Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instruments series. Everything recognisable belongs to Cassandra Clare.
Again, I am so sorry for not updating earlier, but I've had literally no time with school starting up again.
Thank you guys for every single review, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. This chapter has a lot of dialogue, so I hope you.
Alec pushed the door to the hotel room open. It had been a few hours since they had all calmed down enough to not pace through the hotel in total anxiety. Alec found Jace leaned against the wall in one of the two rooms they had rented.
"Hey." He said in a low, rough voice, "Can I talk to you for a second?" he added when Jace lifted his head to look at his parabatai.
"I would say you already are." Jace stated with a small grin on his face.
"Funny." Alec replied sarcastically, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Fine, sorry, speak." Jace muttered annoyed, "But can we go somewhere else?"
"Why?" Alec lifted an eyebrow questioning, before he saw Jace point towards the bed.
Clary lay peacefully in the bed, facing the wall, hiding her expression. Her red hair lay in silky waves over the pillow, burning bright against the white sheets.
"Sure." Alec nodded, understanding the girl would need some sleep after what she'd been through the last few days. They both walked outside, standing in the middle of the hall before any of them started speaking.
"You know, this isn't really what I meant when I said I wanted a break. I was thinking more of like Florida or LA, not on the run f-" Alec didn't let Jace finish his stupid joke, "Jace don't, this is the dumbest thing you've ever done." Alec stated angry, pointing his finger in the direction of his best friend.
"Nah, I don't know about that. Remember that time I tried fairy food? I ended up running down the streets completely naked, I would say that was pretty dumb."
"Don't make this into a joke, because it's not!" Alec muttered irritated.
The amused expression on Jace's face dropped, "I know." He whispered honestly.
"They think you're dead Jace. Your parents think you are dead!" Alec raised his voice as he confronted Jace.
"You're being really unfair now Alec, it's not like I had any choice!" Jace barked back, holding the same irritation in his voice.
"I am being unfair? Do you even know what that word means?" Alec sneered.
Jace snorted, "You can't possibly think I would let Clary die, her father was on his way to take her and I don't know what changed her mind about Valentine, but I'm not going to leave her the second something bad happens!"
"I'm not asking you to do that, I want to help her too, but risking your life like that. You know what you are doing, right? Pretending to be dead to help a criminal, that's some pretty serious shit Jace, and if we don't get killed in the process, you can bet they won't go nice on you when we get back." Alec's voice sounded hoarse, giving Jace a cold feeling inside him. He knew his parabatai was right; he was putting all his friends in danger by pulling off such a risky trick on the Clave. He knew that.
"I'm sorry I'm not here to tell you I know exactly what we're supposed to do, I'm sorry that I didn't think of the consequences of my actions and I'm sorry I dropped your stupid plan. Is that what you want me to say?" Jace drew a deep breath after speaking, his voice starting to sound light from lack of air.
"NO!" Alec yelled, "No, I don't want you to apologize!" Alec walked a few steps closer to his best friend to keep himself from yelling.
"I want you to understand how screwed up you are right now!" he added.
"Why? You don't even have to be here!" Jace didn't care whether Alec stood five feet away or five inches, he yelled at him either way.
"Because I care about you! We aren't going to leave you, because no matter how fucked up your ideas are, we still care about you!" Alec's voice shook.
"I know." Jace muttered angry, a guilty feeling growing inside him. It was true, no matter how many times Jace showed he was reckless and he did thing none of them agreed with, they still followed. They still cared about him enough to make sure he didn't die in the process.
"But right now, your idea of saving the world is so fucked up that you're just going to let your parents think you're dead. Iwan think you're dead!"
"I KNOW DAMNIT!" Jace shouted frustrated, knowing Alec was absolutely right.
"Boys." A sorrowful voice came from behind Alec's back. Isabelle stood with her arms crossed, looking at them with a half-hearted smile.
"Please tell me all that screaming didn't come from you two." She asked, sending them a stern gaze.
"Of course not." Jace replied, sending her a sheepish grin.
"No, of course not." Alec agreed, receiving a disappointed expression from Isabelle.
Alec walked away before any of them could say any more, leaving Isabelle and Jace staring at his back.
"Why are you two fighting? He's your best friend." Isabelle asked.
"I don't know, you ask him." Jace answered, receiving a punch in the shoulder from an irritated Isabelle.
xxxx
Jon entered the dimmed room with light steps. He'd postponed talking with Clary until he was one hundred per cent sure he knew what he was going to say. She'd been somewhat civil to him yesterday and there was no way in hell he would be the one to screw that up.
"Hi." He whispered when he walked inside the room. Clary was still fast asleep, but as soon as she heard his voice, she jumped up, like she'd been awake all along.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He told her as she started pulling her hair up into a tight ponytail.
"You didn't." Clary answered.
Jon nodded carefully, "So, did you sleep well?" he asked, forgetting his planned conversation.
