Chapter Nine: The Junior Mint
"Gaige? What are you doing here?" Tyler's tentative voice called out from directly behind her, his hand gently pressing against her lower back as he neared. She resisted the urge to jump in fright at his touch and froze up, confused on how to answer.
Crap. What was Gaige doing there? She obviously couldn't tell them the real reason – Oh, I'm just visiting my dad's grave site, don't mind me! – but what else could she say? Wait a minute! Why were the Sons there? Kind of random, visiting Papa Danvers' empty tomb two days before Christmas. Then it hit her. It was the same reason she could use, and she hadn't even realized it! She smirked as the excuse rolled off her tongue.
"Just visiting Mr. Danvers. You know, it's the anniversary today." Caleb and his boyfriend - oops, she meant Pogue - looked at her somewhat strangely, but Reid and Ty just nodded, not even knowing that she knew the real day of Mr. Danvers' death. Why would she, anyway? She wouldn't; no one other than the Covenant and Founding families knew - it was a good thing they didn't know she was a part of the Founding families.
Publicly, James had died several years ago, when his aging got so bad he had to go into hiding at the Danvers Colony House, where Gorman took care of him. In reality, Gaige knew he'd only died two or three years prior, in October, not December.
"How'd you know him – my dad?" Caleb asked suddenly, watching her face closely, as though he was reading her. She immediately put on her poker face and attempted to shield her mind - just in case.
"James? Oh.. Um, it's well, it's private. But I guess you could say we were really close, though." Gaige said, trying not to mock him but failing. What she said was pretty close to the truth, though.
As though he detected a lie of some sort, Pogue spoke directly to Gaige for the first time since that fateful summer day. "Would you say you took it hard when he died?"
She froze up, and Ty, probably thinking she was about to get emotional or something, wrapped an arm around her waist and shot Pogue a dark look. He was such a cute dork! However, Gaige didn't quite appreciate the gesture she seemed to think was demeaning instead of comforting, and shrugged him off, smiling assuredly.
"No, it's okay. But, yeah. It was... Very hard... For me. When he died." the lie came out in choppy fragments, her words seemingly stuck on her tongue.
It wasn't hard when he went into hiding. It wasn't hard when he officially died, either. It had been hard when James had become so ill he wasn't able to make trips to see her anymore. Evelyn only came twice after that - twice in six years. Gaige stopped getting visits altogether when she received the Power. That was hard.
"Did you ever come to visit him? I mean, I just think one of us might've recognized you... We'd never heard of you until the summer."
Yes, Gaige had visited James. Once, just after her eleventh birthday, when he first 'died'. She walked all the way from her little house in Maine to the bus stop, then rode to Ipswich, where she was dropped off then walked the rest of the way. On that day, she'd just taken off, not even thinking of the consequences, just because she missed him so terribly. All Gaige had wanted was to see him - if only for one last time. After the bus stop, she had to walk all the way to the colony house that she'd never heard of, let alone ever been to. It was as though there was a magnetic pull on her, dragging her all the way there without issue. Once Gaige had arrived, this annoying little boy harassed her until Gorman scared him off...
Uh-oh. That was it.
She quickly connected the dots. Why Pogue looked and sounded so familiar, why he always seemed so suspicious of her. He knew her. The long-haired biker was the mean, prying little boy that caught her all those years ago, and he remembered it. Fuck.
"Um, no. I lived pretty far away." Lie. "Never got the chance to visit." Lie.
"He came to visit you, then?" Caleb asked, seeming very interested in her answer.
She hesitated.
This was exactly why she'd avoided them in the first place! They always asked the hard questions! The Sons were so prying, so nosy, always full of suspicious questions that would have her found out in under a minute flat! The truth was not just yet an option for Gaige. She wasn't strong enough. Her Power alone wouldn't protect her if the elders came after her, especially not before she Ascended. Just in a few days, too.. They could wait.
Shrugging, Gaige answered noncommittally. Caleb let out a frustrated huff, but let the conversation drop, instead looking curiously at the flowers she'd placed by the grave.
"You put dead black roses on my dad's grave?"
"Whoa. That's like, a whole new level of creepy," Reid remarked, glancing behind her.
Dead? Gaige spun to look at the roses, which were in full bloom not even five minutes ago, only to see wilted, browning, dying black roses. Not good. That definitely would not pass for normal, no matter how thickly she spun her web of lies. Had she done that accidentally? She winced and searched for a way out.
Deciding to play it off, she went with the innocent look. "What? Dead? No, they were completely and utterly alive and beautiful when I put them down..."
Gaige trailed off easily, looking up just in time to see the Sons exchange glances warily. It was like she'd planned it, how good everything turned out. Just as Gaige had hoped, they took the blame upon themselves, assuming they Used unknowingly while talking to her, when in truth it was exactly what she'd done. Success was hers!
