****These characters are not mine. They belong to lovely miss Cassandra Clare. Only this crazy, twisted plot is my demon spawn. Mwahahahahaha. Thanks for reading!******

~Remember…this shit is rated M for a reason~

*Chapter Music*

*Lupe Fiasco - Kick, Push*

*Van Halen - Runnin' With The Devil*

*Warrant - Cherry Pie*

*Rita Ora ft. Cardi B, Bebe Rexha & Charli XCX - Girls*

*Pharrell Williams - Happy*

*NEEDTOBREATHE (Feat. Gavin DeGraw) - Brother*

AN: TWO THINGS TO MY LOVELY READERS.

NUMERO UNO- I HAVE A LOVELY NEW BETA FOR THIS STORY WHO IS HELPING ME OUT. I HAVE BEEN A BETA BUT NEVER HAD ONE OF MY OWN SO THIS IS A NEW EXPERIENCE FOR ME. I APPRECIATE THE EFFORT IT TAKES TO EDIT SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK SO SUPER BIG SHOUTOUT TO BELLEBOOKWORM9

NUMERO DOS- I POSTED A NEW CLACE STORY CALLED SET FIRE TO THE RAIN (YES, I KNOW. ME AND MY ADELE SONG STORY NAMES). PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT. IT'S GOOD STUFF. SECOND CHAPTER WAS JUST POSTED TODAY AS WELL. I HOPE YOU ENJOY. MORE TO COME.

LATE NOVEMBER - EARLY DECEMBER 2015

J POV

"Come on, Jace. You can do it," C yelled as I tried for what felt like the fiftieth time to land a perfect Pop Shove-It.

She and Alec made it look so easy but I was still on beginner shit as they were both tearing up the park doing kickflips and hardflips. I was pretty sure all I was doing was heading down the path of breaking my ankle but this was their thing and I wanted to be a part of it.

Alec had warmed up to me slightly over the past couple weeks. He wasn't super talkative but at least he wasn't shunning me or yelling. I would definitely describe it as tolerance but that was alright with me. At least I was no longer driving a wedge between him and C. She hadn't said anything but I knew it bothered her that we weren't able to be in the same room together. It was mostly him being overprotective but after our talk, I completely understood where he was coming from and if the roles were reversed, I would've acted the same way. Didn't mean I appreciated the treatment, just that I knew the reason behind it and because of that, I could deal.

I attempted the trick and ended up landing on my ass…again.

"You know, I don't think I'm made for this skateboarding thing. My legs just don't move the right way." C walked over to me and picked up the board she'd given me to practice on, inspecting it for I didn't know what.

"Well, the board looks fine. Trucks are good. You figured out the Ollie pretty quickly so you must be doing something differently. I think you might be overcompensating with your back leg. It's throwing your timing off. Here, watch me again." And then C executed a perfect Pop Shove-It, making it look like it took no skill at all.

I grabbed the board with new determination as Alec rolled up and tipped his board to watch. I tried to gain some speed and then managed to flip the board and actually land back on top of it without so much as a wrench to my ankle. I came to a stop a little ways away from them.

"See, told you that you could do it. Just takes practice."

"I'm used to being good at everything. I'm not the kind of person who needs to practice," I whined.

"Wow, arrogant much? Guess there's a first time for everything, ass. Come on, we'll never get to teach you the hard stuff if you don't get good at the easy stuff. Practice for mere mortals does make perfect. Get to it," She said, skating off to the half pipe with Alec right behind her.

~*0*0*0*0*~

I was pacing myself but I knew this was still a race. It had been every morning for weeks. We woke up every day at five-thirty and ran for five miles. Our best time was twenty-nine minutes. C and I pushed each other and made a great team. Previously, my best time had been thirty-two minutes so I had her to thank for whipping my ass into shape.

"Keep up, old man," she giggled as she sprinted to get in front of me, cutting me off.

"I'm not that much older than you, little girl. Remember that we'll both be in the nursing home at the same time. You definitely won't be outrunning anyone then," I countered.

We were actually pretty evenly matched. She was smaller and more agile but I had longer legs and my stride showed it. I had to be honest with myself though. I tended to let her pull a little ahead of me because her ass looked fucking amazing in the tight shorts she wore to run in. It was freezing outside and she was still wearing them, albeit with a heavy sweatshirt, beanie and gloves but still, she was showing my teenage hormones no mercy. I knew I wasn't supposed to be looking at her that way but shit, my friend was fucking hot and no matter how much I planned on keeping our relationship platonic, that didn't stop me from ogling when I could do it discreetly. There were even times when she noticed but it seemed like she'd grown used to it and just looked at me like a little kid who'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar before moving on.

