Hey, guys! I'm baaack. Sorry about the hiatus. I've been insanely busy, but I know that's a lame excuse. I really didn't mean to leave you all hanging. Without further ado, here is my drama packed chapter as an apology. Love you all!
Jace's POV
I laid on my bed stark naked and staring at the ceiling. Clary had left hours ago and she had taken my motivation with her. After I had taken a long steamy shower to clear my head, I simply collapsed on my back spread eagle completely exhausted.
I felt my phone vibrate before I heard the chime and my eyes shot open in excitement.
I finally escaped. It was torture. My life will never be the same. Checking out now. – Clary
I rolled my eyes as her dramatics and grinned down at the screen.
I'll make it up to you later. On my way. – Jace
I peeled myself off the bed and tugged on the outfit she had hand selected quickly. I was already having withdrawals and it hadn't even been four hours since I had seen her. I definitely had it bad.
Checking in the full length mirror on the door before I opened it, I made sure everything was perfectly in place. I smoothed the wrinkles in my black v-neck and gave myself a flirtatious wink with my signature smirk. "Kill 'em, tiger."
"You look nice." I was so caught up in my head that I jumped a bit at Marie's observation. I was definitely off my A game. I would have to listen to my workout soundtrack in the car to get the right frame of mind.
"Thanks." I plucked my keys off their designated ring and patted all of my pockets, making sure I wasn't forgetting anything.
"Going anywhere special?" Marie inquired from her spot on the coach. I thought Clary had mentioned something about her taking the kids to the park, but I guess she wasn't going until later. I could hear the girls giggling outside and Trey was curled up beside her. I noticed she was reading him The Brothers Grimm Fairytales.
"Just out to eat with some friends." I shrugged, hoping I came off as casual. Normally I played nonchalant effortlessly, but lately I had lost my touch.
"Are these friends girls?" I didn't miss the suggestive tone of her voice. Did she know something? Maybe I should have said I was running some errands.
After further debation (A/N: I actually just made that word up. Go with it. I do it all the time.), I decided that switching stores would just look suspicious. "Some of them. They go to my gym."
It wasn't a complete lie. Izzie had a membership and I was planning to give one to Clary as part of her birthday present. I had no clue what to get her besides that. I wanted it to be meaningful, but nothing too serious in case I scare her off. I planned to go shopping after lunch for inspiration. I may even call Magnus for advice.
"Are any of these girls 'special friends'?" I really was not enjoying this casual interrogation.
"No." If we were being technical here, Clary was far more than special to me.
"Whatever you say." She winked at me and I raised an eyebrow questionably. "Have fun."
"You guys, too." I was out the door before she could corner me further. I made a mental note to tell Clary to be careful later. I didn't want to spoil her day.
"Bye, Uncle Jace!" Ashlynn and Brooklynn shouted from the trampoline and I waved at them as I climbed into my car.
I checked my hair in the rearview mirror before backing out. I heard my phone go off and I glanced down at it before turning out of the drive. I expected it to be Clary reminding me to behave or complaining about Izzy's endless talking, but instead what I saw made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
I need to talk to you. – Jon
Clary's POV
"I think I see him." Izzy and I had already grabbed a booth at the back of the restaurant and ordered our drinks.
"That's an old lady with short hair, Iz." I corrected her, trying not to smile into my pink lemonade.
"Oh." Her eyes dulled as the woman turned around and realization fell upon her. "What is taking them so long?"
"Calm down. Going crazy with anticipation isn't going to make him drive any faster." I reassured her and tapped the table twice to grab her attention as if she were a small child or dog.
"I guess you're right. I just miss him." Isabelle finally turned around and spun her straw absentmindedly.
"I know what you mean." I wanted to tell her that she was being ridiculous, since they barely knew each other, but then I thought about my relationship with Jace and how short of a time I had actually known him, even if it felt longer, and decided I would sound a bit hypocritical.
"Love makes us do crazy things." Izzy sighed dreamily into her iced tea and I gave her a quizzical look, but before I could respond, someone else did.
"Don't you think it's a bit early to be throwing the L word around?" Jace was staring down at his adoptive sister with a bemused look on his face.
Even though I had just seen him a few hours ago, it felt like it had been days. I took a moment to rake over his sexy but dressy outfit I had picked out and decided I couldn't wait to take it off later. He hadn't shaved, so he had just a bit of stubble scattered along his strong jawline. That combined with his artfully messy golden locks almost had me to the point of having to excuse myself to freshen up.
"Like you're one to talk." Izzy shot back as I stood to greet him. We wrapped each other in a tight embrace and despite my policy on PDA, I caught his lips in a short, but passionate kiss.
Before either of us could defend ourselves, Simon had arrived and Isabelle had practically jumped on top of him. "Hey, guys."
"What took you so long?" Iz whined as we all slid into our booths and I gave my best friend a wink.
