A/N

I don't know anybody's comfort level with things, but up ahead there is mention of woman problems, nothing major but skip over the line if you want. And it's pretty obvious that like to describe what Tessa wears, so just skip through that if you want.

Gabriel, evidently, did not intend to let Tessa go. Therefore, Tessa melted in the kiss. She placed her hands on his chest, gripping his shirt as his kisses turned more passionate and urging.

At first, it was just his lips moving, urging hers to respond. However, when Tessa realized that Gabriel planned to kiss her for a while, she responded. Although she was not as eager as he was, he still smiled halfway into the kiss, this almost resulting in their lips separating.

Finally, he pulled away, looking into her eyes. He smiled at her and she returned it. Nevertheless, the thought of how she had kissed Will earlier in the night, made the corners of her mouth turn down. Nevertheless, Gabriel was oblivious to her expression. He was past noticing.

"I don't care," Gabriel muttered, lowly to Tessa. As if, he were telling her secret.

"You don't care about me and Will making out?" Tessa inquired, leaning her cheek into Gabriel's hand.

"No, I am sorry for-"Tessa cut him off.

"For losing your temper," She stated, finishing what he was probably going to say.

"Yes, I am known to be temperamental." Gabriel chuckled and kissed Tessa once more.

Thoughts of Will and the fact that they had kissed less than two hours prior, flooded into her head. Images of him flashed in the inside of her closed lids. How could she kiss Gabriel, when she just kissed ex-boyfriend, passionately? Some would think that surely she would contemplate about what would happen after what transpired between and her Will. Nonetheless, she had not been thinking about that. Instead, she was thinking that perhaps she would just forget about what happened and her life would go on regularly. How stupid could she have been? She had to tell Gabriel.

Therefore, she drew away from Gabriel, who looked at her in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel." Tessa whispered to him, her hands grasping his shirt as if it were a lifeline

"Sorry for what, Tessa. You kissed him and that was it. Nothing-"

"Yes, something else did happen. But not last week, when we kissed. It happened-" Tessa paused and tried to gather what courage she possessed, although she really had no idea as to why she was nervous. "-today, before we came here."

Gabriel positioned his hands on her shoulders, looking at her. In his eyes, Tessa notice that Gabriel was thinking the worst. Perhaps he was thinking that what occurred between them was more than a kiss. In his eyes, Tessa could tell that he thought her and Will had slept together. She could not let him believe that, it was unfair.

"What happened, Tessa?"

They had kissed, that was it. What harm could be done if she said that they kissed again, even after Will blurted out what he did? However, Gabriel was unpredictable. Possibly, another statement about how she kissed Will, was enough to push him off the edge.

"I, um, kissed-"she paused, fearing what Gabriel would do when she told him- suddenly it seemed to Tessa as if she were making the situation worse than it really was, "-Will, in his car." Tessa stuttered out, wrenching herself away from Gabriel and walking to the ledge, expecting Gabriel to say something angrily.

She looked down at the street. A blonde haired woman placed her toddler in the back seat of a car; she then rounded the car and got in the driver seat. Just a little down the street, a couple walked hand in hand on the right side. One the left side, man with a messenger back slung over his shoulder, walked while talking on his phone. Tessa would have been either of those people if it meant getting out of the dumb situation she was in at that moment.

As she continued to stare down at the street- the woman and her child and the passersby gone- she waited for Gabriel to lose his temper. Perhaps call her a slut- despite the fact that she did nothing but kiss one person- and say that he never wanted to speak to her again. It would hurt like hell, but she would deserve.

However, it was only a simple kiss. They did nothing more but brush their lips together. It was not as if they had sex or gave each other hand jobs. Nonetheless, kisses could be interpreted differently depending on the person. Tessa felt her becoming confused, she was thinking too much about things. The same thoughts kept coming into her mind, only in different forms.

"Gabriel-"Tessa said, deciding to speak up first, but was cut off by Gabriel who spoke up, softly.

"It's my fault," he said, leaning against the ledge beside her. He clasped his hands together.

"No, it's not. It's mine and mine alone. Will proposed it and I accepted. I was the one whole leaned in, actually."

Gabriel turned and circled his arms around Tessa. Lifting his right hand, he placed it on her cheek. He sadly smiled at her. "No, if I had not lied and told you that my feelings for you were platonic, then you never would have let your guard down. You would be with me, for real, and you'd be mine."

"What- no Gabriel, it's not you. It was me," Tessa stated, warmth settling through her body as he held her closer to his body.

"Tessa, no, I don't want to hear anymore. You slept with-"he paused and shuddered "-Will, your ex-boyfriend and probably my enemy. But I don't care, as long as you want me, right now, then that's it. I will be yours."

At that moment, Gabriel was astonishing her. He was being a completely different person. He was being somebody entirely new. Moreover, Tessa never would have imagined that anybody who found out that their crush kissed their enemy would be fine. At the least- if Gabriel did not push her away- he would have said that they should be friends until he decides that he thinks her feelings were Will were settling. Nevertheless, he was diving headfirst. He was thrusting himself into something he was not entirely sure would benefit him.

