UNREQUITED
Summary: When Emily Hargreaves meets Wyatt and Chris Halliwell, she has no idea how complicated her life is about to become. Set in the changed future. It's about life, love and all of that…
Disclaimer: The characters in Charmed do not belong to me. No infringement is intended, no profit is made. The characters of Emily and Chloe do belong to me though, but they can be borrowed as long as I'm asked first.
Notes: Hi! Nice long chapter for you, mainly because I couldn't find a suitable place to put the chapter break! Just as well, I guess, seeing as it's taken me ages to update. Sorry, but real life has been extremely busy just lately and I haven't had much time to write :-(
Anyway, on with the show: Last time (if you can remember that far back!), Emily was attacked by demons while she was visiting her parents in Oakenvale, demons that left a warning for Chris…
Chapter 35
Friday evening, four days later…
Emily glanced impatiently at her watch. "Chloe! If you don't hurry up, we'll be late."
"All right, all right," her cousin said, bustling in from the bedroom. "I'm ready."
"Well finally!" Emily said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. "What took you so long anyway? We're going to a recital at Magic School not a play on Broadway."
"Right, so you didn't stand in front of the mirror for an hour deciding what to wear then," Chloe retorted knowingly.
"That's different," Emily told her dismissively. "You haven't got to bite your tongue and be civil to the woman who tried to sink her talons into your boyfriend all evening."
"No, I'm just going to my first official function as Wyatt's soon-to-be wife," Chloe said. "Have you any idea what kind of people will be attending this recital? It's important that I make a good impression."
"Speaking of which - you don't think this outfit is a bit too casual?" she asked worriedly. She was wearing a summery, pastel-hued A-line skirt, and a simple, short-sleeved top of the palest coral pink. "Maybe I should have gone for a more formal look."
"Chloe, relax okay? You look great as usual and it's not as if it's a formal banquet or anything. It's just proud parents coming to watch their kids perform badly for the sake of entertainment – well, that's according to Chris anyway."
Chloe laughed. "I'm sure they're not all bad," she said.
"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Emily replied. "Shall we go?"
Chloe nodded and together they recited the spell that would transport them to Magic School. Stepping through the enchanted door, they emerged halfway down the long central corridor, which was teaming with people waiting to take their seats in the auditorium at the far end.
"Come on, let's find Chris and Wyatt," Emily said, hooking her arm through her cousin's so that they weren't separated.
Wending their way through the milling crowd in search of their respective beaus, they eventually made it though into the auditorium. Here, they parted company - Chloe to join Wyatt, who was standing nearby talking to Piper and a middle-aged couple neither of them recognised, and Emily heading backstage to find Chris. She discovered him standing by himself in the wings, gazing out over the darkened stage, his mind obviously on the forthcoming performance.
"Hey!" she said, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind and resting her chin on his shoulder.
"Hey!" he said, tilting his head back to kiss her a brief hello. "You made it then."
"Looks like," Emily replied. "So is everything ready?"
"As much as it's ever gonna be, I guess," Chris replied, a nervous tremor evident in his voice. "It's chaos back there – I escaped for a bit of much-needed peace and quiet. Dad's giving the kids the obligatory pep talk - you know the 'do yourselves and the school proud' kind of thing."
Emily nodded. "So, how do I look?" she asked, moving around in front of him and giving him a twirl to show off her outfit.
Like her cousin, she was dressed relatively simply in a figure-hugging white vest-top and floaty peacock-blue and white patterned skirt. There was no sign of her recent injuries - Wyatt had healed her shortly after her discharge from the hospital a couple of days before. Her skin was therefore as smooth and unblemished as it had always been, save for a smattering of freckles across her nose, a feature that she'd always hated but that Chris had described as cute when she'd mentioned this to him.
"Sexy," Chris pronounced with a roguish grin. "Dressing to impress, are we?"
"Well, wouldn't you like to know?" Emily returned archly as he curled an arm around her waist and tugged her towards him.
"Actually, I couldn't really care less," he joked, smiling down into her upturned face as she wound her arms around his neck.
"Well, that's just too bad," Emily shot back playfully, "Because you might have discovered something to your advantage if you did."
"Oh, is that right?"
Leaning in close so that they were practically nose-to-nose, Emily smiled coyly into his twinkling eyes. "What do you think?" she asked in a hushed tone.
Tenderly brushing the backs of his fingers over the swell of her cheek and down the side of her neck, Chris's only answer was to bridge the gap between them and firmly press his mouth against her waiting lips…
"AHEM!"
Jumping apart as if they'd been stung, Chris and Emily broke off their embrace to find Patty, Paige's eldest daughter, standing close by, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised to her hairline.
"Well, it's a good thing Uncle Leo sent me to get you, Mr Halliwell," she told her cousin pointedly. "Cus it would have been quite a shock for someone else to find their teacher making out with his girlfriend like they were about to…"
"Yes, I think we get the point," Chris said, cutting her off mid-sentence.
