Hey, guys! Sorry that it's been a little longer than normal since my last update, but here's what I've been up to since last time: Wednesday: I went to our varisty field hockey game, and guess what! WE ARE NEW YORK STATE SECTION III CLASS D CHAMPIONS! WOO! Thursday: I had to get my hair cut then do a butt load of creative writing homework. Friday: I had friends over to watch scary movies...we watched The Blare Witch Project...I don't do well with scary movies... Saturday: Another field hockey game, but we lost :/ then I came home and I actually DID work on this! Just not enough to update... So, if you were wondering why I've been MIA for a few days, that is why. For this story, I'm really going to try to update every day, but...life happens, haha.

This is the first Jace POV, actual part of the story chapter! Yay! Super excited!

Disclaimer: My name doesn't even rhyme with Cassandra Clare.

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Chapter 5:

"Jesus, Clary!" I woke up to the shrieking of Jocelyn.

Clary bolted upright in bed, shrugging off my arm that had been slung over her stomach. I groaned and rolled over, determined to stay asleep for as long as possible. "Mom!" Clary exclaimed.

"I told you two before-no sleeping in the same bed! One of you in the bed, the other on the floor or else one of you sleeps in Jonathan's room!" All this shouting was making it pretty hard to sleep, but I'd be damned if I'd let that interfere with the only peaceful sleep I'll get for a while. "And Jace Herondale don't you dare think I'm stupid enough to believe you're actually asleep right now!"

I groaned again and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "Okay, okay," I mumbled. "I'm up."

"Mom-" Clary was trying to make a case for us. How cute.

"No, Clary. I mean it this time. The next time I find you two in the same bed, you're sleeping in separate rooms. If that doesn't work, then one of you will be sleeping between Luke and I." With that, she stormed out of the room.

I couldn't help it - I laughed at the idea of seventeen year old Clary sleeping in the same bed as Jocelyn and Luke.

"I wouldn't be laughing, Jace," Jocelyn called from the hall. "Luke and I could easily fit you in our king size bed."

That shut me up. Clary stuck her tongue out at me, and I of course, flipped her off in response.

She gasped in mock horror. "I'm telling!" she whisper-yelled.

She started to climb off the bed, but I wrapped an arm around her waist stop her. "Like hell you are," I growled. "I'm already in deep enough shit with your mom!"

Clary laughed and shoved me away. "She'll get over it. Now put on a shirt so we can go get breakfast."

I pouted. "Why can't I eat breakfast shirtless?"

Clary gave me a look. "Um, I'll lose my appetite, and I'm pretty sure my mom and Luke feel the same way."

She kind of had a point. I didn't really want to sit with her parents while I was shirtless. "Fine." I grabbed my shirt from where I threw it last night and shrugged it on over my head.

Clary stood in the doorway, tapping her foot. "I'm hungry! Hurry up!"

I rolled my eyes and walked toward the door at a deliberately slow pace. "I am hurrying, Clary! I don't know what you're talking about."

Clary groaned and stormed out the door. "Since you're apparently five, I'm eating your pancakes!"

No way that was happening! I sprinted out into the hallway and shoved her out of the way, only stopping once I reached the kitchen. I leaned casually against the counter and painted myself with an impatient demeanor.

After a minute Clary came walking in, a scowl on her face and a hand rubbing her arm. I would've felt bad if I didn't know that she was being completely melodramatic.

"What took you so long?" I asked. Clary made a very rude gesture and I clicked my tongue. "That isn't very lady like."

"What took me so long, is that I almost got my head bashed in by some maniac freak!"

"Clary!" Jocelyn chided. "Save the bickering for a time when everyone is more awake, please. Now, Luke and I have to run to the shop. Do you guys need anything while we're out?" By "shop" they meant the bookstore they own together down the street.

Clary shook her head. I plastered an innocent smile on my face. "No, thank you, Mrs. Fray. But that's awfully nice of you to offer."

Jocelyn narrowed her eyes and pointed a long index finger at me. "I stopped buying your shit ten years ago, Jace. You're still on thin ice."

Clary snorted. "Yes, ma'am," I said. With one last stern look, Jocelyn and Luke were out the door.

Being the kind woman she was, Jocelyn left us a heaving stack of pancakes, one quarter without M&Ms-for Clary-and three quarters with M&Ms-for me. I didn't hesitate before I dove into the stack and poured syrup all over my pancakes. I shoveled forkful after forkful into my mouth, barely pausing to breath. "Oh my, God," I moaned. "I am in love with your mother."

Clary swatted me on the back of my head as she sat down next to me. "A: Never say that again. B: How do you eat like that and still have a six pack?"

