A/N. Hey guys! I'm sorry this is isn't a chapter but just a quick sneak peak but ive got a load of homework and things to do at the moment so I think im going to update every week instead of every three days. I am currently writing the next two chapters and they will be up soon. Sorry, but enjoy this latest update. x

Chapter 5 . Discoveries

"In that book which is

My memory… On the first page

That is the chapter when

I first met you

Appear the words…

Here begins a new life" – Dante Alighieri.

If Valentine was here, and after Clary, why would he take Imogen- a crazy old lady who she didn't even know well. The only reason Valentine would risk detection again was if Imogen had crossed him in a way that angered him to no end. But Clary was tired of letting her fear of Valentine control her life. She steeled herself and joined Jace who was in a heated discussion with Hodge.

"Ah Clary, we were just talking about you." Hodge said smiling at Clary. She knew it was fake.

" No we weren't. We weren't." Jace interjected glaring at Hodge. Something was going on here.

" I was just speaking to Jace about the finals. A few other contestants have agreed to do this and the charities board want you two to duet for the final. We understand this may be a shock and you may not like this, but from the way we see it. The finals will be an almighty battle of vocals between you and Jace."

Clary gaped at Hodge.

WHAT THE DAMN HELL.

FOUR DAYS LATER.

"Clary! Get the door!" Jonathans voice was so loud, Clarissa was sure even her aunt Katarina and uncle Craig could hear him. (Fathers side of course)

"Yeah yeah. That'll be blonde bombshell." Clary muttered as she stomped to the front door.

" So you do think I'm hot. Nice to know you think of me so much Red." Well. Shit.

" Who let you in?" Clary looked to the door to see it wide open and her brother Sebastian standing next to it grinning. Little shit.

"Seb. Anyway, where'd you want to do it?" Clary and Sebastian stared at Jace, jaws wide open. They could hear John whoop from upstairs.

" Wooh Jacey boy. Wastes no time. Good on you lad." Jonathan shouted. Jace paled and looked at Clary with wide eyes.

" No! That's not what I meant. I'm not that much of an animal. I meant where do you want to practice?"

He was met with now three wide eyes.

" The songs Clary. The bloody songs." Oh. Yeah. That.

Clary nodded at Jace in what she hoped was an understanding manor and walked him to the dining room. No way was he ever getting to see her studio. Not even Jocelyn or Luke had been in there. Only Simon, and that was only a rare few times.

" We can start here. First of all, what songs do you think we should perform?" Jace and Clary were deep in thought for a while, both spurting out songs that came to their mind and dismissing others.

Clary studied Jace and decided she would try something her grandmother had once taught her when she had artists block. She studied Jace closely for a minute, taking in every strand of his hair, the curve of his sharp jaw line. The way his eyes sparkled with mischief, the way he bit his forefinger when he was deep in thought. Clary then closed her eyes and breathed him in. He smelled like Sunshine and gold, like mint and Clementine's. She thought about his movements and his voice, then the lyrics ran through her head and she scrabbled for a pen and paper.

When she had finished she looked down at the notebook in her hands with deep satisfaction. It was perfect.

#LINEBREAK#

Jace stared at Clary in awe, her eyes closed and head tilted up. She reminded him of an angel. The perfect cheekbones and plump, red lips. Jace found himself unconsciously leaning towards her and jerked backwards when her eyes shot open. She sprang off the sofa and dived on the floor where an old tattered notebook lay. She skittered around the room until she found an old, well loved pen and started furiously scribbling in the notebook.

Jace to this time to study her further. He noticed the way her nose scrunched when she concentrated. The way she bit her lip as she was deep in thought. He studied the way the fluorescent lights reflected off her red hair. Each strand coloured differently, but somehow working altogether.

Clary's eyes flicked up to Jace and she smiled shyly. Busted.

"I wrote a song, we don't have to use it. But I think it fits." Jace nodded at Clary, not trusting his voice to contain his emotions. He was starting to like Clary, and the job he had didn't allow for stupid Schoolboy crushes. But his heart was out to torment him as he realised suddenly, he really cared about this girl, and he didn't even know her. He was going to fix that.

