Chapter 72
The Bait
Jesse leaned over Shelby's gray marble island counter in the centre of her square kitchen, his shoulders shading a black and white page at the back of The Daily Lima while a thick portable television in the corner of the counterspace buzzed with the local news.
"...while Old Mrs. Fink was brought to safety by a group of teenagers who remain nameless, her Corgi, Pepper, was found drained of blood the next morning."
"Oh, Rod, what kind of madman would kill an adorable little puppy dog?"
"The worst kind, Andrea, but we have to remind our citizens that this is not a time of panic. I mean, if we stopped everything every time there was a mysterious and grizzly attack in Lima, the town would never get anything done!"
Jesse picked up the remote and switched it off, knitting his brows at the ads for apartments to rent. Before the summer had started, he'd taken a job as Beth's full-time nanny. Since Shelby's new job at the local high school had given her summers off, they'd spent most of their days taking care of Beth together and practising witchcraft in the evenings when Beth had gone to bed. Jesse soon realized it was a perfect job. The pay wasn't great, but he didn't mind. He got to spend his time with Beth and Shelby at the local pool, the ice-cream parlour and shopping at Pottery Barn - nothing he ever imagined enjoying.
And time spent with Shelby was never time wasted, even when they weren't practising the craft. A lot of times they watched terrible TV movies and spilled wine together after Beth had begun snoring in her crib. It was almost like the days when he was her show choir prodigy and they were having a secret affair. Except this didn't feel irresistibly wicked. It felt nice. Probably because the most touching they'd done was hand-holding during chants.
The only real problem with the job was the fact that his parents were constantly bothering him about it. They wanted him to get a real job or go back to college, though he argued that at least he was doing something. Embarrassed that their son was a nanny, they told their friends that Jesse was doing research for a role. As if he'd get any acting gigs in Lima.
He circled an apartment in red Sharpie. He had to get out of his parents house, and he wanted to stay close to Shelby and Beth. Sometimes he felt like there was nothing for him in Lima, but he had them, and they seemed to be enough.
"We're gonna head now," said Puck, walking into the kitchen from the back hallway.
Jesse looked up as the two high school seniors strolled in, blithe smiles on their faces after putting their biological daughter to bed that night. Right now, Jesse figured that the two of them looked like the last people you wanted to raise a child together, but Puck and Quinn were slowly becoming better parents as they spent more bonding time with their daughter.
Jesse remembered a time when Quinn had been racked with regret and anxiety. Clearly she had traded in her mental anguish for more of a fashion-themed tragedy. Jesse couldn't fathom why she let pink hair, nose-ring studs and chain-mail into her life, but he wasn't going to complain after seeing how happy his friend was.
He walked them out just as Shelby's Subaru pulled up down in the parking lot and she got out with a briefcase and a plastic takeout bag in her hand. She passed Quinn and Puck with a nod and a smile and walked up and met Jesse at the door.
"Is Beth asleep?" she asked, walking inside and dropping the stuff on the island counter.
"Quinn and Puck just put her to bed."
Shelby smiled sadly and walked down the hall to Beth's nursery, with Jesse following her. It was like any little girl's nursery, with peach-colored walls and a pink, plush cot. Stuffed animals and curve-cornered building blocks cluttered the carpet. The only thing out of place were the lace sachets of ash tree bark and sunflower petals hanging from the curtains and the curly ancient runes painted on the walls in purple. Anyone could mistake them for pot pourri and eclectic decor, but they were really there to summon protection over Beth.
Shelby leaned against the rail of the crib and smiled down at her daughter, whose pacifier was hanging precariously out of her pink open lips. Shelby plucked the pacifier gently out of her mouth and set it down on the changing table.
"I wish I could've been home earlier. There's a lot of stuff that needs to be done, because the school year just started, but it won't be this hectic later on, I promise," she said quietly.
"Doesn't bother me," shrugged Jesse, "Beth's easy to take care of. And Quinn and Puck are always here when they can be."