Clary felt her cheeks heat, had she slept well? Yes, after making out with a certain blond haired, golden eyed Shadowhunter.
"Yeah, sure." She answered as cool as she managed without showing her embarrassment.
"What time is it?" She asked.
"Don't worry, it's barely six in the morning. I just thought you would want to wake up before the others, you seem like the early type." Jon told her, receiving a small smile from his sister.
"Apparently so are you." Clary retorted, getting out of the bed.
"Not normally, but it's not every day my sister gets her ass caught by the Clave and is desperately in need of my assistance." Jon smirked playfully, "Or you know what? That does actually sound like a normal day for the Fairchilds." He added with a laugh.
Clary opened her mouth to snap back at him that her name wasn't 'Fairchild', but after scanning him briefly she shook her head with a sad smile covering her face.
"Clary?" Jon asked, noticing her change of expression, "I just got one more question and then I'll leave you alone."
"I don't mind you being her Jonathan." Clary replied, sending a feeling of relief through her brother's body.
"Thanks." He smiled carefully, "But you might change your mind after I ask my question.." he added nervously.
"I doubt it, but you could give it a try by actually asking me this stupid question." Clary answered, turning her head in his direction, biting down on the inside of her lip.
"I was just wondering why you changed your mind, what happened with our father that made you realise what he'd done?" Jon asked, avoiding eye contact with his redheaded sister.
"What do you mean 'what he had done?'" Clary asked short.
"Oh, I just assumed you'd changed your mind about him, you know, him being.. our mother being the.." the fear of losing Clary due to anger kept Jonathan from finishing his sentence, but instead Clary jumped in, "You mean, him taking me away from my home pretending to save me from an abusive relationship?" Clary asked.
"Yeah." Jon nodded, feeling his face turn red with anger.
"Yeah." Clary repeated, ending the conversation with an obvious attempt to keep him off the topic of why she changed her mind.
xxxx
"I can't believe he didn't even tell me the reason." Magnus shook his head as he listened to his boyfriend's angry rant about his parabatai.
"No, it's completely and utterly disastrous." Magnus replied, stroking his cat lovingly on the back.
"Ha-ha, I can hear sarcasm in your voice. I'm not stupid." Alec muttered, throwing the nearest object he could find in the warlock's direction.
"Hey, hey, hey, be careful with the cat!" Magnus shouted as Chairman Meow jumped off the bed with a loud hiss.
"How did you even get that cat inside here? Isn't pets banned from the building?" Alec asked as he watched the fat creature run across the room as far away from Alec and the flying objects as possible.
"What part of being a warlock do you not understand Alexander?" Magnus asked, sending him a mischievous smirk.
"Apparently I do not understand a lot these days, or else my best friend wouldn't avoid telling me stuff and be a complete moron."
"As much as I love listening to you offend that big-headed Shadowhunter boy, I really do think you should talk to him." Magnus answered, stretching his legs out on the comfortable bed.
"Yeah, so that he can yell at me some more? No thanks." Alec snapped irritated.
"Fine by me, you could also accompany me here; this bed is definitely not design for lonely people." Magnus smirked, sending Alec a one-eyed wink.
xxxx
"Hey you."
Clary turned around to see Jace stand in the door, "Oh, hey." Clary answered.
"You don't sound very enthusiastic." Jace stated as he stepped inside the room.
"I'm not a very enthusiastic person; you should've learned that by now." Clary replied.
"Of course, I don't know what I was thinking." Jace answered, sending a small smile across Clary's lips. She avoided looking him in the eyes, last night's memories hanging on a line in front of her eyes. She felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment and a tingle shot through her stomach.
"Jace."
"Okay, sorry, I get that you don't want to be very positive about this whole thing." He told her, making Clary shake her head, her red ponytail whipping her across her face.
"No, it's not that. I just.. I heard you last night, when you.. I guess you assumed I was sleeping, which by the way is really stupid, because I've lived with a person who's first rule is 'always sleep with one eye open', no scratch that, father's first rule is probably 'never show any weakness', but anyway, I heard you and Alec talk.. or should I say yell at each other like your lives depended on it." Clary drew a deep breath before she continued, "And I really hope you're not fighting about me and this whole thing."
Jace laughed, "No, don't worry, we're not fighting about you and me."
"No god, I didn't mean you and me…" Clary blushed, "I meant the plan, everything I've done to damage your world."
"Clary, you've not damaged the Shadow World, you've merely made our people realise that there's a threat in this world that is not made of smoke and shadows and that they need to understand that they're not invincible. But you alone, you've not done anything." Jace reassured her, sitting down next to her on the large hotel bed.
"How can you say that? I, alone, almost killed your father, your brother, my mother, Alec, Isabelle, Jonathan and you."
"Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves here, I don't think you've ever almost killed me." Jace told her with a thoughtful expression.
