(Clary POV)

Jace and I are already an hour into our road trip and the silence is slowly slitting our throats.

When I got back from the test ride I told Jace to wait outside by our stuff while I paid for the car. I ended up getting the price down almost twenty thousand dollars – which wasn't half the price – so I cheated and called Luke to take him up on his offer of helping out to pay for a car. He pitched in another thirty thousand when I told him what a fancy car we were getting which helped me win the bet. I think he also pitched in that much because I was buying something so advanced and rare because he knows I'm not really the one to show off what I have, and a car that's going to be going through a dozen states is going to get a lot of attention.

But when I walked back out of the building to my… what? Lover? Boyfriend? Friend with benefits? I rubbed the fake pride in his face for nothing more than five minutes.

I think he could tell something was wrong when we started driving, and that I didn't want to talk about I because the only thing he's said to me since then is if I wanted to stop somewhere in a few hours to eat.

I can tell he's using the air around him to draw the words out of me, I can see it in the way his shoulders tense and his lips press together. There's no hiding from him that something's up.

I slowly move my eyes to him in hopes that he won't notice that I'm looking but second I reach his face his eyes dart to mine and I know it's all over. He wants and answer.

"You won." I spit out. My foot has been bouncing for so long I could run cross country if I wanted. "I cheated and you won."

Jace lets out one sharp breath. "How'd you manage getting the price down so much?" He scans my eyes a second longer before looking back at the road.

"I called Luke and he gave me thirty grand to put towards it."

"What? Thirty grand?"

"Yeah he told me that when I find out where I want to stay he was going to give me a car as a graduation present, my choice." I wind my fingers and every other limb together to shrink enough, hoping that Jace won't notice but-

"Then where did the extra twenty thousand get taken off from?"

"Umm…" I lower my shoulders and turn to the window.

"Clary?" Nope. Not responding. "Clarissa."

That gets my attention. "How the hell do you know my first name?" I feel the blood coloring my face with anger.

"I found it."

"So, what, you've been stalking me!" I pull on the roots of my curls, "Oh God. This was all a set up wasn't it? You knew I'd be at that gas station. You probably followed me and charmed me and now I'm stuck in a car with you and will either end up dead or –"

"Okay, enough. Calm down. I didn't stalk you and I'm not going to kill you. Though the charming part was just inevitable." I shoot a look at him and he gets serious. "I found it on your license. Your wallet was just sitting on the dresser, all open for the world to see and my curiosity got the best of me." He lets out a snort. "I mean who knew you were so short. I would've pegged you for five foot six, maybe, but five foot three?" He belts out a laugh and glances at me with tears in his eyes. "You're tiny!"

Suddenly I'm angry for a different reason. "Shut up. Not everyone can be a six foot tall giant."

The tears have fallen. "But-But not even half a foot extra. You barely made it over the five foot mark." The laughter subsides and he grins, "Hey, I think your name is beautiful." I stab the butterflies forming in my stomach.

"Clarissa Adele Garroway." He lets the words quietly roll around his tongue, like he's tasting the way they sound coming from his mouth.

By now all my anger has vanished and the only thing on my mind is wanting to touch my lips to his. I love the way he makes my name feel like it belongs to an ancient queen, and not some ordinary girl.

I looks at me with a genuine grin and my face heats up. I clear my throat and pretend like nothing happened. "So. What now, lover boy?"

"Now, you can answer my question." He looks back at the road.

I point at something in the distance. "Look how cute that puppy is!" Lame, such a lame excuse of a distraction.

"Clary, why won't you tell me?"

I sigh and think about how to do this in the calmest way possible, "IflirtedwiththesalesguyandwhenwewerehalfwaythroughthetripIkissedhimtogethimtolowerthecost." I gulp back the air I just lost.

Jace's eyes don't meet mine but it's not hard to see how cold they're growing, his knuckles are turning white around the steering wheel. "You… What!?"

"I kissed him…" I whisper. "On the cheek though."

"So he lowered the price of this very beautiful expensive car for some red head's cheek kiss?" Shit. Now he's fuming, it's obvious he doesn't believe me.

"Well, you see, I went for his cheek and he turned his head at just the right moment to make it on the corner of his mouth. Then I proceeded to tell him how handsome he was and gave him my fake phone number for when we get back in town."

"So you're telling me, that this guy, Connor, the very smart car dealer, was dumb enough to believe that you were interested in him enough that it convinced him to lower the price?"

"Mhmm."

