Only The Good

Chapter Eight - With every waking breath

I don't know how you do what you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I want to spend the rest of my life
With you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you

Lonestar - Amazed

"Marry me?"

Those two words drove out every thought in my head. My mind went numb and I swear my heart stopped beating. Was he being serious? At that moment in time, I wanted nothing more than to scream at the top of my lungs and wrap my arms around him, declaring that yes, I did want to marry him. But all I could do was stare down at the magnificent ring like a complete goober. I guess I must have been silent for a while, because Jesse eventually spoke.

"I know that you are a bit young, by todays standards, to be married, but we don't have to get married straight away," he told me, his voice shaking as he rushed his words. "I would wait forever for you. I just...looking at Stanley and Layla, it has put things into perspective, and I realised that we don't have all the time in the world. So we should make the best use of the time we do have, and...I want to spend the rest of my life, however long that may be, with you. So, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" I felt tears well up in my eyes. Jesse had spoken so fast that I barely understood what he had said, but I got the gist of it, and it was beautiful. So, I nodded. Very slowly. So slowly infact, that I am sure Jesse didn't notice. So, I accompanied this brief movement with a choked "yes". To say that Jesse looked surprised was an understatement. The look of terror that had gripped his handsome face as soon as he had produced the ring seemed to vanish in an instant.

"I'm sorry?" He asked delicately, his voice no longer shaking, but strong and full of amazement. I burst into tears. I couldn't help it.

"Yes," I repeated, louder this time. "I will marry you." I wanted to throw my arms around him, I really did, but every muscle in my body seemed to be paralysed. I could only watch on with tears in my eyes as Jesse picked up my left hand and gently slid the ring onto my finger, smiling as he did so. He didn't let go of my hand, but he looked up into my eyes and I felt myself falling once again. Finally able to control my body (but only to a certain extent), I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again. But I knew that this kiss differed from allthe others. Because this kiss signalled the start of a new life...our new life. Together.

I couldn't really hear the voices around me. I wasn't deliberately blocking them out, they just seemed to drift past my ears, barely invading my conciousness. I guess the huge grin that was plastered on my face wasn't helping much. It did, however, cause a few people to ask a few inappropriate questions such as "So, I guess you finally got laid?" (courtesy of Adam) and "did someone spike your drink?" (courtesy of CeeCee).

I had, of course, removed the ring as soon as Jesse had dropped me off home and placed it on my right hand. I still hadn't figured out what I was going to tell my mother, but I sure as hell didn't want her hearing it from someone else. Especially Dopey, who would be ecstatic at the fact that I had so freely handed him some ammo worth using. So nobody had the slightest idea that I was engaged to the hottest guy in the school. Except, of course, the hottest guy in the school, who kept smiling at me secretly from where he sat with a group of seniors he had befriended. It was these smiles, I'm sure, that had convinced Adam that I was no longer as pure as I insisted I was. But today I didn't care what he, or anybody else thought.

It was lunch, so obviously a fair amount of people had noticed my ring, but no-one suspected its true meaning. Not even Paul, who sauntered in an hour late, looking extremely dishevelled. I didn't even bother asking why. I assumed that it was for the same reason that I strolled in late way too often than was acceptable. Honestly, if Father D hadn't been a fellow mediator, I would have been expelled long ago.

"So, where did you go last night?" CeeCee enquired, snapping me out of my reverie. All I could manage was a startled "huh?". She rolled her eyes.

"I tried to call you, but your mom said you went out," she mentioned, picking at a sandwich she had produced from her bag. "So I called back an hour later, and you were still gone. Then an hour later and...well, you get the picture." I didn't even have to force a smile this time.

