Hey, long time no see. Sorry for being shitty at updating – I'm on holiday, and I'm trying to finish all my holiday homework in the last week (… not the best idea, I know)

Skiing is great – thanks for those of you asking, I had a fall a few days back and got winded so bad I actually passed :S … The experience should help with my writing a few chapters time though… ;)

And this chapter is dedicated to S.L, my 300th review!? – Thanks for the constant support S.L :D

WARNING: Language and mentioned animal abuse (sorry)


Ice Cold

11

Jace woke up groggily. The sun was too bright and fuck did his mouth hurt.

He clumsily reached for one of the pain killers he spotted on the bedside table and downed it with the water that had been left next to it.

He didn't remember leaving them there. He didn't remember even walking to his room and going to sleep.

He put a heavy hand over his forehead and groaned loudly. Boy did his mouth hurt. He rolled his head in discomfort, waiting for the painkillers to do their thing.

It was only when the pain started to go down a bit that the events of the day before slapped him in the face. His eyes flung open and he moaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Why did he let Clary come with him? That was beyond embarrassing. And knowing her, she'd tease him about it for the rest of his life.

Particular conversations were starting to come back to him. He remembered hugging and comforting her, but what was she upset about? He rubbed his temples and tried to recall all he could from the day before. He needed to remember it all before he got out of bed and faced the wrath of their teasing.

She hadn't been crying, he suddenly realized, she'd been laughing… at him.

He rolled his legs out of bed and left his room, not bothering with fixing his bed mussed hair, making his way slowly to the kitchen.

Clary was sitting with her legs tugged to her chest, holding her phone out. Isabelle sat right next to her and both of them were pajama clad and had bright red faces, laughing enough to make it look painful.

This couldn't be good.

He walked up behind them and crouched down to see the paused image of his face on the small screen of Clary's phone.

"You filmed it?!" He exclaimed, clutching his jaw in pain when he opened it too wide.

Clary just nodded, laughing too much to talk.

"Oh my God Jace. This… this is comedy gold." Isabelle pointed to the small screen.

"It got better in the car. But I couldn't film it." Clary said oh-so-helpfully.

"Seriously?" Isabelle asked, "Tell me!"

Before Clary opened her mouth, Jace was already sending her a threatening glare, she stopped herself. Clever girl.

"Aww, Is Jacey-poo embarrassed?" Isabelle asked, mischief written all over her face. She looked exaggeratedly between Clary and Jace, "Ooh.. should I leave? Do you guys want to talk alone? That was a pretty dramatic break up."

Jace felt a warm sensation in the pit of his stomach when he saw Clary blush deeply, but he ignored it and moved to cuff Isabelle on the back of the head, messing her hair up.

Jace made his way to the freezer, pulling out an ice pack. He pressed it to his jaw and went back to the sofa, plopping himself down on the sofa. God that felt good. His mouth was still hurting like a bitch though. He needed ice cream or something, but Isabelle and Simon ate the last of it the night before.

"Where's Lewis?" Jace asked bemusedly.

"Sleeping." Izzy replied, standing up, "I'm going to go check on him." She said, before leaving the room.

Clary raised an eyebrow, her eyes following her as she left the room. "I don't know about you," She said, turning her attention to Jace, "But I am definitely sensing something going on."

Jace lay back confidently, "Don't worry, it's natural." He said, gesturing to himself, "People say it's the face..."

Clary opened her mouth and smacked him on the arm, "Between Isabelle and Simon, moron."

He was happy he managed to make her blush again. It was kinda cute.

"We better get ready." He said, getting up from the sofa.

"…For what?" Clary asked.

"I'm buying you a McFlurry remember?" He said, smirking at the surprise on her face, "You didn't think I'd forget now, did you?"

Clary blushed again, but quickly recovered. She looked up thoughtfully and stroked her chin. "Hmm… No. I don't remember anything about you buying me a McFlurry…" Jace's brows creased slightly, trying to guess where she was going with this, "I do remember you saying you would buy me something pretty similar though. What was it called again…?" Clary asked playfully, looking deep in thought. "A McFlurf?"

Jace rolled his eyes, and so it begins, "Ha. Ha. I think you'll find I won't be paying for either if I keep getting bullied."

Clary's jaw dropped, though still smiling, "Me? Bully you?"

Jace winked at her, ice pack still held to his jaw, and left for his room.


