Chapter 4

Last night, after leaving the studio, Clary had gone to the supermarket near their apartment to get supplies for the dinner she would make Alec when he got home. The anticlimactic reveal when she herself arrived put Clary in a bad mood for the rest of the night. Alec was asleep on the couch, again. Clary hadn't even bothered trying to wake him up. It wasn't surprising that the next morning Alec was gone and there was a note on Clary's nightstand.

Long night ahead, baby, don't wait up.

Like hell she would wait up. After being stood up for so many dinners, lunches, and coffee dates Clary was certain if she waited any longer, she'd starve to death. Although their relationship was relatively new, Clary and Alec had more fights than a cat and dog that were forced to live in a two foot room. Of course, Clary cared for him very much and was incredibly happy to have him in her life, she just wasn't very pleased with his work.

Clary was preparing her art supplies. There was a run down church at the edge of the city, people usually avoided it because of the broken windows, vines running down the sides, and probably the fact that there had been a murder not even a year a ago. Clary thought it was beautiful, the violent history just gave it personality, the broken pieces of glass reflected light inside the small church and the missing chunk of roof caused the gathered air inside to take up gusts of dust. Alec didn't like her going places without him for protection but Clary doubted anything would happen at the church. The place was abandoned long ago.

Clary had only stepped foot in her car when her cell phone began ringing. The delay in answering was blamed on her Doctor Who ringtone. Alec's ID flashes on the screen. Clary put her best happy voice on and smiled brightly, even though Alec wouldn't be able to see her.

"Hey, hon-" Clary's charade was quickly interrupted by Alec.

"Clary, come down to the studio. I need you." Clary didn't miss the fact that he didn't ask her to go, he demanded it. How positively rude.

"Sure, I'll be-" Did this bitch just hang up on me? Clary pulled the phone away from her ear, staring down at it, dumbfounded but somewhat lovingly. Clary loved Alec, even though they hadn't said it yet, but sometimes he had a tendency to transition into business Alec with no warning at all. It bothered Clary more than she liked to admit.

Her art supplies were in the back seat, taunting her, and Clary couldn't help but glance back at them in the rearview mirror, remorseful at the once again missed opportunity to paint. With the little rebellion she had left in her, Clary made a not so quick stop at Starbucks. Ordering black coffee, no sugar or milk, Clary sipped it slowly.

The drive to the studio was short, even though the traffic was absolutely horrible. Clary rested her head against her hand as she waited for the light to turn green. Why is it that when someone is in a hurry every light decides to stay red? Is it just the universe's way of flipping humanity the bird?

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting the light finally turned a flashing green. Thank the infernal rulers. Clary huffed out a hot breath from her lungs into the suffocating air. On the last turn to the studio Clary's nerves began bouncing around on a caffeine high. Clary wondered if it was too late to turn the car around and drive to the church.

Alec and Jace were waiting by the Directors office door, their posture rigid and stiff. Alec leaned against the wall next to the door, a disapproving expression adoring his sharp features. Clary glanced down at her bitten down nails, there went that habit again. Her baby blue tank top smelled like sweat and the overpriced perfume Clary's mother had bought her for Christmas. She smelled fruity and there was a tangy after scent. The extravagant aroma wafted through her senses, mixing with her coffee breath. Clary hoped that it wasn't too obvious when she unloaded half a packet of breath mints into her mouth. So attractive.

Clary could swear she heard Jace snort but when she looked at his stoic expression, there was no sign of any amusement. Studying their faces, Clary could see they weren't very enthusiastic about something, she just couldn't figure out what. Clary's nervous tick went into action and she twirled a red curl around her index finger.

"Whose body do I need to hide?" Clary smiled but the two men before her made no effort to encourage her in her bad attempt at a joke. "Apparently my own," she muttered.

Clary thought she saw amusement flash in Jace's tawny eyes but it was gone in an instant. Clary wondered if it had been her imagination to begin with.

