I traveled to Jace's on the weekends leading up to the move to help pack his belongings. It also gave me the chance to tie up any loose ends with my own apartment. I had paperwork to sign and personal belongings to gather. I left all my furniture as a gift to the new tenants.

After Jace moved in, it took us a few weeks to renovate the house and make it our own. Living in the master bedroom was less weird when it no longer looked the same as it did when it belonged to my mom, and I wanted to give the rest of the house that feeling. My old bedroom was turned into Jace's office with dark mahogany furniture and warm brown walls. Jocelyn's studio became mine; her old paintings remained covered with sheets and set in a corner. I still wasn't ready to part with or display them yet. We kept the guest bedroom mostly as it was, just updating the bedding.

Jace's presence was noticeable around the house—his baby grand in the corner of the living room, the organized DVD shelves and spice rack, his polished shoes placed neatly next to my scuffed up ones by the front door.

We were so wrapped up in each other for those first few weeks that I almost forgot a world existed outside the little farmhouse. I was reminded of the fact when Jace suggested a housewarming party. When I didn't immediately say yes, he tugged at my heartstrings by bringing up the fact he'd never had a big yard growing up and always wanted to throw his own barbecue.

I eventually gave in, but inviting a bunch of people over did not sound like fun, especially when I knew Alec Lightwood would be on the guest list. In fact, the majority of the guest list belonged to Jace. The only guarantee I had was Simon. I invited Maia and Jordan, but Maia had yet to return any of my calls, so I doubted she'd show.

Jace readied the grill while I set up drinks, chips, and snacks on the plastic-covered tables we had placed in the backyard. Simon, who showed up early to help, was in the kitchen prepping condiments and vegetables for the burgers and hotdogs.

Alec was the next to arrive. I didn't know why I had expected him to be in a suit, but his casual attire of holey jeans and a faded t-shirt surprised me. Not as much as his counterpart, though. Magnus Bane was the opposite of what I would have expected Alec to be interested in. Where Alec was cool and serious, Magnus was warm and playful. The glitter-haired man in a satin button-down and leather pants eased into conversation with me, complimenting me on the house. I could feel Alec's steely glare on me the whole time.

Isabelle Lightwood, or Izzy as she preferred to be called, wasn't like her brother either. While she had the same coolness to her as Alec, she was easy to talk to, and I noticed her and Simon hitting it off early on.

More guests arrived, and I was introduced to Jace's friends and acquaintances. Some of them I knew had to be law enforcement, likely FBI, and I felt them regard me with hesitance. I was still Valentine Morgenstern's daughter, after all, and they weren't going to automatically trust me. For this reason, I found the most comfort sticking close to Celine as Jace caught up and goofed around with his buddies, their significant others forming their own group.

It was a smaller party with probably only around sixteen people, but the whole event was more than a little jarring to me. Jason Wayland had been a bit of a recluse without many close friends. Jace Herondale was another story. But it was nice to see him laughing and playing around, the corners of his eyes crinkling like his mom's did.

He seemed so at peace, and it hit me how domestic all this was. We were just a regular couple celebrating creating a home that was ours with friends and family. There were no secrets weighing either of us down. No identities waiting to be revealed or psychotic brothers lying in wait. This could very well be my life from now on.

Jace broke away from his friends and slid an arm around my waist. He was a little off balance, the smell of beer coming from him. I couldn't recall if I'd ever actually seen him tipsy or drunk before.

"There's someone here to see you," he said, nodding his head toward the back porch.

I looked up, my eyes falling on the figure standing there. Even with his hair cut short, the starting of a beard on his face, and the sunglasses covering his eyes, I would have recognized him anywhere. I was across the yard and up the steps in record time, throwing my arms around Luke without enough force to make him stumble back.

"Easy there, kid," he chuckled.

"How are you here?" I asked, wishing the dark shades weren't hiding his familiar, kind eyes. He at least still smelled the same, a mix of Old Spice and pine.

"That boy of yours might have quite the career ahead of him. It didn't take him long to track me down."

I looked back at Jace, who was watching us with a smile, and mouthed a thank you to him. I pulled Luke inside the house before anyone else, namely Alec, could recognize him. I wasn't sure what Jace had risked by bringing Luke here, but I was grateful.

"Seems you've kept yourself busy," Luke said as he took in the redecorated kitchen. I had removed the old, peeling wallpaper and repainted the cabinets a sage green. Jocelyn's rickety kitchen table had been replaced with a rustic dinette, and we sat down at it.

"I figured it was time for a change," I said with a shrug.

He picked up the glass salt shaker and tossed it back and forth between his hands. "You look happy, Clary."

I smiled and looked out the window at the scene in the backyard, my eyes reflexively seeking out Jace. "I am."

"Embrace it, kid," Luke said. "You deserve good things."

After the sun set and the guests had all left, Jace and I decided to leave the cleaning up for tomorrow. We fell into bed together, worn out from the long day.