Shelby smiled. "I'm glad they could be here for her. No kid can have too many parents."
Jesse nodded, knowing that parental figures had always been absent from Shelby's life. His own parents weren't so loving but at least they took care of his most basic needs. Shelby basically raised herself.
"I got take-out for two. Chinese," she said over her shoulder, her eyes twinkling.
"Sounds great," he smiled, glad he could spend another night with her.
xxx
"Why do I have to be bait? I'm always bait. Let Tina be bait."
Quinn stopped to look back at her girlfriend as the scoobies trudged into the Lima Cemetery after nightfall and gave her an amused sigh.
"Vampires have a type," Quinn shrugged, her leather jacket taut against her shoulders.
"Do I look like a damsel in distress to you?!" Rachel exclaimed, splaying her hands out in front of her silk mini-dress, "I'm wearing flats suitable for quick getaways and a rape whistle around my neck! Clearly I'm a girl who prepares for the unexpected."
"The one thing I've gathered about vampires," Kurt said without looking back as they walked further into the graveyard, bits of grass clinging to his cavalry boots, "They don't tend to focus on details. They pick up your cute little girl vibe and your extremely human scent and they see lunch."
"Tina has a human scent," Rachel pouted.
"Actually, I've been spending a lot of time inspecting Gorathnak demon horns after school, so I probably smell a little like their venom," Tina replied.
"Tina, what are you doing with demon venom?" Kurt asked warily.
"Their bone marrow actually has a lot of healing properties," Blaine answered for her, "Actually, Tina, could I come over and take a look at those sometime?"
"Can we just get this over with?" asked Mike.
"Okay, I think this is a good spot," said Quinn, finding an open patch of land between a mausoleum and an old oak tree. She turned, her eyes scanning her friends. "Weapons?"
All of them, except Rachel, lifted a stake from their jackets, and Tina brandished an extra crossbow.
"Let's do this," she nodded to them.
They parted ways, heading for hiding spots in different directions behind headstones, vegetation and stone tombs, except for Rachel who stood awkwardly in the clearing.
"Wait! What's the plan?!" she called to Quinn.
Quinn turned around, her short pink spikes swaying around her neck. "The vampire attacks you."
"And then what?!"
"We attack him."
"Quinn, I don't like this."
"Rachel, it's me. I won't let anything happen to you."
"I know but-"
Mike irritably hopped up from his spot behind an angel statue. "Guys! We don't have time for this!" he waved his hands.
"Yeah, places people!" Kurt called from behind the mausoleum.
"Quinn, go hide. Rachel, be bait!" said Mike.
"Why don't you be bait, Mike?!" Rachel snapped angrily at him, "You come face to face with a creature of the night and be as stoic as always."
"Guys," Tina sighed.
"I'm not the damsel in distress, remember?"
"Well, neither am I!"
Kurt rolled his eyes behind the mausoleum at his friends' bickering. At this rate, they were going to get themselves killed. He was about to call out for them to shut up and take their places, when he felt a presence.
"Guys..." he warned, leaning around the corner of the mausoleum, his voice shaky. A twig snapped and he whipped his head around behind him. "Guys!"
A thick-shouldered vampire grabbed Kurt by the throat and lifted him from the ground until the toes of his boots were inches from the grass. Blaine sprinted forward, practically bounding a few feet at a time, and tackled the vamp. He let go of Kurt, who fell gasping to the ground, and stumbled backwards, but didn't fall.
Quinn shot into action and threw a fireball at him, just barely grazing him and singeing the collar of his shirt. He swatted at the smoke and narrowed his eyes at her.
"Quinn!" Rachel shrieked as the vampire bounded towards her girlfriend.
Quinn backed up a few feet as the vampire ran toward her and gathered a bounty of fire into her hands from within. She threw her hands out and engulfed the vampire in flames. He screamed and writhed, completely enveloped, until he burst into a large clump of ashes, smoke and dust blowing away with the curl of the breeze.
The scoobies looked at each other, breathless.
