Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot :)

Coughing, Clary and Jace opened the door wider. Jace pulled the door back and forth to get some smoke out as Clary ran to the windows and forced them open.

"Magnus? Alec?" Clary screamed.

"Isabelle!" Jace yelled. They heard coughing from the kitchen and raced in, finding Isabelle waving a towel at a fire on the stove while Magnus filled a cup with water.

"Cover it!" Clary instructed. She grabbed the towel from Izzy and through it over the fire, which promptly went out. "You have to cover it," she panted softly.

"Where's Alec?" Jace ordered. Magnus pointed down the hall, where Alec was standing on a stool trying to reset the smoke detector.

"What the hell happened?" Clary demanded. "I'm gone for 20 minutes and you guys almost set the damn place on fire!" She looked from Magnus to Isabelle, but each were silent. Izzy's face was tinted a bit from the smoke, and their hair was frizzy and smokey.

"We were just making grilled cheese," Isabelle explained. Clary coughed and put her hand on her face.

"Magnus," she said, trying to keep her voice calm and even, "Did you forget that your stove is broken?!" She didn't mean to yell, honestly. But just a few weeks ago they had had another fire. Magnus' landlord had determined that one specific burner on the stove had a leak and shouldn't be used again, because fire would inevitably happen. Magnus realized what she was talking about and hung his head.

"I forgot," he muttered. "I didn't even think about that burner." Suddenly, the beeping stopped and Alec returned to the kitchen.

"Everyone alright?" he asked. They nodded and he moved to waft the remaining smoke out the kitchen window. Isabelle threw the burnt grilled cheese into the trash and was about to throw the pan away too before Jace stopped her.

"Burning hot pan and a plastic trash bag. How do you see this ending, Izzy?" He took the pan and placed it in the sink. "How did you know to cover the fire, Clary?" He asked honestly.

"Clary's set enough kitchen fires to know," Alec laughed. "Could you close the living room windows, Izzy?" After Izzy left, he turned to Jace and explained, "Clary may be almost as bad as Izzy when it comes to cooking." Clary scowled and picked up a wooden spoon from the counter.

"What was that, Alec?" she asked sweetly. Alec and Jace's eyes widened and they both backed up to the counter.

"I said, uh," he looked to Magnus for help, but Magnus shook his head and chuckled. "I said Magnus and I were going to look for balloons!" He grabbed Magnus' hand and pulled his fiance out of the kitchen, leaving a hand behind his butt to guard it from Clary's spoon.

"That's what I thought you said," she warned as he left. She threw the spoon down and looked at Jace, who was still watching her.

"Skilled with that spoon, aren't you?" He winked and wiggled his eyebrows. Clary picked it back up and moved to smack his arm with it, but he caught her wrist.

"I work in a kitchen, remember?" He reminded her softly, staring into her eyes. She was pressed against his chest for a moment before smirking and taking the spoon in her left hand. She caught him off guard and whacked his thigh with the spoon, making a satisfying hiss come from his mouth.

"I remember," she promised. She turned and left the kitchen to help the boys look at decorations. Jace smiled softly behind her back and watched her.

"So, let me get this straight," Jace started, "You want Izzy to be the flower girl, and Max to be the ring bearer? Who's performing the ceremony?"

There were sitting in the living room again, almost in the same seats with the exception of Jace, who was leaning against the love seat next to Clary. Isabelle laid across the love seat looking through a wedding magazine.

Alec looked at Clary and asked, "You asked Luke if he was available, right?" She nodded slightly, too focused on whatever she was writing. They'd finally chosen all of the decorations they wanted, and Clary put in the order before they had time to change their mind.

"Who's Luke?" Jace asked curiously.

"My step-dad," Clary murmured. She covered her notebook quickly when she noticed Jace trying to peek at it.

"How are you doing the whole walk down the aisle thing?" Isabelle asked. "Since we don't have a bride."

"I don't know," Magnus admitted. "Alec and I have tried over and over to organize it, but we keep coming up with nothing." He looked to Clary for her opinion, and she set her pencil down and thought.

"It'd be easier if you made Jace your best man and Max your groom's man," she thought. "That way it's all guys. They could walk down single file after Izzy: Ragnor, Max, Jordan, then Jace." By the look on Alec's face she could tell he didn't like that idea.

"I want you incorporated somehow," he offered.

"Clary and I could each be flower girls. We could walk side by side, then she could sit on Magnus' side and I could sit on your's," Izzy offered. Alec bit his lip and looked at Magnus, who shrugged. Alec sighed.