"Thank you again for finding Luke," I said, drawing random patterns on his chest. "It meant a lot to me."

I had spent the remainder of the party inside chatting with Luke. I felt bad abandoning Jace's friends, but I had limited time with the only remaining person I considered family before he disappeared again. That took precedence over entertaining Jace's friends, half of who probably weren't big fans of me to begin with. Luke promised to be in touch again when legal matters with Sebastian, Aline, and the others calmed down, and I hoped that day wasn't too far off.

"I would do anything to bring you happiness, Clare." Jace kissed the top of my head. "But I must admit I had my own reasons for finding him."

"You weren't trying to get information out of him, were you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"No, no, no. I would never. I wanted to ask permission," he said offhandedly. He wasn't necessarily drunk, but whatever alcohol remained in his system had reduced his verbal filter to nothing. He'd been speaking every thought that came to his mind for the majority of the night.

I propped myself up on my elbows. "Permission? For what?"

He ran a hand through his unruly hair. "Fuck. I meant to do this in a different way. A grand gesture or something. But it feels right to do it right now."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I questioned.

Leaning over, he dug through the bottom drawer of his nightstand and produced a little black box. He adjusted his position to sit up against the headboard.

"I know I hurt you and betrayed your trust, but I promise you I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you, loving you, if you give me the chance. I didn't know what was missing from my life until you entered it, and the thought of losing you or waking up without you next to me shreds me apart inside." He flipped open the lid to reveal a stunning diamond ring. "Clarissa Adele Fray, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

"No." The word came out before I could even think about it, and I slapped my hand over my mouth.

Jace's face fell. He closed the ring box with a snap. "No?"

I removed my hand and looked at Jace, trying to organize my racing thoughts. The answer had slipped out automatically, and I needed to pinpoint the exact reason why. It wasn't that I didn't want to marry Jace, but I just wasn't ready.

I got to my knees and took his hand with the box in mine. "Not a no, no. A not right now, no," I said softly.

He furrowed his brow, still trying to mentally work his way through my unexpected rejection. "Not right now?"

I brought his hand to my mouth and gently kissed his knuckles before placing his hand over my heart. "I love you, Jace, I do. And I want to marry you. . . Someday." I tightened my fingers around his and prepared to show him a vulnerable side of myself. "It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. I—I'm still dealing with my own stuff, and I don't want to enter a marriage without being the best I can possibly be for you."

"What do you mean, Clare? I love you exactly how you are," he said.

I shook my head and swallowed against the lump in my throat. "But I don't love me just the way I am. I'm not even sure who that is right now. I'm still mourning, not just Valentine. My trust issues didn't begin and end with you. I spent so long letting other people influence my life, the relationships I built, and the choices I made. Now that I'm really and truly free, I have to decide what I want my life to look like, not just what my life should look like to keep myself and others safe." I took a deep breath and leaned over to press my forehead against his, our entwined hands trapped between us. "I do know I want you in my life, for the rest of my life, but I can't fully give myself to you until I have my own shit sorted out, whether I do that by myself or start talking to someone."

He freed his hand and tossed the box on the floor before placing his hands on either side of my face. He pulled my head back enough to look me directly in the eye. "If that's how you feel, I can wait. I will always wait for you."

I exhaled in relief. "Thank you. As soon as I'm ready, you'll be the first to know."

"Well, I'd hope so," he chuckled. He lightly ran a thumb over a pulse point on my throat. "I will wait as long as it takes but let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

I gave him a chaste kiss. "Just being there for me is more than enough."

When I went to pull away, Jace dragged me back in, his mouth molding to mine. Our movements were slow and languid as we took our time removing each other's clothing, our earlier exhaustion forgotten about.

Jace carefully rolled me onto my back, settling himself between my thighs. With his fingers between my legs and mouth along my neck and breasts, he easily had me toppling over the edge, my hands fisting the sheets. He ran his lips back up to my mouth, initiating a searing kiss as he slid inside with a groan.

His thrusts were slow and long, and I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck to pull him closer. We worked in tandem, my hips tilting up to meet his thrusts as he broke the kiss and buried his sweaty face in the crook of my neck. I let out a soft moan as his teeth scraped against my pulse.

Jace reached a hand down between us, rubbing in small circles that had my back arching and gasps falling from my lips.

"Let go, love," he murmured against my skin.

After a few more thrusts, I followed his command. He kept up his steady rhythm for a bit, and when his thrusts became jerky and fast, I repeated his words to him. His hips stilled against mine, his arms shaking on either side of my head as he came. With ragged breaths, he collapsed on the bed next to me, pulling my body with him so I was draped over his chest.

He brought my left hand to his mouth and placed a kiss against my bare ring finger. "I dream of the day I can make you mine," he whispered.

Thank you to everyone who is still here. The next chapter will probably be the last.