Guess who's back! I know I know, I disappeared and abandoned you like a very shitty friend. you all should hate me. Even I hate me for that. On the bright side, I got the whole festival in one chapter (which honestly I thought was really fucking impossible.) There was a lot of writer's block, a shit-ton of rewrites, crying, and even some rage. But here we are at chapter 7.

Notice: As of right now I do not have a beta, I'm looking for a beta to help me with polishing chapters, boucing idea's off of, and dialogue. If any of you lovely readers are experienced and interested, please send me a message! :D

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own TMI, all credit belongs to Cassie…blah blah you know the drill.

HUUUGE shoutout to AnnaW14 for helping me edit this chapter! You are truly amazing.


CPOV

The air shifted as I stepped through the foyer. Something was off, I could feel it. Miss Fairchild's reassurances echoed faintly in the back of my mind but I remained, as always, the skeptic. Valentine being enthusiastic about anything, let alone a simple town festival, seemed like a foreign concept.

"Clarissa, dear." His voice sent chills down my spine.

"Yes Sir" I replied hesitantly, walking through the large marble archways and into his study.

There in the center of the room, he sat behind a large oak desk with his back facing me, "I received a call from your teacher today about a Festival." he continued

I swallowed, nodding my head. "She mentioned it"

"Obviously Landon and the others would frighten the townsfolk if I assigned them to the booth with you. But they will, however, be watching. You are expected to do everything your teacher requests. My reputation in this town will in no way be tarnished by your insubordination. Am I clear?"

My jaw dropped but I recovered quickly and nodded. "Y-yes, of course. Thank you"

"In addition to that, you should know that I am flying out to Moscow in exactly 3 hours with Hodge. During my absence I will be placing Landon in charge. You are to do exactly as he says. I have left him a list with careful instructions as to your wellbeing. I am trusting you to be a responsible young adult this weekend. Do not disobey me."

"Yes father…" I mumbled politely while standing as to leave.

His iron grip closed over my wrist so tightly as he pulled me half over the desk, that I struggled not to cry out in anguish. "Ahh! Please, I'm sorry I'm sorry. Valentine please, I didn't mean it" I sniffled as realization dawned upon me and my mistake. "Please sir, it was a mistake, forgive me Valentine, please" I begged. "I forgot that I was not playing our cover and mistakenly referred to you in such an informal tone."

His eyes burn with fury as he ignores my frantic pleas. My body is suddenly wrenched to the side, knocking into the solid wood bookshelves. It rattles loudly as some of the books fall to the ground and a vase shatters to my left. My heart is pounding in my ears as I watch him cross the office to where I lay sprawled against the wall. Blood has already begun to trickle down the side of my face. He reaches my side quickly and grabs a chunk of my disheveled curls. My scream wracks the halls of our house when he pulls my body half up and leans in close

"See to it that you don't make the same mistake, Clarissa" He spits my name, dropping my hair and shoving me to the floor. "Leave. I'm done speaking to you."

The first thing I noticed the next morning was the blinding light flooding through my open window shades. It was my first "sunny morning" in Newport. I squinted from the painful migraine pulsing through my head, burying my face further into my comforter. Minutes later the alarm clock blared at full volume from my side table. A single slender arm shot out from beneath the covers in attempt to silence the disturbance. By then, the morning grogginess had left me and I frowned at my failed attempts at a few more minutes of peace.

Sitting up against the lavender headboard, I grabbed my phone and began scrolling through the messages. There were two from Magnus and one from Izzy.

Magnus: New shimmer liner arrived last night, bout to sneak attack Jace.

I shook my head with a laugh, opening his second message. It was a photo- a selfie- of himself grinning mischievously at the camera and a sleeping Jace in the background. God even in sleep that boy was gorgeous. There was a certain softness to his face as he slept. Angelic even, as opposed to his dark and brooding demeanor he usually put forth.

Magnus: This is so going to be worth it.

Clary: You're going to regret this Mags, don't do it! He's going to kill you!

I responded as fast as my fingers would type. The typing bubble popped up on his end, but a message was never sent. I could only assume the beast had awoken. Flipping out of our chat, I clicked on Izzy's message.

Isabelle: Whaddup biotch! Found your fit. It's peerrrfect :D

I smiled stupidly down at the screen. Izzy was like the sister slash best friend I'd never had. She was loud and exciting but had this uncanny ability to know when to be quiet and gentle. She was intuitive like that. It was almost hard to believe I'd only known her for little over a week or so.

"oh Izzy! you didn't have to, I could have found something" I replied, suddenly feeling guilty that she had spent money on me.

Isabelle: Nonsense! I already bought the dress and You. Will. Love. It!

My fingers hovered over the text pad. I have some money saved up in the space beneath the floorboards. I could pay her back. Right as I was about to reply, another message popped up.

Isabelle: And NO, you cannot pay me back!

