Jace's POV
Shortly after Izzy went back in the house I followed. I just hoped whatever was up with Clary wasn't anything too crazy. I felt like things were finally perfect between us, but yesterday she just seemed a little distant. Like her mind wasn't where we were. I went back in the house and had a cup of coffee and visited with everybody in the kitchen. Sebastian and Aline had left since I went outside with Izzy, but Simon, Jordan and Maia were still around. Izzy came out of Clary's room alone with two empty Champaign glasses, huge smile on her face.
"You're drinking? It's like 9:30 Izzy. You're turning into an alcoholic." I shook my head. She shot me a glare
"Tread very lightly Jace." Izzy hissed. I started to open my mouth to say something else, but Simon cut me off.
"I wouldn't if I were you. She's liable to throw one of those glasses at you." Simon muttered shaking his head.
"They were Mimosas. It is perfectly acceptable to have a Mimosa in the morning once in a while like on special occasions or what not." Izzy was rinsing the glasses in the sink, but Maia stepped in and started washing them.
"You always break these when you try to wash them." Maia sputtered. Izzy turned around with her arms crossed and leaned against the counter.
"Can't say I didn't try?" Izzy muttered and gave a slight shrug. I would have expected Clary to be out by now.
"What did you do with Clary?" I asked with my eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm sure she'll be out in a minute. She wanted to get together some stuff to start a load of clothes." Simon was eyeing Izzy.
"You're not as mellow as I would expect after a shot of vodka." Izzy just shrugged.
"Vodka?" I asked skeptically.
"Just drop it Jace." Izzy snapped. Clary poked her head in the kitchen as she walked by with a handful of what looked like white clothes. Her cheeks were really rosy, but otherwise she looked good, she had a big smile on her face.
"Need a hand?" I started to stand up. She shook her head.
"No. It'll only take me a minute to get these in the washer, I'll be right back." She continued walking down the hall. I thought of my room, which now smelled like a barn. I should see if I can put my sheets in with Clary's whites. Na. I'll just wash them when she's done.
"Be right back." Izzy chimed and waltzed out of the kitchen and down the hall in the direction Clary had gone. Simon quickly explained the vodka laden Mimosas to me so I'd be prepared that Clary may be slightly tipsy. A few minutes later Clary and Izzy were back in the kitchen and Clary and I had decided to go out to Panera Bread for breakfast.
The morning went by pretty quickly. Izzy insisted Clary be back by six so that she had plenty of time to fix her up before the bonfire. Clary and I went out to breakfast at Panera Bread first. I had suggested before we left that we could bring stuff to go riding, but I was surprised when Clary said she didn't want to today. When we got back from breakfast I decided to get my run over with while Clary wanted to lounge out by the lake. When I got back from my run it was already around 12:30. I changed into swim trunks and went out to join Clary. She looked so hot with her black bikini on. Her hair was pulled up in a messy knot and was still wet from a recent dip, loose curls spiraled down around her face. Her sunglasses were sitting on the ground by the lounge chair, though it was very bright out. Her body was dry, so she couldn't have been swimming that recently. She was sprawled out in the lounge chair with her sketch book in hand and a green pencil in the other, a small plastic box of colored pencils sat in the chair on the side of her. Though Alec said she was a remarkable artist, and I had seen a small sketch or two that she had given Alec, I never actually saw her draw before. I had heard from the others that Clary hadn't sketched since the accident. I was surprised and happy to find her drawing now.
I came up behind her quietly. I don't think she heard me. She was working on a beautiful landscape sketch. This was larger and much more complex than anything that Alec had shown me. She had used colored pencils to really bring the picture to life. It was incredible. I could easily tell this was the exact view from where she was sitting. The drawing was a snapshot of the light blue sky, the blue black lake with miscellaneous gray rocks and brown logs along the shore, the red and brown rock outcrop hills on the far side, the dark evergreen trees on the small island that juts out into the lake, the yellow flowering bushes closest to us, and the soft green grass in the foreground. The lake held the reflection of all that surrounded it, just as it did when you looked at it now with the sun high in the sky. I stood there and watched her for a while, maybe ten minutes. I didn't want to disturb her, but I couldn't bring myself to stop watching either. Clary finally broke the silence, though she never stopped sketching.
