A/N: Today is my son's birthday party for all of his friends. I´m not sure I will survive and therefore will post this one day early!

This story has been beta'd by cboo2501 and Worm in the Apple and pre-read by, Aliherondale333 and bethgreat97.

All recognizable characters are owned by Cassandra Clare and J.R Ward

Daughtry – One last chance

Luke James – I want you

All American Rejects – I wanna

Chapter 7

I know you wanna want me

Jace's lips. Jace's hands. Jace's body pressed hard against hers.

That´s all Clary had been able to think about for the last two days. That, and cursing Izzy and Qhuinn up and down for interrupting what felt like the best experience she´d ever had, at least so far. But then Jace had just left.

She groaned inwardly at his hot and cold behavior. She didn´t know how to handle the new Jace. The old one, her Jace had been so easy to read. They had known each other so well that she could tell how he felt or what he thought without him needing to say it. And it had been the same for him when it came to her.

Now it seemed as if he was speaking an entirely different language.

Seb had shown up just after Jace left but he had been a little to handsy on the dance floor so Clary had spent the rest of the night by Qhuinn's side, a fake smile masking how she truly felt.

She was knocked back to reality, literally, when the punching bag smashed into face.

"Ow! Motherfu…Bloody hell," she cried out, clutching her bleeding nose.

If she expected any sympathy from Qhuinn she was disappointed. He stood with his back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and glared down at her, eyes cold. "What did I tell ya was the number one rule in dealing with the punching bag?"

Clary raised her hand where she was lying on the blue exercise mat and counted on her bloody fingers, her voice slightly muted by her other hand still covering her nose. "Never take your eyes of the bag. Always keep your mind focused. Keep your wrists straight and your knees bent. Punch, don´t push. Keep your balance," she squeezed her eyes shut, the pain slowly increasing. "Did I miss anything?"

"The number one rule, nalla," he scolded her harshly.

"How the f…gah…should I know. You change them all the bloody time."

"Leave all yo shit on the other side of the fucking door," he snarled. "If ya kept yo mind on what ya were doin' instead of thinkin' 'bout how ya got that fucking hickey ya wouldna busted up yo face."

"I know, alright," Clary moaned. "Can you please get me some ice or something? Better yet, get me Blay, at least he cares."

"I care, nalla. I care that ya shouldna act like a fucking idiot in my gym. I taught ya better than that," his words were sharp, but his large hands were gentle as he scooped her up. Tilting her head back over his arm and picked up a clean white towel with the gym's logo on it. Then drenching it in cold water against her sore nose. "Imma gonna take ya to Blay, let 'im check ya out, see if we gotta take ya to the E.R," he explained and carried her to the office where his better half could usually be found. That is, if he wasn´t working out in one of the PTRs, private training rooms.

Qhuinn placed her carefully on the brown leather couch and went to locate an ice-pack while Blay looked her over.

"It´s not broken," he declared after a thorough examination of her nose. "We can still take you to the hospital if you want."

"Nah," Clary struggled to sit up. The bleeding had stopped, but her head throbbed painfully and her vision was somewhat hazy. "It´s not the first time it´s ever happened. The good news is that I´m reasonably sure I didn´t get a concussion this time."

"Want to tell me how this could happen?" Blay asked softly.

"She wasn´t payin' attention," Qhuinn answered for her.

"You have to be more careful," Blay reprimanded her.

"Yeah, yeah," she whined. "I´ve already gotten the lecture from Qhuinn. I just wanna go home and put on that ointment you bought me last time. Hopefully it will keep me from looking like I went eight rounds with Mike Tyson at school tomorrow."

"I´ll give you a ride," Blay offered when Qhuinn didn´t say anything and pulled her to her feet. "You shouldn´t be driving right now."

"Okay," she tried to smile,but the pain was too to Blay´s desk, she helped herself to a couple of painkillers she knew she´s find in the top drawer. "Let´s go."

"You should just let 'er walk," Qhuinn glared at them. "Might teach 'er to not be so fucking stupid next time."

She blinked furiously against the tears that were starting to brim her eyes. Clary didn´t want him to know how much his words hurt her feelings.

Blay shook his head at Qhuinn´s behavior and placed his large hand at the small of her back. "Come on, baby girl. Let´s get you home."

Blay helped Clary into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt before going around to the driver side.

They drove in silence for a few minutes with only an occasional sob filling the stillness

"You know he acts like that because he´s worried about you, right? Qhuinn always turns fear into anger, it´s a defense mechanism. He doesn´t mean what he´s saying."

"I know," she whispered and stared out the side window.

"He feels responsible when you get hurt, like he should have done something different, taught you differently, or maybe kept you from the punching bag altogether when he knew you had things on your mind."

