A/N: This chapter is unbetad since I haven´t been able to get ahold of her. I have read through it a few times and hope there isn´t too many mistakes. Thanks for all your amazing reviews. Only two left to reach 200. WOW!

All recognizable characters belong to the respective authors.

Chapter 12

Let me guard you, Angel.

Jace didn´t leave Clary's side the whole time she and Qhuinn was being questioned by the police. His arms were wrapped tightly around her slim waist, as if he knew that he was the only thing keeping her on her feet. Blay´d had to stay behind at Pandemonium, but would be home as soon as he could.

Her beautiful face was pale and taunt from trying to keep it together.

The crime scene technicians had already left and after what seemed like forever Qhuinn walked the policeman to the door. "Thanks officer, we´ll let ya know if we can think of anythin' else."

Clary crumbled the moment Qhuinn closed the front door. Jace scooped her up, one arm behind her back and the other below her knees and carried her to the couch, sitting down with her on his lap.

Qhuinn got down on his hunches in front of them and took her hands in between his much larger ones. "How ya holdin' up, nalla?" his voice was gentle, as if he was afraid that he would scare her otherwise.

She burrowed her face into Jace's chest and didn´t answer.

Qhuinn's mismatched gaze locked with Jace's golden, the pain and fury in his eyes a mirror image of what Jace felt, for what the girl they both loved had been put through.

"Are ya good to drive?" Qhuinn asked. "I don´t think she should stay here tonight."

He didn´t bother asking if Jace wanted to take her home with him. That was a given, he wasn´t letting her out of his sight.

"No problem," Jace smile was sad. "You wanna come home with me, Angel?"

She nodded.

"Lemme get ya somethin' to wear, ya must be freezin'" Qhuinn hurried to the room he shared with his fiancé and returned with a sweatshirt about four sizes too big.

Jace took and pulled it over his head, not the easiest thing when he refused to let go of the girl in his arms. "Thanks."

"No prob, kid," Qhuinn stroked his big hand over Clary's head. "Need any help getting' her to the car?"

"Nah, I´ll manage," Jace murmured, but when he caught the look of complete helplessness in Qhuinn's eyes, he added. "But I could use some help with the doors." He hoisted her up and carried her to the car in silence and didn´t say anything until he buckled her up and closed the door to the passenger side. "Are you okay?" he asked Qhuinn quietly.

Tugging at the short strands of his spikey, black hair Qhuinn's voice was gruffer than normal as he answered. "Fuck if I know. I´m 'er guardian. Her whard," he sneered the last word. "I´m supposed to protect 'er from shit like this. Where the fuck was I? Livin' it up at the club with a bunch of drunk bitches that couldn´t keep their fuckin' hands to themselves."

Jace pushed the sleeves of the too big sweatshirt up to his elbows. "You can´t think like that," he ran his hands through his hair, agitated. "Fuck. At least you were there when she needed it before. You´ll always be there for her, and she know that."

"You´re good people, kid," Qhuinn patted Jace on the back, making him almost fall to his knees. "Now go. Take care of our girl."

The drive to Jace's home was spent in silence, only occasionally broken by Clary's dry sobs. She hadn´t spoken a word since the police left and he was starting to get really worried.

Izzy and Alec stood in the driveway and Jace was sure his face held the same concern.

"How is she?" Izzy asked as he lifted Clary from the passenger seat and carried her to the house.

"I seriously don´t know," Jace answered and nodded a thanks to Alec when he held up the front door for Jace to take the precious bundle in his arms inside.

"She could probably use a shower," Izzy suggested. "Help her with that and in the meantime I can find something for her to wear."

"Thanks, Iz," he searched Clary's face for any sign of reaction, but her green eyes were vacant, she looked dejected.

"Any time," Izzy murmured. "Let me know if you need anything else."

Jace put Clary down on his bed and hurried in to the bathroom to start the shower. When he came back to his room he squatted down in front of her. "I´m gonna help you out of your clothes, so you can shower, okay Angel. You´ll feel better afterwards," he silently added I hope in his mind.

