Clary's POV
I didn't want to wake Alec, he looked so tranquil. His black ear length hair was falling in his face. I kissed his cheek and carefully untangled his arms from around me. The clock read 6:30. Wow, I couldn't believe I slept all day. I hadn't really been sleeping well lately, and sleeping next to Alec just made all the nightmares go away. I could still get a shower in before Izzy tortured me for two hours. I scribbled a quick note and left it on the pillow. I really didn't want to wear that skimpy black silk robe. I opened one of the dresser drawers carefully. Bingo t-shirts. I didn't even pay attention I just threw the first one I grabbed on. It was dark gray, plain, but large and comfy and smelled good. It didn't smell like Alec, but it smelled familiar somehow. I shrugged it off and snatched up my robe off the floor before peeking out of the door. I slipped through the door relocking it and carefully pulling it shut. I heard the sound of somebody intentionally clearing their throat behind me. Crap. I could feel all the blood rush to my checks. My God, I'm barely dressed. It's ok, it's ok. If I was slipping out of anybody's room but Alec's this would look bad, but it's Alec's room, only the barely dressed thing should bother me and I was walking around the whole house in a skimpy bikini before, so this shouldn't bother me. I took a deep breath and turned around.
"Hey Clary. Taking a nap?" Sebastian asked in an amused voice with a smirk on his face.
"Ah, yep." I replied and started to leave.
"Was it a good nap?" Sebastian asked again with an amused look on his face.
"Yep." I tried to leave again.
"Best nap of your life?" Sebastian looked so amused.
"I've got to go take a shower before Izzy starts to torture me. I'll catch you later." With that I bee lined to the bathroom. I could hear Sebastian calling after me.
"Next time you want to take a nap, my door is two down on the right." I rolled my eyes and dashed into the bathroom slamming the door a little too hard behind me.
Jace's POV
I woke up in Alec's room at 6:45. My sore legs and arms were fighting me to stay down, but I stretched out a bit and pulled myself out of bed. I walked out of the room and could hear people bickering in the living room. With the empty hallway all to myself I quickly checked the knob to my room, still locked. I walked out through the kitchen, grabbed a couple more Advil and a glass of water, and then sauntered into the living room.
Maia and Jordan were snuggled up together on one of the loveseats with Sebastian and Aline sitting on opposite ends of the couch. Aline is a small girl, not toned like Clary, but probably as little. She has blond straight long hair and brown eyes. She sat idly playing with her hair, but looked up to flash me a flirty smile as I walked into the living room. We hooked-up a couple years back, but she's really an air-head. I gave her a wink. I didn't notice Simon was the one making all of the racket until I was actually in the room. He was standing up several feet from Sebastian wagging his finger.
"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. I told you to shut up. Nobody wants to hear your trash talk." Simon turned when I walked into the room and stomped over to me. He's a good six inches or so shorter than me so I just stood there and looked down at him.
"Did you sleep with her?" He looked somewhat comical. It was hard for me to ever take Simon seriously, he was geek, but he had this serious look on his face.
"Yeah. Well probably. You'll have to be more specific. The list is loooong. I'm going to need a description or a name or something." I looked down at him amused. Out of nowhere he was throwing a punch. I weaved out of the way and he went flying to the floor. Izzy stalked into the room at that very moment looking incensed.
"What the hell is going on in here?" She looked back and forth from Simon on the floor to me. Simon looked right at her and shot his hand up pointing at me from the floor in an accusing way.
"He slept with Clary." Oh shit. How did I end up in this? I started to shake my head. Simon scrambled to his feet and went to stand over by Izzy.
"ASS-" Jordan clamped his hand over Maia's mouth. A lot of angry faces were staring right at me. Aline smiled and shot me a wink.
"Everybody knows Jace gets around. Who cares?"
"I didn't. I didn't sleep with her."
