Clary's POV
I woke up feeling completely relaxed and just euphoric. Everything I ever heard, everything Izzy ever said, everything anybody ever told me, everything I read; none of it really prepared me for what making love was really like or for how I would feel. To a certain extent I might have been as prepared as I could be for the physical aspect of intercourse, but it wasn't just a physical part of a relationship; there was an emotional aspect I hadn't expected. I felt a connection to Jace, an emotional bond that was indescribable. I had this amazing, incredible, nearly overpowering feeling toward Jace that was like nothing I had ever felt before. I always loved Jace, I knew I loved him before, but that love seemed like a small fraction of what I felt for him now. I couldn't even fathom how people could have causal sex, not now that I had experienced it. I couldn't understand how someone could just walk away from another person without feeling a strong tie to the person they just had sex with. Right now I felt connected to Jace in a way I never imagined possible. The feeling I felt towards Jace I felt with my whole heart, I felt it as deep down as a feeling can run, and I felt it unconditionally. There was nothing in the world that could happen, no transgression, no amount of distance, no length of time, nothing that could in the slightest way diminish our bond. This was the most immense, most important, most intense, most profound feeling I ever felt. I felt a deep down devotion to Jace and the relationship we had formed. Maybe I was just extremely lucky, maybe everybody didn't feel this way.
I didn't stir as I felt myself become more and more awake, but I couldn't help but smile. I was just so happy. I felt Jace's arms tighten around me and the soft pressure of his lips against my forehead. I smiled wider. I felt the warmth of Jace's body against me, I felt his arms wrapped around me and his legs tangled with mine. I felt the covers pulled up just over our waists. It was rather warm in the room, but in no way did that make me want to be a centimeter farther away from Jace's hot body. I could feel the fan against my back and I absentmindedly registered the electricity must be on and Jace must have gotten out of bed at some point to turn the fan on. I was surprised he didn't wake me; I'm usually a pretty light sleeper. Come to think of it, I woke up before Jace every day we were here besides today…well and besides the morning after we went to Pandemonium. I was just so happy and relaxed right now it wasn't really a surprise that I would have slept like a rock last night.
"Good morning gorgeous." Jace said quietly. He peppered my face with soft kisses, kissing my cheeks, my eyes, my nose, my jaw line, and my lips gently. The corner of my lips curved up further with each kiss.
"I'm still dreaming." I whispered. Jace laughed softly as I felt his hand gently graze my cheek.
"I know…me too." He whispered. He kissed my lips again gently. I finally opened my eyes and met his gaze. He looked happier than I had ever seen him. He had a huge smile on his face, I'm sure just as big as my own, and his golden eyes sparkled like twinkling stars. He was looking at me with so much affection I couldn't help but just smile all the more. True love, soul mates, the one; it was one thing to say it and think it was true, but it was a completely different thing to know it because I could feel it in my heart. Jace and I really were meant to be together. We just gazed at each other for a few minutes while Jace grazed the back of his hand against my cheek. I absentminded noticed the room was filled with soft daylight, which was escaping through the closed shade. I reached my hand up and placed it gently on his cheek and he leaned into it.
"I love you." I said softly. The corners of his lips curved up slightly more. He dipped his head and kissed my lips gently.
"I love you too." He said back softly against my lips. He pulled back and gazed at me adoringly.
"How did you sleep?" He asked quietly. I chuckled.
"I don't think I've ever slept that well in my life." He chuckled.
"Yeah. I was surprised when you didn't wake up when I got out of bed to turn on the fan. Then I went to the bathroom and came back and you were still out cold. You didn't even stir when I climbed back into bed and scooped you back up in my arms." He chuckled again. I furrowed my eyebrows at him slightly. My face was too stuck in a permanent smile to furrow my eyebrows too much.
"You left?" I didn't mean to sound as whiny as I'm sure I did. He laughed as he wrapped both his arms around me tighter and pulled me closer to him. He kissed my forehead.
"Well it is almost noon." I shook my head slightly.
"Wow." I muttered. He laughed softly.
"Why didn't you wake me?" I asked quietly. His face softened as he took his hand from behind my back and pushed my hair behind my ear.
"I have never seen anything so incredibly peaceful as the way you looked this morning when I woke up. There was no way I was going to wake you." He said softly. I smiled. I tilted my head expectantly and he met me halfway for a few more gentle kisses.
"I could definitely get use to this." He murmured between kisses. I chuckled against his lips. When he pulled away this time he put his hand on the back of my head and gently pulled me to his chest."
"You know…I'm the happiest I've ever been in my entire life." He said softy and kissed my hair. I smiled to myself.
"Me too." He just held me for a few minutes while we were both quiet. I could hear the gentle beat of his heart. So many times I wondered if his heart just tended to beat fast, but right now it was steady and measured. Maybe he was just always excited all those other times and right now he was just completely at ease.
"What are you thinking right now?" Jace asked softly. I laughed.
"I was just listening to your heartbeat." He kissed my hair.
"You know every one of those beats is for you?" He said softly. I pulled back and he kissed my lips gently. He gazed fondly into my eyes as his hand came up and he started to twirl a strand of my hair around his fingers.
"So, tell me honestly, before I proposed did you ever really think about getting married?" He asked quietly. I smiled.
"Well I did start to get comfortable hearing you referred to as my husband, which I blame Will for, but if you want me to be honest, I had a dream we were married…Actually if you count my horrible nightmare last night, I also had a dream you proposed too." He smirked and chuckled.
"How can you say it was a horrible nightmare if it involved me proposing?" I told Jace about the dreams I had the night before and I felt a couple tears trickle down my cheeks. Jace's hand reached out and wiped my tears away.
"They were just dreams honey." He said softly. He kissed my cheeks and my lips gently until I had a wide smile on my face again and the dreams were a distant memory.
"…So tell me about the other dream where we were married." I laughed.
"Hmm…You know I blame Will for repeatedly referring to you as my husband, and then there was something Izzy said…" He nodded his head a couple times encouraging me to continue. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to tell Jace I had a dream the other night that we had a baby. Even though it was just a dream and we were engaged now, guys freak out about stuff like that. Izzy had to make that comment the other evening Think of how cute your children would be. Then it got stuck in my subconscious and came out in a dream. Now I was backing myself in a corner and Jace was looking at me so intently.
"And?" He questioned. I shrugged.
"And what?" He laughed.
"Tell me about this dream." I shook my head.
"Never mind. You'll just harass me." He looked at me very affectionately and put his hand on my cheek.
"If I'm going to make all your dreams come true some day, then I need to know what you dream about." He said softly. I couldn't help but smile at him as I shook my head.
"That was a good line." He laughed.
"It wasn't a line Clary. Tell me about your dream." He gave me the most adorable puppy dog face. I shook my head with a smile still glued to my face.
"That's not fair. You can't look at me like that." He laughed and his face broke back into a huge smile. I took a semi-exasperated breath.
"You really want to know?" He chuckled as he nodded.
"Yeah. Especially seeing you're trying so hard to weasel out of telling me." I gaped my mouth and gave him a mock offended look.
"Hey." I said in as insulted of a voice as I could muster. He laughed. I felt his hands moving down my back to my waist, but I was too slow to react. He spoke and took action simultaneously.
"I'll just have to tickle it out of you." He said as he tickled me; I let out with a scream as my body involuntarily thrashed. He stopped tickling me as his body jerked away from mine, one hand flew up and gently cupped over my mouth, while the one that was once under me now held down one of my knees. I belatedly registered I was probably pretty close to kneeing him just then. That wouldn't have felt good.
"Shh…Everybody will think we're having crazy hot sex." He joked. I laughed. I stuck my tongue out and licked his hand and he pulled it away with a chuckle.
"Oh so let them." I said flippantly. He furrowed his eyebrows at me, but looked amused.
"What happen to no one can know…they can't know when we have sex. None of them can know?" He threw his voice into a high pitched sarcastic impression of me. I gaped my mouth at him in disbelief.
