Galena
Chapter 3
Four months later.
Adam watched the computer screen and the information from Galena's scan was calculated. He looked up for a second and watched the girl play around with a rack of bottles, reading the labels and comparing the colors. After he had found out that the girl had been rejected from every college she had applied to he had tried to teach her a few things. He had managed to get a hold of her school records and found that the girl was extremely smart despite the poor family and economic situation she had come from.
The computer beeped signaling that the results were in. Adam quickly looked over the results of the scan. "Well you are in great shape. Your powers are stable and everything else looks good."
"Does that mean I don't get out of my computer lesson today?" Galena asked as she swirled one bottle.
"If you spill that hydrochloric acid on yourself you will."
Galena quickly set the bottle back down. "Sorry, it wasn't labeled, I was only trying to figure out what it was."
"Don't mess with unlabeled bottles in here. I don't want you hurting yourself. Now why would you want to skip your computer lesson? I thought you liked being around Jesse."
"He's acting weird." Galena wrinkled her nose and played with one of her dark brown curls, twisting it around her finger. "He keeps staring at me."
"He's not blind or gay, and you are a very pretty girl."
"Couldn't Emma work with me instead?"
"Jesse is the best we've got, but if you feel uncomfortable I suppose Emma could help you instead."
"Thank you." Galena smiled at him with a child like innocence. In the last four months she had begun to think of Adam as a father figure, and was grateful that he treated her kindly.
Adam shook his head knowing that he was have to make himself stop indulging the 'baby' of the group. "Go be a good student for Jess today, and tomorrow Emma will take over."
Galena nodded and scampered out of the lab, heading to the computer lab.
Jesse was already sitting behind of the computers looking over a file when Galena came in. he looked up for a minute, analyzing how the girl's light pink sundress hugged her body and the neckline showed off the fullness of her breasts. For a brief moment he let his imagination play with the idea of exploring the girl's feminine sensuality. Shaking his head slightly to clear the images from his mind he closed out the security report files and opened the main system files he'd been going over with Galena.
"Hey, Jess." Galena whispered as she sat down next to him.
"You look pretty, Galena." Jesse said slowly.
"You know, I'm getting a really bad headache." Galena shifted uncomfortably. "Do you mind if we skip our lesson?"
"I don't want you to be trying to work if you don't feel up to it. You want to go to the rec room? I think 90210 is on if you want to watch that."
"No thanks. I'm going to go lie down in my room. Maybe put on that CD of the rain that Shalimar bought me."
"You really feeling that bad?"
Galena crossed her fingers behind her back. "Yeah, I'm feeling pretty bad."
"I don't think you should be alone if you are not feeling good. I could sit with you and read a book while you rest."
"Don't be silly. It's me, I'll be ok as soon as my powers kick in on it." Galena felt her temper beginning to rise. She stood up and walked to the door. "Just leave me alone." she called back to him as she left.
Jesse stared at the door in wonder, trying to figure out what he had done wrong. After a few minutes he went back to work on the security improvements.
Emma walked into the computer lab and stood silently for a moment. "I thought you were going to be working with Galena." she said, breaking the silence.
"She had a headache and went to lie down. At least that is what she said."
"You don't believe her?" Emma sat down next to Jesse.
"Not really. Galena hasn't quite been herself lately, especially the last couple of days."
"She's a woman, Jess, there are a few things that come along with that territory. You should be used to it after all the grief Juls gave you at that time."
"No, not like that." He typed in a couple of commands as he thought for a second. "It's more like she's trying to avoid me or something."
"Have you had an argument or something with her recently?"
"No arguments about anything. She's just been 'off' lately."
"Could you at least give me an example of what has been 'off' about her?"
Jesse sat in silence for a moment as he thought. "The other day she was wearing a really nice outfit, a white mini skirt and a lavender halter I think. When I told her I thought she looked nice and that I liked the top she immediately went and changed into a cruddy pair of jeans and an oversized, stained t-shirt."
"So you gave her a compliment and she immediately went and changed into grunge clothes? You're right this one isn't making any since."
