We Were Fated

by icantthinkofaname11

High School/Cinderella Story AU: Jace is the star football player for their school and he hates his high visibility life. Clary lives a fairly invisible life, with amazing friends and family. They meet in a chatroom and never give their names and weeks later, Sage is trying to find the courage to tell Angelboy who she really is. T for swearing, smoking, and illusion of sex.

7. Finale

Finale for We Were Fated.

Okay, so I recently had an epiphany that writing only AUs pretty much means I should just move on from writing stories using other people's characters. I've had no motivation from months, so I decided to compile all the scenes I already had written and make them into some sort of ending for everyone who stuck with me. I'm working on this for my other story, When Skies Are Gray too, in case you're a reader for both my incomplete stories. So, this is a long, choppy ending for my story, all excerpts have been put in chronological order. I'll make it obvious who the narrator is of each section, but it will be different than the earlier stories.

Thanks for sticking by me and I'm sorry I couldn't see this through the end. I've been on a crazy writer's block and I graduated college and started a new job and so much has been going on in my life and the world. Thank you.

---

Shortly after chapter 6

Sundays were her favorite day and her least favorite all at once. When Clary had turned 15, she had started working at the bookstore Luke owned in town.

She had needed the money for art supplies and classes. Jon and her worked every Sunday together from 8 am to 6 pm, from start to close. She also worked two five hour shifts during the week, at least, so on top of her school schedule it could be a lot.

Before she had hit her head and decided to get a boyfriend, Saturday had been more than enough for her to have some time to herself and get some rest. But now, she suddenly felt like that just were not enough hours in the week.

Sunday was the only day Jace didn't have practice and he hated not getting to spend the day with her. Lately, he had started bringing her and Jon lunch during their thirty-minute break. The two boys got along well, had known each other practically their whole lives and had always been civil, and Clary enjoyed hanging with the both of them.

Jace was a very reserved guy so when ever he hung out with her and her friends, she was always so worried about whether he was having an okay time or not, but with Jon, it was just nice.

Then he'd want her to come over after, watch a movie or do some homework or take advantage of a potentially empty house. It was nice.

She was just so tired.

"You coming over after?" Jace asked, standing with her at the door. He was about to walk out, and she was getting ready to turn the sign over.

She bit her lip. "I neeeeed to take a nap."

"With me?" He asked her, twisting his fingers around hers and tugging her forward so that he could kiss her.

"This is cheating," she whined, not moving away from him. His lips curved against hers.

"What if I promised you your favorite food?"

She hummed, kissing him again. "Okay, but I'm serious about the nap."

He pursed his lips as he looked at her, she knew she looked tired. "Are you okay?"

Clary nodded. "Just feeling stretched thin."

"Because of me?"

Clary almost rolled her eyes but she could tell he was actually worried. Instead she shook her head, keeping her face serious. "You're my favorite part."

Jace kissed her again, his hand holding the back of her head. "Junior year is rough but you'll get through it, I did, and you've got a lot more spirit than me."

"Thanks love," she muttered, kissing him again before falling back on her feet. He went with her, his lips still moving against hers for another long moment before pulling back.

"Text me when you're on your way?" He asked her, fixing the beanie on his head and putting his hand on the door.

"Yeah," she agreed, smiling as he leaned in for one more kiss before leaving. He looked back at her as he left, smiling shyly at her as she flipped the sign.

Something in her heart hurt as she looked at him.

Just like everybody else in the world, she had always wondered what it would feel like to fall in love, she had never imagined it would feel like this.

Jon was leaning against the register, staring down at his phone and surprising her when he started talking, she hadn't realized he had been watching her.

"He's a good guy."

"I know that."

Jon didn't look up. "He's always been quiet, the kind of guy who, when he speaks, you can't help but listen."

Clary bit her lip. "I don't know that side of Jace."

"He's not like that with you. You're good for him."

"Sometimes I don't think I am," she confessed, leaning against one of the bookshelves, careful not to lean all her weight on it.

Jon's head snapped up and he looked at her sharply. "Why the hell not?"

Clary couldn't meet his eyes. "I don't know, he's just so important, you know?"

"No I don't know."

"Look," Clary said, sighing. She had only ever talked to Simon about this before, he had understood her. "You and me have always been very different. You're the type of person who thrives on attention and I'm the type of person who shies away from it."

"So does Jace."

"He has it anyway, the attention. It's just hard to hear people talking about who don't even know me. I've heard Jace talk about Kaelie before, that relationship is just a giant joke to him, but the way people compare me and her is just a lot."

Jon pursed his lips, he had had a go at a few guys who said something about Clary since she had got with Jace. Of course, it wasn't about how she wasn't good enough for him, that was a girl's insult. No, they talked about her like she was slab of meat. Jon had also watched Jace slam his fist into his teammate's face one day in the locker room as they all got dressed for practice. The football player had been grabbing his dick and talking about someone's virgin pussy and Jon hadn't realized it had been his sister's until Jace had stepped over the bench and decked him. Which was ridiculous, Clary hadn't been a virgin and it hadn't been any of his business.

No one had tried to help the guy and Jace hadn't hit him again, but his eyes were stormy and his voice was icy.

"Say one more word about my girlfriend and I'll knock your teeth out."

The locker room had gone silent and a few guys had looked towards Jon, everyone knew his girlfriend was Jon's sister. He had never had to defend her before and he hadn't known what to do in that locker room. Did he acknowledge it? Go punch the guy himself? Storm out?

Jace caught his eye and an understanding had passed between the two before they both nodded.

Since that day, Jon had gotten into two physical fights and multiple verbal ones. Jace was intimidating, he was tough and well liked, but that hadn't prevented everyone from opening their mouth.

But Jon had never heard anyone compare her to Kaelie in a bad way.

"Kaelie and him dated for a month," Jon said, though he was sure Jace had already told her everything. "And then he broke it off because she said something about Izzy Jace didn't like. It was at lunch, I'll never forget the look on Kaelie's face, I don't think anyone has ever told her no before."

Clary nodded but didn't say anything.

"You're not seen because you've never wanted that," he continued, something aching in him at the carefully concealed anxiety in her eyes. "Not because you're not pretty or kind or cool, and before Jace, you never cared about any of that anyways."

"I don't care about it for me," she confessed, her voice low as it carried over to him. "I'm worried about it for him, he's just so great and I don't want to make things difficult for him."

/

After Jon's words to her earlier, she almost felt like she didn't need a nap anymore. Jace had looked slightly guilty when he met her outside his door, he always came out to greet her, but when he took in her sincere, though still tired, smile he gave one back.

"Hey," she said, stepping into his already reaching arms and leaning her forehead on his chest.

"You ready for your nap?" He asked her, kissing her on the head.

She nodded, letting him guide her into his house and to his room. His parents were out at their weekly Sunday dinner with friends. They were cool parents, not around a whole lot but that wasn't by choice. Stephen worked at Chevorlet on Afternoons so unless it was the weekend, Jace didn't see much of him. But during the fall, Stephen took most Friday's off to watch his son play. To Jace's knowledge, since he was freshman he hadn't missed a single home game.

Celine was a nurse who worked whatever hours she could. Jace loved his mom, and his dad, and she knew that it was one of his dreams to do something nice for them if he made it professionally, which was pretty much a given at this point.

She was new to his skill and she was already so proud. Just like his parents.

And they had a great life, even if they didn't have a lot of money to spend on it.

The house was small and cluttered but Clary had always thrived in messes, unlike Jace. His room was spotless, the first time he had brought her to his room she had just assumed he cleaned it for her, but it soon became obvious to him that it was always like this.

A bed, bookshelf, and a dresser. No pictures, trophies, lamps, or even an alarm clock in sight.

Clary was working on a painting for him right now and she knew that even if he hated it he would still hang it up for her. She hoped he wouldn't. She had gone against everything in her that screamed to use bright colors and had stuck with a neutral color palette. And green, but only a bit.

On a black canvas, she had painted just enough white, gray, and green lines so that it looked like a lion.

Jace lifted his bedding, sliding in first and then holding it up for her.

But she was in jeans and an oversized sweater, and she really didn't want to sleep in jeans. She considered her options for a second before deciding that it wasn't like he hadn't already seen her more or less naked and unbuttoned her pants.

His smile quirked as she peeled them off her legs, folding them neatly and putting them on his dresser before slipping under the covers with him.

Jace wasted no time before wrapping his large arms around her small frame and pulling her flush against him, his hand curling under her sweater to lay on her stomach.

"You smell good," she mumbled, her eyes already closed as they shared the same pillow, ignoring the other half of the large bed.

"So do you," he said, placing a kiss behind her ear.

"I'm really glad I met you," she told him, her mind still on her conversation with Jon earlier even as she started to doze off.

