{Clary POV}

I stared up at the canopy of leaves above me, fighting back the tears that had been fighting to fall all morning, since the moment I woke up and remembered what had happened the night before. It did no good to cry anymore, and it didn't ever make me feel any better. I heard the snap of a twig behind me and I turned around to look at who'd found me. Jace was walking slowly towards me, and I stared at him in surprise for a minute. I'd specifically asked Celine not to tell anyone where I was, especially not Jace. I wanted to be alone and think about the dream, but I wouldn't be able to concentrate if he was anywhere near me. The electricity I always felt running between our bodies was a major distraction. Also, I was completely mortified about the way I acted in front of him. I couldn't believe he'd seen my complete emotion breakdown.

I hid my surprise quickly and replaced it with the mask I'd seen him use so many times. I figured that maybe he'd finally realize how much it pissed people off. "Jace," I said tonelessly, turning back around. "Your mom really is a terrible gossip, you know that?" He didn't answer as he lowered himself onto the ground next to me. Why was it that every time I saw him, my heart tried to beat right out of my chest? Why did my hands start shaking? And why in the hell did I want to just throw myself into his arms? It just wasn't normal, and I was sure it couldn't be healthy.

"Hey," he said, but I didn't look at him. "Mind telling me what it was I did?" I sighed and sat up so my back was to him. I started yanking grass out of the ground and throwing it away from me.

"Nothing," I replied honestly. It wasn't him; it was how he made me feel. No one had ever seen me cry like that, not even my parents. I had been upset and needed comforting, but now that I had more time to think about it, I wasn't okay with him seeing me like that. It was more than just a little humiliating.

He didn't say anything for a few minutes, and I could feel the tension between us. A part of me hoped he'd leave because I wanted to sit here and wallow in my own self-pity, but the rest of me, the bigger part of me, wanted him to put his arms around me and whisper in my ear that he forgave me and I wasn't as pathetic as I felt. He didn't do either. "Why are you avoiding me, then?" he asked finally, his tone almost as flat as I'd made mine.

"I'm not. I didn't have anything to do, so I came here and -," I said but he cut me off.

"Oh, please, Clary. That's bullshit. If you really weren't avoiding me, you wouldn't have told my mom not to tell me where you were. So, why don't you cut the crap and tell me what's really going on." I turned around to glare at him, and his lips pulled into the cutest little smile I'd ever seen. I looked away quickly so he wouldn't see my grin as my humiliation melted away. Damn Jace. Why couldn't he stop being such a nice guy? Why couldn't he be the guy who he'd been when I first got here? At least I could hate him then, and hating him would be a lot easier than having feelings for him. Especially strong feelings that I couldn't even hope to understand.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, refusing to meet his gaze as I felt it scan the part of my face he could see. I stood up to walk away but he jumped up and stepped in front of me. When I moved to walk past him, he put his hands on my arms and held me in place. I ignored the goose bumps on my skin and the tiny electric shocks I seemed to be feeling under his fingers. They definitely weren't helping me.

"Well, you're going to have to talk about it if you expect to go back to the village. Because we're not leaving until you tell me what's wrong." I narrowed my eyes and glared at him again.

"I said I don't want to talk about it." I tried stepping away but he tightened his hands around my upper arms.

"Too bad." My heart felt like it was about to explode, and the tears were about to win the battle I was fighting against them, but I wouldn't let him see that. Instead, I got defensive.

"Well, it's none of your damn business what's bothering me. So, let me go. I'm going back." I yanked my arms away again and Jace let me go, but he just grabbed my hands before I could leave.

"Clary, come on. You won't feel any better if you keep pushing people away," he said, gently squeezing my hands and pulling me towards him. I knew he was right and it took everything I had to shake my head and back away again.

"Screw you, Jace. You don't know anything. And you don't know me," I replied. He grinned and pulled me towards him again, moving his hands quickly to my shoulders.

"I may not know you completely, but I know enough. And I know that this isn't you. Sitting here alone, pushing people away, hiding your feelings. It's not you. Simple as that." Through all of it, he didn't look mad. His eyes were kind and understanding. He wasn't looking at me like I was pathetic. He was looking at me like . . . he cared about me. Tears filled my eyes, finally beating me, and I stepped towards him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Now this is you," he said against my hair, his arms tight around my shoulders.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just with the dream and I was so ashamed that you saw me like that and I miss my parents and my life. It was too much. I let it get to me." He pulled back to look at me and I wiped my wrist across my eyes.

"Why were you ashamed?" I pulled away from him and stared down at the ground, embarrassed all over again.

"I was losing my mind over a dream, Jace. A dream. That's kind of humiliating." Now he was starting to look a little mad. Uh oh.