"I know," Clary groaned, ashamed of herself. "But the only one to blame is in this is me. He was right, I do know better. I should have left all thoughts about Jace and the kiss in the locker room. I just…I hate it when he´s mad at me," she wiped away the tears she couldn´t keep from falling. His anger combined with her injury and what happened at the club was starting to take its toll on her. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for a week.

"We´re almost home," he comforted her. "Do you want to take a shower or are you going straight to bed?"

She lifted the ice-pack and peered down on her sports bra and gym shorts. "Definitively a shower," she decided. "I need to wash the sweat and blood off of me and change out of these clothes." She felt the painkillers starting to do their job, making her feel a little woozy. "Oh, and Blay? Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything, sweetheart," he assured her.

"Can you make sure that Qhuinn doesn´t bet himself up about this too much," she smiled wistfully. Her beloved guardian had a tendency to do that. He would feel like crap for how he treated her, whether it was his fault or not. "And please make sure that he doesn't run off and buy me something I don´t need." That always came after his wallowing. Qhuinn's inability to verbally express emotions usually translated to overpriced gifts. Last time they had a big fight he went out and got her a horse. He didn´t even think to question if she would like the gift or not and had been very surprised when he found out that she was deathly afraid of them.

Blay chuckled, remembering the same event. "I´ll do my best, but you know how stubborn he can be."

This time Clary's smile was genuine. "I know. But tell him that I love him and that the only thing I want is something, or should I say someone he can´t get for me," she winked. "Can´t have my daddy fixing me up with guys, or worse, scaring them away."

Blay snorted. "Somehow I don´t think Jace scares easily."

Looking back out her window she replied, "You´d be surprised."

Some time later Clary was tucked in bed. Her face was no longer hurting as bad since she´d taken an additional pain pill and applied more of the miracle ointment. Still, she couldn´t sleep.

She was laying on her back and staring at the ceiling with unseeing eyes in the pitch-black room.

Her thoughts kept wandering back to the club and the kiss. She had never been kissed like that before. Truth be told, the only other boy she´d ever kissed besides Jace was Simon. They were twelve and that wasn´t much more than a peck on the lips and then Jace had interrupted them by pulling Simon away from her and punching him in the face. Jace had nearly broken Simon's nose in the process. The next day Clary had went over to Jace's house to confront him and demand that he apologized to Simon. Jace merely squared his chin and calmly explained that she was his, and shouldn´t kiss anyone but him.

From that day she had been his, and he had been hers. Until her sixteenth birthday…

Clary had tried hard to get him to really notice her in the past week, and thought she had finally succeeded when she suggested condoms for their social studies assignment. She felt her cheeks heat as she remembered the look in Mr. Hodges eyes when they pitched the idea to him.

He seemed to consider it for a long time before agreeing to it, but only if they promised to take it seriously. He expected a full rapport and no 'funny business'.

The whole week had been going great, but then Friday came around. He seemed so angry at her, she couldn´t understand what she´d done wrong.

When she saw him talking to those girl at the bar she had desperately wanted to walk up to them and scratch their eyes out.

Clary didn´t know them but had seen them around in the gym several times. Not that she´d ever understood what they were doing there. All they did was hang out at the water fountains in their skimpy little excuses for gym clothes and looked down on anyone who dared to sweat. Like they were above it all.

They spent a lot of time stalking poor unsuspecting men who actually went there to work out. Qhuinn and Blay had caught their eyes more than once, but their favorite target was Hollywood. That wasn´t his real name of course, and no one called him anything else. He was the head of security at the gym and his nickname fit him like a glove. He was six-feet-eight with thick and wavy blonde hair that was lighter in the front and darker in the back where it was cut short. His face was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at him. He had a perfectly square jaw, full lips, high cheekbones, and a broad forehead. His eyes were an electrical teal blue, so bright, so vivid, they were almost neon. And his body was as spectacular as his head. Big-boned, thickly muscled, with beautiful golden skin.

Clary liked him a lot. He always treated her like a little sister and strangely, his look had never had any effect on her. Jace seemed to have ruined her for other men, especially if he continued kissing her like that. Heat enveloped her body as she rubbed her thighs together, desperate to ease the ache between them.

When Alec and Izzy came to tell her that Qhuinn needed her, Jace let go of her causing her to immediately mourn the loss of him. She had tried hurry through the introductions, probably making a terrible impression, wanting nothing more than to return to Jace's arms. But when he was nowhere to be found, Alec told her that he left without saying goodbye. It had felt like a slap in the face.

She musings were interrupted when the door to her bedroom opened and Qhuinn's large body appeared, illuminated by the lights from the hallway. "Are you awake, nalla?" he whispered.

She scooted to the right of the bed instead of answering, knowing her preferred to sleep closest to the door. He lifted the covers and climbed in next to her. "G'night."

"G'night Qhuinn," and she fell asleep almost immediately, safe in the knowledge that everything would be alright.