"I know you're standing behind me Jace." She chuckled. I covered the last step between us and put my hand on her shoulder, she turned her head towards me as I brought my lips to hers for all too brief of a kiss. I pulled away, but not far, just a few inches, and stared into her beautiful green eyes. I was enjoying the moment, just gazing affectionately into her eyes, they sparkled more than normal, whether that be from the reflection of the sun and the water I wasn't sure. She had a very sweet smile on her face.
"I didn't want to bother you." I said softly as I smiled at her. She took her hand, still holding her pencil, and rested it against the side of my cheek, I leaned into it.
"You're not." She said lightly. I brought my lips to hers again and let them linger a bit longer this time before I pulled away. She dropped her hand as I pulled away. I still kept my hand lightly on her shoulder, rubbing gently against her bare skin with my thumb. I looked down at her sketch, fully appreciating it with her watching me.
"You're really talented." I glanced back at her and she smiled a coy smile and shrugged, looking down at her picture.
"I'm alright…My mom, now she could draw. She taught me how to sketch. She was really talented." She was still smiling, but looked a little sad now.
"Well I still think this is incredible. Can I see what else you've done?" I reached out my hand toward her and she hesitated. She looked up at me with a surprised look on her face and held the sketchbook a bit tighter.
"It's kind of like a diary. It's personal." I dropped my hand.
"That's alright. I'm really happy I got to see the one you're working on now." She took a deep breath.
"You can see it if you promise not to harass me." That peaked my interest. I raised one eyebrow and smirked.
"When have I ever harassed you?" She rolled her eyes.
"Never mind." She shook her head and brought her pencil to the page again. I would have ripped the sketchbook out of her hands, but I didn't want her pencil to draw a big line across the picture she was working on. I rubbed her shoulder a little firmer, closer to a massage.
"I'm sorry. I won't harass you. I'd love to see your sketchbook if you'll let me." I said very gently. She looked back up at me with a semi amused smirk and shook her head slightly.
"Here." She said flippantly. She handed me the book. I started by looking at the picture she had just been working on, I flipped backwards through the pages, assumingly going in reverse chronological order. The next picture was of a butterfly, just black pencil, no color, not too detailed, but still much better than anything I could do; this was more the type of picture she had sketched for Alec. On the same page was a picture of a peach rose in color, and a picture of a horse, Wayfarer from the look of the star shaped blaze on his forehead. Then on the next page was a much larger, simple yet eloquent side profile of Izzy, just her face, looking down, hair falling forward slightly, her eyes closed or just not visible from the angle, she looked younger somehow. The pictures continued much the same, many pictures of people I could recognize, a few I couldn't, and many pictures that weren't of people at all. Though, the intricate sketch of the lake and the simpler sketches of the butterfly, rose, and horse, appeared to be recent, possibly all today, the rest appeared to be done at another time. As I flipped back in time I was increasingly disappointed not to come across any pictures of myself, but I guess that shouldn't have surprised me given our odd relationship over the years. As I got to the front of the sketch pad, the second to last picture, or the second picture from the front really, a smirk crossed my lips as I looked down at a picture of myself.
It was just a portrait drawn with a black pencil, no color. My hair was somewhat messy, parted on the side, with hair falling down over my forehead on one side. It was a little on the long side, with waves coming passed my ears and curls flicking out at the nape of my neck. My chin was chiseled and my jaw strong. I didn't look happy in the picture, I wasn't smiling, and my lips were almost in a very slight frown. My eyes looked hard, with my eyebrows borderline furrowed. There was something simple and complex about the picture. There wasn't a lot of shading, there was no color, yet it was very clear I could see myself in the picture. The likeness was actually uncanny, but I looked so cold, so guarded, almost in pain. I lowered the picture down to Clary's eyelevel.
