Let the world disappear
There are places up here we can hide
We'll be safe way up high
Somewhere only we can find
- Astronauts, Rachel Platten.
Lets stumble
through the dark
into each other arms.
Who needs light when
you got warmth?
"Jace-"
"It's none of their business," Jace rants angrily into his phone, pacing up and own the handicap stall, not caring if his coworkers heard him "so why did they have to fucking drive me home? I could have-"
"Jace!" Clary screams, elicting curious looks from her co-workers as she bounces her knee up and down. "Let's go there tonight."
Jace didn't need to ask. He knew what she was referring to, their place. Their galaxy was waiting for them. Just a few miles away. Jace felt the tension in his muscles drain as he answered. "Yea, actually that sounds perfect" he lets out a long breath of air "Love you."
"Love you too."
Clary drops her phone back into her bag seconds before the manager walks in.
"Clary, your break ended 5 minutes ago!"
Her fist clenched, yes going there tonight does sound perfect.
...
"Jace! Why are you living a street away from that...those crazy psychopaths?" Janice, the older and annoying Chef, screams over a pot of bubbling...something. "Are you getting into trouble? Poor Simon had quite a scare dropping you off inside that dump you call a home. Scared senseless-"
Jace's amber eyes flashed under the bright lights of the kitchen, but no one noticed or saw. He was bent over the sink, his position as dishwasher granting him at least that much. His hands shook from barely suppressed rage because what kind of person said that?
That the home you can barely afford is a dump?
That the place where you and your beloved was purposefully planned to be a few streets away from the most dangerous mafia around?
That, somehow, Jace wanted all of this to happen.
Wanted for life to be so dam unfair.
"Take it easy, ma'am." Simon crooned, acting like the suck-up the was "Jace is probably really tired. We don't need to make today harder on the poor fella'"
'Fake.' Jace wanted to scream. 'Fake, that bastard was barely better off than him!'
And he had a perfectly acceptable New york accent, none of this southern charm shit.
Then again, Janice was brutal. Maybe he was so petty because he wishes he came up with the idea first.
But no... Jace had the worst first introduction possible, mistaking her for a male and proceeding to say in very condescending manner of how the kitchen was reserved for staff only.
Simon on the other hand, eagerly smiled down at her and pumped her hand enthusiastically. Going on and on with an impressive southern accent about how much he looooves her caramel apple pie.
Ever since then she has favored that rat over Jace.
And to make matter worse, Clary was the rat's best friend!
Simon, donning a waiter uniform, arranged a few trays and plates so that they were easier for Jace to access. Which was nice but definitely didn't light a candle to all the other crimes against New Yorkers that rat-
"I'm sorry for dropping you off home." Simon murmured, infuriating Jace further "I honestly just wanted to call you a taxi but Jan was breathing down my neck. She really likes you, you know."
Jace grunts in disapproval.
Simon sighed, "Whatever. And I wasn't scared senseless so you can forget that."
After a huff he strides back out, a grin plastered across his face for whatever idiot was going to complain about the spicy tuna being too spicy.
...
The lady in front of her was a typical Tuesday.
Not that that was anything to be proud of.
"Listen, girl. I bought a McFlurry and left in my car for three minutes or something and when I came back it was completely melted! I demand a refund! Or at least a new order."
"May I have a receipt?" Clarya sked, a polite smile plastered on her face "It's store policy-"
"ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR?"
"No, ma'am- its' just store policy that we have a receipt before we make any transactions-"
"I demand to speak to the manager!"
Aline, employee of the month and one of the most patient people Clary has ever met, stepped forward a placating smile on her face.
"What seems to be the issue?"
The lady points at me as if I were an object and not a fellow human being, which to her I might as well have not been "That girl refuses to give me a refund and called me a liar!"
"I never called her a liar" I whisper to Aline who nods slightly.
"Do you have a receipt?" Aline asks sweetly with the firmness that said 'i'm right and your not'. "We'll need a receipt before giving out refunds. It's store policy."