"Are you mocking me?" He laughed as his whole body curled in towards me and he quickly scooped me up in his arms and held me tightly to him.
"Nooo." He said sarcastically with a smile on his face.
"You're mocking me!" He laughed.
"Don't hurt me." He joked. I shook my head at him.
"You're unbelievable." He laughed.
"Do you hate me?" He teased. I just melted as my face completely softened into a huge smile, but I wanted to harass him.
"Yes I hate you." I couldn't keep a straight face as I laughed. His mouth gaped as he shot me an adorable look of disbelief.
"I can't believe you said you hated me." I felt his hand move down my side.
"Better not tickle me again. I'd hate to knee you." I teased. He laughed.
"Now would you hate to knee me because of how that would adversely affect me, or because of how that would adversely affect you?" He said in a low sexy voice. I chuckled as I smiled.
"I plead the fifth." I joked. He brought his lips to mine gently.
"I'll take that as the latter." He said confidently. I chuckled. He suddenly rolled us both so he was lying on top of me and I let out with a peal of laughter. He propped himself up on his elbows that were resting on either side of me. My legs were straddling him and bent up on either side of his body. I felt my heart rate accelerating. His body was pressed against me before, but in this position, with him looking down at me, my legs straddling his naked body, I felt myself quickly shifting gears from happy and playful to getting turned on. He peppered my lips, my cheeks and my neck with soft kisses. I felt myself melting with every kiss. He brought his lips to my ear.
"You can't knee me in this position." He whispered. I felt my whole body tense.
"Jace." I said in a semi-warning tone as his weight shifted. He continued to pepper my neck with kisses, which was rather distracting. I felt more of his weight on me as his right hand caressed down the length of my body, which felt really good. He stopped right at my waist, I felt my breath catch.
"Jace." I said again in a firmer warning tone, but he just laughed against my neck. His hand grabbed at my side briefly, but effectively and I let out with another scream. He laughed again.
"Do you hate me?" He teased again.
"Yes." I harassed back. He laughed.
"Wrong answer." His lips left my neck and he grabbed at my side again and again I let out with a scream, this time he didn't let up and I continued to laugh and squirm under him.
"Jace." I shrieked between laughing. He was looking down at me with an amused look.
"Do you hate me?" He teased again.
"Ok…Ok…I don't hate you…I don't hate you." I gasped while laughing. He stopped tickling. He brought his lips to mine and kissed me softly while I mock glared at him. He laughed again. He shifted his weight so he was resting on his bent elbows again and his hands idly played with my hair.
"So, do you plan on pretending we didn't have sex last night?" He asked with an amused look on his face. I smiled.
"Why? If I pretend we didn't have sex, will you forget?" He laughed.
"I meant for everybody else's benefit, not for mine." I smiled.
"Let's see it's…" I glanced over at the clock.
"…12:30 and if nobody has freaked out yet as to my whereabouts, either nobody cares where I am, which I find that hard to believe, or I'd say they all know I'm in here with you. So there is a good chance if I just spent all night and part of the day in your bedroom we made up. Izzy will probably know just by looking at me that we had sex anyway. That's not even taking into consideration that we're engaged now…" I found myself breaking into the widest smile and Jace did the same.
"…I'd have to come up with too many lies if I was going to try to deny we had sex last night, and I just don't lie well. Everybody's going to know soon enough, no use trying to hide it…We had sex." I shrugged. Jace furrowed his eyebrows at me slightly.
"I wonder who won the pool." I said thoughtfully. Jace shook his head at me with an amused look on his face.
"Who are you and what did you do with Clary?" He joked.
"What?" I said with a chuckle. He shook his head slightly.
"Maybe Izzy was right; maybe you did just need to get laid." He teased. I gaped my mouth at him and gave him a mock indignant look.
"You did not just say that…You're going to pay Jace." My hands quickly rushed down his chest and grabbed at both his sides. Jace just gave me an amused look and shook his head.
"Not going to work on me My Love." I smirked at him.
"I'm patient. I'll figure out where you're ticklish." He laughed.
"I very much doubt you're patient, but why don't I lay down and you can try to figure out where I'm ticklish?" He raised his eyebrows up and down at me. I heard my stomach growl loudly and Jace laughed.
"Somebody's hungry…What did you eat yesterday?" I scrunched up my face.
"Well it is pretty late in the day. What have you eaten?"
"I ate plenty yesterday, I don't miss too many meals, plus I already had a granola bar this morning." I gave him a puzzled look.
"When did you find time to eat?" He shrugged.
"You were asleep. I was hungry." We were both silent, but he was giving me an expectant look. I shrugged.
"I had a bagel for breakfast." He was nodding.
"And?" I shrugged.
"A coffee." He was shaking his head.
"What did you have for lunch?" I scrunched up my face again.
"I got distracted." He furrowed his eyebrows at me.
"What does that mean?" I didn't really think he was going to be thrilled with my answer.
"It means I ate a bagel for breakfast, and that's it." He gave me a disapproving look.
"Ok, you need to eat. Not just now, I mean at normal intervals. No more skipping meals."
"Sure." I muttered. I shook my head and rolled my eyes.
"Are you sassing me?" Jace said playfully. His weight shifted and there was a hand at my side before I could react; I let out a peal of laughter. Jace stopped tickling me and looked down at me very affectionately.
"Honey, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but I care about you and I worry about you. The other night, when you fainted, everybody was talking about how you skip meals. No more. Ok. I scraped you off the ground once and that's about all my heart can take for a while. You need to eat." He was giving me a very persistent look. I took a deep breath. It's not like I skip meals on purpose, I just don't prioritize eating.
"Ok. Fine. I'll make a conscientious effort to remember to eat at normal intervals." Jace shook his head slightly.
"I guess that's the most I can ask for…Now let's get you some food. What do you feel like eating?" I smiled.
"Panera Bread." I said in a small voice. He laughed. He dipped his head and kissed my lips gently.
"Alright. Are you going to shower before we go?" I nodded adamantly. I felt in desperate need of a shower. Not just because we had sex last night, but because it was a million degrees and I was hot and sweaty. I absentminded thought of the fact I never showered yesterday; so much for all of my planning on how I wanted my first time to go. Friday night I had put new, not white, sheets on the bed; I showered and shaved; I did my makeup and hair; I bought new lingerie; I planned out everything. Of course last night, I hadn't showered, shaved, or did my hair or makeup, and right now I was thinking of the fact I probably had raccoon eyes from crying half of last night before I came into Jace's room. Last night was definitely not planned in advance, but it was perfect. Just like our first kiss. It was like Jace and I were meant to be together. I guess the best things in life are worth waiting for, and I was really happy I waited for Jace.
"Ok. So I imagine it will be a little while before we leave. Why don't I get you something to hold you over? What sounds good?" I shrugged.
"A granola bar." He nodded.
"Alright. I'll go grab you a granola bar. You want anything else? Water or anything?" It suddenly hit me, two years like a Swiss watch and last night I forget. Ironically Izzy even told me to remember to take my pill. I smacked my hand to my face.
"Doh!" Jace chuckled.
"Did I miss something?" I shook my head.
"I just remembered something I forgot to do yesterday." Jace looked at me expectantly.
"Probably just as good a time as any to tell you I'm on the pill." Jace nodded slightly.
"I kind of already knew that." He said quietly.
"How?" I snapped harsher than I meant to.
"Izzy." He said softly. I rolled my eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me." He shrugged.
"So I take it you forgot yesterday." I scrunched up my face and nodded.
"Ironically I remembered like clockwork for two years and when it might actually matter I forgot." He shrugged.
"Well we used a condom…but seeing as you brought up the fact you are on the pill my fiancée, are you going to make me wait until after we walk down the aisle to find out what it feels like without a condom?" I felt my cheeks burning up. I could just about hear Izzy screaming at me that I needed to use a condom no matter what.
"Oh, I can still make you blush." He brought his lips to mine and kissed my lips softly. He pulled back and was looking down at me expectantly, but with a smile, while he twirled my hair between his fingers.
