A/N: Lalala, oh. Hello. Yes. Yes. Oh thank you. Hmm. I'm not sure about that... Oh really? I-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g. Who, me? Nonono, I'm not Meg Cabot! Nonono, i dont write the Mediator series. You got the wrong number, pal.
Esodes: I am planning on making this another long, fear not, child! I like long ones too.
Oenone: Aw, aren't you the cutest?
Mystique Angelique: Paul isn't a dickhead. Repeat after me: Paul is cutie-wootie-smootie-pootie
Nice Hayley: How come everytime i say your name i sing it?
PoeticKiss: Aw, you should keep reading. You should.
UnAngelicHalo: Uh oh. I am acknowledging you! Like i wouldn't. I like my reviews. Did you see how many i got for my last story?? When i was starting off, i thought i would only get about 3. Sheesh, you guys kick ass.
Rissa: Finally came crawling back, eh, Rissa? Thought you could stay away, din't ya? Well, you were wrong. Dead wrong. (Thank you for reviewing. It was short because i didn't know what to write.)
Enjoy my loverlies.
I snorted at Father D.
Like I actually cared what was wrong with Paul. There's a lot of things wrong with him, like one more will do any more damage.
I regretted snorting though. No, it wasn't my guilty conscience. As if. But it made me realise how blocked up my nose and throat were with phlegm and tears and I instantly started crying again.
"Jesse, I think you should take Susannah home. I'm going to call Paul and question him, I think it would be best if Susannah were gone when he arrived," Father Dom whispered the last bit to Jesse but I still heard.
I brought my head up and sniffed a decisive, final sniff. "No, I wanna be here when he shows up. I got a few things I wanna say to him," I brought my head up and scowled. And do to him, I added mentally.
Father Dom smiled weakly. "That's what I'm afraid of." I frowned and stood up.
"I don't need anyone to take me home. I'm fine." I turned abruptly and walked out of the Rectory. I stopped in front of the large iron gates. Suddenly I wasn't feeling so independent and strong. I didn't have enough strength to climb over it.
I heard a click as the lock unlocked itself and the gates swung open with an eerie creak. I stared at them then whizzed round.
"I said I was fine, Jesse!" I heard a faint chuckle behind me in the direction of the gates and I whizzed back round again.
"You are too tired to be climbing over things. I will escort you home," he offered me his arm and I huffed and sauntered past. I heard another chuckle.
I pushed my shoulders back and held my chin higher and kicked up my pace. My legs were pumping pretty fast and my breath was quickening. I thought I had escaped the inescapable Jesse until he stepped up to me with a casual, easy stride.
His legs weren't working hard. His breath wasn't shallow. Sometimes I envied the dead.
Most of the time, I didn't.
"Are you alright, Susannah?" He looked down at me as we continued walking. The iridescent moonlight was reflecting his deep eyes and making his glow even more unearthly. It would've been romantic if it weren't for the fact that I was still simmering about Paul.
"I'm fine. Everything is fine." I kicked up the pace and stared determinedly ahead.
I felt a large hand grip my arm and spin me round. Jesse's eyes were so dark they were like endless pits I could easily fall into. His frown showed his overt concern for me and, goddam it, I felt tears prickling my eyes again.
I stubbornly jutted out my bottom lip into a half pout, half lip-frown.
"I'll kill him," he suddenly growled.
I gave a start of surprise. His eyes flashed with anger but he still showed concern for me.
"What?"
"Look at what he's done to you," he brought a hand to my cheek and touched it gently. "You don't deserve this. He is foul. He is evil. He is a –" Jesse went on to explain just exactly what Paul was in some Spanish.
I decided to interrupt him before he got a little carried away...
"Jesse! Jesse!" But Jesse was looking away and still saying some Spanish stuff in a hushed, furious voice.
However Jesse took no notice. So I cupped my hands around his face and brought it gently towards mine. I looked into his eyes and they visibly cooled and calmed down.
"Jesse, I'm fine. Paul is just a jerk. I'm over it, okay? I'm fine. You don't need to kill him," I grinned a wicked grin at him and added, "I can do that for myself, thank you very much."
Jesse continued to frown at me and I giggled at his cuteness. "I'm fine," I repeated slowly. Eventually Jesse's frown disappeared and he gave me a peck on the tip of my nose. I smiled and started walking home.
I noticed Jesse was walking uncomfortable, shifting closer and further away from me, his arm twitching out to my elbow then, just before it touched me, swinging back sharply to his side. I also caught him glancing at me frequently, always with a frown on his face, as if he were calculating something.
I slipped my arm round his waist and looked up at him. He appeared quite shocked at first, but then he relaxed. And there was no more twitching, glancing, or frowning. In fact, he slipped his arm round my waist and a smile lit up his face.
We settled into a gentle stroll back to my house and I felt just like an old, married couple. I could picture us, walking arm in arm – or zimmer frame to zimmer frame – along the beach in the sunset. My smile grew wider and I snuggled in closer to Jesse, he rested his head on my in response.
We arrived at my doorstep and before I could even open the front door, it swung open to reveal a very angry mom.
"Where were you, Susie?"
