It took quarantine and my A-Levels being cancelled for me to finally finish this...

Warning; character death

Neither foresaw that the cars would collide into each other. The cars mashed together, one of the drivers flying through the windshield. Glass shattered and covered the three unconscious bodies along with rain. the sound of the crash rang clearly through the otherwise noisy outside. The thunder had ceased for those few seconds. the gunshot however had been swallowed in the loud sound of scraping metal colliding with each other. Neither of the three bodies lay unscratched. Neither conscious.

Aline Penhallow rushed out of her house after hearing a loud crash not that far away. That wasn't the sound of thunder. However all she saw was the limp form of her friend- Jace.

Aline's scream pierced through the night. The thunder had ceased, as did one of the teenagers-their lungs ceasing to heave in one last breath.

Beep Beep, breathe in,

What's that noise?

Beep beep-beep.

Where am I?

Beep beep beep beep.

What's happening?

Sucking in a deep breath, my lungs protested as if I was breathing fire. The breath out left them raw as if burnt.

beep beep beep beep,

What is that noise- the beeping spiked up again, like the quickening speed of footsteps, I remember Jace had been running.

beep- the beeping halted for half a second, like footsteps pausing, my heart flipping, Jace... The crash!

My lungs soon protested again for oxygen; the burning breath caused an automatic cry of pain. Was I still in the car, no I was lying down, soft fabric surrounded me, warmth engulfed me? Where's Jace?

Am I dead?

A raspy laugh that spoke of its misuse tore itself from my lungs, my chest ached from the forced exhale of laughter, how long had I been out?

'Clarissa...' A clear voice rang through my head.

'Dad?' I croaked out, my voice sounded so strange, maybe I was dreaming. A cold hand grasped my open palm, squeezing gently, it ached as if barbed wire was wrapped around it.

'Oh Angel, we were so worried about you, both you and Jon weren't waking up, it's been 8 days... ' Valentines voice trailed off again, fatigue already overtaking me.

'Where's Jon?' I whimpered softly, was he okay? It was all my fault.

'Jonny was in surgery; he'll be waking up soon hopefully.' Valentine murmured.

My face crumpled as the weight of my situation kicked in, Jon was in surgery. I started crying; the rush of emotions and stress of the situation allowing me to burst out. 'I'm sorry Dad, it's all my fault I…'

'Nobody blames you sweetheart; you are not responsible for where you are now' Valentine shushed me. Despite what he said however, I knew that I would be responsible for anything that would happen to Jon, if not, then I'd have killed my brother.

-Jace-

My head was still sore from where I'd been knocked unconscious, my concussion had kept me in the hospital for a few days until I'd been let out. Both Clary and Jon were still in the hospital themselves, the car crash luckily left them without any fatal injuries, however the doctors couldn't explain Cary's comatose state. Jon was somehow worse off with a shot to the shoulder. He'd gotten out of a surgery the other day as there were fragments of the bone that were potentially fatal.

Valentine had arrived a day after the incident, getting the first flight to New York, sometimes I wonder whether Clary knew the extent to which her father cared for her, both he and Jocelyn had been staying with both Jon and Clary. The bastard who'd caused all this drama, Sebastian, had died before the paramedics had arrived, in the end it was his lack of seat belt that had been his death sentence. According to reports his body crashed through the windshield, a particularly large splinter of glass had pierced his left lung causing him to suffocate on his own blood. I'm glad that he suffered at least a bit for what he'd done, a repayment of sorts for all of the pain he'd brought to Clary.

It was now the eighth day since the crash, by now Clary's state was starting to worry me, both Izzy and I had stayed close by the hospital, visiting every day, Aline had visited as well, originally with her family to sort out Sebastian and since then to check up on Clary, her guilt for both Jon and Clary's hospitalisation was evident. Some classmates had dropped by to check her condition, the news of the crash caused Clary to gain a sort of celebrity status within our school, I just wanted her and Jon to wake up...

Six months later...

Jon had never woken up. Despite the surgery's success a seizure brought on by the switch to a more aggressive antibiotic caused brain damage that he couldn't recover from. A week after the operation they had to switch Jon off of life support. Clary and I never really spoke after that, the loss of her brother caused her to move back to LA as soon as she was discharged. Jocelyn later followed Clary it's not like she had anything left in New York anyway…except bad memories. I think of her occasionally, not of our relationship, but as a way to remember Jon. Most continued on despite the death of my best friend, Aline is the only one who I can talk to about the loss. Her guilt over Jon keeps her from moving on, just as my guilt over the events of that fatal night have haunted me. I never found out whether Clary blamed me for forcing her to tell Jon and causing the crash. I can't remember much of the night, my minor memory loss of the night blurs my thoughts sometimes, I can't remember every detail, but I wished that I forgot all about how I'd inadvertently caused it.

My memory serves to haunt me at night.

Third person POV

It was partly Clary's guilt over Jon's death that had kept her from talking to Jace, countless times she'd thought to phone him asking how he was, but the depression that was held over her family in the aftermath of Jon's death had kept her from trying to resurface old memories of Jon. Some small part of her even blamed Jace, it helped alleviate the self-loathing she felt for herself, but only momentarily. Looking back in her short reprieve in New York, her time with Jon were precious, a candle of light between the two darkest periods of her life.

Many years later, it was with dawning clarity that Clary finally came to terms with her guilt. The haunting memory of her brother's death could no longer be pressed onto her conscience. Meeting up with Jace again helped her heal from her past troubles. Clary's haunted dreams and taunting thoughts ebbed as she grew into her maturity. Returning to New York after five years, she'd got into touch with her former friends for a meet up, none were confused as to why she'd returned. The catharsis was long overdue in the tragedy that had played out.

The end.

Heyy- long time no see eh? I never was much of a writer, I have been reading lots during this time and I highly recommend Nineteen Eighty-Four to all those who haven't read that yet. During my hiatus I lost my love for TMI, unthinkable a few years ago but hey, it happens. It doesn't add any reason behind why I took a darker tone in this chapter, what's happening out in the world is just upsetting right now. This is my last fic seeing as I've long ago realised my lack of interest in writing, I'll stick to reading from now on, though if anyone's upset by this I could always write a happy epilogue.

Ruby :D

PS. Does anyone else see lots of links between Tess of the d'Urbervilles and TID, just me, okay...