Jace's POV

"Pull over. This one is open." Alec gestured to a small 24 hour diner on the side of the road where a couple cars were parked. It looked pretty empty. Simon pulled over and parked the car. Though I had driven to the bar, Simon had offered to be the designated driver home. He said he had drunk plenty the night before and that his body could use a break, which was fine by me, because I was looking forward to drinking away all of my worries. This was just what I needed, a night out with the guys. A night not to worry about how complicated my life just got over the course of a day. A good night's sleep would help too. Tomorrow everything would be fine. I was looking forward to seeing Clary, except that I was apprehensive too. I knew she was still on the edge and I felt like maybe getting back after she was already asleep would be better at this point. Maybe after a good night's sleep, we would both be thinking clearly. She tossed and turned so much last night, I doubted she really slept that great, and I spent so much of the night watching her sleep that I barely got any sleep myself. After her massive temper tantrum, and a couple hours of tossing and turning, she finally calmed down and it was quite a contrast to see her sleeping peacefully. Unfortunately it didn't last that long. It would have probably been a pleasant sight, watching her sleep, had she not had those eerie raccoon eyes. Maybe tomorrow night she'd be peacefully sleeping in my arms. I smiled to myself. Tomorrow would be better, it would be. Not that today was really that bad, going horseback riding was amazing, but if tomorrow went smoothly, I could relax a bit, I could move passed this constant nagging that I was going to lose her at any second.

We all piled into a booth and ordered some food. It was close to one-thirty in the morning, but after spending the night at the bar I could definitely eat. Jordan suggested we just eat leftover pizza, but after hearing that Izzy had ordered a whole vegi, Alec and I didn't want to take our chances as to what was waiting for us when we got back. We were all devouring our cheeseburgers and French fries, perfect greasy post bar food. Well everybody except Magnus, he ordered apple pie and a root beer float. No wonder he always looks so happy, he's always on a sugar high.

"Really Magnus? After a night of drinking you're having pie and soda?" Simon was looking at Magnus quizzically with one eyebrow raised.

"Don't knock it until you try it Samson." Magnus took a small spoonful of ice-cream out of his drink and dug it into his pie before eating it and washing it down with a sip of root beer. I cringed, my teeth hurt just watching, too much sugar.

"You know my name is Simon, right? I saw you all the time Alec lived at home during high school and I see you every time Alec comes to visit Izzy. Why don't you want to call me by my name?" Magnus gave Simon a measured look.

"Honestly boy I don't think you'll be around long enough for me to bother. What you've been seeing Izzy for a couple months now?" Simon rolled his eyes.

"It's been about two years off and on Magnus, almost as long as you've been seeing Alec. You have to accept the fact it's about time you learned my name." Magnus scrunched up his face.

"I met Alec Boo at Darling Clary's sixteenth birthday party soiree and it was love at first sight." Magnus looked over at Alec affectionately and kissed his cheek.

"So this August it will be three years, sooo much longer than you and Izzy. Plus if you take out all the times you two were off again you really have only been dating for a couple of months. Your relationship really isn't that serious Sawyer, just admit it." Simon shook his head.

"Now I know that was just intentional. We're moving in together. Is that serious enough for you?" Alec had been carrying on a trivial conversation with Jordan, but both snapped their heads towards Simon.

"What?" Alec and Jordan both said in unison. Simon looked embarrassed.

"Nothing." He murmured. Alec turned his gaze to Magnus.

"Surprise!" Magnus threw his hands in the air dramatically.

"Seymour and Izzy are moving in together." He clapped his hands twice. Alec rolled his eyes and glared at Simon.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Really, after today-" Alec's eyes widened and he looked pissed as he cut Simon off.

"Never, I repeat never, ever, talk about what happened today with me. Ever." I chuckled.

"Now you have to tell us what happened." Alec shot me a nasty glare.

"We're not talking about it. Ever." Alec growled.

"My poor baby is traumatized." Magnus gave Alec a pitiful look and rubbed his back. I made a mental note to ask about that later.

"So wait. Does that mean Izzy is moving in with us? I don't know if I love that idea." Jordan shook his head slightly. Simon chuckled.

"Sorry dude. I thought you were kind of in on all of this. Maia and Izzy are supposed to be discussing which apartment you and Maia get and which one me and Izzy get." Jordan gaped at Simon.