His hands tightened around her, pulling her closer still. "

---

Christmas:

Thanksgiving had been an absolute blast. It had been Clary and her family, Lucie, James, Tessa, Will, and Luke's sister, Amatis, who had dated his father which was fucking weird. Before Thanksgiving, Jace hadn't talked to James or Lucie in a decade, but they were really cool. Lucie and Clary were tight, which he knew from being with Clary these last few months.

And he was grateful for that connection as he welcomed her into the Lion's den.

His extended family saw one another twice a year, for Christmas and Easter. There were no presents on Christmas because it was the Lord's holiday, not an excuse to spoil children. Jace tried not to mock other people's religion but his grandmother made it hard with how unlikable she was.

They celebrated Christmas by going to Mass and then going to his grandmother's for dinner. Clary had agreed to come to both like the saint she was, and when they were finished, his family was going to her house for their annual Christmas Eve party. Their home wasn't big but it was so warm he didn't think it would be a problem, even if he had seen the guest list.

Thankfully, he'd been on the other end of the pew than his grandmother and he'd been able to play tik tak toe with Clary on her thigh for the majority of it. It was hard to do it in their head's but anything was better than listening to the prist drone on and on.

"Promise me something," he said to her now as his parents climbed out of the car and headed to the front door of his grandmother's fucking manor of a home.

Clary grinned and leaned in to him. "What?"

"Don't hate me for dragging you to this."

She held up her pinkie finger and he wrapped his around it.

"Deal," she agreed, her smile never faltering.

He let go of her hand and opened his car door as she slid over to follow him, letting him help her with no complaints for once. The driveway was icy and she was in heels even though he had warned her that her house was a shoe's only house. Bare feet disgusted her.

He helped her out of her peacoat when they were in the door, twisting around to hand it to a staff member with his arms out before quickly shrugging out of his own coat. In his rush to move away from someone who was serving them, he hadn't gotten a good look at Clary.

So when he turned, it was like looking at the sun straight one.

Her dress was a deep green, her sleeves belled, the skirt short and flared, and the neckline scalloped. Underneath the dress, she wore sheer tights. Her hair fell down her back in full curls, unhindered by her coat, and her smile was radiant.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured, taking her hand instead of her lips.

/

"Are we allowed to leave the table?" Clary asked, giggling as he dragged her down a hall.

Jace snorted. "No."

It just made her laugh harder before he tugged her through a door into a large room with tall windows and beautiful wooden floors. There was a black, grand piano and not much else in the room and Jace led her to it. She'd never heard him play before.

"Oh, Jace," she said, her excitement palpable as he arranged them so that he sitting on the bench and she was cradled in his lap. Reaching around her, he placed her hands on the back of his and put his on the keys.

"Close your eyes," he told her quietly, amused when they instantly fluttered shut. "Now, keep your hands on mine."

Her small ones rested atop of his larger ones as he moved his fingers. After a minute, he closed his eyes too and leaned slightly into her.

It had been at least a year since he'd played, but there was something things you just couldn't forget. He'd spent dozens of hours a month learning how to play when he was younger in an attempt to appease his grandmother, and even his distaste for it now wouldn't let him forget that.

He couldn't even remember the name of the piece he was playing, just that it was Debussy, and therefore beautiful.

Clary's fingers were light on top of his and if it wasn't for the way she sunk completely against him, it would have been easy to believe he was the only one there.

When the last few notes rang out in the nearly empty room, he allowed himself to open his eyes again. Clary's were still closed and there were tears running down her cheeks.

"What's wrong love?" He asked her softly, taking one hand from the keys so that he could wrap his arm securely around her.

She laughed in a self-deprecating way that was much more his style than hers. "It's just that, my hands will never be able to make something that beautiful again."

Clary stared down at her hands like they had somehow wronged her, while Jace resisted the urge to laugh.

"You silly girl," he chided softly as he cupped both her hands in his. "Your hands create beauty in ways mine never can. They are the instrument of your heart and I adore them."

She laughed through her tears and shifted in his lap so that she could look him in the eye. "I love you, Jace Herondale."

His breath caught in his throat as his brain shut down for all of two seconds before he was crushing his mouth against hers. He hadn't said it again after he'd told her nearly a month ago but it had weighed on him every time they were together. At times, he had been positive that she did, and others, he felt like a child, uncertain about everything.

And now he knew.

"Jonathan Herondale!"

He pulled away from Clary, unable to dim his smile as he turned to his grandmother who was standing in the doorway, her eyes flashing.

"Yes?"

"Show some dignity for yourself and to your God."

Oh.

Jace wanted to roll his eyes but managed to hold back as Clary scrambled ungracefully out of his lap. Leave it to his grandmother to ruin the best moment of his life.

With a huff and a threatening glare, she marched back towards the table.

"Oh, dear God," Clary muttered, looking horrified. "Your grandmother hates me!"

Jace only grinned. "Yeah, but I love you."

Her mouth twitched upwards and her face flushed, and he watched as embarrassment warred with happiness on her face. He was determined that happiness would win.

"And you love me."

She nodded and reflected the wide smile he gave her as he bent down to kiss her again.

"We need to go back," she said, putting a few feet of space between them he quickly got rid of as he swept her back up in his arms.

"I know," he agreed with a long-suffering sigh. "I can't wait for this dinner to be done."

"Same," she muttered before they made their way back down the hall.

His mother was just coming down the hallway as they neared the large dining room.

"Oh thank God," she muttered, looking cross but not at them. "Your grandmother is throwing a fit."

Clary looked sheepish. "Sorry."

"We could hear you play from here," Celine informed Jace. "She was almost smiling when she left to go check on you and she came back huffing and puffy. What happened?"

The question was directed at Jace, which was ever amusing to him. In her eyes. Clary could do no wrong. "We might have been kissing on the Piano bench."

Clary's cheeks turned pink, much to his amusement and his mom's lips twitched. "How disgraceful."

"I know," Jace agreed. "Only 15 minutes left, though."

"And Thank God for that," she said before turning to Clary. "I must say, I am very much looking forward to tonight at your house. Jace said to expect pizza instead of whatever the fuck Imogen has on the table."

Biting back a laugh, she nodded.

"Thank God. And Tessa said Will was cooking all day, so super excited for that!"

Stephen walked into the hallway, looking relieved when he saw them all right there. "What's going on?"

"Oh, you know, just taking a breather," his mom said, smiling back at her husband. "And our son was kissing a wench on your mother's piano on a holy day."

---

Sometime that Spring:

Normally, Jace contacted the restaurant when he wanted some hours and they'd give him some shifts if there some availble, but on Tuesday his manager had contacted him with an emergency. They desperately needed someone to work on Saturday afternoon and evening and Jace had willingly accepted the shift.

Working there wasn't his favorite thing but he had a girlfriend now and he was blowing through his savings.

People loved to tip the star Quarterback of the football team. All it took was one night for him to go home with a couple hundred, something he found ridiculous even though he wasn't going to complain about it.

He'd been there for over 5 hours when Clary walked in unexpectedly with her friends, shooting him a smile when he noticed her.

Whether she asked or it was a coincidence, he did not know, but she was in his section. He walked to her table with his first sincere smile of the night.

"Hello, I'm Jace and I'm going to be your waiter tonight. Is there anything I can get you started with tonight?" He asked, winking at Clary as he introduced himself.

"Hmmm, how bout a kiss?" Clary asked, and Maia and Lila giggled as Jace looked around in case his manager was watching before leaning down to give her one.

"Anything else?" Jace asked when he was once again standing at his full height, his hand grazing Clary's arm.

Maia and Lila both ordered waters while Clary ordered a black coffee.

Before running the order to the back, Jace stopped at the table next to theirs that had also just been seated. Vaguely, Jace recognized them from parties they had been at but Jace didn't think they went to the same school. There were four of them, three boys and one girl, and they dressed significantly more preppy than the people he was used to.

"Welcome to Taki's, my name is Jace and I'll be your waiter tonight. Is there anything I can get you started with tonight?" Jace repeated with much less enthusiasm than he had at his girlfriend's table.

"I was actually wondering if kisses were on the table for everyone?" the girl closest to him asked, propping her chin up on her hand as she smirked lazily at him.

Jace was not impressed. "No. Just what's on the menu."

She pouted. "That's a shame."

No, no it really wasn't.

He went to pour their drinks and put in a plate chips and salsas for the second table, before dropping the waters off and checking on his other tables.

Jace was going to have to tell Clary that she couldn't come visit him at work anymore because he just could not stop looking over at her. He was extremely relieved when her coffee was ready and he had the excuse to go back to her table.

"Thanks!" She said, beaming at him as she wrapped her small hands around the mug.

Jace took their orders while leaning up against his Clary, using the moments he wasn't writing their orders down to run his fingers up and down her back.

Clary was having a hard time figuring out what she wanted and they were all trying to help her.

