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Clary POV

"SIMON! YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO ANSWER THE DOOR EVENTUALLY!" I screamed as I kicked and hit at my supposed best friend's door.

The thirty-seven, now thirty-eight calls, I made to this asshole weren't getting me anywhere. It was raining and here I was standing outside his door like a dumbass.

I finally got enough courage to start texting Simon last week, but they all went unanswered. My annoyance level reached sky high after the third day of him ignoring me.

Yesterday I called his boss to ask if he was working. Mary, at the local Game Stop, told me that Simon had been calling in for the past week claiming to have "the flu".

We had been best friends for seven years and the guilt I feel keeps getting bigger with every passing minute.

Simon and I have never gone this long without speaking. I don't know what happened and I'm not sure how to fix it.

I need Simon; he is the only person in the entire universe that truly knows me. This is so frustrating. He's never shut me out like this before. Adding to my dismay, I'm probably going to get a cold. My father is going to drag me back to Vermont after I graduate. My mother keeps pestering to fly me back to New York to visit. Even though that's the place I want to go most, the situation awaiting me there scares me away every time. I don't ever want to deal with my mother figuring out that I have no control over my own life. She doesn't need to see how much I actually hate everything I have come to be. I can handle keeping my shit together for Christmas and Thanksgiving, but to hold it together for a whole week…it just would not happen. My brother never helps, and his hatred towards me continues to grow every day. The intensity of it consumes me whenever we're in the same room together.

The tears start coming and there's nothing that can stop them. Exhaustion takes over and I go to put my back against Simon's apartment door, but slide down due to the rain and my current mood. I haven't even been here for ten minutes and here I am, a complete mess just like the droplets that surround me.

I'm vaguely aware of a man saying my name, but the voice isn't the one I was expecting. I audibly groan and get a chuckle from said man. I open my eyes just enough so that it's possible to see him in front of me. The squinting apparently made my face look funny, so Jace kept laughing at me.

"What's so funny, Mr. Lightwood?" I say, but my voice sounds unintentionally sleepy.

Without even a warning, he is picking me up off the ground and attempting to carry me. "You just amuse me, Clary."

I roll my eyes and ask, "Is this really necessary?" He nods with a stupid grin on his face and I don't fight him, simply because I'm just too freaking tired from earlier. The rain had stopped and the sun had come out for the first time that day. Oddly enough the sun was about the same shade as Jace's hair. I had the sudden urge to comb my fingers through it to see if it was as soft as I imagined. I questioned him instead, "How did you find me exactly?"

I heard him clear his throat and then respond, "Isabelle called me."

"Okay, and how did Isabelle know I was at–Oh my God," He just nodded again, but this time he wasn't smiling.

It was a few seconds later that Jace said, "Apparently you interrupted a very special one-on-one between my sister and your friend."

Fucking ew.

"Well he's an ass, and so are you."

He stiffened and glared down at me. "What the hell? I just rescued you from that awkwardness. You should be praising my existence right about now," his annoyance clear.

"Oh please. That right there is exactly why you're an ass. It's just your personality."

"I'll have you know I am a very fine person. I volunteer a lot of time to help coach the sports teams at school, I don't get paid very much for that, you know."

"See but you do get paid to help those kids."

"So, what's your point…?"

"Have you ever done anything for anyone simply because you wanted to make someone's day?" He had stopped walking and I looked at the car he was currently opening. A dark blue Lamborghini was in front of me and I was about to throw a fit as the doors opened, similar to wings. Quickly, I jumped down from Jace's arms and crossed my arms in a bossy stance. "You're fucking joking, right?"

Jace smirked as a response, but I could tell his confidence was a little shaky. His eyes gave him away. "It's just a car, Clary."

"…Just a car? Jesus Christ, you must be from the Bill Gates family or something." I got into the car, but I couldn't figure out how to get the door back down to close. Jace had to come all the way back to my side because I was hopeless. I had such an urge to slap the grin right from his face.

He didn't even need keys to drive it; all he had to do was press a button. I think I was born into the wrong family. "If it makes you feel any better, it's the 2012 model."

I scoffed, "Somehow, you have managed to make me feel ten times worse. You should be proud."

I looked to see where we were going, and also just so I could look at something that wasn't this obnoxious car. I saw that we were passing the new McDonalds and decided to say, "Take a left here!"

"Clary, your dorm is all the way across town," but he got into the turning lane anyway.

I checked the time, 11:34 A.M.. "I hate that you know that. What day is it?"

"It's Saturday…that's why we're off today? What kind of stuff have you been smoking?" He was definitely in a good mood, and I could almost foresee that this mood will be destroyed in about 2 minutes.

"After the yellow apartment complex, take a right. Haven't we established that you are the only one in this car that smokes anything that will kill us?" I watched him follow my vague directions perfectly, even though there were about six other complexes around this street. "Okay good, and pull into that parking lot there," I pointed at the small crowded one next to a sign that read, "Local Food Bank".

Jace's eyes got really wide as he did as I told him. The cars surrounding his were pieces of shit compared to the one we were sitting in.

As soon as he parked, I was out of the car and attempting to close the door. I managed to close it before Jace had even gotten out of the car.

"Mam, maybe you shouldn–Clary!" I smiled wide at Joe, one of the local homeless men that regularly came to here to eat.

"How have you been, Joe? It's been a while since I've seen you!" I pulled him in for a hug.

I felt a hand pressed to my back right away and I turned my head to come face to face with Jace. He looked terrified for me to be in the arms of this man, well I should probably say arm. I smiled at him and introduced Joe, "He is one of the local war veterans."

Joe stuck out his left hand for Jace to shake, and thank the Lord, but Jace didn't even hesitate. Joe then made a couple of snide comments about the car and Jace just brushed it off, knowing that he was kidding.

