I leaned against the motel wall and watched as Jace zipped up the suitcase sitting on the faded floral bedspread. Jonathan was no longer a threat, which meant Jace didn't need to stay nearby in case something happened. Pair that with the fact he was still unemployed, and it didn't make sense for him to keep spending money to stay in town.

"I can't believe you've been living here," I said, wrinkling my nose at the dingy and musty room.

Jace lifted the suitcase off the bed. "It's not like there are many options around here."

He had a point, but I still felt bad that he'd be holed up in such a tiny space. We started to make our way down the crumbling cement stairs to the parking lot. "Are you excited to go back home?" I asked.

He shrugged and loaded his bags into his car. "It will be nice to go back to sleeping in my own bed. Do you know when you're coming back to the city?"

My teeth gnawed at the side of my thumb. I knew this topic would come up eventually, and I hadn't been looking forward to it. I'd done a lot of thinking and made a choice he wouldn't like. "I'm selling my apartment."

He closed the trunk with more force than necessary, the harsh thunk echoing through the still air. "You're not coming back?"

I looked up at the sky. It was a cloudless day, the sun bright and high against its blue background. "I don't know. Not yet. Not for a while."

I was in a better place than Jace was. The house was paid off, and the only bills I needed to worry about were the utilities and property tax. Most of Valentine's assets had been frozen, but I still had money from Jocelyn's life insurance and an account opened under an alias that couldn't be traced back to my dad. It would be a while before I'd need to find a new source of income.

"You're staying here?" he asked. "Hours away from me?"

"It won't be so bad," I said, trying to convince us both. "We'll make it work."

He placed his hands on the hood of the car. "I just got you back, Clare."

Avoiding his eyes, I drew lines in the dirt with the toe of my shoe. "It's not forever, Jace. I can't go back while everything is so fresh. Out here, everyone minds their own business. I know there's rumors and whispers, but at least they don't confront me or ask questions. That's what I need right now."

He tapped his fingers against the hood. "So, we'll be long distance?"

"It could be worse," I said. "We're only a few hours away and can visit on weekends until I decide to move back."

"Or until I move here," he threw out casually.

"Here? You would want to move here?" Jace was a city boy through and through. It was hard to picture him embracing the small-town life on a long-term basis.

"Why not?" He looked down the road at the rows of one-story buildings. A stark difference from the skyscrapers of the city. "It's quiet and peaceful—a nice change of pace. As soon as I have my license, I can work from anywhere and commute when necessary."

It sounded like he had it all planned out. "Okay, then. Weekends and phone calls until one of us moves."

The first week was harder than I'd expected. Now that we had our relationship back on track, it was difficult without Jace a few minutes away. We'd been spending so much time together, and now my days just felt empty, like those final days of summer break when you'd find yourself actually itching to return to school and see familiar faces again. The phone calls and texts just weren't cutting it.

We spent our first weekend in the city, and Jace took the time to show me all the places that had been important to him growing up. His high school, the parks where he'd played sports, his favorite lunch spot, the arcade where he used to waste away afternoons. I drank it all in, savoring even the tiniest, most insignificant details of his life.

Staying true to my word, I made sure we stopped by Celine's. We stayed for dinner one evening, and it was impossible to ignore how much she beamed at the two of us. A mother happy to see her son happy.

But I had to leave Jace behind and return to an empty house. With all the new changes happening, I decided I needed to start making changes around the house, too. I wanted it to be my home, not just my childhood home. Not just a tribute to the past. That meant selling old furniture, buying new furniture, repainting, and repurposing.

The first task I wanted to tackle was changing the master bedroom. I couldn't keep living and sleeping surrounded by Jocelyn. Jace and I had plans to work on it when he came up for the weekend, but I was feeling impatient. Simon happened to be in town visiting his mom, so I enlisted his help.

Simon and I spent an afternoon painting the walls a soft blue, and after hours of sanding, waiting for primer to dry, and painting, I thanked him with pizza, beer, and video games. We had just ended an intense match on Mortal Kombat—Simon winning, of course—when I felt a pang of yearning for Jace. I thought back to that night in the warehouse, and how only hours before, the three of us had been joking around as Jace and Simon played video games.

Jace was supposed to be coming up in a few days, but that still felt like far too long. I wanted him here now. As if he knew I was thinking of him, my phone rang with his ringtone.

"My bed doesn't feel the same without you," Jace said as way of greeting.

I blushed, looking at Simon out of the side of my eye and hoping he couldn't hear. Jace and I had shared a bed during the weekend and done far more than just sleep. "I know what you mean."

"How do people do this?" he groaned. "I didn't think it would be this hard."

I hummed my agreement. "I miss you. A lot."

"Is that Jace?" Simon asked, setting up the next match. I nodded.

"Lewis is there?" Jace questioned.

I frowned at the slight edge to his voice and told Simon to play a round by himself before excusing myself to the kitchen.

"Yeah, Simon's here." I hoisted myself up on the counter and kicked my legs in front of me.

"Why?" There was that edge again.

"Are you jealous, Jace Herondale?" I teased.

"Am I jealous because he gets to spend time with my girlfriend while I'm hundreds of miles away in a cold bed? No. Why would I be?" His sheets rustled on the other line.

