A/N: Halloo. I can't explain how good it feels to have this chapter of DLF ready to be posted. I've been thinking about this chapter for a while, and the problem was getting it written up. But I'm glad it is, finally. I explained my absence in the latest Winter and A Sweater chapter but I'll reiterate in case you don't read that story.

I didn't update, or even write for the longest time and I apologize for the wait. It was either that I was too busy with work or life to write, or my mind was honestly not okay enough to do so. I hope you guys understand. And I don't wanna be putting out shitty chapters for the end chapters of this story, so I hope you like them even though they've been months apart lately. I'm motivated to keep on writing for DLF but I apologize in advance if life or a state of mind where I'm not able to write gets in the way.

Anyway, I hope you guys have been doing well. Excited to get this chapter out to you. I missed writing them, and I'm missing them already. If that makes sense, heh.

There is only one used in the chapter, but the first two are mentioned so I just wanted to include those so you knew what was mentioned.

In Between - My American Heart

My Worst Nightmare - Forever The Sickest Kids

Elevated (Acoustic) - The State Champs

For the song that is there, italicized is for Jonathan, bold is for Jace, and both for Jonathan and Jace.

For anyone listening to the playlist on 8tracks, I'll update that tonight!

Just got home after my day with The Elite Four & Jace Herondale and if there is anything I can tell you in words about them is that they are a breath of fresh air.

Not only because they are painfully down to earth but because I have never seen such resilience.

Hope you guys are fans because TE4 & Jace Herondale will be around for a long time. And the entertainment industry is better for it.

Clary smiled a little as she read Sophia's tweets on her phone. She stood there in the middle of tech guys taking apart the stage, chaos surrounding her, and just continued to read Sophia's words repeatedly. And, immediately, she felt a surge of motivation towards the common goal they seemed to have, which was to make someone feel as saved as they did through music. She only looked up when she heard Simon yelling her name and running towards her.

She held up her phone. "Did you see Sophia's tweets? They're so kind, and—"

"I did," Simon said, leaning over to breathe after his sprint. "We were able to contact her and invited her to meet us at The Knitting Factory tonight."

Clary's eyebrows furrowed. "You got her number? How? And please don't tell me it's this really creepy way that could ultimately get us in trouble."

"Well, she gave it to Dylan."

"Ohh," Clary responded, looking impressed.

"Impressed with Sophia or with Dylan?"

"Both."

Simon's head pulled back. "Jealous?"

Clary glared. "No. I'm worried. She's out of his league, and I'm worried about how he will cling to her." Simon stared at her. "I'm not jealous!"

Simon gave a nod. "Well, good. And I believe you." Clary breathed. "But you're a good liar so—"

"Simon!"

He grinned. "Just kidding. But I wasn't running over here to tell you about Dylan's game."

"Please don't say he has game."

"I came here to say that I think I know the song we should perform with Jace."

Clary crossed her arms now, and immediately went into manager mode. "Yeah? Which one?"

Simon put his hands out. "'Day Late Friend'." Clary tilted her head a little. "C'mon, it'll be great. It got an amazing response when played it at a couple shows, and I realize now that the lyrics you wrote weren't actually for Dylan. They were Jace. Just like my lyrics were for Isabelle."

Clary couldn't help but smirk a little. "Look where you guys are now."

"Exactly! It's our song of romantic redemption." He put a fist in the air, looking triumphant. "We wrote that entire song together, in your room, in a couple hours. It'll be great. Jace can learn it tomorrow."

"But no one knows it. It'll make it feel pretty quiet at MSG."

Simon shrugged. "So we'll post an old video on Twitter and Facebook, and tell them to learn it and to trust us."

Clary pointed. "You're good."

"I'm taking that as a yes."

"Ugh, Simon."

"I'm also taking that a yes."

She narrowed her eyes toward his gleefully lit up ones and then nodded. He clapped and picked her up, and she went completely dead weight. She sighed when it didn't make him put her down. "It'll be great, Simon. Lovely choice."

"No." Simon put her down. "Not a lovely choice. It's a badass choice. A kickass choice."

"It's a lovely choice," she repeated with a sweet smile.

He shook his head. "You never let me win, Clarissa."

With that, she hooked her arm in his, and they walked towards the cars in the back of the venue.