We made it back to my house at a little after six and we worked out there, which had also become part of our morning routine. I'd started going with C to the gym on the days I didn't have football practice or after we were done if she was still there so I could watch her kick the shit out of Eli which was always a good time. She would come hang out at practice sometimes and sketch while waiting for the guys and I to finish for the day. The only thing she refused to let me crash was band practice. Apparently, even Alec didn't have that privilege which I found weird since he was like her other half. She said it was because she couldn't handle anyone outside of the music messing up the creative process. She didn't want anyone to hear her songs until they were polished so I respected that. As long as she wasn't shy about sharing the finished product. She had the most amazing voice and that would've been a travesty to hide from the world.

~*0*0*0*0*~

I walked into my History class, early for once, and sat down in my normal seat at the back of the class. My homework from the previous night was in my bag so I was digging it out when someone sat down next to me. I looked up to see a long pair of tan legs leading to a very short olive green skirt. I scanned further and was met with a line of flat stomach and an amazing rack. Continuing up, the face matched the incredible body. Long, loose black curls with brown eyes. Those cherry red lips and long eyelashes were designed to pull you in. She was obviously new. I would've already had that screaming my name otherwise.

"Hey, I hope this seat isn't taken," she said, crossing her legs under the desk. My eyes followed the motion.

"It is now. Hey, I'm Jace," I said, holding out my hand.

"You want to shake my hand? Really?" She raised her eyebrow at me, in a mixture of skepticism and disbelief even though she offered her hand anyway.

"No. Quería besar la mano de la bella mujer que recientemente me llamó la atención," I replied with my signature smirk as I turned it over and placed my lips on her soft skin.

She giggled and asked, "What did you just say?"

"I simply said that there is nothing like kissing the hand of a beautiful woman." I winked, laying on the charm.

"That is so sexy. I bet that works for you every time, doesn't it? Damn." She bit her lip and smiled. "I'm Magda. I just moved here," she said, placing her hand in mine. She had a firm grip, just like C's.

"Nice to meet you. I figured you were new. You're definitely not someone I would've passed up the opportunity to get to know." Her face lit up. Right then class started but when we got our instructions for the day, we happened to be assigned a partner project and I wasted no time in asking Magda to join me. The rest of our time was spent working on our assignment and flirting. By the time class was over, I had her phone number and a plan to conquer the new territory.

C POV

I was in position, throwing punch after punch at the bag. Eli had just finished his set and was heading to go lift weights, which was where I'd just left. Our trainers didn't want us working out together. Even though we were cool with each other, Eli and I were both extremely competitive. Everything turned into a contest and when we exercised next to each other, we would go so hard that it was generally inevitable that someone would get hurt.

When we sparred though, there really was no better fight to watch, at least not at our gym. I took him down more times than not but he was a formidable opponent and I couldn't have asked for anyone better to go up against to help prepare myself for an upcoming World Classic event. He of course entered as well but under a different category and since he was a guy and in a different weight class, we wouldn't ever end up having to fight.

I was starting to add knees and kicks into my routine when I felt a presence next to me. I didn't bother to look; I was in the zone and didn't want any interruptions. I kicked the bag particularly hard and it shook, almost coming off the stand.

"Holy shit you have strong leg muscles. Makes me a little concerned for anyone's head who ends up between them." I turned to the side and was met with one of the hottest chicks I'd seen in a long while smirking at me. Aline was beautiful, I admitted grudgingly, but this gorgeous girl was like "could be on the cover of a magazine" hot. Black curls, deep brown eyes and the longest eyelashes I'd ever seen. She was about five foot seven or eight with tan skin and a thick body like Christina Hendricks. I looked pretty good but damn…this girl could definitely give me a run for my money.

"Uh, yeah. I kickbox and do Muay Thai. Kinda have to keep in shape to do well at World's." She slowly looked my body up and down salaciously, biting her lip.

"Well, you're definitely keeping yourself fit. That body looks like it can do some amazing things." Okay, she was definitely hitting on me. It hadn't been a super long time since Aline and I broke up but I wasn't resistant to putting myself back out there. Maybe a little hesitant because I'd never been cheated on before and no matter how confident a person you were, it was a hit to the ego. She however, may have been worth the risk.

