Alright, so we've got some people a bit torn up as to whether Jace should tell her before or after she goes. I finished writing this story about...Seven or eight months ago, I think, and I had actually forgotten how I'd unraveled things in this chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it :)
It felt as though the next few weeks went by in the blink of an eye. While the weeks since Isabelle's death and Simon's hospitalization seemed as though they had dragged on for a year, when it was coming up to Clary's leaving, time just went so much faster. The semester started in a month, which meant that things had been thrown into fast-forward. Clary's acceptance letter had been dated just a few days after the accident, and so she would have originally had a whole lot more time to get ready if her life hadn't been a complete shambles at the time.
Since deciding that she was going to accept the offer, she had needed to sort out a whole lot in a short amount of time. Jocelyn had been helpful, and so had Luke, but one of the biggest sources of help had actually come from somewhere unexpected.
Aline.
Clary had told the owners of the cafe that she had been accepted into UCLA, they had been happy for her. They were a sweet couple, and her and Isabelle had been there for years now, so they were all close and treated her like family. They had obviously mentioned it to their granddaughter, because a few days later, Aline had sidled up to her while they were closing up the store and mentioned that her and her girlfriend had been looking for a roommate to help ease their expenses when they went back.
Clary knew that Aline went to the University, it had come up in conversation before. She had a year left to go in her degree for Social Sciences, while her girlfriend, Helen Blackthorn, was working to be a photographer and was only halfway through her own degree. They had stayed in student housing the first year, and then in their second year they had got their own place. Aline had become stressed over the third year and that was when she had decided to take some time off. She had gotten a job in LA for most of the year, saving money and making it easier for her girlfriend to focus on her studies, but then had come back visit her grandparents and help around the cafe for a few months.
Moving in with someone she knew, and having her own space, would be a whole lot better than living in student housing. That hadn't even been something that she had Isabelle had considered, given when they had applied, they had both just assumed they would find somewhere together. The simple of idea of being crammed into a tiny room and sharing a bathroom was repulsive, and so moving in with Aline and Helen would be a godsend.
"Clary!" Magnus started beating the heels of his palms against the front door in a beat. "Clary, baby! Open the door!" It was a sunny Saturday morning, and the boys were all helping Clary pack up the house.
"Typical female," Alec joked, although his voice was a little tight, trying to ignore the fact that he was about to go into a house that he had been avoiding for the past few months. "Asking for a favor and then making us wait."
"What would you know about females, huh?" Jace teased, elbowing him in the side. "The last time you had anything to do with females other than your sister and her best friend was Rosa in primary school. And from what I remember, you didn't do such a good job in making that moment memorable."
"Didn't you chip her tooth?" Simon tilted his head to the side as he thought back all those years.
"I was eleven years old! I didn't know how to kiss yet!" Alec protested.
"Here's a hint," Jace smirked. "You don't smack your mouths together and break off half her fucking tooth." He, Jordan and Simon all chortled while Magnus tried to smother his smile in solidarity of his boyfriend.
"Well, I'll have you all know that he has gotten a lot better with time," Magnus slung an arm around Alec's shoulders and brought him in for a loud smush of their lips. Alec rolled his eyes and half-heartedly shoved Magnus, but there was a slight blush on his cheeks. They had made everything official between the pair of them, although once they had finally started getting together, there had never really been any doubt that they would eventually become an actual couple. Everyone was glad for them, although the boys were all getting a little bit sick of having to stop them from mounting each other on the couch in the lounge.
"Hey!" Clary let out a huff of air as she reached the door and threw it open, looking a little flushed. Jace felt like he had been punched in the gut as he saw her.
He had been purposefully avoiding her since ever since the day they had sex, which had felt like so, so much more than sex, and then he had gone home and admitted to Alec that he loved her. He hadn't been the only one, Clary hadn't been texting him or coming by the house to see him or the other boys either. It was now three weeks later, and it was only a week before she left.
And now here he was, helping her leave him.
"You guys ready?" She glanced at them, pausing over Jace for a split second before quickly looking back to Magnus.
"Put us to work, biscuit," Magnus smiled at her, smacking a kiss to her cheek and pushing past her to walk into the house. Jordan and Simon followed after him, kissing her on the cheek on their way inside, and then Jace followed. He flashed her a tentative smile, which she returned, and there was a tension between them that he absolutely hated because there was never tension between them, not in the five years that they had been sleeping together. Alec was last, the smile on his face had frozen as soon as Clary opened the door, and she reached out to twine their fingers together.
"I don't expect you to come in, Alec," she told him quietly, stepping out of the house so that they were standing close together. "I didn't think that you would come over."
"Of course I was going to come," Alec tried to force another smile, but the death grip that he had on her hand belied the relaxed expression he was trying to give her. Clary bit down on her bottom lip.
"I haven't been in her room," she admitted, taking in a deep breath. "I thought it was something that we could all do together?" Alec nodded, and then looked over her shoulder when there was the sound of a long bang and a thud and then Jordan letting out an 'oops'.
"We should probably get in there," Alec said. "Supervise the children."
"Sounds like a plan," Clary linked arms with him and they walked into the house.
Clary had known that packing was going to be hard. Putting everything that she had Isabelle had collected and made a home for themselves with over the years into a bunch of cardboard boxes. The boys were surprisingly careful and delicate with all of her things, which was a little unexpected given how rough and careless they were a lot of the time, and so apart from the glass that was broken right at the beginning, nothing else was damaged. They helped to wrap everything up and put them in boxes, and then carry her furniture outside. They had borrowed a trailer from Hodge and hooked it up to the tow bar on Jace's vehicle. She wasn't taking all that much with her to LA, given Aline and Helen already had a house filled with furniture, so a lot of it was going to be stored at Jocelyn and Luke's place, out the back in their old garage.