After the group arrived at The Knitting Factory for celebratory drinks, they spent the first hour singing along to old Elite Four songs that Riley was playing when they arrived.

They spent another half an hour singing along and embarrassing Dylan in front Sophia when Riley played his old band's music.

And after all that, the group settled down and started having their own private conversations, and Clary pulled herself up on a stool at the bar right in front of Riley, who was fixing up to close.

She placed her elbow on the bar, her face leaning against her hand, and watched him.

He shook his head. "Just like when you were fifteen."

"This is a past time."

"It is," Riley agreed. "How you doing, superstar?"

"I'm a manager, not a superstar," she informed him.

He shrugged. "You're the superstar to me."

Clary gasped and sat up. "Riley, that is one of the nicest things you've ever said to me."

"The absence of your annoyingly constant presence has me nostalgic."

She leaned towards him. "Is that why you're playing all our songs? The Elite Four and the band I cannot mention because Isabelle will tackle me if she hears it."

He nodded. "Yup. Which makes me question, which songs are about Dylan and Jace? The ones you used to write." He put the cup that he was cleaning down. "Like 'In Between'. Is that Dylan or Jace?"

She sighed. "I wish I knew."

"And does Jace know that some of Dylan's songs are about him? Like the line It's wrong you dreamt of him. Is that about Jace? Because I know for sure that Dylan wrote it." Clary stared at him blankly. "I'm intrigued. All this success has me wondering about the past."

"I always miss it. Those days."

Riley picked his cup up again. "Me too." He glanced around the room and back at Clary. "How are things? How you holding up?"

Clary turned around and looked at the people she could already feel herself missing. "Difficult."

Riley smirked. "You're a pro at difficult."

"Yeah." She cleared her throat. "I used to think I could live in a way that wasn't difficult."

Riley stopped and said sadly, "Clary."

"No, no." She shook her head vigorously. "I just mean, I used to want that. I don't anymore. Who gives a shit about a life that isn't difficult? The music calls us too much to be living that way. Living that way wouldn't change our past."

Riley glanced at her and nodded. "That's right."

"I like this life." She gave a laugh. "And Mom was right. Maybe we were meant to be here, to do something about what our tragedies have given us in music. I was just too stubborn to see it her way."

Riley put down the cup he was working on and picked up another to clean. "Well, you are definitely stubborn." He leaned towards her. "But that's what got you here."

Clary picked at the bar that was already coming apart, and Riley lightly smacked her hand to stop. She pulled her hand back. "You think life makes up for all the bad?"

Riley made eye contact for a moment. "If you let life do it, then yeah."

Clary nodded and sat up. "Good. I think so, too."

Clary pointed past Riley and towards the stage. She slid her empty glass across the bar and stood up. "I'll be in there."

"Gonna be hanging out with the ghost of the past?" Riley asked wiping down the bar.

"More like finding comfort in its presence."

Riley nodded, and Clary gave him one last glance before she disappeared into the hallway that led into the concert section of The Knitting Factory.

She opened the door and heard it close behind her even though the music Riley was playing was flowing through the speakers. She stared at the stage lights that glimmered and closed her eyes, almost hearing the nights that the Elite Four played in there and the crowds that cheered them on. She lifted herself up and sat on the stage.

She stared up and around the room, in a daze of memories. She looked over at the door when she heard it close and patted the spot beside her. Dylan sat with her and looked off at the venue, just as she did.

"We used to play a lot of venues," he spoke softly. "But nothing ever compared to this."

"We grew up in The Knitting Factory," Clary whispered.

"We were there to help carry boxes when Riley moved locations."

Clary let out a laugh. "You guys carried boxes. Isabelle and I cried and refused to leave the bathroom because we were boycotting the change."

Dylan grinned. "That's right."

Clary looked over at him, and then through the window at Sophia, who was talking with Jace.

"Shouldn't you get back to your date?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"Eh." She shoved him and he smiled. "I think we're mutually feeling like we're just hanging out tonight." He looked over at her. "She knows I live in LA, you know."

"Ahh." Clary looked down at her shoes. "Right."

Dylan narrowed his eyes. "Do you think I'm not going for it because of you?" When she didn't reply, he laughed, and she shoved him hard enough that he almost fell off the stage. "Clarissa, that's very narcissistic of you."

She glared. "I worry."

