Hey everyone! Long time no see! I know that I said I would try updating once a week and it has been two since my last chapter. I feel really bad about that so here is an extra long chapter for my loyal fans. I'm still experimenting with the way I wrote each character's perspectives so tell me if it gets confusing when I switch or if you want me to stick to just one per chapter. Or if you want a different POV, PM me or leave a review.

Thanks for motivating me guys and as always, read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instruments.

Jace woke up to the shrill ring of his alarm and rolled onto his stomach, waiting for Clary to turn it off. By the fifth ring, his fingers blindly searched for her warm body and swore when he only felt the cool touch of his sheets. Dazed, he sat up and started to remember everything that happened yesterday.

After Clary and Jon left, Isabelle and Magnus demanded an explanation. Silently, he scoffed. Whatever the hell happened between him and Clary was private and he didn't owe either of them an explanation. He eloquently phrased it with a threat to keep their mouths shut and then proceeded to shut the door in their faces. Sliding down the door, he clutched his head in his hands, trying to figure out what had just happened.

He exited the bathroom, about to go put on his clothes, when he heard Clary and Izzy talking. Normally, listening to girls talk to each other made him want to rip out his hair, but everything Clary said interested him. As he leaned over the banister, he heard Izzy mention that Clary had a crush on him, and that it had been going on for the past five years.

He nearly swore. Five years? She liked him for five years and never said anything. He probably realized his feelings for her a year after they met, but five years? He could and should have been her first kiss; if he had it his way, he would be the first and only guy she kissed. He couldn't be her first; Lewis beat him to it. But, he could be her last and he finally had his chance.

The following hours were pure torture; every few seconds, he would glance at his phone, hoping that it would start ringing or alert him of a new message. By midnight, his phone was starting to die and he focused his eyes on the door. As he waited, he went through her old sketchpads, set his alarm so that she could sneak back in the morning, and even tidied up her side of the bed. Time still kept ticking and he eventually succumbed to sleep around five in the morning.

Thinking about last night darkened his mood. Curling his hand into a fist, he slammed it on the clock, nearly breaking it in the process; he didn't want any reminders about Clary.

Stalking to the shower, Jace let the hot water stream down his body. As the steam clouded the mirror, he could feel the tension in his muscles slowly ebb and when he finally calmed down, he turned off the water. Isabelle was going to kill him for using so much water.

As he got ready, he planned out how he was going to handle the situation with Clary. Obviously, she didn't want to talk to him and if that was what she wanted, then he was going to play along with her idiotic plan. She wouldn't miss his company; she has rat boy. Jace's eyes widened.

Shit, he forgot about Lewis. Maybe that was why Clary didn't come to him last night. She wasn't the type of girl to cheat on a guy and probably felt guilty about their kiss. Jace grabbed a handful of his hair, yanked it, and called himself ten different kinds of stupid for doing this to her. She didn't cheat; he was the one who kissed her but that stubborn red head wouldn't see it that way. Clary was probably wallowing in regret and he basically spent the entire night thinking about how the kiss had affected him.

He couldn't do anything with her until those two were over. He may be a player and an asshole, but he never intentionally messed with a girl who was already taken. It wasn't worth the drama, especially since he was usually a one-time only kind of guy. As much as it killed him, he had to back off. If Clary wanted anything to happen, she had to break things off with Lewis first and then they could get together. For now, they were strictly friends.

~o.O.o~

Jace was not in the mood to deal with people today so he drove to school early. As soon as people saw the sour expression on his face, people immediately backed off. If Jace was in a bad mood, only a handful of people could approach him without earning a black eye or scathing insult. Even Kaelie had enough sense to leave him alone, and for that, he was grateful.

Class seemed to go even slower today and Jace bolted the second he heard the bell. Throughout the day, he saw a flash of red in the corner of his eye and immediately walked away. He was giving Clary her space and the only words that he wanted to hear from her involved being single. With that mindset, he grabbed an apple from his locker and went outside for lunch; fresh air helped clear his head.

He spied Clary's hair from across the courtyard and sucked up the courage to walk over. He wasn't going to make a move on her, but people would become suspicious if they suddenly ignored each other.

Next to Clary's flaming red hair was an unruly and mud colored head. Jace felt his fists clench without his permission and took a deep breath to calm down. Rat boy wasn't even touching Clary; Jace couldn't understand how the boy could keep his hands off Clary's soft skin. Nevertheless, he was glad that there was no contact between the two of them. In fact, it looked like Lewis was more interested in Isabelle than his own girl.

Jace narrowed his eyes. Isabelle wouldn't dare flirt with her best friend's boyfriend. When Clary turned to talk towards Alec, Jace saw Simon fail in his attempt to be casual and slid his arm around Isabelle's waist. He held his breath, waiting for her to slap it off and humiliate him in front of their friends. Instead, she leaned into the bastard's grip.

Jace couldn't believe it. He spent all of last night and this morning agonizing over the fact that Clary was taken, when her boyfriend had the gall to cheat on her with her back turned. Without thinking, he strode over to the group. Jon was the first to notice him and raised an eyebrow at the eerily blank expression on Jace's face. He tapped the rat's shoulder, waited for him to stand, and then swung his fist as hard as he could into the bastard's jaw.

