My eyes casted over the masculine, no good, interfering intruder, who stood with his arms folded casually over his chest. A smile started to appear on his smug, inquisitive face, as he gazed at me and then scanned over onto Jesse.

"Something is definitely going on here, isn't it? Come on, you can tell me, Suze"

"Oh Please! This is totally none of you're business! But I can explain…"

"Well, better start explaining" The intruder urged, looking amused with the whole situation he had stumbled across.

"First of all, that's not what he meant, Sleepy!" I angrily hissed.

"Whatever… I think that it seems pretty clear what he meant, to me" Sleepy laughed.

"He was talking about this!" I said, walking over to where he was leaning against the door frame. I outstretched my arm and opened my fist, to show him the gorgeous, silver necklace.

"Ooh, nice one mate. Is it tradition to spoil girls who you've only just met?" He asked, teasing Jesse, who was standing there looking as though he was going to die from pure embarrassment.

"Hey, why did you barge into my room without knocking?" I demanded, pushing his shoulder against the wall.

"Dad wanted me to get you!" He sneered, and then pointed to Jesse, while keeping his eyes on me. "And him…"

"What for?" I asked, changing my tone to one that was full of concern.

"How should I know?" Sleepy answered rudely.

"Ok, well thanks" I said, hinting for him to leave. "Oh, and Jake… If you dare say a word about this to Dopey, I will kill you!"

"Brad's way too 'dopey' and self absorbed to even notice anyway... But can I tell your Mum?" He asked, giving me a sly grin.

"If you even dare to think about it…" I warned, raising a stern finger in front of his face.

"It's ok, Suze. Chill!" He laughed, looking over his shoulder as he headed to the staircase.

I closed the door, and left my hand up against the handle, pressing my body up against the wooden door. I didn't really want to turn around to face Jesse… What was I going to say? I held my hand out and studied the beautiful necklace once more.

"Susannah…" Jesse choked, clearing his throat.

"Jesse…" I interrupted, spinning around to face him, while keeping my eyes on the necklace. "I… I really love this, thank you"

After I had spoken, I looked up in his direction. Jesse was biting his bottom lip in angst, twiddling his fingers nervously, and was also avoiding my gaze. I took a few steps towards Jesse, placing the necklace on my dresser and cafeully moved in front of him.

"Jesse, it's ok..." I said in all seriousness, trying to ease the pain of him from feeling guilty or embarrassed. "Don't dwell on it"

Jesse slowly raised his eyes and looked at my expressionless face. "I feel as though I had disrespected you. It was humiliating…"

"It was normal" I said slowly, taking his fumbling hands and holding them in my own. A tiny smile spread across my face. "It felt good…"

He intensely stared into my eyes, not showing me any sign about what he was thinking. I raised my pincer fingers to his right check bone and gave his skin a slight squeeze.

"Smile, will yah. You're only human, Jesse"

His lips started to draw upwards, giving me a slight smile. "I am human… An alive one at that"

I gave a quiet chuckle and roughly pinched his arm, to give him a sense of reality.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" He moaned, rubbing the spot where I had pinched.

"Just checking" I shrugged, while laughing. "Come on, Andy's waiting for us"

We made our way down the staircase and through the lounge room, where Dopey and Doc were still playing their video game. Mum and Andy also remained where I had last seen them, which was outside on the verandah.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked cheerfully, pulling up two white-coated garden chairs, and placing them opposite to where they were seated on the double seat.

"Thank you, Susannah" Jesse smiled politely, sitting on one of the seats that I offered, and waited casually for what my parents had to say.

I turned my chair around backwards, sat on it, and rested my arms upon the top of the cold metal. My parents looked at each other in a suspicious way, and then smiled over at the both of us. Then my father suddenly spoke up, looking towards Jesse.