"Dammit. There goes my freedom." Jordan slammed a fist down on the table and slouched back.

"She's totally going to domestic you." Simon said laughing pretty hard. Jordan glowered at him.

"Just tell her you don't want to live with her." Everybody gave me disbelieving looks.

"Have you met Maia?" Simon asked rhetorically.

"She'd kill me dude. She's like dealing with a rabid wolf when you piss her off." We all laughed except Jordan.

"You're no better off then me Simon. At least Maia is great at everything; it will probably be like…like…like living with Mary Poppins. Living with Izzy well that would be more like-" Jordan mock trembled.

"-living with Typhoid Mary." Jordan and Magnus laughed.

"Who's Typhoid Mary?" I questioned. Simon and Alec also looked clueless. Magnus chucked before he fell into a quick history lesson.

"Mary Mallon or better known as Typhoid Mary, was a career cook right in New York from 1900 to 1907. Through her cooking she infected some fifty or so people with typhoid fever, an unknown number of which died." Simon glowered at Jordan.

"I always knew Izzy was trying to kill us with her cooking." I snickered.

"That is really gross dude. You know a joke isn't funny if you have to explain it. Plus, Izzy's cooking doesn't make me sick…usually…it just tastes horrific. There was this peanut butter fish soup though. I vomited all night." We all cringed. I wanted to gag just thinking about Izzy's cooking.

"It makes me sick every time I eat it. I ate one of her cookies today-" Alec's eyes got wide as he cut me off.

"Dear God Why? Why would you do that to yourself?" I chuckled.

"Clary fed it to me." Magnus was shaking his head.

"What did you do to that poor girl? Only you could take an angel and make her malicious." Everyone laughed.

"Alright so I deserved it." I shook my head.

"So Jordan? You have a thing for Mary Poppins?" I shot sarcastically to Jordan, he glared at me.

"You're really sick man. I just meant, she cleans and cooks and does everything." Magnus chuckled.

"Have you ever even read one of those books or watched that movie?" Jordan was shaking his head at Magnus.

"She teaches the children to do those things for themselves. If you're moving in with Mary Poppins, prepare to be trained." We all laughed as Jordan grimaced. I found my thoughts drifting to what I did to deserve that horrible cookie, smacking Clary's ass, that kiss, Raphael.

"Hey Jordan. Question for you. Clary and I ran into some guy named Raphael this afternoon. He seemed to have dated Clary a bit. I got the impression he knows you." It was an open question. I just wanted more information about the guy. Jordan shot me a quick sideways look.

"I only know one Raphael, he's on the force." Jordan responded hesitantly.

"The force? What the hell are you talking about?"

"You really are self-centered aren't you?" Simon spat.

"Shut up dumbass nobody was talking to you."

"Jace. I thought you knew, I'm a cop?"

"Since when?"

"Well since about nine months ago. Simon's mom and my dad both work for the NYPD, that's how I met Simon. My dad is a cop and his mom is a psychologist. Anyway I've known Simon for a couple years and we got a place together a few months back." I just stared and shook my head slightly.

"So Raphael is a cop?" I was trying to remember the encounter with Raphael. I guess it did make sense.

"Yeah. I met Raphael in the Academy. He's a cop."

"Wait. You live with Simon. Yet, I got the impression you just met Clary for the first time Saturday."

"Yeah. I did."

"I don't get it."

"Clary and I don't hang out as much as we once did Jace. Well not that we don't hang out per se…I mean we hang out more lately…but we don't actually go out…" Magnus rolled his eyes and hand as a gesture for Simon to continue.

"Anyway, Jordan didn't go to the same high school as us. I just never ended up introducing them. Then after we got the apartment…" Simon trailed off and exchanged a quick meaningful look with Alec. I totally caught that.

"Well she just never came over." Simon said hesitantly.

"What the hell was that? That look?"

"This is just silly, tell him." Magnus snapped. Simon looked over at Alec expectantly and he gave Simon a slight shrug. Simon spoke nervously.

"Ah, Clary's mom and stepfather were in a car accident in April."

"I know."

"You do?" Alec questioned surprised.

"Well I mean. I didn't know it was an accident or it was in April, but I know they're dead. I overheard something at the cottage. What happened? Was Clary in the car?" Simon continued.

