A/N: Hello my dears! I am so very sorry that it took me forever to get this put up but today I was struck with inspiration and went into a writing frenzy. So, hopefully you enjoy this chapter and if you have any questions feel free to ask!

Let this be a sermon
I mean everything I've said
Baby, I'm determined
And I'd rather see you dead.

She'll never hurt me
She won't desert me
She's an angel sent to me
She's got the devil in her heart
No, no, this I can't believe
She's gonna tear your heart apart.

If I were being honest it wasn't that I disliked him. If I were being honest, I didn't really mind spending time "getting to know" him. But if I was really, really being honest, then I would admit that I disliked his cocky self-assured you're-going-to-like-me-eventually attitude. Stalking me and sending me flowers was not going to woo me. Who was he to inform me whether or not I would like him? Time, my ass.

We had been seated in the back of the restaurant which hadn't made much sense to me since the place was practically a ghost town. This seating area was one that I had thought they kept reserved for people with children, like when you've got a toddler that is going to throw their food and scream now and then, so they stick you out of the way of everyone else so that the other customers won't complain and cut back on the tip. I was sincerely hoping that this didn't mean we were going to be ignored or forgotten.

"I didn't even know Carmel had a place like this. It doesn't seem very… up to par. By Carmel's standards, I mean."

Jesse stared blankly at me, and then his eyes lit up. "By Carmel's or by yours? Anyway, there is nothing better than coming here, eating food that is more expensive than it should be and leaving 'slammed'."

The audacity! Rather than dignifying his snide remark with a response I sipped my iced tea and waited for the food to arrive.

"Now now, Susannah, there is no reason to be so touchy. After all, we are getting to know one another, no?" Jesse leaned back in the booth and placed his hands behind his head. He was unable to get over the fact that she was so sensitive and yet tried so hard to seem like she could handle anything and needed no one. What would she do if she knew he saw straight through her tough exterior? She would, he thought with a smile, "flip a bitch".

With another sip of tea and a sigh I feigned indifference, "Yeah, so get to knowing me."

"What is your favorite thing to drink?"

"Coffee and Iced Tea."

"How many siblings do you have?"

"None."

His head tilted, "None?"

"Not real ones."

He rolled his eyes and let the subject go, "What is your favorite fruit?"

"Pineapple."

"Vegetable?"

"Baby Corn."

"How do you feel about the President?"

I inhaled sharply and shook my head, "We won't discuss that. Your ears will fall off from severe bitterness."

His hands flew to his ears and his eye brows rose, then he smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "It is all right Susannah, I do not mind if you choose not to answer."

The waitress finally arrived after taking her sweet time flirting with one of the cooks and placed our meals in front of us. I scowled at her for taking so long and because she just so happened to be ogling Jesse, which I did not appreciate. I ripped my fork from its napkin wrapping and dug into my hash browns.

"Wow, Susannah. You eat with such," Jesse paused and attempted to find the correct word that would not cause insult, "such enthusiasm."

My eyes slowly lifted from my plate to narrow and lock on to his face. Could we say target in sight? Yes, yes we could. "It almost matches the enthusiasm you used while flirting with the waitress while I'm sitting right across from you. You sure were eager to make her smile." I pointed my fork at him like it was a weapon and then shook my head and went back to eating.

The laughter in Jesse's eyes faded and his hand slid across the table and held mine before I could grasp what was happening and properly react. "I was only being personable with her; I did not wish to be rude. And I did not mean to insult your pride, Susannah." He squeezed my hand and I could feel the heat from the connection travel up my arm.

I pulled my hand away from him and forked through my food. "Enough of that," I snapped, "let's get back to the interrogation."

"What were you really doing at Kelly's party?"

Through a mouth full of eggs I announced, "Party Nazi."

"Party… Nazi…?" He looked surprised and I guess I didn't blame him. "You were going to—to kill them?"

I stared at him and could feel that my mouth was open. "Are you serious?! No I wasn't going to kill them. Sweet sugar, what is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you, Susannah? A Nazi?"

"It's like a figure of speech. Geez, what time are you from?"

He stiffened and then relaxed, "I was raised in a very strict environment, such terms were never thrown around as if they had no meaning. Mi Dios, and you with a Jewish name."

"Good thing you've been released from your bubble, it must have been hard for your parents to let you go."

"They did not let me go, they died."

My body rocked back in surprise from the news, as if someone had actually taken a giant stamp and hit me in the forehead with it leaving a large red F behind. It was official, I failed at that little thing we all happily called life.

"Oh, wow. I mean, wow. Really. I am so sorry."

He shrugged, "'Time heals what reason will not.'"

"How old were you when it happened?" My voice had softened considerably given the topic.

"It is not something that I really wish to discuss at the moment, Susannah. My apologies."

I nodded, "No, that's fine."

He pushed his food around on his plate and sighed, "Do you have any tattoos?"

Laughing I shook my head, "Nope, not a one, my mom would kill me even though I can legally have it done. Do you?"

"Yes, just one."

I had expected a bit more detail, "And it's of…?"

He rubbed his right hand across his heart, "It is an open, one handed silver Loundes Six Hour Dial pocket watch, circa 1700. But it has no hand, and the chain has broken," he stopped rubbing his chest and looked at me, "It is located where my heart is."

