a/n SO sorry! i just keep getting grounded! geez!

Chapter 9- Two Can Play at That Game

I practically fell out of the closet, still light headed from Jace who I found seated at the kitchen table rambling on about some party he had gone to with a few Down Worlders. Was he really that unfazed. He just kidnapped me and shoved me into a closet where he semi-seduced me and this is how he comes out? I marched into the kitchen, determined to act nonchalant-just as he was. I fumbled around in the cabinets trying to fish out a bowl worthy enough to put some cereal in. I slammed the bowl down. I had meant to but I didn't think it would have been as heavy as it was.

"Oh, hey Clary." Jace greeted. I looked at him in question. "I was just telling Alec about this crazy party I went to a few weeks ago. You really should have been there." He finished. When I had first entered the room I had been so focused on Jace that I hadn't noticed Alec. He was sitting there in front of Jace, his bright blue eyes glued to Jace. I looked at him in confusion.

"Are you bipolar?" I asked him seriously.

"No, but I do have multiple personalities. You should have a chat with them sometime." Jace told me matter of fact. A wry smile was plating at the edges of his lips. I rolled my eyes at him, turning around to open the pantry and pull out some cereal. I had begun to pour some into the bowl when my arm started to throb very painfully. I dropped the cereal box and grabbed my arm, cursing under my breath. I heard footsteps behind me, but the pain was so intense I couldn't focus on who it was.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped, leaving me in a flustered state of mind. I could tell it was Jace by the way he smelled... I unfroze and began to scoop up the spilled cereal in my hands. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to-" I started. Before I could get the sentence out of my mouth, he had knelt down beside me and gathered the cereal up in the bowl. He crossed the large kitchen in a few long strides and dumped it.

"It's no big deal." He said shrugging his shoulders casually as I stood back up. But his eyes showed something different, calculative. He stood there momentarily, his eyes slowly trailing along my body. First my face, then my torso, and on down to my legs. His eyes scanned up again, this time making his way towards my arms which I strategically crossed behind my back. His eyes stopped scanning abruptly and I saw the moment when it registered. There was something I didn't want him to see, and he was determined to find out what it was.

I shifted on my feet impatiently. "Are you done with your analyzations yet, Doctor?" I asked sarcastically. Alec tensed up at my remark. I had forgotten he had dibs on Jace...

He smirked. "For now," He allowed.

He was about to add something to that when Mrs. Penhallow marched through the door, towing a frazzled looking middle aged man behind her. "If I had wanted my house to become a circus I would have decorated it like one!" She continued angrily as she stormed past the kitchen and up the stairs to her suite, pointing out how the theme of the house was North Eastern and had classy expensive Asian antiques from the Beijing Institute, not tents and clown horns. She stormed up the stairs as the poor man followed behind her, slamming the door shut as her tyrant continued. The door finally shimmered a light shade of blue and we could no longer hear her angered words as they poured out of her mouth.

"Well, then." Jace commented with a chuckle. "Isn't she just peachy today?" He asked, a smile flirting on his lips. I tried not to notice how his eyes never left mine in order to maintain what sanity I still had. I knew I needed to evacuate the kitchen for a while so the interrogations would die down, but where would I go? I hardly knew my way around Alicante but I needed to get OUT of the house.

Suddenly, I spun around and headed for the door. Low and behold, Jace was there waiting for me. Did he get faster? "And where do you think you're going?" He asked leaning against the door frame, much as he had done in the closet only moments earlier. I rolled my eyes at him. Two could play at that game.

"Out." I told him.

"Out where?" He asked me. "You don't have a clue about anything that surrounds this house!" He accused. Yeah, I'd figured that out, but thanks!

"I need to think, Jace..." I stated, pleading with him to let me go. He opened his mouth about to argue but I cut him off. "I just want to be alone right now. I need space!" I added. At first I thought he would give in, but since when had Jace done that?

"You're not going anywhere, Clary." He told me flatly.

"And why is that?" I demanded. Who was he to tell me where I could and couldn't go?

"Because I'm your-" He began bitterly.

"Jace, I know you are not trying to pull that crap on me!" I yelled angrily. "You know that-"

"Children, children! What is with all of the yelling?" Mrs. Penhallow demanded calmly walking back down the stairs.

I could have sworn I heard mutter something under his breath that sounded a lot like "Yeah, you're one to talk..." I giggled, earning the wrath of Mrs. Penhallow.

"Is something funny?" She asked faux sincere.

"Um, no. I was just-" Cut off by her again...

"Enough chit chat, dahling!" She said, waving her fingers in the air. "Aline!" She cried, her shoulders setting in approval as a girl about my age walked down the stairs.

"Yes?" She asked, walking up to stand nest to her... mother? I had never seen her before, but they looked similar... At least I thought so. I was about to offer a smile when her eyes began to take the rest of us in, but it quickly turned into a grimace as her eyes stayed on Jace. I could feel the tension rolling off of him in thick tendrils. I scoffed under my breath and stepped away, placing myself down at the table in front of Alec, who I gave my smile to instead.

I could tell this would be a long stay.

ooo! is someone a bit jealous? no? yeah, i didn't think so either =P