This is the final chapteeeeer. Whoop!
It had been almost a nine hour day where Clary had been on her feet the whole time, except for in her breaks when she had sat down out the back of the store with Magnus, and she was tired. It didn't help that last night she had done a shift at the university library as well, so she was tired from that too, after only getting about five hours sleep last night. She was down to do only one shift at the library at the moment, given it's restricted hours over summer break, but on top of the hours she was doing with Magnus, it made Thursdays feel longer and definitely look forward to her Fridays. She didn't want to give up that one shift at the library though, because when school went back, she still wanted to work there.
Her bank account definitely appreciated the full time work, and after the past two months of working there and only going out once or twice a week, it was looking a whole lot healthier than it had in a while. It also helped that she had started spending around three to four nights a week at Jace's house, where she never paid for any food, and he supplied all her weed, which he got cheap from some guy that came by his club. She had always been under the impression that Jace was the dealer, that was how she had originally met him, but it turned out that he only passed on weed to some people, and she had just gotten lucky when she had showed up the first time, and he had extra on him.
It was almost six in the evening, since she had stopped by her apartment to pick up some fresh clothes before coming over, and she had been side tracked by Lydia. Kaelie had officially decided to go to Italy with a single bag and a plan to drink her way through the country, and Lydia was staying in her apartment while she was gone. Raphael was practically living there as well, and it seemed as though the two of them were quickly on their way to deciding to get an apartment together when the new school year began. Because they were staying at Kaelie's and they weren't going to University at the moment, Clary and Lydia didn't see each other so much, and so when Lydia showed up at their apartment, Clary delayed leaving to come to Jace's.
Cooking wasn't really her strong suit, and she had never really been a big fan of it, and she didn't really have much incentive to do it very often when she barely had time through the school term and then Jace cooked a lot as well. She wasn't bad at it though, she knew the basics, and she had learnt her way around Jace's kitchen over the past few months. But she had picked up some recipes over the past few months since working for Magnus, and her friend brought leftover dinner in for lunches most days and he told her that they were reasonably easy.
So tonight, she was going to cook for Jace.
She had looked in his cupboards this morning before she had gone to work and typed in the things that she was going to need to pick up into her phone. Jace had sleepily come into the kitchen and wondered why she was doing through his cupboards, and she had come up with some flimsy excuse about looking for the sugar. He had given her a weird look and pointed to where the sugar always was on the counter, but thankfully, he was too tired to ask her any further questions.
Clary worked quickly, chopping up the potatoes and pumpkin and then lightly pouring olive oil over them before putting mixed herbs and salt and pepper over the mix and spreading them out on an oven tray and putting them in. The chicken wouldn't take long to cook, so she headed to the bathroom.
Despite the fact that they were working different hours, Clary through the day and Jace most nights, they still managed to find time to spend together. In the past two weeks it had gotten easier as well, since Max Lightwood was back in the city. He was still very much head over heels in love with the French girlfriend that he had left town to follow, but he had been homesick and missing his family. He hadn't decided yet how long he was going to be back around for, but it seemed as though he had settled pretty happily back in with his family. He was the same age as Clary and Simon, although he looked younger—which was quite a feat, when it came to Clary, given how her stature usually made her look younger. He was skinny and gangly and he had glasses, and looked so different from his two older siblings, but when they were together, the love between them was very clear. Since Max was back in town, he had been helping a lot more at the club, working every second night, so sometimes Jace only went in for a few hours to supervise and show Max the ropes, since he hadn't been there for so long.
They also had the days in the weekend to spend together, and the club was closed on Sundays with only the bar and the kitchen portion open until eleven, and that was looked after by one of the supervisors. He would do the books, spread out over the coffee table, and Clary would sit on the couch with her feet in his lap and watch TV until he was ready to pay full attention to her...Or sometimes she would drag his attention away by straddling him and force his attention onto her.
