A.N - Wow. Big chapter of 2500 words. I'm chuffed.

Chapter goes out to Emily because this chapter brought up memories of our own trip to Parc Güell when we went to Spain back in March. Plus she gave me the idea for setting it there.

Thanks to everybody who reviewed last chapter. Hope you like this one.

The next significant stage in the history of English literature, I think, is the beginning of Romanticism. The dominance of nature and character through evolution had been preached by Jean Jacques Rousseau and his message was picked up by almost all European Poets. The first in England, however, were the 'Lake Poets', a small group of friends including William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. These early Romantic Poets brought a new emotionalism and introspection, and their coming out is marked by the first romantic Manifesto in English Literature - the 'Preface to the Lyrical Ballads'. It was Wordsworth who contributed mostly to this collection, although Coleridge must be credited for his long and impressive 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. This is a tragic ballad about the survival of one sailor through a series of supernatural events, including the slaying of an albatross, the death of the rest of the crew and a visit from Death and his mate.

European Literature

An Essay by Susannah Simon.

Chapter 10

When I first sat on that plane to London, Heathrow one month ago, I'd never thought that I'd end up in this place. Never. Not in a million years. Even after I had found out that Jesse was my airplane neighbour.

But, here I was.

A month had gone by since the New Year party - since Jesse and I had begun this affair. Which is the place I'd never though I'd be. I never wanted to be the reason that a girl was cheated on.

Paul had been doing his side of the deal with Maria perfectly - he hardly left me alone. He'd even manage to secure a place on the De Silva's impromptu trip to show their American guest the beauty of Parc Güell. All he'd had to do was mention to Maria how much he'd like to see it as well, and Maria was on the phone in a flash arranging it with her dad's favourite cousin.

Which brought me to now, staring up at the staircases that led up to some of the most beautiful mosaics I'd ever seen - and this was as I was still a distance away - with Paul Slater tightly gripping my hand as I desperately tried to pull it away.

"So?" Jesse's mom asked me and Paul excitedly. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful."

"It's alright."

My appreciative statement was drowned out by Paul's nonchalant response, causing both me and Jesse to glare at him.

"I don't see what the big deal is about this place," Maria complained, snootily looking away from the splendour as she wrapped an arm around Jesse's waist. "It's basically just pretty rocks."

Jesse turned his glare on her and twisted out of her grip taking a small step towards me. I used the pretence of tucking a lock of hair behind my ear to get my hand out of Paul's.

I began walking forward, 'accidentally' brushing Jesse's hand as I did so. The tingles that went through me almost made me jump - as they always did.

They were chased away from me completely when Paul regained control of my hand with his own big, sweaty one.

"Suzie! Suzie!" Rosita charged forward and took hold of my hand, pulling me out of Paul's grip as Abegail offered her own to Jesse.

"Suzie, come see this picture!" Rosie led me up the staircase as Abbie did the same with Jesse, both of us ahead of the rest of the group. Out of hearing distance.

God Bless the twins.

"See!" Rosie boasted triumphantly when she succeeded in pulling me under the terrace and pointing upwards at the many mosaics that were built into the stone above me. "Aren't they pretty? Jesse! Aren't they pretty?"

"Wow." I breathed. "They are. Really, really pretty."

"Yeah." I heard Jesse's voice before I felt the full intensity of his stare on me. "I agree. Really pretty."

I glanced over at him, smiling and catching his eye as he winked at me, before turning my attention back to the twins, who were both anxious to roam around the park.

"Jesse?" Abbie asked him, drawing out his name into many syllables in that child-like tone. "Can we go and see the shop people?"

Jesse gasped in mock-outrage, frowning even as a smile threatened to overtake his lips.

"Without mama?" He asked, lifting his hand to cover his heart jokingly.

Abbie smiled and gestured for Jesse to lean in closer, whispering in his ear as he did so.

"Oh," Jesse said overly-loud making Abbie giggle. "Well in that case. We have to go without mama."

Abbie nodded, still giggling.

"Can Susannah come too?" He asked the twins who were both looking up at him with eyes that were full of mirth. "We can't leave her with Maria and the strange man, can we?"

Both pairs of eyes widened.

