A/N: Surprise!! Here's another chapter while I finish the big one. Also, a new fandom is ruining my life so there might be some upcoming fic for that too, haven't decided yet. Enjoy!
Hey :P are you at home?? -W.
Jem glanced at his phone, rolling his eyes.
Yeah, not feeling well enough to venture into the rain today. Why? Do you need something? -J
I'm bringing a girl home... -W
Tessa? -J
Yeah -W
Do you want me to leave? I can go to Alec's or something -J
I don't want to kick you out of your own apartment if you're sick -W
I'm always sick, that's hardly a basis for changing what you ask for at this point -J
Nah, stay home. We won't bother you. But do you want to be a dear and help me out before we get there??? -W
Your room's a mess isn't it -J
..... -W
I'll tidy up a bit so your own messiness doesn't impede your plan to get laid but you're doing the dishes for a week -J
YOU ARE THE BEST AND I LOVE YOU -W
I know -J
Jem tossed his phone to the side and stood, stretching a little. His joints protested far too much, considering he was barely twenty, but he ignored them as usual. Outside, it was grey and wet- typical weather for this time. Jem missed the sun. He stood in front of the window in his room, looking outside and sighing a little. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to look at least slightly presentable.
Tessa would likely be preoccupied with his stupidly attractive flatmate, but still. There would be somebody else in his apartment. Bedhead wasn't a good look for company.
When he was satisfied he didn't look like he'd planned to spend the whole day in bed (even if he was planning to do that), he put the kettle on. Fed the cat. Set all of Will's books upright on the shelves and corralled his sheet music into its folders.
He ventured into Will's room with an ease born of familiarity, shaking his head at the clutter everywhere. Neither he nor Will were overly neat, which sometimes made living together mildly disastrous. Jem was just better at tidying up at the end of the week so that his room never crossed the line from "charmingly cluttered" to "tornado wreckage site."
He set books (more books, Will really needed to invest in one of those e-readers for the sake of their shelves) on the nightstand, straightening the pile of notes and textbooks on his desk into something resembling an organized university student's desk. Laundry was tossed into the hamper and the closet was set to rights... mostly. He looked around the room, straightening the duvet on Will's bed and trying very hard not to think about what that poor bed was about to witness shortly.
He sent Will a picture of the room.
Acceptable? -J
YOU ARE A SAINT AND A GIFT FROM GOD -W
What would you do without me? -J
Probably die in an avalanche of my own books -W
Jem laughed aloud, smiling fondly.
A tragedy, to be sure -J
On the tube home now -W
Jem didn't bother responding, knowing Will wouldn't look at his phone again until long after Tessa had left. He went back to the kitchen as the kettle started to whistle, making a cup of tea and letting his mind wander. When he heard the telltale scrape of the key in the lock, he hastily made his way to his own room and closed the door.
A few moments later there was an affronted yowl from Church and a lot of swearing from Will.
"Stupid cat," Will muttered. Jem heard Tessa laugh, and resolutely squashed the jealous flip in his stomach.
He was twenty four, thank you very much, and above petty jealousy. Will could do whatever (or whomever) he liked.
When he heard Will's bedroom door close, he laid back on his own bed and listened to the quiet classical music coming from his phone, trying hard not to think.
A few tortuously long moments later, the infamous thumping sound of Will's headboard against the wall and squeaking of the abused mattress springs was audible over the sound of a piano.
Jem sighed. He was going to forcibly rearrange Will's room next time he was out so that the bed didn't touch anything that could make noise.
He could swear that the soft moans and heavy breathing and squeaking of the mattress were speeding up as the music got faster, but that could've been his own traitorous heart.
He was tempted to turn the music up louder.
A loud sigh- definitely a woman's- drifted through the wall. Jem rolled his eyes, but the words that came after surprised him.
"Are you even trying?"
Jem couldn't help himself. He laughed, perhaps harder than he should have.
The squeaking stopped, and a low muttering from Will and the muffled sound of a door opening was all the warning he got before his own door was thrown open to reveal a flustered and very naked Will.
"You," Will said, a blush creeping up his face, "Can fuck off directly."
"Having fun?" Jem asked innocently.
"You are an asshole."
Jem laughed again, shaking his head. "Sorry, is your ego smarting a little?"
"Did you have to laugh?"
"Best friend privilege. And I offered to leave," Jem reminded him. "You're the one that told me to stay even though you knew full well Tessa was coming over for one reason only. Poor girl, sounds like she's having second thoughts."
"I'm going to hit you."
"Swing, then."
"This is what I get for wanting you to stay home and rest?"
Jem snorted. "Show me the man that can rest with the litany of noises coming through that wall."
Will rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about the noise."
"Don't worry about it," Jem said, turning his attention back to his phone and fighting a smile. "She's not enjoying herself enough to really be loud."
