HELLO MY FOLLOWERS! No, you're not hallucinating. This is an update that hasn't taken a 2 month wait. I know. I'm awesome... but you guys are gonna hate me... A lot... So be happy now... Hehe... But I do want to thank you guys for getting me to and passed 300 FOLLOWERS AND REVIEWS! This is amazing, and I wish I could send cupcakes to all of you. And I just have to say that half this chapter was written last Sunday, because I had inspiration. I put on my nice dress, did my makeup, did my hair so that I could... Go to dinner with my new fiancee... LOL NO JK I DID ALL THAT BUT INSTEAD OF DINNER I CURLED UP IN A BLANKET AND WROTE FANFICTION #foreveralone.
All characters belong to Cassandra Clare and The Bachelor on ABC
I stared up at the stars, sea foam barely brushing my feet while the waves rolled in. I turned to my right, smiling softly when I saw Jace too staring up at the stars. His hand moved slowly, and his fingers twined with mine. This date, even though it was ending, was unforgettable. I took a deep breath, mentally prepping myself. I had to do this now before I lost my courage.
"Jace," My voice seemed to cut through the silence like a knife.
"Hm?" He turned to look at me, golden eyes glowing in the moonlight.
"There's something I need to tell you." I paused for a second, then opened my mouth to talk again, but Jace cut me off.
"I already know." He spoke, and my eyes grew wide.
"I- I don't think you do." I stuttered.
"Oh really?" I didn't like the smile that grew on Jace's face. It was the same inconsiderate one he offered to all of his one night stands.
"Because what I know," he continued, "is that you're in love with me." He rose to my feet, and I unconsciously followed, shock filling me.
"H-How?!" My voice was frantic and almost unrecognizable.
"You don't think you're that subtle, do you?" He scoffed, cold laughter following his words, "You don't think I noticed how absolutely desperate you are? It's pretty obvious. That's why I took you on this date. To tell you you're going home."
"What?!" My voice came out shrill, tears already falling, "A-at least give me a ch-chance. Please."
"Why would I do that when I'm already marrying Kaelie?" He asked, voice not accusing, but sincere, making at all the more painful.
Suddenly, the scenery changed. I was standing next to Isabelle and Maia, holding a bouquet of flowers, and Jace stood at the center of a beautifully decorated awning. He held the hands of none other than Kailie Blue, who was dressed in my dream wedding gown.
"Do you, Jace, take Kailie as your lawfully wedded wife?" A priest asked.
"I do." He spoke the words with a love I had never heard come from him.
"And do you, Kailie, take Jace as your lawfully wedded husband." The priest repeated. The blonde looked away from Jace, an evil smile spreading across her face, and her eyes locking with my own as she spoke the words,
"I do."
I sat up in my bed, breathing fast, tears streaming down my face. I buried my face in my hands, crying harder.
"It wasn't real." I said to myself, "It was just a dream. Just a..." I broke off as the sobs overtook me. I had to admit that I was a little pissed at myself for being this torn up over a guy, but that guy was Jace, and that kind of leveled it out.
"Hey," a hand pulled at my wrists, prying my own hands away from my cheeks. I finally looked up and met Jace's golden eyes.
"Hey," he wiped the tears away with his thumb, "It's okay. I'm right he-" I cut him off as I threw myself into him, wrapping my arms around him and burying my face in his neck.
"Don't leave me," I whispered softly, "Please don't leave me."
"Shhh," He lifted me from the bed easily, gathering me into his lap, "I'm not leaving you. Why would you ever think I would?"
"Nightmare." I managed to speak through choked breaths. He set his chin on top of my head, stroking my hair. He eased me back so that I had to meet his gaze.
"C'mon," he tucked a stray hair behind my ear, "Let's put you back to bed." He set me back inside my cocoon of sheets, slipping into the bed beside me, and leaving his own blankets where they sat on the floor. He pulled me tight to his chest, but by that time sleep was already overcoming me once again.
"I will never leave you Clarissa Fray." I heard him whisper. Then, I swear I felt his lips press to the top of my head, but, then again, it could've been my imagination.
