NOTE: This contains action content, but assuming you've already read the mortal instruments, I don't think it would matter.
Chapter 2
I wake two hours later and the clock reads seven. Good enough for me.
I step out of bed, the cold floor sending shocks up my leg. I quickly undress, putting on a pair of pants and a white T-shirt. I considered wearing something nice to break the news, but then again I don't want to raise her suspicions too early.
I walk to the green house again, and grab the little flower bud that lays under the stairs. I can almost smell apples, I can almost see the glint of a knife on the stairs. It makes my throat tighten up when I think of how we first kissed.
Clary's POV
I wake up at eleven. That's more like it, I think. But I as I look at the alarm clock I realize that I have to meet Jace at twelve.
I bunched my hair into a bun, some pieces lay out of it, and hurriedly walked down stairs. Breakfast was on the table, and I suddenly felt ravenously hungry. I loaded up my plate with waffles and bacon, avoiding the eggs. I ate it quick, sucking it down in record time.
"In a hurry?" My mom asks as she comes around the corner.
"I'm supposed to meet Jace at twelve."
"Well, it's 11:25. And make sure and take a shower." She left the kitchen.
"Okay?" It was odd that my mother told me to do that.
So I did, and after I got out I looked at the clock while towel drying my hair. It read 11:50.
"Oh shit." I mumbled. I pulled on some jeans and that old sweater I knew he loved on me. I threw my hair up and stuck a few pencils in the way artist do when they're trying to cover up their messy hair and make it look like they did it on purpose. At least that's what I was doing.
I grabbed my purse, which held my stele, a dagger, chapstick and wallet. Not the usual contents, but then again, I find myself in very unusual situations sometimes.
I take a cab to Taki's, I tell the cab driver the street instead, and he drops me off after I hand him the money. As I pear down the street, I see a figure in a white shirt and pants. He waves, and my nerves spike. I was a little late.
"I'm sorry I'm late Jace." I hug him tightly, and he hugs me back, although I sense something different about it. It was reluctant to let go.
"It's okay." He took a step back. The smile that was plastered on his face was nervous.
"Is something wrong? You seem nervous."
"No, nothing is wrong."
"You're a terrible liar Jace."
"Only when it comes to you. But that's beside the point, I'll tell you later, okay? But right now, I'm starving."
We enter Taki's and sit down at a familiar booth. Kaelie takes our order, but no longer smiles at Jace the way she used to. It makes a little smug with satisfaction. I didn't think about eating so much for breakfast, so while Jace orders a dish that has mangos on the side, I order a coffee and a small muffin.
"So, I've been talking with Robert, and he says that I'm welcome to move in with him while I find a house."
"But he is all the way in Idris." My mind starts to whirl. Why was Jace looking for houses in Idris?
"Yeah, I know. And he also says that there are a couple that are near the Angel Square. I'm just trying to think of something to move forward to. I think finding work in Idris is better than traveling to another institute."
"Yeah, yeah that sounds cool." I nodded and I got queasy again. Was... was Jace planning to leave me?
"Do you wanna get out of here? I have something back at the institute to give you." Probably some of my clothes that I've left in his room... I couldn't believe I was thinking these things. But could he possibly be done with me? After all that we've been through? I guess just because you bare the unbearable with someone didn't mean that they are with you forever, it wasn't a guaranteed contract to keep them by your side.
"Yeah."
"You okay?" He looked at me with curiosity.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You're a terrible liar Clary." He flashes a crooked grin.
"Lets just go to the institute." I said, and with a small frown he tried to hide, we left Taki's.
The ride there was silent, although halfway through Jace took my hand.
It took me everything I had not to start crying right there. I wasn't a girl to cry, but I still couldn't believe what I thought was happening. His hand was warm as the rest of my body went cold.
They let us out at what looked like a church to the mundane eye. They left, and with a few glances in each direction, Jace and I entered the institute. His hand was around my waist as he guided me to the green house... the green house? What did I leave here?
There was light from the windows, but all around the edges was darkness.
"Jace... what-"
"Wait. Just let me speak," he said.
I nodded and drew in a breath, but unable to stay quiet, I blurted before I could stop.
"Jace, if you're breaking up with me, please just get it over with."
"What?" He says, frozen.
"I don't want a show. If... if you were gonna..." I trail off. "Were you?"
"You thought I was going to break up with you?"
We both look at each other in puzzlement, but a second later, his hands grab my waist to hold himself up from laughter.
"Seriously, Jace. You scared the crap out of me!" I reprimand him, letting go a breath I didn't realize I was holding.
"Why would I break up with you, Clary? I'm completely in love with you." He says and kisses my forehead.
"Okay, okay. If you aren't breaking up with me, then what is it that you wanted to tell me?" I placed my hands over my face and took another deep breath. I had to calm my heartbeat.
"I wanted to ask you if you would accept this proposal of marriage."
The air froze and so did I.
I uncovered my eyes to see him kneeling down on his knee.
"Wait... what?"
"Clary, will you take this ring." He slips off the Herondale family ring and pinches it between his fingers. "And become my wife? I know you wanted to wait, but I found a great deal with housing in Idris from Robert, and we can continue the training in the Idris Academy if you wish."
