Author's Note: Thanks for the wonderful reviews and continued support. Does anyone have any questions so far? I thought I would ask. Remember, I own none of these characters! I promise this won't be ALL fluff. Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 7

Will woke up the next morning to Tessa's hand still holding his. Her body lay close and Will opened his eyes to find himself sharing Tessa's pillow. He closed his eyes and heard an ear piercing scream coming from two feet away. Will rolled over and found Sophie standing beside the bed, growing hysterical with every passing second.

"I didn't hear you come home and I was worried and I found your bed empty and-" Sophie gasped.

"Why do you care whether or not I come home?" Will asked.

"Then I come into Tessa's room and I find… I find…" Sophie gestured wildly to the bed.

Tessa leaped out of bed, ran into the bathroom, and slammed the door closed. She was still mercifully, completely dressed, but Will glanced down to find himself in a pair of thin cotton shorts which were dangerously close to exposing far more than what an unmarried woman expected to see.

"Good morning, indeed," Will said.

Sophie screamed and covered her eyes. "WILLIAM HERONDALE! Have you no shame?"

"Darling, you should know better than to ask questions you already know the answer to," Will said. "You've lived in this Institute how long?"

"You can't just go sleeping with girls!" Sophie cried.

"You're just jealous I never wanted to have sex with an ugly bitch like you," Will said. Sophie lashed out with her nails on her right hand but Will rolled away and managed to avoid her wrath.

Charlotte and Henry arrived, still in their pajamas. Henry pulled Will from the bed, hustled him from the room and tossed him into his own room. Henry didn't have to say anything; Charlotte did all of the cursing for him. Sophie fainted onto Tessa's bed, fanning herself with her hand as she babbled incoherently. In the midst of everything, Tessa came out of the bathroom and tried to explain, but it did no good.

Breakfast was a tense ordeal. No matter what Tessa said, the words "we only spent the night together!" just weren't the proper explanation. Will could have said why he went to Tessa's room, but that would have meant explaining what had occurred between them in the drawing room. He could have said that sleeping alone made him feel truly alone and that last night, all he wanted was a warm body to share a bed with, but he didn't. Charlotte was red faced and angry and Henry looked disappointed and Will concluded that he would rather be hated then pitied.

Following breakfast there was another meeting in the drawing room. Will was supposed to apologize to Sophie but he refused to.

"Why does it matter who I share a bed with?" Will asked. "I shared a bed with Jem for many years. I've shared a bed with Magnus several times. So Tessa and I fell asleep together. It doesn't matter. I'm not romantically involved with Sophie. I don't have to stay faithful to her."

"I would die if I was romantically involved with you," Sophie snapped.

"Go ahead. It would do us all a great deal of good if you just died," Will said. "Go on, now. When you see Jem, make sure you thank him for me." Sophie gasped and her eyes filled with tears.

Will looked up to see Henry and Charlotte glowering behind the desk but not saying anything. Will lived for their reactions. He loved how he could horrify Charlotte or shame Henry into silence. But now, he only heard Sophie's sobs.

"I lost him to, Will," Sophie said, "And the worst part of it is that I didn't get to love him as long as you did!"

Will turned to her and looked at her not as Sophie, the girl Jem used to love, or as Sophie, the girl who was currently pregnant with a baby Jem would have welcomed with open arms. He looked at her simply as Sophie, the girl who had never harmed a living soul, who was afraid of loud noises, who had her heart broken by the only man she ever loved and now had to spend the rest of her life looking into the face of the child he had left behind.

"I'm so sorry," Will whispered. "How can I make it right?"

"You have to be the man Jem would have been," Sophie said. "I wouldn't have picked you for this task, but Jem already did. I can't fathom the idea of raising a baby with a man like you. You're a child, Will. You may walk and talk and even have sex like an adult but it's all to cover up how frightened you really are, about everything. Prove to me you're willing to be better than this, or I'll leave and you'll never see this baby again."

"You're giving me an ultimatum?" Will asked. He wanted to laugh. He certainly didn't respond well to ultimatums, but something in Sophie's tone caused him to take note.

"You've given me no choice," Sophie replied.

"You can't leave," Will said.

"You did," Sophie said. "You've made a life out of leaving. You've made yourself heard. If you never want to think about this baby ever again, I can make that happen. I'm a resourceful girl. I have money. I can spin a good story. If I tell enough tales, perhaps no one will know the truth about me." Will felt his mouth fall open. "As you know, William, the right words can cover up any sort of past." Sophie crossed her arms and looked back at Charlotte and Henry.

"May I be excused?" Will asked.

"You may go to the locker room and get dressed for training. You're going to do some sparring today," Henry said. "I think you need to burn off some energy."

"Who am I fighting?" Will said.

"Me," Henry replied.

Ten minutes later, Will walked out of his room in training clothes to find Tessa walking down the hallway towards him, her head in a book. He whispered her name but she didn't hear him, so he seized her by the arm as she past and pulled her into a bedroom.

