A/N : Hey everyone! Epifunny here!
This is my first fanfiction and I hope you like it. For each update, I will be suggesting a couple of songs that I think really remind me of the chapter. So go ahead and ENJOY!
P.S. I will update whenever I can cause I don't really have an updating schedule.
Disclaimer: The Mortal Instruments and all the characters belong to Cassandra Clare (this unfortunately includes Jace as well). I own everything else.
And btw, this is the second update in two days, so just in case you didn't read the previous chapter, make sure that you do.
Song: Into You by Ariana Grande
Jace POV
It was Saturday, and Jace was running around his room like a headless chicken to make sure everything was spick and span... even though it already was. But in the mind of the great Jonathan Christopher Herondale, nothing could ever be neat or tidy enough. And, the fact that the girl he clearly seemed to have a crush on was coming over in about twenty minutes, definitely did not help his extreme OCD.
When the table could be dusted no more, and the bed tided no more, he went through all the books he had kept ready for the day. Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, As You Like It. Hell, he even had Taming of the Shrew, but now he was wondering if keeping that book might have been a bad decision.
He secretly hoped that Clary would not choose Romeo and Juliet. Bleh. That book made him cringe harder than Simon flirting with Izzy did.
His head shot up when he heard the doorbell ring. She was here, right on time. Quickly making sure everything was neatly arranged, he ran down the stairs to see Izzy opening the door for Clary.
She looked absolutely adorable. She was wearing pair of loose green shorts with a black graphic t-shirt. Her tiny feet were covered in a pair of black converse, and her hair was pulled up into a ponytail. A bedazzled bag was slung over one shoulder. The one thing that shocked him though, was the cat-eye shaped black glasses that she was wearing. He'd never seen her wear those, and he was pretty sure that didn't wear contacts.
"Hey." He said, giving her a small wave. "What's with the glasses?"
"Started having headaches a few weeks ago, so mum told me get my eyes checked out. I finally did last weekend, and turns out my eyesight isn't as great as I thought it was. Just picked up these glasses today, actually. Umm... how, uh... how do they look?" She question ended in a slightly squeaky voice, almost as if she was embarrassed.
He gave her a small smile, while internally shaking his head. She clearly had no idea how hot she looked in those.
"They look amazing. Perfect, actually."
The two kept grinning at each other, not even realizing they still had company, until Izzy loudly cleared her throat. Jace jumped at the sound, and turned to glare at Izzy, who had a small teasing smirk on her face.
"I'm just going to head to my room now. You two enjoy working on this little project of yours. I'll make sure you two are not bothered."
With that, Izzy turned on her heel and strutted back to her room, her boots clicking on the polished wooden floor.
Jace hesitantly turned back to Clary, the tips of his ears slightly pink in embarrassment. He scratched the back of his, trying to find the words to fill the awkward silence.
"Do you uh- do you want to head up?" He asked the petite girl in front of him.
"Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah sure."
He walked lead her to his room, fingers tightly crossed in the hope that she would find it clean enough.
Clary POV
The first thought that crossed Clary's mind the moment she entered Jace's room was clinical. Every inch of the room was spotless, the walls an ivory white and the bedsheets plain and white. The closet and table were made of dark wood, and a large T.V. hung on the wall, opposite to the bed. The walls were bare, not a single painting in sight, and only a single framed picture of what seemed to be of the Lightwoods and Jace was on his table. The only color in sight was from the covers of many books lying neatly on the table.
It looked nothing like what she'd imagined the room to be. She'd though that there would be dirty jerseys, some footballs, maybe a couple trophies, basically anything but... this. She knew how boys usually kept their rooms, her brother was a prime example of it. She remembered his room always being messy, with dirty laundry everywhere, bed unmade and papers strewn all across his desk.
"Hey Jace?" she called out hesitantly.
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure this is your room?"
He turned to look at her with an amused expression.
"I think I would know which room is mine Clary."
Oh god. There it was again. Him calling her by her name. And boy oh boy did it make her heart race like a like a kid on fire.
Gruesome comparison Clary, but true nonetheless.
"But it's so... clean."
This time, Jace let out a small chuckle.
"Yeah, I kinda have some really, like really bad OCD."
"Oooooooh, yeah that makes sense."
Jace looked at her with a soft expression that pretty much made her melt, before he looked towards the many books laying on his table.
"So, which one do you want to do?", he said.
"Okay, let me just make one thing clear before we move on." Clary replied, slinging her bag off her shoulder. "No Romeo and Juliet. Everyone will be doing it and it's cringey and cheesey and annoying, and - yeah no, we're not doing that. Period."
He looked at her with utmost awe and happiness, a huge grin on his face.
"I am so happy you said that, that I could literally kiss you right now." He gushed.
I sure as hell wouldn't mind. WHAT - no Clary, shut up.
"Umm, let me see the other books that you have." she said, ignoring his comment and walking over his table, a raging blush covering her cheeks.
"Hamlet - no, too weird and crazy."
