Hey guys. Sorry it took me so long to update, but I had theatre camp all week and a little bit of writer's block. Anyway, I hope this chapter makes up for the wait! By the way, I'm posting a new pic of Astaire, with a different person than the first pic. It's more like I pictured her looks.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Covenant, however I do own the characters Astaire and Chad.And this story. Oh, and I don't own the song from "Singin' in the Rain" that's being used as a ringtone.

" Why hasn't she woken up yet?" Reid demanded, pulling off his black beanie in irritation.

"She's passed out Reid, not taking a nap," Tyler uncharacteristically snapped. "Besides, where were you when the whole thing went down? Playing pool, right?"

" Chill, Baby Boy," Caleb chastised. " You need to calm down."

" Fine. Whatever." With an angry glance at Reid, Tyler sat down in the armchair.

Pogue stood by the window, arms crossed and eyes on Astaire. It had almost been an hour since they had brought her to Caleb's house and she hadn't stirred.

"Maybe we should check for head injuries," Pogue suggested.

Caleb sighed, shaking his head.

" We already did. She'll wake up soon."

"You hope. You don't know for sure! For all you know she could have a concussion!"

"Calm down, Pogue."

"Can it, Baby Boy."

Tyler's lips straightened into a hard, angry line. He usually would have shut up by now, but after getting scolded by Caleb, he wasn't in an acquiescing mood.

" What? I have to stay calm and you don't? Please. You're not above anyone Pogue."

"Never said I was, did I?"

"You sure act like it."

" Oh really? Well I---"

Reid rolled his eyes and watched the argument flare up with boredom. It was late, he was tired, and he had a Calculus test in the morning that he sure as hell didn't study for. And to top it off, one of his best friends was back in town and now unconscious on the couch after getting sexually harassed. All in all, a pretty stressful day.

" Screw this."

Reid's eyes flashed black and he fixed them on Astaire. If she wasn't going to wake up on her own, he might as well give her a little jolt.

"AHHH!!!"

Pogue quickly looked back at Astaire, panic written over his face.

"What's happening to her?"

The bleach blonde Son smirked, a "guilty as charged" expression on his pleased face.

"She lives."

Astaire snapped up, eyes wide open and fingers digging into the cushions. She looked around wildly, meeting each of the boys' eyes. Her own narrowed as she met Reid's mischievous blue ones. His widened perceptibly when they saw hers turn a dark green.

"Don't you EVER do that to me again, you miscreant!" she snapped, raising her hand and, along with it, Reid. " Do you have any idea what that felt like? It was like being shocked with a hyperactive defibrillator!"

Tyler laughed. The night was definitely starting to look up.

Caleb shook his head in exhaustion and looked at his friends. Typical.

" Astaire, put him down," he said tiredly. " And Reid? Try not to work any more miracles."

Astaire pulled her hand away and Reid went crashing to the floor. He landed flat on his stomach and let out a pained groan.

" Nice to see you've got a better handle on your telekinesis," Caleb said to Astaire, taking a seat next to her. " How'd you learn to control it?"

She stayed silent, looking down at her hands. She didn't feel like telling this story right now. She felt drained and just wanted to sleep.

When she didn't say anything, Reid sighed. His patience, the little he had started with, had gone.

" Well, if she's going to be all mute about it, then I'm going to go back to the dorms. I've got better things to do."

" No," the eldest Son argued, " You are going to stay here. Regardless of whether she tells us that particular story or not, we've still got stuff to sort out."

Reid stood still. Caleb was right, and he knew it. They were all still friends when one got down to the core of it all. It was just the layers of unresolved emotional crap that was causing the problem. Once that was gone, they could basically go back to the way things should be. And as much as he hated to be sappy, Reid had really missed Astaire and the way their friendship used to be.

He sighed. " Whatever."

Pogue took a deep breath as he moved towards a chair. This was going to be one hell of a conversation.

"Tell us why you left." Tyler asked, careful to keep his tone fairly neutral. " It can't be just because of what happened with Po---"

" It wasn't." Astaire interrupted, looking up. She pursed her lips while she thought. Sighing, she decided she might as well tell them the unabridged version of her story. She would have to tell them eventually, and it was pointless to have stayed silent earlier.

