Fair warning, the end of this chapter is a little bit steamy.

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Clary was awake. She was curled up on her side, hair covering her face, and still dressed in Jace's day old clothes. She rolled to her back, and looked up at the ceiling defeatedly. Jace lay asleep next to her, but he wasn't touching her. Usually, his arm was draped across her waist, his hand was in hers, or her body was tucked against his chest. This morning, though, there was a painful distance between the two.

Running a hand down over her face, she glanced at the clock. The red numbers screamed 5:42 through the darkness. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, crossed her arms, and hunched over. A sigh passed through her lips. "Clary, you idiot." She whispered. She glanced over her shoulder at Jace again, who had shifted in his sleep and faced away from her.

She stood and crossed the room on tiptoes, trying to avoid waking Jace. Gathering her clothes and changing quickly, she held her shoes in one hand as she walked out the door, closing it softly behind her.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?"A man's voice sounded behind her, startling her badly enough that she nearly screamed. Whipping around, she saw a tall, scowling man with dark hair and eyes so blue that Clary knew she would have to spend hours mixing paints to get the precise shade. He was lanky, arms crossed fiercely over his chest as he stared her down.

"I, um, Jace?" She answered, confused. Had Jace never told his roommate about her?

His eyes snapped to hers. "Jace wasn't supposed to be here tonight." He looked nervous, maybe even scared. His eyes were wide, body frozen, but he shook his head and recovered. "Well, what are you waiting for, cab fair?" His voice was snarling. "You can leave now." He waited a moment as Clary looked dumbly at him, then took three steps toward her and reiterated, "Why aren't you moving?" He emphasized every word, speaking as though to a toddler just learning to talk. He sneered at her. "You're not even his usual type. He likes leggy blondes, not short carrot tops."

"Who are you?" Clary breathed, anger tightening in her chest.

The boy looked taken aback, as though he were unaccustomed to Jace's female company talking back. He recovered with, "His best friend. Not like you two even talked. Just fell right into bed, didn't you?"

"Alec?" She asked, confused. He nodded once, a wary look in his eye. She hadn't expected him to be so hostile. "I'm Clary."

Alec rolled his eyes, attitude souring even further. "You can definitely get out then."

"What?" Clary was bewildered as she waited for the rest of Alec's answer.

"You heard me." Alec was gruff and sneering. "I have no patience for a skanky, gold-digging slut with a kid that's milking my brother for everything he's worth." He nodded toward the door. "So leave."

Clary stared at him openmouthed.

"I said get the hell out of my apartment." Alec hissed at her and stepped forward, grabbing her arm and dragging her towards the front door. She grunted and struggled, but just as Clary was opening her mouth to call out, the bedroom door opposite of Jace's opened and a vaguely familiar, nearly naked, Asian man peeked his head out, his face heavy with fatigue.

"Alec, what are you doing? Come back to bed." His voice was quiet and garbled as though he had been startled awake. He blinked as he realized what was happening. "Alec?" He stepped out, and Clary turned to look at the man that still had her arm in a vice like grip. He had gone white.

"Magnus, I told you to stay in my room." His voice was shaky.

Clary looked back and forth between the two rapidly, head whipping comically back and forth. "I need – I just need to go." She jerked her arm free and ran out the door, not bothering to close it quietly as she made her escape. She heard the door open behind her, and she looked over her shoulder, scared that Alec was following her. When she saw him leaving the apartment, her mouth opened and she spun around, running for the stairs.

"Stop," he called, and despite Clary's quickening pace, his hands wrapped around her upper arm and yanked her to a painful stop.

"If you touch me, I'll scream," Clary declared, her voice shaky and breathless.

"And how will you scream if my hands are around your throat?" Alec murmured quietly as he pinned her against the wall with one hand.

"Let me go!" Clary struggled against him, and after a moment, he released her. She stumbled forward a step, knocking into Alec as she caught her balance. "Why are you after me like this?"

"Let's just say that I don't think that you're quite worthy of Jace." Alec sneered.

