Hi guys! I'm sorry that this took a little longer to write than I thought. I just wasn't sure what I wanted to happen in this chapter. Let's just say, I don't think anyone will be disappointed with it. :)

There's another note at the bottom that I hope you read, too. I couldn't put it up here because I didn't want to spoil anything!

I will also be away tomorrow, so I think the next chapter will be posted on Friday. Luckily this is a long and good one, I'm sure it will hold you over!

Also, for the guest who wanted Aline to get what she deserves, and for Clary to put Jace in her place, this chapter is for you ;) Everyone, please keep reviewing! The reviews let me know what you think and how I can make the story better! Plus they make me write faster lol.

Okay, here's Chapter 4! Review, follow, and enjoy :)

Disclaimer: All this characters in this fanfic are Cassandra Clare's.

Chapter 4

For the rest of the night, all Clary could think about was the moment she shared with Jace. She could have sworn he was going to kiss her, and now that she kept going over it in her head, she knew that she didn't imagine it. To her surprise, a small part of her regretted pulling away. She knew it was the more logical decision, but she also knew her heart wanted nothing more than Jace.

She went to sleep with a lot to think about; even so, she still had a smile on her face because, after all, it was Jace.

The next day at school, Clary was very apprehensive about talking to Jace. However, he still was seen hanging around Aline, to Clary's dismay. When the end of the the day finally arrived, and it was time to paint more of the mural, Jace entered the room ten minutes late again and gave the usual greeting. The pair were each painting their sections of the mural, when all of a sudden, Jace stopped and said,

"Clary. I think we need to talk." They made eye contact, and it was enough to make Clary's skin feel on fire. If that's how I feel when we look at each other, what would have happened if we kissed? Clary pursed her lips and said,

"Yes, I guess we do." They both put their brushes down, and Jace sat on the ladder while Clary sat in the chair. They sat in a few moments of silence, before Jace broke it, saying,

"Why did you stop speaking to me? The first few days of school here, I thought we were becoming good friends. Then all of a sudden, you started avoiding me and asking to be left alone. You didn't even look at me, until yesterday." Clary gulped when he mentioned yesterday, but to her relief and slight disappointment, he didn't mention it further.

"Well, first, I didn't want to talk to you at all after I found out why you were doing this project. I know it's just for your public appearance. And I know what you really think of me." Jace ran his hand through his long golden hair and mumbled,

"Believe me, you really don't." Clary was puzzled at that comment but decided to ignore it. He paused, saying, "Wait. What do you think I think about you?" Clary huffed.

"I know you think I'm a freak. I know you didn't want to do the project because I was doing it, and you didn't want to have to be around me. Aline told me everything, and then she threatened to ruin my life in some way if I tried to make a move on you or steal you from her, since she somehow got the crazy idea that I would do that." Jace looked shocked. He was getting very angry, and he shouted,

"That bitch said WHAT?" Clary was taken aback; why he was he this upset? And why did he call her a bitch? He was right, and Clary liked it, but what? He started angrily pacing, and said, "That's it. I'm going to go expose her for the bitch she really is."

"What?" Clary asked, completely confused. "Wait, Jace. You can't." She walked quickly to catch up to him and grabbed his arm. She quickly let go, after she felt a spark after touching him. She continued, "If you tell her any of this, she'll know it was me that told you. She'll make my life even more of a living hell than it already is." Jace stared at her with his mouth open, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't decide what.

"This is just another thing I hate about her. She has absolutely no attractive qualities." He said, more to himself than to Clary. Clary shook her head, very confused.

"Wait, what? Jace, I don't get it. You say that stuff but you've been doing nothing else other than shoving each other's tongues down your throats. Forgive me, if I don't believe all you're saying now." Clary said, coldly. Jace ran his hand through his hair again.

"I was planning on dumping her next week." He said quietly. Clary smirked,

"While I agree with that decision, why? I mean, what happened before I told you all of this?" Clary asked curiously.

"I'm bored of her." Clary was a little surprised.

"That's a little cruel, don't you think?" Clary said quietly.

"That's who I am." Jace said, staring at the floor.

"I doubt that. Jace, I don't know you that well, but I know you're not cruel. You were ready to go fight Aline after you found out she threatened me. That's kind. I'm also assuming you did this art exhibit for the right reasons, and not just publicity, so there's that, too." Clary said. She was trying to get Jace to look at her. Jace sighed, and when he looked at her, Clary's heart started pounding.