"And? You were almost in tears while you were sleeping, Clary, so I'm thinking that was a pretty bad dream." He paused and I looked up at him through my eyelashes. "Wait, were you ashamed because you crying because of a dream, or because you were crying in front of me?" he asked. I didn't answer and he seemed to understand what I meant. He lifted my chin with his finger and stared into my eyes. Again my heart started beating so hard that I could practically hear it. I would have been surprised if he couldn't. "That's ridiculous," he murmured gently. "There's nothing for you to be ashamed of." I looked back at him, feeling lightheaded and weak-kneed. Then, before I knew what was happening, I was in his arms, kissing him. I couldn't tell if I'd kissed him or if he'd kissed me first, but it didn't even matter. There was only Jace; his lips, his tongue as it slipped into my mouth, his hands on my waist, his silky hair as I ran my fingers through it. I pressed my body as close to his as I could, every inch the ho I never wanted to be, but was inevitably turning into. That thought had me gasping, and I pushed Jace away. "What?" he asked, reaching for me like he wanted to pull me back. I backed away slightly and held up my hands in front of me.

"No, Jace, wait. There's something I have to tell you." His hand paused a few feet from me and he raised his eyebrows.

"Now?" he asked, and I bit back my grin. Yeah, I wished it could wait, too.

"It's pretty important." My cheeks got hot and I looked down at the ground as I gnawed on my lip. He didn't say anything, waiting for me to speak. My blush deepened. "Well, it's kind of hard to say . . . and really embarrassing," I started and I heard Jace snort.

"Okay, you have my attention. Now I'm curious. Come on, it's okay. You can tell me." He took my hand and I looked at our fingers, twined together. Our hands seemed to fit together perfectly, like two halves of a whole, or puzzle pieces cut from the same material. That gave me a little bit of courage, as did the surprising realization that I trusted Jace not to laugh at me.

"Okay, well, I've never done anything," I said. I peaked at him through my eyelashes when he didn't respond, and he was staring at me confusedly. When I thought about it again, I realized it didn't make much sense the way I said it. I sighed and tried to reword it in my head. "Look, I've kissed people . . . but I've never gone any farther. And I'm not ready to." I said the last part on a single breath and refused to look into his eyes. He seemed to understand after a few minutes.

"You mean," he said, sounding completely shocked. "You're a virgin?" I nodded and continued looking at my feet. "Really?" I looked up at him and nodded again, very deliberately. He had to understand what I was trying to say, or we were going to have a problem. "Oh, okay."

"Okay? That's all you're going to say? Okay?" I asked, trying to control my sputtering. It surprised me that I could say anything at all.

He grinned at me and shrugged. "I don't know. Yeah. What did you expect me to say?" I looked down at the ground as my blush came back.

"I don't know. Something like call me an inexperienced tease and walk away?" Jace laughed as he stepped towards me, and lifted my chin with his finger so I was forced to meet his eyes again.

"An inexperienced tease?" he repeated, his voice, his eyes and his expression full of amusement. I exhaled loudly and slapped him in the chest. But I was secretly relieved that he was okay with it. If he was already teasing me, he couldn't have been too upset, right?

"Hey, don't laugh at me. I'm too embarrassed to come up with anything else." He laughed again and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me to him.

"Okay, I'll admit it. It shocked me because I didn't expect it. Honestly, I thought you'd be more experienced than I am. A lot more experienced. So, I was wrong. That tends to happen a lot when it comes to you." He said the last sentence gently, leaning forward to whisper it in my ear. I shivered and put my arms around his neck, twining my fingers in his soft hair again. It was longer than it was when I first got to the island, and it curled around my fingers.

"Why did you think I would be more experienced?" I asked, arcing my chin as his mouth followed the curve of my neck. He was kissing me gently, almost hesitantly, like he was afraid of going too far too fast. I was surprised by how much I appreciated it, since I was barely in control of my body when he was around. And now that he knew how he felt, I could let him have the control without worrying about it going too far before I was absolutely certain I was ready.

"I don't even know. Sebastian and Aline thought since you were from the city, you'd know more about that kind of stuff." I snorted and shook my head slightly, but not enough to force him to remove his lips from my skin.

"Jeez, why am I not surprised? Oh yeah, because when Sebastian and I were on that stupid date, he asked me questions like he thought I was from a different freaking planet. You know, the people in the big cities aren't all that different from you islanders," I said as his mouth moved across my shoulder. "Well, okay maybe . . ." My voice drifted off as his lips moved back up my neck and then covered mine. I was a little more in control of my body now, but I still tightened my arms around his neck and pulled myself closer to him. I couldn't help myself; he just felt too good against me.


I know. Not what may have been expected when Jace thought she was mad at him. But this chapter was kind of important for the rest of the story. It shows more of Clary's personality that will play a big role later on :D plus, she had to tell him she was a virgin!

Well, here's chapter twenty nine. I hope you enjoyed it! Read and Review and all that jazz :)

Next chapter will be up next week on Wednesday or Thursday. Wednesday is Halloween so I might not be home to post it. But if I'm not, it'll definitely be up on Thursday then.