GUYS I AM FREAKING OUT! I ACTUALLY AM POSTING TWO CHAPTERS IN THE SAME MONTH! Who am I and what have I done to Shadowhunter5801?! Also... I AM CURRENTLY IN HAWAII...And have spent half of my trip so far reading and writing...Whoopsies. But I did go to the beach and a wedding, so I have somewhat social tendencies. When I want to. ANYWAYS... I actually wrote this chapter on the same day I finished the last one. Just thought I'd make you guys wait a bit. I'm so sweet. I know ;) And just FYI, the opening argument of the chapter is one I've actually had with a friend... Let's just say she's proud. So now I'll shut up and let you get on with the chapter ;D

CLARY POV

"No, aliens cannot have normal names!" Jace stated, and I huffed out a sigh, crossing my arms.

"Damon is more badass than you'll ever be. Don't insult him." I defended one of my favorite book characters with a playful frown. Jace looked offended, as in actually, genuinely offended. Then, he began to pout like a baby, and I snorted, not backing down. He quickly turned to giving me his infamous puppy dog eyes that had girls falling at his feet, but all I did was stare blandly. His golden irises were growing watery. Still, I wasn't about to fall for it.

"She's right." Isabelle piped up by my side, "He is better than you." I turned to her for a high five, which she gladly gave, and I couldn't help my triumphant smile. When I turned to face Jace again, he was frowning. My grin only widened, which made his expression darken.

Currently, the group-along with Jace and Alec-was at Taki's, and we were all collectively 'doing homework,' or so we told our parents. In reality, we were just hanging out, having random conversations here and there. For the last few minutes, Jace and I had been arguing about the Lux series and whether or not aliens could have actual human names. He pleaded the case that they should be named things like Tslingbop and Xandru. I told him that Damon and Dee were perfectly fine. He didn't agree, and so the fight began.

"No one is better than the great Jace Lightwood." He defended weakly, and I couldn't stop my chuckle from escaping. He narrowed his eyes in a challenging way, but all I did was snort, "Do you need proof?" There was an underlying husky note to his tone that only I seemed to catch, possibly because everyone else was distracted by their significant others. Well, for four of them, almost-significant others. So that left Jace and I alone together.

At that thought, Fall Out Boy began to play in my head. I hadn't realized I was humming Alone Together until I noticed Jace's raised eyebrow. There was no stopping the blush that rose to my cheeks and damn why was I blushing? His comment earlier that very day caused my cheeks to redden even more. The devious smirk he wore gave the suggestion that it was what he'd been going for. It widened when he seemed to read my mind.

"Jace, a word." I found myself hissing, and his eyebrow raised higher. For a minute, all he did was sit and watch me, as if assessing what I would do if he said no. My tone left no room for discussion, so finally, he relented, rising from his seat. I did the same, glancing around to make sure that no one was paying attention. Luckily, they were still too wrapped up in each other to care. I marched away without looking back again, because I knew he would follow. And that he did.

When we were a safe distance away, conveniently by the bathrooms, I whipped around to face him. That was when I registered the fact that he was close. Very close. As in, my face almost slammed into his chest close. I craned my neck up to look him in the eyes, which were sparkling with something I knew oh-so-well. The expression that said he loved getting on my nerves. This time, it was in a totally different way though, a way I never thought he'd use on me in this lifetime.

"What's your game?" I repeated my question from before, and he tilted his head as if he was confused. But I knew better. His golden eyes were what always gave away his true intentions. Right now, even I couldn't tell what they were though, and I'd known him practically all my life. He stayed silent, just staring at me with a half-smile on his face. An 'innocent' half-smile. Again, I knew better, because he had something up his sleeve. Instead of speaking, he reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. Somehow, I expertly controlled my expression, but internally, I was freaking out. In a feat of amazement, I found the strength within me to step back.

He followed.

"Jace, I know we're friends now, but you're treading on thin ice." I growled, hoping to sound more menacing than I felt. To deal with Jace, I had to be firm. There was no other way to get what I wanted from him.

