To hyper maniac: Yup. . . I had intended to add some action in. . . But I may do a horrible job with that so hope you'll be understanding. . . I only have a brief idea of the characters' powers so it's gonna be a little difficult~ But yeah, I'll try. . .^^ The action will come a bit later tho. . .

To everyone else: Thanks a million for reading and reviewing too! Really appreciate it! =D

She Never Knew

Chapter 3 - Sensitive Topic

Jesse's POV

I had the newspapers vertically in front of my face. The thought of being bombarded first thing in the morning with questions which I presume would be too tough to handle wasn't at all welcoming. The newspapers served as a temporary shield from the unwelcome questions, but for how long? I could already feel a pair of feral eyes practically burning through the papers to get through to me.

Won't she just stop staring? Sheesh. . .

Shalimar's POV

I knew you couldn't hide away forever, Jesse.

Any minute now, he's gonna set those papers back up and block himself off from me. Oh no, I'm not gonna let you do that, Jesse. You're gonna give me the answer I want to hear, TODAY.

My mind whirled into action as I quickly brainstormed for an opening sentence before Jesse could get his hands on the piece of toast before him and place that paper barrier between him and me once again.

"Tell me you like Emma, Jesse."

Oops. A little too direct there. But who cares? As long as I get it out from him.

Jesse gave an exasperated sigh and laid his hands on the table, bringing the papers further down. Good. He was opening up.

"Shal. . ." He began. "How many umpteen times have you asked me that already?"

"That seems a little out of point from what I said." I chirped.

"Well maybe, but don't you-"

"Already know that you do like Emma?" I offered teasingly, cutting Jesse off.

"No!" Jesse exclaimed, jerking his head up and throwing me a look to show that he thought I was being ridiculous. Jesse didn't raise his voice though. He was too much of a gentleman for that.

"Don't you ever get tired of asking me the same old question?" Jesse finished.

"That's just 'cause you never ever give me an accurate answer." I said.

"I don't see the need to."

"Aw come on Jesse. . . You know you can tell me anything." I coaxed.

Tell me Jesse. Tell me. Why, if I had Emma's powers, they would sure come in handy now.

"Well Shal, you really wanna know?"

I nodded eagerly.

"Will a yes/no answer do?"

"You bet."

"Then it's a 'no'."

That was way too fast an answer. No way I'm gonna believe that. Plus seeing Jesse reach for his coffee and then clumsily spilling some of it on his trousers before uttering a soft but audible 'shit' further confirmed that Jesse was lying.

I was contemplating on whether to trust Jesse's words on account of our long-term friendship or to trust my own instincts when Jesse's Comlink ring sounded.

"Jesse? You there?"

Brennan.

"Yup. What's up?"

"Is Shalimar with you?"

Jesse looked at me briefly and then looked away.

"Yeah."

"Then could you get down here with her? Adam wants to say something. And-"

"No Adam. I'm not going to stick to that!" Emma's voice came over the Comlink and overrode Brennan's.

"Well yeah. That's it." Brennan finished awkwardly.

Seems like a situation is going on down there.

"I got it." Jesse replied, flashing me a glance as he pushed his chair back and headed outside.

I needed no more convincing. Jesse's in love.

* * *

We all know that, don't we? Well, it was definitely fun writing this chapter. Pls review! I'll try my best to update but I predict that I will be a little busier the next few days. . .