Okay, okay. I know this has been a very long time lapse of updates. And In know you're all thinking, Lau, it's the summer, no one has school anymore, what could you possible be dong? Well, to those asking those questions. I've been doing a lot of camping lately, and gone on trips ion which there has been no time to write or even catch up on the fanfics I am reading. So if I'd been at home more than half the month, you might've received an earlier update.

But you must except this late update, because it is better than nothing. Also! I'm temporarily going on a Summer hiatus for the next two or three month. I'm moving across the country on the 1st of August. And packing is the main priority right now. So n o update for a very long time. Sorry guys, but at least I'm not giving you hope!

Anyways! Recap! Clary is hosting her party and is wondering where these butterflies keep coming from. (Serious flirtation here) She and Kaelie have made up, but right when things are going pretty good, none other than Sebastian Verlac comes around and wants to talk to her. Jace must make an arrest tonight if he wants to keep his job, due to some fake and inaccurate anonymous tips about how he works.

Review and enjoy!

-Lau

P.S. I'm sorry that I didn't get to respond to anyone's review last chapter. Just finishing this chapter was completely overwhelming and stressful. I'm trying to do better though. :D

Sebastian was trying everything to get Clary to look at him but she refused to, glaring at the wall past his shoulder. "Clarissa?" he pleaded with her, "Please look at me."

When her eyes finally did flickered to him, Sebastian immediately regretted asking her to do so. The look of pure loathing and hatred was close to a physical slap across the face. Fantastic. What had he done now? "Can we just talk - "

"I think that the time for talking is over, Sebastian." Clary scowled, the piercing look in her eyes revealing that she was actually holding back some of her hostility. He tried to imagine her in a nonpublic setting.

"Aw, don't say that, Clarissa." he kept on with the gentle tones, reaching to grab her hand only to have her flinch away. "We can get through this-we always do." he tried to reassure her smoothly. This tactic had always been useful in calming her down; she'd realize she was overreacting, feel guilty, and then she would stop yelling at him. But by the look on her face, Sebastian disappointedly realized that it might not work this time.

Clarissa glared witheringly at him. "You must be the biggest idiot I know to have the gall to say that."

Sebastian stared. Since when did she have a backbone? "Look, I know you're still angry with me about the whole Kaelie/Aline thing, but it's behind us! We don't have to think about it again!"

Clary's face turned the shade of a ripe tomato, and Sebastian almost flinched away from her. "The only reason Aline is behind us is because she's dead! And that was your fault, too! I wouldn't say it was behind us at all!"

Her hands flew up to her hair, where she held onto the updo desperately. "Just because you think it's behind us, doesn't mean it is resolved. Since the very beginning of our relationship, you've lied to me. I can't stand it. You're toxic!" A few guests walked by, Clarissa lowering her voice noticeably into a dark tone.

"Kaelie even told me you told her you were 'still in love with her.'" She narrowed her eyes at him, and Sebastian forgot whatever defense he'd prepared three weeks in advance. Her green eyes were perhaps the only thing Sebastian found really attractive in Clarissa. She was too tiny and usually reminded him of a small squirrel. Whenever they lay in bed, Sebastian always worried that one of her bony limbs would jab him in the stomach. Whenever she kissed him, Sebastian had to bend down awkwardly and usually found himself remembering Kaelie's full lips . . .

But her eyes were quite beautiful. The edges crinkled whenever she smiled in a friendly way, and they were the easiest way in telling how Clarissa felt at that time. Up until this last month, the large orbs usually sparkled with affection and love. And as the clock wound down to the wedding, they became cold, calculating, and distant. However, they were nothing compared to what was in them now. In all honesty, she was terrifying. In fact, Sebastian could almost see her coming and shooting Aline square in the face in the fit of rage and anger Clarissa had been when she found the two on the couch.

"That wasn't really -" Sebastian stuttered, trying to think of something to distract her anger somewhere else.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! How can you just switch from one person to another without even blinking?"

He tried in vain to calm her temper, but it was already a lost battle, and there really was no hope left to try and win it. Sebastian could see now, how Clarissa had called him the biggest idiot she'd ever met; he'd actually believed he could save their relationship when she was this angry at him. "I didn't mean it -"

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter if you meant it or not! You still said it! To my best friend of all people! Did I mean anything to you? Did being my fiance mean anything to you?" Clarissa still had her voice lowered to a normal volume despite her passionate anger, but it felt like she was screaming at him; her fists shook with intensity and her face looked stretched and strained.