"Thank you, Angel." He murmured softly. "Listen. I realized I have to do something. So, can we finish up painting tomorrow?" Clary swallowed and nodded. "Cool. I'll see you tomorrow." He packed up his stuff, and walked towards the door as Clary was still getting her stuff. He turned around, and quietly said, "Thank you, Clary." She simply smiled and said,

"Anytime."

The next morning, Jace was at his locker, grabbing some books. He heard the clicking sound of someone's too-high high heels and rolled his eyes.

"Hey babe." Aline said with a seductive voice, as she leaned against his locker and rubbed her hand over his bicep. Jace simply moved her hand off, shut his locker, and stepped back.

"Listen, Aline. This week has been great; you had a lot of fun, I didn't, but whatever. It's not gonna work for me anymore." Aline frowned, clearly confused. "The important thing is, I came to a realization: I don't like girls like you! God knows I've had enough of them." Jace sighed as if he was reliving some tough times, and fake shivered. By this point, many people in the school had gathered around the hallway to watch. "Aline, I don't like you. You're one of the most fake people I've ever had the displeasure of knowing. You were never anything more to me than a distraction, to be completely honest. I feel like I owe you that, even though you were never honest with me." He paused, thinking what to say next. This had to be the first time Aline was speechless. She stood there, dumbfounded, with her jaw on the floor. "Aline, I hope you find someone that likes how shallow and vicious you are. I'm sure there's an asshole out there that is perfect for your personality, bitch." He smirked, and walked through the crowd. Aline seemed to stutter over her words, and came up with,

"I just dated you for your fame!" She yelled. Jace rolled his eyes and said,

"Yeah? And how did that work out for you? What's your name again? I can't remember…" She screeched in indignation, and stormed away, her minions quickly following. With Aline out of the way, Jace smiled and made his way over to Clary's locker.

"Hey Jace." She smiled at him when he got to her locker.

"So I did it. I broke up with Aline. I wish you were there, she was speechless." They both laughed.

"Damn. I'm pissed I missed it." Jace just thought for a minute.

"Nah, I'm sure it will be online somewhere. She really got it handed to her, someone must have recorded it." Clary frowned,

"Wait, isn't that going to be bad for your public image in America?" Jace smirked.

"Probably. I don't know, my publicity team will come up with some lie to spin it around." He just rolled his eyes. "Okay, so now that I cleared up all the bullshit Aline told you, can we start hanging out more?" He asked, nervous and hopeful.

'Sure, Jace. I'd love to start over and be friends." She smiled, and she didn't realize Jace cringed at the word friends. "As long as I don't have deal with anymore of your psychotic girlfriends." She said playfully. He sighed.

'I don't think that's going to be an issue anymore."

The next few weeks were great. Clary would look forward to every time she met up with Jace. Even though they successfully completed the art project, they came up with other reasons to hang out. Jace always walked Clary to class, and they studied together for the classes they did have. Clary found out that Jace was actually almost a full year older, since Clary just turned 18 in August, and Jace was turning 19 in December. The school grade levels in Idris were different than America.

They were quickly becoming great friends, and because of Simon's college issues, Clary started to see Jace more often than anyone else. Even though Clary didn't trust Jace as a boyfriend, she trusted him as a friend. They hadn't talked about Clary's past yet; she wasn't ready for that. But she did tell him about the anxiety she has, and how sometimes she'll get panic attacks. When she opened up and told him this, Jace sat quietly and listened, and periodically reached out to grab her hand or rub circles on her back. He never judged her, and he was always there for her whenever she was stressed or things got to be too much for her.

Jace also opened up to her, too. She could tell it was difficult for him, but he told her a lot about how much pressure he feels to be a good prince. It was a actually his idea to come to America for school; he wanted to get away from princely duties. Even though it was a little irresponsible,Clary understood that. It wasn't rare for her to feel like she wished she could just pick up and leave and be somewhere else.

She also decided that Jace would never fall for someone like her, so as difficult as it was, she tried to ignore the feelings she felt for him.

Clary was walking out of school after the day ended, and normally she walked out with Jace. However, he had football/soccer practice, since it was close to fall playoff season. She walked outside past the picnic tables and saw Jace talking to some of the guys on the team. He looked over at her, and she waved.

"Clary!" Jace was running toward her. He was dressed in his football (soccer) uniform and was a little sweaty. Clary tried to ignore it, but she got butterflies when she noticed his eyes light up when he saw her. Not to mention how attractive he looked in his football/soccer uniform. Gee, my plan of realizing Jace will never fall for me is going great, she thought sarcastically. "Hey, what's up, Angel?" Clary laughed.

