Jace's POV

As I watched Maxie leave the room, I had the feeling she would be a while – probably trying to wake herself up; the angel knows she's not a morning person – so I took the oppertunity to go get Clary her coffee like I told her I would.

I rushed through the corridors, the cold shocking my bare feet. I hoped the kitchen would be warmer but, if possible, the kitchen floor seemed even colder than the rest of the Institute, and I was thankful that Maxie had already made the coffee, so all I had to do was pour it in a mug.

I warmed my hands – and tried to spread the heat to the rest of my body – as I made the familiar walk back to the room which I shared with Clary; have shared with Clary since I was seventeen.

I opened the door as quietly as possible then pushed it almost shut behind me, thinking that she would have gone back to sleep, but the bed was empty. I panicked for about a second but then the door to the bathroom opened and Clary walked out.

The world could have ended and I wouldn't have noticed. If she'd been breathtaking this morning, it was nothing compared to how she looked now. Her skin shimmered with the succulence left over from her shower and her hair was a cloud of soft damp curls that fell all around her. Her eyes lit up when she saw me looking, and her cheeks turned my favourite shade of pink. She was glowing.

I could never seem to help but smile whenever I was in Clary's presence these days. "I got coffee," I told her, holding up the mug as evidence. "Took the oppertunity while Maxie's getting a blindfold."

"Blindfold?" She asked, confused; but then she caught the scent of coffee. "Mmm, lovely." She said as she took the mug from me. "What do you think you're doing?" She asked accusingly. "You know full well that if you close the door properly you'll be late back to training."

"That was the plan," I said closing the door anyway. I walked over to her and pulled her roughly against me, bringing her lips to mine.

I heard the cup smash as it hit the ground, I probably could have caught it if I'd wanted to, but I didn't care. I was lost. And no matter how close I held Clary against me, it still never seemed enough. It mustn't have been enough for her either as her hands grappled for something to hold so she could pull me closer. She eventually settled on my hair and wrapped her fingers firmly in it in an effort to crush my mouth more fiercely against hers. But despite that, afterwards, she chose to pull away.

"Jace," she whispered, breathless, panting in an effort to draw in air. "Maxie," she reminded me a little louder, pulling away further so she could eye me down.

"I'm sure she won't mind," I said moving to trail a line of soft kisses down the side of her neck.

"Jace," she moaned, her defences weakening. I took my chance to act; kissing her soft lips once again.

My hands which had been at her waist moved up her back and came to rest just under her shoulder blades. I grabbed the edge of the towel and she stopped breathing in my arms.

"If you want me to stop you'll have to tell me so. And mean it," I told her teasingly, knowing that she very rarely told me to stop. I started to ease the towel away from her.

I nearly had it undone when she said; "Jace; stop." She sounded so unwilling to believe what she was asking me. But she'd managed something, so I relented.

"Later; I promise," I whispered in her ear before stepping away from her. I turned and winked once before leaving the room; grabbing boots and socks on the way out. I stopped outside the door and shoved them on before walking back to the training room; feeling as if a part of me had been left behind.

As predicted by Clary, and proving me wrong once again, Maxie was already there by the time I got back. She had her back to me again, but I thought she looked sad – even from behind – as her shoulders were hunched; her hand went to her face before she turned around.

Her eyes were slightly red, and as much as I wanted to know what was upsetting her, she had developed my old habit of masking her feelings when she didn't want them known, and something in her expression told me that if she did want me to know, she would tell me.

"Found a blindfold?" I asked.

She nodded; a small, grateful smile on her face. She pulled a scarf out of her pocket.

"Okay, let's get started," I said, and she turned to make preparations. "Maxie?" I asked. She looked back at me over her shoulder. "How opposed would you be to making this a little more difficult?"

Maxine's POV

I can't believe dad found me crying, especially over something a zoned-out Izzy had said. I didn't even know if it was true. But something inside me told me that it was. It's not like dad looks much like Maryse. Although I suppose he could have looked like grandpa Robert. I've never really seen a picture of him to compare. I hoped that was the case and tried to forget about it. Worst comes to worst maybe dad's just adopted.

"Maxie, climb on," my dad told me, interrupting my thoughts for a second. "I'll set it up then jump on."

My dad had the chessboard installed when I was thirteen. And it was basically a...well, a giant chessboard I suppose; except it was rigged to the ceiling, so was currently hovering at about 15ft from the ground. Also it was more of just an outline really; the holes slightly smaller – about a foot square – so that if you missed a step, you were pretty much guaranteed to break something when your leg fell down the hole.

Back then he had used it to teach me balance, increasing the height as I improved; right now, he was using it to test me. I didn't mind though. It was a welcome distraction; since I was blindfolded. That and the fact the he expected me to fight him; using only my hearing to guide me out of harm's way. Shame it all came so easily to me really, I met shot after shot that he threw at me; I'd rather hoped it would be harder so I had to use all my focus, as it was; there was still plenty of room in my brain to think about and dwell on what Izzy had said. I had to ask dad; it was driving me crazy.

"Dad; I have to ask –" I tried to say.

"Ask me later honey. Right now; pin me." He said, sounding cocky.

