Jace's POV
I was lying on my side and I could feel the warmth of Clary curled up against me. I had worried it was all a dream, but laying here on the edge of awake and asleep, I knew it wasn't. I pulled her slightly tighter subconsciously and froze hoping I didn't jostle her enough to wake her. Her breathing was steady, she was sound asleep. I heard the door click. Oh shit I forgot to lock it, my eyes flew open, but I didn't move. I could see Magnus peeking in with a smile and shaking his head slightly. I rolled my eyes. He looked over his shoulder and quickly reached around locking the door before pulling it shut. I heard the door knob jangle and then the floor creaking from departing footsteps. Could have been worse; mental note, never forget to lock the door again. I glanced over Clary at the clock, careful not to move her, it was 6:30. I guess Clary wasn't making it to tennis this morning. I smiled and closed my eyes letting sleep find me again.
Clary's POV
I was lying on my back somewhere between awake and asleep. I knew I was snuggled in bed comfortably next to Jace and I kept trying to will myself to go back to sleep, but unfortunately I had to go to the bathroom and I just couldn't ignore it. As I slowly felt more awake I could feel the weight of Jace's arm across my waist. I opened my eyes facing the nightstand, it was already 9:45. I somewhat registered I was supposed to have played tennis this morning, but my mind quickly skipped over that thought returning to the matter at hand, my need to use the bathroom. I turned my head towards Jace. He was laying on his stomach with his head turned in my direction, his eyes were closed, his blonde curls fell forward across his forehead partially covering his eyes, he had a slight smile glued to his face, He looked very happy. I carefully began to lift his arm from around my waist. He made a disgruntle noise as has arm tightened around me and pulled me closer to him. I pushed at his arm a bit more, but he just kept grunting and tightening it.
"Jace." I whined.
"No. You're not going anywhere. It's not time to wake-up yet. It's too early. You've climbed out of my bed without me knowing it one too many times, you have to stay here until it's time to wake-up." He mumbled somewhat humorously without ever opening his eyes. I rolled my eyes.
"I only did that once." He chuckled lightly.
"That was one too many times." He mumbled.
"It's not that early and I have to go to the bathroom." He took a deep exaggerated breath.
"Fine." He dragged out the word. He loosed his vice grip and put his hands under his pillow. He didn't really look like he was waking up any too soon; he looked like he was just getting more comfortable. He opened his eyes groggily, only really halfway, and watched me as I sat up. He looked so sleepy.
"You're coming back though. Right?" He said somewhat hesitantly. I smiled and looked into his fluttering amber eyes. He looked like he was struggling to stay awake.
"Of course I'm coming back." I said softly. He smiled.
"If you don't. I'm going to come and get you." He mumbled playfully. I gently pushed his hair out of his face and bent down and kissed his cheek. I rested my hand on his cheek softly brushing my thumb back and forth for a moment and his eyes fluttered closed one more time. I sat there for a while staring at his peaceful face. They say home is where the heart is, and after months of feeling displaced, I finally felt at home. This was what perfect tranquility felt like. I was completely blissful. The walls were down, everything was on the table, and we were together and happy. Nothing I had ever felt in my life compared to this feeling. It was like we were alone in our own little utopia. I couldn't be happier in a dream.
"I love you Jace." I said softly. He didn't respond. His breathing was slow and steady, he must have fallen back to sleep. I bent down and gently kissed his cheek again. I reluctantly crawled out of bed, crossed the room, and quietly unlocked and opened his bedroom door. I looked over my shoulder one more time at my sleeping prince, he hadn't stirred. I'd be back quickly and in his warm embrace soon. I smiled to myself. I peeked down the hall, but I didn't see anybody. I opened the door, shutting it quietly behind me. I went to the bathroom and then decided to quickly grab some clothes from my room, a robe at least. I rather not saunter around in this little silky camisole and shorts sleep set.
Magnus's POV
It was around 10:00 on Wednesday morning. Maia, Izzy, and I were all sitting in Clary's room waiting for her. Ever since Kaelie showed up last night looking for Sebastian we knew it was time to talk to Clary. She appeared to be spending a second night in a row in Prince Charming's chamber however, so now we just waited. She opened the door to walk in and stopped abruptly with a shocked look on her face. I didn't give her any time to back out. I was at the door and ushering her in, shutting the door behind her. Izzy and Maia were both sitting on the bed and they both patted it for Clary to join them, she walked over to the bureau and grabbed her little black silk robe from the other day off of it and threw it on. It wasn't much, but it was more than she had been wearing. She climbed up to the head of the bed and leaned up against the head board, Maia and Izzy both sat next to each other facing her. The shade had been pulled and the lights were off, but there was enough daylight streaming around the shade that the room was plenty lit. We had turned the fan by her bed on, but the room was still rather warm. Her eyes darted between all of ours and finally rested on the plate of food on the bureau. Maia had made breakfast earlier and brought a plate for Clary. I pulled the chair over to the side of Izzy and sat down. We were a united front, all facing Clary, all ready to do what we needed to do. Clary cleared her throat.
