Chapter 8: Jace the Gentleman

Hey guys, I'm back. There is a bit of Clace in this one (finally), so I hope you all enjoy that :)


Clary POV

I wake up to the sun shining in my eyes. I peek one eye open, and slowly look around the room I am in. I notice a glass of water, 2 Advil tablets and a note that simply says 'drink up :)' on the bedside table next to me. I quickly down the two pills before actually sitting up and looking around the room. Everything is pristinely white, and insanely neat. It looks like some sort of a display room. I slowly get out of bed and head into the room I hope is the bathroom.

I stop short when I see my reflection in the mirror. My hair is everywhere, and my makeup is smudged across my face. I'm still in the same dress from last night, which is now extremely wrinkled. As I move to try and tame my hair, I see a series of bruises down my arm, which look like I had been grabbed firmly.

I clean my makeup off as best as I can and notice the massive bruise on the side of my head, and a slight black eye forming under my let eye. Souvenirs from my stupidity yesterday, I suppose. I start looking at the bruises on my arms again, trying to figure out if they are from yesterday as well, but I can't remember getting them - I hadn't noticed them until now. Everything after about 6.30 last night is a blur. I remember calling Sebastian, and opening a bottle of Vodka, but not much after that. Am I in Sebastian's house now? Did we….? I don't think we did, but you can never be sure. I peak back out to the bed and can tell that I'm the only one that slept in it last night, but i figure it's still better that I leave now, before Sebastian figures out that I'm awake.

I go back into the bedroom and see that my shoes are neatly placed at the end of the bed. I pick them up and get my bag off the nightstand. I get out my concealer and quickly cover the bruises as best as I can before leaving. I go to call Magnus or Diego to pick me up - I can deal with the consequences later - but my phone isn't in my bag.

I silently curse, before creeping out of the bedroom in pursuit of my phone, praying that its somewhere in the house. Everything is still a little dizzy, so I lean on the walls for support as I walk down the hall, but other than that, I seem fine. I put the dizziness down to a lack of food more than anything else.

I find the kitchen and see that my phone is on charge. I momentarily question my opinion on Sebastian if he thought of something as caring as putting my phone on charge, but after looking at the time and realising that I have to be at work in an hour, decide to leave anyway. I walk past the couch to get to the door but hear someone move on it. I freeze, and slowly look over to the couch, and am surprised to see blond, not Sebastian's dark brown. I move a little bit closed to see none other than Jace Herondale sleeping on the couch.

I notice how cute his hair looks when it isn't all done up, and that he barely fits on the couch - his feet are hanging of the end, and he is bent in a near angle.

For some reason, the idea of being in Jace's house calms me. I know I am safe here, welcome. As much as I hate to admit it, over the past month Jace has become a much better person. I tried to ignore him, because I didn't want to give him any ideas - I would be leaving soon, but that didn't stop me from noticing all the little changes about him. Maybe if I was in a different situation...

Knowing now that I am in Jace's house, and not Sebastian's, I put my bag and shoes down gently at the end of the couch and head into the kitchen to make us coffee and breakfast. Somehow, during the night I had ended up with Jace, and even if I couldn't remember it, I know it had to be for a good reason. All the little things he did - the phone, the pills, the shoes, plus the fact that he slept on the couch really clarified something for me. Jace Herondale is a perfect gentleman.

I get along making breakfast and everything seems to be in the perfect place - it is like I've been here a million times before, like I make breakfast here every single morning. I smile at the thought that this feels like home. I bring the toast and coffee into the living room where Jace is sleeping and place his food in front of him. I grab the cup of coffee I made myself and start flicking through my phone. I have a bunch of missed calls from Magnus, and a bunch of texts from all the guys asking where I was. I totally forgot about the acoustic session we were supposed to be doing yesterday! I walk about to the balcony and shut the door behind me, making sure not to wake Jace before calling Magnus. He picks up before the first ring can finish.

(Normal = Clary, Bold = Magnus)

Clary! Where were you yesterday? I was worried sick, you always show up. No calls, no text. No one could contact you. For all we know you could have been kidnapped, or dead in some gutter!

I know. I'm sorry Magnus, I just had a hectic afternoon yesterday, and it slipped my mind. I guess I didn't hear my phone ring. When are we able to make up the recording? I can do it any time that works best.

We've already arranged to do it this afternoon. And I will be staying with you all day to make sure you don't go running off again. You better be at work on time today Clary! No excuses!

Of course, I really am sorry Magnus.

I know you are biscuit. I'll see you when you get to work today, okay? No being late, or else I may have to put you on probation - you know how much Kit hated it.

I won't be late, I promise! I'll see you at 7.30.

When I walk back inside, I see Jace sitting up on the couch drinking the coffee I made. I notice a piece of toast has been eaten as well.

"Everything okay?" Jace asks softly, moving over so there is more room on the couch.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" I ask, and after he shakes his head, I sit down beside him, picking up a piece of toast. "It was just some work stuff. Forgot I was meant to go to something yesterday."