"It's like she wants to do everything she can to go against what I say, or she's crazy and thinks I'm lying to her."
"You're lying to who?" Shalimar asked as she walked into the room.
"Galena's been acting strangely for the last few days." Jesse closed out the computer files, realizing that he would get no more work done on it at that time.
"We were trying to figure out what is going on." Emma added.
"I think she has a minor crush on you, Jess." Shalimar said as she pulled around a char and sat down. "She hasn't really said anything, but she acts like she does."
"Lets not even go there." Jesse shook his head. "It doesn't matter if she is planning a wedding, Brennan would never let me go out with her."
The two women exchanged a look.
"How do you feel about her?" Emma asked as she did a quick mental check to make sure that Brennan and Galena were not in earshot.
"She's a friend. How many times do I have to tell you people that I don't want a girlfriend?"
"Look, Jess, if you feel something for her you can tell us." Shalimar put her hand on his knee. "We wont tell anyone anything."
"She's not my type, Shal." Jesse ran a hand through his hair and leaned back in the chair.
"I don't know, Jess. She's pretty, smart, modest, funny, and a lady." Emma looked over at Shalimar. "That is his type isn't it?"
"The only problem is that she is Brennan's cousin." Shalimar answered.
"I don't want you two trying to set me and Galena up. She's a great girl, but I'm not really interested in dating right now."
"Suit yourself." Shalimar said as she stood up. "But if you change your mind she's just across the hall from you."
"And we can help you convince Brennan." Emma added as the two women walked out, leaving Jesse to do his work.
Two hours later.
Shalimar knocked on Galena's door, hoping that the girl would be willing to talk.
"Hey, Shal." Galena said as she opened the door. "Is there something that you need?"
"I just wanted to talk." Shalimar said as she walked into the room.
"Talk about what?" Galena asked as she put up a couple of her poetry books.
"You and Jesse. He's noticed you acting weird around him."
"What do you mean by weird?" Galena turned around to look at Shalimar.
"He said that you've not been yourself. He told Emma he had complimented you on your outfit and you had immediately gone and changed into your grubby clothes."
"That was nothing. His compliment reminded me I was supposed to be cleaning the kitchen."
"So there's no reason for worry?"
"Not about me. Jesse's a different story. Every time he looks at me I feel like he's mentally stripping me or something."
"And how does that make you feel?"
"Uncomfortable. Brennan and Adam are the only ones who know, but I'm a virgin. I wouldn't have told Adam, but he is my doctor."
"I can understand where you would be uncomfortable with a man thinking less than pure thoughts then, but Jess only wants to be your friend."
"Just my friend?" Galena asked, trying to hide the dissapointment she felt.
Shalimar caught the hidden tone and walked over to put an arm around the girl's shoulders. "That's what he said, but I think that you would be good for him."
"I'll think about it." she bit her lip and twisted one of her curls around her finger. "Do you think he might ever think of me as more than that?"
"I honestly cant tell you, Galena. Even if he does develop those kinds of feelings he wont pressure you to get involved in a relationship."
"I think he's still in love with Juliet."
"He may still be, but eventually you learn it is foolish to be in love with a ghost. Do you like him or something?"
"Ye-no. I don't know, Shal. He's really nice, understanding, smart, patient, funny, absolutely hot." Galena walked over to the bed and fell back dramatically. "Does it really matter what I feel?"
"You are allowed to fall in love with who ever you choose, even Jesse." Shalimar picked up a volume of Byron's poetry. "He loves Byron, get him to read it to you."
"Brennan doesn't want me to fall in love with Jess. He thinks I'd get hurt. Maybe Jesse sympathizes with Byron's inability to maintain a steady relationship."
"He wanted a family. A nice wife, a couple of great kids, you know the white picket fence dream."
"And since his copper haired angel died he changed his mind about it."
"You're like your cousin." Shalimar shook her head and put the book back on the shelf. "Do you have a copy of Whitman?"
"Not my thing. I've got Keats."
