Hey guys! I have been loving your reactions to the last chapter! Hopefully you enjoy this one. I snuck some quotes from the book in here, I'm sure you'll recognize them.

Clary watched Jace walk away, feeling strangely hollow inside. She brushed away her tears with the backside of her hand and turned to regard the building that was now hers. She still felt excited, her heart swelling at the idea of being able to explore her art career, but it was more muted than before. As if someone had smeared their hands over a wet painting, she thought, the colors were still there but the image wasn't how it had been before. It was more muddled, less vibrant. That's exactly how she felt as she unlocked the new building and strode curiously around the empty space, trying to imagine all that it could become. Soft golden eyes kept rearing up in her thoughts whenever she thought about where her life may be a year from now.

It was fun for a while… but Luke became my new dream. Clary tried to shake away her mom's words and Jace's golden eyes. She wanted to focus on this moment, her unveiling of her career, but the building felt empty without Jace beside her. It was strange how you could become so used to someone's presence that it felt odd to be away from them. It was more than that, Clary thought, it was as if a piece of her was gone too, leaving a dull ache in her chest.

"Angel, look at me. He's hardly been gone for 5 minutes and I'm already moping about it," she sighed and made her way up to the loft. It had been filled with fairly standard, IKEA type furniture. A bed, a lamp, a desk and chair. She walked over the desk and curiously opened the drawer and she nearly cried again. It was filled with art supplies—sketch pads, colored pencils, oil pastels. She felt so seen. Jace always reminded her that he was paying attention in the smallest of ways. The way he knew what to bring her back from her favorite restaurants, the way he remembered things about her family, the way he put on her favorite bands while they cooked, the way he took her to an art museum on their first date and always had a cup of coffee waiting for her in the morning. Even the way he'd never pressured her to reciprocate his affections and always respected her boundaries. Clary blinked away tears as she realized that she'd never felt loved so completely. She gently took out one of the sketchpads and the colored pencils. She went to sit at the bottom step of the loft, facing towards the empty space that was once a pawn shop, and began sketching.

Several pages and many hours later, Clary stood up from the step and stretched out her stiff muscles. It had gotten too late for her to walk back to Jace's, so she locked the door to the pawn shop and went back up to the loft. She didn't have any clothes here, but she decided Jace's coat would make good enough pjs. As she laid in bed, she couldn't help but think how lonely it was to be in this place all by herself. The space beside her felt empty. She snuggled into Jace's coat, which dwarfed her short frame, and found comfort in the smell of it. As she rolled over to her side, she felt something move in the breast pocket. Curious, she felt inside. Her fingers touched cool metal and her heart jumped as she brought it to her face, instantly recognizing it. She'd found the ring! Caught up in euphoria, she reached for her phone, excited to tell Jace the good news. Then, she seemed to recall the morning they had lost it. Jace had checked the breast pocket of this very coat. It's not here, he had said.

Clary sat back in bed and frowned, staring at the ring curiously. Why had he lied to her?

Despite having his own bed to himself for the first time in months, Jace did not sleep well. As he crawled out of bed, exhausted, that morning, he was thankful that at least he didn't have work. Letting Clary go had been the hardest thing he'd ever done. He thought of the pain he'd felt the day he'd become an orphan and thought that he'd prefer even that to losing Clary.

He willed himself out of bed, pulling himself away from the sheets that smelled of sage and strawberries. He'd loath the day they would eventually lose that scent. As he stumbled into the kitchen, blinking back his exhaustion, he was startled to find Clary sitting on the couch.

"Hi," he said in surprise, straightening up subconsciously.

"Hey," Clary said, taking a casual sip from her coffee cup. "I bought us some bagels," she grinned wickedly and gestured to a cup on the coffee table, "I even got you a seasonal drink."

"Much obliged," he said stiffly, still attempting to recover from his initial shock. Clary being back was the last thing he had expected to wake up to.

She stared at him inquisitively, "You look like you've hardly slept."

"I haven't," he admitted, reaching for the coffee she had brought him. It was still warm. She clearly hadn't been here long. He fell numbly onto the armchair facing her. "How did you sleep?" he asked lamely, unsure how to navigate the situation, "Did you like your new place?"

"I like it," she said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Sleeping there by myself was hard, though."

Jace pushed down the surge of hope he felt rising in his chest. He met her eyes, hoping they conveyed the sorrow he'd felt since they parted yesterday. "The same could be said for my night here."

Clary bit her lip and Jace, too tired to quell his longing thoughts, looked away as if the habit pained him.

"Did you really not expect me to come back?" Clary asked, incredulous.

