9. The First to Fall

Sheridan stood in the library staring blankly at the books in front of her. It had upset her to see Meredith so unsettled. These Mather men were starting to develop into something of a situation. Grandmother Selena had always warned the girls not to let 'situations' get out of hand. Sheri knew that she wouldn't do anything without consulting the other three girls, but there was no harm in doing some research; was there? Sheridan headed to the historical documents area and was surprised to see Caleb and Pogue. They looked up as soon as she took the last step up the stairs.

Sheridan cocked an eyebrow at them. Caleb was frowning thoughtfully. "Pogue told me you all ran into Jacob and Adam Mather in town. We thought we'd see if we could find anything that wasn't in the Book."

She looked at the various books lining the table in front of the two boys. "Good, it looks like I won't have to go searching for books then. Sometimes reaching the high shelves is a pain in the butt."

The boys smiled at her and indicated the chair on the other side of the table. She took it and grabbed a book to start with. "Geneology of Massachusetts." she murmured. "This might be good reading with or without the Mather issue."

The three got to reading in a companionable silence.

&&&

Lilith was angry...beyond angry really. Intentionally or not those boys had hurt Mer. That was not acceptable. Currently she lay on her bed bouncing a ball on the ceiling. It would hit with an angry snap, and then fall back into her hand with a slight sting. She had tried to play videogames, but hadn't been able to concentrate through her brooding. Sheridan had muttered something about the library and had disappeared. No way was Lil going there.

A knock on the door to the room sounded and Lil, muttering a curse word, got up to answer it. Tyler Simms was on the other side. He looked a bit startled upon seeing Lilith. "Oh, um, hi. Sorry to bug ya, but is Sheridan around?"

"No." Lil told him leaning in the frame of the doorway. Tyler wasn't a bad looking guy, she found herself thinking...the thought shocked her and she almost frowned more severely.

Tyler was looking at Lil as if she might snap his head off at any moment. She looked pissed. "Oh, okay. I was just seeing if she had heard when the next paper due date was... I missed it when Professor Michaels was spouting it off, and I can't find my boys."

Lil sighed. "Come on in, I'll check my outline." She moved from the door and he followed her inside. Lil's heart was racing and she almost felt sick. What the hell was happening? She leaned heavily on the desk and pulled the folder she'd assigned to that course out of the pile. Lil found the date quickly. "Lookee there. Halloween." she told him and turned around.

He stood in the room looking at her and started nodding. His stomach almost hurt seeing her, and his palms were sweating...it confused him. "Thanks." he managed to wheeze.

"Are you okay?" Now she was concerned. Tyler wasn't looking so good. He looked like she felt. She moved towards him and something happened. When she was within five feet it was like she couldn't control her legs anymore. "What is this?" she whispered with a bit of fear.

Tyler swallowed past a lump in his throat. "I don't know." Now his feet were moving and they met in the middle. As soon as they were in front of each other their arms reached out. His went around her slim waist, and hers circled his neck. "I'm not doing this." he promised.

She shook her head and stared up at him through her startling green eyes. "I know, I'm not either." she murmured.

"But it feels..." his face was moving towards hers.

"Right." she finished and then their lips met.

Something akin to a flash of pleasure and pain seemed to engulf them. Both felt a tingling tense sensation move through their bodies and then they both relaxed and deepened the kiss. All worry, and concern left them. All they felt was each other. Lil felt something connecting them and couldn't explain it. All she really knew was that she'd never be the same.

Finally, the two pulled away. Tyler looked down at her and raised a hand to her face. He stroked his knuckles down her cheek. "I don't know what that was, but I'm glad it happened."

She could only nod. Somehow, someway, she almost felt like there was something running between their two bodies. "Why haven't we ever felt this before?" she asked.

Tyler shrugged. "I don't know. Honestly...I just have no idea."

"We should check with the others."

He agreed, and nodded. "Definitely. But whatever they say...I don't want this to change."

She nodded, "No. Me neither." Then she smiled at him and leaned up for another kiss.

&&&

Meredith, Quin and Sheridan got the text to meet Lilith as soon as they could. Reid, Caleb, and Pogue, got the similar message from Tyler. They were all to meet at the place where the Putnam barn used to be. Sheridan, Caleb, and Pogue were all still in the library when the text came through, and they all looked at each other a little oddly when there phones buzzed at almost exactly the same moment. The boys looked at each other. "We have to take off." They told Sheridan as she read her phone. She was already grabbing her purse.

"Yeah, me too." she said with a frown. She had already started walking and was slightly in front of them when she turned back looking confused. "Could you guys give me directions to some place called the Old Putnam Barn?"

Caleb and Pogue looked even more baffled. "That's where we're going." Caleb murmured. "Why don't you ride with us?"

"Cool." she responded hesitantly. "Did Lil text you guys?"

"No." Pogue stared at the girl. "Tyler did...Lil texted you?"

"Yeah." Sheridan started to get worried.

Caleb looked grim. "Let's just get there and find out what's going on." They ran into Meredith and Quin on their way out. "Come on, I'm assuming Lil texted you and you'll need a ride to the barn."

Meredith looked at him strangely. "Yeah, Reid got a text from Tyler, he's on his way down. He had to grab his wallet. We're supposed to meet him here since we don't know the way."

"Yo." Reid called out as he jogged up. "Did baby boy text you too? Anyone know what's going on?"

"No. We're all a bit lost." Pogue responded. "Let's just get there and we can worry from there."