CHAPTER 9

"Oh Shit." Clary thought. "Jon, I can explain!" she yelled.

"Explain what? Who did this to you Clary? Was it Sebastian? If it was I swear I will kill him!" Jon was crying and making his way over to look closer at Clary.

"Of course it wasn't Sebastian! He isn't a monster Jon!" Clary was confused. What had Sebastian done to make Jon think he was capable of this?

"Then who was it?" Jon was pleading now, begging for her to answer him.

Clary looked up at Jace whose eyes had been on her the entire time. He nodded as if encouraging her to tell him, but she just stared at him. How could she tell Jon he would blame himself!

Jon saw Clary's gaze move to Jace. "It was Jace?" Jon was already walking over to Jace forming a fist.

"NO!" Clary screamed. "Jon, I never told anybody about these scars, but I have had them for a long time. I cover them with makeup so that nobody will see. I never told you because I didn't want you to worry and I didn't want you blame yourself." Clary was crying.

"I will always worry about you anyways Clary! What made you think that I would blame myself?" Jon was a little confused.

Clary took a deep breath and looked at Jace. She opened her mouth to speak, but she could only manage to produce sobs. Jace walked over and whispered in her ear. "Do you want me to tell him?"

Clary looked at Jon who was still crying, but was also glaring at Jace now. Clary shook her head. Jon had always been brave for her and now she needed to be brave for him. "It was Dad." was all she said.

Jon gaped at her. "What? When did he do this? What happened?" His tears came faster.

Clary sighed. "It was about a year after he first started hitting me. I guess he got bored with his fists because he tied me to the door and started throwing knives at me." Clary stopped when she heard Jon sob out loud. She rushed to finish her story. "Jon, please stop crying. There was nothing you could do! You didn't even know it was going on! In fact, you did save me. Without you, I probably would've turned one of those knives on myself. I always known that I have to try and be strong for you. I owe you my life Jon."

Jon pulled her into a hug and she felt his tears fall on her shirt as hers did the same. He pulled away to speak. "I could have done more if I wasn't so blind. I'm so sorry Clary. Don't ever hurt yourself and don't ever think about being strong for me. I owe you everything and the only thing I ask for in return is that you let me help you when I can." Clary nodded and hugged him again.

Jace cleared his throat. Clary and Jon both looked up at him. Clary let go of Jon and moved over to Jace, engulfing him in a hug. "Thank you Jace, for everything. I need you to keep quiet about this. Can you do that?"

Jace nodded and hugged her back. "Anything for you" he said.

Jon cleared his throat now, breaking Clary and Jace apart. "Did I miss something? You guys hated each other yesterday!" he asked. Clary could tell he was frustrated and confused.

"Jon," Clary began, "I wasn't talking about you today in the closet. Jace and I were talking and the whole story kind of slipped out to him. He pulled me into the closet and asked to see them because he wanted to know that I was okay. That's why there is no makeup on and that's why I was crying and he was hugging me. You two are the only people who know. I want to keep it that way."

Jon looked up at Jace. "Thank you Jace, for respecting her and protecting her." Jace just nodded to show his understanding.

Jon drove everyone back to their house. He also carried all of Clary's school stuff, which had to be retrieved from the closet, inside for her. She grabbed her purse from him and could feel her phone buzzing inside of it. Looking at it, she saw that she had over fifty messages from Sebastian. They all had apologies and hearts. She sent him a quick text saying that she was alright and would talk to him tomorrow.

Even though it was early, Clary went to her room and waited for sleep to take her into tomorrow.

Gentle hands shook Clary's shoulders, waking her up for school. Clary saw her brother standing over her. "Time to get up Clare-Bare" he said before exiting.

Clary got dressed in jeans and a nice shirt before doing her hair and makeup and going downstairs to meet Jon. They didn't pick anybody up on their way to school.

Clary thanked Jon for the ride and rushed to her locker. As usual, arms wrapped around her waist. However, now she found herself feeling lost rather than relaxed. She turned around and Sebastian was staring at her, looking concerned.

"I'm so sorry babe. I love you so much. Please forgive me! I'll do anything babe, please!" He kept rambling on and Clary just wanted him to stop talking. Taking action on her first thought, Clary pulled him down towards her and gave him a gentle kiss.

"I'm alright, I promise. It's okay Sebastian." She tried her best to assure him.

He smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. He broke away to speak to her. "I'll make it up to you. Our date on Friday will be the best date you have ever been on."

She couldn't help smiling. Suddenly Isabelle was next to her shrieking. "Oh! You guys are too cute! I'm taking you shopping Clary! It'll be just us this time!"

Clary groaned and said goodbye to Sebastian.

The day flew by and Clary wanted to home, but she couldn't. She had to go shopping with Izzy for her date with Sebastian. She walked to Isabelle's car, where she was already waiting. Clary and Isabelle had a great ride to the mall. She missed having a girl friend around. "If only I weren't going shopping" she thought.