To the guest who said "Amazing as always but I would like some more Clace.": I'm super glad you think it's amazing, but I've explained about the Clace to the moon and back. It's going to happen, but not yet.

BearMyChildren: I DIED WHEN I SAW YOUR NAME. I laughed and laughed until I died, and had to be resurrected by a man of God. That is all.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mortal Instruments. I just take Jonathan's shirt away, at all times… I don't own the songs Simon or Jordan sing, briefly.


-Clary Fray-

I clear a cloud of steam from the bathroom mirror. My mother and Valentine are already at work before Jonathan or I wake up, most days. My hairbrush gets caught in wet tangles several times, and I have to just yank it through, ripping out several strands of hair. What is life? I hate my hair. It's the actual devil, come from hell to make my life miserable. That would explain the color.

After doing a Dutch braid, I give up any semblance of being attractive, and go downstairs where I find Jonathan. In the kitchen. Shirtless. Again. He has got to be doing this on purpose…

"Good morning, Clary." He says, pouring a glass of orange juice. He really likes orange juice, I've noticed. It's day five of living here, and every day Jonathan has done the same thing. He goes for a run (without a shirt on) and then drinks orange juice before taking a shower. Who does that? Why orange juice?

"Good morning, Jonathan." I mutter, trying my hardest not to check him out, since he's looking at me. I'm only allowing myself to eye fuck him when he isn't looking. "How did you sleep?"

He shrugs. "I don't sleep much."

"Why not?"

Jonathan shrugs again. He shrugs a lot. "I stay up writing, and lose track of time." He admits.

"I don't sleep much either." I didn't mean to confess this.

"Why not?"

"Bad dreams." Why the fuck did I tell him that? Jace is the only one who knows that…

His eyebrows shoot up. "About what?"

I decide to steal a move from his playbook, and shrug as well. "My dad." I admit. "What do you write about?" I change the subject, quickly.

He sucks in a breath through gritted teeth, and I can't help thinking that I should not have asked him that. "Personal things, mostly." Pale blonde hair is shaken from his eyes. "Can we talk about something else?"

I nod, trying not to step over the line. "Sure. Like what?"

He watches me for a moment. I really wish he'd put a shirt on, so I could form a coherent thought. "Jordan says you're not involved with Jace." He abruptly states. "But he obviously likes you… And he slept in your room." Jonathan drops his head down. "I'm sorry. I know it's not really my business. You can tell me to fuck off, if you want."

"We're just friends. He doesn't like me." Why is that so hard for everyone to believe?

Jonathan smirks. "If you say so." He sips from his orange juice, and I take the opportunity to admire that little gap where his pectoral muscles come together. "I'm glad the two of you aren't together."

He is? "You are?" I ask.

Jonathan just nods, and goes back to his orange juice. "There's supposed to be a storm tomorrow afternoon." He announces, as he puts his empty glass into the dishwasher. His back looks good, too. Sigh. He looks strong, and my hands tremble with the desire to feel his skin. God, I really need to calm the bone. What is this boy doing to me? "My father and Jocelyn will probably stay in the city again tonight, and until it passes. The roads will be bad, so I doubt if they'll be home all weekend."

I nod. "Alright."

"So," he says. "I was thinking that, if you wanted, we could have everyone over again tonight." Jon shakes his head. "Except for Sebastian, of course. Then tomorrow night, you and I could have a movie night or something. Just the two of us, to... Get to know each other a little better." Oh shit. I know what that means. Jonathan and I, sitting all alone in the house, watching movies. How will I control myself?

I can do this. Nationwide is on my side. "That sounds great. Looking forward to it."

Jonathan smiles warmly at me. "Perfect. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower."

Great. Now I'm thinking about him in the shower…


Jace flops down onto my bed. Just as Jonathan predicted, my mother called earlier to say that she and Valentine are staying in the city for at least the weekend. She said they would be back before Christmas, for sure, which is in 4 days. "So, when I win this bet, do they have to be three days in a row, or can I just split up the days to use them whenever I need them?"

I shake my head. "When I win this bet, I can decide when I need to use my three days of Jace Slavery."

Jace nods. "Deal." We shake on it.

Everyone is supposed to be over within an hour, but Jace came over early because he said he missed me. I reminded him that we spent all of yesterday together, but he insisted that he needed to come over anyways. I'm not complaining. I would just be sitting here, bored out of my skull, if he wasn't here. Jordan and Jonathan are downstairs, doing cousin things.

