"Red, where are we going," Jace asked as I pulled him along the crowded streets with me.
"Can you please just wait and see," I answered with a question. I stopped abruptly in front of the theater and pulled the tickets out of my purse holding them out to Jace. He looked down and examined the tickets as I watched his eyes go wide and his signature smile spread across his face.
"Are you serious?" I nodded and smiled up at him. "How did you get these?"
"I did a shoot with them once. All I had to do was call their manager and he gave me two tickets. Plus, it didn't hurt that I mentioned the tickets were for Jace 'The Angel' Herondale."
He pulled me to him and lifted me from the ground spinning me around. "Blink 182 was my first concert when I was fifteen. You actually called my favorite band's manager to get me tickets?"
"Of course, we've been going through a lot lately and you deserve to let off some steam. What better way than to see your favorite band in a small venue on the tenth anniversary of their self-titled album?"
"You are seriously the greatest person ever." He leaned down to press his lips against mine as I wrapped my arms around his neck. We finally pulled apart and made our way into the theater. Once we entered the space, Jace pulled me along behind him so we could make our way toward the front. When he was satisfied with an area, he stopped and pulled me around to stand in front of him resting his hands on my hips and his chin on top of my head.
The opening act was still on stage and we swayed to the beats they were producing from their computers. Every few minutes, I felt Jace press his lips to the top of my head. When the opening act left the stage, Jace's grip on me tightened and I knew he was getting excited. The house music began to play as we waited for Blink 182 to take the stage and I turned to face Jace.
"How long has it been since you've done something that had nothing to do with MMA or the gym," I asked as I placed my hands on his shoulders.
"Clary, I've been training to be a professional fighter since I was seventeen," he responded. "I eat, sleep and breathe fighting. Plus, I haven't had a reason to do anything else, until now."
Just then, the band made their way onto the stage and Jace turned me back around and held my back against his chest. Travis Barker raised his drumsticks over his head and counted down for the song. The first chords came through the amplifiers and the crowd went wild. Jace started bouncing behind me to the beat and we lost ourselves in the music. I could hear Jace singing the lyrics to the songs by my ear and couldn't help but smile as he relaxed and enjoyed the concert. When the final song was being played, confetti rained down in the theater and Jace hoisted me up onto his shoulders as I let out a shriek. When the final chords rang out and the band made their final farewells, I slid down Jace's back until he caught me in a piggyback position and he carried me out of the theater laughing along with me. He finally put me down when we got to the car and opened my door for me. When he got behind the wheel, he turned to face me and grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me in for a kiss. He pulled away and his eyes glowed in the dim light around us.
"I want to show you something," he said finally.
We drove for an hour before Jace pulled of the highway and turned into a residential area. It was dark, but I could tell we were near the ocean. We finally came up on the last house by the beach. Jace pulled into the garage and turned off the car.
"Jace, whose house is this," I asked.
"It's mine," he said nonchalantly as he helped me out of the truck. He took my hand in his and led me inside the house.
"Did you ever plan on telling me that you had a beach house?"
"Of course, I was, but I wanted it to be a surprise when I finally brought you here. This is the first thing I bought with my earnings from the championship and the gym. It's also the only large-scale item I've bought. I prefer that my money stay safe in case I really need it someday."
"So, why wouldn't you just tell me about it?" We were now in the kitchen and what a kitchen it was. The counters were all granite with an island in the center. The stove had six burners and there were two ovens. It was a dream kitchen.
"I didn't want to freak you out, but one day, I hope to move in here permanently one day and I want you with me."
"Jace, this house is amazing, but what about the gym and the studio?"
"We can commute, or we can move them out here. This is the house I can imagine starting my life with you in. I'm not saying we're going to move out here tomorrow, but I just want you to think about it."
"Okay." I took a deep breath and turned back to him. "Why don't you give me a tour?"
He took me through the house, which had four bedrooms and bathrooms before we came upon the master bedroom. Jace had a king sized, four-poster bed situated in the center of the back wall. On the other side of the room, the bathroom contained a large shower and the biggest bathtub I had ever seen. After my tour, Jace led me back down to the living room where we could watch a movie.