"I'm kidding." He nudged her with his shoulder. "And why would you worry?"

She shook her head. "I worry about ruining more of your love life."

He gulped and stopped smiling now. "Why do you say that?"

"You made it very clear to me that some part of you was always wondering whether life would pull us back together," she told him. "And now you're here, and—"

"I chose to be here."

"Did you?" She looked over at him. "Or is it because Jace essentially begged you to?" Dylan glanced at her and then looked forward. "You never contacted me for those tickets. And you never reached out to me."

"I…" He took a deep breath. "What's gonna make you believe that we're okay?"

"Just tell me. And be honest with me."

Dylan reached out and took her hand to put between his. He looked directly into her eyes as he said, sternly, "I'm okay, Clarissa." He smiled a little. "Honestly, I think I needed to see you and Jace be what you are, or I would've never woken up from hiding behind you and me. Believe it or not, you and I have always been safe to me. Because, whether you were in love with me or not, we had love between us, and I knew that we'd always be okay. And I don't know if you know this, because the universe has blessed you with a love from birth, but it's hard out there, Clary. It's hard to find someone you wanna try with. I don't know if it'll measure up to what we have, but I'm starting to realize maybe we never loved each other in a relationship way in the first place. Because I'm seeing that we just love each other and it might be the same way you and Simon do." He laughed a little. "Do you understand that? That I see what we are now?"

"I just…I feel guilty that you're here. That maybe you can't say no to being here. Because there's some things that only you can help pull me out of. And I'm sorry."

Dylan genuinely glared for a moment, and his voice was on edge when he said, "Don't be sorry. Because then I know you need me as much as I need you."

She nodded. "Okay."

He gave her hand one more squeeze and let go. "I hope you'll be getting comfortable with the fact that Jace and I are fated friends. And I just don't apologize if it makes you uncomfortable."

"I hope you two realize you've been in a bar brawl."

He scoffed. "Dark times, Clary. Those were dark times."

Clary rolled her eyes and jumped off the stage. She paused for a moment and spun around to face him. "Let's head to the beach."

Dylan grinned and jumped off the stage. "Um. Fuck yeah. I'm always a slut for a good sunrise."

Leaning her head back, Clary let out a loud cackle and ran to wrap her arm around Dylan's neck, pulling him towards the ground.

Jace leaned forward and looked between Clary in the passenger seat and Simon in the driver's seat.

"Hm." He turned to Clary. "Why does Simon have the ugliest, rotten-banana-colored automobile that I've ever seen?"

"Get out," Simon muttered, his eyes narrowed.

Clary pursed her lips. "It's his friend's van."

Jace's head faced Simon. "You have other friends?"

Clary chuckled and stopped immediately when Simon's attention snapped to her. She cleared her throat. She waved her hand in Jace's face so he would sit back.

"I should've just gone in Alec's nice car," Jace mumbled as he settled next to Dylan and Isabelle, who were laughing silently to themselves.

"Just jump out of the moving vehicle already, Herondale," Simon responded, loud and clear.

Isabelle raised an eyebrow when Simon walked past her with his chin lifted up.

"What's his problem?" she asked as Jace followed in pace with her.

Jace shrugged, his hands in his pockets. "He hates me."

"Ahh," Isabelle nodded. "I see."

Jace shot her a dirty look and shivered. "Why are we on a beach at the end of November?"

"Your girlfriend loves to torture us." She looked up at him. "She has random impulses to be reckless." She could see Jace from the corner of her eye glance down at her, trying to hide his surprise. "She's just...really responsible, you know. She has to be her age in ridiculous ways, like driving to a Long Island beach when it's approaching winter." She paused. "I wish you could've been with us then. All those years. You fit in with us."

Jace looked at Isabelle in surprise. "Yeah, me too."

"Come on." Isabelle hooked an arm into his. They smiled at each other, and she asked, "So, are you as promiscuous as the press makes you out to be?"

Jace's smile fell.

Isabelle lifted her eyebrows in shock. "Is this not small talk?"

"It's not." Jace leaned his head down. "And yes."

"Tell me what A-listers."

And, with that, Jace sighed audibly.

After the group laid down three blankets with purses and backpacks they picked up after leaving the bar, they all sat down and looked out at the ocean, listening to the waves crash against the shore.

