Special thanks to Efelei for commenting again and giving me the push i needed to finish this chapter. I was giving up because i hadn't posted in forever due to going to school with a fucking quarter system and i didn't really think anyone would still want to read this. I'm really sorry and for those still reading thank you! thank you! thank you! i'm on break and i plan to update as much as i can :) HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Sophie sat on the floor with piles of folded laundry all around her. Having to help Tessa the entire morning and afternoon had put her behind schedule. Not that she had minded though. Tessa's company was extremely pleasant compared to some of the others in the institute. It was obvious the girl's curiosity heighted with each passing day but was smart enough not to ask outright. Sophie was also relieved that even though she had to share a piece of her disastrous past, Tessa had not treated her with the fragileness that comes from being a victim. Talking about him again came at a price. She had been reliving those awful days in her sleep. He was gone but he still had this hold over he that she couldn't escape. It wasn't fair. Then again there was no such thing as fair in life. If life was fair then Jem wouldn't be dying, Tessa would be with her family, and Charlotte wouldn't have an overwhelming amount of responsibility weighing on her shoulders.

Deep in thought, Sophie jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whipped around to find Thomas trying his best not to laugh at her skittishness. He held a white bad with a logo that read "Silver Dragon" which happened to be her favorite Chinese food restaurant. She had not realized it before but she was starving and was now practically salivating at just eyeing the bag.

"I thought you might be hungry." He teased by swinging the bag of tantalizing smells at her face level.

"Give it." She grabbed the bag as he let go. Thomas shuck off his shoes and jacket and sat crossed legged right in front of her, in the middle of all the heaps of laundry. Sophie didn't have to guess the contents of the take out containers because they always chose the same thing. She lined them up between them and gave him a pair of chopsticks.

"Thanks for this," she said gratefully while she opened the container of sweet and sour chicken. "You're amazing…"

Thomas shrugged like it wasn't a big deal but his eyes were troubled. "I guess you seemed a distant these couple days."

She froze in the middle of chewing a piece of chicken and looked at his anxious face. Had she been distant? They saw each other for Tessa's lessons but other than that they had been doing their own thing or so she thought. Sophie would never intentionally want to pull away from him. "I'm sorry."

He finally met her gaze and offered a shy smile. "It's okay. Now pass over that delicious food."

They fell in to comfortable conversation consisting mostly of the people in the building. "Have you noticed Charlotte and Henry are spending less time together than usual?"

Sophie nodded unhappily. "I'm not even sure they're even sleeping in the same room let alone eating together." It definitely reflected Charlotte's erratic mood. She couldn't say anything about Henry because normal for him was never leaving the lab unless necessary. She thought Charlotte fit under necessary. Their marriage was baffling yet incredibly sweet. They were extremely focused on their individual work but always made an exception for one another. At least they had until recently.

"This magister case has everyone on the edge." Thomas signed, "I wonder how Will and Tessa are doing right now. I really should have gone. Knowing Will something is bound to happen and who will help-"

"He brings it upon him himself," she blurted.

Thomas shook his head at her. "You have never given him a chance."

"I don't have a reason to. He's irresponsible, curt, and not to mention his narcissistic tendencies-"

Her best friend cut her off that time. "Not with Jem.

That was true and Sophie couldn't argue against the statement. She had seen Will strike everyone in the institute with just his use words but never on Jem. He was Will's only weakness.

"Well I just hope he doesn't abandon Tessa like he does with you," she said a little too venomously. A memory of earlier tonight came to mind. She had never seen the expression Will had worn when he saw Tessa walking towards him and Charlotte. It could be passed as a blank expression but there was something looming there. Sophie didn't really believe he would desert Tessa. The reason Will left him was because he knew Thomas could always defend himself.

Thomas gave her a hard look, like he was telling her he didn't want to argue about Will anymore. "I received a letter today."

"From Cyril?" she assumed.

He nodded with a smile that reached his eyes and filled her in the context of the letter. His brother was away at a university and although he had met a lot of good people, it wasn't where he wanted to be. But Thomas was stubborn about him attending because he wanted Cyril to have "more" in life. Sophie thought it was more of assuring his brother's safety.

"He begged me to come visit…again," he said with his head bowed forward and in a tone that washed all the happiness from the past few minutes. She cleared away the food in between them off to the side and crawled to sit next to him. It caused her a physical ache to see her confidant in pain. She placed an arm around his shoulder and leaned in closer to whisper, "We will, I promise. Not today, not tomorrow but soon."For once Sophie's touch hadn't relaxed Thomas' tense state and she began to fear that this issue was bigger than she had assumed.

"They need us here. They always need us here." His words were gaining steam and becoming more agitated. "Who would make sure Henry steps out of his office every couple days? Who would drive Agatha to buy things? Who would keep everyone from murdering one another?" He finally exhaled a breath of air and silenced himself. Sophie stayed silent too.

"I love this job. I love being here..." he reasoned.

Sophie rested her head on his shoulder."I know."

"I just miss him is all."

Her throat felt tight and her eyes were threatening to tear up. Life was never fair. She cleared her throat and said, "Tomorrow you and I will go out and have some serious fun. This place can go one night without us. Okay?"

