"This is good," Raphael mused after he let out a long stream of smoke and passed the bong to Clary. "It from your man?"

"It's from Jace, yes," Clary corrected him as she took the bong and then the lighter, flicking it over the bowl and taking inhaling deeply. It was only herself, Raphael and Lydia in the apartment today, since Simon was off at his internship, and she knew that she really should be working on some of her paintings that were half finished in her bedroom, but Jace had given her some baggies in the weekend that she had been keen to start on. Besides, she generally painted better when she was stoned and relaxed and out of her head, so she was really just getting herself ready to paint.

"It's DTF, right?" Lydia asked, her eyes a little bloodshot as she shoved a handful of M&M's into her mouth. Clary nodded as she held the smoke in her lungs and passed the bong over to the blonde.

"Share the fucking M&M's!" Raphael groused, snatching up the bag that was on the ground and grabbing a handful out. He made a face, given Lydia had had the bag pressed between her thighs and they had started melting, and so his fingers were left stained after he emptied the handful into his mouth. Lydia put the bong down in the middle of the table, and Clary made a mental note that they needed to clean out the water at some point.

Probably tomorrow.

"So what are you doing for your birthday? Do you have any plans?" Lydia asked as she slumped down against the side of couch, sliding down further on the carpet. The bowl of the bong was cashed, and Raphael looked down at it disappointingly and then looked over at Clary, who pointedly ignored his gaze, refusing to share more of her bud with him.

"I was thinking that we could go to the beach or something? I'm not sure," Clary shrugged her shoulders, staring down at her feet, her purple nail polish glittering up at her from her toenails. They were a lot more fascinating now that her bloodstream was heavy with weed, and she completely missed what Lydia said next as she stared at the way the sparkles in the nail polish caught the light as she moved her feet from side to side. Lydia picked out one of the M&M's and tossed it at the red head, not bothering to move too much. "What?" Clary blinked over at the blonde.

"I said that we should do something a bit more than that!" Lydia protested.

"I don't want to," Clary shrugged. "We go out all the time, but I haven't been to the beach in ages. So I'd rather just go to the beach with you guys, and we can have some drinks or some shit when we get back."

"Fine," Lydia shrugged. "But we have to buy a cake from Sprinkle Palace, okay?"

"Oh great," Raphael grumbled, throwing his head back dramatically against the back of the couch. "Now I feel like Sprinkle Palace cupcakes." Clary let out a short laugh, taking in a deep breath, her chest heaving up and down. Her limbs felt heavy, but she forced herself to get to her feet, gripping the arm of the couch behind her and hauling herself upward. "Are we going to get cupcakes?" He asked eagerly, lurching forward in the armchair.

"Dude," Clary raised an eyebrow at him, smirking as she looked toward the window in the kitchen. "It's after six o'clock—Sprinkle Palace was closed ages ago." Raphael was back to pouting again. Clary was about to continue when her phone started vibrating in the pocket of the jeans that she was wearing and she pulled it out and saw her mothers photo showing on screen. "I need to take this, and then I'm staying in my room. Make sure you guys lock the door when you leave the apartment," she said to her friends before heading down to her room. It took a little bit longer than usual, her legs feeling heavy from the weed. She swiped her thumb across the screen just as the call was about to ring out. "Hey, mum!"

"Sweetie," Jocelyn Garroway greeted her. "I thought you must be busy."

"Just with Lyds and Raph," Clary replied as she finally made it to her bedroom. There was an easel set up in one corner, taking up quite a bit of room in the bedroom. She sat on the edge of her bed, pushing open the window to make sure the paint fumes didn't go to her head once she started pouring it out of the tubes.

"Oh, I can call back later—"

"No, no, it's fine," Clary quickly assured her mother.

"Well, I was just ringing to see how you were doing. How your classes are, how's Simon?" Jocelyn asked.

"Yeah, everything's going well," Clary replied as she picked up her paintbrush and turned it over in her fingers, getting distracted by the thousands of bristles before zoning back into the conversation that Jocelyn was having with her, blinking her scratchy red eyes.

"Are you still working at the library? You getting enough hours there?" Jocelyn asked.

