When Aria had fled to the bathroom, Branwen had looked at Caleb and raised a brow. "Is that really necessary?"

"She was giving it right back." He said.

"What are you, four? If you like her, stop being a dick and tell her. She may like to snap back at you, but she's not going to let you near her when all you're showing her is thorns."

Sighing, Caleb had gotten up and disappeared down the hall. Pogue smiled. "Is she going to like you giving him advice on how to win her over?"

"Probably not but someone has to."

"Does that mean I should ask her about you?"

"We're just friends. It's different."

He narrowed his eyes. "Is it?"

She didn't have the energy to deal with emotions. "Can we not get into this again?"

"Are we ever going to talk about it?"

She looked him in the eye. "I understand how you feel but you agreed to be friends and this is the first time since Thanksgiving we've even explored the friends thing. So can you just let it be that?"

Pogue sighed and leaned forward, resting his arms against his thighs. "Answer me one question first."

With little choice, Branwen waved her hand for him to go on.

"When there comes a time that you have time to explore a deeper relationship, are you going to be honest enough to admit to it?"

She didn't have to ask about what he wanted her to admit. She knew he wanted her to own up to her feelings and despite having admitted to Aria that she had them, she wasn't any closer to being okay with them. She was impressed she had invited them up to the apartment. Her draw to him was beyond her ability to resist. But she didn't know if she should be encouraging that. After all, she was beginning to think that she understood the tingling and it didn't bode well for their… friendship.

"I don't know." She said honestly.

He looked at her for a moment before sitting back and taking a drink of his beer. "Okay."

Her eyes narrowed. "Okay?" He nodded and she leaned forward. "That's it? Just okay?"

"You were honest. I'd rather know you're conflicted than you pretend everything is fine and I find out months from now that you gave up."

Thinking about that she realized it made a lot of sense. So she leaned back and took a drink of her water. "Okay."

He smiled behind his beer and they sat there for a couple minutes before he looked around. "What's holding them up?"

Branwen shrugged and sighed. "They're in Aria's bedroom making out."

Pogue choked on his beer. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I heard her door close."

"You're not surprised, or concerned?"

"They're grown adults. I don't need to chaperone them."

He smiled. "Want to hang out in your room?"

Branwen rolled her eyes. "Nice try."

Pogue shrugged and motioned to the TV behind her. "Want to watch a movie?"

Smart boy. She would have to move to the couch to watch the movie. So would he if he wanted to get a better angle. Giving in this time, Branwen put in a movie and went to sit beside him on the couch. She soon cursed Roger and his leather couch because it was cold as a South Pole outhouse. She pulled the blanket off the back of the couch over herself but after ten minutes she was still cold.

Eventually she gave in, rolled her eyes and reluctantly moved to lay against him. He raised a brow at her. "Well hello, friend."

"Shut up." She said. "I'm cold and I'm not willing to let you in my bedroom."

"I'm not complaining. Come on over."

She slipped one frozen hand under the back of his shirt and the combination of the cold and the tingling had him almost off the couch. He glared down at her. "That was not cool."

She smiled at him innocently. "You told me to come on over. I was just trying to warm up. You're not the only one that can fight dirty."

"I wasn't fighting dirty." He said, sitting back, pulling her over and positioning her against him with her hands held in his, safe from sensitive skin.

She rested her head against his shoulder and smiled to herself as she turned back to the TV. "Sure you weren't."

They were both asleep long before the movie ended. When Branwen woke she knew as much from her position. Still tired, she didn't bother opening her eyes. She could feel everything she needed to know.

First, sometime in the night they had slid sideways and she was now wedged between Pogue and the couch, her body half on top of his. Second, it was daylight. She could tell the blanket was against her face but it was bright enough against her eyelids to know the sun was out and the curtains were open. Third, Pogue must be having some interesting dreams because a very interesting part of his anatomy wasn't exactly unnoticeable.

Branwen wondered if he was always like this or if their position had his dreams filled up. Was she starring in those dreams? She smiled to herself but her amusement was cut short by a shiver up her spine. Branwen would have liked to say it was her own attraction to Pogue but it wasn't that kind of shiver. This shiver made the hair on the back of her neck stand up and she moved her hand up Pogue's chest and pulled the blanket, preparing her eyes for the onslaught of light. But when her eyes adjusted and she saw what her other senses had picked up on, she wished she'd stayed under the covers.

Her father didn't look anything like he had in life. His skin was gray and drawn and his eyes bore into her as he stood over her and Pogue. The warmth he had always shown her was gone and all that was left was a disturbing and poor resemblance more suited to a stranger.

Then, suddenly, his mouth opened to unnatural proportions, as if he was letting out a blood curdling scream. And then she heard the scream, clear as day. It wasn't until she felt someone shaking her that she realized she had shut her eyes and she was the one screaming.

