Hey guys! Thanks for the comments on the last chapter, it's good to see that so many of you are liking the drama. Though this story has mainly been humorous throughout, the plot is still relatively important. If there wasn't a bit of drama occasionally this really would just become a crack fic, but if that's your thing then don't worry - I have plenty of those planned for the future ;) Good luck to those of you who are going back to school tomorrow. Here's an end of the holiday chapter for you!

Disclaimer: I do not own TMI or its characters, but I'd be quite interested to have a conversation with Meliorn at some point...

Chapter 36: Trying not to choke Meliorn

"Meliorn," I say in answer, my tone cold and calculating.

"Clarissa Morgenstern," he answers, a smile in his voice. I shudder at the familiarity in it. "Well, well. Now this is a surprise."

I chew on the inside of my lip, trying not to think of how easy it would be to just hang up on him.

No, I tell myself. This is your only shot.

This is the only way I can possibly help Jace and Jonathan before tomorrow and for those two, I'd swallow my pride and ask a favour of the man I despise most.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Meliorn continues, clearly enjoying this.

"I think you know," I say. If there's a chance that Kaelie hasn't told him yet, I'm certainly not going to be the one to give everything away.

"Yes," Meliorn replies after a pause. "Yes, I do know. In fact, I'm astounded that you hadn't called me sooner."

"Forgive me if that wasn't the first thing on my mind." I try to keep the frost from my tone, but it's proving more difficult than I thought.

Calm, Clary. You are calm, I think. Hopefully if I keep telling myself these things, they might become true. You're so calm that you could give the Dalai Lama a run for his money.

"Of course, I appreciate I may have been the last person you wanted to speak to."

"Something we can both agree on."

"But the question is, where do we go from here?"

I hesitate. So we're finally down to business… "Well, I guess that part's up to you."

"So it would seem. I suppose you're absolutely certain in what you want?"

"Yes. Yes, I am." I need him to convince Kaelie to do what Jace had asked me to do. Keep quiet. At least, until the boys can get through the final. Jace was right in that although he would deserve punishment, the rest of the guys were completely innocent. They'd all worked so hard to get this far, so it wouldn't be fair to take it away from the others just because Jace had made a stupid, rash decision.

"Well, I can't say that shocks me. I'm perfectly aware of the impact that something like this might have."

"So you understand then?" My tone reflects the hope I'd been holding back. I didn't realise until now how much I disbelieved the fact that Meliorn might actually help. Everything I'd learned about him so far suggested otherwise, but perhaps I'd just been on the wrong side before. Seelie had clearly played a large part in the plot to take Mallard Massacre out of the competition. Maybe Meliorn had simply just gone along with her because he had no other choice? Maybe he was actually – even if he couldn't be a great guitarist – a half decent human being. "You'll help?"

"Yes, I understand. Who am I to stand in the way of such devotion? I'll do whatever I can to ease your burden."

"Oh!" I let out a breath. "Thank you, Meliorn. Thank you so much!"

"It's okay, Clarissa. To be honest, I'm sure it'll be fun for me as well."

Erm…if he says so.

"That's brilliant, I can't wait to tell Jonathan."

"Jonathan, your brother? As in, your real brother?"

"Yes," I roll my eyes. The very first time Meliorn had ever spoken to me, Jace had pretended to be my brother so that he'd back off. "Jonathan is my real brother."

"Hmmm…I can't imagine why he'd be pleased about this, but if that's your thing. Sure."

"What do you mean?" The enthusiasm in my voice suddenly dies down a little.

"Well, I'd been lead to believe that your brother wasn't exactly happy about this situation. Then again, it was Jace," he says Jace's name with particular venom, "who was the most vocal about it, so perhaps Jonathan never really minded at all."

Okay, now I really am confused.

"I…well, obviously Jonathan wasn't happy about it either. He didn't have anything to do with it at all. None of the other boys did."

"I know he didn't have anything to do with it, that was all…" Meliorn trails off. We're both silent for a few moments, trying to gather our muddled thoughts. What he said doesn't make any sense, but it seems like he's not understanding what I've said either.

"Wait…" I murmur. "What situation were you referring to?"

"Our situation, obviously."

"Which is?"

"How you've been suffering these past weeks without me and you want me back."

What.

What.

"What?!"

