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Clary's POV

In an excited haste our clothes were haphazardly flung around the room and the Victoria Secret bag at some point forgotten. A passionate haze of feverish kisses and caresses sent my body into a frenzy of stimulation and pleasure. Our bodies were fervently pressed together without the slightest hint of apprehension. We made love with such vigorous intensity that left me both immensely exhilarated and exhausted.

I laid peacefully with my naked body draped over Jace's. It was still so hot in his room and the covers were mainly kicked to the foot of the bed, except for a sheet that was pulled up over our waists. Our bodies were sticky with sweat and his body radiated a burning heat where we touched, but I couldn't move away, I didn't want to. My legs straddled Jace's hips, one of my arms was somewhat bent up across Jace's shoulder and my head rested on it; the other hand played idly with Jace's hair at the nape of his neck. I laid with my eyes closed. My hair was pushed off my back and onto the pillows; it was way too hot to have my hair against my back. Jace's fingertips gently grazed up and down my spine. I had glanced over at the clock not long ago and it was 6:45. I knew if I was going to get out of this cottage at 8:00 I had to get up soon to take a shower, but I just wasn't ready to get up yet. At least I had already shaved when I took a shower earlier, so that would save me a little time. We had lain like this for a while, occasionally Jace or I had said something affectionate or trivial, but it was predominantly quiet in the room, which is what I wanted right now. There had been so much excitement this morning, and I knew the evening would be filled with more excitement; right now I just needed this, I just needed peace. Laying here with Jace made me so relaxed, so content.

I heard an unfamiliar beeping noise and I didn't even move, but I felt Jace stir under me. I figured it was probably a text message, and I knew he could reach the nightstand where he had put his cell, without much effort. I felt his hand gently stroke the back of my head and he kissed my forehead. I opened my eyes and looked up at him. I still had a smile glued to my face. He was looking down at me adoringly with a smile on his face as well.

"Izzy text to make sure we didn't fall asleep. It's 7:00." He said quietly. I rolled my eyes as I propped myself up so my arms were crossed over his chest and I was now looking down at him.

"How thoughtful of her." I muttered. With one arm still around me, he pushed a few stray strands of hair behind my ear with his free hand.

"You know we don't have to go. We could stay here." I took a deep breath while I stared into Jace's tender golden eyes and contemplated that offer. I knew Izzy was really looking forward to going out, and it was to celebrate Jace and I getting engaged. It's probably rude to skip your own engagement celebration, and it would probably be fun. I just had to get the motivation to get out of bed right now. Jace gazed back at me idly twirling a curl of my hair between his fingers. I found myself reaching out with one of my hands, my chin still resting on the other, and gently tracing my fingertips along Jace's jaw line and across his lips. After what felt like a couple minutes, his expression changed to slightly amused. As my fingers trailed over his lips again, he quickly opened and closed his mouth dramatically, making it look like he was going to bite my fingers. I jerked my hand away as we both laughed. He grabbed up my hand in his and intertwined our fingers. He brought our hands to his lips and kissed the back of mine. He held our hands to his chest.

"I can't read your mind honey. What are you thinking?" Jace asked in an amused tone. I chuckled.

"I'm weighing the pros and cons of going verses staying here." Jace laughed and shook his head.

"We don't have to go, but you have to tell Izzy if you want to stay here." I mock glared at him.

"Coward." I muttered. He chuckled.

"Just when it comes to my sister. She'll poison me." I laughed.

"She did tell me to feed you those chocolate chip cookies the other day." He laughed as he nodded.

"See…Evidence." I chuckled. I brought my lips to his and kissed him gently. When I pulled back I glanced over at the clock. It was already 7:10. I exhaled a breath of defeat. I couldn't procrastinate anymore. I reluctantly climbed out of bed and gathered up my clothes from earlier. Jace lay in bed with his arms crossed behind his head watching me with a smirk on his face. I still didn't feel completely confident walking around naked in front of him, but I wasn't as shy as I had been this morning. I put back on my clothes. I absentmindedly thought of the Victoria Secret bag that at some point dropped on the ground; even though I never put it on today, I'd eventually wear that outfit; it was really cute.

In what felt like no time at all, I was showered and in my room getting dressed. Jace was lounged across my bed with an amused smirk on his face. He was wearing cargo shorts and a black button down short sleeve shirt that he wore untucked with the top couple buttons undone. The shirt was soft to the touch, like a cotton polyester blend and had a very subtle pattern created by vertical lines that weren't a different color, but they gave the shirt a hint of texture. He sat with his back up against the headboard and his legs stretched out and crossed. Though he appeared to be flipping through my sketchbook, he was always looking at me when I glanced over at him.

I had originally tried to keep Jace from coming in my room. I figured he'd be too much of a distraction and I'd never get ready, but around 7:45 he just picked the lock and came in anyway. I mock glared at him as I sat in front of my vanity in my black silk robe doing my make-up. He completely ignored my brief lecture as to why doors have locks, and countered that he couldn't see how anything I was saying applied to him. He plopped down on my bed with a smirk and insisted on staying. I gave up on my halfhearted efforts while I finished my makeup and hair. I knew I would be hard pressed to find club attire that would cover my bruises, so I figured I'd just wear my hair down and keep it pulled forward over my shoulders. Jace liked it down anyway. It was so hot and humid; my frizzy hair wasn't cooperating very well. Izzy banged on the door and threatened that if I wasn't ready by 8:30 they were leaving without us. I glanced at the clock, it was 8:15. I felt myself start to get a little stressed as I gave up the fight with my hair and moved on to jewelry. I had put on Izzy's dangly black earrings, the silver ones with clusters of black beads that looked like tiny grape bunches. I figured they'd look best with the dress and the silver Morgenstern ring I was wearing as a necklace. Also my engagement ring was white gold, so all my jewelry would match.

I glanced at the clock often and hated that I kept watching the time ticking away. Jace was very good, until my hair and makeup was completed and my jewelry was on. I pulled out a black push-up bra and lace thong set, and strategically turned my back to Jace, in part because I still felt a little shy walking around naked and in part because I had a feeling he'd have trouble sitting still if he saw my naked body a few feet away. As soon as I took off my robe, I immediately found myself detained. Jace had wrapped one of his arms around my waist from behind and had pulled me tight to his body. I chuckled as he made a deep throated noise that sounded a little like a lion purring. He pulled all my hair over one shoulder and began placing a trail of soft butterfly kisses from just behind my ear, down my neck, and across my shoulder. My eyes fluttered shut and I melted against his body as his hands crisscrossed gently over my chest, my stomach, and my hips. It took a couple minutes to find my focus, and another minute of semi-reprimanding Jace and teasing that I'd change the locks if he couldn't sit and behave, before Jace finally let me get back to getting dressed. He didn't look offended one bit when he leaned up against the bureau and continued to watch me like a hawk with a huge smirk on his face. I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head at him, he looked so happy with himself. I put on the bra and panties and quickly went over to the closet to take out the dress I was going to wear. This dress wasn't tight like the other ones Izzy had bought me and I really liked that about it. Especially when it's so hot and humid out, it's nice to wear something a little airy. It was black and had a crisscross halter top neckline. The bodice was fitted, but at the waist the dress flared out and the skirt went to about six inches above my knees. It wasn't as short as some of the other dresses either. The way the halter crisscrossed the dress did hide most of the bruises, but there was still one that wasn't hidden by the dress. With the others covered it didn't look as bad though. I asked Jace to help me zip up the dress, but as soon as I had my hands busy holding my hair up, I ended up getting a number of kisses placed over my back and shoulders. I sputtered playfully that I just needed help zipping up the dress and nothing else, we were already running late. He made a disgruntle noise as he reluctantly pulled the zipper up extra slowly as his fingers gently grazed a trail up my back. I tried to focus again as I walked over to the closet and looked at myself in the full length mirror. The neckline on the dress was pretty high, so I noticed the dress was covering my necklace, but I didn't bother taking the necklace out. I dug through the closet and found the perfect shoes. I slipped on a pair of strappy black heels that took me a little work to buckle, though I was able to buckle them without calling Izzy in, so I was proud of that. I walked over to the bureau and put all my stuff I needed into a small black clutch. I put my watch on and I was ready to go. I glanced at the clock. It was 8:35. I was hopeful everybody didn't leave without us, though it didn't matter that much. We could just walk there separately anyway, but I knew Izzy wanted us to all go together; she was a little concerned we might have a little problem getting in this time. We were only going to Pandemonium, so it wasn't far, but Izzy wasn't sure how warm Mel's reception would be to her, or any of us for that matter. I just hoped that if they were really going to leave they'd knock again first. I didn't mind running a little late, like fifteen minutes late, but I didn't like running this late.

I grabbed Jace's hand and practically ripped his arm out of the socket as I muttered under my breath that if everybody already left it was his fault we were late because he distracted me while I was trying to get ready. He was laughing and retorting sarcastically, that he didn't recall spending an entire half hour distracting me. I was bickering right back at his sarcastic remarks, threatening all over again to change the locks, he teased that might work for now, but not when we're sharing a bedroom. As I opened the door Jace stopped abruptly and pulled me quickly to him. He wrapped his arms around me and looked at me very affectionately and smiled and I couldn't help but smile a little back, though he was just wasting time.

"You look absolutely breathtaking." He said quietly. I started to shake my head. He really didn't have time for this.

"Jace we have to go."

"Shhh" He smirked. He reached up and gently placed his hand on my cheek, his thumb grazed back and forth across my lips.

"You're so fired up." I took an exasperated breath; of course I was a little agitated we were running so late. His thumb continued to graze across my lips and I got the feeling he didn't want me to interrupt.

"We're going out to celebrate our engagement…" He said very sweetly. I couldn't help but smile wide, he smiled right back.

"…Be happy honey. This night is about us." He said softly. I smiled wider. He left his hand on my cheek, but his thumb left my lips as he brought his lips to mine gently. All the agitation of feeling rushed left me as I melted into his embrace. He wrapped both his arms around me as my arms snaked up around his neck and I parted my lips at the same time as he did. I felt my whole body relax further as our tongues softly caressed each other's. For a long moment it was like the whole world fell away from us.

"Don't you two ever come up for air?" I heard Maia mutter from the end of the hallway. Jace and I both chuckled as we broke apart from the kiss, but he didn't let me go right away. He looked deeply into my eyes, very adoringly.

"Whenever you want to come back, just say the word, we'll come back together, no matter what." I chuckled.

"Cause we're a team now." He chuckled.

"That's right. Team Jary." I rolled my eyes and shook my head. He chuckled.

"Team Clace then." He said softly and I smiled. He gave me one more soft kiss before he dropped his arms as I did the same. We intertwined our hands and headed down the hall.

