Sorry for the late update. To make up for it, I've updated this fanfic twice. This is the second of the two updates. The first is called, "Or a moment". Thanks for sticking around and I'm sorry for updating late.


"That's held in your arms"

Jace

I come home and get chewed out by Mr. Lightwood because he actually decided to come home early for a change and realized that I was not there. After a thrilling match of my frustrated silence and his angry words, I'm sent to bed early without dinner. Also, I'm supposedly grounded but he can only enforce that if he's here which he rarely is and he'll probably forget to tell Mrs. Lightwood who's rarely here more often than he is, so I'm off the hook. Rather than going to bed since it's only 8:52 PM, I do my homework like the good nerd I pretend I'm not. Once that's done, I go to bed sometime around 11:32PM.

A horrific scream jolts me out of my nightmares. I clamber out of bed and head straight to the source: Max's room. He's often haunted by nightmares that make him yell in fright. I don't blame him since he's only nine so of course nightmares still scare him; mine still scare me and I'm practically an adult. I open his door, turn on the light and sit on the bed beside the thrashing kid.

"Max? Can you hear me? Wake up buddy." I say, shaking his shoulder.

He shrinks away from me and I raise my voice, "Max? It's Jace, can you hear me little dude?"

This time he shoots bolt upright and looks around the room frantically. "Jace?" He calls out, his young eyes wide as they fill with frightened tears.

"I'm right here Max." I tell him, putting my hand on his shoulder.

"Jace!" He cries, throwing himself at me. He buries his face into my shirt and it becomes wet immediately. I hug him and rub his back, trying to calm him down.

"It's okay Max. It's all right. It wasn't real. Nothing bad will happen to you." I promise him.

"That's not what my nightmare was about." He mumbles into my shirt between his hiccupping sobs.

"What was it about then?" I ask, wondering what could have made him so upset. Maybe he saw one of his parents or Isabelle or Alec die. That freaks him out a lot too.

"I saw you die." He sobs, latching onto me tighter.

Oh.

"Don't worry Max. I'm not going anywhere." I tell him.

"Promise?" He asks in a small voice.

"I promise buddy. I'm right here. I won't leave you. Everything's going to be all right." I reassure him.

I hug him until he stops crying and then I let go.

Max wipes his eyes and nose on his shirt and then fumbles around for his glasses. He puts them on and asks, "Can you tell me a story?"

I hesitate. He needs his sleep, but whenever he hears a story after a nightmare, he's less likely to have another nightmare so he'll get more sleep than if he goes to bed now and wakes up in a few hours.

"Please?" He asks.

"Okay." I relent. "What story do you want to hear?"

"I wanna hear one about heroes who save the day and get the girl-like you. That's where you were this evening; right? With a girl I mean?" He asks with a grin.

Okay, so maybe I'm not the best influence in the world but hey, it's better than nothing.

"I was talking to a girl but she is not my girlfriend. She's my…" I start. What is Clary? "Acquaintance." I finish feeling awkward.

Max just laughs at me. "You like her." He says, sounding very sure of himself.

I don't know what to say. Of course I'm outwitted by a nine year-old. I think. Because that makes so much sense.

"No I don't." I reply. "Now, do you want to hear a story or not?" I ask.

He snuggles under my arm and looks at me expectantly. I chuckle to myself and begin the story.

"Once upon a time, there was a brave knight. He was dashing, stunningly handsome; he could charm women just by looking at them..." I start.

"Get on with it." Max says.

"Do you know what his name was?" I ask.

"Jace." He answers, rolling his eyes.

"You've got that right kid." I joke.

He sticks his tongue out at me.

"Okay, I'll tell a different story." I say. "Once upon a time, there was a brave warlock named,"

"Max!" He declares.

I smile at him, "Named Max and he lived in the kingdom with the knight because he,"

"He was the knight's younger brother!" Max decides.

My smile nearly falters as I think about the danger I put him in. You're going to get the kid that's held in your arms killed one day. My father's voice says in my head.

Max grins up at me and waits for me to continue the story.

"Yeah, Max was Jace's younger brother and the two protected the kingdom from bad wizards, dragons and evil faeries." I continue.

Max snuggles up to my chest and eventually falls asleep before the story is over. He really can fall asleep anywhere. I carefully take his glasses off, placing them on his nightstand and then I gently lay him on his bed. Then I tuck him in. Before leaving, I take a quick glance at my self-adopted little brother and feel just a little glad that I'm here to help him through the night even though nobody ever helped me.

At least he feels safe when he's held in your arms. A strange voice tells me. I have to agree. Even though I feel like he's in danger when he's around me, I'm still glad that I can protect him from some things, even if they're just imaginary.