A/N: So, this chapter is a lot longer, and also probably unexpected. Have no fear, guys, I'm going somewhere with this. Anyway, please read and review. Lemme know what you think!

Monday came too fast for me. I was still in bed, my blanket covering half of my face as my breath cast red flyaway hairs across my face. I didn't want to get up and get dressed. I didn't want to put makeup on or brush my hair. I didn't want to go to Art Appreciation-

"Oh, shit," I flung myself out of bed faster than I had ever done in my life. I was going to see Jace again today, I remembered. I dressed as quickly as I could. The clock on my bedside table read that it was 8:38 am, and my class began at 9:30. After dressing in blue jean shorts and a white tank top, I flew down the hall to the bathroom, where I attempted to tame the mane I called my hair.

Fifteen minutes later, my hair was in loose ringlets around my shoulders, my face was lightly covered in foundation, and my eyes were lined with mascara-coated lashes.

Good enough.

I knew that I had some time to spare, but I definitely needed coffee to function for the rest of the day. After grabbing my bag, I walked to the local coffee house for a big cup of sugary goodness before heading towards campus.

My heart was pounding and my palms were sticky with sweat at the thought of seeing him again. As I walked, my mind was ramped with thoughts of the golden eyed man. It suddenly dawned on me that I had never really looked forward to the day ahead. I usually dreaded the day before it even started, but went through the motions anyway.

Not today. Today, I would face the day with happiness. I felt good, which was really rare for me. As I walked, I held my head high, a smile on my face.

When I finally reached the lecture hall, it was 9:15. I took my seat quickly and took my sketchbook out. Jace wasn't in his seat when I arrived, and I looked around the room. He wasn't there.

I flipped to the sketch of his profile. Although it was in pencil, I added a gold pastel to shade his eyes and hair. The effect was stunning, but it still didn't capture the beauty that was completely and utterly Jace. But it wasn't possible to do. He was too real, too perfect to capture on a piece of paper.

I was shading his jaw some more, perfecting the sketch, when a hand touched my shoulder. "Hey, Red," Jace's face flooded my vision. I blushed at his nickname for me. I blushed even more when he bent down to kiss my cheek before taking his seat next to me. I couldn't breathe.

I could feel my mouth trying to form words. Clearing my throat, I responded, "Hey, Jace."

Jace's eyes left mine and trailed down to the sketchbook in front of me, and I couldn't help but remember the first time he saw the sketch, the look of wonder on his face. Now, a different expression, one I'd never seen before, crossed his face as he observed my drawing. "That's really good, Clary."

Damn him, always making me blush. "Um, thanks," I said.

He shrugged nonchalantly, "No problem," he smiled wistfully.

I stared at him openly, like he stared at me at Java Jones. His face was cleanly shaven, his hair styled messily. He really didn't have to try to look stunning, he just was. My eyes trailed down to his body; he was wearing a black t-shirt, like usual, with dark wash jeans that hugged him in all the right places.

I met his eyes once more with a sheepish grin. I definitely just checked him out, and he definitely saw me do it. How embarrassing.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to do something tonight," he said with a grin. "My cousin wants to meet you, and she's having a get-together at my house tonight if you want to come."

I blinked a few times, "Um, yeah. Yeah, that'd be great."

Jace smiled even wider. "You can bring your roommate too, I'm sure he'd have some fun. Isabelle is really something."

I was about to tell Jace that Simon would absolutely die of excitement, but our professor made an appearance at the front of the room, and our boring lecture began.

All through the lecture, I was a bundle of nerves. The thought of being at Jace's house was all too thrilling, but meeting his family? Terrifying. What if they didn't like me? What if I said or did the wrong thing?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. It would be great. Jace and I would sit together and talk about anything and everything, and laugh and smile together, and all would be right in the world.

Simon thought differently.

"What do you mean I have to come?" he demanded when I told him about it. "There'll be his hot cousin there, and I can almost guarantee that I'll embarrass the shit out of both of us."

I shook my head in disbelief, "It'll be great. I still have that bottle of wine that I'll bring, and I'm sure there'll be enough alcohol to booze you up. You'll be fine, Si."