"Stop joking around, Clary, this is important." Clary pursed her lips and pouted at Alec. She stared at him from underneath her eyelashes and bit her lip. Alec groaned and changed his tone. "I'm sorry. I've had a really-" Alec glared at Jace. "-long morning." Jace didn't even have the decency to look apologetic, he looked offended.

"Okay, what's going on? You guys are freaking me out." Alec and Jace exchange a look that Clary couldn't comprehend as her green eyes searched every inch of their faces, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Alec…" Clary tilted her head to the side and raised both of her finely trimmed strawberry brows.

"Jace's co star is back in rehabilitation and we need to start auditions for the role of Tessa Grey." Jace leans heavily against the wall, his broad arms crossed across his chest. Alec's blue eyes following his fidgeting fingers along the hem of his leather jacket. Clary recognized the jacket, she'd gotten it for him on his birthday and she also remembered how often he'd worn it. She could count the times on one hand.

"Okay, what do you want me to do? Get you guys lunch?" Jace barks out a rough laugh and pushes away, keeping his arms crossed. He moved in front of Alec, towering over Clary's short frame. He reaches behind his back and pulls out a white packet. He glances down at the papers before flipping them towards her.

"Welcome to the Shadowhunter family, Theresa Grey." Clary begins to laugh at the idiocy but looking down at the papers in her hand, the laughter shrivels up and dies on her tongue. The thick stack of script laid out a scene between Tessa and another woman named Sophie. Clary rips the packet from Jace's hands and begins violently leafing through them. Several sessions were highlighted in a retina burning yellow.

"What the shit?" Clary looks up at them in a blind panic. Chucking the packet back into Jace's chest, he stumbles back further into the wall, not expecting the force. "No, no, no. You're punking me, right?" She looks at them more frantically then before. "Nope, no, no, no. You agreed to this? Without even telling me?"

Alec nods lightly.

Clary shakes her head and spins on her heels, quickening her pace towards her car. Alec shouldn't have agreed to anything without her, and he should know that Clary's stage fright would get in the way of anything happening in front of an audience. A director or actors or stage crew of any kind.

Once, Clary had been in a high school production of Grease. One minute she had looked out into the endless crowd and the next she was staring at the rotting ceiling of the low-budget theater room. After that, Clary's senior year wasn't stellar, her boyfriend dumped her because he was embarrassed of her and she was made fun of by everyone. Ever since that nightmare, Clary had barely agreed to go up and receive her high school diploma, let alone actually perform on a stage again. Just thinking about it gave her chills.

"Seven no's? Really?" Clary jerks to a stop and wheels around to face a smirking Jace. Her vision blurs and fades at the corners as she closes in on her pray. If she killed him, she would regret nothing, except maybe having to bury the body with her new manicure.

"That's what you take away from this? My inability to form a coherent answer? How about no. Oh, and no. Did I mention no?" Amusement drained from Jace's face and a scowl transforms his features. Clary was close enough to smell the mint on his breath, as his breath stirred her lashes.

Jace was the most infuriating person Clary had ever met. He was stubborn and pigheaded and, above all else, he was the most self centered person since Narcissus. Clary and Jace stared at each other, sizing up their opponent. Clary focused on his merciless eyes and lifts herself up further, using her toes to try and match his height. Her 5'3 stance barely reached his 6'1, even when she balanced on her shoe's platforms. Alec cleared his throat and broke their intense stare down.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Clary, you have to at least audition. I know what happened traumatized you and I'm sorry I didn't tell you but that was a long time ago, you need to conquer your fear." Jace rose his near tangent eyebrows in curiosity. Clary glanced back at him before moving towards Alec.

"You shouldn't have agreed on my behalf and now I'm stuck doing this audition because you've already prepared my contract, haven't you? I'm betting that if you could forge my signature properly I wouldn't be here at all."

Alec looked ashamed for a split second before returning to his blackened expression. Her voice softened before she spoke again, "Why couldn't you talk to me?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" He didn't sound completely sincere but, sensing that it was the best she would get, Clary nodded and curtly trudged toward the building Jace was walking to. Alec followed behind her, leaving her to her to process the fact that she would be on a tv show that airs in front of millions of people.

