Hello My Fellow Readers!
I just finished reading The Infernal Devices. Let me tell you, I fell in love all over again! I cried like a big baby, but that is nothing new. If you haven't read them yet, you better do so! I am trying to get my hands on the Bane Chronicles next! Anywho, I am so glad to see that I am getting positive reviews. I know this story seems to be dragging on a little bit, but I love longer stories. Is this story seeming to be a little slow or fast for you guys and would you like the chapter to be longer? I know that Valentine really isn't in the picture, but he will be in the following Chapters. I just needed a few chapters where it was just Jace and Clary (if that makes sense). I love it when my readers gives me feed back!
I loved how Jace told Clary that she had a life worth living for ;) I'm planning on making their relationship progress a little slow. I really do hope that what I am writing is making sense.
Thank you all for staying with this story! I love the support. :)
Here is another Chapter, I hope that you enjoy it -as always. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Beware, it's long, so please enjoy!
The song that I used for this chapter is The Runaway by The Word Alive. I have been on a The Word Alive kick for the past few weeks. I think that my sister is getting sick of it! Haha.
I hope you enjoy it!
Love,
Lee
( One Week Later)
It's been a week since the confrontation with Jace and things started to slowly fall back into place. Clary started to go to school again and tried to stay on the down low from Valentine. He decided to come home early from his convention. He told his colleagues that he was "worried" about his grieving daughter at home and that he wanted to check up on her. Of course everybody took pity and let him leave. Clary knew that he was lying. He wanted to be home so he could keep an eye on her. It was weird, since Simon told Officer Lightwood about the abuse, Valentine had ceased on the beatings knowing that he was being watched but he started to drink more. Clary didn't know how long it would be until he started beating her again for things that she didn't do.
Clary still wore the make shift wrap over her wrist to cover her knew that the cuts were healing as she attended to them every night before she went to bed. Although it was a week ago that Clary almost killed herself, it felt like it was a million years ago. She still had the urge to cut and she would. But they would be hidden on her thighs and they wouldn't be as deep. Since the day she cut to deep, Jace was around her more often. He would ask if she needed help carrying her books (Clary was pretty sure it was because of her stitches) or if she needed anything at all. Clary would politely refuse his help saying that she could handle herself but Jace would laugh and take her books anyways. It was nice to have the company but it was weird to have the entire student body stare at them and whisper things. Clary figured that there were rumors about her and Jace about being together but she didn't care. It wasn't as if she liked him or anything. Only as a friend. She knew that Jace knew that she was still cutting and would talk to her about it. She would only listen partially. She knew that he cared but she knew that he didn't really grief of losing Simon was still heavy on her shoulders. Although she would never tell anyone that she held the burden of having it being her fault for his death. Clary felt as if she was slowly going insane with all the guilt on the inside of her but she would appear as if nothing was going on on the outside.
When Clary returned to school her teachers told her that they understood and just gave her the assignments that she missed. The only teacher who had seen right through her was Luke Garroway. He knew that something was going on in Clary's home life but he didn't want to bring anything up because he was afraid that she may feel targeted. So when she came back to school, he was elated to see her. He had a soft spot for her. He greeted her when she walked through the door and only nodded his head as Jace when he followed behind her. He noted that Jace was caring Clary's books and he looked at Clary. He noticed at the sleeve of her long sleeved shirt that there was an edge of a white bandage sticking out. Curiosity spiked as he noted the bandage. As soon as the bell rung, Luke stood up from his desk, greeted his class and started his lesson.
Jace had placed his hand on the back of Clary's chair as Mr. Garroway started class. He knew that Clary was putting up a front but he didn't want to call her out on it. Since she started coming back to school and he knew that Valentine was back in town, he made sure to keep a sharp eye on Clary. He watched her as she vigorously scribbled down notes that Mr. Garroway was writing down on the chalk board.
The hour seemed speed by. The bell rung for the hour to be over. The students started to pack up their things and file out the door. Before Clary and Jace made it out the door, Mr. Garroway called out.