"No Clary wasn't in the car. It was a school night, and she had stayed home to work on a paper that was due the next day. Her mom and stepfather both happened to get home from work early and decided to go out to dinner. They tried to convince Clary to go, but she can be stubborn-" Simon shot me a knowing look. When was Clary not stubborn?

"-and then they were just going to stay in, but she pushed them to go without her…Anyway…it appears they hit ice driving over a bridge. We had a late season snow storm in early April and there were still some icy patches in spots. She felt really bad after the accident. She felt like if she just didn't force them to go…" Simon was shaking his head.

"April? That's when you went home last?" I looked over at Alec.

"Yeah. I went for the funeral and I stayed with Clary for a few days." He looked very somber.

"Why didn't anybody tell me before?" I was looking around, but nobody seemed to meet my eyes. Finally Alec responded.

"You and Clary weren't close. She didn't want everybody to know. She was really upset, she still had a couple months of school and she didn't want everybody to treat her different. She asked me not to say anything unless you specifically asked. You never did. You never asked why I was going home suddenly, or why I was upset when I got back. You never ask about her. Not directly." Alec spoke solemnly. I felt my chest contract. Just because I never asked didn't mean I didn't care. I cared about Clary, I always did. I wanted to know everything that was going on with her.

"Do Mayrse and Robert know?" I asked hesitantly. Alec was nodding his head slightly.

"Yeah. They went to the funeral."

"So everybody knew but me? Everybody went to the funeral but me? Everybody was there for her but me? Alec-" He interrupted me.

"Just. Not right now man. I know, just…You guys have such an odd relationship and she's having such a hard time with this. She didn't really need anything else to stress about. She feels really guilty." Alec leaned forward and put his forehead on the table. Simon started talking.

"She's just been so different since the accident. Kind of like a walking shell." Simon was shaking his head.

"Maia, Izzy, and I try to be there for her, but she just isn't coping very well. Maia keeps setting her up on dates, but they never lead anywhere. Maia thinks if she found someone she'd be happier. Izzy thinks…" Alec's head snapped up and Simon shot a quick uncomfortable look towards him. Anxiety quickly crossed Simon's eyes. Oh yeah, I was definitely going to find out what happened between Simon and Alec. Simon continued very tentatively.

"Well Izzy thinks she needs a distraction…Anyway, Clary's having a hard time. It's like she's lost her temper, but not in a good way. It's like the fire's gone…" Simon trailed off. Jordan jumped in. He sounded a little aggravated.

"Yeah. Maia also isn't very thrilled that she spends the majority of her time shut up in that apartment-" Simon shot Jordan a glare. I was just about to jump in to ask what was being kept from me now, except Jordan was quicker than me.

"Anyway man, back to Raphael.-" That's what I really wanted to know about.

"-He's pretty much like you, delightful in a, I have a superiority complex kind of way; sleeps with different girls every week.-" I shot Jordan a glare, I was nothing like Raphael. God, last thing I wanted was to be compared to Raphael. I replayed our run-in with him over and over in my head.

"-I didn't know he knew Clary. I never mentioned her to him. I wonder how he knew I knew her." Jordan looked over at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Clary was the one that brought you up man, not Raphael." I shook my head slightly. Raphael just kept saying he was concerned, he missed her, he cared, he was worried, he just wanted to talk to her, spend time with her. He could have been sincere, he kind of sounded sincere. Maybe he did care about her? Then she moved and didn't tell him, never returned his calls. Maybe she just pushed him away like she keeps trying to push me away.

"I'm sure Maia told her I was a cop for the NYPD. Clary probably just didn't bother telling either of us she knew the other one. Not that I really know Clary, but Maia talks about her and I know she talks to Clary about me." I was only half paying attention to Jordan. I was just staring at my drink nodding slightly. Clary was outright hostile towards Raphael, but he seemed somewhat nice, he didn't come across as a total dick anyway, not like Sebastian does. Raphael was a cop; he couldn't be a horrible person. I could suddenly see myself in Raphael's shoes some day, Clary screaming at me to get out of her life. No. Forget about it. I wasn't going to sit here and sulk. That wasn't me. Raphael screwed up because he slept with some girl, or several girls. That wasn't going to be me. I would never do that to Clary. I was brought out of my self reflection by Magnus clapping twice.

"Ok so recap." Magnus chimed. Alec opened his mouth, but Magnus threw his hand over it.