"Why, do you think he belongs with you?" Clary said defiantly, a sudden draught of courage lighting through her veins as she realized what had just taken place. Alec froze and looked taken aback at her words.

"What did you say?" His voice was quiet, his face was white.

"Does Jace know that you're gay?" Clary asked, genuinely curious. "I mean, that's the only scenario that really makes sense. You looked scared when you heard that Jace was in the apartment, you told that guy to stay in your room, and you couldn't get rid of me fast enough." She never saw Alec's hand coming as he grabbed her chin and forced her back against the wall.

"What did you say?" Alec's voice was still quiet and ungarnering of attention, but it had taken on a lethal edge.

Clary could feel the terror on her face as this taller, stronger man had her in a helpless position. Despite the fact that she knew Alec probably would not hurt her, the memories she had dredged up with Jace last night had her heart racing and her mouth dry as her green eyes flicked back and forth from Alec's face to over his shoulder, praying that Jace – or even the other man – would come out and save her. She was frozen in fear. Jace had never really talked about Alec; she knew very little about him. Jace was a different person before they had met, and he may have kept dangerous friends. For all she knew, Alec was a murdering, kidnapping drug dealer. She took a deep breath.

"Let me go," Clary said, forcing her voice to steady. She stilled her shaking body and steeled herself. Another deep breath in through her nose. "Let me go now."

"Don't you ever say anything like that again." Alec's voice was filled with quiet rage and he pressed on her harder.

"Let me go."

Alec tilted his head as though he were deliberating. "No. You don't understand,"

Clary cut him off. "Alec, let me go right now."

Their voices overlapped for a moment, confusion in the air as the boys' front door opened again and the Asian man looked out and around. Even from several yards away, Clary could see his eyes widen. Though he had since put on a shirt, he strode pants-less into the hallway and towards them. He called out for Alec to let her go, and when his head turned away from Clary for a moment, it was all the opportunity she needed.

Using one foot, she stamped down hard on Alec's instep. He gasped and lurched back, allowing Clary to grab his wrist and push his hand away from her face. He stumbled back a little bit, clutching at Clary to steady himself, but she bit at him, and he jerked back, this time falling to the ground. She turned and fled from the apartment complex, ignoring the cry of her name from the men behind her.

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Jace woke up tangled in warm sheets, sweated through, and exhausted. He hadn't slept, only dozed for a few hours, tossing and turning fitfully as images of fifteen year old Clary being held down by his teammate assaulted his dreams. He turned to his other side, kicking off the sheets, and expected to see Clary asleep next to him, but she was gone.

"Clary," He murmured as he stretched his arm out towards the other side of the bed. He closed his eyes for a moment. "Where are you?" Pushing himself up on one arm, he looked at the clock and raked a hand through his hair. Clary never woke up before him, and when he saw the time, he was even more surprised. It was barely eight o'clock.

He flopped back to his bed, burying his face in the pillows. He assumed she was in the bathroom and turned over to his side again to wait for her. His eyes fluttered closed, and he was asleep again. He woke much later, but Clary had not returned. He checked his phone, expecting to see a message or a call from her explaining why she had left, but the screen was blank. He sat up for real this time, shucking the covers from his body and stood to straighten out his shorts. Rubbing his eyes, he stepped out of his room and into the kitchen to make some coffee. He grunted a good morning to Alec, who was dressed and sitting on the couch with an open book in his lap.

"Have you seen Clary?"

"Who?" Alec snipped, reaching for his own cup of tea. "I already made coffee for you."

"Thank you." Jace answered mechanically, reaching for the cupboard that stored the mugs. "Clary. My girlfriend. You know, about five feet tall, red hair."

"No, Jace, I wouldn't know. I haven't met her. I don't know her from Adam." Alec's voice was snide, sarcastic to the point of genuine hostility.

Jace blinked. "Well, you could probably distinguish one from the other, seeing as how I'm not dating a man," Jace quipped. "What's with the attitude?" He retrieved a large glass mug and filled it with coffee, mixing in a little bit of the Coffeemate creamer that was left on the counter.

