It was the day after Sebastian had tried to force himself on me and I'd decided that I was going to break up with him today. I didn't know what would have happened if I hadn't manged to get away and I didn't want to stick around to find out. Besides, the relationship wasn't going anywhere.

I wondered when I was going to get a chance to speak to him - as he seemed to be avoiding me - when I remembered that he had football practise later so I would go talk to him then. I worried all day about how he would take the news. Did he actually care for me? Judging by his behaviour last night, probably not, I thought to myself.

At the end of football practise, I went out onto the field to see Sebastian and he came running over to me. Once he reached me, I said, "Hey Sebastian, can we talk?" "Sure," he said nonchalantly. "Come in the locker room. We'll talk there."

I followed him inside and awkwardly stood while he took things out of his locker. Once everybody else had left, he finally turned to me and said, "What's up?" "Sebastian," I started, unsure where to take the conversation. "I think we should just be friends," I said after a pause.

"Is this about last night?" he asked, his jaw set. "Yes and no. Yes, it played a part but I was already unsure," I replied hesitantly. "Why are you being such a prude, Clary? I can tell you want me," he said, walking closer to me. I backed away and said calmly, "No, Sebastian, I don't."

He pushed my back up against the locker, his body against mine and whispered in my ear, "We'll see about that."

Jace's POV

I stayed a little later at work tonight than I normally would as I had a lot of marking to do and found it easier to concentrate at work than at home.

Once I had finished all the work I had to do, I left my classroom and started walking through the school towards the exit. As I was walking past the locker rooms, I heard a scream. "Stop!" a female voice yelled. I recognised that voice.

I dropped the bag I was carrying and dashed into the room. Clary was against the lockers with Sebastian pushed up against her, his hand up her shirt and face buried in her neck. "Sebastian, please, stop," she begged, tears running down her face. She was pushing at his chest, trying to get away but she was small and he easily overpowered her.

I ran up to them and pulled him off her, shoving him to the ground. "What the hell man?" he screamed at me. "Don't you ever touch her again!" I yelled back. He walked out of the room, saying a bunch of obscenities under his breath. I watched him go and then turned to look at Clary.

She was sitting on the ground, her back against the lockers, tears still wet on her face, staring into nothing. I sat down beside her and wrapped my arms around her small frame, not saying anything. She buried her face in my chest and we stayed there, like that, for what felt like forever but was probably mere minutes.

"God, I miss you," I whispered into her hair. She didn't say anything, just cuddled closer to my chest, silently telling me that she missed me too.

Eventually, we stood up to leave and I drove her home in silence. I couldn't believe Sebastian would do that to her. She was his girlfriend for god's sake, he was supposed to protect her! Especially after everything that happened with her dad, I couldn't imagine how awful she must be feeling.

We arrived at her house and she hugged me, whispered her thanks in my ear and climbed out of the car. I watched her until she rounded the corner out of my sight and then began to drive away.

I thought I would be able to stay away from her but I couldn't. I was falling in love with her and I wanted to protect her from anything and everything that might hurt her.

I loved everything about her. I loved her contagious laugh. I loved the way her eyes lit up when she talked about something she was passionate about. I loved her drive and determination to make something of herself. I loved her kindness and compassion. I loved her beautiful brain, her fiery red hair. I loved her smile and how it always brightened my day. I loved the feeling of her lips against mine.

I snapped out of my thoughts and attempted to stop thinking about Clary and instead about seeing my old friend, Alec Lightwood, tonight.

Clary POV

When I got in, I went straight up to my room and called Izzy. She answered on the second ring and I told her all about the assault and Jace saving me. "Oh my gosh, Clary! I'm so sorry! Do you want to come over for a girl's night?" she asked, attempting to cheer me up. "That would be great, Iz, I'll be there in an hour?" I said, enthusiastically. Spending a night with Isabelle was exactly what I needed. "Perfect. See you then," she replied happily.

Isabelle and I ordered a take-away pizza and watched tons of reality tv. "Hey, do you want to go watch it on the bigger tv?" she asked me. "Sure, yeah, whatever," I replied, nodding. We grabbed our glasses and walked downstairs in the direction of the living room.

Isabelle reached out her hand to touch the door handle but jerked back when Alec shouted at her from further down the hall, "Izzy!" Iz turned around to face her brother, "What's your problem, Alec?" she asked. "You can't take Clary in there," he told her, scratching the back of his head. "Why?" Isabelle and I asked at the same time, irritated. "Because Jace is in there," he replied quietly. I simply said, "Oh" but Isabelle started ranting at her brother about how he's not seen Jace in five years and he could have invited him any other night.

Isabelle and I traipsed upstairs and went back to watching tv in her bedroom. "Sorry about that," she said gently. "It's okay," I replied, giving her a small smile.

I had decided to stay the night at Isabelle's but visions of my time with Sebastian today kept me up. I looked at the clock: 2:46am. I groaned quietly so as not to wake Isabelle and walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

I was startled when I noticed a dark shape lurking in the darkness beside the fridge. "Who's there?" I asked quietly. "Clary?" came Jace's voice.

"Hey," I whispered. "Are you okay after…" Jace started to talk before I realised that he was going to ask about Sebastian - something I really didn't want to talk about. To avoid the subject, I placed my finger on his lips in a 'shh' motion, silencing him. He froze and then brought his eyes down to stare at my lips. I bit my bottom lip and slowly moved my finger from his. Jace brought his face down to meet mine and then suddenly his lips were on mine and his tongue was in my mouth, dancing with my own. He brought his hands down to the back of my thighs and I jumped up, wrapping my pale legs around his waist.

Jace placed me on the counter and stood in between my legs, our lips moving in sync with one another. After what felt like an eternity, we pulled away from each other, gasping for breath.

"I should probably get back to bed," I said softly after a minute of staring and heavy breathing. I started walking away, my glass of water forgotten, but Jace took hold my wrist and I turned around to face him. "What are you doing up?" he asked, as if we didn't just make out in my best friend's kitchen. "Couldn't sleep," I explained. "Me too. Do you maybe want to come back to my room?" he asked, unsure. "Aren't you sharing a room with Alec?" I asked, confused. "Oh, no. I'm in the guest bedroom," he assured me. "Oh yeah, sure," I said and smiled up at him.

I followed him down the hall to the spare bedroom and he ushered me inside. Jace sat down on the bed with his back against the headboard and gestured for me to join him. I placed myself in between his legs with my head against his chest. I wasn't sure what our situation was going to be tomorrow but as of tonight, I just wanted to enjoy my time with Jace.

"Clary?" Jace asked while playing with my hair. "Hmm?" I responded, my eyes closed. "If this – us – is what you really want then…let's do it. You graduate in a few months, we can keep it a secret until then," he told me happily. "Really?" I asked, smiling. "Really," he said and kissed me softly. "Now c'mon, let's get some sleep," he suggested. Jace lay down and I placed my head on his bare chest and draped an arm across his stomach, our legs entwined.

Ahhhh I hope you enjoyed that chapter! I know I did ;)

So, I don't really know where this story is going to go now (though I have ideas for random scenes) so if anyone has anything they'd like to see, leave it in a review or PM me it!

Thank you for 40+ follows and 20+ favourites! It means the world to me!

Review follow and favourite, please x