Thank you for joining me for another instalment of Perfection Incarnate! Let's join Clary on her trek home from wherever the hell Sebastian dumped her.

I decided to conserve my phone's energy by turning off every app, turning down the brightness and shoving it into my pocket. It was starting to get chilly. I checked the time on my phone. 1 o clock. School would be out soon. Jon had messaged me again.

Jon: Are you alright C? x

I didn't answer. I didn't want him to know where I had been. I'd been walking for an hour and hadn't gotten anywhere fast. My phone vibrated in my pocket once more.

Sebastian: I made it back for Art – where are you?

I roughly placed my phone back in my pocket. As if he was taking the piss out of me. He knew fine well where I was. Walking along a strange road, freezing my arse off. I didn't even know if I was walking in the right direction for the most part. I was going off the signs. Thirty minutes later, a little more stretch of road walked and I had another message.

Jon: You're really starting to worry me now.

Jace's POV

Jon came rushing up to me when the final bell rang, his face flushed of colour. He was twitchin, anxiously.

"You alright mate?" I asked, as Jon grabbed my arm and pulled me out towards the exit. "Jesus Jon, what's the matter?"

"It's Clary. I still can't get in contact with her. Have you seen her?" I shook my head. I hadn't seen an awful lot of Clary over the last few days. I'd been working through some things. Things that I couldn't see or work out clearly if I was wrapped up with Clary. She consumed all of my attention, not through her own fault, more through my own fault. I offered to quickly drive Jon home, to check if Clary was there. Jon told me about how he'd been messaging her since I'd passed along Isabelle's message. He came out of the house five minutes later with a frown on his face.

"No luck?" I asked, he shook his head.

"I've got a bad feeling about this Jace."

Clary's POV

My legs were aching. My feet were aching. And then the heavens opened. Rain poured heavily and I scolded myself for not wearing a coat. Around three hours after I'd started walking, I finally started recognising where I was. Still, it was nowhere near home. My hair was hanging down limply, soaked. My arms were glazed with raindrops as I tried to pick up my pace, cursing Sebastian underneath my breath. A group of guys drove past me honking their horn and jeering out of the window. That's right, make fun of the girl who came out in the rain without a coat. 30 minutes later I reached main street and the relief of being twenty minutes from home set in. Yes I was frozen to the bone but being close to home made it feel a lot easier to deal with. I was already imagining sinking into a hot bath. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine the water rushing around me. The warmth flooding through my body and warming me to my core. Walking along my street was agonising. Every step seemed to take every ounce of effort and once I crossed the threshold of my house, I broke down in tears. My legs were like jelly as I ascended the staircase, stripping off my clothes as I went. By the time I reached my bathroom, I was just wearing my socks. I willed the bath to run faster, charging my phone as I waited. I decided to finally respond to Jon.

Clary: I'm home. Sorry to worry you.

His reply was instantaneous.

Jon: Where on earth have you been Clary?

Clary: I'm home now.

I also had a message from Sebastian. I flicked it open angrily.

Sebastian: Do you need me to come get you?

Clary: No. I managed myself. Thanks a lot.

After I'd soaked in the water long enough for my skin to return to relatively human colour, I wrapped my robe around myself and tucked myself in bed. I was already running a fever and sneezing like crazy. I felt like a complete mess. Curling up under the covers, I fell into a deep sleep. I woke up around an hour later, shaking violently. Jon was standing above me, shaking my shoulders. I looked up at him, coughing and spluttering. He looked livid. Jace was resting in the doorway, nonchalant. I made to glare back at him but ended up sneezing and nearly popping my eyeballs out of my head, it felt like my ribs were bursting. He placed his hand on my forehead momentarily before sighing.

"How long were you out in the rain?"

"A couple of hours." I shrugged, trying to grab for my pillow. Jon grumbled, heading downstairs most likely to get me some medicine.

"I can't believe you, Clary. Just when I think I've got you figured out, you go and do something stupid like this."

"It's just a cold, it'll pass." I mumbled, rubbing the blanket against my cheek.

"The cold is the least of my worries. I know that you met with Sebastian today."

"Ho-How?" I spluttered, genuinely confused.

"Because I'm not an idiot Clary. The same however, cannot be said for you."

"It's alright Jace, keep kicking me when I'm down."

"It's not my fault you went to meet Sebastian."

"You got me down in the first place." I regretted blaming Jace as soon as the words tumbled out of my mouth.

"Don't be so-" Jace started to talk but Jon was making his way back up the stairs. I turned over on my side, facing away from Jace – in anger, in embarrassment.

