Hey guys,
I know that it's been longer than a week, but I was trying to get back to updating on Fridays, so...I waited. I am sorry for the long wait though.
I would like to reply to a review posted almost a while ago by a guest, and I thought I should respond.
Guest: Hmm.. I like this story but I have a question: Is this a Clace story or Clabastian story?
To which I would like to answer: The day I make a Clabastian story is the day I turn into a Dark Princess, because Clabastian is gross
But that's just my opinion. Please don't hate me. But seriously I do appreciate that you like the story, and that you took the time to tell me, it really does mean a lot.
And as always, I apologize for any grammar mistakes, I tried to make sure I thoroughly reviewed it, but a few might have slipped through. I apologize in advance.
Anyways here is Chapter four, I genuinely hope you like it.
-Darkling Princess
I was brutally exhausted.
I barely slept all night. Images of Sebastian standing over Alec, Simon, and Magnus's dead bodies had kept popping up in my head, so I slept very little. Not to mention Jace dropped me off first, leaving him and Simon alone, in an enclosed space. I don't entirely remember when their rivalry started, I think Jace played a prank on Simon a few year back, or something. But nevertheless I was a bit anxious to leave them both in the car, more for Jace than Simon, because Simon can exact revenge brutally, and he hasn't yet, so I get the feeling he been holding on to a grudge for the past few years, which isn't good. I remember I broke his X-box once by throwing a softball inside his room...the next day I found my locker glitter bombed, and in my bag was a shirt I had saved up money to buy, it was covered in a substance, which I to this day can't Identify. I guess when I see them today I'll know what happened.
I slowly worked a cramp out of my neck, I had fallen asleep in the middle of finishing homework, around Four-ish, and I must've slept the wrong way or something. I slowly sat up and moved the scattered loose-leaf paper aside. I got dressed, packed up my completed homework, and headed into the kitchen to get some breakfast. I checked the kitchen and living room, no sign of John. So I settled for a bowl of Fruit Loops, and curled up on the couch watching reruns of Modern Family that we recorded. After the second episode I washed out my bowl and spoon, and checked the time. Simon had sent me a text asking where I was, and John still wasn't downstairs and it was a quarter to eight. I even went upstairs to find Sebastian still knocked out from whatever Magnus gave him, and John still wasn't downstairs.
Twenty-four minute minutes, and several texts from Jace, Simon, and Isabelle later (all of which I replied to) John lumbered down the steps in his pajamas. His hair sticking up on one side of his head, his eyes were still swollen from sleep, his nose was red, and he looked completely exhausted. I clenched my jaw. He was the definition of hungover if I had to describe it, and I had to be at school five minutes ago. If he noticed anger that must have been radiating off me in waves, he didn't acknowledge it in the slightest. I took a deep breath, remembering how John had shut down the day before when I raised my voice. I made an attempt to address him calmly.
I only partially succeeded.
"John...What. In. The. Heck."
He gave me a look. "Good morning to you too Clare." He rolled his eyes "Do you know where the milk is?"
I pursed my lips. You might think I was over-reacting a bit, but no. I wasn't. The reason John and I had the same classes was because I had worked my butt off to skip a grade, and given the amount of time I have taken away from me everyday, that was pretty flippin' hard. Every bit of school time I could get, I needed. John knew that.
I looked John in the eyes and spoke very clearly, and to my extreme surprise, quietly. "John, do you know what time it is? Hmm?"
He looked at the ceiling in mock contemplation. "Ahhhh...seven-ish-"
"It's eight-o-nine."
I saw realization hit him. I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming at him to hurry up and make himself look less moronic, and I took another deep breath. My anger could've been slightly due to sleep deprivation, which is unlikely in my life, but I refused to acknowledge it. Which could have led to my coming outburst. "So, hurry up! I don't what gave you the genius idea to get drunk on a school night but I need you to pull it together and get me to school, because I swear if my grades go down because of you I'll...have mom make you drive Sebastian home everyday for the next decade." I have to admit I was proud of the repercussions I invented, but I mentally slapped myself as John's expression closed up.
He looked me dead in the eye and said "Why don't you drive there yourself."
I didn't have a response. He knew why. He had never said anything like that to me before. He knew how sensitive I was about my condition, and he knew he was my rock. No one had ever made a dig like that about my ailment and the last person I would have expected to do so would be John.
To say I was at a loss for words was probably an understatement.
He pretended to have an epiphany. "Oh, right, you can't, because you depend on me to drive you, me to help you if you happen to fall, me to stay with you in every single class to make sure I take notes so you don't flunk, because you fell asleep." He raised his eyebrows. "You can't even go for a walk without me." He sniffed and shrugged. "I would just suggest you ask me a bit nicer. You need me so...I could always say no, that's all." With that he headed into the kitchen to get milk.
I stared at him, openmouthed. I was totally at a loss for words. The last time I could remember him doing that was...never. He never showed an sign of resentment towards me or what he had to do for me. I didn't know at all where this was coming from, but I had a pretty good guess. I glared icily at him. "You do not get to speak to me like that. Ever. And you do not get to complain"
He spun around, his eye twitching.
I thought about saying more, but I didn't want to show him how much his words upset me, so I just rolled my shoulders, and walked to my room. At the doorway he called out "What're you doing?"
