Chapter 10

Pogue's shoulders were coiled tight with tension as he watched the green scenery of the woods pass by the car window. The air inside of the mustang was crawling with tension and nether covenant member could bring themselves to break it.

That old man is hiding something from you.

Pogue couldn't help his sigh. (You're still here?)

Unfortunately. Chase replied, sounding almost as bitter as Pogue felt. Gorman's hiding something from you.

(No shit. Wouldn't be the first time.)

He does it often? That's sad. After everything you've done.

Pogue rolled his eyes and tuned Chase's voice out. He risked a glance at Caleb out of the corner of his eye. The older boy had a blank look on his face as he stared through the windshield at the road. His fingers were gripping the steering wheel tight enough for his knuckles to be bone white.

This was going to be a long day, no doubt about it.

Pogue eyed the scenery once more, wanting to lose himself within the sea of green pine. When the trees gave way to old bricked buildings Caleb nervously cleared his throat.

"Do you need clothes or anything?"

Pogue dropped his gaze to his knee and thought for a moment. "Yeah, there's a few other things I need to get from my place."

He saw Caleb nod out of the corner of his eye.

"Ok, where's your place at?"

"Turn off near the pharmacy and onto Fifth." Pogue replied before he could stop himself.

He cursed himself mentally, the last thing he wanted was for Caleb to know where he lived— he had to practically beg for Reid and Tyler to keep their mouths shut during the past month. Now he wouldn't have anywhere to hide or to escape to when things got worse and no doubt they would when the coming months started to whittle down and the tattoo started to claim more and more of his body. Then there was the little annoyance currently residing in the back of his mind to worry about as well.

I heard that. Asshole.

(Bite me.)

Chase huffed in annoyance and retreated to the smaller corner of the empath's head he had recently claimed. Pogue fought against the urge to lash to mentally pummel the bastard, remembering the all too unpleasant feeling of the air dying inside of his throat and his strength slipping through his fingers like drops of water. It wasn't an experience he wanted to relive any time soon.

The mustang slowly rolled to stop a few minutes later. Pogue eyed his apartment building coldly, debating if he enjoyed his current living conditions enough to remain there or move to another building, one unknown by his brothers.

He could feel Caleb's dark eyes staring at his face and with a resigned sigh Pogue unclipped his seatbelt and slid out of the car. His ears picked up the sound of the driver's side door opening and slamming shut, forcing him to groan. Was it too much to ask for Caleb to stay in the car for a few minutes? The older boy's footsteps shadowed his as they made their to the front of the building and Pogue had to use a great amount of restrained in order to keep from looking over his shoulder to gage Caleb's distance.

The walk to his door was nerve raking and seamed much longer than usual with Caleb trailing him. He briefly considered stopping near a random door or stair case but eventually dismissed the thought upon realizing it wouldn't do much good. He seriously doubted that Caleb would let him out of his sight anytime soon. He was stuck with older boy; there was no way around it.

Reaching up into the nook above the door, Pogue retrieved his spare key and unlocked the door to his apartment. He entered the dark and stale living room, not bothering to hold the door open for Caleb or shut it behind him. Forcing himself forwards, Pogue headed for his bedroom, leaving Caleb behind in the dark living room.

He didn't exercise much energy packing, he grabbed the first duffle bag he could find in his closet and started shoving a few pairs of jeans and shirts into the bag. He paused when his eyes noticed the half empty bottle of vodka resting on his nightstand, wondering if he would be able to sneak that by Caleb. With a shrug, he wrapped a t-shirt around the bottle and carefully tucked it into the bag.

When he couldn't fit anymore clothing into the duffle he zipped it closed and slid the strap over his shoulder. The living room was no longer dark. Caleb had apparently turned on the lamp near the front door as well as the overheads in the kitchen.

The kitchen…fuck!

Hesitantly Pogue rounded the corner and poked his head into the kitchen. He immediately regretted it when he saw his friend's face. Caleb was leaning against the counter, his face hard and cold. Clutched between his long fingers was a bottle of vodka that Pogue had drained completely a few weeks prior.

Fuck, this wasn't going to end well.

"What's this?"

Caleb's voice was emotionless, like a parent's who had just caught their child red-handed. Pogue would have rolled his eyes at the metaphor but he was too busy cursing himself for letting Caleb enter his apartment. He should have remembered that he had souvenirs of his recently acquired hobby lying around.

"Caleb—" he breathed out a deep sigh, preparing to utter a long string of excuses but the older boy cut him off before he could even think of one.

"You're drinking?" The words were almost like an accusation as if he had committed an unforgiveable sin in the older son's eyes.