"You just admitted you did two seconds ago. You're just afraid of Izzy." Simon was wagging his accusing finger at me. Izzy was terrifying when she was mad, and me sleeping with Clary, would be enough to make her supremely irate. I didn't do anything though. I wasn't sure what I got myself into.
"No. I didn't. You tricked me. That's not what-" Before I knew what was happening Izzy was yelling at me and several books were flying at my head.
"JONATHAN CHRISTOPHER WAYLAND. When I get through with you…well…well…you don't even want to know what I'm going to do to you." Izzy throwing out my whole name is never good. I was bobbing and weaving out of the way of books right and left. I was trying to keep from laughing, she looked pretty funny, standing there ripping one right after another off of the shelves and chucking them.
"Do you think this is funny? Wipe that smile off your face. Just you wait until Alec finds out. THIS IS NOT FUNNY JACE." I was doing pretty well at missing the projectiles.
"I didn't do anything Izzy. Simon, why do you think I slept with Clary."
"Sebastian said you did." I gave Sebastian a dirty look, but my minor distraction got me hit with a book.
"OW. That hurt. Nobody likes Sebastian. Why are you listening to him?" I questioned through weaves and bobs.
"Actually Jace, you're the only one here that doesn't like Sebastian." Maia chimed in.
"Thanks for the help Maia. " My voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Anytime."
"Come on Jace. I talked to her when she came out of your room in nothing but one of your t-shirts like 20 minutes ago. Don't act like nothing happened." Sebastian had this superior look on his face. I just wanted to punch him.
"No. no. no. no. no. You saw wrong." Izzy stopped throwing books and was just standing staring at me and Sebastian. Judging, waiting.
"So are you saying that wasn't Clary in your bedroom? In your t-shirt?" Sebastian had a stupid smirk on his face.
"Go to hell Sebastian. She was in my bedroom, but she wasn't wearing-" Izzy cut me off and continued throwing books at me.
"JACE! You do stuff like this all the time without thinking of the consequences. You never think-"
"ENOUGH." Alec yelled from the hallway entrance to the living room. Izzy dropped the book she was holding and all eyes turned to see Alec with Magnus slightly behind him. Alec looked totally furious, but Magnus had this manic smile on his face. He was probably just happy not to be at the other end of Alec's wrath. Not that Alec got mad often, he was really quite even tempered, but he could get mad. He punched me in the face once after I got a little too loaded at a club. I don't really remember what happened, but I woke-up with a big egg courtesy of Alec's fist.
"What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On. Here?" Alec enunciated each word. Izzy quickly looked at me. I gave her a smug smile. I had no reason to fear Alec. He already knew everything. She gave me a confused look and looked back at Alec. She expected me to be shaking in my boots, and if I had slept with Clary, I sure as hell would have been.
"Jace just tell Alec-" Izzy shot Aline a look silencing her. She rolled her eyes and went back to playing with her hair.
Alec walked all the way into the room and put his hands on his hips. He was like a parent coming into a room of kids doing something wrong and nobody would admit what just happened.
"I'm waiting?" Everybody was quiet. A door in the hallway closed and into the living room from behind Alec and Magnus, Clary walked in with wet hair dressed in a skimpy black satin robe. I couldn't help but let out with a little half chuckle half cough. She looked so hot, but that obviously wasn't the type of outfit you'd usually just walk around the house in. Definitely another one of Izzy's clothes choices.
She looked around the room at all of the snickering faces.
"I heard all the noises. What'd I miss?"
"Clary? What are you wearing?" Simon looked mortified.
"Girl. What happened to you? This morning you're walking around in an itsy bitsy bathing suit, now you're parading around in negligee." Maia shook her head at Clary.
"Clary Darling. It's not really the appropriate time for a Kimono." Magnus was looking at Clary with a remorseful look.
"What? It's a robe. Izzy?" Clary looked to Izzy to back her up. Izzy walked over to Clary shaking her head.
