A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you all have read The Mischievous Mrs. Maxfield before starting this one. This story has a parallel timeline to TMMM and while it can be read standalone, things would just make a whole lot more sense if you've read the original. 

Hope you enjoy! My goal is to post every Sunday (MST) so stay tuned for the next chapter!

***

Tessa

When you're not the shoo-in as the pretty sister, being the smart one is usually the next default.

I didn't mind the title even though I knew that Anna was no bimbo. Most people can't get past how perfectly beautiful she is but I suspect that Anna never said anything about NOT being referred to as the smart one because she didn't want to hurt my feelings.

She's pretty amazing like that. She could be everything but she would settle with what was often deemed a lower compliment to give me something of my own to hold on to.

From a very young age, our distinction from each other was already apparent. We only made it more obvious by embracing the slice of pie we were handed. I never tried to be beautiful because the one time I attempted it, the only attention I drew was the scathing kind, with some people accusing me of trying too hard to be like Anna and failing at it miserably. I decided to stick to being smart—very smart. And it worked for me.

There was only ever one time I allowed myself to be stupid.

It was Christmas and I was twelve and his name is Jake Hastings.

Brandon was older than Anna and I by a big chunk of years and we always saw him to be wiser and more worldly. We were always a little in awe of him. We always wanted him to come play with us, tell us stories, take us places. And being a softie, he often did. And often, Jake, his best friend, tagged along as well. He wasn't an orphan but some days, he almost seemed like one based on the amount of time he spent with our family.

I was alright with that because Jake was a funny guy. He was always goofy and full of jokes. Brandon was an amazing older brother to us but he could be a bit serious sometimes. Anna and I always felt like we had to be on our toes and make no misstep as a Maxfield but Jake always took that edge off whenever he was around. His sense of humor didn't make him less protective though.

Around the beginning of December, just before everyone took themselves off to the holidays, our parents would throw two Christmas parties—one for the adults and another one for all the children. We were at a stage when Anna and I felt like we were getting too old to attend but still wanted to. There were pretty little cakes and gifts for every single kid and neither of us wanted to miss out.

That time, I'd gotten new braces with pink stones on them and my hair had grown long enough since its last trim to have developed softer, wispier ends. I was feeling pretty good about myself then—until one of the girls from Anna's class deliberately spilled soda on my dress after I refused to swap the mini make-up kit I'd gotten as a present for her kaleidoscope. She told me to keep the make-up kit because I obviously needed it if I didn't want to look hideous.

I wore a stony expression as Anna, who got told by some other kid, bit off the girl's head and told her to leave. I continued to wear it as Mom tried to tell me to not take the taunt personally. I shed no tear or made any sound as the evening wore on and everyone came together for a small family dinner. I snuck outside behind the kitchen where the large garbage bin was located and shoved the make-up kit into it, knocking the metal lid to the ground with a loud clang.

The door opened and Jake stuck his head out, frowning when he saw me in the middle of picking up the lid. He already heard about what happened. I saw him and Brandon have a hushed conversation earlier that evening, the way adults would talk quietly when something was so obviously wrong.

I didn't say anything as I calmly replaced the lid but Jake fully stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

"You know what the difference is between girls who are already beautiful and girls who only care to be that and nothing else?" he asked as he leaned a shoulder against the doorway.

I raised a brow. "Destiny?"

Jake raised his own. "Well. That wasn't the answer I was expecting."

I wasn't in the mood for Jake's—or anybody else's—humor. "Then answer your own question so I can go back in and go to bed."

For a second, I thought he'd smiled but he pulled the serious expression back on his face quickly. "The difference, dear Tessa, is that girls who are already truly and completely beautiful inside out, don't need to hurt anybody to make sure no one could compete. They know there is no competition. They're not bothered by it. They know they've got it. The girl who hurt you tonight clearly knows she doesn't have it all."

I digested that for a while but it couldn't quite cut into the conviction the last twelve years had built.

"Sounds like bullshit."

Jake's brows drew together into a scowl. "Where did you learn that word, Tessa Marie Maxfield?"

I shrugged. "I'm not a baby, Jake. I can read and hear things. And you and Brandon don't always notice I'm around when you talk."