"Here, Clary. I've brought you some medicine. We'll talk about this in the morning. Get some rest." I was relieved that they were leaving me alone. However once I was by myself, the pain and the weariness started to kick in. Without their distraction, there was very little else I could do. Slamming my head into the pillow, I tried to fight the pain in my head, in my throat. I awoke hot and sweating, the room pitch black. I was desperate for a drink of water, desperate for something to soothe this burning that was coursing through my body at the speed of light. The more I walked, the hotter I burned. Standing at the top of the stairs, I held onto the bannister tightly as I tried to steady myself. I took one step and a deep breath in sync. I took another step. Desperation for a drink, mixed with my natural clumsiness and my running temperature, sent my feet flailing. A small 'oh' escaped my lips as I tumbled, falling endlessly until I hit the base of the stairs with a sharp crack. Suddenly I just wanted to sleep. Everything was aching and I was drifting. An overwhelming coldness overcoming the sudden heat.

Jace's POV

I woke up to screaming. Loud, piercing, say goodbye to sleep screaming. Jon stirred across the room, his mother shouting his name below me. Throwing on my jeans, I joined Jon in the doorway. At the sound of his mother's voice, he ran to the top of the stairs and looked on in shock when he stopped. Raising an eyebrow, I wandered over to where they were. Screams and crying – what on earth was going on? I could hear Clary's dad on the phone.

"Come now. Please. It's an emergency." He said desperately. And I craned my neck to try and get a look at what was going on. All I could see was Clary's mom sitting at the bottom of the stairs, holding something. Crying onto something. A flash of red and it suddenly all made sense. Clary was lying lifeless at the bottom of the stairs, her body at a crooked angle as her mother stroked her back, cupped her head. Whether it was for Clary's comfort or Joslyn's I wasn't sure. Her skin was deathly white, a streak of dried blood running from her mouth to her chin. And all I felt was that I needed to be the one holding her. I needed to be the one there with her in this moment. All of the pointless fighting. All of the bickering and the nitpicking wasn't worth it. Because I loved her. I loved her.

"Jon – is she – is she?" I mumbled, my brain not working properly.

"Mom." Jon said, trying to hold back tears and failing. It was the first time in my life I'd ever seen him cry. His mother stayed silent, cradling Clary like a child. I willed the ambulance to come faster. To be here now. In my head I wanted to blame Sebastian. I wanted to blame him for everything. For convincing Clary to go and meet him. For the state that she was in now. It would be easier. But the truth of the matter was that it wasn't just Sebastian. It was me. I'd been pushing her away. I'd pushed her towards him. It was as much my fault as it was his. If I'd taken the time last night to be kind to her, instead of rubbing in her face maybe she wouldn't be like she was now. What was it I'd even said to her last? Called her an idiot?

"Mom!" Jon shouted, descending the stairs, trying to manoeuvre around Clary's limbs.

"She's alive." His father reassured him. Jon knelt down next to his mother. She seemed to be barely holding it together. I moved myself in behind Jon, looking her over. Her eyes were firmly shut, her mouth slightly ajar. Who knows how long she'd been there? Jon read my mind.

"Did this just happen?" He asked. Her father shook his head, her mother looked up through tear-soaked eyes.

"She was freezing when I found her. She's so cold." Jon reassured his mother as I headed back up the stairs to retrieve a blanket. Joslyn looked at me with appreciation when I helped cover Clary with it. Getting this close to her was frightening, if I thought she looked white from afar I was sadly mistaken. Every vein in her body was highlighted, her skin an odd shade of blue. Her face was frozen solid. Her limbs at awkward angles. The only saving grace was that her chest was slowly rising and falling. Delicately. Where the hell was this ambulance?!

Clary's father was getting impatient, stomping around the hallway, daring not to look at his daughter. Jon was hovering over his mother's shoulder, desperate to be of service. Finally a knock at the door. Her father answered it within seconds directing the ambulance men to Clary. I grabbed Jon, pulling him up the stairs with me.

"Mate, what are you doing? I need to be there!" He protested, struggling under my grip.

"Get your clothes on Jon, I'll drive us through after the ambulance." I informed him as I threw a t-shirt on over my jeans.

"Are you sure? What about school?"

"Clary's more important. Come on, they'll be taking her quickly."

I wasn't wrong. By the time we got back out of his room, the medics were lifting Clary onto a stretcher. Her head was in a brace, Joslyn still hadn't let go of her hand. I clasped Jon's shoulder, firmly.

"She'll be alright." I reaffirmed to him and myself. He looked at me, doubtingly. "She's a fighter. She'll be fine." I hadn't convinced myself. We quickly bundled ourselves into the car and I had trouble keeping up with the ambulance as they sped off, sirens blaring. I dared a look at Jon, he was nearly as pale as Clary had been. I didn't have the words anymore, I had lost all mental function. I couldn't believe this was happening. Why was this happening? As we were pulling up to the hospital, Jon pulled his phone from his pocket, fumbling through the buttons.

"I need to message Simon. He needs to be here – in case.." Jon trailed off as he broke down crying in the passenger seat. I grabbed a hold of him pulling him into a hug. She had to pull through. She just had to.

Someone asked for more Jace chapters but somehow I don't think they meant in this context! Oops! I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter, please review to let me know how I'm doing and what you would like to see. All my love, until the next time ~Sapph