Clary awoke the next morning to the honking of cars and the chirping of birds that signaled morning in New York. Sunlight from the open window warmed her bare back. The window was open, letting in a warm breeze that ruffled the white curtains. She yawned, brushing her hair out of her face. She turned, the arm that had been laying across her back pulling her to the side of a warm body. Clary reached up, pressing her lips to his. He responded after a few moments, his lips pressing against hers. He let out a groan as she slipped away, out from under his arm. She grabbed her underwear from the floor, slipping them on. After a little hunting, she found her dress and slipped into it, pausing when she noticed the tears. One straight down her midsection, exposing her pale stomach. The bottom was ripped, near her leg, as well. "Um..." She said, looking down at the ruined dress.
"I think it works." Jace said, regarding her with lazy eyes.
She glared at him. He sat up, reaching out and taking her hand. He pulled her back onto the bed with him, and she somehow ended up stradling him. He slipped the straps of her dress down her shoulders slowly, until it was bunched up around her thighs. "Now, that's much better." He said. She sighed, shaking her head at him. He put his hand on her cheek, burshing back her curls. His other hand rested on her hip, idly tracing his thumb back and forth. "I have to get to work." She sighed, as he pulled her down and kissed that sensitive spot behind her ear.
"Blow it off." He said, turning them so that he was on top of her. His hand smoothed down her thigh, making her seriously consider it. He settled himself in between her thighs, and she inhaled sharply. He took her dress and pulled it all the way down her legs, kissing his way down her legs with it. He threw the dress somewhere in the room, Clary couldn't bring herself to care where. She watched his hands as he hooked a finger in the band of her underwear, slipping them down and throwing them to the floor as well. "Tell me you would rather be working than doing this." He kissed the hollow of her neck, griping the back of her neck. She tipped her head back, losing her eyes. "Hmm?" Jace said. "I didn't quite get that."
"I-" She broke off into a moan as he slipped into her.
"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"
She gripped the sheets, tilting her head back and closing her eyes as he slowly rocked his hips back and forth. "Fuck it." She whispered, gripping his shoulders. Her nails dug in, and she bit her lip. "Work can wait." His lips were so close to hers they brushed hers when he spoke. "That's what I thought." He kissed her, and work became the last thing on her mind.
)*(
The dress was practically toast. "Here." Jace said, tossing her a light blue shirt before walking into the closet. "You can keep it." He said from inside the closet. She inhaled, noting that it smelled like him. Clary slipped it over her head, pulling her hair out of the collar. She walked out of the room. As she shut the front door behind her and walked down the stairs of the apartment complex, she couldn't help the grin that crossed her face. I just got laid. It said. Twice.
She hailed a cab, giving the driver the directions to her apartment.
She opened the door, only to find Isabelle already in her apartment, pacing in front of the couch. She stopped when she saw Clary, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "There you are!" She exclaimed, rushing over to hug Clary. "I thought you had been kidnapped. You are very tiny and very easy to stuff into a trunk."
Clary laughed, rolling her eyes. "No, no kidnapping happened last night."
Isabelle pulled back, studying her friend's face. "Then what happened?" After a moment, she answered her own question. "Oh, I see. Your face says it all. Clary got some."'
Clary shrugged. "Maybe."
Isabelle laughed. "Wow."
"How late am I for work?" Clary called, shrugging out of her clothes as she walked into her room.
"About 3 hours."
"3 hours?!" Clary exclaimed, undressing faster. Did she have time for a shower? She sniffed her arm, and her eyes widened. She so needed a shower. She smelled like sex.
"But it's Sunday." Isabelle said. "The gallery is closed."
Clary exhaled, letting the shirt drop back down to her knees as she pressed a hand to her forehead. "Oh, thank god."
Isabelle laughed. "I'm going to tell Simon that he no longer has to gather money for ransom."
Clary shook her head, stripping her clothes the rest of the way off and turning on the shower. She sighed as she stepped in, the warm water cascading down her skin. She grinned as she thought of the last two hours. Going home with Jace had been an amazing decision.
)*(
Clary stood in front of the easel, biting her lip. The blank canvas stared back at her, as if mocking her with it's blankness. She sighed, throwing her brush down. She walked over to the couch, falling onto it. She groaned, her face pressed into the cushion. It had been almost a month since she had slept with Jace that night after Pandemonium. The first few days, it had seemed like the drawings would just pour out of her, as if the experience had opened a jar of creativity. Now, every time she tried to draw, her mind blanked.
Heaving a deep sigh, she got up from the couch, heading into her room. She let her hair down, walking into her closet. She riffled through her clothes, until she found a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She pulled the t-shirt over her head, and then struggled to get the jeans on. It involved a lot of jumping and tugging. Finally, she got them on. She tried to button them, but they just wouldn't. Sighing, she laid back on her bed, grunting as she tried to get them to button. She threw her had back in frustration. It seemed she had been eating one too many bagels lately. Her mom had always said that Clary would be thin the rest of her life, that Fray's were built that way. Stick thin, no matter what they tried to do about it. As she kicked the jeans off her ankles, she decided that her mom had been wrong, after all.
