After Will Herondale died.

Tessa remembered everything that happened on the dreadful day of her husband's death. After years of happiness, children, and grandchildren, everyone mourned him after his passing. Even Gabriel Lightwood, who had once said he wouldn't even live up to nineteen. But Will Herondale lived up to seventy-six. Will Herondale, who thought he was cursed for seventeen years of his life. Will Herondale, the boy who thought he couldn't love anyone without destroying them. Will Herondale, who Tessa Gray loved.
But he wasn't just hers, he was also Jem's. Brother Zachariah's.
Jem is my greatest sin, Will's words drifted in her head.

Every year on November 10th, Tessa would visit Magnus. She would have wanted to visit Jem-Brother Zachariah-but the only meeting she could have with him was on the Blackfriars Bridge. Magnus lived for hundreds of years. Tessa knew he dealt with loss everyday. And plus, he knew there was something special with Will.

I do not wish you other than you are, Tessa.
You are what you are,
and I love you.

Tessa closed her eyes to hold back the tears. She always remembered what Will had said to her before they went to the Herondale home. About life being a book, and how he thanked Magnus for making him believe he was not cursed.

"Dear, Tessa, how have you been?" She appeared in front of Magnus's door and hadn't realized he opened it. His cat eyes looked at her with a wistful expression.
"I've been better." She replied while walking in. Everywhere she looked, the place was a mess. Pages ripped out from spell books on the floor, clothes hanging from the couch, and Chairman Meow didn't look so happy either.
"I might ask you the same question, Magnus. Why is this place a dump?" Magnus looked around and gave a small grin.

"Love problems can take a while to recover from." Magnus replied. Tessa had almost forgotten that Magnus became interested in the Lightwood boy. She saw him once, a picture of Alexander lay across from Magnus's bed on the dresser. He very much resembles Will, Tessa had once thought, and he's a Lightwood.
Magnus snapped her out of her daze, literally. His fingers snapped into the shape of a wide O, which was hard for Tessa to not notice.

"I see," Tessa replied, "Did this boy break your heart?" Magnus looked at the ground. Tessa knew she shouldn't have asked that. Magnus had suffered through too many losses within his years, and this Lightwood boy could be a great one.
"He was special," Magnus had finally answered, "But today is not about this. What's important now is Will." Tessa nodded her head, as if she hadn't thought Will was important already.

"Boys with dark hair and blue eyes can have that affect on us." Tessa said to brighten up the mood. Magnus grinned, still looking at the ground, and hurried over to his bedroom. Tessa followed Magnus into the room that resembled the same as the living room, everything was a dump, except this room had more glitter. "Magnus?" Tessa asked. He didn't say anything as he propped open a cabinet door. Out came what looked like a book. A Tale of Two Cities.

"Don't think I didn't know how much you two bonded over this fine work of literature." Magnus said with a smile. Tessa knew each page by heart.
Her and Will both admired Charles Dickens for his fabulous piece of work, but what was Magnus doing with that book lying around in his cabinet?
"Each November 10th I read this every night to myself once you leave. I don't know why I never told you, must've been because I thought it was too unbearable for you to read it again ever since Will wasn't here to read it along by your side. But this year shall be different, right? Have you read this book ever since his passing?" Magnus spoke softly. Tessa wanted to tear up, but she was holding it back as best as she could. Her book, her favorite book, the book she read with Will all the time over and over again was now back in front of her. Even though it's been about a century without reading it, the words came fresh in her mind.

"It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair....."

Tessa slightly shook her head. "Why did you decide to read it every year?" She tried to ask without making sniffling noises. Magnus handed her the beloved book. It wasn't her copy, but it felt like she remembered it.
"I figured that it was about some time I finished it. I'm over eight hundred, I could at least see what all the craze is about with this." Magnus said casually. That was one thing Tessa envied against Magnus, he was casual all the time.
Tessa flipped open the pages. It looked and even felt like an ancient copy. It was already 2007 and it seemed like Magnus bought this when it first came out. All the words came pouring into her head. Her discussions with Will about this book were taking up her thoughts.

"Keep it." Magnus said from where he was sitting. He gave Tessa a small smile. "I know you want to take it home with you."
"Magnus, I couldn't. This is your copy and-"
"I could easily get another, Tessa, we're in the 21st century." With that, they both laughed. Tessa rarely ever laughed on this day, and now she wondered why. Will would've wanted her to laugh. He would've wanted her to sing his Demon Pox song while dancing around in circles every year on his birthday. He would've wanted her to read A Tale of Two Cities over and over again, just like they used to do together. He would've wanted her to be Tessa. Not a sad and glum version of her.

Tessa rose to her feet and walked to the living room, heading for the front door. "What are you going to do now that I'm leaving with A Tale of Two Cities?" Tessa asked. Magnus shrugged as he reached the doorknob for her.
"I was thinking I could call up the Lightwood boy and see how that works out again." Magnus replied. Tessa knew he was trying not to smile as big as he usually did whenever he would mention Alec. Noticing that, she smiled herself.
After all, her and Magnus both had a fetish for certain boys with dark hair and blue eyes.