Diligo Est Amicitia

Chapter 1: Attraction

"This isn't one of your silly plans to patch me up with Sarah again, is it?" Caleb Danvers demanded of his three friends. Tyler Sims, the youngest of them all, glanced at the leader of the Covenant through the rearview mirror from the driver seat. His eyes held mirth and just a hint of pity and guilt.

"Nothing of the sort." He assured his childhood friend. "Just a night out to Nicky's."

"Yeah, dude." Reid Garwin agreed. "You're on a break on that thing you have going on with her. We're clear."

"It's not just a thing." Caleb snapped irritably. "She just needs time to think. Take it slow, you know."

"She?" Pogue Parry, the fourth Son of Ipswich, cocked an eyebrow.

"She. We. Us." Caleb corrected himself. "Whatever." He turned away to stare out the window. This signaled the end of the discussion, a conversation that he found himself so occasionally drawn into that it had become tiring. Sarah and him were not over… they were just taking it one step at a time. Their relationship had either weakened or strengthened after that whole 'Chase incident'; it could not have remained the same, Caleb was sure of it. Well, whatever it was, he was sure as hell not going to give up their relationship without a fight, that was certain.

He was actually glad that she had asked for it; he could not bear her keeping silent when he knew there was so much that she could say. Her silence on their dates deafened him to the extent that he almost wanted to yell at her. Yell to ask her to start talking again. To be herself. Almost. For that was the Sarah Wenham whom he had fallen for. The Sarah Wenham that would have been friendly to just about any other person in the world. This new Sarah was a girl who wouldn't let anyone except people she knew get close. She would probably have grabbed the sharpest thing she could find and attack whomever startled her without thinking too much about it.

Caleb glanced at Pogue. Lucky Pogue. He had Kate. Kate Tunney who didn't even think about leaving him when Pogue had told her his secret. She had realized that it was because of him that Chase had put a spell on those spiders, eventually causing her to end up in hospital. She hadn't cared about that. But Kate was not Sarah. Had not been used like Sarah. Still, he envied the couple. A love like that was hard to come by for anyone such as themselves.

A sudden stop jerked him out of his thoughts. Tyler had pulled into a parking spot outside of the familiar bar and the four teenagers filed out of the car and into Nicky's. They welcomed the warmth of the place and sat at their usual place. While Pogue looked around for his girlfriend, Tyler and Reid were searching for their victims to bet on. Finally finding one, a blonde whom they had never seen before – not that they really cared about that -, they started their usual bets. Caleb just looked on in amusement as Reid lost the bet.

"Dude, the girl didn't even have lace panties on." Reid whined.

"Hey, I bet blue lace… you bet black cotton." Tyler retorted. "Since she was wearing blue anyway, I win." He explained, as if talking to an ignorant six-year old. "But to prove just how sporting I am…. Yo, Nicky! Two beers over here!" He ordered.

"Make that three." Pogue added in wearily. Kate hadn't showed up yet and she was definitely late.

Just then, the sound of the front door opened and Pogue turned towards it eagerly. The other three laughed silently; it was obvious how much Kate had her boyfriend wrapped around her little finger. Pogue suddenly whistled and Caleb, Reid and Tyler looked up to see the cause of the sudden sound of appreciation.

The source of it was obvious; three girls had walked into the little bar and were looking around favorably at the surroundings. Caleb could not see why they were so positive at being in such a crowded and slightly grimy atmosphere. The middle girl, a willowy brunette, moved forward, the other two girls, who were just as svelte, following her. On the right of the brunette was a girl with dirty blonde hair, her blue eyes piercing and challenging anyone brave enough to meet her gaze. On the other side was a redhead, no less stunning than her companions. Her eyes were a forest green; mesmerizing. The other patrons of the bar did not seem to notice their presence though the Sons of Ipswich paid them their undivided attention. Though ignorant of their existence, the packed floor of hot bodies seemed to give way for these three, unconsciously, as if they were responding to a presence they didn't know was there like water flowing around rock.

"Nicky!" The brunette cried out as they reached the bar. The owner seemed to squint his eyes at them as if trying to remember someone whom he had met a long time ago. A wide smile splashed over his face a few moments later and he embraced the three girls.

"Well, well…. If it ain't my favourite girls!" He greeted amiably as he went behind the counter to get them drinks.

"Aw… we missed you too, Nick!" The redhead grinned at him.

Nicky sighed, giving the three girls an once-over. "My, you lot have grown… I could still remember the day when you first came in… like it was yesterday."

"Oh, come on, Nick! Give us a break!" The blonde rolled her eyes. "We're still those girls we were three years ago."

"Mind if we pool?" The brunette asked. She was already holding a pool cue, surveying it as if its condition was a matter of utmost importance.

"Mind?" Nicky roared and the three girls jumped. "You go right ahead, Jamie… knock yourself out."

"Sure… if you don't mean that literally." Jamie joked. Nicky only chuckled, shaking his head.

"It'll be a pleasure to see the legendary Jamie Chapman play again." He said.

"Aww… tear." She pointed to an imaginary tear running down her cheek. "And anyway, you give me way too much credit… the last guy I played with almost beat me."

"But?" Nicky prompted, seemingly eager to listen to his old friend's story.

"He got unlucky. The ball missed by a few inches." Jamie replied, walking off to the billiard table.

Reid, obviously seeing a chance to flirt, jumped up from his seat. "Might the lady be interested in playing a round?" He asked, in mock haughtiness.

The girl, Jamie, only smirked. "What's your bet?" She asked.

"That I can beat you in ten." He replied, taking out a crisp twenty-dollar note.

