Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instruments series.
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"Where is she?" Izzy tapped her foot anxiously as she stood by the door to the school leaning casually on the brick wall, next to her Aline was taping her fingers on her phone screen, no one knew if she was texting someone or playing a game and no one asked, Maia had decided to sit on the ground, no matter how dirty, she didn't mind as long as she didn't have to stand anymore while Jace was with them, waiting impatiently because he really didn't want to be here and he had places to be, people to meet.
When finally Clary showed up, "There you are, what the hell?" Izzy said annoyed as she caught sight of her.
"Sorry, got held up with a friend" Clary answered a little sheepish.
"A friend? You already replacing me?" Izzy asked, faking hurt with a hand on her chest as Maia took hold of Aline's hand to help her get up.
Clary rolled her eyes, "Yes Izzy, it's been two days, I had to replace you".
"No problem, I'll kill them" Izzy said with a shrug as she turned around and started walking away, Clary chuckled slightly before Jace whispered as he walked by her "She wasn't kidding".
Clary's laughter died down as she looked uncertain at Izzy walking in front of her, they got to a car and Clary tried not to let her jaw drop, stood before her the most gorgeous sleek Black Matte BMW with strikes of blue. What kind of a high school student drives a BMW?
Izzy opened the door to the passenger seat next to the driver's. She saw Aline and Maia walk after Izzy to sit in the back and she wondered who the hell is driving them when she realized there was only one person left, she turned back and shot a look to Jace and before she had time to say anything he raised an eyebrow as he asked "You like?"
"Very much like" Clary nodded and then proceeded to ask "You're driving us?"
"Not by choice, I've been threatened with a lifetime supply of lies and bad things I have done so I would do this" Jace said as he glared over at Izzy, opening his door to get in the car and Clary headed to the seat behind him.
"You think all these years I've been covering for you for any reason other than possible blackmail material?" Izzy said as if it is obvious.
"And here I thought it was because of your undying love for me" Jace joked as he turned the ignition switch on and the car revved to life. The car was just as impressive inside as it was on the outside, the leather seats were surprisingly comfy.
"What I feel for you can barely be called 'tolerate' " Izzy argued.
"You wound my ego, sis" Jace faked with overdramatic tendencies as he rolled out of the parking lot with ease and headed to the main road.
"Wound it as much as you like Iz, it'll be years before something actually happens to it" Aline said with a roll of her eyes.
"If something does happen to his ego, you mean. I don't believe in miracles" Maia snorted adding a snide comment.
"Lot of hate for someone driving you to the mall, I can just as well drive to some abandoned forest and leave you there" Jace said.
"What did I do?" Clary argued.
Jace looked up, his eyes catching hers in his rear view mirror and replied without missing a beat, "If you're saying you'd like to ride with me alone after I get rid of them, I gotta say I like that idea as well".
Clary's cheeks reddened slightly and she narrowed her eyes as she saw him wink at her, "You know what? I'd take my chances with the abandoned forest".
He chuckled but kept his eyes on hers and Clary found herself squirming under his intense stare so she rolled her eyes, looking away from his gaze as she said "Eyes on the road, Casanova".
"If that is a compliment to my skills in the bedroom, you should know that you are quite right" Jace said, Clary licked her lips before looking back at him almost furious at his constant teasing.
"Haven't heard of this much vanity since Narcissus himself" Clary commented back as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Considering it is told Narcissus was so beautiful that girls killed themselves after he rejected them I would say that is a pretty accurate description" Jace joked as Clary fumed with anger. Does he has to have an answer for anything?
"Do you like being annoying or is it like a medical condition that has no cure?" Clary shot back.
"At this point no one knows, you can say I have made my doctors quite speechless on many occasions that it just became both now, so it's really like a who came first the chicken or the egg, it's really anyone's guess at this point" Jace said with a shrug.
"Do you always have to have the last word?" Clary was now more annoyed than entertained.
"I don't have to, I like to".
