Disclaimer - I do not own The Covenant or any of its characters. I only own my original characters Tahlia and Cade, my storyline and anything else that seems out of place.

Thank you so much to those of you who have chosen to favorite/follow this story. I hope you are liking it so far.

I apologize for the delay in chapters, I'm suffering from a bout of writers block. I have 9 stories I'm working on right now, so it's hard to focus on just one at a time, but I'm trying.

Reviews are appreciated!

xoxo Tiearney

Saturday morning Pouge awoke to an empty bed. Rolling over he glanced at the clock that read 7am. Groaning he rolled back over onto his back, listening closely he didn't hear any noise coming from the apartment. Where could she be? Suddenly terror gripped his heart as he thought something may have happened to her. He quickly jumped out of bed and rushed out to the living room, but just as he reached it, it opened revealing Tahlia. She was dressed in a black sports bra with a dark blue racer-back tank top over it, black yoga pants and white running shoes.

"Pouge?" Tahlia noticed his ashen face and panicked gaze. "What's wrong?"

He didn't say anything, just gathered her up into his arms holding her close. Tahlia didn't question why as she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back.

"Don't scare me like that." He said pulling back from her, gripping her biceps in his hands. "I thought something had happened to you!"

Tahlia instantly felt appalled at her decision to go out for a run without waking Pouge up first or leaving him a note. "I'm so sorry Cowboy. I wasn't thinking. You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you. I can't tell you how sorry I am."

The raw emotions shining in Pouge's eyes caused Tahlia's eyes to well with tears. She felt her throat constricting as his azure orbs bore into her own. Unable to continue the intense staring contest she closed her eyes tightly, sending tears cascading down her cheeks.

Pouge felt dreadful as he saw the tears track down her alabaster skin. He hadn't meant to yell at her but just the thought of something happening to her practically sent Pouge into hysterics. Shaking his head at his harsh actions, he immediately pulled her in close wrapping his arms around her. Her head rested on his chest, he could feel her tears sliding down his bare skin.

"I'm sorry Pouge. I'm so sorry." Her sobs made his heart clench, as she whispered her apologies over and over again desperate for her best friends forgiveness.

Pouge continued to hold her close, whispering and shushing her until he heard her sobs begin to subside. Minutes later she stood before him calm and collected once again. Suddenly a thought came into his head and he smiled at her. "I have an idea. Let's go get Zeus and Hades. With them around I won't be so worried about you going out alone."

Tahlia smiled, "Okay. Let me go take a quick shower." She kissed his cheek before all but bouncing into the bedroom.

Pouge sat down on the couch laying his head in his hands. I have to tell her. If the feeling of outright dread that had consumed him earlier was any indication, he needed to finally tell her how he felt. He was starting to question that if he didn't tell her soon, he would never have the chance too.

He heard the shower shut off and about ten minutes later Tahlia walked out dressed in a black T-shirt with a low V-neck, snug blue jeans and black sneakers. She was toweling her long hair, as he slipped past her to the bedroom she gave him a smile that brightened his mood considerably. Yep, definitely need to tell her.

Half an hour later they sat at the house with Caleb and Sarah. After explaining what had happened that morning the couple was more than happy that they had chosen to take the dogs with them. But the happiest ones had to be the dogs themselves. They had been bounding around, barking and pawing at Tahlia's legs since she had come in the door.

Pouge noticed something as she sat on the floor playing with the dogs, while she was smiling, there was something missing. A sort of sadness had settled over her and he soon realized what it was. There was someone missing from her life. Titan. He had been much more than a dog to her, he was a friend, a protector and part of her family. Pouge had already been secretly working to find another Pit that resembled Titan, not to make her forget, but to help her begin to heal. But so far he wasn't having much luck. He wasn't sure what else he could do to help her try and cope with Titan's loss.

Glancing down at his arm he smiled as he saw the infinity tattoo on the inside of his wrist. He then knew just what to do. Excusing himself for a minute he headed upstairs to Tahlia's bedroom, and after finding what he was looking for, he went back downstairs to the group.

Tahlia was on the phone when he got back, she hung up shortly after with a big smile to Sarah. "They're ready."

The two girls squealed as they shot to their feet and headed for the front door, hollering at the two guys to hurry up or they would leave them behind. Caleb and Pouge followed having no idea what the hell was going on, but resigning themselves to the fact that they weren't privy to that information.

