Author's Note: Sorry that is has taken me so long to update. Life has gotten very busy but I swore I would give you an ending to this story and so I will. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed, please enjoy this chapter! Please be warned, there is a death in this chapter.

Chapter 13

"Come with me to Rome," Woolsey had said.

"No," Magnus had replied. He had been sitting on the couch in the purple room, staring into the fireplace, sitting in the same position he had held since dropping the ring into Woolsey's lap. Woolsey had moved all of his possessions out but didn't touch Magnus's trunk, and when the house was finally empty, he had asked Magnus to reconsider and come with him to Rome.

"Please," Woolsey had said.

"No," Magnus repeated, and it was the last thing he ever said to Woolsey. The werewolf left him with a key to the house and small box of Egyptian cigars, two things Magnus would never need. Magnus couldn't help but notice that his life was filling up with the things he didn't need, rather than the thing he most desired: unconditional love.

He was sitting on the sofa in the purple room, staring into the fire, when he heard the lock on the front door click. The door slid open and closed again, and then there was the sound of boots in the hallway, clicking on the hardwood floor. Magnus stood up slowly and turned, facing the door. He could only imagine who might come calling at this time of night, but was more fearful of what they could want.

The doorknob turned slowly and the door opened just far enough for a body to slip inside and close the door once more. Magnus took a deep breath as a boy looked up at him, gasping quietly as if out of breath.

"Will," Magnus whispered. Will nodded and crossed the room. He was dressed in solid black gear adorned with silver buckles and runes, fancier than any attire Magnus had ever seen him in before. His hair was damp, a darker, inkier black than before, and his skin was pale, his eyes the color of midnight ocean. He was beautiful, and so very broken.

Will nodded and put his arms around Magnus's shoulders, pulling him close. Magnus put his arms around Will as well as the boy laid his head on his shoulder.

"It is finished," Will whispered.

"You can't possibly mean that," Magnus said.

"He took her as his wife tonight. They exchanged rings and said vows. It is a symbolic marriage," Will said, "In sickness and in health, until death takes either from this world. They are married."

"I'm so sorry," Magnus offered. Will lifted his head and wiped some tears away. He grabbed Magnus by the arms and pressed his lips hard against Magnus's, kissing him passionately, tasting like salty tears and sweat. Magnus kissed back, his eyes closed, wanting to only feel in this moment, and see in the next.

Will stepped forward, forcing Magnus backwards until he hit the sofa with the back of his knees and fell backwards, grabbing Will by the belt at the last second, pulling him down with him. They crashed into one another on the sofa, their lips meeting as they fumbled with clothing. It was so fast, so uncontrolled the way it always was, because sex with Will was never about the act of sex or even passion, it was about feeling enough lust to forget about ever feeling pain.

"No," Magnus said, as Will bit him on the neck and gasped against him, one hand down on the button of his trousers, struggling to pull it open. "No, William. No!" He pushed Will away and Will fell backwards, a hurt look upon his face.

"Why not?" he asked. "We both want it."

"No. No, we don't," Magnus said. "We want to be in love with someone. We want to feel love for someone so desperately, we will try to feel it for anyone."

"You aren't anyone," Will said, touching Magnus's face. "You're someone to me. You know that." Magnus shook his head, knowing all too well Will was only saying what he knew Magnus would want to hear.

"Are you in love with me? Or am I just someone to be with on the nights you feel alone?" Magnus asked. Will flinched as if he had been slapped. It had to be difficult, to hear this, after all he had been through, and yet Magnus couldn't stop. "I could love you, Will, but you love someone else and you know it."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Will said. "She's married to him."

"Then maybe you weren't meant to be with her," Magnus said. Will shook his head. "You will find someone, Will. You might have even already found her. I know your heart is broken but you will find your place with someone… and that someone isn't me. Not this way. Not when you only want to be with me to forget everything else. I can be your friend, but nothing more."

"I feel all alone," Will said, his eyes filling with tears. "I feel like I have no one." Magnus put an arm around Will's shoulder.

"Everyone has someone," he said. "I know you want to give up, Will, but you have to keep going. You don't know it, but your best days are yet to come."

Will smiled through his tears. "As are yours," he whispered.

Will arrived back at the Institute early the next morning. He went immediately to the dining room and sat down to pour himself some tea as Gideon and Sophie set up the buffet for breakfast. Charlotte and Henry arrived first, each looking tired. They sat at the far end of the table and poured tea, each regarding Will quietly. He had left again, Will knew. After so many years of walking away Charlotte never objected to his leaving, mainly because she always knew, one way or another, that he would be back.

"Quiet night," Henry remarked, sipping his tea. Charlotte glared at him, and then looked at Will, sympathy in her eyes. She never treated him like her own son, and he never treated him like an older sister. Such familial closeness was never allowed by Will, who would rather Charlotte regard him with disdain, as a burden she had to bear, instead of with any sort of love. Even so, when he hurt, she knew it, and when Will grinned and bore Jem and Tessa's wedding, it would have been Charlotte who knew the truth.

The dining room door opened and Tessa walked in, followed by Jem. They were holding hands and each ducked their heads low when they discovered everyone's eyes on them. Will's heart ached with the now familiar pain he got whenever he saw Jem and Tessa together.

It had been a warm August morning the first time Will woke up naked and in bed with Jem. He had been fourteen and Jem just barely fifteen. The night before hadn't been the first time they were ever intimate together, but this had been the first time they had gone so far together, there would be no coming back from it.

