As far as I know, it has been around 5 years since I stopped writing this story. When I stopped I was in my sophomore year of high school and I was about 15 years old and was failing the majority of my classes. I nearly dropped out of the school entirely until I got my shit together and managed to actually graduate a couple of years later. I am now 20 years old and am working on other things, including my own book, but in the midst of going through all of the chapters with a guy I am dating, I realized how much I missed the support of this website and how badly I feel about leaving you all hanging. The majority of this chapter was already sitting on my computer, waiting to be finished by me when I got back to it today on 4/16/2020 during the Covid-19 quarantine. I am going to do my very best to at the very least wrap this story up. I will most likely not be finishing all the way through the third book like I had originally planned, but I will try to wrap it up in the best way I know possible. For anyone who has read this or read it 5 years ago, thank you for believing in me.

I'm going to edit the beginning of this chapter, but then I will continue mostly as I would've done, and hopefully at some point I'll have time to go back and edit the rest of the chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own, and will never own, any of the original content of the Mortal Instruments series, I own only what I have come up with on my own to make my readers smile.

Luke POV

Luke had tried for about 15 minutes to talk Jace off of his ledge of anger before he finally gave up and called Clary, as much as he made it seem like he knew everything, he didn't, he only knew the basics. He'd heard around town that Jace had been kicked out of the hotel and that he was pissed, there was also news that the Lightwood parents and youngest son were home. Luke had come to the conclusion that it was likely that one of Jace's adoptive parents had chosen to eject him from their home on the basis of his parentage and their involvement in the circle. Had he not virtually raised Clary with Jocelyn, he might have understood, but from the standpoint of a parent, this seemed unforgiveable to him.

As much as Luke knew, he still couldn't figure out how to make this boy feel any better about himself. He was angry and feeling betrayed, Luke knew, but that did not mean Luke had any way to fix it. As far as he knew, Jace was a closed book. With the exception of Clary, he had never told anyone of his feelings. Luke couldn't blame him, the boy was only 17, wasn't that the dark brooding age?

That was no excuse for his actions today, beating up half a gang of men is definitely not the way to deal with your anger issues, especially not with the crisis at hand. Not long after Jace had walked into the bar, a young member of the gang was found in an alleyway, lifeless. Luke, as the leader, was asked to come take a look to see if he recognized him, and of course he did. The kid was named Joseph, he was only about 15, and he was a mere 13 years of age and had joined the gang out of fear for his life. His father had been an alcoholic who beat his wife, who in turn beat Joseph, it didn't help that she was a cocaine addict. He had come into Jade Wolf, looked Luke straight in the eye and, without so much as a wavering voice, said "I need help." Luke had immediately taken the boy in, giving him a free room and food, putting him under the care of an older gang member, who helped him to give the police anonymous tips about his father and mother's abuse and of her drug problem.

But now this kid was dead, nearly drained of blood, his face swollen to a point of near unrecognize-ability. He had lost his chance to get better, to make something of himself, and for what reason? Who could possibly do something so awful? Luke silently scoffed, he could think of a couple gangs who had it out for them, but even he could hardly believe that they'd do something so brutal to such a young kid.

Luke was contemplating action until he heard yelling and crashes from within the bar. He would have to leave this matter to the cops for now, and he directed one of the gang members to call them. He only hoped that they hadn't been infiltrated by whoever committed the crime to begin with.

LINEBREAK

Luke looked over to Jace, who was perched atop Freaky Pete's desk examining his bloodied knuckles, most of the blood likely not his own. Freaky Pete had graciously offered up his office, for which Luke was quite grateful, especially given the fact that he could see the man's anger in just the set of his shoulders.

"So, you called Clary?" Jace asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but Luke could hear the hope, he knew he himself sounded the same any time he spoke about Jocelyn. Jace rocked backward and leaned on his outstretched palms. His face angled toward the ceiling. He seemed to be doing anything he could to not look Luke in the eye.

"I did, you refuse to speak to me." Luke nodded decisively, not breaking his gaze at Jace's face. He knew that eventually Jace would have no choice but to look at him.

"I have done nothing of the sort, I rather enjoy speaking and, of course, speaking to your lovely self, it is whether you believe me or not that is the issue." Jace explained.