Alec had jerked up, his back ramrod straight with Jace's last statement. He ignored the question Jace had posed to him and instead flatly stated, "I thought you weren't going to be here last night."

"I brought Clary back here instead of her apartment. Why?" Jace collapsed into the armchair opposite of the couch and took a sip of the steaming coffee and smiled, "Did you have a date, Alec?"

"I don't date." He retorted.

"Look, did you see Clary or not?" Jace set his mug on the end-table and leaned forward. "You didn't try to scare her away, did you?"

Alec, who had gone back to his textbook, looked back to Jace, staring at him through long, dark eyelashes. "The world does not revolve around your relationships, Jonathan." With that, he closed the book with a resounding thump, stood and primly walked to his room, shutting the door behind him with a satisfying slam.

Jace rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his coffee. He slipped his phone from his pocket and tried to call Clary, but there was no answer. Worry started to slip its way into his mind. He stood to shower and dress, resolving to go to her apartment as soon as he was finished.

On the drive over, anger started to boil in the pit of his stomach. While he had never particularly liked Sebastian, knowing that he had forced himself on a young girl disgusted him to the point where he felt physically ill. Without realizing it had happened, he was outside of Sebastian's apartment and running up the stairs to his door. He pounded on the wooden frame, calling for him to open the door.

White blond hair was the first thing Jace saw when the door was wrenched open, Sebastian cursing at him for being woken up.

Red hot rage was the second.

Sebastian's blood was the third.

Jace's curled fist flew before he could stop it, not that he would have. The crunch of bone was gratifying, and he stepped forward to deliver another blow.

"Jace! What the hell, man?" Sebastian righted himself cried out, but he merely stumbled back under another hit. He fell to one knee under the force of the hits, and Jace took the opportunity to grab the collar of his shirt and shake him.

"I know what you did, you sick bastard." Jace's face was close to Sebastian's, and his nose wrinkled as the smell of stale alcohol, cigarettes and weed filled his nose. His arm pulled back, letting loose another pounding blow. Sebastian fell back to the floor again, this time clutching his face. Jace's booted foot connected with his ribs, causing the boy to double over as he got to his hands and knees. "I should kill you."

"Jace, what are you talking about?" Sebastian groaned as he collapsed.

Frenzy came over Jace as he realized that he did not even remember what he had done. He reached forward and roughly clutched Sebastian by the neck again. "I know what you did to Clary six and a half years ago. Pretty soon, everyone will." Jace's voice was gravelly, the threat clear and present in his words. Recognition set in to Sebastian's eyes and a cruel smile curved on his lips.

"I thought I recognized your date." His black eyes flashed against Jace's golden ones. "Upset I got to her first?" His head snapped backwards under the force of the punch that Jace delivered. "Probably more upset that I was better, huh? You never forget your first time."

Jace lunged forward again, fists flying, Sebastian's blood splashing against his clean white shirt. Jace had never felt such hatred before in his life. Sebastian wrestled himself free, stood, and kicked high, catching Jace's face and knocking him backwards.

His head hit off the doorjamb and he blinked as the world slipped in and out of focus. His ears rang. He touched his temple, and his fingers came away bloody. The other boy was on top of him then, pummeling and smiling like a demon just loosed from hell.

Sebastian paused for a moment, grasping Jace's chin in his hand, and tilted his head to the side contemplatively. "I bet it just steams you up, doesn't it?" He raised his hand to beat Jace again, but he managed to unpin one of his arms and knock Sebastian back. He pulled himself upright and lurched forward to cover Sebastian's body with his. It was his turn again, and his fist surged forward, hitting again and again. Exhausted and finally satisfied, Jace fell to the side, Sebastian unconscious beneath him. Jace stood, dizzy as he stumbled from the apartment to his car. He sat for a long time.

He twisted the key into the ignition and turned the engine over before he had fully regained his bearings. He reached for his phone; Clary hadn't called him back yet. With his headache starting to fade and his vision slowly returning to normal, he pulled out of the parking spot and into the street.

