{Chapter Four}
~Clary~
"Would you like us to leave you two alone?" Alec smirked from behind Izzy's thin frame. Iz in return swung her arm blindly behind her, whacking Alec in the chest and making him cough. His face took on a look of high offense and she looked proudly at her brother and the redhead straddling his waist. Clary's head was reeling with confusion.
Why was she all of the sudden the center of attention and why was she still sitting on his lap like she was being paid in singles? Both had the same answer, she was losing her goddamn mind and everyone was a witness.
Clary looks down at Jace and the pillow pressed between them. For the first time in the entire interaction she was realizing just how close they were, limbs bent and twisted to fit into each other. Clary's face flushed a deep shade of red. Pushing the pillow further into Jace's chest she attempted to lift herself up. Her legs somehow getting more entangled with his and she couldn't get off the ground.
"Sorry, I'm sorry." Clary fumbles, her elbow digging into his stomach and he winced.
"Ah, that hurt." Clary flinched when he did. Eventually managing to stumble far enough away from Jace so he could roll away from her and onto his knees. "Alec, would you mind more helping and less laughing?"
Alec, who had been leaning against the door cackling, straightened up looking bashful. The smirk still hadn't fall off either of the siblings faces but they weren't outright laughing at them now. "So what were you guys doing exactly?"
Jace mumbled something that sounded like 'recovering my masculinity is going to be a pain', but Clary ignored him. After helping the blonde stand Alec reached out his hand and Clary grasped it tightly as she stood from the corner of the floor furthest from Jace.
"Aren't we all going out later? I'm going to go shower and...stuff. Yeah, see you guys soon!" Clary scurried away towards her room, a blur to her friends.
She barely caught Izzy whisper after her, "Clary it's two in the afternoon."
The door shut loudly behind Clary, softly clicking the golden lock, she pressed her back into the cool wood with a sigh.
What the hell had just happened?
Clary wasn't the least bit shocked that Jace would want to get laid, although their entire friendship was built on the deal it had only been put into effect a handful of times, what surprised her was that she wasn't repulsed or completely disgusted by the idea of sleeping with him. Clary mentally chastised herself for not kneeing him in the groin when she had the chance. She had felt the ghost of his lips against hers, the grip of his hands on her skin. He radiated warmth and safety. And like radiation, he wasn't good for her.
Voices echoed down the hallway, raising and falling as they carried a hushed conversation she wasn't meant to hear. Clary recognized Jace's low tone and Isabelle's excited pitch, a splash of Alec's dry humor once in awhile. Whatever was going on Isabelle was hyper about it and Jace didn't sound nearly as thrilled.
She hoped that Jace didn't want her to leave. For the past month she had been having a great time with the Lightwood siblings and Jace. She was never one to have an overly large group of friends but the ones she did have were more special to her. She liked shopping with Izzy and helping Alec clean up any mess left by his boyfriend- who she was hoping to meet tonight. After everything she heard about this mystery man in Alec's life she was excited to meet him.
Being near Jace was comfortable. He made her laugh. When they were on the floor, tangled up together in a knot of human limbs, it was warm. The door had shaken her out of her paralysis. The way Jace had stared down at her, his gaze drifting from her lips down to her hands, like he was amazed that she was touching him. That she was real. Clary didn't know if Jace knew he was doing it or not but his thumbs had drawn slow circles on her skin and the pattern was hypnotizing. Her labored breaths ringing around the space between them in a silent plea. Clary was begging for him to touch her but also for him to stay away from her.
Clary didn't know how long she'd been sitting there, on the cold ground, thinking about what almost happened before she'd savagely beaten him with a pillow. The voices drifted from the front door again and faded into silence after a mechanical clicking. There was an uncomfortable quiet outside the door. It felt like it was pressing down all around her, her thoughts closing in. Clary couldn't shake the feeling that she'd done something wrong. Clary leered up at the door above her as footsteps approached.