"Really, Clary. It's fine," Meliorn continues as if he hadn't just said the most absurd thing in the world. "I know that once girls have had a glimpse of what life is like with me, they find it very hard to let go. That coffee we shared together was such a tantalising, torturous vision of what could be. I should have known that wouldn't be enough for you. It never is. I mean, I had a feeling there was something still there between us. That day when you turned up at my house, I knew there must have been some higher powers at work. Some force that wanted us to meet again. I felt that tension as we stood so close to each other. That burning heat of desire."

"What?" I say again, gaping at the wall in front of me.

This is what he thought I'd been calling about? He thought I missed him and couldn't bear to spend another second without him?

Delusional.

He's completely delusional.

"Which is why I'm okay with it, my dear Clarissa. I will give you what you want. I will take you out again and we will spend time together. I may even part with a kiss this time."

"No!" I wheeze, before he can get too carried away. I had a mission here. Regardless of what he initially thought the call was about, I have to get it back on track.

"No?" His voice drops, becoming huskier than I thought was possible for him. "Would that drive you simply insane? Or is it more that you want? For you, Clarissa, I could make an exception…"

"No!" I resist the urge to gag, then realise no one can see me and do it anyway. "No, Meliorn. Just, no. That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I called because…well…" I stop myself. Maybe he really doesn't know about what happened earlier with Kaelie? I still can't just tell him in case that's true. He has to figure it out for himself. "I thought you knew."

"I already explained, I do know. I know you're in love with me."

"Kaelie!" I gasp out, my frustration – and mortification – getting the better of me.

"Kaelie?" For the first time, Meliorn is truly taken aback. "You're in love with Kaelie?"

"No, I'm not in love with Kaelie," I huff, wiping my hand across my face. "I called because of what happened with Kaelie."

"Something happened between you and Kaelie?"

"Yes, earlier tonight."

"But you're not sure if you love her?"

"This has absolutely nothing to do with romance at all, Meliorn!"

"Just lust then, I see. Spur of the moment. It happens."

"Oh god," I groan. "Nothing like that happened. I assumed she would have told you since you picked her up from the party."

"Told me about what?"

"About what happened in the library!"

"What happened in the library?" He takes on a slightly suggestive tone now, but I don't let that distract me from the enormity of what I've just done.

Damn.

I kept telling myself I wouldn't stick my foot in it. If Meliorn didn't already know about Ragnor's book, I didn't want to be the one to tell him. But with all his ridiculous assumptions and allusions finally getting to me, I may have just let something slip. Deciding it's best not to say anything at all, I just sit there in silence until Meliorn decides to speak again.

A little while later, it seems he's gotten bored of waiting.

"You mean with the song book?"

I sag with relief. He did know. I hadn't potentially just ruined everything.

"Yes," I whisper.

"Ah. So that's why you called."

"Yes."

"You want me to stop Kaelie from telling the judges about Mallard Massacre's part in this?"

"Well, I…" Oh, stuff it. What's the point in more beating around the bush? "Yes."

"I see…" He sounds smug. Too smug. Even if he does agree to help us – though I don't see why he has any reason to do so – I have a feeling it will come with a price.

"What do you want?" I sigh. There's no point delaying this either. "What will it take for you to help us?"

"Well, that would depend on why you wanted my help."

"What do you mean?"

"If I remember correctly, you weren't all that eager in supporting Mallard Massacre before. That first night I spoke to you, you said yourself that you were there against your will. Why are you so concerned about their fate now?"

"Jonathan's my brother!" I say indignantly, though I know what he's getting at. Of course, I wouldn't like to see Jonathan upset, but my reaction to this has largely been to do with Jace. I don't want to see him in trouble. I can't see him in trouble.

"Jonathan was your brother then, too."

"Things have changed, okay? It's not just about how much they annoy me when they practice downstairs. This is bigger than me now. Bigger than the both of us. This is a real shot for them at something special and you and I both know how hard it is for small bands to get noticed these days. They've all worked so hard and I'd hate to see that go to waste…"

"Because of Jace."

I'm not sure if he's finishing my sentence or answering his earlier question, but I nod anyway. Then realising he's on the phone and can't actually see me, I say 'yes.'

Finally, after another loaded silence, he says the last thing I'd expect him to.

"I agree."

"You…you do?"

