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CLARY'S POV

Training that afternoon was awkward as hell. Jace had stormed off and by the time I got back, we had to do a few routines with Ithuriel. There was no time to talk. And to make things worse, Maryse, Isabelle, Alec, and Max all wanted to watch this time. So not only was it bad between Jace and I, but we had an audience to deal with and fool into thinking everything was okay.

He was completely professional though. His cold looks went unnoticed by everyone else but me, but his voice was in trainer mode and he shouted instructions simply left and right. I didn't think Isabelle or anyone even noticed the tension honestly.

But I did. It was like a brick pressing against my chest, constricting it.

"Get down," Jace instructed, grabbing Ithuriel's reins. He normally helps me down, but this time he left me to jump on my own. "Max!"

The little boy came running with a smile on his face. Jace handed the horse over and Alec and Isabelle both took off with the little one to help him take care of Ithuriel. Maryse left after the training, luckily, but that also left me with Jace by myself.

Before I could even get a word in, he grabbed his clipboard and started walking towards the barn.

I wasn't sure what to do, so I followed.

"Training is over," he said after a few moments, refusing to look at me.

"Yeah, but you haven't talked to me since you stormed out of the diner. You can pretend that you're busy but you're just avoiding me."

"Because I have nothing to say, Clary."

"That's how you're going to act about this?"

He sighed, his pen tightening in his hand as he tried to concentrate. "I can't talk about this right now. I have work to do."

I reached for his arm, yanking him to a stop. "You can't just ignore me."

"I'm not ignoring you."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Then what do you call this?"

"I'm pissed, Clary," he said honestly, tucking the clipboard under his arm and giving me a hard set of golden eyes. "You lied to me, and I'm pissed. But do you honestly want to talk about our," He paused and looked around for a second, "relationship issues out in the middle of the ranch?"

I didn't think about that. "We could've talked about it at the diner."

"I didn't want to blow up on you in public."

"Since when do you care about humiliating me in public?" I shot back.

His face went straight to annoyed and angry and hurt at the low blow of the past. His eyes widened at my words. This wasn't the first time I threw something like this in his face, and I could tell he was fed up with it. "Are you fucking kidding me?" he exclaimed a little louder than was intentional.

"Everything okay here?" one of the hands asked as he came up with a wheelbarrow of hay.

With all of my words dying in my throat, I nodded at the guy. "Yeah, we're fine."

"I just wanted to check since–"

"She said we're fine, James," Jace snapped and pointed to the barn. "Now get your ass back to work."

The guy nodded and scurried off without a second glance.

"You don't have to be so rude to him," I claimed, glaring at my asshole of a boyfriend. "I mean, he just wanted to check on us and you can't even keep your attitude in check."

"You wanted to talk, so we're talking and I'm making sure no one interrupts." He raised his hands and dropped them dramatically. "There is absolutely no winning with you."

"I meant that I wanted to talk privately," I hissed. "As in your bedroom. Not in the middle of the path in front of the barn."

"Jace!"

We both turned at the sound of Alec. "WHAT?" We yelled together.

He froze in place at our simultaneous outburst. "Um, well, I – do I need to come back later or…"

I sighed and rubbed at my temples with my hands. "You know what? Fuck this."

With that said, I stormed off. My feet moved before my brain really took in what I was doing and I found myself moving through the barn. Some of the hands jumped out of my way as I ran past, a few looking at me with concern.

Out of all of the horses in the barn, I went to only one. After all this time, I even surprised myself as I grabbed the saddle. I didn't even realize I was so emotional that I was crying until I reached her.

"Opal," I said weakly, moving up to the horse and pressing my forehead to her cheek. She didn't move but she didn't push me away. I choked on my words as I looked at her. "Please."

I wasn't sure what I was asking. But when I finally had the guts to throw the saddle on her, she didn't fight me. There was so much going on in my head that I was shocked when I even made it up on her back. Maybe she knew this was what I needed. Jace and I were fighting, and it wasn't a good one, and I was emotional and upset and I needed my best friend.