Once more, Pogue felt like rolling his eyes at the metaphor his mind had supplied. This was Caleb, there was no greater sin then drinking yourself into a coma nightly. Evelyn had successfully done it for years in front of the teen and Pogue was forced to watch as the light in Caleb's eyes dim a few shades as he took care of her.

"It's nothing Caleb."

He knew it was the wrong thing to say, god only knew how many times Caleb had probably heard that from his mother over the years, but that didn't stop the lump from growing in his throat when he saw the hurt and desperation in Caleb's brown eyes. A part of him felt absolutely horrible for putting it there.

"Don't you tell me it's 'nothing' Pogue— fuck, there's three bottles of this shit in the trash, two on the counter— how fucking long have you been doing this?"

"Caleb—"

"How long!" The older boy demanded, his voice rising.

Pogue lowered his head. "About a month."

Silence filled the small space. For what felt like a long period of time neither boy spoke. When he felt brave enough, Pogue risked a glance at Caleb through his bangs. The older boy was frozen, his mouth slightly open. God, Pogue wanted to kick himself for uttering out that answer. Why couldn't he have made up a lie, why couldn't have had lied about this whole fucking thing to begin with?

Why couldn't he stop hurting his best friend?

His head rose when he heard Caleb move. The dark haired boy had his back turned and Pogue could hear the water running in the sink as the bottle of alcohol was rinsed out. The silence was beginning to gnaw at his nerves so he wearily opened his mind, feeling for Caleb's emotions. Anger was the first thing he picked up on, red hot and bubbling, but when the emotion receded another, much stronger one, took its place; fear.

Caleb was afraid. Of what he could venture a few guesses but none of them were pleasant or things either of them wanted to (or could) remember. After all, to two of them couldn't even be in the same room for longer than a few minutes before something regarding the past seven months got in the way.

Pogue wanted to scream. Caleb was always like an older brother to him. He was the only one Pogue could ever talk to, the only one who would listen and understand.. He was the one who pieced the empath together after the fatal crash that took his parents from him. Caleb was one who stayed up with him on those nights when the dreams of his parents became too much for him to handle alone.. How did they come to this?

He knew the answer to his question. Growling mentally, he prodded Chase's presence.

(Are you happy now? See what you've done.)

The presence didn't reply back but he knew, fucking knew, that Chase was listening.

Controlling himself, Pogue slowly approached Caleb's side. He felt like he should do something like clear his throat or place a hand on Caleb's shoulder for comfort but he couldn't bring himself to do any of those things. Instead he placed his hands on the counter near the sink and sighed deeply.

"I've been sober for a week Caleb." Technically six days but he figured stretching the truth wouldn't hurt in this situation. "I'm not a drunk, and the only reason I keep that shit around is—"

"What happened?"

Caleb's voice was small and his eyes were tilted down towards the sink. His face was almost hidden from the empath's view by his shoulders as he leaned against the sink. Pogue's chest tightened painfully from the sight..

"What do you mean?" The long haired teen asked, resigning himself to the conversation he knew was coming.

"What happened between you and me?"

"Nothing."

"Pogue, what did I do?"

Pogue instantly felt like he had been hit in the stomach. "What?

Caleb pushed himself away from the counter and straightened to his full height. His eyes were dark and watery but the discomfort and pain in his voice rooted the empath to the spot.

"You've been avoiding me; whenever we're in the same room together you look like you want to run for the hills and…" Caleb sighed and turned his head, looking Pogue dead in the eye. "You flinch every time I come near you."

The words completely took the empath by surprise. In all honestly Pogue was expecting Caleb's question to venture off into a different, less stressful direction, but not this one. Was he really that obvious around Caleb?

"You didn't do anything."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying Caleb, you didn't do anything." The empath replied and then lowered his voice into a whisper. "I did."

The older boy slowly turned his head and gave him a confused look. Pain and desperation were still lurking in the depths of his eyes and Pogue forced himself to look away before the sight could break him.

"Can we just leave already?"

Caleb hung his head and sighed deeply. "Yeah."

Pogue waited for Caleb to turn and walk forward a few strides before following him. He tried to close his mind off to the older boy's emotions but they were far too persistent. Caleb's distress and confusion swirled in the air around him, viciously biting at his mind. He locked the front door behind him and shoved the key into a pocket inside of his duffle, not knowing or caring about when or if he returned.

Chase stirred slightly as they approached the mustang but he retrained his silence so Pogue ignored him as he shoved the duffle into the backseat of the mustang and climbed into the front. Caleb's eyes were looking forward when he shut the door. The dark brown gems didn't once glance his way as the car pulled away from the curb and onto the street.