"To what do I owe breakfast in bed?" Clary sounded unsure, but was eyeing the plate on the bureau.
"We're softening you up for a tough love talk." I said gently. Unfortunately I knew this conversation with her was not going to be lighthearted and there was no time for niceties.
"Tough love?" Clary furrowed her eyebrows.
"First things first though. How are you feeling today?" Izzy said with a smile.
"Fine. I slept well last night, so that always helps." Clary half shrugged. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Really? When was the last time you actually slept well?" Clary rolled her eyes.
"I slept well the last couple of nights. Ok?" I nodded. The last two nights she slept well, when she slept in Jace's room.
"Is Jace up?" Izzy asked hesitantly. A smile lit up Clary's whole face as she shook her head slightly.
"No he's sleeping." She said quietly. Now was as good of a time as any. Ok, time to open this can of worms.
"I guess I'll start this show. While you were out with Aline and Sebastian last night, Kaelie stopped by looking for her little friends." Maia and Izzy were just nodding and watching.
"But-" I held up my hand to silence Clary and quickly continued.
"I think I was a bit of a surprise for Kay. I haven't seen her for what, almost three years.-" Clary just stared at me quizzically.
"-Did you think I wouldn't recognize her if I saw her? She doesn't really look that different. She tried to act nonchalant at first, and I almost didn't even say anything. Simon's not so subtle. Even if he didn't really know her, he saw her at your birthday parties, and you had enough pictures of her." Clary took a deep breath.
"Jace-" I gave her a quick glare as I cut her off.
"No, I haven't told Jace anything, not yet. He was in his room when she came. He never came out all night. I thought it would be better for you to talk to him. I'm sure he would have appreciated knowing part of your psychotic reaction was that you actually know Kay. I think Simon's venomous response to her was enough to set off a few warning bells however with everybody else." Izzy scoffed.
"You think." Izzy said sarcastically. I gazed at her quickly and continued.
"Of course you've told Alec, Izzy, and Maia all about Kay, they just didn't know Kaelie is Kay...Anyway, we decided it was time to talk to you. Not just about you not sticking up for yourself and facing your past, but about how you've been avoiding poor Jace and driving him completely crazy; about your obsession with matchmaking and how you're spending all your time with that and ignoring your own relationship issues; about the accident and how you haven't been yourself since; and there's probably more I'm forgetting right now. Simon and Alec are sitting this one out. They can't remain unbiased, they dote on you too much. They think we're being too hard on you trying to make you face everything at one time." Clary just had an odd look on her face.
"But-" I put my hand up to silence her again.
"Stop interrupting! We're having this conversation whether you like it or not. You know I've sat back and watched as everybody else tried to protect and fix you, but everyone forgets, I knew you first. Yes, I try to steer Alec in the right direction, you two have a bond I never had with you, but he's overprotective. He coddles you way too much. I'm sick of watching everybody around here act like if they breathe too much on you you'll break! Alec and Simon would let you get away with murder and then take the blame for it themselves. Sometimes things need to be said even if they hurt the other person's feelings. You know, Monday morning, Jace was going to talk to you and I bet he said nothing, absolutely nothing, Alec never says anything. You got off scot-free because they assumed you overheard anything that was worth repeating. Well we don't agree with that." Izzy jumped in.
"We all love you Clary, but you're going to sit there and listen to what we have to say because we won't stand by any longer and watch you wreak havoc. You want to ruin your own life, do it somewhere else. I'm not going to sit back and watch you screw-up my brother's life anymore in the process. Just be happy I'm even giving you a chance to fix this. Despite yourself that boy loves you and only God knows why." I started off again.
"Now where was I? Oh yes, Kay…"
Alec's POV
Simon, Jordan, and I waited in the living room watching the clock tick away. They had been in Clary's room a long time, a good hour. When they got back to the living room Izzy, Maia, and Magnus all looked drained and a little sick. We watched as they entered the living room without saying a word. I was getting really nervous. I didn't like the way they looked. I didn't want them to do this in the first place. I wished they would just say something. Maia plopped down next to Jordan on the couch and laid her head against his chest; he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair. Izzy collapsed onto the loveseat and laid her head in Simon's lap and he stroked her hair. I was having a mini-anxiety attack at this point. Magnus squished in next to me on the oversized sofa chair and put his arms around me and pulled me close to him and rocked me gently. I wasn't sure if this was making me feel better or more anxious.
"She's never going to talk to us again." Izzy whimpered. I felt a sharp pang of panic.
"What did you say?" Simon questioned gently.
