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I sat on the bed next to Jace, my legs draped over his.
"Do you mind talking about it?" I asked, his eyebrows raised slightly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He said. I nodded my head.
"Why haven't you just gotten her to take a test? Rather than waiting for a scan?" I questioned. It had been bothering me since he'd first mentioned it.
"Alec." Jace said simply.
"Alec knows?" I said confused.
"Alec is the most rational person I know. I couldn't go to my parents. I didn't want to tell you because I wasn't sure how you'd react. Alec told me not to trust pregnancy tests. He said once I'm at the hospital and that scan is in front of me then I have to believe she's pregnant. Then if and when she gives birth, I'll get a DNA test and we'll go from there." I nodded along.
"I think Alec has been watching a few too many soap operas." I smirked. "But seriously, if you're not even sure that she is pregnant why are you letting her dictate your life?" I had to ask.
"Before I was adopted Clary, before that all knew was deadbeat dads. I've told you about my mum, I couldn't do that to a kid. I don't want to risk that that child is mine and that I fob her off. Even if the child isn't mine, at least I know in my head that I did everything right by myself."
"At the same time though, you can't let her walk all over you Jace." I said honestly. He looked at me sighing. "Sorry if that's harsh but it's how it looks to me. There's nothing wrong with helping her out but you need to draw some sort of line."
"I understand that." Jace held my hand. "I'm sorry for shutting you out Clary. How about we spend the next week together? You haven't already got plans have you?" I shook my head. "I'll let you know every time she gets in touch and you can help me figure out if she's just taking the piss, fair?" I nodded, cuddling into the crook of his arm. "I really appreciate this Clary, giving me a chance." Once my questions were answered, I fell into an easy sleep cuddled up against Jace's side.
I awoke early the next morning to Jace's phone blaring. Struggling from his grasp, I tried to tap his chest to wake him up. He started to stir just as his phone was powering down. Once he had woken up, he checked his phone. 9 missed calls and 7 messages from Lana. The messages went from 'Can you call me?' to full on cursing him out. Jace sighed before dialling her number back.
"Hello?" I started busying myself around the room, trying not to eavesdrop. "Right, okay. Where's this? Fine. I'll be 10 minutes." He looked at me once he was finished on the phone, apologetically. "She wants to know if I can take her to the doctors."
"I see." I said as Jace started getting himself ready.
"You're coming." Jace said simply, heading into the bathroom. I followed him in, shaking my head.
"Do you really think that's a good idea?" I asked. Jace smiled over at me.
"I think so. We're in a relationship Clary. Lana knows that. It's not as though I'm dragging you to her scan. There's no invasion of her privacy here. If the child is as mine as much as she says it is, then I have every right to tell my girlfriend." I was still looking unsure. When I meant that Jace stopped letting her walk all over him, I didn't mean this. "I want you to come."
"Alright then. I'll come." I agreed, pulling my socks on.
I was a bundle of nerves sitting in the front of Jace's car as we drove down the road. It was hard not to feel out of place. I placed my hands within my lap and kept my eyes on the road ahead. Lana emerged from her house as soon as she saw the front of Jace's car pull up. She was dressed in a pair of booty shorts and a vest t-shirt, a smile painted all over her face. That look quickly changed when she caught sight of me sitting front and centre. She opened the door to the back, and popped her head in.
"Jace. Can I have a word in private please?" She eyed me angrily. Jace looked back at her leisurely.
"Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of Clary." He put simply. She huffed, climbing into the back of the car.
"Why is she here?" She said bitterly, pulling her seatbelt on. I am here you know. I rolled my eyes and looked out of the window.
"Clary is my girlfriend. I wanted her here. It's as simple as that." Lana crossed her arms and her legs in sync, looking out of her own window with a pout on her face.
"You're going to end up making me lose this baby if you keep stressing me out like this." Lana grumbled under her breath. I couldn't contain myself. I span in my seat to face her in the back.
"That is a really horrible thing to say Lana." I said honestly. "All Jace has done is went out of his way to help you at every opportunity."
"This has nothing to do with you. Why are you even here?" Lana growled at me. I shook my head. I couldn't be bothered with this.
"Jace, just let me out. I'll catch up with you later. I'm not in the mood to play games."
"Clary, I want you here." Jace tried to affirm but I'd made my mind up.
"Text me when you're done okay? I'm good to get out here." I tried to ignore the smile Lana was now adorning in the back seat. I leant over, kissing Jace on the lips sweetly before hopping out of the car. The walk home was a long one but it was a nice day and I wasn't bothered about getting a little fresh air. As I was walking past a fruit and veg stall, I span around when someone called my name. Sebastian came running out from alongside it, laden with bags.
"Is everything alright?" He asked walking next to me. I nodded my head, walking. "Are you not talking to me because Jace would get annoyed if he saw you with me?"
"Jace doesn't care who I talk to. I just think he'd wonder whether I'd lost my mind." I said plainly, crossing the road.
"I just want to make things up to you Clary, I know it will take a while. But I'm willing to try. Do you want some fruit?" I looked at him like he had two heads.
"You think fruit is going to solve this?" I asked.
"Well no, but I thought a bit of vitamin C or something might perk you up a little." I had to laugh.