He dragged a hand down his face, looking a little exasperated. "This is what I get for trying to be a nice guy."

"You don't have to be a nice guy," I told him. "You definitely don't have to lie to me just to be one."

Jake was visibly frustrated. "Still. What she did wasn't right."

"I know that."

"Then why are you sulking?" he demanded.

"What she did was wrong but she wasn't lying," I told him bluntly even though it stung me to admit it. "I'm not beautiful and I'm okay with that. I didn't keep the make-up kit to try to be different but now I'm not keeping it because it just reminds me of nasty memories."

His expression softened. "Tessa, listen. Beautiful is just one word with so many meanings. You don't have to be everything that the word means. You just have to find how it already perfectly defines you."

I wasn't sure if Jake was still aware that he was talking to a twelve-year-old despite my very adult ways but something in what he said cracked a big piece off that chip I'd worn on my shoulder since the day I understood that I couldn't be beautiful.

If someone as magnificent and as kind as Jake Hastings thought that I was already beautiful, then it ought to be true.

I believed him that night.

Worse, I fell in love with him right after he'd said those magical words.

When Valentine's Day came a couple months later, I gave him a letter to tell him exactly that because a happily-in-love, totally-feeling-beautiful Tessa wasn't a smart one. A smart Tessa wouldn't have sworn eternal love and promised a grand wedding in a big church.

I waited quietly as he read it, trying to figure out his softly smiling expression. He gave me a broad grin after he lowered the paper and put a hand on top of my head.

"Tessa, you're a very sweet girl," he said, still beaming. "But you're still much too young for love. You'll have to give it several more years before you can really learn what it means."

I wasn't sure exactly what he was saying but my heart was thundering too wildly already to back away at that moment. "Okay. I can wait. Will you wait?"

He laughed and really, when Jake laughed, the world grew brighter. It just did. The light would catch the glints of gold in his dark blonde hair and make his green eyes sparkle.

"For a beautiful girl like you, any guy with a brain would wait," he said. His hand ruffled my hair before he cupped my chin with it. "And if you still love me years from now, when you're old enough and I still have a brain, will you still marry me in that big grand church?"

Like an idiot, I happily nodded and went my merry way, dreaming of the day when I would become Mrs. Jake Hastings.

It was an illness I was going to suffer in the five years that followed, only to be culminated in one quiet devastation.

I was a very impatient seventeen-year-old the morning I decided to surprise Jake after his trip back from Los Angeles where he'd spent his twenty-sixth birthday. I knew work had him trapped there because he would normally have a small dinner with his parents on his birthday and then brunch with us the next day. I'd spent the night trying to call him but it kept going straight to his voicemail. I was already a day late in greeting him so I decided that there was no better way than to greet him first thing in the morning. Conveniently, it was going to be the same morning I decided to finally ask Jake straight up if he would date me now. I was turning eighteen in a couple months. I wanted to remind him of the fact because surely, eighteen would be old enough to pose no problem with Dad or Brandon. There would be nothing in his way now. I was going to give him my journal—the same one that contained a few hundred lovingly written entries from the last five years, each capturing a moment with him that I felt was special. He would have enough time to read it before my birthday and realize that yes, several years later, I still loved him and it was time he loved me back as promised.

I'd waited a solid five years, tolerated the boys at school who tried to get into my pants and dismissed stories I'd heard about him going out with other girls as nothing serious.

It was, finally, our time.

The driver took me to Jake's condo after I told him I was dropping off my late birthday present. I dashed up the elevator and cheerfully greeted Sandros, the head of Jake's small housekeeping staff, when he opened the door for me.

Usually, the old man was very cordial and friendly to me and my family when one or all of us would sometimes descend on Jake for a quick visit.

But that day, he was looking a little uneasy while telling me that Jake was still jet-lagged and resting. It was almost one in the afternoon so I thought he'd at least be up by now but I didn't have the heart to disturb him. But I couldn't leave just yet either. So I told Sandros I'd like a glass of water before I left. The moment the man disappeared into the kitchen, I bolted from the couch and tiptoed down the opposite hall to Jake's bedroom. I wasn't planning on waking him up but I wanted to leave my diary on his pillow so it would be the first thing he'd see after waking up. I also wanted to steal a moment just to watch him sleep—another memory to carry in my heart until the day came that I could just open my eyes and find him sleeping next to me.