"Are we allowed to be on this beach?" Jace wondered out loud, and looked at Mari, who now looked like she was wondering the same thing.

Clary tilted her head. "Who knows."

"But you've been here before?" Jace asked, and she nodded. He sighed.

"We've never been caught," Isabelle followed.

"If tonight is the night, we'll just sell you," Jon told him, and Jace fake-smiled at him.

Mari patted his back in comfort and turned her head away from him to hide her amusement.

Jace huffed and plucked the guitar from Simon's lap, ignoring his protests. He began to pluck at the strings, and Jon held up the guitar in his own lap but didn't play anything as he stared up at the sky.

But, once Jace began to play a familiar tune, Jon turned his attention to him and Clary, sitting in the sand, looked over her shoulder.

Jace winked at her absentmindedly when he saw her and closed his eyes as he continued to play. Jon watched Jace's fingers move, and then he began to play notes that flowed right into his.

It caught Isabelle's attention, and she nudged Clary, the two sitting together in the front of the group.

"What is this?" she whispered, and Clary turned to her, her eyes soft.

"A song our dad and Jace's dad wrote," she explained. "It's one of the first ones they ever learned."

Isabelle looked at them, excited now, and said, "Sing it. I wanna hear."

Jace opened his eyes now and looked at Jonathan. Jonathan nodded at the question Jace was asking with only his expression, and Jace closed his eyes.

"Wait." Simon stood up, his iPhone in hand. The flash went on, and he smirked when he said, "Go."

With that, the entire group but Jon and Jace stood up, and watched from the sidelines.

Clary watched as the two looked at each other while Jonathan knocked on his guitar three times and Jace began to play and sing a song that they probably could never forget even if they tried.

Pulled aside as if I was the wrong one,

You said it all and you made me the lost one.

Elevated by your greatest mistake, now I'm all alone.

She smiled a little. It was rare to see them have their moments together. Even when they were young, she was always somehow involved. She was the middle of them. She was their safety net. Seeing them connect without words the same way she connected with them individually always made her heart ache. And she missed them.

I bet you couldn't tell that I felt the same way,

Struggling just to get to the next day.

I'm not force fed lies while I'm by your side.

Even though they were sitting right in front of her, playing a song their fathers played—a song that never failed to help her fall asleep when she would be restless on the tour bus after a long day—she missed the life of making stages their play-place. She missed playing board games inside a bunk that became too small once they got older. And she missed being able to see their undeniable connection.

And, while they sang the lyrics of their fathers together in the chorus, she closed her eyes, missing the way two of the most important people in her life blended together. And, even though they grew to sing for such different genres, their voices together still sounded good. They sounded like they belonged.

Without control, she lightly tapped her fingers against her leg to the beat that Jonathan created by knocking against his acoustic guitar.

Holidays tend to make me feel whole again.

Rainy days make me feel like the dream is dead.

I can show you what it's like to be down when you're all alone.

I'm quite aligned to your design.

What's mine is yours, and that's just fine.

I'm finally acquiring the state of mind that everything is gonna be alright.

She opened her eyes, her gaze landing right on Jace, who opened his eyes at the same moment. And she smiled when he grinned the same exact way he did when he saw them across The Mall in Central Park—a grin that very clearly said that eleven years of absence meant nothing to them all.

Jace stood up, stretching out his aching fingers, and walked away from Jonathan—who, after playing one song, wanted to play every single song they ever learned together. Enough songs to occupy them, and his fingers, for an hour and a half. He plopped down next to Clary, laid down in front of her, and dunked his fingers into the cold sand.

She snickered, and he looked up at her. She kept her attention down on a notebook he usually saw in her purse. He craned his neck while she wrote furiously, as if she had something in her mind that was on the verge of fleeting.

"What's that?"

"A song."

He read the lyrics and furrowed his eyebrows when he read enough. He pulled his hands out of the sand and sat up, reading the words that filled the page. She barely crossed out anything, and the page was almost filled with words and notes of how the music should be played.

"This is good," he said, lowly. "Really good." He leaned down to look at the sparkle in her eye when he said it, and he could see she was proud of it. "Where is this coming from?"

Her hand stopped writing for a moment, and then began to scribble again. "The Uprising."