"Jesse chose the canopy bed for you because you are a romantic."
"He suggested it, but I decided on this bed."
"You two could share a room with out fighting much, you're both so neat."
"As long as he has his ghost he'll be happy. It wont ever matter how I feel about him."
"She was his best friend not his lover. When he's ready he'll open his heart again, and then how you feel could change his world."
"I'm not counting on it."
Two weeks later.
Shalimar waited in the dojo for Emma to join her the second the other woman walked into the room Shalimar closed of the area so they could talk alone.
"I still cant get a verbal confession from him, but we are going to move forward with my plan." Shalimar said as she sat down in the floor.
"This is crazy, Shal. We shouldn't be trying to set them up, especially not behind Brennan's back."
"Do you really want to see them acting the way they have been for any longer?"
"No, but…"
"Then go with the plan. Tonight we all plan on going to a club, just before we leave you remember that you had something you needed to do."
"Which will leave Jesse free to act as Galena's date for the night."
"See, it's not that hard."
"I'm still not sure we should be doing this. I don't think he's quite over Juliet's death and it would be a very bad thing if Galena got hurt because we rushed them."
"All I want to do right now is let them see how much fun they have as a 'couple.' If they decide that they don't like it then it ends there, but if thy do like it we get to start planning a wedding."
"Brennan wont let things get that far. He might let Jess take Gal on a couple of dates, but nothing more. The second things look serious he'll scare Jesse away from her."
"I'll handle my husband, you just make sure that Galena doesn't back out tonight."
Later that night.
Shalimar stood beside Galena as the girl dressed for clubbing. "You are going to look so cute tonight."
"I don't know, I'm not used to this kind of thing. I've hardly touched alcohol." Galena tugged at the hem of her white mini skirt and then retied her baby pink halter.
"We'll teach you the ropes. Do you like dancing?"
"Love it almost as much as I love poetry."
"Good. You and Jess will have a good time tonight. He spends more time dancing than the rest of us."
"I probably won dance to night." Galena reached behind her head and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. "Today has been pretty exhausting."
"Then who will dance with Jesse?"
"Emma I guess. She doesn't have a date tonight does she?"
"I guess you have a point. Well, maybe she will let you have him for a dance or two. Come on, we're going to be late." Shalimar grabbed the girl's wrist and led her out of the room to the garage.
Brennan and Jesse were already waiting in the garage when Shalimar and Galena clattered into the room.
"Where's Emma?" Brennan asked as he gently kissed Shalimar's cheek.
"Hey guys." Emma called as she walked into the garage, wearing an old t-shirt and sweat pants. "I totally forgot something I had to do, so I'm not able to go clubbing."
"That's too bad, Em." Shalimar gave the woman a sympathetic look. "We were really looking forward to tonight."
"You guys go on out. I can join you another time." Emma gave the group a bright smile. "No need for the rest of you to ruin your fun just because of me tonight."
"I could stay with you." Galena quickly volunteered.
"You go have some fun, Galena. I don't want to cause anyone trouble. Now all of you get out of here." Emma turned and walked out of the garage.
"Well we heard her, lets go." Brennan said as he unlocked the door to the SUV.
Two hours later, at the club.
Galena sat quietly at the table, sipping on her strawberry margarita. Shalimar and Brennan were out on the dance floor, and best she could figure Jesse was trying to pick up one of the girls at the bar. Her first time clubbing had not been at all what she had expected. The men in the club had looked her over when she walked in, but all assumed that Jesse was her date. After the long night she was determined never to go clubbing again.
Just as she finished the last sip of her drink she saw Jesse walking to the table with two drinks in his hands.
"You don't seem to be having fun." he said as he set one of the drinks in front of her.
"This was never my scene. I was always more into roller blading."
"Fun activity, but you've got to like other things."
"I do." Galena took a careful sip of the drink he had brought her. "What is this?"
"It's called sex-on-the-beach. They were out of margarita and daiquiri mix so I decided to guess at something you might like."
"Thanks." she smiled softly and looked down at her hands, blushing at the images the drink's name had created in her head.