"How was your football/soccer practice?" She asked.

"Rough, but good. We're getting ready for the first playoff game on Sunday." He said. He was really good at the sport. He would have been captain of the team, if Jordan Kyle wasn't captain already. Jace didn't want to take that position from Jordan, anyway. "Also, there's this place by my house called Taki's, and I thought we could eat there on Saturday night. I've been going there for dinner for a week straight." Clary laughed.

"Sure, I guess if you're making me." She said playfully.

"Well, I am. So cool. I'll pick you up at your house at six. Don't be late, Clary." He said, knowing she would be. They laughed, said their goodbyes, and each went home looking forward to tomorrow.

At Taki's they ate their meals, and Clary had to agree, they made the best tiramisu. They talked about their classes at school, and how Jace was under pressure this week.

"It's halfway through first semester, and grades are sent home. My parents want to see I'm doing well here. If I don't have a high enough GPA, they want me to come back to Idris." Clary immediately felt a pit in her stomach. She couldn't imagine not having Jace.

"I'm sure you'll have the grades. You're doing well in all your classes." She said, trying to convince herself more than Jace.

"I know, I'm just worried. What would I do without my favorite redhead everyday?" He joked, lightening the mood. Clary laughed, and decided not to worry about it; if anything she should be enjoying his company now.

They realized it had gotten dark out, and decided to walk through the park since the stars were out.

As they walked through the park at night, the last of the leaves on the tree were quietly falling. The stars above them seemed to get a little brighter than other nights. It looked as if one particularly beautiful flower was glowing. They stopped walking and went over to the fence to observes the flower. As they were leaning over the railing, Jace broke the comfortable silence.

"Thank you, Clary. You know I've been going through a lot lately, and you've been nothing but supportive. You really changed me. I hope you know that." He said and reached for her hand. He lightly squeezed her hand, to show Clary he meant what he said. Clary brightly smiled at him.

"I hope I didn't change you too much, I think you were pretty cool." She joked. Jace sighed.

"Believe me, you wouldn't have liked who I was." Seeing Jace so open and honest made her heart grow. How lucky am I? I'm walking with the most gorgeous guy ever, and he trusts me with all of secrets. Clary took a deep breath, and looked up at him under her eyelashes.

"I like who you are now." She said quietly, while looking into his beautiful golden eyes. He looked at her in a different way than he usually did. She normally knew what he was thinking, or at least she thought she did. Now she couldn't read him.

She didn't know what he was going to say, and she was sure she had made it awkward by saying what she did. She was about to say she just meant it as friends, even though she didn't, when he leaned in and gently placed his lips over hers. She didn't know what was happening, and if it was anyone else, she just would have froze. But, it wasn't anyone else. It was Jace. Her body and heart reacted before her mind did, kissing him slowly. Within a matter of moments, his tongue traced her lips, asking for entrance, and she quickly gave in. Her hands reached up and she ran her fingers through his hair, while one of his hands held her cheek and the other was on the small of her back. She'd only kissed a few guys before, and they were light, quick kisses. She'd never done this before, but she just naturally knew what to do. She also knew this was no normal first kiss. When Jace pulled away, after seconds or minutes (Clary didn't know), they were both breathing heavy. They just looked at each other. Jace now broke the uncomfortable silence, and said,

"I'm sorry, Clary. I shouldn't have sprung that on you." He ran his hand through his hair and let out and exasperated sigh.

"No, it's fine." Clary said. She was thinking about a lot of things.

"That was something." He said, more to himself than Clary.

"Yeah, it was." She agreed. They weren't facing each other, when Jace turned around and said,

"Clary, I'm really sorry I just did that randomly. I guess I just wanted to do that for so long, I lost control. You really mean a lot to me, and I really like you, so I'm sorry if I messed it up." Clary sighed, and looked at him. She held his gaze when she said,

"Jace, you didn't mess anything up. I'm not going to deny I have feelings for you. I've never felt this way before, and it's kind of scary." He looked at her, with eyes full of hope. Clary continued, "But… I'm not sure I can do trust you like this."

"Clary, you can trust me with anything." She looked at him, and her eyes looked like she was fighting a battle. Inside, she was. Her heart told her to jump in with Jace. She knew she had special feelings for him, feelings she never thought she would have. She knew they had a connection, and she knew she was crazy if she turned him down. But her mind told her otherwise. Her brain, the part that failed at almost all other logical decisions, told her this was dangerous.

