𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞

             At that moment, Aria regretted ever having listened to Isabelle Lightwood. The chilly air of the night hit her bare legs, making her shiver under Jace's amused look. The boy had an arm around her shoulder but that was far from enough to keep her warm, seeing how short the dress Isabelle had insisted for her to wear was. The music from Pandemonium reached their ears louder each time the bouncer opened the door but, no matter how many times that had been, the line did not move nearly fast enough.

"Couldn't we have gotten in by the back door?" she asked, shifting her weight from one leg to the other, looking up at Jace.

"Where's the fun in that, darling?" he whispered in her ear, making her weak in the knees. From behind them, Isabelle chuckled lightly, prompting a look over the shoulder from Aria.

Jace's and Aria's situationship was not new by any means. Far from it, in fact. Both of them had been making out on and off for years, much to Hodge's initial dismay, but that was the first time they had taken it out of one of the Institute's many rooms. That filled Aria with pride, especially considering how many girls couldn't take their eyes off of the blond boy that pushed her closer to him each time a boy dared to lay eyes on her.

The air kept getting colder and colder as they stood in line, the moon moving higher in the sky. At the feeling of a soft current of air, Aria's hairs stood on end as a shiver travelled down her spine, which caused a light chuckle to escape from Jace's lips. Before going out, he had advised her to take a jacket, but Isabelle had completely ruled out the idea because it wouldn't "showcase the incredible outfit that had taken them hours to choose". The blond boy had warned that there would be no way in hell that he would lend her his precious black leather jacket, but he had been quick to take it off and put it around her at the sight of her shivering. Both of them thought to have heard Isabelle whisper something about him being "down bad", but both of them brushed it off.

Finally, after much waiting and some arguing with the bouncer, who was not convinced that their blades were not real but plastic and a part of a costume that they had come up with, they were allowed inside.

As they stepped inside the all-ages club, the heat coming from dozens of human bodies hit them, making Isabelle scrunch her nose. The dance floor was packed, so they decided to walk to the bar and order something before they dared to step into the claustrophobic space. The loud music made it difficult for them to hear each other, so they opted for making a bee-line, holding each other's clothes for safety (whether it was for their own or for that of the mundanes around them was still yet to be seen).

"What do you want? My treat." Jace's hands softly pushed her in front of him so as to put Aria between the bar and his body, making sure that she was protected. Isabelle and Alec stood by their side, the older boy scanning the place with a hard look. Isabelle, on the other hand, looked amused at how the bartender could not stop looking at her.

"Want to share a gin and tonic?" she asked, her hand finding Jace's arm and leaving some caresses there, tracing the faint Marks. Considering that the bartender was completely enraptured by the sight of Isabelle (as were basically all those who were fortunate, or unfortunate, enough to lay eyes on her), she was put in charge of ordering they soon found themselves walking to the dance floor with their drinks and some gummies, on the house.

Once they had found a somewhat comfortable place to stay in, Isabelle was quick to take Aria by the hand and lead her away from the embrace of the blond boy, who had not let go of her hand since they had entered the establishment. The taller girl pushed their bodies together, moving her hips in an almost professional way. Apparently, all the hours both of them had spent practising for when they were old enough to step into a club had paid off. Aria, smiling, followed her movements swiftly.

"Keep moving 'cause Jace can't keep his eyes off of you," she got near her ear and whispered.

"Stop it already." Aria's cheeks were visibly red, but she prayed for all of them to think that it was because of how hot it was inside the club. However, she refused to take off Jace's jacket. The smell of his soapy personal scent reached her nose, making her smile as she continued to dance along Isabelle while Jace and Alec stood there, barely moving their weight from foot to foot.

Jace's eyes did not leave her as he took a sip from their shared drink, a habit they had acquired since they started going to clubs together and after a specially unpleasant hangover. At a given moment, Isabelle turned around to talk to a boy that had called her attention, and Jace took the opportunity to pull the girl towards his embrace once again. Aria took a sip from the glass as well but she had hardly swallowed it that Jace took the drink again and started kissing her, his free hand on the back of her neck. She tried to resist at first, claiming that she did not want to leave Alec with nobody to talk to, but Jace did not pay her any mind and continued kissing her.

One would think that after all the kissing, they would have already gotten tired of each other but that could not be further from the truth. Even though they knew the other's movements by heart, the electric feeling of their lips touching had never left them and that was visible for whoever was unfortunate enough to witness the hunger they transmitted with each kiss.

"Leave her alone already," Isabelle interrupted them, claiming Aria to herself and earning a laugh from her brother, who turned to talk to Jace. Both girls continued dancing, moving around each other, pulling closer, so close that they could feel each other's breath. Their eyes shifted from their eyes to their mouths to the boys behind them, a playful smirk on their faces.

Suddenly, Isabelle's attention shifted from her to a point beyond Aria's back, making her turn around. There stood a beautiful girl with hair as black as night, perhaps Isabelle's same shade, looking directly at Jace. The boy held her gaze as he took a sip from their shared drink, making Aria's body stiffen, but she managed to relax once Jace completely dismissed the girl's attempts at having a private moment.

