HER

9

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.