Time. Such a simple thing, and yet so powerful. With each passing day, the ache in Jace's heart became more and more bearable. It was less that the pain was fading, and more like he was growing strong enough to withstand it. Spending time with Annika helped. He sometimes saw her at the gym. They often talked about being on a university level sports team, and other such things they had in common. Sometimes she brought up classes she'd taken or drama's her friends were having and he replied in kind. They were nice conversations, and when he was talking to her it was easier to forget about the pain for a while.

Since Clary was spending half her nights at Simon's and half of them at Magnus's, Jace never really went over to Alec's anymore. Instead his best friend came to visit him. Maybe one day Jace would feel ready to see Clary again, but he wasn't there yet.

"But you said hanging out with Annika was helping?" Alec reminded him. They'd been sitting on Jace's couch for the last hour, Alec being kind enough to listen to Jace whine for most of that time.

"It is but," Jace sighed. "Oh I don't know, a part of me is starting to wonder if I should have taken Paige up on her offer last November."

"Well that ship's well and truly sailed now buddy. She went on a date."

"With who?"

"No clue," Alec replied. "But she won't stop talking about it. She's all bubbly and humming to herself. It's weird."

"Yeah well what ya gonna do," Jace sighed.

"Obviously you need to hang out with Annika more," Alec answered the rhetorical question.

"We just like, you know, work out and stuff," Jace shrugged. "I don't know what she wants."

At that Alec raised his eyebrows at Jace. "Oh really?" he mocked. "You can't think of one little thing that might get a girl to pay attention to you."

But Jace just rolled his eyes. "I'm a mess. What girl wants that?"

"You're a hot mess," Alec sniggered. "There's a difference." Jace threw a pillow at him.

"Wait a minute," Jace said, suddenly stopping everything he was doing. It was like a light bulb had been clicked on. "I know someone else who's been humming and bubbly lately. Jon! Could it be?"

"Ohh maybe," Alec said. "I don't know Jon very well. Is he Paige's type."

"Well Paige is like the most domestic person I know," Jace continued. "And Jon is way worse than me when it comes to the picket fence life. He's told me a bit about what happened with his ex." Jace punched the air. "I bet that's who she's seeing. Oh wow it really is a small world, isn't it."

"I think Clary set them up," Alec said, looking unsure as he spoke.

"Makes sense," Jace replied. "And don't look so worried. You can say her name you know."

"Oh," Alec said, relaxing a little.

"She will always be the first woman I ever loved," Jace stated. "Nothing can change that."

"I still say you need to hang out with Annika," Alec continued. Jace narrowed his eyes at his friend trying to read the unspoken words on his face.

"Ah I get it, you think I need to get laid," Jace surmised.

"Hey, how long has it been since you were with anyone but Clary, huh?" Alec reminded him.

"Oh yeah, and how's that monogamous marriage working out for you?" Jace said, eyebrows raised.

"Perfect," Alec said. "Well except for John." He sighed. "Magnus's dad wants to have dinner again, but Magnus is still weary. I just don't get why. It's been ages now and he hasn't done anything bad. Why can't Magnus just accept him?"

"Because Magnus knows better," Jace whispered under his breath thinking about his own father.

"What did you say?" Alec asked.

"Nothing," Jace replied, deciding that bubbly Alec didn't need to hear about any more of Jace's demons today. "So what were we talking about before I started whining?"

"Ummm," Alec said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck the way he always did when he was nervous. "Nothing. That's kinda all you've done since I got here."

"Great," Jace sighed. "So I'm just basically a whiny bitch today."

"Hey I didn't say that," Alec said, his arms in the air as if in surrender.

"You didn't need to," Jace sighed. "Okay maybe you're right. I'll go hit the gym and see if she's there."

"You don't have her number?" Alec asked, surprised.

"Nope," Jace said as he stood up as if to leave. "You wanna tag along?"

