Idris, February 14, 2004

Clary Morgenstern sat at her table in her room, sketching. Someone knocked on the door and came in. She turned and saw her father Valentine, and her mom Jocelyn at the door. They were finely dressed and made an elegant couple.

Clary knew what they were going to say and grinned. "Lovebirds on a date? God, aren't you guys too old for that?"

Jocelyn smiled and Valentine chuckled. Her mom came over and hugged Clary. "Baby, I'm so sorry that you'll be alone tonight."

"She'll be fine, Jocelyn, Miss Morgenstern isn't a baby anymore. Or is she?" Valentine's black eyes twinkled as he made that cheeky remark.

Clary glared at her father over Jocelyn's shoulder. "I'm turning 13 in August, dad!"

Her parents laughed and Jocelyn gave a quick kiss on her cheek. "Bye honey," she whispered to Clary. "I'm going on an extremely cheesy date with your dad like the past few years." Jocelyn rolled her green eyes to emphasize but Clary could tell that she loved it, no matter how cheesy.

Clary laughed. Valentine raised his eyebrows. "Some mischief, Jocelyn?"

"Nothing." Clary saw Jocelyn hid a smile and went out with Valentine.

"Happy Valentine's Day, you two!" she called out.

Idris, February 16, 2004

Clary stared numbly as the undertakers lowered her father's coffin into the ground. Six feet deep. Her heart felt empty after crying so much for the past two days. Anger surged through her at the drunk driver who had caused the car accident on that day. They even haven't had their cheesy date yet, thought Clary with bitter humour.

She turned and saw her strong mother breaking down when they started burying Valentine. She didn't know which sight was more heartbreaking, so she walked away.

It gradually turned to running. Clary ran until she was out of breath and sat under a tree. She didn't know that she was crying until a hand brushed her face gently.

She looked up, expecting Jocelyn. Instead, her eyes met with a boy's golden ones. He seemed like her age and was holding a bunch of white tulips-visiting a grave, maybe.

"Oh," she felt embarrassed suddenly and stood up, wiping her tears. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." said the blonde boy curtly. He was attractive but Clary wasn't in a mood to think about it. "Did you lose someone?" he asked.

Clary nodded, not trusting herself to speak properly.

The boy didn't say anything, but he stepped forward and hugged her. Clary was surprised and wanted to get off, but then she felt better in his warm arms, and didn't.

He let go after a few seconds. He brushed her messy red curls from her face lightly and said, "Don't lose yourself."

Clary wasn't sure what he meant but nevertheless, she said, "Thank you."

He smirked. "For the advice, or the hug?"

Clary smiled at his playful smirk. "Both." At that, he smiled genuinely. "I'm glad that you're strong enough to smile. I hope you can always keep that beautiful smile." He waved and walked away.

Clary watched him go away, and suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to ask his name.

When she got home, she sketched him immediately as good as she could. At the bottom of the paper, she wrote:

"Don't lose yourself."

New York, February 16, 2004

It was almost midnight. The Lightwoods had finished unpacking their things in the new house and everyone had collapsed on their bed at once. Except for Jace.

He held a photograph of his biological father and looked at it for a long time. His father died when Jace was 10, and so he had been living with the Lightwoods ever since. They had been living in Idris, so Jace could often visit his dad's grave.

But then, Maryse and Robert-his adoptive parents-had dropped a bombshell and said that they had to live in New York because of their job. So Jace had visited his parents' grave that afternoon for the last time.

And suddenly, he remembered the girl he had talked to. The one he had told to not lose and forget herself over someone's death like he almost did. He struggled to think of her face, but his memory wasn't clear. He just knew that she had curly red hair and green eyes. And a beautiful smile that was infectious. He cursed himself for not asking her her name.

Jace fell asleep thinking of her.

Idris, February 1, 2007

Clary knelted at her father's grave and put a red rose next to it. They were moving to New York tomorrow, where Jocelyn's friend, Luke, was there and could help them with their struggling life. Clary had insisted Jocelyn visiting Valentine's grave but she had declined.

"So, I'm here, dad." Clary thought for a moment and continued. "Mom and I will be moving to New York tomorrow. Luke, Luke Garroway's there and could help us." She swallowed. "I'm sorry mom isn't here today."

