Hello my people! I have returned with (sadly) a filler chapter. Things and stuff needed to be explained... So... Yeah. ANYWAYS...just a little thing about me... Long story short, I wrote a book. I ordered three copies of said book in hardback for me and my parents (BECAUSE CHRISTMAS). I have been freaking out since Saturday night (AKA when I got them). Oh! And all I have to say is look for my upcoming story "Live Again". It'll be under a different account: imfihlelo... But back to the fic... I have a feeling you guys might like awkward Alec XD (I do)... So... ON WITH THE STORY!

(Wait, one more thing... If you guys answer the question of the chapter and go through with the challenge... I may or may not throw in some Jace POV chapters to give a little more understanding ;) )

"Good morning!" I yelled as Jace walked into the kitchen. He glared at me, clutching his head in pain, and I laughed maniacally. It was, without a doubt, payback for his little 'Experiment' last night. Ah, the experiment. Long story short, Jace forced me out on the dancefloor. We danced for a while-not my choice, of course. He kept telling me to actually dance with him, meaning getting down and dirty. This went on for a while, and finally I got fed up with it, so I did a very mild version of what he asked. Then, a few minutes later, it led to what we finally did after years of being this way with each other...

Nothing.

It led to absolutely nothing. After what seemed like an eternity of him making me stay, a slow song came on. Needless to say, that was the end of it. His theory was disproven. I was happy. He was not. End of story.

I began to cook breakfast-for me, not him-making a point to be as loud as possible. He huffed out a sigh, but sat down at the counter anyways. My first instinct was to kick him out, but then, I realized that I could have some fun with this.

"So!" I raised my voice to a much higher volume than necessary, "How are you this morning?" He frowned, his eyes so cold they could freeze over hell, "What?" I asked, almost skipping around the room, "Is someone not feeling good?" My smile grew into a shit eating grin, and his face turned even stormier. After I slid my eggs and toast on a plate, I turned to find him still sitting there. I walked over to the stool beside his, making a point to let the food drift right under his nose. It was intended to make him jealous, but instead, he looked like he was about to puke at the mere smell. Either way, it had the desired effect of making him suffer.

"You are a demon from hell." Jace muttered under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear him. Did he honestly think he could pull a stunt like that and get away with it? I think not. Sometimes, I questioned his decision making skills. Actually, I did all the time, especially last night, which was probably one of the weirdest nights of my life in regards to him. I moved closer to him, just to worsen the effect of what I was about to do.

"What?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, and he flinched, his hands flying up to cover his ears, "I didn't hear you!"

"But the whole neighborhood heard you." A new voice supplied, and I turned to see Isabelle smirking at the two of us, "I see you're torturing my brother." I nodded proudly, causing her to snort. Then, she pulled out the stool next to mine, plopping down and reaching for my toast. I smacked her hand away hard, and she pouted, cradling it to her chest like I'd honestly hurt her, "You're being more of a hellion than normal to him." She pointed out after a second of faking being offended, "What gives?" I opened my mouth to tell her what had happened when I realized something. She would skin him alive. And probably dunk him in lemon juice when she was done. Even Jace shouldn't be subjected to that type of torture, so I stopped before I spoke.

"Nothing." I shrugged, trying to play it off nonchalantly. Judging by the way Isabelle narrowed her eyes, it wasn't going well. My gaze flicked to Jace, and to my surprise, there was no fear in his golden irises, like he wasn't scared of his sister. Instead, his eyebrow was raised, as if he was questioning my choice to withhold the information. Well, if he was going to look at me like that, it was his funeral, "Jace just tried to do an 'Experiment' on me." As usual, I threw in the air quotes, because air quotes are important. That was probably not the thing I should focus on at the moment though. His entire face fell, and that was when the terror seemed to strike. I returned my eyes to Isabelle, whose jaw had dropped to the floor.

"He what now?" Her voice was low and dangerous, more so than it normally would be if she was angry. That was when it occurred to me that she wasn't angry. Oh, no. She was furious, "Jace, sibling talk. Now." The words left no room for refusal, but to my surprise, he didn't follow the order. To the credit of his sanity, it looked like he was paralyzed out of panic, "Would you rather we do this in front of Clary?"

"Yes." Was his shocking response, "I need a witness in case you murder me."

"Please." I laughed lightly, shaking my head, "I'll help hide your body." Then, he had the decency to flip me off. Normally, I would've reamed him out, but his fate had already been sealed, so anything I said would just delay his death.

"Don't test me, Jonathan Christopher Lightwood." Oh shit, she pulled out the full name. That was always the worst sign, and it almost made me regret tattling. Almost, "I am giving you five seconds." She hissed. That seemed to snap him into action, because he jumped to his feet. Without another glance back, she walked outside, and Jace shot me one last glare before following. Wow, hangover and an livid Izzy. Sucks to be him.

