Jace was happy when Alec asked for a ride to the bar Saturday night. It would give them a chance to talk without anybody else around. Alec was a private person, but he was always less guarded when it was just the two of them.
When Jace pulled up to Izzy and Simon's apartment, he was surprised to see Alec not only waiting on the curb, but also carrying his small suitcase. He raised an eyebrow as Alec tossed the bag in the back and buckled himself in the front.
"Did you and Izzy get into some kind of argument or something?" Jace asked as he pulled away from the curb and headed back toward the bar he'd just come from.
"No," Alec said. "I just decided I'd rather not spend another night without my toothbrush or fresh clothes."
Jace didn't take his eyes off the road, but he caught the reddening of Alec's cheeks in his peripheral vision. "Not planning on going back to Izzy's tonight either, then?"
"No," Alec said. "You wouldn't want to share a wall with them either. I didn't hear anything last time I stayed, but I guess now that you know their relationship is serious, Izzy doesn't feel the need to hide anything from anybody."
"Well if that's the reason you're not staying, you're more than welcome to stay in my hotel room. I can get a second key," Jace teased. He didn't bother telling Alec he had no intention of going back to the hotel alone tonight anyway because it was obvious from the expression on his face he had other reasons for not staying with Izzy.
There was a long pause and Jace wondered if Alec was actually going to take him up on the offer just to avoid embarrassment. Alec did finally manage to pull himself together enough to respond. "Uh, thanks," he began, reaching one hand up to rub absently at the back of his neck, "but… I already made other plans."
"Your other plans wouldn't happen to be with a certain bar owner who couldn't keep his hands off you last night, would they?" Jace chuckled.
Alec turned a brilliant shade of red. "He… uh… what do you mean? His hands? We weren't… he was working."
"Right," Jace said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "You may not have noticed, but those tables aren't really so big. Even with all the comments Simon was making about Clary and I, it was clear to everyone at the table you were getting more action than I was." Jace paused while Alec opened and closed his mouth several times and looked absolutely mortified.
"Relax, man. It's not like it was bothering anybody. I'm glad to see you happy. I was a little surprised to hear you didn't come home last night though. Not that I'd ever dream of judging you, or even have room to if I wanted to, but that's not really like you. Everything okay?" The car was stopped at a red light and Jace took the opportunity to turn toward Alec and show him he really was there if Alec wanted to talk about anything.
"More than okay. It's not like we slept together or anything. I mean… I guess technically we slept together, but you know what I mean. I really like him though. Way more than I probably should after knowing him for one day."
"I know what you mean," Jace admitted. "It's really hard to believe I've barely known Clary for two weeks. I never thought I'd want to live anywhere besides New York, but now it hurts thinking about going home and leaving her here."
Even as they continued to converse throughout the evening Jace's mind kept returning to that thought. How was he going to leave when the week was over? It might not be so bad if he flew back to visit every weekend, but Clary was so stubborn. Would she even agree to that? Jace also knew even if he did come back every weekend the weeks were going to feel very long without Clary.
As much as these thoughts nagged at the back of Jace's mind he couldn't pay them much attention when he was in the presence of his redhead. She was like a drug to him. The more he was around her the more he wanted to be around her. It was driving him crazy being this close to her and not being able to do anything about it. Just the feel of her hand gently trailing over his shoulder on her way to the bar to refill her tray or the sound of her laugh as she joked with another server in line was enough to quicken his pulse.
The bar wasn't unbearably full, but it was definitely busier than it had been the night before. This made it easier for Jace to slip away from the bar and discreetly leave extra tips, but harder for him to watch which tables belonged to which servers. By the end of the night he was pretty sure he'd at least gotten most of the money Clary had given him for her tires back into her pocket, but he was pretty sure he'd made some of the other server's nights as well.
The female bartender with the black hair, whose name Jace had missed during introductions the night before, mixed drinks for the other patrons sitting at the bar while Magnus prepared drinks for the servers to deliver to the customers waiting at tables or standing around the outside edges of the dance floor. This allowed Magnus to continue his conversation with Alec and Jace throughout the night. From what Jace saw, Magnus seemed to be as smitten with Alec as Alec was with him, and Jace was glad Alec had finally found someone to appreciate him and treat him well. As far as Jace was concerned, if anybody deserves happiness, it was definitely Alec.
Even though they were obviously most interested in each other, both Magnus and Alec were making a conscientious effort to include Jace in their conversation, which he was grateful for. It helped the time pass faster, and before he knew it the last call had been served and the bar was beginning to empty out.
It was decided that Clary would stay and help clean up since Alec's bag was in Jace's car anyway. That way the other servers could head home and Alec's bag could be transferred directly to Magnus' car when it was time to leave.
As soon as the doors had been locked and it was just the four of them, Magnus and Clary made quick work of the cleaning. They all four chatted amicably and it wasn't long before someone broached the subject of Thanksgiving. Alec was asking if there was anything he could bring when Magnus interjected. "Oh, Clary! I almost forgot. How would you feel about setting one more place for Thanksgiving?"
