A/N: I must apologize, as my friend Satorie Writer has told me, I was being a lazy ass. I know it's been over a year I think since I've updated, and I don't know if anyone has any hope for this story anymore, but you should read it. Pwety pwease!

Also, I've heard some people in my reviews saying how out of character Jace is. But it is necessary for him to be like this….he will change, do not worry.

Breathless

Jace held his nose as he staggered towards the bathroom, cursing at Simon under his breath. He could leave the hotel, but that would look bad, especially with blood everywhere. The tall shadowhunter kicked the door open and made a beeline for the paper towel dispenser. Grabbing a handful of the coarse material, Jace shoved the balled paper towel under an icy cold stream of water until it was saturated. He wiped carelessly at the blood on his face, scrubbing until the skin was red. Jace wiped more delicately around his nose, carefully swiping away fresh and dried blood. Once his face did not look like a macabre mess, he appraised his battered features. Bruising was starting to develop under his eyes, and his nose was almost squashed, not beyond being set, but far beyond a medical doctors care. Jace lifted his hand to his nose, sliding a few chunks of the cartilage into place. The boy stared at his reflection, after he had fixed what he could, his nose looked less pug-like, but still needed work. His white shirt was crusted with blood, so he pulled it off and shoved it into the garbage can; going shirtless was the lesser of two evils, though Jace knew Clary wouldn't appreciate it…not that it mattered, because Clary didn't even seem to care anymore. It was like she had given up on them.

Jace let a cocky grin slide across his face, and strode out of the bathroom lazily. He attracted stares from many people, male and female alike. He swaggered through the lobby, portraying 'you know you want me' in every stride. No one had the guts to talk to him as he approached the reception desk.

"Do you have any tape?" he asked the skinny blonde receptionist. The woman stammered for a response, her eyes wide, appraising Jace's body. Jace rolled his eyes with a smile and grabbed the tape off the desk. He peeled off three strips, taping them tightly across his nose.

"Thanks," He said, dropping the tape dispenser and striding out of the hotel. Alec was sitting at the curb in a black Mercedes, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel in an abstract pattern. Shock flickered across his face, then was replaced with a smile as Jace sank into the passenger seat and slammed the door behind himself.

"Looks like you'll need plastic surgery," Alec said as he put the car in drive. Jace's hands flew to his nose and he started at his brother in horror. Alec only laughed,

"You should've seen your face, it was like someone told you they'd killed your mother. You do remember we are Shadowhunters right…"Alec trailed off into fits of laughter while Jace stared impassively out the windshield.

"I cared more about the fact that my nose was broken than the fact that I broke Clary's heart," He said. Alec stopped laughing and stared at his brother soberly.

"I think you're trying to fool yourself Jace, you just don't want to admit you care about it," the black haired boy said wisely. Jace swallowed audibly.

"You don't know what I've done," Jace said in a strained whisper.

"Well explain to me why you're so fucked up and so piss drunk all the time! Explain the whole damn thing! It's not just yourself that you're hurting now," Alec shouted, slamming his hand down on the steering wheel. Jace sighed, and looked down at his hands.

"Look just tell me, I won't hate you. I may get mad, but you're my brother, I'll never hate you," Alec said

Jace took a breath.

"I can't get over Alicante. I drink to forget, I got drunk every night…hell I still do get drunk. But anyhow, I started to cheat on Clary. She found out but stuck it out for a while. Soon though, she just couldn't deal with it." Jace paused to collect his thoughts.

"I showed up the next morning, and after a while she knew where I'd been. She stopped touching me, stopped kissing me, stopped talking to me; finally she'd had enough. I can home really hammered and she started getting in my face, she was yelling at me, she told me I was pathetic and that I ran away from my demons. She told me she wanted me to leave and that it was over," Jace stopped, swallowing back tears and forcing the lump in his throat down.

"What exactly did she say?" Alec asked softly.

"She said she didn't love me, and I hit her. I punched her in the face. That was it, she drew a rune that literally drove me out of her house. That wasn't too long ago. I've hit her more since then. I haven't really talked to her, but I hit her a few days ago though. I can't even believe this is me, I feel like I'm possessed!" Jace cried out. Alec pulled to the curb and parked by the Lightwood Manor.

"Wow, that's pretty heavy. How bad did you hit her this time?" Alec asked coolly. Jace winced.

"Pretty bad, only twice in the face, but I got her ribs, her back, her legs, I seriously couldn't stop hitting her,"

"I still can't believe you hit Clary," Alec said, shaking his head.

"I KNOW!" Jace roared, his yell reverberating through the car.

"Look, Jace, you need help. I'm going to draw a healing rune, but you have to promise you'll go to rehab and let me check you in," Alec told his brother in a calming voice. Jace buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking.

"I'll do it," he muttered brokenly, before letting gasping sobs overtake him. For once, Jace was out of words, and he was out of breath.