Two Worlds, One Heart
To Want what we can't Have - Part Seven
Chris stood there as Britny faded into a bright golden light. His eyes grew wide when he realized what had just happened. He sensed for her but nothing happened. She wasn't on his radar; she was nowhere to be found.
"Britny," he muttered to himself as he looked around the empty attic, "where are you?"
As he had expected no reply came. He sighed and left the attic. His heart broke as he went downstairs.
"Hey Chris, where's Britny?" Phoebe asked walking towards him but she stopped and stepped back. "Oh, god, Chris, what's wrong?" Phoebe asked and everyone looked at him.
"Britny and I, we, um, kind of had a fight and then she disappeared. I can't sense her," he whispered and he realized for the first time his face was wet. He touched it and realized he had tears falling from his eyes. A part of him knew he was being irrational. He'd known her for just over two weeks, he shouldn't have been feeling this strongly for the girl he barely knew, yet he was.
"Are you okay?" Piper asked and he nodded slowly.
"No, his hearts breaking," Phoebe said, revealing his true feelings.
"Thanks Phoebe," he said with a glare. Then he looked back at Piper who was sitting next to him.
"You really care for this girl don't you?" Piper asked weakly, looking at his face. He didn't speak but just nodded. He watched Piper sigh and look away. "It seems it is the destiny of Halliwell's to want what they cannot have."
"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked but Chris always knew.
"You and Leo," Chris said. "Phoebe and Cole, others we shall not speak of for several years to come." With that Chris smiled and they looked at him confused. "Future Consequences."
They glared at him. He smiled at that. Piper eventually changed the subject to something easier and they sat around talking for hours. Eventually, the sisters went upstairs to bed and Chris found himself alone again.
He sat on the couch, his family upstairs. As he sat there that all too familiar feeling of loneliness snuck into his system. He closed his eyes and shut down his emotions for the most part. His heart ache was the only emotion that wouldn't seem to disappear.
As he sat there hours slunk by. It was about two in the morning when he heard the wind outside begin to pick up drastically and rain began to pelt the house. He glanced around as he reached out with his magic. Immediately, one person popped up on his radar like a bright beacon.
He orbed to her side and found her crumpled on the ground in the basement in the manor.
"Britny," he murmured as he brushed a strand of wet hair from her face. As he did he received a shock but he ignored it. Britny didn't move at the touch so he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He orbed her upstairs, her landing gently in the middle of the bed with him on the edge.
Chris gently pulled the covers back and slid them over her. Then he gently placed her head on the pillows.
"Sweet dreams," Chris murmured right before he kissed her forehead, not sure of what he was doing. With Bianca he'd never been allowed to do the romantic things. She'd hated anytime he tried to be sweet. She'd liked the fighter in him but with Britny, she seemed to accept – for the most part – all sides of him.
Slowly he slid off the bed and went to leave her room when he heard her toss in her sleep restlessly. Then he saw the tears on her face.
"Don't die Chris, Please don't die. We'll get him to reverse this. Oh god," Britny murmured tossing her head from one side to the next. "Please, don't leave me."
Instinctively Chris walked over to her, his heart breaking. "Sh, sh, I'm right here B. I'm okay." With that he crawled in the bed and pulled her close to him. She sighed as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She nuzzled her face into his shirt and he couldn't help but smile.
"I cried," she whispered as he played with her hair.
"Why did you cry?" he asked as he looked at her face, noticing for the first time a bruise was forming on her cheek.
"Watched you die, TV, healing powers no work. I watched you die, again and again, wished I could save you," she murmured in response to his thoughtless question. He felt himself go numb. She'd just said he died.
"When, when do I die and how?" he asked, trying to hold back his fear. Somehow he was going to die, but she'd just said Leo's powers hadn't worked and she'd called him his dad. What did that mean?
"Hours before you're born, murdered, stabbed. Bastard Paid with Life, Leo," she muttered, the last part smug.
