He did it for me
Chapter 23
By: teal-lover
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Being twice blessed, Wyatt thought that nothing could ever hurt him. It's devastating to find out how wrong you can be. Takes place in the future that Chris changed.
Chris just turned 19, and Wyatt is three months shy of his 21st birthday.
AN: This is a Chris & Wyatt chapter.
Disclaimer in chapter 1
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"Wy-att," came the whispered voice in a sing-song voice. Having found sleep to be far out of his reach, the blonde turned over alertly to face the intruder who had just entered his bedroom. His eyes attempted to adjust in the darkness to the figure that now crept through the barely open doorway.
He was just about to sit up, when the figure suddenly moved as stealthily as panther, and pounced on him much the same way.
The wind forced out of him, he grunted in surprise, "What are you doing?"
"I couldn't sleep," Chris whined as he sat on Wyatt's chest.
"So what, you thought it would be easier if you found yourself a nice Wyatt pillow?" he asked sardonically.
"As soon as you figured out I wasn't a threat to you, you used to do it to me all the time," Chris pointed out.
"Yeah, but I was 2 years old and 20 pounds—you weigh a ton!" He shoved him off playfully, laughing when he heard the younger man hit the floor with a resounding thud.
Chris sucked his teeth as he climbed back up on the bed, "Well 20 pounds is a lot of weight when you're just lying there sleeping, and some little brat decides to orb and jump on your lungs."
"As opposed to a big brat who weighs a ton?"
"Hey, I called your name and gave you warning first."
Wyatt reached around him and flipped the switch on the bedside lamp. "So you couldn't sleep either, huh? Were you worried about whatever is going on?"
Chris squinted in the light, but shook his head and replied honestly. "No. I told you before, I'm already dead. So I'm not worried about any of that, even if Grams is."
Worry lines creased the older boy's features, "Then what's bothering you?"
He shrugged, his facial expression devoid of any emotion, "I just wanted to bug you some more."
Wyatt had started to laugh at the thought of Chris unable to sleep through his desire to harass him; that is until he realized what the dark-haired boy was really saying. "You mean, while you still have time."
Chris looked down at the floor nodding, "Every minute I spend here just gets me closer to—" he sighed heavily, "well I don't know what it gets me closer to. I just know my time is running out and I didn't want to waste it sleeping. I never really got a chance to know you. And you seem really cool. Like I always thought you would be."
Chris looked on nervously, trying to get a reading off of the expressionless face. Giving up, he dropped his hands to his thighs and stood up to leave, "I'm sorry, you're probably tired."
Wyatt reacted quickly and tugged on Chris' arm, dropping him back on the edge of the bed. "Don't be, I'm fine. Chris whatever, and whenever-it happens, you'll still be able to come back—just like Grams does. And I would be really mad at you if you didn't."
"Well then I guess you're just going to have to be mad at me, because there is no way they would ever let me come back. Look how long it's been for Aunt Prue, and they still won't let her see her sisters yet. Think about it Wy. You really think that with your Chris here, they would even consider letting me come back."
Wyatt conceded reluctantly, not knowing if what the younger man said was true, but unwilling to let the opportunity to do the same slip through his fingers. "Ok. For now. How about we make a deal? You get to know me, only if I get to know youYou go first. So what did you want to know?"
Chris bounced excitedly, "What's your favorite color?"
"Black", Wyatt deadpanned.
The glint in his brother's eyes and a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth made Chris doubt the answer. He remembered the evil version's color of choice and remarked in irritation, "That's not funny. That's all he ever wore. And you see what happened to him."
"I didn't mean it to be. I'm serious. I happen to look good in it. Can I help it if I still have taste?"
He pointed to the blue-green shirt that he wore, "It's not what you're wearing now."
"I never said that was the only color I liked. You asked about my favorite. Come on Chris, you asked me, and I answered honestly. I can't help it if you don't like the answers you get. Now it's my turn. You said that's all he ever wore. What about when he was little? You can't seriously tell me that mom let him get away with a one-color wardrobe."
Chris laughed and relaxed a bit, leaning back on his elbow. "No, she tried. But every colored item she picked, he just ended up orbing it all over the world or destroying it with an energy ball if he didn't like the piece itself. If he liked the clothing, just not the color—he would simply do a spell to turn it black."
Wyatt raised his eyebrow, "And mom and dad never found that odd?"
"That's two questions. My turn…" Chris grinned as he led them further into delving into each other's personality and experiences.
'-'
Hours later….
Both were pretty satisfied at all they had learned from each other, but Wyatt had held off asking one question that had been bothering him since he read the boy's note at Sheila's. He decided to forego any hesitation and finally asked a little timidly, "I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but please—do it anyway for me ok? When I read your letter, one thing kept jumping out at me. You said you used to have to dodge energy balls from him and stuff like that. I guess what I'm trying to ask is—what kind of stuff and why did he do those things?"
"Why do you want to know that?"
"Because I never want to be like him. I can not imagine ever intentionally wanting to hurt you, and I'm trying to understand how he could. Is it something that's apart of me, just waiting to come out? Chris, why did you come back to save me if I—sorry—he was so cruel to you? Please don't feel like you have to spare my feelings at all, because I really need to know."
