Adult-FanFiction.org : Books

Affairs of the Heart	By : CaptainParisStarr Category: G through L > The Infernal Devices (Series) > The Infernal Devices (Series) Views: 2984 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Infernal Devices franchise, any characters mentioned in this story, or make money, profit, or earn a living off the story.

Chapter List
- 1-Jem
- 2-Will
- 3-Colin
- 4-Jem
- 5-Will
- 6-Colin
- 7-Will
- 8-Jem
- 9-Will
- 10-Colin
- 11-Will
- 12-Jem
- 13-Will
- 14-Jem
- 10
- 11
- 12
“What did Colin whisper to you, anyway?” Will asked casually once they were out of sight of Colin's building. “Jem?” He asked, turning around when he got no reply.
Jem was as white as a sheet, and Will was amazed that he was still standing upright. Rushing towards him, Will made it just in time to catch his friend as his legs gave out. He lifted Jem up into his arms and hurried into the nearest alley to get away from any prying eyes that might be around.
Setting Jem down against the wall, Will cradled his head gently with one hand, and touched something wet. Blood, his hand was wet with Jem's blood. Something was wrong, the combination of the iratze runes and the yin fen should have healed Jem by now.
“Shit! How bad...” He broke off as Jem leaned forward, against him. As he caught Jem once more, Will realized that though Jem's breath was coming in short, erratic bursts, his heartbeat was still strong in his chest.
“I think I fractured my skull when it hit the bed...” Jem whispered, his voice thick with pain. “But I don't want Colin to know... if you hadn't been there I would have...”
“If I hadn't been there he wouldn't have hit you like that in the first place!” Will retorted, his voice thick with guilt.
Glancing around, he saw that they were alone, and quickly unbuttoned his parabatai's shirt so he could trace another healing rune over the top of Jem's spine.
“This isn't your fault, Will. I should have realized that he was jealous of my relationship with you. But I never even suspected that he was capable of something like this...” He started to shake his head, but stopped. “My head feels like it about to split in two...”
“We need to get you back to the Institute. Think you can walk, or do you want me to carry you?”
Jem blushed at the mention of being carried. “Will... I don't think-”
“I meant on my back, idiot! Not in my arms like a bride on her wedding night. And if anyone asks why I'm carrying you, we can say that you got ambushed by a demon, or mugged depending on whose asking.” Though Will's words were harsh, his tone was gentle, and he spoke softly.
“Oh... yeah, of course.” Jem's head felt fuzzy, and he vaguely realized that he had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
“What were you and Colin talking about anyway?” Jem asked softly, as Will turned him around so he could examine his head injury.
“You, and why I accepted the invitation to have a threesome with you and Colin. He asked me about my intentions towards you, and if I was messing around with you behind his back. I said no, that there was heat between us but nothing more. And that I'd only accepted the invite to cool the heat before it could wreck our friendship.”
“I see... so that's why he told me I could share your bed tonight if I was feeling up to it...” Jem was scarcely aware of what he was saying, and his own voice sounded distant and oddly echo-y to him.
“Oh, so that's what he had whispered. Well... even if you had said yes, that won't be happening... was he telling the truth when he said you don't like gentle sex?” Will blushed faintly, as he asked the one question that had been on the tip of his tongue ever since the door to Colin's flat had shut behind them.
“Yes, he was. I- I need pain, or at least some physical force, to get off while being... penetrated. Unless my... something else gets played with constantly during... well you know what I mean, right?” Jem blushed harder, making the rest of his skin look even whiter in comparison.
“I think so.” Will was sorry that he had asked such a question when Jem was in no shape to prove anything. “He was right, though, when he said that your not going to be well enough for such activities tonight.” Will turned Jem back towards him, noting the distant, glassy look in his friends eyes. “I don't even think you can walk the rest of the way home. So carrying you it is.” Will turned his back on Jem, and felt the gentle weight of him settle against his back as he grasped his thighs, lifting Jem's weight easily.
They didn't speak for the rest of the journey, as Jem lost consciousness almost as soon as Will lifted him. Not that Will minded, he was glad for the silence, for it made it easier for him to not say that he wanted Jem to break things off with Colin. Maybe it was only Will that made Colin jealous like that, but Will wasn't about to take that chance. If he could be jealous of one person, he could be jealous of anyone, and his temper had also shown him to be possessive, at least potentially.
There was also the disturbing thought that Colin would have forced himself on Jem had Jem fallen onto the bed itself. Just because Jem had given himself willingly to Colin in the past didn't mean that rape wasn't still a possibility.