Pogue shook her again to make sure he had her attention before smoothing a hand over her cheek. "What is it? What's wrong?"

She couldn't speak. Even if she could, she couldn't very well tell Pogue she'd just been visited by a darkling of her dead father. All she could do was sit there in his lap on the couch and stare at him.

Seconds later Aria and Caleb rushed into the room, both looking like they were ready to defend the other should it be needed. "What happened?" Caleb asked.

Pogue didn't take his eyes off Branwen. "Bad dream I think."

Branwen looked past him to Aria and she knew her eyes must have spoke for themselves. Branwen could not shake the terror. But she couldn't very well fall apart with the boys there. There was no telling what would come out of her mouth.

So she boxed it up, robotically climbed off Pogue's lap and walked over to the door. "You guys have to leave."

Caleb raised his brows. "Excuse me?"

Branwen really didn't have time for his insulted pride. She walked up to him and levelled a steely glare at him. Pointing to the door, she spoke in a low but firm voice. "I said get out." She looked at Pogue. "Now."

She felt bad for Pogue. For both of them actually. But she could still feel her heart beating a mile a minute in her chest and when the boys didn't move, she felt her chest tightening and her breathing grew uneven. Glancing at Aria as she went past with the full force of her fear on her face, Branwen walked down the hall, into her room and closed the door, dropping to the floor beside her bed.

After a few minutes she heard the apartment door slam and when Aria came in and sat beside her, Branwen tried to calm herself enough to take a real breath. Aria, used to Branwen and all her eccentricities, just sat there, waiting for Branwen to calm herself down enough to speak.

"We're in over our heads." Branwen said. Aria held Branwen's hand and Branwen forced herself not to pull away. Aria is not what she was uncomfortable about, she reminded herself. "Someone sent me a darkling."

Even without looking directly at her, Branwen knew Aria's eyes almost popped out of her head. "A Darkling?"

Branwen nodded. "It was in the shape of my father."

They sat in silence for a moment before Aria spoke. "Do you think it's a warning from the coven? Do you think they know the boys stayed here last night?"

Branwen shrugged, her brain finally beginning to function normally again. "I don't know who else would send me one, let alone in the shape of my father. I don't know if the point would be that he left the coven too and they're trying to scare us back, or that he tried to help the Sons and we are being warned to stay away."

Aria nodded, eyes still wide. "That makes sense. Maybe it was meant to do both."

They sat there for what felt like hours. There was a knock at the apartment door and their phones went off multiple times but they just sat there. It was getting dark outside before they even moved. Branwen slowly got to her feet and stretched as Aria went and got them something to drink. When she came back she handed Branwen a bottle of water and sighed. "What are we going to do now?"

Sighing, Branwen took a sip and stared out her window. "I'm going to finish my doctorate and get as far away from here as possible. If I survive that long."

"What do you mean?" Aria's voice was high and Branwen felt bad for scaring her friend.

Shaking her head she turned to Aria. "No matter who sent it or how you interpret it, the darkling was in the shape of my father. A man who was killed for making a stand. No matter what stand the darkling was meant to represent, the only reason someone would choose him as the shape would be to make a threat." Putting the cap back on her bottle and sitting it on her dresser, Branwen looked at her best friend. "My life was just threatened."

Aria had called late Sunday night to apologize about kicking them out. She didn't explain what had happened and didn't talk long but she wished them well on their exams and said that maybe they could get together and talk after Christmas.

Caleb was almost certain that Aria just said it to appease him but there was a worried tone to her voice that Caleb didn't have the heart to add stress to. So he said goodbye to Aria, wished her a Merry Christmas and hung up.

When he told Pogue about the call Pogue barely reacted. Though, without any real information about Branwen and what had happened, Caleb doubted the phone call had meant anything to Pogue.

"I'm glad she's ok." Was all Pogue said.

Caleb wished he knew what had happened between Pogue and Branwen while Caleb and Aria were in Aria's bedroom. Maybe it would give him some insight to Pogue's mood but getting Pogue to talk when he didn't volunteer to do so was like trying to pet a porcupine.

And it didn't get any better. Exam week passed with barely a word from Pogue. When they got back to Ipswich for the holidays, Pogue went straight home. Considering Caleb's mother had made good on her threat and left, the house was really empty without Pogue around.

It wasn't until the coven's annual Christmas Eve celebrations that Caleb even saw anyone. The boys gathered at Tyler's house. Hayley was spending the holidays with her own family so the guys hung out and had a few drinks. Nobody tried to exorcize Caleb, so that was a bonus.

Christmas morning Pogue came over for breakfast but if Caleb brought up the girls Pogue stopped participating in the conversation. The only time Pogue said anything about them was when Caleb's mother called to wish them a Merry Christmas. She must have asked about the girls because Pogue said they were spending the holidays with Aria's family before giving a quick goodbye and passing the phone to Caleb.

