Did this lazy bitch really get off her bed and finally update?

Yes. Yes, she did.

I am so sorry this chapter took this long - I can't believe how lovely and supportive you guys have been all along. Your reviews and encouragment never fail to make me smile. I would give you all a big hug if I could.

Also, can I just say how much I loved the latest Shadowhunters episode? I wanted to live in the alternate dimension forever. NERD IZZY IS MY NEW LOVE. I will never stop laughing about her weird dance moves in the Institute.

THE SIZZY AND MALEC FEELS THO. I'm so proud of my baby Alec! *sobs* Striding down the aisle and just kissing Magnus in front of everyone...damn.

Okay, time for me to stop rambling and let y'all lovelies get to the story. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instruments or Infernal Devices.

"I'm holdin' on. Myself was never enough for me, gotta be so strong. There's a power in what you do, now, every other day I'll be watching you. Show you what it feels like, now I'm on the outside...we did everything right, now I'm on the outside..."

- Outside, Calvin Harris

Chapter Nine

Two hours later, Will was wondering if Mr Wayland had some sort of secret grudge against his students, or if he had always been this sadistic.

He had thought that there was only one page of questions Mr Wayland had given them, anticipating that they would finish soon and he could be done with it.

But no.

Because Mr Wayland was apparently evil, and insisted on having his students answer as many boring and pointless questions possible (okay, so they weren't that boring but they were painful to answer).

Tessa was lying flat out on the carpet by this time, her head propped up on her hand as she scribbled. Her hair had come loose from her ponytail, long strands framing her face as she wrote. As she bent lower, something suddenly slipped free from her sweater and swung forward, dangling just below her chin.

Curious, Will leaned forward slightly to see what it was – was that a sword? – but at that moment Tessa bent her head down so that his line of sight was obscured.

Will knew he probably seemed like he was some sort of creeper observing her like he was, but – unusually for him – he wasn't checking her out, or wondering what she would be like in bed.

Ever since he had first met her three years ago, Tessa had intrigued him. Contrary to what everyone thought, she wasn't the first girl to turn him down, but for whatever reason he couldn't fathom, she was the first one whose rejection bothered him.

He hadn't even told Jace just how much Tessa's rejection had gotten under his skin, because – again, a first – he hadn't been able to understand why himself. Will never let himself dwell long and hard over anything. He had always been able to move past whatever faced him, but this infuriating girl had been the one person able to needle him like no one else had before.

The more she rejected him, the more determined he became to finally win her over – even if it was just to finally get rid of that irritating feeling she caused him, to put an end to it once and for all and forget about Tessa Gray completely.

But, because fate or karma or whichever twisted bitch ran the universe seemed to really have it out for him, she was the most stubborn person he had ever met in his entire 18 years on the planet.

But now everything had changed. Now it was all about the pact.

Will hated failing. And he didn't plan to fail this time. Not when he might have finally made some progress in seeing what lay behind the calm, quietly confident wall that Tessa had erected around herself.

This project – however bothersome it was – had given him a much needed opportunity to start breaking down Tessa's defences.

No matter how well a person constructed their walls, no matter how much effort they put in to keep everyone at arm's length, no matter how strong their armour, Will knew that there was always a weak spot.

And, just for a moment, he thought he might have witnessed Tessa's.

She'd kept her voice perfectly even, her eyes had been dry and free from tears, but in that instant he had briefly seen a flash of who Tessa really was.

Someone who still hurt for the family she had lost.

He hadn't known much about her before her arrival in New York. He'd known she was Clary's cousin, but although he'd wondered, he'd never thought to ask why she had come to live with Clary and her family.

"Wouldn't you do the same, if it was someone you really loved? Wouldn't you give yourself up to save them?"

He hadn't been able to forget those words, nor the look in her sea grey eyes as she'd turned to face him afterwards.

Now he knew why.

And to his surprise, he hadn't thought of using her weakness against her, hadn't thought of the plan at all. Instead his thoughts had been filled with what he had lost so many years ago in Wales, what had been ripped away from him in an instant, and for that instant, he'd felt her pain and grief as if it was his own.

