AN: Okay, so there's an issue with the Instagram account name. The Fan Fiction website won't let me post that for some reason so if you're interested in checking out or following the account check my Bio on my home page. Also, I am so sorry that I haven't posted in a while. High school takes a lot out of you!

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

This kiss is different from all the other kisses we've had. This one is filled with passion and love. As his lips press against mine, I move my arms to wrap around his neck while his move to wrap around my waist, pulling me closer. There's no space in between us but I still feel too far apart from Jace. The closeness makes me shiver. When we break apart Jace says, "You should get in the shower. You're still soaked."

I look up at him to protest and see the serious look written all over his face. I know not to fight with him when he looks like that. All arguments that I have had with him when we were younger were lost when he wore that face. I turn and head towards the casita to take my shower and when I get to the front door, I open and turn to say one last thing to Jace. I peek my head around the door and see him looking at me. "Oh, and I didn't shiver because I was cold." I shut the door and head into the casita.

~.o.O.o.~

The next day

I'm enjoying my time relaxing at the beach, listening to the ocean when none other than Isabelle Lightwood breaks the quiet atmosphere around me. "CLARY!" I look over at Izzy from my position on the beach and see that she's waving at me from the stairs. I groan as I make my way up to my feet. I was so relaxed...why did she have to interrupt me?! I get to the stairs and she looks at me curiously. "Iz...what was so important that you had to scream at me from the stairs and get not only my attention, but the attention of others on the beach," as I ask her this a random guy cat-calls her to prove my point.

She rolls her eyes and says, "There are only two weeks left of summer vacation and tomorrow there's going to be a party at a house farther down the beach that we are going to, so I thought I'd give you one last day to see Jace before I take you shopping with Magnus tomorrow-"

"Wait," I interrupt her, "why won't I see Jace tomorrow?"

"Oh...you are, but not until around 7 when we leave for the party."

"Seven? At night," I ask her and she nods with an evil smirk on her face. I am about to ask why I won't see him until 7 until I realize who it is that I am being forced to go shopping with...Isabelle 'I must go to every store in the mall' Lightwood, and Magnus 'I will not rest until every store has been graced by my sparkly presence' Bane. I've made the mistake of shopping with them before and let's just say that I didn't get home until 11 o'clock at night...our journey started at 8 in the morning...that's12 hours of shopping!It would have been 14 hours, but I had to remind them to eat.

"No," I simply state.

"Yes," Izzy replies easily with a Cheshire cat grin.

"No, Izzy. I'm not going."

"Yes, Clary, you're going. If you don't go, then I will be forced to tell Jace-"

"Tell him what," I cut her off, "He's been my best friend since…forever. He knows everything."

She smirks and says, "What about that time you slept over at my house because he was on one of his…let's call them 'dates' even though we both know that they weren't even close to dates, and you fell asleep on the couch…" As she pauses, my eyes widen in realization as to what she's referring to. Her smirk gets even bigger as she says, "I was a nice friend and let you sleep through the movie because I knew you were tired after taking that test from hell…but during the movie…I heard something. I paused the movie and looked over at you because I didn't know if it was you or not and…lo and behold, it was you... Now, I couldn't make out what it was that you said because it was only a one-syllable word and you were talking so quietly. So, naturally, I leaned towards you and I still couldn't understand what it was that you said."

I feel my face begin to heat up because I know exactly where she's going with this… "I got up off my chair and knelt down right in front of you on the couch. You were curled up into a little ball with the blanket I gave you almost covering your mouth…when you said that word again, I could barely hear it because it was muffled but, I was able to make out that one word you said…'Jace' was that one word. I was shocked when I heard that and punched you in the arm to wake you up and when you woke up I jumped on you with questions. 'Why were you dreaming about Jace?' 'What was your dream of him about?'…you get the gist. Well, all you responded was, 'Yes, I was dreaming about Jace but, that's because I miss him. Even though I saw him earlier today, I feel as though we're drifting apart.'"

I swallowed hard and feel that my face is on fire as she continues, "But that smooth little lie didn't last forever…you and I both know what it was that you were dreaming about. I don't think you told him that now, did you?" She's got me…I have no excuse for that so I just stand there waiting for her to say something else. "No…you didn't tell him. It'd be a shame if he did find out…don't you think?"

My eyes dart up to hers in shock. "You wouldn't," I say quietly.

"Oh, I think we both know that I would," she tells me in a mockingly innocent tone with a look that says 'try me' on her face.

"You're evil," I glare at her.

She smiles and replies, "I know…I have been told that by Alec on many occasions."

If looks could kill….

~.o.O.o.~

I have showered and thought of 20 different ways to get out of shopping tomorrow, but I know that's not going to happen. No excuse works around Izzy and Magnus when their shopping…I know this for a fact…I've tried. I walk into the entry hall and slow my walk to the kitchen as I see Jace sitting at the island bar looking at something on his phone with an expression of…well, panic, worry, and concern. I've never seen him look like this before and I can feel how tense he is even though I am a good distance away from him. He is so concentrated on what's on his phone that he doesn't notice me until I gently walk over to him and place my hands on his tense shoulders as I quietly say, "Jace? What's wrong?"