"Darling Clary is acting like the walking dead. She's still having trouble getting over the loss of her parents. She's suffering from a little denial about, well everything. She's also pushing all her male suitors away…Except!" Magnus raised his eyebrows up and down at me suggestively.

"She appears to be suddenly reanimated since you came around Prince Charming." Magnus eyes twinkled and he shot me a wink. It was kind of creepy. Alec seemed to be fussing with his phone.

"What? Are you talking about me? Am I Prince Charming?" I spat while pointing to myself. Magnus just nodded rapidly and gave me a manic smile. Very creepy.

"Alec is working hard on giving his little girl some space so she can grow and fly away-" Magnus pulled his hand away from Alec's mouth quickly.

"I can't believe you bit me." Magnus muttered and looked down at his hand shocked. Alec had a panicked look on his face as he burst out of his seat, and shot his hand up in the air.

"Check please!"


Alec's POV

It was hard to convince everybody we had to head back without going into detail. I tried to play it off that Izzy had gotten sloppy drunk and was streaking through the neighborhood, but I didn't really think Jace bought it. Izzy seemed to find an opportunity about once a year since she was fifteen to go streaking at the lake. I couldn't tell him Izzy text me to say Clary took off, she just up and left without a word. We all piled back into Jace's car, Simon at the wheel. It was only about a 15 minute drive back to the cottage.

"So what's up? How did dumbass in the backseat traumatize Alec?" Jace questioned with raised eyebrows, looking over his shoulder at me and Magnus, before looking back at Simon in the driver's seat. I knew exactly what this was about and I really didn't want to talk about it. Locks people. Locks were invented for a reason. I'll never get the image of flashes of skin as Simon and Izzy scrambled for sheets out of my head. Then I was frozen and Izzy was yelling at me to get out and next thing I know Simon's running over with a pillow held up to him shutting the door in my face and then Izzy's laughing hysterically on the other side. That's my baby sister!

"We're not talking about that. Ever." I was shaking my head. The car was quiet for a short moment.

"Alec walked in on Sheamus and Izzy-" Magnus began to blurt out, I threw my hand over his mouth.

"Magnus." I growled as I dropped my hand and stared out the side window glowering.

"Ok, I get the picture." Jace muttered.

"That's not exactly true, we weren't, I mean were already done-" Magnus cut Simon off.

"Really not helping Silas." Magnus was shaking his head. Simon rolled his eyes.

"My name is still Simon." Simon mumbled.

"Speaking about naked people-" Jace said with an amused tone. I shuttered.

"So Streaking? Really? Izzy? You weren't this upset any of the other times. When do we really get to find out why we're rushing back to the cottage?" Jace asked skeptically. I was glade he was in the passenger seat and couldn't see how completely out of my mind I was.

"Soon enough." I said quietly. The rest of the ride back was strangely silent. Maybe my voice gave too much away.

When we got back Maia was leaning up against Jordan's car in the driveway with a demented expression. We all piled out of the car.

"Hey beautiful. What's wrong?" Jordan walked over and gave Maia a kiss.

"Ok…So I have good news and bad news." Maia said hesitantly looking predominately from me to Jace.

"Maia?" Jordan was looking at her apprehensively.

"Ok, it's probably all bad new. So Clary left over an hour ago…" Maia said timidly.

"What?" Was chorused by everybody but me. Panic flashed across Simon's face and Jace looked like he was going to kill somebody.

"You didn't tell them?" Maia looked at me uncomfortably. Jordan put his arm around her.

"No I…Wait…What?...Did you say over an hour ago?...Izzy said she just left. That was like 20 minutes ago." This was bad. Magnus put his arm around me.

"Ah…yeah…well…Izzy didn't want to panic you until you got back." Maia looked kind of crazy.

"Where is my sister?" Magnus tightened his arm around me.

"Hiding in her room." Maia answered nervously. We were all staring at Maia with somewhere between anxious and angry looks on our faces.

"Whole story Dear, quickly." Magnus chimed. Maia was twirling her hair and started talking so fast.

"Ok. So Sebastian came back with Aline-"

"SEBASTIAN!" Jace shouted as he threw his hands down in fists at his side. He looked furious. Maia sunk back into Jordan.

"Quickly, quickly." Magnus chimed.

