Hello guys! So Ascension is almost over… like really. Just a few more chapters left to go! And one of them is the epilogue. Sniffles. Hope you enjoy this chapter! More songs have been added to the Ascension playlist. You can find the link on my profile page. Next chapter shall be up soon! Enjoy lovelies. And enjoy City of Heavenly Fire! Just a few more days to go before we all die from choking on our own tears of sadness. Don't forget to drop a review! They make the world go round x
Two weeks after returning to England, I finally get time to ring Sebastian. When I tell him I can't come to Paris right now, he's not surprised at all.
"For one thing you've got Jace back, and another, he's not too well" he says, face a frown upon the screen. "How is he?"
"He calls me every night" I laugh. "Well… except last night. He wouldn't answer his phone last night. Probably fell asleep early."
Sebastian grins cheekily. "You and Jace can come over in the summer. Holiday in Paris, Clary." He winks. "He might even ask that question."
Jace already has. "If he's better and wants to come, sure! Although, Ascension comes out around that time. I don't know if he has anything going on with that." Mental note; ask.
I half want to tell Sebastian about Aria. That instead of her being related to him, she's related to me. But I can't bring myself to do it.
"How is Emily?" Sebastian now asks. I snort in laughter. "Banging Simon. They went out for dinner last week and the next thing I know they're all kissy and mushy. They'll be exchanging love letters or something next." Gross.
Sebastian blinks in surprise. "Simon and Em? I don't know… what to say to that. Is he treating her well?"
"Very well from what I've seen." And heard in the room next to mine. Double gross. "He's doing another year at the college."
Sebastian now looks perplexed. "Is he staying just for her, or for his education?"
"Honestly? I think both."
He runs a hand through inky black hair, messing it up completely. "Warn him that if he breaks her heart, I'll break his fucking neck."
Don't mess with the overprotective Frenchie.
Jace doesn't call the next day either, or the day after that. It's then I start to truly worry about him, calling Jonathan's number, but he doesn't pick up either.
When I call Isabelle, she answers on the third ring.
"Yes?"
"Hey, it's Clary."
"Oh-! Hey."
"Is Jonathan there? Or have you heard from Jace? They haven't been answering my calls."
Isabelle falls silent for so long I start to wonder if she's hung up. But then she sighs gently. "Jace is back in hospital."
My heart drops. "What-! Why didn't no one tell me-!?"
"And uh, Jonathan is in there too."
Now I just feel sick. "Were they in an accident?" Something doesn't add up.
Isabelle groans. "Jace tore his wound open a little, but that's it. Jonathan though…he had what happened to him coming. I know that you know, Clary. And umm… Jonathan went around Jace's and told him. And when I say told him, I mean everything."
Oh. Fuck. "About Aria?"
She laughs bitterly. "Yeah. Her. And Jace lost it. Pretty sure he would have killed Jonathan if Alec hadn't come by when he did."
He must be in agony. In both senses of the word. I want to go home, and right now.
"What did Jace do to Jonathan?" I don't really want to know. Isabelle snorts. "Broke his collarbone, done something to his jaw, hmm… dislocated his arm and fractured his leg. Or broke it. We're not sure yet. Oh, and he's black and blue all over. Kicked the shit out of him as well. The right ribs are bruised and one fractured."
Holy shit. Jace really has laid waste to him. "Is he… okay? You don't sound very worried."
Isabelle laughs lightly. "He'll survive and recover. I have no sympathy for him. He deserves worse for what he's done, and he knows it. The police have gotten involved, of course, but he hasn't pressed charges. Jonathan wouldn't do that."
"What about Jace? How is he?"
"Bad. Very bad. I've never seen Jace cry before and it was… terrifying. When I saw him yesterday in the hospital…" she trails off.
All I feel is such worry for Jace. He isn't broken, he's shattered. Maybe beyond repair. "I know you have the kids to look after, but please… I beg you; make sure he's okay."
"I'll try my best, but… he's Jace, Clary."
That says everything.
The final week at art college isn't slow, it's torturous. Simon keeps telling me to relax, but how the hell do I do that? Just before leaving, Emily tells me the same. I know they mean well, but it just made me want to hit them from frustration. Angry Clary is out to play.
I can't relax. Cannot. Will not. Not while Jace, now at home, isn't eating. Or leaving the house for that matter. It's not healthy for him. He's still healing and he needs to keep his strength up.
On the plane, I fall into a doze at long last that doesn't end in ten minutes.