Without looking up, he dodged the book Will had tossed at him.
"Git," Will said, not without affection. "I don't want to hear any more of your shit, Carstairs. I'm going to get back to her."
"Why bother? She's probably having more fun without you."
Will's scoff was playful, and Jem looked up to grin at him, carefully keeping his eyes on Will's face. And if his gaze shifted when Will turned to leave, there was nobody there to prove it.
~•~•~•~•~•
The next morning, Jem was standing at the kitchen counter when he heard Will's bedroom door open.
"I was wondering when you'd wake up," Jem said, crouching down to feed the cat. "Just about to put the coffee on, do you want-" He cut himself off abruptly as he stood and found himself not looking across at Will but down slightly at smudged mascara and tousled brown hair. Tessa.
"My apologies, I thought it was Will I heard. I didn't know you'd stayed the night. I'm-"
"James, the flatmate," she said, smiling. "I know."
Jem smiled back politely. "Can I get you something?"
"I'll take that coffee, if you don't mind," she said, running her fingers through her hair. Jem noted with mild displeasure that she was only wearing a shirt of Will's and hoped he could make a polite exit before Will woke up and they inevitably went at it again.
"Here," Jem said, pushing a mug across the counter.
"Thanks," she said gratefully. "I forgot I have a morning class today, and I really should've gone home last night, but Will suggested I stay, and..."
Jem resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Will has that effect on people, I'm aware. Will you make it to your class on time?"
She peered over his shoulder at the clock. "Probably."
A silence fell over the kitchen, both of them looking anywhere but the other. With a jolt, Jem realized that the shirt she was wearing said "Juilliard Conservatory '14". Juilliard was Jem's alma mater, Will was a Columbia graduate. How that had ended up in Will's room, he wasn't sure.
"Is Will seeing anyone else at the moment?" Tessa asked suddenly.
"Beg your pardon?" Jem said, trying to determine what he had done in a past life to deserve this.
"Will," she repeated, running a finger around the rim of the mug absentmindedly. "Is he... seeing anyone else? Bringing anyone else home?"
"No," Jem said, raising an eyebrow at her over his own coffee. "As far as I can tell, he's quite smitten. You've been here more than anyone else I remember. Why do you ask?"
"He seemed... distracted, last night," Tessa said, flushing. Jem bit back a smile. "I think he was thinking of someone else."
"There's not been another girl here since you started coming over," Jem said, turning around to set the mug in the sink.
Tessa's voice took on a strange quality. "I... don't think it's a girl."
Jem went still, wondering what she was getting at and why she was talking to him.
"Well, there's not been a man either."
"Except you."
Didn't you have a morning class to get to?
"I live here," Jem said, turning back to face her and fixing her with a look.
Tessa had the decency to look a little embarrassed, but she lifted her chin and continued.
"Are the two of you..."
"There are two beds in the apartment for a reason, Tessa," Jem said flatly. "And it's not in case of unexpected company. Will is my best friend, and we're close, but we are not sleeping together."
"Have you ever... you know, experimented?"
"Experimentation is unnecessary, I'm really quite sure that I'm gay," Jem said sharply, liking this conversation less and less by the minute. "And Will, as I'm sure you've noticed, has a weakness for a pretty face, regardless of anything else. But no, the two of us together? No." In my dreams, maybe.
Tessa looked unconvinced. "If you say so."
Jem folded his arms over his chest, leaning back against the counter. "You should go. You'll be late to class."
She ran her fingers through her hair again. "Right. Thanks for the coffee. Think Will would miss this shirt if I borrowed it for the day?"
"Do what you like," Jem said, trying to keep the coldness out his tone and only partially succeeding.
Ten minutes later, Tessa emerged from their bathroom, hair tied up and makeup fixed, in jeans from yesterday and the Juilliard shirt. A purse was slung over one shoulder, and she was pulling on her other shoe.
"Tell Will why I had to leave, okay?" she said as she passed the kitchen.
"Certainly," Jem said, voice much more level now. He was keeping a tight grip on his own emotions, not letting his own pining and wishful thinking cause him to be rude.
"Sorry for... assuming about you and Will," she said after a beat. "It's just... He left to talk to you-"
"To tell me to fuck off and throw a book at me, actually."
"Still," she insisted, "He speaks so highly of you. You live together. He went to your door in the middle of sex because he heard you laugh-"
"After you embarrassed him! He was using me as a way out of the room to collect himself."
"Did he tell you that?"
"He doesn't need to," Jem said, wishing she would leave. "I know him."
"I know," she said, sounding resigned. "And I think you love him. I know he was thinking of you instead of me."
"Goodbye, Tessa," Jem said instead of a proper response, opening the door for her. "And while you're speculating about things that are frankly none of your business, here's something else to ponder."
"What's that?" Tessa said, drawing herself up to her full height defensively.