Jace gave her a long look, trying to read what that question meant. He nodded his head in answer, too afraid to speak. He didn't want to show her how much her leaving had broken him, didn't want to discourage her ambitions.

"At the very least, my stuff is here," Clary pointed out. "I'd have to come back for that, wouldn't I?"

"I guess so," Jace said in answer, feeling defeated and a little embarrassed. He was unsure what she was trying to get out of this. Was she here to make fun of him? Was this payback for putting her in such a strange situation?

"Jace…" Clary sighed and he cringed at the pity he heard in her voice, "Do you really think I don't feel anything for you?"

He looked at her desperately, his heart already sunk to his stomach. He wondered if he looked as much of the cornered, wounded animal as he felt, "I didn't want to make any assumption about how you feel about me. I didn't want to put any pressure on you."

"Are you saying you weren't making any assumptions about how I felt when you hid this from me?" Clary demanded, holding up his mother's ring. He realized for a panicked second that he left it in the coat he'd lended to her yesterday. The one she was wearing now.

Dejectedly, he pondered how even when he was actively trying to tell the truth, his lies were coming back to bite him. "I hid it from you because after our first date I just couldn't stand to ask you to put it back on," he swallowed thickly, "I felt like I was your jailor and that ring was your chain. You looked so happy and free when you weren't pretending to be my fiance. I just… couldn't stomach it."

Clary's eyes softened, and she put the ring down on the coffee table. "It wasn't like that at all, Jace," she whispered gently.

Jace's throat felt raw. Over and over, he had been replaying her words in her head from the day she had baked cookies and told him she didn't reciprocate his feelings. "You said there was no way to convince you our relationship was real. That you wouldn't have fallen for me if not for the fake marriage."

Clary sighed and Jace stared at her helplessly. Those words had been his torture chamber, replaying in his head every time he started to think that Clary felt something too. Clary's eyes were shining now.

"I was scared, Jace. It was all too much, too fast. Your passion is... unrivaled. When you love something, you love it with every part of your being. And that was so intimidating to me," Clary sniffed and Jace resisted the urge to go hold her. He'd spent such a large part of his life being certain about everything, but he came to pieces around Clary. He was so worried about making the wrong move and ruining everything he'd worked towards. It haunted him to think that his intense love for Clary was the very thing that pushed her away. It was as if he could destroy everything he loved just by touching it.

"I'd never been loved like that before, Jace," Clary continued, mercilessly unaware of the cyclone of doubt raging inside him. Her voice cracked as she spoke, "You love me… so completely. Every day. And deep down I knew you weren't pretending. I knew there wasn't any facet of it that was fake."

"There is no pretending," Jace said with absolute clarity. "I love you, and I will love you until I die and if there's a life after that, I will love you then."

Clary smiled despite the tears that were freely falling down her face now. "And that was so terrifying to me Jace. Because what if I loved you too? What if I had come to know such an absolute and all-consuming love and something happened? This situation seemed so delicate and I was afraid to commit to it because if it went away… I would be broken. But it's too late to be scared," she met his eyes fiercely, "and I don't care. I love you and I will always love you, and pretending it could be any other way was just a waste of time."

Jace could hardly breathe. He couldn't believe this was real. He searched her eyes, sparkling jade green staring back at him earnestly, and wondered when she would admit this was some elaborate, cruel joke. Clary stood up from the couch and strode over to him. Her hands found his coffee cup and softly took it from his grasp. He watched her like a cat. Silent, cautious, his heart fluttering quickly in his chest. Clary moved to sit in his lap, facing him, and gently cupped his face.

They stared into one another's eyes, both crying. Clary regarded him tenderly, wiping away the tear tracks on his cheeks. He leaned into the gesture, pressing delicate kisses against her palm and wrist.

"Why do you always believe the worst will happen?" she whispered gently, bringing her forehead to his. Jace closed his eyes at the touch, relishing in her comfort, letting it soothe the sore and hollowed parts of him.

"Because then it hurts less when it does," came his pragmatic response. The back of his fingers gently guided across her jawline and he felt her shiver as if it had run down his own spine.

"Does it really though?" she questioned as she moved her forehead away from his, replacing it instead with her lips. Jace felt all the world tumble away from him. There was just Clary in his lap, with her lips against his skin. She traced the frame of his face, brushing kisses against his cheekbone, then his jawline. "It seems like sometimes you have to heal from things that never even happened."

His skin seared where she touched it. He felt as if he could wake up tomorrow and find marks left exactly where she kissed him, as if she branded him with her touch. He wouldn't even mind.