"Easy for you to say," he sighed.

"How do you know his cousin is hot?" I asked when his words finally registered.

Simon shrugged and began making his way toward his room to get dressed, "Have you seen the guy? There's no way she's not drop dead gorgeous."

After gathering the wine and my purse, I trudged to my room to get dressed. Honestly, I had no idea what was appropriate to wear to this shindig, but I assumed that a blue jean skirt and a green blouse would work well enough. I settled for some sandals instead of my Keds too, glad that I even owned a pair of dress shoes.

Simon was wearing dark jeans and a gamer shirt, as usual. At least he fixed his hair, I thought with a quirky grin. He was a cutie, that was for sure. Simon grinned at me when he saw my outfit. "Never saw you in a skirt before," he said. "I approve. Nice legs, short stack."

I grumbled a "thank you" and walked passed him to the living room.

After checking the text message Jace sent with his address, Simon and I hopped on the subway. My hands were visibly shaking, and I squeezed them into a fist to hide it. Simon didn't seem to notice my discomfort, though. He was probably just as nervous as I was. We got off at our designated stop and found his apartment without difficulty.

We walked up a flight of stairs before we were in front of his door. I stared at it for what seemed like forever before I knocked. Simon cleared his throat nervously. The door swung open, revealing a woman with ebony, waist length hair. She had on a pair of white shorts and a red tank, and her lips were the same ruby color. Her dark eyes assessed me for a second before she smiled at me, revealing perfect white teeth. "You must be Clary!" she said. "Come in, Jace is on the balcony with Alec and Magnus." I walked passed her and into the apartment.

She looked at Simon. "I'm Isabelle, but you can call me Izzy," she held out her hand to Simon, who shook it with a sheepish grin of his own. He walked passed her as well, but his eyes never left hers.

"I'm Simon," he said with a small quiver in his voice. I held back a giggle.

A warm hand found my lower back, and I spun around to see Jace smiling down at me, a beer in his other hand. "Hey, Clary. Glad you came."

"Me too," I grinned back. Behind him, a tall, dark haired man with blue eyes met her gaze. He smiled at her and waved his hand.

"I'm Alec, Jace's cousin," he said. "And this is my boyfriend Magnus," he pointed to the man standing next to him. His hair was spiked perfectly, and dark, sparkly eyeliner rimmed his eyes.

He held out his hand to me, and I noticed that his nails were painted a glittery blue. "Nice to meet you, love."

I shook it, "You too. I'm Clary."

"Yeah, Jace never stops talking about you," Alec grinned at Jace smugly. I blushed profusely and glanced up at Jace quickly. He seemed unfazed by this. Instead, he flashed her his flawless smile and put an arm around her waist.

Simon appeared with Isabelle at his side, holding a bottle of beer in his hand. He introduced himself, and the others offered their names as well. For a while he stood around and talked about little things, like the weather, and our classes, and work.

Jace's arm never left my waist, and I found myself relaxing into him, like being with him was the most natural thing in the whole world. Magnus asked about my art, since Jace apparently bragged to him about how "amazing" my sketches were. We talked for a while, smiling and laughing. Magnus was a huge art enthusiast and expressed interest paying for my art work.

After a while, we ordered a few pizzas and gathered on the balcony to sit and overlook the city. I managed to sneak away from Jace for a few minutes to pour myself a glass of wine before joining him on the outdoor couch. He threw his arm around my shoulders and looked down at me. "I'm so glad you're here," he whispered in my ear. A pleasant shiver ran through my body, and I prayed he hadn't noticed.

"I'm glad I came," I whispered back, meeting his eyes. I realized then, just how close we were sitting, just how close his face was to mine. It would've been so easy to lean in and press my lips to his, to taste his mouth. I was staring at the perfect Cupid's bow of his mouth, the fullness of his lips, the dip under his lower lip. I could just lean in-

"Hey, Clare-bear, remember that time you punched that guy in the face?" Simon's voice broke through my thoughts like a rock shattering a window. I broke away from Jace, and a look of disappointment fleeted across his face as I turned to Simon.

"What?" I asked, my eyes squinting in confusion. "You mean Raphael?"

