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 46
After a long, productive day, everyone sat down for dinner. Chris managed to convince Piper to let him at least do some of the cooking and she finally relented. This arrangement worked out to everyone else's liking since they were now able to have the best of both chefs, so to speak.
Throughout the entire dinner, Paige was quieter than usual. This was because she was spending her energy observing Melanie. Despite what Piper and Phoebe said, she had a nagging feeling that something didn't quite make sense. And if Melanie posed any danger to her family, especially her nephews, she wasn't going to stand idly by and wait for tragedy to strike.
"So Melanie," Paige finally asked, "you haven't really told us much about yourself. I think we're all very interested in getting to know you."
"Oh, my life's been pretty boring, especially when compared with yours," she said with a smile. "It's really not worth talking about."
"You're right about our lives being exciting – overly exciting if you ask me," Paige continued, "which is why I find the lives of other non-magical people especially interesting."
"Well...uh..." Melanie mumbled.
"For example, where were you born? Where did you grow up? Tell us about your family."
"Aunt Paige!!" Wyatt cut in, an irritated expression on his face. "This isn't 20 questions, you know."
"Hey, I'm just curious," Paige defended herself. "She is your girlfriend, so isn't it logical that we get to know more about her?"
"Yeah, but you don't have to bombard her with questions!"
"I think they're pretty standard questions you ask people when you meet them, don't you?" Paige asked everyone in the room, who suddenly found their plates to be very interesting viewing material. "I mean, unless there's something that she doesn't want us to know..."
"Aunt Paige," Chris whispered not so softly. "Can I speak with you – in private?" He glared at her, letting her know that it wasn't a request.
Paige rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen with Chris, who grabbed her arm and orbed her up to the attic.
"What is going on?" Chris demanded after they rematerialized in the attic.
"What are you talking about, Chris?"
"Oh come on, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The questions?"
"I'm just curious, you know?"
"It doesn't take an empath to see the edge in your questions, Aunt Paige. What exactly are you trying to get at?"
"Nothing!"
Chris rolled his eyes at the response. "Do you think I'm an idiot? Like I'm really going to buy that answer!"
"Fine! I'm just testing her, okay? Don't you find that there's something strange about her?"
"What?" Chris exclaimed with disbelief. "Where are you getting all this from?"
"It's hard to explain," Paige replied. "She's just too good to be true. I get these devious, sinister vibes from her. I just know that she's bad news."
"I can't believe you, Aunt Paige!!" Chris and Paige turned to see Wyatt standing by the door, his face full of fury. "How dare you talk about Melanie like this, behind her back? What right do you have to talk about my girlfriend like this?"
"Wyatt, I'm just looking out for you."
"Then why didn't you tell me about it instead of talking behind my back?" Wyatt challenged.
"Wyatt..."
"Just leave us alone, Aunt Paige. We don't need you meddling in our lives!!" he yelled before orbing out of the attic, leaving Chris and Paige in the attic.
"Chris, you believe me, right?" she asked with a hopeful expression on her face.
The truth was that Chris was just as furious as Wyatt. He couldn't believe that Paige would say these things about Melanie, who had been nothing but sweet and helpful ever since she arrived. However, Chris was an expert in controlling his emotions and he avoided the display of anger that his older brother demonstrated earlier. "Aunt Paige, just listen to Wyatt and leave them alone, okay?" he asked before orbing out.
Paige was standing there in disbelief as both of her nephews made it known that they disapproved of her concerns. "Fine, I'll just have to prove it to you myself," she said to herself as she walked over to the Book of Shadows and began flipping through the pages."
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"Wyatt, just calm down, okay?" Chris urged his older brother who was still fuming from the earlier encounter with Paige.
"That's easy for you to say. It's not your girlfriend that's being bad-mouthed," he shot back, not noticing how Chris flinched at that comment.
"I'm just as upset as you are, Wyatt," Chris finally answered. "But making a huge deal out of this is not going to do anyone any good. I know Aunt Paige, she was doing it out of good intentions, Wyatt. She just went about it in the wrong way. But now that you've told her, I'm sure she'll leave you guys alone."
Wyatt grunted at the comment before finally managed a small smile. "You always stick up for Aunt Paige."
"Hey, I can't help it if I'm her favourite nephew, you know," Chris smirked, ducking just in time as Wyatt threw a pillow at him.
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"So where do you want to go tonight?" Wyatt asked as he played with Melanie's hair. He loved it when they spent these quiet times together, just talking and enjoying each other's company.
"Up to you," she answered, smiling at the way Wyatt was looking at her. She could see the love in his eyes and she loved Wyatt too. The only problem was that she also loved his younger brother. Of course, that completely complicated matters.
"How about a movie? I heard that the new romantic comedy is pretty good."