She moved out of the gate without me even instructing her to do so. I leaned down and held her like I used to, my eyes clenching shut to keep my tears at bay. I didn't want to cry, not now or not ever. And she took off, saving me from the torture that was occurring. I wasn't sure if this was safe or good for her, but I had a feeling she needed it like I did.

"Clary!"

I heard his voice as we exited the barn at a run. I turned against his voice, busying my face in the mane of her hair. I held on tight, didn't look up, and I didn't even know where we were going.

"Just get me out of here," I said to her, keeping my eyes closed. "Please, just get me out of here."

And she took off at full speed. Just like old times.

JACE'S POV

I was throwing the saddle up on Charmer without a second thought. There were so many things running through my mind, and I wasn't sure which one I really wanted to focus on, but I knew that my main focus was Clary. The fact that Opal let her ride… I knew that this was bad.

Alec was watching me as I got Charmer ready to ride. "What happened?"

"We're fighting."

"You seemed fine during training less than ten minutes ago," He pointed out.

I sighed. "Yeah, well, Clary and I are both good actors."

He frowned. "What's going on?"

"Alec," I turned to my best friend and gave him a stern look. "Clary and I are not good right now, okay? There is shit happening that is just complicated, and I don't really want to talk about it with anyone but her. You're not going to get the answers out of me, so if you don't mind, leave. Get out so I can get Charmer ready so I can go out and find my girlfriend before she does something stupid."

His eyes widened at me. "G – girlfriend?"

I rolled my eyes, grabbed his arm, and dragged him out, kicking him out of the stall. "Leave!"

"Okay, just… God, Jace, just be careful. Whatever is going on, be safe."

"I will," I answered honestly before finishing with Charmer and taking off.

Tracking someone like Clary in the woods is not easy. I can say that keeping up with the trail was hard, and with how fast Opal is – even pregnant Opal – Charmer was having trouble gaining on them.

The sun was setting by the time I got somewhat close, and I was pissed that I didn't think ahead. I had no over night stuff, and by this point I had traveled after Clary for about an hour at Charmer's fastest speed that he could keep. There was no way I was making it back tonight, with or without Clary.

But that wasn't my biggest worry. Because just as the light was really starting to fade, I heard the howls.

Charmer slowed and started to fidget at the sound. Wolves were something that everyone and everything was kind of nervous about, but the idea of Clary and Opal on their own, emotional and alone against wolves had me kicking myself in to gear. Charmer took off in the direction of the howls.

I heard Clary before I really saw her. There were multiple caves around the hills and mountains on our massive pile of land. And I heard Clary's voice inside one of them as I turned inside, finding a campfire. Opal was standing by it, drinking out of some water that was dropping from the ceiling. It was pretty convenient, and Clary was poking the fire with a stick, just talking randomly to herself.

But she stopped when she saw me come in and jumped to her feet. "Jace?"

"Are you okay? I heard the wolves and panicked a bit." I Jumped off Charmer, walking him towards Opal before I grabbed Clary's face in my hands, studying her. She didn't push me away. "Nothing happened, right? You're fine? All good?"

She nodded, her hands wrapping around my wrists. "I heard them and immediately brought her in here. The fire kept them away and I think that talking might have scared them off."

"They're close though," I pointed out, pulling her into me. She wrapped her arms around me and I looked towards the opening. "I heard them a few minutes ago, and I have nothing to really deal with them. But I'm just glad you're okay."

"Really? Because you haven't exactly been caring this afternoon."

Even with the jab, I didn't pull away and I kissed the top of her head instead. "I'm sorry. The shit with Sebastian just scares me."

She pulled away enough to look at me and sat down, pulling me with her. She settled on my lap, her back to my front as my arms went around her and my head rested on her shoulder. She poked at the fire as we talked.

"I should've told you," she confessed. "I'm sorry that I lied to your face at the restaurant."