Tessa would do the same. She would figure out her feelings for Gabriel, after all Will had wanted it. He had basically pushed them together. He was giving them a chance, something Tessa never imagined Will would ever do.

"So your feelings for me aren't just amicable?" Tessa asked.

"No, they're more than that. And they have been since the second we started "fake dating."" Gabriel mentioned, his thumb brushing her lip.

Instantly, she was brought back to that night when she sat on her kitchen counter. Will stood in between her legs.

At his words, Will walked over to Tessa. With his thumb, he wiped off a bit of yogurt that had settled on her lip. The yogurt on his thumb, he licked it, and went back to his position against the counter, acting as if what he did was a normal thing.

Tessa closed her eyes and forced the thought out her head. She focused on Gabriel who was staring her with the utmost curiosity. He blushed as she caught him.

"What…" Tessa's words drifted off into the air of wind London air.

"Your expressions are powerful- you're so beautiful." He whispered against her lips.

Tessa grinned as her pressed his mouth against hers, kissing her. Responding to it, she wrapped her arms around his neck as both his hands settled on her waist, pulling her closer, leaving no space in between them.

When they pulled away Gabriel said, "Let's get away."

"What do you mean?"

Gabriel rubbed his nose against hers. "London, we should get away from London. We could perhaps get away for a weekend- or maybe more, if you want."

"Where are you suggesting?"

"My family owns this cottage about forty minutes away. We could go there. Or maybe we could take a drive to Scotland, remember you talked about going to see some castle?"

"Yes-, but why do you want to leave so badly?" Tessa inquired. "I mean we're together now as a real couple. Our friends- who already did not mind our faux relationship- would probably love to see that we are officially real."

"I know, but before we tell them our real status, I want to be just with you. I want this to be our secret, at least until next weekend."

"Gab, I'd loved too, I really would. But we graduated in a few weeks and everything is hectic. There are finals to worry about and I have interviews this week and next weeks for a job." She placed her hand on his chin, cupping it. "You understand, right? We could go after graduation."

He smiled down at her, though, the light had somewhat doused from his eyes. "As long as I get to spend the week with you, I am fine."

Tessa grinned at him before he bent his head down and kissed her. The kiss did not last long for the door to the roof opened and out popped Cecily.

They both quickly broke apart from one another and blushed, looking at Cecily who also reddened. However, the hint of annoyance could not be missed in her face. It registered in her eyes and mouth.

"Um, Jessamine wanted me to come up and tell you guys that dessert is being served." Cecily announced, quickly turning around and going inside the building.

"Well, I guess now there is no secret. When Cecily founds out something, she tells."

"True," Tessa muttered quietly, before following Gabriel in the building and down the steps.

"So you played the flute, when you were younger?"

"Believe it or not, yes. I was as good as Jem is good at playing the violin. I was a pro." Gabriel said, smiling as he threw a pair of blue shorts into the blue pile. Since Tessa got to choose what they would do, they were cleaning her closet, planning to color coordinate it at the end. All at ten o' clock at night.

"How come you failed to tell me this on our "date" last week?" Tessa asked, placing air quotes, with her fingers, on the word date.

"It slipped my mind; I was too worried about impressing you to remember everything about my childhood." Gabriel walked and placed his chest to Tessa's back. He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Obviously, it worked."

Tessa grinned, throwing a very ugly red dress in the red pile to the left of her. "What worked, exactly?" She asked, turning around and clasping her hands around his neck.

"Nothing you need to worry about."

"I wasn't going to-"Tessa was cut off by Gabriel's soft kiss.

Just as it was starting to heat up, he pulled away, untangling himself from Tessa. He grinned at her pouting face. "You said that there's Vimto in the fridge?"

"Yes, on the bottom." Tessa answered, going to remove one more piece of clothing from the closet.

"I'm making popcorn too. You have that, right?"

"Yes, ask Cecily where it is, because she usually hides it."

Gabriel smiled and nodded, kissing Tessa on the cheek before he exited her room.

As soon as she heard the stairs creak, Tessa crossed the room and grabbed her phone off the bed. Unlocking it, she went to her contacts and scrolled down to the bottom. Upon doing so, she tapped on someone and dialed the person. Going to the window next to her bed, Tessa looked out into the bright city and bit index nail of her hand, which was not holding the phone.

In three rings, the person answered. She smiled at his voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Will," Tessa said, staring out into the city, in the direction where she knew Will and Jem's flat would be. "When I came back downstairs from the roof, you were gone."

There was silence at first, and then he spoke. "Yeah, you didn't expect me to stick around and watch as you and Lightworm cuddled one another- assuming that you two did get together." Some might have taking what he said as a statement, but Tessa took it as a question. Although she knew that deep down Will had known they were together.

