A/N: Hi, Lovelies! I'm not dead...unfortunately my laptop is. Which is what makes writing really difficult right now. This isn't really an epilogue like I planned so much as a bonus chapter. Anyway, you've waited forever for new content so - ENJOY - and check out my author's note at the end.

Jace and Clary had been practically inseparable. This was something that Jace was sure would have driven him crazy in his past "relationships," but somehow with Clary it worked.

Maybe it was that they could sit companionably in a room, her drawing and him reading, without feeling the need to fill the silence with meaningless prattle. Or that they moved around the kitchen in sync on nights when their schedules allowed them to have dinner together, wordlessly passing ingredients and stepping around each other in the small space with ease. Mostly, Jace just assumed that like everything else in his life these past few months, it was a phenomenon unique to Clary simply being Clary.

After two solid weeks of constant companionship and bliss, Jace finally realized that they had still yet to be on a proper date.

They were sitting on her sofa and Clary's small socked feet were across Jace's lap while he picked idly at a loose string on her leggings. He had been staring at the tv, but not really paying attention to what they were watching, just content to sit there enjoying the weight of her legs on his while he decompressed from work and then suddenly it hit him.

How had he never taken his girlfriend on a proper date? Did he even ask her to be his girlfriend? She was his girlfriend, right? Did you have to 'officially' ask when you're in your 20s? That was probably just a high school thing...

Something else hit him then. This time, a throw pillow that was still being held by his "probably" girlfriend with a sly smile on her sweet, freckled face. "Really?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Jace watched her delicately shrug one shoulder, her grip on the pillow loosening slightly. "You seemed like you were thinking too hard," she answered unapologetically.

"What happened to Clary 'violence is never the answer' Fray?" Jace teased.

Clary tilted her head and Jace watched as her curls shifted with the movement, catching the last bit of sunlight filtering in through the window. "I heard her boyfriend corrupted her," she replied breezily.

Jace felt his lips twitch and after a moment gave in, allowing the smile to bloom across his face. He saw Clary's eyes widen at what was probably a look of elation on his face, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he brought a hand to the back of his girlfriend's head, fingers twining in her soft curls as he guided her head to him. He gently pressed his lips against her own, the forgotten throw pillow crushed between their chests. "Do you think she would be up for a date with this boyfriend of hers?" Jace asked quietly, resting his forehead against hers, his lips slightly brushing hers as he spoke.

He felt Clary pull back and Jace raised his eyes to meet her playful, green gaze. "That depends," she hedged, smiling. "Can she pick the activity?"

Unsurprisingly, Jace had agreed to Clary's request to pick the activity. Unfortunately, that now left him sitting on a hard, metal chair eyeing a pair of rented bowling shoes with disgust while his girlfriend happily picked through the selection of balls, testing their weight and balance. She finally settled on a small purple one and walked back to their lane. He watched her set the ball down, seemingly pleased with her choice as he idly tugged on a shoelace, trying to delay the inevitable.

"They go on your feet," Clary pointed out unhelpfully, pushing the rank-smelling shoes toward him with a smile.

Jace reached up for her hand, gripping her fingers lightly. "Did I do something to make you angry?" He questioned in a serious tone.

Clary tilted her head, smile still in place. "Why would you ask that?" She replied, wiggling her fingers in his.

Jace gave his girlfriend's fingers a squeeze, "I'm just trying to figure out why you want me to get some sort of fungal infection. I thought you liked me having all ten toes."

Clary's smile grew and as indignant as he was, Jace couldn't help smiling a little at her in return. "I think all ten might be a little excessive, actually," she said, scrunching her nose in an adorable way that indicated she was fighting off laughter.

Jace gave a tug on her hand, toppling her over so that she had both hands braced on his shoulders and he could lean up to kiss her. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the scent of her strawberry shampoo rather than the odor coming from rented loafers, but too soon for Jace, she pushed away. "Okay Romeo," she teased, "get your shoes on and let's get bowling."

"I can't believe you beat me," Clary pouted, continuing to stare at the scoreboard in dismay.

Jace knew being a sore loser was supposed to be an unattractive quality, but he couldn't help but think that was only because people hadn't seen the way his girlfriend's right cheek dimpled slightly when she pouted hard enough or how when she crossed her arms, it did wonders for displaying her assets in the flowery blouse she had worn. "I said I didn't like bowling. Not that I was bad at it," he reasoned.