"Yeah, just two or three shifts a week. They're fine with the student allowance we're getting," Clary said. "We're doing fine, mum, you don't have to worry."

"You're my baby, I'm always going to worry about you," Jocelyn responded and Clary laughed. "And you know that if the costs are ever getting on top of you, just let me know. Me and Luke will send you money if you need more supplies or if you guys are getting behind on your rent or—" Jocelyn continued rambling on about every possible thing that Clary or Simon might need in the future. Clary just smiled, propping her phone between her ear and her shoulder as she picked up one of her palette's. The wood was stained from the amount of time she had used it before, and she squeezed some of her purple paint onto the wood, and then some green and blue. "Anyway! It's your birthday coming up! Have you got any plans?"

"Not really," Clary replied, holding the phone in one hand while her paintbrush dipped in the purple paint, the colours edging together as she swirled the brush through. The piece that she was working had been partially based on a scene in a movie that her and Lydia had watched when they were high, and also on this forest that her and Simon had been taken to by Jocelyn when they were kids, which had lights in the trees and in the waterfalls, so that it was all different colours at night. "I think I'm going to drag everyone to the beach, have a picnic and shit. But nothing other than that."

"You sure you're not going to have some rager where you all get drunk and high and you just don't want to tell me about it?" Jocelyn teased lightly and Clary grinned as she dabbed some of the purple onto the canvas.

"No, mum, you know I'm completely open with you when I'm having my weekly orgies," Clary teased right back and Jocelyn snorted.

"Right, well, Luke may or may not have been preparing a birthday package to send to you for the past couple of months, so when he calls you about it, make sure you act surprised," Jocelyn laughed. "He's missing his girl even more than me, I think." Clary smiled as she thought of her step dad, who was far more of a father than her biological one had ever been. "He's going to send it next week or so, so that it reaches you by the time it's your birthday."

"Okay, mum," Clary was still feeling the buzz of the weed in her veins, and she really wasn't too sure how much longer she was going to be able to hold a steady conversation with her mother. It wasn't that Jocelyn was clueless to what Clary and Simon and their friends got up to, but she didn't want to rub it in her mums face. "I should be going, I'm pretty tired."

"Oh okay," Jocelyn replied. "It's only seven, so you must need your rest." Clary cringed as she realized how early it was, but her mother seemed to be believing it. "Don't stretch yourself too thin, okay? Make sure you're not going out every weekend, you need time to be resting and recuperating."

"Yes, mum," Clary sung out with a smile pulling her mouth upward in a smile.

"And if you feel like you're picking up too many extra shifts because you're tight on cash, just let us know, and we will send you money, okay?" Jocelyn reminded her.

"I know, mum. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie," Jocelyn answered before ending the call. Clary smiled as she tossed her phone onto her bed, getting up to stand properly in front of her easel. She could still hear Raphael and Lydia talking in the lounge, but they would probably leave soon, even if they just moved down to Lydia's apartment downstairs. Last time Clary checked, Raphael had managed to flirt his way into the pants of one of her flat mates, and he had a tendency to get horny when he was high. Although, fairly speaking, Clary also usually got turned on when she was high, although most of the time she just liked the ride it out with the tingly between her thighs and that low grade arousal in the pit of her stomach. The more she thought about it, though, the more her mind started drifting to a certain golden haired man.

They were friends, sort of, or acquaintances, at least.

That didn't mean he was off limits when it came to the fantasies that were just for her bedroom.

The strand that Jace had given her and that she had shared with Raphael and Isabelle was a mellow one, and she had only used it once more, and that was with Sebastian, and that had been an absolutely incredible afternoon and then night. They had smoked, had great sex, eaten and napped, and then repeated twice more.

Clary put down her paintbrush and took a few steps across her room until she reached her bed and fell down on her back. She ran her hands lightly over her torso, over her thighs and then her stomach, her shirt hitching up slightly so that the tips of her fingers over the skin just above the elastic of her leggings. She considered getting her vibrator out of her bedside table, but she could already feel herself getting wet, just thinking about Jace.