She sent over a picture of the dress and the grin spread further across my face. It was made of a gorgeous cream gauzy material with long fitted sleaves. Designer for sure. The neckline was questionable, but that was the least of my worries, I could deal with a little cleavage for one day.

"LOVE!" I replied in all caps.

Isabelle: Knew you would, see you in class babes XXX

I happily skipped over to my closet and picked out a pair of maroon skinny jeans and a thin grey sweater top paired with a white jacket and black scarf. Placing them on the circular dresser in the middle of the closet, I ran to the bathroom to take care of my hair and makeup before changing.

After finishing my normal routine, the first thing I grabbed for was the concealer. My very best friend. Over the years, I had become somewhat of a pro at hiding little (and big) marks here and there. Since I was going to be in a shirt with long sleeves, I didn't even bother with my wrists, focusing most of my attention on the neck and face area.

The true test of my artistic skills was going to be the mark on my forehead. Last night I had washed and bandaged the gash that centered the right side of my forehead knowing that the next morning it would be hell to hide and explain. Now, pealing away the bandage, I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing myself for the worst. But the worst never came. The bandage was clean, the wound barely visible. The area tender and bruising lightly, but other than that, perfectly fine.

Weird.

Shrugging away the unanswered questions, I quickly ran some frizz control through my hair to soften the curls and pulled them up into a high ponytail, not wanting to have to deal with that problematic undertaking. I had just thrown on some charcoal flats before Landon called.

"Ms. Fray, the car is waiting."

"Coming!" I replied, taking the stairs two at a time.

When I arrived at the school it was like a massive party. Students crowded the front lawns and courtyards, laughing and dancing around happily. Some had even dressed up in costumes that represented the autumn season. The cheer squad had on fringe boots, their uniforms, and matching Native American headdresses. A group of guys crowding the picnic tables wore full on turkey fat suits and squawked around on top of the tables and benches, causing many bystanders to laugh at their display. It was madness! Complete and utter chaos! But I loved every minute of it.

The car pulled to a stop right at the front and I scrambled out quickly. "Goodbye boys, I'll see you at the festival" I called cheerfully before making my way across the lawn to the steps where Izzy and the rest were hanging out. On the way over Landon had agreed to let me stay at the school and get ready with Izzy for the festival providing I answered his calls the moment I received them. It was a fair compromise, one that I jumped to accept.

"Claaarr-eeeeeee!" Izzy's high-pitched voice slurred from across the lawn as she staggered towards me, causing many heads to turn in my direction. I smiled shyly and waved while approaching the group. Standing around I noticed were Magnus, Maia, Aline, Jordan, and two other boys I assumed were from the soccer team, but no Jace. It wasn't that I was looking for him. I wasn't. I shouldn't. I'm not.

But I totally was.

"What's going on?" I said, gesturing to the madness.

Izzy immediately enveloped me in to one of her bone crushing hugs. "My God Clary, you look so fucking hot!" she whisper-shouted into my ear. I doubt anyone within a ten-foot radius hadn't heard her.

"Are you drunk?" I asked. It wasn't even 8 o'clock!

"The Fall Festival is practically a national holiday here." Magnus answered, flashing me a wide smile. "Lovely as always darling." he kissed my cheek.

"I see you're still alive and well" I smirked, recalling his early morning escapade.

"Yes well, not everyone has a boyfriend as loving and devoted as my Alec" he sighed dreamily while walking up the steps and into the school hallway. Izzy giggled, looping her arm through mine.

"Clary you should have seen it! Jace was livid! Poor thing couldn't figure out how to get it all off. I almost felt bad. Almost.."

"You guys are insane! I can't believe you're both alive right now. Where is he?"

Izzy waved her hand dismissively. "Probably off banging some slut in a sore attempt to reclaim his masculinity" They both laughed. My face fell. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a secret that Jace was pretty much a man-whore. Not even close. But still, I had liked to imagine that I had some sort of effect on him.

Apparently not.

"Ha..right" I laughed half-heartedly but nobody noticed.

"So, I have all of our stuff in my car. The bathroom up on the third floor near the library is almost always empty and unused since nobody ever goes up there. Meet us at 12 o'clock sharp! Okay?"

I found Izzy's enthusiasm infectious; she was like a glowing ball of happiness and perfection 100% of the time, even drunk. What a bitch. But still, I found myself nodding in agreement. "Perfect!" she clapped. "See you at lunch" I watched as she skipped down the hallway into the arms of a waiting Simon before disappearing into her class.

Focusing on school was an impossible task with all the excitement for Fall Festival. Not one student was paying attention during the lectures. Even the teachers seemed anxious for the day to end. Thus, the morning passed by in a blur and before long I found myself sitting in front of the vanity while Izzy attacked my unruly mane with her curling iron and army of hair products.

"Your hair really is the most envious shade of red." Izzy remarked while I fiddled with the white satin fabric of the dressing robe. I smiled appreciatively at her.