He looked over at her in surprise, and he stared at her in concern. If she could see him, she wasn't giving into him. He looked back down at the page as he watched her finish the sentence, and, with that, the song. Not knowing why, he reached out and let his fingers graze across the page, as if it would make the words less real. But it only seemed to bold his name on the page. Clary, Jace, Jon. It only had their names. Names specified under certain lyrics, lyrics he knew would fit them each.

She closed her notebook slowly and looked up at him. He searched her face, looking for any pain or sadness, but the ache in his heart lifted when he only saw peace.

"Let's walk towards the water." She broke their silence, and he responded by standing up and holding a hand out to her.

The two made their way, stopping only a couple feet away from the edge of wet sand that the waves were reaching, and they looked up at the sky that was beginning to turn a dark blue where it met the ocean.

"Really great song," he said, not sure if she heard as the wind howled around them.

"Thanks."

He glanced down at her. "Isabelle told me about the question during the interview. About your best friend." Clary nodded once and then turned her head up to him. "You okay?" He searched her face yet again for any emotion. Again, he only found peace.

"Yeah." She looked forward. She bit her bottom lip, and Jace looked back out at the sea too. "I realized that before this tour, I have never understood and simultaneously not understood Valentine to this capacity."

Jace didn't answer, trying to search for any reasons she could be able to identify with her father's mistakes with The Uprising.

"I understand him because it is hard. Living on the road is hard. Creating art is lonely, and I can see the way entertaining takes it all out of you guys." She gulped. "I see that. I get that part." Her head inclined to the right. "But I do not understand how he could break us all apart like that. If anything, all of what happened to us made us closer during tour." She turned her gaze to Jace, who glanced down at her. "How could he do the opposite?"

"He already had that darkness, Clary."

She turned away from him as she whispered, "That's true." She took a deep breath. "He always had a darkness. Always. And, I mean, they all did—we all do. He could just never let it...stop controlling him. He was always lost. Always looking for something to fill his void. They always were."

Jace took a deep breath and exhaled slowly at Clary's reference to his own lost parent.

"I'm starting to forgive him." Surprised, he turned his head to her. "Is that crazy?"

Jace didn't answer for a while as he stared past her and into the sand. "No." He made eye contact with her. "He tried for a while. To control his darkness."

"Do you?"

The side of Jace's lips lifted a little into a sad smile, knowing she was asking if he could feel the same way about his mom, and he shook his head as he took a strand of Clary's hair and tucked it behind her ear. "No. She was never there." Clary's eyes directed towards the sand. "She never had a chance against her darkness."

Clary nodded and then turned forward again, hugging herself now.

After a few minutes of the two standing in silence, finding comfort in each other's presence while their minds roamed into dark memories, Clary began to pull at the ends of her hoodie and pulled it off.

"What are you doing? It's freezing." Jace picked up the hoodie she had just dropped on the ground.

"Let's get in the water."

"Okay, now, that's really freezing."

He dropped her sweater in surprise when she unbuttoned her pants and pulled down the zipper.

"Clarissa," he said, slowly. "If all our friends and your brother weren't right there, I'd be all about this, but—"

"Take off your pants."

The two couldn't even hear Jon yell in the background, "Do not! Do not even think about it, Clarissa."

Jace's eyelids lowered. "Interesting."

"Stop her, Jace!"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll go in alone."

With that, she pulled down her jeans, almost tripped when she pulled them off her ankles, and took a few steps back.

"What the bloody hell! Put your pants back on, Clarissa."

Jace shook his head at her, standing in the cold with her underwear and a t-shirt on, and grinned. "You're insane." With that, he pulled off his own sweater, and took his pants off in one swoop.

"You idiots!"

"That was very quick."

"I've got a lot of practice, love." He stood beside her and shivered, running in place.

"HEY!" They turned to see Jonathan running towards them. "Put your fucking pants on! You're going to get sick!"

"1, 2, 3," the two yelled, and ran in as Jonathan stomped in the sand and yelled, "Fuckkk."

Jace and Clary screamed in the water as a wave crashed over them.

"You're so stupid, I hate you," Jace complained, and Clary threw her head back laughing. "You have the dumbest plans!" He pointed, and she jumped, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You're the worst." She kissed him, and all Jace could hear was waves, Jonathan yelling at him, and then Clary's laugh.

