Thanks to you guys that review, you're all awesome. This chapter will be less boring than the last two I swear
The characters belong to Cassandra Clare, but the plot however, belongs to me
Will woke on the saturday morning with the idea he was going to ask Cecily how the game went, but with a quick look at the clock hanging on his wall he groaned and rolled over. It was six in the morning, and he was awake. He could barely get up at eight on a weekday, but to wake up early on a saturday? What kind of mockery of God was that? The sun hadn't even come up yet, and he was freezing. He'd managed to kick his blankets off himself, so they were all bunched up around his ankles. He sighed, and wished he'd remind himself to put on a shirt when he went to bed at night, but old habits died hard. As he reached down to grab his blankets, he caught sight of his tattoo. He felt stupid for getting it now, but when it was offered it to him he'd been sixteen and stupid. His Dad was constantly trying to win him over, to get them to bond or something. Will had never really been like his father, nor had he tried to be, so in a desperate attempt to please Will, his Dad had let him get a tattoo. His tattoo was the symbol for equilibrium, which looked sort of like a messed up z with two dots on either side of it, and meant balanced forces.
He shook his head and frowned. He now saw the stupidity of it, and felt embarrassed for himself every time he looked at it.
Everyone around him was asleep, even Jem, who was usually up before everyone else. He was the guy who made sure no one slept in too late, or missed breakfast. Jem was like the den-mother of dormroom 7B. Will stood, determined to go back to sleep with a shirt on, and maybe several layers of coats, instead of just grey sweatpants. He felt goosebumps rise on his arms, and shivered, running his hands over them in an attempt to warm himself up. He looked out the window, wanting to see if the sun was rising or if he could still see stars, but stopping dead when Tessa rolled out of bed on the other side of the gap. She wore a big grey T-Shirt, and nothing else that he could see, showing off long slim legs. Will gulped. Her hair was pulled up in a poorly done bun, and she reached behind her sleepily and pulled the hair tie from it, and it tumbled down her shoulders. She walked, or more stumbled to the bathroom, having to try a few times to reach the doorknob, twisting it and falling in.
He felt himself blush down to his chest, his face hot. He was no longer cold at least, but felt a bit like a pervert. She could have closed her blinds though, he thought, right? Yes, that was a good excuse. He ran his hands through his hair and closed his eyes, breathing heavily. Jesus Will, he scolded himself, control yourself for christ's sake. He opened his eyes to Tessa, who was staring back at him curiously, her eyes wide from across the gap. For a good ten seconds they shared the same look of confusion. It was early in the morning, they were both half asleep and it was freezing. Then Tessa seemed to remember herself, and flushed deeply, diving under her blankets and peering over the backboard of her bed at him, only her eyes showing. He grinned a very sleepy grin, probably looking like he was on drugs, he suspected. He waved, and she ducked back down onto her bed, and out of sight. He shrugged, and bent down to pick up a blue sweater off the ground that was probably Alec's.
As he pulled it over his chest he caught sight of her still looking, before she ducked back down again. He fell onto his bed, suddenly too warm, although that seemed almost impossible because he was sure it was in the minuses, and he let out a large breath. Dating Jem, he remineded himself, his finger in the air as he did so. But if he was being honest, he didn't think he actually cared.
He wasn't completely sure when he fell asleep, but the sun had started to come up, and it brought clouds with it, rain pouring down and down, the soft patters making his dreamless sleep peaceful.
###
Will tried to think of an excuse to go over to Tessa and Clary's room for the good part of an hour, all while Jace left, taking Clary somewhere, Jem went to take a walk and Alec slept on, snoring softly, hugging his pillow to his chest and drooling slightly. Think Will, think. He could say he'd wanted to see if Jace was there, or that he thought he'd left a book behind? No, those were lame excuses. He could tell her the truth, that he just really wanted to see her and talk to her, but that also sounded stupid even to himself. Since when did I get so desperate? He thought to himself, putting his head in his hands. Girls came to him, not the other way around. He heard Jem's voice in his head, as he sometimes did when he needed an opinion and no one was around to give it. "Things change, and you're not as good-looking as you think you are". Jem had said that to him once when a girl had rejected him. Will had felt quite gutted that day, considering that he'd never been turned down before, and didn't know the feeling.
