Forever Love- Jem Carstairs and Tessa Gray

Forever Love- Jem Carstairs and Tessa Gray- Chapter 4

-I'm so sorry for such a long wait! I hope you all like this ❤️-

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Chapter 4

*Knock, knock, knock*

"I'm nervous, Jem."

They were standing outside of the New York Institute. It was a cold night and the moon was shining in the sky. Tessa hadn't noticed how nervous she was until she saw how much she was shaking.
"Don't worry, Tess. Your family is here," Jem replied, looking into her eyes. He always was able to say the right thing. The door opened and a flash of nervousness came over Jem's face, too. It went as quickly as it had come, though.
"Uh, hi, this is a surprise, Tessa," Alec said while opening the Institute's huge doors. His jet black hair stood out in the light of the building's interior.
"Hey Alec, it's nice to see you," Tessa said, trying to hide how awkward she felt. She motioned towards Jem and said, "This is Jem, my, uh, fiancé. Jem, this is Alec, Magnus' boyfriend. Jem held out his hand and gave Alec his usual shy but sweet smile. "Very nice to finally meet you. Magnus has nothing but kind words for you." Alec blushed, "nice to meet you as well. Now, what do you need?"
"Right. We were wondering if we could speak to the head of the Institute?"
"Well, that would be me, currently, I just became the head," Alec replied.
"Oh, well congratulations. That is a very big job to take on, I'm sure you'll do amazing." Tessa tried to think of way to ask them in without sounding too demanding. Thankfully Jem saved her, like he always did.
"We have something we'd like to discuss with you. May we come in?" Somehow it didn't sound demanding when he said it.
Tessa hadn't been in the walls of an Institute in such a long time. Thoughts and memories of Will came rushing back all at once. Then thoughts and memories of Jem came back and she grabbed his hand while love filled her heart. They made their way through the ancient and beautiful walls of the building. She was having a strange feeling, like she had lost something and it was here. She brushed it off.
They made it to the library. The library in any Institute is always beautiful. Rows and rows of books are always appealing to Tessa. The statues, swords, and paintings that line the walls compliment the room as well. They sat at a huge oak table and Alec offered them tea. He called the name Izzy, and sat down across from us.
"Izzy's a horrible cook but no one can mess up tea, right?" He said uneasily. We smiled.
"So, you aren't here to discuss any serious problems, I'm hoping," Alec said with a hint of question in his voice.
"No, no, no. More of a request."
A fierce looking, black haired girl, Izzy, Tessa guessed, came into the room. She had an angry look on her face until she noticed Jem and Tessa. She then put on a smile.
"Hey, I didn't know we had company," she gave Alec a sharp look, "My name's Isabelle, but you can call me Izzy." She was smiling but didn't look happy to have visitors.
"I'm Tessa Gray, and this is Jem Carstairs."
"Cool, well I'm going to go," she turned to go but Alec stopped her before she could.
"Dear sister, could you bring our guests some tea, please?"
While rolling her eyes she replied, "I'd love to," and walked out of the room.
"She's lovely," Jem said once she was gone. Alec laughed and replied with something that sounded like 'pain in my butt'.
"Alright, so back to business. What's up?"
"This is going to be hard to explain and you may not believe me but-"
"Oh, I already know about Tessa and how she's from way back when and her, uh, condition," Alec interrupted, "from Magnus, of course."
"Okay, well I'm, uh, from 'way back when', too. You see, I had a sort of condition, as well. Because of this condition I had the choice of dying or becoming a Silent Brother, so I chose becoming a Brother. About four months ago, I was cured of my condition and now am no longer a Silent Brother. Before, I was a Shadowhunter living at the London Institute and it has been 130 years since I was my normal, Shadowhunting self. And now I'm requesting a place in your Institute and a change to fight along side your Shadowhunters."
Alec looked at Jem, studying him, trying to decide if he was being truthful or not. Just then, Izzy came into the room with a silver platter and Alec broke his gaze.
"Oh, thanks, Iz. Just set it down, thank you," Alec said to her. He looked back at Jem.
"That is a doable request, and I don't see any reason you'd have to lie. I may be crazy for this, but I believe you are from where and when you say you are from. I will talk to Magnus, though, just to be 100% sure. Next time my Shadowhunters are needed, you will go out with us and I will evaluate you to see that you have the skill this Institute needs. New York is a big city and we have many threats here. We could definitely use another Shadowhunter. Let me get another opinion, though. I will be back, take your tea in the meantime." He stood up, half smiled and walked out the door.
"Wow," Jem looked like he was in a daze.
"Yeah," Tessa said.
"I didn't think... wow." He said. Tessa laughed out loud.
"I am so happy, Jem. You're going to be a Shadowhunter again! This is so great, ugh, wonderful!" She truly was ecstatic.
"Don't get too excited, my dear. We don't know for sure and we haven't even asked about you yet."

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-melanie herondale :*