Tessa

You know that saying that things are too good to be true? Well, that's how I felt about my relationship with Will. We had been dating for about a month and things couldn't have been better. We still had about two months before school started up again and we started our junior year.

Every day, except for Sundays, we spent at the gym training together like we had been doing for years. We found a healthy balance of spending time together alone and with James. We didn't need to hang out every night since we had already trained together for six hours, but we usually took the weekends to be together.

Will was an amazing boyfriend. He was polite and respectful and treated me like I was the only girl in the world. With Aunt Clary pregnant, I was seeing a side of Will that I had only seen a few times. It was his extremely protective side. He would freak out if Clary lifted something heavier than a feather and she hadn't cleaned a thing in the house since she announced she was pregnant. I could tell she was about ready to wring his neck if he didn't stop acting so ridiculous. She begged me to get him out of the house so she could actually relax, so that was what I was doing tonight.

In the past few weeks, I was reminded of what an awesome person Barbara was. Since James was my best friend, the four of us spent a lot of time together and we found immediately that the years she was gone hadn't made a difference. The dynamic of the group had definitely changed, but it was a good change. When we were all together, it still felt like we were just four friends hanging out.

Barbara and I had planned on going out with the guys that night because, apparently, Jace had asked Barbara to get James out of the house, as well. The Herondale boys were driving their parents crazy. She was already waiting for me when I pulled up to the Herondale house.

"Hey," I said as I walked up to the front door.

"What's the plan," she asked before we walked through the door.

"Okay, so we just need to get them out of the house. You know they're going to be reluctant, so do whatever you need to do to get James out of the house. Jace and Clary are going crazy and she really can't be stressed right now. I know they think they're helping, but Clary is about to strangle them."

She nodded and we entered the house without knocking on the door. I had tried to start knocking after Will and I started dating, but old habits die hard. Clary came around the corner and wrapped her arms around me.

"Thank God," she said as she hugged Barbara. "I love my boys, but if they tell me one more time that I should be resting, I'm going to wring their necks." Clary stepped back and he hand went to rest on her tiny little bump. She was about fourteen weeks along and was absolutely glowing. I knew that she was a high-risk pregnancy, but everything was fine so far and the boys needed to stop worrying so much. "I had to send James to the gym the other day because he saw me standing on a chair trying to get my camera down from the closet and he freaked out. I'm not even kidding when I say that he actually picked me up and put me down on the ground. Jace said he sulked around the gym for the rest of the day and he caught James and Will trying to leave and come over to the studio."

"Well, that's why we're here," I told her and she said the boys were upstairs in their rooms. Barbara and I headed upstairs and split up when we reached the top. I walked down the hall to Will's room where the door was closed and I could hear his music playing through the door. Instead of knocking, I just opened the door to find Will sitting on his bed, reading a book. His nose was always in a book when he wasn't at the gym and I loved that about him. He hadn't even noticed that I was in his room when I jumped on the bed next to him. He dropped the book and a smile spread across his face. "Hey, stranger."

"I just saw you a couple of hours ago," he said as I leaned over to kiss him. "I didn't know you were coming over tonight."

"Yeah, well I'm not staying." I got up from the bed and took his hand. "And neither are you. Come on, the four of us are going to The Cliffs." The Cliffs was a place that overlooked the ocean and gave you the best view of the sunset I had ever seen. After the sunset, we usually lit a fire and ate whatever food we decided to pick up on the way.

"I can't go." He shook his head and pulled his hand away. "I have to make sure dinner is cooked and the house is clean for my mom." He leaned back against the headboard and lifted the book in front of his face.

"William Herondale." He flinched at my stern tone. "Your mom is pregnant. She's not dying. She can handle cooking dinner and cleaning the kitchen and if she can't, your dad is here to help her. It's not your responsibility to do everything for her."

"I know." He closed the book and tossed it on the bed, flopping onto his back and looking up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and I moved back to sit next to him. "I'm scared." He whispered and I didn't know what to say. Will didn't get scared. I had only heard him say that he was scared one other time and that was when we were about to jump off of the Cliffs into the ocean for the first time. I just laid down next to him and took his hand in mine, trying to get him to open up. I brought his hand to my lips and kissed the back of it. "I just don't want anything to happen to my mom or the baby."

"Honey, nothing is going to happen to them." I pushed up to rest on my elbow and look down into his face.

"You don't know that." He rubbed his hand over his face. "I've looked up what it means to be pregnant over forty. There are so many risks, not only to the baby but to my mom and I can't protect her from herself. I can't protect her from this and none of us can. You don't know how hard that is for all of us. My dad is worried too. You know how protective he is of her and he can't do anything to stop something from going wrong. The only way we can feel at least a little calm is to make sure she isn't doing anything to put herself and the baby in danger. She might think we're crazy, but we can't help it."

