Sorry it took me forever to update... I had decided not to give up on this story. Thank you for all the support :)
Chapter 7 – sadness and darkness are best friends
Clary rolled her eyes. "No, it's not me." She said sarcastically.
"You look so beautiful, Clary." Jace stared at her, jaw hanging. His aureate eyes were shining with absolute adoration.
"Ha, I never dreamt I would live to see the day Jace Wayland speak in such disgusting voice," Isabelle cringed and visibly shuddered in disgust.
"Oh, screw off Isabelle." Jace facepalmed her and Isabelle licked his hand in annoyance.
"Ew can you stop being so gross?" Jace complained, "And can you and Maia give us some alone time please?"
"Fine, let's go, Maia. The sexual tension between the lovebirds here is too strong anyway."
Clary blushed deep red. "There isn't any sexual tension."
"Whatever you say, hon." Isabelle winked and laughed at Clary's apparent discomfort at the topic of sexuality, before dragging Maia out of the house.
"Hey… so it's just us now," Jace ran a hand through his messy blonde curls awkwardly. He was dressed in a black suit with a golden tie that brought out the specks of dark gold in his aureate irises. His branded suit and polished shoes seemed entirely out of place in the tiny one bedroom apartment shared by Clary and her mother, with the apartment's run down furniture and feminine designs of dried flowers and artwork pieces around.
He gazed at Clary's outfit again, his eyes lingering for a moment too long on the neckline of her dress, and his cheeks flushed pink.
"Pervert." Clary covered her chest defensively.
"Not like you have boobs anyway. Your cleavage is minimal." Jace tried to sound casual and insulting, but in actual fact, his heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to jump out of his ribcage. Shit. This girl has no absolutely no idea the effect she has on him.
"You can always leave. I wasn't the one who begged for the date."
Jace panicked. He had never wanted a date with a girl that badly before, and to hell was he going to leave. "So, where do you want to go?" He changed the topic casually.
Clary raised an eyebrow at him and folded her arms. "Excuse me?"
"What's with that tone!" Jace said defensively.
"I was under the impression that you are bringing me out on a date."
"That's right."
"And you don't know where we are going?" Clary's eyebrow shot up higher.
"I haven't thought about that." A tinge of pink appeared on Jace's cheeks.
"Wow, do you do these to all your other dates as well? Ask them out and have no idea where you are going?"
Jace muttered something under his breath that Clary couldn't hear.
"Can't hear." She said nonchalantly.
"Ihaveneverbeenonadatebefore." Jace said, steadily avoiding Clary's gaze.
Clary smirked. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear?"
"I said, I HAVE NEVER BEEN ON A DATE BEFORE."
"Thanks, I'm sure my entire neighbourhood heard you." Clary gave a small smile, while Jace continued to blush furiously and pretend to look elsewhere.
"Now tell me, aren't you supposed to be really experienced with the female gender? Why haven't you been on a date before?" Clary asked, genuinely curious.
Jace merely shrugged, clearly still embarrassed. "Like I said before, they kinda just throw themselves at me. Then we fuck. We don't go out on dates."
"Gross. I didn't need to hear about your sex life!" Clary's face distorted into one of disgust.
"Hey! This only means you are the first one I really bother to make an effort for." Jace said indignantly.
"Whatever." Clary tried to sound nonchalant, but she couldn't control the blood gushing to her face. How can he say such stuff so casually and throw it in her face? Clary had absolute difficulty in believing whatever he said… but there was no doubt sincerity was etched into his voice when he said it.
Clary glanced down at her outfit in distaste. As much as the dress looks really pretty, it was much too tight and short for her. Everything about her outfit screamed 'slutty', no matter how pretty Isabelle and Maia said she looked. And she hated not being herself. Wearing this short branded dress along with the dangling gold accessories, perfect hair and makeup… she felt like a plastic Barbie doll. It was like she was pretending to be someone she isn't.
The dress suddenly felt a lot heavier and uncomfortable on her tiny frame. But she had nothing else to wear out with Jace, to match his outfit that diffuses wealth and importance. As much as Clary was used to bullying in school, no one likes to feel inferior in reality. She still had that tad bit of dignity left in her.
So she decided, "Let's stay here. I will cook for you."
