A/N: I couldn't stop grinning after reading all you're reviews. Don't hate me, but I thought it was pretty funny how most of you were pretty disgusted by me and that little stunt that Suze pulled. :-P

I don't know what got into me. It was a bit much, wasn't it?

Anyway, I don't think I'm going to reply personally this time since all of you were pretty much just grossed out.

But, yah, this will be a shorter chapter. There isn't much thats going on, and if I added more it would be spoiling the surprises. Although Jesse's POV does take up a big portion of it, so that might make up for that moment of yuckiness back there. It's a lot of contemplating, ideas and not much has really happened. We'll save that for the next chapter.

Here ya go:

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JESSE'S POV---

I do not mean to sound rude, but Maria was incredibly dull.

I know, it was a very, very ungentlemanly thing for me to say but I hated to admit that it was true. I knew she was trying to be fun and flirtatious but going on for hours about her new dress and what happened at her father's party last weekend just isn't the thing that can get me really excited. I am sorry, but it's true.

Her attitude on the marriage issue did seem to change quite quickly, though. One minute she was moping and telling me that her life would be ruined and the next she was all smiles, saying how marriage wasn't such an atrocious idea after all. I could only raise my eyebrows curiously and listen politely as she spoke. Nothing else was really possible. Why the sudden change?

My mind wandered as we danced. She was wrapping her arms around my neck and leaning her head on my chest amorously, but not too scandalously, since we were yet to be married. She spoke, but I barely heard a word she was saying. I could only think of Susannah. There was no way to get out of this engagement but I couldn't just let her think that I did not even care enough to say good-bye.

Our dancing was emotionless now. We just swayed with the music, our minds clearly somewhere else.

Even if I knew that a romance between Susannah and I would never be possible, I had to see her one last time. I had to remember her with one last kiss. From that moment on, I was determined to find Susannah. I know, it was a sin to even think of kissing Susannah when I was betrothed to Maria but I just couldn't get my mind off of Susannah.

Her beautiful, silky brown hair. Gorgeous, radiant green eyes and that precious, soft skin that was like heaven to touch. The way she ran her hands down my arms and trembled slightly when I held her. The way her eyes sparkled a mesmerizing green everytime our eyes met. Her kisses that were the sweetest and most amazing thing anyone could ever experience.

I had to see her again. Just to get it out of my system, even, before the wedding. But there was no question about it: I was going to see Susannah again, no matter what it took.

Ironically, just when I was thinking of that, I spotted Susannah above the crowd... and she was in the arms of another. Before I knew it they were dancing right next to us. It was like the place suddenly grew quiet (although I knew very well that it did not) and all I could hear was my own breath, growing more rapid by the second.

Her head was rested on his chest and his hand was grazing down her back. It moved dangerously low but stopped right at the lowest point of her waist. Ese puerco.

But that man was just testing me, because he could tell that I cared about Susannah. He knew it. Susannah, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to Maria and I. She really didn't look like she minded the man's hand where it was.

I have to say, there was nothing that depressed me more than seeing her like that, in another man's embrace. I know, it was just a simple dance that would be over in a minute or two but there was something else. When this night was over, a love between the two of us would never be possible. That meant that while I was married to a girl who only served to annoy me, she would belong to another man who loved her and made her happy.

I couldn't bear to see that happen. I felt such a strong attatchment between the two of us that I couldn't ignore. This feeling, growing inside me with every moment we spent apart, was unbearably painful.

With a strong jerk, I pulled out of Maria's hold. "I have to go. I'm very sorry," I mumbled to her as I pushed blindly past couples, not bothering to excuse myself, and out into the backyard of the house where I knew no one would find me. My heart was beating furiously and I couldn't see clearly, as everything seemed to be spinning. My eyes were glossy and my breathing quickened.

Anger ripped through me with such a force that I needed to take it out on something or I felt I would burst. Something needed to give. I couldn't live life like this anymore.