"I mean, it's icky enough to witness as your cousin, imagine if…"
"Patty – I said we get the point!" Chris repeated sharply, his annoyance level rising exponentially.
The young witch proceeded to push her luck however. "Christopher and Emily up a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…" she sang.
"PATTY!"
"Is there a problem?" Leo's mild question interrupted the warring cousins.
"Please say I'm allowed to kill her," Chris lamented to his father as, still singing, the teenager turned on her heel and disappeared back stage, her ponytail swinging side to side like a pendulum as she went.
Leo suppressed a smile with obvious difficulty. "Hello Emily," he greeted his son's girlfriend.
"Hi!" Emily said, her cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. "I'm sorry – I guess we weren't thinking…"
"Obviously," Leo replied good-humouredly. "No harm done however."
"Although perhaps you should try to keep your behaviour appropriate to the occasion in future," he added, throwing a look of mild censure at his son.
"Yeah, I know. Sorry," Chris said apologetically before flashing his Dad a wide, toothy grin. "It's just that she's so difficult to resist sometimes."
"Chris!" Emily exclaimed, her face turning the colour of a ripe tomato so that it closely matched the fiery hue of her hair.
Leo chuckled as he turned towards the steps that led out to the front of the auditorium. "Curtain up in ten minutes," he told them over his shoulder.
"Yeah okay," Chris replied.
"I guess that's my cue to take my seat," Emily said after Leo had left. Cupping her boyfriend's face between her hands, she stood on her tiptoes and planted a chaste kiss on his lips. "Break a leg, director guy."
"Thanks," Chris replied with a grimace. "With this unruly rabble, I think I'm going to need all the luck I can get. It'll be a minor miracle if everything goes smoothly."
"It'll be fine," she assured him. "And even if it isn't, it doesn't matter. Those blooper moments are usually the best bit of any school recital anyway."
Chris laughed at this wry observation. "Aren't they just," he agreed whole-heartedly. "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Sure. Bye!"
She waved at him and then disappeared out of sight. Drawing in a deep, calming breath, Chris squared his shoulders and went to meet his fate…
OOOOOO
An hour later…
From his hidden position in the wings, Chris gazed contemplatively out at the audience. He could only make out the faces in the front two rows and he felt a sudden chill run through him as his eyes fell on one particularly familiar one. Surely not…
"Chris!" his brother's voice hissed urgently at him and he jumped.
Wyatt was standing nearby with a small group of scared-looking sixth grade students, the next act due on stage and the last one before the intermission. Ushering them forward, Chris waited for their cue and then sent them out into the bright lights for their five minutes of fame.
"What's the matter?" Wyatt asked when his brother's gaze returned to its previous study.
"Bianca," Chris said shortly.
"Surely you knew she'd be here tonight. Her cousin Lily's in the tenth grade, isn't she?"
"It's not that. I… You don't think…" Chris stopped and shook his head. "No, no, she wouldn't."
"She wouldn't what?"
"Have ordered the attack on Emily," Chris replied.
"Why would she do that?" Wyatt asked.
His brother turned and looked steadily at him and Wyatt sighed. "Oh, all right so she has motive, but you don't really think she'd go that far, do you?"
"No, not really," Chris said, feeling ashamed for even thinking it. "It's just so frustrating not knowing who's responsible!" he burst out a second later. "I'm getting so paranoid; I'm looking for suspects everywhere I go."
"Chris, you've looked into every possible lead and put as much protection in place for Emily as you can," Wyatt said calmly. "There's nothing more you can do right now."
"That's easy for you to say," his brother snapped back irritably. "All you seem to be bothered about at present is whether your wedding goes smoothly or not."
"That isn't true," Wyatt said, his tone suddenly hard. "You know it isn't."
"Do I?" Chris shot back, his green eyes glittering with accusation. "It's not as if you've been helping me with this, is it? You've been too busy dealing with your own issues."
"And what do you expect me to do when there's nothing concrete to go on?" Wyatt demanded. "I'm not a miracle worker, you know."
"Well, what's the point of being Mr All-Powerful then?" Chris retorted belligerently.
"Will you two keep your voices down?" Leo said sternly, orbing in beside his sons. "You're starting to attract attention. What's the problem anyway?"
"Nothing," Chris said shortly. "Forget it."
Pushing past his father and brother, he vanished back stage. Leo watched him go and then turned to look enquiringly at his eldest son.
"He's freaking out over Emily," Wyatt explained with a shrug. "And he thinks I'm not helping enough, that I'm more concerned about the wedding."
"Are you?"
"Dad!" Wyatt protested.
"You have got everyone working around the clock on it, Wyatt," his father pointed out.
"And you think I wouldn't tell them to stop if we found out who had attacked Emily?"