"Who cares what you get!" Maia said at last, smirking at her friend. "You're just here to flirt with Jace."

Clary gasped dramatically and Jace's fingers slipped from her shoulder to her hair. "That is not true! Take that back!"

"I will do no such thing," Maia huffed, crossing her arms and trying to fight her grin.

"Why don't I just surprise you," Jace offered because he knew that she'd love their mac n cheese bowl with baby shrimp, two of her favorites.

"Really?" She asked excitedly, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Yeah, that way I can prove to you just how much I do pay attention."

Lila rolled her eyes. "I don't think anyone could possible think you don't."

Jace grinned at her. "I'll just go put these in."

Maia crooked her finger at him and he leaned in, confused. "Lila and I want you to accidentally spill you water on that harlot."

Jace chuckled as he straightened up. "Real subtle."

He finally moved away from Clary, painfully, and stopped at the table next to theirs to take their orders.

"Are you guys ready to order or do you need another minute?" Jace asked, noticing their still open menus.

"We're good," the guy said, taking his arm away from the girl next to him as he straightened to order. "I'll just have a quesadilla with no tomatoes."

Jace jotted that down. Two of the girls both ordered their three cheese penne which was easy for Jace.

"I must admit, I don't know what I want," the girl who asked for a kiss said and Jace knew where this was going to go. "I'm terrible at making decisions."

"I could come back," Jace offered, though he knew that wasn't going to fly.

"Well, what do you recommend?" She asked, crossing her arms over menu and leaning up.

"Our chicken alfredo is really good and I like their fish and chips." Jace had never actually had their fish and chips, he just didn't want to also get her the mac n cheese.

"You know," she said, as if something was just dawning on her. "You look like someone with good taste. Why don't you just surprise me?"

"I don't feel comfortable doing that," Jace answered honestly. "I don't know about any allergies you may have and I don't want to waste your money."

She pouted. "That seems a bit unfair."

Jace wanted to roll his eyes. "We have several different kind of pastas, make your own pizza, all day breakfast, I'm sure something sounds good."

"I guess I'll just have a buffalo chicken wrap."

He wrote her order down, relieved.

"Alright, I'll just go put these in."

He submitted his orders and dropped the prepared food at his other tables.

When he had a second, he found himself walking back to Clary.

"You need something else?" He asked her, noticing her empty coffee cup.

"Yeah, but I don't want to get something that won't go with my dinner," she said, leaning her head against his hip and his fingers slotted through her hair instinctively.

"Do you not want water?"

She shook her head.

"Pepsi good?"

She nodded her head.

"Okay, then I'll be right back."

Jace brought back the glass and put it in front of her.

"Do you think your tips will go down since Clary's here?" Maia asked conversationally.

Jace shrugged. "Maybe."

"How often do you get hit on?" Lila asked.

"Too much," Jace admitted, glancing at Clary. "I don't really have patience for that."

"And how often do men reel you in for a talk about the team?"

"Quite a bit," Jace told Lila. "It's why Rosaline loves me, I up the interaction with customers and somehow word gets around when I'm working and men requesting to be in my section flood in."

"Honey!"

Jace turned to see his mom walking up. She wasn't looking at him but at the who's hair he was currently playing with.

"Celine!" Clary stood up, knocking his hand away as she hugged his mom.

"Where have you been?" Celine demanded, holding Clary at arms length away and accessing her.

Jace went to check on the table across from his girlfriend where an older couple he had seen many times before were sitting.

"Son, is that your girlfriend?" The elderly lady asked in a low voice, as if not to embarrass him.

"Yeah, the red head," Jace said, looking over his shoulder to see his mom talking to Clary with her arm wrapped around her. "Her name is Clary."

"She's a very beautiful girl," the woman said, smiling and Jace nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, she's the best."

"Not distracting you too much from football, I hope," the older man said gruffly and Jace chuckled.

"No sir. She's only ever brought me good."

---

People being mean to Clary because of Jace

(Twitter)

Clary hated cooking, but not as much as Jocelyn so there was no one to bail her out here. Jon got home too late to cook and Luke loved to cook, so if he couldn't it truly meant he was unavailable. As it stood, he was at a meeting about being promoted to being a detective, something he really wanted.

Hopefully, this was a celebratory dinner.

Simon was sitting at the island, eating more than helping.

"Fray," he said suddenly. "Someone posted about you Jace on Idris tell all."

Clary swore, she had burned herself as she was pulling from the oven at his words.

"Oh fuck," he said, jumping up, looking frantic as he looked at her forearm.

"It's fine," she said, even as her eyes filled with tears. She set the dish down quickly and turned the tab on in the kitchen, sticking almost her whole arm under the water stream.

"How did you manage to do that?"

"Bumped the oven door," she gritted out. "That's going to leave a mark."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize what you were doing."

"It's okay," she said, managing to laugh slightly. "It's not your fault I'm clumsy."

He cringed. She turned the water off and inspected her arm. There was a three inch red mark on her skin that she knew was going to turn white and blister and hurt in the upcoming days. And she'd probably scar forever it her other burn marks were any testimony. Though, none of those were even twice as big.

"What did the tweet even say?" She asked, taking off her oven mits that had thankfully spared her wrists in the accident.

"Um," Simon said, picking up his phone. "Jace dating a sophomore completely out of the blue is the most sus thing that has ever happened. At least Kaelie made sense."

Clary rolled her eyes. Firstly, she was a junior. Secondly, it was sus but not for the reasons they thought. Jace had never told anyone about the girl he was texting, besides Alec Lightwood who had already graduated. And the only people Clary ever told were her brother and Simon, and that was mostly out of necessity.

"It's going to get worse, right?" She asked, looking for honesty. "Because now people are going to be responding."

"Yeah," Simon said, "they're already coming in."

"What do they say?" Clary asked.

"Umm, "I always thought her and that Simon dude were dating" and then "how does someone like that end up with someone like that?" Simon made a face. "That one doesn't even make sense."

"He's going to be so mad," Clary said, running the water over her burn again. "He fucking hates freshmen."

"Well, I do too," Simon answered honestly. "How can they be so rude?"

"Yeah, well I guess I'm just –

"Shit," Simon exclaimed, cutting her off. "Jace just tweeted."

Clary's head tipped back with a groan. "What he say?"

Simon was laughing. "He tweeted a picture at them."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Of what?"

"Of you."

He turned the phone around so she could see what it was. Clary knew it was his favorite photo of her because he told her as much. Simon had taken it over the summer when they were visiting the beach. Her hair was curling tightly around her face, breaking free from her braids. Her eyes were sparkling and her lips were pulled around her wide smile. Jace loved her freckles and there were a million on her face from the summer love.

"I think he made it worse," Clary said, though she was smiling slightly.

"Well, he also said something," Simon said, trying to hold back a laugh and showed her.

Stfu

"He's a man of many words," she said happily and turned the water off again.

Her phone started buzzing on the counter but she ignored it, having just started preparing bread to put in the oven.

"Is that Jace?" Simon asked, standing up.

"I don't know," Clary answered, her fingers sticky with the dough. "Probably."

"Hello?" Simon asked, picking up her phone. Clary didn't even bother protesting, though she couldn't help laughing a little at the idea of Simon on face time with her phone.

"Simon," Jace's bored voice answered the phone. "You with Clary?"

"No, just her phone," Simon answered sarcastically, not moving to point it towards her.

"Has she been on twitter recently?"

Simon scowled. "Yes."

"She okay?" His voice was filled with caution and Simon finally pointed the phone to her.

He was in his football uniform still, probably had just finished practice when he saw the fiasco.

Clary smiled at him. "Yeah."

His face had softened up considerably after seeing her.

"I would have asked the person running it to take it down but I figured that would just make it worse."

"You know who runs the page?" Clary asked, opening the oven door all the way this time to slide the pan in. Once was enough.

"Maureen Brown."

Simon made a strangled noise and Clary laughed genuinely for the first time. "No wonder your band gets so much time on the page."

Clary filled her hands with soap, scrubbing them quickly before running her forearm under water again and then drying herself off.

Simon handed her the phone before sitting back on the island.

"Hey," Clary said, leaning against the counter behind her.

"Hi," he said, running his hand through his hair as he smiled at her.

"How was practice?"

"Not over yet," he said grumpily. "Or I'd be on my way to eat with you instead of here."

"Can you come over when you're done?" Clary asked. "I can set some aside for you."

The look her gave her made her heart ache but in a good way. "I'd like that."

"We're having cake and ice cream after dinner, we'll wait for you."

Simon groaned loudly. "Don't tell him that."

Clary ignored him. "And don't worry about me, I'm good."

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice drenched in sincerity. "I'll talk to Maureen about posting more of those opinions, it will never happen again."