"What are you laughing at, dumbass?" she asked, as Jace approached her with a teasing smile on his face.. Alec remained where he was, though, and Isabelle seemed to be nowhere in sight anymore.

"You," he began, "are ridiculous. Was making out with you here not enough proof that I don't want anyone else?" Aria's lips curled in a playful smile, probably thinking about which of the many dirty comments that had come to her mind to say, but her thought process was cut by someone patting her on the shoulder.

"Hey," Alec interrupted their conversation, making both of them turn around. He did not say another word but instead moved his head to signal Isabelle following a blue-haired boy to a storage room not far from where they were. Before closing the door behind her, Isabelle had sent them a look that sprung all of them to action.

The three of them moved quickly through the dance floor, Aria in between Alec's and Jace's tall frames, and entered the room unseen. By the time they arrived, Isabelle had her golden whip out already and Jace, Alec and Aria had whispered the names of their blades, making them glow. The room soon acquired the soft blue hue that came from their weapons.

The boy was frozen on the ground, looking up at the four of them, each armed with their weapon of choice. "He's all yours, boys," Isabelle announced as Jace took a step forward, a soft laugh erupting from his lips.

"So, are there any more with you?" His voice was hoarse, as it always got when he was dealing with this kind of creature. It was far from the sweet voice Jace reserved for Aria's ears (or for when he had to convince Hodge that what they were about to do wasn't as dangerous as it sounded).

"Any other what?"

"Come on," Jace said, holding up his hands and letting his sleeves slip down. "You know what I am."

You could see the shift in the boy's face, as if life drained from it at the sight of Jace's Marks, the blue of his hair the only colour left in his body. He, on the other hand, smirked, proud of them.

"Shadowhunter," the trapped boy hissed, his look suddenly becoming hard.

They quickly got to tie him up, lest he should try something that would hurt them and get them in trouble back at the Institute or set the whole Club on fire, as it had happened more than once already. The boy, however, refused to speak as Aria leaned on another pillar and began to twist her blade on her hand, her eyes not leaving his. Alec and Isabelle were together, making sure that the boy didn't try anything, while Jace circled him with his smirk intact.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the blue-haired boy spoke.

"He means other demons," Alec clarified, already tired of this game. In that sense were Alec and Jace completely different: while the latter glowed even at the thought of a long fight with a creature, Alec preferred to get it out of the way as soon as possible. "You know what a demon is, don't you?"

"Demons." Jace drew the word in the air with his finger. "Religiously defined as hell's denizens, servants of Satan... but understood here, for the purposes of the Clave, to be any malevolent spirit whose origin is outside of our own home dimension­-"

He was, however, soon interrupted by Alec, who was getting tired of the game. That's what set the two boys apart from one another: Alec was all practicality and quickness whereas Jace thrived in toying with the creatures they were about to kill. Jace, thus, smiled and turned to look at the boy once again, who was now claiming that he knew where Valentine was. Tired of beating around the bush, Aria stepped in and walked slowly towards the blue-haired demon, her blade glowing still.

"Pretty boy's toying with us," she said, her tone amused as she put herself besides Jace, who surrounded her waist with his arm and drew her closer to him.

"Kill it, Jace. It's not going to tell us anything."

Jace's smile got bigger as she released the girl and quickly turned his blade in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the strength of his grip. The blue-haired boy began panting as Jace raised the glowing weapon, claiming that Valentine was actually back and that he could give them very valuable information.

"By the Angel, every time we capture one of you bastards, you claim you know where Valentine is. He's in hell. But you can join him there." Aria could hear the smirk in Jace's voice but, before he could kill him, an unknown voice startled them. It startled them so much that Jace let his blade drop to the floor, leaving him weaponless.

"Stop! You can't do this!"

"What's this?" Alec intervened, his gaze getting hard.

"Do you think we know, Alec?" Aria questioned him, seeing how the older boy looked at all of them, his eyes opened in worry.

"It's a girl. Surely you know that, Alec. Your sister and... Aria are girls," Jace stepped forward. Out of all of them, he was always the one ready to take action, no matter the risk it entailed. That had put them in danger more than once (in fact, it was constantly putting them in danger) but they would be lying if they said they didn't enjoy the thrill of it every once in a while. Well, maybe Alec didn't.

"But she can see us," Isabelle whispered.

"Of course I can see you, I'm not blind." The girl, whose name they still did not know, remained back, but her eyes moved from one of them to the other, trying to discern what to do.

"Oh but you are," said Jace, taking the blade that Aria was handing him. "You just don't know it. You should get out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere, you'll kill him."

"Well yes, but why do you care? Is he your boyfriend or something?"

"N-no, but you can just kill people!"

Jace taunted her, explaining how, while it was true that you couldn't kill people, what they were about to kill was a monster. While he was taking his time with that explanation, however, the blue-haired boy managed to get free of his restraints and attacked Jace from behind. Aria gripped her blade harder as Isabelle drew out her whip. The red-headed girl who had interrupted them ducked behind some boxes while the demon crawled on top of Jace and showed him its claws.

