"Hey, babe," I said as I walked into Jace's office after closing up the studio one night. Jace was sitting at his desk and had a look on his face that worried me. "What's going on?"

"Clary, I need to talk to you about something," he said after taking a deep breath and I instantly panicked internally. He held out his arms to me and I rushed to his side. I sat on his lap and his arm went around my waist, while I held onto his shoulders. "Valentine called me today."

I let that sink in for a moment before I came back to reality. Valentine had called Jace a few times in the months since the shooting, but Jace had never looked this way after one of his calls. His calls were usually to check on Jace and his health, but something was different today.

"What did he say?"

"Today was the first time he talked about me coming back to fight for the organization."

I gasped and said, "And is that something you want to do?"

"Well, that was the goal from the moment I woke up in the hospital, but now that it could really happen, I'm not so sure. Not too many people come back from injuries like a broken leg, much less a gunshot wound."

"Yeah, but you're not most people, babe. You're Jace Herondale and if anyone can do this, it's you." I placed my lips against his forehead to try and put his mind at ease. "When does he want you to fight?"

"He said I could have as long as I want to recover, but when I'm ready, the title shot is mine when I want it."

"Okay, so it's been three months since you got hurt. Three months until the wedding and I think you'll need a while to build your strength and stamina. I think you should make it a goal to be ready on the year anniversary of the shooting."

"I think you're right. I mean, I've been working out and rehabbing, but it's been a while since I've rolled around on the mats or threw a punch."

"How much notice does Valentine need before the fight?"

"A couple months, give or take."

"Okay, so in six months, we will come back and reexamine your situation. If you think you can fight three months after that, I will support you one hundred percent, but if you're having a hard time or you're not to your full potential, you might need to reevaluate."

He pulled me tight against him and I leaned down to kiss him. "You're awesome. What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"I really don't know." I kissed him again before pulling back.

"So, I'll talk to Simon tomorrow and we'll work out a plan to start training tomorrow."

I raised my eyebrows and looked out the window of his office to notice that the lights were off on the main floor and everyone had gone home.

"Why don't you start training now?"

"Um, because I don't have anyone to train with."

"What am I, chopped liver?" He chuckled and smiled up at me. "Come on."

I got up from his lap taking his hand and leading him out to the main floor. I turned on the lights and took the remote for the stereo from the shelf and turned on Jace's favorite Blink 182 album. He stood in the middle of the mats staring at me dumbfounded. Without warning, I ran and jumped into Jace's arms, laughing and wrapping my legs around his waist. He laughed with me as he kissed my nose.

"How do you get out of this," I asked as I tightened my grip on his waist and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I'm not so sure I want to get out of this," he said with his signature smirk and I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes at him. "Red, I'm not so sure this is a position that I would find myself in in a fight."

I acknowledged his statement by lifting his arm over his head and clasping my hands with one arm under his arm and the other around his neck so I could swing around to his back.

"What are you doing," Jace asked after I situated myself on his back and wrapped one arm around his neck so his neck was resting in the crook of my elbow.

"I'm choking you out. What does it look like I'm doing?" He laughed as his hands came up to grasp my arms and I started squeezing on his windpipe, while pushing his head forward with my other hand. "You better get out of this or tap out before I put you to sleep."

I could feel his muscles tense as he chuckled. "Your tiny little arms aren't going to do any damage." I scoffed and squeezed tighter.

Suddenly, Jace reached around his back and grabbed my waist pulling me around him as we landed on the mat with Jace on top of me laughing. He had me trapped under him with his hands on either side of my head and my legs were still wrapped around his waist. I grabbed onto his wrists and tried to free myself, but Jace just smiled down at me and laughed. I was growing frustrated when I came up with an idea. Grabbing the back of Jace's neck, I pulled him down to meet my lips in a kiss. I quickly deepened the kiss and Jace's hands faltered. Once his hand came down to rest on my waist, I lifted my hips like Max taught me and rolled us over so I was on top of Jace and I had his arms pinned down above his head.

"Oh, so that's the way you want to play," he said smiling up at me and I gave him a small kiss on the lips.

"Do you give up," I asked as I lie down on top of him.

"Not even remotely." He smiled before flipping me back onto my back.

This continued for a few more minutes with Jace and I switching off having control until I returned to my earlier tactics flipping Jace onto his back before attacking his mouth with mine. He released my wrists and gripped my waist pulling me flush against him. I smiled against his lips before pulling back slightly and asking, "Had enough?"