"Ah, fuck it" Will muttered, getting up and slipping on his shoes, as Alec rolled onto the floor. Alec was probably the most restless sleeper Will had ever known, and not a night went by that he didn't find Alec on the floor, or in one of the extreme cases, in the hallway. Will didn't stay long enough to find out if Alec woke up after his tumble, and left the room, his stomach rolling. He wasn't sure what exactly he was going to do when he got there, but he knew he needed to. He passed by several dorm rooms, including Gideon Lightwood's, which contained a yelling kid with white blond hair, yelling at a bashful looking Henry Branwell, who's red hair happened to be singed and the side of the blond kid's T-Shirt burnt.
He shoved his hands into his pockets as he crossed the bridge between the blocks, and turned directly left, going down the blank white hallway with blue carpet until he'd come to the very last room, 7G. Tessa and Clary's room was smaller than all the other rooms, he didn't know why, he'd always thought maybe less girls went to the school than boys, but nothing had ever proved his theory correct or incorrect, so he'd never asked. He knocked, and felt his stomach drop as he did so, and held his breath as he heard footsteps coming towards the door, then it opened, and Tessa stood before him. She looked like she'd just woken up, but dressed, fortunately and unfortunately for Will, with droopy eyelids and messy hair, her cheeks flushed and her mouth hanging open slightly. She rubbed her eyes and looked up, her gaze going over his jeans to his grey sweater and finally resting on his face, where her eyes stopped. Without a pause, she tried to slam the door shut, but Will stuck his foot between the gap before it was closed, wincing as she attempted still, to close the door.
"I'm here to get a book" he explained through the small crack, where he could see her determined face as she tried to kick his foot out from its wedged in position between the door. "Seriously Tessa, come on" Will scoffed, as she finally gave up and moved aside, her cheeks and nose a cute shade of pink, and her face very awake. The room was a bit of a mess; Tessa's bed covered in papers and text books, her computer sitting on top of a basket of what looked like fresh laundry, while Clary's bed had what looked like the game Parcheesi spread out on it, the pieces scattered.
"I was, uh, studying" Tessa mumbled, fiddling with her hair, tucking it behind her ear "I doubt you'll be able to find it in the mess". Will shrugged, and gave her a grin, which she didn't return, and got down on his hands and knees and pretended to look for a book.
She rushed sweeping all the papers on her bed up, stacking them and shoving them in a folder she kept on her nightstand, and closing her laptop hastily.
"What book are you actually looking for, William?" Tessa asked, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff.
"Well," Will said, holding up a bra between his hands, and looking up at her "I wasn't looking for this". Tessa turned a deeper shade of red and snatched it out of his hands, throwing it in a drawer angrily.
"You idiotic basta-"
"Don't worry about it Tessa" Will laughed, looking up at her "I have a little sister, and I had a big sister, bra's don't really faze me much anymore". What he was saying was completely true, actually, because before he'd gone to boarding school he'd found them everywhere. At first it had been almost embarrassing, but after a few years or so he was used to finding them in his washing or hanging in the bathroom. Hell, he'd even had to take Cecily bra shopping once.
"Have you made it your personal mission to make me feel completely humiliated everytime you see me, Will?" Tessa asked, her eyebrows raised, still standing over him awkwardly as he crawled around on the floor like an idiot.
"Pretty much" he shrugged, getting up and opening the wardrobe, only to find it overflowing with boardgames. What a waste of space.
"And what do you mean you had a big sister?" She asked sharply, and Will flinched, his heart twisting.
He turned on his heel to look at her angry expression, and put his hands on his neck. "I had an older sister, Ella, who died a few years ago" Will explained, and Tessa's face dropped, her grey eyes widening and her lips parting to form an 'o' shape.
"Oh my god, Will, I'm so sorry-" She apologised, taking a step forward, her hand outstretched as if to touch him, but he pulled back.
"No. Its-its fine. Lets just talk about something else, please" Will frowned, his eyebrows furrowed. Tessa put her hand on his arm, and he felt a shock that went to his toes go through him.
"What book are you looking for?" Tessa asked gently, looking up at his face. He felt his cheeks go warm, and he smiled shyly at his feet against his will.
"I'm not really looking for a book per-say.." He admitted, and she raised an eyebrow, a small smile playing on her mouth.
"Then why are you here?" She asked, standing close enough to him that he could see where her eyes turned blue around the edges.
"I'm here because...I'm here because" he grasped for words, before reaching behind him and pulling out a random box, which happened to be Trivial Pursuit "because I'm bored and its raining and no one wanted to play with me". He realised how lame he sounded, and how cliché it probably was that he'd come over to play a goddamn board game with her on a rainy day, but he forced confidence into his voice and smiled at her.
