Always Gotta Make It Complicated

By tenshinrtaiga

Disclaimer: I don't own The Covenant or The Nine Lives of Chloe King

Summary: Third in The Witch Uniter series. Things are getting more complicated for Chloe as she juggles her new boyfriend, being friends with her old boyfriend and of course, The Order. And it doesn't help that her friend's lives are becoming just as complicated as hers.

A/N: And here's the second part of the update!

"Was that so bad?" Reid asked with a grin.

"Shut up," she returned, a wide grin on her face. The interview was done, her nerves were calmed and all that was left was her nervous adrenaline. She had answered questions about her album, talked about her personal life a little bit and then she had performed her brand new single "Notorious". On television. It was quite possibly the most nerve wracking thing she had ever done, but she had done it and if Reid's hoot had been any indication, she had done it well.

The label had chosen to schedule the interview on the day of her second single precisely because that song was the one the album was named after, so it seemed like good timing. And she really did love that song (not that she didn't love all of her songs); it was upbeat and fun and the perfect first song to perform on television.

"You ready to go?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, leading her toward the door.

"Sure," she replied, still heady with excitement. "Where are we going?"

Reid smirked, looking down at her from the corner of his eye. "Oh, it's a surprise."

Chloe nearly stopped moving. Reid had a surprise? Half of her was filled with excitement, half dread. Reid's surprises were either absolutely amazing or utterly terrible. "Yey," she replied weakly, clutching at the hand around her shoulder tensely.

Knowing what she was thinking, he gave a chuckle. This was going to be fun.

They exited the building to find a small horde of fans waiting for her. They waved photos of her from old magazines, runway shoots and covers of her first single. The minute they saw her, they let out screams, their movements turning even more frantic.

Automatically, the duo made their way over to where the fans were sectioned off. Reid fished a sharpie out of his pocket; a habit he had started while traveling with Chloe, but that he maintained when he took up art. Chloe quickly made her way down the line, taking pictures with fans and signing her autograph on whatever they put in front of her. She even signed some guy's forearm, which he promptly said he was going to get tattooed. She gave the man a funny look, but appeared flattered.

Soon enough, she got tired of the excitement and waved goodbye to her fans, ignoring the disappointed groans as she climbed into the limo, Reid right behind her. She gave a small sigh as she leaned her head back against the headrest.

"Headache?" he murmured.

"I love my fans," she replied instead. "But do they have to be so loud? Why can't they just line up neatly and quietly?"

He gave a low chuckle. "Don't fall asleep," he advised, changing the subject. "We're not far from our destination."

Chloe perked up at the reminder of her surprise. "Oh? Where's that again?"

"Haha," he replied sarcastically. "Don't even, darling."

"Love you," she replied cutely, a saccharine smile on her face before turning serious. "It's not… something bad, is it?"

This time, Reid chuckled genuinely. "You'll love it. I promise," he swore to her honestly. And with good timing, the car rolled to a stop. "And here we are." He stepped out and helped Chloe out as well.

"A restaurant?" she wondered in confusion. "It looks closed, but it's like two in the afternoon."

"Patience," Reid taunted, tugging her hand toward the entrance, which was unlocked. They wandered through the empty restaurant into the private rooms in the back.

The minute Chloe walked through, she just about had a heart attack.

"Happy birthday!" a small crowd shouted at the stunned strawberry blonde.

"But it's not my birthday," she replied stupidly, blinking in surprise at the sight, unable to correlate what her eyes were telling her with what her brain was thinking.

"No, but we missed your actual birthday" Elizabeth Simms cooed, walking over for a hug before taking her time in looking at her adopted daughter all grown up. It had been over six months since she last saw her baby girl and Chloe seemed so much older already.

"We missed all of your birthdays," said Samantha Garwin, her hands full with the brand new addition to their family; a two month old baby girl named Valiance, while she simultaneously looked at her only son fondly.

"Hey!" Tyler shouted out in faux indignation from where he stood next to his father, Alexander.

"Almost all of your birthdays," Elizabeth corrected. Her son's birthday was in May, although he was typically more sensitive about being born so much later than the other boys; a full five months after Reid, the third born. "Sorry, Baby Boy."

Tyler scowled as the rest of the kids snickered. Elizabeth had been calling him Baby Boy since they were born and what had started out as teasing by the others had become a genuine nickname for the youngest boy… But they still laughed whenever his mother called him that. They weren't that mature after all.

"I just wish your Jasmine was here," Evelyn murmured quietly to her own son, Caleb, while the others all began talking to their families.

Caleb winced. "Yeah, I know. But it's hard. Because she's also Mai and her job is to guard Chloe. It gets stifling sometimes, always being followed around, knowing our every move is watched, so we didn't tell them we were leaving. But I wish you could have met her too."

"Next time," Evie replied. She was certain that this Jasmine girl wasn't going anywhere anytime soon; her son didn't date casually. "Next time," she repeated, patting his hand comfortingly.

