Infernal Devices, Cassandra Clare 1. Chapter 1

_**Hello! I haven't been on FanFiction for a while, and I reread my other story and I really don't like it, so I have officially given up with that. Here is my new one!**_

Chapter 1:

It was yet another Saturday, which meant another performance with the band. I used to like the performances, as they were a welcome distraction from all my problems, but by then I had just started to find them time-consuming and effort.

However, I really did need the money, and once the song starts I would usually be ok.

As I entered the back of the stage, I was immediately swamped by my band members.

"Tessa! I haven't seen you in simply _ages_!" Isabelle shrieks.

"Iz, it was last week," sighed Simon, before greeting me with a big hug.

"Simon, don't question a girl," grinned Jace, earning a huge snog from Clary. They had finally announced their relationship a few weeks ago, and looked blissfully happy. Part of me itched for something like that; someone who cared about me that much, whose eyes followed me round the room, who always was just there for me. But then, look what happened last time. I haven't been exactly _successful_ in my past relationships.

We received our five-minute-warning, so we all stood together by the curtain. Clary and I had our mikes, Simon his drums and Jace and Izzy had their guitars. We were prepared for the curtain's rising, and ran forward onto the stage, arranging ourselves into position as the applause died down. Clary made her normal cliché "thanks for coming" speech, and then the others began playing.

It was the same melody, same tune as always, but something felt… different. I couldn't quite place it. I opened my eyes- as usual I had my eyes closed and was swaying slightly to the music- and straight away I was drawn to a pair of eyes on mine. They were blue; no just blue, but deep, lost in the ocean blue, right in front of me. I somehow dragged my gaze away from the eyes, and saw the whole face. He was beautiful to say the least, with his perfect teeth and mop of black curly hair. I shook my head to try to focus on the song, and looked towards Clary as the beat dropped, waiting for the cue to sing. It came.

_I am dumb and I am blind and I'm forgetful all the time_

_but I know I can't survive without you standing by my side so I say_

_Hey, ho, why won't you just come out and play_

_Hey, ho, why won't you just come out and play_

_With my heart come down and you crash down_

_It's amazing how you try to save me, I've been going crazy_

_You can call me love and I can call you baby_

_Now it's complicated, I am overrated_

_you'll stay understated, I can deal with that._

Then we paused for the musical. I couldn't help myself; I glanced back at the boy. He was grinning, looking at his friend. Said friend had a wave of blonde-silver hair, and slightly slanted eyes. I watched out of the corner of my eye as a gorgeous girl came up behind the black-haired boy and tapped him on the shoulder. I sighed. Why were all the good ones always taken? We carried on with the song, and I saw the boy and his evident girlfriend walk towards the bar as Clary started her solo.

I turned to watch my bestfriend. She was singing perfectly, as usual. And Jace was watching her. I was jealous, whatever I tried to convince myself. I so desperately wanted love like theirs, and I was upset at them for flaunting it. I resisted the urge to just run off the stage and cry.

Now, I did know this was irrational of me or whatever, but they had a love story to rival all the classic books, but I could not go into that or I simply knew I would have started to cry. And what did I have? My love life was worse than Twilight. Honest to God. And they said it was impossible.

I turned my attention back to the blue-eyed boy and his girlfriend. They had returned from the bar with some drinks, handing one to the silver-haired boy. They were all standing on the wings, really close to the stage. Blue-Eyes looked up at me, and I quickly looked away, and joined in with Clary's singing.

I didn't dare look back for about five minutes, way into our next song. I was just in time to see Blue-Eyes hug the girl, and then she left the two boys standing together. Maybe he wasn't with her then, if they were just on hugging terms? I knew I was just clutching at straws, being ridiculous.

I watched Blue-Eyes stay something into Silver-Hair's ear, and they simultaneously turned to look at me. I felt myself blush furiously, and tried to re-immerse myself in the music, ignore the burning sensation of eyes focused on my face. Finally, the song ended and we were done. As the applause died down, I allowed myself one final glance.

I was met by an illuminating grin, spread all across his face. He mouthed something at me, but I couldn't make it out, so he gestured for me to come over to the edge of the stage. I hesitated for a second, then plastered a blank expression on and walked over.

"Hi." He smirked, and if it wasn't for his beautiful face I might have been annoyed at his apparent cockiness. As it was, though, I was mesmerised by him.

"Hi." I replied, hoping I sounded at least mildly normal. NOT that I cared, obviously, but still…

"I'm Will," he introduced, sticking his hand out. I shook it.

"Tessa," I smiled.

"Nice singing," he complimented. "Nearly better than I could have done, in fact!" he said the last bit in surprise, as if he never expected it.