"Um, I told you. I went out. I just went round to meet CeeCee at the beach. Sorry I didn't call you or tell you in detail, but, um...she was really upset and she wanted me there quick. So I had to, you know, hurry..."
Mum's face instantly relaxed then sharpened again for the routine final lecture. "Make sure you give me a call next time, okay?" I nodded and went upstairs, mentally wiping the sweat off my brow.
I trudged up the stairs and flopped onto my bed. God, I was confused. I didn't know whether to love my life or hate my life. For me, there was no in between. I rolled off my bed and wrangled myself into my PJs in my bathroom then did my nightly ablutions. I peaked into my mirror and shrieked.
I was staring into the eyes of a junkie. A wild-haired, blood-shot, puffy- eyed, red-nosed junkie.
Oh no, wait. It was me.
I groaned and filled my sink with water. Then dunked my head under it. And kept it there. When it felt as if my lungs were filled with embers, I pulled my head up.
Great, now I was a dripping junkie. I went back to my bed and lay down. Face first.
Sure I may suffocate, but it was better than Jesse seeing me like this.
It seemed like I was just dozing off into the ever-welcome land of nod, when a gentle voice whispered, "I'm sorry." My eyes shot open and I span onto my back and – tried to, anyway – into a half-sitting position.
This resulted in my legs and arms getting tangled in my duvet, and I gracelessly tumbled out of bed. I sprang up and my duvet fell off me like a thick, white waterfall. My hair went static. I rammed my hands onto my head while glaring at my intruder. He was glowing.
"What do you want and who are you?" I self-consciously tugged my tank top over the stretch of skin that was showing just above my boxers and crossed my arms protectively.
"I came to apologise, Suze. I was stupid and insensitive," it was Paul. I should've known. Only he would turn up in the middle of the night and perve on me in my pyjamas. "And you'll never know how sorry I am for hurting you," he added softly. His dark eyes reflected the moonlight that was flooding into the room and his glow cast his face into shadows, softening his usually sharp and concise features.
I humphed and angled myself back into bed, clutching my duvet around me. "I'm fine. You can go now." Paul gave a barely decipherable nod and sparkled away.
Then sparkled back again.
This time, kneeling in front of me.
On my bed.
His knees were spread so they were trapping mine between his.
"I really am sorry, Suze." I gulped and nodded.
"Sure, sure you are," I garbled quickly, "and I appreciate the effort and thought you put in to get the message across." I tugged some duvet that he was sitting on from under his butt and gathered it closer to me. "But I'm really tired and I'd quite like to sleep now."
I faked a yawn and looked at him out of the corner of my eye as I did so to see if he was convinced.
He was grinning. Not a good sign.
"Sure thing, babe." And then he sparkled away again. It took a while for me to get even near a drifting off stage. Not only were my thoughts filled with Paul, but I got the uncanny feeling he was still watching me. Not a nice feeling. I mean, how was a I supposed to change? To shower? To sleep? To pee?
I got the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it. So I stopped. Well, tried to anyway. What I really did was force a picture of Jesse into head. But it kept in swimming away and being replaced with Paul.
Alright then, if that was what God wanted, fine. I would think about Paul. I thought about how creepy he was. But that was about as successful as me trying to think about Jesse. Paul's lips just kept on floating into my mind...and then his eyes followed. Except these weren't the eyes that scared me and caused me back away when he was near. These weren't the eyes cold and hard that pierced through me whenever I mentioned Jesse. These weren't the eyes, darkened and softened by desire that dumped live worms in my stomach whenever I looked into them.
The eyes that filled my head were the warm, soulful, gentle eyes he used whenever he noticed me upset, hurt, or worried.
Unless I was worried about Jesse, in which case bam. Here comes old ice- eyes.
I shook myself mentally. But I couldn't get rid of those eyes. They made me feel safe and comfortable.
I had to stop thinking about Paul. Stupid Paul. Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul...
"You called ?" I sat up in my bed with a shriek.
"Paul, you freak! What the hell are you doing here?" Paul was sat at the end of my bed, regarding me amusement in his eyes.
"You called me, Simon." He cocked and eyebrow and the corner of his lip tugged slightly.
I huffed. "I did not." He smiled a full-on smile and raised his other eyebrow.
"Yeah you did, Suze. You clearly said-" he mimicked my high voice and made it sounds breathy with desire and cupped his hands together in prayer position, "Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul...oh Paul."
I sat gobsmacked. My mouth had hit my chin and my arms were limp at my sides. Then I snapped my jaw shut and felt a flush creep up my neck and swallow my face. "In – your- dreams, Slater," I tilted my head stubbornly and hoped it wasn't light enough for him to see my blush.
"You're blushing," he stated.
Damn.
This caused me to blush even more. "Am not."
"Are too."
"Am not."
"Are so."
"Oh be quiet. I'm blushing because I'm hot." I harrumphed and Paul just smiled even more.
Then a thought struck me. "Wait a minute, how did you know I was calling you? If you're not dead..." I eyes him suspiciously.
"I'm stuck." He said simply. This time a little blush was creeping through his cheeks.
I smiled deliciously. He was embarrassed. And he was cute at the same time. With his puppy dog eyes, and his...
No!
"Stuck where?"
Paul looked up at me and our eyes locked.
"Between the world of the living, and the world of the dead."