I pause long enough to wink at Clary. "I work hard to keep my body up for the ladies."

Clary rolled her eyes-she seemed to be extra sarcastic this morning. "Yeah, sure. Speaking of, how did your date go Friday night? What was her name again?" Clary's voice was the usual concoction is became when we spoke of girls I was with; half genuinely curious and half annoyed.

I thought back to Friday. "Um…Christie? Yeah, Christie. It was okay. She was hotter than Hell, but had the most annoying voice. Ugh, I wanted to stab her in the vocal chords."

Clary cocked an eyebrow at me. "Will there be a second date?"

I refused to look up as I answered her. "Is there ever?"

It was a rhetorical question, followed by a rare circumstance between Clary and I-an uncomfortable silence. I knew Clary wanted me to stop with that whole new girl every week thing, but she would never just come right out and say it. She hated what the people at school said about me, how girls called me a man whore, a pimp, a jerk, and many more crude names. It bothered her a whole lot more than it bothered me, so I wasn't going to give it up. Besides, it wasn't like she had ever asked me to stop with the girls. Well, once and I did listen to her that time. I kept up my end of the deal.

"Hey," I said suddenly, pushing my now clean plate away. "Did I tell you that I'm getting a tattoo?"

Clary choked on her coffee. "Excuse me?"

I grinned, loving that I caught her off guard. "I'm eighteen now, so I don't need a parent's permission. Saturday, I'm getting a tattoo."

Clary's brow furrowed in thought. "What are you going to get?"

I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably. I hated asking her for things. "Well, that's what I wanted to ask you about. You're such an amazing artist, Clary, I was hoping you would design it for me? You're really the only artist I would trust to put their design on my body."

Clary was looking at me with wide, watery eyes and an open mouth.

"Um, it's okay to say no…," I said after a few minutes of silence.

"No!" Clary exclaimed, making me jump back a little. "I mean, no," she said a little more calmly. "I really want to do it. I'm just so honored, I'm speechless."

I laughed. "Guess there really is a first time for everything."

Clary pinched my bicep before wrapping her tiny arms tightly around my neck. "This is like, the biggest honor for an artist," she mumbled into my skin, sending out tiny vibrations like ripples in a pond.

I laughed lightly. "It's nothing, Clary. I didn't do anything."

Clary's huge grin made my heart damn near melt. "So, what do you want?"

I swallowed, hard. "Well, I mean, nothing concrete. All I know I want for sure is my parents' names."

Clary gave me a look I was familiar with. It said, 'WARNING: I'm about to ask you a question you don't really want to hear!' "I'm assuming you don't mean Robert and Maryse?"

I nodded. "No, I don't mean them. I mean my parents, Stephen and Celine."

"Wait!" Without further explanation, Clary shoved her chair back and ran out of the room. She came back moments later with her sketchbook, her pencils, a legal pad and a pen. She scribbled a few things down on the paper before peeking up at me. "How do you spell your parents' names?"

"Stephen. S-T-E-P-H-E-N." I pause. "Celine. C-E-L-I-N-E."

Clary nodded and kept on scribbling. It was another few minutes before she looked up at me again. "Do you want their date of," she hesitated, but only for a split-second, "death on it?"

I thought about it for a good few minutes, so long, in fact, that I'm sure Clary got annoyed with me. Finally, I said, "I want this tattoo so I can remember my parents. I have to accept that part of remembering them, is remembering that they're dead. Yeah, I want their date of death." I didn't hesitate to get the words out.

Clary nodded and that was that. She just kept scribbling and scribbling, and eventually she moved on to sketching. I had sat there for about twenty minutes of it, but then I got pretty restless. I got up and started cleaning up the dishes. I rinsed them off in the sink and then carefully stacked them all in the dishwasher. After that was done, Clary was still drawing, so I went to go get changed.

When I was changed and my teeth were brushed, Clary was still drawing. I gave up at that point and just flopped myself down on the couch and flipped the TV on. It was already on some 90s sitcom, and since I was still exhausted from Jocelyn waking us up early, I let it play and closed my eyes.

I woke up sometime later to Clary shaking me, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of me. "What are you doing?" I yawned.

Clary grinned. "I have a draft done. Wanna see?"

I sat upright. "Of course!"

Clary paused. "Remember, it is just an idea, so if you don't like it-"

"Oh, shut up and show me," I interjected.

Clary flipped open her sketchbook and handed it to me. I stared down at the page, unable to form any words that could possibly describe the beauty of her image. She had drawn an old fashioned pocket watch, and it was opened. On the lid, my parents' names were engraved in gorgeous script, and their date of death below that. The hands on the watch pointed to no specific time, because she made them look broken and hanging down loose.

