Next chapter, guys! I know that we've got some controversies over Jace, who definitely is a bit...Well, he's a bit confused and definitely on the offense right now. But we'll work him around ;)
She was avoiding him.
She was definitely avoiding him.
It was now almost the end of Clary's second week back home, and Jace had only seen her twice more since he had come back from Alec and Magnus' on Sunday evening. Sebastian wasn't saying anything, acting as though it was normal for Clary not to be home. Jace could understand that he just didn't want to get stuck between them. He had thought about asking again, but it really wasn't any of his business, and Sebastian had looked so torn the first time Jace had brought it up. If Clary had a problem with him, then that was on her. She could be a big girl and talk to him about it, or she could wait until he found somewhere else to move out. Hopefully that wouldn't be too far away, it was amazing how much money he was able to save without having to pay rent for a dingy apartment in the middle of New York.
Friday morning, Jace was running late for work. He had overslept, which was unusual, but he had been at Isabelle and Simon's last night and hadn't gotten home until after one. It was amazing being so close to his cousins, just being able to go to their house after work, and Max was starting to recognize him, which was awesome. Usually Sebastian would wake him up if he slept through his alarm, but there was a text message on his phone to say that Sebastian had heard him come in late last night and that he thought he could do with a sleep in. Jace cringed and didn't even think twice about throwing open his door and quickly crossing to the bathroom and throwing that door open as well. He had been so used to only accommodating for Sebastian in the morning, and since he wasn't there, Jace didn't even consider that someone might be in the bathroom.
"Shit!" Came a squeal and Jace stopped short as he realized that Clary had been drying herself after a shower. He was frozen in his spot as she quickly wrapped the towel around her body, getting a glimpse of her pert tits and flat stomach. Her cheeks were dewy from the shower and her red hair was sticking to her face.
"Fuck," Jace shook his head and looked away, but for some reason he couldn't move his feet. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, it's alright," she said, not sounding too upset. "Just, uh, you getting ready for work?"
"Yup," Jace was still looking away from her.
"Did you...Want to move out of the way so that I can leave you here to do your thing?" Clary continued, and Jace couldn't help but look back at her, and she had a small smile on her face, looking as though she was trying to stop herself from laughing. Jace nodded soundlessly, taking a few steps backwards so that he was out of the bathroom, and Clary walked out behind him. She didn't give him another look as she turned and carried on to her bedroom, and Jace tried to ignore the way the towel was hitched up tight around her ass, so that he could see the outline of it through the material.
Jace shook his head, grabbing a towel out of the cupboard and then closing himself in the shower. The tiles and shower walls were still wet from when Clary had been in, and he sighed as he stepped into the stream of water. There was no denying that the redhead was attractive, and if he was pathetically head over heels for her boyfriend then he would be more than happy to admit that he would give her a second glance when she came into the room.
He was an hour late for work, but Jon just shrugged, not looking bothered by him showing up later than he should. Jace had always been on time, pretty much the opposite of Jem who traipsed in late almost everyday, apparently because he had fallen asleep while talking with his girlfriend. But the kid was a good worker, and that seemed to be all Jon expected from all of them. Halfway through the day, Sebastian and Alec left in Alec's car, and then when they came back, Alec was alone in his car, and Sebastian was driving Clary's.
Even though Jon hadn't told him to stay later, Jace did anyway. It didn't really feel like he was doing anything extra because Sebastian was staying in later as well, working on Clary's car afterwards. It was nearly six thirty when Jace was washing his hands and getting ready to leave when Sebastian swore under his breath and checked his phone.
"Shit," he scratched his fingers over his scalp and then looked over at Jace. "Uh," he licked his lips, as though he was nervous about what he was going to ask. "Are you planning on going home?"
"I was—is something wrong?" Jace asked as he dried off his hands.
"I was wondering if you could go and get Clary from her work? I thought I would be finished with her car sooner, but I got started on it later than I had planned," Sebastian winced. Jace looked over at the Porsche that Sebastian had been underneath even after their clocking out time had passed, and realized that he had only actually been working on Clary's car for the past half hour or so.
"Uh," Jace wanted to say no. He didn't want to go and pick Clary up because that would mean on his bike, and then she would have to ride behind him, and given the girl didn't even seem to want to be in the same house as him, she probably wouldn't want to get on his bike. But even so, she was doing him a favor with letting him stay in their house rent free. "Yeah. Sure. Where do I go?"
Jace still didn't properly know his way around Los Angeles and he had to pull over twice to look at the GPS on his phone as he was trying to find Clary's work. It was just after seven when he finally found the building, which looked as though it was all closed up. Sebastian had given Jace her phone number and told him to go around the back of building in a car park and send her a message, and she would come out and meet him. It was early evening, and the sun was beginning to set, but it wasn't completely dark yet. He stared down at his phone for a couple of seconds before deciding to send off a quick message.
In the car park.
