Clary had showered, brushed through her knotted hair, changed into a clean pair of clothes, and she felt much better. But her mind wouldn't relax like she so desperately wanted it to, thoughts racing at one hundred miles per minute. It was ridiculous.

But, still, where had they been? Why were they keeping so many secrets from her? Had the bet stopped when she got into the crash? How had Jace kept his girlfriend a secret from her? What was going on between her and Jace? Clary couldn't even begin to form theories in her head about these topics, because, well, she had absolutely no idea.

And out of the blue, her brain decided to surprise her yet again, "Why are you all keeping so many secrets from me?" She blurted, from where she sat on her bed, to Isabelle, who was brushing through her-also wet-raven hair. She stopped dead, her grip on the brush visibly tightening. "W-what?" She stuttered, turning to face Clary.

Clary herself couldn't believe she'd just outright blurted that to Isabelle, but there was no going back now. "What aren't you telling me?" Clary asked quietly. "I feel like there's some inside joke I'm not privy to, ad I hate that," Isabelle sighed, sitting down on her own bed. She looked so guilty, it wasn't a good look on Isabelle. "Ask away, I'm sick of the secrecy, too." It wasn't the response Clary was expecting, but she wasn't going to let the opportunity slip away from her-especially when her brain was about to explode with the amount of questions and blank space's she had.

"Why did you guys just...abandon me at the hospital?" Isabelle bit her lip, but took a deep breath and answered her. All Clary could do was hope it was the truth, this time around. "We didn't want to, Clary, I swear. But, then, Jace went off and we-we just couldn't find him for two days," Isabelle ran a hand through her inky hair, pushing it back away from her face. "When we did find him, it was awful-he came stumbling into the hotel lobby, mumbling about you, saying how much he screwed up, and then he-he started crying, Clary, crying."

Clary had never seen Jace cry, no one had. It was like it was a sin to him, crying.

"You know him, Clary, and Alec was so worried, asking him what drugs he was on, and Jace kept saying he hadn't had any-and I don't think he did any drugs, Clary," Isabelle admitted. "He was drinking, those days, drinking more than he did that one New Year, when he got absolutely hammered. He was so hung over, and we didn't know what to do-he just kept sulking, he still is. But you know him and his ego-he won't let you know, Clary, he won't let you see how sorry he actually is. And that's the problem-because he doesn't know how to fix things with you," Isabelle let out a breath. "If he just...If he just showed you how sorry he was, I keep telling him that, the boy is too stupid to listen to me," she glared at the floor, like it was Jace.

"When did the bet-on me-stop? Did he keep it going after I lost my memory?" Clary asked, secretly scared to hear the answer for whatever reason.

Isabelle played with her lip, seeming almost nervous. "He called off the bet as soon as he heard about what happened, and then when he saw you...well, let's just say at that time, it was closet I'd ever seen him to crying. Next question?" Isabelle raised a single brow, even though her gaze was kept firmly on the hard wood.

"How did Jace manage to keep his girlfriend a secret from me?" Clary asked. "I would have noticed, I'm not dumb, and he isn't exactly secretive about that stuff..." She trailed off, and Isabelle let out a small laugh, for the first time since the conversation started, looking up from the floor. "Sadie Carson," she laughed again. "They had to keep it secret; she had a boyfriend already," Isabelle frowned at the thought.

"Wow," Clary deadpanned. "I really was dumb, to think he didn't have a girlfriend for that long," she really felt stupid, not guessing that Jace-who never went more than two days, absolute maximum, without a girlfriend-had had a girlfriend. "Okay," Clary sighed, terrified of what she'd find out if she asked this next question. "What-why do you guys keep saying stuff about the two of us getting together?" Clary clenched her fists together hard in her lap, her finger nails pressing painfully into her palms. She was sure that at the very least, she'd have small crescent indents in her palms after this.

"You don't notice, do you?" Isabelle sighed, propping her head up on the palm of her hand. "Notice what?" Clary asked, her tone flat, which surprised her immensely, considering she was all jittery, and worked up inside. "The way you two look at each other," Isabelle said, seeming a little distracted.

"How do we look at each other, then?" Clary asked, raising her eyebrows at Isabelle expectantly. Isabelle only laughed softly, still there was that hint of guilt on her face, that Clary could tell she was so desperately trying to hide from her. And sadness, it was there, too, and Clary absolutely hated it. "You both look at each other so longingly, even if you're angry at him, it's still there, just under all the anger for whatever stupid thing he's done this time. It's been like that since, hmm, I don't know-Sophomore year?" Isabelle asked, her expression curious.

