Clary wasn't exactly sure how everything happened. One minute Jace was by her side while she waited to have her drink tray filled and the next he was dragging a huge man across the room by the arm he had pinned behind the man's back. Clary barely had time to process the fact that the man was yelling hateful homophobic slurs back toward the bar before Magnus was hopping over the bar and barking orders at his security team. She definitely wasn't expecting to be included in these orders, so she was completely caught off guard when Magnus turned to grab the tray and order pad out of her hand. "We'll take care of your tables," he told her, "take lover boy to my office and get him to calm the fuck down before I have to kick him out! He may have saved my face, but you know I can't allow violence in my bar!" Before Magnus was done speaking he was shoving his keys into Clary's hand and pushing her towards a very pissed off Jace.
Jace was so angry, in fact, that his entire body was trembling with rage. Clary grabbed his hand and began pulling him toward the back. "Come on, Jace, you've got to calm down!" she told him, weaving through the crowd.
"Did you hear that guy?!" he yelled. "They weren't hurting anybody! All they were doing was talking!" His hand still shook where she held it in hers.
Clary had only seen Gramps this angry twice in her life. Both times Gran had been the only one able to calm him. She tried to remember how Gran had done it as she led them back to Magnus' office. She remembered her speaking to him in soothing tones and tried to do the same.
"You're right, Jace. Magnus and Alec weren't doing anything wrong."
"Of course they weren't!" Jace raged. "Alec wouldn't hurt a fly! He's never done anything to hurt anybody! He's probably saved more lives than everybody in this entire bar put together. That guy had no right to take a swing at either of them!"
"You're right," Clary cooed soothingly, as she closed and locked the door behind them. "He was definitely in the wrong."
"Who cares if that idiot disagrees with their lifestyle?! It's not like they're making him live it for them!"
"I know, Jace," Clary said, trying to rub soothingly up and down his arms. She seemed to remember Gran doing this with Gramps. She knew Gran had always kept contact. Clary remembered asking her about it after the fact and Gran had said it helped to remind him she was there because she knew no matter how mad he was, he would never risk her getting hurt. Gran had also said it helped to get him to try and slow his breathing and heart rate to match hers.
Clary had no idea how to do this, so she took one of his hands and placed it over her heart as she took one of hers and placed it over his. It was definitely racing. He really needed to calm down. He didn't seem to be shaking now though, so that was good. "You need to breathe," she told him. "Here, I'll breathe with you. In," she took a deep breath in, motioning with the hand that wasn't on his chest for him to join her.
Jace was staring at her now. He didn't seem to be moving at all. Clary wondered if he was in shock. He'd gone from completely agitated to almost comatose. His heart was still racing, but he was just staring. His chest wasn't moving. Had he breathed at all? "Jace? I need you to breathe. Come on. In and out. I'll breathe with you. Ready? In… and out… she felt her hand rise and fall on his chest as he followed her breathing, his eyes locked on her face.
Clary remembered that the last thing Gran had done to calm Gramps down had been to distract him with a kiss. As she thought of this Clary felt herself blush and her own heart began to race.
There was nothing in the world Clary wanted more right now than to kiss Jace. Usually she didn't condone the use of violence, but seeing Jace flex those glorious muscles to put that bully in his place had done something to Clary she wouldn't have predicted. There was just something about seeing him care for, defend, and protect those who were most deserving and in need of it. First with Gran, then with Magnus and Alec. Clary had never been more turned on in her entire life.
Clary could feel Jace's heart racing beneath her palm as she slowly leaned toward him. She knew her heart was also racing where his hand rested just above her bustier. She was taking her time. Giving him every chance to move away if he didn't want this to happen. Even in her heels Clary was short enough that Jace was going to have to lean down for their lips to meet. There was no way for this to happen if they didn't both want it.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Clary moved her hands up Jace's chest to wrap them around the back of his neck. Their eyes remained locked as she felt his soft silky curls slide between her fingers while her nails gently scratched Jace's scalp at the base of his neck. She wanted to make it very clear what was about to happen, so Jace would have every chance to back out if he just wanted to be friends. Clary felt like she was moving slower than she ever had in her entire life. It felt like an eternity before she was gently tugging Jace's face down to meet her own. Everything moved in extremely slow motion until their lips touched, then it felt like a spark igniting an explosion and everything happened at once.