Will was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he barely noticed the empty halls of the Institute until after he had laid Jem down on his own bed, and realized that he needed help. He didn't know what was wrong, why Jem wasn't healing...
Or, maybe he was. Now that Will could see him properly, he saw that Jem's color had improved drastically, and the bleeding had finally stopped. His hair was still bloody, but the blood was drying rapidly. Relieved, Will washed away the blood, careful not to wake up Jem as he realized that Jem was not unconscious, but rather deeply asleep.
As he worked to clean Jem up, he found his mind wandering. How much energy had Jem wasted trying to be strong and not show pain in front of Colin? Why had he not wanted Colin to know exactly how hurt he was? Was it because he did truly love Colin, and was wilfully turning a blind eye to the signs that Colin was growing abusive?
Or was he? Was it Will's own jealousy that was turning an accident into intentional abuse? Maybe Colin had truly not meant to push Jem that hard, and had simply caught Jem when he was not on his guard? And why should Jem have his guard up around Colin...?
The more Will thought about it, the less the situation made sense. Colin's guilt over hurting Jem had been genuine, and Colin was not being possessive of Jem. Had he been, he would never have let Jem leave with Will without a fight.
Shaking his head, he tried to push the unanswered questions out of his mind, but they refused to budge. He tossed the now bloody rag he had used to wash Jem's hair into the fire, sighing. Then he turned back towards Jem. Part of him wanted to crawl into bed beside Jem, while the rest knew that it would be better to head back to his own room, so that they could hide what had happened.
Once more he examined Jem, and found that he could see no trace of the injury, and his friends pulse and breath were both normal once more. Satisfied, Will slipped out of the room, after pulling off Jem's shoes and socks, and headed towards his own, his head spinning. As soon as he was inside his room, he quickly undressed himself and, without bothering to pull on his nightshirt, collapsed naked onto his bed and fell into a shallow, troubled sleep. His dreaming mind kept replaying the scene in Colin's flat, only twisting it, his mind turning Colin into a monster who laughed at the damage he did to Jem. Each dream was worse than the last, with the final one showing Colin raping Jem brutally enough to kill the Shadowhunter.
Though he had a sense that he had had troubling dreams, Will remembered nothing of what he had dreamed as he woke the next morning. Stretching, he felt as though he had not slept at all, and had to force himself to get out of bed and dress himself. Only his desire to check in on Jem kept him from just going back to sleep.
Yawning, he opened his door- and ran straight into Sophie. “Ah, Master Will, glad to see that your awake. Mrs. Bramwell has been looking for you.”
Will noticed Sophie's disrespectful tone, but for once paid no heed; he was too tired to care. “Where is she?” He asked, yawning once more.
“In the drawing room.” Sophie made to say something else, but Will pushed past her and headed down the hall without waiting to hear what else she had to say.
When he got to the drawing room, he saw that he was not the only one called.
“But why must we be the ones to investigate this?” The voice speaking belonged to Jessamine. She was seated in an armchair next to the fire, across from Charlotte's desk.
Discretely slipping into the room, Will seated himself next to Jem on the sofa located on the opposite side of the fire from Jessamine's armchair.
“Ah, Will, I see you finally decided to join us. Earlier I received a letter concerning some increase in demonic activity along the Thames. We've been requested to aid in discovering the source of the activity...”
“Will and Jem can investigate, but I had plans to go shopping for a new dress since I'd heard that the latest fashions from Paris had-”
“Jessamine, that is quite enough!” Charlotte did not raise her voice, but her tone was more than enough to startle the Shadowhunter girl into silence. Sighing, she turned towards Will and Jem. “I wish to speak to Jessamine alone, Jem can fill you in on what you will be investigating.” Charlotte added dismissing them.
“How are you feeling?” Will whispered as they left the room, his eyes frantically examining Jem.
“I'm fine, Will, just a little shaken that he would...” Jem broke off, his eyes downcast.
“Are you planning to see him again?” Will asked, relaxing slightly. Aside from being somewhat pale, Jem looked healthy.
“I...” Jem bit his lower lip. “I want to, even after last night, but... I don't know if I should. What if... I mean...” Jem broke of, frustrated that he could not find the words to express his fears.
Pulling Jem into an unused room so that they could have some privacy, Will studied Jem for a long moment. “I think you should see him again, somewhere public where he can explain himself. But I don't think you should be alone with him again until you feel safe around him once more.” Will spoke slowly, his own uncertainty coloring his words.
