"Hello?" I called into the empty house, the smell of must and beer still present as it had been when I lived here. The house felt empty and cold, and with each couscous step into what had been my hell hole for my whole childhood, a new smell slowly became known to me. The sent was foul and intrusive, it made me ill to be near it, but still I drug on into the old home despite my fears.
I tuned into the old living room, noticing the seat he used to sit in day in and day out was empty before I completely came into the room. A feeling of relief had found me for a moment, but just a moment because it was that moment that the rotten smell was given a source, on the couch opposite of his chair lay the beaten body of a girl. Blood black and dried, her arm draped over the side of the couch, face down with dead and now colorless hair falling over her, her skin looked cold and pale. I couldn't see her face but I felt like I knew her, but who I thought she was, was completely impossible. How could she be me, when I was right here?
A creak came from behind me and I felt him over me. with his breath beside my ear, he whispered "Welcome home sunshine"
I shot up off my couch to the sound of my phone bussing on the table. I rushed to pick it up, slightly dazed from my nightmare. "hello?" I groggily asked into the phone, wondering who the hell was calling.
"Oh shit did i wake you? It's Jace, I was calling to see if you wanted to grab lunch?" lunch? How long was I asleep. I looked over at my clock and saw that it was already passed 12.
"Sure why not, do you want me to meet you someplace?" I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and lied back onto the couch
"No I can just drive you, that is if you don't mind going on my bike?", I heard a crash in the background and him mutter a curse. I almost laughed.
"You alright?"
"I'm fine, I just knocked over what looked to be a very expensive vase. My uncle is probably screaming at me from hell now, telling me to treat his stuff with more respect", his uncles stuff?
"what are you doing with his stuff?" I got up off the couch and walked out into my kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, leaning out over the sink to look outside. The evening sun lit the street with an light breeze to accompany it. I always wanted to live in a peacefully place like this.
"I'm fixing up his place, it's pretty clean considering how long it's been empty" he laughed lightly, trailing off. "He didn't change a thing after I left, nothing."
"That's because there was nothing to change." he fell silent suddenly, just the sound of his breathing. "Jace?"
there was a knock at my door. I rushed to get it, and when the door opened, there stood Jace in a dark black leather jacket and a charcoal shirt with worn jeans that hugged him perfectly. A vision of him from last night appeared, his wet golden hair in the moon light that illuminated his struggling eyes that fought back emotions with every moment. He was new again, smirking in fresh clothes with messy dry hair, but his eyes never changed. "You ready to go? I'm sure people will love the whole I just got out of bed look, cute pj's by the way" ,his smirk grew as I rolled my eyes.
"just give me a minute to change" he nodded clearly thinking about something, but not caring to mention it. "you can come in if you want" I turned around and left the door open and starting walking towards my room.
I changed as fast as I could putting on a fresh pair of jeans an a plain white shirt with a grey unzipped hoodie. When I came back out of my room I found Jace standing in the living room with the yearbook open in his hands. I watched him for a moment, sorrow on his face and slight Anger in the way he set his strong jaw. "I see you found the yearbook." I said casually to get his attention, he immediately relaxed as his eyes met mine.
"And I thought nobody bought these yearbooks ." he mumbled.
"Clearly! Did you know we went to high school together?" He seemed somewhat surprised I asked.
"Not till someone told me, high school is really more of a blur then anything" he smiled to himself knowingly. He was so foreign to me, the way he talked and thought, how could one forget four years of their lives?
"Who told you?"
He walked over to me and set the book down on the desk that held my laptop. "You will see soon enough. You ready to go?"
"Yeah, sure" A part of me was filled with questions about who could possibly remember me and had seen me with Jace, but I let myself just shut up and stop thinking.