"Coming from someone with that body?…I'll take that as a compliment. ¡Mierda! Puedo morir como una mujer feliz," I said quietly, checking her out as well. "I'm C."

"Wow, all the hot ones seem to speak foreign languages here," she giggled, obviously hearing me and damn she was gorgeous. "I'm Magda," she announced, placing her hand in mine. "I just moved here." I had no idea what she was talking about when she said all the hot ones spoke foreign languages, but I'd take it.

"Nice to meet you. I'm not trying to be rude or anything but I have to get back to my warm ups or my trainer will kill me and you're really…distracting." She smiled at my comment.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't distract you. I'll just stand over here and…watch," she retorted, suggestively. I smirked at her and got back to punching and kicking the bag. Twenty minutes later, I was done and when I turned around, she was still there. I was covered in a thin sheen of sweat but she didn't seem to mind as her eyes roamed over me.

"Now I get to go kick the shit out of the guy up there in the ring. You're welcome to watch that too, if you like?"

A sly smile came over her face. "Wouldn't miss it."

I climbed in the ring and began to put on all my gear. It wouldn't have been a match between Eli and I if we didn't talk a little trash.

"Prepare for the beating of your life."

"You wish, pretty girl."

"Awww…thanks, Eli. I appreciate the compliment. Now this 'pretty girl' is gonna lay your ass out."

My first move was to land two kicks to his side. Eli tried to block but wasn't quick enough. He then landed a punch to my gut. We circled each other for a while, landing kicks and blows here and there. I kneed him in the stomach and as he was recovering, I landed a punch to his kidney. He backed up to give himself some time to catch his breath and as soon as he moved toward me again, he tried to land a kick to my head. Immediately after his leg went up, I grabbed the opposite leg, landed a hard punch to his chest and slammed him to the ground. He tapped and that was the end of our fight.

I reached out to help him up off the mat but he waived me away, indicating that he planned on staying down there for a while. I moved out of the ring, removing my gear as I headed toward the locker room but I had forgotten I had an audience.

"That was amazing, C. I can't believe the way you took him down. He must have nearly seven to eight inches and like a hundred pounds on you. Totally fucking hot," she uttered, with a glint in her eyes. She followed me back to the locker room and grabbed her phone as I was grabbing a clean set of clothes. "Can I have your number? So we can…hang out sometime?" she asked, appraising me yet again. She wasn't very subtle and I looked a mess and felt disgusting so I wasn't sure what she was finding so attractive at the moment but I gave her my number anyway. She called my phone which went off in my bag, signaling that I also had hers too. "Listen, I have to go and get some actual workout time in," her sly grin was back, "but I'll talk to you later, k?" I agreed and she was off to go back out and finish her own exercise routine. I stripped off my sweaty sports bra and shorts and hopped in the shower.

When I got home, Jace was waiting for me and we snuggled up under a blanket on the couch with a bowl of popcorn between us, ready to watch movies. We'd had a lot of these recently, whether on school nights or on the weekends. Sometimes our other friends would join us but more often than not, it ended up just being me and Jace. I was on board with his Quentin Tarantino obsession with the exception of Kill Bill. This was always a point of contention between us because Jace swore it was one of the best and I vehemently disagreed. We'd spent a lot of time watching and rewatching the small collection that was Tarantino but I didn't mind because we also spent a lot of time watching and rewatching the small collection that was Rob Zombie.

Jace finally understood my love for his movies after I made him watch the remakes of Halloween 1 & 2 but still didn't really understand the poetic irony behind The Devil's Rejects so I gave up on that one. That night, I just so happened to be in a Leonardo DiCaprio mood. He was probably my favorite actor and I loved almost every one of his movies. Jace? Yeah, not such a big fan. At least he'd seen Django Unchained but Mr. DiCaprio would've been the last thing he would've been paying attention to.

It took a lot of persuading to get him to sit through the first movie but by the time Blood Diamond was over, he was sold. I got him to watch both The Wolf of Wall Street and The Departed and after that, he was starting to become a big Leo fan himself.

"Okay, I concede. Leonardo DiCaprio is a good actor. I just remember Izzy fangirling over him when she discovered Romeo + Juliet and after having to sit through that for probably the hundredth time, it didn't take much more to write the guy off."

"Well, glad you're on board now because we have so many more movies to watch. Next up are Inception and my personal favorite, Gangs of New York but there are some other really great ones too. I can't believe you didn't watch any of the man's movies just because Izzy liked to watch one on repeat when she was a kid."