"Of course not. I just think you need to be a bit more aware of where your focus is. I know Chris is coming up with nothing new where the attack on Emily is concerned, but that's not a reason to stop looking into it. I appreciate it's difficult when you could be doing something more constructive but…"
"All right, all right, I get the point," Wyatt cut in. "You can save the lecture."
"Wyatt," his father chastised.
"I'm sorry – I just resent the inference that I care more about the wedding than I do about Emily."
"I don't think anyone thinks that – Chris included. He's just scared is all. An enemy unknown is always the most frightening kind."
"That's not an excuse to take it out on me," Wyatt said, annoyed that he'd been made the scapegoat in all of this.
"Who else is he going to take it out on, Wyatt? You're his brother, his closest friend. Isn't that what family and friendship is all about? Accepting the rough as well as the smooth?"
Wyatt sighed. "I guess," he agreed reluctantly.
Leo reached out and squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. "Just think about how you'd feel if it were Chloe," he advised.
Wyatt nodded, knowing he'd probably be lashing out left, right and centre too. The audience erupted into applause then, causing them to turn their attention back to events on stage and away from their conversation.
"You better go and do your headmaster thing," Wyatt said, as the group of sixth-grade students hurried past them, chattering excitedly amongst themselves now that their stage fright had worn off.
Leo nodded and then strode out onto the stage to announce the intermission. Letting out a deep sigh, Wyatt turned on his heel and went in search of his brother…
OOOOOO
The Ladies Washroom…
"Did you know Bianca was going to be here?" Chloe asked, as she exited the cubicle and went over to the row of sinks to wash her hands.
"No," Emily replied. She was standing in front of the mirror, pulling a brush through her hair. "Doesn't she have a cousin at school here though?"
Chloe frowned thoughtfully as she uncapped her lipstick and applied a fresh coat. "Yeah, I do remember her mentioning something to that effect, come to think of it."
Emily nodded. "Well, I can hardly expect her to stay away then, can I?" she said.
Returning her brush to her purse, she fluffed her hair with her fingers and then gave her reflection a satisfied nod. "Okay, I'm done. You ready?"
Chloe adjusted the clip holding her long, heavy mane of blonde hair off her face and then nodded. "Yep – let's go."
The two witches turned to leave, but were halted in their tracks when the door opened and Heather entered, accompanied by a young woman of a similar age – her sister judging by the uncanny physical resemblance between the pair of them.
Chloe felt Emily tense beside her and the atmosphere turned distinctly chilly. "Emily, come on – let's go," she urged her cousin.
At first, it seemed that Emily was going to abide by her suggestion but as she stepped around her rival, she fixed the tall, beautiful witch with a frosty glare and told her stonily, "Stay away from him, okay?"
Heather didn't immediately respond but then her voice rang out as the two cousins reached the door. "Only if he wants me to," she said, prompting her female companion to laugh cruelly.
"EMILY!" Chloe made a grab for her cousin as the volatile redhead whipped around, her eyes blazing with anger.
"Come on – she's not worth it," she said, restraining her apoplectic cousin forcibly by the arm. "You're above this. Chris loves you, you know he does. She doesn't have a hope in hell."
Dredging up some hidden reserves of willpower from deep within, Emily forced herself to listen to the voice of reason and allowed Chloe to drag her from the room. "Chris said she'd apologised!" she exploded once they'd left.
"Well maybe she did," Chloe replied, "To him at least anyway. Ignore her, okay? She was just trying to provoke you."
"Well, it worked," Emily said stormily, her hands clenching and unclenching by her sides in agitation.
"Yeah well, you never did know how to control your temper," Chloe said glibly. "Look at it this way," she went on. "Right now, you're reacting exactly the way she wants. Do you really want to give her that satisfaction?"
"Definitely not," Emily responded hotly.
"Well then," Chloe said, shooting her fuming cousin a pointed look and coaxing a reluctant smile out of her in the process.
"Do you have to always be right?" Emily complained as her anger slowly subsided to a faint, underlying simmer.
"It's a gift," Chloe quipped offhandedly. "Seriously though – she's no threat to you unless you make her one. If you hold your head up high and rise above it, she'll be forced to crawl back under her rock eventually."
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Emily replied. "Why do I get the impression she's not going to give up that easily though?"
"Because you're paranoid."
"Yeah well, that's what you think. Me? I'm not so sure."
Back in the bathroom…
"So that's what you're up against, is it? She doesn't seem like much of an obstacle."
Heather glared at her older sister in annoyance. "Well, you try if you think it's that easy," she retorted.
Carolina shrugged her shoulders with a distinct lack of concern. "Unfortunately, Dad assigned you the job," she said. "So there really isn't any point."
"Yeah and he's getting seriously antsy about my lack of progress too," Heather said. "So why don't you quit your criticising and come up with some useful ideas on how to prise Chris away from the infuriating little limpet?"