"As much fun as it sounds being your third wheel at the gym, I'm gonna pass," Alec chuckled. "Gotta get home to the husband. Let's just hope he's had a better day than you or I'll spend the entire day listening to other people's problems."

"You could always try getting some problems of your own," Jace chuckled. "Then maybe everyone else wouldn't keep coming to talk to you about theirs."

"Ha ha," Alec replied. "I think I'll stick to happily married and under-employed, thank you."

"Gonna envy you on the one count," Jace replied. "But I totally understand the other one."

"Who said getting your bachelor's degree would be the easy part," Alec sighed.

"No one," Jace replied. "Is it too much to hope we can just have the summer to keep our old jobs and relax before real life starts?"

"Oh probably," Alec sighed. "Then again we could always just go back to school and get a Masters."

"You could," Jace chuckled. "My scholarship only covered the bachelors."

"Fair," Alec said awkwardly. Jace knew Alec was feeling more aware of the wealth difference between him and his friends since his parents made him learn it the hard way. It was probably good for him to be more aware even if sometimes it made him awkward.

With a farwell and a hug, Jace left his best friend's place and headed home to change. He moved past the items still there that he wasn't sure should or shouldn't be there - Clary's things - and got his gym clothes on before heading out.

Jace wasn't quite sure what he expected walking into the gym, but he was surprised to see that Annika wasn't there. And why should she be? After all it wasn't like she lived at the gym even if it was the only place he'd ever seen her before.

With a sigh, Jace decided he might as well get a work out while he was here. He could definitely use the stress relief. Sitting down in his favourite leg machine Jace started doing reps. One, two, three, one, two, three. With each repetition of his muscles it was like his mind calmed. Jace couldn't ever understand how people got by in life without working out. How did they keep their anxious impulses in check without the physical exertion he'd never know. It was somewhere he could always find peace no matter the level of chaos, where his mind was free to flow over his thoughts at will.

Jace hoped he hadn't annoyed Alec too much with all his whining. Sometimes it seemed to Jace that Alec had the patience of a saint, for he wasn't sure if the situation was reversed that he'd be as accommodating.

But no matter how he tried there was no keeping his mind off the topic he'd rather not think about, especially since that topic still technically lived with him. Sure, Clary hadn't really been home at all, but her stuff was still there. They couldn't exist in this limbo state forever. Jace knew he needed to ask her to move out, he just wasn't sure if he had the heart to. Where would she go?

It was so strange to think he'd spent all those months wanting nothing but her presence, and yet now he was working to avoid an encounter. And stranger still he'd come here today to meet someone else.

How had his world changed so fast?

"Hey stranger."

Jace had been staring at the wall across the room while his mind wondered, but now he turned to the voice and smiled without thinking.

"Annika," Jace replied.

"The one and only," she grinned as she sat down at a machine near him to begin her work out. As her clothes were still pristine, Jace was sure she'd just arrived. Today the red highlights in her hair weren't visible. Jace suspected the bad lighting in this corner of the room had something to do with it as well as her tight ponytail.

Jace stopped lifting the weights and sat still for a moment. Had he really come here to ask her out? Or was he just using her like a bandaid? Maybe it would be best if he just left?

"We really need to stop meeting like his," Annika laughed.

"Ah yeah," Jace replied, still unsure what he intended to do.

"You know there are these things that work really well," Annika began. "Small rectangular machines full of numbers that use those numbers to talk to people far away. You might've heard of them. They're called cell phones."

Jace couldn't help but laugh.

"It wasn't funny, but thank you," she replied.

Jace unfroze and turned to her. "I would love to exchange phone numbers," he said, deciding to get to the point.

"Perfect," she smiled as she pulled her cell phone out of a pocket in her leggings and handed it to him. She had the contact page open already, and Jace easily put his number in.

"Thanks," she said as she took the phone back.

"I left mine in the lockers," Jace said. "Balls in your court then."

