The Mortal Instruments: Jace and Clary

Chapter 1•

*Clary's POV*

I yawned and got up, hoping to see Luke at the table with some eggs, smiling like he always did. His smile was all I had ever wanted after the war but... He was dead. The word hit me like a bullet and I grunted, falling back onto the pillows. Jace, beside me, stirred and I turned over to look at him. His eyes were moving rapidly underneath heavy eyelids, caused by sleepless nights. I watched him as he slept, tossing and turning. His hair was the same gold as I remembered it from the day we met at my mom's- and technically mine- old apartment. He was so daring then, bold and sarcastic. The thing that attracted me most when we first met was the sense of danger, of forbidden love, that seemed to cling to him. He was my Jace, strong and brave.

Looking at him now, he looked like he was having a fit, tossing and turning like this.

I stretched and tapped him. He didn't respond. I tapped him again. "Jace," I whispered.

He woke up, his eyes snapping open and startling me. I jumped and then said to him in a soothing voice, "I think we should go see Izzy. She's hurting too,"

He groaned and seemed to weigh the suggestion in his mind. "Izzy... I'm... Tired..." He rolled over and soon dozed off again.

I sighed and got out of bed. I mumbled, loud enough for him to hear me, "Fine. You won't go, then I'm going on my own," Isabelle hadn't called but I could tell that the reason for that was because she was depressed over Alec's death. Him and Magnus had gotten back together but they'd both died, in battle. Magnus had actually saved Alec but five minutes later, a demon crept up behind him while he was crying over Magnus's dead body, and... Well... You know. Jace had been physically and mentally hurt, damaged, because of Alec's death. His patabati rune had burned, burned for at least an hour, and then left nothing but a scar. That was when we had known that Alec was dead. Isabelle had seen the rune fading and run to Alec. But he was gone.

I got on a tan sweater I had gotten from Luke for my seventeenth birthday, and plain blue jeans, that I had gotten from Jocelyn on my seventeenth birthday, along with sneakers, that Jace had gotten me for our anniversary. I put my hair up in a bun, letting a few strands of hair fall, not really caring. Sliding on Jace's family ring he'd given me when he proposed, I wondered if we would ever have that wedding we planned. I got on a bracelet Jace had also gotten me for our anniversary. It was pearly white with runes of love and passion engraved in it. I stared at the bracelet and wondered if Jace loved me anymore. Did he even care anymore? His whole world had fallen apart and now he forgot about me completely.

I glanced at him, asleep, and bit my lip. "Are you sure you're not coming?" I asked him.

He mumbled something I couldn't hear and I took it as a no. Sighing, I picked up a piece of paper and a pen. I wrote a hasty letter to him and then left, with my purse and phone in hand.

I got in the car and drove off.

*Jace's POV*

I woke up an hour later and rolled on my other side, searching for Clary's familiar, calming face and hands that would hold my hands and lips that would kiss me lightly before getting up to make me breakfast in bed, which I would later scrape out the window like trash.

But she wasn't there.

Panicked, I looked around the room until I saw a note scribbled and placed on my nightstand.

Dear Jace,

I smiled at her handwriting.

I don't know if you remember but I woke you up asking if you wanted to visit Isabelle. You didn't reply, well, actually, you said no, but I think you were half-asleep. So I went by myself. If you wake up soon, you can come over with me.

Love, Clary

I didn't remember being woken up but I did remember saying no. In a dream. I groggily got up and got dressed in a black shirt that hid my Marks well, though I happened to know Clary liked me in white shirts that showed off my Marks, so I hastily changed into a white shirt. I put on blue jeans and tennis shoes, and threw on my ring with the Herondale symbols on it. Clary had the same one. I had proposed to her before all the chaos and destruction. Two weeks before to be exact.

I drew a Portal and it appeared, towering over me. I imagined Isabelle's new house, with her room being completely pink and her bed plush and soft, hot pink. All her clothes splayed out on the floor, all pastel colors. Ugh. It wasn't something I liked to imagine.

Soon, I opened my eyes at the front door of Isabelle's tall brick house. I remembered being here a first time and wondering why she hadn't painted it pink, something she had always dreamed to do as a child.

I walked inside.