"Mmphh. Yaass, I know right?" Magnus half moaned through a mouthful of hot cheetos from his criss-cross position atop the counter."And can we please talk about the disaster that was the cheer teams Indian costumes? I mean…they DO know that only the chief wears the full headdress, right? They can't ALL be a chief!" he huffed in annoyance.

"Well Aline is their captain, what were you expecting?" Izzy quipped as we all laughed.

"The ignorance!" He cried, pumping his bag in the air for dramatic effect.

"The fringe booties weren't all that bad." I giggled, trying my hardest to find something polite to say.

"Oh Clary, you're entirely too sweet! Don't worry, we'll corrupt you in no time!" Isabelle nudged my shoulder with her hip while fastening the last pin curl in place.

"Unless someone else gets to it first." Magnus murmured teasingly before stuffing his face with another handful of Cheetos.

"Magnus!" "Ohmygod!" Izzy and I both exclaimed at the same time.

"Oh don't give me that! Anyone with a pair of eyes can see the painfully obvious attraction between Jace and our New York angel!" he shouted. We were both laughing by now, the embarrassment of his remark already forgotten.

JPOV:

The morning of the Fall Festival had started on a bad note, and only seemed to be spiraling downward from there. When I woke up to Magnus hovering over me with one of his damned glitter eye pencils, I just about ripped him in half. It took almost half an hour to get the irritating product off my eyes, and even then some stray shimmering flecks still stuck to the corners of my eyes. Needless to say, I was livid. So mad, in fact, that I decided to skip morning classes altogether. No way was I walking in to school with fucking eyeliner on. Robert tried to talk me out of it, but he wasn't too upset. My grades were already perfect; skipping one day wasn't going to do any real damage.

Izzy and Magnus had wisely left for school by the time I walked in to the kitchen at 7:30 o'clock. After rubbing my eyes raw I didn't want to see either one of them anytime soon.

"I'll be back later for the festival honey, have a good day! Love you!" Maryse, my mother, called before rushing out the front door.

With the house now all to myself, I took advantage of the empty control room. I had been wanting to do some research on Clary for awhile and now finally had the opportunity. The control room was like this huge room of secret files and computers with access to every major (and minor) intelligence group in the world. Usually, it was an off-limits zone to my siblings and I, but with Maryse and Robert gone so much, we had learned to hack the security code ages ago. If Maryse and Robert really didn't want us in there, they wouldn't have taught us kids how to hack. At least that's how we all saw it.

As soon as the screens powered up my fingers flew across the keyboard with determination, searching for any and everything I could find on Clarissa Fray.

Absolutely nothing turned up.

And when I say nothing, I don't mean "nothing unusual." I mean nothing. Not a single result. No Facebook Page, no Twitter account, no previous address, no known address, no pictures, phone number, family, nothing. For nearly three hours I scoured the viral networks for any mention of my fiery young redhead and came up with zilch.

"Why are you demolishing the new girls privacy?"

An unexpected voice jolted me out of my trance. "Jesus-fucking-Christ Alec!" I jumped, almost dropping my now stale popcorn.

"Well I waited almost four hours before interrupting this little operation of yours." He shrugged innocently before flopping down into the chair beside me. "Find anything good" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and swiping my popcorn.

"Nope." I replied, slouching further into my chair.

"You tried the public records?"

"Yup."

"Federal Archives?"

"Ah-huh."

"CIA?"

"Nothing."

"SD-13?"

"Yeah right. Not without Robert's key at least." I replied giving him an exasperated look. He shrugged, swiveling around in his own chair. My face hardened as I tried to think of what else I could do. This girl was a ghost, a literal ghost!

"Did you try that other name? The one the middle aged woman called her by?" he asked, popping a stale kernel into his mouth.

Silence. I turned to him in confusion.

"Come on Jace you have to remember, you remember everything!" He continued. "The creepy woman who grabbed Clary at the mall and made you go all protective older boyfriend. Morgan or something"

"Morgenstern? But Clary… Fuck!" I exclaimed, turning back to the computer.

Google and the usual search engines didn't bring up much besides some conspiracy websites which mentioned a child that had been abducted 12 years ago by her biological father. He was on the run from the government and they have yet to find her. It didn't say much other than the girl's name, Clarissa Morgenstern. I was hoping for at least a description of the girl or even some defining characteristics but nothing popped up.

It was when I started digging into the Darknet and CIA classifieds that I finally started getting some more information. A man named Valentine Morgenstern, the child's father, presumably, was a very, very wanted man. Markers popped up all over the globe where they had tracked him right before he disappeared again. Basically the man was a criminal mastermind with a knack for vanishing. At the moment they had no location but assumed somewhere either in Russia or the Continental US. The list of criminal activity went on and on, anything from petty theft, murder, to even infiltrating top government facilities. One thing however, that seemed to jump out, was the repeated (and failed) attempts on the governments side to recover something Valentine possessed, code named as the NCB-009?

"Hey Alec, isn't this an SD-13 code? What's an NCB-009?"

