First off I have to say: OVER 100 REVIEWS! I've never had a story reach that so thank you guys soooooooo much! I really appreciate them all and I do pay attention to what you think.

Secondly: I apologize to everyone for not posting this sooner. I REALLY wanted to get it done yesterday, but I woke up with a HORRID cold and felt like shit. So I took lots of cold meds and sleep all day and now you get this a day late. But it's long so hopefully that makes up for it.

Thirdly: Soooo... yeah, there's not really hardly any Malec in this chapter. Sorry. It's a Jem/Will chapter (which I know at least two of my readers will like, but I don't know if anyone else will. If you don't, I'm sorry and I should have a Malec chapter up within 2-3 days, but if you do PLEASE let me know so I can decided whether to add them in periodically, like a 1:6 ratio or something).

Ok, so enjoy! (I hope) eeeek!

How to Fall for the Person you Shouldn't.

Jem's POV:

I arrived at the hospital a little earlier than I'd meant to, having left the apartment as soon as I'd finished enough of my tea to make it look like I'd actually wanted it. I'd only asked Alec to get it for me so I would have an excuse to get his crush and him alone in the kitchen while Isabelle and I changed up the seating arrangements. The plan had been for me to suggest Magnus go into the kitchen a pick a beverage rather than Alec list them all off, but turns out he didn't need my help after all.

Isabelle looked bored to pieces when I left and I had to assume she wouldn't be long in following me out. I was happy for Alec, though this Magnus fellow didn't seem like his type at all. But who am I to judge? The heart wants what it wants.

At the moment mine was longing for a certain tall, dark, and handsome nurse who was filling in as a PT aide due to staffing shortages.

Will Herondale.

It was foolish to harbor fantasies about something happening between us, I knew that, but I couldn't stop myself. And it wasn't like he was making it easy. He was constantly flirting and joking around; I had to keep reminding myself that it was probably just the kind of person he was and he didn't mean anything by it.

He was just so attractive. Physically he reminded me of Alec a bit: black hair, blue eyes, sharp features. He was very fit, and tall. But that's where the similarities ended. His attitude and personality were so... Mesmerizing. He's confident (some might say cocky) and sarcastic and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a modest bone in his body. He's also honest, even when others might tell white lies to make the situation seem better; he tells it like it is no matter what. I admire that in both a health care worker and a person.

I walked into the hospital and took the elevator to the third floor where my appointment was. The physical therapy which was part of my treatment was not like typical PT; and until the past few weeks when I'd been assigned a new instructor and had a (sexy) reason to go, I'd skipped most of my appointments.

It wasn't like I was recovering from any traumatic accident or anything, the doctors just wanted to make sure that I did regular exercises that would keep my muscles strong since my illness could cause deterioration. They preferred me to come to the hospital for that instead of an actual gym in case I had some sort of medical emergency that needed immediate attention. Something that my PT trainers in the past hadn't seemed to understand. They would always try to put me through some cut-and-paste routines that clearly were not for someone in the shape I am in.

Working with Will has been different though. He paid attention to my chart and at first he mostly just left me alone to work out as I pleased, helping if I needed a spotter or something. That was until a week and a half ago when he noticed me going through some Tai Chi moves. He said was into the art as well and asked if he could practice and learn from me. I was his only patient since he wasn't really qualified to work with the people who needed more hands on help, and was only there for a few hours at the end of his normal shift every day.

I, of course, said yes, and since then we've practiced together my last four appointments. The most recent of which ending in drinks at the pub down the road and a lot of flirting. Rationally, my mind wrote off his flirting as being brought on by the beers and exercise high, but a part of me wondered if that was really the case. Still, it didn't seem at all logical for a man who looked as amazing as he did to be wasting time on someone like me. I who, despite all of my protest against other people saying it, am frail and sick and unlikely to ever be otherwise.

I shook my head to clear the unwelcome thoughts. I mustn't think like that.

