Jace POV

The restaurant was very expensive-looking. I had to bite back a wince when Kaelie announced that we would be going here for our supposed 'date' and had to focus on driving the car without crashing it. Alec will kill me if I harm his precious 'Baby'. Kaelie is seated in next to me in Alec's SUV, a small mirror in hand and a tube of sticky-looking lip-gloss in the other. I keep glancing over at her and swallowing as I maneuver the car through traffic. Why is she dressed like that? Are we going to an underground strip-club instead of the movies after dinner, or what?

Her hair is pulled up onto the top of her head, too tightly is you ask me, and her dress is practically nonexistent. Her face is caked on with orangey foundation, her eyelashes sticking out several inches away from her face, and her nails are shaped like talons. I'm not usually one to be nervous around girls, especially hot ones, but Kaelie looks as if she's debating whether or not to claw my throat out with her demonic nails.

I am 'dressed to the nines', if that's what you want to call it. Not by choice, of course.

Kaelie texted me, not called, right before I was about to head out of the door to go pick her up and 'informed' me that I would be wearing my tux tonight. I tried to argue with her about not wanting to 'get it dirty', or something lame like that, but she just told me to 'hurry my ass up or we'll be late' and hung up on me. Least to say, I called Clary and tried to make her call in sick for me. Sadly for me though, she just laughed at me through the phone, came into my room across the balcony, and then proceeded to dig around in my closet until she found my tux. She had thrown it at me with an innocent smile and had said, and I quote, 'Time to put your big-boy panties on, Jacey. Kay's waiting for ya.'

I had cursed at her and at myself as I pulled on the tux, seriously regretting sharing me and Kaelie's nicknames for one another. Only after I had gotten completely dressed and was starting for the front door, did I realize what she had said.

"I am a man, and men don't wear panties! We wear boxers or nothing at all." She had just laughed at me as I slammed the front-door shut and headed towards the elevators; her musical giggles following me down the hallway.

Currently, I am sitting in a fancy chair, at a fancy table, with my fancy tux nearly suffocating me to death as I listen to Kaelie ramble on and on about some new handbag that I 'should buy her as a gift'. Yeah… Not happening. We are sat at a small table in the back of the restaurant, right by the kitchen's entrance. I have my head rested on my palm, my elbow planted rudely on top of the table, and my eyes are threatening to slip shut from boredom.

"-and she said, 'I don't know what you're talking about! This bag is entirely authentic!'." Kaelie finishes off her story, a high-pitched fit of laughter following right after. I chuckle half-heartedly and glance around the restaurant again, wishing that our 'date' would end already so that I can get back to Clary and have a Saw marathon. Do you want to play a game? Hell yes!

"That's great, Kay." I state, having to force myself to not grimace when I say her nickname. She glares at me, her bright-blue eyes angry daggers, and leans back into her chair in a pout. Her thin, almost chicken-like, arms wind themselves together in front of her chest, pushing her chest farther out of the small dress than it already was, and she smacks her lips together in irritation.

"You know, you could at least try to be interested, Jacey. We are, after all, on a date. You," she pauses to point a talon-like nail at me. "and me. The perfect couple." Her eyes become lighter and she smiles slickly over at me. "So, stop being a bitch and appreciate all that I've done for you." She finishes, her smile turning my stomach and ruining any chances of an appetite that I had left. Bitch?! Who you calling 'bitch', Bitch. I clench my jaw, my patience seriously beginning to run out, and sit back in my seat, suddenly feeling the extreme urge to be as far away from her as possible.

"And," I cough slightly and adjust my position, choosing my words carefully since I want to survive the night. "why, exactly, would you say that we're 'the perfect couple'?" I make sure to put extra emphasis on the last part, not even trying to hide my sarcasm. She doesn't seem to notice though, and just relaxes in her seat with her eyes glittering.

"Oh, silly!" she exclaims loudly, causing me to wince and several of the other table's inhabitants to turn towards us with questioning glances. "We're like that song; the one by Par Amore. 'Some things just, some things just make sense; and one of those is you and I'." she sings, her voice screechy and completely off pitch. Some people from the other tables 'shush' us and I sink down further in my chair, wishing to sink into the floorboards.

"Kay. Kay." I say exasperatedly as she continues to sing the damned song. "Kaelie! Would you please lower your voice? People are starting to stare." I tell her urgently, but still am sure to keep my voice relatively quiet. She finally stops, thank Jesus, and widens her eyes at me innocently.

