May 24th, 2021
9
Clary's POV
Waking up next to Jace's sleeping form has me jumping up quicker than I ever thought possible. Between the loud gasp and the motion of me shooting upwards, it's no surprise Jace wakes up groggily next to me, "What time is it?" He mumbles into his hands, sitting upwards next to me, seeming to have zero concerns.
Once my heart rate ticks back down to normal, I blink a few times before glancing at his nightstand, fumbling for my phone, "Six thirty-four." I tell him once I find my phone, Jace lets out an inhuman-like groan, "Go back to bed, I don't need to be up for another two hours." With that, he rolls so he is facing away from me, burying his face into his pillow. I take a few deep breaths, mulling over my options - sleeping with Jace doesn't mean anything, right? I mean, he obviously couldn't care less so why should I? Ultimately, I decided the easier thing to do would just be to lie down with my back facing him and try my best to fall back asleep.
I woke up the second time due to my alarm buzzing, reminding me I need to go to school. I sit up with a groan, my eyes slide to the left to see Jace staring at me, "Hey." He tells me, propping himself up on his elbows. I can't help the odd feeling that flows through my body at the idea of me waking up besides him. I immediately become self-conscious, bringing my hands to my wild hair, smoothing it down, and I pull my knees up to my chest, "What's up?" He asks me, obviously noticing the change in my demeanor.
"Nothing," I mumble and he rolls his eyes.
"Liar." He calls me out immediately, and I sigh, before letting out a small laugh, "It's nothing, I just vividly remember bitching about how much I don't like you, and now, somehow, I find myself sharing a bed with you." I tell him and Jace smiles, moving closer to me, "Oh come on, you know I'm irresistible." I am hyper aware of how close our bodies are to each other now, "Um," I clear my throat, every ounce of my wittiness getting sucked out of my body, along with the oxygen in my lungs, "Yeah, whatever you say." I trail off, my eyes averting from Jace, looking down at my feet. This gets a wicked laugh out of him, as he rolls away from me, gets out of bed and stretches upwards. The inner girl in me squeals at the sigh of his t-shirt rising, exposing his lean abdomen; but the outer, tougher Clary, doesn't budge.
"I hate to break it to you, but you are going to need to get out of bed, we have school in less than an hour," Jace tells me, breaking my gaze away from him and I nod in response, standing up so I am on the opposite side of the room and reaching down towards my duffle bag.
"There is a bathroom across the hall, I'll meet you downstairs whenever you're ready to get out of here." He tells me, pulling his shirt over his head, which sends me in the other direction quicker than I was intending. Don't get me wrong, he has a nice body, but he doesn't need to catch me checking him out, and I know that if he catches me blushing, he will never let me live it down.
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"You slept at Jace's last night?" Simon asks me as we sit down in the diner booth for our pre-fight celebration, "Was he holding you hostage?" I chuckle at Simon's words. He's become quite a good friend in the short time we have spent together. I see him quite often, between school and the gym, and he has really been growing on me. Even him and Isabelle have seemed to get along well, which has helped him integrate into the group.
"No, believe it or not, he's actually been growing on me." I tell Simon as Jace slides into the booth next to me, sandwiching me between the diner wall and his body. Sebastian follows right after and Jordan squeezes in next to him, Alec, Magnus and Isabelle sit across from us. Maia wasn't able to join us due to work, so sadly we had to miss her.
"I am?" Jace asks, fake excitement in his voice as he throws his arms around my shoulder, pulling me into him. I jab him roughly on the side, making him jump and pull his arms, "I like you, but keep your hands to yourself." I tell him with a sweet smile that doesn't match my words, "So us sleeping in the same bed meant nothing?" Jace teases me, before his eyes go wide at the comment he just made, and he slaps his hand over his mouth. A chorus of 'what?" and gasps rip around the table, "You guys had sex?" Magnus hisses at me, and I shake my head vigorously, "No, we just slept. I was watching a movie and must've fallen asleep next to him." That earns both Jace and I wary glances from all of our friends, and a wide smile from Isabelle. Luckily, the group doesn't dwell on the topic for much longer; and soon enough we get sucked into another conversation.
I don't pay too much attention to it as I have my eyes trained on two men sitting up at the bar of the diner. I feel like I have caught them staring at me a little too much to be normal. I don't recognize them, but I feel like they have been watching my friends and I since we have sat down.
