Disclaimer: I don't own the Mortal Instruments series or characters.
Tired
I was in an elegant gold strapless dress. My mother, Maryse, and Isabelle werer crying as Luke locked arms with me and we started to walk down the isle. I was smiling broadly as I made my way down the Accords Hall, up to the front where Jace was standing.
Jace looked like an angel in his all white tux. His golden hair and eyes were both shinning up like the sun in the sunset. His white teeth were glorious and he was smiling beautifully.
Luke kissed my cheek and placed my hand in Jace's warm perfect smooth hand.
"Do you Jace Lightwood take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" The preacher asked.
"I do." Jace smiled at me.
"And do you Clarissa Fray take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I-"
"Clary. Wake up." A warm hand was on my waist and lightly shaking it. "Wake up, baby. Clary." He said louder.
I groaned, "Go away."
"Clary, it's me, Jace. You have to get up, come on." Jace shook me again.
I opened my eyes, seeing Jace's fast leant over the bed and smiling. I looked at the clock and gasped.
"Good morning, sunshine."
"There is no way you just woke me up at six-thirty in the morning."
"Clocks don't lie, love." Jace replied, adjusting his body to sit beside me.
"No they don't." I said, rolling over my back to him. "Good night."
"Actually, it's good morning." Jace rolled me back over, straddling me so I wouldn't move.
"What do you want Jace?" I groaned.
"That was an attractive sound you just made, can you make it again?"
I glared at him, "What do you want Jace?"
"Please make it again." He bent down until his head was an inch from me, he braced himself on his elbows.
"Jace if you don't tell me why you woke me up at six in the morning I am going to knee you in the crotch." I threatened.
"That is the most you have done with my crotch in sixteen days." I started to raise my knee, "Alright, I'll tell you. Alec called me thirty minutes ago, I was in the middle of my morning work out, and said that he needed me to meet him at Taki's by seven."
"See you later then." I replied. Jace grinned.
"Well, I wanted to bring you with me."
"What makes you think I am going to go?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"Because I am going to ask you nicely." Jace replied matter-of-factly. "Clary, my sweet beautiful gorgeous, Clary will you please come with me to meet Alec?" He asked, kissing me sweetly on the lips.
"This would of worked a lot better if you hadn't of woken me up at six."
"That isn't a no."
"It isn't a yes either." I challenged.
Jace rose an eyebrow, "Have I ever told you that your stubbornness is very attractive?"
I glared at him.
"Clary please, if you go with me today you don't have to get me anything for my birthday." Jace pleaded.
"Yes, I do." I rolled my eyes, seeing no out I nodded, "Fine I'll go. But you have to know that today I am going to be very cranky."
"Thank you. I'll remember that, love. Now go get dressed." Jace kissed me once more before rolling off of me. I sat up and looked at the clock, six-forty-five. Ugh...
Standing up and walked over to my closet, I found the simplest outfit I could; jeans, converse, a pink and white striped sweater, and a long sleeved warm black jacket. I changed quickly in the bathroom, Jace was still on my bed patiently waiting on the end of it. He stood up when I came out and smiled gorgeously. I had to fight a smile of my own.
"Are you ready?" Jace asked, wrapping an arm around my waist. I nodded and we made our way out of the Institute. I was about to get in my car when Jace pulled me away.
"What?"
"We are going to walk." He said, leading me out of the garage and onto the streets of New York.
"You are just doing everything you can to upset me this morning, aren't you?" I pushed his warm arm off of me, suddenly angry with him.
"I wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt you, Clary." Jace said quietly. I felt guilty immediately but didn't let it show as we walked to Taki's the rest of the way in silence.
By the time we stepped inside, I was like an icicle; my teeth chattering loudly, the harsh wind taking a tole on my hair as I tried to pat it down. But of course, while I looked awful Jace looked as beautiful as ever. I followed him to a booth that Alec sat alone in.
Jace sat down by Alec and I sat opposite them.
"Hello you two, thanks for coming." Alec greeted us. "Why aren't you sitting next to each other?"
"Because Jace knows he will get pinched if he does something wrong." I answered easily. Alec didn't look to be in trouble, so why did he wake me up?
Jace grinned, "You can't pinch me when I'm over here."
"I can still kick you." I replied, shrugging. Jace chuckled before turning to his brother.
"So, why did you have us meet you here?"
"I wanted to... talk." Alec muttered awkwardly.
"Talk?" I asked incredulously.
"Talk?" Jace repeated, "You made me wake up Clary at six in the morning, so we could talk? Do you realize what I am going to go through today if she gets mad?"
