It got dramatic… I hope you enjoy it and I might leave this as the last chapter, leave a review and tell me if I should or not, thanks guys xox
Chapter 3 Tempers Rise
Clary laid curled up in bed, her hair a tangle of red curls. As she fluttered her eyelashes open, warm yellow light filtered into vision and suddenly she was whirled around onto her back by a screaming Isabelle.
"Clary Clary Clary! By the angel you won't believe it!" She shook the dazed girl's shoulders and Clary sat up, lazily.
"What, what?" she replied in slight laughter. Isabelle passed her a rolled up piece of parchment paper. Clary widened her eyes, her vision was still blurry from sleep but she managed to make out the words:
SHADOWHUNTERS OF THE FOLLOWING INSTITUTES ARE REQUESTED TO BE PRESENT AT A BALL ON THIS COMING FRIDAY NIGHT AT 8:00PM TO REINFOCE THE IDEA OF UNITY BETWEEN THE SHADOW WORLD AND THE DOWNWORLD (THEREFORE 1 GUEST IS ALLOWED PER PERSON INVITED AND THEY ARE ALLOWED TO BE OF DOWNWORLD ORIGIN):
LA
NEW YORK
CHICAGO
SAN FRANSICO
NEW ORLEANS
MIAMI
PHOENIX
LISBON
SEATTLE
FORMAL ATTIRE AND THE BALL WILL BE HELD IN THE GLASS CITY, CENTRE SQUARE, MAIN HALL
"Isn't it amazing?!" Isabelle pulled Clary out of bed and strung her over to the dressing table.
Clary yawned and attempted to smile at the same time, "Yeah, Iz that's great and um" –
Isabelle pushed her down onto a stool and turned her head to face the mirror, "Clary, this is going to be so good, it will be the first time you go to Idris, the Shadowhunter homeland! And there will be a ball and you will go with Jace and it is just going to be amazing!" She paused for a long deep breath before questioning Clary, "Is that my brother's shirt?"
Clary looked down in the mirror and had forgotten she was wearing it. A faint smile arose on her face and she quickly realised she was blushing and stopped smiling.
Clary turned on the stool to face Izzy, "No it's not, and now can you please tell me why I am sitting in front of a mirror and not sleeping bed?"
Isabelle grabbed her shoulders, looking panicked, "It's ten o'clock you don't need sleep, you need a gown for the ball, and so do I. You read the letter, 'this coming Friday night'. Clary, that's tomorrow night!" Isabelle threw her hands up in a huff, "Just get ready, I'll grab the boys"
"Wait the boys are coming with us?" Clary looked puzzled.
"Of course. They need suits and the only way I'm letting them buy one is if I have seen them in it first," with that Isabelle tossed her long ebony black hair over her shoulder and slipped out of the room. No matter how panicked or flustered Izzy was, clary thought to herself, she still seemed to have this air of grace and elegance about her, something Clary herself needed to learn before the ball tomorrow. The ball she would go to with Jace.
Soon enough, Izzy was steering all three of them out of the institute and into a taxi. When they arrived at a dress shop, Izzy sat the boys down on a long chic sofa at the side of the store while she called on Clary to pick out a few dresses.
"How about this one?" Clary turned around holding a floor-length bottle green gown that was decorated subtly with gold around the waist line. Isabelle gasped and took the fabric between her fingers.
"Clary, this will look stunning on you and it will highlight your boobs so well," Isabelle grinned, "Go try it on and I'll be in soon." Clary laughed and made her way over to the fitting rooms.
Clary stepped into the dress and slid it up her body. She tried to reach the zip but couldn't quite manage. Pulling back the curtain to her fitting room, she called out for Jace who Isabelle had seated right outside with Alec. Clary turned back to the mirror to admire the dress as it was. It was a fitted, long sleeved dress with a low cut bodice that stretched into an elegant drop with layered up material that flowed when she turned. The green and gold complimented her hair and eyes brilliantly. She received a fright as a light knock came on the wall on the other side of the curtain. She just gasped and then Alec's voice came softly, "Is everything okay? Izzy told Jace to go and get measured, he should be back in a little while."
Clary leant back against the wall and rolled her eyes.
"I'm fine. I just um," She slid the curtain to the side, "Can you zip my dress up please?" Her voice was hesitant and she turned to face the mirror again. Alec just nodded his head subtly and stepped in, drawing the curtain behind him. He looked down. The dress hung open at the back revealing her milky smooth skin, slight freckles were scattered around the top of her back and her shoulder blades were carved elegantly. Alec spotted the zip which started dangerously low on her back.
"Um, Clary," Alec gulped.
"Is everything okay?" Clary turned her head to face him.
"Yeah, no it's fine," he brought his fingers to the zip as Clary turned to face the mirror again. As he began pulling the zip up his fingers grazed the bottom of her back.
It was as if his skin burned holes in her, but it didn't hurt, it was a good kind of pain. As he brought the zip midway, he stroked her hair off of her back so it wouldn't get caught in it. His touch was so light, so delicate, that Clary held her breath for fright that if she breathed it would scare him off. His fingers returned to the zip and he torturously dragged it up the rest of the way. He then brought his hands around her, either side of her neck and pulled her hair gently from her shoulders, allowing it to rain down her back. As he did so his fingertips brushed her neck and it was enough to send sparks up Clary's spine. Alec immediately stepped away from her. He wanted to touch her but he couldn't because she wasn't his. He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. Clary turned around. She looked down at the dress, a rosy shade painting her cheeks.
"What do you think?" Clary said as if catching her breath.
"Um, yeah it's, um," Alec stuttered and then let out another deep breath, "Clary, you look beautiful."