“Will...” Jem stepped forward and hugged the younger boy, needing comfort. Automatically, Will's arms wrapped around Jem, and he held his friend close as Jem shook, crying without shedding tears.
“Just talk to him. There has to be a reason why he acted the way he did last night.” Will whispered into Jem's hair.
Nodding, Jem held Will tighter, and they stayed like that for a long moment, only breaking apart after Jem had stopped shaking.
“Feeling a bit better now?” Jem nodded, finally able to look Will in the eye. “Good. Now what is it that Charlotte wants us investigating?”
Glad to change the subject, Jem quickly explained that a group of demons had been seen hunting along the banks of the river, though no victims had yet been discovered. The scant evidence pointed towards abduction rather than murder.
“What we're being asked to do is simple reconnaissance of the river to see if we can find out anything more. We've got the stretch just south of Whitechapel.”
“Whitechapel?” For some reason that name was sending shivers down Will's spine; he had a bad feeling about this mission.
“Yes, Whitechapel.” Jem repeated, noting Will's distress. He to had a bad feeling about the mission, but could not put his finger on why.
“Shit. That probably means we'll be pulling bodies of poor murdered mundanes out of the river...” Will tried to joke, but it fell flat as the words suddenly seemed to have a prophetic quality to them.
Jem shuddered. “I sure hope not.” He shook off his dread and turned towards the door. Then he stopped, and turned to look back at Will. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For everything you did last night. For helping me hide how hurt I was, and why. Just... thank you for being there.”
Will said nothing as he placed his hand on Jem's shoulder, squeezing gently.
“We should go meet up with Thomas and Jessamine.”
“I bet she'll be a bundle of joy out there as she investigates with us, as she always is.” Will commented sarcastically, as they both knew how sullen she could be when obligated to do any Shadowhunter work.

“Hey, Will, over here, I think I found something!” Will's head jerked around in surprise as Jessamine called over to him.
“What is... oh.” Lying at her feet was a brand new doll, lying abandoned in a pile of trash. “Were any of the disappearances of children?”
“Yes, three young girls, aged from five to eleven, and two boys, eight year old twins.” Jessamine responded promptly, surprising Will.
“Take the doll back to Charlotte, if it does belong to one of the girls we can use it to track her.” Nodding, Jessamine carefully lifted the doll and carried it back to the carriage, glad to be heading back to the Institute. The he turned back towards the river.
“Hey! I need some help over here!” Sighing, he hurried towards the call, then hesitated as he realized that it was Gabriel Lightwood who was calling for help.
Spotting Will, he growled at him, but nonetheless gestured for Will to come closer. “I found a floater, and I need help pulling it out of the river.”
Since standard procedure was to pull all corpses out of the river to see if they were Shadowhunters or Downworlders, Will hurried over. Usually he had no problem retrieving the bodies, but something about this one made him distinctly uneasy. It was the body of a young man, floating face down, as a trapped hand prevented the body from being washed further downstream.
“Will, I found something odd.” Jem's voice called out from a side alley, but Will didn't respond, intent as he was at civilly assisting Gabriel.
“Will?” Jem was closer now, close enough to see what Will was doing, as the body rolled onto the bank, landing face up.
“Get a mundane policeman, Gabriel. He's not one of ours.” Will had to fight to not look over his shoulder at Jem, as everything narrowed down to the young man's face. Trying in vain to hide Colin's corpse from Jem, Will quickly searched his body, discovering that he had been stabbed multiple times before ending up floating down the Thames. Then Will took the simple band he had been wearing on his right ring finger, and pocketed it.
A sudden sound jolted him back to reality, and he spun around. Jem was staring open mouthed and wide eyed at the body, and Will instantly sprang to his feet. Within seconds, Will had pulled Jem into the alley he had just made a discovery in, and just held him close.
“No... no... it can't be... I...” Jem stuttered incoherently, his mind striving hard to protect him, to not accept the truth.
The rest of the day was a blur to both of them as Will hired a cab and somehow got Jem back to the institute without raising the alarm. Once they were barricaded in Jem's room, they both let go, clinging tightly to one another.
“Will... tell me that I'm dreaming.” Jem whispered hoarsely some time later, as they lay tangled together on Jem's bed.
“I'm sorry, Jem. I'm so, so, so sorry. I...” Will paused, remembering the ring. “Here. Colin was wearing this when I searched his bo-” Will broke of, his throat seizing around the word 'body'.