"What did Leo do?" Chris asked before realizing what he was doing. He was asking for future details meaning Future Consequences should apply.
"Killed him," Britny mumbled and his eyes grew wide at the implications. "Tired, so tired."
"Just sleep," he murmured to her as he brushed a couple strand of hairs from her face. She nodded and relaxed her head on his chest. All the while he absorbed the bombshell she'd just dropped on him. He laid there wondering why Leo had killed the guy. His father had never really shown much interest in his well being before, why start now.
Then he realized what she said meant that Leo had learned the truth at some point. He didn't know how to react to this new information. So instead, he just pushed it away.
He held her till dawn broke in the horizon. He moved her, praying he didn't wake her. Then he orbed downstairs to find Paige down there already.
"Didn't you go home last night?" Paige asked as she looked him over.
"No, I actually didn't," Chris said as he poured himself a cup of coffee, a trait he'd inherited from the others.
"Then where did you stay last night," Piper asked as she walked in, followed by Phoebe.
"You're all up earlier than normal," he said, avoiding the question.
"Yeah, and your avoiding so spill," Piper said grabbing a cup and some coffee.
He sighed, terrified of how his family would respond to what he was about to say. "I found Britny last night. She returned and collapsed in the basement after using some sort of teleporting technique I've never seen before. She was unconscious so I orbed her into her bed. Then she became restless so I stayed with her, comforting her," he admitted and Piper spit her coffee back into her cup.
"You were with her all night. Did you get any sleep at all?" she demanded and he shook his head with a sigh.
"Most likely not," another voice said and they turned to see Britny standing in the doorway. She was leaning against the wall for support and looked about ready to topple over. She examined his face and sighed. "How much did I tell you last night?"
"Excuse me," Phoebe asked.
"When I'm exhausted I sleep talk. From the look on his face I told him something he'd rather not talk about let alone think about," Britny said and he flinched.
"Enough," he mumbled before looking over. Her face was sickly pale, her eyes weren't there normally sparkly self even behind her glasses, her hair was a mess on the top of her head, her legs were shaking like they could barely hold her up, and she was leaning almost all of her weight on the wall.
"We need to talk," she said sternly. He nodded and watched as she took a step away from the wall. As she did her legs gave and she tumbled to the floor. He ran to her side without a second thought.
Paige was feeling her forehead and frowned. "She's got a fever, we need to get her back up to bed," she says and he nods understanding. He wraps his arms around Britny once more and orbs her upstairs.
He looked at her and frowned. She was still in her clothes from yesterday; he hadn't even taken off her shoes. He also remembered they'd all been wet the night before. Had that made her sick?
"I need to change," he heard Britny mutter as she moved in his arms. "And you can let me go, I won't break you know."
"I want you to stay in bed, I'll grab your nightwear," he says before slapping himself in the head. He moved to her closet and didn't find anything PJ oriented, hell, not even a couple of nighties.
"Grab the large brown tee from the bottom rack," she says, her voice dry. He nods and finds one of his tee-shirts hanging down there.
"This one," he asks and she nods. He hands it to her and he watches as she blushes and motions for him to turn around.
Chris obediently responds and he hears shuffling of blankets and that sort of thing.
"Okay," she calls and he finds her in bed with nothing but his shirt on and her covers.
"Is that all you wear?" he asks and she shrugs.
"Its comfortable," she states and he sighs before moving towards her.
"Lay back, you've got a fever we need to break," he says and she nods lying back in bed. He touches her forehead and notes she does feel warm.
Britny's eyes flutter closed and she is a sleep. Inside he realizes even if he does protect her he may very well loose her in three and a half months or less.
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[Sorry about the abrupt ending. Not exactly the way I had expected this chapter to go. Well, sorry about the long wait and I hope you liked this chapter. I'll try and hurry with the update. Thanks for all the reviews I've got so far. TVGirl09]