Well, this isn´t the scenario I had in mind when I imagined taking off her clothes.

Jace kept talking to her as he gently removed the halo and wings. Mostly nonsense to see if he could get through to her. Not until his fingers accidentally grazed her naked back when he pulled down the zipper did he get a reaction.

A shiver ran through her entire body, her lips parted and a sigh escaped her.

It wasn´t much, but it was something.

He felt like the biggest perv in the world as he pulled the dress down to her waist and his eyes kept returning to her naked breasts.

Now is not the time for ogling, fucker

"Angel, can you stand up?" he asked. "I have to get this dress off of you."

She did as she was told and released another sound, this time a low whimper as his thumb brushed against her hip.

"There, all done," he struggled with not letting his gaze travel along every curve of her practically naked body, as she stood before him only dressed in a tiny pair of panties. "Um…" he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly "…can you handle the rest on your own?"

Please say yes. Please say no!

Clary's bottom lip quivered and tears pooled in her eyes. Jace wrapped his arms around her gingerly and held her head against his chest. "Sch…" he cooed, "don´t cry. If you want me to come with you into the bathroom, I will."

She looked up at him pleadingly. "Please…"

Her voice was so quiet that he had to strain to hear her. "Of course, Angel, anything you want."

He took off the borrowed sweatshirt, his jeans and boxers in the bathroom and stepped under the hot spray, where she were waiting for him. She still wasn´t anywhere near back to normal, but at least her eyes looked alive again. When she didn´t make a move to start cleaning herself Jace grabbed the washcloth, squirted a small amount of body wash onto it and started soaping her up, hoping that the fabric between his hand and her amazing skin would be enough to convince his dick to stay in its semi erect state.

When they were both cleaned he turned off the water and handed her a towel while tying one loosely around his hips. They walked together back to his room where the clothes Izzy promised was laid out on his bed.

Jace turned his back to her as he put on a pair of boxers, giving her a sense of privacy. When he heard the quiet creek from the bedsprings and the rustling from the sheets, he turned around to face her and watched her curled into a ball on the left side of the bed.

"Do you mind if I lay next to you, Angel?" he would, either way, but if she said no he decided to wait until she fell asleep.

Clary lifted the covers instead of answering his question, inviting him to join her.

He climbed onto the bed, slid down under the covers and pulled her back close to his chest. "Sleep, Angel," he murmured into her hair. "I´ll be here if you need me."

She turned around so that she was facing him. "I need you now," her voice was husky and her eyes dark.

But it wasn´t with lust, he could tell the difference. The look was more from desperation than anything else.

She ran her fingers through his hairs, scraping her nails lightly across his scalp, making him shiver. Clary pressed her body against him, grinding her hips and kissed him, hard. He couldn´t help but respond as she slid her tongue in to his mouth and he cursed his treacherous body's involuntary reaction to her. Jace let her go on a few seconds too long before forcing himself to push her away.

"Angel, no…" his voice was raspy with desire. Even now he wanted her.

"Please…" she begged as he moved further away from her. "I want you to…fuck…me."

Her words, even though they turned him on like crazy, was exactly what he needed to hear to be able to resist. "Angel," he wrapped his fingers around her delicate wrists to keep her from going after his dick. "I love you. I would never just fuck you."

Clary's eyes widened and she looked as if he slapped her. "I want you, Jace," he voice trembled slightly. "Don´t you want me?"

Fuck. Why are you doing this to me? "I will always want you," there was no mistaking the sincerity in his voice, "but not like this. Not when you´re trying to stop yourself from thinking about how someone violated your room, your things… Next time we make love it will be because we want to express our feelings for each other on a deeper level, not as a distraction."

Jeez, I sound like a fucking chick

Her eyes darkened further, this time with hurt and anger. "I hate you," she whispered brokenly.