"No!" Rosita cried. "No, we can't. She can come."

Rosie gestured for me to bend down to her, which I did with the biggest smile on my face. These twins were so cute. Not to mention that Jesse was really good with them …

"We're going to buy mama a present." She told me quietly, cupping her hands over my ear.

I nodded to show I understood the need for secrecy before returning to my full height and letting the twins lead me away just as Maria's voice reached my ears.

"And all these stairs!" She was complaining, obviously not caring about the disappearance of her fiancé. "Díos! It's like they want me to start sweating."

I was glad that Jesse's eldest sisters were all busy at work and school, and therefore didn't have to put up with Maria's incessant whining. I felt bad enough for Jesse's mother and father. Not Paul though. He was making private deals with her - he could suffer.

I heard the twins giggle again and I looked over at Jesse's too-innocent face with my eyebrow raised.

"I just told them that I hate the 'strange man'." He repeated for my benefit.

"Jesse!" I sighed. "His name is Paul." I gasped when I realised something. "You're the one who's been putting those names in the twins' heads!"

"Actually," Jesse laughed, touching my hand so quickly it could have been an accident. It wasn't though. It was Jesse's way of telling me how much he wanted to hold my hand, but couldn't because we were in public. "No. They put it in my head."

I rolled my eyes.

"Uh-huh." I agreed. "Sure."

Jesse shrugged.

"Believe what you wish."

Rosita and Abegail's excited screams told us that we'd found the 'shop people' - which actually turned out to be a pathway full of those people that sell you cheap souvenirs.

Jesse smiled at their behaviour.

"Rosie," he warned. "Abbie. Remember not to touch anything."

"We know." They chorused before breaking off in a run towards the nearest shop person, leaving me and their brother alone.

"And stay in sight!" Jesse called after them.

I laughed.

"What?" He asked me with a smile on his face.

I fell into step beside him.

"You're good with them." I noted.

"You are too."

I shrugged, brushing away the compliment, and we walked together in silence down the long pathway.

"I'm sorry," he startled me with his sudden outburst. "For all of this. I can't imagine how hard this is for you." He paused. "Well, actually I can. If it's anything like it is for me seeing you with Paul Slater… I'm sorry, querida."

"Jesse." I spoke quietly to him. "It's okay. Really. I knew what I was getting into from the beginning. Besides -" I shrugged like the thought didn't bother me. "- another two months and I'll be back in California."

"Susannah." He pulled me to a stop and made me look up at him. "Don't say that. Don't -"

"Jesse! Suzie!"

Hearing the twins shout our names made Jesse shut his eyes in defeat as I pulled apart from him and went to see what they wanted.

"We found what we want to buy mama!"

Their loud voices had some people glancing over with smiles on their faces as I frantically looked to make sure that their mama wasn't actually in hearing range.

"What is it?" Jesse's voice behind me startled me. As did the feel of his hand resting on my hip, the action blocked off from anyone else seeing with his body.

"That necklace right there!"

Rosita announced their finding as Abbie pointed to a black string necklace with a pink-stone heart hanging from it.

I nodded my approval of their choice as Jesse pulled out a five euro note to pay for said item. European money was way prettier than the plain green of American dollars.

The necklace was placed in a bag and given to the twins who ran to give it to their mama who was sitting on a bench a short way away. Maria and Paul were nowhere to be seen - probably talking about how they'd failed to keep Jesse and I apart today.

"What do you want, querida?" Jesse's voice in my ear made me shiver. He was leaning against me - his chest to my back.

"Huh?" I asked confused.

"To say sorry." He chuckled deeply in my ear. "For today. For the past month."

"Jesse," I complained breathlessly. "You don't have to do that."

"I know." He shrugged pointing to a green and gold beaded bracelet before handing over the change he'd received from his earlier purchase.

He held out his hand to collect the bracelet and rejected his change before pulling me away from the jewellery-covered blanket that classed as a stall.

"It matches your eyes." He whispered to me, pushing it onto my left wrist.

I swallowed through the lump in my throat, blinking back tears at this unexpected, romantic gesture.

"Thank you."