I didn't know what to say because I understood what they were feeling. This family loved each other so much and I was sure that the boys were having a hard time accepting that they couldn't protect Clary. So we just lay there in silence as I tried to convey my support to him through the way I was holding him.

"I love you, do you know that," I finally said breaking the silence. Will sat up and I followed him and took his hands in mine as I sat in front of him.

"You do," he asked in a whisper, almost like he couldn't believe it and I realized that I had never actually said the words out loud to him before. I had always figured he knew because we had always told each other we loved the other, but that was different. That was when we were best friends and our love wasn't the same. I loved him as more than a friend now and I couldn't believe I hadn't told him. He told me the night we got together and had many times since. I wracked my brain for how I would respond and realized that I would just smile and kiss him without returning the sentiment.

"Yeah, of course I love you, Will," I said with a smile, trying to convey that I was telling the truth. I didn't want him to have any doubts about my feelings for him. "I'm sorry that it took me so long to tell you, but I figured you knew that I loved you. I know that it's completely different to actually hear the words, so, Will, I love you. Not like a friend and not like a brother, but the kind of love that you get to choose. I love you, so much it hurts and I had no idea I could feel that way about a person."

"I love you." Will grasped the back of my neck and pulled me in to kiss him. My arms wrapped around his neck and he leaned back against the headboard, pulling me on top of him. I wasn't even worried about the fact that the bedroom door was open and anyone could walk by at any moment or that we were supposed to be leaving. All that mattered was Will and everything else could wait.

We were startled back into reality by someone banging on the wall next to the door. I jumped up and off of the bed to see James and Barbara standing in the doorway holding hands while she tried to hide the fact that she was laughing.

"If you two aren't too busy, we would like to get going," James said as Will shot him a death glare. I nodded and followed them out of the room and looked back at Will with a look saying to not be too angry with his brother for interrupting us. Will came up behind me and took my hand in his as the four of us made our way downstairs.

Jace and Clary were sitting on the couch watching fight tape of some of the fighters Jace wanted to recruit for the organization as we walked toward the front door. I glanced back at them as they waved before we left and I couldn't help but think that I wanted a life like that. I wanted to be able to support my husband in what he loves and be supported myself. Jace and Clary not only supported each other in their passions but they enjoyed doing it. I wanted that and as I looked up at Will, I knew I could have it someday with him.

Since I was the only one with a car, we all headed toward it, but Will took the keys from my hands before we got there and opened the passenger door for me. That was one thing I had to get used to when we started dating. Will liked to drive and be in control, so I had to learn to let him. Every once in a while, I would tell him he couldn't drive, but I had to admit that I liked him in the driver's seat as he held my hand across the console.

James and Barbara sat close in the backseat as they engaged in conversation with Will. I couldn't focus on what they were talking about because I was too consumed with the overwhelming feeling of love I had for Will. I had never thought about a future with him because we were so young, but that fleeting thought of a life with Will made me realize that I didn't want anyone else. Maybe I was crazy because I was sixteen and we had only been together for a month, but Will and I were made for each other. Plus, we had been best friends for our entire lives.

Will pulled up to The Cliffs and ran around to my side to help me out of the car. James and Barbara walked in front of us with the picnic basket and the stereo before finding a spot on the edge of the cliff to sit. Will wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close as we followed his brother to the spot he had chosen. The sun was setting, but there was still some time before it got dark.

We stood on the edge of the cliff and looked out over the water as Barbara laid out the blanket and James got the music going. I loved nights like this where we could all just hang out and be normal kids for once. We didn't have to worry about training schedules or our parents. All that mattered was all of us being together and having a good time.

I glanced up at Will, who was looking at me with a mischievous glint in his eye. He didn't have to say anything for me to know what he was thinking. I smiled and took off my shirt to reveal my bathing suit and he did the same before taking my hand.

"Are you ready," he asked as he looked down to the water.

"More than I'll ever be," I said knowing that taking this jump, this drop symbolized more to me than just jumping off of a cliff into the water. I was ready to free fall into my new life with Will. He counted to three and we jumped off of the cliff, feeling like we were flying until we made impact with the water. Will kept his hold on my hand until we surfaced and he pulled me in by the waist. His smile was bright as he leaned in to kiss me.

"I love you," he whispered against my lips. "And I always have."

"I love you." I leaned back to look into his eyes. "And I always will."

Thank you so much for reading! I'm so sort it's been so long since I've updated, but I'm going to try and rectify that. I might only post once a week during the summer, so just bear with me! I hope you're enjoying the story so far and just know that I have no idea where I want to take the story yet, so if you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know.

Let me know what you think and leave a review! :)