"Honey – he's a man – just use your feminine charms to their maximum effect. Little Miss Red-Riding Hood'll never be able to compete. She's not what you'd call a catwalk model, now is she?"
Heather shot her sibling a withering look. "You think I haven't tried that?" she demanded. "If only it were that simple. The guy is so noble it makes my teeth ache."
"Not that noble," Carolina reminded her. "Or he would have taken the bait last week after the demon attack and dumped her for her own safety."
"Yeah, what a waste of time and money that turned out to be!" Heather said in frustration. "I was positive it was going to work."
"You should have just had them kill her," Carolina said with cold, brutal efficiency.
"Please!" Heather replied with a weary roll of her eyes. "Chris'd be in mourning for years, and he'd certainly never consider getting involved with a woman his dead girlfriend hated." She sighed. "I wish I'd never agreed to this crazy plan now."
"So why did you? Dad and the others would have found someone else to do it eventually."
"Are you kidding? The opportunity to destroy the Charmed Line from within? It'd be the coup of a lifetime!"
"Yeah but to seduce and marry one of the Halliwell brothers? That's a long-term commitment, Heather. We're talking months, maybe even years of your life."
"There'd be compensations," Heather said silkily. "I mean, they're both decidedly on the cute side, don't you think? Wyatt is probably more my type, but hey, I have no objections settling for number two's not so inconsiderable charms. I just wish he wasn't such an elusive prey."
"You just have to be more subtle about it, that's all," Carolina advised. "Be his shoulder to cry on when his relationship with… what's her name...?"
"Emily," her sister supplied.
"Falls spectacularly apart," Carolina finished.
"And who says it will?"
"I do," Carolina told her with a triumphant twinkle in her eye, "With a little bit of well-placed encouragement anyway."
Heather grinned. "And what kind of 'encouragement' do you suggest?" she enquired archly.
"Watch and learn, sis. Watch and learn."
OOOOOO
"So no major disasters then?" Chloe asked her fiancé after the recital performance was over.
Wyatt shook his head. "No, it all went rather well actually." He grinned at her. "I guess they can survive without me after all."
"They had the next best thing though, didn't they?" Chloe replied, slipping her fingers into his and giving them a gentle squeeze. "Chris, I mean," she explained off his puzzled look.
"Yeah," Wyatt said, his smile fading and his expression turning pensive.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," her fiancé quickly replied.
"Wyatt…," she chided, instinctively knowing he was lying to her.
"We had a bit of a disagreement," Wyatt confessed.
"Who? You and Chris?"
"Yes."
"I didn't think you two ever argued."
"We don't – well, not that often anyway."
"So what was it about?"
"Emily."
Chloe frowned. "What about Emily?" she queried.
Wyatt looked down at her. "Apparently, I'm more concerned about our wedding going smoothly than I am about finding out who attacked her," he told her.
"But… but that's just ridiculous!" Chloe spluttered. "You would never… we would never… He knows that surely?"
Wyatt sighed. "Yeah, deep inside, I think he probably does. He's just kind of freaked out right now that's all."
"Why?" Chloe questioned, looking suddenly worried. "Do you think the situation is that serious?"
"You don't?" Wyatt asked, surprised by the query.
Chloe shrugged. "Emily doesn't seem to think so. She says if it were meant as a serious warning, then Chris would know what he was being warned about. Otherwise, what's the point of going to all that trouble? It doesn't make any sense."
"No, I don't suppose it does," Wyatt said slowly, his brow furrowed in thought.
"So maybe it's just someone's idea of a sick joke," Chloe went on matter-of-factly.
"Maybe," Wyatt replied noncommittally.
His gaze wandered to Bianca then, who was standing nearby talking to her Aunt and cousin. Chris seemed to have dismissed his earlier, fleeting suspicion of her involvement in Emily's attack, but Wyatt wasn't so sure that he should. While he didn't believe that it would have been premeditated, Bianca did have a temper. It was conceivable that she might have acted rashly in the heat of the moment.
Alternatively, one of her family could have exacted revenge on her behalf – which was a much more likely scenario, now that he thought about it. Family honour was all-important where Phoenix witches were concerned and, the last time he had spoken to her, Bianca was still blaming Emily for her and Chris's break-up. If her family knew that, then they could have easily taken it upon themselves to give the young potion-maker a scare for her apparent insult to one of their kin.
Question was - how was he going to find out without causing offence? Bianca was decidedly touchy where Chris and Emily were concerned. She wouldn't take kindly to her integrity being questioned, that was for sure. Still, he had to ask. If that was all this was about, it was probably over and done with now, meaning that his brother was getting himself twisted up into knots over nothing.
"Wyatt?" Chloe's soft, questioning voice interrupted his musings.
He turned to look at her. "Sorry, I was just…," he broke off, deciding it was probably best not to mention his suspicions to her – Emily was her cousin after all, and he could be completely wrong about Bianca anyway.
