A.N.: I've made Paul a good guy in this fanfic ……. (pause for the fact to sink in) …… okay, I hope it's sunk in by now! All the characters are quite different from the original, by hey…people change!! Hope you enjoy, and PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!

-pisceangirlpower

Set a couple of years after Heaven Sent.

One TALKING TO A LONG-LOST BUDDY

Oh my God. I still can't believe that Jesse and I are engaged to be married in a month! Mrs. Susannah de Silva. Ah, I so love the sound of that. And guess what – we've already moved in together! But the sad part is that there are two bedrooms in the apartment – one big and one slightly smaller. The smaller one's the guestroom. At least it's supposed to be. But although we've moved in together, Jesse still insists that we can't share a room till we're married. So he's pushed me into the master bedroom and is himself residing in the guestroom. What a gentleman. Grrr.

Anyway, let me tell you how Jesse proposed. We were on a date at The Diner, the posh new place that opened up a few months back. After we were done having dessert, Jesse paid the bill and we got out and walked out towards Jesse's Ford (yes, Jesse got a car). There, just outside the car, Jesse got on his knees and pulled out the most beautiful diamond ring from his pocket, thrust it out at me, and went, "Querida. Will you marry me?" My reaction had been to tell him to stand up. He got a puzzled look on his face, but stood up anyway. Then I practically jumped at him, hugged him, and gave him the longest kiss I ever had. "Of course I will," I had said, continuing to hug him. It was totally romantic.

We've got this gorgeous little apartment five minutes away from the beach and fifteen minutes away from Andy's house. The view of the ocean from my window is even better than the view from the window back in my old room. We were looking at an apartment further away from home – about an hour's drive – but Mom got all teary-eyed, saying that she couldn't bear to be so far away from her little baby, so we settled for this apartment. Except that I am not a little baby anymore – I'm twenty, for God's sake.

I've just finished my college at the Father José Missionary College, Connecticut. Jesse finished from there a year ago after giving his SATs, and now he's studying to be a paedriatician – a kid's doctor. It's summer break for both of us right now.

Right now, it was three in the afternoon and blazing hot. To keep the room cool, we'd drawn the curtains and put the air conditioner on full blast. Jesse and I were on the couch, watching The Godfather for about the thirteen trillionth time, and sharing a big bowl of buttery popcorn. The Godfather is Jesse's all-time favorite, though I don't feel all that thrilled about it. But whatever. I was sitting on one side of the couch, with Jesse lying down, his head in my lap. I was running my fingers through his hair.

"Just pause the movie, would you, querida?" said Jesse, catching hold of my hand, giving it a light kiss, and sitting up. "I'm going to go and get myself some water. Would you like some, too?" "Uh-huh," I said, leaning over and reaching for the remote control to pause the movie. "Pop a couple of ice cubes into my glass. And come soon."

As soon as Jesse went into the kitchen, the phone rang. "I'll get that!" I called, receiving the call. "Hello?" I said into the phone. "Suze?" said an oddly familiar masculine voice over the phone. "Speaking," I said. "Who's this?" "Have you forgotten me so soon, Simon?" said the voice. "I don't know who you are," I said. "Goodness Suze, I'm hurt," said the voice, laughing. "How could you forget ol' Paul Slater?"

"Paul!" I cried. "Hi!" Unlike before, Paul is a good buddy of Jesse and mine since the Winter Formal. "Hi!" said Paul, laughing. "Long time, no see, huh?" "Oh yeah!" I said. "Hey, wait a minute. How'd you get my number?" "Oh," said Paul. "I dropped in at your old place a few days back, but Brad said you'd moved. So I got your new number from him." "Oh," I said. I heard a whiny female's voice cry out to Paul. "Hey who's that?" I asked Paul. "Oh, just my girlfriend," said Paul, nonchalantly. "Christie. She wants to speak to you, so I'm putting it on speakerphone."

"Hello, Suze!" Christie's voice came over the line. "Hey…Christie," I said. "You visiting Paul?" I asked. "Oh, no!" said Christie, laughing. "We've moved in!" "Oh!" I said. "Oh!" Christie laughed.

"Who is it, querida?" cried Jesse from the kitchen. "It's Paul!" I replied. "And his girlfriend Christie!" Jesse didn't say anything to that. He just walked out of the kitchen with two glasses of water in his hands, an amused expression on his face.

"Suze!" cried Christie. "And who's that guy in the background?" "Oh," I said. "That's Jesse, my boyfriend. Oh, I mean my fiancé. We've moved in too." Christie gave a loud, high-pitched squeal at this. "Wow!" she said. "Congratulations!" "Thanks," I said. "So, you settled in well with Paul, and stuff?" I asked. "Oh, yeah!" said Christie. "We're having a blast together! Paul's a total dynamo. You know. In bed," She giggled. I was a little taken aback by this. But not to be deterred, I replied, "Oh. I see. Too bad my guy refuses to share rooms with me until the W-Night," I took care to lower my voice at this, because I did not want to offend Jesse. And he totally takes offence at these kinds of things and even stops speaking to me sometimes. "So, I'm still, you know. The twenty-year-old virgin. Because I've been going out with him since I was sixteen. And I couldn't possibly cheat on him, however desperate I might be for sex." "OH!" cried Christie, shocked. "That's ridiculous!" "Yeah, I know," I said. "But at least the wait's not long. Just…a month." "Ooh," said Christie. "Are we invited to the wedding?" "Of course," I said, laughing.

"So…where's the wedding?" she asked. "Oh," I said. "My mom was insisting on having a grand affair at some posh hotel, but I made her settle for a beach wedding." "A beach wedding!" squealed Christie. "Oh. My. God. YOU ARE SO LUCKY!" "I know," I said, unable to stop myself from laughing hard. "So, it's at this beach, right?" she asked. "Which beach?" I asked. "Why, the Carmel Beach, of course! Or is it too far from your place?" "No way," I said. "We live, like, one minute away from it!" "Oh!" said Christie. "Us too!" "Hey, hang on a sec," I said. "I'm putting you on speakerphone. Jesse wants to talk to Paul." "Okie-dokie," said Christie.

Jesse plopped down on the couch next to me. "Hello, Slater," he said into the speakerphone. "Hounding us again, are you?" I heard Paul laughing at this. "Yeah," he said. "Dunno how I survived without doing it all these months!" Jesse laughed at this.

"So," said Christie, coming back to the phone. "I think we should get together at the beach or something sometime!" "Yep," I said. "How about four o'clock today?" "Sounds good," said Christie.

It was three-thirty and I was changing to go the beach. I just got this cutest white bikini set from the new swimsuit shop nearby. It's kind of sexy, and it's got a super-deep neck with a thick, flat metal ring joining the two sides in the front. For me, it was love at first sight. It's totally smart and I'm just dying to wear it in front of Jesse! And guess what – I got it for 40 off on the original price! The original price was $75, and I got it for just $45! I had worn it with my favorite black sarong. Anyway, enough about bikinis.

Jesse knocked on my door. "Come in!" I said. He sauntered in. I've told Jesse a thousand times that you don't need to knock on the door of the person you're living in the same house with, but he still persists with his old nineteenth-century manners.

Jesse was already in his swimming trunks, and he had worn over them the white Adidas tee we had bought for him on one of the shopping trips I'd dragged him for. He was looking murderously hot, as usual, with his hair falling adorably a little into his face.

"Ready to go?" he asked. "Just a sec," I said, brushing my hair. "You go ahead and unlock the car, I'll be there in a moment," I said. "All right, querida," Jesse kissed me and went out to start the Ford. I was just about to put on my flip-flops and run out, and that was when that new ghost popped up.