Across the room, Chloe allowed her adoptive parents to coo over Tyler alone as she moved toward the nearest brother. "Hey." Pogue nodded his head in greeting. "So when did you guys even get to New York?" she asked, having been wondering the entire time.

Pogue smirked. "We landed with you." She looked at him in incomprehension. "We all know that you get super nervous before an appearance. Counting on that, we all stayed in the jet's bedroom in the back because we knew you'd be too wired to sleep. We boarded before you and then waited until you and Reid left before exiting."

Chloe gaped at the sneakiness of her family before closing her mouth with a clack. A light blush stained her cheeks at her obliviousness. "I'm surprised that your dad didn't bring one of his girlfriends," Chloe said to Pogue, changing the subject as he began perusing the lunch buffet table.

"Mm, me too," he replied absent-mindedly. "But apparently Aunt Sam got Uncle Scott to convince, or very possibly threaten, my dad into coming alone. Said it was a family affair."

"Hmm," she murmured, eyes tracking said man. Uncle Reynold was on the far left and on the right, as far as she could get, was his ex-wife, Pogue's mother, Aunt Victoria. "Hey," she said, realizing something. "Where are the girls?"

Pogue blinked in surprise before figuring out what she was asking. 'The girls' could be either the two oldest in the family, Rebecca and Essence, or the three youngest. Given that Essence was in England, it was a safe bet to say she was asking after the youngest; Honor and Justice Garwin and Victoria Danvers. "Justice had a dance recital this morning so Uncle Scott's bringing them up after. Actually, they should be nearly here," he said, checking his watch. "You know, Rebecca was supposed to come."

Chloe blinked in surprise, a startled smile on her face before her brain registered the key words 'supposed to'. It had been almost a year since she saw Pogue's older sister. "Oh, yeah. How come she's not?" she asked, disappointed.

"Why else?" He rolled his eyes. "Work stuff."

Chloe frowned. "I thought she quit her old job." Rebecca had been getting sexually harassed at the last paper she had worked at and although she had tried to bring attention to it, the higher management were the ones who were doing it, so there was nothing that she could do.

"She did," a feminine voice said from behind them, surprising the conversing couple. Behind them stood Pogue's mother Victoria, a tall sandy haired woman with strong bone structure and bright blue eyes. She had clearly gotten tired of waiting for her son to finish putting his lunch plate together. "She is searching for another job and has an interview today. But it's hard because they want to contact her old job as a reference. Obviously anything those bastards say about Rebecca will be nothing but rancid lies. But all those big shot journalists know each other, so who will believe her word?"

Pogue nodded in agreement at his mother's assessment while Chloe just sighed at her sister's hardship. "I thought mom said she was planning on moving?"

"She was," Victoria replied. "But she only moved to Toronto less than a year ago and she had only just gotten used to the city, so she doesn't want to have to do it all over again if she can help it. Unfortunately, it is seeming more likely that there will be no other choice."

The trio sighed in sympathy for the poor girl who was having such a rough time of it. Chloe took a second to scan the room when her eyes spotted a singular figure hunched against the wall, far from the others. Bidding her goodbye to the two Parrys, Chloe made her was to her oldest brother.

"Hey," she murmured, passing Chase a plate filled with cake. She had intended the dessert for herself, but he clearly needed it more.

"Hey," he muttered back, sullenly taking the food.

She was silent for a moment, thoughtfully chewing on her grapes. She and Chase had the most in common, family wise. Both of their biological parents were dead. Both of their adoptive parents were dead. The only difference was that Chloe had been given the chance at another set of adoptive parents, the Simms, whereas Chase was on his own.

Chloe should have spotted him sooner, should have realized how awkward this must be for him. Everyone was catching up with their family, even her. Meanwhile, he had no family and no one to catch up with. No wonder he was sulking in the corner.

And okay, so maybe he had killed his adoptive parents and one could argue that he didn't deserve family after that, but that was something he did while still under the addiction. His actions weren't his own any more than a jonesing druggie committing a crime in their desperate need to get high.

"Can I ask you something?"

Chase blinked at her in surprise. He had gotten used to the companionable silence. "What's up?" he asked.

"What was your family like?" she wondered.

Chase froze mid-chew. He shifted, clearly uncomfortable with the question, before harshly swallowing, grimacing when the icing stuck in his throat and realized that he hadn't chewed enough. "My adoptive father, Arthur, was strict. They were god fearing Christians and they raised me to be one too – at least until I was thirteen." Chloe nodded at this point. Thirteen was the age when they received their magic. Christianity didn't tend to do well with witches. "He was hard on me. Always wanted me to be the best. I loved making him proud, but I hated the disappointed look he'd give me whenever I just didn't quite meet his expectations."

Chloe looked at Chase in surprise. This was more information, more honesty, than she had truly expected from the man. Chase typically kept things close to the vest, even from his own siblings. This family gathering must have really gotten to him for him to be willing to be so open and honest about his past and his feelings.

