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! Sorry this has taken forever and a day to update – and even bigger apologies to those readers of False Memories who have been waiting even longer for an update. I've had a bad case of writer's block for the last couple of months and am only just now getting over it. I'll be working hard on False Memories as soon as I've posted this, I promise.

Because it ended up extra long, I'm posting this final chapter in two parts. Both will be posted at once though, so when you've reached the end of this, the final part should already be up. While this concludes Unrequited, please see the extra Author's notes at the end of final chapter for details about the sequel :-)

Anyway, enough rambling, on with the show… Wyatt and Chloe have just gotten married and the reception is in full swing…

OOOOOO

Chapter 44 – The Reception – Part 1

Emily stood slightly to one side, looking on as friends and family alike took it in turns to offer their congratulations to the happy couple.

Chloe was incandescent with joy - two bright spots of colour accenting the delicate arch of her cheekbones and her violet-blue eyes glowing with inner happiness. Wyatt was equally jovial, laughing and joking with their guests, whilst keeping his new wife close by his side with a protective arm around her waist. Emily had to smile at his unconscious solicitousness. It was almost as if there was an invisible piece of string tying him and Chloe together, they were so much as one with each other at the moment.

"Wishing it were you?" A light, teasing voice murmured in her ear, and she turned to see Prue standing next to her, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"If you're trying to be subtle, it isn't working," Emily remarked dryly.

Prue laughed at her friend's acerbic wit. "You'd better get used to it," she advised. "Because I'm not the only one speculating, you know."

"Yeah, so I've noticed," Emily responded with a sardonic roll of her eyes.

"It's not hard to see why though," Prue went on in a more serious tone.

"It's not?" Emily asked, looking questionably at the dark-haired witch beside her.

"I wish a man would look at me the way Chris looks at you," Prue said enviously. "I mean not him personally of course – because that'd be like… eew! But some other guy…"

"What about you and Adam? I thought you two were happy."

"We are," Prue said before she sighed a little despondently. "I don't know, I guess seeing Wyatt and Chloe so in love - not to mention the way you and Chris are with each other - has made me realise that there's something missing between us. He's a great guy and we have a lot of fun together. It's just he's not…"

"The one?" Emily supplied, when her friend struggled to find the right words to describe her disquiet.

Prue nodded. "I guess that's what it comes down to in the end, yeah."

"You're only nineteen though, Prue, way too young to settle down yet. Just enjoy your relationship for what it is for now. There'll be plenty of time to find Mr Right later on."

"And of course, you're so much older than I am," Prue pointed out laughingly.

Emily smiled. "Nearly five years," she answered. "And I've never been one for playing the field much anyway…"

Prue giggled. "And now who's speculating?" she teased.

Emily blushed a deep, rosy red. "I wasn't…," she began and then stopped because maybe she was at that.

Her relationship with Chris had turned out to be everything that she'd hoped for and more. The look he'd given her as Wyatt and Chloe exchanged vows had sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine. However, while she was unarguably head over heels in love with him, she was also very wary of speculating too much about their possible future together. The pain of her unrequited feelings had been difficult enough to deal with. She didn't know how she'd handle the agony of a broken heart should that ever come to pass.

The object of her thoughts appeared at her side then, and she looked up into his face with a soft smile of greeting. "Hi!"

"Hey sexy!" Chris said in response to her quiet hello. He deliberately looked her up and down, his green eyes awash with masculine appreciation. "Nice dress."

"And that's my cue to be some place else," Prue said, wrinkling her nose in distaste before she beat a hasty retreat and left the two of them alone.

"Do you have to be such a guy?" Emily demanded plaintively of her grinning boyfriend.

"What can I say? You – and that dress – bring out the worst in me," Chris replied, earning himself a sharp dig in the ribs for his trouble.

"Ouch! That hurt!" he complained, rubbing his side in protest.

"Yeah well, serves you right," Emily retorted unsympathetically. "Could you be more of a caveman if you tried?"