"Jace, do you really want to do this?"
"You act as if this is a bad thing. Clary, I already knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, and I again apologize for doing this so early. But I couldn't wait any longer, because I didn't know what I was waiting for. We may be young, and people will judge us for that, but I believe that it only gives us a head start." He let out a breath. "You better answer me or else I'll just keep talking."
I laugh. "Of course." It comes out weak and shaky, so I clear my throat. "Of course, Jace. I love you, and I will marry you."
He takes the ring and places on my finger, it slides on easily with a little room to spare.
"It's a little big," he observes.
"I can always put it on a chain if I think it'll fall off."
I wrapped my arms around him and he lifted me off of the ground.
"There are some people waiting for you," he murmurs in my ear.
We headed down the institute halls. It feels different now, like I'm not walking in the same body. I came down as Clary Fairchild, but now I guess I was a Clary Fairchild- Herondale. Herondale.
We came into the part that held Downworlders. It was created so we could give aid to those who were in trouble, but it also protected the rest of the institute. My mother, Luke, Simon and Izzy, and Alec and Magnus were standing in a group. The minute I come around the corner my mother rushed over to me and envelopes me in a hug, griping my hand that has the ring on it. Of course I wouldn't have to tell her I said yes, they already knew.
"Clary, I'm so happy!" she cries into my hair.
"I still can't believe..." I mumbled. I look over her shoulder to see Simon patting Jace on the back. Luke gives him a half hug, and then Isabelle wraps him up in a hug as tuff and tight as a chain link rope.
I let go of my mom, and eventually she let go of me. Simon was there when I turned around and I entered into his warm and familiar embrace.
"So does this mean we can't go shopping in time square anymore?"
"Why would it mean that?" I said into his neck.
"Because, you'll be married and all..."
"Just because you're married doesn't mean I won't have time for my best friend. I promise I'll go shopping with you for Christmas, Simon."
"Okay." He held me tighter. "I'm so happy for you, Clary."
"Thanks." I giggled and we let go of each other.
I hugged Izzy, and Alec even gave me a half-shoulder hug. Luke put a hand on my shoulder, he was beaming.
"I also have news." Luke began, and everyone looked at him. "I've talked with Robert Lightwood, in I have found a small couples home by the Angel Square. You two can move in there if you would like."
"Move to Idris?" I say in exasperation. Only a while ago did I think Jace was leaving me to move there. How could I have been so clueless?
"Do you want to?" Jace looks at me with a lighthearted curiosity, but only I can see the pleading in his eyes.
"Yes."
A month later
"Is that all of the bags?"
"Yeah, I think it is," I say to my mom. We set them down by the front door, and I look up to find her beaming at me. "What?"
"I can't believe you're actually moving out. It's actually happening."
"Well, don't cry yet. If you do, I will too." Her smile gets a little wider before she picks up the bags and starts handing them to Luke who is going back and forth to the car to load them in. Jace, Izzy, and Simon are all down in Idris right now, looking at the house. I haven't seen it yet, but I trust Jace's judgment, and Luke's.
"And that is the last of them," my mother says and she hands the last two bags to Luke. I sling my purse over my shoulder and hug my sweater to me. It's been getting colder, since we were now in the month of November.
"How many rooms?"
"Three," Luke replied. "One for you and Jace, one for your art room, and the other for Simon because you know he's not going to like leaving you."
"Oh no." I shake my head. I love Simon, but I don't think I could put up with him as a roommate for long. Izzy wouldn't allow it anyways...
We load up in the car. We plan to draw the portal at the institute, a safer way to escape the eye of a mundane. Plus, Luke had to check in with Miah.
There had been some destruction down in one of the stores in time square. We accused it of a mundane breaking, but when Luke had checked it out, there was ichor on the corners of the walls, and acid eating away at the wooden counter. It hadn't been a mundane attack, but we couldn't figure out why a demon would have such interest in a souvenir shop.
Luke played some of his old music after he checked in with Miah. No more attacks have been made.
We drive to the institute. When I wasn't concentrating, out of the corner of my eye the institute looked like an old run down church. But as I flicked my eyes up, the giant spirals and windows took form.
We loaded all of the bags into the institute. There was Magnus, one hand on a swirling blue portal, and one hand with two bags in it.
"Hurry. I'm tired," he says irritably. That's the only way he talks now, unless Alec is around.
Luke and my mom and I grab bags and run through the portal.
Idris explodes before my eyes.
I stumble a little, but a pair of hands with long fingers catch me.
"Easy there." His voice was easy, soft.
"Oh, Clary. You'll love the house!" Izzy gushes. "The mirrors aren't big enough, but I can definitely help you with that. And I'll help you decorate your room. The Clave usually gives you the necessities, so we will have to go shopping." I swear, I could see Jace's eyes get huge for a moment, and possible an inward sigh. I don't know what he was worried about, I was obviously the one who would have to accompany Isabelle.
"And it's two story with a cool basement," Jace added.
"Well, instead of telling her, let's show her." my mother encourages. We eventually grab bags and head out.