Izzy, Simon and Jace were all in the living room by the time Clary was dressed and ready. She hadn't bought any of her own stuff since it was a rather spontaneous sleepover, so she had to borrow some of Izzy's clothes.

"Ready?" Jace asked when he saw her enter the room.

Clary blushed when she noticed him look her up and down. She nodded and headed for the front door. Jace opened it for her and, just before he shut it they heard Izzy call out to them, "Clary! I'm calling a movie night tonight. Me and you."

Clary smiled and shouted back to her, "Okay. I'll see you back here."

Jace shook his head amusedly and shut the door behind them.

God it was cold outside. It hadn't settled, but it had begun to snow. Mind you, Clary couldn't complain – she loved the snow.

She walked silently by Jace's side, her hands stuffed deep into her pockets. She was confused, however, when he walked right passed the car.

"No car?" She asked.

Jace looked down to her, a small grin on his face. "I thought we could walk. It's just round the corner anyway."

Clary smiled and nodded her head enthusiastically. "I guess you got a say in where the house was when you moved here then."

"And what makes you think I have McDonald's so often? Maybe I don't like it."

"Yeah… I just assumed. Cause you know, I guess you have to go there pretty often to become bezzies with Ronald."

"Hey," Jace said, pointing a warning finger at Clary, "Your free McFlurf is in jeopardy."

Clary laughed, "I sincerely apologize."

"Is that all you have to say for yourself? That you 'apologize'?" He asked teasingly, grinning down to her.

"What? You want a poem?" She asked and Jace chuckled.

Clary pushed her fingers deeper into her coat pockets; it was getting colder. Though, it was beautiful. They walked under a canopy of trees, along a deserted road.

Clary could see the white snow flakes clinging to her red hair out the corner of her eye, the contrast striking.

Jace looked down at her curiously, "Your hands cold?" He asked.

Clary nodded, pulling them out her pockets out to reveal her small red hands. Jace reached into his own coat pocket, digging out a pair of grey gloves.

"Here," He said, passing them to her. "They're not amazing gloves but…"

She laughed; they had holes everywhere. She didn't mind though. She slipped them onto her small hands and smiled at how big they were for her. They dwarfed her hands.

Jace laughed, "You have small hands,"

Clary pouted, looking down at the gloves, "They aren't that small. Your's are just huge."

Jace pondered this for a moment, then shook his head, "Nah, you just have small hands."

Clary elbowed him and he laughed. "What were you saying about me bullying you?" She asked, peering up at him through her fluffy hood. He had pieces of snow stuck to his hair to, making it look even more golden than usual.

He wore his trademark smirk. "I see I've found someone's touchy subject."

Clary rolled her eye's as they turned round the curb. Jace held open the large, yellow door for her, following once she was inside.

There wasn't many people there so they walked right to the front, there not being any queue.

"Okay, Red, what'd you want?" Jace asked, leaning his arms on the counter.

"Red?" Clary asked.

"Yeah," Jace smirked, "You look like little red riding hood with that coat." He said, pulling her hood over her head and down to cover her eyes. She huffed and pulled it back off, dropping it onto her neck. "Plus, your hair is red."

"Bully…" Clary muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Jace asked challengingly.

"So what do you recommend?" Clary asked, swiftly changing the subject, "I've never had one of these before."

Jace gaped at her, "Seriously?" She shook her head and Jace turned his attention to the cashier, "Two M&M McFlur… rys, please." He said, hearing Clary giggle beside him.

The teenaged boy behind the counter looked at the two like they were insane, "You nuts? It's crazy-cold outside."

Jace only nodded, "How much?" He asked, pulling his wallet out.

"Depends. Large or small?" The boy asked.

Jace looked down to Clary briefly, she shrugged, "Large." He replied, the cashier typing busily into the computer.

"Five dollars." He said.

Jace paid the man and the drinks came soon after. Clary thanked him and opened the lid to look inside. "Looks like ice-cream." She said.

"It's not just ice cream. Try a bit."

"Looks like ice cream with M&M's in it."

"Exactly," Jace smirked, "And it makes it all that better."

Clary shook her head in amusement, smiling down at her cold dessert.

She frowned when she noticed Jace was headed for the door. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"… Out. I never liked the indoors," Jace said, opening the door, "Unless you want to stay here."

Clary shook her head, walking over to him and through the door, "Nah, I never liked the indoors much either." Jace grinned and walked out after her.

The snow had started to settle on the streets once now, laying a fresh sheet of pristine-white coloring over the polluted city.

