For everyone who was hoping that my next story was going to be a companion fic to Begging For Mercy, I am sorry to inform you that it isn't. But I am working on one, and the first chapter will hopefully be ready sometime next week. I'm still kind of working through ideas for the story and stuff. So while you wait for me to get everything straight, please enjoy this random fic in which Jace attempts to propose to Clary.

This story still, unfortunately for me, belongs to Cassandra Clare. And unless I can devise a brilliant plan to steal the right to the Mortal Instruments some time soon, it's going to stay that way. :(

"Come here." Jace glared at the girl sitting across the table from him.

"No. It's safer over here." The girl, who happened to be his girlfriend, grinned as she said it, baiting him on purpose. Clary knew that if she went to sit in his lap, they were going to get carried away. They always did. And getting carried away in a very public café was not a very good idea if they ever wanted to come back.

"Safe from what?" His angular features, rather than being marred by the scowl, were all the more attractive. "I don't bite." She gave him a look. "…often."

She snorted in disbelief. "You bite all the time, Jace." She pulled down the collar of her shirt to prove it. He could see at least one hickey. "See?"

It was Jace's turn to grin. "No, I can't see a thing," he lied. "You'll have to come closer. Maybe even sit in my lap." He patted said area and motioned for her to come closer.

Jace was a very determined person; she knew that he wasn't going to give this up until she either sat on his lap or left. "Fine," she sighed dramatically.

Just as she had expected, the moment she sat down he immediately began to kiss the back of her neck. He sucked softly on the skin, causing Clary to jump. She could feel him smile against her skin. "Not funny, Jace." Ignoring her, he continued to kiss her neck, going straight to the spots he knew would drive her wild.

Easing his mouth up to her ear, Jace said, "Want to get out of here? We could go some place quiet where we'll be all alone and we can…"

She hopped off of his lap before he could even finish his sentence.

Jace's apartment wasn't exactly quiet, but it was a step up from the café. He had loud neighbors. He and Clary could hear some sort of band practicing on the floor above. Their singer had a really good voice, but Clary didn't recognize the song. But that didn't really matter because a minute later Clary was thinking of something else entirely. Jace's lips met hers, and she clung to his broad shoulders as they kissed. To tease him, she brushed her mouth lightly over his, barely touching him at all.

Jace definitely appreciated having a hot girl sitting in his lap. What he did not appreciate was her teasing. He tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her face to his. Giving up her teasing without a second thought, Clary moved her hands over his chest and slid them underneath his shirt, reveling in the feel of the lean, sinewy muscles of his chest. For a moment, their mouths parted and Jace looked down at her. Her lips curled into a smile as she looked at him.

Jace watched Clary intently. Her hair was wildly disheveled, the red mass curling wildly around his fingers. She looked like she had been very thoroughly kissed. Her lips were slightly swollen and just looking at them made him hot for her. He craved the touch of her lips against his own.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Jace and Clary jumped apart at the sound of a key turning in the lock. Clary was looking at him, wondering who had a key to his apartment. Jace was too busy trying to form a coherent thought to answer. He rubbed a hand over his face and the answer popped into his head. "It's just Alec," he assured her, his voice still slightly uneven. Noticing this, she smiled inwardly.

The door opened to reveal Alec Lightwood, Jace's best friend and roommate. Alec was humming quietly to himself and jumped at the sight of Jace and the red-head on the couch. Though they had never met before, when he saw the girl's vividly red hair and bright green eyes, he knew her name.

"Hey, Alec." Jace said awkwardly.

"Very smooth for someone who looks like he spent the last hour in a full frontal make-out session." Jace frowned at him as the red-head's face flushed hotly. "Hello," Alec said to the girl. "I assume you're the Clary Fray I've been hearing so much about." It was Jace's turn to blush as she looked at him for confirmation.

"And I assume you're the Alec Lightwood who lives with Jace," she said, giving as good as she got.

"Alec, can I talk to you in private?" Jace asked. He made it sound like an order. Alec followed him into the kitchen.

"So," Alec said. "That band upstairs just won't quit will they?" The band had been playing the same song over and over for three days with periodical breaks.

"Go away, Alec."

"Why would I do that? I just got here. I wanted to meet your beautiful girlfriend." Alec loved teasing Jace.

"You're gay, Alec. You don't think she's hot." Jace just wanted to get back to Clary and kiss her until they were both senseless.

"I never said she was hot." Alec told him honestly. "But she is a feisty one, isn't she? I like her already."

"That's nice." Jace said snarkily. "So do I."

"Why must you be such a smart a… you know what? It doesn't even matter, because I thought that today was the day you were going to ask her if she wanted to be Mrs. Jace Wayland."

"Crap." Jace muttered. He closed his eyes and mimed banging his head against a wall. He would never admit it out loud, but every time Clary's lips met his, every time his hands touched her body, his thoughts and plans slipped further and further from his mind. He had gotten so caught up in his girlfriend that he completely forgotten his elaborate plans for the day.

"Whoa, don't tell me you forgot." Alec laughed. Jace thought the expression looked almost foreign on his face, but didn't have the time to wonder what had made him so cheerful of late. "How do you forget to propose to your girlfriend?"

