A.N: New Chap. No replies today, sorry. Computer has betrayed me. Phone stayed by my side so uploaded the chapter. Typed on my phone so mistakes probable. Thank you for reading and reviewing and favoriting and following. I love every single one of you and am eternally grateful. A bit of a warning: Sensitive issues mentioned here, no disrespect towards anyone intended. Do skip this if you are very much disturbed by mention of you know, the disgusting thing that humans (I don't even want to call them humans) do sometimes that doesn't include mutual consent. I tried my best to warn you without writing the word here.
The week before mid-terms had been intense for Clary for more than one reason. Studies was one of them, of course. She had been dangerously behind in all the subjects and had put all her attention on books and the syllabus to actually get good grades and to put her mind off the other problem. Jace.
From that day they hadn't spoken to each other even once. He was avoiding her or she was avoiding him, no one could tell. Things were way too awkward and their last conversation hadn't been pretty.
That was two of her three problems. The third was that the kids at school had again started with the whispers and name-calling. This time there few new phrases with 'poor girl', for example, 'gold digger' . Somehow that video had gone viral in her school and some people were very amused by it while some were disgusted. Anyway people had something to say, some comment which just made her wanna plug her ears.
Jace had received a lot of love, though. Played by the gold digger, people thought he deserved some sort of sympathy bonanza. And to top it off there were girls hanging near him all the damn time.
'The rich, golden boy was open to a princess to heal his broken heart'
No, they hadn't actually put that as their school paper headline but Clary wouldn't be surprised if they did.
All of that drama and no preparation for mid terms had left Clary's morale quite low. Isabelle had practically started living with her, she had a perfect excuse - mid terms. In reality, she was just avoiding her parents after their fall out. Only Alec knew about her whereabouts all the time.
Speaking of Alec, even he was some what pissed at Clary because after her fight with Jace, he had lessened interaction with Alec too. Alec was too much of a gentleman to show her his annoyance but she could sense it. A very unlikely friendship had cropped up in this messy situation, Alec and Magnus had started hanging out more. In fact Magnus had been an absolute sweet heart, he had been around more with his sparkly personality, trying to lift everyone's spirit.
Clary looked up from the detailed diagram of the T.S of a dicot leaf and stared at the wall in front of her, sighing. She massaged her head when someone knocked on her bedroom door.
"Knock, knock." Her mother's head peeked in. She opened the door and came over to Clary's bed and smoothed Clary's hair with one hand in an affectionate gesture.
"Here, coffee. Just like you like it. You've been working very hard." Jocelyn smiled.
Clary gladly took the cup and held it in both of her hands and took a sip and immediately stuck her tongue out.
"What? " Jocelyn asked, concerned.
"Too hot." Clary waved her hands in front of her mouth trying to cool her scalded tongue.
"Coffee is supposed to be mentioned otherwise." Her mum said.
Clary continued trying to apply air to her tongue and then slowly blew on her coffee and took another sip carefully.
"You know, Clary, I can sense that something is wrong. You are troubled due to can talk to me, you know." Jocelyn pushed her books aside and sat down in front of her.
"It's nothing, Ma." She said.
"It can't be nothing. If you don't want to talk to me, at least talk to someone who can help. I don't like seeing my baby girl sad." Jocelyn caressed her face.
Clary pushed her books aside and snuggled into her mother's lap. She laid a like a little puppy curling up and placed her head on her mother's folded leg. Jocelyn pulled her daughter closer and ran her hand through her hair, detangling the curled mess and comforting her. Clary closed her eyes, enjoying her mother's touch and the reprieve from her torturous thoughts.
"It's just boy problems." Clary decided to leave out the whole gold digging fiasco because she knew that her mother would be very hurt.
"The Pretty Boy?"
Clary laughed, "Yes. He is very pretty and very angry at the moment."
"Why?"
"I don't know why he's good looking, Ma, but I would guess a genetic recombination between two very good looking individuals." She cheekily looked at her mother.
Jocelyn glared at her daughter, "Okay, you've been studying too much Biology. And you know what meant. Stop trying to intelligently avoid questions."
Clary snickered, "Just some stuff. We got into an argument and things got ugly. I saw him with another girl and called him out while we were fighting about some stuff that I did. So we both said things we didn't mean and now he wouldn't talk to me."