Her words was like a knife to his heart, almost having him gasping for breath. Jace knew she didn´t mean it, but it still hurt like hell. When she tugged at her arms, to get free of the grip he still held on her wrists, he let her go. When she started pounding on his chest with her tiny fists all the while chanting how much she hated him, he let her, even though it pained him in more ways than one.

After thirty minutes of enduring the dual assault, Clary froze, widened her beautiful green eyes and stared at him with horror. "Oh…god Jace. I-I´m… so…" her voice broke as the floodgates finally opened and the tears started to fall, "…so-orry."

"Don´t worry, Angel," he pulled her against him, rocking her gently as he murmured in her ear. "I´m here. I´m not going anywhere."

Jace held Clary in his arms the entire night as sobs wrecked through her small body. He altered between quietly stroking her back and whispering how much he loved her. As dawn broke she finally managed to fall asleep, but he stayed awake, just watching her, too keyed up to relax. He had gotten a text from Qhuinn an hour later, letting him know that her room had been cleaned up and that everything else in the house appeared to be untouched.

That worried Jace more than anything else. That her stuff had been the only things being destroyed made it seem personal. But who could have it out for her?

When the time on his phone showed 10 am he untangled himself from Clary, pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of sweats and tiptoed to the kitchen, careful not to wake her as he left his room. He planned on quickly throwing together a couple of sandwiches and then return to her. He was starving and she would probably be too when she woke up. But his family was sitting at the table as he entered and looked at him expectantly, as if they had been waiting for him.

His siblings showed clear signs of suffering a sleepless night, much like Jace himself. His parents' expressions was as serious as the situation demanded.

"How are you feeling, Jace?" mom asked as he took his seat next to her.

He rested his elbows on the tabletop, for once not getting scolded for it, and buried his face in his hands. "Furious, helpless, exhausted, relieved that she wasn´t at home when it happened, a failure… and much, much more."

"Oh, sweetheart," she placed her hand on Jace's shoulder and squeezed gently. "You shouldn´t feel like that. It´s horrible that this had to happen to that poor girl, but there is nothing you could´ve done to prevent it. You understand that, right?"

"Your mother is right, son," dad agreed. "The best thing you can do at this time is be there for Clary and let the police do their job."

Izzy rolled her eyes, her lack of trust in the law well known. "Qhuinn will have his people all over this. They´ll get the asshole in no time," she smiled encouraging.

"Isabelle," Mom chided her. "Language."

"I know," Jace forced down the sandwich, the conversation making him lose his appetite. "But what about before they catch him? What if whoever did this tries again, and this time she´s home and alone?"

"You don´t have to worry about that," Alec assured him. "He´ll probably have Hollywood shadow her or something."

Yeah, why doesn´t that make me feel any better?

"I think you´re right," Izzy nodded. "He works in security, he´d be the obvious choice."

"I think it´s a bad idea," Jace grumbled as he made breakfast to take to Clary.

"I know you don´t like him," Izzy huffed," and believe me, the feeling is mutual. But what´s more important here; your insecurities or her safety?"

Well, when you put it like that… Jace shrugged, shame preventing him from speaking.

"I still think that…Qhuinn, was it?" mom asked, and continued when Jace nodded. "Qhuinn should let the authorities handle this. That way no one gets hurt."

Alec snorted. "Don´t worry about Qhuinn, mom. He´s almost 6 foot 7 and weights around 300 lbs. I´m pretty sure he´s bullet proof."

"Don´t be ridiculous," she scolded him. "Just promise me that you three won´t do anything stupid, that´s all I ask."

"Yes mom," the twin spoke as one. Jace kept quiet. He wouldn´t go looking for trouble, but if he ever had the chance to get his hands on whoever trashed Clary's room… He wouldn´t hesitate to take it.

Clary sat up on the bed as Jace returned to his room a few minutes later. She looked adorable, her red hair looking like a birds nest as she rubbed the sleep from her emerald eyes.

He took a seat next to her at the headboard and placed the tray with sandwiches and o.j on the nightstand. "How are you feeling this morning, Angel?" he asked softly and brushed away a stay curl that fell into her eyes.

