Tessa hurried down the one lane street of Blackfriars. She had no idea where she was headed, but she knew that this was the path that Will took. Finding him was the most she could do to repay for what she had done. As she walked, her surroundings shifted from the small buildings of the village to thick trunks of trees.

Tessa knew it was very dangerous to be out in the woods alone, especially when it was dark outside. She had her travelling cloak on and put her hood in a manner so that it concealed her face. She hoped that would be enough to keep people away from her.

These woods were notorious for thieves and the lot who plagued, constantly torturing weary travellers. Of course, the Herondale family was oblivious to this and did nothing to remedy the situation. She heard of attacks often enough that she had grown accustomed to such stories.

The path narrowed and then branched off. It had rained recently, and Tessa looked down in the ground to see a pair of footsteps wandering down another path. They were fresh, and there were no other footprints around. It had to be Will's.

Tessa swallowed hard before rounding her shoulders and following the steps. The further she walked, the darker it became. Suddenly, voices began to rise. As she approached the sound, she heard shouts and automatically knew what it was. Bandits.

There was a sudden yell of pain and Tessa stopped in her steps. Now she could see clearly. She looked up to see Will down on his knees, painfully clutching his stomach. The thieves were around him, taunting him and throwing punches at him. Dumbfounded, Tessa began to quietly step away from the scene. It was too much to watch and she didn't want to be caught by the thieves. She knew that she wouldn't last a minute against them.

Tessa backed away until she could no longer see them, although she could still hear the yelling and shouting. Once she felt she was safe, she turned around and ran. Ran towards the only person who could help.


Will felt as if he was floating. The pain had subsided and he was being lifted upwards. Could this be heaven? Had Will finally met his end? He never knew what heaven would be like. He always envisioned himself going straight to hell, but what he saw was whiteness. And that most certainly was not hell.

If this was heaven, then was Ella there? Will felt extremely giddy. Maybe he would finally be reunited with his sister at last. Will could only hope.

The whiteness began to fade into a warm, yellow glow. A lavender smell began to wash over him, and Will began to wonder if he really was in heaven. Before he had time to think over it, Will once again fell into darkness.


Voices. Will heard voices talking above him. Although he could hear them, he was not fully conscious and could say nothing back. But one thing was true. Will was miraculously alive.

"Thank you for helping me Magnus," said one of the voices, which Will recognized immediately. Tessa.

"No worries, my dear Tessa. It gives me something else to do instead of the same old," said the other voice – a man, presumably Magnus.

"Why did you decide to help?" Tessa asked curiously. If Will could chuckle, he would. Tessa always had some question to ask, even if there it weren't possible to ask any questions.

"I like to fix broken things," Magnus said, keeping his tone neutral. "He sure is a handsome one," he added, his voice coming closer.

"Um, I never really noticed," Tessa stumbled. Will swore she was blushing, and if he were fully conscious, he would be smirking.

"Sure you didn't," Magnus said. Now it was his turn to smirk. There was silence before Magnus asked, "What happened Tessa? Before you came to get me I mean."

"Well," Tessa hesitated, "we had a certain disagreement which resulted in Will leaving my home. I felt very guilty about the matter, and after some time I decided to follow him. It wasn't too hard – his footsteps were easy to track. And I knew where he was even without that.

"As I reached the woods on the outskirts of Blackfriars, I heard people talking. Yelling actually. There were the bandits, at least ten of them. And they were viciously attacking Will. It was absolutely horrible to watch, and I knew I couldn't stop them. The first person I thought about was you, and I ran as fast as I could to reach you."

"It's a good thing you came to me," Magnus said reassuringly, "if you were a minute late, it would have been very difficult to heal him. You caught me at just the right time."

"Will he survive then?" Tessa asked, concern lacing her voice. Will would certainly been smiling by now.

"He will," Magnus said matter-of-factly, "all he needs is proper rest now. It will probably be a couple days before he completely recovers. Right now he's fading in and out of consciousness. In fact, he can probably hear us now, but is not fully aware of himself yet." There was another pause and Magnus said, "Don't worry Tessa. He'll be fine."

"I trust you Magnus," was all Tessa said.

