Song Mentioned:

J. Cole - Love Yourz


Alec

I pull up to "our spot" at the beach, and park my truck. It looks like Todd is out there catching a wave, but I can't be certain it's him since there are a few people out on the ocean with their boards. There's some towels laid out on the sand, and three little kids with I'm guessing their mother, playing in the sand a little further down.

I turn my truck off, get out, head to the back, unstrap my board, and head out towards the water. It's only 9:30 a.m. and the sand is already so hot that it feels like I'm walking on burning coals.

"Alec!" I hear from a distance so I look behind me, nobody's there. I look to my left, and see nobody I know. I look to my right and find the same thing, so I look out among the water and see Todd waving. I wave and he starts paddling in. I decide I'll meet him half way so I walk out in the water, get on my board and start paddling out in his direction.

"Hey Todd." I say once I get out there.

"Hey man. What took you so long? The girls said you'd probably be here at 7:30-8 o'clock." He says smiling, with wet hair.

"I stayed at Magnus' last night. How's the swells been?" I ask as I look out at the waves, that don't look like surfing waves at all.

"Oh man, they were killer this morning! I caught an eight footer!" He says excitedly with a gleam in his eyes. I just realized he doesn't have a black eye from last night. I wonder if Jace does. "They've been dying down for the past thirty minutes or so, though. Every once in a while a decent one worth riding will come in."

"Maybe we should ride in and wait for everyone then." I suggest. "The girls should be here soon, and Jace is supposed to show cause he wants to apologize about last night."

He raises an eyebrow. "You sure he wants to apologize and not start another fight?" He ask skeptically. I really can't blame him though. He doesn't know Jace and what should've been his first time meeting him, they end up in a fist fight.

"Yeah I'm sure." I say with a small laugh. "He felt like shit last night after Clary got ahold to him. Then after I told him who you were, he really felt like shit."

He chuckles. "Alright then lets get back in."

We paddle back in, and when we're about eight feet from the shore I see Jace stepping out of his black, 2012, 4-wheel drive, Chevy Silverado 1500, then heading to the back and grabbing his board. And all I can think is...

Lord, please let this go well!


Jace

Once I get to the beach and step in the sand I stop. I close my eyes, and wiggle my toes in the sand, while taking a deep breath. I've missed the smell of the salt water and the hot sand under my feet.

"Hey!" I hear and open my eyes. I look out to see Alec and Todd walking up carrying their boards, under their arms.

I wave and start walking towards them. "Already give up?"

"Nawh, just waiting for everybody to get here." Alec says. "By the way Jace, this is Todd. Todd, this is Jace."

I reach my hand out to him, and surprisingly, he extends his out as well and we shake hands.

"Sorry about last night, man." I say embarrassed by what I did. "I seen you kiss her and...well, I thought you might be her new boyfriend."

He laughs. "Dude, it's alright. But just so you know, I'm gay and Clary doesn't have a boyfriend. In fact, in the year that I've known her she hasn't ever had a single boyfriend." He shakes his head." I actually asked Izzy once if Clary was gay, cause she never seemed interested in anybody."

We all laugh, mine an awkward laugh but still a laugh. She wasn't gay the last I knew of, I want to say but decide against it.

"So I hear you're going home tonight?" I ask in attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah. Schools over for summer and my parents have been hounding me to come home." He shrugs. "I finally gave in."

"Where's home?" I ask as the three of us start making our way down towards the shore.

"St. Louis, Missouri actually. It sucks that there's no beach there. I told Clary, she may have to teach me how to surf again when I come back."

"Clary taught you?" Alec and I ask, in unison.

He looks at us confused. "Yeah, why is there something wrong with that?"

"No." Alec says quickly.

"Not at all. It's just that if Clary taught you then you must be pretty good. Her and her brother are the best of our group." I say matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, they're the ones that taught Izzy and me to surf when we were kids." Alec sits down on the sand. "We've all grown up together since we were infants, but those two picked it up so much quicker then we did."