"Nice work," Mike frowned at Rachel, whose eyes bugged out wide.
"Me?!"
xxx
Buffy gathered her hair into a ponytail and tied it quickly, rushing into Laszlo's and right up to the barista, where Dwayne, a co-worker closer to her age, was pumping caramel syrup into a macchiato and Fred was picking up her slack.
"Sorry I'm late!" she exclaimed, a loose lock of hair falling over her face.
She'd had strange nightmares all night about a man with a mask she somehow just knew was that creepy Jeremiah guy from the night before. She'd had a strange feeling about him from the moment she bumped into him. New York was a strange place for a kid, indeed, and the nightmares had made her sleep in late.
"Great, you're here," Fred said gruffly, shoving a plate of macaroons in her hand, "You know, I count on my servers to actually make it to their shifts. I have kids who need college tuition and I can't give them that with a failed cafe."
"I'm sorry, traffic was crazy," she lied, "Isn't Lily around?"
"Lily didn't show up."
"What? Why not?"
"I don't know, you said traffic was crazy. Maybe she's having trouble getting down. Listen, take the coffee bar with Dwayne, we got a lot of orders and not enough hands."
Buffy frowned, wondering where Lily could be as she slid behind the counter and started making soy lattes. Didn't she say she was staying at a hostel in Manhattan? Why would she have trouble getting down to the cafe? Buffy bit her lip as she remembered Lily telling her about a party last night. Three dollars to get into some guy's basement. It sounded pretty skeevy, but maybe Lily managed to rustle up three bucks and now she's hungover. Lily did sound flaky enough to spend her last three dollars on some lame party.
But wasn't she saving up for a place nearby? Would she really be that reckless? Buffy didn't know her well enough to make a good judgement, but Lily was that kind of girl to join a vampire-worshipping cult on a whim. Buffy paused as she gathered foam into a coffee mug, remembering the texts Lily had sent her last night, wondering if she was okay after getting hit by that truck. Buffy hadn't texted back, but Lily had told her that she'd see her tomorrow at work. Why would she say that if she planned on getting wasted at some basement party?
Buffy tried to tell herself that Lily was a grown-up who could take care of herself, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something more was going on.
"Hey, A, watch your cup!"
Buffy looked up at Dwayne and quickly back down at her hands as the foam overflowed onto her fingers.
"Crap!" she hissed, jumping back from the frothing machine and spilling creamy foam on the floor, "Sorry."
"No big," sighed Dwayne, taking a dish rag and mopping up the foam, his dreadlocks falling over his shoulders.
"Hey, Dwayne?"
"Yeah?"
"Yesterday, did Lily mention a party?"
"A party? Uh, I don't remember."
"She said something like, three dollars to get into some guy's basement-"
"Reefer!"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, Reefer had a rave downtown in this abandoned underground place that used to be like an opium den or something. Invited, like, everyone he knows. He kinda gets around."
"Is Reefer a friend of yours?"
"Man, Reefer's a friend of everybody's. He's a DJ, part of why his party's are so awesome."
"Did you go?"
"Nah, I had to be up for first shift."
"Oh, well, Lily mentioned going and if she did, that's probably why she didn't come in today."
"Makes sense."
"It's just... well, I want to make sure she actually went 'cause if she didn't... she might be in trouble."
Dwayne bit his bottom lip. "I could give you the address."
Buffy opened her mouth, unsure if she should follow through with this. What was she doing? Staking Lily out? Doing detective work just to find out if a girl who was barely even her friend was just a hungover flake? Was she trying to find danger in mundane places, or was it really there? She decided not to take the chance.
"Yeah, that'd be great."
xxx
Joyce Summers was surprised to find that life went on after her daughter disappeared. It was almost surreal to do the dishes, shop for groceries and pay the bills all the while not knowing where Buffy was, but she knew her daughter's capabilities. She tried to remind herself daily that Buffy was resourceful and brave, and wherever she was, she could take care of herself. It didn't change the fact that the silence in her house was haunting and the guilt crushed her like a vice.