Jocelyn had come into the city last week for two days and met Jace for the first time and Clary was very glad that Luke didn't come with her. Luke had a tendency to be overprotective when it came to guys, and Clary didn't have the heart to inform him that she was more than capable of looking out for herself. Jace had been nervous about meeting Jocelyn, which Clary found adorable and had kissed him on the nose as he ran his hands through his hair repeatedly while they waited in a coffee shop for her to show up. Jocelyn had liked Jace and Jace had managed to unclench halfway through their coffee date.
Clary stepped out of the shower and quickly checked the time on her phone. There was a text from Jace saying that he was just leaving the club which gave her about twenty minutes before he got back to the apartment in the evening traffic. Clary towel dried her hair before twisting it up in a bun that she would tame later, changed into a pair of pyjama shorts and one of Jace's shirts and then headed back out to the kitchen. She had almost finished the lemon chicken milanese and was just cutting up things for the salad when Jace walked in.
"Hey," she called out, glancing over her shoulder and she could hear him kicking off his shoes and putting down his bag, and then walking into the kitchen.
"You're cooking?" He asked in surprise as he came up behind her and rested his hands on the swell of her hips.
"I can cook, you know. I wasn't just existing on air before you came into my life," Clary rolled her eyes and jokingly jabbed him in the arm with her elbow. There was a low laugh from Jace that Clary loved and she felt his chest rise and fall against her back.
"I don't know, I've seen your cupboards. Pretty sure you would survive on macaroni and cheese and two minute noodles if you and Simon were left to your own devices," Jace stated as he nuzzled against the back of her neck. His nose pressed to her ear as he left a few kisses along her jaw and then straightened up. "Do I have time for a shower first?" He asked.
"If you make it quick," Clary replied as she walked back over the stove and flipped over the chicken. Jace nodded and gave her one last kiss on the cheek before heading toward the bathroom. The whole situation just felt so easy and domestic, and Clary wouldn't exchange it for anything. By the time Jace finished in the shower, she was dishing up dinner and she was putting everything on the table in the corner of the room. Unlike the coffee table that served as a dinner table in Simon and Clary's apartment, Jace actually had a proper dinner table with four matching chairs. She put down the salad in the middle of the table and then took a seat as she waited for him to get dressed, hitching one leg up and resting her foot flat on the seat, heel against her ass.
"It smells good," Jace said as he came out, wearing only a pair of sweatpants that were slung low on his hips. His hair was damp and there were drips of water tracing down his neck and over his shoulders and Clary had an urge to forget dinner and lick them all up.
"I hope it's good," Clary said with a one shouldered shrug that she tried to keep casual but was secretly a bit anxious about. Jace sat down opposite her and gave her a look through his light coloured eyelashes as he picked up his knife and fork. Clary tried to act nonchalant as she picked up the salad and dished some out on her plate. He cut off a piece of the chicken and put it in his mouth. He chewed without expression and in the end, Clary let out a huff and gave him a pointed look. "So?" Jace kept on chewing for a few more minutes before cringing and swallowing. Clary's face fell. "What?!"
"Maybe it'll be better with some salad?" He suggested with a hopeful quirk of his lips and she let out a groan.
"That bad?" She pouted and sliced off a piece for herself before putting it in her mouth. She didn't have the will power of Jace and she only chewed it a few times before spitting it out on her plate and Jace let out a loud laugh. "Maybe I went overboard on the salt..." she made an apologetic face, and Jace couldn't help but laugh again.
"It's the thought that counts?" He attempted and Clary just rolled her eyes. Jace grinned at her as he got up from the table and came around to where she was sitting. He crooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head backwards and gave her a quick. "How about...I'll start with dessert..." he pointedly looked downward. "And then I'll whip something up?"
"That's a terrible pickup line," Clary laughed and shook her head.
"And yet, I think it worked," Jace smirked at her, and then dropped down further, hauling her off her seat and throwing her over his shoulder. Clary let out a squeal as Jace patted her ass a few times and then headed down toward his bedroom.
The last thing that was heard before Jace's mouth came together with hers was the squeak of bed springs as Clary was dumped on the bed and a breathless laugh from Jace as she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down to her.
And...That's it. We're all done. I feel this story wouldn't feel right if it was all lovey-dovey and moved in together and everything working perfectly because of who they were in this one. Lol. I hope you enjoyed it :) x