)*(
Dressed in a pair of loose cutoffs and a green t-shirt, Clary met her best friend, Simon, at Java Jones. It was their ritual meet up spot, and by now they were considered more than regulars. Their usual table by the window was never occupied by anyone but them, because everyone knew it was their spot. Clary sat down in the seat opposite Simon, setting her coffee down on the table. She set her bag down and grabbed three sugar packets, tearing them all open & pouring them in at the same time. She stirred it with a spoon, took a sip, and then grimaced as her stomach complained. She'd had a bug for the last few weeks that just wouldn't go away. A large part of it was also due to how nervous she had been lately. Her new collection was going to be revealed at the gala, a day from today. It was her first big collection, and it had turned her stomach into a humongous bundle of nerves. Sometimes she actually made herself sick. Like ginger ale and saltines, the toilet is your temporary home, kind of sick. Repeatedly. She hoped it got easier than this. She doubted she could take being sick like this every time her art was being shown. "Still feeling sick?" Simon commented as she set her mug down.
She nodded. "Yeah. I just cant wait for it to be over. Whether it be nerves or some sort of bug, it sucks."
"I'm sorry. But hey, you're still up for going to the bar with us later, right?" Simon asked.
Isabelle had decided she would try every new place she had heard about, and she always dragged Clary & Simon along with her. First it had been this new Mexican place (Clary had found a cricket in her nachos. A cricket. ) then this shoe place, a music store, Pandemonium, and now this new bar that Clary couldn't remember the name of. "Yeah, I guess. Maybe it'll be the cure for my artist's block."
Simon shrugged. "Maybe."
Isabelle and Simon were dating, and though Izzy didn't know it yet, Simon was waiting for the right moment to pop the question. Clary grinned behind her cup as she imagined her two best friends married.
)*(
The bar was called Taki's. This time, based on past experiences, Clary had looked up reviews on the place online before coming. Every review was five stars, and people couldn't seem to get enough of the place. For once, Clary was actually excited to walk into one of Izzy's findings. She walked in behind Simon & Isabelle, her eyes taking in everything all at once. Dim lights hung from the rafters, lighting the pool table and the seating areas. The bar had it's own dim lights. Everything was made up of stained wood, and it felt like one of the homiest places she had ever seen in New York. Clary made her way to the bar, feeling like drowning her sorrows in alcohol like all other artists stuck in a rut. She sat down on one of the stools, leaning her elbows on the bar. "You know, that's seen as having bad manners." A very familiar voice said, pulling her eyes from the bar.
Jace smiled at her, his eyes widening as he saw her face. "Clary?"
"Um...hi. This is where you bartend?"
"Yeah. My buddy and I, we, uh, we own this bar."
Her eyes widened. "You own the bar?"
A man appeared behind Jace, slinging his arm around Jace's shoulders.
"Yeah, I co-own it with this idiot." Jace said, pointing the man who just so happened to be Isabelle's older brother.
"Hey, Clary."
"Alec?" Clary said, looking at the boy who had become almost like a second brother to her in the 10 years she'd known him.
"Wait, you two know each other?" Jace said, his eyebrows drawing together.
"Yeah, Clary's my sista from another mista. And mom, and well, everything, but you get the point."
"Isabelle said this was one of her places. You know, the whole 'I hear about a place, I go to it' thing."
"She wha-GOD DAMMIT, ISABELLE." He said, walking over to where Isabelle sat at one of the tables with Simon.
"So...um...how did you and Alec meet?" Cary said, trying to get rid of the awkward tension in the air between them.
"Hell...I don't really know, to be honest with you." Jace said, leaning his elbows on the counter, bringing his face clloser to hers. "We've been best friends for as long as I can remember. I guess our moms knew each other or something."
"It would make sense." Clary said.
"What about you? How'd you meet him?"
"Well, Izzy and I have been friends since middle school. Alec kind of became an older brother through her. Between Simon, Izzy, and myself I have like 3 families."
"That sounds like a handful."
"It kind of is, at times. But I love it."
"Do you want something to drink?" Jace asked, stepping away from her to look at the variety of drinks ready to be made.
"No, I'm good." Clary said, no longer in the mood for depressed drinking.
"Okay, so I'm just going to address the elephant in the bar." Jace said.
"What do you mean?"
"We had a one night stand, and meant to never see each other again. And now..."
"It doesn't have to be awkward. We could...we could be friends."
"No, really." She said at the look Jace gave her. "I mean, just think of Friends. Ross & Rachel slept together tons of times, and they were still able to be great friends."
"Yeah, well they also had a baby together at one point."
Clary laughed. "Yeah, let's not do that." She stuck her hand out. "So...friends?"
He took her hand, shaking it. "Sure, why not. Friends."
)*(
It's probably just because I'm the author, and like my dad always says, you're your own worsst critic, but. I feel like I'm producing some crap chapters right now. Well, anyways. I somehow managed to write two chapters in a day. I just decided to start writing the second chapter, and POOF! It was done in a few hours. As I said, I'm going to take a few chapters to set up this story. Maybe 3 or 4. I'd love your input of what you guys want to happen in this story. That's all I have to say for now! Hopefully I can update this as frequently as I'd like.
-Megan