~Chapter 2~

Tessa slowly approached Will. He was breathing hard his hands curled into fists. She had seen Will in a lot of different states but not like this never had she even imagined that he could look so completely devastated, so broken.

"Will," she said again. She reached out and lightly touched his arm. He immediately tensed and turned away. "Say something" she almost whispered.

He turned and faced her again, though he was trying to avoid looking her straight in the eyes. "What am I to say?" He asked sounding somewhat distant. "That I'm happy for you? That I understand?"

"Of course not," Tessa said taken a back. "How could you understand if I myself don't understand?"

Will shook his head "it isn't understanding that's the problem here because I'm sure we both know what happened there and I honestly thought you were better that that Tessa. You know Jem's condition you shouldn't have used him like that just to attract my attention."

She felt as if he had just slapped her "your attention?" she asked her voice rising as she became angry. "You believe that I would use Jem so that you would be jealous? I was comforting him and well…" She trailed off "but that isn't the point. You should have seen him when we found you at the ifrit den he was devastated. You are the one person he knew he could count on and you turned your back on him. Do you know that everyone always says about you? That no matter how cold you are to everyone no matter what you say or do that you care about Jem that you love him, but perhaps their wrong Will. And now you have given me every reason to hate you yet when you saw me in there you seemed as if someone had torn you heart from your chest and all I want to know is why. Why are you doing this to everyone, why are you doing this to me?" she finished. And at the look on his face regretted it, had she gone too far?

Will finally looked into her eyes, the blue meeting the gray his guard seemed to have. "Alright but if I tell you there is no going back." He said heavily.

Tessa nodded whatever it was she wanted to hear.

"When I was twelve I opened a pyxis from which escaped a demon. I screamed in terror when I saw the terrible creature. My elder sister Ella burst in holding a flaming seraph blade she put herself between me and the demon and said to the it 'I banish you' it laughed and knocked her down with its sharp-sired tail. Then it turned to me and said "it is your father I would destroy, but as he is not here you will have to do. I curse you; all who love you will die. Their love will be their destruction. It may take moments, it may take years, but any who look upon you with love will die of it, unless you remove yourself from them forever. And I shall begin with her.' It had said in Ella's direction and then vanished. Ella then took me in her arms and comforted me telling me that what the demon had said meant nothing. She told me that she knew how to use a seraph blade because she had read some of the forbidden books in the library. She explained that the box I had opened was called a pyxis and made me promise not to touch anything of our parent's things again unless she was around. She then led me to bed and read to me until I fell asleep. I was woken up the next morning by my mother crying with grief. She was in Ella's room; Ella was dead in her bed. They tried to keep me out but I did see that Ella's body had swelled up; she looked as if she had rotted from the inside. I knew immediately what had happened. It was my curse at work; I knew I couldn't stay so I left for London that night." His breath caught but he kept talking. "Since I was twelve I've been making people hate me and it is difficult but I have gotten used to it and then you came along and it became impossible, I can't push you away anymore Tessa, I can't." He shook his head. "I love you Tess, I've loved you since I first laid my eyes on you." He said sounding somewhat breathless.

"Will, that curse can't possibly be real." Tessa said

"But my sister… she died because of me."

"Then why is it Jem isn't dead? What about Charlotte?" She paused "What about me?" she added quietly. Will opened his mouth as if to say something but she went on before he could. "You might not notice Will but we all love you no matter what you say or do to try and make us change our minds." Tessa said.

"But what about Jem?" Will asked.

"Jem is my friend, but I love you and nothing can change that." She said.

They kissed and this time neither of them pushed away. Neither of them noticed Jem watching through the doorway holding a blazing seraph blade.