"It's been a pleasure, having you stay with us, Jesse. I hope that you are enjoying your visit, and that the boys haven't been giving you a hard time"

"Thank you, Mr Ackerman. Yes, I am very grateful that you have all made me feel welcome within your household… And your sons are all very, unique"

I glanced sideways, over at Jesse, who had a look of complete satisfaction upon his face, regarding his answer. My father gave a slight chuckle, and my mum beamed with delight, as if she was planning out our wedding or something… Where was this little chat heading?

"Suzie, darling. Your stepfather and I were thinking that it would be a great idea if you guys took something up" My mother said, smiling from me to Jesse.

"Took something up? What, you mean like a hobby or something?" I asked, shuffling uncomfortably on the chair.

"Yes. I'm sure that Jesse would like to learn something new, while he's staying in Carmel…" Andy said, directing his words towards Jesse, who looked as uncomfortable as I was feeling right now.

"Ah, yes Mr Ackerman… It would be nice to learn something new" Jesse replied, while slowly taking a glance in my direction.

"Well, what do you have in mind?" I asked, ignoring Jesse's gaze and concentrating on my parents.

My mother and Andy exchanged looks, then turned back to face me. "I don't know, we'll leave that up to you guys…" Andy smiled.

I raised my eyebrows and turned to look at Jesse, who just shrugged his shoulders at me. They actually wanted Jesse and I to spend time together? … Woohoo! Heaps Cool! As my blank facial expression steadily bored into Jesse's, I could feel little fireworks erupting inside my stomach. No thanks to my mother though, she had to go and ruin my excitement…

"Well, come on? Have you got any ideas Suzie? It can be anything… Sailing, horse riding, roller blading, bowling, golf…"

"Golf?" I blurted out in a sarcastic laugh, breaking my eye contact with Jesse.

"It was just a suggestion…" Mum sighed.

I rolled my eyes and leant forward against the chair's white-coated, metal back, flopping my arms helplessly over the top.

"I don't know… Roller blading doesn't sound too bad…" I muttered.

Well, roller blading seemed to be rather popular in Carmel, and hey, even though I've never tried it before… There's a first for everything!

"Ooh, that's a great choice" My mother squealed in delight. "But you'd better make sure that you guys wear a helmet and knee protectors!"

"Yes, Mum" I said, rolling my eyes again and getting up from the chair.

Jesse followed my lead, and returned our chairs back from where I had gotten them. I opened the front door and quickly escaped away from my parent's sight.

"Susannah?" I heard Jesse call from behind me, jogging to catch up, as I avoided walking through the noisy lounge room and headed into the dining room.

"How weird was that! Totally uncalled for…" I said, as a tiny snort of amusement escaped from my mouth.

"Um, Querida" He slightly chuckled, apparently finding my snorting funny. "What exactly is… Roller blading?"

"Oh, well you get these specially designed shoes right, and they have a single line of rubber wheels attached to the soles…" I stopped there, as Jesse seemed to be completely lost, as his facial features clearly expressed a sense of confusion.

"Wheels... On shoes?" He asked slowly, making sure he had heard correctly.

"Yep, that's right" I positively assured him, while patting his upper arm.

"But isn't that a little dangerous?" He asked, frowning a little.

"Hah! Don't worry, I'll be there for yah darling!" I laughed with enthusiasm, noticing that he was taken aback with my extreme outburst, and the fact about calling him darling seemed to surprise him.

"Darling, hey?" Jesse grinned, relaxing a little and taking a step toward me. "And have you, my darling, actually ever roller bladed before?" He asked, leaning his weight against the table, closing the gap between us.

I coughed and bit my lower lip, while smiling childishly up at the ceiling. "Err, yea… No"

"Oh, well that's reassuring isn't it!" Jesse ridiculed, but at the same time, sent me one of his sexy smiles.

"Ah, Shut up" I laughed, while playfully slapping his chest. "We can learn together… That's the point isn't it? And anyway, what's with you and the whole… 'Ah, yes Mr Ackerman. It would be nice to learn something new' attitude". I pretended to solute, with my right arm pressed against my forehead.

