Lots of thanks to Pukah: I'm glad you enjoyed the cliffhanger. I love them too..
And also to Highlandgurl: Thanks for the kudos. I would do the whole other story of their relationship beforehand, but I think I can tie it in here. So, you're getting a two for one special on Chris and Jade. You get to see the present of it, a bit of the future (in the end of course :) ) , and also their past.
As always, reviews are welcomed. Enjoy!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------oh... p.s. the setup I will explain so no one gets hung up and confused. In italics is the past. In bold and italics is the last half of the last chapter. In regular font is what's going on now.
Chris came into the gymnasium sneakily. Of all places to find Jade he had never expected her to be in the gym practicing her shots. She was everything but athletic. So, of course, when her friends had pointed him in that general direction he had thought they were crazy. Of course, now that he had come he realized that they weren't. Nope, they weren't, but she was. She really wasn't good at the whole ball in hoop theory. Which showed as he watched her throw about ten trial shots without any success.
He did have one good advantage to her being so into the game. He could easily sneak his way across the floor without a sound and surprise her. So he did and as he came up behind her he instantly grabbed the orange basketball from her hands.
He threw the ball in the general direction of the hoop and smiled at her as he heard the swoosh of the ball as it went through the net. The old saying 'nothing but net' applied as he grinned at her childishly. It had only taken a second for her to figure out who it was that had taken her basketball and then she'd instantly placed her hands firmly on her hips as she stared at him annoyed.
"Hey, I was trying here, Mister" she told him.
"Yeah I know. I saw. I conquered." he told her. "You need a few pointers on your shots, Missie. And I know exactly who can help. Me, of course."
"Whatever macho man." she replied a slight grin appearing like a ghost over her lips. "Just cause you got a part on the basketball team doesn't mean you can impress me or something with your skills. I will not be your groupie. And fyi I wasn't even trying."
"Noted." he told her. "But I did get you a three point basket."
"Gee, thanks," she said. Her annoyance with him disappeared as she went back into her regular mode. "So what are you doing here? Practice is right now. The first practice of the season need I remind you."
"Oh, yeah that." he said looking at the waxed gym floor.
"Yeah, that. First practice of your first season on the team. It doesn't look good for you to just not show up there, Chris. So what's up?" she asked him lightly.
Unlike most people who would yell at him for his lack of responsibilities Jade had always been good at knowing when harping over small things was going too far or not. That was another thing he loved about her. When a majority of girls he'd dated as of now as well as most of the girls in the high school made big things out of very small things, Jade stood on her own knowing when to yell at him when something was wrong or else when to not yell at him. It was nice not to be dating a sociopath from his high school for once.
"I quit." he informed her as he rubbed the side of his face nervously.
He knew the instant he said it he wasn't going to get away with that lame of an answer. Of course, she had been there for the past few weeks watching him practice and everything. So, now after the big celebration of him joining the team was over and he had quit out of the blue he could only expect her to yell at him out of the confusion. He would have done the same.
"What?" she cried. "You can't just quit. All you did was try out. You never even went to a practice. I could be wrong, Chris, but people usually quit something after they have at least tried it. Not after they get a part on the basketball team that they have been practicing for all year that they have been spouting out all kinds of poetic love for. Hell, you could be married to basketball for how much time you have put into the damned thing."
Chris smiled and made another hoop. He had been practicing forever. He had even been good enough to make it on the team. Which was something he had wanted since before he could remember . It was the perfect chance to be normal. It was the perfect opportunity to get around normal people and act like a normal person instead of a freak.
Which whether his parents or his family wanted to admit it it was real. He was a freak along with the rest of his family. It didn't matter that they saved people daily. All that mattered was the fact that they all had super powers others didn't have. They all had super powers that could only be used to benefit others and not themselves and after everything they did for people everyday along with all the horrible stuff thrown their way he didn't get why they were still on the good side.
"I changed my mind." he lied as he looked at her.
She shook her head in disbelief at him. Her clear blue eyes pierced through his as she pressed her cat like glasses up onto her nose. Her bangs cut into her eyesight as she did and she got even more annoyed. Her disarray of black and red hair was all back in a muddled ponytail that he tugged lightly as they started to walk around the white lined gymnasium.
She sure didn't like the fact that he quit. Of course, she didn't understand it. He did though. More then he wanted to. He didn't have time for it. He couldn't be at a basketball game or at practice and then have to go vanquish a demon. He would end up letting someone down at some point in time. That and he was in the advanced classes in school and they were slowly killing him.
