Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns all Mortal Instruments characters seen in this story.

I take one last glance around the room and notice the couples smiling happily at each other. I finally move from my spot in the corner and sit at the last table. I notice the detail in how the tables are set and I know immediately that Magnus did that. The candles in the round glasses with the rose petals surrounding it, the placement of the silverware, and the way each table is places at least 10 feet away from the others to give the feeling of privacy.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" I am pulled out of my thoughts by Jace. He's standing by the chair across from me wearing a white shirt and black jeans. I nod my head and I can't help but notice the muscles in his arms as he pulls the chair out to sit in it. "Where were you? After I turned on the lights and looked at how everything was set up, I went to talk to Magnus and Alec but I didn't see you," I say curiously.

"I was messing with the lights on the car."

"Oh," I say as I look down at the food on the plate. "Where did you get this? It looks amazing," I ask, looking down at the pasta in front of me. "Magnus got it somewhere," Jace says matter-of-factly. I look up at the ceiling again and ask, "How did you do this?"

"I had to figure out how to string all of the lights up while Magnus told me where to put them and Alec was out getting stuff," Jace says.

I stop looking up at the ceiling and look at Jace as I ask, "You put all these up yourself?"

"Yep. And I put all the tables in the specific order they're in now. By the time Alec got back with everything, all he had to do was help Magnus arrange stuff."

"So you did all the heavy lifting?"

He nods his head, "Unfortunately." I laugh and start eating. We talk about anything and everything as we eat and I have a smile on my face the entire time.

~.o.O.o.~

Jace POV:

"Jace, can you open this for me?" I look up at him from my position by the car and see that it's a can of glitter.

"Magnus, we are not putting glitter anywhere," I say.

"But Jace…glitter goes with everything."

"Um-no. I am not opening one container of glitter. You have no idea how hard it is to get out of clothes…and hair!" Magnus crosses his arms and glares at me. I repeat the action back to him and we stand like that for a good minute before my phone vibrates. I get it out of my back pocket and look at the text.

New Text Message from: Clary

Is it ready? –C

I type my response all the while telling Magnus that, "I am not putting glitter anywhere near me."

Yep –J

Her response is immediate.

Good cuz we're right outside the door. –C

"Guys, they're right outside the door," I say and the lights go off. No one is breathing. We're all waiting for Clary to turn on the lights. I know that Alec and Magnus have moved to the corner of the room while I go behind Izzy's car. I peek my head around the right side of it. This side has a direct line of sight to the light switch and the door.

I see the door open and Clary comes in first. I'd know her by her size anywhere. Then I see Izzy come in the room. The moment the door shuts, we are all plunged into total darkness. We covered the windows so it's really dark in here. "Clary, you stepped right by the light switch. Do you think you could turn it on? There's a step somewhere in front of me and I don't really want to trip on it," I hear Izzy say and then Clary speaks. "Of course," she says and flicks the light switch on.

I hear Izzy gasp and I see her cover her mouth with her hands, but I don't pay attention to her any longer. All my attention goes to Clary. She looks amazed and I am shocked at what she's wearing. Somehow, Izzy got her into white jeans with holes in the knees and a crop top. How she managed that, I have no idea. Clary must have really wanted this to work.

Some of the lights on the car are flickering so I decide to work on them while everyone gets settled. By the time I finish messing with the lights, I see that everyone is sitting down and is starting on their dinner. There weren't any tables for four people so Clary and I will have to sit together. It's not like I have an issue with that and I know Clary doesn't either. We've been best friends ever since we were 5.

I walk over to where Clary is sitting down and I can see that she's still in amazement from how the garage looks. "Do you mind if I sit here?" I pull her out of her thoughts and she nods. I pull out the chair and as I sit in it Clary asks, "Where were you? After I turned on the lights and looked at how everything was set up, I went to talk to Magnus and Alec but I didn't see you."

"I was messing with the lights on the car," I tell her.

"Oh," she says as she looks down at the food on the plate. "Where did you get this? It looks amazing," she asks, looking down at the pasta. "Magnus got it somewhere," I say matter-of-factly. She looks up at the ceiling again and asks, "How did you do this?"

"I had to figure out how to string all of the lights up while Magnus told me where to put them and Alec was out getting stuff," I say.

She stops looking up at the ceiling and looks at me as she asks, "You put all these up yourself?"

"Yep. And I put all the tables in the specific order they're in now. By the time Alec got back with everything, all he had to do was help Magnus arrange stuff," I say and have flashbacks of those horrible moments.

"So you did all the heavy lifting," she asks me with one eyebrow raised.

I nod my head, "Unfortunately." She laughs and starts eating. We talk about anything and everything as we eat and I have a smile on my face the entire time because of her smiling.

