p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="500d18030e7b40ae20988eaf83c8b5c2"C.P.O.V/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="38ede5cbf47c693474c49ae860471604"I had been released from the hospital two days ago, and life could not be better and as confusing as it had been. Simon and Isabelle announced that they were dating, which resulted in hugs and then me being the third wheel at a movie. But still, I was happy for them. Jace and I had talked a couple times since then, although I felt like there was an awkwardness between us. My mom had failed to explain what those letters from Valentine were doing in the trash and why he had called us. He had obviously found us, but why wasn't he doing anything? My mom had gone to the police and filed a restraining order against him, but I doubt it would make him go away. For the last day, I had been drifting in and out of my memories of my "old life" and had been drawing much more than I used to. I wasn't depressed, I was just so angry, so upset, that he had found us. Would my mom make us move? Away from Luke? Away from Jace? I guessed Jace still wondered why I had fainted like that, but some secrets were better left untouched, even if it was Jace that I was telling them to. We had the 4 day weekend, and it was Monday, so I only had two days left until I had to go back to school. I drew almost everything I could see, and of course, watched Netflix. My mom and Luke had left almost an hour ago to go out to dinner, but I had politely declined when asked to go with them. I just felt like staying at home, eating my chips and ice cream while watching How I met your Mother. I had just finished my snacks, when the doorbell ran. I froze. What if it was him? I carefully and quietly walked up to the door and said "Who is it"? "Well" someone replied, "I'm the one who you had an ice cream fight with". Jace. I opened the door and looked up. "I mean, I've had a lot of ice cream fights with people, so..". Jace smiled and held up mango ice cream and a bunch of movies. "We haven't talked in while, so I thought we could hang". "Jace, we haven't talked in two days" I giggled. "Still, I missed you". "I missed you too" I said. I took the movies and examined them. "Avengers, not bad" I said. " Only if you want to watch it" he replied. "Are you kidding? I love Marvel". "Clary Fray, are you a comic nerd?" I put the movie in, and then of course realized what I looked like. "Hey, Jace"? "Yeah?" "Do you mind if I go take a shower, I haven't had a chance to look in the mirror all day". "Sure" he replied. "Not that it matters, you'll always look beautiful". I mumbled some incoherent sentence and walked into the bathroom. I took the quickest shower I would probably ever take in my life time, put on a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and brushed my hair. I eventually gave up, knowing that my hair would just have to stay a knotted mess from the rest of the night. I walked out and saw Jace sitting on the couch, looking at pictures of me before I moved. He pointed to a little me with pigtails, and an unsmiling man. "Is that your dad"? I nodded. My throat had suddenly become dry. "Where is he"? "I don't know, hopefully far away from here" I said, not meaning to let the last part slip out. Jace grabbed my hand. "Clary, was he the man on the voicemail"? "Jace I don't want to talk about this." I hadn't realized I was crying until I felt a tear fall on my hand. I was so stupid, so weak for crying in front of him. It felt like the hundredth time. I stood up quickly, attempting to free myself from his grip. I couldn't let him know, he would think of me differently, he would pity me. He would never look at me the same if he knew. I didn't know I had said that last part out loud until Jace spoke. "I would never, Clary". He stood up and put his arms around me, and in that moment I was in untouchable. Nothing could hurt me. "I would never" he repeated. He wiped my tears away and I sat down on the couch. I can trust him. I can trust him, I kept repeating to myself. "My father was an abusive, alcoholic man who is now trying to find us again". Jace's gold eyes flashed with anger, and I continued to tell him what had happened in my childhood. How I had moved from place to place after we left Valentine's home, how my mother and I were always scared, how I hadn't been able to trust anybody else with this secret. He reached his hand up to mine, and I clasped it tight. "You can trust me, Clary". "No kidding Goldilocks, I just told you this." I said. I saw something flash in his hand, and it was too late. Jace had covered my nose with mango ice cream, and I was laughing uncontrollably. I ran from the kitchen and grabbed the whipped cream and sprayed it at him. We had used up most of our desert, when I grabbed a napkin and yelled "Truce"! This time, Jace cupped my face with his hand, and there was no time to stop him. His lips met mine, and I was in heaven. He picked me up and carried me over to the couch and I didn't protest. Being with Jace felt right. This player I had met on the first day of school no longer existed but was instead replaced by a sweet guy. He ran his hands through my hair, and whispered "I've wanted to do that since I first saw you". We broke off the kiss, and our foreheads were still touching. We were gasping for air even though we hadn't been kissing for that long. I touched his face and stared into his eyes. "That was my first kiss, Jace" I breathed. "I know this is lame, but will you be my girlfriend, Clary"? I nodded. "As long as we keep the food fights to a minimum" I giggled. He grabbed a blanket, and pressed play on the movie. I was leaning on his shoulder, but I wasn't watching the movie, I was watching him. He was my guardian angel. I kissed his cheek and snuggled into his chest, safe from all the worries of the world./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="26478db11a74b3c8675f463fee30cba7" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f6d0a8b9643a421170173179bd734054"J.P.O.V/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="10c2ddd473b7a5413d30e312cb010766"Clary had kissed my cheek and not a minute later, fell asleep on my chest. She looked even more beautiful when she was sleeping. Her eyelids were fluttering with dreams, and her hand reached for mine, while she was sleeping. I held her hand and saw a smile light up her face. She had told me her secret, trusted me, and I knew I was in love with her. In little over a week, she had changed me. She had made me a happier person, a better person. Who knew someone that was little over five feet could make such a difference in my world. I paused the movie, laid Clary down on the couch, sleeping next to her, and holding her hand. I didn't care what her mom though, nothing