"And I'm sorry that I stormed out. And was a dick. And tried to fight with you about it. And refused to let you explain. And basically," I kissed her neck lightly as I pushed her braid aside. "I'm sorry for being me."

She turned and pressed her forehead to my temple. "Don't be. You're protective, but it's one of the things I love about you."

Those words, even if it wasn't the 'love' I expected, still made my heart skip a beat. "Yeah?"

She smiled and pressed her lips to mine lightly. "Yeah."

Everything was cold except for the body that was pressed up against me. I smiled when I recalled the events from the night before and pulled myself closer to Jace, wrapping my arms around his clothes waist and burying my head in his shoulder.

Sadly, we were not prepared to stay out all night. Opal and Charmer were just lying down a few yards away from us, but Jace and I had no blankets, no pillows, no extra clothes, no nothing. He didn't object to the idea of using each other though. Typical of him.

"My back is killing me," he said, his arm that my head was resting on originally now wrapping around me. He didn't get up to move though.

I chuckled. "You didn't have to come after me yesterday. Maybe I wanted to be alone."

"Did you want to be alone?"

With a shrug, I said, "I guess our fight about Sebastian just made me run off. I wasn't sure what I wanted, but I wasn't upset when you walked through the cave entrance with Charmer."

He kissed the top of my head. "Good. And again, I'm sorry about that fight. I was kind of out of line."

"Not really. I did lie to you."

"Maybe we can talk about this? Like, officially." I was quiet but he continued after a few seconds. "I just have a one question."

I swallowed and tilted my head, pressing my cheek to his chest to avoid his gaze. It was easier to talk if I didn't get distracted by his golden irises. "Okay…"

His hand was in my hair this time, playing with the curls. "I get why you lied. But I was wondering… would you actually leave us for Sebastian?"

"Of course not," I said instantly.

"Okay," he whispered, basically to himself. "Okay, good."

The way he said it caught me off guard and I slowly sat up a bit. Jace stayed down as I sat straight, crossing my legs next to him and looking down at him. "You really thought that I would leave you for him?"

He shrugged, closing his eyes and frowning. "You always had some kind of attachment to him. I wasn't sure how deep it actually went."

"If I wanted to be with him, I wouldn't have ever stayed with you guys. I wouldn't be with you like I am." I reached forward and grabbed his hand, smiling as I put it to my cheek and his eyes opened to meet mine. "We may fight like crazy, but I'm still crazy about you regardless."

He beamed and sat up, pulling me towards him. "I'm crazy about you too."

And our lips pressed together at our confessions, Jace pulling me into his lap easily. My legs straddled his hips as we put our feelings into the physical contact between us, our hands moving everywhere they could.

Although the fire was out, the sun was rising, the morning dew made the world feel a little wet and the chill that it brought had my skin on edge, I wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

Jace smiled as he pulled back, his eyes meeting mine happily. "So, you and Opal again," he leaned forward and kissed me once more. "I'm happy that you two are okay now."

"Maybe it's the hormones," I teased, my hands around his neck. "She is pregnant after all. I mean, that can drive anyone crazy."

"Either way, I might have been pissed at you and surprised when you two rode off together yesterday, but I was happy to see it. I missed watching you ride her. You're a different kind of free spirit around her."

I blushed and looked to the ground. "I'm just glad I have my best friend back."

"Simon probably wants to look at her since you took off with her," he pointed out, leaning back on his hands to look up at me. "Although I don't particularly want to leave yet. And this view has many perks to it."

That made my cheeks go as red as my hair. To avoid his intensity, I looked over at the horses who were awake and on their feet, looking casual and bored. "We really should get them back though. I'm not even how far away we are from the ranch. I wasn't paying attention when Opal was running until I heard the wolves."

Jace fell back against the ground, hands behind his head as I sat astride him. "It's pretty far," he thought out loud. "Charmer was able to sprint out after you but if we're going to take our time getting back, it'll be about a three or four hour walk or trot."

I sighed. "And Maryse is going to be pissed when we miss training this morning with Ithuriel."