"Sorry, Jacey." She giggles out, lifting up her glass and taking a sip of the deep-red liquid. I watch with thinly veiled disgust as she gulps down almost the entire glassful.

Did I mention that Kaelie supposedly 'knows' one of the head-chefs? Well, she does and he let her get an entire bottle of wine without being carded when we ordered our drinks. I turned it down, with being the one driving and all, but she just keeps pouring herself glass after glass.

I sigh and look around the restaurant, taking in the various strings of Christmas-lights that are strung across the ceiling. The waitresses run amuck through the scattered tables, talking and writing orders down onto notepads. I sigh and rest my head against the back of my chair, my entire body slouched unmannerly.

"So," I start, causing Kaelie to set down her glass and look up at me expectantly. "Was there a specific reason that you wanted to go out tonight, or did you just want to go out…" I trail off, now becoming the one who's expectant. She giggles, more like cackles like a fucking witch, and wave her hand towards me like an old-lady.

"Oh, you. Can't a girl take her man out for a bite to eat?" she says flattered, her question not really coming out as a question.

"Um… Sure?" I inquire unsurely. She just giggles again and leans over the table, practically flashing me when her dress pulls down as she does.

"Yes! So, how's the band going?" she asks, running her finger around the rim of her now-empty glass. I sit up a little straighter and manage a semi-real grin.

"Oh, yeah. The band. It's going great, actually. We won a contest last week and Clary got some important talent-scout's name." I tell her, starting to gain interest in the conversation. I vaguely take notice of the slight hardening of her eyes when I mention Clary's name, but decide to just ignore it for the time being.

"Great." She hisses; a plastic smile spread across her face. "I actually heard about your contest through Ali. She said that there was a video and told me to check it out- Well, anyways. I checked out the video, and it turns out, that you guys are actually good. Like, really good. The video had-" she rambles on, but I just stare at her in confusion.

"W-what… What video?" I furrow my brows at her across the table. She looks genuinely surprised as she sits pin-straight up in her chair and gapes at me open-mouthed.

"'What video?' It's, like, a really big deal, Jacey. It's one of the most viewed videos on YouTube." She explains, as if the answer should be obvious. I only shake my head at her in response and run a hand through my hair.

"Oh, come on! Your face is all over the internet and you don't know about it?!" she asks incredulously. I inhale a deep breath and shake my head again.

"No… When did this happen again?" I stare at her curiously, my attention now focused entirely on her.

"I'm not really sure… I can show you, though! I reposted it on my wall…" she starts fishing around in her purse, the sound of lip-gloss tubes and coins rattling around in my ears. "Aha! Here we go!" she passes her phone over to me across the table after typing something into the screen and watches my face eagerly, waiting for my reaction. I glance down at the phone and see a video playing, the volume on the lowest setting.

"Hey, we're 'The Fallen' and this is our version of Never Too Late by Three Days Grace."

I blink in confusion, wondering how my voice said that without my own mouth knowing it, and stare at the screen of Kaelie's phone harder. There, right on the screen, is me. Well, me and the guys. The stage at Pandemonium is slightly blurry on the screen and I only have a brief moment to glance up at Kaelie's face, before Jon's guitar sounds from the small device. I watch, interested, as digital-me starts signing and walking around the stage. Who is that handsome devil? I would tap that. Y'know… if that was possible…

"What…" I trail off as the crowd starts singing along with me, which was unknown to me until tonight. I am vaguely aware of Kaelie's eyes burning holes into me, but I keep my attention of the small screen.

"You guys have, like, an actual fan-base now. And to think that I thought you sucked two weeks ago." she mumbles to herself, but I still hear her and tear my eyes away from the screen at her last comment.

"You thought we sucked? Why?" I question her, forcing my tone to stay nonchalant and to not grow defensive.

"I don't really like your emo songs, so…" she tells me, her smile sweet and innocent. I clench my jaw, again, and lean back in my chair, pushing her phone back over to her.

"Huh. Good to know." I murmur to myself. You won't get up and leave your girlfriend in the restaurant. You won't make her cry and then give her reason to guilt-trip you into buying her expensive things. You like your wallet. You do. "And by the way, it's punk-rock. Not emo." I tell her, taking deep breath and looking around the restaurant again. Where the hell is our food? We've been here for an hour and I really want to leave.

"Whatever." Is her reply, before she picks up her phone and starts doing something on it. I sigh and lean my head back, closing my eyes and willing the night to just end. Can't we just leave and go to the movies so that I can text Clare already?

