Hi guys :) Here's the second part of Magnus's birthday party and I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own TMI, TID or any of their characters, but I definitely had fun making up some of those terms of endearment.
A Tale Of Two…
8. Deceptions
29th January [Part Two]
Tessa had been right.
Once Clary was clean and spruced up, donning a sparkly golden dress, she waltzed into Magnus and Alec's apartment and found that Jace was indeed not there. All that time she'd spent fretting was for nothing at all. Of course, that didn't mean she could avoid Isabelle's wrath.
"What time do you call this?" Isabelle spotted Clary from across the room almost immediately, making her way through dangling beads and balloons to confront the redhead. She was draped in a one-shouldered black number. Tessa abandoned her immediately like the traitor she was, going over to find Magnus so she could present him with their gift.
"Party time?" Clary hedged, flashing her an uneasy smile.
"Clary, it's almost eleven. We were expecting you four hours ago."
"I didn't say for definite I'd be around to help set up…"
"And what were you around doing instead?"
Clary had no witty comebacks for that. It was bad enough that Tessa had seen her in that state earlier, but she couldn't let Isabelle know quite how low she'd been. Deal Or No Deal was the absolute lowest it got for her.
"Leave her alone, Isabelle." It was Alec who came to her rescue instead. Magnus had clearly had a hand in his wardrobe since he was clad in a well-fitting black suit with an embroidered waistcoat the exact colour of his eyes. Possibly a bit overly formal for the occasion, but he looked dashing nonetheless. He grinned at Clary. "It's probably a good thing you got out of it, to be honest. I felt like a prisoner of war with all the commands Magnus was barking out. I don't think I ever want to touch a pot of glitter again."
"That's unfortunate," Magnus appeared at his side, resplendent in his tuxedo, which was drowning in probably about a dozen pots of glitter. "Because I'm sure plenty of pots of glitter want to touch you."
"Well, I'll have to turn them all down then," he smiled wryly. "I'm more of a flesh and blood sort of man."
"You drive a hard bargain, Alexander. Among other things."
"Stop!" Isabelle slapped her hand over Magnus's mouth. "Do not continue until I am well out of range and have purged my ears with bleach."
The two of them burst out laughing as Isabelle ran away, hurtling into a startled Simon, though Alec's face reddened considerably.
"Happy birthday, Magnus!" Clary decided to change the subject, throwing her arms around him. "I'm sorry I'm late."
"That's okay, biscuit. I understand how busy you youths of today are. No one spares a thought for a withering old man like myself anymore."
"Magnus, you're only 25."
"Hush!" He placed a finger over her lips. "My hairline might hear you."
"But you're not receding…"
"Shhhh!" His entire hands now came to rest upon her mouth, blocking the majority of her face. "Off with you now. Go and mingle while you're young." He shoved her towards a group of people she didn't recognise in the corner. "Make the sorts of friends to last you a lifetime, since you have all of it ahead of you."
"Magnus."
"Don't worry, Clary," Alec shook his head. "I'll keep this under control."
"Good luck," she mumbled, before backing away. Instead of heading towards the group Magnus had intended her to meet, she managed to divert herself and followed Simon to the kitchen. Isabelle had been fiddling with the stereo in the main room and Tessa was nowhere to be seen at all.
"Lewis," she nodded, pouring herself a glass of wine. She intended to be responsible tonight to make up for her shoddy behaviour lately, but it was still a party.
"Fray," he smirked, sipping at his own cup. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"I've been…busy. Lots of coursework and stuff."
"Your fault for picking art," he shrugged, not bothering to question her. "Should have gone with physics like me."
"Yes, because I'm so amazing at physics."
"You just never gave it a chance, that's all."
"Simon, I poured water all over a toaster and shorted the entire building."
"You did what?" He winced. "You should probably stay away from me then. That kind of idiocy could be contagious."
She poked her tongue out at him in response.