He laughed hard, while holding his stomach with one hand, and pushing my shoulder with the other. "Don't be cheeky… I was just being polite to you stepfather"

Jesse said, lowering his voice after he heard Dopey yell something abusive from the lounge room. I gathered that Doc was beating him with that stupid game…

"Brad! That's it, you two have been playing for hours. Turn that game off!" Andy yelled, storming into the house.

Jesse and I exchanged a look of 'Ah hah, sucked in Dopey'.

"It's getting late…" I sighed, pulling at a loose thread of material near the bottom of my top. "I think I might get some rest"

Jesse cleared his throat, and pushed back a few strands of hair from his forehead. "Yeah, of course… And tomorrow, we shall check out these shoes with wheels, hey?"

"Yes, Jesse. You'll be able to get the privilege to discover one of our modern day activities" I giggled, running my hands down his fore arms.

And with that, he leant forward and gave me a delicate, prolonged kiss on my forehead. It was sweet, but far out! I wanted to kiss his lips damn it! He finally drew his lips away from my skin, and looked deep into my eyes.

"Good night, Querida"

Awe, don't I get to kiss him? It's a shame that I'm not tall enough to kiss his forehead… Oh well, I guess I'll have to settle for a patch of skin, which is lower… Hah! I smiled and slowly brought my face closer to his… Jesse didn't seem to decline, and he slowly moved in. Finally!

Our lips gently pressed up against one another's, moulding perfectly… … Five Seconds! That's all it took before I heard Doc's voice coming this way. We immediately broke it off and stepped apart.

"Jesse, I'm gonna get some shut eye. You coming?" Doc asked, not even realising that he had interrupted us!

"Yeah, I was just um, saying good night to Susannah…" Jesse said awkwardly.

"Yep, and we've done that. So I'm out of here," I said quickly, brushing past Jesse's body. "See you guys tomorrow"

They watched me as I dashed out of the room, fleeing with excitement. We kissed! We kissed! I sang happily inside my head.

Later that Night

It was around 1.15am, when a rustling sound from outside suddenly woke me from my sleep. A rush of fear spread throughout my body as I gripped onto my quilt cover nervously. I whispered Jesse's name, in the hope that he would some how 'telepathically' hear my cry for help. My hands shot up to cover my ears, as I rolled over and tried to ignore what, or who was outside in the yard.

I'm on the second level; he can't get me… I'm on the second level… I repeated in my head continuously. Just as my breathing had slowly calmed down, thanks to my mind, which actually believed my comforting words. Suddenly, a loud snapping sound, possibly from stepping on a stick, brought me back to my frenzied state of mind.

"Jesse" I shrieked, jumping out of my bed and swiftly rushing towards Doc's bedroom.

Lucky for me, Jesse slept on the bottom bunk. I think that I would have experienced difficulties trying to wake him if he were up the top... I crouched down on the ground beside his mattress, and anxiously extended an arm to touch his broad shoulder. As much as I was trembling with the idea of Brett lingering outside… A smile crept across my face when seeing Jesse peacefully in slumber.

His lips were ever so slightly parted as he inhaled and exhaled peacefully… His long dark eyelashes appeared as though they were locking his eyes shut. My arm slowly moved down across to his chest, feeling the rhythm of his breathing pattern, and the soft beat of his heart. At that moment, all of my fears seemed to be swept away as though his presence had calmed me…

"Jesse" I whispered, gently caressing his smooth cheek with my fingers.

Desperation filled my body, as I so deeply wanted to feel that desiring kiss once again… Especially after that little incident which occurred earlier. I knew he wanted to return the feeling…

I couldn't contain myself any longer… Jesse was just too damn hot for me to handle. Slowly, I leant over his body and closed the space between our faces. Just as I was about to press my lips up against his… Jesse's eyes twitched a little and his mouth parted some more, turning upward into a small grin. Instinctively, I jolted back up and looked down at him as he slowly gained consciousness about where he was.

"Nombre de Dios" He whispered, gasping short breaths of air, and holding a hand to his chest as he realised it was me.

