Mortal Instruments

Untitled Part 1

Jace looks up from the table littered with maps and books as he hears the door open. He glances over his shoulder, seeing a flash of red hair, recognizing the small frame of the woman he loves.

Clary has a sketchbook in her hand, the eraser of her pencil trapped between her teeth as she passes by him. Her brows are furrowed, eyes concentrated on the creamy paper. She has something half-drawn, dark lines sprawling intricately across the page.

She's beautiful when she concentrates, when she puts her entire focus on one thing. Jace loves the way her nose curls, how her brows push together. She doesn't even notice him as she passes through the room, heading for the other door to lead to the hallway.

Jace glances down at the maps in front of him before pushing away from the table, immediately losing interest. He hasn't seen Clary all day, despite they've both been in the institute. He's been working with Alec mapping the Downworlder's territories, until Magnus called and Alec changed his priorities.

Jace leaves the table behind, running a hand through his golden blonde hair. Clary doesn't notice him behind her, giving him a few moments to admire her in silence.

The curve of her jaw, the freckles she hates so much --- he adores all of it, it's what makes her Clary. She's so small, her pale skin darkened with Shadowhunter runes now, making her look more and more like the rest of them. She's part of their world now, and Jace can't help but be proud of her, of how she handles herself, handles what's happening around her. After the defeat of Valentine, and then Sebastian, he'd worried things would never be normal again, that they'd never get to be together despite fighting so long and hard to be.

But everything has worked out.

Everything has returned to its chaotic ways, Shadowhunters fighting demons, Downworlder's doing their own thing.

None of it would have mattered if he'd lost Clary, though. His world would be shattered, his heart in two --- if Sebastian had succeeded, taken Clary away --- Jace would have burned all the worlds down to find her.

He hopes she knows that.

He catches up with her just as she turns the corner, catching her off guard. His fingers wrap around her hand, twirling her around beneath his arm until her back hits the wall.

"Jace!" she gasps in surprise, clutching her sketchbook to her chest as her wide green eyes find his gold ones. "What are you doing?"

"Thinking about how much I love you," he braces his hands on either side of her, just above her shoulders as he gazes down at her. "How beautiful you are."

Color rises in her cheeks as she looks up at him, blinking. "Jace ---."

"Thinking about how much we could be doing right now, considering we're alone," he arches one perfectly sculptured brow as he leans down, his lips pressing against her nose. "Alec is gone with Magnus, Izzy and Simon are probably doing what we should be ---."

"Jace! I don't want to hear that," Clary squirms, tilting her face up a little to give him a smile. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be mapping the city right now? I thought you had to have it done by tonight ---."

"I'll let someone else handle it. I have more important things on my mind."

"Really? How is seducing me more important?"

Jace rolls his eyes, feeling her hand against his shoulder, cold fingers curling into his shirt. She turns her face, soft lips finding his own as she stands on her tip toes.

She loves Jace with all her heart. He's defended her, been through so much with her, and his love and faith in her never wavered when others doubted her--- she should have realized she was in love with him the moment she saw him. He's fought by her side, saved her life, saved her friends and family --- he gave up his entire life to be with her when he thought he had no other choice. 

They've proven their love for each other over and over, and she has no doubt in her mind that it's real. Her fingers curve around his jaw, sketchbook momentarily forgotten in her arm as she leans into him with a soft sigh. His hands slip down, curling around her small hips, bringing her body flat against his.

 He loves the way she smells, some scent that's purely Clary. It reminds him of lavender, of warmth --- of home. She's his home, and wherever she goes, he's sure to follow. The entire Shadowhunter world knows Jace Herondale loves only one person, that he looks at her as if she carries the moon in her hands.

She carries the world.

"Mmph --- we better not stay in the hallway," Clary says after a moment against his lips, reluctantly pulling away. "We'd give someone a shock."

"Ah, they'd like it. Who wouldn't want to see me in action?" Jace smirks, his hands going to his hips as Clary rolls her eyes.

He grins at her, taking her hand and lacing her fingers through his as he lightly tugs her after him. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere I can adequately express my undying love for you."

Clary chuckles, glancing down at the sketchbook she still cradles against her chest as Jace pulls her down the hallway towards his room. The face there is only half-drawn, one shapely eye gazing back at her, half a nose, some tendrils of hair. She still tries to capture Jace on paper, to sketch him in a way that captures that powerful gaze of his, and yet she can't. Even now, after all this time, she tries and fails.

But, she has plenty of time. She has years with Jace now, and one day, perhaps, she'll finally capture him on paper.

She looks up, admiring the way his hair curls at the back of his neck, the black ink of Shadowhunter runs on his neck. He's handsome, unbelievably so, and one of the most amazing people she's ever met.

It's no wonder she loves him.

She squeezes his hand, and he glances back, giving her that warm smile reserved only for her, the girl who would one day be his wife.

She's the only one who'll ever be worthy of carrying on the Herondale name, after all. No one else can ever live up to the status quo, and Jace has full intentions of making sure the name has plenty of heirs to keep it going.

That, however, is for the future.

Right now... well, they need to practice, don't they?