"What do you think of this one?" Helen asked as she twirled around in front of her webcam and Clary yawned as she took in the third outfit change. If this was a first date, or a second date, she would understand the nervousness, but it was nowhere near the first time that Helen was going to be seeing Aline and Helen still seemed to freak out as though it was the first time.

Although...

Clary had a habit of double checking that her hair was in place and she didn't have lipstick on her teeth and her outfit wasn't too mismatched when she was meeting up with Jace, even though she generally didn't care.

"I like it," Clary replied.

"You said that about the last two," Aline pointed out, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, the last two were nice!" Clary protested, her voice coming out a little muffled given she was still laying down and the laptop was resting on her stomach, her head propped up a little awkwardly on her pillows. "I don't know—what kind of occasion are we going for here? Like, are you going to a club? To a movie? To dinner?"

"I don't know, that's the problem," Helen sighed and rubbed her hand over her face before moving forward and flopping down on her bed and picking up her computer. "She just said she wanted to talk to me tonight and that she'd pick me up at seven and that's all I know. And it sounded kind of serious and so I'm freaking out, because I really like her, and you know that I was thinking about..." Helen drew in a sharp breath and her eyes darted to the side, fingers twitching a bit. "You know I was thinking about maybe trying to drop back the dates I was going on, the people I was seeing..." Helen had mentioned it in passing a few times, and Isabelle and Clary had just been waiting for the official day to come. "I was thinking about talking to Aline this weekend about how I was feeling, so maybe I'll talk to her tonight, but it just depends what she says."

"You okay?" Clary asked with a scrunch of her nose, not too sure what else she could ask and Helen just scrunched her nose back. "I think I still have some Xanex left over from some last exam season." Helen rolled her eyes. "And Jordan can always get those killer weed brownies, if you really need to chill out." This time it made Helen laugh and she pursed her lips in a kiss as she leaned forward.

"I'll let you go back to sleep, I know Fridays are your day," Helen said as she lifted her hand to tap on the keys of her laptop. "Love you."

"Love you," Clary replied before pushing the laptop off her stomach and yawning again.

Then she went back to sleep.

It was a little after ten when Clary woke up again, and she pulled her hair into a messy ponytail and brushed her teeth, wearing one of Jordan's baggy shirts and a tiny pair of sleeping shorts and a bra as she took her laptop out to the lounge and stretched out on the couch. She flipped through the Netflix and Hulu apps, but she couldn't decide on something to watch, so she flicked over to Disney+ and just chose Phineas and Ferb since she had seen Jordan and Lambert watching it a few days ago and it had reminded her how much she had liked watching the show when she was younger, usually with Jonathan as well. Some of those memories were admittedly tarnished with yelling and shouting that she still remembers hearing from her parents in the kitchen behind her, and she was once again incredibly grateful that they had decided to get a divorce and her mother had found Luke.

By the time Clary looked up from editing on her laptop and actually looked back at the screen of the TV, she was surprised to see that she didn't even recognise what episode she was on, and when she looked at the time, she had been editing the wedding photos for over an hour. She was almost done, she could have them off to Layla by next week, which would be a bit earlier than her given deadline, so she hoped that would be a good reflection back on her, maybe set her up to be able to have a bit more work in the future.

For now, though, she hadn't eaten and it was after lunch time.

Clary got up, humming along to the theme song for the new episode as she flicked through the notifications in her phone, ignoring a couple of snapchats from Simon which were just recounting his tale of a pigeon that had been sitting outside the window of his lab classes that morning, and replying to Izzy when she asked in the groupchat if anyone had plans for dinner that night. She didn't mind cooking tonight, if everyone was going to be there, so she asked if anyone was going to be out and then kept looking through the fridge for something to eat now.

Then her phone rang.

By this point, she really only expected one person to be calling, and she actually didn't mind this person calling now, even though generally she expected at least twelve hours notice to have a phone conversation.

"Jace!" She greeted him cheerfully and she could almost hear his smile down the other end of the phone.

"Clary," he replied warmly. "You're at home, right?"

"Yeah, Friday, so it's my day off," Clary chattered as she pursed her lips and closed the fridge, moving over to the pantry which was starting to look a little empty, and in the back of her head, Clary knew that they would have to make a shopping list. An actual shopping list. There was always stuff they needed but they would just remember that when they got the store—most of the time, there had been a couple of frantic tampon runs when Simon was the one in charge of doing the shopping that week, and there had been a very upset Jordan a few times when Isabelle had accidentally gotten his wrong type of toothpaste—but Jace had gently suggested that they should make an actual list, because it would make it easier to ensure that they got everything they needed.