Clary stared glumly at her reflection Monday morning. While the ointment had worked wonders with the swelling, she was left with black and blue bruises under her eyes and around her nose that no amount of make-up would hide, unless she wanted to look like a clown.

When she woke up and caught the first glint of herself in the mirror she considered taking the cowardly way out and stay home. She was still tempted to take Qhuinn up on his offer of calling her in as sick, but it wouldn´t look much better tomorrow or the coming week, so instead she went with his other advice and dressed to kill. Maybe if people were busy staring at her body they wouldn't look at her face.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Izzy.

Good morning sunshine. Today we move on to "Operation Make Jace Kiss You Again ~I

You really have to start coming up with better names. ~C

The neckline on her black tank top plunged deeper than she was normally comfortable with, but Izzy's message had reminded her that she was still working on getting Jace back. So when Qhuinn suggested it she agreed without a second thought to the matter. Taking advantage of the warm weather she completed the outfit with a pair of black hip-hugging cut offs that made her ass look 'totally smackable' according to Qhuinn, and an unbuttoned black, sheer, short-sleeved shirt with the collar turned up to hide the hickeys.

She didn´t want any questions she didn´t have the answer to, or embarrass Jace, since he clearly just wanted to forget it ever happened.

She scowled at her black eye shadow, paired with her naturally pale skin it made her look like a Goth, but at least the bruises were less noticeable with the dark makeup. Sunglasses was a no-go, unless she wanted to feel like a victim of abuse.

"I could drive ya to school if ya want," Qhuinn said, not for the first time.

"No way," she grinned. "I´m not going to school in your monster of a car. I want to blend in today, not get more attention," she gestured pointedly at her face,

"But are ya sure it´s a good idea for ya to drive?" he looked worried. "Ya took a bad hit/beating. What if ya get dizzy or somethin'?"

"Qhuinn, you spent the night in my bed to check up on me and I bet you didn´t get much sleep. I´m fine and you know it. Besides, this way you don´t have to leave work to pick me up at the end of the day."

"I bet you could be 'picked up' by someone else. I can think of one or two in your school who would love to 'take you for a ride'," he said with winks and air-quotes.

"There will be no rides given today," she rolled her eyes and slipped her feet into a pair of 18 holed shit-kickers that she tied halfway up.

"Well, look at you," he gave her a lazy grin. "If I wasn´t so in love with Blay, I´d do ya."

Clary snorted. "One; eww, two; that would be illegal and three; I know you like to think of yourself as an ex-ladies-man, but we all know you were just in denial, and four…" she made a face "…Gross. Don´t say things like that, you´ll end up scarring me for life."

He threw his head back and laughed. "Ya sure ya don´t wanna get with…" he gestured up and down his body and rolled his hips "…this?"

She sighed. "No. I only want him." She laughed joylessly. "I´m in love with a guy who, when he´s not moody, is a slut and a smartass. Go fig."

Qhuinn wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back soothingly. "Ya can start a club with Blay, he got the same fucked up taste in men."

She cracked up at that. "God that is true. We have to come up with a cool name for it. How about ALA? Asshole Lovers Anonymous?"

"Very funny," he grumbled, but couldn´t hide his smirk. "Now hurry the fuck up or you´ll be late for school."

The drive to school felt like it took longer felt longer than usual. Clary was nervous about seeing Jace again and kept trying to imagine how he would act. Would he say something about what happened? Would he go back to ignoring her? Or would he treat her like nothing had changed?

As soon as she drove through the gates she noticed that his car wasn´t in its usual spot, the disappointment causing a wave of nausea.

She parked and slid out of the car, relieved to see that the Benz groupies' weren´t nearby.

Clary ducked her head, letting her hair fall forward and cover her face like a curtain as she trudged towards her first class. She hated to admit that she was somewhat disgruntled that none of her friends was there to meet her, though she knew it was a childish reaction. It wasn´t like she needed them to hold her hand.

A few people called out greetings as she passed them; she raised her hand but didn´t stop walking.

Clary was so deep into her own pity-party that she didn´t realize that Jace was sitting on the bench next to the school doors until he said her name. "Clary," he sounded hesitant, yet determined. "I think we need to talk."

She would´ve laughed if she wasn´t so close to crying. That was the universal code for breaking up. The only difference was that he would tell her that there was nothing between them to begin with.

She straightened her back, squared her shoulders, and raised her chin, resolved to not let him see how much he was hurting her. Without thinking Clary tossed her hair back and met his golden eyes head on. "So talk."

She cursed her own stupidity when he hissed. He was on his feet and in front of her in the blink on an eye. His eyes dark with fury, but his hands light as a feather as he cupped her chin and moved her face from side to side. "Who did this to you?" he growled. "Was it Qhuinn?"

"What? No!" It had never occurred to her that anyone would jump to that conclusion.

