Disclaimer: I don't own the mortal Instruments; it all belongs to Cassandra Clare.
After stumbling into her room without turning on any lights and getting into bed- fully clothed- Clary was too exhausted to even let her mother know she was home. It was helpful, having Aline around to deliver messages when she didn't remember to. Her eyes drooped, succumbing to the fatigue that had been threatening to overtake her since she sat on the gritty subway seat.
Ping! A sound echoed across the room, jolting Clary from her dreams. She frowned. Had she imagined it? Ping! It was coming from her window. She crossed the room and pulled up the window. Leaning out, she caught a glimpse of a bright silver moon before it slipped behind the clouds. The scent of rain hung in the air, and the coolness of the night wrapped pleasantly around her hot cheeks.
Jace was standing underneath her bedroom window. The words "How do you know where I live?" tumbled out of her mouth. Inwardly, she cringed and cursed. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Even if Jace was an arrogant jerk, she didn't want to give him ammunition. Or look dumb. "The amazing power of a phone book." He replied bluntly. Clearly, he wasn't up for jokes tonight, despite the sarcastic tone of his answer. Clary opened her mouth to say something, but was cut of. "We're sorry." She raised her eyebrows. "Okay, I'm sorry." He amended, mistaking the reason she raised her eyebrows. "For not trusting you." Clary didn't say anything. It was about two in the morning- way too early to be taking in the fact that Jace of all people was admitting he had done something wrong and was apologizing for it. "Why don't I make it up to you?" Seeing the expression on her face, he smirked and put on a Southern drawl. "Don't worry, darlin', I won't pull anything on you- that you're not asking for." She rolled her eyes. The moon appeared from behind the cloud, making Clary lose any hope that Jace wouldn't see the blush creeping up her fair cheeks. "And how do you intend to 'make it up to me'?"
"Come down and see." He replied with a wink.
After a minute of deliberation, Clary traded her torn dress for jeans and a t-shirt, and her bare feet for sneakers. A creak. Another loose floorboard. The quiet locking of the door. And the fresh night air on her face. "Finally decided to join me? I guess you just couldn't resist." The voice was unmistakable.
"Well, I'm here." Clary said. The unspoken question dangled in the air. What now? Wordlessly, Jace walked to the closest main road and hailed a cab, never checking to see if she was following. It infuriated her that he assumed she was hooked and ready to follow him into hell. Clary had the urge to disappear, just to show him that her company was not as guaranteed as he seemed to think it was. But she was very curious. And no matter how much of an idiot he presented himself to be, there had to be a decent person in there.
The cab wound its way down to the set of shops closest to her house. "Fifteen dollars twenty." While Jace handed over the money, Clary opened the door and stood on the wet pavement. The fluorescent lights gave off a harsh glow that washed out Jace's golden hair and bronze skin as he came to stand next to her. "Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any civilized cafes open. The supermarket it is then." Clary just gaped at him. Was Jace totally crazy?
After buying her a packet of gummy bears and an ice coffee, he led her to a glamoured place in a nearby park that Jocelyn had never shown her before. There was lush green grass, still heavy from the rain, and the trees were old and gnarled. The whole place had the impression that it was older than humanity itself.
They sat at the foot of the biggest tree. "This place looks ancient." She commented, opening the packet of gummy bears and offering them to Jace. He scooped a few green ones out of the bag- apple, her favorite flavor, she noted. "It is." He threw one of them into his mouth in a high arc. "One of Seelie Court entrances is near here, so this place has definitely been here a long time."
"Here? In Brooklyn?" Jace shrugged. A comfortable silence settled between them. After a few minutes, Clary decided to ask something that had been weighing on her mind. "Why did you take me here?" He shrugged again. "I told you before. To make it up to you."
"Come on. You wouldn't go to this much effort to make it up to me" She wanted to know what was going on. "Maybe I just wanted to surprise you." His face was completely naked, no play with his eyelashes or smirks. "Well, thanks, I guess."
"You're welcome." He replied easily.
"Did you grow up here?" She asked. "I mean, instead of in Idris."
"No. I grew up in the Wayland manor with my father." Knowing she would be confused, he expanded. "He died when I was ten, and I was sent to the Institute." Before she could comment, he continued. "What about you?"
