Last chapter was a bit of a shock for some people. You still interested? I apologize for any mistakes made, I'm fucking terrible when it comes to editing.
"Jace!" Kaelie's eyes were wide as she closed her legs. Not like that was going to make much of a difference now. Jace was already backing out of the room and toward the elevator.
"Jace! Son!" Stephen shouted. He could hear his father rustling around, undoubtedly trying to grab his pants before following after the man. Jace stabbed his finger against the button, waiting for the elevator. Kaelie appeared in the doorway first, and he glared over at her as the door slid open.
"Jace, wait!" She cried out as Jace stepped into the elevator. He hit the button to close the door and sent it going down.
Kaelie and his father?
It was fucking absurd.
And yet sort of just made sense.
Jace let out a bitter snort as the doors opened on the lower ground floor and he stalked toward his car, almost breaking out in a run. When he looked back at the elevator, the little glass window showed it was zooming back up to the penthouse, probably where his father and his fiancée were pushing the button. He wasn't about to wait and give them a chance to cut him off, so he turned over the engine of his car and accelerated out of the parking lot without even bothering to put on his seat belt.
His father had never met a girl under twenty-five that he didn't want to fuck.
Kaelie was a gold digger, a social climber.
They were perfect for each other.
Jace's hands were clenched so tight around the steering wheel that his knuckles were bloodless. His jaw was set and he was grinding his teeth together as he glared out the windscreen. It wasn't until about twenty minutes later that he realized he had just gone in a big circle around a few blocks.
He had no idea where he was going.
Kaelie and his father.
That was something he hadn't seen coming.
Jace pulled over to the side of the road and slammed his fist against the dashboard of his car. And then he did it again, and again, until his knuckles were bleeding and the dashboard had a dent in it. It was a good thing he had tinted windows, although in that moment, he didn't really care what anyone who walked by might think. He took in a deep, shaky breath and leaned his head forward, resting it on the steering wheel.
Well, he thought, at least now she wouldn't be surprised when he called off the engagement. And he wouldn't need to go through an interrogation with his father, because he wasn't sure when he would talk to him again. Right now never was sounding like a good option. He already knew his father was a fucking asshole; everyone knew that. He had always been cheating on his mother, and Jace knew for a fact that he also slept with a lot of his business partners wives, but Jace had this ridiculous notion in his head that Stephen wouldn't actually have the audacity to sleep with his sons fiancée.
And Kaelie...Jace smacked his hand down hard on his steering wheel again.
His phone started vibrating in his pocket and he pulled it out to see his fathers name blinking away on the screen.
"No fucking way," Jace growled, throwing it down hard on the ground on the passenger side of the car. It bounced a couple of times and then stopped vibrating. He didn't bother to check to see if it was okay before he was indicating to pull back into the traffic.
He had no idea where he was driving.
He couldn't go to his apartment, because that would be the first place they would look for him. He wasn't sure if Stephen would even bother to try and look for him, but Kaelie definitely would.
And the second place she would look is Alec's, when she found his apartment empty.
There was no way that he could face her right now. His hands were trembling with anger on the steering wheel as his mind raced, wondering where he could escape to without her finding him. Because Jace wouldn't trust himself in the same breathing space as Kaelie right now.
"Hey, my darling," Clary murmured into Max's ear. Usually he didn't like being baby-ed, but he was drifting between sleep and awake, and his head was lolling back against her chest. They had finished Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and had then moved on to the second movie. That one didn't appeal as much to Max, given there was far too much 'yuck kissing' throughout. They were partway through the third one, and it was nearly ten o'clock. As determined as he was to stay up late, it had been a long day for him, and he was ready to go to sleep. She thought she would give it another half hour and then try to carry him up to his room. If that failed, she would need to wake him up.
Her phone vibrated on the table, and she stretched over to pick it up.
Come over?
Clary sighed and slid it back onto the wooden bench top. It was only a couple more minutes before there was another message flashing on her screen.
It's been a while. What's going on?
It wasn't like Sebastian to get clingy, although it could be because they hadn't fooled around in almost three weeks. Clary pressed a kiss to Max's forehead and he grumbled under his breath as he rolled over and tried to get comfortable. She waited until the end of the fight scene that was on TV and then extracted herself from Max's grip. She managed to pick him up, carrying him up the steps to his room. He woke up as she put him down on his bed, and stumbled around almost blindly to dress into his pyjamas before falling back into bed.
"Night, little dude," Clary whispered as she flicked on his night lamp and left the door partially open before walking back down the stairs. She went into her bedroom, and got out of the dress that she had been wearing that day. She pulled off her bra as well, changing into a pair of sleeping shorts, socks and an oversized hoodie. It wasn't often that she got to be home and relaxing, there was usually somewhere that she had to be doing or somewhere that she needed to be. She was planning on sitting down in front of the TV and binge watching her way through the first few episodes of the latest season of Supernatural. As she padded downstairs, there was a knock at the front door. She paused and then growled under her breath as she stomped toward the door. "I told you, Sebastian," she began snapping as she undone the lock. "Not tonight—oh!" She cut off when she saw who was standing there.