"Oh, I just took a walk down to the beach," I told her. "I fell asleep, so I lost track of the time." It was true, but I decided not to mention that I had fallen asleep in Jesse's arms, after he had proposed to me whilst we were watching the sunset. She was always complaining about how romantic he was, and how all that she and Adam ever did was sit around at the Clutch, drinking coffe until they started to twitch. She thought it was sweet how Jesse was always taking me out places, and we would go off together and not be heard from for hours. Little did she know that the reason he would take me off places was so that we could kick some ghostly butt and the reason that we weren't heard from for hours was either that I'd been knocked out or was so angry that Jessehad lockedme in his apartment until I cooled down. Yeah, so romantic.

"So, what's the story with that ring then?" Asked Paul who had just that moment decided to join us. Why, I do not know; he is one of the most popular guys in our year (and I say one because of the incident at Brad's party, which some people weren't too keen to forget) and could sit with the likes of Kelly Prescott. Paul looked a lot better now, more alert and less...scruffy.

"So what's the story with you wandering in late Mr. one-hundred per-cent attendance?" I fired back at him. He shrugged.

"Bad dreams," he muttered. "My head hurts like hell." Uh-huh. Like I was going to believe that.

"Liar, you've been...shifting," I spat, whispering the last word. He glared at me and shrugged again, pulling a can of soda out of his bag.

"So?" I glared right back at him. I had warned him about shifting, and ever since discovering that his grandfather wasn't as far gone as he'd thought, he had decided that he didn't want to kill himself, and agreed to stop. So why was he doing it now?

"What?" He demanded, becoming defensive all of a sudden and then relaxing once he saw my threatening expression. "Alright, alright. After you told me about you-know-who, I started doing some poking around. I talked to a few...people...to try and find out who he was." He paused as he took a swig from his can. "I didn't find much out. I thought that maybe Kurt was one of us and he brought this guy back to do the dirty work for him." I had, of course, told him all about my little chat with Kurt. "But no-one up there, not even the gatekeeper, knows who this guy is. They've never seen him!"

I wanted to continue this subject, I really did, but I wasn't in the mood for anything that would kill my current high. I had promised myself that I would have this day off from all things ghostly and concentrate on planning a speech for my mother. But what could I say? She would be shocked however I put it! She would say that she knew that he was too old for me, and that marriage was a serious thing and I shouldn't commit myself to the first steady boyfriend that I had. Maybe I should introduce her to Madam Zara.

"No offence, Paul." I winced, realising that the sun shone in my eyes when I looked at him. "But I really don't want to discuss this today." He just smiled at me and suggested that we discuss my new ring instead. He knew. There was something in that smile that told me so. So, I had no other choice but to pull them aside and whisper the details of last night to them.

Their reactions were...astounding. Adam just grinned insanely for reasons unknown, CeeCee actually looked as though she was having a coronary; she stepped back and held a hand over her gaping mouth, he eyes wider than I had ever seen them before. Paul...well he just stood there, smiling.

"Congratulations Simon," he uttered, placing a hand on my shoulder. I could tell by his tone that he was uncomfortable with this. I guess a part of him still liked me, but he was moving on and even sounded happy for me. But it must have been hard for him. I couldn't help but smile back at him. Things were going great between us, greater than I ever could have hoped for. It took me a few moments to realise that CeeCee was talking to me.

"You're actually getting married!" she squealed as quietly as she could. I glanced around for Brad and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him desperatley trying to get Debbie Mancuso's attention. She seemed fixated on a group of seniors. No prizes for guessing who was in that group. "I can't believe it! I'm so happy for you. Jesse is perfect!" She pulled me into a great big hug and I laughed as I hugged her back. At least my friends seemed happy about it.

"I'm glad you saw that it would never have worked between us," Adam said, very sarcastically, placing a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. "I know that you will always be thinking about me, but just knowthat your future lies with him now." I was so happy that I played along.

"Aw, thanks," I replied in a sickeningly sweet voice. "I knew you'd understand."

But would my mother?

After school, I didn't head for the Rover. Instead, I sauntered over to Jesse's car, where he stood waiting foe me. My mom hadsome meeting to go to and Andy had taken the night off to go bowling (or something, I wasn't really listening), so I didn't have to worry about missing one of Andy's lovingly-prepared meals.