"It looks like my magic here is done. If you need any help, you know where to find me," Magnus's voice was distant, as if he were leaving. "Oh, and before I leave here's a potion to give to Will. Just twice every day will be enough."

Will heard the door close and the bustling of skirts approaching him. Then, he felt a soothing sensation coursing down his throat and assumed that Tessa was giving him the potion, as Magnus had instructed. And within no time, Will was back to sleep.


Will woke up with a start to a warm light surrounding him. He hoisted himself up to see a pair of gray eyes watching him from the side.

"And I suppose you've been watching me sleep this whole time?" Will drawled.

Tessa rolled her eyes. "I see you're already feeling better. Enough to be rude to me." Before Will could reply, Tessa thrust something at it. "Drink this," she instructed, "it will help ease the pain and make you feel better."

Will reluctantly took the cup she held out for him and looked down. It was a yellow liquid and Will swallowed it down. It tasted of lavender and lemon.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's tisane," Tessa said with finality. Will looked around the room to see that he was back in Tessa's room and in her bed again. His eyes found its way to the bookshelf, where her letters were stashed away. He hastily averted his gaze from there.

"I bet it was fun to nurse me back to health again, Tess," Will said teasingly, "most girls would die for that opportunity. And you got it twice." He winked at her.

"Most girls don't even know who Will Carstairs is in the first place."

"Ah, you would be surprised Tess," Will smirked and continued to cut off Tessa's retort, "so, what did happen to me?"

Tessa took a deep breath. "You were attacked, Will."

"Tell me something I don't know," Will said, and instantly regretted it. Tessa's eyes flashed angrily at him, becoming a stormy gray.

"I suppose that's why you had that man Magnus here? Tell me, is he your lover Tess?"

Tessa blushed furiously at him and quickly shook her head, her dark brown curls falling to the sides of her face. "Magnus Bane. And no, he's a friend. And he is the main reason why you're alive, so you should be grateful for him."

"Not a lover, I see," Will feigned sadness.

"Anyway," Tessa continued, ignoring Will, "I found you out bleeding in the woods surrounded by those thieves. I knew I couldn't defeat them, so I needed to get help and fast. The only thing I could hope for was that those bandits would be gone by the time I got back. And sure enough, they were. Magnus was with me by then. We both took you here. Well, actually Magnus carried you over. He is very knowledgeable about healing and the sorts. He was in here for quite some time, ensuring that you got better."

"Why did you follow me?" From what Tessa had just told Will that was the only part of her story that irked him.

"I –," Tessa looked away from Will and stared down at her hands, nervously. "I felt guilty about what had happened. I didn't mean for things to go this far. And I most certainly should not have sent you out the door. I should have been more sensible about the fact that you were still recovering from your last accident and that it is not safe out in the woods." Tessa gazed at the candle on the bedside table, as if she was trying to top the tears from coming out. She went on, "I was stupid into forcing you to work in The Sensor. If I hadn't made you, then all of this would not have happened."

"Tess, you're not stupid at all," Will said gently. Tessa looked up at him intently, urging him to go on. "And you should not take the blame. I should. If I hadn't been so clumsy and if I hadn't read your letters, then this could all have been avoided. I disappointed you greatly, Tessa, and it is completely my fault. Please do not accuse yourself for what happened. I should have respected your privacy."

Tessa still held his gaze, but said nothing. Then slowly, she reached out her hand towards him. Bewildered, Will glanced down at them before placing his own in hers. Her hands were warm to his touch, as he cupped his hands around hers.

"I should not have gotten so defensive," she said finally, "and besides, you were probably curious. A trait we both share." Will laughed at this, but Tessa still wore a serious expression. "And Will, you are welcome to stay here, for as long as you like. You are now a proper guest at my home. You may choose to do whatever you like, and if you don't want to work, that's fine by me."

"Thank you Tessa," Will said, "for everything. And, for saving me. Twice. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be alive." And for once, Tessa Gray smiled.


And now, ladies and gentlemen, let the Wessa magic begin :)

Yes I finished another chapter! It turned out way shorter than I expected, but had everything I wanted to put in this chapter. So yeah. Anyways, it's past 2 in the morning so I best get some sleep. Peace out!