In The Deep

Chapter 20

Everything seemed too perfect. High school was officially over, it was summer, it was warm and the sound of water crashing over the rocks and birds singing made Clary smile. She closed her eyes, smelling the air; it smelled like the salty ocean water. The wind was blowing and she could feel her simple dress pressing against her thighs, but it was completely warm. She smiled slightly, her eyelids fluttering as her eyes filled up with tears.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked behind her and Clary opened her eyes slowly, the warm tears falling on her cheeks as she turned around.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." She said with a wide smile on her face, tasting the salty tears on her lips. "I really am."

Jace smiled back at her, he looked like he was glowing in the bright sunlight. His black suit made his eyes look darker and the wind was blowing his hair on his face as he squinted in the sunlight. "Good." He said as he stepped forward to stand next to Clary and gazed at the water in front of them. "I bet he would've liked this."

Clary looked up at him, seeing him still staring at the water. She wrapped her arm around his and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I bet he would've. It's beautiful."

"I wish I could do something to help." Jace said and Clary saw him looking at the grieving people further away from them, all dressed in black just like they were too.

"You have." She just said quietly. "You've been there for them and that's more than anyone could ask for. They're doing the same for you. It's gonna be fine, it just takes time."

"But how much time?" Jace asked, his voice trembling a bit. "Because if you ask me, I'm already tired of hurting. I'm tired of seeing everyone else hurt."

Clary closed her eyes again, tears falling down on her cheeks. "I know, me too. If there's anything I learned from my brother's death, it's that there's never gonna be enough time for all of us. Especially not for those who are like my brother; those who would deserve all the time in the world. It's unfair, but there's nothing anyone can do about it. My brother didn't leave us behind, neither did Robert. They didn't choose to go, but they had to. They didn't leave to make us miserable, they would've never wanted that. If you truly love someone, you let them go."

They were both quiet for a really long time and Jace pulled her closer to his side and they just stood there.

They stood there for a long time and Clary kept thinking about how sad life was, how it messed up so many things. But not as much as death. Death was horrible, it was too final and it messed up too many things, but it was important. Why? Because it made life count.

This is kinda the end, but not really. I'm posting an epilogue later and it's gonna be happier and it's gonna balance this a bit. I might even post it later this evening. Hope you've been enjoying my story and thank you for all the amazing comments and feed back! Love you all :)