Satisfied, he turned around and got into his car before anyone could recover.

~o.O.o~

Jonathan and Alec helped pull Simon back up. Dumbfounded, he sat on the grass, confused and clutching his jaw. It hurt like hell but Isabelle was already pissed off and seeing him in more pain would just add fuel to the fire. He brushed off their help, but was grateful when Clary returned with an ice pack.

Everyone in the group was just as confused as him and the girls looked like they were ready to castrate him. The image brought a smile to Simon's face, but he wiped it off before anyone could see; they would just call him crazy and claim head trauma. Now that he thought about it, there was only one thing that could piss off Jace: someone hurting Clary. Simon and a bunch of guys still remembered what happened to the creep from a few years ago.

Freshman year, Simon could feel his eyes widening as he tried to take in everything at once. It was overwhelming trying to process the transition from middle school to high school, but Clary seemed to adjusting to it with ease. That probably had to do with the fact that she had Jon and Jace to help. Alec was acting a bit distant lately and Simon noticed that he glanced at Jace more often than necessary.

Wherever Clary went, Jon or Jace was there to escort her. It was amusing as hell when she eventually snapped at Jon and told him that she didn't need an escort to the bathroom. Simon probably could have asked them to help show him where to find his classes but he wasn't that close to Jon and Jace was too distracted by Clary to even notice him. He was amazed that Clary didn't notice Jace's heated stares, but that helped Simon out since it meant that she didn't feel the same way for the Golden Boy.

After they got settled, an upper classman named Sebastian began to take an interest in Clary. The girls said that he was charming, but for once, he united with the guys and tried convincing Clary that he was bad news. There was something about the way that Sebastian looked at her when she wasn't looking that brought goose bumps to Simon's skin; it was the gaze of a predator.

It stung when Clary told him to back off and claimed that they were just friends. He let his jealousy get in the way and the ensuing argument nearly tore their friendship apart. For a week, Clary refused to speak to him, but that changed when Sebastian made his move. He finally asked Clary out and to everyone's surprise, she turned him down. Sebastian did not let that deter him and kept pestering her to agree to a date. Isabelle kept telling her to go for it, but Clary was always vague about why she didn't want to date him.

Simon only heard the rest of the story after everything had happened. Apparently, Sebastian had corned Clary alone in the parking lot and tried getting her to go for a ride. She refused and tried to walk away when Sebastian grabbed her arm. When Clary tried to pull away, Sebastian slapped her and drove off when he heard people coming. A stranger named Magnus found Clary weeping on the sidewalk, hiding behind a bush.

After much coaxing, he finally got her to come out and Clary had him drive her to the Lightwood's home. She couldn't face Jon just yet. Alec spotted them pull up and freaked out when he saw the tears streaking down her face. Before she could stop him, he called everyone down to help. Fortunately, Simon was hanging out with Isabelle and he ran down at Alec's insistent tone.

Instead of turning red like the guys, he and Isabelle brought her up to Izzy's room. They locked the guys out until they started to calm down and let them interrogate Magnus in the mean time. Jace slipped out during the chaos and nobody saw him for a few hours. He returned with a black eye, nodded at Jon, checked on Clary, and locked himself in his room.

Nobody saw Sebastian for a few days. When they did, he looked like he was mauled by a bear. Dark bruises covered every inch of his body, his left arm was in a sling, and he walked with a limp. He told the adults that he got into an accident, but people figured it out when Sebastian started to flinch near Jace. He avoided Jace at all costs and transferred schools before the year was over. It was brutal, but people learned an important lesson: never mess with one of Jace's friends.

Simon couldn't help but laugh. He finally figured out why Jace was upset and couldn't blame him, though his bruised jaw made it difficult to laugh. Everyone stared at him, demanding to know why he was laughing after getting punched but he brushed them away. He was tempted to sling his arm around Izzy's slender waist but decided against it if Jace returned. A small part of him felt a little bit of pride; Simon, the nerd, made the school's most eligible bachelor jealous.

~o.O.o~

Clary was steaming in her last few classes. Simon's jaw was rapidly turning purple but he said that he was fine. Even more confusing was the fact that he laughed and told them to go easy on Jace, because he would have done the same thing. Did she miss something? Better question: why did Jace punch him?

The ride home was tense. Both Jon and Clary wanted to find out what happened to Jace but he wasn't responding to anyone's messages. They stopped by his house and banged on the door, only to find that it was empty. Panic slowly started to ensue until Jace sent out a massive text to their group of friends, except Simon. It just stated that he was fine and would be in school tomorrow.

He didn't respond to any of their questions and eventually shut off his phone so nobody could reach him. Seeing that Jace didn't want to be found, everyone but Clary gave up. She had an idea of where Jace would go and waited until Jon fell asleep before leaving. At the last minute, she grabbed her old and current sketchpads and shimmied her way out the window.