He flinched when splashing surrounded them, and Clary clapped as all their friends except an upset Jonathan ran in barely clothed.

"Let's get tattoos," she said, the colors of the sunrise starting to appear behind her, and he could feel her shivering while she was clinging onto him.

He shook his head, his nose crinkled, and leaned in so their noses would touch. "You're a monster."

A/N: What did guys think? :) I have too much love for these versions of them. It has been a year and a half of writing this story. It does not feel that long, and feels like I've been with this story for forever. All at the same time. I know that didn't make sense when I typed it out but I hope someone understands what I mean.

I didn't get to say this in the last chapter because it was rush to get it posted but THANK YOU FOR GETTING THIS STORY PAST 1,000 REVIEWS! That deserves the caps and the bold. It really does. I never thought I'd have a stories with more than 1,000 reviews with your thoughts and appreciation. I can not thank you enough for that. Really. My mind struggles to even fathom it.

Let me know what you guys thought of the chapter, or anything. Reviews & feedback, please!

I've said thanks up there but thank youu for the reviews, favorites and alerts for this story! Thank you for reading it & sticking with it. You guys are amazing. I'll never stop saying that, I hope you all know.

Shout out to rippingbutterflywings for being wonderful and taking the time to beta this & helping me to make sense of these characters say. Thank you for getting me when I'm at a lost for words and when I tend to just write and not look back. Sending you strength to get through these next two weeks til you are reunited.

Shout out to I'm A Writing Dreamer, Debra Williams, Guest, Jaceswife913, Ads S, XOXPandaBear, Guest, , BrunetteAngel12, Guest, bookaddict223, jcm.139, Guest, insolitasum, Islandgirl4evR, Guest, Aura Nightheart, Dramione-Fan 17, brightdarknessx, District DivergentPotterhead, infamousfanfic, Thornthief27, Rwch3l, Guest, Guest, kjanziano, and Niamh x! Youu guys are the ones making those reviews happen. Thank you so much. You all have my love. Thank you for taking the time to leave reviews. I'm always at a lost for words to explain how much it means to me, just know it does. I'll be replying to you guys tonight and tomorrow!

Guest (KB): Thank you for your two reviews! Glad you love the love these characters have going on. I'll miss writing it. And yes, it's sad that it must end but I'm trying to really give closure to the story, I hope you like how it's going :) As for Jace, he is definitely moving NYC but he does still have more touring to do. Also, for Shadowhunters, I love it! I watched it weekly and I'm glad it's getting renewed. It's always nice to see the books coming to life and I like the way they've done it. I'm absolutely in love with Matthew Daddario and Emeraude. I shake my head at their perfection every single episode. How do you like it? I hope you liked this chapter :) can't wait to read what you think.

And for Words! I'm definitely coming back to that story, that painful story, lol. I'm not abandoning any of the stories I've started for TMI but I have put that one on hold until DLF is finished. Writing it feels very precise and I wanna put my energy into DLF right now so I can focus on Words/Brooklyn Carter and Winter the right way. Sorry for that wait!

Guest: Thank you for your review! Love seeing that you enjoyed the last chapter. It was quite a wait for this chapter :( but I hope you like it!

Guest: Thank you for your review! I loved everything you mentioned about the last one. I definitely believe they'll be okay. It's nice seeing them get to that realization, too :) also, glad you liked the song and the interview! It's always fun to write what they say and how their personalities come across when they're trying to be professional. Can't wait to read what you think of this chapter.

Guest: Thank you for your review! I definitely wouldn't be able to lose Jonathan in this story. He has a lot to offer to their group dynamic and he's too important and I love him too much to let him go as a character. I'm glad you were happy to see him stay around :)

Guest: Thank you for your review! Thank you for the kind words. Makes my day to see reviews like yours and it always helps in motivating me to think of ideas and what to write in these stories. I hope you like this chapter!

Guest: Thank you for the review and for taking the time to leave it! It always adds to helping me think on what will happen in these chapters. It's taken a while but here is a new chapter and I hope you enjoy it. Sorry it took a while, I hope you understand from the explanation I put at the top. I will definitely be finishing this story, I love it too much to have it be without an ending :)

Niamh x: Thank you for your review! So glad you see you love the story and are enjoying it. Thank youu for this review, sincerely. Hope you like the chapter!