CHAPTER 52
Jon stared in shock as his sister dropped her corsages on the floor. He had cried during her speech. He knew it was all his fault. Clary was so brave. Jon could see his mom and Luke both crying. He knew that they felt so bad for her, but they had never been so proud. After her speech, Clary ran backstage. Jon couldn't stop himself from running after her.
He followed the path that she ran and caught up to her just in time to catch her as she was falling. Jon let out a breath of relief when he realized she hadn't fainted. She was still awake, just shaken up.
"That was amazing Clary" he said.
Clary shook in his arms. Jon let her cry even though he knew he would suffer Izzy's wrath for it later. "Do you think mom is mad?" she asked.
Jon was confused. "Clary, why would she be mad?" he asked.
Clary shrugged. "It's supposed to be her happy day and I made it all about my awful past" she said. She let out another sob.
Jon tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him. "She isn't mad. Today was about all of us remember? And your speech wasn't about your past. I mean it was, but it was really about how even though your past sucked you love mom and Luke unconditionally because they are family to you. I think it was one of the best speeches I have ever heard" he said.
"He's right" a voice said.
Clary and Jon both stood up and turned around. Everybody was here. Luke and Jocelyn held hands in the front. Jace, Izzy, Simon, Alec, and Magnus all stood behind them looking at Clary with concerned eyes. Izzy held a gigantic box in her hands.
Jocelyn let go of Luke's hand and stepped closer to Clary. "My poor baby. That was the bravest thing you have ever done. You've been through so much" she said.
Clary groaned. "The speech wasn't supposed to be about what I have been through! It was supposed to be about your eternal love. I'm so sorry" she said.
Jocelyn gave Clary a hug. "Jon was right. I told you that today is about all of us becoming a family. That means we help each other get through rough times. And we have all given enough speeches for a lifetime. I was happier to see that you care about us enough to open up to everybody like that" she said.
Clary smiled. "I don't want to waste today crying. I'm fine now. Everybody go have fun. Thanks for checking on me" she said. Everybody agreed and left except for Izzy who just opened her big box. Clary looked inside and smiled at all the makeup. "Fix me Izzy" she joked. Izzy laughed and went to work on fixing Clary's makeup.
After a few minutes, Izzy had managed to clean up Clary's face. They linked arms and made their way back out to party. They met up with everybody on the dance floor and Clary was glad that nobody brought up her speech. They just danced and had fun. Clary was exhausted after an hour passed. Her mom and Luke asked for everybody's attention.
Jocelyn was the one to speak. "We have a few things to say. First, we want to thank you all for coming. Today is really important to our family and it just means so much to have you all here. Second, I want to acknowledge Isabelle Lightwood and Magnus Bane. They planned a beautiful wedding and we are so grateful. Third, we wanted to thank our children. Jon, you have always been the man of the family. You always step up when things get rough and we are confident that we would truly have nothing without you. It means so much that you were able to walk me down the aisle and fill the best man spot for Luke. Clary, you are the strongest person we have ever known. You have gone through more in your life than we could imagine, but it has only made our love for you stronger. We are so proud to call you our daughter. It meant the world to me to have you by my side as my maid of honor today. Lastly, we wanted to say that this is the last song being played tonight. We would love for everybody to grab someone special and have a dance" she said.
Everybody started running to find a dance partner. Izzy went with Simon and Alec went with Magnus. Jon had been dancing with a girl he had met earlier. Clary thought her name was Maureen. She sat in her chair waiting for Jace. She finally found him pushing through the crowd towards her.
He stopped in front of her and held out his hands. "Care to dance beautiful?" he asked.
Clary pretended to think about it. "I don't know, what's in it for me?" she joked.
Jace laughed. "You get to dance with this stunning attractive guy" he said gesturing to himself.
Clary smiled. She hated to admit it, but she had missed his arrogance. She took his hands and he led her to the center of the dance floor. The song started playing and everybody started to sway with their partner. Clary put her head on Jace's shoulder.
"I love you" she whispered.
"I love you too" he said.
Clary smiled. They danced for a minute or two when Clary felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Jon. "Can I steal my sister for a minute?' he asked. Jace nodded and gave Clary a quick kiss.
Jon spun Clary around. "Do you think things are going to be different now?" he asked. Clary shrugged. "I think so. I think it's a good thing though" she said.
Jo looked hesitant. "I'm so happy for them, but I don't remember how to be a son. I can't even remember how to be a good brother and I try it everyday-"
"Stop it Jon. You know that I would have died a long time ago without you. You are the best brother in the world and you are going to be a great son. Mom and Luke love you no matter what and so do I" she said.
Jon pulled Clary close. "Do you ever just get that feeling where you don't want something, but you know it will help? I mean I don't want to be scared of having a real family again, but I now that being scared is the only thing that will make me try so hard to be goo at it" he said.
Clary nodded. She knew exactly what she meant. Not wanting to do something, but knowing that you have to if you want things to be better. Clary was not looking forward to what she would do next.
