Okay, this is gonna be another one of these months you get two updates in month, so...*throws internet cookies*
Her friends wanted to go out drinking afterwards, to celebrate. Clary had considered going with them, but she wanted to see Jace. She wanted to know more about his mother and why he was there at the art gallery and if she was being completely honest with herself; she missed him. So much. She didn't realize how much she had missed him until he had been standing right in front of her, looking as gorgeous as he always did. Her friends hadn't seen him there, and that was probably for the best, because Simon was still furious and Lydia wasn't much better.
She loved them and this was why she loved them, because they were fiercely protective of her, but she was glad that they hadn't been there to jump on him, because what Jace had told her was the most open he had ever been with her.
Maybe that meant something.
It was close to midnight before they got back to their apartment, and Clary said that she was tired and wanted to stay in and get some sleep when her friends decided to go out. They didn't pressure her because she had been pushing herself recently and she needed to get some proper rest. She felt a bit guilty about lying, but she didn't doubt for a second that they would either try to stop her, or worse, one of them would follow her over there and then have a go at Jace.
She changed out of her dress and made sure to hang it carefully in the wardrobe before getting into a pair of leggings and a loose hoodie. Jace had text her and asked if she wanted a ride but she had said she would get herself there. She already felt off balance enough, being stuck in a small space with Jace really wasn't something that she was ready for. Clary took an uber over to his place and went up to his loft slowly. She knocked on the door and chewed down on her lip and fiddled with the long sleeves of her hoodie nervously before he opened the door.
"Hey," Jace gave her another small smile, which was making her feel even more on edge, because two smiles in one evening was about as much as she would usually get in a month. Clary swallowed hard and nodded at him before coming inside. She took off her shoes and then crossed her arms over her chest. Jace had started walking over to the couch, but he stopped when he realized that the redhead wasn't following him. "Uh..." he glanced around, looking nervous, and Clary was surprised —again —because he generally never looked shaken. "Can we sit down?" He asked and Clary relented, following him over. Instead of sitting near the middle of the couch —which is where she usually perched, because the centre cushion was the most comfortable and also because it meant that she was always close to him, no matter which side of the couch he chose to sit on —she sat on one side and pulled a cushion on her lap.
"Talk," she said to him quietly.
"Right..." Jace took in a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. He licked his lips and then nodded, almost to himself, as though giving himself encouragement. "My mum and dad," he began. "They...They were married for twenty-two years before she died, when I was I was twenty." Clary instantly felt the nervousness and tension begin to disperse, just at the mention of the death of his mother, sympathy filling it's place. But she kept herself quiet and her arms tight around the cushion. "It wasn't a great marriage, and that was obvious from when I was a kid. I spent most of my time with cousins when I was younger, because mum was generally drunk or on her way to being drunk and dad was always at work. I always told myself that I was gonna do better. I was gonna be better. As I got older, I also found out that dad was cheating on mum, pretty much the whole time I had been alive."
"That's horrible," Clary murmured sympathetically.
"It was, absolutely," Jace nodded. "But it was also kind of...Good when I found out. Helped me understand mum a bit more, why she was always drinking and hated being in the same room as him. I think it was good for her as well, because she didn't feel the need to hide things from me anymore. She never bad mouthed dad, she never tried to put him down or make him out to be the bad parent, and I think that's what made me hate him more—because she was so amazing and he couldn't see that. He just took it for granted." Clary nodded, encouraging him to go on. "She stopped drinking as much, I think when I was around fifteen. She went to AA meetings and we started doing a lot more together. She was so much...Fun. Really free spirited. She had so many different friends and she saw the world differently—just as a generally good place. She...She actually reminds me a lot of you, actually..." Jace swallowed thickly and Clary blinked, feeling a lump starting to form in her own throat. "She started taking me to the art showcases for a few of the universities in the city. She preferred them to established artists exhibits, because she said that they were still young and developing and their minds hadn't been rigidly molded yet, so they still had so many free and colourful ideas."
"That's a pretty way of putting it," Clary's lips curled upward and Jace nodded.
"Anyway, mum died when I was twenty, when I was partway through getting a business degree," the words were obviously hard, coming out of his mouth. "She died because she had gotten drunk and she drove and she ended up crashing. Turned out that she had caught dad with one of her best friends at this charity event they were at, and she must have just snapped." Clary's heart hurt at that and she couldn't help it. She shuffled closer on the couch and reached out her hand, resting it on his knee. "She always told me to make sure I didn't study too hard, because it was the people in life that made it better. She always wanted me to make sure I ended up happy, especially with who I ended up with. And I met Maia a couple of months later." Clary blinked at the mention of the girl that Isabelle had brought up, a little caught off guard at the change in direction. "I was still...Kind of rocky, I guess. I was drinking a lot and I was really angry, mainly at my dad, because I blamed him for mum dying." Clary wasn't sure what the right response was there, so she stayed quiet. "Maia was amazing. She was a pediatric nurse and mum would have really liked her. I...I loved her," Jace admitted and the words stung Clary a little, even though she knew that irrational. She hoped that didn't show on her face. "We were together for almost six years. I shared everything with her. Then it...Then it turned out that she had been cheating on me for almost half of that time. She actually just had a kid with the guy."