"Actually, I would like an orange." I held my hand out and he placed one in my palm. "You haven't laced this have you?" I questioned. He looked at me down his nose. "I'm sorry, it was a joke." He kept walking alongside me as I pulled my orange apart.
"So I hear Lana is pregnant, that's a bit unfortunate isn't it?" He commented, completely out of the blue. I spat pieces of orange everywhere. "Sorry, I didn't mean it to come out so sudden."
"Have you orchestrated this?" I asked immediately. "Is this one of your games to try and push me and Jace away from one another?" Sebastian shook his head.
"No, I only heard about it today. Orchestrated it? I wouldn't dream of it."
"How do you know then?" I questioned, watching him like a hawk.
"Jordan told me." Sebastian shrugged, fishing around in his fruit bag.
"How?"
"Because she's told one of Jordan's friends that he might be the father? What's his name again – Carl? Chris? Something like that." He shrugged, taking a bite.
"So how is it unfortunate for me?" I queried.
"Well because Jace is the other potential father isn't he? At least that's what Jordan told me?" Sebastian shrugged. Did Jace know this? That he only had 50% chance of being a father? Why wasn't she making this Chris/Carl character run around and do all of her bidding? "I'm assuming Jace doesn't know that he's one of two?" Sebastian asked. I shook my head.
"He hasn't a clue."
"Are you going to tell him?"
"I'm going to have too." I sighed. "I need to know more about it though. I need to speak to Jordan. Do you know where he is?"
"He's waiting for me back at the flat. You can tag along if you want."
I headed along with Sebastian, all the way to their college dorms. Jordan was doing pull ups in the doorway when we arrived. He quickly hopped down when he saw us.
"Dare I ask?" He looked between us, like something was amiss.
"I need to ask you something actually. About Lana." I said. Jordan instantly looked at Sebastian.
"You weren't supposed to say anything."
"I already knew Lana was pregnant. I was just under the assumption that there was only one potential father." I told him.
"There's two. Jace and Chris." Jordan said. "Lana told Chris that he could be the dad, but that there's also another potential father. Jace."
"Well Lana has told Jace that it's just him."
I left ten minutes later, thanking Jordan for the information. Jace had offered to pick me up and I waited for him a little while away from the dorms just so that he didn't think I'd been playing into Sebastian's hands again.
"I need to talk to you." I said to him as soon as I climbed into the car.
"Shoot." He said, seemingly in a good mood.
"It's about Lana."
"What about her?" He was stiffening up a little bit.
"Someone else thinks they might be the father as well."
"Where have you heard this?"
"Jordan told me."
"And it's not one of Sebastian's games?"
"No. It's his friend Chris or someone." I was starting to feel a little under pressure.
"Right." Jace said simply before turning his car around in the middle of the road.
"Where are we going?"
"Lana's. I'm going to ask her outright about this."
I sat in silence as we travelled the rest of the way. Jace's temper was almost off the charts, his hands almost crushing the steering wheel under his grip. He skidded to a halt outside of her house and crossed her front yard in as little as four steps before pounding on the door. Lana opened the door a fraction before telling Jace to come in. He stepped over the threshold but I could hear the shouting from where I was sat inside the car. He emerged from the house a few moments later, his hair was out of shape and his hands were balled at his sides. He opened the door, climbed into the car and took off once more, all in silence. I sat in the front seat, watching out of the window, waiting for him to talk to me. We reached his house and I followed him silently up to it. Nobody was home. I followed him straight up the stairs and into his bedroom. We sat there in silence for a good while. Jace seemed to be in his head while I thoroughly investigated my cuticles. I was taken aback when Jace's face was right in front of my own kissing me deeply as his hands lifted me effortlessly from the bed, placing me in his lap. I kissed him back but his kisses were desperate and hungry. I pressed my hands firmly against his shoulders, pulling myself back from him. He grumbled, flipping me so that I was under him, his lips finding my own once more. He kissed down my throat, down my collarbone as I said his name lightly, warningly. His hands found their way up the side of my shirt and I pushed him away with my legs as I stood on the opposite side of the bed.
"I just want to forget it ever happened, I need a distraction." He shook his head, sitting himself down on the bed.
"This is not how this is going to go down Jace. We're going to talk about it. What happened in that house?" I asked, walking around the bed but standing far enough away so that I was out of his grasp.
"Clary, please." He reached out for me, wanting human contact. I shook my head. I wasn't going near him when he was like this.
"Get it off your chest Jace. Then I'll give you a cuddle." His face was filling with rage.
"She had someone in there." He grunted. "I asked her, what about the baby?" Jace's breathed deep and heavy as he tried to calm himself. It wasn't working, his face was filling with colour. "She said she'd fucking lost it. Today." He wiped a hand down his face as he tried to regain composure. Somehow deep down I'd just been waiting for this to happen. I kept my distance as Jace muttered under his breath, his hand still over his face.
"Do you want me to leave?" I asked, hanging over near the door. He looked up at me through tear-stained eyes as though he was looking at me for the first time since we had arrived here.
"Never." He climbed to his feet and approached me. I was no longer scared as he wrapped his arms around me and lifted me like I was weightless. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, my legs around his waist and we just stood there. Holding one another.
Thank you for reading! I always appreciate feedback!
All of my love, until the next time!
~Sapph