What if Jesse was alive, but a runaway who had taken refuge in the Ackerman's future home? What if Andy found him one day, and instead of sending him away, got him hired as an apprentice carpenter, helping build the house?

Yes I know what you're thinking. Should I really be starting yet another story when I've got so many others to finish?

Probably not. Am I going to?

Yups.

So enjoy…and flame me for not updating my other stories. I won't blame you.

Note: Jesse may seem a little out of character. After all, he's been modernized...teehee...

XOXO

Kaitie

Jesse's POV:

I walked on, slower now than usual. Damn drivers should look where their going before pulling out. Granted, walking on the highway isn't the best plan, but where else am I supposed to walk?

My name is Jesse De Silva. However, if you were to ask my parents if they had a son named Jesse (or, my biological name, Hector…shudders) they would no doubt deny me.

As I deny them.

So we had a falling out. Just because I wouldn't marry Maria, my 2nd cousin. I'm sorry, but that's a little gross. This isn't the 1800s, I should have my choice as to who I marry.

I pulled up the hood of my gray sweatshirt and continued walking. My left foot- where that driver had almost hit me- hurt like hell. My hair was dirt covered and sweaty, and I felt like I'd been run over with a truck.

Which I almost had.

I read a sign coming up. "Carmel By-The-Sea, 2 Mi."

Carmel. I had heard pretty good things about the quaint town. It sounded like a nice place, a place to settle down, get a job, find myself, in a manner of speaking.

The bag on my back felt like it weighed a ton, even though all it had in it were a few tops and pants. I'd had to pack light when my so-called father told me to leave. I'd grabbed a handful of boxers, socks, shirts, and other assorted things, and tossed them into my bag without folding or making them fit so that carrying this bag would be comfortable. I'd thrown my MP3 player in my pocket, but I was ready to hock it if need be.

When I arrived in Carmel, the first thing I noticed were the houses. The fact that they were old and being rebuilt in some areas. I saw one that looked as if it hadn't been touched yet, and carefully let myself in.

I looked around the main floor. Living room, kitchen, dining room, all the usual things. There were bullet holes in the floors and walls, I assumed from the earliest days of the home. People had probably died in these rooms.

I climbed the rickety steps carefully, not placing my whole weight on them. I glanced in an out of rooms, finding one with a bay window that faced the ocean. It had an old mattress in it that looked safe, if a little dirty, and I gratefully collapsed onto it.

Then I slept for the first time in three days. My body ached and my mind raced, but it all stopped for a glorious twelve hours as I slept.

When I awoke, sunlight blinded me. I moved my hand to block the light, but as I did so, a figure moved directly into the sunlit path. I scrambled up quickly and looked at the man sheepishly.

He was about the same height as me, maybe an inch taller. He had dark hair, though in my sleepy haze I could not tell you if it was brown or whatnot, and dark twinkling eyes.

"Well, what have we here?" the man said. He didn't seem upset; merely inquisitive.

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't think anyone lived here." I managed to get out. "I'll go now."

"Not looking like that, boy. You'll scare the locals." the man said. "My name's Andy. Andy Ackerman." He reached out a hand, which I shook.

"Jesse De Silva." I said.

"Well, Jesse, how about you get cleaned up, changed, and come outside for some food?" Andy said. "How well can you swing a hammer?"

"Fairly well." I said. "I took a couple shop classes in high school."

"Well, we need a few extra men to get this place up and running." Andy said. "My stepdaughter is coming in 2 weeks, and this place needs to be in ship-shape in one and a half. How do you feel about working on it?"

Working on a house? Hmm...I think I'll take anything right about now.

"Sounds good." I said. "Thank you so much, Mr. Ackerman."

"Call me Andy." He said. "Now, the pipes and plumbing are just about the only thing that work here, so get showered and cleaned up, then come outside, and we'll get the usual start-of-a-new-job paperwork out of the way, then get cracking on this place."

He left, and I showered and changed. The work crew was broken into teams, each assigned a different room or rooms. My team worked on several of the upstairs bedrooms, "for the kids", I was told. I found out that Andy's stepdaughter was named Susannah, but she went by Suze. As we set to work on her room (the one I'd slept in, coincidently.) I began to think she was either a very girlie girl or seven years old.

The walls were painted pink, as was just about every frill and kick-knack. A lace canopy bed and white furniture was moved in a week later. As we worked on rooms for Jake, Brad, and David, I got the impression that there was more to this Susannah than met the eye, based purely on the comments about her from her stepbrothers.

Oh, what fun this would be...

Next up: Jesse meets Suze, and commotion ensues when she catches him in a very embarressing situation...

Here's a little preview (It's not of the next chapter, but it does come up soon!)

Jesse's POV:

I kissed her. With all the willpower that I'd been using to hold back, I kissed her. Susannah didn't mind; if anything, she kissed me back with as much power as I was using. Her hands were running over my hair, then were securely wrapped around my neck as she fell backwards onto her bed, me on top of her. My own hands were not stationary; rather they were exploring every inch of her soft, supple skin. Susannah moaned lightly, and I looked down and realized exactly where my hand had landed. Directly on top of Susannah's left breast.

I heard a loud interupting cough. Susannah and I tore our lips from each other and looked in her doorway.

Andy stood there, looking murderous.

XOXO

Kaitie