For in their own ways, they had both lost what had meant most to them.

"Simon, I'm telling you nothing happened."

"Mmhmm."

"Simon, I'm serious."

"Mmhmm."

"It was a total accident."

"Mmhmm."

"Stop that or I will call Isabelle and tell her you're in love with her," Clary threatened.

"Hey!" Simon shouted indignantly. "I am not in love with Isabelle."

"Simon's in love with Isabelle?" Jonathan asked incredulously, picking that very moment to walk in.

"I am not – "

"Nerd boy loves Izzy?" Jace's eyes sparked with amusement as he sat down beside Jonathan, his eyes trained on Clary and Simon. "Man, that should be good."

"I am not in love with Izzy," Simon protested. "Clary, you're the worst best friend ever."

"What did I do?" Clary defended herself. "You're the one who shouted it for the whole world to hear."

"I like Isabelle," Simon said firmly. "As a friend. Nothing more."

"Denial, thy name is Simon." Clary shook her head in disappointment, although the farce was more for Jace and Jonathan, who were looking at them in amusement.

"And the pot calls the kettle black," Simon whistled loudly as he leant back, fixing Clary with a stare. "Or do you want to keep denying what was happening up-ow!"

Clary stomped hard on his foot, smiling angelically at him. One word, Lewis. One word and you're dead.

To her despair, Jonathan picked that very moment to start being observant. "What happened where?"

When the door had first slammed open, Clary had feared that it would be Jonathan standing in the door, and she would end up having to break up a fight between him and Jace. Regardless of the nonchalant attitude Jon nearly always displayed, Clary knew no boy would be allowed to date her till he was dead and buried – and if he found Jace and Clary so close together, wearing barely any clothes, it would've been nigh on impossible to get him to sit down and listen to reason.

But thankfully, the gods had smiled on her for once. It was Simon who stood staring at them in equal parts shock and disgust, who could at least be persuaded to listen first and act later.

Only, the listening part hadn't gone down so well.

Her best friend was now firmly convinced that her and Jace had been having a 'thing' for quite some time, and no matter how much she had tried to persuade him that they had not been flirting (the horror), that the story she was going on a date with him because she lost a bet was not fabricated, and she still hated Jace just as much as she always had, Simon had been sure that he was right.

At a look from Clary, Simon coughed fiercely. "What?"

Real subtle there, buddy.

Only, for whatever reason, Jonathan wasn't to be deterred. "What happened where?" he asked again, leaning forward to pick up the TV remote.

"Oh," Simon laughed nervously. "I was just talking about, you know, up there."

Jonathan looked at Simon as if he'd escaped from an asylum. "Up where?"

"You know," Simon waved his hands around like a windmill. "There. The cosmos. The universe. Whatever you want to call it."

"The cosmos," Jon repeated, as if Simon had lost his marbles.

"Yep," Simon started rambling. "Clary and I were just talking. About the universe. And how...uh, great, it is. She doesn't think it's very great, but I do. "

"How very New Age of you, Lewis," Jace commented. "Do you align your chakras every morning?"

Simon looked as if he would dearly love to align his chakras in Jace's neck instead, but instead let out a (fake) laugh and gave Clary a meaningful look. "I have to go."

"Have a hot date with Isabelle, do you?" Jonathan remarked lazily, switching on the TV.

"Very funny," Simon said flatly. "Goodbye, Clary."

With another pointed look at the redhead, Simon left the room, and all three heard the front door of the house close seconds later.

"Did you have to do that?" Clary moaned in frustration, glaring at her brother and Jace. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to get anything out of him other than 'Isabelle and I are just friends'?"

"Geek boy and Isabelle," Jon repeated in disbelief. "You don't see anything wrong in that picture?"

"As a matter of fact, I don't," Clary said fiercely. "And don't you dare say anything to either of them, or I will personally castrate you, Jon. I don't need you to make my job harder."

"Since when did you appoint yourself their matchmaker?" Jace interjected.