"You don't want to know." Maia muttered. Not feeling any better.
"Went that well huh?" Jordan mumbled.
"Maybe we should have given her another day. She was better Saturday and Sunday. Sunday night and Monday were bad, but maybe she was just overtired. The girl's a mess if she doesn't get enough sleep. She seemed a little better yesterday too-" Magnus cut Izzy off. Though I was totally in agreement with what she was saying.
"We can't second guess ourselves now. What's done is done. Let's just pray we did the right thing and we made our point." I started to pull away from Magnus I needed to get to Clary. He held me tighter and whispered into my ear.
"Don't Alec! You won't help anything by going to her." He started rubbing my back gently.
"Even if she never talks to any of us again, she still has Simon and Alec. If they even want her." Maia said with a huff. I gasped. There was a mix of noises around the room.
"So what do we do now?" Simon asked softly.
"Well, I think we just broke Darling Clary's psyche into a million pieces-" I tensed and couldn't help but gasp again. Magnus held me tighter and gently stroked my hair.
"-so now we wait until she puts herself back together enough to make the next move."
"She looked so mad, so upset, so betrayed. She barely said a word." Izzy whimpered. I just needed to see her.
"After she spent the first five minutes repeatedly interrupting us to try to get us to stop, she barely said a word you mean…Think of it as an intervention Dear. You knew going into this it wasn't going to be a walk in the park."
"So what are we going to tell Jace?" Simon asked. Magnus took a deep breath.
"Nothing. We tell him nothing. I don't think telling him we took the only thing he's ever loved and took turns psychologically beating her like a piñata in an attempt to make her face all her demons is really the best course of action." Simon and I were both glaring at Magnus.
"Not all those hits were psychological Magnus." Izzy sputtered. I was trying to register what Izzy had said.
"What?" Simon snapped.
"Maia smacked her across the face at one point." Simon and I were scowling at Maia. There was absolutely no need for that.
"Don't look at me like that! She deserved it." Maia spat.
"We did what we felt needed to be done. If she keeps at it the way she's going that sweet angel is going to turn into a demon spawn." Magnus snapped.
"Sounds like you tried to give her an exorcism." Jordan muttered.
"I wish." Maia said faintly. Simon and I shifted our glares to Maia.
"Stop that! You know I've been glared at enough for one day, probably enough for one lifetime, thank you very much. Give me a break." Maia sounded exasperated. I was really worried they went too far.
"He's going to notice she's not coming out of her room. Don't you think?" Izzy said softly.
"Did she barricade herself in her room?" Simon asked alarmed.
"No. We grounded her." Maia muttered.
"You what?" Simon and I both asked simultaneously.
"Yeah…Well we gave her an ultimatum really. She can stay in her room until she stops acting like a child or she can leave, go home." Magnus snapped. Oh My God.
"She'll leave." I whispered.
"I'm beginning to wish she would." Izzy muttered. I glared at Izzy. I should have been there. I should have.
"Enough. I'm going to lie down before I have my own nervous break down. I suggest you all make yourselves scarce. You all look like you were just told your dog was hit by a car. If Jace wakes up he'll know something is up and he'll be furious if he finds out what we did. No matter how good our intentions were." Magnus sounded annoyed. He tightened his arms around me briefly and whispered into my ear.
"It's alright Boo. It was for the best. You can't go in there and undo what we did. Let's hope she comes around soon." He kissed my cheek and got up and stalked out of the living room and down the hall. I heard a door in the hallway open and close, probably our bedroom. I wasn't alright. I knew she wasn't. Maia and Jordan had left shortly after Magnus
"Calm down Alec. You know, she's being so selfish right now. She's only thinking about herself. See what she's doing to you? If you don't care about yourself at least think about what she's doing to Jace. I love her too Alec, but you can't always put her first. He's your brother dammit. If it comes down to the two of them I'm sure as hell siding with him." Izzy tossed her hair over her shoulder as she left with Simon. I was alone in the living room. I was sitting on the chair with my elbows on my knees, head in my hands. I was going out of my mind. I should have been there. How could Maia have slapped her? Did they make her cry? What exactly did they say to her? They made it pretty clear they were hard on her. Were they too hard on her? Of course I cared about Jace, I loved Jace, he was my brother, but he was a lot stronger than Clary.
I couldn't just sit back. This was Clary. I knew she needed me, but Magnus would kill me if I went into her room right now. I needed to tell Jace what happened. He would be furious I'm sure, even though I didn't know exactly what did happen, but I just felt like he could do something. He could help her. I knew he loved her. He'd go to her. He'd comfort her. Everybody would be alright with that. That was one of the big issues, her avoiding Jace, her driving him crazy, if she was with him, nobody could get upset about that. This was about Jace too. We should have asked him first. We should have. When I told him I would talk to her, I'm sure this isn't what he was thinking. I wasn't sure if I should wake Jace or not. Maybe Magnus was right. I don't know what they said to her. Maybe if Jace or I went to Clary right now we would undo whatever good they had done. If they did any good. I got off the couch and started pacing the living room.