I wrapped my arms around his neck as his own banded around my waist and pulled me closer to him. We hugged for a bit longer than necessary to say thank-you, but we didn't care. I felt a tear escape my eye at the unfairness of it all. Jesse clutched me tighter when he felt the tear splash onto the skin of his shoulder. He rested his chin on the top of my head, rubbing his hand in slow circles at the bottom of my back.

I wanted to stay like that forever.

A cough ruined that wish for me.

I pulled apart from Jesse, guilt lacing my features, as I turned to see who had interrupted us and praying it wasn't either Maria or Paul.

Imagine my surprise when I saw my best friends standing there with their arms wrapped around each other's waists. looking at me and Jesse pointedly.

I blushed and looked away from their accusatory glares, playing with my newly-acquired bracelet.

"I was just saying thank-you." I explained.

"Mm-hmm." Was Cee Cee's reply.

Jesse rubbed the back of his neck with his hand nervously.

"So," I began wanting to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the four of us. "Looks like our families have been arranging trips behind our backs."

"I don't know about your family," Adam scoffed. "But ours couldn't care less what we do while we're here."

"Oh." My voice sounded small.

"The Diego's are here though." Cee Cee continued. "Felix wanted to visit. I rang Adam and now he's here too."

I raised my eyebrow. Felix Diego wanted to come here? A place that would hold no appeal to a man like him. Unless, he'd known that we were going to be here.

I felt the blood drain from my face and my hands grow clammy.

Oh god. Maybe he was still upset with me over the whole turning-him-down-on-New-Year's-Eve thing.

Jesse saw the look on my face and took my hand, squeezing it briefly before dropping it.

No, he told me in that small action. He's not here for you.

Thank god.

I felt relief spread through me.

"Excuse us, Jesse," Cee Cee grabbed my arm and pulled me away from my kind-of boyfriend. "But we need to speak to Suze."

Without waiting for him to reply, they yanked me further away from Jesse.

"Guys!" I complained. "That was rude!"

"What are you doing Suze?" Cee Cee hissed. "He's engaged!"

I wasn't listening to Cee Cee as I heard noises nearby. I wandered away from my friends, closer to the rustling of the bushes and the familiar voices.

It wasn't long before I found a clearing where two people were. Two very familiar people.

"Suze?" Adam called a bit too loudly for my liking.

"Shush." I hissed at them, raising a finger to my lips as I realised what was going on in front of my eyes.

"Suze, stop kidding around." Cee Cee scolded. "You can't get involved with Jesse! He's getting married!"

I snapped my head around to glare at the two of them.

"Yeah," I told her as I gestured toward the gap in the trees. "And so is she."

"What are you talking about?"

My best friends pushed me aside in their haste to figure out if I was crazy or not. They both gasped as they saw what I had saw :

Felix Diego and Maria de Silva - the engaged Maria de Silva - leaning against a tree kissing quite passionately as Diego's hand was laid possessively over her revealed stomach.

"Maybe it's not them." Adam stupidly suggested.

I hit him lightly over the head but was saved from replying by Diego's gruff voice as it drifted over to us.

"Maria." He growled. "I missed you. I missed this."

And then Maria's voice.

"Yeah, me too." She admitted, gasping when Felix's other hand came to forcibly push Maria's head towards him for another kiss. "We just have to keep this a secret until the wedding day. Until I say 'I do'." She rolled her eyes. "And then I can divorce the man and bleed him and his family dry."

"That family is too rich for their own good." Felix agreed.

I stumbled backwards, back onto the main pathway, in shock.

Oh. My. God.

Cee Cee and Adam joined me shortly after, both of their eyes wide in shock and disgust for the scene they'd just witnessed.

"Um," Adam shifted awkwardly, not knowing how to react to the disturbing scene. Felix and Maria were not the poster couple for 'Match Made In Heaven'. "We have to go now. Sorry, Suze."

"Yeah," Cee Cee agreed. "I need to go see a really interesting film and get my mind off of that."

My two best friends hurried away from the scene-of-the-crime leaving me alone with the thoughts of what I'd just heard. And seen, I suppose. But I was trying to repress that particular memory.

Maria was using Jesse for his money. And cheating on him.

Which left me with one question : What do I do now?