Clary actually growled at that statement, reaching a point beyond annoyed with him right now. How can one person be so.. so.. infuriating?
"Clary, leave it, trust me he can go for hours" Maia said with a roll of her eyes.
"That's right baby, all through the night" Jace settled on a one more dirty joke and all the girls took turns smacking his head at that and he sighed hiding a chuckle, stealing one last look at Clary's raging red face in the mirror before entering the mall's parking lot and parking the car in the front row.
Clary got out of the car and immediately followed Izzy as she went to the entrance stopping as she saw Jace still in the car, she knew she should just go in and not ask but she had to "Are you not coming?"
"Are you buying lingerie?" Jace asked and Clary rolled her eyes at his answer and went to turn around but he only chuckled as he answered again more carefully "No I am meeting with some guys for lunch, call me when you are ready to go".
Izzy answered with a simple "Okay" and the girls all headed inside. "Hey Iz, how come you didn't drive us I thought-"
"I don't have a licence" Izzy answered interrupting Clary, "I asked Alec to drive us first but he said he has a project due with some friend from school so that only left Jace".
"Oh let's start here" Aline said excitedly as she took Maia's wrist and lead the group with hurried to steps to one of the shops. "So what are we thinking girls? Red and white colors? Like the team colors?"
"The only way I would wear the team colors is if you get me emotionally invested in the team and that's not happening any time soon" Clary said with a roll of her eyes.
"Are you kidding? Red would totally be your color" Izzy commented as she took hold of the shortest material that would be considered a dress and held it to Clary's body.
"Iz this is a shirt" Clary argued.
"You're short, it's a dress. Hold this." Iz argued back and Clary pouted at the insult to her height.
Maia went immediately for the Jeans section as she commented, "I am not wearing a dress even if you kill me".
"But Maia-"
"No buts honey" Maia interrupted Izzy quickly as she took out some light blue jeans with rips around the right knee and the left thigh, checking the size and putting it on her arm.
Izzy took hold of a short long sleeved tight black dress and just kept looking at it, "Oh this is the one".
Aline looked up and chuckled "The one you'll wear or the one you'll marry? 'Cause if I was that dress I would be a little concerned by the way you're eyeing it".
Iz looked up from the dress to Aline and answered seriously without missing a beat, "Still haven't decided, depends on how things go tomorrow night".
The girls chuckle as Clary follows Maia to pick up some jeans, she took hold of three jeans over her arm and picked up a black jacket she saw next to them as well. Each of them picked out different articles of clothes and met up at the changing rooms.
Izzy had already decided what to get and Maia clearly snarled at anyone who commented on her outfit saying she knows her style and doesn't want or need any help, which left Clary and Aline to be Izzy's personal life sized dolls.
Clary had tried on a few of the dresses Izzy picked out before trying on the short red shirt and grumbled when it in fact on her looked more like a dress. It was tight from her waist to the rest of its length which was barely at the quarter of her thigh, contrary to the top which was loose and a bigger size and had three quarter long sleeves.
She looked over herself in the mirror and was actually impressed, her figure never looked more sexy but she still wasn't used to her skin being so exposed, she held in a breath as she went out to meet Izzy.
Izzy stopped immediately as she looked back at Clary and nodded, "Yes, this is definitely the one".
"Great so can I get the bottom half of it now?" Clary asked hopeful.
Izzy shook her head, "No way girl, this is it".
Clary squirmed slightly, "I would be more comfortable in a more covered outfit".
Izzy scuffed, "Are you kidding? All the naughty bits are covered, a little too much in my opinion".
Clary looked over herself again still unsure, Izzy jumped up suddenly, "Oh wait I saw something before, hang on a second", she left quickly and rushed back with a white jacked and black heels.
"I don't do heels" Clary argued and Izzy simply rolled her eyes.
"You do now" Izzy argued, "Try it".
As Clary sat down on one of the chairs and started putting on the heels, Aline walked out with a strut as she showed everyone her pink dress which was sleeveless, it reached to her knees and was all around tight and Izzy clapped her hands excitedly "I love it".