"Jace," Luke sighed. "You told me that a faerie possessed you with their magical music powers that forced you to pick a fight. You also told me that you were stuck in hell for near on forty years, but no one noticed because it was only a couple hours for them."

Jace smirked, "Why, yes, youngster." He winked, "I'm afraid I'm wise beyond my apparent years, I could totally pull of the whole sexy professor thing."

Luke wanted to smack the kid, but he refused to show him that he had managed to ruffle his feathers. "Well, then I am afraid you are far too old for Clary. You are forbidden to date her any longer, besides, you should be looking for women your own age now! I've got a horny sixty year old woman living across the street from me, I could set you two lovebirds up if you'd like?" Luke raised an eyebrow in his direction and Jace finally lowered his eyes in Luke's direction.

Luke watched as Jace's eyes widened in fear, but the expression was gone as quickly as it came as he regained control and replaced it with a confident look, "While I'm sure your neighbor wants all of this," he said, gesturing to himself. "I'm far more interested in younger women. I guess I'm just a creepy old man." His face lit with a wide, toothy smile and Luke could not help but feel this was normal, but he knew that the boy was still immensely troubled and needed to talk about it with someone.

Luke sighed and shook his head with a chuckle, "I am going to go wait for Clary outside, don't fuck up Pete's office, ok? He has been nice enough to let you sit in here for a bit, don't ruin it." He told him with a pointed look.

"Yessir!" Jace said with a sharp salute. Luke shook his head again and walked out of the room, hoping Clary would get there soon.

Simon POV

Simon drove the yellow banana-mobile that was Eric's van towards the address his phone said was known as the Hunter's Moon. He didn't trust the reliability of his phone's navigation system, seeing as it had sent him down unreal alleyways before but this time Luke said he was, in fact, looking for a dark alleyway.

Simon couldn't help but still feel the traces of a bit of jealousy that Clary was once again jumping to the rescue of Jace. Jace was a big boy; he didn't need all this help. Though Simon wasn't entirely sure why they were headed toward Jace, he cared very little. Simon wasn't in love with Clary anymore, he knew that for sure, but he knew their relationship had changed. He wanted to spend some time with her and get back to normal. All Clary did nowadays was hang out with Jace and Jonathan, and Simon tried to stay understanding. Jace was Clary's boyfriend, Jonathan was Clary's long-lost brother, he got that, but Simon was supposed to be her best friend, shouldn't she want to hang out with him, too?

Simon was working hard to convince his mother to allow him to switch schools but the woman was stubborn as ever, it had gotten to the point with their screaming matches over it that she was threatening to throw him out onto the streets, which wouldn't be as big of a deal seeing as he was seventeen, but finding an apartment and getting a job might be a slight issue. It wasn't like he could just live with Luke or anything either, his home was kind of full. Unless he somehow managed to move into the hotel with Clary, but that wasn't very likely. He was almost certain that Alec thoroughly hated him and that Isabelle was just playing with him. Dorky weirdo wasn't exactly her type, he didn't think.

Simon glanced at Clary, she was leaning against the window, chewing her thumbnail, obviously nervous for what was to come. "Stop that," Simon commanded.

"Huh, what?" Clary looked up and at Simon with a startled expression, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm just a little lost in… actually, I don't know what I'm lost in."

Simon let out a huff, "Clary, he's going to be just fine, would you calm down?"

Clary groaned and rubbed her eyes with the balls of her hands, "I can't! What if he's mad at me for having everyone look for him? What if for some reason he blames me for what happened? What if me coming there isn't going to do any good because he's so angry?" Clary cried, sounding pretty whiny in Simon's ears. He knew she was stressed, she had spent the last few hours calling everyone she could think of and looking anywhere she had ever seen Jace go, all to no avail. It probably didn't help that she wasn't even the one to find him to begin with, as much as she loved Luke, Simon was sure she wished she had been the one to bring Jace home.

Simon, without looking away from the road, reached over and shoved Clary's shoulder lightly, "Clary, that dumbass loves you, you could have cut off all of his fabulous naturally blonde hair and he'd still adore you." He told her with a roll of his eyes. If Simon could do anything for Clary right now, he could lighten her mood a bit.

Clary giggled a bit but nodded, "Alright, you're right, I'm sorry."

"And stop apologizing!" Simon said, he reached over again and wiggled his fingers in the spot under her ribs causing a giggle to bubble up along with a sharp squeal.

