A/N: Thanks for reviewing! Much appreciated. I'm still half in/half out of writers block. This is why the last chapter was crap. But that's okay. At least I updated. Anyway, I decided to do a song fic for chapter 9 instead of a regular chapter. So yay.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Kelly Clarkson owns the song, Meg owns the book

Chapter 9

Miss independent
Miss self-sufficient
Miss keep your distance, mmmm

I've been here for two nights and two (and a half, seeing as it was about noon) days now. I was sitting outside on the De Silva's porch. The sun blasted down and I was really wishing I had some of that SPF 45 of Cee Cee's. I remembered the first time I had seen Jesse, how I had distanced myself from him purposely. I had desperately tried to not fall in love with him. Heck, I was trying not to like him. At the time, I had no idea how far down I would crash, and how right it would be. To be in love with Jesse, I mean.

Miss unafraid
Miss out of my way
Miss don't let a man interfere, no

I hadn't been afraid of ghosts, I hadn't been a afraid of anything…except love. I was afraid of falling in love with Jesse, but it was too late. And now, I just needed to get him to love me again. I had done it once, I could do it again. He had to fall in love with me again. If he didn't—I just couldn't think about that.

Miss on her own
Miss almost grown
Miss never let a man help her off her throne

But how could I do that? The first time I'd met him, I'd done everyting I could to be…independent. To say that I didn't need him. But I did. I still do. He pulled me out of more messes in the past few years than I can count. And he doesn't even remember. Should I do it again? Last time I'd played hard to get (sort of, for a while anyway). Would it work?

So, by keeping her heart protected
She'll never, ever feel rejected
Little miss apprehensive
Said ooh, she fell in love

Maybe it'll work. If I just stand on my own two feet, so to speak. I almost wish I'd never fallen in love with him. It hurt so much that he didn't know who I was. But I did it. I fell in love.

What is this feeling taking over?
Thinking no one could open the door
Surprise, it's time, to feel what's real
What happened to miss independent's no longer need to be defensive?
Goodbye, old you, when love, is true

So…what to do?

Misguided heart
Miss play it smart
Miss if you wanna use that line, you better not start, no

Should I avoid him? Pretend to be a helpless female? Tell him the truth?

That's a laugh. Could you imagine what he would do? I can't. He'd never believe me. About the ghost thing anyway. Maybe about Felix. If I could protect him long enough for him to fall in love, then bring him back to our time. Or was it just my time now?

But she miscalculated
She didn't wanna end up jaded
And this miss decided not to miss out on true love

It wasn't fair that things had to be messed up now. They had been so perfect just a little while ago. I heard a noise behind me and whne i looked behind me, I saw Jesse walking out to the porch. I slowly turned to face him. I plastered a bright smile on my face.

"Hello! How are you this morning Hector?" Maybe if I tried being cheerful…okay, that so wasn't going to happen. But if I acted like a proper 18th century lady,maybe then I'd have a chance at starting over, and getting it right. Then I could save us. After all, Sam had told me that if he fell in love, he'd remember. So, simple enough right?

Shut up and stop lauging at me. A girl can dream.

"I'm fine Quer—"an odd look came over his face, and he shook his head, "Susannah." I felt like smiling. He almost called me Querida. Take that Paul!

So, by changing a misconception
She went in a new direction
And found inside, she felt a connection
She fell in love

"And you?" I realized he was talking to me. Duh Suze, who else?

"I'm good." He looked at me strangely, but nodded. I could tell this look. It was when he wasn't quite sure of something, but he thought he was right. I was so in love with him. I wanted to kiss him so badly. He sat down next to me on the porch step. He was so close…what was he doing? Why wasn't he kissing me? Oh, right.

What is this feeling taking over?
Thinking no one could open the door
Surprise, it's time, to feel what's real
What happened to miss independent's no longer need to be defensive?
Goodbye, old you, when love, is true

I stood up, I felt different.More hopefull, somehow.It would take a lot of work, but I had Sam. And Jesse was smart. He'd figure it out eventually. There was no way I'd tell him straight out. We'd start small, and finish big. The grand finale, so to speak.

I stood up off the porch step and walked to the door, my hand rested on the doorknob. I turned to face him, and he craned around to look at me he stood up.

When miss independent walked away
No time for love that came her way
She looked in the mirror and thought today
What happened to miss no longer afraid?
It took some time for her to see
How beautiful love could truly be
No more talk of why can't that be me
I'm so glad I've finally seen

"I'll see you later…Jesse." I threw him a sly smile and stepped inside. He looked bewildered. Let him think on it. I didn't care what kind of an act I'd have to put on. It would be worth it.

What is this feeling taking over?
Thinking no one could open the door
Surprise, it's time, to feel what's real
What happened to miss independent's no longer need to be defensive?
Goodbye, old you, when love, is true

Miss independent