Two Lives With You            Chapter Two: On the street.

The whole thing was rather embarrassing, even when Jess swore it was funny. So I managed to wake up the whole house with my screams. Jesse woke up. Diego was taken away by the authorities and while that was happening I was unconscious having passed out in the hallway just after Jesse woke up. Just my luck. It was just my luck too, that I found out that Jesse had carried me to my bed afterwards and I was unconscious and couldn't enjoy it.

Then, when I gained consciousness, I was interrogated by the sheriff. The story Jess told me to tell was that I had just moved here, my parents had died and father Benedict was my tutor till he died or I married; That I had had a nightmare and was walking in the hallway to clear my thoughts. I got disoriented and opened the door to another room instead of mine, I yelled because I thought there was a man in my room. Then I fainted.

Mr. Justice – The sheriff – asked a few more questions and Jess made up the answers as he went. Then I was left alone in my room and asked Jess how she would lie like that, all she said was "Over protective older brother." Since she looked sad talking about it, and I was tired, I just nodded and tried to sleep.

Mid morning next day I woke up and meet father Benedict, he was kind of a younger version of father Dom, we had breakfast together and he told me he knew all about me and Jess' plan. Then he went back to the Mission and hired some people to take my stuff – a trunk, mostly empty with just a few outfits that I didn't knew where they had come from – to the rectory. I decided to walk to the mission and talk to Jess on the way, try to get out of her some info about her famous plan that everyone seemed aware of, but me.

"So? Now what?" I asked, "I mean, we stopped Jesse's murder, now what do I do?"

"What do you mean 'now what?' Now you get Jesse to fall in love with you, silly." She answered.

"What?!" I half yelled, causing a lot of people to stare at me as if I was nuts.

"They can't see me." Jess said grinning. That explained why she was wearing jeans. Lucky, lucky her. So far all I've learned about 1850 is that Bonnets equal Death!!!. And don't even get me started on the hoops skirts. "And you heard me right, Now you get Jesse to fall in love with you."

"But he is still engaged to Maria," I said as I took my bonnet off and started to fan myself with it.

"Not anymore," Jess said pointing in the direction in which Jesse was walking towards us now, "He just called the wedding off. And after what happened with Diego, and all the rumors going around about Diego and Maria, no one blames him." She finished and vanished as Jesse reached my side.

"Buen día, Señorita," Jesse said in that silky voice of his. I jumped about a mille. "Are you all right?"

"Um. Yes, I'm fine, thank you, er… sir. I was just thinking out loud."

"Thinking out loud?" he repeated amused.

"Yes, thinking out loud, it helps to clear the head." I said and started to walk again. I was surprised when I saw him fall into step right next to me. "Um, the Mission is this way, right?" I asked just to say something.

"Yes," he answered, and then I saw both his eyebrows go up, "Are you joining the convent miss…Simon?"

"Susannah," I said and he smiled

"Miss Susannah. Are you going to take the habitos?"

"Habitos? Habits you mean? become a nun?" he nodded, I couldn't yell fast enough "HELL NO!" again people stared at me. Dammit!. "I mean, no." I repeated quietly.

"I can see that you feel strongly about it, may I ask you why?"

Lets see: I'm not catholic, I have no calling whatsoever, can't remember the rosary… "I don't look good with my hair pulled back and that weird thing nuns wear around the head." Of course, use the stupid reason, way of go, Suze, way of go.

Jesse laughed. That's right, he just laughed. Then to my utter most surprise, Jesse reached up and pulled my hair away from my face, "You look perfectly fine to me, Miss Susannah."

I blushed like a school girl, "Is hot here, isn't it?" I asked intelligently and he let go of my hair.

"You get used to it," he answered smiling. That didn't helped my blushing.

"I guess you're right, Mr. De Silva."

"How do you know my name?"

"Oh, that guy the other day, that's what he called you. You called him Diego, I believe."

"Oh, I see, we bumped into each other yesterday, right?" I nodded. "Yes, I thought you looked familiar."

"Yes, yesterday. That creepy guy was following me, I guess that's why I freaked out last night when I saw him, I thought he had snuck into my room, I never thought I had opened the wrong door." Surprisingly all this lies where rolling out so easily, maybe I was spending too much time with Jess.

"I must say that I'm certainly grateful you did. It saved my life."

"Oh, well…" I didn't knew what to say. "It was nothing, all I did was scream."

"It was something." Now he was using his serious voice, the one ghost-Jesse used when he thought I had put my life at great risk for nothing. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about with you. I was wondering if you would like to go and have diner with my family someday, so we – I – could thank you for what you did."

"I would love to," I said, "But I don't know if father Benedict would let me go, he is my tutor and all that."

Jesse seamed to consider this as we reached the gates of the Mission. "I'll tell my mother to speak about it with father Benedict, if that's all right with you, Miss Susannah."

"Is quite alright" I said, and how could I not if he said my name like that.

"Having settled that," he said and reached for my hand, I thought he was going to shake it but no, he brought it to his lips and kissed it.

"I guess I'll see you around, Mr. De Silva." I said.

"Please, call me Jesse. My name is Hector but my family and friends call me Jesse, and since you salved my life the least I can do is consider you my friend."

"Jesse it is," I was happy of being able to call him that. In that weird 1850's Carmel I was happy to have something familiar to me, even if it was just the way I called Jesse.

"Good day, señorita Susannah."

!¡!¡!¡!¡!¡!¡!

Fin of chapter Two

Notes:

Ok, sorry if it has been confusing. Hold on for a little while and I'll try to explain.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. And special thanks to the girls from the Meg Cabot book club, you girls rock!

Gotta go, Have a seven o'clock class to attend in the morning.

Love ya!

Alex. (a.k.a. Clavel, a.k.a. AurynFaith, and whatnot J )

P. S.. Sorry about the bad grammar and stuff.

PS2: And since I forgot the disclaimer in the first chapter here you have it:

Disclaimer: I'm a penniless, jobless, skilful-less college student who rather write than study for her finals. The Mediator characters (Jesse, Suze and others you recognize) belong to wonderful Meg Cabot. Jess, Father Benedict et al that you don't recognize, those are mine. Please don't sue.