A/N Hi guys. This is the new chapter and there are some serious Clace feels in here so be warned. I hope you enjoy. Sorry if there are any grammatical errors, I was jamming to under the sea whilst writing this. I strongly suggest you listen to the songs, if you can, whilst reading this. It helps with really getting lost in the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or stories. Cassandra Clare does.
Chapter 3 Surprise meetings
The crowd whispered and mumbled in monotones. Watching in anticipation as the organiser of the event, Hodge Starkweather, introduced the nights events. Something about the mysterious man did not quite ring true with Jace. He knew he had never seen the man before in his life, but something about him seemed familiar. The way his fingers twitched behind his back. The way he was almost imperceptibly rocking on the balls of his feet. Something about his nervous demeanour unsettled Jace, and it took a lot to unnerve a Herondale. Just look at his cousin Will, after his best friend died, he was a rock. No one could get through to him, and that is why he was so grateful towards Tessa. She saved his cousins life- women tended to have that affect on the Herondale boys.
" Our first act tonight is the beautiful and talented Seelie Queen!" Hodge announced to the applauding crowd. 'beautiful and talented? Someone got laid' Jace thought to himself. He knew Seelie's type- sleep with anyone with power and money. He was sick of them throwing themselves at him. He used to enjoy the attention, but now, he wasn't so sure.
Jace thought back to the redhead he had met earlier. Something about her intrigued him. Begged him to get closer and unlock her secrets. He could tell from her attitude and posture that she was hiding her true emotions, almost as if she was afraid to let anyone in. Jace knew how she felt. Somehow, looking deep into her eyes, he felt a sense of completion. Ever since he could remember, he had always felt isolated from everyone- but looking at the redhead across the stage standing stock-still, obviously trying to hide her nerves- he felt like he finally belonged somewhere. Which was an utterly absurd emotion to be feeling around a stranger.
Lost in his own musings, Jace had only just noticed that half the group had already performed their first song and it was now the mysterious redheads turn.
" Clarissa Fray." She walked stiffly onto the stage, almost as if her legs were refusing to let her walk on the stage without looking like a retarded penguin. He chuckled and listened as she sang the opening line- shocking the crowd into silence.
#LINEBREAK#
'Breathe Fray. Deep breaths.' She was panicking. She had sung infront of the mirror and in the shower, but her brothers had always taunted her, and her brain chose that time to replay them all.
'Ignore them. Pissheads. Prove them wrong.' She took a deep breath and took hold of the microphone. Cueing the music she took another deep breath and closed her eyes. The mumblings of the crowd died down as she focused on the tune. The way the notes morphed together to make an incomplete melody, only thing left now was her part to complete the musical puzzle.
(All rights for this song go to Christina Perri)
I can hold my breath
I can bite my tongue
I can stay awake for days if that's what you want
Be your number one
I can fake a smile
I can force a laugh I can dance and play the part if that's what you ask
Give you all I am
I can do it
I can do it
I can do it
But I'm only Human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash And I break down
Your words in my head knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
I'm only human
I can turn it on
Be a good machine
I can hold the weight of worlds if that's what you need
Be your everything
I can do it
I can do it
I'll get through it
But I'm only Human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash
And I break down
Your words in my head knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
I'm only human
I'm only human
I'm only human
Just a little human
I can take so much
Until live had enough
'Cause I'm only Human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash And I break down
Your words in my head knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
I'm only human.
Clary stopped and breathed in gulps of air. She looked around the auditorium and almost cried. It was deathly silent. You could hear a pin drop. Not one person dared to breathe, in fear it would ruin the moment. Clarissa could feel her heart moving like a train at full speed. Had she failed? Was she truly as bad as her brothers said? The redhead almost died of relief when suddenly the room was filled with deafening applause. One of her friends she had helped set up jumped up at the back of the room and danced around like a mad-man- leaving him standing in a pool of sparkles. She laughed as she slowly stepped away from the mic and walked back to her group.
" Oh my Chicken Mcfricken Gosh, that was amazing Clary!" Aline screamed as she tackled her in a hug. Helen piled on top shouting her part.
" Oh teach me your ways master!" All the girls laughed and squealed once again. Again, a acough interrupted them. The same deep, manly, sexy-
"Wow Red. Didn't know you had it in you." Clary glared at him and had to hold back a growl. ' Oh shit. Not know.' She thought. 'It can't be happening again.' She closed her eyes and once again took deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, Jace had his mouth open, eyes boring into hers. But before he could speak his name was being called and it was his turn. He gave her a parting glance that said 'this isn't over' and walked toward the stage.
#LINEBREAK#
'Really idiot. You had to say that. Good work Romeo. I bet you charmed the panties off her.' Jace grimaced as he turned away from Clary. For some reason, whatever he had planned in his head to say to her never came out according to plan. A man on the side of the stage handed him a worn, well loved guitar. His guitar. Jace nodded in thanks and walked onto the central stage.
