Surprise surprise! An update! Bet you all weren't expecting one so soon huh? Thanks for all the lovely reviews on last chapter! And for those asking, the NORMAL PEOPLE SCARE ME shirt is from the first ever episode of American Horror Story. Epic show, go watch! Anyway, enjoy this chapter and don't forget to drop a review! x

When I wake up, arms are wrapped securely around my waist, legs twined with my own. Jace has crept into my bed in the middle of the night. His face is buried in the crook of my neck, his breathing slow and even. I turn my head slightly to see his mess of honey-blond hair in his closed eyes. He looks the very picture of relaxation. His embrace is warm and something I've never felt before.

I've fallen asleep with my brother before, but I'd never felt this content.

Jace is heavier than he looks. Pressing down upon my slight form, he's starting to crush me. Very carefully, I try to wriggle out from under him. Very suddenly, he jerks up and away from me, obviously startled. I close my eyes and feign sleep. When the bed moves down just a fraction, I open an eye a sliver to watch Jace get out of the bed. He looks tired eyed and bleary, his hair is a golden halo around his face. For near five minutes he just… stares down at me, expression the same blank mask. And then he turns away and leaves the room.

What was that all about?

Not long later, the smell of bacon sizzling in a pan reaches me and my stomach grumbles. I sit up and rub the back of my neck, a yawn escaping me before I can stop it. I climb to my feet and sort out my ensemble, running a hand through my tangled ginger hair. There's a black –kill me– silk dressing gown on the back of the bedroom door. Silk. Freaking silk. The kind the sleazy rich guys wear.

Seriously Jace?

I steal it and pull it around me, tying it off at my waist.

There's music playing in the kitchen and when I step into the room. Jace is stood before the cooker, singing along with a 30 Seconds To Mars song on the iPod that's blaring from on top of the fridge in its dock. He slides from one side of the room on the smooth white floor in his socks like a pro and I can tell it's not the first time he'd done that.

"Up In The Air?" I ask him, folding my arms with an eyebrow rising. Jace doesn't freak out and try to hide the fact he's a lino-sliding king. He flashes me a grin over his shoulder and nods. "Hell yeah. Do Or Die is next."

He has freaking awesome taste in music.

Jace returns to the cooker where four slices of bacon are sizzling away in the pan. My eyebrow rises further. "I thought you couldn't cook?"

He flips the bacon and chuckles, nodding. "I can't. Well… ish."

I cross over to the bar table that's set against the opposite wall, taking a seat upon one of the stools, facing Jace. In silence I watch him delve into the fridge and grab a handful of eggs. My nose automatically wrinkles and Jace snorts in laughter, obviously watching me out of the corner of his eye. "What's that face for?"

"I don't like eggs" I admit, watching him crack a pair in next to the bacon which is now done. It smells heavenly.

Jace Herondale is making breakfast. Making me breakfast. Holy shit.

He shrugs and adds in a third egg. "More for me then."

For someone so thin and muscular, he could sure eat.

When everything is plated up and the cooker is off, Jace sets a full plate down before me, taking the seat next to me. He has so much food I can't help but stare. On top of the greasy breakfast of bacon, eggs and some toast, he also has a bowl of cereal. Plus a cup of coffee.

"You're such a pig" I tell him as he shoves an entire egg into his mouth. He frowns and turns to me, his mouth full of egg. To my disgust he asks, his mouth totally full "hmm yhu whht?"

I wrinkle my nose up and turn to my breakfast. Yeah, I think I should eat my own breakfast before trying to talk to him.

Halfway through breakfast, Jace knocks back a few of his 'sanity tablets.' I don't make a question of asking more about them. It's not my place.

After breakfast, Jace shoves the empty plates into the sink and yawns, running a hand through his hair. His attention turns to me. "Did you sleep well last night?" the way he's staring at me, I know he's waiting for me to mention his stay. But I don't. I shrug a little, telling him "it was okay. You need a new mattress, by the way. I'm pretty sure a spring poked me in the ribs from under the sheets."

Jace chuckles and the relief is plain on his face- he thinks I don't know about him staying the night. Of him cuddling up to me. "Yeah, it's an old one. I keep forgetting to order a new one."