When Tahlia pulled her truck up outside of the mall the two guys groaned. As much as they loved these girls, they hated going to the mall unless they truly had no choice. After much grumbling and a threat from the girls to leave them at the truck, they reluctantly followed the girls into the mall towards the vintage dress shop. Inside the owner greeted them with a big smile as she ushered the two girls into the back to show them how the dresses had turned out.

When the two returned through the curtain they were each carrying a large black dress bag, hefted up in their arms. Caleb and Pouge both glanced at one another before they scurried forward and took the bags from the girls. Tahlia and Sarah smiled before thanking the two, then turning back to grab their bags of accessories the owner had graciously gave them. The foursome left the mall, heading back to the Danvers house to drop off Caleb and Sarah. Afterwards Pouge took Tahlia back to the tattoo parlor they had gotten their infinity symbols done at.

Forty minutes later Tahlia was walking out with a new tattoo on the top of her right wrist. As a tribute to Titan, Pouge had taken a mold of the dog's paw print that Tahlia had made when he was a puppy, after she had first got him. The artist had taken that mold and made an outline of the paw print, tattooing it onto Tahlia's wrist, shading it in and adding Titan's name underneath it.

Tahlia tenderly stroked the plastic that covered the fresh ink as she sat on the couch inside the apartment. She couldn't believe she had not thought of honoring Titan this way. Each of her tattoos had a significant meaning, representing someone or sometime in her life, and yet that thought had not crossed her mind. But it had crossed Pouge's.

Tahlia turned her head, gazing at her best friend where he stood in front of the grill on the small deck, making them lunch. She knew she had been right when she told Cade that no one knew her better than Pouge except her brother. He knew how much Titan had meant to her and he knew how she used her body art to preserve and record a memory. She had been fighting with herself since Pouge and Kate had broken up, debating whether or not to take a chance and tell Pouge how she truly felt. It wasn't that she was afraid of his answer, she was more afraid of fulfilling the prophecy. Even though in her heart she knew that she could not stop loving him.

After lunch the two of them took Zeus and Hades to the park. They sat on the grass tossing a Frisbee into the air for the dogs who each grabbed onto one side tugging it back and forth between them, neither wanting to let go. Twenty minutes later the dogs lay on the grass beside them basking in the glow of the sun. Pouge turns to Tahlia who is lying on the ground, her eyes closed.

"So, three weeks. You ready for the ball?"

"Mmhmm." She says opening her eyes and smiling up at him. "Should be a night to remember."

Over the course of the next three weeks the group prepared for the ball, finalizing plans and sorting out last minute details. Tahlia had been out on four more dates with Cade, just as friends much to Cade's displeasure. Despite his advances and charming demeanor she resisted him, explaining that while it was nice to have an admirer, she wasn't looking for a permanent relationship just yet.

Truthfully, Tahlia was finding herself less attracted to Cade the more she spent time with Pouge. She had made her decision to tell Pouge how she truly felt at the Halloween Ball. With the prophecy hanging over her head she realized that time was precious and if she was to die, she wanted to do so on her terms, no one else's.

The two of them had been spending relatively every moment together. Coming to school together, hanging out between classes and swim practice, after school when they hung out with the others, and nights at the apartment watching movies, studying and sleeping. And yet they had not even shared one kiss. The intimate touches were there, everyone in Ipswich could see it. They held hands, hugged, danced together at Nicky's, they were always touching in some subtle way. They both knew what they wanted, but neither was sure about taking the first step.

That was until the night of the Regional finals swim meet at Spenser, one week before the Ball. Pouge, Caleb and Tahlia were the only ones to compete, each one taking first in their respective classes. It felt like a special night to Tahlia for two reasons. Not only had she won, but her mother had been there cheering her on as she did it. It was the first time Evelyn had been to one of Tahlia's swim meets, more so it was the first time the two had been out somewhere as mother and daughter. It meant so much to Tahlia, especially with the strain the prophecy had placed on their relationship since Tahlia had found out.

However the real fireworks flew after the meet was over. The locker rooms were empty, save for the Sons and Tahlia. Once showered the group met up outside at the vehicles. Evelyn smiled at her daughter as she handed her a small black box wrapped in a red ribbon.