"He cheated on you?"
"I don't know. He says he didn't. I saw him kissing another woman, but he says that it was some kind of a job, lile acting."
Jocelyn's eyes narrowed, "Do you believe him?"
Clary shrugged, "Maybe. He didn't seem like a cheater and our status was not very clear during the time I saw him so I don't know if it counts as cheating. And I did some stuff which he was very right to be angry for."
"What did you do?" Jocelyn probed.
"I hurt him. I'd rather not say more. But the thing is that things are bad, really bad. And I don't know what to do." She sat up and faced her mother.
"Kissing another girl without clearly breaking up, counts as cheating. And whatever you did to hurt him, cheating is not an answer to save the day." Jocelyn said. She stopped suddenly and looked into her daughter's eyes, "Do you love him?"
Clary shrugged and looked away. Her mother couldn't know the exact extent of how she felt for Jace because that would bring up a 'why' and that 'why' included her experiences of the past few years. Her mother still seemed to understand her answer and pulled her chin towards her.
"This is not the end of the world, you know. If he loves you too, he'll talk to you. If he doesn't then you better move on because he doesn't deserve your love. And if this is real, then you will be able to work things out. And, Clary, never let yourself down in fear of letting other's down. You are a beautiful young girl and there is so much life ahead of you. If this ugliness between you is bothering you, get him to talk and apologise if you feel that you were wrong, but never apologise for being right." Jocelyn kissed her forehead, "Now, read a bit more and then come out, dinner will be ready. You'll love it." She smiled and went out, leaving Clary staring at the book but her mother's words in her mind.
Clary stood in front of her locker, getting a new pen for writing her exam. They had two exams in one day with a few minutes break. That week was for exams only, no normal classes. There was a chaos, students were running to teachers, getting last minute explanations and revising their study materials. But even among them, there were people who were a bit too well prepared for the exam so they had time for pettiness.
"Why study Clary? You're going to live off your rich husband anyway!" A girl said, laughing with her friends.
The hairs on Clary's neck rose. She had not expected this during exams. And she had heard stuff like this all over the week but you just never get used to insults.
"No, Kaitlyn. She needs to get a rich husband to live off and she dosen't put out or look pretty so that is unlikely." One of her friends retorted. Kaitlyn burst into laughter like she's heard the joke of the century.
Clary slammed her locker door and turned around to find the girls right in her face.
"You know, Sluty Clary, without Isabelle Lightwood by your side, you are nothing. You think we shut up that is why we don't remember what you were like?"
"Other's fame don't make you famous, just like living with money doesn't make you rich."
"I don't even get how she did go about that, she is a midget and not very pretty also. And without her outfits and precise make up, she looks like a baby, an ugly baby."
Clary clenched her fists in order to not say something because replying just worsens things and she had a lot of experience with these people. "Just let me go. I have an exam."
"Why do you need to write an exam if you have decided your career already. You want to be a gold-digger don't you?"
The girls started laughing in unison and that attracted attention. Their voices sounded too loud in her ears and her eyes started burning. She tried to clamp down on her tears.
"Easy, girls." A familiar voice said and a much taller body slid in between her and the girls, softly pushing her behind him.
"Jace!" Kaitlyn's voice turned breathy at once. Gone was the harsh bully.
"How are things going, girls? Prepared for your exams?" Jace asked with his signature smirk.
"Kind of." Kaitlyn said.
"So, what are you doing here?" Jace asked, his voice light but Clary could hear the underlying tension.
Kaitlyn looked at her, "Wow, Clary. Just look at the guy you played. He is so kind that he is protecting the girl who tried to con him."
"Protect her?" Jace's voice held a tinge of surprise, he turned around and looked at her. Clary looked up at his face. She missed him very much, mostly she missed the way his eyes lit up when he saw her. "Why will I protect her? She has her speciality already, she doesn't need to study. I was trying to see to your well being. If you don't revise, you won't get the grades you deserve. Come on, I'll study with you." Jace encirled Kaitlyn's shoulder with his arm and went with them, not even sparing her a glance. Her eyes filled with tears and she hastily rubbed them away just as the bell rang.
"Hey, Clary! Wait up!"
