{Clary POV}

Jace put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side when I didn't answer, and I leaned against him. "Why would I be mad at you?" he asked again, gently.

"I don't know. Because I kissed your best friend." I expected him to be mad at me, but he just laughed and pressed his lips against my forehead. His arm tightened around me and I wanted more than anything for him to kiss me again. And again. And again, and hopefully never stop.

The waterfall had honestly been one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. The fact that it had been completely natural and untouched by human hands made it all the more fantastic. And the naturally formed cavern beneath the water had seemed like a dream, with rainbows dancing across the walls and lighting the place through the mist and spray from the water. I'd been speechless for a while as I gawked at the cave, but Jace hadn't seemed to mind, and he didn't try to rush me. Then, when I wanted him to show me the view from above the waterfall, he'd kissed me. My body had responded immediately though he'd only kissed me once before he pulled away. Since then, all I'd wanted to do was kiss him, over and over again until our only options were to come up for air or pass out from lack of oxygen. If I had to choose, I'd choose the latter.

I lifted my chin and met Jace's gaze, showing him with my eyes what I wanted him to do. Like I knew he would –or at least hoped he would-, he leaned towards me with a grin. His lips brushed against mine and, again, my body responded. I pushed closer to him immediately and my hands moved on their own to tangle in his hair as he pressed his mouth more firmly against mine.

"Jace!" I pulled away as Sebastian walked in, his lips pulled into a huge smile. "Oh, sorry," he said, grinning wider. "Am I . . . interrupting something?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at us and I rolled my eyes, removing my hands from Jace's shoulders. Sebastian laughed and plopped down on the bed next to me. He put his arm around my shoulder and I looked at Jace, but he was obviously trying to hold back a smile. "So, Jace, buddy, are you busy?"

"Why?" Jace replied. I tried unsuccessfully to wiggle out from under Sebastian's arm but he held me tight to his side. Weird, and it made me just the slightest bit uncomfortable.

"My mom needs our help with something. So, if you're not busy," he said, waggling his eyebrows at me again. "Then you should come help me." Jace looked at me and opened his mouth to speak, but I shook my head. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted to refuse so he could hang out with me. And as much as I wanted to spend time with him, too, I didn't want him to ditch his best friends for me. And I definitely didn't want to change his life anymore than I already had.

"Go, Jace. I'll just see you later." The corners of his lips pulled up into a little smile before he looked at Sebastian.

"All right, I'm coming. Give me a minute and I'll meet you downstairs." Sebastian acted like he was surprised, lifting the arm not wrapped around my waist to press his hand against his chest.

"You're not coming with me now?" he asked, tightening his hold around me again. It wasn't scary or too intimate. It was like he was encouraging Jace or telling him secretly that he approved. I didn't know whether to feel flattered or annoyed.

Jace and I both glared at Sebastian until he threw his hands up with a grin. "All right, all right. I know when I'm unwelcome. I'll see you in a few, Jace. Bye, Clary," he said, nodding at me as he stood up. I smiled unwillingly as he spun around and walked out the door, before I turned back to Jace. He was shaking his head with a smile on his face.

"Sorry about him," he told me but I shrugged and smiled back. I put my hand on the back of his neck and tugged his head down eagerly. With only a short second of prompting, he covered my mouth with his and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me hard against him. His tongue made a quick swipe across my lower lip and I immediately opened my mouth to let him in. After a few minutes, I unwillingly pulled away and pushed his shoulder towards the door.

"Go, I'll see you at dinner," I said and he smiled. He kissed me one more time before he left and I laid back on my bed. He finally kissed me, I thought. It only took a near death experience on my part for him to finally man up and do it. But I didn't care. Because he finally kissed me. I grabbed my pillow from under my head and pressed it gently to my face so I could scream into it without being heard. I was fully aware that I was acting like a love struck teenage girl, but I couldn't bring myself to care. All I could think about were Jace's lips.

No kiss had ever made me feel like Jace's had. It hadn't made me fall instantly in love with him or anything rediculous like that. I mean, real life wasn't a fairytale. But the other times I'd been kissed had really just been for fun. Nothing all that serious. But it was more with Jace. I couldn't figure out just yet what was so different, but it was like a bucket of cold water in the face. But I liked how things were progressing between us, so I pushed the thought away.

I was bored only minutes after Jace left, so I grabbed the guitar and walked to the beach, smiling when I spotted someone where I usually sat. Aline was sitting on the rocks alone, and I plopped down next to her. "Hey, Aline," I said.

"Oh, hey, Clary. Where's Jace?" I shrugged and explained how he was helping Sebastian with something, waving my hand like it was no big deal. "Really?" she asked. "I didn't think he'd want to leave your side after everything with your foot and then Jonathan. I'm surprised he let Sebastian pull him away." There was something in her voice that told me she thought it was more than just my foot and Jonathan. My cheeks got hot and I looked down at the guitar as I ran my finger up and down the glossy neck.

