Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare thought up the shadow world so mine would seem that little bit more boring.
Busted
The August sun was shining through the tall glass window. It's bright rays pulling me from sleep. I opened my eyes slowly, feeling the sleep try to pull me back down. It usually would have, but then something clicked; I didn't have floor length windows in my room. I also didn't sleep on memory foam. I blinked and the previous day's events came rushing back to me. Jace coming to my house. Us. Nearly. John. The arguing. Coming to Jace's apartment. Izzy's phone call. Monopoly. Inlaughed quietly to myself, yesterday had been like a dream. A very embarrassing emotional dream. Thinking about it now, with a clear head that wasn't polluted with my lust for Jace or my anger at John or my annoyance at Iz, I was glad John had walked in when he did. I wasn't the hearts and flowers type of girl, I liked to think I was quite reasonable and down to earth when it came to men. I didn't need our first time to be special, but I definitely wanted to be atleast wearing different underwear than I had been and too have shaved my legs. Isabelle always used to think it was strange the way I didn't care about boys. Even my last relationship hadn't felt this serious. Sure I liked him, but he never brought out the reaction in me that Jace did. Could everything be blamed on hormones?
I sat up in the bed and realised I was alone. I fell asleep last night with my head on Jace's chest. I had been counting his heart beats to try and help settle me. Our conversation about the dinner had left me a little nervous. I didn't want that nervous feeling to ruin the good mood the sunshine had left me with.I quickly got up and went to the bathroom. It was funny how much of a better look on life you have once you have brushed your teeth. I walked out of the room and the smell of bacon quickly lead me to Jace. He was standing by the oven. Shirtless. His grey pyjama bottoms hanging low on his hips, showing the slimmest line of his briefs. His gold hair curling at the tips, fresh from a shower by its darker tint. I couldn't breathe. What had I just seen saying about hormones? I took a deep breath as I tried to think properly, or remember my own name.
"Good morning beautiful." His eyes were bright. His smile large. His teeth seemed even whiter in the brightness of the day. I walked towards him,
"So I've got sausages, bacon, pancakes and eggs, but those are for me because I remember you saying last night you don't like them." I reached him and he turned away from the oven to kiss me lightly.
"It's nice that you remembered." I walked away from him quickly to check my phone. The time read 11:01am!
"By the Angel Herondale you let me sleep in!" I quickly turned to face him, he seemed smug.
"You were very tired." He was trying not to laugh.
"What's so funny?" I went to sit at the breakfast bar as he plated the food.
"Well you hardly slept." What was he talking about?
"What?" I slept for over 10 hours.
"It's tiring to talk in your sleep." He said it quietly as he walked our plates over. He said it for me not to hear, but I was mortified. Talking in my sleep had always been a problem for me. My mum used to constantly tease me about it, so did my dad. Only John never cared but that's because he was hardly at the apartment. I put my head in my hands,
"Jace," I said his name like a groan, like it was his fault.
"What?" He sat at the table with me and started eating his bacon.
"Just tell me what I said," I picked up my knife and fork, nothing, not even my sleep talking could put me off pancakes and bacon.
"I'm a very light sleeper and you're the first person in forever to sleep in my bed, so when you started mumbling you woke me up." I got up to make some coffee. I needed the caffeine today for sure now.
"'John did you buy ketchup?'" His imitation off my voice was properly the worst id ever heard. He made me sound like an annoying 12 year old. I came to sit back at the table.
"If I sound like that, shoot me now." He laughed but continued shortly,
"Then you said 'Jace kiss me.'" I put down my fork,
"No I did not!" My cheeks were bright red. He wouldn't look at me in the face, but he was trying to hold back his laughter,
"No you didn't I'm only teasing red. You did ask me to remind you to buy detergent though." He raised one eyebrow. He was right. I picked up my fork and carried on eating, and we were soon finished our breakfasts. I offered to wash up, but of course fancy Jace Herondale has a dish washer and a house maid, so it didn't matter. I heard my phone beep. I picked it up off the side and checked it.
Izzy: Everyone will be at yours for two. Make something decent like roast dinner or lasagna, I'm ignoring my diet right now lol.