She turned around to see Isabelle running to catch up with her.
"Finally found you. So, how was your test?"
"Good. A few answers I am not sure about but they don't matter. Overall it was fine." Clary answered, with a small smile.
Isabelle rubbed the back of her neck, "Man! My neck is stuck. I've been studying too much, I can't wait to let loose."
Clary chuckled, "Yeah, Izzy, I know how much you've been studying. If it wasn't for me bribing you with shopping promises, you wouldn't have sat with your books."
"That's why I love you. And we are going to go shopping, it wasn't empty promises I hope."
Clary shook her head laughing, deciding at once that no more shopping was happening. She had decided to be more herself. She was going to say something else but then stopped when she saw Jace and Alec talking.
"Hey brother! Thanks for waiting." Isabelle called out drawing the attention of both of the boys.
Jace's eyes brushed over Isabelle to Clary. He quickly said something to Alec and slapped his back lightly and walked away. Clary sighed and walked over to Alec. "Isabelle, are you riding with Alec?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, then. I have the car today so I'll just drive home."
"Okay, bye." Isabelle hugged her lightly, "Text me when you're home ?"
Clary nodded and went on to the parking lot and got into her car, throwing her bag in the passenger seat. She turned the engine on and backed out of the school and started on her way home.
On the first red light, she looked out of the window and was surprised to see Jace. She contemplated speaking to him but decided against. When the light turned green, she saw Jace drive away and on a whim decided to follow him.
She frowned when he didn't go on the way to his home. She kept a bit distance and followed him for quite a while.
"Where the hell is he going?" she muttered to herself. He was driving along the road that took them to the outskirts of the main town. He stopped at a garage and got out of the car. He was met by a burly man who slapped him on the back like a father would do to his son. He smiled and said something and then handed over the keys of his car to the man. Then walked into the garage. Clary was completely confused as to why Jace would walk into the garage and was even more so when he came out in overalls. She decided to wait it out and then get some answers.
Clary suddenly jerked awake. She yawned and sat up and winced from a kink in her neck. She realised where she was still in her car and the sun had gone down. She looked at the garage and saw some people still working but no sign of Jace.
Looking at her watch her eyes widened, "By the Angel, how long was I asleep for?" Her phone also showed that it was eight in the evening and she had a dozen texts from her mom and Isabelle, Simon even one from Alec and Magnus asking if she was okay and where she was. She replied to her mom and Isabelle, when another text pinged in.
You ok? Why aren't you home?
- Jace
Her heart leaped. She was elated that he was worried about her, maybe Isabelle called him to ask if she was with him, but she couldn't exactly tell him that she fell asleep spying on him. So she didn't reply, instead she started the car and drove out of the alley she was hiding in. While passing the nearest bus stand she saw Jace standing with his bag slung on one shoulder and checking his phone with a frown. She pulled up near it and got out.
"Jace!"
His head snapped towards her and relief was instant on his face. He walked up to her.
"What are you doing here? You've got people worried sick!" He yelled.
"Where you one of them?" she asked, unabashedly.
His face softened, "What do you think?"
Her eyes searched his. "You have grease on your face." She reached up to touch his face but he averted her hand.
"What were you doing here alone, anyway?"
"I..uh!" she bit her lip, "What are you doing here?"
He looked flustered for a while and then sighed, "Let's just get out of here. Go, get into your car."
She raised her brows, "You want to come with me?"
"I'm not letting you drive back all the way home alone. You've put yourself in enough danger for one day." He walked to the driver's side of the car and held his hand out for the keys.
"I can drive."
He cocked a brow, "I know you hate driving."
Clary narrowed her eyes in disapproval but gave him the keys anyway. She git into the passenger side, throwing the bag to the back seat.
"So, will you answer me now? What were you doing in the garage in coveralls?" She asked.
They had been driving for about thirty minutes in silence. Jace looked at her curiously, "How do you know that?"
"I may or may not have been following you." She admitted guiltily.
"That explains what you were doing out of town alone after school. You followed me here, seriously?"
"It was a lapse in judgement, anyway, what's done is done, tell me what you were doing."
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, while drumming his fingers on the wheel nervously, "I work there."
"You, work?" She asked, surprised, "For what? Fun?"
