Well, here is the last chapter... it will be followed by a very-very short Epilogue.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10 – Secrets
Secrets are made to be found out with time.
-Charles Sanford

Megan grasped on to Pogue's waist and pushed him back, "You can't just go and kiss me like that…" She stated staring up in to those hazel eyes, they were full of emotion and Pogue stepped in to the house and shut the door.

He grabbed her hands and looked her dead in the eye, "You can't just push me away like this…"

Megan stared at him long and hard, she hadn't even figured out what she was feeling. How could she handle this right now? She couldn't find any words to come to her; she waited for Pogue to say something, anything.

"We need to talk, now…" He stated walking in to her house, without her permission and sitting down on the couch.

"Wh-why?" Megan asked shaking her head, her eyes following his lean figure as he took a seat on the couch.

He sat on the very edge of the cushion, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands. She could tell he was deep in thought. He was still trying to figure it all out too.

"Because I've got all of these feelings inside of me that I've never had before… never…" He looked up to see her standing in front of him. "Not even for Kate…"

Megan didn't say anything she just sat down on the couch next to him, slowly letting herself realize that whether she liked it or not. This was going to happen.

"I just needed to see you, to talk to you…" He shook his head. "You have plagued my thoughts every single day since we first met…" He pursed his lips together. "I didn't even know you're name and I couldn't stop thinking about you." His nose wrinkled up in dissatisfaction.

"Pogue," She started to say, he held up his hand.

"I just want to get it out, ok?" He stated turning slightly to look at her. "You said you didn't want to know each other by our real names, because then we might start caring about each other…" He bit his bottom lip. 'Well that didn't work, ok?" Running a shaking hand through his long hair those hazel eyes looked thoroughly confused. "I didn't know what to think… or what to do or say about all of this…" He balled his fist up. "I just wanted to be with you, I couldn't even stand to be around Kate when we got back together, I compared her to you every'time she opened her mouth.

"I couldn't stand to know that you were screwing around with Reid…" He squeezed his eyes shut. "It killed me, and to know that he knew you're real name… that he spent time with you…" Those pouting lips puckered out. "I broke up with Kate for good so I could get you back, but when you dropped Reid off that day… you just blew me off and I didn't know how to approach you… I was scared." He admitted.

"What?" Megan raised an eyebrow.

"I was scared of how I felt for you, because you aren't the normal kind of girl I date… you weren't like all the others…"

"I was different… that's really cliché…" Megan rolled her eyes trying to fight back her emotions.

"It's cliché, yeah… it is… but it's true…" Pogue shook his head. "I love that you paint your room in a short skirt and barely there top with nothing underneath. I like how when you're pissed off you blast rock music from your speakers." He looked around the room. "I am amused by your dry humor, and love your art…" He looked up at the paintings.

"Pogue…" She started to say something but he cut her off by grabbing her face in his hands and pressing his lips to hers.

"Just be quiet for a minute…" He whispered against her lips. "I'm falling in love with you…" He stated against those pink cushions.

Megan's entire body tensed up as she stared him in the eye, their faces in a very close proximity, "You don't even know me." She whispered back.

"I might not know much about you, Megan, but I know me… and I know that what I'm feeling right now is something that I have never felt for anyone. Ever." He touched his forehead to hers.

"I can't…" Megan stood up and smoothed out her shirt absentmindedly.

"You can't what?" Pogue asked standing up.

She hadn't realized she said it out loud; she stared at Pogue and swallowed hard, "You have to understand…." She started. "I have never been good with these relationship things…" She motioned between them. "I run at the first sign of commitment…" Shaking her red head she looked down at the ground. "And you stepped over the first sign and went straight for the 'L' word…" She was starting to feel panicked.

"You don't have to say it back right away… I can understand that you need time, but Megan you should know how I feel…" He stated feeling his heart pounding in his chest at an unbelievable rate.

"You're just confused," Megan pointed out moving around the coffee table to get away from the couches, she was cornered. "You just think what you're feeling is love… but it's not…"

She could hear Kelsey in her head, you're doing it again. Don't runaway. She closed her eyes shut and shook her head, "I'm not running away…" She mumbled.

"What?" Pogue asked confused.

"I'm not running away…" She said a bit louder, not caring that Pogue was in the room. She was trying to convince herself that it wasn't happening again.

"You are running away…" Pogue stated his voice showing his emotions.

"No," She pursed her lips together and looked up at him. "I'm not…" She set her jaw and stared at him, long and hard.

"Megan, can we just sit down and talk about this?" Pogue asked grabbing on to her hands, making sure that she didn't get too far out of reach.

