Disclaimer: All characters belong to Cassandra Clare and the Infernal Devices series!
A/N: HEY GUYS! Here is chapter 5! I apologise for the late update, I already have 3 assignments for school, and I've been very social, but I am trying my hardest! Please review your thoughts and anything you'd like to see happen. BTW, I'm so ecstatic about city of heavenly fire! Hopefully there will be some Jessa! Anyway, please enjoy this chapter :)
"Herondale?" Jace stared wide-eyed at me and I tensed up. Lack of sleep appeared on his face and the way his shoulders stiffened, made me feel very unsure of myself.
"It's good to meet you, Jace. You look awfully like your father," I tried a smile and held out my hand for him. Jace glanced at my hand but didn't take it. Jem placed a hand on my shoulder for encouragement, and I stifled a sigh and lowered my hand. I understood this must be hard for him, and he would have a lot of questions. My heart fluttered in relief as Jem opened his mouth to speak.
"Your mother is expecting us," he said, "all will be explained soon," he moved his hand from my shoulder and picked up his suitcase. Jace nodded, not removing his eyes from me.
"Come in, I'll fetch Maryse."
As Jace let us in and secured the door behind us, he dashed off up a large, marble staircase. The Institute was justly as beautiful inside as it was outside, with velvet, red curtains and high ceilings. I felt at home straight away.
"I'm sorry about Jace," Jem wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "he will come around, he needs answers, that's all."
The corners of my mouth quirked up and my heart sped up from his words. I knew I had to talk to Jace one on one to help him trust me. Jem had mentioned once or twice that the boy had trust issues and often pushed people away. 'Sounds like another Herondale,' I thought.
Footsteps sounded down the staircase. Jem and I turned to see Maryse, dressed in traditional Shadowhunter black, with Jace close behind, trotting towards us. Jace stopped at the end of the staircase, watching as Maryse approached Jem and I. Her dark hair was tied back loosely, and her light blue eyes hadn't lost their colour since I'd last seen her. She was stunning, and I couldn't help but feel jealous. I quickly remembered the first time I saw Maryse. I was secretly attending a Lightwood family reunion, to see what Cecily, Gabriel, Sophie and Gideon's family were up to. Maryse was a teenager and she and Robert had just started dating. He had invited her to the gathering. All the Lightwoods welcomed Maryse easily enough, and Robert had looked so proud. They were so young, and so full of love.
Maryse shook Jem's hand and greeted me with a respectable hug. She smiled gently at the both of us.
"Welcome, Brother- I mean, Mr. Carstairs and Mrs. Herondale," Maryse nodded her head to Jace who looked up at the sound of our last name, "I see you have already met Jace, so I'll introduce my other children and some other allies, though most already know you, Mr. Carstairs, and some you, Mrs. Herondale."
Jem raised a hand, "Please, call me Jem."
I smiled at him and nodded, "Yes, and please call me Tessa."
Maryse smiled, "If that makes you comfortable. Jace will take your suitcases to your rooms. Unless, uh, I apologize for asking, but unless you're sharing a room?"
Jace raised an eyebrow and I felt myself burning up. Jem simply smiled.
"We'll share."
I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear and looked down smiling, trying to cover how flustered I was feeling. I'm glad he wanted to share.
Maryse turned to Jace, "take their suitcases Jace, we'll show them to their room later."
Jace let out a loud breath and approached Jem and I. He swiftly took our suitcases and we murmured our thanks to him. He gave me a cold glare. I couldn't help but notice a hint of hurt and sadness behind his eyes, and I furrowed my eyebrows. He started up the stairs and was soon out of my sight. I knew I really had to work to gain his trust, I owed my family this. I owed Jace. I owed Will.
"This way to the kitchen. My children and the others should be in there," Maryse started walking towards a large hallway at the end of the room and beckoned us to follow.
Jem offered his arm to me, and I beamed while looping my arm with his, and placing my head on his shoulder as we started to walk.
"Since when did Brother Zachariah get hot?" The youngest Lightwood girl, Isabelle, chirped from her seat at the kitchen table. She looked a lot like Maryse. She had long brown hair, matching almond eyes, and dressed in all black. Very pretty. I admired her beauty and suddenly felt insecure about how I looked. My arm was still looped through Jem's and I moved closer to him, squeezing our arms together. He was blushing immensely from Isabelle's comment.
"Isabelle." The boy sitting next to her scowled. The boy, Alec, was her brother. He had black, untidy hair that fell over his eyes, and matching blue eyes. His eyes weren't like his mother's though, they were darker and bluer and they were like... blue glass. Inherited from Cecily, Jem had said. Will's eyes. I smiled in my mind at Alec, but I could see the loneliness in his beautiful eyes. He was thinking of Magnus, I assumed.