They were too heavy for Izzy and too fast and unmeasured for Alec.
Clary heard Jace freeze in front of her door, she could practically feel the tension from her body seeping through the cracks where the door met the frames. Clary could picture Jace, hand raised and brows scrunched up in concern. She lifted her head up, shifting her feet to stand. She meant to open the door but her feet carried her to the ensuite bathroom instead.
She knew she was hiding but she just needed a few more minutes to calm down and stop thinking about her roommate in an inappropriate way. She couldn't think about Jace like anything other than a friend, he wasn't the relationship type and she wasn't the casual type. They wouldn't fit- like mismatched puzzle pieces.
Sitting at the edge of the toilet cover, Clary leaned over and turned the metal knob of the shower. Cold water sprayed against the porcelain. She listened carefully, waiting for a knock or a rude opening of the door, but it never came. After a few minutes, Clary stripped off her clothes and stepped into the tub, turning the water temperature to her liking.
~o.O.o~
Jace watched Clary's impassive face as she shut herself into her room, digging his fingers into his hair, his elbows painfully stationed on his knees. Signing heavily, Jace rose from the couch. The second Jace cracked his eyes open Isabelle's infamous heels came into play.
"Awe, look at little Jacey-wacey, Alec." Iz spoke to him like a small child, even going as far as to pinch his cheeks apart and squish them back together. The whole time grinning wildly. "Are you trying to corrupt our lovable Clary-berry with-" Izzy made a pouty face, pursing her lips together, "-your nasty boy cooties?"
"First of all, what's with the weird nicknames and grade school treatment all of the sudden? Second, that was a purely platonic pillow fight over the television remote. You guys just walked in at an inconvenient and provocative point. Don't get creepy." He said pleadingly.
Glancing behind Iz he could see the black screen of the tv. Damn traitor must have turned off during the fight. Alec saw where he was looking and shared a look with his sister that clearly said they didn't believe him about the tv remote.
"Was there a better time you would have liked us to drop by?" His sister mocked him with an innocent look on her face.
"I would thank you kindly if you'd at least knock next time, Iz."
"Blah blah blah, Jace, in one ear and out the other. All I heard was next time. I'm going to go get your pretty girlfriend in the tightest dress she owns. Or, more likely, one I own." Iz walked into the hallway before freezing and turning back to her best friends. "Make sure my brother isn't too drunk by the time we get to Pandemonium."
Jace mumbled incoherently. Alec figured it had something to do with his sister referring to Clary as his girlfriend.
"Let's head out blondie, I need copious amounts of alcohol to fill my empty soul."
Jace grinned as he grabbed onto his leather jacket and headed towards the door.
~o.O.o~
When Clary finished her shower she nervously fingered the edge of the towel. Was she overreacting? It wasn't so strange for her to physically play around with her friends- Simon and her would always screw around, often resulting in hurt joints and feelings. But when Iz and Alec walked in on her and Jace it felt different. Like being caught in an intimate moment with your significant other. Something Jace was not and wouldn't be.
No matter how much she repeated that to herself it didn't feel completely true. Which was insane, they hadn't known each other for even a full year yet! Although she spent almost all her time with him, with an occasional break to see the Lightwoods and Simon.
A constant knocking sounded through her room, rolling her eyes Clary replaced the towel with her robe. Clary hoped it wasn't Jace- she didn't know how to act natural while only wearing a towel with what had just happened. A little part was worried that all the time spent with free spirited Isabelle would make her do something completely idiotic, like jump his perfectly stupid body. She wondered if he was even affected.
Slightly berating herself she shook the thoughts away, attempting a semblance of normal, as she reached the door she took a deep breath and gripped the knob. Her false smile turned genuine when she was met with her raven haired friend.
"Wow, you look like trash." Clary laughed as she stepped inside the doorway.
"I almost exclusively look like trash, Iz."
