Chapter Twenty Five - Declaration's Scare Me

Much shorter chapter than what I usually give you, and I apologise for that, however I felt like the content of this chapter deserved it's own spotlight. I promise you'll love it.

Chapter Song;

Can't Help Falling In Love - Ingrid Michaelson

Jace jogged out of the room and into the lobby after Clary, only to find it completely empty. He looked around at the room and saw several open doors, though he had no idea which one she had headed out of. Luck, however, was on his side, as the footman he had learned was called Enzo had just appeared through one of the open doors with a note in his hand.

"Excuse me!" Jace caught his attention before he had the chance to walk up the stairs, jogging over to where he was looking up expectantly. "Sorry to bother you - I don't suppose you saw which way Clary went?"

"She went through to the back garden." He said with a formal nod, pointing to the open door of which he just came from. "Continue in a straight line and you should find your way easily enough."

"Thank you." He nodded, earning a smile from Enzo in return before the worker continued on his travels up the stairs. Jace watched him go for a moment, before darting down in the direction he had been told.

The place was a maze and, although he had been right and it was just a straight line, Jace still passed through two different rooms and saw doors leading to at least another five on his journey. The amount of money the Morgensterns had was almost incomprehensible to someone whom had never had more than five hundred bucks in his bank account. He forced that thought out of his head, though, remembering that the money and the wealth was Valentine's - not Clary's. She never wanted anything to do with it after her father's actions.

Jace opened up the large double doors at the end of his journey, breathing in deeply as the freshness of the air hit him in the face. The doors lead out onto a bricked patio with rectangular ponds decorating the sides, bunches of flowers decorating one side of each. Beyond that in the centre was a larger pond that was also decorated with the same bright pink flowers, two fields of grass on either side of it. There was a concrete walkway after that which slanted downwards, leading to a luxurious looking fountain. Just a small speck in the distance, Jace could clearly see the mop of bright red hair resting near the water's edge.

He slowly made his way over to the small figure, seeing she was sat on the edge of the marble circle surrounding the fountain. One of her hands was skirting gently along the top of the water while her other was wrapped around her torso. From the angle Jace was at, he couldn't see her face, but he could tell from the slight hunch that she was upset.

He silently walked past her to sit opposite her on the marble decoration, looking up at his girl. Her eyes were focusing on the small ripples she was making in the water, though they were red and puffy. Jace opened his mouth to say something, but Clary beat him to it.

"I used to always come to this exact spot, whenever I was sad or feeling lonely." She sounded nostalgic, a soft smile appearing on her face. "The only other people who would ever tend this place was Enzo and the groundskeepers. Jonathan always thought it was an eyesore, and mother and father were never here too long to care."

"You don't have to feel like that ever again." Jace said firmly, reaching out to take the hand that was wrapped around her stomach. He cupped it in both of his, looking up at her with such sincerity. "You never have to feel lonely, because I will always be here with you."

She laughed almost in disbelief, looking down at her lap before shifting her gaze to look up at Jace. "You realise that statement has more literal meaning than you'd of thought right?" He narrowed at her eyes at her, confused. "If my dad's telling the truth, then that means we knew each other when we were almost babies. 18 years ago we met, and 18 years later we had the fortune of meeting again."

"Maybe it was fate." He suggested half-heartedly, though a part of him was being completely serious. "We were separated all those years ago, but we were meant to be together. Maybe that's why I was assigned you as my client."

"Fate?" She looked at him with disbelief, shaking her head. She retracted her hand from his grip and stood up with an exasperated sigh, turning around to face the house with her arms wrapped around her torso. "I don't believe in fate. I believe in that people are hateful and paranoid and impulsive, and all those feelings get mushed together into one to force them to do things they can't control."

Jace stood up and captured her arm lightly so not to hurt her, but strong enough to force her to turn and look at him. "You're wrong, Clary. Fate is real. It's like this strange, supernatural entity that forces our hands into the most unlikely of chances. So many specific things had to happen for us to meet - you think they were all coincidence? Your mother meeting your father, mine passing away and giving me up for adoption, your mother knowing the woman who was soon to adopt me. All of that happened for a reason, and that reason was to bring us together."

She scrunched her face up into a contorted expression that made her features sharp and ugly, the complete opposite to her soft and beautiful self, which Jace hated to see. A lone tear escaped and rolled down her cheek, and he wiped it away with his thumb. Letting his hand linger on her cheek, he coaxed her to look up at him.

"People don't cross our paths by accident, Clary." He whispered quietly to her, cupping her face in his hands and looking deeply into her eyes. "They're meant to cross our paths for a reason. Meeting you was fate, changing from a heartless asshole to your friend was a choice... But falling in love with you was beyond my control."

She gasped sharply, her face dropping into a look of surprise. She opened and closed her mouth several times as she tried to form words, looking like a fish out of water, yet not much came out.

"What- what are you saying, Jace?" She choked out, swallowing hard as another tear stroll down her cheek. He clenched his teeth together stubbornly as he fought with himself to say the words he so desperately wanted to say. He shook his head firmly as he took in a deep breath, placing his forehead against hers.

"I love you, Clary." He finally got out, his voice even quieter than a whisper. Clary had to strain to even hear what he said. "You are the first and only girl I have ever allowed myself to love. I've always been so scared to let myself love, after seeing how it has destroyed so many people. I was so afraid of love that I would rather pass up the chance of happiness than to get hurt like those I'd seen before."

Clary's tears had stopped now, and she was looking up at him with an almost unreadable expression. Thoughtfulness? Adoration? Confusion?

"But I let myself fall in love with you, and the moment I realised that was the moment that all fear disappeared. Love favours the fearless, Clary, and I love you so much."

For a moment they were both silent as Jace bore his entire soul into hers through the wordless communication within his eyes. He pulled back slightly so that he could see her reaction more clearly, a moment of fear flickering through him as the silence grew longer. He was about to urge her to say something when finally he got a reaction.

It was slow, but she shifted onto her tiptoes so that she could run her hands up his chest and lock them around his neck. She swallowed hard, glancing down at his shirt before finally up into his eyes. "You know, when I first met you I thought you was a self-absorbed, heartless prick." They both laughed at that, Clary's tears threatening to return again. "I thought you were just some perfect play boy with the only desire to fuck me around and mess with my heart.

"But then you grew on me. You saved me so many times, when you didn't even have to. In those few moments I saw the true Jace, and I let myself warm to you. At a time when I was at war with my father, had just lost my mother, and had no sense of direction in life... At that time you were there."

She pressed her lips into a tight line, though a small smile of affection still showed through. "They say you fall in love with the most unexpected person at the most unexpected time, and I think that's exactly what happened with you, Jace."

His eyes lit up at the words, and he found himself almost standing up straighter with delight. He was sure the joy on his face was giving him away, because she laughed as she looked at him, tears falling again - though, this time, they were happy tears. "I need you, Jace. Because you make me laugh more than anyone else, and I'm the best possible me I can be when I'm with you. And because when you're gone, nothing feels right until you return. You make me question my actions and you've put me in the scariest scenarios I ever thought I would have to face. I love you, Jace. I love you."

They stared at each other for an immeasurable amount of time as they reveled in the sounds of their declarations of love, before the separation became just too much. Jace gripped her face tightly before ducking his head down so his lips could meet hers, and they shared the best kiss of both of their lives. Their bodies wound perfectly together, as if they'd always been so in tune, and it felt like nothing could ever match the feeling they both felt at that moment.