I'm really not. So maybe it should be you who wouldn't want to be on my bad side."

A door opened behind Clary's back at the hearing of their voices, so strikingly contrary to the silence that reigned everywhere else. Jace poked his head out, which Clary took as her cue to leave, a triumphant smile on her face. Aria, on the other hand, was left directly looking at the boy.

"Aria... everything okay?"

"More than okay." She walked up to him, not wanting to raise her voice too much. "Just came to tell you that... you know, before? It was whatever. I wanted to make sure we're on the same page."

"Was it... whatever?"

If Aria hadn't known better, she could have sworn that there was a tinge of insecurity in Jace's tone. Yet again, this boy hadn't been insecure a single time in his life so she quickly brushed the thought away.

She nodded, "I hope the rest of the night with Clary was fun."

She said it with no rancour on her voice, which was probably the greatest effort she had done in her whole life. Jace, on his side, took a step toward her.

"We didn't do anything."

"It's okay, Jace. As I said, it's whatever."