I quietly opened the door. There was already quite a bit of light in the room that it wasn't hard to locate Jake in the heap of sheets on the bed. I saw his bare foot sticking out, his rumpled hair over a light gray pillow, a muscular arm stretched across the billowy covers.

I smiled and stepped into the room—only to stop short at the rest of what I saw on the bed.

Long, reddish brown hair in tangles that still looked sexy around a pretty face, an elegant shoulder peeking from under the covers and a slim hand with French-tipped fingers lightly resting on Jake's bare chest.

Jake was still sleeping, alright—sleeping with who I recognized as socialite-turned-model Gia Davis.

I wasn't sure which one I hated more—the brutal truth as it hit me or my lack of control when tears spilled down my cheeks.

There was a reason I decided to be the smart one a long time ago—it protected me from the kind of pain I felt as I stood there, motionless for a long moment, the guy I'd loved and adored for years changing before my very eyes. The shining armor was gone and all the sweet, gentle words he'd told me all this time started to ring hollow in my ears as I recalled them.

I backed away and out of the door without making a noise to disturb the sleeping lovers. Not that I cared as I ran and ran until I nearly slammed into Sandros on my way out.

"Miss Tessa, are you okay?" the man asked in alarm as he clasped me by the shoulders to keep me from staggering to my knees.

I nodded, gasping through a surge of tears, humiliated even more by what I was about to say next.

"Promise me, Sandros, that you won't ever tell anyone I was here," I pleaded with the man even as I swiped away at my tears with indignant anger. "Definitely not Jake. Promise me, okay?"

The man murmured his reassurances and that was all I had time for. Still hugging my journal to my chest, I pushed my way through the main door and rushed to the private elevator. In the couple of minutes it took to get down to the main lobby, I'd dried my face and pulled myself together. I'd wasted five years of my life on Jake—I refused to waste another second when he deserved nothing of my time.

On my way back to the car waiting for me, I paused by the trash bin and without a second glance, tossed my diary into it.

It was an appropriate ending to what the whole thing finally seemed to be—a total waste.

But smart Tessa wasn't fully back quite yet.

Feeling like I needed a physical purge to make room for her again, I took up an offer from Nate to go out for a movie and dinner. He was one of the guys who'd been hovering around me this year, very eager and very attentive. He was boyishly handsome, well-mannered for a high-school boy and funny enough to keep me awake in the three hours of our date even if most of our conversation was about his favorite cars. It felt like a balm on my wounded heart to have it wooed that I allowed myself to wonder just how much comfort I could find if I'd let Nate take things a little farther.

The answer was not a hell of a lot.

Having your first time at the back of a car, no matter how nice or expensive it was, with a guy who was too focused on his own pleasures to think of your own, was a pretty grim experience.

The fact that I did it as some kind of idiotic revenge on a man who didn't even know what he'd reduced me to made it worse. It was one thing to waste your time on someone who didn't love you and something else entirely to waste what could've been a special once-in-a-lifetime experience because you were pissed off about it.

Smart Tessa came back right around as my self-respect started to abandon me, grabbing hold of it just before it could slip from my hands completely.

And she never left again.

***

Tessa

When my heart sped up at the call display bearing his name, I told myself it was just old habit that was taking its sweet time to die.

It didn't mean anything.

After almost two years, it shouldn't mean anything—not anymore.

"How's Bangkok?" I tried to match my expression to my flippant tone as I inspected myself in the full-length mirror. The struggle was real when I heard his all-too-familiar voice infused with warmth and humor.

"Beautiful but busy," Jake replied. "Five seconds after arriving home though, I find an invitation to Brandon's engagement party. I repeat—it's an invitation to his engagement party. Am I losing my mind?"

I grinned and smoothed my hands down the skirt of my dress. "Jakey-Bakey. Don't tell me I was right all this time."

"Right about what?"