"Calm down" Simon groans once we're back in New York, sat in the back of a yellow taxi that smells like leather, stale drink and cigarettes. "You're giving me a headache."
"Well sorry" I snap uncharacteristically. "I want to see Jace."
Jace and Jonathan fighting hit the entertainment headlines. Every magazine, music channel and fan wanted to know just why Jace had literally almost beat Jonathan to death. No theory comes close to the truth.
Aria has been spared. For now.
The taxi drops us off at Simons where I borrow his car, heaving my case into the back.
"Just… give it back soon" he says wearily. "Yeah? And don't crash it. Or have sex in the back."
He has a Millennium Falcon air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror. It's cool. "I won't. Trust me."
"Ehh. Meh. Get going before you die from sexual frustration."
Sometimes Simon really needs a slap.
Dark blue blinds are drawn everywhere when I pull up outside Jace's house. His car and motorbike are in the garage. I retrieve the key from underneath the stone next to the front door and slide it into the lock, twisting it, wondering what the hell I'm going to find inside.
It's quiet. Really quiet. When I shut the door, the snap echoes through the seemingly empty house.
The kittens are back. They lie curled up in their basket in the kitchen, a bowl of fresh food next to them. Someone is feeding them. That's a relief. When I look in on Bambi and the turtle with a perchance for escaping, they both have food and look in good condition. His new addition, the little bearded dragon called Karou, bathes on her rock, eyes closed in the artificial light.
And then I begin my search for Jace. He isn't in the kitchen, dining room or anywhere on the ground floor. The stairs creak slightly beneath my feet as I ascend, poking my head into the music room and library when I'm on the landing. Still nothing.
There's only one place left, really.
Jace's bedroom is dark like the lair of some monstrous creature. It's massive, his room. One of the biggest rooms in the house with a truly gigantic bed pushed up to the wall in front of the blinds. There's a button next to his bed that will open the blinds. They buzz slightly like angry bees above your head as they go up.
There's a figure underneath the covers, seemingly asleep. I sigh and call softly "Jace?"
A pause, then "Clary? Is that you?" Rustling of sheets and he rolls over, reaching for the lamp next to him. When it flicks on, I just stare.
Jace looks awful. There's a certain hollowness to his cheeks that hadn't been there before, and he's lost weight. Again. But not much.
At least there are no bottles or alcohol or drugs anywhere in the room that I can see.
Jace frowns, heaving himself up with his tired eyes looking black. "I thought you were coming back on the Tuesday?"
"Jace… it is Tuesday."
He blinks slowly. "Can't be."
Has he lost track of time? Yes he has.
I kick off my shoes, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep. There's nothing worse than jetlag.
Jace watches in silence as I strip down to just my t-shirt and panties, saying nothing and not moving an inch as I step forward and climb into the bed with him, snuggling down under the warm covers and into his equally as hot bare chest.
He comes to life, lying back down slowly and wrapping his arms around me. Jace presses his face into the top of my hair, murmuring out "I have the worst luck in the world."
"Shh" I say quietly, hugging him to me. "You're going to be okay."
Jace kisses my temple. "I'm glad you're here" he whispers. "I'm sorry I didn't meet you at the airport."
"Don't worry about it. Isabelle told me everything. I'm here now. If we're going to be mushy about it, call me the Cuddle Monster."
He laughs at that. He actually laughs, voice cracking slightly as if he hasn't done it for a while. I hug him tighter. Jace's warm hand touches my bare thigh, sliding slowly upwards beneath my t-shirt to rest at my waist. The tip of his nose tickles my cheek as he nuzzles into me, sighing in contentment. As if I've bought him peace.
I trail my hand across his chest until I find that distinctive hard bump on the left side of it. Gently I brush my thumb across the rough scarred skin, closing my eyes. It doesn't take long for me to fall asleep encased inside his loving arms.
Jace wakes first the next morning. He's not in bed next to me when I come to, feeling for him but only finding screwed up sheets.
I find him in the small room next to the swimming pool that I like to call 'the reptile room.' Jace sits cross-legged in the middle of the floor, hair stuck to his forehead from the heat of the room. Karou the bearded dragon stands before him, her head jerking around as she follows the procession of a live cricket that's hopping around. When it strays too close, she pounces and gobbles it up with light crunching sounds.
In silence Jace opens the container in his hand very slightly and sets it down on the floor. Almost instantly another cricket jumps out and he closes it hastily. Karou's hunt is back on.
"She needed feeding" he says quietly, turning his head to look up at me. "And being the picky cow she is, she'll only eat the crickets if they're not trapped in her cage."
