AUTHORS NOTE: Hey guys, Ya Typical Fangirl here! Thank you so much to everyone who's been reviewing :)

TESSA POV:

Tessa hadn't seen Will in almost a week. He had sent her a brief text saying he was leaving Alicante for a while, but aside from that, Tessa hadn't heard from him.

She realized, that she had begun to get used to Will's presence; whether it was Romeo and Juliet rehearsals, class periods they shared or when he would stop at Luke's bookstore while she was working. But now that he was away, supposedly with his family, Tessa was left feeling almost hallow. Whether she liked to admit it or not, she missed him. The way she caught him grinning when he thought no one was watching. When someone said something that amused him and he tipped his head back, his Adams apple bobbing as he let out a boyish laughter. The way his blue eyes would change colour, from the sky on a fine day, to a deep obsidian blue that you could drown in. God, she even missed his annoying little comments and the way he teased her.

One good thing that had come out of the week's events, however, was that Tessa had gotten to know Jem a lot better. Jem was the type of person who was likeable and easy to get along with, which was just as well considering he was the Romeo to her Juliet until Will returned. It was a fine Saturday morning and Tessa was giving Jem a tour of Alicante, showing him all the landmarks and things to do and see within the town. She felt like it would be the sort of thing he would do, if she were the new girl arriving in his city.

They had met at Luke's bookstore after her shift and Tess had walked him though the line of shops, that is, until Jem spotted the music store. "I play the violin," he said, and Tessa could tell by the look in his eyes that that was an understatement. They entered the shop; a little bell signaling their arrival and the boy behind the counter, who Tessa recognized from school to be Gabriel, looked up from his magazine. Jem gazed about the shop with his features alight in happiness. He wondered over, in a half daze, to the stringed instruments and with the permission of Gabriel, picked up the violin on display with the utmost delicate hands. Jem carefully handled the instrument as if it was a baby, cradling its body and stroking its neck in admiration.

"You can play it if you want," Gabriel said to Jem. So Jem picked up the bow and placed the violin to him.

Tessa was expecting him to be good, but the sound that issued from the instrument blew her away. With the utmost skill, Jem let the bow slide softly across the strings and it was both so, so utterly beautiful but also haunting and mellow. The sound was filled with emotion Tessa didn't even know how to describe, but it bubbled up within her and caused a smile to break out on her face. Jem had his eyes pressed lightly closed and his eyelids fluttered slightly. Fine strands of silver fell across his forehead, which was tilted over the instrument in concentration. Jem's mouth was slightly open, his bow lips allowing the light filtering through the music shop windows to define the soft curves and angels of his face, bathing him in a glowing light like an angel.

The tune drew a singular haunting note that softly faded out, leaving the room in silence that seemed so ugly, missing the beautiful sound that filled it moments before. Gabriel commended Jem's playing and they struck up a conversation that ended with Jem leaving with a job at the music store, starting Monday.

Back on the street, Tessa pointed out a red roofed shop across the street. "And that's where you get the best ice-cream in the whole world!"

"Let's test you theory then, shall we?" Jem said with a warm smile and offered her his arm. Tessa opened her mouth to say that it was a rather chilly day, too cold to eat ice cream, but before she knew it Tessa was being pulled across the road. She let out a small squeal as she stood straight in a large puddle that splashed up her jeaned leg and filled her Doc Martin boot with street water. Jem laughed and although she usually couldn't stand getting wet, she laughed too and led Jem through the door to the ice-cream shop.

A pretty blond girl sat behind the counter and didn't look up from filing her long, manicured nails as they entered.

"Jessamine?" Jem gawked. "What are you doing here?"

"Jem," the girl at the counter said, paused mid nail stroke and looking equally surprised. Then she perked up at his question; "Oh, I'm staying in Alicante with my boyfriend, Nate." It was Tessa's turn to be startled.

"Nate? As in my brother, Nate Gray?" She goggled.

"I suppose you must be Tessa, then." Jessamine said and eyed her up and down. Tessa self-consciously tucked her hair behind her ears.

"So what can I get you," Jessamine asked sounding bored and grudgingly grabbed an ice cream scoop from the bucket beside her.

Tessa glanced to Jem to find he was already looking at her. "Ladies first," he said, smiling. "And I'm paying."

Tessa began to protest but Jessamine cut her off with an impatient look, "I don't have all day."

And that's how Tessa found herself walking through the streets of Alicante, chatting to Jem and licking her favourite ice cream; frozen custard and butter pecan. "People who tell you it's too cold to eat ice cream are the kind of negativity you don't need in your life, Tessa." Jem said, licking his white chocolate and raspberry ice cream. Tessa laughed and led him up the road to her favourite spot in town.

They were both out of breath by the time they reached the top of the hill. "This is it," Tessa exclaimed. They overlooked pretty much the whole of Alicante, which lay sprawled before them like a satellite map. The tops of roofs and cobblestone streets created patterns that weaved an image of an organized city, like the threads woven to form a tapestry. Vibrant colour bloomed from the florist shop and Alicante Park, as well as the ever-changing glow from traffic lights along the main streets. Tessa could also spot the red roof of the ice cream shop they'd just come from. Where they were standing, they were suspended on an old, ethical looking wooden bridge, held above a gentle cascade of river known as Faerie Falls.