"I'm sure he won't stay mad for long," Chloe said, misinterpreting his reticence. "Just give him some space and he'll come around."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
Unable to track Chris down during the intermission break, Wyatt had come to this same conclusion himself. He could have sensed for his wayward sibling of course, but since Chris seemed determined to avoid him, he figured he should give him some time to cool off before he offered the proverbial olive branch. As Chloe had said, his brother wouldn't stay angry for long - it wasn't in his nature to hold a grudge.
"Hey guys!"
Popping up like a Jack-in-a-Box, Prue appeared at his elbow, making him jump, but also presenting him with the perfect opportunity to excuse himself discreetly while she diverted Chloe's attention with her chatter.
"I didn't come to watch last year," Prue continued as if she'd been part of their conversation all along, "So this is the first time I've been part of the audience rather than up on stage. It almost makes you wish you were still at School, doesn't it? The recital was always the best fun!"
"I used to hate mine," Chloe confessed. "About the only good thing about it was that it signalled the end of the school year. Of course, they were never like this."
"What? No synchronised orbing?" Prue asked with amusement.
"I wish," Chloe replied with a roll of her eyes. "More like synchronised baton twirling, which, incidentally, me with my complete lack of coordination was utterly useless at. I never did understand why my teacher insisted I take part year after year. I ruined every display."
Prue laughed. "I don't know how Aunt Paige managed to persuade Patty and Amy to collaborate. I mean sisterly cooperation is not exactly their forte; usually they're the bicker twins. She must have threatened them with all sorts. It was kind of cool though, I have to admit."
Lightly touching Chloe on the shoulder, Wyatt bent to speak quietly in her ear. "I'll be back in a minute," he told her.
"Sure," she said, nodding absently as he turned to leave. "How did they make the orbs change colour like that?" she asked Prue.
Already out of earshot and striding towards Bianca and her family, Wyatt didn't hear his cousin's reply. He had more important matters on his mind. "Can I have a word?" he asked his brother's beautiful ex.
"Sure," Bianca nodded amicably.
"Not here," he told her. "Follow me."
He orbed out and Bianca shimmered after him. They reappeared in his office moments later, and Wyatt walked slowly around his desk and sat down, trying to figure out how best to phrase his potentially inflammatory question.
Sitting down in the chair opposite and crossing one long, tanned leg over the other, Bianca looked enquiringly at him. When he didn't immediately speak, she started off the conversation for him.
"We haven't heard anything more about the plan to sabotage your wedding if that's what you want to know," she said. "Those involved have gone to ground in the last couple of weeks. You and your family haven't exactly been all that subtle about expressing your displeasure about their actions, have you?"
She smiled teasingly at him and Wyatt felt suddenly guilty for suspecting her. He had to be sure though. Bianca may be innocent of any crime, but her family were a completely different matter.
Despite being essentially good now, they did occasionally step over the line with their no nonsense tactics, something that he had to turn a blind eye to in order to keep them on side. It was politics basically, a game that he was duty-bound to play because of who he was. As long as they kept their behaviour within acceptable limits, then he left them alone to do their thing. One step too far and he would be forced to take action but, as yet, he had never had to face such unpleasantness.
"Emily was attacked last weekend," he told Bianca casually, deciding to approach the thorny issue from an oblique angle.
"Yeah, so I heard," was the Phoenix's short, to the point reply.
"And you haven't heard anything on the grapevine about it?" Wyatt pressed.
Bianca's eyes suddenly narrowed as suspicion of his motives dawned. "You think I was responsible," she stated, her tone biting.
Wyatt opened his mouth to protest this but Bianca cut him off. "Did Chris put you up to this?" she demanded, her temper rising. "Is he that much of coward that he can't ask, or should I say accuse me himself?"
"Chris doesn't have anything to do with this."
Bianca scoffed. "Bull," she retorted heatedly. "Well if he wants to know the truth, then he's damn well going to hear it," she said, knocking her chair over as she abruptly sprang to her feet.
"Bianca, I didn't mean…," Wyatt started to say but the angry brunette had already shimmered out.
Swearing vehemently, Wyatt orbed after her but he was just that little bit too late. Bianca was already stalking towards his unsuspecting brother in high dudgeon, and, as if the situation couldn't get any worse, Chris was not alone. Emily and their parents were with him, not to mention the fact that virtually every pupil in Magic School was probably about to play witness to the impending scene.
Groaning inwardly, Wyatt chased after Bianca's retreating figure, catching up with her just as she confronted a bewildered Chris head-on. Her opening statement was a sharp slap across the face, a move that attracted the immediate attention of those around them. A sudden hush fell over the crowded auditorium.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Chris said, his hand rising to cradle his stinging face, his eyes wide with shock.
"If you want to know something, then have the balls to ask me yourself!" Bianca stormed angrily, "Don't get your brother to do your dirty work for you!"
"What?" Chris shot a confused look at Wyatt.