--------------------------

"There you are."

Tyler jumped when Reid's arm snaked around his shoulders and dropped the book he was holding. "Jesus Reid."

"'m sorry Ty." The blond mumbled. "You're been really jumpy lately, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Reid cocked an eyebrow. "Right."

"I'm serious." Tyler replied and turned away.

"Ty." Tyler felt the other side of his bed dip as Reid sat down. "I know something's wrong. You're not sleeping, you're always jumpy, hell you haven't left the room since yesterday morning."

"I don't have class until Tuesday."

Reid's voice darkened. "Tyler."

The youngest flinched at the tone and lowered his head, staring intently at the bedding underneath his legs. Reid's words were true; he couldn't find the courage to leave their room for the past few days. No matter where he went, he always felt like he was being followed or watched by a pair of eerily blue eyes. It was starting to seriously gnaw at his nerves, he was jumpy and sleep was becoming hard to come by because those eyes were haunting his dreams nightly. And yet…it was strange, whenever he saw those eyes his chest tightened and his stomach started to flutter with warmth. A part of him longed to see those eyes every night and he couldn't figure out why. He didn't even know the name of the man they belonged to.

"Ty."

This time Reid's voice was soft as the blond moved closer. His warm breath causing goose bumps to appear once Tyler's neck.

"Nightmares." Tyler mumbled softly, hoping by some miracle Reid wouldn't hear him.

Unfortunately, Reid heard it, loud and clear.

"You've been having—" Reid sighed and wrapped his arms around Tyler's chest. "About what happened on your birthday?"

"No, it's something else."

He regretted saying it the second the words left his mouth. He didn't want Reid to worry and more importantly he didn't want the other boy to fuss over him. Reid was the worst kind of mother hen you could ask for.

"What?" Reid waited and sighed after a minute had gone by. "Tyler, you can tell me anything."

"It's- it's nothing Reid." Tyler murmured, his confidence fading quickly. "Like I said, it's just some weird dreams."

The blond made a frustrated sound behind him but tightened his hold around the youngest covenant member. "Fine."

"I love you."

"I know Ty."

Reid's tone was flat and emotionless. It cut straight to Tyler's heart, forcing him to drop his head. He was hurting Reid with his silence but there wasn't much he could do. How could he possibly explain that he'd been having very vivid dreams about someone else and seeing that strange face every time he closed his eyes or looked in the mirror to Reid without the blond looking at him like he was crazy?

Reid's arms lowered down to his waste and Tyler felt like sighing in relief. This was good opportunity to change the conversation and steer to towards better grounds. He moved his fingers downward and twined them around Reid's hand, pulling it closer.

Reid quickly got the hint- after all it was firm knowledge that Reid Garwin always had sex on his mind- and drew Tyler closer. Kisses were soon pressed against the younger boy's neck, making Tyler sigh happily and turn in Reid's arms. Sex was something he was starting to crave more and more each day. Whenever Reid's hands touched him, all thoughts disappeared. When their bodies were close, only the contact and Reid's soft mutters mattered, nothing else.

He could always loose himself in Reid's touches.

Fingers danced under his shirt and brushed against his bare stomach. He leaned back, letting his back fall to the bed as Reid moved over him. The kisses were soft and sweet, just how Tyler loved them. Just as Reid was tugging the shirt over his head, a tiny musical tone started ringing inside their dorm.

Reid paused, his mouth hovering an inch above Tyler's neck for a few seconds before glancing at the cell phone rattling on the nightstand near the bed. With a shrug, Reid decided to ignore the phone and nipped at the younger boy's neck, drawing a soft moan from his lover.

Tyler writhed under him, clawing at Reid's shoulders and wrapping his legs around the boy's hips. Reid was warm; he was always warm and solid. It was what he needed, he wanted to feel and be wanted.

The phone rang again, making the nightstand and part of the bed shake from its vibrating. Reid ignored the contraption for as long as he could but eventually the musical chime treaded on his final nerve and he rolled away from Tyler with a sigh.

Fumbling towards the nightstand, Reid grabbed the phone and answered it with a growl. "What?"

Tyler sighed and let his head fall back. Reid grumbled into the phone for about a minute before ending the call and tossing the phone across the room in anger.

"Cockblocker."

"What's wrong?" Tyler asked as he sat up.

"Caleb wants us to meet him outside in a few minutes."

"Why?"

"Hell if I know." The blond growled as he rolled off the end of the bed and grabbed one of their gym bags. "Start packing some clothes."

"Where we going?"

"I don't know, the asshole didn't say."

