So, normally I wouldn't update this soon, but I had nothing better to do and I got so many great reviews, that I couldn't help but reward them. Thank you to all who have reviewed favorite, followed, etc. I appreciate it so much and you guys are amazing. Beware, this chapter gets pretty heated in every way imaginable and it will undoubtedly become your favorite chapter so far. You're welcome. ;)
DISCLAIMER: Ooops, I haven't done one of these yet, but it will probably be my only one. I do not own Jace or Clary or any of the other characters from TMI. Those are all Cassandra Claire's genius inventions, no matter how much I would love to say that I own Jace. While I'm at it, I also don't own any lyrics or songs mentioned in this chapter or previous ones. They just happen to belong to great bands that I think everyone should listen to.
Clary's POV
"Well, someone seems rather chipper this morning." My mother observed as I stuffed my face with Frosted Flakes.
"I haven't slept that well in a long time." I told her, a secretive smile curling my lips as I thought of my late night rendezvous with Jace. He may not have been the most ideal person, but waking up in the strong arms of another person was always nice.
I recalled how well we fit neatly together and the way his bare skin felt on my own and I felt my cheeks flush. I ducked my head, creating a curtain affect with my unruly hair, so that my mother wouldn't ask any more questions.
The last time I had felt so safe and secure was before Jonathan had left for college and we would drink hot cocoa and cuddle all day as we watched old cartoons. A pang of sadness sunk my heart as I remembered I wouldn't be able to see him until Christmas, since he was attending college in California.
"That's good. Your insomnia has been acting up terribly lately." Mom noted, ever the observant parent.
"Yeah, I meant to see if I could get another prescription from Dr. Wangler for a refill." I informed her as I slurped the remaining milk and placed the empty bowl in the sink.
Oh, hey, since you guys don't read the top/bottom, I thought I'd tell you that if you did, you wouldn't have so many questions in your reviews and PMs. They're very informative. I don't just put them there for the heck of it. While I'm at it, review pretty please.
Before either of us could speak further on the subject, a load knock resonated through the house. We exchanged curious looks and I stood abruptly, wondering who could possibly be on my doorstep at this time of day.
The door swung open to reveal a ruffled Jace, his hair slightly matted and sticking up in every direction and he wore the same clothes as last night. As soon as I had woken up I change into a ratty shirt and fuzzy pajama pants so as to not draw unnecessary attention from my mother. I felt my face heat up at the mere mention of last night and I looked at him questionably. "Good morning?"
"Hey, sorry it's kind of early, but you forgot your stuff in Izzy's room and she insisted I bring it over, so that you don't wear something atrocious." He said the last part with a crooked grin and I suddenly noticed his hands were full.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. Here, come in." I stepped back, ushering him into the house and walking up the stairs to open my bedroom door. Thank God it was fairly clean, excluding my desk, which was covered in art project ideas.
Jace slipped past me, setting the bags on my bed and looking around skeptically. After doing a thorough run through of all the lime green walls plastered with photographs and sketches, his eyes met mine. "Nice place."
"Thanks." I smiled, unsure of what to say. "Anything else?"
"No, I should probably head back. If I'm not ready when Izzy is finished priming, she'll leave me." Jace joked as he made his way out of my room, but I felt like he was being completely serious at the same time.
As the words left his mouth I realized I hadn't even made the tiniest of efforts to get ready yet. My hair was a hot mess, my teeth were not even brushed yet, and smeared makeup caked my face from Izzy's makeover yesterday.
"Sorry about my face. I probably look like a zombie." I apologized, fighting down yet another blush.
"Nonsense. You look as beautiful as always." Jace insisted, though I wasn't entirely convinced, and let himself out, turning halfway through the door. "Oh, I almost forgot. You left your phone, too."