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Clary flipped the pancakes out of the frying pan and onto the plate for her son. "Mattie?" She called for him to turn off the television and sit at the table for his lunch. It was nearing one o'clock, and she just wanted to sit down and have a meal that wasn't interrupted by her phone ringing. Jace had called six times in the last two hours, and as much as she wanted to answer the phone, she was too scared of what he might say. Delaying reality, pushing off the harshness of the fact that he was probably going to end their relationship, was the only thing that kept her up and moving right now. She walked around the table, getting the syrup from the counter and pouring two glasses of milk and setting it all on the table.

"Matthew, come on. Now. It's getting cold."

She heard the television click off and the pattering footsteps enter the kitchen. The chair scraped as he pulled it out and sat down, looking at Clary expectantly. She placed the plate in front of him, dropping a kiss on his forehead as she told him to go ahead and eat; she was going to wash her hands. She made it halfway to the bathroom before someone pounded on the door. Looking at it, she sighed, but went to open it. Allowing the door to swing wide, she stared up at Jace, bloody, bruised, exhausted and looking at her with a combination of such fear and adoration and relief that she almost shrank back from the weight of it.

"What happened?" She gasped.

He shook his head tiredly and leaned against the doorframe, cradling his forehead in the crook of his elbow. "You're okay." He whispered.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" She asked, stepping forward and brushing a hand against his stomach, causing his breath to hitch at the pain. "What happened to you, Jace?"

"Nothing."

"Who did you," Clary trailed off as a wave of realization hit her. "Sebastian?" Her eyes, pointed at the floor, flicked up to his face and she licked her bottom lip as her mouth set in a straight, angry line.

He nodded once.

"Jace," she started, irritation flowing through her voice as she stepped back and crossed her arms, but she was cut off when he stepped forward and grabbed her face, tenderly stroking circles on her cheeks with his thumb, and kissed her. His mouth moved on hers, gently nudging apart her lips as his nose caressed hers. Clary's hands came up to circle her fingers around his wrist.

He pulled back a few inches, just enough to look in her eyes. "You were gone." He said simply. "I woke up and you were gone. I was," he hesitated, "scared." He finished on a whisper.

Clary's face crumpled. "Me too," she murmured in a voice that was pitched low with held back emotion. "I thought you wouldn't want me anymore." She stepped forward into Jace's arms and felt his arms wrap around her, holding her tightly to his chest as one hand tangled in her hair and pressed her face against the spot where his heart was pounding. She breathed in his scent, lemon and blood and sweat and that unidentifiable smell of a man fresh from the shower. They stayed like that for a few moments until Clary tilted her head up to look at him, met only with golden eyes and his lips pressing against hers.

As much as she hated it, she stepped back and looked at him again. "Jace, seriously, what happened?" She noted the gash on his forehead and reached for it, pushing his blonde bangs away so that she could see it better. He inclined his head, eyes fluttering closed when her warm fingers brushed over the broken skin.

"Nothing." He started stoically, but when Clary clucked her tongue at him, he admitted, "Exactly what you think."

"Why?" She sighed as she drew him inside and led him to the bathroom, where she motioned for him to sit on the toilet as she gathered the limited first aid supplies that she had. She closed and locked the door as Jace leaned on his hand.

"Because no one should be allowed to do that." He stated simply.

"Jace, I told you that I've moved on, forgiven him, even," she poured hydrogen peroxide onto a cotton ball and gently moved his hand aside so that she could clean the cut on his forehead. At his sharp intake of breath at the combined sting of the cleanser and the pressure on the wound, Clary frowned and kissed the top of his head soothingly. She turned away and unscrewed the cap of the antibiotic ointment, squeezing a small amount of the greasy gel onto the tips of her fingers and smeared it against the now clean area.

Jace looked at her from underneath her arm, and she caught his gaze. He clutched at her wrist and lowered her arm, pulling her forward so that she straddled his lap.

"Jace, what are you doing?" She muttered against his warm, soft lips. He didn't answer her, but rather moved one hand between them to the juncture of her thighs, tantalizingly rubbing his fingers over her warmth. Her small gasp only encouraged him, and he unbuttoned her jeans, slipping past the rough material to the softness underneath.

