I woke up the next morning and decided to make Jace breakfast before he headed to the gym for the day. I had a few appointments set up for the afternoon and I couldn't wait to start photographing my first clients. When I stepped into the kitchen, Isabelle was sitting on the counter and Simon was standing between her legs. It looked like they were having a pretty intense conversation, but I wanted to get started on breakfast. When I saw Isabelle smile and kiss him, I knew I could interrupt.
"Good morning, you two," I said in my most chipper voice possible. Simon turned and leaned against the counter as Izzy wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Hey," Isabelle said with pity in her voice. "How are you doing?"
"I'm honestly fine. I had a great night, aside from the incident and I gained clients. I got to show my work and I opened my own studio. It was one of the best nights of my life. I'm not going to let Jonathan take that away from me."
"I wish I could get my hands on that guy," Simon said as Izzy brought her hands up to rub the tension from his shoulders. "I can't believe he's threatening to take everything Jace has away from him. He should be thanking Jace for throwing that fight and saving his life."
"I know. It makes me sad to think he could hold so much hate in his heart, but I know Jace will be able to handle it. We will all handle it together."
I poured myself a cup of coffee and then went to work on breakfast deciding I would feed all four of us. French toast was my specialty, as well as Jace's favorite, and I knew I had all of the ingredients. When I reached up into the cabinet to get the sugar out, I heard Isabelle gasp. I turned around and saw her covering her mouth and the look of anger was unmistakable on Simon's face.
"What is it," I asked.
"That little bastard left a mark on your arm from where he grabbed you last night," Simon fumed.
"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm fine guys."
"I wouldn't let Jace see that if I were you. He will go ballistic."
"See what?" We all froze and our heads snapped to the doorway where Jace was standing in his pajama pants and nothing else rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What shouldn't I see?"
"Nothing, babe," I finally snapped back to reality and walked over to him wrapping my arms around his waist. He looked at Simon and Isabelle and I knew what expressions they were wearing. Isabelle was worried and Simon was furious.
"Okay…I'm just going to let the fact that I know you're hiding something from me go for the moment because I see the ingredients for French toast on the counter."
I giggled as I let him go and went to work on breakfast. Jace poured himself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter opposite of Simon and Isabelle. I could tell Jace was avoiding the topic of Jonathan while Isabelle and I were in the room and could feel the tension rising. When we finally sat down at the table to eat, Jace and Simon were back to joking around and teasing each other. Jace bit into his French toast and moaned.
"This is ridiculously good, Red," he said and winked at me from across the table. "So, I wanted to talk to all of you about something." We all nodded giving him permission to continue. "I know that the Jonathan incident last night was scary and I know that he made threats that I'm sure he plans on seeing through, but I don't want you guys to worry."
"Jace he threatened Clary," Simon said. "Not to mention the gym. I'm sorry, but I don't know how you're so calm right now."
"Listen, I talked to Valentine and he's going to give me a rematch with Jonathan."
"Do you think that's such a good idea? He's after everything you hold dear to your heart and you're going to try and fuel the fire by taking the belt back?"
"No, I'm going to beat him at his own game. He thinks he can just take everything, well I'm not going to make it easy. He wants to threaten my girlfriend? Fine, we'll get a restraining order. He wants my belt? I'm taking it back. We have three months to prepare for this fight and we're going to be smart about it. We know that Jonathan gained muscle to get up to weight and that he's strong. I need to be stronger. He's fast, so I need to be faster. I will not let Jonathan Morgenstern ruin my life. I am stronger than that and he will not take anymore of what I love away from me."
I nodded and stared at Jace as the room fell silent. I had never seen him so sure of anything before. His family and livelihood were being threatened and he wasn't going to stand for that. I got up from my seat and walked over to him and sat on his lap wrapping my arms around his neck and squeezing tight. I pulled away to look into his golden eyes.
"We will do anything you need us to do," I said as I ran my hands through his hair because I knew it relaxed him. "Whatever you need, whenever you need it, we'll be there. If you want me to get a restraining order we can. I definitely have proof that he threatened me."
"What are you talking about?"
"I have security footage of the whole thing and this," I stood up and turned so he could see the back of my arm. I was expecting to hear plates crashing against the wall, but when I turned back around, all I saw was a broken man. His head was hanging and his shoulders were shaking. I stood in front of him and rubbed his back looking over to a shocked Isabelle and Simon. I silently asked them to leave for a moment and they understood. "Shhh, baby, it's okay. I'm fine, we're all fine."