"Five." She challenged as she took out her own bill.

Reid whistled. "You've got guts, little girl. But can you walk the talk?"

Jamie only laughed and moved to remove the triangular case from the balls. Reid chose his pool cue absent-mindedly and signaled for her to start first. "Ladies first." He grinned.

She only smiled sweetly back before concentrating on her move and with one quick shot, all the solids seemed to disappear from the table. "Unbelievable." He whispered, and then stared at her. Jamie smiled triumphantly, gathering her winnings.

She moved with a little swagger towards him until they were only inches apart. "You had guts, little boy." She taunted. "Too bad it wasn't enough." She stepped away from him and seemed to turn back to her cohorts before she tilted her head towards him thoughtfully. "Hey, Nick." She called. "Get this guy here a drink…. This…" She trailed off and Reid realized that he was supposed to tell her his name.

"Reid Garwin." He extended a hand for her to shake and she took it with a few seconds pause.

"Jamie Chapman." She introduced herself. Their eyes met and the depth in her silver eyes captivated Reid momentarily.

"Hey, everything alright here?" Caleb's voice broke the spell. Reid turned to see the leader of the Covenant hovering over him concernedly, Pogue and Tyler flanking his side.

"Jamie?" The girl's own clique had arrived and had stationed themselves by her sides. They scrutinized the Covenant with inquisitiveness and something that might have been interest. They looked an odd group; three striking teenagers on one side and four equally handsome boys their age on the other side. Nicky hung around awkwardly, unsure as to what to do. It seemed unlikely that a fight might break out; there were the occasional brawls but there had never been one between four guys and three girls.

Caleb studied them. All three were dressed in spaghetti-strapped tops, leather boots and hipsters. The blonde was looking warily at him and his friends, her blue eyes gleaming with twice the defiance as before and a few strands of her hair had fallen loosely by her face. The brunette appeared amiable and was either pretending to be or really was ignorant of the tension between the two groups of friends. The redhead seemed to be looking anywhere but in their direction as if placing her eyes on them would give her conjunctivitis. She gave the impression the peacemaker and probably the Tyler of their group. And speaking of Tyler… he seemed to be very interested in the redhead. Inwardly, Caleb grinned despite himself. Does baby Tyler have an itty-bitty crush? He teased, using the Power to send this thought to his fellow Covenant brother. Tyler seemed to blush as he received the message, and then glared at a fully beaming Caleb. He knew Caleb was just fooling around, as did Caleb. Tyler was understanding in that way. Now if he were to speak like that to Reid… Caleb mentally shook his head. The guy took things too seriously.

Speaking of which, Caleb thought, returning his attention to the situation on hand. Then, the brunette broke the silence. "Your friends?" She asked gesturing to the small group behind Reid.

"Yeah, um… this is Pogue… Pogue Parry, Caleb Danvers and Tyler Sims." He waved at each one of them as he introduced his friends. "Guys, this is Jamie Chapman."

"Lilith Evans and Fin Gray." She said, pointing to the blonde and redhead respectively.

"What kind of a name is Fin?" Pogue blurted out.

"Depends." Fin replied. "What kind of a name is Pogue?"

"Depends." He copied, smirking.

"So…" Caleb said, taking charge of the conversation. The brunette's eyes flicked to meet his and it was Caleb's turn to be wowed by her silvery orbs. They seemed to burn into his own. Like she wasn't human. He thought absent-mindedly. "Wanna come sit with us?" He offered the three of them, snapping out of the transitory trance.

"Uh…no, that's okay." Lilith spoke for the first time. Her voice had a certain accent to it. "Y'all seem to be having some more friends over there anywhere." She gestured to the table. The Sons of Ipswich turned around to see that Kate and Sarah had arrived and were watching them interact curiously. "Wouldn't wanna jump in. Nice to meet you guys anyway." The three of them turned around and moved off to sit at the bar before the four boys could protest.

"What happened? Who are they?" Kate asked as they returned to their table.

"Newbies to Ipswich. Nicky claimed they were here three years ago, though." Caleb replied.

"Nicky lets fifteen year olds into his bar?" Sarah asked, incredulously.

Pogue shook his head. "Nah, that would never happen."

"Why, what would happen if someone tried?" Kate probed.

"They'd get thrown out." Reid answered. "Hey, Tyler, too bad that they aren't wearing skirts, huh…. Tyler?" But Tyler seemed to have gone into a stupor. He was staring in the direction of the three girls, a glazed look in his eye.

"Ooh… I think Tyler's got a crush…" Caleb teased.

Tyler snapped out of it and whipped around to glare at his leader. "It's not that, Caleb. I mean, could you sense them? They were…kinda different from the rest of the people here. I just can't place it."

"You think they might be witches?" Caleb asked in a hushed tone, slightly mocking the baby boy.

"Or maybe it's just a feeling he gets for them." Reid snorted. "Especially the redhead. Jeez, Tyler, can't you differentiate between the feeling of attraction and the feeling that someone's not what they seem to be?"

Now, Tyler looked unsure. Caleb, catching on to he look, said, "It's okay, Tyler." He promised. "Whatever it is, we can deal. Now, it's best to give them the benefit of the doubt."

Tyler nodded slowly, still looking unsure, then went back to watching them. No doubt, he did feel something for the redhead. Maybe that was it. Attraction.

A/N: Okay, this is the first chapter and it really is important that I get reviews so that I'll know whether to continue or not. I promise to try and concentrate on all the four Covenant characters but it'll really be hard as I have plans for mostly Tyler.

Crickes