"Wow and what inspired it?"

He smiled sadly at me and glanced around the room, "I once had one like it that someone important had given to me as a gift. As I said I no longer have it but some things are just hard to get over, I suppose. And it also serves as a reminder that you never have a handle on time. You should not give it chance to rule your life, but at the same time it is always there, ticking away the seconds of your existence."

I sat there taking in what he said, then shared my conclusion. "That is very thought out and full of meaning."

"Is that not what a tattoo should be? Something that represents something you firmly believe in or even a representation of your inner self?"

"Well, I guess. I mean, now people get them just because it's not, you know, a taboo thing to do," I shrugged my shoulders; ignored Jesse's annoyed snort, and pushed my plate away. I was far from being hungry now. If anything I was feeling sick and couldn't exactly pinpoint when I began to feel as such.

"It used to mean something more. A coming of age, or a representation of a tribe of warriors. You know, in Scotland there was a tribe… They were called the Picts or "Painted Ones" and they were the oldest race to occupy the area. Anyway, they used to puncture their skin with hot sticks to cause scarring and they would do it in intricate patterns. Later they started using a blue pigment from Woad. When they were to partake in battle both the men and women would strip off their clothes and head off to fight flaunting their scarred and blue tattooed bodies," at this point Jesse paused and looked at me to gage my reaction. He must have liked my reaction because he inhaled and continued on.

"I am not sure if it was meant to be a scare tactic or something else because too little is known about them. But one way or another it had meaning. Now if someone were to do such a thing then it would just be amusing, something to gawk at. Like that lizard man with the implants in his eyebrows and split tongue. Something like that is just for attention or a false sense of individuality, but it used to be for survival. It was just… more."

I sat there watching Jesse as I processed everything he had just told me. My opinion of him was rapidly changing and I didn't know how I felt about it. Talking to him was like speaking with a passionate encyclopedia, which just wasn't common. He had to be hiding something but I didn't entirely care.

"You are watching me like a hawk watches it's next target. Should I be worried or supportive of this?" He chuckled, obviously amused with his own jest.

"You," I reached across the table and poked him in the chest, "should feel nothing about it and flattering yourself is a waste of breath. Besides," I huffed and dug a wad of money out from my pocket, "I'm just trying to figure you out."

"I think that what you are trying to do is not like me, and while it is not a waste of breath it is a waste of time." He removed the tip I had placed on the table and tossed it at me.

Annoyed, I placed the money back on the table.

"Do not insult me, Susannah." He snatched it off of the table and shoved it at me, his eyes narrowing.

"This", I held up the money, "is not insulting, it's being polite."

"It is not polite; you are insulting me by suggesting that I cannot afford this meal, which I can."

"No, what I'm doing is offering to help you pay for it because I am not a mooch and because it is the polite thing to do." I slammed the money down and gave him a look that dared him to touch it.

"Your ideals are all wrong and you are not only insulting me but causing offense so take your money off of the table before I force it upon you."

I glanced around the room and was suddenly aware that the few people seated nearby were now staring at the two of us. Standing next to our waitress was a person that I hadn't noticed before; one who emitted a faint glow. I felt my face pale and grabbed the money off of the table, ready to leave. "Okay, fine, whatever, let's just go."

Pleased with himself Jesse placed money on the table and then walked towards the cash register. "And now you are embarrassed for a scene being caused. May I remind you that are the one who insulted me?"

"Yes, I'm aware of it, can we please just go?" I grabbed a hold of his arm and tugged him towards the door.

The glowing being had not looked away from us since being noticed. One of the glass windows to our side let out a moaning sound and began to crack before completely shattering.

"What in the world?" Jesse stared at what had been a window and was now an empty frame.

"Can we please just go now!?"

The voices of the people in the restaurant became a steady buzzing and they were now pointing at us and the window. On top of the buzzing I heard a very faint "Let go." Unsure of whether or not I had imagined it I did not release Jesse's arm but continued to tug on it. Another window began to moan.

"Okay, this place is not safe, let us leave Susannah."

I made a small sound and practically ran out of the place, heading for the passenger side of my car.

"You're not even going to fight to drive?"

"No," I snapped at him and pulled on the handle, "now unlock the damn car."

He shot me a dirty look before unlocking the doors and getting in. I did the same and as we began to pull out of the parking spot the other moaning window exploded sending the glass shards shooting outward rather than in.

"Nombre de dios, what is going on here?"

I felt like I may very well be sick inside of my own car but managed to act remotely normal. "No clue but I really don't want to stick around and have to give reports to the cops and what not. Please just drive to your house so I can hurry up and get home before my parents decide that shooting me will be the best form of punishment."

"Oh, as if they would actually do such a thing. They are parents and parents do not shoot their children for being out late, it is just not in their nature."

"How would you know?" I snapped at him again, not at all caring that I was going to go to Hell for such a remark.

Jesse's knuckles turned white from gripping the steering wheel and his eyes never drifted from the road.

Needless to say, we drove in utter silence.

A/N: I would also like to add that the pocket watch Jesse speaks of is real and can be found on google. If you find it maybe I will give you a spoiler of what is to come in future chapters. Just thought I would spice things up a little. Oh, and please R&R. Thaaaank you!