Disclaimer: All of the familiar characters are property of Meg Cabot, but I own all the new ones and the plot.
Chapter 23
Now it's my turn to blow up. "WHAT? HOW THE HELL DID HE DO THAT?"
Jesse in Paul's body sighs and then comes over and sits down in the bed with me. "Susannah, Paul had to kill my protector in order to switch my personality with his, right?" I nod my head. "And so he thought it was Father Dominic, but my protector isn't Father Dominic."
"Well if it's not Father D. then who the hell is it?" I ask him my eyebrows arched on my forehead.
"Querida…" Jesse says and pulls his hand through Paul's hair again. "It's you."
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Needless to say I passed out cold. I wake up to the sound of Jesse and Father Dominic talking quietly. Father Dom pats Jesse in Paul's body on the shoulder and then materializes. Jesse's warm, brown eyes look over at me, and I hear Andy call for dinner.
I get up and feel my head start to spin. Shit.
Jesse sees me fumble and rushes over to me. "Querida, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, it's just."
"Just what?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I conversed with Father Dominic on the subject and he agrees with me. You are my protector and I am yours."
I sigh and amble over to my vanity to pull out some Advil. It would be romantic if we were in a different situation. Jesse gets me a glass of water from the bathroom. "But are you sure?" I ask him after swallowing the pills, wishing that they would make them work faster.
"DINNER!" Andy yells again and Jesse and I walk downstairs.
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Dinner is a nightmare. Brad keeps on bringing up the question of why I am hanging out with Paul when I have Jesse as my boyfriend. Of course Jesse (in Paul's body), Andy, and I keep on telling him that we are working on a project, but Brad doesn't believe us. I am keeping count how many times I want to kill him over the course of one meal.
"What is this project in?" Andy asks Jesse (in Paul's body).
"Chemistry," he says immediately, like he's already gotten our alibi down pat.
"Really?" David pipes up and Brad throws in that "shut-up-now, twerp" look.
David blushes, but Jesse goes on and tells him all this stuff about how we have to write a lab report on this lab that we did in class. After listening to Jesse ramble on about stuff we haven't even gotten to in Chemistry for a couple of minutes, I get up and begin to clear the table. Jesse immediately gets up and begins to help me.
Brad just looks at him like he's crazy, and then says, "Yo, Slater! Don't worry about it my man, Suze gots this."
Jesse looks over at him startled and I nod to him. "It's okay, Paul. I can manage the dishes by myself. But thank you anyways." I give him a smile. Jesse looks me in the eyes and sees that I want him to sit down. Paul would never offer to help. I try to remind him with my eyes that he has to stay in character.
I walk off with my arms full of dishes and I hear the guys strike up a conversation about sports. I shake my head and then grunt at the weight. I carefully place the dishes in the sink and let the hot water run for a minute. Glancing around the kitchen I see a place setting out on the bar. Mom hasn't been home for dinner for about three days now and I'm starting to get worried. Although I see her every night when she comes home, it's still a little unnerving that she is gone when all this crap is going on in my life. I mean, for all I know Paul could have her locked up, or a demon could be threatening her, or even a ghost.
"Father Dom?" I ask suddenly nervous about my mother's absence. After a second of calling his name, Father Dom shows up standing in front of me.
"Yes Susannah? You needed me?"
"Hey, I was wondering if you could possibly find my mom and just look after her until she got home. She hasn't been home for dinner the past couple days, and I guess I'm just a little concerned."
"Of course, Susannah," Father Dom says and then smiles a warm smile at me. I thank him and he materializes right at Jesse walks in.
"So?" He starts with raised eyebrows.
"So what?"
"Can I help you now?"
"I guess so," I fake a frustrated sigh and smile at him. It feels good to be with him, my Jesse, again.
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We return up to my room when we are done with the dishes and I sit on the bed while Jesse sits on the window seat. I pull out my history book and try to get some homework done, but obviously I'm distracted by Jesse only a couple of feet away from me.
"You know I miss this view," he says softly and I look up from my history book to see him looking at me.
"I like the view in the morning the best," I say totally not getting Jesse's undertone.
"Well the view right now is pretty beautiful. But then again it always is." I smile up at him totally oblivious.
I return to my reading and after a couple of minutes I hear Jesse get up and then feel him sit down on the bed beside me.
"Susannah?" he asks and I lift my head up to look him in the eyes.
