I felt hazy. My world was a whir of black and grey, unconsciousness with peeps of waking moments here and there. And all that I determined from my few fleeting moments of awareness was that I was pathetic. I remembered the fight, if only vaguely, and I remembered getting my ass kicked.

But that was all I could tell about what was happening. I heard whispered voices sometimes, sometimes the voices weren't whispering at all. I knew that the room I was in was dark, but that was all I could tell before the throbbing in my head dragged me back into blackness. One time I managed to glimpse a pair of bright green eyes among the darkness…

When I finally woke up, and managed to stay awake, I was alone. I was laying on my back, my head pulsing to my heart beat in pain. My ribs hurt, and when I tried to sit up, a groan escaped my lips. I looked around, moving as little as possible, for something to help me. I ended up mustering all of my courage and hoisting myself into a sitting position in one big movement.

And that's when I realised that I wasn't alone.

"M-mum?!" I cried when my eyes landed on her slumped figure that was resting in my desk chair. Her head was bowed and I figured she must have fallen asleep.

Her eyes snapped open at my exclamation, and she immediately sprang out of the chair and came to sit beside me on the bed. I could tell she wanted to hug me, but we both knew that it would cause me a bit of pain, so she settled for smoothing my hair back from my face. Her blonde hair was tinged with streaks of grey and her stormy eyes observed my face with concern.

"I'm sorry…" she said.

I frowned. "Don't be sorry. It was hardly your fault."

"It was my fault!" she said, her eyes beginning to water, "I… I…"

"You… You…?" I prompted, regretting my harsh arrogance as soon as the words left my mouth. I expected her to lose her train of thought and scold me, but she just looked at me with regretful eyes.

"I'm sorry I wasn't at home," she said softly, "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

I gaped at her. "I- I don't need protecting!"

My mum opened her mouth to say something, but another voice spoke over her, "Well, apparently you do."

I looked up to see Clary in the doorway. My mum's face closed up instantly, immediately blocking out any vulnerability that may have been there a moment before. A smile spread across her face. "Clary, sweetie!" My mum cried, "Please come in. I'll leave you guys alone to talk for a bit." And with one last suggesting wink at me, she swung out of the room, leaving Clary standing inside the doorway a little awkwardly. It was the first time I had seen her even remotely unsure of herself.

"You can sit down if you want," I said, flashing what I hoped was a confident smile, "I don't bite, you know."

Clary let out a stubborn huff and sat down, shocking me by sitting down on the bed beside me rather than in the office chair. My smile faltered.

She stared up at me through her orange fringe, her green eyes glowing in the dim light of the room. My palms started to get sweaty, and I had to resist the urge to slap myself in the face to keep my cool.

"I'm sorry, Jace," she said quietly, something in her voice sounding broken.

"What for?"

"For…" she paused, and I got the impression that she was trying to think of what to say, "The future."

I frowned. "What, did you read my palms while I was asleep and they said I was going to die?"

I grinned, but she just looked away and murmured, "Something like that."

My stomach twisted. "What are you doing here anyways?"

She looked back up at me, her eyes locking with mine. "I wanted to make sure you were ok. I can't believe what Seb did… I'm so sorry."

"Stop apologizing! It's not your fault that he's a douche."

Clary smiled shyly. She kept her hands wrapped around her stomach, which confused me. Surely she wasn't self-conscious…

"Does it hurt?" she asked, her gaze flickering from my face to my abdomen.

I brought a hand up and gently poked at the bruised skin. It did hurt. "Not really."

"What about your stomach? I'm surprised he didn't break any ribs."

My eyes flickered down to her stomach and the way she was clutching, and I realised that she wasn't being self-conscious at all…

"I'll show you mine is you show me yours?" I said seriously, although she laughed.

She rolled her eyes once and then held out her hand. I shook and then lifted up my shirt. Even I gasped at the sight. An angry purpling bruise had blossomed across the left side of my abdomen, spreading from my rib cage down to my hip bone. Clary covered her mouth, her eyes bulging.

"Can I…?" she started, but then shook her head, "Never mind."

"Go ahead." I sighed, knowing what she was thinking.

Gently, she reached out and trailed her fingers along the bruised skin. It tingled, but she was far too gentle to cause any pain. When she pulled back, I let my shirt fall, and then looked at her expectantly.

She sighed and lifted her shirt, just enough for me to see the blooming bruise across her stomach. I tried my best not to stare at the pale skin surrounding the bruise, but I felt like I might have let my eyes linger a second too long.

I looked back up into her eyes, and I saw a decision flicker there. "Go on," she said.

I stared at her, confused. She leant forwards and took my hand in hers, pulling it forward. She rested my hand gently over the bruise. Her skin was cold.

I was shocked at first, but I quickly recovered and trailed my fingers along her stomach, being careful not to aggravate the bruise. It was weird. I was weird. She was weird. This whole situation was just extremely weird.

I left my hand on her stomach, not willing to pull away for some reason, and I looked up once more into her eyes. She was looking at me strangely, almost expectantly. I frowned, only slightly. The corner of her mouth ticked up and she rested her hand over mine, directing it across to rest on her hip.

She placed her hand gently on my shoulder, and she scooted forward a bit. She was moving closer, and I was frozen. I had been in more intense situations before, but I couldn't react. My breath hitched in my throat, and before I knew it her lips were brushing over mine.

It took me approximately seven seconds to actually react. I counted. The whole time my mind screamed, do something, idiot! My grip around her hip tightened and I cupped her cheek with my other, pulling her towards me. And, finally, I kissed her back. It was the biggest relief I had had since coming to this new school. Somewhere, deep down, I was still the Jace Herondale that had existed at my old school.

And right at that moment, my door flung open and I heard a startled squeal. I pulled away quickly, straightening my shirt that I hadn't even realised was being lifted upwards by Clary. How did she manage that? I turned to the doorway, expecting it to be my mum. But no…

In the doorway stood Simon, his hands over his eyes and his mouth open in a silent scream. "Simon?!" I cried.

Clary just giggled. "C'mon, Simon, don't look so horrified. We're teenagers. This stuff happens."

Part of me agreed, but part of me was hurt by her words. Did all of that just happen because 'we're teenagers'? But the other thing that was getting to me…

"You two know each other?" I asked incredulously.

"Of course!" Simon exclaimed at the same time that Clary mumbled, "Not really."

I shook my head and sighed. "Don't worry about it. Simon, what are you doing here?"

The geek shuffled his feet awkwardly, "I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

I looked back at Clary, realising I hadn't even asked what she was doing here. "And you?"

"Same here," she said, "Believe it or not, we care about you, at least a little bit."

"You guys barely know me," I said suspiciously.

Simon shrugged. "Think of us like that one distant relative that you see every five years, have no clue who they are, but they babble on about how much they've missed you each time they see you. Consider us to be like your extended family."

I sighed. "Terrible comparison Lewis."

"At least I tried." He scoffed.

And despite everything, I was grinning. I felt like thing might not be so bad after all. Perhaps the tides were turning once again.

Thanks for reading :D Hope I have satisfied everyone's Clace cravings for now! See ya next week ;D