The next morning, Clary woke up next to her husband feeling groggy and sore. I just got married, she thought, making her forget about the sore feeling in her body and the tired droop to her eyes, as she looked over at Jace. He was sleeping, his eyelids fluttering peacefully as he dreamt. Clary noticed that one was laying against his cheek and, gently, as not to wake him, she ran a feather-light fingertip cross his cheek to brush it away. When he stirred, Clary felt bad, but fortunately she did not wake him. She continued to study her new husband. His blonde hair was messy, the part mussed in with the rest of his hair. His cheeks were a rosy colour, his pale skin smooth in sharp contrast with the black pillowcase that his head lay on. She continued to move her eyes past the mark she had left on his neck last night- Oh God, yes, last night- and the soft bob of his Adam's apple as he breathed. His bare chest lay against the sheets, next to her, and she felt the urge to reach out and touch him. Baby blue blankets bunched around his waist, hiding the rest of his body from view, but Clary didn't care. Jace stirred again, and Clary wondered if she had woken him with horror, but then realized how ridiculous this was. You couldn't wake someone by looking at them. "Hey lovely," Jace whispered quietly and groggily, finally opening one golden eye to look at her. Clary flushed. She loved those eyes.
"Jace," she said, not knowing what else to say. Realizing that she was naked and her top half was exposed, she brought the blanket up to cover her chest. Jace smiled a little.
"You're too far away," he said, opening his arms to let her in. "Come here." Clary obliged, remaining covered but rolling into Jace's arms anyway.
"What day is it?" Clary asked.
"That's random." A laugh. Clary loved that laugh. Her body shook with Jace's chest.
"I think today might be our last day in Vegas."
"Oh." Jace looked at the ceiling with a blank expression. "That's kind of…" he looked as if he were searching for a word but couldn't pick just one out of many different options. "Sad. That's really sad, actually. I've had a great trip." He placed a small kiss on her nose.
"Me too, Jace," her voice was quiet. "Me too."
"We're married now."
Clary brightened. "I'm a little nervous to tell my mother, but besides that…"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. But whatever. I'm happy."
"Me too, Clary."
"…Hey," Jace started, "this is kind of awkward, but… it was really loud last night and I… um… didn't actually hear your vows."
Clary laughed. "Me neither. A little is a bit of an understatement, don't you think?"
Jace thought back on the previous night. "Yeah."
"I wrote them down," she said. "Want to read them? Or me to read them to you?"
"Why don't we read them at the same time?"
"Sounds good."
::P::P
"THERE they are!" Isabelle said, clinking her spoon against her water glass as Clary and Jace, now fully dressed and ready to start their day at 5 PM, came out to the dining room. Everyone began to clink their spoons along with Isabelle. "Hey, newlyweds," she said, "you ready for your last night in Vegas?"
Jace smiled. "Yes. I actually think we are." He wrapped an arm around Clary and she moved closer to him. They watched as, similarly, Magnus wrapped an arm around Alec and Alec melted into him. Magnus spoke up next.
"You two can choose what we do tonight," he said. "Alec pointed out to me yesterday that I may have been a little… overbearing with you both. And for that I wish to apologize." Alec's eyelashes fluttered. He really looked like he was melting into Magnus, Clary thought. Then again, maybe that's what love did. It made you one. She buried her face into Jace's shoulder.
"Magnus, it's okay. It was a little crazy, but we had a good time. Predictability is boring, anyway."
"Thanks, biscuit. I worked really hard to plan that. So anyway, what do you guys want to do?"
Clary's eyes moved from Simon to Isabelle, to Jem and Tessa, whose hands were curled together on the table, to Magnus and Alec, who still looked like one person entangled together completely. She and Jace exchanged a look.
"Fireworks," they said in unison.
"What?" Simon looked confused.
"There's a bar not far from here that does a firework display," Jace explained. "Um… you don't have to get drunk if you don't want to, but… you can if you want, I guess?" Jace's eyes wandered to Magnus. He knew that he would want to be drunk.
"Sure," Simon said. "That sounds like a lot of fun, actually."
"Yeah, and Isabelle still owes my Alec and myself drinks!" Magnus chirped happily.
"Just you," Isabelle protested, "Not my brother!"
"What is a firework?" Jem interrupted, and Tessa rubbed tiny circles on his shoulder. Clary smiled. Any love was making Clary glow today.
"You'll see, honey. You'll love them." Tessa smiled.
"It's decided, then," Magnus declared. "Fireworks night. And God, am I going to get drunk."
Hey all, so I only have one more chapter left in this fic! It's a rather long chapter, but still. Kind of hard to say goodbye L In any case, I am hosting a poll on my home page for what my next major project ought to be. Right now, I'm really leaning toward a fic covering Malec's travels from CoFA, but we'll see. I crave me a little Malec. Anyway, feel free to follow me at healyshegemony . tumblr . com in the meantime. I do also promise that you will get to read the vows and learn what is haunting Jem and Tessa- I love watching y'all theorize J All will revealed in my next update! Peace~