Everybody was waiting for us in the living room. We were greeted by several annoyed looks and a few sarcastic comments about what we were doing all that time. The guys were all dressed similarly to Jace. They all had somewhat dressy short sleeve shirts they wore untucked and cargo shorts on. Simon was wearing a black polo, Jordan had on a dark green polo, Alec was wearing a dark royal blue button up short sleeve shirt that had a sheen to it, I absentmindedly wondered if it was Magnus's, and Magnus was wearing a merlot color silk button up short sleeve shirt. Magnus also had matching glitter in his pointy hair tips. Alec didn't have any glitter in his hair, but the blue tips he got on Friday were brought out that much more by the blue shirt he was wearing. Maia was wearing black shorts and a gold halter top that had a deep v-neck. It had an empire waste so it flared out just under her chest; it was much more feminine than how she usually dressed. She had even taken the time to do her hair and makeup, which she hardly ever did. She had on long dangly earrings, but she wasn't wearing any other jewelry. She looked exceptionally pretty. Izzy was all done up as usual. She had on a very short, strapless, cherry red dress that fit like a glove. Her hair was pulled up, twirled in what looked like two silver chopsticks, and loose curls spiraled around her face and down her back. She was wearing crazy high heels that matched her dress. She had on her silver bangle bracelets and wore a simple necklace around her neck. She had on long dangly earrings that each looked like a bunch of three silver sticks at slightly different lengths.

Jace and I talked on the way to the club and both decided we didn't plan on drinking much. We figured people would be buying drinks for us, but we didn't want to take any chances, the last time we went out to Pandemonium didn't go great for me, and the last time Jace got drunk didn't go great either. We tried not to dwell and just laughed off the previous craziness. The walk seemed pretty quick and before long we were at the club. I was a little concerned when Mel wasn't at the door. Alec, Magnus, and Jordan were all over twenty one, and I knew Jace, Simon, and Izzy all had fake IDs, but Maia and I didn't. It didn't matter though, the guy spent about a half of a second glancing at each of our IDs. He seemed like he was having a really good time, he was quite possibly high. I got a feeling he was just coving the door temporarily for somebody, maybe Mel was on a break.

As soon as we walked through the door Jace started talking about food. He was hungry and quick to point out we hadn't eaten dinner and neither of us needed to be drinking on an empty stomach. I didn't like to eat so late, but I was hungry, so we ended up getting an order of Buffalo wings, potato skins, and mozzarella cheese sticks; not a lot of healthy options to choose from at a bar. Needless to say I felt about a hundred pounds heavier when I had finished eating. Things were pretty quiet the first couple hours we were at the club. As expected everybody tried to buy us drinks. We passed on all the shots and though we accepted the drinks, we both seemed to accidentally leave several of them at tables when we maneuvered around the room.

Jace stayed right by my side all night, either dancing with me, or with an arm around me, or hand intertwined with mine. The only times we weren't in physical contact with each other were when one of us had to go to the bathroom. The bathroom area of the club was kind of dark and creepy and right next to a back exit. Jace waited for me in the hall when I used the bathroom, but I always waited with one of our friends when he had to go, often Alec and Magnus, but whoever was closest at the time. Jace had to use the bathroom so we quickly skimmed the dance floor, but couldn't find anybody. After a short argument about how absurd it was for him to text somebody to wait with me while he took five minutes to use the bathroom, we compromised that I would stay glued to a barstool where Bat could keep an eye on me. I plopped down indignantly at a barstool and Jace asked Bat to watch me. I rolled my eyes. Jace gave me a soft kiss and made me promise to stay put, like I was going to go anywhere. I sat and waited for Jace. I idly twirled the straw in the glass of water that Jace had Bat bring me before he left.

"Got a light?" I heard an unfamiliar voice, but ignored it as I took a sip of water.

"Hey. Got a light?" The man said louder this time. I glanced around for a second curiously wondering who was talking and who they were talking to, but was met with a pair of unfamiliar brown eyes looking back at me through a pair of thick almost cloudy glasses. The man was relatively attractive for a middle aged man, minus those ugly glasses. His face was thin and angular. His arms were toned and tanned. He had somewhat long black hair just around ear length, but it didn't look unkempt or unattractive. He was wearing a black short sleeve shirt. He had a pack of cigarettes on the bar in front of him and one in his hand. I could feel my heart pounding as I shook my head.

"No." I said hesitantly as I turned back towards my drink; though I had to bite my tongue to keep from pointing out to him they banned smoking in bars some time ago in New York. I didn't really talk to strange guys, especially older strange guys. He was probably some sort of rapist or serial killer or something; or maybe he was just trying to deliver a pick-up line, but that's probably how serial killers get their victims. Ok maybe I was overreacting a bit.

"Yeah, I should really quit. I'm always reading these articles about how smoking will kill ya. You only live once though. If it's not smoking, something else will kill ya right?" I felt myself cringe. Something else will kill me like a serial killer? I could tell he was still looking in my direction; his eyes were burning a hole in my skin. I slightly glanced his way and shrugged a bit with an awkward, trying not to grimace, semi-polite smile. Where was Jace when I needed him to be all intimidating and protective to the point of overbearing? I took another sip from my water. I glanced up and made eye contact with Bat and I think that's all he was waiting for, because he took the couple steps closer to the bar and patted his hand down twice in front of the man, easily getting his attention.

"What will it be?" I hadn't noticed before that the man didn't have a drink.

"Nothing. I'm fine." The man said evenly. I was watching the exchange through my peripheral vision.

"You're sitting at the bar man. You don't want anything? Water, soda…" He interrupted Bat.

"How about a light?" He asked simply and held up the cigarette. Bat furrowed his eyebrows as he reached underneath the bar and pulled out a book of promotional Pandemonium matches and tossed them on the bar in front of the man.

"Sorry man, but you know you can't smoke in here. You'll have to go outside." The man put the cigarette he had taken out behind his ear and put the pack of cigarettes in his breast pocket. He grabbed up the book of matches and turned it a couple times in his hand. He looked over at me like he was talking to me again. I kept my eyes on my drink.

"You should keep a book on you. They'll always bring you light, even among the darkest shadows of the world." He sounded rather profound for a moment. I glanced hesitantly in his direction with furrowed eyebrows, really just long enough for him to wink at me. He tapped the bar.

"Thanks." He jerked his chin to Bat and got up and left. Bat turned his attention to me and I just returned his look.

"You know that guy?' I shook my head.

"No. He just asked for a light." Bat nodded. He looked down and started fiddling with something under the bar area while he talked.

"I just haven't seen him in here before that's all. I know most of the people that come in here, but Freaky Pete did say tourist season-"

"Hello sexy." The combination of the low, husky, unfamiliar voice in my ear and the sudden hand on my upper thigh made me scream as I jumped so dramatically I nearly plunged to the ground with the barstool. In a blur Jace's arms had come around me, but the barstool lay rocking on the ground. I heard Bat and Jace both laughing as I buried my face in Jace's chest. My heart was racing and I could feel my body trembling slightly. Jace and Bat continued to laugh for a minute as Jace held me tightly to him and rubbed my back gently. Once I could breathe again, I pulled away enough to whack Jace in the chest for scaring me. He seemed to immediately stop laughing and looked at me really sweetly. He brought his hand to my cheek and gently wiped away the traitor tears that I didn't realize had escaped in my panicked state.

"Oh honey. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." Though he sounded really sweet, I could tell he was suppressing the urge to laugh. Jace kissed my lips softly and held me; rubbing my back gently for a couple minutes while I wiped away the few tears that had trickled down my cheeks. Once my heart returned to a somewhat normal speed, I turned around to right the fallen barstool, but Jace grabbed it before I could. I sat back on the barstool and took a couple sips of water. Jace stood next to me and continued to gently rub my back. Bat had stepped away at some point, I imagine he was giving me a moment to collect myself, but he came back. He proceeded to joke about how he had to save me from getting hit on by an old man, which after the quick recap, Jace didn't seem to find humor in Bat's jests at all. I chimed in my concerns that the man was possibly a serial killer, and Bat joked that the man asking me for a light was probably enough evidence for a conviction. Jace did seem to feel bad for scaring me after hearing the story and my exaggerated reaction to the man. Jace made a comment how he had thought the engagement ring would act like caution tape, but Bat just countered it just makes me look like a challenge. He said he sees women with wedding bands get hit on as much or more than woman without; Jace didn't seem to like the sound of that. After a little bantering, Jace and I were back on the dance floor again.

Over the evening I caught up with Bat and Eric and how things were going with their girls. Will had said he'd come by the club a little after visiting hours ended at the hospital. Jem still hadn't regained consciousness, but the doctors expected he would any time now. Will showed up around 10:30 with Tessa and Nate. Though I thought he'd take the first chance possible to bring up the ring, he seemed more interested in flirting with Tessa. Though Alec and Magnus stayed pretty close to us most of the early part of the evening, Tessa and Will seemed to be glued to us since they arrived. Nate went off on his own shortly after he arrived and he hadn't been seen again. Everybody else all seemed to come and go. Tessa and Will had finally gone off to get a drink and so Jace and I were enjoying the first moment of time to our self since they had arrived.


Jace's POV

It was around 11:30 and the club was very crowded. Clary and I were dancing closely, always in contact one way or another. We were joking and laughing and I don't know what brought my attention to Simon, but for some reason he caught my eye. He wasn't that far away, maybe ten feet or so behind Clary, leaned up against a wall. I absentmindedly realized we weren't that far from the bathrooms. He appeared to be talking to a tall, leggy, redhead that was in close proximity to him and definitely not Izzy. She was wearing high heels, a skin tight, short, light pink dress. Based on this angle the dress appeared to be strapless, but I wasn't sure. Her very striking fire red hair was flowing down her back in curls. I couldn't see her face at all, but I had a strong feeling he was talking to Seelie. I jerked my chin in their direction and Clary followed my gaze. Clary and I exchanged a quick look and found ourselves heading over there. I felt a little between a rock and a hard place. I wasn't going to just leave Simon with Seelie, but I knew Clary wouldn't want me to intervene and make it clear I knew the whole thing was a set-up. Though I would have preferred to put Seelie in her place, I opted to just get close enough to eavesdrop for right now. As I took the last few steps and finally caught Simon's eye, I quickly put a finger to my lips to silence him. If Clary wanted to interrupt I wasn't going to stop her, but I didn't want Simon giving us away. Clary seemed to be paying close attention to my actions, probably just to make sure I wasn't going to make a scene, but she just followed my lead as I parked myself up against the wall a couple feet from Simon. I strategically choose to position myself on the side of Simon that was more to Seelie's back, and by chance closest to the bathrooms. Clary leaned her back up against my chest and I wrapped my arms around her waist and bent down to kiss her cheek. I could feel the tension through her body, and I was certain she couldn't be too comfortable being this close to Seelie right now. Of course I knew Clary didn't want me to confront Seeile, but if she was flirting with Simon, that definitely was in line with what Sebastian had said to watch out for. We were just close enough to hear them, but due to the way Seelie was standing, it was pretty clear she still hadn't seen us. Seelie was giggling about something, and then reached her hand up and put it on Simon's upper arm. She appeared to be squeezing.

