Tessa

Sitting outside of Will's house, well technically my Aunt Clary and Uncle Jace's house, I thought about what my mom had said to me before I left my house. She had told me to take a chance. What did she even mean? I was just going to my best friend's house to hang out, much like we did most nights.

Will and James Herondale were my absolute best friends and more like family than friends. James was like my little brother and Will and I had taken on a protective role for him. My relationship with Will was more complicated. For as long as I could remember, we had done everything together. We trained together, ate together, watched TV together and dreamed together. It was both of our dreams to make it in the professional mixed martial arts world. My dad and Uncle Jace owned the gym Will and I trained at and they were our coaches.

I looked down at the stupid sundress Mom convinced me to wear. Sometimes I felt bad that my mom didn't get a girly girl, but I was my father's daughter. I wore jeans and t-shirts most days and I competed in a sport that was predominantly male. I was different and I was okay with that, but even I could admit that I looked good in the dress. I was extremely fit from all of the training, but still had curves.

For some reason, I liked the idea of dressing up for Will. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't attracted to him. How could I not when we spent almost every free second together, not to mention the fact that he wasn't too terrible to look at. He was an exact replica of Uncle Jace, except for the green eyes. I had honestly never thought of Will in any other way than as my best friend, but in the past few weeks, he had been doing and saying things that made me look at him in a different light.

Like tonight, I asked him at the gym what we were going to be doing at his house and he said he had a surprise for me. He even went as far as to tell me that James wouldn't be joining us, which was weird because if we were all in the same place, you could usually find us together. It wasn't as if Will and I never spent time alone, but this seemed different and I found myself feeling nervous and butterflies filled my stomach, hence the dress.

Finally finding my resolve, I got out of my car and made my way to the front door. Even though I would normally just let myself in the house, I felt as if I should knock. I don't know what's going on with me. I was literally at that house every other day. It was just as comfortable as being in my own home, so why was I so nervous? Something felt different, something was different and I didn't know what it was.

"Hi, honey," Aunt Clary said as she opened the door and pulled me into her arms in a big hug. This woman was seriously amazing and like a second mom to me. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," I said noticing that Uncle Jace and James were sitting at the breakfast bar eating dinner, but Will wasn't with them. "Sorry for interrupting."

"Oh, please." She waved me off as we walked into the kitchen. Uncle Jace hugged me and James and I performed our secret handshake. "Will is outside, Tess. Come on, I'll take you out there."

She placed her hand on my arm and led me toward the back door that led to the deck outside, which looked out onto the beach. As I stood on the deck, I could see Will standing closer to the water. The sun hadn't quite set yet, so the sky was illuminated in pinks and oranges. It reminded me of the pictures my parents had taken right outside this house before they got married that hung in the hallway leading to their bedroom.

Will was standing with his hands in his pockets and I could see him taking a deep breath. It was then that I noticed what he was standing next to. A blanket with a picnic basket was set up next to him and his laptop was open along with it. I didn't know what to think, didn't know what to believe. Aunt Clary nudged me with her elbow and I looked down at her because she stood a good six inches shorter than me; I got Mom's height. She winked at me before facing her son again and calling to him.

"Will," she called and he turned, smiling when he saw me. His smile was different, though. It wasn't the smile he gave when we were all hanging out and goofing off. It was I smile I realized then that he saved just for me. "Tessa is here, honey."

Will came barreling up the steps to the deck as I was removing my shoes and Aunt Clary turned to go back in the house. When he reached the step below where I was standing, he could look me in the eyes since he stood just over six feet tall and I noticed that his were shining and that his smile was reaching his eyes. He took my hand and dragged me down to the beach. I started laughing as we got to the blanket.

"Hurry, the sun is about to set," he said gesturing to the blanket for me to sit down. I sat down and tucked my legs underneath me seeing as I was wearing a dress. Will joined me and pulled his laptop closer to him.

"Well, hello to you, too," I teased as he concentrated on the music on his computer. I noticed that all of the music on his computer looked to be about twenty years old. Will had always preferred to listen to his dad's music than whatever was out now and I respected that about him. It also gave variety to my own music selection because I tended to steal music from him.

Just as the sun was starting to disappear into the horizon, Will pressed play on his computer and "All of Me," by John Legend started to play. My head snapped to look at Will, who had a knowing smile on his face. It was one of my favorite songs because I used to spy on my parents from the top of the stairs when I was little and they would dance to this song. I could practically feel the love passing through them and I had always wished to have someone love me like that.