I immediately grabbed his hand, forgetting about the 'almost kiss' that could have happened, and remembered about the movement outside my window. I stood up, pulling him into a sitting position.

"Whoa, Querida…What are you doing?" Jesse whispered, as the soft moonlight swept across his clearly startled and confused face.

"Please. I need you" I mouthed, sounding full of desperation as I tugged on his arm.

Jesse hesitated for a minute, frowning in disapproval as he looked up at my pleading face. … I think that I was giving him the wrong impression...

"Susannah, it's 1.30 in the morning…" He complained, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

But he realised from the look on my face, that I wasn't going to leave, so he finally got out of bed and followed me into my room.

"I had to wake you…" I whispered, giving him a soft push through the doorway.

"Don't you think this is inappropriate? Especially after…" Jesse moaned, as I quickly closed the door behind him.

"Ssshhhhh" I hissed, motioning for him to be quiet by placing a finger to my lips. "Sorry, but this can't wait. Come on!" I took his hand and dragged him across the bedroom and over to the window.

"It can't?" Jesse asked, nervously scratching his jaw line.

"No. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't sleep… He's out there…"

Jesse finally realised the fear in my voice, which was quickly growing inside of me, and he knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Stay there" Jesse said in a deep voice, forcing the window open and climbing out onto the balcony, letting a cold rush of air burst into my room.

Just as Jesse had leant over the railing to get a better look, something had jumped through the window behind him, and hurled itself in my direction. A shrill, short scream escaped my mouth as my hands flew up to protectively cover my face.

"Spike!" Jesse chirped, turning around and climbing back into my bedroom. "Come here, you cheeky cat" He said in a babyish voice while bending down and scooping the fat mangy creature up into his arms. Jesse looked over at me, whose hands still slightly remained over my face.

"Why are you scaring Sussanah?" He chuckled to Spike, as if he thought that the cat would reply.

"Yes, Jesse…" I mocked him sarcastically, pretending to speak for the cat. "How did you guess that I wanted to rustle bushes and pretend to be a stalker?"

He gave me a look of disapproval, and placed that cat down on the ground.

"Well, I guess that I too, jump to conclusions…" I said looking at Spike, who ran over to the window seat, making himself comfortable to settle down for the night.

"Are you going to be ok?" Jesse asked, walking over to rub my arms, carefully avoiding my exposed shoulders.

I nodded, and headed over to my bed. "I was just shaken up… I'll be fine"

"Alright…" He said, slowly running a hand through his thick hair, and letting it slide down the back of his neck. "Well, if you're going to be ok, then… I guess I should be leaving…"

He seemed to stall, waiting for me to say something… Except I didn't. I sat there on my bed, looking blackly up at him. Jesse nodded and slowly turned to leave, he made it to the door and outstretched an arm towards the handle.

"Jesse, wait" I whispered.

Jesse had turned around so fast, that I thought he was going to fall over his own two feet. It was as if he had expected me to stop him.

"Yes, Querida?" He spoke enthusiastically.

How was I going to say this without sound too desperate? Oh well, here goes nothing. "Would you… Err, could you please, um…"

"... Stay with you?" He finished, realising that I was struggling for words.

I nodded. "Do you mind?"

Jesse gave a slight chuckle and walked over to the end of my bed.

"Susannah. I've been occupying your room for quite a while now, remember?"

"Yeah but it's different, now… Now that you're alive" I said, tilting my head down so that he wouldn't notice me blush.

"I love you, Susannah. But just because I am now alive, that doesn't mean that I want to rush you into… you know… Even if earlier, when I displayed a rather, um…"

"Yeah, ok Jesse" I cut him off.

I definitely kept my head low, as my face blushed even more. His words kind of comforted me, yet they disappointed me at the same time… I took a deep breath and slowly looked up towards his smiling face, and returned a smile.

"Jesse, I like you just the way you are…" Damn! I thought my brain had intended to say 'love', but no, my mouth took control and said 'like'.

