So, I did a better job of editing this chapter, but I'm not promising that it's perfect…. Enjoy!

It was Tuesday and Clary was sitting at lunch. Currently, she was watching Magnus flirt with and pester Alec, who, while flustered, took it all in good humor. Clary couldn't help but smile at them.

The first thing Clary had done when she woke up Saturday morning was call Magnus, not caring in the least that it was only seven in the morning and Magnus never got up before ten. After he had gotten past his irritation at being woken up Magnus had been more than willing to tell her how he had taken Alec out to a museum that was a few towns away. Apparently Magnus had loved it. The two had then gotten a bite to eat at a café and eventually Magnus had returned Alec home around midnight. And while he hadn't said anything, Clary felt like there was a detail or two he had left out by the smugness in his voice. Alec had even texted her after lunch and told her thank you for helping him, not only with Magnus but his siblings as well.

"Clary," a voice called, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Hmm?" Clary hummed, turning her head towards Isabelle.

Isabelle let out a semi-irritated sigh. "Do you ever listen?"

Clary just gave her a blank look.

"Never mind," Isabelle sighed again, "we were talking about going to Pandemonium again Friday. You in?"

"I . . . I don't know." Clary said slowly. Her ribs were still giving her issues and while her father hadn't been drinking since Halloween, Clary was still hesitant about asking him to go out all night.

"Oh come on, Clary, you never do anything." Isabelle next to whined. "You, my dear, need to get out more."

"Isabelle," Magnus started, his voice warning, was cut off quickly by Jace.

"In case you forgot, Izzy, Clary can't exactly do any form of physical activity."

"And you would know." Isabelle shot back. Clary, for some reason, flushed at this and Jace's eyes narrowed a little.

"Isabelle." Alec reprimanded. "Stop it."

"What," Isabelle asked innocently. "Those two, until quite recently, have been at each other's throats like some married couple. I cannot be the only one who thinks they should just give up and kiss or something by now."

Clary choked a little and Jace let out a sound of protest.

"How is Clary supposed to dance when she recently fell down a flight of stairs?" Alec asked, giving his sister a pointed look. This seemed to deflate Isabelle a little.

"Oh," she said, her voice a little meeker than before, "I forgot."

Magnus rolled his eyes at this. "Of course you did."

Isabelle shot him a look before sitting up straighter. "But that doesn't mean she still can't go. We won't be dancing the entire time. And it's not like she would be jumping up and down, she could still dance a little bit."

Magnus opened his mouth to protest again but stopped when Clary place her hand on his knee for a second. He looked down at her and Clary gave him a brief smile before removing her hand and turning to Isabelle. Simon seemed to be saying something to her and she paled a little. Looking up, Isabelle met Clary's eyes.

"I'm sorry." Isabelle said, almost dejectedly.

Clary waved her off a little. "It's alright. You meant well. I don't know if I'll be able to go, but I can ask. We can see where things go from there."

Isabelle nodded a little and a small smile graced her lips. Clary knew Isabelle meant well, that she always did, Clary just wish Isabelle wasn't always so set in having her way. Or that she wasn't so nosy. Jace and Isabelle may not be related by blood, but they were both too intuitive for Clary's own good. In all honesty, Clary was pretty sure that the only reason Isabelle hadn't figured out Clary's secret was because Clary hadn't allowed herself to get too close to Isabelle. In all honesty, it made Clary a little sad because she felt like Isabelle would make a loyal friend, but Clary just couldn't take the chance.

The conversation about Pandemonium seemed to have been closed and everyone else went back to discussing other things. Clary couldn't have been more relieved when the bell rang, but for some reason she just couldn't get Isabelle out of her head. She could barely pay attention during world history, and then gym wasn't much better. Forced to sit in the bleachers and just watch, Clary attempted to do homework that she had brought with her. She hated sitting out, but she didn't have much of a choice.

"I'm sorry about Isabelle."

Clary jumped a little at the sound of someone so close to her. Turning her head, she took in his golden eyes.

"It's alright, she means well." Clary said. "Did you ever find out what she was so upset about Friday?"

"No," Jace huffed. "Max and I both were on her all weekend about it and she wouldn't say a single thing."