"Sorry, my mom wanted help carrying the groceries inside." Simon explained. He was wearing a simple white button up and khaki shorts. If I didn't know better, I would even say he had attempted to tame his curls for once.
"Awe, cute and helpful." Izzy batted her eyes at him and wrapped her arm around his. Si immediately turned as red as a tomato.
I could tell Jace was going to say something idiotic, so I grabbed his hand underneath the table and squeezed it, reminding him of our deal. He looked at me with a pained expression as if he were fighting an internal battle before forcing a smile on his lips.
I leaned in gratefully to peck him on the lips, but he tangled his hand in my hair and pulled me closer. I widened my eyes in surprise as he kissed me with so much force that I had to grip the booth and his shoulder to keep from falling over.
When I finally broke away, panting and out of breath, I noticed his eyes immediately settle on Simon with a satisfying grin and I rolled my eyes. I should have known this would turn into some sort of pissing match.
"Are you guys ready to order?" Our preppy waitress returned with a flip of her long blonde ponytail and a snap of her gum. We all rattled off our orders, but I was paying more attention to the way that she kept looking at Jace with her flirty eyes and how she laughed at everything he said, even if it wasn't particularly funny.
After she had walked away, making sure to sway her hips, not that anyone was looking but me, Izzy spat in disgust. "That bitch."
"I thought she was nice." Simon noted with a confused frown, his bushy eyebrows knitting together.
"Of course you did." I rolled my eyes.
"What did I miss?" He backtracked.
"She was all over Jace and he is obviously with Clary." Isabelle clarified and I looked over at my boyf- actually, we had never really put labels on our relationship, so I wasn't sure what he was. He was just mine.
"Oh." Si seemed to realize how obvious it must have been now. He never was very good at flirting. I had tried to teach him a thing or two over the years, but decided he was pretty much a lost cause. He had that innocent boyish vibe going for him and that would have to be enough.
"Of course she was. Have you seen this face?" Jace finally spoke before leaning in and kissing my cheek sweetly. "But I only have eyes for you, my dear Clarissa."
"Mhmm." I agreed suspiciously but allowed him to once again intertwine our fingers.
"So, how did you guys… you know… become a thing?" Simon asked with a slight blush coloring his cheeks.
"Funny story." Jace began at the same time as I looked at him in complete horror, silently begging him to lie. Of course, I should have known better. "We always had great chemistry, what with me being a Greek god, as Clary likes to put it, but things really didn't heat up until the night of her welcoming party."
I threw my head down on the table, trying to hide my cheeks as he continued on. He left out a few details like I did for Izzy, but he made sure to tell all of the interesting parts from when I told him he should be a model to when my mom interrupted our first make out session to Izzy, Alec, and Magnus finding out to Trey not understanding why he was sleeping with us to our midnight rendezvous.
By the end, I was actually smiling and sitting back up. Despite his theatrics and constant ego he had actually done a pretty good job retelling the story, even if he exaggerated a few parts.
"Wow. And here I thought you guys hated each other from what Clary had told me." Simon finally linked, taking it all in rather well.
"What is he talking about?" Jace turned to me and I gave him an overly sweet smile, similar to our waitress who sure was taking her time getting back with our food.
"Oh, nothing." I tried, but he just cocked an eyebrow at me. "We just fought a lot before we realized all that pint up emotion was attraction not repulsion."
"Oh, look, our food." Izzy interjected and I smiled at her gratefully.
After the waitress had finished passing out our food and asked only Jace if she could do anything else for him, we began eating and the conversation died off for a while. When it finally returned, it started off as harmless small talk until Jace cleared his throat and pointed his fork at Simon in a slightly threatening manner.
"What are your intentions with my sister?" The table immediately grew quiet and Izzy looked at him in complete horror.
"Jace! What the hell?" Isabelle shrieked, earning more than a few stares.
Simon grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it in an attempt to calm her. "It's alright, Izzy."
He seemed to think about it for a moment before meeting Jace's eyes. "Similar to how you feel for Clary, I am sure, all I want for Izzy is the best. I want her to be happy and if that is with me as a friend or more than a friend, I will gladly be either. She is an amazing girl and all I want is to be there for her."
Jace was also quiet for a moment, staring my best friend down before nodding his head in approval. "Not bad, rat face. Not bad."
"Jace." I threatened as I dug my nails into his hand and he immediately widened his smile.
"I mean Simon." I felt like this brunch actually had a chance of turning out better than I expected when Jace opened his mouth again. "How many girls have you dated and broken their hearts?"
"Only one, but she broke mine." Si and I made eye contact from across the table and I tried to tell him not to expand on the story, but it was too late. "It was Clary actually."
"What?" Isabelle and Jace both asked and I immediately knew the shit had hit the fan.
"It was a long time ago." I tried to explain, but Jace was already clenching my hand. "We only dated like three weeks."