Megan let him pull her to the couch, he turned to face, her barely sitting on the couch himself, "Tell me what is going on, tell me why you're running away…"

Megan stared straight ahead; she glanced at him from her peripheral vision and felt the tears welling in her eyes. She was running. She was just like her mother. She shook her head; she didn't want to be like that. She didn't want to be hurt in the long run, but she didn't want to live without knowing what it felt like to love, or be loved.

"I'm afraid of commitment…" She began quietly. "Anytime a guy ever got to close, or said those three words, I ran…" She gave a bland smirk. "I had seen the pain my mother went through after my ex-step father kicked her to the wayside, she started dating random guys, and she'd sleep with them for awhile and then leave them." She cleared her throat. "My father left us when he found out my mother was pregnant with me."

"That happens sometimes…" Pogue whispered wiping a stray tear from her face.

"It happened all my life," She felt more tears escaping her, betraying her. "I hated men, for the longest time, but I found a use for them…" She grumbled and looked up at him. "Then I met you…" She sniffed and looked up at him, her dark ember eyes slowly turning a greenish color as her sadness showed through.

"I haven't felt like this about anyone before… and it scares the shit out of me…" She replied.

Pogue couldn't suppress the smile on his lips as he pulled her closer to him, "Now that is an acceptable answer…"

"I've never told anyone that, except for Kelsey…" She whispered resting her chin on his shoulder, letting him hold her.

Pogue pulled away from her and felt an inner turmoil with himself. He should tell her about his secret. What if Chase came back? Kate was pissed at him for not telling her up front, not letting her know, and then she ended up in the hospital because of that bastard. And then he lost her because of the result.

He didn't want that to happen again, he gave her a small kiss on the lips and looked down at her, "I have to tell you something, before we can go any further…"

"Oh god, you're gay…aren't you?" Megan asked shaking her head.

"Would I tell you I was falling in love with you if I were gay, Meg?" Pogue asked her seriously.

"You might… you're really bisexual and Blue Eyes is your gay lover?" Megan asked raising an eyebrow, her sense of humor coming back to her. She paused and a small smile passed over her lips, "I could handle that… that's actually kinda hot…"

Pogue's mouth dropped and he stared at her, "No… I am not gay lovers with Tyler…" He spat out a laugh. "And that would not be hot… that is just weird…" He shook his head and grabbed her shoulders. "This is serious…"

"Ok," She let her face relax and stared at him, waiting for him to spit it out.

"What I'm going to tell you, you're either going to think I'm absolutely insane, or you're going to freak out…" He pulled his lips tight over his teeth. "There's really no in between…." This was a true test for him.

"If you don't spit it out already," She didn't wipe the serious look off of her face, she could tell by the brooding look in his eyes that he was serious about what ever it was he was about to tell to her, or expose to her.

"You can't mention a word of this to anyone, and I mean anyone…" He stated. "You can't say anything to Kelsey or anyone at school…"

"They'll be lucky to know that I even know you…" She stated giving him a small playful smile, but she received nothing in return. Pogue folded his hands in his lap and looked for the right words to say this.

"Megan," He used her name, and it felt like fire on his tongue. "I'm special…" He began.

"You can say that again…" She gave him a playful wink, Pogue rolled his eyes.

"Be serious, about this Megan, I have never told anyone this before, except for Kate…" He pursed his lips together getting tired of her trying to make a joke out of this. He understood why she was, it was her defense mechanism but he wanted to tell her the truth before it was too late. He had to tell her his secret.

"I'm sorry…" She looked completely sincere as she bowed her head slightly.

"I'm sorry; it's just that… this is a very sensitive subject…" He rested his hand on her exposed knee and rubbed it gingerly. "Have you ever heard the stories about the families that founded Ipswich?" He asked.

"Of course, who hasn't?" Megan asked being completely serious. The stories of the four families that founded this town was something that everyone who lived here knew.

The Danvers, The Simms, The Garwins, and the Parrys… she thought to herself. The last two names struck her as familiar. Garwin, Reid Garwin, she remembered Rhys calling Reid, blondie by that name at the swim meet last week.

And Parry… why did that sound so familiar?

"What the fuck is your problem Parry?" The guy at the bar last night, had called Pogue, Parry.

"My family is one of the descendants…" He started off.

"You're a Parry?" She asked finally piecing a little piece of the puzzle together.

"How did you know?" Pogue furrowed his brow, he noticed her tone was more of a shocked realization than a knowing tone.

"Last night, at the bar, the guy called you Parry…" Megan pointed out. "I didn't think anything of it then, because I was so bloody pissed at you… but I get it now…"

"Well then you've heard the stories of where our families came from, why they came here…" He pointed to the ground.

"Blondie, Blue Eyes and Tall Dark and Handsome too, huh?" She asked.

Pogue raised an eyebrow at the nicknames she had bestowed upon his best friends, he shook his head, "Yeah, Reid, Tyler and Caleb are all descendants as well… that's why we're all best friends… all of our generations have been close friends…"

"Ok," She nodded.