"Sounds good..." Melanie couldn't finish her answer as she was gripped by a massive wave of pain. She cried out as she felt the pain all over her body. Her head felt like it was about to explode and the room began to spin.
"Melanie!!!!" Wyatt cried out in horror. "What's wrong???"
Melanie tightened her grip on Wyatt's arm as the pain intensified. "Wyatt!!!!" she cried as tears streamed down her face.
"Oh god!! Mom!! Dad!!!" he called out, only to be met with silence. "Chris!!!!!"
Chris appeared amidst the swirl of blue orbs. Seeing Melanie in pain, he immediately rushed to her side. "What happened?" he asked Wyatt.
"I don't know," he sobbed, missing his former powers for the first time. "We were just talking and then suddenly, she was crying in pain!!"
"Did you call dad?" Chris asked, already knowing the answer. "Damn it. You know I can't heal!!" Each of the Halliwell brothers held onto Melanie's arm as they tried to think of a way to help her. If Wyatt wasn't so busy crying, he would have noticed the tears and anguish in Chris' eyes as he stared at Melanie.
As Melanie felt Chris' hand on hers, her pain began to diminish, gradually fading away. Both brothers looked relieved when her pain disappeared, although they continued to carry worried expressions on their faces.
It was Wyatt who finally broke the silence. "You did it, Chris," he said with gratefulness. "You saved Melanie!" he continued as he enveloped Chris in a hug. "Thank you so much, Chris!!!"
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Wyatt headed up to the attic, hoping to find some information on what caused Melanie's sudden pain. He was sure that it was something magical, although he couldn't understand why Melanie would be a target.
He headed over to the Book of Shadows and the minute he laid eyes on the open book, a surge of fury overwhelmed him. He turned from the Book just as Paige entered the room with potions in hand.
"Wyatt," she said calmly.
"HOW DARE YOU???" he yelled angrily.
"Wyatt, I don't know..."
"Oh save it, Aunt Paige," he spat. "I thought I told you to leave us alone, but no, you had to stick your nose into our business!!!"
"I only wanted to..."
"To what? Kill her???" he hollered bitterly.
"Of course not!!!" Paige yelled back, indignant that her nephew was implying that she was a murderer.
"Hey, what is going on here?" Chris called out as he ran into the attic to check out the commotion. His eyes fell on the Book of Shadows and his heart sank. "Tell me you didn't, Aunt Paige." Paige remained silent as her two nephews glared at her. "How could you, Aunt Paige?? Wyatt told you not to!!!" he continued, his voice rising.
"I guess you were wrong about our dear aunt here," Wyatt said bitterly. "Turns out you don't know her as well as you thought!" Turning to Paige, he glared at her, trying to control his anger. "I won't forgive you for this, Aunt Paige," he declared before orbing out.
Chris looked at his aunt, who was obviously upset, with a mixture of anger and hurt. He felt betrayed by Paige and he couldn't hide those feelings. "How could you, Aunt Paige?" he asked, his voice trembling somewhat. "I stood up for you...I vouched for you..." he said before also orbing out, his sad face etched in Paige's mind.
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Paige sat on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She was so sure the spell would work and couldn't understand why it backfired. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the knocking on her door. A second round of knocking finally brought her back to reality. "Great, I wonder which member of the family is angry at me now?" she thought to herself. "Come in," she finally answered.
The door opened and Chris walked in slowly. "Is this a bad time?" he asked, his voice betraying his uncertainty.
"No, of course not."
"I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I was way over the line and I'm sorry," he said as he sat on the bed.
"No, you were right. I should've listened and just left Wyatt and Melanie alone. You had a right to be angry."
"I still shouldn't have done what I did," Chris insisted.
Knowing how stubborn Chris could be, Paige relented. "Fine. I accept your apology, even though I think it's not needed."
"Thanks, Aunt Paige."
"So you're not angry with me anymore?" she asked hopefully.
"Come on, Aunt Paige. You know I can't stay angry with you...just like you could never stay angry with me," he grinned.
"Oh, the modesty is just killing me," Paige smirked and Chris just smirked back.
The younger Halliwell opened the door and went out into the hall for a moment before reemerging in the room. "And to show that I'm really sorry, here's a chocolate strawberry mousse cake, just for you."
"Oh Chris, you didn't have to!!"
"I wanted to," he smiled. "I really am sorry."
Paige hugged Chris, letting him know that she was not angry with him. "So is Wyatt still angry with me?"
Chris sighed and nodded. "Don't worry though, he'll come around – eventually."
"I guess I'll just have to let them be and hope my suspicions were nothing more than that," Paige said with a resigned voice.
"Actually," Chris answered, "I was thinking of helping you out."
"Don't joke about these things," Paige chastised her nephew.
"I'm not joking," Chris protested. "As a matter of fact, I have some suspicions of my own..."
- to be continued -