"The answer to your question is yes…probably…I haven't thought about it…" I rattled off. He was smirking at me a devilish smirk and I was just shaking my head and trying to focus.
"…are you telling me you never did it without a condom before?" I said hesitantly with a quizzical look on my face. He shrugged.
"I'm not an idiot, plus have you met my sister, I think she owns stock in condoms the way she pushes them." I smiled a dorky smile.
"What?" He asked evenly.
"I don't know…You're my first and it's kind of neat to know I'll be your first at something." I said somewhat timidly. He laughed.
"You say I'm your first like there will be others." I laughed.
"Well then…let me clarify…We're exclusive. It might have been assumed before, but I want it stated for the record. Whatever happened before we were engaged happened before, but now you belong to me." He chuckled
"So who do you belong to?"
"You of course." He snickered again.
"That sounds good." He said as he dipped down and kissed me gently again.
"Alright, now get your ass out of bed." He gave me a couple light smacks on the side of my hip as he climbed out of bed. I laughed as I quickly grabbed up the blankets to cover myself. Staring at Jace in all of his naked glory, I was feeling a little less confident about my body.
"I thought you said you got up already this morning?" He strutted across the bedroom without a care in the world, but with a body like that; he really had nothing at all to be self conscious about. He had an amazingly firm ass; I mean you could bounce a quarter off that thing. Me on the other hand, I was holding the covers up to my neck.
"I did." He said matter-of-factly.
"Yet you're naked Jace." He laughed as he stopped in front of his bureau and turned around. I couldn't help but giggle and try to keep my gaze on his eyes. I'm sure I had a crazy bashful smile on my face.
"Yes, I know. So are you…I would have been overdressed if I climbed back into bed in boxers." He winked at me and smirked. I'm sure I was six shades of red right now. It had been pretty much dark most of last night and looking at Jace right now in the pale light was very new to me. I might have touched every part of Jace, but I certainly hadn't seen every part of Jace. I couldn't speak. There were no words. My mind was completely taking in the scenery and trying not to gawk simultaneously. Jace made Michelangelo's David look like he needed to hit the gym. I had not realized how incredibly hot it was in this room.
"I love that I can still make you blush…Next time we'll have sex with the lights on. I have a feeling you missed a lot." I just giggled as he chuckled and turned back towards the bureau. He took out a pair of boxers and put them on, and then he took out a pair of gym shorts and pulled them on as well. He took out another garment that was gray and walked back over to the bed. He handed it to me and I took it reflexively. He leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss. I unfolded the garment he gave me, it was a gray Patriots's t-shirt. I dropped the blankets, but before I could even attempt to put on the t-shirt, Jace was sitting down on the edge of the bed with his arms loosely around me. He placed a number of butterfly kisses on my collar and chest while I giggled. He placed another soft kiss on my lips before he gazed into my eyes.
"I think I missed a lot last night too." He said softly. He shook his head and stood up.
"Let's get out of here before I change my mind." He muttered. I laughed. I put the t-shirt on and stood up. Jace was walking around his room picking up. He put his boxers and my camisole in the hamper. As the thought crossed my mind to comment I'd take my camisole, I realized I had to get use to sharing a hamper with him soon enough anyway. He handed me my satin shorts, which I put on. He found my ring box just under the bed and closed it before putting it in his nightstand drawer, and closing that. He picked up a condom wrapper off the floor and threw it in the garbage, before taking the bag out of the garbage and tying it. In a matter of minutes his room was nearly completely in order. I realized that I probably should have helped him pick-up, but the thought hadn't even crossed my mind before. I walked over to his bed; the least I could do was make the bed. I straightened the pillows and started to pull the sheet up when I felt an arm around my waist. As Jace hastily pulled me to his body, I dropped the sheet and giggled. His other hand quickly pushed my hair all over to one shoulder, and I giggled again as he tightly wrapped both his arms around me and brought his lips to my now exposed neck.
"You keep giggling and laughing when I kiss you and I'm going to get a complex." He teased as he continued to kiss my neck. I brought the back of my hand up to my forehead dramatically.
"Oh catch me before I faint." I said sarcastically. He laughed.
"That's more like it." He murmured against my neck. We both laughed. He peppered my neck with a few more kisses.
"Ok. If we're ever going to get out of this cottage today you need to take a shower. I'll make the bed get going." He kissed my neck one more time before his arms dropped from my waist and he gave my ass a smack. I jumped.
"Hey." I half shrieked as I turned around to face him. He was smirking at me.
"It's nice to be able to do that and not get smacked in the face." He said with a chuckle. I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I snickered.
"Who said you won't get smacked in the face?" I teased.
"You wouldn't smack this face now would you?" He said in a low sexy voice. He shot me a very sexy smirk and I felt my heart start to race. I couldn't help but smile a huge smile. I shook my head.
"You are way too hot…I have to take a shower." I sidestepped him. He chuckled. I walked across the room to the door, but as I put my hand on the doorknob he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist again and pressed his lips to my neck.
"Jace." I said in a semi-warning voice as I giggled. We were never going to get out of this room today.
"I know. I know. I can't help it." He murmured against my neck. His lips left my neck and he sighed as he dropped his arms. I laughed as I finally opened the bedroom door and escaped with a gentle smack against my ass. I laughed as I bee lined down the hall towards the bathroom.
I managed to get to the bathroom without anybody noticing. I was petrified to shower with my ring on, but I also didn't want to take it off. After a short deliberation, I took it off and carefully put it on the shelves that were no where near the sink or toilet. I even shut the toilet seat to be certain I wouldn't somehow knock the ring off the shelf and into the toilet when I went to put it back on. I brushed my teeth and took a nice cool shower. It was way to oppressive today to take a hot shower. It was uncomfortable in the cottage; it was definitely going to be virtually unbearable outside. I towel dried my hair and threw it up in a messy knot. It was too hot to blow dry it, but it was wet and I didn't want to leave it down either. I was sure Jace would be taking that scrunchy out sooner or later. I smiled to myself. I saturated myself with sun block and cucumber melon lotion. I spritzed myself with one of Izzy's perfumes; I decided to go with Pink by Victoria Secret today. I realized I didn't grab any clothes, though that would have meant I had to walk by the kitchen anyway. I did my make-up, putting on mascara, brown eye shadow, the green glittery eyeliner I loved, and a touch of lip gloss. I carefully put my ring on, wrapped a towel around my body, grabbed my shorts and Jace's t-shirt, and snuck out of the bathroom. I tip toed down the hall, but as I approached the kitchen I could already hear voices. I made a run for it, and could hear my name being called as I scurried by the kitchen entryway.
"Let me get dressed." I shouted as I rushed into my room. I quickly shut and locked the door. No sooner was the door locked than it was being jangled from the outside.
"Hey, let me in." I heard Jace's semi-insulted voice through the door. I laughed. I was standing right on the other side of the door.
"Go get ready. We both know if I let you in, you'll never let me get dressed." He laughed.
"Touché." He sounded a little disappointed, but I just laughed. I could hear his retreating footsteps.
I glanced at the clock as I walked across my room. It was blinking from the power outage. I dropped the clothes I was carrying in my hamper. I picked up Will's cell phone off my nightstand, which reminded me I had to get my phone back from him and get him his phone today. I looked at the time; it was already 1:30. I quickly set my clock. I suddenly remembered I had tentative plans today to go to the hospital with Nate and Tessa to see Jem and Will. I didn't really feel like going anymore. I wanted to see Jem and Will, I just had no interest in seeing Nate, but I'd see if Jace wanted to go, otherwise I could always cancel and get my phone back later. I went over to my bureau and noticed there were three different flavors of granola bars sitting on it. Jace is so sweet. I was really hungry so I grabbed one randomly and practically inhaled it while I started taking out clothes. I put on a mint green push-up bra and lace thong set, and a mint green fitted spandex short sleeve lace t-shirt with a slight scoop neck. It had a pretty high neck line, which easily covered my bruises. I only had one or two more tops that I knew would hide the bruises Sebastian left, but they didn't look too bad today, they were a little faded, so I was hopeful in another day I might be able to get away with a tank top or maybe even spaghetti straps again. I had debated trying to use cover-up, but I was afraid I would just sweat it off. I put on a dark blue denim miniskirt. I threw on the adorable matching mint green lace wedge sandals. This was probably one of my favorite outfits Izzy picked out for me. I opened my jewelry box on the vanity and was thrilled to find my necklace sitting right on top; though I absentmindedly wondered how long it would take for Jordan to bring it up again. I put the necklace on and for some reason found myself tucking it in under my high neck line. I wasn't really sure why, but I just felt like I wanted to wear it, but I didn't want to flaunt it. I put on a pair of cubic zirconium stud earrings and my watch. I grabbed an off white purse and put all of my stuff into it. I heard an unfamiliar ring tone and reached for the cell phone and answered it without thinking.
