Green and Gold Chapter 7: Facing the World, a mortal instruments fanfic

Oh my God! I am so sorry for the delay in updating! I would give you a million reasons why I couldn't update, some of which are valid, but they are just excuses and you guys deserve better. Here is my latest chapter, and it was originally going to be a lot longer, but the result was too long. I didn't want to bombard you guys with everything, so the next chapter, which is really part II, will be posted in a few more days.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me so far in this story! I really appreciate your reviews, favorites, and follows. I already have the whole plot laid out, but since I took so much time with this chapter, I will do you guys a favor. If you suggest some ideas to me, I will be sure to incorporate the best one into my story! (Plus credit for the idea!)

She lifted her left hand up and stared at her ring. Sunlight peeked through the cracks of the curtains and cast a spotlight on the diamond. An entire prism of colors exploded onto the sheets, each color twinkling and rapidly changing with the slightest movement. The design was simple, a diamond sitting atop a field of gold, but the size, however, was another story. The diamond dwarfed the gold band and the extra weight dragged her finger down. Everything had gone to plan. The ring was her spoils of war and the ensuing celebration would be her wedding.

Two images popped into her mind before she could lock them away. The first was a simple tiger lily resting on an indented pillow. The vibrant orange was the only few traces of color in the room and against the white background, it stood out. It was not accompanied by a note, but she understood the message. Even now, she smiled at the memory. The second image was a pair of confused, yet amazed amber eyes, clouded by the pelting rain. Turning onto her stomach, she brushed the images away; it was all in the past and she hated bringing up the past.

~o.O.o~

After much prodding from Jace, Clary finally snuck back into her room. Running low on time, she hastily threw on a fitted green shirt and a short black skirt, braiding her tangled hair as she ran down the stairs. As she walked by the hallway mirror, Clary paused and stared. Her curls were a little more mussed than usual and her lips were still swollen, but there was something different. Even now, she had a slight smile on her face and almost looked like she was glowing. If I look like this now, I wonder what I will look like when I sleep with Jace. The thought made her blush and she caught herself. If she sleeps with him, not when.

With Jace it probably would only be a matter of time before they slept together. He may have deep feelings for her, but he was Jace Lightwood and according to Isabelle, he rarely went more than a few days without some sort of action. Heavy make out sessions like last night wouldn't be able to sustain him for long.

Clary started nibbling on her fingernail. Ever since she slept with Simon, she wasn't as shy around the topic of sex, to Isabelle's great disappointment, and even caught herself fantasizing about Jace a few times. Still, thinking about it and actually going through with it were two different things and she wasn't ready to jump into bed with Jace after being together for less than a day.

A large hand settled on her shoulder, startling her from her examination. "Clarissa, you have ten minutes before I leave for work. Jonathan left an hour ago to speak to the coach and unless you want to walk to school, I suggest you stop staring at yourself and get ready for school." Clary waited for her father to leave before she tied off her hair and went into the kitchen to grab an apple. Opening the fridge, Clary saw a bag of strawberries with a sticky note attached. 'Sorry for leaving. I had to talk to coach. -Jon.

Smiling, Clary felt her annoyance ebb away. Jon knew how much she hated spending time alone with their father and found the perfect way to make up for it. She dropped the berries in her bag and quickly walked out of the door, leaving two minutes to spare. Her father was not kidding; he followed through with his threats.

Clary slid into the back seat, situating herself as far away from her father as possible. It wasn't that she did it out of discomfort, rather, that was the way they always sat. Father sat in the driver's seat, Jon right behind him, Clary was next to Jon, and the front seat was left open. It was where her mother used to sit. Since that day, they all agreed to leave the seat empty, unless they had a guest.

They spent the car ride in a comfortable silence. Her father must have been in a good mood because he turned on the radio, tuning it to his favorite station. Classical music softly drifted through the speakers and Clary could almost picture the way the player's fingers flew over the keys. It was a difficult piece and it took Jonathan weeks to master it. She loved listening to him play and would spend hours drawing to whatever melody he decided to play.

Just as the song trickled to a close, her father pulled to a stop outside of the school. Perfect timing, as always. "If Robert and Maryse agree, you may stay over the Lightwood's residence for the night. I have already placed $50 in the front pocket of your bag so that you do not inconvenience the Lightwoods and I trust you to complete your homework. Jonathan has already been notified and agreed to stay with the Lightwoods. My guest will be coming over at six so if you need anything, come home and get it as soon as you are out of school." Hearing the dismissal, Clary got out of the car, wished her father a good day, and watched as he drove away.

Once again, a hand settled on her shoulder, startling her out of her thoughts. "You know, I can practically see the smoke coming out of your hair. It's trying to escape that rat's nest of curls that you call hair, but I think it's stuck." Turning around, Clary attempted to glare at Jace, but failed miserably when she saw the bright smile on his face.