"It comes with the duty of best friend," Clary shot back. "Not that I would expect you to know anything about duty."

"I did a great job with Alec," Jace fired back.

"Oh really?" Clary raised her eyebrows. "Do you mean the countless times you set him up with various girls from the cheerleading squad?"

"Hey, it was on one of those dates that he met Magnus," Jace defended. "So in a way, if it hadn't been for me, Alec would still be very much single and in the closet."

The story of how Alec and his boyfriend, Magnus, met was famous in school. Alec had been at Taki's, a cafe near Shadowhunter High, frantically trying to escape from one of the dates that Jace had coerced him to go on, when he'd encountered Magnus. After a series of events that involved three spilled drinks, a pissed off date, and a good deal of damage to the cafe's cutlery and furniture, Magnus had ended up asking Alec – dripping wet, and covered in spaghetti sauce – out, and they'd been together ever since.

"That was all coincidence," Clary dismissed with a wave of her hand. "You can't take credit for that."

"If you're going to argue, will you at least do it in the kitchen?" Jonathan complained. "I can't hear a damn thing with you two yelling at each other."

Jonathan had long ago accepted the fact that Clary and Jace would never get along, and often stayed out of their fights completely. He supported neither his friend nor his sister, insisting that he was Switzerland, and refused to take sides.

Their father had been strangely proud of Jonathan for that, insisting that 'his fine Swiss blood' had finally begun to manifest itself in his son just as he had always known he would.

Jonathan had always been neutral, but would he be able to do so if Clary and Tessa succeeded in their plan?

For the first time, Clary realized the consequences their plan would have on Jonathan. If they successfully managed to play the Herondales, where would that leave Jonathan?

How would he choose between his best friends, and his family?

For the first time, Clary wondered if maybe she and Tessa were doing the right thing after all. Was making the Herondales change their ways worth all the pain and heartbreak that would surely occur as a consequence of their plan?

For an instant, Clary hesitated – and then she remembered the image of Rosalie Fernandez sobbing by herself in a toilet cubicle, collapsing into Clary's arms when she asked her what was wrong, and telling her that Jace had left her after they'd slept together the night before.

The asshole hadn't even had the balls to break up with her to her face – all Rosalie got was a brief text message, with not even an apology for how cruelly Jace had treated her.

No. Clary's heart hardened. Jace deserves all the pain he's going to get.

It would be worth it.

It had to be worth it.

"Yes!"

Tessa thought she might burst into happy tears as she scribbled her last sentence, adding a full stop with a flourish and holding her pen up in the air triumphantly. "I'm done!"

She flicked through the pages of her notebook, making sure she'd copied down the answer to each and every question. There were thirty in all, questions about fears and dreams and favourite memories – but she and Will had ended up digressing so much that they'd taken nearly three hours to finish all the questions.

At one point, they'd even had a debate on whether Dumbledore or Gandalf would be more likely to win in a fight. Tessa wasn't quite sure how they'd gotten so far off point, but she strongly suspected it was all Will's fault.

"Congratulations," The boy in question was flat on his back where he'd been sprawled for the past half an hour, giving her an upside-down grin. "You've successfully wasted two hours, forty nine minutes, and..." he checked his watch, "thirty five seconds of your life. Here's your consolation prize." He held out the last chocolate chip cookie.

Tessa was surprised there was even one left – Will had been devouring so many of them she was pretty sure all his cellular processes depended on it by this point.

"No thanks," Tessa wrinkled her nose. "I hate chocolate."

Will sat up so fast she thought he'd been yanked upright like a puppet on a string. "Tell me I did not just hear what I thought I heard."

"What? I hate chocolate?"

"Tessa," he gasped dramatically. "I think I'm going mad. I've just heard it again."

Tessa rolled her eyes. "I always knew you were clonked on the head as a baby. Do quit the histrionics, Will."

Will was starting to remind her of a cartoon character in one of the comic books Clary loved reading, the unrealistic ones where it looked like the eyes were going to pop out of your head and the mouth was wide enough that the entire population of blue whales in the ocean could probably make it their permanent home.