"Oh honey. That's a bedroom kind of robe, not a house robe…Come on Clary. Let me show you how to use your wardrobe." Izzy turned Clary around and walked her out of the living room and down the hall. Maia jumped up and ran down the hall after them.
"Oh goody. Girl time." Magnus clapped his hands and spun on his toes before waltzing out of the room. Probably noticing she was the only girl left, Aline jetted as well.
Alec walked across the room and put his hand on my shoulder.
"What's going on man? Why'd Izzy throw all of the encyclopedias at you?" Alec looked a little concerned and shifted his gaze back and forth between me and Simon.
"Nothing. It's just a misunderstanding. A big misunderstanding." I tried to shrug Alec's hand off, but he kept a firm hold.
"Sebastian said Jace slept with Clary." Simon sounded like he couldn't get that out quick enough. I shot him a cold look.
"Well he didn't. I know for a fact he didn't." Alec was very calm and collected when he addressed Simon. Had he not been digging his fingers deeply into my shoulder I may have actually believed he was completely fine.
"Come on Alec. I don't know why everybody's tip toeing around on eggshells here like Clary's some sort of virgin goddess. I saw her sneaking out of his room just wearing his t-shirt like 30 minutes ago. I talked to her. She practically admitted it. What's the big deal?" Sebastian looked so cocky. Alec's fingers bit down further into my shoulder. I had to clench my teeth to keep from yelling out in pain.
"I was in Jace's room with Clary. Jace was sleeping in mine. End of story." Sebastian rolled his eyes dramatically looking amused. He had an evil little smirk on his face. Alec shifted his expression to me, slightly loosening his grip.
"Let's go for a run. I've been cramped in a car half the day." Alec knew I had gone for a crazy long run already today. So I figured he was just looking for an out.
"That sounds great." His vice grip tightened on my shoulder and he led me out of the room rather uncomfortably.
"Wait up guys. That sounds like a good idea. Let me just change quick" Simon sounded a mix of excited and suspicious. I was just happy nobody else seemed to pipe up they wanted to join us.
Alec's POV
I dragged Jace outside and down to the water pushing him onto the sand well out of earshot range from the house. I crossed my arms and shifted my weight back.
"Talk."
"What?"
"Talk. I want to know what happened back there." Next thing I know Simon is jogging down to us. He sat down on the ground not far from Jace and didn't say a word.
"Great job Scooby Doo. You found us. Now go away. We're not really going for a run." Jace sat glowering at Simon.
"Simon's fine. Leave him be Jace." Jace stood up, fists balled at his side, and gave me a glare.
"Are you siding with him over me?" I quickly put my hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.
"No, but I want the whole story. I can get a better picture if you both tell me what happened back there."
"Fine. I came in at the end. Better ask Scooby Doo what happened." Jace had an annoyed look on his face as he shifted his glare to Simon.
"Can I speak freely?" Simon glanced at Jace jerking his chin towards Jace in a suggestive way.
"God Scooby, I'm right here. I can see you. Spit it out." I nodded slightly to Simon. I knew he wanted to get something out and I could always cut him off if we were going down a dangerous path.
"Ok. So I was sitting with Maia and Jordan in the living room talking about going out tonight. Maia and Izzy have already been plotting about how they're going to get Clary talking to guys, dancing with guys, dating guys, and what have you. So I was just trying to ground Maia a bit, reminder her that Clary doesn't have to find Mr. Right tonight or anything-"
"Ok Simon, why don't you get to when Sebastian joined the conversation?" I rolled my hand in the air letting him know to move his story along.
"So, Sebastian and Aline come walking down the hall laughing and talking about Clary. We all shut up and started eavesdropping. He was spouting off how sexy Clary was and how he'd like a piece of her." I ran my fingers through my hair and closed my eyes for a long moment. Protecting Clary from Jace was one thing, at least I could try to rein Jace in a bit, but I'd heard rumors about Sebastian, he was pretty pushy with girls. He'd get girls wasted and take advantage of them; at least Jace had some boundaries. He also fought dirty. If he felt this was a competition between him and Jace, Sebastian would be merciless.