"It's definitely them, but I've never heard of that one." He replied from his own pile of files.

"Seems like they really want whatever it is that this guy Valentine has. Look here, 137 different attempts to try and recover it. All failed. And that's only the ones they have on record."

"Damn." Alec sighed, rubbing the space between his eyes in frustration. "Jace look they didn't mention anything about Clary specifically, so this could just be a bunch of nonsense. There's no description, photo, anything. For all we know this girl is a 6 foot blonde or 23 years old. It was 12 years go. We've already missed set-up for the Festival, it's going to start soon and the entire soccer team is expected to be there. That includes you Mr. Team Captain, we'll finish this later."

Checking the clock I realized how much time we had actually spent down here. 2:45 PM it read, 7 hours.

Well Shit.

CPOV:

Izzy had spent another hour styling my hair before deeming it 'effortless perfection.' She had somehow managed to get my unruly hair into soft ringlets before pinning them all up with only two chopsticks into a trendy messy bun. I hadn't minded, considering I had my sketchbook and pencil to keep me occupied. It was when Magnus demanded to paint my nails that things got complicated. "Maagggss, my nails are fine" I had complained.

"Clary! You don't even have any polish on!" he had replied in a horrified manner.

"I'm doing you makeup next anyway so you'll need to release the sketchpad" Izzy said, hand on hip with the other outstretched, waiting for my book. In the end I of course gave in and Magnus began painting my nails a dusty rose while Izzy launched into her makeup case.

Magnus had just finished my nails when a soft knock sounded from the other side of the bathroom door. Izzy glanced up puzzled as Magnus flew from his seat. "That's for me! Be back in a minute ladies!" he grinned. We both laughed, he and Alec were so in love it was almost sickening.

"Good grief, those two can't go an hour without sticking their tongues down each others throats" she scoffed humorously while cleaning my face with a cloth. "I swear- Oh!" she gasped, snatching her hands away from my face. "Oh God….Clary are you…are you okay? What?" My face wrinkled in confusion as I glanced in the mirror. Horror filled my face as I stared back at the ugly monster that reared back. The bruises. They had faded considerably since this morning but still covered a substantial portion of my face.

"It's ...it's nothing" I whispered, staring at my hands. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, threatening to overflow down my burning cheeks.

"Clary…that is not nothing!" she glared, crossing her arms across her chest. "Tell me what's going on, right now. Don't think I haven't noticed your frequent 'accidents'. I need to know so that I can help you." her voice softened as she reached out to grasp my arm.

My reaction was less than graceful as I groaned inwardly at the pressure she applied to one of the fresh bruises. She snatched her hand away immediately, backing up a few steps to look me over.

"Izzy, wait...you don't understand."

Her hands flew to the robe, releasing the sash and exposing the fresh bruising that marked every inch of my abdomen and arms. She gasped, horrified as I buried my face into my hands. It was all over now. Quiet sobs racked my hunched frame as I sobbed silently into the soft satin robe.

Her arms enveloped my frail body as she brought me into a gentle hug, being careful not to squeeze too hard. I cried, hard. "Clary...Clary look at me," she said after a few moments, lifting my chin "Babe, you've got to tell me who's doing this. Was it Aline? One of the guys? Jace and Alec can take care of them, you don't have to worry about it."

"N-no" I sniffled, "It's much more complicated than that.." my head lowered.

"Your father…" she whispered after a few moments, taking my silence as confirmation. "Hey, it's going to be okay. My parents, they know people, we can help you. Alright? You don't even have to go back there ever."

"No!" My head snapped up. "Please don't, You don't understand. You've seen my father's men, I can't just walk away. Izzy you have to promise you won't tell your parents, please. H-he was just having a rough night, it's fine, he's out of town for the weekend anyway so I'm alright, really." I begged.

She bit her lip. I could tell she was not a fan of this plan. My shoulders slumped.

"Okay..." My face relaxed

"…but! You have to promise me that you will tell me if he does something like this Ever again. Understood?"

"O-okay"

She smiled warmly, "Perfect. Now, lets get you all glamorized before Magnus gets back."

Telling Izzy had turned out to be more liberating than I thought. It felt…good, to have someone to talk to about this stuff, someone to confide in. As persistent and annoying as she could be, I was pleasantly surprised that she left it alone and didn't push for more information.

Magnus walked back into the room just as Izzy had concealed the last of the marks on my forehead. With my hair styled, makeup finished, and nails dried, the only thing left to do was to change into my clothes.

"Does it fit?!" Izzy screeched from outside the bathroom stall.

"Calm down you maniac" Magnus chided from her side. "Clary hon, does the dress fit?!" he asked, in a slightly less, but still hysterical tone.

To say the dress fit perfectly was an understatement. It was more than perfect. The vintage gauzy cream material was such a drastic change from the usual leather and knits that filled my closet. It made me feel feminine and pretty. The billowing sleeves stopped at my wrist with fitted cuffs. The skirt stopped just below my mid thigh, causing the soft material to brush against my bare legs whenever I moved. It was elegant and airy and everything I wished to be.