You see, Clary made me promise to not text her while me and Kaelie were at dinner. She said something about it being rude and that Kaelie would blame her if we got caught. I didn't really see it that way, but still agreed to her conditions.

"Sir?" A deep voice says right at my elbow. I glance up in surprise, taking in the kind face of the waiter to my left.

"Yeah?" I raise an eyebrow at him in question.

"Your food, Sir." And with that, I glance down at the plate of pasta in his hands. I sit up straight and nod, shaking away all of my thoughts as he sets the plate down in front of me.

"Oh, yeah. That…" I mumble to myself, slightly moving my gaze up to meet Kaelie's. She, unsurprisingly, isn't even looking at me. Instead, she's still typing away on her phone and has a side-salad in front of her. What a waste of money.

With a shake of my head, I pick up my fork and start eating, remembering just how hungry I am. Finally! Food!


The theater's lights dim, letting us know that the movie is starting, and I rest my head back against the seat in preparation. For some reason, I am suddenly really tired. I was kind of tired at dinner, but now I just feel like the dead walking. Kaelie is in the bathroom, where she has been most likely fixing her make-up for the past thirty minutes, so I don't really see any reason to not 'rest my eyes'.

Just as I'm about to drift off, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I open my eyes with a groan and fish it out, dreading that it'll be Kaelie and that she wants to do something else. To my surprise, pleasant surprise, the screen reads: 1 new message from Clare.

'How's skankzilla?'

I roll my eyes and chuckle quietly, as to not disrupt the people around me from the movie. Clary's probably the only person in the entire world that I allow to call my girlfriend a skank. Even if I secretly think that she is one…

'I wouldn't know. She's been in the bathroom ever since we got here. I'm starting to think that she fell in.'

The reply comes almost immediately.

'That must suck. For you, I mean. Not me. I'm still eating pizza. It's really good. :D'

I bite my lip and shake my head down at my phone. I can just imagine the cunning little smile that's most likely on her face at the moment. After a moment of thought, I decide to entertain myself. Simply because I'm bored and the movie is a chick-flick. As per Kaelie's request, of course. Because everything is about her, isn't it.

'I bet it is good. It's probably thinking the same thing about you, Clare. You naughty, naughty lynx.'

Yes. I know that that has absolutely nothing to do with what she just said, but just wat for her response-

Buzz. Buzz.

I am interrupted by my phone buzzing again. I smirk and laugh under my breath at her reply.

'I'm slightly confused about your implications. Please make yourself more clear.'

'Oh, you know. Just that the pizza thinks you're as good as he is. At whatever you two are doing. And, that is, if the pizza is, in fact, a 'he'.'

I can just see her face right now; flushed cheeks, hiding behind her hair. What I wouldn't give to see her face right about now…

The seat next to me folds down and someone sits in it, so I look over at it. Kaelie smiles at me, her makeup now even more caked on than before, and takes my hand that isn't holding my phone in hers. She laces her fingers through mine, her sharp nails scraping the back of my palm, and leans her head on my shoulder. I discretely slide my phone back into my pocket and look towards where the movie is playing, my only thoughts about how wrong her hand feels in mine. Has it always been this way? And if so, why have I let this poor excuse for a relationship continue?

"How's the movie?" she whispers, scooting closer to my side than she already is. I force myself to stay right where I am and to not move away, before smiling falsely at her in the darkness and nodding slightly.

"Great." I mutter, my tone sarcastic but she doesn't seem to notice by the way that she snuggles into my side even more. She isn't the right person… she doesn't feel right…right like Clary…

"Hmmm." She hums, before turning her gaze on the giant projector-screen too.

About an hour into the movie, my phone buzzes again. Kaelie is still leaning against my arm, so I quietly tell her that I'm going to go to the restroom. She nods and moves so that I can get out of the row of seats, not really even paying attention to me as she watches the movie. I hurriedly make my way to the door and pull my phone out, already knowing that it's Clary who texted me.

When I finally get outside of the theatre, I unlock my phone and open the new text.

'I am done with this conversation. So… what are you doing now?'

I shake my head and lean against the side of the building, the night air blowing my hair into my eyes. I run a hand through my hair, slightly annoyed that it's in my eyes, before I type my reply.

'Standing outside of the theatre and watching small children cross the street.'

'With sunglasses on.'

'At night.'

'Just so you know.'

I send her multiple messages, hoping that it makes her laugh. Now, is that true? That I'm wearing sunglasses at night and watching small children like a pedophile? No. Am I standing outside of the theatre? Yes, so I figure that it's worth it.

