Chris felt an unexpected pang of jealously shoot through his heart. Yea, he had kissed Phoebe about a half-hour earlier, but he couldn't stand to watch Piper flirt with this guy relentlessly. He stared at Ryan, unmercifully. Piper caught the look and stared back at Chris. Phoebe saw them staring at each other, and wondered what was going on. But, before she could say anything, Pier spoke up.
"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm hungry. All they have in that joint is mush, mush, and more mush." She said. Everyone laughed at the face she made when talking about hospital food.
Piper, who was desperate to get away from Chris and to get Ryan and Chris away from each other, offered to cook something up. "Ryan?" She asked. "Could you help me in the kitchen?"
"Ooh." Shea said. "Piper and Ryan sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Ryan in the baby carriage!" Shea sang as she ran around the room.
"Shea!" Ryan said, blushing a little. Piper also blushed, and quickly left to go into the kitchen. When Chris saw that Ryan was too busy helping Phoebe make Shea be quiet, he followed her into the kitchen and cornered her.
"Chris. What are you doing?" She asked, her voice filled with fear. She had no way to go around him, and she wasn't going to draw attention to herself by screaming for help.
"Piper, what's going on between you two?" Behind his toughness, Piper could see eyes filled with hurt.
"Chris. Look at me. We both just lost someone whom we loved. We were in a phase and we shared a kiss. It was no big deal." Piper said.
"No. It was. I like you Piper. I mean, I like you a lot." Chris whispered. He leaned forward to kiss her when someone cleared their throat behind them. Chris turned around angrily to see Ryan standing in the doorway.
"Uh Phoebe's looking for you." He said.
Chris stormed out of the kitchen. Ryan turned to Piper, who was still crouched in the corner.
"You alright?" He asked as he lifted her off the ground.
"Yea. I'm fine." She said.
"What was that about?" He asked, genuinely concerned.
"I really have no idea." She replied laughing.
About a half-hour later, Piper called everyone into the kitchen for dinner. It was about 7 o'clock and a perfect time to eat. Pouring the soup into bowls, Ryan passed them out as people sat down at the table.
"Chris. What did the Elder's say about the Krell demons?" Phoebe asked.
"They don't know anything about them." Chris said with a mouthful of food.
"The Elder's don't know. Well, that's a first. I can't bel…" Phoebe stopped and everyone turned to stare at Shea. She was practicing her telekinetic power and was feeding herself with her mind. The spoon was bobbing up and down as she narrowed her eyes and followed it as it dipped into he soup and entered her mouth. She then noticed everyone watching her. Suddenly, the spoon clattered to the table. Everyone laughed.
"What?" She asked. She didn't get what was so funny.
"You are unbelievable, did you know that?" Piper said, still laughing hard.
Suddenly, Shea changed into Piper. "You are unbelievable, did you know that?" She mocked in perfect tone. This got a laugh from the rest of the table.
"What time is it? Phoebe asked.
"It's 7:15." Ryan responded automatically.
"Ah. I have to go." Phoebe yelled, jumping up from the table and gulping a last spoonful of soup. "Thanks for the soup Piper. It was great!" Phoebe ran upstairs and slammed the door behind her.
"What was that all about?" Ryan asked. Before he could answer, Phoebe came running back downstairs. She slid across the kitchen floor and opened the fridge. Grabbing some coke and a cartoon of cookies out of the shelf, she ran back upstairs.
"She's really attached to this movie, 'Kill It Before It Dies' I think it's called. It's on every weekend, and she watches it every Sunday night. It's kind of pathetic, but she's in love with that movie.
Shea finished her soup and stood up. "Chris, can you orb me back to my house so I can get my stuff for school tomorrow? I need to do some homework still."
"Shea. I may be intruding here," Piper said, looking at Ryan. "But I don't think you should go to school tomorrow. I've got an idea. You can come help me set up the club for Ingram Hill to play. How's that sound?"
Shea considered it for a moment. "What club?" She finally asked.
"Oh yea. Sorry. I own P3." Piper said, her voice swelling with pride.
"Well. Alright. But I still have to get clothes. Chris?" Shea turned to Chris with puppy dog eyes.
"Alright. Let's go." Chris grabbed her hand and they disappeared in a flash of blue and white lights, leaving Piper and Ryan alone. They looked at each other.
"I missed you." Ryan said at the same time as Piper. They both laughed nervously.
"Well it's true. If I had held onto you, I would have married you instead of Wyatt." Ryan said, reminiscing.
"But if you had held onto me…where would we be now?" Piper asked, avoiding his eyes as she gathered the dirty dishes.
"We would be married, with 2 kids. And Chris, or whatever his name, wouldn't be around. It would just be us, together." Ryan responded, taking a step towards Piper.
"But I did marry Leo. And Chris is here." Piper said, stating the facts. But then, her curiosity took over. "Why did you let me go?" Piper asked.
"I had to. Shea looked too much like you. You would have gotten suspicious, and you were never supposed to know about her. But I've missed you every day since I left." He said.
"Me too" Piper responded, as she kissed him. "Me too."
Chris orbed into Phoebe's room and wrapped his arms around her. She looked up at him.
"Hey." She said as she handed him a cookie. He kissed he forehead and took the cookie.
"Does Piper know Ryan more than she's letting on?" Chris asked, trying to sound casual.
"Of course. They were high school sweethearts. That is until Ryan left and Leo swept her off her feet." Phoebe said, as Chris's mouth dropped open in shock.
Shea stood in the doorway of the kitchen and smiled happily as she watched Piper and Ryan remember the love they had lost over 10 years ago.
"This is going to be great." She said to herself as she sat down in the living room and turned on the TV.