Joyce scrawled a grocery list into her journal, her reading glasses slipping down her nose. She jotted down 'canned peaches' and then quickly scribbled it out when she realized that Buffy was the one who liked them. Her stomach turned and she wished Buffy was there now at the dinner table, reminding her that she'd run out of Raspberry Rain shaving cream.
The doorbell rang and her head snapped up. She discarded her journal and rushed to the door. Her hope deflated when she saw it was Mr. Schuester.
"Mr. Schuester," she greeted, trying not to sound too disappointed, "Hello."
"Hi," he said tentatively, "May I-"
"Of course, come in." She opened the door for him and he stepped inside, taking off his plaid golf cap and holding it awkwardly in one hand.
"I just got back from Fort Worth," he said as she led him into the living room, "A friend of mine called with a lead. Someone fighting vampires..."
Joyce raised an eyebrow, hopeful.
"It didn't pan out," Will said quickly.
"Oh. No Buffy?" Joyce asked quietly.
"No vampires. Bunch of high school kids in eyeliner listening to A Day To Remember."
Joyce pursed her lips. "Well, thank you for looking. I can barely leave the house. I keep thinking she'll call or... she'll need help."
"Buffy's the most capable person I've ever met. She might be confused, or unhappy, but I think she's safe, wherever she is."
"I just wish I could talk to her. The last thing I said to her..." Joyce squeezed her eyelids shut like she could hardly think about it. 'If you leave, don't even think about coming back'. She was the worst mother in the world.
"Joyce, this isn't your fault," Will said softly.
Joyce looked up at Will and narrowed her eyes, her jaw squared. "I know. It's yours."
Will's face fell as Joyce balled her fists, furious. "You've been this huge influence in her life, do you realize that? You've had this whole relationship that... It's like you've taken her away from me."
Will looked at the floor and considered this. "I didn't make Buffy who she is."
"And who exactly is she?"
He opened his mouth, unsure how to respond. Maybe Buffy was right. Maybe her mother wouldn't understand.
xxx
Kurt got to bed late that night, restlessly fighting images of vampire attacks out of his mind before he drifted completely to sleep. The breeze floating in from his open bedroom window had a calming effect on him and he was glad to be home again, instead of in the dorm rooms of Dalton Academy. Still, now that he was back at McKinley and he and Blaine were officially Scooby Gang members, it was getting more difficult to banish demons and vampires from his mind during the non-graveyard hours.
The further he drifted into sleep, the more vivid his dreams became, of gnashing fangs and spilled blood. Suddenly, the dreams ceased and he was surrounded by white and in front of him, was his mother.
"Nothing can hurt you here," she said, a smile on her lips. Her blond hair reached her shoulders and the long white dress she wore touched the ground.
"Where am I?" Kurt asked. He felt solid and corporeal, like he wasn't in a dream, but his voice echoed, ethereal. "What is this?"
His mother idly touched her collarbone, and the looked at a silver necklace with a thin, spiraling 'S' dangling from the chain that was hanging from Kurt's necklace. She reached over and lightly touched the necklace.
"You don't need this," she said. She turned her head behind her at the sound of bombs dropping in the distance, "I have to go."
"Wait. Stay."
"Be brave, Kid," she smiled, sadness in her eyes, "I need you."
"Wait!" Kurt called as his mother disappeared into darkness.
Kurt blinked his eyes open and let them adjust to the darkness in his bedroom, with only the moon glowing over his bedspread. He sat up, a cold sweat on his forehead, and switched on his bedside lamp. '02:00' glowed red on his alarm clock. He shook at the thought of the dream he just awoke from. He couldn't decide if it was really a dream, or a vision. Either way, it felt too real, and the smell of his mother's perfume still lingered in his nostrils.
xxx
"Mr. Schuester's back."
Mike folded his open locker door an inch inward to find Tina behind it, smiling up at him, her shoulders raised.