He simply nodded before returning to our kiss. I brought my hands up to run them through his hair and grip a handful. I pulled my mouth from his and trailed kisses down his neck and collarbone before returning to his mouth. Our breathing was become uneven and heavy when we heard something behind us. Not wanting to lose the moment, I ignored whatever was happening until we heard a voice behind us.

"Holy shit," Simon said from the other side of the mat. "Is this what you guys do when we leave?"

I turned to see Simon and Isabelle standing there with Isabelle trying to hide the fact that she was laughing.

"What the hell do you want," Jace huffed as I scrambled to stand and fixed my clothing and hair.

"I forgot my phone and I was going to invite you to buy me a beer and pizza."

"You're so thoughtful, but I think I'll pass." He said looking up at me from the ground and winking before hopping to his feet and pulling me against him again.

"No, babe," I said. "Go have fun. Isabelle and I have things to do for the wedding anyway and unless you want to listen to conversations about flowers and dresses all night, I suggest you go with Simon."

He turned his head away from Simon and Isabelle before leaning down to whisper in my ear, "Fine, but we're finishing what we started when I get home."

I felt my cheeks turn red as I nodded and Jace kissed me before I went to leave with Isabelle.

An hour later, Isabelle and I were buried in bridal magazines and her wedding binder trying to find new ideas for decorations and flowers. We had gone dress shopping the week before and Isabelle had found her perfect mermaid style dress. My dress was also beautiful with its cream color and floor length silhouette. Isabelle's bouquet was going to be a mix of blue hues to compliment the season. It truly was turning out to be a perfect and beautiful wedding.

I was looking through a magazine when I saw Isabelle chewing nervously on her fingernail. I had known her long enough to know that when she started chewing on her nails, it was time for a distraction so I looked up and started a conversation with her.

"So, are you getting nervous," I asked and she let out a long sigh.

"You could say that," she said before returning to the destruction of her perfect nails. I reached over and took her hand from her mouth.

"What's going on, Iz?"

"Nothing, I just can't shake the feeling that this is all too good to be true. Here I am, the cynical one who didn't believe in love and this amazing guy gets thrown in my lap and makes me want to believe in everything." She wiped a tear away and I squeezed her hand before she continued. "I don't want him to wake up one morning and realize that I wasn't the one he was supposed to be with. I don't want him to regret choosing me."

"Honey, why would he ever regret you? Look at you. You're beautiful, smart, independent and the strongest person I know."

"And I'm like that because I'm damaged. I didn't have the best childhood and I had to learn to only worry about myself early on. It's always just been me and no one else. I've never had to or wanted to worry about anyone else."

"Iz, how does Simon make you feel?"

"Like I can do anything," she said letting out a breath. "Like I'm the only person in his world." I could see the worry leaving her face as she smiled back at me. "When I wake up in the morning and he's next to me, I feel like that's where I was meant to be. He says the sweetest things to me and I love how dorky he is, but he's strong too. I love watching him with the kids at the gym and I love his relationship with Jace. I especially love how protective he is of me, even though I don't need it, and has shown the same protectiveness of you. I never thought I knew what love was, but if this is what love feels like, I never want this feeling to stop."

We wiped our tears away as we laughed at how ridiculous we were being and I pulled her in for a hug. "I've missed this," I said when we pulled apart. "We never hang out anymore."

"What are you talking about? We live together."

"Yeah, I know, but Jace and Simon are always here and you're getting married and leaving me soon. I've been so busy taking care of Jace and making sure he gets back to normal that I've completely neglected the one person who has always been there for me."

"Don't worry, Clary. I've been the same way. It seems that ever since that weekend at the beach house, we've been so engrossed in our relationships that we forgot about the other important person in our lives."

I nodded before I said, "Okay, let's make a pact. Once a week, we will kick the boys out and have a girls' night like we used to. I miss you too much to keep living like this."

"You've got a deal. I need a break from those two anyway. Separately, they are awesome, but put them together and the teasing and wrestling never ends."

We laughed before cleaning up the magazines and binders and headed to the couch to watch some girly movie that the guys would never watch and eat way too much ice cream.

We were starting new chapters of our lives and moving away from the comfort of our apartment together, but we would always have that bond that was similar to that of sisters. We would always be best friends.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think! :)