"But, Jace, this isn't a secret, or a personal story about my life. This is my heart. And, I want to, but I'm not sure I can trust you with that. How-how do I know you won't get bored of me like you did with Aline, and the many other girls before her?" She asked sincerely.

'Clare-he'd begun calling her that- Clare, that was different. I- I never felt the way I do about you with anyone else. We've only been friends the past few weeks, and we've had more of a connection than I ever had with any of my flings. And…" He looked unsure if he should say what he was thinking next. "I only dated Aline because of you." She immediately was confused.

"What? I don't understand." He sighed.

"When we first met— no, when I first saw you, in the hallway, I came up with some excuse to talk to you. You weren't the only person in the hallway, by the way. Well, anyway, I felt drawn to you. There was something about you, and clearly there's more than that now, but I just had to talk to you. When I started talking to you, not only were you the most beautiful person I'd ever seen, but your personality made you even more special. And, for the first time in my life, I met a girl that I wanted to protect and care for and be there for. But, at that point I was still my old self. I used girls for one thing, and I never cared about feelings. I- I cared about you when I first met you, so I didn't want myself around you. I didn't want to let myself do the same to you that I did with other girls. I thought it would just be easier if I distracted myself. So I started hooking up with Aline. I thought the feelings I felt about you would go away. But clearly, they didn't, they just grew. Clary, I care about you so much. I understand if you don't feel that way about me, and I understand if you can't trust me, but I would never ever hurt you. I would burn down the world just to find you, Angel. I just hope even if you can't trust me like this, we can still be the way we were. You're too important to me to lose." Clary was speechless. It took a lot of self-control not to jump him right there. Instead, she smiled at him, with butterflies in her chest,

"You really feel that way about me?" She asked quietly. He nodded and said,

"I don't even think I properly described the way I feel about you. I don't know how to put it into words." He said honestly. She thought for a minute, chewing her lip.

"Okay." Jace was confused.

"'Okay?' Okay what?" Clary laughed.

"Okay, I'm willing to see where this goes. I- I don't know what I feel towards you or why I do, but it would hurt too much not to explore it. It- it just feels right. But, Jace," she said seriously, "I can't- I can't give you everything the other girls did. I want to take this really slow. I don't want to rush into this. You're now one of the most important people in my life. I won't just jump into this, with my eyes closed. I- I want this to work, but I can't help but be a little nervous. What if… What if you realize you like pretty girls better than me? What if you realize you only liked me as a friend? Ugh, why am I telling you this stuff?" Clary just said everything she was thinking out loud.

"Clary, that's all I would ever ask from you, to try this. And I don't want anything from you, Clary, I promise. I want to keep you safe, and I will certainly do that, even if it's from myself. And all of those what ifs are ridiculous, I'm sorry. First of all, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Second, I do like having you as a friend, but it always stung to hear you call me 'friend.' I've always wanted more than that. I promise we'll take it slow, Clare. I- I want to do this right." Clary smiled at him, and took his hand.

"Okay."

"Okay. Let's go home. Even though I could stay here with you under the stars forever I have a game at 9 tomorrow morning." He paused. "If this is too much, I understand, but I know it's an American tradition for the players' girls to wear their jerseys. Would you wear mine?" He asked nervously. Jace was never nervous, so she knew this meant a lot to him.

"What, I'm your girl now?" She teased him.

"No, you're my Angel." She blushed and giggled.

"Fine, I'll wear your jersey if I have to. Just make sure it doesn't smell like sweat." She made a face at that. Jace laughed and the pair walked back through the park together.

When they arrived at Clary's house, they let go of each other's hands.

"Goodnight, Jace." Clary said quietly.

"Goodnight, Clary." Jace said, and sweetly kissed Clary on her cheek. Clary blushed and turned around to walk inside her house. As usual, he watched her walk away until she shut the door. This time, Jace's heart felt a little less heavy than the other times.

Clary shut the door to her house, and leaned her back against the door. He only kissed her on the cheeks, and he still had this crazy effect on her. She knew they had a good thing going, and she didn't regret giving it a chance.

Okay here's the second note. What did you think? I know it seems like I'm rushing Clace, but it's just so much fun to write them together! However, I have many things planned for them in the future, so it's not all smooth sailing. And if you're wondering where Alec and Izzy are, (or did you catch on to my Izzy reference earlier in the story? ;) ), you'll meet them, eventually.

ALSO. If you watched the show and latest episode, let me know what you think. I was freaking out about the last scene because CLACE!

That's all for now, see you Friday :) Hope you enjoyed!