I took it from him as he darted off across the grass, glimmering dew drops dancing around his bare feet. Once he was out of sight, I checked the screen, realizing he had made himself my background. In the picture he was stretched out on a mattress, I'm assuming his bed, with his shirt off and one arm sucked behind his head. It only showed two thirds of his torso, but it still made my ears burn as I looked at his tanned face. He had that mischievous look in his eyes, with one winking at me suggestively and his tongue sticking out playfully. I grinned down at the screen, rolling my eyes at tiny show of affection.
"Who was that?" My mother asked, making me shove the phone in my pocket and spin around anxiously, feeling like I had been caught doing something bad.
"Who, him?" I asked with a slight laugh, trying to play it off. Jocelyn gave me one of her looks, those looks that Luke always swore I perfectly imitated. "He's just Izzy's brother, Jace. We went shopping yesterday and it completely slipped my mind to grab the bags before I left, so he politely offered to bring them over."
My mother seemed to take this in for a minute before nodding her head once. "I see. He's cute."
"Mom!" I groaned, tired of everybody constantly reminding me of his dashing good looks, which I was sadly very well aware of.
"What? I'm just saying, he's fairly attractive for a high school boy. Is he your boyfriend?"
"No!" I growled, stomping up the stairs and slamming my door behind me for dramatic effect.
After that whole fiasco was over, I plugged my iPod into the docking station and flipped through the songs until I landed on one in particular. I jumped on top of my computer chair, kicking off and letting it swirl me around as the beginning lyrics came on.
"I hate this town. It's so washed up and all my friends don't give a fuck. They'll tell me that it's just bad luck, when will I find where I fit in?"
The chair hit the side of my bed, knocking me off of it and onto the throw pillows, which I automatically bounced off of and began jumping around, suddenly wide awake, but not wanting to get ready. I hit imaginary symbols and played guitar riffs until the song finally ended and Teenagers by My Chemical Romance began playing. I got off of my knees and decided it was time to look remotely fashionable to please Izzy and actually get ready.
As I took my comb off the counter, I noticed someone in the window directly opposite me on the Lightwood's house. After a moment I realized it was Jace and he was grinning at me knowingly, clearly enjoying my little performance. I blushed profusely and silently begged God to strike me down. I covered my face in my hands, completely embarrassed, but laughing with him.
When I peeked through my fingers, I noticed he now had a notebook in his hands that read "cute" in surprisingly neat scrawl.
I grabbed a spare from my drawer and scribbled on it, "thanks", before holding it up to the window pane. He wrote back with a rather seductive looking winky face and a "no problem". I rolled my eyes at him and got up to shut my blinds and finish getting ready.
In the end I wore sparkly black yoga pants, a simply black shirt with a lace back and a ruffled front, and a silver cross necklace with my purple chucks. I braided back my hair in a fishtail to the side and attempted smoky eyeshadow with thick mascara and a pink gloss.
"Dressing up for Jace are we?" My mother asked as I stumbled downstairs and grabbed my keys from the dish.
I chose not to give her the satisfaction of riling me up and took a different swing at things instead. "Actually his sister."
I was out the door and in the car before my mother good investigate further or insist she loved me no matter what my sexual orientation was.
I picked Simon and Mia up in record timing, and we were actually at school in time to not have to rush to homeroom. I felt like there was something special about today, but I couldn't quite pinpoint it exactly.
When I walked into home room, I immediately plopped down next to Izzy. "Hey, babe. Thanks for sending Jace over with my stuff."
"He volunteered, actually, and I'm glad he did, because you look fabulous. Who knew you could actually dress yourself?" Izzy informed me with a loving once over and flick of her wrist.
"Oh," I felt my eyebrows rise in surprise at the story differentiation, but they quickly narrowed as she finished. "And gee, thanks."
"Anytime," Isabelle brushed off my sarcasm as easily as I had spoken it and placed her hands in her lap. "So, when did you leave, anyway? I totally meant to wake you up after the movie was over, but I fell asleep, too."
I thought of the compromising position she would have found me in with her brother and my cheeks flushed. "I woke up around three. Thank God my mom was asleep."