But what do you want? My mind decided to pipe up, and I frowned. To my pleasure, Jace probably thought it was aimed his way, but it didn't deter him. Instead, it seemed to egg him on, because he stepped even closer. And he matched my steps back until I hit a wall. This seemed suspiciously like what would happen if he wanted to kiss me, but I knew that was wrong. He was just messing with me. His half smile turned into a real one when a blush rose to my cheeks, and the fact that he 'thought' I was cute when I blushed only furthered the reaction.

"Jace..." I trailed off sternly, somehow keeping my composure.

"Shortcake..." He mimicked, using the nickname that had now become casual rather than malicious. His fingers traced my cheekbone, and it took everything in me to not close my eyes. I swallowed hard at the proximity, because even though I didn't like like Jace, I could admit he was attractive. And when an attractive boy does that, any female would be nervous. Because that's what I was. Nervous. Or so I tried to convince myself.

"What are you doing?" I asked, but my voice came out more breathy than intended. His eyes glimmered, then turned to molten gold. My breath caught in my throat when his fingertips moved over my lips, "I'm not sleeping with you." I stated firmly, finding the courage to look him straight in the eyes and be clear. He chuckled, shaking his head. I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for an explanation. None came, "Jace." I tried to snap him out of his daze, but it was halfhearted.

"Where did you get the idea that I would?" He asked, humor shining in his gaze.

"Ah, right." It dawned on me, "Because you're out of my league." He furrowed his brow as if confused, and I rolled my eyes, waiting for him to confirm the answer I'd come up with.

"No, I'm not." He murmured softly, and that was something I didn't think he wanted me to hear. I narrowed my eyes in question, but he wore a look of mock confusion. Clearly, he hadn't expected me to catch it, but I wasn't in the mood for being shy. I gestured for him to continue, raising my eyebrows in wait. He narrowed his eyes slightly, as if assessing my reaction. Despite the fact that I tried to keep it down, my face grew hot, and I swallowed hard.

"What do you mean?" I asked softly, way softer than I wanted to. He smiled, as in an actual, genuine smile, "Please tell me this isn't a dare or a bet." There was a slight begging note to my tone, and he sighed, obviously contemplating what to say, "So it is." I shook my head, looking down at my feet, "Was that all this ever was? A dare?" Self doubt immediately took over me, and to my surprise, I felt a stinging in my eyes. He didn't say a thing. I cursed, wondering how in the hell I actually believed him. Truly and honestly, I'd thought our relationship was good. Obviously, I was wrong. I started to walk away, but he grabbed my arm, halting my escape, "Let me go." My voice was barely audible. To my surprise, he pulled me back.

"It's not." I barely caught his words, and my head snapped up, "But I just love to see you riled up." HIs smile grew softer, and even though he was just messing with me, I let out a breath of relief at the fact that it wasn't someone else's doing. It was honestly a little unhealthy how I was happy with his answer. Then, an idea struck. Retaliation. I brought my hand up, skimming my fingertips over his face like he'd done to me. I didn't miss the way his eyes widened in shock, nor did I miss his hard swallow. That was when I stood on my tiptoes to whisper something as close as possible to his ear.

"Two can play at that game." I smirked when he stiffened, then pulled away. His lips were parted, as if he was about to talk but couldn't find the words. Not even a second passed before I turned on heel, walking back to the table with a wide grin. It felt like a win for me, and the fact that, even when I sat down at our table, Jace didn't follow made it all the more amazing.

I could see why he liked it, because man it was fun.

No, it wasn't because I like liked him.

Not at all.

JACE POV

Holy shit. I thought to myself as I stood in front of the bathroom like an idiot. She'd done it. She'd actually done it. Clarissa Adele Fray had beaten me at my own game. Again, Holy shit. I tried to ignore the way I'd reacted, because the great Jace Lightwood would never let a girl best him. Apparently, I couldn't deny that this time, she had. The thing I should do at the moment was walk back out there with all of my bravado and act like nothing had happened. But I couldn't find the strength because Clary of all people had just flirted with me. Majorly. It was true that I liked getting her worked up. It was not true that I had feelings for her. I didn't crush on girls. They crushed on me. That wouldn't-couldn't-be changed, especially not by the feisty redhead who had just left me hanging.

