Live and Breathe Words ~ Wessa

Epilogue- A Far, Far Better Thing

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known”

                                                                                                                                     Seven Years Later

The sound of bells filled the morning air, and Tessa inhaled a shaky breath in, trying to fight down the nervous butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Her hair cascaded down her back in loose brown curls and she looked down at herself with a tentative smile, smoothing down the front of her flowy, white dress with one hand, a bouquet of daisies in her other hand. 

The wooden double doors slowly swung open before her and she exhaled a great breath before beginning to walk forward. She bit her lip and tried to control the shaking of her hands, rows of familiar faces and books surrounding her on either side.

She glanced to her left, the library desk catching her attention where so many years had been spent, so many memories made. Her gaze then moved onto the chairs lining the carpet she was currently making her way down, filled with the smiling and supporting faces of friends and family. And then, in front of her. 

She hesitantly lifted her eyes, a wide, unrestrained grin creeping onto her face as she soaked in the scene before her. Will was standing at the end of the carpet, his brilliant blue eyes shining with an inner happiness and joy, the long years never dimming the light that shone as brightly as the sun within him. His midnight black hair was as tousled as ever, although it appeared as if someone had attempted to control his wild locks but had given up shortly after. A black, fitted tuxedo hung to his frame and a single flower, the exact color of his eyes, was pinned to the lapel of his tux. 

Their eyes met in a flash of unrestrained love and elation, and Tessa felt as if the breath had been stolen from her lungs. As she continued to take slow, purposeful steps forward, her mind flashed back, remembering another moment when her world had been turned upside down by a mysterious and wild blue-eyed boy. 

She remembered Will Herondale as she met him, nearly seven years ago. The boy with messy black hair and a spark of mischief in his eyes, the boy who was a little broken, a little lonely, but who lived and loved with a vehement passion. She remembered the girl she used to be too, the shy, timid girl who preferred books to people, the girl who was too afraid to truly live, as she was scared the world would break her heart. 

So much had happened since that fateful day in the library, that day when not only two, but three lives were irrevocably entwined with one another. 

After Tessa had officially become Will’s girlfriend, the two of them had spent every waking moment together—between work and dates at the park, movies, restaurants, or any number of activities the two did together, they hardly spent a moment to themselves. 

Dorice had even dropped by on one occasion during their shift, seeming smugly pleased that they were a couple, and unable to restrain a torrent of sexual innuendos and thinly concealed suggestions before leaving as mysteriously and quickly as she had arrived, which both pleased and confused the pair. 

Between suffocating student debt from college and trying to pay for basic necessities, Tessa had been unable to pay for her apartment any longer, and moved in shortly after with Will and Jem at their insistence. They shared a two bedroom apartment, one an unused guest room which officially became her room, and the other the boys’ bedroom, with a red bunk bed that never failed to amuse Tessa. All living under the same roof, the three of them truly felt and treated each other like family, because to be honest, they were the only family any of them had.