Beyond Repair

12. Good Hostess

|Jace POV|

"Jace!" Clary hisses at me. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Why, I'm just being a good hostess," I reply innocently. "Isn't that a good thing?"

Clary glares at me, and then whispers, "Yes. But you can be a good hostess in any time of your life, and you choose now, when I'm outside your door. I don't understand you."

I smirk at her, then say loudly, "Clary, be honest. We both know that you understand me a little more that you let on, if you know what I mean."

She slaps my chest, and then whispers angrily, "Keep your voice down! Anyone could hear you, including my brother!"

I give her a look that says "you're kidding me, right?", and then reach over her shoulder to knock on the door behind her. "This door here is pretty much soundproof."

"Yeah...well..."

I laugh quietly, and then say, "Wow. That's all you've got? And I thought I would never see an undogmatic, speechless Clary. Guess I've been proved wrong."

"Oh, shut up," Clary says, exasperated. "And please use words of the English language. No one, and I mean no one, can understand words like 'undogmatic', Jace."

I smile a little at her frustration. "The word undogmatic is one way to describe a person without opinion, so obviously not you. It was first used in 1857, and-"

"Okay," Clary interrupts. "I get it. I didn't need a dictionary description of the word. I just needed to know the basic meaning, not the first year it was freaking used!"

"Sorry," I say. "Just trying to be a good hostess..."

"By the angel, Jace, we're back to this again?!"

I laugh a little, and then gently move a loose piece of hair out of Clary's eyes, and place it behind her ear.

She smiles a half-smile, takes my hand before I can let it drop back to my side, and kisses it softly.

"That's all I get?" I say, disappointed.

Clary punches me, and then winces, shaking her hand in pain. "Owwww..." she whines.

"You shouldn't have punched me, then," I smirk.

"How was I supposed to know it would hurt?" she complains.

"Uhhhh, you've punched me plenty of times before, and the same thing has happened. You definitely should've known."

"It didn't hurt that much before," she whines.

"It didn't hurt that much before," I mimic.

"Mature." She glares at me, and then turns abruptly on her heel and starts walking towards the door.

"No! No, wait I'm sorry! I won't do it again, I promise," I stammer.

She chuckles a little at my stuttering. "Are you sure? Because I totally could just go to sleep in my bed. In my room."

"I won't, I swear!" I insist. "Stay!"

"Okay," she says, and walks towards my bed now. Looking over her shoulder when she reaches it.

|Clary POV|

"Well?" I question, raising an eyebrow cheekily at him. "Are you coming?" I watch as Jace moves quickly to the other side of the bed, and avoids tripping on the one thing laying on the floor, unlike me. Damn Jace and his freakishly good agility.

"I'm...." I yawn. "So tired..." I pull back the thick duvet and flop down onto the bed.

"Me too," Jace agrees, as he walks over to his dresser and pulls out and a black t-shirt. He tosses it to me, and says, "You can sleep in that."

"Mhmm," I yawn again, and then look over at Jace pointedly. "No peeking. Turn around."

"Why?" Jace answers cheekily. "It's not like I'll see anything I haven't seen before!"

"You'd be surprised," I answer, and watch as Jace gets pink in the cheeks. I point my index finger downward and twirl it in a circle; my way of telling Jace to turn around. He grudgingly turns to face the wall, and once he's all the way turned around, I quickly pull my shirt over my head.

"Okay, I'm done," I say, and Jace turns back to face me so he can walk back the bed, disappointment etched across his face.

"Grow up," I tease. Jace frowns, but climbs into bed and lays as far away from me as he can, meaning the very edge of the bed.

"Aw, Jace, I'm sorry. I won't tease you anymore," I apologize.

"You hurt my feelings," he pouts like he's in year 1.

"I'm sorry, though," I reply.

"Are you?" he answers. "Are you really?"

"Yes?" I say, not really sure how to answer.

"Okay, then," he says, and turns back to face me, moving a little closer.

"What just happened?" I mutter to myself, but ignore my confusion.

I close my eyes, and feel Jace wrap his arm around my waist, and his fingers press into my small hip bone, making my skin burn where the shirt is slightly pulled up.

"I love you, Clary, you know that right?"

"Of course," I reply, as he tightens his grip on my waist briefly.

"I'll always love you, Clary."

I feel him press a light kiss onto my temple as he whispers the words that I had secretly been hoping he would say since I left New York.

"I never stopped loving you."