Who: Jem and Will What: Shopping Where: Town When: Mid-December Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Jem was looking forward to his parents coming to visit for the holidays, but he was also very nervous. He hadn’t told them about his illness and he wasn’t planning to while they were visiting, because he didn’t want to ruin their trip. He had managed to get a pair of perscription contacts in a shade of brown almost exactly like the color his eyes had been before the yin fen had bleached the color from them. He only hoped that he didn’t have any complications from his illness while his parents were there.
The other thing he hadn’t told them yet was that he was dating both Tessa and Will. They were still trying to decide what to do about their situation; whether to tell them or not. Luckily, his parents were staying at a hotel so they didn’t have to act like they weren’t together the entire time.
Today, Jem and Will had decided to go out and do some Christmas shopping so they had headed to the mall. “I hope the snow doesn’t deter my parents’ flight.” Jem had been in Orange County the winter before so he wasn’t exactly surprised by the snow this December, but it was still a little strange, considering they were in California.
Will’s family were staying at home this Christmas but he’d promised them they’d skype so he could open presents with them. They’d sent over a box full of stuff for not only him but also Tessa and Jem. His parents knew about them all purely because Will was the kind not to keep it to himself so they’d spoken to both his boyfriend and girlfriend over the internet. Things were pretty relaxed.
But he knew Jem’s situation was a little different. And he had his illness on top to worry about.
“It hopefully won’t get too bad” Will said optimistically, “Don’t worry too much okay?” he added wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pressing a kiss to his cheek.
Jem smiled as Will kissed his cheek and nodded, “I’ll try not to.” Will was always able to calm Jem’s nerves no matter how worried he was about something. “I hope they like you and Tessa though.” As of the moment Jem wasn’t planning on telling his parents about their relationship, but there was a possibility that he might change his mind based on how they react to them in general.
“How can anybody possibly dislike either of us? I’m the embodiment of charm” he grinned at his boyfriend, Will was perfectly happy to let Jem take the lead when it came to his parents. He’d follow and do whatever he wished.
“I think that’s an understatement.” Jem laughed as they walked through the mall, “Your charm knows no bounds.” If Tessa were with them she’d likely tell Jem not to feed Will’s ego, but Jem couldn’t help but tease Will when it came to things like that. It wasn’t his fault if Will thought he was praising him. “Well, I have no doubt that they’ll like Tessa.”
“I know it’s a natural gift” Will said, he knew Jem was teasing him but he also knew it was true. He could be very charming when he needed to be and he was good at it. “Of course they will, she’s sweet and polite and pretty much what any parent would wish for their son”
“They’d likely be surprised if I told them just about Tessa. I never dated anyone before I met the two of you.” Dating had been something Jem hadn’t done back in England. He’d been too focused on school and hadn’t thought that anyone was interested in him. “All they know right now is that you’re both my roommates.” Even if he was going to tell his parents about just Tessa, he hadn’t wanted to do it over Skype.
“If that is all you want them to know then you know Tessa and I are fine with that” Will told him, he had to admit the thought of Jem telling his parents about only Tessa was slightly hurtful but he would understand why and not let either of them know he was upset. They were more important after all and Will would do anything for them.
Jem didn’t want to upset either Will or Tessa, so he hadn’t made any decisions yet. Reaching for Will’s hand, he laced their fingers together and gave his hand a squeeze, “I haven’t decided anything yet. If I do though, I’ll let you both know ahead of time.” As he squeezed Will’s hand, he felt the ring on his finger and he lifted their joined hands to look at the Herondale ring, “I was wondering when you were going to get this.”
Will nodded, “We’ll follow your lead” he said easily, squeezing Jem’s hand in return before grinning, “Took a while but it came a few days ago, figured I may as well start wearing it” Will liked his ring, he also liked that Jem had one of his own it was part of the history of being a shadowhunter and meant a lot even if things weren’t exactly the same here.
Jem smiled, “It suits you.” Having their family rings made the dreams feel even more real, not that they hadn’t already considering Jem had been sick as a result of them for some time now, “It’s too bad there isn’t a Gray family ring.” Sometimes he wondered if Tessa felt left out since they were Shadowhunters and she was still trying to deal with being the only shapeshifter they were aware of.
Smiling Will lifted their joined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of Jem’s, “It is. It would need to be unique if there was one, much like she is” he mused, after all Tessa may not be a shadowhunter but she was the daughter of one and therefore had claim to the title, in Will’s opinion.
A few months earlier Jem would have been self conscience about showing any sort of public displays of affection; worried about what others would think of them, but he trusted Will to know how far was too far in public so he simply smiled as Will kissed his hand. “What if we made her one. Could we do that?” His brows furrowed slightly as he looked at Will’s ring and his own, “Maybe something that incorporates both of ours.” Jem didn’t know the first thing about creating a ring, but it was definitely something that would be unique.
Will was naturally expressive but he did hold back for both Jem and Tessa when they were out and about. But sometimes he needed that reassuring contact. “I think that’s a great idea. A Gray crest with both our designs on it” he nodded trying to imagine it in his head, “She’d love that”
“Now to design it.” Jem wasn’t sure where one would go to have a ring made, but he was sure that they could find it, “She certainly wouldn’t expect it.” Ever since he had dreamt about proposing to Tessa, he’d hoped that the Jade pendant he’d given Tessa in the dreams would show up, because it would make a wonderful gift, but so far it hadn’t.
Will too had been hoping that the book he’d given her would appear but nothing had materialised. The ring idea was a perfect one and between them they would work out how exactly to get it done. “Well my symbol and yours needs to be one there” that much was obvious but as for what else that may take more thought.
“Perhaps tonight, after Tessa goes to bed, we can start sketching something out.” Since Jem and Will shared a bed and Tessa had the room down the hall, it would be easy for them to start work on the ring idea if they waited until they had all gone to bed.
“I like that plan, she’ll be so surprised and pleased that we’ve been so sneaky for such a good reason” Will replied with a grin, and it really was the best present they could have come up with.
“Of course that means you can’t try and distract me.” Sharing a bed with Will made studying or reading in bed very difficult, because Will Herondale naturally demanded attention even when he wasn’t deliberately trying to get it. “This will be one time being sneaky will pay off indeed.”
“You know I don’t always try right? It’s obviously just a natural thing” Will said in his own defence, “Or you are easily distracted” which really they both knew wasn’t the case. Jem could be the most focused of the three of them. “But yes being sneaky is definitely going to be a good thing in this case”
Jem smirked and leaned over to kiss Will’s cheek quickly, “Well that’s been obvious for quite some time.” He squeezed Will’s hand, “Now that we know what we’re doing for Tessa, lets get the rest of our shopping out of the way.” They didn’t have too much to do so they probably wouldn’t be out very long.
Will nodded, “Happily” he said he wasn’t a huge fan of shopping at least not when it wasn’t for Tessa or Jem and he also felt an increasing need to snuggle on the sofa with some hot chocolate and his partners.