"Yeah, maybe you can spend the night this weekend and we won't have to worry about sneaking in at all hours of the night." Izzy laughed, probably imagining my mother sitting in the dark in a chair facing the front door. It definitely seemed like her style.
"That sounds fun. Maybe we can go clubbing at Pandemonium. Have you been there, yet?" Pandemonium was a sixteen and over club Simon and I had found a few years ago. It was rather crowded, but we were on a first name basis with the owner, so we always managed to get away with sneaking a few drinks. Plus they held themed nights almost every other weekend and you could get half off on admission.
"No, but I've heard about it. I love dancing, so it's right up my alley. We can get a whole group of us and go back to my place afterwards, since my parents are leaving on some business trips tomorrow for two weeks." Her dark eyes were sparkling as she planned out hours of mischievous fun.
"Maybe we can invite Simon." I teased, drawling out his name slowly and watching with great amusement as her face turned the exact shade of her pink blouse.
"Shut up! I knew I shouldn't have told you."
Homeroom carried on like that, both of us making light jabs at the other, until the bell finally rung. My morning seemed to be whizzing by much faster than yesterday, because the next thing I knew, it was time for second hour study hall.
Miss Arnold was actually here today, so I knew the rules would be pretty lenient as usual. I raked my eyes across the room and found Jace is his usual seat, goofing off with his friends. I don't know what I had been expecting, but that certainly wasn't it. I slid into my desk and took out my sketchbook to work on my free handing abilities.
After half the class I had sketched an ancient oak tree in a deep forest. By the falling leaves and brightly colored leaves, I could tell it was roughly early autumn. I continued to work on the piece until I felt someone plop down beside me. I pulled out my earbuds, noticing it was a grinning Jace, slouching forward with his hands on his knees. "Morning, Little Red."
"Blondie." I greeted him shortly, trying not to slap him for the idiotic pet name he had adopted for me.
"That was a wonderful performance this morning. You have an amazing stage presence." Jace teased, his voice lighthearted, and his eyes warm.
"Is there a point to your babbling, or can I get back to my work?" I asked him honestly, slightly annoyed at myself for letting him crawl under my skin so easily.
"Actually," he leaned forward further and tilted my sketchpad so that he could see what was on it, "There is something you could help me with."
"Jace, I'm not guest starring in one of your kinky amateur sex videos." I told him bluntly, trying not to picture the images that came to mind as the words drifted out.
"First of all, my videos would be anything but amateur, and it really warms my heart to know that you spend your free time picturing me shirtless above you." At this I felt my whole face burst into flames and a victorious grin twitched his mouth as he continued. "I was actually picturing something a bit less scandalous."
"And that would be?" I asked grudgingly, my curiosity winning over.
"See those idiots over there?" He asked, nodding his head in the general direction of his posse.
"You mean your friends?" I replied, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"More like groupies, but yeah, them." Jace nodded his head in agreement. "They don't believe that we're friends."
"That's because we're not." I shot back, shading the sky to create a sunrise affect.
"Oh how you wound me so." Jace whined in mock offense and I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, they need some form of proof that you do indeed acknowledge my presence every once in awhile."
I didn't like how he phrased his proposal and a bad feeling grew in the pit of my stomach. "And what is this "proof" exactly?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe a kiss on the cheek or something." He muttered, trying to play it off as casual talk, but my eyes grew huge and I nearly screwed up my drawing.
"A kiss on the cheek! What kind of friends are we supposed to be?" I questioned incredulously, wishing I was a fly on the wall when they were discussing the topic.
Jace shot me an ashamed sideways glance, reminding me of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, before finally admitting the truth. "Well I might have exaggerated our relationship a bit."
"Jace." I scolded him, my voice threateningly sharp, afraid that what I was imagining was true. If looks could kill, he would be burning to ashes right now.