I turned them instead back to the present, then silently cursed myself for being early when I realized that if he was still doing his nursing rounds and not here yet all of my time spent getting ready with Isabelle would have been for nothing. I crossed my fingers as the elevator dinged and I stepped off, walking ever so slowly to the east wing.

I needn't have bothered though. Will was already over in the open floor space area where we practice, doing some warm up stretches.

My God he looks good.

I couldn't help but stare. He was in loose black workout pants and a skin tight gray shirt. His muscles glistened with a light sheen of sweat, indicating that he'd been there for a least a little while.

He looked over to me where I stood staring and smiled widely, his eyes bright like the starry night sky.

"Jem!" He waved me over and I luckily remembered how not to trip over my own two feet.

"Hi Will." I returned the smile and tried not to become self-conscious as he, quite obviously, looked me up and down.

"Lookin' good. Hot date, or did you get all dressed up on my behalf?" I laughed at his bluntness.

"Neither. My roommate's sister came over this morning and decided to play dress up. …Unless you want to ditch our session and go grab some lunch. Then it would be both." There was something about Will's cockiness that was infectious and instead of getting shy over his attention and banter, I played off of it easily.

"Well, she is to be commended on her fine work. And you can have a meal once you've earned it; now go get changed so we can work up an appetite." He winked at me before turning to go back to his stretches.

Did I just ask him out? I thought in awe of myself as I headed towards the patient locker rooms. And did he just accept?! I distractedly changed my clothes and made my way back to Will, uncertain about what I'd just done, but in no way regretting it.

Will's POV:

I was finding it extremely difficult to concentrate on our workout today. It was the way Jem had looked, so self-assured, when he made that offhand lunch remark. I'm sure he was just playing on the friendly drinks we had the other night, but still... How could I pass up a chance to go out with him again and see if I could make something out of it?

It was probably a bad idea. A really bad idea, dating your patient, but technically I was just filling in here. I had hardly any real medical responsibility for him, unless he passed out or went into cardiac arrest while we were working out, and truthfully, who could be better to date than a nurse when you're sick?

It was hard to remember that Jem was sick sometimes. Aside from being a bit too thin for his frame and the premature silvering of his hair brought on by stress, it was barely noticeable. He certainly didn't act sick, and I found his looks to be more charming than anything else. His hair was distinguished and matched his eyes, which held wisdom beyond his years, and his body, though frail, held a graceful strength that was especially noticeable when he went through the slow, fluid motions of Tai Chi.

I'd been mesmerized by the way he looked the first time I saw him doing it; so much so that he'd caught me staring and I had to make up an excuse about loving the art since I was a kid and wanting to learn it, asking him to show me some things. I found that I really did enjoy it. More so whenever I was doing something wrong and he would have to correct me.

As happened to be the case only a few minutes into our session today. My mind just wasn't wanting to focus on the movements.

"Will, your posture is horrible; you're going to strain something." Jem reprimanded. He came up behind me and placed both hands flat on my back one above the other on my spine. "You're too tense. Take some deep breaths and let your back rest against my hands. Adjust your posture until you feel my palms."

Yeah, this was not helping with the kind of tension I was feeling. I was starting to regret not taking him up on his offer to ditch this and go straight to lunch.

I tried to follow his orders though. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, enjoying the way his cologne mixed with his natural scent. I relaxed a bit and felt my spine curve into his delicate hands, the heat of his touch radiating through my body from the contact point.

"Much better." When he spoke I felt his hot breath on my neck and my body tensed again. "Or not..." He chuckled throatily and I wanted desperately to lean back into him until our bodies were touching and his arms were around me.

Get a grip, Herondale.

"You're distracting me too much today; we should do something else." I quipped, breaking our contact by turning to face him.

"I'm distracting you?" He demanded incredulously.

"Yes. You purposefully came here today all dressed up and smelling great to throw me off so you could be better than me."

He laughed so hard for a minute that I thought he was going to need CPR.