mattered in this moment except me and her./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="38ede5cbf47c693474c49ae860471604"I had been released from the hospital two days ago, and life could not be better and as confusing as it had been. Simon and Isabelle announced that they were dating, which resulted in hugs and then me being the third wheel at a movie. But still, I was happy for them. Jace and I had talked a couple times since then, although I felt like there was an awkwardness between us. My mom had failed to explain what those letters from Valentine were doing in the trash and why he had called us. He had obviously found us, but why wasn't he doing anything? My mom had gone to the police and filed a restraining order against him, but I doubt it would make him go away. For the last day, I had been drifting in and out of my memories of my "old life" and had been drawing much more than I used to. I wasn't depressed, I was just so angry, so upset, that he had found us. Would my mom make us move? Away from Luke? Away from Jace? I guessed Jace still wondered why I had fainted like that, but some secrets were better left untouched, even if it was Jace that I was telling them to. We had the 4 day weekend, and it was Monday, so I only had two days left until I had to go back to school. I drew almost everything I could see, and of course, watched Netflix. My mom and Luke had left almost an hour ago to go out to dinner, but I had politely declined when asked to go with them. I just felt like staying at home, eating my chips and ice cream while watching How I met your Mother. I had just finished my snacks, when the doorbell ran. I froze. What if it was him? I carefully and quietly walked up to the door and said "Who is it"? "Well" someone replied, "I'm the one who you had an ice cream fight with". Jace. I opened the door and looked up. "I mean, I've had a lot of ice cream fights with people, so..". Jace smiled and held up mango ice cream and a bunch of movies. "We haven't talked in while, so I thought we could hang". "Jace, we haven't talked in two days" I giggled. "Still, I missed you". "I missed you too" I said. I took the movies and examined them. "Avengers, not bad" I said. " Only if you want to watch it" he replied. "Are you kidding? I love Marvel". "Clary Fray, are you a comic nerd?" I put the movie in, and then of course realized what I looked like. "Hey, Jace"? "Yeah?" "Do you mind if I go take a shower, I haven't had a chance to look in the mirror all day". "Sure" he replied. "Not that it matters, you'll always look beautiful". I mumbled some incoherent sentence and walked into the bathroom. I took the quickest shower I would probably ever take in my life time, put on a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and brushed my hair. I eventually gave up, knowing that my hair would just have to stay a knotted mess from the rest of the night. I walked out and saw Jace sitting on the couch, looking at pictures of me before I moved. He pointed to a little me with pigtails, and an unsmiling man. "Is that your dad"? I nodded. My throat had suddenly become dry. "Where is he"? "I don't know, hopefully far away from here" I said, not meaning to let the last part slip out. Jace grabbed my hand. "Clary, was he the man on the voicemail"? "Jace I don't want to talk about this." I hadn't realized I was crying until I felt a tear fall on my hand. I was so stupid, so weak for crying in front of him. It felt like the hundredth time. I stood up quickly, attempting to free myself from his grip. I couldn't let him know, he would think of me differently, he would pity me. He would never look at me the same if he knew. I didn't know I had said that last part out loud until Jace spoke. "I would never, Clary". He stood up and put his arms around me, and in that moment I was in untouchable. Nothing could hurt me. "I would never" he repeated. He wiped my tears away and I sat down on the couch. I can trust him. I can trust him, I kept repeating to myself. "My father was an abusive, alcoholic man who is now trying to find us again". Jace's gold eyes flashed with anger, and I continued to tell him what had happened in my childhood. How I had moved from place to place after we left Valentine's home, how my mother and I were always scared, how I hadn't been able to trust anybody else with this secret. He reached his hand up to mine, and I clasped it tight. "You can trust me, Clary". "No kidding Goldilocks, I just told you this." I said. I saw something flash in his hand, and it was too late. Jace had covered my nose with mango ice cream, and I was laughing uncontrollably. I ran from the kitchen and grabbed the whipped cream and sprayed it at him. We had used up most of our desert, when I grabbed a napkin and yelled "Truce"! This time, Jace cupped my face with his hand, and there was no time to stop him. His lips met mine, and I was in heaven. He picked me up and carried me over to the couch and I didn't protest. Being with Jace felt right. This player I had met on the first day of school no longer existed but was instead replaced by a sweet guy. He ran his hands through my hair, and whispered "I've wanted to do that since I first saw you". We broke off the kiss, and our foreheads were still touching. We were gasping for air even though we hadn't been kissing for that long. I touched his face and stared into his eyes. "That was my first kiss, Jace" I breathed. "I know this is lame, but will you be my girlfriend, Clary"? I nodded. "As long as we keep the food fights to a minimum" I giggled. He grabbed a blanket, and pressed play on the movie. I was leaning on his shoulder, but I wasn't watching the movie, I was watching him. He was my guardian angel. I kissed his cheek and snuggled into his chest, safe from all the worries of the world./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="26478db11a74b3c8675f463fee30cba7" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f6d0a8b9643a421170173179bd734054"J.P.O.V/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="10c2ddd473b7a5413d30e312cb010766"Clary had kissed my cheek and not a minute later, fell asleep on my chest. She looked even more beautiful when she was sleeping. Her eyelids were fluttering with dreams, and her hand reached for mine, while she was sleeping. I held her hand and saw a smile light up her face. She had told me her secret, trusted me, and I knew I was in love with her. In little over a week, she had changed me. She had made me a happier person, a better person. Who knew someone that was little over five feet could make such a difference in my world. I paused the movie, laid Clary down on the couch, sleeping next to her, and holding her hand. I didn't care what her mom though, nothing mattered in this moment except me and her./p