~.o.O.o.~

Clary POV:

Dinner was amazing and Magnus and Alec agreed to cleaning the dishes and getting the table decorations out of here. That's it. They're not helping with anything else. That means I have to clean everything up and put everything away. I'm fairly positive that Jace isn't going to help me clean up unless I have to threaten him. Izzy and Simon already went inside to…do whatever it is they're planning on doing.

I decide to start cleaning up and grab a broom to clean up all the rose petals. It doesn't take as long as I thought it would and I finish sweeping within 30 minutes. I take the fairy lights off of Izzy's car and grab a step stool to get the lights off of the ceiling. This is a long job though. My arms constantly get tired and I have to put them down every few minutes. How did Jace do this?

I've finished about ¾ of the taking the lights down when Jace comes in. "I was wondering where you were," he says.

"Yeah, an hour later," I scoff. He steps up onto the driveway and starts to walk towards me. I am in the middle of the garage, trying to unhook lights from every possible surface on the ceiling. "Why didn't you ask me to help you?"

My eyes nearly pop out of my head at that statement. "You? Help willingly? Yeah, I'd like to see the day," I scoff again as I tell him this. He starts to defend himself, but I'm not having any of it. "Jace, we've been best friends ever since we were 5…I know you."

He shrugs his shoulders and moves even closer. "Want me to help you with that," he asks. I'm trying to reach a strand of lights that is just out of my reach. "No, I can get it myself," I tell him and push myself to reach it. I'm a klutz on the ground, so elevated a couple feet in the air can't be any better…and it's not.

My fingertips touch the lights…and then I feel the steps coming right out from underneath me. I somehow manage to fall backwards and I gasp. I feel myself falling and then I stop falling abruptly. I open my eyes, only to see two golden pools filled with worry staring back at me. "You okay?"

"Yeah…I'm fine," I respond breathlessly. That's when I realize how close we are…how close our lips are. Jace notices it too because we both stop breathing…waiting for the other to move first. A loud bang brings us back to our senses and I jump out of Jace's arms. "I-uh- thanks for helping me not fall," I tell him while looking down at the lights. I go on my knees and start to wrap up the lights, trying to hide my face, which is no doubt competing with my red hair.

"Yeah…uh-it's really not that big of a deal…" Jace says. I can feel how awkward it is in the room. This is the second time this has happened. I-I just don't know what to make of it. It was like we were being pulled together by an invisible force. Something was drawing me to him…but that sound brought us both back to earth.

"Well, I'm going to leave the rest of this for the others to do and I'm going to go to bed," I say as I head towards the door. "You coming?"

He nods his head and we head out the garage door. He starts up the stairs first. When we both get to the landing and are about to head up the second part of the stairs, the lights go out. It seems like the lights went out in our neighborhood because the door leading outside on the landing has no light coming in. Its pitch black.

I step back to see if I can see anything and, of course, I step off of the last stair we came up. I gasp and as I start to fall backwards, I feel Jace grab my arms. He pulls me into his chest to prevent me from falling. I look up to thank him just as he looks down to ask if I'm alright and our lips touch. We jump apart and this time, I jump into the wall. My lips feel strangely warm and I feel tingly all over. My legs feel weak, even though out lips touched…we didn't even kiss.

My hands go to my lips immediately and I look at the area where I think Jace is…it's absolutely black right now so I really have no idea where he is. The moon seems to have come into our line of vision so I can now see the rest of the stairs leading up. I grab a hold of the stair rail and head upstairs. When I reach the top of the stairs, I turn right and head towards the casita. I forget about the step down to the front part of the house and trip a little bit. I gain my balance back and finish my trek to the front door. I open the front door and shut it after me when I get outside in the entrance area. I forget about the two steps down and trip on those too.

I reach the door to the casita and just as I reach the doorknob, I hear Jace shut the front door. Just as I'm about to open the door, Jace grabs my arms and turns me around to face him. I wasn't expecting what he did next.

I look up at him from under my lashes and see that his eyes have an undertone of worry and…nervousness? I stand completely still as his hands move up from my shoulders to my cheeks. I part my lips to drag more air into my lungs and I see his eyes dart from my eyes to my lips. My breathing becomes shallower when I see in his eyes that he's made a decision. All of a sudden Jace crashes his lips to mine.

My eyes flutter closed and I put my hands on his arms to steady myself. I can feel all the muscles in his arms and when we part for air, I inhale sharply. He pulls himself fully away from me and I feel cold immediately. He looks panicked and he starts to apologize. "Clary…I'm so sorry…I-I don't know what came over me…I'm-." I cut him off as I wrap my arms around his neck and pull his lips to mine again. His arms wrap around my bare waist and we stand there, kissing in between the front door and the wooden gate…in front of the door to the casita, for what feels like the best version of forever.