"Do you dance?"
Galena looked back up and shook her head. "Not too much. I like ballet, but I'm not good at much else."
"Do you want to give it a try?"
"You'd have a better time with one of the other girls here." Galena smiled and quickly finished her drink.
"Would you do it if I said I wanted you to dance with me?"
"Alright, I'll dance with you." Galena stood up and let him lead her onto the dance floor.
An hour and a half later.
Shalimar helped Jesse put Galena into the car. The girl had passed out a few minutes before, even though she had not had much to drink at the club. The others got in the car, carefully laying Galena out across the seat with her head resting in Jesse's lap, and Brennan began to make the drive back to Sanctuary.
"How much did she have to drink?" Shalimar asked as she shifted to face Jesse.
"She had that small margarita she ordered when we first got there, then I bought her a couple of drinks, nothing strong though." Jesse twisted one of the girl's dark brown curls around his finger as he spoke.
"She's only been legally old enough to drink for a little over a year, and I think tonight was the first time she's had more than a bottle of light beer." Brennan offered for an explanation.
"Then next time we make sure she doesn't have but a little." Shalimar turned back around to face the front of the car. "She's going to have a killer head ache tomorrow."
"Good thing we've got tomorrow off." Brennan shook his head as he looked at the girl's reflection in the rearview mirror.
The car fell silent for a moment, and Shalimar took the opportunity to come up with a new idea to further her plan. "She shouldn't be alone tonight. I think some one should sleep in her room with her."
"Good idea, Shal." Brennan quickly agreed. "I'll stay with her tonight incase she needs anything."
"That wont work." Shalimar argued. "You and I are going with Emma tomorrow to that conference and we have to sleep well so we can get up early. Jess, do you mind staying with Galena tonight?"
"I don't think that is such a good idea, Shal." Jesse answered hesitantly. "The last time I took care of a drunk girl things ended up in a mess."
"But you wont let that happen now." Shalimar responded softly. "After all you liked Juliet as more than a friend, and Galena is only a friend to you."
"Even if I agreed to stay with her tonight you'd have to convince Brennan to let me."
Brennan sighed, knowing that Shalimar was playing both of them for some reason. After a moment of thought he made his decision. "If you so much as think of touching her tonight I'll kill you. I don't like this, but it is our only option."
"Well Brennan's ok with it, so what do you say, Jess?" Shalimar crossed her fingers.
"Just this once. I'll bring one of the folding cots in from the lab and sleep on that."
"Good plan." Brennan looked out over the read. "I still wish that we had another option."
"They'll be fine." Shalimar reassured him. "I think that she'll be getting the best nurse she could have."
The rest of the ride back to Sanctuary was silent. Once they arrived Brennan carried Galena to her room and let Shalimar take the girls clubbing clothes off and redress her in a soft cotton night gown. They had just gotten the girl settled into bed when Jesse came in with his pillow and a couple of blankets.
"I'm going to need some help getting a cot in here if we don't want to break anything along the way like we did last time we took the cots out of the lab." he said as he put the pillow and blankets against a wall.
"They are hard to maneuver alone." Shalimar agreed.
"I'll help you." Brennan tucked the blankets tight around Galena and then walked out of the room with Jesse. "Do me a favor and forget about your feelings for her tonight."
"My feelings for her?" Jesse asked, confused.
"You like her, it's pretty obvious."
"She's just a friend to me, nothing more than that. I'm not ready for a relationship with any woman."
"Gal's got it pretty bad for you. She has since the day you two met. If you really don't see her as anything but a friend at least be careful when you let her down."
Jesse stopped for a second as he punched in the access codes for the storage area. "Somehow I think you'd want me to do that even if my feelings for her were mutual."
"I'd only do it to protect her. I don't want her to be put through anymore pain."
"Don't worry. If I ever started to feel like that about here I'd quit working with her."
"You might want to start looking for a new job. We've all seen how you act around her, and you seem to like her more than you are letting on."
"Do you want me to leave? Would that be enough to make you happy?"
