Roommates & Soulmates

Ch153: Clary's Stranger

Clary hadn't wanted to leave the comfort of Will's bright blue truck. The drive home from the airport had been all together too short, and now she was standing in the entrance way of the apartment she hadn't seen since last August.

Her memories of this place were dim, but as far as she could remember it looked nothing like it had. There wasn't a single female's touch in the whole apartment. Though she could tell they'd at least tried to clean before she'd shown up since there were no empty pop cans littering the surfaces and exactly zero dirty dishes in the sink. What there was however, was the smell of cologne and dirty socks. Clary could see dust clinging to the unused surfaces around the room, and knew the only dusting had been done by general use of the table and chairs. It didn't feel much like home to her.

"I know it doesn't exactly look like it did," Jace mumbled. "But our room is the same." Jace paused when she didn't speak and then continued. "With Jon and Jordan here this place has become a bit of a bachelor pad, is all. But we can fix it up, change whatever you like."

Her instincts were telling her Jace was nervous, but it had been so long since she'd stood in his presence it was hard to be sure.

"That makes sense," Clary finally said. "Three single guys living alone would end up with a very bachelor vibe."

"I wasn't single," Jace replied firmly. "And Jordan isn't anymore either. Did you hear he and Maia got back together."

"I hadn't heard yet, no," Clary smiled. "That must have been quite something. I hope Paige is okay."

"She's at Magnus and Alec's," Jace explained.

"It's crazy how much has changed while I've been gone," Clary said. "When I left I was living with Paige, Jordan, and you. I didn't move but now my brother's here and Paige is gone."

"Also did you hear about Magnus's father showing up out of nowhere?" Jace asked.

"What!" Clary stopped to spin around. "He didn't tell me about that!"

"He probably didn't want to worry you," Jace smiled.

"Has anything happened to Simon that I don't know about?" Clary asked.

"Not as far as I know," Jace replied.

"Well that's something at least," she signed.

There was a pause in which neither of them spoke. Clary knew they were alone in the apartment right now as Jon was out looking for a job, and Jordan was at Maia's. It had been different in the truck with other people around and in a confined moving vehicle. Just cuddling then had felt nice, with no chance of something else happening. But now it was different. Now she was standing physically near Jace without no one and nothing else to distract them. Why did she want to call Magnus right now, and find out details about his father's arrival? Why did she want to be somewhere else? Isn't this what they'd been waiting for for almost a year?

"Clary, are you okay?" Jace asked finally.

"I'm fine," Clary said automatically.

"No you aren't," he said. "Please, please tell me what's going on inside your head."

"I-" Clary began, but she hadn't a clue where to start.

"I know this isn't easy," Jace said calmly. "I know it will take work to get back to where we were, but that's work I want to do because I love you, Clary." He paused, but she didn't speak. "And I missed you so much. It's all I can do right now not to part you from all your clothes and-"

"And what?" Clary asked, gently taking a step closer.

"You know what," Jace whispered. He was visibly shaking now, and Clary could almost sense how much effort he was exuding to stand a foot away from her.