Hey, guys :) I just want to apologize if I haven't replied to your reviews for previous chapters yet! I love replying to them individually but I also really wanted to update this week, so I will get through all of them together! xx

Clary woke up before Jace the next morning. She had a bit of a headache and she closed her eyes again, rubbing a hand over her face and taking in a few breaths. She didn't usually get hangovers, and the one she had now wouldn't be anywhere as bad as the ones that Kaelie would get, but there was still a constant thrumming in the back of her head that she was going to need to take some pills to get rid of it. She opened her eyes again and turned her head, looking over to where Jace was laying on the pillow beside her.

He looked damn peaceful asleep, completely different from the snarky, cocky guy that he was when he was awake.

She reached out to touch the ring in his eyebrow, gently brushing her thumb over the silver hoop before drawing her hand back and letting out a sigh through her nose. She rolled her way slowly out of bed, careful not to move her head too much, and walked over to where her bag was dumped by the door. Clary pulled out fresh underwear and a matching bra, slipping into them before leaving the room for the bathroom. She peed and then began washing her hands, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her make up from last night had mostly smudged over, whether it was through sex or while sleeping, but there was still some around her eyes and lips. She made a face at her reflection, regretting not taking it off before she had gone to sleep.

Then again, she had been a bit distracted.

Clary felt her cheeks heat as she remembered last night, and she turned and was about to leave the bathroom when she looked back over her shoulder at her reflection.

"What. The. Fuck?" Clary growled out, walking backwards so that she was in front of the mirror again, looking over her shoulder at her back.

And the massive bruise that she had there, in a red and purple circle.

It looked like a cross between a hickey and a bite, and she vaguely remembered Jace's teeth against her shoulder blade last night, when he had rolled her over. Clary's eyebrows pulled together and she stormed out of the bathroom, stalking back to the bedroom where Jace was now sitting up, completely comfortable with being naked, with his legs slung over the side of the bed and his bare feet on the floor.

"You gave me a hickey!" She admonished. "What are you, fourteen?" Jace looked up at her, his eyes still a little bleary with sleep.

"What?" He asked, his voice rough. Clary turned around and jerked her thumb over her shoulder, to where the bruise was on her shoulder blade. When she turned back around to look at Jace, there was an amused expression on his face. He stood up, and she couldn't help but drop her eyes down to where his cock was half hard. She could still feel the ache between her legs from where they had had sex last night, and while she couldn't feel anything from her ass, she could still remember the feeling of his finger in there.

It made her shift from foot-to-foot, half self conscious, just slightly turned on.

"You didn't seem to mind at the time," Jace commented with a smirk as he reached a hand behind her, trailing down the strap of her bra and pressing against her shoulder blade, undoubtedly over where the bruise was because Clary felt a responding ache through her body. "I didn't hear any complaints."

"That's because I didn't think you were mauling me!" Clary snapped, eyes indignant and mouth tight in the corners. Jace let out a laugh, shaking his head, his shaggy hair falling from side to side at his movement.

"Shit. You really need to learn to chill out a little more," he told her in a gentle, chiding tone, his hand moving from where he had been touching the bruise and both hands coming to rest on her shoulders. He pressed his thumbs into muscle, his fingers on the other side tight, giving her a small massage that was, unfortunately yet unsurprisingly, good. She felt her eyes begin to close, until he took a small step closer, their bodies coming together, and she could feel his cock pressed against her stomach. Her eyes flashed back open and she felt a gush of arousal between her legs. Jace knew exactly what he was doing to her, and he smirked as he let one hand drop, to the soft cup of her bra, pressing down with his thumb right over her nipple.

"F-fuck," Clary stammered out, her thighs feeling a little shaky. Jace grinned, leaning in and pressing his mouth to hers. He didn't seem to care about the fact that neither of them had brushed their teeth, pushing his tongue into her mouth without waiting for her to catch up with what he was doing. Clary was just getting into it, just thinking about pushing Jace backwards, onto the bed and climbing on top of him, when he pulled back. There was a regretful look in his eyes, even if he was giving her a small smile.

