Hi people! Sorry you haven't heard from me in a while - I procrastinate so much on stories it's not even funny :( But here I am, back with a story! I've prewritten a lot of chapters so hopefully I'll be updating pretty fast from now on too.

Also, just saying that this story is Wessa themed. I'm a fan of basically every ship in the series, but just to make it an easier story I'm not putting in TessaxJem. Sorry! However I do plan to write a Jessa fic soon so watch this space!

And, yeah. Enjoy! Drop a review if you feel up to it, that would be awesome ;)

- s.i

1: In a Meeting of Strangers

There is no place as surreal or as exhausting as an airport at 2am.

I decided this while I was curled up in a squishy chair in the waiting bay, with a crick in my neck and the beginnings of a headache.

I was waiting for a plane that I should have been on hours ago. I could have been halfway to London by now, but nope. Still stuck in New York because there was 'bad weather' or something.

So yeah, it's fun.

On one side of me there was an old couple having an argument in another language - French, possibly? On my other side, there was two acne-ridden teenagers passionately making out.

I didn't know which one was worse, honestly.

I fingered my book absently, which had slipped down my lap from when I gave up reading it half an hour ago. The words had been starting to blur, and I'd been stuck on the same page for ten minutes when I finally stopped reading.

I wanted to sleep, but I wasn't not sure I could with hushed french swearwords coming from one side and slurping sounds from the other.

I looked at the row of seats across from me. There was a weathered old man tapping at his computer, a tall woman with smudged makeup who was asleep in her chair, and… woah.

Next to her was a boy who looked about my age. Incidentally, he was probably the most beautiful boy I've ever seen. Rumpled dark hair, a face of pale skin and perfect angles, and eyes that put the word blue to shame.

Eyes that were looking right at me.

I looked away hurriedly, flushing. When I looked back, the guy was still watching me, the corner of his mouth turned up in a slight smirk.

He was used to girls eyeing him, obviously.

With that thought, my embarrassment slid away. I met the boy's stare head on, raising my eyebrows. His smirk only grew. Jerk.

I turned my eyes to his clothes, which were rumpled from the airport but clearly expensive. Interesting. He was a rich eyes narrowed as they took in the boy's legs, sprawled carelessly over two chairs next to him. He followed my gaze, and swung his legs off the seats with a grin. Then he patted the seat next to him.

Oh, dear lord.

He smirked at me, gesturing for me to take the empty seat. My stare turned to a frown.

The arguing French couple started openly shrieking, ignoring the glares of everyone else in the bay. I had to lean back to avoid being hit by the woman's wild gestures.

The boy opposite me was trying not laugh, the jerk. I glared at him, and he cocked his head at the seat next to him again.

On the other side if me, the kissing couple seemed to be pulling at each other's clothes.

I closed my eyes for a moment with a sigh. Oh, hell. Whatever.

Then I got up, grabbed my book and bag, and sat down next to the handsome jerk.

"You looked like you were in a bit of a tight spot there." he said quietly, grinning.

"Thanks for your concern." I answered shortly.

He leaned closer to me, his leg brushing my own. I was pretty sure I was blushing.

"Will Herondale." he held out a hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

I narrowed my eyes at him - was he mocking me? Then I took his hand. "Tessa Gray."

"Tessa." Will Herondale mused. "Short for anything?"

"Uh… Theresa." I mumbled. "My parents were a bit old-fashioned."

He smiled at me. "It's a lovely name - "

"If you finish that sentence with 'for a lovely girl' then I may have to hit you with my book."

He looked surprised for a moment and then laughed. "It would be an honour if you did, Tessa."

My name on Will's lips made my face grow hot again, much to my annoyance. And Will knew it, of course.

"So, Tessa." he said after a moment. "What brings you to this godforsaken place at such an hour?"

"Same as everyone else." I leant back into my chair. "I've got places to be, and I got stuck on the way."

Evidently, I passed some sort of test, because Will broke into a smile. A real smile, not a smirk. "They say happiness is in the journey, not the destination."

"Well, I'm feeling just great hanging round here in the middle of the night." I deadpanned.

Will laughed again. I took in the way his body always seemed to be moving, like he was full of restless energy.

Proving my point, he stood up and held out a hand. "Would you care to accompany me on a coffee trip, Tessa Gray?"

My instincts told me that agreeing was a bad idea. But I stood up, because one, I really could have used some coffee, two, I was desperate to get out of the waiting bay, and three, no one could refuse a boy who looked like Will Herondale. I mean, do you really blame me?

Will's smile left me dazed as he grabbed my hand and led me out of the bay. We left our luggage behind.

