Alright, so it isn't at 150 reviews (yet!), but it was close enough for me. Besides, I'm pretty hype to see the reactions this chapter gets... ;)


Just a little reminder...

"What do you want?" Clary asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Answers." He said, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

And it now made sense to Clary why he had stuck up for her.

She owed him.

Great.

"That depends on your questions." She still said defiantly, crossing her own arms.


"Okay, first off, let's start with the money." Alec pulled the envelope out of his back pocket.

"What about it?"

"Where does a girl like you get this kind of money?"

"Wrong question."

Alec chuckled, "Look, I'm not going to turn you in for damn sakes my brother is a fugitive himself. Just tell me where and how you got the money."

"Someone gave it to me."

"Why?" Alec's eyes narrowed.

"Because I saved their life, and you ask more questions than your brother…"

"Yeah, well, my brother wasn't in the mood to ask questions as he was saving your life."

Clary rolled her eyes. Egomaniacs…

"So, that was first, what's second?" Clary asked, looking back at him. Maybe she should've just let him forget…

"What happened with that scar above your stitches?"

Clary shook her head, unbelievably pissed that he had seen it. She wasn't answering that question.

"Okay, does Jon know?"

"What do you care?" Clary seethed through gritted teeth. He was in dangerous territory, and needed to start backing out and fast.

"I'm taking that as he doesn't know, and if he doesn't know, he didn't cause it. It's been there for a long time, so the only other person I can think of is a parent…"

"Shut. Up." Clary told him.

"You must've gotten it from your father. Daddy issues. I knew there was something…" Alec emphasized his point by throwing his arms up.

Clary lunged at him, but before she could get to him, suddenly someone else was holding her by the waist; and when she turned in the arms, her eyes widened with horror.

It was Jace.

She put her hands on his chest to attempt to push him off of her, but she wasn't strong enough.

"Let me go." She said, she was trying to be pissed, but she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

Jace just shook his head.

"Jace, let me go!" she said a little louder now.

Jace just shook his head again.

"Jace!" she yelled, pounding her fists into his chest before finally grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and burying her head in his chest. The yell had actually sounded pretty muffled as she couldn't stop the tears that were spilling out.

Her makeup would be ruined too. Isabelle was going to kill her.

Unbeknownst to Clary, Jace nodded at Alec and Alec gruffly walked out of the room after putting the envelope down on a table.

After a few moments of standing there, wrapped in Jace's arms as he held her while she cried, she pulled back and he finally let her go. She sat down on the bed and Jace followed her.

"Go away." She said to him, wiping tears and makeup from her cheeks.

"I thought I made it pretty damn clear that I'm not going anywhere and neither are you."

She glared at him, but through her tear stained face, it looked more like a plea. Jace just shook his head and wrapped his arms around her again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he whispered into her hair.

"Haven't you heard enough? Why are you still here? Why do you care? Why did you save me?"

To her surprise, Jace chuckled at her rambling. "One question at a time, please, and I followed Alec upstairs after he left our wonderful lunch table with Jonathan and Simon to see what he was doing. That's when I saw him grab you."

"Why didn't you stop him?" Clary interrupted.

"Because Alec has a reason for doing everything, and I knew he wouldn't hurt you."

Clary just looked at him as he continued. "I stopped right after I entered, not wanting to interrupt, and I also wanted to hear the conversation."

"Oh, so you were eavesdropping." Clary stated coldly.

"Yes, I'm famous for it." He smirked at her.

Clary smacked him on the chest, but relieved that he was trying to keep this conversation light. That earned him some points.

"It's true that I heard everything, but I'm not sure which you're more scared of, the fact that someone else knows, or the fact that it's me who knows."

"Both." Clary said, without hesitation. "Jace, I…I haven't even told Jonathan the extent of what happened."

"Where's your father now?"

"Dead." She stated, and Jace waited for her to tense, for her to cry, for any sort of reactions; but they never came. She had just said that her father was dead and had felt no emotion whatsoever.

"Did you…" Jace began in a whisper, and he trailed off, but she knew what he was going to ask.

She now made eye-contact with him. Could she trust him? He knew too much already, was she really sure he could be trusted with this information? She hadn't told anyone, and she had promised not to talk about it again, but the truth was swallowing her whole. She was tired of being independent; tired of being the only one in her home. Tired of where her home was. And as she looked into Jace's eyes, she was shocked to see nothing but worry, concern…and a darkness that she just couldn't quite place…

Taking a deep breath and letting it out she replied, "I was holding the knife up in self-defense, lying on the ground from trying to get away from my father and he, in one of his drunken stupors, fell on top of me while coming after me. As fate would have it, Jonathan walked in maybe an hour later while I was curled up in a corner crying my eyes out over what I had just done. I didn't know what to do. I was in shock. I knew I should've ran, packed my things and gotten the hell out of there, but I just…couldn't move. I thought Jonathan would yell at me, or at the very least be mad; but he beamed, and smiled at me. He picked up the knife off the ground, and wiped it down. He got me cleaned up as best he could, and we packed some bags and then we ran. Unfortunately, one of our nosy neighbors heard some commotion and called the police. It didn't take them too long to find us, and when they did, Jonathan took the fall for the whole thing as I walked around the corner like some freakin' coward."