Jace continued as if he hadn´t heard her. "I knew it. Fuck. I knew he would hurt you when I saw the fucking marks I left on your neck." He let go of her and pulled at his hair. "Shit! This is all my fault. Fuck!"

"Stop!" Clary shouted, shocked by his strong reaction and embarrassed by the attention they were attracting. "Jace, calm down. Qhuinn didn´t hurt me. It was an accident."

Her words only seemed to make him more agitated. "You´re defending that fucker!? I can´t fucking believe you!" he kicked a trash can, making it fly into the brick wall.

"For fucks sake Jace, listen to what I´m saying," she cringed at the curse and was grateful that Qhuinn wasn´t there to hear her. "He didn´t lay a single hand on me. I swear!"

He stood a few feet away from her, legs spread wide, fist clenched, breathing hard, ready for a fight. "Don´t. Fucking. Lie. To. Me," he gritted out through his teeth.

"I´m not bloody lying," she screamed, and ran her fingers through her own hair in frustration. "How can I make you believe me?" Then it hit her. Of course. "I can prove it to you."

Jace looked skeptical. "How the fuck are you going to do that? I´m not going to trust anything your fucking giant says."

"I didn´t think you would," grabbing his wrist, she tugged him with her as she walked through the doors.

Jace was so surprised that he at first didn´t stop her. "Where are we going?"

"To talk to Mr. Hodge."

"Why? How is that supposed to prove anything?"

"We have to get permission to leave school for about an hour. I don´t want to deal with how Qhuinn would react if I cut class," she said on their way to the teachers' lounge in hopes of catching him before he left for the classroom.

"What´s he gonna do?" Jace sneered. "Beat you up again?"

"I´m telling you," Clary said exasperated, "he didn´t do this."

They arrived in time to see him close the door to the lounge.

"Mr. Hodge? Could we have a minute of your time please?" Clary pleaded.

The teacher was reading a piece of paper and didn´t look at them at first. "Can´t it wait until after class?"

"No!" Clary almost shouted, which got his attention.

"Dear Lord," he cringed as he took in her bruised face. "What happened to you Miss Lohstrong?"

"It was an accident," she waved him off, ignoring Jace's snort. "We were wondering if we could get a note from you saying that we were excused from class. We wanted to do a little research on our assignment." Jace coughed from beside her and she blushed when she understood how it might´ve sounded. "What I mean is… check out some of the stores that sell the products, see how many different kinds there are, different brands, that sort of thing…" she trailed of, hoping that she´d convinced him. She had told Jace the truth, she didn´t want to ditch, but would if it was what it took.

Mr. Hodge tapped his chin and seemed to consider their request. "And this isn´t something you could do on your own time?"

"Well, you see," she crossed her fingers behind her back, like she had done ever since she was a child whenever she lied, she thought she heard Jace stifle a laugh, but must´ve mistaken "we don´t have the time after school with the amount of homework we have and sport and stuff…"

"How about your free period?" Mr. Hodge persisted, not yet convinced.

"Well, mine is before lunch," Clary admitted, frowning. She didn´t want to wait that long.

"Mine isn´t until after lunch," Jace said, sounding triumphant as well as confused. He had no idea what her intentions was.

Mr. Hodge sighed. "Okay then, but just this once," he fixed them with a stern look and fiddled through his briefcase looking for the excuse notes.

"Here you go," he gave them their notes. "But I don´t want to hear about you doing this again. I don´t care how busy your lives are, make the time to work on this assignment or you will fail my class."

"Yeah, okay, thank," Clary gushed and hurried to the parking lot with Jace following close behind her.

Somehow her grip on his wrist had changed and now they were holding hands, fingers laced together. She blushed and let go of him when she noticed. "I´m driving," she murmured and jogged to her car.

When Jace sat down on the passenger side he had to adjust the seat forward quite a bit. The last one to sit there was Blay and he was a lot bigger than Jace. "Are you gonna tell me where we´re going?" irritation started to replace the confusion.

"The BDB gym," she answered, keeping her eyes on the road.

"Lemme guess, it´s where your giant works?" he asked bitterly. "And why the fuck would you think I wanna go there?"

"There´s where the proof is," she tried to be patient, but his anger and refusal to believe her was starting to take its toll.

Clary parked in the 'employees only' part of the parking lot and got out of the car without bothering to check if Jace was following her or not. The humming along her skin whenever he was near gave her the answer.

She stopped in front of the door marked Surveillance and Security and with her hand on the knob she glanced at him with a calculating glint in her eyes. "What do I get if I prove that I told you the truth?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

She chewed on her lip, so deep in thought that she missed his low groan. "You called me a liar, even after I told you that I had proof that Qhuinn didn´t do this to me. So what do I get if I prove to you that I was telling the truth?"