"Bianca, you didn't let me finish…," the blond witch-whitelighter said, trying to calm the situation down, unfortunately without much notable success.
"What more is there to say?" Bianca glared at him before gesturing wildly at Emily next to her. "You think I ordered that attack on Little Miss Butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth last week."
"Well, I hate to disappoint you all," she went on, "But I wouldn't even waste my energy! If Chris wants to throw his life away on the boyfriend stealing ho, then that's his prerogative. I couldn't care less quite frankly. So sorry, but you're going to have to look elsewhere for the culprit. It seems someone else has it in for her. Funny that – maybe she's not such the innocent little princess you all think she is!"
With that, Bianca spun around, her long hair flying, and marched from the room, leaving a stunned silence in her wake. Chris stared after her for a moment before galvanising himself into action.
"Bianca wait!" he called out after his fleeing ex, hurrying to catch up with her.
"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Piper demanded quietly. Her voice was deceptively calm, but Wyatt cringed at the steely note of warning that infused her tone.
Pale and shaken, Emily cast Piper a stricken look and then suddenly seemed to fold in on herself. With a hiccupping sob, she rushed from the room, taking the opposite exit to that which Chris and Bianca had just left from. Chloe exchanged a brief look of concern with Wyatt and then sprinted after her distraught cousin.
"Wyatt…"
"Not now, Mom," Wyatt said, cutting his mother off with uncharacteristic abruptness. "Later okay?"
With that, he also made his escape, inwardly chastising himself for not doing more to prevent Bianca from going up in flames before he'd had the chance to explain properly. He should have cast an anti-shimmering spell or something, at least then she wouldn't have been able to storm off to confront Chris quite so easily.
Chris, meanwhile, had finally caught up with his furious ex in the corridor outside. Grabbing hold of her wrist to stop her from running off again, he swung her round to face him. "Bianca – just wait a minute, okay?"
"Get off me!" Bianca snapped, wrenching her arm out of his grasp. "How could you?" she accused, more upset than angry now. "How could you even think…? I thought you knew me!"
"I do," Chris assured her.
"But you still think I'm capable of something like that!"
Chris shook his head. "No, no I don't. It crossed my mind for an instant, yes, I'll admit that, but I didn't seriously consider it as a possibility for long. I don't know what Wyatt thinks he's playing at accusing you like that."
"Trying to help – only doing a very bad job of it," a wry voice answered from behind them.
Chris rounded on his brother. "What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded furiously.
"That one of Bianca's relatives might have taken it upon themselves to defend the family honour," Wyatt explained.
"I didn't think you were directly responsible," he told Bianca. "But you know what some of your family are like. This is exactly the kind of stunt they'd pull."
"I know," Bianca said matter-of-factly, "Which is why they don't know anything about me and Chris splitting up."
"Huh?" Chris looked confused. "Are you saying they think we're still together?"
"No," Bianca replied, "They know we broke up, they just don't know why. They think our relationship simply ran its course."
'It did,' Chris thought to himself, but wisely didn't articulate this opinion out loud. Things were bad enough as it was.
Bianca had turned to address a contrite-looking Wyatt. "I'll admit that Emily isn't exactly my favourite person," she told him, "But I'm not so stupid that I don't know what kind of 'punishment,'" She crooked her fingers into quote marks, "Some members of my family might see fit to mete out in these types of circumstances. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, whatever they did to me."
Wyatt nodded. "All right, I'm sorry. But you understand why I had to ask. We have to eliminate every possibility, however remote."
"Look, my family weren't involved, all right?" Bianca repeated stridently. "I'd know if they were. I mean the likely culprits would never be able to resist the opportunity to brag about their exploits and I haven't heard a murmur from any of them."
"Bianca?" A female voice interrupted. "Are you all right, honey?"
Wyatt and Chris turned round to see Bianca's Aunt, Tina walking purposely towards them. "Haven't you done enough?" she snapped at Chris as she joined them.
"Tina, I'm okay," Bianca assured her. "Honestly," she added when her Aunt looked dubious.
"I thought you said your family didn't know," Wyatt said, frowning at his brother's former girlfriend.
"Tina won't say anything," Bianca replied. "You know she won't," she added, throwing a pointed look at her ex.
Chris nodded. "I know," he said quietly and he did. Tina was one of the few members of Bianca's family that had been supportive of their relationship and he would always be grateful to her for that.
Satisfied that her niece was indeed fine, Tina's confrontational attitude softened a little. "Well – you're certainly the hot topic of gossip in there, I can tell you." she remarked with a glimmer of a smile.
"Great," Chris remarked drolly.
Bianca shook her head, her lips twisting into a wry smile. "Now see, if I was going to take my revenge, that'd be much more my style. Public humiliation is so much more satisfying, don't you think?"
"Bianca!" Chris said in protest.