"Seriously though, how have you been?" He asked her and she knew he could see things weren't completely normal. Simon was her oldest friend and even now, he was always able to notice things about her that no one else could. "You haven't been returning any of my texts."
"Your jokes, you mean. I didn't realise they required a response."
"I simple 'haha' or 'wow, Simon you're a god of humour' would suffice."
"Sorry, I'll remember that for next time Your Holiness."
"You do that. Now tell me what's wrong," he moved her glass out of the way so she couldn't distract herself with that instead. "And if you lie to me, I'll know."
"It's fine, Simon. Honestly." She rubbed circles into her forehead. "I feel much better now and I'd rather just try to enjoy this evening. It really is just art class."
That wasn't a complete lie. Malcolm Fade's classes were her primary source of Jace.
"Alright." He didn't push for any more, sliding her wine back over to her. "But if you need to talk, I expect you to come to me."
"I will. Thank you, friend."
Simon led Clary back through to the living room where the Backstreet Boys were now blaring courtesy of Isabelle and that seemed to have kicked some life into the rest of the party. There were so many people packed into the room that she had a hard time finding anyone she might have recognised, particularly since she was at chest-level with the majority of people. Since Magnus and Alec only had the one bedroom, their living room was much larger than the girls'. She finally spotted Tessa, standing by the window with a black-haired boy.
A black-haired boy that looked shockingly familiar.
Clary froze, her hand on Simon's arm and began to look about frantically.
It was Will Herondale. Brother of her most recent arch nemesis Jace Herondale – as she'd come to learn earlier that evening. Tessa was so sure their flat wouldn't even have been invited, but if Will was here…
Someone knocked into Clary from behind, her drink almost spilling all over her dress. She spun and braced herself as she saw a flash of blonde hair, then sighed with relief when she realised it was just Jonathan. That meant Jace was probably around here too, but for now, she could use this to her advantage. If she was with Jonathan, her brother would never let Jace get close to her, purely because he was so scared of his friends finding out they were siblings.
"Clary?" He frowned at her, glancing about him nervously. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"
"Isn't it past your bedtime?" He moved to block her from the rest of the room.
"Jonathan, I'm nineteen."
"Yeah, so? It's almost midnight."
She groaned and pulled him back to the kitchen by the arm, shooting Simon an apologetic look. He was in a simple t-shirt and jeans, so he'd either been invited at the last minute or he hadn't originally been planning on coming.
"Don't manhandle me like that!" He shook her off once she shut the door behind them. "What if someone saw?"
"Relax, no one knows you're my brother." Apart from Tessa, but he didn't need to know about that. He still seemed uneasy, but finally settled down a bit. "So…how have you been?" Clary realised then that she hadn't seen him since the day they moved in. How strange to think that he was suddenly the least of her problems.
"Alright," he shrugged. "Haven't been doing all that much."
"What about your tattoo business?"
"How do you know about that?" His eyes flicked up sharply.
Damn. She'd slipped up. Jace had told her about their tattoo parlour, not him.
"It doesn't matter how I know," she recovered herself, letting her annoyance seep into her voice. "What matters is how on earth you think that's going to work out!? You're not qualified at all, Jon." Plus art was her dream, not his. Regardless of the outlet.
"I'm getting there," he protested. "I've been taking a course since I've been here."
"You have?" That was news.
"Yeah, do you remember Sebastian Verlac?"
"…Yes." How could she not? His disappearance was what had built up Jonathan's notoriety in the first place, thereby destroying any romantic notions she may have held.
"Well, he's back from France and he's a tattooist now."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, he's been letting me get some experience at the place he works at for the past couple of weeks. The deal is that once I raise enough money and my partner finally gets his trust fund in, he'll help us set up our own parlour and be the primary tattooist. We'll take care of the finances and clients, he'll do the manual stuff."