"Hello, querida," he said as I walked up to him. He straightened up and opened the passenger door for me, like the true gentleman he was. It was one of those little quirks that made him so special. Like when he refused to eat until I had been seated, and when he removed his jacket during a torrential downpoar (despite the fact that he wore a very thin tee beneath it) and wrapped it around my shoulders. The one quirk I could do without, however,is the one where he keeps his hands to himself.

"Hey," I replied, climbing into the car. Once I was seated, I removed my ring and placed it back on the correct finger. He noticed this and smiled.

"So you still haven't thought of how you will tell your mother?" He asked. I shook my head in reply.

"No, and I'm not letting you tell her!" I said. "She can be worse than my dad when she gets angry and that's saying something." Speaking of fathers, something had been bugging me since he proposed.

"Um...Jesse." He turned to look at me as he started the engine. "I can't help but wonder why you never asked Andy if you could marry me. Isn't that what you did back in 18-whenever?" Jesse smiled that all-knowing, smug smile.

"But he isn't your father," he reminded me.I knew that, of course. But my real father wasn't exactly available anymore. I obviously looked completely confused because he continued talking. "And I asked your real father. Before he moved on. He came to visit me once I had been released from hospital and gave us his blessing. I knew that he would have to move on eventually, so I asked him. For, um, future reference." Wow. My dad really must have liked him. This really should have made me feel better. I mean, my father is the hardest parent to win over, so technically my mother should be a doddle, right? Wrong. The thing is, my dad had known Jesse for almost a year. He had known him way back before we got together, and knew that he would never treat me bad. He had seen me distraught over losing him twice, and even knew about the countless times that he had saved my life. He hadwitnessed the repect that Jesse treated me with.What did my mom know? That heis my boyfriend. That's it. I couldn't exactly tell her all of the stuff that my dad knew, either. Not without mentioning the whole mediator thing. And that would just upset her even more.

I guess I must have looked pretty bummed, because Jesse placed his hand over mine.

"If you think it will help, I will ask Andy and if he says yes, we will tell your mother. Together." On the word 'together' he queezed my hand. I instantly remembered the day that I travelled back in time to save him. He had been sucked into his lifeless body and I thought that I had lost him forever. Until he gently squeezed my hand. That tiny, seemingly insignificant, movement made me happer than I had ever been in my whole, entire life. Because it meant that Jesse, my Jesse, was alive and well.

"Thank you," I uttered, shaking away those happy memories. Not long from now, this day will be also a happy memory. One I didn't intend to forget for a long time.

AN - That isn't the whole chapter. It's only the first half, heh. But I'm going away for the weekend and wanted to get something posted before I left. What do you think her mother will say? Paul will be coming into it more now. And don't worry, he's not going to try and murder Jesse or anything ;).

I honestly can't thank you guys enough for the reviews. It's getting increasingly difficult to write new chapters because I'm into the story and the new stuff I churn out will have to live up to the previous chapters. It's really difficult, lol. But your reviews let me know that there are still people who read this, and they keep me sane.

Now, in reply to a few of my reviews (I haven't done this in a while, lol :))...

SweetlySarcastic - OMG! Jesse is two-timing everyone here! But he's so cute we can't stay mad at him :). Thanks for saying what you liked :) I love those reviews the best.

Animebuffbob - Hmm...you're close. That was one of the ideas that I was toying around with...BUT (dun dun DUN!)I thought of another idea.

bbblfl - Thank you for the constructive reviews :). Like I said before, I love hearing what people liked and didn't like about certain chapters so that I know what to improve on and what to continue doing. Too bad I'm rubbish at writing those kind of reviews, lol.

And to everyone who reads...press that reviewbutton...it's calling to you...:)

Disclaimer - I don't own the mediator. I also don't own the song I used, so will somebody please get it out of my head!