Alicante was as beautiful as always. It was now restored back to its original look after the war, and the tone was calm. People went in and out of shops, sitting on the stairs of The Accords Hall, and kids spilling out from the Idris Academy.
We walked for a little, pointing out things. Memories tried to force themselves on me, when Jace and I ran through the portal when we weren't supposed to, to fight the Dark Army. I pushed that, and many others, down in the folds of my mind, and hoped they stayed there. This was a new beginning, and there was much I was happy to leave behind.
"There," Jace said. "That one."
I look up to see a huge house. Ivory with white trim, and a porch with stairs. It was like a normal house, although I know that the house was infused with adamas.
"The inside is completely different. It's beautiful," Isabelle reassured.
"The outside is beautiful too," I say.
We walked up to the front door, and Jace threw it open.
The inside was dark and rich. The wood twisted and turned, and the walls were dark. The kitchen counters were black with lightening gold veins. To the right was the kitchen, a room on the left. A bathroom was beyond the kitchen, and a stair case lead up to the second floor on the right.
"It's great."
"I hope you would like it." Jace spoke in a hushed voice. I turned around to find the others had shown my mom and Luke more of the rooms. Jace and I lingered in the kitchen.
"How can I not?" His arms wrap around me.
"I would have moved into the Herondale manor. But I'm not sure I can yet. And maybe, down the road, we can." He kisses my cheek. "And plus. They haven't touched a thing in there, so it's probably really dusty."
"Well, considering how clean you keep your room, I'm hoping I'll be the cook while you be the clean?"
"But you can't cook."
"I can make it look good?"
"I'll be the cook, the clean, and you go out into battle and kill stuff. We can switch roles."
"Don't get all sexist on me, Jace."
"No, I'm not. I'm being serious, I like it when things kill other things."
"Speaking of things, killing other things," Izzy comes out of nowhere. "That cat is being even more lazy than usual."
"Is that possible?" Jace asks.
"Apparently. Mice have been taking over in the institute like crazy. I need some traps." She crosses her arms.
"I know where to get some. We use them all the time." Luke says, talking about the werewolf hangout.
"Really? I thought you guys just chased them yourselves," Simon joked. Luke made a face, one that he always makes when someone makes a joke about his nature as a werewolf.
"No, Simon," Luke sighs. "That's not how it works."
We all leave then, after I see the bedrooms. I contemplated on the way out whether or not it was selfish to imagine one of the rooms as an art room rather than a guest room or even a future child's room.
We head back home. The Clave has made it acceptable to take as many trips as we needed. Apparently, for the people who stopped the Mortal War, they were willing to make lots of exceptions.
"I'll take Isabelle and Simon to the store," Luke announced. Jace, my mom, and I were at the house.
"Clary and I were going to times square. Isabelle said there were some shops were we can buy dishes and things like that."
"Translation: I'll be looking at stuff while he investigates the demon break in," I interject as I put on a different coat.
"I begin to wonder if any secret is safe with you." Jace says.
"Glamour yourself and it should be fine," Jocelyn said.
"Whose side are you on, mom?" She laughs and continues putting the dishes away.
"Mine. Obviously. C'mon, Clary. I can't wait to look at glass cups." I roll my eyes and take Jace's hand as we head out to time square.
The evening went about the way I expected it to. He went with me to a couple stores, but I ended up making the final decision alone as he went to check out the demon attack. I finally found him while carrying out a big box of glass cups.
"Jace, the plates are in the store on the counter."
"Got it." he says.
"What did it look like?"
"The place is trashed. But there is some kind of pattern on the back of the store, you should check it out."
"Okay."
The box wasn't that heavy, but I was guaranteed to drop it if I had picked up the box of plates too. I carried the box around the corner, only to be face to face with an Eidolon demon.
I didn't have time to drop the box of cups, the demon slams into me and throws me back five feet. The box of cups shatter on top of me and create a barrier between it and me for a couple seconds. My hands automatically go to my belt, but I have nothing there. Jace has the seraph blade. Yours was in the last coat you wore. I freeze, when I realized that I had changed. And then I take the dagger out of my purse and stab the thing in the eye, which is a human eye, but its mouth was a ripple of two inch razor sharp teeth, and it had two holes for a nose.
It lets out a scream and I push the broken glass up in its face and roll away from the demon. I roll out from under it. Glass rains down on my face from my hair, and I can't open my eyes. My skin feels cut and I feel blood trickle down my face. I stumble to the side as a searing pain spreads through my eye, and I am suddenly in another pair of hands. I know it isn't Jace because even though the fingers are long, they are double the size with bone tough talons. A screech echoes in my ear, and I can't hear anything.
I'm tossed around, and several pairs of hands clam on my no matter how hard I kick of scream. There is probably six demons holding me down, and that's only the ones I can feel. Before they can clamp a hand around my mouth, I scream.
"Jace!" I yell, and a sticky hand wraps around my mouth and doubles around to the back of my head, barely leaving space for me to breathe out my nose.
They shake me ravenously, and I feel my head hit the ground. I feel a hot pain spread through my head, down into my spine, and tingle into my toes, and all at once, I can't feel a thing.