"Yes, Clary. My version of fun is to get to a garage after school and get grease on me and work on cars and get my hand freaking injured!" He said, sarcastically and held his right hand up where she saw a cloth was tied around three of his fingers. She was too focused on his face before to notice the crude bandage.
"What happened?" She reached for his hand but was pushed back.
"It's nothing. I'll fix it later."
"You can't just fix it. You've got to let it heal."
"Yeah, that's not going to happen because healing takes time and I've got a dearth of that."
Clary was becoming more confused by the second. "I don't understand, school isn't that time consuming. And why do you work? It's not like you're saving up for college? Has your father disowned you?"
Jace sighed and turned the car left and came to a stop. "I work for money, just like every single person."
Clary frowned, "And ?"
"I got responsibilities on me, I need to keep two people alive and living in a almost fine condition, which takes money."
Clary's head was reeling, "You are not making any sense." Then something dawned on her, "Wait, is this about Kit and Mrs. H ? Does your father not pay them enough that is why you work to give them the money?"
Jace closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed his temples, he sighed and opened his eyes. "Can we not do this here. I'll tell you what you want to know, but not in this car on the side of the road with other's honking at us."
Clary got the feeling that it was better to agree with what he said so she nodded. She had a sinking feeling in her gut, what he was about to disclose was not going to be pretty. She had to keep an open mind and say the right things otherwise she knew how quickly he pulled away.
Jace pulled up in front of her house, surprising her.
"How did you know where to go?"
"Isabelle gave me directions a while ago, I'm good with navigation." He shrugged.
When Clary didn't move, he asked "You plan to sit here till tomorrow ?"
"But you said.."
"I have no problem in meeting your parents if you don't. "
Clary hesitated for a moment and then nodded and got out of the car. Both of them walked up to their house. Jocelyn opened the door and immediately pulled her daughter into hug and then pushed her away and pulled her into the house by her hand.
"Ouch! Mom, you're going to pull my hand out!" Clary finally freed her hand and rubbed her shoulder, wincing.
"And someone could've kidnapped you! You didn't tell anyone and stayed out for four hours after school!"
"I'm sorry. And could I get a glass of water ? And I'd appreciate a bit less yelling, Jace has yelled at me enough." Clary went and plopped down on the couch. "Oh! And while yelling at me, you missed Jace standing here."
Jocelyn handed her the water, "Oh! So you are Jace. Isabelle was convinced that she was with you."
"I am Jace, Mam. And she was not with me, I ran into her and accompanied her home. "
"Thank you for coming with her. I appreciate it." Jocelyn said that with a finality in her voice. Jace seemed to take the hint and turned to go but Clary took his hand.
"Mom, would it be okay if he stayed for a while? I have some stuff to revise for the next exam, he's good at it." She lied smoothly.
Jocelyn raised an eyebrow, "Okay, if you say so."
"Thank you, Mom." Clary smiled. Jocelyn gave her a nod as if to say 'I trust you.' and went back to her work.
"Come on." Clary asked him to follow her.
She entered her room and kept her bag on the bed. She turned to Jace and found him looking at the ground, smirking.
"What ?" She followed his line of gaze and flushed, she rushed to the cupboard and stuck her black lacey push-up bra all the way in. "Sit."
"On the bed ?" he asked suggestively.
"No one the floor." She said seriously. He looked confused for a moment, searching for the sarcasm but probably found none so he tried to sit on the floor Indian style with his long legs bent out awkwardly which made her chuckle.
"Get up, goofball, I was kidding." She offered him a hand which he took and pulled himself up.
"You called me a goofball? Seriously?" he feigned offence.
"Yeah, you are a goofball. " She ruffled his hair, revelling in it's softness.
"Hey!" He swatted her hand away and then winced, realising that he had used his bad hand.
"We have to do something about that."
"No, it's fine."
"It's not, and it's going to get worse until you get it looked at. And you have to tell me what happened, I won't know what to apply otherwise." Clary sat in front of him and took his hand and started to unwrap the white cloth when he didn't protest. She saw his skin and winced. The first three fingers were red, welted. And his palm had light burns.
"What the hell did you do to your hand? This is nothing ? You are not going to move an inch while I bring the first aid box." she ordered him and went out to fetch it from her parent's room.