"Oh." That made some sort of sense. Sebastian and Jonathan hadn't been on the best of terms while the Frenchmen was living under their roof, but if he was offered a stake in his own business, that would be incentive enough to help her brother out. Plus, it was definitely more sensible than letting those buffoons stick their needles into someone. She was almost disappointed that he'd had this better thought out than she'd initially imagined. Then she finally zoned in on the other thing he mentioned. "Jace has a trust fund?"
"Not right now," Jonathan seemed upset at that. "But once he fulfils his grandmother's ridiculous terms he'll finally get access to it."
"What sorts of terms?"
"I don't know, something about getting a…wait. How do you even know who Jace is?" Jonathan raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms over his chest.
"We erm…he's in my art class."
"Did you tell him who you were?" His eyes widened, that earlier panic setting back in.
"No, of course not," she huffed. "He knows my name, but not that I'm related to you. He just mentioned the plans he had with his friend and I know he lives with you, so I put the pieces together. Really though, Jonathan-Squared?"
"It's a good name! Though, with Sebastian owning a third of it we may have to throw around some other ideas."
"How about this one: Sebastian Runs The Business And Jonathan-Squared Go Back To Uni."
"That's an awful name," he waved her off. "No way."
"Jonathan, I'm serious. It's great that you're taking some initiative and trying to make something of yourself, it really is. But I don't see why you have to give up your degree for it. You literally have just a couple of months left. You've only missed two weeks so I'm sure they'll let you back in. Besides, if you really are just the money behind the whole thing, I don't see why Sebastian can't take care of things here on his own for a bit. What are you and Jace going to do besides sitting around and looking pretty anyway?" Clary couldn't believe that she was suddenly the voice of reason. Jonathan always was less mature than she was, but she'd never really had to lecture him about his life choices before. Her mother usually took care of that. What she didn't let on was that though she did care about Jonathan's education, him going back to university would also mean that Jace would probably go back with him. Two birds with one stone and all that.
"You think Jace is pretty?"
"Jonathan, did you not listen to what I just said?" She cried, exasperated. Of course, that's the only thing he'd pick up on.
"Yes, but it's more complicated than that. I haven't just missed a couple of weeks."
"What are you talking about?"
He bit his lip, looking anywhere but at her.
"I didn't just leave university after Christmas. I left at the beginning of the year."
"Since September?" She breathed.
"Yeah, I deferred the whole year, not just the last term. Jace and I just stayed in Bristol to see if we could set up our business there, but when it didn't seem like it was working, that's when we decided to move to London."
"How much of this does Mum know?"
"As much as you thought you knew." Oh, their parents were going to kill him. "But you can't tell them!" His voice turned pleading as he grabbed her shoulders. "This is literally my only shot at making this work and if they find out, you know they'll make me go back home. I'm so close now, please, Clary."
"Jon, this is big," she shook her head. "I don't know if I can lie to them."
"You won't have to lie, just don't ever mention me. That shouldn't be too hard, right?"
She looked up at him to find those identical green eyes gazing back down at her. Jonathan had never asked her for much in the past, but it did seem like he was genuinely passionate about this. Who was she to stand in the way of that?
"Fine," she eventually sighed. "I won't say anything, but if you don't keep me in the loop this time round I'll tell them all of it."
"Thanks, Clary." He pulled her into a hug, taking her completely by surprise. This really must have meant a lot to him.
"I mean it, Jonathan," she tried to keep her voice stern but it was hard to do that as she wrapped her arms around him. They'd never been close before and she was suddenly relishing the idea that this might bring them together. Being guilty by association may actually have been worth it if she had her brother back.
A cough sounded from the doorway and Jonathan jumped back from her as if she were a live wire.
"Sorry," the voice said. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
Oh crap.
Clary turned slowly to find Jace leaning against the wall, his expression unreadable.
"Jace!" Jonathan chuckled nervously. "I was just about to look for you."
"Were you now?" Jace didn't look at Clary, but waves of hostility rolled off him. She knew some of the things she'd said to him were tough, but Jace always gave the impression than nothing ever fazed him. She hadn't been expecting this sort of a reaction.