"Maybe it wasn't anything too serious." Clary offered. "For all we know Simon might have just said something stupid to set her off."

"Maybe." Jace sighed, not really convinced. "Speaking of Friday, you knew didn't you?"

"Knew what?" Clary asked innocently, even though she had a pretty good idea what Jace was talking about.

"Magnus and Alec."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Please, my brother disappears for hours Friday night, doesn't tell us a single thing all weekend, and then Monday those two are disgustingly sweet with each other." Jace gave Clary a pointed look.

"I really don't know what you are on about." Clary replied.

"You are a terrible liar," Jace smirked. Clary shot him a look. "Alright, you can hold your own, but right now you aren't very convincing."

Clary looked down at her hands and sighed. Slowly, she turned and looked as Jace, meeting his eyes.

"Maybe I'm just tired of lying." Clary admitted, her voice soft.

Jace's face instantly softened and the smirk slipped off his face. "Then why don't you just stop."

"Tired and done are different things."

Jace opened his mouth to say something and then closed it, as if changing his mind. If Clary didn't know him a little better she would say he was at a loss for words, but this was Jace and he always had something to say. Even in situations like this. Finally he opened his mouth again to say something but was interrupted.

"Clary!"

Jace groaned a little as Clary looked behind him to where Sebastian was walking towards them.

"Sebastian," Clary forced a small smile.

"What's this I hear about you going to Pandemonium Friday?" Sebastian stopped beside her.

"How do you even know-" Jace started in a hard tone but stopped when Clary elbowed him a little. Out of the corner of her eye Clary could see him scowl a little at her.

"Isabelle thinks I don't get out enough." Clary forced out a laugh.

"But are you sure it's such a good idea?" Sebastian asked, concern lacing his words and in his eyes as he looked at her.

"Why," Clary started to ask, confused by what he meant.

"You're ribs, going to a club doesn't seem like the best way to let them heal." He replied quickly.

"Oh," Clary got out, surprised, "well, I probably won't really be doing much dancing."

"But," Sebastian started but was cut off when someone on the court called his name. With a sigh Sebastian looked back at Clary before leaving.

"One day he's going to poke his nose where it doesn't belong." Jace bit out.

"Like you are one to talk." Clary shot back, though not as mad as she was amused.

Jace looked as if he was about to defend himself when he noticed that her eyes were more teasing than accusing.

"Yeah, well, I can't help it." Jace said before standing up. "It's just one of my natural talents."

Clary scoffed at that.

"Hey now," Jace said, a smirk returning to his face. "You know you love everything about me."

"I hope you get hit in the face with the birdy." Clary shot back.

"What?" Jace looked at her with mock horror. "Why would you want that?"

"To knock you down a peg."

"But then you wouldn't have my beautiful face to dream about." Jace winked.

"More like have night terrors." Clary rolled her eyes.

"You shouldn't do that."

"What?" Clary huffed.

"Lie to yourself." Jace smirked. Clary just scowled a little.

Suddenly Jace's smirk faded and he tilted his head to the side a little.

"Huh."

"What?" Clary asked, completely bewildered.

"I forgot how much I liked to irritate you."

Clary's eyes widened a little. "You jerk!"

Jace chuckled a little and walked away before she could throw something at him.

Watching Jace walk back down the bleachers and to the court Clary realized how easy it was for her to go from a serious conversation to a lighter one with him. It was weird, how comfortable she felt around Jace now. It wasn't very long ago that she could hardly stand him and just one wrong word was enough to make her temper run away from her. Now, he could poke and prod at her and Clary just poked and prodded back.

Clary was slowly starting to discover all of the other qualities of Jace that others didn't take the time to find, because while he was arrogant and didn't know when to leave well enough along, he was also compassionate and protective. Jace was clever and too intuitive at times for his own good, but wasn't cruel. Sure he liked to ruffle others' feathers a little, but he was never intentionally trying to hurt them or anyone else. Clary found herself wishing that others could see beyond Jace's tough exterior, because he was so much more than met the eye.

…..

…

…..