"I didn't know that."
'I just told you that like a gazillion times!' Clary is tempted to scream but she doesn't. That'd be a stupid way to get fired.
"Well when you find your receipt we'd be more than happy to accommodate you."
The lady nods, shoots me a nasty glare then leaves.
"WHAT A BI-"
"Clary!" Aline scolds "No cursing during work hours!"
...
The place wasn't very far from the city. Only an hour, barely. It was in a practically deserted street. A place with nothing besides dirt and brick. The building there was theirs and perfect.
It was supposed to be a planetarium. But they only ever made the star dome. Then...the evaluations started.
Started small, of course.
It practically crept up on you.
NOT. It was obviously another way to gain control over the youth, over America.
A test that could determine whether or not you were deemed a success or a failure.
Just a test demanded for every legal adult to what they can accomplish. Clary, was young then she had recently turned 18, rebelled against the very intrusive test and did her best to fail. A whole group of them was supposed to fail- lead by her ex, Sebastian Morgenstern.
But what's an angry group of high school students against all the adults in America?
The tests were taken very seriously and Clary wasn't accepted anywhere impressive. No scholarship came her way, and the agent who had been looking into her work steered clear of her.
So she went to McDonalds, who was always hiring and offered employee discount.
Because until McDonalds came up with a more effective way of serving food humans will be needed to feed the public.
And then she met Jace, who had been sick while the test was distributed and never took the test. His father was furious and refused to hear any of his expectations, he was kicked out of the house a week later. So he was failed and had to look for employment elsewhere. He went to McDonalds and that is how they first met.
It wasn't a smooth meeting, Jace had accidentally insulted her and since he clearly stated that he wasn't a customer she had no qualms against calling him a 'asshat'. The second one was better though and so was the third one. Everytime Jace would order some first and leave a $5 tip. Clary eventually softened up and eventually agree to the date, claiming it was just to save him from a gnarly case of diabetes.
Jace ended up getting a better job at a fancy smancy restaurant. As a dishwasher, but money was money.
Anyway, the evaluations started small but somehow the government managed to get patrolls and curfew. But only for the big cities were the crime rates were the highest, if you left before curfew and went to an abandoned ghost town-or road. And there was an empty building you had a key to...well. There was no law against that.
It wasn't even in New York.
Jace drove there and Clary drove them back.
Clary was singing along to the radio, looking through her paints. Poking Jace to make sure he was still awake resulting in him poking her back. Just two young adults who have been screwed over by a stupid test. "DON'T STOP BELIEVING!"
Jace sings the next verse, his laugh making his singing seem more like choked screaming "HO-OLD ON TO THAT," choked laugh "FEELING!"
...
The building loomed over them, it was huge and dome-like and...waiting for them.
Clary felt adrenaline push through her veins as he launched out of the car and bounded up the steps, her skin prickling to life as the cold wind wrapped around her. If it were anywhere else she would have gen int 'conserve body heat' mode- in wher ehs woudl tuck herlsef in as tightly as possible. But right now, in front of the building, all she wanted to do was jump and scream and run.
They were here.
She looked over her shoulder, expecting Jace to be on her heels, Jace was still in the car smiling at her with a gushy fond smile that made her insides go all soft.
"C'mon Herondale! Our galaxy awaits their Queen" she calls at him, pretending she forgot she adds "and their King too, I suppose".
Jace quickly got out of the car and followed her, the key appearing in his hand. He didn't bother with any suspenseful waiting he shoved into the keyhole and CLICK.
They were in.
The dome, the half-finished planetarium was a bit dusty and drab. Despite Clary's best efforts the Planetarium never quite looked homey. Always like it was, an abandoned project, a project abandoned by the Herondale Inc.
It had one hallway that led to nothing, and that was the only drab part of it. The rest has been painted on. A solar system. With shining stars if all the colors of the rainbow.
