Clary, Izzy and I headed back to NYU two days after New Year's. Alec and Magnus were going on a cruise, so they wouldn't be back at the apartment for a few more days. Clary was staying with me at my apartment. She was still acting strange and it was making me more nervous by the minute. Finally, I decided I needed to talk to her about it. I couldn't take the awkward silences that were suddenly a part of our relationship. It had been almost two weeks and she hadn't mentioned anything, so I guess the ball was in my court.

The night I decided to bring it up, we had spent the whole day just being together. We went to lunch and rented a bunch of movies. We came home and vegged in front of the TV, watching movies for hours. I knew it was then or never, so I paused the movie and turned to look at her. She was wrapped in a blanket, wearing her pajamas, with her hair in a messy bun and no makeup. She looked more beautiful than ever at that moment. I moved closer to her and took her hand as she looked at me suspiciously.

"Jace, what's up?" She sounded worried.

"I don't know. What's up? You've been acting strange since Christmas. Did I do something? Are your leaving me? Please, we are so perfect together, don't leave me." I was feeling dejected already.

She sighed and moved even closer, so that she was almost sitting on my lap. "No, Jace, you're perfect, I swear. It's just…" She was hesitating, she didn't want to tell me, but I noticed her heart beat speeding up and her eyes getting glassy.

"Tell me, Clare. I'll help you. Please, honey. I love you and I'm not going anywhere, tell me what's wrong." I was begging, again. Only for Clary.

Tears were silently rolling down her cheeks now, and I saw the wheels turning in her mind behind the tears. "Jace…I…I…I t-th-think I'm pre-preg-pregnant." She could barely get the words out, and she clutched my hands tighter. "P-please don't l-le-leave m-me."

"What?" I was shocked. I literally couldn't breathe. I took my hands from hers and stood up, pacing. "How could you not tell me? How can you not know for sure? Did you take a test?" She was bawling now, and I didn't even notice as I yelled at her. I was freaking out and I don't deal well with panic, clearly. She curled herself into a ball and rested her chin on her knees, wiping her eyes.

"Dammit Jace, I'm t-terrified. I didn't… I didn't know what to do. I didn't want you to… to leave m-me. I wanted to pretend it wasn't poss-possible. But the longer it's been, the more… the more real the whole thing is getting. I was going to… tell you…"

I cut her off. "When Clare? When were you going to tell me? When you couldn't hide it anymore?! When you had no choice? We're a team Clary. You should have told me." As the shock was wearing off, I was calming down, but she was still hysterical. Crap, it's because of me. I made her cry, again. And when she is so vulnerable. God, I am a terrible human being! I sat down next to her and pulled her hands from her face, wiping her tears with my thumbs. We just looked at each other as she slowly calmed down.

"Clary, I love you. I'm not leaving. I'm just really surprised. And you should have told me. You've been dealing with this all alone for weeks. I could have been there for you."

Her tears stopped and her eyes widened. "You're… you're not breaking up with me?" She seemed truly shocked.

I couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Of course not! I love you and this baby, if there is a baby, is just as much mine as yours. We're in this together. But we need to know. You have to take a test.

"I… I um… I bought one." She mumbled, still shocked that I wasn't running. "It's at my apartment."

I stood up and pulled her by her hands. "Well then, let's do this. Go get it and bring it here. We will have privacy." She smiled, barely, before nodding.

"Don't leave," she whispered as she left, truly scared I was going to abandon her and the baby right then and there. Our baby. Our baby conceived while we are college freshmen with no jobs. Our baby that will look like her and be part of her. Our child. I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice her come back. I silently accompanied her to the bathroom and waited outside while she… what? Peed on the stick, I guess. She opened the door and fell into my arms.

"Three minutes," she said as she gripped me. I tightened my arms around her and kissed her forehead. We stood there hugging, silently reassuring each other, until the timer she set had set went off. We separated, both of us getting even more nervous. She went to the test and I followed right behind her. She handed me the test. Taking a deep breath, I looked at the stick in my hands.

"It's… it's positive…" I nearly cried as I collapsed to the ground, pulling her with me. We were both crying for so many reasons.

"Clary, we are a team. We are in this together. But we will do what you want. You're the one pregnant. I will support you no matter what – I will do this with you. Just tell me what you want to do," I said, running my hands through her hair and holding her close.

"I… I want to keep it. I want to raise it. That's why I thought you were going to run. I want to be this baby's mother, but that doesn't mean you have to be it's father. I'm giving you an out." She seemed so small and broken at the thought of me leaving her.

"Clary I want you. And I can't say I didn't think about us having kids. Maybe this is earlier than we planned, but we can do this. I know we can. It's going to be hard, but it won't be just you. I will be with you every step of the day, loving you and loving this baby. Our baby." I couldn't control the awe that seeped into my voice when I said the words out loud. Our baby.

"Our baby," she whispered, smiling to herself a bit. I couldn't help the massive amounts of worry that were seeping into my mind as we held each other on the bathroom floor. I fell asleep thinking about marriage, settling down, money, a baby, and most of all the difficulties that the woman I love was going to face in the upcoming months. But as she breathed steadily in my arms, I knew we could figure it out together.

After what felt like minutes, but may have been hours, she stirred in my arms and I woke with a start. A shy smile spread on her face, until she met my eyes. I could tell that she was waiting for me to ditch her. She could see the fear in my eyes, I'm sure. But she misunderstood. Being scared didn't mean I was leaving, it just meant I was scared. I was scared for both of us. For our future.

"Do you really think we can do this?" I asked her softly.

"Yeah, I do, actually. Like you said, it won't be easy. But we have each other." My lips met hers urgently as my hands slid up and down her body. Having sex with the mother of my child on the bathroom floor was never something I planned to do. But it was exactly what we needed that night. We silently comforted each other, reassured each other, and expressed our love – suppressing the rest of the world for one night.