Okay so I'm sorry... you know, for updating late and all as usual. Soz guys.

Anyways I'm guessing that some of you won't be very happy with my after this chapter, but try and keep in mind I'm trying to build everything up for future chapters :D

ENJOY :D

"I don't really know what's happening," I told my mum, to no response.

I looked down at her. Her hands, which I had enveloped in my own, were cold. Her face, although pale, still had the slightest of rose in its cheeks. Her blonde hair had become thinner and frail. You could find loose strands of it on her shoulders and pillows. It had been about two months now, and she hadn't woken up. But still, the faint beep beep beeping of the monitors connected to her pulse gave me hope.

"I'm back at school," I continued, "And it's been about a month now. I'm with the boys again and they're being really supportive. They don't know about you and Valentine and Cece though… well John does, but not anyone else."

I paused, looking at her face again. I wished she would just wake up already. I was tired of Valentine and the way he treated Cece and I. It wasn't fair. I was sick of him holding my mum over me, blackmailing me. But I was mostly just sick of looking at her closed eyes and hollow cheeks.

"I made the football team…" I choked, holding back the tears that were burning behind my eyes, "Well, I didn't really do much. You know how that coach is. He was bouncing around in joy when I showed up at his staffroom and asked to go through the trials. I even got my old position back."

She didn't reply, but I didn't expect any kind of reaction anymore. I had pretty much given up on seeing her eyes flutter open, or even a twitch of her finger to let me know she was still there. That never happened. I shouldn't have hoped for it in the first place. This wasn't fiction.

"You know, Valentine hasn't stopped. He says I have to stay with him or else he'll take off your life support. And he's still hurting Cece. I'm doing my best thought, mum."

I closed my eyes to try and stop any tears from spilling. I took one of my hands away from hers and prodded the tender bruise on the left side of my cheek that had begun to bloom yesterday.

"Jace…" I small voice said.

I opened my eyes in shock, but my mum's were still closed. I thought for a moment that I had been imagining things, but then a small hand fell onto my shoulder and I realised Cece had come to get me. It was time to go home. If you could even call it a home. I sighed, knowing that if I didn't leave now that Valentine would come to get us. And so I stood, letting my mum's hands fall out of mine and followed Cece out of the hospital room. The last thing that I wanted was for Valentine to get anywhere near her ever again.

The drive home was uneventful. Valentine didn't say a word, and neither did I. When we got home, I went straight up to my room and curled up in a ball. I was always like this after I had seen my mum. Every time I visited that small, sterile hospital room, another small piece of hope that was in my heart crumbled away. Now there was hardly anything left.

Tap!

The sound at my window made me jump. I clambered up and squinted into the darkening yard. There was someone standing on the lawn, waving erratically at me. With a frown I turned away from the window and opened my door. I looked around the hallway, but it seemed that Cece had gone to her room and Valentine was planted in front of the television downstairs, the volume turned up so loud that I heard it clearly from there. Rebellion swelled in my stomach, but I knew that I shouldn't leave Cece alone with Valentine. I made my way back to the window and searched for the figure. I shook my head when I saw him, but he kept waving and gesturing for me to climb down to him.

I looked back at my door, thinking of how easily I could descend using the panelling on the side of the house. I was about to turn my back completely on the window, knowing my responsibilities of being an older brother, but then my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Get your ass down here right now! I've seen you climb from that room a thousand times. Don't screw with me."

"John?" I said in exasperation, "What are you doing? You know I can't leave Cece here alone."

"Dude, I know you're worried but Valentine is already passed out. I can see him through your front door," he chuckled for a moment, "It's actually pretty funny."

"Shit, John!" I hissed into the phone, "What are you doing? Do you have any idea what would happen if he saw you?"

"Who are you? My mum? Hurry up and get down here!"

I sighed, but before I could say anything he pleaded, "Pretty please? I'm throwing a party but the girls are disappointed that you aren't there and are going to leave."

