New chapter! Yeah! Sorry this one is so short, and so late. Whoops... but the next one shall be long and interesting! Wink, wink. ;) but yeah, I hope the end sort of, kinda makes up for the lack of words. This was mainly just a filler chapter. The next chapter will be full of awesomeness and drama. So please review! I don't care what you say in the review. I'll take anything as long as I know the story is being read. Thanks guys!


When I regained consciousness, a piercing shock of pain shot through my head. Knowing that opening my eyes would only make the pain more persistent, I kept my eyes closed and gripped the area around me. Silk and cotton rubbed against my hands before I touched something warm and fleshy.

My eyes shot open. Despite the flare of pain, I sat up and stared at Jace's sleeping form. His chest rose and fell at an even tempo, and his hair fell over his face in a mess of golden curls. Ignoring the pain for a moment, I reveled in the stunning beauty of him. Sunlight streamed through the white curtains of his window and spilled over his naked chest. His tan skin practically soaked in the sunlight.

Attempting to remember how I had gotten into what was presumably Jace's room, I fell back down onto the bed. Jace mumbled something and stirred rolling over to face me. His amber eyes fluttered opened slowly and he stared at me for a moment. "Good morning." Remaining in his position, he grinned.

"Good morning," I smiled back as he pulled himself up to lean on his arm. "So would you mind telling me how I got into your bed?" I asked as his face took on a serious composure.

"You don't remember?" His response surprised me, seeing as how he didn't reply with some suggestive or sarcastic remark. Upon registering my confusion, he sat up completely. "Last night we-"

"Oh, God, no. We didn't, uh, you know, did we?" I sat up quickly as his serious expression turned into one of humor.

"Would it really be that bad if we did? I am sorely hurt, Clary." Jace gripped his chest in mock sorrow. "But, seriously, I am appalled that you would think so low of me as to hook up with a girl after only knowing her for five days." Jace smirked at the horrified expression on my face.

"I didn't mean it like that! It's not that it wouldn't have been- I mean, not that you're not attractive it's just- Well, I mean, I've only known you for a few days, and we aren't-" I felt my cheeks heat up at the burning embarrassment. I was flustered, especially since images of Jace being completely naked flashed through my mind. "Oh, god, Jace, you know what I mean!"

He chuckled at my growing distress. "But seriously, you passed out last night, Clary. I was afraid you were hurt. I woke up at eight to ask Maryse whether we should bring you to the hospital, but she just told me to let you sleep it off."

"What time is it?"

"Oh, it's two in the afternoon." Jace replied after looking over at the clock on his bedside table.

"Holy crap! Are you serious?" I flung the covers off of me revealing my almost bare legs, and Jace watched me with amusement as I tried to climb out of his bed.

"Clare, what on earth are you doing?" Stopping me before I could climb over him, Jace asked.

"Isabelle must be so mad. I didn't even sleep in the living room with her last night."

"She knows you passed out, plus today is my day with you. She had you all day yesterday." Jace smirked before pulling me back down beside him.

"So what are we going to do, then? I thought I was supposed to be helping you with pre-calc." I whispered as we laid together.

"We can still study… I just don't want you to overwork yourself. I rather enjoy you more when your conscious." I stuck my tongue out at him as he smirked that signature smirk.

He got out of the bed and padded over to the desk in his room. As he walked my eyes automatically trailed his body. His blonde hair was ruffled slightly and sticking up in random places. His exposed back rippled as his muscles coiled from stretching. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I realized he was no longer in sweat pants, though. Instead, in the sweat pants' place was boxers, plain, silver boxers, but boxers nonetheless. I refrained my self from covering my eyes like a little kid.

"So are we going to just sit in here all day and study?" I asked, avoiding the urge to look back at his body again.

The bed sunk down beside me as Jace slid down onto his chest facing away from me. I followed suit and lied down beside him. "You act as if it's not already two. We'll study for a bit, and then we can just hang out." He pulled out his pre-calculus book, his notebook, and a calculator. "But seriously, I really need to pass this test if I can play the state game."

"Why would you decide just now to start passing the class?" I laughed as he glared at me. He flipped open the book to the chapter we were on and opened his notebook to a blank page.

"Because I didn't realize my grade was so bad until Mr. Byrd decided to drop the bomb on me that if I don't make a 'B' on this test, there's no way under any circumstances that I will get to play. Then you showed up; I feel like if that's not a coincidence, I don't know what will be. You were my angel sent down from New York." He grinned and tapped his chin with a pen.

