Okay. Fine. Jesse was gone. Shows how much he loved her, alright. After he had left, Suze went into another fit of hysterics, except this time she blamed herself. What was the matter with her? Was she really some sex craved animal? She hadn't even HAD sex before, so how could she crave it? Wasn't she not supposed to want it until her thirties, when the guy had already been hormoned out enough?

She called him at his apartment, but there wasn't an answer. She called Father Dominic, and he had no idea. She went outside for hours, driving up and down the streets, but he had disappeared.

Fine, she told herself. This is just great. Any other guy would want to bang me their girlfriend, and I give him the chance, and he only wants to give me respect.

Her heart told her to shut up. What was wrong with her? Every woman wants respect before sex.

Well, said her estrogen, Jesse already a. loved her b. respected her.. sooo what was next? The OBVIOUS. He could make out with her all he wanted, and even feel her up (well, until he realized what he was doing), but he couldn't go anywhere farther than that.

She sat in the dining room staring at her bowl of lucky charms. The rest of the family would get home any time now; it was almost one. She began to sob. Did he really love her? Was this all a hoax? Maybe he had issues with power. Maybe he was like Paul all along-- HE wanted to demand the sex, not the other way around. He was stuck in the past, and all she wanted to do was introduce him to what she had. To reveal their future. Instead, HE had to decide their future. Could they do anything together besides beat up ghost butt? I guess not, she sighed.

The phone rang. She nearly jumped out of her skin. She was there in a flash. "Jesse?" she shouted into the receiver.

Laughter rung in her ears.

"Who is this?" she demanded. "Jesse, is that you? Please.. come home."

"Aww.. Jesse finally gave her up." Oh great.

"PAUL? What do you want?" Suze hadn't heard from him since their trip in the past. He hadn't been in her mind once. Well, actually, she HAD just compared Jesse to him. Oh, God.

"Susie--"

"It's Suze."

"Yeah, Suze.. I feel real bad."

"You have feelings?"

"They're reserved for you."

"Aw, how kind," she said sarcastically.

"I was wondering.. do you want to do something sometime?"

She laughed. "What the hell? Paul? Where is all of this coming from? I thought you decided you never loved me. I haven't had you stalking me since."

"I never stalked you."

She laughed again.

"I guess not," he said. He actually sounded deflated. "I hope your boyfriend decides to show up. Good night."

The line went dead, and she actually was stumped. Oh, well. He was probably trying to suck her in.

She went back to her cereal, but it was a big mess of goop. She brought it to the sink, and while washing it, she saw something pass the kitchen window.

"Jesse?" she yelled, and dashed to the back door. There was nobody.

Nobody at all.

Suze slept in for what seemed an eternity. She woke up groggy, and sighed heavily. Good morning. Not.

She could smell bacon downstairs, but it only made her want to vomit. She crawled out of the covers and to the bathroom. That day, she decided, she would look for Jesse and apologize. What had she been thinking?

Although she felt sick, she left that afternoon for his apartment. She rang the buzzer a few times, but nobody answered. She was panicking, but she told herself to calm down. In the village of Carmel, she hunted high and low, looking for him at work, and anywhere she could think of. God, was she being the baby or was he? He didn't need to avoid her like this. Maybe he was SCARED to get in bed with her. If that was true, she'd kill herself right then and there.

She stood in line at CVS, with a bottle of aspirin in her hand. A big headache was underway. She leaned her head back on the way out, popping some pills dry. Of course then she ran smack dab into somebody and spilled them all over the sidewalk. "Dammit," she cried. A pair of sturdy hands helped her up, and she was looking into the eyes of Paul. Not him again. She had forgotten about the blueness of his eyes though. Almost gray. They were piercing. She felt as if she was in a trance, and she pinched herself to get out of the lock hold he had on her.

"Hi," he smiled. He didn't look mean. He looked hot. And lonely.

What was the MATTER with her? God.

"Hi," she whispered anyways, and suddenly was conscious where to put her hands. She kept them to her sides like a nutcracker, or rather like an idiot. She shoved them in her pockets instead. The pills had rolled down into a drain hole. Just her luck. She should have overdosed on them while she had the chance.

"So…" he moved out of the way for a couple passing through the entrance. Suze leaned away for the couple, accidentally pressing against Paul. She leaped back in surprise, knocking over the woman.

"Oh, sorry!" She cried, and the woman scowled.

There was laughter in his eyes now. His eyes. Why did she keep looking at them? Or into them, rather. They looked so different than Jesse's. Jesse's eyes she felt as if she could fall into.

JESSE.

"Uhh, I got to go." She began to scamper away, when Paul grabbed her elbow. That was what Jesse was supposed to do.

"Don't." That was all he said. He brought her to his face and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Don't go."

She bit her lip. His lips felt so warm. What would it be like to quickly turn her head and let them meet her own? She was wearing peach lip gloss.

She saw it. Or one. One of them. It was watching her. A ghost. It was a sign. A sign to get away.

"No!" She snapped out of it. "What are you doing? I'm with Jesse now. Leave me ALONE."

He didn't even flinch. "Where is he?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I don't KNOW. Why did you call me yesterday? You think just because he is missing, you can have me?" Wait, he wasn't missing. He was just… doing errands probably. She shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. "I know where he is," she lied, contradicting what she had just said. "I forgot. He had to go to do.. something." She ripped away from Paul's grasp and ran across the street to where the ghost was. Cars honked.

"Who are you?" She said, catching her breath, which, she admitted, had been a bit taken away with the kiss of Paul.

The ghost was a young girl. She had yellow braids- yes, yellow- on each side of her head. She wore pink. "I'm a friend of Jesse." She whispered.

"Do you know where he is?" Suze cried.

The girl looked taken back at Suze's tone. "Yes." Then she disappeared.