Will was still staring at her as if she'd just said she drowned puppies for a living. "How could you hate chocolate?"

Tessa shrugged. "It tastes weird."

"Chocolate is practically the best invention man has ever come up with!"

Tessa rolled her eyes. "And I suppose we are discounting airplanes, computers, vaccines – "

Will leaned over and grabbed her shoulders. "Tess," he said seriously, "not liking chocolate is the biggest crime any human being can ever commit. It's practically sacrilege! It's treason!"

Tessa burst out laughing. "What, am I going to get locked up now?"

"I'm afraid so, my dear Tessa," Will said with utmost seriousness. "You are officially on the run."

"How terrible," Tessa deadpanned.

"Indeed," Will nodded. "But you needn't worry. I'm here to save you."

"I think I'd prefer jail, thanks."

"Really?" Will leaned even closer. "I'm pretty sure jail walls aren't as appealing to look at as I am."

Tessa snorted. "I doubt that."

"Sweetheart, you love me really," Will drawled. "Deep, deep down."

"If I ever come to that realization, sweetheart," the brunette said acerbically, "I'll be sure to let you know at once."

"I'll be waiting."

"Are you sure you have the patience?" Tessa couldn't help but tease. "You might have to wait for the rest of eternity."

"For you, Tessa Gray?" Will glanced up at her, his eyes the colour of the midnight sky. "I'll wait as long as it takes."

For a minute, Tessa was speechless. There was something about the way the words had rolled off his tongue, something seductive and appealing and holding promise of forbidden things. There was something about what he had said, the way he was looking at her, that made her want to give in. That made her want to find out what exactly would happen if he didn't have to wait anymore.

What are you doing, Tessa? It was the voice in her head, the voice that always reminded her of Clary, that finally snapped her back to the real world. This is how he draws them know what he does to the girls who fall for him. You know he means nothing of what he is telling you. It's all just a big, fat lie.

Abruptly, she leaned away and grabbed her books roughly, letting her hair fall into her face to hide the faint red flush on her cheeks. "It's late," she said curtly, shoving her stationery into her bag. "I should go."

"Tess?" Will's voice was puzzled, and she turned to see him standing up, looking at her with a confused expression. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she said in what she hoped was a casual tone. "I just remembered that I...told Clary I would help her with her math today. I've been here for far too long anyway."

Will's look told her he wasn't buying it, but thankfully he nodded and let it go. "Do we need to meet up again?"

Tessa flicked through the pages of her notebook to make sure she'd written down the answers to all the questions, and then looked up. "Probably. I think it'll help if we bounced story ideas around. And we might need extra information when we – "

"WILL! You are so dead!"

Tessa startled in astonishment, turning to the door as she heard footsteps stomping up the stairs. "Will, what did you do?" she accused.

Will, meanwhile, was paling rapidly. "Oh shit," he cursed, shoving the last chocolate chip cookie in his mouth, and snatching up the the plate, shoving it into a drawer in the nightstand. He swallowed, and then turned back to Tessa, eyes wide in fear. "I didn't think she would find out so soon."

The door slammed open before Tessa could ask him what the hell was going on, revealing a very angry Cecily Herondale.

The anger on his face faded to puzzlement as her eyes landed on Tessa. "Tessa?" The dark-haired girl questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey Cecily," Tessa greeted. "Will and I had an English Lit project to work on. What's wrong?"

At this, Cecily's gaze returned to Will, her violet-blue eyes – just like Will's – blazing with anger. "William," she smiled angelically, "do you know what happened today?"

Will wisely kept his mouth shut, but Cecily wasn't fazed by his silence.

"I came home – after a long trip with Grandmother to buy her groceries, and you know how anal she gets about getting the perfect, most ripe fruits – looking forward to eating all my lovely chocolate chip cookies – which, by the way, I made all by myself without anyone's help – and what do I find?"

"I have no idea."