"Yeah, have you met our neighbour?" Jonathan pushed Clary in front of him.
"I believe I have, yes." He glanced down at her briefly and the silence was deafening. Clary was too scared to even swallow.
"Oh," Jonathan moved her to the side. "I don't need to introduce you after all, then. Let's get back out there." He guided Jace out of the door, turning back to look at Clary. "I'll speak to you soon, Clarissa."
"Yeah," she mumbled, her voice wobbling. "You do that."
Then she slumped into the nearest chair, pouring herself another glass.
-o-O-o-
"That's err…lovely," Tessa smiled politely as Alexei de Quincey, their somewhat hermit of a neighbour talked about his various assortment of plants. She'd been happily conversing with the other guests since she'd gotten here, thinking it was better to leave Clary to her own devices. Seeing her friend as she had been just a few hours ago had definitely shaken her up, but she knew Clary was resilient. She'd surely be able to overcome whatever had been getting her down.
"Of course," he continued, flashing her a bright white smile. "The Bloodflower is my favourite. Such vibrant colours. I used to prefer the Dragon's Blood plant, but there's just something about the Bloodflower that's so enticing. So…" He licked his lips. "Addictive."
"Alright, Alexei," the dazzling blonde next to him chided. She'd introduced herself as Camille Belcourt, an old friend of Magnus's. "We get the picture. Why don't you get yourself something to eat? Alec's apple pie is simply to die for."
Alexei nodded dazedly, bidding the two of them farewell.
"Sorry about that," Camille said, adjusting a glittering red ruby at her neck. "He hasn't been around people in a while."
"That's alright," Tessa laughed. "I rarely see him around the house so it's nice to see him getting more involved."
"Oh that's right, you live on the top floor, don't you?"
"Yep." Tessa scanned the room at that. She tried to tell herself that she had no ulterior motives for coming to the party, but every now and then her gaze would sweep across the groups of giggling partygoers, looking for that raven-haired boy.
It had only been three days since she'd last seen Will, but he hadn't come by the bookstore again and she couldn't help the small pang of disappointment every time she closed up for the evening. She couldn't explain why she felt like that. Every time he crossed her mind, he was accompanied by a flurry of mixed emotions. At the beginning the vast majority of those emotions were negative – the extremities of which she'd never truly felt before – but more recently, there was something else there too. Little sparks of light among the throbbing mass of darkness.
Like the mop of blonde hair she spotted now weaving its way through the crowd.
"Sorry, Camille," Tessa excused herself. "I've just got to deal with something."
She made her way across the room until she was in his line of sight, making him stop abruptly.
"Tess!" He grinned, looking so much like his brother in that moment.
"It's Tessa," she gritted her teeth. Definitely like his brother.
"Oh, sorry. That's always what Will calls you so I assumed…"
"Will talks about me?"
"All the time," Jace rolled his eyes. "Anyway, how are you?"
Tessa ignored the thrill that went through her at that and tried to focus on the task and hand.
"Fine, thank you. Can I have a word?" She cocked her head towards the window. "Somewhere a bit quieter."
"Sure," he shrugged, following her as she slipped around a group that had gathered to watch Isabelle and Catarina Loss perform some Backstreet Boys routine. "What's up?"
Tessa braced herself, turning to face him.
"What's going on with you and Clary?"
"What?" His eyebrows shot up and he took a step back. "Nothing, why?"
"Well, you must have said something to upset her so much."
"She's upset?" His voice softened and Tessa almost let it go, but then she remembered the sight of her friend covered in pistachios, watching Deal Or No Deal. Clary was the life of any party. If she was willing to miss one of her closest friend's birthdays just to avoid Jace, it must have been serious.
"Jace, what did you do?"
"We had a bit of an argument, that's all…" He looked sheepish.
"Just the one?" Clary had been acting all sorts of strange for a while now.
"It's just a bit of banter!" He tried to laugh it off, but Tessa's glare was unwavering. She hated that word. "I didn't realise she was taking it so hard."