As she brought her hand up to wipe the tears that were now freshly streaming down her face, Jace beat her to it.

"That's why he was in jail." He whispered again.

She nodded.

"That's probably also why the inmates respected him. He and his lawyers probably made sure everyone knew he was defending his 'little' sister."

Clary could only nod again.

"So, how did you get the money to bail him out of jail?" His voice was higher than a whisper now and Clary was grateful for that. She was tired of feeling like she was trading secrets with Jace.

Not that she minded the moment they were currently having too much…

Clary took a deep breath again, "I had been working as a food-runner in a bar when suddenly we were the target of a robbery. I knew it was only a matter of time, though, because the manager is filthy rich. Two masked men barged in the doors after shooting our security guards, and demanded the manager hand over the money in his safe. One of the men grabbed my hair and yanked me to my feet, dragging me into the back room while holding a gun to my head and threatening the manager with shooting me if he didn't comply. After we arrived in the back room with only the one guy while the other watched the crowd in the bar, he threw me on the ground in the opposite corner of the room and trained the gun on the manager. I guess he figured I'd be an easy scare; but he was wrong...especially having to deal with my dad a lot. I got up quickly and jumped on his back like a monkey, making a choke-hold around his throat with both arms. He tried to use the gun to get to me, but his own face and head were in the way since I was smaller than him. My manager then got up, grabbed the gun out of his hands, and hit him with the butt of it. After that, we ran out into the dining area, surprising the second robber and overpowering him too. When we had tied them up in the back room and removed their masks, we headed back out to the dining area to wait for the police, and make sure everyone else was okay. When we returned to the back room the two men were gone. The manager and I were the only ones to see their faces, so the police offered us protection but we both refused. Who the hell wants to live like that? When the police had taken our statements, and we'd been through sketch artists, we returned to the bar. I expected to be yelled at for what I did, but instead, the manager feared for my life. He knew the situation my brother and I were in; so he gave me the money to bail Jon out, and to live off of for a little while as long as I promised not to return to the bar. He was afraid I would be killed if those thugs ever came back."

After her story, she turned her head to look at Jace. His mouth was in a line, with the faint hint of a smile creeping up to it, and he just looked at her. If Clary didn't know any better, she'd say there was a fire beaming in his eyes as though of pride…and…lust?

What?

At long last, he said, "That was one of the best fucking stories I've heard in a long time."

To her own surprise, Clary let out a laugh, and when she looked back at Jace he closed the distance between them in a kiss.

And it was time swallowing her whole.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that, but after a moment, the kiss ended. When they pulled away, Clary's waist where Jace's hands had been was freezing. She couldn't help the blush that crept onto her cheeks.

In return, Jace smirked.

Suddenly, the smirk faded from Jace's face as Clary saw cloudiness come over it. He was thinking.

"So, he saw your face?"

"What?"

"One or both of the robbers, you said you saw his face?"

Clary nodded, "Both." And Jace cursed under her breath.

"What's wrong?"

"You left your license at the prison…he might have friends on the inside…"

Clary let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She wasn't sure what she expected Jace to say, but it wasn't that.

"You can't go home." Jace finished.

"I…I have to go home. That's where all my stuff is."

"So, we'll get your stuff. You're moving in here."

"What?" I can't just move in with you…"

"Sure you can. Angel only knows we have the room; and where the hell else would you stay?"

"My uncle's got a place around here…"

"But, let me guess, you haven't seen him in a while?" a half-smile was playing on his lips as he already knew he was right.

Clary looked at him and shook her head.

"Come on, move in here. You'll be fine…as long as you don't eat Isabelle's cooking."

Clary laughed. "What's wrong with…"

"Shhh," Jay put an index finger over her mouth, shaking his head, "it's a long story."

Clary laughed, "Well, in case you haven't noticed, I've got time."


Well, I think that was sort of overdue, don't you? I hope this cleared up some of the questions you might have had! I'm not too big on spoiling things for people, but if you read these author's notes, here and there previews and answers will come. As for asking about the characters, though, just wait and see, BUT I've read all of the books (including TID) and seen the movie, and I HIGHLY DOUBT you'll be disappointed. Just sayin.

Speaking of being on the lookout, I can't wait for you all to read the next chapter! Mwaahahahahhaa.

Hey! I finally didn't do a cliffhanger in the story. Smh. I might have to change that.

Ah, well, hope you all read these things!