"Simon!" She tried to squirm out of his reach but in the enclosed space with his long arms she couldn't get far enough away.

Finally, he chuckled and retrieved his outward stretching extremity and spared a glance toward her red and smiling face. Gorgeous, just like always. Clary relaxed back against her seat and her unfocused energy returned. She stared blankly through the windshield at the road in front of them, tapping her fingers rhythmically on her knees, which were pulled tightly to her chest. Everything in her posture screamed nervousness. Simon drove a little faster.

Simon looked over to his cellphone which proudly displayed the Google Maps Navigation System, a system that only his phone was proud of. Simon honestly could not remember how many times the dumb app had sent him down scary roads or dark alleys to get to a place that probably had a much safer and simpler route. Right now it was attempting to navigate to The Hunter's Moon, the bar that Luke had given them directions to, a place that was, coincidentally, down a dark, scary alleyway.

"Turn right on HENDRICKson road," directed an overly chirpy automated voice. Simon warily looked around and turned into the alley. The bar looked old and a bit rundown, and it looked like a typical New York bar, very hidden and concrete with steps down to the door. Simon parked the car and before he could even turn to say something to Clary she was flying out the door. Simon shook his head with a sigh and solemnly followed after her, throwing a couple of coins into the meter on the way.

Clary POV

Clary stared at Jace's bloodied face in horror. He looked back at her with a sort of lazy intensity, as if he wanted everyone else to think that he thought nothing of what was happening right now, but Clary knew better and could see beyond that first layer of indifference. He was angry and terrified; not of any of the people around him or of even the scary and angry gang members waiting just outside the door, but of what Clary had to say and what was coming next for him. His blonde hair stuck up wildly, the edges clinging to the nape of his neck because of the sweat. His shirt clung to him, making it hard for her to not want to grab onto him and not let go. She restrained herself with effort and then sighed.

"Why is it that every time you are upset, you resort to two things, first, violence," she began.

"Because I'm exceedingly good at violence, not to mention you really like it when I'm all sweaty like this. You think it's sexy, don't lie Red." He joked interrupting her sentence, smile wide and toothy, forcing his split lip to seep down his chin.

"And secondly, sarcasm and thinly veiled humor." Clary finished. Jace's smile dropped instantly and Clary could hear Simon suppress a snort behind her.

Jace stood with a start in the direction of Simon and probably would have lunged had Clary not put up a hand to stop him. He looked down at her and his face softened. "I want them out, especially the Brookie."

Clary nodded and turned to the group of men standing around, Simon, Luke, and Freaky Pete. "You heard him, out you go, we will come out when we are done talking."

"No fucking on my desk." Freaky Pete growled in annoyance as he stalked out of the room. Clary had met Freaky Pete only the one time a couple of weeks prior, she didn't get a great read on him, but him saying this token thing in front of her greatest father figure didn't make her like him very much.

Luke's eyes widened in disgust, as if he hadn't even considered the possibility until Pete had said something, and Simon rolled his eyes. They both stalked out without another word leaving Clary to have to yell, "We are just going to talk!" After them. When she turned to look at Jace again he was smirking and he wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. "Jeesh Jace, I was serious!" She cried smacking his shoulder.

Jace chuckled softly and then sat back down on the desk. He reached out toward Clary, took her hands, and pulled her to stand between his legs. "I don't know what to do Clary." He told her honestly. He searched her eyes for an answer that she wasn't sure she knew how to give him. He was so vulnerable in this moment; she didn't know how to react. He wasn't always like this, it was so hard for her to believe that he was hers, despite all the things he thought were flaws of his, he was amazing to her. Amazing and frightened.

"I don't know Jace. The biggest problem is a place to live right now. You can't go back to the hotel, and you can't really stay at Luke's… maybe we can try Magnus's? He's 18 and he moved out as soon as he turned of adult age, so he lives by himself." Clary considered carefully.

"Your friend Magnus? The one that sparkles? Didn't we go to his party?" Jace conferred incredulously.

"Yeah, I mean it shouldn't be too big of a problem, I may have to sweeten him up a little bit." She said biting her lip.

"You said he lives alone at 18? So you want me to live in squalor, huh?" Jace laughed quietly and shook his head.

