Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the television show Charmed. All characters belong to Spelling Television, and The WB.

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The Pain of Future Wrongs – Chapter 40

After what seemed like eternity, the pain finally subsided enough for Chris to get back on his feet. Even with his back facing the door, he knew that someone was there. Hoping that they didn't witness his sorry episode, he put on a smile on his face before turning around.

"Shouldn't you be downstairs with your friend, Wyatt?" Chris asked with a smirk.

"You're smooth, Chris, but you can't fool me," Wyatt said, his face serious.

"Come again?"

"What the hell just happened?"

"I'm just getting the room ready for Melanie."

"And you almost passed out!!"

"I did not!" Chris said indignantly.

"I know what I saw, Chris."

"Well you saw wrong. Don't overreact, Wyatt."

Wyatt sensed that Chris was putting up his famous wall and knew that he needed to tread carefully. "I'm just worried about you, Chris."

At this, Chris softened his tone. "I know you are, Wyatt. But I'm okay, really. I'm not a fragile doll. I can handle myself and if I ever need help, I'll let you know. Just trust me, okay?"

Wyatt didn't believe Chris but decided to let it go for now. Instead, he moved to help Chris finishing getting the room ready for their new guest.

The two brothers worked in silence, each with numerous thoughts in their head. Finally, it was Chris who broke the silence. "So, how does it feel to fall in love at first sight?"

"Huh?" Wyatt asked, confusion showing on his face.

"Oh please, you've been staring dumbly at Melanie all night long like a lovesick puppy," Chris laughed.

"I have not," Wyatt denied, his face getting red.

"Sure, you haven't," Chris teased.

"So what if...uh...I...oh forget it," Wyatt gave up.

Chris wrapped his arms around his brother's shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. She seems like a nice girl. You two will probably make a really cute couple."

"Oh shut up," Wyatt responded with a grin. "You'll freak her out with all your strange talk."

Chris laughed at his brother's reaction. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed," he whispered, making a zipping motion on his lips to emphasis his point.

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Morning arrived and the Halliwell manor began to bustle with activity. Chris, as usual, was the first in the kitchen, getting breakfast ready. Melanie was the next to arrive in the kitchen and was surprised to see Chris at the stove.

"Morning," Chris smiled. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, it was the best sleep I had in a while."

"That's good to hear. Crepes and pancakes okay for you?"

Melanie laughed at the question. "Definitely. I can't remember the last time I had someone make breakfast for me. And certainly no guy has offered to make me breakfast."

Chris chuckled at the comment and continued preparing breakfast. Melanie took a seat at the table and just watched Chris as he cooked. She still couldn't pinpoint the exact reason, but somehow she just felt herself being drawn to Chris. She felt safe with him, and she felt free. Her thoughts were broken by Wyatt's morning greeting.

"You're early, Wyatt," Chris said with a knowing grin.

"I was hungry and I needed food," Wyatt replied, his eyes fixated on Melanie.

"Yep, food and sleep, that's my Wyatt," Chris teased as he put the final touches on his gourmet breakfast.

Wyatt laughed nervously. "Don't mind him, Melanie. Chris is known for a little incoherent at times."

It wasn't long before everyone converged in the kitchen for breakfast. The room was bustling with activity and for someone who wasn't used to such a large family, Melanie felt a bit overwhelmed. Nevertheless, she felt happy that she could take part in the joy that this family seemed to exude. It really reminded her of what she had always wished for when she was a child.

After breakfast, Phoebe rushed off to the office and Paige headed off to her latest temp job. Ryan had errands to run and Wyatt was helping Piper at P3. Before heading out, Piper dropped baby Wyatt (Melanie doesn't know that big Wyatt and baby Wyatt are the same person yet) at Sheila's house.

The day passed by quickly and by the afternoon, Melanie was reading a magazine in the parlour, waiting for Chris who promised to take her to buy some clothes. She screamed when a horrid-looking creature suddenly appeared in front of her. Her screams of terror intensified as she saw Chris suddenly materialize in swirling blue lights. Chris grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. If it wasn't for the fear that she was experiencing, Melanie would have loved the fact that she was so close to Chris.

"Don't worry, you'll be okay," Chris whispered softly. "Just stay behind me."

Melanie nodded meekly and hid herself behind Chris as he turned to face the intruder.