"Yeah, I talked him into it. I don't need a babysitter," I muttered. Aline started laughing, her head thrown back, and I just stared at her. "What?" I asked. Her laughter was contagious and I couldn't hold back my giggles. "What?!" I asked again when she didn't respond. She took a few minutes to control herself and finally looked at me, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Clary, he knows you don't need a babysitter. Everyone here knows that. But that's not what he wants to be," she said matter-of-factly. I raised my eyebrows at her and she sighed. "I don't know if you can tell –everyone else can- but Jace likes you. A lot." I looked down at my hands and grinned, trying to hide it behind my hair. But I wasn't sure how successful I was. "I keep telling him that he should make a move or something before you start liking someone else, but he just won't listen to me. He's convinced himself that you don't feel the same, but I'm not so easily fooled." I giggled again. "So, I'm thinking that, since Jace won't do it, that you might have to make the first move."

"Oh yeah? What do you suggest I do?" I asked, playing along. I pulled the guitar strap over my shoulder and strummed it softly, just as something to do to hide my giddy fidgeting.

"I don't know. Encourage him to kiss you or something. Subtly, but not too subtly, you know? Or, hell, just kiss him." She threw her hands up in frustration and I laughed.

"Aw, Aline, don't worry so much. And, by the way, I don't think I need to make the first move," I said, biting my lip to hide my grin. She looked at me, her eyes narrowed.

"Why?" I sighed like I didn't want to explain, though it felt good talking to another girl. This was the kind of thing I used to gossip with my friends about all the time, and I missed it. A lot.

"Because he already made the first move," I said and she squealed, demanding details. I couldn't help it: I put the guitar next to me and turned towards Aline, becoming more animated. As a girl, it was practically habit to make everything seem twice as dramatic as it really was. "Instead of chores this morning, he brought me to this waterfall that he said he found when I was passed out." She looked shocked at the mention of a waterfall but I told myself I'd explain later and continued. "Well, he took me down this path that led behind that actual waterfall, and, oh my God, Aline, it was so amazingly beautiful and romantic. The water made the walls sparkle with rainbows. It was just too gorgeous for words." Apparently I forgot about my plans to tell her later, I thought to myself, and by the impatient look on her face, I could tell she felt the same.

"Okay, tell me more about the waterfall later! More about Jace, now!" Aline said and I laughed.

"Hey, I was getting there. Okay, so I wanted to see what the view was like on top of the waterfall so I asked Jace to show me. Before I could walk away, he grabbed my hand and pulled me back towards him. And he kissed me!" Aline squealed again and latched onto my arm, asking what it was like. She seemed really interested, shockingly so, considering she was gay. But I told her anyway. "It was awesome. In New York, all the guys kiss the same. Like, it always seemed like they wanted something more, right from the very first kiss. But, with Jace, it was like he was kind of shy, or half expecting me to pull away. It was sweet," I said, smiling to myself.

"Aw!" she murmured and I giggled, pushing her with my shoulder. "Sorry, Clary. I don't mean to seem overly interested or anything, but I've never been kissed. I have to live vicariously through you! So, forgive me." I shrugged and smiled at her. I couldn't believe I'd overlooked the fact that there probably wasn't someone for Aline on the island, and I felt awful.

"That's okay. Well, what were you doing out here before I so rudely interrupted?" I asked and Aline shrugged.

"Avoiding my mom. But I probably should get back. I'll see you around." She jumped up and bounded off with a wave. I watched her go, grinning, before I turned back and started practicing the guitar again.

~LOTI~

I was still playing the guitar when I heard someone step up onto the rocks behind me. My fingers didn't falter as Jace sat down next to me. I turned my head and lifted my chin, and he leaned towards me quickly. He kissed me softly and chastely for a minute, and when he moved to pull away, I leaned towards him to make the kiss last just a bit longer. "Hey, Jace," I murmured. He smiled and looked away from me, down at my fingers as they moved on the guitar.

"I used to watch my dad play all the time," he said quietly. "He was going to teach me but he left before he could."

"Want me to teach you?" I asked gently, my fingers freezing on the strings. He didn't say anything as he met my gaze, but I could see a deep sadness in his eyes. I pulled the guitar strap off my shoulder and pushed it onto his lap before I pulled myself closer. "All right, hold it like this," I murmured, leading his hands with my own. He let me show him a few notes before he turned his hand over, twining his fingers with mine.

"Thanks, Clary," he said. He looked up at me with his amazing amber eyes, and suddenly I felt my own filling with tears. I couldn't figure out why but I suddenly the only thing I wanted was someone, anyone, to hug me and tell me everything was okay. I wanted to wrap myself in a blanket and curl up on the couch with a pint of cookie dough ice cream and my favorite movie. I wanted to play cards with my parents as we watched old home movies from when I was a baby. For some reason I couldn't figure out, I suddenly wanted all the things I would never, ever have again. "Hey," Jace said, his shock clear in his voice. He reached up and wiped away the first tears to spill onto my cheeks with his thumbs. "What's wrong?"

"I-I-," I stuttered. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know the answer. But, somehow, he seemed to understand. He put his arms around me and pulled me into his lap. I pressed my face into his shoulder as the tears continued to fall, and I felt his arms wind around my waist.

What is wrong with me? I wondered as I buried my face in the arc of Jace's neck.

So, in this chapter, you got some Clace, some of Sebastian being a weirdo, some Aline and Clary bonding, and the beginning of a mental breakdown :D Hope that's okay!

Not much to say tonight, besides THANK YOU for the reviews and everything. You're all so amazing. Keep reading and reviewing, and I'll keep updating, and we'll complete the FanFiction circle of life :)

Thanks again!