"Clary, could you please stay for a minute?" Clary hesitated, she looked at Jace who only shrugged his shoulders but his eyes shone encouragement. He leaned so that his lips were by her ears, "I will only be outside the door." And with that, Jace walked out of the room to stand by the door. Clary turned away from the door and walked over to Mr. Garroway's desk.
Luke smiled at Clary as she stood in front of him. She returned his smile with a small one. She had always liked Mr. Garroway. In around a bout way, she felt that he was more of a father than Valentine was.
"Clary, it's so nice to see that you have returned to school. How are you doing?" Mr. Garroway asked as he looked at Clary. He could see that in her green eyes that there was a storm of emotions but her face was a clean mask. So much like her mother, he thought to himself. Clary shrugged in response as she looked away his so that she was looking at anything besides him.
"I guess I'm okay." This seemed to unsettle Luke, he knew that something was up but he didn't want to provoke her.
"Well, if you ever need anything Clary, I am more than willing to talk.. I know what's it's like to lose a loved one. I mean it, it you need someone to talk to I am here." Mr. Garroway emphasized the word talk. Clary was confused as to why he was telling her this now. She understood that he may be concerned about how she was dealing with Simon's death, but there seemed to be a double meaning behind his statement.
Clary nodded her head and smiled at him. "Thank you Mr. Garroway, I will keep that in mind." Luke returned her smile and dismissed Clary with a wave of his hand. He watched as Clary walked out of his room as his smile started to slip off of his face. He watched as students of his next class filed into his room. Luke looked away from the door to fix his eyes that laid on his desk. He vastly studied the prep notes for his next lesson.
As promised, Jace was standing outside the door way of Mr. Garroway's room. He back was pressed up against the wall, he seemed to be lost in thought when Clary placed herself in front of him. Jace ripped his eyes away from studying the wall on the opposite side to look at the little red head that stood in front of him. A lot has changed for Jace in only a short amount of time. He was slowly but surely growing closer to Clary and he cherished her friendship. He seemed to calm down a little with trying to make sure that Clary didn't fall off the deep end again. He knew that it wasn't his responsibility to watch over another human being but he felt drawn to Clary. He always had and he couldn't quite understand as to why.
When their eyes locked onto each other, Jace could tell that Clary was troubled with something. He pushed himself off of the wall so that he was closer to her. He brought his free hand that wasn't holding both of their books to rest on her right shoulder.
"Hey, is everything okay?" He questioned. After a moment of hesitation, Clary replied.
"Kind of. It was weird. Mr. Garroway asked me if everything was okay and then he told me that if I needed to talk, that he was more than willing to listen. But there was a double meaning behind his words as if applying that he knew that something was going on besides me grieving over Simon's death." Before Jace said anything, he turned Clary around so that could make their way to their next class. The hand the rested on her shoulder moments ago was draped over both of her shoulders now so that he could talk to her in a lower voice so that the other students couldn't overhear their conversation.
"Maybe you should confined yourself to Mr. Garroway. He could.. Maybe help with the situat- What's wrong?" Before Jace could finish his thought, Clary had stopped in the middle of the hallway. Her emerald green eyes were piercing into him.
"No. I couldn't do that. If I get anyone else involved with my messed up life, I could get them killed as well." Clary whispered at the last part. "Valentine is ruthless."
"But if we had an adult - a trusted teacher- on our side, Clary we could get you out of there. You would be safe. You wouldn't have to fear going home." Jace was in front of her now.
"Then what Jace? I don't turn eighteen until the end of the summer so it's not like I can live on my own. I have no idea where my mother is and Jon refuses to answer my phone calls." Clary looked away from Jace so that she was looking at the tiled floor of the school. It killed Jace to see that Clary was loosing hope. He brought his band so that it was resting under her chin. He lifted her small delicate chin so that she was looking into his eyes again.
"Clary, remember I made that promise that I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I would make sure that you would have somewhere to stay... You could stay with me." The other students that walked by starred at the odd couple that was standing in the middle of the hallway. Most of them were starring wide at the school bad boy who was gently holding the chin of the art nerd of the school. But it seemed that Jace and Clary were in their own little world as they stared at each other.
