Hey, all! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you sure know how to make a new author feel welcome around this popsicle stand.

Not much else to say, so here's the second chapter.

-K

"Suze," his silky voice slithered over the phone.

I frowned, "what do you want?"

"Hey, what's with the offensive?" He chuckled, "I just want to talk."

"About what," I asked. A bit of sarcasm filtered into my voice, "how's the nose, Paul?"

"Better, how sweet of you to ask," I could hear him frown. "If it weren't for our little deal, your favorite spook would be seriously in trouble."

"I'm sure he's shaking in his spectral glow," I retorted, but inside I grimaced. Damn it, I had completely forgotten about the deal. So that must be why he was bothering me. I sighed, "what do you want, Paul?"

"Just to talk..."

"And what else?"

"You're not much for the small talk tonight, are you? Fine then," his voice switched back to that silky tone. "When do you want to start fulfilling your side of the bargain?"

Never, I thought. How's that for you? He cut me off, though.

"And, remember, before you answer, that I don't have to keep my side before you keep yours. Jesse isn't safe until you..."

"Just tell me where to meet you," I gave in. I wasn't going to give him the chance to go after Jesse, even if the guy had suddenly gone back to his old stoic self again.

"Tomorrow after school, meet me out front..."

"Wait, they're letting you back in.."

He snorted, "the only reason I was at that school at the first place was so that I could be around you. I'll be waiting for you at the front gates. Be there at three or... well... you know." He chuckled and I swear I could hear him grin menacingly before he hung up the phone.

Well, then.

Still shaking from the conversation with Paul, I went back to my room. When I stepped inside, however, I noticed two things had changed:

1. Erin was gone. I had suspected this as I had heard the TV turn on halfway through the conversation with Paul... something that sounded strangely like the Disney channel.

2. Jesse was sitting on his usual windowseat. Spike was there as well, purring loudly.

Okay, so I kind of lied. Jesse technically lives over at the rectory now, but still visits to, he claims, see Spike. Trust me, we tried to move him to the church with Jesse - and Father D had to do quite the negotiating to get Sister Ernastine to agree to even give the cat the chance, but after he sent one novice to the emergency room and managed to shred an entire drawer of the good Sister's underthings, he was promptly sent back to live with me.

Oh, goody.

The upside is that it means Jesse still gets to come over, as it's the only way to keep Spike from visiting him at the rectory. Of course, Jesse barely looks at me while he's here, but I suppose that's beside the point.

"Hey," I said, trying to sound non-chalant. I dumped my bag onto the bed and began to sort out my homework.

"Hello, q..."

He stopped abruptly. The word, my word, hung between us silently. He had stopped using it just after the second, and last, time we kissed. What happened, what he had said that day played through my mind every time we had one of these awkward silences.

Just when I had thought that my lungs would burst from the lack of oxygen, he pulled away from me. He still held me close in his arms, but now looked down at me, an expression in his eyes that I couldn't name but fully understood anyway. I just wanted to stay there, with him, forever. I had meant what I said. I didn't care if my family couldn't see him. I could and that was all that mattered to me.

After a few moments though, he released me and pulled back, turning his face away.

"Jesse?" I didn't like the confused wobble in my voice, but it was there. I reached out to touch his arm and he shifted back just enough to be out of my reach. "What's going..."

"We're just making it harder, querida," he said, his gaze reverting to the ground.

"Making what.... Jesse, I don't understand."

"The priest is right," he continued. "This.. We... this is wrong. I can't do this to you. It is wrong for me to take advantage of you in this way."

Hold on, I thought. Please! Take advantage of me! Not complaining, here...

Luckily, though, I didn't say that, "don't I have a say in any of this? I told you, I don't care if..."

"But you will," he interrupted me, finally facing me again. "Some day, you will. And I don't want to be the one holding you back when you do. Please, we must not."

"So that's it then?" I felt that annoying burning sensation in my eyes, but refused to allow them through. "Cold turkey?"

He gave me a confused look at that last bit, but answered anyway, "yes." Before I could say anything else, he spoke again, "the priest is coming, I must go."

Then he disappeared.

Which is what lead to, a few days later, me getting called into Father D's office and getting another lecture on Jesse and my feminine wiles. Honestly, I can fully realize the guy's problem with finding a priest to confess to who is a mediator and can actually see him, but there's gotta be someone else somewhere.

Of course, knowing that Jesse has impure thoughts about me that he has to confess is pretty encouraging, even if I do have to hear about it from Father D.

I turned my attention back to the pair of them on the window seat. He had reverted to dutifully scratching Spike's ears while the cat purred more and more loudly.

Lucky cat.

I sighed. I knew it was going to be impossible to study with the two of them there. I mean, it was different when I got to see Jesse all the time, but now that it was an occasional thing? Well, let's just say that last time I had to try Algebra with him here, I got the same answer for every single problem... and it wasn't even a number. So I headed back out the door and downstairs to get a drink of water. It was better if I didn't just hang around looking like I wanted him to kiss me, which I totally did, but that was beside the point.

You see why I thought it was best to give them a few minutes alone.

I heard the TV shut off as I entered the kitchen. That would mean that Erin was heading back upstairs, which would almost certainly cause Jesse to disappear. I grabbed a can of Diet Coke from the fridge and headed back up. I had killer amounts of algebra to finish.

As I walked back into my room, I saw something I had never expected. Jesse was still there and both he and Spike were staring at Erin. She had pulled out the chair to my vanity and turned it so that she was straddling it, much, I remembered, like I had the first time I had spoken to him.

"So," she was saying. "What's your name? And why are you still here?"