Jace leans over, and takes a picture frame from my nightstand. "We were like 12 in this picture." He turns it toward me. It was taken a few weeks after we met, and we'd already become inseparable. We were at Jace's old house, and Isabelle had just gotten a new camera for her birthday.

"We were so skinny." I point out, taking the photo from him.

"And look at your braces." Jace teases.

I stick my tongue out at him, because I'm a motherfucking adult, and adults do that. "Look at your hair. What is going on there?"

"Yeah, well, your hair still looks the same." He retorts.

I frown, and tug at the ends of my hair. He's right. It's still the dark shade of red, and too curly. The only difference is that it's longer now. While it was to my shoulders in the photo, it's halfway down my back now. Other than that, the only difference is that I've gotten rid of the braces and (barely) gained curves. "Shut it, knobby." I mutter, placing the photo back on the nightstand.

"So," Jace says. "How's it going with Jonathan? Did you confess your crush on him yet?"

"I don't have a crush on him." I snap. I totally have a crush on him.

Jonathan and Jordan enter the room, just after I've finished the sentence. It doesn't seem like they heard, and I pray that Jace will drop the subject. No such luck, of course.

Jace frowns. "It's okay, Clary. You can tell me."

I forget, momentarily, that the others even came in. "You don't tell me this kind of thing either, Jace." I point out.

"What are you talking about?" Jace chuckles, lightly. "I always tell you, and then you tell me I'm disgusting. Every time."

"You never told me you were in love with someone." I point out, carefully.

Jonathan laughs, causing me to remember that he and Jordan are in my room. "Yeah, Jace. Who are you in love with?" Jon asks.

Jace pales. "Shut up." He whispers, avoiding eye contact with me. I don't push him, because this isn't really a conversation I was planning to have in front of anyone, besides just Jace and I. I'll pry the answer out of him in private.

"Now I'm curious!" Jordan teases, as if he's in on some joke, that I am not aware of. Jonathan's face displays the same expression, and Jace is glaring at both of them. What is going on here?

"Piss off, guys." Jace shakes his head.

"Come on, we won't tell her." Jonathan winks at me, and Jace's scowl reaches epic proportions.

Jace curses them, and shoves past the two boys, walking out of my bedroom. Jordan and Jonathan chuckle, but I don't get what's funny. "Guys, leave him alone." I say, before following after Jace. I catch up to him in the hallway. "Jace, wait. Where are you going?"

He sighs, and noticeably relaxes when my hand rests against his shoulder. "I'm not going to tell you, Clary."

I let my hand drop. I want to ask why he won't tell me, but this clearly isn't something he wants to talk about, so I let it go, for now. "You don't have to." Jace tenses again. "I'm sorry about them. They were just kidding around."

"It's fine. I just don't want to talk about it, okay?" I nod, and that's the end of the discussion.


We're apparently playing Truth or Dare, by Magnus' request. I hate Truth or Dare. I never know what to ask people, or dare them to do. This is the worst game ever, but I didn't want to be a party pooper, so I'm remaining quiet, and hope no one notices me.

Magnus goes first. "Simon! Truth or Dare?"

Simon bravely declares "Dare!" It can't be good either way. Magnus is a magnificent bastard.

He taps a manicured finger to the skin right in front of his ears. "I dare you to shave off your sideburns."

Simon's jaw finds a new living space, on the floor. "No way!"

"Yes! Thank you so much, Magnus! I love you!" Isabelle is overly excited, and Simon frowns at her. I guess he didn't realize how out of place those sideburns look, on his awkward face.

"You have to do it, or Magnus will make you do something worse." Alec tells him, with a laugh.

Simon groans. "Someone get me a razor."

"Follow me." Jonathan says, leading him out of the room.

Once they're out of earshot, Isabelle hugs Magnus. "You're the greatest. I hate those stupid sideburns." I'm forced to admit: They look weird on him. But I think he's just awkward looking, in general.

Jonathan and Simon come back a few moments later. Simon rubs where his sideburns used to be, longingly. He looks a lot better without them. He starts singing "Baby come back… You can blame it all on me…" I giggle, and everyone else collectively rolls their eyes. Simon stops singing, and turns to Maia. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." She decides.

"I dare you to…" He thinks about it, while rubbing sadly at the skin in front of his ears. "Give Jordan a lap dance, in front of everyone."

