The tears continued to flow as Clary stared at Jace's sketch in total amazement, feeling completely overcome with emotion, with shock, her eyes constantly drawn back to that one word at the top of the page.

She kept blinking rapidly in disbelief, afraid that this wasn't real, like what she was seeing might just be a dream, or like it was too good to be true.

She couldn't believe that Jace actually saw her in a romantic way-in the back of her mind, she'd always assumed that he simply viewed her as a source of mockery or entertainment, an amusing distraction from his job, and she'd never really thought that she could match up to all the attractive women he always flirted with; she'd never even seen herself as Jace's type. But the contents of the sketch seemed to be saying otherwise; or maybe he liked her in spite of the fact that she was nothing like his usual type of girl…

Clary wasn't even sure if she would ever be able to explain to Jace just how much a gesture like this meant to her; for so long, Clary had been the outside observer, obsessing over the romances of fictional couples and total strangers, romances that she had never been a part of. Every romance that she followed had always seemed like a dream, a fantasy, wishful thinking of what she had never truly believed that she could have for herself; but now, Jace had actually given her a 'romance' of her own with this black-and-white sketch, complete with a 'ship name' for the two of them.

As Clary blinked back more tears, she suddenly remembered the time that Jace had asked her why there were no 'beautiful redheads' in her sketches, and how she'd responded that she hadn't found a good enough love story for a redhead yet. And now, she was finally part of a love story, if only on paper. Jace had allowed her to be a main character in her own romance, rather than just the girl sketching in the background. Even though she was still kind of mad at Jace, she would always be grateful for this.

Clary traced the sketch softly with the tips of her fingers, partly out of some weird desire to somehow jump right into the page (in the way that she'd always dreamed of jumping into portals into fictional worlds), and partly out of appreciation for the skill behind the picture.

She guessed that this wouldn't be Jace's usual style of picture, what with the bright red hearts and the portmanteau of the two names (and she felt grateful yet again that he'd actually taken the time to draw something for her that suited her own personal taste, rather than his own), but the fact that Jace was obviously pretty experienced when it came to drawing was undeniable. If she had to admit it, she would say that he was maybe a little better than she was at the whole sketching-pictures thing, in spite of her years of dedication to drawing; the details were just that little bit sharper.

Clary shook her head in disbelief as she continued to trace the lines of the picture with her fingers. She hadn't even known that Jace could draw like this; she'd never even guessed it in the whole time she'd known him. All this time, she'd believed that he only wanted to see the contents of her sketchbook just to laugh at her and mock her, but now Clary was considering the possibility that maybe he'd also been interested in what she was drawing from an artist's point of view, too.

She hadn't known that Jace that could draw, in the same way that she hadn't known he could play the piano. What if Jace was studying at an Academy of Art, like she was? Or some kind of music school? Clary had never even taken the time to find out.

Clary also started to think about the times that Jace seemed to be hiding novels in the inside pocket of his leather jacket sometimes at The Half-Moon, and then she wondered if the guy she'd once seen at the back of the coffee shop-his face hidden by a large classic book-had actually been Jace, too, keeping an eye on Alec from a distance and reading while he waited to start his shift. If that was true, then she apparently hadn't picked up on the fact that Jace might also be as passionate about books as she was, as well.

Suddenly, a memory of something that Jace had said to her not long after they'd first met pushed its way to the forefront of Clary's mind, the words now perfectly clear:

"Maybe I stay up late at night reading classic novels, or playing the piano, or painting romantic pictures, while I dream about the day my soulmate walks into my life…"

At the time, Clary had just laughed his words off. Now, she was starting to wonder if maybe she'd misjudged Jace. Right from the start, Clary had imagined him as being like the jocks who'd tormented her back at high school, or the typical hot-but-shallow kind of guy who spent his life partying and hitting on women; and maybe those images had kind of stuck, in spite of everything else that had happened. She felt like an idiot as she looked at the picture again and told herself that there was obviously so much that she didn't know about Jace; that there was much more to him than just the smirks and the raised eyebrows.