"Yeah?" I ask him with a smile on my lips. I haven't been this close since this afternoon and I really am interested in kissing those sweet lips again. I sit up and scoot closer to Jesse. I look at him while he blushes a little; I know on the outside it looks like Paul, but in the inside I just know that it is Jesse. You can't fake his personality, his kindness, his eyes. It just cannot be done.
Jesse leans in and nuzzles my neck. I can feel the heat of his breath on my neck and I shiver at the thought. God, it feels so good to be connecting with Jesse again.
"Oh querida," Jesse says while pulling me into a hug. "I'm so sorry for all that has happened. I never meant for you to—"
I cut him off gently. "Jesse, you can't protect me all the time. It's not your fault. I know you would never do anything to hurt me knowingly. You are not like that."
"But Susannah, I don't know how this could have happened."
"Oh I do, it's Paul and his stupid ego that got us into this mess. He thinks that I should be with him. He wants me, Jesse. He always has. I know I should be flattered on some level, but I'm not. It just makes me sick that he only wants me because he can't have me. If I were his he would use me and then abuse me."
At this I feel Jesse's muscles tighten. Just thinking about Paul touching me makes him slip into rage. I kiss him softly on the neck and then look at his face. It has Paul's strong jaw line and hollow-ish cheeks, but his eyes are all Jesse. God I love him so much.
Jesse leans into me and clutches me tighter with his hands as if he'll never let me go. I let myself be consumed by his smell, touch, and heat. Everything about him makes me short circuit. Jesse's lips are this close to mine, when the phone rings.
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I pull apart from Jesse and get up. It might be CeeCee or even my mother. I rush over to get it and say, "Hello?"
I'm greeted by a cold voice.
"Susannah, it's me, Jesse."
"Oh hi," I say slowly while giving Jesse, whose still on my bed, the eyebrows.
"I want to talk to you, but I can't do it over the phone. Will you meet me in Shadowland tonight?"
I think about it. Wait? When Jesse in Paul's body shifted to Shadowland, I could see Jesse's body, not Paul's. So did that mean that Jesse Wannabe couldn't shift into Shadowland, because he was in Jesse's body, and Jesse isn't a shifter?
JW interrupted my thoughts on the matter. "Susannah?"
"Oh, sorry, um, why don't we meet at the Mission. M'kay?"
I hear JW curse softly, but then say, "Okay, midnight."
"See you then," I sing and then hang up the phone.
"Querida? Was that Slater?"
"Yes, Slater who is residing in your body." I say and flop down on the bed; I lie down and Jesse follows suit.
"So?"
"Oh, yeah," I say and slap my head. "Sorry. He wants to talk to me in person."
"Do you think that's smart Susannah?"
"I don't know. All I know is that tonight is the full moon and that is when the 'procedure' is supposed to correct itself if it's not done right. And since you know that you are Jesse but in Paul's body, then I'm guessing Paul fucked up somewhere along the line." I see Jesse cringe at my choice in wording. "Sorry," I mumble while blowing a strand of my chestnut hair out of my face. It doesn't move and I keep on blowing. Finally, Jesse lifts his hand to my face and gently brushes it away. "Thanks."
Jesse doesn't say anything, but moves his fingers down to my lips and traces them gently. "So where and when are you meeting him?"
"Mission, midnight," I respond, entranced with Jesse's fingertips on my lips. God, he makes me hot just doing something so simple.
Jesse leans over and brushes his lips against mine in a soft kiss. "I'm going with you," he says after breaking the short, but wonderful, connection.
I sigh. "Jesse, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean if Paul sees you or finds you, he won't be happy and then, well we all know what happens when Paul doesn't have his way."
"Yes, but I'm not going to allow him to have the chance to be with you unsupervised. You never know what he has up his sleeve."
"But Jesse," I complain.
"No buts Susannah," Jesse says while putting a finger to my lips to silence me. His other hand is propping himself up on his side. His finger slides from my lips to my neck. It slips onto my shoulder and I shiver. It feels so good, and it's been so long it seems that Jesse has been this close to me.
"Plus you haven't seen me when I don't have my way?"
I laugh and then am silenced with Jesse's lips on mine again, but this time the kiss has more promise to it.
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AN: Looking back, I know this might seem as a filler chapter in the middle, but well okay it kinda is, but I had to add a bit of fluff in, because well I've been deprived. : )
The next one will be out soon, hopefully.