Jace.
"What are you..." Clary looked him over, noting his bloodied hands and the alcohol on his breath and his red eyes. "What's going on, Jace?" She dropped her voice to almost a whisper, taking a step closer to him, her eyes furrowed in concern.
"Do you think I could crash here tonight?" He asked, his voice strained.
"Of course," she didn't hesitate before answering. "But, uh," she looked over his shoulder, to the car that was parked on the street. He wasn't driving his Honda Civic tonight, he had come over in his Porsche—a car that would get a lot of unwanted attention parked out on their street at night. It's likely he would come back out tomorrow and it would have been stripped for parts, maybe not there at all. "Bring the car around the back, okay? There's a car port. I'll clear some of the junk that's in there now so that you can park it there." Jace nodded jerkily, spinning around and heading back down toward his car. Clary watched him for a minute, noting the way his steps were hesitant and his hands were clenching into fists at his side.
There was definitely something wrong.
She quickly slipped on a pair of shoes and went through their house, out the back door, hastily pushing things to the back of the car port to give Jace some room to park his car. By the time she was done, the car was purring behind her and she stepped to the side to let him pass. She lead the way back into the house and pursed her lips when they reached the lounge.
"Are you hungry?" She asked. "We've got some left over dinner."
"I'm fine," Jace grunted, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
"Okay," Clary nodded slowly. "Beer?" He paused and then nodded, swallowing hard. "Take a seat, I'll grab you one." He kicked off his shoes and walked into the lounge as Clary went into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge. On second thought, she grabbed the two cartons of left over Chinese and took them into the lounge along with a fork. She put everything down on the table in front of Jace and then sat down on the couch next to him. Usually, she would probably would have put some more distance between them, but Clary had a feeling that something was really wrong, and Jace needed comfort.
They drank their beer in silence as they watched TV. Partway through the episode, Jace took up Clary's offer for food, and was surprised by how hungry he actually was. His stomach let out an embarrassingly loud groan as he opened the first carton, and Clary let out a laugh. Jace gave her a sideways look and she just smirked, going back to watching TV. Despite everything, Jace couldn't help a tiny smile in response as he looked back down into the carton of food. She didn't prod or pry, letting him take time to open up about what was wrong.
"Is Izzy working?" Jace finally asked, about an hour after they had sat down on the sofa.
"No, she has a date," Clary responded. "With Simon."
"That guy from dinner?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "They've had a thing for each other since forever, and they only just decided to act on it."
"She deserves it," Jace muttered, giving a firm nod. "He seemed like a good guy."
"He is," Clary confirmed. "He's the best." Jace nodded and looked back into the carton of cold noodles. Clary pursed her lips as she looked back at the TV, wondering if now was a good time to ask what had happened. She left it for a little bit longer, until he had cleaned up all the food, and leaned back into the sofa. "What's going on, Jace?" She asked softly. Jace exhaled heavily and rubbed a hand over his face, closing his eyes.
"Kaelie was cheating on me," he said flatly. Clary sighed next to him and reached out to put her hand on his knee.
"I'm sorry," she told him.
"Yeah, well," he snorted bitterly. "It shouldn't really surprise me, right?"
"I don't know," Clary answered honestly, twisting her mouth to the side. "I mean, I didn't know her. And, like I've told you before, I've never really been in a relationship. I don't know what...What to expect," she shrugged uncomfortably. "But I mean, it sucks. It sucks shit...I don't mean to be rude or anything, but why did you come here? Why didn't you go to Alec's or something? He's your best friend, right?"
"She'll go looking for me there," Jace sighed. "And besides, you haven't heard the best part."
"Mm?" Clary raised an eyebrow at him.
"The person that she was cheating on me with..." he let out another snort. "It was my dad."
"Wait, hold up!" Clary snapped. "What the fuck?"
"You heard me," Jace sighed, lifting his beer bottle to his lips and throwing back some of the liquid. "My father." Clary was staring at him, her eyes wide and her eyebrows raised. "I was going over to my fathers place to talk to him. I was actually going to break up with Kaelie and I wanted to talk it over with him first. I got there..." Jace took in a deep breath and Clary squeezed his knee encouragingly, her fingers tracing circles through his jeans. "I got there and I thought that maybe nobody was home, because the place seemed empty. But it wasn't. He was there, and so was she," he finished bitterly.
"That fucking sucks," Clary told him quietly. They were both quiet for a few minutes and then Clary seemed to realize that her hand was still on his knee, her thumb rubbing against the material of his jeans, and she quickly snatched her arm back, crossing them over her chest and attempting to lean casually against the back of the couch. "Well, I'm all for drinking away your sorrows. I can be a good enabler with that."