"Okaaaaaaay...?" Tessa said, narrowing her eyes, before taking the box from his hands "I guess I could use a break from studying".
Will grinned.
###
Simon wasn't sure whether or not Clary was still going to be in her room or not, but he walked towards the girls' dorms anyway, needing to tell someone about his dreams. Dreams didn't usually mean anything to him, but Clary had been asking him for a month now what was wrong, and he was ready to tell her. He prayed that she wasn't with Jace, or out with Jace, or talking to Jace on the phone, or drawing him (which was the particularly worst one of the four). But, sadly, before he could reach her room, a hand reached out as if from nowhere and grabbed Simon by the neck of his shirt, and yanked him into the room.
"Ow" Simon complained, rubbing his neck where the collar had dug into it "was that really necessary?"
"Yes" a girl's voice said, and he looked down at Isabelle Lightwood, her hands on her hips and her eyes blazing. He gulped and took a large step away from her.
"Look, if this's about my dream...?" Simon said, his hands raised in front of him, noticing there were no other girls in the room. Great, he thought, no witnesses. Somehow she must have found out that he'd had a dirty dream about her, and she was probably ready to kill him for being a weirdo. He'd try to defend himself he guessed, but there wasn't much he could do against Isabelle. He nervously pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at her warily.
"What?" She asked, making a face "no, this isn't about your stupid dreams. I wanted to make sure you hadn't told anyone what happened between us".
Simon raised an eyebrow, and put his hands by his sides. "We danced for like, not even a minute Isabelle" he said confusedly.
"Danced?" Isabelle laughed, a bit hysterically, and suddenly became very serious "we did more than dance". Simon's jaw dropped, and he looked at her like she'd just grown a new head, probably looking quite comical.
"We did?" He asked incrediously, short of breath "I thought I dreamt that".
"No, you didn't dream it" Isabelle said, rolling her eyes "anyway, that doesn't matter. You haven't told anyone have you? Well, I guess you haven't since you thought it was a dream". Isabelle looked up out of the corner of her eyes and put her finger on her lip, before shrugging and smiling brightly at him.
"I guess you can go now" she said cheerfully, grabbing his shoulders and turning him around, as he stuttered and spluttered. She shoved him out the door and into the hallway, making him stumble and crash against the wall. She closed the door, and he looked at it with an expression of utter confusion. The door opened again, and Isabelle stuck her head out "oh and don't tell anyone" she added, before closing it again.
Simon slumped against the wall, his brain on overdrive. It had all happened; he'd slept with Isabelle Lightwood, all the soft kisses and warm touches had happened, and he hadn't dreamt them. His first thought was to jump into the air and shout very loudly until his voice stopped working, but then he remembered she must've left in the morning before he'd woken up, and she obviously didn't care about him anymore than she had before. He frowned, and felt utterly deflated, before he turned to leave, seeing no point in standing outside her door for anymore time than he had to, or ever really going down that corridor again.
If he'd stayed a minute longer, perhaps he would have seen a hopeful Isabelle open her door again, her expression excited but anxious, looking for him outside her room, only to be disappointed to a point of depression that he wasn't, in fact, there.
###
Tessa turned out to like the game she was playing a lot more than she should have, enjoying the way Will got angry every time she cheated or didn't go by the rules.
"What are the three colours in the German Flag?" She asked, looking up at Will and putting the card behind her back, as she'd started doing when he'd started seeing the answers. They were both sitting cross-legged on the spare bed next to the bathroom, playing Trivial Pursuit as rain bucketed down outside, and Will was currently winning.
"Black, red and gold" Will said automatically. She scowled, and Will grinned at her, and she was aware of the slight ache in her back from slouching. He rolled the dice, and landed on pink, the one wedge he didn't have. Tessa picked up a card and sighed, before looking up at him.
"You're gonna get this one" she said, sounding defeated, which, ultimately, was what she was.
"You don't know that, just ask the question" Will pressed, eager to win. Apparently his family had - and anyone he'd ever really played a game with - called him a sore winner, he'd explained when they'd started playing.
"Who directed the movie 'Alien'?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him expectantly.
"Ridley Scott" Will answered immediately, sounding very sure of himself. Tessa threw the card down on the board and fell back onto the pillow, her hands on her face, and Will jumped and danced in a circle.