Both Izzy and Magnus cooed approvingly when I finally exited the stall.

"I knew it!" Izzy said as Mags clapped excitedly before they pulled me to the side and began a frenzy of slipping jewelry onto my fingers, wrist, and neck, a pair of small caramel colored flats on my feet as well as a thin brown belt that accentuated in my waist.

"Are you sure I won't get cold" I asked as they continued to style me.

"Nah it's wicked warm out today, but I have a jean jacket for you just in case. Awww kitten you look lovely!" Izzy gushed. "Now go! Ms. Fairchild is probably wondering where you are!" she said while shooing me out of the room. "We'll meet up with you once everything is all set up."

I needed no further encouragement to escape the intoxicating fumes of hairspray and perfume. Making my way down the stairs and across the street to where the festival was being set up, I remembered to swipe on a coat of some light pink lip-gloss Izzy had slipped into my purse.

"Clarissa, doll you look positively radiant! Thank you so much for agreeing to help out today, we could really use your artistic ability." Ms. Fairchild's always cheery voice called as I neared the booth.

"Anything to help" I replied "Where do you need me?"

She smiled a genuine grin before handing me a box of various paints and brushes. "The boys have taken care of the tent and tables, so all we need to do now is set up the supplies. I chose to display some of your portraits, I do hope that's alright with you?" she asked before taking off a tarp from a few paintings that leaned against the far wall.

"Of course, no problem." I grinned glancing behind my back to see that she had chosen a watercolor of lilies I had painted laying against a boulder with the river flowing as a background. I had felt so proud of it when she appraised my work. Among some others I spotted the portrait of Angelic Jace to which she placed right on the front of the table with a little note card stating the artists name and year; Clarissa Fray, Junior. I cringed inwardly at the label. People were going to think I was another one of the many love struck followers of Jace.

"Okay dear, I'll be back in a little bit to check on you, Andrea will come to take the next shift at 6:30, and prices are listed on the backs of each painting. Yours are only for display unless you would like to sell them. It's completely up to you. Here's my cell phone number in case something happens" She said, scribbling a series of numbers onto an ink pad and handing it over.

Over the next hour or so I had started to really get into a good rhythm. I found managing the booth to be relatively easy and even fun. Some would stop to admire the art and inquire about prices, but it was mostly young kids coming to have their faces painted. Every once in a while I had a soccer jock from the booth across the way come over and try to convince me to participate in their upcoming wet t-shirt contest, of which I declined. Seven times.

Presently, I sat in concentration, painting an intricate fire-breathing dragon along the face of an adorable young boy named Max. He had run up to the booth practically jumping on me in his desperate plea to have me draw a dragon upon his face.

"Of course I can draw a dragon on your face!" I had exclaimed, matching his enthusiasm.

"With FIRE?!" He raised his voice in disbelief.

"With fire!" I winked while placing him up onto the high stool.

Over the next few minutes I learned that Max was quite the chatterbox. He was exactly 5 and 2 quarters and loved dragons, stars, and manga. His favorite thing to do, however, was play soccer with his older brother.

"He's soooooo cool" Max gushed, struggling to keep still as I started on the dragon tail. "He never misses the goal and people cheer lots of loud for him at games. But after he wins, lots of girls try to kiss him and its so gross. When I become gooder like him, I'm never ever letting them girls kiss me. Only mom and maybe you, MAYBE…I haven't decided yet"

I laughed loudly at Max's comment as he continued talking. It saddened me slightly when I realized that the painting was nearly finished and he would have to leave soon. I dabbed on the last of the yellow, orange, and red spots to add detail to the fire lining his temple and forehead. His reaction to the finished product, however, wiped away any trace of sadness. "OOHHMMYYYGOOOSSHH! BYECLARYTHANKYOUSOMUCH." and he ran off, jumping around, imitating a dragon, before pouncing on a man in a suit talking with another man at the science and technology booth, his father I assumed.

The festival had gotten quite crowded now as people gathered along the roped off areas and I knew the parade would be starting any minute now. With my few minutes of free time, I plopped onto the stool and pulled out my notebook to doodle.

"Lovely work" someone commented on my current piece. "An interesting symbol, what prompted you to conjure up something so unique" a woman asked.

"Thank you, I've never seen it before, it just...came to me I suppose," I said, glancing up from the canvas to smile at the woman. My eyes were met with a pair of familiar gray eyes that focused on my own. The woman from the mall.

"Hello Clarissa, it's good to see you again."

I was frozen in place, completely caught off guard. I knew this was the moment I should have called Landon and Markus, both of whom mingled around the kettle corn cart, but I couldn't. I wouldn't put this new home I had come to love in jeopardy. I shouldn't have gotten attached, dammit. "What...what do you want" I said in a small voice, standing up from the stool and moving back a few steps.