"I'm sorry," Clary whispered.
"I went through a ton of bad relationships after that, bounced between a bunch of girls that I knew I was never going to be with long term, but that were good for a distraction. One of the girls—her name was Seelie—she maxed out my credit cards and stole a bunch of my mums jewelry." Clary's eyes widened at that, and she felt her upper lip curl in disgust. "I got it back, after the police were brought in, but it made me realize that I needed to pull my shit together. I opened MJ's with my cousin, Max. He always wanted a club and I needed something to throw my energy into. Then Max fell in love with this French foreign exchange student and followed her around the world, leaving me to run the club by myself."
"Max and Jace equals MJ's?" Clary asked with a small smile.
"Pretty much. The pair of us are very creative," Jace returned her small smile. "So that was all about...A year or two ago? Isabelle and Alec were the ones the helped me get back on my feet, along with Max, and they're pretty protective of me. Even though I've pulled myself back together and it's been a while since I've gotten involved with any girls that—that are bad for me, they still have this need to make sure that I'm...Okay," he shrugged his shoulder. "And...Especially Isabelle...She sort of assumes that every girl that crosses my path is going to screw me up again, which is why she...Went off about you." Clary licked her lips and let out a heavy breath.
"Yeah," she muttered. "I mean, I kind of get that, friends being super protective because they just want what's best for you. But...It's not like I've ever expected anything from you? And I've definitely never taken anything without your permission and I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with or—"
"Clary, Clary," Jace huffed out a short laugh. "I know," he told her. "I know that Isabelle was wrong. And trust me, after you took off out of here, I told her that. And then after you left Magnus' and Alec realized who you were—that you were such good friends with Magnus—Alec backed me up. He said that Magnus would never be friends with a person who would intentionally hurt someone else, and that seemed to finally get through to her. She...I mean, I know that she comes off as super bitchy at times, but she means well." Clary twisted her lips and made a face at that comment, and they both went quiet for a bit.
"Really says something about your taste in women that Isabelle trusted Alec's taste because of a guy that he's only been seeing for a few months over yours," she joked slightly and Jace made a face.
"Guess I haven't always had the best track record," Jace admitted quietly. "But it's always been girls that I've never really felt anything for, because I knew that they were bad for me. It just kind of took Isabelle and Alec to snap me out of it." Clary licked her lips, trying to build up the courage to ask her next question. She took in a deep breath and just blurted it out,
"How do you feel about me?" She blinked, surprised that she had actually done it. Jace gave her a long look, and his eyes narrowed a little. He had already revealed so much to her—more than he had ever revealed to her before, even though Clary had probably given him her whole lift story twice over in the time they had known each other. She waited for Jace to change the subject or maybe just not answer.
"I like you," Jace said, and he looked just as surprised at her at the answer. But then he nodded. "I really like you." Clary blinked again and then she launched herself at Jace, their mouths coming together firmly.
I watched the movie It's Kind of a Funny Story for the first time, I've been meaning to watch it for years, but I just never had. I'm really glad I did, so I definitely recommend it. It's got Zach Galifianakis, Viola Davis and Emma Roberts and it's just a really really good. Sort of similar to Perks of Being a Wallflower, although nowhere near as good since that's my favourite movie of all time. Haha. Also as I'm writing this, we're watching Big Hero 6 and I just adore this movie so much. They're all just amazing, and Tadashi is just...The most beautiful person in the world. Oh, and the other day I watched Need For Speed again, which is just a mindlessly car racing movie, but I love Aaron Paul and Imogen Poots and so it's great. Haha.
For TV shows, I've recently started The Bold Type, and I'm completely in love, the three main girls are adorable, I don't know which one is my favourite so far. None? All? All, I think. And I absolutely love Alex. And Jacqueline is a fucking goddess. Honestly, the show just makes me so happy. Also Crashing, which was fucking hilarious. Some of the lines in it were really cruel, actually, which kind of cut for a comedy show. I absolutely fucking LOVED Melody and Colin and Sam. Particularly Melody. Also, Derry Girls, I've recommended it before, I'll do it again. Haha. My husband and I have watched it sooooooo many times, it's generally our go-to when stoned. Haha.
Okay, so songs... Uh, some old ones I've been listening to—Forever and Sex Metal Barbie by In This Moment, um, also Blood and Adrenalize. Slow Fade by Ruth B, which is beautiful, Cringe by Matt Maeson and the acoustic version is even better. None Of My Business by Cher Lloyd and Takeaway by The Chainsmokers and then Hope For The Underrated Youth by Yungblud, which I bawled my eyes out over the first few times I listened to it.
Okay; questions...Anyone into Veronica Mars? Anyone been into Veronica Mars since they were a child? Oh my god. I was so fucking disappointed by the reboot. Like, my entire heart dropped. I only got two episodes in, and I wasn't really enjoying it, I just felt like Veronica wasn't characterized well, she had actually regressed, and then I read the ending, and I just refused to go on. So...That's disappointment dating back to my primary school days.
Umm...Favourite song right now? Mine is hammer by nothing,nowhere.
And how many tattoos do you have? I've just gotten my second one, and I think I'm getting a third in November, and then I've got plans for, like, four others.
Anyway, drop a review, they make my day :)