Some of my anger dissipated. "I thought I already told you I couldn't go to your party. This isn't like you… wait, have you been drinking?"

There was a pause from the other side of the phone, but when he spoke I could hear the grin in his voice, "Well, yeah! I have no parents to tell me not to after all! Don't you want to do the same?"

I couldn't help but laugh. His parents were hardly ever home, so his house was a common place for parties. "It's not even six 'o' clock yet." I argued.

"Best to start parties early, my friend."

I sighed, knowing he was winning. My fingers absently traced the bruise on my cheek that I had forgotten about. "I-I can't."

"What? I thought I was winning you over." He whined.

"You were," I assured him, "But I just can't."

He was silent for a while, and I could tell his usual cool and collected self was coming out. I could hear the understanding when he asked, "It's another bruise, isn't it?"

He had been the only person to see through the makeup I had stolen from Cece recently, and the covering clothes. "Yeah."

There was a pause for a while, and then the grin was back in his voice. "Ok. Don't worry about it. I've got an idea. Now get down here."

Ten minutes later, I was sulking down the street towards John's house. His plan was stupid, but it was enough to convince me to tag along for just a couple of hours. I was going to be back home by nine to make sure nothing happened to Cece.

The parties that went on at John's place were fairly tame from an outside perspective, but they were some of the best parties I had been to. Approaching the house, you could see that the mood lights were on, and there were a few people inside, but the music wasn't blaring and there weren't kids fighting on the front lawn, unlike in Philadelphia…

Although one should never trust initial appearances. When we walked through the door, music pounded in my ears and the smell of sweat assaulted my nose. People were crowded in the front hall and the lounge room, with a few stragglers making out in the kitchen and study, and no doubt upstairs in the bedrooms. I tried to weave through the hallway, but almost as soon as I walked in a cheer went up from the lounge room and multiple pairs of hands reached out to pull me towards them.

The first pair belonged to a tall, slender girl who looked only vaguely familiar. It was like looking at a lankier, less pretty version of Camille. "Jace," she screeched, "Come dance with me."

I heard muffled laughter from John, but it disappeared almost immediately as he ducked into the crowd, leaving me alone. I looked back at the girl who now had her arms laced around my neck. "I, um, I'm sorry…" I mumbled, "Who are you again?"

She only looked slightly offended for half a moment. "I'm Kaelie," she chirped, "But I don't need you to tell me who you are, Jace Herondale."

I awkwardly laughed a breathy laugh. "That's… um… not creepy at all."

"What happened to you?" she asked suddenly, trailing her hands over my face, her nails tracing over where the bruise on my cheek was.

"Oh, uh," I said, feeling awkward.

"He had a punch up!" John blurted, appearing next to me. He threw his arm over my shoulders and said, grinning, "With me. Just a little disagreement, so it's not a biggie. That bruise just shows that he's not so tough after all, right Jacey?" he winked at me and I rolled my eyes.

Almost immediately I heard people whispering things like, "John and Jace had a fight?", "Aren't they like best friends?" and "Wait, does this mean John is better than Jace. He doesn't look like he's bruised."

"That's right!" John said to a group of girls, "I'm far stronger than Jace. You could even say I'm better looking, wouldn't you say?"

The girls giggled and I glared at him murderously.

"Jace?" Kaelie persisted, "Dance with me."

I looked down at her. She was attractive enough, and it wasn't like dancing with her would be bad. The music pulsed around me and forced my worries away. "Come on, Jace," John called, "Try being a normal teenager for a little bit!"

And so I grinned and took Kaelie by the hip. We danced together, and she constantly had her body pushed up against mine. The lounge room was packed, so there wasn't much moving room, but it was enjoyable none the less. At some point, John appeared again with a few bottles of beer and handed one to me. I drank it without hesitation, surprising even myself. After that, there were multiple stops to the kitchen to chug another alcoholic drink of some kind.