Now, in spite of still being kind of irritated with Jace for everything that had happened recently (and also knowing that they would have to sit and talk about it all at some point), Clary was overcome with a strong desire to sit and watch as Jace painted pictures; to sit and listen as he played song after song on the piano; to talk to him about his favorite books, his favorite songs, his favorite pictures; she even wanted to go back to sitting at her usual table at The Half-Moon with her sketchbook open as Jace stood close to her with his mocking laughter and his smirks and his winks while she attempted to throw insults at him in return. She missed witnessing 'Malec's' romance every Friday afternoon, but she also missed Jace taking every opportunity to mock her while she watched them, too.

Now that she was finally allowing herself to admit to all this stuff, Clary couldn't help thinking about how she also wanted to run her hands through Jace's blond hair, to feel how soft it was; she wanted to look deep into his eyes, taking in the different colors; she wanted to run her hands over the tattoos on Jace's arms, ask him what they all meant…

Deep down, Clary suspected that this is how she had secretly felt all along, that this was the reason why she had always felt so nervous, so out of her depth when she was around Jace…

Clary couldn't help blushing as these thoughts and realizations rushed around her mind. This was the kind of stuff that she'd tried to convey in all her romantic sketches of her favorite couples, but she'd never felt any of these feelings herself before; it was all kind of confusing, and a little overwhelming.

She stared intently at the sketch yet again, still wishing that she could jump right into the picture and be a part of it, but then she reminded herself that the picture didn't have to be just some romantic fantasy-if she could somehow summon a little courage, then maybe, for once, she could turn a romantic sketch into a reality. She just had to take that first step into the unknown, like all of the characters in her favorite books when their stories were just about to get started.

In a few swift movements, Clary had put on her shoes and her mom's leather jacket. Just before she headed out of her door, she also picked up a friendship bracelet from her desk that Simon had made for her when they were about eight years old, deciding that she was going to wear it as some kind of good-luck charm tonight.


Clary practically ran through the streets of Brooklyn on her way to The Half-Moon. She knew that if she slowed her pace, even for a second, all of her fears and doubts would creep back into her mind and she would talk herself out of whatever it was she was about to do.

A part of her really hoped that Jace would still be at the coffee shop this evening, that he would be working late…but another part of her hoped that he would have already finished for the day, giving her an out, because she was suddenly terrified at the thought of facing him again.

As she forced herself to keep walking, telling herself that she just had to put one foot in front of the other, that she just had to move forward, Clary desperately tried to channel some of her mom's inner strength. She folded her arms as she picked up her pace, trying to draw her mother's leather jacket closer to her, as though it could somehow provide her with a little extra courage.

Her mom would have been brave in a situation like this; her mom had been brave, back when she'd first fallen in love with Clary's father and she'd admitted her feelings for him, diving head-first into their romance-if all the stories her mom had told her were true, anyway. And then her mom had been brave all over again, after Clary's dad walked out and she'd found love for a second time recently.

In spite of how her mom's first romance had turned out, Clary knew that the love had been there at first; she knew that her mom had at least taken a risk and followed her heart, refusing to play it safe despite not knowing at the time what the eventual outcome would be. Right now, Clary really hoped that she could follow her mom's lead.

When she arrived at the door leading into The Half-Moon, Clary saw a flash of blond hair through the glass window, and her heart rate sped up. She had just reached her hand forward, towards the door handle, but then she stopped herself at the last second, feeling suddenly overcome with nerves, and like she needed to take a moment.

Clary leaned against the outside wall for a little while, trying to compose herself as she rested her head against the wall and took deep breaths while she attempted to gather her thoughts.

The minutes were ticking by, and Clary knew that she was wasting time, or more accurately, giving herself enough time to talk herself out of this, enough of an opportunity to back out. She almost couldn't believe that she was feeling so nervous now at the thought of seeing Jace again. She'd just seen him this morning. She'd seen him almost every Friday afternoon for weeks. He'd seen her at her worst moments, and he'd seen her looking a total mess. Yet right now, these attempts at rationalization weren't doing anything to calm her nerves.

Get it together, Clary told herself firmly, the voice in her head sounding weirdly like Jace for a moment.

After one last pause to take a couple more deep breaths, Clary reached forward with a trembling hand and opened the door.

She had just walked inside and taken a few shaky steps down the couple of stairs that led to the tables when she spotted him, standing a few feet away from the counter.