"Yes, I agree. My feud was with Jace, but not with the others. The rest of the boys are actually decent musicians."

"They are," I say, though I roll my eyes at the dig at Jace's guitar skills. I might not know as much as Meliorn does about guitars, but I'm pretty sure even a chimpanzee could tell that Jace is by far his superior. "So you'll help?"

"Yes, I'll talk to Kaelie. I can't force her to do anything either way, but I'll talk to her."

"And that's it?" No conditions? That hardly seems like Meliorn.

"That's it. As much as you'd like to believe, I'm not a monster, Clary. I am a struggling musician just like your brother and his friends."

And so, my peace comes from the unlikeliest source that night. After thanking Meliorn again, we end our call and I'm finally able to fall asleep. I can't say I'm convinced that he's doing this purely out of the goodness of his heart. There's always some kind of agenda with him and even if he does help, I'm sure he'll ask for something in return, but for now I can rest a little easier. We'll worry about our debt to him later.

The next morning Jonathan is still quiet on the drive to school, but my slightly more cheerful disposition eventually catches his attention. I decide I don't want to go into too much detail about my conversation with Meliorn – he still hasn't forgiven him for the stunt he tried to pull with me all those months ago – so I just cryptically tell him that I have a feeling things will work out. I'm sure he guesses that there's more to it than that, but he doesn't push it. Jonathan's mood doesn't improve much, but he seems a little more relaxed when we finally get to school. Though he doesn't like to admit it, I know he trusts me, so he'll know I wouldn't be this optimistic without good reason.

I do, however, tell Isabelle. I don't want to risk Simon finding out about my late night call, but I recap the story to her while we sit together in History. She'd found out what had happened while she was in the bathroom with Maia from Alec, since she'd questioned why Jonathan and I had left without them. She wasn't quite as horrified as I had been by the act of cheating itself – she already knew that there was some animosity between Magnus and Ragnor after Magnus had quit Children of Lilith – but she was furious about what it was doing to Alec. He was devastated that Magnus had lied to him and gone against what he'd asked, and whatever upset her brother, really pissed off Isabelle.

"So it's as easy as that?" She asks, waiting until Mr Starkweather is out of earshot again. "Meliorn's just going to talk to Kaelie for you?"

"That's what he said," I shrug. "I'm sure he'll use it against me at some point, but for now, it's more than we could have hoped for."

"Yeah," Isabelle nods. "I was going to talk to her myself, but I have a feeling that might make things worse."

"Just a bit, yeah." When Isabelle says she's going to have a 'talk' with someone, it usually involves threats and intimidation. Somehow, I don't think that would work in our favour.

However, even if that were going to be our plan, we wouldn't have had a chance to carry it out anyway. When I step into English Lit and sit myself down next to Jace, he tells me that no one's seen Kaelie all day.

"She was meant to be in Maia's Geography class this morning," he tells me. "But Maia told Jordan that she didn't show up."

Things are still a bit tense between Jace and I, but Kaelie's absence has eased his worries somewhat. My confidence also seems to have rubbed off on him a little like it did with Jonathan this morning, though he hasn't questioned why I'm behaving like that. Jace is the last person I'd want to tell about Meliorn.

"Maybe she's just tired after last night?" I offer, though to be honest, I'm not sure why she isn't in school. Perhaps this is part of Meliorn's plan? Maybe she felt that if she came into school and saw the rest of us, it'd be hard for her to make a decision. Meliorn might be keeping her away from us on purpose. If so, it means he followed through on his assurances.

"Maybe, that was a pretty wild party."

"I'll say." My feet are less swollen than they were last night, but I'm still aching.

"So we're okay?" Jace asks, his expression serious again.

"Yeah," I smirk at him. "We're okay. Though that doesn't mean I still don't expect you to make it up to me. What you did was wrong and you still have to be punished somehow."

"As long as you're the prosecutor, I'll take what I have to," he grins, sliding his hand into mine under the table. "Handcuff me if you will."

"I'm sure I can survive without that," I say, though my face heats up at his suggestion.

"Herondale!" Mr Aldertree snaps. How does he always manage to sneak up on us like that? He comes towards us and slams a stack of paper down onto our desk. "Since you seem to have so little to do, why don't you hand out this week's homework?"

"Sure, Sir." Jace says, rolling his eyes. He reluctantly pulls his hand away from mine and pushes himself away from the table, giving me a wink as he walks off.