Fine; if that's what he wanted, but it was almost too easy. I don't know why he sounded like he was winning; he was right behind me. I would take the oppertunity to end this quickly; then he would answer my question.

The staff felt light in my hands as I spun on my left leg, swinging the right end around in an arc, striking him in the chest. Although my aim was true, and took him down hard, my distractions got to me, and I lost my footing. My right leg slipped from one side and my ankle smashed into the other, followed by the rest of my leg.

I heard the breaks the same time I felt them; one by one, pain after pain. I'd speculate my scream was still audible blocks away. My mom had burst through the door within seconds, and her face was such a fierce mixture of shock, worry and pain...then anger.

"Jace!" Another time I would have found it funny how she instinctually blamed him. "What the hell were you thinking? Taking her up there when she was blindfolded!" She screamed exasperated.

"I'll be fin-" I tried to reassure her but she looked so livid that the words died on my tongue.

"Do not, say that you are fine," she said slowly enunciating each world carefully. "You did not sound fine a minute ago."

I couldn't recall ever seeing mom like this before, even when I've been hurt in the past she's never been this upset. Even dad looked worried. Thankfully she left to go get help, so we weren't pinned under her gaze for long.

My dad bent down over me. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, your mom's right. What was I thinking? Being blindfolded up here does sound pretty stupid now. I'm sorry honey," he said again.

"It's fin-" I decided he would probably react just as mom had at the world fine so I changed to 'okay'. "Really; I was just distracted. Focusing so much on other things and how I struck you that I forgot to watch my footing. Good thing I wasn't near the edge huh?" I said in an attempt to lighten the mood. It didn't work. He was still beating himself up. It's my fault, I wanted to tell him; I should have been focusing, not worrying about Izzy. "Dad, I'm okay really. The break sounded clean. It'll heal better right? It was just the initial pain which made me scream. It's basically just throbbing now." Though rather painfully, I added silently. He didn't need to know that; and I was good at hiding pain – physical pain anyway.

He still didn't look happy but at least he relaxed a little bit, although his expression was still tense. Mom came back in then; Magnus hot on her tail. He was just finishing the knot on his fuchsia pink, silk kimono. He was wearing his hair down for once though there was still the faint shimmer of glitter.

"Can you please get her down and to her room without jostling her?" She demanded. Oh, I hadn't even thought of getting down. Good thing it's a weekday, I thought. Him and Alec usually disappear of to his – there – apartment at the weekend; returning only if there's an emergency.

"You got me out of bed for this?" he asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow. "It's almost too easy," he said the tell-tale blue sparks dancing around his finger tips.

It didn't take long. I was soon hovering about four feet off the floor. It was a little strange. Dad jumped down after me. I sensed his impatience at the time it took to walk my room, I got the feeling he wanted to run. The pace was still brisk though and I soon felt the familiar bedcover beneath me.

"Would an Iratze work on a break that bad?" I heard my mom ask, as she gently put a pillow under my ankle and calf and another under my thigh; where all the brakes were. I tried not to wince.

"It couldn't make it worse," dad replied. "You'd better do it though. She'll need the extra strength."

"Shouldn't I do it then?" I joked. Ouch. They both shot me a look. Too early for jokes then.

"Hold still honey, I'll try and be gentle," my mom tried to reassure me.

I felt the memorable sting, and had to lock my teeth to stop from screaming again as the slight pressure sent bolts of pain through my whole leg; but my back still arched slightly, my head pushing back into my pillow; my hands knotted into the sheet at my side. I didn't scream though; screaming doesn't do any good. That had been part of my endurance training.

That was the only part of it I got to test though, as I suspected my mom had snuck a calming rune on me, because when she was finished I felt my whole body start to relax against my will, my eyes feeling heavy.

"Mom!" Damn it, I'd meant to sound angry and accusing, instead my voice came out all dreamily. And it wasn't long before my eyes fell shut.

Clary's POV

I stayed with Maxie all day; sitting in an armchair that I moved to the side of her bed. Jace had left shortly after her eyes had shut. I found out off Alec, when he came in to check on her, that he had locked himself in the training room for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, the loud bangs and crashes giving his position away.

Apparently, he'd been destroying the chessboard. Alec said it had looked like he'd pulled it apart with his bare hands till all that remained were splinters. He'd gone out after that, seeking something else to destroy to relieve the last of his frustration. Normally I didn't mind when he went out alone. But today he would be distracted and I wished he'd taken someone with him.

I don't know when I fell asleep, but it was dark when I woke up to find myself being carried by a pair of strong arms. I didn't need to look to see who it was. The smell gave him away. It was Jace, fresh from showering; his natural scent floating amongst the moisture in the air.

Although I didn't need to look to see who it was, I looked anyway to see how much damage had been done. It wasn't that bad, which surprised me; just minor bruising on the side of his face. My hand automatically reached up to soothe it, and he smiled down at me, having not realised I was awake before now.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully.

"Morning?" I asked, disorientated.

"It was nearly midnight when I got back, it'll be after that by now," he explained.

I sighed, snuggling into him. I didn't particularly care what time it was. I was just glad to have him back. I was asleep again long before my head hit the pillow.