Jem's hair was silver, his eyes were silver, and his skin seemed untouchable, pure.
White signifies purity, right?
Jem was a gem, wasn't he? A precious stone, one that sparkled, glinted, gleamed in light, or even in the dark.
And Jem was so untouchable.
Tessa was afraid of him; she liked him a lot more than she liked Will. Gem was honest and calm and sweet. No tricks, no playing pretend, he didn't waste time.
Then again he didn't have much time to waste.
She was scared of how much it would hurt when she lost Jem. It would be like losing a precious stone. It'd gone forever, and nothing you do will get it back.
Jem was a beautiful person, and Tessa didn't want to lose him. It was so unfair he had so little time.
Will was nice, he was sweet sometimes and cruel and confusing the rest of the time.
She didn't want Will, but she wouldn't lose will.
Of course she could have neither, just set her sights on… Magnus? To what end? She couldn't compete with Lady Camille.
But was it worth the heartbreak to have Jem while he was here?
The more she loved Jem, the more it would hurt when he was gone. But would it hurt more to never have him?
There was a bang from downstairs and Tessa ran to see what the fuss was about.
Jem's hair was silver, his eyes were silver, and his skin seemed untouchable.
Jem's hair was spread over the tiled floor, stained with the red blood slowly spreading across the tiles. His eyes were shut, scrunched tight, lines visible at the corners, his eyelids moving erratically, and his untouchable skin was sweaty, and deathly pale.
"Jem?" Tessa ran to him and kneeled next to him, pushing his head to a side and looking at the gash.
He had fallen.
"Jem?"
Jem's eyes fluttered open and looked up at her, "Tessa."
"What do I do, Jem?"
"Nothing." Jem's hand slid to her cheek, she was crying.
"It was going to happen," Jem whispered, "I'm just glad I could meet you first."
"Its just a cut, we'll fix it, Jem, don't go," Tessa ripped a long cloth from the bottom of her skirt and held it against his head.
"Help!" Tessa called, hoping someone would come.
"Its not the scratch, Tessa," Jem kissed her hand, "It's the poison."
"No Jem, no please." Tessa was helpless, she had no way of helping him, none at all.
"I love you Jem, I don't know how, but I do, please?" Tessa held onto his hand like she was holding onto his life for him.
"Jem please don't go."
"I love you to, its amazing to feel so sure about it too, thank you, Tessa, for telling me."
"Jem please," Tessa said, pushing his hair from his face.
"I'm sorry."
She kissed him, softly, gently, trying to make him pass peacefully.
"Thank you," He whispered to her. His eyes closed, his face scrunched up in pain. He was like that for a long time, but he then started to scream, she held him, there was nothing else she could do.
The rest of the house hold had come by then, all of them realising that Jem was dying. All of them helpless.
He stopped screaming just as his life went away. Will left the room straight away and Charlotte came to move his body.
No one slept that night.
Her question had been answered for her, she couldn't have Jem, and now, she didn't want will. She wanted no one but Jem.
Jem's hair was silver, his eyes were silver, and his skin seemed untouchable. Jem's hair was clean and his eyes were closed, his skin white, cold, untouchable.
He looked as amazing in death as he had in life.
Of course Tessa would have preferred the latter.
Jem was still, his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for a traditional shadow hunter funeral.
But people still sneered.
Will locked eyes with Tessa from across the room, and Tessa just looked away.
She wanted no-one but Jem.