I seat myself down next to him and he offers me the tub of live crickets. When he sees my glare, he smirks and takes it back. "Hey, dragons have to eat too" Jace says playfully.
Now I can see him in the true light, Jace looks terrible indeed. His eyes are dark and shadowed, face marred by two weeks worth of golden stubble. With tawny hair that's unbrushed and ragged, he truly looks like a lion today. Also, his hands and knuckles are bruised.
Jace's expression suddenly closes off as he says stiffly "I don't have a daughter. I've been loving another man's child for all those years. His at that. You share more blood with Ar- her than me."
"She doesn't know" I tell him gently. "You will always be Aria's father, not Jonathan. You were the one that helped bring her up. She loves you."
"One day she'll find out the truth" he murmurs, eyes flickering downwards. "One day she will know that everything is a lie and her father is really a coward that cared so little for her that he shoved her off onto another man." Jace laughs weakly, brokenly. "She'll look at me different then. Won't call me her father. Won't love me."
I snort in disbelief. "Bullshit. She'll always love you. She may be Aria Morgenstern by blood, but we both know that she's truly Aria Herondale."
Jace shrugs, looking dejected. "The cops came to sort out the business between me and Jonathan and well, they know. I can only hope they keep their mouths shut."
Life is about to get much more complicated. For all of us.
"I'll always love her" he now says, voice stronger than before. "She'll always be my daughter."
He's quiet all day, which is totally unlike Jace. He mopes in the reptile room, twining the slim bright red and cream corn snake around his fingers. Ronald the turtle presses up against his glass trying to escape. Quite frankly he never stops trying to be turtle-Houdini.
"You can't sit in here forever" I tell him, folding my arms in the doorway. Jace shrugs. "Sure I can. I've been living on takeaway."
He's terrible. "Have you seen Aria recently?"
"No" Jace says quickly. Too quickly. I narrow my eyes. "Have you been avoiding her?"
Jace doesn't even deny it. "Yes."
I don't know what to do with him. Or say. He sighs wearily. "I know, it's shitty of me. Just… the idea of seeing her right now makes me want to throw up. When I look at her, she looks like him." Jace sets Bambi back down into her glass cage, his eyes sad and bleak. "I want to see her, but then I don't." He heaves himself to his feet, padding towards the door. Jace pauses just long enough to press his lips to my cheek before slipping away.
While he's in the shower, I plot. I call Aline Penhallow and make the necessary arrangements. Also known as ordering her to bring Aria over and let her stay here for the night. She's no fool and when she asks Aria if she wants to stop over with me and Jace, the girl literally screams in excitement.
She's too sweet for this shitty, cruel world.
Jace is livid when I tell him about the night's arrangement. He growls, stalking around the kitchen with just a towel wrapped tightly around his narrow hips. Why does he have to be so fucking hot?
"I don't want to see her" he snarls, pacing like a lion trapped within an enclosure. "I don't want to."
I arch a brow, taking in his still unshaven face. "I suggest you go and shave before she arrives, MountainMan."
Jace glares. "I don't give a shit. She can come but I won't see her."
"Jace" I yell sternly, balling my hands into fists. "This is not her fault! Stop blaming her and making her suffer for something that… god-!"
He falls silent, staring at me for a long time. Jace groans loudly, rolling his eyes. "I'm scared."
I nod jerkily. "I know." Without another word I step forward and wrap my arms around him. Jace buries his face into my hair, hugging me back. Beneath me, I can feel him shaking slightly.
He really is scared.
Aria is a ray of the brightest sunshine when she dashes into the house clutching her sketchbook. She beams at Jace when he pokes his head around the corner, face still rather pale. "Daddy!" Aria yells, dropping her sketchbook instantly to the floor and starting forwards. As she wraps her arms around Jace's legs, he looks distinctly sick.
Aria frowns up at him when he doesn't move. "Daddy?"
Jace slowly but surely comes back to life, smiling down at her with his smile real. "Hey baby." He bends down and hoists her up into his arms, groaning slightly as his chest no doubt twinges. Aria frowns. "You're hurt. Your hands too."
"Nah Arry."
Aline clears her throat from the doorway. "Put her down Jace. You're not supposed to be lifting heavy things."
"Hey!" Aria cries, indignant. "I'm not fat!
Jace sets her down on the floor again, rubbing his chest gently. "It's time you left Aline" he says quietly, an undercurrent of a threat. He will never forgive her. Never.