It made sense, it just wasn't something Clary had done before.

"Clary?" Jace was still talking and Clary blinked.

"Shit, sorry, hey!" She laughed and Jace laughed quietly as well.

"Did you want to open the door?" He said and she blinked again.

"What?"

"Did you want to open the door?" Jace repeated and he laughed again, not sounding at all put off at the fact that her attention had strayed, which was pretty common for her, they all knew that.

"Wh—you're here?!" Clary squeaked, already abandoning the kitchen and practically skipping to the door. She unlocked the front door, not caring that she was only wearing a threadbare teeshirt of Jordan's and a bare of shorts that couldn't even be seen from under the hem of the shirt. Jace's eyes widened as he looked down at her, phone still pressed to his ear, but Clary just dropped her hand to her side and grinned, reaching up on her toes for her kiss.

And she got it.

Jace smiled, eyes crinkling in the corners, and he tucked his phone into his pocket before reaching up, wrapping a hand around the back of her head to firmly guide her up for a greeting kiss, and when their lips parted, his hand was still resting on the back of her head as she lowered herself back down to the flat of her feet.

"Hey, babe," she grinned up at him.

"Hey, sweetheart," he returned as he brushed his fingers gently through a few strands that were loose and tucked behind her ear, before he leaned down to press another kiss to her cheek, which made her flush pink as she turned to head back into the house. It was just cute. She didn't realize that things like guys touching her hair and kissing her cheek were so cute. It was just really nice and Jace sometimes just did things like that that seemed so simple but made her feel simultaneously like flying and like she needed to throw up every meal she'd had for the last week.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as he closed the door behind him and then her eyes suddenly shifted to his hand, the one that hadn't held his phone and hadn't reached out and touched her. "McDonalds?"

"Yeah, sweetheart," Jace laughed as he held up the bag for her and Clary let out a groan that maybe bordered just a smidge on the orgasmic side as she took the slightly greasy bag from his hand.

"Holy shit, you're actually amazing," Clary shook her head as they went into the lounge, Jace a few steps behind her as he took off his shoes and properly lined them up by the door, and then as he was following after her, he took off his jacket and hung it carefully over the back of one of their kitchen chairs—the one without the peeling paint, which was good, because that would come off and get on his jacket and mess with all that perfection.

"I didn't get a drink—figured by the time I got here the ice would have melted and the fizz would be gone," Jace told her as he sat down on the couch with her, not at the other end, but not super close either, a few inches of space between them, unfortunately.

"You're just brilliant, Jace," Clary sighed dramatically as she stuffed a handful of salty fries that were a little on the limp side from being in the bag for a while into her mouth, letting out another happy sigh. "Practically perfect in every way," she recited to him and Jace let out a laugh.

"Izzy used to watch that movie all the time when I used to have to babysit her in the school holidays," he grinned.

"Okay, ew, let's not talk about the fact you babysat your cousin who is my best friend and my age," Clary pointed out as she pointed a finger at Jace and wiggled it with a bit of a wince. "But yes, she's the reason why Mary Poppins is back in my life—I had completely forgotten all about it until I moved in with her and all of a sudden, I'm watching it at least once a month, sometimes more."

"It's a great movie," Jace said and Clary nodded.

"True, true," she agreed, and then she was shoving the cheeseburger into her mouth and groaning.

It had been a while since she'd had McDonalds.

Their general go-to in the flat was pizza, and then Chinese, and then subs, just because they got more for their money that way and they were broke ass college students who couldn't just go around buying McDonalds whenever they wanted. But Jace could, and it seemed like just another reason to keep you around.

"Seriously, though," Clary said after she had swallowed her mouthful and picked up her own water bottle that was on the coffee table next to her laptop and Jace looked it over with a smile, probably wanting to comment on the stickers and her great teenage taste, but he didn't. "I swear you're flawless. Are you sure you're not a robot or something?" She stretched out her leg, partially as a joke, also because she just wanted to close the gap between them, and poked at the side of his leg with her toes, noting that she really needed to touch up the neon green nail polish there. "Sent in to set really high standards for unsuspecting college students?" She giggled as she took another bite from her cheeseburger and Jace rolled his eyes, looking playful as he picked up her foot and laid it out over his lap so that he could rub her ankle, but there was a seriousness in his eyes that she wished wasn't there.

"I'm not flawless, Clary," he told her, laughing slightly.

"You sure?" She pressed, a little playfully, but also because she was interested in his response. He was quiet for a moment, one of his thumbs pressing into the side of her foot in a way that made her shoulders slump. "Dunno, you seem pretty perfect to me."