" The main reason I left was to learn how to control my power. After my…um…argument with Pogue," she looked quickly at him, " I realized that I needed help with my telekinesis. Since it was essentially controlled by my emotions, it was extremely dangerous. I mean, c'mon, you guys know how temperamental I can be sometimes."

She paused, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear.

" So, after a while, my dad came up with a solution to my control issues. When his brother was my age, he had unruly powers too. Therefore, he went to this high school called Octavian Heights. Basically, it was like the school in X-Men without the fighting, save-the-human-race bit. After talking to my uncle, my dad enrolled me there. He said it was the best thing for me; if I didn't learn how to control my telekinesis, the power load I will eventually get could leave me brain damaged. Besides, he was offering an out. My relationship with Pogue was on the fritz and you guys had taken his side without even noticing. I felt like everything here was falling apart, so I bolted to avoid getting crushed by the debris. So, my dad and I packed up and flew to L.A. to start over. Him at a new law firm and me at a boarding school for kids with supernatural powers."

"Holy shit…" Reid said, breaking the silence that followed Astaire's speech. " That's so fucking cool."

Nobody knew quite what to say to that. So, in true Reid fashion, Reid kept talking.

"I mean. We all thought you ran off because you couldn't take the heartbreak. But really, it was because you couldn't muster up enough control for your powers…which by the way could have left you a vegetable. Let me tell you, this has got to be the first time the truth has been more awesome than a lie."

"Hey Reid?" Pogue called.

" Yeah?"

" Shut the hell up."

Over the course of the next half an hour, Astaire told the boys all about her school and what went on in her life during her absence. She left out the details about friends and such, figuring she'd wait too tell those stories later. The atmosphere in the room was still tense, and Astaire knew why. There was one question the boys still hadn't asked.

"So why didn't you call?" Reid asked coolly. His awe over her explanation had faded away as he thought about all the drama he and the guys went through after she split.

Astaire stared at him, trying to choose her words carefully.

" I didn't contact you guys because… it wasn't the best thing to do."

"That's the biggest pile of shit I've ever heard."

"Reid." Caleb warned. He was upset too, but it wouldn't do any good to start being mean to her. She'd close herself off again.

Astaire looked away from Reid and at the floor in front of her.

" I wouldn't contact you because it would have been detrimental to my learning process. I knew that if I called you, two things could have happened. You would have been mad at me for leaving and made me feel overwhelmingly upset, or just hearing your voices and talking with you all again would have made me want to come back home badly. Either way, that would not have been beneficial to what I was trying to accomplish. The key to getting a better grip on my powers was learning to control my emotions. Talking to the four of you would have thrown any control I had gaining out the window. I would have been an emotional wreck."

"That makes sense." Tyler said reluctantly, " But it still would have been nice for you to call. We weren't doing so well for a while after you left. Some of us changed quite a bit." He looked pointedly at Reid, who didn't say anything more.

Astaire nodded, locking eyes with everyone. " I'm sorry."

Caleb nodded, hugging her tightly. "Apology accepted."

Tyler too nodded and shot her a warm grin.

She smiled slightly, grateful that at least two of her friends weren't angry with her. She looked at Reid, who held her gaze for a couple of seconds. She was asking for forgiveness and a chance, and she searched Reid's eyes for both. The blonde's eyes seemed to lose some, but not all, of their coldness. Blinking slowly, Reid walked swiftly out of the room, gazing straight ahead.

"I'll be in the car, Baby Boy."

Astaire stood up slowly, not quite sure of where she stood with Reid.

" I think I'm going to go home now. Is my car here?"

Tyler smiled sheepishly. " No. We were all so freaked out that you fainted that we didn't think about bringing your car. It's still at Nicky's."

"Oh. Well, it's ok. Can one of you drive me home?"

"I'll take you."

Astaire looked at Pogue, who was looking intensely back. He hadn't spoken during her story, but she had a feeling that he wanted to talk now.

" Alright. Thank you." She turned to Caleb and Tyler, waving. " See you two later."

