Pen-Pal's.

Chapter 12

{Jace}
Jace felt more than awkward as Isabelle stayed silent,watching Clary stomp up the stairs.
Her shoulders were tense-so tense that Jace thought they'd snap under the pressure she'd put on them.

She finally took a deep breath and turned to face him,giving him a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Sorry about that. She's not...she's not your biggest fan." Isabelle mumbled as she lead him into a cozy living room.
Jace sat down onto one of the two couches that were opposite of each other.
Isabelle sunk into an armchair that was next to the couch Jace was sitting in.
She looked a bit lost for words as the two were met with an awkward silence.
"Again...I just wanted to say I'm really sorry-," Jace's phone went off with the specific ringtone he had set for when Fray sent him a text,promptly cutting off Isabelle.
He gave her an apologetic look as his phone went silent again.
"..sorry for what happened. She's just a bit worked up with all of this happening so suddenly and-"

His phone went off again.

An irritated look crossed Isabelle's features quickly but she schooled it into a blank expression.
Jace caught it though-once again giving the most apologetic look he could muster.
"...and well-she um...Oh-yeah, she is just annoyed that you're shooting your movie on the beach since it's sort of her place. I mean she went there all the time with her mom when she was younger but then this whole accident happened and-"
His phone went off rapidly and Jace fumbled to get it out of his pocket,mumbling an apology as he typed to Fray without thinking-not
even bothering to read what she had sent.

JC: I'm busy!!! You're blowing up my phone so please stop it. I have a life too,Fray!

He stuffed his phone into his pocket and snapped his head up to face Isabelle again.
He could tell she was surprised as she stared at him and he realised he was scowling deeply.
He gulped as he clenched and un-clenched his fists,tearing his gaze away from Isabelle.
"Stupid. So stupid to let your emotions show like that." The voice in his head said."I need to use the bathroom." He blurted,already getting up and striding out of the living room.
"Since when was using the bathroom your only excuse?" The voice in his head continued.
He blocked it out as he went upstairs,realising he had no idea where the bathroom actually was.He paused at the top of the stairs,leaning on the banister as he took out his phone,looking at the messages Fray had sent finally.
He bit his lip as the guilt washed over him as he read her messages-or the lack of one after he'd sent his last reply.

He kicked himself mentally and opened a door,slipping into it so that no one would see him just standing there at the top of the stairs. He quickly typed back,hoping she would forgive him.

JC: I'm sorry,Fray. I didn't mean that.
Please respond.

He heard a phone go off and looked up to see a sleeping figure curled up in a king's sized bed that seemed to fill the small room he found himself in.
The walls were a light teal colour,black silhouettes of animals and trees outlined on them as if they were hand-painted.
Which they probably were.
A desk was packed into the corner right beside the bed. Sheets littered the desk,ground and even a few scattered the bed.
In a closer inspection-he realised they were rough sketches of drawings ranging from inanimate objects to people.
The person made a mewling sound and turned to face him,curling the sheets into their chest. Jace froze as he realised Clary was in front of him,sleeping.
Dried-in tears stained her cheeks and he could tell her eyes were red and puffy from where he was standing. Another pang of guilt shot through his chest as he took in the sight,knowing full well it was him who caused her to cry.
He hadn't realised he had annoyed-or even upset her so much at that small gallery by the beach.
He had promised to be nicer to her if he ever met her again and now here he was- watching her sleep after she obviously had a meltdown.
He wanted to throw his phone against the wall in frustration-his grip on it tightening as if he was actually considering it.
"Speaking of phone's," he thought as he scanned the bed, " there's the one that went off."
He crept closer to the bed,his body on autopilot as his mind raced on about Fray.
He didn't realise he was picking up the phone until the screen lit up and the recent message was beaming before his eyes.
He froze,thinking it was just his mind playing tricks on him but...no.