"You have some nerve to barge into the manor," Chris said in a cold, controlled voice.

"Shut up and die!!" the intruder growled as he launched a fireball.

Melanie's eyes widened in terror as the flaming ball flew towards them. Chris held up his hand and a bright light swallowed up the fireball. By this time, Melanie had completely given up on any attempts to understand what was going on and simply hoped that she would survive the ordeal.

Chris fired an energy beam into the creature and it froze. "Are you okay?" he asked gently as he noticed Melanie's pale face.

"Chris, watch out!!" she suddenly screamed.

Chris turned around to see a fireball lurching towards them. He had too little time to react and it slammed right into his body, sending him flying towards the wall. At the same time, this action left Melanie unprotected. The creature turned its attention to Melanie and walked towards her.

Chris felt pain shooting up his body but he was more worried about Melanie. Seeing the creature advancing on her, he tried to use telekinesis on the creature. He extended his hand but nothing happened. "What the hell??" he groaned in frustration. Chris orbed in front of Melanie and then orbed both of them out of the way just at the last minute. Recomposing himself, Chris concentrated his powers and directed a massive energy ball towards the creature, destroying it completely. Convinced that the threat had been eliminated, both of them sat down on the sofa and breathed a sigh of relief.

It was at this moment that everyone decided to come home. The front door opened and Phoebe walked in, whistling some unknown tune. She was quickly followed by Paige. Both of them stopped in their tracks when they saw the mess in the parlour.

"What happened?" Paige exclaimed as she surveyed the damage.

Melanie, who still had no idea what was going on, simply gave Paige a puzzled look. "I have no idea. This thing just appeared and then Chris was shooting these things from his hands...I don't know..."

Phoebe sat down and wrapped her arms around Melanie's shoulders. There was no point trying to hide their magic from Melanie now. The only problem was how to break the news to her gently.

"Melanie, there's something that we need to tell you."

Melanie looked at Phoebe with anticipation. "I'm not sure I like that look that you're giving me, Phoebe," she replied. "You're not going to tell me that Chris is some kind of wizard or something, right?" she laughed nervously.

Phoebe and Paige gave each other a knowing look at the comment.

"Wait," Melanie continued. "You are going to tell me that Chris is a wizard."

"Not exactly," Phoebe explained. "Actually, Chris is a witch, a very powerful witch. And a whitelighter – a guardian angel for witches."

"You're kidding, right?" Melanie asked incredulously. "Okay...so you're not kidding."

"We're good witches, though," Paige quickly added.

Melanie laughed softly. "Well, I figured that much."

As the three women talked, the rest of the family returned from their various errands. "Oh my god, what happened to you, Chris?" Piper cried, seeing the wound on her son's body.

Leo immediately came forward and healed his son. Everyone began to fuss over Chris, making sure that he was okay, but the young Halliwell witch-Whitelighter was immersed in his own thoughts. He buried his face in his hands as he tried to think clearly. After a while, everyone else finally noticed that Chris wasn't really paying attention to them. What they also noticed was that he was engaged in a very heated conversation – with himself.

"Uh, Chris? Care to fill us in on what's going on?" Phoebe interrupted.

Chris was oblivious to Phoebe's question and began to pace the room, still talking to himself.

"Chris? CHRIS!!" Ryan shouted, finally getting his brother's attention.

Chris stopped and stared at the rest of his family, who were taken aback by the paleness of Chris' face.

"What's wrong?" Paige asked. "You look like you've just seen a ghost..."

"That demon..." Chris began, still confused.

"What about it? It's been vanquished," Wyatt answered, not really understanding where Chris was going with this.

"I...I put a magical barrier around the manor...it couldn't have gotten in here...only extremely high-level demons might have had a chance, and I would've known...and...and this demon wasn't high-level..."

"Honey, relax," Piper tried to soothe her confused son, who was gradually becoming hysterical. "I'm sure there's a good explanation for this."

"No, there isn't," Chris replied. "Something is wrong..."

"Then we'll find out what it is that's wrong – together," Leo said, trying to comfort Chris.

Chris extended his hand to the dining table, but nothing happened. He tried again and again but still, nothing happened. Feeling frustrated, he decided to orb out, only to find himself rematerializing in exactly the same spot. "What's wrong with my powers??" he asked his family with pleading eyes, hoping for an answer. The only thing that he got in return was shocked and dismayed faces.

to be continued