"It was more because we had been best friends for years and we thought we owed it to each other than anything else." Simon elaborated helpfully, realizing his mistake.
"Oh, okay." Iz sat back in relief and took another bite of her blue berry waffles.
Jace, however, was not as easy to comfort.
"Did you guys kiss?" His jaw was set stubbornly and after I had finally managed to escape his death grip, I began rubbing his arm soothingly, but I don't think it was working.
"Only once." I admitted reluctantly. "That's actually why we broke up."
"It felt like kissing my sister." Simon contributed with a little too much repulsion for my liking, trying to avoid getting punched in the face.
Izzy whispered something into his ear and he blushed a bright pink and shook his head no.
"I think we should probably get going. We've been out forever and I wanted to get some stuff done around the house." I suggested as the waitress walked by with some empty trays. I asked for the bill and she curled her lip back at the sight of Jace's arm possessively around mine before forcing a smile on her face and nodding.
"Yeah, I have band practice in an hour and I need to talk to Eric about lyrics for a new song I was playing with." Simon started gathering everyone's plates as she came back.
"Here you go." She handed the slip to Jace and I caught a glimpse of her name, Candi, and phone number on the bottom with a heart beside it. I rolled by eyes and fought back the urge to grab her by her hair and claw her face off.
"Can I come to your practice?" Izzy begged as we all shuffled out the front entrance as Jace paid.
"Sure. The guys would love that." Simon gave her a toothy grin and I couldn't help but smile, too. They were so cute. "I'll follow you guys back to Jon's and you can ride with me."
"Do you want to go, too?" Izzy seemed to realize I was indeed still standing there and she turned back to me apologetically.
"No, thanks. I really do have stuff to do." I thought about Magnus' present to Alec and my hands itched to paint. With Jace occupying so much of my night time ritual, I hardly spend any of my free time creating art. I would definitely have to learn how to better manage my schedule.
"Alright, I'll see you later." Jace popped back up and grabbed my hips roughly, spinning me around to kiss me deeply.
I allowed myself to get lost in all his glory for a moment before pulling back. His eyes were hungry and his fingers still dug into my skin. I bit down on my lip to keep from leaning back in and finishing what we started. "Are you not going straight home?"
"Don't you think that would look a little suspicious?" Jace pointed out and I had to agree, even if I wanted him all to myself. "Besides, I have some errands I need to run."
"Okay. I'll be waiting for you." I frowned and gave him another quick kiss, turning to find Izzy pressing Simon against the wall, her lips hungrily devouring his. He was almost lifted off the ground and his glasses were crooked.
"I think I'm going to puke." Jace deadpanned and I hit his shoulder playfully.
I grabbed both of them by the arm and dragged them towards the cars. "Come on, lovebirds."
Simon more or less stumbled over his own two feet the entire way to his car as we waved at us goofily. Izzy waggled her fingers back at him and blew a kiss. I didn't turn to see if he caught it and put it in his pocket for safe keeping, but given our extensive background, I knew he had.
"That was pleasant." Izzy let out an airy sigh once we were safely locked away in her car.
"Pleasant. You clearly weren't having your hand crushed to death by your date." I corrected her, rubbing my wrist absently.
"Jace was just jealous Simon had you first." She explained as we flew down the road. I glanced back at Simon's mustang and could just barely make out the idiotic grin spanning across his face.
"Yeah, but that was forever ago. It was the summer before freshman year, in fact. I was a whole different person back then." I insisted, remembering my even smaller frame and shoulder length hair. I feel like that girl was a complete stranger.
A thought occurred to me and I turned to her cautiously. "Wait, you're not mad, too. Right?"
"Of course not." Isabelle laughed deeply and I gave her a bizarre look, to which she immediately explained. "I get it. Simon and you are close. There's no separating you, but I don't think you're a threat. You are madly in love with my brother ad Simon will hopefully be just as crazy about me soon."
"I am not madly in love with your brother." I denied, refusing to meet her gaze. "And I wish Jace would see it that way."
"He will one day." Izzy reassured as she pulled into the driveway and parked. "And you are, too."
I would add a bit more, but this seems like a good stopping point and I have other stories to update. Not quite sure what I'm planning for next chapter, but expect lots of Jace-Jon, Clary-Marie, and Clary-kids. Pretty please review or PM me telling me what you thought about the chapter. I've even given you some helpful prompts.
What do you think Jon has to talk to Jace about?
How was the date?
Do you think Izzy is a little too eager to fall in love?
Is Marie a threat or is she simply curious?
Was anyone else as amused by Jace's mirror routine as I was?
What do you think Izzy whispered in Simon's ear?
How do you like jealous and protective Jace?
What do you want to happen next? (Please, be realistic.)
No guarantees when I'll update next, but hopefully soon. I may or may not be grounded… It's a long story. Anyway, thanks for reading. I will be updating Unhinged next in case you are wondering.