Second Chance

Chapter 9

Jesse's Guilt

"May Belle!" Jesse exclaimed, his eyes refocusing. He was back home; from the looks of things, it was night time. He could see that no one was in the room – actually, one person was, though he couldn't tell who. It was too dark. But whoever it was, he – or she – was walking toward him gingerly, as though a stranger. This confused him; why would someone in his house be a stranger?

"Jess?" Leslie asked.

This was rather unexpected. He would have expected his family, not Leslie, to be in his house, watching over him.

"Not to be rude or anything, but... What are you doing here, Les?" he asked.

"I brought you here. Your mom was here, but I told her to go to bed; she seemed rather worn out. Jess, what happened?"

She was worried about him, this much was certain.

Jess tried to remember, and it all came back to him. The Ruler. May Belle being kidnapped. Failing to bring her back... He felt terrible.

"I'm a horrible brother," he said quietly, but Leslie heard him.

"What makes you say that?"

"May Belle's been kidnapped, Leslie. And it's all my fault."

"Why would you think that, Jess?"

"It is."

Leslie fell silent, unsure what to say. He'd said it so matter-of-factly, it was clear that he really felt it was his fault.

"Here, Leslie," Jesse said, hobbling over to the kitchen table and picking up the Ruler's letter. "Read this. This will explain why I feel this way."

She took the offered letter, and Jesse went to turn a lamp on. Strictly speaking, his father had not requested that no lamps be on after a certain hour, but this was a special circumstance, and, if it could help save May Belle, or at least put Leslie on her guard, Jesse was sure his father would understand. After all, May Belle was his daughter, and Leslie had grown so close to the family, she practically was.

Leslie read the letter carefully three times, before shaking her head.

"None of this," she said. "Is your fault, Jess. Whoever it is, he's just a twisted jerk. No better than Scott or Gary."

"Leslie, you don't understand," Jesse said. "It's not just May Belle that's in danger... It's Ellie, Brenda, Joyce Ann, Mom, Dad, me... Even you."

"Don't worry, Jess. It'll be fine."

"Les..." Jesse broke off, unsure how much he should say. He knew his story was farfetched; who'd believe that he was being stalked by a ruler of Death? That he'd gone to Death to bring back a friend who was dead for three years? But it was important that Leslie understand. His enemy was Death, and how do you kill something that embodies the very state you want to bring it to? You can't.

"Yes?"

"I just don't want you hurt," he finished lamely.

Leslie pulled back slightly. She knew that before, of course; his reaction when he thought Griffon had killed her proved that. But to hear it said so plainly, from his own mouth... It scared her slightly; it meant that things were very serious, and her getting hurt was a distinct possibility.

"Jess, go on," she said. "You can trust me."

"You won't believe me."

Leslie shook her head.

"You won't know until you try, Jess."

"I can't, Leslie. Because knowing could put you in danger and..."

"And what?"

"I can't do it. It's just... The thing I'm fighting, it doesn't care. It wants revenge."

"On who?"

"On me."

Leslie nodded slightly. She didn't know who had a grudge on Jesse, but she knew it was true.

"I'll help you, Jess," she said with conviction. She would help him, no matter what. And Jesse found he couldn't argue.

"Are you sure, Leslie? It is dangerous."

"I'm sure."

"Then you need to know what's going on."

And so Jess recalled everything that had happened three years ago – which hadn't happened in this world. It took several hours, by which time the sun had started to break over the horizon. He yawned, and so did Leslie.

"We'd better get some sleep," Leslie said.

Jesse nodded, smiling faintly before turning off the lamp.

"I'd better sleep here," he said. "I might wake someone otherwise."

Leslie nodded before hugging him.

Jesse was taken aback by this, and he blushed. This wasn't the first time that she'd hugged him, but it was so sudden that he felt embarrassed, and there was no one nearby. But he pulled himself into the embrace passionately, and he vaguely berated himself for not realizing his age. But thought soon gave way to action, and he felt his lips gently touch hers.

Now it was Leslie's turn to feel shocked. He'd never been nearly as emotional as her, and it seemed as though the events of the past few days had broken his emotional barriers, and he was going with every emotion he felt. She was about to push away out of reflex, but instead went with the kiss.

After several minutes, they broke away.

"I'm sorry," Jesse said.

"No, it's okay. But let's keep this quiet for now, okay, Jess?"

"Okay."

Neither had to be told that their relationship would never be the same.

A/N: Well, looks like this is officially a Jesslie pairing... I was hoping to put it off until at least chapter 13, but they went ahead of me, and I could think of little I could do besides go with it.

Anyway, sorry for the delay; I had slight writers' block – had to ask a friend for tips. So, you have him to thank (even if I didn't use his idea). And sorry for the length, but I felt that I was putting too much emphasis on the Ruler, and there's little I could do without making Jesse seem callous – his sister is still kidnapped, after all.