Numbly, Jem took the ring and studied it with unseeing eyes. Then, slowly, comprehension dawned and he read and reread the inscription engraved on the inside of the band, a haunted smile pulling at his lips.
“What is it?”
Unable to speak, Jem handed the ring back to Will, who shrugged as his eyes noted the Mandarin characters engraved on the inside. Then realization also dawned on him.
“The engraving is in Mandarin, and he couldn't read that tongue, could he?”
“No. It doesn't say much, just our names and the characters for love and friendship.” Jem thoughtlessly slipped the ring onto his left ring finger. “How did he die?”
“Jem... I don't think...”
“Will! Tell me, I need to... to... Oh God! Colin...” Will waited for the fresh wave of tears to abate before carefully answering Jem's question.
“It... He didn't kill himself, if that's what your wondering, nor did he die by drowning, since I think he was already dead when he hit the water.”
“Then... Will, are you saying that Colin was murdered?” Jem asked, horrified.
“Yes. He had been stabbed several times, including through the heart.” Will had to force the words out, not wanting to hurt Jem further.
“Murder... but why... why would anyone... unless... you don't think that he was killed for liking boys, do you?”
“I... I really don't know, James. I wish I did, but there was nothing on him to say why he was killed. If it had been a mugging, which I won't rule out, then his killer took whatever he had been mugged for with him.” Will added, stating the obvious.
“He had no family here in London, so there's no one... no one to claim his body... to fight for his killers to be brought to justice...” Jem trailed off, his body shaking so hard that he couldn't do anything, even cry, and all Will could do was hold him tight and wait for the shaking to stop.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Sophie's voice calling to them that Charlotte wished to see them both in the drawing room.
Will was just about to respond when Jem started coughing, his body doubled over, blood appearing beneath him on the sheets.
Forgetting all about Sophie, Will raced across the room to the dresser where Jem's yin fen box was sitting, and scooped as much as he dared to into a glass of water.
But once he returned to the bed, offering the glass to Jem, for the first time Jem refused to take the drug that was keeping him alive.
Will's patience snapped, and, setting down the glass, he pushed Jem against the headboard, pinning him there. “Jem! Listen to me. I get it that you hurt, that maybe right now dying seems like the best option, but... but it's not! I don't want you to die, James, please, don't leave me...” Will pleaded desperately.
Submitting, Jem took the glass and drained it automatically, not tasting anything, then he surrendered to unconsciousness, just as Sophie and Thomas forced the door open.
“Will, I heard... What's wrong?” She glanced around, noting that both Will and Jem were pale, their eyes red from crying. But crying over what?
“Get Charlotte, there's something that she needs to know.” Will knew that he would be breaking Jem's trust, but if he was right, and Colin's death had made Jem suicidal, then he needed help.

“Why didn't you tell me any of this before?” Charlotte asked quietly after Will had finished telling her about Colin, confessing everything he knew about Jem's relations with the other man, only omitting the sexual parts.
“We didn't know how news that Jem was romantically involved with another man would be taken.” Will had been pacing as he spoke, but now he dropped bonelessly into a chair, his energy gone.
Sighing, Charlotte rested her head in her hands. Since becoming head of the Institute she had dealt with suicides before, and illicit relations, among other things. But never before something quite like this. Never before had someone she cared deeply about attempted suicide because his male lover had been murdered.
Murder. The word seemed to hang in the air, tainting it somehow, and as one they glanced across the room at Jem, who was sleeping fitfully.
“What do we do?” Will asked.
“I...” Charlotte made a quick decision. “We treat this like a normal fit.”
“You're not going to report...?”
“There's nothing to report, not unless we want to make things much worse for Jem. Relations between members of the same sex, while not actually illegal, can still result in severe punishments. Especially in cases like this, when it's between a mundane and a Shadowhunter. He could end up cast out, stripped of his family name, and cut off from his yin fen.” Biting her lip, Charlotte thought hard, as though wondering if she was making the right choice.
“Was he happy being with Colin?”
“Yes.” Will didn't even have to think about it. “He was happier than I'd ever seen him.” Except when being slapped around... He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying the last part out loud.
“They were in love, weren't they?”
“Yes, very much so.”
Charlotte nodded, and turned away from the bed. “Stay with him, and notify me if he shows any further signs of wanting to end his own life.” Placing a gentle hand on Will's shoulder, Charlotte left the room.
Exhausted, Will climbed into bed beside Jem, who rolled over into Will's arms without waking up. Will wrapped his arms once more around his best friend, as he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
- 10
- 11
- 12
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Affairs of the Heart