Any further arguments Tyler had quickly faded when he heard the venom in Reid's voice. He reluctantly rolled off the bed and started gathering clothes. When their duffle was full, Tyler dressed himself in some clean clothes and waited near the door for Reid. The blonde's face was angry and in a full pout. He slung the strap of the duffle over his shoulder and stomped childishly to the door. Tyler almost felt like laughing when Reid kept up the act as they headed towards the stairs after locking the door to their room.

Caleb's mustang was visible through the muti-storied window of the dorm's lobby. Two figures were leaning against the car's side, one was Caleb and Tyler felt excitement stir inside of him when he recognized the other as Pogue. He hadn't seen the empath in nearly a month. The phone calls weren't nearly enough to keep him from worrying about his friend and now seeing him standing near Caleb both relived and unsettled him. If both Pogue and Caleb were here waiting for them then that could only mean one thing, something was wrong.

Reid opened the front door with a hard kick of his foot, making both of the men near the car jerk their heads up in surprise. Tyler followed him outside in the chilly morning air, wrapping his arms around himself to preserve some heat.

Reid's tempter reared its head after a few steps. "What the hell man?"

As usual, Caleb didn't seem the least bit phased by the blonde's attitude. "Just get in the car Reid."

"Where the fuck are we going?"

"Caleb's house." Pogue replied evenly.

"Why?"

"Reid, just get in the car."

Reid lowered his head and swore softly. "You two are back to normal I see."

With a glare, Reid yanked the passenger's side door open and climbed into the back seat. Tyler took a few steps towards the car, stopping near Pogue. A shiver went through his body when Pogue raised his head, his chilling blue eyes staring right into Tyler's face. The younger boy felt his breath catch in his throat slightly; those eyes looked identical to the ones that had haunted his dreams. He willed those emotions away a moment later and forced a smile to his face.

"Hey."

Pogue's eyes grew soft. "Hey baby boy.."

The long haired boy hesitantly held his arms out and Tyler happily moved forward into the hug. He missed Pogue, he missed the bond the four of them had and how close they had been before things got so twisted.

"We missed you." He whispered softly as he pulled away, giving Pogue one more soft smile before climbing into the car's back seat.

He settled next to Reid, briefly bumping the blonde's hand with his own. Reid moved his hand under the bag resting between the two of them and joined their fingers. Tyler appreciated the meaning of the small act, even though Pogue already knew about their relationship nether one of them thought about telling Caleb about it yet and now didn't seem like a good time.

Pogue and Caleb climbed into the car a moment later. Tyler couldn't help but notice the tense silence that seemed to linger in the air between the two of them. Caleb started the car without a word and put the vehicle in gear. The mustang pulled away from the curb smoothly and the silence inside the car's cabin remained constant as it wove its way through town.

----------------------------

Pogue felt a cold pit of dread coil inside of his stomach when the Danvers' house came into view.

The mansion hadn't changed much since the last time he had visited it, nearly a month and a half ago. The driveway was still paved with dark gravel and littered with bright green trees; the small pond near the front door glistened from the afternoon sunlight and reflected an almost identical copy of the front of the house on its face.

The mustang slowed to a stop near the front doors and Caleb silenced the engine with a turn of a key. The eldest son sighed deeply and turned his head, his gaze lingering on Pogue for half a second before he fully turned around in his seat to face Reid and Tyler.

"We're all going to stay here for a few days, ok?"

Reid crossed his arms. "And why is that?"

"I don't know." Caleb replied honestly. "But Gorman insisted."

Confusion from both Reid and Tyler touched Pogue's mind, forcing the empath to sigh mentally. The next few days were going to be interesting. Wearily, Pogue felt around inside of his head for Chase. The bastard had been completely silent for most of the morning and he was beginning to worry. Well, not worry, grow suspsious. Chase's presence felt weak and had felt that way since Pogue first discovered the fucker but he didn't let that thought comfort him. There was no telling what Chase was capable of doing…or controlling.

He wouldn't let that fucker control him, oh hell no. he'd gladly kill himself first.

He prodded around his head a bit more and finally felt the core of what remained of Chase. There was no thought pattern or emotions emitting from it. In fact it felt like Chase was sleeping or doing something similar in nature. Son of a bitch.

"You gonna let us out sometime today Pogue?"

Pogue blinked and was brought back to reality when he felt someone nudge the back of his seat. He quickly shook himself out of his daze and climbed out of the car. He held the door open for Reid and Tyler as the two of them crawled out of the back and stretched.

After a moment, Pogue could feel Reid's eyes staring at him. "So what's this really about?"

