Hey, pretties :)

O : Only Us - Ben Platt and Laura Dreyfuss (Dear Evan Hansen Soundtrack)
Requested by DemGrayEyesDoh and ThePotatoSacksNextDoor

So what if it's us?
What if it's us
And only us
And what came before won't count anymore or matter?
Can we try that?

What if it's you
And what if it's me
And what if that's all that we need it to be
And the rest of the world falls away?
What do you say?

Valentine Morgenstern became Vice President of the United States in 2008. At the inaugural balls, he danced with his wife of almost twenty years, Jocelyn Morgenstern, and he was also accompanied by his seventeen year old son, Jonathan Morgenstern, and thirteen year old daughter, Clarissa Morgenstern. It wasn't the first time the family had been in the public eye, given Valentine had been the State Senator of Massachusetts for the past three years, but now it was the world with their eyes on them.

Jonathan was away at boarding school most of the time, and once he finished boarding school, he ended up moving to Italy to study. While he had a couple of secret service people with him pretty much all the time, he flew under the radar and could get away with living a reasonably normal life.

Clary, however, attended a private, all girls school just outside of Washington, and was home every weekend and through the holidays, and so she was very much in the public eye. She attended most events at her father and mothers side, and she quite often had events that she attended with just her mother. There were even some events where she was the token Morgenstern in attendance, at luncheons or at events for youth or charity fundraisers that weren't quite at the level that required either of her parents to be in attendance.

She was the golden girl.

She held herself with poise and grace and she never put a foot out of turn.

She had a sweet smile and a charming face—big, green eyes and long, red hair that fell in ringlets down her back.

She was respectful and she was intelligent.

She could hold a conversation with adults and she was good with kids.

She was a sweetheart, and was often dubbed that way by the press.

Clary never expressed any resentment toward the way she had almost every move scrutinized and she never acted as though the wide berth that she got from most of the students at her school bothered her.

She had two close friends, Simon Lewis, whose mother was one of her fathers lawyers, and Maia Roberts, whose family had been close to hers for as long as she had been alive. She didn't have many other friends though, because although there was some outward glimmer to being friends with the vice presidents daughter, in all honesty, it wasn't as glamorous as some people thought.

Mainly, she never had time to hang out, because her weekends were completely free, and if she did have time, the things that she could do were limited, and they had escorts almost at all times.

Her father was re-elected as vice president when his running mate won again, which meant another four years in office. There was talk about Clary going away to a finishing school for her last two years of schooling, but Clary was adamant about not leaving home. She wanted to stay with her parents and with her best friends and at her school. So she stayed, and her public duties just increased. The conferences and charity events that she was going to were becoming more frequent and also more wide spread, to the point where she was needing to stay away from her heavily protected home and school for full nights or weekends at a time.

So her father hired her more escorts, including a few younger people, because he wanted her to have someone around that was closer to her in age that she felt comfortable around and who could keep her company while she was at the events, since she refused to subject Maia and Simon to them. One of them was Isabelle Lightwood, who was sort of like her personal assistant, but quickly became her closest confidant. The other was Jace Herondale, who had just completed a tour in the army and had just recently joined the secret service.

Things got...Complicated.

It didn't happen quickly.

It happened slowly, taking place over months and months of late nights and long drives and Jace seeing a side of Clary that she kept very much hidden, even from her parents. Even from Isabelle, because at the end of the day, she worked for her parents, that's who was paying her bills, and so even though Clary got on with her, she was careful not to say too much.

She was careful around Jace for a long time as well, until Jace was wondering why she was taking so long in the bathroom at a charity event and he had started worrying. He had gone in and broken down the only stall door that was locked and found her on the ground, huddled against the wall, in the dress that probably cost half a year of his salary, hyperventilating.

Only Simon and Maia knew about the panic attacks that she got when she was left to fend for herself at events like this.

Only Simon and Maia knew how much she hated being in the public eye and having every single one of her moves scrutinized.

Only Simon and Maia knew that she would never, ever tell her parents about this because she loved her father and she knew that he absolutely loved his career, and she didn't want to be the reason that he had to give it up.

But now, Jace knew.

And he protected her.

Not just in the way that he had been protecting her before—making sure that people didn't get too close, making sure that the room was safe before she came in, making sure that there was always a safe exit. No, now he also made sure that she didn't stay at an event for longer than she could handle. He made sure that she didn't feel too crowded or pressured. He made sure that she got time alone between obligations to take a breather and center herself again. He was protecting her emotionally and mentally, as well as physically, and Clary couldn't be more grateful.

Slowly, but steadily, she fell for him.

It wasn't hard, given he was there at almost every waking moment.

And even though Jace was reserved and didn't say much, she saw the way his eyes gentled when he looked at her and on the few times that he had touched her, it was soft.

But there was one big problem.

His job. Or, more specifically, her father.

Jace was employed by Valentine to protect his daughter, one of the most important people in his life, and it would be a complete breach of trust and also of a violation of his contract if anything happened between them.

So even though he was there for her in every sense of the word, nothing more happened.

Even when Clary got so drunk one night—the first time that she had ever gotten drunk, given how collected she always had to act—and told him that she was pretty sure she loved him. Jace was driving her back from the apartment where Simon's eighteenth birthday had taken place, and he had just pulled into the garage. He got out of the car and was helping her out of the back and she kissed him. Her eyes were glazed and she could barely stand up and Jace had completely frozen when the girl had reached up and pressed a kiss to his mouth. When she pulled back, she mumbled that she thought that she loved him, and then she keeled over and threw up all over the concrete floor of the garage.