"When I moved here, they taught me. That whole summer between seventh and eighth grade, Clary made sure we were here everyday that wasn't raining." I say, then me and Todd sit in the sand next to Alec.

"Do you remember that summer, when..." Alec starts to laugh to hard before he can finish. He takes a deep breath, looks at Todd and lightly back hands his arm. "Me, Jace, Clary, Jon, and Izzy were all out here on our boards one day. Jon and Clary were teaching Jace to surf out further, Clary said 'I think it's time he tries a good wave' and Jon told her 'I think you're right.' Well, Jon took the first wave and disappeared, all of us but Clary started freaking out so she told us to stay put while she went and checked it out. We all told her not to but she did anyway. Well the next thing we know, Jace gets yanked off of his board and dragged under the water. Izzy and me start screaming, we can't see Clary or Jon anywhere and now Jace has gone under too. He comes up screaming 'shark, shark, a sharks got me' and about a foot or two behind him, Clary and Jon pop out of the water laughing their asses off and Jace called them bastards."

Todd is now on the ground, doubled over laughing so hard. "How, how did, how did they stay under the water so long?" He manages to ask through his laughter.

"When Jon disappeared he went and got an oxygen tank." I say like a child. "It turned out they had the whole thing set up."

"Ever since then, there's been an on-going joke between Clary and Jon about a bastard shark and killing it." Alec says laughing still.

"It wasn't funny then, was it Alec? You were screaming bloody murder." I say chuckling.

"That's to good!" Todd says and takes a deep breath. "Did ya'll ever pay them back?"

Alec and I looked at each other then back at Todd.

"No." Alec said simply.

"You don't prank those two, they are the prank masters and will pay you back ten times worse." I say with absolution.

"Well I think we should try to get them back for that since this is my last day." Todd says then he looks around as if he's expecting somebody to be listening to us. "I know Clary will be here for a fact, so we...I want to get her."

"I don't know about this." I say skeptically. He won't be here to face the wraith like we will.

"What do you have in mind?" Alec ask with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Come here." Todd motions us to huddle in closer. "Here's the plan..."

I listen intently, nodding when appropriate. This Todd guy is actually pretty damn cool and this plan of his...

It's gonna be good!


Clary

As we pull up to our normal parking spot, I see Todd's aunt's car, Alec's truck and beside it...Jace's truck. You've got to be kidding me. I think to myself.

I look at Izzy. "Why did you decide to drive?" I ask with a tinge of annoyance in my voice. I'm sure she knew and that's why she decided to drive so that I couldn't just leave when I seen him.

"I told you cause you drove yesterday." She says shrugging one shoulder.

"Okay, did you know Jace was going to be here?" I ask as we park next to his truck.

"Oh I forgot to tell you. Alec told me this morning that he invited him." She says and bites her bottom lip. I knew it!

"He better not start any fights." I say still looking at her.

"Alec basically swore that he wasn't going to start anything." She says as she turns around and leans into the backseat grabbing towels, her sunblock, and a bottle of Tonezr for me. I keep a bottle in her car and she keeps a bottle of sunblock in mine.

"Well then I guess if he does I'll just have to hold Alec accountable." I say grabbing a towel and the Tonezr from her.

"We'll, we'll hold him responsible, and I done told him that." She sits up. "The blankets are in the trunk along with the cooler."

I look out towards the beach finally and see Jace, Todd, and Alec all sitting in the sand together. "Izzy?"

"Hmm." She says digging for something between the seats now.

"Look!" I point to them and look back over at her. "Are they laughing?"

"It looks like it. That's good right?" She ask then looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

I shrug. "I don't know. Do you think they brainwashed him?" I ask. I turn to look back at the three guys and bite my bottom lip.

She laughs lightly, shaking her head. "Really Clary, you have issues. Now come on, let's get down there, we can send Alec up to get the stuff out of the trunk."

We get out, walk through the sand, and drop our stuff next to the guys that are laughing.

"Hi guys." I say awkwardly. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing!" The three say simultaneously, and Jace's eyes are on me so I turn my face to Izzy.