Pogue shrugged lightly, faking innocence. "Wish I knew, Gorman just told us to come here."

"Why?"

"I don't know Reid."

Pogue retrieved his own bag from the mustang's trunk and pulled the strap over his shoulder. He glanced around for Caleb and located the older boy near the house's front doors, speaking with Evelyn who was standing on the front steps.

Pogue bit his lip and kept his eyes downcast as he made his way towards the two of them, falling into stride behind Reid and Tyler. The closer he came to the two Danvers' the stronger their emotions were. Caleb's were easily recognizable but Evelyn's made his feet freeze in mid stride. She was worried, her concern and unease was almost as over powering as Reid and Tyler's. Never the less, Caleb's mother quickly composed herself when the three of them came close.

Evelyn smiled motherly at Reid and Tyler and hugged both of them tight. When she saw Pogue standing an arm's length away, she froze. Anger poured from her petite frame but her face seemed relaxed, giving Pogue the impression she was trying –and failing— to suppress the emotion or to hide it.

Great. It was nice to know he was somewhere where he wasn't wanted.

He moved away from her before she could muster up the courage to offer him a hug and strolled bitterly through the open doors. The inside of the house was warm and well lit. The enterer had been thoroughly dusted since his last visit here –where he found the house completely dark and abandoned with a possessed Caleb awaiting him— and all the broken lights had been replaced.

"I've made the guest room ready for you three." Evenyln said as she closed the door behind them.

Tyler nodded his thanks. "Thanks Mrs. Danvers."

"You're welcome Tyler." Evelyn nodded politely. "If you boys will excuse me I have some things to tend you. Caleb, can you show them where the room is?"

"We know where it is." Reid sighed loudly as he made his way towards the staircase.

Evelyn eyed Reid briefly before sighing softly. "Right. There's always the den on the first floor and Wil—the office on the second if you boys don't want to share."

Tyler was the only one who thanked her before she left the room. The younger boy soon made his way up the stairs and Pogue reluctantly followed, dragging his feet. He really didn't want to be here, be this close to Caleb and his mother who was sending anger vibes his way every few seconds. He didn't want to be at the colony house either but the old, rickidy pile of wood was better than being at his apartment alone and Gorman was always tolerable company. The old man kept his distance at least and gave the empath some much needed privacy.

But here, in the Danvers' home, Pogue doubted he'd get anything remotely related to privacy.

Caleb didn't follow behind him and Pogue was grateful about it. He couldn't tolerate being in the older boy's presence anymore, it was too hard and with Caleb's dark eyes constantly looking at his face, searching for some unknown thing or answer there was only so much the empath could take. It was pure torture being that close to Caleb and not reaching out to touch.

He strolled right on by the room Reid and Tyler stopped at and headed towards the office he knew lay at the end of the hall.

Tyler's head rose. "Where are you going?"

"I figured I'd give you two your own room."

"It's big enough for the three of us." Tyler replied softly.

"Not with the two of you going at it like rabbits all night." Pogue shot over his shoulder and laughed briskly when he saw the stunned looks on both of their faces. "What, you think I wouldn't feel that when Caleb called you two down?"

"You're an ass." Tyler replied, his cheeks slightly pink as he stepped into the room he and Reid would be sharing.

Reid followed behind him, giving Pogue a wink before he shut the door. "We'll try to be quiet."

"Sure."

Pogue's smile faded when he reached the door at the end of the hall. After a moment, he turned the brass handle and pushed it open. William's office was large and richly furnished. A cluster of book shelves lined the left wall of the room, complete with a cream colored corner sofa tucked into the nook between two shelves. A cherry wood desk sat in its center, its surface recently dusted and cleaned. The whole room was dust free but the air was still stale.

He tossed his bag on the floor near the couch and sat down. This was not going to be a pleasant stay for him. He wanted to throttle Gorman for making him do this. He didn't belong here, here in the comfort and safety of Caleb's home with his brothers, not after what he had done. He didn't belong anywhere near Caleb, period.

Running a hand over his face and through his hair, Pogue glanced at his duffle, remembering what he carefully tucked away inside of it. With a sigh, he pulled the bag closer and unzipped it.

A bit early to be hitting the bottle don't you think?

(You're still here I see. I guess I got my hopes up for nothing.)

He unwrapped the shirt from around the bottle of the clear alcohol and twisted the cap off. A few sips were all he needed to get his head in order, and to shut Chase's annoying voice up. The vodka burned his throat as it rolled down, warming his stomach and his fingers. The numbness settling in his limbs felt good and he shoved the bottle bag into his bag before sinking heavily onto the couch cushions.

Alcohol was a godsend sometimes.