This Chapter is for firequeen8569! Happy birthday! Your present is a hug from Jace :). And the chapter…though I'd probably be more excited about Mr. Herondale knocking at your door.

I sit in art class beside Jace, yet again. It's Friday, and I haven't spoken to Simon since French class on Monday. Just thinking about my best friend caused my heart to pang with jealousy. Jace makes it go away slightly, but it still feels as though someone has dug a crater into my heart. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I don't care. Kaelie has put me through too much hell for me to really care if I have an actual right to feel angry. I thought that we were closer than that. I figured that before Simon picked someone to make Izzy jealous, he might think about everyone. It didn't even have to be just me. Jace went out with Kaelie before, and I seriously doubt he wants to be near anyone that has any drama with her.

Said blond boy is sitting distractingly to my right as we both wait for the bell to ring. He has my hand in front of him on the table, playing with my fingers. I barely register his touch, though I am soothed by it subconsciously, until the tip of his index finger slides across my palm strangely. It tickles. I burst out in a small fit of giggles that carries way farther than I wanted it to in the still air of the classroom. I see a few people look back in our direction, and I flush before turning to look sharply at a wickedly smirking Jace. His eyes are glowing in mischief, and I find myself a bit nervous. "You never told me you were ticklish, Morgenstern."

"You never asked?" I say nervously, but it came out as more of a question. When exactly was I supposed to mention that I was ticklish?

"Don't sound so nervous," Jace says his smile positively wolfish now. "I would never dream of taking advantage of this newfound weakness."

Does anyone else detect sarcasm?

Before I can call him on his obvious bluff, our teacher, Mrs. Fray walks inside. "Hello, class," she says, a bright smile on her face. Her reddish brown hair is cascading down her back as she moves toward her desk, I see her grab a pencil and quickly wrap her hair in a sloppy bun behind her head and stick the writing utensil through the thick locks, pinning it in place. "Since all of you have turned in your sketches, it's time for a new project!"

Unlike all of our other classes, no one groans at the mention of a new project. We all sit excitedly in our seats, waiting for her to tell us what to draw next. "This one is going to take some creativity," she said, "Everyone has two people to a table now that Clary and Jace seemed to have taken residence in our last table." Once again, more people turn around to look at us. I choose to look at Jace instead, and Jace smirks at all of them and waves. "So, what you are going to do is draw your partner, but not just a normal version of them. There has to be something else to the picture, representing either what stands out about them most to you, or what you like most about their personalities."

The murmuring starts almost immediately, and Jace and I look at one another. Jace smirks, and says, "This one might be hard for you; I'm the picture of perfection, Clare. I know it'll be hard to find something else to add or emphasize."

"What about your big head?" I question. "That seems like a really good idea."

"You've wounded me," Jace says seriously. "I've always thought of myself as a modest person."

I just look at him quietly, and Jace can't keep up the straight face any longer. He cracks a grin and snorts. "You've got me," he sighs. "I'm conceited, but it's not unfounded. What are you going to do, then?"

I simply shrug and reply, "I don't know. You'll find out when it's finished. What about you?"

Jace smirks at me again, and says, "I don't know," he twirls a lock of my hair around his finger, and says in almost a whisper, "Maybe I'll draw your hair in a wreath of flames."

"Why not make it a halo?" I question dryly.

"A halo would make you sound angelic," he replies, almost immediately.

"You trying to say I'm not angel material?" I challenge, raising an eyebrow.

"Not to anyone but me," he winks.

I flush, and look down at the clean sheet of paper in my sketchbook. It gives me an idea of what I might want to draw.

"What if I can't get your nose right?" I question Jace humorously as we walk out of the art room. His arm is around my shoulders, and I am leaning against his side comfortably. I don't mind this arrangement at all, especially when we get outside. He takes the brunt of the impact of the frigid winds, and keeps me completely warm. I don't know how it is possible to emit so much warmth, but he is the best person in the world because of it.

"I'm sure that you'll get my nose just fine," Jace chuckles.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'm sitting you down and we're going to stay face to face until you memorize what my nose looks like, and how large it is in proportion to my face," he replies.

"I might just get it wrong on purpose," I say with a laugh.

"You're not helping my ego when you talk like that," he says seriously. "I can feel it swelling by the minute."

"Oh dear," I say. "I shouldn't cause your ego to swell. I'm pretty sure that it's a crime in some places."

"Punishable by death," Jace says solemnly. "Can you imagine people walking around thinking that they even look nearly as good as I do? Take my cousin, Will for an example."

I snort. William Herondale was a very fine specimen indeed. With his black hair that contrasted deliciously against his blue eyes, he was someone that came second to only Jace in my eyes. "Will doesn't exactly look bad," I defend, since he isn't there to argue with his cousin about his looks.

"There's a difference between not looking bad," Jace says, "and looking like I do. Will has deluded himself into believing that he looks somewhere close to as good as I do, and that's just sad."

I roll my eyes and shake my head. "Sometimes too much conceitedness doesn't look good."

"I must be the exception to that rule," Jace replies cockily as we make it to his car. "Because I always look good."

