Tears rolled down her face, making damp stains on her cheeks and nose.

The last few months at the Institute had been hard. Isabelle and Jace had been fine with her, but Alec and Clary didn't seem to like her. Then the anniversary of her parents death came about, it had all been too much, and she ran up to her room in the middle of dinner.

She still remembered that night. The blood that spilled, deep red staining her shoes and jeans. The slack faces of her parents. The malicious grin on Valentine's face as he looked at her. He knew what he had done. He knew he was a naughty boy.

Soon she could feel a presence standing in the doorway. She wiped away her tears and looked up.

Jace.

She could feel the love rune on her side tingle.

He was leaning against the frame. His hair was tousled, and the corners of his lips were turned down into a frown.

She felt uncomfortable in his presence, almost as if she wasn't good enough. She sat up on the bed, and smoothed her hair, making an effort to get cleaned up.

He sat beside her on the edge of her bed. He was tense, nervous.

"What's wrong?" he asked hesitantly. She could tell he was nervous.

She smiled wearily at him, then told him everything. About her parents, their death, Valentine. The talking led to more talking. Jace told her about himself and she told him about herself. They talked and talked. Until she knew she had to tell him.

"Can I tell you something?" she said quietly. She hoped that he hadn't heard her. She knew that she didn't need to tell him, life could have gone on as normal. In fact, she didn't even want to tell him. But the Love rune likes to control. In fact, all runes like control.

"Anything." he replied with a smile.

"I, I…" she stammered. "I love you…" Gosh, this was embarrassing. She hid behind her long, thick, red hair, flushing like mad.

He was silent. The courage rune flashed before his eyes. He felt the same way, but he didn't just want to tell her that. That wasn't his way of doing things. He knew what he had to do. He kissed her. He tried to be gentle, but, being a Shadow Hunter, gentle doesn't always come naturally.

She was surprised at first, but then she closed her eyes and deepened the kiss. She ran a hand through his golden hair, soft, just like she had imagined.

He ran his hand up her back, underneath her shirt all the way to the back of her neck. He could feel the old rune marks, and scars from previous battles. After he was finished with that, he touched her collarbone hesitantly. Did they really want to go this far?

She did, oh she craved it, but not today. She could feel his warm body against hers. He felt nice, and his scent was sweet yet cynical. They kissed until they were both out of breath, then lay in each other's arms on her bed. She wondered what it would have been like if she hadn't told him.

But she pushed that thought away. She was happy now, and she didn't want to diminish that.