"Congratulations sweetheart."

Tahlia smiled taking the box and untying the ribbon. She opened it to find a beautiful white gold necklace with a snowflake charm encrusted with diamonds, it sparkled as the lights from the parking lot hit it.

"I know how much you love snowflakes."

And Evelyn was right. As much as Tahlia loved summer, she loved the snow. Not so much being cold, but the sight of the snow falling down from the sky. She treasured the way the it settled over everything blanketing it in white powder, giving it that soft glow. It was one of her favorite things to replicate with her gifts. She loved the way the Sons eyes lit up as she conjured a ball of water in her hands, throwing it into the air and seeing the soft white flakes fall to the ground around them.

Evelyn took the necklace out of the box settling it around her daughter's neck and clasping it. Tahlia reached up fingering the charm. "It's beautiful mom. Thank you." She hugged her mom relishing in the ability to do so.

"You're welcome my love."

After bidding goodbye to Evelyn the group got ready to head to Nicky's to celebrate. Until they realized that one of them was missing.

"Wait, where's Pouge?"

The group exchanged glances at Caleb's spoken question. Tahlia groaned, "You guys go ahead. I'll go find him, he's probably having issues with his hair." She snickered garnering laughter from the others as they got into the Hummer and left.

Tahlia jogged back into the pool area towards the locker room, just inside the doors next to the showers she ran into something solid. She hit the floor on her butt, hard, yep that was going to bruise. But all her clever retorts, in fact her ability to speak at all, left her as she looked up.

There before her stood Pouge, in all his uh, (throat clear) glory. Before she could stop herself she began a slow visual examination of him. His long blonde hair that fell in damp clumps around his face suggesting he had just gotten out of the shower. His face, strong and handsome, those big green eyes that could melt her every time, and a mouth that brought thoughts to her head she didn't care to acknowledge. His neck was thick, the veins and tendons obvious, and the black necklace that she had got him when they were kids was wrapped around it.

His chest and abs looked better than they ever had before, like they were chiseled from stone, the muscles blatantly obvious even in his relaxed state, he was all hard angles and smooth skin, not a hair on his chest or stomach.

Unable to stop them her eyes traveled even lower and fell on something that made more unwanted thoughts flood her mind and an unsettling dampness to set up shop between her own legs. She forced her gaze lower to discover that even his legs were heavily muscled.

She finally brought her gaze back up to his face only to find his eyes examining her body the way she had just analyzed his. The way his eyes slid over her body made the dampness increase to more than just discomfort.

Movement caught her eye and she looked back down at his, err...package, and found that it had nearly doubled in size and was now shamelessly showing his desire for her. The size of him made her knees wobble and the dampness begin to throb almost painfully. After another quick once over she decided she had some kind of god standing in front of her.

Pouge held his hand out which she took as he helped her to her feet. She tried to casually shrug off the situation, but both of them could feel the electricity in the air… along with the now added sexual tension.

"Umm, we were wondering what was taking you so long." Tahlia was finding it difficult to form words let alone put them together. "The others went ahead and headed to Nicky's. So, um, whenever you're ready, uh we'll go. I'll just um, wait outside."

She turned to head for the door but was stopped by Pouge's hand wrapping around her wrist. He tugged her back to him, walking her back slowly she felt the wall behind her, trapping her between it and his hard body, pun intended. The intensity burning in his eyes caused her mouth to go dry.

"Pouge, we should go. They'll be waiting for us." She whispered unsure of her voice at the moment.

"Let them wait." He whispered in return, his lips ghosting over hers for a millisecond before he leaned down catching her lips with his.

Tahlia felt her knees give out as Pouge's lips met her own. If his body wasn't pressed against hers, she wouldn't have been able to keep her legs beneath her. He reached down squeezing her hip with his left hand, she opened her mouth to let out a gasp and when she did Pouge drove his tongue into her warm wet mouth. His other hand slid up her neck grabbing a fist full of her hair and lightly tugging on it, this encouraged a groan from Tahlia who couldn't make rational sense out of anything at this point. With Pouge ravaging her mouth exploring every inch and his rock hard member pulsing with desire for her against her thigh, Tahlia felt like she was dreaming.