"Grew up right here in Brooklyn. My mother fled Idris to get away from Valentine, and she was my tutor in the Shadow World." Jace flinched at Valentine's name, but Clary pretended not to notice. Hopefully, that was behind them now. "I've never even been to Idris- or anywhere else, for that matter."
Jace looked shocked. It was unusual for a Shadowhunter not to have been to Idris at least once, Clary knew, but no one exactly looked kindly upon her and her mother. "I travelled everywhere and anywhere with my dad. London, Tokyo, all over India. It was amazing. You're missing out. Maybe for the end of your training- when you're meant to travel to other Institutes- you can finally go somewhere."
"Maybe." She smiled sadly. "Hopefully." They talked for another half an hour; just speaking about everything there was to speak about. Clary felt like she knew Jace better than most people would. He was letting her see under the exterior he presented. With the life he had had, it was no wonder he felt he needed to protect himself from the world. "We'd better go." Clary said regretfully. She could see Jace said the same way. They heaved themselves up and began walking to the end of the glade.
"Hey, look at that slug!" Clary pointed at the massive grey slug behind Jace. It had an orange triangle on its head, the vivid shape glowing in the moonlight. She kept walking across the clearing.
The next thing she knew, a slapping sound echoed throughout the dell followed by a loud curse. Clary spun around. Standing behind was Jace, soaking wet. She burst out laughing, nearly doubling over. He just stood there, scowling, with water dripping of every perfectly sculpted feature. "What happened?" she managed to choke out.
"What happened was you made me look at that stupid slug behind me, I kept walking, and I crashed into a sopping wet tree branch that you were small enough to avoid!"
Clary grinned. "I didn't make you walk into that tree branch. You did that all on your own, graceful Shadowhunter." He was struggling to conceal his own grin. "You made me look at the slug, though, so that makes you responsible! And I am a graceful Shadowhunter. Thanks for the compliment."
"Actually, I never forced you to turn your head and observe the slug making it's way across the ground. But," she added, "I would be happy to take credit for making you drenched."
An evil expression made its way onto Jace's face. "You know, to thank you for that, I think you deserve a nice big hug." He started making his way towards the nice, dry Clary. She immediately began walking backwards. When he sped up, she turned around and started running. Within seconds, wet arms encircled her waist and she could feel cold seeping in through her clothes. She wriggled around wildly but knew there was no hope of escape. Jace's laughter reverberated in her ear, and that simple action made her very aware of just how much distance was in between them. As in, none. Clary hated how it made her unfocused and frozen. Jace's laughter stopped, too. She felt the hands lift from her around her waist to her shoulders, and she felt herself being turned around. Clary felt it all, but she wasn't processing. Once she was facing him, Jace took a deep breath. Looking down into her face, he whispered. "It wasn't a dare." Clary's addled brain struggled to make sense of it. What wasn't a dare? She must have voiced her confusion because he elaborated. "It wasn't a dare. That day in history." Understanding washed over her. Cradled her in its arms. 'Don't worry; it's a dare... JACE WAYLAND was asking her out?!' She'd had such a good time with him. Laughing, joking. She forgot that he was drenched. She forgot the Valentine debacle. Was he asking again? "Clary?" Jace said, evidently worried. She hadn't said anything for a good minute. "Yeah?" She replied croakily. She wanted him to. She wanted him to ask her out. Hidden feelings that she'd pushed down had resurfaced after deciding that he was no longer an arrogant jerk.
He kissed her. He arms circled around her once more, and her hands reached up, almost of their own volition, to tangle in his hair. She could taste the bitterness of coffee, mixed with the sugary sweetness of apple gummy bears. His mouth was soft on hers, and he felt familiar somehow, as if she had kissed him before and forgotten it. But with that familiarity came adrenaline, almost cancelling it out. Her heart was thrashing, so loud she thought he could hear it. Jace chuckled against her lips, and she was sure for a second that she was right- he could hear her heart. But no, it had started to sprinkle lightly again. "Talk about bad timing." He murmured, pulling back. Clary was still buzzing, and she could feel the adrenaline rushing through her veins, making her head light and turning brain to mush. Or was it Jace? "Lets go." He said, leading her out of the clearing.
The next morning when Clary woke, she was almost sure it had been a dream. Until she saw the paper with a stele-scrawled number attached to her window by the early morning fog misting her window.