The pair walked slowly, not any destination in mind, talking, teasing and laughing with each other until they found themselves at an old park. Jace led Clary over to a worn down, rusty swing set and they both took a place next to each other. Clary gripped the chain links with her over-sized gloves and they swung lightly in a rhythm that matched the other, eating their McFlurf's.

Clary noticed Jace regard the playground with a sort of tenderness. There was a blue slide that was more brown than blue now, a monkey-bar set, and a little tunnel fit for a small person to crawl through. It was all under the shade of the largest willow tree Clary had ever seen. Jace seemed to look at the playground with much more fondness than you'd think it'd originally deserve.

"You come here a lot?" She asked.

Jace grinned, looking down into his ice cream. "Came." He corrected, "I haven't been here in years." He said, scooping another mouthful of the cold dessert. "I came here a lot when my parents first died." He said, not meeting Clary's eye.

She could see the hesitation on his face. It was obviously a place that was very special to him, "We can go if you want. I don't want to-"

"No." Jace insisted, "I wanted to show it to you." He said, looking up to her for the first time, smiling.

Clary smiled and turned back to look at the playground. It didn't look like anyone had been here in years, apart from the odd piece of litter discarded on the ground. There was a small bank that led to a frozen-over lake, a picnic table looking over it. She imagined it must have been beautiful in it's prime.

Clary sighed in the silence, "There was this tree…" She began, twirling the tips of her hair around her finger, "I used to bring a book up there and read until it was too dark to see the words."

Jace smiled sadly, "Books. Like entering another life, running away from your own."

Clary nodded, taking another mouthful of her ice-cream.

Clary stared down, paralyzed in shock, at her big brother. There was blood everywhere. His face, his hair, his stomach… Oh God.

He was covered in scrapes and bruises from head to toe, a mere ghost of the hero Clary had grown up with by her side.

Her mom lay unconscious next to Jon and Valentine was hunched over him, trying frantically to give first aid to his son. Desperately trying to bring life back into his heart.

But he was gone, Clary knew it.

"Oh my God…" She breathed.

Valentine spun toward her wildly, rising to his feet in a heart beat. Clary jumped at the sudden movement and stared up into her fathers furious eyes.

"This is all your fault." He sneered, "You see that?" He yelled, pointing to her brothers lifeless form, "That, is because of you." He hissed.

Tears rolled down Clary's cheeks – in fright, in guilt, she didn't know.

"Dad…" She gasped, pleading with him.

"Shut the hell up!" He cried, bending so his face was right up in hers, "Get the hell away from my son." He said, pushing her shoulders. She stumbled back, landing heavily on her butt. Pain shot up through her own bruises and broken bones, but she ignored them valiantly.

"I don't want you coming to the hospital with us." He announced, hearing the wails of sirens in the distance.

Clary's eyes went wide – he'd never tried to separate her and Jon before. She had to go with him, she had to know if her brother was all right. And her mom.

"But Dad, I-"

"GET OUT!" He yelled, pointing off in a random direction, then turned his attention back to his first-born. He looked over his shoulder when Clary didn't move and shot her a murderous look, full or all kinds of hatred Clary didn't know people could possess.

Clary breathed in shakily, then got up on weak legs and ran for all she was worth. Her body felt like it was on fire, all the sore muscles, burns, bruises, all working overtime. Her arm was trickling blood, staining her clothes. She knew she needed to go to the hospital too but she couldn't bring herself to tell her father. Not then.

It was pitch black – maybe one in the morning. She ran blindly, her mind fogged in shock, completely overwhelmed. She found herself standing at the bottom of an old tree. The branches were weak and rickety – only sturdy enough for a small seven-year-old girl, but the greenery was dense. She climbed up, to the highest branch she could go without the branches snapping, hidden by the thick layers of leaves, and curled up into a ball.

She didn't cry. She sat on the branch for hours, shaking and scared to death for her family. And scared to death of her family.

"How about we go get your stuff?"

Clary almost jumped at the sound of Jace's voice, drawing her out of her thoughts. She looked to him in question, "…Sorry, what?"

"You know, for your 'girlie night' with Iz?"

"Oh, right." Clary nodded, "Yeah okay."

Jace smiled at her, getting up from the swing and holding a hand out to her. She took it and he helped her up.

"So did you enjoy your McFlurf?" He asked, his eyebrow raised and lip curled in amusement.