She returned his shake, "No, actually his parents are quasi-famous, mostly his dad actually, so either way he was likely leave as soon as possible, but he hates his dad, as far as I know, he's pretty tight lipped about the whole thing. Either way, despite their disdain for each other, Magnus's dad still foots the bill for the whole place and gives him a bit of an allowance." She nodded, sure of her decision. "Yup, it's the best option. We'll take a cab."

Jace blinked slowly for a moment before fully grasping the situation and looking at Clary wide eyed. " You can't be serious, Clary, this will never work. Your friend Magnus doesn't even like me." He told her shaking her head once more. He held her wrists loosely and cocked his head in confusion. He looked like an adorably concerned puppy.

"No, he doesn't, but," she told him with a laugh. "He does like me. I'm his biscuit." She grinned. She started to turn away from but he gripped her wrists tighter and looked at her almost desperately.

"Clary, she's my mum. I love her and she hates me. What am I supposed to do?" He pleaded as if Clary could change anything.

"She doesn't hate you, Jace. She just…" She grasped for words to say to him. "She is scared, too. Valentine and Stephen are still out there, and right now you're the only tangible connection to him in her opinion. You know she works for the government, and the government is pressuring her to find someone to blame. She will figure out her mistake, I promise. Maybe my mum can talk to her? Or Luke? He knows you now, they both know that you couldn't and wouldn't be loyal to our fathers." She pulled her hands back so she could hold his, squeezed them, and then wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him as hard as she could. She had to stand on her tip toes to reach, but she would do anything to reassure him. For a moment he was slack, and then he pulled her closer, burying his face into her neck and squeezing her so tightly she almost lost her breath.

This is what she could do for him, so she would, she would make sure that he knew that she was going to be there for him, always. "I love you, Clary." He whispered to her.

"I love you, too."

Jace POV

Jace and Clary stepped out of the cab together, Clary's hands clasped tightly in his. They stood in front of a brownstone that looked much nicer in the daylight than it had when they had come their nearly a month earlier for Magnus's party. Jace was really nervous. Magnus had every right to refuse to house him, and if he did, Jace had truly nowhere to go.

They walked together up the steps and Clary rang the doorbell. Instead of a normal doorbell tune, a sound of cats rang out through the apartment. Clary giggled and shook her head, clearly it was a very Magnus thing to do. Of the little he knew of him, Jace had to agree that it definitely was.

They waited for a few minutes and then rang again, deciding that it had been long enough that they ought to ring again. "You told him we were coming, right?" Jace asked Clary with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, I texted him on the way over, but he didn't respond so… I don't know if he knows. Maybe he's busy? I think he's here though, the bedroom light is on…" Clary informed him, checking the windows as she spoke. A few minutes more and they rang the bell one more time.

They heard shuffling from behind the door and then a very familiar voice rang out with a huffy, "Yeah yeah, I'm coming, jeez," Before the door swung open to reveal a disheveled and shirtless Alec Lightwood. As soon as his eyes fell on Jace, Alec's entire face turned a bright scarlet and began to stutter. "J-J-Jace, w-what are you doing here?" he inquired, sounding quite out of breath.

Jace was a bit surprised, his brother was half naked at house that was very much not his own, and clearly felt like he needed to hide something. Jace had never really thought much of the sexual proclivities of his brother, but the situation did lend one to believe that there may be more to Alec's life than Jace had previously thought.

"Who is it, lover?" Magnus's voice called from another room. He walked to stand behind Alec wearing only a sparkly lavender robe and bunny slippers. If there were any sort of confusion as to what was going on before, all suspicions were now confirmed. Alec's face dropped to an even more horrified position than it was before. Magnus, a man who rarely ever seemed very disconcerted, now held his hand over his mouth and stared directly at his beau with concern.

"I swear I texted," Clary squeaked. Alec ignored her completely and was still staring directly at Jace. Magnus on the other hand looked at Clary with sympathy.

"Jace? Please say something." Alec was near on trembling.

"Would you please calm down, Alec. Did you really think that I would be upset about this? If anything I'm more upset that you didn't just tell me. I love you, man, I don't care where your dick roams." Jace let out a laugh. Alec visibly began to relax, the fear starting to melt from his face.