Clary stopped in her tracks, feeling like she was temporarily frozen to the spot. She could still feel her heart beating at an alarming rate. Vaguely, she was aware of the fact that Jace looked like he had been just about to leave work for the day, because he was wearing his leather jacket and waving to a couple of his fellow baristas. She wasn't sure whether to feel grateful that she'd arrived just in time, or feel scared that she'd arrived just in time.

Jace must have caught a glimpse of her hair or something out of the corner of his eye, because he suddenly stopped grinning at his colleagues and turned slowly to face her, now looking uncomfortable.

Clary stared back at him, the thought suddenly hitting her that she hadn't actually planned what she was going to do once she got to this point. Her main focus had simply been getting to The Half-Moon and finding Jace. She had no idea what she was supposed to do or say after that. She felt like such an idiot.

She noticed that Jace also looked a little nervous, a little uncertain, which only caused Clary's heart to beat even faster.

They continued to stare at each other, as though locked in some kind of weird standoff, each waiting for the other to say or do something.

Almost without thinking about it, Clary placed a trembling hand on her hip, more to have something to do with her hands than anything else, but then she decided to go with the first idea that came into her head. She raised an eyebrow at Jace, hoping she looked brave.

"Clace?" Clary asked him, trying to sound like she was mocking him a little, the way he'd always mocked her for her 'Malec' sketches, although she couldn't help showing her amusement in her facial expression as well.

At Clary's words and facial expression, Jace slowly started to smirk, looking much more like his usual self.

"Clace," he responded with a shrug and a grin, looking pretty pleased with himself, like the combination of their names was obvious, or like he'd come up with some sort of ingenious idea.

"Hey," Jace continued as he held his hands up in his gesture of surrender, looking like he was trying not to laugh at her, "if you don't like the sketch, maybe you can draw another picture of us for your book." He smirked again and winked at her. "I'm totally comfortable with posing for pictures naked, just putting that out ther-"

Clary didn't allow him to finish his sentence. With determined strides, she walked right up to him, acting more on instinct than any kind of rational thought, telling herself that she just wanted to do something to stop Jace from talking, or to stop herself from blushing bright red at his words.

She was vaguely aware of Jace opening his arms as she got close to him, and she allowed herself a brief moment to feel grateful for the fact that Jace didn't push her away. Instead, he pulled her close, supporting her as she took that final step.

And then they were kissing.

Clary didn't even know who had started it, who had made that first move as they got in each other's space; all she knew was that Jace's lips were on hers now. The kiss felt like the perfect conclusion after all their interactions over the past few weeks; it felt like the logical next step, like everything had been leading up to this, all of their joking insults and smirks and raised eyebrows, even though Clary would never have imagined this happening when she first met Jace, would never have believed that her interest in Magnus and Alec's relationship would somehow lead her to this moment.

As amazing as the kiss felt, a little voice in the back of Clary's head was reminding her of how inexperienced she was when it came to the whole kissing thing, and she worried that this would be obvious to Jace. At first, she tried to go through the motions of kissing in her mind, silently giving herself instructions, telling herself to tilt her head, part her lips, just like the way she'd done this back at high school when she practiced with Simon; but after a little while, all of that became impossible-it was too difficult to think clearly about anything when Jace's lips were on hers, and his hands were running up and down her back, so in the end she decided to just let go and let it happen.

Anyway, Jace didn't seem to be complaining, as he continued to kiss her enthusiastically, now running his hands through Clary's hair.

Clary suddenly realized that she could do the same thing now, too, so she ran a hand through Jace's blond hair, feeling how soft it was. Everything about this felt so weirdly perfect: Jace's lips on hers, her hands in his hair, being held in his arms. Clary understood now why so many women had wanted to do this with Jace. But then all thoughts of Jace's past lovers were driven from her mind as she focused only on Jace and their kiss.

For most of her teenage years, Clary had worried that the 'spark' the characters in her favorite books always seemed to feel when they kissed someone was simply fictional, that it didn't actually exist in real life. She'd also worried that she would never experience that feeling herself. But now, Clary was really starting to question her past beliefs, because right here, in this moment, it felt almost as though the room had faded into nothing more than a blur; it felt like everything around them was happening in slow motion, like nothing else mattered just yet…

Suddenly, the sound of loud applause startled Clary back into reality. She jumped in shock and stopped kissing Jace so she could turn her head in the direction of the noise.