She felt him nod and removed her arm from her shoulder, but not before giving him a squeeze. Relief spread through her when she noticed the small smile on Thomas' lips.

"We forgot the fortune cookies," he muttered. He leaned over to where the bag was and retrieved them from inside. Holding them in front of her, he said, "Choose."

Sophie always got a tad excited when choosing a fortune cookie. It wasn't so much as she believed in the words they predicted but more of the fact that they could say anything. She picked her cookie, brought it out of the plastic, and cracked it in half.

She read out loud, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

Immediately after, Thomas read, "Soon you will be sitting on top of the world."

They both chuckled at their fortunes and stayed on the ground talking about nonsensical things, not ready to get up and continue working. Shortly after, they heard running footsteps and a door being slammed open.

The noises were nothing new to them. "Will and Tessa must be back."

If it weren't for Will's tight hold on Tessa's wrist she would have dropped to the ground and ripped off the torture devices known as boots. Running in them was surprisingly easy, as long as she kept her balance and avoided thinking about the tall skinny heel. They were making their way back to where Will had parked the car earlier. She hadn't even seen one police car pass by.

"You have got to be kidding me right now," Will hissed at the dark, staring straight ahead of them. He skidded into a slow halt allowing Tessa to right herself.

All she could see was fog and more fog. She noticed his grip on her wrist was missing. His angry expression confused the hell out of her. "Umm what are-", her voice came out in a whisper.

Will ignored her and stalked into the fog with his fixed glare. She quickly followed behind him just in case. In case of what, she didn't know. Squinting into the darkness she tried to get a glimpse of what Will was seeing. There was nothing but suddenly there was. A shadow leaned against the car and she could only make out that it was a person. Her instincts yelled at her to run. This could be a trap and Will wasn't walking away from danger.

The closer they got to the car the more clearer the shadow became. It was a man in a gray suit. He was tall with bony features: a hook nose, red rimmed hollow eyes, sunken cheeks, and a sharp jaw. His hair was gray and Tessa wasn't sure if it was the weather or his clothes but his skin looked a little gray too. The man's green eyes were boring into Will's with an amused smirk on his lips.

Will finally stopped a few feet away from the man. If he didn't tell her what was going on her heart was to explode from beating so hard or she was going to throw up.

"Does Charlotte know where you are?" the man asked in a condescending tone. "Don't want mother to worry."

Will rolled his eyes and shrugged the comment off. "Benedict." All the traces of anger gone from his face. "You didn't have to go through all this trouble just to see me," he said in a sickly sweet voice.

"It wasn't you that I need to see," the man countered. "I'm looking for someone-"

A movement in the car caught Tessa's attention. She looked into the back window and realized someone was inside. A pale face with piercing green eyes stared at her. Will hadn't notice the girl in the car. She stepped closer to the car, not sure what to make of the situation. The girl wouldn't break their gaze but there was fear and curiosity in them. Tessa raised her hand tentatively, not completely aware of what she was doing. The girl mirrored her actions as well. What the…It hit her like a splash of cold water. Oh my god! I'm her! That's me! She touched her cheek and hair, not wanting to believe it was her reflection. I look..look like..

"I'm not a fool, William. The girl standing next to you, who appears to be on the verge of some sort of a meltdown, is Theresa Gray," Lightwood demanded.

Will spared Tessa a glance. "I think it's time someone got their eyes checked for cataracts," he replied tauntingly. "It's all part of aging really."

Their voices felt distant to her. It all suddenly felt ridiculous. Living at the institute with a bunch of strangers, crushing on a guy who she knew nothing about, and dressing up like a damn slut. Oh Nate…you just had to run away to England.

"I'm not discussing this with a child. I'll just drop Charlotte a visit," Benedict said. Tessa finally looked at the suited man and noticed he had green eyes too. There was something in his gaze that she made her skin crawl. He broke his stare and walked into the fog.

"Dammit to hell!" Will snapped in frustration. "Get in the car. We have to beat him to the institute."

On the drive Tessa looked at this beautiful boy next to her, who kind of-sort of-not really had given her a kiss, who made her heart stutter and filled her stomach with butterflies, and who never asked her how she was feeling.

Charlotte stood at the door waiting for her and Will to come up the front steps. "Are you alright? Did something to happen? What's wrong?" Her voice brimming with worry.

She was closing the door when Will told her, "I would keep that open for another second and in my defense it wasn't my idea." Charlotte's eyes widened and sled to Tessa's with concern.

They all heard the heavy footsteps approaching. Charlotte turned round and Tessa could have sworn her hand twitched on the door as if her instinct told her to slam the door shut.

"What in the world do you think you're doing here?" If that wasn't an unwelcoming invitation than she didn't know what was. "Get off my property, Mr. Lightwood." Although Charlotte's height only met Benedict's shoulder, the intensity in her tone made up for that fact.

"A pleasure to see you too, Charlie. Is that cigarette smoke I smell? Don't you remember how difficult it was for you to quit?"

"No! And don't call me that!"