"Not true but don't worry I have magical makeup skills. But first, clothes!" Isabelle beelined towards Clary's closet, swinging the doors open hard enough for the resonating bang to make Clary jump in her furry robe. Clary moved to sit on her duvet whilst avoiding the colorful shrapnel the other girl was tossing over her shoulders.
Suddenly Iz stopped and turned sharply to gap at Clary. Self consciously the redhead wrapped herself further into the fabric of her bed. Her slim fingers held up a dark blue tee shirt with the words 'Stiles Stilinski & Lydia Martin & Allison Argent & Scott McCall'.
"What?" Clary glanced down at her clipped nail polish. She'd been watching Teen Wolf since she was a kid, not her fault that she tended to express her obsession through a vast tee shirt collection. Mainly packed into the corners of her closet to keep from prying eyes.
Like Isabelle's when she got the urge to play life size Barbie dress up.
"No 'Derek Hale' or 'Malia Tate'? To think I called you my friend."
"It's the original quartet!"
Then it started. The longest few hours in her life. Iz picked out at least a dozen possible outfits for her shorter friend, choosing to ignore her when Clary said she couldn't pick out her underwear too. Iz was a professional and that meant Clary had no choice.
"Are you sure this looks okay?" Clary squirmed in the vanity chair while Isabelle smoothly flicked the large bristled brush over the apples of her cheeks. It created the illusion of a rosy natural blush. "I've never had so much stuff on my face, I feel like it's going to slide down any minute and become a puddle on the floor."
Isabelle ignored her, having gotten used to the nervous babbling after applying the foundation. Clary sat as still as possible, her fingers scratching the edges of the robe sleeves and her knees bouncing. Clary wasn't sure how she'd survived sitting there for so long- having her friend poke her eyes with different brushes and pen like contraptions.
It wasn't that she didn't like make up, it was more that her mother had never liked make up. She didn't want Clary growing up with artificial colors on her face and because of that Clary never really learned what to do with all the powders and creams and brushes.
"I'm almost done, then we try on the outfits." Isabelle sounded giddy and Clary eyed the dresses carelessly flung on the made bed in horror.
Cringing as Isabelle made sure to keep Clary from seeing her reflection- what if Iz secretly hated her and made her look like a panda? The closer they got to ten, the more jittery the petite girl became. There wouldn't be enough time to start over and she didn't want to miss Alec's birthday or stand Jace up for their totally friends only date. Not that she didn't have full faith in Isabelle. "I think you grew up playing with too many dolls."
"Not nearly enough to turn me off of the life size version with you." Clary stood beside Iz as the black haired girl inspected each dress. Pulling and pushing the hangers of fabric towards Clary's body. She frowned and tossed two of the lighter colored textiles towards the closet.
Clary's fingers yearned to pick them up and put them back on their hangers but she held still for Izzy, more scared of her than OCD.
The remaining materials were extremely short and in a range of dark colors. Clary not only didn't remember ever buying any of them but she also wasn't sure how they had crawled into her closet and when. Clary wondered if it was too late to wear an amish dress.
"Put this on." Iz held out a brown shaded dress towards Clary. The redhead glanced down at one of the perfect curls falling into her line of sight and then towards the cloth. She scrunched up her nose in distaste- it wouldn't match. Isabelle seemed to follow her train of thought and nodded in understanding as she chucked it.
"We don't have that much time so choose." Iz held out two similar looking black cliftons. Clary pondered for a moment before grabbing the longer one. Not that either was past mid thigh but this one looked a little closer to her knees and that made her calmer.
Clary turned to walk into her bathroom before a thought occurred to her. "Aren't you going to change too?"
"I live upstairs! And I already have my clothes picked out." Shrugging her off Clary walked into the marble lined room. The robe pooled around her feet and Clary stared at her expanse of pale skin in the mirror. The contrasting fabric felt smooth in her thin hands.
