I will own TMI when Jace quits fighting demons.

It's like I can't even feel
After the way you touched me
I'm not asleep but I'm not awake
After the way you loved me

-Sleepwalker by Adam Lambert

Clary

Clarissa Fray stood up with a sigh and gently laid her sketchbook on her desk as her mother pounded on her bedroom door. Jocelyn Fray was a stubborn woman, and she worried, Clary knew, that her daughter hid in her room, preferring to draw instead of going out into the summer heat. The truth was, Clary didn't really feel like coming out to face the music. Ever since her mother had moved them halfway across the country from Detroit to Brooklyn, New York, to be closer to her boyfriend Luke, Clary had lost interest in the rest of the world. She didn't know anyone in Brooklyn excepting Luke and her cousin Simon, and she wasn't exactly the best at making friends. Clary had ruefully admitted to Simon that she got along better with a pencil and paper than she did with people.

"Clarissa, you come out this instant. You absolutely cannot stay in the crypt you call a bedroom any longer. Simon's band is doing a gig at the coffee shop around the corner, and you are going whether you like it or not."

Clary groaned and sat back down on the bed. Simon's band wasn't exactly the best in the universe, and his friend Eric was always saying things along the lines of "I've been looking for a hot redhead to spend the night with." As if she'd ever hook up with an idiot like Eric, who did nothing but talk about his latest girlfriend(s) and mooch off the rest of the band.

The door flew open and Clary's mother stood in the doorframe, wearing a very mad face. "Clarissa Fray. I will give you exactly one chance before I confiscate your sketchbook."

Clary nearly fell off the bed in her attempt to grab something out of her closet that wasn't sweatpants and a tie-die shirt for once. Jocelyn left, and Clary quickly yanked a hair brush through her tangled red hair, muttering a curse as it stuck in a particularly nasty snarl. She really wished the whole thing hadn't come up, although school started in a couple weeks and she was going to have to get used to the situation, anyway. And since when did her mother know anything about Simon's band gigs? Considering that their name was currently Green Tinted Loins, it wasn't exactly something that Jocelyn was likely to be involved in. Clary quickly shoved her sketchbook in her bag along with a few pencils, thinking maybe she could grab a corner table and finish the sketch of an angel that she had been working on and pretend she didn't know Simon's band friends.

After all, staying invisible wasn't the hardest thing Clary Fray had ever done.

She made it halfway through the living room before Jocelyn took her arm and literally shoved her out the door, while Luke watched with silent amusement. Clary glared and tried to pry her mother's fingers from her wrist, but she was dragged out to the porch anyway. The front door slammed behind her and she stood all alone on the front step, clutching her bag to her chest and trying to decide if it was worth sneaking around to the clump of bushes in the back.

Unfortunately, she spotted Simon waving at her enthusiastically from his own porch. Seeing no other option, Clary crossed the street and went to meet her cousin. The day was hot and overcast, with dark clouds promising a summer rainstorm. Her feet crunched on the dry grass as she waited for Simon to drag his guitar down the stairs.

"Finally decided to come out of your hole, huh?" he said, hoisting a guitar case over one shoulder and falling into step beside her.

"More like I got kicked out of the house," she muttered. "You didn't plan this with my mom, did you?"

"No," he said, looking away quickly, but Clary had known Simon for her entire life and knew when he was lying.

"Simon Lewis, you are a terrible liar. You know that, right?"

"Sure."

The two walked in silence for a while, silently dripping sweat and swatting at the cloud of mosquitos that seemed to follow them up the street, yearning for a taste of blood.

"Is it alright if I just stay in the back and pretend that I don't know you people? No offense, Simon, but your band sucks. You really need a new name, by the way. I mean, c'mon. You could do a heck of a lot better than Tinted Green Loins."

"I know," Simon said miserably. "But it was either that or Hot Sexy Fish. And no, you may not stay in the back and act like you're not there. there are a couple friends of mine I want you to meet."

Clary groaned inwardly, but didn't protest. This was Simon, and she'd do pretty much anything for her favorite cousin. Even be nice to his geeky guy friends.

When they pushed open the door to the coffee shop, the rest of the band was already setting up. The coffeehouse was mostly empty minus the staff, the girlfriends of the other band members, an old guy sipping a latte in the corner, and three other teenagers Clary had never seen in her life. As Simon led her towards them, she realized belatedly that these must be his friends and mentally prepped herself for more weirdos in gamer shirts.

Simon's friends were a girl and two guys, seemingly deep in discussion. The girl was pretty, with a tiny waist and dark hair and beautiful pale skin, and Clary felt a flash of jealousy. Clary herself was pitifully short and had never been the prettiest, and was jealous of girls like Simon's friend even though she tried to convince herself it really didn't matter. One of the boys was pale and dark and looked a lot like the girl, who she supposed must be his sister, while the other was fair haired and tan. He had his feet up on the table in a way that suggested he couldn't care less. The blond looked up as Clary and Simon approached, and with a start Clary realized that he had golden eyes nearly the same shade as his hair. He was gorgeous, too, she had to admit, more so than most of the people Simon hung around with.

And he was looking straight at her.

"Guys, this is my cousin Clary. The girl I told you about. Clary, these are my friends Isabelle, Alec, and Jace."

The blond- Jace- surveyed her with apparent interest, leaning back even farther in his chair.

"Hi," Clary said uncertainly, having noticed that the only empty chair at their table was the one next to Jace.

"Keep an eye on her, okay? She's good at disappearing," said Simon with a cocky grin. Clary punched him in the arm. "What was that for?" he moaned, giving her his best puppy dog face.

"It's not like I turn invisible or anything. And I'm not a kid; I don't need a babysitter."

"How old are you, anyway?" asked Jace.

"Sixteen next sunday," Clary replied, sitting down and glancing at him warily.

"Gotta go, see you guys after the gig," Simon muttered, and dashed off before Clary could protest. Isabelle and Alec resumed their discussion, but Jace simply watched her, ignoring the glare she threw him.

In an attempt to distract herself, she opened her sketchbook to the angel page, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't focus. She could feel those golden eyes watching her every move. With a sinking heart, she realized that this Jace wasn't someone she could easily ignore.

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