Silence falls and I listen to City of Angels play over the speakers for a moment. Then Jace announces he's going for a shower and vanishes.

While Jace is showering, I contemplate changing back into my dress, but it's too flashy and well, thin. It's a cold day. But I have no jeans to speak of.

When Jace walks into the bedroom with just a towel wrapped tight around his hips, I just stare. And stare hard. Damn that boy and his rocking bod. He crosses over to the wardrobe without a word and reaches into a compartment and rummages around. He tosses something my way and I catch it instinctively. Then he drapes clothes over his arm and chuckles. "Can I take the bedroom? Busy day ahead. Gotta find something to wear and dry my hair." He nods to my hands. "They might be a tad big on you, but it'll do for now."

I'm shunned from the bedroom and I can't help but scowl- he's such a girl at times.

In my hands are jeans. Girl jeans. Why the hell does he have these in his closet? Gross. But there's nothing else to wear, so I pull them on all the same. They're only a little baggy and I keep on Jace's t-shirt that I wore to bed. I steal Jace's hairbrush from the bathroom and sort out my hair only seconds before Jace himself walks in and snags it, still wearing his towel with his hair sopping wet, droplets of water clinging to his tattooed chest.

Seriously, that boy is testing every kind of restraint I'm capable of.

While I sit on the sofa and watch TV, Jace runs around like a headless chicken. He lifts up my legs to retrieve a sock from under the sofa. When he plonks himself down next to me and yanks it on, I can see he's wearing odd ones again. One has nothing on, just dark blue, but the other has Keep Calm And Eat Chocolate on. Again; he's so feminine at times. Princess Jace.

Jace takes another half an hour to get ready, so in that time, I peruse his book collection, taking a few out with the intention of borrowing them. One of the books named Obsidian has one hot as hell guy on the cover, that's for sure. Plus the book is about aliens. I mean… aliens. Brilliant. When I ask if I can borrow them, he just yells "yeah sure" while looking for a boot that seems to be eluding him.

When Jace is finally ready, his hair smoothed back and gleaming, he ushers me into his car with my dress, heels, my new t-shirt and borrowed books on my lap. He drives me home, the entire time talking on his Bluetooth earpiece about something to do with his tour. What songs he was going to play, information on an album, stuff about a contract renewal with Magnus and outfit discussions. Plus there seemed to be a list of appearances Jace needed to do that week on TV, radio and in a mall.

He hadn't been exaggerating- his week was busy.

When we pull up outside the Morgenstern mansion, he pulls the earpiece out and sighs, turning to me. "Sorry," he apologizes. "I didn't mean to ignore you. Just-" I place a finger over Jace's lips, trying and failing to stop a smile creeping onto my lips. "You're busy. It's fine, I understand."

Jace stares into my eyes for what seems like forever, his own molten pools of gold. Then he leans forward, causing my finger to slip from his lips. When Jace kisses me, it's like time has stopped. I'm not falling for him… I've fallen. Crashed with no intention of ever getting up again.

When Jace pulls away, there's a smile on both our lips. He raises a hand, thumb brushing my bottom lip. "Go out with me?" Jace asks, grin still on his face. It's tempting, but…

"No" I tell him, my grin spreading into the evil zone. Jace tuts, leaning back in his seat. "Playing hard to get?"

I don't answer him. Instead, I just lean forward and press my lips to his cheek for a moment. Without a word, only a smile, I leave the car and slam the door behind me. Jace honks the horn twice before pulling away and leaving.

When I turn to the front door, it's open and… oh hell, Jonathan is stood there, leaning against the frame with an eyebrow raised and his arms folded. "Good night (?)" he asks, voice devoid of emotion, eyes flickering to the dress and other items in my hands.

Is he seriously going to do this? Jump to conclusions?

"We haven't been having sex if that's what you're wondering" I tell him coldly, pushing past him as I walk into the house. Jonathan chuckles and closes the front door. "I saw you both in the car. Did you slip and fall onto his mouth then? Is that what you're saying?"

"I'm not in the mood for this, Jonathan!" I literally snarl at him, narrowing my eyes. "I thought you were past all this!"