"Really," Clary said firmly. "I'm okay."

Simon snorted. "Tell that to your arm."

"What happened to your arm?" Jace asked her, his face giving away to his worry at once.

"I bumped the oven door," she said dismissively, ignoring the constant burning she felt. "I'll see you when practice if over."

Jace didn't look happy as he dropped it. "Can't wait."

.

It didn't take him a full minute to notice the angry red mark on her arm and Clary had to force herself not to turn away from the anguish he failed to hide from her as he held her arm gently in his hands.

"It's just a burn," Clary told him, giving him a smile.

"It's the size of your forearm," he told her unnecessarily, still staring at the mark on her skin. "I'm going to kill Simon."

His head perked up from where he was sitting on a chair in their living room. "Me?" He demanded.

"How else would she have burned herself? She wasn't holding her phone and the casserole."

Simon grumbled his defenses to himself.

"Would you both just relax, I'm not made of glass you know?"

/

(Iz problems)

/

Clary watched her walk away, a horrible feeling in her chest.

Honestly, she wanted to cry.

Passive aggressive bitchiness was even worse than straight forward bitchiness. Like, what did Clary do? This was supposedly one of Jace's closest friends and Clary thought they had got on just fine when Jace introduced the two earlier.

"Hey you," Jace said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her back against his chest. "I've been looking for you for."

"Well, you found me," she said, attempting to sound cheerier than she felt.

With a gentleness that always made her want to cry - and actually did this time- he ducked around to place a kiss over that one freckle of hers below her eye.

"How many drinks have you had tonight?" He asked her, reaching around to take the Mike's from her hand and take a sip.

"Just this one," she said, willing her voice to sound normal through her tight throat.

"Really?" He asked, surprised. "I thought you wanted to get drunk tonight?"

She had.

Now she just wanted to go to bed.

Clary shrugged.

"You okay?" He asked slowly, seeming to pick up on the fact that something wasn't right. He turned her in his arms and noticed the tears welling in her eyes. "You're crying. Why are you crying?"

Jace held her hand with gentle fingers, his face crinkled with concern as he tilted her head slightly up.

"I'm not," she lied, willing her tears to go away.

"You are, love. What's wrong? What can I do?"

The tears spilled from her eyes, hot and heavy as they trailed down her cheek. "Isabel doesn't like me. Everyone at school doesn't like me. I just don't understand." Her voice broke slightly, sounding sharp as a ragged sob tore through her.

He crushed her to his chest, cradling her head as she clung to him, sobbing at a party.

"Shhhh, it's okay, it's okay," he muttered, rubbing his hand up and down her back slowly like he was trying to comfort a crying child. "I'll make it okay."

Clary had tried to be okay, she really had.

She heard and saw everything that the other girls at school did. All the glaring and the whispering. The judgmental eyes and the scoffing. Every tweet someone made about how out of her league her boyfriend was. About her carrot hair and her ugly freckles. Things she had always liked about herself that she was beginning to hate.

The boys too, who talked about her like she was nothing more than a sack of meat with holes for Jace to enjoy as he pleased. The ones who treated the private moments in their relationship like they were their business. Their sex life and how intimate they were and how large her breasts were.

It was exhausting.

So was the way Jace looked so guilty all the time and the way he tried to defend her the best he could. It was hard for him to pick his battles, he couldn't say something every time, that would just make it worse. Jon tried to help too, but he was just as helpless.

Clary really liked Jace, she might even love him.

"Iz doesn't hate you, she's just jealous of you," Jace said lowly.

She couldn't help it, she laughed. "That doesn't even make sense, she's so beautiful."

Jace leaned back, narrowing his eyes at her. "So are you," he said, his ferocity surprising her. "She's always hated being tall and sharp, always hated being taller than most guys in heels. You're the epitome of everything she was jealous of. You're tiny and adorable and soft."

"But that's not my fault," she said, stupidly.

"None of this is your fault," Jace said firmly. "None of it."

/

(Izzy apology)

/

"Hey," Isabel said, and Clary turned and watched as she lowered herself to the ground next to her.

Clary didn't say anything, looking back out at the lake. She really wasn't in the mood.

"I owe you an apology," Isabel said after an uncomfortable amount of silence. "And an explanation."

Clary didn't look at her, she couldn't. She wasn't prepared for any of this.

""Jace changed a lot in high school, got all reserved and quiet. Got burned and got burned some more. So I was beyond jealous of you when I started hearing about you, about the way one of the people I'm closest too, opened up to someone who was practically a stranger in a way he never could with me. There's something unbelievably fulfilling to be noticed and liked by someone so aloof and to realize that he genuinely cared about you in a way he never about me was all I could think about when I met you.

"People were always asking me what you were like and I had to lie and say that you were cool because Jace didn't even introduce me to you for nearly a month. I was angry with Jace and I took it on you and I am incredibly sorry for that. The day after the party where I was a complete bitch to you, Jace came over and went off on me. Saying that he had spent a month telling you how I was one of the few important people in his life, that all these things other people were saying didn't matter because they didn't matter. But that I was the biggest bitch in the world for not being any better than them, for being worse than them. I've never seen him so mad, he hasn't talked to me since. It was wrong of me to do a lot of what I did and I'm not trying to make excused, I'm just trying to say it really had nothing to do with you and I'm sorry that it fell on you anyway."

For as long as Clary had been with Jace, that's what everyone seemed to say.

Jace didn't smile or laugh or be personable or do anything other than make sarcastic comments. It wasn't something she understood because from the very first night they talked, Jace had seemed like an open book to her.

Knowing what she knew now, Clary was deeply touched that Jace decided she was worth opening up to. She could understand where Iz's insecurity was coming from.

"I accept your apology," she said finally, turning to look at the dark haired girl. "And I forgive you."

Isabel gave her a watery smile. "I know it's a bit unfair of me to ask, but can we start over?"

"Sure," Clary said, returning the smile.

"Great," she said, sounding deeply relieved. "I don't have many friends, if I'm being honest. This is my fourth group of friends since I got to high school and I can barely stand to say more than three words to them daily. So, what I'm trying to say here is, I may be pretty bad at being your friend but I'd like to try."

"Well, lucky for you, if that's how we judge friendships, I've had the same best friend since I was toddler so at least we've got half."

/

(Seelie drama)

/

Clary was lying in Jace's bed when she got the text from Jon.

They had been dozing together for what felt like hours, half dressed and extremely sleepy. Jon had texted her nearly an hour ago by the time she was coherent enough to read her screen.

Jonny [7:43]: i wanted to give you a heads up that Seelie is talking shit about you to people. that you're a complete bitch and using Jace for clout. apparently, you were a stand-offish bitch to her the entire time we dated and the reason she got dumped, among other things. i texted her already and let her know that it's on sight if mom ever sees her in public and that i've never been so disgusted with a human being in my life, and that it was the lowest thing a person could do and that if she keeps talking, i'm going to tell everyone that she wears fake designer clothes (the horror)

"What's wrong?" Jace asked her, his voice thick with sleep as his hands tightened around her.

"Huh?" She asked, because how did he know?

"I can feel it in your body, you're all tense."

Clary sighed, she had been hoping not to have to tell Jace about this.

"Here," she said, lifting the phone so he could see it from where he was resting on the pillow beside her.

He was right, she could feel it in his body too as he read. The way his arms tightened and his breathing changed.

"I'm sorry," he said and she let the phone drop back down to the phone.

"Me too."

Carefully, he pressed against her shoulder so that she was lying flat on her back underneath her. "We've been over this, you don't have a thing to be sorry for."

"She's my brother's ex."

"And she's my ex's best friend. Now that her loyalty is not all conflicted, of course she sided with that bitch."

"Not everything is your fault, you know," Clary said, turning to snuggled into his chest.

He hugged her tightly, the way he always did. "I just feel so helpless."

"Me too," she confessed.

"And I'm too selfish to do anything else. Somehow, holding you while you cry because of me is better than not getting to hug you at all."

Clary snorted. "You say that like it's only you who thinks that."

"I did this to you," Jace said, sounding ragged. "You were just fine until I met you."

"And I'm still fine," she reassured him. "Sure, sometimes it's a little much and I let it get the better of me, but I'm happier than I've ever been with you. You've also brought me new friends and your parents and your love, it's not like you just brought bad things into my life."

"I'm your boyfriend, I'm supposed to make you feel loved and adored, not like you're being hunted by a mob."

"You're thinking is too narrow, Jace Herondale, this is the 21st century. Why on Earth can't I have both?"

He chuckled. "I love you so much."

---

Domestic Fluff

(Jace's parents loving her)

The two of them were showering when his parents got home, though neither one of them were aware of that development.

Both of his parents looked highly amused when they stumbled out of the steam filled bathroom their hair wet and dopey smiles on their face.