"Okay, they may or may not think that we're friends with benefits." He confessed, phrasing his sentence carefully and making sure to lean back slightly, probably afraid I would swing.
"Jace!" I whisper yelled, though everyone's heads still snapped to look at us, before turning back to mind their own business.
"What? Like it would be so bad being my friend with benefits." Jace took offense to my reaction, trying to play the victim, but I wasn't letting him off that easily.
"You're an idiot." I growled, ignoring him and turning to face the front, starring at the wall and counting down from ten like my mother used to tell me to when I felt like I was going to snap.
"I know." He agreed and if I wasn't mistaken, he wasn't even being his usual sarcastic self. "So, what do you say? Will you help me out just this once? I'll owe you big time."
"Fine, but if anyone else hears about this I will rip you leg off and beat you with it." I threatened, my father's bad temper blending with my mother's quirky phrasing, combining in a unique mixture of the two.
"So violent." Jace noted, before leaning forward again and giving me his heartbreaking boyish grin. "Well, we don't have all day."
I rolled my eyes at him again, wondering how many times I would repeat the action before the end of the day, and gave him a skeptical look. He simply raised an eyebrow as if daring me to step out of my comfort zone and I sighed loudly, checking to make sure the teacher wasn't looking. The last thing I needed was a detention on my squeaky clean permanent record.
Once I was sure she was busy reading some romance novel, I bent forward, closing my eyes and guiding my lips towards his tilted cheek, expecting to be met with the rough shin of his newly shaved face. Instead I felt soft lips return the kiss and my eyes shot open, pulling back as I realized he had turned his head at the last moment.
The bell rang, but I was frozen to my seat, incapable of moving and in complete shock. I really should have expected this from a player like him, but somehow he had taken me completely by surprise. It wasn't even his actions that were making me react this way, but rather the undeniable spark that was lit as soon as his lips met mine.
"Thanks, Little Red." He finally spoke up, a devious smirk on his oh so full lips. "Feel free to cash in my debt whenever."
I couldn't even work up a glare, still glued to my seat as he stood up and his friends flocked to him like geese, high fiving him and patting him on the back at his achievement.
I finally managed to stand up as the next class started spilling in. I fought through the crowd, fighting my way to art, but still feeling like I was in a haze.
"Hey, Clary! I was wondering where you were." Isabelle greeted me, clearly unaware of the monumental event I had just overcome. She pointed to a section of her paper, clearly looking for my opinion. "Does her leg look correct?"
"What? I mean, yeah, it looks good." I nodded reassuringly and robotically moved to get out my painting, hoping I could distract myself for awhile, only to remember that Jace just happened star in that, too.
I groaned loudly and flipped through my iPod, looking for something to distract me from the current emotions I didn't dare to try and decipher swirling in my head.
What's the difference of never knowing at all? Motivation such an aggravation, What's the point of never making mistakes?
When every step I take is always too small.
Maybe it's just something I can't admit but lately,
I feel like I don't give a shit.
Accusations don't know how to take them.
Inspiration's getting hard to fake it.
Concentration's never hard to break it.
Situation never what you want it to be.
Self-indulgence is such a hard habit to break.
It's all just a waste of time in the end.
I don't care so why should I even pretend
The lyrics flooded my system, the fast beat and heavy guitar strokes making my blood pump faster and I had to struggle to not allow my current mood to affect my work. I finished it early, making sure to tilt the canvas away from Izzy to avoid her asking why her brother was my latest muse.
I turned the project into Mrs. Learnard, who praised my work as usual and insisted that I take a break and relax for the rest of the hour. Instead of relaxing, I slumped in my seat and tore out my ear pieces, shoving my iPod into my pocket and allowing my thoughts to finally pour down on me.
What was Jace thinking telling his friends that we were FWB? First of all, I literally had met him yesterday. Did he understand how much of a whore that made me look like? And then, after he had already inserted his foot permanently into his mouth, he had the balls to pull a stunt. How dare he kiss me, especially without even warning me? Granted, I knew I enjoyed it, even if I refused to admit that to myself or to him, but that was beside the point.