"Hi, Clary!" An excited voice called, and I whipped around to see someone running at me full force. I braced myself for impact, still stumbling back a few steps when I caught the smallest Lightwood boy. He was almost too heavy for me to hold, but I somehow managed. After spinning him in a circle, I dropped him onto his feet, and he stepped back to look at me.

"Hey, Max! How was the sleepover?" I asked him with a smile, the boy's presence only adding to my current happiness.

"It was awesome..." That began the next half hour of Max chattering on and on about everything he and his friends had done. As always, he was so animated when he spoke, his hands flying every which way. It was always so fun just seeing him, because I didn't have to say a word for him to launch into a conversation, "Where are the others?" He questioned when he was finished, and a devious smile crossed my face.

"Well, Jace and Izzy are having a..." I cleared my throat, "Talk. And Alec-"

"Is it the 'Clary is off limits' thing again?" The question made me confused, and I tilted my head to the side, having no idea what he was talking about. That was when his blue eyes widened, and his hand shot up to cover his mouth. Suddenly, it looked like he was totally freaking out, but I didn't know why. The more shocking thing at hand was what he'd said though.

"What, exactly, do you mean?" I leaned forward in interest, and his look of fear turned to one of constipation. Normally, I would've laughed, but this new information had piqued my curiosity. Max started shaking his head vigorously, causing me to raise my eyebrows. The thing about Max was that he was the only Lightwood who could never lie to me. He would always-always-break, no matter if he was supposed to or not. Surprisingly, he jumped to his feet, about to make a beeline out of the room, but I grabbed his arm, halting his escape.

"Oh, Maxie..." I sang, knowing exactly what would get him, "Maybe-if you tell me what's going on-we can have a Marvel marathon." At that, he stopped trying to tug free from my grip, and I smirked. Bingo. What shocked me to the core was that, after a second of contemplation, he began to struggle again. Oh this must be bad if he was this determined to keep it a secret, "Max, please." I pleaded, "I mean, it involves me, so don't I deserve to know?" My voice was soft as I feigned sadness, and he sighed, turning back to face me.

"Isabelle told me not to spill..." Max trailed off, but he knew I would protect him from Izzy's rage, "But she's given that talk to him a couple times." Sudden anger spiked up in me. Ignoring the fact that I would never date Jace in a million years, who was Isabelle to tell anyone that they could or couldn't date me? Then again, it was Jace in question, so I could see her concern. I just didn't know why she wouldn't trust me to not fall for his charm.

"Why would she give him that 'talk'?" My voice was tentative, because for some reason, I didn't know if I truly wanted the answer. Jace liking me would make things weird. Well, it would probably be more along the lines of getting me in bed, not having actual feelings for me.

"It started when you had that crush on him for a little bit..." Max trailed off as if testing my reaction to his statement.

"What?" I squawked indignantly, "I have never had a crush on Jace." Max leveled me with a flat look that a ten year old shouldn't be able to form. He must have learned it from his brother. Not the nice one, the blonde one. I was lying though, even though I tried to deny it to myself. It was true that I'd had a teeny, tiny attraction to him last year. Not necessarily his personality, but no one could deny how perfect he seemed on the outside, save for the chip in his front tooth. The giant obstacle was his ego though, hence why it had ended so fast. I knew for a fact that Jace and I would never work out. Ever.

"Fine." I growled, my voice almost to low to be heard, "I had a crush on Jace for like a week." I found myself admitting it not just to myself, but to the youngest Lightwood too. And never again would I say those words. Suddenly, Max started... smiling? I gestured for him to answer my silent question.

"I may or may not have won a few dollars off of Alec..." He laughed nervously. My lips quickly settled into a frown, but panic soon followed. I grabbed Max's shoulders, looking straight into his eyes. He seemed a little rattled by my sudden contact, but considering what he'd done, I didn't feel too bad about it.

"You can never tell anyone." My voice was frantic.

"Never tell anyone what?" The voice scared the crap out of me, and I whipped around to be met with the sight of none other than Alec Lightwood. The confusion on his face told me that he hadn't heard what I'd said, so it looked like I was in the clear at the moment. I shot Max a look, communicating that, if he spilled, he would be dead.

"Nothing." I smiled sweetly, and Alec narrowed his eyes. He looked like he was about to interrogate me, but I crossed my arms over my chest, and he got the message that I wouldn't be answering anytime soon, "So how was the party?" My question drew us away from the topic at hand. There was a tiny bit of venom in my voice at Alec's lack of trust when we decided to go to Magnus', but he was most likely just being his normal protective self. Still, he winced a fraction, and I sighed, shaking my head, "You're forgiven." I mumbled reluctantly, causing his shoulders to sag with relief. Then, a blush began to light up his cheeks. A Cheshire Cat smile began to spread across my face, and at that moment, Isabelle and Jace walked back inside. Jace looked surprisingly together considering the lecture he'd just gotten, but I knew it was just a facade. Isabelle, on the other hand, looked much happier.