"Okay..." he replied, shoving his AP Calculus textbook into his backpack, while their schoolmates breezed past, chatting with each other and drinking from the water fountains before class started.
"So, patrol tonight?"
Mike eyed the students on their way to next period, oblivious to their conversation despite his paranoia.
"I don't think so," he replied tersely.
"What?" Tina's face dropped. "Why not?"
"Tina, we could have gotten killed last night."
Tina frowned. "Only because you and Rachel were fighting."
"Well, when six teenagers spend every night together all summer, they start to fight. It's natural."
"Sure, but it wouldn't be a problem if you'd just save it until we weren't in a cemetery fighting vampires."
"Shh!" Mike snapped, "Listen, maybe we shouldn't be fighting vampires in the first place."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, this is not our responsibility."
Tina wrinkled her brow up at her boyfriend. "Sure it is. We know the danger's out there. We have to do something to stop it."
"We're only doing this because Buffy skipped town and left us for dead. That doesn't leave the safety of the town in our hands. We're just kids."
"Well, so is Buffy. I don't see what that-"
"Tina, do you know how much we've given up this summer? I had a summer program at Princeton that would have helped me get into an Ivy school in the country and I had to turn it down to protect Lima. Rachel sees a Broadway show every year in New York with her dads and this year, she couldn't go because she was being vampire bait. Quinn could have been spending time with her daughter, but no. She's using her hands as flamethrowers to kill demon spawn. We had to give up our lives for this, and for what?"
"For what?" Tina raised her eyebrows, her face getting red, "Doesn't it mean anything to you that we've saved people's lives this summer? We're doing a good thing, Mike."
"And saying goodbye to our lives in the meantime. Tina, I don't want to be stuck living on the Hellmouth for the rest of my life, but that's the path we're on. Don't you see that?"
She pursed her lips. "Yeah, I do see that. And I know that I wouldn't mind living on the Hellmouth for the rest of my life if it meant that I was saving people and discovering the secrets of the universe."
Mike gaped down at her. He hadn't expected that reply. "Tina, you can't be serious."
"I am serious."
"You don't ever want to get out of Lima? To go to Harvard and do something meaningful with your life?"
"How is this not meaningful? I'm protecting my hometown from the forces of evil and exploring a world that no-one else even knows exists!"
The shrill bell rang out in the hallway and the people around them picked up their pace to rush to class. Tina paused until the bell stopped ringing and all they could hear was the pitter patter of footsteps emptying the hall.
She looked up at her boyfriend in the following silence. "This is what I want to do with my life, Mike."
Mike grimaced. "Risk your life every night? Fill in for the slayer when she can't be bothered? Know more about demonology than about current events or-"
"Yes!" Tina snapped, her mouth a thin line, "I want to be a watcher."
Mike opened his mouth in surprise but didn't say anything, his nose wrinkling.
Tina shrugged, the crease in her forehead disappearing, feeling guilty that she never told him before now. She had been waiting until he warmed up to the supernatural, but clearly that was never going to happen.
"Don't you ever wonder why I spend so much time and energy studying the occult? Why I'm so... stake-happy?"
Mike almost smirked, but it quickly disappeared. "You want to do this... for the rest of your life?"
Tina nodded. "I do."
"Well, Tina... You're making a mistake."
"No, I'm not-"
"Yes, you are. You can't spend your life like that. And neither can I."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I can't grow old with you, sitting around here in Lima, afraid that you won't be coming home at night because you could have been killed by a demon. I won't do that, Tina."
Tina frowned solemnly. "I've already been accepted to the Watcher's Academy."
Mike blinked. "What?!"
"I applied a month ago. Explained how I knew Buffy, and Mr. Schuester, and Mrs. Schuester. How my mother knew Mrs. Hummel. I talked about how much I already know and how much I've already experienced... They were impressed. So they accepted me."
"The Watcher's Council?" Mike said, below his breath, "In England..."
Tina sighed. Getting accepted to the academy had felt like such a victory at the time. This was supposed to be happu news. "I know you don't like the idea of being around this kind of stuff for the rest of your life, Mike, but-"
Mike squeezed his eyes shut. "I wish you would have told me."
