It was finally time for Clary to get to see her brother, and nothing could bring her mood down when the moment was so close. She was supposed to see him much sooner, but he had informed her that he suddenly had some business to take care of, which Clary had merely shrugged off since she could only assume that he was busy handling some unfinished work their father had left behind.
It bothered her that everything was left on her older brother's shoulders, but as always he protected her, and had taken the full burden. Clary had attempted to get him to allow her to help him carry on with the almost secretive business their father was involved in with the Clave as he claimed it was about, but he told her that it wasn't the right time, so she didn't press her luck. Their father had brought Jonathan into that business before his death, but he hadn't wanted Clary to join for some reason, and she tried not to be upset about it.
And now here she was all dressed up and ready to meet Jonathan for dinner, but to her dismay he had just recently called to tell her that he would have to come the following day to meet with her instead. She was upset that he was suddenly too busy to even see her, but this wasn't going to stop her. She was determined to see her brother, and that's exactly what she was going to do.
She didn't bother to pack anything since she was going to go to the family manor where all of her belongings were awaiting her arrival. Before she was set to leave she quickly scrawled out a hasty note to leave for the Lightwoods to see. She also took her time with writing a personal letter for Jace, which she was going to have to slide under his bedroom door immediately since he happened to be busy taking a shower at the moment. She thought it was perfect timing, so he wouldn't have the chance to chase after her, and try to talk her out of it.
With a determined expression, Clary grabbed her stele off of her dresser, placing it into the pocket of her jacket that she wore over her dress before she grabbed both letters. She exited her room, making sure to close it behind her then walked the few steps to make it to Jace's room. She crouched down to slide the letter under the door, and nearly froze in place in shock when she heard the sounds of the water shutting off. She cursed under her breath, knowing she wouldn't have much time now. She stood up, turning on her heel to head down the hallway, making a quick stop to place the letter addressed mainly to Maryse where she would see it before she made her way towards the elevator. Clary was trying not to feel guilty as the elevator descended since she hadn't said goodbye to Jace face-to-face as she should have, especially since they had gotten even closer to one another recently, but she didn't have time to dwell over that when she had to immediately proceed to exit the elevator and walk through the institute's gates.
A brisk wave of air flowed past Clary's walking form, causing her body to shiver, and make her adjust her jacket to help keep herself warm whilst a strand of her auburn locks wafted into her face. She brushed the strand of her hair away from her line of vision whilst her verdant hues scanned the area around her, making sure no one was following her as well of any signs of trouble of anything that dared crossed her path. Her gaze landed on a rather vacant looking building that was just what she was looking for.
A mirthful smile graced her lips as she stood in front of one of the walls on the side of the building before she reached into the pocket of her jacket, grasping the stele and proceeded to place the tip of it against the wall. Her hand moved almost on its own accord whilst the familiar rune was now beginning to come to life before her very eyes. She waited until the portal was illuminating in front of her before she thought of the manor, keeping the clear image in her mind, and just before she was going to step through the portal she heard her name being called, making her turn to see who it was.
Jace's POV
Jace had just emerged freshly clean and fully clothed from the bathroom, attempting to dry his hair with a towel as best as he could before he placed the towel on the back of a chair to dry.
A look of confusion settled upon his features when all of the sudden something got stuck to the bottom of his foot, making him lift it to reveal a folded letter. He picked it up almost hesitantly and opened it up to reveal what was inside. He read through every word, allowing the letter afterwards to slip from his grasp and before the letter hit the ground, he had already hastily put on his shoes and grabbed whatever weapons were within his reach, making his way towards the elevator in time to both see and hear that it had already descended.
A string of profanities spilled from his lips in a low tone as he ran towards the elevator, hitting the button repeatedly as if that would help bring it back up faster. As soon as it was back up he got inside and hit the button to close the doors whilst an exasperated sigh escaped his lips at the mere thought of Clary outside all alone. He knew she was capable of defending herself, but that didn't stop him from feeling the need to put himself in front of her no matter what danger they faced.
It took longer than he would have liked to exit the elevator and run out of the gates, and soon he was looking around in every direction for her. He knew she couldn't have gotten far, following his instincts he went in the direction that he felt was right, and just as he had lost hope he spotted the familiar shade of crimson hair in the distance. He made sure to keep himself hidden from her view since he wanted to see what the hell she was up to.