"Clary, you've been awfully quiet over there," Magnus calls to me from across the table, "everything alright?" He asks me and I nod quietly, "Yeah, I just feel like somebody's watching me." I offer weakly, knowing how crazy I sound.
"Have you been taking steroids, I heard they can make you see things." Simon says, "Yeah alright, call me crazy." I say, rolling my eyes, and Jace bumps my knee under the table, "Hey now, I believe you. I swear I've seen them too." He tells me and I feel a weight lifting off my chest as I glance between the two suited men and Jace, feeling a little less nuts, "They had green eyes and tentacles, right?" Jace adds on, obviously making fun of me.
"Alright, laugh all you want, whatever." I scoff, looking down at my lap as the waitress comes by and takes all of our drink orders. The group chats a bit, seeming fairly light-hearted as we hang out. The boys ask me a little about the fight, seemingly trying to gauge whether I am nervous or not- I definitely am not nervous. But, throughout the conversation, I can't help but glance between the two men in suits; they are most definitely watching me.
"Clary," Simon kicks me from under the table, bringing my attention to him, "if you keep staring at them, they're going to notice." He tells me and I grunt, mumbling under my breath, "They already have." Simon doesn't get a chance to ask me to repeat myself, because the waitress returns with our drinks, and we put in our meal orders.
"So, Clary," Isabelle asks me and I look at her, "are Jace and you having another slumber party tonight?" She asks me and I roll my eyes, "Of course," Jace smiles down at me, "maybe she'll even cuddle me this time." He winks down at me and I scoff, unable to keep my cheeks from heating up a light pink, "I am just trying to avoid my crazy-ass family." Between the unwarranted phone call with my dad, my brother spending too much time around for my liking, my mother wanting to be active again, and now, the idea that two men might be following me, I need to stay as far away from my house as possible. Something is going on, and I am not going home until I figure it out.
"Do you want to talk about what's been going on?" Alec asks me and I sigh, burying my face into my hands, "My absentee brother is back and crashing at my house." I tell them, feeling a bit uneasy about sharing my personal life, "Is that a bad thing?" Jordan asks me and I sigh, nodding slowly, "Yeah, when he and my dad left, it took a toll on my mom, really messed her up for a bit. It's hard for me to forgive him, and even harder for me to understand why my mom has." I tell them simply and the group nods understandingly, "Well, if you ever get tired of being bunk buddies with Jace," Jordan tells me with a teasing smile, "you can always room at mine. I'm no stranger to family problems, you don't need that in your life." The rest of the group quickly agrees, throwing warm smiles at me, and letting me know I am welcomed to stay with them.
It's nice to know I have someone to count on. I guess now, I have more than just someone, I have an entire group of people that are willing to help me, or at least say they are. I trust the majority of them; just maybe not Sebastian. I'm still bitter about our interaction on the first day of school.
Our time at the diner moves to a close, and we all retreat back to Jace's house. He said his parents were gone for the weekend, and wouldn't mind the house getting crashed by a group of teenagers. Jordan and Simon unfortunately bail, leaving the group of Magnus, Isabelle, Alec, Jace, Sebastian, and I sitting around Jace's room. We pondered about passing a bottle of wine around to share, but decided against it as the last thing I need for tomorrow's fight is a hangover.
"Serious question," Magnus says after a moment of pause in the conversation, all the attention flows to him, "Clary and Jace, who was the big spoon and who was the little spoon?" The room erupts in laughter, coming from everyone but me as my face heats up in embarrassment for the 'nth time tonight.
"Oh, come on Clare." Isabelle kicks me lightly with her foot, "it's a joke."
"Plus, I wouldn't know. I think if I tried to spoon Clary she would kill me, painfully." Jace winces at the idea and I grin at him. I can't help the small traitorous part of me screaming from the far corners of my brain that I may possibly enjoy the human contact; that if I allowed Jace to hold me for a short amount of time, maybe I would feel a little better. Just for once.
Before the conversation can go much further, my phone rings, signaling a call from my mother. I pause, pulling my lower lip in between my teeth before lifting my phone to my ear and answering it; wandering away from my friends for some sense of privacy.