"That you're really secretly in love with my brother."

A raspy laugh escaped him. "I totally dig your brother. Don't tell him. The other girls are just distractions."

My smile disappeared at the mention of the 'other girls' because Jake was acquainted with a tremendous amount of them. I guess they've always been there, just staying in my periphery in the five years I had tunnel vision and all I saw was Jake. After finding him in bed with Gia Davis about two years ago, the blinders came off and I saw the extra-long trail of women Jake had been involved with. It was much, much longer than the line-up at the girl's bathroom at a house party but everyone looked about the same—restless, snappy and ready to pee their pants off.

"Well, you're just going to have to nurse that broken heart because from the looks of things at brunch, Charlotte's got him hook, line and sinker," I told Jake, forcing a lighter tone to my words.

Out of nowhere, my staid, serious and ever-sensible brother announced that he was getting married and shortly after that, proceeded to drag Charlotte Samuels to our family brunch.

I'd known Charlotte for a few years—she was about my same age. And while she attended the same school as Anna and I, she wasn't quite like the rest of the fancy prep school's student body. She was able to attend through the working-student program—an odd kind of scholarship where low-income students paid their way by working a variety of small jobs around campus during most of the day and attending some classes at night. Despite her situation though, she was relatively well-known throughout campus—probably because she'd butted heads with some prominent people among the high school hierarchy. Some people in school put a wall around themselves to keep her 'kind' out but she honestly never had trouble climbing it and getting into their faces to tell them where they could shove the rest of their cinder blocks. I still wasn't quite sure to this day whether I liked Charlotte for her gall or resented her for having it when some of us didn't.

"It's a little fast, don't you think?" Jake asked, all serious now. "Who's Charlotte anyway? Is she pregnant? What do you know about her?"

"Why don't you interrogate Brandon?"

"Do you think a guy marrying someone he's known for a week is going to give me a unbiased answer?" he retorted. "If he's getting played so well he can't even think straight, I need to figure out how to help him."

A big part of me was as dubious as Jake because my brother never made rash decisions—definitely not the kind with catastrophic consequences such as marriage. But Brandon made it very clear to me and Anna when he pulled us aside after brunch that he was serious about Charlotte. Sure, it was a little odd to see Brandon smile so much in a span of four hours but there was no glint of insanity in his eyes when he stared me and Anna down into backing off. He was going into this with eyes wide open—at least from what we could see. There was no talking him out of this—not even Jake.

"Just come to the party and pass your judgement then," I told him, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden. I had a new dress on and my hair and make-up were classic and impeccable but nothing that screamed for attention. It just wasn't a style I could pull off—the screaming-for-attention style, that is.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"Of course," I said. "No matter what I think of Brandon and his recent choices, I'm going to be there with the rest of our family. They're going to need all the support they can get if they want to weather the talk. There's bound to be some considering how fast they went from zero to a hundred."

"You're an amazing sister, Tess. You know that right?"

The tenderness in his words did nothing to stop my grimace.

Sister—the last thing I wanted Jake Hastings to see me as for as long as I could remember.

It didn't matter much now that I knew my silly dreams were just that—silly dreams—but it still stung.

"You know I'd do the same for you," was my gruff reply.

I could hear him smiling as he answered, "Will you, really? You'll smile and cheer for me if I'm about to have my own shotgun wedding?"

I knew he was teasing because he probably didn't even remember asking me to marry him one day but I still bristled at the joke. "I'll bring the shotgun and deliver you myself to the girl you're going to turn into a miserable bride."

Jake burst out laughing. "Fine. I'm not allowing shotguns to come near you and I'm going to stay NOT married for a good long while to keep the peace."

"Don't try to make up some noble reason for your staying a bachelor," I scoffed. "Everyone knows you're doing it because matrimony means monogamy in this side of the world and that's just not your style."

"You make it sound as if I'm not capable of being exclusive with one woman." There was an almost petulant tilt to his voice at that protest.

I shrugged, smiling a little now as I imagined his expression. "The question is not whether you're capable or not. The question is if you're even willing to be exclusive. Your mantra's always been the more, the merrier."

