Searching For Love

Chapter 10

I sat in my room late that night, reading a book. I knew I should have been getting to sleep, but I just couldn't put my book down. Books were one of the few things I never got bored of ever. I checked the time: two o'clock in the morning. One more chapter, I thought, while turning the page. As I was reading, I heard a strange noise from outside. I looked at my window for a second, and then returned back to my book.

I heard the sound again a few seconds later, and then suddenly the window started to open. I threw aside my book, and stood up. A long leg stepped through the window, and then someone jumped through. The person turned out to be Will. He was dressed in tight jeans and a hoodie, his black hair a bit messy.

"Oh, you're awake." He sounded deflated.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I sputtered, shocked.

"Oooh, such bad language, Tess." Will smirked.

"Answer. The. Question." I glared.

Will sighed and threw himself down onto my desk chair. "I came to scare you while you slept, but you're not even sleeping. Do you not sleep or something?"

"What about you?" I asked, bewildered. "Do you not sleep?"

"No." He replied casually, looking around my room. "I get bad nightmares."

"Why?" I asked.

"Were you reading?" Will asked, picking up my book from my bed, not answering my question.

"Yeah." I replied.

"'The Fault In Our Stars'" Will read aloud, and looked up at me, tired. "Really? This book? How predictable."

"It's good, okay?" I rolled my eyes.

"What's so good about reading about people with cancer who die? You don't need to read a book to see it." Will said.

"You've read it?" I asked, surprised.

"Yup." Will spoke casually, laying down on my bed.

"Really?" I asked, shocked, sitting down beside him.

"Yep." He replied.

I grinned. "Did you cry?"

Will propped himself up on his elbow, facing me. "Of course I didn't."

I gave him a look, and he sighed.

"One tear, okay? Only one tear." Will spoke.

"Sure." I said sarcastically, chuckling.

We were both silent for a few seconds, then.

"How did you even get up here?" I asked.

"I climbed." Will replied, casually - as if it was no big deal. "I almost fell a few times, but I managed."

"And you did all of this just to scare me?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but now I see it was a waste of my time." Will sighed dramatically.

"Sorry for the inconvenience." I rolled my eyes, chuckling.

"Are you going to stay here in London until graduation?" Will asked suddenly.

"Probably not." I frowned. "I'll probably go back to New York in a few months, my dad is only here for a short period of time."

"Oh." Will looked away from me.

I suddenly felt an immense feeling of sadness wash over me. I didn't want to leave him. I couldn't leave him. He was my everything, and I wasn't sure how, but he was. I don't think I could deal with never seeing him again, but staying with him would mean giving up my powers. And I didn't even know if he felt that way about me.

"I have to go." He said suddenly, sitting up.

"What? You just got here." I blurted out.

"I know, and I should go." His eyes slid sideways to look at me, and grinned. "Unless you want me to stay."

I sighed. "Fine yes, I want you to stay."

Will smirked, and pulled me down to lay beside him. I made a surprised sound, and he chuckled. We both then were laying side by side, looking at each other. Will propped himself up on elbow again.

"Do you want to leave?" He asked softly.

"Yes and no." I sighed. "I miss Jem, but I know I'd miss all of you." Especially you.

"I'd miss you." Will spoke quietly.

I blushed. "I'd miss you, too."

We were both silent for a few moments.

"Have you ever dated anyone?" I found myself asking.

Will shook his head. "No. I've never wanted to. What about you? Why did you break up with your best friend?"

"Just that." I replied. "It felt like we were just best friends, nothing more, like we were forcing the relationship. It wasn't -- it wasn't..." I searched for the word.

"Passionate." Will said.

I turned to my face to look at him. "Yeah. It wasn't passionate."

We both looked at each other for a second. Somehow, I knew that Will could give me that: Passion.

"How come you haven't dated anyone?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I've never found anyone who really made me want to."

"I get it." I replied. "I've never dated anyone besides Jem. I've never wanted to."

"You want to be with someone who you really love." Will seemed to read my mind. "So do I."

He seemed to understand me better than anyone, even Jem. When I was with Will, I felt like me. Not a witch, not someone's sister or daughter or best friend, just me. I feel like I didn't have try hard or anything, like he wasn't judging me the way everyone else seemed to be.

"You're different than I expected." I heard myself say.

"And what did you expect?" Will looked a bit amused.

"I expected you to be some bad boy who was always drunk and hooking up with girls." I admitted.

Will shrugged. "I don't do that anymore."

"What changed?" I asked.

He stared down at me. "I don't know."

We stared at each other, and I was lost in his eyes. Say it, Tessa, I told myself. Tell him. But I couldn't. I couldn't do that to him and myself, knowing that I would have to leave. Will quickly looked away from me.

"You should sleep. It's late. I'll go now." He said, sitting up.

"Don't go." I blurted out, and then cleared my throat. "You can stay with me, tonight, if you want."

Will looked at me, grinning. "Okay."

I rolled my eyes. "Not like that."

He chuckled. "I figured."

I got up and turned off the light, and got under my blankets with him. I turned away from him, on my side.

"Goodnight, Will." I yawned.

I suddenly felt his arm around my waist, and he pulled me tight against him. I blushed, and smiled to myself.

"Goodnight, Tess." He whispered.