Sebastian told Jace that he would call Clary and tell her that Jace would be picking her up instead, so she would be expecting him. Sebastian also said that she would be ready pretty much as soon as he got there, since she was just doing some over time work and pretty much everyone else would be gone from the office.
The car park around the back of the building was probably quite a nice place throughout the day—it had a hip height concrete wall around the outskirt of the car park, and then was a groomed hedge that went a metre or so above it. There was an alleyway to one side, that came through one of the gaps in the concrete wall, and then there was the driveway that he had come down, which was quite narrow, between two tall buildings. But it wasn't day time now, it was getting darker, and given how the parking lot was hidden between two buildings and the shadows from the hedges were stretching on, it actually looked like it could be quite dangerous once the sun had fully set.
I'll be right out, came Clary's response a minutes later and he nodded, tucking his phone back into his pocket. He turned the engine of the bike off, holding onto the spare helmet that Sebastian had handed him before he left. There were a couple of people—they looked like men—in the side alley, kicking at some of the rubbish and swearing as they spoke. They had on hoodies, pulled up over their heads, and Jace rolled his eyes as he looked away. They looked like the kind of kids who were just going to cause trouble.
Jace pushed his feet against the ground, turning his bike around so that he was closer to the driveway, wondering how far away Clary was, and if he should ride his bike around to the front of the building. He decided against it, staying where he was, since he didn't know which door she was coming out of. He was about to text her again when he heard a shout from the alley, and he frowned as he glanced in the direction. He could only see one of the guys now, and he looked like he was shouting at one of his friends. Jace ignored it, but then there was another shout, and then another, this time from a female.
There was something familiar about the voice of the female, and when he heard it again, this time sounding more anxious even though he couldn't fully make out the words, he kicked out the stand of his bike and started running toward the alley.
"Fuck off!" Came a growl, and then there was a noise that sounded like skin slapping against skin. Jace rounded the corner just to see one of the three men recoil back, holding his face, and petite Clary, holding onto her bag with one hand, her other one outstretched. He surmised that she must have slapped one of the men.
"You little bitch," another one hissed out and lunged at her. He caught her shoulder, jerking her backwards, and Clary nearly fell over.
"Hey!" Jace shouted as he advanced on them, picking up the pace even more.
"Fuck off," one of the guys grumbled at him while the other who had grabbed Clary's shoulder, was trying to get the bag off her. Clary was still struggling with him, barely paying any attention to Jace, but the two other men turned to face Jace. Jace had been in enough fights in his years of living in the bad part of New York to know that these two probably wouldn't be too much of a challenge. They were younger than him, and not particularly solidly built. They had gone after Clary because they out numbered her, were probably just after her bag, not to actually hurt her, but she had then lashed out at them, refusing to give up her bag.
"Oi, leave her alone," Jace began, preferring not to get into a fist fight. The two facing him just snorted, exchanging looks before one of them stepped forward. He punched, aiming at Jace's chest, which Jace easily dodged, jerking up his elbow and jabbing it in the guys nose. The man let out a grunt and blood gushed from his nose. Jace didn't wait for him to recover before kicking out with his foot, at his knee, making his legs buckle and stumble backwards. The other guy was a big taller and seemed a bit smarter about his movements, keeping at arms length until Jace got distracted by Clary, who was still struggling to get her bag back. He then punched with both hands, and this time Jace got clipped on the side of the face.
It still didn't take long for him to get the upper hand, but not before he got caught in the mouth and on his cheek again. The three men scrammed, leaving Clary huddled against the wall, and Jace glaring after them, breathing heavily and holding one of his hands to his face. Clary seemed to regain her composure first, hurrying over to where Jace was and reaching out and resting both her hands softly on both sides of his face as though she hadn't been actively avoiding him since they had been introduced.
"Shit," she murmured, green eyes worried. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Jace assured her with a roll of his eyes. "I've dealt with a lot worse than those punks." Clary pursed her lips together and nodded.
"There's security cameras in this alley and the car park," she said. "I'll call my boss first thing tomorrow and have them send them onto the cops." She licked her lower lip nervously, and despite how much his cheek was throbbing and his lip was stinging, he couldn't help but follow the motion. "Let's get you home," she said, straightening up and looping one arm through Jace's—for her comfort, or his own, she wasn't sure—and nodded back in the direction that he had come. The pair of them walked back to his bike, Clary still holding on tight to his arm as they walked back. "You alright to drive? I can always do it." Jace didn't doubt for a second that she could handle his bike, given she had probably driven Sebastian's multiple times, but he shook his head.
"It's just a couple of bumps," Jace assured her, feeling a little awkward at her concerned attentions. "I'll be fine." Jace had dropped the helmets on the ground when he had run to the alley, and he picked them up, practically shoving one into her hands and then pulling the other over his head. The pressure of the helmet against his cheek stung a bit, but he ignored it as he got on the bike and waited for Clary to get on. She hitched up her skirt so that it was practically a belt and shoved her bag between them, tucking it between her stomach and his back as she put her hands on his waist. She got a proper grip and Jace turned on the engine, kicking off the ground and speeding out of the car park.