Jace

Pandemonium was crammed full of sweaty, scantily clad bodies. The music was loud and seemed to vibrate through to your bones. They hadn't been there more than half an hour and Jace's hair was already damp and sticking to his forehead and neck. He was currently leaning against the bar, both his ankles his arms crossed as he watched them.

At first when Clary had told them Thursday that her father had said yes to her going out and then just staying at the Lightwoods for the night Jace had been surprised. But then the idea excited him a little. If Valentine Morgenstern was letting Clary not only go out with friends but also stay at their house, then that meant there would be no consequences for Clary when she got home. Albeit, Clary had admitted to Magnus and Jace that her father thought she would be staying at Magnus's house, but at that moment, Jace hadn't really cared. He hadn't even been angry when Clary said that Valentine saying yes was probably just his way of making up to Clary yet another visit to the hospital. Jace was just happy that Clary was getting to do something without the constant fear of what awaited her when she got home.

Jace hadn't even complained when Isabelle decided it would be an excellent idea to have Simon and Magnus come over before going out that night. Neither Maia nor Jordan where going because they were going out of town once school was out to go some concert of a band they loved. And Jace had every reason to protest against Simon and Magnus coming over. For one, Simon would be drooling over Isabelle the entire time and Jace could barely handle that during lunch. Second, it meant Magnus coming over as well and while the two of them saw more eye to eye on things, Jace still got the feeling Magnus didn't completely trust Jace with Clary. Plus there was the fact that Magnus was constantly making innuendos towards Alec and while it could be amusing, Alec was Jace's brother.

So, when the six teenagers and Max had arrived at the Lightwood house Magnus had followed Alec to his room, Isabelle had dragged Clary to hers, and upon hearing that Simon was a fellow nerd Max had offered to show him some rare comic book he had and Simon had jumped at the chance. Subsequently, this left Jace alone. Not that he really cared. If it meant that Jace didn't have to watch Clary's two best friends flirt with his siblings he was all up for it.

At one point in time pizza's had been ordered and other than delivering each pizza to its designated owner, Jace didn't see any of his siblings or other guests until after it started to get dark. They had decided to leave around nine that night and Jace had changed into dark washed jeans and a black shirt with a leather jacket. He waited impatiently in the living room, wondering what was taking the others so long. Alec and Magnus were the first ones to show up, Magnus laughing about something and Alec blushing fiercely. Next was Simon, who, according to Max, was really good at Dungeons and Dragons and had only changed when he realized it was time for them to leave. Isabelle and Clary were the last two to arrive. Jace was about to go pound on Isabelle's door when he saw his sister walk around the corner. He scowled a little at what she was wearing, but said nothing. Jace knew better than to oppose Isabelle's wardrobe, which tonight consisted of a tight black halter dress that stopped barely mid-thigh and black laced up boots with long pointy heels. He was about to ask where Clary was when he saw her red hair peak around the corner.

Jace's mouth had nearly dropped open. Clary had on a black corset like top and a tight black skirt that stopped just about mid-thigh. There was a gap between were the top ended and the skirt started so you could see some of Clary's cream colored skin. Beneath the skirt were black fish net hose. Clary's feet were clad in a black pair of combat boots and to top everything off she had on a leather jacket, which upon everyone's stares she pulled close in a self-conscious manner.

Now, however, as Jace watched the couple dance, he couldn't help but wish that either Clary hadn't been able to come or that she had dressed in something a little bit more modest. Something hot pulled in the bottom of his stomach and it took all of his will power to not walk over and pull Clary out of the stupid jerk's hands.

Sebastian Verlac had showed up a few minutes after they had. Upon arrival Magnus had dragged Alec out onto the dance floor and Isabelle was quick to follow suit with Simon, leaving Jace and Clary to hold down the fort at a table, a table which had now been abandoned. Much to Jace's frustration, Verlac had shown up and skirted Clary off to dance. The dark haired boy currently was not only closer to Clary than Jace would deem necessary, but his hands were lower on her back than he liked. Jace couldn't help but glare at the back of the scum's head.

"Someone looks jealous."

Jace turned to see Alec standing beside him and scoffed a little.

"Where's your sparkly boyfriend?" Jace asked, turning back to glare at Sebastian.