"Wow bisects! You must work out." She said in a seductive voice. Simon raised one eyebrow at her and I just tried to suppress a laugh. Simon and bisects didn't go together. Simon gently removed her hand from his arm and dropped it.

"A little…Didn't you come with somebody that might be missing you?" Simon asked hesitantly. Seelie laughed an unnecessary peal of laughter; Clary gave me a less than amused look over her shoulder.

"Oh Simon. Are you asking me if I'm here all by my lonesome? Want to keep me company?" She placed a hand on his chest and started to move it down his body slowly. Simon grabbed her hand and held it just away from his body.

"I can't." He shook his head as he dropped her hand. Seelie took a half step closer to him. I was surprised she didn't see us in her peripheral vision the way she was standing now, but maybe she was just that focused. She cupped her hand around the back of Simon's neck, and though he did look like he was struggling a bit to remove her hand, she appeared as though she wasn't letting go without a fight.

"You can't, or you don't want to? You know I find you very attractive Simon. Don't you find me attractive?" She said seductively. Out of nowhere Izzy's hand hit me upside the head. I didn't need to see or hear Izzy to know it was her, I recognized that whack immediately. She walked around Clary and I shooting me a glare. Izzy reached out and put her hand on Seelie's shoulder jerking her hard away from Simon. We all watched as the two girls exchanged venomous glares.

"If you touch my boyfriend again, I'll ruin your pretty little nose job." Izzy snapped.

"Speaking of which, remind me and I'll get you the number to my plastic surgeon. He can work wonders." Seelie said sarcastically with a finger to her nose.

"My nose is perfect. Unlike you, I was born beautiful." Izzy retorted.

"Of course. Of course. Who am I to disagree with what mommy and daddy always said to you?…Don't forget you can do anything you want if you just put your mind to it." Seelie said in a condescending tone.

"You stupid little bitch. Back off before mommy and daddy have to buy you a whole new face." Izzy snapped. Seelie laughed.

"Doesn't it get uncomfortable walking around with that stick up your ass all the time?" Seelie said sarcastically. Izzy crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're on thin ice. I'm warning you bitch. Don't push me." Izzy snapped,

"You've had a problem with me since day one princess. You want to settle this, fine. Winner gets Simon." Seelie said flippantly and winked at Simon.

"Sure, but you look a little outnumbered bitch." Izzy retorted. Seelie laughed. Simon furrowed his eyebrows and gave Izzy a pleading look.

"Outnumbered? Oh, I don't think so. I've got a lot of friends here." Seelie said sweetly as she stood her ground.

"You have friends? Did you buy those too?...Oh wait, I bet they're Kaelie's friends here to keep on eye on Kaelie's baby sister." Izzy said sarcastically. Seelie crossed her arms and seemed to show the first physical sighs of being confrontational. I felt Clary's hands at mine as she broke my loose hold on her and she took a step away from me and towards Seelie and Izzy. I detached myself from the wall and straightened up. We finally caught Seelie's attention, not that I think Clary was intentionally trying to, but a hint of a smile crossed Seelie's face as she looked from Clary back at Izzy.

"Was Clay one of those friends you were counting on to be on your side? That's awkward don't you think? Really asking a lot of her to choose between two friends aren't you? I'd never do something like that personally, but I guess that's just one of many differences between us. I think you're feeling a little insecure right now. What do you think Clay? It's probably time for Izzy to take a timeout and have a chill pill?" She sounded very patronizing. Seelie kept her eyes on Izzy. Izzy was glaring daggers, and though she was usually quick with a comeback, especially seeing as she had been progressively losing her cool, she seemed to hesitate just long enough for Clary to break her resolve.

"It's Clary, not Clay, and you're no friend of mine you backstabbing bitch." Clary snapped. I couldn't help but chuckle. I guess we weren't keeping up pretenses any longer. Seelie spun around to face Clary and looked taken aback.

"What are you talking about?" Clary put her hands on her hips and took a step towards Seelie, getting right in her face.

"Oh I think you know exactly what I'm talking about Seelie. I know you're a natural blonde, but you can't be that stupid. Did you honestly think I wouldn't find out what you did? I thought you were better than you're lying, scheming, whore of a sister, but you're just like her…Now why don't you find somebody else to toy with and stay away from my future family?" Seelie smirked.

"Future family? Hmm…I thought I might have heard something about that. Rather surprised Clay. I would have thought you'd have higher standards. I can't believe you'd agree to marry somebody with such questionable morals…" Seelie glanced over at me and I glared at her.

"…Although, you were always a sweet little naive thing; you're probably marrying the first boy that got in your panties. That's so adorable. Just a little word of advice though, for what it's worth, you might want to shop around. I mean, I really would have thought with all that experience he'd be better at fucking-" I could only somewhat register her insult as Clary's hand came up and smacked Seelie hard across the face; she racked her nails down her cheek. Seelie put her hand to her face and looked livid. There was a temporary moment that Clary and Seelie just stood there glaring daggers at each other. Seelie's hand swatted out, but Clary was quick to block it; Clary grabbed a handful of Seelie's hair and pulled hard. Seelie let out a scream as she reached for Clary's hair. Seelie was right when she said she had friends. Just about as soon as Clary and Seelie started pulling each other's hair, and Simon, Izzy and I tried to separate them, Pangborn and Blackwell seemed to come out of nowhere. In a short amount of chaos later, Simon and I were exchanging punches with Pangborn and Blackwell; while Izzy and Clary were tangled in a cat fight with Kaelie and Seelie. As things sometimes go, the cat fight escalated to a full out bar brawl. The fight was getting out of hand; beer bottles were being broken over people's heads; and loud threats that the cops were going to be called could be heard nearby. Soon after the fighting started, and really just in the nick of time, Will joined in, but I never noticed Nate or Tessa get involved. Will showed up just seconds after Mel seemed to come out of thin air and cold-cocked Simon. Simon went down fast and lay on the ground apparently unconscious. I would have gone over to make sure he was alright, but for a split second I was thinking I was going to be up against Blackwell, Pangborn, and Mel by myself. The thought was fleeting as Will started swinging, but we were still far from evenly matched. The girls were one on one with Seelie and Kaelie. I was very relieved to see Alec join in, he's a really good fighter; and not far behind Jordan and Maia showed up. A couple minutes later a number of very large individuals dressed in black intervened and in short order had all seven of us guys pinned to the ground with our arms behind our backs; they weren't being none too gentle either. I didn't remember Pandemonium having this kind of security, but these dudes definitely weren't cops. I really had no idea how long the fight lasted, probably only ten minutes, but it felt longer and shorter at the same time. The girls stopped fighting just about as soon as we started being taken down. I found myself immediately looking for Clary, but I couldn't see her face in this position, but I could see part of her back.

"Is everything alright? If you need to have the police called…" He let the question hang off. I couldn't tell who was talking, but the voice sounded familiar. I glanced up and noticed a circle of onlookers had formed. We seemed to have drawn a lot of attention. I caught a glimpse of Ragnor; Magnus's friend and the owner's son. I had met him the other night when Sebastian and I had our little fight, and I was surprised how happy I was to see him right now. I knew immediately that's who had spoken. Magnus and Ragnor were standing close to a group of men in black with a very tall distinguished looking gentleman in the middle. The man was probably in his forties, well built, and had toe blond hair. He wore an expensive looking navy blue three piece suit and looked terribly out of place in the club. There were definitely a lot of spectators and everybody seemed to be murmuring as they took in the scene. Ragnor looked to the distinguished gentleman expectantly. The man seemed to quickly survey the scene and waved Ragnor off with his hand as he shook his head slightly.

"That won't be necessary." The man said in a firm authoritative voice. Ragnor nodded. They continued to talk for a moment as though there wasn't an unconscious guy on the ground, seven banged up guys pinned down, and five fairly disheveled girls looking on in disbelief.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit Mr. Morgenstern Sir?" Ragnor sounded sincere, but his voice wavered slightly. I couldn't help but notice a number of gasps around the room, including one from Jordan who was pinned to the ground right next to me. I felt a slight chill pass through me. I recognized the name immediately; I knew this had to be Clary's father. I found myself looking for Clary again, but I still couldn't see her face. I absentminded thought how this wasn't a really great first impression I was giving him. Mr. Morgenstern diverted his gaze to Ragnor.

"Ragnor. How's your father?"

"Just fine. Thank you for asking…Have you come to make sure the arrangements are in order for Friday?…I assure you-" Mr. Morgenstern nodded his head as he cut Ragnor off.

"Yes…That among other things." He said matter-of-factly.

"Now Starkweather, do fill me in." He said while surveying the group. A gray haired stout man with glasses stepped forward and spoke.

"There was an altercation Sir. I have been informed it began with the young ladies." Mr. Morgenstern nodded.

"Who do we have here?" Starkweather pointed around the room.

"Mr. Lewis appears to have regained consciousness and is being seen to…Mr. Lightwood, Officer Kyle, Mr. Herondale, Mr. Wayland, Mr. Pangborn Jr., Mr. Blackwell Jr., and Mr. Fey are being restrained…Ms. Fey, Ms. Fey, Ms. Roberts, and Ms. Lightwood Sir." He pointed us out as he went around. Of course the fact that he didn't acknowledge Clary at all got my attention pretty fast, though I figured Mr. Morgenstern probably already recognized his daughter. It was only a nagging side thought at this point how much I really didn't like it that this Starkweather guy knew who I was. Mr. Morgenstern's gaze shifted to where Magnus stood.

"Oh yes…Mr. Bane Sir." Starkweather jerked his chin. Mr. Morgenstern nodded slightly before he returned his gaze to Jordan and gestured up with his hand. He gestured to Will next. Both Jordan and Will were released and helped up; though they both seemed rather indignant about it. The men that had been restraining them went back over to stand next to Mr. Morgenstern.

"William. A bit surprised to see you mixed up in such a thing." Will just half shrugged without a word.

"Officer Kyle? Not from the local PD?" Jordan looked a bit confused.

"No Sir. I'm out of Brooklyn." Mr. Morgenstern nodded.

"What is it that brings you out to this relatively remote area?" Jordan furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm on Vacation."

"So are you enjoying your stay?"

"Sure."

"Good to hear…Well Officer Kyle, if this incident causes you any trouble, any at all, I can let Commissioner Herondale know that you were in no way responsible for this little scuffle. Just merely self defense I'm sure. She and I go way back. She's William's grandmother as a matter-of-fact." There were a number of sideways looks at Will. Will just looked a bit irritated and shook his head. Jordan nodded slowly.

"Thanks."

"William, I hear your grandmother is a favorite in the race for Governor." Will shrugged halfheartedly.

"That's what I read in the papers." Mr. Morgenstern didn't seem thrilled with Will's flippancy, but didn't engage him further.