I laughed out loud, and Jace came up behind me. He hugged me from behind with his hands around my waist and his head in the crook of my neck,
"What's so funny?"
"Just my other boyfriend. He's wondering where I am." He growled playfully and kissed my neck.
"Clarissa, how many times have I told you I don't find that funny?" He spun me so I was facing him and his eyes were dark, desire heavy. I gulped, I wasn't expecting that reaction. He brought his lips down slowly to mine. He stopped his lips just above my own, I could taste the pancakes we just had,
"Clary.." His voice was husky. I reached up and brought our lips together. I brought my hands to his hair, he reached my waist and gripped it hard. He soon pulled away,
"Now what did Izzy really say?" His eyes were still dark. I showed him the message because I hated repeating my self.
"I say roast dinner. I didn't know you could cook." A roast dinner sounded like an excellent choice.
"You never asked." I raised both my eyes brows throwing his previous words back at him. He pulled us on to the sofa,
"When did you learn?" He seemed intrigued.
"I learnt while living in college like everyone else. It's not that I can cook so well, its that Isabelle can't and all the boys are so lazy that they look to me." I smiled, my little group of friends. I had missed them over the last three weeks and it would be so nice to sit down with them and laugh. It would be strange for Jace to be there, but I wanted him there. I thought back to the sunny day of the fundraiser, and he seemed to fit into our group quite well. Maybe that was before his fight with John, but John loved me and once he saw how happy I was, he would be okay with it. I hoped.
"How long will it take you to make this dinner?" His eyes were serious.
"Only about an hour and a half. Why?" I reached his hand with my own,
"I want to talk to your brother properly before everyone gets there." I gripped his hands to try and pull him out of his own head.
"Jace, he won't care, don't worry." He looked so gloomy.
"I wanted him to like me when we first introduced me as your boyfriend but there's no chance in that since he must think I deflowered you or whatever," he shook his head, "the least I can do now is apologise, explain my intentions and try to get along with him."
"Explain your intentions? Deflower me? Jace this isn't pride and prejudice." He laughed and his eyes seemed lighter.
"Just let me handle your brother," I kissed his cheek and got off the sofa,
"Right can I get a shower before we leave?" He stood up too,
"Sure I'll join you," his smug grin widened his face. My eyes bugged slightly but I tried to keep my cool, I put my hands on his shoulders and pushed him back on the sofa,
"Oh no Mr Herondale you need to sit here and think about your intentions." I quickly trotted off to the bathroom.
We were both ready quickly. It was now 12 o'clock. I was walking out of the bathroom from trying to fix my curly red hair,
"Jace could we stop at the store before mine? I've just realised there's no way John has brought potatoes or any type of vegetables or milk for that matter." He nodded at me in the mirror he was facing, and I stopped in my tracks. He was wearing his leather jacket with a black t-shirt and some jeans, it was a normal enough outfit but the black against Jace's skin seemed to make him stand out. No one would know that this man was a defensive attorney. There was more chance you would think Jace was turning up at your house to burn it down, just for the kicks. I wish I could sketch him standing there, his body slightly turned towards me so I could see his face but the angle in the mirror as well. I could then paint him as well using the sunlight that was now pouring through his windows to really tint the gold to his eyes.
"Earth to Red." Jace was now standing in front of me waving his hands in front of my face. I swatted them away, and stepped back from him.
"Well I was saying that shade of green looks lovely on you, he stepped towards me and kissed my cheek lightly.
"Come on let's go," his hand came down to latch to mine and we walked out of his apartment, he picked up my bag of stuff along the way and I saw the untouched game of monopoly.
"Don't worry I'll save it, next time I'll really kick your ass." I snorted at him and we made our way down the lift to his car.
We soon arrived at the supermarket, Jace's hand found mine as we walked to where the trollies were. I went to drag one away from the pile when he groaned,
"Are we going to be here that long?" I usually didn't care but I wasn't going to strain myself carrying a basket. I wasn't going to tell him that either. I got one of the smaller trollies and his chagrin slipped slightly.