I followed him as he walked out the door and over to his bike parked in the driveway next door. He lifted the seat and grabbed a green helmet from beneath it and handed it to me. "Have you ever been on a motorcycle before" , I shook my head. " Put that helmet on and get on behind me" he got on the bike and I did as he directed, watching him turn to me and say "hold on to me tightly" he put his helmet on and started the bike as I laced my arms around him . Before I could even rethink what I was doing the bike started to move speeding up as we road onto the street, this rush of fear and excitement shoot through my veins. This feeling took over me, this amazing, intoxicating feeling that I was doing something dangerous, but I felt safe even with the racing speed and loud motor roaring, I felt safer then I had for a long time. I must be out of my mind.
We finally slowed down and pulled into a familiar parking lot. My head lifted from the spot it had been on Jace's back and saw the sign for the place we were, 'The Institute' , it was the bar we had met at. I took my helmet off and looked questionably at Jace as he did the same. He turned to me, "They serve a mean club" he smirked watching me get off the bike. I watched his graceful body move from the bike as I followed. We went inside and sat down at a table in a corner of the empty bar. "There's something I want to ask you, I just don't know how to", I watched him fiddle with his hand staring down at them as he messed with a silver ring in his finger. "do you remember much from high school" he questioned.
"I was invisible in high school I did my work, didn't start anything, I was a ghost in the halls."
His head moved to look at the bartender as he came in through the back, and he nudged his head towards us, telling him to come over.
"You weren't invisible" I just looked at him confused. "Alec, I want you to meet Clary Fray" I looked over at the man who was now standing over our table with a pen and notepad. His hair was black and fine and he was tall with a lean build, when are glances met I found cold blue eyes and a well angled face with a stubble covered chin.
"Evening Clary, I don't suppose you remember me?", his tone was smooth and strong with a confident ease. In a way he did seem familiar, but I couldn't place him, I only really knew him as the guy who poured my drinks.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't" he nodded his head smiling.
He stuck his hand out towards me "My name is Alec Lightwood, we went to the same high school together and Spent four years in the same homeroom" I took his hand and shook it lightly. I did recognize him, he was the boy who was tormented by everyone for being gay. "now you remember, don't you?" he winked at me and I caught myself smiling up at him. My eyes flickered to Jace, and I notice he was looking at Alec with regret all over his face. "So you guys looking for something to eat?" he asked taking his hand back and crossing his arms.
"Of course" Jace smiled slyly, I remember how he reminded of a lion on the prowl, pouncing for what he wants.
"Well here's the menu" he reached into the clothe holder he wore with jeans and a red button up shirt with the cuffs pushed up to just behind his elbows. He dropped a paper onto the table, "Can I get you guys something to drink?". Jace raised an eyebrow at me.
"I'm fine with just a water"
"Alpine?"
"Be back in a few." he turned on his heel and walked over to the bar.
Jace moved to look at me, handing me the menu, "so what looks good?". I skimmed the menu only finding one thing that stuck out.
"Did you say the club was good?" I asked peering over at him. A smile that could render a child blind spread over his face.
"It's like your taste buds are falling in love." he wiggled his eye brows at me.
"I bet you taste buds cheat" I commented.
"It's more of an open relationship then anything to be honest, because really, no one can resist this" he motioned to himself as i laughed lightly.
"I can" i challenged him. He squinted at me as his mouth fell from its set smirk.
"Easier said then done".
Alec was suddenly over us with are drinks "So what can I get you guys?" I nodded to Jace.
"Two clubs" Jace winked at him, what was it with men and winking? You would think its apart of some secret language. I drifted off into my own thoughts about what it could possibly be, when I felt someone staring at me. Alec had left and i was sitting alone with Jace, his eyes burning into my face with an emotion I didn't recognize. "You know that what makes artists unique?" I let out a breath, shaking my head slightly. "It's the way they think, they can flout away and only focus on one thing, instead of the distractions from the rest of the world over taking them. They are capable of beautiful things because there minds are unmistakably beautiful".
Something about the way he looked at me reminded me of the way I had seen him with Alec. "Earlier you were looking at Alec like you regret something, did something happen?" he let out a deep breath not moving his gaze away, he almost seemed disappointed i had asked.