Chris laughed and reached out to take her hand in his. "Come with me," he urged and began to lead her towards the house, his strides long and purposeful in nature.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they passed through the kitchen, into the hallway and then on up the stairs.

"Somewhere private where we can talk," Chris told her as they reached the first floor landing. He twisted the handle of his bedroom door and ushered her inside ahead of him.

"Is there something wrong?" Emily asked worriedly, turning to face him as he entered the room and shut the door behind them.

Chris shook his head in reassurance. "No, no, I just thought that we should, well…" He broke off, paused for a moment to think, and then decided to broach the subject from a different angle.

"People are talking," he told her with quiet emphasis.

"You're not kidding!" Emily remarked with a nervous little giggle.

Chris smiled uncertainly at her. "I figured we should… well, you know… discuss, umm… what to say. Get our stories straight so to speak."

"Freaking you out is it?" she asked him with a teasing lilt in her voice.

"Not particularly," Chris answered, his calm, matter-of-fact tone prompting her heart to perform a series of somersaults inside of her chest. "I do think it's a bit too soon for us to be thinking along those lines though."

Emily nodded her agreement of this. "I know; me too."

"I mean it's important that we take things at our own pace…" Chris went on.

"And not let anyone pressure us into anything before we're ready," Emily finished for him.

"I see we're of one mind," Chris said, stepping in closer to her and sliding his arms around her waist.

"We've got something going for us at least then," Emily said, as she leaned back against his hold and looped her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, yeah, we have," Chris agreed, touching his forehead to hers and smiling down into the depths of her ocean-blue eyes. "And that dress is definitely another," he added with a roguish grin. "It's got my undivided attention right now, that's for sure."

"Chris!" Emily protested with a laugh.

Her boyfriend laughed with her. "Just kidding," he said with some degree of contrition. "Well, sort of anyway..."

Emily laughed again. "You're incorrigible," she declared with a weary shake of her head.

"Maybe so, but you still love me."

"Mmm," she mused. "I have to admit I'm guilty as charged on that one."

"Well, don't sweat it 'cus I love you too," Chris said, spearing the fingers of his right hand through the silky tendrils her flame-red hair and lightly stroking the pad of his thumb over the swell of her cheek.

"And that dress," he added impishly before he finally lowered his mouth to hers in a distinctly knee-buckling kiss…

OOOOOO

Outside in the garden…

"Where did Chris and Emily go?" Chloe asked, looking around for her cousin and recently-acquired brother-in-law. "It's almost time for the photographs."

Wyatt quickly sensed for the whereabouts of his younger sibling and then grinned rather wickedly. "I think they've found an alternative means of entertainment," he said.

Chloe huffed out her breath in exasperation. "Can't they keep their hands off each other for five minutes?" she complained in a petulant tone.

Wyatt laughed. "Apparently not," he said and then let out a mournful sigh. "I miss those days," he lamented tragically. "It's true what they say - it all goes downhill after you're married."

Chloe gave him a long, steady look and then shook her head with a smile. "You're not funny, you know," she informed him.

"And yet you're smiling," Wyatt pointed out pedantically, as he stooped to plant a sound kiss on her upturned lips.

Chloe slapped him lightly across the chest. "Just get them down here," she ordered in a peremptory tone.

"Yes ma'am!" Wyatt saluted her smartly, and then called out to his wayward brother.

"Okay, put her down, bro," he said acidly, "And get your butt down here before my wife forces me to permanently disown you. You've got about thirty seconds before I orb you both in regardless if that's any incentive."

The threat of embarrassing exposure seemed to work because, a few seconds later, there was a flurry of blue orb lights and Chris and Emily appeared beside them, both looking suitably ashamed of themselves.

"Having fun?" Wyatt asked with one eyebrow lifted suggestively towards the clear, blue sky overhead.

"We had some things to discuss," Emily protested weakly in their defence.

"Right." Wyatt nodded solemnly, paused for effect and then... "Non verbal discussion was it?" he asked airily.

Chloe threw back her head and broke into gales of laughter at that. Emily meanwhile, blushed crimson, and Chris punched his brother on the shoulder in retaliation.