"It's beautiful," Jem commented as he leaned against the bridge railings and took in the view.

"It's my favourite place in Alicante, it makes me take a step back from everything." Tessa joined Jem beside the rails and gazed up at the sky, which was stained grey and threatening to spill rain over the city. Jem and Tessa finished their ice creams and chatted. Tessa inquired further about Will and his whereabouts and she briefly learnt about the family Will was going home to face. Tessa learnt that Will grew up in Wales, had a sister called "Cecily", and his parents were "Edmund Herondale and Lynette Owens." With a shock, Tessa instantly recognized one of those names.

"You're telling me," Tessa said to Jem in shock. "That Will's mother is Lynette Owens - the prime minister of Wales? Also the author of Violets Are Purple Not Blue?"

"That's correct. Lynette kept her maiden name," Jem said with a small smile. "Will grew up in Wales with his family, but ran away at a young age. He hated the lifestyle, or so he says."

"You don't believe that?" Tessa asked.

"Well, how could Will Herondale despise being one of the most respected and listened to family's in the country?"

"Maybe he didn't like being overshadowed by his Mother," Tessa laughed, but the information still shocked Tessa. Of all the years at Alicante High, Tessa had never known Will's origins. She knew that he boarded at Alicante High, but she had never seen his family. Although Tessa remembered coming across a Cecily through her Facebook stalking, she had assumed Cecily was a cousin.

"So how do you know Will?" Tessa asked Jem, looking at him sidelong. His face was cast in light, as the sun made a rare appearance from behind a thick gray cloud, and Tessa watched the reflection of the glittering river below them flicker like diamonds across his pale skin.

"I was born in Shanghai, my mother was Chinese and my British father moved to be with her when they fell in love." Ah, that explains his heritage, Tessa thought, admiring his beautifully delicate features that were now deep in reverie.

"Our parents were business partners, until…" Jem's face fell slightly and his eyes flicked down to look at his hands, gripping the wooden bridge railing. "My parents died and I was sent to live on a farm, not far from where Will lived in Wales. His mother arranged it, after he heard of my parents passing; said she was in debt to my family." Jem smiled softly and looked up at Tessa.

"Oh, Jem!" She said, feeling her heart tear for the boy standing beside her. "I'm sorry to hear about your parents. I know the feeling, both my parents are dead too." Tessa said softly, and without thinking, she slid her hand that was resting on the railing so that it touched Jem's. She felt the warmth radiate from his hand as he gently placed his over hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. That simple gesture spoke a thousand words, and although Tessa wasn't usually one for this kind of thing, she felt comfortable and thankful for the sweet boy beside her.

"I'm sorry to hear that too, Tessa," Jem said, his eyes a swirl of soft silver.

"Wait, you lived on a farm?" Tessa asked after a little pause.

He let out a little laugh; "I did, and Will used to visit me. The mayor's son and the farm boy. We formed an unlikely but tight bond; we were like brothers. Then one day he ran away and I heard he was boarding at a school in Alicante. It shocked everyone, and in a way I resented him for leaving me. It was selfish, but I missed him. He wrote to me, though, and asked me to join him. I wanted to see Will again, but couldn't leave the farm owners, my foster family, who had taken me in and treated me so well. It wasn't until recently that the farm got sold to make room for a new highway. My foster family moved to New Zealand and I finally decided to take up Will's offer," Jem smiled. "And here I am."

Tessa was blown away, "That's an amazing story." She breathed. "So, now you board with Will?"

"I do, and after this year we're planning on traveling a bit, backpacking and seeing where it takes us. We've both always felt we needed to travel and gain those kinds of experiences." He breathed and Tessa could tell he was in a far away place, but then blinked back to reality as he turned to face Tessa with a smile. Jem had the most beautiful smiles and what Tessa loved about them is that she could tell they were always genuine. He didn't force a smile or do it for show; he smiled because he truly meant it. Tessa admired that and she couldn't help but smile herself.

CLARY POV:

It was just past midnight and Clary lay wake in bed, staring up at the glow in the dark stars tacked to her ceiling. Jonathon had helped her put them up when she was about five and she still hadn't taken them down. Sure, Clary couldn't really be bothered to, but although they were childish, she felt like taking the stars down would be yet another change; another step away from childhood, as well as Jonathon. Clary feared the day all of her childhood memories would become blurry and fragmented, as if they belonged to someone else in another life, an alternate universe. Besides, Clary liked stars, the way they held a sense of infinite promise, the way the stars were always there and always glowing, but you could only see their true beauty in the dark. Clary liked to think the best people were like the stars; they shone their brightest through the darkest of times.

Clary turned on her lamp and looked over at her mood board, pinned to the wall beside her bed. It was a grid set up so that everyday of the year was represented by a square, each line a month. At the end of everyday, Clary would colour in the square for that day depending on her mood or what kind of day it was. The past month on her mood board had been a roller coaster; it ranged from a series of yellow coloured "good days", to green coloured "average days", to blue coloured "down days." The past few days in particular had been "down days". Clary would like to think she had shone like the stars through her dark time, but truthfully, she didn't think she had.

