He sashayed out of the room, mentally preparing himself for the worst. Who knew if this girl would even want to talk to him?

For all he knew, Clary Fairchild could think of him as a spineless dimwit.

"Ready, Jace?"

Isabelle had already finished doing her makeup. So much for pretending to give him a choice.

"Let's go get busy."

He was Jace, people didn't perceive him to be weak. That would be like going against the laws of nature.

A/N: HEY GUYS! It's my birthday so I felt like treating you guys- I know its a lousy celebration but *shrugs*. Anyway I'm sorry for not updating much lately, I have my GCE O/L this May and things have been hard. FYI I've been having a crappy birthday- not that it matters, why would anyone be narcissistic enough to celebrate the day they were born?

Could you guys tell me about yourselves if you feel like reviewing?

You don't have to .

REVIEW, FAVOURITE OR FOLLOW, if you liked it.