"Would you stop it?!"
"I'm not the one doing anything"
"Will you idiots just SHUT UP?!"
Yes, these were the amazing sounds that I woke up to on my first day in Rome. I groaned flipping over and burying my face in my pillow. Then my pillow started to laugh. My eyes shot open to see that I was snuggled up very close to Jace. It took a few seconds for me to process that our legs were tangled together, and he was holding me tight in his arms.
"What..." I yawned, "What are you doing on my bed?" I asked Jace as our friends bickered.
"You don't remember?" He asked, brow furrowed in what looked like a mix of confusion and concern.
"No..." I trailed off, trying to remember, and then it all flooded back. My initial reaction was sadness, but then I remembered what Jace had said to me, and the fact that he was here now, and suddenly, the sadness disappeared. I could see the concern on Jace's face, so I offered him a reassuring squeeze.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" the collective shout startled me, and I am not happy to admit that, yes, I squealed a tiny bit. Okay, I screamed. Very loudly. I flipped around to see the amused faces of the other six people I called my friends, and gave each of them a cold scowl.
"Wow, Fray." Simon snorted, "You've got a set of lungs on you."
"Why were you scared?" Isabelle asked, "What would we have even been? We screamed Happy birthday, for crap's sake."
"You could have been very loud ninjas about to kill me." I stated, crossing my arms defensively.
"That scream happy birthday?" Alec reiterated, and I suck my tongue out at them.
"It's my birthday, anything I say is true." I shrugged, then finally realized what we had all been saying, and what today was. "It's my birthday!" The words flew out of my mouth, "TODAY IS THE DAY I WAS BO-" A hand clamped over my mouth, and I sighed, waiting for Jace to deem me quiet enough to let loose.
"Yes, Fray." He said, "We know it's your birthday, hence why we said Happy birthday, but please don't wake up the entire mansion." He removed his hand and I twisted to face him.
"I'm not that loud." I huffed, "At least I have a reason for screaming."
"If you want a reason to scream, babe, just let me-"
"I DON'T NEED TO HEAR THIS!" Isabelle yelled, cutting Jace off, "WHATEVER YOU TALK ABOUT IN YOUR PRIVATE LOVE LIFE IS YOUR BUSINESS, BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE MENTALLY SCARRED PLEASE AND THANK YOU!"
"And you called me loud." I smirked, earning a slap in the back of the head, courtesy of Izzy herself.
"Scoot over you two," Jordan raised up a tray I hadn't noticed, "we have food. And stop cuddling while we're here. It's weird." I leveled him with a glare.
"One, this is a twin bed," I announced loudly, just to show that I could talk at whatever volume I wanted, "And two, we are not cuddling." Seven sets of disbelieving eyes landed on me, and Jace opened his mouth to say something, but I slapped a hand over it before he could.
"You heard them. Scoot." I told him, and he obliged with a huff, dragging me with him. I shot him a look that clearly said, You say anything about this, I slap you, as the rest of the group hopped onto the bed. We somehow situated ourselves in a way that we fit, and Magnus and Jace were the ends, with Isabelle sitting next to me.
"Wow, Clary." She spoke up, "You've gained a lot of muscle." I tilted my head in confusion, and her eyes flicked pointedly to the sheets, where I realized that, yes, Jace's arm was still around my waist, and, yes, she could feel it.
"Oh shut up." I looked down at the food that had been passed my way, hoping that my hair hid my blush.
"I don't know if any of you noticed, but I happen to be falling off the bed." Magnus complained.
"Well, I can't scoot over." Jace shrugged, causing everyone to look at me expectantly. I had no idea what they wanted until I realized that Izzy, Maia, and Magnus were on the laps of their significant others.
"Oh hell no." was my immediate answer, "You guys were saying you were grossed out by us 'cuddling' and now you want me to sit on his lap?"
"So you admit you were cuddling!" Simon interjected.
"That wasn't the point!" I buried my face in my hands, exasperated.
"Oh c'mon." I felt a nudge on my shoulders, "Most girls here would consider it a birthday gift to get to sit on my lap."