"Is this what I look like?" I asked skeptically. She snatched the book back out of my hands before I even knew what was happening.
"You're done." She snapped as she closed the sketchbook. She had put her dark green pencil in the pencil box and had started to put the lid on. I grabbed her arm.
"Don't. I'm sorry. The sketches are really quite good, some of them absolutely amazing. I didn't mean anything by it. I just thought I looked so…I don't know…so angry in that picture. When did you draw it?" She took a deep breath and looked up at me. Her eyes softened quickly from the irritated look she started out with to a much gentler look, but she still didn't exactly look happy.
"Christmas." She said softly. She looked back at her closed sketchbook and shook her head.
"Though that's how you often looked at me." She mumbled. I know what my life was like without her, I wasn't happy. I crouched down next to her and reached out, cradled her chin in my hand, and turned her head to face me. I smiled as I stared in her eyes. She looked almost sad again.
"I only looked at you that way because it killed me that I couldn't be with you. I wasn't angry, I was in pain. I love you Clary. I've always loved you." Her face broke into a huge smile. I brought my lips to hers, still holding her chin gently in my hand. Her arms reached up around my neck, her sketchbook at some point discarded. Her lips parted and my lips reciprocated as she deepened the kiss. I put my arms around her back and stood slowly, pulling her up and out of the lounge chair. I held her flush, my bare chest against her barely covered body. My hands ran over her back, greatly enjoying her lack of clothing. Her hands tangled in my hair and lingered at my neck. We stood there for several minutes. Our tongues danced, our hands explored each other's bodies. This was paradise. Clary in my arms, Clary in general, this was everything I could ever want. I had been with several girls, but nothing I felt with any of them was an infinitesimal amount of what I felt when I was with Clary. I knew how differently my life was with her in it and without her in it. I knew I loved her. I knew she loved me. I knew everybody would think I was impulsive and crazy, but I knew what I wanted, I wanted to be with Clary forever.
Right now I just had to figure out how to get away from her for a few hours. After an amazing kiss that I didn't want to step away from, I pulled myself away from Clary. Her face was rosy, her eyes sparkling, and an ecstatic smile lit up her face. I told her I had to go to the bathroom and went in the house to find Alec. I had seen his car in the driveway when I got back from my run, so I knew he was home. He could help me figure out how to get away without prompting suspicion from Clary.
I walked into the cottage and down the hallway to find my door wide open, the window open as well. I couldn't even register my clean smelling room, because my eyes zeroed in on the dark blue bed. Izzy was close by and was all too quick to dissuade me from bothering Clary about my agitation. Though Clary had been thoughtful and washed my barn smelling sheets, and opened up the room to air it out, she stripped my bed only to have Izzy replace my perfectly white sheets with dark crimson ones. Izzy also replaced my white blanket with a navy blue one. I argued she should have just left no sheets or blanket on my bed until my normal bed linins were washed, but she was adamant I was being a little OCD about the whole thing. I've had a completely white room for almost 20 years, why in the world would I change that now. Crimson is just dark pink, they made my room into a girl's room. Next thing I know they'll be trying to paint the walls purple or hang pictures of ponies up. Izzy was pretty pushy telling me I had to learn to accept a little change. She was adamant that Clary loved the sheets and the blanket and if I wanted her to feel comfortable in my room I should learn to bend a little. I dropped the argument about the sheets, but was persistent no other changes be made to my room without my clear consent. Izzy just laughed at me. Those red sheets and navy blanket really affected my all white decor. It would definitely take me some time to get use to that.
I finally got away from Izzy and found Alec in his room, which was perfect, because I could use some privacy. I hadn't really planed on going into too much detail, but I still didn't want nosy Izzy around. Alec was impossible. He wouldn't just help me without me explaining to him why I needed him to help me distract Clary.