"Now, if the young men promise to be on their best behavior, they can all stand up too. They've become a bit of a spectacle restrained on the ground like that." As I was slowly helped up, I realized the music in the club wasn't playing. Unlike Jordan and Will, whom were left completely unattended, the rest of us had personnel remaining right on our sides. Once I was on my feet, I finally made eye contact with Clary. She looked rattled, and I knew it was more than just the fight that was throwing her for a loop. My instincts to comfort her and hold her in my arms immediately kicked in; without any regard to anything else going on, I started to take a step in her direction, and ended up with a firm hand holding my arm. I glanced at the guy with an automatic glare and had to resist the urge to punch that shit eating grin off his face. I could just tell he was begging me to step out of line. He was a big guy, and though two guys wrestled me to the ground, this guy could probably due some damage if he wanted, not to mention that he'd probably end up with assistance. I took a deep breath and looked back towards Clary; her eyes were on her father now.

"Drinks on me tonight. Enjoy." Mr. Morgenstern said in a moderate voice. The music started up promptly and the crowd quickly fled to the bar. Mr. Morgenstern took a few steps closer to where me and the other guys were standing and seemed to be looking us over.

"All superficial injuries I imagine. Nothing broken, nobody seriously injured. That one that ended up on the ground looks a bit worse for wear." He glanced at Simon, he was still sitting on the ground with his head tipped back trying to apply pressure to his nose that was bleeding. There were quiet murmurs by everybody else.

"Good." Mr. Morgenstern started to walk closer to the girls. He seemed to step on something and stopped walking. He looked down and gently tapped a large shard of glass with his shoe, likely part of a broken mug. He glanced around, possibly assessing the knocked over tables and barstools.

"I'll pay for any damage to the bar." Ragnor looked a bit taken aback, but didn't argue.

"That's very generous of you Sir."

"Well I just hate to see a fine establishment get slapped with citations or closed for serving minors…" He gave Ragnor a knowing look and Ragnor swallowed hard.

"…No need to make a bigger deal of this than necessary." Ragnor nodded.

"That's very kind of you Sir."

"Pangborn, Blackwell, Fey" Mr. Morgenstern snapped his fingers. I was temporarily confused as three men in black stepped forward from behind him.

"Do any of these belong to you?" Mr. Morgenstern said nonchalantly with a flourish of his hand. Pangborn Jr., Blackwell Jr., Mel, Seelie, and Kaelie looked very uncomfortable.

"Yes Sir." There were three affirmatives as the men stalked forward and stood with their children; there were a few harsh words exchanged, but then they were all quiet.

"Hmm. Well that is unfortunate. I don't suppose they just ended up mixed up in this altercation by chance." Starkweather shook his head slightly.

"No Sir. I'd say they were deliberately involved in this mishap." Mr. Morgenstern took a deep breath.

"Very well…As all mishaps go that begin with young ladies, I assume there was a young man at the heart of this dispute." Mr. Morgenstern appeared to very deliberately look at Clary. She didn't say a word, he really didn't give her time to, but he got almost an amused hint of a smirk on his face.

"I see." Mr. Morgenstern said simply. I had the strong urge to put my arms around Clary, to protect her, to defend her, to be by her side if she needed me, but I barely leaned forward, I didn't even lift my foot off the ground, when I felt the hand on my arm tighten uncomfortably and jerk me back slightly. This guy had to be on steroids, he was built like a horse. I shot the man another glare and he smirked.

"Now, I will be very disappointed if I hear of any more such skirmishes. This is not how things are done around here…" Mr. Morgenstern seemed to take the time to briefly look each one of us in the eye. He had a rather cold and unsettling look to his gaze. He took the last couple steps to Clary and put a hand on her shoulder. Just about everybody nearby seemed to gasp and their mouths dropped open. Not that I thought it was that dramatic of a display, but the guy didn't exactly come across as touchy-feely. This was the first time he blatantly acknowledged her, and based on the reactions around us, he definitely was making a point. He stood there for a brief moment, and if any words were exchanged, I didn't hear them. Then he took Clary's hand somewhat formally, holding it in his, but raised up in the air between them, and walked her over and stood in front of Jordan, Will, Alec, and me.

"Which one is he?" He asked softly. Clary looked up at him like a deer in headlights. She looked at me hesitantly and I gave her a reassuring smile.

"Jace." She replied cautiously. He nodded. Starkweather had shadowed him at every move and he spoke without any apparent cue to do so.

"Mr. Jonathan Christopher Wayland Sir." Starkweather said quietly. A chill went through my body; I find it's never good when people throw around my full name. It's especially creepy when I don't know the people. Mr. Morgenstern looked at me for a brief moment. In an almost seamless movement: he dropped Clary's left hand and reached his right hand out to me; I went to reach for his hand but felt the slightest resistance for a fraction of a second, barely noticeable; Mr. Morgenstern ever so briefly diverted his eyes to the man holding my arm; my arm was immediately dropped and I was shaking Mr. Morgenstern's hand. Had I been an onlooker, I wouldn't have even noticed the minor hiccup in the handshake. His handshake was firm, but surprisingly not intimidating. I could only absentmindedly think of how uncomfortable his gaze was; his eyes seemed so penetrating.

"Wayland? As in, the son of Michael Wayland?" Mr. Morgenstern asked quizzically, he hesitated as he blatantly held my hand for a moment longer. I felt my breath hitch; I didn't even have time to respond, though I immediately wondered if the question was even directed to me.

"Yes. I believe so Sir, though he is the adopted child of the Lightwood family." Mr. Morgenstern nodded as he dropped my hand. I had a deep down sickness in the pit of my stomach. These people knew way too many details about me.

"Interesting." He grabbed up Clary's left hand again and seemed to take a brief moment to look down at it before he offered it to me. I vaguely wondered if he was looking at her ring, though this didn't seem like the most appropriate time to tell him we were engaged; the thought was fleeting as I took Clary's hand gratefully without hesitation and pulled her to my side as we simultaneously wrapped our arms around each other tightly. There was something reassuring about having her in my arms, and knowing she wanted to be in my arms as much as I needed to be holding her. I asked her quietly if she was alright, though she spoke, she didn't answer my question.

"This is my father." Her words were very quiet and it's not likely anybody besides me and perhaps her father heard her. A smile seemed to just touch his lips as he placed a hand on my shoulder and looked back and forth at Clary and I. I felt his hand was a bit firmer than necessary on my shoulder, but not uncomfortably so.

"Clarissa…I'm rather disappointed by your selection of jewelry…" Whether intentionally or subconsciously Clary reached up and pulled out her necklace she had been wearing tucked into her dress. There were murmurs throughout the crowd.

"Nice touch, but no. That was not what I was refereeing to My Dear…I find myself surprised twice this evening…That doesn't happen often…I don't like surprises…Tea Tuesday…10:00 sharp." He looked back and forth between us. Clary looked mildly uncertain as she glanced from her father to me and back again.

"I'm not sure-" He furrowed his eyebrows slightly as he cut her off.

"Not a request Dear…" She tensed slightly and I tightened my arms around her reflexively. He lowered his voice greatly as he continued to speak and directed his gaze to me.

"…If you opted not to ask my permission, don't you wish to properly ask for my blessing?…" The guy just suddenly appeared in Clary's life, why would I ask his permission, or even for his blessing for that fact? He doesn't know Clary, let alone me. I wasn't going to get into it with him though; I'd check with Clary later if it mattered to her if we had his blessing. Without any hesitation he turned his gaze to Clary.

"…Besides, you have a dress fitting scheduled…You will both be at the party on Friday will you not? I can't say how pleased that will make me. The young Mr. Wayland will need to be fitted for a tux. I'm sure the tailor can accommodate for you both at the same fitting. We can start discussing some details of the wedding as well. I'd like to pay all expenses of course, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Tuesday." He gave Clary a confident look, but didn't wait for a reply. After a brief moment, he squeezed my shoulder lightly before dropping his arm, and then shifted slightly to Clary. He scooped up her necklace and carefully corrected the clasp that had come around to the front as he spoke in an elevated firm tone.

"The young lady and her fiancé are very close very personal relations of mine…" He carefully dropped her necklace and gave her a hint of a smile before he took a couple steps and turned out towards the crowd. There were a lot more people than before paying attention at this point.

"…You will treat them as such." Without another word he walked away with Starkweather close behind. Pangborn Jr., Blackwell Jr., Seelie, Kaelie, Mel, and their fathers as well as all of the other men dressed in black were right behind them. I could feel the eyes boring holes through me, and I was sure Clary had to feel the same.

"Magnus. You failed to mention you were so well connected." Ragnor said in a questioning tone with his wide eyes on Clary. Magnus laughed.

"Yes. Well, I find it's always good to have friends in high places." Magnus said sarcastically. I could feel the tension through Clary's body and without another word I started to usher her towards the door. I could hear the footsteps of a number of people following us; I just hoped they were all people we had come with. Once we got outside and walked about 100 feet I glanced back. I recognized everybody accept for a couple people that were dressed in black and following much farther behind, it was possible it was just a coincidence the other individuals had left the club at the same time as we had, but I very much doubted that. The walk back to the cottage was eerily quiet. When we approached the cottage I glanced behind me and noticed the same two figures in the distance, or two people in black, I really didn't know if they were the same exact people. I had a feeling they were Clary's father's men.

It wasn't until we walked into the cottage that the questions started to fly. At first it was indiscernible who was asking what, but after a few minutes, everybody seemed to calm down enough to be coherent. I had quietly asked Clary if she wanted to just ignore everybody and go into the bedroom, but she said it was fine. We walked into the living room and sat down together on the loveseat. Besides her hair being messed up, Clary looked fine. Magnus and Alec sat on one side of the couch. Magnus hadn't been touched, but Alec had a good bruise on his jaw line. Maia and Jordan sat on the other end of the couch. Maia's hair was a mess and she had blood on her top; though she didn't appear to be bleeding from anywhere. Jordan had a small cut at his eyebrow that was bleeding and a partially swollen lip that was bleeding. Simon sat on the sofa chair. He looked the worst. He had a swollen bloody lip, a huge black eye, and his nose looked banged up pretty good. Izzy just stood leaning up against the chair with her arms crossed, tapping her foot, giving Clary a very deep look. Izzy's hair was all messed up, she had four decent scratches down her arm, and she had about a six inch tear up the hem of her dress. Will had followed us all back to the cottage and was standing behind the loveseat with his hands on the back of it looking down towards Clary. Will didn't look like he had a hair out of place, though I know I saw him fighting.

"So anything you feel like sharing?" Izzy asked heavily. Clary swallowed hard.

"So…I ah…recently met my father, and…ah…he was the man back at the club,…um…Mr. Morgenstern, or…ah...Mr. Valentine Morgenstern actually…and I ah…any questions?" She said hesitantly. I gently grazed my thumb back and forth on her side.

"Oh, I've got questions…" Simon snapped. Clary rolled her eyes.