Will walked fast and confidently, like he'd been here before. I certainly hadn't. This was my first ever flight - or it would be if we were ever going to board the plane.

"So." Will said conversationally, steering me past tempting bookstands and candy booths, "Tell me about your book."

I looked down in surprise, I hadn't realised I'd brought it with me. "It's, uh, A Tale of Two Cities by - "

"Charles Dickens, yes." Will said quickly.

"You know Charles Dickens?" Will didn't seem the reading type. I couldn't imagine him sitting still long enough to pick up a novel.

"Everyone knows Charles Dickens." Will looked over at me. "We've all done a fair amount of high school essays."

"Oh." He'd only read for school, then.

"So how far into the book are you?" Will asked me.

I laughed, clutching my worn novel to my chest with my free hand. The other was still clutching Will, and if I let go he'd probably speed off and lose me. "Oh, I've already read it. About ten times, actually. Not counting when I read the chapters out of order."

Will stared at me, his expression a cross between bewilderment and amusement.

"What?" I asked defensively.

He grinned. "Now I think about it, I should have guessed you were a book nerd."

I made a face at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing."

I gave Will a half-hearted glare as he steered me over to a pop-up coffee place. He ignored me as he ordered two coffees.

We found a small table while we waited for our drinks. The waitress looked bored as she brought over the coffees - until she saw Will. Then she brightened considerably.

"Anything else I can get you, sir?" she asked him, ignoring me completely.

Will barely looked at her. "No thanks."

The waitress followed his gaze to me, and acknowledged my presence with a frown. "Well," she said, eyeing me, "let me know if you change your mind."

"I will." I told her. She shot me a dirty look - she'd been talking to Will, not me. Then she bustled off.

I rolled my eyes and picked up my coffee. I drank it in careful sips, but Will gulped his down like he hadn't had a drink in days.

"What?" he asked when he saw me staring.

"How do you drink that fast?"

Will leaned forward on his elbows, smirking. "Looking this good burns up a lot of energy, Tessa. It's not as easy as you might think."

"Try not to pass out on the table then, please."

"Ah, so you think I'm hot?" Will asked me.

My coffee suddenly became very interesting to stare at. "If you lowered your ego a few notches, maybe."

Was this… flirting? I've spent all my life with my nose in a book, not talking to boys. I had no idea what Will was thinking when I looked up, his eyes were bright and the side of his mouth was quirked up.

"Are you wearing contacts?" I blurted out without thinking.

Will batted his stupidly blue eyes at me. "Nope, these beauties are a natural phenomenon."

I blinked, and said something profoundly intelligent like "mhmm."

He drummed his fingers on the table, with the same restless energy from before. "You know, they say that your eyes are the window to your soul."

"And…?"

"Well, it says a lot about my soul, doesn't it?" He finished his coffee and smirked over at me.

"Well maybe your soul is actually full of... sadness or something. Because your eyes are blue." I was proud of myself for coming up with that answer, instead of complimenting him.

The change in Will was sudden. His eyes flicked away from me, his grip tightening on his empty glass. "Maybe."

I studied him in surprise. My answer had struck a nerve, somehow. I quickly changed the subject. "That waitress is still looking over at you, you know."

Will looked over his shoulder, seeming to come back to himself. "It has been known to happen." he confided.

I rolled my eyes and stood up, gulping the last of my coffee as I pushed in my chair. Will stood up too, and we began walking back the way we'd came.

The airport was quiet - by airport standards of course. There were still people coming and going, looking as tired as I felt. But it still felt surreal, like a sort of in-between dream you had when you were half asleep.

Will was lost in thought beside me, and I took the opportunity to study him shamelessly from the corner of my eye. His hair was rumpled like he'd been running his hands through it, and his eyes were framed by dark lashes some girls would kill for.

He looked slightly different somehow - younger, maybe, like he'd let down his guard a bit.

"I have decided I don't particularly feel like going back to the waiting bay." Will announced finally.

"I don't want to particularly, either." I replied after a moment, with a strange tingling in my stomach that had nothing to do with coffee.

Will was a step ahead of me, and he turned to walk backwards so he was facing me. I was struck by the graceful way he walked. Will could have been a sports star, or even a movie star, and I wouldn't have been surprised.

"Tell me about yourself, Tessa Gray." Will lingered on the vowels in my name, making my stomach do a kind of flip.

"There's not much to say, really."

He pinned me with his eyes. "I'm sure that's not true. You seem like a very interesting person."

"Uh… thanks?" I thought for a moment about what to say. "I've grown up in New York all my life, but I've read so much about London."

"Modern London?" he inquired, "or London during A Tale of Two Cities? Because I'm afraid to tell you it's changed a lot since, oh, over two hundred years ago."

