Here's the last chapter everyone! The doc I wrote this on was without any means of spell check, so if I butchered any words, that's why. I'll be editing my mistakes...Eventually(;

The next day at school, I sat at lunch surrounded by my usual crowd. Jace and I clearly had a lot to talk about, so the alternative was to kiss whenever we saw each other to avoid anymore heavy talks, at least for the time being. Speaking of the devil, he'd suddenly disappeared after we parted our seperate ways going to third period, though he'd told me, lips pressed against the shell of my ear, to save him a spot in the cafeteria. I was seriously starting to doubt he'd arrive with enough time to grab something to eat, much less join our friends and explain his absence, like I knew everyone was dying to hear about. I had taken it upon myself to inform the harmless but inhibiting natures of the group that Jace and I had initiated phase one of the "healing process," as opposed to having to jump into ablong, uncomfortable detail.

Perhaps I had accepted Jace's apology - however beautifully delievered and heart-felt - too easily, but I was tired of feeling angry, of holding something over our heads we could never completely erase from our past no matter how hard either of us tried. By forgiving him, but certainly not capable of ever forgetting, I was preventing the spike in our relationship from surfacing again down the line. Besides, it wouldn't have felt right if we parted with uncertainty once more. Clearly my feelings had never been far off from the mark like I'd originally thought, because if kissing Jace was so much better than I'd ever imagined, being with him made me feel impossibly whole. For the first time in a long time, I was happy.

Maia was yacking in my ear about the dress she'd already ordered for next year's prom date, and Isabelle was demanding she see pictures, their boyfriends slumped in their seats and discussing our plans for Friday night, seemingly unaffected by the high-pitched squeals and voiced hopes coming from the two girls. I, however, wasn't listening to anything, my gaze glued on a distraught-looking Emily Louthan currently in pursuit of a vacated lunch table, the double-doors to the cafeteria swinging in her wake.

"...dating?" I tore my attention away from the girl who had been the focal point of the personal hell I'd been living for the past couple weeks, snapped out of my frozen stupor by Isabelle's suddenly-demanding and raised voice directed my way. I blinked at the raven-haired beauty, regrettful that I hadn't heard a thing she'd said. Her hopeful expression turned into a sour one in a matter of seconds as she registered my blank look. "Really, Clary. Have you been listening to anything I'm saying?"

I felt guilty, but at the same time I wasn't in the proper mood for "girl talk one-O-one" with Isabelle Lightwood and Maia Roberts. "Sorry," I said lamely, shifting uneasily in my seat, watching Emily from the corner of my eye, as I gave the girl sitting across from me a hopefully-apologetic smile.

Isabelle rolled her dark eyes, flattening her maincured hand against the curve of her jaw. "You're lucky you're a cute one, Clary. If you didn't have eyes bigger than my younger brother's, or were missing just one freckle - just one - I would've stab my heel into your hand by now."

Maia shot her friend an incredulous look, glancing back at me with widened eyes, communicating that Isabelle was absolutely insane. "You need help. Jordan's aunt is a podiatrist. I'll get you her number for you - "

Isabelle scoffed. "I'm sure I don't need to pay a foot doctor a visit. I think you meant psychiatrist, moron."

Maia's cheeks reddened, and I watched with concealed amusement as she recoiled into Jordan's side, who, still deep in conversation with Simon, smiled down at his girlfriend and placed a kiss along her hairline, before suggesting to the other boy to consider bowling or laser-tag over a movie. It was such a natural reaction for Jordan to immediately welcome Maia into his embrace, for him to then press a sweet kiss to her forehead, and then carry on with his discussion as if it happened all the time. Maybe that'd be Jace with me one day. I couldn't help but hope. After we officialized what we were to each other, he could be my boyfriend; we could be in a relationship.

"Anyways," Isabelle clucked, attention solely on me. "I saw you and Jace in the hallway earlier looking particularly cozy. Considering you both are even at school gives me the impression that something happened last night. What, are you guys, like, dating now?"

At that, everyone fell silent, boys and all, and looked to me for a definite answer. I looked down quickly before meeting their hopelessly curious gazes head-on, shrugging uncomfortably. "We talked," I relented.

"And?" Isabelle prodded, leaning towards me like her implicatory tone.

"Nothing is certain," I said, weighing my words and how they sounded on my tongue. At all of their acusatory eyes, which seemed to know I was holding something from them and that they wouldn't be letting this go until I spilled (figuratively, of course), I straightened my back, swallowing. "But, like I said, we talked. About a lot. Obviously we have some work to do and it's going to take some time, but..."

"Oh, come on," Isabelle groaned. "Just tell me if the blond, angelic-looking asshole manned-up and confessed his undying love for you!"