"I did enjoy my McFlurf." Clary replied, grinning and showing off her empty tub. Jace smirked triumphantly.

The two walked back to his house slowly, taking their time – they didn't have anywhere they needed to be.

When they finally got to his house, Jace ran inside to grab his car keys and quickly came back out, unlocking the doors. Clary sat down in the passenger side and smiled to herself. She liked Jace's car; it was the object that most reminded her of him. One of the backdoors had his name carved into the bottom of it, drawn in a childish scribble. There were marks on the roof where you could see the marks of stickers once put there, then peeled away. There was an old, coffee stained map-book in the pocket of one of the front seats – no satnav's, and, ultimately, it smelt like him.

She was willing to bet his parents had left it to him when they died; no way would a seventeen year old have this as their first car. His parents had obviously had it since he was a child, judging by the marks he had left in the back. Some people may have said it was messy or scarred, but she liked it more because of it. It had… substance.

Jace swooped in the drivers side and sat down, turning to her. "Sorry Clary, you can't sit there." He said solemnly.

Clary frowned; she had sat in his car plenty of times before, "What? Why?"

"There's a height limit." He said, pointing to the picture on her sunshield of a small child sitting in the passenger seat with a large red cross over it.

Her face fell when she realized he was joking, he was grinning devilishly. "Rude." She muttered, hiding her own smile away from him.

She heard him chuckle as he pulled the car into reverse and drove out the driveway and then down the street. "So where we headed?"

"Oh… uh," She hadn't thought yet that Jace was about to see where she lived. What she lived in.

She glanced up at his large, manicured house and compared it to her own. She couldn't think of a stronger polar-opposite.

Hesitantly, she started directing him to her house, it was about a ten-minute drive. When they finally arrived, she was almost tempted to not tell him to stop, that she didn't really live on that street. But she did.

"This one?" Jace asked, pointing at the house Clary had told him to pull into.

She nodded, chewing on her lip nervously. He drove alongside it wordlessly, pulling the gear into park.

"Do you want me to come in?" He asked.

On the one hand, she didn't really want him to see the shithole she lived in. But on the other, they should be able to avoid Valentine easily – It was about time for his 'mid-day hit' and he should be in the bar a few doors down by now. Plus, he had been nice enough to have her at his house, it was only fair she should show him her's.

"Yeah… okay. I don't mind."

Jace flashed her a grin and got out the car. Clary sighed before getting out her own side. They walked to the front door together, Clary playing with her fingers nervously before reaching for the door handle. She hesitated, turning to him, "Don't expect… much." She told him.

He just shook his head dismissively and Clary opened the door.

Stepping into the threshold if their little house, it smelt like it always did; whiskey, cigars and cat pee. She usually didn't think much of it, but now she was beyond embarrassed, having just spent the night at his amazing house to show him her own.

She suddenly wanted to clean up the house and use about four bottles of Frebreeze in attempt to get the smell out. But it was too late now.

She lead him up the narrow stairs and to the small door on the right; her bedroom.

She liked to think her bedroom apart from the rest of her house. She had painted the walls a bright purple, trying to make it appear brighter than the rest of the house. The floors were covered in different coloured rugs – mainly paint splattered.

It was small and had a single bed in the corner, most of the room taken up by her desk and various art supplies and easels scattered around. Her walls were covered head to toe in paintings, sketches, etchings, doodles. These seemed to take Jace's interest immediately, he went slowly around her room, studying each piece of art with admiration. Clary could feel her cheeks heat up.

"Clary… these are… I didn't know you could draw." He breathed, taking in her room.

"Yeah…" Clary said slowly.

"They're amazing, don't be embarrassed."

Clary's face flushed further and she played with her fingers again, "Thanks."

She quickly found all the stuff she'd need for the night and stuffed it into a small rucksack. They were about to get back into the car when Clary stopped, "I forgot my toothbrush, I'll be back in a sec." She said, before flinging her rucksack into the passenger seat and jogging back to the house. She quickly ran up the stairs, her footsteps thundering, and grabbed her toothbrush. She was just about to go back outside when she heard a gravelly voice call out, "He seems nice."

Clary froze.

First of all, what was he doing at home at midday? And second… had he really just spoken to her voluntarily?

She spun round to find Valentine in his seat in the living room, turned slightly to face her.

"Er… yeah. He is."

"Does he have a name?"

"Yeah…" Clary trailed off, looking at him confusedly, "Jace." She gave, inching round the kitchen counter. "...Did you want a drink or something?" She asked.