The woman's face fell in dismay as she leaned forward, reaching out her arm. "Oh please don't be afraid, I don't want to hurt you, I only want to-"

"Don't!" I winced as her arm brushed against one of the fresh bruises. She retracted her arm instantly, as if something had burned her.

"Please give me a chance to explain myself, there are certain things you need to know. Thing's you can't possibly go through without our help, my help." the woman pressed, stepping around the table and closer. "You were never meant to live with him, we tried to protect you from him. Clary you're different, you're special. You must know that by now. Please come back with me so I can show you."

"Stop please, you should leave." I struggled to breathe. My heart raced as a subtle buzz began to hum just beneath my skin. I felt as though I could faint or explode at any moment. Something was wrong, something was very very wrong. The cut from earlier began shooting sharp pains through my head causing me to wince. The woman reached out, but never touched me. I still flinched.

"He hurt you," she whispered. It was more of a statement than a question. Like she was just coming to a realization of an obvious fact. "I swear to God Clarissa, I'm going to" she started, her voice gaining a dangerous edge it hadn't possessed before.

"Leave" A deep commanding voice suddenly answered from behind me. "You're going to leave." His presence filled my lungs as I drank in the welcome sent of pine and citrus. Leaning back against his chest, I let his strong arms rope around my shaking body. Jace. I hadn't heard or seen him walk up, but I was utterly grateful at his sudden entrance.

The woman stared at us a moment in disbelief before shaking her head and walking off. "He was never meant to find out Clarissa... I am so sorry," she whispered before disappearing into the crowd. Her words left me paralyzed.

"Are you alright?" Jace murmured softly into my ear as I struggled to control my breathing. His arms tightened around my waist protectively as I stared off at where the woman had been. No, I was definitely not alright.

"Y-yeah... fine" I croaked, glancing up at his concerned face. "I'm alright I promise" I said in a softer voice. The humming in my chest had all but died out as I began to relax again. I glanced over to the kettle corn cart where Markus and Landon were lounging lazily against some park benches. "Thank you" I pulled away, gathering up some dirtied brushes to busy myself.

"You looked like you were going to pass out…Are you sure everything's fine? This is the second time I've seen that woman harass you." Jace pressed, following my movements across the booth.

"You were gone again." I changed the conversation. He stopped mid stride, studying my face.

"I had…stuff."

My eyebrow rose. "Stuff?" I mocked. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the sparkles around your eyes now would it?" I added.

"It might" he scowled, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against the table. I laughed to myself, knowing he probably had no idea how to remove eyeliner, and Magnus didn't seem to offer any help whatsoever.

"Come here" I said, pointing to my stool. He glanced up in skepticism. "You wanna get that makeup off or not wonder boy?" I answered his silent question. He moved so fast that before I could blink he was sitting on the stool, peering down at me. Even sitting down he was almost a whole head taller than me. I cursed my recessive height genes, earning a chuckle from him. "Hush you" I quipped, pulling out the makeup remover and cotton balls from a box from beneath the table.

Standing this close to Jace was nerve wracking. From afar you could plainly see how attractive he was, but up close it added new meaning to the phrase breathtaking. His hypnotizing gold eyes roamed the entirety of my face, as if he were trying to memorize every detail. "Close your eyes" I said shakily, needing him to stop looking at me like that. He did. "Thank you."

I raised my hand to his face, gently wiping away the stubborn silver flecks. A gasp escaped my lips as his hands snaked around my waist and pulled me into the space between his legs. "Jace…" I warned.

"If you fall I won't be able to catch you in time with my eyes closed" he replied innocently, settling his arms comfortably at my hips. My shoulders began to shake as I struggled to hold in my laughter, continuing to wipe away at his eyes. In truth, the liner had come off within two strokes, but I reveled in the feeling of his body on my own way too much to let it end so quickly. I rested my left hand on his shoulder, using the other to wipe gentle strokes against the lids of his eyes. It was so intimate, I was almost afraid to stop.

"I'm surprised Magnus got this far before you woke up."

"Magnus should watch himself for the next few days." he grumbled.

"Oh the mighty wrath of Jace" I mocked in a deep voice, earning a grin from Jace.

"You better believe it" he retorted.

Turning my head to the left, I noticed for the first time, Kaelie. She stood fuming from the cheer squad's position in the parade processional. "Your girlfriend is staring at us." I whispered, turning his attention to a very red-faced cheer captain. His arms tightened around my waist, not even bothering to look at her for more than a second. A sense of happiness and pride swelled in my chest. Stop it Clary! You can't deal with this right now.

"Lets give her something to look at then." he murmured sexily, nuzzling the crook of my neck.

"Jace, no!" I squealed as he pressed his mouth to my collarbone. My heart fluttered. He only ignored my protests, pulling me harder against his rock hard chest.

"Laugh as if I just said the funniest thing in the world." He commanded. My arms wrapped absentmindedly around his neck as I laughed dramatically.

