A/N: This is my first fanfiction, so, please be nice! If you like this, please review and I'll write more!
Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns The Infernal Devices, Mark Twain owns The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Tessa couldn't sleep. It was near midnight, she should have been for hours. Earlier, she had told herself that she was being distracted from sleep because of listening to Jem playing his violin, but he had long since ceased playing and had presumably went to bed, depriving Tessa of her only excuse.
Sophie came in periodically to check that all was sound in her room. The last time she had appeared was at eleven o'clock, and had been surprised when she found Tessa's gray eyes staring back at her, still open at such a late hour. Sophie asked her if she was in need of something, but Tessa lied and assured her that she would drift off in minutes. Perhaps Sophie had believed her, for she hadn't made another look in.
Tessa was sure she was the only person still awake in the Institute. She had heard footsteps tramping up and down the corridor for a long time, and each time she heard them, she mentally checked off all the possibilities. Jem, Charlotte, Henry, Jessamine…Tessa had counted off four people, but there was one other person.
Will. The last time Tessa had seen him was at dinner. He was probably lurking around in the streets of London or getting a drink at the Devil Tavern. Come to think of it, Tessa had scarce seen Will the whole day, only at meals, where he said barely a word to her. Occasionally she would sneak a look at him, and there would be that small, superior smile of his on his beautiful face. It infuriated her, the way he would sit in his chair with that smug countenance, as if he were king of the world.
Something stirred in the back of her mind. Soft, steady taps on wood, coming closer to her room. Sophie, Tessa thought. She heard a clock strike in the distance. The door opened on the twelfth ring, slowly at first, and it swung clear open. Tessa gave a squeak and retreated hastily under her blankets. Through the stitching she could see a shadowy figure, and in its palm, a gas lamp.
Slowly, Tessa removed the blanket from over her face. She turned scarlet when she recognized William Herondale was in the door of her room, an amused look on his face. There was a slight bump under his arm, which, in the dim light, Tessa couldn't make out what it was.
"What are you doing?" Tessa hissed. "Kindly leave my room immedietly."
Of course, Will did the contrary and merely took two more strides toward her. Tessa fumbled around with the sheets for a minute, and then pushed herself into an upright position, reaching over to her bedside table to adjust her own lamp. That done, she sat in bed and eyed Will coldly. The silence between them was unbearable, and was becoming more awkward with every moment. Will said,
"What are you doing still awake?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Tessa retorted.
"Ah," Will said, nodding, "but you didn't, that's the problem." And he came closer still to her side, contemplating her with those alluring, dark sapphire eye that she admired so.
"What do you want, Will…"
"Funny how people ask me that so much, when the answer is always the same: for people to stop asking me." Will shrugged.
Tessa looked down into her lap. "Do not make sport of me, Will," she said, irritated. "It's not like you to pay me a visit." Tessa raised her head and looked at him straight on.
"If you must know, young Sophie sought me out just now. She informed me that you were still awake, and her eyes were getting bloody heavy. She wanted me to make sure you'd get some rest tonight. 'A day of shopping in London with Miss Lovelace is enough to wear anyone out'."
"And she found you skulking around…where?"
Will shifted his arm, and Tessa saw the spines of two books. "The library. I always like to get a few new books to read through before I turn in. Gets me more prepared for a blissful slumber."
"You mean you're still going to stay up?" Tessa inquired incredulously.
"Why not?"
There was a pause. "I suppose, if they were very engrossing books, I wouldn't mind, either," Tessa admitted.
Stillness settled again. Will hadn't moved, but continued to survey her. Tessa felt like her clothes were melting right off her; there was a definite warmness developing inside of her. It was flattering the way Will was regarding her, but disconcerting at the same time. Tessa cleared her throat. "You can go now," she said. There was another way she could have said that, but she would have sounded rude and eager to be rid of Will. This was partially true, although she did not wish to be so blunt about it.
"You're going to sleep, then?" Will asked.
"I'll try."
"You'll try."
"Yes, that's what I said."
"Well, Sophie's not going to be pleased with me if she founds out that you didn't, Tessa," Will said. "She'll have my neck tomorrow at breakfast if you come down to the table looking like you died. It would be safer for me to stay here and assist your attempt, because it will probably fail, and if that happens, I'm the one who gets the blame."
Tessa threw Will a dark glare before saying, "How do you propose to do that, I might ask?"
"How, you ask? I mentioned earlier, reading helps me sleep. I'm sure it has the same affect on you, as a lover of novels and books, like I am." Will pulled a chair to the edge of Tessa's bed frame and lowered himself into it.
"If I understand you right (and I think that I do), you're going to read to me?"
"Precisely."
Tessa was taken back, but only for a slight time. "Very well," she conceded.
"Now, you can't fall asleep sitting up so straightly," Will scoffed. "You look like Jem when he's practicing. Lay down flat, and put your head on the pillow. Turn to me."
Tessa obeyed. A part of her was scolding her for following Will's orders, but she ignored it. A sharp jolt coursed through her body when she felt the heavy covers being brought over her. Will's tucking me in, Tessa realized. She felt the blood rush up to her face again, for the second time that night.
"You're ready now," Will said. "What will it be…" He looked at the front of both books and selected the thinner of them. He looked at Tessa with a mischievous grin. "Do you like Poe?"
"It depends."
Will cracked open the book. "Good, because this is a collection of his short-stories. You wouldn't have heard these."
At that, Tessa grabbed the book. "What's that other one you've got?"
"What's wrong?"
"I don't like horror," Tessa stated clearly. "I read The Tell-Tale Heart a few years back and I couldn't go into my room for half a month."
Will laughed. "You're quite lucky you've read that then," he chuckled. "This particular collection happens to be every horror short story he ever wrote. I'd most likely you scare the life out of you by the time I was finished here."
"I had a feeling you were planning on scaring me," Tessa said hotly. "Read your other book. What is it?"
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Ever read it?"
"No," Tessa said. "I have read some of Twain's other works, though."
Will was shocked. "You've never read Tom Sawyer? It's high time that you did, Tess. I did two years ago, when it was published here in England. One of my favorites."
"I've been around you long enough to trust your opinion of a novel, Will," Tessa said. "If you state that Tom Sawyer is one of your favorite books, I will take it that it is an exceptional piece of literature."
Will opened to the first page and began to read. Tessa found that she rather like this experience. Will had a very melodious voice, one that was pitched like a cello: not too high, and not too low. Will was very good at reading aloud. He never paused or stumbled, and read with both inflection and emotion. Tessa could remember Nate reading poetry to her when she was younger, and although she loved her brother dearly, Tessa could not deny the fact that Nate was terrible at reading aloud.
As Will went on, Tessa closed her eyes and let her mind wander. Along with Tom, she got into scrapes with the local boys, whitewashed Aunt Polly's fence, fell in love, and attended the dreadful Sunday school lessons. They had just reached the end of the sixth chapter, when Tessa's consciousness began to ebb away. Will's voice was in the background; she was floating away…
When he heard the sound of her slow breathing, Will stopped and looked up. There was peaceful, content expression on the girl's face, with just a glimmer of a smile on her face. A sudden impulse took over Will, and he leaned forward slowly. Gently, he brushed his lips against Tessa's forehead, so softly it could have been a feather. Will got up and lightly passed the back of his hand across her cheek as he exited.
"Good night, Tessa."
fin
A/N: For those who haven't read Tom Sawyer before, chapter 6 ends with Tom telling Becky Thatcher (the girl he has a crush on) he loves her. I thought that would be a cute part for Tessa to fall asleep to!