"So you knew you were a Morgenstern, yet you didn't feel like sharing that piece of information when I told you what Sebastian said?" Well the room erupted in a number of questions to that and it turned into Simon divulging the whole story Sebastian told him, which led to a number of additional questions. We sat in the living room for what felt like hours discussing what was going on.

"Ok, ok. I get the whole not sharing what Sebastian said at the time, but let's move on from that. I'd like to talk a little more about your father." Alec said with a gentle look. Clary took a deep breath.

"What do you want to know?" Alec shrugged.

"Why does everybody seem to act like, I don't know, like he's Caesar or something?" Though he had been rather quiet up until this point, Will half chuckled half coughed.

"Something funny over there?" Magnus questioned. Will shook his head as he composed himself.

"Nope."

"Oh come on now. I love a good joke." Magnus pressed. Will and Clary seemed to exchange a quick look.

"Go on Will. Get it off your chest." Clary said lazily. Will intertwined his fingers behind his head as he cracked his neck.

"I would have never guessed in a million years you were Valentine's daughter, even with that ring on. You're like opposite ends of the spectrum…Do you have any idea what kind of man your father is suspected of being?" Clary shrugged.

"Being suspected of something and being found guilty isn't the same thing." She sounded drained. She seemed somewhere between overwhelmed and exhausted. Jordan laughed a short humorless laugh.

"The giggles are spreading." Magnus said sarcastically. Jordan scratched the back of his head.

"I don't giggle." Jordan muttered.

"Come on Jordan what's on your mind?" Alec said hastily.

"You can't pin anything on the guy. He's never going to be found guilty of anything. He doesn't get his hands dirty. He's got all those goons for that. He gives the orders, but all those thugs in black carry them out…" He rattled off rather animatedly. He seemed to suddenly realize he was talking and just trailed off and took an exasperated breath.

"Plain English Jordan. What are you trying to say?" I snapped. It was quiet for a minute.

"I'm venting, just ignore me." Jordan said as he shook his head. Before I could attempt to pry, Will chuckled again and I looked over my shoulder.

"Will?" We stared each other down for a short moment.

"Alright…Just don't say you heard this from me…You ever see the movie The Godfather Jace?" I furrowed my eyebrows and nodded.

"Well from what I hear, the Morgenstern family is as close to the Corleone family as I've ever heard of in real life." I swallowed heard.

"Super." I glanced down at Clary and she was giving me a somewhat uneasy smile. I took a deep breath.

"We're going to bed." I muttered.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Timeout..." Simon said rapidly as he dramatically made the timeout gesture with his hands.

"...Clary's father is like a mob boss? You can't just drop a bomb like that and go to bed." Simon said a bit harsh.

"Watch us." Without any hesitation, ignoring the calling voices behind us, I stood up and ushered Clary down the hall and to my bedroom. It was already after 2:00 so we just decided to go to sleep and talk about everything in the morning. I left the bedroom to go to the bathroom. I quickly surveyed the damage while I brushed my teeth. I didn't look like I had a mark on my face, but I could feel I had gotten a couple good hits to my chest and abs, I'd probably have a bruise or two in the morning. When I got back to my room Clary was lying in bed facing out with one of my t-shirts on. The lights were off, she had pushed the window open, and turned the fan on. It was pretty hot and uncomfortable in my room, not that it was much better outside, but it was a little cooler. The blankets were all pushed down to the foot of the bed. I stripped down to my boxers and climbed into bed closest to the wall lying on my side and pulled her close to me; her back to my chest. She took a deep breath and relaxed into my body, though I could tell she was still a little tense. She turned over her shoulder and I kissed her lips gently and we each whispered our goodnights. She settled back in and I lay there thinking over the evening. It felt like it took forever to fall asleep.


Clary's POV

I glanced over at the clock, it was after 3:30. Jace's breathing had become soft and steady and I knew he was finally asleep. I wondered if I could really just give my father back the ring at this point. I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy. It's not like he outright did anything wrong, I just still had this uneasy feeling about him. I liked the idea that my father pretty much told everybody to leave us alone, but I wasn't sure if I liked the position that put me in or Jace for that matter. He also offered to pay for my wedding, but again, any financial assistance he provided me would likely come with an expectation. I wasn't just walking into my father's world, I was bringing Jace with me, and I really wasn't sure if I wanted to do that to him. Tomorrow. Jace said we'd talk tomorrow and we would. I'd ask Jace what he thought, what he wanted to do. I carefully climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom. I finally brushed my teeth and brushed my hair out. I stared at myself in the mirror. I had my mother's same auburn red curly hair, her emerald green eyes, and the soft dusting of freckles. Though there was something in the shape of my face, the cheekbones, and the jaw line. I could see him, I could see my father. I didn't know my father, the man he might pretend to be or the man he really was, but maybe I didn't need to, maybe I just needed to follow my mother's instincts. I didn't need a fancy life or a big wedding. I just needed Jace. He could be enough, couldn't he? I wished my mother were here, I wished Luke were here, nothing was missing before. Now something was missing from my life and there was a part of me that wanted my father to fill that void. I splashed my face with cold water a couple times. I dried my face off and walked back to my room. I shut the door behind me. I must have splashed water onto Jace's shirt, because I realized the front was pretty damp. I changed into a dark green slip and left Jace's shirt spread out on my bureau to dry. I walked over to the nightstand and turned on the light. I picked up my sketch pad and climbed into bed. I leaned up against my headboard with my knees pulled up in front of me and used them as a table as I began to draw.

I woke up slowly to an odd feeling. I was lying on my stomach with my hands up under the pillows. I could feel a few strands of hair across my back, but my hair was mostly pushed off my body. I felt soft sensations move across my back and shoulders. It wasn't until I was fully awake that I realized the sensations were soft butterfly kisses. I felt the corners of my lips curve up into a smile. I heard Jace chuckle. His warm breath was against my ear.

"Good morning gorgeous." He whispered. I blinked a couple sleepy blinks as I woke up. I was lying on the pillow facing Jace; he was lying on the side of me, but partly leaning up against the headboard with a couple pillows helping to prop him up. He had stopped kissing me and was gazing at me affectionately while he gently stroked my hair. I was facing out and quickly realized I was in Jace's room and not my own, though I remembered sketching, I just didn't remember ever falling asleep, and I knew I didn't come back in Jace's room. He leaned over and kissed my cheek and I smiled further.

"You look really tired." He said softly. I chuckled.

"What time is it?" He glanced behind him.

"Just after eleven." I closed my eyes again. I felt a kiss against my forehead.

"Want to go to Panera Bread?" He asked softly. That did sound good, after a long moment of contemplation I opened one of my eyes and peeked at Jace; he chuckled.

"That means I have to get up." I mumbled. He laughed.

"Yes, but I think it's probably about time. How late did you stay up?' He asked gently. I shrugged.

"I don't know, five maybe." He shook his head.

"No wonder you're tired." I realized Jace was wearing dark green cargo shorts and a white polo short sleeve shirt. His hair looked damp and he smelled like soap and cologne. I opened my eyes all the way.

"How long have you been up?" He shrugged.

"A while. I woke up around eight and you were gone, so I freaked out a bit. I thought you were making a run for it…" I rolled my eyes and he chuckled.

"…but I found you asleep in your bed. You were in a ball with your sketch book and a pencil still in your hand, so I figured out you fell asleep drawing. You looked pretty uncomfortable, so I brought you in here…" He reached out and put a hand on my cheek.

"…I've become partial to you being close to me…" We both smiled.

"…I laid down with you for about an hour, but I couldn't fall back to sleep, so I ended up getting up and going for about an hour run and then I came back and took a shower-" I furrowed my eyebrows at him as I cut him off. I could tell it was another hot sunny day even with the shade shut and the fan on.

"You ran in this heat?" He nodded.

"Yeah. I've got to start running earlier or later though, I felt like I was going to throw up or pass out about halfway into my run. I actually walked back the last mile or so."

"How long do you run for?" He shrugged.

"About six miles. I haven't clocked it out here." I buried my face in my pillow. Who runs six miles? He ruffled the back of my hair.

"What?" He asked sounding a bit amused. I looked back at him and shook my head slightly.

"So we'll never run together." I could hear the disappointment in my voice. I always see couples running together and I guess that just wouldn't ever be Jace and I. He looked so sweet.

"Of course we can. How far do you run?"

"About two miles and it takes me about a half hour." He looked somewhat amused.

"I stand corrected…" He said sarcastically. I buried my face in my pillow again.

"…Warm up. I could do a warm up run with you, or a cool down run." I turned my head towards him and shot him a slight glare.

"I can't tell if you're mocking me or just trying to humor me?" I muttered. He smirked.

"Maybe I'm just being sincere." He looked so cute, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright. I'm getting up. I need coffee." I mumbled as I sat up.

"Yeah. You're a bit grouchy, but I wasn't going to say anything." He said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at him.

"You're way too cherry." I muttered. He smirked.

"Probably all those endorphins from running…You should try it sometime." I mock glared at him as I grabbed a pillow and whacked him with it. He laughed.

"Does someone need a hug?" He said sarcastically as he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me in a somewhat restraining way. I shook my head with a chuckle.

"You did not just pull an Elf line on me?" He laughed. He still had his arms around me, but he had loosened them. He gave my nose a quick peck.

"You don't even look like a raccoon this morning." He said sarcastically with a smirk.

"Oh get away from me." I teased as I pushed my hands against his chest. He flinched as he pulled away.

"Wow. I'm stronger than I thought." I muttered. He shook his head.

"I'm damaged goods." I furrowed my eyebrows at him. He lifted up his shirt to reveal two large bruises; one on his chest, where I had pushed him, and one on his abdomen. I rested a hand gently on each bruise.

"Oh honey." I said softly as I shifted my concerned gaze back to his face. He rolled his eyes as he pull his shirt back down.

"I'm fine. You should see the other guy…" He chuckled.

"…Actually you should see Simon. He was definitely hurting this morning." I cringed.

"This is all my fault." I muttered softly, more to myself than to him. He shook his head.

"No. You didn't beat us all up." I was looking down at the bed, just thinking over last night. For a short moment this morning I had forgotten all the craziness. Jace put his hand under my chin and lifted my head to face him.

"Hey, hey, hey. Nobody blames you. Get up. We'll go out and get something to eat. Have coffee. We'll talk." I nodded slowly. He kissed my lips softly and let his lips linger a moment. I took a deep breath when he pulled away. I stretched my shoulders up and let them fall. I just felt much more relaxed suddenly. Jace just had a way of making me feel like everything was going to be alright. He smiled.

"Feel a little better?" I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah…You should kiss Simon and make him feel better." I was laughing even before Jace started tickling me. He let up quicker than I thought he would.