Her mother had earphones plugged in and was painting away. She quickly opened the closet and got the box out and went back to her room. Jace hadn't moved like she had said. She sat down with a bowl of ice water and took his hand in her lap, dabbing the burns with cotton dipped in ice water, cleaning the threads of the cloth that stuck to the wound. She got some burn cream and slowly applied it to the worst parts, blowing on it to lessen the pain.
"That's the best that I can do. Apply ice to redness, it should go down, and keep it open. Do you have this ointment at home ?" Jace was staring at her, "Jace, do you have this at home ?" She held up the tube.
He seemed to be shaken out of whatever world he was lost in, "Yeah, maybe."
"If you don't, get it. The burns should heal in a few days but you have to apply this daily."
He nodded.
She looked at him curiously, "What are you thinking ?"
"Nothing, it's just you were so attentively fixing my hand, it reminded me of my mom, when she used to bind my wounds like that. I was young, maybe about six or seven, I was very uncoordinated, I tripped and scraped my knees, she did the same things then." He smiled softly.
Clary's hand rose, as if on it's own, and caressed the side of his face, she leaned up and softly kissed his forehead. She found him looking intensely into her eyes, searching for something. Maybe a sign. She leaned back in and pressed her closed lips softly on his for a few seconds and then left the room with all the medical supplies she had brought.
Jace sat alone, looking at the faded orange wall of Clary's room. The room looked old, with use and love. He looked around seeing a dresser which had a little make-up stuff and hair ties. Her bedside table had notebooks stacked on them and a chair in her room, near her clothes cupboard had loads of books on them. One of the walls had a window, which was partly open but curtained, and beside that a hanging bookshelf which had loads of drawing notebooks and a few storybooks. The room was plain but personal. Jace looked at his injured hand. It was white in some patches because of the ointment and red in other. He had been a fool to touch the heated engine and now he would have to grit his teeth through the next few days till his hand completely healed. It was going to scar, he was sure, but what was a few more scars for him. The burnt patches were itching and burning but he ignored it, waiting for Clary to return from wherever she went a few minutes ago.
He had been surprised by Clary many times that evening, when she suddenly turned up at work with innumerable questions, then when she actually agreed to letting him meet her mother. Taking care of his hand with the adroitness of a nurse and the care of a mother, but most of all, when she actually kissed him, twice. All of them were very pleasant surprises, of course. Wherever she was involved and at peace, it could be nothing but pleasant for him. But he was stuck in a dilemma. He couldn't decide on whether to let her in and be completely honest or be evasive.
He had decided on their first date that he would let her in slowly. He felt that she could take it, that they could take it, but after learning about her past, he couldn't decide.
After mulling over it for a while, he just decided to go for it. They were already over and Clary wouldn't be harmful. Even if they never got back together, even if telling her the truth wiped out there chances of being together, he had to tell her because someday, if he stayed in her life, she was going to know. And he didn't plan on letting her go so easily, if nothing else he would content himself with just being her friend because having her in his life in any form was better than going back to what it was like before.
Clary splashed her face with more water. She had been just standing at the sink in the kitchen for the last ten minutes, occasionally splashing her face with cold water.
"He is the one, isn't he ?"
She turned to look at her mother, questioningly. "How did you ?"
"What gave it away ? Well, other than the 'pretty' part, it was how you were acting around him. And did you think I missed the bandage on his hand and then you sneaking in and getting the first-aid box? Other then that, I am a mom, you just get a sixth sense."
Clary sighed, there was no use denying, she had been outed to her mother. She opened her mouth to defend her actions but was interrupted by Jocelyn.
"Wait, I told you that I trust you and I meant it. You sort out your issues like the intelligent and responsible girl I know you are. And he was willing to accompany you home safely, only a good hearted person who cares for you will do that, so I hope that things work out for you." Jocelyn kissed her daughter's forehead. Clary smiled and turned to go back to her room.
"Oh! And Clary, your father is voming home late today so if Jace wants, he can stay for dinner."
She nodded and went to her room. Jace was sitting there, fidgeting with his t-shirts edge. "Um, my mother is asking if you'd like to stay for dinner."
He looked up at her, confused at the sudden offer. "I..uh."