"Oh," Jace said, stopping in the doorway that separated the living room from their bedrooms and bathroom. "I didn't think you'd be back for a while."

"That much was obvious, son," Stephen said, smiling around Jace. "Hey Clary."

"Hi Mr Herondale," she said, sounding sheepish. Jace turned his head to see her standing behind him with red cheeks. No doubt, she was wondering just like him when his parents walked in on them. They had spent a long time in the shower and gratefully, the last fifteen minutes of the shower had been rather innocent.

His father snorted. "Clary, how many times are you going to make me tell you to just call me Stephen?"

"Probably a bunch more," she admitted, still smiling shyly.

Jace glanced at his mom, noting just how happy she was. His mom was weird. What kind of parent likes the idea of their kid having sex with his girlfriend in the shower they all shared?

"Did you kids want something for dinner?" His mom asked instead of saying something.

"We were just about to make ourselves something," Jace said, reaching back for his girlfriend and settling his arm around her shoulders. "Are you offering take-out?"

"Your mom's been craving Chinese," his dad offered as an explanation.

"That sounds great," Clary said brightly.

"Mu Shu Pork for me," Jace said.

"And I'll just take a helping of chow mien vegetable noodles, please," Clary added.

With that, Jace turned Clary back towards his room and the two left his parents to argue over what they wanted to eat, they'd call them back out when they were ready.

The instant Jace shut the door behind him, Clary collapsed on to his bed, moaning with mortification.

"Do you think they walked in while I was giving you the best goddamn blow job of your life?"

Jace laughed, falling on to his bed beside her and wrapping her up in his arms, it had been a pretty fucking good blow job but that was no surprise. "If they came before that, it was just in time to hear you cum around my fingers several times."

"Don't," she said, her voiced muffled by his bare chest that she was laying on. "That's too mortifying to think about."

"Should I ask if you can spend the night before or after dinner?" He continued teasing.

"Either we're not asking or I'm going home."

Jace hadn't been planning on asking anyway. They didn't mind when she spent the night, they'd much rather be in one what was going on than to be on the outside.

"But if you go home, I'll miss you," he told her, kissing the side of her head repeatedly.

He could feel her smile. "It's a sacrifice we're going to have to make."

"Then I guess we'll just have to not ask."

"I love you," she told him, wiggling around enough that she could see him. "A lot."

He grinned. "I love you, too, a lot."

"Like, sometimes I think I might burst with affection. This morning, I looked over at you during lunch and you were catching food Seb was throwing at you and I could not stop smiling for hours. It was adorable."

"On one of our first dates, you kept scrunching up your nose to try an itch it and I have replayed those times a million times in my head since. You were like a bunny. A really fucking adorable bunny."

"Last time I slept over here, I woke up alone.

(Clary's gift to him)

Jace had been waiting for Clary for several minutes when she called him.

"Hey," he answered, sitting up on his bed. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm in your driveway and I have a gift for you," she said, sounding cheery.

"Is there an anniversary I'm forgetting about?" Jace asked as he got to his feet and headed to the front door. "Our six months isn't for another three weeks."

"Just come out here," Clary said before hanging up on him.

Jace slid his feet into a pair of slides waiting at the door and walked outside into the cold air in only a pair of sweatpants.

"I didn't wrap it because I was lazy and it was big so I need you to close your eyes," Clary told him, standing in front of her backseat.

"Can't I get a kiss first?" Jace asked, winding his arm around her shoulders and leaning down partly.

Clary stretched up and kissed him briefly before shoving him away from the car. "Now close your eyes!"

Jace did as he was told, standing a few feet away from her and her car with his arms behind his bare back. Knowing that it would make her upset, he ignored the sounds of her struggling with something heavy before shutting her car door with a snap.

"Before you see it, I want you know that it's a representation of how you make me feel and it can be interpreted in a million ways," she said, sounding a bit nervous.

"It better be a boner," Jace said seriously and she laughed.

"Okay, open your eyes," she said and he did, seeing her holding a large frame in front of her body.

His breath caught.

There were glowing butterflies and flowers and splashes of gold and green. Everything was either bright in color or looked to be blooming. There was a ripped net smothered in butterflies near the bottom and halo wearing fairies near the top.

"I should have added a boner," Clary said, looking down at the painting. "That was an aggrievance error on my part."

"No, it's perfect," Jace said, stepping forward and taking the painting from her. "Really really perfect. Is this for me? Or did you just want me to see it before submitting it somewhere?"

Clary looked bashful. "It's for you."

"Let's go hang it up," Jace said, reaching for her hand and tugging her back to his house.

He found some nails and a hammer in the garage before joining Clary in his room.

"No," he said, shaking his head as saw where she was holding the painting up. "I want to be able to look at it all the time."

"So which wall?" She asked, climbing clumsily off of his bed with the painting that was over half her size in her delicate hands.

Jace's room was small but thankfully sparse, there was only one section of his wall that was already taken. The small window was on the wall his bed was tucked up against and his closet was directly across from the entry door. There was space across from the window and across from his bed.

"What are you thinking?" Jace asked her.

Her face turned pink. She always hated acknowledging that her art was amazing and worthy of hanging up.

"I'm thinking that I do most of my homework and reading in my bed, propped up against the headboard."

"So the far wall?" She asked.

Jace nodded and she lifted it up against the wall so he could figure out where he wanted to hang it.

"There, that's perfect," he said, stopping her when it was at his eye level on the wall. Jace took a pencil and drew a line on the wall, using the top of the canvas as his guide.

She watched him as he measured out an inch from the line and hammer in a nail, mindful to miss the support beams since it was a light painting.

"Thank you for the painting," he told her once it was hung and they were cuddling on his bed. "It's beautiful and I love it and you."

"You're welcome," she said. "I love you, too."

His mom freaked out when she came home from work and Jace showed it to her. Clary had already left for a dinner at Will and Tessa's so she wasn't there to witness his mom's tears.

"I love our girl," his mom confessed after hugging him. "She's special."

"She is," Jace agreed, looking at the painting again. "I don't know how she can make me feel so much without saying a word."

"It's beyond touching to know that this is what she feels with you."

(Clary and Alec trolling Jace (and Magnus))

"Anyway," Clary said, leaning against Jace as she addressed Alec. "How is Magnus?"

"Saw him last night," Alec admitted. "He's having a party on Friday."

"Haven't been to one of those in ages." Clary said with a smile.

"Can't believe I'm dating Magnus's Biscuit," Jace said, wrapping his arm around his small girl and leaning his head on hers. "He's going to freak."

Alec pulled out his phone. "Should I send him a picture with no context and then not respond?"

Both of them nodded and Alec snapped one of the two. They were cute. Clary was all sunshine and cinnamon roll and Jace was all hard exterior but soft interior.

Almost as soon as Alec had put his phone down did it start vibrating angrily.

The three of them looked at the screen, all with identical laughter mirrored on their faces.

Magnus [12:57]: ….

Magnus [12:57]: is that my Biscuit with your bitch?

Magnus [12:57]: Alec?! You better have some answers.

But Alec didn't offer him any and it only took another minute for Magnus to text him again.

Magnus [12:58]: how did my sweet little cinnamon roll get roped into that?

Magnus [12:59]: I'm seriously struggling here

Still, Alec did not respond.

"When did you guys meet?" Alec asked, leaning back against the couch.

"Three weeks ago," Jace said as Clary thought about it. Alec smirked. He wondered if she knew just how smitten Jace was with her. "She finally gave in."

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Alec asked, he had talked to Jace several times since then.

"I did," Jace said, frowning. "I told you that I met her."

"But you didn't tell me who it was," Alec clarified, though it wasn't like Jace had known they knew each other.

"I didn't think you'd know who she was."

Clary looked amused. "Just because I didn't run in your circle doesn't mean I didn't exist."

"I never thought that," Jace insisted, pulling her tighter against him. "It's just that none of my other friends knew who you were so it didn't even cross my mind that Alec might."

Alec had been happy for his friend but he hadn't pried too much. Jace was a private person but Alec knew that whenever he had something he wanted to tell him, he would. Jace had texted him the day after he met her that he had and that she was "fucking beautiful and tiny and so very likeable" but not much else.

Alec looked at his phone and laughed, tossing the phone to the pair so that they could read what Magnus said.

Magnus [1:00]: I go away for three months and Jace steals my girl

Magnus [1:02]: Does he know that you two made out at a party once?

Magnus [1:04]: Does he know that she was ours first?

Magnus [1:04]: Alec?

Magnus [1:04]: I'm going to kill him and then you

Alec caught his phone and texted him back absentmindedly, Jace was looking at him while Clary was chuckling to herself, her own phone buzzing.

"You two made out?" Jace asked eventually and Alec almost rolled his eyes as he raised them to look at his best friend.

