just one day: Will/Tessa/Jem

She loved him to a fault, but it just wasn't enough. He loved her more than life itself, but he knew she loved someone else in return. For love was never straight-forward, and hearts were always broken.

It was always the same cursory glance in her direction when she walked into the dining area. He barely looked up at her once she sat down, but she left, Jem would always notice how he stared at her back even after she disappeared around the corner.

"What's wrong?" Jem asked a visibly distracted Will.

"Nothing really much." Will shrugged and returned to his meal, pushing the meat to one side and mashing the potatoes even further. "How about some demon-hunting in the evening?"

"Sounds like a great idea." Jem nodded his head, even though he did notice the abrupt change in subject. Tessa rarely hung around Will anymore after the incident with the Magister and Will, he looked at her with such an intense expression in his bright blue eyes that Jem wondered what was going on between them. Neither of them was saying anything.

Jem finally managed to get Tessa out of the Institute for a walk in Hyde Park. As they walked, side by side, along one of the less populated paths, he asked, "What's going on between you and Will? You two aren't talking, yet it seems like there are so many things unsaid between the both of you."

She was surprised by his perceptiveness. "Jem, perhaps you're reading too much into things."

"Tessa, I'm afraid not. Will's my parabatai, and I know him as well as I would know a brother. He's in so much pain and that expression he has when you're around- it feels like something is tearing him apart from the inside." He paused and watched her reaction.

She shook her head and said," No, it's not like that. He doesn't want anything to do with me, neither do I. What could possibly be wrong with him? I'm not sure if I understand."

He gave her a slight smile, "Will pushes others away all the time, to protect himself or to protect them, no one really knows. But I would prefer to think that it is the latter. He lets me in from time to time, but I don't know what he really is thinking. I don't approve of what he usually does, but I know he probably has some reason for doing so. Though it's never usually the right reason."

"Does this have to do with Cecily?"

"Cecily? I don't know who she is, but I admit none of us in the Institute knows anything about Will's past before he came to live with us in the Institute. But you see, Tessa," he said as he held her hand tentatively. "Will is a lonely soul, broken perhaps, but he's not all that bad. Maybe what he needs is someone to be there for him, to save him, to take care of him or even to drag him out of whatever pit he is digging himself into. I can't do that for as long as I'd like to, so I'm hoping you could.

All she could do was to nod mutely. She had told Will once that she wanted to understand him, to know what was going on in that head of his. But he laughed bitterly and self-depreciatingly, asking why anyone would even bother knowing such a rotten person like him.

"I'll try to get him to talk to you for just one day, if possible. And Tessa, for Will's sake, don't give up on him." Despite his feelings for Tessa, Jem knew he was willing to do everything he could for Will and Tessa. For he barely had enough time left and it was evident that both Will and Tessa had feelings for each other. As much as he wanted to fight for her, he knew Will needed someone like Tessa to be there for him, especially when he could no longer be there for his parabatai.

The next evening, Jem told Tessa that Will was in the attic and she went over to find him. He was sitting at the exact spot where she first found him after he bit De Quincey. And it was the exact moment when she had her first kiss- one that tasted like blood and holy water. She distinctly remembered the feverish heat of his skin against hers and how his wet shirt clung to him.

Without a word, she came to sit next to him, leaving a small gap between them. "Will," she called his name, "I think we need to talk."

He didn't respond, but instead continued staring in the direction of the altar. "Will, we really need to talk, just this once. And then if you want, I won't bother you anymore."

"What do you want me to say, Tess?" His voice came out hollow and slightly hoarse. Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of him calling her Tess. "I can't say anything and I don't know what to say to you."

"I just want to understand what's going on, Will." She turned to face him. "Why are you avoiding me? Why did you say what you said the last time we spoke?"

"Tess, just let me be. You don't have to bother with understanding me. There isn't a point, or maybe there is. One way or another, it doesn't matter." He ran his hand through his unruly brown hair, exasperated, yet with a tortured expression in his eyes.

"Jem's worried and you're not talking to him either."

"No one understands and no one will. I can't change anything," he murmured, barely audible.

"Will," she held on to his shoulders, turning his body to face her, "I want to help you, for your sake and for Jem's. Please let me help you."

He swallowed hard and looked into her gray eyes, those that were the colour of a cloudy day on the verge of rainfall. They reminded him of home many years ago, lost to him forever. Leaning over, he closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to hers, softly at first but grew insistent and unyielding as she returned his kiss. His hands went to the back of her neck, pulling her even closer and his fingers in her hair. There was a sense of desperation and it felt as if separation from her was imminent. It was he who pulled back first. He then looked her in the eyes and said unflinchingly, "You can't help me. No one can."

As soon as he finished his sentence, he got up and left, leaving Tessa stunned beyond words. She sat there silently until Jem came up to find her. "I saw Will coming down. Is everything alright?" She shook her head and it was then that she let her tears flow, tears that she rarely shed for Will. Jem felt his heart break a little as he held on to the sobbing figure of the girl he loved.