Clary
The minute Sebastian arrived, the room went silent. I had beaten him to the punch and told everyone his story as soon as I got home, but they still looked shocked as I took his coat and introduced him to my mom and Luke. Thankfully, Simon recovered enough to strike up a conversation in the kitchen over food as Izzy and Alec eyed him warily. Magnus just looked entertained.
"Clary, can I talk to you?" Jace's hand was on my elbow, walking with me to the spare bedroom where I was stashing everyone's coats. He shut the door behind us, looking conflicted. "Why is he here?"
"He explained everything, I told you. I just want this all to be over." I insisted, tossing the coat on the bed. Jace ran a hand through his hair, pacing. "He's harmless. My brother is the one to blame. You're more than welcome to punch him in the face if you feel so inclined." I crossed my arms, starting to feel angry.
Jace gave me a withering look, his eyes flashing. "Trust me, I want to." His gaze softened, and he walked over to me where I stood. His placed his hands on my shoulders, and I unfroze at his touch. "Clary, I'm quitting the band. I can't let this go on any longer. Jonathan has taken this whole thing way to far. " His golden eyes darkened. I stared at him, mouth agape.
"Jace, you can't do that. What about the money?" I insisted, panicking as I thought about him having to leave college to work to pay his dads bills. I balled my hands into fists as he shrugged helplessly, shaking his head.
"Your safety is more important than money. I've got this year's tuition covered, I'll just take a gap year or something. People do it all the time." He nodded to himself, as if he was trying to convince himself as much as me.
"Jace, listen to me." I grabbed his hands, smoothing my fingers over the calluses from playing the guitar. "I'm not going to let you do this. We'll figure out a plan for Jonathan, but together and not at the expense of your education and well being. Please-" My voice broke, and Jace's hands went to my face, ready to wipe away the tears that were threatening to slide down my cheeks. I steeled myself to say the words that every cell in my body was fighting me not to say. "Don't quit the band."
"Clary." He whispered, kissing my forehead. I could feel the tension in his shoulders has I reached up to wrap my arms around him. I sighed in relief as I felt him relax as I ran my hands down his chest. "Fine, I'll stay. But we're going to figure this thing out with Jonathan." His hands twitched as my waist, and I knew he was envisioning Jonathan's face at the receiving end of a punch. Meaning to distract him, I kissed his neck, feeling his pulse quicken under my lips.
He lifted my chin, pressing his lips to mine and pressing my body to his. With a wild gasp my body responded, my hands twirling in his hair as the kiss deepened, our tongues exploring. He backed up, and the back of his knees his the bed. He laid down, taking me with him as I straddled his waist, moving my hips against his as his hands went to my butt, encouraging me. I was fumbling for his shirt when a knock on the door startled me, nearly causing me to fall off the bed. Jace steadied me as we listened to Izzy's voice.
"Hey lovebirds, let's go. You're missing Magnus getting Alec to do karaoke." Izzy giggled on the other side, before I heard her footsteps retreating. Jace sighed, laughing softly as he tucked a stray curl behind my ear.
"I guess we'll have to continue this later." He smirked, and I rolled my eyes, squeezing his muscled bicep.
"Sorry to break it to you, but I don't think my mom is going to budge on the whole 'no sleepovers' thing. Even if we do promise to sleep head to toe."
"We can still accomplish some things in that position." He winked, shocking a laugh out of me as I smacked his arm.
"Jace! Don't you dare say things like that around my mom." I warned, smiling as he leaned in to kiss me again. I tried repressing the intense feeling of desire that was causing my head to spin, but it was difficult. I took a deep breath, I had a house full of friends to entertain and all I could think about was Jace. And his body.
When we finally made it out of the bedroom, I was pleasantly surprised to find my friends had welcomed Sebastian, and the awkwardness of his arrival earlier had faded. He looked nervous when he saw Jace, which was understandable. I had a brief flashback to Magnus' party at the beginning of winter break, and how Jace had told me they never got along. Jace nodded to Sebastian briefly before turning to tease Alec about his karaoke performance.
"I'm so stupid." I moaned to Izzy in the kitchen, as I watched Sebastian and Jace purposely avoid each other the whole night. "How could I forget that they hated each other from even before all this happened? I saw them at Magnus' party. Jace flipped out because he was flirting with me." I bit into a cookie my mom had made. I glared at the sprinkles, tossing it in the trash.
"Clary, it's okay. You can be friends with whoever you want. Whatever Jace and him have going on is something they'll have to figure out." Izzy insisted, handing me a cupcake sans sprinkles. "You can't help it, you like to fix things. Especially people." She grinned, and I smiled wistfully, thinking of Jonathan.
"Not everyone." I said, taking a bite of the cupcake.
Izzy gave me a sad look, before shaking her head. "Enough, this is a party. School is starting next week, I refuse to let something like this bring you down." I nodded, but must have not looked convinced. "Clary, Jace was your best friend before all this happened. Yeah, you're dating now, but you still have that strong foundation. You being friendly with Sebastian isn't going to change that."