"Well I'm sure they've all done it one time or another." I thought venomously.
"What was that?" I looked to see Jace's eyebrow raised.
"Did you hear that?" I asked idiotically. Of course I had to say it out loud.
"All I heard was the sound of you being extremely jealous." Jace teased, but there was a questioning note to his tone. Great, my birthday was getting off to an amazing start.
"I..." I glanced at the others, who were acting like they couldn't hear us, and doing a really horrible job at it. "I guess..." I took a deep breath, "I still might be a little scared of losing you. I mean, you spend so much time with them, and-"
"Hey," Jace placed a finger on my lips, silencing me instantly, "Look into my eyes. Right now. You. Are. Not. Losing. Me. Ever. Clary, you have been in my life way longer than any of them, and you honestly matter way more to me than any person in this place. So will you stop thinking about this."
I nodded, then wrapped my arms around him, shifting so that I sat on top of his legs, and buried my face in his neck. After a few seconds, I raised my face, only to be met with the sight of three extremely uncomfortable couples.
"You guys can talk now, ya know." I chuckled, leaning back into Jace, his arms settling around my waist. "Thank you." Isabelle exclaimed, taking a deep breath of air, "And can I say that-" "Nope." Jace cut her off, "You will say nothing about what just happened. You were not here for what just happened. So shut up and enjoy the birthday breakfast."
"Be nice!" I lightly elbowed Jace's ribs, and I could almost feel him roll his eyes. Then, he pressed a light kiss on the top of my head, and I swear I stopped breathing for a second. Izzy caught my eye and winked, but other than that, no one reacted, almost as if it were completely normal. As if Jace and I were... were a couple.
Soon, I moved passed the shock, and joined in with the careless banter of my friends, but I couldn't help but think that I wouldn't mind if all my birthdays were like this.
"It's your birthday and we had to hear it from Chris?!" was the shriek I was greeted to when I walked downstairs. Suddenly, two pairs of arms engulfed me, and I stumbled back from the impact.
"How could you not tell us?!" Aline continued when the two pulled back.
"What she means to say is," Helen tossed a glare at the other girl, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
"Yeah, that." Aline joked, and I stuck my tongue out at her.
"Happy birthday!" Another deeper yell rang out, and a moment later, yet another pair of arms wrapped me in a quick hug.
"Thanks, Chris." I told him, "Any why did you think telling Helen and Aline was a good idea?!" I pouted, but he simply smirked.
"Meh." I slapped him on the arm, and he ruffled my hair. Suddenly, I was happy that I'd formed a friendship with the guy after the day of the interview. He really was awesome, but in that platonic guy friend way. We worked up a small conversation that somehow turned into all the bachelorettes singing to me, and all of us having cake for my second breakfast.
I woke up to the sound of pebbles hitting glass. Yes. Pebbles. After debating whether or not it was a robber that had scaled the building, I reluctantly padded across the room, unlocking and opening the window, only to have a rock hit me on the cheek.
"Ow!" I hissed, glaring at the man who stood ten feet below, and rubbing my cheek.
"Juliet!" he called, "My fair Juliet!"
"Are you drunk?!" I asked, running my fingers through my sleep mussed hair.
"No, you idiot." Jace grinned, "I'm not drunk, but I have a surprise for you." I checked my watch.
"What," I growled, "could you want to do at eleven at night." Yeah. I was going to sleep early. I had a busy (and yes, awesome) day. Sue me.
"Come down here and see." Jace motioned with his finger for me to do so.
"How the hell am I supposed to get down there?" I crossed my arms, "It's not like I can just randomly walk out of the back door in the middle of the night."
"It's eleven o'clock, not three in the mor-"
"Don't sass me." I joked, causing Jace to snort.
"Anyway." He stressed the word, "Just jump."
"Jump?!" If I was in a cartoon, my eyes would have popped out of my head, "Are you sure you're sober? I would die."
"You won't die." Jace shrugged, "I'll catch you."