They softly said their goodbyes and Astaire left the house behind Pogue.

" Think that they're finally going to talk about what happened?" Tyler asked Caleb quietly.

" Yeah, I think they are."

Being back on Pogue's motorcycle was a weird feeling for Astaire. She hadn't been on one since she left, and had forgotten how free she had felt riding it. However, that feeling was slightly marred by the tension that engulfed her and Pogue.

This is certainly awkward.

Her arms were around his body, and she could feel his warmth, his steady breaths. It was familiar sensation, and like it had in the past, it made her heart beat a little faster. Astaire hadn't felt so confused in a long time. Even though she and Pogue had broken up, they still fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Astaire wasn't quite sure why, but she felt that it was both right and wrong for that to be so. He had a girlfriend, after all.

Pogue too, was perplexed. Having Astaire so physically close to him brought some emotions to light that he thought had died a long time ago. Obviously, a year or so wasn't enough to forget about how Astaire made him feel. He was happy about that, but also unsure. Where would they stand with each other? Were they going to stay friends for the rest of their lives, or eventually pick things up where they left off? Pogue inwardly sighed.

It really doesn't help matters that she's gorgeous.

When Pogue pulled up in front of her townhouse, Astaire almost immediately got off the bike. She had to let go of Pogue in order to regulate her heartbeat. She was going to need to be as calm as possible for the impending conversation. She handed the spare helmet back to him.

" I suppose you want to come in?" she asked politely.

"Yeah," he answered, swinging his leg over his bike. He tucked the helmet under his arm. " I want to talk."

" Sure."

She walked carefully up to the door, putting the key steadily in the lock and opening the door. Astaire held it open for Pogue as he walked through the door nervously.

" I live off campus too." He said, trying to relax. " In an apartment."

She nodded, closing the door. Pogue got the sense that she wanted to get straight to the point, so he took a deep breath and dove in.

" Look, what happened between us was bad. But…it was bad for a lot of different reasons. I think that because of who we were back then and the way we would react to things, the situation was a lot worse than it could have been."

"It was still pretty awful."

"Yeah," Pogue agreed, "But I think if we had taken the time to sort things out, then everything would have ended differently.

Astaire scoffed, sitting straight-backed on the couch.

"You mean that if you had taken the time to sort things out. If I remember correctly, you were the one to jump to conclusions."

Pogue paused, thinking back. " True. But after that it was basically a disaster."

Flashback

It was a pretty Thursday afternoon. The chill in the air was unusually minor, and the sun shining bright in a cloudless sky. Spenser students were in high spirits because of their long weekend. Everything seemed perfect.

Astaire practically skipped up to her dorm room. She was ecstatic. She had no homework, no school tomorrow, she had just aced her Latin exam, and best of all she was going on a date with Pogue. For once, it would be just the two of them. Astaire, quite literally, was jumping for joy.

She put the key in the door to her room, an enormous smile on her face.

He holds her in his arms

Would you? Would you?

He tells her of his charms

Would you? Would you?

Hearing the ringtone, she hastily pulled her out of her bag.

"Hey!"

"Hey, Air."

Astaire almost melted on the spot at hearing Pogue say her nickname. He was the only one who called her that, and the way he said it…she inwardly sighed. It was perfect. He was perfect.

" What's up, Pogue?"

" Just called to hi and that I'll pick you up at eight. That ok?"

" Sure. I should just wear the usual, right?"

"Yeah."

"Jeans it is."

"Just jeans?"

She laughed. "Pogue Parry! Keep your thoughts out of the gutter!"

He laughed as well.

"Well, I suppose you could put on a shirt…"

"Goodbye Pogue," she said, trying not to crack up again.

"Bye. Love you."

"Love you too."

Clicking her phone shut, she turned the key in the door and pushed it open. Walking in, she threw her bag down carelessly and immediately began getting ready for her date. It may seem like a casual affair to an outsider, but jeans meant that Pogue was taking her somewhere on his beloved bike. And a motorcycle ride on a date like this meant somewhere private and romantic.