"Well, it is important." Alec said quietly, "Look, I know you two are tired and I know that you both stayed up until after two-thirty dealing with Issac, but I really need your help."
"This better be very important." I said quietly.
"I have a friend coming into town today," Alec started, "His name is Charles Wu, he is from Japan. And," Alec took a deep breath, "Clary, I need you to drive me up to the airport to get him."
"You can't be serious."
"Unfortunately, I am." Alec replied. I groaned, laying my head down on the table, face down eyes closed, my arms as my pillow. I heard Alec and Jace start to talk in hushed whispers.
"See what you did? Clary is in no shape to drive today, Alec." Jace said.
"I'm sorry, Jace. I tried to ask nicely." Alec apologized. I yawned silently.
"When is Charles's flight landing?" Jace asked quickly.
"At nine." Alec answered.
"In the morning?" Alec must have nodded because Jace sighed, "By the Angel, Alec, you are not making this any easier for me."
"Move over." Came a demanding feminine voice.
I didn't look up, "Do I know you?"
"Clary, I am exhausted and my feet are sore. Shove over or I will shove you off the booth."
"Ah, so it's Isabelle." I replied, still not looking as I moved over until I was up against the cold red bricks of the wall. Jace and I were now diagonal to each other, his worried eyes hitting me as I glanced at him.
Two bodies slid into the booth beside me, Isabelle and -I looked over- Simon. What is he doing here? Are they back together? Simon gave me an uneasy smile which I answered with a confused look, he shook his head. I almost smiled at our moment.
"You look like crap." Isabelle told me.
"Thanks." I rolled my eyes, "I probably don't smell very good either."
"Why didn't you take a shower?" Simon asked.
I glared at Jace, "Ask him."
Jace didn't get a chance to reply with a sarcastic comment, however, because Kaelie came by. Her blue eyes shinning with some unknown happiness.
"Good morning!" She announced excitedly, "Up and early this morning shadowhunters and vampire, what would you like to order on this fine morning?" I closed my eyes and lent my head against the cold brick. I heard Jace order me a coffee and some pancakes, I would of thanked him but, he was the one to put me in this horrible mood.
"Wow, Kaelie seems really happy." Alec observed.
"I haven't seen her that happy since I dat-" Jace started.
"I'm still awake, Jace." I interrupted him. I heard Jace chuckle, then I felt warm fingertips on my face and my hair being moved to the side, out of my face.
"I wasn't going to say anything bad, love." Jace whispered. The warmth of his fingertips on my cheek contracted just right against the cold bricks.
Once we had finished eating, Alec brought up driving to the airport to pick up his friend situation again.
"So will you?" Alec asked me.
I sighed, "Why can't you just take a cab?"
"What is happening?" Simon asked, looking as confused as Isabelle.
"My friend, Charles Wu from Japan," Alec started Isabelle already looked annoyed, "Is flying in today and his plane lands at nine. Which is in," Alec glanced at his watch, "An hour and fifteen minutes. So I was asking Clary if she would drive me there to pick him up."
"But," Jace interjected quickly, "She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to."
"I think I should..." I said. "Which airport?"
"JFK." Alec replied apologetically. I groaned quietly, that would be an hour drive. Jace grabbed my hand.
"You don't have to Clary." He whispered.
"What about this," Simon said, "Clary we can switch out; I can drive there and you drive back, if you want to."
"Simon, thank you." I said gratefully. "You are such a great friend."
He shrugged, "I know and you're welcome."
Isabelle smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but then seemed to think better of it. Jace's eyes flashed with an emotion before he could hide hit behind a bored mask.
We made our way out to Simon's car, since Jace and I walked here, and all climbed in. Alec in the front, Isabelle in the very back and already lying down, and Jace in the middle row. Simon and I hesitated.
"Do you want me to drive first?" I asked him. Please say no. Please say no.
"No, I think you should rest awhile before you drive." Simon replied, sitting down in the drivers side.
"Thank you, Simon." I hugged him quickly. Simon smiled at me and shut his door, I crawled into the back beside Jace, and shut my door. Simon started the car and I leant back against the headrest.
"Are you really that tired?" Jace asked, I felt his leg go against me. I opened my eyes and found that Jace was sitting very close to me, his leg up against mine, his hand sat on my knee.
"Yes. I am that tired." I replied.
"Well here," Jace pat his shoulder when his free hand, "Take a nap."
"As comfortable as that sounds, no thanks."
Jace grinned, moving the hand that was on my knee, to around my shoulder and he gently pushed my head down onto his shoulder.