"Mom," I greet her, my voice not giving off my uneasiness. "Hey Clary, I'm just calling to make sure you're ok."
"Yeah, I'm fine." I actually think I am calmer than I have been since Jonathan's arrival, "are you planning on coming home soon? I'm worried about you, your brother is too." The mention of Jonathan brings an edge to my voice, "Whenever Jonathan stops hanging around I'll be home. I can't focus with everything that's going on."
"You know what," her voice gets angry, her tone rising, and I have a feeling she is about to explode on me, "you know what, never mind. I understand that this is hard for you," she takes a long deep breath, "just, call me and let me know that everything is ok, alright?" She asks me weakly and I sigh, feeling relieved at the conversation, "Yeah, ok. Bye mom."
"Bye Clary, love you," she tells me, catching me by surprise. I can't bring myself to say it back, so I click the phone off, putting it back in my pocket.
"You alright?" I hear Isabelle call to me, and I glance over my shoulder, nodding at her, "All good." I walk back to the group, getting ready to sit down, but everyone else seems to be getting up and gathering their things, "It's getting late, and we have school tomorrow." Isabelle tells me, opening her arms and pulling me into a tight hug, "Call me if you need a rescue." She whispers in my ear, and I laugh quietly, hugging her back.
I say goodbye to the rest of my friends, and Jace walks them out of his house. While he does that, I get ready for bed - brushing my teeth, changing into pajamas, and washing up. I throw my dirty clothes back in my duffle, and pull my long red hair into a bun on the top of my head.
"Hey," Jace says coming back into the room, a small smile on his face, "Hi," I drop down onto his bed, where I slept last night, and Jace lets out a quiet laugh, "You've made yourself comfortable, haven't you?" he jokes, and I shrug in return. I guess I do feel comfortable around him; it's a nice feeling. Jace takes my silence as a cue to lie down next to me, turning his TV on and rolling so he is facing me, "Are you alright?" he asks me for the twentieth time tonight, and I hum in response, "Are you?" I ask in return and he sighs, running a hand down his face, "Always." He winks at me.
I scoot closer to him, "Do you miss your parents?" I ask and he shrugs, "Adoptive parents," he corrects me calmly, and I bite down on my tongue, feeling the need to apologize, "and no, not really. They're cool, they just aren't very," he pauses, thinking about how he wants to place his words, "they aren't very warm parents. They don't care much about me beyond football and school." He tells me and I sigh, "Oh," I respond, not knowing where to go with the conversation now, "Do they not like that you box?" I ask quietly.
"They are neutral, as long as I keep good grades and play well, they don't care what else I do in my free time." He says, "Do you miss your mom?" He asks me and I sigh, pressing my face into the pillow so I don't have to look at him, "Not really, I just wish life could go back to my mom leaving me alone, and Jonathan forgetting about us." I mumble, just loud enough for Jace to barely hear me.
"Yeah," he seems unsure how to respond, so rather than attempting to console me, he turns on a movie, a superhero flick this time, and he wiggles closer to me, sliding his arm around my shoulder, "What are you doing?" I ask him unsure, but don't move away.
"Is this ok?" He asks me, stopping his movement, "Yeah, I think so." I respond so Jace continues. He pulls me softly into his side, "Should we figure out who's the big spoon and who's the little spoon?" He teases quietly, his lips close to my ears. I leave my eyes trained on the TV as I blush, clearing my throat, Jace's flirting catching me by surprise.
"I'm joking," he tells me, "we all know you'd be the little spoon." I groan, scoff, and shove my hands at Jace, going to roll away from him, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He wraps his arms tightly around me, pulling me back to him. I rest my head on his chest as Jace flips the light off, so that the TV is the only light in the room.
"You sure this is ok?" He asks me, and I nod, "Yeah, this is nice." I stumble over my last couple of words, feeling embarrassed to admit that I am enjoying Jace's contact.
"Are you sure?" He asks me again after a moment and I sigh, gripping his shirt tightly under my hands, "Jace, shut up before I change my mind." He shuts up quickly after that, falling into contentment as his hand moves rhythmically against my side, tracing patterns.
We stay like this for a long while, past the ending of the movie, and even beyond Jace turning off the TV. We stayed like this for so long, that when it was time to actually go to sleep, Jace kept his arms wrapped around me as we drifted off.