"Trust me; I don't have to resort to distraction for me to be better at this than you. It's nothing to be ashamed of," he added when I opened my mouth to complain, "I've just been at it a lot longer than you. I'm sure there are plenty of things you're better at than me." He spoke as if he were reassuring a child and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Probably a very long list of things actually." I removed his hand and crossed my arms. He tried to hide a smile as I did.

"Not that long I'm sure, but there have to be a few I suppose. Everyone has their strengths, and weaknesses." He executed a particularly difficult balancing move and I felt the childish urge to start tickling him so that he'd get off balanced.

Alright, fine. Two could play at that game.

Twenty minutes later I found myself sweaty and out of breath as I dodged the lightning fast strikes of my supposedly extremely ill and infirmed sparring partner. I'm not entirely sure how it started, but one thing had led to another and the verbal sparring had turned physical. I'd held back a lot at first, thinking I might hurt him if I didn't, but I soon realized that if I didn't start to put some effort in he was going to hurt me.

I attempted a combat roll in avoidance, realizing too late that my move had been anticipated. Jem's leg intercepted mine, throwing me off balance and causing me to land with a thud on my back. Jem laughed and in his moment of distraction I caught him by the waist and wrestled him down to the mat, straddling him to keep him in place.

"Who's better now?" I demanded, forearm against his neck. Jem just gave me a look that made me acutely aware of just how much of our bodies were touching and before I knew it, I was being flipped over onto my back in my distraction with Jem on top of me, pressing my wrists into the floor.

For such delicate hands they sure did have a tight grip.

I struggled to no avail and quickly stopped when I realized the only thing it was having an effect on was my libido.

"I'd say we're about even. How about you?" He face was inches from mine and I could see tiny beads of sweat forming on his pallid skin making it glisten. We were both breathing hard, our bodies heaving to the same rhythm.

"I say, we should go grab that bite to eat." I smiled up at him and he released my hands, climbing off of me.

"Sounds good. I think I've earned it." He grinned at me, lending a hand to help me off the floor.

"Definitely. Meet you outside in twenty?"

"Yeah, sure."

I headed off in the direction of the staff locker rooms to get showered quickly and change back into my normal clothes. This certainly hadn't been how I was expecting this day to go, but I had no complaints so far. There was just that tiny voice in the back of my head that kept reminding me that it's a bad idea to get involved with someone I work with, and an even worse idea to get involved with a patient.

I chose to ignore that sensible voice for the time being.

Jem walked outside moments after I did. His hair was still slightly damp, giving it a darker appearance, bringing out the brightness of his eyes.

"Where to?" He asked when he spotted me.

"Same place as before?" I replied to his question with a question.

"Sure."

We walked off in the direction of the restaurant we had drinks at a few days ago. It was an old fashioned Irish pub that looked like it had seen better days, but had the best food and atmosphere of anything in the area. The walls were covered with classic advertisements for Irish beers and every free piece of wall behind the bar had police patches on it. A lot of the regulars were cops and one of the owners was a retired police captain in the area.

I was glad for the warmth of the pub, as I'd left my jacket in my truck, not expecting to need it, and the thin fabric of my t-shirt was no match for the unusually cold September wind. We grabbed a small table in the back corner (my regular spot) and placed our orders.

Nothing like fried food and beer after a workout.

I had the brief thought that perhaps I should stop lecturing Magnus about his eating habits as I took a long sip from my Smithwick's.

"That was probably the most fun I've had at that hospital...ever." Jem told me after the waitress left. He took a long sip of the more sensible unsweet tea he'd chosen to accompany his not-so-sensible dinner order.

"Me too, come to think of it."

"What made you decide to become a nurse?" Jem asked, making conversation. Last time we'd mostly talked about current events and the other hospital staff.

"Good pay and high job prospects with a minimal amount of time at school compared to other careers." I shrugged, answering honestly.

"That was not the honorable bullshit answer I was expecting." Jem noted with a snicker.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I also do it to save the babies." This response earned an all-out laugh from him.

"Don't you think you'd need to work, oh I don't know, somewhere near pediatrics to achieve that goal? Possibly on the same floor, at the very least?"