"My dad's not coming home until later, so." She quickly supplied.
"Yeah, I guess. I have no problem. I'll just text home."
"Ok." She went near the bedpost and stood, leaning on it.
"Clary, I have to tell you something." Jace suddenly said, after a few minutes of awkward silence. "And it might change how you think of me."
Clary knew that those words could never go somewhere good but she was eager for answers so she nodded, tightly. Jace seemed nervous and kept running his hand through his hair and looking at everything but her face.
"I.. uh. I don't know how to start." He finally met her eyes.
"The beginning would be a nice place." She tried to lighten the mood but that didn't work because he went back to observing her room for a while and then blurted out the one thing she never even imagined he would say.
"I am not a Wayland. I am not Wayland's son. I am a Herondale."
She let it sink in for a while, probably making Jace even more nervous because he stole glances at her face, trying to read her, before giving up and just staring at his hands.
She finally found her voice, "Wait, what ? You are not Jace Wayland ?"
"I am for all school business but not really, no."
"I'd like further elaboration, please."
"I advise you to sit down because this is going to take time."
Clary thought it was prudent to take his advise because she had a feeling that she was about to be flattened by some world changing information.
"I am not Wayland's son in any way. Not biologically, nothing. My mother is Celine Herondale and my father was Stephen Herondale. " he paused, "the house keeper of the Wayland Manor is my mom and Kit is my brother, biologically
half-brother, we have the same mum."
"That is why Kit kept calling you his brother and Mrs. H is Mrs. Herondale ?"
He nodded, "Precisely."
She had never seen him so conflicted and pained, as if divulging his secrets was physically straining him. She almost asked him to stop but he spoke again.
"My father was a worker in Wayland's firm, a mere worker who caught his eye and grew in position very quickly. We used to live in New York, Brooklyn. It was me, dad and mum. We were happy and getting financially more stable day by day. I was a kid, about 10 when things started to go wrong."
His eyes were fixed on the ground, "My mother was raped, I didn't know about which until later, and my father was killed. All because of Wayland and his shady business." His voice held a deep hatred which he must have been masking before. "We were suddenly out on the streets in a few months span and I didn't understand anything happening to us but knew better than irritating my mother who was trying her best. Things changed when she found she was pregnant, she kept the baby, of course. We had no food or shelter and I was going to have a baby brother. That's when she went to Wayland again, in spite of what he had done to her and us, he gave her a job."
He suddenly looked up, intensely at her, and she saw that his eyes were shining with something she hadn't seen before. He took both her hands in his own, forgetting about his wound, "Clary, you have to understand that what my mother did was to save me and Kit. She loves us to the end and we do the same. I'd do anything for her and my brother." He said with conviction.
Clary didn't know how to respond to this situation and to what he had just said. So she did the only thing she could. She slowly took her hands out of his grip and fixed his wounded hand slightly and then pulled him into a tight hug.
He continued speaking, never returning the hug. "My mother used to do clerical work at the firm till Kit was born. I dropped out of school for a while and stayed at home and looked after the baby. It was rough but then things started sorting themselves out with Mom working two jobs and me going back to school. I was in middle school when the bullying started. Word got out of our situation and people called my mother unspeakable things. I was a chubby kid, right before I gre taller, so I was made fun of too. Kids said mean stuff to me, like I was going to eat all the food in my poor home and make my brother starve, that I hated my baby brother. That got to me. I started fights, I hated school but never said anything to Mom because she was stressed enough."
Clary couldn't believe what he had gone through. Tears sprang to her eyes and she scrubbed them away, pulling back and looking at him. His eyes were clouded with dark memories. Her skin was crawling thinking of horrible things this beautiful boy had endured but not turned bad himself. How many scars did he hide ?
"You don't have to say more, Jace." She whispered.
"I want to." He whispered back, "I need to say this to you. I need you to know exactly who I am. I don't want to hide from you anymore."
She nodded. He cupped the back of her head and kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger, making her close her eyes and breathe him in.
