Here's my first Mortal Instruments fanfiction! Hopefully it meets your expectations :)

Disclaimer:

All characters belong to the amazing Cassandra Clare.

*UPDATE* Some reviewers have noted that my story has similarities to a Taiwanese TV show called Autumn's Concerto. In all honesty, I can't remember ever watching it, but it's possible that I watched it when I was little, retained the ideas, and over the years accidentally used them as my own. So just to be safe, some aspects of the first few chapters may be based off of Autumn's Concerto.

Clary's POV

I almost slipped on the wet linoleum, but caught myself just in time. Grinning, I looked up and met eyes with Mr. Luke Garroway. The man's eyes twinkled.

"Are you alright over there, Clary?" He asked, concerned. I gave him a reassuring smile.

"Of course!"

I can't remember when I started working with Mr. Garroway. He was an avid fisherman and supplied the local marketplace with tons of tasty fish. Because money was tight in my family, I began working with him, and helped him clean and scale the fish. I know what you're thinking: Why would a girl willingly work a job like this? Well, like I said, money was tight. Since I was an only child, it was up to me to take care of my family.

I happily threw the broom in the corner and wiped my hands clean. It was finally Friday afternoon! I waited all week for this moment, and I couldn't wait to relax over the weekend. My mood was even better because it was also Christmas Eve.

"Mr. Garroway," I called, "did you catch any catfish today?" I held my breath—catfish were expensive at our market, partly because fishers had decimated their population a few years ago. However, my mom's favorite fish was catfish. Even though our neighbors really loved eating catfish, my mom was content to place it in a fish tank and watch it swim around.

He raised an eyebrow and nodded, "As a matter of fact, I do! I caught two big ones today. Did you want to bring one home?"

"Yes… I don't have any money on me right now, so can you just take the money out of my salary?"

Mr. Garroway grabbed the catfish and placed it in a plastic bag full of sea water. "Here you go, Clary! Don't worry about the payment; you're just a little sixteen year old girl. You've been working hard all year. Think of this as my Christmas gift to you! Now run along; you should get this fish home within an hour. There's not a lot of oxygen in the bag, and the fish will die if you don't get home fast enough." I took the bag, holding the flopping fish.

"Thanks so much, Mr. Garroway!" I grasped his hand in gratitude, and skipped away. Running down the stairs, I turned the corner, just as the B103 bus was about to leave.

"Wait! Wait!" I screamed, running to catch up. The bus driver stepped on the brakes, allowing me to get on.

"Thanks," I panted breathlessly, checking my fish to see if it was okay. I gave the bus driver an appreciative nod. I rode the bus everyday and constantly tipped the bus driver any extra money I had. He smiled at me before closing the door and continuing on the route.

Finding a seat in the back, I contently set my fish down next to me and relaxed. It usually only took ten minutes to get home; I would definitely be able to bring the fish back before it ran out of oxygen. I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. It was a long day; first, a busy day at college, and then work. I was exhausted, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Before I could get my beauty rest, the bus driver yelled and slammed his foot on the brakes. The tires skidded, and I bumped my head on the seat in front of me. Everyone was standing up, trying to see what was happening it. With a cry of alarm, I realized that my fish had fallen off the seat and was now rolling to the front of the bus. I scrambled up and raced to rescue the fish. As I picked it up, the bus driver tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey, I hate to ask a favor, but could you go down there and ask that guy to get out of the middle of the road?"

Looking up through the window, I realized that a young man—from the looks of it, a rich, wealthy, stuck up heir to a massive fortune—and his girlfriend were yelling at each other. They were in a bright canary yellow Porsche, and the argument had escalated to the point where the man had parked his Porsche in the middle of the road, blocking four lanes of the highway. Cars were everywhere, honking at the insolent man.

Putting my hands on my hips, I unconsciously let out an indignant huff. Rich people were always arrogantly placing themselves in the center of the world. Grabbing my fish, I stormed down the stairs and stepped outside, walking towards the couple.

As I got closer, I heard snippets of their conversation. The girl was whining, "All you need to do is tell me you love me. Once you do that, I'll forgive you for everything."

"Get out of my car, Maia. Get out and stay out."

The girl, Maia, was undeterred. Her curly dark hair bobbed in its ponytail as she shook her head frantically. "Jace! Okay, I know that I shouldn't have gone to the dance with him, but he asked me to go, and I couldn't say no! I'm sorry. I love you."

Jace looked unforgiving and was examining his reflection in the rear view mirror. I stopped in my tracks. He was hot, smoking hot. I quickly shook myself. Clary, you said you weren't going to fall for wealthy brats, remember? He swiped his golden brown hair out of his eyes, and looked around the landscape, meeting eyes with me for a second. I almost gasped: his eyes were golden and glinted in the sunlight.

"Hey, who are you?" He asked, taking in my existence. I gulped. How was I supposed to talk to a sexy god like him and not appear stupid and clumsy?

I slapped myself on the arm. How dare you think of him as sexy! I looked up and saw his puzzled expression.

"Did you just hit yourself…?" He asked questioningly. So much for not appearing stupid.

"Um, no…" I replied awkwardly. Yep, that's me. Socially awkward Clary. Maia was quietly watching our exchange, but now impatiently tapped Jace's shoulder.