Everyone rushed to the demon, wielding their weapons, but Aria was the first to attack. She failed to kill him, however, but it gave Jace enough time to stand up and sink the knife into the demon's chest. Blood went everywhere, getting on Isabelle's white dress and Aria's legs, but they did not mind. Nothing they hadn't seen before. That was the Shadowhunter life they knew and loved.

"So be it. The Forsaken will take you all," the demon let out before starting to fold on himself. Jace snorted, his eyes unable to move from the demon until he was completely gone. Aria approached Jace, trying to see the wound on his arm, but he looked down at her and assured her he was perfectly fine and saying something about how demons weren't their favourite thing to have on top. In the meantime, Isabelle and Alec talked to the nosey girl who was claiming she had called the police.

"You see, demons return to their home dimensions when they die."

"Jace stop."

"She can see us, Alec. She already knows too much."

Alec then suggested bringing her back to the Institute so that Hodge could deal with her, but the idea was not very well received. While Isabelle and Aria believed that a mundane girl should not be brought there under any circumstance, Jace was adamant on the fact that she was no mundane girl at all. After all, not everyone could see them, at least not if they did not choose to.

Before they could discuss the matter further, however, another voice interrupted their conversation. A boy's. Calling the girl's name, which was apparently 'Clary'. But they had vanished by the time the mundane boy walked in alongside the Club's security.

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The four of them walked silently towards the Institute, Aria with Jace's jacket zipped up and hugging her body, Isabelle's hand holding hers. The only thing she wanted now was to get to the Institute, put her pyjamas on and get into her warm bed.

"What were you thinking?" they could hear Alec saying to Jace. "You may as well have told her about the Mortal Instruments."

"I'm not in the mood for a lecture, Alec, honestly," the blond boy dismissed him. "Scold me tomorrow, 'kay?"

Aria's and Isabelle's eyes connected, but neither of them said anything. In fact, no other word was uttered before they had to ask for the Angel's blessing to get into the Institute, where the doors quickly opened for them. The four of them mounted the elevator and, once it got to the corresponding floor, they all dispersed.

"Come by later?" Jace whispered to Aria before she walked to her room, earning a nod from the girl. With her heart skipping a couple beats after Jace gave her a quick peck, Aria walked directly to Isabelle's room.

Opening the door without even knocking, Isabelle turned around like a bolt, her hand nearing her whip. However, she relaxed when she saw that it was Aria standing in the door. She signalled for the brunette to come inside and closed the door, looking at her with a puzzled look.

"Jace asked me to come to his room later," she announced, sitting down in Isabelle's bed.

"And? It's not like you haven't made out in each other's beds already," Isabelle replied, unconcerned, as she stripped down of her dress and got her pyjamas out. "In fact, it's not like you haven't made out everywhere already."

"Yes, but this is the first time that he's asked me to come instead of spontaneously appearing at my door or dragging me to his," Aria explained.

"Oh."

"Oh, indeed. Do you think...?"

"That he wants more than to make out with you? I don't know but maybe do not let Alec hear you. I have protection if you need it"

"I don't mean that! I mean..." she hesitated, "can you lend me a pair of cute pyjamas? You know, ones he would like."

"I doubt he would like you wearing any pyjamas at all," the girl continued to joke, taking her makeup off. It was strange to see Isabelle without make-up. She had a habit of putting it on as soon as she woke up, but she was still beautiful without it. No wonder every single person who had the luck to lay eyes on her felt immediately drawn by her charms.

"Isabelle!" Aria gasped, throwing a pillow at the girl, who laughed audibly.

"I mean because Jace will surely lend you a shirt of his." Isabelle took a seat by her friend, cross-legged. "Look, you shouldn't be worried, okay? He likes you, cute pyjamas or not. After years of you two being on and off, it was high time he became a gentleman and at least asked you to come fuck with him."

"You know what? That's enough," Aria tried to remain straight-faced as she approached Isabelle, ready to smother her with the same pillow she had thrown at her seconds before, but she was unable to hide her laugh.

"You know I'm kidding. Let's just pray to the Angel that he doesn't fuck it all up this time. If he keeps returning to you, that means something, Ri." Isabelle looked at her and put an arm around the girl, stopping her from permanently unaliving her. "And before you say Jace's not the dating type, just know that he doesn't look at everyone the way he looks at you."

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The Institute was already dead silent and swimming in darkness when Aria knocked softly on Jace's door. Ultimately, Isabelle had lent her a pair of black and white lacy pyjamas that made Aria smile at her reflection when she looked at herself, her hair cascading down her back. It was far from what she would usually wear, but her image on the mirror made her think maybe it was high time she bought a pair of cute pyjamas of her own.

It took a couple of seconds before she heard a voice from inside prompting her to come in.

Jace's room was bare. In fact, it was the only one in the Institute that was so. All of them had decorated their rooms over the years but he had never done so. He had always claimed that he was 'far too cool' for that, but all of them knew there was something behind it that he didn't want to admit. Of course, they didn' talk about it in front of him.

Jace was there, sitting on the bed with grey pyjama bottoms and no shirt on. He raised his gaze, smiling at the sight of the girl who had turned around to close the door as silently as possible. They didn't think that anyone (and, by anyone, I mean Hodge) would say anything if