"Yes," Clary answered before he could, with giddy excitement. "He was a good kisser too, a shame he was too busy looking at Magnus the whole time."

Alec laughed then. "Sorry Clare."

"I've never regretted not going to those parties before," Jace confessed, frowning down at his girlfriend. "I could have met you ages ago."

She shrugged, bringing her feet up on the couch as she leaned completely into him, her phone in front of her. "No time like the present to start going."

Jace looked up at Alec, as if he was asking if he was invited too. This time, Alec really did roll his eyes. Of course he was invited. "I'm sure Magnus can't wait to interrogate the both of you."

"Oh joy."

Alec smirked. "Has Izzy met her yet?"

Both of them shook their heads. "Iz and I are in a fight."

That took him by surprise. "For?"

"Apparently I implied that her boyfriend was a douche bag which is ridiculous, I didn't imply anything, I literally told her that and she was fine and then she got all huffy about it later."

Clary frowned. "Meliron isn't a douche bag."

Both boys raised their eyebrows at her.

"He's not," she insisted. "I've known him since I was 13 and he's always been nice to me."

"Just because he's nice to you doesn't mean he's a nice person," Jace told her.

(Sappy Jace)

Clary was wearing one of Jace's hoodies and her softest pair of joggers. Her hair was down and messy and she was wearing her glasses. She had had about two minutes to get dressed for school today and she had chose brushing her teeth over everything else, a decision she might not have made before she got a boyfriend.

Who was currently leaning against her locked, talking to someone Clary barely recognized and holding a large coffee.

His face lit up when he saw her and his smile did not drop as he took in all of her.

Jon had teased her a lot when she had come downstairs, claiming she looked homeless, but Jace didn't seem to carry the same thoughts.

"I was worried you weren't coming," Jace told her, ignoring his friend as she stepped into his waiting arms. His friend said goodbye as Jace wrapped his arms around her, kissing her on the head. "Oversleep?"

"Had about two minutes to get ready," she told him, looking down at her groutfit. "But I brushed my teeth."

Jace let out a laugh, leaning forward to brush his lips against hers, mindful of the hallway full of people. People didn't stare at PDA normally, but when it was Jace they did.

"I love when you wear your hair down," he told her, his hand coming up to tangle in her curls, pulling her in for a much longer kiss.

"And I love it when you bring me coffee," she giggled, feeling happy despite her lack of coffee.

His arm hung around her waist as she took her first few sips, her heart warming because he had gotten her order right. "I kind of want to take you somewhere else today."

Clary leaned against him. "We can skip class when you don't have practice, I don't want to be any more hated."

Jace frowned but didn't say anything. The truth was that even if Jace was the one who wanted to do something that interfered with football, Clary would still get blamed.

The warning bell rang and Clary opened her locker, ignoring the mess of papers that seemed to be growing by the day and grabbing her history book. Jace took it from her as she closed her locker, her other hand holding her coffee.

They walked into her homeroom together and he set her book on her desk before kissing the side of her head and walking back out. Maia was rolling her eyes.

"Could he be any more clingy?" She asked, eyeing the coffee.

---

College

(First Visit)

Jace had given Daniel a heads up on Monday that Clary would be coming by this weekend. Daniel had been excited, he'd heard a lot about Clary from Jace and he was eager to see Jace not be a grouchy bitch for a few days, a direct quote from his friend.

Now Jace was headed towards the parking garage she was due to pull in any moment.

"Baby!" She said, leaping into his arms when he found her at the trunk of her car.

He caught her easily, squeezing her tightly as he rocked back and forth with her in her arms. It had been a long month without her and Jace never wanted to go that long again. Family vacations and plans with friends had really fucked up his plans. He had missed her birthday for the second year.

"I've missed you," he told her and she moved around so that she could kiss him.

"You smell so good," she muttered, her hands in his damp hair.

"I don't want to brag, but I did shower just for you."

Jace set her down and grabbed her bag from her trunk as she laughed. "I think I'd rather just have you shower for yourself. No one likes a stinky boy."

She slipped her bookbag over her arms before taking his outstretched hand.

"I wear deodorant," he defended himself, smirking at the way her head snapped towards him.

"And soap? Daily?" She questioned.

"Probably twice a day with football," he amended before leaning in for another kiss.

"I'm starving," she said as they exited the closed in garage. "Have you figured out the good places yet?"

"A few. I was thinking we could try some new restaurants while you were here though."

"Will your friends be joining us?"

Jace looked at her incredulously. "You crazy lady, I'm not sharing you."

She laughed. "Not even Daniel?"

They'd talked on a face-time a handful of times and they liked to gang up and tease him. "Will you promise to be nice to me if he does?"

Clary grinned and shook her head.

"Well, at least your honest."

(The breakup) (So sorry) (Happy Ending, I promise)

Jace should have seen it coming.

They'd been distant and arguing for weeks.

But he hadn't.

"I think maybe we should take a break," she had said, her voice small.

Jace hadn't been able to say anything for several minutes and she hadn't said anything while she waited.

In the end, he had only been able to ask her why?

"Because we're making one another miserable. As much as want things to be one way, they're just not. It doesn't matter that we're fighting because we miss one another or because we want to see each other but we can't, the fact of the matter is that we can't go more than a day without arguing over something stupid. This isn't fair for either one of us."

There was a lot going through his brain at that moment. Their dating history and how much he loved her and that if he was this miserable because he couldn't see her, how miserable was he going to be because he couldn't talk to her either?

"No," he had said, because that was the last thing he wanted. "We can't take a break. I love you."

It was her turn to be silenced.

"I love you too," she had said, and for the first time those words had left him with a sense of dread. Her tone told him there was the biggest but in the world coming after. "I just don't think it's enough right now."

"It has to be."

"But it's not."

"Don't say that."

They hadn't talked for that much longer, both of their minds made up. In the end, she had just sort of hung up on him, they had hit a stand-still. Jace was still sitting in his bed, staring at his phone when Daniel walked in.

"Hey man!" He had said, sounding excited. "Check this out! They started selling Swiss rolls in Outtakes... what's wrong?"

"I think Clary just broke up with me," he said, his voice lifeless.

"Oh," Daniel had said, sounding shocked. Clary had been up twice since school had started and they had really gotten along. "Man, that sucks, I'm sorry."

Jace hadn't said anything, because what could he say? That he was sorry too?

They didn't talk for a few days, both processing what was going on. It was the longest Jace had ever gone without talking to her since meeting her.

When they talked again, they were able to actually break up this time. Jace hadn't wanted to but he understood why Clary wanted to. They weren't good right now.

Jace had been planning on going home one day for Thanksgiving but he ended up just staying at school, his parents had understood.

Clary and him weren't talking and he didn't think he could handle being back and dealing with that.

They talked a few times before Christmas, she had watched his games on tv and wanted him to know that she was really happy for him. He had savored all of those interactions, pushing himself to play better and better to deserve her praises.

When he went home for three days for Christmas, he reached out to her.

They got together.

It took him about ten seconds to remember just how much he wanted her.

They spent a lot of time together. At first, it had been a bit awkward. He had come to her house and Jon had greeted him with a wide embrace, running out of the house to greet him. It had been cool but he couldn't stop thinking about how he had hoped that it would have been Clary doing that. Instead, she had been smiling at him from the door, looking uncharacteristically shy.

They reunited alone, on the porch once Jon had disappeared back inside. Their hug was stiff and familiar all at once, reminding Jace of what he had and what he wanted. The past two months had been awful without her, he was far from okay. He survived on a few words from her a week and was uncharacteristically quiet, even for himself. Daniel was worried for him. He liked Clary and he didn't blame her for the break up, which was nice, that was all his other college buddies would say.

Fuck her, he could do better anyway.

He could tell that none of them really meant that, they didn't know her and no one could deny that she was as beautiful as they came.

His only saving grace, which he felt slightly guilty for at times, was that she seemed just as closed off on him. From the moment they had split up, all Jace could imagine was the day where they got back together. A week after they had split up for good, it had hit him suddenly and painfully that might not have been what she planned. It sent him spiraling all over again.

But she seemed fine now that she was in front of him.

He stayed at their home until 3 in the morning, talking and watching movies and snacking and accidentally dozing off with his arm pressed against hers. The next day, she came to his house and his mom cried when they embraced. For a while, they spent some time all together and then Jace snuck off into his room with Clary. It started with a tentative kiss from him and ended with them both panting, naked and still embracing on his bed. Afterwards, he refused to let her go, hugging her tightly against him as he tried to keep his thoughts from running away again.

He wanted to ask if this meant that she wanted to give them another chance.

If she had been as miserable as him.

If she still loved him.

In the end, the fear of an answer he didn't want prevented him from asking at all, at least that day.

The next day he headed over to her house in the morning, he was leaving that afternoon and they both wanted to spend some more time together.

