Dedicated to: 'Esodes08', for totally cracking me up with her hilarious review. lol

My life is over. Jesse and Maria are getting married today and……..my life is OVER. How can I stay here knowing that Jesse is with that skank 'in sickness and in health'? Pacing the barn for ideas wasn't helping, and neither was Kathleen's mindless babbling about her and Paul's future.

"……and he's just so perfect!" she gushed happily. I felt physically sick. I couldn't take it.

"Can you just shut the hell up for five seconds?" I asked angrily. I spun around to face her. She looked shocked at my outburst. So was I come to think of it. I practically had 'mentally insane' written on my forehead.

"What is wrong?" she inquired softly. And for once her eyes weren't reproachful. Instead she looked genuinely worried. I guess love changed her. I must just get the crappy love no-one else wants.

Yet another score for the screwed up universe.

"Nothing." I answered quickly. Maybe too quickly. She suddenly looked at me like she knew exactly what I was going through.

"You love him don't you?" she commented sympathetically. It wasn't really a question. The answer went unspoken between us.

"You wouldn't understand." I said unsteadily. My whole world was falling apart. I could practically feel it shattering around me. And the worst thing was that there was nothing I could do about it. Because Jesse loves Maria. Not me. I was stupid for ever believing differently.

I mentioned this much to her, but she just looked at me like I'd gone mad.

"What are you talking about Susie? Jesse doesn't love Maria! Why do you think he asked her to meet him here?"

"To share a passionate night of chess?" I guessed without humour. She glared at me.

"He was going to break it off with her! He finally realised that he couldn't marry someone whom he did not love. But now-"

"But now what?" I asked. My heart which had suddenly seemed to return to its flip-floppy self stopped once again.

"She found him with you. If news of that got out you'd be ruined. Jesse won't let that happen." She sighed miserably. I stared at her, unable to believe what I'd just heard.

"So Jesse's going to marry her……to protect my reputation?" I stuttered in horror. She nodded sadly in reply.

"Then it's all my fault! If I hadn't come then……."

"I would have never met you." I turned sharply to find Jesse standing beside me. Kathleen gasped obviously realising that he'd heard her gossiping about him. But what about me? He'd listened to me confess my love for him.

Oh way to go score points with him. Not.

"Can you leave us alone for a minute please?" he asked Kathleen, without even stopping to glance at her. She bobbed her head quickly before rushing out. I had the feeling that Paul would be along soon.

"Susannah……."

"Don't you dare 'Susannah' me Jesse. Are you going to marry her?" I asked tightly.

I watched as he ploughed a trembling hand through his hair. What is it with boys and doing that? I wondered abstractly. He looked up at me sadly.

"I cannot let her destroy two people at once. She won't stop until she's hurt you and…"

"Are you going to marry her?" I repeated in this madly calm voice that I hardly recognised as my own.

"Please just listen to me Susannah…." He grabbed my arms protectively. An action which normally would have made me melt on the spot. I shrugged off his hands and folded my arms across my chest.

"Are you going to marry her?" I asked once again. I watched grimly as he began pacing the floor in a manor very similar to my own.

"I don't have any other choice." He told me. I just glared at him.

"I'm not letting you do this for me Jesse. Why the hell do you think I came back here?"

Now it was his turn to turn and stare. I could see him trying to remember some of what I'd said last night. But he must have been having the same problem I was. With our kiss kind of taking the limelight on all the other memories from yesterday.

"Susannah, I have to do this. If I don't then……"

"If you agree to marry her then she'll have you murdered Jesse. She loves this totally psychotic jerk called Diego. I'm guessing that you know him."

"Diego?" Jesse repeated sounding angry. But not in a jealous way. Like he couldn't quite understand it. And boy did I know what he was going through.

"Yes, Diego. She wants out Jesse. So she can live with her little slave-running murderer and make…um….cakes together."

"Cakes?" Jesse asked sounding amused. I tried to hold a straight face.

"Cakes. Didn't you know that Maria is a keen chocolate sponge fanatic?" I replied innocently. Jesse didn't look all that bothered by his girlfriends' weak point though. Instead he was looking at me again. Hard.

"How do you know all this?" he asked me in awe.

"I told you Jesse, I'm from the future. I came back to stop you being murdered and to……well, don't worry about the other bit."

"What other bit? Susannah, just tell me." I tried desperately to avoid his eyes. The problem was that it didn't work very well.

"Look Jesse…this is going to sound weird but…..when Paul stabbed me. Back in 2005 I mean. He kind of killed me. And so I had to come back to your time to change my destiny."

"Why back to my time?" he asked, obviously trying to take it all in without questioning it too much.

"Because in the future. You were killed by Diego, and…..um……your ghost lives kind of near me." I finished lamely. Jesse wasn't buying it though. His eyebrow hiked up in amusement.

"Am I making any sense?" I asked, rubbing my temples. Explaining was hard work.

"Yes Querida you are making perfect sense." He smiled grimly. I nodded. At least he got what I was getting at. Vaguely. But I guess it's better than nothing.

"And now I have to go and you have to break off your engagement." I told him firmly.

"Why do you have to leave?" he asked suddenly.

"Jesse, I'm not made for this time. I'm not allowed to stay here. I've done my job. Now promise me you won't marry Maria." I explained tiredly.

"I won't marry Maria." He promised sincerely. I smiled softly. I was glad that he would at least get a chance to live. After all Maria only had him killed to stop him marrying her. So if he broke it off then she could do whatever the hell she wanted WITHOUT any murders.

My work was done.

I turned to leave silently, glad for once that I wasn't babbling.

"Susannah don't…….."

But that was all I heard before the world faded away. Leaving me back were the whole thing began. Back in the shadowland.

A/N: I promise I'll update ALL my fics this week. I haven't updated in ages. I've had awful writers block and I think I've finally got them all sorted. Almost.

Chocolate eggs do that to you. Lol.

Please Review!