"I was just trying to comfort her. She thought you were dead. I couldn't think of anything -"

Clarissa shook her head, laughing sardonically. "You didn't think that the truth would comfort her? What did you have to lose in telling her that I was still alive?" Clarissa scowled at him, arms folded across her chest. Suddenly the small little girl looked big enough to throw a stinging blow. "I'm sure it had something to do with Aline and not wanting Kaelie to hate you again."

Sebastian opened his mouth, but couldn't think of any way to avoid the inevitable. "You're right. I'm scamming you." he blurted.

Clarissa started, blinking with her large, green eyes at him. "What?"

Sebastian exhaled sharply, eyes darting around the room; anywhere but her. "I never really loved you." He'd shocked her, and now maybe he could get a word in. "I needed your money. Your company."

Clarissa blinked rapidly now, biting her lip and shaking her head. "You're despicable."

Sebastian nodded, not denying it. "I got into debt to . . . some bad people."

"Hodge said you lost the savings your parent's gave to you to gambling." Clarissa hugged herself, staring at the floor.

He nodded. "Yeah, he was mostly right about . . " Sebastian chuckled bitterly, "a lot of things. I was lucky that you just thought he was jealous. I was going to marry you, but slowly drain out the money into my checking account. After about a year, I was going to run, and then you'd realize where half of your income disappeared to. So when you left, and Aline was killed . . ." he shuddered, remembering that panicking half hour as he tried to decide what to do. "So when that Detective started investigating," he began again, "I decided to play along because I knew that if I brought attention to myself, they could've dug deep enough to see my financial state."

"Is that why you're hostile with him?" Clarissa's narrowed eyes flickered to him for a small second, looking almost . . . amused?

"I dislike him because . . ." Sebastian hung his head, trying to word everything perfectly for her to understand. "Because I was afraid he would be able to convince you to leave me."

Sebastian chanced a glance at Clarissa. He could tell she was still processing everything, pulling the pieces together. Her hand was covering her mouth, while she stared at her feet, shaking her head.

"I never thought," she started, eyes still trained on the floor, "that you could be that horrible." Clarissa stared at Sebastian now, her face expressionless and closed to any emotion. Her voice sounded monotone, in fact, and Sebastian feared what would be coming next. "I never thought I would be strong enough to do this either, but I am."

Sebastian braced himself for whatever came next, knowing that he did deserve it. He had deceived her for almost two years, and created so much pain in her life lately, he deserved to be kicked out to the street, and maybe arrested if she convinced the Detective to.

"I will pay your debt, as long as you get out of my life, and stay away."

Sebastian gaped at her. "You're . . . you're paying my . . . my debt? You're going to pay it?"

"Stop stuttering like an idiot, Sebastian, however hard that may be for you." she sneered, her posture straightening with her confidence. "And don't thank me. Trust me, I'm doing it for the sake of myself, and all the other girls who are stupid as I was to fall in love with you."

Clary found another glass of wine, trying to keep it steady in her hand. She wasn't drunk, and she wasn't about to collapse onto the floor in her own vomit, but she was sure that in the morning there'd be a hangover.

In a state to calm her nerves, a drink had graciously passed by her right after the fight with Sebastian. She was still angry at herself. It still felt as though he'd won and gotten the better end of the deal. If it weren't for him, she probably wouldn't be in the mess she was in right then! Why on earth did she owe any of that money to him? What did she owe him at all, anyway? The only thing she should've done was promise not to have him arrested. And with Detective Jonathan's odd hatred towards Sebastian, just a whisper to him about the scam surely could convince him to arrest Sebastian.

She glanced around the room then, in search for the tall, lean figure. When she finally found him, he was sitting in one of the pull up chairs, notebook in hand and writing furiously. Her head tilted, Clary weaved her way toward him. She stopped next to him, plopping down in the chair to the left of him.

"Sebastian's gone." Clary blurted to him, getting the cat out of the bag as soon as she could.

Jonathan's eyebrows shot up, looking up from his notes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Clary willed herself to smile cheerfully, because really, she should be happy, "that Sebastian isn't going to bother me anymore."

"How'd you manage to do that?" he stared, bewildered.

"Money can do so many things." Clary smirked, glancing at the door Sebastian had just left minutes before.

His golden eyes narrowed at her scrutinizingly as he put two and two together. "You paid him to leave?"

Nodding, Clary ignored the shocked looked he sent her way. "Money is probably the most important thing to him anyway. Bribing him to leave was probably the most effective way of getting rid of him." Clary took a sip from her glass and glanced at the detective. "You don't think he was the one who killed Aline, do you?"

Jonathan snorted and shook his head, a few more stray strands of hair coming loose from the slicked back look. "No. I don't think he is a murderer."