I swallowed the small lump that had lodged itself in my throat. "Clary," I whispered. "It's perfect. Thank you."

I set her book on the coffee table and reached down to wrap my arms firmly around her. "You like it?" she asked. "I made the hands like that because, well, this sounds cheesy, but I wanted it to show that they were like, immortal in a way. Like your love for them is timeless."

"It's perfect," I whispered into her hair. "Thank you."

Clary pulled away from me. "Well, it isn't perfect yet, but once I keep working on it, it will be."

I gave Clary a soft smile. "Can you do me a favor?"

Clary returned the smile. "Anything."

"When you do finish it, can you sign it?"

Clary laughed and got up so she could sit on the couch with me. "Why?"

I shrugged, attempting to be nonchalant. "I may want to frame it."

Clary bought it. "Okay, whatever. Where do you think you're going to get it?"

I rolled my sleeve up and pointed to the bicep on my left arm. "Here."

Clary nodded. "That's a good spot. And it's good because the size I drew it should fit. You are aware that the tattoo artist may change my design a little to make it fit your body, right?"

I shook my head. "I won't let that happen. Trust me. Just make sure it's finished by Saturday, if you can. Did you want to go with me to get it?"

Clary bit her lip. "I don't know…Needles make me squeamish."

I gave her my best puppy dog face. "Please?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. But if I pass out, it's so your fault."

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I was completely freaking out the entire morning Saturday. My appointment was at two, and Clary wasn't picking me up until one-thirty. That left me with three and a half hours to freak out until Clary got here. I knew I would feel way better once she got here. I had asked her if she could come any earlier, but she had some stupid chemistry project to do with Simon.

I didn't want Robert and Maryse to know I was getting a tattoo, because they would try to stop me. I was eighteen, so I legally didn't need their permission to get one, but that wouldn't matter to them. They hated tattoos and out of the ordinary piercings, so that was why I was going to wait until after the tattoo was permanently on my body to tell them about it.

I was trying to hide how much I was freaking out so that no one would get suspicious-everyone just thought Clary was picking me up to run some errands before we had our normal Saturday night routine. Apparently, I sucked as an actor because Izzy was totally getting suspicious. She kept watching me out of the corner of her eye and giving me weird looks whenever I did something.

She hadn't said anything by one o'clock, so I thought I was home free. Nope.

"Okay, what is wrong with you? You're like a rabbit on cocaine right now," Izzy asked from her place across from me at the table.

I gave her my best 'what are you talking about?' look. "Nothing, really. Guess I'm just excited to see Clary." Just then, the doorbell rang, echoing through our excessively sized house. I jumped up and shoved my chair out of the way. "That's probably her, actually. I'll get it." God bless that girl and her need to be on time or early to everything.

I practically ran to the door and flung it open, sighing in relief when I saw my favorite redhead standing behind it. "Hey!" Clary said. "Sorry I'm early-"

"Don't even think about apologizing for being early. Actually, we should get out of here. Like now."

Clary gave me a funny look. "But I wanted to see Izzy…"

"Clary!" Izzy shrieked from the other room. "Get in here!"

Clary had the decency to shoot me an apologetic look before strolling into our kitchen. "Hi, Iz."

Izzy looked past Clary to me, as she addressed Clary. "Jace has been acting weird all day. Do you know what's up with him?"

I am so glad I warned Clary ahead of time to keep this on the down-low. On the other hand, Clary is an even worse liar than I am.

"Um…" Clary fumbled. "I don't know. Isn't he always weird?"

Not bad-for Clary, anyway.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Touché."

"We should really get going, right, Clary?" I interjected before our luck ran out.

Clary nodded. "He's right. I'll see you Monday, Iz!"

Izzy waved. "Bye, Clary. Oh, and Jace?"

I turned back to look nervously at my adoptive sister. She gave me a sympathetic smile. "I have no idea what you're about to go do, but don't worry-I won't tell."

I blinked, taken aback by the kindness of Izzy. Maybe her and Alec did see that Robert and Maryse treated me different. Maybe they didn't-I don't know-but, in that moment, Izzy and I formed a connection that we didn't have before. "Thank you, Iz. Really."

Izzy's smile turned more lighthearted. "Just go!"

I returned Isabelle's smile and jogged after Clary out the door. I was feeling less nervous already. Kind of.

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Thanks for reading, everyone! Let me know what you thought! If you guys have any suggestions, about this story, or like, anything, just let me know! I'm very open! What did you guys think of my Jace POV? Predictions? Do you guys want to see Sizzy and/or Malec in this story? Let me know!

Love always,

YesIWriteForFun