"I know-"
"I don't think you do. Tina, it's like you think this stuff if more important than I am."
"Mike-"
"Which really sucks, because I love you more than anything in the world. More than this town and all of the lives in it."
"Mike, don't say-"
"It's true. I would die for you. But I will not sit here and watch you sacrifice your whole life for this cause of yours. I can't. I'm out."
Mike slammed his locker door shut and slung his backpack over his shoulder, turning to storm off.
"Mike, wait! You're out? Out of what?! Out of the Scooby Gang?"
Mike turned, a pained look on his face. "Out of this relationship."
xxx
Buffy walked up to a dingy building in Brooklyn with graffiti covering the door. She looked back at Angel, who was following closely, his dark figure daunting in the pale blue after sunset. The building looked like an abandoned out of business lounge, with moth-bitten red velvet curtains over the windows, sandwiched between a greasy deli and what looked like a meeting place for alcoholics anonymous. Buffy was surprised to find the door was not only not boarded up, but unlocked. She let herself inside and Angel followed, both of them taking in the sight of the empty marble bar and the dusty tile floor.
"Hello?" Buffy called, feeling like an idiot in a horror movie, "Reefer?"
"This doesn't look like the kind of place your friend should be hanging out," said Angel.
"She's not my friend. She's just... I have a bad feeling, alright?"
A door in the corner creaked and both Buffy and Angel's head snapped to it, narrowing their eyes at the dark figure who appeared in the doorway. The light in the small abandoned lounge flipped on, and a young guy with sunglasses and electric blue hair peered at them, confused.
"Are you Reefer?" asked Buffy.
"Uh, yeah..." said the blue-haired guy, "You guys know the party's over, right? What, did you forget something?"
"Um, no," Buffy walked over to him, past the wide booth of leather seats and extended her hand, "I'm looking for a friend."
Reefer tentatively took her hand and squeezed lightly. "Well, nobody's here anymore, except for me and Blade. He's passed out on the turntables but I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any friends-"
"No, I'm looking for my friend Lily. Uh, she knew about your party last night and I'm not sure if she showed up, but if she didn't, it might mean that she's missing. Um, I don't know if Lily's her real name, but she has long blond hair, really pale-"
"Oh yeah yeah yeah, no, I know Lily. Real willowy wallflower kind of girl. Looks like she's interested in getting lost."
"Did you see her last night?"
"Uh..." Reefer raised his eyes to the ceiling and his sunglasses slipped down his nose, "No, can't say I did, but last night was pretty crazy. I could've missed her."
"You don't happen to have Lily's address or... her last name?"
"Mm-mm," he shook his head, "But, hey, I'll keep an eye out for her."
Buffy nodded curtly and turned back to Angel, nodding her head to the front door. They went back into the dark street, cars honking on their way past.
"Well, that was a bust," Buffy sulked, "Thanks for going with me. You never know what you're going to bump into in an abandoned opium den."
"Opium den?"
"Well, that's the word on the street," Buffy shrugged as they turned the corner into an alleyway, taking a shortcut to the nearest subway station.
"Looked more like a run-down strip club to me."
"Oh, ew. You think?" she asked, just before tripping over something heavy and stumbling to the ground. Before her work clothes could get stained by a dirty puddle, Angel caught her by her shoulders and steadied her back onto her feet.
"Thanks," she said, embarrassed, "So much for my slayer agility."
She looked down, behind her, at what she had tripped on and saw a thin leg. Her eyes wide, she followed the legs up to the unconscious body lying in the gutter. It was an old woman with long, pale gray hair and a gray shift dress hanging off of her thin, frail body. Buffy grimaced and stood over her, staring at the woman's open eyes.
"She's dead," said Angel, who had bent down to take her pulse.
Buffy stared at her wide, blue doe eyes.
"Buffy?" Angel prompted.
