Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews! Please feel free to offer more. Otherwise, please enjoy! Also, this chapter begins one week after the end of Clockwork Prince and could contain spoilers for Clockwork Prince, just so you are warned.

Chapter 2
One week later

When dinner was finished, Jem and Tessa snuck off to the Library under the guise of studying. Will watched them walk out, and couldn't help but notice that Jem had his hand in Tessa's before the dining room door was even closed. Will had to smile at the word "studying." He and Jem used to have much better excuses for sneaking off together, as Charlotte and Henry would have never believed Will and Jem were so diligent about studying nearly three times a week. Instead, Will and Jem duties as far as excuses were concerned. Sometimes, Will would mention at dinner that he and Jem were going to clean up a storage room upstairs, which Charlotte was grateful For. Other times, Jem would say they were going to practice knife throwing in the training room. Whenever Jem said with a straight face that he and Will were going to go exploring for the upper levels of the Institute, it took every musle in Will's body to keep him from laughing out loud.

But those days were over. Now, instead of wanting to run up and down dark hallways with Will, or even enjoy some carnal pursuits, Jem wanted to go to the Library, sit with his beloved fiancee, and study with her...that was, unless he wanted to do more naughty things with her. Judging by the way he looked at her, like he would hike her dress up to her thighs and rip her panties down the instant she allowed him to, anything was possible.

Gideon and Sophie went to walk about the Institute and get to know one another better, as was the course of action for courtships which began under the Institute's roof. Charlotte took Cecily to get settled in, no doubt suspicious at the young girl's sudden arrival. Will didn't mind. He didn't know what to say to Cecily, he didn't know what to say to anyone.

When everyone left the dining room, Will realized that everyone else was off being in love, experiencing all love had to offer, while he remained alone. There was a time before he would have welcomed this- finally, there was no need to worry about people loving him, because there was no one left to love him. Yet now, when he should have been happy and relieved, he instead wanted to feel in love. He wanted to fall in love and feel his heart pound by just being in someone else's presence, and yet, he felt nothing, not happiness, not excitement, not thrill at Jem's good fortune or Tessa's happiness… nothing. He stood up from his seat at the table and went upstairs, thinking he would sit in his room until he finally fell asleep, but once he got to his bedroom he grabbed a top hat and coat, pulled them on, and walked back out of the room. He went downstairs, snuck out the front door, and started walking.

In time Will found himself on another side of town, close to the Chelsea Embankment and Cheyne Walk and number 16, where Magnus summoned a demon who gave Will answers to the questions that plagued his mind and the curse he thought he was under. Will didn't need to be there, didn't need to be near the warlock who would demand his favor be returned, and yet keeping himself away didn't seem possible. Within minutes, Will was sliding open the gate in front of the house and walking up to the front door. He lifted his hand and knocked.

After a moment, the door opened and Magnus peered out. He was dressed in black pants and a hastily tied dressing gown that was too big for him. It would have fit better on the broad shoulders of a man who spent some of his time running about the city in wolf form. Magnus was thin in the shoulders, tall but not muscular. Will smiled. At least he was right about one thing: the warlock was having relations with the werewolf.

"Yes, William?" Magnus asked. His hair was wet and stuck to his face and his skin smelled of sandalwood and shea, nothing like Jem's lavender and spice scent.

Will leaned against the doorframe and smiled. "Where's your lover?"

"I resent you thinking… he's not my… it's none of your business…" Magnus sputtered. Will rolled his eyes and yawned. "He's at work. Meeting with his pack. He'll be back before sunrise. Why are you here?"

"Seemed like a nice night for a walk," Will said, gesturing to the clear sky overhead. "Besides, I grew used to seeing your charming face night after night. Don't you feel the same?" Magnus quickly swallowed. His face was cast in a half shadow. There was no doubt in Will's mind that the warlock had to be blushing. "So are you going to invite me in? Or will you leave me on the doorstep for your lover to find in the morning? I do like a man who likes it rough, and your wolf man...why there's no telling what he could do to me." Magnus rolled his eyes, grabbed Will by the arm, and pulled him inside. Will staggered down a hallway after Magnus, all the way down to a small kitchen with a table covered with cards set up for solitaire. There was a tea kettle on the stove just starting to boil. "Camille really left you with nothing, didn't she?"

"Why are you here, William?" Magnus asked again. He turned off the tea kettle.

"Why are you wearing the werewolf's clothes?" Will asked. He took off his coat and tossed it over a chair.

"Because I left Camille's with nothing but the clothes on my back," Magnus said. "Your turn. Why are you here?"

"For the same reason as you," Will said. He unbuttoned his shirt sleeves and pushed them up to his elbows. There was a scar on his forearm, still red and angry and ripped looking, and he hadn't yet looked at the damage to his back.

"And why is that?" Magnus asked. Will turned around and rummaged through a cupboard, thinking he would serve Magnus tea, only, he couldn't find the teacups and doubted Magus knew where they were either. Then Magnus appeared beside him, pulling opening cupboards, rummaging as well.

"There's nowhere else to go," Will said. "Nowhere else I want to be anyway." Magnus snatched two mugs out of a cupboard over the stove and set them on the counter.

"Milk and sugar?" He asked, turning towards the ice box.

"I remember the kiss," Will said.

