Serendipity - Chapter 6

"You don't wanna die tonight,

Take one more breath to clear your mind.

Every moment's relevant,

Bittersweet and delicate,

Tomorrow may not come again."

- 24 Floors by The Maine

XxSPxX

My phone rings and, when I'm checking the caller I.D, my heart speeds up significantly. It's Jace. How the hell did he get my number? And, don't forget, the fact that my phone recognizes his number is a different story. Sneaky bastard.

Taking a deep breath, my finger quickly stabs the green 'answer' button before my brain has a chance to over-think this scenario. "This is Clary, who may I be speaking to?"

I mentally face-palm and shake my head. The deep, familiar chuckle on the other end of the line makes me, inadvertently, grin as wide as a Cheshire cat.

"Did I program your phone wrong or did you completely just ignore who was calling? That's dangerous, sweetheart, I hope you understand." His voice sounds a lot less distracting over the phone, but distracting nonetheless. Though, because of this, my mind allows me to actually form a coherent sentence that I can vocalize. Nice one, Clary. Thanks for actually being functional around this guy for once.

"I don't know, Jace, why don't you tell me? Since you appear to know me so well." Raising my eyebrow, I climb off of my bed to grab my paint set from my drafting desk. My feet somehow tangle themselves up and I trip, hitting my foot straight into the corner of the table. I let out a loud groan as I hear a faint crack. Dammit. For real? Why now?

"Woah there, green eyes, calm down. What happened?" He chuckles over the phone, and I scowl at him, knowing full well that he can't see me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to think about anything but the throbbing pain in my foot.

"I'm fine," my words come out quietly, as they're being breathed out between my clenched teeth. "Just peachy."

"You don't sound too peachy, sweetheart. You want me to come over? You know, check if you fucked something up real bad? Because I'm sure that I heard something crack. Not a too good a sign, huh?"

"Fine, whatever. And please don't make conversation with my brother. I know you guys are friends and everything, but it'd save me a lot of trouble if you either lied to him about why you're here, or avoid all contact with him. Please and thank you." I poke the underside of my foot slightly with my index finger and draw a sharp breath through my teeth as a wave of stinging pain washes through me.

"Yeah, okay, I'm coming over. You want me to call Isabelle?"

"Please do. I'm gonna hang up now because I don't think I can talk too much anymore. It hurts. And tell Izzy to call Alec. He's done some medical training as well."

"No problem. I can do that. I'll be there in 10, sweetheart."

He hangs up and I drop my phone on the bed, cradling my foot gingerly. I do this for about 5 minutes until the throbbing pain is just an ache in the background. Hot damn, Clary. Nice freaking move.

A knock on my door startles me out of my thoughts. Surprise registers in my mind. No one in my house ever bothers to knock on my door unless something serious is happening.

"Come in...?" I speak, slightly confused. A head of hair so similar to mine pops in and I'm staring at the same colored eyes as well.

"Hey, honey. Uh, there's someone on the phone for you downstairs. It sounds like a boy. Can you answer it please? Or should I just send it to the phone in here?"

"Just send it in here, Mom. Would've saved you the trouble of coming up here anyways. But thanks for asking, at least."

"No problem, sweetie. Give me a minute, okay?"

The door closes behind my mother and I look down at my slowly swelling ankle. The underside of my foot is an unnatural firetruck red while the rest of it is just a regular shade of red. Shaking my head, I slide myself backwards so that I'll be able to reach the phone when it rings. And it does.

"Hello?" I pick it up, rubbing a hand over my face.

"Hi," Jace's voice fills my ears again. A sense of warmth rushes through me and I grin. "My cell died and the only number that Alec had was your house number. Hope I didn't cause you too much trouble."

"Not at all. Where's Isabelle?"

"Getting some pants on," Alec mumbles in the background. I chuckle, knowing my best friend well enough that I understand. She doesn't wear any pants around the house. She wears underwear, but pants just "weigh her down".

Jace laughs heartily and speaks again. "Yeah. We'll be there in about 3 minutes if your friend hurries her ass up."

"Shut up, Jace," a recognizable female voice grumbles this in the background.

"Oh. Speak of the devil." Alec laughs.

"We'll be there really soon, sweetheart. Don't break something again, okay?"

"Whatever. Bye guys."

I hang up and lay back, after placing the phone on its base. My ears faintly register someone calling my name from downstairs. It's sure as hell not my mom because the voice is way too deep. But now, I can't differentiate my brother and my father's voice.

"Clary! Come and see this!"

Yeah, definitely my father.

"Coming, Dad!"

I hop up from my bed and my knees rapidly buckle. The first thing that enters my line of vision is the white carpeting of my floor and the only thing that my brain is thinking right now is oh shit.

I blink my eyes slowly, looking at my surroundings. My father is at the door, staring at me in horror. My mom is yelling at Jonathan to do God knows what, and my foot still hurts like a bitch. Damn.

"Clarissa, are you okay? Is it the anemia? Is it-"

My father's incessant rambling is cut off by the sound of the doorbell. I shoot a sweet smile in my father's direction.

"Father, dear, would you mind getting the door for me? As you can see, I am severely disabled at this moment in time. It'd be great if you could invite the hoard of teenagers at the door to my humble dwelling. Just tell them to get their asses up here and get them up here quick."

My dad just nods obediently and runs downstairs.

Damn. Jonathan is now most likely gonna run into my Jace. My luck is seriously diminishing as I get older, or it was really bad from birth. Either way it sucks.

Someone clears their throat obnoxiously and I look up to see 3 tall people, looming in my doorway. I wave them inside, giving them notice to close the door behind them.

"Hey, sweetheart," Jace smiles at me. He's holding a first aid kit. "Why are you on the floor, may I ask?"

"No reason," I lie flawlessly, glancing at Isabelle. She's the only one who can see through my blatant lie. "Now give me medical treatment. My foot hurts really bad."

Alec bends down after snatching the kit from a distracted Jace. He's looking around my room, staring at the murals. His golden eyes finally land on the picture reflecting them. Jace's eyes grow wide as he steps towards it, cocking his head to the side.

"Jesus, Clary, I didn't know that you're an artist," he whistles, a ghost of a smile shadowing his lips.

"There are a lot of things that you don't- SHIT ALEC!" I yell the last part, tears pricking my eyes as his long fingers forcefully press down on the swollen part of my ankle.

"Sorry, Clary," he smiles apologetically up at me.

"Where'd Isabelle go?" I ask, confused.

"Right here," she wheezes. "I needed to pee. And why does climbing your stairs always feel like I'm climbing 24 floors up instead of one?"

"Good question. I have no idea."

AN: HIELLO. Omg actually I just finished the chapter when the song 24 floors by The Maine came on so I was like for real yes. And this is mainly a filler chapter and whatever.

Okay, tell me what you wanna see more of bc there are a lot of people saying that they want something, but tons of other people want to see something else. Who would you guys like me to add into the equation? Simon? Sebastian? Kaelie? Take your pick, I don't really mind what the outcome is, as long as y'all like it.

Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review bc you know how much those make my day. :D

My love for you guys is balls deep. ;)

-fucj