"Come on, let's go. Izzy made the coffee this morning and it was horrible." I reluctantly climbed out of bed and got a smack on the ass. I chuckled as I rolled my eyes at Jace. I glanced around his room and quickly started making plans to move some of my clothes in here. This wasn't the first time I found myself in lingerie and little to nothing else to wear. My dress from last night was in Jace's hamper, but I had no interest in digging it out. Though I had to remember to dig it out eventually; that needed to be dry cleaned. I had become pretty familiar with Jace's bureau drawers at this point and dug out a faded blue Yankees t-shirt. I was beginning to feel like Jace was intentionally only giving me Patriots t-shirts to wear. I didn't have anything against the Yankees; I had to nip this negative connotation in the butt before it became a thing. Luckily Jace's t-shirts are so big on me they're more like dresses. I pulled it on and turned around so he could see what I was wearing. I gestured dramatically just so there was no mistaken that I had a Yankees shirt on. He smirked, but didn't say anything. Jace was already making the bed before I even got to the bedroom door. I headed out of Jace's room. I stopped in my room to grab some clothes before I went to the bathroom.

It took me just about forty-five minutes to take a shower, shave, do my makeup, throw my wet hair up in a scrunchy, and get dressed. I wasn't happy to see my bruises looked similar to the day before, but it was too hot not to wear a tank top. I put on a nude pushup bra and lace thong set. I pulled on a pair of white, lightweight, stretch, denim, cut-off shorts. I put on a light blue, scoop neck, loose fitting tank top. It had beaded rhinestone and pearl embellishments down both sides like racing stripes giving the shirt a fun twinkle. I would have loved to put on something with spaghetti straps, but this was pretty airy and should be comfortable. It hid most of the bruising, and what it didn't hide wasn't that noticeable. I slipped my engagement ring back on before I grabbed up my night clothes and headed back to my room.


Jace's POV

Clary seemed to take forever to get ready, so after I straightened up my room I went in her room to wait for her. We were going to have to do something about this my room her room thing soon. I couldn't wake up with her not there again; my heart just about stopped this morning. Fortunately it was so late in the day everybody had already taken off. I didn't want to get caught up with a whole bunch of questions about Clary's father this morning. I wanted a chance for the two of us to talk about things.

I couldn't help but notice her sketch pad still lying on her bed. I picked it up as I sat down and made myself comfortable. I leaned up against her headboard and crossed my stretched out legs. I opened the book to the first picture, it was the only one I knew I hadn't seen before; it was just a number of colorfully wrapped presents. I flipped through the pictures I had seen before and got to the last one. She had drawn a wedding sketch in black and white of the two of us. We were both standing and looking at each other just inches apart. Our hands were intertwined. Clary had on a wedding gown. It was fitted through the bodice and strapless, but it was puffy from the waist down and had a train that ran off the page. Her long curly hair was predominately down, with some pulled up around her face and toped with a veil that flowed down her back. I stood facing her clearly wearing a tuxedo. We were both looking at each other with smiles on our faces, we both looked very happy. I couldn't help but smile as I stared at the picture. I found myself flipping back to the other picture she had drawn of me. The look on my face was such a contrast; it was as different as day and night. I looked in pain in the other picture, but I looked clearly happy in this one. I heard footsteps and looked up to see Clary. I closed the sketch book and quickly put it down; she had referred to it as a diary of sorts, so I wasn't sure how she'd feel about me looking through it without asking. Clary gave me an amused look and shook her head at me as she closed and locked the door. She tossed the handful of clothes she had into the hamper as she walked over to the bed. She leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss. I reached my hand up and cupped the back of her head as I held her there just a little longer. I kissed her lips a few more times before I dropped my hand and she stood with a smile on her face.

"You look gorgeous as always." I said softly. Her lips curved up a bit more.

"You look pretty damn sexy yourself." I smirked and shot her a wink.

"I know." She shook her head at me with an amused look on her face and walked over to the closet. She slipped on a pair of white sandals. She walked over to her vanity and put on her watch, and a pair of earrings. She fiddled with a few purses until she just had a white one in her hand. She walked back over by the bed.

"I'm ready." I climbed off the bed and stood up. I wrapped my arms around her and peppered her lips with a number of butterfly kisses. I had just got my hand to her scrunchy when her hand latched onto mine as she shook her head.

"Leave it." She said with a chuckle as she pulled my hand away. I gave her a very sweet look.

"I like it down." I said softly. She shook her head.

"It is a million degrees and humid outside. My hair stays up; at least for right now." She brought her lips to mine for a quick peck and broke out of my arms. She scooped up my hand and towed me down the hall.

The trip to Panera Bread seemed unusually quick. We discussed her father and I could tell Clary was curious, but apprehensive to get to know him, so we settled that we'd go over for tea and talk to him. I told her all things considered I'd still support her decision if she wanted her biological father to be part of her life, but I really wanted to be there whenever she met with him, at least for right now, until we were certain what we were dealing with. We could speculate all we wanted, but we really didn't know that much about the man. She seemed comfortable with the compromise and we decided not to spend any more time on the issue today. I could tell whenever she talked about him she seemed to get tense and I didn't want her to worry unnecessarily.

We sat at Panera Bread while we ate and had coffee. Our feet were touching under the table and our arms laid across the table with our hands joined. We occasionally engaged in a game of thumb wrestling or merely traced each other's hands. We talked about books, movies, and hobbies. I talked to her a bit about her thoughts on going to college, I wasn't sure if she could apply to go full time in the fall, but she could apply to go part time and apply for full time come spring if she wanted to. I heard the university had an amazing art program, though I wasn't sure if that's what she would want to go to college for. She sounded pretty interested and definitely enthusiastic about the art program. She said she'd look into it when we got back.

After we left we decided to go for a walk on the shade covered trails by the stables. We discussed how Clary had to go between two rooms in the cottage and we were both on the same page that she might as well just move her stuff into my room. I told her I'd empty three of the drawers in the bureau, none of them were even half full anyway, and she could have half the closet too. She seemed pretty happy. We discussed our living arrangements and we decided seeing I didn't start school for another month and a half and I wasn't working this summer, I'd just come back to her apartment with her. She'd give a two week notice at her job when she got back and I could work on packing her stuff during the day while she was working. She was concerned about breaking her lease, seeing she'd have to pay four months rent for breaking it early, but I told her not to worry about it. My father had an incredible life insurance policy, and I didn't want her to think twice about the money, I'd pay for the fees.

We talked and joked for the afternoon while we traversed the trails. We finally made our way back to the peach rose bushes and we stopped to smell the roses, but Clary wouldn't pick any. She said she knew they would just die quickly while we walked and she rather leave the flowers for everybody else passing by to enjoy. We enjoyed the sweet smell of the flowers for a few minutes while I held Clary tightly in my arms and kissed her just as tenderly as I remembered kissing her on her sixteenth birthday. I had for so long thought of that kiss as the most memorable kiss I had ever had, but now each time I kissed Clary it seemed more amazing than the time before. After a short stop to appreciate the roses and the moment, we continued on our way.

Clary had locked her purse in the trunk of the car so she wouldn't have to deal with carrying it, but she had taken off her shoes at some point and she held them while she walked in the water and climbed along the rocks. I skipped stones and abandoned all hopes of not getting my sandals wet as I found myself darting into the water from time to time to steady her when I was afraid she would slip off of an algae cover rock. Clary was shocked that I had never been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so we made plans to go the weekend after we got back. I couldn't believe she had never seen a Broadway musical having grown-up in the area, so we also made plans to minimally see Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserable in the near future. I also made myself a mental note to get tickets to The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular since she had never seen that either; tickets sell out way in advance for that one.

It was terribly hot and humid even in the shade and the heat of the day was definitely noticeable as sweat slowly trickled down from my temples and of my shirt stuck to my back. I had brought two bottles of water that I bought from Panera Bread and had put them in my large side pockets, but we had recently finished them. I had questioned if we should head back, but Clary announced she was going swimming first. We didn't have suits, but I followed her as she walked a hundred feet or so off the trail. She stripped off all her clothes and left them on the grass before she wadded out into the water. I just chuckled at my naked goddess as I followed her lead. My body was hot and sticky from salty sweat and the water felt really good. She refused to get her hair wet, but I took no time to dive under and let the water rinse my hair and face. I teased her that I was going to throw her in the deeper water, but she looked pretty serious when she scolded me that she'd be pissed if she went under, that her hair would be a mess of knots if it got wet. We swam out until neither of us could reach the bottom and we swam around letting the water cool our bodies. It was relatively quiet, except the chirping of song birds, the occasional crocking of frogs, and the constant sound of the water lapping gently against the shore. I could faintly smell the floral scents of the outdoors.

When we finally ventured closer to shore again, and I could touch the silky, sandy ground, I grabbed onto her arm and pulled her close to me. She smiled and laughed as I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her up. She rested her hands gently on my shoulders and looked down at me as I whirled her around in circles in the water. I lowered her slowly and she wrapped her arms around my neck. She looked so happy. I gazed into her sparkling green eyes. She had a huge smile on her glistening face and her cheeks were very pink, but that was probably from the heat of the day. I could smell the grapefruit of her shampoo and the soft citrus smell of the perfume she had been using recently. I peppered her lips, her cheeks, her nose, and her forehead with soft kisses. I could taste the salt of the sweat still on her skin. Clary's hand tangled into my hair as she guided me to her lips again. She parted her lips and I responded immediately as she deepened the kiss. After a long passionate kiss, she pulled back and looked at me mischievously. I couldn't help but laugh as I gave her a questioning look.

"You don't carry condoms in your wallet do you?" She asked somewhat timidly. I laughed as I threw my head back slightly.

"Yes I do." I said in an amused tone. She smiled as she raised her eyebrows up and down. I smirked as she pulled my lips back to hers. She pressed her lips to mine and my body reacted. My arms tightened around her body and I held her firmly to me. She wrapped her legs around my waist and moved her body against mine very deliberately. I sucked in a breath. That felt very good. My hands caressed down her back and over her ass. Her body continued to move slowly against mine and I distractedly thought I might need to readjust things a bit. As the thought began to become more of a focus, but before I reacted, her hands moved down my chest and abdomen until she found what she was looking for, and she was fully capable of readjusting things for me. I let out a soft moan.

"Besides the fact my wallet is way over there on shore, you know we can't use a condom in the water right?" I murmured against her lips. She laughed.

"Yes I do." She mimicked my same tone I had used with her moments before. I chuckled.

"Just checking." I said softly, my lips never leaving hers.

"I just thought we could…play in the water a little first." She sounded so cute. I chuckled.

"We certainly can." I parted her lips with mine again and kissed her deeply. I could feel my heart pounding like crazy. There was undeniably an added thrill and excitement being out in the open like this. Clary definitely wasn't as conservative as I once pictured her, she had a lot of adventure in her, in a lot of different ways, and I liked it. The more time I spent with her, the more I fell in love with her, if that's even possible. By the time we got out of the water I had a deep down burning that only her wet body could quench.