I didn't turn to look at him as I said. "I'm going to call Alec to pick me up. You can call me when you figure out what the heck is wrong with you." With that I walked in my room and slammed the door. I ignored all of the thoughts running through my head, thoughts about Zara, John's irresponsibility, John's usual kindness and gentleness when it came to my disability. I took all those thoughts and emotions and locked them behind a steel door. I brought out my phone, and texted Alec, asking him to drive me to school, he of course said yes, and I flopped onto my plush, teal-clad bed.
I had shoved away all my troubling thoughts, so I just sat there, at first thinking of nothing, which I didn't think was possible. Then my thoughts gradually circled towards Jace. He was probably at school, which was the only thing stopping me from calling him to pick me up, although I knew he would, I didn't want to drag him away from school. I had only been dating him for about a month, but we'd know each other for years. He had moved into my neighborhood when I was around ten, his mom became friends with mine during some spa visit, where they saw one another, and John and I found ourselves seeing a lot more of Jace and his siblings. Afterwards we all starting becoming good friends. I introduced Simon, whom I'd known for much longer, and we sort of formed a pack. John had always been less tight with the group, going off and hanging out with his own friend group, but otherwise we were inseparable. A month ago Jace asked me to go on a date with him (to my complete surprise, because honestly I had a serious crush on him), and we'd been hanging together ever since. He dealt admirably well with my condition, and never once complained, criticized, or made fun of me for it. John hadn't either until...
My phone chimed. Alec texted that he was outside.
I was outside in less than thirty seconds. Alec's black Mercedes was parked directly in front of the driveway, which was nice, because the grass was covered in a layer of frost, and. I climbed into the car, and tossed my bag into the backseat, and Alec started the car. We drove in silence for the first few minutes, which was nice, since it had been so long since we'd hung out. So after a few moments of comfortable silence Alec spoke up.
"What's up?" He sighed.
"What?"
"Clary, I may have been gone for a while, but that doesn't mean I've already forgotten how you guys act when you're irritated." He glance's at me. "What's wrong?"
I was truly touched by Alec's concern, since he usually wasn't the one to worry about other people's feelings, but I honestly didn't want to talk about it. So..."How did you and Magnus meet?"
He glanced at me again, but didn't say anything about the change of subject. "He asked me to speak with him after class, very professionally actually, and then proceeded to ask me on a date."
I raised my eyebrows. "So-He's your professor?"
"Yep." He said turning a corner.
"How long had you been in the class before he asked you out?"
He cleared his throat. "It was the first day."
My eyebrows went up higher. "You said no?"
"No, I said yes."
I started to smile. "Wow, you must really like him, given that you started dating him the day you guys met."
He smiled. "I do."
We reached the school within ten minutes, and I was of course ridiculously late. I thanked Alec and hurried into the school. I was about a half-an-hour late, and my class was halfway through. I think that was the only time I had ever been glad my first class was P.E. So I practically tiptoed down the long starkly white halls, and I was thinking about just not going to class, when I turned a corner and ran directly into a wall of human flesh. I stumbled back from the impact, and glanced up to see that the person I had run into was none other than Seelie Fae. She looked mildly stunned, and I was honestly surprised she didn't fall over in her six-inch open-toe pumps and skin-tight jeans. But she stood steadily. Her stunned expression quickly morphed into one of recognition, and then one of suspicion. Before I knew what was happening, she had pulled me into a nearby Janitors closet, and was pointing one of her well manicured finger in my face.
"All right, spill."
I blinked, and shoved her away from me. "What?"
"You heard me. Where's Sebastian? He left with you yesterday, and he's not at school, and he won't answer any of my calls or texts, where the heck is he?" Her voice was raised, and I started to get worried someone would hear us.
Once I was sure no one had, I answered her question. "Sebastian was sick, he's at my house sleeping." I was surprised by how calmly my voice came out, because I was boiling inside. I was still pretty mad about my brother, sleep deprived, and had someone who I had just met almost die. I wasn't in the mood. The only reason I hadn't screamed at her, was because I didn't want to draw attention, she was Sebastian's girlfriend, and she seemed genuinely concerned.
She stared me for a second, like she was waiting for me to continue. "What happened?"
I licked my lips at her tone, she seemed almost as if she felt it was her right to know. I was also getting anxious, I'd gone almost 24 hours without falling asleep and now I was in a janitor's closet. No one knew where I was, Kaelie didn't know about my condition, and I was running late for class. I took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. "Give me your number, I'll call you later and tell you what happened, but right now I'm late for class. Okay?"
She pressed her lips together and opened the door. In the bright fluorescent lights I could see that her skin had taken on a pale pasty complexion, and I could see a thin sheen of sweat coating her skin. She walked out and turned to me. "Fine."
"Alright." I said retrieving my phone from my bag and stepping into the hall. "What's your number?"
She stared at the floor.
"Kaelie?"
She glanced up at me. "Ah, sorry, what?" She started breathing hard. "Is it hot in here to you?"
I shook my head.
She walked over to a row of lockers and leaned against them, panting. "He said, this wouldn't happen." She muttered under her breath. I notice her face wasn't completely pale. It was slightly flushed, as if she had a fever. I walked towards her, remembering how she had been the closest one to Sebastian. I touched her arm gingerly, she snatched it away, but not before I felt how warm her skin was.
I caught her before she hit the ground
Boom!
I hope it was kind of worth the wait.
If not, leave a comment telling me why, and I will try to make sure the next chapter is up to par. Let me know what you did or didn't like about this chapter, and thanks a gazillion for reading.
Until the next chapter.