"Will!" Tessa exclaimed.

"I'm sorry about this morning," Will said. "I didn't think…"

Tessa covered her mouth her with hand but was unable to keep her eyes from smiling.

"Surely I'm going to hell!" she said.

"You'll have good company," Will said, "but Tess…." He reached over, touched her on the wrist, and she instantly sobered. Will took a step closer and she studied him, her eyes darting back and forth. "About last night… all of those things I said, about Jem and Magnus and Sophie? I need that to stay between you and me, alright? Sophie is really upset and…"

"I can keep your secrets," Tessa said. "I can keep all of them if I have to."

"Thank you, but that is a burden even I don't want," Will said.

"You can trust me," Tessa said, "so trust me."

Not long after, Will was standing in the training room when Henry walked in. They were both dressed in light and stretchy training clothes. Henry was wearing a jacket he took off and tossed over a bench. He began stretching, so Will followed.

Will gathered that they would be sparing hand to hand because Henry had wrapped his knuckles with strips of cloth to cushion the blows. He decided against doing the same. Henry was past thirty and well into his prime as a Shadowhunter. His training had been completed long ago and Will couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Henry pick up a weapon to use in battle. If Henry was looking for a fight, Will was going to give him one.

"When Charlotte told me she was pregnant, a little bit of me died inside," Henry said. He stretched his hands to the floor.

"Having a child with her would do that to a man," Will joked.

"Shut up," Henry said. "You will spend this entire training session in silence. If I ask a question, you will answer it. Otherwise, your time will be spent listening." Will nodded. "As I was saying, a little bit of me died inside…."

Henry went on to explain that the Institute's current state of affairs made this an awful time to have a child. Nate Grey and Mortmain were still on the loose, and there had been reports of more mundane murders. The demons other Shadowhunters were dealing with every night were putting up more of a fight than usual, and the demon that killed Jem had struck again, leaving one Shadowhunter caught somewhere between life and death. Then Sophie was pregnant and Charlotte was trying to help her with it. Henry and Charlotte hadn't been trying to even get conceive a child, but suddenly, one night something must have happened and now they were expecting a baby.

"But I've just got to roll with the punches," Henry said. "The baby isn't going to just go away just because I hadn't planned on it arriving. You have to understand, Will, babies come into this world with nothing. Sophie and Jem's little one doesn't know that his father died, or that you hate his mother. That baby is just going to show up one day, and he's going to be hungry, and he's going to want to be loved. You've got to love him, because that's what babies need. Love. And so do you. You need to be loved and you need to give love in return." Will nodded again. "Alright, then, son. Keep it above the belt."

Will had a second to wonder what Henry meant before Henry slammed both hands into Will's shoulders. Will staggered backwards, but suddenly his feet were off the ground and he hit his tail bone on the floor so hard, his head throbbed.

"What was that for?" Will demanded.

"Sophie," Henry replied. "I told you. No talking. Now are you going to get up or not?" Will climbed uneasily to his feet and walked in a slow circle around Henry. Henry was Will's height and even had the same build. Will's weak spot was his stomach. He could handle a blow to the face but had taken so many hits to the stomach that any wrong kick could level him. Perhaps Henry was the same.

Will approached Henry and lifted his right hand like he was going to punch Henry in the face, but he sent his left hand towards the center of Henry's stomach. Then there was a terrible ripping pain in Will's left arm as his body was flung against a wall hard enough to crack the plaster. That time, Will felt his ribs break as he landed in a heap on the floor. He stood up, trying to shake off the pain, but it was impossible.

"Are we finished yet?" Henry asked.

"Just getting started," Will replied. He rushed at Henry again, but this time, Henry grabbed Will by the hair and shoved his head down between his knees. Off balence, Will fell painfully onto his kneecaps.

"You aren't fighting fair," Will said.

"Shut up," Henry said. "Neither are you."

Will came at Henry again and again and every time, Henry found a way to knock Will to the floor. Will never got a shot in and as a result, Henry's face remained unmarked by Will's face began to show blood and eventual bruises. Still, Will fought, because it felt good to tear at someone and take his anger out on them and it felt good to bleed.

Will was strong but Henry was just stronger, faster, and more experienced then Will. It wasn't to say Will was unable to put up a good fight, because he got a few minor shots in, but Henry was still the alpha male at the Institute and was interested in teaching Will a lesson.

Finally, Henry knocked Will to the floor with an upper cut to the jaw and Will could not get up. He could only roll onto his side and cough up blood and bits of his teeth. The pain radiating from all of his injuries was awful but Will refused to show it.

"Clean up. It's nearly time for lunch," Henry said. He walked from the room and left Will in a puddle of blood and sweat on the training room floor.