"I haven't been to a supermarket in probably 10 years." I wasn't surprised, Jace didn't give off the home supermarket vibe "they are so-"
"Boring, mundane, slow?" He smiled. We had stepped inside and I went straight to the fruit and veg isle.
"Yeah that's what I was going to say."
Going grocery shopping with Jace was quite interesting. Surprisingly he remained quiet the whole time. He just watched me. We had only been in there 25 minutes because I git exactly what we needed for dinner, desert and a few bits for the fridge, even when we paid he didn't say anything. He tried to use his credit card but I stopped him. Strangely there was no vocal argument from him. He let it go quickly and we made our way back to the car.
"Clary?" I turned at the sound of my name. I looked towards the doors and saw a familiar black head of hair. Seb. I was with Jace. My boss. I turned to Jace and he was watching Seb approach us with hatred in his eyes. I ignored his childish reaction, and quickly whispered,
"Shit what do I say?" I was frantic, my heart pounding. I didn't want him to be suspicious of anything between Jace and me, that would make office life weird, everyone would treat me differently, like the girl who fell for Jace's charms and not the one who done her job, but really I was that girl if I was hiding from co-workers. I groaned inwardly looking to Jace for advice but since he had finished packing the groceries in the car he slammed the boot of the car shut and remained quite. By the Angel why now does he decide to become mute? I turned to Seb, and time had run out. He was standing in front of me. He was carrying a few bags on one arm
"Hey," I waved lightly,
"Oh Mr Herondale sorry, I didn't see you there." Seb had a polite smile on his face. I hadn't seen him in the break room for a while now, but I thought he just wanted to eat lunch with his work colleagues.
"Jace is just coming round for Sunday dinner with my family,." I tried to smile casually, but I don't think it worked. Jace hadn't yet said hi to him, and it made things even more awkward.
"Seb, did you grab the bag with the wine?" I turned. I had heard that nasally whiney voice before.
"Yeah K, it's here." He smiled and I turned to see Kaelie. So that's why I hadn't seen him in the break room. I met his eyes and gave him a smug look.
"Oh Mr Herondale," she paused as she saw me, "and your PA?" Her voice was so annoying. Seb turned to her,
"Yeah they are having dinner at her parents, like us." He said it in a way that I knew he knew. Her eyes flashed to me, then back to him and I knew she knew as well. Busted.
"Yeah I'm having dinner with her folks. Which we will be late for if we don't get going. It was lovely seeing you both again. Clary shall we?" I don't think he looked at either of them once when he said that.
"I'll see you tomorrow." I gave one last look at the couple and got into the car. We both stayed quiet. I turned to Jace, just as we pulled into my car park,
"Any thoughts to share or are you staying silent for an unknown reason?" He turned to me and smiled.
"Actually my dear Red, I'm very happy right now and sometimes when I'm happy I like to enjoy the peace and quiet." He got out of the car. I quickly followed him, and grabbed some bags from the car to walk up to my flat. Jace followed me carrying the remainder of the food. I opened the door quickly. I walked to the kitchen to drop of the food. I shouted trying to find John,
"John? You home? I'm back. Jace is here, put away your fisty cuffs and let's talk out yesterday like adults." I walked into the living room and John was getting up off the sofa. Seelie was sitting on the couch next to him and they were watching some movie. He saw me and our identical eyes met, within in a breath he was walking towards me and he bear hugged me. John's smell of freshly cut grass surrounded me and I brought my hands up to return his hug. Yeah he was my brother, we had fights, but I knew he had my back. He squeezed me even tighter as he spoke,
"I'm sorry Clare, I shouldn't of reacted like that.. I was just shocked. I should of known that you can handle yourself. Seelie and Iz have both pointed out how stupid I was being, can you forgive me and move back in?" I laughed out loud as I pulled away.
"John I didn't move out, I stayed out for one night." He quickly turned to face Seelie,
"I can't believe you actually believed me! Of course she wouldn't move out over that, you're her brother for crying out loud." Seelie was nearly crying with laughter. Honestly my gullible big bear brother. I heard someone cough and I turned to see Jace. We smiled timidly at each other. He quickly looked to John and I held my breath.