Annika snorted. "Well that definitely isn't true," she replied.

"What do you mean?" Jace asked.

"If the ball was truly in my court," Annika answered. "We'd be way farther along than phone numbers." She winked at him, and Jace didn't know how to reply. It felt like forever since he'd done more than ignore or regret female advances. It was like diving back into something he'd never really done before. Sure, Jace had once been good at picking up girls in bars, but trying to find someone in a more serious way he'd never done.

"I- um," Jace began, but totally lost his train of thought. Luckily for him the gym was deserted, apart from the two of them, so there weren't many witnesses to his stumbling.

"I'm taking the ball out of my court if we are keeping with this silly metaphor," Annika said, as she typed into her phone. "And texting you right now so you have my number too." A few seconds later she added, "There." And put her phone back in the pocket of her leggings.

"I'm sorry," Jace said, covering his face with his hands.

"What on earth for?"

"I just-" Jace began again. "I-" And he realized something all at once with perfect clarity. He stood up and said with confidence. "I'm sure you can do better than me. I'm a total mess who's still in love with the woman I broke up with just weeks ago, but hadn't seen for ten months before that. So just forget me and I'll leave. Maybe find a new gym and-"

"Shhhhh," Annika said putting a finger over his lips. "I know all that silly."

"You what?" he replied stunned.

"You aren't exactly hard to read," Annika laughed. "I mean maybe I didn't know the exact details, but I had a feeling there was someone who became distant, something that fell apart. Life sometimes does that. Trust me, I know."

"Oh," Jace said with all the gusto of a deflated balloon.

"Doesn't mean we can't have some fun?" she smiled.

Jace's muscles suddenly relaxed. The idea of some recreational fun with someone he'd easily be on good terms with did sound appealing. While the idea of opening up his heart again was terrifying.

"If you hadn't been so stiff these last few months I'd have asked you sooner," Annika explained. "But you seemed the loyal type."

"Sooner?" Jace inquired. "How long ago did you notice me?" He was stunned.

"Oh, just the first time I walked into this grm," she smiled. "Your thin white shirt was stuck to your skin with sweat, and I couldn't help but stare at you until you left."

"I didn't notice," Jace marveled.

"I know," Annika laughed. "Sometimes I swear when you work out it's like you're meditating, totally oblivious to the world around you."

"So let me get this straight," Jace said slowly. He wanted to make sure there wasn't any sort of miscommunication. "You want to just hang out as friends, and what, fool round if we feel like it?"

"I believe the term is friends with benefits," she replied. "I know what it's like to have your heart ripped out, and I'm not keen to go through that again, but I miss certain things. Physical things, and I have to confess that when I miss those things the most it's usually your biceps that pop into my head."

"Is that the girl way of saying I've been jerking off thinking about you?" Jace asked.

"Pretty much," Annika laughed.

"Though, I can't quite say the same, I'm in," Jace replied.

Look at this! It's like I'm writing again. ^_^ What do you all think about this chapter? Please review and let me know. As always I love to hear from you. PM me if you don't want to leave a comment. I always then all. :)

Sneak Peek Chapter 164

And now the question returned to what he was going to do with this beautiful day. Looking out the window again, Magnus decided this was not a day to be spent indoors. Collecting his keys, Magnus headed for the door, but before he could do more than reach it there was a knock behind it. Magnus pulled it open to see one of the last people he'd expected.

"Jace," Magnus said with surprise. "To what do I owe the pleasure."

"Oh, hey Magnus," Jace replied, clearly just as surprised. "Is Alec around?"

"You just missed him," Magnus explained. "He's on his way to work."

"Oh," Jace said, looking disappointed. "I thought he worked close today."

Magnus shook his head. "A floater shift. He started at ten." It was clear by Jace's expression that this wasn't a simple social call. Jace had needed Alec's advice on something.

"I'll just have to come back later then," Jace answered, and was about to turn away when Magnus realized he'd rather have the company.