"Hmm... hadn't thought of that. Perhaps I'll just stick to spending my afternoons with attractive men who try to beat me up." I winked at him, causing a little color to rush to those pale cheeks.

He regained his composure quickly though.

"Try? You must be referring to your afternoons with other attractive men, because there was no try. I did beat you up." It was my turn to loudly guffaw, earning us a few stares from the customers at the bar.

"It was a tie." I pouted, jokingly.

"If that's what helps you sleep at night, we can call it a tie. Though, if I hadn't let you up, you would've been helpless beneath me for as long as I wanted." I know that he hadn't meant that AT ALL the way it sounded, because his brain seemed to process the double meaning about a second after mine. I watched the flush of his cheeks from before turn darker and spread to his ears. It was adorable and intoxicating.

I leaned forward a bit and raised an eyebrow at him. "Was that a proposition or a challenge? Because, either way sounds too good to turn down." I bit my lower lip at the end of the sentence and watched a multitude of emotions cross Jem's face in about a second.

I had a brief moment of panic thinking that maybe I'd taken it a little too far this time, when he recovered and replied. "Perhaps not the best dinner activity; that's better suited for less public venues, wouldn't you agree?"

I laughed and leaned back in my seat. Bantering back and forth with Jem was fun. It was easy, like joking around with Magnus or Jace, but much more suggestive and a little exciting/terrifying. Jem had the most convincing dead pan of anyone I'd ever talked to and there were plenty of times I wasn't sure whether he was joking or not. There were also plenty of times, like right now, that I hoped it was the latter.

"Yes, I suppose I would."

Our food came just then, providing a change of atmosphere and conversational topic. We chatted about his job and studies, and I told him a little about Jace and Cecy while we munched away at our guilty pleasures: fish and chips, fried to a golden perfection.

"I just don't understand," I said waving my fork around as I spoke, "how you handle a premed course load AND work AND all the hospital stuff. I mean, I had a lot on my plate for a couple years trying to get out of my aunt and uncle's house right after high school, but I knew it was short term. Yours is just going to get worse once you sign on for med school!"

"Have you ever thought about going into counseling? You're really great at pep talks." He gibed, putting his napkin on his now empty plate. "The course work isn't that hard, there's just a lot of it. And I really only work on the weekends. My parents still insist on paying for most of my things. I think they feel like they ran me out of the house, so it's still their responsibility to make sure I'm taken care of. And the hospital stuff, well, if it gets in the way I just don't go. Simple as that." He shrugged at the end of his explanation.

"Well, as one of your health care providers, I really must advise you to change your attitude about that last part." Hearing people talk about things like skipping doctor's visits or not finishing their prescriptions always made me want to slip into lecturing RN mode.

"I don't skip the important things, just the extracurricular, overly paranoid parts. Like having me work out there instead of at a gym."

I wanted to argue that it wasn't overly paranoid, it was cautious, but instead I decided the Will approach would probably work better than the nurse Herondale one would.

"But the hospital gym has something that no other one does." I said matter-of-factly. Jem raised his eyebrows, questioning.

"And that would be...?"

"Me." I exclaimed, adding a 'duh' face to emphasize my point.

"Haha, well, I've never missed one of our appointments have I?" I thought about it and shook my head.

"Not yet. And you'd better not, or I would be forced to come find you." I told him sternly.

"But what if I had a really good excuse?"

"There is no excuse good enough to warrant standing up my magnificent self." We were both laughing when the waitress came to pick up our plates and bring us the check.

Walking back to the parking garage I had the strong urge to grab ahold of the hand that periodically brushed against mine, but the nagging voice in the back of my mind was still doing its best to convince me that I needed to end this before it started. I was so caught up in my battling thoughts that I almost jumped when Jem's voice broke the silence.

"Will, are you even listening to me?" He was leaning against what I assume was his car, with his arms crossed.

"What?"

"That would be a 'no'." He rolled his eyes at me and I rubbed the back of my neck, looking at him sheepishly.

"Sorry, I must've zoned out there for a minute."

