Chapter 7

"Is this really necessary?"

Clary stood nervously in the center of a large mat, trying to decide how to get the athletic pants she was wearing to stay on her hips. Apparently they belonged to a girl named Isabelle, but she wouldn't be back until later. Clary finally gave up on trying to make the pants work and just rolled the waist up.

"Of course this is necessary," said Jace from somewhere in a back room. Clary had considered following him to see what he was doing, but decided that she didn't really want to know. Alec had disappeared to somewhere, much to Clary's disappointment. She thought that if anyone could keep Jace in line, it had been Alec.

Now she was alone with Jace, and he was walking out of the back room with two spears.

"Oh no way," said Clary, throwing her hands up and backing slowly off of the mat. Jace was smiling at her enticingly but she wasn't having any of it. "I knew I should have stayed in prison. At least there they would have found my body."

"Oh relax," said Jace, nonchalantly tossing one of the spears at Clary's feet. Her eyes widened in fear before relaxing into something more closely resembling disapproval. Jace tossed his own spear down as well, and then moved in closer to Clary.

"We don't need those yet," he said, moving closer still. Clary's breathing hitched, her head tilted slightly back so that she could keep eye contact with him. His eyes darted down quickly, he gave her a small smirk, and then pushed her over.

"What the hell Jace? Now I'm definitely done," said Clary incredulously from her sprawled out position on the mat. He was doubled over in laughter, tears leaking out of his annoyingly perfect eyes. Clary brushed her hair out of her face and got back on her feet, swinging around to walk out of the room. If he wanted to be an ass he could find someone else to hang out with him.

"No, I'm sorry! I'm done," said Jace, catching Clary's arm but still laughing a little bit. She glared up at him, waiting for him to actually show any sign of being genuine. She wasn't really surprised she could find anything.

"Promise?"

Jace's face paled slightly, his smile fading, but then he nodded. Clary shrugged and Jace dropped her arm, moving to the center of the mat with a renewed focus.

"No spears yet. I'm just going to teach you a few basic defense moves," said Jace, all joking lost. Clary nodded and moved to the center next to him.

"Ok, let's see your ready stance. Feet shoulder width apart, center of gravity low, square your hips…" Jace trailed off and tried not to laugh as Clary attempted to get in position. "No, not like that."

Clary dropped her head back and then pulled it slowly back up, waiting for Jace to criticize further. "Just show me, okay?"

Jace nodded, and then moved his hands slowly to rest on Clary's hips. Her eyes widened slightly. That was not what she had been expecting.

"Just turn them slightly… good. Now widen your feet and try to be loose and low to the ground." Clary nodded along, silently hating herself for being so affected by Jace's presence. His fingers trailed along her hips as he released her, leaving Clary's skin tingling in their wake.

"Okay… now what?" Clary cleared her throat and shook her head slightly. She was not allowed to be this attracted to such a blatantly arrogant asshole.

"Now, I teach you how to punch," said Jace, his previous grin slowly returning. Clary nodded and braced herself, clenching and unclenching her fists as she awaited his instructions. Jace circled around her slowly, assessing her stance and then moving closer to show her what to do with her hands.

He slid his hands up her arms before grasping her hands tightly, sliding his body in behind hers so that they could go through the motions together.

Clary wasn't sure if she was breathing.

"Breathe," said Jace with a low chuckle, confirming her fears, "all you have to do is let me guide you a few times. Then, once you get the hang of it, you can practice on your own. Clary nodded and allowed Jace to envelop her completely, giving over her arms and hands to his.

Jace pulled one of Clary's hands to his own and slowly moved it into the proper positioning, "Always keep your thumb out of your knuckle," said Jace softly into Clary's ear. She nodded her consent, not even bothering to ask why, and took a couple of breaths while she was thinking about it.

He took her through the motions a couple of times, not speeding up, just remaining at that same, excruciatingly slow pace while Clary tried to remind herself that she didn't actually like Jace, she just thought he was insanely attractive.

"Alright," Jace cleared his throat suddenly and walked away, "I think you've got the hang of it. I'll be right back." He disappeared into the back room again, leaving Clary standing in the middle of the mat trying to control her breathing. She sunk to her knees, and then sat down fully, deciding that she deserved a brake after all the hard work she had done.

