"Clary, you should be our bartender!" Jon joked. Clary sent her brother a sour look before retreating to her room to put away her school books. She had not even gotten inside her house yet when two cars pulled up in her driveway and emptied out six of her brother's friends, who announced that they were partying at her house tonight.
"Hey Siri. Call Isabelle Lightwood." Clary said loudly. Her phone chirped and began to ring.
"Hello?" a voice asked on the other line.
"Hey Iz. What's up?" Clary replied. Isabelle grunted on the other side of the line, followed by a giggle.
"Hey Clary." Came a male voice. Clary rolled her eyes. Of course, Isabelle was with Simon.
"Sorry, Clary. My parents are out for the weekend so Simon and I are watching Max for them. Alec is out at some party for the night I guess." Izzy's voice said.
"Yeah, that's what I was calling about. My brother is having an "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the party last week so let me make it up to you" gathering and I kid you not my house is full of eight teenage boys right now, six of which who want to torment me or make me their barkeep, one is your brother, and one won't talk to me." Clary huffed.
"Jace won't talk to you still?" Izzy asked.
"NO! It's like he won't admit that I exist after last week. He was ignoring Jon all week too and blamed it on girl problems."
"Maybe he thinks you look like Frankenstein with your face stitches." Simon offered. There was a thump and then Simon cried out. "OW! What was that for?!"
"He's having girl troubles! Maybe he's talking about all his conflicted emotions about you!" Izzy squealed.
"Oh he better not be. If he lays another hand on you-" Simon started. There was suddenly a voice at Clary's door.
"Who better not lay another hand on you, Little Red?" Will asked. He was standing in Clary's doorway, leaning against the frame as if he were modeling for a clothing catalog.
"Nobody! Uh, bye Izzy I have to go." Clary hung up the phone and with a bright red face, turned to face Will.
"What do you want, Will?" she asked.
"Boy trouble, Little Red?" Will asked with a glimmer in his eye.
"What, did you guys do shots already?" Clary quipped. "You need to slow down if you want to last the night."
"Oh don't you worry about me. And no, we haven't started drinking yet. Jon wants me to butter you up so that you'll come make us that famous drink of yours."
"It's literally Vod-" Clary started but got cut off by Will screaming.
"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!" He plugged his ears with his fingers and closed his eyes.
"You do know that closing your eyes doesn't stop you from hearing, right?" Clary asked skeptically.
"Please! Just come make it for us!" Will begged.
"What do I get out of it?" Clary asked.
"What do you want?" Clary thought about it for a moment.
"My own pizza. You guys always eat mine. I want my own."
"Deal." Will nodded his head and stuck out his hand for her to shake. Clary stood and moved towards the boy, shaking his hand. "But you have to change into something more slutty." Will wiggled his eyebrows.
"What?!" Clary blanched.
"Kidding, kidding!" Clary smacked his arm.
"Fine, let me get changed out of this dreaded school uniform and I'll be down in a few." Clary shut her door and opened her closet. Well, she thought, it's not like she had anyone to dress up for really. Jace wasn't even talking to her, much less looking at her. The right outfit, however, could make him look. Clary was short, that's true, but she had curves where they should be and the right proportions for her chest and bottom.
She looked through her closet quickly before finding a soft, loose fitting v-neck and a pair of spandex workout shorts. She pulled on a pair of high fuzzy socks and then left her room.
"There she is!" Jon's voice boomed as she walked into the kitchen. She looked around to see bags of chips and containers of French onion, nacho cheese, chicken wing, and taco dips sitting on the table. Clary reached for a chip when someone grabbed her around the middle.
"Nope! You make us drinks first, then you can eat." Jon told her. Grumbling, Clary moved to the other side of the kitchen where they had a fully stocked bar. Clary looked at what she had to work with and then grabbed her phone, plugging in her headphones and drowning out the loud chatters of the boys. She swayed slightly to the music as she picked up various bottles of liquor and mixes, cut up fresh fruit and herbs, and poured them all together to make her famous drink. It tasted good and got you hammered.
Clary looked up from behind the bar and saw a pair of golden eyes meet hers, just for a moment, before looking away.
"I'm done." She announced. Suddenly, the boys were all in front of her, grabbing cups of her concoction and taking large gulps. She was already on her next batch, anticipating their quick drinking. "Do I get food now?" she asked. Jon nodded and Clary, having finished the next batch, walked over to the kitchen table and started in on the chicken wing dip.
The night was going smooth, to Clary's delight. She would make the drinks and eat while the boys yelled and played video games. At some point, they had decided they wanted to play Rock Band and so Jon dug out the old instruments from the garage and set them up. A good band, they were not, but Clary didn't mind as long as they left her alone. Of course she sat with them and would take part in their conversation sometimes, but she wasn't getting picked on and that really was her main goal.
Somewhere around midnight, Clary went up to her room to change into her pajamas-a baggy tee shirt and a pair of boxers- and texted Isabelle about how the night was going. There was a soft knock on her door that made her jump and when Clary looked up, she saw a tipsy, frowning Jace.
"Jace?" She asked. "What's wrong?"
"Clary, we need to talk." His frown deepend.
"Oh, so now you want to talk." She rolled her eyes.
"Look, I'm sorry-" he started. Clary cut him off angrily before he could continue.
"You're sorry? So that makes it all better? Hey, let's all play with Clary's emotions! Let's kiss her and sleep with her and see what happens when we ignore her after it." Clary was fuming, but unsure of where the anger was coming from. She had been so worried about losing Jace as a friend that suddenly being in front of him and talking to him made all these emotions bubble up. Anger and annoyance and hurt and want.
"Yes, Clary I'm sorry, if I could just explain."
"Fine. Go ahead."
"Look. I…I'm sorry." He was quiet and as the silence continued, Clary shook her head.
"Alright cool. If that's it then can you leave me to go to bed?" Clary, who had been drinking some herself, felt her eyes start to water and a prickling feeling in her stomach.
"No, there's more. Look, I've been really…nervous for a long time around you. I kissed you, and took care of you, because you mean a lot to me."
"Like a sister? Gross Jace, kissing your sister." Clary wouldn't look him in the eyes, afraid that his next words would cut her like a knife.
"No! I mean yes I care for Jon like a brother, but I feel differently about you. I like you, and I'm really sorry I've been such a jerk this week. I just needed to figure some things out."
"Ahh, so that's what turning Aline down was about." Clary smirked at him. His eyes widened in surprise.
"How did you know about that?" he asked.
"I saw you, I wasn't spying or anything, just was on my way to class and saw you." Clary shrugged.
"Oh, okay. Well, yeah." Jace rubbed his neck. "So I was wondering…if you'd like to get dinner sometime?" he asked. Clary looked at him quizzically.
"Jace, you eat dinner with us all the time."
"No, I mean just you and me. Like a…like a-"
"Like a date?" Clary breathed. Jace nodded.
"Yeah. Clary, would you go on a date with me?" Jace looked Clary in the eyes and suddenly that gold meeting green feeling that Clary had so badly missed was back.
"You like me that way? Like you want to go on a date type of way?" Clary was appalled. Jace took a few steps towards her so that he was less than a foot away. He shuffled so he was close enough that she could feel his breath on her face.
Jace leaned down and let his eyes droop to look at Clary's. He tilted his head and moved slowly, pressing his lips against hers. Clary wrapped her arms around his neck as his snaked to her waist. When they pulled apart, Jace nuzzled his head into her neck.
"I like you in all the ways, but especially that one." He told her.