"Okay, I guess," she shrugged, looking anything but. "Have you heard anything?"

"Yeah, Qhuinn texted me early this morning. They´d cleaned out your room and wiped off the fingerprints powder. Your clothes and some stuff needs to be replaced, of course, but…"

"Yeah," her shoulders slumped and her eyes shone with unshed tears. "Not everything can be replaced though…"

He knew that she was talking about her drawings and her heart ached for what she´d lost. He pulled her onto his lap, wrapped his arms tightly around her and rested his chin against the top of her head. "We´ll create new memories that you can capture with pen and paper."

"We will?" her voice became muted by the fabric of his shirt.

"Definitely," he tilted her head back with two fingers beneath her chin. "I´m not going anywhere," he promised. "And if you have to leave again I´ll just go with you."

Her lips curled into one of her sweet smiles, but it didn´t reach further than that. Her small hands tugged at the messy rumple on top of her head that loosely resembled her otherwise soft curls. "I need another shower. Do you have any conditioner?" she snorted and rolled her eyes. "Who am I talking to, of course you do."

"Hey," Jace tried to sound insulted, but was delighted that she was back to making jokes. "It takes hard work getting my hair this perfect."

She giggled, and the sound made his heart soar with happiness. "You´re such a girl."

The urge to throw her down on the bed again and show her how much of a man he truly was overwhelmed him. But with a lot of effort he managed to refrain from doing so. Although he couldn´t help but tease her a little. Cocking an eyebrow he eyed her up and down, a smirk played on the corner of his mouth. "Are you calling me a girl, Angel? I clearly remember a night, not so long ago, when I proved otherwise…"

Her pale cheeks turned a beautiful rose color, just as he hoped. "Um…"

"Ye-es?" he continued teasing her, to keep her mind off less joyful things.

Clary stuck out her tongue. "Never mind." She turned her back to him and started towards the bathroom to take her shower, but he stopped her by gently gripping her wrist and pulling her back against his chest.

Jace fingers were tender as he brushed a couple of stray strands from her face. "I love you. Never forget that."

The kiss was soft, sweet. Just their lips touching.

"I won´t."

Clary went to the gym after school on Wednesday, which meant that Jace had some time off from 'Clary watch' as Izzy accurately called it.

Not that he was complaining. He loved to spend time with her, but he wished that would be of choice, not necessity.

Hollywood had met them in the parking lot, because no one wanted her to drive to and from school on her own.

Since he had a couple of hours to kill he decided to call Seb. He unlocked his car and climbed in, scrolling through his contacts, looking for the right number. While Jace listened to the rings and waited for his friend to pick up the phone he felt guilty for neglecting him for so long. It was easy to forget about everything else when he was with Clary.

Seb finally answered on the tenth ring, just when Jace was about to give up. "Hello?"

"Hey, man, where´ve you been? I haven´t seen you in forever," Jace said.

"I´ve been around," Seb answered vaguely, sounding surprised by the call.

Around? What the fuck kind of answer is that? "Riiiiight. Okay. So where the fuck are you know? You haven´t been to school in over a week. You sick or something?"

"Um, yeah," Seb faked a cough. "I´m sick."

"Can I come over? You´re home, right?" A sudden though struck Jace. "You´re not contagious, are you?"

"No!" Seb shouted. "Don´t come over. I´ll meet you somewhere."

"I thought you were sick," Jace said, starting to get suspicious of his friends strange behavior. "Shouldn´t you stay inside?"

"Nah," Seb's laughter sounded forced. "I´ve been cooped up for a week now. I gotta get out…um…mom´s driving me crazy. You know how it is."

"Sure," Jace knew all about overbearing mothers, but couldn´t see Mrs. Verlac in that role. She and her husband gave their son everything he could ask for, except for their attention. In other words, they gave the word 'cold' a whole new meaning. "So where do you wanna meet?" his stomach grumbled. "How does Taki's sound?"