"Jace," she gasped again, but he silenced her with another searing kiss. He touched her, exploring her in an intimate and overwhelming way, his eyes, so golden and expressive, watching every emotion dance across her face. Her eyes closed, then jerked open. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out save the breathy noises of pleasure that she made. When she finally hit her breaking point, a soft grunt flowed from her lips as her body tightened on his fingers. Her arms, already around his neck, tightened as her hands went to his hair.

"No, no, I'm not finished with you yet," he said softly as his hands left her warmth and peeled the denim away from her legs. Clary stared at him wide-eyed as he removed the rest of the impeding clothing. He pulled her back, pressing into her in one smooth, swift motion. A moan that she disguised as a gasp left her, and Jace took the cue as he started to rock his hips back and forth, slowly at first, dropping sweet little kisses all over Clary's face. He quickened though, as her breathless moans shot straight through his body.

"You have to know, Clary." He mumbled against her skin, "You have to know that I will never not want you. I don't care." He captured her lips again and moved one hand to Clary's lower back, lifting her just slightly, changing the position just enough to make her stiffen and muffle a cry against his shoulder. "I just want you."

"Jace," she started, speaking against his neck, but was unable to finish. The words would not come out. Instead, she moved her body, rolling her hips against him, earning a hiss of pleasure. She could not stop that guttural moan that bled from her lips and into Jace's body as she came. His hands grasped her hips tight enough to leave a bruise as he followed her. They collapsed against each other, spent, sweaty and sated as they came down from their high in Clary's little yellow bathroom.

Clary pulled away first, leaning back and smiling tiredly when she saw Jace's cheeky and unapologetic grin. She kissed his forehead again, careful to avoid the injured spot, but when she pulled back, Jace was not smiling. He instead was staring at her with an intensity that had her trapped in his arms, her world shrinking down and running out of oxygen. Her entire being was Jace.

"I mean it, Clary." Jace whispered. "I want you." His fingers came up and stroked her face, ghosting over her eyelids, down her nose, and across her lips before he leaned in and pressed his against her once more. His mouth trailed down, leaving sweet kisses over her neck and collarbone.

She hummed against his temple. They were entirely caught up in each other until a little knock echoed through the room.

"Mommy, are you done washing your hands? I need to go to the bathroom!" Matthew's small voice carried through the room and Clary sat up stark straight.

"Just a second, honey. Jace has a cut and Mommy's fixing it for him!" Clary's voice was breathy with panic as she stood and adjusted her clothes, motioning for Jace to do that same. He smiled and complied, nodding to let Clary know that he was decent again.

"When did Jace get here?" Matthew's voice was confused.

"Just a few minutes ago, Buddy," Clary answered as she flipped the lock and opened the door, still flushed and disheveled from the tryst a few moments ago. She turned to Jace, longing and intensity all over her face. She snatched up a Band-Aid from the counter and tore it open, gently smoothing it over the injured area on Jace's forehead. She grabbed Jace's hand and led him from the bathroom, allowing the little boy, who was almost dancing, some privacy.

They walked to the kitchen, where Clary sat Jace down at the table and poured him a cup of coffee. The satisfied half smile on his face and intense gaze had Clary blushing. "I can't believe we did that." She giggled.

"Well, I'm up for a repeat performance anytime, Sweetheart," he affirmed as he lifted his coffee cup to his lips. "I've never seen you look as sexy as when you came on my hand. Your blush was the most erotic thing I've ever seen." His words went right through her and Clary's eyes widened.

"Now is not the time." Clary whispered. However, she moved behind him and kissed the golden curls at the top of his head. "Save it for tonight."

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So there it is. Everything is alright in the world of Clace… for now.

I do apologize for the wait, I am a full time college student, I work a job, and I hold an executive position in one of the organizations I'm in. I will not abandon this story, guys. I promise you that. So no matter how long I go without updating, please know that there is one coming.

What did you think of the lemon? Was it alright, or should I never do anything like that again? I'm not super opposed to changing the rating of the story if there is a desire for it.

Leave your thoughts in the review box, please!

Love you all!