Hey guys!

FIRST OF ALL, I want to thank you all for the positive feedback I've been receiving. Reading all of this has motivated me to continue writing! I am currently trying to write multiple chapters so that I can form some sort of a schedule with posting, but I thought I would give you the next chapter.

THANKS AGAIN for all the support because it really does mean a lot that people actually read my story.

I AM CURRENTLY WRITING A NEW STORY AS WELL! It won't be posted for a while but I just wanted to let you all know. THANKS AGAIN AND ENJOY THIS LONG CHAPTER!

Clary POV

"Absolutely not." I cross my arms across my chest, glaring at Jace.

"It would be rude if I didn't! Just hand them over." He tries grabbing for my keys.

"It's my car! I'm very protective over my baby!" I desperately try to hold them out of his reach. Unfortunately, due to my height, Jace quickly grabs them from above my head and laugh.

"This is your baby?" He takes a step back from my car, viewing the whole vehicle. He turns his head in thought. "I honestly expected something more… what's the word?" He pauses. "Oh! More… female? More… Clarissa Morgenstern." He smirks at my full name. I scoff.

"Are you kidding? This is my heart and soul." I say proudly. I own a stunning black matte Jeep Wrangler. It is my pride and joy because I bought it with my own money. Although having rich parents can have its benefits, I find it unfair that others have to work for their own things and I do not. So after working for quite a long time as an artist's assistant, I finally rounded up enough money to buy my treasure. "And don't call me Morgenstern… It's Fray." I say under my breath. He raises an eyebrow.

"But your parents' name is Morgenstern unless…" His eyes widen. "Are you adopted?!" I shake my head vigorously.

"No! I just don't like my last name so I prefer my middle, Fray." I answer simply. He nods, accepting my request. As if he suddenly remembered why we were outside, he smirks before running to my already opened car, and jumping into the driver's seat. I pout as I stomp across the lawn and into the passenger's seat. He starts the car and turns to me.

"Do you have any ideas?" He asks, not knowing where to drive. I furrow my brows. As I think, I notice that Jace is staring at me.

"What?" I ask turning my head slightly. He smiles.

"Oh, just noticing how cute you look when you're thinking." He says smirking, starting to pull out of the driveway. I blush deeply, not sure how to respond.

"Haha.. Thanks, I- uhh.. Where are we going?" I stutter out. How am I supposed to respond to that?

"Somewhere." He says secretively as he starts our drive to the unknown destination.

"Java Jones?" I say, slamming the car door shut and walking up the sidewalk.

"Sorry, do you not like coffee?" Jace says next to me. I laugh.

"I drink 3 cups a day…. But yeah I hate it." I wink and he smiles. "I'm not complaining, but why are we here?"

"For one, coffee is the greatest creation ever made, and two, what better way to get to know each other than over a cup of coffee." Jace says matter-of-factly. I smile as he holds open the door for me and we get in line. When it is our turn, Jace orders for us, surprisingly getting the right drink for me. We find a table in the back.

"Wait, how did you know my order?" I ask, sipping my heavenly coffee. He smirks, stirring sugar into his coffee.

"I asked Matt this morning." I look up at him, confused. "I'm not saying I planned this particular situation because I definitely didn't, but I planned on coming here with you eventually." He finishes, sipping his coffee. I smile before returning to my drink.

An awkward silence fell between us. Jace kept on looking all around and I tried to focus on the music playing. Currently, they were playing New Soul by Yael Naim. I'm a new soul in this very strange world, hoping I could learn a bit 'bout how to give and take. But since I came here-

"You have a great voice." Jace says surprised. WHAT. I choke and start coughing. He laughs, shaking his head. Was I singing out loud? Oh god….

"Thanks…" I blush creeps onto my face and I cover my face with the coffee mug as I take a sip.

"Hey, you aren't embarrassed are you?" Jace asks sincerely. I shake my head. "Good. Now let's play a game of 20 questions." He says putting down his mug. "You go first." I smile.

"Ok, why did you start singing?" I ask. I already knew the answer from countless hours of stalking him online, but it would be nice to hear it from his mouth.

"I was seven and I went to my first concert. My mom dragged me to go see Michael Buble with her. I always thought that I would hate it, but really, I fell in love with music that day. I would sing all of his songs or music like his around the house and my family thought it was a phase but it wasn't." He smiles. "My turn. What's your relationship with Matt?"

"Why do you care?" I ask him.

"Doesn't matter. Answer the question." He says seriously. I smirk.

"Fine. Jealous much?" He opens his mouth to protest but I cut him off. "Matt started working for us when I was only 10. At the time, I had absolutely no friends and Matt became the closest thing to family then. He's basically my brother, so don't worry. He's not your competition." I say smirking. Jace looks at me shocked, but it quickly melts into a smile. WHY DID I SAY THAT.