"What's going on?" She asked, eyeing my expression cautiously, "Please say Alec didn't do something too." The oldest Lightwood looked like he was on the verge of asking, but I cut him off before he could.

"He was just about to tell us about what happened at the party." At my words, he glared. His face was growing red, not just pink. Beet red.

"You got a girl, didn't you?" Jace smirked, and if it was possible, Alec grew even redder. All of our jaws dropped, because what Jace had said was clearly a joke. Judging by Alec's lack of response, it was true. Suddenly, he shook his head slowly, causing all of us to narrow our eyes, "Okay, so you didn't get a girl." Jace relented, but I could tell he wasn't done, "One at least hit on you though." Alec's mouth bobbed open and closed, giving us our answer, "Dude! What did she say?" Jace was suddenly more chipper, despite his hangover.

"Just that I had pretty eyes." Alec mumbled, probably attempting for it to be too jumbled for us to hear, "Then I kinda just said 'Thank you' and walked away."

"Why would you say no to that?" Jace asked incredulously, "You're in college. You need to at least try for something." The blue eyed boy looked like he was about to say something, but for some reason, he stopped dead. I didn't know why though. I mean, it wasn't a bad thing to get hit on by a-

Right at that moment, it struck me. No. No. It couldn't be...

"What's her name at least?" Jace asked, sounding the tiniest bit exasperated at his brother's inaction.

"Ma-" Alec cut himself off, stopping and thinking for a second, "Maggie." Well, that confirmed it. It was true, but he was trying to hide it. I didn't know why until it occurred to me that maybe he... Wait a second, I needed to stop that train of thought right there. Alec Lightwood was straight. He'd never shown any interest in a guy, so I couldn't give Magnus a hope that would only fail. Still, there was a first for everything. What if Magnus was Alec's first? It would explain his secrecy, because if a guy were to hit on Jace, there was no doubt in my mind that he'd tell us. Then again, Alec was much different than Jace on so many levels.

"She gave you her name?" I raised my eyebrows, "You conveniently left that little tidbit out."

"Um..." He looked like a deer caught in headlights, and had I not been so hungry for information, I would've pitied him. That was when he mumbled something too jumbled for any of us to really make out. Isabelle then prompted him to repeat himself. He sighed, averting his eyes to the ground, "I asked around." So maybe, maybe, he might be just a tiny bit interested too. I mean, if he was that disturbed by it, he would've done everything to forget it, but he'd actually wanted to find out who it was. If that didn't say something, I had no idea what would.

"Yet you didn't do anything with her." Jace stated rhetorically, disappointment present in his tone, "Have I taught you nothing?"

"Remember who's the older sibling." Alec deadpanned, then walked out of the room. Literally, he just walked away, leaving all of us in a state of shock. Namely, me. I decided to do the same, running up to the guest room that had been unofficially deemed as mine and pulling out my phone in the process. As soon as I ran in and shut the door behind me, I scrolled through my phone and picked a certain boy's contact.

"Magnus Bane at your-"

"Alec?!" I shrieked, voice shrill. It came out louder than intended judging by the way said boy burst through the door. He looked pretty concerned, so I offered him a sheepish smile, "I meant to say... uh..." I tried to come up with an excuse, "Malec." It popped out of my mouth, and the exasperated sigh that came through the phone alerting me to my mistake, "Alice." I corrected myself again, waving the Lightwood boy off, "Ignore me." He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, not moving.

"And she sticks the landing." Magnus muttered sarcastically. Had he been here in person, I would've smacked him, but I couldn't exactly do that at the moment. His sass was not appreciated. Despite how much I wanted to tell him to shut up, I knew that wouldn't be a good idea with Alec standing right there. I waved the raven haired boy off, and he shot me one last wary glance before reluctantly walking away and letting the door shut behind him.

"Hey, I tried." I hissed, eyeing the door and silently hoping that no one was eavesdropping on the other side, "I didn't mean to blurt out your ship name." Magnus groaned on the other end, making me smirk, "Does someone not like ship names?" I knew for a fact that he didn't, because when I'd used it with Will Herondale, he'd almost killed me. I specifically ignored the fact that he'd never actually liked Will. Alec was a totally different story though.