He shrugged and eyed her warily. "What do you want?"

She pursed her lips and tapped her chin with a fingernail. "You´ll just have to owe me," she decided with a sly grin.

He cocked his head. "What do I get then?"

Clary shook her head and laughed. "If you were right, which you aren´t, you could´ve had anything you wanted."

He stepped closer and her breath caught in her throat. "Anything?" he breathed into her ear.

"Uh-hu," she replied shakily.

Blimey. This isn´t working. I´m supposed to drive him crazy. Not the other way around.

"I´ll hold you to that," he said as his hot breath fanned across her neck, making her shiver.

To regain some sense of control she opened the door without knocking and greeted the man inside with a crocked smile. "Hollywood, how´s doing?"

"'Ey," he got up from his chair in front of the computer monitors and scooped her up in his arms. "Lovely Red. Two days in a row. You´re spoiling me," he chuckled and squished large kisses on both her cheeks.

Clary giggled at his boisterous behavior.

"Another motherfucking giant?" Jace cursed. "Where do you find them all?"

Hollywood ignored him. "Aren´t you supposed to be at school? Does Q know you´re here?"

"I got a note," she smiled and wiggled, trying to get free of him. He let her down, but didn´t release his hold on her. Instead he leant closer to get a better look on her face. "That´s some shiner you got there, beautiful."

"That´s apparently why we´re here," Jace grunted impatiently. "Where´s this 'proof' you talked about?"

"Right. Hollywood, could you pull the video surveillance on PTR1 from yesterday?" she asked.

"You have surveillance tapes?" Jace asked incredulously. "What, do you often need proof that he´s not beating you up?"

"Who is this fucker?" Hollywood frowned and glared at Jace.

"Hollywood, this is Jace, a friend. Jace, this is Hollywood. He´s head of security here at the BDB gym."

"Nice name," Jace snorted and they gave each other that typical guy nod.

"Qhuinn and Blay had some trouble with women a couple of years ago," Clary explained to Jace. "The women pursued them relentlessly and when they were turned down, the women sued, claiming sexual harassment. So, Qhuinn and Blay decided to put up cameras in every workout area, to keep it from happening again."

"How convenient," he didn´t sound impressed.

"Just show him the damn tape," Clary grumbled before Jace would say something else equally stupid. Hollywood seemed like he was already sizing him up for a coffin.

She gestured for Jace to step closer as Hollywood's long fingers flew over the keyboard typing in the time, date, and room in question.

She focused on Jace instead of the video; she already knew what happened. She punched the bag with a mean right hook, spaced out as it swung back, and let herself get hit in the face and knocked to the ground as the bag swung back towards her.

Clary glanced at the screen as the tape was paused, grateful that it was before Qhuinn started going off on her for not paying attention. Jace would surely believe he was at least partly responsible if he´d heard that. She felt his eyes on her but kept her eyes on Hollywood. "Thanks. I´m gonna go and say hi and bye to the guys. Do you know where I can find them?"

"Q should be in PTR4, he has a class in thirty minutes and needs to set up first and Blay´s probably in his office."

Clary kissed him on the cheek. "Great. See you later," she left the room with Jace trailing closely behind her. "I hate to say 'I told you so'…" she said, then giggled. "Who am I kidding? I love it. You owe me Jace."

He chose to ignore her. "What´s PTR4?"

She rolled her eyes. "Private training room four," she started walking in the right direction. "You coming?"

Jace didn´t make a move to follow her. "Does Qhuinn know how friendly you are with his employees?"

She frowned. "What kind of question is that? Of course he does."

He gaped at her. "It doesn´t bother him?"

"Why should it?" she felt as if she were missing a big part of the conversation.

He threw his hands in the air. "I don´t get you. Go visit with your guardian. I´ll be waiting by the car," with those parting words he turned his back on her and stormed out of the building.

When she entered the training room Qhuinn was pouring water from a bottle over his head and wiped the sweat over his naked chest with a towel.

How come this does NOTHING to me and just a glint of Jace's bare stomach has me panting?

"Hi Qhuinn," she grinned. "Before you ask yes, yes, showing Jace how I got my bruises and yes."

He let out a loud guffaw. "Say what?"

"Yes, I´m supposed to be at school. Yes, I told my teacher I was leaving and yes, I´m going back there."

"Good to know," he grinned and kissed her temple. "Why would you show him…? Wait, don´t tell me," he scowled, "he thought I did it?"

"Yeah," she stared at her feet, unsure of what to say. "Sorry 'bout that."

"'S'okay, nalla, at least I know he got yo back." He chuckled. "Man, that kid does not like me."

"I don´t understand why," she whined and worried her lip. "I find you very likeable."

"I wouldn´t like the guy who was doin' my girl either," he said matter-of-factly.