Clary let out a gasp of surprise as she took in the sight of Magnus, standing by the counter as though to order coffee and still wearing his jacket, like he'd just arrived. He was clapping his hands enthusiastically as he smirked at the two of them. Alec stood next to him, looking totally mortified by Magnus's behavior.

Clary felt herself blush bright red. She'd forgotten that the two of them had arranged to meet here this evening.

"Magnus!" Alec groaned as Magnus put his fingers to his lips to wolf-whistle at the two of them. Then Alec looked almost guiltily over at Clary, like he was silently apologizing for his boyfriend's behavior. Clary felt a little guilty herself-if only Alec knew just how much she had seen and heard of his romance.

Magnus went quiet, but he smiled and winked at the two of them.

"We have an audience," Clary muttered with an embarrassed grin as she turned back towards Jace, who was still holding her in his arms.

It was…weird, having someone watch her in the middle of a romantic moment. For Clary, it had always been the other way around.

"Just shut up and kiss me," Jace told her gently, mockingly, with a shake of his head followed by a laugh, like Clary's reaction was hilarious to him after everything he'd seen over the past few weeks.

Jace continued to laugh as Clary started kissing him again.

She could still hear a little of Magnus and Alec's conversation by the counter between her kisses with Jace: "Babe, try this," she heard Alec mutter to Magnus.

Clary opened her eyes in surprise at Alec's use of this term of endearment with Magnus. She hadn't realized that the two of them had got to the calling-each-other-babe-stage of their relationship. She must have missed that during her Friday afternoons at the coffee shop. It was so adorable that Clary discreetly tried to turn her head a little as she continued to kiss Jace, watching them as Alec held out his coffee to Magnus, trying to get him to taste it. Clary suspected that Alec was doing everything he could to get Magnus's full attention back on him…

"Are you seriously watching the two of them right now?"

Clary started blushing at Jace's words. She turned her head back towards him in time to see him staring at her with a totally baffled expression, like he couldn't believe that he was actually competing with his brother for a girl's attention. The expression reminded Clary of all the times he'd stared at her in total bewilderment while she watched 'Malec's' relationship from afar.

"Just shut up and kiss me!" Clary echoed Jace's previous words as she grinned, trying not to look too embarrassed. It was still strange, when she thought about the fact that Alec was Jace's brother, when she remembered that Magnus and Alec were no longer two strangers who she watched from across the coffee shop.

Jace shrugged, still looking a little baffled by Clary's behaviour, and she heard him mutter, "Strangest girl I've ever met…" almost to himself, but then his lips were on hers again, and Clary allowed herself to get lost in their kiss for a little while longer.

Clary wasn't sure exactly how much longer the kiss went on for, but what might have been a few minutes later, they finally broke apart. Clary was pleased however that Jace continued to hold her close.

The two of them both shared a grin, their heads still close together, like they were both in a state of disbelief that they'd just shared a kiss in the middle of a coffee shop-a coffee shop where Jace happened to work.

Jace started laughing, then Clary followed. "This is so weird!" she told him between gasps of laughter. She still felt a little light-headed, giddy almost, the way her mom had told her she felt when she came back from her first official date with Luke.

"Good weird, right?" Jace asked her with a raised eyebrow, and Clary quickly nodded, guessing that no other woman had described a kiss with Jace as 'weird' before. She realized that she actually felt happy, like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Like she was finally moving forward.

Clary knew that the fictional couples from her favorite book series-and all the couples in the city who she drew pictures of-would always be a significant part of her life, that she would never fully stop being the outside observer of the love stories going on around her, but she decided that it would be awesome to have a romance of her own, too; her own personal love story.

Then, Clary noticed that Jace's expression was a little softer, a little gentler; it was his more caring, more protective look that he didn't seem to show to people very often. He ran his hands through her hair again, slowly, like he was taking his time. She was looking forward to seeing a little more of this side of Jace, getting to know him a little better, and she hoped that she could be there for him, providing support as he and Alec dealt with everything that was going on with their parents.