"We did," Tessa mentioned, quietly.

Silence followed and she would not have been surprised if he hung up on her.

"I'm glad for you-"

"Will, why did you do it? Just last week you said you were going to stop at nothing to get me back. But tonight you basically told me to give Gabriel a chance, to be his girlfriend- if he asked."

"Tess, I'd rather not talk about it-"Will was interrupted by another voice. Tessa thought that it was Jem; however, it was too high to be Jem's, it was Tatiana's. Dread coursed through her.

"Will, who is that?" Tatiana asked her voice loud and clear through the phone.

"I thought she was with Rupert?" Tessa questioned, not knowing if she was asking herself or Will. He chose to answer.

"No, they broke up and Tatiana and I are just friends." He sounded calm and nonchalant.

"What about Amy?"

"We were never really a real couple." Will said, soon followed by, "Tatiana, can you get some chips." Tatiana obeyed and was out of earshot.

"I'll call you tomorrow." He suggested through the phone.

"Sure, I'll talk to you tomorrow." The slightest amount of jealousy flowed through her body. And the feeling of hopelessness filled her as she thought of how abrupt Will ended their conversation.

"Alright bye-"

"Wait, Will," Tessa interrupted before she muttered a weak, "I love you."

There was a long period of silence until he mentioned, "Love you too, Tess." And the line went dead.

Tessa walked out her Classical Literature class and out of the west wing of her school. Walking into the mass of students- leaving out their seminars too-, Tessa elbowed her way all the way until she got to a nearly deserted pathway. It was out of the way, however, it was a part of the campus that was usually never crawling with a ton of students.

Trees with bright green leaves, an assortment of vibrant colored flowers, and thin branches, covered the sides of the trail. Benches stood in between the trees and trash bins were situated next to the benches. Freshly mowed grass covered the floor, street lamps were scattered around the grass, towering over students that lay in the grass.

To add to the vivacious, beautiful campus was the blue sky above Tessa's head that was dotted with a puffy white cloud here and there, making everything lively and luminous. The sun shined brightly above, warming the back of her head and back.

She felt at ease, as if nothing bad could possibly happen. The tranquil atmosphere of the college campus was calming to Tessa. It made her feel-

Solid, warm arms encircled her waist and she was turned around. Immediately she felt the pressure of a pair of lips against hers. Before another thought could register in her mind, Tessa knew that it was Gabriel. Therefore, she relaxed in his arms, grabbing the collars of his shirt and pulling him closer.

"Hey, babe," Gabriel said, upon pulling away from her, yet still holding her close to his body.

"Hey, it feels like I haven't seen you in a long time." Tessa joked, since she had seen him a few hours earlier in Foreign Languages and when they went to get lunch.

"I know; two hours is a pretty long time." Gabriel retorted back, smiling at their teasing. He then added, "You ready for our date tonight?"

"Um, yeah, although technically it isn't our first date." Tessa mentioned; purposefully knowing that she sounded like a smart aleck. "There was the time when you took me to lunch and then when you brought me coffee-"

Gabriel cut her off by kissing her, lightly, on the lips. He pulled away and grinned down at her.

"You're being a smart ass."

"I prefer smart aleck. But I'm telling the truth." Tessa said, dragging on the conversation. She rubbed the collar of his Polo shirt, subconsciously.

"Well, let's just think of this as being our first fancy date. It's going to be a cliché dinner date where I take you to a typical elegant restaurant." He let go of Tessa and clasped her hand in hands, walking along down the path.

"It's going to be a French restaurant, isn't it? Or is it an Italian one? Those are the two most cliché restaurants for first dates." Tessa swung their hands in the air as they took the path that led to the building where her next class was at.

Gabriel's smile widened and pulled out his phone. He unlocked it and tapped onto to something. Finally, he evidently found something. Putting his phone back into his pocket, he said," It's called Hunan, it's this really delicious Chinese food restaurant. Gideon introduced it to me, actually."

"I've never heard of that place before."

"Maybe it's because you don't get around a lot." Gabriel teased, gently nudging Tessa's shoulder with his own. "I've been told that you rarely eat out of your comfort zone."

"Who told you that? I eat plenty of food. Also, Chinese food is in my comfort zone." Tessa stopped once they were in front of the building.

She turned and faced Gabriel. Her arms wound around his neck and he pulled her closer to his body. They smiled at each other.

"We'll finish this conversation later." He mentioned to her. "But now, you need to get to class." He looked down at his watch. "You're three minutes late, you know."

"It took us that long to walk?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I wasn't counting, but go. I'll see you later." He bent down and kissed her, before she turned and went up the steps, blending into the flow of other students.

"What do you feel like doing today?" Sophie asked, sliding out of Gideon's warm sheets and going to find something to put on.

"Lying in bed and cuddling with you. Come back, my source of warmth is gone," Gideon half whined, propping himself up on his elbows.