"You could say that," I said, sounding painstakingly awkward. "We're going to work towards a relationship, at least that's the impression I got...And Jace said sorry for...everything...and-and..." I found myself having trouble filtering my words, instead appealing to what my friends all wanted to hear, because at the moment I couldn't think about anything besides Emily now standing from her chair, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and walking towards the exit. My legs clearly disconnected from my mind, I mounted to my feet, murming a lame excuse along the lines of 'needing fresh air,' or something like that, and let them carry me after her.

I wished I could just be happy with never having to waste another breath on the girl for as long as I lived. She had threatened me, stolen away my best friend, broken my glasses, and the likes, but at the same time, if it weren't for her satanic, twisted nature, Jace probably would've never realized he had feelings for me. Although it had been her intention to keep him in her sharpened, polished nails to dangle in front of me at my own expense, she ended up doing the exact opposite. With that thought in mind, which had alone been the foundation of my dreams since that day in the hallway, I didn't want to always feel like she'd gotten the better of me. I'd let her walk all over me. It was my own fault that I'd made myself into such an easy target; girls like Emily couldn't help but prey on the weak.

If it weren't for Maia or Jordan, I would've cried in front of the entire student boy because of petty girl deluded with the impression that she ran the school. I wanted to change that. I didn't want to be as small as I was physically any longer. It didn't matter that I got the guy in the end if Emily still felt as if she had power over me.

Once in the hallway, Emily stopped when she heard a pair of footsteps echoing hers. She lazily turned on her heel, instantly twisting her glossy lips into a smile when she saw me standing not even a yard away. "If it isn't little Pippi Longstocking," Emily drawled, crossing her hands over her poorly-concealed cleavage. I still couldn't comprehend that Jace was ever under her spell when she walked around looking like she was everyone's girlfriend. Her father was the principal; it was his dresscode staff enforced in the halls, and yet it was his daughter who wore skirts that hardly covered the lace of her underwear and shirts that were see-through enough to notice the desperate appeal of her bra. "I bet you feel on top of the world right about now, even if you'd be a midget if not for the extra few inches your hair gives you."

I rolled my eyes. "I think we're past petty namecalling, Emily," I said, just barely refraining from calling her She-beast instead. "Let's make this quick: I don't want you to think that I'm somehow satisfied now that Jace finally saw through your extensions and too-small clothing selections."

Emily feigned surprise, forming her lips into an O. "I didn't know you could bite, little Clary."

I clenched my fists hanging down by my sides. "You're a horrible person. You're vindictive and used to getting everything you want, and then manipulative when things don't go exactly as planned. But I feel sorry for you. You must've been through a lot to see everyone as the enemy, and I'm sure your parents have a played a role in that- "

"My parents?" Emily giggled, sounding disbelieving. "You're the one with a dead mother."

My mouth was set with resolve; I'd expected in advance that she'd be using that at least a couple times, but that also meant she was relying on last-resorts. Emily was backed into a corner, and that was someplace she wasn't used to being in. "I also have a father who eats dinner with me every night," I said, voice steady. "Who loves me and would do anything for me. I'm not alone in the world like you are."

She scoffed. "Last I recalled, I have everyone from the soccer team to the mathletes following after my every step. I'm not alone, little Clary. I'm just above having either one of my parents doting on me when I have an entire school to do that."

"That's where you're wrong," I said. "High school only lasts four years, and then what's left is the real world. I used to be afraid to think of the future, of having to encounter more people like you who want to bring me down, but now I realize that they - that you - wouldn't feel the need to do that if you weren't threatened. I may not be the ideal girl boys automatically dream of finding one day, but perfection isn't tangible, only imaginable. I can be as beautiful as people want to see me as, and the same goes for you, until you give people a reason to believe otherwise.

"I'm a good person. Maybe I'm quiet and different, and mabye I have wierd hair and freckles, but I'm not afraid anymore like you are. Sure, you have boys at your every beck and call, but for as long as you let your nature reflect how cruel life has been to you and keep pushing people away faster than you reel them in, you're going to be alone. You'll be angry for as long as you are, and you'll want to take that out on other people, but I will no longer be one of those people. You may smile more than I do, but I'm always going the happier one out of the two of us, and not because of a boy. Because I finally accept how I look, and, more importantly, everything - from my mother's passing, to the years of being invisible and letting girls like you shadow my potential - I've been through that has made me into who I am today.

"I don't care what you think about me anymore, so long as you keep it to yourself. Better yet, find a person who will bother to listen. One day, you're not going to be perfect-looking, and then the façade of interested people will dissapear, and you'll no longer have the shoulders of your parents to fall back on, or boys willing to tell you what it is you want to hear, only your notoriety. While I won't let you dictate my life any longer, I have one thing to say: for as long as you're angry, you're alone."