He looks up at me from over his shoulder and says, "What? Oh, nothing is wrong, I'm just thinking." As he says this, I see him wipe all emotion from his face that could give away his worry about something. I move so I'm on the other side of the island and look into his eyes, only to see walls behind them. I know that he doesn't want to talk about…whatever it was, so I just stay silent, looking at him. After a few seconds, he averts his eyes from mine and I somehow manage to keep a gasp inside. I'm pretty sure that my face looks as hurt as I feel. He has never done this before…not after our first kiss, not before we kissed and our relationship was identified as 'Best Friends'…not ever… Something is really really wrong…

I somehow manage to reign in my shock long enough to move my feet away from the island where I was just standing and walk over to the fridge. I glance at the clock on the microwave below me and see that it's 12:30. I tug on the door to the fridge until it opens and then reach a shaky hand up to get some leftovers from last night. I shut the door and walked over to the cabinet to get two bowls for the yellow rice and chicken we had last night. I put the food in both bowls and then walk over to the microwave and lean down to gently place them in there. I feel like I'm watching myself do all of this from outside my body…still shocked from the way Jace looked away from me.

The microwave beeping at me shakes me out of whatever daydream I have fallen into. I take the bowls out of the microwave and walk over to where Jace is and place a bowl in front of him. "Clary," I hear distantly, "Clary," I hear again, this time closer and fingers snap in front of my face. I look up, shocked at Jace. "Is this for me," he gently asks as if he was afraid to speak. I nod my head mutely and he quietly responds, "Thanks."

I walk around the island and sit one seat away from Jace. We eat in awkward silence until Jace's phone beeps, signaling a text. He pick up his phone and lets out a satisfied, "ha." I keep my head down, still looking at my now empty bowl when Jace says, "Guess what?"

"What," I reply, feeling the awkward atmosphere slowly dissipate.

"Since it's our senior year and I told Coach that I'd be playing hockey again next year on the last day of our junior year, he already held tryouts early this year and apparently, I'm on the team even though I didn't participate in tryouts," he stands as he says this and leans against the white marble countertop.

"How do you know that you're on the team," I ask knowing that the atmosphere has turned into a comfortable one…but you can still feel the sparks in the air.

"Well," he drags out and as he smirks I know that my Jace has returned, "Coach asked the guys to vote for the captain and said to keep in mind that I'll be on the team but I couldn't make it to tryouts, so…you are looking at the new captain of the Varsity Hockey team."

I gasp and squeal as I launch myself out of my seat and hug Jace. He laughs and wraps his arms around me, returning the hug. "I can't believe it! This is so awesome! Now you're going to have a new nickname if you tell me what your number is," I am smiling as wide as possible but it fades a little bit when I see Jace's face. His face looks serious and I loosen my hold and step out of his embrace. "What's wrong," I tentatively ask, hoping to not have a repeat of whatever happened earlier.

"Nothing, I just…I'm trying to see if I remember what I told Coach I wanted my number to be this year…" He puts his hand on his chin in thought and looks down as he says, "You know…I think it was 17."

His eyes look at mine as I ask, "17," and then he smiles as I gasp and delight washes over my face. 17…the day I agreed to be his girlfriend. I launch myself at Jace again and he laughs again and says, "How does it feel to be the girlfriend of the captain of the hockey team?" Our football team isn't the best but our hockey team has won the title of State Champion every year and for the past 3 years, we have won the National Champion title. The guys on the football team aren't even that good looking, but the hockey team…fans self dramatically because of Jace. Ever since he joined the team with his good looks (I can't deny that he isn't gorgeous) the rest of the team actually tries too.

He leans down and captures my lips in a quick, sweet one second kiss and then I am lifted onto the countertop. "Amazing, but shouldn't I be asking you how it feels to be captain, Captain?" He laughs and says, "Captain? Hmm, I'm not sure about that…got any others?" I rest my arms around his shoulders and he places his hands on the countertop near my hips. I scrunch up my face and look to my left in concentration and Jace kisses the tip of my nose. I look back up at him and say, "How about 'Seventeen'? Nobody but us will know why you chose the number '17' so it sounds like I'm calling you that because it's your number."

"'Seventeen'…yeah I like that," he says and then pulls me into a kiss that matches the one from last night, if not more passionate.

When we pull away for air, we close our eyes as he rests his forehead against mine and we are both trying to catch our breath. I catch just enough breath to say, "Damn Seventeen." I open my eyes at the same time Jace does and from what I can see, his golden eyes turn a shade darker. He pulls away a couple of inches and nods his head vigorously before saying, "Oh yeah, I like-no love- 'Seventeen.'"

Next thing I know, his lips are on mine again, pressing hard as my hands tangle their way into his hair while his grip my waist. Damn…he sure can kiss.