Right, so I realized that I think I said, last chapter, that Suze went on the Pill before she slept with Paul, but that Cee Cee drove her to go get it. I apologize for the inconsistency.

Aisu-Hime—thanks for the offer, but I think that's the only chapter that I really am going to use any Spanish. I always forget the command rule, lol. But, if I need any help, I know who to ask :)

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The next two days with Jesse were as good as the first evening—and a thousand times better than Thanksgiving. We spent most of Friday at his apartment, er, hanging out, but we eventually got dressed and went out with some of Jesse's friends to a local diner that they apparently hang out at all the time.

Four of Jesse's friends were there—Mark's girlfriend Jenna, a sort of geeky looking girl named Tracy, and two guys, Bryan and Joe. Mark apparently usually hangs out with them, though Jesse told me, even though they're roommates, he's much closer to everyone else than he is with Mark. Tracy and Bryan were both pre-med, like Jesse, and Joe and Jenna were studying pre-law and Culture and Politics, respectively. They were all a lot of fun, but Jesse was right about Jenna and I—we got along great. Although, sometimes, she was a bit difficult to follow. Being a Culture and Politics major, she knew just about everything about, well, culture and politics of the last 40 years or so. And she made constant allusions to it. Most of the time I was able to take it out of context, but at one point, she said, "He's really drinking the Kool-Aid for her, isn't he?"

We all stared at her blankly, until she sighed, exasperated, and explained. "You know. The People's Temple? Jim Jones? The mass suicide with the Kool-Aid and the cyanide?" Then we got it.

They really were a great group of people. Even though Jesse was the only freshman among them (Jenna and Bryan were sophomores, Tracy and Joe were juniors), Jesse was easily the most mature of the group, which I found amusing.

Later that night, when Jesse and I went back to his apartment, we again took advantage of being alone (until the wee hours of the morning). At a bit after ten, I woke up and found myself curled against Jesse, with my head on his shoulder, my arm across his chest, and my legs bent up on top of his.

"Mmm… good morning," I mumbled. He kissed the top of my head.

"Good morning, Querida," he replied, tracing random shapes on my back with his fingertips. It felt amazing. I lifted my head up and kissed him on the lips, rolling myself on top of him. He kissed me back, his hands sliding down my body slowly. I slipped my hands around his neck, and starting playing with his hair.

However, we were both still pretty tired (our lack of sleep all weekend was catching up with us), and we soon pulled apart and just lay together again, holding each other. I loved the feeling of waking up next to him… I don't know what I'm going to do when I go home and can't stay up all night with him and have to wake up, all alone, every day.

"Querida, I have to go out today to do something. Why don't you just hang around the apartment for an hour or two?"

"Can I come with you?" I asked, snuggling against him.

"You would be very bored," he said. "I just need to see a professor, pick up some books from the library, buy a few supplies, that sort of thing." I yawned.

"Okay… just don't take too long." He kissed my forehead, and my eyelids closed themselves and I fell back asleep.

A little while later, I woke up, and found myself alone in bed. Jesse must have left. I lay there for a few more minutes, underneath the covers, until my stomach growled. Then I got out of bed, in search of food.

I wrapped myself in the bathrobe (which is indeed Jesse's), and ventured into the kitchen, and made myself tea and a sandwich. After I ate lunch (I decided to forgo breakfast, as it was after noon), I realized that my mom hadn't called since I talked to her Wednesday night. She usually called more often when I went somewhere for more than one night.

I dug my cell phone out of my purse, and checked. One message, but it was from Cee Cee, asking me how things went with the de Silva's. So I called her back, and filled her in on the most terrible Thanksgiving I'd ever had. And that includes the one when I was six (almost seven). It was my mom's first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner all by herself (she was a terrible cook—my dad usually did it) and ended up undercooking the turkey, and I got food poisoning and was throwing up all day and all night.

At least then, I didn't have to endure racist mothers who think I'm a whore.

Cee Cee reassured me that it didn't mean anything in the long run, that everyone else was right, and that she was just being overprotective and was afraid to lose her baby. She also found the car incident hilarious.

I don't know why, but the fact that my mom didn't call at all worried me a bit. When I mentioned this to Cee, she merely suggested, "Maybe she realizes you've grown, and she doesn't need to check in with you every day."

After I hung up with her, I took a shower, got dressed into some soft, worn jeans and a pink tank top and a cord blazer, and then just wandered around the apartment, checking out book titles of Jesses' and seeing what CDs were stacked against the wall. A pretty broad mix of music—Juanes, The White Stripes, The Beatles, Queen, and Frank Sinatra, to name a few.

After a while, I decided now was the time to get working on my English homework and finish reading "Book the First" of "A Tale of Two Cities." I had already plowed through the first few chapters, and managed to finish before Jesse returned from his errands.