The condom was a little bit of a trick seeing we were both all wet, but we figured it out. It took me about two seconds to get that scrunchy out of her hair once our bodies were tangled together. She laughed, but I didn't hear any objections. My arms rushed up and down her naked wet body and through her hair as our bodies tumbled and rolled over a number of times. Every murmur of my name on her lips and every soft moan that escaped her mouth excited me further. Her hands ran over my chest, shoulders, neck, and back as we kissed feverishly. I kissed her lips, her cheeks, her neck, her shoulders, her collarbone, and her chest, as she mirrored every kiss with her own.

My body lay against the soft grass as hers lay partially draped over the side of me. My arm was under her body, but wrapped around her and holding her tightly to me. One of her legs was crossed over one of mine, one of her arms was bent across my chest, her chin resting on the back of her hand, while her other hand played idly in my hair. Her hair cascaded down her back and over her shoulders in a wild mane; she had grass and leaves in it, but it didn't take away from how amazingly beautiful she looked. She gazed at me adoringly as I took my free hand and gently brushed her hair behind her ear. I lifted my head and pressed my lips to hers softly. I still found it hard to believe that she was all mine. I pulled back and stared into her eyes just mesmerized. She looked as happy as I felt, her eyes just sparked, her lips curved into a wide smile, and her cheeks had a soft pink glow. I brought my lips to hers again briefly.

"Have I told you today how much I love you?" She said softly. I smiled wider as I idly twirled her hair between my fingers.

"I don't believe you have." She brought her lips to mine and kissed me softly.

"I love you so much Jace."

"I love you too Clary." I said quietly. I rested my hand on her cheek and brought my lips to hers for another soft kiss.

"So you're not sick of me yet." I joked. She smiled an amused smile.

"Far from." She said sweetly. She kissed my lips gently. I found myself absentmindedly plucking out some of the foreign debris from her hair. She laughed as she lifted herself slightly off of me and attempted to run her hand through her hair, which was a failed attempt as her knotted hair resisted her efforts.

"Nice…My hair officially looks like a bird's nest." She said sarcastically as she pulled a small twig from her hair and looked at it. I had to suppress a laugh. She continued to try to roughly comb her hand through her hair. I reached up and grabbed her hand.

"You look gorgeous." I said softly as I brought her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles gently. She looked amused as she rolled her eyes at me. I laced our fingers together as I brought my lips to hers again. We lay on the ground exchanging a few more soft kisses and whispering affectionate words. After a short time we decided to go for another quick dip before we headed back. I was getting pretty hungry and I was sure Clary had to be too. Clary still refused to get her hair wet, commenting it would only make it worse, so she put it up in her scrunchy, which took us a surprisingly long time to find. We went in the water just long enough to cool down again and rinse the sweat and the earth off of us. We both ended up using my t-shirt to dry off a little, but I immediately became aware my white shirt was very unforgiving and now looking pretty dirty. Apparently the water hadn't washed the dirt off of our bodies as well as it could have. I didn't even bother putting the shirt back on, I just tossed it over my shoulder as we started back towards the trail hand and hand. Clary continued to walk barefoot with her shoes in her other hand.

I took my phone out of my pocket as I climbed into the car and realized I had a missed text from Izzy around 6:00; she just wanted me to call her letting her know our plans for the night. I glanced at the clock, it was just after 6:30. I had Clary call Izzy while I started driving. Maia and Izzy were making a surf and turf dinner. They had gone shopping and bought lobsters, clams, steaks, corn on the cob, baking potatoes, and an assortment of sweets. Apparently, Alec and Magnus went shopping earlier, Alec bought some monster of a grill, and he really wanted to use it. Izzy said dinner probably wouldn't be ready until 7:30 or so, and there would be plenty of food. Knowing Maia there'd be plenty of food for an entire football team. I'm not a big seafood fan, but steak sounded great, and Clary loves lobster, so we didn't hesitate to say we'd be home in twenty. Clary asked if Izzy needed anything else, but she said they were covered. She and Maia had already bought all the food, and Alec and Magnus were picking up alcohol. We were about five minutes away from the cottage when Izzy sent a text asking us to pick up ice to make margaritas, apparently Alec forgot. That was easy, so we stopped at a nearby gas station and grabbed a bag. Actually, Clary ran in, seeing as I still didn't have a shirt on.

I could already smell the smoke in the air as we got out of the car and I could just imagine Alec standing in front of the grill with a beer in one hand and a stupid happy grin on his face. Alec doesn't shop like Izzy, she buys everything designer, Alec usually could care less, but when he wants something nice, he spares no expense. He wears the same faded hole-ridden clothes until Magnus sneaks them out of his wardrobe, but he drives a brand new Audi. Though I wouldn't be surprised to find out Mayrse and Robert paid for the grill.

Clary and I entered the cottage apprehensively. I wondered if she was thinking what I was thinking, that there was potentially a room full of people on the other side of the door waiting to bombard her with questions about her father. Luckily when we walked inside I only saw Izzy and Maia in the kitchen and nobody else. I would have gone around through the living room, but I was carrying the bag of ice. As we walked into the kitchen, Izzy was sitting with her back to us wrapping ears of corn in tin foil at the table, while Maia was standing at the counter next to the stove sprinkling a cookie sheet full of raw steaks with seasoning. Clary and I were completely harassed when we walked into the kitchen, but not about her father, apparently our appearance was a huge distraction.

"Hey g-…What did you do to your hair?" Maia shrieked as she looked up from the steaks towards us. Clary just laughed and ignored the question as we walked into the kitchen. Izzy glanced over her shoulder at us.

"It's not even just your hair…Your shorts and your shirt…You're filthy…Did you trip and fall and roll down a hill?" Izzy looked semi-serious. I tried to suppress a laugh, but it came out more as a cough. I looked over at Clary and realized she had more dirt on her than I originally noticed. Her white shorts and light blue top weren't looking all too clean; though my shirt was hands down still the dirtiest.

"No. I didn't fall down a hill…" Clary rolled her eyes with a chuckle as she got a cup of water.

"…What did you guys do today?" Clary asked nonchalantly as she downed the water and filled it again.

"I think the better question is…what did you two do today?" Maia asked in an amused tone. I put the bag of ice in the freezer before taking the cup from Clary with a wink as I walked over to take a closer look at the steaks Maia was preparing.

"Seriously, have you seen you're hair? You've got like leaves and crap in it." Izzy said with a somewhat disgusted look on her face. I reached out to pickup the seasoning Maia had just put down, I just wanted to see what she was seasoning the steaks with, but she swatted my hand out of the way. I quickly retracted my hand and looked up at her, she was looking at me with that motherly scolding look and I couldn't help but chuckle. I crossed my arms as I leaned up against the counter.

"I know exactly what my hair looks like thank you very much." Clary said shaking her head slightly and rolling her eyes. There was an assortment of partially cut up fruit on the table and Clary walked over and popped a cube of watermelon in her mouth.

"What happen to your shirt?" Maia said with a humorous look on her face. I glanced down at my shirt still draped over my shoulder and then at Maia.

"It's really hot outside. I took it off." I said sarcastically. Maia furrowed her eyebrows at me with an amused look on her face.

"I've got it…So you took off your shirt, then it fell on the ground and blew under some wet muddy shrubbery, and Clary had to crawl in after it?" Clary and I both laughed and exchanged a look.

"Yep." We both said as the same time, which just caused us both to laugh again. Izzy and Maia were both just shaking their heads and smiling at us. Maia gave Izzy a knowing look.

"They're like rabbits." Maia said sarcastically. Clary smiled mischievously.

"You bet your ass we are." Clary said heavily as she looked me up and down, which caused me to just about spit out my mouth full of water. I was somewhere between coughing and laughing as I followed Clary out of the kitchen and away from Maia and Izzy's laughter.

Knowing it'd take me a fraction of the time it would take Clary to shower and change, she was fine with me jumping in the shower quickly first. Of course about ten minutes later when I got out of the bathroom I was rather amused to find she had already emptied three of my bureau drawers and filled them with her own clothes, leaving my clothes on my bureau. She worked fast. While Clary was in the shower and after I had finished getting ready, I figured I'd move some more of Clary's stuff in my room. I answered Maia's silent pleas to get Izzy out of the kitchen and asked her to help me figure out what shoes and dresses in the closet belonged to Clary. Izzy was hesitant to leave Maia, but Maia was quick to encourage her to help me, saying everything in the kitchen was pretty much done. I had to suppress a laugh as Maia mouthed thank you behind Izzy's back. Izzy teased me mercilessly about how I'd never survive having to share a room with a messy girl, but she helped me separate her stuff from Clary's. I'm not really sure why one girl needs so many purses and shoes, but I moved them all into my room along with everything else Clary had in the closet. I left Clary's makeup and jewelry at the vanity, apparently Izzy and Clary have been sharing a lot of that stuff, and seeing I didn't have a vanity in my room, Izzy suggested I just leave it all there for now. I finished putting Clary's stuff away and headed into the kitchen. I grabbed a beer out of the fridge and followed Maia and Izzy's less than subtle hints that the guys were all out back around the grill.

After a few initial jokes and questions about me marring into the mafia, I asked that the guys leave Clary alone and not ask her any more about her father unless she brings it up. Alec was reluctant to heed my request at first. I needed Magnus's delicate help to reassure him that Clary and I were talking about everything going on and that I would be keeping a close eye on her and taking exceptionally good care of her. I also had to promise that I would keep him informed of anything major that transpired and that he was free to come to me with any questions or concerns. Simon was a lot easier to convince. He thought it was awesome that Clary's father was some sort of crime boss. I tried to argue we couldn't be sure if her father was actually a crime boss, but Jordan wasn't helping my case at all. I gave up the argument and just suggested Simon get his head x-rayed; he might have some brain damage from the fight. It was pretty hard to dissuade Jordan from broaching the topic with her. He asked a million questions about what Clary knew about her father and questioned if she'd considered going to the cops against him. I was finally able to convince him to give it a rest for at least a couple days. I insisted she didn't know anything right now, besides the gossip and rumors everybody else heard.

We all moved on to lighter topics and joked and bantered about how much our lives had changed over the course of the week. Jordan, Simon and I were all soon to be moving in with our significant others, and though Alec and Magnus seemed more than willing to get a place together, that wasn't going to happen while they attended school so far apart. Jordan, Simon, and I quickly made plans to help each other move. Jordan was the only one with a decent size vehicle, which wasn't even that big, so we expected we'd have to rent a U-Haul truck. Alec said he planned to head back to the city Sunday to spend some time with Mayrse and Robert so he'd be around for the next week or so to help as well. Magnus had to get back to work Monday, but said he'd drive down the following weekend if we still needed a hand. Soon after we worked out the details on the moves, Jordan got on my case again about proposing saying Maia wouldn't let the subject go. He was pretty indignant, but shut up pretty quick, when I suggested he just get the balls and propose to her; they had been dating for a few months and he did just spend the last few years pining over her.