"Getting drinks and he's not my boyfriend." Alec retorted.

"Could have fooled me." Jace muttered, a little disappoint in not ruffling his brother's feathers a little at his new romance.

"Like how you're not jealous."

"I'm not." Jace retorted. The very idea was preposterous. There was no reason for him to be jealous, especially of Sebastian Verlac of all people.

"Which completely explains the murderous glare that you are currently giving Sebastian."

"I'm not jealous." Jace repeated.

"And I'm not gay." Alec retorted.

Jace looked over at Alec in frustration about to make some smart remark when Magnus showed up.

"Who's not gay?"

"Alec." Jace retorted.

Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Well that's new to me."

"That's not what I said." Alec defended himself.

"My lovely brother was comparing my supposed jealousy to his sexuality," Jace quipped, "and since I'm clearly not jealous Alec, apparently, now longer finds talk dark and handsome his type." Part of Jace knew he should be ashamed of exploiting Alec, but all Jace could focus on was how Sebastian had his body pressed against Clary's and his mouth close to her ear, whispering something that seemed to make her smile.

"Why's Jace jealous?" Jace could hear Magnus ask in the background as Jace grabbed the glass of water from the bar behind him and fisted his other hand at his side.

"Sebastian." Alec stated, followed by a remark from Magnus that Jace didn't catch.

For reasons beyond his knowledge, Jace was seeing red and he suddenly wished he had a way of cornering Verlac in a dark alley. What Jace really didn't get was why Sebastian was even here. The dirt bag was the one who had fretted over Clary all week about going out. How it wasn't smart with her injuries so fresh and then how it wouldn't be worth it to just go and watch. If he thought it was such a horrible idea why was the idiot even here? Jace suddenly wished Isabelle didn't have such an open mouth and hadn't mentioned it to Sebastian.

"Jace."

"What?" Jace snapped.

"If you're so bothered by it why don't you go cut in?"

"For the last time I'm not jealous," Jace ground out, looking at his brother. He was use to Alec fighting Jace on something, but he usually gave up by now.

"Who said anything about being jealous?" Magnus asked. "Besides, I think if you grip your drink any harder you're gonna have glass shards in your hand. I don't think the workers will be too pleased cleaning up your blood."

Jace placed the glass of water back on the bar and then crossed his arms again. Normally Jace would have made some snarky retort, but right now he was too agitated. His eyes trained back in on Clary and the boy who was being way too familiar with her. Somehow the two had gotten closer, Jace hadn't even thought that was possibly, and he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose a little in distaste. Jace watched as Sebastian's hands roamed Clary's back a little, stopping lower on her back, once again, than he liked. A low growl sounded from Jace and suddenly he was moving. In the back ground Jace thought he heard Alec calling his name, but he paid it no attention. All he could think about was separating Clary before Jace completely lost control and did something rash like break every one of Sebastian Verlac's repulsive fingers.

"Clary," Jace said as he stopped beside her.

"Jace," Clary looked up at him a little surprised by his sudden appearance.

"What do you want Lightwood?" Sebastian asked through semi-gritted teeth.

Jace plastered on a pleasant smile. "You didn't think I was going to let you hog Clary all night, did you?"

Sebastian gave Jace a hard look before looking back at Clary.

"Might as well let him cut in, he may throw a fit otherwise." Clary teased, smirking a little. Sebastian glared as Jace for a second before nodding.

"I'll find you again later, Clary."

Clary nodded at Sebastian and Jace instantly filled the space previously filled by the dark haired boy. Jace couldn't help but smirk a little as Sebastian shot Jace a look as he walked away.

"I'm surprised you didn't punch him."

"What?" Jace asked, turning his attention back on Clary.

"You, I'm surprised you didn't punch Sebastian. The two of you don't exactly get along."

Jace scoffed a little before giving her a haughty grin. "Yes well, neither did France and England and they paired up in World War II."

"So you are comparing yourself to power hungry countries now." Clary chuckled a little. "I take it you're England?"

"Of course, they were clever enough not to get completely overrun by the enemy." Jace replied.

"Then who's Germany?" Clary tilted her head a little to the side. There was mirth in her eyes and Jace couldn't help notice just how green they were.