"Not only are my cookies gone," Cecily said, her smile disappearing in an instant, "but this thief doesn't even have the generosity to share one with his poor sister, who worked so hard to make them."

"Cecily – "

"Tessa, what do you think?" Cecily interrupted. "What would you do if someone stole the cookies you spent so much time and effort on?"

"I would strangle them," Tessa replied seriously. "Indeed, I must commend you on the remarkable patience and restraint you are now displaying."

Will fixed Tessa with a betrayed look.

"Thank you, Tessa," Cecily nodded gravely. "So how would you prefer to die, Will? Strangulation, or buried alive?"

Will held up his hands in defence. "Look, Cecy, I'm sorry – "

"Save it."

"I'm a total and complete idiot – "

"Not good enough."

"I will never be able to repay you for the horrible crime I have committed in stealing your cookies, and I will do all your chores for the next two weeks."

Cecily raised an eyebrow.

"Three weeks," Will amended.

"And...?"

"And I will get you a fresh batch of cookies tomorrow."

Cecily nodded, and left the room just as suddenly as she had come in, with a quick goodbye to Tessa.

"Don't mess with Cecy," Will grimaced, catching Tessa's open-mouthed and curious stare. "She can come up with the most ingenious revenge ideas. I still can't go to bed till today without first checking the bottom to make sure she hasn't left another pile of mud and earthworms in there."

Tessa couldn't help but laugh at that, the picture of what Will's face must've looked like so hilarious that she was still in giggles as they walked down the stairs.

"Glad you find my misery so amusing," Will remarked, although she could see a smile tugging at his lips.

They had reached the front door by now, and Tessa turned to say goodbye to Will, suddenly feeling awkward. What was she supposed to do now?

But before she could open her mouth, Will cut in. "Why do you wear that, Tess?"

Following his gaze, she saw that it was trained on her clockwork angel. She usually kept it tucked beneath her shirt, but it must've swung free when she was sprawled on the carpet upstairs. She closed her fingers around the angel, feeling strangely protective of it, and hesitated, wondering how much she should reveal to Will. "It was my mother's," she said finally. "She used to wear it all the time."

She found that she couldn't say anymore, couldn't find the words to describe just how much the angel meant to her, how wearing it made her feel stronger, as if her mother was right beside her to stroke her hair and tell her everything would be alright just as she used to do.

But as she looked up into Will's eyes, she found that she didn't have to explain – there was understanding there, a look that told her he knew what she wanted to say without her having to say it at all.

A look so disconcertingly intense and unlike Will that it unnerved her.

Tessa opened the door, her gaze still locked with Will's even as she stepped outside. "Good night, Will," she murmured, feeling strangely out of her depth.

"Good night, Tessa."

She turned to leave, and was halfway down the path when he spoke again.

"Oh and Tess?"

She turned back to find him leaning against the door. "What is it?"

"The necklace looks good on you."

Tessa couldn't think of anything to say in response to that, but she didn't need to – Will gave her his signature half-smile, and closed the door before she could reply.

She buried her hands in her jacket as she walked, enjoying the crisp coldness of the air, and allowed herself to pretend - just for that moment - that the flush on her cheeks was just because of the cold.

God, FINALLY!

You have no idea how bloody long it took me to do this chapter. I kid you not, I had such bad writer's block I spent days trying to get the words and characters right, having to switch so many different perspectives and writing over and over again in order to get this chapter just perfect.

I apologize for how long it took, but I would rather take my time and give you guys a good quality chapter, rather than rush through it and produce shoddily written work.

So, how cute are Wessa? *screams in fangirl delight* I know some of you will be upset there was so much Wessa in this chapter and not enough Clace, but I can promise you the next couple of chapters will be absolutely bursting with Clace *wink wink*

Also, what did you guys think of Lady Midnight? I binge read the whole book in one day, and I died. I'm not joking. I had to physically dig myself out of my grave to get this chapter out. Emma and Julian KILLED ME.

Anyways, do tell me what you thought of this chapter – constructive criticism is welcomed and always wanted. Hopefully my next update won't take this long...

Till next time!