"That's, uh, freaky. So, We should probably get going..." Caleb said hastily while slowly backing away and bringing the others with him.
God, for being the leader, Gaige thought Caleb was really the one with the least balls in the group. Reid was the one who looked up and grabbed at her wrist as Gaige started to walk the opposite way. "Did you fucking walk here?"
"Um, well, see..." she stumbled, unwilling to lie for herself anymore, but still unable to tell the truth.
"Ride with us!" Tyler suggested excitedly, quickly leading her to the ginormous tank of a yellow Hummer.
Great. This was precisely what Gaige had in mind when she told herself to avoid the Sons of Ipswich. Their company was almost as addictive as their shared Power; the more she was around them the easier it was to be around them, to Use, to spill her secrets. Honestly, it drove her nuts.
Baby Boy hopped into the passenger's seat after Reid nabbed the keys and took the driver's side, leaving the middle seat. Between Caleb and Pogue. For Gaige. Yay.
Her older brother's gentlemanly side appeared and he helped her up into the cab of the rather lifted car before sliding in after and squishing her against Pogue's muscle-enriched side. Seriously, weren't they broad-shouldered enough? Gaige barely fit between the two elder Sons, and even then her shoulders were hunched inward and Pogue's arm was slung behind the head rest to give her more room. In reality, it just worsened their situation. When Caleb stretched slightly he accidentally pressed her further into Biker Boy until Gaige had to cock her head towards her brother lest she be wedged forever into Pogue's leather-clad underarm.
From the back, Gaige could swear she'd seen a smirk drawn on Reid's pink lips in the rear view mirror. Vile toad. He probably planned all this, judging from the deep set frown etched onto Ty's face. In that moment, she almost felt bad for Baby Boy, then she breathed in deeply and nearly killed herself from the intoxication.
"Oh my god! Open the window! Open up a fucking window! Now!" Gaige screeched, waving her hands around frantically while attempting to also hold her breath.
"What? What's wrong?" Tyler asked worriedly as she quickly leaned over Pogue until her head was far out the window, snowflakes catching in her hair.
"That- that smell is what's wrong!" she shouted over her shoulder, voice muffling slightly because of the wind. While doing so, she noticed that Pogue had shifted as far backward as he was physically able, probably so as not to touch her.
"God, Ty. It's prolly Pogue's nasty-ass biker b.o." Reid chortled until Pogue leaned forward and slapped the back of his head, accidentally pressing Gaige against his chest further.
"Ew, much? No, it's not that... How much cologne do you guys wear? You could run a store with it all, I swear. I'm drowning in man-stench!"
Caleb chuckled at his unknown little sister, whom had finally come in from the window, while oddly eyeing Pogue as she scrambled off his lap. The biker had clenched his jaw closed with a snap, the tendons in his cheek straining enough to show through the skin. Weird. Gaige sat back down in her seat, snapping the belt on again, ready to be squished. Her preparations weren't needed however, because Pogue was leaning as far from her as possible, only their thighs touching.
"Sorry, Sweets, we like to smell nice just for you."
"Aw, thanks Billy, but it's not necessary. Enough is enough. I think I'm the only person in this car-truck-behemoth-thingy not wearing perfumey shit."
"You don't wear perfume?" Pogue asked rather randomly, not distancing himself from her as he was before.
"Um, no."
"It must be natural, then." Reid quipped.
"What? Do I stink?" Gaige attempted to lift her arm up to sniff under, but Pogue had squished it behind him. " 'Cause I showered today. Seriously."
"No, far from it!" Ty began, "You smell great. Like... Mint. Peppermint candies."
"And chocolate." Pogue added as an afterthought.
It was all so hilariously silly, Gaige had to laugh. Chocolate and mint, natural? Ha! "Oh, wow, guys. Those are my junior mints!"
"Huh?"
"The candy. I had a bag in my suitcase when I first got here so all my stuff smelled like them, then I got addicted. Now I eat them all the time. I love 'em." she said with a smile, giggling slightly. When had she gotten so comfortable around these fools? She didn't know, but she was glad she did. Perhaps they weren't as bad as she'd thought.
Everyone laughed at that. Minty chocolate – candy. It made perfect sense. Not like some of the crazy theories Pogue had - Pogue, who, as the ride wore on, got bored. He easily vacated himself from the conversation at hand, as per usual, and let his hand absently play with the curls in Gaige's hair on her headrest. His arm was already slung against the back of their seat, so it wasn't much of a reach. He probably wasn't even doing it voluntarily.
Neither of them noticed, but Caleb sure did.
AN: As always, thank you for the reviews! And if you haven't already, check out my other Covenant story! Its a Xover with Charmed called 'The Arrangement'. Drop me a review or PM if you have any questions or suggestions! I always like to hear the readers' ideas for where they think my story is headed. And who knows? I might just include what you say and credit you!
Edited: 6/19