"When they came into the living room and saw us they just sat down. Sebastian didn't even sound like he cared. He just continued his story, telling us all how he had seen Clary come out of Jace's room like 10 minutes earlier with nothing but one of Jace's t-shirts on. It was so obvious they had slept together and seeing as Jace is notoriously a 'wham bam thank you ma am' kind of guy, that Clary was probably as easy in bed as she was on the eyes and he didn't see why he shouldn't have a go." Jace looked like he was going to throw-up or kill someone.
"Jace came into the room as I was yelling at Sebastian to shut up. I asked Jace if he slept with her, but I was so spun up I didn't emphasize who she was. He made a sarcastic remark affirming he did, because apparently he's slept with a loooong list of people, and then next thing you know Izzy's in the living room throwing books at Jace and all hell broke loose. That's when you walked in." Simon finished his story a bit out of breath looking from me to Jace.
"Thank you Simon. You can go now."
"What do you mean 'I can go now'" Simon made the little finger quotes over the words.
"Go on Simon. I need to talk to Jace alone for a little. Why don't you go find Jordan or something?"
"But-"
"Get the hell out of here." Jace shot Simon a menacing look. Simon nodded once and sulked back to the house. Jace was sitting in the sand with his fingers balled into fists to the point his knuckles were completely white.
"Alright. Now you. Talk."
"Simon told you everything. Can I go?" Jace's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"No. Absolutely not. You'll just try to find Sebastian to beat him up, and that's not going to help right now. The last thing we need is Sebastian thinking Clary is some sort of prize. Come on Jace. You're usually pretty good at diffusing a situation. Why was the whole living room in disarray when I got in there? What's going on with you?" Jace took a deep breath and looked me right in the eyes with a hurt expression.
"I kissed her Alec. I don't know what happen. It was like I was in the garden all over again. I just lost control and I kissed her and she kissed me back. I can't stop thinking about her. It's driving me crazy. Izzy's going to kill me, I know she is, but I don't know what's going on with me man. This one's different." Jace put his face in his hands. I could tell he was freaking out. I knelt down next to him and put my hand lightly on his shoulder.
I could never really understand Jace and Clary's relationship. Jace wasn't good around people; he just didn't know how to care for somebody without causing them pain. If he felt too close to somebody, like he had let them in even the slightest, he would crush them; make them feel two inches tall. Izzy and I were use to it, but Clary was like a porcelain doll. I was so afraid if she got too close to Jace, he would break her. Not that I would ever keep Clary away from Jace if that's what she really wanted. Izzy would. She would hold him at bay by knifepoint if needed, but I was always open with Clary. She knew what I thought of Jace, that I hoped that he let her see a side of him that we just never saw. I knew Jace cared for Clary, how he listened to every weekend conversation I had with her. He cared much more than he was letting on and I made sure she knew that. I just didn't know if that was enough for him to break his destructive cycle. I also wondered about Clary. She acted like she hated him at times, but I think she was just trying to fit the standard of what everybody expected of her. Everybody wanted her to be hurt by Jace's arrogance, by his dirty mouth, and by the way he belittled her with his sarcastic comments. Though time and time again, I'd see her look at him like he hung the moon.
"It sounds like you're in love man." Jace snapped his head up to look at me, shaking his head vigorously.
"Jace Wayland does NOT fall in love."
"Maybe Jace Wayland does." I gave him an encouraging smile.
"I didn't sleep with her Alec." I chuckled.
"Jace, love and sex aren't one in the same. Plus, I know. And Don't. That's not what either of you need right now. Try small. Why don't you work on being civil to her? You're always so damn arrogant and sarcastic. It's obnoxious. A little charm goes a long way. Spend some time getting to know her." Jace gave me a smirk.
"Does this mean you're finally giving me a green light with Clary?"