"Ah…well he wanted to talk to Clary and we thought that was a bad idea, but she never listens to what anybody says, so she decided to talk to him anyway, and they went outside to talk and then they left for a walk about one o'clock and they haven't come back yet." Maia finished the rest of the story quickly with a bizarre look on her face, biting her nail.

"Ok, so what's the good news or the not so bad news?" Simon asked worriedly.

"Well just that she isn't alone."

"That's worse news, not good news." Jace growled shaking slightly.

"Did you try calling Clary?" Simon asked panicked.

"Yeah, but her phone is on the counter in the kitchen." Maia was shaking her head.

"How about Sebastian?" Jordan questioned in a calming voice.

"He answered the first time and said not to worry, but he never answered again after that." I had a bad feeling.

"Maybe we could try again. How many times did you call him Maia?" I asked.

"About Twenty." She said softly and bit her lip.

"TWENTY!" Simon shouted.

"Which way did they go?" Jace was clearly beyond livid. He was looking all around in the dark.

"I don't know." Maia was shaking her head.

"HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW?" Jace shouted.

"Jace cool it man. It's not Maia's fault. Can't you see how upset she is? She's worried too." Jordan rubbed Maia's back.

"Well Izzy and I were watching them out the kitchen window, but then Aline came into the kitchen to get something to eat and drink and then we kind of got distracted and when we looked back outside Sebastian and Clary were gone." I could tell Maia was getting flustered.

"How did you know they went for a walk?" I questioned.

"When we noticed they were gone, we thought maybe they were just on their way in the cottage and we couldn't see them, but then after about ten minutes, when they never came inside, we called Sebastian. That's when he said they went for a walk and not to worry." Jordan had his arm draped tightly around Maia's shoulders.

"Why did you wait so long to tell us?" Simon piped in rather flustered

"Izzy kept praying they'd come back, or you'd come back."

"So what should we do? Look for them?" Simon questioned looking in my direction.

"How did she seem when Sebastian was talking to her? You said you were watching?" I asked apprehensively.

"Fine. She was just sitting on the lounge chair, but she was facing away from us." I took a deep breath.

"How much did she drink tonight?" I asked anxiously. Maia shrugged.

"A few, but she switched over to water a couple hours ago. I wouldn't worry about that."

"He wasn't touching her or grabbing at her?" I asked uneasily. I could feel the fury coming off of Jace.

"No. Not at all. Not that we saw." Maia was shaking her head.

"Alec. Give her some space. She'll come back when she's ready." Magnus said with a reassuring smile and a nod as he rubbed my back. I was ignoring him.

"Let's see, we have Jace's car and Jordan's car, I don't think we should use Clary's car. I can drive around some of the spots Clary knows, if somebody doesn't mind me using their car. She is on foot so they couldn't have gone too far…At least one person should stay here…Does anybody want to check on foot?…You don't have to." I looked my watch.

"Alright, it's just after two-thirty so that limits how many places are open right now. She's been gone about an hour-and-a-half. Oh, God." An hour-and-a-half was a long time to be missing, and Clary was such a city girl, she could get lost in these woods, not to mention she was with Sebastian and he didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I took a deep breath.

"Ok. I don't like the idea of the girls wandering outside at this time of night, especially since we're missing one already, but who's willing to search with me?" I glanced around waiting for the volunteer search party.

"I'll walk around a bit. It's a nice night. I just want to touch base with Izzy first. I'll let her know she can stay here incase Clary comes back." Simon walked towards the house. Jordan exchanged a look with Maia.

"Yeah, we'll go, we can walk around a while too. We'll coordinate with Simon to cover more ground. You guys are welcome to take my car." Jordan took out his keys and handed them to Magnus. He and Maia headed towards the house.

"I'll come with you boo. For moral support you know." Magnus gave me a reassuring look and I leaned my head into his shoulder. He gave me a kiss on the head.

"You driving your car?" I asked Jace.

"No. I'll walk. However sobering this all has been, I don't think I can drive yet." Jace no longer looked livid he just looked distressed.

"Everything will be alright." I said trying to sound reassuring, but I wasn't even sure I believed it. He shook his head at me and ran his hand through his hair.

"I really doubt that."


Mary Poppins (1964) (Julie Andrews & Dick Van Dyke)

P.L. Travers: Mary Poppins (1934 to 1988)

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