Sophie resolved to slip on Gideon's shirt from the previous night that is until she went to go take a shower. She turned to her boyfriend and felt butterflies creep into her stomach. Gideon was exceptionally gorgeous in the morning. His thick, sandy brown stuck up everywhere, in a sex/ messy way. As he propped himself on his elbows, his burly muscles were flexed. His smooth, muscle-toned chest also peeked out of the white sheets of his bed. In the bright rays of sun that escaped through the windows, Sophie could see the true colors of his eyes; a grayish-green color.

She snapped herself out her admiration and tried to recover. Although by the way Gideon was flushed and smiling, she knew that he had noticed her basically gawking at him. However, he did not even mention it. Silently, she thanked him for keeping quiet.

Sophie cleared her throat and said, sheepishly, "There's plenty of sheets, and no, it's bad enough you didn't go to you International Relations seminar today. We shouldn't lounge around all day and binge."

"Aren't you missing your class, today?" Gideon questioned, placing his hands behind his head. This made him even more attractive and Sophie fixated her gaze on the window. She walked to it and opened the curtains.

"My class is at six tonight. I've already told you that, Gideon." Sophie opened the window and turned to stare at her boyfriend. She walked to the edge of the bed, which she would find out was a bad mistake.

"Alright fine, but let's do something fun and not terribly boring."

"Let's go take that art class." Sophie exclaimed, leaning into the bed, placing one knee on the mattress. "Remember you mentioned something about this art studio that offered art lessons, for free?"

"I don't need art lessons. Did you forget that I'm currently doing my own art?" Gideon turned to Sophie and looked at her with a kindness in her eyes that mad her legs feel like noodles. He leaned on his side and scooted close to her.

Sophie had nearly forgotten that Gideon could paint and draw really well. He also had an uncanny talent went it came to pottery. Just a week before they had went to a pottery class at a recreation center. It had been their first time and Gideon created a perfect pot. She had concluded that he was just a very artistic man.

"And? I don't know how to paint, or draw. So, we are going to that art studio, or else I go and you don't." Sophie stated, crossing her arms and sticking her nose up in the air. She nearly broke her mocking smug attitude by smiling.

Gideon chuckled and gripped her arm with his warm, calloused hands. He pulled her onto the bed and pinned her beneath his body. Her smug attitude dissipated as Gideon stared down at her; it dissolved as her boyfriend's strong body trapped her soft body between him and his mattress.

"I'll go, for you. Voy a ir, pero solo para usted*." Whenever Gabriel said a phrase in Spanish, to her, his voice always dropped to a soft whisper and his tone turned gentle.

Sophie had learned that Gideon had been taught Spanish when he stayed in Spain for a year in his last year of secondary school. He had never actually her why he went there, or why Gabriel didn't go. However, she didn't ask, for fear that maybe he didn't want her to know. Aside from that, she had also gathered that Gideon only spoke in Spanish when he was in a good mood. This meant that apparently, as he pinned her on the bed, that he was in a good mood.

"So, you will go with me?" Sophie inquired, slowly translating his words.

"Cualquier cosa por ti, carino," Gideon whispered into her ear, before leaving a trail of kisses down her neck.

Sophie closed her eyes sighed in pleasure as his hand began to crawl under her shirt. Gradually, it slid to the middle of her back, while the other grabbed a hold of her shirt and started to tug it up. Her toes curled when she felt Gideon's mouth reach a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. She bent one of her knees and wrapped the other leg around his waist. Meanwhile, her hands worked themselves in his hair and then began to glide down his neck and to his back.

"Gideon, no, if we do something now then we'll never get up." Sophie said, breathlessly, fighting hard to keep Gideon at a distance.

He groaned and idly placed his hand in between the crook of her neck and shoulder. "Alright, I'm getting up." Gideon mumbled, his words slurred as his lips moved against her shoulder.

Once, he rolled himself off Sophie, she slid off the bed. Almost every ounce of her wanted to get back into bed and get under the covers with her boyfriend. Nevertheless, the few other ounces of her decided that doing that was not good. They should get out and go on an excursion.

They took a shower-, which Sophie found out was another stupid mistake of hers- dried themselves off and walked back into Gideon's bedroom. Sophie wrapped a towel around her body and started to look through his closet.

"Didn't I leave a few of my clothes here?" Sophie questioned, growing exasperated as she tried to rummage through the disorderliness of her boyfriend's closet.

Gideon pulled on a pair of boxer briefs and opened his drawer to grab a pair of dark jeans. "Uh, yeah, you left two dresses here, a pair of jeans and a ruffled shirt. All of which I happily washed for you. Also there is a bra and underwear somewhere in my drawers."

Sophie blushed and shuffled to his drawers to search for those necessities. Successfully, she found a mismatched lace, pink bra and green, hearted underwear. She had been looking for those, and had forgotten they were at her boyfriend's flat.

After sliding on her under garments, she jogged over to the closet and discovered one of the dresses that Gideon had been talking about. A blue patterned sundress reached mid-thigh and had sleeves that just touched her elbows. A string tied together the dress at her waist.