He got back a little after 4:30, with a few books in his arms. "Hello, Querida," he greeted, setting the books on a table and giving me a kiss. "I hope you weren't too bored hanging out here."

"Nah, I called Cee Cee and caught up with some homework," I said, pulling him down on the couch next to me. I pulled him back down into a kiss, this time it was certainly not a greeting.

We fell back against the couch, kissing. My arms went around his neck, my fingers playing with the hair on the back of his head. His hand went under my lower back, and pressed me against him. I arched my back into him as his tongue explored my mouth (although, at this point, I think his tongue knows my mouth as well as it knows his own).

I let out an involuntary gasp when Jesse's knee pressed between my legs. His lips left mind for a minute, to kiss my neck and the skin exposed by the tank top on my chest. My hands went into his hair, running my hands through it (and gripping it when his lips hit a particularly sensitive spot). Jesse's hands left my back, and traveled to my front, pushing aside my jacket. Then, they slipped down to my waist again, sliding up my sides, only this time under the shirt.

After a good half an hour of this, we slowed down and came up for proper air. Neither of us had enough energy to take it into the bedroom. At least, not now, anyway. After a few minutes of panting, Jesse checked his watch.

"Querida, I made reservations for us to go out, tonight." As I began to protest, Jesse silenced me with a single finger on my lips. "I want to have a nice dinner… one that won't be ruined by my mother," he added darkly. "They're for 6:30, but can you be ready to leave by 5:45?" I nodded.

We lay there in silence for a few more minutes, just holding each other and catching our breath.

At about 5:20, I untangled myself from Jesse, grabbed my bag, and slipped into the bathroom. I changed into my black skirt again and a silky shirt and matching shoes (and my mom said I had packed too much. I was making use of it all!), fixed my hair and make up, and was ready to leave by Jesse's deadline.

We went on a walk along the Salinas River. I had my arm around his waist and my head on his shoulder, his arm holding me around my waist protectively. I was still a bit worried about my mom—what if she didn't call because something happened? I confessed my feelings to Jesse, and he just squeezed me with the hand that was around my waist.

"I'm sure everything's fine. If something happened, they'd call you. You're almost an adult" (one more week) "and I think your mother is realizing this." I shrugged, not entirely convinced. "Why don't you call her, if it will make you feel better?" Jesse offered, and pulled out his cell phone.

I dialed the numbers, and it rang a few times before someone picked up. "Yeah?"

It was Brad.

"Hey, it's Suze, um, is Mom there?" I asked.

"No." I heard him chewing. I made a face.

"Well, um, is everyone… okay?" I asked.

"What are you talking about?" he asked stupidly. I sighed. Even Brad would know to tell me if, like, David had a freak accident with his model of the Solar System and Jupiter fell on him or something.

"Just tell her I called to check in, and that I'm fine," I said, and hung up. I handed the cell phone back to Jesse, and made a face.

"Was that Brad?" he asked, with a slight smile on his face. I rolled my eyes. "Everything is okay, though?" I nodded. "Good." We continued walking.

We got to the restaurant a few minutes early, and had to wait for our table to be ready. The restaurant was nice, but not the $30-for-a-salad kind of nice. The hostess brought us to our table, gave us our menus, and walked away.

I scanned the restaurant. Jesse and I were the youngest couple in the room. There was one or two families, and a few business dinners, and a couple Father-daughter tables, but the majority of the people there were obviously romantically involved, but they were all in their late twenties or older… Jesse and I were 19 and 17, respectively.

I put my hands on the table, and he reached across and held them. We spent the evening talking and eating (he got a steak, I got penne al vodka). The food was delicious. After the waiter cleared away our food, and Jesse ordered a slice of chocolate cake for us to share, he took my hand again.

"I tried my best to work with my schedule, but I can't come down for your birthday," he said. My face fell. "I'm sorry. I want to come, but it just can't happen… I can't come down, in fact, until the end of the semester." He squeezed my hands. "But I wanted to give you your present now." He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a box, about 7 inches long and 2 inches wide. I smiled at him, and opened the box.

Inside, on a velvet cushion, lay a silver bracelet, with alternating designs and red stones. "Oh, thank you, it's beautiful!" I exclaimed, examining it.

"So are you," he replied. He took the bracelet out of the box and put it on my wrist, turning my hand over to fasten the toggle. Then he brought my hand to his lips and gently kissed my fingers. I leaned across the table and kissed his lips, briefly.

Then the waiter came, with our dessert. In the center was a single white candle. I quickly made a wish, and blew it out.

The cake was great, as expected. After we finished, and Jesse paid (despite my offer to split it), we left and headed back to the apartment.

By the time we got there, though, neither of us could keep our hands off each other. Let me tell you, it is very difficult to kiss and walk at the same time—but we managed.