Clary traced the carved name on the gravestone, "Happy Valentine's Day, dad." she whispered an early greeting and left.

She walked to the tree where she had met the boy with golden eyes. No one. She hadn't seen him since they buried her father, but she still remembered him. And she promised herself that always would, for she was grateful for his advice—which Clary understood after for some time.

New York, February 3, 2007

Clary sat in the corner of the class, trying to mask her nervous expression.

Everyone stared at her-of course, she was a transfer student to St. Xavier's. There were some students who did more than staring: snickering, insulting, gossiping...Clary bit her lip to refrain herself from screaming at them.

After for a while, the English teacher-Mrs Branwell- came in and cleared her throat. Everyone turned to the front immediately and Clary sighed in relief quietly.

Her relief was replaced with horror when Mrs Branwell said, "Can the transfer student come out and introduce herself to the class?"

Someone yelled when Clary stood up slowly. "Yeah, come on, midget!"

There were a few snickers. Some shot her sympathetic looks.

No, I must let them know I'm not to be messed around, thought Clary. She didn't want sympathy either.

She walked to the front and stood there, thinking of what to say. She took a deep breath and started. "I'm Clary Morgenstern, and-"

"Wait," said Mrs Branwell. "Isn't your surname 'Fairchild'?"

Oh, crap, I forgot mom changed my name, thought Clary as she heard a few snickers again. Jocelyn had changed their surnames to "start a new life in New York", as she said to Clary.

She sighed. "I'm Clary Fairchild, and I'm from Idris. It's lovely to meet you all." The last part was a total lie, of course.

Clary went back to her seat. A tall girl with black long hair beside her tapped her table.

"You're from Idris?" the girl asked. She looked like a femme fatale to Clary.

"Yeah."

"Me too," After a while, she stretched her hand out to Clary, "I'm Isabelle Lightwood. It's nice to meet an Idrisian in New York."

The gesture was genuine and friendly. Clary smiled and shook her hand. "Same here."

New York, February 14, 2007

Clary walked to her locker at a fast pace. It was lunch, and she had left her purse in her locker. Stupid me, thought Clary.

As she turned a corner, she accidentally bumped into someone's back, and stumbled a little from the impact.

The person turned. He was blonde and had golden eyes. He raised an eyebrow. "Another girl throwing at me again?"

"Sorry." muttered Clary. How can a person be so cocky?

He caught her arm as she was leaving. He stared at her and frowned.

"Have we met?" he asked.

Clary looked at him again. Well, he does look familiar...but I don't know him. She came up with a reasonable answer. "Probably not. I just transfered here two weeks ago." He was still gripping her arm. "Can I go?" she asked.

He let go of her. "Yeah, sure."

After school, Jace stayed back in school for basketball practice with a couple of his friends, including his brother Alec.

When the whole team finished doing warm-up exercises, most of them went to the cheerleading team, who were also going to practise at the next basketball court, to flirt and talk. Usually, Jace joined them, but after he had met the redhead, he just couldn't get her out of his mind. Where had he seen her? She looked so familiar. He knew that she had felt the same way-he had seen doubt flickering in her green eyes...

"No. There is no way I am joining the cheerleaders, Izzy." Jace suddenly heard a very firm girl's voice and saw his sister Isabelle dragging her.

The cheerleading outfit looked great on her slight frame. Hell, it was a thousand times better than great. Her fiery hair was tied in a high ponytail. And her green eyes looked stubborn, so stubborn that it almost made him laugh.

Isabelle, the leader of the cheerleading team, crossed her arms. "You are stubborn, aren't you? More stubborn than Jace, in fact."

Wow, I have competition. Jace grinned inwardly and walked up to them. "Hey Iz, who's more stubborn than me?"

The redhead's eyes widen at him. We've met, said her eyes. He winked at her and she rolled her eyes in annoyance. What the hell-? No girl had ever reacted like this.

On the other hand, Isabelle sighed, "Jace, meet Clary Fairchild, the girl who's great at stunts and-Ow!" she yelped as Clary punched her.

Jace raised his eyebrows. Isabelle had never yelped, which was amusing, or complimented anyone else on stunts-she was the best in school. "Really?"