"No, I'm good thanks. I er… I gave up."

Clary's brows furrowed, "Gave up what?"

"I'm –" He coughed and looked away from her, "I'm tee-total."

Clary's eye's flung open. She was about to ask him why, when, but she thought better of it, maybe he'd change his mind if she questioned him on it – and she definitely didn't want that.

"Okay, that's good." She tried a smile and he rolled his eyes and turned away from her once more. "Well, I'm off." She said, turning for the door again.

"Where you going?"

What had gotten into him? He never cared what she was doing, "Friends house." She almost questioned.

She reached for the door and stepped out. Just before it clicked shut she heard him call out to her "Have fun."

Clary spent most of the car ride in silence, watching out her window.


Have fun.

Her father's words rang in her head like an echo reverberating off the walls of her skull. She couldn't remember the last time he had something like that. Ever. Well, after the fire at least.

And tee-total?! She would not in a million years think he'd give up alcohol. And so suddenly…

Something had changed in him. She could only hope it was for the better.

"Clary…" Jace trailed off, "What's wrong?"

Clary sat up straight, pushing herself away from the window, "Nothing."

Jace looked at her with a raised brow, he didn't buy it. "Come on, you were fine a few minutes ago." He pushed, then looked at her steadily in the eyes, "You can tell me, Clary."

Clary just shook her head, "I just… got stuff on my mind is all."

Jace still looked skeptical but he didn't push and focused back on the road.

Clary looked down at her hands, her mind reverting back to her father. Things had really changed the past few weeks. She had a new friend – one she would never have thought in a million years she would ever have a proper conversation with. Her best friend had been in a car crash. And now her father was actually willingly participating in a conversation with her, had actually asked her about a friend she'd bought home. He never cared about what she did. Ever. And now he was telling her to 'have fun'. She chuckled softly, the whole thing was unbelievable.

"Your hand's tell jokes or something?" Jace quipped.

Clary laughed and shook her head amusedly, her gaze travelling back out the window.

They were driving through a fairly clean suburb, the houses seeming to decrease in size the further down the road they went. There were two mothers pushing their babies down the sidewalk, the usual jogger crossing the road, a couple of kids riding their bikes. It was a perfectly typical scene. But something caught Clary's eye that she wished she'd never witnessed.

"You know, I never would have thought that-"

"Jace stop the car." Clary cut him off. Jace frowned at her, she looked at him wildly, "Seriously, stop the car."

He pulled over onto the side of the road. The moment the vehicle stopped, Clary was hurrying out the door, Jace following close behind.

"Clary," Jace tried as he powered towards her. She was running up the sidewalk, "Clary! What are you-"

His gaze travelled to where Clary had her worried eyes fixed.

A dirty man – maybe in his sixties – was standing on the porch of his house. His bright red, angry face stood out starkly against his food-stained white t-shirt that barely covered his large beer-belly.

At his feet was a small puppy – maybe a few weeks old. It cowered under him, completely at the man's mercy. He was screaming things at the dog even Clary's dad would never say. She didn't think she had ever seen so much disgust in a man's eye.

He lifted his leg once more, after yelling a round of profanities at the pup, and was about to strike once more when Clary sprinted forward.

"Hey!" She yelled.

Jace was quickly at her side, his expression one of pure anger.

The man put his foot back down and looked at the two teenagers that stood outside his house, both fuming. "What the fuck do you want?"

"You can't… You… What the… you can't," Clary stuttered to find words, anger fragmenting her speech. She might be able to handle a punch up between humans, there could be some sort of justification, but harming a helpless animal somehow crossed a line.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Jace yelled – his wording unfazed by his fury.

"The little rat fucking shat on my floor." The man fumed, looking back down at the dog, "Have to fucking house train him, don't I?"

"What? By beating it?" Clary said, her jaw hanging open in disbelief.

"Well how the fuck else am I meant to?"

"Are you serious? Clary stared at the idiot incredulously, "By shutting him outside for twenty minutes. Like normal people do. You don't kick them!"

"I didn't even want the runt in the first place." The man agued, "Fucking sister left it with me." He muttered.

"We're not just going to let you kick it." Jace announced.

The man shook his head in disbelief, "What the hell do you mean 'let me', I can do whatever the fuck I want. And two… teenagers aren't going to stop me." The man fumed.

"Well we can if it's against the law." Clary reasoned.