"Well that says a lot for my company." He retorted. I immediately felt bad, even though there was clearly sarcasm lacing his words.

"You're exceptional company." That sensible, responsible part of my brain was quickly losing the battle.

Jem smiled and I felt myself moving further away from the land of reason.

"You're not so bad yourself."

"Psh, I am extraordinary company. Trust me, I know, I see me all the time. You just haven't experienced the full effects of my amazing presence yet."

Dammit. I was really bad at this whole not flirting thing.

"And what exactly is there left to experience?" There was a challenge in his eyes when he spoke and I knew that if I had any intention of not letting this go any further I needed to walk away now.

I closed the distance between us, leaving just enough room that we weren't actually touching, and looked down upon that beautiful, porcelain face.

"More than you could possibly imagine." I placed a finger under his chin to tilt it upwards and met his slightly parted lips with my own; softly at first, just in case I'd taken our flirtatious bantering too far, then with more need when I was met by no resistance. His soft lips opened, granting my tongue permission to taste his sweet flavor.

Gentle fingers slid under the hem of my shirt to caress the musculature of my lower back and stomach, tracing and teasing and making me moan into our kiss. I felt his lips curve into a smile against my mouth and I tensed a little, suddenly aware of just how tight my pants were becoming in one particular region.

Jem's mouth left mine and replaced itself on the soft flesh of my neck, just below my jaw. I tilted my head to give him better access, my hands sliding down his body to rest on his prominent hip bones while his changed position to caress my biceps. Our bodies worked well together, like our sparring match earlier; every movement was anticipated and reciprocated as if we'd rehearsed. Every time I thought to stop the sucking and light nibbling that was driving me crazy, because it was probably going to leave a mark, he would change position, making his way further down my throat, pulling at the neck of my t-shirt as he did. When he reached the area of skin that my shirt would usually cover he didn't bother to stop himself; instead, his teeth sunk into my flesh, deep enough to leave a faint outline, but not pierce through. He did this in unison with pressing his hips firmly into mine.

"Jem..." I moaned as my fingers grasped at his thin hips; I'm sure leaving nail marks in the soft skin.

A hand reached up and tangled itself in my hair, pulling my mouth back to its previous position on his. His lips were warm on mine, our tongues moving seamlessly in a furious, passionate rhythm.

We were both breathing hard, neither wanting to stop to catch our breath, even though we needed to. At long last the need for air overcame our need for one another and we broke apart, panting slightly.

I ran a hand through my somewhat messy hair, speechless for probably the first time in my life.

Jem's POV:

It was a few moments before either of us could collect our thoughts enough to form coherent sentences after that kiss. My mind was still reeling with the shock and intensity of it, but I managed to say a quick "good night" and "see you on Friday". My knees almost have out when he leaned in close and whispered in a low growl that sent shivers up my spine, "remember, you better not stand me up, or I will be forced to come and find you."

I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it -like I would ever stand him up- but instead I put my mouth close to his ear and teased, "maybe that would be more fun." His fingers tightened around my hip momentarily before he replied.

"You'll just have to wait and see..." He kissed me again; quickly, but with an urgency that made me thankful, not for the first time tonight, that I was leaning up against the car. I would surely have collapsed without its support.

He left before I could reply. Which was good because I'd run out of clever things to say, my mind frozen at his words and the way he'd said them.

I texted Alec before returning home, not wanting to walk in on any intimate moments that may be happening in our living room. Of course, knowing Alec, it was equally, if not more, likely that they were innocently conjugating French verbs on opposite sides of the room.

He responded quickly and, noticing the hour for the first time (when had it gotten so late?), I figured Magnus had already left.

I wondered if Alec would want to talk about it. Talking about our love lives was not something we usually did unless one of us needed advice. Alec usually went to Izzy for the little things and me for the questions that were too uncomfortable to pose to a sister. We were both fairly busy anyway, so it wasn't a topic that came up that often.

He had confided in me about Magnus though, and I hoped I was steering him I the right direction. It was clear what Alec wanted; sometimes he just needed to be told to realize it himself.

