Love That Conquers All Chapter 6

AN: Thanks for the people who have stayed with the story and for some of the suggestions! Just a note: I realize that I am not Cassie and I don't claim to be, I am trying to write the characters how I believe they would act. I'm sorry if it is wrong but that's kind of why I post on fanfiction, it's a place that fans can write their own versions of the stories we all love. I'm sorry if you think that I've got it wrong, but if you don't like how I write then you can just not read my story. Sorry I just need to say it. Also sorry if I put that Jem called Tessa Tess, it was a typo and completely unintentional. Thank you to those of you who send such kind words and suggestions for how to improve my story and the characters!

Enjoy!

Charlotte turned to Jem and Tessa, "Well, we've passed the first test of the Clave and who knows how many more they will throw at us. For now, I suggest you two join the others in the training room."

"Of course Charlotte," Jem said holding out his hand to help Tessa from her chair. Tessa took it and they left to walk towards their rooms.

"So, we shall all train together?" Tessa asked as they walked down the winding corridors.

"Yes, I believe that now that Gideon is here, he will be our tutor since he has completed his education and training. Charlotte will probably ask him soon," Jem replied. "It was usually the schedule to train in the morning and then learn from the books in the afternoon. Normally each day was focused on different subjects and techniques."

The couple reached their rooms and Tessa turned to Jem, "I'll meet you out here once we change."

"Of course," he said smiling.

Both turned and walked into their separate rooms. Tessa shut her door behind her skirts and leaned her back against it. She was happy to have passed this first hurtle but she stilled wasn't sure how to act around Will. He had seemed to accept her engagement to Jem but she wasn't sure how he truly felt about it. She only knew what he had said before when he had revealed his love for her. She wanted to ask him about it but she knew that they couldn't risk being found talking about such things.

She shook the thoughts from her head and walked over to her wardrobe and found her training gear. She quickly stripped off her dress and pulled on the loose fitting gear. As she was lacing the loose shoes, a knock came at her door, she believed that it was Jem checking to see if she was ready, so she said, "Come in."

A gasp came from the door and Tessa looked up to find blue eyes and black hair instead of the silver she was expecting. "Will?"

"Y-yes, I came to talk to you, I didn't know that you were going to go to training today," he said looking at the floor.

"Of course, I need to train so that I can assist you all with finding and catching Mortmain. Jem and I were just changing after our meeting with the Inquisitor, I was expecting him," Tessa said standing up to her full height.

"Yes, you would have been," he replied still not meeting her gaze. He moved forward and stood in front of her. Quickly he pulled her into him. His mouth was on hers and she felt herself sinking into his warm embrace. She let herself go and feel without thinking. It was a wonderful and amazing feeling.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of her door slamming. She realized what she had just let happen. Not only was there a man in her room kissing her, but he was also not her betrothed. She was breaking all the rules of propriety and also breaking Jem's heart. She rushed to her door and tried to pull it open but Will had beaten her there and was blocking her progress.

"Move Will! I have to speak to Jem, I can't let him just see that an not explain what happened," she said hitting his chest. She was so angry at him and at herself, she felt tears welling in her eyes and she couldn't seem to care. She wanted to cry because she had been such a horrible person to allow such a thing.

"Tess, I can't let you do that not until you've talked to me," he said holding his ground.

"How dare you!" she screamed as tears began to fall down her face. "How dare you make demands of me? And how dare you come in here and kiss me like that!"

He locked the door and grabbed her hands in one swift motion, "I will allow you to leave once you've answered my questions."

She glared at him through her tears and slowly gave in; she knew that her newly found strength was no match for his. He led her over to her bed and they both sat down.

"Now, there is no way that you can sit here and tell me that you feel nothing for me, not after the way we just kissed," he said looking at her.

She finally met his eyes, "I can't feel anything for you Will, I am marrying Jem and now I've broken his heart."

His face fell, "Fine if you will not admit it, at least answer me this. If I had proposed first, would you have accepted my offer? If I had admitted my feelings earlier, would it be I the one who would be sitting next to you in these meetings?"

Tessa blushed, she knew that she should not even think of answering such a question, it was completely inappropriate. But nothing about the situation was appropriate. She sighed, "I cannot answer that Will, because I do not know the answer myself. I believe that I would've said no because of how you have treated me in the past but I cannot say for sure." She looked at him and saw how it affected him, "Please don't think that I accepted Jem's proposal just to hurt you, I really do love him. If you cannot tell, it is killing me to know that I he is hurting and I am not there for him let alone the fact that I am the reason that he is pain."

His grip loosened on her wrist and his gaze was fixed on the floor, "I'm sorry that I have caused you so much pain."

She felt absolutely awful, she was breaking three hearts and she didn't know how to fix it, "Will, I'm so sorry that I cannot be with you in the way you wish."

He got up quickly and walked out of the room slamming the door. Tessa flinched at the sound but didn't move to chase after him. She was torn as to where she needed to be. The proper thing would be for her to find Jem and try to explain. But none of her options seemed completely correct.

She walked to her window and looked out, she saw Jem walking down the street with a determined purpose. She knew that this was the option that she needed to follow first. She knew that she wouldn't catch up to him while he was walking but she thought she knew where he would end up. She ran out of her room and down to the front doors. She pulled the giant doors open and shut them behind her, she walked down the street quickly. Her training gear being a lot easier to move in than her full skirts would've been.

Tessa made her way down the path that she now felt was familiar since she and Jem had made their way down here a few times over the past few weeks. She saw that many of the people she past on the street were giving her odd looks but she couldn't bring herself to care. All she wanted was to explain what had happened to Jem and she hoped that he would listen to what she had to say.