"Yeah," Seb sounded oddly relieved. "I can eat."

"Great, see you there in…thirty minutes?"

"Okay," Seb hung up without saying anything else and Jace stared bewildered at his phone for a couple of seconds before pocketing it and starting the engine.

What the…?

Seb was already waiting for him when Jace walked through the doors at Taki's. Tessa hurried over just as he slid in to the booth across from his friend. She placed a cup in front of him and filled it with steaming, hot coffee.

"Oh Jace, I´m so glad to see you. I heard from your sister what happened. Poor Clary. How is she handling all this?"

Seb let out a strangled noise, but Jace merely ignored him. "She´s…dealing, I guess," he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "We´re not letting her out of our sight. There´s always someone with her at all times."

"Good, good. I really hope they catch the one who did this and fast," Tessa pulled the pad from her pocket. "What can I get you?"

She took down their orders and returned quickly with two cokes. As they waited for their food Jace played absentmindedly with the straw in his glass.

"Any plans for this weekend yet?" Seb asked and leant back in his seat. "We should hit up some parties, pick up a girl…or five."

Jace struggled with wanting to slap him over the head, but settled for an angry glare instead. "Sorry, but you have to do that on your own. I´m off the market."

"Oh, yes. The lovely Pepper," Seb's tone was mocking and his face twisted in a sneer. "Good for you. Call me when it´s over and we´ll go out."

What the fuck? Jace was quickly losing his patience. Placing his palms flat on the table he got in Seb's face and spoke slowly through gritted teeth. "I don´t know what the fuck your problem is, but get it through you thick skull that I am with Clary. I love her. That´s not going to change. Just get over it, okay."

"You love her, huh?" Seb's voice hardened. "Well isn´t that just precious? That didn´t stop you from going out and fucking around before. But wait, I forgot, she wasn´t here then. So tell me Jace, what´re you gonna do when she takes off again or dumps you for someone better?" It was clear who he thought that 'someone' should be.

"Fuck. You," Jace made a move to get up and walk out of there, but at that moment Tess arrived with their orders and it was well known by all of Taki's costumers that you didn´t walk out without eating your food. Not if you were planning on coming back. He dug in to his meal, not taking the time to taste it, in a hurry to leave. About halfway through Will strode out from the kitchen and came over to the booth were Jace and Seb were sitting.

Jace noticed from the corner of his eyes how Seb stiffened and smirked. Will might not be Jace biggest fan, but the older man despised Seb with his whole being, and had no problem showing it.

"If it isn´t the lovely redheads boyfriend, and his disturbingly deformed sidekick," he greeted and sat down next to Jace, all humor leaving his face. "How is she?"

Jace shrugged, incredibly tired of that question. "As can be expected. Scared, angry…she doesn´t talk about it much."

"I get that," Will clenched his fists, as if preparing to punch something. Jace fully understood that feeling and was going to offer up Seb when Will continued. "What´s the big dude doing about all this? Does he have a plan?"

Jace chewed and swallowed the last of his burger before answering. "Yeah, Qhuinn has many plans. Just last night he googled different ways to get away with murder, all the while muttering 'It's only murder if they found the body, otherwise it's a missing person'. He´s ruthless as fuck, I almost pity the fucker who did this if Qhuinn gets his hands on him before the cops do. The things that guy can do with his bare hands…"

Seb started coughing and sputtering. Jace glared at him, annoyed at being interrupted. Will gave him the same look. "So he´s got his people on this?"

"Oh yeah. This huge guy Hollywood is the head of security in the gym and V, he's just as big, takes care of the club, amongst other shit. They´re all over this."

Seb cleared his throat, as if he was trying to say something, but he was ignored.

"Good, good," Will nodded approvingly. "I´m sure they can do some real damage. Just let Qhuinn know that he´s free to use the deep fryer if he needs to… extract information, or something," he winked and chuckled.

Jace snickered evilly at the idea, but stopped abruptly when Seb visibly flinched and turned white as a ghost.

