A/N: A "what if it happened this way" kind of story. A/U. A journey from season five to present.
In all of his relationships, he was always just a piece of the other person's life. And, eventually, that piece got smaller and smaller until it did not exist anymore. But he would never settle for that with her and although it was selfish and possessive, it stemmed from years of never quite having enough.
He had watched her play the men in her life for a long time, watched her control and decide each twist and turn. He thought they would be above that, but she lied and she kept things from him. She tried to balance the pieces in her life, instead of letting him help her hold on to them, sort them out, make them a whole. She underestimated his need to come first, to have control of his own, his need to know she was totally his.
She almost let Christopher in, because in a way, he was safe. A piece of her childhood that already fit neatly into the space that she made for him. She would always be the better parent, the more mature one, the stronger one. It was safe and somewhat predictable and she would have gone for it if Christopher hadn't screwed things up, again.
But he was not predictable and he was not weak. And he wanted more, much more than she was willing to give. He wanted it all.
And somehow it all became too much. So he walked away. He never thought he would be the one to do that.