He felt rather bewildered that she would come to this sketchy area to meet with her brother, but his gut was telling him that something wasn't quite right. He kept to the shadows as he crept closer to her, watching with pure fascination showing on his features when she had begun to scrawl something on the wall that he couldn't make out what it was from where he was standing, but that didn't stop the gasp that emitted from his lips when a portal had suddenly appeared.
"Clary!" Her name came out of his mouth before he fully registered that he shouldn't have been yelling anything out here in the open, but it was too late.
Clary's POV
Clary's eyes widened in shock when she saw Jace walking towards her, making her shake her head in a disapproving way. "Jace, you weren't supposed to be here."
Jace stood right in front of her, setting his jaw in a stubborn stance before he spoke in a rough tone. "Yes, I got that hint when you left me that letter instead of talking to me face-to-face."
Clary bit down on her lip when she casted her gaze upon the portal, knowing she had to hurry and go through it before it vanishes. She averted her gaze back on Jace, trying to speak in the calmest tone. "I knew that if I told you in person that you would try to follow me to stop me, but clearly nothing stops Jace Wayland." She motioned her hand over his form for further emphasis.
Jace blinked in surprise, finding himself at a loss for words for once in his life. "What did you call me?"
Clary threw her hands up in an exasperated manner. "Are you deaf now?" She held up her finger to stop him when he was about to answer her. "Never mind don't even bother answering that. You need to go back to the institute. I will be back Monday morning on time for training." Clary slowly backed away, hoping that he would stay put, and let her leave without an argument.
Jace watched as she started to retreat from him and right when she was about to go through the portal he crossed the space between them so fast and grabbed onto her arm.
Clary always managed to gracefully go through a portal and land on her feet, but this time around she had tumbled hard with Jace onto the grass, and had the breath knocked out of her. "By the angel! Get off of me!" She retorted in an irritable manner as she felt stabbing pains where their body parts had hit one another.
Jace rolled off of Clary, attempting to not wince when their travel through the portal had ended with them tumbling with one another, and he assumed there would be bruises appearing on both of them soon. He hurriedly moved to stand up and held his hand down for Clary to take.
Clary shot him a glare before she swatted his hand away and got up off the ground on her own. She brushed herself off before she stalked off past him to head towards the entrance of the mansion.
"Clary, wait!" He cursed under his breath when she ignored him and he ran off to catch up to her whilst he looked around their surroundings and was surprised to find out where they were.
Clary looked over her shoulder in time to see Jace had caught up to her, making her elicit a sigh. "I assume you know where we are now... Welcome to the Morgernstern manor." She opened the door and motioned for him to enter first before she walked in and shut the door behind them. She walked a bit further into the house before she decided she might as well announce herself since her more discreet option was now ruined. "Jonathan!"
Jace was busy marveling over the entire mansion, and found himself oddly finding it almost familiar as if he'd been here already, which made him confused. That moment passed when he tensed up when Clary had full on yelled for her brother.
"Clary? What are you doing here?" Jonathan inquired as he had just come out of his father's office to find her in the entryway.
Clary turned around with a jovial grin settling upon her lips when she saw Jonathan. "Is that any way to greet your favorite sister after she traveled here to see her big brother?"
Jonathan opened up his arms with a coy smirk. "Come over here, and give your brother a hug."
Clary stifled the urge to squeal when she ran towards her brother and was immediately picked off her feet and spun around in a circle, making her laugh in a joyous way. Once she was set back down onto the ground she smiled up at him. "I missed you."
"I missed you too… And it seems you've brought a guest home with you?" Jonathan motioned towards her companion, placing a subtle smile up his face to be polite.
Clary didn't want to tell her brother that Jace had followed her through the portal so she shrugged her shoulder in a nonchalant manner. "I thought it would be nice to have someone to keep me company through the ride through the portal. That's all."
Jonathan chuckled as he reached out to ruffle his sister's hair, knowing she wasn't being truthful, but he wasn't about to say that in front of company. He simply nodded his head before meeting their company's gaze. "Welcome to our home. I'm sure my sister would be delighted to show you around whilst I finish up some things." He turned his gaze back onto Clary, smirking at her as he prodded her arm gently. "Be a nice hostess while I'm gone."