I glared at him. "Funny. So does that mean you come from London?"

"Well, I'm actually from Wales. I moved to London only when I was about twelve." Then Will smirked. "In fact, in honour of my birthright, I have a welsh dragon tattooed on my - "

"Please don't finish that sentence." I interrupted, warned by his smirk.

He only cocked his head at me. "If you insist. Maybe you'll find out for yourself later."

My mouth dropped open. "Will - "

"Only joking." he said quickly, eyes sparkling. I had to look away before I was dazzled to the point of tripping over.

"So why did you come to New York?" I asked Will after a moment.

"Oh, I wanted an adventure." he said breezily, not meeting my eyes. "I've been away for nearly half a year."

"Wow." I wished I could do that, go travelling anywhere I pleased just for an adventure. But Will was obviously from a rich family, or as I… wasn't.

"Why are you coming to London?" Will asked me.

"My brother Nate got a job there." I explained. "He thought it would be the start of a new life for us, after my - after my aunt died. I had to finish my school year and come to meet him afterwards."

"It's nearly the start of school, though." Will said with a sigh. "Unfortunately."

"Yeah. I decided to stay for the break - to get everything in order, say goodbye, you know."

"Mmm." He looked at me thoughtfully. "Do you want to go?"

I was surprised. I hadn't really given much thought to what I wanted, just what Nate and I needed to do. "I… suppose so."

Will smile was a bit sad. "I hope you decide that soon, Tessa Gray."

We reached the entrance of the waiting bay, and we both stood there looking at it for a few moments. I could hear French shrieking from the old couple, even from where I stood.

Then Will grabbed my hand - sending a jolt up my arm - and pulled me away. "Let's keep going."

We walked in easy silence for a while, eyes averted but fingers entwined.

The further we walked, the quieter the airport became. When it felt like we were the only people for miles, we came to a stop.

"You look like you're about to fall asleep, Tessa Gray." Will said softly.

It was true my eyes were starting to hurt, everything apart from Will was going slightly out of focus. "I think my coffee wasn't strong enough." I mumbled. When did Will move so close to me? I couldn't quite remember.

"Maybe that waitress was responsible." Will said with a half-smile.

"She made my coffee decaf so I'd fall asleep, and she'd get a chance with you." I grinned at him.

"Tessa Gray," he said quietly, his breath tickling my face, "I believe I'm about to make a very bad decision."

I struggled to focus on his words, and not get lost in his eyes. They were darker then most people with blue eyes, I thought. Will's were like the sky just on the edge of twilight.

"It's the perfect time for bad decisions." I said slightly unevenly. "Two am in an airport."

"True." Will admitted. His hand reached up to brush a strand of hair behind my ear. I felt my cheeks bloom in pink.

"I mean," Will said quietly, "I'm keeping awake from nothing but coffee and adrenaline, we're alone in the middle of an airport, and you're very beautiful, Tessa Gray."

"Beautiful?" I had a feeling that I should step backwards, but I didn't want to.

"Beautiful." he confirmed. "You have very stormy eyes, did you know? Like a silvery ocean. That means, as much as you try to hide it, your soul is wilder than it appears."

We were back to the soul conversation. "Like yours?" I asked quietly.

"Just like mine, only you hide it better than me." Will said with a half smile. His fingers moved from my hair to my cheek, and then to the corner of my mouth.

"You didn't strike me as a poetic type, Will Herondale." I told him.

"Ah, but you bring out the poetry in me, Tessa Gray."

"That's a terrible line."

"Yes, but did it work?" he asked me. Vibrant blue was all I could see.

"It may have." my voice was almost a whisper.

And then he kissed me.

We'd both known it would happen - our bodies seemed to exhale into each other like puzzle pieces fitting together.

I had to grab Will's shoulders for balance, as my legs seemed to have temporarily forgotten how they worked. I was still clutching my book in one hand, but Will didn't seem to care that it was digging into him. He steadied me with one arm round my back, the other gently cupping my face. His fingers were hot on my skin.

I tasted coffee and salt and rain, and his warmth spread everywhere, from my mouth to my toes.

The bookworm in me searched wildly for words to describe it, but my thoughts were confused blurs. It was only this moment, and I didn't want it to end.

When we broke apart, Will's eyes were wide and dark. He smiled at me uncertainly, stepping backwards. I felt much colder without him, though my cheeks were flaming.

"I did warn you about my reckless decisions, Tessa Gray." he said quietly.

After a moment, I answered him. "You didn't do a very good job of it then, Will Herondale."

Then the announcement that our plane was boarding chose that very moment to finally come over the speakers - and I was almost disappointed.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for next chapter which shall be coming soon!