"Don't be such a hypocrite," the younger Halliwell said. "You're hardly one to talk. The length of that 'you may kiss the bride' kiss earlier was worthy of the record books if you ask me."

Chloe looked at her husband, a merry twinkle in her violet-blue eyes. "He does have a point," she conceded. "Not that I was complaining of course," she added hastily.

Wyatt grinned. "And I should think not," he said, reaching out to thread his fingers through hers. He lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed the back of her knuckles, just as Piper bustled into their conversation, looking rather harried

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you." She glared at her younger son. "Where have you been?" she demanded. "You almost missed the photographs."

"Yes Chris - where have you been?" Wyatt echoed in an infuriatingly sing-song tone, taking great delight in the opportunity to poke fun at his little brother.

Chris gestured rudely at him, an act that luckily escaped their mother's notice for she had already moved on to round up various other members of the family, her manner typically industrious.

"You two are never gonna grow up, are you?" Chloe asked despairingly, as the four of them made their way over to the white, clapperboard gazebo that was to serve as the backdrop for the official wedding photographs.

"Maybe in a decade or two," Wyatt said, prompting his brother to snigger in a distinctly juvenile fashion.

Chloe rolled her eyes at their childish antics. "I believe I may be reconsidering the wisdom of this marriage," she said dryly.

"Sorry babe - it's way too late for that," Wyatt replied, hooking an arm around her waist and tugging her up close. "I don't do divorce, so you're stuck with me for the rest of your life whether you like it or not."

"I guess I'm just going to have to make the best of it then," Chloe said coyly, lowering her gaze and looking up through her eyelashes at him.

"Mmm, I guess you will," Wyatt murmured, brushing his lips across hers in the sweetest of butterfly kisses.

"I dare say I can survive the torture," Chloe whispered, before she bridged the gap between them and pressed her mouth firmly against his.

Chris and Emily exchanged an amused look as the newlywed's embrace quickly deepened, the strong feeling of absolute togetherness, which their marriage had brought them, quickly overwhelming their sense of social propriety.

"Looks like it wasn't necessary for us to sneak off somewhere private to make out earlier," the dark-haired witch-whitelighter remarked drolly, as he wrapped an affectionate arm around his girlfriend from behind. "Apparently, it's perfectly acceptable to do it in full public view nowadays."

"On your wedding day maybe," Emily replied, leaning back against him and curling both hands around the arm that he'd casually looped across her upper torso. "It's almost expected then. I'm not sure about any other time though."

"Damn! And here's me thinking I was about to get lucky!"

Emily giggled. "Nice try, but I think you just struck out, buster."

"With you maybe," her boyfriend retorted playfully, "But I'm sure there's some other lovely lady here who'll be willing to oblige..."

"Do NOT even think about it," Emily said, twisting out of his arms and placing a staying hand against his chest. "You're mine, you hear?"

"Oh, is that right?" Chris asked, looking down at her with a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Uh-huh," Emily told him with a nod, "And don't you forget it, all right?"

"I wouldn't dream of it – it's more than my life is worth apparently."

"And now he's getting the picture."

Chris laughed. "You're a crazy psycho lady, you know that?"

Emily grinned at him. "And you're only just figuring that out?" she asked him with an arch look.

Chris laughed again, and then bent and stole a series of brief, sipping kisses from her lips before turning his attention back to his brother and sister-in-law. The happy couple were still completely engrossed in their kiss, and were therefore oblivious to the small crowd gathering to view the impending photo session.

"Ahem!" Chris loudly cleared his throat to garner their attention. "Come on - break it up you two. You're not on your honeymoon yet, you know."

There were various titters of laughter and hooting cat-calls from their surrounding friends at this, and Wyatt grinned rather sheepishly as he and Chloe broke off their passionate embrace.

"Just practising," he quipped as his mortified wife hid her flaming face against his chest.

"Why? Do you need it?" Daniel, one of their closest friends, shot back in his usual irreverent manner.

"Ha! Ha!" Wyatt retorted sarcastically before a calculated gleam entered his eye. "I see you've finally managed to pluck up the nerve," he observed slyly.