"Whatever," Clary rolled her eyes and put her hand out, "give me your shoes and I'll exchange them for our own."

Jace tried to hide his smile at her tapping foot as he quickly removed them. He wrinkled his nose slightly as Clary scooped the shoes up and walked off to the counter to return the offending objects. At least he hadn't been overly attached to this pair of socks.

When Clary didn't return after a few minutes, he turned and craned his neck to see the shoe counter. There was no line, so he wasn't sure why he saw her mass of red curls still standing there until he squinted a bit and noticed the rentals still in her hand and a dark haired guy leaning over the counter, smiling her as she nodded a bit.

Jace felt his teeth grinding together and glanced back at the now blank score screen, taking in a deep breath of the stale bowling alley air in an attempt to restore his patience. After what felt like an hour, but was probably only a few more minutes, he turned back to the counter. Clary appeared no closer to obtaining their shoes and Mister Tall Dark and Chatty had reached across the counter, but instead of taking the rentals he paused, placing his hand on top of hers.

Before he thought about it, Jace was up and striding shoeless across the floor. He was so focused on the guy's hand resting on his girlfriend's that he barely registered the way his socks peeled across the sticky carpet.

Jace slowed his gait as he reached Clary, trying to appear casual as he placed an arm around her shoulders. To his delight, she turned toward him with a bright smile. Her hand had slid out from under the dark haired strangers and took residence on Jace's chest as she leaned into him and Jace felt his shoulders drop a little as some of his tension drained at the contact.

He reached up his free hand to cup her face and quickly bent his head to press his lips to hers. Clary let out a little squeak of surprise and Jace smiled into the kiss, breaking it momentarily. Usually Jace wasn't much for PDA, but he didn't think twice about moving to wrap both arms around his petite girlfriend, diving back in for another kiss and lifting her slightly off the ground, as she placed his arms on his shoulders for balance.

This time Jace didn't break the kiss for a long moment. And Clary let him carry on right until they heard the loud smack of their shoes hitting the counter next to them. Jace took a moment to admire her flushed cheek and glazed eyes before smiling at the now glowering shoe attendant, giving him a nod as he retrieved Clary's and his own in one swift movement.

He was going to have to burn these socks, but it was worth it.

A/N: So I am sticking a "complete" on this, because it feels complete to me. That being said, I will probably write a time jump epilogue at some point. I'm working on ways to write in spite of my laptop situation until I can afford to replace it...so we'll see how that goes.

THANK YOU to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed throughout this story. It meant a lot to me and my soft Clace heart. If any of you are on twitter, come play with me over there too! ( Lilithsebastian)

Finally, I had a guest reviewer ask for some clarification from the previous chapter so here's the question and the answer (hope it helps!)

Original Review: K Help
I love the idea of this story and most of the chapters you wrote, however this chapter, I am assuming they had sex based on the fact that they showered together and "just got out of bed," and yet they haven't dated or even asked to be in a relationship and Clace isn't portrayed as being the kind of girl that sleeps with someone after these events. Please write an explanation in the A/N, when you post your next chapter. Thank you.

Ironically, they defined the relationship and went on a date in this chapter! But let's see if I can help out with your concerns here. So you're assuming that they had sex - maybe they did, maybe they didn't. I actually intentionally left that open ended. If people want to imagine that's what happened with the shower and sleepover, I am not going to burst that bubble for them and they can just skip right over this answer!
However, that's actually not what I wrote for a reason (aside from this fic being rated T). In my mind, intercourse never happened that night - that's part of why Jace is trying so hard for it in the morning lol. They DID shower together though as well as sleep in the same bed that night and in my mind, that was incredibly intimate.
These 2 had been dancing around their feelings for each other for months. They bonded and they well and truly fell for each other before they even kissed. Then they went through the trauma of Clary thinking Jace might have died without ever knowing how she felt and even worse, thinking that she hated him. Jace obviously had a rough time as well, thinking he screwed things up before he ever got his chance with this girl who he had such strong feelings for, not to mention the fire dredging up his past demons. They were both emotionally vulnerable and were there for each other, supporting each other. The act of showering together was them caring for each other. Sleeping in the same bed was the inability to let the other out of their sight after thinking they might have lost them forever. About needing to be with them and see them and feel them to know that they're really there with them and okay.

That was long...I hope it helped. If it didn't make an account and DM me or message me on Twitter or something.

No idea when I'll write anything else for this, but as usual anyone who reviews gets a preview. :)