Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any of the characters on the show

Summary: Wyatt has finally moved out of the manor and loving the independent life. But what happens when he finds out that he might be living with an unexpected roommate?

Chapter Four

Chris stood three feet away from the Book of Shadows a pencil in his mouth and one arm crossed over his chest while the other was raised so he could turn the pages with a simple flick of his wrist. It seemed as if he had been standing here forever looking for something. But alas, nothing came. He'd come over a few demons with the power of invisibility but they had all been previously vanquished. It was all getting to be quite frustrating. Why did he always do this? He worked so hard on problems that weren't even his. Oh yea…now he remembered. He was neurotic and obsessive, or so he heard.

"Chris do you have any… laundry…" His mother said from the door. Her face had turned a shade of white and she hadn't blinked in a long time. Chris knew right away that something was wrong. Piper just wasn't one to act like this. He noticed that he was staring at him, for some reason. Not knowing what that reason could possibly be he turned around to see if maybe something was behind him. However, nothing was there.

"Uh no… I'm good" Hearing her son's voice snapped her out of her trance. She gave him a wry smile. "You, ok Mom? You seem a bit off."

"Oh…yea I'm fine. Just stress you know, the usual." It was easy for Chris to tell that she was lying. "Whatcha doin?" Piper asked wanting to change the subject. Chris however was still wrapped up in hid thoughts about his mother. He knew she said something but what was it exactly… He stared at her for a second trying to recall her words.

"Oh! I'm just looking through the book, trying to find something. That's all." He said not wanting to tell her about what happened at his brother's last night. She would freak out. And Lord knows they already had a hard enough time trying to convince her to let Wyatt move out in the first place. If she knew that he was almost killed she would try to force him to move back home. And Chris would never get out of the house.

"Find what?" Piper asked walking toward him.

"I'm just following a rumor that I heard about a while ago. I'm sure it's nothing. But I don't have anything else to do at the moment so…" Chris lied coolly. Out of all the Haillwells Chris was the only one who could tell a lie without cracking. There were no mannerisms that gave him away, no difference in the tone of his voice. He was just a damn good liar. But Piper knew that. She learned it long ago. But she also learned that he rarely told the truth and never to believe the first story that came out of is mouth.

"You're not lying to me are you?" she asked. Chris lifted his head and looked her straight in the eye.

"No" he said flatly. Piper crossed her arms over her chest.

"Uh huh, I'm going to find out what you're up to Christopher if it's the last thing I do," With that she left her son alone to let out an exasperated sigh.

Closing the door to the attic behind her Piper stopped in her tracks before walking downstairs. She leaned against the door and allowed a single tear to fall down her cheek. She just saw him, someone whom she hadn't seen in twenty-three years. She hadn't thought about him in such a long time. She wouldn't let herself. It was just too painful. But seeing him there flipping the pages like that made her think of him. She'd walked in on him doing that many times in the past. She suddenly realized that her little boy had changed. He had grown into the whitelighter that she came to know and love before.

There were so many signs that she had ignored before, his annoyed smirks, his sarcastic comments, the way he lied so calmly. It was all the same. She realized that now. Piper wanted nothing more than to run in and squeeze him until he exploded and tell him how much she loved him and that she was sorry. But no matter how similar they might be that still wasn't him. He wouldn't understand. And that was for the better. Her little boy would never have to go through that pain.

Ding Dong

The sound of the doorbell brought Piper back to reality. She wiped the tears from her eyes and took in a deep calming breath before walking down stairs and making her way to the front door. When she reached it she paused making sure that she had calmed herself. Opening the door, he saw her eldest standing there.

"Hey, Mom." He said with a smile which Piper returned.

"Hi, you know you don't have to ring the doorbell just because you don't live here anymore." She said teasingly while wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"Oh…" Wyatt said with a nervous laugh while scratching the back of his head. Piper laughed and pulled away revealing her still red brimmed eyes. "Are you ok? You look like you've been crying."