"What?" Daniel looked puzzled for a moment, and then flickered a quick glance at the young woman standing next to him - his long-time friend, April - whose hand he tellingly held firmly within his. "Oh!" He looked faintly embarrassed at being caught out. "Yeah."

"Well finally!" Emily remarked expansively, her blue eyes sparkling with silent laughter.

Daniel looked rather warily at her. "I think I owe you an apology," he said, referring to the heated exchange of words that they'd had on this very subject, the night of Wyatt and Chloe's bachelor and bachelorette parties.

Emily generously waved off his offered apology. "No problem. It's all forgotten," she assured him.

"What is?" April asked, a tiny frown of concern creasing her brow.

"It was nothing," Emily reassured her friend. "Dan just wasn't very impressed with my well-meaning advice last week that's all."

"Advice about me?" April quickly surmised.

"Yeah," Daniel said. "I wasn't ready to listen back then, I guess. You were right though," he said to Emily. "It was different for you with Chris – I'm sorry I suggested it wasn't."

Emily nodded her acceptance of this. "As I said, it's forgotten. And I'm happy for you both – honestly. It's about time if you ask me."

April smiled, wrapping her arms around her new boyfriend's waist as he curled an affectionate arm around her shoulders. "We did kind of make a performance of it, didn't we?" she remarked with a self-conscious little laugh.

"Oh, you think?" Emily asked ingeniously, and then laughed. "You don't exactly have the monopoly on that though, do you?" she said ruefully, looking over to where Chris was chatting animatedly with his three Aunts nearby.

Daniel followed her gaze, his expression thoughtful. "He's different since you and he got together, Emily, you know," he said quietly, "I can't put my finger on exactly how, but it's a good thing, I promise you. He just seems so much happier somehow."

Emily didn't quite know how to respond to that, but she was spared the need when she was called to take her place in the official wedding photographs. Afterwards, with the essential formalities of the day out of the way, the celebratory party stepped up another gear.

Rather than a sit-down meal, Wyatt and Chloe had chosen to give their wedding reception a distinctly informal feel. A feast of near epic proportions was laid out on groaning trestle tables along one side of the garden, and there was champagne, fruit punch and homemade lemonade aplenty. Succulent chickens, thickly-cut steaks and foil-wrapped salmon were being roasted over hot coals in one corner of the garden, and everything was being served by a tall, broad-shouldered chef, dressed in traditional white garb and with a mushroom-shaped hat perched somewhat haphazardly atop his head.

The live band hired for the occasion were playing a mixture of contemporary tunes and old classics, while a magician friend of Wyatt's – who as a true magical being had no need for human parlour magic but performed it anyway – wended his way through the milling crowd, delighting them with traditional sleights of hand and an array of card tricks.

A kind of carnival atmosphere settled over the sunlit garden during the rest of the afternoon's festivities, and the air was filled with the sound of lively chatter as the guests ate and drank their fill of the magnificent spread. Then, a few hours later, with dusk casting lengthening shadows over the merry gathering, strings of brightly coloured lanterns and flickering candles turned the ambience significantly more romantic.

Emily had spent the majority of the afternoon mingling with the guests, acting out her role as one of the main players of the day. While it was expected that Wyatt and Chloe would remain by each other's side, it hadn't been so easy for her and Chris to keep each other's company. As a consequence, she'd barely spoken more than a few passing words to him since the official photograph session several hours before.

It was only now that she realised how few of the Halliwell's mutual acquaintances that she actually knew. She'd been introduced to the brothers' inner circle of close friends, but their influence extended far beyond that it appeared. Chris's presence was constantly in demand, and she could clearly see the kind of respect he commandeered in the people that he spoke to.

It was an as yet undiscovered facet to the man that she had fallen in love with. Wyatt's hierarchical position within the magical community she was fully aware of, but Chris's eminence had completely passed her by - probably because he never made a big deal of it. Humility was a trait that ran through the entire family from eldest to youngest inclusive, it seemed.