"But you´re not, and he got all weird with Hollywood, too. I don´t understand why he´s acting like this. I should just talk to him, make him see the truth."

"You can always try, but I wouldn´t be so sure that he´d hear ya out. Give it rest for now, he´ll see the truth soon enough anyway. Now, we just have to make 'im not care that you´re taken."

"I don´t…He is…He doesn´t really act like he cares either way…"

"'Course he does," Qhuinn snickered and gulped down the rest of the water. "You´re just blind to it. Just like he is 'bout yo feelings."

Clary huffed skeptically. "Whatever you say."

"Besides, as yo fave guardian it´s my job to create an opportunity for more 'kissy times'."

"Kissy times?" she giggled. "Really? And you´re my only guardian."

"See, even better. The house will be empty on Friday, between 7 pm and 4 am. What do kids do nowadays when they have no supervision and tons of booze at their disposal? Hmm?" He pretended to give it some serious thought.

She laughed incredulously. "Are you telling me to have a party and to raid your liquor cabinet?"

Qhuinn snorted. "Of course not. What kind of guardian would I be if I did? We´re just talkin' 'bout what most kids would do in that situation."

"Riiiiight. Got it," a little furrow appeared between her eyebrows. "I think."

He smacked her ass lightly and planted another kiss on her temple. "Now scram. I got a class that´ll be here any minute and ya should go back to school."

She smiled and hugged him goodbye. "Can I say hi to Blay first?"

"Nah, he´s in a meeting. Now hurry back to yo boy, just remember to use protection." His booming laughter echoed behind her as she exited the building.

The car ride to school had been spent mostly in and uncomfortable silence. Clary had tried talking to Jace, had tried explaining her relationship with Qhuinn, but his only response had been 'if you say so' and then he´d stubbornly refused to listen. She gave up after that.

Her free period had been exhausting. All the students staring and pointing. Few of the brave ones actually dare to come up and ask her what had caused the bruises.

She was now sitting at one of the tables outside of the cafeteria, nibbling absentmindedly on a carrot stick while she waited for her friends to join her.

"…I´m just saying, who wants to be with a whiney werewolf with mommy issues, when you can have a hot badass vampire," Izzy said to Magnus as they, along with their boyfriends, sat down across from Clary. "Caroline should pick Klaus. 'Nuff said."

"What can I say," Magnus looked deeply into Alec's eyes. "I have a thing for dark-haired, emo boys."

"Who are you calling emo?" Alec asked and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.

Clary laughed and took a bite of her pb&j just as a tray was placed on the table beside her. She glanced up and met Seb's dark eyes.

"Mind if I sit here, Pepper?" he winked.

She swallowed hard to keep from gagging.

Can he be anymore creepy? "Sure, why not."

A second tray was placed on her other side, but this time she didn´t bother to look up to see who it was. The hum in her skin alerted her to Jace's presence.

"Why do you call her Pepper?" Simon asked between bites of his eggplant sandwich.

Seb nudged her with his shoulder and grinned. "Because she´s red and hot," he winked again.

Oh, gag!

"You´re white as porcelain and full of shit. Does that mean I should call you Toilet?" Izzy asked with a raised eyebrow.

A choked snort came from Jace, as if he was trying not to laugh.

"You´re a bitch, Iz," Seb sneered.

"Takes one to know one," she snickered.

"Whatever," he muttered and changed the subject. "So, any plans for the weekend?"

"Who knows," Simon answered. "It´s only Monday, more than enough time to come up with something."

Seb reached his arm behind Clary´s back and punched Jace on his shoulder. "We should go to church on Sunday."

"Why?" Jace sounded annoyed.

"A bunch of chicks going down on their knees, what´s not to like?" he grinned at Clary.

Gross

"God, Seb," Izzy's face twisted in disgust. "The only way you could be a bigger asshole is if you were taller."

Clary quietly picked apart what was left of her sandwich. She was too aware of Jace's thigh pressed against hers to come up with something to say. She considered mentioning that she would be alone on Friday, but didn´t know if she should. Qhuinn saw it as an opportunity for her and Jace to get together again. But what if he didn´t want her?

"You´re just jealous," Seb confidently accused Izzy.

"I swear, if you don´t shut the fuck up right now I´m going to make you a fucking soprano," Izzy growled.

"My house is empty on Friday," Clary blurted out before she could stop herself.

God, I´m turning into a Guardian of the Peace today.

"Nice distraction, short stuff," Alec smiled.

She stuck her tongue out and grinned.

"Yay," Izzy beamed. "Party" Are we doing a BYOB or what?"

Clary furrowed her brows. She had no idea what Izzy was talking about. She hadn´t been much of a drinker before she moved away and the only times she´d been drunk since then were when Qhuinn wanted her to try out a new drink recipe that he wanted to serve at the club.

As if he noticed her confusion Jace whispered in her ear. "Bring your own booze."