"You haven't wanted to be away from her for like a second Jace. I don't understand. Now you want some space?" I took an exasperated breath.
"I didn't say I wanted space. I said I needed to get away, alone, for 2 or 3 hours." Alec raised one eyebrow.
"Isn't that the same thing?" I shook my head.
"No. Not the way I see it." He rolled his eyes.
"Just tell her you want a few hours to yourself. She's not quite that clingy Jace. You two don't have to do everything together. Why do you need me?" I scratched the back of my head.
"I just don't want her to be suspicious or start thinking I need time away from her. I'm afraid she'll want to come if I tell her I'm going out and I need to go alone." Alec furrowed his eyebrows.
"Why? Where are you going?" I ran my hand through my hair and took a deep breath.
"I want to buy something and I don't want her with me when I do." Alec shrugged.
"So buy it another time." I cracked my neck.
"No. I want to do it tomorrow night." Alec narrowed his eyes at me skeptically.
"You want to do what tomorrow night?" He asked suspiciously. He looked kind of pissed.
"God. Alec I'm not going out to buy condoms or anything, don't look at me like that." Like I don't already have plenty. His face relaxed and he crossed his arms.
"Well if you're not going to work with me, I'm not going to work with you. Deal with Clary yourself." I rubbed my hands over my face frustrated and rested them on my head, fingers intertwined.
"Fine…I want to buy Clary a ring Alec." I said softly. I braced myself. Alec's eyes narrowed and he nodded slowly.
"A ring?" He barely whispered. I nodded.
"Yes a ring." I snapped. I was just waiting for him to lecture me on how stupid I was being. His eyes bulged as his hands dropped. Realization seemingly crossing his face.
"A ring? Like an engagement ring?" He said quietly, but louder than before. He looked so surprised. I rolled my eyes.
"Yes. An. Engagement. Ring." I enunciated very clearly and shook my head. A huge smile started to spread across Alec's face and before I knew what was happening he had me in a huge bear hug and lifted me slightly off the ground before placing me back down. I chuckled.
"I thought you'd think I was crazy." He laughed.
"You are crazy." He released me and stepped back placing his hands on both my shoulders.
"You're not going to try to talk me out of this? Tell me this is too fast and I'm being stupid?" He shook his head, a big smile still on his face.
"Nope. Everything you do is rash Jace. Why would you change that now? Who am I to stop you? If it's really too fast, then she'll say no. She's not impulsive when it comes to big decisions. She'll make sure she's thought it through completely before she says yes.-" I hadn't thought of her saying no, but that wasn't going to stop me from asking her.
"-You could always have a long engagement." I raised one eyebrow at him. He snickered.
"On the other hand, knowing you, you probably won't want a long engagement either." He shook his head.
"I'll go see if Izzy and Clary will bring me shopping." My eyes got big. I really didn't want Izzy to know.
"I won't say anything to Izzy. Don't worry. I'll tell them I want to look nice tonight. God this is going to be horrible. What I do for you?" He shook his head with a smile and a chuckle. As fate would have it, Alec actually had an email Clary had sent him when she ordered her class ring a few months back. She emailed him the order form with a picture of the ring, and it had her ring size on it. Though she ordered her class ring for her right hand, the size should be pretty close. He dug out the email and jotted down the size, 4.5. He wished me luck and shook my hand before we both left his room. He tracked down Izzy first and she was more than thrilled to take him shopping. He mentioned Clary, making it sound like an after thought and Izzy quickly got Clary on board too. I told Clary to have fun, I had no interest in shopping and they were out of the house by 3:00. Alec text me from the car saying that Izzy had reiterated their need to be back by 6:00 the latest, which was pushed up to 5:45 because Clary still had to shower, so that gave me less than 3 hours until they got home, but almost 5 hours before we'd need to leave for the party. I showered up and headed out to the nearest jewelry store the GPS could locate.