Clary looked at her, wide eyed, eyebrow's raised. "How did neither of us notice?" Clary demanded, her voice a mere squeak. Isabelle shrugged, "well, first you were best friends, and then you hated each other? Sounds pretty complicated."

Isabelle was more than right; it was complicated. Everything was complicated. Why couldn't life be like the fairy tales her dad had to read her?

"Clary, where are you going?" Alec asked her, as she turned away from their small group that was supposed to head back to the beach house after dinner at the chip stand, for a bon fire. She loved those.

"Give me a minute, okay?" She said, phone to her ear, the rings echoing through her head. She could hear her friends talking around her, but she wasn't very concerned by them at the moment. On the fourth ring, he picked up. "Clary?"

"Jon, hey," Clary smiled, even though he couldn't see her. After the initial shock-more like freak-out-slash-mental-break-down, she was happy to have him back. "You do know some of us are sleeping at this un-Godly hour, right?" He asked, his voice heavy with sleep.

"'Un-Godly hour,' Jonathan? It's almost six! What the hell are you doing sleeping?" She could practically hear Jonathan grinning through the phone. "I was tired?" He tried, but quickly gave up on the notion, asking, "so, what did you call for, little sister?"

"Little sister? We're twins, you can't call me that," Clary said firmly, crossing her one free arm over her chest, she could faintly hear Jace talking with Alec, but she didn't pay him much attention; she was mad at him-and herself, for feeling that way about Jace. "Fine...little sister," Jonathan said, and Clary made an agitated sound into the speaker, shutting him up efficiently. "So," she said. "I was calling to see if you wanted to come over for a bon fire?"

Jonathan was quiet a moment, and then, "I don't see why not. See you soon, little sister," Clary made a noise somewhere between a quiet scream and a groan into the phone, and then the line went dead. "Hate you," she muttered, looking at the phone, as if it could magically send the message to Jonathan. Wouldn't that be something?

She returned to the table, sitting down next to Magnus, and unfortunately, she was across from Jace. Could things be anymore awkward? "I take it he got on your nerves?" Magnus raised a sparkly eyebrow at her, and she nodded, dropping her head against the picnic table. "I hate him," she muttered. "I swear to God, I'm going to choke him when he shows up," Magnus grinned at that. "Sibling love, adorable."

"Yeah, right," Isabelle rolled her eyes. Clary looked up from where her head was buried under a thick layer of unruly, inferno red hair, noticing immediately Jace's angry expression. Normally, she'd pick at him, pestering him until he got even angrier, but at the moment, she didn't really care.

"Are we ready to set a fire?" Magnus grinned, a sparkly eyebrow raised deviously. Clary wasn't sure she was comfortable with Magnus being allowed to set anything on fire-if that boy loved anything more than glitter and Alec, it was definitely, without a doubt, fire.

Jace still had that angry expression on, and was mumbling to himself-or to Alec, who had long ago tuned out. In all honesty, she was still angry about the fact none of them had come to visit her after she woke up. Seriously, who does that? Just leaves their friend in the hospital with nothing to do, and a concussion. It frustrated her to think about, so Clary simply pushed it to the back of her mind, until it would resurface again.

"Magnus," Clary said, folding her hands together on the picnic table. "You are not setting anything on fire, unless it's your hair," she smiled sickeningly sweetly at him, while he glowered playfully at her. His eyes were still lit with that mischievous fire, and Clary shook her head disapprovingly, laughing, and hiding her face with her abundance of red curls.

"Okay," Isabelle said firmly, standing up from the picnic table. "We are going to set up everything," she looked pointedly at Clary, who groaned in response. "And Magnus will not be setting anything on fire. Clear?" Everyone nodded, and Alec let out a, "yes, ma'am," which Isabelle rolled her eyes at, turning on her heel and walking back towards the beach house, not even bothering to see if anyone was following her; she already knew they would.

Magnus fell into step beside Clary, shoving her slightly, which she returned, with much more force, making him stumble, and stop for a few paces. He, having unnaturally long legs, caught up easily. "Satan's off-spring's angry," Magnus remarked, his voice low so only Clary could hear. She shrugged, "why should we care?"

Magnus shrugged, and silence fell over the pair. It was slightly uneasy, most likely only for Clary, because the anger was bubbling up again. She understood that Jace had gone and been his reckless self, and that he needed people to pick him up again. But why on earth did he need Isabelle, Magnus and Alec to help him back onto his feet? A least one of them could have detached themselves long enough from the Jace situation to come and visit her. She internally slapped herself for being so angry at something that had already happened-something she couldn't change.