"Too bad we left without our phones," he said, his hands going to my hips. "But I'd hate to have her ruin this moment anyway, so I can deal with her wrath when I get back."

I leaned over him, my hands going to the sides of his head. "Hey, you know, we could technically get back whenever we wanted."

His eyes sparkled with mischief. "What do you have in mind to pass the time?"

"I think you can guess." And when I leaned down to kiss him again, he responded in knowing, shoeing the horses away enough for some privacy.

CLARY'S POV STLL

"How did it feel?" he asked when we pulled the horses up to the barn.

I was still riding on Opal, but we ended up racing on the way back when we were a couple miles out. It wasn't enough to hurt her, but Jace was being cute and competitive that I couldn't say no to the challenge. And it was exhilarating, riding with my best friend again. Sure, Ithuriel was great but nothing compares to Opal. End of story.

My hands ran over her skin and hair, smiling as I did. "It felt fucking fantastic."

"THERE YOU ARE!"

We both looked up as Lilly, a ginger headed girl with a ton of freckles, a bright smile and about thirty years of age, came running towards us. She looked startled, worried, and at first I thought it was one of the jumpers. But looking around, I noticed that the ranch was kind of… empty. Almost deserted in a way. Only about ¼ of the usual staff was working and I glanced at her with confusion.

"What's going on?" I asked wearily.

She stopped in front of us, her eyes looking wild and worried. "It was Max. He had an accident last night. We called you guys but no one answered the phones and you two never came back and no one went after you because everyone is at the hospital and–"

"Lilly, slow down." Jace hopped off of Charmer, grabbing the older woman's shoulders. "Max, is he okay?"

She shook her head. "Maryse told me to send you to the hospital as soon as you got back."

Jace's arms dropped to his side. "How bad is it?"

"It's the worse that they've seen," she confessed. My heart dropped at the words as she spoke. "He was fine when he went to bed last night, but Isabelle went in last night when she found his comic on the table. His nose was bleeding and he was sweating in his sleep. I don't know what exactly happened, but they called us here last night to watch over everything and wait for you."

God, could the past forty-eight hours get any harder? There were enough problems already, and Max being ill was by far the biggest and least welcomed. I'd fight with Jace every day as long as Max ends up okay, but I had a feeling this was a little more complicated than that.

I hopped off of Opal and immediately walked to Jace, taking his hand. Lilly noticed but didn't comment. "Jace, we need to go if it's that bad."

He shook his head like he didn't believe it. "Max was doing so much better. He can't be – he shouldn't – ."

"We'll work through this." I leaned forward, my forehead pressing against his arm. "He's going to be okay. Max is strong, he can get through this."

"I need to call Alec," he said, like he was completely oblivious to my words. Without even looking, he pulled away and ran towards the house for his cell phone, leaving me and Lilly.

I sighed, wrapping my arms around my stomach. "How are the siblings doing? Be honest."

"Isabelle was in a panic. Simon came over immediately and took her to the hospital following the ambulance, but she didn't look like she was containing herself well," she answered honestly. "And Alec was on the phone with Magnus the whole time, crying to him about how it wasn't fair and it wasn't right. You can imagine how bad it was."

I nodded, reaching for the reins of the two horses behind me. My body was fighting back the tears and fear for Max, trying to contain myself. Simon was strong for Izzy. Magnus would be here for Alec. Robert was coming for Maryse. And I had to be strong for Jace. I had to.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, handing Charmer over to Lilly. "Can you put him away for me?"

She nodded and reached forward, but stopped me when I tried to walk away. "I know we don't really talk much, but I know that you and Jace are extremely close. Just take care of him. I've known that boy for years, and I've never seen the hurt and pain in his eyes like that. He's not going to deal with this very well, and he's going to need you."

I feel so bad for leaving you guys with this, but I couldn't think of another way. I'm sorry! I'm a terrible human being. But you just gotta stay tuned to find out what happens next I guess ;)