"No." said Clary, and at the same time Isabelle said, "Yes."

Someone whistled, probably the coach, and Jace sighed. "Well, I'll keep an eye on you during training. "

"No please, you sound like a stalker. " murmured Clary, and Jace laughed.

This girl was interesting.

During training, Jace did glance at Clary a couple of times. Isabelle was right-Clary was awesome. She did every cartwheel, backflip, and other stunts perfectly. And god, she was a lot hotter than Kaelie and Aline-who were glaring jealously at her to his amusement.

It was around evening when the training ended. Clary showered quickly and changed back into her usual T-shirt and jeans. She walked out of the changing room and found Isabelle talking with Jace-who was apparently her brother, Izzy had said.

Isabelle's eyes widened when she saw her. "How can you shower that quickly, Clary? And aren't you attending Valentine's Day prom?" she added, glancing at Clary's clothes.

"No, I gotta go home and...erm, help my mother do some stuff." Clary made up an excuse. She saw at the corner of her eye that Jace was looking at her with disbelief.

"Aww, that's a shame. Anyway, see you next Monday?" Isabelle smiled and went, leaving Clary and Jace outside.

"Well, it's the first time I've seen a girl skipping the prom. Other girls always excited about dancing and hooking up." said Jace. He narrowed his eyes at her. "You're avoiding it, aren't you? Not because you want to help tour mom."

Clary was caught off guard. "I'm not other girls, and how do you know?" Maybe he's really a stalker, she thought.

Jace grinned. "You're a terrible liar."

"Oh? And you're a terrific liar?" she retorted sarcastically, hoping to steer him away from the previous subject.

It worked. "Nah, I'm not a liar. I just twist words around in creative ways when I don't feel like telling the truth."

"But that's-" Clary was cut off when Kaelie came, still in the cheerleader outfit. For all Clary knew about her, she was a player and a heartbreaker who kissed maybe over a hundred guys. While Clary had never kissed or had gotten one.

"Hey Jace," Kaelie crooned in a low tone that might be sexy, but instead made Clary want to throw up. Kaelie looked at Clary and said deliberately, "Jace, why are you talking to a freshman?"

Not again. Clary's height was 5"2 so many people often mistook her as a 14-year-old. But she knew that Kaelie was doing this on purpose, because...

"Are you jealous? And I believe you're smart enough to know that she's 16." replied Jace with an amused smirk.

"Of course babe, I was kidding." Kaelie splayed her manicured fingers on Jace's chest, her attention on Jace. "Wanna dance with me tonight? I'm wearing something gorgeous. " she said seductively.

"And revealing?"

Oh my god, this is gross, thought Clary. Without thinking, she blurted, "Adele."

Both of them looked at her with questioning looks. Clary elaborated, "Clarissa Adele Fairchild-that's my middle name. Thought you could use it if you guys are planning to have a baby." She had learned this sentence from watching 'Sherlock 2' recently.

Jace laughed while Kaelie looked outraged. But then, she smiled evily. "Fairchild, huh? Thought your name was Morgenstern? "

Clary felt like a dictionary-a particularly thick one-had fallen on her head, leaving her dumb and speechless. Of all the things Kaelie could've remembered, she remembered the embarrassing speech Clary had made this morning.

Tears formed in her eyes suddenly. I do believe it's my cue to leave, thought Clary, and ran away.

She heard Jace calling her name, but she didn't look back.

Clary ended going to Central Park. The sun had almost set, and the lights were switched on. There was almost nobody there, just a few lonely looking people strolling about.

Clary was one of them, for she received a text a minutes ago from her mom: Baby, Luke and I are out for dinner. Hang out with your friends if you want but be back before midnight. Love, mom.

She put her phone back into a pocket, thinking: well, good luck. Try not to get into an accident. Friendly advice, nothing much...

She stopped abruptly. What was she thinking? Luke was a good man, and she should be happy for her mom! Still, Clary thought of Valentine, and suddenly felt so far away from him, who was in Idris, six feet deep in the ground.

