A/N: oh my gosh, I am so sorry I never ever update this. I've changed over into the third person POV now because I feel like my writing is of higher quality when I write like that. Sorry if you prefer otherwise.

Clary's POV

"Jace."

The only sound in Jace's room is their panting. Clary's heart thunders in her ears, blocking out all other sound.

"Jace," She shifts backward, pulling out of his grasp gently. "I'm sorry, I-I can't. Not yet, I—"

He pulls back and raises his eyebrows. "I'm confused, Clary. You're giving me mixed signals here. You have no problem making out with me—publically, too—but then, there's always this line you have drawn somewhere that I can't see, I don't—"

"It's not your fault," She reassures him. "I love you, and I like kissing you and touching you, but there's just ... something ... I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," He leans back against the bed, putting his arms behind his head. Her eyes traced down his chest and muscular stomach before she forced them back to his face. He'd ditched his black t-shirt within the first few moments of kissing. "I'm never going to force you to do something you're afraid of, Clary."

"I'm not scared, just a little...hesitant."

"Well, when the time comes and we do go all the way, I want to make sure there's no hesitation or guilt."

She smiles. "Thank you." She leans forward and kisses him softly.

When Clary pulls away, he arches an eyebrow. "So now what would you like to do?"

She shrugs and stretches out, grabbing her notebook and pencil off his desk. She hugged her knees into her chest and eyed him carefully, beginning to trace the pencil over the paper, slowly, easing my pencil around each muscle in his abdomen.

"You know," He says, his eyes closed. "The offer for me to model nude for you is still out there."

She laughs, "Of course it is."

He grins briefly and then relaxes again. "You're staring," He says quietly.

"I'm sketching."

A soft knock sounds on the door. "Er, Clary? Not to interrupt, but Simon's downstairs."

Clary sighs and sets her sketchbook aside. "Thanks, Alec. Tell him I'll be right down."

She leans across the bed to press her lips against Jace's for a moment before pulling back and smiling. "I'll see you later."

"Are you going to go see those people?"

"I have to. I told them I would."

"I can come with you—"

"No, you can't. You have a family thing to go to, remember?"

He frowns. "That's a Lightwood family thing, technically, I. . ." He trails off at the look she gives him, "Fine. But I'm just a phone call away at any moment, you know that."

"I'll be okay." She bent down and slipped a small, sheathed knife out of her boot with a smirk.

He nodded, temporarily reassured. "Still. Call if you need me."

"Okay." She gives him one final kiss and hurries out the door.

"Hey," Simon says from the front steps when she rushes outside.

"Hey, sorry about that. I'm not making you late, am I?"

"Nah, I came early, figured there'd be trouble dragging you and Jace apart."

She sticks her tongue out and adjusts her messenger bag as they walk. "So? Did anything happen yesterday?"

"Well," He says, "Isabelle made me some spaghetti. I think I chipped a tooth."

Clary rolls her eyes at him. "I meant with those weird people I met."

"Oh," He said. "No. They should be checking out in fifteen minutes, though. We'll see if there's a dead body in there."

"I really hope not."

"Wouldn't even be surprising," Simon says, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

"Why are you wearing glasses again? Isn't your vision perfected now?"

"Everyone kept asking if I got contacts. It was annoying. They're fake."

They walk through the doors into the hotel and he nods at the girl behind the counter. She logs out and he signs in.

They wait for about ten minutes before the elevator chimes and the four people they met yesterday step out. Tris smiles and waves. Clary notices that they're all wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

"Hi," Tris says.

"Hey. How was your night?"

"Good. Thank you for bringing us here."

"Of course," Clary smiles. "Can I ask what brings you to New York?"

Tris glances at the man—Tobias—and he sighs. "It's a long story."

Clary raises her eyebrows. "I've got time."

Tobias takes a deep breath. "Fine." His eyes flick to Simon and Clary can't help but roll hers.

"He's a good friend of mine. Anything you can tell me you can say in front of Simon."

At the sound of his name, Simon looks up from the computer in front of him, pushing his glasses up his nose. "What?"

"Nothing," She gives Tobias a look.

"Fine," He repeats. "Did you know that Chicago has gated off part of the city?"

She feels her eyebrows furrow and she shakes her head.

"Well, they did. And inside the gates is a war. We escaped. And now we have nowhere to go."

"What do you mean, a war?"

He frowns. "The government broke it down into five categories—Dauntless, Amity, Erudite, Candor, and Abnegation. Everyone takes a test that tells them which place they'd best fit in. The government created a serum that makes people turn into mindless robots. They injected all the Dauntless and they began attacking Abnegation. A few people were immune to the serum. Tris and I were. We stopped the simulation and got a few of our friends," he gestures to Christina and Uriah, "and got out."

"If you stopped the simulation, why'd you have to leave?"

"You ask too many questions."

"Tobias," Tris mumbles, shaking her head. "Sorry," She tells Clary. "He doesn't like to be asked questions. He has some pretty decent reasoning. He's telling the truth, though."

"Prove it."

Tris stretches up onto her toes and whispers in his ear. He sighs and shrugs out of his shirt. Clary flinches in surprise. He turns his back to her and Tris reaches out and traces her index finger down his spine. There are tattoos on his skin, Tris points at each of them and speaks. Fire. "This is the symbol for Dauntless, the brave." Hands. "This is the symbol for Abnegation, the selfless." Scales. "The symbol for Candor, the honest." An eye. "Erudite, the intelligent." A tree. "Amity, the peaceful."

Clary looks at them for a long time as Tobias turns around and pulls his shirt back on. Tris turns, pulling her sleeve down and pointing. She has the hands and the flames on each of her shoulders. "We were all Dauntless. The Dauntless tend to be pierced, tattooed, and we wear black."

Clary tries to think fast. They seem to be telling the truth—or it's a very detailed story. She panics. "Okay, I need a minute."

She grabs her phone and dials Jace, walking away to go stand outside.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. These people... Their story is weird, Jace. Really weird. Can you talk to Maryse? Tell her I'm bringing them to the Institute."

"Are you insane? You can't bring them to the Institute!"

"What else am I supposed to do with them? You brought me to the Institute against the rules and that worked out."

"You're a Shadowhunter, Clary, of course it worked out!"

"You didn't know that! You just had a feeling. And I have a feeling, okay, Jace? Trust me."

He sighs. "I'll talk to Maryse. Maybe we can postpone the Lightwood family thing."

Clary frowns. "Sorry. I didn't want to make you do that. I just don't know what else to do with them."

She can hear the smile in his voice when he responds. "It's okay. I'm not sure anyone wants to go this anyway."

She chews on her lower lip. "Alright, I'll ask them to come with me and be there in a few."

"Okay, see you soon."

Clary hangs up and goes back inside. "Can you guys come with me? I have an idea."

A/N: Again, I'm so extremely sorry. I just became unblocked last night and then I had to go to bed, of course. I've spread myself too thin. I have too many fics to write at once and school work and instruments to practice. I'm sorry.