I briefly entertained the idea of making things how they were before the truce, because I was a jackass like that. The bigger part of me said that I would be losing something amazing if I did. For once, I chose to listen to the rational side. I also wondered if this would become our game. Cuddling purely for a good night's sleep was one thing. Consciously flirting for no particular reason was another. Well, I did have a reason. I liked seeing her get frazzled, and I had to really convince myself that saying she was cute when she blushed was just to get a reaction. Because she wasn't cute. Not even a little bit. Not. At. All.

Yeah, she is. My mind decided to pipe up at the worst possible moment, and I rested my forehead against the wall.

"What is going on with me?" I asked no one. What I didn't expect was to get a response.

"What is going on with you?" My head snapped to the speaker, and I found myself looking into a pair of blue eyes. Alec. There was a slight part of me that had seen the looks Alec had given me and Clary lately, but I didn't let myself think about that. Thinking about it would make it an actual possibility, and that would not end well. If he knew, there was no telling what his reaction would be. He'd always treated Clary like a little sister, so I knew that Isabelle wouldn't be the only person we would have to answer to if word got out.

"Nothing." The word came out strong, and my carefree facade was back in place. Alec didn't look convinced. I hoped he was just putting on a poker face to get something out of me. Needless to say, he wouldn't. Not in a million years. I had the strongest feeling that Clary would not be happy if I spilled the truth, so I kept my jaw locked tight.

"Yeah, right." Alec deadpanned, clearly not believing me, "That's why Clary walked out all smug and you're back here hiding."

"I am not hiding." The phrase came out more defensive than I would've liked, but I just wanted Alec to be pleased with an answer and leave me be. Instead, he gave me a pointed look, and I huffed out a sigh. So maybe I was hiding a tiny bit. I just didn't want the group to see my total shock, because that would raise questions. Apparently, this already had. Alec raised his eyebrow, waiting for me to blurt out what had happened, but I wasn't an ameture. I was an expert.

"I love how you didn't deny anything else." He snorted, and my eyes widened when he caught my mistake. I shot him a flat look, hoping that he would take it as 'You're an idiot. Nothing happened.' "I am obviously not an idiot seeing as I'm the only one who caught this 'nothing happening.'" I hadn't realized I'd said that aloud. Damn. My bland stare quickly turned to a glare, and I was about to insult Clary to make a point. Then, I thought better of it, because after everything, that would've just been wrong, "You guys have been acting weird lately." I gestured for him to elaborate, and he sighed, "You haven't been trying to murder each other." He clarified, and I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe we've just seen the light." I shrugged like it was no big deal, when in reality, it was huge. Clary and I had been destined to be enemies for all our lives, but all of a sudden, it just disappeared.

"Jace, please tell me you two aren't sleeping together." He growled, and I started choking on my own spit.

"No!" I exclaimed, luckily not loud or panicked enough to seem suspicious. Still, he didn't look convinced. Again, I opened my mouth to make another point, but it snapped shut before I could. And honestly, I didn't want to. I didn't want to hurt her like I used to, because she was human, something I hadn't considered over the years. She could feel pain, just like anyone else, which I'd learned in the span of a week. "We are not sleeping together."

"But you like her, don't you?" Alec's stare turned stern.

"Of course not." I huffed indignantly, "We're friends now. Just friends. Nothing more, nothing less." My brother gave me a look of pure 'I know what you're actually thinking'. But he didn't, because I did not have feelings for Clarissa Adele Fray. Not one bit, "Happy?" This time, it came out a little snappy, but Alec wasn't fazed. Instead, he continued to dig through my soul with his eyes. I could honestly admit that I was a little scared of what he would find. Actually, what he thought he would find, because it wasn't there. No sir.

"Jace." He sighed, shaking his head. Then, his gaze met mine, "It's okay. I won't tell Isabelle." His reassurance took a little weight off my chest, because I would rather not face my sister's wrath. She was honestly terrifying, especially when she threatened to gouge my eyes out with her nails, which was a phrase often used in our 'Clary is off limits' talks. Sadly, I'd been silent for too long, long enough that Alec had taken it as an answer. Which it wasn't.

"Don't look at me like that." I grumbled halfheartedly, "Why would you think something's up with me?"

