Chapter 21

Clary swallowed her pride after a day, the guilt that descended on her after arguing with Jace becoming too much.

But I'm not going to let Jace stay scared. I need to talk to him, convince him that it'll be alright.

Still, Clary wondered if she would just get shot down again if she tried to help Jace. He had told her not to try to make him feel better.

Telling him he's an idiot isn't the same as making him feel better.

Clary thought she knew where to find Jace. Not at home, that was obvious. When he had been stressed to the maximum during school, he went to the baseball field and pitched.

Maybe he would be there. It was worth a try.

When she reached the metal gate at the front of the school, it was locked. Clary lifted herself up and scrambled over, landing with a thump on the other side. She walked through the school, ghostly quiet and empty.

The grass was lush, sod hard-packed and springy beneath her feet. Clary breathed in a sigh of relief when she saw a figure in the distance, standing on the raised mound, shadowed against the sun.

As she approached, Jace took no notice, just picking up another ball and hurling it at the backstop. It whooshed through the air and bounced off the chain link with a loud clanging.

Clary stood by the bleachers watching for a minute or so. Jace threw each pitch with as much force as the one before, his unwavering strength showing his right to be on the varsity team.

She knew not to draw closer, just waited for him to notice her. She hated having to see his broken beauty and to not be able to approach or comfort him.

Finally Jace leaned down for the last ball, head ducking down to check the bag, and he saw Clary.

He walked towards her, ball in his hand. Clary looked down as he approached, not sure what to say.

A finger tapped under her chin and lifted it, Jace's eyes scanning her face.

"Don't apologize, Jace," Clary interjected as he began to open his mouth.

"So you don't want me to fall at your feet and beg for forgiveness?"

"That's stupid. Of course I don't want that."

"You're not a romantic, then? Don't you want a knight in shining armor to sweep in and protect you from danger?"

"No, I don't. And that's exactly why I'm mad at you."

His face fell. "You're still mad?"

"Jace-I don't know. Nothing is as perfect as it seemed."

"I understand. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to, Clary. You don't have to stay with me if you don't want to be around-my kind of people."

Clary frowned. "What do you mean, your kind of people?"

"Foster kids. Kids with dark pasts. It's not just my siblings, you know. It's me, too." Jace stepped away from her. "I'm sorry, Clary. You can leave."

Clary glared at him without a word. Jace's outstretched arm fell as she crossed her own across her chest.

His calm demeanor shook as he fought to keep his expression impersonal. Clary watched the struggle and fumed.

Finally Jace stepped back towards her slowly.

"Say something, Clary."

Clary's scowl deepened. "Jace, you are such an idiot."

"What are you talking about?"

"Who do you think I am? I would never, ever leave you because you have a brother with a criminal past, or two siblings who just had the misfortune to be born into a family that couldn't take care of them. And as for this unselfish 'I'm going to give up my girlfriend for her own good' act, cut it out now. I don't need you to take care of me like I'm a helpless baby who can't make her own decisions. I know you would never hurt me. And I know what I want, Jace. Don't try to stop me."

Jace stood there in apparent shock. Clary took his hands, her small hand unable to wrap all the way around the baseball in his right hand.

"Jace, if you don't say something soon, I'm going to hit you with this baseball."

"You wouldn't. You're not that angry," Jace replied, glancing from their hands around the ball to her serious green eyes.

"I'm not angry at all. Just exasperated that you didn't understand. I'm not a porcelain doll, Jace. I can take care of myself."

"I know you can."

"Then why-"

"What happened at my house was different. You don't know Chris. He's-I wouldn't even let someone I hated be in a room alone with him, let alone someone I love."

Clary celebrated inwardly at Jace's casual use of the word. "Jace, I told you. Nothing will happen. I promise not to have anything to do with Chris, alright?"

Jace sighed. "Yes, please. But don't be so sure. I'm not going to let any visits like before happen again."

"Fine."

Silence filled the next few seconds.

"I'm sorry I forced you into something you didn't want, especially since it was for a reason," Clary finally broke in.

"It was something I needed. You would have found out sooner or later, and I'm happy it was sooner."

Clary nodded.

"Truce?" Jace asked, smiling slightly.

"Truce," Clary replied, bringing up their hands holding the baseball and placing them on his heart.

Jace pulled away the baseball. "Here, come with me."

He led her up to the pitcher's mound and stood behind her. Clary leaned her head against his chest as she looked up at him. "What are you doing?"

Jace grinned. "I have one last pitch."

"And you're going to throw it with me right here?" Clary suddenly felt like scrambling off the pitcher's mound to a safe distance.

"Oh, come one. You know I won't hurt you," Jace said, repeating her words.

Clary rolled her eyes. "I know you won't. I'm not scared," she lied.

Jace smirked like he knew what she was thinking. "Of course you aren't."

One arm around her waist, he turned. Clary leaned away, hoping he wouldn't notice. As he wound up, Clary closed her eyes and willed herself not to scream.

The ball whistled past her and crashed against the chain links. Clary breathed deeply and opened her eyes.

