Hello hello hello! Let's not mess around and get on with the story shall we?
Once we made our way back into the main room, I set about looking for Simon. Surprisingly, I found him wrapped up with the blonde girl from before and when I say wrapped up, I mean they were a tangle of limbs. I decided to let him get on with it – he deserved a bit of happiness. Naturally, I gravitated back to the bar. I nearly jumped out of my skin when someone placed a drink down in front of me. Jordan was smiling at me, placing himself at the barstool next to me.
"Are we enjoying the party?" Jordan smiled, chinking our glasses. I nodded, lightly. "And what about that engagement?"
"It was lovely, wasn't it?" I smiled thinking about it.
"You know what else is lovely?" Jordan smiled. "The gardens."
"Oh you've had a chance to look outside?" I asked, sipping.
"Yeah, you fancy a look? I've gotten quite acquainted with them over the past few hours?" I finished off my drink.
"Yeah why not. Do you fancy yourself a bit of a tour guide?" I asked as we made our way outside. Jordan looked at me laughing, pulling his hand through his hair.
"Oh definitely. I'm questioning my choice of going to art school now." He said, sarcastically.
Jordan was right, the gardens were amazing. Flowerbeds full of the most amazing displays decorated acres and acres of land.
"So this is really out of my comfort zone. I'm not used to pissing my friends off." Jordan laughed as we strolled through.
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. My feet were starting to hurt walking around.
"Seb wouldn't be happy with me if he could see me now. I've been strictly warned off." He laughed.
"Oh yeah, you said in class the other day."
"Oh no, there's been more instances since." Jordan laughed, shaking his head. "Mainly since you drew his tattoo the other day. He's basically told me to stay away from you because you're a weirdo." I could feel the initial anger burning up inside of me but I just couldn't help but laugh.
"What a strange man he is." I laughed, starting to feel drunker as the fresh air hit me.
"It's strange. Why do I get the feeling that I don't know the whole story?" Jordan looked bemused. I shook my head, the alcohol somewhat loosening my tongue.
"You don't know the half of it." For some reason I just couldn't stop laughing – maybe it was all the tension coming to the surface. Jordan looked confused.
"So you guys do know each other then?"
"You could say that." I laughed, sitting down on the side of one of the flowerbeds, a mixture of my feet aching and to stop me from keeling over from the drink.
"I feel a story coming on." Jordan joked in a singsong voice. I looked at him with my eyebrows raised.
"No way." I retreated. "I haven't had enough alcohol for that yet."
"Your wish is my command." Jordan got to his feet. "Don't move." He waltzed back into the house as I sat on my flowerbed tapping my feet to the music.
"Well, isn't this cosy?" Sebastian appeared next to me, a tight smile on his face. I looked away from him.
"Go away."
"Getting you alone these days is such a rarity." He mused, standing directly in front of me.
"Piss off." I emphasised, liquid courage. Sebastian took a seat next to me on the flowerbed.
"I don't think so, do you know how difficult it was to shake Isabelle off? 'Let's dance Sebastian', 'let's get another drink Sebastian', 'I'm so insecure in myself that I can't stand to be alone Sebastian'" He mocked as I stayed silent, tapping my feet on the floor willing Jordan to hurry back. "Come on Clary, I miss us, you've got to at least miss us a little."
FLASHBACK
"Can we quickly nip for a drink, my feet are killing!" I moaned, dragging Sebastian by the hand towards the little quirky coffee shop in town. He sighed, but instantly broke into a smile.
"Fiiiiine. Just because I love you though." He trailed after me, his arms laden with shopping bags full of art supplies. I'd had such a good day. The sun was shining and Sebastian was in one of his good moods. We quickly ordered at the counter, Sebastian eying the barista suspiciously. We chose a booth, sitting ourselves down, placing the bags underneath the table. "What's taking the coffee so long?" Sebastian commented a few minutes later, looking back over to the barista.
"Do you know him?" I asked, innocently.
"No, do you?" He asked, his eyes burning into me. I shrank back into my seat, not wanting to antagonise the situation further. I shook my head, becoming increasingly interested in my fingernails. The tension was broken by that same barista appearing with our drinks. I was just about to reach for mine when Sebastian pulled it away from me.
"What's the matter?" I said, trying to crane to see what he was looking at. He shoved the coffee back towards me, it sloshing around the edges slightly. I caught sight of it. The barista had drawn a frilly pattern in the foam of my drink but not in Sebastian's. "It's probably just because I'm a girl." I commented as Sebastian eyed me up.
We didn't speak much over the table. We didn't speak much as we walked back through town. It wasn't until we were walking through the park that he decided to make his move.
"Who was he?" Sebsatian rounded on me as we were passing by trees, people scarce this far into the park.
"I don't' know Seb."
"He was looking at you like he knew you."
"Well, I don't know him." This situation was going downhill quickly.
"Don't lie to me Clary." Sebastian tried to breathe but I could see his hands twitching at his sides.
"I'm not. I won't." I backtracked but the damage was already done. His temper already flared. He backed me up towards a tree, his forearm pressed up against my throat, the art supplies I'd been carrying now strewn across the ground.
"I hate when you do this to me Clary, Why do you make me do this?" He sighed, his arm putting pressure against my throat. I was crying, struggling to breathe. He pressed his arm in one final time before letting me go. "Pick up your paints will you, you're so clumsy." He commented as I fell to the floor, scrambling. I hastily put the paints back into my bags, despite my hands trembling. I just wanted to go home.
