Not Another Fairchild *Jace Wayland Love Story* [1]

It Begins

"Are you okay?" Jace asked the moment the door had closed behind Elizabeth, his hands gently gripping her biceps as his mismatched eyes looked her over nervously. He only met her eyes once and she didn't recognise the look she saw there before he was looking away from her again.

"I'm fine, Jace," Elizabeth replied, smiling wanly at him as she took a step back, releasing herself from his grip.

"What the hell were you thinking?" her sister exclaimed from where she stood beside Simon, her fingers brushing his as he looked at Clary with something akin to awe. She didn't miss how his fingers caressed his flushed cheek and bit the inside of her own to keep from grinning.

"I wasn't," she replied simply, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

"No kidding! That was so-" Clary began only to be cut off by Elizabeth, the older teenager sending her sister a narrowed eyed look.

"-Stupid?" Elizabeth bit out, her cheeks flushed with her anger. "Kind of like going into a vampire infested hotel without an actual plan?" she continued with a pointed look at her sister and the three Shadowhunters that had accompanied her.

Her gaze moved to Jace, who still hadn't left her side since he had pulled her from the Hotel DuMort. "How about letting an untrained Shadowhunter go into a vampire infested hotel? Does that sound any less 'stupid'?" she continued, her hands resting on her hips as she glared at him. If it was any other Shadowhunter, Elizabeth probably wouldn't have cared. But this wasn't any other Shadowhunter, this was her little sister, and she was pissed.

"We came to save you and Simon," Clary interjected in Jace's defence, folding her arms over her chest as she glared at her sister.

"And that's noble, really, it is; but if this had gone south, we'd either be dead or in serious trouble with the Clave."

No one met her gaze as they shuffled nervously and Elizabeth face-palmed, feeling a headache steadily growing. "Please tell me someone other than Alec thought about the consequences tonight or did everyone have an extra-large bowl of foolish recklessness for breakfast this morning?" Elizabeth groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she let out a huff of air.

"And don't even get me started on you," she continued, turning her ire on Jace. "By the Angel, Jace, you know better than to run blindly into a dangerous situation or has the peroxide in your hair killed off all your logical brain cells?" she snarked, earning a surprised glare from the blonde Shadowhunter.

"What are you?" he asked, folding his own arms over his broad chest in a bid not to reach out and move the strand of hair from her face. It was blowing in the gentle wind, obscuring his view of one of her glowing green eyes. Eyes that looked vaguely familiar.

"What do you think I am?" Elizabeth countered.

"Lizzy, this is serious," her sister hissed.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Did they think she didn't know that? "Is it? I never would have noticed. I'm drunk, not stupid, Clary," she replied as she shoved the stubborn strand of hair behind her ear.

"You're drunk?" Clary questioned, dumbfounded.

"Wasn't my choice," Elizabeth retorted.

"They forced you to drink?"

"What? No. This is going to give me a headache," Elizabeth groaned, wishing she had an aspirin.

"I think that might just be the alcohol, Liz," Simon quipped playfully, the only one not treating her any differently. He grinned at her as she sent him the finger even as her lips quirked and the lines on her forehead relaxed minutely.