Simon nodded furiously, his face cracking into a grin. "Yeah, that's the one. Clary was working at a club down town the summer after senior year, and their outfits were a little," he paused and looked at me apprehensively before saying, "slutty, to be frank. Short skirts and tiny tank tops. Anyway, Raphael was sitting at the bar and reached under her skirt."

I blushed at the memory, but not from pleasure. That night had been a rough one. "I just saw red. I didn't mean to hit him, it just sort of happened."

Simon chuckled around a swig of his beer. "Long story short, Clary got fired and earned the nickname 'Tyson'."

Alec and Magnus were all grins and laughs at that. I bit my lip as I smiled. Jace shifted a little next to me and looked at my glass. "Want a refill? I was just about to grab another beer for myself."

I nodded and handed him my glass, "Sure thing."

As Jace entered the apartment and closed the sliding glass door once inside, Alec and Isabelle exchanged a look before both turning to me. "Are you guys like, dating or something?" Isabelle asked. Simon choked on his beer.

"Oh, no! No," I shook my head with a nervous laugh. "Um, we're just… uh, really good friends right now."

Isabelle nodded slowly, her eyes shifting all over my face for a second. "Uh huh, sure…"

I was just about to assure her that nothing had even happened between us yet, not really. But before I could even form the words, the high-pitched sound of a female voice came from inside the apartment. I turned to look who it was, and my breath hitched.

Aline Penhallow was inside Jace's apartment. But that's not what caused my body to shake, my hands to sweat, or my face to flush with color. I watched as Aline leaned in towards Jace to place her lips to his quickly, before pulling away with a huge grin on her face.

I turned around to face the others, but they were all watching Jace and Aline's exchange as well. Isabelle's eyes flickered to mine, and they held the same confusion in them that I felt.

I couldn't breathe.

I didn't wait for any explanations from anyone. Instead, I stood quickly and stumbled a bit before righting myself. It must've been the wine, I thought. With a deep breath, I grabbed Simon's hand and practically dragged him into the house and out the door so fast, I don't even think Jace realized what was happening.

I didn't stop until I was a good ways down the street. Simon hadn't said anything at all, just followed along silently, and I wondered if he was worried that I might start crying.

I didn't feel like crying though. No, I was pissed.

Jace certainly put on a good show, telling me all of those sweet things about wanting to know me and how beautiful I was to him. But inviting me to his house to witness him in a lip lock with another woman? What kind of shit is that?

Simon slowed and tugged my hand. I stopped and turned to face him, forcing my face into a blank expression. Simon wasn't buying it at all. "Clary, what the hell was that all about?"

I shook my head and looked away from him with a scoff. "I honestly have no idea. And I don't want to know," I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to make myself smaller. Maybe I would disappear. "You know what? Doesn't matter. It's not like he was anything to me anyways."

A lie. In the short time I'd known him, he meant something to me. I felt something, something about him set my blood on fire. I'd never felt that way with any other person before.

I obviously didn't make him feel that way though. "He doesn't deserve you anyway, Clare."

I shrugged and grabbed Simon's arm as we started walking towards the subway again. "Whatever. It was a waste of my time anyway. I should've known better."

Simon was quiet for a few minutes. We were about to approach the subway when he stopped and turned to me, "Maybe it wasn't what it looked like-"

I cut him off with an eye roll, "Oh, that's some cheesy movie bullshit, Simon. He's involved with another girl, and that's fine. I had no claims staked in this, y'know? I'll be fine. I was only friends with him for a few days."

Simon sighed deeply and started for the bus again. "I'm here for you Clare. No matter what," he said.

I looked at him and bit my lip. I knew there was a pretty big chance that there was an explanation to all of what I'd witnessed. She could've been a crazy ex-girlfriend, or a really close friend or something. Or maybe it was something more, I had no idea. But I wasn't in the mood for excuses or explanations tonight. I just wanted to be in my bed, alone with my thoughts and the dull ache in the pit of my stomach.

"I know, Si."

Yeah...That happened. Sorry to say that Aline will be a recurring bitch in this story, but for a reason. No worries, guys. Review!