"I just want to do what I think is best for Galena. You've got your own life that you can make choices about."
"Does she get to make her own choices too?" Jesse's tone was dripping with sarcasm.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean. All you've done is try to tell her how bad it would be for her to be around me."
"Apparently there is some lapse in your memory. I told you she's been hurt, she's told you she's been hurt, and Emma's told all of us exactly how scared she is after that experience. Considering what I've seen I think I have a right to protect her."
"If she did decide she liked me the first thing you'd do is step in and forbid her to talk to me again. All you've got going is the fact that she's still too timid to stand up for herself. What are you going to do when she's ready to do that?"
"If she decided she honestly liked you I'd let her make her own choice after making sure that you both understood what was going on. You're not going to get this yet, but she's nothing like the girls you used to date."
"That's what I like about her." Jesse sighed as he opened the door to Galena's room.
"Give her sometime to make sure what she feels is the real thing, and me sometime to decide if I can trust you with her." Brennan stood by Galena's bed and tucked on of the girl's dark brown curls behind his ear. "I've seen it coming since you two met."
Jesse put his pillow and blankets on the cot and took a deep breath. "Don't worry about deciding if you can trust me or not. I cant trust myself in another relationship. She'll get over her little crush eventually."
"And what are you going to do if she doesn't?"
"Sanctuary is a big place."
Brennan walked to the door to leave, but turned around at the last minute. "If you hurt her by ignoring her it will be just as bad as if you hurt her any other way."
Jesse watched as Brennan left, letting the weight of the other man's words hit him. Finally he stepped out to the bed to watch Galena sleep for a minute. Leaning in slowly he pressed a kiss to the girl's temple and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.
For a minute he felt a longing to slip in to the bed next to the girl, just to find out how it would be to hold her in his arms. Realizing that even the most innocent of thoughts was making his body heat up he turned, laid down on the cot, and wished for morning to come quickly.
The next morning.
Galena's eyes slowly opened and then quickly slammed shut as she began to notice the pounding of her head. Laying still she tried to remember if there was any aspirin in her bedside table. Just as she worked up the will to move her arm to reach the drawer she felt some one sit down on the bed next to her.
"Tell me that you can either shoot me or give me something for this headache." she said with out opening her eyes.
"No one in Sanctuary owns a gun so you'll have to take something for your headache."
Recognizing Jesse's voice Galena opened her eyes and smiled up at him. "Sorry I ruined your fun last night. I guess I'm not quite up to drinking like that." she took the aspirin and glass of water Jesse offered her, swallowed the pills and a big gulp of the water, and then sat up slightly.
"You didn't ruin anything. We had a great time last night, and today you are going to rest."
"Why don't you stay with me? You really don't look that great yourself?"
"I slept on a cot, and I guess I didn't sleep too well." Jesse laughed, but quickly stopped when he saw Galena wince. "Stay here and I'll bring you something for breakfast."
"Thanks for staying with me last night."
"It was my fault you got drunk. Next time I'm cutting you off at one drink." Jesse pushed Galena's hair away from her face and let the back of his hand brush against her cheek.
"Well most men would have taken advantage of the situation and had a little fun."
"That's not something I could do to a friend. Actually I wouldn't do it to any woman, but especially not a friend."
Galena's smile disappeared when he referred to her as a friend. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and laid back down. "I'm just going to sleep until the meds and my powers take out this headache. don't worry about getting me breakfast."
"You've really got to eat something. Just relax while I get you at least some cereal."
"Alright, I'll be good and eat, but only if you eat with me."
"It's a deal. I'll be back in just a minute." Jesse got up and left the room, heading to the kitchen to get their breakfast ready.
Galena smiled softly as she managed to force herself to sit up. Her powers had begun to kick in and were starting to alleviate some of the pressure on her head. After a moment of letting her body adapt to sitting she slipped out of the bed and neatly made it. Just as she smoothed out the last wrinkle Jesse came in with two cups of coffee and two bowls of instant cream of wheat on a tray.