"Milk and sugar?" Magnus asked, "What kiss?" His cheeks flamed bright red and he tried to avert his eyes. "You and Tessa on the balcony? That kiss?" Magnus was good at ripping Will's heart out, when he didn't even know he was doing it.

"No. When I was all disoriented and Camille showed up. You kissed me for some reason, and I remember it," Will said. He smiled intrepidly. "Remember?"

"It was nothing. Just… It was complicated. And stupid," Magnus said. "I don't know what I was thinking. It was… do you want milk and sugar, Herondale?" He opened the icebox and brought out a frosty jar of milk.

"Now it's Herondale," Will said. "Is that anyway to refer to the man you locked lips with?" Magnus blushed red again, walked back to the counter, poured two cups of tea, and deftly added milk and sugar. When that was finished he returned to the icebox with the milk. Once the milk was installed back in the icebox, he stepped close to Will, who reached out, grabbed Magnus around the waist, pulled his body close, and kissed him once on the lips. Magnus tried to pull away, only, Will wrapped his arms around the warlock's shoulders and pressed their lips together once again.

Magnus moaned and struggled to get away, even as his chest slammed into Will's sore body. His lips parted and he pressed Will against the countertop, so that Will had to put his right hand down to keep his balance. He pressed his lips harder against Magnus's, forcing the warlock to kiss harder, faster, more painfully than before. Not since Jem had Will felt someone give so much of themselves with a kiss. Even Tessa, for how passionate she kissed, was nothing compared to the heat and lust and pure fire of Magnus's kiss.

Will gasped as Magnus pulled away from him. He lifted his hand, trying to reach out, grab Magnus, and just hold him close, but the warlock stepped backwards and straightened his dressing gown, which had slipped aside to show more tan skin than it had before. Magnus walked around the kitchen table, his eyes down, needing to put actual furniture between he and Will.

"Just so you know, I remember the kiss," Will said. Magnus nodded and ran his fingers through his long, silky hair, still not looking at Will. "I liked the kiss… then and now. I liked it. And you aren't the first man I've kissed either. Jem and I…" Magnus looked up at Will, shocked. "It's been years, really. I can't remember when it started but… it's been years of he and I, together."

"Why are you telling me this?" Magnus asked.

"You can love me," Will said simply. "Love me because I can love you back. There's no danger in it." Magnus shuddered and fell into his chair. He rearranged the cards on the table, sorting them into different piles. "Come, love, isn't that what you wanted? I see how you look at me. All starry eyed. Don't I owe you a favor?"

"A favor! A favor is… smoothing things over with the Clave. Running an errand for me. It's not… sexual," Magnus said, his voice coming out strained. "You're just a boy, William. You've got along on your charms and looks this long, but…"

"I assure you I am more than just a boy," Will said. "You know you want me, Magnus. Otherwise you would have never kissed me the first time, or now. You just can't help yourself. I have everything you desire." Magnus groaned and covered his eyes.

"You should go, William, please," Magnus said. He shuffled his cards and gestured towards the front door.

"So can I stay with you?" Will asked.

"I'm a guest here myself!" Magnus exclaimed. "Woolsey's house isn't like your Institute. It's not here to provide shelter to people who have nowhere else to go. He owes me a favor, that's all." Will was already nodding, watching Magnus sputter. "I plan to leave shortly and besides, a Shadowhunter lodging with a warlock and a werewolf and… it's unnatural! It's wrong! It's… Why can't you stay at the Institute?"

"Because Tessa is at the Institute, and so is Jem, and…" Will said. He looked away from Magnus, not daring himself to give the real reason why he wanted to stay somewhere other than the Institute: Jem and Tessa were there, happy and in love, and there was little Will could do about it, and he couldn't bear to sit by, unable to decide how to feel about them.

"Oh, Will," Magnus whispered. He stood up, walked over and laced his fingers with the finger on Will's right hand, so that their palms were close together. His other hand came up and traced Will's cheekbones, all the way down is face to his jaw line. Magnus didn't have to say anything, he had been around long enough and knew enough people to know what heartbreak looked like. Magnus knew that with love, there were always choices, and sometimes, the choice made wasn't always in the right person's favor.

"So can I just stay the night? It's not like they'll notice me gone," Will said.

"Stay down here. I'll make up a bed for you," Magnus said. He released Will's hand and left the room. Will waited a second, then walked out of the kitchen and followed Magnus upstairs to the second floor, all the way to the room where Magnus had summoned Marbas. By the time Will got there, Magnus had a fire in the fireplace and the bed already covered with a quilt.

"I promise I won't be any bother. I'll be gone in the morning. I just need a night…" Will said. Magnus waved away his concerns and put the finishing touches on an arm chair beside the fireplace and a table beside the bed. Books materialized out of nowhere and ended up on the bedside table, along with a brightly lit gas lamp.

"The bathroom is just down the hall. I'll be sure you have a toothbrush. My room is across the hall, should you need anything," Magnus said.

"Convenient," Will said. He reached up and began to unbutton his shirt. Magnus hovered by the door, trying not to watch, unable to look away. "Let me know when you want to cash in on your favor."

"You're bad for business," Magnus said, as Will's shirt parted down the center, revealing the tight muscles across his chest. Hs stomach was flat, with just a bit of hair on his lower stomach, running a thin line down into the waist band of his pants, which just barely clung to his hips. Magnus lips his lips and sighed, just loud enough for Will to hear. "Good night, William." Will smiled as Magnus walked out of the bedroom.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading!