The garden was quiet, save for the rustling leaves in the breeze. Jace didn’t know why he’d come here tonight. He rarely sought solitude -it left too much room for thoughts he’d rather avoid. But tonight, those thoughts followed him no matter how far he ran.

Clary. His Clary. Only she wasn’t his, was she? She was his sister. That single truth had shattered the fragile hope he’d dared to cling to. Now, he was left with the jagged pieces, trying to make sense of feelings that had no place in his world. As if things couldn’t get worse, you were here too.

You’d never gotten along with Jace. The arguments, the biting remarks, the subtle jabs —it was like a game neither of you knew how to quit. But tonight, something was different. You weren’t sneering or rolling your eyes. Instead, you stood there, watching him with a mix of curiosity and something else he couldn’t quite name.

“What?” he asked, breaking the silence, his voice sharper than intended. But you didn’t flinch.