With a nod, Aline kisses Aria goodbye, telling her to be good for us. The little girl grins deviously, reminding me so very much of my brother. She's sweet, but she certainly has a devilish side.
With her mother gone, Aria deposits the small floral backpack from her shoulder and drops it only the floor. Jace tuts. "I hope you're going to pick that up Missy. I'm not mom but I'll still kick that little backside of yours." His face cracks into a wide grin and he steps forward, ruffling her hair. Aria whines and attempts to push him away.
He loves her. Still loves her. He always will.
I try to leave Aria alone with Jace, but she constantly pulls me into the fray of things. She makes me sit on the sofa and watch as she and Jace play Guitar Hero. For such a little thing, she's really rather good. Jace doesn't go easy on her, yet Aria still wins, yelling in triumph while he scowls his displeasure.
Another thing, Aria loves animals. Normal children would scream and 'ew' at the sight of snakes and lizards, but she loves them. She holds Karou with her eyes sparkling in excitement, stroking his lightly spiked back gently with a finger. When the dragon flicks out her tongue, she squeals and closes her eyes tightly, opening one slowly a moment later as if in fear of her finger being nibbled on.
Jace is amazing with Aria. When we've finished dinner –pizza and too many tubs of ice cream to count – the sky starting to turn from a perfect sapphire blue to a midnight color, Aria starts rubbing her eyes, burying her face into Jace's chest as we all sit watching a movie.
"Bed time for you" he laughs softly, brushing her soft pale blonde hair from her closed eyes. Aria wrinkles up her nose. "No."
"Tough" Jace says with a laugh, picking her up into his arms with only a small wince this time. When he walks towards the door, Aria's head is resting against his shoulder, eyes closed and fast asleep already.
I rise to my feet, stretching my arms above my head and groaning loudly. It's been such a lazy yet productive day. Slowly, leisurely, I pad through the house until I find the pool. It's about time I try it out.
Shame I have nothing to wear.
I drop my jeans down, tugging my shirt off over my head and dropping it into a heap atop my jeans upon the sofa near the waters edge. The water isn't warm, but not cold either. It cools my hot skin almost instantly.
The pool itself isn't too deep. At the deepest end, I can still feel the bottom with the tips of my toes, water sloshing around my ears.
A little after fifteen minutes, the sound of bare footsteps echo through the pool and I open my eyes, turning my head from my position of floating almost starfish-like atop the water.
His arms are folded, expression amused as he watches from the side. "I like the makeshift bikini thing you have going on" Jace teases, nodding to my bra and panties. "Especially how it doesn't match."
My bra is dark blue leopard print. And my panties… well, everyone has to own a pair of Marvel panties right? With a pattern of Loki horns? Of course. It's unnatural if you don't.
Jace yanks his shirt off and tosses it aside, his jeans following right after. He looks fantastic in the low yellow light, his muscles more pronounced. Actually, his body is starting to look great once more. He hasn't lost as much weight as I first thought.
His boxers are bright red and blue. I can't help but snigger at them. "Superman ones? Really?"
Jace smiles cheekily. "Well, my balls are pretty super."
Some things never change.
He shivers slightly when he steps into the water, ripples erupting around him like a stone in a pond. "God it's cold" Jace mutters, walking over to me as I right myself, feet touching the tiled floor once more. He ducks his head under the water for a second, coming up glistening, hair now slicked back and a deep dark gold in the low light.
Jace raises a hand, fingers brushing my cheek gently. A drop of water rolls down from his finger and onto my nose. He smiles and goes to wipe it away, but only succeeds in wetting my nose further. His thumb finds my bottom lip, tracing it gently while he gazes, lost in my eyes. "I'm not perfect" Jace whispers, so quiet I almost miss it.
"I know" I reply softly, raising a hand to his chest; a finger brushes over the rough mark on his chest. "I know, Jace."
"And I will never be perfect. You don't want to spend the rest of your life with me, do you? It'll be a battle. Always."
I shrug, cupping his face into my hands. "You proposed to me, and now you're saying this? Jace… when the battles come, I'll fight them. We'll fight them together. And we will win each and every one of them."
He doesn't hesitate, crashing his damp lips to my own. Jace's hands grasp my hips, pulling me up onto his own. My arms twine around his neck as I kiss him back feverishly, moans that belong to both of us echoing through the pool.
Jace pulls away first, his chest heaving and eyes almost like molten gold, desire burning within them. I slide down and Jace grasps my hand, tugging me towards the steps. When we climb out, I slip on the wet tiles and Jace grips me tighter, laughing as I start giggling. He shushes me, a smile on his lips. "Don't wake up Aria."
