A/N: Don't own it.

Chapter Song: Where I want to be- Dangerous Summer

JPOV

"Is she okay?" Alec asked me curiously as he watched Clary out of the corner of his eyes. I glanced at her too and grimaced. She'd barely made a noise since we'd gone back to her apartment earlier and she'd only move if she really had too. I was starting to think she'd died in the last few hours and I just hadn't noticed.

That made me a bad boyfriend, right? Hm.

"Not sure. She's been like this since our lunch date with my parents." I explained, running a hand through my hair with a frown. He made a sympathetic face and went back to ripping up his napkin.

"At least we know she's still alive. I mean, her are eyes are open." Magnus drawled, looking over the top of his magazine with curious eyes. I raised an incredulous eyebrow at his statement.

"Magnus... some people die with their eyes open." I said slowly. He scrunched up his nose in distaste.

"Really? That's creepy."

Simon snickered, "Just how exactly did you get in to college?"

"I refuse to answer that question in front of Alec." He answered smoothly, setting down the magazine and twirling a strand of hair around one long, slender finger with a smile hitching up the corners of his mouth, "Anyway, I think we should poke her and see if she attacks. I'm kind of worried; maybe she really is dead?" Magnus suggested with his usual uninterested tone. Isabelle huffed, snatched the magazine from the table and clipped him around the back of the head with it.

"She's a woman not a wild animal you tool."

He shrugged and popped a chip in to his mouth.

"I fail to see the difference. All you women are the same; you're just lions with lip gloss and Valentino purses."

"Like you can talk, you big queen. If you weren't my brother's boyfriend, I think I'd have slaughtered you by now for stealing my accessories." She said matter-of-factly before she stood up and rounded the table. Magnus watched her warily but she walked straight by him and dropped to her knees in front of Clary.

"Hey, it's time to stop hyperventilating and come back to the real world now Clary. Can you do that for me?" she asked in a voice similar to that of a crooning old woman, holding Clary's chin between her thumb and pointer finger. I cringed away from the sickly sweet tone, half expecting her to lick the corner of a handkerchief and wipe Clary's face with her spit.

I totally wouldn't be kissing her for a long time if that was the case.

"Stop treating her like a kid, Iz." Simon said tiredly, earning himself a killer glare because Isabelle was still refusing to talk to him. He mumbled a quick apology and took a swig of his coffee, managing to spill most of the mouthful down his clean white shirt. He cursed and Izzy grinned triumphantly before turning back to Clary.

"People who act like children deserve to be treated like children. You can stop sulking and start being excited for Paris now. I'm sure the lunch with its parents wasn't even that bad." She said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder in my direction.

"I have a name," I protested as Clary knocked Izzy's hand away from her chin lethargically, "and, for your information, it really was that bad. My mom interrogated her within an inch of her life. It was like she'd forgotten how to be nice to a person, not that she ever knew in the first place. She even asked where Clary bought the underwear she was wearing and lectured when they weren't designer or whatever. Like I care, they're only going to come off sooner or later any-"

"Shut up or your chances of ever getting past first base with me will be none existent." Clary deadpanned; her voice was soft and quiet and eyes were fixed blankly on the carry-on luggage at her feet. I blinked slowly at her comment, taking a moment to process it before narrowing my eyes at her.

"Oh good. She's still alive." Magnus said, grinning cattishly at me before he turned his attention to Clary, "I see your rapier wit is still intact? Wonderful. I'm in for a treat over the next two weeks."

"Seriously, how do you know what words like 'rapier' mean but still not know that some people die with their eyes open? It's impossible." Isabelle said, baffled. Magnus turned his head to her slowly and cocked it to the side.

"Do you know what rapier means, Isabelle?" he asked silkily. Izzy blushed and turned her head away.

"That's beside the point."

"As I recall," Alec piped up, "you once said that people who eat too much fish have blue nose bleeds so you can't really say anything bad about Magnus just because he didn't know that people can die with their eyes open."

"You said what?" Clary asked blandly, turning her eyes away from her carryon luggage and raising her brows at her blushing best friend. Izzy huffed quietly and flopped back on her seat, snatching the napkin from Alec's hands and tearing it to pieces herself.

"I was fifteen, okay? I was stupid then-"

"Then?" I cut in quietly, earning myself a glare. I shrugged it off with a grin.

"As I was saying, I was stupid then and that idiot Eric convinced me it was true."

"Hey, Eric was my friend." Simon moaned.

"Like I said. He was an idiot." Izzy said with a bittersweet smile, her eyes tight.

"You know what? I want to talk to you. Now." Simon dropped the book he was reading in to his bag and stood up, folding his arms across his chest with a frown on his face. Isabelle crossed her legs and turned away from him.