"That shirt you're wearing?"
"What about it?" she demanded, standing outside the flat and turning to look at him.
Jem leaned against the doorframe. "Will went to Columbia."
She looked down. "But this says..."
"Juilliard, class of 2014, emphasis on composition and string instrument performance, at your service," Jem said with a wry smile.
"Why does Will have your shirt?"
"You seemed to have all the answers," Jem said lightly. "I'm sure you'll craft some explanation for this, too. Goodbye, Tessa."
He shut the door as quickly as was polite and leaned against it.
"Idiot," he whispered to himself. "What did that accomplish?"
Annoyed with himself, Jem left the rest of the coffee out for Will and went back to bed. He avoided thinking about Tessa, or the smell of Will's cologne clinging to his shirt.
~•~•~•~•~•
Will opened the door without knocking and flopped onto Jem's bed.
"Hello," Jem said with a smile, lowering his violin from his shoulder and looking at Will. "You're home early."
It was not quite six o'clock on a Friday night, and Will had planned to go out with Tessa tonight.
"Tess said we should stop seeing each other," Will said with no preamble.
Jem ignored the vindictive joy that momentarily shot through him. "I'm sorry," he said. "Are you okay?"
Laying back, Will shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. We'd only been going out for a couple of months, it wasn't too serious."
"Still," Jem said, putting the violin down and sitting down beside Will. "Not fun news to get."
Will exhaled slowly. "No," he agreed, "it isn't."
"Did she say why?"
"She thinks I'm in love with you."
Jem was unsurprised but indignant on Will's behalf. "So she broke up with you? That's ridiculous, Will, I'm sorry. If you like, I can talk to her and-"
"James," Will interrupted softly. "She's right."
Jem blinked twice, looking at Will strangely. "She's... what?"
"She's right."
"Oh," Jem said. "That's... new."
Will shrugged, looking away from him. "Maybe. Maybe not. I think I only realized it recently, but I think it might not be entirely new."
Jem could feel himself flushing. "Well," he said, edging his hand ever so slightly toward Will's, "Her loss."
"Fuck, this is awkward," Will said with a laugh. "Sorry, I should've just said she cheated on me or something."
Jem laughed. "As if I would've bought that. No one's dumb enough to look elsewhere if they've got you."
Will looked up at him, a question in his eyes.
Jem's heart was beating and tripping in his chest, but he forced himself to be calm. "She also thinks I'm in love with you," he said. "Funnily enough, she happens to be right about that, too."
"Oh my god," Will said quietly. "Are you serious?"
Jem was mildly affronted. "Would I joke with you about this?"
Will laughed again, a hand in his hair and looking like he couldn't believe what was happening. "I never thought I'd be grateful to get dumped, but..."
"I may send her flowers," Jem teased.
"To thank her for making me confront my own feelings?"
"Lord knows someone has to."
"Don't you have something better to do with that mouth than tease me?"
"No," Jem deadpanned.
"God, you're insufferable," Will laughed, pulling him down until they were laying side by side and looking into each other's eyes.
"Thanks."
"Why am I in love with you again?"
"Hell if I know," Jem said, brushing a wayward curl off Will's face, "But it works for me."
Before the smart remark on Will's lips could form, Jem leaned in and kissed it away.
"I think Tessa stole your Juilliard shirt," Will laughed against his lips, foreheads pressed together.
"I literally could not care any less about her right now," Jem said, closing his eyes.
There was mischief in Will's voice when he spoke again. "So you don't want me to show you what we did that night?"
"Hell no, she sounded bored," Jem shot back. "You'd better try harder. Impress me, Herondale."
Will laughed and kissed him again. Jem felt his heart flip in his chest, and he held Will close.
"I love you," Will whispered.
"I love you too," Jem whispered back, feeling like he might drown in Will's eyes. Will smiled like Jem had handed him the world, pulling him closer and kissing him soundly.
~•~•~•~•~•
"So," Will said, sounding very smug, "Still think I was boring in bed?"
Jem, slightly breathless, swatted at Will's arm. "I think," he said, looking up at the ceiling, "that I understand why there was always so much damn noise."
Will looked far too pleased with himself. Jem wished his own flushed cheeks weren't feeding Will's ego.
"I feel bad for our neighbors."
"I don't."
"We're going to get noise complaints."
"I don't care."
"We should at least move the bed."
Will quirked an eyebrow. "Moving the bed isn't going to make me any quieter, sweetheart."
"No, but sleeping alone will."
"You fight dirty."
"You love me."
Will's smile was soft and helpless, finding Jem's hand and squeezing it.
"Yeah, I do."
Suddenly, there was a banging on the wall and a muffled request to "Keep it down in there, goddammit!"
Will and Jem exchanged a look before bursting into laughter, the sound filling the room with brightness and life.