Jesse was still wandering through the forest, he didn't carry a watch, but he guessed that he must have been walking for more than 2 hours and it was well past midnight. There was still no sign of Brennan or Shalimar, hell, even a little company from Emma might have been nice, but no, he was all alone. As usual.
Suddenly something moved about in the trees above him. Some leaves fell from the branches of the trees, but apart from that, nothing moved again. Must have been squirrels, Jesse grumbled.
"Jesse, get out of the way." A familiar voice called out to him.
"Shalimar?" Jesse looked around for any sign of her gorgeous blonde locks floating between the trees.
"Up here." Shalimar shouted. Jesse looked up and there she was, balancing on the highest branch on the tree he just looked upon. Jesse did as he was told and moved three steps backwards. Shalimar jumped from the tree, floating like an angel, and landed 3 feet in front of him. Jesse just gawked at her in amazement.
"What are you doing here?" Shalimar smiled. She was happy to see him because she was tired of being alone and talking to no one but herself and the birds. Jesse regained consciousness from his mindless staring.
"I came out here to find you actually." Jesse said, hoping she wouldn't take the reason badly. The last thing he wanted was for her to be mad at him.
"Why? Wait, how did you know I was out here?" Shalimar asked, her smile fading.
"Emma told me." Jesse answered simply. D'oh, Shalimar thought, Emma is totally in love with Jesse, of course she was going to tell him!
"Oh. Well, did you tell anyone else?" Shalimar asked with her arms crossed.
"No, but I do know that you and Brennan plan to elope." Jesse said, frowning.
"Yeah, well, Bren and I decided it was time to tie the knot." Shalimar smiled, but changed her expression when she saw Jesse still frowning.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jesse asked, looking confused.
"Of course. Why?" Shalimar looked more and more worried by the minute.
"First of all, Adam hates Brennan, which would make everything that much more complicated. Second, could Brennan ever make you truly happy?" Jesse fired all these thoughts and doubts into Shalimar's head, hoping she'd realise what a huge mistake she's made and realise it was Jesse who'd dedicate his life to making her happy. It seemed to raise doubts in Shalimar's mind, but not nearly enough to leave Brennan.
"Jesse, why are you saying these things to me?" Shalimar felt confused, hurt and cold. All these feelings were swirling around in her heart, pulling her in different directions.
"Because, you need to know that your life will be a mistake if you marry Brennan. Either your dad doesn't speak to you or your husband, or you never see Brennan again." Jesse paused to let this all sink in as Shalimar's breaths were becoming heavier and shorter. "But if you were with me," Shalimar looked up at him. "If you were with me, then you could have both. A happy marriage and a loving father."
"You're saying you want to marry me?" Shalimar said rather squeakily.
"Yes, I love you so much and I want to make you happy." Jesse smiled.
"Are you crazy? Jesse, I love Brennan, he loves me and we're getting married." Shalimar said firmly and began to walk off.
"Wait!" Jesse cried and grabbed Shalimar's arm, turning her around. Shalimar's fury at what Jesse had just said was making her feel very explosive at the moment. When she turned around, she flashed her feral eyes at Jesse menacingly.
"I'm warning you Jess, get off me and leave me alone." With that, Jesse instantly took his hand off Shalimar, quite shocked that she would threaten him like that. She gave him a no-nonsense look and once again tried walking off into the forest.
"But I love you!" Jesse called after her desperately. That's it; Shalimar turned around and started walking back towards Jesse. A look of hatred and a flash of hurt filled her puppy brown eyes. Jesse smiled, in hopes she would pity him, but Shalimar now had feelings of betrayal, doubt and anger towards Jesse for putting them there. She was one pissed off feral. With a swing of Shalimar's arm, she punched Jesse smack in the face.
"I warned you. Stay away from me." Shalimar threatened through clenched teeth. After that, she ran into the woods until she was out of sight. Jesse was amazing stunned that Shalimar had hit him, but got up and ran after her anyway. After all, love hurts.