The whole thing made her feel distinctly uneasy. Would she measure up to this exclusive clique's exacting standards? Bianca, with her effortless beauty and cosmopolitan ways must have fitted right in. But Emily, raised in small-town America by loving but otherwise ordinary parents, felt gauche and awkward around such people. It wasn't the same for Chloe somehow – her cousin had a level of social sophistication that Emily herself had never possessed. Moreover, she was Wyatt's choice of bride – a decision that no one in their right mind would question.

Chris seemed determined to keep her in the background as well, for he'd not introduced her to anyone unless forced to. Emily wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Was he ashamed to be with her? She shook her head, trying to clear that unsettling thought from her mind. There was nothing in his demeanour that suggested that. He was open and free with his affection towards her – and Daniel had said that their relationship was good for him, that Chris had seemed so much happier of late. There must be some other reason for his reticence then.

Drifting away from the main party, she settled herself on a wooden bench in a corner of the garden, nursing a glass of homemade lemonade between her cupped palms as she brooded on the subject. She knew her insecurities made her guilty of seeing problems where there were none, but she wanted an explanation for his behaviour nevertheless. She wasn't someone who needed to be the centre of attention all the time, but equally she didn't like being shunted into the background either. It made her feel insignificant, like her presence in Chris's life was unimportant to him, inconsequential somehow.

As the sun dipped below the horizon however, she was brought out of her reverie with a startled jolt when someone rather unexpected interrupted her solitary sojourn.

"What are you doing hiding over here?" Penny Halliwell asked abruptly, sitting down on the bench next to her great-grandson's girlfriend and looking quizzically at her.

"I… err…"

Emily stammered in confusion. Penny had such an austere reputation that she wasn't sure how to respond. Wyatt and Chris both seemed decidedly in awe of the formidable matriarch of the Halliwell clan. They spoke of her with the profoundest of respect, and Emily had always gotten the impression that if she clicked her fingers, they'd jump, no questions asked.

"Well girl?" Penny demanded, her appraising gaze as piercing as a golden eagle's in the midst of a hunt.

Emily had been knocked so off-balance by this unanticipated interruption that she found herself telling the older woman the truth before she could stop herself. "I was just wondering where I fit in," she said, waving her hand at the gathering in front of her. "I don't know if I'll ever be… well… good enough for all of this, I suppose."

Penny studied her carefully for a moment, and then pursed her lips thoughtfully. "My great-grandsons are astute enough to play their part when necessary," she explained to the young red-headed witch, "But you don't think that they take any of it seriously, do you? I didn't bring my girls up to be social prima donnas, and they haven't raised their own children to be that way either. I think that's clear from the boy's choice of friends. The casual acquaintances don't really matter, you know - it's the people that they're closest to that count. Do you feel uncomfortable with any of them?"

Emily mutely shook her head in reply.

"Well then," Penny said briskly, patting her encouragingly on the arm, "I think you'll do just fine. My ex-son-in-law certainly seems to think so, and while I can't say I usually pay much attention to Victor's opinion, he does seem to be peculiarly perceptive when it comes to his grandsons' lives. You're an improvement on Chris's previous conquest at least. That little missy wore her skirts far too short in my opinion, but then maybe that was the attraction. He is a man after all, and they all have their shortcomings, great-grandson or no."

Emily wasn't sure if Penny was joking or not, for she delivered this little speech with a perfectly straight face. Hedging her bets, she shot the older witch a tight smile in response. Penny's reassurances had made her feel somewhat better about herself though. There was still one thing that was bothering her however.

"So why is he so reluctant to introduce me to people then?" she blurted out.

"Ahh! So, that's the problem, is it?" Penny said knowingly. "Your pretty little nose has been put out of joint, huh?"

"No, I…" Emily flushed and looked down at her hands.

"I think you may have misunderstood his intentions," Penny went on. "Chris is a very private person, and he doesn't like everyone knowing his personal business. His attitude is no reflection on you, quite the opposite in fact. He's purposely shielding you from what he believes is an unjustifiable intrusion into your private life. Be grateful that he respects you enough not to want your relationship to be used as the latest gossip fodder."

