Kissing

By ChocolateEclar

(A/N: This is a continuation of my entry in the "Kissing Paul Slater" contest, but this is about Jesse…obviously. Naturally, if you read my Paul entry, you know this is pretty depressing at the beginning.)

Part Two:

Kissing Jesse De Silva

My life is ruined.

And I don't mean this because I destroyed a pair of flip-flops in order to run up the wet driveway in the rain after Paul's car had pulled away from my house. I liked my old blue shoes and all, but alas, strips of plastic can snap.

What I mean to say is, Jesse knew! He knew what I had done.

I had kissed the devil and had, admittedly, liked it.

I am such a loser. I wanted to be struck by lightning right there, as I unlocked the door, holding my shoes in the other hand. But I never get what I want, do I?

Soaked through, I shivered as I entered my room. I nearly screeched – which is totally uncharacteristic for me, but I was so tired and confused and angry and…yeah, you get it – when Jesse materialized on the window seat. He was turned away from me and staring out at the downpour.

I wanted to cry and scream and beg for…something. But – déjà vu – I never get what I want, do I?

So, I just sat on the edge of my bed and waited. Meanwhile, a nagging little voice in my head hissed, "You're such an idiot. Look what you're doing to him!"

Finally, when the silence was stifling and painful, I whispered, "Jesse…"

For a moment, he did nothing. Then, he said, "Why did you…?"

He didn't know why I had been through so many shifter lessons and make-out sessions with Paul. "I was trying to…" I began, but stopped as he twisted around to face me. Very dark eyes looked at me with so many emotions at once. Pain and despair were prominent, but so were hope and anxiety. And something else.

"Yes, Susannah?" prompted Jesse.

"I…I was trying to protect you," I said. A lump was growing in my throat, making it difficult to breathe.

"And protecting me had something to do with allowing Slater to touch you?" Jesse hissed.

He had gone from hurt to angry I realized. Even as upset as I was, I managed to grumble under my breath, "Men."

"What?"

"I learned a bit about shifting from Paul while I was with him," I insisted.

"Such as how to go to the Shadowland and kiss simultaneously?" mumbled Jesse. The bottle of moisturizer sitting on my dresser shook and threatened to fly off due to his fury.

"You don't have to believe me," I whispered with a sigh.

The bottle stopped as abruptly as it had begun, and Jesse stood up and sat next to me. "Querida, I know if I tell you to cease this, you will only continue in this way of "protecting" me, and if I fight Slater, it will only hurt you, so I won't do either."

It took a long time for that to process. My eyes went very wide as I blurted out, "What?"

"Instead, I will tell you that Father Dominic and I have been planning something for some time…and it will be complete by the end of the month," Jesse explained.

"What do you mean?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"You will soon see, querida," whispered Jesse, giving me a brief kiss on the lips before dematerializing.

Ah, I love Jesse's kisses.


I didn't see Jesse for days, but I went to Paul all the same. He wouldn't exorcize Jesse when I was doing what he wanted, would he? Or atleast, I hoped not.

I was standing in Paul's backyard, pondering the possible results of bashing Paul's nose in with a flowerpot, when Paul gabbed my waist from behind. I instantly froze and clenched my eyes shut.

"Don't worry, Suze," purred Paul in my ear. "It's only me."

I was about to kick Paul where-it-hurts, when a voice rang out, "Slater." Jesse! His voice was firm – yet there was a hint of something unusual. I peered over Paul's shoulder at my Latino Lovely. He looked slightly pale and sticky with something that looked strangely like sweat. There was something else, but I couldn't quite place it.

"Hey, De Silva," Paul greeted him, moving his hands from my waist to my shoulders. "What brings you here for early exorcism?"

Jesse's lips twitched slightly before he said, "That is not much of an option anymore, Slater."

What did he mean? He looked almost feverish, I realized, with his eyes strangely bright and his hands quivering.

"Susannah," whispered Jesse oh-so-softly. For a moment, I wondered why the heck Jesse was doing this when he said he wouldn't…before I noticed something very strange. Standing there, Jesse was breathing. Don't tell me I'm crazy! I know he was! His chest was taking in and expelling air very quickly. It hadn't done that in a century and a half.

My eyes must have gone very wide with realization because Jesse smiled and held out a hand for me. I pulled away from Paul and into Jesse's arms. I pressed two fingers to the big vein in his throat and felt the rapid pulse. He was alive!

"Jesse…" I gasped. "How…?"

"Father Dominic and I managed to bring back my body from the past," Jesse explained into my hair. He added in a whisper, so Paul couldn't hear, "with a bit of help from Dr. Slaski."

"Your dead body?" I practically shrieked, freaked out.

Chuckling, Jesse replied to me, "Yes. We took my body right after I died."

"But that means your body won't be found," I realized. And then Maria won't be accused for the murderers she and Diego are with no evidence…

"Time is complicated," Jesse admitted, "but everything will be fine. Now…"

I understood why he had trailed off. I glanced back at Paul, who looked like he wasn't sure whether to be furious or depressed. I didn't care about him. I had liked the devil's kisses, but not him. I didn't care when he shouted at us and rushed inside his house, slamming the glass doors.

It was just a very alive Jesse and me now.

Suddenly, my heartbeat wasn't the only quick one around there. Jesse leaned down covered my lips with his. It was more perfect than ever before. Jesse rubbed my back as I ran my fingers through his hair. I felt warm and so very contented with the world. Nothing else mattered. Jesse was alive and mine.

And nothing could change that…

…or how his kisses made me feel.


A/N: REVIEW! Please?