Blood trickled down my knuckles where the skin had torn. The walls had small, thin red lines of blood traced into the cracks. I leaned up against the side of the house and let my feet give out beneath me. I sat on the ground, clutching my legs. A single tear tumbled down my left cheek.

I didn't know if it was a result of the pain that was now shooting from my hand and up my arm, or if it was the fact that I could never have Susannah that was finally getting to me. I wiped it away quickly. I had to be strong.

I stood up and walked over to the well. I dipped my stinging hand in the cool water and watched the blood swirl and dance around my hand before disappearing. I pulled it out, wiped it on a rag that lie nearby and, with all the confidence I could muster, went back inside to join my fiance.

"Hector," Maria cried as she rushed over to me, her eyes wide. "Where were you? You had be worried sick. Come, let's dance and have fun. There is no time to mope around the place, Hector. We need to enjoy ourselves. It is, after all, a celebration of our union."

And, for the first and possibly only time, Maria's words made sense. Why worry about something that I had no control over? It was best to just let things happen as they are supposed to happen and not interfere, right? At least, that was my philosophy for the time after the little incident outside and before I saw Susannah again.

Actually, when I did see her again, I really did doubt for a moment that it was her. How could Susannah, the innocent and pure angel I had once believed her to be, be kissing another man, clearly drunk, right in front of the whole party? It just wasn't possible, right?

Dios, how could I have been so damn naive?

She was never innocent. She was never as vulnerable and angelic as I had percieved her to be. She was none of the above because she was just that: a perception.

I knew now that this was the real Susannah. It had to be. Maybe Lucero was right. She could have been a raunchy, ill-mannered woman who was simply taking advantage of me and my love.

Or perhaps she was only a figment of my imagination in some sense. An illusion. Someone I created to recieve some kind of fuffilment before I was to propose to Maria. Or that this was all a dream. Because, honestly, this could be nothing less than a nightmare. Everything was going so wrong that it was hard to belive that this was real.

Why was my querida Susannah kissing another man???

It was over in a second and when I had blinked again, she was running past everyone and out the door, covering her face in shame. And she should be, too. Ashamed, that is. What did she expect us to think of her if she went around, throwing herself at men she did not even know!?

"Esa puta!!!!!," Maria said. Her face was molded into a truly disgusted frown. I also couldn't help but notice how pale she was now. How her hands were trembling. "I knew that girl was trouble, Hector. Please stay away from her, won't you?"

It was a strange request for her to make, but I agreed anyway. The majority of me wanted nothing to do with Suze anymore. I couldn't picture the two of us speaking normally, without it being an awkward mess.

But then there was that other. small part of me that still longed to see her at the end of the night. Like nothing that happened mattered and, as hard as I tried not to, I still coudn't stop thinking about Susannah.

"Jesse," my father's voice boomed from behind me. He seemed unaffected by the night's events and just seemed to be worried about whether everyone else was having a good time or not. "You know we have been planning this wedding for a while now, hijo, and have simply delayed the engagement although the date was set for next week."

I felt my whole entire body go numb. "Next week, padre? Are you sure?"

"Si," he boomed. "We are all very sure, Hector. We will be leaving tomorrow morning for San Fransisco, where the wedding will be held. You will have all night to pack and we'll be departing at dawn."

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SUZE'S POV--

Never in my life had I ever been so embarassed. I swear, I just wanted to curl up under a rock and die.

Seriously.

I had just bursted into shaking sobs as soon as I'd left the place and just longed for a pair of strong, warm arms to hold me close. To tell me that everything would be okay even though it really wouldn't. In other words, I wanted Jesse.

But since I'd come to accept the fact that I would, indeed, never have him, I just kept running until I was as far away from the de Silva's home as possible. I ended up pretty much where I was when I first got here: out past the houses and pretty much in the desert. Kind of.

Anyway, I was just leaning up against that same tree, wishing with every ounce of strength that I had in me to go home when I heard someone clearing their throat above me. Thinking that it was Felix, who had some gall to come and find me, I went, "God, you're such an asshole, Diego. You know that, right?"