"You know, Tess, you're a great sister but you're a terrible friend," he complained.

Great. First, sister-zoned. Now, friend-zoned.

"Someone's got to be honest with you, Jake," I said. "And I can't help it that I'm always the one around when you're making mistakes."

That's too close to the truth, Tessa.

I took a deep breath and shook myself out of my grim thoughts. "I'm going to hang up on you now because I have to finish getting ready. I'll see you at the party."

But Jake sometimes just didn't know when to quit it. "Are you bringing a date?"

I smirked. "Nah. Couldn't find a guy small enough to put in my pocket."

He huffed out a laugh. "That's my girl. Wait till someone's worthy of you."

Well, that definitely won't be you, Jake, because one, I'm done waiting for you and two, you're not worthy of me.

I shook my head at that thought after hanging up on him and focused on a final inspection of myself in the mirror.

It's been at least two weeks since I last saw Jake but this had nothing to do with him.

I always took too long getting dressed. I knew why.

I would stand there and scrutinize every single detail until everything was as good as it could get. I'd given up on ever being as beautiful as my sister but it didn't mean I wanted to attract further negative attention. Criticisms still hurt and neither confidence nor resignation offered sufficient padding to the attack. It took time to grew thick skin.

My brown hair was swept up into a loose, elegant bun, my makeup perfectly neutral and natural. The peach cocktail dress silhouetted my slender frame, giving it a little more bulk where I needed it around the chest and defining my waist to look trimmer. The intricate floral embroidery on it was shot through with soft gold thread that caught the light, giving the understated patterns a little magic at the smallest movement.

Finally satisfied with my entire ensemble, I got into the limo that Dad had sent over to pick me up. My confidence wilted slightly when Anna slid into the car next to me in a bold royal blue dress that clung to every perfect part of her. There was never anything understated about her, especially when she flashed you a broad, beautiful grin and threw her arms around you in a quick hug.

"You look amazing, Tess!" she gushed when she finally pulled back to give my attire a cursory glance. "You always manage to make everything look so classic and elegant."

Anna loved me too much to call my classic and elegant style exactly what it was—boring.

"Thank you," I said quietly, tucking a stray lock that had already slipped from my hairstyle. My hair could never hold a curl and it was too fine to stay locked in place."You look stunning yourself but then when do you never?"

Anna just laughed good-naturedly and bumped arms with me. "Do you think Charlotte's going to turn up all decked out or is she going to spite everyone by showing up in her sneakers and jeans?"

I shrugged. "She looked decent enough during brunch. She probably knows it's expected of her now that she's marrying Brandon."

Anna rolled her eyes. "I don't know, Tess. She doesn't strike me as the type to do what's expected. She didn't exactly hold back telling me off during brunch."

"Well, you weren't very nice to her."

"I just don't trust her," Anna grumbled. "She came out of nowhere—and with Brandon, of all men. He's prime matrimonial prize around here. Him and Jake."

"Definitely not Jake," I scoffed. "He's not going to get leg-shackled anytime soon."

"He will if he's met the right girl," Anna argued.

I glanced at my sister and the tiny knit between her brows. "So people who are married have definitely met the right person for them. That's why they're married, right?"

I didn't miss the spark of hurt in Anna's eyes and I almost regretted making the point. But I steeled myself against it. I didn't want to cause my sister pain but carrying on an affair with a married man would only lead to more of it and if I could haul her off that road, I would.

"I don't expect you to ever understand, Tess," she muttered, looking away to stare out the window. "You've never been in love."

Oh, I've been there. And it's a terrible place when you're there with the wrong man.

But I didn't say any of that because no one knew how low I'd come at one point.

Between my suffering sister and my infatuated brother, I wasn't looking forward to finding myself there again.

Except that every time I was within a ten-meter radius of Jake Hastings, I'd always find myself standing at the precipice, swaying dangerously close to the edge again.

Seeing him all splendid and sharp in his tux later that evening was no different. At least he wasn't accessorized with one of the interchangeable women he'd bring to these society events this time. Although, one look at his expression after finally meeting Charlotte face to face, and I didn't think his showing up dateless tonight made a difference anyway. He was already taken in with another woman—my brother's bride-to-be.