Clary scowled when her brother had ruffled her hair, making her try to tame it before she heard what he had to say to her and Jace.
"I apologize for the short notice. Our, Clary here wanted to surprise you." Jace said in a placid tone.
Jonathan kept a neutral expression when he heard Jace refer to Clary as 'ours', which surprisingly irked him the wrong way, but he chuckled anyway, and had to stop himself from shooting Jace a glare when he could only imagine what would happen with him around his precious, Clarissa. "Oh, well I can assure you that she did indeed surprise me. Now if you both will excuse me." He waved in a dismissive manner before he walked off towards the office.
Clary waited until her brother was out of earshot before she beckoned Jace to follow her as she went on and showed him the areas of the house that she seemed fit to let him see before they stopped outside a bedroom door on the second story of the manor. "This will be your room. Mine is right around the corner, and Jonathan's is at the very far end of the hallway." She opened the door and stepped through it to check to make sure it was fully stocked with things he would need.
Jace gave her a curt nod and followed her into the room, and looked around the massive area, noticing that it was neat, and had a bathroom joined to it as well, but he couldn't help but ponder over the look that had flashed over Jonathan's face and mirrored in his eyes when he had mentioned Clary's mere name. He shook his head to clear his mind to give his attention back to Clary, and that's when he finally noticed just what she was wearing. His golden hues traveled up and down her entire form, taking in the deep colored emerald dress she had chosen to wear that brought out her verdant hues even more than possible, her porcelain skin that was visible in various places, and how the boots she wore accented her toned legs.
Clary turned to look at him, noticing that he was looking at her as if she were the most valuable thing in the room, which made her almost blush, but instead she cleared her throat to get him to stop gawking over her. "I know you don't have any clothes, so I can get you some spare clothes we have around here in case we have guests or maybe you can borrow something from Jonathan. You both are about the same size." Her verdant hues traveled along his entire form almost on their own accord as she noticed that it was true that they were about the same size, but Jace seemed to her to be a tiny bit more muscular or that's what she assumed he would look like but she couldn't be sure unless he removed his… She flushed a shade of crimson when that thought flashed in her mind along with the sly smirk he gave her when now it was her gawking over him, making her try to shield her face with her hair.
Jace laughed when he noticed she was blushing when he realized that she was practically drooling over him. He strutted over towards her slowly as a devious smirk curved his lips. "Are you alright there? It's been said that my alluring looks could be too much for women to handle at times." He said teasingly before he reached out to brush her hair aside to see her face.
Clary almost blushed furthermore when he was walking towards her until she heard his words, making her scoff and take a step back after he brushed her hair aside. "Oh, please. You're not all that attractive as you think you are. I'm surprised you even fit in the room with that huge ego of yours."
Jace laughed once again when he heard what she said about him, making him shrug in a casual way. "I don't expect you to acknowledge my rather breathtaking appearance right this second, but one day you won't be able to handle it, and soon I'll have to most likely pry you off of me."
She found herself full on in a laughing fit and had to wipe her tears away before she sat on the edge of the bed, and looked up at him, trying to calm herself down. "That was the funniest thing I've heard you say by far."
Jace crossed his arms over his chest, trying to keep a blank expression, but he found it enjoyable at how easily they could tease each other, and how comfortable they seemed around one another. "Well if I'm to be the center of this particular joke then it's fine by me because I get to hear that lovely laugh of yours." He said in an almost amorous tone before taking a seat beside her.
Clary found herself leaning towards him, peering up at him through her lashes as she relayed his words in her mind, finding that it was actually a sort of sweet thing he had said. And just as he seemed to catch on to what was going to happen in this moment when they locked gazes, he had started to lean down to meet his lips against hers, but the sound of her brother's voice had them moving away from each other abruptly.
Seriously, Jonathan? It's as if he knew just when to interrupt them. Clary refrained from rolling her eyes and instead took hold of Jace's hand, not noticing the look he gave her when their skin touched as she led them out of the room. "I'll be right down, Jonathan!" Clary announced before suddenly she had to look over at Jace when he had laced their fingers together, making her stomach flutter ever so slightly. This weekend seemed to have gotten way more interesting than Clary would have ever imagined it to be.