"Clary, I'm...I'm sorry, about the whole 'brothers' thing…And for the record, I think you're pretty amazing at drawing; I'm sorry I never told you that…" he muttered. Then he shook his head, like he was a little embarrassed by his words. "Wow, I really suck at apologies…"

"I think you're pretty good at apologies," Clary whispered back, still feeling a little dazed. She decided that Jace maybe deserved a little praise now, after all the times she'd insulted him. They could talk about other, more serious stuff some other time. "Jace, that sketch, it was…." She almost said 'beautiful', but then she remembered how Jace had previously seemed a little uncomfortable by the use of that word. "It was amazing," she told him instead with a grin, deciding to use a word that both he and Alec seemed to like so much. She didn't tell him that she was planning on framing his sketch and displaying it proudly on her dorm-room wall, the same way that Simon had displayed the picture of the woman wearing revealing leather clothes on his wall.

Jace smiled softly at her for a second, like he was actually flattered by her praise. But then his trademark mocking grin was suddenly back on his face. "Yeah, well," he shrugged, sounding like he was trying not to laugh at whatever it was he was about to say, "I don't think we should completely rule out the idea of posing naked for pictures just yet…"

As Jace smirked at his 'hilarious' joke, Clary could no longer hide her embarrassment. She tried her best to bury her face in Jace's chest, so he wouldn't see. But she could feel his laughter as he pulled her even closer to him.

After a couple more minutes, Clary noticed that he turned his head to look in the direction of the window. "Uh…," he muttered, sounding a little nervous again, a little unsure, "how would you feel about a double date?"

With a confused frown, Clary turned her head to see what he was looking at. She noticed that Magnus and Alec were now sitting at their usual table by the window, and they'd brought two more chairs over to the table at some point during the last few minutes, apparently just assuming that Clary and Jace would be joining them this evening.

Judging by the nervous look on Jace's face, Clary guessed that he hadn't exactly planned for this to happen.

Clary nodded in agreement, like this double date was no big deal to her, but she couldn't help feeling a fresh wave of anxiety at the use of the word 'date'. Right now, she could fully sympathize with Alec, back when he'd arrived for his first date with Magnus, looking terrified.

Clary's hands shook a little as she followed Jace to Magnus and Alec's table. She tried to put her hands in her pockets to hide them, but Jace seemed to notice, because he reached his arm back so he could take hold of her hand.

"Relax," he muttered, his voice sounding soothing.

Alec raised his eyebrow when they got even closer to the table, his eyes focused on their joined hands, and Clary couldn't help thinking that maybe Jace wasn't normally big on the whole hand-holding thing. But then Alec seemed to get distracted by Magnus, who stood up to take off his jacket, revealing that he was wearing a shirt with only a couple of the buttons fastened, leaving most of his torso on display. Clary noticed that his jeans (which were covered in glitter) also had a couple of squares cut out of them.

"What? Too much?" Magnus asked as he took in Alec's expression.

"Nah, he likes it when you wear stuff like that, he told me…" Jace shrugged at Magnus as they arrived at the table.

"Jace!" Alec snapped at him, blushing bright red as he glared at his brother.

Clary could kind of understand now why shy, reserved Alec had wanted Jace to keep his distance from their table when he'd first started dating Magnus, especially as Jace just seemed to say the first thing that came into his head when it came to talking about relationships, and Alec's private conversations with his brother were apparently no exception.

Magnus didn't seem anywhere near as embarrassed though, if his smug grin was anything to go by.

Jace seemed to work out that it was time to change the subject. He started smirking, and Clary sensed that some kind of joke was coming. "Clary," he said, now definitely sounding like he was joking around, "this is my brother, Alec Lightwood, and this is his boyfriend, Magnus Bane…"

Clary rolled her eyes as Jace made a big show of introducing them like they were complete strangers and this was the first time they'd ever met.

She had to admit that it was weird though, being here with Magnus and Alec, meeting them more as her friends than as the couple she'd viewed almost as a fictional fantasy ever since she first laid eyes on them at the coffee shop. It was strange to think that she was going to get to know all about their 'real lives' from now on.