By the end of the school day, I finally feel like things are back to normal. Kaelie hasn't showed up and the boys haven't received any particularly ominous calls from anyone. I guess Meliorn really is a better man than we've given him credit for. I didn't think I could think of him in a positive light again after what happened between us, but if he managed to keep Mallard Massacre out of trouble, I'd consider us even. I wouldn't go as far as to say we could be friends, but he'll definitely earn some respect in my eyes.

I'm considering my new view of him just as I'm about to head out of the school, which is why I'm so surprised to see the blonde-haired guitarist exiting a teacher's office to the right of me. It belongs to the Deputy Headmaster – Mr Malachi Dieudonne. And with him is Kaelie.

"Meliorn?" I say, since it seems like he's about to walk straight past me.

"Clary?" Meliorn stops, surprise lighting his features as if he hadn't seen me. Kaelie on the other hand, looks incredibly uncomfortable. "Twice in one day. I am a lucky man."

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Kaelie needed a lift into school so since I'm apparently the philanthropist these days, I offered my services." He wears a bright smile, but Kaelie still seems on edge. She keeps glancing nervously back at the office they just came out of. I highly doubt he's telling me the whole truth.

"How generous of you," I say, letting my suspicions seep into my tone. Smeliorn has finally reared his ugly gargoyle head.

"Indeed. Now I would love to stay and chat, but duty calls." He gestures towards Kaelie and flips his long hair back. "Best get her home before it gets too dark, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Call me again some time," he yells over his shoulder, pushing his way through the front doors of the building. Kaelie follows in tow.

A few seconds later, I find out exactly what his services entailed.

Jonathan bursts through the same office door and stalks past me so quickly that I barely have time to recognise him. In the brief moment I do get to see his face, I can tell he's upset.

My heart sinks as I put two and two together.

I failed.

"Jonathan!" I run after him, ignoring the rest of the boys as they come out of the office looking less like bats out of hell. "Jon, what happened?"

Jonathan doesn't slow down. He just carries on walking towards the car park and ignores me, his hand tightened around the strap of his book bag.

"Jonathan, wait!" This time it's Jace's voice and it's the only thing that finally makes him stop. He stands facing away from the rest of us for a while, then spins on his heel in one fluid motion. His face is completely impassive now, all traces of the sadness from earlier gone.

Jace stops a few metres away, his eyes wide. He's the furthest from Jonathan, with the rest of the band hovering on either side. Their faces range from shocked to upset to angry. Surprisingly, it's Alec who looks the most incensed. None of them say anything, so I do instead.

"What happened?"

"Why don't you ask your boyfriend?" Jonathan spits the last word, never taking his eyes off of Jace. I look over at Jace, waiting for an explanation.

"Kaelie told," Jordan finally says, when it seems like Jace isn't going to tell me. "Mr Dieudonne is one of the judges for the final. She told him what happened with Ragnor's book and…" He casts his eyes down, gripped with some emotion.

"And we've been disqualified," Jonathan finishes, his voice hard.

"What?" My stomach falls through to the floor. This was the absolute worst-case scenario. We knew disqualification was a possibility, but this far into the contest, we didn't actually think it would happen. "No! No, he can't do that!"

"Apparently he can."

"But who would take your place?"

"Whoever got the next highest votes, probably. Either Canard Cannibal or the band from the other semi-final. It's over. Mallard Massacre is done."

"What?" Now Jace speaks up. "No, Jon I can fix this. I already told him it was my entire fault. If I drop out of the band, they might still let the rest of you do it."

"Jace, you know we can't play without you," Sebastian says, his voice meeker than I've ever heard it. And for Sebastian, that's saying something.

"Sure you can. You jammed with Magnus that one time. Get him to fill in for me."

"No," Alec shakes his head. "I'm having nothing to do with Magnus either. Jonathan's right. We're done."

"But you can't be!" I insist. "This is just a setback, that's all. No one ever really believed you'd make it this far anyway, so that fact alone is a miracle. Plus, you've got a good, strong fan base out of it. With time, you could probably raise enough to record an EP yourselves or even get noticed by a label."

"No, we can't. Word will get out, then who will want to support the band who cheated their way to the finals? No label will take us and even if we could raise the money for an EP, what's the point if there's no one there to listen to it?"