"Right" Aline screeched excited.
Clary got to her feet as soon as she put on the heels and almost immediately stumbled but Izzy held her up, "Iz I really doubt-"
"Oh hush, you look gorgeous, now listen here, today you will practice as much as you can walking in these heels at home so tomorrow you won't fall on your ass" Izzy said.
"Iz I can't wear this to the game, I'd look ridiculous" Clary argued and Izzy rolled her eyes.
"You're not, this is for the party, we'll be wearing mostly casual to the game" Izzy said.
"So I'd wear two outfits on the same day?" Clary asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Three, we have school in the morning" Izzy corrected and Clary looked about ready to pass out. "Oh get a grip, come on grab everything we're going".
"Can I ask for one favor, though?" Clary asked hopeful, Izzy looked up at her curious, "Can you help me sit down without falling over?"
Izzy and Maia both had to help Clary sit down without stumbling over her feet, "Does it have to be so high?"
"What are you talking about? That's only four inches" Izzy said.
"That's five inches more than I am used to" Clary sassed back dramatically as she loosened her heels and changed back to her normal clothes and met the others at the cashier. She paid quickly with her mother's credit card and was ready to leave when Izzy pulled her to another shop and started piling on clothes, one at a time for Clary to try out.
"You need some jackets, oh there are cute coats this year too" Izzy started mumbling more to herself than Clary as Maia and Aline went to the accessory section.
"So tell me, what was that about with Jace?" Izzy asked as soon as she saw the two were alone.
"What do you mean?" Clary asked, hoping her tone sounded confused instead of the slight bother and hotness she felt at the mention of Jace and tried turning her face away, faking that she was interested in some clothes, knowing her face was red and would betray her.
Clary figured there were two options: The first was that Izzy was reporting back to Jace per his request and the second would be that Izzy wants to know just for the sake of knowing, she knew a lot of girls like that who wanted to know everything about everyone for the sake of knowing.
"The banter and flirty eyes" Izzy answered quickly, giving Clary no room to think of any answer.
"Uuumm nothing, that was just joking around and there were no flirty eyes" Clary argued.
"That's not what we saw" they turned to the source of the voice as they heard Aline, she was walking towards them with two sets of earrings, holding them up both to her ears and looking at Izzy hopeful.
Izzy who had discreetly scrunched her nose, she had hoped this would have been a more private conversation but answered none the less "Hoops".
"So what do you like Jace?" Aline asked but then stopped and looked at Clary, "Does he like you?"
Clary avoided their gazes as she answered, "No, it's not like that. I barely know him, he barely knows me".
Izzy's eyes narrowed and with a hand on Clary's wrist stopped her hands from raking through more clothes, making her turn around to meet her gaze and Izzy accused "You're hiding something".
Clary gulped discreetly, hiding her inner turmoil with a shrug of indifference and a poker face as she claimed, "I told you Iz, nothing is going on between me and Jace". Except that he asked her out and keeps flirting with her and touching her and his touch sends shivers all through her spine and makes the room spin just a little but other than that nothing is going on between her and Jace.
Izzy looked at her suspiciously one more time before finally letting go of her wrist, "Good because Clare, Jace is not boyfriend material, he likes easy girls, he sleeps with them and never calls them back, he does not commit and will never fall in love and I am glad you are not falling for the system".
"The system?" Clary asked and she saw the girls share a look before Aline explained.
"Jace has a system, more like a method really when he asks a girl out. He makes a joke, compliments you, leans close to you and asks 'So how about tonight?' " Aline started explaining making her voice go deep as she imitated Jace's voice, leaning over to Maia as to further portray.
"And then when you ask 'What about tonight?' " Maia started as she looked up at Aline with overdramatic blinking eyes.
"'I'm taking you on a date' and then he takes a strand of your hair and puts it behind your ear" Aline explained as she did the same to Maia. Aline for a moment held her gaze to Maia's before Maia turned back to look at Clary with a sigh while Aline looked over Maia for a second longer, knowing she wasn't looking at her.