Clary tightened her grip, crushing his lips into hers as Jace placed his hands under her ass and lifted Clary right off of her feet. Clary wrapped her legs around Jace's waist, locking them at her ankles while Jace took a few steps forward pushing her back against the nearest wall. Clary gasped against Jace's mouth, allowing the kiss to deepen. She hadn't gasped because of the jolt of her back hitting the wall, but rather the jolt of what she felt colliding with the front of her as she realized there was no denying that Jace wanted this just as badly as she did. It wasn't a random dream, or a thing that happened to boys in the morning for no good reason. It was just her and Jace and undeniable attraction, and Clary couldn't get enough of it. She remembered the intoxicating taste of Jace from the kitchen of her apartment and the smell of sandalwood and musk and man, but this time there was no Gran watching and no laugh to stop her, and Clary didn't think she would ever get enough. She was nipping and teasing and sucking on Jace's lips and tongue, all the while moving her hips up and down and thrusting her body against his and Jace was responding in kind. She rested her head back against the wall and moaned as her center made contact with his once again.
"Clary," he was gasping. Then he was kissing all along her jaw and behind her ear and down her neck, and gently sucking at the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder met, and Clary couldn't help but moan again. They had too many clothes on, and Clary didn't have her purse on her.
"Do you… do you have protection?" She managed to ask between moans. Jace stopped kissing her and rested his forehead on hers, closing his eyes.
"Clary we can't," he began. "I don't want…" It was like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on Clary. She untangled herself from Jace and started to push him away, feeling completely mortified and knowing she was probably redder than a fire engine.
"Wait!" Jace said. "Please!" Something in his voice made Clary pause. Even as embarrassed as she was, she couldn't turn away from the pain she heard in his voice. "You know that's not… I mean obviously I want you. I want to be with you more than I've ever wanted anything in my entire life. Surely you know that by now. It's just… You told me your first time wasn't special, and there's nothing I can do about that… but at least I can make your first time with me special. Not like this though. Not if we do it against the wall in someone else's office."
When Jace was done talking he used his finger and thumb to bring her face up to meet his. Clary watched his eyes roam her face. Searching for understanding. She didn't know what to say. She remembered Simon telling her once that it was painful for guys to get aroused if they weren't able to do anything about it.
Clary looked from his eyes down to his erection, which had been pressed against her moments before. "Would you like me to… I mean, I could at least take care of that for you…" When she looked back up she saw a look of horror in Jace's eyes.
"There's no way I would let you take care of me until I take care of you at least once!" he said emphatically. "Maybe… would you like to come by and see me after work? I mean, do you have to hurry straight home to check on Gran? I'd understand… but I'd really like to finish what we started here… if you want to..."
"Gran will be asleep," Clary assured him. "She actually thinks I'm on a date with you anyway. I'd love to come by."
"Good," Jace breathed out, leaning forward to claim Clary's lips in another kiss. Just as their lips touched Clary heard Simon's voice calling her from the hall.
"Clary? Are you back here?"
Jace sighed. "I'm really gonna kill that guy one day," he muttered.
"In here," Clary called out, motioning for Jace to sit behind the desk, hoping he would take the hint and hide his little situation before Simon came in.
The door knob began rattling. "Hey!" Simon called. "Why is it locked?!"
Clary checked to make sure Jace was decent before moving to open the door. "Sorry, Simon. Habit, I guess. We always leave it locked when the bar is open. What's up?"
"What are you doing back here?" Simon asked suspiciously, glancing between Clary and Jace.
"Magnus sent us back here to calm down. Jace rescued him from getting attacked at the bar. Where's Izzy?" Clary asked.