"What the fuck is the matter with you?" he asked icily. "You said you were well enough to go out." Clary's ringtone sounded from his jeanpocket. "Never mind," he dismissed Seb and answered the phone with a smile. "Hi Angel. How did you do at the gym? Kick some ass?"

Her giggle was music to his ears. "No, I went easy on them today."

"Do you want to kick some ass?" he glanced at Seb and grinned. "I have a suggestion, if you´re interested."

Her laughter made shivers run up his spine. "Thanks, but I think I´m good."

Will elbowed Jace in the side, causing a low ouf. "Say hi from us."

"Will and Tessa says hi."

"Oh, you´re at Taki's," Clary said. "Say hi back. Are the others with you?"

"Nope," Jace stirred around the ice cubes in his glass. "I´m here with Seb." She was quiet for a long time, the only sound coming from her heavy breathing. "Angel? You there?" Jace asked, concerned.

"Look… I-I…" Clary paused for a deep breath. "Can you come to my place later? I-I …have to tell you something."

"I´ll be right there," Jace jumped to his feet, and gave Will a grateful smile when he quickly moved out of the way. "See you soon." He ended the call and turned to the cook. "I´ll give Qhuinn your message."

He didn´t say goodbye to Seb, merely turned his back on his – now former – friend, jogged out of the diner to his car and drove as fast as he could to get to Clary.

Clary was waiting on the porch when Jace drove up in front of her house. Even though the air was chilly she was only wearing sweats and a tank top. She was rubbing her hands over her arms, to create friction that would warm her and her small feet were bare. Her hair was still wet from the shower and her cheeks were even paler than normal.

He got out of the car and ran the few steps up to her. He wrapped his arms around her and winced when he felt her cold skin against his own. "You´re freezing half to death, Angel. What are you doing outside?"

Clary looked up at him through her lashes, tears clung to them. Her bottom lip was swollen and marred with tiny bite marks, from nervously biting her lip.

"Angel?" Jace asked, worry making his voice harsher than intended. "You´re freaking me out here."

She swallowed hard and bit her lip, he swiped her thumb over it, to keep her from hurting herself further. "Hey, stop that," Jace chided her. "Just tell me whatever it is. It can´t be that bad, right?" he smiled, ignoring the lump that was forming in the pit of his stomach.

Fuck, she´s leaving again.

"Come inside," she said quietly. "Qhuinn and Blay are waiting in the living room."

Jace clenched his fists, fighting hard to steel himself against whatever it was she had to say.

The scene that met him as he entered the room only served to confuse him further.

Qhuinn and Blay was sitting close together on one of the loveseats. Blay had both his arms around his fiancé's waist. To a stranger it made look like a loving embrace, but Jace noticed immediately how Blay's biceps were bulging with the effort to hold Qhuinn down.

What the fuck is going on? That seemed to be the theme song for this afternoon. "Angel?" he didn´t know what else to say.

"Tell 'im, nalla," Qhuinn growled. "Tell 'im how ya been keepin' secrets from us. Tell 'im that ya know who did it."

"What?" Jace voice was heavy with outrage and a hint of betrayal. More secrets?

"That´s not what I said," Clary shouted, her beautiful face flushed with anger. "I just…"

"But you think you know?" Blay gently interrupted her. "That´s what you meant, wasn´t it? Now that Jace is here you can tell us everything."

Jace took her trembling hands in-between his. "Just tell us, Angel."

Clary took another deep breath and exhaled slowly before she started speaking. "At first I wasn´t sure there was anything to tell… I-I… I wasn't even sure that I wasn´t imagining everything… But…" Her green eyes met and held Jace's, a pleading look in their emerald depth. "Jace…I´m sorry…It´s about Seb…"

A/N: I´m proud of Clary for not waiting too long to open up. See, she´s learning =)

I haven´t even started the next chapter. December have been super busy. With my husband's grandmother passing away, Christmas and my birthday a few days ago, there haven´t been any time for writing. But I promise to have it up as soon as I can.

Let me know what you think!