"And that even though I made it clear that there was something between us when I so blatantly put my arm around you, he still thought that you would be with him when we get back? Even though we're not going back?"

"Yes, Jace. That's how it went. And you know, I'm not just 'some red head.' Some guys seem to think I'm breath taking." I cough and raise my eyebrows accusingly, forgetting he's not even looking.

He seems to get the hint and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. But to me you weren't just breath taking because of your looks."

I scoff. "Right, so what was it about me that took your breath away, huh? My flawless back? My beautiful tamed hair? My amazing family that I wasn't just crying in terror over the night before."

"Clary, stop. I love your hair, it reminds me of your passion. A forest fire practically untamable. And your eyes," I see him disappear right before me, almost like he's captured every detail and hung them on the walls of his mind's gallery and is now taking a tour. "You don't even realize how beautiful they are, and I think that's what makes you so intriguing. You can see the beauty around you and I can see that it's easy for you to copy it because I've seen your sketches, but it's astounding how you don't realize how much you contribute to that beauty, its roots begin there, deep within the green." He pauses with a sigh. "And don't even start on your scars. They tell a story, they're a part of your past and it shows how much you went through and how much you survived. You crying over your mother doesn't make me dislike anything about you. If I'm being honest with myself it makes me quite angry. To think… who could do something like that to their own flesh and blood?"

I open my mouth to say something snarky but he cuts me off. "So yes. You're scarred back, wild red hair, and strength that you have is what took my breath away."

We sit in silence until my snort breaks it. "Wow. Who knew you could be so romantic."

Jace turns to me with a lopsided smile and winks before looking back at the road. "Shut up. You know you loved that shower of compliments."

"I mean, I'm definitely not going to complain about it." I grin in response to Jace's musical laugh.

A few hours pass by in silence and without even knowing it I fall asleep against the window. The only reason I knew was because what woke me up was a cursing Jace. "What's wrong?" I use the backs of my hands to wipe away the sleepiness in my eyes and look up at Jace's sheepish grin.

"We may have a problem." He turns on his blinker to stop at the side of the road before putting on his hazard lights.

"Um… that might be a lot easier to solve with details." His thumb points to the back of the car and he starts to unbuckle his seat belt to get out. I turn in my seat to see what he means and see that the trunk is wide open. "How did that happen!?"

"All these damn buttons get confusing. I thought I was putting on the cruise control but really I opened the trunk." I try to smother the giggle rising as I watch his flustered movements. "Who puts the trunk opener on the steering wheel? Is it really that hard for people to bend down an inch and pull a lever? I think not- AND WHY WON'T THIS DAMN SEAT BELT COME UNDONE!?" He continues to yank at the buckle and I place my hand over his to get him to stop.

"Jace calm down. I'll get out and see what we lost and you can stay here. We'll worry about your death trap later." I kiss his cheek and scramble out of the car into the late afternoon chill but turn back around to Jace's voice. He leans to my side and hand me his jacket. I smile and pull it on.

It turns out all we lost was whatever was in the top suit case which I'm assuming was Jace's. It looked like the wind hand ripped it up enough to break the zipper and let all the cloths inside loose. They were probably blowing around the highway right now.

I made sure that the trunk was shut well and wobbled back to the passenger seat. "I think you lost all your stuff." I giggle out as I place my hands by the heater. "I hope you like modeling because I love helping to pick out outfits."

A frown pulls at Jace's lips. "I had my lucky leather jacket in there."

"A leather jacket can be lucky?"

"Of course it can! My cousin got it for me for my eighteenth birthday and that very same day the hottest girl in school came over and…"

"And what?" My eyes go wide with fear and curiosity, I think I know what he's about to say and I'm not sure I want it to be true.

"Nothing." He squeaks. Who knew Jace could squeak.

"Oh, no! Come on. You totally have to tell me." I turn with anticipation and Jace stays focused on getting back on the highway.

Once we're a few lanes over he glances at me. "You really want to know?" I nod eagerly. "The hottest girl in school came over and blew…" He trails on and does some kind of weird floppy hand gesture.

"What? She bl- oh…" A blush rises to my cheeks though I'm not sure why. Suddenly my stomach flops and I feel sick. "Yeah. Never mind. I really didn't want to know that." He belts out a laugh and I see a dimple form in his cheek. God. Dimples too?! "Wait-"

"I'm not going anywhere."

"-so does that mean that you – Mr. I'm-pure-golden-hotness – wasn't able to get the most popular girl until the day you turned eighteen?"