"Literally the first morning we met was a Sunday, and I was going to work," Jace said with a raised eyebrow. Clary paused, swallowing her mouthful of cheeseburger and tilting her head to the side. "And the first date we went on, I couldn't even properly pick you up, you had to meet me at work." Clary couldn't help the way her lips were tipping upward in the corners, because it was nice to hear that Jace considered the tiny little coffee shop outing their first date. "Last night I had to cut things short because I had to be up early for work," he added and he trailed off a little and Clary's eyebrows began pulling together as she realized he sounded serious.

And kind of sad.

And as much as she wanted to inhale the rest of her cheeseburger and the fries and then the Big Mac that Jace had brought her—maybe he'd planned on having it as well, but the bag was safely on the other side of her body, away from him, and she was planning on devouring both burgers—she put the cheeseburger down on the table, in it's wrapping, and half turned to Jace, eyebrows pulled together.

"Jace? Um, it's okay," she didn't really know what to say, it didn't really feel like her place, but Jace gave her a tight smile.

"My dad worked a lot when I was growing up, he was never around for me and my mum, and I told myself that I wasn't going to be like that, you know?" Jace wrinkled his nose and rubbed a hand over her face and Clary wondered if this was going to be A Really Grown Up Conversation. "And now..." he drifted off and Clary's fingers twitched at her side before she pulled her knees up, crawling forward a little on the couch so that she was crouched beside him, and resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Jace...You have your company, of course you're busy," she said quietly. "But, like—you're here now, right? It's the middle of the day and you're here with me, not at work?" He looked up at her and she gave him a smile and he smiled back.

"You're right," Jace said, and his smile wasn't as tight in the corners and his eyes seemed a little lighter.

"Don't worry," Clary said, giggling a little as she moved herself around, making herself comfortable against Jace's side as she reached for her cheeseburger again and then for the remote with the other hand, turning up the TV. "I'll tell you if you're working too hard and not paying attention to me." Jace didn't say anything, but he put an arm around her, holding her loose enough that she could eat comfortably but tight enough that he was making it clear that he didn't want her to go anywhere. They watched TV as she ate, and afterwards she dragged her laptop back onto her knees so that she could keep editing, Jace running his fingers up and down her arm absently every now and then pressing kisses to the back of her head every now and then.

It was nice.

They'd hung out before, but usually there was a purpose, or they were out somewhere, it hadn't really been...Just chilling before.

Jace was mainly quiet, typing away on his phone a few times when it beeped with a text or an email, watching the cartoons or commenting on the photo that Clary was editing, not talking loudly, just whispering something softly in her ear, and it was nice, made her stomach feel warm and her body feel kind of loose and soft. After an hour or so of editing, she pushed her laptop away and curled into Jace, turning her body around so that she could nuzzle her face into the light blue material of the button down he was wearing. He'd taken off his jacket and his shoes when he'd arrived, but he was still in his proper suit pants, all nice and tailored with boring socks and a leather belt that was probably Armani or something and the button down that stretched over his chest and biceps in just the right way, and the black tie with navy accents loosened just a little at the neck.

He was...Really attractive.

So attractive.

It was stupid, really.

"Right..." Clary muttered under her breath and Jace glanced over at her from where Phineas and Ferb and their friends were running around on screen. "Can we make out now?" She asked with a tilt of her head and Jace couldn't help but let out a laugh, fond and sweet, and then he was lifting her up, easily with basically just one arm, so that she was on his lap, and it was the closest they'd ever been as her legs parted over his lap and she felt twinges run through her body, eyes widening slightly. Jace was watching her face carefully as his hands settled on her hips, almost keeping them there respectfully, which was honestly the last thing she wanted, she really just wanted them up her shirt or down her pants or in her underwear or—

"This okay?" Jace asked softly as one hand slid up her back, making her arch naturally, bringing her in even closer to him, a few inches away from his face, above him for once because of her perch on his lap, and the other hand moved as well, to rest against the back of her head.

"...Hm?" Clary hummed absently, eyes already beginning to close at the promise of his lips so close. Maybe it also had something to do with the way his fingers were pressing into the soft spot behind her ear as well. Maybe. She just really liked this habit that he had, of cupping the back of her head and guiding her forward, downward, upward, whatever—toward him, that was all that mattered—it was never forceful, just...Nice, guiding, supportive, with a hint of something else. Sometimes his hand slid down a little further, so it was cupping more the back of her neck, with his thumb hooked behind her ear, and he would angle her head to the side and just slip his tongue inside in this way that made her insides turn to molten lava.

"This okay, baby?" Jace's voice was suddenly closer, deeper, hotter, right beside her ear, making her shake and squeeze her nails into his shoulders.

He hadn't called her baby before.