"I'm assuming you approve?" I said as I stood next to him after he shooed away Brandon and Charlotte to greet their other guests.

Jake still had his eyes glued to couple—or more like the back of Charlotte's head. "Of course, I approve. Who wouldn't approve of her? There's something special about that girl."

"Isn't that what you say about every woman you've met and bedded?" I asked with a scoff, trying to ignore the stab of pain at my own reminder of Jake's endless cycle. "Something so special you just have to put your finger—or other appendage—on or in it?"

Jake's head whipped around this time, looking half-scandalized, half-amused. "Why does everyone seem to think you're an absolute angel? Is it only me you pick on?"

I couldn't resist a smile. For all my relentless jabs, Jake would just keep taking it. He's never been mad at me my whole life. "Only because you make it so easy and you supply me with so much ammo."

I schooled my expression into a stern one this time. "But all joking aside, she's marrying Brandon so back off. I'm a good sister, remember? I can't let you steal my brother's girl."

"Relax, I'm not going to do that—as tempting as that may be," Jake said with an easy smile. "I'm just... a bit stunned by her. She's nowhere near Brandon's type and yet... she totally makes sense for him."

I didn't say anything as I watched Jake turn his attention back to the couple as they beamed at a group of people heartily offering their best wishes.

"You can tell she makes him happy—you just have to see how that smile stays in his eyes long after she'd looked away from him," Jake continued in a pensive tone. "She just lights him up like nothing can."

I watched Charlotte, trying my best to fight the tightening emotion in my chest that I knew so well. I already had one glorious sister I was constantly measured up to. I didn't need another one who would offer the glaring contrast of her sunny personality against my own reserved one. And I definitely didn't need further proof that Jake craved the exact opposite of what I could offer him—if I were still interested, that is.

But I wasn't.

I'm not. Haven't been for a while.

For all my shortcomings, I was no doormat who would be happy to have a man trample me down with his feet as if it were lavish affection. I didn't have Anna's abundance of confidence or Charlotte's cool handle on everything but I had my pride—frayed, small thing it might be.

"I think they're doing it to each other," I said, surprised at my own statement. "The lighting up part, I mean. I hear it's a side effect of love. Couples infect each other and it just keeps going round and round. It'll be a while before those flames are doused."

Jake glanced at me with a quirky smile. "Right now, Tess, I can't decide if you're being a sassy cynic or a reluctant romantic."

I shrugged, avoiding his smiling gaze. "Neither. I prefer being realistic. I know people get the warm and fuzzies. I also know that sometimes, they're not enough."

"Warm and fuzzies?" Jake cracked up laughing. "Well, I guess there's that but it's a hell of a lot more complicated than just warm and fuzzies, Tessa. There's sex and convenience and where you each stand in your lives—"

"Sex and convenience," I sneered before I could help myself because my blood just went hot with fury. "Trust you to string those two words together in the same sentence. You want to hear my stand on this, Jake? I don't trust it. Why? Because of men like you."

I walked away and left Jake with his mouth hanging open because I already said too much.

That outburst was classic, old Tessa and she didn't exist anymore.

But she was still in the bloodstains over the heart she'd once stitched close.

***

So, what do you guys think? 

You might be wondering why I'm putting Tessa at the beginning of the chapter. It's because this story will be told from either Jake or Tessa's point of view. I normally don't do this style but Jake is a very popular character with TMMM readers and I think it would feel more familiar if some parts were told from his perspective since that was how we kind of followed his romance with Tessa in TMMM. You'll see him next chapter. =)

Thanks for reading and have an amazing weekend!

XOXO,

Ninya

♪♪♪ Chapter Soundtrack: Here I Am by Tom Odell ♪♪♪

I thought I was over you

I'd put out the flame

Said tonight would be different

I wouldn't need to play your games

I walked past your tower block

Saw her flicking the blinds

I said tonight would be different

And that I'd walk on by

But here I am

Running up the seventh floor

Knocking the eleventh door

I'm a sick of trying

I'm a sick of trying

Baby could you love me some more

Baby could you love me some more