"I can't believe you." my voice shook as I whispered into his ear.

"Is it working?" his voice vibrated through my chest.

Yes. It was definitely working… Maybe a little too well. If Kaelie hadn't been forced to lead the parade, I was almost positive she would have already marched over here and clawed my face by now. "Uhh…yeah I think you have effectively pissed off Kaelie-Fucking-Whitewillow"

"Mmm, she curses...that's hot" he smiled against my now fully flushed skin. Today was going to be a very long day.

Once the cheer squad passed by with the opening banner, the parade was actually kind of fun. My replacement finally showed up, two hours late I might add, and I was finally allowed to enjoy the Fall Festival. Being my first ever festival in, well…ever, Jace assigned himself as my guide to make sure I had as much fun with the little time we had left. We walked around the booths, stopped at every single food cart, demolished the ring toss, and had our pictures taken in the tacky Photo Booth. He said everyone had to experience the famous festival photo booth at least once in his or her lifetime.

When the strip printed Jace had snatched them out of the box before I even had a chance to see them. "Let me see!" I protested, standing up on my tiptoes to see over his arm. He handed a strip to me, placing his own in the inside pocket of his jacket. We looked cute. The first was just a generic smiling-for-the-camera shot. The next had captured Jace mid-sneeze and me with a face of shock and amusement. He didn't seem to be a fan of photo number two. The next was of course of both of us laughing hysterically. I had my head in my hands as his profile turned towards me, grinning from ear to ear. It was perfect expression, one my artist hands itched to draw. Of all of the four shots however, the last was by far my favorite. At the last second Jace had pulled me into his lap and nuzzled his face against my neck just as the flash went off. I smiled at the photo strip as we walked aimlessly through the crowd.

"This one is definitely a keeper." I smirked, pointing to the second photo. He rolled his eyes next to me in mock annoyance.

"Lets go get some cotton candy," he grumbled, ignoring my comment and steering us towards another food cart. I slipped the strip into my jacket pocket as we walked.

We had just paid when Jace's phone began to ring loudly from the back of his jean pockets. He looked at it and frowned slightly, glancing up at me and then back at the caller. "Go ahead and take it, it's fine" I smiled encouragingly.

"Are you sure? I can always-"

"No, take it." I grinned, taking a seat on an empty park bench underneath the large oak tree. "Look, I'm fine, see?"

"Okay. I'll be right back, okay?" he asked, taking my slight nod as confirmation before disappearing around one of the brick buildings.

The cotton candy tasted sweet against my taste buds. I relished in the flavor, leaning my head back to enjoy what little sun I was afforded on these rare warm days. With rain pouring down in sheets nearly 80% of the time, it really made one appreciate the few days of dry, warm weather.

"She's like 5 lbs. Just pick her up and carry her over."

The unfamiliar voices advancing towards me caught my attention. Snapping my eyes open I scanned the area. My reaction time is apparently shit because nearly seconds later my own body was ripped from the bench and surrounded multiple guys as they all hollered triumphantly.

"What the fuck! Let me GO!" I yelled, recognizing the offenders as a few guys from school. They were clearly drunk and simply laughed at my protests. "STOP it!" My voice reached a higher octave. They expected the scream I was building towards and one of them, Sebastian, clamped his large hand over my mouth. What they didn't expect however, was my sharp kick to the nearest ones jaw and another swing at the next. Both immediately released me and crumpled to the ground with profanities spewing from their mouths. This sobered them up quick as they all tightened their grips and fought for control. I used this moment to release the scream I had been saving.

"All right princess" the tallest one growled in my ear as the others pinned me to the ground. "Your just gonna sit tight and do as we say, understand?"

"This is ASSAULT Sebastian! Now I suggest you fucking Let. Me. Go. before the two bodyguards assigned to protect me finds out and throws you all into unmarked graves." I spat.

"What do you think you're doing, Verlac!" A familiar voice barked from behind. The weight was lifted from my body as a deafening crack sounded above me. Jace stood poised over Sebastian's body delivering blow after blow. I'm no doctor, but I'm about 99.9% sure he is going to need surgery to correct the injuries Jace was inflicting. "Attacking women? Is that what you're into these days you piece of shit!" His voice raised in emphasis on the last word.

"Jace stop you're going to kill him!" I yelped when more blood was visible than Sebastian's face. Anger flooded his face as he snapped his head up to glare at me. His expression softened instantly and he threw Sebastian to the ground, striding over towards me. Sebastian staggered to his feet before taking off in the opposite direction along with his friends.

"Are you alright?" he said, still breathing hard while cradling my face in his hands. I could feel the scrape against my face begin to burn.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright. Thanks…again"

"I just seem to attract trouble." I joked lamely. He didn't seem to find much humor in the situation. "Hey," I said seriously, "They were drunk and I'm okay. It's fine, really."