Lightwood was obviously entertained by her reaction and kept talking as if she hadn't interrupted. "I might have something that could assist you in your case."

"You know nothing about my cases," Charlotte seethed.

Will and Tessa had been watching the back and forth banter like a tennis match. Tessa could not have been more confused of what was happening in front of her.

"Ah, a lover's quarrel," said Will in a false grin and dreamy voice. "Well technically ex lovers."

"William! Stuff it!" Charlotte's face flushed with anger.

Tessa couldn't believe Charlotte could have ever been with the man standing in front of her. He had to be at least fifteen years older than her. Considering Charlotte's response to himnow things probably didn't end well.

Mr. Lightwood's neck had turned a shade of red but didn't acknowledge Will's comment. "Something got dropped off at the station and was signed from the Magister." Charlotte gave him a hard look and closed the door behind him.

"What was it?"

Mr. Lightwood reached inside his suit and pulled out a small plastic bag with something inside. He handed it to Charlotte, who processed the object with a blank expression. Will had given Charlotte a minimum of thirty seconds before snatching it out of her hands. Since Tessa stood much closer to Will, she finally saw that the object was a newspaper article. She only caught the words on the headline "two dead", "fire", and in bold red letters written across the article "WHAT ABOUT THE DAUGHTER?"

It was the article written about her parent's car accident. She had only read it once and that was enough. "I wasn't there," she whispered. Why only her? Why not the son?

"I don't see how this is of any help. I've read this already," Charlotte turned to Mr. Lightwood. "How does this involve the police?"

A thought flashed in Tessa's mind. Hadn't Charlotte said she was working with the police? Waking up at the institute felt like a distant memory but could have sworn she was told that British police had given Charlotte this specific case. Did they lie to her? A dull ache pressed on her temples.

"I simply thought it could help make progress-"

"No, you thought I would tell the information I have so you can solve it and take all the damn credit. Again," Charlotte consolidated. "I don't need your help."

"Always the competitive one, Branwell," Mr. Lightwood countered. "Well now we're involved and one way or another you will have to comply with us or I will take the girl right now."

"You are not taking her," Charlotte threatened.

Tessa didn't care if she had been lied to anymore. All she knew was that she didn't want to leave. Her panicked eyes begged Charlotte to fight for her. She glanced at Will who just stood there with a pursed lips and a thoughtful look. There was no way she was being taken away, she would run away.

"Then agree to meet with us."

"Fine. I'll stop by tomorrow," Charlotte settled. "Now if you could please leave."

"Wait!" Tessa turned to Mr. Lightwood and asked, "Do you anything about my brother?"

Mr. Lightwood looked down at her with a cold expression. "We were not aware you had a brother."

He was lying. She could tell and from the way Will clenched his fist he knew it too. "Thank you," she whispered with a bowed head. "Umm if you'll excuse me I'll be up in my room."

Tessa knew Charlotte would want answers of their night but she couldn't talk to anyone at the moment. She was practically running up the stairs. The newspaper article burned into her mind. First her mother's necklace and now this? None of it made sense. If this Magister person wanted her then why did he wait until now? There must have plenty of opportunities before. Her vision went blurry with tears as a guilty thought passed through her mind. She should have ignored her brother's invitation to come to England and ripped up that plane ticket when she had the chance.

"You are seriously sulking." A gentle voice traveled down the stairs where Tessa sat. She had been avoiding everybody up till now. The whole day had been spent in her room reading, sleeping, and mourning the deaths of her parents and aunt and her missing brother. She had turned off her phone and every time Sophie had come to check on her or bring food she pretended to be asleep. Last night, grief threatened to drown her. Time had helped her move on but that didn't mean it hurt any less.

Now she sat on the stairs close to midnight. Maybe she secretly hoped the person whose voice it belonged to would find her.

Jem sat next to her on the step with little distance between them. She didn't turn to look at him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Tessa shook her head.

"Charlotte would have never let Mr. Lightwood take you. Believe me, you're safe here," he said in a calm tone making it hard for her not to want to believe him.

"I can't stop listening to the song "Let Your Heart Hold Fast" from Will's playlist." Hoping music would distract him from discussing last night any further.

"Really?"

She finally looked at him and found Jem radiating with happiness. He looked different. Even though the lousy mood from the day hadn't worn off, she couldn't help returning his smile. His mood was absolutely contagious.

He jumped to his feet and said, "Come on! Let's go out for a bit." He offered his hand to help her up. That's what was different. Tess was so accustomed to him being in sweats and a hoodie but now he wore black jeans, an untucked white button up shirt, a jean jacket, and of course his black beanie.

"I'm not really dressed," she replied lamely. Her outfit consisted of her only pair of jeans, a loose ivory knit sweater, and her chucks.

"You're perfect," Jem argued. She looked up to find some pink in his cheeks. He was so pale that he couldn't even hide the slightest hint of heat on his face.

Without really thinking, her hand found his. It was soft, warm, and he curled his fingers around hers holding on tight.

My favorite chapter is next :)

"Jem!Really I don't..I can't dance..." She wasn't sure if he even heard her since the music was so loud.

He turned around and puller her close to whisper in her ear, "Humor me please."