"Diego?" The familiar voice asked in mock hurt. "Oh please, Suze, don't tell me that there's... someone else?" I scrambled to my feet.

It was Paul. Well, kind of. This was like a nineteenth century version of Paul.

You see, Jesse looked hot in that open shirt with big, fluffy sleeves and those tight, black bull fighter pants. But let me tell you, when Paul wore them, I sort of had to question his sexual orientation for a moment. No offense or anything but I kind of, almost, started cracking up when I saw him standing there. But, before I could, I was overpowered by this great sense of relief and instead threw my arms around his neck, sobbing into his shirt. I also couldn't help but bury my nose into his bare chest, which was kind of inevitable to look at in that shirt.

Anyway, he was here. My ticket back home. My ticket to an (almost) normal life as a (fairly) well-adjusted kid in 21st Century California!

"Paul," I sniffled. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you, I really am." I moved my arms until they were wrapped around the middle of his back. He petted my hair gently and shushed me, pulling my body close against his.

"I missed you too, Suze. We were all so worried about you back home. Your parents are worried sick."

I scrunched up my eyebrows, pushing a piece of hair from my eyes. "What are you talking about, Paul?"

"Suze," he said as he let go of me, slightly. His hands remained on my shoulders. He shook me slightly as he said, "Back home, you're in the hospital. You're dying, Suze."

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PAUL'S POV--

"You're dying, Suze."

I held her securely by the shoulders, already prepared for what would happen when I broke the news. And, just like I figured, her knees gave out and I had to hold her up. Her face turned a sickly white. Inside, I snickered with satisfaction. I had her eating out of the palm of my hand. This was perfect.

"You're kidding," she said, laughing nervously. "You're just playing, right Paul?" And when I didn't say anything she went, hitting her clenched fists on my chest, "Right!??"

I shook my head. "No, Suze. I am dead serious. Uh... no pun intended."

Oh, things were coming out just like I had planned. You see, this little bit of info would scare Suze into coming back home, just like I wanted her to. And, just to make sure Jesse was out of the way, when Maria and Felix planned to kill Jesse (like they inevitably would) I'd have them dump Rico Suave's body out in the ocean or something. That way, in the future if Jesse was to reappear as a ghost, as he most likely would, he would haunt some light-house or something instead of Suze's bedroom. Therefore, the two lovebirds would never meet.

And just like that, my Jesse problems would be solved. It was simple, really. And I'd already completed phase one.

Suze looked a little dizzy and lightheaded as she said, "God, I have to get back then. I mean, I don't want to... die or something. Paul, how do we get back? I need to leave now."

"Just hold on close," I said, taking her trembling hands in my own. "Close your eyes and it'll only be a second. You'll wake up and everything will be back to normal. Just you and me again, Suze. You and me."

With my eyes closed, and only a second before we were to materialize back to modern Carmel, I felt her tug away from me. My grip was tight. "What are you doing?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, Paul. I have to do something before I go. It's... uh, really important. Please wait, it will only be a second. Please." She lifted up the bottom of her dress and ran off. Her hair was falling out of the high bun it was once in and her face was smudged with dirt. She ran barefoot, despite the rocks and pebbled scattered around.

Normally, this would be Suze's only concern but she really didn't seem to care as she ran farther away until I couldn't see her. Something was obviously more important that any of this. This something--no, someone--was the only thing she was thinking about.

This someone was more important than me.

I ignored Suze's request and left to find Maria. There was a change in plans: We would no longer wait for tomorrow night to kill Jesse. He was, after all, way over-due.

It was time for Suze to bid her precious Jesse adios.

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A/N:

Uh Oh.

I know, it was short. But belive me, I'll (maybe) make up for it later. And there was a reason to that kiss, okay? I wasn't just bored....

Oh, yeah that reminds me lol (major blonde moment, no offense) I couldn't stop cracking up because, up there in the story, I had "life house" first because I totally forgot what they were called. Really, I didn't have a clue. It didn't look right so I had to ask my friend and she told me that it was "light house" not "life house". lol I can be an big airhead sometimes.

anyway, hehe

333!!!