It took me a good half hour to break down completely and walk down the hall to Jace's room. It had been quite some time since I heard the last door close and I was sure everybody would be in their rooms for a while. Nobody wanted to risk running into Jace.
I walked down the hall and carefully turned the knob on Jace's door. I would have knocked, but I didn't want anybody to hear me. If anybody heard Jace going in or out of his own room, they wouldn't dare come out, but if they knew somebody was knocking on his door, they would check to see who it was.
I quickly snuck in the room keeping my eyes on the hallway to make sure nobody was watching. The shade was down, so it wasn't that bright, but light enough to see Jace and Clary in the middle of the room embracing, both staring at me. I debated leaving.
"Can I help you?" Jace asked sarcastically with a quizzical expression. Clary dropped her arms from around Jace's waist. They separated from each other. Jace was just in gym shorts, but Clary looked like she was dressed to head out. She had on jeans and sneakers, a dark green fitted tank top. Her hair was falling down her back, though she most often wore it up.
"I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Were you going to leave?" I swallowed hard. Clary shook her head with a semi-amused look on her face and walked over to me and gave me a big hug. I really needed that. Jace walked across the room and turned on the light before heading over to his dresser. I held on to Clary tight.
"I asked Jace to take me horseback riding. We're going with Bat and my friend Jaida. She came up last night and is staying through the weekend. We're meeting them around 1:00, but we were going to stop for brunch first, so we don't have too much time. I hope things go well. Fingers crossed. I'll be back later. I was going to tell you before I left. I'll text Simon too. I don't want him worrying. I'll talk to Maia, Izzy, and Magnus tonight at some point. I just think we all need to cool down a bit." Jace was rummaging through his dresser and pulling out clothes. He put a shirt on and then yanked off his gym shorts before pulling on a pair of jeans. Clary wasn't looking in his direction, but he seemed awfully comfortable around her. A little too comfortable. I didn't want to know. Jace was sitting in his desk chair putting on socks and sneakers. I finally pulled back enough from Clary to assess her face.
"I think she's being ridiculous. She should just talk to them now." Clary shot Jace a quick glare.
"I'm not sure about that." I muttered and shook my head. Jace was putting a watch on.
"We don't have that much time right now either." Clary stated. I had my hand on Clary's chin and was gently manipulating her head. She looked unconcerned if not slightly irritated. I could easily see her pink cheek. Jace was putting his wallet in his pants. I dropped my arm from around her as I laid my other hand gently to her cheek.
"Does it hurt?" I said softly. She shook her head slightly. Jace turned towards us, taking in everything as best he could from behind Clary and his expression changed to concern. He took a quick step closer and grabbed Clary's shoulder spinning her towards him.
"What happened to your cheek?" Jace demanded. Clary rolled her eyes, but before she could speak I answered his question.
"Maia slapped her." Jace looked livid.
"Where is she now?"
It didn't take too long to calm Jace down. Clary filled me in a bit on what had happened not only in her room this morning, but that she had already worked a lot of things out with Jace last night. They had more to talk about and work through, but they were definitely moving in the right direction. Clary was vague on how they worked things out, and Jace didn't fill in any blanks, so I didn't pry, but they both did look happy. Clary and Jace were pretty adamant about heading out and I wasn't really going to stop them.
As I expected there was a bit of craziness when Izzy and Maia realized Clary was gone. I had already confided in Magnus shortly after Clary left. When I returned to our room in a decent mood he was way too suspicious how well I was taking everything, so I kind of had to tell him. It took Izzy and Maia a little while to realize Clary was gone, but once they did, they freaked out. It confused matters worse that Jace's car was gone, but Clary's was in the driveway. Maia had taken Clary's phone as part of her punishment, so they couldn't call her and they were afraid to call Jace. Simon was still a little ticked off about the whole thing, especially the slap, so he let Izzy and Maia have a mini meltdown before he finally caved, not too long, maybe 15 minutes. Magnus and I went into our room, I didn't want to hear anymore. Once Simon finally did cave and tell Izzy and Maia, Izzy was irate. She came banging on my door screaming at me. She was pretty pissed off we didn't tell her right away. Later that night, around 7:30, Clary and Jace returned, both still very happy. Clary wanted to spend some time talking to Izzy and Maia, so around 8:00 Jace, Magnus, Simon, Jordan, and I decided to give the girls some space and we headed out to grab a beer. The girls promised to be on their best behavior, no fighting, and also they had to promise to all be at the cottage when we got back. Clary acted a little indignant, but she knew she was who we were talking about.