They had started touching each other as soon as they first discovered that along with touches came pounding hearts and warm palms and shared breathes. That gave way to hiding beneath the covers together, losing themselves in the sensations one another provided. They spent an entire summer getting closer and closer to actually having sex, until one night Will pushed inside of Jem and watched pain and pleasure cross Jem's face. Will could still remember how he felt that night, as if the rest of the world didn't exist, it was only he and Jem. He had cared so deeply for the boy beneath him, he thought he might cry out of joy for how monumentous it felt, or fear for the pain he was causing Jem. In the end, he merely held on tight and crushed his lips to Jem's, not stopping until it was over.

The next morning, he woke up with Jem in his arms, feeling like he would never need anyone else in his life, if he only had Jem. Something was changed between them, and back then, they thought it was for the best.

"I'll love you forever," Jem had said. "You are the only person I will ever need in my life." Will believed him.

Now, seeing Jem acting coy, like he hadn't spent the night with Tessa, his wife, Will wanted to hate him. He wanted to call their marriage a sham, and yet as Jem put an arm around Tessa's waist, guiding her to a chair, the gold of his wedding ring flashing on his left hand, he couldn't help but feel happy for them. Jem had found someone to be with, and Will had no choice but to support them.

"Good morning," Jem said.

"Good morning," Will replied.

Jem and Tessa spent the next few weeks acting as inconspicuous as possible, but the evidence of their love was everywhere. They were always together, always holding hands (and occasionally kissing) and yet they never forgot about Will. They invited him along on excursions into town and picnics. They were never intimate ever again, not that Will wanted to be. He saw the way Jem looked at Tessa, like she was everything he had ever dreamed of, and could never imagine coming between them. Jem and Tessa were happy together, happy and in love, and that was all the mattered.

Every day spent together was like a dream, Will felt. There was nothing bad going on, and yet Will watched, every day, and saw Jem growing weaker. He no longer wanted to leave the Institute but instead was content to sit in the library with Tessa and Will. He began saving his smiles only for Tessa and always assured her he was fine. Jem appeared healthy to everyone, but Will saw the way Jem carried himself when Tessa wasn't watching. In those times, it seemed like merely walking was difficult, and so Will helped him whenever he could. Twice he woke up to the sound of Jem outside his bedroom, leaning against a wall, coughing blood into a handkerchief. Both times, Jem looked up at Will, shaking his head, silently saying, "please, don't tell her." Will never did, but he saw it every morning in Tessa's eyes. She already knew.

It was early dawn, a month after the wedding, when Will opened his eyes as the door to his bedroom creaked open. Tessa closed the door and crossed the room quickly. He closed his eyes again and listened to her quiet breathes beside the bed before he lifted his hand, offering it to her. She took it and climbed into his bed and he pulled the covers up around her shoulders. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him, so her back was flush against his chest and his face was buried in her hair.

They lay that way for an undetermined amount of time. Somewhere, a grandfather clocked chimed the hour. The kitchen staff would be getting to work preparing breakfast. Charlotte and Henry would be up, talking quietly as they took a morning walk around the Institute before eating. Gideon would be up next, hoping to steal a few minutes with Sophie before each went off to work on their own duties. Slowly but surely, the Institute would wake up, and come back to life.

But Will stayed in bed with Tessa. He kept his arm around her waist and felt her hand wrapped around his and press to her stomach. Lying together like this was improper. Tessa was a married woman and Will was the boy who could no longer loved her the way he once had. It was improper that they share a bed, let alone be this intimate, but Will couldn't decide what to do next and neither could Tessa.

"Tell me," Will finally whispered.

"How can I?" Tessa asked.

"You have to say it," Will said.

In response, Tessa sat up and climbed out of the bed, still holding Will by the hand. He climbed out of bed and followed her from the room, not caring that he was dressed only in pajama pants. It was improper that Tessa see him that way. It didn't matter. Tessa pulled Will down the hallway and Will followed her all the way to her and Jem's room. She pushed the door open and Will went inside to find Jem laying in the bed, the covers pulled around his waist, his eyes closed, his arm laying across his chest, his wedding ring still plain to see. he had never taken it off, not once in an entire month.

Will crawled across the bed and Tessa followed him. They knelt beside Jem and Will closed his eyes and leaned his face down close to Jem's, already knowing he would feel… nothing.

"When?" Will asked.

"Sometime during the night. In his sleep," Tessa said. "When I woke up I found him like this. He's… he's gone, Will." Will straightened and gripped Tessa's hand tighter. "You were the first person I knew to tell. No one else knows."

"We need to tell them," Will said. He looked up at Tessa then to see her gray eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Tess…"

"We've lost him," Tessa whispered. "We've really lost him, haven't we?" Will just nodded slowly. Tessa crumbled then, her hands on her stomach, her sobs breaking through the early morning silence of the Institute. Will wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against his body, and together they cried for a very long time, until Tessa's gasps became painful and Will pulled away from her, looking into her eyes, his hands on her jaw.

"Breathe, Tessa. Just breathe. It's going to be alright," Will said. He knew in that moment he had to be strong for her, as he always had been. Tessa took several breathes and settled herself, then reached up and brushed some tears from Will's cheek.

"What happens next?" Tessa asked.

"We keep breathing," Will replied, "We keep going."

Author's Note: Please review! Thank you for reading! Epilogue to follow!