"Hello"
"Hello. I'm looking for William Herondale." Dammit. I answered Will's phone.
"I'm sorry he's not here right now. Can I take a message?"
"This is Agramon at the Idris Auto Repair shop. I was just calling to let him know James Carstairs's car is ready to pick up." Wow that seemed fast, though I really didn't know how bad the damage was to the car.
"Ok thanks. I'll let Will know."
"Just wanted to let you know we close early today ma'am. We'll be open until 3:00. If he doesn't pick up the car today he'll have to pay a $75 fee for us to store the car another night." I glanced at the clock; it was already 1:45. These places were thieves. I'd just see if Jace minded going with me to pick the car up. It was the least I could do for Jem. I'd be really tight on time if I went to the hospital to pick up Will first, and I imagined I wasn't going to be able to get out of the cottage that fast. I quickly got directions from the guy; it was going to take about fifteen minutes to get to the shop. I told him I'd be there to pick the car up today before I hung up.
I put Will's phone in my purse. I was ready, I just needed to wait for Jace to get ready and make it out of the cottage in one piece. I had a feeling Izzy was going to be able to just look at me and know I had sex. I shook my head as I reached my door and took a deep breath before I turned the handle and left the room.
Jace's POV
I had no idea what takes women so long to get ready. I was showered and changed and Clary still wasn't out of her room. I was wearing tan cargo shorts and a dark green polo shirt that I left untucked and the top couple buttons undone. I had on a pair of brown sandals. I didn't do much with my wet hair except comb it, not that I ever did anything else with it. I had put on some Tommy Hilfiger cologne. I was leaning up against the door frame of the kitchen, so I had a clear view down the hall to Clary's room. Everybody was in the kitchen eating a variety of food that Maia had made. There were tuna salad, chicken salad, ham salad, egg salad, and seafood salad finger sandwiches; chips and dips; cut vegetables and dips; a watermelon that had been hollowed out and turned into a bowl of fruit salad; coleslaw and potato salad; cookies and brownies; and fresh squeezed lemonade and homemade ice tea. Maia really did know how to put a spread out. I found myself nibbling on some vegetables to hold me over, though I wondered if Clary was going to just want to eat here once she saw everything. Izzy and Simon were sitting at the table across from each other, with Izzy closest to me, her back often to me. They each had a plate of food in front of them; Simon looked like he was eating enough to feed a village. Maia and Jordan were behind Izzy, not too far from me. Maia was leaning up against Jordan, his arms wrapped around her and he was leaning up against the cabinets. She was holding a plate of food and kept feeding Jordan off her plate. Magnus and Alec were to my right. Magnus was a little distance from me; he was pouring himself another cup of coffee and had a cookie in his mouth. Alec was right next to me leaning up against the fridge eating a carrot. We were so close our shoulders would periodically touch. I was engaged in trivial conversation with Alec. Nobody had said anything too direct to me, or asked too much about Clary and I working things out, but I had confirmed for them that we had. I had a feeling there were some suspicious people in the kitchen. Alec and Magnus kept giving me looks and I wondered if they speculated that I proposed. Izzy was eyeing me like a hawk when I first walked into the kitchen, though her self proclaimed supernatural power of determining if somebody had sex, never seemed to work on me.
I heard Clary's door open and I smiled as I detached myself from the doorframe and walked away from whatever story Alec was telling me. I could hear Alec slightly chuckle as I ventured down the hallway toward her. She looked so hot in the miniskirt and green top she was wearing. I immediately made plans to get her hair free of the scrunchy she had it imprisoned in. I found my feet taking me down the hall towards her and my arms wrapped around her waist as I quickly picked her up into the air and crushed my lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around my neck and responded to my kiss, though she giggled and giggled the whole time. I pulled back and peppered her lips, her face and her neck with more kisses. She smiled and chuckled. It was hard for my ego to take a hit with all the giggles and laughter from Clary; I knew it just meant she was really happy. I brought my lips to hers for a couple more soft kisses. Based on the fact Clary kept looking over my shoulder, I had a feeling we had an audience. She rested one of her hands gently on my cheek; her other hand held her purse and was draped loosely over my shoulder. She brought her lips gently to mine one more time.
"We have company." Clary said quietly with a smirk. I turned around with Clary still in my arms to see Maia, Alec, and Magnus all vanish back into the kitchen. Izzy continued watching us with her arms crossed and a huge smile on her face. I passionately kissed Clary's neck as she let out a peal of laughter. I finally put her down and wrapped my arm around her as we walked down the hallway together. Izzy just continued to watch us as we approached. We weren't even in the kitchen yet when Izzy wrapped her arms around Clary's neck and took her in for a hug. Clary just laughed as she gently returned Izzy's hug. Izzy seemed to be whispering to Clary, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. Clary just chuckled as she shook her had slightly and rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. After a long moment I decided I should save Clary from my sister.
"Alright, alright. Let her breath." I muttered as I gently tugged Clary out of Izzy's grasp. Izzy just beamed as she walked into the kitchen and sat back down at the table. We walked in after her with all eyes watching us. Izzy just continued to watch Clary with a big smile on her face. I couldn't help but chuckle just looking at Izzy, she was one odd duck. Clary was smiling and a pretty shade of pink; she was slightly on my left and leaning into me; I had my arm around her. I found myself absentmindedly kissing her hair.
"Well?" Jordan asked matter-of-factly. There were several chuckles across the kitchen.
"So…Magnus won." Izzy said thoughtfully.
"I'd like to thank all the little people for making this day possible-" Magnus began with a hand to his chest, a manic smile, and a superior look on his face. Alec cut him off shaking his head with a semi-amused semi-disapproving look.
"Impossible…I saw Clary sneaking into Jace's room after midnight." Alec said. Clary looked at him with a surprised look.
"Mere technicality." Magnus stated as he flourished his hand into the air.
"You saw me?" Clary said hesitantly.
"Yeah. I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water. Trying not to have an anxiety attack that it was starting to storm and I knew Magnus would flip out if I went anywhere near your room." Magnus was looking in Alec's direction and nodding. Clary was shaking her head. I absentmindedly noticed Maia and Jordan appeared to be engaged in a private conversation or bickering.
"Wait a minute. Magnus and Sebastian both had the Fourth of July?" Clary asked hesitantly. Magnus chimed in.
"No Clary Darling. Two people couldn't pick the same date. I bet on the Forth of July. It's the glitteriest day of the whole vacation…Fireworks you know." Magnus said with a manic smile. I placed another gentle kiss on Clary's hair and whispered to her.
"Is this bothering you at all?" She glanced up at me and smiled as she shook her head. I kissed her forehead and she looked back towards Izzy.
"Oddly enough Sebastian bet you wouldn't have sex at all." Izzy said with a shrug, though she still had a huge smile on her face.
"That's kind of odd considering." Simon muttered.
"So that means it was today and nobody won. Dammit!" Izzy said mockingly as she playfully rolled her eyes. She was still smiling like crazy. Though technically we hadn't actually admitted we had sex, we just hadn't denied the speculations either.
"So what makes you so sure I had sex?" Clary said in an amused tone.
"Oh…You mean besides the fact you're completely comfortable with this conversation?…It's the soft glow on your face, the pink in your cheeks, the smile that touches your eyes, the way your body leans against Jace's as though you crave his touch, the way his hand has moved from the more traditional position it held last week on your waist to it's new position six inches lower on your ass, and the way he's kissed your hair, God I don't know how many times, since you walked into the kitchen…You're blissfully in love and yes I can tell you've had sex." Simon said something under his breath I couldn't hear, and Izzy turned back away from us for a moment to snap something at him, but I couldn't hear her either. I felt Clary's hand on my wrist and realized my hand was now on her waist. Not that I had consciously put it on her ass earlier, but I quickly repositioned it back to her ass now. Clary chuckled and I felt her hand gently tugging mine up. I held my position.
"Don't even think about it." I whispered into her ear and she laughed, but she gave up her efforts. She turned her head towards me and reached her left hand up and gently touched her fingertips to my cheek as I dipped down and softly kissed her lips. She dropped her hand as she looked forward again.
"Not true." Alec said suddenly staring at Clary with wide eyes.
"You're in denial Alec…They obviously had sex…Look how happy they are." Izzy said very sweetly as she turned back towards us with the same big smile on her face. Alec covered the short distance from where he was standing by Magnus and wrapped his arms around Clary's waist, lifting her off the ground and away from me and swinging her around in a circle. Clary laughed as she placed her hands on his shoulders. Magnus was next to Alec in a heartbeat with his arms also around Alec and Clary. Izzy was looking at the display and looked taken back.
"Magnus gets excited about everything, but not really how I expected Alec to react to Clary losing her virginity, but hey there is a first for everything." I hadn't realized until now that Simon was glaring daggers at me, his arms crossed. I chuckled. Izzy seemed to glance back at him at the same moment and she laughed.
"Now that…" Izzy jerked her chin towards Simon.
"…that's how I expected Simon and Alec to act…" Most of the kitchen was laughing at this point.
"…Alec said he absolutely wouldn't be a part of the pool. Simon said he was betting that you'd wait until you were married.-" Alec cut Izzy off.
"Or engaged. Simon specifically said married or engaged." Alec said softly as he lowered Clary to the ground and gazed affectionately into her eyes. Simon must have said something else under his breath, because Izzy turned back towards him to snap at him again. Magnus let go of Clary and shook my hand.
"The question is…will we ever find out which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Magnus asked with a mischievous look, still holding onto my hand. I shook my head with a smirk.
"Simon won." The words just tumbled out of my mouth as I glanced back at Simon and his face shifted to a puzzled look.
"Who's Simon?" Magnus joked with a smile on his face as he winked at me. He dropped my hand and glanced over his shoulder in Simon's direction. Simon just rolled his eyes and shook his head with an annoyed look on his face.
"I'm not hugging Clary because she…that's not why I'm hugging her. I'm hugging her because…Simon won." Alec said softly.
"What?" Izzy snapped. Alec had reached out an arm and pulled me into his hug. I automatically put an arm around Clary as I was pulled into the madness.
"Good God. It just hit me…I have to learn his name now don't I?" Magnus muttered.
"You're not…You're…Are you…" Izzy rambled as she looked at us quizzically. Clary managed to reach her left hand out between Alec and I and held it up showing off the ring.
"YOU'RE ENGAGED!" Izzy screeched as she flew out of her chair, knocking it to the ground. She rushed over pushing me and Alec out of the way as she wrapped her arms around Clary.
"Oh. My. God. I'm so excited! I'm just…" Izzy sounded crazy and Clary was just laughing.
"…You're engaged. You're engaged. You're engaged." Izzy chanted as she released Clary and grabbed at her hand. Izzy gasped as he put her hand over her mouth.
"Ohhh." Izzy screeched. Simon, Jordan and Maia were now around us as well. Simon and Jordan were shaking my hand; Simon didn't look nearly as hostile anymore. Maia had Clary in a vice grip for a long time while she cried and Clary just smiled and kept looking over at me. Izzy was still inspecting the ring and going on and on about what a good job I did picking it out. At some point Izzy managed to get the ring off of Clary's finger and had it on her own pinky finger. Magnus felt this was an appropriate time to mention how he had been the first to try the ring on, which caused a few chuckles in the room. I watched on as all the girls tried on the ring and everybody took turns hugging Clary or me or shaking my hand. Alec was standing on the side of me watching the madness with a big smile on his face and a hand on my shoulder. Every time I tried to put my arm back around Clary, she was quickly pulled back out of my grasp.
"I want to be engaged." Maia whined as she looked down at her hand, she was now trying on Clary's ring. Maia was able to put it on her ring finger, but she couldn't get it over her knuckle.
"Look what you started." Jordan muttered as he rolled his eyes. He managed to coax Maia into giving the ring back and Clary had it safely back on her finger again.
"I…Alec didn't I tell you?…I can't believe this…I'm so excited!…When did you buy the ring Jace?...I just…I want to go out and celebrate tonight! I'm so excited!" Izzy screeched. Now that Clary was finally available again, Izzy took her in for another hug. Clary was laughing as she was pulled from my arm again. Izzy spun her quickly around in a circle and both of them nearly fell to the ground as Simon, Alec, and I quickly threw out hands to keep the girls righted. There was a lot of laughter and smiles in the kitchen. Izzy towed Clary over to the fridge talking her ear off requesting all sorts of details about my proposal.
"Champaign! We need Champaign!" Izzy announced as she opened the refrigerator door with one hand and still held on to Clary's arm with the other. Clary was still laughing and kept looking over her shoulder at me. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. She looked so happy. She had the biggest smile on her face and her eyes just sparkled.
"Jace, are you listening to me at all?" I blinked a couple times and looked over at Alec. He had a hand on my shoulder and was shaking his head with an amused look on his face.
"Oh you're completely done for." He laughed and dropped his hand. I found my feet taking me over to Clary and I pulled her from Izzy's grasp as I took her in for a tight embrace and pressed my lips to hers. Her arms snaked up and wrapped around my neck. I could barely hear the snickers and comments. Right now it was just Clary and me. After a moment I heard a number of intentional throat clears and I finally detached myself from Clary. Izzy was holding two glasses of Champaign out in front of us with a huge smile on her face.
"Isn't it too early for Champaign Izzy?" I commented as I took a glass and Clary took a glass.
"Pish posh. Champaign is a morning drink. Hence the expression Champaign brunch." Izzy rattled back.
"This is Izzy we're talking about. It's never too early to start drinking." Simon muttered. Izzy jabbed him in the ribs playfully with a smile on her face before handing him a glass of Champaign, which he took.
There were a number of toasts before things finally settled down enough for me to get Clary to eat before she told me she had to leave to pick up Jem's car, and hoped it wouldn't be a problem for me to come with her. Of course at this point, I had defaulted to, wherever Clary was, is where I'd be. Izzy was persistent enough that we agreed to go out later to celebrate, but we told her she could figure out the details and tell us when we got back; which she was ecstatic to hear. Clary also made me aware that she had tentative plans to meet Nate and Tessa later to see Jem and Will, which I was also more than happy to go with her. I hadn't talked to Will since the bonfire and I had wanted to see how he was doing anyway. Clary and I finally got out of the cottage at 2:40, with her in a slight panic that the repair shop closed at 3:00 and it would take about fifteen minutes to get there. Of course, a long kiss in the driveway later, she seemed much more relaxed. We got in the car with a promise to make a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts for coffee, I had a cup in the kitchen, but Clary had only drank Champaign.
Clary's POV
When Jace and I climbed into the car I was completely on cloud nine. I had been a little afraid Izzy would ask me a million questions about having sex, but besides a few whispers reiterating the importance of always using protection, and the initial banter about who won the pool, all her questions were directed at getting engaged. Everybody in the kitchen was so excited, it just added to the excitement I already felt. Of course two glasses of Champaign later I was also a little tipsy. I was just really in a phenomenal mood right now. Jace held my hand intertwined with his while he drove and periodically brought it to his lips to kiss the back of it. We stopped at a nearby Dunkin Donuts and we both ordered coffee. It was so hot I went with a frozen coffee, but Jace went with a plain old regular hot coffee. I used Jace's phone and firmed up meeting Nate and Tessa at the hospital at 4:00. We continued on our way to the repair shop with Jace driving a bit quicker than I would have, but I bit my tongue and didn't nag him. Though the conversation started with jokes and comments about the kitchen and everybody's reaction, we soon shifted topics.
"So I hope you don't think I forgot you have a dream to tell me about My Love." Jace said sweetly. I laughed.
"I worked so hard at distracting you this morning so you'd forget." He chuckled.
"That might have worked at the time, but I want to hear about your dream all the same." He smirked at me and I rolled my eyes.
"It wasn't a very long dream or anything…" I took a deep breath.
"And?" He said somewhat impatiently.
"It's nothing it's just…we had a baby girl we kind of named after Alec. Her name was Alexis." I rambled off quickly. He smiled at me an amused smile. I felt my cheeks burning up. I had no idea why I was telling him about my dream.
"Your cheeks are red." He said softly.
"Oh shut up." I said playfully. He chuckled and brought my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
"So we had a little girl?" He asked softly. I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah."
"Did she look like me or like you?" I laughed.
"Like me…Does that make me conceited?" He laughed and shook his head.
"No. You look so much like your mom, it would make sense you'd have a little girl that looked just like you." I took a deep breath. I felt my eyes prick. He leaned over the center console with his lips puckered darting his eyes between me and the road. I leaned over and pressed my lips to his briefly.
"Do you miss your mom?" I nodded.
"Every day." I said softly.
"She'd be proud of you." I shook my head.
"Yeah? I'm not so sure." He gave me a sweet sideways look.
"She would be." I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath.
"She always liked you." I said softly. He smirked and raised an eyebrow.
"I doubt that. She always looked at me like she was afraid I'd burn down your house for kicks." I chuckled and bit my bottom lip.
"Ok, maybe she wasn't your biggest fan. Luke always liked you though." He furrowed his eyebrows at me.
"Really?" I nodded.
"Yeah. He always said you were a good kid, he just felt you got the raw end of the deal. I think he had a sixth sense that I liked you all this time. He'd often ask me how you were doing." He smiled.
"He was a good man." I felt my eyes prick again.
"The best." I said softly. He leaned over the center console again with puckered lips and I brought my lips to his again for a brief kiss. It was quiet in the car for a minute.
"I ah…I saw my father yesterday." I wasn't sure exactly where that came from, but it just sort of came out. I felt his body tense through his hand. I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Really?" He sounded shocked. I laughed again.
"Pretty surprising huh?" He started rubbing circles with his thumb on the back of my hand.
"You ever see your father before?" I nodded.
"Yeah actually…He came to my mom's funeral." He just nodded.
"I didn't…I didn't tell anybody I saw him. I'm not really sure why."
"Did you talk to your father when you saw him?" He asked softly. I nodded.
"Yeah…He wants me to come live with him." I said softly and looked down.
"What do you want?" He asked gently. I looked over at him and smiled.
"I want to live with my fiancé." I said as though it were obvious. He laughed. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
"I love you Jace." I said softly.
"I love you too Clary." He leaned over the center console again for another brief kiss. He pulled into the car repair shop parking lot and parked the car. I glanced at the clock. It was 2:55, I cut it really close. I told him he could wait in the car and I'd be right back, but he insisted on coming with me. We headed inside with our hands intertwined, walked over to the counter, and I rung the bell. A moment later a man with short salt and pepper hair dressed in gray coveralls came over to the counter.
"Can I help ya ma'am?" He asked with a slight accent.
"Hello. I'm here to pick up James Carstairs's car." He diverted his gaze to Jace.
"I imagine you're William Herondale. I only have authorization to release the vehicle to Mr. Herondale." I furrowed my eyebrows at him. He never told me that on the phone. Before I could reply, Jace was squeezing my hand tightly.
"That's correct. I'm Mr. Herondale." Jace said evenly. I had to bit my tongue to keep from giving us away. Though, technically Jace could be Mr. Herondale if he wanted to be, he wasn't the Mr. Herondale they were looking for. The guy didn't question Jace, he just nodded.
"Just a minute." He said before he walked over to the door behind him and opened it a crack. Jace and I exchanged a brief look when the guy's back was to us. Jace was smirking while I was slightly shaking my head at him and giving him an amused smile. The phone at the counter was ringing, but the man seemed to ignore it or not hear it.
"Agramon…Agramon…AGRAMON!" The man called into the back. A few moments later a man with short jet black hair with gray coveralls came out of the back. He had grease on his clothes and hands. He held a pair of car keys.
"Mr. Herondale?" He questioned and Jace nodded.
"That's correct." Jace said matter-of-factly. Agramon began the process to settle the bill asking for a credit card. I was a little concerned they'd say something when I handed them my credit card, but they didn't even seem to look at it. The bell to the shop chimed and I wouldn't have even bothered looking except that the two men behind the counter seemed to be hesitating as they looked on towards the door. I turned around to see a man with short dark brown hair in khaki dress pants, brown dress shoes, and a burgundy button up shirtsleeve dress shirt that he wore untucked. The clothes looked expensive. He wore sunglasses even after he came into the shop. He walked up to the counter and looked at Agramon.
"What is the nature of their business?" The man asked rather monotone.
"This is Mr. Herondale. He's here to pick up Mr. Carstairs's vehicle." Agramon spoke almost hesitantly. The man diverted his gaze to Jace ever so briefly before redirecting his gaze to me.
"You're here to pick up Mr. Carstair's vehicle ma'am?" The man asked very politely. I hesitated momentarily.
"Yes." I said evenly. He never changed his reaction.
"Sorry ma'am. The car isn't ready yet." He said evenly. I took an exasperated breath and glanced at my watch. It was 3:05.
"Well how long do I have to wait?" He shook his head.
"I took it out for a test drive just a moment ago and it's pulling to the side. The alignment will need to be done before you can take the car. It won't be ready today."
"What?" Oddly both I and Agramon asked at the same time, however I could only half register how odd I thought that was, because I was more agitated that the car wasn't ready.
"I apologize for the miscommunication ma'am. You'll have to come back. We'll call when the car is ready." With that he turned around and left without another word. I absentmindedly noticed when Jace's hand left mine and that he appeared to be walking away like he was leaving the shop too. I quickly focused on the man behind the counter.
"Seriously, the car isn't ready?" I directed my question to Agramon
"No ma'am. It appears it's not." I shook my head and took an exasperated breath.
"Fine. I guess I'll come back then." I turned to find no sign at all of Jace in the small shop. I walked outside to see Jace standing just outside the door with his arms crossed looking off into oblivion. He didn't turn towards me when I opened the door and the bell chimed, but he reached his hand out towards me and I took it instinctively. He took hold of my hand and towed me towards the car without a word. When we got into the vehicle and he had turned it on, he finally looked at me with furrowed eyebrows and spoke.
"That was odd." He said matter-of-factly. I chuckled.
"I thought so at first, but you know how many times Luke brought his truck to get work done on it and then he'd swear up and down when he got it home that there was still something wrong with the truck. At least they caught it." I shrugged. He was looking at me very curiously. I had thought it was kind of odd originally. At first I did think it was odd that Agramon was holding car keys, which I assumed were Jem's, but then I figured it was possible they weren't. Also the guy that came into the shop appeared to be dressed much too well, he didn't look like he would even work at an auto repair shop, but I figured it was possible he was a manager or a salesman that happen to test drive vehicles or something.
"Clary did you notice the sign on the door said the shop is closed on Sundays?" I shrugged. That did seem weird, but there was probably an answer for that too.
"No, but maybe they opened today because yesterday was a holiday." He shook his head.
"I doubt it. I just don't have a good feeling about this place. Let Will pick up the car when they call back alright? I don't want you coming back here." I rolled my eyes.