After we had gotten up and Jace had found me some bandages for my scraped up hands and knees, night had already fallen. I could sense my time with Jace was coming to a close. I surprisingly hadn't seen Izzy all day which I was almost thankful for. I loved her to death but it was nice no having to deal with her craziness for a few hours.

"So, um… I should probably get going now." I said once the conversation had gone quiet. He turned to me with a slightly disgruntled expression.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. My dad doesn't really like me out late."

He shifted his weight as we came to a stop next to the school's brick building. "He's really protective."

My breath quickened. "You have no idea."

"Well, I had a lot of fun with you today Snowflake." He mused leaning closer to me.

"Snowflake?" I couldn't contain my amusement, eviscerating the moment we had come to find.

His serious expression broke into a smile. "Clary, come on, you're paler than snow-white and you've only been here a few weeks." He chuckled

"So you've got a point…I guess"

"And" he added, taking a step closer, "Your so delicate and fragile; the closer I get the more afraid I become of you disappearing." we were so close now that I could feel his breath against my face. For once, I had no words. No snarky comebacks, just silence, but not an awkward silence. It was nice, comfortable.

"Come on, let's get you home" he smiled, breaking the silence. I returned the gesture, letting him lead me toward the parking lot where Landon and Markus waited. We walked in silence: me deep in thought and he the same. He had his hand placed just above the small in my back, leading me through the crowd, with his other resting just above my hip. I guess I should have felt insecure, nervous, scared. Instead the feeling of safety and security settled within me. A first, in Clarissa Morgenstern's book.

JPOV:

That night I laid in bed, thinking of what had happened earlier that day. I had just ended a call with Izzy when I heard her scream. I don't know how, but somehow I knew it was her. I returned to find Bash and his thugs all over Clary. She kicked and struggled against them uselessly. Fury had boiled beneath my skin as my hands clenched at my side. I was gong to destroy them. Before I could reach her however I saw her nail one of them in the jaw with a kick and the other with her upper cut. Was it possible to be angered to the point of destruction and turned on at the same time?

My attention snapped over to Sebastian who had regained control and now stood poised above her. "What do you think you're doing, Verlac!" I barked, storming over to the park bench. Fury rolled off my back in waves as I delivered my first blow with fighters precision. Sebastian didn't even have enough time to look up before I knocked him back a few feet and away from Clary. The next two came at me from either side and I took them down easily. Walking back over to Bash I scraped him off the pavement and began to deliver blow after blow. For a moment I had gotten so caught up in my anger that I had forgotten about the reason I was even fighting them. Clary.

Her voice hit me like a hurricane as she screamed for me to stop. I threw Sebastian to the ground and stalked over to her side, tucking her fragile body under my arm and leading her away from the group.

I wished that I had hit Sebastian a little harder to show him Clary was untouchable. I had undoubtedly broken his nost and a few ribs. Part of me wished I had broke his leg, knocked him out of the league for the season. Drunk or not, attacking women is wrong.

"Hey Jace?" Izzy's timid voice came from the other side of my door.

Yeah?" I called as she slipped through the door and closed it behind her.

"I heard about Bash and the others.." she said quietly.

I stood up, walking over to the desk by my window with my back facing her so that she couldn't see my furious expression. "They got what they deserved" I clenched my bruised fists.

"So…she's pretty special then huh" Izzy pressed, flopping down onto my bed.

"I don't do girlfriends Izzy, you know this" I said, glancing over my shoulder at her.

"Until now. Clary is different." Izzy pressed, crawling across my bed to where I stood. "How much have you found out about her? Have you already cross referenced her files in mom and dad's control room? You didn't find anything, did you?" she paused

"Clay's a puzzle you can't figure out, she's gotten under your skin so deep and you can't figure out how to stay away."

The reality of Izzy's words hit hard. She was right. I had never cared about a girl like Clary before. I glanced down at our photo strip lying on my desk, staring at her smiling face. Yes. Clary was special.

I was about to turn around and demand she leave when her next sentence knocked the words right out of my mouth.

"Just be careful Jace…those scrapes on her face aren't the only ones she's hiding."

I whipped around quickly.

"Tell me everything you know. Now."

CPOV:

A stupid grin was plastered on my face for the rest of the journey and even after I got home. If Landon and Markus noticed, they didn't comment on it. When I finally got back to my room and showered and changed, I flopped down on my bed, completely exhausted by the festival.

Digging around in my jacket pocket, I pulled out the photo strip, touching the edges delicately. I flopped upside-down over my bed and slid out my art journal, flipping to a blank page and taping the strip to its white surface. On the opposite side a charcoal sketch of Jace stared back at me that I had drawn weeks ago. The stupid grin made a repeat appearance and refused to leave even after I drifted off to sleep that night.

Things weren't perfect. Far from it actually. But for just a little while, they weren't achingly painful. And that was good enough for me.

For now.


What do you all think? Review! Review! Review! Suggestions and feedback are strongly encouraged!

XX -Gwen