Emily was quick to dismiss my words, scoffing angrily and rolling her bright eyes. "Right," she sneered. "If you're done now, I'd like to remind you of your place in this world you seem to know so well all of the sudden - "

I smiled tightly at her. "Goodbye, Emily."

"Don't you walk away from me," she shouted, but I was already heading back towards the cafeteria, feeling a weight lifting from my shoulders.

"You know, just because you don't wear those glasses anymore doesn't mean you're all that - Who gives you the right to ignore me!" Her relentless words were never-ending, but I felt so light that I could fly. She was still spewing nonsence when the cafeteria doors closed on her, but I couldn't hear her any longer, and I couldn't help but smile at how ridiculous she must look like in that moment, shouting at empty space.

I feinted towards my table of friends when my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was from Jace: Come outside, love.

The first thing I noticed was the vivid bruise covering the majority of his lower jaw, and the blackening skin around his right eye. Despite this, Jace looked at perfect ease, perched on the bottom step of the school's courtyard.

"Hello, beautiful," he greeted me, flashing a dazzling smile.

"Don't you 'hello, beautiful' me," I said, letting the anger at seeing his beat-up shape seep into my admonishing tone. "What happened to your face!"

"I got suspended for three days," he drawled casually, happy as if he'd just revealed that he had gotten accepted into his number-one college early on a full-ride scholarship.

"What!" I exclaimed, jaw unhinged. "What do you mean you got suspended for three days? What's the matter with you?"

Jace simply held out his hand for me, not giving me a choice before he was pulling me into his chest and burying his face into the crook of my neck. "Care to explain why you're so happy about this," I said, pushing against him to create a slight distance between our bodies so that I could look into his eyes. "I mean, if I were in your shoes I'd be fearing for what Celine will do once she finds out right about now."

"She'll be happy, too," Jace mused, smiling with so much affection down at me that I blushed, my stomach flopping.

"Are you on drugs?" I countered, causing Jace to simply laugh out. He went ahead with stroking his long, calloused touch against the side of my face, tucking a loose curl behind my ear. I would be lying if I felt like I was being punked, but at the same time his open display was leaving my legs feeling like jelly, and I - to some extent of embarrassment - went slack in his arms.

"I defended your honor, that's all," Jace told me. My eyes went wide, knowing exactly what that entailed.

"Are you crazy? You fought Sebastian?"

"Kicked his ass, more like."

I rolled my eyes. "Jace, you can't go around picking fights with every boy you have a problem with."

"You're right," he said, not at all concerned as he pulled me back against him, perching his chin on top of my head. "But I can when you have a problem with them."

Disbelieving and still severely pissed off that Jace had gotten himself suspended, I found myself laughing, shaking my head into his chest. "You got yourself kicked out of school over this?" I repeated incredulously. I stepped away in an instant. "What about football? Colleges won't be interested in a guy to play football when they don't ever see him playing football - "

Jace put an arm on either side of me, enlosing his hands around the railing I was leaning against, a dopey smile gracing his features. It was hard to be mad when he was that close. "I'm bored with this converstaion. Let's talk about us."

"Are you being serious right now?" I gaped.

"I'm being dead serious," Jace grinned, leaning in so that his breath stirred my hair.

"But - "

"Shh," he exhaled, quickly cutting me off. "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

I blinked. "I have school - "

"That's okay. You have school tomorrow," Jace said, pressing kisses along the column of my neck. My breathing hitched, and though a part of me - the logical and reasonable part - wanted to protest my body from melting, the other, more convincing part allowed for me to turn into puddy. Jace was necking me.

He suddenly ceased his minustrations, just not soon enough and a beat too late, clearly convinced with himself that I wouldn't refuse him anymore even if I wanted to. Slowly, he trailed a hand down the length of my arm and entwined it with mine. "Shall we, love?" he said, smiling cheekily.

"Isn't that something British people say?" I said, my breathing erratic.

"Now I do, too," Jace drawled, already pulling me away from the school and towards the parking lot. "I'm thinking ice cream."

"I'm more in the mood for gelato."

He smirked down at me, pulling me into his side. "I think I know a place that can accomodate both of our cravings."

With that, he opened the passenger side-door for me - in the seat I had always belonged in, sitting right beside him - and he jumped into the driver's chair, wasting no time to wind our hands together once more, resting them on the consul. "We're still talking," I told him, though I was without resolve, feeling completely blown away and dazed as I stared down at our linked hands; one small, pale and freckled, the other large and confident with color. Somehow they fit perfectly together.

I watched, then, as Jace brought our perfectly-joined hands to his mouth and pressed another kiss on my knuckles. "Good, because I have a lot to say to you," he promised.

I fell back into my seat with a smile on my face, rolling my eyes.

Until next time, peace.