Caleb's own conversation with his mother was about a brief.

"I thought you'd at least come back for Christmas." Caleb said.

"The airport here is closed because of bad weather." Apparently she was in Canada somewhere, visiting friends.

"Are you saying if it wasn't you would have come home?"

There was a sigh on the other end. "Caleb, even if there wasn't the issue of your addiction, I have been stuck in that house for years and I am sick of it. You are old enough to be on your own. It's your house now, Caleb. Should you find someone to start a family with, it will be your job to make that house a home."

After a quiet goodbye, Caleb had hung up the phone and went to find Pogue. Whether it was his own frustration with his mother or just at Pogue for his mood, Caleb was charged for a serious talk. He found Pogue packing up his stuff in the sitting room, clearly getting ready to head back to his house again.

"Okay," Caleb said. "Out with it. What is your problem?"

Pogue looked over at Caleb. "What're you talking about?"

"You're moping. You have been like a rainy cloud since that day the girls kicked us out. What's the problem? I know it sucked to get kicked out, but you don't see me brooding and you weren't the one in a bedroom."

Pogue rolled his eyes and went back to packing.

"I'm serious." Caleb said. "I'm not letting up this time. I will dismantle your motorcycle if necessary."

Pogue glared at Caleb. "You touch it and I will dismantle your body."

"Big words from someone who can't seem to dismantle his thoughts."

"What do you want me to say, Caleb?" Pogue asked suddenly. "You want me to pour my heart out to you? Because that isn't going to happen, no matter what you threaten."

"No," Caleb said, taking a step forward. "But something has got you thinking. It's obviously a big deal. We used to deal with the big stuff as brothers. I'm not asking you to pour your heart out, just tell me what's bothering you."

"I'm in love with a girl that won't let me in! Is that what you wanted to hear?" Pogue asked, throwing his helmet across the room. The visor broke off as it hit the floor but Pogue didn't seem to notice. "I don't know why, but something about her has me willing to follow her around like a lost puppy and yet she won't throw me a scrap. She closes up every time I ask her about herself, she avoids me unless I show up on her doorstep, which she now also ignores, and she downright refuses to consider letting us be anything other than distant friends."

Pogue gave a short laugh that held no humor. "Sometimes we have these moment, like everything is perfect and you'd almost think that we're a couple. We work together. And each one of those times I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere. Like maybe this time she'll see that we can work despite how busy she seems to be. And then she pulls back further than she was before. I spent over two years being toyed with by Kate and I didn't even feel about her the way I feel about Branwen. But that doesn't seem to mean anything. Here I am, getting toyed with again."

Caleb sighed. He understood his friend's frustration because Aria wasn't exactly open, but she had let him close enough to get beyond just friends. Branwen wasn't Aria, though. The girls were a lot alike, but Aria was expressive and playful and laid back. Branwen always held herself apart. She could be fun and mischievous too, but she always seemed to hold back, if only just a little. Pogue was the kind of guy that might not be the most talkative partner, but he would put all of himself into the relationship. It was clearly trying for him to be faced with someone who wouldn't do the same.

"I don't think she's toying with you." Caleb said. "She's not like that. She likes you, you know that. But there's something, probably in her past, that holds her back. I mean her face that morning, she closed it off quick, but when we first came into the room… She was terrified."

"You don't think I know that?" Pogue asked, walking to the fireplace and slamming his hand against the mantle. "That's why I figured she'd had a nightmare or something. But why not just say that? Why make us leave? Was she embarrassed?" Pogue sighed, staring into the fire. "Why couldn't she just tell me?"

When Caleb had first met Branwen and knew she would drive Pogue crazy, this hadn't exactly been what Caleb had anticipated. "I don't know, man, but If you do love her, maybe you should try another angle? I mean, you've tried pushing for a relationship and it hasn't gotten you anywhere. Maybe it's time to try something new."

Pogue looked over his arm at Caleb. "I'm not exactly the other angle kind of guy. I go for I want. That's what works for me."

"Not this time." Pogue frowned and turned back to the fire. Caleb had to smile at his own advice. "I changed my angle with Aria and I got somewhere. They're both stubborn. You have to decide if you care about her enough to bend instead."

Grimacing, Pogue looked at Caleb before sighing. "I might stay here tonight. I'm too exhausted to go home."

"That and you'll be needing a new visor."

Pogue looked over at where his helmet laid and swore before going to pick up the pieces. "You would think that I would just give up with all this shit."

"Yeah," Caleb said, "But without her you'd just be off stalking some other girl."

Pogue smiled. "I don't usually have to chase skirts."

"No, usually you just blow them up."