"Look about last night, I-" Jace began to apologise. John walked across the room to stand in front of him,
"Don't worry about it. I know." He held out his hand and Jace took it. I let out a breath that I had been holding and smiled. I walked up to them both and spoke,
"Right so who's going to help me make dinner?" John quickly scuttled back into the living room. Jace turned to me, and his eyes were bright again, shining, molten melting. I reached up and kissed his cheek.
"I guess that's you then." He slowly followed me into the kitchen. He started unpacking everything from the bags and laying it out on the sides. Our kitchen wasn't giant, so even with just the two of us in here, there was a buzz, like a tingle to the atmosphere. We would brush past each other, causing sparks to fly.
I tried to ignore him and focus on the food. Making dinner was a long process, because evertyme I did something Jace asked me what I was doing and his curios voice and him standing over me, would distract me again. The chicken was in the oven, and potatoes for roast potatoes were boiling, we were just skinning the veg when I turned to Jace,
"Your asking me all these questions like you've never seen anyone cook before?" He stopped dicing the carrots for the minute then quickly started again.
"My mom used to make the best Sunday roast, but I was never bothered to watch her make it, I was always outside playing with a football and causing trouble." I smiled as I pictured a young Jace running into a back garden and playing with his football, then accidentally kicking it through a window and not getting in trouble, because with those looks, you just couldn't. I heard the front door open,
"Hmm it smells good, Clary must be cooking her potatoes." Simon walked into the kitchen and I turned to hug him.
"Hey Lewis, you remember Jace?" I thought the urge to say my boss Jace. Simon looked him over once and just smiled and waved. Simon had no social skills at all. Isabelle quickly followed him, she was wearing a long black dress and wedges with her hair curled down her back and she looked beautiful as ever.
"Clary you made roast thank god I love your potatoes." I rolled my eyes as I pulled her in for a hug,
"Are your potatoes that good?" Jace was looking at me with a raised eye brow and I blushed, which didn't go un noticed by Izzy,
"Clary's mom is from Ireland so her mom taught her how to make some of the best mash potato and roast potatoes I've ever tried in my life." I blushed again at the look Jace was giving me.
"Let me guess I never asked." He seemed smug but I turned to Izzy,
"Are Magnus and Alec coming?"
"Yes they should be here any minute." Izzy sat down at the table across from us,
"So Clary, did you watch the game last night?" I laughed out loud at her subtly and the confused glance Jace was giving her. She winked at him as I pushed her towards my room, she shouted over my shoulder at him,
"Girl talk." He laughed and carried on with the veg. We quickly reached my room and Izzy sat on the bed.
"Im surprised you didn't sleep with him Clary," I turned to her quickly the question in my eyes.
"There's still too much sexual tension between you two in there." I threw myself back on my bed. I groaned and Izzy laughed,
"We were about to here and John came home, that's why we got in such a fight last night." She froze for 2 seconds and then she was crying with laughter. I just nodded and stayed silent at the embarrassment that was my life.
"How far were you.." She was wiping the tears away,
"Near enough for it to be obvious." And her howling started again,
"Clary I haven't laughed that much since well I can't remember," there was a knock at the door, I shouted for them to come in. Magnus's shiny head appeared at my door,
"What was all that howling about and why is golden boy standing in the kitchen burning the potatoes?"
"My potatoes." I quickly got up and rushed to the kitchen to find a panic struck Jace trying to deal with the dinner. It was cute really. Everything he did was cute.
Dinner was soon ready and everyone came to sit down at the table. We were all sitting, enjoying our meals and just relaxing. I kept on looking towards Magnus and Alec at the glances they were sending each other, and suddenly they both stood up, Alec spoke then Magnus.
"Right guys we have a pretty important announcement,"
"We are getting married!"
Authors note: what do you think? This is extra long. I hope you guys like it. Thanks to everyone that reviewed. I really enjoyed writing this one. Let me know what you think and I'll try and have the next chapter posted by Sunday, I'll also try to make it as long as this one.
Georgie be good?