Jace puts some of his blanket over me, and our legs touch, instantly warming me up more than the blanket ever could. I look over at him, but quickly look away when I saw his golden eyes are already trained on me.

"You know," he says, "I really should be the one making you coffee and breakfast after the day you had yesterday. I thought you would be mega hungover today."

"I've learnt some tricks over the past few years. Can't afford to be hung over on the road. And besides, it was the least I could do. I did sleep in your bed last night."

"How are you, after… everything yesterday?" Jace asks, in a soft tone.

"Oh, not too bad, I have a nasty bruise on my temple, and a bit of a black eye but all round pretty good. Thanks for yesterday by the way. Real lifesaver." I say, trying to brush off the pounding I felt in my head – probably just from last night. Apparently, I drank a lot.

"So, you don't remember last night?" He asks, turning to face me front on.

"I remember… coming home, inviting Sebastian over, and drinking a shit-ton of vodka. Don't really remember anything after that."

Jace looks at me as if he is deciding whether to tell me something or not.

"How did I end up here anyway?" I ask, picking up another piece of toast.

"We just bumped into each other last night. You looked pretty out of it, so I thought it would be best if I brought you back here. Are you sure you're alright?" he asks, eyeing the bruises on my arm.

I covered them up with the blanket before answering, "Yep. All good. Anyway, we're due at work soon, and I really can't afford to be late after I bailed on Magnus last night."

"Did you need anything to get ready? Did you want to have a shower or something?" Jace asks, bringing the plate and mugs into the kitchen.

"Umm, no I'm good I can shower and stuff when we get to set. What I'd really like is some clean clothes. Do you have anything I could borrow?" I ask, entwining my fingers. Jace has done enough for me the past 24 hours, I don't want to ask him for any more favours, but I did really want to get out of this dress.

"Yeah, sure." Jace begins walking to his bedroom, and I follow after him. After rummaging in his draws for a short while, he pulled out some clothes. "Okay, the pants are a pair that Izzy left here one time – don't ask, but I don't have any of her shirts – so you're going to have to use one of mine."

I grab the clothes he offered to me with a small thanks and head into the bathroom to get changed. I looked at myself in the mirror and see how ridiculous I looked. Izzy's pants were far too long, so I had to roll them up about seven times at the bottom to make sure I didn't trip over them. Judging by the size of Jace's shirt, however, I'm not sure I actually need the jeans; it looks like a dress on me. I tie it up in a knot at my lower back, and just hope I don't look like a total weirdo. As I leave the bathroom, I noticed how pleasant Jace's t-shirt smells - like fresh soap and sunlight. I suppose I either haven't been close enough, or didn't notice the smell before, but for some reason it comforts me, calms me. Jace is sitting on his bed, apparently waiting for me to finish. When he sees me, his face lights up with a playful smile, which he tires, and fails, to hide. I have never seen Jace like this before – but I like what I saw.

"You look very… cute" Jace says, standing up. He stands next to the door. "After you," Jace says, and we head out onto the street to head into work.

We chat in the car for a little while, but my phone keeps buzzing and when I see how many unanswered emails and texts I have, I have to start sorting through them. Jace leaves me in silence for 15 minutes, until I have gotten through the bulk of the messages. When he sees that I have put down my phone, he starts the conversation again.

"So, you go on tour again soon?" Jace asks.

"Yeah in about three or four weeks" I say, looking out the window. I really don't want to talk about the tour.

"I'm sure that will be fun," Jace says, glancing at me quickly before looking back at the road.

"Mmhmm, tours are always… great." It almost pains me to say it. Jace looked over at me with a raised eyebrow., clearly hearing the lie.

"Magnus was telling me the other day how much work you do before going on tour. Can't be easy doing that and a movie." I look over at Jace. Usually when people make that comment it is followed by 'but I'm sure it's worth it', or 'but you asked for this lifestyle'. But Jace doesn't say anything further. I can't help the small smile that appears on my lips, and when Jace notices, a similar, toothy smile appears on his face.

"The movie's been a lot fun." I say, looking at him, "in fact, I think it's just started to get better."

Jace looked over at me, the smile growing on his face.

"Eyes on the road, Herondale" I say, nudging his shoulder playfully. We drive into work in comfortable silence the rest of the way, but I can't help but notice the smile on Jace's lips never falters.

Once we get into work, I am practically dragged away by Magnus, who pulls me towards hair and makeup. It turns out he was serious about sticking by me all day. I turn to try and thank Jace for the ride into work, and everything else, but I see that he is glaring daggers at someone across the set. Just as I am pulled into makeup, I see that Jace is staring straight at Sebastian, who has a noticeable black eye.

I didn't have time to question anyone about what had happened, because Magnus is already talking to me about scheduling.


Thanks for reading, hope you all had fun. Please review with any comments, questions or suggestions - every little bit helps. Until next week :)