Alec also rolled his eyes in Jace's direction as he stood up to shake Clary's hand, and the two of them shared a silent moment of exasperation at Jace's behavior.

Magnus smiled pleasantly at Clary when he shook her hand. "I believe I have you to thank for my reunion with Alexander," he whispered to her, sounding genuinely grateful, even as he laughed a little.

Clary had to fight off another blush as she thought about her last conversation with Alec. It was nice though, to think Magnus believed that she'd truly played a part in getting the two of them back together.

She was glad that they were both being friendly to her, and that they weren't judging her for her behavior over the past few weeks, especially as the last time they'd seen her, she'd been yelling at Jace outside the coffee shop.

"And guys, this is Clary Fray," Jace continued with a smirk as Clary finished shaking their hands.

"Oh, is this your girlfriend?" Magnus asked Jace with a seemingly innocent expression, but then he couldn't seem to resist smirking smugly and raising an eyebrow, obviously aware that he would make Jace uncomfortable with his 'girlfriend' question.

Clary felt a little uncomfortable too at Magnus's question to Jace. As well-informed as she was when it came to the world of fictional romances, this romance of her own was all so new to her, and she wasn't even sure she knew how to be anyone's girlfriend just yet. She knew that she still had a lot to learn, but then she thought of Alec, and how nervous he'd been on his first date with Magnus, and also about how he'd got past all that, facing his fears when it came to relationships, and she decided that she was going to take inspiration from him.

She caught Jace glaring at Magnus out of the corner of her eye and mouthing a few words of warning to him while Magnus continued to smirk. Clary tried not to laugh as she decided that Magnus was definitely more than a match for Jace when it came to trading jokes and playful insults.

Clary still felt a little nervous as she sat down slowly in her seat. She couldn't get over the fact that she and Jace had just kissed, that she was now sitting at a table next to Jace and opposite Magnus and Alec. As far as her first date ever went, it was pretty special, and pretty strange at the same time.

But then a couple of Jace's fellow baristas brought coffee over for them, and the conversation started to flow, and Clary silently willed herself to relax, trying to tell herself that this was pretty similar to what she did every Friday at The Half-Moon.

As they talked, with Magnus and Jace almost doing enough talking for the four of them, Alec put his arm around Magnus's shoulder and pulled him a little closer, now looking like an expert at the whole relationship thing. Clary started to smile with pride as she thought about how far he'd come over the past few weeks, but then she had to stop herself, reminding herself that tonight, she was facing Alec as Jace's brother, not as a subject of her romantic sketches. She supposed she would have to get used to that now. Although maybe Alec and Magnus would let her paint more detailed pictures of the two of them once she got to know them a little better; maybe they could put the paintings up on their apartment walls or something…

Jace seemed to think that Alec was on to something, because he suddenly draped an arm over Clary's shoulder, following his brother's lead as Alec rolled his eyes.

In spite of Alec's exasperated reactions around his brother, Clary also noticed that the two of them kept looking over at each other with concerned expressions every now and again, like they were silently supporting one another and checking that the other was okay. Clary thought about how sweet it was that they had such a close brotherly bond, especially with everything else that had been going on in their personal lives lately.

They all continued to talk, and Clary felt her nerves fade a little as she leaned into Jace, and Magnus asked her questions about her life as an art student, before he told her about a couple of sketches he'd drawn recently for an upcoming fashion shoot. Clary had a feeling that he sensed her nerves and was going out of his way to make her feel more at ease.

As the evening continued, Clary couldn't help smiling to herself as she took in everything that was going on around her. Magnus and Alec eventually started bickering affectionately with one another like a married couple, and she shared a few more discreet kisses with Jace while Magnus and Alec were distracted.

Clary felt weirdly content as she took another sip of her cup of coffee. She knew that her life wouldn't suddenly be perfect; she didn't know what the future would hold for any of the relationships that were happening in her life right now, and she still had things she needed to deal with, issues she needed to resolve, and of course, she had to get through yet another tough semester at college…but right here, right now, Clary simply thought of all the blank pages left to fill in her sketchbook, pages that she had the ability to fill with happy moments, no matter what else was going on in her life.

She was already looking forward to filling those pages with pictures of Malec and Clace.