"Thanks," she whispered back, trying to hide how her heartbeat picked up and heat pooled in her lower abdomen when he spoke to her. But her blush betrayed her as usual.

"Who´re we inviting?" Izzy asked, without waiting for an answer to her previous question. "I know. Let´s make it even couples." She eyed Seb with mock sadness. "Sorry, you won´t be able come."

"And what are Clary and I supposed to do while everybody else make out the whole night?" Jace asked, sarcastically.

I can think of a thing or two.

Her treacherous thoughts made her blush deepen.

Like she had read Clary's mind, Izzy giggled and glanced at the two of them. "I´m sure you can think of something. But seriously, it´s not gonna be like that."

"Still," Jace shook his head and shot Clary a sideways glance. "I wouldn´t want my girl going to an all couples party with someone other than me. Besides, the more the merrier, right?" he rested his hand on his thigh and she thought she could feel his fingertips against her naked leg, just below the uneven edge of her shorts.

Stop imagining things! He doesn´t trust you. He thinks you have a boyfriend. He´s NOT feeling you up in the middle of the quad.

"Yeah," I wanna come too," Seb put his arms around Clary´s shoulders. "You want me there, don´t you Pepper."

She shrugged out of his arm. "Do I?"

"Nope," Izzy interjected. "She doesn´t." She glared at Seb. "Nobody likes you."

"Look," Clary said, again trying to keep them from fighting. "I don´t care. As long as nothing gets broken or stolen or puked on, I don´t care who comes."

"That´s easily fixed," Simon looked seriously at them. "Just make sure that everybody shows up before Qhuinn and Blay leave. Nobody will dare to mess with their stuff after they see them."

"That´s settled then," Izzy smiled, even though nothing had actually been decided. "It´s a BYOB party with a semi-open invitation, meaning that we get a last say in how gets to come. Which means no bitchy skanks," she pointed a warning finger at Seb. "So don´t try bringing one of your girlfriends."

"Afraid of a little competition?" he goaded her. "Don´t worry, I´m sure you´ll be the bitchiest skank there."

"You little…" Izzy sputtered furiously.

"Hey, jerkoff," Simon glared at Seb. "Think about what you´re saying or I´m using my veto on you."

"We´re getting vetoes?" he grinned. "Do I get one?"

"No!" Clary and Jace spoke at the same time, both fed up with the constant bickering.

She gave Jace a shy smile before turning to Izzy with a stern look on her face. "It´s my house, which makes it my party and therefore my rules," she looked at Seb. "You can come, if you can act like less of a creep. Otherwise I might sick Qhuinn on you." She took a deep breath and looked around the table. "Any objections?"

"I´m impressed, short stuff," Alec nodded and eyed her approvingly. "You´ve grown some balls while you were away."

"Yeah. Qhuinn´s probably giving her his several times a day," she thought she heard Jace mutter, but hoped she were imagining things again.

This is killing me. Why can´t he see that I only want him?

Clary was standing in front of her large closet dressed in a strapless bra and panties. She was searching through her clothes after the dress she wanted to wear when Qhuinn walked into her room like he owned the place. Which in all fairness, he did.

"A thong, nalla?" he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "Plannin' on getting' lucky tonight?"

She scowled. "Have you bought me lottery tickets? Because that´s the only way I´m 'getting lucky'," she continued rummaging through her clothes. "As for the thong, I don´t want any panty lines, okay?"

"Ya know what helps? No panties."

She snorted. "I´m not that brave," she finally located the dress and whooped before turning to Qhuinn. "Seb is coming, and I bet that he could sniff something like that out."

"What´s that fucker gonna be doin' here?" he hit her with a threatening stare. "Ya better not do nothin' I´ll regret."

"You´ll regret?" Clary laughed and laid her dress out on the bed.

"If he touches ya I´ll have to kill 'im, and I´m sure I´ll regret that someday."

Clary slipped the dress over her head and smoothed it out, making sure it fell as it should.

She turned her back to Qhuinn, "Zip me up, please."

Her dress was deep teal with a rounded neck and a tapered waist that showed her perfect hourglass figure. For added visual effect the bottom of the dress swooped up to the side of her hip creating a wrap-around effect, that showed off her lean legs. Her fiery hair and gorgeous green eyes had never stood out as stunningly as they did in that dress.

Clary glanced at Qhuinn and noticed for the first time that he only wore a pair of black boxer-briefs. She frowned at his reflection above the vanity. "Izzy and the guys will be here soon, can you please go to your own room and put on some damn clothes," a sudden look of horror passed over her face. "Now! I do not want to think about how Jace would react if he saw you in here practically naked."

"Why not?" he feigned confusion. "Maybe he would get his head outta his ass and make a fuckin' move on ya."