"I'm sorry," Bianca said, her eyes downcast. "It's just hard, you know – seeing you with her." She sighed, forcing herself to admit the truth. "You're happy," she said, lifting her mournful eyes to his face.
Chris nodded, unable to deny it. "You will be too," he assured her quietly.
"Maybe you'll meet someone special in New York," Tina put in encouragingly.
"Tina…," Bianca said, a note of warning in her voice. It was too late however…
"New York?" Chris asked with interest.
"She got a place on an advanced fashion design course there," Tina informed him before Bianca could stop her.
"Really?" Chris's face split into a warm, genuine smile at this news. "That's great!"
"Only she's not sure she's going to take it," Tina went on.
"Why?" Chris looked over at Bianca in surprise. "It's what you've always wanted."
"Well yeah," Bianca agreed, "But Daddy's not happy about me moving so far away and…" She stopped mid-sentence as something occurred to her. "I guess I always thought I defied him because of you," she admitted.
"There was more to it than that, Bianca," Chris told her. "It was about what you wanted from life as well. You'd be crazy to pass up an opportunity like this – you can't not go just because your Dad's being his usual, over-bearing self."
"That's what I've been telling her," Tina said. "I mean it's a prestigious course – they only take the best. It's a major achievement just getting accepted."
"You have to go," Chris urged his former girlfriend. "You know you'll regret it if you don't."
Bianca looked back at him and then over at her Aunt, who was watching her expectantly. "That was cheating," she accused the older woman.
Tina smiled. "Yeah well, Chris may not be in my best books right now, but I can't deny he was good for you. He opened your eyes to a life beyond that which your father had taught you, and I would hate for you to be sucked back into that restricted world again. This is – and always has been – about more than just Chris. It's about everything you have the potential to achieve with your life, and I'll be damned if I'm going to just sit by and watch you throw it all away. You're worth so much more than that, Bianca."
"But what if he cuts me off? Financially I mean. I can't exist on thin air."
"You won't have to. You still have your trust fund from your grandparents, your father has no means of denying you access to that – and you can get a job to supplement that income as well."
"I suppose," Bianca admitted reluctantly.
"So what's the problem then?" Tina asked with exasperation.
"Nothing! I just…," Bianca trailed off and unconsciously looked over at Chris again, who was struck by a sudden clarity of understanding.
He had shared nearly three years of his life with this woman. He knew her like no one else and he knew that she'd never really known failure before. Everything she wanted out of life, she got, but that hadn't been the case with him. He'd not been willing to change to fit her needs, nor she to fit his, and, for the first time in her life, she'd had to admit defeat. The concept was alien to her and he could see how it might have knocked her confidence in other areas of her life.
Despite his lack of expertise in the fashion industry, he knew Bianca had talent. He'd seen her designs and was intelligent enough to recognise the unique quality in them. If she turned down an opportunity of a lifetime because of him, he'd feel awful. As her Aunt has said, she was worth so much more than her father's narrow view of the world.
"Just because we couldn't make it work, doesn't mean everything in your life is going to end up that way," he told her.
Bianca flushed at this and he knew he'd correctly pinpointed the source of her anxieties.
"You're not the woman I thought you were if you quit because of one unexpected turning," he went on, knowing that if he sparked her competitive streak, she'd not be able to resist the chance to prove him wrong.
"I'm not quitting!" Bianca immediately retorted.
"What else would you call it?"
"I'm… I'm just mulling my options over!"
Chris grinned. "Oh, is that right?" he said.
"Yes, that's right!" Bianca snapped back and Wyatt chuckled. "What?" she demanded of him.
"Did I say anything?" he asked innocently.
Bianca's defiant gaze swivelled between the two brothers and then she suddenly seemed to realise how well she was being played. Tina smiled broadly at the chagrined expression that crossed her niece's face at this realisation.
"You know I think I might still like you after all," she remarked conversationally to Chris, who grinned at her before turning back to his ex.
"Bianca look – I want you to be happy, okay? I know things ended messily between us and I truly am sorry for that. I should have had the guts to face up to my doubts about our relationship a long time before I did. If I had, then Emily wouldn't have become part of the equation, and you wouldn't feel as if you've been cast aside somehow. Because whatever you believe, she is not the reason I broke up with you. If things had been right between us, I would have never looked her way."
"Maybe, but it didn't take you very long to get over me, did it?" Bianca retorted, one of the main causes of her hurt suddenly making itself known.
Sensing that this was a private conversation that wasn't really any of their business, Tina and Wyatt respectively moved out of earshot, while Chris shook his head with a sigh.
"I know it must seem like that, Bianca," he said sorrowfully, "But that isn't the case, I assure you.You and I were having problems way before Emily came on the scene and I think, even then, I was aware that our time together was finite, that the things that you wanted from life didn't coincide with the things that I did."