In his hallway, Jesse pressed me against the door, kissing me while fumbling with his keys. As he finally pulled them out of his pocket, and managed to jam it in the lock, I heard someone whistle. One of his neighbors, probably.

But we ignored it, fell through the door when it opened, and slammed it shut behind us. We stumbled through his dark apartment, kissing without abandon, and tripping over things in the dark. However, we made it into the bedroom without much bodily harm.

Jesse pushed me down onto the bed, and fell along with me. I broke apart from him only to pull myself up to the pillows—he crawled with me. I tugged at his shirt buttons until they came undone, and I pushed the shirt off of him. He grabbed my shirt's hem and pulled it up and over my head, before leaning back in and kissing me deeply.

"Oh, Querida," he breathed hoarsely into my lips. His fingers left my waist and went to the zipper of my skirt, undoing it quickly, and then pulling it off carefully, sliding it down my legs while he watched my skin appear, entranced.

I know I can never get enough of him, even after this wonderful sex-filled weekend—I guess it was the same for him with me.

I pulled myself out from under him, and went down to his feet to get rid of his shoes—I had kicked my heels off right when we got in the door, but his socks and shoes were still on. Too impatient to deal with laces, I just yanked them off, then pulled the socks off with them. Then I went for his pants, and then his boxers.

We both knew it was our last night together for a while, and I wanted to make it something to remember.

So I stood up over him, with one foot on either side of his knees.

"Susannah, what are you doing?" he asked breathlessly, looking up at my almost naked body. His voice was hoarse and husky, and it made my knees weak. "Get back down here."

He stopped his protests when I unclasped my bra, but held it in place with one hand. Then I slid one strap down my arm, then the other. His eyes watched me hungrily. I let go, and it fell onto his hips. I kicked it aside with one foot (which is a tribute to some awesome balance skills from kick boxing—not everyone can stand on one foot on a spring mattress).

Then my fingers hooked around my underwear, and I slowly pulled it down, doing a spontaneous little hip-wiggle I would never have done if I hadn't been so drunk on Jesse. I leaned down to free my legs—giving quite a view to Jesse—and then knelt down on my knees, one on either side of his hips. He was breathing heavily, his beautiful chest rising and falling rapidly, even though we hadn't been kissing. I smirked, then leaned over his torso and placed a hand on either side of his chest. His hands gripped my hips, and I kissed him sensuously before lowering myself onto him.

He groaned, obviously pleased with this role reversal. "Oh, Susannah…" he gasped. I kissed him again, deeply, while I did what I was supposed to do in this position to make both of us very happy.

He pressed me against him tightly. His eyes were half shut, and he was making noises in his throat that seemed very gratifying. The pressure building inside of me exploded moments later, and I collapsed on top of him, breathing heavily. I stretched my legs out from my kneeling position, and entangled them in Jesse's legs, his hair feeling strange against my smooth skin.

After a few moments of catching our breath, Jesse's arms came around me. I rested my head on his chest. When I finally felt confident in my voice, I spoke.

"I don't know what I'm going to do without you the next few weeks," I said. He murmured in agreement. "I think we're turning into nymphos." I felt his laugh in his chest, which vibrated into my cheek.

"Oh, Susannah," he said, running his hands up and down my back. He kissed the top of my head. "I love you." I smiled against his skin. I never got tired of hearing those words.

"I love you, too," I said. We spent the next few minutes in silence, just holding each other. Jesse's hands traced circles and squares and squiggles on my back, moving from my neck down to my lower back.

When I was ready for more, I started kissing his chest and stomach and shoulders. After a few moments, I felt something harden against my inner thigh, and Jesse rolled over on top of me and attacked my collarbone and chest with his lips, and I knew round two was just minutes away.

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When I woke up the next morning, Jesse was still asleep. A glace at his watch told me we had to be leaving in about an hour and a half. My mom wanted me home by early afternoon, plus Jesse needed to be back at his parents' house for their 6:00 Sunday meal. He promised to talk to his mother about me.

I untangled myself from Jesse's sleeping form, and tiptoed to the bathroom to take a shower. I was already naked, so I didn't have to bother disrobing. I just turned the water on, and stepped in.

I was too absorbed in my mild depression about having to leave Jesse to hear the bathroom door open. Or it might have been the shampoo that I was rinsing out of my hair. But either way, I froze in shock when I felt arms come around my waist. I felt hot breath against my ear, completely different than the steam that was rising from the water.

"What do you think you're doing, getting out of bed?" Jesse's voice purred, and he kissed behind my ear, and down my neck. One of his hands slid up from my waist, and found one of my breasts. I gasped, still surprised, then collected myself and turned around.

Jesse was naked and dripping wet (obviously). He had a small smile on his face, and his hands held my hips. I grabbed the container of body wash, and dispensed some into my palm. I rubbed my hands together, so it got foamy. I slowly started rubbing Jesse's chest, then his arms, and his back, making him all sudsy.