They slept together again, holding each other tightly at the end.

"What does this mean?" He asked her, his hands caressing her back as she lay on his chest.

"You mean for us?" She asked, trying to clarify what he was asking.

"Yeah."

"I don't know," she confessed, resting her head on his chest. "I have no idea."

"I miss you," he told her, trying to say the safest option.

"I do too, but somehow it is worse when we're talking all the time. I don't like arguing with you, it drives me mad."

Everything they tried to talk about resulted in a fight. Clary wasn't used to this Jace, she was used to the one who was like this with everyone else. It stung to receive the same treatment now. Jace tried to be better but not being with her literally felt like dying sometimes. To talk to her and hear from her and learn about her day but not be able to touch her or hug her dug at him. To have to compromise all the time sucked. They would respond hours later to one another because of classes or practice or hanging out with friends. Jace was constantly trying to tell himself not to be jealous, which was futile because he was jealous of the air she breathed.

It wasn't healthy.

Jace knew that she did the right thing by breaking up with him.

He had been suffocating her, fearful that she was slipping away from him.

"I still love you," Jace told her, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. "I want a second chance for us, I do. I know I hurt you and I'm so sorry for that. I've spent these last two months reflecting on every part of our relationship and I know that I was suffocating you. I know that I was shutting you out. I was scared of losing you that I didn't know whether to hold on tighter or start to let go and I fucked it all up by doing both."

"Don't act like this is all on you," she said, her voice firm. "I wasn't patient with you and our change, you went away and that sucked but it was my biggest change. You moved away, started playing football on a new team, met new people, all while trying to continue a relationship with me. I didn't know how to deal with you changing you either and I was wrong for not trying harder. I didn't understand when you were leaving just how much was going to change and I let myself get blindsided."

"I think you made the right call," Jace told her, because he had a long two months to think about this. "I don't think I would have gotten the message any other way."

"I don't. I think I should have tried harder. I gave up on us."

"But I don't think I would have seen things as they were when I was still in them. I was so blindsided by my conflicting feelings and it was making me be someone I never was around you."

"Then do you think we should even get back together? Won't it just fall apart again?"

He forced himself to meet her gaze, to see the tears already welling up in her eyes. His heart sunk.

"I'd like to give us another shot. I'm just as in love with you now as I was the last time I saw you and I don't think that's ever going to go away."

"But is love enough right now? We're still on completely different schedules and life paths right now."

"Only if we let ourselves do that," he said, playing with the ends of her hair. "I still see me life intertwining with yours, I still see our futures together, don't you?"

Clary bit her lip. "I don't know anymore."

Jace closed his eyes, letting his head fall all the way back on her pillow. Fuck fuck fuck.

"It's not that I don't love you, it's just that I don't want to try to repair our relationship in the same circumstances that broke it."

When Jace left the house shortly after that conversation, he didn't look back as he walked to his car. Clary had seen him to the door and the moment he was out of the house, his eyes filled with and then spilled tears.

When he got back to school later that day, it was to an empty dorm room. Daniel was home for their four week break while Jace was forced to practice for their upcoming game with his broken heart. When they lost the champion ship game, Clary reached out to say that she was proud of him anyway and the entire family was proud of how he played. It took him several days to respond to her and in the end he just offered his thanks.

(Jace pining hopelessly after breaakup)

"What is that?" Chad demanded and Jace turned and froze.

His friends were looking at a pile of photos he had left out on his desk from earlier.

"I didn't even know you had teeth!" Tyler said, grabbing the photo from Chad's hand and bringing it closer to his face. "Is that your girl?"

Jace had thought something similar when he first saw the photo on question. Izzy had taken it during one of her parties on her camera. Clary had been as drunk as he had ever seen and extremely giddy. They'd gone upstairs for a breather and Jace had pulled Clary on to his lap on Izzy's chair. Clary had gotten hot and untied her top, leaving her bare from the waist up. Apparently, girls getting naked around one another was a normal thing, evidenced by the way Iz hadn't batted an eye when seeing his girlfriend's bare tits. Instead, she had just taken a photo. Jace had covered her breasts with his hands for propriety sake as they both beamed at the camera.

After taking in his girl's brilliance, he questioned whether he even knew if he could smile that wide before.

"My ex, yeah," Jace said, looking away from his friends.

"You look really fucking happy."

He nodded as there was nothing he knew to say to that. He had been. Until he'd fucked it up.

"Is she naked?" Chad asked, staring intently at Clary.

"Mostly, yeah," Jace said.

"Who took this photo?"

"Our friend, we were all drunk."

"Holy shit," Tyler said, holding up a photo of Izzy and Clary kissing next.

Jace had taken that one.

Apparently, drunk girls also kissed a lot. It just really looked scandalous because Clary was biting Izzy's lip and nothing was covering her breasts so you could see the entirety of her side boob. It was also a bit blurry which just added to the sex appeal.

"Wild night, huh?" Chad asked, taking the photo from Tyler.

Jace rolled his eyes. "This was like, all in the matter of 10 minutes."

(Jace (trying) to hoop up with someone after Christmas)

"Hi there," said a girl with black hair, a striking face, and pretty breasts as she slid up to him as he was walking through the pit of people with his teammates.

Jace was forced to stop, lest he would have run into her. "Hey."

Her smile and everything about her oozed sex. "Care to dance?"

"Yes, he does," Donald said, shoving him at the tall girl.

His first instinct was to say no and walk away, he already had a girl. But that wasn't true anymore. It had been a month since they had talked and the excuse sounded flimsy to his own ears now and not just his friends'.

So Jace didn't say anything, just stepped even closer to her and started moving his hips with hers.

"A man of few words, I see," she said, smirking up at him as she pressed even closer to him and reached for his hands.

Jace let her, trying to silence the voice in his head that compared every girl he saw to the one he loved, and just let her brush up against him.

After the song ended, she turned around against him as the next one began and pushed her ass directly against his crotch. Her hands guided his hands to her breasts and left them there before reaching up and tangling them in his curls.

In the dark and crowded room, Jace kept one hand around her breast and let the other slide down her bare abdomen to grip her hip as he grinded roughly against her. He was half hard and rather drunk and extremely horny.

Her head tilted to the side as she sighed and Jace leaned down to press against her sweaty neck. His hand slid up from her hip to her slender neck, holding her against him as he moved his lips from her neck to her jaw.

Their lips met when her head turned, their hips still moving to the beat of the music and his hand still squeezing her breast. Her tongue slid against his and his hand moved to the back of her head.

"Hmmm," she said, turning to press her breasts against his chest and wrap her arm around his neck. He moved his hand from her breast to her perky ass. It didn't fall into his hand the way Clary's had.

Jace kissed her harder and moved his hand back to her breast.

They danced for several songs, kissing and groping one another. She pressed up against his erection at every chance she got and eventually, he took the hint.

"Do you want to go to my place?" Jace asked her, nipping at her ear.

"Lead the way," she gasped. Jace waved at the first friend he saw, letting him see the way he was holding this girl's hand and leading her out of the bar. Jace heard his friends cheer for him as Justin spread the news.

"I live in Cornet's," Jace told her as they crossed the street together.

"So, you're a freshman."

Jace nodded. He didn't look like a freshman, he had never looked his age. Too big and tall and slim.

"I'm Aline, by the way," she said as they entered his building.

"Jace."

She snorted.

"What?"

"You just don't talk much," she said, stepping into the elevator in front of him. Jace hit floor 6.

"Didn't know it was a requirement," Jace said, crowding against her as the door closed. It was just the two of them and he didn't care about the cameras as he kissed her against the wall.

When the door opened, Jace walked out backwards, still kissing Aline. It was after one in the morning and anyone else on the floor had to know what would be happening now. His door was third down the hall in the middle and he pulled away from her to unlock it.

"Nice place," she commented, stepping into the double. "Football player?"

His closet hanging was open, revealing all the clothes he had been gifted by the program.

"Yeah," he said, walking past the bathroom and closets and into the rest of the room. Daniel was still out and Jace pulled out his phone to text him that he would be with a girl for a bit. Daniel was probably finding his own girl to get with, his breakup last semester had resulted in Daniel hooking up with anything with legs and a set of boobs.

Jace set his phone down on the bed side table and turned to Aline. She was staring at Clary's painting, the one of the butterflies and gold he spent most of his time staring at.

"A football player who is into art," she said, turning to him with a grin. "Don't see that every day."

He wasn't really into art, he was just into Clary's art. "You're stereotyping."

"Probably," she admitted with a shrug before strutting over to him.

Jace sat on his bed, relieved when she straddled his hips and started kissing him again. He really wasn't in the mood for a conversation right now.

"Can I take your shirt off?" He asked, his hands resting on the tie on the front.

She pulled back, looking surprised. "Yes."