"I think you should." Jace whispered, kissing my forehead lightly. I smiled at his kind gesture. I closed my eyes and let the nearness of Jace surround me as we sped down the highway.
We arrived at the airport a lot sooner that I first thought, and I reluctantly traded my seat with Simon as the boys got out of the car with Alec to go find his friend. I adjusted the seat to my short height and waited with Isabelle.
"So," I started, "You and Simon came together."
"Yeah, and?" Isabelle asked, her voice sounded tired.
"Are you, uh, you know," I stuttered, "Back together?"
She was quiet for a long moment, "I don't know really. He called me in the middle of the night, while we were dealing with Issac, and I didn't answer. But that has to be a sign doesn't it?"
"What does?"
"That right when I was breaking up with Issac my ex-boyfriend Simon calls me."
Probably not.
"I guess so."
"It has to be," Isabelle whispered, "I think Simon wants to get back together."
I felt very uncomfortable suddenly, thinking of how Simon and Stephanie acted together. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Jace stepping out of the crowd with a suitcase under his arm, Simon behind him with a large brown bag, and Alec behind him. Alec was walking with, who I guessed to be, Charles Wu.
Charles was as tall as Simon with black hair and brown almond shaped eyes. His arms were marked up with permanent Runes and when he smiled at Alec, his white teeth glowed.
I jumped as someone tapped on the window. It was Jace, I rolled the window down.
"Hey, honey." Jace said pleasantly, "Are you okay to drive?"
"Hi, yeah I think so. That coffee helped a lot, thanks." I replied nodding. "Why are you not getting in the car?"
Jace grinned, "This is kind of romantic isn't it?" He leant forward until his lips were at my ear, whispering, "I just want make sure Wu knows that you are mine. By the way, do you know American History?"
I nodded, "Some."
"How much is some?" He asked, his warm breath on my ear made me shiver in delight.
"Why do you need to know?" I challenged.
"That Wu guy came out of the airport and said that he didn't trust American's after the Bombing of Tokyo. And I could figure out what it was, but I couldn't even come up with a sarcastic reply. That's why I want to know."
"I know about the Bombing of Tokyo." I replied, thinking back to my History classes in high school.
"Then you know how to reply?" Jace asked hopefully.
"Yes, Jace. I know a reply." I rolled my eyes, why did he want to hurt Charles so badly?
"Great," Jace smiled and moved away from my ear, Alec and Charles were approaching the car now, "I love you. Are you sure you are okay to drive? I'm sure bloodsucker would-"
"No, I'm okay. I promise." Jace's eyebrows pulled together.
"And?" He asked.
"And what?" I questioned, Jace started to smirk.
"Do you love me?"
"Jace, you woke me up at six-thirty." He rose his eyebrows, "I can't just reward you for doing that."
"Reward?" Jace asked, "Saying that you love me too is a reward?"
I sucked in a breath, "That's the other reason, you ruin everything with your words."
"I'm so sorry honey," His voice reeked with sarcasm, "Maybe I should reward you by giving you a hug."
"I didn't mean it like that." I replied, growing angry.
"Then how did you mean it?" He challenged. I glared at him.
"You know, I was going to let us have sex tonight only to get my mind off of this but now that is just gone!" I wasn't exactly yelling, but my voice was growing louder.
Jace looked shocked for a moment, "Oh, now we are being honest? I lied earlier, your stubbornness is awful for me to deal with. It is not sexy or attractive in the slightest!"
"You are so on the couch tonight!" Now, I was yelling.
"I have my own room, Clary!"
"There just might be a locking Rune on it when you go to bed!"
"You wouldn't!"
"I would."
"You're an evil, evil little girl."
I smiled, "I learn from the best." By the end of our fight we were whispering threats to each other.
"Wow," Said a heavily accented voice, "If this is what America is like, I am going home." I turned, it was Charles Wu looking very frightened and Alec looked very mad at Jace and I.
"I'm sorry about that," I said getting out of the car and pushing Jace out of the way, "I'm Clary." I rose a hand to let Charles shake but he just looked at it as if it were about to bite him.
"Are you really? Clary. That doesn't even sound like a name." Charles said. My eyebrows rose, he picked the wrong day to mess with me.
"You're last name sounds like a bad soup." I replied before walking back to Simon's car and sliding in the driver's side, Jace was in the passenger seat. My window was still down.
"Are you sure you can drive, short-stuff?" Charles asked.
"There's only one way to find out." I replied, annoyed.
"I suppose there is." Charles got into the car. "I'm sorry but I really don't trust Americans, after all we Japanese are still mad at you about the Bombing of Tokyo. No offense."