She had wondered around school in a trance, going to her classes, sitting with the group in their courtyard through breaks. Tessa and Izzy in particular had been giving her worrying looks, but she'd brushed them off. She was fine. Both Jace and Sebastian had been suspended from school the days that followed the fight. She had tried to talk to Jace but he had ignored all of her texts and eventually Clary had given up.

As if on cue, Clary's phone buzzed from her nightstand.

Jace: If ur awake come to the tree house.

Thinking of the devil... Freaky.

Pulling aside her already disheveled duvet, Clary got out of bed and padded across the room to pull aside her curtains. Grabbing a torch from one of her draws, Clary slowly and quietly inched open her window and clambered out onto the aluminum roof. Clary couldn't help but look up at the stars, however they were obscured from view behind thick cloud. With a gentle sigh, she carefully treaded along the roofing until she was in line with the tree house. Clary crouched and reached for the closest branch of the old oak tree, attempting to swing herself through more gracefully than she did last time.

Jace still startled as her feet thudded against the floor of the tree house. He was sitting down, leaning against one of the sidewalls and twisting the ring on his finger around and around. "I didn't think you'd come, I didn't even think you'd be awake." Jace said hazily.

He had a lit a few of the DIY rainbow candlesticks in the tree house that they had all made for an art project when they were younger. The flickering glow of the candlelight dimly illuminated Jace's face and Clary involuntarily let out a small gasp as she took in the dark purple blotches of bruises that bloomed along his cheek and jawbone, as well as a fainter one circling his left eye. His hands, still twisting the ring around his finger were also bruised at the knuckles. Clary felt a burning hot anger and hatred at Sebastian.

Clary was still standing on the spot and realized she had no idea what she was doing there. She hadn't even given a second thought before she'd quite literally jumped out her window to meet Jace in the middle of the night. Again. "Of course I came."

Jace motioned to the space beside him and Clary moved to sit by him, close but with a little distance between them. "Are you okay?" She asked, genuinely meaning the feeling her words held.

"I'm fine," he said. The words Clary herself had been saying for the past week.

"No, you're really not." She whispered, not even knowing why she was suddenly whispering. She looked at his hands that were resting on his lap, still twisting the ring. When he didn't say anything she said; "That's your family ring, isn't it?" It was a silver band decorated with a circle of herons. He'd always worn it, even when he was a kid and it was too big to fit his fingers, he wore it around his neck on a length of string like a necklace.

"Yeah, it is," he said, taking it off his finger and angling it so that the candlelight illuminated the pattern of herons. "My father always wore it." Clary was caught a little off guard; Jace didn't really talk about his family, he always kept those things to himself. He was a closed book.

Clary held up her right hand to reveal her own ring, a silver band like Jace's that had a pattern of fairy wings etched. "My mother gave me this, it's the Fairchild ring." Many families in Alicante came from old, traditional families that possessed a family ring that got passed down through the generations.

"Jonathon used to wear it," Jace said eyeing her hand: It was the one that got hit in the fight. Her hand had puffed up and swollen and the nurse had told Clary it was sprained and that she should keep it bandaged. Clary wouldn't have cared about the injury, however it was a problem, as she couldn't do any art without her hand prickling in pain. Jace took her hand to inspect it. His hand was warm and careful against hers, the purple-blue bruises of his knuckles standing out startlingly against Clary's fair skin. Jace turned to look at her, still holding her hand in his. "He won't ever touch you again, I'll make sure of it." Jace's eyes were a soft melted caramel in the candlelight as he looked at her. Clary shivered suddenly and uncontrollably under his gaze. "Are you cold?" He asked, looking over Clary's flannel pajama pants and green tank top. Clary felt her cheeks flush and she opened her mouth, but Jace had gotten up to grab an old blanket from a box in the corner, which they used to use as an extra blanket for tree house sleepovers. He carefully draped it over her and sat back down.

JACE POV:

They ended up talking for a while more into the night. There was just something about Clary's presence that comforted Jace and put him at ease. At some point she had slid down the wall to lie down facing him. She looked so small buried under the blanket and Jace felt a strong desire to protect her from everything harsh in the world. In the candlelight, her hair glinted copper and spilled around her in a perfect mess where she lay. But her eyes. She looked at him as they spoke with quiet voices that lightly cut through the night, her eyes piercing him with startling greenness of them. They were large, curious, innocent eyes that shone bright through the darkness and filled the treehouse with warmth. They transfixed Jace. Had they always been so beautiful?

He noticed when she began to get tired and their conversation become more drawn out; and before he knew it, Clary was asleep. She looked so peaceful, like an angel as she lay there, her lips twitching slightly in sleep. Jace was tired, so tired; he hadn't slept in a while, hadn't slept a good sleep anyway. He lay down beside her and closed his eyes and before he knew it, he was dreaming of angels.

AUTHORS NOTE: This was a slightly longer chapter than usual... thoughts? X