Clary couldn't help the smile that tugged on the corners of her mouth and she looked up, catching his gaze which drifted over her. He wanted to reach out and grab her, to unzip the dress and run his hands down her back, to feel her hands in his hair and feel her placing kisses down his neck. What he would do to feel her skin and her lips. His mind whirled and then his heart sunk. Jace was his parabatai, his brother, his best friend. And he was a terrible person, he thought to himself, to be thinking of this girl like that.
"Thank you," Clary smiled. Alec's face became stern.
"You should hurry, Isabelle will want to go soon and you're holding everyone up," Alec said turning and pushing the curtain aside. Clary caught onto his arm, pulling gently at his leather jacket.
"What was that for?" Clary questioned, puzzled and obviously hurt.
"What do you mean?" There was no emotion in his voice.
"You just talked to me like a piece of shit," Clary narrowed her eyes, "I thought after yesterday we were starting to get on."
Alec's face remained expressionless as he leant towards her, "You're Valentine's daughter. We will never be friends. I trained you because Jace asked me to because he's my brother and it was important to him. You won't ever mean anything to me." Her eyes began to burn and water, as Alec turned and stalked out of the fitting rooms.
Clary was sitting on her bed, in a pair of small grey shorts and a blue vest top, staring at the green dress opposite her that was hung up on the outside of the wardrobe. Moonlight bathed the dress in a silver glow and cars racing past the institute cast dancing shadows around the room.
She was thinking about how Alec had turned on her and how much in a day he had meant to her and how pathetic she had been to come home and bury her face in a pillow and cry over his words. Something was burning inside her stomach, cutting at her, making her feel angry at him. Suddenly she jumped off of the bed and pulled open her desk drawer. Out of it she grabbed Alec's t-shirt and the Codex and slammed the drawer shut again. She wasn't going to let this go. It wasn't fair.
"Bullshit! Absolute fucking bullshit!" Clary had burst through Alec's door and slammed it back shut behind her. Alec had been laying on his bed, his nose buried in a book and when Clary had exploded into his room, he looked up startled. She made his way over to his bed and he sat up. "You fucking liar, Alec! You're not allowed to do that! You can't just turn on me and pretend that nothing happened" Clary exclaimed, tears stinging her eyes.
"Nothing did happen," Alec said cautiously, standing up. The bed was now between them like a barrier.
"Bullshit Alec! That's bullshit and you know it, you can't tell me that you didn't feel what I did," Clary's breathing was ragged and she'd gone red in her face.
Alec stood still and then swallowed, "Clary, It's been two days and I trained you and cleaned you up and so what? It means nothing!" His voice had raised slightly and with that Clary felt hot tears stream down her face. Alec was desperate to grab her and cradle her and apologise, his words had tasted like acid in his mouth.
"No!" She threw down the book and the t-shirt onto the bed, "You're lying." He stared at the objects on the bed for a moment. His gaze returned to the red headed girl who had tears clinging to her cheeks. He began to move around the bed and towards her. The room was completely silent except for Clary's deep breaths and slight sniffling. When he reached her he didn't move. He was so close to her she could feel his breath on her cheeks.
He looked down into her eyes, his face soft, "What do you want me to say, Clary? That I hated you before yesterday morning because you walked in here like you owned the place and then we found out you were the monster's daughter but that yesterday's training session allowed me to trust you? That yesterday's training session allowed me to get to know you? Do you want me to say that when Jace asked me to ensure that you got cleaned up, I got nervous because you make me that way? Do you want me to tell you that when you went to bed last night, I was so fucking glad it was my clothes you were wearing and not Jace's? How about the fact that since last night, I haven't stopped thinking about you or your eyes or your skin or your laugh or how about that annoying little temper of yours which to be quite honest, I didn't think I'd meet quite this soon. Do you want me to tell you that today in the fitting rooms, I wanted to grab you and kiss you and touch you? And that I'm sorry for all those words that came out of my mouth? Because I can't, Clary. Jace means too much to me."
Clary felt as though the air had been punched out her lungs and her face had gone almost completely white. Alec just turned away from her, sat on the edge of the bed, and placed his head in his hands, letting out a sigh. Clary joined him a moment later, setting herself down right next to him. She gently peeled his hands away from his face and placed her hand on his cheek, turning his face towards her.
Clary searched his eyes, a sad shade of cobalt blue. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I don't want to hurt him either but I ended it with him as soon as we got back." Alec looked at her in disbelief. She continued, "That's not because of you though, that's just because it wasn't right for me. But Alec, there IS something about you" –
"Don't Clary," he sighed taking her hand from his face but not quite letting go, "Please, just don't."
He turned his body towards her and wiped away a stray tear under her eye. He watched her eyes intensely now, they had turned a piercing green with her tears. She then stood up slowly and he walked her over to the door.
She leant up and wrapped her arms around Alec's neck. He gripped her around the waist and pushed his face into her hair, taking in a deep breath. As his fingers slipped over her skin at the rim of her t-shirt, Clary lifted her head and brushed her lips against the crook of his neck. Her lips on his neck sent Alec crazy, a pulse of electricity cursing through his blood.
She immediately felt the effect of her action as he lifted her legs up and hooked them around his hips, slamming her up against the wall. She didn't feel any pain streak up her back just Alec's desperate lips crash down on hers. She brought her hands up into his hair, and wound her fingers around his jet black curls. She needed more of him, to be closer to him. Alec's lips left hers and she immediately felt the absence but they returned on her neck, burning holes in her skin. Soon she was lying on the bed throwing her head back with a slight moan as he raked his teeth down her collarbone. She began kissing him again, swallowing his air, feeling his heart slamming in his chest. She felt as though she were folding into him, becoming weak yet so much stronger, allowing their moans to spill into each other. In that moment, she owned everything, the sun, the stars, the moon, the sea, everything moved with her, everything shifted with the exhale of her breath and the rise of her chest.