Will closed his eyes and thought of Jem. They had never fought this hard, since they were both afraid of hurting the other. Will had no problem knocking Gabriel Lightwood's teeth from his head, but even bruising Jem made Will feel terrible. A Shadowhunter wasn't supposed to feel, they were supposed to forget all emotions. When it came to training, it didn't matter that their sparring partner was their mortal enemy or their most intimate lover. All that mattered in training was that only one of them was left standing at the end of it. Will and Jem had been right for each other in so many ways and wrong in so many other ways.

Will rolled onto his side but felt his broken ribs scream at him, so he rolled back onto his back and felt for his stele. It was gone. Henry had probably taken it, though Will wouldn't have healed himself anyway. He preferred to soak in his pain until he couldn't take it any longer. Will was in a suffering sort of mood. He could lay on the training room floor and bleed for the rest of the afternoon, for all he cared.

The door opened and Sophie walked in, carrying an ice pack. She came over and dropped it onto Will's face, then sat down beside him and sniffed at him before grimacing.

"Now you're as ugly as me," Sophie said. Will reached up and touched her stomach. Sophie moved his hand over and Will felt the insistent tap of some bony part of the baby's body as he kicked and moved and lived. "He's the busiest at night. Sometimes I can't sleep. I swear to God and the Angel he does back flips."

"Jem used to be the most awful person to share a bed with. He used to kick me in the shins at Shadowhunter Academy," Will said.

"I'm happy he was your lover," Sophie said. "He deserved someone's love." Will tried make eye contact with Sophie but one of his eyelids was starting to swell shut.

"You could never be ugly," Will said, "And you could never be a bitch."

Sophie smiled a little and placed her hand on top of Will's on her stomach.

"That's a start," she said.

Will woke up several hours later in the Infirmary. His head felt heavy on the pillow, and his skin was painfully hot.

"Water?" A voice asked. "Drink some water, Will." Will accepted a glass of water, and then lay his head back down. "You took a good beating, but you'll be good as new in a little while. You've got some sort of potent rune on you right now. It's why you feel so hot. Is there anything I can get you?"

"Stele," Will mumbled.

"You already have runes. Don't worry. Just rest," the voice said. "I'm here for you." Will felt someone touch his hand. Their hand was just as hot as Will's skin, and he jerked his hand away. His mind made the necessary connections and somehow allowed him to roll onto his side, away from the voice, the hot skin, and Magnus. "Can we please just talk?"

"I think Camille said enough," Will said. "I heard everything she said. In sixty years I'll be as good as dead. I'm just as temporary as your wife was. You and I would never work. I don't know why we keep trying."

"Because I love you. That's why I keep trying," Magnus said. "I thought you were going to try as well. Remember?"

"That was before you kissed that…" Will took a few choking breathes and found that his ribs were still bruised and sore.

"Will, please, just listen to me," Magnus said. Will didn't think he could climb from the bed. He kept his back to Magnus and gave no indication that he was listening, but Magnus spoke anyway. "The love I have for you is true, Will. You could do the worse things to me and you have done awful things, but try as I might, I could never stop loving you. With Camille… sometimes I loved her and sometimes I didn't. That's why she came back, because she heard you and I were traveling the world together. She knew that if I was with you, you had to be someone special to me. And she was right."

"She never had love the way you and I did. The only man she ever loved turned her into a vampire and turned her loose to find her own way. Since then, she's been so poisoned with heartache, she couldn't love someone if she tried. She never bothered trying to love me," Magnus continued. "She's jealous of true love. She's jealous of what you and I have, and what we could have. She doesn't want me to be happy with you, she wants me to only be happy with her. But I just want you, Will." Will could hear tears in Magnus's voice, but still, he didn't turn around.

"I have no excuse for what I did. I could say that we were together for sixty years and when she kissed me I kissed her back because I spent some of those years in love with her. But for every good year we had ten bad years. If it takes you sixty years to forgive me, it would be worth the wait because you are everything to me," Magnus said. "She's gone, Will. When I left here, and went back to the town house, she was still there. We had a fight, and she… she bit me. It made me sick but I was able to curse her and she disappeared again. I reported her to the Clave. If she ever comes back again, she could be very well put to death."

Will licked his lower lip and tasted blood. He wondered how the Clave would go about killing someone who was already dead.

"I love you, Will, and I'll keep saying it until you understand," Magnus said. "I want to be with you, Will. Anyway. Anyhow-"

"I just want you to leave and never come back," Will said, finally turning his head to make eye contact. "I don't want to be with you. Please, leave." Magnus stood up and leaned over Will's face. He was so close, Will could smell vanilla on his skin. Will could imagine pulling Magnus into bed beside him and holding him close until his pain went away. He thought about pushing Magnus across the room and banishing him from the Institute forever. He did neither.

"I'll be back for you, again and again," Magnus said. "I'm not giving up on you, or us."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I'm sorry this was so long. Please review! Here is a teaser:

"You're going to find that your stunts are suddenly no longer acceptable," Charlotte said. "Happy birthday, William."