"Training your dog isn't against the law, sweetheart." The man sneered.

Clary frowned at the nickname, Jace didn't seem to like it either. "No, training isn't, but abusing is." He snapped.

The man glared at them, clearly at a loss for words. "You fuckin have 'im then. I'm not keeping it if he keeps shitting on my floor."

Before Clary or Jace could utter a word, the greasy man bent down and picked up the puppy, throwing it in the air toward them. Clary's heart stopped as it seemed to fly through the air in slow motion.

The throw was off and Clary had to leap forward to catch it. She caught it and started to feel herself topple over, but strong arms caught her in an instant, bringing her back to her feet.

She was furious. How could someone throw a puppy?! Her anger instinctively propelled her toward the man, but Jace's arms were still wrapped round her, restraining her from getting to him.

She looked up at Jace, pleading him to let her go. When she saw his stubborn face, she knew it wasn't going to happen. She turned back to the man and was about to start yelling things at him when Jace quickly muttered in her ear, "Let's just go. You won't do anything but anger him."

Clary bit her lip and tried to suppress her fury. She sighed, but eventually nodded, turning back towards the car, Jace by her side.

When they were in the car, Clary lowered herself carefully into the passenger seat, cradling the puppy. She took a proper look at it for the first time.

It was grey with black spots and cute floppy ears. She noted it was a she – not a he. It was about the length of her fore-arm, she guessed it was only a couple weeks old. Her eyes were brown and opened wide, she was one of the most adorable things Clary had seen. To think what that man had done to it made her blood boil.

The puppy was shaking vigorously and whining softly, looking fearfully up at Clary, it nearly tore her heart.

She held it closer to her body to try and warm her up, stroking the soft fur comfortingly.

Jace shut her door and quickly ran round to his side, sliding in his seat and looking over at the puppy.

"She's terrified." Clary muttered, looking down at the shaking pup. Jace reached out a hand to stroke it. "What are we going to do with her?" Clary asked softly.

"Well…" Jace trailed off, "What can we do with her?" He asked, "I'm not sending it to a kennel, look at her." He pointed.

Clary nodded, agreeing with him instantly. Then her face fell, "I can't keep her. My dad would blow up." She muttered sadly, her eyes downcast.

Jace paused, "Well… I'll have to ask Mayrse. But…" He trailed off.

Clary looked up to him with excitement, "You would take her?" She enthused, her eyes shining.

Jace shrugged, "Yeah why not? I've always wanted a dog."

He grinned at the large smile that was plastered on Clary's face from his words. She reached over to hug him in excitement. He returned it, both making sure not to crush the puppy held between them.

She pulled away and squealed in happiness, then looked down to the puppy that was starting to relax in her arms, "We got a new home for you." She said, jiggling her arms a bit.

Jace chuckled at Clary then pulled the car into gear, driving off in the direction of his house.

"But it's not mine." He said as he turned the corner.

Clary looked up at him, eyes wide and sad. He smirked at her, "It's ours." He finished, "I may have the house for it but you're the one that saved it."

Clary grinned at him and nodded, "Okay." She said quietly, the puppy falling asleep in her arms.


They pulled up in the Lightwood's driveway fifteen minutes later. The pup was fast asleep on Clary's lap. When the car came to a stop, she picked it up carefully so not to wake it, Jace walking round to her side to open the door because she couldn't do it herself.

He helped her out, both being careful not to jostle the small dog, and moved to the front door.

Jace led her through his house and into the kitchen where Isabelle and Simon seemed to be cooking lunch. Well, Clary supposed they were meant to be cooking lunch, it looked more like they were having a flour war, both of them covered head-to-toe in the white powder and laughing wildly.

"Uh… Iz" Jace coughed, alerting the two to their presence. They both froze like they'd just been caught stealing from the cookie jar. Isabelle quickly recovered, "It's about time you two showed up. We were-" She paused when her eyes fell to the sleeping puppy Clary was holding carefully, "…Okay."

Simon frowned, stepping round the kitchen island "Is that a dog, Clary?"

Clary nodded. "We found some douche with her." She explained quietly, "He… gave her to us."

"… So some guy just gave you a dog?" Simon queried.

Clary bit her lip, "Not exactly." She admitted, leaving Jace to launch into the story of how they got the dog.

"Oh my God," Isabelle gasped, a hand covering her mouth, "That's awful. Maryse has to let us keep her." She said, moving towards Clary to start stroking the pup.