"Alright you guys, please step inside my humble abode so that the neighbors don't decide that they need to call the cops on me for public indecency. Some tightly buttoned people around here." Magnus instructed, manually moving Alec and himself out of the way of Clary and Jace. The two of them stepped through the doorway and into the living area, Magnus shutting the door with a click behind them. Unlike the last time they were here, there was much more furniture placed around the room, including two large and comfy looking sectionals positioned facing a massive flatscreen television.

"Nice place, Magnus." Jace complimented with a nod.

"Yes, yes, now why are you both in it?" Magnus said. He had slumped into a seat on the couch and had his leg lazily crossed over the other and his arms crossed. Alec was standing stiffly across the room, arms crossed over his chest in an obviously insecure gesture, he hadn't meant for this many people to see him without a shirt on.

Clary cleared her throat nervously and began to wring her fingers together. "Well, you see, Maggie, my love, darling favorite human being, Jace was thrown out this morning by his mother and-"

"He was what?" Alec interrupted abruptly, uncrossing his arms and looking from Jace to Clary respectively. Jace couldn't blame him for being surprised, he probably hadn't even known that his parents had come home yet, not if he'd been with Magnus the entire time.

"Maryse has decided that I have undeniable connections with my father and that I cannot be trusted." Jace explained to his brother in irritation. He then sighed and flopped on the couch with his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, I'm not mad at you, I just am frustrated, she didn't even give me a chance to speak before she'd already decided that I was essentially not her son anymore."

"Oh my god," Alec groaned, "I can't believe she'd do that, there's got to be a good reason for it, she loves you." Alec shook his head in disbelief.

Jace had to chuckle at that "Ever the trusting and obedient son." Jace scoffed, he wasn't in the mood to deal with Alec's adoration at the moment.

"That's not what I mean and you know it," Alec scolded. Big brother mode was clearly on at the moment. "I just mean that mum clearly isn't just doing this for one reason, that's not how she operates. Don't worry, I'll talk to her, I'm sure there's something there that we are missing." Alec searched for Jace's gaze but Jace refused to give it to him. He would not give him the satisfaction of being right, even if he was.

With a sigh in Jace's direction, Alec ran upstairs to grab a shirt and his jacket and then ran back out of the house, probably in the direction of the hotel.

It was silent for a moment before Clary took a deep breath and began again. "Anyways, what I was saying was, Maryse kicked Jace out and now he really, really needs a place to stay. I'd take him to Luke's but we're completely full up, what with Jonathan staying with us now, and you were the only place I could think of." She looked at magnus with pleading eyes.

"No." Magnus said with finality, shaking his head with pursed lips. "Absolutely not."

"Pleeeeeaaaasssssseeeee Maggie!" Clary drawled. Her hands were clasped together in a praying motion and she crawled on her knees toward him. "It would mean the absolute world to me and I'll love you forever and ever!"

Magnus looked her directly in the eyes until finally he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine. On ONE condition." He told her.

"Anything!" Clary squealed to him.

"It's not a condition for you, it's for him." Magnus gestured in Jace's direction. He couldn't help but feel nervous, whatever it was it couldn't be good, but he nodded nonetheless. "You have to get Alec to sit with us at lunch from now on." Jace breathed a sigh of relief, this shouldn't be too difficult to do. At this point Jace was already regularly sitting with them and Jonathon would most likely be doing the same. Sebastian was an asshole and had more or less stopped talking to them anyways, so Alec would be pretty alone with a bunch of needy and annoying girls if he stayed at the other table. He nodded eagerly at Magnus who gave a single nod back. "Ok, you'll sleep on the couch, the spare bedroom is converted into my walk in closet so there's nowhere to sleep anymore. It's mostly pretty comfy, we'll get you a sheet to be more comfortable. Now I am going back to bed, I need my beauty sleep."

"It's 2 in the afternoon…" Clary mentioned in confusion.

"Dahling, beauty does not care what the time of the day is, and besides I was kept up most of the night by… other… activities." He explained with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Jace shook himself, "Too much information about my brother, Magnus."

"Hey, I didn't say anything, you filled in the blanks all on your own, you dirty minded pervert." Magnus walked away with a devious laugh and didn't come back down again for many hours.

Ok, first attempt at a new chapter again. I will try to keep up with this and keep posting as quickly again. I am not waiting for reviews this time like I used to, though it would be very nice to get them. I have some ideas for wrapping up the story and hopefully should be able to do so in only a couple of chapters. I love you guys! Thanks for taking the time to read again!