"That's good to know." He says mischievously.

"Why did you decide to go back to normal school?" I ask, actually curious. He shrugs.

"I don't know. I guess I realized that I was missing out on a lot so I wanted to make memories." He says sincerely. How cute… I snap out of it when he speaks again. "Now my dear Clary," He smirks. Uh oh. "have you ever had a boyfriend?" I stare at him in shock. Why does he care?

"Of course I have! I broke up with my last boyfriend 2 months ago." I cringe at the thought of my ex, Sebastian. Jace nods and I ask my next question. For hours we ask each other questions, passing the twenty questions mark by a long shot.

2 refills and about 50 questions later, I interrupt our routine. "As much as I would love to continue this game, it's already 9:00." I say, disappointed. He checks the time on his phone and his eyes widen. We arrived at Java Jones at 5!

"Damn it!" I look up at him curiously. "I missed like 4 calls from my manager. Could you give me 5 minutes to make this call, and then we'll go?" He asks quickly.

"Of course, take your time." I say, gathering our cups and empty pastry dishes to return them. He nods his appreciation and is already halfway out the door, with the phone against his ear. I go back to our table and sit as I wait for him. Might as well check my phone. I almost choke. 3 missed calls from Isabelle, 5 from Matt, and several text messages from Simon and Izzy. I decide to open the texts from Izzy first.

Isabelle- 5:20: Hey! How's your little date going ;)

Isabelle- 5:32: Oh god… Maureen is here. How do I kindly tell her to get the hell out?

Isabelle- 6:13: You're no help! But I managed to get her to leave. Call me?

Isabelle- 7:05: Where are you? i will hunt you down.

Isabelle- 8:27: I SWEAR TO GOD CLARY I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND DRAG YOU BACK HOME

Isabelle- 8:54: ok really I'm getting worried. Please answer our calls

Oh my god! I forgot to tell anybody where I was going, or how long I would be gone! I quickly send back a text:

Clary- 9:13: OMG! I'm so sorry I never checked my phone. Im at Java Jones with Jace and we're leaving in a few.

Next, I check the messages from Simon:

Simon- 6:07: Could you send me the answers to the chemistry homework?

Simon- 7:15: Dude I haven't done any hw. Call me so you can help me out (by giving me all the answers)?

Simon- 8:30: Izzy just called me asking if I knew where you were. You mind filling us in?

I roll my eyes at the first two messages, but I respond.

Clary- 9:15: Hey I'm sorry man I'll send you the hw when I get home. I'm leaving from Java Jones with Jace.

As I am about to send a quick text to Matt, Jace comes back in looking rather annoyed.

"Is everything alright?" I ask. He shakes his head, sighing.

"Just an overprotective manager." He reaches for my hand. "Let's go." He grabs my hand and leads us back to my car. Already on our way back home, I speak up.

"Hey thanks for today. It was fun." I tell him kindly. He annoyed expression disappears and is replaced with a happy one.

"No, thank you. I'm glad I'm here with you." He says sincerely. I want to say something but my phone rings. Matt. I mouth 'sorry' to Jace before putting Matt on speaker.

"Hey Matt…" I say warily. Matt scoffs.

"Hey Matt? Really?" He says seriously. Jace looks at me surprised.

"Listen, I'm sorry I never answered my phone. The ringer was off and I just checked it now. We're heading home now, we should be back in 10 minutes." I say quickly. He sighs.

"Where were you?" He asks, not as mad.

"Jace and I were at Java Jones and we lost track of time. Sorry Matt!" I say, trying to calm him down.

"Of course you did… Whatever. See you soon." He hangs up before I can even reply. I look over at Jace and see him giving me a pitying look.

"This is probably my fault, I'm sorry I never noticed the time." Jace says apologetically. I roll my eyes.

"Are you kidding me? This could not possible be your fault. Quit blaming yourself." I say, being realistic.

When we got home, Matt had already retired to his room and Izzy was waiting for us on the sofa. She stands when we walked in.

"Ugh you two suck! How come you didn't answer any of us?" She says, using grand hand movements.

"I never checked my phone and you don't have Jace's number so…" I say awkwardly. She sighs, exasperated.

"Fine whatever! We have too much to worry about tomorrow." She points at me. "We have a lot to talk about honey." She says with a wink. I blush. "Good night lovelies!" She says with a wave, before she heads upstairs to her room.

"And then there were two" Jace says jokingly. I turn back to him. "Thanks again for today. See you in the morning?" I says, heading to his room. I smile and wave.

"See you tomorrow Jace." I head upstairs to my room.

"Sweet dreams Clarebear." I hear Jace murmur.

Thank you all for supporting this story! See you next time!

Kisses,

A(ly)