"You know, Cecily, Jessamine- well not really her, since she moved-, and Tessa complained that I spend too much time over here. I mind as well just move in." Sophie realized what she had just mentioned. She had basically told him that she should move in with him. Therefore, before Gideon could even register what she had mentioned, Sophie added, "That's what they said, but I said no, because it's way too early in-"

Sophie had her back to Gideon, looking for her sandals that had been thrown somewhere the previous night. Therefore, she did not see her boyfriend coming up behind her and pulling her against his strong torso. It surprised, nonetheless, she leaned into him.

"You don't have to explain yourself, amor." Gideon whispered to her, sweetly. "I already know how you feel. I'm ready for you to move in whenever you are." He paused before saying, "I love you."

Sophie turned in his arms and her mouth opened in an O shape. That was the first time Gideon had ever admitted that he loved her. Sure, he whispered sweet phrases in Spanish to her, but he never said he loved her. Although, Sophie could feel the tension in the air when they were in certain conversations. She had inferred at times that he was love with her; however, he never expressed it.

Then, he did. And she could not be more happier. However, she was silent for too long. Gideon mistook her silence. He must have thought that what he confessed was not something she wished to her. Perhaps, she did not love him back. So, Gideon gripped her shoulders and looked into her brown eyes, searching for something.

"I am in love with you, Sophie. I have always been, since the first time I met you. And I can't imagine my life without you."

She smiled and finally said, "I'm in love with you too, Gideon. I love, love, love, you."

He smiled moved his hands to her face, cupping it. With one more "I love you", Gideon brought his lips down on hers and kissed her with great passion, with love and adoration. The kiss was soft, but it was satisfying and amazing.

When they both pulled away, Sophie saw nothing but love and contentment within Gideon's eyes. It was as if he were the luckiest man in the world.

Cecily walked up the steps, one hand holding a cup of steaming lemon tea and the other grasping a plate of leftover spaghetti. She planned on multi –tasking in her room. Studying for exams, writing an article, and eating would not possibly be too hard.

Upon, reaching the top step and walking down the hallway, Cecily saw Tessa standing in front of her mirror with a robe on and holding up two dresses.

Jealousy burned through Cecily and she could not help but imagine herself barging into Tessa's room, snatching the dresses from out her hand, and tearing them up. Why would she do this? She would do this because Tessa was going on a date with Gabriel, because of course they were together.

Cecily hated herself for feeling this way. However, she hated Tessa more. Despite the fact that she lived with her, and pretended to consider Tessa a good friend, Cecily was jealous. Tessa always got what she wanted, never caring what happened as a result to that. She always got the men that she wanted, was exceptionally smart and had a perfect personality; everybody wanted to be around her.

Sure, people liked to be around Cecily; sure, she was fun and talked a lot. Nevertheless, Tessa always overshadowed her.

Cecily had a crush on Jem, a huge one in fact. However, she knew that he would never think of her more than Will's younger sister, the Will's sister who was a grade below them would. There was also the fact that he was technically in love with Tessa. Everybody knew it but Tessa. But even if she did know, she would probably have dragged him along and then cast him aside for her brother.

Irrational, Cecily was being irrational and letting her jealousy get the best of her. However, when you have a crush on somebody for quite a long time and they go to chase after one of your friends- who already had another person whom they are in love with-, you tend to become bitter and envious.

Nevertheless, Tessa did not deserve Cecily's jealousy. She was too nice and too forgiving. Moreover, Tessa was sarcastic-, which could be funny at times- and always tended to correct people-, which annoyed Cecily sometimes-, but nonetheless, Tessa meant no harm.

Perhaps, that was another factor as to why Cecily was jealous of her best friend. Perhaps, she had been covetous ever since she met Tessa Gray. Perhaps-

Cecily suddenly got an idea. Despite how nice or charismatic Tessa was, she still did not want her with Gabriel. In order to complete the goal, she would have to find ways in order to push Will and Tessa together. She had no idea why they were even broken up. They should have been together already.

It was Cecily who called Will over, purposely, that night after the party, because she knew that Tessa would come home. And if they were both home at the same time, they could not resist one another. Her plan only half worked. Cecily had expected them to kiss, and then sleep together. However, they only kissed.

Perhaps that would be enough for them to realize they did not want to be apart, Cecily had thought. Nevertheless, the kiss had not helped. Tessa had pushed him away.

However, maybe the second time would work. Therefore, Cecily set her food and tea down and slipped her hand into her pocket. She produced her phone and unlocked. In a few seconds, she was dialing Will. After the fourth ring, he picked up, sounding exasperated.

"What," He answered, not bothering to disguise his agitated tone.

Cecily ignored how he sounded and said, "I need you to come over."

Will sighed. "Why do you need me to come over?"