Clary was the one to look away first. "We should probably get to our next class." As the trance was broken, Jace looked around to see that the hallway started to thin out of students. Before he could stop her, Clary grabbed her books from his grip and made her way down the hall. Jace stood where he was bewildered. With a shake of his head, Jace mumbled something under his breath that was incoherent and made his way to his class. He knew that he should probably go after Clary but he knew that she wanted to be alone. Jace mentally kicked himself for suggesting getting another person involved. He knew what Valentine was capable of doing but there was a part of him that Clary would get some professional help but there was a very small part of him that was being selfish as he was joyed that she would talk to him about her problems. He wanted to be the one that she confided in but he knew that he wasn't enough.
The rest of the first half of the day seemed to whiz past. Clary found herself in her last class before the bell would go off to signal for lunch. She dreaded going to lunch. She knew that she overreacted to Jace's suggestion. She was aware that he was trying to help her but she was afraid that if they ever put Valentine in his place, that she would only be alone. A small light of hope lit up when Jace suggested that she could live with him and then it was crushed by reality. She had a nagging feeling that he would only get sick of her like the other people in her life.
Clary's thoughts were rudely interrupted with the blaring noise of the bell signaling for lunch. The students that were surrounding her were now briskly making their way out of the classroom. Clary took her time with gathering her things and walking out of the classroom door. Clary let her hair curtain around her face to hide it. She merely made it ten feet out the door when someone grabbed her by the elbow. The touch was gentle so it didn't cause her to flinch away. Clary knew right away who it was without looking to see if she was correct. She kept on walking as if nothing was going on. Without much effort, Jace kept up with Clary's pace.
They were both silent as they made their way to the cafeteria. When they arrived, Clary immediately looked at the table where she used to sit with Simon. A feeling of loss and longing went through her body as she fought of tears. She composed her face so that it was indifferent- or which she hoped to be indifferent.
Jace saw Clary look at the table that she used to sit at. Jace gently grabbed Clary by the elbow and lead her to the table where Alec, Isabelle and himself sat. Clary didn't argue as they made their way to the table. She kept her eyes on the floor of the cafeteria.
When they reached the table, Isabelle and Alec were already there eating their lunch. Clary looked up from the floor to see the Lightwood siblings looking at her. Isabelle had a approachable smile on her face as Alec only gave her an icy stare. Jace moved his hand away from Clary's elbow to pull out a chair away from the table so that she could sit. With a quiet thanks, Clary sat herself down and stared at the table. The glare that she was receiving from Alec was making her feel uncomfortable and unwanted.
Jace was still standing behind Clary when he asked her if she wanted anything to eat. Clary shook her head.
"I'm not really hungry." Was all she said. Jace narrowed his eyes at her but didn't say anything else. He soon walked away from the table to stand in line first. It was a little awkward to with Alec and Isabelle as they both looked away from her to continue eating their food. Clary mentally sighed to herself as neither of the siblings tried to make conversation.
Within a few minutes, Jace was back with a tray full of food. He slid into the chair next to Clary so that he was sitting in-between her and Alec. He placed the tray in the middle and set a fork next to Clary. Clary looked from the fork to Jace and then back at the fork. Jace smiled at her confused expression and chuckled.
"It's quite a helpful utensil to eat with, but I'd rather use my fingers at times." He whispered into Clary's ear.
"I said that I wasn't hungry." Clary retorted as she looked away from the fork to look at him. She was met with his golden orbs fixed on her. Humor was dancing in his eyes. Clary narrowed her eyes so that she was glaring at him.
"And since when do I listen? Eat."
They both stared at each other for a few moments until Clary gave an exasperated sigh. She brought the fork to his tray and twirled it into the spaghetti. She brought the noodles and sauce to her mouth and ate it. Jace looked away from her with a smile on his face -knowing that he won- as he also dug into his food. Isabelle chuckled to herself at the odd coupling sitting across from her as Alec rolled his blues eyes in irritation.