"It was then I met Magnus. He was a senior kid. You know Magnus, back then he was just as flambyoyant as he is now, just a bit less confident. He was pushed around a lot too. We quickly became very good friends. He was a hit with little Kit who was a year or two old. He kept me sane for the rest of middle school and the first two years of high school. Then Wayland got sick and decided to move here. He offered my mother the job as a house keeper and she took it and we moved with him. I was surprised when he asked me to go to school as his kid, so that he could keep a clean image. He offered to raise my mother's pay if I did that. So we came here, I became Jace Wayland, the rich guy and hid my true identity as well as my family." Jace finished. "I work in the garage for money for my family. Kit needs to start school soon and I am not letting my brother's future go to waste." he said.
"Alec saw me before in the garage. His car had broken down and I had fixed it. So when he saw me at school, he cornered me so I had to tell him the truth, most of it, at least." Jace looked at her intently, "Clary, you were never in the equation. I was not supposed to have friends close enough to want to go to my house, it was dangerous. That is why when Wayland saw us at the house he was angry. I was just going to graduate and then leave, but I met you and everything changed. I wanted to tell you everything from the start but never got the chance."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner ?" Clary asked.
"I was scared. I saw that you were this amazing girl who somehow wanted to be with me but with your popularity and how Sebastian spoke of you, you didn't seem to be the kind of girl for a loser like me. All of the Jace Wayland act is fake. Jace Herondale is dirt poor and trying to figure life out and keep his family alive at the same time. And then with the video, I was scared for a different reason. When you explained to me why you did stuff, I thought that you would never want to be in the life of a person with so much baggage like me." He quickly added, "My family is not baggage to me but they could be to you. But then I figured that if I wanted to have you long term, as friends at least, I'd have to tell you the truth at dome point, so why not now."
Clary sighed and gave him a lopsided smile, "Well, I love Kit. Mrs. H seems kind and absolutely nice, even though I met her once, she is a hero if your story is anything to go by. And that Wayland house was too much for me, the little house is perfect."
He smiled. "She is a hero. I didn't understand when I was a kid, but everyday, as I grow up, I value her more."
Clary returned the smile. "I don't even care if you are rich or poor or a vampire. As long as you are still you, I love .. to be friends with you."
Jace smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "That is all I can ask."
They sat in a comfortable silence, just looking at each other. Jace cleared his throat and stood up, "I should go. Mom and Kit will be waiting."
"But you said.." Clary stood up too.
"I think I should leave, I'll stay someday else, if you have everyone else over." He said and turned to leave.
Clary understood what made him change his mind. "Jace, I .."
He suddenly turned around almost running smack into her, he was standing close, looking at her, "Clary, that day in the club, I was working for Wayland. I brought you all to the house so I had to pay him up. And I don't exactly have money to spare so I helped him get a deal. Trust me when I say that I hated every second that I had to touch that woman."
Clary was again reminded of how it felt to stand there and see him with someone else. "I get it, Jace. It's okay. I forgive you, if I had anything to forgive."
It took everything in her not to jump up and kiss him like nothing else matters and feel his arms around her but she held back. Something telling her that they were better off as friends without other expectations getting in the way. She loved him but she needed to protect herself and tonight had shown her more of him but also made her realise that she didn't know anything about him at all. They had fallen head first into the relationship without ever being friends, then broke up and then it wasn't smart to jump back in again even though the hope and expectation in his eyes made her want to do so. He looked at her like that for a few more moments, as if waiting for her to fill in the gap and get back togehter. His eyes filled with a sad resignation when she didn't after a while. His lips turned up in a smile which she hated. She'd rather see him cry than smile like that. That defeated , resigned smile with no sparkling eyes or a hint of a smirk was not Jace.
She walked him out, standing at the door she asked, "How will you go home?"
"I will figure it out."
Clary was again gutted by the masked tire and defeat in his eyes as he spoke. It felt like those words meant something else, something other than their apparent mundane meaning. He leaned down and softly kissed her on the cheek, once. A light brush of the lips, almost like nothing touched her at all.
"Good bye, Clary. Have a good night."
A.N: I figured that was a good place to end. So, how are you feeling ? Tell me in the reviews. And as I said, my computer is broken so I will reply to reviews in the next chapter. Typing all that on my phone is a bit hectic. But tell me what you think? Did you expect this? Or were you surprised? Did I make you cry? Poor Jace. More of him is to come, wait and watch, rather read.
Love, Thea.