"Of course," Clary said. "The more the merrier. Who else is coming?"
"Probably Aline. I didn't want to invite her without asking first, but she was telling me earlier that her parents aren't going to make it home from Europe this year." Magnus turned to Alec before adding, "her mother works in the consulate in Brussels." Turning back to Clary he continued. "She's an only child, so it's usually just the three of them who celebrate together."
"Of course you should invite her!" Clary said again. "I wish I had known earlier. I would have asked her tonight. Nobody should be alone on a holiday!"
"Don't worry, Biscuit," Magnus assured her. "We work together again Monday. I'll ask her then and text you whether or not she's coming."
Jace wasn't the least bit surprised to hear Clary's answer about Aline, or to hear her assuring Alec everything was covered and he didn't need to bring anything. Why did it seem like the people who had the least were the most generous? If she was going to let all these people come to her home for dinner, Clary should at least be letting them pitch in for the food. Jace resolved to push a little harder about paying for the groceries the next day.
Soon enough the bar was clean and the couples were parting ways for the evening. Well, more like the morning since bars didn't close until four here. Time didn't matter though. Jace was just excited to finally be alone with his redhead. The feeling was apparently mutual. He'd no sooner started the car and turned on the defroster to clear up the windows when Clary was leaning over the console and kissing him breathless.
They remained like this for quite a while, fogging up the windows even as they defrosted. When they finally parted they were both breathing hard. "I've been wanting to do that all night," Clary admitted. "I don't know if having you at the bar is such a good idea. I kept having to ask people to repeat their orders because I'd look toward the bar and be distracted by you sitting there and forget what I was doing. It didn't seem to hurt my tips though."
As she was talking Clary had returned to her seat and buckled in. Noticing the windows were almost completely clear Jace put the car in reverse and began making his way out of the parking lot. "Tips were good tonight then?" he asked casually.
"Very good!" Clary told him. "Last night too. I might even be able to give you the rest of the money for the tires tomorrow. I'd better wait until after the grocery store just to be sure," she finished.
Jace sighed. "Please don't pay me any more money for the tires. I thought you said I was allowed to spend money on you now that we are dating."
"Come on Jace. I said you could take me to dinner sometime. Not that you could buy four new tires for my car. There's quite a difference."
"You already paid me for half," Jace argued, "so technically I only bought two new tires for your car. I bought them more for me than you anyway. Riding around on those bald tires was likely to get you into an accident and I enjoy looking at that cute little face of yours way too much to let it get mutilated. So really you could say I bought the tires for myself. It was a selfish thing to do when it really comes down to it." Jace tried to read Clary's face in his peripheral vision to see if his logic was working on her, but it was too dark to see her expression. "Please," he finally added. "You're always doing things for everybody else without even giving it a second thought. Can't you just let me do something for you for a change? I don't want to feel useless."
"Don't you see, Jace? You've already done a lot for me. You were with Gran in the hospital when I couldn't be. There's no way to put a price on that. You bought me food more times than I can count, and even if I pay you back for the tires, you still put them on for me when I didn't have the time to do it. The last thing I want is to take advantage of you. Besides, your logic about spending money on me now that we're dating is flawed because you bought the tires before we were dating."
After a long pause, Jace sighed again. Why was this girl so freaking stubborn? "How about a compromise?" he finally offered. "Since you're so determined to pay me for the tires that were supposed to be my gift to you, at least let me use some of that money to buy the groceries tomorrow. Since you're only going to be one of like a dozen people eating at your house Thursday it won't be like I'm spending much money on you at all, but at least I'll get to feel like I did something for the woman I find myself caring so much about."
Just as he was finishing his proposition Jace pulled to a stop in front of Clary's apartment. He turned and studied her face while she considered his terms. She looked conflicted, but finally sighed in defeat. "Okay, Jace. You win. You can pay tomorrow. I may not like it, but Gramps always said good relationships were built on compromise."
Jace felt his face break into a grin. "I'm sure he would be on my side on this." He leaned forward and gently took Clary's chin between his forefinger and thumb, capturing her lips with his before she had time for further protests.
Jace had been wondering if Clary would hold the same rules for sleeping at night as she did for napping, but as soon as they walked into her bedroom she closed and locked the door. "We have to be quiet" she whispered as she unhooked her bustier and dropped it to the floor. "Gran's a heavy sleeper, but if she does wake up I don't want her to know we're in here sinning."
Clary blushed as she said the last word, and Jace realized she must truly believe making love was a sin. He would have to ask her about it some time when she wasn't shimmying out of her skirt to stand before him in nothing but her heels. He couldn't think to ask anything now because all the blood had left his brain, and he was definitely thinking with a different part of his anatomy.
"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me all night?" she finally asked.
"Who could blame me if I did?" Jace asked her. "I've certainly never seen anything in my life that I'd rather have my eyes on."
Clary rolled her eyes and giggled quietly before walking toward him and beginning to remove his clothing. Since she was still wearing her heels she was able to lean up almost to his ear as she whispered, "I was kind of hoping you'd be using more than just your eyes tonight."