Jace pulled the fabric apart and off her shoulders, leaning down to kiss her collarbone and the softness of her breasts that weren't held in by lacy red fabric.

Aline was just laying under him with her hands on his biceps and letting him do what he pleased. Jace rolled off of her.

"What?" She asked, sounding out of breath.

"Neither one of us want this," he said.

"Oh."

"You don't, do you?" Jace asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"No."

"I'm still in love with my ex-girlfriend," he admitted as way of explanation.

"I think I'm gay," she confessed in a low voice.

"You think?"

She huffed out a breath. "My roommate is beautiful, and I feel more just talking to her than I have ever felt with a guy."

"Have you tried hooking up with a girl?"

"No. I can't be gay."

Jace turned towards her. "What? Why?"

She turned to him too, looking incredulous. "My mom would kill me."

He pursed his lips. "That doesn't make you any less gay."

Her jaw went slack.

"I know it's scary but you can't hide from yourself forever to please everyone else. You're an adult now, you're free to make your own choices."

"Maybe," she said, turning back up to the ceiling. "Your ex, why did you two break up?"

Jace let out a long sigh. "She's a year younger than me and lives four hours away and I'm an asshole."

She huffed out a laugh. "An asshole? Where?"

Jace smiled. "Just trust me. I couldn't handle the distance and didn't know whether to hold on tighter to her or start to let go and I just fucked it all up."

"Life sucks."

"Amen."

"You were kind of my last hope," she admitted after a minute. "You're the type of guy that every girl is into."

"But not you?"

"But not me," she agreed. "How is this not a sign? Like, you're my hookup and you can tell I don't want this."

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Date a girl, kiss a girl, fuck a girl. You only live once."

"You don't want to take your own advice?"

"Feels a bit like cheating when I'm still in love with her."

"Do you want to try again?" She asked and he turned towards her.

She really was beautiful with her hair splayed out on his pillow, her lips plush and pink, and her breasts bare and round.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Didn't we just go over this?"

"I'm still horny," she said, moving up on an elbow. "And now it doesn't feel like I'm hiding something."

Jace thought of Clary. Of how much he loved her, and wanted her. And how much she wasn't willing to meet him even half way on that.

"Tell me to stop and I'll stop," he said, leaning towards her again.

"You too."

And then they were kissing.

It wasn't what neither of them really wanted but it was what they had. There was no cuddling after or giggling like he was used to, like he wanted, but after seeing her out of his room, he felt sedated.

He woke up with a vendetta.

Aline and him had exchanged snaps and she messaged him a thank you in the morning, for listening and for accepting, to which he answered with a thank you of his own. And to thank him for actually making her cum, a feat she had thought was impossible. She said he was a good last man, as she'd never fuck another one.

He wasn't over Clary, and he didn't want to be.

And he was going to have to accept that.

And with that, he either had to try to get her back or work through being with people that weren't her.

He chose the formed option.

(Getting back together)

Clary was sitting on his bed with her legs crossed and hands folded in her lap. She hadn't looked at him since sitting down.

"Clary," he said now, leaning against the wall and extending his hand for her to take, like an olive branch.

"I didn't text you back because I was mad that you were moving on and I wasn't."

Jace fought the urge to draw back in surprise. "Moving on?"

Clary looked even more uncomfortable somehow. "Toby was trying to get me to go on a date with him for months and I was running out of excuses and I think he could tell. In March, he brought up how there were videos of you with girls at bars and that it was about time I moved on too."

"He was what?"

She looked up at him. "Telling me—

"No, no," Jace said, inching forward. "I mean, there was one girl, one time, I'm not trying to hide anything from you. But he was harassing you?"

"Oh, no, I mean, he was just asking—

"Were you saying no?"

She bit her lip and nodded.

"Then that's harassment, sweetheart. Repeatedly asking someone something they've already given you an answer to just because you didn't like that answer is harassment."

Her eyes welled up with tears. "Even if I didn't tell him no harsh enough."

"Boys are stupid babe, but they're not that stupid," he said, squeezing her hand.

"But I think we're friends."

Jace bit back one retort and settled on another. "Just because you're friends, it does not mean that he has a right to push for more when you're clearly uncomfortable."

She nodded, before drawing in a shaky breath. "So, you're not mad?"

"I'll be knocking some sense into Toby, but I'm not mad at you sweetheart."

She smiled slightly before pulling her hand back so could grab on to his shirt with both hands. He gently maneuvered them so that they were laying down, facing one another.

"I love you," he told her, taking in the way her eyes widened at the easy confession. If only she knew, that not even once had he stopped loving her since last seeing her. "And I was hurting too. In February, I hooked up with a girl I met at the bar. We're friends now. At first, it wasn't working because neither one of us were into one another. I told her I was still in love with you and she said she thought she was gay and after that, we fucked. We were horny and drunk and we were both wishing it was with someone else."

"I'm not mad," Clary said softly. "We were both stupid. You don't owe me an explanation."

He shook his head. "I was hurt just thinking of you seeking comfort with other boys and I don't want to hide anything from you that happened."

"I do have something else to tell you," she said, averting her eyes.

"Okay." He said, holding his breath.

"Simon kissed me," she said and Jace was so caught off guard, he could not hide his physical reaction as he sat up.

"What?"

"Simon kissed me," she said plainly again, staring at him with a resigned look on her face. "And told me he loved me."

"What did you say?"

"They didn't happen at the same time."

"Clary, just tell me," he said, looking at the other wall. He was not prepared for this but he didn't think her would ever be.

"It was over the course of a week in February. He kissed me a few times and then when I didn't say anything about it, told me that he loved me."

Jace dragged a hand through his hair, trying not to be as upset as he was.

"I told him I didn't love him like that and that I probably never would," Clary said in a small voice. "We didn't talk for a few weeks but we made up last week."

Probably never would?

Probably?

"Do you think you could love him someday?" Jace asked plainly.

"No," she said. "But I wanted to think I could."

"Why?"

"Because I loved you and I couldn't have you and didn't think you wanted me anymore."

Jace snorted. "I loved you first and I thought I'd love you last, too."

Clary sat up and he didn't fight the instincts in him that told him to hold her. She fit just as perfectly as always and he held her in his lap for several long minutes.

"I love you," she finally said, her voice muffled by him. "And I don't want to be apart anymore."

"Me neither," he agreed.

She leaned up and kissed him and there was passion in the gentle way she did so that had him unraveling.

"Can I touch you?" She asked him, pulling back just enough that their lips weren't touching.

"Please," he begged, slotting his mouth back on hers as her fingers crept under his shirt and touching his skin for the first time since December. "Whatever you want, please take."

"Only if you do the same," she said, moving his hands from where they hung loosely in her lap to her hips.

"Okay," he agreed. "I love you."

Clary smiled against him. "I love you."

Their layers came off slowly until she was laying underneath him, naked and wanting. Jace was trembling with emotions as they moved slowly together and he could not stay silent. Their faces were wet and he didn't know whose tears were whose and he didn't care.

"I want to know everything about what happened between you and Simon." Jace told her the next day as they were laying together in his bed. "It's already eating at me alive."

She let out a long breath before twisting next to him so that her face was hovering over his.

"It happened the first Monday in February. I was a wreck still from Christmas and I was trying to pretend like I wasn't. I don't know if it was because he wanted to make it better or if he thought I was better or what, but I was over his house playing video games and he just kind of kissed me. I had never felt so blindsided in my life and I didn't say anything for a while, trying to process everything. It felt like kissing the back of my hand but he was eager to try again and he kissed me again before I went home. I was still ignoring it mostly, just letting him kiss me and acting normal, but inside I felt like I was coming undone at last. He told me he loved me on Saturday after a week of occasional kisses and I just started crying because it was so much. I told him I loved him too, just not like that."

Jace nodded.

"You know, I could always tell he liked you," he said quietly. "But I never wanted to drive a wedge."

"I was shocked when he kissed me, I had no idea," she muttered.

---

(Epilogue)

The drive home took even longer than normal, his car full of his clothes and bedding.

He went straight to Clary's house, who had gotten home from school less than an hour before him. She was waiting for him on her porch and when she saw his car, she jumped to her feet.

Nearly a month and a half had passed since he'd last seen her and he'd barely put the car in park before he was clamoring out of it. She practically jumped into his arms, sending him staggering against his car.

He laughed as he wrapped his arms around her tightly, so happy they had gotten to this point. Together. With hard work.

"I've missed you, angel boy," she muttered.

"I've missed you, too."

"I'm glad I don't have to anymore."

Jace pressed his lips against her neck. "I love you, Sage."

/fin./

---

I really am sorry I couldn't do more. I'm just tired of this story and the pressure of finishing it constantly looming over my head. hope this was at least somewhat satisfactory and you enjoyed my half assed wips.

wishing you all the best :)))