Buffy blinked, starting to feel like she was going crazy. "Lily?"
xxx
Shelby unlocked her apartment door and shoved it open with her shoulder, a bucket of KFC drumsticks in one arm and her briefcase and loose notebook pages in the other. She kicked the door closed behind her and immediately caught the scent of fried herbs in the air. She left her stuff, including the fast food, on the coffee table in the hallway and followed the scent to the kitchen.
Jesse had the sleeves of his gray button-down shirt rolled up and a dish towel thrown over his shoulder as he fried mushrooms and onions on the stove, sprinkling something green over the pan. He turned to pick up a small jar of garlic powder and caught sight of Shelby in the archway to the kitchen.
He smiled wide. "I'm making dinner."
"I can see that," she grinned.
"I thought it'd be a nice break from takeout."
"I never did learn to cook. That's very thoughtful, Jesse. Is Beth asleep?"
"Like a log," he said, leaning on the island counter and pouring two glasses of red wine.
"I'm glad I have you around, Jesse," she said, leaning against the counter with him and fingering The Daily Lima that sat on the marble surface with red pen circling apartments to rent, "You're looking for an apartment?"
"I thought it'd be easier to have one nearby instead of getting here from my parents house every day," he said, handing her a stemless wine goblet, "Besides, it's time for me to be independant from my family. I'd like to be closer to you and Beth."
Shelby raised an eyebrow. "I'm glad Beth and I have you."
"Really?"
"Of course. It definitely makes my life easier, and Beth loves you. And I... I definitely missed being your mentor. You're a wonderful student."
Jesse took a sip of wine and looked down into his glass. "You're a wonderful teacher."
"Listen, Jesse, I hope I'm not being too demanding of your time."
Jesse looked up, surprised. "Why would you think that?"
"You're here all day. You're even here on weekends. I feel like I'm robbing you of a social life."
"Shelby, I'm here because I want to be. I want to spend my time with Beth. I want to spend my time with you. Learning from you... Talking to you."
Shelby looked up at him, cautious. "Jesse..."
"Shelby, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be," he said, taking her hand, "I missed you last year. I know you probably won't like to admit it, but you missed me too, right?"
Shelby pursed her lips. "Yes, but-"
"Look, maybe I'm overstepping my bounds here but... I don't care."
Jesse quickly leaned in and kissed Shelby on the mouth, his hands falling over her shoulders, pulling her in. She closed her eyes and slid her arms around his waist, feeling his taut back muscles, before her eyes snapped open and she pulled back, pushing him away.
"That was a mistake," she said quickly, her lips still moist.
"Shelby-"
"Jesse, I'm not going back to that again. I'm a mother now-"
"And you said so yourself that Beth loves me. Having me around more would be a good thing and... Shelby, we work together."
"No, we don't. Jesse, our relationship was wrong. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you."
"You didn't. You know that I love you."
"Yes... but I don't love you. I'm sorry, Jesse, but if we are going to be around each other, we can't fall back on bad habits."
Jesse pursed his lips, still feeling her lipstick on him. "Then maybe we shouldn't be around each other," he said, almost sulking with disappointment.
"Jesse-"
"I'm sorry, Shelby, but I think I've been under the impression that there's something for me here in Lima. Something for me to stay for. But now I'm thinking there's not."
Shelby's mouth hung open, at a loss for words. "What are you trying to stay?"
"I'm going to leave Lima, unless you can give me a reason not to."
Shelby pursed her lips and folded her arms. "I can't do that."
Jesse sighed, his eyes falling to the floor. "I can stay until you find a new nanny."
"That won't be necessary."
Jesse bit his lip, then quickly stopped and smoothed his hand over his hair. "Good. I'll leave, then." For a moment he thought he'd go to the nursery to see Beth one last time, but he decided against it, hating goodbyes.
Shelby didn't move as he brushed past her, as dark smoke billowed from the abandoned frying pan.
a/n: So, a lot of conflict in this chapter. Tell me what you think of how everything's developing and what you think's gonna happen next. Thanks for reading!