It took less time to get home than it did for Jace to get there, and after shifting impatiently from foot to foot while Clary unlocked the front door, he went quickly to the bathroom.
"Shit," he muttered under his breath as he looked at his reflection. The cut on his cheek wasn't too deep, although it was still bleeding, and a little smudged, so he was probably going to have to clean the inside of his motorbike helmet. The split on his lip was deeper, and he tentatively touched the inside of his gum with his tongue, instantly regretting the pressure.
"Don't do that," Clary piped up from the doorway, and Jace jerked in surprise, not realizing that she had been standing there. "Move," she told him, coming into the bathroom, and opening up the cupboards under the sink, kneeling down and pulling out a couple of things. "Sit," she pointed to the vanity unit.
"I'm fine," Jace began when he realized that she was holding disinfectant in her hand and a couple of wipes.
"Yes, you will be," Clary nodded, but didn't show any sign of backing down. Jace sighed, deciding he might as well go along with the redhead. Clary nodded again, pleased with him following her instructions. She flicked on the light and then came to stand back in front of him. She nudged his knees apart without even seeming to think about it, standing between his thighs and looking intently at the lower half of his face. Jace tried not to focus on the fact that she was practically pressed right up against him, and that her mouth was only a couple of inches away from his.
"Ouch!" His hissed as Clary wiped gently at the cut on his cheek.
"Yeah, yeah, hold still," Clary muttered as she cleaned away the blood on his cheek and then dabbed some disinfectant against his cheek.
"Fuck!" Jace hissed again, jerking back from her touch. Clary shook her head, a small smile on her mouth as she waited for him to relax forward, so that his face was close to hers again. She set back to work, finishing off with the cut on his cheek and then moving to his mouth. When he attempted to pull away again, letting out a yelp at the first touch of disinfectant to the open wound, Clary put her free hand around the back of his neck, bracing him.
"Stay," she told him, her fingers splaying out on the back of his neck, smooth but firm. "Not too much longer." Jace blinked, surprised at the way she was touching him, as though they were friends—as though they were familiar with each other. The way that she was tending to his wounds, carefully and efficiently, it sort of felt as though she actually cared. "Jon used to get into fights all the time when we were at school, and I would have to clean him up before our parents saw," she quirked a smile, although it look a bit nervous, as she finished cleaning the cut on his lip. She tossed the blood stained wipes toward the bin in the corner of the room, and then squeezed some more disinfectant cream on her finger. She smoothed it over the cut, and Jace winced, but didn't try to pull away, given the grip on the back of his neck. Her finger swiped gently over his lower lip, smoothing the cream into the cut. It stopped stinging after a moment, and Jace let out a heavy sigh. "Feel better?" Clary asked, her voice a lot quieter than it had been just a minute before.
"Y-yeah," Jace nodded his head, and she let her hands fall back to her side. She stepped back, the warmth from her body where it had been pressed against his legs and close to his chest.
"Go and get some ice," she said. "And...thank you."
"It's no problem," Jace replied. Clary wasn't smiling anymore, her face almost expressionless, like it had been every other time that he had seen her, but there was a softer tone to her eyes. She nodded, taking in a deep breath before turning on her heel and leaving the bathroom, Jace still sitting on the vanity unit, his face faintly throbbing.
Sooooooo, in exciting news, I'm off to Ed Sheeran in just a few days! Whoop whoop! Don't even care if it rains like the forecast says it's going to, it's going to be amazing.
I've got quite a few song recommendations this time; All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, Pray For Me by Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd and Love Lies by Khalid and Normani. Older ones that I've been listening to a bit lately that I used to be completely in love with are The Devils Tears by Angus and Julia Stone, Dare You To Move by Switchfoot (those Walk To Remember feels! Haha) and Breath by Breaking Benjamin.
In TV show recommendations by big one is Everything Sucks! on Netflix. It's amazing. Me and my hubby binged the whole thing in an afternoon. Haha. I just love all of the characters so much! The parents, the kids—I definitely have a thing for Scott Pocket, I thought he was fucking amazing. Hahahaha. I know there's a lot of controversy around Kate and Emaline because of the actual actresses, but I thought they were gorgeous.
Now, here's where I need some help from you guys! So, in two areas...
First is with Pressing Play (Rewind and Repeat). I'm doing another round of songfics based on letters of the alphabet and I still have some letters left. K, O, P, Q, U, W, X and Z. So please send me some songs starting with those letters and I'll see if I can make a fic work around them!
The second thing is something that I'll be asking for more help with later. There's a story I'm working on at the moment, called Changing Faces, the summary for it is on my profile, and it's spanning ten years. The year that I'm planning at the moment is 2009. So, what I'm asking from all you beautiful people, is send me things you were into in 2009. Music, movies, TV shows, fashion trends. Things you were dealing with in 2009, things that you were going through. Also big things that happened; celebrity news, political news, national and international events. Anything! I will, of course, credit it you.
Leave a review, let me know what you think, of the chapter and my notes x