Clary lost her patience, opened the door and pointed at him. "You! Out! Now!" He chuckled and did as she said. "I don´t want your help with Jace. I don´t need it," she pouted.

Jace had been nice to her all week, and it had been horrible. He didn´t flirt with her, he didn´t tease her, mocked her or even locked at her. He was just…nice.

Like she were a stranger he passed on the street, like she was invisible.

Just…nice.

God, she hated that word.

Clary hoped tonight would change that. She and Izzy had made up plans to try and get him drunk. Not to get him to do anything he didn´t want to, but more so in hopes that he would let go of some of the control he seemed to have and express some real emotions.

At this point she would take anything. Anger, hate, even indifference. As long as he wasn´t nice.

"Yeah, yeah," Izzy sounded annoyed, which was no wonder. She had been having the same conversation for the better part of an hour. "Every death in Grey's anatomy was soooo sad. Bu-freaking-hu. I´m just saying, if Derek had croaked when he was shot, Karev and Meredith would´ve gotten together and all would´ve been right in the world."

Clary didn´t know the girl Izzy was talking to. They´d been introduced to each other when she arrived with Maia and Jordan, but all she knew was that she was tall, blonde and gorgeous, and from the looks of how she greeted him, very familiar with Jace.

Clary hated her.

If he hadn´t shrugged out of the embrace mere seconds after she wrapped her skanky arms around her neck she might´ve punched the bitch.

Still might.

However, instead of resorting to violence, she took a sip of her drink. It tasted good, both bitter and sweet and slid easily down her throat. Clary had been surprised when Jace handed it to her and took a seat beside her on the couch in the living room. They were sitting so close that if one of them took a deep breath, they would touch. It almost made her afraid to breathe.

She forced herself to concentrate on the heated discussion Izzy was having with the blonde and noticed that Magnus, Alec and Simon had joined the conversation. The topic: Saddest death in TV history.

"I don´t care what you say," Magnus glared at the blonde. "Dan Scott's death was more emotional than that of his brother. Keith was shot in one episode and his funeral was in the next. Also, Dan died after saving his son's life. Hi might´ve been an asshole through the entire show, and yes, he killed his own flesh and blood, but he was redeemed at the end."

"If you say so, babe," Alec rolled his eyes and pecked him on the cheek. "But when Michael Scofield was shocked full of electricity, whether he was dying already or not, I´m not gonna lie, I cried."

"That´s only because you thought he was hot," Izzy scoffed.

"So?" Alec retorted. "It´s sad when hot people die."

"I shed a tear every time Bobby, Cas or one of the brother's die in Supernatural," Simon admitted sheepishly.

"You must cry a lot then," Jace snickered.

"He does," Izzy answered and started making out with her boyfriend, apparently done with the whole conversation.

"Which death do you think is the saddest one, Clary?" Jace asked, and really looked at her for the first time since he got there.

She felt as if she was drowning in his eyes and almost forgot his question. "Um… the TK House," she murmured when the silence started to become too awkward.

Magnus laughed and downed the last of his drink. "Only you, Gimli," he jumped to his feet. "I´m going to the kitchen and get a refill. Anybody want one?"

Izzy glanced at Clary and Jace, when she noticed that they only had eyes for each other she shot Simon a knowing smile.

"Why don´t we all go," she said and grabbed the blonde when she looked like she was about to object. "It´s time for those two to have a talk."

Jace didn´t seem like he wanted to talk, but Clary couldn´t stand the weird tension between them any longer. "You´ve been ignoring me all week," she accused him.

"No, I haven´t," he denied, his eyes caressed her face. "The bruises has started to fade."

"Don´t change the subject. You have been nice to me ever since lunchtime on Monday."

"Is that a bad thing?" he smirked.

"You know what I mean," she chided him. "You are many things, Jace. Nice isn´t one of them."

"Gee, thanks," he chuckled and rolled his eyes. But his grin fell and his look turned serious all of a sudden. "I needed to think. To come to a decision."

Clary held her breath, then let it out in a whoosh. She felt deep in her bones that whatever had been on his mind was important. "Have you? Decided?"

He chugged the last of his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Yes."

"What was it then?" she whispered.

He cupped her cheek and stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. Heat exploded where he touched her and she had to close her eyes against the overwhelming sensation. "I don´t pretend to understand how your relationship with Qhuinn works…" he put his fingers over her mouth to keep her from speaking "Please, let me finish. So…If it doesn´t bother you, than I can live with it. I´m yours if you want me."

Her eyes snapped open and she stared deeply into his. Parting her lips, she leant closer, almost crawling into his lap, desperate to kiss him again.

"They were interrupted by Qhuinn's amused voice. "Well, well. What do we have here?"

A/N: Okay. That was interesting, right? And how evil aren´t I, that ends this with a cliffy and really have no idea when I´ll be able to update the next chapter. Well, let me know =)