Jace's were staring right into hers. "Fun?"

Clary laughed. "Very. Let's do it again."

Jace laughed as well, but the movement of his hand against her cheek was anything but playful as he trailed his fingers in a burning path against her skin. Clary couldn't bring herself to look away from him as he cast his eyes downward.

"I'm glad you found me, Clary." Jace met her gaze steadily, but with a silent plea in his eyes to understand him.

Clary smiled slightly, knowing exactly what he meant. "I'm glad I found you, too."

"I talked to my mom."

"Yeah? And?" Clary prodded, hand pausing over her sketchbook.

"She says that Anna and Damien want to meet you."

"Oh. But I thought-"

"Not at the house. The park."

Clary smiled. "I'd love to meet them. Now hold still."

Jace rolled his eyes, but stopped fidgeting as Clary tried to capture the contours of Jace's face.

After a few minutes, Clary put down sketchbook and pencil. "It's not working."

"I'm too special for you to immortalize." Jace's expression was laughably smug.

Clary slapped his bicep and snickered. "Sure."

"Hey!" Jace rubbed his arm in mock pain. "If you weren't so small, that might have hurt."

"It hurt plenty. Don't try to hide it," Clary said, trying to push down the thought in the back of her head that she had said similar words in anger to Jace just a few days earlier.

Jace showed no signs of the same thought, but Clary was suspicious of his composure. However, he didn't leave time for her to ponder as he said, "So, today?"

"What?"

"The park, today."

"You want us to meet today and you're only telling me now?" Clary yelped, jumping up.

"Well, we should leave now. My mom is going to bring them there in fifteen minutes."

"Jace, did no one teach you how to plan?"

"No, not really."

Clary rushed to grab a jacket and braid her hair on both sides before racing to the front door, Jace walking lazily behind her.

When his car pulled up at the park's lot, Clary opened the door hesitantly. She didn't know how to approach this situation, having never met with the two younger siblings of her boyfriend.

She fussed at her braids, re-braiding one side. Jace noticed her nervous fidgeting and pulled her hands away from her hair, running his own down each braid as he did so.

"You look fine," he told her.

"It's not that."

"Whatever it is, don't worry. They won't bite." Jace paused, then smiled winningly. "By the way, I like these braids."

Clary flushed slightly and kept walking.

The high-pitched laughter and squeals of small children reached them as they neared the park. Clary searched for similar faces to the pictures she had seen on the mantelpiece, but didn't recognize anyone.

She followed Jace towards the play structure, and finally saw the blond woman from the house.

Sarah was watching a tiny girl with blond pigtails climb the play structure carefully towards an older boy with hair a few shades darker than Jace's. The boy watched the girl with the same intensity as Sarah, protectiveness evident on his face.

As the girl clambered onto the landing, the boy lifted her upright. "Up you go, Anna."

Anna giggled and stood unsteadily on short legs, wobbling towards the next set of steps. Sarah broke her gaze from the children and caught sight of Clary and Jace.

Sarah called out, "Damien, watch her. I need to talk to Jace." She walked towards Clary and Jace.

She greeted them with a smile that softened the ice blue of her eyes. "Jace. Clary, it's nice to see you."

"Nice to see you too," Clary responded.

Sarah's smile became apologetic. "Sorry about last time. It won't happen again."

"It's fine. I'm fine." Clary repeated her words to Jace with a little exasperation. Jace placed a hand on her shoulder.

"No, it won't. It was my fault."

"Jace, not right now," Clary muttered. Jace frowned.

Sarah shook her head at them. "Okay, you two."

"How long do we have?" Jace asked.

"They need to go home before 5:00."

"Can we just go up to them? Or should I stay here?" Clary asked, suddenly anxious.

"Come on, Clary. They won't be scared of you." Jace pulled Clary with him as he waved at the children, whose faces lit up.

The little boy lifted Anna down the steps as he helped her towards Jace.

"Damien, this is Clary."

Clary was out of her depth here. She had no idea how to deal with children, having been an only child herself. But she managed a small "Hi."

The child's greeting was as soft and shy as hers, while Anna merely stared at her.

Damien pulled on Jace's sleeve and whispered something to him, at which Jace smiled. "Yes, she is."

The boy then smiled at Clary, dimples in his cheeks. He tugged at Anna and told her, "Say hi."

Anna's mouth opened in a pink O. "Hi?"

Clary couldn't help but smile at the adorable little girl. Jace laughed as well and picked Anna up, causing squeals to emit.

They spent the next hour or so following the children around the park as they played and sometimes included Clary and Jace in their activities. Jace's skilled handling of Damien and Anna amazed Clary, and she enjoyed seeing this side of Jace. When Sarah finally called them back, Clary was genuinely sad to see them go.

On the way home, Clary daydreamed about the innocent, carefree children and marveled that they had escaped the taint of their world.

A/N: To all anonymous reviewers, thank you! Happy Belated Thanksgiving, readers!

Thank you for reading and please review!

~Sami