Emily had not considered that, although she realised now that she should have done. Casting her mind back to that fateful day when she and Chris had first met, she recalled his overly defensive reaction when he'd discovered that she was a witch and already knew who he and Wyatt were. His manner had switched from open and friendly to shuttered and hostile in a blink of an eye, and it was only her quirky sense of humour that had prevented their relationship from getting off on completely the wrong foot.

"I shouldn't think it'll be something you have to worry about for too much longer anyway," Penny said once her young companion had absorbed all of this. "It appears that Wyatt has had the foresight not to invite anyone who has the bad manners to outstay their welcome. I rather think that all but close friends and family will be leaving soon."

This, it turned out, was very much the case, for the number of guests dwindled considerably over the next half hour or so, as Emily sat talking to – or rather being interrogated by - her boyfriend's great-grandmother. Much to her consternation, she found herself owning up to her entire life-story, for with Penny there was no chance of selective evasion. It was Wyatt who rescued her in the end, and she breathed a sigh of relief at his fortuitous approach.

"Hey!" he said, holding out his hand towards her. "I think you owe me a dance."

"I do?" Emily asked with a sceptical lift of her eyebrows.

"Yeah, it's tradition."

"Since when?"

"Since I said so," Wyatt responded with aplomb.

Emily smiled. "Won't Chloe mind?" she asked.

"Nah!" Wyatt shook his head nonchalantly. "I've given her permission to dance with Chris. I'm not sure that she's ended up with the better end of the bargain though."

"Oh, your brother has his attractions, believe me," Emily told him.

Wyatt grimaced rather theatrically at that. "Yeah well, each to their own, I suppose," he said, "Can't quite see the appeal myself, but then some women do have rather dubious taste, don't they?"

Emily stuck her tongue out at him and he grinned at her. "So, are you going to dance with me then?" he demanded. "Or do I have to resort to the beyond for a partner instead?" He cast a mischievous glance at his great-grandmother as he said this.

"Watch the lip, young man," Penny warned him, the twinkle in her eye belying the ominous tone of her voice.

"Sorry," he apologised, ducking his gaze contritely. "Actually, I'd be honoured if you'd dance with me," he went on, all traces of humour gone now. "May I reserve the next dance?" he asked her formally.

Penny beamed at him, the expression softening her stern features into stately luminescence. "I believe you may have just redeemed yourself," she said, her voice rife with a myriad of indefinable emotions.

Wyatt acknowledged this with a brief nod of his head, and then offered his arm to Emily, who rose gracefully to her feet and allowed him to escort her to the makeshift dance-floor at the far end of the garden.

"You sure like to live dangerously, don't you?" she commented wryly once she was certain that they were out of Penny's earshot.

Wyatt chuckled. "You looked like you needed rescuing. Giving you the third degree, was she?"

"Umm, you could say that, yeah."

"She's a complete pushover really, you know," he said.

"Tell me – do you know what the word 'deluded' means?" Emily countered sarcastically.

Wyatt smiled down at her as he took her into a loose ballroom-style hold. "I'll have to look it up," he jested, before his expression became more serious. "I wanted to thank you," he said as they began to move in slow circles around the dance-floor.

"For what?"

"For choosing our apartment block to move into," he told her with touch of self-consciousness.

"Oh… that," she replied with a sunny smile. "You're welcome. Turned out rather well, don't you think?"

Wyatt looked over to where Chloe was standing talking to her mother and his, her long hair cascading like a golden waterfall down her back. "Yeah, I reckon it did," he agreed softly. "I was beginning to think it would never happen for me - that I would ever find someone who would be able to look beyond my reputation and see the real me, I mean."

"Lots of people do that, Wyatt," Emily chided him.

"On a friendship level maybe," Wyatt conceded with a shrug, "But when it comes to dating, it's never been that straightforward. I've always attracted the wrong sort, I suppose, and the magical baggage usually frightened off the right kind of girl. Chloe is pretty unique in that sense. It's as if she doesn't really care about any of that."