"I'm sorry. I don't feel like chatting"

Simon shook his head and looked up to the airport ceiling with a frown.

"I don't even know why you're angry anymore. I didn't do anything." He said angrily. Isabelle looked at him with a glare and flipped her hair.

"That's the thing. You didn't do anything. You didn't explain anything, you didn't give me any inclination as to what was going to happen; you just weren't in a good place."

Simon's head snapped to her and he smiled bitterly, his mouth twisted in to a sad line.

"That's why you've been putting me through hell for the past week? I asked you to wait for a while. I told you how much I like you. Did you know I broke it off with Maia for you? Of course you didn't because you won't even listen to a word I have to say. Smooth, Iz. Real smooth." He picked up his bag with a swipe while we all watched him warily. I'd never, ever seen Simon blow up like this. His face was weirdly pale and his hands were shaking.

"Let me know when you grow up a bit and want to talk like an adult." He said before turning to the rest of us, "I'm going for a walk."

With a nod of his head, he swept away from our seats in the airport departure lounge and out of sight. We were all quiet for a moment before Clary cleared her throat.

"What just happened?" she asked quietly. Magnus looked horrified as he leaned back in his seat, watching the place where Simon had disappeared.

"I have no idea. I think he just pulled that argument out of his ass."

Isabelle, who was also still watching the place where Simon had gone, shook her head in disbelief.

"He broke up with Maia?"

"I guess so." I shrugged. Isabelle bit her bottom lip and tugged on the end of her long pony tail.

"Why didn't he tell me?" she asked quietly.

"Well you haven't exactly let him say two words to you since we were at our parents' house. Sounds like he's been trying to tell you all week." Alec said with a grimace. Isabelle looked at him briefly and scowled.

"I'm... I'm going to take a walk. See you soon." She muttered before grabbing her purse and stalking away in the opposite direction. The four of us kept quiet for a moment, staring at each other as if the pair of them had just sprouted four extra heads before Clary slapped her hands against her thighs and attempted to smile.

"Well. Wasn't that fun?" she said half-heartedly, trying to lighten the dark mood that had descended on our table. Alec glanced at her with raised eyebrows.

"If that's your definition of fun I'd like to see how you react to car accidents."

Clary sighed before turning to me and tilting her head to the side.

"Since walks are so popular this evening, do you want to go for one?" she asked me. I nodded silently and offered a hand. She took it and waved to Magnus and Alec who were already deep in conversation, both scowling and paying us no attention.

We wandered through the rows of airport shops and take out stalls in silence until Clary sighed heavily. I watched her out of the corner of my eyes; she was gnawing on her bottom lip with her gaze cast sombrely to the floor.

"Y'know, if you don't stop chewing on your lip you're going to drive me crazy." I said bluntly, stopping mid stride. A gray haired business man in some over pressed black suit who'd been walking behind us glared at me for my abrupt stop and circled around us, grumbling to himself in what I thought to be Italian. I smiled in his direction before turning my attention back to Clary.

"Sorry." She said lamely, I rolled my eyes and led her to a row of chairs opposite a woman who'd fallen asleep in her chair, leaving her irate husband to watch three squirming and screaming kids. Clary eyed them dubiously but I shoved her in to the seat and knelt in front of her.

"What's up? Is it the thing with Iz and Simon? 'Cause if it is, you know they'll sort it sooner or later."

"It's not that, but it is a bit of a pain. I hope it doesn't ruin Izzy's birthday..." She said with a shrug. I waved a hand.

"I doubt it. They just need to talk. I don't really care about that at the moment, to be honest. I want to know what's up with you. Is it about the meal with my parents today? I know they were brutal with the questions, but you can't say I didn't warn you and it was your idea to meet with them in the-"

"Jace, it's not your parents. True, I might have freaked out and overreacted about that but I'm okay with it now. You were right, for what it's worth; your mom-"

"Is a head case."

Clary grinned to the floor, "I was going to say intense, but that's your call. I think she's only looking out for you. It's not bad for her to want the best for her only son."

"What's best for her son is not grilling his girlfriend to the point that her head explodes. I'd rather not have to date a dead person. I love you and all, but necrophilia is not my style." I teased. She rolled her eyes a picked at a loose string on her sweater.

"Your humour is mildly depressing."

"To each their own. So what's up?" I asked again, feeling the edges of frustration melt in to my tone. Clary scrunched her nose and watched one of the little kids opposite us use her father as a jungle gym until she smiled wearily and turned her eyes to me.

"I'm scared of flying."