"Well, she was and she still is so you need to go and apologise to her."
"Apologise to her? I think she needs to apologise to me first."
"Why?" Tessa narrowed her eyes.
"Because she started it!"
"How?" Tessa normally hated confrontation and had tried to avoid it at all costs before Will came along, but she wasn't going to back down. Not when someone she cared about was involved.
"Because…because…come on, you must understand how it is?"
"My best friend is hurt. What more is there to understand?"
He buckled under her scrutiny. "Fine, I'll talk to her."
"I should think so," she nodded, pleased that she had some control over the younger Herondale at least. Unfortunately, the older one had apparently decided it was now time to make an appearance of his own.
Will materialised next to Jace, dressed just as casually with a hoodie and jeans.
"Wow," he breathed. "Are you guys having some sort of staring contest or what?"
"Nope," Tessa snapped, still glaring at Jace. He'd agreed to speak to Clary but he definitely didn't look happy about it. "I'm waiting for your brother to go and fix the mess he made."
"What, you want me to talk to her now?" Jace raised his eyebrows.
"No time like the present," she shrugged.
"Wait, what's going on?" Will looked between the two of them warily.
"Jace upset my flatmate, Clary."
"You did what?" Will gasped, slapping Jace's shoulder with the end of his sleeve. "That is absolutely despicable, Jace. You've brought shame to the good Herondale name, you ungrateful brute."
"Will," Tessa snapped. "This is serious."
"Sorry," Will bit his lip as Jace tried to contain a smile. "Please continue."
"So, are you going to go and find her or shall I contact the landlord and tell him you're disrupting the other residents? The landlord who, by the way, is my uncle."
Jace straightened up at that and even Will looked impressed.
"You're bluffing," Jace said, looking over at Will.
"Am I?" Tessa turned to Will too and he looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"She's not bluffing," he whispered, seeming as if he might bolt at any moment.
"Alright," Jace threw his hands up. "Where is she?"
"I saw her heading towards the kitchen with Simon a second ago."
"Simon?"
"Her friend," Tessa said, almost smiling at the suspicion in his tone. "Go on, then. And don't make this any worse or I won't go so easy on you next time."
"Yeah," Will added, joining Tessa at her side. He crossed his arms and donned the most severe expression he could manage. "Be nice or I'm locking you out tonight." He looked to Tessa for approval and she simply shook her head at him as Jace stalked off.
"I must apologise on behalf on my brother," he said once the two of them were alone. "I'm trying my best to put him on the straight and narrow, but you know kids these days. No respect at all."
"Yes, thank you, Will. You were very helpful."
"Anytime," he grinned, leaning against the windowsill. It was completely dark outside save for the faint glow of the nearest streetlights. "I must say though, you were pretty scary just then, Tess."
"I should hope so," she crossed her arms over her chest, standing with her back to the wall, the window between them.
"It'll be useful in the future, y'know, that you can put Jace in his place."
"Since he's going to be my brother-in-law?" She rolled her eyes. She didn't know why she was indulging him, but it was definitely better than arguing. If they could somehow manage to maintain the fragile alliance they'd developed recently, all the better for her.
"Exactly," Will smirked. "My sisters are going to love you for that."
"And when do I get the pleasure of meeting them too?"
"As soon as I can arrange it. It's harder to get a hold of Ella since she got married, so we might have to wait until the next family dinner. Then you can meet the whole bunch in one go."
"Can't wait," she deadpanned. "I hope you'll be dressed better than you are today."
"Oh, this," he grinned, pulling at the zip of his hoodie. "Jonathan had some hang-ups about the party initially so we didn't think we were going to come down, but then he had a sudden change of heart and dragged us along as we were. I think it was all the girls he saw coming in through the window."
"Well, that would explain it. I'd hate to think this was your idea of formal attire."
"You wouldn't be able to handle me in my formal attire," he winked, shifting closer. She tightened her arms around herself. "Though I must say you look rather ravishing in your own. I prefer the towel, but this is a very close second."
