Jace Lightwood is having an amazing day: his Java truck is making more profit than usual; his girlfriend is home from college; and, best of all, his hair is extra luscious and floppy, just the way he likes it. Everything seems to be perfectly in place for the most special night of his life: the night he will ask Clary Fray to marry him.

Of course, he knows they're pretty young to get married, as Clary is only a freshman in college and he's only about a year older than her. But he also knows that she's the only girl he has ever, and will ever, love. What does age matter when you've met your soulmate? And, Jace thinks as he finishes mixing a drink for a customer, he's sure that Clary is his soulmate. There's no one else in the world he can even imagine spending the rest of his life with.

He's just about to check on the ring again when Simon walks up to the truck and orders two coffees. He's so distracted, he just figures that Simon is getting one for Izzy. He completely forgets that Izzy and Alec have already gotten their daily lattes. So when Simon tells him that one for them is for Clary, he's surprised.

He's mostly delighted, of course, since he thought he wouldn't see her until tonight. But part of him is anxious and nervous, two emotions he rarely ever feels. Looking around, Jace sees that no one seems to be coming up to the truck, so he slides the break sign up and exits from the back door.

Even the sight of her back, silhouetted against the bright light of this perfect day, is enough to get his heart racing. Her hair especially drives him crazy, and he can't help but grin, reveling in the fact that she's his and his alone.

"Hey," he whispers, sneaking up from behind her. She starts, flipping her hair around to look at him. "Wanna get out of here?"

She blinks at him and says "sure" as he pulls her towards the front of the truck. She seems both confused and surprised as he pulls her into him, meeting his lips with hers. She gasps as he kisses her, like she always does. Her lips taste like cherries and coffee, her usual blend of sweet and strong. The taste is a drug, and he's glad to be addicted.

He pulls away, and, caught up in how much he loves her, declares, "I can't wait for tonight." Suddenly, she seems confused.

"For the party?" she asks. Jace just laughs and shakes his head, happy beyond belief.

"Just shut up and kiss me," he demands, and then she's putting her arms around him like she usually does, making the world disappear. He always wondered, growing up, if love really was like they described it in books and movies. Surely, he'd thought, it couldn't be. But he had been wrong. Everytime he's with Clary, it's like the universe suddenly feels centered on them. As if time itself stands still and they're in a bubble of their own creation.

He kisses a trail down her neck towards her collarbone, since he knows that it drives her crazy. Clary is sighing in pleasure when suddenly she pushes him away.

"Stop," she says. "I'm sorry. I can't." Then she takes off, leaving Jace in her dust, completely confused and hurt.

"Clary!" he yells after her, but she's already long gone.

Jace Lightwood felt like something was missing. The feeling was constant, had been for a while now. Nothing could seem to fill the hole inside of him, no amount of partying, alcohol, or womanizing. These things would distract him for a while, but eventually, the void would come back, deeper and darker than ever.

As it was, Jace was about to start his junior year of highschool, and he had convinced Alec and Izzy to go out with him on their last night of freedom. Since Izzy had skipped out on their last excursion in order to seduce her nameless new suitor, it was her turn to choose the club.

"Pandemonium?" Jace asked Izzy. "Are you sure?" Izzy nodded.

"Meliorn said-"

"Oh, so this mystery man does have a name?" Alec teased. Izzy rolled her eyes.

"Do you want to get into the hottest underground club in the city or not?" she asked, an air of annoyance in her voice. Jace laughed.

"Fine, we won't tease you about Meliorn anymore," he told her, fake sincerity lingering on his tongue. Jace reached in his pocket to grab his fake ID, but when he pulled his hand out, his keys went flying behind him. Alec and Izzy looked at him, silently asking him if he wanted help. He waved them off. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up."

"Alright," Alec said. "Don't get into too much trouble." Jace nodded, his grin betraying his willingness to do just the opposite. So he stalked off into the dark alley to his left where his keys had flown. After a minute of searching, he found them, putting them back into his pocket and turning back onto the slightly less depressing street leading towards Pandemonium.

He was so focused on finding Alec and Izzy that he didn't notice the girl in his way until he had bumped into her shoulder. He turned to say sorry, but she was already spewing words at him.

"Hey, watch where you're going," she demanded. Her voice was melodic yet sturdy, a combination that could be hard to pull off. But that wasn't the most striking thing about her. The girl's hair was the color of fire, and her skin was pale like delicate porcelain. She wore a simple black t-shirt that hugged her in all the right places, showing off the curves of her breasts and a small sliver of skin just above her hips, with a pair of torn skinny-jeans. Her green jacket hung off her shoulders casually, its color highlighting the glowing green of her eyes. Jace had seen beautiful girls, had even been with them, but this girl seemed more beautiful than all of them. It was something about the way her eyes held more fire than her hair that made her seem ethereal. He had never associated a girl with that word before.

"I-I'm sorry," he said, stumbling over his words.

"You should be," the girl declared, but her tone was more amused than anything. They stood there for a moment, looking into each other's eyes.

"Clary!" a boy yelled from a van across the street. The girl turned away from Jace, her attention shifting entirely.

"I'll be right over, Simon!" she yelled back, then she turned back to Jace. He wanted to say something, wanted to tell her his name or smooth talk her into a date, but nothing came out of his mouth. All of his usual tactics failed him.

"Look where you're going next time," the girl, whose name seemed to be Clary, told him. Then she skipped across the street into the arms of the boy who called her name. Simon. His name on her lips was heavy, indicating that he meant a lot to her. The way she embraced him made Jace believe that they were more than just friends.

As they drove away, Jace realized that the hole in his chest had been momentarily lifted while he talked to Clary. Now that she was gone, the void seemed deeper than ever, its darkness almost swallowing him whole. Walking towards Pandemonium, Jace thought about the events that had just unfolded. He realized that he needed to see the girl again, needed to understand how she had filled the hole.

He would give anything to talk to Clary.