I paused for a moment with my eyebrows raised in to the hair that covered most of my forehead and then grinned.

"You are? I didn't peg you for that kind of person." I teased. She punched my shoulder with mock anger and narrowed her eyes.

"What's not to be terrified of? I'll be sitting in a tin can for almost nine hours. A tin can that only stays in the air because of some dead guy's equation. I am not comfortable with that, Jace."

I snorted, "That dead guy's equation- or a pair of dead guys' equation, if I remember rightly- has been working just great for the last hundred-odd years. You have nothing to worry about. Unless, of course, they forgot to put in a left phalange. That could be problematic."

"What? A left what? Is it important?"

I stared at her incredulously for a minute before grabbing hold of her hands and pulling her to her feet. I wrapped my arms around her waist and smiled in to her hair.

"Jesus... you obviously didn't watch Friends when you were younger. What kind of person are you?"

"Oh, shut up and let's go back." She said moodily, but as she drew back I saw the smile on her face. I bent down and caught her lips quickly with my own, cupping her chin gently with my hand before stepping back and wandering off towards the others. Clary caught up with me a second later and slipped her hand in to my own.

"It's not nice to leave your girlfriend standing there like that." She observed. I shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm not a nice person, generally."

"Whatever. Hey, do you remember what flight number we are? We must be due for boarding soon. We've been sat in here forever."

"Um... flight one hundred and eighty,"

Clary stopped walking and looked at me with wide eyes until I broke out in to loud laughter. She gasped and narrowed her eyes as she pushed me, making me laugh harder.

"Jace, I am going to kill you!"

CPOV

After Jace's stupid jibes about flight one-eighty I did nothing but think about the various ways I would die according to that move Final Destination. So far I'd been sucked out of a window, exploded due to lack of cabin pressure, and oddly enough, taken a stiletto heel to the face. I pulled my seatbelt tightly as the plane began its taxi towards the runway, almost cutting off the circulation in the lower part of my body but not giving a damn because I was starting to hyperventilate. Seriously, my palms were sweating, my entire body was shaking and my chest felt like it was a spring that had been pressed down and needed to uncoil.

Jace, of course, was laughing in my face. Loudly. With badly disguised glee.

I swore to myself that I would end him by the time we got up in the air.

Clutching my barf bag tightly in one hand and the arm rest in the other, I turned myself so I was facing away from him and his oh-so-punchable face and waited for the sinking feeling in my stomach that meant we were taking off to appear. I could still hear him chortling away in my ear in the seat to my right, but there was nothing I could do about that. The air hostess had informed me already (after shamelessly checking out my boyfriend) that I couldn't use my iPod until the plane was up in the air.

She was next on my hit list. In fact, I was sure I was going to use one of Jace's limbs to beat her with. It would entertain Iz and Magnus, anyway. She was still keeping a stellar silence as she sat in the chair beside Simon, who was pointedly looking out of the window in to the night. Magnus looked incredibly bored as usual, fiddling with the rings on his fingers as Alec read the in-flight movie guide. I sighed and let my head flop against the comfort of my headrest, closing my eyes and pretending that I wasn't starting the ascent in to the air in the middle of a stupid tin can.

I must have fallen asleep at some point or other because when I woke up I was sprawled all over Jace like a really bad case of herpes. He'd pulled up the arm rest that divided our two spacious seats and my entire upper body was slumped against his thighs and, even worse, my mouth had dropped open as I slept and there was a wet patch on the knee of his jeans. I didn't even want to comprehend the thought of Jace seeing me drool in my sleep. It was enough to bring on an all over body blush.

I stayed put for a few minutes, not daring to move for fear of him seeing the dribble patch and being completely grossed out by me and hauling out of our relationship so he could pursue some hot, cultured, intelligent Parisian girl. In my mind she was called Lorraine, had this gorgeous main of jet black hair that was twisted in to an elegant knot on the back of her head and smoked twenty cigarettes a day while reciting poetry in a Beat Club every night.

For a moment I felt a flare of scolding hot jealousy for the girl my mind had created before I realised how stupid I was being and cast Lorraine to the side of my mind so I could focus on a more pressing matter.

The drool.

I could pretend I was still sleeping and just casually wipe it with my sleeve, but it's not like it would get rid of the mark. I was in a bit of a bind.

"I know you're awake," his voice said softly just above my ear. I jolted upright and took him in with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said without thinking, pointing to the drool. He plucked out his headphones and followed the line of my finger, taking in the stain with an arched eyebrow.

"There are no words for how disgusting you are." He deadpanned. I felt my face heat up and I rolled my eyes to try and hide how mortified I was.

"Yes there are. You just never learnt them."