"I told you before I'm not a good guy, I've done cruel things to fit in. When we were in high school I picked On Alec, made fun of him, I practically tormented him." I knew people were afraid of him then, but I hadn't realized he had done such things. However Alec seemed to have forgiven him.
"How did you make it up to him?" he smirked a bit, probably at the memory.
"I don't think I will ever fix what I did, Alec's a good guy who dissevered better but he's selfless enough to forgive me, even if I didn't do anything to disserve it." he watched the door to what I guessed was where Alec had went, probably a kitchen. The concern for Alec's past falling from his body. He got up suddenly and went to the door knocking on it. When Alec i merged, Jace said something that I couldn't hear and Alec nodded and went back inside. I studied Jace as he walked back towards me, graceful and adroit.
"What?" I interrogated Slightly, I was curious.
"You will see, trust me.", and there it was, the request I feared he would ask of me. As of he knew what I was thinking he tried to comfort m with a light smile and whispered "You won't regret it Clary".
It wasn't much longer that our food came in a brown take out bag and me and Jace fought over who was going to pay, but letting him pay when he said, "Money doesn't matter to me, I have enough to buy two lifetimes over". If anyone else had told me money didn't matter to them I wouldn't have believed them, but If I knew anything about this man, it was that he was looking for a reason to live, a purpose, and money didn't give him that.
Minutes later we were walking towards an abandoned farm house just off the highway outside of the city, his bike parked on the side of the road and the bag that held our food in his hand. We hasn't said a word to each other since we left the Bar.
when we reached the house, I saw it was in rather good condition, it was obvious that no one had been living here, but someone had been doing work on it. It was old with new windows, fresh roofing and a new door that clashed with the old siding that was starting to peel. Jace nudged his shoulder into mine, and when I looked at him he gestured towards a ladder, silently telling me to climb up. Without even thinking twice, I did it, listening to his climb behind me I felt a sense of security.
It was one of the most beautiful sites I had ever seen. A field of grain that swayed with the wind, a rocky beach just over a light hill and a larger hill in the distance with a fence of leafy trees of green.
I felt Jace's body towering over me from behind, the heat of him burning my back as I stared off into the open space. "When I was a teenager" he voice suddenly broke out from the silence, "I got mad and I just started biking, not sure if I planned on going back home. I found this place, and I sat up here from hours, just thinking." His tone was soft and calm, nurturing even. "I came here every day after that, everyday after school whether I biked walked or drove, I came no matter what." he was so close I felt his breath at the top of my head.
"It's amazing" I breathed.
"I thought you would see what some can't" I turned around and stepped back from him, looking up at his dawning survey.
I felt a comfortable laugh tickle up my throat, "You couldn't possibly be trying to tell me that you brought someone here who didn't appreciate
this view, its magnificent!"
A smirk now on his face, "No, since your the only person who has been here, I think everyone I brought did enjoy it quite well.", then why change that now?
"Why wouldn't you, didn't you ever want to bring a girlfriend here, you know woo her?" he set the food down on the roof and sat down looking towards the field with a leg tucked under the other as he put his weight onto the palms of his hands at his sides.
"This was my place to think, I didn't want to remember a time when I acted like someone else. This place is about me being purely Jace Wayland" I sat down beside him bringing my knees to my check, crossing my arms on there tops and resting my chin on my arms.
"Then why did you bring me here?" He started un packing The food and handing me a tin plate covered in foil and a bottle of water.
"Because when I'm with you, I'm me."

Alright, This may be the last chapter for a bit, I have Exams coming up with the awesome add-on's of final projects, However i will keep trying to write when i can.

I hope you all liked this Chapter! Anything you want to know or ask I'm willing to answer, but i want REVIEWS PEOPLE, it makes my day and makes me a better author when i read what you have to say.

If you happen to notice any errors just send me a message telling me and i will fix them as soon as i get a chance, thank you.

- The Black Tattoo