Jace just shrugged a little. "I don't think we've progressed that far yet. We're still strictly pre-nineteenth century."

Clary laughed a little. "Of course you are."

Jace smirked a little and pulled Clary a little closer to him, careful to not be too rough and hurt her. He had kept a respectable distance between them but close enough that they could hear each other over the pulsing bass of the music.

"How long until you guys do reach the eighteen hundreds?" Clary asked.

Jace pretended to pounder for a minute before answering. "Few hundred years?" He replied, making it sound as if he wasn't sure. "Yes, definitely a few hundred years."

Clary laughed a little. "That's a long time to be feuding with one another."

Jace smiled at the sound of her laugh, the fact that he had made her laugh made him happy. It was a much better feeling than he had after upsetting Clary.

"Yes, well, you shouldn't ask too much."

Clary shook her head and then looked at Jace with a more serious expression. "I wish you two could at least act as if you didn't hate each other."

Jace frowned a little. "I wouldn't say we hate each other, it's more that Sebastian and I just . . . clash when we're around each other."

"You want to know a little secret?" Clary asked and then rose on her toes so that her mouth was close to Jace's ear. "I think if you two could be friends if you allowed it."

Jace balked a little at the idea but after a few minutes he could see Clary's point and part of Jace could see where she was coming from, that is if Sebastian wasn't so infatuated with Clary. The other part still thought the idea was ridiculous. He was about to make a comment when someone bumped roughly into Clary, causing her to not only be shoved into Jace but also hiss a little in pain. Jace twisted her away from the majority of the crowd and glared, trying to find the idiot who couldn't watch where they were going. Realizing he wasn't going to have much luck, Jace trained his attention back to Clary. She had her head in his chest as she sucked in air through her teeth.

"Do you want to go sit down?" He asked worried, already shuffling his way slowly through most of the density of swarming bodies.

"No," Clary said meekly.

Jace held back a sigh. "Come on."

"Jace," Clary started to protest but stopped at the look Jace shot her.

Jace still had his arms wrapped around her and drew her close to his side protectively as he maneuvered his way through the crowd and then towards the outer edges to where he knew there was a side door to the ally. Once outside he almost regretted bringing Clary outside when his skin prickled a little at the cold, but he promised himself he would get her back inside soon.

Placing his hands on her shoulders and leaning down a little to look at her Jace asked, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, really. It just hurt initially." Clary smiled up at him.

Jace nodded. "Alright, let's go back in then."

He started to go back to the door when Clary's hand shot out and grabbed his. Jace stopped and looked behind him, surprised.

"I like this." Clary said with flushed cheeks, rather that was from the cold or something else Jace wasn't sure. "I like us not fighting all the time, not being angry at you."

Jace's pulse slowed down a little before speeding back up.

"Why, tired of slapping me?" A smirk made its way across his face.

Clary rolled her eyes a little. "Yes, that's exactly the reason. I love the stinging sensation of leaving a red mark on you cheek."

Jace snorted a little, increasingly becoming more comfortable with the turn in tone and subject of conversation. He chose not to respond and instead just pull her closer to him and go back inside. Once inside he led her back to the dance floor, this time on the outskirts where there was less of a chance of someone bumping into her. Much to Jace's relief, Sebastian never slithered back to try and dance with Clary again. So the two of them got to just relax and talk with one another, a past time that Jace was starting to really like and wish they had been able to do sooner without going at each other's throats.

Just past midnight the others were ready to go, so the six teenagers made their way back to the Lightwood estate. Magnus and Alec didn't waste any time turning in and going to Alec's room. Something that Jace didn't even attempt to think about. Simon went home, with the excuse of having some family thing in the morning. Clary stayed with Isabelle in her room and Jace retired to his room. Exhausted, Jace had expected to fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but instead he stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours as his mind raced with thoughts, thoughts that all pertained to Clary. It was a thought about how Clary's smile lit of her face and her eyes dance when she laughed that Jace finally fell asleep with.

So I would have been three for three instead of three for four, but I had some major writers block towards the end. But you guys are finally getting some Clace. Hope you enjoyed the chapter with all of its minor Clary and Jace fluff.