"What can I say? I'm a complicated guy."

"Understatement of the century," I retorted right before he started to attack me with tickles.

"Jace…stop…oh my god…stop…please…don't…make me…hurt you."

"How are you going to-" Before he could finish his sentence, I had him flipped off of the couch and on his back on the floor, straddling his neck with his arms held down by my knees. I needed him to know that there was no way he was going to manhandle me and get away with it.

"Still doubting my skill?" I asked from above him. He was speechless for a moment and he seemed to be breathing deeply. He swallowed hard before answering. I immediately lifted my body off of his, understanding it probably wasn't the best position, considering my crotch was directly in Jace's face.

"No, not at all. Shit, that was hot."

"Yeah, well don't make me give you a repeat performance."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he countered as we both dragged ourselves back onto the couch. "I'm gonna do my best to irritate you as much as possible now in hopes that you do that again." I shoved him with my shoulder while he just chuckled.

"Shut up, ass, or next time I'll actually make it hurt."

~*0*0*0*0*~

It was a few days later when Alec and Jace came running in my front door, both holding large envelopes and overflowing with enthusiasm. Large envelopes typically meant good news. I was confident that they would both be headed to their school of choice come fall.

"Hey, C! We both got letters from our first choice universities today and we wanted to open them with you. Did you get anything back from your first choice yet?" Alec asked. It still wasn't widely known that Harvard was where I had my heart set on. I felt guilty about that but I would've felt worse if the whole world knew and I didn't get in. I couldn't handle that.

"No, nothing yet but I'm excited to hear what happened with you guys. Cornell and Yale, right?" They both nodded. "Well, don't just fucking stand there. Open the damn envelopes. Let's see those acceptance letters."

We all made our way to the kitchen and sat down at the island before they ripped open the only thing that was standing between them and their futures. Alec happened to get his open first and made a noise so loud, I was surprised he didn't shatter the windows.

"I got in. I fucking got in. I am going to Cornell University. I am going to become an Engineer. I am going to someday marry Magnus and we're going to live happily ever after." I jumped on Alec, wrapping my legs around him and we hugged each other so tight that neither one of us could hardly breathe. He put me back down and my initial happiness faded to momentary sadness before returning to my usual blank stare but of course, being my best friend for years, Alec caught it. "Oh, C. No matter where you end up, we'll see each other all the time. We'll fly back and forth as often as we can and there will always be holidays which will never be spent apart. Don't worry."

"I know, I'm just being dumb. Don't sweat it." I kissed Alec softly and gave him a genuine smile before grabbing his hands. "Congratulations. I am so proud of you."

"Thank you." He smiled back.

"Yeah, Congrats, Alec."

"Thanks, Jace," Alec said to his brother. He looked back to me.

"Alright, I had to tell you first but I have to head to Mags' house so I can go tell him. I love you."

"Love you too," I said as I kissed him again. He grabbed his packet and headed for the door. "Congratulations, Jace," we heard him yell from the front entrance. Jace yelled back "thanks" and continued to read his letter. I was trying to be patient but it felt like he'd been staring at it for an hour.

"Anyway, Jace. What about you? You're staring at that letter like it's in Chinese. It's good news, right?"

"I'm going to Yale," he whispered so quietly I almost couldn't hear him. "I can't believe I'm going to Yale." He picked me up and his lips were on mine before I knew what hit me. I was too shocked to react so I was just frozen while Jace assaulted my mouth. He must've realized that I was sort of hanging there like a limp doll because he abruptly dropped me to the ground, making sure I had my footing before letting me go. He had a slight blush to his cheeks which was something you just didn't see from Jace. "Sorry, I got excited. I didn't mean…I'm sorry if I…It won't happen ag-"

"It's okay, Jace. Stop stumbling over your words like a jackass. If I wanted to put you on your ass, I could've. You just surprised me is all. Let's just move on." I hugged him and whispered congratulations before pulling back.

I went to work and baked a giant cake for the both of them, Jace licking the batter from the bowl after I got it in the oven. We decided we would go out on the weekend to celebrate. A couple hours later, after Jace and I had finished our homework, he left and I couldn't help the grin on my face when I thought about how excited I was for my friends. They had both been accepted into their dream schools and their futures looked bright.