"Thanks?" I laughed. "And I am sure you are quite good too."

"_Quite good_? How insulting! I have you know, I would put Elton John to shame!" he replied, miming being shot in the heart. I spluttered with laughter, seeing his eyes dance.

"Sure you would," I said, grinning widely now.

"Want me to prove it?" he asked, smirking mischievously.

"When?" I was quite sure he was flirting now, and I was more than happy.

"Tomorrow. Meet you here at 3pm." He said firmly, and turned and left without another word. I sighed, rolled my eyes, and turned around.

I was immediately confronted by a wild eyed Clary.

"Tessie! Did he just…"

"Yup"

"Omg! When is it?"

"Tomorrow."

"Yay! Can I help you get ready?" Izzy spoke up from behind Clary, obviously eaves-dropping on the whole short conversation, at the same time Clary asked,

"Why do you not sound excited?"

"Well, you know what happened last time I went on a date with a guy," I explained sourly.

"Tessie, not every boy is like that!" I raised my eyebrows at them.

"You can't just categorize every boy as evil." Izzy said.

"Yeah," continued Clary. "Imagine if you read a really awful book." A few sprung to mind. "Would you automatically stop reading books because one let you down?"

"No. But books are different." I said adamantly.

"Fine." Izzy sighed. "Be like that. Die alone." And with that she flounced off.

"Izzy, wait!" I called. She didn't. "Fine! I'll go!" I yelled after her retreating figure. Straight away she turned back and ran towards us.

"I knew you'd come around!" she grinned triumphantly. I sighed.

When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't shake the excited feeling in my stomach. It took me a minute or two to remember why, but when I did I got a huge feeling of dread on top of it. Today was the day I was seeing Will!

**Sorry for a short chapter, but my DAD is pissing me off so much I can't bear it, and it is quite late here in England anyway so… thanks, please R&amp;R!**

**If anyone knows the song and band, I will be so so shocked because I think I am like one of the only people who knows of them! Yay okay by then *wave awkwardly whilst walking backwards into a tree***


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I GOT 5 REVIEWS ALREADY! YAY THANKS! **

**MagicMissy: I could never make this Jessa! Wessa is life 3 and the band isn't very famous, more like something they set up for money x **

**EmmaJigs13: Thank you **** x**

**Skts73: heehee, here you go then! x**

**Guest: That review sounds familiar! And thanks, and to answer the question no they aren't very famous **** x**

**Yoitsyourstruly: your review made me laugh so much xD I don't think it's an American thing, I'm British and I fall over a whole damn lot, sometimes onto people… totally never on purpose… PLEASE DON'T DIE! Although swooning is allowed, and totally gratified. You can have Jem, if I can have Will! Tessa can have Church the cat or someone, idk. Ok, here you go! x**

**Ok, on with the next chapter then! xxxx**

Chapter 2

Before I could even sit up, my door was shoved open by none other than Simon. He didn't even blink at my tiny silk nighty - although that was normal, because we had been best friends for ever- literally- and had seen each other in the most embarrassing things- he just yelled, "Izzy says get up now or…" then he turned around and shouted down the stairs, "Or what again?"

"Oh my god Si, just say or else, it makes it sound intimidating!" came Izzy's reply from downstairs.

"Tessie, just get up please," he whispered, "I won't insult you by thinking or else will 'intimidate' you." And with that he turned away, shutting the door behind him.

It was only 9. I groaned and rolled out of bed. I walked over to the shower, chucking off my nighty. I had a really quick soak, and then donned a small black vest top under a thin floaty flower-patterned t-shirt, with some black leggings. I put on a little make up, and brushed my hair.

Once downstairs, I had to try and hide from Iz. I knew that if she saw me, I would get chased back into my room of our grand student flat to be what she called 'prettied'. We only got one of the biggest flats available because we were friends with Charlotte and Henry, who were in charge of the university at which we studied. There were two big flats in our secluded building, with me, Clary and Izzy sharing one, and Simon and Jace sharing the other; although, Simon spent most of his time in ours, and Clary spent most of her time at Jace's. That also made me feel left out and lonely a lot of the time. Opposite our building, past the small gravel pathway leading up to the uni buildings, was another, smaller flat, on its own.

As it was so early, I headed off to the big university café. When I had first started going here, I had felt intimidated by the grandeur of the place; there were over a hundred separate buildings, and I still hadn't explored them all by my second year there. My subject were English literature and language, and art. I didn't particularly like art, but it was good to have some variation and to keep an open mind in case my author work didn't end up being as good as it could be.