Cecily skimmed through her thoughts and tried to think of a logical excuse as to why she wanted him to come. Defeated, she decided to say, "I need help with this paper." There was a moment of silence before she quickly added, "And you can't help me over the phone. I need you to look at it."

"That's what Face Time is for. You have a Mac book, I have a Mac book, just Face Time me, Cecy. I really don't feel like leaving the comfort of my room."

"My paper is on my computer, duh Will." Cecily muttered, hoping Will did not argue with her too much.

"That's why portable phones with cameras were invented; to take pictures." Cecily rolled her eyes at her brother. "Please do take a picture of the report and then send it to me."

"Will, stop being stubborn and come help me. Do you really want younger sweet young sister to fail her class?" She knew that using an innocent voice on her brother would not work; it never did and never would. But it was worth a try.

"Don't use that voice with me, Cecily." She smiled as she could hear the laughter in his voice. "And if you didn't put yourself in a failing position, then you wouldn't need my help."

"Just come o-"Will cut her off, somewhat infuriating her.

"Is Tessa there or Gabriel there, or are they there at the same time?" Will voice had turned from lively to grim, with a hint of sadness.

"No, Tessa left out a while ago," Cecily said, and then added, "By herself, Gabriel wasn't with her."

"Oh," Will muttered, relief obvious in his voice.

"So you'll come over?"

"I'll be there soon. Jem is gone, so I need something to do." Will mentioned, before he hung up.

Tessa opened her closet door wider and peered inside, searching for her royal blue skater skirt. She had not been sure of the two dresses she had picked and decided that perhaps a skirt and a nice shirt would be fine.

Finally, she found the skirt she was looking for and threw it on the bed, next to her two dresses. She half jogged half walked to her closet again and looked through the hangers. Upon looking, she discovered a crocheted light blue cami top, which she had nearly forgotten she had. The top had been to long for Jessamine's torso; therefore, she gave it to Tessa. Deciding that she would go casual, but a little formal, Tessa grabbed the shirt and chucked on the bed with her skirt.

There were now three outfits she had to choose from, although her opinion was slighted more toward the skirt and shirt. However, she needed someone else's judgment. So, Tessa began to walk out of her room, going to find Cecily, who she knew for sure was home.

Luckily, she was in the corridor. Cecily had just hung up from a phone call and was about to pick up her food and tea from the floor.

"Cecily, can you help me with something?" Tessa inquired; her head hanging out of the room.

Cecily smiled and nodded. "Um, sure, what do you need me for?"

"Tessa walked back into the room and strolled over to the bed. "I need your opinion on these three outfits. Which one should I wear for my date with Gabriel?"

"Well, where is he taking you?"

"He's taking me to a Chinese restaurant. It's not particular fancy, but we're going a date and I doubt it would be appropriate for me to stroll up there with him in a graphic t-shirt, jeans and converses."

Cecily laughed, although it seemed forceful. Tessa looked at her curiously and was about to ask what was the matter, but she had already spoken up and the moment had certainly passed.

"This white dress looks to plain, and like you're going to a wedding." Cecily placed clothing on the bed and picked up the floral print dress. "This one is making my eyes hurt, it's a lot of flowers." Then she assessed the skirt and shirt, which brought a somewhat smile to her face. "Go with this outfit, the skirt is nice and so is the shirt."

"Thanks, Cecy, I had no idea that the dress looked as if I were going to a funeral." Tessa said, not meaning to sound sarcastic. She grabbed dresses from the bed and began to hang them back up in her closet.

"Do you need any more help? Need me to curl your hair?"

"No, I'll do it, but thanks for asking." With that, Cecily walked out of Tessa's room, leaving the door wide open. Tessa thought nothing of it, seeing, as there was no one else in the house except for them two.

The conversation was weird. Cecily was acting awkward and very much out of her normal chatter. Just a few weeks before, if Tessa asked Cecily about her dresses, she would blabber on and on, non-stop. She would lengthen her opinion more and more, and even add on stories- unnecessary statements that did not have to be voiced. Sometimes, Tessa would think that Cecily just talked to her herself. It never bothered Tessa; it was simply who Cecily was.

However, everything seemed distance. Sure, she had explained why Tessa should not pick either dress, but other than that, everything was short. Everything was formal and tense. There were questions and answers, instead of questions, commentary from Cecily, answers from Tessa, and then more commentary from Cecily.

Tessa shoved it off. She disregarded it. Perhaps, Cecily's cycle was on, maybe she was feeling moody. Although even then Cecily would still be rambling.

Twenty minutes later, Tessa was applying Chap Stick to her lips- she refused to put on any makeup except for mascara and a bit of eyeliner that she stole from Jessamine. After a few coats, she placed the essential in her shoulder purse.

Tessa walked over to her mirror, making sure that she nothing was out of order or that she had nothing left to fix.