He popped a peanut in to his mouth with a smile and waved the bag at me. I shook my head and crossed my legs on the seat so I was facing him.

"How long was I out?"

He checked his watch, "About four and a half hours. I've watched two in-flight movies already."

"Wow, that long? I'm a machine."

"Well it has been a long day. The other four passed out not long after you."

I glanced at them with a small smile. Magnus was curled up like a cat in his boat sized seat, loosely holding on to Alec who was still ramrod straight even in his sleep. His face was relaxed though, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Isabelle and Simon were slumped against each other, both frowning at whatever their dreams were showing them. I scrunched my nose up at the pair and turned back to Jace.

"What about you? Aren't you tired?"

"Nope," he shook his head and took a swig of his energy drink.

"I wonder why. That must be your sixth Red Bull today. And I know you've had three mugs of coffee. You're probably high on caffeine or something."

"Can you get high on caffeine?" he questioned.

"Of course you can." I waved him off.

"So what you're saying is that having too much caffeine is like taking meth or something?"

"You know what I mean, idiot." I said tiredly. He smirked.

"I know. I just like making things as awkward as possible-"

"-Because you have the mind of a child-"

"-And your pouting face is one of highlights of my life."

I raised an eyebrow with a sneer "A highlight of your entire life? That's really, really sad Herondale."

"I was trying to sentimental." He said defensively, palming my forehead in a completely unsentimental way, "Why'd you have to shoot me down like that?"

"At least I didn't actually shoot you down. I was seriously thinking about it earlier when you were making fun of me."

"Eh, you don't have to do that. The guy in the bathroom up there with the gun already promised he'd kill me because I mocked his Hawaiian shirt on his way past. Between you and me, I think he's a bit of an unstable hijacker." He whispered theatrically and I punched his arm.

"Stop it. You've had your fun now leave me alone."

"But making fun of you brings me happiness." He said in a sweet voice. I snorted, earning myself an odd look from a couple sat near us.

"What brings me happiness is getting off this plane alive, preferably not suffering a heart attack mid flight because of your stupid jokes."

Jace sat quietly for a while, staring at the small screen that was playing the in-flight movie. I watched as a smirk gradually settled comfortably on his face and tapped his leg.

"What're you grinning about?"

His grin only widened.

"Jace?"

Very slowly, he leaned towards me, his lips resting against the shell of my ear.

"How do you feel about joining the Mile High club?"

Needless to say, I got off the flight in one piece, although I almost couldn't say the same for Jace after that comment. The only reason I kept him in such good condition afterwards was because he had to carry me off the plane because my legs were so shaky after the turbulence we'd met on the descent in to the airport. When I hit solid ground, it was all I could do not to fall to my knees and kiss the floor out of pure joy. The five of them snickered and smirked at me as we wandered our way through the arrivals lounge towards the baggage collection area, but they were all too tired to actually say anything.

It took us almost an hour to collect our cases. Of course, mine had to go missing and turn up at a completely different flight carousel because of some mix up when it was getting unloaded from our plane. It was only by coincidence that Alec spotted my two cases in all their green and blue polka dot glory on his way back from the bathroom.

"Can we leave now?" Simon said tiredly, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, "I need to get to the hotel and sleep."

"You do realise it's two in the afternoon here, don't you? We can't just waste our entire first day in Paris sleeping." Magnus said as we left the airport in search of our driver. A man in a sleek black suit stood not far from where we stood, holding a card with the name 'Lightwood' written on it. I smiled, relieved to have found the guy who was taking us to the hotel and made my way towards him, leaving the others bickering.

"Ah, bonjour, êtes-vous Miss Lightwood?" he said as I stopped in front of him, his face smiling. I raised my eyebrows.

"Uh..."

"Je m'applle Christian. Je vais prendre pour vous à votre hôtel."

"I- uh, oh Jesus," I rolled my eyes at myself and looked over my shoulder. The others were still talking amongst themselves, paying me no mind. I instantly regretted taking Spanish in school and not French. I didn't understand a word he was saying. I turned back to the guy, who was still smiling widely at me, and grimaced.

"Give me a minute," I said, holding up a finger and rushing back to the others.

"- no idea what the hell it says! It's all in French." Isabelle was saying angrily, jabbing Jace in the chest with a frustrated growl and waving a sheet of paper in his face.

"That might have something to do with the fact we're in France Isabelle," Jace griped before she started throwing insults at him.

"Hey, this might sound stupid at this point," I said after catching the end of their conversation, "but does anyone actually know how to speak French?"

The five of them looked at me, dumbfounded.

"Crap." Jace muttered.

Let me know what you think :)

ML