"Oh, yea…I was just cutting up an onion. I'm gonna make stew for dinner tonight and its best if you let it simmer for a while." She said. Wyatt looked at her skeptically, knowing that she was lying. He decided to let it go, however, not wanting to provoke an argument. "Oh…Kay. Have you seen Chris? He was supposed to help me with something."

"Yea, he's in the attic." Wyatt laughed. He figured that Chris would already be working on it when he got here.

"Thanks" he said before orbing away.

"Hey! It's called stairs! You know the big zigzaggy things in the middle of the floor! Use them!" Piper shouted up to the ceiling.

Wyatt formed in the attic to see his brother flipping the pages of the book. Chris looked up at the sound of his orbs and sighed.

"Any luck?" Wyatt asked. Chris continued to look through the book as Wyatt walked closer to him.

"Nope, every time I come close to finding something it doesn't pan out. Either, the demon can turn invisible but doesn't throw energy balls. Or the demon throws energy balls but can't turn invisible. And the ones that can do both have already been vanquished."

"Well, any ideas as to what else it might be?" Wyatt asked causing his brother to sigh again.

"No" He kept turning the pages and Wyatt started to pace around the room. Suddenly the turning of the pages stopped. Noticing this, Wyatt turned around and looked at Chris who was reading a page.

"What?" He walked over to Chris and looked over his shoulder to read the page that he was on. Chris pushed him away.

"Don't do that it drives me crazy." Wyatt rolled his eyes and walked around to the front of the podium so he was reading the book upside down.

"The Spiritual Plane?" Wyatt asked.

"Yea… go cut out a piece of fabric from your couch." Chris said.

"Why?"

"Just do it." Chris said picking up the book. "Meet me in the kitchen." Wyatt orbed out of the attic.

With the book in tow Chris walked down to the kitchen. He took out the potion pot and started gathering up various ingredients from the cabinets. Wyatt orbed in moments later carrying a half charred piece of material. He handed it to Chris who took it and placed it on the counter to the left of the pot.

"What are you going to do with that?" Wyatt asked.

"I'm going to see if it's really an energy ball we're dealing with." He filled the pot up with water and started throwing herbs in.

"Oh…Kay" Wyatt said confused. A silence filled the room afterwards and Wyatt couldn't take it any longer. "So…did you get Amy home ok last night?"

"Yup" Chris replied. Wyatt picked up a leaf from the counter and started to tear it apart giving his hands something to do.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She was a little shaken up but she'll be fine. She asked me to stay with her for a while." Chris said while throwing some powder in the pot and causing a small explosion.

"What did you guys do?" Wyatt asked. Chris smirked at him.

Wyatt always got like this. He was very possessive, very jealous, and sometimes very insecure when it came to relationships. It never bothered Chris before but this was Amy. He and Amy had been friends since the fifth grade and Wyatt always seemed to forget that they were close. Nothing would ever change that. If she and Wyatt ever broke up Chris was more likely to kick his brother's ass than to loose his friendship with Amy. It was starting to get really annoying but instead of snapping at Wyatt possessiveness he decided to use his sarcasm.

"We announced our unconditional love for each other and spent the night having wild animalistic sex." Wyatt glared at him and Chris rolled his eyes. "We watched TV. She fell asleep on the couch and I left. You don't have to worry about me and Ames, Wy. She loves you."

"I know that it's just…I don't know it's weird you two are so tight. You know she tells you more stuff than she tells me." Wyatt said.

"Ok, that's not true. She tells me stupid little things like how she spent 200 hundred dollars on a pair of shoes last week. She tells you the important stuff." Chris said. "You know she has never told me one thing about her family. I don't even know her mother's name."

"It's Lisa and they don't get along very well." Wyatt said.

"See… tongs!" Wyatt reached over and handed Chris the tongs. Chris placed the material from the couch in between them and placed it in the pot. Stirring it lightly, he waited until the fabric and the liquid surrounding it began to glow. "I knew it!"

"What?"

"It was a plasma ball and plasma only exists on the spiritual plane. We're not dealing with a demon here. We're dealing with a ghost."

Tbc…

Thanks to all of you that reviewed. You guys are so nice! Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been really swamped with school and other things. I promise I'll be faster next time!