He took a deep breath, and began strumming.
(A/N All rights belong to James Bay)
You're setting off
It's time to go the engines running
My mind is lost
We always knew this day was coming
And now it's more frightening than it's ever gonna be
We grow apart
I watch you on a red horizon
Your lions heart would protect you under stormy skies
And I'll always be listening for your laughter and your tears
And as soon as I can hold you once again
I won't let go of you, I swear
We live through scars this time
But I've made up my mind
We can't leave us behind anymore
Your hands are cold
Your lips are turning blue, you're shaking
This fragile heart
So heavy in my chest it's breaking
And in the dark, you try to make a payphone call me
But you're miles away
You're breaking up, you're on your own
It's hard to take I need an hour just to say hello
And I can't make the truth of this work out for you and me
And for all the pennies in your pocket
We barely get a second just to speak
We live through scars this time
But I've made up my mind
We can't leave us behind anymore
We'll have to hurt for now
But next time there's no doubt
'Cause I can't go on without you anymore
Oh, no, no Oh, oh
We live through scars this time
But I've made up my mind
We can't leave us behind anymore
We'll have to hurt for now
But next time there's no doubt
'Cause I can't go on without you anymore
No I can't go on without you anymore
Jace looked up, panting heavily, staring out at the crowd. His eyes singling out a small boy at the back o his brothers shoulders, clapping like some Cymbal banging monkey.
"Go Jace!" Max shouted, wobbling slightly on Alec's shoulders. Alec looked at Jace with a huge grin that said ' I'm proud of you'. And Isabelle stood there looking behind Jace, at the corner of the stage, where a small redhead was staring. Jace grinned- he seemed to be doing that a lot this evening.
He walked of the stage, handing his sacred guitar to the man at the side, his eyes never leaving Clary's. The girl gulped.
"Ladies and gentlemen, wasn't that a great performance? Now for a short interlude. You can walk about and talk to the contestants and buy some food. Just remember to be back in your seats by 7:00pm. Thank you" Hodge shuffled off the stage, glancing worriedly at his phone. 'Must've had a fight with the missus' Jace concluded. He didn't care enough to investigate. His eyes were set on the girl in front of him, hiding inside walls made of steel. He was determined to be the one who climbed those walls and find the true Clary behind them.
"Wow, you were uh, really… uhh, you were really… good. Yeah." She stuttered, hands trembling as she fiddled with a perfectly curled lock of hair. Jace found his eyes strangely drawn to the movement. He was snapped out of his thoughts when someone pushed him forwards, towards Clary. When he turned around he couldn't see anyone, no evidence of anyone having been there- aside from the sparkling trail of golden glitter, leading from behind Jace to the side of the stage. 'Real subtle Magnus'.
"Thanks. You weren't so bad yourself. Where'd you learn to do that?" He asked, trying to start a decent conversation. He wasn't doing well. The loud and very inconspicuous cough from behind the sound system proved this to Jace.
#LINEBREAK#
Magnus( Ha! Surprise ) coughed from behind the large bulky speakers, trying desperately not to laugh at Jace's pitiful attempts to land his best friend. 'Better go save his ass' Magnus thought to himself. 'He'll thank me one day'. Magnus emerged, in all his splendour, from his hiding place and ran up to Clary, dragging her to the floor with him. Clary screamed as Magnus toppled her over, but not before she had grabbed Jace's leg and lugged him down with her too.
#LINEBREAK#
"Biscuit! I never thought I'd see the day where you sang to the world!" Magnus exclaimed as he squeezed the tiny doll-sized girl. Jace watched concerned. Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head with the pressure Magnus was exerting on her body.
"Mag's? What are you doing here? Is Alec here?" How did she know Magnus? And Alec? How did she know they were together? Why did he know her, when Magnus certainly had.
"Uhh, Quick question. How do you two know eachother?" Jace asked, his curiosity burning a hole through him. Clary looked up, as if suddenly realising the blonde God's existence and jumped up quickly, only to tumble down again. Magnus laughed and untangled their legs, letting her get to her feet.
" I've known Magnus for as long as I can remember. I set him and Alec up a while back." Clary looked behind Jace's shoulder. Alec tapped his adoptive brother and best friends shoulder, looking at Clary like he knew who she was, but couldn't put her name to her face- leaving him staring at her like some bonkers librarian.
"Well Alec, it's wonderful to see you too." Clary said with a sarcastic smirk, holding out her hand to Alec. The black haired, blue eyed boy looked at Clary like he'd just seen a ghost.
" Clarissa. He's here"
A/N. So you guys saw half of the competition. I was going to post the whole thing but I thought I'd leave you hanging. Build up some suspense. If any of you can guess who 'he' is, I'll PM you a peep at the next chapters to come. Have fun and I hoped you like this chapter.
Ship-It-Like-Fedex17
xxx