I was too stunned to speak, so I sat and watched the sun disappear as the song that had always represented love and happiness to me played in the background. I had never considered myself an overly emotional person and in my sport, it was imperative to hide your emotions, but in that moment, I felt my eyes filling with tears. I willed them to go away because I couldn't stand the idea of crying in front of Will. When the sun was completely set and the song was over, I turned to face him.

"What's going on, Will," I asked nervously.

"Okay," he said before he took a deep breath and took both of my hands in his. "I need to tell you something, Tess, and if I don't tell you now, I never will." I nodded for him to continue when I was actually holding my breath while the possibilities of what he could say ran through my mind. "Tess, you're my best friend and you have been for basically my whole life. I couldn't imagine not spending every day with you. You are the best training partner and you call me on my shit, which most people don't bother to 're beautiful in every way possible. Your heart is the biggest I've ever experienced. I've known since I was ten years old that I liked you as more than a friend." I sucked in a breath of air and my heart soared. "I know that this might ruin our friendship, but I want to take that chance because I might not ever get the chance to again. This might sound crazy to you, but I just wanted to tell you how I feel."

I couldn't form words because in that moment, I realized that I had loved Will my whole life and disguised it as friendship even to myself. I closed my eyes and the tears I was trying to hold back fell. I felt Will's thumb swipe under my eye before his hand cupped my cheek and ran his thumb back and forth on my cheek.

"Tess, why are you crying?" He was freaking out. The only other time he had seen me cry was when I dislocated and snapped my arm the year before at practice. I was in so much pain that night that I couldn't hold it back. Looking back on that night, I realized who sat next to me for the twelve hours before I had surgery and held my hand. Will. Will had done all these little things my entire life that I never realized were what made me love him until now. "Oh my God, you don't feel the same way and now I've freaked you out and ruined our friendship. James was right."

His hand fell away from my face as he continued to ramble on and on about how James was right and he should have never told me his true feelings because now I didn't even want to be his friend. Instead of listening to his meltdown, I grabbed his face in both of my hands and pulled his lips to mine.

He must have been stunned at first because he froze, but when I moved to deepen the kiss, his hands came to my waist and held on for dear life, like he didn't want to lose the moment. I had kissed other guys before, but nothing I had ever experienced compared to kissing Will Herondale. The way he held me like I was going to break, but he knew that I was strong at the same time made me melt into him.

"Stop talking," I said against his lips before kissing him lightly and pulling away to look at his face. His eyes were still closed and he was grinning like there was no tomorrow. When he opened his eyes, they shone in the afterglow of the sunset. "Does that answer your question?"

He nodded excitedly and pulled me closer to him so I was practically on his lap. This felt right. This was what love was supposed to feel like, effortless. We didn't have to try to be with each other because it was already so easy. Will laid back on the blanket and I curled into his side listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

"So, does this mean you're my girlfriend," he asked as he kissed my hair.

"Do you want me to be your girlfriend," I answered with a question.

"Is that even a question?" I lifted my head from his chest to look up at his face. He brushed a piece of hair away from my eyes and cupped my cheek before pulled me to kiss me lightly. "I want you to be my girlfriend, Tess. Please be my girlfriend."

"Okay." I shrugged and put my head back on his chest. He squeezed my side and I let out a yelp and a girly giggle that I didn't know could come from me. "How are we going to tell everyone?"

"Oh, I guarantee that my mother has her face pressed to the kitchen window and is watching us, which means your mother is on the phone with her getting a play by play and our dads are going to be clued in soon enough."

"How sad is it that that is completely accurate." I laughed and felt the vibrations of Will's laughter on my cheek. "We could totally catch your mom spying on us right now."

"Let's do it." Will hopped up and reached down for my hand so he could help me up.

As we walked back to the house, Will wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me against his side. I didn't know what to expect out of a relationship with Will, but I knew that it would be just like being his friend. We would go on with our lives as normal, but we would kiss occasionally, or more than occasionally because he was seriously good at it. I just couldn't wait to start this new chapter of my life with Will by my side.

Thanks for reading! I promised myself that I wouldn't post this chapter until tomorrow, but as you will learn or already know, I am a very impatient person so when a chapter is ready, I want you all to see it! That means sometimes I'll post more than once a day, but sometimes I won't post at all, just be patient with me because I don't like keeping an update schedule. When a chapter is ready, you will get to see it!

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Let m know what you think and leave a review! :)