Okay, so this is my second FanFiction. Reviews would be great. I'm still learning to write, so advice would be very helpful. Tell me if you like it, or if you hate it!

Code red. Can you comeover?

As soon as Jace read that message, he grabbed his keys and was out the door. It wasn't odd for Clary to ask him to come over. Actually, it was quite common. Jace couldn't count the number of times she'd spontaneously asked him to come over, usually because her mom was working late and she was bored.

But this time, she'd said it was a code red.

Code red was bad. Really bad. Code red was rarely used. So rare, it'd only been used once. Code red meant, "My relationship just ended, so go to the nearest supermarket and buy me a box of tissues, a tub of cookie dough ice cream, and a jar of Nutella."

They put together this code during sophomore year. Clary had just gotten her first boyfriend, Jordan Kyle. They dated for eleven months, and she really liked him, and then he cheated on her.

Needless to say, she was upset. She had really cared for him. She actually cared for him too much, in Jace's opinion. He would never tell her this, of course. He always tried to support her in what she wanted to do, but he made sure he was always there to be her shoulder to cry on when it crashed and burned.

So when Jace got the text from Clary saying that they were over, him, being the knight in shining armor he was, brought her ice cream and watched corny romance movies with her until Jocelyn made him leave.

The next day, he told her that that would be their thing. If they were ever in desperate need of each other's presence after a bad breakup, send a "Code red" text and the other would come over with the necessities and they would hang out.

The reason code red has only been used one time is because Jace had never had a serious relationship. He'd had a total of two girlfriends in high school, and neither lasted over three months. He didn't trust easily, and the only person he let in and told all his secrets to was Clary.

Clary, on the other hand, had only been with one other guy since Jordan. And that was Sebastian Verlac. Who, up until a few minutes ago, apparently, had been Clary's boyfriend since the beginning of the second semester of junior year. They were now seniors, and Clary had been with Sebastian nine months.

Jace wasn't sure why they broke up. As far as he was concerned, their relationship was fine. He tried his best to avoid that topic at all times, though. It hurt too much to hear Clary sound so happy talking about being with someone who wasn't him. But it was also because he hated Sebastian Verlac. He hated him with the fire of a thousand suns. And not just because he'd stole Clary from him, either, although that was the main part. He hated him because of his reputation with girls and his cocky attitude.

Sebastian didn't deserve Clary, and Jace was almost positive the only re

ason he was with her is to get back at him. For years, he's had a grudge against Jace, because anything Sebastian was good at, Jace was better.

Jace beat him at everything, so he knew Sebastian took pride in knowing he got the only thing Jace truly wanted; Clary.

Jace had tried to warn Clary not to go out with him the first time he asked her on a date. He told her that he changed girlfriends like he changed his underwear and treated them all like trash. He tried, but this was the first guy that had gotten her attention since Jordan. He was the captain of the soccer team (only because Jace didn't play soccer, he preferred football and basketball) and according to most of the female population, super hot.

So yes, Clary had agreed to a date, and when they returned, she claimed that he was nothing like people said he was and he was a fantastic gentleman.

Yeah, whatever.

He realized he hadn't even texted Clary back, so before he started his car he sent back: On my way. Leave the door unlocked.

After he got all the code red requirements, he was on his way to Clary's house. When he pulled up, he saw that her car was the only one parked in the driveway, meaning that Jocelyn was probably at Luke's house.

When he got out of the car with everything in his hands, he walked inside and went straight to the kitchen. He knew she was up in her room, so he went ahead and got two spoons and made his way upstairs.

Opening the door, he immediately spotted Clary, who was leaning against the side of the bed with her head between her knees and he could see her shoulders shake with sobs.

When she heard him enter, she turned her head in his direction and his heart broke when he saw her tear stained face with mascara smeared all around her eyes.

She stood up and ran to him. He barely had enough time to sit the stuff on the table before she jumped into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hers went around his neck. She held onto him with all her might and didn't let go for a good 5 minutes.

He didn't mind though, he held her back just as fiercely while she cried into his shoulder.

When she finally pulled back, she looked down and gave a pitiful laugh, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Hey," Jace said sternly,"don't apologize. That's what I'm here for. To be your shoulder to cry on." Then his voice softened. "Can you tell me what happened? You guys were fine earlier at school."

Clary sighed. She picked up the ice cream and a spoon and walked to her bed. Then she sat down with her legs crossed and told Jace to bring her the Nutella.

He smiled at her before he grab it off the table and brought it to her, sitting in front of her.

"Well," she began, "we were fine earlier at school. It was after school when the shit hit the fan. We went out tonight for our nine months or whatever. He took me to that new steakhouse that opened downtown. After we ate, we went back to his house and went upstairs. We were kissing and then he slipped his hands under my shirt. It wasn't like he hadn't done it before so I let him, but then he tried to unhook my bra. I grabbed his arms and pulled his hands back down. I told him we weren't gonna have sex and he asked why not. I told him that I wasn't ready and then he laughed and called me a prude"

Clary paused to take a deep breath. Jace's fists were clenched so tight he wouldn't be surprised if his nails cut through his skin. He knew his face must've been flushed from anger as well. After a moment for her to gather her thoughts, she continued.

"Then he told me that if I wasn't gonna have sex with him then I could just leave and that we'd be over. So I walked downstairs and grabbed my purse. When I was walking out the door, he stopped me and said the only reason he was even with me was to piss you off and get in my pants. Then he said to tell you he hoped you had better luck than him."