"I thought you were protective before, now you're just paranoid." I shook my head and chuckled, but he was looking at me with a very serious expression. He took his hand and gently placed it on my cheek.
"If I'm paranoid, so be it, but nothing in the world matters to me as much as you do, and I don't want to take any chances. Please just don't come back here, let Will deal with Jem's car." I took a deep breath of defeat.
"Alright." He looked surprised.
"You're not going to fight me." I shrugged.
"Why would I? It's a reasonable request." He laughed.
"But you fight me on everything. It doesn't matter how reasonable my requests are. You never do anything I ask you." I laughed.
"Should I be insulted or questioning the fact I agreed to not come back here?" He smirked and shook his head.
"Neither." He said softly as he brought his lips to mine and gave me a deep, breathtaking, kiss. My heart was racing. He peppered my lips with a number of butterfly kisses.
"I love you." He murmured against my lips.
"I love you too." I whispered back between kisses. He pulled back with his hand still on my cheek, his thumb gently grazing back and forth. He was gazing into my eyes with so much affection. I just couldn't help but beam back at him. He gaze at me for a moment before he diverted his eyes towards my collar and furrowed his eyebrows. I hadn't realized I was idly playing with my ring on my necklace until Jace plucked it out of my hands and looked at it.
"Ok. So now I want to know who this came from and why you're still wearing it." He said in a somewhat annoyed voice as he inspected the ring. I chuckled.
"Jealous?" I teased. He gave me an expectant look.
"Should I be?" He said in the same somewhat annoyed voice. I laughed.
"I got it from my father…" I found myself telling him about my father giving me the ring at my mother's funeral. Seeing we were getting close on time, he ended up heading over to the hospital while I talked. I vaguely explained that the ring was a symbol that I was a Morgenstern, but that didn't mean too much to him, and I really wasn't sure how to explain it. I wasn't sure exactly what it meant to me either. I told him that the ring was what Sebastian had asked about, which he seemed happy that I cleared that up; and I speculated that the ring was the reason Sebastian seemed to leave so abruptly. I told him about the somewhat paranoid stories my mom had told me about my father, which expanded greatly from the original straight up factual stories I told Jace about before. I told him that I had talked to Jordan briefly about the ring and my father, but it was very brief because he had interrupted us. I told him about the inscription, which Jace really didn't like at all. After I felt like there wasn't much more to say on the subject, and Jace said he needed to process everything; I ended up sending Will a text from Jace's phone asking him if he wanted me to bring him anything; he requested a decent coffee. I had Jace stop at a nearby Dunkin Donuts and grabbed a coffee for Will. I found myself tucking my necklace back into my collar as I climbed out of Jace's car.
When we got to Jem's hospital room, Will was thankful for the coffee and we were both thrilled to have our phones back. I wasn't too surprised that I didn't have any missed text messages or voice mail messages. Jace and Will caught up a little, but Will seemed to divert much of his attention to Tessa. The visit at the hospital was kind of short. Jem still hadn't woken up, Will seemed to be talking predominately to Tessa and neither Jace nor I was that interested in visiting with Nate much at this point. I really just wanted to go back to the cottage and spend some time with Jace right now. I wanted some quiet time before all the celebrating tonight. I had debated announcing that Jace and I had gotten engaged, but decided against it. Everybody was really focused on Jem and how Will was doing, so I didn't want to turn the attention to me and Jace. Jace stood behind me most of the visit with his arms around my waist, holding me close to him. He didn't say all that much, except when he visited with Will, but he frequently kissed my hair or my cheek. After what felt like a long half hour, I figured we had stayed long enough for right now. Will still had Tessa and Nate to visit with, so the room did feel a little crowded. I subtly told everybody we were going to head out and made our way out of the room. Jace and I walked down the hall hand and hand a few feet, before we passed a bathroom and he decided to quickly use it. I waited in the hall ever so briefly before Will appeared out of nowhere.
"Hey." He said as he nudged my shoulder with his. I gave him a smile.
"Hey." I said back softly.
"I feel like I barely said two words to you back there. Sorry about that." I shrugged.
"No biggie, we'll catch up another time." He smiled.
"You look really happy." He said enthusiastically. I nodded.
"I am." I said softly.
"Ready to tell me what happened yesterday?" I hadn't filled in Will yesterday, even though I was a mess the whole time I was at the hospital.
"It's a really long story." He nodded.
"Well I guess the important part is that it appears it had a happy ending?" He winked with a smirk. I smiled.
"It did." I found myself idly playing with my necklace. I hadn't realized we were even walking until Will stopped and reached out and plucked the ring from my grasp, not that I really tried to stop him at all.
"Give it back and walk away." He said sternly. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"What are you talking about?"
"You forget, this is my turf, you can't play dumb with me." He had a very serious look on his face and he was shaking his head. I mock glared at him as I plucked the ring out of his hand and started to idly play with it again.
"This belongs to me, so I have nobody to give it back to." I said matter-of-factly. He gave me a stern look. Will's eyes diverted passed me and I followed his gaze down the hall to where Jace was walking towards us. Will and I had actually walked a decent distance down the hall. Will spoke quietly.
"Unless you're gong to tell me you're secretly a Morgenstern, I know that ring is Jonathan's…" I rolled my eyes. I really wasn't ready to start telling everybody I was a Morgenstern; I had told Jace and I kind of told Jordan, but they were both special cases. I had to decide if I even wanted to be a Morgenstern before I kept telling people I was.
"…Clary I don't think you really have any idea what you're getting yourself into. If Jonathan thinks you belong to him in any way, he'll kill Jace, and I mean literally not figuratively. These aren't the type of people you cross and walk away unscathed." I felt a terrible shiver pass over me. I knew the ring wasn't Jonathan's, but hearing Will say that, still was extremely disturbing. I quickly furrowed my eyebrows at him. I wanted to know whatever he knew.
"What do you mean?" I spoke at a normal volume, even though Will was clearly whispering.
"How much does Jace know?" Will asked very quietly while he watched Jace approach.
"I don't have any secrets from Jace." I said back at a normal volume. Not that I had a chance to talk to him about everything, I still had to tell him what Sebastian told Simon, but I wasn't intentionally trying to keep anything from him. Jace came up and put his arm around my shoulder. He furrowed his eyebrows and glanced back and forth between Will and me.
"What's this about secrets?" Jace asked in a serious voice still looking back and forth between Will and me. Will looked at Jace calculating before he spoke.
"Clary really needs to give the ring back." Will spoke very evenly, and I think he choose his words carefully. If Jace didn't know what Will was talking about, he still wouldn't have a clue. I was still idly playing with the ring in my hand while I shook my head and rolled my eyes.
"Oh, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Why don't you go back to your guests Will? I'm sure they're missing you. We'll talk another time."
"No. I want to know why he thinks you need to give the ring back." Jace asked in a rather irritated voice. Will shook his head and gave Jace a somewhat companionate look.
"Just trust me with this one Jace. I don't know why she took the ring in the first place, I imagine she thought she'd get something out of this, but she won't. It's better all around if she gives it back. This is the first time I've seen her wear it, so I imagine she got it very recently, today or yesterday. She should just return it, the sooner the better. The longer she keeps it, the harder it will be for her to just walk away. Believe me when I say that if she keeps it, you're both going to end up getting hurt." I hadn't realized how much Jace's grip had tightened around me or that he was glowering at Will.
"The only person going to end up hurt is you." Jace growled.
"What the hell?" Will asked somewhat confused as Jace dropped his grip from around me and took a swing. Luckily Will's fast on his feet, because he was quick to dart out of the way and miss the punch. Will wasn't trying to fight Jace, though I imagine they would have been evenly matched; he just gave him a really confused look and backed up while Jace stalked slowly towards him. Unfortunately I was just realizing that Jace was most certainly on a very different page than Will.
"Jace and I are engaged!" I blurted out hastily as I held up my left hand to show off the ring. Both Jace and Will looked over at me.
"You're engaged?" Will said with a huge smile. Jace just looked confused.
"You didn't know? You told her to give the ring back." Jace said hesitantly. Will was laughing as he clapped his hand to Jace's shoulder.