Clary held in her breath as she realized he used that same exact line and same system on her. She wanted to be mad or maybe kick him but she tried not to show it as she shrugged her shoulders back, "Well like I said, nothing like that happened between me and Jace". The words felt heavy on her tongue and there was a certain tug in her chest, "I need some belts, I'll be right back".
Clary walked away from the group not waiting for a permission or an acknowledgment, it felt weird, she didn't know why knowing that Jace tried on her what he tried on countless others made her a bit angry and felt even more annoyed at herself for being upset over it. You said no to the date, you have no right to be upset for whatever he does. But Izzy's words kept coming back to her He does not commit and will never fall in love.
It felt wrong to her, to think of Jace as this heartless guy but ultimately decided to forcefully remove that thought from her head, any thoughts of Jace really, taking a hold of two belts she thought were cute and headed to the rest of the girls where Izzy made her try on another load of clothes.
She looked at Izzy one more time with another light, she was neither the first nor the second. The reason she asked about Jace was because she was looking out for her. Now that is new.
She would have to create a new label.
Izzy had made her model everything she picked out for her as they entered yet another store and in the end picked out two outfits only that she liked, "Come on hurry, we have lots of more stores to hit and lunch too oh and makeup".
Clary popped her head back to look at Izzy as she raised a finger to her face "Iz, I draw the line at makeup".
"But-"
"I'm serious Iz"
"But I just think-"
"Iz, don't make me get a marker and actually draw a line at the entrance to the makeup store, don't test me I will do it" Clary warned and Izzy sighed.
"You did what you could do" Aline patted Izzy's back teasingly and Izzy nodded.
Maia rolled her eyes at that when she caught sight of an ice cream stand and headed off as the girls followed her. "What can I get you pretty girls, today?" The old man at the ice cream stand asked with a friendly smile. Clary noticed that despite how weird his words were, his tone wasn't creepy at all. He smiled widely, a smile that made his light blue eyes roll back to his head as the wrinkles on his face deepened and engulfed them, there was nothing creepy about him.
She almost chuckled as she though of her time in America how this comment would have made her wildly uncomfortable from such an older man but this man did not give her that vibe at all. The white apron that was covered with spots of brown, pink and blue all over reminded her of her own that she uses when she and her mom paint.
"I want dark Belgium chocolate" Izzy said with an excited tone, "Clary?"
Clary looked over the many different types before finally settling on "Strawberry".
"I'm not really in the mood, Aline do you wanna share one?" Maia asked as she leaned a hand on Aline's shoulder while her eyes wandered over the different flavors when Aline flinched back.
"No, I don't" Aline said in an annoyed, high pitched, almost panicked tone as she removed her shoulder from Maia's touch.
Maia looked at her the same way they all did, shocked and a little perplexed at her sudden change of attitude and Maia raised her hands up in surrender, "Okay alright, I won't touch your ice cream, I want Passiflora".
"Uh I- I'll take Pistachio" Aline answered.
Clary noticed her shoulders were tensed up and she hugged herself with one arm around her waist as she let her fingers fiddle with the material of her shirt. "I'll call Jace to let him know to come pick us up", Izzy said as she reached for her wallet but Clary stopped her and gave her mother's card.
"Hey, why did you do that?" Izzy asked and Clary just shrugged as the man gave her back her card with a smile.
Izzy reached for her phone as she promised Clary that next time she will pay, until Jace arrived, Maia said she wanted to see the video game store and dragged Aline with her while Izzy was telling Clary about her and Meliorn.
"It's just so complicated all the time, one day he likes me the other day he doesn't want to show his friends we are together, I break up with him he begs me to take him back with flowers, we get back together and it's all dates and texts all the time, I tell him I need space and he cheats on me, we break up again then hook up at some party and he starts acting sweet again and romantic, I freak out and ghost him and then we get back together for the prom date so that we wouldn't be alone and I am just so tired of unhealthy relationships" Izzy talked as she licked her ice cream.
