“Jem!” Clary’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. That wasn’t the response she had expected to hear. “I never would have known. And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. His secret is safe with me.” She would keep the secret as she knew that Jace would also keep it. Her lips curled up into a smile. “I’m glad that you had them. They seem like they were good to grow up with.” Well, for the most part. She’d had Simon most of her life, so she knew what it was like to find friends in unexpected places.Clary frowned and shook her head. “It was, but it also wasn’t you. I know you would have stopped it if you could’ve.” She knew he was going to keep wanting to blame himself no matter what she said.
“More would be nice, but I’m not in any rush.” She was willing to wait. There had been one time when she’d worried that she was doing something wrong, that Jace wasn’t going to be interested in her that way. She knew better now. Clary chuckled and was surprised at how much he did understand her. “I’m surprised you would be willing to tolerate it, I’ve noticed you’re rather neat.” She wouldn’t be surprised if she ended up finding him cleaning her room one of these days. Smiling, Clary leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Then, she walked over to her dresser, where she pulled out some pajama bottoms. Not caring if he was looking, she slipped out of her jeans and quickly pulled the pajama pants on. Then she slipped out of her shirt, leaving the tank that was on underneath. Clary made a small run and leap for her bed. “Mmm…finally.” She curled up, making sure to leave enough space for Jace as she did. “You better come join me, Mr.” And once he had, she wrapped an arm around him and breathed him in. “This is nice,” Clary murmured. “Peaceful.”
Jace gave a little smile as her reaction. “Every now and then I learn more about him. Mostly I’ve been learning about Will.” He nodded. “I preferred the life with them in retrospect.” he replied. “Yes, life when I was a kid was good, but it had a lot more bad with it.” He shrugged a little, humming. “It’s gonna take time for me to get that right in my head, Clary.” A side effect of the punishments brought down by Valentine when he was young.
“I’m not opposed, I just don’t know how far I’d be able to go.” he explained. He arched a brow at her comment and chuckled. “I heard a mundane one time say that opposites attract? I think it applies in most relationships I’ve seen lately.” He closed the door and watched her change, moving to take his jeans and shirt off and walking over to lay in the bed next to her. He closed his eyes, relaxing and kissing her head, hiding his face in her hair as he let her warmth sink in. “We haven’t had peaceful in a while.” he mused softly, and arm holding her close.
“Nah. Though you could give it back every once and awhile to make it smell like me again,” Jace replied with a wink. He had it on good authority that girls like their boyfriends clothes to smell like them, at least that was a detail that Izzy had once told him about one of her boyfriends. So he assumed it would be the same for most girls. “I suppose so. She is lenient with things, but I don’t know how she’d feel about this.” Jace was fairly certain that Maryse hadn’t known about his many conquests, because he hadn’t yet had a scolding from her.
His gaze drifted down below her shirt and he licked his lips. She made it very tempting to take her right then and there, but he had more control than that. As she moved to lay on him, Jace pressed a kiss to her forehead and nuzzled some against her orange hair. He was pretty sure orange was one of his favorite colors now, at least the shade that was of Clary’s hair. “Of course there is and if there wasn’t, I’d make room for you.” He grinned and slipped drifted a hand along her arm gently. “I like this, us being here together like this without any worries.” Any minute they could be called for a mission, but he wasn’t going to think about that. “With no one to bother us,” Jace’s voice turned into a low, husky tone. “Where we can do anything we want.” She’d said that she wanted to go slow, but he was making it known that he was ready whenever she was. And if she still wanted to wait, then he would be patient.
Clary gave a grin, blushing a little. She’d never felt the way she felt with Jace, not even when she was sort of with Simon. “I think I can do that.” she teased. “If you promise to give it back when it does.” She hummed. “Well, she’ll get over it. If she wants to try and tell us we can’t spend the night together, I have a few choice words for her. I still haven’t fully forgiven her for turning on you the way she did.” she said seriously. She’d kept her mouth shut about it, but if MAryse pressed, she wasn’t going to do it any longer.
She was very aware of Jace’s gaze on her, and it always seemed to make her self conscious and confident at the same time in a way she couldn’t really explain. She relaxed against him, humming quietly. “Good, because I could always make room myself, but you may not like that.” she teased. She shivered as his voice dropped low, biting her lip. Yeah, they’d been together before, and if she was honest, being with Jace felt like it was how it was supposed to be. “Anything we want as long as no one walks in.” she mused, leaning to kiss him. “So maybe lock the door before talking to me sexy?”
