Chapter 10: I Told You So
"There! You did it right! And you didn't fall down either", Phoebe exclaimed. She was so proud of Kate and how focussed she now was on helping get rid of the dangers to Wyatt. And she definitely wanted to learn how to control her powers.
"Thank you so much Phoebe", Kate replied.
"Oh believe me, it's the least I could do after you came all the way back here just to help my nephew", Phoebe said.
"Well, now you don't only have to help one, there's Chris too", Kate replied, then mentally kicked herself. She couldn't seem to get Chris off of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. And she had tried pretty damn hard.
"Oh yeah, that's right. It's so strange to think of him as my nephew because he's all big and neurotic. He's definitely a clone of Piper, that, I can see he got from her. The fact that he's relentless on these demons definitely has Piper written all over it", Phoebe mused.
"Yeah, I don't blame you for not being able to think that way. It's a big change from only thinking that he was just a guy who wanted to help to being Piper and Leo's second son", Kate said.
"So, you guys knew each other in the future? You and Wyatt?", Phoebe asked, changing the subject as she walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah, we were friends. I helped him through his tragedy and he helped me by just being there when no one else was", Kate answered.
"Were you guys dating?", Phoebe asked, excited now.
"No, sadly, we weren't. I wouldn't have minded though, he seemed like a great guy to me at the time. But then again, anything was better than my dad. Actually…never mind", Kate answered.
She couldn't believe she was actually gonna tell Phoebe that it wasn't Wyatt she had wanted to notice her, though he did notice, it was Chris she had wanted to impress, not that he had cared or anything. He had been too busy trying to get through school and apparently escape his older brother to notice her.
"But then he started turning his friends over to the other side and you didn't want to follow?", Phoebe asked, just for clarification. Paige had given her a rundown on Kate's story, but Phoebe wanted all the answers clarified so she wasn't confused.
"Yeah, I knew what evil was. It was bad enough that my dad was awful, but I knew about demons and warlocks. I didn't want to be a part of that. Still, Wyatt persisted, I don't know why, when all the others that refused he killed right away", Kate replied. She still had no idea why he had let her live even after all the times she refused. Perhaps it was all the evil she had already faced, and he wanted to give her time to think.
She frowned at that thought and continued, "He persisted for weeks, months even, before I agreed, just to make him happy. I figured a way to be immune to the evil he would send through my body, but I faked it, I was always best at acting in school. I made him think I was evil for months, but finally I couldn't keep pretending when I had never killed an innocent. So, I got up the courage to tell him that I wasn't really evil, that I had faked it. He was mad, and I mean "hell bent on destroying the world" mad. I've been running ever since. I could never figure it out, but he told me to leave, he gave me a head start."
Phoebe thought about that. Perhaps Wyatt hadn't been wholly evil at all, it seemed everything he did was out of…love. They may have been friends, but Kate had said they had plenty of friends, which means what he had did was because he had truly cared about her.
She didn't quite know how to tell Kate that fact though. She wasn't sure Kate would appreciate being told this at all. No, she was sure Kate wouldn't like it at all. She decided to keep it to herself.
"Well, that's awfully strange. Why do you think he did that?", Phoebe asked, just to hear if Kate suspected anything.
"Why does she think who did what?", Chris asked, walking into the kitchen. He had over heard just the last bit of whatever conversation they were having but it sounded like she was telling Phoebe something about her future.
"Oh, it's nothing. What are you up to?", Kate replied. Chris was the last person she wanted to know about what happened with her and Wyatt. Apparently, he walked in just in time to not hear anything.
"Well, I've finally finished flushing out the demonic threat to Wyatt for today. There seems to be a new threat each day, and I'm also starting it wonder if it really was a demon. I mean, I know demons are constantly trying to turn him evil and whatnot, but what if it's something else entirely?", Chris replied.
"That's true. The only thing we've been focussed on was the demonic threat to him and we forgot every other threat possible to him", Kate agreed.
"You're agreeing with me?", Chris asked, shocked.
"Don't sound so surprised. You do have a few good thoughts every once and awhile", Kate replied, grinning to show she was teasing him.
The only thing that shocked him more than her agreeing with him was her teasing him and smiling while she did so. Chris had never thought he'd see the day when she would smile at him. Or tease him for that matter. Something was going on.
"You aren't on anything, are you?", Chris asked, slightly suspicious.
"No, of course not, why would you ask?", Kate replied, her grin going even wider because of his expression.
"Well…it's just that…umm…it's sort of the fact that…Phoebe, could you help me out?", Chris asked, suddenly feeling very flustered.
"Sorry, Chris, you're on your own", Phoebe replied, grinning because she knew exactly what was happening to him, and then she left the room.
"You were saying?", Kate asked, smiling at his bewildered look.
"Well, it's just that…oh forget it. Don't you have a date with that lawyer guy?", Chris replied, changing the subject so he wouldn't have to answer, but he knew she would hold it over him for the rest of his life. Not that she would be in it, he thought, feeling stupid for even thinking she would be.
"Nope. I dumped him, caught him with some other girl at P3. Why are you smiling like that?", Kate asked. Then she added, " You're about to tell me the I told you so speech, aren't you? Well, go ahead then, get it over with."
"I'm not gonna tell you that I told you so, even if I was right about him. The point is, you fixed your mistake, and…that would explain the happiness", Chris realized.
"Okay, yes. I feel happy about that, free, I guess would be the right word. And thank you", she replied, her voice going soft. She stepped closer to him so that she had to look up to see his face.
"For what?", Chris asked. He felt his heart start to do erratic flips in his chest and his breathing became shallow as he looked down at her somewhat smiling face.
"For not telling me I told you so, even though you were right about him. I really appreciate it", Kate answered, kissing him on the cheek before leaving the room.
Chris turned around and watched her go with a glazed look on his face. He couldn't believe she had just kissed him on the cheek, that was better than the cold shoulder she had kept giving him. He didn't know what had brought it on, but he was happy that it had, because he felt more alive than ever.