There was a moment there, as we smiled at each other, where I considered about asking him to join me in the bed… But I didn't want to impose on him. You know, force him into an uncomfortable situation or anything. It was rather chilly tonight and hey; I didn't want him to freeze! It's not that I wanted to cuddle up next to him or anything… winks.

But I was too slow. Jesse had answered my question for me, as he headed over to the window seat where Spike was curled up. My eyes burned into him as he spread out across the seat, lifting the cat onto his lap and affectionately started patting him. After a few seconds, Jesse had noticed my intense gawking and looked back at me a little uncomfortably, while raising his eyebrows.

"Susannah, are you alright?" He asked carefully, looking as though he had half expected me to explode some abusive, vulgar, or irreverent language at him.

Without any control over my own body, my eyes moved down to Spike, and my nose scrunched up in a cheesed off way. A large hand suddenly appeared in front of the cat; protectively shielding it's face. I finally gained control over my actions and broke off the gaze by shaking my head.

"If looks could kill… Spike wouldn't stand a chance," Jesse said seriously, before a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

My body helplessly fell back onto the mattress and I stared up at the empty ceiling. "I just… Just thought that maybe…" I stopped talking and sighed loudly, rolling over onto my side, turning my back to Jesse.

"What?" He provoked inquisitively.

"Never mind!" I blurted, before sniffing loudly.

"Susannah? Have I done something to upset you?"

"No" I mumbled under my breath, but loud enough for him to hear.

"Is it the cat?"

"No… Just, drop it!" I said a little forcefully.

"Drop the cat?"

I rolled over the other way to face him, appalled by his words. My mouth was opened, ready to say 'Are you stupid or something'… But I managed to hold back and instead of rudely abusing him, I snorted and laughed hysterically.

"Are you laughing at me?" He asked emphatically, without finding anything hilarious about dropping Spike.

"Oh Jesse, sometimes you can be so… Silly!" I said between uncontrollable laughter.

"Silly?" He questioned, placing the cat on the ground and standing up. "You think that I'm silly?" He asked in pure astonishment.

"Yeah" I blurted out, tossing around beneath my covers, as Jesse had found it amusing to tickle me while I was down.

Jesse suddenly stopped tickling me, and sat down on the bed against the curve of my waist. He looked down at me, who was slowly calming down from the sudden attempt of being tickled to death.

"For your information I think that you too, are rather silly"

"Oh really?" I giggled, before coming to a stop. "I bet you can't think of one thing!"

"Yes I can" Jesse laughed, as if I was an object of ridicule; a laughing stock. "Where would you like me to begin?"

I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Yeah? Well, I'd like to hear what you've got in your mind"

"Ok" He chuckled.

"Ok" I repeated, lying back and waiting to be highly amused.

"Well for one thing, at least I can resist the temptation to drool, when ever you walk by…"

"What!" I shrieked while sitting up abruptly, almost bumping my head into his. 'I do not drool when I look at you!"

Jesse raised an eyebrow and moved his head back a little, as he noticed how close we were now positioned.

"Then what's that?" He grinned, pointing to my chin.

I raised a finger to where he was pointing and felt a small droplet of spit.

"That came from when I laughed…" I said embarrassedly defeated, lying back down to hide my blushing.

"Hmmm…" Jesse grinned, while leaning over me to catch a glimpse at my embarrassment. "Are you sure?"

I turned my face away from his cheeky grin, just as my stomach decided to growl really loudly. This caused him to sit back up straightly, forming a statue position.

"Wow, you can use you stomach to do the talking"

"I'm hungry, I haven't had dinner, remember?"

Jesse nodded, releasing his stiff posture. "I wouldn't mind a drink, actually… Waiter!" He called, gesturing as though he was in a restaurant, calling for the waiter's attention.

"Ok, let's go" I laughed hopping out of bed, adjusting the neckline of my 'off the shoulder' top, before Jesse could notice too much skin and freak out.

"Now? Are you serious?" He asked, looking surprised at my decision, and noticing me fix my top.

"Mum said that I could eat dinner when I was ready… And I'm ready!"