"I'm not offended by that," I started to pull out of the airport, "because we are still mad at you about Pearl Harbor." I turned onto the highway and started to drive home.
"What's a Pearl Harbor?" Isabelle asked.
"It's a place, Isabelle." I replied she still looked confused, "In Hawaii." Isabelle nodded, apparently she knew where Hawaii was.
"Clary," Isabelle called after five minutes of silence, "This jerk keeps on saying that we underestimated them."
"We did." I replied.
"We did?" Jace asked incredulously.
I nodded, "Small little Asian people what can they do, you know?"
"How did we underestimate them?" Isabelle asked.
I thought for a second, "I would need to look back in the book. But I think it was we, the Americans, didn't think that the Japanese could make a torpedo that could go underwater but still bomb on contact. And they did, and they annihilated us."
"That we did." Charles said proudly.
"Well we were un-prepared." I snapped back. "Plus we got back at you by bombing Tokyo."
That wiped the grin off Charles's face, "That was in the middle of world war 1. I bet pretty boy blondie up there didn't know that."
"No, I didn't actually. You're right." Jace replied, "Because I focus on the history of shadowhunter's and there battles."
"Then you haven't heard of the Battle of Verdun, Hundred Days Offensive, or the Spring Offensive?" Charles asked. I didn't even remember two of those, but Charles didn't need to know that, I thought as I turned into a street that would led us to the Institute.
"Clary." Jace said my name in a tone that clearly said, 'help me.'
"Excuse me, six in the morning, I don't like being woken up early or getting yelled at." I replied to him. Jace was about to reply when Simon stepped in.
"You woke Clary up?! And then yelled at her?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" He asked, laughing slightly.
"Thank you!" I said to Simon, "That is like the first rule as to not get me upset!"
Jace turn to face me, "Now we have rules and rewards?"
"Only if you're naughty." I replied.
"Ew!" Charles interrupted, "I did not need to hear that!"
"We didn't even say anything." I muttered, already sick of this Charles Wu.
"Yeah, that was nothing compared to what those two do in public or on our missions." Isabelle said, shivering slightly. Simon smiled at her.
"Isabelle is right," Alec spoke up, "They get disgusting."
Jace touched my hand, "Don't worry, Clary, they are just jealous because they can't get there love life figured out."
"Hey! Mine is pretty much figured out!" Alec said.
"So tell me then, Alec, where is Magnus?" Jace asked.
"And I," Isabelle said, "don't have time because we are always training and killing demons."
"Freedom in America? This is freedom; having to be train for all your life only to kill things?" Charles asked.
"We are talking about our love lives!" Isabelle yelled at him.
"It is freedom. Look it up, Asian, its written in the national anthem." I ignored Isabelle.
"Where?" Charles asked.
"'For the land of the the free and the home of the brave'." I replied.
"That is so cheesy."
"Well what does your national anthem say? For the land of the rice and the home of the pandas?"
"Hey! Pandas live in China!" Luckily, at that time we pulled into the Institute and I forgot this is Simon's car.
"Simon, I'm sorry." I replied, getting out of the car and handing Simon the keys.
He smiled, "That's okay, Clary. You had to take all these people home. I can drive back to my house, I'm a big boy."
I smiled, "Thanks for letting us use your car."
"No problem," Simon hugged me, "Go get some rest, you look like crap."
"So I've heard." I replied hugging him back, before I let go of him, saw Isabelle waiting, I turned around and entered the Institute before Jace, who had two bags.
"So, if I apologize will you forgive me and then we can forget about all these rules and rewards?" He set them down inside, wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and started to led me away from Alec and Charles, back to my room.
"Maybe." I replied, opening my door and waiting for him to apologize.
"I'm sorry, Clary. I didn't mean to yell at you and I know you are tired today so I should've yelled at you," Jace apologize, "And I lied about lying, your stubbornness is really sexy."
I smiled at the ground, "Alright I forgive you. I'm sorry too, I guess I could've been a little more patient."
"I forgive you, love." Jace said, I looked up at him, "So am I allowed it?"
I laughed and moved aside to let him into my bedroom, I shut the door and turned to him, to find him already laying down on the bed with his arms open. I crawled down in bed and lay down in his arms.
"So," Jace muttered after a minute, "were you lying about distracting yourself from being mad by using me?"
"Maybe," I smiled up at him and kissed him on the lips.
"I'll take maybe any day." Jace replied and flipped us over so that he was on top and kissing me hungrily.
A/N: Thanks for reading!