"Maybe that's because she doesn't look at people in the same way as the rest of us," Emily said wisely. "Her aura-sensing power tells her things about a person that you wouldn't normally be able to get from a first impression. Your name and reputation wouldn't have meant all that much to her beyond the initial hello. She would have seen you for the man you are on the inside almost immediately."

Wyatt nodded. "Luckily for me," he said.

"And for her too," Emily pointed out. "Your happiness isn't one-sided, Wyatt. Chloe's found the person she's been searching for as well. Take it from me, you make her happier than you could possibly imagine."

Wyatt's face broke into a wide smile at that. "Well, I try," he said with an exaggerated show of modesty.

Emily smiled warmly at him. "Believe me – you succeed," she assured him, and then gasped in shocked surprise as a strong arm suddenly encircled her waist from behind.

"Beat it, bro – I'm cutting in." Chris reached out a hand and firmly pushed Wyatt back a step, forcing his brother to release his hold on the startled Emily.

"Chris!" she admonished him.

"What?" The dark-haired witch-whitelighter was unrepentant. "He's got his own girl to dance with – he shouldn't be muscling in on mine."

"Trust me, I've got better things to do with my time," Wyatt immediately retorted, and then his eyes widened comically as he realised what he'd just said.

"And that came out really wrong," he hurriedly recanted off Emily's indignant look.

"Oh no, please continue," she said frostily. "I'm all ears."

"I meant that you… well that Chloe is, umm…"

"Yes?"

"I, err…" Wyatt broke off with a rueful grimace. "I think it's best if I make a tactical retreat, don't you?" he decided after a meaningful pause.

"Wise idea," Emily remarked coolly, although her blue eyes were now filled with silent mirth.

Beside her, Chris was nearly crying with laughter at his brother's unintentional faux pas. "Yeah, that way you might avoid putting the other foot in it!" he declared amidst paroxysms of amusement.

"It's not that funny!" Wyatt protested grumpily before he looked apologetically at the by now openly smiling Emily. "I didn't mean it like that honestly," he swore to her. "I was just…"

"Wyatt?" Emily interrupted in a light tone.

"Yeah?"

"I'd quit while you're ahead if I were you," she advised him drolly.

Wyatt grinned at her. "Perhaps it's best," he agreed.

Reaching out with his right hand, he cuffed his chortling brother upside the head, and then turned on his heel and walked away with as much dignity as he could muster. Leaning back against Chris's hold, Emily watched as Chloe caught her husband's hand as he passed, drawing him into her conversation with their mothers with effortless ease. Wyatt, after a few words of explanation, quickly excused himself however, before going on to seek out his great-grandmother for their previously arranged dance.

They made a handsome couple - Wyatt, tall, broad-shouldered and radiating a heady aura of magical power. And Penny, upright, iron-willed and with a look of fierce but loving pride on her matronly face. A reverent hush fell over the wedding party as the two cut a broad, figure-of-eight path across the dance floor, and Emily felt Chris's arms tighten involuntarily around her as they stepped back out of the way, clearing a space so that Wyatt and Penny could take centre stage.

It was a special family moment and Emily's earlier sense of not belonging completely vanished in the face of it. The fact that Chris kept her close by his side, while he proudly watched his brother and great-grandmother dance, resonated deeply within her. He was openly sharing this experience with her; there was no thought of shutting her out. She could feel his warm breath ruffling her hair and she tilted her head back to look up into his face. He smiled down at her and then dipped his head and pressed a chaste, but lingering kiss against her lips as if to confirm what she already knew.

He loved her – wholly and completely – there was no barrier there. What she'd taken as reticence was just a need to safeguard what they had. He didn't want to mess this up anymore than she did. With that knowledge, all Emily's lingering doubt melted away. They would continue to take their relationship one step at a time, she knew, but they would be moving in the same direction and that was enough for now.

Snuggling back against him, she nestled her head into the concave dip of his collarbone and let out a contented little sigh…

To be immediately continued in the next chapter, so press that arrow button now!