When she finished the last sentence, she broke down in another round of sobs.

Jace never knew what it fully meant to "see red" until that moment. He had never been more furious with someone then he was at Sebastian. He was ready to beat the hell out of him. In fact, that didn't sound like a bad idea...

"Jace, where are you going?"

He hadn't even realized he'd stood up and was walking out the door until he heard Clary's voice. He looked at her incredulously.

"Where does it look like I'm going? I'm going to kill that son of a bitch!" He said furiously.

"Please don't," Clary said pleadingly.

"Why the hell not, Clary? Can you not see what he's done to you?"

"Yes, and he deserves everything I know you would do to him, Jace. But wait till Monday, because I just really need you here right now so I can cry and you tell me everything's gonna be okay." By now, tears were streaming down Clary's face.

Jace immediately rushed to her and gathered her in his arms. She held onto him tightly. "Everything will be okay, Clary. I'm not gonna let him get away with hurting you like this."

Jace moved them to the bed where he laid down with her tucked into his side. After a few minutes, her crying had slowed down.

"I just can't believe he said that," she said miserably. "I really liked him. And I thought he liked me, too. Why does this always happen to me, Jace? I find guys who I like, and I always end up hurt."

I wouldn't hurt you, Jace thought.

Jace knew he couldn't respond to that without making it clear that he, in fact, wouldn't hurt her and would always be there for her, so he didn't say anything. It didn't seem like Clary was expecting an answer, anyway.

They didn't speak for another few minutes, Clary's sniffles being the only noise in the room, before Clary spoke again in a soft voice.

"Jace?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did Sebastian say that he only dated me to piss you off? And that he hoped you had better luck getting into my pants than he did?"

Jace took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was hoping she wouldn't ask that question.

He knew he shouldn't say anything, he shouldn't risk losing the best friend he's ever had and the only person he could trust, but he could no longer sit back and watch her continuously get hurt by guys who didn't deserve her.

He needed her to know, and he knew now was as good of a time as any to tell her.

"Because I'm in love with you."

Clary gasped and sat up, looking at him disbelievingly. Jace sat up as well, mentally planning a speech. She opened her mouth to speak, but Jace held up a hand and began talking.

"Before you say anything, let me talk. I'm sorry, I had to tell you. It won't change anything, not if you don't want it to. But I had to let you know that yes, I love you, and I have since I moved here in the third grade and you stood up to bullies who picked on me because I was adopted. And it broke my heart to see you looking the way you were when I got here, knowing some guy who wasn't worthy of you in the first place had made you cry so hard. If it were up to me, you'd never be unhappy again. I'd give you the world if I could. Hell, I'd jump off a bridge to see you smile.

"Sebastian said that to you because it is so painfully obvious to everyone but you that I'm in love with you. He wanted to take something from me as some sort of payback, I guess. He was using you like you were a trophy, showing me that I may have beaten him at everything else, but he had you, and that was all that mattered.

"I'm sorry he did this to you, Clary. And yes, I do plan on hitting him very hard Monday."

Clary laughed at this.

Jace sighed. "I'm sorry for laying all this on you at one time, but I really didn't want to ruin our friendship. I know you don't feel the same way, and it's totally cool, as long as things don't get awkward. I just had to get this off my chest."

When he finished, he finally looked at Clary. Her face was blank, he couldn't read her expression. They sat in silence for a few minutes before it started to become awkward. Jace cleared his throat.

"Um, Clary?"

"I waited from the day you moved here to hear you say that."

Jace blinked. Huh?

"All the times I thought, 'No, there's no way he could like you. Look at you, and then look at him. Never gonna happen.' And now to hear you actually say it? It's pretty overwhelming. I tried to move on, when we started sophomore year. I realized I needed to just get over it. So I got with Jordan. And I ended up liking him a lot more than I thought. Of course, my feelings for you were always there. I could just forget about them easier when Jordan was there. Then we broke up, and I liked you more than ever. Then I knew I needed to move on, so I got with Sebastian, and I really liked him, to begin with. But it seemed like the closer we got to the end of our relationship, the more I wished he was you."

"So what does this mean?" Jace asked tentatively.

"It means," Clary sighed, "that I love you, too."

Jace's jaw dropped. She loved him? She loved him. She loved him!

"A-are you serious?" he asked unbelievingly.

Clary laughed. "Yeah, I'm very serious. And right now, I just really wish you'd kiss me."

So that's exactly what Jace did. He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her lips, and that's how he planned on keeping it, until she pressed her body into his, making him fall back onto the pillows with her on top of him. He broke this kiss, only because he HAD ask her a very important question.

"Clarissa Fray, will you be my girlfriend?"

Clary smiled and leaned in to kiss him with as much passion as she could muster. She pulled back and rested her forehead against his, her lips brushing his when she spoke.

"Does that answer your question?"

The following Monday at school, Jace walked right up to Sebastian Verlac and punched him in the face, hard. Hard enough to break his nose, actually.

While Sebastian was still recovering from shock, Jace shoved him against the lockers with his forearm against his throat.

"If you touch, look, or so much as think about Clary ever again, I will make your life miserable. Do you understand me?"

Sebastian managed a nod and a pathetic "Yeah".

Jace released him and walked back to Clary with a satisfied grin on his face.