"You're kidding right?" Clary asked, not waiting for him to answer before adding, "You do realise everyone except us six believe I've killed you?"
"Yes, I do," Jace pointed a finger at her, "But you, you never actually killed me."
Clary started to feel more and more irritated with him for joking around the fact that she'd caused sorrow and misery in the lives of innocent people.
"Jace, please."
"No, I honestly don't think you've done anything wrong Clary, at least not without being manipulated into doing those things."
"Can you stop defending me?" Clary snapped, all her built up anger leaving her at once.
"Can you stop acting like all this is a joke to you? Like you don't care about your family thinking you're dead or that you honestly think this was a good idea. Because I'm with Alec on this one, I fucked up, I shouldn't have let you help me and I definitely shouldn't have done it the way I did it!" Clary yelled, frustration steaming off of her voice.
"Clary.."
"Don't. I don't care, you can go. You should go!" She stopped him.
"Clary."
"It's not like I need anyone, actually I think I'll be doing pretty great without you-"
"CLARY!" Jace shouted, snapping her out of her hissy fit.
"What?" she barked.
"I'm not leaving." Jace reassured her in a calm voice.
"Yes you are." She protested, getting up from the bed, forcing him to do the same.
"No, just because I'm kind of freaking out about my family thinking I'm dead, and pretending like I'm not, doesn't mean I'll leave you alone. I don't care that you can do this alone, because I'm not leaving. And I'm not letting you go, not again." Jace cupped her face with his hands, forcing her to look at him. Their eyes met in a blend of angry green and cool gold.
Clary stared up at him, wondering whether he was being sarcastic or not. The intensity in his eyes spoke of truth rather than lies, so Clary decided to drop it. The truth was, she did not want to do this alone, she knew she would be capable of doing it, but still, the thought of going through what she had decided to do alone, would be like facing a living hell.
"Okay." Clary mumbled in defeat after leaving his gaze.
"Good." Jace answered back, letting go of her face.
Clary sent him a weak smile before she started turning away from him. Jace reacted faster than Clary, startling her by spinning her back towards him. She tripped over her own feet, falling ungracefully back into Jace's grip.
"You complete asshole, what the hell are you doing?" Clary began another angry sentence, but the smug grin playing on his lips shut her up.
Jace's lips pressed hard against hers. Clary's heart missed a beat as she felt his warm breath touch her skin lightly. She opened her mouth, allowing the kiss; she didn't know why she seemed to become hypnotized by his every touch, like he had her under some sort of spell.
She could taste the sweetness of him on the tip of her tongue. His lips moving fast on hers and giving her little time to breathe. The heat of their bodies together burned the air around them like fire. Clary leaned back against the bed as Jace pushed her against it, making her fall back on the soft covers of the bed.
Clary dug her nails into the back of his neck, brushed her fingers through his hair, kissing him roughly. She felt like she couldn't touch him enough, like it was impossible to control her feelings. She didn't understand her own desire to be with him, she'd never had the need for someone else. Not like she needed Jace.
Jace kissed her neck softly, making a small moan escape Clary's lips. She pulled at his shirt, tucking at the first button of his dark blue shirt when the door burst open.
Both teenagers jumped apart. Jace fell off the bed in one inelegant move to the left.
The boy standing in the door looked at them in bewilderment and shock. "Ehh, next time you should probably lock the door." Alec stated awkwardly.
Jace had gotten back up and told his parabatai with a smug expression written on his face: "Well, it wouldn't really matter since you got a key anyway."
"I wouldn't have walked in if it had been locked idiot." Alec snapped.
"So, we're still fighting?" Jace muttered back.
"Apparently." Alec answered, looking between Jace and Clary.
"Are you seriously doing that?" Alec asked in a disapproving voice.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Clary spoke for the first time in a while.
"No, I didn't mean that as in you, I meant, shouldn't you be figuring out our next step in this stupid plan?" Alec corrected.
Clary rolled her eyes, her annoyance once again forcing its way out. "Okay, first of all you stuck up little blue eyed dimwit, why do you think you've got anything to do with what I do and when I do it? Second of all, do you really think I've not figured out what we're going to do next?"
"You have what?" both Alec and Jace asked stunned. Jace with a satisfied smirk playing on his lips, Alec with an embarrassed tone to his voice.
"Figured out what to do next." Clary repeated with an irritated voice.
"And what is that?" Alec asked sceptical.
"What do you think? There is only one thing we can do that can keep my father from completing his plan, and that is taking what he needs the most, before he can get to them." Clary explained.
There was a long pause. The room was in complete silence, both boys pondering over Clary's words.
"The Mortal Instruments." Alec mumbled.
"Exactly." Clary smirked, a bit of the darkness she'd shown back in the Institute rising in her eyes.
Thank you for reading, hope you liked this chapter and I'll update again as soon as possible. Please leave a review telling me what you thought!