The wooden floors squeak beneath our wet feet as we make our way upstairs, wet handprints marking the walls at random intervals when we pause for long, languid kisses before continuing our procession.
"God it's been so long" Jace groans, longing permeating his voice. He closes the bedroom door quietly behind us. .
He grins when I place a hand upon his chest and push him backwards onto his bed, instantly straddling his hips with our lips crashing together. Jace laughs breathlessly, his hair ruffled and soaked. Our bed bodies stick to the sheets as we roll around, legs tangling as we fight playfully to discern who will have the upper hand in just a few minutes.
"Got you" he smirks, flipping us over so the bed is pressed against my back, hands pinned above my head. Jace's lips touch the underside of my neck, teeth biting lightly with his hips pressed firmly against my own. He wants me. I can feel it.
With his guard down, I roll us over, completely taking him by surprise when I turn the tables on him, his own hands now pinned above his head.
"So" I ask sweetly, leaning down until our lips are very nearly brushing. "Condoms. Where are they?"
Jace leans his head back against the pillow, closing his eyes. "Fuck" he sighs. I groan and rest my forehead against his shoulder. "Seriously Jace? What happened to the draw full of… stuff?"
"Well, I dumped it all. When you left, sex was the last thing I wanted to do" Jace says, opening his eyes, expression sour. "Seriously wishing I kept a few right now."
"I agree with you there." God I just want to ravish him right here and now.
Jace chuckles, turning his head in my direction. He looks as frustrated as me. "We have such luck huh?"
"This is not going to stop us" I say defiantly, trailing my hands down until I reach the line of his boxers, hooking my fingers into the waistband. "I have some of those morning-after pills in my suitcase back at Jonathan's."
Jace cocks a brow. "You took them to London?"
I shrug. "Better to be safe than sorry. And right now –" I tug Jace's boxers down to about his knees, grinning cheekily down at him. "Right now, I want to have sex with you. I want to make you moan my name." Jace groans lightly when I lean down and trail the tip of my tongue down from his collarbone to just above his navel, shimmying down my panties and kicking them away.
Jace's body is like a temple and I intend on worshipping it all night.
"We really shouldn't be doing this" Jace mutters as I settle myself above him, carefully easing him into me. And just like that, it's like all our arguments of the past have vanished from memory. Temporarily at least. Right now, it's just me and Jace. And he feels so fucking good.
His hands take my face gently, bringing my lips to his own. "I love you" Jace mutters, voice as soft as a lazy summers breeze. He lets his hands fall to my hips, eyes twinkling mischievously. "Can you even remember how to do this? You're not moving."
"No (!)" I seat myself atop his hips, deliberately not moving an inch now. Jace half growls, half groans, running a hand through his hair distractedly. The smirk returns. "How about you bend that pretty little ass over and we both find out how many times I can make you –" he stops dead, eyes widening in something like horror.
And then he pushes me off with one hard thrust. I land heavily upon the floor with a cry of "Oww-!" Jace shushes me, calling loudly "wait Arry! Don't open the door!"
Oh fuck. Seriously?
Jace leaps up, almost falling over in his haste to yank his boxers back on. Sporting one raging hard-on, it certainly doesn't look easy. "Get under the covers" he hisses, making his way towards the door.
Aria is in tears when Jace opens the door. Her face is red, wet and blotchy. She sobs and throws herself at Jace, snuggling into his chest when he crouches down low enough.
"Nightmare?" he asks gently, voice still sporting an edge of huskiness. She nods, sniffling into his bare chest. Between her whimpers I hear her asking if she can sleep with Jace tonight.
Sigh. Fantastic (!)
Jace sighs too and I know he won't refuse her. He flashes me an apologetic look as he walks her off back to her bedroom to pick up her teddy.
I slip out of the room and downstairs. At night, the swimming pool is like a mirror reflecting the bright stars above through the completely clear glass. I push the sofa from the pools edge to the back, collapsing onto it and pulling a spare bath robe over me like a blanket.
It's actually quite peaceful here in the semidarkness.
The door clicks open half an hour later. "Clary?"
"Mmmhmm? Is she asleep?"
Jace nods, stepping forward into the moonlight that has escaped from behind a cloud. He doesn't look tired in the slightest. "Yeah. She dropped off ten minutes ago."
"Guess the bed's off-limits now then."
"There's more than one bed in this house. And –" Jace drops his boxers, smirk like an unsheathed blade glinting in the pale moonlight. "We're not done yet."
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