"You'll catch..." I pinched the bridge of my nose, "I'm not a ball, Jace. I'm a 135 pound person. I'll kill us both."
"When have any of my plans gone wrong?" I opened my mouth to answer, but he cut me off with a, "Don't answer that."
"Just trust me." He pleaded with his eyes, and maybe I was the drunk one, because I climbed up onto the windowsill, then let myself fall. I was plummeting to the ground and I was gonna die. I was gonna die. I was gonna- My fall was broken by Jace, who caught me, just like he said he would. I'm not gonna lie and say that I softly and gracefully landed in his arms, because I didn't. It hurt. A lot.
"Gee, Clary," Jace got his balance back, "have you put on a few pounds?" "Are you calling me fat?" I raised my eyebrows.
"Yes." Jace set me down and I smacked his arm, sadly not causing any damage.
"Come with me." He grabbed my hand and started running, so I had no choice but to follow. It was dark outside, so I couldn't really see where he was taking me. All I know was that we were still in the garden. Finally, we came to a stop, and I gasped at the scene in front of me. Blankets lay spread across a clearing in the middle of a group of trees, and strings of lights hung above them. Scattered across the blankets were none other than our favorite candies and popcorn.
Finally, to top it all off, a giant blow up screen stood at the front, already playing the opening credits of "A New Hope" (Of course, we watched them in the order they were made).
"Oh my gosh." I breathed, awestruck, "How did you... What did you... Jace, this is amazing."
"It's tradition." He squeezed my hand, "We have a Star Wars marathon every year, so why should this one be any different?" For a second, I just stared, unable to move, then finally, I spoke the words,
"Race ya to the M&M's."
Somewhere in the middle of Return of the Jedi, I felt something on my shoulder. I thought I knew what it was, but then again, I also thought there were ninja robbers outside my window, so I looked down, only to have my suspicions confirmed. Jace was kissing a path up my neck.
"Wha-What are you doing." My breath caught in my throat as I tried to push Jace off in order to think clearly.
"Well," he stayed latched to my side, "You've always said you didn't know how girls 'fell into my trap', so what better way than to show you?" My mouth formed a perfect 'o', and this time, I shoved him off easily.
"Where, exactly, did you hear that?" I demanded.
"Hear what?" Jace tilted his head innocently to the side, like a perfect little angel.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." I stood up so that I would have some hight on him, but he just followed. "You're right," He stepped towards me, and I stepped back until I hit a tree. Just like in the dream, he boxed me in, but this time, it was nowhere near a dream.
"I do know what you mean." He moved his lips right below my ear, and I held in a shiver, "You told me all about it. You told me what I said, what I did. You told me what you did, and how much you liked it. You-"
"I was drunk, Jace." I finally got the chance to speak, "That didn't even happen. There was no dream."
"You're lying." He stated.
"Prove it." I retorted, "I was drunk and talking a bunch of crap and you know it."
"Even if the dream didn't happen," Jace shrugged, "they say a drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts." Okay, now he was just teasing me.
"Oh just shut up." I'm sure my face was fire engine red, "That never happened."
"Oh but it did." He smirked, and I crossed my arms, mimicking him in a high pitched voice.
"Clary," in a single second, his voice grew extremely serious, "honestly, do you... do you like me that way?"
"No." The word flew out of my mouth without me thinking, and I wanted to take it back so bad, but I couldn't speak anymore.
"Good." Jace spoke. Well, Ouch. Tears immediately began to well up in my eyes, but I bit them back. It felt like I'd been stabbed.
"Why?" I have no idea how that word came out in a normal tone, but thank the heavens it did.
"Because I'm sending you home this week, Clare Bear."
O_o... Inception... Welp, Imma run so you don't all kill me... Uh... Bye? OH! And just a fun thing if you have any questions about me not the story that don't identify my first or last name, or where I live, leave 'em in the reviews and I'll do a Q&A... Byesies my faithfuls.
-Shadowhunter5801
P.S. Sorry about the weird unnecessary middle part. I just had to add a little bridge between the morning and night.
Oh! And can someone explain to me what in the world a forum is?!