"Jonathan?" A new voice pipes up and I know who it belongs to. When Isabelle rounds the corner, I see I'm not the only one to borrow clothes overnight; she's dressed in just one of Jonathan's t-shirts, her hair messy and legs bare. She stops dead at the sight of me, then walks over to Jonathan and sighs, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Jonathan, lay off. You promised."

It's amazing how my brother just seems to melt at Isabelle's touch, his posture no longer tense. He sighs in defeat and glances to her, muttering "I know, I know." Isabelle presses her lips to his cheek and pats his shoulder once before turning away and vanishing back upstairs. Jonathan just stares at me before sighing out "so you and Jace huh? It's official?"

I shake my head. "It's not official. What you saw was our second kiss, that's it. It was just a kiss, nothing more, nothing less."

"Kissed you at the party last night then I'm guessing?" he smirks, eyes glinting deviously. "I bet he did more than kiss."

Oh god. I think I preferred it when he was yelling at me to stay away from Jace. "That's gross. Jon-"

Jonathan shrugs. "You forget- I've known Jace a lot longer than you. I've known him since the days where he was called Jonathan." He wrinkles his nose. "Do you know how crap it is us both being named Jonathan Christopher? Maybe I should change my name to something else."

I can't help but snort in laughter. "Yeah. Something gross and French like Sebastian."

"Sebastian isn't a gross name."

"It makes me think of dirty old French men with greasy hair. Pedophilic old men."

Jonathan just stares. "Thanks little sister- the image inside my head right now isn't pretty."

I wave a hand in no direction in particular. "Go back to Isabelle. And I swear if I hear anything-!"

For some reason, Jonathan sounds bitter when he replies "I wouldn't worry about that. By the way, dad's in the news."

Oh? "What did he do? Kill puppies?"

Jonathan shakes his head, running a hand through his tangled white-blond hair. "No. It just mentioned that he's taking over some weapons business now."

Weapons? That was a new one. "What about mom? Has she… surfaced?"

Jonathan's scoff is all I need- she hasn't. We're still alone. The Morgenstern siblings, fending for themselves. "I'm leaving on Friday" I tell him now, my heart jumping with excitement. "I'm going with Jace. You know, um, his-"

"I know. His tour," Jonathan interrupts. "Jace rang me and asked for permission."

What the fuck? "Permission? Permission for what?"

Jonathan shrugs. "Permission for you to go on tour with him."

Jace was going to get a slap when I saw him again. Permission? I wasn't a child.

My brother grins, his obsidian eyes sparkling in the morning light. "Chill. It's not as bad as it sounds."

"Oh? Do tell." I snap, stomping my foot like a freaking five year old.

Jonathan's lips twist into a hard line, and it looks like it actually hurts him when he says slowly "I think he loves you, Clary. Not the quick fling kind, but… properly. I saw his face when he kissed you, and he's never, ever looked at any girl that way before…" He was probably going to say more, but Isabelle calls him from upstairs and he leaves without another word.

At least he and Jace weren't at loggerheads anymore. For Jonathan to admit that… damn.

If only they could become friends again.

Later on that day, Jace texts me.

All ready and packed?

Nope, I reply. I can't decide what to take. Maybe the same things as last time would do. With a sigh I add on what are you doing today?

The answer is almost instantaneous. Interview with Inferno Music magazine. Plus some pictures. What about you?

Other than packing, I have no idea. Probably read the books I borrowed from you.

Which ones were they?

Obsidian, The Edge of Never and Wait For You.

Two of those are smutty, Clarissa Morgenstern.

Yeah, he would know. Maybe I like that kind of stuff. I've read Beautiful Disaster, you know?

His reply just makes me stare. Are you trying to get me all hot and bothered? Sexy idea, but don't do that right now. Imagine people's faces if they saw me walking around with a hard on.

Oh hell he is just impossible. My cheeks won't stop burning by the time I've read his message twice. And then Jace sends another message that about makes me choke. If you're gonna do the hot thing, you could at least send me passages of the smutty parts of the books. Or a topless picture. I like the second option most.