It was infectious and Clary noticed that Jace's bright mood seemed to spread throughout the school. In every hallway, students laughed louder, smiled more, and buzzed with energy. Slinging his arm around her shoulders, Jace brought their bodies closer and a noticeable heat spread throughout her body. Clary tried pushing the nagging heat away, but each brush of his calloused skin on her arm increased its fervor. What was happening to her?

The warmth was suddenly snatched away from her shoulders as Simon and Isabelle arrived. Hanging back, Simon and Clary watched as Isabelle went on a tirade, screaming at Jace for being irresponsible, having no regard for her feelings, acting like a complete caveman for punching Simon, and the list went on. Jace took it all in stride, and if Clary looked closely, she could see a slight smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. Isabelle however, was too busy to notice and only stopped once the bell rang. Turning around, she whipped her hair back, making sure it smacked Jace in the chest, and went off to class.

"Well, that's one way to make sure I don't stay in bed. Screw alarm clocks, I can just listen to Isabelle's screeching every morning." Jace rubbed his ears as if they actually hurt. "I don't suppose you will kiss my ears better?"

Jace gave her his best puppy dog face, knowing she would crack. He used to pull that look all the time whenever he wanted something or was about to get in trouble. When they were young, all it took was one look for her to cave and the only reason he stopped using it was because it wasn't 'manly'. Covering her eyes, Clary tried to avoid seeing his wide eyes and pouting lips; she felt like she was kicking an actual puppy whenever she tried to say no to him when he was like that.

Warm fingers went to her wrists, trying to be gentle as he pulled them apart. She refused to budge and suddenly felt his body pushing her back into the lockers, his hips locking her in place and reigniting the heat between her legs. Surprised, her grip loosened and Jace successfully pulled her hands away, forcing her to look at him. Damn him, he still had it.

"Just one kiss?" Clary sighed in resignation, fighting the smile pulling at her lips.

"Just one, unless of course you more. In which case, I have several more injuries that are in desperate need of your soothing lips." Jace wiggled his eyebrows. Clary blushed at the obvious innuendo and if they were alone, she might have taken him up on his offer. There were some places on his body that she definitely wouldn't mind kissing or licking, like his well toned abs. Likewise, there were places she would love for him to kiss and even bite. When they dated, Simon used to joke that she was like a vampire's subjugate because she loved being bitten on her neck.

Leaning on her toes, Clary gave each of his ears a slight peck. His hips were still holding her in place so she was barely able to reach, but Jace didn't show any sign of moving.

"Jace, why are you holding my little sister against my locker and why is she kissing your ears?" Jace immediately jerked back, rubbing his neck as he tried to figure out what to say. Clary was mortified. This was too early. They were planning on telling Jon later today, preferably when he was exhausted from football practice. Hiding behind Jace like a coward, she peeked over, trying to gauge Jon's reaction as he stared at Jace.

His arms were crossed over his chest and his feet were planted together; a passive pose meant Jace still had a chance. Actually, Jace was probably just as strong as Jon but an angry Jon was outright scary and violent. His face wasn't angry, but it definitely wasn't happy and Clary prayed that Jace would phrase things very carefully.

Stepping to the side, Jace grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. "I know this is all of a sudden Jon, but Clary and I are going out. I planned on telling you later tonight, but you obviously caught us before we could say anything. Just know that I care about her and wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

Jon's nostrils flared and his fists started to clench. Shit. Jace narrowed his eyes and pulled her behind him, preparing to fight if needed. The tension between the two was palpable and the people around them were starting to take notice. Whispers too soft to hear filled the hallway and it only seemed to increase the tense silence between the two boys.

Clary knew that Jace didn't want to do anything, but if Jon swung, then Jace would be forced to act. It all depended on Jon and Clary hoped he wouldn't do anything rash. Both his future and life depended on his football career, but that would go down the drain if he fought. Students who fight are automatically suspended, which means he would not be able to play this season and therefore, college football recruiters would not see him play. Football was Jon's one-way ticket into the Ivy League and their father would kill him if he screwed that up.

Slowly, Jon closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he nodded and walked away, leaving behind a crowd of confused people. Grumbling in disappointment, the onlookers dispersed and satisfied themselves by creating wild stories to explain what had just happened. Clary could already hear two loud freshmen girls saying that she was in a love triangle with Jace and Jon, but Jace was winning. Jon only backed away because he wanted to win Clary back after school. That led to a heated discussion on who was hotter: Jon or Jace. Clary could tell that Jace over heard when he scoffed and turned away from the chattering girls.

Looking up at him, Clary wasn't sure what to say to Jace about what had just happened. Class hadn't even started yet, and their plans for the day were already going out the window. She wasn't entirely comfortable with the fact that half the school knew they were going out and could only imagine some of their reactions.