At 7:56, Astaire was ready getting ready. She had taken a shower, put on the perfect outfit, and done her hair the way Pogue liked it. It was the way it was naturally, in loose corkscrew curls. She called it frizzy, Pogue called it beautiful. She wore no makeup save lip balm. She didn't feel the need to try around Pogue. She, blissfully, just was. And he loved her for it.

Hearing a knock on her door, she quickly ran over and threw it open, a megawatt smile on her face. However, the smile promptly slipped off when she saw that the person at the door was not Pogue. Not even bothering to ask what her visitor was doing here, she tried to shut the door. But in anticipation to her move, he had stuck his foot in the way.

"Mind if I come in?"

Chad breezed into the room as if he had been there a thousand times. His face held a cocky grin as he turned around and looked at Astaire.

"You look hot. Big date?"

Shuddering visibly, she pointed a finger towards the still open door.

"Yes. So get out."

Sensing her fear, he smiled wider.

" Not anymore you don't."

He pulled her farther into the room and shut the door. Smirking, he grabbed her and held her to him.

" You'll be missing your date with biker boy. I have different plans for you in mind."

Realizing what was about to happen, Astaire opened her mouth to scream. But Chad pushed his mouth onto hers roughly before she could get a sound out.

He pushed her against the wall, running his hands over her and bruising her lips. She raised her hands and tried to push him off, but it was no use. He was stronger than her, thanks to his participation on the swim team. Astaire wanted to cry. But she couldn't…she was much to petrified to do anything. She was in hell.

"You know you want this," Chad whispered, running a hand down her side. 'Just give in."

"Get off me!" She lifted her leg to knee him in the groin. Just in time, he leaned his bottom half back.

"Ooh, feisty. What a turn-on." He pushed against her provocatively and began kissing her again.

Right then, the door to her room opened. A very stunned and angry Pogue stood in the doorway, one hand balled in a fist and another clenching his bike helmet.

"I can't believe this!"

Chad backed away from Astaire, a sadistic smile on his face.

" See ya later, babe," he threw to Astaire. He walked past Pogue with a smug smile, purposely hitting his shoulder. Pogue didn't even look at him as he went, only flinching when his shoulder was hit. His eyes were on Astaire.

Seeing his anger and hurt, she tried to explain.

"It's not what you think."

"Isn't that what they always say?" he spat with venom. " Why should I believe you?"

She started to cry, feeling hopelessly overwhelmed and upset.

"Because I'm your girlfriend and I love you."

Pogue shook his head angrily, turning and shutting the door. He didn't want this conversation to be heard by the entire hall.

"Right. You love me. That's why you cheated on me." He said sarcastically, coming closer to Astaire. " I can't believe you! How in the hell did you think you could do this? Why would you do this?" He was in her face now, leaning in. " God…you let that asshole touch you and looking at you right now almost makes me sick. I guess all those times you told me I was the only guy you loved you were lying. You've probably let way more guys than Chad kiss you and put their hands freaking everywhere."

Astaire's despair suddenly turned into anger. She pushed around Pogue, tears still in her eyes, and spun to face him.

" I almost got raped tonight you insecure idiot! I almost got raped! Here I am trying to fight Chad off, thinking 'I wish Pogue would hurry up and get here so he can help me.' And when my knight in shining armor appears, what does he do? He starts screaming at me! He starts acting like a royal jackass! He doesn't lift a finger to help me! Instead he starts accusing me." Pogue's eyes were wide and pitch black, but even though she noticed, she didn't stop. In fact, she got angrier, and objects in the room started to shake as her eyes turned green." You always talk about having trust in each other Pogue! What happened to that? Does in only work in theory? Because the one time I need you to trust me you completely jump to conclusions. You don't even let me explain myself! You just skip right to basically calling me a slut! Where the hell do you get off, Pogue? After all the times I put trust in you---trusting that all those girls who come around you and grab your arm and kiss you on the cheek and give you their number are truly nothing to you---you judge me! For all I know, you could be hooking up with a different girl on the nights I don't see you! Or on all those out of town swim meets!"

'Don't you dare turn this around on me!" he shouted.

