Forever Yours

Chapter 10

Jace POV:

As soon as Jace saw her, he knew that there was no way that he would be able to resist staring at her all night. Her hair was in perfect bright red curls that reached her mid-back. Her eyes were emerald green and her dress hugged all the right places along her body. 

He tore his eyes away from her when she looked up to meet his wandering gaze. He glanced at her again quickly and saw that she was staring at the ground, her cheeks flushed the same colour as her hair. He smirked inwardly. But his smugness slowly faded as she turned to talk to her sister which made the full length of her leg show. Jace could just imagine running his hands up and down those creamy coloured legs as she-nope. He mentally scolded himself. That was never going to happen. 

Suddenly the girl began to walk away, leaving her sister to dance by herself. Jace could just see the top of her red hair as she turned left at the pair of oak doors that led into the hallway. 

Jace couldn't help himself, it was as if some invisible force was pulling him towards that girl; a voice in the back of his head. He could do nothing except follow the girl that he was already falling in lov-nope. Not that. He was drawn to her, yes. But not in that way.

He couldn't possibly love her. He didn't even know her name! But that didn't stop him from following her as she exited the ballroom. 

Jace walked out of the grand wooden doors and what he saw made him freeze. There, just to the left of the door, was the red headed girl curled in a heap as sobs over took her whole body. In her hand was a letter, clutched so tightly that it looked as if it was about to be ripped.

He couldn't help himself, he rushed over to her and gently put a hand on her shoulder. The touch sent sparks from his hand all the way to through his arm, making his whole body feely warm and fuzzy. 

What was he supposed to do with a crying girl? The only girl he had seen crying before was Izzy, and that had been years ago. Plus, Izzy always pushed people away when she cried. And somehow, this girl seemed like she wanted to be comforted. 

She looked up slowly, her emerald eyes huge as she saw him.

She quickly swiped at her tear stained cheeks and said, "I'm sorry your highness I didn't mean to   disturb you, but if I may ask, what are you doing here?" She asked with her cheeks going slightly pink.

Jace turned completely red and took his hand off of the girl's shoulder. "Well, uh, I guess I just wanted to see where you were going...?" he said with a bit of a questioning tone. "By the way, what's your name?" he asked as his blush began to recede.

"Clary." she said softly, staring straight into Jace's eyes.

"Clary," He repeated. "I like that."

He could see the adorable blush that immediately sprung on her cheeks.

Clary, Jace thought, was a name that went with very few people. But for this Clary, the one sitting right in front of him, it suited perfectly. It was delicate yet stubborn and fierce.

"Why were you crying? If you don't mind me asking." he said to her in a low voice.

Her smile immediately fell. Without any words she handed Jace the letter. He looked a Clary worriedly as her eyes started to fill up with tears again and took the paper from her outstretched hand. He looked down at the letter in his hand and barely got past the first sentence when Clary started speaking.

"I had a boyfriend back home and he was the most wonderful person I had ever met and then my best friend Simon got chosen to be part of the palace guard and on his way here he saw my boyfriend-or ex now but that hardly matters because Simon saw him making out with another girl and then only was able to tell me about it when he got here because he couldn't send a letter on a plane. I guess I was expecting it because my ex did seem to be acting a bit strange, but if he wasn't interested anymore couldn't he have just told me?!?" She paused to take a breath and then continued. "I'm sorry for rambling about this but I just can't believe him!! Ugh. And you know the worst part?" She paused again, swallowing down more sobs. "The worst part is that I know a part of me still loves him."

Upon hearing these last words, a small part of Jace shattered though he didn't know why. He had just met this girl! How could he have developed feelings for somebody that quickly? No. He told himself again; he didn't have feelings for this amazing, beautiful, smart, adorable redhead. No. Definitely not.

He didn't know what to say so he just put an arm around the tiny girl's shoulders and told her softly.

"He's a jerk for treating you like that. Anyways, you're going to be okay. You're strong and I'm sure that you'll get through this."

He looked at her through his peripheral vision and saw that she had a bright pink blush spreading across her face. He smirked but it slowly faded into a genuine smile as he realized that he could stay in this exact position for a long, long time, and never get tired of it.