I had pictured my first kiss a thousand times over in a thousand different scenarios. Sometimes I made the first move first, sometimes my mystery man did. Sometimes we were on a beach or at a fancy restaurant, other times we were watching fireworks or walking through meadows. Never, not in a single one, did it play out like it had.
Not that I could even tell him, because how humiliating would it be to admit that I, at the ripe age of seventeen, had never been kissed before? And Jace Freaking Wayland had to ruin my plans. Years and years from now, when my daughter would curiously ask me about all the details, I would have to tell her that he was the first person to ever be even remotely intimate with me.
I had half a mind to storm out of the room and search the halls until I found him, probably skipping class to make out with some cheer leading slut, and give him a piece of my mind. In fact, I would do just that. Well, not the storming out part, but the second half. I would wait until we had P.E. together and I would make him wish he had never laid eyes on me.
As I came to terms with the fact that I was willing to ruin my good girl image just to chew him out, Izzy waved her hands infront of me. "Have you been listening to a word that I said?"
"Uh, yeah." I insisted, racking my brain for something Izzy would say. "I think you should definitely tell Simon how you feel."
"Oh, good, you were listening." Izzy babbled on, telling me every detail of her own plan.
The bell rang and I stomped out of the room, still furious with her blonde headed stepbrother. I slammed my locker shut, scaring the poor group of freshmen girls who were walking by, but not caring enough to apologize.
I sat through math, mentally contemplating how I would tell Jace off. Would I wait for everyone to disperse or do it in front of everyone? Would I curse like a sailor, or refrain from sounding so uneducated? Would I chicken out last minute, or carry through with my revenge?
When we were finally allowed to leave, I practically threw my bundle of books into my locker and made a bee line for the gym. I was early enough that hardly anyone was in there, and the ones who were, were heading to change. I spotted Jace talking with Alec and Magnus, who were seated on the bleachers as he faced them, completely unaware of my presence.
The two boys looked over his shoulder as I approached, steam probably blowing out of my ears. I stopped behind him, tapping on his shoulder and calling his name. When he spun around, spotting my rather short self, he smiled at me cheerfully, only to get that damn smirk knocked off his face as I drew back my fist and connected it with his jaw.
He grabbed the wound, giving me a look that most people would give to a deranged person off their meds. Then again, that probably applied to my current state right now. "Ow, what the hell?"
At the same time I was clutching at my hand, realizing that probably hurt me more than him and immediately regretting my violent actions. Well, almost. Alec and Magnus sprung into action, stepping between us and creating distance before I could do anything else.
"That's for studyhall. Leave me the fuck alone Jace Wayland, or there's more where that came from." He stood speechless and I just sighed in frustration before stopping off into Juice's room.
As I left, I could hear Alec asking what he had gotten himself into now.
"Juice?" I asked, trying to keep my tone in check as she looked up from her computer.
"Yes, Miss Fray?" She asked, giving me the same look everyone seemed to be giving me all day.
"I would like to please use my free day to go to the library." I told her, knowing I would immediately regret using it so soon once I had calmed down.
"Of course." Juice replied, smartly knowing not to ask why I was actually using it.
She jotted down a quick pass and I bolted out of the room and through the gym doors, my eyes straight forward and unseeing. "Clary, wait!"
I swiveled around to see Jace, his jaw already undergoing a purplish tint, and I mentally congratulating myself for the small victory. I noticed he had started to say something, but I cut him off.
"Don't Jace, just don't." I continued walking until I was passed the school doors and I unlocked my car, choosing to sit in there and clear my head.
I spent the next forty minutes trying to calm myself down and eventually achieving just that. I followed the rest of my schedule, unconnected from the real world and feeling like a living zombie. Occasionally people would ask me what's wrong, realizing I wasn't acting my normal self, but I would just shrug it off and claim sleep deprivation. They usually stopped pressing for information and let it go. Alec didn't even mention anything at lunch, despite the fact that he sat at my table along with Izzy, Simon, Mia, and Jordan.