"No, I don't." Mags mumbled, and I laughed maniacally. Oh, I was going to have fun with this, "You realize he doesn't even know my name, right?" He pointed out, causing me to laugh even more evilly, "Clare... Have you finally gone insane." I mentally debated whether I should tell him about Alec searching or let him find out himself. Surprisingly, I decided on the latter, just to see how things would pan out on their own. There was no doubt that I would break sooner or later, but I hoped it would be late enough for him to figure out himself.

"Don't lose hope." I said cryptically, "That's all I have to say." There was silence as Magnus waited for me to crack, but I held myself back like a pro. After a minute, he got the message that I wouldn't be saying anything, and he huffed.

"How was the 'Experiment'?" He questioned out of nowhere, causing me to suck in a sharp breath, "Did Isabelle find out and give him a talk again?" Even though he couldn't see it, I pouted, "I'll take that as a yes." I could hear the smirk in his voice, and that was when it hit me.

"You knew too?!" This time, it was a whisper-yell, so it didn't attract any attention. Magnus' chuckle radiated through the speaker.

"Anyone in their right mind knew, Darling." He pointed out, and I growled a string of incoherent words. It was true that I probably should've seen it. I mean, she hadn't been super subtle. I guess it was just because I'd never expected her to think Jace was a threat. He had said that I was below his standards many a time, and I hate to admit it, but it was true. Sure, I was pretty, but there was no way I could compete with girls like Aline or Seelie, "You're prettier than you think, Clarissa." Magnus whispered, hitting the nail right on the head.

"Not pretty enough for him." I didn't know for sure why my voice held a twinge of resentment, but I had my suspicions. I'd always felt inferior when I saw the girls Jace brought home, because they were absolutely beautiful. Even though I was 'pretty,' I would never be able to compete. That was something I knew for sure. I wasn't ugly, far from it, but they were out of this world. It wasn't like I wanted Jace though. The insecurity was just in general when I was placed next to people like them.

"Not pretty enough for who?" My head snapped up at the voice, and my eyes met someone else's. Jace's eyebrow was-surprise, surprise-raised, a smirk on his face. I frowned before pointing at my phone and shooing him away. Rather than leaving like I wanted him to, Jace stayed rooted in place, staring at me expectantly. I let out an exasperated sigh, turning away from him, but I knew he was still there. I could tell by the way the hairs on the back of my neck stood up because of his gaze.

"Is that Golden Boy I hear?" Mags questioned, and I nodded. Then, I realized that he could not, in fact, see me, so I grunted something akin to an affirmative, "Well, I feel like I should leave you two be. Au revoir, Darling."

"No! Wait!" I called, but the line had already gone dead. My groan of frustration must've signalled the end of my conversation, because Jace walked over and sat down next to me. Already fed up with him, I huffed out a sigh, climbing to my feet, but a hand shot out and grabbed me. I looked back to find that his fingers were wrapped around my wrist, holding me captive.

"You didn't answer my question." He stated, causing me to roll my eyes, "Does Shortcake have a crush on someone?" His tone was too smug for my liking, so I didn't say a word as I continued to fight his grip. There was no mercy as he stared at me, amusement dancing in his golden irises. Finally, I gave up, realizing that there was no way out of this. Then, something occurred to me.

"Did someone get the 'Off limits' talk?" I fired back, and his face turned a shade whiter. A smug smile found its way onto my lips as I watched him travel back in time to what was probably a dreadful half-hour. A smirk found its way onto my lips, and after seeing that, he snapped back to the present. He mumbled something incoherent under his breath, then huffed out a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest indignantly. For a minute, we sat in a tense silence. As soon as I noticed that Jace had unintentionally released me, I started for the door, but he stopped me yet again. I turned to give him a piece of my mind, then the words died on my lips. He looked so serious that I couldn't help but tilt my head in question.

"You're pretty enough for whoever it is, Fray." His words came out clearer than expected, and my eyes widened in shock, "I mean, you're not at my level, but you are at his." My heart didn't know whether to soar or deflate, because he'd majorly contradicted himself without even knowing it. I decided to take it at face value, offering a weak smile. I knew he wouldn't want me to thank him, at least not judging by the little sarcasm he threw in, so I didn't.

But I had a feeling that the way my lips tilted up the tiniest bit at the corners said it all.

So not full on Clace yet, but there are little things thrown in. I realized that last time I may have waited a little too long for full on Clace, so I think this fic is gonna move a bit faster. I mean, it won't happen for a while, but sooner. I would swear, but I can't promise anything. What I can say is that this will have more twists and turns than The Bachelor did. Like, make you guys hate me twists and turns. Just thought I might give a little warning ;)

Question of the Chapter: Who is your inspiration?

Challenge of the Chapter: Tell them and either PM their reaction or leave it in the review!

Au Revoir My Faithfuls

-Shadowhunter5801