Maia rolls her eyes. Jonathan presses a button on the remote, and an overly upbeat song comes on. Simon places an armless chair in the middle of the room, where Isabelle pushes Jordan towards. I feel bad, knowing how Jordan feels about Maia, and how Maia feels about Simon. Neither of them looks happy to be in this situation.

Maia rocks her hips back and forth in time with the music, as she walks over to him. He turns his head to the side, looking away from her as she props one leg up, and grinds on him. His ocean colored eyes find mine, and I can see sadness in them. I smile at him, apologetically. He blinks, and I think I see tears glistening in his eyes, but he blinks them away quickly, before they can fall. It's then that I decide that I hate Maia. Jordan is funny and sweet, and Maia has to intelligence of a rock if she can't see that about him.

The song ends, and Jordan sits next to me, on the couch. "Are you okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine, babe." He whispers. Normally, I would scold people for calling me babe. I really hate that, but Jordan is sad right now, and I don't think it's really a big deal anyways. He just likes to use a lot of pet names, and I'm the only one who isn't skeevey about it. I decide to let him get away with it, just this once.

Meanwhile, Maia is challenging Alec. "… Truth." Alec mutters, uncomfortably. He's always been the most socially awkward person I know.

"Are you and Magnus dating?"

Alec and Magnus share a look. Magnus nods. "Yes." Alec says, confidently. It's rare that I've seen him smile. He should do it more often, because he's got some seriously nice teeth. "Jordan." Alec says. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." Jordan challenges, while leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"I dare you to go to the stop sign outside on the corner, and poll dance around it, while singing My Humps."

Everyone bursts into laughter, Jonathan especially. "Alec, you're my hero." He manages, between gasps and relentless fits of laughter. This isn't something I would expect Alec to come up with, but I'm proud of him for it.

Jordan nods, appreciatively. He stands, and we all follow him outside. It's cold as fuck, and it's started to snow. I guess the weather guy was correct about the oncoming snow storm. That's a first.

I shiver, and Jace stands behind me, rubbing his hands up and down my arms with his chin rested on the top of my head. He's warm, as always. "Thanks." I whisper back at him. There's no reply. He just continues running his hands over my goose bump covered arms.

Jordan hooks one leg around the stop sign on the corner. "My humps" he swings around the sign. "My humps. My lovely lady lumps." He shakes his hips back and forth, while flipping his hair around. Jonathan is hyperventilating, Simon is choking on laughter, Izzy and Maia are giggling, and Alec and Magnus are watching with appreciation. Can't say I blame them. Dat ass… Jace's chest vibrates against my shoulder blades, and I smile, leaning into his warmth. "I'm gonna make-make-make you work. Make you work-work, make you work." I close my eyes, and bite back a fit of laughter. I wish there was an English word for feeling embarrassed for someone. I would have said it.

Jordan spins around the poll one last time, and then takes a bow. We file back into the living room, and Jordan announces "Jonathan. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

Jordan shakes his head. "I'm drawing a blank. Go in the kitchen, and smash a pie in your face."

Jonathan rolls his eyes, and walks into the kitchen. He comes back with a cupcake. "We didn't have pie. Will this do?" Jordan hesitates, but then nods his head.

"Wait!" Magnus interrupts. Everyone turns toward him. "Can I smash it in his face?" Jonathan shrugs, and offers the cupcake to him. Magnus grins, and takes it from him. He grabs the back of Jon's head, and shoves it in his face, nose first, then smears it all over the place, barely missing his hair.

Jonathan steps back. He blinks. "I'm going to wash this off my face." Then he leaves.

"That was beautiful, Magnus." Maia admires, and we all agree. Magnus waves a hand at his adoring fans.

Jonathan comes back, and stands in the middle of the room. He looks at everyone, one by one. I sink back when he looks at me. Don't choose me. Don't choose me. Don't choose me.

Jonathan turns to Jace with a wicked glint in his eyes and a cruel twist at the edge of his lips. "Jace." he says. "I'll give you a choice. Truth: Tell us who you're in love with. Dare: You have to blow me." Jonathan smirks, knowing that Jace would never go for the dare. He has no choice but to tell us. "And I'll know if you're lying." He adds as an afterthought.

Jace sighs, and puts his face in his hands. I feel bad for him, and almost think I should say something. I'm about to when Jace says "Dare."

I lost my shit, just now.


GAYNITY.

-IWriteNaked