A couple of minutes later, as I stare around me and pull my jacket closer to my form, my phone buzzes; alerting me that Clary has texted me back.

'That's… extremely creepy. Like, seriously, Jace? Wow… I have weird friends…'

I chuckle and grin slightly down at my screen.

'You got that right.'

I type in the sentence, but right as I'm about to press 'SEND', flashes of light surround me and blind me momentarily. I blink harshly and throw an arm over my eyes, trying to block out the bright flashes of light. I fumble with my phone and tuck it back into my pocket, standing up to my full height and squinting from behind my shielding arm to see exactly what the lights are coming from.

"Jace!"

"Jace, what made you want to form the band?"

"Who's the brains behind the title?"

"How long has 'The Fallen' been together?"

The questions just keep coming, the flashes of light along with the rapid sound of clicking giving me a headache. I slowly lower my hand from my eyes and take in the sight in front of me, my eyes widening and all of the color draining from my face.

Cameras.

Tons of cameras.

People holding cameras and getting all up in my personal bubble.

It's almost too much for me, but I force a smirk and raise an eyebrow at the relatively large crowd in front of me. Maybe fifteen, twenty, forms are stood in front of me; every single one of them holding a camera. I stare at them in shock for a moment, before recovering and flickering my eyes from to crowd to the door of the theatre. What the absolute hell is going on?

"Uh, hi?" I say, although it comes out as more of a question. A lady at the front of the group, who is wearing way too much lipstick, thrusts a camera into my face eagerly.

"Jace. When did you and the rest of the band decide to form a band? Who chooses your music choices? When will The Fallen next be performing?" she asks me, her voice sounding extremely like an interviewer. I furrow my brows and step away from her, holding my hands up in an 'I surrender' sign.

"I'm sorry… but what?" I bite my lip nervously and look around me, slightly starting to panic. What the fuck's going on-

"Jacey!" a familiar squeal sounds from my left, causing me to swing around and come face to face with Kaelie. She looks excited, if not slightly expectant as her eyes slide right past me to the camera-people. "I see you've found the paparazzi." She tells me without even sparing me a glance; grabbing ahold of my arm and dragging me back over to the 'paparazzi'.

"What's going on, Kaelie?" I demand, my voice hard and my eyes cold. Her eyes flicker up to meet mine briefly, before she barks out a laugh and shakes her head at me; as if I'm a toddler who has just done something extremely cute. Bitch.

"Oh, Jacey. I called them. They're going to make you famous. And after your band goes viral, or whatever, we'll be the hottest couple in America! I can already see it now! It'll be amazing!" she shrieks annoyingly, causing me to wince and glare at her angrily.

"Why would you do that?! I thought that we were on a date!" I hiss; my voice low enough so that the crowd in front of us won't hear. Her eyes widen fractionally and she giggles, resembling a maniac slightly.

"You're too funny, darling. We haven't been on a date in, what? A month? Two? Please. Why do you think I wanted to go out tonight? Just to enjoy your 'company'? No." Her eyes narrow themselves into condescending slits and she eyes me coyly, self-satisfaction practically radiating from her. When she smiles slickly up at me, I can't help but grimace in disgust at the sight of lipstick on her teeth. Ew. I think I'm gonna throw-up. "Now, let's go get our faces on the cover of a magazine!" she says, more like orders, me. I just shake my head and chuckle humorlessly under my breath.

"No. Hell no. I'm not doing this shit. Especially not with you, of all people." And with that, I turn around and start down the sidewalk. My feet move quickly, needing to escape the sound of confused murmurs behind me and camera clicks. Behind me I hear an outraged cry and heels clacking on the concrete behind me, but I just keep making my way towards Alec's SUV.

"Jacey! How am I going to get home?! You're my ride!" Kaelie screams after me, her voice portraying her anger. She sounds downright furious, but I just keep moving.

"Take the subway. Get a taxi. Call 'Ali'. Just don't call me again, Kaelie. I mean it. We're done." I call back to her, before I reach the SUV and unlock it. She shrieks loudly behind me and I catch a glimpse of her throwing her purse onto the ground in the rearview-mirror, before I jump into the car and slam the door shut. I back the car out of the slot and take off, forcing myself to not speed as I drive towards The Institute.

I bite my lip and shake my head, wondering how this night could've gotten so messed up. Clary will make you feel better. Just get to Clare, I tell myself as stop the SUV at a stoplight. Just get to Clare…


"That bitch! I can't believe her! I'll smash her skull in with her own heels, you just wait." Clay rants, pacing back and forth in front of her bed. I watch with a tired smile as she picks up one of her old teddy-bears and throws it across the room. It doesn't do much damage, with her strength levels being at a solid negative-five, but I still appreciate the effort.