Jace put a movie in as I cuddled up to his side and he wrapped an arm around me. I turned my head to study his profile. He had to have been created in the likeness of an angel. His jaw was chiseled and his golden hair had grown quite a bit since we met. It now hung below his ears. His eyes shone in the light from the TV. This man was mine, he was my angel and I wanted him to know that.
"I love you," I said as he turned to face me. Before he could respond, I leaned forward to kiss him. Deepening the kiss, I rose up onto my knees and moved to sit on his lap. Jace's hands gripped my waist before pushing me back.
"I love you, so much," he said before leaning back in and resuming the kissing. Before I knew it, Jace had stood from his position on the couch and was carrying me to the bedroom with my legs wrapped around his waist.
The first time Jace had spent the night at my apartment, we went to bed and talked about whether or not we wanted to wait to have sex. We had agreed to wait until we were both ready and I know Jace had been ready for months, but until this moment, in this house where he sees us having a family, I knew it was time.
Jace took me to his bedroom and sat me down on the bed. He pulled away, never breaking contact and I raised my eyebrows in question.
"Are you sure you want to do this," he asked as he dropped to his knees in front of me so we were eye level.
"Jace, I love you and I want to do this," I said before taking his face in both of my hands and leaning in to kiss his lips. I pulled back slightly and whispered against his lips, "I'm ready."
.o.O.0.O.o.
I woke to the sound of my phone ringing on the nightstand. Jace was lying on his stomach with his arm thrown over my stomach. I gently eased his arm off of me, found a robe and walked downstairs to answer my phone. I looked at the screen and noticed Isabelle was calling and that I also had seventeen missed calls and thirty-two texts from her. With another glance at the screen, I noticed it was almost two o'clock in the morning.
I slid my finger across the screen to answer the call as I opened the sliding glass door that led onto the deck and sat down on a chair that faced the ocean. I could hear the waves crashing and could see more stars than I had ever seen in the sky.
"Hello," I answered with sleep in my voice.
"Clarissa Adele Fray," she shouted. "Where the hell are you? How can you think it's a good idea to not let your best friend and roommate know what you're doing and, oh, that you won't be coming home, especially with everything going on with Jonathan? Let me answer that for you. You could have at least texted me to let me know you were okay. Jesus, Clary, I've been worried sick all night."
She paused, so I took that as my opportunity to set things straight. "I'm sorry, Iz. Jace just took me to his beach house tonight to surprise me. I had no idea what was going on and I've been a little preoccupied so I didn't think to call you, but rest assured that I'm fine."
"Wait, Jace took you to his beach house? He has one of those? Why wasn't I invited?"
"Um, I don't think you would have wanted to be here tonight." I could feel the heat rush to my face as I said it.
"You guys did it, didn't you?" I remained silent. "Oh my god, you did!"
"Yes, we did. Now, can I please go back to bed, now that you know I'm okay?" I heard a muffled voice in the background and assumed it was Simon trying to get her off of the phone. "Iz, get off the phone and be with your boyfriend."
"Okay, fine. Love you, Clary."
"Love you, too. Bye." I ended the call and curled my legs up under me as I listened to the waves and felt the breeze on my face. I had a constant smile on my face and wasn't paying attention when strong hands were placed on my shoulders. I jumped slightly, but was reassured when Jace came around my front. I got up to let him sit in the chair before I curled up in his lap. He held me close as we observed the beach in the darkness.
"We should invite Simon and Izzy up here for the weekend," Jace said breaking the silence. "We could just have them bring us clothes tomorrow and we can all have a nice weekend at the beach, away from everything."
"That sounds perfect," I said.
"So, what do you think about those two?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think they'll ever get married? Have little Simons and Isabelles?"
"I think that's definitely where they're headed. I've never seen Isabelle like this with a guy. He's definitely her longest standing boyfriend."
"Same with Simon. He's never really had a girlfriend so I was surprised when I met her, but I think she's exactly the kind of person he needs in his life."
"I guess only time will tell, but I really want them to get married!"
He chuckled before picking me up and carrying me into the house and up to the bedroom. We were silent as we settled back into bed and fell asleep together.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! :)