"It sounds.. tiring" Clary commented unsure if she could slip the comment in. Her and Izzy weren't exactly best friends since birth or anything, she has only known her for two days and she wasn't sure what were the boundaries.
"It is" Izzy sighed.
"Then just don't do it, I'm sure there are lots of guys who would love to go out with you" Clary said.
"Well yeah, obviously" Izzy said with a roll of her eyes, "But with Meliorn I just know what I am getting into, there is no fear of intimacy or whatever because you always know that this isn't going to work out but it is fun while it lasts".
Clary thought for a moment before asking "So you would rather a relationship you know will fail over a relationship that may or may not fail because you are afraid of failing relationships?"
Izzy hesitated, "It sounds stupid when you say it but-"
"It's not stupid but it sounds safe and I would have thought you of all people would prefer.. something that's not safe" Clary said, "Take a risk Iz, you'll never know when a relationship will succeed unless you put yourself out there."
Izzy went to answer but before she could her phone rang, she pulled it out to see Jace's ID, answering it he told her he was right outside and she said they will be right out.
She called over Maia and Aline and they headed out, all holding so much bags in their arms it was almost funny, they reached Jace's car, who opened the trunk and helped them put their bags in, the girls were already inside except for Clary who had trouble fitting in the bags and Jace tried to help.
He stopped as he caught sight of one bag inside another bag of Clary's, with an almost upset expression, he took the bag out to reveal the Victoria's Secret logo and Clary was scarlet, her eyes wide with shock, she thought she hid it well.
Iz wouldn't let her leave without getting some sort of lingerie.
"Hey you said you weren't trying out lingerie" Jace sounded like a child who missed out on a trip to Disney, Clary saw the dirty smirk he had and went to grab the bag quickly as he tried to open it.
He saw her movement and immediately pulled the bag up over his head where she can't reach, she tried jumping for it but it was no use "Give it" Clary smacked his chest.
"No" He answered with an uncaring tone and a dirty smirk.
"Jace" Clary screeched as she smacked his chest and tried to jump for it again.
"No" Jace answered with the same tone, although he noticed how close her body was to his right now as she jumped up and down so close to him, she held on to his shoulders as a booster and tried again but he only pulled the bag higher.
"Don't make me kick you in the balls, don't test me I will do it" Clary threatened and he chuckled. His other hand who wasn't holding onto the bag, sneaked its way around her waist, holding her firmly to him and he saw how her cheeks flamed instantly at his touch and the soft gasp she let out made him smirk.
"Oh I believe you" Jace said in a hushed tone as he looked down at the girl in his arms, he had so many dirty thoughts running through his head that he had to physically restrain from taking her right there at the trunk of his car, he lowered the hand with the bag but he noticed how her eyes were as glued to his as he was to hers when she didn't take the bag from him as soon as it came to her length.
"I'll give it back" Jace said, he quirked his head to the side as he whispered, "But only because you'll be modeling them to me yourself soon".
He handed her the bag, true to his words without looking inside as he backed away from her, his arm leaving her waist. Clary was still frozen as his arms left her and she felt the loss of his touch cold to the skin he was touching as he walked to the driver's seat.
She took a minute to register what happened before she could shake herself out of the shock, having him so close was messing with her mind. But his touch leaving her felt wrong, his last words didn't feel as a sexy comment, it seemed like a promise. She closed her eyes taking a breath and she put the bag inside where it was before.
When she closed the door to the trunk she caught sight of three sets of eyes looking back at her through the rear glass, the girls who had been caught snooping turn back around to face the front. Clary took a deep breath as she climbed into the car.
"Where to?" Jace asked.
"Lunch, I know a place that has the world's greatest cheesy hamburgers" Izzy commented as Jace, with one last look at Clary in his rear view mirror, pulled out of the parking lot.
A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed, review if you feel like it or just review because I like it ;)