"Biscuit, you okay?" Magnus nudged her in the shoulder. Clary snapped out of her thoughts, and they cleared away like fog lifting all at once. She nodded, smiling softly up at him. "Yeah, just thinking," Magnus furrowed his eyebrows at her, and then raising one accusingly at her. "About Satan's off-spring?"

Clary looked at him wide-eyed, paling visibly at his words. "Fine," she grumbled, holding up her hands in surrender. "I was thinking about why he was angry," she lied. Magnus didn't need to know what she'd really been thinking about. "He really doesn't like your brother, huh?" Magnus said, looking ahead at something. Clary frowned at the air, as if it in some way had done her wrong. "What do you mean?" Clary asked, feeling as she were missing an obvious piece of the puzzle.

"You don't notice it?" Magnus asked, his voice sounding genuinely curious. "Notice what?" She asked, sand getting into her shoes. It was one of the things Clary hated about the beach; sand everywhere. Magnus chuckled softly, before answering. "He's always been protective over you, even before the accident. You must have noticed that," he said.

Clary gave him a questioning look, what had there been to notice?

"You're kidding me, right, biscuit?" He asked, the glitter on his eyes shimmered in the sun. "I'm afraid not, Magnus," she replied. What was she missing? "Ever wondered why no one would ask you out?" Magnus prodded. She had, but never really questioned it-she hadn't really want a boyfriend, anyways. "Not often," she said simply.

"It was funny, really," Magnus noted. "He would find out that a guy was going to ask you out, and scare them off. He didn't notice it, and apparently neither did you, but he looked at you. He looked at you in this way that none of us had ever seen him look at any of his girlfriends before," Clary was so completely confused; why did everyone keep saying these things about her and Jace? "And," Magnus continued. "He got even more protective-if that's possible-after the accident, trying to do it subtly, so you wouldn't notice. He doesn't like Jonathan because he thinks that Jonathan will just leave you again, and he knows it would make you upset-I know it would devastate you, biscuit.

"But I know Jonathan-and I know he would never leave you if he didn't have to." Magnus added, as they got closer to the house. The others had gotten far ahead of them, so they had plenty of time to talk. "And I'm assuming you know about what happened, and why we didn't visit you?" Magnus asked, eyebrow raised at her expectantly.

"Yeah," Clary said. "I know." She crossed her arms over her chest, the afternoon air turning to a chilly night breeze. The sun was beginning to set, and she knew it wouldn't be long now before it was completely dark outside. "Do you know why he did that?" Magnus asked, and without waiting for a response, continued talking. Clary didn't know how he could talk so much without hurting his jaw. "He didn't think he deserved your forgiveness, Clary. I could tell."

Clary shook her head, "well, he doesn't need to worry, then," she said, walking up the front steps to the house, leaving Magnus at the bottom. Half way up, she turned back to him, "because I haven't forgiven him."

The night was beautiful, with bright white stars piercing the dark vale of black that fell upon them. The fire crackled, shedding orange and yellow-toned light onto them all. It made Clary's hair look almost as if it were on fire. It was just past eight, and Clary was still waiting on Jonathan. Even when he'd lived with them, he had never been punctual, always late-for everything. Clary was positive he would be late for the birth of his children, as well.

Just as the final thought ran through her mind, bight headlights caught her attention, and she turned her head to look at them. It was Jonathan, alright, with his music blaring, and windows down. His salt-white hair blew around in the air, settling over his eyes. He looked ridiculous. He proceeded to get out of his car, slamming it behind him, and then he impatiently brushed the hair out of his eyes. His face cracked into a smile, ass his eyes landed on Clary. When he got close enough, Clary stood up, and walked over to him-it had taken all of her restraint to not run right up to him and squeeze the life out of him. His arms were open, and wrapped around her when she hugged him immediately. "Hey, Clare," he said, pulling away from her. "Jon," she greeted. "Are you always late?" She raised both eyebrows, not being able to raise one, and all.

He shrugged, "usually," Clary let out a breath of air, and turned away from him, to sit back down beside Isabelle on the blanket that lay overtop the sand. Jonathan sat himself down next to Clary, much to Isabelle's dislike, because she wouldn't even look at him. Alec, Jace, and Magnus were all squished together, trying to sit on one blanket, because, well, Jace wanted to sit with Alec, and so did Magnus. So, in the end, poor Alec ended up squished in the middle of the two boys.