Once in the café, I headed to the hot meals section and ordered a bacon roll. I wasn't one of those silly bimbos, always looking at my appearance and all that. My idols were not the latest, skinniest models, but were amazing authors of classics like Jane Austin and Lewis Carroll. I didn't tell people this- I liked to wait until I opened up to people, therefore I was always very wary. Not even my best friends new everything about me, but because they were my friends they didn't push me. Maybe that was why I had so much boy trouble.

That was something they didn't know about. Izzy often made guesses as to what had happened in my past, and sometimes she got scarily close, but I never told her. She and Clary, though, despite my efforts, still wanted me to 'get back on the horse.' That was what I was trying to do by meeting Will- show them I could do it, prove to them, and also to make up for all my silences of my past that I knew everyone found annoying.

Obviously I didn't plan to tell Will anything either. He would either freak, or laugh at me. I didn't know which because I didn't even know him, but it would definitely be one of them.

By the time I had got my bacon roll and found a seat, it was twelve. I had three hours until meeting Will. I decided, as usual, to while away the time in the university library. It, in turn, was huge. If it wasn't for the sections, it would have been easy for me to have gotten lost amongst the thousands of books. I headed for my favourite section- classics- and settled down on one of the plush chairs with A Tale of Two Cities.

xoxoxox

The next time I looked at my phone, it was half two. I stood up, yawned, replace my book on the shelf and headed out of the door. It was about a twenty minute trek to last night's venue, giving me some spare time to buy a pack of mints and go into the bathroom to check I looked presentable, before reaching the club.

Five minutes passed. I looked at all the passers-by, checking for black hair and stunning blue eyes, but with no luck. It was three, so he should have appeared any moment.

Another ten minutes. I sighed, tapping my feet.

At the end of the next ten minutes, he was twenty minutes late, the universal time for 'stood up'. Just as I was turning to leave, a boy with silver hair ran up to me, panting slightly. He looked vaguely familiar, though I had no idea whether I knew him from anywhere.

"Hello, nice to meet you, I'm Jem. You are Tessa, correct?" he asked, politely.

"Yes, I am," I answered. "How did you know?"

"Ah yes, that must sound a bit creepy. My apologies. I was with William lost night, watching you perform. He said he was meant to be meeting you today. He said he is very sorry, but had a last minute emergency and couldn't come. He asked me to let you know."

"A- an emergency?" I repeated faintly. "What emergency? Is he ok?"

"He's fine, thank you. But I'm afraid I cannot tell you what it was about. I would, but I… you know, promised." He replied rather sheepishly.

"Um… ok, well thank you for letting me know then. I will, uh, go now then." I stuttered, desperately trying not to cry. It was horribly and alien to me to be on the unknowing side of things, and I was upset that Will couldn't be there, and everything from my past was catching back up with me.

To my surprise, Jem took my hand. He was very gentle and calm, which soothed me a bit.

"Don't worry. I can tell him to meet you again another time?" he asked kindly.

"Could you?" I smiled.

"Of course. Where do you live?"

Looking back, I was rather stupid to give him my address. But he had such a kind, relaxing face, I just didn't care. I just wrote down my address onto a piece of paper in my pocket, handed it to him, and bid him farewell. I headed back home, thinking about Will and Jem and… life.

**TaDaaaa! **

**Not very long, but not too short, eh?**

**I will try to update WITHIN A WEEK. If I do not, please spam my pm until I do. Ta! **

**Please review, and see you soon! (Don't worry, Wessa will come soon, and Jessa will not be as prominent.)**

**Love ya guys xxxxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! I haven't updated this for sooooo long, oops…**

**Okay, I got some more comments I can reply to, yay!**

**Sorry, I'm hyper. Hehehe but yeah. All my friends are AWOL and I am sick of my family so I AM HIGH ON SUGAR AND SOUR CREAM AND CHIVE PRINGLES (BEST FLAVOUR EVER) OOPS. Anyway, comments…**

**yoitsyourstruly: Hahaha! ThAnK YoU for being so nice! Also I bet you are a good writer but YOU HAVEN'T UPLOADED ANY STORIES SO YOU SHOULD AND EVERYONE CAN SEE YOU ARE A GOOD WRITER TOO! *takes deep breaths* okay. Seriously, upload a story, like, now? Alright. And I totally agree about Twilight, I mean the covers aren't even pretty! My bookshelf is like pretty book pretty book pretty book TWILIGHT pretty book… I should throw it out but I haven't finished it yet so I can't **** AND YES I WATCH DOCTOR WHO AND I HAVE AN IMPORTANT QUESTION(S)… Do you like Peter Capaldi, and who is your favourite doctor? Mine is David Tennant 3 I also have a brother but I have never hugged him in my life and if I tried I think he would kill me… I don't think Cassie would mind if we permanently borrowed her characters…only one way to find out eh?! And I don't think the fangirl bubble ever truly leaves our souls, oops… okay enjoy the chappie!**

**Guest: Well done **

**Guest: There will be more Jessa in the future!**

**Thalia: Omg thank you and same… hehe… okay, bye… hmmm.**

**PLEASE R&amp;R THANKS! So here's the chapter then…**

* * *

"You went out for a date like that?" Izzy asked, as soon as I walked through the door.

