Chapter 24

Hey, thanks to everyone who has stuck with me this long and has been reviewing it makes me so happy that you are enjoying my story. I am currently suffering from writer's block, so I think it will be two weeks before the next chapter I'm sorry I just can't seem to finish it no matter what I do. Hopefully, I'll have it done all done soon.

As he pulled her towards him, he heard a knock at the door….

He froze in place. Unsure of what to do. He heard another knock come from his door. As he turned towards his door, he found himself rolling over in bed. His worst thought had been true. He had been asleep. It had all been a dream. He was groggy with sleep and confusion. He looked around his room and noticed that it wasn't as late as he thought. It wasn't even 11 yet. He heard his mum on the other side of the door.

"I think he's asleep babe; we'll see him in the morning before work. We shouldn't disturb him now." He heard footsteps retreat from his door. He sighed and rolled over onto his back. One arm rested above his head, bent at the elbow. How could that all have been a dream? Jace couldn't believe he had just dreamt all of that. He thought for sure it was real, that he had her in his arms, that she was there wanting him. Closing his eyes sleep found him quickly. It wasn't long before he was dead to the world.

Clary woke up the next morning tangled in the sheet. Izzy was still out and cuddling a cushion that she curled herself around. Clary carefully climbed out of their makeshift bed making sure she wouldn't wake Izzy. It was fairly early, and Clary could see the new morning light from behind the curtains. Izzy was not a morning person and waking her this early would only end badly. Clary knew Izzy would still be asleep for a few more hours. She decided that she would go for a jog, she wanted to get out of the house and be alone for a little while. She enjoyed having company, but occasionally Clary just liked having time on her own. She changed into her running skins and a loose tank. Before she left Clary slipped her phone and bank card into her pocket. Clary ran most of the time without music, mainly because she ran with Luke or occasionally her mother, but today she was alone. Her headphones automatically connected to her phone. She enjoyed running without a chord and could change her music without getting her phone out every time. Her favourite playlist started blaring into her ears, and her feet quickly picked up the pace. She paid little attention to which direction she was running in. She was just running. She ran near the beach, people were starting their day and out walking dogs, or getting their morning coffee.

After about 45 minutes Clary decided she had run for long enough and stopped by a small café on her way home. She got Izzy a very strong coffee and a pastry that would probably go uneaten until closer to lunch. Clary got herself a frappe and container full of fruit, yoghurt and muesli. She was only a few minutes from home when her phone rang. It was Simon he probably wanted to hang out today.

"Hey Si, what's up?" Clary continued walking home carefully carrying her bundle of food.

"Hey, not a whole lot, reason for my call actually. Mums home all day, and so are Becky and her friends. I was wondering if I could come over and study with you today. We have a bio quiz coming up." Simon usually did call before he came but usually was already on his way and did it out of habit than anything else.

"Yea sure Izzy's over at the moment, but she's still asleep." Clary could hear Simon stifle a laugh. "When do you think you'll be round?" Clary knew he had already packed his bag and chances were he was almost there.

"I'm about 10 meters from where you are currently standing" Simon didn't bother stifling his laugh that time. Clary finally took notice of her surroundings and saw Simons car with him sticking his hand out the window waving. Clary laughed to herself and half jogged up to the car.

"Hey, do you mind helping me with these?" Clary asked holding up the coffees and food that balanced awkwardly in her hands.

"I'm surprised it lasted this far, my money would have been on only just making out the door before you tripped and spilt it all." Simon leaned out his window and carefully grabbed the items from Clary and placed them on the seat next to him

"Race you home?" Clary winked at him before taking off. Not even waiting for an answer.

Jace woke early he could see the sun rising and start to trickle light into his room. He dreaded the thought of getting up. He loved the morning, but this morning after his dream last night he wanted to do anything but face reality. He grabbed his phone from his table and decided to message John he needed a distraction for the day. They were both planning on studying so there would be little chance for him to start daydreaming. John was much like Jace and was already awake. They made plans to meet in an hour at Jace's for the day. Jace finally decided to pull himself out of bed. As he trudged downstairs, he remembered his mum knocking on his door last night. Jace knew it was Sunday so they shouldn't be home yet. As he reached the kitchen, he saw a piece of paper laying on the counter.

Sorry, we missed you last night. Our last conference was cancelled, so we decided to come home a day early. Unfortunately we both have to go into work today, but hopefully, we will see you tonight. Love Mum and Dad xx

Jace grabbed the note and put it in the bin. He didn't expect his parents to be home by any normal time tonight. He was glad they didn't want to hang around today, there would be questions about his week at school and school work and Aline. His parents loved Aline and brought her up in conversation as often as they could. Jace grabbed an apple before walking out the door. He was going to fit in a quick work out before studying. He made his way to the gym. He found himself taking the longer route and passed Clary's house. He saw her sprinting down the middle of the road with a car following behind. He could hear her laughing and Simons voice yelling at her. His heart started pounding harder in his chest. He turned down the nest street and focused on getting to the gym.

The gym was busier than normal for a Sunday. Jace started strapping his hands and found a free punching bag. He didn't feel like sparing today. His music blared from his headphones, and he lost himself in his punches. He took out every frustration he had. He started getting into a rhythm, moving his feet to punch harder. His breathing quickened. He hit faster and harder. He let go of everything he had held in. Every feeling. Every emotion. He pushed Clary from his mind. He didn't want to think of her. It was all too much too fast. All Jace focused on was hitting the bag as hard and as fast as he could. Nothing else mattered.