"She's in the bathroom." Simon was still eyeing Jace suspiciously. "You look pretty calm to me." He turned to face her and Clary furiously willed herself not to blush. "Don't you think you should come out and serve drinks? You are being paid," he said crossly.
"Yes, slave driver," Clary sighed. "I am allowed to take a break once in a while, you know. God forbid I should ever be allowed to rest."
Just then they heard Izzy's voice from down the hall, "Simon! What did I tell you about bothering Clary and Jace? Who's watching our table?"
"Alec and Magnus are there. And Clary said they were getting ready to come out anyway," Simon protested.
"That's not exactly what I said," Clary muttered, but seeing that Jace had walked up behind her and seemed to be back to his usual self she sighed and motioned for everyone to leave so she could lock the office and get back to work.
The bar wasn't any busier than it had been when they left, and Magnus was indeed seated in the booth next to Alec and no longer even pretending to work. As she looked around, Clary was surprised to realize how little time had passed since she had taken Jace into the office. What had felt like an eternity of life changing decisions had really only been a few stolen moments. Clary handed Magnus back his keys as he looked at her with one eyebrow raised and asked, "everything okay now?"
"I'm fine," Jace assured him. "I never would have started something in your bar. I was one-hundred percent taking it outside."
Magnus kept his eyes on Clary, giving her a once over as Jace talked. Clary felt herself blush as she looked away. She could tell by the twinkle in his eyes when they caught hers that Magnus had an idea of exactly what she had been doing to help calm Jace down.
"Well, I appreciate you not letting him rearrange this fine work of art," Magnus said, gesturing to his face in an exaggerated fashion. "I had my hands full pouring drinks and he would have caught me completely off guard. I'm actually really surprised anyone could react fast enough to stop him mid swing. If you ever decide to switch professions, there will always be a spot for you available on my security team."
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," Jace answered cordially. Turning to Clary he added, "Can I get you anything from the bar?"
"I'm working," Clary reminded him, "but I'd be happy to get you something if you'd like."
After she took Jace's order, Clary found out what everyone else was having and moved to ask the other servers about the rest of her tables. As it turns out, the potential fight was all everyone wanted to talk about. Everybody near the bar wanted to know where Jace had run off to, and everyone out of earshot wanted to know what had gone down.
Clary continued to work, stopping frequently to check on her friends and even sitting for a few minutes here and there to visit. Every time she sat down, she squeezed into the now crowded booth next to Jace, and every time she did, she got a suspicious sidelong look from Simon. She was going to need to talk to him about her ability to be an adult and make her own decisions and his need to back off, but she wasn't going to talk to him in front of everybody and she wasn't going to do it here.
As the night went on, Clary became more and more grateful she had not taken it off and spent the evening with her friends. It was true that the bar wasn't as full as it usually was on a Friday night, but almost every table had left her a much larger tip than usual. She got $23 at a table that only ordered two drinks and $60 at a table who'd ordered quite a few rounds. Clary actually wasn't sure she'd had a single table leave her less than $20.
Clary asked one of the other servers if she'd noticed tips being particularly high and she confirmed that she wasn't doing too bad for a slower night. There really was no accounting for generosity. Maybe people were in the giving mood with Thanksgiving on the way.
The more people drifted and trickled out the door, the more likely Clary knew it was that Magnus was going to send her home. She hadn't taken the time to think about it when she'd accepted Jace's invitation, but now that she had some time it was starting to hit her what she had agreed to. She felt the familiar flutter of butterflies in her stomach.
At least she finally knew he was interested in her as more than a friend. At the same time, it had been years since Clary had been with anybody, and it had only been with someone who was as inexperienced as she was. She hadn't been embarrassed then because Sebastian hadn't known what he was doing any more than she had. This was different. There was no doubt Jace had all kinds of experience in this area. Clary wasn't even sure if this was a one time thing, or if they were going to start a relationship. All she knew was that for once in her life she wanted to do something purely because she wanted it. Not because it was sensible, or practical, or better in the long run. Just because right now, in this moment, being with Jace would make her feel good, and Clary decided for once she deserved to do something for no other reason than to make herself feel good.