The dark-haired teen shifted a little uncomfortably while he debated whether or not to answer the question. But the pleading and fearful look in the Twice-Blessed's eyes made the decision for him. He couldn't deny a request like that when it obviously meant so much to him.
Growing up, all Chris had ever wanted was the love and acceptance by his older brother. He had it from the rest of his family, mostly, but his brother was always different. Despite the brotherly bond that Chris knew existed because he himself felt it, and therefore knew that Wyatt had as well, the blonde had consciously denied it. As a result, the older of the two had always been cold and distant towards him. He used to think that his older brother hated and resented him, but his mother had always told him not to be sad over it because Wyatt couldn't help it. He had been like that ever since something terrible had happened to him before her youngest was born.
For years, Christopher Perry Halliwell did every thing in his power to please the Twice-Blessed Witch, within reason of course. But nothing ever seemed to work. It wasn't until he began to take over the world that Chris finally realized that the only way to change his brother was to go back and stop that terrible event from ever happening.
He took a deep breath, recalling his reasons. "Because there were times when he gave me hope. I always knew that there was a connection between us, but he chose to ignore it—most of the time. There was this one time I remember when I was seven. I hadn't learned to orb yet, since-Leo was never around to teach me. Mom and the Aunts had taken us on a picnic near a lake, I don't remember which one, but…"
…Finishing his sandwich, the little boy looked up, his eyes covered by a mop of dark shaggy hair. "Mommy, I'm finished. Can I go and play with Wyatt now?"Piper smiled gracefully at her little angel. She always thought that he had the most gorgeous sage-green eyes that she had ever seen, and she wanted to see them again. Stroking the hair away from his tiny face, she bent down and kissed the tip of his nose. She giggled when he squirmed out of her grasp, insisting that he was too old to be kissed by his mother. She wanted to take his mind off of his older brother, since it hurt her as much as him when Wyatt rejected her baby boy. She was aware that it wasn't his fault after Gideon kidnapped and tried to kill him as a baby, and that he probably would never change because of it, but it still hurt nonetheless.
Piper shared a soulful glance with her sister, who seemed to get the same idea. "Christopher," she scolded him playfully, "You think you're too old to be kissed by your mother? Well then, how about by your mother AND your aunts…" she said as they all tackled the boy, showering him with kisses as he giggled and tried to roll away from the trio.
Deciding that he'd had enough playing with the adults, he focused his attention on his big brother again. "Mommy, you said when I finished I could go and play with Wyatt…"
Piper didn't want to see the saddened look in his eyes when he would inevitably return when Wyatt once again ignored him. She tried again to talk him out of it, "Wyatt just wants to go off and do big guy things, Peanut. Don't you want to hang out with us?"
He replied with honesty that only a child could muster without feeling guilty. "No," he answered bluntly, "I want to find Wyatt. Please mommy?"
Sighing, Piper reluctantly agreed before sending him off and warning him to be careful.
He ran off excitedly, finding the older boy balancing himself on the edge of an embankment. Of course wanting to do everything his big brother did, Chris tried it too.
Maintaining his balance for a while, Chris shouted excitedly, "Look Wyatt—I can do it too! He hadn't expected a response, since he never usually got one anyway.
And he wasn't disappointed this time either.
Until he fell in.
Chris panicked because he knew he couldn't swim, and the water was so deep. Coughing and spitting, he doggy paddled fiercely to keep his head above the water. His little arms and legs were tiring quickly, and he knew he couldn't keep up the pace much longer…
"…I remember how scared I was, and I just kept yelling, "Wyatt—Wyatt, help me!" But he just stood there on the edge—watching me drown. His face was the last thing I saw before I went under."
Wyatt was listening to Chris tell the story emotionlessly, as if it hadn't bothered him in the slightest bit that he almost died while his only sibling stood idly by watching with disinterest. He, on the other hand, was in tears. He couldn't believe that his other self could be so cold.
Chris continued, "But it was also the first thing I saw when I woke up. There he was leaning over me, soaking wet, and healing me. He had jumped in to save me. I saw it in his eyes for the first time-that he didn't hate me like I thought he did. That he was just fighting the evil inside of him. Man, I was so happy by the time I ran back to mom. Of course she freaked out and we all went home, but you would have thought that I had just gotten an ice cream cone, not nearly drowned. Besides, he talked to me a little more after that."
Wyatt was afraid to ask, but did so anyway, "And the energy balls?"
"Well the first one he ever hit me with was not long after that. He said I should have been able to orb myself out of the water, but I didn't know how. So he taught me. Or, tried to teach me. But I just wasn't getting it. And that's probably because I didn't want to because that meant he spent more time with me. He was getting pretty irritated, and eventually tossed a few at me to force me to orb." Laughing at the recalled memory, he added sardonically, "And let me tell you—I learned to orb after that. Talk about tough love—that's the only way he ever taught me anything…And I always learned."
They continued their question and answer session that lasted well into the night.
Tbc…
AN: THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! to all of you wonderful people for all of your wonderful reviews. They really make my day:)