Another semester and he was sure he might have a mental breakdown, but he was still looking for a bright side. Of course, the only bright side so far in life where being normal wasn't second nature to him and he had to protect his secret from coming out every moment of everyday was Jade .
She got him. Somehow she did. She didn't know everything about him but she got him. He liked that about her. She wasn't exactly the most normal either which helped a lot when all anyone ever wanted to be was normal, popular, and to fit in. Sure she was mortal and had no freak powers to dwell on, but she did have troubles dealing with people their age.
Hell, she was smarter as well as more mature then anyone in his grade. Half the people he had met so far needed to go back to kindergarten and grow up all over again because they really had missed that lesson the first time round.
"You have practiced for tryouts since forever and yet you changed you're mind. Hello, did something happen that I don't know about?"
"I don' t have the time alright." he told her slightly annoyed at her for still not letting it go.
"Time? You are in high school and you're a guy. All you do is figure out when you want to have a shower during the week, you play video games for hours on end, and then you sleep. How do you not have time?" she remarked as she shook her head.
He didn't. He had to do his advanced classes work. He had to deal with the endless family drama as well as any unsuspecting demon attacks on the family which happened daily. He barely had time for anything after that. The only spare doses of time he did have he ended up spending with Jade. Since she was one of the only one people he really cared about enough to use the time he did have on.
"So what is it? What's up? What's the confidential info you aren't telling me about?" she asked him as she wrapped her arm around his waist and walked along beside him on the boxed track.
When she looked up at him and saw that he wasn't going to tell her she grabbed his hand in hers and put his arm behind his back in a quick, hard hold. Slightly painful but she was just playing around. "I could always use force to get it out of you."
"Please, do." he laughed.
She made a noise in between an annoyed grunt and a laugh and released him. She then went back to having her arm around his waist as they walked along. Surprisingly, they were alone in the gym which was usually packed. Today they had gotten lucky.
Chris risked a side glance at her. She was confused by his actions. She wasn't going to dwell on it though because she didn't know the whole story. One thing she had always been good about was giving him space till he was ready to commit.
Maybe he would tell her the big family secret. Maybe she would accept it. Maybe she would be cool with everything and stay with him. Then, she would understand why he did strange things sometimes, when he had to skip out on hanging out with her, or even why he wasn't allowed to have people in his house. Or maybe she would think he was a freak and never talk to him again.
Now that he had thought about it he wasn't exactly so sure if he wanted to know what her response would be.
"Maybe, I'll tell you someday." he told her secretly hoping so.
"Hopefully, I'm not like some dying old broad by then ." she laughed out at him as her head laid against his shoulder..........
Her sky blue eyes had moved to a spot behind him in surprise as her mouth had opened. Whatever she had been about to say to him before was gone as she called out his name in warning. "Chris!"
He hadn't even had the time to turn his head it had happened so quickly. Just as her words had made sense in his mind a fireball had come flying out of no where. It hadn't been aimed at him though. It had barreled forward and rammed right into Jade's chest as she cried out.
She flung back jarringly and hit the stained glass doorway. Her eyes were still filled in shock. Her pale pink lips were still open from crying out his name. Then, her body slunk slowly to the ground as he saw her eyes darken in deaths grip..............
Chris barely had the chance to even turn around before another fireball was sent straight at him. It hit him squarely in the side. He flew back into the living room and hit the ground hard as the harsh reality of his life came back to him.
"Oh, oh." Phoebe said as she jumped up from her chair and popcorn spilled everywhere onto everyone around her.
"Phoebe!" Piper cried out as the buttery popcorn hit her and flew into her hair as well as Paige's.
"Sorry." Phoebe cried.
"I don't mean that." Piper cried as she started out into the hallway. Paige ran out with her and used her telekinesis to bat the demon as hard as she could into the wall. He was knocked off his feet for a moment and landed hard onto the hardwood floor, but he still got to his feet with a slick, deranged smile over his lips.
"You think that that will kill me, witches?" the demon asked in a nasally alto voice.
"Oh, not that. But this definitely will." Piper told him as she threw her hands up at him and blew him up.
"Well, that was easy," Paige replied as she looked at her oldest sister's handiwork happily.
"Thankfully, it's still so nice when the lower level demons decide to come by. It makes my day when we can get rid of them and don't have to do any extensive research." Phoebe replied.
"You're telling me, sis." Paige replied with a grin.