"Creamer and three sugars, right?" he asked as he set the tray down.
"Yeah, you do a really great job of remaking those things." Galena walked over to him and softly kissed his cheek. "I hope you don't mind eating in the floor. I don't want to get anything on my bed spread."
"The floor is fine. Go ahead and set down and I'll serve you."
Galena gave him a bright smile as she sat down in the floor. "So who suggested you stay with me last night?"
"Shal did. Your cousin was against it but he caved in pretty quickly." Jesse handed Galena a cup of coffee and a bowl of cream of wheat.
"Brennan agreed?"
"He agreed quicker than I did. I wasn't sure that you'd want me to stay in here." Jesse sat down with his own breakfast.
"I would have been fine. I mean, I was fine with it today and I'd be fine with it another time. You could even sleep on the bed if you want to, it's big enough for both of us."
"It would be the last time I'd ever got to see you. I think the only reason Brennan gave in last nigh was the conference he, Shal, and Emma went to today."
"I guess we'd better not push the issue by watching D's Creek today."
"We don't have to watch it any day unless you want to. You could spend the day in the lab with Adam."
"I'm not up to another lecture on how I could go to college if I wanted to." Galena pushed her hair back from her face. "I'm happy with how my life is right now. The last thing I want to is to have to go out there and give the world another chance to point out how different I am."
"I wont be annoying and go on about the 'world of opportunities out there' since you are happy with your life. Why don't we go out for a driving lesson today?"
"That sounds as great of a plan as anything. We could pack lunch and go down to the beach. Maybe take some time out in the sun for me to darken my skin a little more."
"Sounds fun. I'll get Adam's permission and then we can make some more definite plans."
"This will be really great." Galena smiled brightly but the smile quickly faded. "Oh wait! I forgot that I don't own any swim suits. In addition to missing the driving lessons I also missed swimming lessons."
"we can hit the mall and let you pick up a couple of suits, I'll even pay for them. Then I'll teach you to swim when we get to the beach."
"Are you sure you're up to all of this today."
"Just let me get Adam's permission to do this then I'll get the car ready and we can be on out way."
An hour later.
"Alright tell me what you think of this one." Galena said as she opened the door to the small dressing room.
Jesse carefully looked the girl over, letting the image of her tan skin contrasting the icy blue of the string bikini and the way her full breasts filled out the top imprint in his mind. "You look amazing."
"So do you think I should go with this one?"
"I guess it depends on what you want from the image." Jesse forced himself not to look down from the girl's eyes. "That one Is a lot sexier than the others were."
Galena turned to look in the mirror again, smiling brightly at how the suit emphasized her figure. "This one and the pink one with the big white bows and ruffles."
"Why don't you choose matching sarongs and sandals for them too?" Jesse took the suits that the girl had rejected and began to hang them back up on the racks.
"These skimpy suits are already costing you enough. I don't want to be any trouble."
"You choose them or I will."
Galena impulsively walked over to him and lightly brushed her lips against his. "You are the greatest."
Jesse blushed as the girl disappeared into the changing room. A couple of minutes later the girl stepped out wearing her clothes with the bikini in her hands.
"Choose the other stuff and we'll be ready to go." Jesse instructed as he took the swim suit from the girl.
"After we finish here we should go get a picnic lunch." Galena picked up a white sarong and walked over to the sandals.
"I called a head to this bakery I know that does picnic baskets. It's on the way to the beach so we wont have to make any detours."
"Sounds perfect." Galena picked up a pair of cork sandals with white straps and slipped her hand in Jesse's. "Let's get out of here."
"Alright, as soon as I pay we can leave." Jesse and Galena started to walk to the cash register. All of a sudden Jesse froze.
"What's wrong?" Galena's voice was full of confusion and concern.
"The girl that just walked in. Juliet set up on a blind date once, and, well, she wasn't exactly balanced. The girl is convinced that I'm in love with her."
"She probably wont' cause a scene in front of all these people. She might not even see you." Galena reasoned.