Some planets that held odd shapes and barren or other with vibrant colors and hosted life. In the middle there was a wide blank patch. Perfect for two large planets. The patch separated the dark side of the made-up galaxy and the bright one. The barren side with peace and calm and the chaotic overflowing side.
Clary brought up the stand thing, It was an elevator of sorts. An elevated stand with enough room for her to stretch out and lie down. Rooms she used to stock her paints and herself. She brought out her sketch pad and looked at the wall, there was a crazy look in her eye. She popped the mask over her mouth and nose and Jace knew...tonight the dome's galaxy would be complete.
Jace started telling his stories, the one of their planets. The history of the stars Clary painted. And describing the alien-life she had painted so clearly and so confidently it was as if she was painting from memory.
"Once there was a panet of angels and demons, good and evil. And then they were the protectors-"
"Boring!" Clary teases "Come up with something more original."
"The guardians!"
"Rip-off".
"Shadowhunters!"
"...I like that actually."
"So the shadowhunters main job was to keep the peace and to do that they were to destroy the beings if chaos- demons. They have angel blood in their veins."
"How does that even work?"
"You'll know when I get there!" He clear his throat "Anyway, oh it's dripping- do you want me to...?"
"No I got it, besides I still have some of the paint if have to paint over it. I mixed more than necessary."
And she goes back to painting there world.
The dark side of their galaxy was their tortured past. The tyrannical ruler was Jace's father, and the suffocating fog were the expectations that used to rest on Clary's shoulders. The deep canyons and fierce waves somehow depicted like it was an actual planet. Everything cartoonish about it blended so it simply looked unique.
There was a small planet to the side almost out of orbit. Constantly pelted with asteroids and space rock and muck.
It was tiny and red and Clary's depiction of herself. She proudly called it Clary.
There was a bigger planet a little further off, completely off orbit. But it burned anything that dared cross it. Hot gas and flames licking it's surroundings.
Even Simon, Izzy, Jordan and Maia had their own planets. References to the rest of the world where made throughout. And you only noticed if you were
The dark side was the past, Clary was convinced that time and space were directly correlated.
Jace decided not to argue her logic.
On the other half, the light. Their future. Their present. Was everything they ever dreamed of and are proud of accomplishing. Their friends. Their places.
It was bright and filled with color, both bright and dark but it didn't matter because it was beautiful and untouchable and so close.
It was perfect.
"Jace, do you..." she hesitated half-scared to know the truth "think i'm stupid for being so positive?"
Jace sat up, his fingers halting on the keyboard he kept stashed in there safe haven "No! I love that you are so positive it gives me hope. I think you are right to think the way you do."
Clary nodded and Jace could tell she wasn't connected.
He climbed the ladder instead of taking the stairs and wrapped his lean arms around her "This" he whispers making a hand gesture that suggested everything "is just another step to that." He points to the bright and mysterious side of the galaxy some of it clear and obvious some of it misty and bright.
"And even if we somehow stumble even deeper down" he kisses the spot above her ear "we will have each other so we'll never go back there."
He nods to the dark side, he tugs at her and he turns to face him. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears, "Clary, we are fucking astronauts and we are going to fuck the world up because the world needs a little bit of fixing. Together?"
She blinks as he gets down on one knee, she wants to drop into his arms but is afraid that she'll shove him off the ladder. So she gently kneels in the small space in front of him, framing his face with her small pant smeared hands "Together."
Newly engaged, they turn to her finished masterpiece.
Clary beams, radiating joy.
"It's dripping." Jace whispers.
"..."
"I'm kidding! Stop hitting me! I'm your fiance!"
Thank you so much for recommending the song to me. I liked it so much I had to make one immediately. So... i did! I also really liked 'Superman' by Rachel Platten. :D Recommendations are always welcome and I hope I did your recommendation justice
Stay safe!
xxx
PS. Shoot me a comment?
PPS. Please check out my Sizzy one-shot, it's "He Wasn't Good Enough For Her, (No. Wait! He Was.)"
And there is a one-shot that follows my music theme, it's called "You Promised"
:D