"Hey Iz," I replied, exhausted, and walked straight to the sofa.

"Oh dear. What happened?" she asked, suddenly concerned. Wow, I must've looked even worse than I felt.

"He had an emergency. His friend came to tell me."

"Oh. Do you have his number?"

I thought back had he given me his number at the gig? No, I didn't think so. The gig had gone by so fast, and he had only been there for a short amount of it. I shook my head. Izzy sighed.

"You need to work on this," she gestured to my body, "and that," she put her hands on my head. I was feeling grouchy, so I retaliated.

"You mean grow taller and change my face? Yeah, thanks, Isabelle." I bit, and ran upstairs, trying to conceal the tears streaming down my cheeks.

* * *

I stayed in my room until about 7pm. By that time I was starving hungry, bored and forgiving. I opened my door to go and apologize to my best friend, but just as I was at the top of the staircase the doorbell rang. I had a perfect view of the door from my spot so I sat down on the plush carpet and watched as Simon opened the door.

It was Will. I caught my breath. He looked even more gorgeous than the first time, with the setting sun outlining the curves of his face and hair, making him look like an angel.

"Yeah?" Simon said bluntly.

"Hello. Is Tessa in?"

Simon raised his eyebrow.

"She's up there, third door on the right." He pointed up the stairs. Will thanked him, and started walking towards me. Begging I was hidden, I scrambled back into my room and grabbed a book, pretending to be engrossed in it when he opened the door.

He entered.

"Tess?"

"Oh. Hi!"

"Listen, I'm sorry I sort of stood you up. I didn't mean to, honestly I had no choice."

I sat up, intrigued. "Why didn't you have a choice?"

He sighed. "I can't tell you."

"Oh."

"Look," he began, "could we go for a walk? It's a lovely evening."

I obliged- more so because I would much rather walk than have to face Izzy's overdramatic apologies any day.

* * *

We had been walking for about half an hour, and Will had just told a hilarious joke. As we laughed, I glanced up at him. His features were, even to my critical artist's eye, perfect. He caught me looking up at him and smirked. I turned bright red and he grabbed my hand gently.

"Don't worry, I always get stared at. It's like an affliction, to be quite honest," he grinned. I scowled, then realised he was joking and smiled. I looked up at his eyes. They were void of any emotion; who can keep a blank eye expression? But his mouth was upturned, so I just dismissed it. Maybe he was one of those people with unexpressive eyes.

"Modest. Can you tell me now what the problem was this morning?" I didn't know why I was pursuing this. I suppose it was the only way I could trust him.

"No." he said shortly. "Look, I would. But…"

"Yeah, yeah, you can't." I rolled my eyes.

He dropped my hand and took me carefully by the shoulders.

"Please, Tess. Trust me."

"I want to," I replied bitterly.

"Then why don't you?"

"I haven't had… the best… past." I replied, looking down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

I snorted, then shook my head. "Talking. Overrated."

He nodded. For once, he was understanding. "I know. By the way, have you eaten?"

"Nope." Him saying that, though, had made me starving.

"Tess! It's nearly 8! Wait, you aren't like anorexic are you?"

I snorted again. "Anorexia, no. Pizza is way too good to avoid."

"Thank the Angel," he said. "Well, I should take you home so you can eat. Come on," he said, pulling me back the other way.

* * *

Once at the door to my house, he looked at me carefully, his eyes still empty.

"We should do this again sometime. Here," he reached into his pocket, "put your number in here. I'll text you."

As I jabbed my number into his phone, I felt his eyes on me. Self-consciously, I brushed my hair back with my fingers, but his hand came up to stop my fingers, and his free hand flattened my ebony hair.

"See you around Tess," he murmured, retrieving his phone.

"Bye," I smiled, then watched him depart, before walking into the house. I couldn't be bothered to eat, so I went straight up to my room, thankfully not bumping into anyone. I flopped down onto my bed, going almost straight to sleep.


End file.

Infernal Devices, Cassandra Clare, Romance