There was this one time when she had slept over at his place, and she had crashed out on his couch. Jace hadn't really gotten drunk, but he had mixed her a couple of vodka drinks that had been amazing, and they had shared a couple of joints, shot gunning multiple times. She could remember wanting to kiss him—so bad—and there had been a couple of times when their lips had lingered together after the smoke had been passed, but neither of them had actually taken it a step further to kiss one another. Clary had woken up first, which was unusual, since usually Jace did, and she had gotten up to go to the bathroom. She had walked past his bedroom, rubbing her eyes, hardly awake, and barely paid any attention to her surroundings...Until she realized that she had just walked past the open bedroom door of Jace and he was laying on top of his duvet.

Naked.

Clary quickly rid herself of her leggings and underwear, tossing them onto the ground, and hitched her shirt up under her armpits so that she could massage her breasts, thankful that she hadn't bothered with a bra. She parted her legs, propping them up so that her feet were flat on the mattress and her knees were spread far apart. One of her hands touched her breast, tugging at her nipple, while her other fingers slowly rubbing up and down, between her lower lips. The tips of her fingers gathered the wetness that was already beginning to pool, dragging it back up to her clit.

Jace had been on his side, facing away from her, but she had jolted completely awake as she got to study him. His hair was a mess, but then, a lot of the time it was. His shoulders were broad, and there was a faded scar on his shoulder. She wanted to lick his back, trace those muscles that were rippling beneath his golden skin as he moved slightly, and then her eyes fell even further down, to his ass. It was incredible—and she really wasn't the kind of girl that spent a lot of time staring at asses. But his was one of kind, and she was actually worried that she was going to start drooling as she stood there in the doorway.

Clary pinched her clit, rolling it between two fingers before circling it in tight motions. The build up was rapid, her toes beginning to curl into her duvet, wondering what Jace looked like if he had just rolled over. Wondering what his lips would feel like on hers if they just went a little lower, to her collar bone, sucking on her nipples, and then further down, his tongue curling inside her.

She came with a breathless cry, not caring if Raphael and Isabelle were still in the lounge or not.

Sooooo the first thing I want to say was that the P!nk concert was absolutely amazing! Holy shit, she was incredible. She spent more time up in the air than she did on the stage. It was also her birthday the night we went, so her daughter and hubby came out with a cake, and shit...The whole thing was just amazing.

I rewatched a couple of old movies when I was off work sick, some of my old favourites; Dinosaur, Matilda and Stardust. Honestly, I can never get tired of them. Animated movies are my go-to's when I'm sick or drained and just done with life. Haha. They're just the beeeest. I also really wanted to recommend Hannah Gandsby: Nanette. It's a comedy special on Netflix and I really don't want to say much about it and give it away, but it is absolutely incredible, and not quite what you would expect? Watch iiiiiit.

Song wise, I'm super obsessed with Dynasty by MIIA, and all the fandom videos on Youtube using that song. And High Hopes by Panic! at the Disco. Everytime I hear that song, all I can see is Shawn Mendes appreciative look at Brendon Urie as he was performing it at the VMA's. Hahaha. Also High On Life by Martin Garrix, Temporary Love by Joey, 48 by Moss Kena and The Getaway by Hilary Duff. If you guys have any recommendations, send them through!

I've also become re-obsessed with 5SOS. They were amazing in concert when I saw them a few years ago, but I hadn't been a massive fan then. I ammmm now! Luke Hemming in that damn glittery eyeliner. Shit! And maybe when he and Michael play each others guitars, I get intense heart eyes, I don't know...

Oh, has anyone watched the newest season of Ozark? I haven't gotten around to it yet, not sure if it's as good as the first season? Also, we finally finished Banshee. Haha. I know that it's a super old show, but we just have so many that we took ages to get through. But we finally did! God, it was brilliant. I absolutely adored Job and Sugar, and Siobhan just broke my heart. Overall, the show was great, and if you haven't seen it, please do!

Oooh, oooh! And The Gifted is back! Thunderblink is beautiful and I'm totally digging Andy's look. And SVU!

Oh—and is everyone else watching the new Shane Dawsons documentary? I don't really like the subject matter at all, dude's an ass, but I love him.

Omg. Okay. I'll stop here. God I hate these once monthly updates. Can't wait till my schedule is less busy. Anyway. Let me know what you thought of the chapter, and let me know if you want a preview xx