I snorted at his dramatics. "Trust me, you aren't missing much. We just painted my bedroom."

"I thought we were going to do that together." I could hear the hurt in his quiet voice.

Closing my eyes, I put my head back against the cupboards. I hadn't thought he'd actually mind. After all, the less time Jace and I had to spend renovating, the more time we could spend on fun things. "Shit, I'm sorry, Jace. I—I just wanted to get started and get it over with," I explained. "But that's all we did. I still have plenty of manual labor for you to do when you get here."

"Promise?" He tried to sound like he was joking, but there was a hint of seriousness to his tone.

"Promise," I said.

We talked for a few more minutes before hanging up, and I returned to Simon. I continued to smash buttons and get my ass absolutely handed to me. I let him win a few more rounds, throwing my controller down with a huff after another fatality scene filled the screen.

"You've lost your touch, Fray," Simon laughed. When we were kids, I used to be the reigning champ, but I hadn't played in years and it showed.

"Sorry I have better things to do than play video games every day," I grumbled.

He picked up the controllers and shut down the console. "Don't worry, living out here you'll quickly run out of things to do and get your Kombat skills back in no time."

It was late, and I knew Simon needed to go home. He had to get up early the next morning to head home, so I walked him to the door.

"Visit me next time you're in the city for Jace, yeah? We can actually go out and do something," he said. "I'm sure Jordan would love to see you, too."

There was one person he was leaving out, and I had a feeling it was on purpose. "Have you heard from Maia?" I asked. I'd tried calling her but was sent to voicemail right away every time.

Simon shuffled his feet awkwardly. "She's hurt, Clary. It will take time."

I wanted to be upset, but I'd brought it upon myself. Maia had tried reaching out in the beginning, but I'd been too scared and ignored her. I had to face the consequences of that now that I was ready to talk. I just hoped I wasn't too late.

The days dragged on, and I restlessly paced the house Saturday morning until I heard the sound of an engine outside. The corners of my mouth pulled down. I knew the sound of Jace's car, but this was louder and more rumbly.

I carefully approached the front window and opened the curtain a crack to peek outside. A sleek black motorcycle slowed to a stop in the gravel, and I watched in fascination as the rider pulled his helmet off, shaking out his blond curls.

I threw open the door and hopped down the steps. "Where did that come from?" I asked, meeting him next to his bike.

"Storage," Jace answered. He opened a saddle bag and pulled out a backpack. "It's not fun to ride in the city, so it's been a while. Coming out here for the weekend gave me the perfect opportunity to take it out again."

I remembered the day he took me to the pottery studio and how I'd been surprised by his sensible car. Back then, I'd imaged him on a motorcycle. Turned out I hadn't been wrong. "Will you take me for a ride sometime?" I'd never been on a motorcycle before.

He gave me a playful smile, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the house. "Dunno. Maybe I'll make plans to take you out on it but take Simon instead."

I slapped his bicep with my free hand. "I already apologized for that. You can't keep holding it over my head," I said.

"As the victim in this scenario, I think I get to keep bringing it up as much as I'd like." He took the stairs two at a time, and I followed behind him into the master bedroom. "Nice walls. Is that new paint?"

Rolling my eyes, I sat on the edge of the bed. "Stop being such a drama queen, Jace."

He dropped his bag on the floor and sauntered over to me, stopping between my legs and leaning down so he was at eye level. "Sorry. I'm just teasing." He brought a hand up to my face. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." I leaned forward and captured his lips in a kiss. It was soft, gentle, and unhurried. We had all weekend to enjoy each other.

After Jace got settled, I put him straight to work. I hadn't been kidding when I said there would plenty of stuff for him to do. Together, we moved all the old furniture out of the room and assembled new pieces. A wrought iron bed was placed against the wall with a new memory foam mattress. I carefully made the bed with a fluffy down comforter and thick pillows. Jace put together the matching dark wood nightstands, dresser, and bookshelf as I set about decorating. The furniture instructions didn't make sense to me, so I left it all to him and kept busy with what I was good at.

Later in the evening, we found ourselves on the back porch, drinking a bottle of red wine and looking out at the stars from the Adirondack chairs.

"I wish we had more time together," Jace said.

"I know. Me too." I set my glass down, stood, and walked over to the railing, my back to Jace. "I don't think the distance thing is working," I admitted.

He would be leaving early the next afternoon, and I felt bad that most of our time had been spent redoing the master bedroom. But it was what Jace had wanted to do. I didn't want him to be gone again so soon, and I didn't want to deal with weekends that felt like wasted time when they were all we had together.

He was quiet for a moment, the chair creaking as he shifted his weight. "What does that mean?"

"It means I don't want to be apart from you, even if it's only a few hours." I paused, carefully selecting my next words. It would be a big step for us. "You said you'd consider moving up here. What if we made that happen quicker than we planned?"

"It will still take some time. My lease is almost up, so that part won't be hard," Jace explained. "Finding a place up here will be more difficult."

I leaned on the railing and stared at a column of moonlight in the grass. "You wouldn't have to worry about that," I said quietly. "When I asked you to move here, I meant here. In the house. With me."

Sorry for the longer wait. Work and personal life got a little crazy.