O.O

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Chapter 20: I Won't Let Go

Chris woke up the next morning and looked around, noticing that he was in the living room. He sat up and noticed that he was alone. Then he remembered that the night before Michael had fell asleep, and Chris orbed him into his bed before orbing back down to the living room to think.

He got up and slowly walked into the kitchen, where Michael was sitting down at the table with a cup of coffee in his hands, and blank look on his face, staring at the table.

Chris sighed and got himself a cup, sitting down across from his brother.

Michael looked up at him. He sighed, looking back down at the table. "Hey."

"Hey," Chris said, setting his cup down at Leo walked in.

"Whatcha guys doin?" Leo asked, sitting down at the end of the table.

Michael shrugged. "Sittin and thinkin."

"Well, can I sit and think, too?" Leo asked, hoping that the boys didn't hate him anymore.

Chris shrugged. "It's been your house longer than it's been ours."

Amanda walked into the kitchen slowly, carrying a photo album. She smiled weakly. "Hey, guys."

The three looked up at her.

"How are holding up?" Chris asked, noticing the tear stains on her face.

"I'm not," she said, sitting down next to Chris. "What about you guys?"

"We're not any better," Chris said, sighing.

Amanda nodded. She set the photo album down on the table. "I was, uh, goin through some of Wyatt's stuff today and I found this. I thought you guys might like to have it."

Chris opened it slowly, then smiled a pained smile. He looked over at Amanda. "Thanks."

Michael slowly took the album from Chris, flipping through the pages and pages that Wyatt had of pictures of the three. He looked up at Amanda. "A lot."

Amanda smiled slightly and nodded, getting up. "No problem. Uh, I gotta get home to Abby."

"I'll walk you to the door," Leo said, getting up.

"Feel free to stop by anytime," Chris said, smiling at her slightly.

Amanda nodded. "I will. Thanks," she said before she and Leo walked out of the room.

"You know I never realized until now that Wyatt was the reason we were friends with her," Michael said, staring after her.

Chris nodded. "I know what you mean." He got up and sat next to his brother, flipping through the pictures, smiling sadly, tears building up in his eyes. He chuckled painfully. "It's really not fair."

Michael shook his head as tears slowly made their way down his face. "No. It's not."

Chris looked down at the table, resting his forehead in his hands as tears of his own made their way down his face. "He never did anything wrong. He never got speeding or parking tickets, he never stole anything unless it was from us, and he never cheated in school. He used personal gain a lot less than anyone in this family. He was practically perfect. He didn't deserve this."

Michael shook his head. "No. He didn't." He wiped a few tears away. "And that makes it so hard for me to understand why, out of the three of us, he had to be sacrificed."

Chris looked up at him. "Who have you been talking to?"

"Dad," Michael said, smiling slightly. "You?"

"Mom," Chris said, looking back down at the table. "If anyone, it should've been me. I'm the middle child. And I was the one who screwed up, not Wyatt."

"Chris, don't think like that," Michael said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're all I have left, and I can't have you thinking that it should've been you instead."

Chris ignored him. "You know, Wyatt's been picking up for us for as long as I can remember. But nothing, I repeat: nothing, measures up to this. He died for my mistake. How is that fair?"

Piper walked into the kitchen. "It's not." She sat down across from. "Chris, do you remember what we talked about?"

Chris shook his head, looking down at the table. "No. Not really."

Piper sighed, looking down at the table. She looked back up at him, taking his hand in her own. "I know what it's like to lose an older sibling. It's hard. Especially if you were the middle child. Because suddenly you have all these responsibilities that you're not used to. Like taking care of your younger sibling. I know you don't know how to be the oldest child, Chris. I didn't either. But you'll learn. I promise."

Chris looked up at her. "I'm scared."

"I know," Piper said, rubbing his hand with her thumb. "I know it is. Because Wyatt was there your whole life to protect you. And suddenly he's gone, and you're the one who has to do the protecting. It's a hard step to take after your older sibling dies, but it's a step you have to take."

Chris nodded, taking a deep breath. "Heard from Bianca lately?"

Piper looked confused. "Actually, I haven't seen her all morning."

"She's gone," Chris said, looking back down at the table.

"Gone? What you mean?" Piper asked, looking both confused and pissed off now.

"The elders told her that she had to stay away from me for a little while. But they promised that she could come back," Chris said, shrugging. "I just hope it's soon, because I can't get through this without her."

"I'll go talk to them. I'll fix this. I promise," Piper said before orbing away.

O.O

Brian and the girls sat down in the attic, staring off into space, trying not to get in the way as Future Chris, Future Wyatt and Future Michael walked through a portal.

"Why isn't this fixed yet?" Future Wyatt asked, raising his eyebrows.

Amy sighed, looking up at her father. "Daddy, how are you alive if you died?"

The two looked at each other.

"Shit," Future Michael muttered.

"I didn't know that we came before then," Future Chris said, grimacing.

"You'll see," Future Wyatt said, sighing.