"What type of dog is it?" Simon asked, sitting on the island stool, his broken arm resting on the counter.

Clary frowned and looked down at it, "I don't know."

Isabelle frowned, "Well… it's got pretty unique markings. Judging how big it is from how young it looks, and by the tail and the ears, I'd say it was a Great Dane."

Simon raised his brows, "A Great Dane?" He repeated, Izzy nodded, "Like the huge, Scooby-Doo, giant, biggest-dog-in-the-world kind of Great Dane?" He asked, looking down at the tiny puppy.

Izzy nodded once more and smiled down at the small animal asleep in Clary's arms, "I've always liked big dogs."


After Simon and Isabelle had cleaned themselves up, the four sat on the large L-shaped sofa in the living room/snug bit, the sleeping puppy in the corner on a pillow, Isabelle and Clary stroking it.

"So," Jace said, "names."

Clary almost forgot they needed to name it.

"Er… Rover." Isabelle suggested.

"Boys name." Jace dismissed.

"Coco." Clary gave.

"Too cliché."

"…Buster."

"Boy again."

"Annie."

"My Grandmother's called Annie." Simon shook his head in disgust.

"Ginger."

"She's grey."

"Rosie."

"Too… feminine."

"You're the one who insists on a girl name."

"Scooby Doo."

"No, Simon."

"…Scrappy Doo."

"Just no, Simon."

"…Scooby Dumb?"

"Why would we name her after you?"

Simon glared at Jace.

"Lucy."

"Cliché."

"Daisy."

"Another flower."

"Okay," Isabelle put her hands up in surrender, "Her name can be confirmed later. For now we can just temporarily call her… Dog."

Clary raised an eyebrow, "Dog?"

"Can you think of a better one?" She asked.

"Cat?" Simon smirked.

Everyone turned to him, "Simon… just give up." Isabelle pleaded. Simon chuckled.


"Pfft," Isabelle scoffed, "Like a door could float."

They were watching the Titanic which - apparently - happened to be Isabelle's worst film, but they had to watch it since they had dialled it in.

They were at the part where the boat had sunk and Rose was on a door, holding onto Jack's hand.

"Selfish cow, he's freezing in the water and she's just lying on that freaking door like it's a bed in a five star hotel. This is meant to be a romance, right?"

Clary couldn't help but giggle at Isabelle's antics.

"She can't just say 'I'll never let go' and then let go of him two seconds later. If she was 'never' going to let him go, she should have sunk to the bottom with him."

Clary put a hand to her forehead and chuckled, making a note to never watch the film with Izzy again. "I think she means like, she'll never let go of… the memory of him?"

"Well that's a shitty promise." She argued, "She should-"

She was interrupted with Jace walking in to the kitchen. Isabelle looked over her shoulder to him, "Hey, no joining. Girls night." She said to him.

Jace rolled his eyes, "Like I'd want to watch… that. I'm just getting something to eat."

"I made a casserole earlier." Isabelle suggested.

Jace paused for a second, "How about we order pizza?"

Isabelle glared at her brother, her eyes narrowed, "Was that a dig at my cooking?" She asked warningly.

"No… I just… want pizza." He smiled cheekily and went about trying to find the number for the pizza place.

"Are you even aloud to eat after your tooth op?" Izzy asked suspiciously. Jace merely shrugged in indifference.

The puppy chose that moment to wake up and pottered over to Jace, wagging it's tail happily. She circled round his feet for a bit before the sound of water hitting surface rung out across the room.

Jace groaned and grimaced down at the dog, picking her up and quickly running to open the kitchen door and place her on the floor.

Isabelle and Clary were in hysterics, laughing their heads off at him. They were still at it when Jace came back in, holding the pup out at arms length and then placed her on the floor, "Freaking monster." He mumbled.

"I know. Real piss-take isn't it?" Isabelle quipped, erupting another round of laughter from the girls.

Jace glared at them and proceeded to look for the pizzeria number.

When Clary had calmed down, she waved her Nokia up in the air. "Here, Jace," She stopped him, "I have it saved on my phone." She said, scrolling through her contacts. "What do you want?"

"Meateor, large." He called.

She turned to look at Izzy, "I'll have a Florentina."

Clary nodded and clicked on the number, listening to the rings until someone picked up.

"Hello, Dominoes pizza." The static, male voice crackled through.

"Hi, could I order two Florentina's, and a Meateor,please? Delivered."