Jace thought that she was too drunk to remember what had happened, but she brought it up a few weeks later. Obviously she had been thinking about it, because she had a whole spiel worked out, including how she was going to be nineteen soon and her fathers term was nearly up and so he didn't need to be her agent anymore.

'Nearly up' was nine months away, though.

Jace couldn't keep a secret like that for nine months.

He loved his job and he respected his employer.

He also knew that Clary was young and despite everything that she had been exposed to in her life, she was still naive in a lot of ways.

Jace had resigned and was gone within a week, leaving Clary heart broken.

He left her a letter, and in it, he explained why he had to go.

He also told her that he knew he loved her, and maybe things could be different in a few years time, after she had gotten a chance to go out into the world and experience things and find out what made her happy.

Clary didn't say anything to her parents or to Simon or Maia—not about Jace. But a few weeks after he was gone, she went and spoke with her father, and said that as soon as she graduated, she wanted to go to Italy to spend time with Jonathan. Valentine had been taken aback, and said that he would prefer if she stayed around until his vice presidency ended, which would be a couple months after she graduated.

For once in her life, Clary stayed strong.

She said that she wanted to go right after she graduated.

She reiterated that she had never asked for anything, even if her voice was soft as she said it, but it had done the trick. Even though both Valentine and Jocelyn were worried about her, because she had never been off on her own before, but they trusted that she would be protected with their security and Isabelle, and also with her brother, and they gave her permission to leave.

Two days after she graduated, she got on a private plane and flew to Italy to meet her brother.

She traveled with him—and Simon also flew out for a few weeks at a time—for just over a year. Their security loosened up as time went by, because after the vice presidency, her father stepped back from the political limelight, wanting to take some time with his wife and enjoy a quieter life for a short while. Clary enrolled in a university in New York, and just before she started, Valentine and Jocelyn joined them for three weeks in Australia.

She dated a couple of boys.

She got drunk a few times.

She tried different food and listened to different music.

She met people she never would have before.

She become more comfortable in her skin and got used to asking for what she wanted rather than just taking whatever she was given.

She grew—a hell of a lot more than she ever had before.

It was two months after she started her course that she was coming down the steps at the front of the university when she saw him. She was with Maia, who had course two of the same days as Clary, and Kaelie Whitewillow, a girl who was taking some of the same classes as Clary. Jace watched her come down the steps, and he was taken aback by just how different she looked.

Her hair was shorter, she was wearing bolder make up and brighter coloured clothes. She was smiling widely and she looked happier than he had ever seen her. She had a bag slung over her shoulder and she had a few books under her other arm. Jace glanced around but he couldn't see anyone watching her—and he had a skilled eye, if there was any guards or officers keeping an eye on her then he would have seen them. He wasn't sure what she had said to her father to let her out on her own, given how protective he was of her, but then again, he wasn't vice president anymore.

"Clary," Maia said softly, and she reached out for Clary's arm. Clary looked over her expectantly with a wide smile and then Maia nodded over to where Jace was standing. Clary saw him and her smile faltered, obviously surprised to see him there. He stayed where he was, letting her take him in.

He was wearing jeans and a henley—casual clothes, which she had never seen him in—and he had let his hair grow a little longer, not cropped close to his skull like it had been before. She watched her green eyes flick over him and then raise to meet his.

And then she smiled.

Unbridled and unembarrassed and it was beautiful.

She left her friends standing at the bottom of the stairs and came over to him.

She even walked differently, with her held a little higher and a bit of a bounce in her step. She reached him and he saw how bright her eyes were, and she bit down on her lower lip adorably to try and restrain her smile from breaking out across her face.

"Hi," Jace nodded at her.

"Hey," Clary replied with a tilt of her head.

"I'm Jace," he said to her, and for a moment, she looked confused. "I work for a private security company with hours that are a little unpredictable, but I generally have weekends off."

"I'm Clary," she responded in turn. "I'm a student and I live off campus with one of my friends. I used to have twenty babysitters following me around at all times and a dad who was a bit over protective, but now, it's only me."

"Only you?" Jace raised an eyebrow. Clary smile stretched as she tried again.

"Only us?" She attempted and Jace grinned at her.

"Only us," he confirmed.

I hope you guys enjoyed the update! I'm not too sure how much longer I'll be able to keep up with the weekly updates, but we'll see how it goes. Haha. On with my top 10 of the week;

1) Walls - Louis Tomlinson. 2) Wrong Direction - Hailee Steinfeld. 3) Alanis' Interlude - Halsey and Alanis Morissette. 4) Brooklyn Baby - Lana Del Rey. 5) You Should Be Sad - Halsey. 6) Venice Bitch - Lana Del Rey. 7) Fake Love - BTS. 8) Too Young - Louis Tomlinson. 9) Love Me Less - MAX and Quinn XCII. 10) She - Harry Styles.

And then my husbands repeats for the past week have been the new In This Moment song, The In-Between, and Blood, Sweat & Tears by BTS.

I haven't watched anything new, really, other than the Nancy Drew series that's out. I don't mind it, but it just doesn't strike the same chord that the book series did when I was younger, it doesn't have the same feel. Even the old movie with Emma Roberts in it had a more nostalgic feel to it, but given how different it is from the books, it's kind of easy to just make it feel like a completely new fandom all together. Oh, and I did finish Reprisal, and it was fucking amazing, so I definitely recommend that.

Please leave a review, let me know what you think of the update, let me know your favourite song at the moment, or your favourite movie or TV series or favourite lyrics or whatever the hell ya want xx