"Hurry up, Fray! I'm not getting any younger!" Huffing out a frustrated breath Clary pulled the dress up, wiggling her hips to propel the clifton higher. The fabric bunched underneath her bust and Clary realized the built in bra wouldn't work well with her current bra. Unclipping it Clary ran the straps down her arms before letting it drop on the floor, next to her robe.
Once the dress was in place Clary uncomfortably pulled the hem lower, which only resulted in the neckline to lower and expose more velvet skin. Cringing Clary called out, "Do you think I could wear a jacket? Or a turtleneck…" Whispering the last part knowing full well that her friend would break down the door if she heard.
"No! Come out here I want to see you!" Pulling at her curls to hide her cleavage, Clary slowly made her way to the door. When she opened the wooden frame she was met with a high pitched screech. "You look amazing! Shoes and then we go!"
Clary tiredly watched as her dark haired friend dug through her extensive high tops collection. Several times Isabelle glanced at her with an unbelievable expression when she came across the only pair of heels- wedges, which according to her didn't count.
"We are going to my place, I need to get dressed and you need real heels. That can break a man's neck." Clary followed Iz out of her apartment with a growing sense of despair.
~o.O.o~
Alec shot his head back as the liquid burned down his throat. Slamming the shot glass on the light splattered bar. "What's up with you and Little Red?"
Jace's body tingled from the alcohol. "Clary and I are just friends. Nothing else.." Alec gave him a look that clearly said he didn't believe him but that he'd drop it for the moment. Alec had known him for years so it was stupid to assume he wouldn't be able to tell that Jace hadn't been acting like himself for a while.
"There's your friend now." Alec waved his sister and Clary down to where they sat in Pandemonium. Jace rolled his eyes heavens way and spun his stool to look at his roommate and Isabelle. And the view made his lungs stop contracting and he was almost entirely certain that his tongue was halfway down his esophagus.
She looked sinfully angelic.
Nothing of the sweet girl next door who wore fuzzy socks religiously was evident in the fiery haired woman walking towards him. She shook her head to clear stray tufts of hair away from her face and laughed at something Izzy was saying, biting her blood red lip when a light flush spread along her cheeks.
The clinking of her booted heels sounded in his ears, matching the beat of his heart. Smooth thighs peaked beneath the hem of her wrap-around dress. The black ink of the fabric lightened her facial features, making her skin glow eternally. The smokey makeup around her eyes made the forest green shine against the club lights. Her hair was pinned artfully on the crown of her head. Her smile was highlighted by matte. A white gold locket shown towards him, bouncing lightly with her steps against her bust. Instinctually making Jace's eyes drop to the tops of her breasts. His mouth watered just thinking about the plush skin under the thin material.
She didn't look like Clary- hell, she wasn't Clary. Everything about this woman was a contrast to his Clary. There was nothing comforting about her, just heat.
"Friend, huh?" Jace's mouth was as dry as sandpaper. He tried to turn his head towards his best friend but when Clary spotted him she smiled. This incredible megawatt smile that reminded him of sunshine on a warm summer's day and his insides turned to liquid.
Jace wasn't the type of person who believed in eye opening moments, but looking at the girl he's spent months fighting over the remote with, watching her walk around their apartment in shorts and furry socks and black rimmed glasses, looking at him like he hung the moon made his throat retract as he tried to swallow back.
"Hello birthday boy." Isabelle wrapped her arm around her brother's neck and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Alec shook with laughter as his arm wrung around Iz's waist.
Jace watched Clary as she leaned over to wish Alec a happy birthday and hugged him, maneuvering around Isabelle's arms. When she pulled away she turned her attention to the honey haired man next to her. "Hey you."
"Hey." Thankful that his voice wasn't hoarse, he gave her his most charming smile, unaware of the knowing look their best friends exchanged behind their backs.
Without thinking Jace leaped away from the grinning siblings and alcoholic bar. Grabbing hold of her hand he led Clary towards the middle of the dance floor. She squealed when her heels awkwardly twisted in order to follow behind him and he had to keep her upright. Jace laughed at her worried expression.