Clary frowned, not quite getting the answer she wanted. "So . . . who do you think did kill her?"

Jonathan paused, not looking at her for a long while. Her question hung in the air, filling Clary with suspense and excitement. Jonathan turned his head slowly, his face expressionless. Other than a hint of flashing amusement in his eyes, and the barely just curled side of his lips, Clary couldn't figure out whatever was going on in his head.

"What I think," Jonathan leaned closer to her, lowering his voice to a whisper, his breath and words ghosting over her neck and ear. Goosebumps arose, and Clary fought back the need to grab him. "is that you . . ." his eyes wandered away at his hands on his lap before flitting to her for a moment as he finished, "you don't need to know."

Clary fell back against the back of her chair, unaware of the tension in her shoulders until just then. Jonathan wasn't leaning toward her either, and still looked slightly amused with his smirk growing wider.

She wasn't satisfied with his answer, but a sense of relief filled her. For what, she wasn't sure. But her stomach was twisting in knots again, and whether or not it was the good kind or the bad kind, she wasn't sure of. Perhaps it was a mixture of both. The excitement and pleasure thrown in with nervousness and unsurety. Blinking hard, Clary tried to ignore the feeling and focus on the disappointment. The disappointment that Jonathan didn't trust her enough to tell her. Why else would he withhold his thoughts from her?

"I think that above anyone in this world I have the right to know." Clary picked at her fingernails, downplaying the heavy words as much as she could.

"Knowing isn't a right, Clarissa." he gave a knowing look, as if to say that nothing she could say would deter. And she was sure he was right and wouldn't change his mind. But the statement just felt so wrong, and Clary found herself slipping the name without a second thought. "Clary."

Jonathan raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "Who?"

"My name . . ." Clary sighed, shaking her head. Sometimes she got herself into the stupidest mess because of a whim. Just take a look at Sebastian Verlac. "It's my nickname that my mother always called me. I disliked it growing up because I thought it sounded like a little baby." Clary inwardly groaned. This story was going downhill and awkward quick. "It's why everyone I'm friends with just call me Clarissa. it's my professional name. But I've always referred to myself as Clary."

Jonathan was staring at her, but Clary felt no embarrassment. Her foot tapped the ground in a nervous beat, hoping to hear him say it, to see Jonathan say it. For some reason, it'd been an odd fantasy of her's she'd had of late. No one but her mother had ever said it, and she was thankful for that too. No one she'd met up to this point had Clary ever wished to reveal her intimate name.

She stared at his lips, not noting anything else about him as he said it. "Clary." it was soft, like he was short of breath and just said it on the last exhalation of air. The air in her lungs seemed to disappear as she gazed back at him. He was inches away from her but Clary didn't remember getting close to him. His golden eyes felt like a warm fire against her skin. Around the edges, smiling lines crinkled together a little, with both his eyebrows raised in surprise and eagerness. She leaned forward, expecting the same response. She opened her eyes and watched as he froze up, eyes widening to big, golden saucers.

He sat back almost immediately, stuttering out apologies. "I . . . I didn't mean anything like that. I'm sorry if we . . . well I mean I . . . led you to believe that . . . I'm just sorry." he spluttered, standing up to leave. Clary watched, bewildered that he had rejected her. He'd always been so responsive to her flirtations and occasional physical touches. She had felt so sure . . .

"Jonathan?" Clary latched onto his sleeve, pulling him back to her.

"Ugh, it's nothing." Jonathan frowned and tried to leave again, panic filling his expression.

"Jonathan . . ." she said it as a warning this time. She needed to know what was so wrong that all her evaluations of Jonathan had been incorrect.

"I feel guilty!" Jace turned toward her finally, looking her square in the eye with a strange look of desperation. "I . . . You know what? Don't worry about it."

Clary rose to him, sliding her hand from his wrist to his hand. She squeezed it, but only to have Jonathan wrench his hand away.

"What did you do?" Clary asked, stepping closer to him, not able to tear her eyes from his.

He smiled sardonically and shook his head. "I haven't done anything yet. But if you knew what exactly I am going to do tonight, you wouldn't want me to kiss you. I doubt you'd want to be in the same room as me for a very long while."

"Jonathan, that's not true." Clary swallowed thickly, feeling embarrassed now. He didn't want her. He didn't even like her. He'd only been using her for a distraction for whatever horrible thing he was going to do that night.

"But it is. Trust me. When you find out . . ." he laughed wearily and shook his head. "I'm sorry for what's coming."