I thankfully didn't even have to bring anyone home, since Mia was catching a ride with Jordan and Izzy had offered to drive Simon home as well. Luckily my mother was working until sometime tomorrow morning, so I just dropped my bag by the front door and laid on my bed, blaring music all day and refusing to eat.
Simon texted me at some point, informing me he had big news to tell me tomorrow if Izzy didn't beat him to the bunch. I replied with a simple "okay" and sent it right before Izzy called me.
"Hello?" I asked, wondering why she was calling.
"Oh my god! I kissed Simon!" She squealed in my ear, causing me t pull away from it temporarily.
"Wait, what?"
"I offered to drive him home, right? Well Alec was hanging with Magnus and Jace had t stay after school for detention or something, so it was just us. When I stopped at his house he went to thank me and I just kissed him. And guess what? He kissed me back. I was going to ask him out, but then his mom opened the front door and started asking why he was taking so long, so I told him I would talk to him later. I did it Clary!"
"That's great Izzy!" I tried not to sound fake, since I really was happy for my two best friends, I just currently didn't have enough energy to be as excited as her.
"Are you going to come over?" She asked, waiting for my reply, probably wanting to share all of the details.
"Um, not today. I'm feeling kind of ill." The lie easily slipped through my lips, causing me to worry about my morals and all that crap.
"Okay," she said, not sounding completely sold, "Well, I hope you get better and I'll see you tomorrow."
I told her goodbye and hung up, throwing myself back onto my mattress. I was already over this little pity party, but decided that a short nap wouldn't hurt anything. Besides, I needed a break.
I turned off the music, leaving my electronics to all charge and putting my phone on mute. I easily drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Clary's POV
I awoke in complete darkness, startled by a light panging on my window. I wondered if I had completely imagined it, when another light clicking rang out and I moved to open it fully and stared down. I could barely make out the form of someone and I realized who it was. "Jace, go away."
"Wait, Clary, please listen! I need to talk to you!" I was half tempted to slam the wooden panel in his face, but could easily hear the desperation in his voice.
"Fine. I'll be down in a minute." He didn't respond, btu rather waited patiently for me to descend.
I took my time smoothing down my hair and brushing my teeth, trying to stall in hopes that he might give up and go away, but as I turned on the front porch light, I saw that he was waiting for me in the same spot. I slowly strolled over, glaring at him, though I'm sure the darkness took away from the full effect.
"Listen, I'm sorry about today. It was a complete dick move and I didn't think you would get that mad." Jace attempted to apologize, but his words only made me angry all over again.
"Exactly, Jace, you didn't think. You never think about your actions or how they could affect others." I lectured him, sounding like a complete hypocrite, since I did the exact same thing when I punched him.
"I'm trying to apologize here, okay! I'm not used to doing this stuff and it's not like that was your first kiss or anything. It wasn't a big deal." He yelled back, apparently forgetting he was supposed to be making me forgive him.
I didn't reply, giving the truth away and his eyebrows shot up in the faint lighting that spilled over the side of my house. "Wait, that wasn't your first kiss, right?"
I felt embarrassment flush my cheeks and I turned around, ready to hide under the safety of my comforter and never come out again, but his hand shot out to stop me.
"I'm sorry. I- I didn't know. It's just-" He tried apologizing again, but I cut him off.
"It's just what, Jace? What? You didn't think that I was that much of a loser? That I had never been kissed before?" I shot back, tears threatening to spill over, but I refused to let myself be embarrassed any further.
"No! Clary, you're not a loser. I just didn't think it was possible for someone as beautiful as you to have never been kissed." Jace confessed, sounding honest, but I rolled my eyes, wiping them as a tear fell down my check.