"We are the chaaaaaaaampions...my friends" Will started singing, and Tessa groaned and looked up at him, shaking her head while laughing.
"And we'll keep on fighting...till the end" he said, jumping up onto the bed and closing his eyes dramatically.
"No time for looooooooosers, cause I am the champion" Will sung loudly, while Tessa laughed so hard she couldn't breathe. He dropped down onto his knees and lowered his voice to a whisper "of the world". Tessa held her sides, her eyes squeezed shut as she rolled onto her side.
"Oh...oh my god that was beautiful" she breathed, wiping a tear from her eye and looking over at him. He was smiling, and that made her smile.
"What do I get for winning?" He asked, as she sat up and looked him in the eyes, grinning widely.
She shrugged. "Anything, I guess".
"Anything?" He repeated, raising his eyebrows and leaning in slightly.
"Yeah, thats what I just said-" she was cut off by Will leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers, as softly as he could manage. Her hands went to his cheeks to pull him from her, and she squashed his cheeks together, so their faces were only an inch apart, his eyes so close it was all she could see.
"You said anything" Will said, his voice coming out weird through the fish lips she was making him have. She searched his eyes for any sign of regret, or guilt, or any other emotion than amusement, and found none. Without thinking, she let go of his face and put her hands on his neck, feeling the soft black hair at the base of it under her fingertips. She pulled his face towards hers, and their lips crashed together, and he braced himself with his hands on either side of her, as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss. Her hands dropped from his neck and fisted the material of his sweater, which in her opinion, needed to come off.
She was Tessa Gray, she didn't do this kind of thing, and she was from...where was she from again? She couldn't remember. All she knew was Will was kissing her, again. This time was different from last time though, way different, and also much, much better.
His hands moved to go on her waist, and stayed there, but hers, feeling like she wasn't controlling them, moved down to his lower back, where she pulled his sweatshirt up, and she felt him laugh softly. They broke away long enough for Will to get himself free of the jumper, which Tessa had rather awkwardly left around his shoulders, not being able to pull it up any further.
What was she doing, what was she doing, what was she doing?
Will grinned at her, his lips very pink and inviting, showing off straight white teeth, his canines a bit longer than the rest and she bit her lip. He made a deep sound in the back of his throat and leaned in to kiss her again, and as he did she grabbed his shirt and pulled him down, feeling his smile against her mouth. Her head was against the bare pillow of the spare bed, and he had propped himself up on his elbows, so he didn't crush her. He kissed along her jaw, and she giggled, despite wishing she hadn't, and as he kissed down her neck she felt his smile widen against the underside of her chin. He kissed the spot where her pulse was jumping, and she laughed again, barely able to stop herself.
He looked up at her, laughing slightly himself. "Am I that bad at this, that you're laughing at my attempts?" He asked, joking.
"Maybe" Tessa shrugged, before pulling him down to her lips again, feeling his hands under her shirt and on the skin of her waist, sending shocks to her fingertips.
"BY GOD IN HEAVEN" a male voice exclaimed, and Will and Tessa looked up, Will still holding Tessa to him and Tessa with her hands on his neck. Jace and Clary were in the doorway, both drenched and dripping onto the carpet, wearing equal expressions astonishment. Clary's open mouth was resting on her chest, and Jace had started to laugh.
Tessa now understood why Clary got so mad when she came in without knocking.
"I get why Tessa always looks so shocked when she comes in now" Jace laughed, doubling over. Tessa pushed Will off her quickly, and he jumped up, his cheeks bright red in the most adorable way.
Will punched Jace on the shoulder lightly, but Jace kept laughing, now on his knees, Clary still with the same expression as before on, her curly hair pasted against her forehead and temples.
"Sorry" Tessa mumbled to her, although she didn't feel especially sorry.
Clary shook her head, a bit too fast to be casual. "No, its cool" Clary said as though she was being choked. Tessa remembered sounding like that and saying those kind of words to Clary when she'd first met her, under the same kind of circumstances.
"I suppose this'll be fun to tell Jem" Jace breathed hysterically, his hands on his knees, and the colour drained from Will's face instantly, and he pushed past them without even saying goodbye, sprinting down the hallway as fast as he could.
Um, alright, hope you enjoyed it I guess, and if you did please review, and if you didn't, let me know somehow so I can try and fix it (if its fixable, that is). Thanks for reading, have a good night/day wherever you are.