" Let's hear it." The redhead nodded nervously and held up one finger, darting from the room. She was beautiful, he couldn't deny that, but the Nephilim would have his balls if they found out. He had to keep his angel safe.

With a loud crash Clary stumbled into the room, holding a guitar preciously as if it were a rare delicate flower. She plonked herself on the sofa, her legs brushing Jace's, sending a spark through him that ignited his blood. The redhead stilled for a moment.

Maybe she felt it too.

Then she started strumming. Jace barely had time to suck in a deep breath before the oblivious girl sitting in front of him stole his heart.

#LINEBREAK#

Stupid. Stupid, stupid. She shouldn't be feeling this for one of the Nephilim. It would not only kill her emotionally, but both of them physically. If Valentine so much as caught a hint that Clary had feelings for one of its members, he would surely kill them both to serve as a lesson to the others.

She ran up to her studio and retrieved the much loved guitar that her best friend Theresa had given her five years ago when she left for England, her home. Clary yearned to call her and speak to her just for a few minutes, but didn't want to interrupt the new life she was living. Clary had brought her into this dark world of death, lies and assassinations and it haunted her every day. The guitar was precious to her as it was the only good thing that head ever come into her life whilst she was living with Valentine. No one ever used her guitar or had been into her studio, it had always been that way. But now things were changing.

Clary looked around her room and sighed. There had always been this heavy feeling in Clary's chest. A feeling that kept her up at night and stopped her turning to those she loved for help. With Jace, that feeling slowly melted away. She felt free around him. Free to be herself and free to do whatever she wanted. Without another thought the redhead charged down the stairs and barrelled into the dining room where Jace was eying her curiously.

Clary grabbed the notebook from her pocket and tuned the guitar, before settling down on the couch. Her leg brushed Jace's and the spark that ran through her shocked her to her core. She felt alive, like all the nerve endings on her body were on fire. And she loved it.

She looked up at Jace through her lashes and began to sing the song, changing the chords when necessary and occasionally making eye contact with the supernatural being resting across from her.

When she finished she blinked and realised she had been staring into his eyes for too long. She coughed nervously and looked at the battered guitar in her lap, not wanting to see the look of disgust sure to be on Jace's face. She was sure after the lessons that her father had taught her, and the markings littering her body, no one could find her desirable. This had never been a problem for her before, she had never wanted someone to find her desirable. But with Jace, something inside of her screamed with longing, wanting him to want her. Instead of cruel words being thrown at her she felt warm fingers touch her chin and raise her head. The look in Jace's eyes was unreadable as he looked at her with a touch of sadness tinting the v between his brows.

" Don't hide from me Red."

#LINEBREAK#

"How do you think he's handling it. Being in a room with a girl who just so happens to be Valentines daughter." Isabelle's voice cut through Simons haze.

"What? Who even is Valentine?" Simon had never heard anything about this person before, and it hurt him that this girl who Clary barely knew, seemed to know something he didn't. The raven haired beauty scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

" Oh. I thought you knew. Clary's father is an assassin who runs this secret organisation called the Nephilim. They kill people. Me, Alec, Jace, Sebastian and Clary are a part of it." She rambled on for many more minutes before she realised Simon was no longer listening. He was shocked. The girl he had known all his life was a murderer? No. Not Clary. It couldn't be her.

" We're not murderers. The world is full of dark and evil people and we are there to make sure that it remains balanced. Only those who deserve it die." Simon must have spoken aloud. Crap.

" Why are you telling me this? Isn't there a code against telling trade secrets? I could get killed!" Simon shouted scared. Isabelle chuckled and hugged the gangly teenager. She couldn't help it. She found herself strangely drawn to him. And he looked so cute when he was ranting.

" Yes there is. But trust me, Clary has been protecting you for years. Do you know how many people have tried to kill you over the past eight years? You're lucky you have Clary, she's the best at what she does. Anyway, I'm telling you this because I find you simply adorable when you're pouting." Isabelle couldn't help teasing him a little. Simon gaped at the stunning woman.