"Wish we could finish this, sweet thing," Jace told her, stroking the fingers of one of his hands through her hair. "But I've got things I need to do, places I need to be today." Clary tried not to let the disappointment show on her face as he stepped back. She turned her back on him and went through her bag, pulling out a pair of jeans and a shirt that that thankfully had a high back and sleeves, so it wouldn't show the bruise, and she was about to pull on the shirt when Jace was at her back. He was still naked, she could feel his cock against her ass, and he pressed a kiss to the back of her head which felt...Almost sweet. Domestic. "We'll pick this up again later, okay?"

"Okay," Clary answered, because there wasn't much else that she could say. Jace gave her hip a squeeze and then he was backing away, opening up the drawers of his dresser and pulling out some clothes for the day. Clary dressed and then unwound the braids that she had slept in. Her hair usually had some wave to it, but given it had been slept in like this, it was all curly around her shoulders and face, the twists showing off the darker reds and the light golds that were streaked through her hair, and she took a couple of pins out of her bag to push it back from her face. She was straightening up, all dressed now, and noted Jace looking at her.

"Your hair looks good like that," he commented and Clary just shrugged, not knowing how to reply to that. Compliments were something she got on a regular basis, along with appreciative looks, but it sounded different coming from him, and it threw her off. So she just took her toothbrush out of her bag and went back to the bathroom. Jace came in a few moments later, and they took turns wetting their toothbrushes and spreading on toothpaste and then stepping away from the sink to brush their teeth. Clary finished first, feeling a little awkward as she spat into the sink and then washed it away, but Jace just made room for her in front of the sink and then took her place once she was done.

Like she had thought before, when he had kissed her head.

Domestic.

Jace said that he could give her a lift home, but he was going to need to make a couple of stops on the way. It was still early in the morning, but with both of her parents at home, she thought it was best that she get back as soon as possible, so she called up a town car. Jace walked her out of the house and Clary felt her headache getting worse as she stepped out into the sun. He must have seen her wince, because he put a hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him.

"You alright?" He asked with a frown.

"Yeah, just a bit of a headache," Clary said.

"Do you want me to grab you something? I've got ibuprofen inside," he offered. "Don't want you feeling like shit—especially when it was a party I asked you to go to." There was this a sincerity in his eyes that she didn't expect that made her feel warm all over.

"It's just a bit of a hangover," she assured him. The driver got out of the car, coming over to them and holding out a hand for her bag. Clary handed it over without a second thought, barely looking at the guy, and Jace gave him a questioning look before snorting and shaking his head.

"This is a bit fancier than the ubers that people usually get. Looks like you get waited on hand and foot," he noted in a wry tone. Clary just shrugged. She took in a deep breath, chewing down on her bottom lip, before stepping forward and reaching up. She gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek before quickly stepping back.

"I had a good time," she told him honestly. "Thank you." Jace's eyes widened in surprise at her words, and she was glad that she wasn't the only one who was off balance, so she left it at that, walking over to the town car and getting in the back seat. Jace stood there, watching as the driver turned the car around and then drove away. Clary was watching him from behind the tinted windows, and she couldn't help the bigger smile spread across her face as he watched them until they were out of sight.

Traffic was heavy going back into the city, but it was okay because Clary drifted in and out of sleep in the back seat. When they got to her place, she paid with one of her credit cards and got out of the car, grabbing her bag and heading up to her house. Her fathers car wasn't in the driveway, and she wondered if he was gone just for the day or if he had left on another trip, until her mother interrupted her thoughts.

"Where have you been? I thought you'd be back last night," Jocelyn's eyes were narrow, gripping her wine glass in one hand, which was almost filled to the brim, even though it wasn't yet midday.

"I was at Kaelie's," Clary breezed past her mother and up the stairs, because she wasn't going to let her mother get under her skin right now. She'd had a good weekend, and so she was going to go upstairs, try and sleep away her headache, and definitely put off showering so that she could smell like Jace for longer, as gross as that sounded.

Let me know what you think x