A/N: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE BOTTOM.
Songs for this chapter are Wake Me Up by Avicii and What Do You Want From Me by Adam Lambert.
The first thing Clary was aware of when she woke was a delicious warmth. She blinked and yawned, burrowing closer to the source of the heat- until she realized that she was on Simon's futon, and Jace was lying next to her, taking up way more than his fair share of their makeshift bed. Someone had draped a blanket over the two of them, and Jace was still fast asleep.
She swore under her breath and propped herself up on one elbow, wondering what the hell she'd done and then flushing slightly as she remembered the events of last night.
Her yelling. Jace apologizing, and holding her while she cried, and telling her about his dad. They hadn't done anything else, but what they had seemed to her strangely intimate. Not to mention that she'd spent the whole night in his arms...
She sat up and looked out at the rest of the room, suppressing a giggle as she noticed Simon, passed out on the floor with a blanket and what was probably about a gallon of drool. She couldn't remember him coming back in, so he must've arrived after they'd fallen asleep. In the silver-grey dawn light filtering in through the dirty basement windows, she could just make out his glasses, still on his face, dangling from one ear. She snorted, and Jace stirred restlessly beside her, muttering something about his father.
She turned and sat cross legged on the futon, watching the light dance across his face, illuminating his golden hair. Jace looked younger when he slept, not as arrogant or as scarred. She could almost imagine him as the little boy he was when his father died.
"Can't get enough of my stunning good looks?" he said sleepily, barely opening one eye. Clary blushed and turned away, hugging her knees and wishing he wasn't so damn attractive for once.
"Actually," she replied confidently, " I was contemplating your disgusting hideousness. Also, did you know you snore?"
"Aw, come on," he said indifferently, stretching both arms out behind his head. "You know that's not true."
"The snoring or the hideousness?" she said with raised eyebrows.
"Both," he said, shoving her gently, and she permitted herself to remember the warmth of his skin under her fingertips, the fierce protective embrace, for a moment.
"Jace," she whispered, locking her green eyes with his golden ones. They both stared at each other and he moved his hand, ever so slowly, until it covered hers, gently running his thumb over her knuckles. She could feel the heat between them growing with each passing moment until Simon finally broke the silence.
"Good Lord. Only seven in the morning and you're already trying to kill each other. Can't a guy have some peace?"
Jace held up a finger for Simon to see, not breaking eye contact with Clary or releasing her hand. Simon groaned and shoved his glasses back onto his face, getting to his feet.
If they had been alone Jace would have kissed her; Clary was sure of it. But all she said to him was "get out of my bed, Herondale."
And with that she kneed him in the chest, hard enough for such a small person that he rolled off the futon in surprise, wincing as he smacked the floor.
"Shit," he moaned, and Clary couldn't stop the evil grin that spread across her face. Simon laughed and Clary innocently combed through her hair with her fingers. Jace rolled over and grabbed the sides of the futon, ready to deliver retribution, but stopped short when he noticed the stain on the basement floor that Clary was reasonably sure hadn't been there the night before.
"Simon, is that blood?" Jace asked his friend, crossing his arms and staring incredulously at the offending dark red smudge. "Anything you need to tell me?"
"It's pizza sauce," Simon said hastily, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose. "I dropped a pizza last night. Anything you want to talk to me about?" he inquired, looking from Jace to Clary and back again. "Because I was pretty sure Clary said something to me about not letting you screw her on my couch."
"It's not like-" Clary began, and then caught Jace's eye. He raised an eyebrow at her, but instead of responding, she turned away, facing the wall.
She still wasn't quite ready for that, no matter what had passed between them the night before. Even though she could recall the taste of Jace's lips and the warmth of his hands as easily as if it were two minutes ago, she could also still remember Jonathan's knife and force and fury. And no matter how often she was told she was safe here, she still couldn't quite believe it.
She wanted Jace more than she wanted almost anything else in the world, but she was scared to death of being with him. He could hurt her worse than Jonathan did because this time, she actually wanted to be with him.
Clary was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Simon sneaking up behind her until it was too late. He shoved her off the futon and she fell to the ground with a shriek- right into Jace's arms. They lay like that for a moment, Clary on top and breathing heavily, her eyes wide.
Jace opened his mouth, probably in preparation to deliver another sarcastic retort, but what came out was different than what Clary had been expecting.
"I'll always be here if you need me," he said simply.
Okay. We have a problem. I posted two chapters yesterday and only got three reviews. I'm sorry if this makes me sound like a whiney two year old, but this does not make me happy. Reviews are a lot of what motivates me to write, especially on my really, really bad days, and if I don't get them, I don't write. It's that simple. I try to review every story that I read, even if it's just something like 'really good'. So please, have a heart and post a review. I'm not trying to be mean here, I just want to say that your reviews mean quite a lot to me, and it would be nice if y'all would review.
This ends my rant. Sorry if I sounded like a bit of a bitch. Thank you for your consideration.