Isabelle giggled then leaned back on her chair, and winked up at the boy standing behind her. Simon, a vampire with dark eyes, brown hair, a lanky, tall build, and a black leather jacket, rolled his eyes at her playfully. He had a kind and charming smile, which he often gave to Isabelle, and to the redheaded girl standing next to him who I had recognised immediately. Clarissa.
She was as stunning as her mother, but seemed to lack her height. She had light freckles that trailed over her cheeks and her nose, and her eyes were a startlingly green. She was truly beautiful. My looks were boring, not exotic or different, I had no defining features, I felt bland.
Maryse was busy chopping up various things on the kitchen bench, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of hunger run through me.
"So you're something like, Jace's great great great grandmother?" Clarissa stepped forward and came to stand in front of Jem and I, who were still standing awkwardly in the doorway. She had her hands crossed in front of her and she cocked her head to one side as she looked at me warmly.
"Something like that," I smiled and loosened my grip slightly on Jem, "Jace looks a lot like my husband."
"Really?" Clarissa beamed at this, "come sit down, I think I have a lot of questions for you two," she chuckled and pointed to two wooden chairs opposite Isabelle and Alec. Jem and I let go of each other, much to my dismay, and sat down. I entwined my fingers together and smiled up at the 4 teenagers. Alec was saying something to his mother, who was moving over the stove, and Simon was still hovering over Isabelle who was laughing at something he seemed to have said. Clarissa pulled out a chair next to me and sat down. She smiled politely and laid her cheek in her palm.
She looked past me at Jem, who was rubbing his jaw thoughtfully, and said, "is Tessa one of the people you said you'd die for?"
I blinked. He talked to them about me? Jem crookedly grinned and nodded, "one of them, yes. She and I have been friends for many years."
"Just friends?" Isabelle piped up, seemingly to just have started listening in. My cheeks turned crimson and I looked at Jem shyly.
Alec had gotten up to help his mum with cooking, and Simon had taken his spot, "friends with benefits, maybe?" He quipped.
Jem sputtered and I giggled, but Clarissa rolled her eyes, "That's not our business, Simon," she lightly grinned then turned back to Jem and I, "who was the other person you spoke of then? The other one you cared for?"
I immediately averted my gaze. It was too soon to talk about Will with these others. I held my eyes shut as Jem sighed then began to speak.
"His name was Will. He was a very sarcastic and obnoxious, yet caring person, and was also my parabatai. We had been friends since we were about 12, and trained as Shadowhunters together and lived together in London. He looked after me when I fell, uh, ill. He was like a brother. Actually, more then a brother, a soul mate some would say. I loved him, as he was the only family I had left. Unfortunately, when I became a Silent Brother, our parabatai connection was severed. I was barely allowed to see him anymore after that, it tore me apart and it keeps me awake at night sometimes. He was lucky he had Tessa though," I squeezed my eyes shut tighter as he mentioned my name. "Will would have gone crazy otherwise. I was there when he died of course. It was peaceful and from old age," Jem stopped and exhaled before beginning again. "Will was there for me in my bad and good days, and cared for me no matter what. I would have done anything for him, and I deeply wish my illness hadn't caused the damage it did. Will spent most of his life without me. Without his best friend or soul mate or brother or whatever we were. I can do nothing now to change what happened, but like I said to you Clary, I would die for Will, and since Jace is the last of Will's bloodline, I am willing to give my life for Jace."
I couldn't open my eyes. I didn't dare. I knew as soon as I'd open them my tears would be released, and I couldn't bare to see everyone's faces. Jem's speech was almost as beautiful as he was, and I couldn't have thanked him enough for how he said it.
"He was a Herondale," The voice was the same voice I had heard when Jem and I had arrived here. Jace. I opened my eyes slowly, holding back my tears with all my might, and turned my head to see Jace standing in the doorway with his arms folded. I looked around to see that everyone else, Maryse, Alec, Isabelle, Simon and Clary, were staring at Jace and I.
I looked at Jem and noticed how his eyes were ever so slightly glistening. He was looking at Jace.
"Will Herondale, Tessa's husband," Jem smoothly replied to the boy. Jace's eyes were stuck on Jem and he lifted the corners of his mouth into a smirk. Jace opened his mouth to reply but Isabelle chimed in.
"Obnoxious and sarcastic, sounds familiar. Does it run in the family?"