Tessa saw the familiar bridge rise up in front of her. She willed her feet to carry her faster as she started to look around for the silver haired man she loved. As she got to the middle, she began to panic she hadn't seen him. Had she guessed wrong as to where he would go?

Just as she looked around again, she heard an unfamiliar plopping sound. She went to the edge and looked over to the shore, where the noise seemed to be coming from. She saw Jem, in his training gear, standing on the bank throwing rocks across the surface of the river.

She walked back across the bridge and down towards where he was standing, he had never raised his eyes to her once and it made her feel even worse.

"Go away William, I'm not talking about this right now," he growled.

Tessa stopped and took a step back, she had never heard Jem this mad, not even when they went to get Will from the opium den.

"It-it's not Will," she said her voice trembling. She had expected him to be hurt but she wasn't sure how to deal with such anger.

"Tessa?" he asked turning around. The look on his face showed how much pain he was in.

Her stomach clenched at the sight, she had never wanted to hurt Jem. "I'm so sorry Jem," she said moving her gaze to the ground.

"I don't want to hear the apologies, I want to know why?" he said quietly not moving from where he stood.

"I don't know why, I've been trying to answer that for weeks now. I love you both and I know its not possible to keep going on like this," she chanced a glance up and she saw that he was watching her.

"So have you been leading us both along?" he asked.

Tessa shook her head, "Will never showed interest in anything serious until after I had already accepted your proposal. And I hadn't started seriously spending time with you till Will had let me know that there was no way that he would ever think of starting anything serious with me. I never meant to lead anyone along."

"So because Will had refused you any serious relationship, you decided that I would be a good enough second choice?" Jem asked harshly. She could hear the hurt in his voice.

"No, James it was never like that. Before Will had told me what kind of relationship we could have because of my Downworld status, I was so caught up with chasing him. It was a fantasy and I was stupid to chase after it. But after, you were so caring and understanding. And as I thought back, you always had been there for me. You were the one who always saw the real me even when I had changed.

"You had told me so many time that the right person wouldn't care and I was too blind to see that. You have always been the right person for me James Carstairs but I didn't really see that until you had asked me to marry you. When I told you yes I was serious," Tessa said staring at him. She wouldn't know what to do if Jem refused her now. She would understand if he did but she didn't know what she would actually do.

"But how can I know that I won't walk in to our house one day and find you with Will again,or worse another man," Jem said his voice still filled with hurt.

"You won't, I've told him that I can't be with him. That I made my choice and it was to be with you, if you'll even have me still," she fingered the Jade pendant that he had given her as an engagement present. She didn't dare think of handing it back yet.

"Tessa, I love you, but a marriage is built on trust and love. I have to be able to trust you with my heart," he said finally looking at her.

"I hope you will be able to also. I love you Jem and I've regretted ever letting him into my room. If I had known it wasn't you I wouldn't have let him in," Tessa said gazing back.

"The past has past and now we must look towards the future," he said finally pulling her into a hug.

She laid her head on his chest and listened to the thrum of his heart. She felt him sigh and she pulled away slightly to look at his face.

He chuckled, "Well, it had to happened some time."

Tessa looked at him puzzled.

He shook his head smiling, "Our first fight. We must learn about such thing Tessa, if we are to be married soon."

"I'm still sorry Jem, I never meant to hurt you," she said still watching them.

"I know, let's go back to the institute. I'm sure we'll make it in time for lunch," he said holding his arm out to her.

Tessa felt a little disappointment at the formal gesture, she loved just holding Jem's hand. She knew that this was okay within the Shadowhunter community but it would be seen as a scandal here in the public view of London, even if she and Jem were engaged.

The couple walked down the street together and got quite a few odd looks for passersby. Tessa felt the blood rise into her neck and cheeks. She hadn't thought about walking back in such an outfit. Jem didn't seem to mind. Tessa wondered what was going through his mind at that moment. She knew that he was okay now, when it was just them,but she wasn't sure what would happen when he encountered Will next.

When the had finally gotten within sight of the institute, the skies opened. Soon both of them were soaked and they began to run towards the gates. As Jem reached the front doors first, he turned around and looked at Tessa running up to meet him.

Tessa looked at him and blushed again, she could see through his thin shirt. She saw the runes that covered his chest and arms. As she ran up the steps she lost her footing and began to fall forward. She braced herself for the fall but it never came. She instead found herself in the warmth of Jem's arms. As they righted themselves, both began to laugh.

The door opened and Sophie was standing there, hands on her hips, "Really Master Jem, Miss Tessa, standing out here carrying on in the rain. You'll catch a chill, standing out here in training gear."

Their laughing calmed and they walked into the entryway behind Sophie. She handed them both towels so that they wouldn't drip water all over the Institute.

All three departed with words from Sophie about being late for lunch. She then helped Tessa out of her soaked gear and back into her dress. She dried Tessa's hair quickly, at least getting enough moister out that it wouldn't drip. She then braided it since she didn't have time to wait for it to fully dry and style it for her.

Sophie left quickly leaving Tessa to finish getting ready and make it down to the dining room. As she finished, she walked into the hall to find Jem leaning up against the wall outside his room.

He looked up and smiled, "I didn't want to frighten you if I knocked. I was afraid that you might not ever come out then."

She laughed and walked towards him. He offered his hand and she took it happily. She didn't want to think of Will now, she just wanted to be with Jem. Jem was easy to be with. She didn't worry about where she stood with him because he made it clear that she held his heart. She didn't worry about him pushing her away without an explanation. Even when she spilled his yin fen, he sent her away but told her why.

They walked together in comfortable silence to the dining room.

AN: So here it is! I finished the book last night and my eyes are so sore from all the tears. I loved it and was so satisfied with the ending. I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my note above but I am just tired of people bashing creativity of others, on here and in real life.

Thanks so much for reading and let me know about this chapter.