Piper didn't wait a minute longer as she stormed into the living room where she had saw her son fall. The demon had gotten them all by surprise. The whole drama in the living room between Jade and Chris had been enough to distract them, but then the demon had come along and she had felt like an amateur all over again as she'd watched the demon send the fireball straight at her son.
She had barely had time to think before she had come out after the demon to vanquish his sorry ass. That and having to deal with Phoebe's surprised jumping habit that had started as of late had gotten an awesome amount of popcorn sprayed all over her and a shower was probably in order when this all ended.
Piper entered the living room to see Chris lying on the floor. He had his back to her and for a moment her heart could have stopped. He was just lying there so still and he was on his side. He could be dead.
Piper didn't think of that any more as she ran to her son and kneeled down beside him. He was shivering as she came to him. He was alive. She thanked whoever it was that had saved him and placed her hand over his shoulder.
"Chris? Chris?" she whispered.
He slowly opened his reddened eyes to the world around him. He was still shaking in her arms as she held onto his shoulder.
"Chris, turn for me, will you? I need to see how bad it is." she told him in a soothing voice.
His green eyes stared at her in shock as he did what she had told him to do. He was perfectly fine on his left side. He was barely damaged. Then, she saw his hand was holding his right side as his breath shook out of him. She saw an intense burn on his side that ranged from his lower back to his stomach. He was hurt badly. Her poor baby was hurt.
"Chris, it'll be okay. Alright , you're gonna be fine." she told him in a smooth voice as she brushed his dark brown hair out of his sweat ridden forehead.
"Jade?" he whispered out in pain.
Of course, he would worry about her at a time like this. He really did love her.
Piper took a small glance over to Jade who Paige was kneeling by as she looked her over. Phoebe stood in the doorway drawn between their innocent and her nephew as she stood with tears in her eyes. Piper knew something wasn't at all right with the picture as Paige gave her a small worried look as she bit her lower lip.
Piper ignored that factor though and held her son tightly. "Paige, Chris needs you." she called over to Paige.
"Uh, Piper. " Paige started as she looked up from Jade.
"Paige." Piper replied slightly in a warning tone. She wanted Chris to be healed. He was in pretty bad shape and if what she thought she knew about Jade not being able to be healed. If Jade was dead then she sure didn't want her son to know until they had save his life.
Paige went to Chris. Her face was drawn together in sadness for him as she kneeled down beside him in her short denim v-neck dress and placed her pale hands over his side and started to heal her nephew. The warm golden rush came over his body as it was healed. As soon as Paige was done he was on his feet and was running over to the door before anyone could stop or even warn him.
Piper and Paige exchanged a look as he made it to Jade and fell to his knees to kneel beside her. The sisters weren't ready to see Chris see one of his girlfriend's killed by an evil lower level demon. He was too young to deal with this.
Phoebe looked at Chris as she watched in worry, "Uh. Chris. I think you should..."
"What?" he asked her in a hard whisper as he touched Jade's face softly. "Jade?"
They all could see that Jade wasn't breathing. They just weren't sure if Chris had realized that in in his state of shock. Jade was just lying there. She wasn't moving at all and her body was slowly growing cold as Chris touched her face so gently as if he were afraid she were going to break in his very hands.
Piper didn't want him to deal with this. This was why she hadn't wanted him to bring anyone home in case this happened. At first, she hadn't wanted their secret out but when he had told Jade she had let him bring her. At the time, she hadn't thought this would end badly. She had only been happy that Chris had found someone he could rely on and someone who accepted him for being less then normal.
"Jade?" he whispered again. His eyes were a strange color of blue green as he looked at her unresponsive face. He could feel her growing colder, but he wasn't about to accept it. She just needed to be healed. That was it. She'd be fine if he healed her.
"Well, she's..." Phoebe tried to say but she didn't want to break Chris's heart.
Chris ignored Phoebe and started to place his hands over Jade's body. His warm golden healing light started to fill her body. He was healing her. That's what he needed to do and that was what he was going to do. It was as simple as that. If he could be healed then she could too. Maybe it would take longer to heal her but he would eventfully save her.
Paige ran over to Chris and took his hands away from Jade's body. She held them in hers as he tried to break away but she held them tighter. Chris looked at his aunt as she stared at him with hard brown eyes. When their eyes met hers softened but not enough to stop her from telling him what he wasn't willing to know.
"She's dead, Chris." Paige told him the inevitable fact.