I can't take Jace seriously. I hope you're joking about all this

A few minutes and- Of course. But feel free to send a topless picture if you feel like it.

I roll my eyes. I'll talk to you later Romeo. Or should I give you some kind of hooker name?

I like the idea of a hooker name

We talk every single day leading up to Friday, the day we head off on tour together. Sometimes we text, sometimes we call. Jace goes to counseling sessions. I never knew that before.

"It's kinda obvious really" he tells me over the phone on Wednesday night while I'm eating dinner. Jonathan bought home KFC. Yum. "You know how screwy I am. Of course I talk to a shrink. It's one of the conditions of my 'freedom' from the loony bin."

I can't help but frown at that, my mouth full of chicken. When I swallow, I ask "one of the conditions? What are the others?"

Jace laughs on the other end of the line. "It doesn't matter."

"Jace," I tell him slowly. "You can tell me. I'm not going to tell anyone else."

He sighs and I hear something clink- a glass being set down upon a table. "It's just bits, Clary. It doesn't matter. They don't matter. I don't matter."

"Of course you matter Jace" I tell him with my frown deepening. "You matter to me. You matter to a lot of people."

Jace sighs again. "Basically my shrink is an extension of the rehab I went in. You know… ensuring that I'm clean and I stay clean. I put a foot out of line and bam, they'll drag me back inside. Maryse never fails to remind me." He pauses. "Shrinky kept telling me in my early days to find an anchor. A reason to change… something that made me want to change. Every single day she'd ask me if I had found my anchor yet."

"Did you find one?"

Jace laughs lightly. "I wouldn't be here if I hadn't found one." I stay silent, waiting for him to elaborate, but he doesn't. "Well?" I press. "What was it?"

"You're asking me to tell you what bought me back, what got me out of the madhouse."

"Mmhmm."

A chuckle escapes him. "Nice try, but you'd have to take me out on a date to try and get that stuff outta me."

I arch a brow. "We've already been on a date." Or so he called it.

"No. A proper date. Say… dinner after I finish the New York show on Friday?"

My cheeks flush red. "Are you asking me out on a date, Mr. Herondale?"

"YesMiss. Morgenstern, I am."

You only live once. "Fine. It's a date."

Jace calls me Thursday night as well. It's very nearly midnight and I'm dozing off. Isabelle and Jonathan have been arguing about something. Their raised voices are that loud they reach me in my bedroom all the way from the living room.

"All ready for tomorrow?" Jace asks when I answer his call. I nod, phone pressed against my ear. "All ready. Are you?"

"Mmmhmm. Yes." A pause. "You sound tired. Have I woken you up?"

"No, but I was about to go bed. Izzy and Jon have been arguing, keeping me up, I guess."

"What are they arguing about?"

I sigh and rub my tired eyes, snuggling more into my pillow. "I have no idea. Izzy is really, really pissed off for some reason."

"Maybe Jonathan wanted to try ana-"

"Stop right there. Don't you dare finish that sentence or I'll throw up over the phone, I swear it."

Jace chuckles, but thankfully doesn't complete the line. A pause and he asks "want me to sing you a song? It'll make you sleep."

I contemplate telling him No, that his singing is like screeching. Except it isn't. Jace's voice is as beautiful as Jonathan's.

"Okay then. Pick a song."

I bet Jace is grinning. "Okay. Do you know the band Angels Fall?"

A pause and I shake my head. "No."

"Not surprised. Not many people actually have heard of them. They only have a few songs, but there's this one song that's, well, beautiful. It's called Angel."

The smallest of smiles twitches onto my face as I tug the covers more over me, glancing at the case set next to the door, ready for the tour. There's a nervous kind of excitement building inside me. I'm really doing this, going on tour with Jace. "Sing that one to me."

Silence, then Jace starts singing. His voice is low, but I can hear it clearly.

She has eyes of an angel, and a heart made of gold, but nobody even knows.

She walks with her hands in her pockets, with her hat pulled down low

So that everyone will leave her alone

So that everyone will leave her alone

Thousands of people, girls, have probably fallen asleep to the sound of Jace singing. On a CD.

But me? I fell asleep to the boy himself singing to me.

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