" Kill me? What?!" Simon was panicking. How could his best friend keep this from him? And why the bloody hell were people trying to kill him. He was a normal teenage boy who did well in school and kept his head down. How did that call for a target to be stapled to his head?

Isabelle sighed. Clearly this was going to take a while.

" Your father. You've never met him, but he was in league with an underground mobster corporation for most of his life. He worked for years, ruthlessly killing people- including Valentines entire family. Valentine was a decade younger than your father and so had less experience, so he couldn't fight back against him. Even Valentine knew that would be a suicide mission. So he ran away from the mobsters and created his own army of assassins, hoping one day to get revenge against James.

But that day never came. You see James had been sent out on a mission to gain intelligence on something important, and instead of meeting up at the rendezvous point, he ran into your mother. She was being harassed in an alley by a group of roofie rapists.

For some reason he abandoned everything he had ever been taught and beat all the men within an inch of their lives. By the time he had reached your mother, she had passed out from the drugs they had slipped into her drink whilst she was partying in a club nearby.

He picked her up and carried her to your uncles apartment, Alois. He sat with her all night and somehow he found the strength to leave all he had ever known and protect your mother. When she woke up, James told her everything. About his life, who he was, and the danger he had now put her in. They fell in love and she helped James to fake his death, to throw the mobsters off his scent.

Four years later they were married and had your sister Rachael. They agreed to never tell her about the life he had lived in hopes any children they had would never follow in his footsteps. A few years later they had you. They were the perfect family and you and Rachael had everything you could ever ask for. But one night when you were seven years old, you were kidnapped and taken to Valentines house. Clary heard screaming and shouting and she came to see what was happening , to see valentine hit you with some sort of cane, which is why you have that scar on your back."

Simoin subconsciously rubbed his back. He had always wondered how he had gotten that scar, but his mother always told him it was due to an accident when he was a child.

"She jumped in front of and took the next hit for you. Valentine was furious and demanded that someone take her away. But you see, all his men stood on the sides, cringing at every sound the cane made against flesh. No one moved. What they didn't know was that Your father had found where you were and broken into the room you were being held in. Clary had somehow met your father and she had been stalling for him to reach you. Risking her life to do that. James begged her to look after you when he couldn't, and even as a seven year old girl, she had been through enough to know how serious his request was. Ever since then she has saved you from multiple assassinations and muggings. You don't remember this because when you were being rescued, you were hit over the head and fell unconscious. You were in a coma for four weeks and it was in that time that your father decided it wouldn't be safe for him to be around you until he had killed Valentine and all those who ever tried to hurt his family. What he didn't realise was how long that would be."

Simon was shocked.

" Simon? What are you doing here?" Clary. She had saved his life so many times. Protected him and risked her life. He knew what he was about to do was wrong but he was so blinded by fear and rage that he lashed out at her. All he could think about were the lies she had told him and the trust she had broken.

"You were my best friend Clary We were those stupid Parabatai things you looked up on the internet. I have the tattoo to prove it! How could you lie to me? Keep this from me? I trusted you and you threw it back in my face. How could you? I thought you were better than that. Your just like Kasey, no, actually you're worse. I hope you rot in hell! I don't want to see your face ever again. Go before I do something we both regret."

Clary stared at him silent for a moment, her eyes wide and brimming with agonising tears. Showing all the pain and torture she was experiencing.

Then she did something that broke Simons heart. She put her walls up.

Her eyes hardened and became emotionless. She nodded and spun on her heels, but before she left she turned slightly. Looking her former best friend dead in the eye she spoke in a monotone voice.

"I did it all for you. The pain, tears and scars, all for you."

A/N. wow. That was deep. So there's Simon's back story. I'm actually crying right now. Did anyone see the first episode of Shadowhunters? Sorry I haven't updated in ages and please review! Love you guys.

Ship-It-Like-Fedex17

xxx