Woohoo! Finally, 10 chapters! I can't believe this story has 40 reviews, and honestly, I only thought I could get 10. Sorry I haven't updated recently, I had a ton of homework.

I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH! We're almost at 50 reviews! HALFWAY TO 100 WOO!

I'm guilty, I love leaving you guys on cliffhangers. MWAHAHA. Also, JACE WILL BE MAKING GRAND APPEARANCES VERY VERY SOON.

If Clace doesn't happen soon, you guys can berate me in the comments. JK JK DON'T DO THAT.

Enjoy!

Clary stalked up to her mother and brother. She was angry, very angry. How dare they just try entering her life?

"What the hell do you two want?" she hissed.

Clary heard her mother take a sharp intake of breath, and then start bawling. Her brother was looking at Clary in shock, as if she'd risen from the dead.

"Clary, my baby," cried Jocelyn. "I-I thought you were dead, Val-lentine wa-as s-so-"

She couldn't finish her sentence, due to the fact that she was bawling.

"Clary," whispered Jonathan. "Look, there's an explanation to why-"

"Save it." snapped Clary. "You guys left me, and it was no fucking accident. Look, I don't want you guys in my life, nor will I ever want it. Leave me alone. I have enough problems."

Jonathan was stunned, and he held Jocelyn as she cried. Clary retrieved her bike, and pedaled back home, her thoughts laying on her brother and mom.

Clary reached her house, and saw that Valentine's care wasn't in the driveway. It was 9:15, and it wasn't like him to come home late. She unlocked the door, and went straight to her room. Clary performed her usual routine, shower, check if the house is clean, do the laundry, put Valentine's dinner in the microwave, then homework.

That was when she heard a rock hit her window.

What the hell?

She set her papers down, and then peeked out of her window. She saw someone she would never expect standing outside.

Isabelle Lightwood.

Clary opened her window just enough so Isabelle could hear her voice.

"What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.

Clary took a good look at Isabelle, and notice she had been crying.

"C-Clary, look," she started. "I was mean because of you and Simon. You guys were so close, almost like brother and sister. The way he looked at you was more than that, and I hated it, I hated you. I was irrational, and I guess hurting deluded me into thinking I was healing my broken heart. It was always you Clary, he always loved you, and I was angry, upset, and heartbroken. I wanted him because he's different from all the o-other guys pining for me, because he cares about who I am as a person. I-I just couldn't take it when he dumped me."

She took a deep breath. "I'm telling you this because I did take your feelings into consideration. Every insult I threw at you broke my heart, and now, it's shattered. Simon leaving was the last straw. And I just, I can't live with myself knowing I was a bitch to you. So I want to start over with Clary, and I know you aren't going to say yes. But please, I want to give it a shot. I just want to mend this rift between us, the one I caused."

Clary was stunned. Yeah, she knew Isabelle liked Simon, but loved? That was a different story. Isabelle was right, because Clary wanted to say no.

But she needed to start living.

She needed to loosen up, and hey, life's all about second chances.

So Clary made her decision. Isabelle looked like she was telling the truth, and she did seem heartbroken about Simon.

"Ok," whispered Clary, and then in a louder voice, she said, "I want to start over with you too Isabelle."

Isabelle smiled at Clary, while crying. "Please, call me Izzy. Thank you Clary. You don't know how much this means to me. I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

Clary smiled a genuine smile at Isabelle. "Yeah."

Clary shut the window, and looked at her clock. 9:45. What the hell?

Something was wrong. If Valentine came home five or ten minutes late, she wouldn't be that scared, but he was almost an hour late.

A part of her felt excited, and the other part of her was terrified.

Whenever he came home late, he always beat her up to the point where she wanted to die.

Then she heard it.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It was a steady beat, and it got louder and louder till-

She heard someone yelling, but it was muffled. "Clary! Open up!" Clary was scared shitless. She walked down the stairs slowly, and peeked out of the peephole to see who was there.

Of fucking course.

Jonathan.

"CLARY!" he yelled, pounding on the door.

She wasn't planning on opening it any time soon, but she was annoyed. What more did he and her mother want? Instead of opening the door, she decided to talk to him through the door.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT!" she shrieked. "Leave me alone!"

"No!" he persisted. "I want you to hear the story. I get it, you hate mom. But what could I have done Clary! I was 8! I didn't understand much either ya know! Lemme just tell you the story ok!"

Clary was angry at her mom, and she knew she couldn't exactly be mean to her brother. She opened the door slowly, and saw her brother standing there, in all his glory.

Now that she saw him up close, he was handsome. He was a spitting image of their father, his hair gleamed silver in the moonlight, his eyes black, and his face looked as if it was chiseled by the gods themselves.

Damn.

He look mysterious, brooding even. She had an urge to hug him, to say how much she missed having an older brother figure in her life. Raphael didn't count, not technically.

She lead Jonathan to the couch, and he observed the house. "This is pretty shitty Clary. Sorry to be blunt, but, it is."

Clary couldn't help but chuckle. "I know, but there isn't much I can do. I have to pay for everything, so this is the cheapest option."

Jonathan looked at her, pity in his eyes. She hated people who pitied her.

"Can you no?" she snapped. "I hate pity."

Jonathan sighed, and wasted no time in explaining.

"Look, Clary, all this started when I was born. Dad loved me when I was born. He neglected mom, until, when I was 2, then you were born. You really were the light in the family. Dad loved you, mom adored you, and I-I was overjoyed at having a sibling. Then, that was when something in Valentine snapped. He just became..crazy. He started teaching me self-defense, how to use knives, and things I shouldn't have known at that age. It was when our mom tried to stop him from being harsh towards me when he started the abuse. You were too young to understand what was happening, but you were 4, and till you were 6 he beat mom up."

Jonathan looked at me straight in the eye. "You know, the day we left, Jocelyn had grabbed everything when she thought Valentine was at work. He came home surprisingly early, and I remember the look in his eyes. Pure fury. He grabbed at us, and that was all I remembered from that day. I was in a daze, so whatever happens next is mom's version of the story. Apparently, mom grabbed for any of us, and-it happened to be me. Mom said Valentine had you in his hands, and he had a knife out, threatening to kill you if we didn't leave. You probably don't know that because he held the knife behind you, so you couldn't see it. There were only 2 train tickets, mom lost the other one."

Jonathan was visibly upset by this point. "So mom and I left. We went far away from Brooklyn. For a while, we were homeless, but it took us forever, but we finally got the money and bought a tiny apartment. We took a long time to get to you because we were broke. Mom sold her art to anyone who would buy it, and eventually, she became more and more famous. As for me, I only found out about you when I was 13, you must have been 11. But I want you to know, I will set things right. I want to be the person you can look up to, and be a brother."

Clary was frozen in shock.

So many confessions, all in one night.

She thought about it. Again, life's about second chances.

"I think I would like that Jonathan." she whispered.

Review!