I smirk as we make it to his Nissan, and as I am placing my things in his back seat, I say the one thing that will drive him insane. "Or so you think," I say as seriously as I can. "I mean, I've seen better."

I stand straight up and I see that he is still standing next to me. Before I can ask what he's doing, the back of his hand his against my forehead. "Jace?" I question worriedly.

"Shh," he says concernedly before he leans forward and pressed his lips against my forehead. The contact sends tingles through my body, but I don't show any reaction to it, choosing to simply stand still instead. "You don't have a fever, Clary; did you hit your head?"

"What makes you think I hit my head?" I demand.

"You're clearly delusional," he says seriously. "I mean, you just said that you've seen someone that looks better than me." He leans down so that our eyes are on the same level. "Do we need to take you to a doctor?"

I push on his chest weakly as I laugh, "Really, Jace?"

"What?" he asks me innocently, not letting me go. "I'm serious!"

I give him a look and he finally breaks out in a grin, "Fine! Tell me who you've seen that looks better than me."

"Why would I tell you that?" I question. "It'd bruise your ego so badly that I don't think it'd ever recover."

"Really?" Jace asks, and I can tell by the smirk on his face that he doesn't believe a word that I'm saying. I really need to learn how to lie. It would make my life so much easier.

"Really," I say, nodding my head, my eyes wide, and hopefully believable. "I mean, I'd never want to hurt you."

"It makes me wonder if he's better than me at everything," he says, his smile suddenly gone. His expression is a thoughtful one and I am unsure if it is truly thoughtful or if he is bluffing.

"What are you talking about?" I question, raising my eyebrows challengingly.

"You know," Jace says with a shrug. His hands, which are resting on my shoulders, glide smoothly down my arms and directly to my waist where they settle. I look at him, raising both eyebrows even further, "I kind of want to know if I'm a better hugger than him. Would you let me test this out on you?"

"I don't know," I say, "sounds pretty hazardous."

"It is," he replies seriously. "One embrace and you could fall in love with me."

"I've hugged you before, Jace," I reply, "I'm sure I can resist the temptation."

Jace smiles at me and his arms wrap around my waist tightly as he pulls me against his chest. I land there with a yelp. He doesn't stay upright for very long. He, instead, backs up and before I have time to really take in what's happening, his lips are smashed against mine. I am pretty sure that my heart is beating so sporadically that it should hurt, and that my blood is rushing through my body so quickly that I should be dizzy. Of course I don't really have any idea what I feel, other than absolute bliss, because my mind is no longer in my body. Jace has taken me somewhere in the clouds, and I am unsure of when I will actually touch back down. I don't care when I do, because if I am being honest with myself. I never want to see earth again. I like…no I love the feeling of his arms wrapped so tightly around me that I can't breathe and the feeling of his lips moving against mine so gently that it's practically teasing.

When he pulls away and rests his forehead against mine, I realize that my hands hadn't made it past his chest. Then again, I am so paralyzed by the warmth that was coursing through me that I am surprised that my arms had moved that much at all. I am breathing heavily as I looked into his bottomless golden pits, and find myself unable to resist returning the smile that he is giving me. I move my hands to cup his face before I can talk myself out of it, and bring his head back toward me. I want this, and I was done telling myself otherwise. He made me feel better and I'm not going to deny myself that opportunity.

His eyes widen fractionally, before they flutter shut again and his smile widens. He mutters something against my lips that I can't understand, but I don't really care. He is making me go insane by just the small brushes of his lips, against mine.

"Jace," I breathe when I finally let his face go.

He just smiles at me as though he knows what I am trying to say. I don't even know. "We need to get you home," he says quietly, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear gently. "Otherwise, your brother's going to kill me."

We make it to my house in good time. He opens my door, and offers me his hand, normally, I would have insisted that I am perfectly capable of getting out of a car by myself, but at the moment, I am eager for the opportunity to touch him, so I grab his proffered hand and he pulls me out gently. Before I can even suggest that he let me carry my bag, he is already opening the back door and shouldering it. He smirks at me before wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I reach my hand up and intertwine my fingers with the ones that are resting on my upper arm. He squeezes me fractionally tighter and I burrow into him slightly more snugly as we approach the door.

Jace opened it for me and we both walked in at once. I frown as I notice a head of blond hair sitting lowly on the loveseat. Jonathan was out with his new fling, Camille Somethingoranother, so unless the date had went badly, he shouldn't be home.

Jon turned around to look at us, and with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I realize that it isn't Jonathan at all…it's my dad.

"Clarissa," he says, his smile faltering as he sees Jace's arm wrapped around my shoulders. "What's going on?"

Alright! So, now it's time for the parents to find out! Who do you think is going to say what? And how hilarious should Valentine's reaction be to this entire thing? Oh, and two people so far have gotten Jon's admirer correct so far!

Once again, happy birthday, firequeen8569! I hope you enjoyed the chapter…I made it extra Clacey because I couldn't really make it extra lengthy. I hope the trade was a good one.

YesIWriteForFun, that was a typo, thanks for pointing it out. I'll fix it soon, if I don't forget lol.