Jace glared at his best friend. "I didn't forget exactly." He muttered. "It was more of a momentary lapse of memory."

"So you forgot."

The blonde boy gritted his teeth. "Leave. Now."

"But I was having so much fun." Alec protested. Jace continued to glare at his friend. "Fine, fine," The dark haired boy conceded. "I'll leave, but don't forget this time!""

And so Jace and Clary were left alone once again. Giving himself no time to marvel over the way Clary had of twisting his stomach into knots with one smile, he plopped down on the couch beside her. He leaned over to place a gentle kiss on her cheek, before pulling away once again.

"I thought you said Alec was grumpy and scowled all the time." Clary said, frowning. "He didn't look grumpy. He was actually cheerful."

"He's been like that a lot lately." Jace said absently. His mind was racing as went over his plans in his head, and he was only half listening to what his girlfriend was saying.

"Why haven't you introduced us before? I introduced you to Simon ages ago." Smirking in Jace's direction, she added, "And he was actually kind of cute."

Jace's head snapped up. "Who's cute?" He demanded.

Clary resisted the urge to laugh at him. "Aw, is someone a little insecure?" She teased.

"You do know who you're talking to, don't you?" Jace replied rhetorically.

"Really, so if I told you that your friend was hot, it would in no way offend your masculinity?" She goaded, leaning back against the couch with a smug grin.

Jace resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "If you don't shut up soon, I'm going to be sorely tempted to bite that sarcastic tongue of yours." He replied.

"Mmm?" Clary questioned. She leaned forward until she was almost in Jace's lap, incidentally giving her boyfriend an excellent view down her shirt. "And what if I told you that I would bite back."

Jace grinned. "Then, I would tell you that if you wanted to make out with me, all you had to do was ask."

Clary rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I don't know why I even talk to you." She sighed dramatically, pretending to be offended by his blatant suggestion. "If you keep this up, I'm going to stop."

"Promises, promises." Jace teased. Inwardly, he sighed. He was letting her sidetrack him again. If he kept doing this, he was never going to accomplish his goal.

He had known for three months now that Clary was the one for him. It was about that time that he realized the strangest part of their whole relationship was that while he had always been a player, ever since he had begun to fall for Clary, he had not once felt tempted to cheat. That realization had cemented his knowledge that he and this girl were meant to be together. Now he only had to make it official.

Clary, meanwhile, was oblivious to Jace's epiphany. She knew that she loved him, but for her this was still just another relationship. Granted, one that she hoped would become so much more. So as she leaned forward to kiss him, there a slight smile on her face. She touched her mouth to his, gently at first. It was more than just a kiss though, it was the feelings that it represented.

They went back to kissing, but it was gentler now, more fervent. This time, when they came up for air, emerald eyes met golden and they both froze. Jace was the first to break eye contact. He gently lifted Clary out of his lap and onto the couch beside him.

"Um, Clary." He said softly, almost stumbling over the words. "Could I… could you…?"

Clary bit her lip nervously. It was flattering to see Jace like this. Jace Lightwood was always confident and cocky. The boy was attractive and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he knew it. So it was almost shocking to see him unsure like this. And while it made Clary's heart soar to know that she had this effect on him, it also made her worried as to what had the most unflappable man she knew nervous.

"What is it, Jace?" She asked concernedly.

"Um, nothing." Jace said dismissively, regaining his composure. "I was just wondering if you had any plans for the rest of the day." She frowned, and Jace cursed inwardly. He was making her suspicious already and he hadn't even gotten her out of the house yet.

"No. Why?"

Jace tried for a reassuring smile and felt another bout of curse words coming as it ended up looking more like a grimace. "Because I'm going to be greedy and demand that you spend the rest of the day with me," He told her truthfully.

A slow smile spread across her face. "And what, may I ask, will we be doing?" Clary said. A flirtatious smile spread over her face.

Jace attempted a smirk and was relieved when he pulled it off perfectly. "Consider it a surprise," he said mysteriously, giving Clary a quick peck on the cheek and rising to his feet. "I have to go get something, but I'll be back down in a minute. Then we can leave."

"Leave?" Clary asked, beginning to get curious. "Where are we going?" But he was already gone.

Jace rushed down the hallway to his room, reaching hurriedly for his phone. With one quick phone call, he made sure that everything was in place for the evening, reiterating to the person on the other end that everything was to be in order as soon as possible.

Sighing, he hung up the phone. You can do this. You can do this. The words raced through Jace's head like a mantra. This unsure thing was new to him, and it was already driving him crazy. He had already lost count of the number of times that he had to remind himself that Clary was worth this annoying, fluttering feeling that was taking hold of him.

This is it, he thought nervously. Every moment brought him closer to the edge. The fall was inevitable, but whether he was going to go feet first or head first, he didn't yet know. He only hoped that he would make it out in one piece. Jace patted his pocket twice, just to make sure that the ring was still there. With one last curse at the debilitating butterflies in the pit of his stomach, he steeled himself to go face his girlfriend- and hopefully his future wife. It was time to jump.