"But they came here to flee from the witch hunting that was going on in England; they founded Ipswich as a new colony…" He cleared his throat. "They fled because our ancestors had abilities…"

"Abilities?" Megan questioned, almost echoing his words.

"Yeah, we've got special privileges that most people don't have…" He pointed out.

"Are you trying to tell me that all the stories about witch hunting, and witchcraft are true?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

Pogue swallowed loudly and nodded, "Pretty much…"

"And you're a descendant from a family of witches?" She sat back and stared over at him for a second. Pogue nodded his head. "So do you… have powers… or cast spells… or what?" She raised an eyebrow.

"We have powers…" Pogue stated.

"The three comrades too?" She scrunched her nose up and glanced at Pogue.

"All of us…" He announced.

She sat there silently for a moment, grasping the information that he had just told her. She sat back up and glanced over at Pogue with a small hint of a smile in her eyes, "Do you realize that is the coolest thing ever?" Pogue's eyes widened and Megan smirked.

"You're not going to freak out, or call the loony bin on me?" He asked cautiously.

"Why the hell would I do that?" She asked confused. "We live in Ipswich, miles away from Salem… where witchcraft is openly studied… I'm not some in-the-box, cookie cutter Prep School girl who doesn't believe in that kind of shit…" Megan explained.

"God that is a relief…" He sat back on the sofa, any tension he had was completely gone and lifted off of his shoulders.

Megan was still trying to take in the information, and was completely amazed by his secret. She watched him sit up and give her a small smile, "So while I'm being completely honest, there is something else that I should probably tell you…"

"Ok?" She was a bit cautious about this now, that tone couldn't be good.

"There was a fifth family, that we thought was gone and had never thought anything of for over three hundred years…" He scratched his neck absentmindedly and turned to look out the sliding glass door. "Well we found out that the fifth bloodline didn't die out… and the fifth son came back… and he tried to take Caleb's power the night he ascended… and injured me pretty and put Kate in the hospital…"

Megan pulled her knees up to her chest and listened to Pogue explain what happened several months ago, "And Caleb thought he got rid of him, but they never found his body…" Pogue swallowed and looked over at her nervously.

"That's important information to know… so watch my back for creepy guys that are about 17 or 18 years old, gotcha…" Megan quipped trying to lighten the mood.

"Meg, it's an even bigger deal because we're afraid that he might come back for me, when I ascend…" He stated biting his lower lip.

"What happens when you ascend that so great?" She asked carefully, she knew about the families but she had never really heard any great detail.

"Well," Pogue sighed and pulled her closer to him. He wanted to hold her, she was sitting too far away from him, and if he was going to continue exposing his biggest secret he wanted to be able to have her at arms length. "When we turn thirteen that's when we get the first of our powers…" He began. "It's just a taste, you know… to show us what it's like…" He cleared his throat loudly as she rested her head back against his chest. "Almost like a test,"

"And they slowly mature, but the more you use your power, the more addictive it can become, especially after you have ascended. At eighteen, we ascend, it's the full maturing of your powers, and from what I hear it hurts like a bitch." Megan laughed a bit and Pogue's palms rested on her stomach. "But the powers, we can't use them too much… after we ascend, they become addictive, and you crave to use it more and more…"

"I feel another but coming on…" Megan interjected.

Pogue laughed and nodded, "But, every'time you use it takes a little piece of your life with it, it ages you terribly…" He clenched his jaw tightly. "Caleb and Reid both lost their father's to the Power…"

"And yours?" Megan asked.

"My father doesn't use as much as he did… but he looks at least ten or fifteen years older than he is…" He rested his chin on the top of her head, "Tyler's dad was a lot like him, they never really use much… but it's Caleb and Reid we have to look out for."

"Why is that?"

"Reid has always used a lot, we have always told him that he's going to expose us one day… because he uses openly and too often…" Pogue rolled his eyes.

"I would have never thought…" She pursed her lips together. "So, when do you ascend?" It was her cowardly way to ask him when he was going to turn eighteen.

"Two weeks," Pogue stated pulling her hand in to his.

"Well that's a nice bombshell to drop on me two weeks before it happens…" She smirked tilting her head back to look at him.

"I lost my last girl to this, and I didn't want it to happen with you… I couldn't let that happen with you…" He stated placing his lips on her forehead.

Megan didn't say anything else; she just sat in his arms for a little while, enjoying the piece between them. They had learned a lot about each other in the last several hours. They had confessed their true feelings for one another, and told their biggest secrets to one another.

Megan couldn't help but smile, she wasn't going to run away this time. She was going to stick around and see what fate had brought her. She came to realize that night, after a long love making session that Pogue had something that none of the other guys ever did.

He had her heart.

Woohoo... now for the Epilogue...