Pogue's anger reached its peak and all of a sudden a huge energy ball went flying towards Astaire. At the same time, all of Astaire's emotions had caused her powers to work overtime and every object in the room broke, sending shards everywhere, as a huge wave of telekinetic energy went surging through the room and towards Pogue. Both teens were thrown backwards, and hit the wall with a sickening thud. And both lay unconscious, bleeding, and heartbroken on the floor.

The first thing Astaire remembered waking up to was a small, empty hospital room. Her body ached and it hurt immensely to move. She remembered what had happened with Pogue, and she started to cry, her whole body wracking with sobs. The pain from doing so caused her cry even harder. She pressed frantically on the nurse's button, tears running down her face and leaving sticky tracks on her face.

A middle-aged nurse came running in and upped the morphine. Astaire began to calm down as the pain lessened, becoming still and quiet

"I'm sorry for pressing the button," she told the nurse softly, " I know it wasn't a real emergency."

The nurse smiled comfortingly down at her, patting her hand. " Don't be sorry."

Astaire nodded, then looked around the room.

" Where are my parents?"

"On their way here. They had gone out of town, but they caught a flight back."

" Thank you."

"No problem. Rest now."

Astaire nodded once again, closing her eyes. Sleeping was better than dealing with everything.

Two days later, Astaire went to see Pogue in his hospital room. Weak and shaking, she was limping horribly. She was practically forcing herself to keep going. She didn't really feel any better, but she needed to talk to Pogue. She walked into his room without knocking. She didn't have the energy.

Pogue was sitting up, the television remote in his steady hand. The color was back in his face, and he looked healthy. When Astaire walked into the room, he turned to look at her then looked back at the TV screen.

"What do you want/?" he asked coldly.

Trying to ignore his tone, she said calmly, "I just want to talk."

He laughed humorlessly, shaking his head.

" There's no way I'm talking to you."

"Please."

He turned to look at her again, holding her gaze this time.

"I can't talk to you. Honestly, looking at you makes me sick. It makes me angry. I can't handle it, and I don't want to deal with it. You can try to convince me that I didn't see what I thought I saw that night, but the truth is I can't believe you. I don't know if I can trust you anymore. I loved you, and I'm not sure if I can again."

Silent tears threatened to run down Astaire's face as he spoke. His words hit her like bricks, and she felt even more ill than she had before. But she walked out of his room with as much composure as she could muster. She made it to the corner before she sunk to the floor in sobs.

A week later, Astaire went home. She hadn't talked to Pogue since that day, and the rest of the boys had visited her only once. It was tense and uncomfortable, for they were also mad at her, but they were also upset that she was injured and in pain. That visit was the last she saw of them, and she was glad. It would make her departure for L.A. so much easier.

A couple of days after her arrival back home, Astaire and her father flew to California.

Pogue, soon after Astaire left, had figured out the truth behind what happened that awful night. Chad actually told him, smugly, that Astaire hadn't wanted it and that Pogue had screwed up the relationship for nothing. Pogue had never felt more depressed in his entire life. For the first time since he was little, he cried.

"I'm sorry, Astaire." Pogue said, standing stock-still in front of her. " I made a mistake. I didn't trust you, and I realized my error way too late. I lost you. You left, and I didn't hear from you for more than a year. It killed me. I missed more than a year's worth of your smiles, your laugh, and your touch all because I was a stupid kid who was too immature to look at things rationally. So I'm sorry. For everything."

Astaire nodded silently. She was crying, and she couldn't help it. She had held in for tears for Pogue for so long.

"I wanted to call you so many times and try to explain, but I figured you wouldn't care. So I gave up. I missed you terribly the entire time I was away. I could remember every little thing about you, and it drove me crazy. For a while, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I had to force myself to concentrate on something else. And eventually, because I tried so hard to stop thinking of you, I did. I tricked myself into forgetting. But everything came rushing back the moment I saw you again." She took a deep breath looking up at him. "I don't know how I feel, Pogue. Maybe I still love you. Maybe a part of me hates you for all the pain you caused me. I don't know. I don't even know if we can be friends again. Do you think we can?"

Pogue nodded, looking down at the floor.

"Yeah, I do. Because there's no way we can stay apart."

Then, after staring at her one last time, he walked out the door.