I was of two minds about telling him about my night. Flirting with my nurse had been one thing, but this? This was downright irresponsible. If someone at the hospital had seen us he was bound to get in trouble, and very likely to be reassigned, if not worse. I definitely didn't want that. Though, if he was reassigned there probably wouldn't be any reason for us to not be able to go out.

Aside from the fact that he deserves to be in a relationship with someone who can give him so much more than I can. At least more than a few years...

I shook my head as I parked in our buildings deck. What was I thinking? Relationship? Years? All we did was kiss. Twice. Sure it was amazing but it was hardly a proposal! We don't even have arrangements to see each other outside of our scheduled appointments.

I slid the key in our lock and walked in, expected Alec to be off in his room like usual and Magnus to be gone.

Awkward…

" Hey Jem." Alec's voice was a little shaky and I could see his signature blush creeping up his neck.

"Hey, I, uh, wasn't expecting you to be in here..." I wasn't sure if I should leave or go to my room or what. My mind was already spinning with thoughts of Will and what going to happen next, I didn't think I could be around company right now. "I wasn't interrupting anything was I? Because I can leave again-"

"No, no, I was just about to head out myself." Magnus cut in. He looked happy to leave and I hoped it was just because I'd come home and not anything to do with Alec. He didn't exactly have the highest self-esteem.

He gave Alec a kiss on the cheek, which I took as a good sign, then left.

Alec and I just stood where we were for a few moments. Not saying a word. He was biting his lip and looking at the ground and I occupied myself rubbing the back of my neck and surveying the room. Something black and thin and made of silk sticking out from under the coffee table caught my eye.

"Is that Magnus's tie?" I asked, breaking our silence, as well as the tension in the room. Alec put his hands over his face, but I could hear his laughing underneath them, between groans of mortification.

"I'll take that as a yes." I laughed too, as he carefully picked up the tie and went to set it in his bedroom. "I'm going to assume that means things went well then?" I yelled, walking into the kitchen to pour us two glasses of brandy. I still hadn't decided whether or not I wanted to talk about my day, but I needed to at least talk. I needed something else on my mind to distract it from my complicated situation.

Alec came into the kitchen beaming. "Yeah, you could say that." He took the brandy I handed him and took a small sip before turning his attention to rummaging through the cabinets for food.

"So you still like him now that you've gotten to spend some actual time with him?" That had been one of Alec's major concerns; that he was building up an idea of Magnus in his head that the real man wouldn't live up to.

"So far. We talked a bunch, mostly about me though. I guess I'll have to be better at asking his questions on Wednesday." He spoke nonchalantly, but I could tell he was excited.

"Another tutoring session?" I inquired, sitting at the table with my drink.

"Nope. An actual date."

I held my glass up to him and we drank a toast to his good news. The smooth liquid burning a little as it went down.

"How was your day?" Alec asked, never one to take the spotlight for too long. "I didn't expect you back so late. Not that it's not appreciated..." He quickly took another sip of brandy, cutting off his words.

"It was fine. I figured you could use the time to yourselves." I lied. It wasn't a full lie; I'd had every intention of staying out after my session with Will, I just hadn't planned on having company.

I sat in the kitchen with Alec while he had ate dinner and we shared another glass (or two in Alec's case) of brandy, before heading off for a shower and a night of studying around eight. I thought that talking with Alec and drinking a little to knock the edge off would help me focus on anything but the previous few hours, but my mind kept drifting back to the memory of those deep blue eyes hidden by long lashes and how his hot breath felt when he whispered in my ear.

A/N: So yeah, there it is. Will and Jem. I know it's probably pretty OOC, but I haven't read as much Infernal Devices fanfiction and having only three books to get to know the characters, it's a little difficult for me to get into their heads. But I thought they banter really well together and play off of each other so I tried to incorporate that. So if you hate it, please tell me in the nicest way possible. I am a human and I have feelings, but I can easily keep them to the sidelines in the future if butchered it too much. Thanks :)