"We should take advantage of you being in the shower and clean up," I said innocently, as if there was nothing else on my mind but making sure Jesse's skin wasn't dirty.

Of course, he realized my innocence was feigned when I spent a bit more time soaping up between his legs.

When I was done cleaning him, he did the same for me. He took the bottle from me, and made a lather in his own hands, before slowly caressing them over my body. The hot water rinsed all the suds off, and I leaned against the shower wall. Jesse came against me, kissing down from my lips to my breasts.

The combination of the hot water massaging my muscles and Jesse's lips massaging the center of my one of my breasts, my legs could no longer support me, and my knees started to give in.

However, Jesse didn't seem to want me to fall over, and he grabbed my legs and hoisted me up. He pressed me more firmly against the shower wall, and I held onto him with both my legs and arms. His lips were like fire, that wasn't being extinguished by the water. Rather, the water that was pouring down our bodies seemed to ignite the flames that Jesse was causing on my skin, causing me to get hotter and hotter.

I breathed heavily, clinging to Jesse's wet body. The tile felt oddly cold against my back, and it kept me from bursting into flame completely.

But everything I was feeling multiplied when I felt Jesse inside of me.

I moaned and panted as Jesse did his thing, all awhile keeping me safe from falling. When it was over, though, and my moans had quieted, Jesse slowly sat me back down on the floor of the shower. The water was still streaming, but it was cooling down.

A few minutes later, I was still leaning against the wall of the shower, and Jesse turned off the water. For some reason, just standing there naked with Jesse felt odd, whereas it was completely natural when the water was running.

Jesse wrapped a towel around me, and kissed me briefly before grabbing one for himself and securing it around his waist. When we emerged from the bathroom, I jumped when I saw a male figure in the kitchen. He smirked.

It was Mark. He had obviously returned from his sister's house during our, ahem, rather lengthy shower.

"Saving water by showering together?" he asked. "Or were you just screwing?" Jesse gave him a dirty look. "I'll take it your answer would be the latter. So, did you two have fun this weekend?" Jesse's look darkened, and I slipped into the bedroom to get dressed.

I quickly put on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, and threw my hair in a messy, wet bun. Jesse came in while I was packing my stuff up. He too got dressed, and then apologized for Mark.

"You wouldn't believe he's twenty-one, he acts fifteen," Jesse said, rolling his eyes. I smiled.

"It's okay. All guys are like that. You're the anomaly." I went over to him, put my hand on his cheek, and kissed him.

We remained like that for several minutes, until I caught sight of the alarm clock on the bedside table. I sighed.

"We should probably get something to eat before we leave," I said. Jesse nodded.

"How about we head out now, and get something at the diner around the corner… and avoid Mark?" I laughed, and agreed.

We put my bag in his car, before going to the diner, where I got hash browns and pancakes, and Jesse got an omelet or some other egg thing.

An hour and a half later, he pulled his car into my driveway. I sighed sadly, not wanting to leave Jesse. He parked the car, and turned it off. He faced me, and put a hand on my cheek.

"I'm going to miss you," I said, looking into his brown eyes. They looked sad, too.

"I'll miss you, too," he said. "But it isn't going to be nearly as long as before. Only three weeks." I sighed.

"That's still too long," I complained. He closed the space between us and kissed me. After a few moments of making out, I broke away slightly, so I could talk. "How about we just turn around, and drive back? I'll just stay with you forever, and live with you in your apartment. You, me, and Mark," I said jokingly. As much as I would love that, we both knew it would never happen.

We resumed kissing, but then there was a knock on the car window, and we pulled apart. My mom was there, and she didn't look happy to see me.

"Come inside, Susannah." Susannah? What was going on? I climbed out, shooting Jesse a flummoxed look, and grabbed my bag from the trunk. Jesse got out of the car, too, and I was giving him a final good-bye kiss when my mom said firmly, "Now, please." I gave him a worried look, whispered, "I'll call you," and then hurried inside after my mother.

She had stalked right to the kitchen, but I set my bag down at the foot of the stairs. I was thirsty, but wasn't planning on going into the kitchen when my mom was acting oddly pissed off. I sat down on the couch, waiting for her retreat so that I could slip in and get a glass of juice.

But when I did hear her stalk out of the kitchen, instead of going upstairs, or out onto the deck, she came into the living room, and stood in front of me, glaring. I glanced at her nervously.

"What?" I asked. "What's going on?" She threw something on my lap. When I looked at it, I felt my stomach drop to my feet, and my heart start pounding.

Shit.

On my lap was the bag that the pharmacy we go to puts prescriptions in. But it wasn't my migraine prescription.

It was my birth control pills.

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Uh oh. Review, please.