"Honey-bear, I said I was sorry. Can we go to the party now?"

Jace turned to her and gave an annoyed sigh. "If we go to the party, then will you leave me alone?"

"Yes!" Maia cheered earnestly. Then, she frowned. "Wait, no… yes? No? What was the question again?"

I rolled my eyes. Of course someone like him would be dating a ditzy girl like this. I suddenly realized why I was talking to them.

"Right, um—" I cleared my throat, trying to get their attention. I almost fainted with Jace's golden eyes focused on me again.

"Well, go on, spit it out!" He demanded.

"Why are you parked in the middle of the road? You're completely blocking the road!" I responded.

He rolled his eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, we're having a teeny tiny argument right now. If you could kindly leave us alone so we can have a private conversation…"

My fiery temper lit up again. "Well, what am I supposed to do while you have this 'private conversation'?"

Jace shrugged. "I don't know, and quite frankly, I really don't care. Just sit there and wait for us to resolve our troubles. When you see Maia get out of the car, I'll drive away."

Maia glared at him, "But Jace honey, I thought you loved me! I love y—"

"Well," I interrupted, "I have to get home as soon as possible. Can't you fight with each other by the side of the road?"

Maia turned to me, scoffing. "Where'd you come from, dirt-face? Are you in a rush to get home, because you have to go pick out some more outfits from the garbage? Honestly, I can't believe you're wearing that!"

I looked down at my tattered jean overalls and crossed my arms. Not everyone could afford to wear expensive clothing, I thought furiously.

"Look, I have this fish, and if I can't bring it home in time, it will die. Would you kill a fish just so you could argue with each other?"

Jace nodded slowly at me. Maia saw his expression and was about to yell at me again, when Jace silenced her with a glare.

"Get out," he ordered. Maia confidently smiled at me.

"That's right, get out!" She chirped.

I rolled my eyes, and internally face-palmed myself. Jace gave Maia another irritated look.

"Maia, I'm talking to you. Get out of my Porsche." She grabbed her Coach handbag and slipped out, stepping onto the dirt in four-inch-tall red high heels.

"Now get in," he commanded to me.

"Why?" I asked defiantly.

"Just do it. Don't you want to get home quickly?"

Sighing, I gave in. I situated myself in the passenger seat. He gave me another look, as if to say Why are you so stupid? You're almost worse than Maia. "Get in the driver's seat."

"What?" I asked, confused. He pursed his lips and pushed me over to the driver's seat, and we changed spots.

"You're going to drive the car," he announced cheerfully. His expression changed when I refused to grab the steering wheel.

"Um, I don't—I don't know how to drive," I said, embarrassed.

"Oh please, you look at least sixteen," he retorted.

Yeah, well, I don't have money to buy a car. Why would I learn to drive if I didn't have a car? "So? What's your point?" I argued.

"Well, it's easy…" he said quietly, leaning over and touching my hands on the steering wheel. I could hear Maia's haughty huff, jealous that Jace was so close to me. "You just maneuver around using this." He was getting closer and closer to me, and I could smell the sweet scent of his cologne. He was even cuter up close… His eyes turned to my face. "Why are you so red?" he asked, smirking. I glared at him.

"I'm not! You're just smell really bad, and I've been holding my breath so I don't have to breathe in your horrible body odor. That's what made my face look red!" I responded quickly. But even I knew that I sounded unconvincing.

"Well, anyways, you want to press your foot on the pedal on the right when I say 'go!', alright?"

I nodded slowly. It made sense. "Alright…"

He shifted his hand and pulled down the gear. It had been next to a big letter "P", but not it was at the letter "R". I was confused. What could "R" stand for?

"GO!" he screamed. The urgency in his voice scared me, and I stepped on the pedal as fast as I could.

Terrified, I realized that we were driving backwards. "What do I do?!" I screamed back at him. He threw his head back and laughed.

Suddenly, the sound of metal grinding on metal pierced my ears. I immediately took my foot off of the pedal, and turned around.

Crap. I realized that I had driven backwards, straight into the bus. Glaring at Jace, I realized that he had pulled a huge prank on me.

He tipped his head, still chuckling. "Hello, my name is Jace. Nice to meet you."

The bus driver angrily stomped up to me. "I told you to get him out of the middle of the road, not ruin my bus!"

A wailing siren interrupted me before I could apologize to him. A police officer stepped out, clad in his uniform. "Alright, I've witnessed a crash. I'll be late to the headquarters," he murmured into his walkie-talkie, before approaching me. He flashed his badge, "Miss, I'm going to have to take you down to the station. Don't worry, we're not arresting you... yet."

Groaning, I climbed into the backseat of the police car. Jace tumbled in next to me, grinning.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said, smiling wolfishly. I glared at him, holding my fish up.

"If I don't get home within an hour, this fish will die. And so will you. I am going to kill you, Jace," I yelled furiously. He rolled his eyes.

"Honey, I can't even tell you how many girls would be dying to be in your position right now."

And thus began the long ride to the station. It was the most miserable ride of my life.

A/N: I'm planning on making this story eventually Clary/Jace, but it's going to take me some time to build their characters up. Please let me know if you think I should continue, or if I should abandon this idea. R&R! If I get positive feedback, I might be able to get the next chapter up in a few days! Thanks for reading :)

~BubblyFanatic