I lost track of time and the amount of drinks I had consumed, but it was enough to start making me dizzy and made me feel the buzz all over my body. Kaelie stuck with me the whole time, which was weird, but I still managed to catch up with Jordan and a couple of the other football boys. I was back in the lounge room, dancing with Kaelie, when I spotted Camille.

She looked pretty, her hair pulled into a sleek ponytail, her eyes accentuated with bold eye makeup and her lips painted a bright red. I paused, staring at her. I forgot completely about everything that happened since I had moved to Philadelphia and for a moment was convinced that she was still my girlfriend. I started to walk towards her, but someone beat me to it.

I watched as Magnus brought her a cup and place his hand on her hip. The way she smiled at him forced all the remaining sense in me out. I didn't know why I was so affected by it… I already knew they were dating now. I stepped backwards, away from the couple.

Why did I care? Because of the alcohol? Or because I wasn't over her? Surely that shouldn't have been the case. It wasn't like I ever loved her, right? It wasn't like that. But then that little thought rung in my mind. That's right. That's not who you are. You aren't the one to be attached to someone. You're Jace Herondale. You're meant to be a normal teenage boy.

Kaelie's hand snaked over my shoulder. "What's wrong Jace?"

"Nothing…" I mumbled.

I'm not sure if it was safe to blame it on the alcohol and the whole vibe of the party or not, but I turned towards her, the less-pretty, lankier version of Camille, and gripped her waist with both hands. I lowered my face to hers and pressed my lips to her in a heated frenzy.

A normal teenage boy.

Her nails trailed down my chest and she pressed herself as close as she could have possible gotten to me. I couldn't even say if kissing her pleasurable or not, but I kept it going. Even when she pulled away and began to tug me towards one of the bedrooms, I let her. It was definitely something I would have done before I moved, but I couldn't have imagined it happening again.

Try being a normal teenager for a bit.

Kaelie closed the door to the bedroom and latched herself onto me again, pushing me down onto the bed. Her hands trailed under my shirt and lifted it over my head. I was aware that my abdomen had a now faded bruise, but I doubted that it was a relevant topic of discussion to Kaelie at that point in time.

I kept the pressure of how lips constant as my hands began to wander, and she helped me with the removal of her own shirt. It wasn't until then, at the sight of her bare stomach and lacy bra, that the full realisation of what I had been going to do hit me. "I-I-I'm sorry…" I began.

"No!" She hissed, "Please, don't stop."

She pulled my face back down to hers and I fell back into the trance of kissing her once more, but only for a few moments. I pulled back again, and this time pulled my body off of the bed and began to search for my discarded shirt.

"Jace," she pleaded, "Please. You don't know how long I've dreamed for this. You can't just stop here!"

"I'm sorry," I said again, "But I can't treat you like that."

"Please," she repeated, her voice cracking, "You can use me all you like. I don't care! Just please keep going…"

I looked back at her, feeling pity swelling within me. "I'm sorry, Kaelie. I just can't."

I found my shirt and pulled it over my head. I looked back at her panicked, tear-stained face once more before leaving the room. I cringed at the shriek that followed from the room once I left, but didn't go back. I pushed through the crowds of people to get to the front door and stumbled into the cool fresh air. Guilt welled inside of me and all I wanted to do was get back to Cece to make sure she was ok. My mind was still hazy when I stumbled through the front door of my house. Maybe that's why I didn't notice that Valentine wasn't in front of the TV anymore.

The lights upstairs were all turned off, which confused me. My phone told me it was one in the morning. When I opened the door to my room and flicked the lights on, I was shocked to see Valentine sitting in the desk chair. He had a belt, folded, in his lap.

"Would you care to explain where you were tonight?" he asked.

I swallowed hard and answered, "At a party."

"A party?" his voice was like ice as he rose from the chair and paced towards me, "Without my permission?"

I balled my hands into fists and clenched my teeth together. I nodded.

Valentine sighed and raised the belt.

Hope you enjoyed :) Thanks for reading!