"Max would need to come to rehearsal though. And I'd have to call Mom and Dad," he explained. "Which I don't really want to do right now." Clary held out her hand.

"I've called everyone else so far," she said, "I think I can handle your parents." She kept her hand out as Alec watched her, making no move for his phone. Jace sighed and dialed his parents' number on his own phone before handing it to Clary.

"We don't really have time for you to be stubborn, Alec." Jace looked at his brother sternly and promised, "Max would be thrilled, anyway. Just keep him away from any cake." Jace and his siblings laughed at the thought of their 9 year old brother devouring the wedding cake. Clary hushed them when she heard a woman's voice answer the phone.

"Hi, Jace," she said sweetly. Clary cleared her throat and thought about how she should have used her phone.

"Actually, this is a friend of Jace," she clarified. "My name's Clarissa Fray," She heard Jace's chuckle and shoved him, "and I'm planning your son Alec's wedding." The woman was silent for a moment. Clary thought perhaps she'd hung up. "Ma'am?"

"I'm here. Of course, yes. Does Alec need something?" She sounded less like a mother and more like a business woman. Clary wasn't sure she liked her.

"Alec was just hoping it would be alright if he asked Max to be his groom's man," Clary stated. Alec was making odd hand gestures towards Clary and she covered the receiver. "What?"

"Speaker phone!" Alec mouthed. Clary couldn't find the button, not used to Jace's phone, so Jace took the phone and found it easily.

"Oh! That'd be great, actually. Is Alec there? Does he want to ask right now?" Maryse started to sound warmer and more welcoming, as if she knew her children were listening. Alec shrugged and nodded.

"If it's not too much trouble, yes," Clary said. She handed to phone to Alec quickly, as if it were a hot potato.

"Max!" Maryse yelled into the phone. Clary felt a rush of happiness and thanked Raziel she had given the phone to Alec before her eardrums could endure more trauma.

"Are all of you Lightwoods loud?" she whispered to Jace. He nodded and smirked before shushing her.

"If you think we're bad, just wait until you meet Max," he winked. Clary smiled warily and leaned against the couch again, picking up her pencil. She wasn't really interested in the conversation on the phone anymore, trusting Alec to handle a nine-year-old on his own. She looked back down at her notebook and tried to remember where they'd agreed to put the balloons. She was trying to sketch what the wedding ceremony would look like. She made rows on each side of a white, silk aisle and drew the small stage the boys would be standing on. She made an arch behind the podium that Luke would stand at and decorated it with purple irises and baby's breath. On each side of the stage stood a tall white pillar, reaching up high enough to match the size of the archway. The sketch was rough, but she liked how the ceremony was planned so far. Magnus had suggested that the flower girls drop white rose petals, but Isabelle suggested blue pansy petals instead. Izzy's petals would be lighter than Clary's so it looked like both blue and purple petals.

"It's pretty," Jace whispered. Clary looked up, not noticing him watching her.

"It'll look prettier in person," she promised quietly. Alec and Isabelle were each sitting on the couch talking to Max now, and Magnus was in the kitchen making more grilled cheese- this time on a different burner.

A few minutes later, Magnus returned with sandwiches for Alec and Izzy. They were off of the phone now, because Max was more interested in his new comic book than he was in his siblings, so the three of them started discussing what he would wear.

"Do you want a sandwich, Jace?" Magnus asked. Jace checked his watch and stood.

"No, thanks. I need to head down to The Clave now. The dinner rush starts in an hour and I can't miss it." He ruffled Clary's hair as he stepped over her legs to get to the door.

"Wait, when are you coming back?" Alec asked. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"I get off at 11," Jace promised. "Or, you could just stop by. I can take a break around 9:30 probably." He smiled at Alec and bid them all his goodbye before opening the door and leaving.

"Well," Izzy started as she swallowed her slightly burnt sandwich, "I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather have a real dinner. Sorry, Magnus, but grilled cheeses can't keep me going for long. Do you want to head down around 7? Simon doesn't get off work until 6."

They all agreed.

'Looks like Jace is the one getting the surprise visit this time,' Clary thought.

Author's Note: Ohhh, so the fire was just Izzy's cooking. Makes sense, right? We'll see what Clary has in store for Jace in the next chapter. Oh! And we finally get to officially meet Simon! Who's excited?

Always,

~xox Jaciem