“Really? Is it something that I’m allowed to know?” Clary was curious about the Silent Brothers. It also seemed like no one really knew much about them except for themselves. They were like a secret society within the Shadow world. “Thank you.” She smiled up at him, pleased that he was willing to try at being honest. She nodded in understanding. “If they get too bad, I’ll be there for you. Even if it’s for something as simple as holding your hand.” She chucked at the image of that in her head. “Both of you would have refused. It sounds like the three of you had a good time together either way.” They were a family unit that she could easily admire. “I’m okay,” Clary insisted. “Simon got me to Magnus in time. I healed. I’m all better now. You don’t have to worry about that. It wasn’t you.”
“Alec would probably tell you otherwise, but okay.” She stood and leaned into this touch, this time she moved her own hand up his arm and rested her hand against his. “I love you too. You have no idea how glad we found our way back to each other again.” Then she leaned in and kissed him so softly that had she not known they were supposed to be going to bed, she would have tried to deepen it. She did step back though and curled her fingers around his as she guided him toward her bedroom. “We have a lot of cuddle time to make up for,” she told him with a small grin. And maybe more than that if Jace would ever be up for it, but she knew that he wanted to take things slow so she wouldn’t pressure him into much more. Once they were in her bedroom, Clary let go of her hand and shut the door behind them. “I’m sorry my little art area is a little messy. With all of the missions we’ve been going on, I haven’t had much time to clean up.”
Jace gave her a small smile. “It was Jem. Turns out he and my ancestor Will were parabatai.” he explained. “But it’s important that not a lot of people know. He’s been Brother Zacariah for a long time now, so I promised him that his secret was safe.” he explained. “I know you will be. It means a lot, and I promise I tell you if it happens.” His lips curled up and he leaned to kiss her forehead. “We did. Alec and Izzy were my first real friends…probably my only real friends, honestly.” HE shrugged before his eyes flickered gold for a second, hating the thought that he’d been forced into almost killing her. “Doesn’t change the fact that it was my body that hurt you.” That’s where he was having trouble; removing the blame from himself. It was a slow process, and deep down he knew he hadn’t been in control, bu it bothered him regardless.
He rolled his eyes at the comment, shaking his head. “He doesn’t finish all of his all the time, either. Even if he wants to.” he assured. Her words made him smile and he kissed back gently, holding her hand as he listened to her. “We do. Cuddles and maybe more in time.” HE wasn’t sure how far he could go with his torture still so close to his mind. Walking in behind her, he shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be spotless. You’re an artist, Clary. Sometimes it’s messy, and that’s part of who you are.” He explained as he moved to close the door and undress. “As long as I an hold you, the room is fine. I promise.”
Clary hummed as she leaned back against him. His fingers in her hair feltso good and she never wanted him to stop. “I wash it every day,” she commented. “Well, almost every day. Sometimes we’re so busy that I can’t wash it. And the conditioner helps with the softening. If I didn’t use it, it’d probably be all frizzy and not at all easy for you to run your fingers through.” She wondered if she could ask him to do this more often, so she did. “You should do that more often. It feels nice. Nicer than a head massage. Well, almost nicer than that. I should give you a head massage after this.” Clary didn’t realize that she was rambling, but she was tired and sometimes she rambled when she was tired. Speaking of tired, Clary let out a yawn and snuggled more against him. “If I fall asleep, I’m sorry, but it’s been a long day and your hands in my hair is doing things to me.”
Jace gave a soft smile as he listened to Clary ramble on. He laughed softly and leaned over to kiss her. “I don’t mind if you fall asleep. I can adjust you so we can sleep.” he assured. “We had a long day, and honestly, I think all of us have earned at least a few days of vacation.” He mused, thinking about all the hell they’d gone through with Simon losing his memories and finally killing Jonathan. “So we can totally sleep in a day or two. It won’t kill us.”
“You promise?” she asked, lifting her eyes to look at his face. “I wish I knew how to do that. Because right now, it’s all I can do to not think about them.”
“…I know it doesn’t seem like it, right now. But I promise, Clary, it will get better. I just takes time. Believe me, I know.” he said, his voice quiet as he lifted a hand to run it through red waves. “When they wake you up, if you aren’t with me, come find me. Focus on the fact that we’re alive, and we’re together. It might help.”
