A/N: For all you Clace fans, this is for you, for all you Clary haters, there will still be some Malec.

Clary POV

Clary sat at the desk, idly flipping through the pages of Persuasion. It was his favourite Jane Austen novel. She thought it was beautiful how two people who were in love as teenagers could find each other again years later. Plus that letter at the end was completely beautiful. Even the alternate ending, which had been cut out of the book, was incredible. Clary loved Jane Austen, she had for years, and she had always wanted her own magical romance. When she had met Jace it had seemed to good to be true. She wanted to draw him really badly, she had actually sketched him a couple of times, but she couldn't get his eyes right.

Simon said that she was being crazy, that Jace was a heartbreaker and always would be. But she pointed out that she could say the same thing about Isabelle. That shut him up. It was true that Jace was a player, and way too hot to waste his time getting serious with Clary, or to waste his time with Clary at all, but she couldn't help being drawn to him. Of course part of it was that he was extremely attractive, but there was something else…

She was sure that he made every girl feel like the way she did, but there was a tiny irrational part of her that believed she was different. It had been almost a month since they had been dating, and he showed no sign of getting bored. However he also showed no sign of asking her to be his girlfriend, or making any other kind of commitment. Maybe he was just waiting for sex, though he never pushed her when they were making out, he actually seemed hesitant, like he was scared of making her jump.

As she was thinking this, Jace himself walked into the store. He was grinning as he strolled leisurely towards her, and jumped up onto the counter, "Well as swamped as this place looks," Clary rolled her eyes, "I'm sure they can spare you. Wanna go get a coffee?"

"I can't Jace I'm working and there's no one to cover me."

"Come on. There's nobody here."

"But someone might come in."

"They won't if you put a closed sign on the door."

"I'm not leaving with you, if you want to spend time with me you can stay here and help me work." She honestly didn't expect him to take her up on that offer, but to her surprise (and secret delight) he did. He hopped the desk (which was really hot, she had to admit) and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She shivered at the touch. "We just got a new shipment in. I could use someone tall to help me stack the books." She said and he sighed dramatically as she brought him into the storage room.

Clary's shift was four hours long, and Jace stayed for all of them. When it was finally time to close the store, she and Jace left hand in hand. "You didn't really have to stay for that." She said. He replied easily, "Don't be silly, it was nice. What kind of guy would I be if I didn't spend time with my girlfriend?"

They both stopped walking simultaneously. Clary turned to Jace, "Girlfriend?" She asked. For once in his life, Jace Lightwood seemed speechless, "Umm… Yes? I-I mean, do you want to be my girlfriend?" Clary laughed, "Of course."

Jace smiled, a dazzling smile that made Clary's heart beat speed up. He pulled her in and kissed her so hard that her knees went a little week. Then he tugged her hand, "Want to come over to my house?" He asked. She nodded.

When they got to the house, they found Alec sprawled on the couch, reading a chemistry textbook. He was wearing ear buds, and nodding his head slightly to the beat of his music. Jace pulled the ear buds out, causing Alec to jump and scowl at him, "Shove over, we want to watch a movie." Alec shrugged, "So do I. But I need to study."

"Study in your room."

"You don't even have time to watch a movie before dinner starts."

"Alec!"

"Fine. I'll go."

"Oh, and be nice to Clary, she's my girlfriend." If Jace was hoping for a reaction from Alec he didn't get one, apart from his shoulders tensing slightly as he walked out. Jace seemed disappointed, but he shrugged off. Clary wondered if Alec was jealous. She hoped not, Alec was just starting to warm up to her.

Clary ended up for staying for dinner, where Jace announced that they were now officially official. Max was ecstatic, Robert and Maryse seemed to approve, and Isabelle smiled, even though out loud she said, "You've been official for weeks, you just haven't admitted it." Alec scowled slightly, but nobody seemed to notice except Clary. After dinner he offered to wash dishes, and Clary offered to help him.

Once they were alone in the kitchen Alec turned to her, "Why are you doing this?"

"I want to help."

"I can wash dishes by myself."

"It's faster with two people."

"You're only here so you can be with Jace, why don't you go slobber over him like you usually do?"

"Why don't you like me?"

"I don't not like you, I just don't want to wash dishes with you."

"Just admit it. You're jealous because Jace is with me not you. Well get over it, he's straight and always will be." Alec's whole body seemed to tense as he turned to face her. He looked the way he had, when she first found out he was gay and he had told her not to tell; absolutely terrifying.

"You're right." He said, "Jace will always be straight, I accepted that along time ago. And you're also right; I'm jealous." Then something changed in his eyes and he stepped back, as if he was having an epiphany, "But I'm not jealous because you're with him. I mean, a little, but I haven't reallyfelt that way about Jace in a while. No. I'm jealous because Jace is straight, and because Jace is straight he can bring home girls like you and parade them in front of our parents and at school without any worries." He was ranting now, Clary couldn't have stopped him if she tried, "I, however, will always be gay, and there is nothing I can do about it, and so even though I've been in a serious relationship for nearly a month, I can't tell anyone. You have no idea how hard that is, how much I want my parents and everyone to treat Magnus the same way they treat you. But that's not going to happen."

Alec finished his monologue with a deep breath. He seemed surprised by what had just come out of his mouth. He looked around, to make sure nobody had heard him before his eyes met Clary's. She didn't know what to say. She had thought she understood Alec, but she realised that there was more to him than she knew. Alec turned away from her and started cleaning the dishes with extreme concentration. "I just, really want to be by myself Clary." He said quietly.

She nodded, and left the room. Jace was trying to teach Max how to play blackjack, he looked up at Clary and smiled, Clary felt like she was floating on air, "I thought you were helping Alec." He said, "Turns out he could handle it. Want to deal me in?" Jace shifted over and she sat down next to him. He rapped his arm around and kissed her cheek. It was such a simple action, but it made Clary feel a wave of sympathy for Alec. Those simple actions were great, and Alec couldn't experience them. "What's wrong?" Jace asked, as he dealt her two cards, "Nothing." She smiled, "I'm just grateful I get to call you my boyfriend now."

A/N: Sorry these last two chapters have been downers, it just sort of happened. However, I am now officially half way done, which is super exciting. The next couple chapters will be very malec-y. Please review!