"Well, for one, you faked sickness to stay home with her." He stated, and my jaw dropped. I opened my mouth to deny it, but he held up a hand, "Two, I've seen the disappearance of insults. Three..." He trailed off, almost like he didn't want to say the next part. But he'd dug his own grave, and I needed to know what that reason. I crossed my arms, my posture communicating that I wouldn't be letting him off the hook anytime soon, "Three, I've seen the way you look at her." It came out soft and fast, and I had a feeling that he didn't want me to actually understand what he was saying. But oh yes I did.

"How, exactly, do I look at her?" I asked, and I tried not to admit to myself that I might not want to hear the answer.

"You look at her like you care." Was all the explanation he gave, even after I waited for more.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I flapped my arms in frustration, and then the bastard had the audacity to laugh, "Alec... Have you gone insane?" My tone was wary, because if anyone thought I felt something for Clary-which I didn't-they would chew me out no doubt. So the fact that Alec was smiling gave me comfort. He was definitely messing with me, "Why are you laughing!? You just accused me of liking Clary."

"Ah ha!" He almost yelled, and I tilted my head, too curious to tell him to quiet down, "You just called her Clary. Not Shortcake or Redhead or Chili Pepper. Just Clary."

Damn. He was right about that one. Stick to the nicknames, Jace. Always stick to the nicknames.

"Sorry, I meant Shortcake." My tone dripped with sarcasm, and he snorted. He opened his mouth to say something, but promptly shut it, "What?" I asked. All he did was shake his head, "Alec tell me now or so help me God I will show Magnus your baby pictures." His eyes widened, and I thought maybe, just maybe, the hint that I knew about his feelings would derail this conversation. I honestly expected him to panic, but to my surprise, he didn't.

"Go ahead." He shrugged, and my jaw dropped. Well, there went my out.

"Then, I'll show him the video of you doing 'Watch Me Whip' as you sang it at the top of your lungs." That one got him. I could tell by the way his face turned a stark white, "I would start talking if I were you." He nodded vigorously while coming out of his stupor.

"She's going to kill me." Alec muttered under his breath, then looked back up at me, not quite meeting my eyes. I motioned for him to actually say it, and he grumbled a string of curses, "She looks at you the same way." He whispered after a beat of silence, and my lips parted. I was absolutely speechless, because Clarissa Adele Fray would never 'look' at me like that. I tried-really, really tried to form words. After what seemed like an eternity, I regained my composure.

"I think I would notice if she was staring at me like a lovesick puppy." I pointed out, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt. Alec shook his head. Then raised an eyebrow, and I realized that I'd just compared the 'looks' he thought I had been giving Clary to...that. Luckily, he decided to let it slide, and his face returned to how it had been before.

"She's more subtle." His voice was barely there, and if I hadn't been listening so well, I wouldn't have caught it.

"You're seeing things." I shook my head, and he huffed. Then, his eyes turned serious, and I cringed, waiting for the big brother talk, even though it was unnecessary. That was something Alec didn't seem to understand.

"Don't break her heart." Was all he said, then turned and walked back into the main diner without another word. I stared after him, shocked to the core for the second time today. There was no more time to think about it though, because the longer I stayed back here, the more suspicious it would look. But Alec literally just told me that Clarissa Adele Fray had a crush on me. Well, he didn't outright tell me. The thing was, he didn't have to. He made it clear without facing it head on, and that was probably the best route. If he had told me directly, I might've had a heart attack. Not because I had feelings for her, no. It was just because the girl I used to hate-the girl who used to hate me-might actually like like me. If that wasn't culture shock, I had no idea what was.

Finally, I took a deep breath, then reentered the eating area.

But when I sat down and saw Clary's brilliant smile and forest green eyes and fiery red hair, I had the strongest feeling that I was so screwed.

Oh. My. Gosh. Is Jace really starting to acknowledge feelings? As in the emotionally constipated player having feelings? (Cue the dramatic gasp) But you know our sweet Jace, and things aren't just that easy, are they? What's Clace without a little pain and suffering. Anyways, the question of the chapter is for all you Sherlock lovers out there (I just got into it. It's amazing. I wholeheartedly recommend it.)

Question of the Chapter: If you are a Sherlock watcher... Do you, or do you not, ship Johnlock? (John/Sherlock) (Whatever ship name you use)

With lot's of love to my faithfuls from the island of Maui,

-Shadowhunter5801