"Well to be fair I did already have a record of being sort of a man whore but when senior year started I dressed totally different and I guess that attracted her to me more." He sighs pleasantly at the memory. "Thank the heavens Will was amazing enough to get me that jacket to top it all off."

I groan and turn to the front window. "Of course you were a man whore." I mumble quiet enough that he can't hear. I let a man whore take my virginity. How lovely. "So where's Will at?" I ask, trying my best to forget that the night that will forever mean the most to me probably meant nothing to the man next to me.

"He lives in London with his wife." His sigh is almost unnoticeable. "I haven't really seen him since almost two years ago."

"That was when he came for your birthday, wasn't it?" I look at him just as he nods. "Do you miss him?"

"Yeah. He was my best friend. We did everything together, or at least we did until he met Tessa. I'm not upset that he met her or anything, I just wish he didn't move so far away. It's hard to keep in touch with someone who lives on the opposite side of the world, you know?" I looks at me, there's something hidden in his eyes as he scans me but it's hard to tell what it means. He turns back to the road and shrugs. "It'd be nice to see him again."

"Maybe you will someday." I give him a small smile and lay my head back against the headrest. My eyes drift shut as the hours go by and soon enough Jace pulls in to a small diner. He shuts the car off and we both get out to inspect our surroundings. "Where are we now?"

"New Mexico. It's a shame you were trying to sleep the whole way, the transition between states was beautiful." He glances around and his eyebrows thread together. "Except now… it looks like we've driven into a desert." His stomach pulses with laughter.

"It's a beautiful desert though." I exhale all the exhaustion I've been trying to hold back and walk to the diner with Jace by my side. "Why did you pick this place?" I glance around once more before walking inside. "This looks like you purposefully chose a diner in the middle of nowhere."

As soon as we walk in a sweet old lady greets us and takes us to our tables. "Maybe I like being in the middle of nowhere." Jace and I get seated at one of the bigger round booths and I look at the waitress in confusion.

She introduces herself as Malinda after handing out our menus and turns to walk off but before she gets anywhere I stop her. "Excuse me… I don't think we need a booth this big. We can go to a smaller one so a bigger family can sit here."

She smiles so wide her frail skin looks like it's about to tear. "It's fine, miss. We don't usually get bigger families this time of year. You guys just go ahead and enjoy the extra space." She walks off with a wink and goes behind the bar. I turn to Jace with a frown.

"That was a very poor attempt at trying to get close to me Miss." I punch Jace in the arm as a way of saying shut up. "Ouch! You should try to be more gentle considering what I'm about to do for you."

I whip towards Jace and he's flashing one of his mischievous grins. I narrow my eyes and cross my arms. "What do you mean, what you're about to do for me?" I ask.

"All I mean is I'm buying you a very nice dinner, so you should be thankful." He turns away from me to look at the meal options and I decide I better drop it so I can do the same. Otherwise he might throw one of his hormonal guy fits and tell me I can't eat.

Fifteen minutes go by and Malinda still hasn't come back to get our orders. Jace and I have taken to playing the games on the children place mats lined around the table. We're currently in a very stressful game where you have to complete a box one line at a time but Jace always ends up beating me. I scan the paper and right where I figure out where I want to go I jump out of my skin when someone whispers, "Surprise," in my ear. I fling my head in the direction the voice came from and instantly drop the crayon when I see who said it.

"Simon!" I jump out of the booth and fling myself at him. I even squeal some more when I see who's standing behind him.

Izzy, Maia, Jordan, Alex, and Magnus around huddled together, each sporting the biggest smiles of the century.

FINALLY. The group's back together! Even though Jace is a newbie this is going to be a lot of fun to write. So many funny stories will come up it'll almost be like when mother's share baby photos.

As for all of your review.. Wow. Honestly, wow. You guys are so amazing. I can't thank you enough for all the support and energy you guys send. I especially love it when you get all excited and start ranting, I crack up every time!

Let me know what you think, as always, about this chapter! AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE NEXT STORY! This one is no where near done but I'd like it better if I could start on another one that way when I get writers block I can switch. If not enough votes come in I think I'll just re-write Forgotten Times, it was a favorite anyway.

Don't forget to review! I love hearing your guys' thoughts

~A.P.D.

P.S. To all of you still trudging through school, good luck on finals! Seems like everyone will be testing about the same time and finals can be such a doozy.

P.P.S. *Sweats are always way more comfortable for testing, pajama bottoms definitely work as well. ;)