"Not the ring I was talking about man. Congratulations!" Jace's face still looked a little confused, but there was a hint of an amused look on his face as well, so I had a feeling he had an idea what ring Will was referring to. Will shook Jace's hand and took me in for a tight hug.
"Were you trying to get me killed." Will muttered as we all seemed to laugh off the near altercation. We told Will we were going out later to celebrate and invited him to come, which he said he would. He didn't bring up me giving back my father's ring again, but I had a feeling he'd bring it up later. I also wanted to know what he knew about the Morgenstern family. Jace and I left the hospital and I quickly clarified that Will had told me I should give back my father's ring, but that he didn't know where I got the ring from and I didn't know why he felt so strongly I should return it. We got back in the car and started heading back towards the cottage.
I took my phone out of my purse to check if I had any missed text messages and I noticed I had a voicemail message. I realized Will must have turned my phone to vibrate, so I quickly put the ringer back on before I listened to my voicemail.
"Hey Clary. It's Sebastian. Little birdie told me you and Jace are back together and look happier than ever. I need to see you."
He rattled off his number at the end. I felt a shiver run through me.
"What's wrong?" Jace said quietly. I looked over at him. He was looking sideways at me with a concerned look on his face.
"I got a call from Sebastian." I said slowly. I saw anger flash across Jace's face.
"What did he say?" He asked hesitantly.
"He said he heard we got back together and he needs to see me." He gave me a stern look.
"Absolutely not."
"Yeah…So this is probably as good of a time as any to tell you what Sebastian told Simon." He gave me a quizzical sideways look.
"This is going to get complicated…You're not supposed to know the story I'm going to tell you…You're probably not going to take it well…and after I tell you…you probably should pretend you don't know…otherwise things might get worse." He reached out his hand and laced his fingers with mine.
"Well that little speech wasn't very reassuring…" I laughed. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.
"…Well why don't you tell me the story and we can decide together what to do." I rolled my eyes.
"So this is like the friggin game telephone…Simon said, Sebastian said, that Seelie…" Jace didn't say anything while I spoke, but I felt his body tense a number of times through his hand. It was quiet for a while once I was done.
"You're not saying anything Jace. Why aren't you saying anything?" It was quiet. Jace appeared to just be staring at the road in front of him.
"Jace?" I said again. Still quiet.
"Jace?" I asked more timidly.
"Seelie…Really?…Kaelie I get, but…I just…and I can't believe you didn't tell me when you found out...I can't believe Simon didn't tell me…I just can't believe nobody told me…I just can't believe this." He sounded rather irritated. Normally I'd have more fire in me, probably be defensive, but after such an amazing night and day, the thought of Jace being mad at me seemed overwhelming right now. I felt my eyes prick.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I should have told you. Simon told me right before you came in my room and then I wasn't sure I believed the story. Sebastian's lied before, or-" He glanced at me sideways and his face quickly shifted from an agitated look to a much softer look as he cut me off.
"Oh, don't cry honey…It's alright. I'm not mad at you. I mean I'm upset that you didn't tell me sooner, but I'm really just frustrated at this whole situation…I'm mad at Simon, I'm really pissed at Sebastian, and I'm completely furious with Seelie and Kaelie." He brought my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. I quickly wiped away the couple tears that had trickled down my cheeks.
"I love you." He said softly.
"I love you too." He leaned over the middle console and puckered his lips as I met him halfway for a brief kiss. It was quiet in the car for a minute.
"So maybe I should go over there and have a little talk with Seelie and Kaelie." Jace said suddenly. I was shaking my head at him.
"I don't think that's the best idea… I don't think they're going to leave us alone just because you go over there and talk to them. I just feel like right now it's probably better for you to act like you don't know what's going on. I would have suggested we pretend we didn't get back together, but I think that ship has sailed…" He furrowed his eyebrows at me sideways in a look of disapproval.
"…I'm sure this is why Sebastian needs to see me. I wonder what he's going to say. I think if I can get to my brother…Jace stop shaking your head at me I'm trying to think of a plan." I took an exasperated breath. He was still shaking his head and giving me a disapproving look.
"No way Clary. There's no way I'm letting you see Sebastian, and between what you told me and how strongly Will seems to feel about the Morgenstern family, I'm getting pretty leery about letting you see your family alone, especially your brother. We need to find out what we can about your family and then we'll figure out what to do about Seelie and Kaelie and Sebastian, but we'll figure it out together. We're a team now…Team Jary." Though he sounded rather serious, and at one time I might have been stubborn and focused on all the things he was telling me he wasn't going to let me do, right now all I could think about was Team Jary. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Where the hell did you come up with that? Team Jary?" He shrugged.
"Like Bradgelina. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. I melded our names together." I just couldn't help myself; I just started laughing and laughing.
"What?" Jace asked indignantly.
"First of all…How do you even know that?" He raised one eyebrow at me and looked at me sideways.
"Izzy." He said matter-of-factly. He pulled into our driveway and turned off the car. I happened to glance at the clock and see it was just after 5:00.
"Ok. I should have guessed that..." I stopped talking as I climbed out of the car. Jace met me quickly and intertwined his hand in mine as we continued to walk towards the cottage.
"…Second. Jary doesn't roll off the tongue…If anything we'd be Team Clace." He smirked as he stopped a few feet from the door and quickly wrapped his arms around me and took me in to a tight embrace.
"Well honey, if you're looking for something that rolls off the tongue." He said sarcastically with a smirk as he raised his eyebrows up and down at me suggestively. I rolled my eyes with an amused smile and shook my head.
"You need to focus." I said with a chuckle. He pressed his lips to mine and kissed me deeply. My arms snaked up around his neck, with my purse still in my hand. I felt a slight tug at my scalp before my hair pooled down my back and over my shoulders. I chuckled to myself. I was actually surprised it took him so long to do that. I felt his hands in my hair and along my back. He pressed his hands to my lower back and pulled away and gave me a heated look. I felt my heart beating fast.
"Jace. I'm going to completely forget what we were talking about." I said softly with a fading hint of warning in my voice. He peppered my lips, my cheeks and my nose with a number of soft kisses. I smiled.
"Jace focus." I said quietly as I felt all effort leaving me. He brought his lips to mine again.
"I'm focusing. I'm focusing on kissing you." He murmured against my lips. I felt his hand at my neck as he pushed my hair over my shoulder. He brought his lips to my neck and kissed me hungrily. My eyes fluttered shut. At this point my heart was hammering in my chest and I really didn't care what we had been talking about.
"Why don't you focus on kissing me in your bedroom?" I said trying to sound seductive. He chuckled. He brought his lips back to mine and kissed me gently.
"If you insist." He said in an amused tone. I giggled. He put his arm around my waist and ushered me hastily into the cottage. I absentmindedly registered Izzy, Simon, Maia, and Jordan were all in the living room, but Jace quickly cut through the kitchen without hesitating.
"We're heading out at 8:00." Izzy called to us.
"Ok." Jace called back. I detached myself from Jace long enough to go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. Jace left his room as soon as I got back saying he was going to brush his teeth as well. After a brief hesitation, I decided to quickly head to my bedroom to pick out some lingerie. I had a whole bunch; I might as well use it. I grabbed the Victoria Secret bag from when I went shopping with Izzy Friday. I quickly headed back down the hall to Jace's room, but he popped out of his room and took a couple steps towards me; I must have taken too long. He appeared to recognize the pink Victoria Secret bag and raised his eyebrows up and down at me. I smiled and chuckled. As soon as I was in arms reach, he wrapped his arms around me in the hallway and kissed me passionately before he scooped me up in his arms bridal style. I could vaguely hear Jordan yelling Get a room, as Jace continued to kiss me. He walked back in his bedroom and kicked the door shut behind him. I knew he had his arms full, and I could tell he was fiddling with the doorknob, so I reached down and without much difficulty and without separating my lips from his, I was able to lock the door. He chuckled against my lips as he turned and headed towards the bed.