"We're done," Jonathan repeats, looking directly at Jace this time. We can all hear the double meaning in his words.

"Jon, please," Jace steps forward. "Let's just talk about this. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, you know that."

"It doesn't matter if you didn't mean for it to happen, it did. You did what you've always done. You thought only about yourself and didn't consider the consequences for the rest of us."

"I'm sorry…" My heart breaks at the desperation in Jace. He stares at Jon almost as if he's trying to hold back tears. "I'm so sorry."

"So what?" He throws his arms up. "It's too late, Jace. Can't you see that?"

"Jonathan, please…"

"What do you want from me?" Jonathan suddenly roars, attracting the attention of students as far as the other side of the car park. A small group of spectators had already gathered since it was obvious something big was going on with some of the most well known guys in the school, but now everyone's watching. "You've taken everything! You've taken my friend away, my band – the only thing that's kept me going all these years – and you've even taken my sister." I flinch when he mentions me. "I've got nothing left to give you, Jace. Nothing."

Then with one final pained look, Jonathan turns back around and walks away.

Alec, Sebastian and Jordan give each other uneasy looks, unsure as to what to do next. I realise that the implications of Jace and Jonathan's argument are greater than we could have imagined. They've always been inseparable. They've bickered from time to time, but no one has ever thought of them as anything but Jonathan and Jace. Best friends. Practically brothers.

It's clear they've always been the more dominant members of the band, but it has never mattered because they were always so closely interlinked. They always wanted the same things – at least, most of the time – and they got them. But with the two apart, a rift has formed. Taking sides will be inevitable.

Jace looks over at me then, that haunted look still in his eyes.

I can see Jace needs me. He's still trying not to cry and the way he looks at me, it's like I'm all he has left in the world. And in some respects, maybe that's true. He's never had a good relationship with his parents – the Morgenstern household has just accepted him as one of ours over the years. He has his cousins, but they don't live nearby and Will's probably gone home for the holidays already.

Now he's just lost his best friend.

But then I hear Jonathan's words in my head again.

You've taken everything, he'd said. I've never seen him so vulnerable before. He was angry the night he found out about us, but this was a different sort of rage. Back then, it was almost as if he felt it was his duty to fight Jace. He was annoyed at not having been told and I could tell he didn't like the idea of sharing him, but he knew he'd get over it.

But now? He wasn't so sure and that scared him. And now he's walking away, having to deal with this newfound emptiness alone.

I have to make a decision.

I almost laugh at the irony of it. I'd always believed that I would be the one to cause trouble between those two. My main hesitation in admitting how I felt about Jace was the fear of a situation like this. I'd always wondered what would happen if our relationship ended badly or at least encountered some rough patches. I'd worried that would put a strain on Jace and Jonathan's relationship, something that I had seen as too precious to risk. Their friendship was unquestionable.

I'd never once even considered that it could be the other way round. I'd never thought that their friendship would cause problems for Jace and myself. We were the unstable ones. We were fragile.

But here I am. Stuck between Jonathan Herondale and Jonathan Morgenstern. My boyfriend and my brother. The two boys I love most.

I hold Jace's gaze for as long as I can, blinking the tears out of my own eyes. I know what I have to do. As long as I choose one of them, it'll hurt the other. Whether this passes or not, I know where my place is.

With one final look, I turn my back on Jace and follow after my brother.

-nervous laughter-

I'll just step back slowly.

So the reason why I cut the last chapter short, is because I didn't want to end the first chapter of the new year on a bad note. This is what I had been planning and once I'd gotten to the bit with Meliorn, I realised it'd be best to just stop there. Unfortunately, the drama's here to stay for a bit.

There'll still be moments of hilarity - as I once said, I can never write a completely serious chapter - but things will definitely be getting tricky.

I've got an exam this Friday coming so I'm not sure if I can get a chapter out before then, but you'll definitely have the next one by Sunday and after that, there'll only be 3 chapters left (including the epilogue)! This story is finally coming to a close and I'm not sure how I feel about that yet :/ It's definitely bittersweet.

Thank you again for reading. I can't believe it's been almost half a year that I first began this and that means almost half a year talking to some of you guys... It's gone so quick and yet so slow. And with that, I know it's definitely time to sleep. I always start rambling when my brain's about to switch off.

Till the next time...

smim xx