Suddenly, the heat coursing through her body was turned to ice. Her feet moved along the pavement but Clary wasn't the one controlling them, they had a mind of their own. Jace held the door open for her and sent her, what she hoped was a confident smile, telling her he would catch her if she fell, again. Clary responded with a shy smile, you wouldn't have imagined that they had been on the brink of killing each other in the parking lot a few minutes ago. Jace gently handed her the script again and led her to the back of the stage by tugging at her elbow.

The rectangular room was filled to the seams with people, they all turned and looked at her expectantly. Clary's hands shook as she gripped the packet to her chest. An elderly woman snuck up behind her and patted her shoulder to get her attention. Clary nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden contact, glancing behind her, she spotted the smiling woman.

"Here you go, dear. Good luck." The woman handed the other girl an empty bucket. Clary watched her swing the brass pail and jumped as it bounced off her legs. Jace stood in the middle of the makeshift stage, he was talking but Clary was in her own little world. Clary remotely hears someone's muted voice calling the scene into action. Clary was so incredibly confused, not only did she not know what the hell was happening but she felt everyone's eyes following her every movement. Clary glances around the room again and finds it emptier than before. Had all those people she'd seen before been a figment of her imagination?

Clary flipped through the highlighted pages until she found the scene involving holy water and an attic, quickly scanning the text with her eyes. Apparently, Jace's character will be forced to drink the holy water and dumping it on his head to avoid becoming a vampire. The girl with the water must be the actress that played Sophie Collins.

Tessa would collect a pail from the brunette and give it to Will. The scene would end with their kiss, which Clary would be freaking out about if there wasn't a bold sharpie text of END SCENE right before it.

Clary felt a warm hand on her back, turning she see's Jace's worried expression looking back at her. "Are you okay?" Clary is acutely aware that she's nodding her head to him, Jace doesn't look convinced. "Ready to do this?"

"No, but like that's going to make it better." Jace nudges her forward then let's go. He takes two long strides until he's standing in the center, he lays down on the ground and glances over at her. Clary searches the crowd for Alec's face with no avail. Taking a deep breath, Clary begins walking towards the girl.

The words she read whizzed past her, barely fazing her. She was sure she'd read them in a bored monotone instead of the italicized worry that was supposed to mask her voice. However when she looked at Sophie's face she could tell the other girl was happy with her performance.

Before she knew it her hands were grasped around the metal handle and her feet were sliding along the floor to the coughing Jace. The wooden flooring digging into her knees and the palms of her hands.

Jace tugged on her denim gently nudging her for her next line.

She rushed through the blurred words on the page. She wondered if anyone could understand the jumble of letters and syllables coming out of her mouth. Her hands were shaking and Clary's already weak breathing was becoming labored. Her chest heaving and shoulders tightening with every wrench of air. Clary knew her eyes must be comically large but the blonde below her didn't seem to notice.

Jace's warm fingers wrapped around her wrist.

Thank God it's almost over.

Jace's face leaned forward and Clary expected someone to shout that the scene was over so she could rush off the stage, find a bridge, and jump off of it. But no one did.

Jace's forehead pressed lightly against hers, red and gold locks mixing in front of their eyes. In a blink his lips locked on hers and Clary froze. Tinted eyes fluttered close. Clary gasped and he swallowed the noise with his mouth. Her eyes remained open as Jace's hot lips moved against her unyielding ones. Rough fingers rubbing against the skin of her neck, moving into her mass of curls.

Before Clary could fully grasp the situation he was pushing her away and telling her to leave. Her hands covered her mouth and she glanced around the room. Wide eyes and shocked expressions greeted her, an angry voice called an end to the scene and Clary focused on Alec.

The director and casting crew seemed to snap out of their joint paralysis. Blinking Clary looked at the joyful faces around her, the only people who seemed to not have an ounce of happiness at the moment were Alec and Jace. Clary being too embarrassed to feel much of anything at the moment.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Sorry that this is such a short chapter but I owed you guys an update.

I love you guys

Disclaimer: I don't own The Mortal Instruments or any of the characters.