I finished putting the dishes away in the dishwasher and grabbed the carefully hidden envelope that I'd placed behind the couch cushion, sitting down to open it. It was smaller in size than the ones the boys had brought over with them and I was pretty sure I knew what it said. Upon reading the letter, I had to bite my lip to hold back the sob that wanted to escape.

I knew getting into Harvard was a long shot. I knew I'd have to work harder at it than I ever worked for anything in my life and I thought I had. My GPA was stellar. I had a ridiculous number of extracurriculars throughout my two and a half years of high school. I had twelve letters of recommendation from teachers and staff. I thought I was golden. I guess I was being stupid because even though I had done a lot in that time frame, it was still only two and a half years and most other people applying would've had three and a half by the time their applications were up for consideration. I thought the fact that I had done so much in such a short time would've been a benefit though, not a hindrance.

I felt pretty down and definitely looked it when Jon came in about ten minutes later. I hid the letter but obviously wasn't quick enough for him not to at least catch that I had previously been holding a piece of paper and then it was gone. He put me in a headlock, which was not the move I was anticipating and grabbed the letter from behind my back. He took what felt like forever to read it. I felt exposed somehow because Jon had known where he was going to school since he was a Sophomore. He'd gotten a full ride to the University of Alabama when he became the starting Quarterback of the Varsity team. We'd never had the talk about where I wanted to go to school though. Not for lack of trying on Jon's part but I didn't want to talk about my dreams out loud to anyone who had any expectation of me because then they'd be disappointed if they didn't work out. I couldn't be the disappointment. I didn't want to fill those shoes for anybody ever again.

Jon looked up and said, "You applied to Harvard? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't get in, Jon."

"That's not what I asked."

"I didn't want you to see me fail. I didn't want to have another thing that you felt like you had to worry about if I did. I'm fine. It's just deferment. I still have a shot." I snatched the correspondence from his hand and started to walk away.

"Hey," he said, getting up and pulling me into his arms. "You are the most important person in the world to me. Don't feel like you have to hide things from me because you're worried that I'll have to take care of you. That's my job and I'm sorry that I ever made you feel like it wasn't." He squeezed me tighter for a moment before turning me around and looking into my face. "You are the most intelligent person I know. You are beautiful, funny, kind, talented and so many more adjectives that dumb jocks like me just don't have," I smacked him upside his head. He was anything but a dumb jock and he knew it but I appreciated the effort in trying to cheer me up. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yeah, I know. I'm not a dumb jock. Regardless, Harvard is crazy if they don't take you, C. You're gonna be great someday. I know it." I threw my arms around him. That was exactly what I needed in that moment and he gave it to me. "I have an idea. Let's go have ice cream before dinner because we're adults and we can do what the hell we want. We can go to that handmade ice cream place you like so much. I think I have a craving for Banana Chocolate Stracciatella, how about you?"

I really did mean what I'd said to Jon. I would be okay. The letter only said that I hadn't been chosen for Early Action. I'd only been deferred. I still had a chance to get in if I could add more to my file and make significant developments in my high school career. I knew I had A's in all my classes and was earning college credit for AP English. Plus, I would be taking Independent Spanish next semester and would be a Teaching Assistant in Art. Hopefully, that kind of schedule, along with a potential medal at World's and putting in more volunteer hours, including picking up tutoring again, would also help to increase my odds of getting in. That would mean I'd be short on free time for a while but it would be worth it if it got me into Harvard. What I did have time for though, was ice cream with my brother. I just had to mess with him a little bit first.

"You do know it's actually freezing outside, right?"

"Who cares? It's never too cold for ice cream. Especially if you buy it in pints and bring it back to your nice warm house and eat it there," he laughed. I shook my head even though I fully agreed.

"Alright, Jon. Let's go get some ice cream. I've driving."

"Psshh, no shit. You're always driving," he said, throwing me my keys before putting on his jacket and a hat. I donned my slouchy beanie, hoodie and peacoat before jumping on Jon's back and rode him like a mighty steed out the door.

He smiled at me as we buckled ourselves into The Executioner and I smiled back. I realized in that moment that sometimes, all you needed to get you through, was your brother. Jon was my shelter in the storm, my light in the dark, and when I needed him to, I could always rely on him to bring me home.

Sorry if these are wrong but I used Google Translate.

Spanish Translations:

No. Quería besar la mano de la bella mujer que recientemente me llamó la atención = No. I wanted to kiss the hand of the beautiful woman who has so recently caught my eye

¡Mierda! Puedo morir como una mujer feliz = holy shit! I can die a happy woman

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