Hey, beauties :) Here's an update for the week.
The charity event was a dinner and dance—probably more correctly, a ball. Clary hadn't gone to any fancy dress up event in some time, probably since she graduated from university because she managed to avoid all of them related to her job, and the dress that she had worn there was a silver-grey chiffon slip that barely reached her knees, and was probably not quite suitable for the event that they would be going to. Jace and all his men already had tuxedos, given it wasn't uncommon for them to go to events like this and dinners to make business connections. Isabelle and Gretel both had a couple of dresses they could wear, but Isabelle was always down for a shopping excursion.
They found a dress partway through the day, a dark blue dress, one shouldered and the other sleeve was long, down to her wrist. The top half was all covered, and it was a long skirt, but there was a steep split up up one leg, almost all the way up her thigh. It was a bit more risqué than what Clary would usually wear, but Isabelle told her to go with it, assured her that she looked amazing.
She also added that the full coverage of the top would mean that a bullet proof vest would be able to be concealed, they would just need to figure out something since one shoulder would be bare. She also added that the split would make it easy to run in, if the situation called for. Clary swallowed hard at that, at the reminder that this wasn't just a night out with Jace and his work friends.
When Clary saw the price tag, she nearly passed out. But Isabelle just rolled her eyes and told her to use the credit card that Jace had given her. Jace had given her the credit card months and months ago, 'just in case' he had said, but she had never used it. She argued with Isabelle for a bit, before Isabelle threatened to call Jace and tell him that Clary wasn't going to buy the 'perfect dress', as she put it. Clary knew that Jace would just huff into the phone and tell her to buy it, and if she didn't, she didn't doubt that Isabelle would just buy it and Jace would reimburse her.
So she brought the dress, and she brought some new make up, and then her and Isabelle brought some masks, because the whole event was a masquerade, and after lunch they headed back to Isabelle's heavily armored car. On their way back to their apartment building, they stopped by Clary's apartment and picked up a couple of boxes that were still there.
It hadn't been an easy decision to decide to sell her apartment, but she was definitely living with Jace now and there really wasn't much point in paying for the mortgage on her place. She hadn't really wanted to be the first one to say something to Jace, which was stupid, since they were already living together. She was also a bit worried because she had been independent for so long, the idea of selling her place actually scared her a bit. But she figured that Jace had been the first one to bring up living together, so she should be the first one to discuss selling her place. Jace had been more than happy with the idea, and had spoken with a realtor and said that he could get a moving crew in to pack up and take her stuff.
But Clary wanted to do it herself.
A lot of the stuff she was giving away or donating, there was no need for them to have two sets of bedroom furniture and two sets of kitchen gear. Jace had everything she would ever need, but there were a few things that she wanted for sentimental value. She was doing it slowly, because she didn't see any point in rushing it, and she was taking her time to say goodbye.
"Izzy said you got a dress," Jace commented when Clary walked through the door with her dress box and a heavy bag. He frowned when he saw her arms loaded and he quickly walked over to her. "Shit, you should have gotten this sent off, rather than carrying it," he said as he took the bag from her arm.
"It's fine, I've got it," Clary assured him as they carried the things over to the coffee table in the lounge. "My apartment is nearly completely empty, just a few last things to bring..." she trailed off as she noted something different hanging on the wall behind them. Jace's apartment was decorated quite minimalistically, especially compared to Clary's. While she loved colour and had pictures of friends and family and paintings covering almost every surface and wall of her apartment, his were mostly bare.
But on the wall opposite the large flatscreen TV, behind the long couch, was a big painting of a sunflower field. The sunflowers weren't the traditional yellow and green though, they were all varied colours and shades, and it had been a painting that Clary had grown up with. Her mother had been a painter, which was where Clary's talent had come from, and when she and Luke Garroway, her partner, had died in a car crash four years ago, she had taken the painting that her mother had done and hung it in her own apartment.
"I know how important it is to you," Jace said quietly as he noticed Clary looking at the painting. She stared at it silently, her breath catching in her throat as she took it in. Didn't matter that her mother had done it before Clary was born and she had stared at it on her nursery wall since the day she came into the world, she never grew tired of looking at it. She didn't remember telling Jace how important it was to her, and she frowned as she realized that.
"When did I tell you that?" She asked.
"You didn't—not explicitly," Jace shrugged a shoulder, carefully watching her face. "But you told me once that your mum painted it, and you would always look at it when you're talking about her. I just always knew it was important." Clary took in another breath and then turned around and threw her arms around Jace. Jace's eyes widened in surprise and then relaxed as he felt her arms tighten around him. He tilted his head forward, his nose pressing to the top of her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. Clary pulled back after a moment, tipping back her head to press her mouth to his.