With the way Jace was furiously nodding his head, Clary knew he agreed. That, or he has an entire rock concert going on inside his head.
"Much Ado About Nothing- hmm, not bad, and we'll have plenty of scenes, but it's not really my favorite."
Jace furiously nodded his head. Again.
"Oooh Twelfth Night - I actually like this book, but I have a feeling that a lot of groups might decide to do this one too."
He nodded his head. Again.
I'm starting to wonder if maybe my theory wasn't so wrong after all.
"Okaaaay, let's see. Wait - why do you have The Taming of the Shrew?!"
He gave her a look that clearly expressed what he felt - oh shit.
"Well, umm, I actually don't know why I have that. Someone probably gave it to me, because you know, I like reading and all. And, uh, I have no idea why I brought it out. You know what, we don't even need it."
With that, he swiped the book right off the table...
Only to pick it up moments later to put it back on the table.
"I uh, I'm not putting it back because I want us to read it or whatever, it's just my OCD you know, and it's really bad and just randomly kicks in and - yeah, that's it."
Jace looked so flustered and was stuttering so much, that Clary had to physically stop herself from pinching his cheeks and cooing at him. He looked so adorable, all red in face and not making eye contact.
"It's alright." she said, with an amused expression on her face. "We can look at the other stuff."
As she was saying that, a book on the corner caught her eye, and she picked it up with an excited squeal.
"Yes! Yes, yes yes! Merchant of Venice! We're doing this!"
He looked at her with wide eyes. "You seemed to be oddly excited by Shakespeare."
"Yeah, cause it's Merchant of Venice."
"But it's Shakespeare!"
"And? It's one of the few books where the villain actually has a reason for being, you know, a villain, and not just because he wants to be one. Society molded Shylock to be a bad person, and the fact that he was a Jew and a moneylender in a Christian dominated town didn't really help, especially in the 16th century.
"Plus, it's one of the few books by Shakespeare where women actually have a voice, and make decisions for themselves. Portia is not only one the strongest women written by Shakespeare, she's one of the strongest women in literature. She's not afraid to speak her mind and put her husband in place. She also portrays her crazily strong oratory skills when she easily maneuvers the entire crowd according to her wish during the trial scene. Therefore, she is awesome. Therefore, Merchant of Venice is awesome."
If Jace's eyes were wide before, they were, well he didn't know what to describe them with, but they were bigger than before, okay.
"Okaaaay. Merchant of Venice it is then."
Jace POV
Jace laid down on his bed with a huff. Clary was something, that was for sure. They had worked on of the only romantic scenes in the Merchant of Venice - the one between Jessica and Lorenzo just before the end of the book, which surprised Jace, especially after she went on and on about how 'Portia was the best' and 'Portia is awesome' and 'Portia is smart' etcetera etcetera etcetera.
They had fun coming up with dialogues for the it, especially since most of the scene was, in simple terms, the couple literally roasting ancient couples and themselves. And since Jace and Clary had absolutely no problem with finding ways to 'roast' each other, they had fun. Like a lot of fun.
The two had worked hours on it, only stopping when Clary had to go home for dinner. Jace asked her to stay and eat with the Lightwoods, desperately wanting to spend more time with, but she refused, promising to come back the next day to finish up the project.
Something about the tiny redhead seemed intriguing to him, and he knew his crush was soon going to progress to something much more. And honestly, he really wasn't complaining. The idea of being with Clary seemed perfect and completely... right.
He rubbed his tired eyes, and got up to get ready for bed. He used the washroom, before doing his nightly skincare routine. Yes, he had a skincare routine. So what?! Even boys needed some self love, and it took time and effort to look as good as he did.
Shutting off all the lights except his bedside lamp, Jace got into bed. He reached out to open the bottom drawer of his bedside table to reach the thin file kept in it. The word 'CONFIDENTIAL' was plastered in big bold letters across the front. With a sigh, Jace opened and started reading for what was probably the millionth time.
Clary POV
Clary sat on her bed with a goofy smile on her face. She had had a surprising amount of fun with Jace, and maybe, just maybe, she was starting to have a crush on the golden-eyed boy.
She let out a girly giggle as she laid down in excitement, but stopped when she heard the crinkling of paper. Quickly getting up, she picked up the small paper that stood out boldly against her soft purple comforter.
She turned on her bedside lamp to read it, and saw a poem that was written on it, in a dark, harsh handwriting. Her face went white, and she slowly brought a shaking hand to cover her mouth, as her body trembled in fear.
I hope the moving was fun
I hope you settled in well
Remember daddy and Johnny?
I hope you know how to run
Because I wonder what would happen
If I shot you with the same gun.
Umm, I hope you liked it?
But honestly, I loved writing this chapter. It was fun, and the action has finally started. Also, they admit they like each other. Like FINALLY!
I'm sorry for those of you who didn't understand anything about the whole Merchant of Venice thing. I've been learning it in school for the past two years, and apart from Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet, it's the only book I know the ins and outs of.
Review! Review! Review!
Also, constructive criticism is always welcome, but no rude or insulting comments please.