That was new.

That was completely new.

She was wet, just like that.

"Yeah," it almost came out like a whine, Clary feeling as though she was going to just dissolve into a fucking pile of goop if he didn't kiss her right now.

And then he did, and she honestly felt light headed.

Jace wasn't always gentle when he kissed her, and soft, sometimes he pressed a bit firmer and added some tongue and it was amazing, but there was build up. Clary quite liked the change in pace, the fact that rather than someone just trying to shove their tongue down past her tonsils, they actually wanted to play with her first, taste her, tease her. But this time it felt a bit different, the pace wasn't rushed but the instant their lips touched, the kiss was deeper and more intense, and her eyes rolled back as his arm rubbed back down her spine before wrapping around her waist and pulling her in close, as tight as he could as he leaned back into their cheap couch. His other hand was still holding the back of her head, keeping her mouth against his, and his tongue slid along the seam of her lips, tracing her upper lip.

"J-Jace," Clary sighed as she felt his hands pulling at her shirt, not enough to stretch the material, just enough to for her to feel the tug, and it made her nipples ache against the material of the bra she was wearing.

"Yeah, baby?" Jace's voice sounded a little rough as he spoke, lips moving against Clary's given he refused to pull back more than a few millimetres. "You okay?" Clary blinked and she almost wanted to let out a hysterical laugh at the question, but she didn't want to pull away, rolling her hips just a little bit and feeling triumphant when she heard a quiet grunt from Jace at the movement. The fingers in her hair twisted a little, pulling at the strands just enough to make prickles spread across her scalp in the most delicious way, and she let out a whimper, seeking out his lips blinding, her eyes closed again. "You're so pretty, Clary," Jace kissed her on the mouth once, wet and hot but only brief, then he was trailing softer, more close mouthed kisses over her chin and jawline and down her neck, and Clary's mouth fell open as his nose brushed against her collarbone. "And you sound so sweet," he added hoarsely, and Clary hadn't even realized that she was making any noise, letting out gasps of pleasure and feeling her cheeks flush red-hot as she realized just how loud she was being.

"Fuck," Clary swallowed hard and she blinked up at the ceiling, her head tipped all the way back with her throat exposed, and she was about to ask Jace if maybe he wanted to move from the couch—honestly, he looked out of place on the couch in the first place, even if she liked how comfortable he looked there, he really didn't seem like the kind of guy who was going to fuck her on a couch that they had bartered for off some older students who had moved out down the hall—and go to her bedroom, when there was the sound of laughter just outside the front door and then a key in a lock. "Fuck!" Clary repeated, this time for a whole other reason.

A moment later, Simon and Jordan were stepping through the front door, laughing and talking, Simon carrying a slushie cup and Jordan with a kebab in his hand. Jace turned his head to look back at them awkwardly over the back of the couch, his hands moving quickly, so that they were stroking down Clary's side in a very PG kind of way, almost in calming motions, which made her just want to cry.

"Oh, shit," Jordan spotted them on the couch, Clary on Jace's lap, glaring at them, and Jace getting his breathing under control and looking a lot calmer than Clary did. A shit-eating grin spread across Jordan's face as he waved his kebab over at them. "Are we interrupting something here?"

"Yes!" Clary cried out. "Clearly!" Jace let out a huff of laughter against her chest before giving her hips a gentle squeeze.

"I should probably be going anyway," Jace told her quietly, moving her onto the couch next to him and then pulling the blanket off the back of the couch and laying it over her lap in a surprisingly sweet motion. "I was really only meant to be dropping off some lunch, Maia's been blowing up my phone for the past half hour." He smile ruefully and then a moment later, he held up his phone so that Clary could see Maia's name, which was showing on the screen as calling right now. Clary had met Maia Roberts twice now, Jace's executive assistant and right hand lady, and she seemed like the kind of person who had perfected death glares for when Jace ignored her phone calls.

"I hope Maia doesn't hurt you too much for being late," Clary said, trying not to sound too forlorn as she watched Jace get up, tightening her fingers in the blanket over her lap.

"I've dealt with an angry Maia before, I'll do it again," Jace grinned as he leaned down to give her a chaste kiss on the lips before he was straightening up. She didn't miss the way he tugged at his pants and angled his hips in a certain way, undoubtedly trying to hide a certain problem that he had, which made Clary smirk slightly. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Bye, Jace—thanks for the McDonalds," she added.

"Of course, sweetheart," he waved at her, and then at Simon and Jordan before he was leaving, and Clary picked up one of the couch cushions and threw it with all her force toward her two giggling flatmates.

Hey, guys. Hope you enjoyed the update. Be kind and well.