"My mom though… She was sweet; the nicest woman you'll ever meet. If she'd been anyone else, I would have said she was too sweet, but she was my mom…" Chloe could understand that. Everyone was more forgiving of family's weak points than strangers'. Chase swallowed hard. Clearly his mother was a soft spot. "She was weak, though. She caved underneath my father. Never made a real decision in her whole life."

"What was her name?" Chloe asked softly.

He blinked in surprise, like he had forgotten Chloe was even there. "Gillian," he replied, stuffing another bite of cake in his mouth to avoid talking for a little bit. Chloe allowed him a moment to pull himself back together. "I'd kept my magic from them. But then… My eighteenth birthday…" Again, he seemed to need a moment. "I mean, there were fucking lightning bolts coming from the sky, hitting me over and over. How the hell was I supposed to hide that?" he asked sarcastically. "My parents… When they found out, they thought that the lightning was a sign. That God himself was trying to strike me down." He scoffed at the idea. "That night? The newspaper said they were driving when they had a car accident." Chase waited for her nod of acknowledgment. "They were running away. They were abandoning me. On my birthday. Because I was evil. Because I was doing 'Satan's work'." He smirked, but it wasn't his typical smile. This was dark and grotesque, his eyes filled with bitter pain. "So, yeah. I killed them. And I made it look like an accident."

Chloe took a moment to process this. She had no idea; none of them did. All they knew was that Chase had killed his parents; they had no idea about the dark truth of the event. "And your biological family?" she wondered.

Chase froze again. "I grew up knowing about my mom. My father wanted to make sure I knew all about the druggie whore who overdosed and died for her sins before I was even three. My dad though… That was harder. After my birthday, I spent the summer tracking down my mom's old friends. Prostitutes and drug addicts mostly. There was one woman who had gotten clean. She was the one who pointed me in the direction of Jacob. He was living in Las Vegas, an old man. He didn't even know he had a son, let alone one with an ex-prostitute."

Chase paused. At first, Chloe thought that he was just taking another moment to collect his thoughts. It took a second for her to realize that he wasn't going to say anything else. "And then?" she asked.

He turned to give her a sharp glare. "And then I found out the truth about my family, about the addiction and then I manipulated him into Willing me his powers in exchange for a promise of revenge on the other families. You know all this."

She nodded thoughtfully. She did. But she thought that maybe there was more to the story. If she was honest, Chloe still thought there was more to the story, but Chase had shared enough for one night.

She reached out and gently clasped his hand. He tried to tug it away, but she held tight and he gave in. "Have you considered other family?" she asked. He gave her a blank look of confusion. "Did either of your parents have any siblings?"

"Mom had a housewife sister in L.A. Father had a priest cousin somewhere in Eastern Europe. Prague, I think. That's it," he replied.

"And Jacob and…" she trailed off. She didn't know what Chase's biological mother's name was.

"Candy," he supplied, shrugging at her look. "No one knew her real name, just her working name. And I don't know about her."

Chloe gave him a pitying look. He didn't even know his mother's real name. "So, you might have family."

He gave a careless shrug. "Maybe." But there was something in his eyes that he didn't have before. There was a curiosity there, mixed with a bit of hope and determination.

With a knowing smile, she leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek before releasing his hand and walking toward her boyfriend, who was sitting alone at a booth.

"Hey," she murmured, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend as she sat beside him. "I can't believe you arranged all this for me."

He wrapped an arm back around her, tucking her into his side. "You've been under a lot of pressure lately. I thought you could use some relaxing family time."

"I love it," she said, smiling fondly before leaning in to kiss his cheek. "I love you."

"Only the best for the best," he replied. Reid wasn't one for over-emotion and he didn't throw around the words 'I love you' very often. But Chloe could read between the lines and she knew that was what he meant, even if those weren't his words.

So, for those confused…

The Covenant Family Tree (ages as of this chapter):

Jacob Goodwin-Pope (deceased)

"Candy" Rockwell (deceased)

Arthur Collins (deceased)

Gillian Collins (deceased)

Children:

Chase Collins (July 14) 19 years old

William Danvers (deceased)

Evelyn Danvers (widowed)

Children:

Caleb Danvers (September 9) 19 years old

Victoria Danvers (December 2) 7 years old

Reynold Parry (divorced)

Victoria Parry (divorced)

Children:

Rebecca Parry (June 4) 23 years old

Pogue Parry (November 19) 19 years old

Scott Garwin (married)

Samantha Garwin (married)

Children:

Essence Garwin (January 8) 22 years old

Reid Garwin (December 17) 19 years old

Honor Garwin (May 22) 12 years old

Justice Garwin (October 12) 8 years old

Valiance Garwin (December 11) 2 months

Alexander Simms (married)

Elizabeth Simms (married)

Children:

Tyler Simms (May 1) 18 years old

(adoptive daughter Chloe King)

Unknown biological parents (deceased)

Jonathon King (deceased)

Meredith King (deceased)

Children:

Chloe King (September 21) 18 years old