"We'll deal with it later," Brian said, looking up at the three.

Michelle nodded. "Yeah. Everyone's so sad right now."

"And it's bringing us down," Leona said, sighing, laying down on the floor, staring at it, her head propped up with her hands.

"Well, what do you expect?" Brian asked, looking over at Michelle. "Grandma and Grandpa feel guilty, my mother just left my father, Aunt Amanda has to raise a little girl who isn't even hers while mourning the death of her husband and our fathers just lost their older brother. Of course everyone's gonna be sad."

"But it's gettin me bummed out," Leona said, looking up at him. "Have you noticed that my mother hasn't even stopped by the house since Uncle Wyatt died? It's like she's avoiding my dad or something." She looked back down at the floor.

Brian looked over at the mess that Chris made, that Piper had never cleaned up. "Yeah. And Dad's trying everything to get Uncle Wyatt back, but nothing's working."

Amy nodded. "It's all so sad."

Chris walked into the room, tear stains evident on his face. He walked over to the BOS.

"Can't he see us?" Future Michael asked, raising his eyebrows.

Brian shook his head. "No. Can't hear us, either. A spell we put on all future people to stay out of the way."

Chris started flipping through the pages. Tears came to his eyes. "There's gotta be something."

"There isn't," Michael said from the doorway. "We've looked a million times, Chris!"

Chris looked up at his brother, tears starting to stream down his face. "I'm not going to just give up on Wyatt like that, Michael!"

Tears came to Michael's eyes. "We have to," he whispered.

"No we don't!" Chris yelled, still flipping through the book.

"You heard Mom," Michael said, walking over to him slowly. "I know it's hard, but we have to move on with our lives."

"I'm not ready," Chris whispered. He feel to his knees, starting to sob. "I can't. I can't give up. I have to find a way to bring him back."

Tears started streaming down Michael's face. "Oh, screw it," he said, running over to the book and starting to flip through the pages. "What about calling a lost witch?"

"I already tried that," Chris sobbed from the floor.

"Well, maybe if we do it together, it'll work," Michael said, looking down at his brother. He took a few deep breaths then wiped away his tears. He knelt in front of Chris, grabbing him by his arms, starting to shake him. "Chris, snap out of it! If you keep bawling like a baby, we'll never get Wyatt back!"

Chris nodded and took a few deep breaths, getting control over himself.

"We're outta here. Enjoy the show," Brian said before him and the girls orbed away.

"You enjoy the show, cause this is bring back old memories," Future Chris said to Future Wyatt before him and Future Michael walked back through the portal.

Chris stood up, then grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket. "Mom used these spells when she was trying to bring Aunt Prue back."

Michael nodded, grabbing a candle and lighting it. Then he took Chris's hand. They recited: "In this night and in this hour, we call upon the ancient power. Bring back our brother. Bring back The Power of Three."

Tears came to Chris's eyes. "Let's do it again."

"Chris -" Michael started.

"I said let's do it again!" Chris yelled.

Michael backed away from his brother. "I can't believe I'm letting you pull me into this," he said before orbing away.

Tears started streaming down Chris's face as he fell to the floor. He started sobbing as he looked up. "Why'd you leave me, Wyatt? I can't do this! I can't be the oldest sibling! I need you! I need you to be here for me! Please, come back! Come back!" He looked down at the floor, hugging himself as he sobbed.

Piper walked in and ran over to him, holding him close.

"It was all my fault that Wyatt died," Chris sobbed. "I'm the one that screwed up! I'm the one that exposed magic! They shouldn't have sacrificed Wyatt because he was the oldest! He didn't deserve it! I did!"

"Oh, no, sweetie," Piper said, stroking his hair. "Don't think like that."

"Wyatt's been caught in the middle of my messes my whole life, Mom!" Chris sobbed. "I swear I didn't mean for him to be caught in the middle of this one! I didn't mean to kill Wyatt!"

"You didn't kill him, Chris," Piper said, holding him out at arms length. "You understand me? It wasn't you. It was a darklighter."

"If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have had to been sacrifice. I as good as killed him," Chris said, starting to calm down a bit.

"No, Chris. Stop saying that. It was a darklighter," Piper said, starting to get a little pissed.

"If it wasn't for me, we would've had our powers and we could've healed him. But we didn't and we couldn't," Chris said, no longer sobbing, the tears starting to slow down. He fell on his butt, looking straight ahead. "He's not coming back, is he?"

Piper shook her head, tears in her eyes. "No, sweetie. He's not."

Chris took a few deep breaths. "I can't bring him back. I can't do one simple thing for him and bring him back!"

Piper sat down next to him, pulling him close and stroking his hair. "None of us can. We're all helpless. Nothing's going to bring Wyatt back."

Chris looked over at her. "I can't accept that. He's gonna come back. I'll make sure of it. Even if I have to sacrifice myself to do so."

O.O.O.O.O

God, I was crying again! I can't help it! Anyway, review please! Ciao!

Hannah