"Oookay. Alec can you get the cooler and stuff out of the trunk, please?" Izzy ask with her hands folded together, as if she's innocent.

"Sure." He says simply as he stands up, then starts to walk towards her car.

I nudge Izzy. "Come on let's go for a swim." Anything to get Jace's eyes off me, I can feel them practically burning holes in me.

"Okay!" She says to me. She turns to Todd and Jace. "Can you guys ask Alec to fix our blankets, please?" She ask with a pout and batting her lashes.

"No problem." Todd chimes in.

"Thanks." She says and we walk off to the water. On the way, I start thinking how it was odd that they quit laughing and talking when we came up next to them, and I wonder...

What are they up to?


Isabelle

When Clary and I get closer to the water, we take our cover-ups off; her black lace shorts and my black lace pants. I look at Clary who seems to be alright with the fact that Jace is here, now. I wrap my arm around hers and we walk out into the water together. We're about her knee deep and she stops abruptly. I let her go and open my mouth to say something just as she takes one more step forward and dives into the water, so I keep walking out.

She comes up about twelve feet away. "Come on slow-poke!" She yells.

"Ya know if you were gonna get your hair wet, you shouldn't have done your make-up!" I yell back.

"I'll survive!" She throws her arms up in the air. "I always do! It'll all be gone in no time anyway!"

"True!" I yell and shake my head. She doesn't do it often but when she does, it doesn't faze her one bit. She doesn't care how anybody thinks she looks, except herself. Then again come to think of it, she always looks good; even if it's just a t-shirt that's to big for her and jeans.

She disappears under the water again and I turn, looking up to the shore. Jace is picking up our stuff we just took off. He really is a good guy, when he isn't being a jackass. And I've always known that he cares about Clary, more than even himself. Maybe Alec is right about helping them. I mean they both still love each other, even a blind man could see that, but I don't know. I'm torn, I know how Clary is when she makes up her mind. I just wish I knew the reason for it. I'm just gonna have to-

I get splashed from behind. "Clary your an ass-weed."

"Who? Me? What did I do?" She asks innocently.

"Sweet and innocent is going to work with me, remember I know you." I say as I watch Jace grab Clary's blanket and lay it next to mine on the beach.

"Oh yeah?" She asks.

BAM! She's jumping up on my back, catching me completely off guard. "That's cheating Clare-Bear." I laugh.

"All's fair in love and war Baby-Cakes!" She says and kisses my cheek.

We both laugh and I fall backwards into the water and she screams on the way down.

When we come back up she's laughing, and still holding onto me. She takes her right foot and acts like she's spurring. "Yee-Haw! To the beach!"

I shake my head and chuckle at her. "You really have issues you know that?"

"Yeah, but you love me." She says matter-of-factly with her face beside mine.

"Right you are and anybody who says differently." I paused. "Well, may a thousand crabs infest their crotch and their arms be to short to reach."

We laugh again. I love being around her so much, we're always laughing, cutting up, and having fun. I walk out of the water with her legs wrapped around my waist, and Jace pops her ass with a towel. She hollars in my ear, jumps down and takes off after him. I wonder...

How bad is she gonna hurt him?


Alec

I watched Jace pop Clary with a towel. Now she's chasing him around the beach, just like children do.

"Are they always like this?" Todd asks.

I look over at him. "Not in a long while. This," I point towards them. "Is just like old times, back before they split up."

"What did they break-up for?" He ask curiously.

I look back over at them. "Nobody really knows. All any of us know is she broke up with him."

"I know a little more than that." Izzy says from behind me. She walks up and stands on my left.

I look down at her. "What's that?"

"She said it was partly because she failed him." She shrugs while watching them. "I don't know what that means, she wouldn't tell me and I didn't push cause I could tell it hurt her."

"That sounds like it could be anything if you ask me." Todd says coming to stand at my right.

"Yeah." I say simply.

I continue watching as Clary jumps on Jace's back and he falls in the sand face first. She's laughing. He rolls over on his back laughing, and she's sitting on his stomach now. He grabs her waist and sits up, sliding her off his stomach onto his lap, then he stands up. She yells at him to not to even think about it. Then he throws her over his shoulder and she screeches. They're both laughing, as he is carrying her our way while she slaps at his back. This is the happiest I've seen these two in so long, they're just so perfect together and I wonder...

