They shimmered into existence when they walked outside of the wall. Clary took in her surroundings, noticing that they'd moved. They were now near the city; Paris, she presumed. Her stomach growled angrily at her once more. Sebastain, who strode purposely ahead of her, veered off suddenly to the right. Smells of freshly baked bread and breakfast filled the air and Clary thought she may die of hunger at this point. Jace called them a table and once they sat, with yet another cup of coffee in her hand, Clary felt herself relax. It was strange, she thought, that she was relieved to find herself here with them. Stranger still that she felt she couldn't relax without them lately. Sebastian ordered for the table in flawless French and Clary puzzled at the predicament. She didn't want to feel comfortable with them but she did….sometimes. When was it that she started thinking of "the lair" as home? Clary felt a pang in her heart as she recalled her recent nightmares about Simon. She'd never be able to look at him the same. It wasn't his fault she had the nightmares but she knew…. she knew that she'd never be able to get as close again after having all of her fears bared open in her dreams. Someone speaking to her brought her back from her thoughts.

"…that's what I ordered you. Was that okay?"

Clary looked up absently. "Huh?"

"I said," Sebastian chuckled. "That I ordered you a ham, apple and brie croissant. Was that okay?"

Clary started salivating. That was more than okay. That was spectacular!

"Uh, yeah."

Clary realized that her stomach pains lessened if she zoned out and focused on nothing in particular so she did until Jace and Sebastian's voices surrounding her were muffled. It was only when a piping hot something that smelled like heaven was set in front of her that she came back. The croissant was flakey and buttery and the apple and ham were swirling in melted brie and Clary decided that she's never had anything so delicious.

Finally sated, they paid and were once again heading through town. They were downtown now and everything looked high class and expensive. Sebastian lead them right to one store in particular. Every wall in the building was glass and a huge chandelier hung from the middle of the high ceiling. Clary looked around and decided that she could definitely wear some of the clothes in here. They were all in hues of black, silver, gold and white with the occasional hot pink pop of color. Clary looked at a plain black shirt on a rack closest to her and ran her fingers over the soft fabric.

"See anything you like?" Jace was watching her expectantly.

"Yeah…" Clary flipped over the tag to check out the price. "$550?! Are you insane? A T-shirt should NOT be that expensive!"

Sebastian put his hands on her shoulders from behind. "Don't worry about the price tag. Just pick out whatever you want."

She turned and glared at him. "You cannot be serious."

"I am serious." He jerked his head in the direction of the rest of the clothes. "And keep the shouting to a minimum or you'll scare the other customers."

Clary looked around at several women openly staring at her and felt her cheeks burn hot. She ducked her head down and headed towards the various garments displayed around the store. With a sigh of defeat, she picked out a couple of black T-shirts and a pair of jeans and walked back to Sebastian. He looked down at the meager pile in her arms and stopped a passing attendant. He spoke to her in rapid French and she looked at Clary and nodded. Once she spun on her heel and disappeared Clary looked back at Sebastian.

"What did you just do?"

"What makes you think I did anything?"

Clary eyed him suspiciously but before she could answer the attendant was back and hauling Clary towards a dressing area. There was a pile of clothes laid out for her, all miraculously in her size and she suspected Sebastian had something to do with that. Black jeans, white jeans, shirts in every cut and all the colors and even a couple of leather jackets, one in black with zippers and the other in white with military style buttoning. A couple of dresses hanging on the door caught Clary's eye. One was short black leather, with the asymmetrical one shoulder and the other was gold and had a delicate goddess flow to it. Clary wasn't sure the last time she'd seen so many clothes in a dressing room, especially clothes this nice. She didn't even want to look at any more price tags.

Six different pairs of jeans, twenty four different tops, four skirts, six dresses, five jackets, leggings, boots, heels, flats and what seemed like hours later, they were on their way back to "the lair" with six huge shopping bags in tote. Clary tried to only get a few things but Sebastian would hear nothing of it. She didn't want to admit that she was very excited about her new wardrobe, something finally all hers. She smiled and hugged the bag she was carrying to her chest. In the back of her mind, she knew she shouldn't be excited, shouldn't be happy. Clary's smile slipped from her face. She felt like a traitor finding any happiness here. Another part of her mind told her that if she didn't, she would have gone mad and taken her life long ago. Still, the other part argued, if she becomes complacent and happy, then what are her friends trying so desperately to find her for? Why even fight Jace and Sebastian if she's going to stay and be happy? Clary tried to shake the inner argument from her thoughts. The inner war with herself was always ongoing. Neither side ever won out over the other because she was equally conflicted. Was it really wrong of her to find any comfort or solace with them? If anything was the traitor it was her heart for not being able to differentiate between her Jace and the one she saw every day who wore his face. Clary's head started to hurt. Apparently a mind at war with itself was not without casualties, she thought bitterly at her aching head. Aspirin was definitely due when she got back.