"It felt real yesterday," he said, the words nearly getting stuck in his throat. His voice was thick and uneven, unrecognizable to his own ears. Clary kissed the corners of his mouth, "It felt like you were kissing me goodbye."

She pulled back and Jace's heartbeat pounded in his throat. Her cheeks were the color of crimson and she had a sultry look in her eye that nearly undid him. She could have asked him to do anything then and he would have obliged.

"Kiss me now, then," she whispered huskily, "kiss me like we'll never say goodbye again."

Jace's heart leapt. His fingers slid into her hair and his mouth crashed against hers. Clary gripped at the fabric of his shirt and kissed him back fiercely. Their bodies pressed against each other as if they couldn't get close enough. He could taste their tears as they kissed, his tongue swept against the salt on her lips and Clary gasped against the sensation. Feeling emboldened, he pressed her harder against him, his mouth exploring hers with reckless abandon. Clary responded just as boldly as him, her fingers trailing down to the hem of his shirt, teasing at the bare skin she found there. Jace jerked in surprise at the touch and groaned into her mouth. He felt like he was on fire where she touched him.

He pulled away, gasping for breath, and stared wild eyed at her, "If you want me to stop, tell me."

Clary didn't respond, but took advantage of the distance between them by pulling his shirt over his head. "Kiss me," she said again, more demanding now. She was panting softly, close enough for him to feel each breath against his skin. It drove him wild with wanting.

Their lips found each other in a fervor, her hands exploring his newly bared skin. He felt raw from her touch, vulnerable in a way he had never been with any other women. His lips found her neck, biting gently at her pulse, as his fingers nimbly worked at the buttons of his coat. In a distant part of his mind he realized she was wearing the same clothes from yesterday. Clary shrugged off his coat with a ferocity that surprised him, and his mouth found her collarbones that were now exposed from the low sweep of her t-shirt.

Clary's fingers gripped his hair desperately as he nipped at her skin, his fingers playfully skimming under her shirt, making her gasp at his touch. He noticed goosebumps raised on her neck and smirked in satisfaction.

Clary, clearing having enough of this, climbed off his lap. He made a sound of protest, feeling empty in the places their skin had been touching. Clary held eye contact with him while she threw off her t-shirt and unbuckled her jeans. He could only imagine the expression on his face because now she was smirking in satisfaction.

He stared at her in stark longing, in awe of the woman standing before him. There she was in all of her intense, vivid colors, her cheeks flushed and her hair mussed and her eyes bright and wild.

She climbed back onto his lap and he felt completely at her mercy. He circled her in his arms as he began to explore her newly exposed skin with his mouth, trailing kisses along her shoulders and down along her chest. He could have worshipped her all day like that, but she grabbed at his chin and pulled him back up to meet her mouth. Carefully, he gathered her in his arms and stood up from the armchair. Clary's legs secure themselves around his hips, her mouth breaking away from his as she looked at him in question.

"I'd gladly make love to you anywhere," he said roughly, "but I just thought you'd be more comfortable on the bed."

Clary grinned at him, "Anywhere?" her lips were so close he could feel them open and close as she talked, "Even like, in a cave?"

Jace laughed and Clary pressed her lips against his to capture it. "Is this some secret desire you'd like to share with me?" He said breathlessly as he laid her on the bed, his hands running over her thighs as he moved to hover over her, between her legs. "Because I can make it happen."

Clary gave a wanton laugh and Jace found himself fixated on it. He wanted to capture it, the way she had moments before, to know what her laughter tasted like. Clary pulled him onto her and they collapsed together, all heat and passion. He looked at her now, with hunger and worship and longing. As he touched her he felt tense, his hands shaking as they removed the barriers between them. And with every new touch he looked at her for permission, asking with his eyes and with his words if it was okay to move forward. And everytime she said yes with her shaky, passion-filled voice he nearly melted where he was. They continued until they were lost in each other, calling each other's names like a prayer, whispering that they loved each other.

And they stayed in bed long after, as the afternoon set in and pushed the sun lower in the bedroom, illuminating them in a soft glow. Clary was pushed flush against him, her face nuzzled into his neck. And Jace basked in the warmth of their bare skin pressed against each other. They spoke softly, whispering gentle promises to each other. And for the first time in Jace's life, he felt uburneded and whole.

I hope that wasn't too steamy for a T-rated fic! I don't think I strayed to far to the level of detail Cassie does, but please let me know if you think it's necessary to change the rating. My plot notes for this chapter was "bow chicka wow wow". I hope you guys enjoyed! ;)