The guys would probably inflate Jace's ego by congratulating him on having the guts to ask out the "forbidden fruit". The girls on the other hand, would probably circle around her like vultures, searching for signs of vulnerability, and pouncing the moment their relationship looked like trouble. Some girls, like Kaelie, probably wouldn't even wait for something bad to happen; they would create it for themselves if needed. Clary could already feel glares burning their way through her back, trying to incinerate her body so that they could have Jace for themselves.

A warm hand tilted her chin up and she was greeted with a hesitant smile. "Well, at least we finally got that out of the way and without any sort of bodily harm, though Jon did look tempted. Compared to him, telling everyone else will be a piece of cake, especially since half the school already knows about us."

His chuckle brought a shiver down her back. Noticing it, Jace slipped off his leather jacket settled it over her shoulders, and pulled her close to his body. It was comforting and even though the heat was starting to become too much for her, she smiled as Jace's scent washed over her. Wrapping her arm around his waist, Clary watched as Jace used his free hand to open his locker, which was right next to Jon's locker, and slid his bag onto the shelf.

Without hesitation, he withdrew from her side and stepped behind her. He gently pulled her bag off her shoulders and threw it in the locker, pausing to ask if she needed anything from it. Surprised, Clary had to clear her throat before answering. "Yeah let me grab my books."

Clary reach over and pulled out all of the books she would need for the day since she wasn't sure if she would be able to come back and get her stuff. As she reached for her fifth book, Jace's hand pulled it out of her grasp and looked at her in confusion. "Why are you grabbing your art supplies when you have the class at the end of the day?"

Blushing, Clary looked down. "Well, I don't want to bother you every time I need to grab something from your locker, so I figured that I might as well bring all of my stuff with me. There really aren't that many things Jace; I can handle the extra weight." Sighing, Jace picked apart her pile, only letting her keep her History notebook.

"No, it is a big deal. First off, you are no longer allowed to carry your books to class. Second, what's mine is yours Clare-belle, so get used to using my locker. Besides, my locker is next to most of your classes, so it would be more convenient to use it." Reaching for her hand, he magically made a pen appear and wrote his locker combination on her wrist. He signed his name on it with an elegant flourish, smirking at the result.

"There, now you can go into my locker whenever you want, but keep my combo a secret. Around here, my locker combo is a fortune." Clary didn't even bother resisting the urge to smack him upside his swollen head. He was acting like a chauvinistic ass by refusing to let her carry anything, but the intent was sweet. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, until she saw the ink written on her arm.

As promised, he wrote down his locker combination, and underneath that was his name, written across her entire forearm. A little heart even decorated the bottom of it and combined with the elegant handwriting, everyone would assume that she wrote it. "Jace you asshole! Why did you sign your name all over my arm? Everyone is going to think I turned into one of your crazy groupies!" Fuming, Clary watched with narrowed eyes as Jace had the nerve to smirk.

He pulled her tightly to his chest and placed an apologetic kiss on her lips, though he didn't look anywhere near remorseful. Instead, he looked proud of his signature and pressed a kiss right above her pulse. Her heart rate immediately picked up and Jace clearly noticed by the way his smile grew.

"You are mine, just as I am yours. I was only making that clear to anyone who couldn't understand it. And anyone who knows you will be able to tell that you didn't write it; your handwriting makes chicken scratch look legible." Seeing the impending slap, Jace stepped back and continued. "If you want, you can mark me in any way you want. Feel free to be creative."

Stomping away, Clary took a move out of Izzy's book. She huffed and made her hair whip him in the chest as she turned, ignoring Jace's cries as she walked away. Going to the nearest bathroom, she turned on the faucet, ready to wipe away the dark blue ink on her arm. Wetting a napkin, she smudged his name from her arm, taking a small amount of delight as she pictured his reaction when he looked at her arm. Opening her phone, she copied down his locker combination and wiped that off as well.

The only remnant of Jace's stupidity was the small heart on her pulse. Looking around, Clary threw away her napkin before she could wipe it away. Jace was definitely acting like an idiot, but he was her idiot and what he said made sense. She wanted people to know that she was taken, and even if nobody else understood the meaning of the heart, she knew what it meant; she belonged to Jace and was proud to display it. The late bell shattered the still silence in the bathroom and Clary quickly ran out, cursing Jace for making her late.

He wasn't to blame, but it was easier to blame him than admit that she lost track of time because she was too busy thinking about his golden eyes, or chiseled jaw. Slipping into her first class, she was about to sit down in a random seat when she saw her sketchpad. It was sitting atop a pile of books, reserving her a seat right next to the windows, her favorite spot in a classroom. Grudgingly, she smiled. That idiot may have a giant head, but at least he has his moments.

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