Disclaimer: I don't own MI, sadly I don't own the lyrics either. I imagine if I owned either I'd be richer right now.

A/N: Hey, I'm warning you this chapter is kind of angsty. Like, more than usual angsty. But b(e)are *grrr* with me. This is necessary for the plot!

Playlist:

Hide and Seek – Imogen Heap (the perfect song for this chapter! You NEED to listen to it!)

On Jace's MP3: Ridin' Solo - Jason Derülo

Fuel to the Fire

Chapter 12

"Oily marks appear on walls
Where pleasure moments hung before.
The takeover, the sweeping insensitivity of this
still life."

- Imogen Heap, Hide and Seek

...

Clary sat down by her desk, looking through her growing stack of sheet music. She had shown a number of songs to Mr. Roberts and he seemed enthusiastic. Clary just wished that she could say the same thing.

She had always dreamed of having this chance. Even before the "incident" with her father and Jon. But you don't expect dreams to come true. It's always this thing far away that you can gaze out at, dream of achieving but deep down inside you know that it'll never happen. But she always thought that if a chance was handed to her, she would grab it and run. Now, she felt almost as if she was standing on the edge of a cliff, staring down at the abyss and fearing the fall. She would be leaving everything she knew – everything that she was raised to believe in - behind by doing this. So she was left with one question. Is it worth it?

She glanced out her window. The blinds to Jace's bedroom were shut. She felt a tugging at her heart, a longing. Jace. Jace. Jace! One of the reasons she was hesitating was him. He had come along, with his charming smirk, gorgeous looks and his way to understand things about her that she couldn't even figure out for herself! She felt like she could tell him anything. Anything but this. He might act like a rebel, but he was a true shadowhunter at heart.

Clary gritted her teeth as she grabbed the demo CD and dropped it into the paper envelope. She ripped the glue stripe off and pasted the package shut. This is it, she thought. I'm dropping this into the first mailbox that I see.

… And she did.

...

I'm feeling like a star, you can't stop my shine, I'm loving cloud nine, my head's in the sky, I'm solo, I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, I'm ridin solo, sooloooo.

Jace jogged through the park, his iPod firmly planted in his pocket and his breath slightly jagged. Not because he was tired, no. He'd definitely had worse. What was new however was the petite redhead running next to him. Clary was wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a bright green tank top. It was... distracting to say the least.

He had planned on running alone but Clary had asked him if she could come along and he'd been happy to let her. He was beginning to regret that decision. Sure, it won him more time with her but she was so tempting! But he was her friend, it was her idea so he didn't want her to think he was some kind of creeper like Sebastian.

Yeah, I'm feeling good tonight, finally doing me and it feels so alright, oh,
Time to do the things I like, going to the club everything's alright, oh!

Clary bumped her elbow with his and shot him a daring look. She sped up so that she was running in front of him and looked back at him over her shoulder with a look that clearly said "race me, bad boy". Okay, maybe he added the "bad boy" himself but the look was sexy nonetheless. He grinned as he raced after her.

No one to answer to, No one that's gonna argue, no,
And since I got the hold off me, I'm living life now that I'm free, yeah.

Clary was just a few inches away from him as he ran his fastest to catch up with her. He caught a whiff of her strawberry smelling hair. He groaned. Had he really sunk so low that he was getting his jollies by sniffing her hair. He was pathet – bam!

Telling me to get my shit together now I got my shit together, yeah,
Now I made it through the weather better days are gonna get better. I'm so sorry that it didn't work out I'm moving on,

I'm so sorry but it's over now-

Clary fell down to her knees next to Jace, pulling the earphones out of his ears. "Jace! Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

Jace opened his see Clary hovering above his face, her warm breath spreading across his face. His heart stuttered at their proximity and suddenly tripping over your own shoes while sniffing the girl you like's hair, didn't seem all that bad. "You're beautiful," he murmured, reaching up with his hand to brush his fingers along her cheekbone.

Clary flushed scarlet and placed her hand against his forehead in a caring gesture. "Do you have a concussion?"

Jace shook his head, his tangled hair rubbing against the pavement. "No."

She brushed the hair out of his forehead. "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine, Clare. Quit your worrying." He rolled his eyes but made no move to get up. He rather liked the position they were in.

Clary rolled her eyes, "I should have known that you were already insane." He gave her a confused look so she continued. "You were listening to ridin' solo. Whatcha say is so much better!"

"You're wrong," he said, staring into the emerald depths that she called eyes. He wasn't sure if he meant the song or the fact that she wanted them to be just friends. Probably both.

Clary leaned even closer to him, so that their noses were almost brushing and their breaths were mingling. "Are you sure about that?" She asked in an alluring voice.

Their eyes met. When gold met green it was like fire running through their veins. Like a single touch could ignite wildfire. It was dangerous and stupid... it was so them! Jace could see the want – the need – that lit up her eyes, matching his own desire. He lifted his head of the ground and pressed his lips to hers. It was just a small, gentle, loving, perfect kiss that represented what they felt for each other perfectly.

Clary opened her heavily lidded eyes, gazing down at him. "That was... a mistake." She scrambled up off the ground and stood up.

Jace followed suit, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I don't think that it was."

Clary looked pained, hesitant. "There is so much that you don't know, Jace. So much that you wouldn't understand." She placed her hand on his cheek and traced his cheekbone with her fingertips, making him shiver beneath her touch.

"Try me," he whispered, pleading.

Clary's eyes fluttered close for a brief moment and when she opened them again they were shining with unshed tears. "Will you just tell me one thing?"

Jace nodded feverishly. "Yes."

"Did you kiss Kaelie?" She asked, looking insecure.

Jace gulped. "Yes. No! Clare wait-" He caught Clary's arm and forced her to turn around to look at him. "Just listen to me! I didn't kiss Kaelie. She kissed me. And this," he gestured between them, "this is just the beginning! What we felt when we kissed wasn't some fluke. It was real!"

"Yeah, but how can you know that?" She asked. "How can you be so damn sure Jace? Because as hard as I try to understand what is going on between us... I come up with nothing!" She paused. "If you can tell me, then go ahead. But if you can't then I'm telling you. It's better if we just stay friends."

"Do you really think that it would be so simple for us to go back to being just friends after this?" Jace growled, having trouble with keeping his voice down since they were in a public setting. Even though no one was around it was not the ideal place to have this conversation.

"I don't know, Jace." Clary whispered, her shoulders dropping in defeat. "I truly have no idea."

"It doesn't matter that we don't know what the hell is going on." Jace replied, fiery. "Whatever happens... It's all just fuel to the fire that is us."

Clary brought her hand down from Jace's face. "Maybe that will be the fire that burns the entire forest down." She whispered tenderly. "Are you willing to take that chance?" She asked, almost begging for him to say yes.

But he just stared at him. Saying nothing. Which to Clary was the equivalent to no.

Clary sniffed, bobbing her head. "I see." She looked away from Jace. Swallowing roughly she said. "I'll see you around Jace."

And with that she ran away from him. Leaving him standing in the middle of an empty park, hearing nothing but the faded beat coming from his iPod.

I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, sooloooooooo.

But maybe he didn't want to be solo anymore. And maybe he just blew his only chance with Clary.

A/N: Mmm... whatcha say? I know this was angsty and stuff, believe me there is more of it to come! I'm really sorry for the short chapter but I'm on a tight schedule right now. Please forgive me! I also didn't have time to proofread. Sorry!

Please leave a REVIEW telling me to UPDATE SOON if that is your wish it might be my command!

/M'Jane