"I'm sure that line of bull works on all the other girls Jace, but I'm not like them." I spit the words out, wondering why I had even bothered coming out here.
"I know you're not. That's why I don't want to ruin our friendship." He told me desperately, shaking my shoulders in an attempt to get the words through my thick head. "You don't fangirl over everything I say or stare at me like you want to devour me whole. You actually listen to what I have to say, even if it is just to find a quick comeback. You challenge me, and no one ever does that. They just let me do what I want, but you aren't afraid to tell me when I'm acting like a conceited jerk."
We stood in a blanket of silence; neither of us breaking eye contact until I finally blinked away the last of my tears and gave him a weak smile. "I'm sorry for punching you. If it helps, I think it hurt me more than you."
"It's okay." Jace chuckled, his face lighting up like a child. "I deserved it. Plus, you hit pretty hard for a girl. I told everyone that I got in a fight at a bar."
I couldn't help but laugh at his confession, since it totally sounded like something he would do. "It's okay, you're secret is safe with me."
"So, are we friends again?" Jace asked hopefully, his voice rising at the end.
I decided to torture him and make him wait for awhile, until finally smiling at him. "Yeah, friends."
I looked up at the night sky, realizing how beautiful it was tonight, thousands of stars lighting it up. It reminded me of my art project and I couldn't help but smile to myself. "You should probably go to bed. You have practice tomorrow, if I'm correct, and I wouldn't want to get you into any more trouble with Mr. Dierksmeyer for not being at your full potential."
"Yeah, well I'm pretty sure that ditching me during our tutoring lesson this afternoon probably has already done enough damage, but don't worry, I'll cover for you." He told me, his damn cocky smirk reappearing.
"Oh my god!" I practically shouted, realizing he was right. "I completely forgot about that. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." He reassures me yet again. "We can start from scratch tomorrow."
"Well, I'm going back to bed." I told him, awkwardly trying to escape before I said something else to ignite another argument.
"Wait!" Jace stepped forward, taking one of my hands in his. "First kisses should be meaningful and sweet, not rushed and artless."
I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant by that when realization hit me. I surprised myself by allowing him to lean forward, cup my cheek gently and press his mouth to mine. The kiss was much softer than the last one, lacking all of the hungry desire it held.
My arms wrapped around his neck, pulling Jace closer and kissing him back equally as affectionately. When my lungs felt like they were going to burst, I pulled back, breathing heavily. His chest rose as fast as my own and we stared at each other for a moment, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
Finally I let my hands drop to my side awkwardly and he did the same, smiling at me sweetly. I searched for something to lighten the mood. "This doesn't change anything. I still hate you and you're still the biggest asshole I know."
Jace snorted at this. "There's the Clary I know and love. So, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded along, my insides still as solid as chocolate pudding. Despite how much I disliked the aggravating boy, I had to admit that he had just given me the best second first kiss ever in the history of second first kisses. Well, if there was such a category.
I immediately disregarded our kiss from this morning and agreed to never acknowledge it again. When my daughter asked me what happened, this would be the story I told. Well, minus the argument.
"Goodnight." I grinned like a child on Christmas morning and practically skipped to my front porch, flicking off the light and running up to my room. I closed the door behind me, leaning against the solid wood and sliding to the floor.
Well, this had certainly been one rollercoaster of hormonal teenage emotions filled day.
There ya go folks, an angsty chapter, just for you. I probably won't update until I get a descent amount of reviews, but be glad to know that I more or less have this entire story outlined and it is going to be quite lengthy. For those who are curious, this does not in any way mean that Jace and Clary are dating and I plan to drag out their love-hate relationship for many more chapters, because torturing people is so much fun. I promise to try and avoid cliffhangers, but no guarantees. Make sure to tell me if you would like any more chapters in Jace's POV, because I love writing from his position. I kind of feel like y'all should just disregard my claim that stories would be 2,500-3,500 words, because I'm clearly nto sticking to that. Have a wonderful day and I love you al!