The Bet, Part Five:

[Clary.]

I woke up to see that I was still on top of Jace after a long night's sleep.

Groggily I lifted my head and looked up at him. He was wide awake, staring at me when I opened my eyes. I wondered if he was aware how wonderful last night was, sleeping next to him like this again, but in a different way than I ever had before. There was a potential for so much more with Jace, now that he had admitted his feelings to me and I had been able to confess mine to him as well.

He seemed to have understood my expression as he smirked, his smile teasing but playful. It was the smirk I so often loved to hate, but now found that I just loved.

I laughed and kissed his hand. He caressed my cheek, sending tingles down my spine in rushes. It felt so perfect just lying here with him, to feel the warmth of his hand at my face. I could hear the beating of his heart in his chest when I set my head back down. I could make this my new home.

"Good morning," he whispered to me. His voice was hoarse, due to him just waking up too. I didn't mind. It had that sexy just-rolled-out-of-bed effect that made me swoon. No wonder so many girls fell for Jace. The only difference between me and those girls was that Jace actually fell for me, too.

I smiled at him, my mind engulfed in thoughts of how I loved being close with him like this. "Hi," I said shyly. This would be our first real interaction as best friends transitioning into…well, something more.

"Feeling better this morning?" he asked, with concern evident in his voice. He was prepared to grab his trash basket next to his bed if he had to. I thought that was really sweet of him and felt grateful that I had picked him as my best friend all those years ago.

"Yes I am," I grinned. "Thanks for asking." If only he knew that the main reason I felt so much better was because I was here with him.

He nodded. "Anytime, Clary."

We cuddled together comfortably for a few more minutes before getting up and heading downstairs for breakfast. I used to have sleepovers here all the time with Jace, but this morning everything was different. He held my hand as we walked downstairs toward the kitchen.

Jace was the one to make my breakfast, because he didn't trust Simon or Isabelle in the kitchen anymore. I giggled because it was pretty sweet of him. I ended up helping him make breakfast, even if he didn't want me to because I wouldn't miss helping Jace for the world. I loved partaking in any activity alongside him. Even cooking, which I never really cared for. Especially now, all I wanted to do was everything with him.

After breakfast, consisting of ham, potato cubes and toast, Jace sat down with me on the living room couch to watch a movie. He picked one of those action movies that I usually fell asleep to, but I made sure to keep my eyes open this time. We snuggled in together, just like we always did, even as friends. I could tell this was something different this time, just by the way Jace was holding me. His grip was more protective – like he didn't want to let go or didn't want to even allow me to go anywhere if it meant leaving him behind.

I smiled at his gentle and loving hold, and kissed his hand again. He kissed my forehead in return. We've always done that sort of thing as friends – kissing each other's foreheads and whatnot. But halfway through the movie, Jace surprised me.

He touched my face with his hands, and once I turned my head his face was right there, hovering. We just stared at each other, the anticipation rising in my stomach as I waited. His eyes grazed my lips before they came crashing down on mine, in a passionate kiss that I hadn't felt since I was little and Jace would plant them on me without warning. I remembered the way his lips moved – they were soft, but gentle, and yet aggressive this time. I knew that we had matured to a higher level. And I liked it. It felt nice to kiss him again.

"Your lips are soft," I told him between kisses, our foreheads touching and our fingers intertwined. "Kiss me again."

He smirked, seeming caught up in the moment too. He initiated another kiss, our lips meshing perfectly as if they were molded to be that way.

As great as it was to feel his lips against mine during the movie, Jace and I took advantage of our time together by allowing other aspects of our lives to change, aside from the fact that we were now able to kiss each other. We played a game of pool, did a tug-of-war game with Jace's siblings and their significant others outside, and we even took a jog together so we could talk alone. Talking was always one of our favorite things to do together, because it gave both of us insight on how the other thinks.

On our jog, Jace confessed about liking me since he was young, and I admitted up to the same. I was pretty aware that he already knew I had, since I had never gotten boyfriends over the years – I had always saved my kisses for Jace.

We shared another quick peck on the lips, before continuing to jog toward the park.

"So you kissed thirteen guys, huh?" he said, laughing almost hesitantly. "Congrats. You really can kiss other guys..."

I shrugged. "It was kind of torturous," I admitted. "They were all rushing things, trying to stick their tongue down my throat. I tried imagining you, but that didn't work out very nicely." I grimaced as I remembered some of the more obnoxious guys I kissed. Why I agreed to that contest, I would never be sure.

He nodded, understanding. "Yeah, I had the same problems with the girls. Although not to sound conceited or anything, but I might have had an easier time getting people to kiss me in the first place."

I shrugged. I could handle his self-focused nature when it was open and honest, like he was being right now. "Yeah, you have creepy fan-girls who were probably lining up." I laughed, trying not to think about it. I wanted to be the only one he kissed now.

"At one point, there actually was a girl that came up to me," he said, with another throaty laugh. "And then I saw a girl with red curly hair like yours. I approached her and I found that it was you..." he trailed off.

Aha! So I wasn't just imagining things! Someone did tap my shoulder! "How'd you get away?" I asked, dumbfounded.

He shrugged. "You didn't look up until I was hidden behind the bush..."

We continued to jog in peace after that. All we heard was the sounds of our feet hitting the ground at the same time and the occasional car honking at us for being in the middle of the road. We jogged all the way to the park, only stopping there for a quick breather.

Instead of sitting on a park bench, we hopped up on the playground equipment and sat close together. Every kid that passed by us would make a kissy face, begging for us to kiss. I was confused, because I thought kids hated the thought of people kissing.

We didn't complain though. Jace and I kissed anyway, which in turn made the kids cheer. It happened a couple times. I couldn't have been happier.

"I thought guys thought girls had cooties at that age?" I asked him in a whisper, so none of the children watching would hear. They all seemed preoccupied now.

"Nah, we guys can get over that at around age five..." he trailed off. "Oh wait, that was just me."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, true, you've always been quite the ladies' man. I think I was different too, because I stopped believing in cooties at around age five." And that was because of Jace, I reminded myself.

He smirked. "Mhm, I'll bet you did."

"We were rebels," I added. I thought about how him and I were constantly attached at the lips, as kids. It's insane to think we even knew how to do that.

"Yes we were," he agreed. He went quiet for a moment before he asked "What do you wanna bet that Simon still thinks girls have cooties?"

Bet, huh? Oh dear.

"I'll bet a thousand kisses that he doesn't," I challenged. "He's smarter than that, don't you think? Plus, why else would he and Isabelle work out if he did still think that?"

"I bet a thousand kisses that he still thinks girls have cooties." Jace countered me. "And by the way, he's not that smart. I bet he just pretends to like Isabelle."

We both stared into each other's eyes, and then simultaneously we hopped off the playground equipment and sprinted toward Jace's house, screaming for Simon's attention.

It was just another bet...right?

Wrong. No bet comes without a complication. But that's another story to tell at another time...

And that's the end, my dears! It was meant to be just a cute, short little thing. Originally I was going to make it a oneshot, but I decided that it was quite the long read to do that. I hope you enjoyed, regardless! I had once considered doing like a sequel short story to this, and maybe I will still decide to do that, but for now I want to focus on my other TMI Fan Fiction Dumpster Diving. (Check it out if you'd like!) Maybe once I finish Dumpster Diving, I can revisit this and maybe write a sequel about Simon and Isabelle ;P Just a thought haha!

Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favorites! There were surprisingly many!

PEACE AND LOVE

-Merissa