"If she does see me pretend to be my girlfriend. I need to make it clear that there isn't a chance of me going out with her again."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure that she thinks I'm your girlfriend." Galena smiled brightly. Looking over at the other woman for a second she noticed that this other girl had indeed spotted Jesse and was on the way over to them. Taking a deep breath she turned, put her hands on his face and harshly pressed her lips against his.
Jesse's eyes widened for a second, but he quickly closed them and wrapped his arms around Galena.
After a few seconds Galena stepped back, her cheeks deeply flushed. "She saw you."
"I figured." Jesse pulled the girl close to him and put an arm around her waist. "We'll keep up the act until I'm sure she's going to leave us alone."
"Alright." Galena smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. 'If he's like this when he's only pretending I'd love to know how he'd be if we were really dating.'
Jesse watched the other woman turn and head to the other side of the store. He felt a twinge of guilt for having essentially lied, but it was dulled greatly by the feeling of Galena relaxing in his arms.
Two hours later.
Galena closed her eyes as a wave came rolling towards her. The salty water hit her just above her waist and sent a spray of water almost up to her face. Laughing, she tossed her head back and stretched her arms out to embrace the sky.
Jesse watched her from a distance and snapped a few pictures of her with the disposable camera they had bought at the mall. He tucked the camera into their beach bag and waded out to where the girl was. "So you like the ocean?"
"It is so pretty!" Galena's eyes were wide with excitement. "Will you walk out a little deeper with me?"
"Why don't we go back to our towels and eat now. We can play in the water some more in a while."
"Alright." Galena smiled and then turned to head back to dry land while Jesse followed behind her.
As they got back to the shore line Galena turned to look back at the water and tripped, accidentally knocking Jesse down too. Galena felt her cheeks redden as she realized how badly she had tripped and the blush darkened when she realized that Jesse had practically fallen on top of her.
For a moment neither of them moved, but then Galena reached up and stroked the side of his face with her hand. Jesse closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips to Galena's, taking careful time before deepening the kiss. Galena felt her body temperature rise as she kissed him back, and quickly became grateful for the water that was just slightly lapping around them. After a few moments Jesse broke the kiss, carefully got up, and helped Galena up. Since neither of them knew exactly what to say they kept silent on the way back to their towels.
"Jess," Galena whispered, "can you tell me that you felt something just then?"
Jesse took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to be forced to tell the girl. "What I felt doesn't matter. I've basically sworn off dating since Juliet died. Besides, Brennan would kill me if I got involved with you."
Galena silently nodded and tried to blink back the tears that were forming in her eyes. "I-I wouldn't-want-want that."
Jesse turned around and pulled the girl close. "Would it make you feel better if we just pretended that we could be together today?"
Galena nodded slightly and put her arms around him, pressing her body tight against his. "We'll pretend while we're alone today." she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"You just can tell Brennan or Adam about it, but I'll do what I can for today."
"Alright." Galena stepped back just slightly. "We'll have today and just pretend like it never happened."
The rest of the day they played in the water, cuddled on their towels, and shared a few gentle kisses. On the way back to Sanctuary Galena held Jesse's hand until she fell asleep. When they pulled into the garage Jesse got out of the car, picked Galena up, and carried her into her room where he put her in bed.
Brennan stepped in just as Jesse finished tucking Galena in. "You two have a nice day at the beach?"
"It wasn't too bad. She drove, did fairly well, then I gave her a swimming lesson."
"How did that go?"
"Pretty well." Jesse smiled at the memory and then turned around to face Brennan. "She's a great girl."
"She's that. Maybe next time we'll all go down to the beach together." Brennan stepped over and pressed a loving kiss to the girl's forehead. Looking down at the gentle way Jesse had tucked the blankets around the girl he knew that he had to make a choice. "You've got six weeks to impress the hell out of me. If she's doing alright with you I'll let you have her."
"You don't have to do that. I've resolved myself to the fact that I could never have her."
"No, I do have to do this. She loves you, and I'm a horrible person if I don't let her do what would make her happy. It's all up to you now."