Of Light and Shadows • Jace Wayland

03 Birthday Party

"♪ Forever young ♪

♪ I wanna be forever young ♪

♪ Do you really want to live forever ♪

♪ Forever young ♪"

We were sat on a couch as Champagne Enema played their last song. I could feel the tension in the room as Maureen and Clary both stared at Simon longingly and as Simon looked at me the same way. I shifted in discomfort in my seat, looking at Clary who was lost in the words when the last chord rung. Everyone that came clapped and Clary and I cheered for our friends.

Outside, we were still cheering for them and laughing around as we put their stuff back inside the back of the van.

"Thanks for being our roadies" Maureen said as Simon took his sweater off and as he did, his shirt was lifted to. I saw Clary looking at his abdomen, her eyes trailing down from his belly button to his waistline. I rolled my eyes and decided to keep the conversation alive.

"So you guys went on stage as Champagne Enema tonight" I trailed

"But now... we're Rock Solid Panda." Simon said laughing

"Rock Solid Panda, coming up. I'm feeling inspired." Clary said making her way to the side of the van.

"Paint." I told Simon following her.

"Paint." He agreed following us.

I watched as Clary started writing the name on one side as I picked a spray paint and drew on the other. I planned on drawing a panda head in geometric figure. However, I let my mind wander to Jocelyn and how she had acted earlier today and I didn't really pay attention to what I was drawing. I realized what it was when I heard Clary's gasp.

"What's that tag?" she asked

"Weird, I didn't even mean to draw that."

"You know they have confirmed cases of people waking up in the morning speaking French, and they never even studied the language." Maureen said

"Do you think that's some kind of language?" Clary asked her

"Sanskrit maybe." She shrugged. I rolled my eyes at her

"Obviously not" I told her as I walked to the back of the van to put the paint back. Maureen followed me there while Clary stayed back to stare at the drawing. Maureen kept on trying to convince me that this had a meaning but my attention got drawn to a familiar blonde haired guy talking to Clary.

"You can see me?" he asked and I frowned

"Yeah, that's kind of the point, but you obviously didn't see me."

"You have the Sight."

"Wait, the what?"

"Jace?" I asked walking up to them.

"Babe? What are you doing here?" he asked his eyes growing wide

"Celebrating my birthday.... With my friends...." I answered warily and pointed towards Simon and Maureen.

"Jace!" someone called and he turned around worriedly.

"I'm so sorry Sarah I need to go. Get back home I'll meet you there soon okay?" he asked and kissed me on the forehead. "Happy birthday. I love you"

I smiled at him as I wanted to reply but he had already turned around and left. I sighed as Clary spoke up.

"So that's Jace?" she said walking back to them.

"Yeah but he's usually not like that. He seemed worried."

"Who are you guys talking about?" Simon asked chuckling.

"That guy we just talked to, who apparently is Sarah's boyfriend"

"What guy are you talking about?"

"You guys seriously don't see him?" they both shook their heads. I looked at Clary

"Okay, could you stop making us feel insane?" I asked nervously chuckling.

"Could you stop acting that way? Girls what was in your latte?"

I looked at Clary a second time and nodded before untied my hair and Clary took her jacket off. I grabbed her hand and walked in the same direction Jace went. I vaguely heard Simon calling after us and Clary answering but I didn't care. I needed to find him and ask what was happening. Why would he go to a night club but refuse to stay with me on my birthday? Something felt off.

The Pandemonium was a fancy night club. It looked rather new and bright. It was filled with people dancing on some loud techno music with blinding lights coming from different directions. I took a deep breath from the top of the stairs trying to find Jace in the large amount of bodies. Without letting go of Clary's hand, I made my way to the back of the club where he was heading along with another guy and a blonde girl. Simon was behind, offering to get us drinks but we didn't stop. I was intrigued to say the least. I noticed that they went to a private part of the club behind purple curtains. There was no way to get in. Or at least that's what I thought. Clary pulled lightly on my hand, motioning to a guy who was making his way inside. She let go of my hand and held the man's arm.

"Somebody works out" she said looking up at him. Getting the idea, I grabbed his other arm and smiled sweetly. He smirked and I noticed that his eyes were a bright blue.

"Cool contacts" I said sweetly.

Inside were only a few men. The blond girl from earlier was now a brunette and held a wig in her hand while dancing. I raised an eyebrow at her before my eyes settled on the woman in the middle of the room who stood awfully close to my boyfriend. The room was tense as Jace glared at the woman. Suddenly, Clary yelled at the woman to watch out which caught both their attention. She ran towards the woman and tackled Jace which made his blade fall on the couch near them. I ran to Clary's side but Jace pushed us making us fall against the counter. After beating the woman, Jace came towards me extending his hand.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concern evident in his eyes. However, I couldn't answer as he was dragged right back in by another guy. The fight went on as Jace and two of his friends fought against the others. Meanwhile, I stood up quietly with Clary and made my way towards the couch. I picked up Jace's blade and as Clary stood behind me the blade lit up as it made contact with my hand and I yelped in surprise and he threw a man against the blade and said man disappeared in some sort of orange sparks. I looked at Clary who took the blade from me to examine it. I kept on watching the fight making sure nobody attacked us. Jace forcefully grabbed the blade from Clary's hand and both boys finally killed the last man. I stood there in shock and Jace looked at me with a look on his face saying 'I can explain' as he took a step forward but my attention was caught by Clary running out. I muttered an apology to Jace as I ran behind her. When I got back next to her, she had been stopped by a man who looked somewhat familiar. I took her hand and guided her to a cab so we could get home. Luckily, one was just in front of the club and we both climbed in.

"Drive" I breathily said as I gathered Clary in my arms when I saw her shake.