AN: Yay I have over 100 followers!
I hope you guys like this chapter. It was hard for me to figure out but I finally got it to work.
Update: I have finally worked out how I will reveal what is going on with Jace; but everyone has to bear with me because it's gonna take a couple more chapters to set the whole thing up.
Please let me know how you like this chapter; I love reading your reviews.

When the door to the elevator opened Jace stumbled into the hall landing hard on the floor, "Damn it," he was usually a lot more graceful and tactic, but alcohol had a talented way of taking all that away. Alec exited the elevator and struggled to help him to his feet. "Ow…that…hurt," he slurred and broke into a fit of giggles.

"Damn it Jace, did you leave any alcohol in the bar?" Alec finally managed to get Jace to his feet and had him leaning against the wall. "Jace you look terrible. When is the last time you bathed?"

"You look terrible," Jace drunkenly retorted. He was wearing a white t-shirt that have various stains rage from alcohol, dirt, and what looked like dried blood. His hair was a tangled mess and the circles under his eyes had turned a dark shade of purple.

Alec had found him at a bar on the other side of town. According to the bartender Jace had been there the past 4 nights or so. He continued to pay for his drinks so he wasn't thrown out; and by the looks of it, he had drank quite a few drinks.

Alec pulled his friends arm around his shoulder and turned to make his way down the hall but halted at the sight in front of him.


Alec was surprised to see Clary; that much was obvious, but by the looks of it Jace hadn't seen her yet; that or he was too drunk to notice his surroundings. She, Simon, and Isabelle had arrived at the scene just as Alec was helping Jace off of the floor. Clary felt sorry for Alec having to deal with Jace in this state.

Isabelle ran over to help Alec with Jace, "Jace where have you been? It's been days!" Her voice was filled with worry and anger at the same time.

As she lifted his other arm around her shoulders he lifted his gaze from the floor. He looked at her and then he looked at Alec, "You guys are the best. You take really good…" Jace's view landed on Clary. It was as if the sight of her sobered him up, because he pulled his arms off of Alec and Isabelle and stood up straight with no assistance.

Clary felt exposed. Jace continued to look at her, barely breaking his gaze to blink. The air felt thick and it was becoming difficult to breathe. She wanted to run away. She did want him looking at her. Not like this. No one spoke. Alec, Isabelle, and Simon alternated between look at each other and looking at Jace and Clary.

Jace was the first one to break the deafening silence that filled the hall, "So…wh-what are you doing here," his slur was still there, but it was apparent that he was trying hard not to sound intoxicated.

Clary crossed her arm in front of her; she felt like she needed some sort of barrier between her and Jace, "I am here to get some of my stuff," her voice was just above a whisper.

A look of confusion flashed across Jace's face, but was soon replace by what could only be descried as fury, "You mean you are still staying with Magnus?" He didn't yell or shout, but his voice was stern and rough.

"Yes Jace, I am still staying with Magnus." Clary raised her voice a bit to match his intensity, "Nothing has changed."

"You can't just stay there Clary. You have to come back. We have to fix things. You can't just run and hide from this."

A burning rage built up in Clary's chest she knew that she was about to say all the wrong thing, but she didn't care, "Is that what you think I am doing?" she shouted, "you think I am running and hiding?" She walked forward until she was right in front of him, "I am not running or hiding from anything Jace. I am trying to get past the horrid thing you did to me on what was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. The only reason you want me back here is so that you can feel less guilty about hurting me. Look at you. You're playing the victim here. Gone for days, your family worried shitless while you what, drink yourself stupid? You are who said you didn't want to get married, Jace. Did you really think that I'd be fine and we could just pick up where we left off before the wedding? Did you really think that my heart wouldn't break? Are you so full of yourself that you believe you could do what you did and I would be powerless to leave you? Is that what you think?" Her face was wet with tears. She didn't even realize she had been crying. She didn't care.

Everyone was staring at Clary but decided it best not to say anything. Jace's face was unreadable. He didn't say anything, or even attempt to say anything. Before anyone could speak, Clary turned and headed to her room.

When she got inside she grabbed the packed suitcase knowing that it had all she required. She didn't care about anything but getting back to Magnus' and away from this mess. As she turned to leave she found her exit blocked by Simon. She looked up at him, tears once again threatening to spill. Without a word he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. She dropped her suitcase and returned the gesture.


Clary let the tears flow. Her crying started off soft but soon became heavy and ragged. Soon the entire front of Simon's shirt was soaked; though he didn't seem to mind. After a few more moments, when her crying lessened, Simon finally spoke, "Clary, I know you need to leave; I know you can't stay here, and if I know you at all I know staying with your mom is out of the question; so I support your decision to stay at Magnus'; but I just want you to know that when you are ready, I am here for you, for whatever you need." He kissed the top of her head.

Clary felt a small smile form on her lips. She knew how much Simon cared for her. He had always been there for her and her for him. She knew that he would always be a constant in her life, and she would have it any other way. She hugged Simon even tighter, "I love you Simon," was all she said.

Finally, after another moment, they broke the hug. Clary did her best to dry her face of the tears and offered Simon an apologetic look for the state of his shirt.

Clary glanced around Simon, looking out into the hall, "Do you think he's still out there?" she asked with a small voice.

"Don't worry, he's not out there. He bolted as soon as you did; Alec and Izzy ran after him," Simon said.

"Clary let out a breath of relief, "Okay good. I don't think I can handle any more for tonight." She picked her suitcase off of the floor and headed to the door. Before she left she turned back to Simon, "Thank you Simon," she said with a smile

"Thank you for what?"

"For being the best friend I could ever hope to have. You promise you'll come see me a lot?"

"Don't be stupid, Clary," Simon chucked lightly, "It's not like you could actually keep me away. Now get out of here before Jace decides to return," he said more seriously.

Clary nodded and headed towards the elevator.