Her was curled- but the wand curler, which at first she had not known how to use correctly. Her Chap Stick was layered on, her blue eyeliner matched her skirt perfectly, her mascara was dark and fortunately did not contrast with her outfit, and her cheeks were red because she had pinched them. The classic skater skirt she wore was ironed and not to high, but showed a good portion of her legs, and the shirt she wore covered her stomach. Finally, her eyes landed on the black, suede ankle boots that accessorized her feet and seemed to bring together her whole outfit.

Smiling, she walked over to her bed and grabbed the black, suede jacket that coincidentally matched her boots. When she had bought the jacket, she had exclaimed to her mom that it was not a coincidence that those two items matched. However, her mom had argued that it was a coincidence because the items were from two different stores.

Tessa smiled and-

"You look beautiful." Tessa whipped around and saw Will leaning against her door frame. One arm rested on the door hold while the other lay against his side, his hand in his pocket. In that pose, Tessa could see a little bit of smooth skin, the curve of his hip. And at that moment in time, he looked like a model.

Before she could melt or do anything that made her suspicious, Tessa said, "Will, um, what are you doing here?" She had not seen him in almost a week and a half, and for him to make a surprise visit, was weird.

"Cecily needed me to help her with a report." He pushed himself to stand up right. He looked down at the floor. "She lied and told me that you had left a while ago."

"Oh," Tessa muttered, trying to hide the defeat in her voice. There was a small beacon of hope that maybe Will had come for her. However, evidently she was wrong.

"Sad to know that I had not come here for you?" Will asked, although it sounded more like a statement, as if he were telling her what she already knew.

Tessa pulled on her jacket and slid the shoulder bag over her shoulder. She looked at her phone and saw that there were no more new messages from Gabriel.

"No, I'm not sad, Will. I'm glad you aren't here for me." Tessa mentioned, soon adding, "Because it would sure be messy when Gabriel comes to pick me up for our date."

Now it was Will's turn to try and hide his defeat, which he did really well. The emotion was there, but then gone in the flash of a second. Tessa thought she had imagined it, however, she was not that naïve, and she knew that it was one of Will's many skills. He knew how to control his emotion and wall them up before anyone could measure him.

"Right, almost forgot." Will was still standing in her doorframe and, Tessa did not know why, but she wanted him to come in, wanted him to stand next to her. "Well, I should go help Cecily with her report. Enjoy your date."

He turned, but Tessa called his name and said, "Are you in a relationship with Tatiana?" She had walked closer to him.

Will chuckled and turned around, his beautiful eyes staring into her gray ones. "We never had a relationship to begin with. I told you we were just friends." Relief flooded through Tessa and suddenly she felt humiliated and ashamed for even bringing up the subject.

"Yeah, sorry for-"

"Don't be sorry, no reason to be." Will whispered, before turning away. However, he swirled around back to face her; he smiled down at her. "I propose a friendship, Tessa Gray."

Tessa raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you talking about Will?"

"I'm talking about how we should be friends."

"We already are friends."

"No we aren't, Tess." The name sent shivers through her; he had not called her that in a long time. "We're simply the exes of each other that are going to be awkward around one another in the future."

There was no argument that was what they were and were going to be until Tessa figured out her feelings.

"Alright, then, William Owen Herondale, friends it is." Tessa held out her hand and met Will's. They shook and all too soon, he slid his hand out hers and it seemed as if all the warmth from out her body had retreated. The thrill that rushed through her, left too and she could not help but blush.

Will bent down and kissed her cheek, he pulled away and smirked down at her, warmth suddenly flowing through her again.

"Friends until you decide that you belong with me." Will mentioned, before he produced a piece of white paper from his front pocket. He raised it so that she could see it. "This is a flyer for this poetry reading, or something. Jem is playing his violin tomorrow night. That can be our first outing as friends, be there by three."

Will then slid an arm around her waist, to her backside, and slipped the paper into the waistband of her skirt. And she could have sworn that his hand lingered there. However, before she could do anything, he un-hooked his arm from around her body and walked away.

The art studio was huge was huge and covered with vibrant colors. There were four walls, each one painted a different shade of blue. One wall, where the front door was, had been painted a pretty sapphire and dozens of vividly painted pictures of landscapes adorned it. The wall to the right of Sophie was a beautiful azure color and was festooned with a couple dozens of people's self-portraits- that interested her the most. The left wall was a cool artic color and decked tons of murals of different things: food, people, places, landmarks, etc. The list goes on and Sophie knew that Gideon was attracted to that art the most. Then the far wall was painted a stunning teal and that was where there was another door, which most likely led to the art teacher's personal studio.

Sophie looked around more and gawked at the miniature clay models. That happened to be all types of colors, any shade you could think of. There was a clay model of buildings; one was colored lime, magenta. On a pineapple painted, rectangular table there were an assortment of flowers made from paper. A bunch was the color of butterscotch, another hue of crimson and another tint of parakeet.

The liveliness and luminescent glow of the room was almost too much for Sophie and she could not believe her eyes. When she had thought of an art class for adults, she had thought the room would be dull, the walls white and covered in paintings containing dull images. However, she had not expected the room to look bright and animated.