"Yeah sure, do you have an address?"

She repeated to the man the address Isabelle gave her.

"Okay, that all?" He asked.

"Oh, and a margarita," She added, thinking of Simon, "Thank you."

"No problem, see you in a few."

"Yeah, okay." She said, "Love you."

Clary's eyes flew open and she threw a hand to cover her mouth, mortified. Her face instantly grew red with embarrassment. Jace and Isabelle were howling in laughter at her. She squeezed her eyes shut. She could hear the pizza guy laughing as well.

She heard him chuckle over the phone.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry." She said quickly, "… This is so embarrassing."

Pizza guy laughed once more, "No worries. See you in ten minutes." And then he hung up.

Clary threw her hands over her face and curled up into a ball. Jace athletically ran up to the sofa from behind and vaulted it so he landed sat down beside Clary, still laughing.

She flung a hand out at him and hit him on the arm. He didn't even flinch.

And, true to his word, there was a knock on the door almost exactly ten minutes later, announced loudly by a pre-mature bark from Dog. Isabelle and Jace both pushed Clary to go answer the door, eager to see the confrontation.

Clary rolled her eyes and got up to go answer the door. She squeezed her eyes shut before opening the large door.

She was expecting the usual acne-ridden, gangly teenager that usually ordered pizza, but what she got was the complete opposite.

He had broad shoulders, large, muscular arms and a sturdy chest. Wavy, black hair stuck out of his Dominoes visor and hung over his forehead in bangs.

The pizzeria shirt clung to his abs and Clary thought that he must be the only person in the world that could possibly look good in that outfit.

He smirked when he noticed her looking him up and down. Clary instantly shook herself out her thoughts and looked at pizza-guy in the eyes.

"So you must be my new lover?" He asked.

Clary blushed, "Yeah, sorry about that." He chuckled softly at how red her face was, "How much?" Clary asked, gesturing down to the four cardboard boxes.

"Oh, twenty dollars." He smiled.

Clary raised her brows, "Really?" She asked, surprised, "Only twenty?"

"No," Pizza guy said matter-of-factly, "But I'm giving you a discount." He said, winking at her.

Clary could feel her face getting hotter and she scrambled to get a twenty-dollar note out of her jeans.

He smiled kindly at her once again, "So I guess now we're a thing, I should probably know your name."

Clary laughed, "I'm Clary." She said, "You?"

He pointed to the nametag on his chest, "Sebastian."

Clary turned around when she heard the sound of claws pattering across the tile floor behind her. She saw Dog running happily towards Clary, wagging her tail. Jace was walking alongside the dog. "Clary what's taking you so-"

He was cut off when he came into line of view of Sebastian. Oddly, his expression changed and he moved closer to Clary.

"Jace, this is Sebastian." Clary thought she should introduce.

Jace nodded curtly, keeping eye contact with Sebastian. Clary frowned; usually he'd make a fuss about meeting someone new.

"How much?" Jace asked, digging out his wallet.

Clary noticed that Sebastian's expression had changed also, no longer the cheeky smile. "Thirty."

Jace slapped a couple of notes into the boy's hand and took the boxes off of him.

"Here's your receipt." Sebastian said, handing it to Clary. She noticed there was a phone number scrawled on it, "Maybe we could meet up some time."

Clary opened her mouth to answer when Jace spoke, "Bye Sebastian."

Sebastian nodded and backed out of the doorway, looking at Clary once more over his shoulder before jumping into his car and driving off.

When he was gone, Clary frowned up at Jace. "What's with you?" She asked.

"Nothing." Jace mumbled, "He just… gives off bad vibes."

Clary raised a brow, but before she could question further he opened his pizza box and turned to go back into the house.

Clary sighed to herself, shutting the door.

She heard a cardboard box fall on the floor and the sound of nails scratching at it, then munching.

"Hey! That's my pizza." She heard Jace call to the puppy, "Freaking monster."

Clary rolled her eyes and laughed.


Please review - this took like a week to write. 7000 words, pretty please?

Should be going to Iceland next chapter (if all goes correctly).

I did an extra long chapter for you cause I haven't updated in so long. And because of the 300 reviews!

Ps. Those unfortunate, non-Scooby Doo fans, sorry I keep referencing. But basically, scrappy Doo is Scooby Doo's nephew and Scooby Dumb is his dumb cousin. Yes, I know it's sad how I know about this stuff. But this shit was like a drug to me when I was younger.