Isabelle's room had them all working in silence.
They left it until last, so that they wouldn't need to continue working afterwards, and it was a good thing they did. They had all gone sullen and quiet, and after boxing up all of her things and taking her things out to the truck, Alec and Clary both had watery eyes.
"So we'll take all of this over to the Lightwoods," Jace said as he swung the keys around his finger, glancing between his friends. "Are they storing it all?"
"They are," Magnus nodded, answering for Alec. "We ready to head out?"
"Yeah," Clary took in a deep breath as she glanced back over her shoulder toward her house. The only things left were what she was taking with her to LA. Her bed and bedroom furniture, clothes and blankets, some of her kitchen and bathroom things, the flat screen TV that her and Isabelle had pooled their money together to buy and her painting things. It was going to feel strange to stay in the house for the next few days, all empty and desolate. "Thanks for helping."
"Anytime, Clary," Jordan told her, leaning in to give her a hug. Simon had shed a few tears when they were taking things out of her wardrobe and folding all her glittery, sequinned dresses. His eyes were still red as he walked over to Clary and they swung their arms around each other. The hug lasted longer than they usually would, and Clary felt him shake a little under her touch. When they pulled away, Simon kept his head ducked and he walked quickly to the back of the truck. Aec and Magnus hugged Clary goodbye and then she and Jace were left facing each other. Jace stared at her for a long few minutes before turning toward Magnus and Alec who were about to get in the truck.
"Hey, you guys go ahead," he called out to them, tossing his keys toward Magnus, who caught them in one hand. "I'll walk back later." There was questioning look on the Indonesian man's face but Alec actually managed a small smile, nodding and getting in the passenger seat of the car. Jace licked his lips and turned back to Clary. She bit down on her lower lip, looking uncertain, but then nodding once and walking back toward the house, Jace following after her. "I'm not gonna...Not gonna take up heaps of your time," Jace began as they stepped back into the house. "There's just something that I need to tell you." Clary put a few steps between them and crossed her arms over her chest. It was almost like a protective motion, which made Jace feel like shit.
She was wrapping her arms around herself as though to protect herself.
From him.
"I love you," Jace blurted out, the words tumbling out gracelessly. Her green eyes widened in surprise. "I love you, and I needed you to know."
"Uh," Clary's mouth dropped open, blinking over at him, her green eyes wide. "Uh, I..." she frowned a little, giving a tiny shake of her head as though she was trying to get the words out. One of her hands coming up to scratch at the nape of her neck. She finally cleared her throat and then began again. "Why are you telling me this? Why are you telling me this now?" Jace realized that her hands were shaking a little even though her voice was level. "Are you only telling me this to make me stay—because you don't want me to leave? Is that why?"
"No," Jace took a step closer to her, eyebrows furrowed. "No, that's not it."
"Then why?!" Clary cried out, backing away from him and he stopped still.
"Look, maybe that's why I'm saying it now," he admitted, his own voice rising a little. "But that's not why I'm feeling it. I've felt this way for a while, I just...I never said it." Clary was back to being quiet and staring at him again. She looked down at the ground, fixing her eyes in one place. Jace wasn't really sure what he was expecting her to say. In all honesty, he hadn't been expecting to tell her today, but as they had been emptying her house and it was sinking in that she was going to be gone soon, he realized that Alec was right.
He would regret it if he didn't tell her, and she deserved to know.
"I just needed you to know before you left," Jace's voice was soft again, barely a whisper. "That I love you." Clary made a little noise at the back of her throat, it sounded something like a whimper. The silence stretched on, and Jace actually wondered if she wasn't going to say anything to him, and wanted him to leave, but his feet just weren't responding at all to the signals his brain was sending.
Or maybe his brain was just short-circuiting in general.
"I'm still leaving, Jace," Clary told him, her voice catching but her mind clearly still made up. "I'm going to LA, and I'm going to University." Jace's stomach clenched and twisted. "This doesn't change that." The breath in his lungs felt heavy and he tried not to feel disappointed even though he really shouldn't be. She was doing something that was good for her, and he should be happy for her. So he tried to force a smile and nod, and then began backing up toward the door. She didn't say anything as he tripped over the shoes that were lined up against the hallway wall, or when he grappled blindly for the handle. But as he opened the door and stepped out, she took a step forward, and he saw the pain in her green eyes, and the way they had filled with tears. "It's not forever, Jace, and it's not that far away. I'll still be back for holidays and stuff." Jace managed a shaky nod. "And the first semester finishes in a couple of months time, and I'll be back for a few weeks. If you still want to—" she took in a breath that was broken with a hiccup. "If you still feel the same way, we can talk." Jace licked his tongue around his mouth before giving her another smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"I understand," he murmured, because he did. It just didn't mean that it didn't hurt. "Goodbye, Clary."
Soooooo? What'd you guys think? Leave a review, make me happy, tell me what you enjoyed, what you disliked and let me know if you want a review :)
Alright, so...My favourite songs haven't really changed, I'm still pretty much listening to The Greatest Showman soundtrack, literally on repeat four times in the weekend. I also fell back in love with Love Me Now by John Legend —that man honestly has the voice of a God and I'm completely head over heels in love with his wife —and also For You I Will by Teddy Geiger, which was one of my favourite songs when I was a teenager. Another one I really like is Stronger by Inna.
TV show wise...Happy! is fucking incredible and so is Black Lightning. Another one I watched the whole first season of in a day was Beyond, although it's not as good as the other two. Not bad though.
I haven't really seen any new movies...Although I'm ridiculously psyched for Black Panther.
Let me know songs, fics, TV series, I love hearing what you guys are enjoying! Look forward to hearing from you beautiful people xx