Tessa blushed despite herself.
"I thought we weren't going to mention that again."
"I don't remember agreeing to that."
"How's the book coming along?" She spluttered, attempting to change the topic before he came any closer.
"Frustratingly slowly," he said, halting his advance. "Every time I think I'm getting somewhere with it, someone throws another obstacle in my way."
"Really?" Tessa arched an eyebrow. "I had no idea Anne Of Green Gables was that dramatic."
"Anne Of Green Gables?" He frowned at her. "Who mentioned Anne Of Green Gables?"
"Oh, you were talking about your own book!" She'd really hoped he wouldn't bring that up, and yet here she'd led him straight to it, albeit unwillingly. The last thing he'd said to her before he'd left the bookstore was that it was an erotic novel, a detail he'd conveniently left out all the times he'd spoken about it. She wanted to think that he was joking, but with Will, you never really knew.
"Yeah. I wasn't actually going to read Anne Of Green Gables. I just wanted to know what sort of books Tamara might be into."
Right. Tamara. The character that was quite obviously based on her.
She didn't even want to think about how she fit into his disreputable plot.
"Then why did you buy it?"
"I don't know," Will shrugged, grinning again. "To appease Luke. I've been round so much and I haven't bought a single thing so far. I was worried he'd ban me for good if I didn't buy something eventually."
"So you intend to be back…" Tessa forced herself not to smile, but she knew Will could see how much she liked that. He was entertaining, she could at least tell herself. There was nothing else to it.
"If you want me to be…" He breathed, his eyes almost black in the darkness.
Tessa's throat suddenly felt very dry as she looked back at him, unable to form a response. He'd gotten the best of her and he knew it.
"Hey, could you get me a drink?" She asked instead, glancing towards the drinks table across the room. Magnus had hired someone to serve his guests for the night.
"Err…sure." Will pushed himself away from the wall, eyeing her curiously. "I'll be right back."
"Thanks."
As soon as he was gone, she forced herself to relax.
What was happening to her?
Her chest felt tight and it was if someone was snatching the breaths right from her before she could release them. Will was a menace, nothing more. And now that she knew he wasn't Clary's brother, she had absolutely no obligation at all to talk to him. So why couldn't she stay away? Why did she feel so irrationally relieved when he'd appeared by Jace just moments earlier?
Stay calm, she told herself.
Tessa closed her eyes, trying to compose herself. She just had to work through this logically. She had to take all of these irrational feelings and rationalise them. Why did she get so flustered whenever Will got too close to her?
Well, that was natural, of course. She couldn't control her oestrogen any more than he could control his testosterone.
Surely there must have been times she'd felt like this before?
She couldn't deny that Will was incredibly attractive and therefore, she couldn't be blamed for any effects that had on her. That was purely his fault.
His fault, she repeated in her mind. I'm completely innocent in all of this. His fault.
She could sense someone approaching her again so her eyes snapped open and she straightened up, smoothing down her dress.
But it wasn't Will who stood there to greet her.
Tessa paled.
It was Axel Mortmain.
"Theresa Gray?" His eyes bulged as he took her in. "It really is you."
How could he be here? She hadn't spoken to her first ex-boyfriend since the day they'd very publicly broken up. She could remember yelling at him across the corridor as he insulted the British Monarchy and her own modesty. Surely Magnus couldn't be friends with someone so awful?
Though then again, she supposed she had to have liked him once to agree to go out with him. It hadn't ended well, but he was friendly enough in the beginning. Perhaps his reaction to her rules was purely because he was so immature at the time.
Well, she could let bygones be bygones.
Tessa forced a smile onto her face.
"Hello, Axel. It's been a while."
"That it has," he purred, his eyes raking appreciatively over her dress. She stiffened and fought harder than ever to keep that pleasant expression on her face. "What have you been up to?"
"Work, mainly. How about you?"