When I had finally gotten back to The Institute, I headed straight up to Clary's apartment. Her parents were watching TV in the living-room when I burst in through their door, slightly panting, and just pointed towards the hallway that leads to her room. I have my own key and they're pretty used to me barging in on them regularly, so this wasn't anything out of the usual.

Clary had been lying on her bed, headphones in her ears and her phone lying right next to her as a movie played on her laptop. She had yanked out one of the earbuds and watched me curiously as I collapsed face-first next to her on her bed, sighing out in exhaustion as I buried my face into her comforter. She had gently ran her fingers through my hair, calming me instantaneously, and asked quietly what was wrong. I told her, after rolling over onto my stomach and watching the rest of the movie with her, every little detail about tonight, and her eyes were swimming with angry clouds by the time I was done.

Now, she is still pacing back and forth as she rants out her anger at Kaelie to me. Not surprisingly, her various death-threats have calmed my unmanly emotions down to a minimum and she has even managed to make me laugh with her creative torture techniques. Like, who knew that my little redhead would be so violent? Never mind. I did. And do. And will for the foreseeable future. She punches hard for such a small person…

"Just forget about her, Clare. I broke it off with her anyways, so…" I trail off as Clary's eyes take on a happy expression, my heart thudding painfully loud in my chest at the slight hopeful look in the depths of her emeralds.

"Really?! I mean, yeah. That's too bad." She says, sarcasm dripping from her tone heavily. I chuckle and shake my head at her, patting the bed for her to join me. She does without protest and rests her head on my shoulder when she is by my side. I wrap an arm around her shoulders and bring her closer to me, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as I go.

"I bet that just breaks your heart." I tell her dryly, feeling her unabashed giggle through my side as she laughs. "Back to the topic, we're done. That feels odd to say out loud." I state, laying my head on top of hers. She shrugs and leans back, pulling me with her so that we're both leaning against her headboard.

"Does it break yours? Your heart, I mean." She asks quietly, her voice slightly vulnerable but mostly curious. I shake my head slightly on top of hers and sigh.

"If I said that I feel mostly relieved, would that make me an asshole?" I question her, feeling extremely douche-baggy for saying that.

The sad part of it all is that it's one-hundred percent true. I don't feel any remorse for ending me and Kaelie's relationship, if you could call it that. I feel slightly hurt that she would try to use me for a little fame, but overall I feel pretty good. Maybe a bit hungry, but good. I'm always hungry though, so…

"No. She's a bitch and you're too good for her. I've been telling you this ever since you met the whore, but you chose to listen to your 'heart', or whatever." She mumbles the last part under her breath, snuggling closer into my side. The movie from earlier, which happened to be Land of the Lost, was switched out about an hour ago for the first of the Saw films.

"Yeah, well… what's done is done. Let's watch the movie and deal with all of this shit tomorrow. I need to watch helpless citizens get brutally murdered and let my mind relax for a while. Okay?" I tell her, sitting up slightly and looking down at her face as she nods and smiles.

"Alright. Are you hungry? I'm hungry and I have most of my pizza left. It's in the fridge…" she stands up from the bed and starts towards the doors, throwing me an expectant glance when she opens the door. I nod and grin, satisfied with her answer.

"Sure. I could eat." I tell her nonchalantly, but I can tell that she sees through my bullshit by the loud laugh that she barks out as she wanders down the hallway towards the kitchen.

"Sure, Jace. Whatever you say." Is her teasing reply, causing a wide smile to split my face. She knows me too well.

I lean back against the headboard and close my eyes, my smile turning to a soft grin and I exhale and allow my body to finally relax. See? Clare made you feel better. All you needed was Clare…


Hi! I have one thing to say first:

100+ FOLLOWERS! OMG I'M GIVING YOU ALL VIRTUAL HUGS, COOKIES, AND PEGACORNS. YOU'RE WELCOME!

Okay, I'm done now. :D Thank you all for being awesome. Simply put.

Cassandra Clare owns all, except for my stuff. :)

Stuff from chapter:

Still Into You- Paramore (Kaelie just pronounces their name like a bitch. ;D)

Land of the Lost- 2009 (Will Ferrel is amazing!)

Thanks for reviewing and telling me your thoughts. I am going to try to start replying to your review through PM-ing. Yay!

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