Rubbing her arms, Clary briskly walked over to the old playground. He had a thing for swings and going on them always helped clear his head. Sure enough, Clary soon heard the familiar creek and let her previous rage consume her. She stalked over to the swings and waited for Jace to stop. He took his time and her anger started to bubble forth when she saw the misery written all over him.

"Now you look like the one who is walking to their doom." The thought slipped before she could stop it. The corner of Jace's mouth curved up but immediately disappeared.

"Where were you?"

"What do you mean?" Clary was confused.

"I waited up all night for you. I thought you were going to come back once your thing was over, but you never came. I stayed up all night thinking about you and what happened between us. I thought you regretted what happened and then I spent hours calling myself an ass for kissing you. Damn it, I shouldn't have done it and I should regret it, but I don't." Jace paused and made to take a step towards her, but then stopped.

"I have one rule when I kiss a girl. Never kiss someone who is already taken. I prided myself on the fact that I am at above some of those douches in school who just use girls, but yesterday proved that I was just as bad as them. I was so happy to hear how you felt and I regretted never letting you know how much I cared for you that I kissed you without thinking about it. I won't fault you for the kiss. I started it and it was therefore my fault. Don't beat yourself up over it and if you want, I will explain it to him."

Jace kept ranting but Clary stopped listening. It was confusing and she hated seeing the anguish on his face. "Wait, what are you talking about? Who are you going to explain the kiss to?"

"Simon, your boyfriend. I kissed you even though you guys are together and I am trying to explain that I regret it." Jace stared at her as if she lost her mind.

"Simon and I broke up." She stated that as if it was common knowledge. If it was, he sure as hell wasn't in the loop.

"When? If it was because of yesterday, then I will make it right between the two of you." Jace's face hardened in determination, but there was almost a gleeful look in his eye.

"Two weeks ago. We decided that it wasn't working and that we were better off being friends."

"Two weeks." Jace kept mumbling that under his breath and began to pace. Clary began to worry when his hand started to rake through his hair. That was a bad sign. Finally he stopped and turned towards her.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me that? We are supposed to be best friends and you couldn't be bothered to tell me that you broke up with your boyfriend after six months? I tell you everything Clary and I expected you to return the courtesy." Jace couldn't help letting the hurt leak into his voice.

"Why do you even care? You and I agreed that wouldn't talk about our relationships, so I never saw the need to bring it up." Clary could feel her voice rising and felt her fists clench in anger.

"I care about every damn thing that happens to you, whether it makes you happy or sad. And if you are sad then I will sure as hell find a way to make it better. Yes, we never spoke about our relationships with other people but I always made it clear to you when I broke up with one. I don't expect you to tell me right away, but in the past two weeks, you could have said something." Jace was right, and Clary knew she was slowly losing this battle.

"Fine, I probably should have said something but what about at lunch today? What the hell was that about?"

"I thought you were still with him and that was why you avoided me last night. At lunch, you two were sitting together and the second your back was turned, he was flirting with Isabelle, putting his hands all over her. I couldn't stand it. I want you so much and it looked like he was just throwing it all away by cheating on you, so I snapped." Sometime during the argument, their voices had calmed and they moved closer. Jace was now less than a foot away from her and she couldn't look away.

One of his hands traveled to the small of her back, while the other held her chin in place. He slowly inched forward, giving her time to back away. After losing their screaming match, Clary was not in the mood for a slow kiss. She grabbed the front of his shirt and slammed her lips onto his lips.

He didn't object and simply pulled her even closer. His hand left her chin and would into her hair, while the other helped keep her upright as he walked her backwards. She felt the cool press of metal against her thin dress and gasped. Jace took advantage of the moment and allowed his tongue to plunder her mouth. Moaning, Clary tried battling him but his experience eventually allowed his tongue to win.

Breathless, Clary pulled away and rested her head in the crook of his neck. "I hope there wasn't any confusion for this kiss." Jace said with a smirk. Clary was tempted to smack him upside the head but settled for a little bite on his collarbone.

"No, but if you keep acting like a cocky ass, I am going to leave a much bigger bite mark on you."

"I'd love that. Hmm, I never figured you to be a biter. I wonder what else I will learn about you." Jace winked and Clary could feel the heat searing her face. His eyes were obviously roving over her body and she felt a familiar tingle in the pit of her stomach starting to form.

Clary pulled away and grabbed his hand, unable to meet his eyes. "Come on, everyone is still pretty worried about you." Jace sighed, but allowed her to lead the way back. When they reached his house, Clary was about to let go when Jace tugged her back.

"Nope, if I am going to endure Izzy's screeching tomorrow, I might as well do it with a good night's sleep." Clary smiled and followed him up to his room. They had to climb the trellis in case someone was downstairs but that added to the excitement.

Settling in Jace's arms, he pulled the blanket around them. Clary reached over to set the alarm and planted a sloppy wet kiss on his face to annoy him. Disgusted, Clary relaxed into bed and drifted off to the sound of him grumbling.

~o.O.o~

Jace woke up to the sound of someone crashing through his window. He forgot to lock it last night and quickly reached over Clary to pull out a bat. The person's voice sounded familiar and his cursing woke Clary up. Frightened, she shrieked and slid behind Jace.

The intruder froze. "Clary?"