"Don't go so fast!" Jace stopped in the middle of an alcove of gyrating bodies. His smirk was infectious and before long Clary was beaming along side him. They moved to the music trying to keep a respectful distance from one another and failing. Unable to stop each other from getting closer as more sweat covered bodied enclosed around them.
Jace's head was swimming with her scent, his slick skin sticking to his tee shirt. Jace reached out his arm and pulled Clary into his chest. She hesitated for a minute before pushing herself closer. Her forearm loosely wrapped around his neck and the other holding onto his bicep. He stared into her glazed eyes and tightened his hands on her hips.
Clary bit her lip and Jace's eyes darkened as he stared at it. He wanted to bite the plump flesh and pull it away from her teeth. He wanted to kiss her.
"What are we doing, Jace?" Her breath carried around him. Strawberries. She smelled like strawberries and something else- something he couldn't point out, something that reminded him of pancakes and rainy days and the warmth of her hand in his. Something distinctly Clary.
"Dancing, we're just dancing." But even as the words left his mouth Jace knew he wasn't being entirely honest with either of them.
Although Clary nodded as if she believed him, the look in her eyes told him she knew he wasn't as completely honest. Subconsciously he drew her into himself, trying to hold on to her. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, moving her soft curves to the pounding of the music- against Jace's rough body. He growled when her hip brushed against his arousal, her arms pulling his face closer to hers.
"Are you trying to kiss me, Miss Fray?"
"Do you want me to kiss you, Mr Herondale?" Jace gently pulled several pins away from her hair, watching as the waves washed along her shoulders. Messy and familiar. His fingers tangled and disappeared at the nape of her head. Jace felt her nose bump into his and he couldn't remember the last time he had let himself build up the moment before a kiss.
Her eyes were misted over with mirth. Jace matched her toothy grin. Clary angled her head in invitation and Jace couldn't stop smiling the closer he got to her lips.
Then Clary was being yanked out of his arms by none other than his little sister. His sister who was now dead to him and wouldn't be getting a Christmas present. "Let's do shots!"
Before Jace or Clary could argue Izzy was stomping towards the bar with the redhead in tow via wrist clamp and handing her a shot of something called a 'blowjob'. The name wasn't helping Jace's southern regions. It only got worse when Clary gulped down the entire shot and, looking at him, licked some of the whipped cream away from her bottom lip.
Jace felt like he needed to jump into the ocean.
"You have a fan!" Clary shouted over the music as Izzy slid another shot into her hand, pretending like she wasn't listening into their conversation.
"A fan?" Jace looked at her confused. Throwing her head back she swallowed and breathed out something that sounded like a moan. Pointing behind him with a black painted finger. Turning his head slowly Jace made eye contact with a blonde on the other side of the bar.
"Ge get her, cowboy." Clary pushed at his shoulder and turned back to Iz before he could say anything back to her.
Women were confusing. One minute you're dancing and flirting and the next they're pointing you in the direction of another girl. Jace supposed that was the original deal he had with Clary, this was why she was there in the first place.
It was too loud in the club for Clary to hear him leave but she felt it. The constant warmth that she felt when he was around was gone. It was all too much. The dancing, the almost kiss, the hunger in his eyes when he watched her.
"Why would you do that, you idiot?" Clary shrugged, refusing to look back to Jace or at the girl who transformed her into the beautiful swan.
"Hey, I think Magnus is finally here!" She pointed to the small table Alec had been occupying by the door. A brightly dressed man with spiked up black hair was hugging the birthday boy and with a flourish of his hand, Alec was holding a long stemmed rose.
Isabelle sent a pointed look at what Clary assumed was a flirting Jace and swooning blonde. "Don't you think you should-"
"I want to go meet him, let's go." Rolling her eyes Isabelle walked to her brother.
"Mags, this is our new friend, Clary. Clary this is my boyfriend-" Apparently cutting people off was something Clary was making an unhealthy habit of.