He led us into the building where I could smell garlic, so I assumed spaghetti was being served today. I asked anyway, trying to make conversation. "Oh, mama's cooking up some spili for us."

"It smells delicious in here. But then again, it always does!" I laughed and felt Jace pull me back to walk side by side with him. "I'm sorry. Is this too much?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, I just never would have pegged you as the service hours type."

I gave him a cold look, "It's not a type. I've been coming here for the past three years, because my father cut me off my freshman year for about two months and I didn't have anywhere else to go. Of course Simon offered to help me, but I couldn't do that to him. They brought me in here and as soon as my dad got his head out of his ass, I started volunteering here whenever I could. These folks are like my family, and I treat them as such. But if you aren't comfortable here, you can go. It won't hurt me if you leave."

"Now just hold on a minute, little lady. You just always seemed like the spoiled type, much like myself. I know you come from money, so I had no idea that this was ever a firsthand experience for you. Your dad actually just cut you off?" he sounded genuinely shocked.

My face softened as I explained, "Yes, he had this crazy idea that if he just stopped paying for me to exist, then I would beg him to put me on the next plane back home. He wants me the way he has Jonathan, just completely under his wing. I can't even be in the same room with the man for more than twenty seconds. He's kind of bipolar. Half the time, I'm this alien child that doesn't exist, and then the other half, I'm his golden child above even Jonathan." Jace nodded and inspected the cafeteria-like room we were standing in. Most of the individuals in here had on clothes that were the wrong size and some sort of hat. Some of their clothes had holes or showed extreme signs of wear. All in all, they didn't look half bad, but I was biased. Jace probably thought I was friends with a bunch of hoboes. Ironically, we always pray to St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who is the patron saint of hoboes.

"Mr. Lightwood, I gotta say I would never have expected you to ever walk in here," Gloria, or Mama, depending on if you are a regular or not, said to Jace who was in shock.

"Mrs. Vasquez, I had no idea you did this."

She points her slotted spoon at Jace and states, "Do what? Cook? Honey you see me do this everyday. Here, people are just a tad more appreciative. I'm not into this formality thing here. Call me Gloria, or Mama, which ever you prefer, and I will call you by your given name," Mama shook Jace's hand and then pointed the spoon at me instead. "Clary, this place wasn't the same without you this week."

I totally put Jace on the spot by saying, "I know Gloria, but my boss here is just a homework pusher and I can barely get a break for coffee nowadays." My smirk quickly turned into a smile as Jace tried to say it wasn't his fault and yada yada yada.

She grew tired of us fast and sent us to the line to help serve lunch. We had a system going where Jace would put about a spoonful of noodles on the tray and I would top it with sauce. Judie, serving the garlic bread next to me, was a sophomore at St. Mary's. She started volunteering a few months ago before I even had a clue where my student teaching was going to be.

When Gloria found out I was going to be working close to her, she promised to save a lunch for me everyday. Which of course, I never refuse; her food is my favorite. Though about three times a week she makes some kind of meat, which I don't eat. She used to lecture me nonstop about how I'm missing the protein from the meat, even though I tried to explain to her that the vitamins I take work the same.

I looked over at Jace and he had this growing confusion all over his features. He caught my curious stare and said, "Why isn't anybody eating?"

"Oh, we haven't said prayers yet."

About five minutes later, everyone was sitting at the tables with their trays, and Gloria rang her spoon against an empty pot. "Okay everyone, just bow your head so we can all receive God's blessing on this wonderful evening," after a few silent seconds she finishes with, "Now we have a couple friends here who have never shared a meal with us, and then again there are some of you who I see just about every day. All of you are dear to my heart and I am so blessed to spend these moments with you." Then the clattering of silverware and conversations filled the silent room.

"Clary, Clary, Clary!" Jeffry, one of the little boys that came here a lot, came running up to me as I was cleaning the dishes.

I dried my hands and picked him up off the floor quickly, "What's going on, little man?" I started tickling him and in no time he was screaming "Uncle!" and giggling.

"Look what I did!" He jumped down and pulled out a paper leaf from his pocket and gave it to me.

I unfolded it and it read, I'm thankful for Mama and Clary. The tears came for the second time today, for completely different reasons, and this time I kept them in. Pulling him in for a very tight hug, I choked out, "Oh that is so sweet," or something that sounded like it. "Let's go put it with the others, alright?" Jeffry nodded his head and led the way.

Out in the main room there is one of my paintings hanging in the middle of the wall. Jace followed us out here so I quickly explained, "It is a tree that I modeled after the tree of life in The Lion King. Gloria started calling it the Tree of Thanks, so all of kids here started writing things they're thankful for on paper leaves so they can stick them on the wall next to the painting. It looks pretty cool since she aligned the paper leaves with the painted ones."

"It's really cool, Clary. This whole organization is really inspiring, the people here are so kind."

"Oh, just come on a day when there isn't enough food for everyone, or we're a few minutes late, I'm sure you'll change your mind about it real quick."

Jace pulled my hand into his and we said goodbye to everyone. As we were walking out, I asked, "So that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I never knew this place even existed. And it makes me so angry that there was a time when this was the only place you could go. Those people in there love you, Clary, like you are their family. Hell I've started feeling jealous about how many people love you compared to how many I have."

"Well, Jace, just start trying new things, and the love will come later, I promise. Doing things for other people, is a great sacrifice, but it is one that many great people have done before us, and there are people after us that will continue to devote their lives for causes like this. I have discovered that is what real love is: devotion."

Jace let go of my hand and tilted my chin up. "Hmm, you may have something there," and he finished his statement with a kiss.