"Thank you," she murmured.
"This is your home too," Jace told her earnestly, resting his hands on her arms. "I want you to be comfortable here."
"I am comfortable," Clary assured him and Jace shrugged a shoulder.
"I know—maybe that wasn't the right word. I want you to feel at home, rather than just at my apartment," Jace reworded. "Your place was always so colourful, and it smelt like paint and some flowery stuff—"
"Incense," Clary couldn't help her smile.
"Yeah, that stuff," Jace smiled back at her. "And, I mean, I'm not really into that stuff as much as you, but this is your place as well, and I want you to make it your own." Clary smiled at him, and she reached up to give him another kiss. She wasn't just grateful for him hanging the painting, she was grateful for everything else that he had done for her as well. For keeping her safe and protecting her. For opening up to her, when it wasn't easy for him. For letting her in, even though it wasn't something he usually did. When they pulled back, Clary looked down at her dress box.
"You want to see the ridiculously expensive dress that you brought me for the event?" Clary asked, shifting the conversation to something a bit lighter.
"No, it's fine," Jace shook his head. "Surprise me. Isabelle brought me a tie to go with your dress though."
"I wondered what she was doing in the mens section," Clary mused. Jace pursed his lips together before reaching out and linking their fingers together, giving them a squeeze.
"This isn't for fun, Clary," he told her, his voice low and firm, and Clary's small smile faded. "This is dangerous. I'm not happy with you coming, but since you are, I need you to promise me that you're going to be careful." Clary sighed but Jace tightened his grip on her hand. "I'm serious, Clary. We're going to be wearing body armor under our tuxedo's. Isabelle said that she made sure to get you a dress where we would be able to give you a vest, but from what I understand, it's going to need to be just the bands, the one that's going right around your torso, protects your heart and stomach, but your upper chest and shoulder won't be covered."
"Jace," Clary took his hands in hers. "It's going to be alright. I'm going to be alright."
"That's what we thought last time," Jace responded, his voice hard. "And I let you get hurt."
"Hey," Clary's tone switched from comforting to something a lot sharper this time. "You didn't let me get hurt. It happened. Things happen. And some things might happen tomorrow, because that's life." Jace's lips tightened and Clary could imagine that that statement probably didn't make him feel any better. She lifted her hand to his face, cupping his jaw. "Babe," she murmured, and he focused on her. "I don't think this is going to be safe and easy. But I can't think about that and I don't need to think about it, because I know that you and Will and Iz and the rest of your team are going to do everything possible to make sure that everything goes smoothly."
"I know," Jace murmured, because he did. Even if Clary wasn't coming along with him, he would still be taking every precaution, because his team was his family, and he would take every step humanly possible to ensure their safety. "Just...If anything happens to you—if anything happens to you again...I don't know if I could live with myself, liebling." Clary smiled at them, even though the smile was a little shaky. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his firmly. Jace returned the kiss, feeling her gentle fingers touching his face.
"I love you," Clary mumbled against his mouth as she dropped her head and curled herself into his body. Jace wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against his body.
Part of him still wanted to tell her that she couldn't come. But the honest truth behind it was that he needed her to be there. He needed her skills. That was the whole reason why he had recruited her to begin working for him in the first place, because he knew what an invaluable asset she would be.
"I love you too," Jace whispered against the top of her head.
1) Wrong Direction - Hailee Steinfield. 2) Walls - Louis Tomlinson. 3) Alanis' Interlude - Halsey and Alanis Morissette. 4) See You Again - Carrie Underwood. 5) Brooklyn Baby - Lana Del Rey. 6) Blood - In This Moment. 7) Casual Sabotage - Yungblud. 8) She - Harry Styles. 9) Living Proof - Camila Cabello. 10) Monsters - James Blunt.
My husbands favourites change all the time, but he has said that today the ones he played the most are Adore You by Harry Styles and First Man by Camila Cabello. I think my playing of the HS2 album on repeat has gotten to him, and he wasn't too big of a fan of First Man by Camila, probably because I played it so much when the song first came out, it always just made me so emotional. After her Grammy performance last night, though, he was an absolute wreck, and he said he played it all the way to work, so I think he's finally on board with that song!
We had a How To Train Your Dragon binge in the weekend, which was amazing, and I've just started a new showed called Reprisal, which seems pretty good.
Also keep in mind, I am sending you guys PM's in response to your reviews! Please don't think I'm ignoring you guys! I absolutely appreciate all your beautiful words and support, just currently the alerts are turned off for any PM's, which is incredibly frustrating, so you're just not getting alerted by them when I send one!
Much love xx