"Absolutely Not. Especially with that smirk. You also have to get through Izzy. I'm not helping you there. I'd sooner face a rabid pit bull. Think of it as a yellow light. Proceed with caution. Proceed with extreme caution Jace. I'll be watching you like a hawk." Jace furrowed his eyebrows.
"You already do watch me like a hawk."
"You have no idea...If you want as much as a prayer of a chance with Clary, you need to straighten up." I pushed myself up using Jace's shoulder as support and walked back into the house alone. Leaving Jace in the sand with his thoughts.
Magnus's POV
I was browsing through my wardrobe when Alec entered the room. He looked drained and rather somber.
"What's wrong boo? You can't be this upset over Jace." I walked over and put my arms around him. He returned my embrace burying his head into my shoulder.
"I feel like I'm losing her Magnus."
"She was never yours to lose." Alec pulled away giving me a hurt look and went over and sat down on the edge of the bed with his head hanging down.
"You know what I mean. I feel like she's drifting away. She didn't even tell me that she kissed Jace."
"She probably just didn't get the chance yet. She's growing up Alec. She's not a little girl anymore."
"She's not an adult either." Alec spat.
"Well in the eyes of the law she is, but no. In the ways of the world, she's an inexperienced child."
"I want to protect her from the world."
"I know….but you can't. You treat her like a father treats a daughter coming of age. Your daughter is grown and you can't let her go. You see her as an innocent young girl in need of protection. She needs to spread her wings. She needs to make mistakes. You've been worse since the accident you know, more overprotective than usual. Be the shoulder to cry on, the confidant she needs, but don't smother her Alec."
"I'm not smothering her." Alec huffed.
"She turns to you as one turns to their significant other. You fill a void in her life that is not yours to fill. She will never find love if she never feels that something is missing in her life. You need to give her some space." Alec looked over to me.
"Lots of things are missing in her life. Her parent's are dead Magnus. She has a huge void in her life. She's mourning their death and I'm not even there for her. She's all alone. She has sooo much space already. She misses me." Alec's eyes had begun to shin.
"Perhaps you miss her just as much, and no, she doesn't have space. Not from you anyway. You talk to her daily. Text, email, phone. She holds on to you for dear life, quite literally. Help her grow-up Alec. Talk to her. Explain you'll always be there for her, you'll always love her, but she needs more in her life than just you to make it full. She needs things you can't give her. You will never marry her or give her children. You won't lay down with her every night and hold her as she falls asleep. If she didn't want these things that would be different, but you know she does. Someday she'll find someone that will give her everything. She just needs to be encouraged to look." I sat down on the bed and put my arms around Alec. Slow tears trickled down his face. I kissed his cheek and he turned his face, his sad eyes met mine.
"I know I've found what I was looking for." I gave him a reassuring smile and he wrapped his arms around me and brought his lips to mine.
Jace's POV
I snuck back into my room before Alec and Magnus's make-out session turned NC17. Luckily you couldn't hear through the walls, just the thin doors. I felt like the room was spinning, I locked the door and stumbled forward crashing onto my unmade bed. I knew it was wrong to have eavesdropped, but the damage was done. I knew exactly who they were talking about, Clary. Her parents were dead? When? What happened? Was Clary hurt? Who was she living with? Who was watching out for her, taking care of her? She must be going through so much. I had so many questions. I had been such an ass to her. If I had known what she was going through I wouldn't have been so damn sarcastic.
I caught sight of a small piece of paper at the very edge of my bed sticking out between the pillows and the wall. I plucked the scrap of paper and read the simple words. 'Parting is such sweet sorrow.' I felt like I had just gotten the wind kicked out of me. I didn't recognize the writing, but I knew exactly who it was from. Clary. She must have left it for Alec when she left my room, God knows she didn't leave it for me, but he must not have ever seen it. Those were the same words I had said to Clary right before she left the garden on her sixteenth birthday.
My mind was racing. I laid in bed for a long time trying to get a grip on reality.