I would have moved on from the topic of marriage, but Magnus decided it was the perfect time to throw a million wedding ideas at me. Apparently he knows a great wedding photographer and videographer, and a florist that's to die for. I suggested he get with Clary, because I didn't really care about any of that. He started asking me all these questions. Am and I suppose to have a date picked out right now or know what the color theme of the wedding is going to be? Alec got on my case when he found out that I hadn't called Mayrse and Robert yet. It's only been two days, but apparently I should have called them already. Simon was right there with Alec saying it wouldn't be good if they found out from somebody else and I really should make sure Izzy knew I hadn't told them yet. Jordan asked nonchalantly if I picked a best man yet, saying he had some bachelor party ideas to throw around. When I stated I thought it went without saying that Alec would be my best man, Alec said he was touched, but that he might just need to run that by Clary first; he kind of told her that he'd walk her down the aisle if she wanted and he didn't know if she was going to take him up on that offer. Everybody was really starting to make me crazy. I threatened to run off to Vegas if everybody didn't shut up, and that seemed to do the trick.

I mentioned the plays Clary and I planned on seeing and extended invitations for anybody else that wanted to come. Simon and Jordan looked at me like I was crazy, but Alec and Magnus thought it sounded fun. Magnus was appalled that Clary hadn't seen a Broadway musical. He also recommended Cats, but that was never one of my favorites; for some reason I could totally see why Magnus might like it though. Simon suggested I take Clary to a ball game. He said she's watched a number of games on TV with him, and though he couldn't promise he hadn't turned her into a Mets fan over the years, she definitely likes baseball. I made immediate plans to buy Clary some Yankees paraphernalia to help reverse any Mets tainting Simon may have caused. It hadn't previously crossed my mind to bring her to a game, but next thing I knew we were all planning to go out to see the Red Sox play the Yankees on August 8. I hadn't been to the new Yankee Stadium yet so I was pretty psyched. Alec and Magnus were both die hard Yankees fans like me and I already knew Simon was a Mets fan, but he was cool with seeing the Red Sox play the Yankees; it's always a fun rivalry. Izzy could care less about baseball, but Simon was sure she'd come along with everybody else. I was completely taken by surprised to find out Jordan and Maia were actually Red Sox fans. Who let this friendship happen? After some initial bantering, Jordan and I called it a truce. He had known I was a Yankees fan from the beginning, I don't exactly hide it, but I just never knew he was a Red Sox fan. He's a Patriot's fan though, so we could at least agree on that.

I finally chucked my long ago empty beer in the recyclables and headed towards the house. Ever so perceptive Magnus said he wasn't trying to discourage me from stealing another kiss from my sweetheart, but if I was purely going inside on a mission to get another beer, there were coolers of them up against the cottage. Though it wasn't completely true, I told him I was just looking for another beer. I hadn't even noticed that not far from where I was standing there were two coolers. One cooler was filled with ice cold beers and the other had an assortment of fruity drinks. I questioned all the ice, and Alec immediately threw Simon and Jordan under the bus. Apparently it wasn't that Magnus and Alec forgot to get ice while they were out, it was that Jordan and Simon had dumped it all in the coolers to keep the drinks cold. Simon and Jordan plead a very good case that it was more important to have a cold beer than frozen margaritas. I couldn't argue with that logic. Alec requested I grab him a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and so I grabbed a Sam Adams for myself and another for him. I had grabbed a Bud Light earlier in the kitchen, but had there been any Sam Adams inside, I would have grabbed one.

A little while later, Clary came outside in a coral colored, short, v-neck, halter dress. It had an empire waist and then hung loosely. Her wet hair was again up in a scrunchy with a few stray curls falling around her face. She looked very hot as always. She had on flip flops and was carrying the cookie sheet full of raw steaks. I was standing by the grill closest to Alec, while Jordan, Simon, and Magnus were sitting in chairs. She had a beautiful smile on her face and kept her gaze on me as she approached the grill. Jordan just about jumped out of his chair to take the tray from Clary, joking that Alec may be able to cook vegetables on the grill, but it takes skill to cook a perfect steak.

With Clary's hands now free, I covered the short distance between us and wrapped my arms around her. I gently pressed my lips to hers a number of times. She was smiling that much more as I pulled away, but still kept my arms around her. I saw she had on the green sparkly eyeliner she had been wearing a lot lately. She also had on a pair of silver hoop earrings. Clary wasn't in my arms long before she was trying to go back inside to get more stuff that needed to be brought out. She passed on Izzy's request that the two folding tables that were in the storage shed be taken out and set-up; me and Simon said we'd take care of it. I held on to Clary for a few more soft kisses, but then she was out of my arms and heading back inside.

I realized belatedly that she hadn't worn her necklace with her father's ring on it all day. I wondered if she merely forgot or choose not to wear it. Clary and I had agreed not to talk anymore about her father today, and I was hopeful the guys would respect my request and stay clear of the topic as well. I couldn't imagine Maia prying much and I knew I couldn't ask Izzy not to say anything. Requesting that Izzy keep quiet on something always backfired and made her that much more likely to bring it up. Clary had been in a phenomenal mood all afternoon, and I just had a feeling that the mention of her father would put a damper on her mood. I couldn't believe how happy it made me to see her overjoyed like this; I just loved to see her in such a good mood.

After Clary went in the cottage, Simon and I put down our beers and went to work on getting the tables out of the shed. The tables were pretty gross. They looked like last time they were used they had been put away dirty. I absentmindedly wondered if we used these tables to play beer pong last year. Anyway, I knew they couldn't be put out like this, so we sprayed them down with the hose. Unfortunately Izzy yelled at us for, well I'm not really sure what we were yelled at for, getting the tables wet, or something like that. Izzy snapped at us to take out the rest of the chairs and the tiki torches from the shed, but to avoid drenching everything in the process. Clary came outside shortly after Izzy started her little hissy fit, and Clary seemed much more reasonable. She coaxed Izzy in the cottage and said she'd fix everything. Izzy shot Simon and me glares before she ventured inside. Simon and I took the rest of the chairs out, while Clary went inside to grab a few things. She came outside with towels and patted the tables dry. Then she put a plastic table cloth on each of the tables and they looked good to me. I was able to grab her for another quick kiss before she was back inside. Magnus took the lead on the tiki torches. He set up the six torches in almost a circle around us say that was the best way to keep the mosquitoes away. It wasn't quite 8:00 yet, so it was still light, but in another hour it would be dark, and the torches would help add some light too.

A short time later Izzy came out with a Margarita in hand and she seemed much more pleasant. Maia, Izzy, and Clary started to bring a variety of items out including: a huge pot of clams and steamers; a couple platters of cooked lobsters; an assortment of condiments; paper plates and silverware; cookies and brownies; a fruit salad; and a number of empty platters. I offered to help, but Clary told me the girls had everything under control and I should just relax; so I found myself a seat. Alec removed the corn on the cob and the baked potatoes from the grill and stacked them all on empty platters. Once the grill was finally freed up, Jordan headed over to it with his tray of steaks; he looked like he had been guarding that tray with his life. Jordan was actually quite comical the way he step-by-step walked Alec through making a perfect steak. From what I gathered, Maia did all the work seasoning the steaks and Jordan just threw them on the grill and flipped them, but Jordan insisted there was more to it than that. I was waiting for him to say the secret ingredient is love or and then a miracle occurs, but he never did.

After the girls crammed the last of the items on the tables, Clary finally took a frufru drink out of the cooler and came over and gave me a light peck on the lips before she collapsed into my lap. Not that there weren't plenty of seats, but I was more than happy to have her right here with me. I put my arm around her and watched as one-by-one everybody grabbed a drink and settled into a seat. Jordan was still manning the grill and Maia was standing next to him sipping on a blue wine cooler, but everybody else was now sitting and relaxing. It was plenty hot enough, so there were no concerns that any of the food would get cold. The only food that was cold to start, was the butter, which Maia had moved into the cooler when she realized it was melting, and the fruit salad, but that seemed to be doing alright. The smell of the cooking steaks permeated through the air and it smelled really good outside. Once the steaks were what Jordan deemed perfect, he took them off the grill.

The evening carried on as everybody talked and joked and filled up on the banquet of food outside. The steaks were as good as Jordan promised, and the rest of the food was just as delicious. Magnus helped the girls put away most of the food as Alec, Simon, Jordan, and I got into a card game of Spades. After everything shy of the desserts was picked up, Clary came and sat in my lap. She didn't know how to play Spades, so I tried to teach her. We picked partners randomly and I ended up being Jordan's partner. Luckily we weren't having a very serious game, because Maia sat with Jordan, Izzy sat with Simon, and Magnus sat with Alec. Magnus and Izzy knew how to play, but Maia and Clary didn't, and they weren't picking up on it too quickly either. As the evening progressed the game turned into more of Clary and Maia against Izzy and Magnus; Clary and Maia were getting creamed. Everybody was just having a fun time though. It didn't seem to bother Clary one bit that she and Maia had taken a game that Jordan and I were winning by a landslide, and now they were losing. Of course I wouldn't point that out, but Simon made several backhanded complements of how Clary should play all the time because she was so much better than me and she really made the difference for his team; he thanked her profusely. Clary just laughed off his banter and seemed to be enjoying trying to learn how to bet and strategize. After it looked like Jordan and I couldn't possibly come back from the hole we were in, and I was getting pretty sick of Simon's boasting, Jordan and I delicately told Clary and Maia they had to relinquish the cards back to us. Alec and Simon were quick to take back their cards as well, but it didn't matter as Jordan and I proceeded to brutally bury Alec and Simon. It was a much longer game this way, but it was a lot of fun and everybody got to play. Jordan and I arguably gloated over our victory a bit too much, and in turn were booed repeatedly at the end of the game by Alec, Izzy, Magnus, and Simon. According to Simon, Jordan and I are never allowed to be partners again; though I'm not sure how much weight his word holds. Even with all the jokes and bantering, everybody seemed to have a really good time. I couldn't remember the last time I had this much fun just hanging out; and nothing crazy happened.

Just before midnight, Clary and I decided to head inside and go to bed. She had told me earlier when we discussed it that it would take about thirty minutes to get to her father's, well mansion I guess, so I figured we'd leave just before 9:30. I knew we were meeting for tea, but I wanted to stop and get coffee and grab a breakfast sandwich first. I was actually really looking forward to seeing this place. She didn't describe it in much detail, but she said enough to peak my interest. I wanted to get a run in before we went, so I planned on setting the alarm for 7:30. Clary said she was going to get up with me, maybe get a quick run in too, but I really doubted that.

A short time later Clary and I were both snuggled up in bed. She had on a pink satiny shorts and camisole sleep set and I was stripped down to my boxers. It was still really hot, so I had the window pushed open and the fan on. We briefly recapped the night before we exchanged a few soft kisses and goodnights. Even with the unrelenting heat, I kept my arms securely around Clary as we drifted off to sleep.


Elf (2003) (Will Ferrell)

Buddy: "Does someone need a hug?"

The Godfather (1972) (Marlon Brando & Al Pacino)