Jace's mouth fell open. "What? But both of us are dressed up nicely. We can easily pop by the the new Italian restaurant on Fifth Avenue. Chef Alessandro's famed pizzoccheri was-"
"I don't want to." Clary's chin stuck up stubbornly.
Jace raised his eyebrows questioningly, but relented and simply shrugged.. He took off his dinner jacket and casually threw it aside on her couch. "Alright, so candle lit dinner?"
His eyes twinkled excitedly at the prospect of a romantic dinner with the beautiful girl in front of him.
"Normal dinner," Clary insisted, "Wait for me." In a rush, she hurried to her bedroom to change out of the uncomfortably tight dress and removed all her makeup sloppily. When she emerged from her room, clean and dressed in a large sweatshirt and sweatpants, she never felt more like herself.
Jace looked up at her, evidently confused, "Am I going crazy? Why do you look even more beautiful to me in sweats?"
"Quit the sweet talk!" Clary chastised, but a blush formed on her cheeks all the same.
"You are blushing. Cute."
"Okay, so let's make dinner. Instant noodles?" Clary ignored him and took out a bowl of Korean instant ramyun from her kitchen cupboard to show him.
Jace's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "How many surprises am I going to get tonight? Goodness, aren't we going to make, steak, or something?"
"I only know how to make instant noodles. And I like this spicy kimchi one. Okay, make up your mind. Korean kimchi ramyun or Japanese miso udon?"
"Why are all your choices so limited? I want steak." Jace pouted, which looked surprisingly cute on him, Clary thought secretly, but rapidly disregarded that horrible thought.
Clary glared at him coldly.
"Okay," Jace held up his hands in surrender, "I will cook No instant noodles okay? Do you know that eating instant noodles leads to hair loss? Can you imagine me without my head of gorgeous blonde curls?" He smoothed his hair with an air of seduction.
"You can cook?" Clary's voice was doubtful and ignored the last part of his sentence.
Jace looked indignant again. "I was trained personally by the five star chef of the renowned Paris restaurant Le –" Clary cut him off by slamming her hand against his mouth.
"Aww, your hand smells so nice." Jace sighed contentedly.
"Go cook whatever you can find in my kitchen." Clary rolled her eyes and waved him off dismissively. She sat on her counter top and watched Jace saunter around in her kitchen with mild fascination. As it turned out, Jace was not lying and he proved to be a really great cook. Using the sparse ingredients in her fridge, he had managed to whip out two decent dishes of Chinese fried rice.
"Wow," Clary sniffed the aroma diffusing throughout the kitchen. "You can cook Chinese? What's this thing called?" She poked her fork at the dish in front of her.
"This delicacy is known as egg fried rice. I learnt it personally from the head chef of Din Tai Fung in Taiwan." Jace announced proudly.
"Okay, let me dig in," Clary licked her lips after the first bite and practically moaned, "This is awesome."
But Jace continued to stare at her lips. "Don't do that in front of me."
"Do what?"
"Bite your lip. I have the strongest desire to kiss you now." Jace said, his body leaning across the countertop, inches away from Clary's mouth. His blonde curls had fallen onto his forehead, casting a dark angular shadow against his features, and highlighting the dark gold dilated irises within his eyes. Clary hitched a breath, her heartbeat quickening with Jace moving in to close the gap between them.
She could feel Jace's breath in her face. His eyes dark and hooded with desire, his lips barely brushed against hers for a second, leaving her wanting more. There was an irresistible charm about Jace Wayland, despite how cocky he had been when she first met him. Underneath the mean-boy exterior of his, he was just as innocent and inexperienced as her. Perhaps she felt connected to him because both of them were used to parading around in their masks in reality… or perhaps it was because he was the first person who seemed truly drawn to her and appreciates her entire being. Either way, Jace had started to wiggle a space for himself straight into her heart. Short as it may seem, she felt like he truly understands her over the few days they knew each other. He was in the same position as her afterall.
Thereafter, long after Jace had left , Clary came to a horrific conclusion while tossing around in her bed that night.
Without meaning to, she may be falling for Jace Wayland already. How can that possibly happen in such a short period of time?
But, the bigger question is: What is she going to do about it?