"Tired already?" asked Jace. Clary sprang back to her feet and shook her head vigorously. Even if she didn't like Jace, there wasn't any harm in looking at him, was there?

Jace was holding a couple of pillow like things in his hands.

"Okay, you're going to punch my hands using the techniques I showed you earlier. Then, when I feel like you have a pretty solid handle on it, I'll start moving around and making it a little more challenging for you to hit me. Got it?" Clary nodded silently and mentally prepared herself, getting back into her ready position.

After a few punches she began to get it, and before long Jace told her that he was going to start moving around and making it harder for her to hit him. She just nodded—she was in her zone. She advanced further and further, and, even though she knew he was letting her win, she felt a small sense of satisfaction.

Then she tripped.

"Oops," said Clary as she tripped over the bottom of her pants, sending her sprawling onto Jace, "I'm so sorr…" Clary trailed off as the look that Jace was giving her registered. His eyes darted down to her lips briefly. "Breathe," he whispered softly, this time much more serious.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," called a high voice from the edge of the room. Clary started to scramble off of Jace, but he grabbed her arm and instead rolled her off of him slowly.

"Of course not Izzy. I was just teaching clumsy here how to punch," said Jace, not phased. Clary nodded and jumped off of the ground, hating for a second that Jace was so much calmer in pressure situations. Clary examined the girl who was strutting toward them, tall and beautiful with flowing dark hair.

"I'm Isabelle," said the girl, glancing at Clary briefly, and then back at Jace, "Hodge wants you to introduce you to the mundie."

"Tell Hodge I'm busy," countered Jace, raising his eyebrow at Isabelle. She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Cleary," said Isabelle, glancing back and forth between Jace and Clary, "don't say I didn't warn you." She sauntered out of the room gracefully, disappearing around the corner while Clary tried to decide what she thought of Isabelle.

"She's a little much," said Jace, studying Clary's expression, "don't worry, you'll learn to love her." Clary wasn't so sure about that.

"Where were we?" Clary paused for a second at Jace's question, trying to discern what exactly he was asking, but the moment from before was clearly over. Isabelle's five-inch stilettos had stomped on the moment quite nicely.

"I was beating you up. Basically."

"Please, I was letting you win," said Jace, smirking at Clary's eye roll, "anyway I think we're done for the day. I just didn't want to deal with Izzy." Jace winked and walked away, bringing with him all of the stuff they had been using.

"Now what?" Clary asked, furrowing her brow slightly. Isabelle had said she was supposed to meet someone named Hodge, but she wasn't so sure that she could handle meeting any more new people at the moment.

"I'll show you where you'll be staying and then show you where the kitchen is. You can meet everyone else tomorrow," said Jace, walking toward the door to the room without slowing down. Clary tripped over her feet trying to catch up with him and prayed that he didn't notice. His face didn't show anything, but she could never really tell with Jace.

He held the door for her on her way out, and Clary gave him a small, genuine smile. That was probably the sweetest thing he'd done for her so far.

Just before she walked out the door, he leaned in closer. Her heart lept a little bit, but she tried to keep her face neutral as he whispered in her ear.

"I saw that." He smirked and walked away, letting the door slip and hit her as she walked through.

She shook her head and scratched that bit about him being sweet, then followed him anyway because what else was she supposed to do?

An overwhelming sense of loneliness swept over her as Jace walked away and she realized that she was truly alone. Sure Jace and his family were there, but everyone she'd ever loved in her past life hated her. There wasn't going to be an end to this nightmare—even if she could prove she'd been framed, could she ever forget how they'd all abandoned her at the first sign of trouble?

"You coming?" Jace called back. Clary hadn't even realized that she had stopped. She nodded and smiled weakly, ignoring the concerned look that Jace gave her as she hurried to catch up.

She knew she couldn't think about it, but she realized that Jace's eyes probably weren't the best things to distract herself with. Ultimately she decided it was the better option of the two and spent the rest of the walk drowning in his eyes instead of the loneliness.

A/N Hey guys! Sorry for the late update again, should be getting back on schedule for the next one J Hope you enjoyed some Clary and Jace time, let me know what you think!