Clary stared after him as he walked away, feeling flustered still from their almost-kiss and confused. What on earth could he do that would make him feel so much guilt . . . Why would she be so angry with him anyways? Clary blamed his discreet words on his being a detective. He probably was so used to solving puzzles, he now spoke like one.

Clary picked up the empty wine glass next to her and fingered the rim, trying to calm herself down with the soft ringing. But after a while, the high pitch started to make her head ache and buzz. Clary stood up, feeling herself stumble a little from her tipsy state. It didn't occur to her to try and find Jonathan; right then, she wanted to talk to one person who was predictable and easy to read. And not at all confusing in any way.

"Hodge!" Clary exclaimed, walking quickly to him. He sat alone on a couch, staring at his intertwined hands on his lap. His head jerked up to meet her eyes, and he immediately smiled at the sight of her.

Dear, good old Hodge. Very reliable. Very friendly to her. She had been lucky enough to earn his trust and respect, as few did in this world. "Clarissa! I'm glad that I got a chance to talk to you. I wasn't sure if you would be too busy with all your other guests."

Clary rolled her eyes and waved his words off. "Those people aren't my real friends. You are. Along with Kaelie. I know I can trust her now."

Hodge frowned, eyebrows crinkling into one line. "You two made up?"

"Yes, luckily before anything got worse."

"What did you two say?"

Clary shrugged, leaning against the back cushion. "We only talked about what happened while I was gone for that week, throw in some tantrums, tears, an eventual friend make up, and an awkward entrance of Jonathan at the end, you should get the whole picture."

"Jonathan? As in the Detective?"

Clary rolled her eyes, trying not to snort. "You only hear what you want to hear, do you Hodge?"

"Last I heard from you about the detective was that he was accusatory and too harsh and rude to Sebastian. And now you're calling him by his first name."

"Please, I'm sure you enjoyed him ruffing up Sebastian just a little bit." Clary teased, giving his shoulder a shove.

Hodge didn't say anything, but Clary could see the small smile he was trying to hide.

Trying a different tactic, Clary picked at her nails carelessly. "Well if you liked Sebastian so much, I should've had him say good bye to you on the way out."

It took a moment, but only a moment (as Hodge was very intelligent) for him to truly realize what she was saying. "You . . . you got rid of him? Is that what you mean?"

Clary laughed and nodded. "Yes, I'm hoping to be lucky enough to never see Sebastian again in this lifetime."

"Hopefully it's a long one." Hodge took hold of her hand, eyes glistening. "I'm so happy for you."

Clary removed her hand from his, smiling sheepishly. "No need to get all sappy on me, Hodge."

"But the thing I wanted to talk to you about . . . it is serious."

Clary's eyebrows furrowed, her heart tumbling into her stomach. "You're not . . sick, are you, Hodge?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "No, no. Nothing-" his hand was reaching to his pocket when a loud, clear voice cut through his.

"No, don't worry. I told you I'd bring in the killer today, Chief." Clary let out a gasp, jumping out of her seat to stand closer to Jonathan. In fact, it seemed like the whole room seemed to grow quiet, the constant chatter dying down to complete silence. "Yeah I was just about to make the arrest when you called."

Clary narrowed her eyes at his almost amused look. His smirk was obviously and aggravatingly present, at least. "No, no . . . I can't tell you - I'm not alone. You'll see when I get there." He put the phone back and pretended to look bewildered at the crowd that had been hanging onto every word he said.

He silently stepped toward Hodge and Clary, his legs swinging as he walked in a casual fashion. The silence felt like a 100 ton weight crushing her shoulders. "Mr. Starkweather . . ." Jonathan said, pursing his lips at him, "I'm going to need you to let go of Ms. Fairchild's hand . . ." Clary dazedly released the wrinkled hand, not remembering grasping hold of it. All the air seemed to leave her lungs as her darkest suspicions confirmed themselves.

"Because . . . Ms. Fairchild . . . you are under arrest for the murder of Aline Penhallow. You have the right to remain silent . . ."

Everything else that he said faded into a red, roaring blur. But Clary could understand now. She understood what he could do to make her hate him.

So Jace has arrested Clary as the suspect . . . Your thoughts? Do you think he actually believes it? Any more suspicions on the murderer?

Any thoughts on the TV show? I've been following everything pretty closely and I'm super excited that our fandom has a second chance! What are your guys's thoughts on the cast and everything?

Also! I want to offer a snippet (when I have the whole thing written, of course.) to all those who reviewed. So whoever reviews, will get a pretty awesome, long clip of next chapter . . . trust me. You'll want it. Jace and CLary locked up in a room together . . . tension so present . . . maybe some angry kissing thrown in there?

Please review!

-Lau