When Clary was close enough to see his face, the defining catlike eyes surrounded by glitter and a thick outline of eyeliner, she recognized him immediately. "Brooks?"
"Addie!" His eyes were wide but so was his grin, he pulled her into a hug.
"How have you been? Last time I saw you, you were heading to Madrid for your cousin Ragnor's wedding to that god awful golddigger."
"Last time I saw you, I remember you and Catarina being arrested for vandalism on government property while Will was trying to talk them out of pressing charges." She remembered that day perfectly, it was a week after high school graduation and their group of friends had decided to do some congratulatory spray paint art. What they hadn't known was that the wall they picked while tipsy was actually a church.
"You've been arrested?" Isabelle turned to her with saucer wide eyes and a new gleam in them that Clary was afraid to know why it was there.
"You know each other? Who the hell are Brooks and Addie?"
Magnus launched on a, highly exaggerated, story of how they had known each other in high school. Running with the same group of artistic wannabes all four years. How the two of them thought their middle names were cooler when drunk and started using Adele and Brooks as an inside joke. Clary felt stupid for not putting two and two together quicker. How many glitter wearing eccentric Magnus' did she know not to realize it was him?
All the while none of them noticed the pair of golden eyes following Clary.
~o.O.o~
Hours later Jace groaned awake.
Wrapping his arms tighter around the smaller body next to him, the blonde dug his head further into her shoulder and sighed at the delicate skin. She twitched and pulled herself deeper into his warmth. She moved several more times before moaning lightly and adjusting her head on his upper arm. "Stop wigglying or this is going to be an awkward morning, pretty girl."
She giggled and turned her head to look at him, Her eyes were rimmed by the smudged make up from the night before but Jace didn't give a damn about it. She looked gorgeous. "The spring in this cushion is poking me more than you."
"Clary," He twisted the small redhead to face him, grinning at the burning in her cheeks. "We danced until 3a.m. My legs are on fire, this couch is hurting my back and I'm about ready to pitch a tent the size of Canada on your ass, if I wasn't suffering from alcohol dick, it would already happening. Next time we're too tired to make it to bed- we go with the floor."
Clary nodded her head tiredly before cuddling closer into his chest. Her leg was wedged between his and Jace ran his fingers over her spine. The doorbell cracked their peaceful Sunday morning. Glaring at the unseen intrusion, Clary pushed herself up and trudged across the living room. Swinging the door open to meet the faces of the Lightwood twins. "What?"
Isabelle's jaw dropped at the view of her two best friends.
Clary's eye makeup bled down her face the more she rubbed them, fiery hair tangled in a messy bun on the top of her head. A oversized black tee shirt hanging off her thin frame, Clary stifled a yawn as she scratched the back of her neck.
Glancing behind her friend, Izzy's eyes popped halfway out of her head. There, balanced on him elbows, perched Jace. Completely naked besides the pair of flimsy boxers. His jeans and Clary's dress were scrunched up on the floor along with their shoes.
"Did you guys..?"
"We'll be leaving now, carry on!" Alec began to pull at his sister. His face matching Clary's hair. The girl glanced back at her roommate.
"We didn't sleep together. Here's what happened…"
To Be Continued...
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or TMI.
Two chapters in one night, love me.
Guys, I'm going to finish this story this month. Are you afraid because I'm afraid. This is going to be the first complete story I have on here! Follow and Favorite and please review! Oh, and check out my other stories! I have more for The Mortal Instruments, Harry Potter, Merlin, Game of Thrones and Divergent. And I have another FF account, Levi Dreyar, where I post anime fics so if you're into that then please go check it out so I get a kick in the ass about being more active on there.
Also, all of you need to keep in mind that weeks/months are going by between chapters for these dipshits so the romance is a little quick on the trigger. If you want slow and stead I would suggest Clockwork City, you'll hate me for the snail speed then. See you soon!