"It's all my fault," he said finally looking up into my eyes. I sat on the table in front of him and took his face in my hands forcing him to look me in the eyes.
"Don't ever say that again. None of this is your fault. Jonathan is a sick and twisted excuse of a man who is threatening everything you have. You need to look at the positives. We know what he's trying to do now and we can stop him. I never want you to think that anything that happened last night was your fault. Do you understand me?"
He nodded and I pulled his face toward mine for a kiss. His hands gripped my waist like he needed something to anchor him to the ground and pulled me onto his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him tight as we continued to kiss. I don't know how long we sat there lost in each other, but when we finally pulled apart, the tears on my face were dry and Isabelle had cleared the dishes from the table.
"What are you doing today," he asked.
"I have a couple of appointments this afternoon, so I figured I would hang out at the gym until then."
"I want to teach you some moves for self-defense. I want you to be prepared for anything." I tensed in his arms. "Don't be scared, Clary. You're going to be fine. I won't let anything happen to you, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't know a few things so that, if I'm not with you, you'll be able to at least defend yourself."
"Okay, I know you're right. How about I come over after my appointments and after the kids class and you can teach me a thing or two."
"That sounds perfect." He leaned in to kiss me again softly. "Go get ready. We're leaving in twenty minutes and don't forget to pack a bag of clothes for your lesson."
o.O.0.O.o
Later that night, I walked next door after my appointments, ready for Jace to teach me how to defend myself. I walked through the door and noticed that Jace wasn't on the main floor. Simon was mopping the mats and moving the punching bags along the wall. He waved at me as I passed him into Jace's office. Jace was sitting facing the large framed picture of him when he won the belt for the first time. I snuck up behind him and covered his eyes.
"Let me guess," he said and I could hear the smile in his voice. "About five-three, red hair, green eyes and the most amazing girlfriend in the world?"
"You forgot 'amazingly-talented photographer,' but I'll let that pass," I said as I lowered my hands and spun him around to face me. I leaned down to kiss him and he grabbed onto me for dear life.
"I missed you today."
"You're weird because I've been next door all day and I just saw you a couple of hours ago."
"Oh, so you didn't miss me?"
"Nope." I smiled as he feigned disappointment. "Of course, you big baby. I always miss you when I'm not with you."
"That's what I thought." He smirked as I playfully slapped him on the chest. "Alright, alright, let's get this lesson going, shall we?"
We walked out to the main floor as Simon was dropping the last bag against the wall.
"Nice of you to join me after all the work is done," Simon said as he placed his hands on his knees and breathed deeply.
"Stop complaining," Jace shot back. "Clary, go to the locker room and change."
I nodded and walked into the locker room. I changed into yoga shorts, a sports bra and a tank top before heading back out to the mats where Jace and Simon were grappling.
I could hear them laughing as they alternated control. Finally, Jace was able to gain control and submit Simon. I clapped and laughed as they helped each other up and walked over to me.
"As much as I would love to stick around and watch Jace get his ass kicked by his girlfriend," Simon said, "my girlfriend is waiting for me. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Bye, man," Jace said as I waved and Simon walked out the door.
Jace took my hand and led me to the center of the mat. We stood there for a while before he pulled me into his arms and I wrapped mine around his neck. We started to sway to the music that was playing over the sound system. I could feel Jace's lips meet my neck and move up to my mouth. My fingers found his hair and we stood there, lost in each other for what seemed like hours. I finally was able to come to my senses and push him away.
"You're supposed to be teaching me how to defend myself," I said trying to catch my breath.
"Ugh, fine." He stepped back and looked me up and down. "Okay, stagger your feet." I did as he said and he stepped forward placing his hands on my hips. "Square your hips and raise your fists." He took my fists in his hands and moved my thumbs. "You'll break your thumbs if you tuck your thumbs into your fists. Okay, your stance looks pretty good. Now, take a small step with your front foot, your left foot, then turn your torso to throw a right jab."
He held up his hands and I threw a punch, according to his instructions, into his raised hand. He jerked back and shook out the hand I punched with a smile. He chuckled and a wide smile spread across my face.
"Damn, Red. We'll make a fighter out of you yet."
A/N: Thanks for reading! I am so sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but it seems that every time I have absolutely nothing to do, I can't write a word. So, I'm back at school and can write again. :)
Let me know what you think and thank you again so much for reading! :)