"Quit it, will you!" I snapped, getting to my feet. Sebastian jumped to my side, his arms enveloping me. I tried to push him back, but tripped backwards on my heels. He caught me mid-fall, pulling me back towards him – his lips desperately pressing themselves against my own as his hand rooted me firmly to the spot. I squirmed against him, biting his lip roughly, drawing blood. He pulled back, wiping the blood from his lip with his thumb casually, smiling.
"Never a dull moment when you're around Clary." He smirked, heading back towards me. I wrapped my arms around my chest defensively but I needn't have bothered. A person shot by me, quick enough to blur completely.
"What did I tell you?!" Jon was screaming, holding Sebastian by his collar. "What did I tell you?!" Sebastian was laughing as Jon's grip tightened around his collar and throat.
"Why so violent Jon?" Sebastian choked. "Really, is there any need…" He trailed off, most likely losing his breath.
"Let him go Jon." I said, trying to pull him back. He didn't seem ready to let up, his jawline hard and firm. The atmosphere wasn't helped by Jordan re-appearing drinks in hand. He looked between Jon and Sebastian, bemused. Jon finally let Sebastian go. Sebastian set about straightening himself up, his face a lovely shade of purple.
"How uncivilised." He smirked as I held onto Jon's arm.
"Don't rise to it." I muttered under my breath.
"Come on – we're going inside." Jon said gruffly, tightening his grip on my arm. I looked apologetically at Jordan as Jon marched me back into the building before rounding on me.
"Why were you out there with him by yourself?" He asked.
"Jon." I started.
"He could have done – anything!"
"Jon – give me a chance to answer your question." I protested. "I was talking to Jordan and then he just appeared! I'll stick to inside from now though." I assured Jon but he didn't look convinced.
It took a good 10 minutes to get him off my back. Once I'd managed to shake him off, I headed over to the buffet table to try and overcome this oncoming drunkness.
Jace's POV
I'd had more drinks than I had intended to but with it being Alec and Magnus' engagement I had plenty excuse. I was sampling a rather strange coloured cocktail, when Jon approached me slamming himself down on the stool next to me.
"I think you need one of these." I passed him a tumbler full of amber liquid. He downed it in one before reaching for another. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sebastard." Jon grumbled into his drink. My attention was peaked.
"What's King Creep done now?" I asked.
"I'm just really frustrated yknow. I just want to be able to do something that wipes that stupid grin from his stupid smug face, once and for all. Short of killing him that is."
I laughed, I couldn't have agreed more.
"He'll slip up. Hopefully without hurting anyone in the process." Both Isabelle and Clary were playing on my mind.
"He kissed her Jace. I told him to stay away from her and he had the outright audacity to try that." My blood was pumping in my ears, my chest rising and falling.
"Is she alright?" Was all I managed to say.
"I'm not sure – I don't want to pry too much because I'll just end up pushing her away. I can't talk about it without getting angry."
"Do you want me to talk to her? I don't mind keeping an eye on her tonight if it helps you out."
"That'd be great mate. If you don't mind that is." I smiled pushing myself back from the bar, scanning the room for Clary.
Clary's POV
The food was fantastic. I was enjoying some pretzels when a hand fell on my shoulder.
"What's safe to eat then?" Jace was stood behind me, his hand still resting on my shoulder. I tried to quickly chew what was in my mouth.
"The pretzels are pretty good. I'd stay away from the BBQ wings though – messy." I commented.
"Are you alright?" He asked. Jon must have told him about what had happened. I nodded.
"Yeah, I've dealt with worse."
"How did he get you alone?" Jace queried as he led me over to a booth not far from the buffet table.
"Jordan was showing me the gardens, then went to get a drink and Sebastian just appeared out of the wild." Jace pulled a face.
"Jordan was showing you the gardens?"
"Yes? The gardens are really nice, they go on forever."
"And Jordan was showing you them?" Jace questioned.
"Yeah, we're just friends." I reminded him. Jace nodded slowly.
"A 'friend' who was showing you the gardens, alone, with alcohol…" He trailed off. I was about to launch into an explanation of how it was completely above board when a smile started playing on the corner of his lips. I hit him lightly in the arm with the back of my hand. I decided to play him back at his own game, he wasn't the only one who could tease.
"I've only got eyes for one person." I smiled, playing with the petticoat of my dress.
"Oh, go on?"
"He's a really nice guy. Little bit of tease sometimes, little bit of a hot-head, very strong-willed. Very, very attractive. Very funny." I smirked as I rested my hand on the inside of his thigh, massaging gently. His gaze fell to my hand before looking up at me, an eyebrow cocked.
"Hey guys!" Isabelle had appeared on the opposite end of the booth, Sebastian in tow. Jace tried to brush my hand away but I kept a firm grip, the idea of being able to do this while Sebastian was there oddly liberating. Isabelle and Sebastian squeezed into the booth. "So are you two like an item now?" Isabelle bubbled, clearly having sampled a few drinks herself over the course of the night. I let Jace answer. Sebastian's face was oddly stern.
"No. I'm keeping her company." Jace said simply, as I squeezed his thigh. His hand grabbed mine, pulling it from his thigh and returning it to my lap. Much to my surprise, his hand stayed with it, his fingers entwining with mine. I squeezed it lightly, placing my other hand on top of his. Isabelle gave us a playfully suspicious look. Sebastian just looked outright unpleased.
"Room for two little ones?" Simon was standing at the edge of the table, the blonde girl with him. Isabelle didn't look overly impressed but scooted along anyway, meaning I was now sat in between Jace and Sebastian. Isabelle between Sebastian and Simon. Jace's hand stayed firmly clasped within mine as I waited for the silence to be broken.
Thank you for reading and reviewing, follows and favourites! Really appreciate all of it! All of my love, until the next time! ~Sapph