He paused to take a breath, his expression wistful. "I still had strong feelings for you though," he went on, "And it's hard to let go of someone that you care about, even if you do know that some day that parting is inevitable. In retrospect, I shouldn't have let things drag on for so long , but when you're in the middle of it, it's difficult to see things that clearly. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's been over for me for much longer than the five months that we've officially been apart. So, although it might seem like I started dating Emily immediately after we broke up. In truth, it wasn't like that at all."
"You… you should have told me," Bianca said tearfully.
"I know," Chris replied solemnly. "I just… I didn't want to hurt you, and it wasn't as if I couldn't stand being around you. I still enjoyed your company; I still cared about you. It was easier to pretend that everything was all right rather than admit the truth. It took an outside influence to make me see the reality of our situation and finally take action."
"You mean Emily."
"Partly," Chris admitted, "I can't deny I missed her while she was in LA. But actually, it was Wyatt and Chloe who finally made up my mind for me."
"Wyatt and Chloe?"
Bianca was confused, it hadn't occurred to her that the timing of his brother's engagement was significant in any way. Chris had never properly explained what had prompted him to break up with her, just the reasons for his decision.
"Yeah," Chris said softly. "Wyatt was so sure, you see – about marrying Chloe, I mean. There were no doubts there, just nerves about asking her. I realised that that's how it should be. If you have to over-analyze something like that, then something isn't right. I'm not saying you should propose to someone on a whim, but there has to be some element of gut instinct involved. It has to feel right inside."
"And it didn't with me," Bianca stated.
"And did it for you Bianca?" Chris asked. "Truly? In all honesty, can you say that the love we had was enough?"
Bianca sighed. "We should have had this conversation ages ago," she said wearily.
"Yeah well, you've been difficult to talk to. You've been so angry all the time."
"I know - it was easier to blame someone else, I guess."
"Just like it was easier for me to pretend everything was fine," Chris said wryly.
Bianca shot him a watery smile as her previous bitterness faded into sad acceptance.
"You should go to New York," Chris said quietly, seeing this in her eyes.
"Trying to get rid of me, huh?" she quipped half-heartedly.
"Bianca…"
She waved off his protest. "Maybe I will go," she decided. "And then when I'm a famous fashion designer, you can tell your children about the one you let get away," she added, trying to lighten the mood.
Chris smiled. "Yeah and, at the same time, you'll be telling your perfect husband, thank god he dumped me!" he returned.
Bianca smiled briefly at this and then looked away. Chris reached out and squeezed her hand. "Be happy, okay?"
Bianca nodded. "I will," she promised. "And… and I hope I haven't made things too difficult for you in there," she said, gesturing vaguely towards the auditorium.
"I think I probably deserve it for my atrociously bad handling of all of this," Chris replied. "And besides, it's all Wyatt's fault anyway."
Bianca laughed, despite herself. "Give him a break. He was only trying to help," she said before leaning forward and kissing him softly on the cheek. "Goodbye, Christopher Halliwell. It's been nice knowing you."
Chris smiled down at her as she stepped back. "Go get 'em, tiger," he said bracingly.
Bianca nodded and then called out to her Aunt. "Tina, I think I'm going to go home, okay?"
Tina turned around. "Sure honey." She looked like she wanted to say more but managed to contain herself with difficulty.
Bianca took pity on her though. "And tomorrow you can help me shop for New York," she added with a smile.
After Bianca had shimmered out, Tina looked over at Chris. "Thank you," she said simply.
The dark-haired witch-whitelighter shrugged. "I still care what happens to her, you know."
Tina nodded. "I know."
"She'll love it in New York," Chris predicted.
"My opinion exactly. Why do you think I've been trying so hard to get her to go?" Tina replied. "Anyway, I should find Lily before she gets herself into trouble."
With that, she headed back towards the auditorium in search of her daughter, leaving the two brothers alone. They were silent for a moment before Wyatt broke the impasse. "I think I should warn you - Mom is asking questions."
Chris closed his eyes with a sigh. "I knew I should have said something to her before now," he said wearily, and then his eyes snapped back open again as something occurred to him.
"You didn't leave Emily alone in there to deal with it all, did you?" he demanded sharply.
Wyatt shifted uncomfortably. "No, she was kind of upset after what happened. She ran off not long after you followed Bianca."
"And you're just getting round to telling me this now?"
"Chloe went after her, and I figured you and Bianca had some unfinished business to deal with."
"That's not the point! Emily is…" Chris broke off and sighed. "Look – tell Mom and Dad I'll come over later and explain things, okay? Right now, I need to find Emily before she has another one of her insecurity attacks."
His brother nodded and turned to go.
"Oh and Wyatt?" Chris called after him.
"Mmm?"
"If you feel that sudden, inexplicable urge to help again?"
"Yes?"
"Do me a favour and restrain yourself."
To be continued…
P.S. I haven't forgotten the storyline with Emily's Dad; it's just been put on hold for a while. Wyatt and Chloe's wedding is fast approaching, so that's the main storyline for the next few chapters…