Dad, she thought silently as she sat on a bench, I missed you. I screwed up today at school when Kaelie said Morgenstern. But don't worry, I still have some friends. I'm in New York, with mom and Luke. Did I tell you that mom changed my name to Fairchild? She changed hers too, and is on a date with Luke! I'm sorry I can't give you another rose today. Happy Valentine's Day, I love you.

Clary felt tears streaming down her cheeks and was going to wipe it with her hand, when another hand brushed her cheek lightly. She looked up and her green eyes met with golden ones. Jace. A strong wave of déjà vu came over Clary, and she froze.

Clary ran until she was out of breath and sat under a tree. She didn't know that she was crying until a hand brushed her face gently. She looked up, expecting Jocelyn. Instead, her eyes met with a boy's golden ones...

Clary knew why Jace looked so familiar, and why he had asked her whether they'd met.

"It was you, right?" they whispered at the same time.

So he had felt it too.

There was silence for a few seconds. Then, Jace laughed nervously and said, "We have talking to do. So-"

Clary cut him off and a sudden torrent of words spilled out of her mouth. "You...comforted me that day when my father was burried. In Idris. You hugged me and told me to never lose myself. I even drew a picture of you to remember. I never saw you again until now." She stopped, surprised at her sudden ranting. "Your turn." Clary said when Jace didn't reply.

After a moment, he did. "I was visiting my parents' grave. Then, I saw you crying under a tree. You looked so sad that I couldn't help walking to you. I made a joke and smirked at you. You smiled, " Jace looked wistful as if thinking of that moment. "And I'd thought that you looked beautiful when you smiled..." he trailed off.

"You did say it too." said Clary, and bit her tongue.

Jace nodded. "And after I left the graveyard, I moved to New York with the Lightwoods on that day. I cursed myself for not asking your name. And the day you ran into me, I thought you looked familiar, but I couldn't remember. Until just now...I had a déjà vu. And I recognized you." he whispered the last sentence, something Clary had wanted to hear.

"Me too." Clary couldn't help smiling at him.

Jace reached his hand and brushed her curls from her face. "You still look beautiful when you smile." he said, with a smile that matched hers.

Clary's heart fluttered when he bent his head towards her face, his warm hands cupping her cold cheeks. And she found herself leaning into him, as well. And their lips met. Her fingers wound into his tangled hair-it was silky like she had thought. His lips were soft and gentle against hers and Clary felt herself drowning in Jace.

They broke off after a few seconds. Clary suspected that she was blushing after the kiss, while Jace smiled playfully. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"Completed." she said, thinking of the days she had felt uncompleted after her father died. She had thought it was because she was missing a father. But it wasn't. Her life had been missing someone, who felt like...

"A part of my life was missing something last time, too. But after I found you, well...I felt like I've found a missing puzzle piece to my heart." Jace said, his cocky, playful smile replaced by a genuine one.

"But it's still kinda crazy, you know. I've barely known you." replied Clary, even though they had kissed and their fingers were entwined.

Jace grinned. "Well, you should-"

"Would you like you buy a rose for your girlfriend, young man? It's the last one." an old man holding a pink rose approached the two of them.

Clary blushed again when he said "girlfriend" but the corner of her lips were curving up. Jace chuckled at her reaction and bought the rose.

"Well, Happy Valentine's Day, Clarissa Fairchild." said Jace softly as he handed her the rose.

"Thanks." Clary took the rose.

His head cocked to the side thoughtfully. "A pink rose is just right, well, for me, anyway. It means 'first love'. You're my first love, Clary."

"I am? Isabelle said you've hooked up with, like, hundreds of girls." said Clary incredulously.

"Those were for entertainment. "

Clary shook her head. "Well anyway, you're my first love too, Jace Lightwood."

"I'm glad to hear that." chuckled Jace while reaching into his jacket pocket.

He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote his number on it. He tore it and gave it to Clary. "My number. Can I have yours?"

Smiling, Clary wrote hers on the other half of the paper. How different this year's February 14th is, she mused to herself.

She felt...completed

A/N: Okay so this is my first fanfic (a one-shot) for Valentine's Day (don't think about the evil Valentine okay), and I am uploading it today because I may not have time to do it during the following days. And happy Valentine's Day to you all! Please review, it would be such a motivation for me... :)

Love from Jessica. 3