"Oh," he waved his hand. "This and that. But enough about me, what brings you here? If I remember correctly, you usually hated these sorts of social gatherings."
"Magnus is a good friend of mine," she said.
"Who's Magnus? Your…boyfriend?" His lips quirked up at the sides.
"No! He's the whole reason we're here. It's his birthday!"
"Oh, right. The guy with the glitter," Axel nodded. "Yeah, I just came because Woolsey dragged me along."
That made more sense. Redeemed or not, she felt much better knowing Magnus wasn't associated with him.
"So, he's not your boyfriend, but is there anyone else on the scene?"
"No." She couldn't keep the ice out of her tone this time.
"Really?" His smirk transformed into a full-fledged grin. "No one at all? No bit on the side?"
"Of course not!" She flushed. "Don't be ridiculous!"
Apparently that was exactly what he wanted to hear.
"Of course not," Axel chuckled. "Of course, two years' later, nothing has changed. Well, I must say I admire your restraint. Very few would be able to last as long as you have, completely unaffected by the norms of society. You're truly the Ice Queen."
Tessa fumed. At least when Will had insulted her in the past, he hadn't been malicious. He just didn't know her and unfortunately managed to push all the wrong buttons. But Axel knew exactly what he was doing. He knew her inside out and he was using that to his amusement.
She was about to tear him down for being such an awful human being when Will came back, holding two glasses.
"Here you go," he said, placing one in Tessa's hands. He seemed not to have noticed Axel at all. "Sorry it took so long. There was a bit of a queue."
"Thank you," she mumbled, willing her hand to stop shaking. It was much more noticeable when she had a liquid sloshing about in it.
Axel coughed then, demanding to be noticed.
"Who's this then?" He asked, gesturing towards Will.
"Oh sorry!" Will turned to face him. "I hadn't even seen you there!" He extended his hand for Mortmain to shake. "I'm Will, Tessa's boyfriend."
Tessa was glad she hadn't touched her drink yet, because she was pretty sure she would have spat it all over Axel's face just then. Though perhaps that wouldn't have been the worst thing.
Axel's shocked expression mirrored her own as they both looked towards Will. He was grinning. Obviously.
"But…" Axel's gaze flicked between the two of them. "I thought you said you weren't with anyone?"
"Oh, that's just a little joke we have going," Will chuckled. "Most people simply can't believe that we're together so we pretend we're not, just to see their reaction when we reveal the beautiful truth."
Then he placed his free arm around Tessa's waist and pulled her into his side. His hand burned through the thin, gauzy material. She would've pushed him away immediately if it weren't for the horror on Axel's face.
"Isn't that right, pumpkin?"
Tessa could only nod her head in response, smiling tightly.
Pumpkin.
"So, how long have you been together?"
"Almost four months!" Will was still the picture of ease but Tessa grew even more uncomfortable as Axel turned to face her. Axel knew all about her rules, of course, but Will didn't have a clue. What if he slipped up? If he'd said something as short as three weeks it would have been fine. Her two-week hand-holding rule was most commonly known to people. But what happened beyond that? It had taken two months before Jem had kissed her. Their relationship hadn't lasted longer than three.
How much could have happened after that?
"Four months?" Axel smiled slowly, sensing her internal conflict. "That's quite some time. I'm sure you've been through a lot together."
"Oh yes," Will nodded. "So much."
"So, how did you meet? I'm sure it's a fascinating story."
"Really fascinating, yes. Do you want to tell him, snugglebum?"
"No," Tessa seethed, refusing to look at him. "Why don't you, fungaltoes?"
"Sure!" Will seemed unperturbed, despite her obvious hostility. "We met at a casino." Then he moved his hand from her waist and grasped her hand instead.
Tessa's eyes bugged and she could see it hadn't gone unnoticed by Axel.
Will must have known how much she was going to rip into him as soon as her ex-boyfriend left, but he cannonballed his way through the improbable tale anyway. He was either very brave or very foolish.
