Clary woke up the next morning and wasn't quite sure what had happened the night before. It came back in blurry snippets. She had been at the party when Sebastian grabbed her and hit her and then Jace got involved.

Jace. He slept in her bed with her, hadn't he? He wasn't there anymore. And he…he…

"Oh my god." Clary said outloud. "I kissed him." She was shocked to say the least. Her fingers brushed her lips, trying to remember what it had felt like to have Jace's lips against hers, to have him so close. Head pounding, Clary got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. Jon was sitting at the counter, his head in his hands, while Jace made eggs and bacon on the stove.

"How much did you drink last night, Jon?" Clary asked casually, walking up to sit next to him.

"A lot. I threw up on the porch last night and had to hose it off this morning." He groaned.

"That's nasty." Her face scrunched up. She rubbed her face and froze, feeling a bandage on her cheek. "What's on my face?" she asked, panicked. Did she not remember all of the night before?

"Sebastian hit you and you had to get stitches. You also have a concussion, so it's okay if you don't remember everything." Jon told her. Jace, she noticed, was staying quiet. Had they really even kissed?

"Who took me to get stitches?" she asked, but if she was honest she had a suspicion of who had taken her. Someone just needed to say it.

"I did. Do you not remember anything from last night, Clary?" Jace asked. Clary blushed.

"I remember getting home and everything after that." Jon didn't notice her blush, thankfully, and Jace just turned away from her and scraped the eggs onto plates before handing one to Clary and another to Jon.

"Any plans for the day?" she asked while eating. Even if she didn't want to give Jace another compliment, she had to admit he was a pretty good cook.

"I need to sleep some more and then I'm going to finish my homework. Tomorrow is Monday and I've barely started. What about you Jace?" Clary hoped she could get a word in with Jace, but he wouldn't even look at her.

"I should get home after we eat. I told Izzy I'd take her to Simon's today." Clary huffed and then turned it into a cough when Jon started to look at her. Jon looked up as Clary stood to start washing the dishes.

"Clary, go lay down. I can clean up. You're probably hurting still." Jace was talking to her, but still wouldn't give more than a sweeping glance towards Clary. Grumbling, she set her plate down in the sink and slumped back upstairs. Finding her cell phone, it seemed, was her next thing to do. She needed to talk to Izzy ASAP.

"Hullo?" a hoarse voice answered the phone.

"Iz. It's Clary. Something happened last night." The words were tumbling out of Clary's mouth.

"I heard about the fight. How's your face feel?"

"I'm fine, Jace took me to get checked out. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying something happened after." Clary was holding her breath as she heard movement downstairs.

"Well? What happened? Did you lose your keys and have to climb in the window again?" Izzy sounded tired and bored but Clary needed her to listen.

"Izzy! He slept in my bed with me. Jace did. And then I think, well I'm not sure, but I think he kissed me." She whispered the last part, hoping nobody heard her.

"WHAT?!" Izzy's voice screeched.

"Shhh!"

"How do you not know if he kissed you?"

"Because I think he did but I have a concussion so maybe it was just a dream and I can't tell the difference."

"Ugh. He's liked you forever, I'm glad he's finally showing interest." Clary balked.

"No way. Nah uh." Clary was shaking her head back and forth, but that just made it hurt more.

"Clary, I have to go. Jace just texted that he's about to leave and I have to get ready, but I also think you should go talk to him before he leaves!" The line went dead before Clary could reply. Sighing, she stood and quickly ran down the stairs, finding Jon and Jace almost done washing the dishes.

"Alright, dude, I'm going to go lay down. Thanks for making breakfast for your hungover best mate. I owe you." Jon slapped Jace on the back and walked up the stairs, not even noticing Clary standing in the doorway.

"Hey." She said quietly. Jace turned and was about to walk over to where his shoes were sitting before he stopped and looked at her quickly before looking away.

"Hi." Was all he replied.

"Thank you, for helping me last night. It means a lot that you took care of me when Jon wouldn't. Or couldn't or whatever." Jace looked at her now.

"I'll always help you, Clary." His eyes were soft then and she knew she had to take her chance.

"Can I ask you something?" Jace didn't respond so Clary took a deep breath and continued. "Did we, erm, did we kiss last night?" she asked softly. Jace's face grew hard and he took a step towards his shoes, lowering his head.

"Does it even matter?" Jace looked angry, though she couldn't figure out why.

"Look, did I do something? I don't really remember last night…" Clary's eyes furrowed in concern.

"Nothing happened, Fray. Just drop it." With that, Jace turned and left the house. Clary wrapped her arms around herself and walked upstairs, plopping down on her bed with tears in her eyes. She wished Simon and she were still close, but ever since he and Izzy had started dating he spent his time with Izzy instead. They still talked a lot, but it felt like who they each spent time with changed.

Clary fell asleep for most of the day, waking up around dinner time with a sense of feeling better but her head still felt dizzy. She ate dinner and did some homework, as much as she could do with a weird feeling in her eyes and fatigue brimming in her mind. She gave up around 8:30 and just got ready for bed. She was out before her head hit the pillow.

The next day was Monday, and Clary was up early to go to school. Jon had been kind for once and made Clary breakfast, which she was thankful for.

"What's wrong, Clary?" Jon asked her as she sat at the table. She looked at him quickly before paying her attention back to her oatmeal and toast.

"Nothing." Jon didn't look convinced, but didn't push it. When she got to school, everything seemed normal except that Jace still was ignoring her. It made her stomach turn and she was thankful when she was allowed to go to the art room instead of participate in gym class that day. As she was walking to the art room, she saw the back of a familiar figure. Jace. Her heart started pounding in her chest and she felt the anticipation of touching him on her fingertips. But when she reached him, she saw he wasn't alone.

She wasn't surprised he wasn't alone. What surprised her was the proximity of the other person to him was. That is to say that Jace and this other person were pressed up against each other, their lips less than an inch from each other's. Clary hid behind a row of lockers, her stomach clenching and tears threatening to spill over her lower lids.

"Come on Jace, let's get out of here." Aline Penhallow whispered loudly. Clary strained to hear better, but she would never have been able to miss what Jace said in reply.

"Aline, I don't want you."