"Oh, shut up." I swatted at him. "Let's get this over with. I'd rather not spend the rest of my Saturday looking at pre-calc."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" He saluted me and began to copy down an equation. I couldn't hold back the giggle as he kept throwing coy glances my way.


When Maryse, Alec and Isabelle's mother, called to Jace from downstairs to announce that dinner was ready, fear seized me. From the conversations between studying and getting to know each other, Jace described Maryse as a strict and scary woman. He dragged me downstairs, and before I knew it, I was sitting next to him at the dining room table.

Isabelle sat across from me with Alec next to her, across from Jace. An empty seat was placed to my right, and the two seats at the head of each side of the table sat empty. Then a little boy, who happened to be an exact replica of Isabelle and Alec, bounded into the room. I stared at the boy in awe. I couldn't help but immediately think of Simon when I gazed at the small boy.

His oversized glasses fell loosely to the end of his nose, and his shaggy, black hair hung carelessly above his eyes. He looked just like Simon when Simon was younger. He dashed over to the empty seat next to me and sat down. He stared at me with wide, brown eyes. "Who are you?"

"Max!" Maryse, who just stepped into the room carrying a plate of food, admonished. "Don't bed rude!"

"Sorry, mom." Max hung his head slightly.

"Oh, no, it's okay!" I jumped to Max's rescue. "I'm Clary Fray."

Distracting me from Max's grin was a clatter of dishes falling to the floor and an audible gasp. All the heads in the room turned to look at Maryse who was staring down at the mess on the floor with wide, fearful. She coughed, clearing her throat and looked back up at us all. "Oh, I've been so clumsy all day. I guess it's a good thing that it was just the salad." She muttered something else and disappeared into the kitchen.

Everyone's eyes met one another's in confusion. I took in a ragged breath, knowing that something must have happened to cause her to just drop everything like that.


"You know you can stay another night, if you'd like." Jace whispered lowly, his voice deep and alluring.

I smiled at him. "Dad doesn't really like me staying out a lot. He gets scared. Thanks for dinner though." I mumbled back, avoiding any thoughts on how awkward the past hour had been.

Maryse had been desperate to redeem herself after the plate incident, but I could see how me being there affected her. I wondered if she was like Alec and just decided that she didn't like me. She stuttered an awful lot the whole time she carried a conversation with me, which Jace would whisper to me about how that was so abnormal.

I wanted to stick my head in a toilet and drown myself with a swirly because of how bad dinner went. Robert, the Lightwood's father, came to dinner right before it started. When he asked for my name, the look on his face was enough to make me want to offer myself up to a pack of wolves. He seemed as uncomfortable as Maryse, and he actually ended up getting up and leaving dinner thirty minutes into it. Bad was probably an understatement.

Jace stared at me through heavily lidded eyes. The look on his face was smoldering me, and I took in a deep gasp of air to settle myself. "Well, at least let me walk you home, then." His fingers grazed my arm as he leaned back to shut the door. "Come on, let's get you home."

Hot fingers pressed against my back as he led me down the long, winding path of his driveway. We didn't talk the whole walk to my house, a calm silence filled the air.

As we neared the door to my house, Jace stopped me. "I'm sorry last night was so awful. Maybe next time you won't faint." He smirked at me, and I could almost see the gears in his head turning. "I know my stunning good looks are hard to get over, but eventually we'll get you to the point to where you don't pass out after being near me for so long."

Despite how conceited his words were, I couldn't help but laugh at him. "Wow, you're so funny. No wonder you get all the ladies."

"Yeah, I know. The wit usually helps." His smirk turned into a lazy, crooked grin. "Get some sleep tonight, okay? And seriously, don't pass out again. I doubt that's good for your health. I'll pick you up Monday, okay?"

"Sir, yes sir." I mimicked his words from earlier today.

He chuckled. "Have a good Sunday." he mumbled the words, but it seemed like he wanted to say something more. I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong, but I was stopped by a swift kiss to the cheek.

I froze, staring at Jace's unruffled face. "Goodnight." It was a whisper, and he spun around quickly. Walking briskly with a tense demeanor, he disappeared into the shadows instantly.

I brought a hand up to my steadily warming cheek. The spot where his lips had been burned my cold fingers. I was stunned; what had just happened?