How do I do this?


Clary

I was having fun with Jace but after he set me down I came back to reality. He deserves better, and he's going to be leaving in a day or so anyway. So to play it off, I said that I was going to tan.

I lay down, put my earbuds in and turn on my music, I hit shuffle on my IPod, then hide it under my towel so that the sun doesn't make it to hot.

As I lay here, I start thinking about the job in New York. Pro's - I'd get to see my mom and Luke more often, I'd have my own office, I'd get to design for big companies; Con's - I wouldn't be seeing Jonny, Izzy, and the gang hardly ever, I'd have to leave everything I've ever known, the house would be empty for two weeks at a time. I would have my car with me either way, and I could always call everybody here if I do decide to go. Oh I just don't know.

I start to give into the darkness that has creeped it's way up on me as I listen to 'J. Cole - Love Yourz' and images of Jace start popping up behind my eyelids. His beautiful golden eyes, his smile, his body, any and all things Jace, and they won't stop. And again, I find myself saying...

DAMN HIM!


Jace

After I finally put Clary down, her and Izzy went and laid down to tan. Alec, Todd, and I went surfing for a while, well when we could catch a wave, before Jon showed up and joined us. Then we played a good game of volleyball for about a hour or so. Now it's past noon, we're all ready to go and I think Clary may be asleep. But I know how to wake her up. I stand over her and...

She shoots up like a lighting bolt screaming, her earbuds pulling out of her ears. "Jace!"

I laugh. "What?" I say innocently.

"Don't play innocent, you just dumped ice water on me." She says and slaps at me with both hands.

"Well everybody is ready to go and you were asleep." I say as I dodge her slaps, laughing.

"You could've woke me up like a normal person." She says incredulously, now reaching down for her towel and drying off.

"I'm sorry." I say sweetly.

She looks at me, her eyes narrowed. "No your not." She says and I can see she's trying not to smile.

"Okay, so maybe I'm not a hundred percent sorry." I say with a smirk.

She chuckles. "That's what I thought."

She turns her back to me as she grabs her 'sexy shorts' and starts to put them on. I watch as she steps in them and slides them up her legs to her hips. I catch the tattoo I seen in the club, it's a cross with wings. My eyes move further up her bare back and just as I get to the middle of her ribs I can see the scar from that horrible night, when I thought I was going to lose her forever, and all cause I hit ol' dude for grabbing her ass. This is the first time I've ever seen it and it hurts knowing that I was the cause of it. I reach out and run my fingers across it, she jumps and spins to face me.

"What are you doing?" She asks with a edge to her voice.

"I'm sorry." I say honestly. "I just haven't seen it before and I...I'm sorry. If I hadn't.." I gulp and lower my gaze. She's got another tattoo that I don't recognize, this one is just below her top and it wraps around her left side. I can make out 'For Them I Will..' before the rest wraps out of sight.

"Hey I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told Izzy, Alec and everybody else. I'm the only one to blame for what happened to me. I jumped in knowing the risk." She says confidently.

I bring my gaze back up and meet her eyes. "You never cease to amaze me." I say in wonder. It was all I could think of saying. I really hope I didn't just upset her.

She smiles a small at me, turns back to her stuff, and begins folding her blanket.

I walk in front of her and help fold up the blanket, with a small smile on my face. As I think to myself...

I sure do love and miss her!


I hope you all have enjoyed yet another chapter! And thank you all for taking the time to read this story!

I'm starting to think this story may not go on as long as a lot of others do on here. I suppose it will be fine as long as I get everything out there. I just don't want to rush it along. Which is WHY I focus so much on each subject! I can't just go 'he's back here they're together again' or 'he's back but they'll never be together again,' it just doesn't work that way. Not in stories or in real life.

I also want to thank everyone for their kind reviews! It's been a long, long time since I've wrote and you all have been great about it! MUAH!