"Thanks," Jace gave her a half smile that was anything but sincere. "But I don't think getting drunk is going to help this." Clary tilted her head to the side and made a face.
"Then I don't really have much anything else to offer, except more Chinese and Supernatural," she said apologetically.
"I'll take it," he nodded at her. He turned back to the TV screen, which was paused from when they had first started talking. "So, what's this show about?" There was utter silence from next to him and Jace looked over at her. He did a double take when he saw the horrified expression on the red heads face. "What?" He asked, looking a little confused.
"You've never watched Supernatural?" She uttered.
"Uh," Jace had a feeling that he may get kicked out of the house if he answered this question wrong. "Yes?"
"You liar!" Clary cried. "Ohmygod, how have you never watched Supernatural?"
"I don't know...I honestly don't actually watch all that much TV. There's always just so much that I need to do," he admitted.
"Same here! But I always have time for Supernatural," she looked as though she was practically scolding him. "Okay, so there are these two brothers, right? And they're both fucking babes. And they fight ghosts and demons and all sorts of shit. And there's this angel, his name is Castiel, and he's also a fucking babe, and there are insane sexual vibes between him and the eldest brother."
"Wait—between the eldest brother and the angel?"
"Damn straight," Clary nodded with certainty. Jace couldn't help but let out a short laugh and then relaxed back on the couch, taking in a deep breath through his nose and then letting out through his teeth. Clary resumed the playback of the show and settled on the couch next to him. There was some space between them, but as the show went on, they relaxed and stretched out a little more, and when the episode finished, Jace had his arm stretched out over the back of the couch and his fingers were brushing against her shoulder. "Are you in love? You're in love, right?" Despite how shit he was feeling right now, he couldn't help but let out a laugh at the way she was staring at him, her eyes all wide and a grin on her face.
She looked so relaxed, and so completely different from the sassiness that was usually on her face.
"Yeah, it's okay," he agreed.
"Okay? Okay? If you weren't in such a shitty place right now I would kick your ass out the door," she scrunched up her nose at him. Jace let out another short laugh. The credits finished rolling and then they stared at the blank screen for a couple of seconds before the recording of the programme came to a finish and they were taken back to the menu of different things the girls and Max had recorded. "Right, well, I'm going to head off to bed. I'll grab you out some blankets and things."
"Oh no, it's okay," Jace assured her as she stood up. "I remember where they were from last time."
"Alright, great," Clary nodded and ran her fingers through her hair, tossing it all over her shoulder before letting out a yawn. "I've text Izzy, so she knows not to freak out when she walks in and see's you here."
"Date must be going well," he commented as he looked at the time at the top of the TV screen. It was a little after twelve.
"Yeah," Clary grinned. "It's good. She needs to get out more and do her own thing. She had to stop being a teenager because of Max, ya know? And even before then, from what I understand about the life you guys lead, you never really got to be a teenager then either. So it's good that she gets to go out and have fun." Jace took in a deep breath and looked over at Clary, who was now standing and stretching, her arms reached above her head so that a strip of her taunt stomach showed beneath the hem of her shirt.
"Sounds like you guys can relate with that," he mentioned quietly. She froze for a second before shrugging.
"I can still go out. I don't have the same kind of responsibilities as Izzy. It's different."
"How did you guys even meet?" Jace asked curiously. "It's not as though you two run in the same social circles or anything." Clary laughed but then pursed her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"I found her at the underground subway station," she said, her voice quiet. "She was sitting on the steps with a bag and she looked starving and lost. I mean—I get that there are hundreds of runaways in New York. Shit, I should know that better than anyone. But there was something different about her." She swallowed hard and shrugged. "I don't know. I was living with a couple of friends, well, kind of friends. More like acquaintances. And I said that she could come back with me. I didn't know she was pregnant until a few weeks later, when I kept walking in on her puking her guts out. And we sort of just made it work from there, I guess." Jace tried to imagine how it would have been for the two of them—the three once Max had been born.
He had no idea how they had managed it.
And how they had gotten to where they were today?
"You guys are amazing," he said sincerely. "You know that, right?" Clary looked surprised by his words and a little self-conscious. She shrugged again and then looked to the side.
"I'm gonna head up to bed," she told him. "I'll see you in the morning, yeah?"
"Night, Clary."
So pretties, I have a new idea. I'm going to do a sort of alphabet songfic oneshot story. So each chapter will stand for each letter, working through from A - Z. Aaaaand the requests for each song are up to you guys :) Some of the letters have already been taken, because I've discussed this idea with a couple of people, but the rest are all up to you! So you can either send through requests in your reviews, or in PM, and let me know what ships you would want. I'm mainly Clace, Sizzy and Malec, but I don't mind trying my hand at other TMI ships.
You guys interested?
And please leave a review, and let me know what you think. Your reviews make me so happy. And I'll send you out a preview :)