"Tessa developed a bit of a gambling habit, you see. But it wasn't poker or the jackpot machines she was so addicted to, oh no! You know those ones with the claw where you have to try and direct it to a plush toy? She just couldn't stay away from them."
Axel's mouth hung open and Tessa suspected she didn't look too different.
"Will, please…" She began, squeezing his hand hard enough that she hoped it caused him some degree of pain. He didn't so much as wince.
"It's okay, honeypoo, it's all behind us now. I never judged you. So anyway, I thought I'd pop in one day and I found Tessa there, crying on the floor beside the claw." He said the word in that same reverent tone that the aliens used in Toy Story. Clary had insisted on making Tessa watch it when she'd moved in. "She'd wasted almost her entire student finances on trying to catch this screwdriver hidden among the plush toys and she still wasn't any closer. She was at breaking point, the poor thing. It makes my heart ache just to think of it." He placed his hand upon his heart dramatically, pretending to choke up. Tessa thought that she wouldn't mind strangling him just then to increase the authenticity. "And so I offered to try to get it for her. I'm not usually the gambling type, but I was so moved by the sheer look of desperation on her face that I just had to give it a go and naturally, I succeeded on my first turn." Tessa clenched her fists, completely ignoring Will's trapped fingers. "She cried. A lot. And then she pledged herself to my service forevermore, but of course, I couldn't accept that. Instead, I made her promise to never return to the casino again and come out with me for a coffee. Of course, it was hard for her to grip the cup at first because of the carpal tunnel, but we got there in the end. And that was the beginning of our eternal love."
Axel was speechless.
Tessa had never wanted to kill someone so much in her life.
"Wow," he finally spluttered. "That's really quite the story."
"Yes," she said, eerily calm. "It really is."
"It must be very new for you, Tessa." Axel was now looking at her. "To be in such a committed relationship requires a lot of compromise, I should think."
"Not really." She gritted her teeth, crushing his hand again. "Will knows who's in charge, don't you phlegm-cake?"
"That I do," he laughed, then he did the most scandalous thing she possibly could have imagined.
Worse than holding hands.
Will leant over and planted a kiss on her cheek.
Axel was mortified, but that couldn't compare to the emotions churning inside of Tessa. No one had ever kissed her. No one but Jem, and they'd been in an actual serious, committed relationship.
Will was someone she occasionally tolerated. Whether it was a pretence or not, the fact that he had done something so intimate and exclusive completely horrified her. He couldn't have known about her rules, but he did know her. At least, he knew enough to have apologised for the time he'd caught her shoulders while she was in the towel.
Though she despised the word and continuously insisted it wasn't accurate, he knew she was a prude.
She might have let the hand-holding go. It was obvious that Axel would need some sort of proof to believe their ridiculous story. But a kiss?
The only good that came out of it was that Axel was more than pacified. After that, he couldn't question that the two of them were together and after muttering a weak farewell, he left them alone.
Will didn't release her until he was out of sight.
But the moment he did, she stormed off.
Tessa felt devastated. Violated, even.
And worse still, she could still feel his lips on her.
Oops.
Not the best move, William.
You'll find out what happens with both of the girls in the next chapter - and it's going to be fairly explosive-, but for now I'd love to know your thoughts and theories!
Also, I forgot to mention this the last time, but I couldn't believe how many of you were asking me who Tokio Hotel are. I know they've been fairly inactive for a while but I didn't think they'd be forgotten so soon :( If you've never heard of them, do yourself a favour and go and listen to the song 'Monsoon.' Or if you're German and for some wild reason also have no idea they exist (though really, how!?) then check out 'Durch den Monsun.' Then imagine a 14-year old me crying over it. I'm withholding judgement on their new material until I hear the whole album, but Zimmer 483 was the soundtrack to my early teens, so I feel like it's my duty to spread the love. If you need more convincing, they're german, started out when they were like 13 and contain a set of twin brothers. Just go listen. You won't regret it.
Anyway, thank you all for reading :)
Till the next time...
smim xx