Clary caught Jace glaring at Jonathan, who was easily returning it. She cleared her throat. "If you boys are done with your staring contest, we can set up Magnus' fireworks," Clary said, standing back up and brushing the sand off of her clothes. Almost instantly, Jace and Jonathan's attention snapped to her. "Fireworks?" Jonathan raised a pale eyebrow. "Why did you bring fireworks on a trip?"

Magnus smirked wickedly, giving Jonathan no reply. "Because Magnus likes fire, like, a lot," Isabelle answered, surprising Clary. The inky-haired girl stood a little ways away, tearing open the box of fireworks. "It sets off my..." Magnus paused, thinking. "Glitter! It sets off my glitter!" He replied excitedly.

"I don't think I've ever seen so much glitter in my life," Jonathan murmured next to her. Clary shrugged, saying, "you get used to it."

-*#*-

The fireworks had been a gorgeous display of colours; green, blue, red, gold. Explosions of colour, almost. Magnus had been absolutely entranced by them, while Clary's fingers had itched for her sketchpad and pencils. But, she had been a little distracted, what with Jace's gaze flickering from her, to Jonathan-where it would turn into a cold, hard glare she knew a little too well. And at the moment, he was still staring at her, and it was crossing from the line of creepy-which had been crossed during Magnus' firework display-to down right weird, and stalker-ish.

Finally, after two more minutes of the stalker-like staring, Clary snapped. "Take a picture," she ground out through gritted teeth. "It'll last a whole lot longer."

Jace's gaze snapped away, but returned only a second later. "Well," Jonathan said from his seat beside her. "I'm going to head home, Clare. It's getting late, and my roommate is always whiny about having to let me in late at night."

Clary turned her attention to her brother, an amused look on her face. "Is this roommate of yours a girl, by any chance?" She teased. Jonathan rolled his eyes, "no, he is a boy-and before you even think of saying anything, Clarissa, I do not swing that way." Clary giggled, and gave him a quick hug, "bye, Jon," she said into his band tee. He squeezed her tightly, and then let go, waving as he walked back to his car. Clary waved back, even as she felt Jace's eyes on her. Jonathan sped off down the road, leaving Clary to turn back to her friends. "You can stop glaring now," Clary snapped at him. Isabelle let out a long yawn, stretching her arms up above her head. "You guys still sound like an old married couple to me," she said, her tone without regret at what she'd just said. "I wouldn't say that, Iz," Alec warned, obviously seeing Clary's murderous expression. "Listen to your brother, Izzy. You might just wake up without hair if you don't," Clary smiled devilishly at the girl, who gulped, taking a few steps back, probably thinking she was being subtle about it.

"Well," Magnus said, standing up, pulling up Alec with him-who let out a yelp of surprise. "We'd love to stay and watch this unfold, but not really. I, for one, don't feel like waking up without my hair," Magnus shot a pointed look at Isabelle.

Isabelle crossed her arms over her chest. "You won't do it," she said to Clary, as Magnus and Alec walked up the steps. "Oh, I won't?" Clary raised her eyebrows, smiling a little. "Well, I'm tired, too. I'm gonna head upstairs, to get out the clippers and replace Isabelle's shampoo with hair removal cream." Clary pretended to be surprised, covering her mouth with her hand, laughing softly, at Isabelle's afraid expression. "Oops. Did I say that out loud? Goodnight, Isabelle," Clary gave a teasing wave as she retreated up the steps, into the house. Jace was glaring at the ground still, and Clary rolled her eyes-something she was sure no one caught, since it was so dark out.

But just as she turned, she caught Jace looking up at her with this sort of desperate expression on his face, mouthing something at her retreating form. She wasn't sure what it was, considering her lip-reading had never been all that good. But this phrase seemed a simple one. Something she couldn't completely play off as him cursing her out. Because that was far from it. So very far from the truth of what he'd said.

I love you.

Hey guys! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I was a little stuck on what to write in the beginning, but reading all your reviews helped me get through yet another bout of Writer's Block.

I left a lot of holes in the last chapter, a lot of missing explanations, and trust me, there was a good reason-and, well, now you know what it is.

So, I guess this is it for this chapter.

Hm.

Leave suggestions below for anything you would really love to see in the next chapter-I'm always open to hear your opinion.

Leave me a review, please?

If I get to 250 reviews before I post the next chapter, I'll add in a special Jace's POV in that chapter or the next.

:)