“Of course I do. I’d keep you here every night if I could.” While Jace knew that she was right, it had been hard to get out of the mindset that loving Clary was wrong. He was only recently learning to accept that it was perfectly okay. Valentine had messed with his mind for so long and he knew that he was going to have to learn to say no to bad thoughts that often sounded like his voice in his head. “I’m sorry that it was ever perceived as wrong. That man should have never twisted or minds like that.” When he heard her speak again, Jace couldn’t help himself as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. She brought out such feelings in him that he sometimes didn’t know what to do with.
“Neither will I. You were and are the best thing that has ever happened to me.” He chuckled and said, “You’re welcome to take it to your room with you if you’d like.” He was looking forward to the idea of Clary wearing around one of his shirts. Jace leaned into her touch and resisted the urge to close her eyes. Being around her felt so good and he knew that none of this could ever be wrong. “Of course I will. Though Maryse might have something to say about that once she notices.” He nudged his nose against hers before he stepped back and took her hand. “You’d be surprised, but I’ve not really invited anyone into my own bed. So you’re like a first.” He was often at other places when he’d been with other people, but he wanted to do this differently with Clary. He wanted to treat her right. Jace shrugged out of his shirt once he’d let go of her hand. “See something you like?” He teased as he glanced over at her. Jace flung the shirt over an armchair and then flopped down on his bed. “Come on. There’s plenty of room,” he said as he patted the empty side of the bed.
“I certainly won’t complain.” Clary gave him a smile, tucking some hair behind her ear. The words made her want to bring back her father and kill again on principle. “He only cared about himself. I don’t care what he said, he never really cared about me, or anyone.” she answered. “He was scared of how powerful we’d be together, and we beat him anyway.” A quiet little hum vibrated through her as he kissed her, relaxing because he was very real and she couldn’t be happier.
His words made her heart flutter a little and she knew she was blushing. “Yeah? You won’t miss it?” she teased, reaching up to slide slender fingers through golden hair. She rolled her eyes. “Well, if she has a problem with it, I guess we’ll handle that when it happens.” she assured with a smirk, lacing their fingers and following him to his room. The admission made her blush even more, realizing how serious Jace had to be about them to want to be so honest. She turned to close the door, pausing as she spotted him without his shirt. A little laugh at his tease, moving to his dresser to grab a shirt of his and change. She didn’t know why she was feeling a little more confident, but she kept her back to him as she changed into just his shirt and her boy short style lace panties, moving to crawl into the bed next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. “Pretty sure there’s always room for both of us in your bed, Jace.” she teased, adjusting so she could kiss his cheek.
Sometimes, I think it would have been better if Jace had never met me. Are you kidding? I’ve known Jace a lot longer than you have. Before, all he cared about was the hunt. Then he met you. And, it was like he woke up from a deep sleep. From that day on, he became a different Jace. A happier Jace.
“Then don’t,” Jace murmured back as he reached out a hand to tuck a piece of her long red hair behind an ear. “Stay the night with me?” He asked, hoping that she would. He knew that she might not, that she might worry about what others would think if she walked out of his room in the morning. He didn’t care what others thought. Isabelle and Alec already approved. He knew that his siblings had been rooting for them for awhile now. It had surprisingly been Alec who had been telling him to get a move on with Clary and now that was precisely what he did.
“If anyone has anything to say, they can take it up with me. There’s nothing wrong with us being together. Not anymore.” They had already been apart long enough. He had worried that he would never get Clary back, but now that he had her, he had no intentions of letting her go anytime soon.
“You want me to?” Clary asked as she leaned into his touch, smiling. While she’d never given up on saving him, she had been scared, too. Losing Jace wasn’t something she could handle, and she knew it. She moved closer, one hand raising to rest at the back of his neck. Green eyes watched his for a long moment before she leaned in to kiss him. “There was never anything wrong with it. Believing Valentine was the only thing that made us being together wrong, Jace.” she replied, angry that her own father had been so angry at her loving Jace that he’d liked to keep them apart. It was a betrayal she would never forgive the man for, even in his death. She tucked herself closer, resting her head on his shoulder and hiding her face in his neck. If it were possible, she never wanted to leave the warmth of Jace’s arms again, and her hold on him tightened.
“I don’t regret loving you. I never will.” she promised, squeezing him just a little bit more before releasing her hold some. “Let’s go to bed. I can steal one of your shirts.” She pulled away enough to look at him and smile, one hand carding through blonde hair. “I’ll spend every night with you if you’ll let.”
themusechronicles 