With one last blow, he sent the bag swinging. Panting Jace struggled to keep himself from doubling over. As he slowly started to catch his breath, he noticed a shadow next to him. Someone was standing behind him. As he turned around, he saw Blackwell standing and watching him. This isn't good Jace thought. Jace went to walk past Blackwell towards the lockers and the exit, but Blackwell moved to block his path.

"You leaving?" Blackwell started at Jace, he was trying to be intimidating, but Jace didn't have time for this.

"Yea that was the plan. You got anything better to do than stand in people's way." Jace just wanted to grab his stuff and get home. Moving to the side to step around Blackwell, Jace didn't step far enough, and his shoulder shoved against Blackwells. Whether it was on purpose or accident depended on who you asked. Jace would swear on his own grave that it was an accident, but he would smile while doing so. Blackwell didn't take this too kindly and turned and grabbed Jace's arm pulling him backwards. This wasn't going to end well. Jace had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach; he didn't dare let it show though.

"Do you need my friend to teach you another lesson." Jace knee this would push Blackwell over the edge. He could tell if he didn't do something blood would be shed. He grabbed Blackwell's hand and sounded him around, twisting it in a direction it definitely shouldn't be in.

"Let go of me." Blackwell was close to breaking point. Jace decided to play nice and let go. That was a big mistake. Blackwell took advantage of that and quickly turned around surprising Jace as he pushed him against a wall. They were on the side of the gym, and it wasn't easy for others to see them. There was no chance of someone stepping in to break this up unless it got more physical which Jace hoped it wouldn't.

"You're all talk. I don't think you could throw a proper punch even if you wanted to. Meet me back here tonight, eight sharp. We'll settle this then." All Jace could do was nod. His windpipe was being flattened by Blackwells arm making talking impossible. Blackwell let go and walked away before Jace could say anything else. Jace rubbed his throat as he grabbed his stuff and walked to his car.

The drive home was fast with no traffic on the road. He showered quickly and grabbed all of his books and set up on the kitchen table. He would start once Jonathan arrived. He went into the kitchen and made a smoothie. He added some after workout powder. He hated the stuff, but his doctor recommended this stuff after he almost passed out a few months ago. He could either train less and quit the school sports he played or start eating from an eating plan and taking this pre and post workout powder. He added honey into the smoothie to mask the taste. Just as he sat back down, he heard the doorbell. Jace opened the door to John standing there with his backpack full of book.

The pair worked in silence for a while. Jace finally broke the silence. "How's your art project coming along?" Jace had no idea what his project was even about, but Jace's thoughts kept moving to Clary, and he needed a distraction. That was the whole reason he invited John over to begin with.

"Not to bad. It's a two-part piece about the two sides of people. One that they show the world and the other they try to hide. I'm taking photos of people at random times when they show emotion before thinking about it and then photos where they are aware a photo is being taken." John didn't look up from his science textbook.

"Isn't there like a privacy issue with the photos where people aren't aware." Jace suddenly felt vulnerable, but he thought that was kind of the point.

"Well, I've asked the people I'm taking photos of for permission. Remember before school break I asked if you could sign a form saying it's ok for you to take part in my project. Well, that lets me take photos of you whenever pretty much. Without breaking the law obviously." Jace had completely forgotten about that. He remembered now that he signed it for John, but he didn't really read it. He didn't think it would matter. "I got most of our group to sign it plus people in my art class. I spent part of the summer taking photos, but since school has started, I've found a slightly different approach. Do you want to see any of it?" Jace was slightly nervous to see what John had put together but knew it would be rude if he declined the offer.

"Yea sure." Jace tried to sound enthusiastic. Jace walked to the other end of the table. John had his laptop open to his photo library. Jace could see photos of people posed by the beach and at school and in class. As John scrolled through, he noticed some photos were taken where the person was looking more natural and less posed. John clicked on a group of photos from the other night. He noticed how some were of the group posed together smiling or pulling faces. As he clicked through the photos became less and less posed. There was one of Izzy and Simon at the table, Jordan looking at Maia as she talked to someone else. He saw one of Clary and himself laughing. He couldn't remember at what, but he couldn't take his eyes off the photo.

"I'm still working out how to present it all, but I think I'm leaning towards the candid photos more. They seem more natural." Jace wanted a copy of the photo of him and Clary but didn't dare ask John for it. Not yet anyway.

The hours passed as both boys completed different homework assignments. Jace had avoided English for as long as he could, but he finished everything else. Begrudgingly he opened his English book and looked at the assignment list. He needed to recap the weekend and discuss what he learnt about Clary and how this changes his original opinion of them. Jace wanted to do anything else. He looked at his phone to see the time. It was almost 6. Crap only 2 hours before I have to be at the gym again. Jace thought about not showing but that would cause more harm in the long run.

"Hey did you wanna come with me to something tonight?" Jace broke the silence that had fallen between the two.

"That sounds cryptic. Do I get any more information." Jace didn't want to but knew John would know anyway when they got there.

"Some asshole dared me to a fight at eight at the gym." John laughed at first thinking he was joking but saw that Jace's face didn't change from his semi-serious look.

"Yea of course." John knew Jace needed back up immediately. He was not going into this fight alone. He quickly sent a text to Aline, Seb and Kaelie. Chances were half the school would know by 8. He hoped Jace would appreciate the backup.

The two of them decided to pack up then. John was going to get Jace ready for tonight whether he wanted to or not. Jace grabbed a muesli bar as he walked upstairs to train. He half regretted telling John now, but he knew he was only trying to help.