There were twenty-four easels set up in rows of four facing a large blackboard. On the board was a name. In big, orange letters, the name Sora Kaidou filled almost the whole board. Sophie looked around and immediately guessed whom Sora was. She must be the artist who owned the studio, Sophie thought.

Sora must be the woman whom everyone was gathered around, near the door that lead to the personal studio. She was medium height and possessed long black hair, which was straightened and pulled into a ponytail. Around her neck, she wore floral print, jam colored scarf. A matching skirt flowed to the floor, brushing her ankles and just scraping the brown moccasins on her feet. She wore a white, beaded peasant blouse.

Her pecan colored eyes tilted up- hinting that she was from an Asian country- and was filled with a kindness, despite the throng of people around her. A bright set of white teeth filled her sweet smile and added to the overall pleasantness of her face.

Sophie and Gideon sat down in the second room from the entrance. They gawked in amazement at the sculptures, clay models, and portraits around them. Both were in silence as they were awed by the colorfulness of the small studio.

Ten minutes later, the adult art class started. Sora strolled to the front and introduced herself. From the introduction, Sophie had gathered that Sora was Tokyo, Japan. She was born into a wealthy family; her dad was a writer of manga and had introduced her to art- especially how to draw manga. Sora had also moved to America for art. She had also sketched, and painted, many art pieces that could be found in an assortment of galleries.

After a small intro- and questions from nearly all the adults in the room, including Gideon- Sora went on to let people introduce themselves. There a great number who were retired men and women looking for something to do, others were stay-at-home moms and dads, one other person was in college, and the rest were people in their twenties or thirties looking for something to do- much like the retirees.

With a look of content, Sora began to introduce a lesson. Two hours later, Sophie and Gideon ripped the paper off their easel and walked up to hand in the paper to the teacher.

After a brief talk with Sora, the couple left out of the art class into the busy streets of London.

"Well, never knew that you draw with the right side of your brain.*" Sophie said, sliding her arm through Gideon's.

He smiled and stated, "I have told you that before, you know."

Sophie looked at him and raised her eyebrow. "You have never told me that before, Gideon."

"Remember when you came over and I was painting that picture?"

Sophie sucked her teeth and looked straight ahead, watching as a young girl got into a cab. "Gideon, do you know how many times I have come over to your flat and seen you painting pictures?"

He nodded and added, "Fair point." There was a pause before he said, "Alright, well remember that day when you came in and I was painting the picture of the buildings out the window?"

"Yes, I remember that day." Gideon blushed at what she said, because he knew about other things that happened that day. And as Sophie looked at Gideon, she to reddened and thought about what transpired between them.

Gideon turned back to his normal pallor. "Well, you asked me how I paint like I do. I answered that I use my right brain and completely shut off my entire left-brain. I listen to music with no words, and make sure that there is no talking around me, even the TV. "

Sophie thought back to the day, which happened just two and half weeks before. However, all that registered in her mind was Gideon painting her and then them sleeping together for the first time. Her face flushed all over and again, she immediately became humiliated for Gideon must have thought that her mind was too dirty.

"We then had an argument, a teasing one. You argued that you can use both sides of the brain, but I argued that the left side is for mathematical things and the right is reserved for creative things, like music and art. We then looked it up and found out that I was right."

Sophie suddenly remembered and laughed at how their conversation had spiraled out into something big and unnecessary.

"Change of subject," Gideon declared. He looked around him, clearly searching for something, or someone.

"Alright, let's talk about how hungry I am. Is it me or does art make you hungry?" Sophie joked, although she was somewhat serious. She was famished.

Gideon looked at a street sign and Sophie saw his eyes light up, meaning that he had realized something. "I know this American diner that isn't too far from here. It's called Takis and has the best sweet potato fries."

"I don't like sweet potato- or pumpkin- but I'm too hungry to even care." Therefore, Sophie let Gideon lead her down a few streets into the American diner called Takis.

A/N

My apology out of many more apologies to come: Sorry for any grammar mistakes or incorrect phrases.

So, I really hope I did not mess up Sideon fluff or anything. I love them too, but I have never written Fanfiction about them. So forgive me if I mess up on Cassandra Clare's perfect couple.

Also this story will end in about six chapters. Yes, it is shorter than I intended it to be. I haven't become disinterested in this story, but I have become disinterested in writing Fanfiction period. I don't have many ideas for stories either and not a lot for this story. Unless anybody else has any. Anyway just know that this story is coming to a close soon.

One more thing, I might give a hint, if it's not obvious. And I will make sure to warn for inappropriate things.

*My art teacher thoroughly- annoyingly- explained the difference between your right and left-brain, therefore, I could resist the temptation to add that in here.

Thank you guys for the reviews, especially (Bethany (Guest) and , and no I don't have a WattPad, but Thank you so much!)

Super long A/N, sorry!

-CartoonsandTacos