But as Pouge pulled back from her, their eyes locked and a smile worked its way onto his face. He admired the way her cheeks were flushed, her lips puffy and bruised from the force of his kiss and the new sparkle that was in her eyes.

That smile from Pouge told her she was not dreaming, this was happening. It excited Tahlia and yet terrified her was well. This was uncharted territory between the two. What would happen now? How would the others react? What if something happened between them, could they ever go back? Tahlia slid both her hands up into Pouge's hair and pulled him down, kissing him passionately and silencing those thoughts. She knew by the look in his eyes that they would figure this out as they always had, together.

The two split apart moments later, leaning his forehead against hers, the two stood holding on another. The only sound was their deep breaths, trying to replenish the sweet oxygen the kiss had stolen from them.

"This wasn't how I planned our first kiss." Pouge admitted.

"Me neither." Tahlia agreed with a smile. "But I'm not complaining."

Pouge chuckled, "Neither am I." He leaned forward catching her lips again, only more gentle this time.

"Pouge, we should go." She smiled kissing him between her words. She hadn't realized how difficult it was to speak when you were being kissed.

Reluctantly Pouge pulled away giving her lips a final small kiss. As difficult as that was for him. Tahlia was like his own form of drugs, one kiss and he was addicted. "Yeah, you're right we should." He laid a kiss on her forehead and turned heading towards his locker as Tahlia slipped back out the door.

Outside the building Tahlia leaned back against the wall, letting out a deep breath. Her heart rate had returned to normal but her legs still felt unsteady beneath her. Tears filled her eyes as she realized she would never be able to go back. Pouge was in her heart completely, with that one kiss he had captured her. Images from her reoccurring dream flashed behind her closed eyes, playing like a silent movie. Her heart clenched at the vision of Pouge lying bloody in her arms, whispering his final words to her before drawing his last breath of life.

She couldn't go back. She couldn't tell Pouge the kiss meant nothing, that it was a mistake. She knew those were lies and he would see right through her. Anything she did now would surely break Pouge's heart, even if she felt it would save his life. No, she couldn't take it back, she would not hurt him. Taking a deep breath Tahlia made a silent vow that this prophecy would never be fulfilled and her dreams would never become reality.

Pouge met her outside shortly after, seeing her red rimmed eyes gave him cause to worry. "Is everything okay, Angel?"

She took a deep breath giving him a thousand watt smile. "Yeah. It's getting there."

He returned her smile, taking her hand they headed for the truck. As Pouge rode shotgun, his thumb drawing lazy circles on the back of her hand, he couldn't help but smile. True that wasn't how he had pictured kissing Tahlia for the first time, but he wasn't going to complain. It was everything he had ever imagined kissing her would be. Passionate, rough yet tender, soft when it called for it. He loved the feeling of her fingers running through his hair, tugging on it urging him on. The sparkle in her eyes as she smiled at him, pulling him down for another heat searing kiss. Her lips were like fire, melting him into her until they were one person. If this was how each kiss with her would be, Pouge was looking forward to every one for the rest of his life.

The two arrived at Nicky's, walking through the door hand in hand. As they crossed the floor to the tables where the rest of the group was, Tahlia saw Nicky give her a questioning smile. She gave him a big smile in return and as she passed him she held her hand up behind her back and crossed her fingers.

As they sat down at the table Caleb smiled at his sister, she returned it but he could see something behind it. He leaned over giving Sarah a kiss on the cheek before he stood up. "Hey sis. How bout a game?"

Tahlia nodded standing up and moving to the nearest foosball table. She glanced up seeing her brother's look of concern, he knew something was wrong.

"Is everything okay Lia?"

She grabbed the ball dropping it in to start the game. "We kissed."

Caleb smiled, he was genuinely happy to hear that news. "So are you two?" He waved his hand in an "explanation please" gesture.

"I don't know." She bit her bottom lip, worrying it between her teeth as she concentrated on her shot for the win.

Caleb smiled, rounding the table he slung his arm around her shoulders hugging her to his side. "Don't worry Lia, it'll work out. Just be patient. I know it's not one of your virtues." He laughed as she slapped his chest. "I'm kidding. It'll happen, trust me."

"How can you be so sure, Cal?"

Her brother smirked as he nodded his head to Pouge who was watching Tahlia with a loving gaze. "He's always been yours."